Since we’re on the topic of squee-making manga news, today the second Volume of GUNJO is on sale.
Let’s show Nakamura-sensei as much support as we can!
Vertical Announces Princess Knight
Princess Knight, by Tezuka Osamu, is being published by Vertical.
To say that this is a “long-awaited” announcement is sort of an understatement. Start saving your money now, seriously, because I expect everyone who calls themselves a Yuri fan to run out and get this. No exceptions, no excuses. If you can afford a pizza, you can afford this book. (If you really can’t afford this book, ask your library, nicely.)
Princess Knight, aka Ribon no Kishi （リボンの騎士）is one of the seminal works of Yuri fandom. Tezuka’s visible influences include Disney’s Snow White and Takarazuka, and this series set the bar for notable later girl-princes such as Lady Oscar in Rose of Versailles and Tenjou Utena in Revolutionary Girl Utena.
If you have been paying the least bit of attention to the manga and Japanese lit worlds, Vertical’s other two announcements will be pretty big news, as well. So this was a great off-season announcement for all of us.
UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie OVA Collection, Season 3 (English)
I bought myself the UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie OVA Collection
I’ve stopped caring that Kaishaku’s work is really bad, honestly. I’m resigned to the fetish du jour construction of their stories. There were even moments where I liked an angle, a scene, a character.
But look, let me say this plainly and get it out of the way, because I find the thought burdensome and want to shed it. When Kazuto kisses Val-chan and she turns into Valkyrie, every time I think – this is what pedophiles see in their heads. That this innocent child is somehow an actual willing, equal partner in this relationship. And this thought really makes it hard for me to ever like this series – even though Kazuto’s relationship with Val-chan is, in and of itself, innocent. Kazuto is clearly in love with Valkyrie, and treats Val-chan as a daughter and that is that. Kazuto’s worst behavior with Val-chan is that he spoils her a little.
But less and less is the story about Kazuto and Valkyrie at all. In Season 3, it’s almost an aside to the main plot of whatever episode. Whether it’s a cat maid superhero or one of Valhalla’s 4 million princesses showing up for a visit (and crashing into a building to do so. When Rika commented on the fact, I was amazed they bothered to address the issue at all) Valkyrie and Kazuto’s impending, oft-delayed wedding seems tagged on as an afterthought.
Among the many Princesses who show up for an extended visit is Pharm, who crashes into the local school and inexplicably becomes a teacher. Pharm is representative and enthusiast of the girl-wearing-glasses fetish. This episode is laden with Yuri service that doesn’t quite go anywhere, but it was kind of weird and silly. We learn at the end of the episode that Pharm has a crush on Valkyrie. That too is kind of weird and silly. Most of this series is kind of weird and silly. And every once in a while, it almost becomes likable.
Ratings:
Art – Nothing like Kaishaku’s – 7
Story – There is very little story – 5
Characters – Variable, averaging out at 6
Yuri – 4 for Pharm
Service – there are not enough numerals, nor spaces to hold them
Overall – 5
So if you like Kaishaku generally, or think you might if they stopped beating up their women all the time, Season 3 of Valkyrie is not intolerable.
Yuri Manga: Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, Volume 3 (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり)
Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり) is making a valiant effort to stay relevant in the Yuri magazine game. At Volume 3, it has yet to really build character, but it’s trying, I think. Both older sister magazines, Comic Yuri Hime and Tsubomi have some big hitters on their team, but little sister Hirari is not backing down from the challenge.
And so Volume 3 begins with Hakamada Mera as leadoff batter. Certainly Mera is a big(gish) name in Yuri, but her stories are more bunt than single. In “Salomelic” a dark, potentially gloomy girl with the word “black” in her name, whose interest is witchcraft is befriended by a shiny, happy “light” girl. They become friends and somehow, we’re to understand that it’s more.
And that, in a nutshell is the single biggest problem I have with Hirari. The stories are mostly sweet and frequently end with two girls as friends or two friends renewing their bonds of friendship. So rarely is there more than hand-holding, that I’m often hard pressed to see this as “Yuri,” as opposed to nice story about girls who are friends. And when they go past friendship, it’s mostly an uptick in heartbeat and “what is this feeling?” I’m not looking for hot lesbo sex, but there’s so much more variety and depth than this in a relationship, it seems such a waste to keep pitching the same one pitch over and over.
Probably the best story in the book for me was “Pulchrima” by Fuji Koyomi. Her style is quite reminiscent of Hakamada’s, but the characters were not. Of all the stories, this was the one I am absolutely able to say is “Yuri.”
The other story that stood out of the pack in a good way was “Under One Roof” by Fujio. (There were a few that stood out for not particularly good art or confused story telling, but I don’t feel like being a drag and either you’re buying this or you’re not. It’s not likely that you’re waffling on Volume 3 of an anthology.) This story, which is well down the batting rotation, sets up a situation with a young woman getting a roomshare with another woman who – gasp! – likes women. I’m hoping future chapters remain peppy.
I’m torn between wanting to kick Hirari in the ass and root for it like the underdog it is, but right now, it’s just not really ready for the big league.
Ratings –
Variable – 6
Yuri Network News – January 22, 2011
Yuri Manga
YNN Correspondent Bertie L wants you to know that the second (middle) volume of GUNJO is hitting the streets on January 28th. I saw the cover and tears sprung to my eyes. No fooling.
The first Omnibus of Card Captor Sakura
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Yuri Anime
Anime licensing firm Plus Licens has just inked a deal that will bring the Sailor Moon anime back to the Nordic countries, Eastern and Central Europe. The deal includes TV and DVD rights. In other news Kodansha USA sent back a recording of crickets when asked about the possibility of a US revival. No, not really, I’m joking. I know that Kodansha USA is actually working on stuff here – just not that. (Back channel info, you’ll have to trust me.)
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Other News
Many of you have probably heard about the devastating floods in Australia. To raise money for some victims, a number of people on LiveJournal have decided to do ad hoc auctions of anime and manga related goods. I received an email about this, which I thought I would share with you. Before you join any auction, please be responsible and read what they are doing, decide if you want to go this route, or donate through a major charity.
Just a heads up for folks who are unaware of the flooding – the affected area is the size of France and Germany combined. Think about it for a second.
Here’s the news and links YNN Correspondent Socchan sent us:
There’s a good three fandom-centric auction-style-things open on LiveJournal to help raise funds for Queensland, Australia, which is undergoing some severe flooding right now. Offers are anything from fanfic to vids to plush dolls to homemade soap and beyond, with a wide range of fandoms. There’s no “organized by fandom” list yet that I know of, so anyone interested would have to do a bit of digging, but there’s a number of people offering something for any fandom or specific fandoms, with or without actual Yuri. If anyone’s had a burning desire for something specific, Yuri-fandom-wise or similar, and wants to contribute to a good cause, this is a great opportunity. A lot of bids start as low as a dollar too, and offering is still open, so people strapped for cash (like me) can still contribute.
Auction locations/options:
* The community qldfloodauction, which has both a lightening round for more immediate donations and a regular round for longer-term projects up
* User waltzmatildah’s Flood Relief: Fic Fundraiser Challenge (focus on fic, but apparently open to other stuff?)
* Community owemebreakfast’s Queensland Flood Media Fundraiser (just graphics)
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Yuri Event
If you’re going to be in or near Kyoto in March, drop by the 5th Girl’s Love Festival to nab yourself some Yuri Doujinshi.
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That’s a wrap 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.
Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!
