Why We Call It “Yuri” on Anime Feminist

August 10th, 2017

In the 20 years I’ve been watching, reading, writing and speaking about stories of lesbians and lesbian relationships in anime and manga, a lot of things have changed. In the 1990s, western fans were coining phrases like “shoujo-ai” and “shounen-ai” to enforce what they saw as differences between pure” romance between girls and adult lesbian sex. The distinction was arbitrary, and more in line with western morals than Japanese standards. Those words have since been all but abandoned for being more related to pedophilia than woman or men in same-sex relationships. Likewise Juné, Yaoi, 801 have all come and gone and come back again to describe pretty boys in sexual and romantic relationships For the most part we’ve landed on “Boys Love” as the definitive (for now) genre term. 

Yesterday on Anime Feminist I discuss why we call our genre Yuri and not, say, the (seemingly obvious) analogous phrase “Girls Love.”  Even more importantly, I recall the roots of the term in lesbian culture, roots I and other lesbian creators and fans feel are critical to keeping the genre about us, telling our stories, as opposed to letting the stories be dictated by those who haven’t experienced them. 

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Take a look at Why We Call It Yuri on Anime Feminist – and thanks to the AF team for being so awesome and giving me space to tell my story! 

 

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LGBTQ Manga: Shimanami Tasogare, Volume 1 (しまなみ誰そ彼 1)

August 8th, 2017

A few months ago, YNN Correspondent Brennan B suggested I read a series that follows a gay high school student as he comes to terms with himself and his sexuality. That sounded good to me, so here I am reviewing Volume 1 of Shimanami Tasogare (しまなみ誰そ彼 1) by Kamatani Yuuki. (You may, perhaps, recognize the author’s name as the creator of Nabari no Ou, which had it’s moment of fame in 2008-9.

Tasogare Shimanami begins with Tasuku, a stressed out high school student being bullied by his classmates who call him “Homo,” contemplating suicide. When he sees a woman apparently leap off an even higher ledge, he finds himself dragged into the lives surrounding the “consultation room,” a kind of cafe for outcasts. Compelled by “Dareka-san,” the woman no one really knows, Tasuku finds himself helping with a local non-profit group for the summer.

Tasuku isn’t gay, he insists at school, but when he meets Haruko who casually mentions she’s a lesbian and refers to her “wife,” Tasuku’s chest literally  bursts with pent-up emotions and the pressure of the closet he’s created for himself. And, as he helps Haruko break up a decrepit shack in order to build a shelter for cats, he tears into his own fears and desires and finally admits to himself and others that, he is, after all, gay.

Aside from the mystery of Dareka-san,  the story is a pretty straightforward coming out narrative, but one that is crucial for gay Japanese youth, No foreign setting here, nothing exotic, or unusual…this story is about an average Japanese high school student coming to terms with being gay in a society that has no place for gayness. 

Of course, I approve that his mentor in this is an out, adult woman, comfortable with herself and her life, but that isn’t the whole story there, either. He wife isn’t nearly as comfortable as she and is very angry that she has been outed to some guy she doesn’t know. When Tasuku tells her that he too is gay, she is only partially mollified. 

Also importantly, this book explains that there are online LGBTQ forums that are not focused around sexual encounters…Haruko explains that she met up with the other folks in the NPO on a board for LGBTQ community activism and volunteering. That alone makes the book a real treasure in my opinion. I understand that some folks miss the old gay bar culture, as centers of LGBTQ community life, but give me a good old online forum any day. ^_^

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters- 8 I look forward to understanding them all better
LGBTQ – 10
Service – 0

Overall – 9

This was a great read, with both young and adult characters of varying ages and sexes to identify with.

Volume 2 is also available and I look forward to it very much. The series apparently had a booth at the 2015 Tokyo Rainbow Pride festival, where they were able to consult with many folks about LGBTQ life in Japan for verisimilitude. That gives me a lot of hope for the series.

Thanks Brennan for the suggestion and Hannah for the second opinion. Great catch!

Posted in LGBTQ | 3 Comments »


Yurithon in Montreal, Final Thoughts

August 7th, 2017

Home from a really lovely time in Montreal with the folks at Yurithon. I give the event two thumbs up. Because Yurithon and Yaoithon are programming tracks under the auspices of the larger general Otakuthon, you get all the intimacy and camaraderie of a smaller event, while enjoying all the perqs of a large event!

This meant I got to really speak with a lot of the Yuri fans AND got to talk to vendors I had never met before. It was a genuine pleasure to meet Marc who has written guest reviews for us in the past and Shannon C. and a bunch of folks who were kind enough to let me know Okazu was and is an important resource to them. 

I wanted to also tell you about the stupid idea I had that totally worked. ^_^

One night while not sleeping I came up with an idea for a con game. I called it “Yuri Court”. A person would come up in front of a panel of judges and “present a case” for a series being a Good Yuri  (innocent) or a Bad Yuri (guilty) series. We’d give prizes for participation and have some fun. I literally had no idea how it would go, but we had so much fun! My wife came up with the inspired idea of calling witnesses to testify for the the claim the plaintiff was making…or against. It was hysterical and we laughed ourselves silly for an hour, and gave away a pile of prizes and candy and wtf stuff I had. The participants were fantastically entertaining. I would be happy to play that again anytime. And if you were one of the participants, thank you! You were wonderful! You really made our day.

And with that, our time at Yurithon came to an end. We threw a little more money at the DR, then at Montreal proper…then it was time to go home.

I want to thank Serge, Donna and my wife, let Bruce and Kelli know that they were there in spirit and once again thank Meggie and Kim and the folks at Yurithon for such a great time. 

They always need volunteers, so next year, step up and help them out and be part of a terrific Yuri-focused event.

Next up for me, Flamecon!

 

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Yurithon in Montreal, Day 3

August 6th, 2017

Saturday at Yurithon was lovely.

We started our day with a purpose – get as much time in the Dealer’s Room as possible. It’s been a while since I’ve been at an anime and manga con (as opposed to cons focused on comics and manga) and I wanted to see what was in these days. Otakuthon has a pretty darn huge DR and we had a chance to see a lot of cool derivative and original work in a variety of media and genre. Lots of fun original t-shirt art.

I picked up a copy of Shi-lin’s next artbook, Tocatta II. She’s also got all the volumes of her comic Carciphona here. Her art is all that and a bag of chips and she’s a strong storyteller, go take a look. We also had bought the most adorable items from a webcomic called Ponto about an orange traffic cone that leaves home (a road in front of a farm) to go to Montreal. It’s killer cute and is drawn with such love for the city of Montreal. The charm and cute are quite overwhelming. ^_^

Our panels went well, questions were pretty excellent in the Yuri manga anime panel and many books were handed out. ^_^

We wrapped up with delicious dinner again with Meggie and Kim in Chinatown, then we wandered our way back to the hotel after buying delicious pastry for the morning. It’s a good thing we’re going home soon, the pastries here are too delicious for my own good.

One more day, one more panel, undoubtedly more buying, to come!

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Yurithon in Montreal, Day 2

August 5th, 2017

I’m just going to start today’s post off with a repeat of something I said yesterday – get out and see the place you’re in.

We began our day with a visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Montreal. It was wonderful. The sound installation by, I think, the Ritters in the Expo ’67 exhibit was top-notch.

And so is Yurithon! Today I had one presentation, to a full room of enthusiastic people. We didn’t get to do many questions, and that’s my fault, sorry. But there’s two panels today Must-Read / Must-Watch Yuri from 1-3 and A Yuri Otaku in Japan from 7-8.Things will be given away. ^_^

Right after my panel, Shannon C. led an excellent panel on recommended Yuri anime. We enjoyed listening to her and her panelist talk about so many great series. I hope to see her today to tell her in person.

See you tomorrow!

 

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