Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – August 16, 2014

August 16th, 2014

YNN_LissaComic of Note

150013_603727_3Today’s headline isn’t a manga and it isn’t LGBTQ, but you, my dear readers, really would like it and I want to you to know about it. It’s called Wayward. “Rori Lane is trying to start a new life when she reunites with her mother in Japan, but ancient creatures lurking in the shadows of Tokyo sense something hidden deep within her, threatening everything she holds dear. Can Rori unlock the secrets of her power before it’s too late? JIM ZUB (SKULLKICKERS, Samurai Jack), STEVE CUMMINGS (Legends of the Dark Knight, Deadshot), and JOHN RAUCH (INVINCIBLE) team up to create an all-new Image supernatural spectacle that combines the camaraderie and emotion of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the action and mystery of Hellboy.”

Wayward is on pre-order until August 27th. If you know anything about American comics, you know that pre-orders can make or break a new title, so place those pre-orders today with your Local Comic Shop!

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Yuri Anime

Many thanks to eagle-eyed YNN correspondents Grisznak and Jst for this news item! The headline is a lie, this anime isn’t going to be Yuri, except in the back story, but ANN reports that a new Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime has been greenlit. This time, the story is Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid (which I reviewed briefly several years ago now.) Vivid follows Vivio’s life in school and training for a large martial arts competition, along with another clone of an ancient ruler, a young woman named Einhart Stratos. It’s high on the loli factors, and there’s a lot of high kicks which means a lot of crotch staring, but still has some good elements. Like all the Nanoha franchises the characters are likable. 

We get to see both Nanoha and Fate as Vivio’s parents, but up to the last point I read in the manga (Vol. 4 or so), we don’t really get to see them together much. So, expect low Yuri, but appealing attacks. ^_^

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Yuri Manga

A new Yuri doujinshi anthology is on the scene. Yurigaoka Jogakuen (百合ヶ丘女学園) is the circle and the anthology is Fleur de Lis. There are some very interesting names contributing, so if you can grab a hold of either of the two anthology volumes, get 2 copies, so I can have one too. ^_^

Comic Yuri Hime collection Ashita no Kimi ni Hanataba wo (明日の君に花束を) by Katakura Ako hits stands next month.

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Yuri Light Novel

Yuri Light Novel series Adachi to Shimamura (安達としまむら) has spawned a Volume 3. I have Volume 2 here to try and slog through, but now knowing that it will not end the series, I’m not sure if I want to read it. (For the explanation of my ambivalence, take a look at my review of Volume 1.)

I’m also ambivalent about Yuri-iro Gakuenryou:  Koibito ha Roomate (百合色学園寮　恋人はルームメイト), which screams “parting the gauze curtain” all over it, from the cover to the title to the description. Yuri love triangle at a girl’s school, zazoom!

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Other News

Japan has licensed an American-made anime. 

Via Rica Takashma, Oscar Francois de Jarjeyes graces the cover of a Japanese magazine, in women’s clothing.

CBR has a terrific look at the Gender in Comics Panel at this past San Diego Comic-Con.

We’ll round this week’s report out with some super fun Sailor Moon Senshi redesigns that includes one that has Rei and Minako sharing a bike, so I approve. And, if you’re in need of a timesink, here’s a search for Uranus x Neptune fanart on Deviantart. You’re welcome. ^_^

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That’s a wrap for this week! 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 | 6 Comments »


Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Short Stories, Volume 1 (English)

August 13th, 2014

pgsmss1As Kodansha has wound down the last of the releases of the 15th anniversary volumes of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, I want to take a moment to discuss, at long last, the Sailor Moon Short Stories. These shorts were included with the original artbooks and with the Japanese collected volumes. They have never made it over here as a whole before, so this was new for Kodansha’s English-language release.

Some of the stories in the two short story volumes are known to fans through the Sailor Moon movies. Probably best known is  “Princess Kaguya’s Lover,” which became the basis for the Sailor Moon S movie, while one of the Chibi-Usa’s picture diary stories, “Beware of the Transfer Student” made it into the legendary SuperS Special, which I believe we are getting as part of the Viz release, at last. (I’ve worn my old VHS out watching that, because the Uranus and Neptune short on it is so very wonderful. ^_^) These are both in Volume 2 of the Short Stories.

Volume 1 has one story of especial interest for us at Okazu. In this volume each of the Inner Senshi faces a crisis about their lives. Some of these are very poignant, especially Rei’s story. (And again, Ami’s chapter, “Ami-chan’s First Love” was an animated special and is also quite wonderful.) Interestingly, Rei features in Minako’s crisis chapter and the story was the basis of many a Rei x Minako fanfic back in the day – and will no doubt be again, for the opening color artbook picture alone, if nothing else.

Minako find Rei’s perfection vexing, and who wouldn’t? So she asks the question that set a million fans a-tittering, ala Beevis and Butthead. But that *still* isn’t why we should care about this story. We should care, because when Rei is possessed by the genus loci, she starts to kiss all the other girls at school, including Minako…perhaps forseeing their reincarnations’ smoking hot romance in a live action drama, 15 years later. Or not. ^_^; It’s service, but fun. ^_^ Also fun is Sailor Venus’ reveling in the adoration and crushiness of the girls’ school students.
Ratings:

Art – 7 Standard PGSM art
Story – 6 Sloppy storytelling, but I don’t care because…
Characters – 9
Yuri – 2
Service – 2-ish

Overall – 8

So, while it’s confined to service and light akogare, Short Stories, Volume 1 has some Yuri.

Posted in English Manga, Sailor Moon | No Comments »


All 70 episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura on Crunchyroll

August 12th, 2014

ccs Tonight, at about 9PM EST US time, all 70 episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura are going live on Crunchyroll.

This series has so much going for it – it’s a classic CLAMP creation (a number of the voice actresses from the original Sailor Moon anime went on to work on this (and most of the others snagged an appearance or two) and generlly has one of the most bent and colorful stories in 90s shoujo anime. It’s my favorite CLAMP work.

I know what I’m doing tonight. ^_^

Posted in Card Captor Sakura, English Anime, Yuri Network News | 4 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Rock It, GiRL! Volume 2 (ロケット☆ガール)

August 11th, 2014

rig2Tanaka Minoru’s Rock It, GiRL! (ロケット☆ガール) series has been an interesting ride. The apparent protagonist, Kaname, has moved from hapless street guitarist to rock band fame without apparently, noticing. She is pretty much the same soppy, sappy, person in Volume 2 as she was in Volume 1.

However, as we move into Volume 2, and the band (provisionally-permanently known as “The Pinch Hitters”) starts to pick up traction, our attention wanders from Kaname to the more complex, more fascinating, eternally enraged Seira.

In between Seira screaming at Kaname, and raging at the world, we learn her tragic backstory (all art comes from pain, you know) and we learn the nature of the baggage between Kaname and Seira.

Far more interesting than the personal drama was the band gearing up to perform at a music festival, recording a commercial, YouTube-esque video backlash, parties, being asked to do TV dramas and all the random dribs and drabs of being a professional musician in Japan.

The book comes to a shocking (no, seriously, it was) climax at the music festival, and at least half the shock is the fact that I think we can turn our back on Kaname and Seira and they’ll be…okay. Phew.

Ratings:

Art – 8 The art is nuts and Tanaka-sensei knows it.
Story -8 Better than I imagined it would be
Characters – I don’t know what to say, really. I didn’t dislike them, but none of them would be welcome in my house for lunch, either. ^_^;
Service – 0 None, really. Not even the service-y bits
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8

In the end, it was a sweet romance. With a lot of shouting.

Posted in Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »


Saki – Episode of Side A Anime (English)

August 10th, 2014

sideaI know, I know, the Saki anime is from a million years ago.

I finally had the motivation and chance to sit down and plow through the last few unwatched episodes of Saki – Episode of Side A, which I will refer to as Achiga-hen, because the English translation hurts. The original season of Saki, Achiga-hen, and the Nationals arc are streaming free and legally on Crunchyroll (with regional restrictions). I have previously reviewed some of the Saki anime and a few random volumes of the manga.

The set-up is a terrific bit of propganda – Mah Jong is, /handwave/ an incredibly popular game with millions of players not, as it is in our reality, a game notable mostly for it being played by housewives and old men. Nope, in this, much cuter, world, even adorable high school girls compete in televised competitions.

What makes Saki enjoyable to me mostly, is that I know nothing about Mah Jong. So the overblown drama of “tsumo” and “ron” might as well be  in Martian for all I know. I love the hilariously melodramatic flaming eyes and elemental power analogies, and the occasional allegorical wings spreading and magic keys. If only Mah Jong was half that interesting, probably lots of young people would play it.

Achiga-hen followed the players  from Achiga Girls’ School, an institution with a tarnished reputation and a general distaste for Mah Jong, after a brutal loss a decade ago. The team is reanimated and, despite everything,  competes to make the Nationals.

There is, as there was with the first Saki, a fair amount of service – specifically of the thigh/skirt edge-staring sort. Let me just remind you, my dear readers, it really is not okay to stare at girls the way this anime does. It’s creepy and unpleasant. But, as occasionally creepy and unpleasant as this was, it was actually less creepy and unpleasant than the original series.

To add to our already full list of rather decent Yuri couples, from an increasingly large cast,  we now must add Toki and Ryuuka, and Himeko and Mairu.

But the real strength of this series is a simple thing – there aren’t any bad guys. Not really. We knew Achiga was going to win – the arc isn’t called “Shiratodai-hen” after all, but it was kind of sad to meet more interesting new characters with stories and relationships of their own, then have to watch them lose. T_T I’m going to have check out the manga past Volume 8, which is where it had gotten up to last time I picked up a bunch of volumes in Nakano.

Ratings:

Art – 9 As ever, absurd
Story- 5 Girls playing Mah Jong. Seriously, that’s it.
Characters – 9 This series’ strength, absolutely
Service – 6 Nothing actionable, but nothing you should brag about liking, either
Yuri – 4

Overall – 8

If you hated Saki, or found it uninteresting or lacking I won’t try and convince you to watch Achiga-hen. But if you didn’t hate it, just haven’t gotten around to watching this arc, there ought to be enough over-animated Mah Jong and Yuri to keep you watching.

Posted in English Anime | 4 Comments »