Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Liberty, Volume 2 (リバティ)

August 19th, 2022

In Volume 1  Liz, the emotionally fragile singer for a band Liberty. And we met Maki, who is  is managing  the Liberty account for her company. Liz is a real handful, too, as she tends to use sex as a weapon.  Despite that, Maki has fallen for Liz. And sometimes, she thinks Liz returns the feeling. However, every time they get a little closer, something sets Liz off again, leaving Maki unsure of what she is to the singer.

Liberty, Volume 2 (リバティ) begins with another of the things that sets Liz off. Only this time it wasn’t a thing, it was a person. The very fashionable and sexy Sumire who works for Liberty’s newest sponsor. It’s immediately obvious to us, the reader, that there is some history between Liz and Sumire.  Unable to say no to Sumire, Liz finds herself seduced, possibly coerced…and more possibly that this is how they always have been since they met in school. Liz is ashamed of herself and unwilling to talk to Maki, who is feeling left out. All of this brings up an unwelcome memory for Maki as well.

We have hit pure Jondalar Syndrome* here, my friends. One honest conversation would end this manga. So, of course, that ain’t gonna happen.

*Jondalar Syndrome is named after one of the characters from The Mammoth Hunters (one of the Clan of the Cave Bear series.) Had he and Ayla ever just discussed anything at all, the book would have ended instantly. It was a nightmare for me, a Virgo (which has a lot of mythological tie-ins to communication), with a fetish for good communication practices between people. Made me so angry I named a bad plot device after it, for when two people just do not have the conversation they need to have as a plot driver.

Since this manga is about the drama – and about giving Liz makeovers – and it is drawn by queen of manipulative drama and mopey leads Momono Moto, I’m cool with it. But, I follow the author, Kitta Izumi on Twitter and she’s vehement about being one’s authentic self in public, so I’m hoping that we’ll get to a better place for both Maki and Liz.

I love the art in this manga, I think this is Momono-sensei’s best work to date. It’s super stylish, which suits the world in which it is set. And I love that Maki has a good friend who will realtalk her when everyone else around is either ignoring her or…what? I’m sure Maki doesn’t yet know what her role is in this story, but by the end of the volume, she may be getting there. I’ll wait on tenterhooks to see how things develops.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 7 we’re in a bit of a holding pattern in this volume
Characters – In the real world, we’d all gently suggest Liz speak to a therapist. For the story, she’s a walking plot complication
Service – Not really. Both the sex appeal and the sex are adult and mature.
Yuri – 10 Yuri all the way down

Overall – 8

While I wait, I have Volume 22 of Galette magazine to read, and Volume 23 will be debuting at Comitia next month!





Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit, Volume 4

August 12th, 2022

In Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit, Volume 4 this goofy story starts to do something it has not previously done.

First, a disclaimer! My last review was for Volume 2 of this series. It’s not that I disliked Volume 3, it just did nothing new and it locked itself into a space I don’t much care for, with Hayate and Honey unable to tell each other their feelings for reasons. The one good thing about Volume 3 is a spoiler, so I’ll avoid it, because in this volume, it becomes even more of a giant question mark over everyone’s heads.

So here in Volume 4 of this transforming suit hero style series, (a la Kamen Rider) several things shift. The Antinoid leaders are showing some humanity here and it’s out of place in this style of story. This feels like one of two things are happening – either this story is going to wrap up soon or it will have to take another tack. As I haven’t kept up with the Japanese edition, I can’t say for sure which way the story is going. Either way works equally as well for me.

What I can say is that the problem I had with Volume 3 is resolved here in a grand gesture at the end of a series chock-full of grand gestures.  Where will the story take our plucky heroines? We’ll have to check back in Volume 5 and see!

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Service – 1 Pretty low here, comparatively
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7

I’m kind of interested to see how this wraps up, honestly.

Will we actually get an explanation of the antinoids? Will it matter? Tune in next episode…erm, volume! ^_^

Also the bad guys have an alternate family. That was interesting.





白と黒~Black & White~, Volume 2

August 11th, 2022

In Volume 1, we met Shirakawa Junko and Kuroda Kayo two high-spec, elites in an international sales department, who are natural enemies. They don’t just fight…in fact, they don’t fight at all. Their battle is in the world of reputation. Who among their colleagues loves them best, who respects them the most. They go for the throat in business…and in bed. This hate-hate relationship consumes them both.

In Volume 2 of 白と黒~Black & White~ by Sal Jiang, both Kuroda and Shirakawa find themselves facing a new, unwelcome problem. They may not actually hate one another! Certainly, the people around them are sure that the two of them are close. And they are…physically, at any rate. HR has housed them in the company dorm as neighbors.  Shirakawa befriends Hashimoto, another lesbian in the ranks, who has just been surprise promoted in HR. It’s easy for Shirakawa to get Hashimoto as a confidant, but when Hashimoto asks her to say exactly what Kuroda is to her, Shirawkawa has no answer.

Kuroda is gung-ho when the entire sales department visits Singapore. So gung-ho, that she oversteps her authority and makes a deal she had no right to make. Kuroda, who had been taken under the wing of an established exec, Sakakibara, was feeling pretty chuffed, but now she’s in a tizzy. Reprimanded, she apologizes for making Sakakibara look bad.  Kuroda is also asked what Shirakawa is to her and she also has no answer.

Both women are driven and, now, jealous, and neither will give in. Where can Kuroda and Shirakawa even go from here?

There’s less overt violence in this volume, with one exception, but still, Shirakawa and Kuroda are a “yikes” couple in every way. Their loathing of each other is Shakespearean in scale…love would not help. But jealousy? That’s right in their wheelhouse. Two terrible people being terrible, but only to each other and only in a way that hurts no one else. This is perfection. I love this manga so much. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Service – 7 Not a lot of nudity, but a lot of sex and violence
Yuri – 7 Above, and now, jealousy!

Overall – 10

Best manga since GUNJO for best worst couple. I mean, just look at that cover! ^_^

You too will be able to enjoy this manga in English when Black & White Tough Love at the Office comes out in October from Seven Seas!





Whisper Me A Love Song, Volume 5

August 8th, 2022

One of the common unwritten rules in manga is that backstories are poignant. When we learn why our enemy is so driven we’re supposed to care. We’re supposed to feel for them.

Whisper Me A Love Song, Volume 5 takes that rule and tosses it in the bin. ^_^

The Battle of the Bands approaches and Himari is vexed by the fact that SS Girls and Lorelei members don’t get along. One day while out and about, Hima runs into Shiho, Lorelei’s aggressive front woman. And finally, we learn her back story.

It is, quite possibly the least sympathetic backstory we have ever heard. In fact, it’s so bad, that even Shiho realizes how appalling she comes off. Despite this, Himari becomes convinced that she can make the two bands friends again. She pulls strings and bakes cookies, in order to bring them together.

In any other series, surely we would have gotten at least a partial reconciliation. But no. Shiho doubles down on being the villain in this sweet, soft fluffy series about nothing at all. Dedicated to her role, Shiho comes up with a deal so devilish that no one could possibly have expected the Shiho Inquisition…..!

As summer dawns, and their time to make memories is upon them, Himari is to be separated from her beloved Yori-sempai and take over as the manager for Lorelei! Gasp!

I know, I know, but hear me out. This is a HUGE conflict for this series. Himari and Yori won’t get to spend as much time together! I mean, it’s high school, you only have so many summers. Man, that Shiho is a meanie. In the meantime, Yori and the rest of SS Girls are putting everything on the line, and writing new music to take Lorelei out. And this is done with so many bright smiles and cute expressions that it’s utterly impossible to not care.

Props to Kevin Steinbach for a translation that sounds like very serious-minded  young women who are hopelessly, adorably in love. Jennifer Skarupa’s lettering lets us have a smooth reading experience, although I will always prefer giving letterers time and money to do full retouch. Hats off to Tiff Joshua TJ Ferentini for seamless editing and Matt Akuginow’s lovely cover design. All of which means, when I sit down to enjoy Himari gushing over Yori and Yori melting into a puddle at her girlfriend’s smile, nothing gets in my way of goofy grinning!

I know you all know I like mean women, but sometimes, you just want an adorably sweet story about a cute young couple being absurdly happy in your general presence to make life on this planet seem like it’s worth it. When I need that, Whisper Me A Love Song is just the ticket.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 0 It’s such a delight
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8

SS Girls is working on a killer set, let me tell you…! ^_^





How Do We Relationship, Volume 6, Guest Review by Matt Marcus

August 3rd, 2022

Matt Marcus is a cohost of various projects on the Pitch Drop Podcast Network, such as the anime watchalong podcast Boku No Stop, which is currently covering the yuri anime Flip Flappers.

Well, here we are: How Do We Relationship, Volume 6. Miwa had her heart crushed, Saeko is trying to move on past their previous relationship, but the two are entangled yet again in a physical relationship but in an even more messy guise.

In the role reversal of the century, Saeko immediately apologizes to Miwa for treating her like a piece of meat–but much to her chagrin, Miwa is happy to be used because it means that she is still wanted. This time, it is Miwa who is using sex to escape how terrible she feels about herself, and the two end up in an ambiguous relationship. Over time though, Saeko helps bring Miwa back out of her depressive slump and back to school life. Eventually, Saeko shuts down their arrangement because for her, the love is gone.

Meanwhile, Saeko continues to slowly show more of her vulnerability to Yuria. In fact, she’s come to the realization that she is way more transparent about her feelings than she realized. When the inevitable happens and the two start dating, Saeko treats her with true kindness and consideration. It’s an incredible turnaround from the end of the previous volume, yet it feels completely earned. It seems bizarre to say, but, perhaps for the first time in the series, there are moments that are truly heartwarming.

Miwa is now forced to move on, and this is where things get a little…odd. With Shiho’s words still lingering in her head, she wonders if it would be easier to just date men instead. Weirdly, Saeko encourages this, which leads to a plot thread involving a handsome manager of a cafe where Miwa works. Now, sexuality is a fluid thing, but to my mind it would be very strange for the story, and for Miwa as a character in particular, if she fully explored this direction, even if only to reject it later. (Remember her turning down Tsurata in Volume 3?) Miwa admits to herself that she has some kind of abstract attraction to the “kind of guy” the manager is, but she isn’t convinced that she is really attracted to him.

This thought experiment doesn’t leave the hypothesis phase when she meets a new first year named Tamaki who bears a striking resemblance to Shiho. I would say this is another strange twist. In a way, it feels like falling back on old habits, especially when Miwa–before detecting any interest from the painfully blunt first year–states to Saeko that she might end up getting a girlfriend again after all. The volume ends hinting that the two may become closer very shortly.

Really, Saeko steals the show here. She shows an amazing amount of growth as a character. That said, I would have liked to see her at least take some responsibility for shutting out Miwa when her past came up. In fact, even after Miwa finally gave her the whole story on her Okinawa trip, Saeko did not fully reciprocate with Miwa by telling her about her middle school. I am hoping that her relationship with Yuria will give her the comfort she needs to address those issues head-on because they still feel unresolved. Nevertheless, this is the best version of her we see so far and it feels fantastic to see it on the page.

Miwa, on the other hand, acts really terribly in the early chapters by pushing on Saeko’s boundaries in a way that is quite uncomfortable to read in a couple of instances. Even after her recovery, she feels a bit unmoored in the second half of the volume. I trust that Tamifull will pull off her arc, but the path towards it is not entirely clear. Oh, and Shiho doesn’t make an appearance in this volume at all, which was disappointing to me.

I mentioned back in my review of Volume 4 that this manga captures the tumultuousness of college. Part of what contributes to that feeling is how the story tends to slip forward in large chunks of time. That becomes the most jarring in this volume, because Miwa’s rapport with Saeko changes seemingly on a dime. One chapter, she’s crying her eyes out realizing that any chance of dating Saeko again is truly gone, and the very next scene opens with her beaming to hear about Saeko’s first date with Yuria. It is nice to see that they are still friends and can openly discuss such things without hurt feelings simmering underneath like in the past, but it just feels too soon for the reader.

All in all, this volume felt a little more uneven than past volumes but improved greatly on later rereads. Its biggest flaw is lacking some narrative connective tissue that would have made certain plot turns feel more natural. Perhaps Tamifull felt that we had wallowed enough in the Bad Feels Zone and that it was time to kickstart the next phase. At any rate, with a new school term starting, there are still plenty of credits to earn.

Art – 8 Continues to carry the story well
Story – 7 More of a mixed bag than previous volumes, but with really high highs
Characters – 8 Finally, some serious growth for Saeko and some forward momentum for Miwa
Service – 2 The sex is the least “appealing” that it’s been so far
Yuri – 8 / LGBTQ – 7 docking it one yuri point for Mr. Cafe Man

Overall – 8

Tamifull loves a good callback, and this time he “swung” for the fences. See if you can spot it.

Erica here: Thank you so much Matt! I’ve got Volume 8 on my plate in Japanese and I have to say, I’m actually really interested in where this is going. ^_^