Yuri Network News (百合ネットワークニュース) – July 20, 2013

July 20th, 2013

YNN_MariK

Yuri-ish Anime

Our top story this week is that Diskotek Media has announced the release of the 1973 original Cutie Honey anime TV Series.  Kisaragi Honey is the first Japanese superheroine who didn’t need a guy. How cool is that? Very cool. ^_^

Sentai Filmworks is going to release Special A with a dub.

Not sure if anyone cares anymore, but ANN has the 2nd Queen’s Blade: Vanquished Queens trailer is up for viewing.

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Yuri-ish Manga

Seven Seas announced that they’ve obtained the license to Strike Witches:Maidens in the Sky and Girls und Panzer manga. YNN correspondent Shannon L also noted that they said they’re reprinting GIRL FRIENDS: The Complete Collection.

ANN reports that Tezuka’s Princess Knight is getting yet another manga remake. This one looks way better than the last. You can decide for yourself – Episode 0 is online on the magazine’s website. The Princess Knight anime from Nozomi RightStuf is also now available.

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Yuri-ish Stuff

If you’re going to be at Comiket this summer, Goo Goo will be selling Card Captor Sakura  goods. Grab me a set, will ya? ^_^

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Other News

The trailer for The Legend of Korra, Book 2 is up and it looks darn cool, so if you liked the first series, you have something to look forward to.

More fun watching – this fan movie. Just watch it…and smile.

The last days of the Revolutionary Girl Utena exhibit in Japan are approaching. Get your fix in soon!

Ian attended my Yuri Panel at Anime Next 2013 and had some nice things to say about it. Now I know what my new haircut looks like. ^_^

Alex Wu put together this nice guide to fan culture in general and Comic-Con, specifically, using questions and answers on Quora. Check it out. It’s worth a look.

Oh, and here’s something cool – a Pinterest item about Miss Fury, the first American superhero written by a woman.

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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 | 8 Comments »


Rose of Versailles Anime, Part 1, Disk 3 (English)

July 19th, 2013

The third disk of part 1 of Ryoko Ikeda’s Rose of Versailles=AAARRRRGHHH.

If you had asked me what my impression of the Rose of Versailles anime was before the new release, I would have said that it was “good, but hard to watch.” Disk 3 is a perfect embodiment of why.

“The nobles make up only 4% of France. Their lifestyle is supported by the other 96%.”

“The majority of that 96% are poor and starving, unable to see a doctor when they are sick!”

Doesn’t that sound too painfully contemporary to be comfortable? It’s *way* too close to truth to be comfortable for me.

I squirm in discomfort at Marie Antoinette and the nobles, I am pained for Oscar, I’m homicidal on behalf of Rosalie and I’m more sympathetic than I could ever have imagined to Robespierre’s cause. And I’m frustrated beyond my ability to express that our 4% is doing the same exact things that the French nobility did. I find comfort only in the fact that while rampant greed and hatred by government still exists, and life is still cheaper than it ought to be in the world I imagined I would be living in now, at least statistically speaking, the world is less violent than it ever has been. Cold comfort.

Oscar fights a duel and I can’t even enjoy how cool she is.

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters 9
Yuri – 0
Service – 2 (Oscar’s new uniform isn’t as cool as the all-white one.)

Overall – 8

The only redeeming moment, is Oscar saving Rosalie. This will bear fruit later, but otherwise this disk is tsk, dammit and AAARRRRGHHH.

Posted in English Anime, Riyoko Ikeda, Rose of Versailles | 4 Comments »


Yuri Light Novel: Adachi to Shimamura (安達としまむら)

July 17th, 2013

Of the several things I have been slowly making my way through, the Yuri-ish Light Novel Adachi to Shimamura  (安達としまむら) is the first I’ve finished. While reading it (slowly, so very very slowly) I ran a little contest with myself to create similes with which I could describe this book . Here’s the winner:

Adachi to Shimamura is like a trifle made from chocolate, limes and mayonnaise, with a red bean filling. What might have otherwise been a pleasant, if sugary, Yuri narrative is made unpalatable by combining infinite inconsequentials with utterly meaningless distractions.

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Shimamura and Adachi are two second-years in high school. They blow off class and meet nearly daily to play ping pong in the rec room on the second floor above the gym. That fact is well-established in the first third of the book, then dropped and only briefly referred to again.

Shimamura and Adachi spend hours together every day and know nothing at all about one another. They have no conversations about their likes, dislikes, dreams, thoughts…or anything. When they are not playing ping pong, they sit in mostly silence. One of Shimamura’s friends points out that that is strange – then it is never mentioned again.

That same friend, Hino, likes to go fishing. Hino takes Shimamura fishing and introduces her to the alien.

Adachi has a dream in which she kisses Shimamura. After an uncomfortable encounter with the alien (who appears to be a child, but insists she is an alien from the future) Adachi tells Shimamura she likes her. This is about oh, 190 pages into the 240 page novel. She’s shown no sign of liking her, except randomly thinking that Shimamura’s hair looks soft 90 pages previously, so its like jellybeans on the top of the chocolate, lime and mayo trifle – random, and it doesn’t make it better.

Having established that Adachi likes Shimamura, the fact is trotted out periodically. The only tension in the entire book is when Adachi visits Shimamura’s house and finds herself wanting to kiss Shimamura, so she runs away. This is naturally followed by an extended scene with the alien, in which they take her around a mall, get her donuts and go bowling. And then the book ends.

The entire book had the feel of something written about an emotion by someone who was wholly, vastly unfamiliar with it. At no point did Adachi or Shimamura give the slightest sense of connection. In fact, the only way to make the book work was to presume the point was that neither Adachi nor Shimamura (but Adachi more) had any comfort level making connections with people. If we read it as if Adachi is disaffected and relatively emotionless, the book can sort of be seen as being about her shifting to care for Shimamura and learning to be friends with Hino and Nagafuji. But it’s not worth it. And it doesn’t explain the alien, the fishing, the ping pong, the Chinese restaurant or the bowling.

Ratings:

Overall – 4

I’m sticking with the simile. The individual parts are bland if used badly, yummy if used well, but merely perplexing in this combination.

Did I not explain the point of the alien? Oh well, the book doesn’t either.

Posted in Light Novel | 26 Comments »


Yuri Drama CD: Shishunki Seimeitai Vega, (思春期生命体ベガ)

July 15th, 2013

Special Edition With Drama CD The deluxe edition of Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei’s manga,  Shishunki Seimeitai Vega (思春期生命体ベガ) comes with a Drama CD.

As with so much of Hayashiya-sensei’s writing, it’s pretty much beyond my language skills, so don’t expect a coherent review. ^_^

First up, The Cast: Vega was played by Hikasa Youko, Arisa by Yahagi Sayuri, Ariide by Kobayashi Yuu (in crazy mode,) and poor Tanabe by Hayami Saori.

The first track is primarily a nasty rant by Ariide about how lovey-dovey Vega is about Arisa-sempai. It *really* pisses her off. ^_^ There’s some Vega x Arisa love, which pisses Ariide off more.

The bulk of the story follows the four on a camping trip, I think, where they make curry, get yelled at by Ariide and Arisa learns that Tanabe has a first name.

Third track is a Cast Talk and the Bonus Track involves more Vega getting kissed and fighting monsters – as it should.

It’s definitely worth your time if you like the kind of vocal gymnastics and acting a Hayashiya script forces from the actresses – there’s no cutesy-poo stuff going on here, for sure. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Posted in Drama CDs & Audiobooks, Hayashiya Shizuru | No Comments »


Yuri Network News (百合ネットワークニュース) – July 13, 2013

July 13th, 2013

YNN_Lissa

We have news of toys, games, manga, anime and more from around the Yuri Network this week!

Yuri Game News

To start off this week, we have a great item from new YNN Correspondent Amy S. She wants you to know about Yuri romance tabletop RPG G X G  which, she says, had a soft release a few weeks ago.

Amy goes on to say, “I played (and reviewed) the original G X B awhile ago, and liked it. Haven’t played G X G yet, but on first read, it seems to improve upon the original mechanics, and additionally has rules to support specific Yuri schoolgirl manga tropes.”

Thanks Amy! I’m sure a bunch of folks will be interested in that!

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Yuri-ish Manga News

944215_10200102939408013_1326478869_nI’ve mentioned before that Nogami Takeshi of Strike Witches is working on a webcomic about a slightly doofus-y Nipponian girl who wants to be a United States of Amerigo Marine , Marine Corps (Marine-ko) Yumi. Well Volume 1 is now up for pre-order (まりんこゆみVolume 1) and I’ll remind you that the comic is also available online in English. My CO and Yuri translator Ana M. is doing the translation. Thanks to Ana, here’s an image of the art of th cover under the dust jacket. Click to laugh.

Led by some of the cream of the Tokyopop ex-pats, Chromatic Press’s new English-language shoujo manga magazine is getting a soft launch. Check out Issue #000 of Sparkler Monthly – and let them know what you think!

According to the Tsubomi blog, the webcomics portion of the site is undergoing some changes, and the site will now be part of the Mangatime Kirara page. Bets on how long before it becomes MangaTime Kirara Tsubomi?

The final volume of Horou Musuko (放浪息子), which is being released in English by Fantagraphics as Wandering Son – will street at the end of August.

The final chapter of Aoi Hana is running in this month’s Manga Erotica F. Comic Natalie reports that the issue includes a really long interview with creator Shimura Takako.

The September  issue of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫) is available for pre-order.

So is the final volume of Hayate x Blade. (はやてｘブレード)

So is Hishifurisaka Itchoume Sanbanchi, (星振り坂一丁目三番地) which is apparently a collection of Comic Yuri Hime stories that isn’t ringing a bell for me at all.

ANN reports that Asamiya Kia is launching a new Silent Mobius series, Silent Mobius QD (Quadriga)  – the first in 17 years. And it appears as if he has managed to not overly youthen the characters.

YNN Correspondent Anon-Kun wants you to know that second volume of 4-panel comic strip manga-with-some-Yuri Inpro (インプロ) is out at the end of this month.

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Anime News

It’s official, there will be a 2nd season of Psycho-Pass anime. 22 episodes are planned.

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Other News

Prism Comics, the leading non-profit organization supporting LGBT comics, graphic novels, comics creators and readers, has announced the deadline for the Prism Comics Queer Press Grant, Prism’s annual grant to LGBT comics self-publishers. The deadline for proposals is Tuesday, September 3, 2013. Go check out the Grant Application Rules and apply!

We have no news about the Sailor Moon anime, but girl, do we have toys. Comic Natalie reports replicas of Sailor Moon’s and Sailor Chibi Moon’s brooches from Sailor Moon SuperS.

And YNN Correspondent Darin B points us to an ANN article that shows the new Sailor Myu (Sailor Moon Musical) cast in costume.

This week’s Japanese-learning tool to consider is Skritter, an iPhone or desktop app to help you learn to write Japanese (or Chinese) characters. I can’t find who told me about it, so if that was you, let me know in the comments so I can credit you. ^_^

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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 | 4 Comments »