Here is my summation of the new Ghost in the Shell live-action movie trailer: The three scenes fans remember, oh look they left a lesbian scene in, a tepid Hollywood plot without much substance, and a dollop of service, just the way fans like.
My conclusion – if Oshii Mamoru and Shirow Masamune are happy with it, I’m happy for them.
Please let me know your thoughts in the comments!
In Volume 1 of Gengoroh Tagame’s Otouto no Otto, we meet Canadian Mike Flanagan, who has come to Japan in search of his late husband’s early life. We also meet Yaichi, Mike’s husband’s older brother. Yaichi’s assumptions about life and the passive homophobia he feels are challenged by Mike’s very existence.
In Volume 2, Yaichi begins to see his passive homophobia and start to examine it, in the context of his accepting daughter, Kana, Mike’s talk with a closeted young boy from the neighborhood and a neighbor’s negative reaction to Mike. Volume 2 ended with Yaichi having a dream of Kana growing up to be gay and waking full of uncertainty.
In Otouto no Otto, Volume 3 (弟の夫), the volume begins with Yaichi’s mind full of that dream. Kana doesn’t help by deciding that she, Yaichi, Mike and her mother Natsuki should all go on a trip to an onsen. When Yaichi shares the dream with Kana’s mother, Natsuki’s acceptance of that future adds to Yaichi’s confusion. And he’s sharing a bath with Mike. Yaichi is absolutely bombarded with things he has never before had to deal with.
Returning from the onsen trip, Yaichi is recognized by a classmate of his brother’s. As a reader, it was almost impossible to not instantly realize that the friend was himself gay. Mike, for the first time, is brought face-to-face with the uncomfortable tension of adult gay life in Japan.
The volume ends with trouble brewing. What, specifically will happen we don’t know, but it will involve Kana, which makes us angry.
In Volume 3, the honeymoon is over. Mike’s no longer the teacher, and Yaichi, the student is flailing in deeper water than he ever realized. There’s moments of sincere discomfort and, for me, anger, as so little has changed, or can even be done.
Tagame-sensei’s deft drawing of expression and body language communicates so much more than the text itself. It’s very adult and subtle book and assumes an adult readership, attuned to adult society. Such a pleasure to read, even when it hurts, as it surely will.
Ratings:
Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 10
LGBTQ – 10
Service – 7 (Nude guys in bath, duh)
Overall – 10
This manga reminds us that the world is changed one person at a time.
2017 Update: Pantheon Books has released it in a gorgeous English-language (what will be 2 volume) edition. My Brother’s Husband, Volume 1 has launched!
In Volume 1 of Hirao Auri’s new series, we met the idol group Charm Jam, and the otaku who “idolize” them. In Volume 2 of Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu,（推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ) we are given a sobering glimpse of the rigors of that fandom.
The popularity rankings have arrived and we find that they are driven not by applause or mail-in cards but purely by sales. Each idol sells goods and CDs at a table, post-show, which we kind of all knew, but never really grasped. Idols whose fans buy the most are accorded higher rank.
(As an aside, I was not sure I could loathe the Japanese idol industry more than I did, but upon learning this, I found room to hate it more than ever.)
Having emptied her account, Eri is able to catapult Maina into the front row.
We digress into a story about Reo, the most popular of the group, and the group’s history, and some of the relationships between the girls themselves. It’s not hard to see something more than just fellowship between Sorane and Yumeri.
Eri does not realize it, but she wields a lot of power as a superfan. The other fans look to her for colors, sales leads, and other indications. She only has eyes for Maina, so much so that she cannot see that Maina herself wants desperately to reach pass the important wall that exists between fan and idol. Neither have any idea how to make that connection, since both play by the rules.
The end of the book forces us to see a situation in which the strict rules of contact and communication actually hurt, rather than protect.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 8, dammit
Character – 8
Service – 1
Yuri – 4 I’m running out digits to cross, with the need to strangle the author.
Overall – 8
Despite myself, (very, very much despite myself) I find that I actually want to read this series. I’m not always comfortable reading it, but I am learning a lot and finding all sorts of new ways to strangle Hirao-sensei in my head with every page.
Yuri Manga
Let’s distract ourselves with something weird. ZZZnoZ ~Nemuri-chan to Oyasumi~ (ZZZのZ ~ねむりちゃんとおやすみ~) is a new manga series focusing on how to get a good sleep. ^_^ A hardworking, poor sleeper woman meets another woman who falls asleep easily. Comic Natalie tells us it has a little light Yuri. Okay~~~
Yagate Kimi ni Naru, Volume 3 (やがて君になる) has a release date in Japan at the end of this month.
Eclair, Anata no Hibiku Yuri Anthology (エクレア あなたに響く百合アンソロジー) is another new Yuri anthology collection of note, along with Yuri no Sekai Nyuumon (百合の世界入門).
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Yuri Anime
At last night’s Moonlight Party by Viz (which was exactly as excruciating as I expected,) we finally got dub clips of the Sailor Moon S season. I’m pleased to say that the voices for Haruka and Michiru sounded great. Erica Mendez will be a fine Haruka. (I still wish that after 20 years, American VAs would figure out how to pronounce things.)
Viz also announced the release of Sailor Moon R Movie – check out the ANN report for details. While Sailor Moon R isn’t Yuri at all, it did give us “Moon Revenge,” which is a great song. ^_^
I also shared a bunch of pictures of my Sailor Moon goods collection on Twitter, which you can see here. ^_^ It was nice to revisit some of the items.
Live-Action News
Live-action Saki is actually a thing. ^_^ I keep thinking it’s a joke, somehow. Here’s some early visuals, via ANN.
Other News
I’m not going to lie, this week has been hard for many of us. So many of us are abjectly terrified and not just for ourselves, but for others we know, and the planet itself.
A friend, Claire Monserrat Jackson, developed a concept that will be a key component of me remaining sane in the upcoming year – Keepsgiving. Keepsgiving takes Thanksgiving beyond just giving thanks to giving what we can to actively help one another. I began by setting up recurring donations to Planned Parenthood, since the threat to women’s health has never been so high. I’m going to give to groups like GLSEN, Lambda Legal, NAACP, and to local food banks. You can let folks know you support your local library, or how they can enjoy national parks…anything. It doesn’t have to be anything major. No commitment needed. Here is a list of pro-women, pro-immigrant, pro-earth organizations for you to consider donating to or volunteering with
If you’d like to participate in Keepsgiving, just pop over to the Keepsgiving page on Facebook and share your act of kindness. Let’s Keep Giving. We need each other more than ever.
Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.
Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!
Tonight Viz Media is having a Moonlight Party, featuring Sailor Moon S clips with the new dub, trivia and more.
I don’t know about you, but I have never needed Sailor Moon more than I do right now, so please join me and other Sailor Moon fans on the official Viz Media YouTube channel.
I’m really looking forward to the dub of this and have all my digits crossed that it’s excellent. ^_^
Also in Sailor Moon News. if you joined the official Sailor Moon fanclub, today is the day you received your link to the Fan Club website. Remember, Chrome can automatically (poorly) translate the page, if you can’t read the Japanese! Ironically, I wanted only one of the official items, and found it last week in Kinokuniya. ^_^ I’ll be doing a review in days to come.
See you at the Moonlight Party!
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