Yuri Network News (百合ネットワークニュース) – August 31, 2013

August 31st, 2013

YNN_LissaYuri Anime

Via YNN Correspondent Shannon L.  – Media Blasters has licensed an anime from the mid-’00s called Ultimate Girls. It has Yuri, but before you get excited, you might want to take a deep breath and read my review of it from 2005. If you like stuff I don’t, you’ll love this.  ^_^;

ANN reports that Survival Game Club manga, Sabagebu! is getting an anime in 2014. Check out my review to see what Yuri you can expect.

First visuals for upcoming Yuri anime Sakura Trick have been sighted. Crunchyroll’s Scott Green has the details.

YNN Correspondent Jackie S. wants to make sure everyone knows that the Crunchyroll license for Sasamekikoto has ended as of August 30.

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Yuri VN

YNN Correspondent and Guest Reviewer C. Banana would like to let  fans know that there is a Yuri VN  called Lonely Yuri, that is both legal and translated available for purchase. (Thanks for the correction, Lin!)

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Yuri Manga

The final volume of Aoi Hana (青い花) will hit shelves in Japan on September 12. (T_T)

September will also see the street date for Itazura Choucho, Volume 3 (悪戯ちょうちょ) and Hayate x Blade, Volume 18 (はやて×ブレード)

From Twitter, here is a preview of the  covers of the 20th anniversary  Sailor Moon manga release in Japan.

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Other News

While we’re talking Sailor Moon, here’s an article about the Tumblr Re-Draw Sailor Moon project, in which people take individual frames of the anime and redraw them. The project is scattered across Tumblr, so click around there for more!

YNN Correspondent David M. reports yet another upcoming Utena figurine, this time from Megahouse.

From the “no, really” files, I want to first remind you of the epic, completely real  Rose of Versailles Toyota minivan ad. Then after you’ve stopped laughing, check out this live-action version of it. I have no idea where this was from. ^_^

One more  Rose of Versailles item, because I can –  if you think you know everything ever about the series, an official certification for those knowledgeable about Riyoko Ikeda’s masterpiece is now taking applications, according to Comic Natalie.
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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 | 2 Comments »


Hyakko Complete TV Series Anime, Disk 1 (English)

August 29th, 2013

When I was asked if I’d like a copy of Hyakko, Complete TV SeriesHyakkoCTS I believe I replied something to the effect of, “Yeah, I vaguely remember it being Yuri-sh, but I don’t remember what or why.”

Now I have watched the first disk and I remember what, but there may be no answer for “why?”.

Hyakko, an anime that is obviously based upon a 4-koma gag manga, is set at an absurdly large school. The apparent protagonist is Ayumu, who is immediately soppy enough not to threaten the audience for whom this comic is presumably intended.

Ayumu runs into snooty Itsuki, who is also lost in the preposterously large school. They then encounter Torako who is the hyper-energetic, slightly cool until she speaks, force of chaos type and her nearly-silent, always eating friend, Saotome.

The themes of each segment are the typical for school life gag comics; school clubs, uniform checks, school life stuff, etc., with   bwa-wa-waahhhh~~~  humor predominant.

Yuri comes in the form of class representative Andou Nene, a flamboyantly odd girl who leers and drools over the other girls in the class. Underneath her general perviness, she might possibly even have an actual interest in Torako, but that is well beside the point.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 3
Characters – 3
Yuri – 3
Service – 5

Overall – 5

As I watched Disk 1, I had the image of the staff on this being told about it and all reaching for cigarettes, sucking them down in one breath and sighing.

Sometimes Hyakko is marginally amusing, but not usually during the punchlines.

Here’s the funny part of this review – after damning this series with faint praise, I have an extra copy to give away! If you promise to write a review of Disk 2, I promise to send it to you! Name and country in the comments to win. Entering is a commitment to write  a review of Disk 2, ‘kay?  ^_^

Thanks to TRSI for this review copy – and for the give away copy!

Posted in English Anime | 13 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Hajimete, Kanojo to. (初めて、彼女と。)

August 28th, 2013

Hajimete, Kanojo to. (初めて、彼女と。), by Morishima Akiko-sensei, takes a look back at the origins of some of our favorite couples from her previous works.

First we look back at Rakuen no Joken. For Sarina and Sumi  we learn how they got together and why they’ve never really been a steady item. The series ends as Sarina realizes that Sumi moving in isn’t the life she wants, but travelling the world together with her is.

Shinobu and Lalaa have been living together for a while and Lalaa is inexpressibly happy. But, as she reminisces about how they got together, she misses, just a little, the crybaby Shinobu of her youth.

We then move on to Sayaka and Ruri from Ruri-iro Yume. Sayaka’s dream has changed since we first met her, but she thinks it’s okay – and so do we.

And last, we meet up once again with Mitsuki and Kaoru from Renai Joshika (Volume 1 and Volume 2). With them, we travel back into their school years,  how they met, became friends, became lovers and what went on between them during their first time dating. We can kind of see how they ended up the way they were when we met them originally – and I’m pleased that we know they end up together in a more mature version of the same relationship.

As always, Morishima-sensei’s art is cute, rather than cool. Her stories this time mean to – and do – evoke a sense of nostalgia. How did we get where we are? What paths did we take to get here?  For all of us, it is a long road, and one day we look back and think, really? My hair looked like that?

1981 Me and my wife, in 1981 or so at band camp.

Posted in Morishima Akiko, Yuri Manga | 17 Comments »


Rakuen Le Paradis, Volume 12 (楽園 Le Paradis)

August 27th, 2013

Volume 12 of Rakuen Le Paradis (楽園 Le Paradis) gets off to an excruciatingly sweet start as Kazu and Kanata warm each other up on cold days with a comfy embrace in  Mizutani Fu-ka’s “14-sai no Koi.”

Nishi Uko’s “Collectors” was laugh-out-loud funny, as it plumbed the depths of Takako’s wardrobe during changing weather (she bought a new jacket when it went a little chily) and why Shinobu got a cold in the first place (she ran home through the rain to protect a book, because she didn’t have money left to buy an umbrella.)

Kurosaki Rendou’s “yue lao” is more of his signature sloppy sex Yuri.

And “Omoi no Kakera” reaches a climax in a stunning chapter, in which Mika faces her past and realizes that it’s not all about her. She looks at her old tutor, sees that she’s very happy with what is clearly a new lover and realizes that she does not want her to be unhappy. Mika leaves her past behind her and is able to reassure Mayu – and accept her relived hug. It was an awesome chapter. Mika is an incredible character. I really hope the story will continue to surprise and please me. There are certainly some surprises left – Mayu’s friend Saki is going to have to deal with her feelings for Mayu.

In “.925” a proposal is turned down during a night in a hotel.

I haven’t mentioned Otsuki Yuko’s “kanojotachi no saishuteri” before, but the sleazy manipulative teacher who seduces the creepy loser kid, is herself  seduced by an equally creepy sleazy female student.

And as adorable, warm and fuzzy as the opening story was, the end story, “Ivan Gaulier” is a horror-fest full of nightmarish things.

Another “interesting” volume of Rakuen Le Paradis. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – It’s the best of manga, it’s the worst of manga.  Square root of 33.7

Posted in Rakuen Le Paradis | 2 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Material Candy (マテリアルキャンディ)

August 26th, 2013

Material Candy (マテリアルキャンディ) by Kurokiri Misao, is a collection of stories from Comic Yuri Hime that is definitely a mixed bag of treats.

The first story, “In Mold Girl” is something I think many manga fans and other introverts can probably identify with. Growing up, Aiko never seemed to get with the zeitgeist. She always had the wrong answer for the other girls’ questions, or didn’t really understand what they were interested in. So, she created “the manual”  a scrapbook of notes on relating to the girls around her. When Sena confesses to her, Aiko has nothing in “the manual” that can tell her how to handle the situation. She agrees, but when the relationship threatens to turn serious, she has to decide between the manual and Sena.

“Metamornoise” is a story about a girl who rejects growing up in order to keep her relationship intact, only, she needn’t have worried at all.

In “Sange no Kizuato” the loss of a half sister/lover is too much to bear. For many reasons, this was the weakest story in the collection.

Three girls are inseparable, but a death separates them, in “Higan no Kyoukai.” It’s up to Mao to save Ruka from a non-life that will fade into a lonely death. Of the stories in the collection, this one is arguably my favorite. Ruka’s clinging to death and Hazuki’s memory was off-putting, but Mao was not insensitive nor clueless. The way she drew Ruka back into life was touching and it turned what might have been a cloying story into a good read.

In “Chip-n-Candy”, the final story, we turn back towards Sena and Aiko, with a focus on Sena’s past and an assurance that they are moving forward, together.

About halfway through the book, if you had asked me if I was enjoying it, I might have prevaricated. But now that I’ve completed it, it was more satisfying than I expected.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – Variable, say 7
Characters – Let’s go 8 on this
Yuri – 8
Service – 2

Overall – 7

Live. Move forward. Think for yourself. Make your own decisions. Don’t be afraid of the future – all excellent morals of the story and all told, a collection of ideas I can get behind.

Posted in Yuri Manga | No Comments »