To continue the licensing frenzy of Morinaga Milk’s GIRL FRIENDS, Seven Seas has just announced that they will be releasing GIRL FRIENDS in Omnibus form.
The first volume is slated to ship in October 2012.
Yuri Manga, Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫) November 2011
The The November issue of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫) starts off, as it has for the past issues since its rebirth, with a chapter of “Girls Uprising” by Fukami Makoto. In this chapter, the (relatively) happy couple of Sayaka and Chisato are split so Chisato can go play prince to Hyoko’s Rapunzel…even though she’s not in the tower anymore. Oh, and of course she and Tatsuki were a couple previously, because this entire world only has 6 people in it. /facepalm/ This chapter thoroughly vexed me. I would very much like to see one of the many guns mentioned in the story take Chisato out. Unfortunately, this appears to be the last chapter of this story. Both cover art and layout change with the next volume. Meh.
In “Fu~Fu,” Kinana and Su-chan are about to celebrate their first anniversary together. Kina and Hayase head out to buy some food, when inexplicably (and I mean that sincerely) a strange woman approaches Kinana and tells her that she’s fallen in love with her. Kina runs home to Su-chan’s arms. Readers are left with a question mark floating over their heads comically.
“Tsuushin Omachishite Orimasu” (erm, “You’ve Got Mail” basically…) by Takemiya Jin was predictably adorable, with a love/like/hate triangle that intersects at different angles in real life and online.
The final chapter of “Ame-iro Kochakan Kandan” was lovely, as expected. I teared up and everything. Then I teared up again at the unfairness of the world that only allowed 2 volumes of this work to exist in it. It was, nonetheless, a gentle, lovely end to this gentle, lovely series. Sob.
“Sakashima Cinderella” was a bent little story of a girl asking another out, for all the right reasons, but going about it the wrong way.
Amano Syuninta’s got a new series about college students and their various affairs. The first chapter was awkward and I liked it quite a bit. ^_^
Sakamoto Mano has an longish short story about an idol and her former partner in a two-person idol group. This was an excellent self-contained non-linear story. I very much hope we get a continuation of this. I’d like to know what happened to Nako after she and Eriko were split up.
In “Love Gene DNA XX” Aoi is worried about Sakura kissing Erika, and Erika is worried about Sakura’s friendship with Aoi. Aoi is getting very close to figuring out what the feeling she’s feeling for Sakura is….
“Yuri Danshi”…I just can’t quite figure this series out. I’m still not sure if it’s meant to explain the life of a Yuri Fanboy to the women who read this magazine or explain Yuri in a larger context to the Yuri Fanboys that read the magazine. Or, it it an elaborate joke by Kurata Uso on both sides? In this chapter Hanadera and a strange man in a book store have an otaku-off and Hanadera has to confront the fact that he was born to be a Yuri Fanboy.
“Renai Joshikka” wraps up what will no doubt be the second (and final? I don’t know, the line-up for the next volume isn’t up on the website yet) volume. Arisu helps Saki confront her former girlfriend. One-upping Seriho and Sarasa, they promise to be together for 60 years. ^_^
As always, these are not all the many stories in this volume, just the ones I though worth mentioning. The magazine seems comfortably split between adult and schoolgirl stories right now and I’m really pleased with it overall. I hope they keep it right about here for a while.
Ratings:
Overall – 8
K-ON! Anime, Volume 2 (English)
Although I already reviewed Volume 3 of the K-ON! anime, I finally had time to sit down and enjoy the supersonic movement of the year with the girls in K-ON!, Volume 2. From their first school festival, (and getting Sawako-sensei as their faculty advisor,) to a whole new school year and a new member, all in a few short episodes.
I love the gags about Sawako-sensei’s years in the Light Music Club. Something about the idea that she was once a heavy metal rocker cracks me up.
For fans of the series, the important point of this volume is the appearance of Azusa, her experience seeing the Light Music Club the very first time and being totally blown away. And, really, who wouldn’t be? They are ridiculously cute and their music is fun and goofy.
As for Yuri, other than the relationships fans have made up in their head…there is none. And that’s okay by me, honestly. This series works best when it’s about a bunch of friends in a band.
Ratings:
Art- 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 0
Service – 4
Overall – 8
The K-ON! Movie is debuting on December 3rd in Japan, so I expect we’ll be seeing more of the girls for some time to come. No complaints from me. I’m looking forward to some new songs, too. ^_^
Thanks once more to Okazu Superhero Eric P. for his kindness and generosity in sponsoring this review! To join the list of Okazu Heros and Superheros on the right-hand sidebar here, just purchase something from the Okazu Yuri Wishlist, and you too will enter the Hall of Heroes!
Yuri Network News – November 18, 2011
Yuri Manga
Peter on the Yuricon Mailing List was very excited to let us know that Morinaga Milk’s GIRL FRIENDS will be out this spring in German from Carlsen as Wir Beide. That brings the total to four languages: Japanese, English (on JManga), French and now German.
Bruce P wants you all to know that Wandering Son, Volume 2 is up for pre-order on the Fantagraphics website.
Sailor Moon, Volume 2 is now available for purchase. If you’re not reading this core Yuri manga, you really should. (Warning: Volume 2 is very heterosexual. Just so you know.) Codename is Sailor V, Volume 2 is out too – it’s also not Yuri, but you should really read it anyway.
Anytime Torako and Asami share the page my Yuridar pings, and just in case they do appear, I’ll be getting Yotsuba &!, Volume 10. (I lie, I’d get it anyway and enjoy it. Also, please do not see the previous statement as a challenge to be responded to. If they are/not in the volume, don’t spoil it for us, thanks.)
George R. pointed out that the gentle tale of an attractive bookseller and the girl in like with her, Himawari-san, Volume 2 (ひまわりさん) is now on sale.
Josei drama Ohana Holo Holo, Volume 3 (オハナホロホロ) is heading for shelves and the Yuri subplot is not dead yet…
I’m pretty sure I mentioned this already, but it’s worth a second pass. Hoshikawa Ginza Yon-choume, Volume 2 (星川銀座四丁目 2) and Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep (ロンリーウルフ・ロンリーシープ) from Tsubomi magazine have hit the shelves. For totally different reasons, two of my favorite series from that magazine.
Let me digress for a bit – Mizutani Fuuka, creator of Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep is, right, now, in serious ascendance on my “I really like this creator” list. If you’re not reading her work, do. She’s a great story teller, something that is rarer than one might imagine in manga. For a utterly non-Yuri, but nonetheless charming story, check out her 14-sai no Koi (14歳の恋) from Rakuen Le Paradis magazine. It’s an absolutely delightful story about a boy and a girl falling in love. Just utterly adorable in every way. Get it even if you can’t read the Japanese, because the story is pretty easy to grok from the pictures.
***
That’s a wrap for this week.
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Cute Wendy Comic (English)
This summer I contributed to Josh Lesnick’s Kickstarter for the publication of his webcomic Girly in a spiffy hardcover, limited edition box set. I did this entirely because he had a premium of an Otra and Winter figurine set and I’m helpless before the offer of relatively obscure webcomic figurines. (I’d be the first one lining up to buy figurines of Yuriko and Midori, our Yuricon mascots, but as I can’t draw and have no toy industry contacts, it’s kind of a non-starter. PS – This isn’t a request for help or advice on how to do this. As I say, it’s a non-starter right now.)
In any case, I knew once I saw the figurines, I had to be part of the Kickstarter.
Who wouldn’t be helpless in the face of this? Okay, fine, lots of people who are not me.
Anyway, with my very awesome hardcover limited edition box set and the figurines, I received a copy of Cute Wendy, Josh’s side comic to Wendy. Where Wendy followed the adventures of Wendy and her sidekick, Cute Wendy was the product of many hours of anime watching, potato chip eating, video game playing, masturbation and exhaustion, not in that order.
Cute Wendy is, in short, a slickly printed pile of WTF. Cute Wendy and her sidekick have adventures, but little to no effort is made for those adventures to make any sense, have any resolution, or meaning at all. By the end of this volume, unresolved chaos became the status quo and it was almost disappointing when Wendy and her sidekick actually did resolve a thing.
Don’t get me wrong here – I’m not dissing Cute Wendy. I just don’t want you thinking it’s a story. It’s not. It’s a series of throw-away plot ideas and leftover fast food with some vaguely imagined lesbian sex thrown in for fun. In fact, “Lesbian Sex” is mentioned quite often, although rarely seen beyond a kiss and a smoke afterwards. “Lesbian Sex” becomes a refrain that repeats, just to let us know it’s a thing in the comic.
If you are of the opinion that Lesnick’s art is not up to snuff, then Cute Wendy is not going to convince you otherwise. And the fever-dream story telling isn’t likely to win anyone over, but that’s not why you’d be reading Cute Wendy anyway! You’d only be reading this if you already liked Wendy or Girly and wanted to see the fever-dream side story. Which I now have. I look forward to revisiting Otra hitting people on the head with giant dildos as a return to normality. Cute Wendy was just that WTF.
Ratings:
Art – Still better than anything I can do, so 6
Story – There kind of isn’t one – 2
Characters – 6
Yuri – 8 They have Lesbian Sex, I’m informed
Service – 7 It’s pretty much written by/for Fanboy, but not nearly as intolerably awful as, say, Shin Koihime Muso
Overall – 5 It’s not being enshrined, but I’m not throwing it out, either.
My very sincere thanks to Josh for being so pro-Yuri and for being a very decent Fanboy. Also, cool figurines!
