Yuri Anthology: Anoko to Me ga Autabi Watashi ha Shakaiin Yuri Anthology (あの娘と目が合うたび私は 社会人百合アンソロジー)

May 14th, 2018

One of the most obvious trends in Yuri in Japan right now is the shift to office romance. This cannot come as a a huge surprise after decades of nearly nothing other than school children in love. Of course people who grew up with those stories of girls who found love in club and library, having graduated and moved into the workforce, would crave stories of adults who find each other among the cubicles. ^_^

Anoko to Me ga Autabi Watashi ha Shakaiin Yuri Anthology (あの娘と目が合うたび私は 社会人百合アンソロジー) is one of several titles out recently that fills this need. This anthology has contributions by some artists we’re familiar with here at Okazu – Tsukiko provides an illustration, Mikanshi and Esuesu, Satsumaage and irua have all done work in other anthologies and magazines we’ve reviewed. 

The volume starts off really strongly with a lovely cover image and opening story by Harukawa You. In the opening story, a graphic designer is hired to do a CD cover design for an indie singer whose schtick is wearing a horse head. What is hidden underneath the mask is a really lovely young lady who admires her work.

I really enjoyed irua’s “Minna Sonshiteruyo” in which a unloved boss turns out to have a secret supporter among the employees.

Seta Seta’s “Meter Stop” was a ridiculous story I liked about a female cab driver finding herself driving someone she knew a long time ago in another job. 

And Yuki Yukiko’s ”Chosou Love Letter,” about a woman who works at a shipping company and her charming and beautiful customer, was a terrific end story for the book. 

This collection has all the strengths and weaknesses of an anthology. Stories one likes are too short, and stories one doesn’t go on too long and you never quite get the development a character deserves, but it’s a good read and a pleasant change from high school.

Ratings:

Art – Variable but generally good
Story –  Surprising variety, considering
Characters- Realistically, I’m no more interested in falling in love with a coworker than a classmate, but at least they are all adults. ^_^
Service – Not really
Yuri – Yes

Overall – A solid read, let’s give it an 8

If office romance and romance between adult women is appealing to you and you don’t mind the short-story format of an anthology, another office romance doujinshi anthology has recently been published. Yuri Master Kawamoto-san would like you to know about Shakaiin Yuri Anthology Rouge, (社会人百合アンソロジールージュ), which includes more authors we know and love, like Ajichi, Canno, Kitao Taki, Takemiya Jin and others!

Posted in Yuri Anthology, Yuri Manga | 8 Comments »


Rakuen Le Paradis Magazine, Volume 26 (楽園 Le Paradis)

May 10th, 2018

I am pleased as punch to note that not only is Hakusensha’s Rakuen Le Paradis (楽園 Le Paradis) magazine is including Yuri again (still), they seem to have recommitted to it.

In Volume 26 of Rakuen Le Paradis we have a new comic called “Praparat” by Shigasawa Kaya about a class outsider who has a chance to become more popular, but who comes to a unexpected conclusion about herself.

“Junsui Adolescence” by Kazuma Kowo lets us revisit a series from the early 2000s which originally ran in what was then Yuri Hime magazine.

And, best of all, this month’s chapter of “14-sai no Koi” by Mizutani Fuuka, follows Shiki Aoi, one of Tanaka Kanata’s classmates who has a painful one-sided crush on her. Aoi finally breaks down to the school doctor, only to glimpse a vision of her own life in 7 years if she doesn’t find a way to grow. She comes back to the doctor and ends up comforting her. This chapter was incredibly touching and sad.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Next issue, Volume 27, will see a return of Nakamura Aasumiko’s “Mejirobana no Saku.” Guess I’m getting this magazine again, regularly. ^_^;

Posted in Magazines, Rakuen Le Paradis | 2 Comments »


LGBTQ Manga: Claudine (English)

May 8th, 2018

Claudine, by Riyoko Ikeda, is a tragic, yet sympathetic, story about a transgender man. Originally serialized in Margaret magazine, this story is touching and agonizing in equal measure. The story is presented to us as a case study from the perspective of a kind and empathetic psychiatrist who becomes Claudine’s confidant and knows there really isn’t anything wrong with his patient that full acceptance by society couldn’t cure.

The psychiatrist is himself an interesting character and reminded me greatly of the equally kind psychiatrist in Pieta. While this doctor was only able to watch and record Claudine’s life, the doctor in Pieta were able to intervene, allowing Sahako and Rio a chance at happiness. I wonder, sometimes, if Claudine had been written 20 years later, would this doctor have done the same? I feel sure he would have.

Riyoko Ikeda is well-known for the otherworldly beauty of her gender non-conforming characters and anyone who knows Dear Brother or Rose of Versailles, will be used to the character type presented here. Claudine is beautiful and women are attracted to him, but he is not able to maintain a relationship through no fault of his own. And, while there is a Well of Loneliness feel about the conclusion, the end of Claudine’s life is presented not as an inevitability, but a crime committed upon Claudine by society.

For 1978, this was an extraordinary portrayal. It reads a bit old fashioned now, as society moves towards greater awareness and understanding of transgender people, but it’s not stale in the least. 

Of course Seven Seas has done a lovely job of reproductio,n as one expects. I was thrilled to see the talented Jocelyne Allen translating this particular volume. I knew she’d handle it all with skill.  This is a top-notch English edition of a 40-year old classic that I have wanted you all to read for years. ^_^ I recommend it highly. Pre-orders are live; the book is slated for release in late June.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 6
LGBTQ – 8
Service – 2

Overall – 7

As I wrote in my 2007 review of the original, “I like to think that, when young Satou Sei was combing literature for reflections of her own feelings and she came across Well, she might have also come across Claudine and, like myself, rejected the tragedy, even as she acknowledged its place in her personal history…. Us Comp. Lit. majors must stick together after all. ^_^”

Seven Seas is branching out into more queer narrative; in upcoming days you’ll also see The Bride Was a Boy, which is a comic essay by transgender creator Chii, as well as My Solo Exchange Diary: The Sequel to My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness. This seems like a perfect start to this week, which will end with TCAF. And, ss we all know, everyone is queer at TCAF! ^_^

Many, many thanks to Seven Seas for the review copy! The original volume of this is one of my prize possessions, it’ll be nice to have it in English!

Posted in English Manga, LGBTQ, Riyoko Ikeda | 9 Comments »


Okazu Lucky Boxes Yuriten Edition – All Claimed!

May 7th, 2018

I am returned from Japan, with a ton of cleanup to do. Gotta make room for new stuff by moving out some of the old. And I had weeded out my doujinshi collection this winter and that’s all gotta go, too.

And, of course, I picked up a bunch of stuff at Yuriten to share with you all. So it seems like it’s time for Lucky Boxes!

This set we’ve got 3 Medium size boxes and one large Premium Box.

Premium Box – $50

Medium Box 1 – $25

Medium Box 2- $25

Medium Box 3 – $25

These are listed out so I can cross them off as they go. Remember, the USPS has downsized the box sizes this year to keep prices down, so if you have previously received a medium or large box, these will be slightly smaller than those in previous years. As a result, I’ve lowered the prices a bit, too.

These boxes are all filled with doujinshi manga, random Yuri and Yuriish goodies,  other non-print media and each one includes a few items picked up in Japan and a few things from the Yuriten. We’ve switched back to the best Japanese candy, the Hana Kuchizuke.  They are pretty and taste good.^_^ The Premium box has got a few special items in it (obviously, that’s why it’s premium, obvs. )

 I can 100% guarantee these boxes are filled with absolute pure crap, with no guarantees of any other kind. 

***

How to be eligible to buy a Lucky Box: Follow these instructions carefully. Please. Thank you.

1- You must live in the Continental USA (contiguous 48) only, no APO/FPOs – sorry about that, really. 

2 – You must be over 18, I am not policing which books you get and since these boxes have a ton of doujinshhi, I really don’t know what you’re getting.

3 -Email me at anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com with the subject “Lucky Box”. Use an email you check regularly.

4. *****Please include your name, age, mailing address. Tell me which box you want.*****

5- I will contact you at that point and give you details about payment by Paypal. Please be prepared to check your email and get payment out so this post doesn’t linger like a dead animal. Thanks in advance.

This whole process will be handled with utmost capriciousness. ^_^ 

And a special big heads up – this is only one set of boxes. There will be another one in upcoming weeks. If you miss your chance, keep your eyes open, we’ll do this again soon.

 

Posted in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime, May 2018 (ミック百合姫2018年5月号)

May 6th, 2018

The May 2018 issue of Comic Yuri Hime (ミック百合姫2018年5月号) begins with a new story by Hisona that I quite like. “Goodbye Dystopia” follows a girl leaving her life behind – although why, we don’t yet know. She meets another woman traveling through the ruined, wild landscape and they begin to travel together. How the world came to be this way, who they are and what they are looking for is all as yet unilluminated. Nonetheless, I like the idea. ^_^

Miman’s “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” delves into the backstory of Kanako’s obsession with Hime. Broken people are broken.

I’m not sure where “Koushin Koinu ni Koibumi wo” by Tamasaki Tama is going (or, indeed, if it is going anywhere,) but I’m still reading. A feral girl is accepted into a military-ish academy-ish where she’s being alternately encouraged and scolded by an older girl who obviously sees something in her. This month Indou makes a new friend, but find her grades subpar, so she isn’t getting town leave. This whole series feels inspired by the Vocaloid Senbonzakura visualsand not-real, slightly nostalgic militaristic image.

Hisakawa haru presents the opening sortie in the “Girls Wedding Omnibus, Yuri-kkon,” in which two women marry. The bouquet is passed along to, presumably, the next girl to find wedded bliss.

On the even of her wedding, Aoi completes her confession of her complicated feelings about Kaede to Nanami in Ohsawa Yayoi’s “2DK, GPen, Mezamashitokei.” And Nanami wonders what Kaede is in her own life.

I’m still really liking Shiroshi’s “ROID,” but I am apparently a sucker for Yuri androids. Android designer Yui uses a wheelchair, and is in the process of making an android that looks more than a little like herself. She’s helped out in her experiments by AI designer Reina, who is amazed and concerned at the humanity of the new android. But she can’t help wondering what the android is to Yui. She names the android Anna to give it a separate existence from her creator. Anna assure Reina that she is separate from Yui. So far I quit like this series.

Nagashiro Rouge’s “Eve to Eve” is another sci-fi story, but so completely at odds with the previous one, it’s worth mentioning. Two women who are wholly, massively in love have volunteered to have the brains become the center of a global network of protection. Their brains are removed from their bodies, but in their private space they remain in love with each other and with the whole earth. This may be the most purely science fiction-y story we’ve had in Yuri Hime, I think. 

Another new series has begin that’s immensely appealing, “Prison Town e Youkoso” by Neji, in which demi-beings, yokai, and half-humans of all kinds mingle. We meet human Akari and her roommate, a frankensteinish (or Black Jack, if you prefer) composite person named Mary. Both Akari and Mary receive job notices every morning. Akari is busy but when she gets together with friend for drinks after work, they tease her that she treats Mary like a little sister. Her feelings are probably more complicated than that. I’m looking forward to reading more of this.

Kiriyama Haruka gives us “Shiawase Wakenasai” which follows two adult women being happy together.

I want to digress here. Clearly I am not the only Yuri fan or creator who is looking for more adult Yuri. The vast amounts that have – apparently suddenly – appeared tells me that this was a long time in coming. Stay tuned, there’ll be more.

Usui Shio’s “Select Closet” is a cute little story about a cool, boyish girl being given room to be feminine and cute by a classmate.

I hadn’t realized how *good* this issue was until I had to type it all out! There’s a change in the tides here, one that I am really liking. Less schoolgirls, more speculative fiction. Maybe we can even get a mystery or a sports story one day. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall- 9

The June issue is already out and it’s just as excellent, with something new and far less exploitative from Kodama Naoko!

Posted in Comic Yuri Hime, Magazines, Yuri Manga | No Comments »