Yuri Network News (百合ネットワークニュース) – March 30, 2013

March 30th, 2013

YNN_LissaYuri Anime

Via YNN Correspondent Jst and several others,  ANN Reports that a 3rd Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha movie has been greenlit, but that it is not going to be a StrikerS reboot. The movie, Reflection, will have a new story not based on previous material.  In retrospect I am pleased about that. Unlike the first two series, StrikerS was a fully-formed story that was given plenty of time to develop. A movie of it would not add to the story and might well take away key plot and character development. On the other hand, I’m betting this is just an excuse to pander more to the lolicon audience in Japan, who has shown themselves ready to mortgage their lives to buy this stuff. I hope I’m wrong and they’ll give us grown-up Fate and Nanoha, but I’m not betting money on it.

YNN Correspondent Eric P and others want us to know that, as promised, Ikuhara Kunihiko has unveiled his new anime project, Yuri Kuma Arashi. It’s about a bear that turns into a girl  – in, I would imagine, a surreal animation sequence. Well we don’t know much yet, but we know it’ll be worth taking a look at, anyway. ^_^

More special episodes on the way for Saki Achiga Hen – look for them to stream Episodes 15 and 16 in May. Episode up to 14 are already available for free, legally, with some potential regional restrictions on Crunchyroll.

Japan is getting geared up for the Japanese release of My Little Pony~Tomodachi ha Mahou, with news that HKT48 will be singing the ending theme and an upcoming manga in Pucchigumi magazine.

 

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Yuri Manga

PreFure -Precious Friend – (プレフ) is a schoolgirl like story about friends, much like other school girls friends stories, so some fans see Yuri. At least one Japnese blog says this is really Yuri. I have no idea if that’s true or not. ^_^

Transistor Tea Set (トランジスタティーセット　~電気街路図~) has made it to Volume 5, but I’ll never be able to love it again, unless I get a headless robot maid once more.

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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 | 9 Comments »


Psycho-Pass Anime (English) End of Series Review

March 28th, 2013

I’ll be honest. When I originally reviewed Psycho-Pass, (streaming for free legally, with region restrictions on Funimation’s site) I never expected to ever mention it again here. And yet, here we are. Huh, how about that?

I was hesitant to start this series, but once I did, it was a compelling – if difficult – watch. There were bits in the middle that were genuinely horrific and at least one scene that haunted me for days. It was actually worse for the clinical way in which the audience reaction was made part of the scene, and was discussed…as we were made to watch it  repeatedly.

So, yes, this is a really violent, and in many, cases stressful, story. But it was, nonetheless, an extremely well-written genre piece. The genre is “suspense horror” so there are tropes that aren’t pleasant. If you know this going in to the thing, there’s a better chance that your won’t be too badly traumatized. It’s probably important to point out that folks with abuse or rape triggers might be better served to avoid this story.

When the end came, it was a solid genre ending. Our apparently naive protagonist had grown. But…you know, I don’t think she ever was naive or immature. The character design was camouflage – it was our belief that Akane *must* be naive, because she is small, female and young. If you pay attention to the story as it played out, she was actually fairly confident and cool – not emotionless, just able to make decisions regardless of whatever the circumstances were- throughout.  We might not always agree with the decisions, but that was part of her strength, too. I consider Akane to be one of the overall best lead female roles I’ve seen in anime.

The DVD/BD license for Psycho-Pass has been officially announced by Funimation. It is slated for spring 2014, and will include a dub.

Oh, wait, I forgot to tell you why I’m reviewing this at all! You know how, in most series, the lesbian couple sleeps together and one always dies almost immediately? Well that didn’t happen here. After everything plays out, Yayoi and Shion both survive – and get to be together. I told you to be happy Fukami was involved! He loves the lesbians and we love him right back. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Character – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 9
Service – 9 High and mostly extremely nasty with a little light – happy – lesbian service on the side

Overall – 9

It was not a series I’d suggest lightly, but it is something I thought was well-crafted. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to watch it again.

Posted in English Anime | 19 Comments »


Instead of a review, here’s a meme

March 27th, 2013

I should have been reviewing something, but spent the afternoon doing this instead.

 

lbqfort

Riff on it, improve it, meme it. Go wild.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 7 Comments »


Penguindrum Anime Collection 2, Disk 1 (English)

March 26th, 2013

pd2In the first half of Penguindrum, we learned that each of the characters appeared to be existing in a wholly different reality from the characters around them. On the first disk of the second half of Penguindrum, we learn why.

Himari’s health takes a turn for the worse, but that is set on the back burner, as bizarrely beautiful and immediately untrustworthy Sanetoshi-sensei inserts himself into the story, confirming our belief that there are separate, but intertwined, realities colliding here.

Shoma and Ringo confess their realities to one another, only to find that they are the same reality, which makes everything worse. Ringo get caught up in Yuri’s reality. Yuri, while living up to her name, turns out to be a broken and unhappy person, twisted by parental abuse and grief. Yuri’s backstory is absolutely agonizing and horrific to watch. The repeated concept of abusive father who smokes a pipe is starting to worry me, frankly.

But slowly, these realities all start to coalesce around one person and it feels like it all might make sense. Did Momoka change reality? That would explain a lot.  That almost makes sense until Masako and Mario’s story pops up. They have their own reality, but is any of it related to anything else? And what is Dr. Sanetoshi’s part in all this?

The most maddening thing about watching an anime by Ikuhara in full throttle is the unshakable feeling that, even when it’s all over, and all the pieces have been played, you may never really understand anything at all.

Collection 2 is going to have a lot more screaming, a lot more adults being horrible to children and more not-quite-matching realities.

Sentai’s translation and technicals are both not noticeable, which is exactly what one wants out of them. Rather than thinking about word choices, I find myself  scanning the visuals for more meaningless symbology like the cats, the arrows, cars, towers, (what does Michaelaneglo’s David as a tower mean, really?) apples and, of course penguins. Does any of it have any meaning at all, or does it just look good? Maybe we’ll find out. Maybe not.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8, but super grim, with a side order of misery
Characters -7  Shoma and Ringo become more real, while everyone else becomes a pulp fiction version of themselves
Yuri – 8 It’s all yucky, but it’s there
Service – 5

Overall – 8 A hard watch, a tense watch, but a compelling watch.

Many thanks once again to Okazu Superhero Eric P. for sponsoring today’s review!

Posted in English Anime, Ikuhara Kunihiko | No Comments »


Light Novel: R.O.D. Volume 10

March 24th, 2013

I just don’t even…I…don’t…know what…/shakes head/

In R.O.D., Volume 10, Yomiko is sent by Joker to a fancy girl’s school to…something. She’s enrolled as a student, the main point of which is to get her in a school uniform. I gather this because it is mentioned about 8750 times that she is wearing a school uniform. At the school she finds a veritable book heaven. Books are everywhere, *all* the clubs are about reading and writing. Her roommate Kaku Izumi’s name refers to writing, as Yomiko’s does to reading. They become best friends.

There are a few disturbing things about the school – all the teachers are named Haga and they look identical. And while books are revered, romance novels, light novels and other light reading are forbidden. This means there are no books by Sumiregawa Nenene in the school. Heaven turns to hell instantly for Yomiko. But Izumi has one of Nenene’s books in their room. Phew!

Yomiko learns of the “Read Fight,” during which two girls read a book and are quizzed on small points of detail until one fails to answer correctly. Yomiko dominates Read Fight, utterly destroying the barely-in-existence-sanity of the champion, Mitsusei Utsuo. Mitsusei is also the chief dog and enforcer of the Student Council President, Kuniya Kino-sama, thus making their names two of the most tortured puns ever. (Kino Kuniya is easy enough to figure out, if you’re familiar with the Japanese bookstore chain Kinokuniya. Remembering that “mitsu” can also be read “san” and the character used for “Utsuo” is also “do”, instead of Mitsusei Utsuo, one gets Sanseido, another large Japanese bookstore chain.)

Kino-sama as Student Council president is beautiful, charismatic (we are repeatedly told) and prone to vomiting up blood.

…

With Izumi’s backing (who turns out to have a secret – she was the former Vice President) Yomiko runs for Council President and, after corruption in the count is uncovered, wins. As President, Yomiko gets the key to the secret book room, fights off multiple Haga-senseis and retrieves whatever Joker sent her there for. The end.

Aside from clone teachers and a Student Council President that vomited up blood, what made this volume particularly hard to read was the intrusive presence of the author, who not only made aside comments to us, and talked at Yomiko within the narration, he actually inserts himself randomly in two places. The first is an utterly pathetic aside in which he tells us he’s at Anime Expo 2004 in his room working, watching girls playing volleyball outside his window. Later there is a second scene in which he gets a text message on his phone.

These, and oh, the fact that two volumes ago the story was left hanging, unresolved, made this a particularly irksome read. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 4 I think it’s getting worse
Story – 7 It might have been okay as the second book of the series.
Characters – 7
Yuri – 0
Service – Other than the frenetic repetition of “Yomiko in school uniform!” – 1

Overall – I can’t even….

Do you remember the Monty Python album named Contractual Obligation? This book had that title written all over it.

Posted in Light Novel, R.O.D. | 7 Comments »