You may remember a volume of manga licensed and released by Seven Seas called Voiceful by nawoko, a collection of stories that ran in Yuri Shimai and Yuri Hime magazines. This was a collection that skirted lightly on the side of Yuri, but was deeply embedded in the idea of music.

Private Lesson (プライベート　レッスン), the new Tsubomi collection also by nawoko is slighly more Yuri and just as much about music as ever.

The main story follows Tamago and her older cousin, Toriko, who teaches her how to play the piano. Tamago is suffering with a crush for Tori-neechan, but doesn’t really have any idea what it is she’s feeling. Quite accidentally, Tamago is made aware of another person with a crush on Tori-neechan. As a result, Tamago is introduced to the complex world of adult relationships, which always seem cool when you’re a kid, until you learn that adults don’t have a clue.

The story about Tamago and Toriko is all right as a first crush story, but there’s an easter egg in this collection. Tamago has a classmate who doesn’t speak much, and who was also was being taught piano by Toriko. Ryuuhara had difficulties bringing herself to speak when she was young and we can see that she’s not a big talker now. In a flashback we see that the girl next door, Miki, was able to pull her out of her shell – and they now have a relationship that goes beyond just being friends.

The real love story here, though, as it was in Voiceful, is music. While we don’t get essays on music, we can easily see that what nawoko loves best is the joy on the face of someone playing music beautifully.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7, Ryuuhara’s side story was a nice bonus – 8
Characters – 7
Yuri – 7
Series – 2

Overall – 7

Private Lesson will not probably blow your socks off with “wow”, but that isn’t what nawoko does. Let the story flow, like the strains of Diane Walsh playing Schubert’s Sonata in A Minor as I am doing as I write this review. That’s about right. ^_^

Afternote: I just learned that this piece was featured in Nodame Cantabile, too. That makes it even more perfect.

Yurikam is exactly why I consider most of the Japanese Yuri blogs to be almost-completely useless in regards to finding good Yuri manga to read. I had no expectations going into this manga and still managed to be disappointed.

Yurikam (ゆりキャン), short for “Yuri Campus” (thank you kind person whose comment I cannot find, who corrected me on this) is an atrocious little story about a rich girl at a rich girl’s school whose rich father goes bust. Yurika is commanded by said father to become a sexual plaything so she can stay at the school. So, for money, food (mostly for food) and room, Yurika sexxors up the entire campus. Including the inexplicable “Ladies” (female biker gang) that show up.

Yurika stays with her dear friend Saori, who is in contention for the most passive-aggressive annoying friend ever. It’s obvious (but not interesting) that Saori has a thing for Yurika, but for some reason that is no reason denies it…and yet, is continually annoyed when Yurika is with some other woman. Really? STFU, Saori, please.

This volume ends with the horrifying thought that there’s going to be a sequel. The world is an unjust place.

Ratings:

Art – Far, far better than it deserved to be
Story – There really is nothing funnier that a girl being sold into sexual slavery, is there?
Characters – All dressed really badly
Yuri – Ya think?
Service – This is a manga only a Fanboy would love

Overall – Not the worst I’ve ever read, but not anything other than “bad.”  I give it a 3 and probably am being generous.

Once upon a time, there were two girls. They were princesses of a sort, each coming from a large, powerful crime syndicate. The two girls, despite everything, grew up and fell in love.When the one girl was engaged to the other’s brother to unite to two families, she instead killed him, setting her and the princess she loved at war with one another.

Romeo and Juliet, West Side Story, meet marriage black, by Hashiba Hayase.

The story opens as Lilicia kills her betrothed and sets her and her beloved Lu-Chie at odds. Despite this, Lilicia visits Lu-Chie at night, pleading her love and on occasion, her lust.

The story is mostly Lu-Chie’s as we learn of the disdain with which she is treated by the head of her family, the loyalty her bodyguard feels for her and the hopelessness of her position as the daughter of the house that has been dishonored. Now, because of what happened, she kind of has to kill Lilicia for revenge.

That doesn’t happen.

Among the many large problems in this story is the lack of common sense between the two family heads. Neither one seemed to grasp the obvious, that if they just left the two girls to be together, they’d achieve the union of the two families that way….but no, they’d rather waste resources killing them both.

The end is, for what it’s worth, happier than Romeo and Juliet’s or Maria and Tony’s. Lilicia and Lu-Chie run away together, sleep together in a church – so that means they’re married, right? – and we’re left with an epilogue by Leon, Maria’s, erm, Lilicia’s ambiguously gendered sibling, to assure us that right now, they are out there somewhere, alive and happy.

Well, sure. Why not.

Ratings:

Art – 4 Those are the largest breasts I have ever seen outside a specifically large breast fetish story ever.
Story – 5 And they lived *happily* ever after.
Characters – 5 I sympathized most with the mooks who died for no reason
Yuri – 9
Service – 8 see above

Overall – I’ll be generous and say 5

And now… a Contest!

I have a pile of books here in the house I don’t really want to keep and don’t really want to sell. I’d like to find good homes for them. This is very much a “Get this Book out of my house!” contest so you *must* be 18 or over to enter. I’m going to reach into the pile randomly and send out books randomly, so you (and I) have no idea what you might get.

Here’s the contest. Write the first paragraph of a Yuri fairytale. “Once Upon A Time there was… What? Who? Why? Where? You tell us.

Note: Summaries of things that other people have written are not valid. I’m looking for your creativity. 


Those of you sent in things that said, “this is a manga” or “this is already written”…that’s not creative even a little. I want YOU to create an opening of a fairytale. I’m going to remove those entries and you can feel free to enter again with something original.

Funny, beautiful, smart, all have the same chance at winning. Basically…entertain me and get a book.

Leave your entry as a comment here. If you comment as Anonymous, can you give me a nickname or something so when I mention who won, you know it’s you Anon and not someone else Anon? Thanks.

Winners will be announced when I get around to it.

I’ve seen how clever and creative you all before so pull out the stops! Let’s hear the Great Yuri Fairytale opening!