Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Jukkai Me no Jukkai

February 11th, 2004

Miserable Classics of Yuri
Prologue and Part 1

Way back in the early 1970s, when Yamagishi Ryouko and Ikeda Riyoko were drawing up the first Yuri manga, the model for same-sex relationships was not a happy one. Like early Yaoi, early Yuri assumed an unhappy, unfulfilled or tragic ending for all lesbian relationships. (The same thing was happening here in western literature as well, so clearly it was an artistic edict that went well beyond individual culture.) The bottom line was – there was no happy Yuri. And really, only a very few mangaka had the guts to depict any kind of lesbian character or relationship at all, so lesbians were happy enough to get what they could find. This situation lasted well into the 1990s, and frankly, IMHO, didn’t really even *begin* to change until Sailor Moon broke the trend. Mostly what you had was a choice of one or more of the following: suicide; tearful parting and memories of something that might have been; or marriage to some guy, because that’s what you do.

Nowadays, we look back on these stories with disappointment and, in some cases, distaste, but remember, these were the first tentative steps in a process that is only *now* breaking free of its historical fetters. (And I’m not talking Yuri Shimai here – the real progress I’ve seen in Yuri comes from lesbian artists like Takashima Rica and Yamaji Ebine.)

This week, I’m going to review a few of the decade-old Yuri manga that you may not have heard of. Despite their unsatisfying endings, these have some very good qualities.I’m not going to bother rating any of these, though. ^_^

Jukkai Me no Jukkai – Akisato Wakuni, 1992

Jukkai Me no Jukkai is a short story that is part of a single-volume manga collection called Odamari!.

Jukkai is a strangely uncomfortable story of a girl, Sayako, who falls in love with her brother’s fiance’. Sayako meets her at school and, through an incredibly unrealistic mishap during a school play, their lips touch. From this point on, Sayako can’t get this mysterious girl out of her mind. When her brother announces that he’s getting married to one of her schoolmates, Sayako has no idea that he means the same girl’s she’s already kissed. Their situation is made more complex by the fact that Sayako is older than her brother’s bride-to-be…something that bothers her quite a bit. When she’s introduced to Rio, Sayako is shocked and appalled at herself, her brother, and at the girl, Rio.

Rio is only marrying Sayako’s brother to escape a life of loneliness…she’s unwanted by family, and at 16 has already has several affairs with older men. She doesn’t really love Sayako’s brother, but she does think he’s nice – and he’s a great way to escape from her unhappy life. As it progresses, their relationship seems dysfunctional, and Rio comes off as manipulative, but neither Rio nor Sayako seem to be fighting the attraction between them too hard. The brother remains clueless throughout.

Ultimately, Rio marries Sayako’s brother, but she and Sayako become lovers, carrying on when the brother isn’t home. It’s not a “happy” ending, but at least it isn’t suicide.





Yuri Anime and Manga: Battle Athletes/ Battle Atheletes Victory

February 9th, 2004

A little while ago I managed a few minutes in that magical land of used Japanese manga, Book-Off, and managed to find the entire run of the Battle Athletes Daiundokai manga, which is very, very, VERY out of print. (I occasionally get requests on how to find the manga – read the line before this one about where I got my copy. That’s basically all the advice I can offer you on finding it.) I immediately went home and read them with great interest – now I want to tell you all about it. ^_^

More people are probably familiar with the OVA and the television series, distributed under the titles Battle Athletes and Battle Athletes Victory, than the manga. The television series is based on the manga more closely than the OVA, so it’s basically the same story as the manga, with Ichino given a stronger role to play, both in the story as a whole and in Akari’s life. The manga is more about Kris and Akari and less about the back stories for all the other characters…. But there are few things that *all* of these have in common

Mylandah is psychotic in every series. I like that. I find psychosis to be an extremely attractive quality in a strong female character – the fewer morals, the more I like them. In the manga, like the anime, her psychosis stems from a once-healthy obsession turned ugly – her feelings *for* Lahrri changed into competition *with* Lahrri. In the TV series, they end up acting like a married couple, to the confusion and consternation of the other girls – their conversations approach near-silent communication. It’s a cute, subtle touch, in what is otherwise a really dumb story arc. In the manga, just as in the TV series, Mylandah is forced to realize that what she really feels about Lahrri is *not* hate, but love. In the Epilogue of the manga, we see them cuddling in a thatched roof hut on a beach somewhere, completely alone. So that ends that story – and it’s a really sweet picture. :-)

Anna’s story is also in the manga – in fact, it is the same story as both the OVA and the television series, which makes Anna a much more bizarre character than either of the two animated versions. Jessie, Ayla, and the others all exist in the manga, but their stories are reduced to mere traces, which didn’t make me cry, really. What the manga really focuses on is Kris and Akari.

The relationship between Kris and Akari, in almost every version is made explicit, but I like the manga best. Sure, they kiss in the anime, and sure, even naive little Anna can see what’s between them, and sure, Kris comments to Ichino that they are rivals for Akari (even if Ichino is in denial). But, in the manga, the entire end of the Cosmo Beauty competition is between the two of them and the final race is Chris versus Akari. A personal conflict comes between them and threatens their friendship on the eve of the final race. It’s very tense, emotional and well done.

Ultimately they do race and, after the race is over, in front of all the spectators and, presumably, the entire world watching on TV, they kiss. I mean they *kiss*. It’s pretty fabulous. :-) I wish there were more anime and manga with such kisses.

The manga has so many of the good things about the anime and almost none of the really bad things – no cow, no aliens, no resurrected Tomoe Midori, none of that. The Principal of University Satellite is still a pervert, but that seems to be about as bad as it gets. The manga also loses Akari’s crybaby tendencies, and her inability to learn from her experiences…a very good thing, IMHO. And the Yuri is 100% real, no substitutes accepted. So, honestly, if you like the anime, then it’s really worth it to get the manga for the *real* story…and that kiss. ;-)

Ratings:

Yuri – Anime (7) Manga – (9)

Art – 6, it’s nothing special in either manga or anime.

Characters – Manga (8) Anime (6)

Story – 7

Overall -Manga (8) Anime (7)

 





Yuri Manga: Rica ‘tte Kanji!?

February 5th, 2004

How stupid am I? I’m here, trying to tell you all about Yuri anime and manga and I *completely* forgot to talk about this most Yuri of Yuri manga!

As you may have realized by now, I’m always on the lookout for characters that break out of the conventional molds of shoujo manga. And to be honest, right now I think that there are exactly *two* Yuri artists out there who do so successfully. I’ve already reviewed Free Soul and Indigo Blue by Yamaji Ebine – today I want to talk about a wonderful, very unconventional Yuri manga – Rica ‘tte Kanji!? by Rica Takashima.

Let me state this right up front – I translated this comic, and I’m good friends with the author. That having been said, I think that this is one of the very few “pure” Yuri  manga available – and the *only* one available in English at this time. (By pure Yuri , I mean that this is a lesbian narrative, written by a lesbian, for an audience of women.) Indeed, it’s *because* I felt that way that I wanted to bring this story to the English-speaking audience.

Rica ‘tte Kanji!? (the title has no meaning, by the way – it’s like saying, “Like, Rica!?”) is the story of a young woman who moves to Tokyo to attend a Women’s College to study early child development. Rica is idealistic and funny, but not completely starry-eyed or naive. In fact, she’s probably the single most realistic character I’ve ever read in any manga. In an early scene, she frets over what to wear for her first time at a gay bar, ultimately deciding on her regular clothes…but she makes sure she has clean underwear on. ^_^

Rica meets quite a few nice people in the Nichoume (Tokyo’s Gay and lesbian District,) including a cool and interesting art student, Miho. Rica and Miho’s relationship progresses in Rica without high drama, angst, self-doubt, obsession over sexuality or roles. It’s a refreshing and adult look at two women who know who they are and don’t question their own sexuality. For this reason alone, Rica is entirely unique.

The emphasis in Rica is on character and realistic, but humorous, situations. We watch Miho nurse Rica through a cold, Rica makes dinner for a crampy and miserable Miho (one of my favorite scenes, as Miho bitches about the monthly joy of being a woman), they fantasize about each other, and in the end, they are just so damn cute, you can’t stop smiling. There is some conflict, but don’t expect suicidal angst here – these two women are long past high school drama.

The art in Rica is nothing like the conventional shoujo style – it has alot more to do with pop art, and contemporary modern painting, than shoujo manga. When the mangaka *does* use conventional imagery or themes, she tends to use it self-mockingly and point it out for us, so we can have a good laugh along with her. (Rica is portrayed fantasizing about her first time in the Nichoume with a background pattern of lilies – an author’s note points out the flowers and comments “The usual flower imagery.” ) It’s touches like this that make Rica so delightful and approachable – we are allowed to laugh at the characters, and ourselves, through the artist’s work.

The biggest downside to Rica is that, at the end, I wanted more. I hated to leave Rica and Miho behind, so I hope to convince the mangaka to do more for us. Hopefully we’ll be seeing a sequel in the next year or two. ^_^

Ratings:

Yuri – 10

Art – 9 (I *like* pop art!) Story – 9. Characters – 10. Overall – 9.5

Now here’s the advertisement:
To get *your* copy of Rica ‘tte Kanji!?, Look for the English-language manga at the
Yuricon Shop.

I mean this quite literally -this is the Yuriest manga you can get in English. Get yours today!





Yuri Manga: Read or Dream, Volume 1

February 4th, 2004

I have actually already covered the anime addition to the ROD series this past December in an earlier entry, but that was a while ago now and I want to cover the series as a whole continuity – and review the new manga.

As mostly everyone knows, the original ROD was a 3-episode OVA, and a 4-volume manga. Read or Die is the full title of this earlier series.

Read or Dream is a new manga, of which one volume is out, so we don’t quite know where it will end. And ROD The TV is the (so far) 26-episode anime currently running on Japanese television. What some of you may not know is that there are also several ROD novels, at least one of which may contribute to the current timeline in a meaningful fashion. (I have not seen, much less read, the novels, and everything I’ve heard about them are unsubstantiated rumor, so I’m including them only as a point of interest.)

I’m not going to explain the basic plot here – I’ll assume that you know the story at least a little. If not- click the links above and read up.

In terms of yuri, Read or Die the OVA has luscious subtext. Not a few folks, including the artists at Newtype and Megami magazines, had a field day with Nancy and Yomiko. As a story, it was a neat, enjoyable 3-episode action story with good music, and great characters.

Not so the original RODmanga. Read or Die the manga was a frankly mediocre exploration of fanservice, tedious plots and uninteresting characters. I tried and failed to be interested in the ROD manga several times. If you were *very* clever and ignored all the evidence to the contrary, you could *try* and make a case for Nenene and Yomiko…but you’d be stretching the bounds of plausability. As an action story it was…okay. (The worst of it was that Yomiko, who in the OVA was almost unconsciously competent, was rendered clumsy and goofy in the manga.)

Then came ROD the TV. In practically one fell swoop, it not only gave us Nenene and Yomiko as a viable relationship, it also gave us butchy Maggie (a yuri fan’s dream in terms of possibilities) and Anita’s relationship with Hisa. Then it threw in five years of something between Nancy and Yomiko, just to keep things interesting. Whether one sees it all as overt text, or subtext, the complex relationships between all the women in this anime keep me on the edge of my seat – not to mention the incredibly decent (if really goofy) plot, which has been crafted to even *my* standards. This TV series isn’t over yet, but so far, it’s been stellar. While it helps to know enough of the manga to know who Donny is, or how
Nenene and Yomiko met, it isn’t absolutely necessary. You can always catch up on the conversation at the Yuricon Mailing List, where we’ve dissected this baby within an inch of its life. ^_^

Which brings me to the new ROD manga. I didn’t, honestly, have much hope for the Read or Dream manga, given the crappiness of the Read Or Die quadrilogy. Well, once again, I’m wrong, because while it isn’t high art, the first volume (for all I know, it’s the only volume) of Read or Dream is a lot of fun and full of yuri. Of the six chapters, two deal with a blind girl who falls in love with Maggie. It’s an incredibly sweet story, right to the very end, with one amusingly mortifying scene for poor Maggie:

Faye asks her to read a story she has written out loud. Maggie begins to read the story, and realizes that it is a self-insert love scene between her and Faye. What’s worse is that Faye, being blind, had to have had her mother write it for her…but Maggie reads the story right through to the final kiss. So I’m raising the Yuri flag over the Read or Dream manga, too.

So far, with the exception of the initial manga, this entire continuity has Yuri all over it, and I recommend it strongly to all but the hardest-core shoujo fans. If you can’t stand a story that doesn’t have shoujo bubbles and flower-laden backgrounds, avoid the ROD series, but otherwise, learning Japanese is worth it, just for series like this. ^_^

Ratings:

Yuri – 8
Art – 8
Story – 10
Music – 9
Characters – 10
Overall – 9





Yuri Anime/Manga: Revolutionary Girl Utena

January 30th, 2004


Things I’m Not Going to Write About
Part 4

Shoujo Kaukumei Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena

Created by Ikuhara Kunihiko and Be-Papas, this surreal series is really four slightly different stories, each of which explores a different facet of the characters.

– The manga is the most straightforwardly “magical girl” entity. The only yuri in it is Anthy and Utena’s ambiguous, but intense relationship.

– For the TV series, this was upped a notch, with the addition of sexuality as a whole as a separate subplot. The TV series explores yuri, yaoi, intergenerational, incestuous and yes, even straight, sexuality, casting few judgements about any of it. In addition, Juri is added to the yuri mix, giving yuri fans yet another uber-cool competent character to admire.

– The movie manga is a step sideways, drawing back to the initial Anthy/Utena relatonship, but nodding to proto-yuri novelist Yoshiya Nobuko, and evoking a more intimate feel, since the story is really about the two girls – and their personal quest.

– The Utena movie is a step in the opposite direction, opening the world up to a kind of meta-surreality. Again, it’s all about Anthy and Utena, but for once, the subtext is made overt in the infamous, but really very cool, lesbian street luge scene.

Artistically, Utena takes a little getting used to, with its constant nods backwards to early Yuri pioneers Yoshiya Nobuko and Ikeda Riyoko.

(The Marimite anime is doing the same thing to Utena, with eyecatch visuals and music that are strongly reminiscent of the Utena eyecatches, not to mention the striking detail of the birdcage-shaped greenhouse.)

The television series also spins all the conventions of “magical girl” anime out of proportion, forcing the viewer to create their own meanings for the symbols that inhabit Ohtori.. But for all that, it definitely holds the current #2 place as poster-child Yurii.

The movie is a whole ‘nother thing altogether. Hyper-real, with both art and story completely out of proportion to any other genre or style, it reads as, either a bizarre acid trip, or to us literature majors, a simple allegory. (Here’s the literal sentence people seem to completely fail to understand: “Utena is the vehicle by which Anthy escapes Ohtori.” Got it *now*?)

Amazingly, there are people who have seen the movie and *still* don’t think that Anthy and Utena are a couple! LOL Don’t you wonder what they saw?

Ratings:

Yuri – 9
Art – 8
Story – 8
Music – 9
Characters – 10
Overall – 9