Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 CD/DVD

June 14th, 2016

61kDtm02hIL._SX425_It’s not business as usual around here on Okazu for me to review a soundtrack CD, so you have to know something’s special if I do. ^_^

The Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 CD/DVD is special. ^_^

In USA terms, this CD would be an enhanced single, with 4 tracks: “New Moon ni Koi Shite,” the Sailor Moon Crystal opening, with vocals and karaoke version (without vocals) and the Sailor Moon Crystal ending, “eternal eternity” with vocals and without.

The DVD includes TV sized version of both tracks with the opening and closing visuals, without credits.

And, then, comes the thing that makes the CD/DVD worth getting. Included are “digest movies” for the full opening and ending songs. These end up being extremely satisfying music videos of the series. And ,as “eternal eternity” is a duet sung by Minagawa Junko as Sailor Uranus/Tenoh Haruka and Ohara Sayaka as Sailor Neptune/Kaioh Michiru, the video ends up being an extended Haruka x Michiru lovefest.

This CD/DVD is just the kind of thing that makes a perfect stocking stuffer come holiday time and a welcome break from all those Haruka and Michiru-less days we have to put up with.

Snapshot-2016-06-14 at 06_36_17 PM-8661

 

Ratings:

So Glad I Bought It – 10

Posted in Miscellaneous, Sailor Moon | 2 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Yagate Kimi ni Naru, Volume 2 (やがて君になる)

June 13th, 2016

YKnN2When I stepped into the new flagship Animate store in Ikebukuro in Tokyo last month, I did not expect to find much Yuri. Positioned near “Otome Road,” this particular store tends to cater more to the fujoshi than the otaku. However, the very first thing I passed on the shelves was a special display for the second volume of Nakatani Nio’s Yuri series. When I bought it, it came with a sweet little postcard and a special book cover. If only the romance inside was a clear and simple as the cover made it seem. ^_^;

I summed Volume 1 of  Yagate Kimi ni Naru as a “sweet little Yuri romance that I both enjoyed a lot and also have several real problems with.”

And now that I’ve read Yagate Kimi ni Naru, Volume 2, I feel exactly the same way…with perhaps even more reservations than previously.

In Volume 1, Yuu found herself in the precarious and uncomfortable position of being the object of a crush by a person she admires, but just does not have romantic feelings for. In order to support Touko, she agrees to become a member of the student council.

But now Touko has begun to press harder. Having decided that she loves Yuu, she crosses the line into coercing kisses from Yuu, who is naturally distressed by this. She still admires Touko and really wants to be with her, but just does not feel that way.

Compounding the issue are the other members of the Council. Touko’s childhood friend and Vice President, Sayaka,  is both protective and possessive of Touko. The other first-year appear to think of their personal drama as a form of entertainment.

When Touko and Yuu study at Yuu’s home, Touko gets very embarrassed from overstimulation and Yuu is forced, again, to wonder if there is something wrong with her.

But when it turns out that Touko has been competing with a deceased older sister, it is Yuu that steps up and demands she be herself, rather than someone else. Yuu and Touko (again) agree that the way it is between them right now is good enough and they’ll keep it this way.

Loving someone very hard is not enough in the real world. But in this awkward presumed-romance, we’re supposed to be rooting for Touko, assured that Yuu will see her lack of feelings as just doubting herself. That is all the same as it as in Volume 1, but in Volume 2, we’re supposed to be happy that Touko coerces a kiss from Yuu.  I’m not happy about it all. It makes me view Touko with suspicion.

On the other hand, Yuu is really digging into her lack of response to Touko in an interesting way. At this point she wishes she did feel something. Yuu still has not put a name to her lack of feelings – and her situation is positioned awkwardly. She does have some emotion around Touko – admiration and just a hint of something else, but Yuu doesn’t think it’s romantic love or desire and we have to take her word for that.

I’m still not sure if Yuu is supposed to be confused because she just hasn’t had an “a-ha!” moment or because she’s genuinely asexual. I don’t think the mangaka knows, either and I’m positive Yuu herself has no idea.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 6
Service – 1

Overall – 8, still with reservations

I’m going to keep hanging on to this series because I want both Yuu and Touko to grow past this thing they have laying between them, but I’m not sure I want them to be together at the end of this series, despite the cover art. It might be better for them both if they aren’t.

Posted in Bloom Into You / Yagate Kimi ni Naru, Nakatani Nio, Yuri Manga | 11 Comments »


LGBTQ Manga: Otouto no Otto, Volume 2 (弟の夫)

June 12th, 2016

OtnOt2In Otouto no Otto, Volume 1, we meet Yaichi, a Japanese man whose entire life is turned upside-down by the arrival of his late brother’s Canadian husband, Mike. 

In Otouto no Otto, Volume 2, (弟の夫) Yaichi is confronted by the existence of many things he just never wanted to deal with before, but which will not wait for his convenience.

But first, we meet Kana’s mother, who is a perfectly nice person. She and Yaichi are friendly and Mike thinks they suit each other well, and Yaichi has to admit the marriage failing was pretty much on him.

More and more we can see that Yaichi is a traditional Japanese man, who never really thought he’d have to think much beyond his job, and expected, in a sort of vague way, that things would be “normal” for him.

For one thing, Yaichi has never truly dealt with the fact that his beloved brother was gay and he never really accepted that. He’s confused by his own feelings about Ryouji’s death and Mike’s relationship with his brother. And there’s his daughter, Kana, who stubbornly refuses to be embarrassed by this hairy, foreign, gay uncle.

Mike continues on his quest to visit his late husband’s early life and as he and Yaichi become more friendly, by sharing stories of Ryouji, Yaichi begins to question a lot of what he thought and felt…and it’s making really him uncomfortable.

In the meantime, Kana is also starting to feel the effects of homophobia, as friend’s parents share rumors and keep their children from playing with Kana. Her distress is upsetting to Yaichi, who feels extra guilt because he himself was just as homophobic as the neighbors.

The damn begins to break when a neighborhood kid starts hanging around and finally breaks down to tell Mike that he too, is gay. Understanding that Ryouji must have felt that alone is the final push Yaichi needs to begin to empathize.

But as the book ends, Yaichi’s dreams are just getting weirder and weirder…would he be okay if the gay kid was his own? What if he started liking Mike “that way”? What if…?

I love this series. It’s covering everything all at once, and without anger, but with a calm, pleasant conviction that all the negativity needs to be surfaced to be understood and seen to be banished. Yaichi is everyman and watching him painfully confront his own bias and discontent is both satisfying and frustrating in equal measure.

I’m gonna say flat out there are not enough awards to give this series. It’s an excellent read. At the Tokyo Comics Showcase, Vol.1, Tagame-sensei (who is a lovely, lovely man) said that he doesn’t know what the average reader of Action Comics thinks of his manga, but that he is getting a lot of positive feedback. And that, I think, is the beginning of change.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 10
LGBTQ – 10
Service – 5

Overall – 10

Thank you, Tagame-sensei, for being part of the beginning of change.

2017 Update: Pantheon Books has released it in a gorgeous English-language (what will be 2-volume, so Volume 1 includes this Japanese V2) edition. My Brother’s Husband, Volume 1 has launched! 

Posted in LGBTQ | 5 Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – June 11, 2016

June 11th, 2016

YNN_Lissa

Yuri Event

If you weren’t already planning on attending, get yourself down to AnimeNEXT in Atlantic City today at 3:30 for my last lecture of the first half of 2016! I’ll be talking “Yuri, Yaoi/Boy’s Love, Bara – How Fandom Made Queer Manga Possible” in Panel Room 319 at 3:30 PM. Prizes for good questions, as usual.

 

Yuri Manga

Well. Last week, we had a veritable deluge of amazing licenses from Seven Seas! They will be bringing out both Side A and Side B of the Okujou no Yurirei-san manga volumes under the western Kindred Spirits name. Both volumes were cute without being creepy, so that’s something we can really enjoy fully.

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Morinaga Milk-sensei is well represented with two new series, The Secret of the Princess (Ohime-sama no Himitsu) and her current series, Hana  and Hina Afterschool (Hana to Hina no Houkago).

Most exciting of all, they have licensed Takashima Hiromi’s Kase-san series, a series that has consistently made my Top Ten Lists and which was named Best Yuri Manga of 2014! (Here are my reviews of Asagao to Kase-san, Obentou to Kase-san and Shortcake to Kase-san.)

So kudos to Seven Seas and thanks for their continuing efforts to expand Yuri in the west. Good for them and good for us. You can be sure I’ll have links to these as soon as pre-orders are up. Now go tell friends – it’s up to us to make this a successful market.  ^_^

Yuri Comics and Novels

While we’re celebrating, let’s do a little jig at the news from Moviepilot.com that a Legend of Korra comic is coming from Dark Horse and it picks up after the series ends, Korra x Asami intact. Whee! (And btw, this site is your new best friend. Bookmark it.) YNN Correspondent Jennifer Y-D say she got the Free Comic Book Day prequel issue and it was great. This comic cannot come fast enough for me.

One more exciting publication on the horizon in English – the Steven Universe episode “The Answer”, which details the circumstances of Garnet’s origin will be made into a book, according to moviepilot.com. (I did tell you they were your new best friend.) And they have a lovely interview with Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar on why LGBTQ representation in cartoons is so important.

ANN has the news that Card Captor Sakura is getting it’s own newspaper.

And as a special for Pride month, YNN Correspondent Jennifer Y-D wants you to know that Humble Bundle has a LGBTQ book offer for Pay Whay You Want, which includes a number of graphic novels, as well as fiction and non-fiction books. This is an amazing deal – don’t miss it!

Yuri Visual Novel

A few weeks ago, we announced yet another Yuri VN coming down the pike. J. Kaplan has a new work coming out on Steam in a couple of weeks, called Highway Blossoms. Yuri Nation has an interview with J on the project. And I’ll be talking to him after I get a look at the VN! It looks pretty unique and I’m really holding out high hopes for it.

Yuri Light Novel

Paul Chapman at Crunchyroll News has the “what the what?” news of the month so far, with the scoop on Super Dash resurrecting the Read or Die Light Novel series!?!  You might remember from my reviews that the series basically crashed to a halt in Volume 8, then limped along for a few volumes, then just sort of stopped midway through an arc.  It’ll be interesting to see if Kurata can manage an ending for the epic series.

Other News

In my capacity as resident Quora expert about all things gay and animated, I wrote an answer to this question Why does everyone believe that Elsa is a lesbian just because she didn’t have a love interest in Frozen? that includes the gayest possible reading of Let It Go and the hope that we get a Disney romantic duet between Elsa and what I hope will be her dashing Princess.  ^_^

Speaking of gay media, Kitschmix.tv is a new on-demand service for lesbian movies and webseries that looks amazing. You can watch classics like Desert Hearts and brand new series like Carmilla. And it gets extra cred for the name.

Which brings me to a rewind. Someone legit asked if Kitschmix was carrying anime. No, but they don’t have to. You can already get a ton of classic Yuri anime (like Aoi Hana and Strawberry Panic) on Viewster and newer stuff (like Sakura Trick and Sailor Moon Crystal on Crunchyroll, free  – and legally.  And don’t forget company channels, like Revolutionary Girl Utena on Youtube. No need to reinvent perfectly good wheels. Nonetheless, it’s good to have a one-stop shop for live action series. ^_^

Our buddy Zan Christensen, publisher of LGBTQ comics and prose (with whom I have an upcoming project, squee!) made a splash this month with his pointed protest of Apple’s iTunes censorship of LGBTQ comics. This is not the first time they have pulled this and unless iTunes users complain, it won’t be the last.

We’re going to wrap up with some exciting, if mutedly so, news from Japan. Takarazuka City is the fourth Japanese municipality to offer same-sex certificates, and the first in Kansai. I want to run “fantasy themed” wedding packages so much and I don’t even like weddings. ^_^

 

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!

Posted in Yuri Network News | 2 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Houseki no Youna Mono (宝石のようなもの）

June 9th, 2016

HnYMMMSince we’re doing stories that are kind of cringeworthy except when they are not, this seems like a really good time to review the latest collection by Momono Moto, Houseki no Youna Mono (宝石のようなもの). This is a collection of Momono-sensei’s doujinshi in a self-published, but very highly produced volume.

The collection is mostly one-shots, but it includes two doujinshi based on her own works, Kimi Koi Limit and Rainy Song, both of which have been reviewed here on Okazu. In “Kimi Koi Limit Plus” we see that Satomi and Sono are still together and that things basically look okay for them.

It becomes obvious by the end of this book that Momono-sensei likes her attraction salty-tears flavored and her favorite form of complexity for a character is melancholy. None of these stories were bad in any way, and most of the couples end up together, if that kind of thing works for you.

The art was variable since, as I mentioned these are one-shots drawn over time, but overall, you can’t really fault her for technique. Her art is slick and you can really tell the later work vs the former, as the art is visibly more layered and tighter.

I mentioned that this is a self-published volume, but I want to highlight the high-quality of the production. This is a professionally put together book, not at all out of place on shelves with Ichijinsha or Futabasha books.

This collection fills a need that I would personally like to see more of – professional artists collecting their original doujinshi. Like Amano Shuninta’s Philosophia, this gives us a chance to see the artists, free of editorial interference…and a glimpse into their hearts directly.

Ratings:

Art – 6-8
Story – Averaging at 7
Characters – 6 I can’t ever quite *like* most of her characters
Service – 5 There are some sex scenes and nudity
Yuri – 9

Overall – 7

Honestly, I intended to be a little unkind about this book when I started the review, but talked myself into liking it about halfway. ^_^

If you like Momono-sensei’s work, I recommend taking a look at Watashi no Muchina Watashi no Michi, Volume 1 and Volume 2 (which was reviewed here, although Volume 1 never was.)

Posted in Momono Moto, Yuri Doujinshi, Yuri Manga | No Comments »