I’m In Love With the Villainess and ‘The Talk’

October 17th, 2023

Welcome back to Reality in Anime Week. ^_^

We’ve already discussed The Power of Hope ~ Precure in Full Bloom~‘s honest look at adult life. Today we turn once again back to I’m In Love With the Villainess, for an episode that many people hope will change anime for the better. (And some people threw tantrums about, but that’s a different conversation.)

In Episode 3, Misha turns to Rae and says, “Are you what they call ‘gay’?” In Japanese, the word used is douseiai (同性愛), homosexual. Rae then answers this with honesty. At which Lene mentions that gender isn’t really the issue and Rae explains that gender does matter for her. The English dub is radiant here, with a line about “love is love” is not wrong, but gender does matter for those people for whom it matters. Ironically, we had had this very conversation the night before on the Okazu Discord. ^_^

I’m going to take a second to digress here and say that the English dub for this series is absolutely outstanding and I recommend watching either or both. Hannah Alyea as Rae is brilliant and Lindsay Shepphard is incandescent as Claire.

I spent most of yesterday reading the comments for the sub and dub (which turn out to be different! Why, Crunchyroll?) and people were positively glowing with praise for the frankness of the conversation. A few people were moved, many were surprised (I guess they haven’t been reading my reviews. ^_^;). Some folks inevitably mentioned that this has never been done before in anime – that is not 100% true, but this scene definitely broke some walls and of course anime fandom memory doesn’t go very far back as new fans never know what they missed.) I want to assure people that these walls were broken with intention – this series is not done providing realistic commentary about both queer lives and social and financial inequality. This is a show that I expected to knock people’s socks off and so far it has not disappointed.

Given that King Records thinks this series Blu-ray will sell well enough that they already have opened pre-orders, I think this may be a real moment of changing tides in an industry that has regularly utilized queer content, without accepting the people whose stories it tells. Media companies in general are conservative, and otaku are often, weirdly, also very conservative.

In a year where Kadokawa (a company that regularly profits from fannish pairings of same-sex characters and manga that portrays queer stories) backtracked on the relationship between Suletta and Miorine …a relationship witnessed by viewers worldwide, no less… this is a story that Ichijinsha is giving room to be exactly as queer as it wants and needs to be.

That’s worth celebrating.

Posted in Anime, English Anime, I'm in Love With the Villainess, Now This Is Only My Opinion | 3 Comments »


Kibou no Chikara, Otona PreCure ’23 / Power of Hope ~Precure Full Bloom~

October 16th, 2023

8 adults representing two different series of PreCure stars stand around a city parks, while a giant butterfly hovers overhead.Welcome to Reality Anime Week. First, we’re taking a look at Kibou no Chikara ~ Otona PreCure ’23 ~ (キボウノチカラ～オトナプリキュア’23～ ), streaming on Crunchyroll as Power of Hope ~Precure Full Bloom~, a shockingly depressing look at post-magical girl life. I’m not kidding either, although we can see where this is likely to lead and the title is the Power of Hope, not the Power of Hopelessness, so I think we’ll be okay…eventually. ^_^

As we open, we see that Nozomi, the former Cure Dream from Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!, (two seasons I have not watched for reasons I will discuss) is an adult and has become a teacher. These two season are among those that Crunchyroll does not (yet) have streaming, but I hope that if this season is popular, they might consider getting them. Nozomi and Rin (Cure Rouge) meet up to get drinks and bitch about work which, for both of them has been brutally depressing. By apparent chance they encounter the remaining team members, Urara, Komachi, Karen and Kurumi. Each of them is struggling in their “dream” career. It also comes to light that none of them can transform any more, as their devices have just disappeared.

Of course we need them more than ever and, when shadows attack townspeople, Nozomi struggles to protect students. In the nick of time, she transforms, but she finds time unwinding and she returns to the teenager she was in order to become Cure Dream to the disappointment of folks on the Okazu Discord.

So, let’s look at the reality of the adult world. In every case, the former Cure finds that they are expected to be able to do things without support, or with outright antagonism from the systems they work within. When they get together, they end up drinking as a form of anesthesia, a way to speak their minds and a way to blow off the frustration of their “dream” jobs being less a dream and more a nightmare. While surely this speaks directly to an audience of former PreCure fans now dealing with those same flawed systems, what does it say about us as adults? The only way we have to cope is excessive alcohol? Yikes, there’s a message I hope the kids aren’t hearing. ^_^;

But, given the setup, we’re definitely going to have to see the adults in the room become children once more in order to find their power…and in that I see possibility. Because it is not all that hopeful to imagine we must once again be young to have the power of hope. What I’m hoping (argh) to see is that in finding themselves once again, and their dreams, the Cures find power as their adult selves. Otherwise, ugh, that really would be depressing. “Adults are actually pretty useless and drown themselves in anesthesia so they don’t go mad over the banality of their lives!” … just doesn’t seem like a PreCure message. ^_^ Especially as folks are happy about the return of the Yes! and Splash Star team members who will populate this story.  And let’s not forget the fairies.

I mentioned that I had never watched Yes! Pretty Cure 5 and Yes! Pretty Cure 5 GoGo!, despite being assured that they were pretty Yuri as PreCure series went. This is not entirely true – I did try to watch them both, but found the fairies absolutely intolerable. Episode 2 of Kibou no Chikara reintroduced the fairies with their original voices and instantly, I felt they were absolutely intolerable. ^_^ So this series is going to be a trial for me no matter how it goes. I don’t think I disliked any other series’ fairies as much as I disliked this crop.  Oh PLEASE give me an adult version of Heartcatch, pretty please?

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 5, but it had to start somewhere
Characters  –  I’m punting on this, as I don’t know them well enough yet, I’m hoping Kurumi kicks the CEO’s ass
Service – I’m punting on this one too, for reasons
Yuri –  Other than Mint x Aqua doujinshi, I’m not holding my breath

Overall – 6 so far, we’ll see where it takes us.

“The Power of Hope” is a pretty big tease for a series that has begun knee-deep in powerless and hopelessness. I’m very much keeping my  Cure Mo ready for an adult power up to adult PreCure lives.

Posted in English Anime | 1 Comment »


Hametsu no Koibito, Volume 1 (破滅の恋人)

October 15th, 2023

A girl with green hair tied in a braid looks off to the left, in front of a background of a hedge or wall covered in green leaves.We recently had the pleasure of three guest reviews for Plongée dans la nuit, the French edition of Yoru to Umi, by Goumoto. I had read the first volume in Japanese, myself, then forgotten in the crush of other series to continue. So when Hametsu no Koibito, Volume 1 (破滅の恋人) by Goumoto wandered across my feed, I thought I’d give it a chance. What I found is an intriguing story that is gripping and mysterious.

Arisu is a serious girl who finds herself wandering an apparently abandoned house where a friend has lost a teddy bear. The school kids use the grounds for tests of courage and other scary stories. Arisu finds the bear…but also finds that the house is not at all abandoned. A mysterious, attractive woman lives there. Arisu immediately thinks of her as a witch. A friendly witch to be sure, but Arisu, being a serious young lady, is not about to be bewitched with cookies and tea. She nonetheless keeps coming back and, while they never speak of anything important, finds that being around this older woman is changing her in ways she could not predict.

Like Arisu, it’s hard for readers to not marvel at the apparently carefree life of this woman, who is deeply alone, but not apparently lonely. When we do learn a bit about her, it’s to see her rage at a man who once was a boy she raged at when she was a young girl. Who she is and what she is doing remain mostly a mystery.

But Arisu, so serious, but brave, has become braver. She’s inspiring her timid classmate to come out of her shell, merely by being. And her piano teacher can sense a change in her playing…a maturity she has recently developed.

All of this is happens in a tone poem of a manga that has a frisson of “creepy” without a single actually creepy thing happening, and a feeling of anticipation that surely something must happen…and explosive moments of surprisingly small things actually happening. It’s an amazing pocket watch of a manga – teeny, tiny movemenst, intricately crafted and interlocked, causing each other to move and change. I’m definitely going to continue the series, if only to see if time simply progresses or the springs come unwound.

Despite the title, there’s no lovers, no Yuri, no relationships, but the “witch” definitely is the source of destruction, as well as it’s victim.

Ratings:

Art – 8 Sketchy and evocative
Story – 7 No idea what it’s doing, but I’m in
Characters – 8
Service –  0 No, but it always feels as if there might be next page
Yuri – 0

Overall – 8

This really taught story about an unlikely friendship makes for a surprisingly good manga.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – October 14, 2023

October 14th, 2023

A blue silhouette of a girl with a white flower in her hair, embracing the earth. Blue block letters read YNN Yuri Network News. Art by Lissa P. For Okazu.

Yuri Events

The Yuriten Yuri Exhibition has opened today in Tokyo. In a newly refurbished space, they are doing same-day entrance tickets for fans who would like to enjoy the exhibition, which is open until October 22, then moving to Osaka. Check out the Yuriten official Twitter account for pictures!

The Girls Love Fest just finished up last week in Asakusa and is already gearing up for an event in January, Girls Love Festival ShinYuri 2 on January 21, 2024 at the Shinyuri 21 Hall in Kawasaki. I actually like the mobility and flexibility of this event that has kept it alive now through well more than 3 dozen events.

Not technically an event, but the I’m In Love With The Villainess pop-up shop is taking place at the Akihabara Gamers store through October 22. AND the Animate HQ in Ikebukuro is holding a chocolate distribution event on October 21.

I’m still hoping that someone, somewhere will open a cool Yuri pop-up while I’m in Japan, but wow is this the week to be there!

We have a new video up for Yuricon 2023! Novelist Laura Weyr hosts a dynamic panel featuring VN team Aikasa Collective co-founder Roxie, web novelist Nara Moore & webtoon creator Ari North to discuss the pros and cons of different media for creators of Yuri in S04 E14 – I Want To Make Yuri, What’s The Right Medium For Me?

Yuricon 2023 continues this month with another terrific conversation coming up next week, and a few more fun things for next month. I’m stoked about the panels and presentations we’re getting from you all. There’s plenty of time to arrange a panel before the end of the year, so if you have a panel or presentation you’d like to do for Yuricon 2023, fill out our Yuricon 2023 Panel & Presentation Application Form!

 

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Yuri Manga & Queer Comics

Kitao Taki has a new series being serialized on Bookwalker,  Heimin No Watashi Desu Ga Kōshaku Reijō-sama Wo Taburakashite Ikite Imasu, (平民の私ですが公爵令嬢様をたぶらかして生きています).  You can also read free it as each chapter goes live on Yuri Navi. Chapter 3 is up now.

Via YNN Correspondent Patricia B,  The Stranger, by Rosemary V-O, is a short comic that “explores the brief relationship between an old woman who is losing her memory and an android made in the image of her late wife.”

We haven’t had a review of it yet here (although I did read it in Japanese when it came out,) but Rebecca Silverman takes a look at Mikanuji’s I Don’t Need A Happy Ending for ANN.

Via YNN Correspondent & Reviewer, Luce, Seven Seas announced the license for Kabi Nagata’s My Wandering Warrior Eating Disorder, as digital-only release.

The Isaki Uta: Lost And Found Collection from Irodori Comic, has made it’s Kickstarter goal with 18 days to go. There don’t appear to be any stretch goals at this time, but you can be sure you’ll get the collection when it is complete. Congrats to everyone involved!

 

Yuri Light Novel

Miyazawa Iori, creator of Otherside Picnic has a new edition of an older, pre-OP work out, U ha Uchyuu Yabai no U (ウは宇宙ヤバイのウ) which is a “slapstick science fiction” story about a high school girl at the end of the world – or is she an agent of an interstellar intelligence agency here to save the planet?

 

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Yuri Visual Novels

Creator Yamino would like to thank the more than 2000 people who have downloaded Act 1 of Phantom of the Black Rose Revue on itch.io, which she describes as “a tale of haunted love, inspired by classic shoujo manga and The Phantom of the Opera!” Act. 1 is currently available at name your own price. ^_^

The postmortem of “survival Yuri horror” VN created for the Spooktober Game Jam, The Final Prize Is Soup, is really interesting! I bet the VN is too, grab that on itch.io.

 

Other News

Again from Luce, we have news of Lofty Mountains, “an anthology of Sapphic fantasy stories,” reviewed on LGBTQ Reads.

Alicia Haddick is over the moon to report that Takarazuka is doing an engekidan interpretation of Bollywood sensation, RRR. Check out the posters over on her Bluesky feed.

Empty Movement on Twitter noted some interesting commonalities between Anthy and Utena’s residence and the house of notoriously nationalistic, queer playwright/poet Mishima Yukio’s house.

And two personal notes to wrap up. This week should see the launch of me talking with Leigh of the History is Gay podcast about Yoshiya Nobuko…and waiting impatiently for the upcoming book on her life to come out! I’ll be sure to post links when it’s live. In the meantime, you should listen to this podcast, it’s great. ^_^

Also coming this week is a very personal article I wrote about some of the joys I found while watching slice-of-life anime while I was struggling with Long Covid this past spring. Keep an eye out on ANN on the 16th for “The Joy Of The Everyday: Emotional Intimacy Between Women in Slice-of-Life Anime”!  Again, I’ll post a link when it goes live. Thanks to Lindsay for giving me a chance to publish this.

 

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Posted in Yuri Network News | No Comments »


Zerogo: Yuri Literary Magazine (零合 : 百合総合文芸誌)

October 13th, 2023

In recent years, I have reviewed two kinds of Yuri short story collections here on Okazu: The Pixiv+Yuri Hime Yuri Bungei Shousetsu Contest ((百合文芸小説 コンテスト セレクション) collections and a number of science fiction collections like, Asterism ni Hanataba o Yuri SF Anthology (アステリズムに花束を 百合 SFアンソロジー).  I literally have two collections of Yuri short stories waiting to be read. It seems like every year we’re getting more and more Yuri fiction in short stories and light novels. So, the tagline for this new publication being “Where’s The Yuri?” seems to me to be a tad precious, especially with so many of the authors opining that there’s hardly any place for literary Yuri out there. It’s true there is a lot of room for Yuri to grow and I am not at all complaining about there being another collection! Just…look around a bit?

All that said, I found Zerogo: Yuri Literary Magazine (零合 : 百合総合文芸誌) to be the best collection of Yuri short stories I have read. To be very clear – I did not like every story. Two I skipped after beginning them, for entirely different reasons. One was heading in a direction that I did not find entertaining and one was beautifully written, but so full of description that nothing was actually going on. But that left me with  8 long-form short stories that were…pretty damn good, honestly.

My favorite was the second story, “Uso” by Yamaguchi Shun. It was a gritty noir piece that suited my mood that week about a runaway girl who ends up working for criminals and the older woman she falls in love with. It was pretty violent and nihilistic, but I thought it well-written.

This collection had a tremendous variety in terms of the included pieces. Some psychological horror, personal narrative style stories, a really terrific historical piece and a number of science fiction pieces and at least one body horror story.  Only one story bothered with a twisty ending, which really made me happy. Overall, the writing was excellent. Different styles, different voices. While most of the authors were new to me, many of them had writing credits elsewhere.

The collection also includes notes from cover artist Shimura Takako, mangaka Mikami Teren, as well as a few illustrations adorning front/back covers inside and out.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

The absolute best collection of Yuri stories I have read to date. According to the Zerogoh Twitter feed, they are working on a second volume, but there has been no new news since summer. As they say, when you consider all the difficulties of staring up a new magazine, you’ll understand. And so I do. ^_^ 2024 Update: Volume 2 is available and as interesting so far as Volume 1!

Posted in Magazines | 2 Comments »