Yuri Manga: Girls’ Ride (ガールズライド)

January 3rd, 2013

Sei and Nan meet in school when Sei transfers in, but when Nan learns that Sei commutes on a motorcycle, she finds herself interested in the idea of bikes, as much as she is in her new friend.
Sei encourages Nan to get a small bike of her own and the two of them are off on adventures together.

Girls’ Ride (ガールズライド) by Isomoto Tsuyoshi is an incredibly sweet story of a friendship and freedom.

Right off the bat, the story eschews the normal tropes of transfer-student awkwardness  Tall, attractive, smart and athletic Nan is also completely approachable. In fact, when she first sees Sei on her bike,  she’s the one who casually (like people might actually) asks Sei to call her Nan. Sei, for her part, is also  pretty casual and they quickly become close. No rivalry, no inexplicable tension, just two people becoming friends and bonding over shared experiences.

Nan finds herself a teeny bit jealous over Sei’s relationship with Kitagawa, who also has a much bigger, faster bike, but they all play nice eventually. In a quiet moment Kitagawa admits to Nan that she has feelings for Sei, something that puts a name to feelings that, maybe, Nan is feeling too.

Crisis comes as it must, when Sei is forced to transfer once again. Will Nan and Sei see each other again?  You’ll have to read the book to find out. ^_^

There were many things to like about this book – the bikes Nan and Sei have are relatively small and are the kinds of machines that high school girls could manage without handwaves.  Sei and Nan are totally likable  – I’d have them over for lunch anytime. The individual chapters are sweet, and they add up to a completely enjoyable whole.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 9
Story – 9 This is my kind of slice-of-life
Yuri – 6
Service – 4 Guys, women do not arch our backs and thrust our butts out to bend over except in porn. Please, drop it. It’s so awful and tiresome.

Overall – 8

I wanted to start 2013 with something that made me feel happy. Girls’ Ride totally filled all my requirements. ^_^

Posted in Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »


New Year’s Clean-Up Blow-Out Extravaganza Lucky Bags!

January 2nd, 2013


The Lucky Boxes have been claimed! Thank you everyone who helped me clean my home up, and I hope you enjoy all the stuff!

Fukubukuro, aka Lucky Bags, are a New Year’s staple in Japan. “Lucky bags” are grab bags which, for the price you pay, you get…whatever is inside of the bag. This could be anything from random goods at a home store to expensive shoe lucky bags. (Seriously, the very first lucky bags I ever saw were $100 blind bags at a shoe store. Can you imagine spending $100 and not knowing what the shoes you bought looked like?!?)

In this fine tradition – and because I am in the process of weeding my Yuri collection and I’d rather give you Yuri than give it to a used book store – I am offering 2 Yuri Lucky Boxes to start off the new year.

Here’s wishing you all a very Lucky 2013!

 

Posted in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments »


Top Ten Yuri of 2012

December 31st, 2012

My annual disclaimer for this list – it is a random concatenation of things. I notice that this year it is almost completely made up of people with a few companies thrown in for good measure. There’s no deep meaning about this, except that this list is meant to highlight accomplishments in the Yuri genre, as opposed to just neat stuff to watch and read. This year we had so much to choose from it took a lot of effort whittling the list down (and some of my usual fudging) to make a list of ten. ^_^

10) Okazu Readers – Every year, I make a point of including you, my dear readers. My reasons for this are manyfold; You are the Yuri Network writing in with great ideas, news and heads-up for me to share with other readers. You write Guest Posts that make me smile. You support Yuri by purchasing anime and manga and by making sure your voice is heard and valued by the companies that produce Yuri. You are amazing commenters, providing me with unique and valuable perspective that is not my own. You correct me when I’m wrong – I can never thank you enough for that. You answer questions I cannot, you take up issues I know nothing about, you add infinite value to Okazu. I don’t hesitate to say this – You make Okazu what it is and for that, I am always, inexpressibly thankful. Once again you make my Top Ten list without reservation.

9) Comic Yuri Hime/Hirari/Tsubomi – Comic Yuri Hime this year shifted to a new format, and entered the English-language market in partnership with JManga. Tsubomi is making chapters available online, and offering print versions of collected volumes. Hirari continues on as before and hopefully, we’ll see some of their manga on JManga at some point. The publishing landscape is changing in Japan and Yuri magazines are right there trying out new ways to reach their audience. We continue to wish them all the very best and look forward to new innovations!

8) Rica Takashima – For 20 years, Rica has been creating manga that accurately reflects the life and loves of young women who love other women and she’s been doing it with humor and kindness (and a little bit of snark for spice.) Tokyo Love ~ Rica ‘tte Kanji!? is the terminal of that journey, and you can read it online, for free. I thank Rica for all her patience and perseverance with this project. I’m really proud of this effort and hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

7) Riyoko Ikeda – The way you know something is “classic” is that no matter how old it is, it remains relevant, powerful and compelling. No matter how many times I watch or read something by Ikeda-sensei, I’m reminded that she is Tezuka’s closest counterpart. Rose of Versailles and Dear Brother back in one fell swoop, wow. It’s time to rediscover Riyoko Ikeda’s genius. Go, watch, learn, enjoy.

6) Seven Seas and Morinaga Milk – I gotta give Seven Seas points for perseverance, too.  ^_^ After launching their Strawberry imprint they ran into a number of issues outside their control. Hayate x Blade jumped publishers, Ichijinsha chose lukewarm titles to start with (my #1 complaint with Japanese publishers). But Seven Seas hasn’t given up on Yuri, for which they absolutely deserve credit. This year they’ve connected with Futabasha (who seems generally much more flexible than other publishers) and Morinaga Milk-sensei, giving us Girl Friends this year and Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink next year. It’s a good fit and I’m very glad for all of us! ^_^

5) RightStuf – Not only has RightStuf persevered with Yuri, they’ve had their ears and eyes firmly fixed on us as a market. (THIS is why I’m always on about buying what we want, rather than downloading. Money talks, and a Yuri audience that spends money on things is a market worth courting.) They’ve asked us what we wanted to see and by god they’ve rolled up their sleeves and gotten us a lot of it! Rose of Versailles on DVD will take up much less space on my shelves than those old VHS tapes. Sweet Blue Flowers on DVD will fit neatly next to that, squee! They know what we want and are doing what they can to get it. It’s good to have them on our side. ^_^

4) JManga – Along with Seven Seas and RightStuf, JManga has made a commitment to the Yuri audience precisely because we’ve been a good market for them. We’re up to 12 series on their Yuri page, many of them multi-volume. They support Yuri as a separate genre, something I feel is much needed. They work with multiple publishers, so you get a nice variety of Yuri (and Ichijinsha has learned their lesson from the past – and is bringing out some strong titles.) JManga listened to you when you asked for international access, they listen to you as they continually evolve their site and apps. I’m thrilled to be able to partner ALC with them to bring you more and more Yuri manga in English!

I also want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Erin, Elina, Simona, Bill and Mari, the amazing translators who worked invisibly so that you could enjoy Yuri on JManga. They do a *lot* of work to make the manga you read enjoyable and comprehensible. If you’ve never noticed that you are reading a translation, you have them to thank!

Okay, we’ve made it to my top three Yuri anythings for the year and, like previous years, it always comes down to one thing for me. ^_^

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3) Morishima Akiko – Morishima-sensei’s most recent work, Renai Joshi File, may be her best work to date, but it’s the surprisingly excellent Hanjuku Joshi that we’re just now seeing in English.

Consistently, since her doujinshi circle days, Morishima-sensei has been in the education business. With her circle Girlish, she educated young lesbians about love and sex, with her professionally published manga, she educates non-LGBTQ readers about what LGBTQ love, life, sex –  and slang – are all about. You know me, I’m a sucker for Yuri manga that includes Japanese lesbian words.

If ever a person deserved to be on this list for her tireless, realistic, adorably cute and frequently sexy lessons about lesbian life, it’s Morishima-sensei.


2) Shimura Takako – Sweet Blue Flowers and The Devil is So Cute in English on JManga, Wandering Son anime on Crunchyroll, in print from Fantagraphics.

This is a quiet revolution, but if there’s a creator out there who can carry it off, It’s Shimura-sensei. Her work is simple, accessible and sublime, with edges so finely honed, you don’t notice the cuts until they start to sting, if they sting at all.

Hers is the voice of sexual and gender minorities in manga in English right now and because that voice is so sweet and gently persuasive, Shimura-sensei is my number 2 pick for the year. ^_^

 

 

1) Nishi UKO’s Collectors – Can you tell what the “one thing” it comes down to is yet? I’ll give you a hint: realism.

In reality, lesbians do not die after high school. In reality, lesbian relationships do not end with holding hands, or a kiss.

In reality, lesbian relationships can be long-term, totally functional (and ordinarily dysfunctional) and full of good and bad and a lot of in between.

I told you last year that this would top my list, so you can’t be all that surprised, really. ^_^ Collectors is about as real a couple as you’re going to see in manga. I adore Nishi UKO-sensei’s art; the characters are all adults, there are moments of elegance and awkwardness. But what it comes down to for me is Shinobu recognizing Takako from a distance, even with a completely different hair color, when no one else in the group did. Because that is what a relationship actually looks like.

My number on Top Yuri pick for 2012 is Collectors. Just like I told you it would be. ^_^

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WAAAAH! In response to being named #1 for the year, Nishi UKO-sensei has sent over a glorious picture of Shinobu and Takako. She says she’s okay if I share it with you, so here it is!

I hope we can *really* blow her away by making Collectors a best-seller. ^_^

Posted in Top Yuri Lists | 5 Comments »


Yuri Network News – December 30, 2012

December 30th, 2012

I pushed the news report off a day this week, to make time for all of you to read and disagree with my first two Top Ten lists of 2012! ^_^

Top Ten Yuri Anime of 2012

Top Ten Yuri Manga of 2012

My final list will post tomorrow – please look forward to it!

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Yuri Manga

Just a reminder that Seven Seas has licensed Morinaga Milk’s Kisses, Sighs and Cherry Blossoms Pink, so you can finally find out what happens to Nana and Hitomi. ^_^ The complete volume will be out in June, 2013. I’ve reviewed the Japanese-language volumes here on Okazu (Volume 1 | Volume 2)

I don’t want to forget to mention this, because no one else in the world will. Dark Horse, as you might know, is putting out The CLAMP catalog. They’ve already finished Card Captor Sakura (my reviews: Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3 | Volume 4) and are now releasing Angelic Layer, a series that had a very brief shelf life back in the 90s, mostly for the anime. There is one actual Yuri couple buried way down in the narrative. Volume 1 of the manga is out now, Volume 2 will be released next spring.

JManga is keeping up the Yuri onslaught with Morishima Akiko’s excellent Yuri primer series Hanjuku Joshi, Volume 1, and namori’s Yuru Yuri Volume 2 (which for all that nothing happens, you should be very thankful for Elina’s translation, as they do nothing but make incredibly stupid old-man puns). JManga’s also released Morita-san ha Muguchi Volume 5, while technically not Yuri, is whenever Yamamoto is on the page. And she’s on the cover this time, so…. (This’ll be the first volume of this series you might have a chance to read before I do! I didn’t get it in Japanese yet, and my JManga points don’t refresh until next week. ^_^)

Later this week, I have a big release announcement for JManga this month, so tune back in. ^_^

Ichijinsha’s Comic Rex Magazine has what Japanese Yuri lists are claiming to be Yuri, SAYURI & LILY (サユリリ 01). The name is certainly loaded for bear, but the art indicates that it is not for me. If you pick it up, let me know how it is!

This item is for Sean – Oshima Towa has created a self-parody of already parodic Jyoshi Kousei manga called Zettai no Waratte ha Ikenai Sagume (絶対に笑ってはいけない咲女).

And don’t forget that Hayate x Blade 17 (はやて×ブレード) is now available!

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Other News

Manga at border crossings causing arrests might seem dystopian enough, but now a teen has been arrested for “doodles” in his school notebook. Authorities claimed the drawings were of weapons, but that absolutely does not matter. It’s a drawing. Not a real weapon, not even a real threat. I used to draw swords and knives in my school notebooks, and even had them dripping with blood, because it was pretty much all I could draw. Swords and shields. And I have yet to stab anyone. So let’s support the CBLDF in their fight against this kind of censorship (and perhaps write the Galloway, NJ school system asking them to step back and look at the situation with perspective.)

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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 CLAMP, Yuri Network News | 1 Comment »


Top Ten Yuri Manga of 2012

December 28th, 2012

In addition to my normal disclaimers, I want to make the point that I do not consider digital to be a separate thing. From this day forward, digital will be part of this list. It’s just another means of distribution. However you buy it – local comic store, online shopping, book store, digital – it’s all manga.

And with that, away we go!

10) Tokyo Love  – Rica ‘tte Kanji!? – Modesty prevents me from putting this higher, but this year ALC released a 20-year retrospective edition of Rica Takashima’s Yuri Manga and we put it online for free. As I worked on the book, I was reminded of why I liked it in the first place. Rica and Miho feel “real” in a way that so few manga characters do. It’s funny and charming and snarky. It’s still online for free – so give a gay kid a smile for the holidays and share it around. ^_^

9) Poor Poor Lips – whether you’re reading it in Japanese or on JManga in English, you have the chance to read a rare item – a comedy that tells a serious story in a way that has some meaning. Poor Poor Lips is not a masterwork, but it transcended its 4-panel comic strip format and its Yuri genre to become an object lesson in a changing world. Quite probably, the story will be meaningless and obsolete in a few years, I certainly hope so at any rate!  ^_^ I’m glad it had the ending it did. I’m glad JManga has made it available to you. It deserves a place on this list.

8) Candy/Prism – These two series were, again, surprisingly realistic explorations of first love. In a sense they are groundbreaking, simply for getting the story and the emotions right. It’s been a long time that we’ve been reading stories that don’t really resonate with reality, it’s so refreshing that Tsubomi has published these.

7) Sailor Moon – Do I even have to tell you why this is on this list? As the series approaches a 20 year anniversary, can we just say it’s timeless and call it quits? ^_^ Haruka and Michiru will forever be the Queens of Yuri in my mind, and here they are…helicopters and all!

6) Girl Friends – Speaking of “reality,” this extended look at the evolution of a relationship is notable for itself and even more so for making it to English this year. Digitally on JManga or in print from Seven Seas (Volume 1 | Volume 2), it’s a sweet, cute look at what happens when an introvert and an extrovert fall in love. ^_^

5) Renai Joshi File – I said that this was Morishima-sensei’s best work to date and I stand by that. Another few moments of realism injected into the world of Yuri manga, not only about falling in love, but this time, about falling out of it, as well, and a nice dose of a couple who has been together for a long time, sets this book apart. Call me crazy, but I think we need more of this.

4) Sasamekikoto – This story floored me. It began as something silly and ended as something remarkable and memorable, The ending was nowhere near what I expected, but it was so far beyond expectations I almost have no words to express my feelings. Relief? Well, yes, but no. Celebration? That’s it! So here I am celebrating the way this series ended by putting it on my Top Ten List. ^_^

I sat here looking at this list for a long time and there is just no way I can decide between the next two, so I’m calling it a tie for 2nd Place this year between two of the differentest series I’ve ever read:

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2) GUNJO and Sweet Blue Flowers – GUNJO ended in a way that I had hoped, but also feared. Sweet Blue Flowers continues in a way that also leads to hope and fear. Both stories are, in their own way, sublime. These two series practically define the continuum of “best of Yuri” for me. Sweet Blue Flowers is currently available on JManga in English.

The most amazing things about both these series for me, are the way that the writers delve into the psychological lives of the characters. Neither narrative feels forced, awkward or full of that exhausting exposition so often seen in manga, in which characters “explain” what is happening through tortured dialogue. (This is seen most painfully in shounen action series, where attack combinations are explored in mind-numbing detail while the characters simply stand there, listening patiently to their enemy.) In both these series, the characters act and speak consistently with their age and life experience.

Fumi, for all that she’s a very mature teen, with a calm temperament, will have outbursts and rants (mostly internal, as befits a “good girl.”) Akira speaks without thinking (or perhaps, thinks out loud).

The brunette in GUNJO is broken before we ever meet her, pounded into bitter resignation by a life that didn’t have to be as hard as it was. The blonde’s idealism is shattered, rebuilt, re-shattered, rebuilt, until she finds an inner strength she had no idea she would ever need. Each of these characters is unique, three-dimensional and real in a way that I long for, but never really expected to see in manga.

And, as I have been saying repeatedly for months, so it really shouldn’t come as any surprise, my number one pick Yuri Manga for this year is…

1) Collectors – I’ve said this before and I hope to say it more often in coming days – THIS is the book I’ve been waiting for.

It’s got all the qualities I have been hoping for in Yuri Manga:

It’s about two adult women who are in love with one another and have been together for a long time.

It’s about the after happily-ever-after that is actually happily.

It’s about the moments of domestic bliss, the bullshitting, the teasing, the small conflicts and romantic moments of a relationship that has matured, but is not in danger of failing.

And it has art by one of the best artists in manga today. Not moe in the least, Nishi Uko’s art is adult and beautiful, just like her story.

I’m so very pleased to be able to say that Collectors is my number one Yuri manga of 2012.

Here’s to many more years of fantastic Yuri Manga!

Posted in GIRL FRIENDS, Top Yuri Lists | 3 Comments »