Koihime Musou ~ Otome Tairan Anime, Disk 1 (English)

February 3rd, 2012

For the first few minutes, all the way through the opening of Koihime Musou ~ Otome Tairan, you almost think it’s going to be a pretty good story, with the characters actually getting a chance to be strong without being rendered into a pile of service but, almost immediately that stops. From that point on, any actual cool is tempered by tons of skanky (and frequently incredibly stupid) service.

NOT like I was expecting anything else. I find it hard to believe that there are actual people out there who thought the first episode where Ryuubi eats spoiled bamboo shoots and everyone in her group (including the woman who has actually given birth) thinks she’s pregnant is…funny? Really? Really?!? I weep at the thought.

Sometimes, stuck in the middle of this lame-ass series, there’s something worth watching. And for once, some Yuri that doesn’t make one roll one’s eyes.

On Disk One, we get the (relatively speaking) entertaining story of what happens when Ryoumo gets glasses and gets to be Sonken’s “strategist” (so, that’s what you kids call it these days) as Koukin is Sonsaku’s “strategist.”

Then Gien “falls in love with Ryuubi” for like 15 seconds.

Ratings:

Seriously, what do you expect from me here? 3, 4, does it matter, ultimately?

In the end, it still sucked pretty hard, but in comparison, it’s the Shakespeare of the Koihime Musou series.

Posted in English Anime | 2 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Green

February 1st, 2012

In my review of Otomo Megane’s Himitsu, I commented that the artist has about three characters types. In Otomo Megane’s Green, the three character types are solidified into three characters, who sort of retell a lot of the Himitsu vignettes, only they are all connected in a more intrinsic way.

Tsugumi is a rather serious young lady, who falls in love with straightfoward Megumi. Megumi falls in love back back but, at first only because Tsugumi looks like her older sister, Megu’s teacher from Middle school. The story here is a love triangle, because Tsumugi’s sister did indeed have an affair with Megumi, and Megu’s not really over it, yet.

There’s a bit where Megu and Tsugumi are having some communications issues, but they work it out. The epilogue shows the two of them older, more comfortable with themselves, living together in Tokyo as a couple.

Nothing here is new or unique. The vignettes from Green feel very much like corresponding vignettes from Himitsu, which gave me a weird feeling of deja vu, until I managed to make myself understand that this was a stand-alone story.

The one notable thing about this book is the rather comfortable way we are led to understand that Megu and Tsugumi have slept together. It’s merely a panel or two the next morning, no service and no pandering, but we can tell. Their relationship shifts notes at this point, as it would, which provides the impetus for what passes for crisis here, but everything is handled with a laid-back, low-key, lack of drama that felt refreshing.

Green is a sweet coming of age story rather than a powerful one. There is no coming out, or confession, the relationship develops kind of naturally. Likewise, there is very little conflict, with the exception of Megu’s unresolved feelings for Tsugumi’s sister.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 7
Service – 1

Overall – 7

I can’t say I’d recommend Green as standing out in the category, but for fans of the “school girls in love” trope, it’s a pleasant way to pass the time.

Posted in Yuri Manga | 16 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Houkago Kanon (放課後カノン) and a Contest!

January 31st, 2012

Houkago Kanon (放課後カノン) is a collection of stories by Mikuni Hachime, drawn in her signature Ribon magazine-gone-bad style. Several of the stories have been captured from the Yuri Hime Wildrose and Girls Love collections in which they ran and I believe at least one from Yuri Hime S, but I could be totally wrong about all but the first.

The stories follow a relatively predictable pattern set up by the opening salvo in “Onshitsu no Majou” in which there is a girl, and another girl, they have sex and then realize they like each other.

Because I like the order to be slightly different, I’m not a huge fan of this format, but it’s Mikuni’s niche and she totally dominates it.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 6
Characters – 5
Yuri – 9
Loser FanPersons – 7

Overall – 5

For service fans, there is groping and underwear and other spicy magazine-type things which also do not interest me, but may perhaps interest you!  Yes, it’s time for another “Get this book out of my house” Contest!

I have a pile of various unsuitable-for-my -onsumption books – and even a few that were quite good, but I don’t want to keep them. Help me get them out of here! If you’ve won an Okazu or Yuricon contest in the last 6 months, please refrain from entering, to make it easier for someone else to win, please, thanks.

I will be sending out however many books I feel like and at roughly a 3:domestic to 1:overseas rate, because overseas shipping is killing me, sorry. Since entering will not be hard, it won’t kill you to enter, anyway. You never know when I’m feeling kind.

Here’s the entering rules:

The name of this book is Afterschool Kanon, where Kanon is the name of a Japanese deity.

Using this same formula, come up with the title and a *one-line* description of a Yuri story. For example, “Bathtime Hecate: Keiko discovers a Greek deity living in the medicine cabinet in her bathroom, how will she keep the goddess of witches from ruining her new life at the sorority house?” Yes, that’s awful. That’s the *point*. Make me groan with awfulness.

You must be 18 or over, because I don’t know what all I have here. Stick your entry in the comments here. If you insist on being Anon, at least add a nickname or something so I can ID you.

Do me a favor, please put your country at the end of the entry, so I know what I’m getting in to and can figure out what to sent where? Thanks!

Good luck!

Posted in Yuri Manga | 27 Comments »


Fate Zero Anime, First Season

January 29th, 2012

There’s Fate Zero, then there’s the Fate Zero in my mind.

Fate Zero is a prequel to the Fate/Stay Night Visual Novel about which I know and care nothing. I only care insofar as the Fate Zero anime was mostly introduction and exposition at this point, and I’m hoping it holds together as a series on its own.

The story is, relatively speaking, simple – 7 great heroes/evildoers of the past are reincarnated with even greater powers than they actually had when they were merely men who achieved notable things, and they each have a master who wishes to find the Holy Grail to achieve some goal, selfish or otherwise. Who the heroes are, is the most interesting part of the series to me, and how their myths are rewritten to determine their powers.

I was asked some weeks ago about my interest in the reincarnated heroes, as I’ve mentioned here in the past that myths are typically a good hook for me. Since these heroes aren’t really connected to their past incarnations in any meaningful way, these are clever and some good fun, but I don’t actually feel a connection between one and the other. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the heck out of this series – even when large chunks of episodes were merely expository conversation.

Let’s start from the top – the heroes themselves.

Lancer was a hoot for me, it’s not often I get to see Fionn mac Cumhaill in an anime. Or, ever. When people think of Irish heroes, they always default to Cuchulain. I liked how he was noble, but his master is a prick. A story from his perspective would be much different than the one from Saber’s.

Rider‘s really the hero here. I’m pretty sure that Alexander the Great didn’t look anything like that great huge mountain of a man, but I loved the interpretation of “Great” as meaning looming large in every way. Rider’s what you think of when you think “Age of Heroes;” great huge muscular men, laughing as they fight, drink and die. (Except for Cuchulain, I think he’d be a mope no matter what he was doing.) Rider’s master is weak, but not bad, and having Rider as a servant will man him up pretty fast, so if he survives, it’ll be good for him. Poor bastard needs it, with the name Waver Velvet.

Oh Saber. Who can’t love the idea of a conflicted, tortured King Arthur? Everyone tortures Arthur differently. Whether you force him to deal with a wife who is having an affair, or make him have an affair himself, or turn him into a woman who had to hide his gender, or even turn him into Sailor Moon, Arthur is a splendid tabula rasa on which to draw. He’s timeless. Even though Saber’s master is the utterly dull Kiritsugu, we’re supplied with a Guinevere for him to adore in the person of Irisviel. I have no doubt that most of you were writing little stories in your head about Saber and Irisviel, as I was.

Caster is half of the best comedy team I’ve ever seen. He and his master, voiced absolutely deliciously by Ishida Akira, were perfect. Gilles de Rais is the name of a man so loathed, so envenomed by the ages that I’m kind of inclined to think he probably didn’t do any of the things he was accused of doing. You all know Bluebeard, right? Well, you should. I have to tell you, I *loved* his speech about “What do I have to do to be punished by god?!?” That was almost as good as Saber on her bike for me.

Beserker is Lancelot? Well, that’s just dumb. Lancelot was no beserker, I can tell you. They should have picked someone Norse. It doesn’t make any sense to have a Berserker Lancelot. Gawd. Now I’m just depressed. ( I retract this. Berserk Lancelot does make sense. And it caused a fraught conversation in the second season between Saber and Berserker.)  But Berserker isn’t the interesting half of this story anyway. Kariya, his master, is the most pathetic of all the masters. (Pathetic in the sense of inviting pathos.) You really have to root for him, because if you don’t you are consigning at least one, possibly two little girls to a eternity of foulness, which means you’re a heartless wretch. Fooey on you.

Gilgamesh is Archer and a delightfully wtf interpretation of the myth. I have no idea how they got that trash-talking asshole from the legend of Gilgamesh, but I look forward to his destruction. Kotomine is a snooze – I was so happy Gilgamesh thought so too. What a BORE.

If you don’t grok Assassin the moment they mention them, you fail in your study of legends, myths and secret societies.

The animation is stunning – we expect no less from Type Moon. The characters are well drawn, well-acted and so far, at least, really well written. The only complaint I have is that the first season ends where the plot begins and if they don’t actually give me a story to hold on to, I’ll be peeved, since I have no intention of ever playing any game/reading any Visual Novel.

Since I don’t care about the Visual Novel, or the series as a whole, I’ve cheerfully rewritten the story in my head. Of course Irisviel and Saber get to be together, duh.

Ratings:

Art – 10
Story – 6 It’s been all character all the time, which has had moments, and also been a lot of blah blah blah.
Characters – 9
Yuri – 0, but in my head, it’s more like 7
Service – 1 on principle

Overall – 7

I await Season Two with the faint hope that Kiritsugu dies, Saber survives the war with Irisviel, and they live happily ever after, just like on this clock I got from Young Ace magazine.

Also, I wonder what the fallout of the absurdly priced Blu-Ray release will be. I can’t imagine too many American fans coughing up that usurious a price for what amounts to light entertainment.

Posted in Miscellaneous, Type-Moon | 21 Comments »


Yuri Network News – January 28, 2012

January 28th, 2012

Nothing makes me so aware of time flying as these weekly reports. End of January already? Wow.

Yuri Manga

Sasamekikoto, Volume 9 (ささめきこと)　is finally here! I haven’t paid the least attention to anyone discussing it, and the cover is lovely, so I’ll look forward to it. (Anyone who thinks to try and spoil it for me or anyone else in the comments, a pox upon you. It’s not clever or funny and I read fast, so it won’t work, either. I will see your linguistic clues and delete it before you can be an ass in public. You’re welcome.)

Another from Mangatime Kirara, Onegai Kami-sama (おお願い神サマ！) has, to Japanese fans’ relief, Yuri. Or at least one characters says she likes Yuri. Or something. Anyway, I’m not reading this myself, and if any of you lovely folks out there has purchased Volume 1 or Volume 2 and would like to do a guest review, this is a great opportunity!

Speaking of Magatime Kirara and all it’s little wizards, a couple of folks pointed out that Aoki Ume’s new series will begin in the newest addition to the Mangatime library, Mangatime Kirara Carino.

If you, unlike me, enjoyed Kiji Torajiro’s Otome Teikoku (オトメの帝国) you’ll probably be happy to know that a second volume is out.

The new edition of Morinaga Milk’s Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo (くちびるためいきさくらいろ) is due to hit shelves in April.

Volume 7 of Pure Virual Anthology Hirari (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり) will be out in March, Tsubomi, Volume 16, in February and March issue of Comic Yuri Hime is currently gracing Japanese bookstore shelves.

***

Yuri Anime

You may have seen that Gokujyou anime airings are being cancelled, with really bizarre apologies for “excessive stupidity.” This is clearly a ploy to get people to buy the DVDs – but the apology is absolutely correct. This series was excessively stupid in every way. I realize that this is a lame, obvious ploy, but it’s so in keeping with the story itself, it kind of makes sense.

Let’s finish off with some positive news and a glimpse at a future I’d like to see. The Black Rock Shooter anime, in conjunction with Nico Nico Douga, will stream *worldwide* in 8 languages, and will be airing on the Noitamina time slot on Japanese TV.

I know it’s hard to imagine that things are changing for the positive sometimes, when all that affects you is the negative, but there is nothing absolute or fixed in the universe – only change.

Let me take this opportunity to hop back up on my sopabox, just for a sec. Recently, a fan asked about whether Fantagraphics is licensing Aoi Hana. I suggested she write them an ask. They said, “not at this time” and she wrote to me with “I guess we’ll never get it.”

This is not the right lesson to have learned at all.

What she and so many of you must understand is, publishing is about money – it’s a numbers game. Sure if five people say they’d like to buy Aoi Hana, Fantagraphics will reply “not at this time.” That is true – right now, they have their hands full with other projects. When that number increases to 500, 5000, 10,000…that might change. The lesson is – do not give up, do not got all weird and fatalistic, *organize!* When 5000 people write Fantagraphics a polite note suggesting that if they licensed Aoi Hana, we’d buy it, I guarantee they’ll think differently about the topic.

The only constant is change. learn to roll with it and you’ll generally be a happier, healthier person. In the meantime, get ready to enjoy Black Rock Shooter in 8 languages. ^_^

***

That wraps it up 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.

Posted in Yuri Network News | 22 Comments »