Yuri Manga: Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan, Volume 2 (あめ色紅茶館歓談)

January 27th, 2012

In Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan, Volume 2 (あめ色紅茶館歓談) Sarasa and Seriho have been working together for a while now, and have settled into a routine. They kind of know that they really like one another and they are kinda sure the other feels the same way, but neither has actually broached the topic with the other.

When Seriho’s old friend Sumire arrives, this changes. Sumire likes to tease Seriho, and does not like women who are meant to be together to be kept apart by their own obtuseness, so she sets them up on a date. They have a wonderful date. Sarasa has shown up a little early (2 hours or so) and has scoped out the best places to eat and shop. But it’s Seriho that finally does what has never been done – she buys herself a ring and a matching ring for Sarasa and says, “I mean it ‘that way.'” (Sumire-san – good job!)

Having been asked – well as much as one can expect from this delicately-spoken series – Sarasa now has to decide if she will accept that ring. She asks Seriho to sit and be her customer as she prepares tea and scones, and, in as much as she’ll ever come right out and say anything, accepts. They embrace, only to find out that all their customers and friends are watching from the window, and cheering them both on.

Things that are this cute start to hurt.

The chapters of Otome-iro Stay Tuned are collected here, so we can be reminded where we first heard of the St. Lotecia novels.

This volume ends a with Sarasa and Seriho some time in their future, talking about the impermanence of things, and the permanence of their relationship. And, we are told on the final page, that we have a new series in that future to watch for – Ame-iro-Kouchakan Kandan ~ Golden and Silver Tips, which is a damnably clever name; if you’re a tea drinker, you know why.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – There still is no “story” per se, but as an evolution of a relationship, it’s great – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 9
Service – 2
Fujieda Fan – 9

Overall – 9

I’m sitting here, finishing up a cup of Darjeeling (Twinings, which used to be good, but has now become harsh and cheap and requires both milk and sugar to make it drinkable, bleah,) and thinking how there can never be enough of this series. If we chained Miyabi-sensei to his chair, he could never, ever write enough to satisfy me. This series had a light flavor, cheery body, and a satisfying mellow, ever-so-slightly bitter finish. A good afternoon read, with a good tea, (maybe a Keemun?) that calms and refreshes my spirit. Too bad we finished off the scones the wife made. Oh well, next time I want to revisit the Amber Teahouse, maybe she’ll make me more and I can brew some tea for us. ^_^

The picture above is for the deluxe edition that comes with the Drama CD Blue Christmas and one of the bonus CDs. For the non-deluxe edition, use this link.

Posted in Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan, Fujieda Miyabi | 10 Comments »


A Completely Different Kind of Graphic Novel

January 26th, 2012

Many years ago in the Song Dynasty in China, there was a painter we know as Zhang Zeduan. He painted a massive scroll that depicted the life of a town, the Qingming Shanghe Tu, (清明上河图) “Along the River During the Qing Ming Festival.” For all intents and purposes, this scroll, painted during the 12th century, is a graphic novel, done in pantomime. There are no word balloons, no action lines, but it clearly shows the life of a town during a busy day. The original is the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Last year during the Singapore Expo, a massive transmedia program was designed to bring this painting to life. It’s…extraordinary. The water flows around rocks in the ground, people wander through town, meet, speak and part…a child runs after a pig, a woman rocks her infant. The very famous camel caravan wanders through town, passing under a gate. As a work of art, this has always been a striking piece – animated, I fell for it all over again.

For your entertainment – and some perspective on the concept of a Graphic Novel – please enjoy Zhang Zeduan’s Qingming Shanghe Tu.

Posted in Now This Is Only My Opinion | 6 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Yurikan Feuille (百合缶 Feuille)

January 25th, 2012

Every few years or so, someone comes up with the idea of creating a Yuri stand-alone anthology. [ES]~ Eternal Sisters, Shoujo Yuri, Yuri Monogatari, Yuri Tengoku and many others have graced my shelves.

Some of them have borne great fruit. The characters of Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan, for instance, were first seen in [ES]. Some artists are more comfortable in these doujinshi anthologies than they are in the pages of a magazine. Morinaga Milk-sensei, for instance, spent many years drawing for exactly these kinds of anthologies, before she found a home at Comic High.

And now, a new Yuri Anthology series has arrived. The first of these, Yurikan Feuille (百合缶 Feuille) reads pretty much like any of these, with few stories that stand out and a lot of the same kind of Story A. Tears, a few kisses, a few gropes, more tears, protestations of like, sometimes love, the story ends with a sense of relief that both girls are on the same page, romantically speaking.

The first of this series features Morinaga-sensei with her Hitomi and Nana clones, who like each other, and just have never had a chance to actually say it. An accidental encounter gives them that opportunity. This pretty much sets the tone of the rest of the volume. This is fully embedded in Story A tropes – schoolgirls, confessions, confirmation. None of them really stand out as unique. They aren’t awful, just a set of the same story told by different artists. Not a single one breaks the mold, except one story which adds “funny” sexual harassment to the mix.

Ratings:

Variable, obviously, being an anthology.

Overall – 6

As a collection of the same one trope, Yurikan Feuille is not terrible, not great.

Posted in Yuri Manga | 6 Comments »


Hayate x Blade Manga, Volume 15 (はやてｘブレード)

January 23rd, 2012

So, Volume 14 came and with it, the greatest fight ever seen at Tenchi Academy. Sae and Shizuku, out of the fight and only Hitsugi and Akira left to battle it out. Students and guests were on the edge of their seats and so were readers, I can assure you.Well, at least this reader was.

The battle ended as it had to. Bloodied, on one knee, but unbowed and unwilling to give up, Hitsugi defeated Akira. Phew, because if Akira won, Tenchi would have been disbanded. And here, in Hayate x Blade, Volume 15, (はやてｘブレード) we finally learn why.

We know that Akira’s father is a bastard – we’ve known that for a long time. We know he favors that prig Ryouichi and treats Akira like dirt, merely because she is a girl. And we learn why, exactly he let her come to Tenchi Gakuen – to destroy the Amachi family and the school. Having won the battle, Hitsugi cheerfully pronounces Akira’s punishment – to take over the school as chair. Akira now holds in her hands exactly what she was sent to get, and she runs off to give it to her father, and maybe, finally, get approval from the old man. But…Akira has undergone a transformation, and so has Sae, and together they walk away from what they were told would be their fates, in the quirkiest way possible. I won’t spoil it, but I will tell you that it involves a plastic bag from a convenience store (this time, the late, much lamented AM/PM) cut into a mask.

And so Akira and Sae return to school to find that nothing has changed – except everything has changed. The new trimester has begun and Tenchi Academy is moving! But before that, there’s new uniforms. And more epic battles between “randomly” chosen opponents who are so unrandom that everyone in the audience questions Hitsugi’s honesty. Ayana is once again paired with Yukari; Yuho returns, and Hayate meets (as in “meets in battle”) Nagi’s shinyuu-to-be, Kanai and lots of stupid shit happens.

I was recently discussing Hayate x Blade with Bruce and I said that generally I really dislike physical comedy. Hayate x Blade has a ton of physical comedy  – that makes me laugh out loud. The story that wraps the comedy is so smart-dumb that it’s impossible not to laugh. In my imagination, Hayashiya-sensei is Hitsugi, pulling strings and manipulating characters, just to get the best damn story she can out of them. Which, she does.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Yuri – 1
Series – 1

Overall – 10

Once again, Hayate x Blade is the manga I wait with greatest anticipation for monthly issue and tankoubon alike. I pray daily that this manga becomes the longest-running story ever, because I cannot imagine my life without it and I expect to live a long time.

Posted in Hayashiya Shizuru, Hayate x Blade | 11 Comments »


Yuri Network News – January 21, 2012

January 21st, 2012

Yuri Anime

From multiple sources in the Phillipines comes the news that Sailor Moon is returning to TV there. Johann C from the Yuricon Mailing List says that it’s getting “a New Tagalog dub with Jenny Bituin (Misaki Suzuhara in Angelic Layer, Sakura Kinomoto in Card Captor Sakura) as Usagi.”

The first episode of Gokujyouu anime will be streamed for free online on January 30th and if that doesn’t turn you off then we have nothing left to discuss, you and I.

***

Yuri Manga

So, yesterday we announced the partnership of JManga and ALC Publishing to bring Goto Hayako’s POOR POOR LIPS to digital format. Let me address some of the obvious issues that came up, to the best of my ability.

Distribution – I am pushing to try and get JManga to establish access for Yuri publications outside North America, but this is primarily an issue between JManga and the Japanese rights holder. You all know how I feel about this nonsense. If it were up to me, everyone, everywhere would have access to this book. Unfortunately, I am only in a position to suggest.

Digital Format – Yes, this is a digital format only. And only on JManga. JManga is the rights holder, not ALC. We have no say about the format.

Yesterday, this question became an issue, as some people claimed that they preferred to buy books. That may be true, but 1) As I’ve said many times, the book-buying Yuri audience is not yet sustainable and 2) Digital makes a lot more sense going forward than books. We are at one of those moments in time, between two formats and everyone over the age of 18 is digging in their heels saying “But I prefer books.” What we really mean is, “I am used to books.” Digital is not going away and, in days to come you should probably expect more digital, not less. 3) People who rely mostly on scans really, I know most of you do (not all, Okazu readers are very likely to buy when they can and I know that!) really have no voice in the distribution/format wars. I understand fully why you rely on scanlations. You don’t have to justify that. But, when a legit version is available, and a person is still downloading illicit scanlations, and says, “I prefer to buy books,” it’s disingenuous, at best. What that person is really saying is, “I prefer free.”

4chan has already stated that they want rips of the JManga edition. This is what publishers hear when “fans” say “We want a thing.” They could have it, all three current volumes of Poor Poor Lips, but oh wait, not for free. So they’ll just rip it and move on. THIS is why I am not trying to license the print version. There’s no other reason, just this. Until this changes, I have no incentive to invest my money in the market. I don’t have an angel company pouring money over my head, so I have to be very cautious.

So, while I’m very proud to be bringing the Yuri audience Poor Poor Lips, and will do what I can to make it available to as many of you as possible, I’m still frustrated by the instant “I won’t buy it because…” reactions. If you have any reason at all that you won’t support it, you’ve given up your voice in the conversation. As for all of the non-North American fans out there – I want you to know that I really understand your frustration and will keep pushing for your right to read this!

And, in keeping with the concept of anyone, anywhere reading a comic, Tsubomi magazine has put several of their comics online and they do not appear to be region-locked! Of course, they are in Japanese.

Here’s the moral of the story – the market is still changing and changing quickly. Publishers are scrambling to make things available and also scrambling to pay their bills. (Like…if you do work, you should be paid for it. Well, so should the people who work for the publishers.) Japanese publishers are still a bit behind the times, but they are also doing their best. Not too long ago, someone on Twitter asked about using Kickstarter to fund an obscure series and I had to tell them the facts about publishing. The bits you see – translation, lettering and distribution are only a teeny portion of what goes into the licensing and publication of a book. Because most of the steps are invisible to readers, they may think that that’s all there is. But, just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. ^_^ So, please, be patient with the industry. We’re trying.

David makes a good point in the comments – the business model for JManga is off-putting for some folks. I don’t disagree. Honestly, I’d prefer to have ad hoc sales as an option, too. I’ve mentioned that to them as well. So yes, the whole thing is imperfect. You know what? Life is imperfect. ^_^ All we get is to choose how we react to life’s imperfections.

***

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 | 24 Comments »