Sailor Moon Manga, Volume 8 (English)

December 25th, 2012

In Volume 8 of Sailor Moon, three things of importance happen and I don’t want to spoil any of them. Instead, let me randomly discuss the concept of “destruction”.

If you are reading this, the Mayan calendar clicked over to a new cycle and the world did not end. Some of you are celebrating the birth of what you consider to be the Messiah. Others are celebrating the shifting of a small cycle of time, in which the big glowing ball of hydrogen in the sky does not disappear completely, but actually comes back to warm the planet for a teeny bit longer than it did the day before in the Northern Hemisphere (or less than it did the day before, if you’re in the Southern.)

This planet, the chosen land as Sailor Saturn calls it, faces destruction every day. And yet – here we are. Still. Reading manga, enjoying the company of family and friends on the road or at home. Every day we face some kind of Pharaoh 90, some person or persons who want to take our lives or our way of life and change it to their idea of what it “should” be.

As we face the new ba’aktun, the new year, the winter, tomorrow, consider this – Sailor Moon and the Senshi are written as ordinary people, selfish and silly, just like us. And, just like us, they fight every single day to realize their dreams. As should we.

Krampuslauf is past, Pharaoh 90 has been defeated. It’s time to enjoy the light that comes from the dark – dark will come again soon enough.

Have a great day. ^_^

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Puella Magi Magica Madoka Manga, Volume 3 (English)

December 24th, 2012

Whoa.

Remember when I reviewed Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the manga, and I said it was not great? Well for Puella Magi Magica Madoka Volume 3, they took the blinders and fetters off the artist and the speed and tension of the story works. I mean..it *works.*

I’m basically re-experiencing this story for the third time. To be honest, I’m getting pretty done with it and I wasn’t looking forward all that much to re-living Homura’s transformation again. But hot damn if this volume didn’t totally take the reins in hand and run away with me. I was caught up all over again in Homura’s story and in what I still consider to be one of the best resolutions I’ve ever seen in an anime/manga.

The artist, freed of the constraints of the first two volumes (as stated in the artist’s note) did a really good job. It was a pleasure to look at the art this volume.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 3
Service – 1

Overall – 8

And for good measure, at the very end, we get Homura and Madoka walking off together hand in hand. ^_^

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Yuri doujinshi: Kisu ha Owari de Hajimari de (キスはおわりではじまりで)

December 23rd, 2012

Do you remember Comic Lily? Neither did I. As a prompt, here are my reviews of Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 of this short-lived Yuri anthology.

But at one of the events I attended last month in Japan, I picked up a self-published collection called Kisu ha Owaride Hajimari de (キスはおわりではじまりで) which included stories that had originally been published by Matsushita Mai and Rakutoki Tarahi in that anthology.

On the bad side, most of these stories fall right into that dysfunctional “She annoys me, unless she’s not here” plot that we just discussed. On the good side, each story includes an epilogue that shows a somewhat more composed and functional relationship.

The first story, “Akogare Macaron” is the strongest of the bunch, Although Matsuri wants to be friends, Sayo works hard at rebuffing her…until Matsuri announces that she’ll be moving to France. Sayo finally finds it in herself to admit her feelings to herself and to Matsuri. This is followed up by an epilogue in which Sayo visits Matsuri in France and they vow to be together forever, someday.

The stories here are sweet and typical, much like the macaroon of the above story’s title…they all taste nice but they also taste pretty much the same.

The art is very decent, I think Hirari or Comic Yuri Hime would be well-served to look at this circle’s work.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8 for the first one, but they are the same story over and over and the impact lessens as one reads
Characters – 7
Yuri – 8
Service – 3

Overall – 7

On their site, the circle offers a few lovely Yuri wallpapers for download. Check ’em out!

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Takarazuka: Casablanca

December 22nd, 2012

Imagine, if you will, a version of the classic movie Casablanca, executed by an all female cast, in Japanese, as a musical.

The Takarazuka Casablanca was pretty much exactly what you’d expect. ^_^

I’m not saying that Oozora Yuuhi was bad as Rick, or that Nono Sumihana was a bad Ilsa, just that if ever there was a story that really did not need to be turned into a Takarazuka musical, this was it. Okay, yes, I’m saying that Oozora and Nono had nothing at all on Bogart and Bergman. Sorry ladies, but you did not sell them as former lovers at all.

I picked this DVD up in 2010 or ’11 and have just had a chance to finish it. Interestingly, I had just recently re-watched the movie Casablanca, because it was on TV and I have crush on Claude Rains. Which is why I was most disappointed with Hokushou Kairi as Renault. She had none of his good-natured, resigned corruption and her body language was all wrong. I really wouldn’t mind, but Rains was genius in that role. Boo hoo…

So, yeah, this was not my fave Takarazuka musical ever. I did think the music was interestingly “western” sounding.

Ratings:

Overall – 5

Now I’m out of review material, I’ll have to get some new Takarazuka DVDs – any suggestions?

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K-ON! College Manga (けいおん！college)

December 21st, 2012

Let me be up front here for a sec – there is less Yuri in this new volume of K-ON! than there ever has been, which is to say, there isn’t a single shred of Yuri, even if you work at it.* Even Mugi has nothing to work with. So if Yuri is your single criteria for interest in this series, you’ll be disappointed in this volume when Yen Press publishes it.

If what you liked about the series is the interaction between the members of Houkago Tea Time, you’ll still have to deal with some change, but you’re less likely to be disappointed. ^_^

In K-ON! College (けいおん！college), Yui and the others find that the “Light Music” Club at college has a number of previous members who perform as a band. Tall, attractive Sara, gadfly Ayame and punk-y Akira end up taking their new kouhai under their wings, sort of. Akira, by virtue of proximity is asked to take care of Yui who, without Ui doing everything for her, is more annoying than I can adequately describe. The focus of the volume is mostly on Akira, her transformation to the punk look and her desire to be a pro, with some plot side trips.

With the focus so heavily on Akira and Yui, the rest of both bands fall back into supporting character roles. The real victim here is Mugi. If she says ten things through this volume, it’s a lot. Okay, yes, one of those things is, “Sabotage? That’s something I want to try!” But that’s her best line.

As a post-series fanfic, it suffers from the fate of many fanfic – the shift of focus from the main characters to someone else. But the someone else is as goofy as the originals, so it’s not much of a sacrifice. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Characters – 9
Story – 7 There is a limit to how many “Wake Yui up” jokes we can read before they begin to wear thin
Yuri – 0*
Service – 2

Overall – 7

*There is a teeny-weeny window for implausible slashers to pair Yui and Akira, but the creator works hard at limiting even that.

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