Akuma no Riddle Manga/Riddle Story of a Devil, Volume 3 (悪魔のリドル) （JP and EN)

November 9th, 2015

AnR3There’s almost no point in reviewing Akuma no Riddle (悪魔のリドル) as a manga series, since clearly the manga was contracted out by Kadokawa to illustrate the anime and not much more. This is frustrating, as I quite like Kouga Yun and would have liked a chance to see her flex her writing skills a bit.

Instead, we have a nearly word-for-word repetition of the anime, with no new depth or information about the characters.

Volume 3 follows arcs set around the school festival, including one about the one apparently Yuri couple, otokoyaku-like Kirigaya Hitsugi and her nemesis with whom she’s fallen in love, Namatame Chitaru. Their arc is almost tangential to the hunt for Haru, so it’s a bit of a relief when they, as Romeo and Juliet, die on stage during the school festival and make room for more actual assassination attempts.

At this point, it’s hard to not feel pity for the broken (and obviously doomed to fail) members of Class Black. Haru hasn’t been more than scared slightly and whatever baggageTokaku is carrying isn’t stopping her from being an effective bodyguard. In fact, the only reason to read this series to relive the set up, so that hopefully, we’ll get an explanation at the very end that makes some sense. ^_^;

I was able to read this book twice, in fact, to fully appreciate how silly it is. Once in Japanese and again, using the relaunched Global Bookwalker. For that one, I purchased the English edition, Riddle Story of a Devil, Volume 3. (The print edition from Volume 3 from Seven Seas has a release date in April 2016. Seven Seas clarified on Twitter that the Bookwalker edition is Kadokawa’s own content and translation.) The Bookwalker format worked beautifully on my phone. Pages were crystal clear, easy to zoom in and out, with very nice color pages of various “couples” in the series. I’ve got a Japanese light novel next on the thing and if it works half as well, I’m going to be a really happy reader.

Ratings:

Art – Competent
Story – Ridiculous
Character – Tragic
Yuri – Contrived
Service – Of course

Overall – 7

This series is brain candy, if your brain likes assassination by absurd means, pointless conspiracies, and whole plotlines that make no sense, are never developed and have no connection to the actual story. ^_^

Posted in English Manga, Miscellaneous | 5 Comments »


LGBTQ Manga: Otouto no Otto (弟の夫)

November 8th, 2015

OnO1If there is, in 2015, a single series I would call “most-anticipated,” Tagame Gengoroh’s Otouto no Otto (弟の夫) is that series.

Tagame-sensei is best known in North America for his overtly sexual comics by about and for gay men, with an emphasis on large, hairy men (what are called “bears” in western gay vernacular). The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame and Massive, an adult anthology, are available in English.

In an interview on Tokyo Underground, Tagame-sensei  talks about drawing comics for gay men’s magazines and BL magazines. This series is his first gay series for a more mainstream men’s manga magazine, Monthly Action. This magazine is notably published by Futabasha, which also published Morinaga Milk’s GIRL FRIENDS. Clearly, there are some allies on the Futabasha staff.

The protagonist of Otouto no Otto (弟の夫) , My Brother’s Husband, is Yaichi, a single father, who has been estranged from his now late twin brother for many years. The volume begins on the day his brother’s widower, Mike Flanagan, arrives at Yaichi’s home. Yaichi is not at all comfortable with Mike, or the fact that his brother was gay, or married, but Kana, his daughter, can’t see the problem. The only problem she sees is that she had no idea she had an uncle at all! So when she invites Mike to stay, Yaichi can’t really say no.

The story is both realistic and very poignant, as Mike tries to stay close to his husband by visiting places from his past…and as Yaichi has to deal with the fact that he never really accepted his brother for who he was. Kana is terribly excited to share her newfound uncle with friends, and the only disapproval she expresses is when she learns that in Canada men can marry men, and women can marry women, but not in Japan. “That’s weird,” she says to which Yaichi responds “Right?” She explains patiently, “Its weird that they can’t marry each other here.”

Mike is instantly likable and his emotional range is refreshing and unusual in a manga. Yaichi is the more stereotypical manga male, his emotions left unexpressed and unresolved, while Mike, who is trying so hard to not offend, breaks down in open grief when given his husband’s boyhood bedroom to sleep in.

Overall, one of the most real comics I’ve ever read. Everyone is utterly believable, from Yaichi’s, quiet, non-violent, but omnipresent homophobia, to Kana and her friends’ curiosity about this completely new concept.

The manga ends with Kana’s mother coming over, which will throw another level of complexity into the mix. We do not yet know what her and Yaichi’s relationship is. How will she react to Mike? It’s an interesting cliffhanger for this family drama. Having said that, you know, this would make an excellent live-action TV drama.

Tagame’s art is lovely, favoring simple, realistic backgrounds and some great body language. And there’s a fair dollop of service for people who find the male body appealing. No willowy, long-haired bishounen, these are men with body hair and male genitalia.

I strongly recommend this series, but even more, I strongly hope that you’ll buy the book itself, even if you read it in scans. Your money will support the author and the magazine that threw itself into the ring for work like this. More realistic LGBTQ work in mainstream manga magazine is a very good thing. Think about it – this is a comic about gay men, running in a men’s manga magazine. Not an audience you’d think that would be terribly receptive to a comic about a big, muscular man grieving over the loss of his husband. And yet, so far the feedback seems to be positive.

I know what you’re all thinking right now …”Will it come out in English?” As of 2017, the answer is, yes! Pantheon Books has released it in a gorgeous English-language (what will be 2 volume) edition. My Brother’s Husband, Volume 1 has launched!

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 10
LGBTQ – 10
Service – 4

Overall – 10

For a hotly anticipated series, I have to say, Otouto no Otto actually  manages to exceed expectations. And now I will anticipate Volume 2, when it becomes available.

Posted in LGBTQ | 16 Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – November 7, 2015

November 7th, 2015

YNN_Lissa

Yuri Anime

A few weeks ago, I mentioned new free, legal streaming anime site Viewster. They have a really nice variety of Yuri anime. I mentioned series like Aoi Hana/Sweet Blue Flowers and Strawberry Panic! and YNN Correspondent Day wants you to know that all of Maria-sama Ga Miteru/Maria Watches Over Us is there too! There’s a bunch more, as well, including series that aren’t Yuri, per se, but are favorites among our readers, like Aria. Viewster is providing a great service, picking up series that had become hard to find and new titles, as well.

***

Support Yuri News and Reviews –  Subscribe to Okazu withSubcribe with Patreon***

LGBTQ Comic

I just had a chance to read and will shortly review The Invisible Lesbian by
Oceanerosemarie and Murielle Magelin, translated from the French by Edward Gauvin and I’m going to have to recommend it. It was a pleasant, slightly ridiculous (in  a real-life ridiculous kind of way) story of a woman coming out and getting used to herself. But what really sold me was the comedic timing. I didn’t just laugh…I guffawed. You can get this digitally on Comixology or in French in physical copy.

 

Other News

Buzzfeed takes a look at the paucity of queer superheros.

Ironically when considered in tandem with the above, Comic Book Resources discusses a cover of Marvel’s New Avengers, showing Captain America and Thor kissing as they soar above the city. I know it’s not our usual focus, but hey, it’s a nice picture.

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 | 4 Comments »


Silent Möbius QD Manga, Volume 1 (サイレントメビウスQD)

November 6th, 2015

SMQD1In the late 1980s, Silent Möbius crossed genres, age and gender barriers, utilizing all the various media available at the time; anime, manga, voice drama. It was even melded fantasy and science-fiction in it’s own way. Nothing about Silent Möbius was specifically original, but taken together it was unique. And it had an ending, which at the time was also a little unusual.  The women of the Attacked Mystification Police or AMP for short, were tasked with saving the earth from the invading demon-like beings of Nemesis, known as Lucifer Hawks.

Silent Möbius QD (サイレントメビウスQD) begins a few years after the end of the first series. Rally Cheyenne, founder of AMP, still is CEO of the police. AMP is now comprised of several teams. In Volume 1, we are introduced to the new members of Team Woofer, Team Squawker, Team Tweeter and Team Equalizer…and in those team names you may recognize the technophile hand of the new chief of AMP, Lebia Maverick. Rather than go into detail on the new characters, of which there were many, check out this handy intro to the new faces.

Rally continues to be chief of police, Lebia has taken over as chief of AMP. No other characters have returned thus far, but that’s perfectly fine. Volume one is primarily setting up the new AMP teams and their members, with a focus on the somewhat curmudgeonly Makijima Aoi, whose partner Haifa takes one in the chest for Aoi…who, we come to see, has serious issues about being partnered with anyone. Most mysterious of all, Aoi wields our old friend the wizard’s sword Grospoliner. How and why are left unresolved at the end of volume 1.

As the book opens, we can see that Re-Tokyo is as much as target for 3rd attraction attacks as ever before, and that AMP’s team is more multicultural, and now includes non-humans as well.

Aoi basically mopes through the volume as everyone around her fights their hearts out, until Lebia sends Aoi to the bowels of headquarters to confront the Lucifer Hawk in the basement, who, unnervingly, takes a human form, declares herself Aoi’s new partner and asks to be called Chris. Maybe it’s me, but I found that hilariously out of place after the death and destruction, action and drama of the rest of the “overture,” as the chapters here are titled.

Lebia interested me. She seems to have more than one body now, which makes sense, as you may remember that her consciousness is all but infinite and fully networked. One of these bodies is that of a little girl, thus allowing or maybe requiring Asamiya to have a little moe in this volume. The uniform skirts are shorter than ever. I was almost disappointed in these tiresome ruses for service. I’d always pointed to Silent Möbius as a series that was mature about enjoying the adult female body without resorting to creeping. Apparently nothing in manga is allowed to be mature and non-creepy anymore. I weep for future generations of women.

There is no Yuri, there never was, but it is obvious that Aoi and Haifa’s relationship, of which we see only the violent end, was fraught and intense. I hope that Chris and Aoi’s is equally fraught and intense.

Ratings:

Art – 8 It was nice to not quite be able to see the Lucifer Hawks again
Story – 8 Solid stuff for this series
Characters – There are a lot of them, but I hope we get to learn a bit about PAL and a few others.
Yuri – 0
Service – 4

Overall – 8

This series has already wrapped up after 2 volumes, the second of which will be out in December 2015, so I don’t expect the kind of detailed, complex plot we had with the first series, but I have to say it was really nice to see AMP again. ^_^

Posted in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments »


Triage X Anime (English) Guest Review by Day

November 4th, 2015

TriageXYa know what day it is? It’s Guest Review Wednesday! ^_^ And today we welcome back Guest Reviewer Day, who will be discussing the anime Triage X, available for your viewing pleasure, for free, legally on Crunchyroll. Please welcome Day back with your usual enthusiasm!

Triage X is a show following the exploits of an assassin group known as Black Label which is run out of a hospital and, fittingly, made up primarily of medical professionals. It is also adapted from the manga of the same name by the man responsible for Highschool of the Dead, and it is this piece of information which will likely go a long way toward telling you whether you will likely be able to tolerate Triage X in this first place. That being said, it bears mention that if you watched HSOTD and mused to yourself, “This really would be much better were the breasts three times as large.”, you’re in luck! Triage X very much has obliged in that regard.

I sound maybe a touch snide putting it like that, so it may surprise you when I manage to work myself around to being positive about the show. But, first, details.

As noted above, Triage X is about Black Label, a group that deals with the sorts of criminals who manage to operate beyond the reach of the law in modern Japan. In fits and starts, there’s a wan connecting thread throughout having to do with a mysterious and dangerous drug called Platinum Lily, but it’s perfunctory at best. Instead, the show takes a mini-arc approach where several of the characters get the spotlight for two episodes at a time and get to work through some of their issues against a backdrop of stabbing, shooting, and slashing unpleasant people at the behest of a world-renowned surgeon. Unfortunately, while a couple of these stories have seeds of promise, the severely truncated run-time of the show (ten episodes to adapt roughly ten volumes of manga) prevents them from developing any of that potential.

Speaking of potential, as for Yuri, it’s all in the land of subtext and implications. One of the female doctors has a coterie of female nurses who clamor for her attention and for the privilege of getting to massage her, and there’s a mildly homoerotic undercurrent to her relationship with her physician’s assistant. The strongest eau du Yuri at hand comes in the mini-arc concerning high schooler/assassin Mikoto, who manages to befriend a girl who then turns out to be the nemesis she’s been jousting with during Black Label missions. The two manage to work up a good deal of tension in the short time they get together.

On a different note, it may sound like a silly thing to bother drawing attention to, but I was quite happy that Triage X ended up featuring female doctors in addition to male ones. It’s a very minor point, but I had fully expected to be stuck with the typical “male doctor with lots of female nurses” set-up and felt a sense of relief when that didn’t end up being the case. Leave it to the garbage fanservice show to acknowledge the existence of female doctors, apparently…

I think Triage X will appeal to folks who have enjoyed Ikki Tousen, and from my point of view it’s a very good garbage watch. There’s definitely something satisfying in watching women stab and hack away at the scumbags of society who victimize others, and if I have to endure threats of sexual violence against women in pop culture, the least I could be given in return is the chance to watch these women respond by kicking the crap out of the ones who threaten them so.

Art – 4 (absurdly-proportioned breasts and terrible animation)
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 2
Service – 10+

Overall – 7 (it might be garbage, but it’s my kind of garbage)

Erica here: “Leave it to the garbage fanservice show to acknowledge the existence of female doctors, apparently…”

Japanese evening dramas include female doctors, laywers, cops and the like, although rarely as the lead in a non-comedy, but as for otaku culture, which we know is weirdly conservative and timid, this may well be the truest thing I’ve read in weeks.

I watch Ikkitousen as my garbage watch, so now I’m wondering if I might be able to tolerate this. Probably not. ^_^ Thanks for another fantastic review!

Posted in English Manga | 2 Comments »