Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Bloom Into You Anthology, Volume One

November 12th, 2021

The Bloom Into You Anthology, Volume One is something we didn’t used to see much in the west – an “official” collection of shorts about the characters by artists other than the creator. It’s a testament to the popularity of Bloom Into You, that this series had two volumes of this official anthology. Today we’re looking at Volume 1.

To begin with, I find I never reviewed this volume in Japanese. Having re-read it now, I know why. It’s a fun read and very enjoyable if you are a fan of the series or, more specifically, of Yuu and Touko. Most of the stories focus on them and their dynamic, often with a kind of goofiness that I imagine is very appealing if you like them. Here you’ll discover works about Bloom Into You by other Yuri artists such as Canno,  Yuriko Hara and tMnR.

Tthis volume had a few stories I enjoyed.  Particularly, “Onigiri, Croquettes, Rolled Eggs,” by Okara Miyama, which looks into a bad day in the life of Yuu’s friend, aspiring writer Koyomi. It’s a lovely look at friendship.

Also appealing to me was Kazuno Yuikawa’s “In the Box,” for – again – taking a deep dive into Sayaka’s feelings about and relationship with Touko.

It’s a no-brainer that I like “Bitter Coffee Time” by Hiroichi, for focusing on Riko and Miyako.

This volume was beautifully lettered by CK Russell, and nicely translated by Jenny McKeon. The small error of Sayaka’s birthdate has already been acknowledged and will be changed in future editions. I wouldn’t mention it at all, except people do like to jump on that kind of thing, so I wanted to assure you, it’s been noted already.

Which brings me to a point I want to make yet again – should you see an error or have a sustainable argument against a translation choice, there is an effective means to communicate this to companies. Go to their website, click their contact forms, write a politely worded message detailing the error. Remember human beings work at these companies, so do be sympathetic. The wrong thing to do is become rude or vicious in a public forum, so avoid that if possible. I assure you, being polite works. I’ve addressed many problematic language issues in the years I have been writing here. All you need to do is be polite.

If you loved Bloom Into You and want more time with Yuu and Touko and their friends…this is the book for you!

Ratings are variable on account of it being an anthology.

Overall – 8

Bloom Into You Anthology Volume Two (linked here by an amazon affiliate link. I’ll get it up on the Yuricon Store when all the options are avaialable) will be out in January, so you have another chance to indulge your passion for this series, just around the corner.





2DK, G Pen Aftertime Ohsawa Yayoi Short Story Collection (2DK、Gペン、アフタータイム。大沢やよい 短編集)

November 11th, 2021

Ohsawa Yayoi’s adult life romance, 2DK, G Pen, Mezamashitokei was a part of the monthly Yuri contributions from Comic Yuri Hime from 2015 to 2018. After 8 volumes, in which we became familiar with the details of our protagonists’ lives and loves, we may be forgiven for wondering how they are doing now. ^_^

Ohsawa-sensei gives us a glimpse of Nanami and Kaede’s home life in the cover story of her new collection, 2DK, G Pen Aftertime Ohsawa Yayoi Short Story Collection (2DK、Gペン、アフタータイム。大沢やよい 短編集). They haven’t changed. Nanami is still busy, Kaede is still incapable of taking care of herself and a little prone to imagining things, but they are still love-love.

This is followed by a her recent shorts for Comic Yuri Hime. “Sono Hi, Night Date Nanode” is a delightful story about falling in love with, and under, the stars. And “Take Out Dekimaska?” is a nice little scenario between a delivery woman and a waitress that was both kind of sweet and deeply satisfying when the waitress loses her patience with the delivery woman not cluing in.

“Guragura Platonic” is a Ohsawa’s spin on a sex-worker fantasy. “Campus ni Trap,” is a teacher and student story (with bonus drunken teacher, so CW if this is not your thing). The final story is one of my faves, “Office Sempai, Kiraina Watashi,” which wraps up the 2DK storyline by showing us Tanihara Yuuko, Nanami’s over-acheiving kouhai, who now has a mythos of her own because Ohsawa-sensei could not let her go. I have a calendar from a Yuriten gone by of Tanihara exhorting me to give it my all at work, every month. It’s so annoying and hilarious I keep it on the living room table.  This month she reminds me that Business = Drama, so “Everyday Make Drama”. 「えヴリデイ、メイク・ドラマ」

Tanihara’s new kouhai just *cannot* figure out her enthusiastic sempai. Okata is completely confused by this bundle of motivational poster-energy and finds her both annoy and realizes that she likes her. ^_^

It was lovely to revisit with characters we know and meet new ones. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – 5 There is some nudity and sexual situations, especially in the sex worker story.
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

I’ll always look forward to Ohsawa-sensei’s work and to see where it takes us and her. ^_^





How Do We Relationship, Volume 4, Guest Review by Matt Marcus

November 10th, 2021

Welcome to another Guest Review Wednesday on Okazu. I am so delighted to introduce a new Guest Reviewer here today for so many reasons: Matt Marcus is a cohost of various projects on the Pitch Drop Podcast Network, such as the JRPG games club podcast Lightning Strikes Thrice. Finally, after me waiting patiently to have someone to talk to about this…here we are at last. There will be spoilers in this review and let me tell you, I am so relieved! Please give your attention and a warm welcome to Matt!

How Do We Relationship is a story about college first years Miwa and Saeko who, once they learn that they are both attracted to women, decide to date. Last we saw them in Volume 3, the lack of open communication had continued to strain their relationship, leaving Saeko troubled over her standing with her partner while Miwa is tempted by the reappearance of her old high school crush Shiho.

There is no sense being coy about it: How Do We Relationship, Volume 4 is where the girls break up. Saeko had been using sex as the panacea for her insecurities, but troubles in the bedroom, coupled with confronting the reality that Miwa harbors deep romantic feelings for another woman ends up straining her to the breaking point. Miwa wrestles with guilt over her conflicting attractions and tries to cling to the relationship but to no avail. The two agree to stay friends, however it is clear that Miwa believes that she carries the sole blame for the end of their courtship.

The fulcrum on which this series balances is how tolerable you find Saeko, and in this volume we see her at her worst so far. She starts to seriously lose control of the defense mechanism that she developed after her traumatic experience in middle school–the facade of a carefree and kind partner. It is not until late in this volume that Saeko finally has a moment of emotional honesty, voicing some of the ugly thoughts and fears that she had been repressing–but not with Miwa. If you have seen or experienced this emotional playbook, this can be a tough read. I want to root for Saeko to grow and truly heal from her past, but on the flip side she hurt Miwa quite badly and has yet to even acknowledge it. The sole consolation I have is knowing that with seven volumes currently out in Japan, there is quite a bit of runway for her to turn it around.

I have focused on the heavy stuff, but like the rest of the series the emotional drama happens around character-driven shenanigans with mixed results. A particular low note are the couple of chapters that focus on group singer Mikkun and Saeko working around the former’s jealous new girlfriend, which does little to drive the plot forward and rehashes the “straight cis man has a crush on a lesbian” beat from Volume 3. In a story with quite a large supporting cast, I would have liked to see a little more character development in their subplots.

As for Yuri/queer content, this volume pushes things ever-so-slightly forward, with the final chapter opening the door for a couple more queer relationships to develop. Another noteworthy element is the reappearance of Kan, the “villain” of Volume 2. It is hard to say for sure from what little we see of him, but he may have started letting go of his internalized queerphobia. At the very least he comes off as less of an unrepentant asshole (heavy emphasis on “less of”).

I have always appreciated Tamifull’s art, particularly the outfit designs and instruments. On occasion it can be disorienting (for example, second year Mozu–who already looked like a dead-ringer for Miwa but with light-colored hair–reappears with black hair just to make things more confusing for two pages), but I found the tumultuous energy accurately reflects the free-wheeling nature of one’s first year of college. When it counts, Tamifull knows how to visually punctuate an emotional moment or punchline (shoutouts to the Pound Cake Face).

All in all, I found these chapters challenging but rewarding. If you have found the messiness of the story and the characters compelling thus far, this volume really delivers on moments that will have you screaming internally the whole way with some heartrending lines to boot. Other than a small tease of a flashforward near the end, I have no idea where the next movement will take this series, but I know that I will be tuning in for it.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Has a few standout moments in the series so far.
Story – 8 A little uneven at times but lands the big moments.
Characters – 7 Compellingly infuriating.
Service – 3 There still is sex, however it is less of a focus compared to previous volumes
Yuri – 9 / LGBTQ – 7 Someone actually says “lesbian” out loud; unfortunately, it’s Rika.

Overall – 8 A challenging but rewarding read.

Lastly, I have to give big props to Tamifull’s very cheeky reveal in the author’s notes. You will clearly see what they meant if you flip back to Chapter 1.

Erica here: Thanks very much Matt!

OKAY. Now that you have all caught up I need to say this. Saeko and Miwa always were a terrible couple. I’m glad they broke up. You all were cooing over them in Volume 1 and I was up to Volume 3 chanting, “Break up, break up, break up.” ^_^ In fact, if they hadn’t, I was going to stop reading, because Saeko’s jealousy was intolerable to me; traumatic experience or not. I can assure you this, I am about to dive into Volume 7 in Japanese and 1) I am still reading and 2) this is a completely different, (dare I say, much better) story now.

Volume 5 is slated for a February release in English and everything (including the cover style) is about to change.





Yoru To Umi, Volume 2 French Edition, Guest Review by Laurent Lignon

November 3rd, 2021

On this Guest Review Wednesday (the 8th such Wednesday in a row!) on Okazu, we welcome back Journaliste/Chroniqueur Laurent Lignon with the second volume of  the French translation of the second volume of Plongée dans la nuit, released in stores by Taifu Comics.)

“I think I’m jealous of their relationship”

It is the second school year for Tsukiko and Aya, whose relationship has taken a further step with Aya’s declaration in the previous volume. Yet, both girls seems hesitant to confess their feelings to each other.

Once again, the volume alternates between different points of view. In doing so, it fleshes out some of the secondary characters. The first chapter is dedicated to Hanano, who hides the teenage love she feels towards one of her teachers behind a long series of useless flirts with other boys. By comparing the emptiness she feels in her relationships with how she sees Tsukiko and Aya acting as non-officially declared couple, she realizes how deep her misunderstanding of love is.

Chapters 8 and 9 deals with the insecurity of Maihara (a girl seen in volume 1), who loves acting but fears being on stage, and her starting a rocky relationship with Shinonome, a girl so good at acting that she resents being the focus of attention when playing. Both girls acts as mirror images of Tsukiko and Aya respectively, with similar characters but not afraid to say what they think to each other.

Aya is the focus of two more chapters, and we see how her relationship with Tsukiko is evolving, as well as how her own state of mind. Aya still has trouble understanding Tsukiko, and wants to get closer to her (as seen in the superb splash page of Chapter 9, when she uses the image a mountain path to compare the expectation of her closeness to Tsukiko with the reality of it), but she starts to understand the concept of personal space.

This is, perhaps, the most interesting feature of the volume, as we discover how Aya defines her own personal space, compares it to Tsukiko’s own and understand her own limitations : the pool in which she spent most of her free time is then used as a metaphor of her teenage years (something with clear boundaries and a sense of safety) and the ocean to which she takes a trip at the end of the volume is representing a metaphor of adult life (vast, endless, unknown and insecure). Tsukiko dislikes the ocean not for what it is, but for what she feels it represents of her future. This is further enhanced by a scene in the pool in which the water surface is drawn as a window, both acting as a barrier between the two girls yet being the window through which both of them can watch endlessly the one she loves the most.

Tsukiko is the focus of a single chapter, but an important one that shows that she truly understands that what she feels for Aya could (and probably will, in her mind,) end when both girls will leave high school to go to different colleges. As she expects the relationship to end, she doesn’t know what to do with such information, or how she should react to it.

Ratings: 

ART – 9 : nothing more to add to what I’ve said about the first volume : this is just beautiful to behold, and full of great detailed panels

STORY – 8 : pretty much the poster for a well written Class S story

CHARACTERS – 8 : finally some characters starts to exist apart of the two girls

SERVICE – 0 : and Goumoto even plays with the expectations of a part of the fan base with some great gags (the rubber duck, the “bath” scene, …)

YURI – 7 : while you won’t find kisses and anguished declarations of love, this is still the story of a blooming relationship. As summed up by this wonderful thought from Aya : “Being in the water and beautiful things are what I like best.”

OVERALL – 8 : Volume 3 will mark the end of the story, and I’m impatient to see which path it will take. For such an unusual couple, I’m expecting the unexpected.

Erica here: Thank you so much Laurent! It’s terrific to get a glimpse of a Yuri manga we don’t have in the USA. We’ll wait with bated breath for your review of Volume 3 to learn how the series ends. ^_^
 




Yuri-Ota ni Yuri ha Gohattodesu!, Volume 1 (百合オタに百合はご法度です!)

November 2nd, 2021

In U-temo’s Yuri fantasy, Yuri-Ota ni Yuri ha Gohattodesu!, Volume 1 (百合オタに百合はご法度です!), Yuri is the law by which Yuri otaku Watanabe Fuyu lives. When she transfers to a private girl’s school, she is primed for a school life saturated with Yuri. So, why, Watanabe wants to know, is she sitting behind the only gal in this dang school? Yoshioka Ririka, is a rusty nail of a gal in this garden of beautiful lilies…according to Watanabe, who resents everything about Yoshioka, from her curled hair to her selfies to her offers to get tapioca drinks. Instead, Watanabe follows the stars of the school to see them enact Yuri tropes in real life.

In case you haven’t grasped the idea, this is a comedy. Watanabe gets her otaku on by watching rosaries being presented, love umbrellas being shared and has “humorous” reactions to Yoshioka’s simple overtures of friendship.

Despite this goofy-yet-annoying premise, this volume was kind of fun. Yoshioka being a fish out of water, who doesn’t know she’s in a pond at all is not played for laughs. Watanabe’s reactions are, as one might expect, completely off the page, but even she starts to see how decent Yoshioka is.

The climax of the book comes as the best sœur couple is thrown – and throws the school into – chaos over the school play. Yoshioka is there to step into cool upperclassman Akira’s role, as a kindness. She asks Watanabe to practice dancing with her and whose heart could remain unmelted after that? Watanabe manages to patch up the rift between Akira and her little sister, Nagomi and in doing so violates her own rule of being in the shadows, as just another Yuri otaku. Now, she’s famous.

This kind of book is always amusing to fans of the genre who recognize the tropes of ‘S’ aesthetic Yuri, but even if you don’t, Watanabe gives you the rundown on them enough to know “this” is a trope. In every case, the narrative shies away from making the characters or situations too annoying or cringe-y. Watanabe comes the closest to being unlikable, but by the end of the volume, is just one of us. ^_^

U-temo’s art is goofy, which fits the tone of the story.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 100% pure school girl Yuri tropes is a kind of service
Yuri – Kinda? It’s tropey as heck, but there aren’t any actual couples….yet.

Overall – 8

If this one gets licensed, I’ll be glad to recommend it as a primer on Yuri tropes and as a goofy comedy. ^_^ You can read sample chapters right now in Japanese on Web Action.