Yuri Manga: Sougou Tovarisch, Perfect Edition, Volume 1 (総合タワーリシチ 完全版 上)

February 21st, 2018

I cannot stop telling you how amazing it was to walk into Animate in Ikebukuro and see a giant sign in the middle of the ground floor that  said “Yuribu.” Nor will I stop gushing about shopping for Yuri now that the various bookstores are actually setting up “Yuri sections” on the shelves that are multi-publisher and multi-format, so you can find manga, magazines, light novels and novels in the same area. It’s awesome. 

It also allows me to pick up stuff I wasn’t going to get when I had to ship it to the USA. Most importantly, it allows me to find stuff that I frequently would never otherwise have heard of or seen (and often forget about as soon as possible. ^_^)

Sougou Tovarisch, Perfect Edition, Volume 1 (総合タワーリシチ 完全版 上) by Arata Jiri falls into this last category. ^_^;

Imagine, if you will, a version of Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl in which Ayaka is almost completely unlikable. That’ll get you close to the dynamic here. Kana is neither smart nor stupid, but the existence of cool, calm and likeable Yuu enrages her. This volume mostly consists of Yuu being pleasant and friendly and Kana losing her mind about that. In fact, the story is so strung out with Kana screaming over imagined transgressions, that I finally skipped to the end. Yuu does, in fact, kiss Kana, although I cannot imagine why. Surely there’s someone else less shouty she could fall for. The cover gives you a good idea of Kana’s typical sour expession.

But, if you like the dynamic of a competent and likeable person falling for a shouty person like Kiss and White Lily, in a school that’s less filled with Yuri couples, but characters do have friends, then this series is probably a good bet for you.

Ratings:

Art – 6  It’s busy being busy.
Characters – 6 Kana annoys the heck outta me
Story – 6
Yuri – 6
Service – 1 on principle

Overall – 6 Not terrible, certainly not bad enough to be funny, just kind of “yup, that again.”

I’m going to skip on the second volume and instead plug through the rest of the “I have no idea” pile I got last year, before I go back and pick up more who the heck knows what. ^_^

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Sailor Moon Classic Concert Album with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra (東京フィルハーモニー交響楽団 の 美少女戦士セーラームーン 25周年記念Classic Concert ALBUM )

February 20th, 2018

To quote my wife, “The FEELS.”

Oh my goodness, the feels.

You may remember that last autumn we encountered the flyers for this concert and, although we couldn’t go to the concert itself, we picked up a pile of the fliers at the Sailor Moon shop because they were so cool. 

We finally had a chance to listen to the Sailor Moon Classic Concert Album with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra (東京フィルハーモニー交響楽団 の 美少女戦士セーラームーン 25周年記念Classic Concert ALBUM ). It’s pretty darn great. ^_^

The concert included anime opening, eyecatch and transformation music, accompanied by the voice of Sailor Moon herself, Mitsuishi Kotono-san. The Tokyo Philharmonic covered the openings and closing from all 5 seasons with the exception of “Kaze mo, Sora mo” from the fifth season. They did an extended remix of Sailors Uranus and Neptune’s themes, and “Eternal Eternity” from Sailor Moon Crystal as well as the Sailor Moon Crystal opening and two of the endings. They even did “Ai no Starshine” from the new Sailor Moon Musicals.

Two of the songs got vocals, “Rashiku Ikimassho” (La la Never Give Up, Gambaru ha!”) and the “Sailor Star Song” (Makenai! Ashitae Sailor Eeru, Zettai! Mitsukeruyo! Sailor Star, Tenshinohanede Tobitatsuno~!)

All in all it was a wonderful look at 25 years of the series and for us, it was a lot of fun to listen to fully orchestrated adaptations of very typical 1990s anime music. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 10 and a lot of big grins.

If you’re a fan, I recommend this album with all my recommends. It comes packaged with many feels. ^_^

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Yuri Manga: Kase-san and an Apron (English)

February 18th, 2018

Yamada’s life has changed radically since she’s started to go out with Kase-san. She’s always been kind of average and had no confidence in herself, except in relation to the greenery committee at school. But being with Kase-san has taught her some important things. 

In Kase-san and an Apron, the 4th volume of Takashima Hiromi’s high school Yuri romance, during the school festival a tired trope about jealousy is turned into a lesson is about speaking your mind.

Yamada has always been jealous of Kase-san’s talent, her athleticism, her popularity. But when she learns that Kase-san has felt the same way, something important takes root in her, a germ of self-confidence that will continue to grow through the volume. Kase-san has been teaching her to value her own strengths – her persistence, her desire to do things for the joy of it. Guilelessly, Kase-san is also teaching Yamada that she’s attractive just the way she is.

Yamada’s best friend Miwacchi has also started noticing the changes. In her own offhand way, she praises Yamada for deciding on a college in Tokyo, rather than shooting for a local school and a less interesting life. 

The chapters that comprise this volume were originally distributed variably online and in print,  and the collected volume itself came out in Japan just after the official animation clip was released. (I reviewed the deluxe edition which included the Blu-ray of the clip here on Okazu last autumn.)

This series, which got it’s start in a quarterly, now defunct, Yuri magazine, has continued to chug along with surprising strength. This summer that little animation clip will get a theatrical release as a OVA movie and  we’ll be getting more Yamada and Kase-san in days to come! The Kase-san series is the little Yuri series that could. ^_^ It is everything I have looked for in a high school Yuri romance. It’s got honesty and growth and humor and a likable couple who have friends and teachers and family and interests outside the romance. And in the meantime, the artist’s skill has grown considerably. Her panels are tight, her lines are deft and her use of body language (which has always been good) and expression have gotten stronger.

It’s gonna be hard to beat this for best of the year, I think.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Character – 9
Story – 8
Service – 2 It’s dropped considerably since moving to Wings.
Yuri – 9

Overall – 8

Thanks very much to the folks at Seven Seas for the review copy! This is hitting shelves here in the west this week, so get out there and get yourself a copy!. I’m hoping to take a physical copy of the book with me to Japan and get it signed by Takashima-sensei. ^_^ Fingers crossed.

Posted in English Manga, Kase-san Series, Yuri Manga | 5 Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – February 17, 2018

February 17th, 2018

Super short report today.

Yuri Manga

The Asagao to Kase-san official Twitter feed noted that Kase-san and Apron, the fourth volume of the series in English will be on sale on February 20th!

 

Yuri Anime

Via Comic Natalie, we have key visuals from merryhachi’s “ecchi comedy” Yuri series,  To Lie Angle anime. By “comedy,” they mean that girls fall in inexplicably awkward ways, so you get to are forced to look up their asses, at their crotches and down their shirts repeatedly. I have no doubt it will be popular, but that makes 3 series in a row from Comic Yuri Hime which make me wish to vomit. The amazing thing is – there’s plenty of good stuff they could choose, but clearly they believe that the only people interested in Yuri anime are bottom-feeders. 

LGBTQ News

The key visual for the live-action television miniseries for Tagame Gengoroh-sensei’s manga series Otouto no Otto, sold here as My Brother’s Husband, is up on the NHK site for the series! It looks great and I think I might be able to catch an episode while I’m in Japan (if the  hotel has this station. ^_^) The series will star former sumo wrestler Baruto Kaito as Mike. Thanks to YNN Correspondent Mudakun for the heads up!

Other News

Hollywood Reporter has a really interesting article about the $100 million Crunchyroll is currently pumping into the anime industry. As I have repeatedly said, when we contribute money to the ecosystem of anime and manga, everyone benefits. 

Did you catch NBC sports describing Sailor Moon to the USA television audience? Figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva  is a huge anime fan, and has previously skated as Sailor Moon. During her profile, they showed her Sailor Moon routine and Usagi’s transformation scene, while the commentator told the world who she was. It was squeeworthy for this household. ^_^

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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Endou Yasuko ha Yomaiyochou ni Kakureteru Manga (遠藤靖子は夜迷町に隠れてる)

February 15th, 2018

Probably-a-vampire Yuri manga number 3
Was not just a waste of a tree
It was dumber than hell
And it knew it quite well
So I’ll read Volume 2…maybe.

Makioka Shizue is starving. 

She’s living alone, in penurious circumstances, has no money for food, no way to cook it. As Shizue drags her hungry ass in to school at Yomaiyocho Girls’ School, she sees two girls in what appears to be a compromising situation. As she hurries along, she realizes that 1) that girl with the dark hair was her classmate Endou Yasuko and 2) she wasn’t kissing the other girl…she was sucking her blood! Horror fills Shizue, so when Endo Yasuko catches up with her, she quite naturally asks if Yasuko is a vampire. 

No, Endou Yasuko replies, I’m a serial killer. (The kanji for which indicates an “abnormal eater.”) Oh okay then.

Welcome to Endou Yasuko ha Yomaiyochou ni Kakureteru (遠藤靖子は夜迷町に隠れてる). This gets my award for best title of the year. I’d probably go with “Endou Yasuko Disappears into the City of the Night” if  I had to translate it. 

Yasuko has a problem – finding food can be difficult. It keeps running away. Shizue has a problem, she also wants food. Yasuko proposes a plan – Shizue be food for her and can live in her spacious apartment, she’ll cook for her. It’s win-win…as long as Shizue doesn’t mind being Yasuko’s meal plan. She doesn’t mind. 

Another schoolmate hates Endou Yasuko. So much so that she rents an American Vampire hunter to track her down. Only Ashley Nelson turns out to like Japanese food and manzai comedy more than vampire hunting, so she sticks around and slacks on the job.

So, despite an unsolved mystery of three missing students and a blood sucking demon in class, we turn our attention to the school festival! We’re doing a haunted house….duhhhhhh……

I have really come to love Shounen Gahosha titles. They are trash, but they are unrepentant, fun, trash. FLOWERCHILD is having a lot of fun with this story and we might as well get the popcorn out and have a good time reading. The art is about what I’d expect for a Young King title, with busty characters drawn just not right, and a dollop of random undressing, but otherwise competent.

This not a Yuri title, but it is a vampire-at-a-girls’ school title, so some service. Shizue and Yasuko are beginning to truly care for one another by the end of this volume.

Most importantly for us here in the west, Seven Seas has licensed this title for English release as Hungry For You: Endo Yasuko Stalks the Night, which will be hitting shelves in May 2018! 

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – An utterly absurd 8
Characters – 9
Service – 5 Vampire-at-a-girls’ school
Yuri – 2, maybe, but you can make it work if you want.

Overall – Entertaining, trashy 8

I declare that henceforth, all vampire Yuri will be reviewed by limerick on Okazu. ^_^ This one was a joint effort by my wife and I. 

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