Yuri Manga Anthology: Yu-Ribon (ユリボン)

February 24th, 2015

yu-ribonBirz magazine has been rarely mentioned over the years here on Okazu. Not because I don’t like it, it just hasn’t been relevant to our topics. But with the inclusion of the Yuri Kuma Arashi manga, and this new Yuri Anthology, Yu-Ribon, it’s time to have that conversation.

Even in families full of oddballs, there are good crazies and bad crazies. ^_^ Comic Birz is one of the, if not always bad crazy, then always just plain crazy. Birz reminds me of a specific person I used to know  – every conversation with her was conducted in a bizarro world of her own making. Even when the conversations were not awful, they were just strange.

So, the idea of a Yuri anthology from this comic was a challenging concept. Would it be knives in the head, tentacles or schoolgirls?

Tl;dr – It was schoolgirls.

Except for the story with the knives in the head.

A number of the creators names will be familiar to us here, Kanojo no Camera to Kanojo no Kisetsu creator Tsukiko, Manga no Tsukurikata‘s Hirao Auri, Takahashi Mako.  Others will be less well-known, perhaps, but no less capable.

The stories are lodged firmly in the “eternal school” of Yuri relationships and a number of them are notably more about friends than lovers.

And so the volume goes. I was three stories from the end and thought, “wow, not one weird story yet!” I was wrong, as usual. ^_^”Heru” by Tsubana is not really Yuri in any sense, but there sure were a lot of knives involved. No violence, no blood, Just knives. It was classic Birz.  Upon my wife’s request, here is an example.

Birz

My favorite story of the collection came immediately afterward. “Eye Contact Visitor Game” about a famous softball player and her friend that went so far as to include the word “like” and everything! (“How progressive,” says the wife.”)

If I had to choose, I’d pick this kind of bland not-lesbians, not-love “Yuri” over breast squeezing and bodily fluids, but, just.

Ratings:

Although the ratings are variable, the art is pretty good throughout.

Overall – 7

Not bad, not great. And knives in the head, so your mileage might vary on that.

Posted in Yuri Anthology, Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »


LGBTQ Comic: Doukyonin no Bishoujo ga Lesbian Datta Ken (同居人の美少女がレズビアンだった件)

February 22nd, 2015

DnBgLdKMakimura Asako is a woman who, for the last few years, has been working very hard to make a name for herself in Japan as a LGBTQ advocate and activist with books like Yuri no Real and her essay on being a “Yuri” otaku in the Eureka “Current State of Yuri Culture” issue. In Doukyonin no Bishoujo ga Lesbian Datta Ken (同居人の美少女がレズビアンだった件), she and her erstwhile roomate, artist Koike Miki, create an autobiographical comic essay about her life.

The principle concept is that in expensive Tokyo, there are “share houses” which function much like a dormitory – as many as 16 people in a room with bunk beds, sharing a kitchen and bath facilities. Koike, having come to Tokyo for a job, finds herself renting space in a share house and meeting Makimura. Makimura Asako, former Miss Japan finalist and TV personality, comes out to her housemates and they just sort of all get over themselves.

The middle of the book is more autobiography about Makimura’s life and experiences coming out and building a career post-coming out. And then…she falls in love. Her girlfriend, known here as “Mori-girl” or “Moriga” for short, is a French woman who was into anime that ran on French TV, learned Japanese and came to the land of miruku and hachimitsu. She and “Makimuuu~” meet at a club and fall in love. Now the housemates have to not only deal with the idea of a lesbian, but the actuality of a lesbian couple.

Ultimately, Koike and Makimura move out together, while Makimura travels the world, Koike stays behind to work on this book, which was, in part, motivated by Higashi Koyuki and Masahara Hiroko’s own bio comic essay Lesbian-teki Kekkon Seikatsu. We get a little side trip into Koike’s interest in having a romantic partner, but not much. There is quite a lot about Makimura meeting and being accepted by her French in-laws, and a bit about Same-Sex Marriage becoming legal in France. These are paralleled by Koike’s struggle to make the book work, and her editor’s coming out as Trans*.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
LGBTQ – 10

Overall – 10

Overall, this is a pleasant read, with an emphasis on the cute and silly moments, and nods to the struggles of LGBTQ folks, without wallowing. If I were teaching a class in Japan on LGBTQ issues, this seems like it would make a nice addition to the curriculum.

Posted in Comic Essay, LGBTQ | 4 Comments »


It’s Utter Nonsense 2015!

February 21st, 2015

No YNN Report today. It’s been a while since I’ve declared it to be ‘Utter Nonsense’ time here on Okazu. Two years in fact. So…it’s “Utter Nonsense’ time once again on Okazu!

What is “Utter Nonsense’ time, you ask? Well, it’s when you ask me questions about…life, love, blogging, anime, manga, Yuri, whatever. And I do my very best to answer you without lifting a finger to do any research. ^_^ For previous Q&As, check out the Now This is Only My Opinion Category here on Okazu,. and take a look at the kinds of things people have asked previously.

Back in 2012, we did a Livestream Yuri Panel and it went really well. I was thinking of doing something similar this time this spring. Send me amazing questions and I’ll answer them live  – and we can take questions from folks “attending” live!

There are a few rules for sending in questions:

1) I will not answer questions about “what is your favorite….” I find them difficult to answer, as I really don’t have favorites. And generally, people are looking for external validation anyway and when my favorite does not sync with theirs, they get annoyed. So, let’s not. ^_^

2) No A/B choice questions like “ham or cheese” or “Coke or Pepsi” questions, please.  They aren’t all that interesting for any of us and I can tell you honestly, the answer is almost always “neither of the two.”

3) If you want to ask me what I see as the future of Yuri or why I like Yuri, I beg you to read all the previous iterations of my answers to these questions. If you have a question about Yuri that I have not previously addressed, bring it on!

4) No questions that can be answered by 30 seconds of actually READING one of my reviews here. Also, asking me “what do you think of so-and-so anime/fandom” is not going to give you the external validation you crave, nor will I rise to the bait of using it as a springboard to rant about a fandom, either. Don’t know if I’ve reviewed a thing you want to know about? Look to the right—->

See that empty box on the sidebar that says “Search Okazu“? Try that first.  ^_^

5) Lastly, no “define the term” questions. The answers have been posted here:  https://okazu.yuricon.com/glossary/.

Now, I realize that this makes it harder to ask me questions. But the harder you work at the questions, the harder I have to work at the answering, so it’s a fair deal. The funnier the question, the better chance of an amusing answer. ^_^

Please post your questions in the comments here and I’ll figure out a date for a Livestream Yuri Panel for all of us.

I’m looking forward to your questions!

Posted in Now This Is Only My Opinion | 13 Comments »


Support the Queers and Comics conference with Queer Pin-up Cards!

February 20th, 2015

In conjunction with Northwest Press, the Queers and Comics Conference, in New York City, May 7-8, 2015, is fundraising with a set of original Queer Pin-Ups.

The list of contributors is a great overview  of Queer Comics in America today.  The list includes many folks we consider friends here, Rica Takashima, Jennifer Camper, Mari Naomi, Carlo Quispe, Kris Dresen, JD Glass and and Bara sensation, Gengoroh Tagame.  And of course many more. Check out the full list on the Northwest Page.

Many of these folks will be participating at the conference, as well. I’ll be running a session on Yuri manga and moderating another. As soon as details are avaiable, I’ll get them to you. ^_^ This is going to be a fantastic conference!

Queer Pin-Ups Cards, from Northwest Press
$15 pre-orders, $20 afterwards

This is a one-of-a-kind gift and a fantastic way to support queer comics in America!

Posted in Events, LGBTQ, Western Comic/Comix, Yuri Network News | 6 Comments »


LGBTQ Comic: Sunstone (English)

February 18th, 2015

sunstone1If you’re paying attention to the larger world of comics, the name Stjepan Seijic will be known to you. A popular webcomic artist, he has recently taken over as artist on the Image Comics series Rat Queens – presumably after Top Cow had picked up this work by him, and after the previous artist was arrested. I had encountered this work some months ago and since then, it’s being poking at me, reminding me of…something. I just figured out what that something is.

Sejic’s series Sunstone is a very adult comic, about two women who are into BDSM and who encounter each other online. Ally and Lisa meet and find that they are very compatible with each other and each other’s lives.  There is no “plot” per se. This is a slice-of-life where the lives are lived by two adult woman who enjoy BDSM.

I have long said that BDSM is well-suited to a format like text or comics, where everything can be beautiful and sensual without any banal reality. In Sunstone, Sejic’s really captured everything I mean by that. The characters are attractive and sexy. No one has acne, or is glumpy, or has a verbal tic. Even when they fret and stress it’s idealised and cute. Which works, but also leaves me wishing someone had a verbal tic or something. ^_^;

As I’ve said, there is no plot – as Lisa tells us right way, in fact. There’s no evil wizard, no rescue from the tower, just adult lives that intersect, intertwine…and, assumably, at some point in the future, part.

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On the positive side, this book is really beautiful. On the negative, I found myself wandering off mid-scene a few times. Lisa and Ally are too flawless as people, and the subject of BDSM, while sort of interesting for me for a ten minute conversation isn’t interesting enough for me for an entire comic.  I did find the “Making of” section in the end and the lots of pretty pictures very much worth my time. I’m definitely not complaining.

There was just that something poking and nagging at me as I turned page after page feeling like I had read something like this somewhere before….

…and then it hit me!

Maka-Maka. You remember it, right? Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Kishi Torajiro, were put out by Media Blasters in 2008 and 2009. These two volumes were arguably the very best work MB ever did in print. The story followed two women, Nene and Jun, and their friends-with-benefits relationship.The art in Sunstone is prettier, and the BDSM is portrayed very sincerely and positively (no 50 Shades-ish lack of consent or comprehension here) but there were specific expressions that were so similar I had to laugh. I’m not saying Sejic copied – I doubt he even knows Maka Maka existed – just that some of the character’s expressions, are similar enough that the one reminded me of the other. Lisa’s expressions, particularly, reminded me of Jun on a few panels.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 5 Slice-of-BDSM-life
Characters – 7 Likable, which makes it all work. No one here is a jerk.
Yuri – 8 Ally and Lisa definitely like each other. Love could happen.
Service – How do I even score this!? The story is pretty much a collection of nudity and sexual situations.

Overall – 6

It was not a compelling story for me, but it was beautiful to look at and I’m glad to have had a chance to read it. If you are interested in BDSM, you’ll get more out of it. For those who are interested, Volume 2 will be available in May 2015.

Posted in Hentai, Western Comic/Comix | 5 Comments »