Yuri Anime: El Cazador, Volume 1 Part 1 (English)

December 19th, 2009

I wouldn’t call myself an obsessive collector. I don’t usually need the entire series of whatever toys. But gosh, I’m happy I have all three of Mashimo’s and Bee Train’s “Girls With Guns on the Run” series on my shelves now. There’s just something so satisfying about watching cute girls kill unnamed, faceless mooks by the bushelful. Ahhhh. ;-)

And here we are, able to relax at last, as the final installment of the trilogy is laid to rest near its older sister series, Madlax and Noir. Where Noir is serious and business-like, as many older sisters are, and Madlax is creative, but a little weird, as are so many middle sisters, El Cazador is flightly, breezy and a little bit spoiled. :-)

In Volume 1, we are introduced to this series’ pair of girls on the run; bounty hunter Nadie and bounty Ellis, both of whom have a somewhat shady past. We are also introduced to the conspiracy du jour, Project Leviathan, and it’s loathsome leader. And we meet the ambiguous, intriguing and expository Jody “Blue Eyes” Hayward.

In my original review of the series, I stated that I liked the series bunches and that has not changed at all. I’m enjoying the journey South and paying attention to little details I missed the first time around.

So when Ellis took Nadie’s hand in episode 7, I was pleased. Yes, she’s a flakeball and I’m still not sure how much of it is general loopiness from not being human and how much she puts on to be cute, but I really don’t care.

Funimation did a fine job with the subtitles. (I haven’t tried the dubs yet.) If I was required to bitch about something it’s that Funi makes us sit through their ads at the beginning. But why would I complain? Now I can take some time during the week between Christmas and New Year and have the three-series marathon I’ve always wanted. Noir, Madlax and finally, happily, El Cazador. Yay!

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 9
Yuri – For Volume 1, let’s call it a 2
Service – 2

Overall – 8

My sincere gratitude today to Okazu Superhero Amanda M. for sponsoring today’s review. Amanda, thank you truly for all your kindness and generosity, thank you from the bottom of my heart. ^_^

Posted in Bee Train, El Cazador, English Anime | 7 Comments »


Yuri Kisses and Free Membership from Crunchyroll

December 16th, 2009

Crunchyroll online video service and community invites you to share some Yuri kisses and enter to win a 6 month membership on Crunchyroll!

To celebrate the end of the autumn anime season, from December 16th at 12PM PST until December 28th at 12PM PST, users are encouraged to watch the hit Yuri anime, Sasamekikoto.

Members will be shown five different “kiss” scenes that appear in various episodes. Send in the episode # and the exact time that the kiss appears. If you get all five correct, you will automatically be entered to win a SIX-month premium membership at Crunchyroll! Crunchyrollwill be giving away two memberships. Visit Crunchyroll for more information.

Share your love of Yuri and win!

About Sasamekikoto:

Sumika is in love with her best friend Ushio who only likes cute girls. Tall, athletic smart Sumi is anything but cute. Sasamekikoto (“The thing that is whispered”) is a Yuri love comedy of errors about girls who love girls….even the ones that don’t love them back.

Posted in Sasamekikoto | 5 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Hayate x Blade, Volume 5 (English)

December 14th, 2009

It is my greatest pleasure as a manga reader to read good stories, told well. Yesterday’s series, Octave, is one such story. The subject of today’s review, for totally different reasons and in totally different ways is, as well.

Hayate x Blade is a good story, told well and adapted into English with excellence.

These are three different things, mind you. Coming up with a good story isn’t that hard, but telling it well is incredibly difficult. And, as you know, it is my conflict-of-interest-laden pleasure to be a small part of the team that creates an English adaptation of this manga that reads so smoothly, so *naturally* that it does not feel like a “translation” that is “localized” or “adapted.” It feels like I’m reading the original. It’s that natural.

Volume 5 of Hayate x Blade brings us to the long-awaited match between Hitsugi/Shizuku and Kurea/Minori. We get to see what we’ve always guessed – Hitsugi is 50% awesome and 50% freak of nature. And, it’s wonderful. Watching Shizuku gush is so cute I became positively squealy while reading it.

Incidentally, a video of Hitsugi’s BGM also went a long way to provide context for The Mikoto 5 arc in the middle of Hana no Asuka-gumi. It all makes much more sense now. ;-)

There’s a fair bit of implied service in this volume in which Jun, now that her “keeper” is gone, as she says, pervs out pretty hard. But for all that, there is little actual service – just the threat of it. ^_^

And the next arc – which is another rip-snorting story, let me tell you – is set up with one seemingly inconsequential body check by a ducky.

Lastly I just need to say this – Sid and Nancyyyyyyy!!!!! They are the rockingest, most anarchy-est characters evar. EVAR. My one genuine complaint is that Sid was censored. She was not censored in the original and I’m sort of sad that The Powers That Be thought teens can’t see the word “fuck” without exploding or something. The scribbly bits in the text were original, meant to imply that Sid’s “fuck”s here and there were merely the beginning of her ear-burning vocabulary. I object on the grounds that the book has an Older Teen rating and I can’t *imagine* what puritan thinks Older Teens can’t (or shouldn’t) read bad language and on the grounds that it is not the readers’ fault that the wrong age rating was chosen for a series that is written for adults. Yay Sid! Boo big black bars. I will forgive this *only* because the mistake that was plaguing me has now been fixed. Please don’t censor her in future volumes. It’s just silly. Look… “fuck.” No one died.

The best part about Volume 5 is that there is no way in a million years you can guess what’s going to happen next, unless you are already familiar with the series. I will provide no spoilers and I hope none of my dear readers will, either. Let’s just laugh and nod knowingly because we know how funny it’s going to be. ^_^

On the Yuri side, you’re probably wondering how I can call the volume “Yuri” at all. Well – if Shizuku’s oration isn’t a confession of love, I don’t know what is, really.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 10
Characters – 9
Yuri – 4
Service – 2

Overall – 9

It is with sincerest thanks that I nod in the direction of Okazu Superhero Eric P. Eric, you’ve been such a great contributor to this blog…. I can’t really say more than “Thanks,” but that thanks is from the very bottom of my heart for your kindness and generosity for sponsoring today’s and so many other reviews.

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


Yuri Manga: Octave, Volume 3

December 13th, 2009

At the end of Volume 2 of Octave (オクターヴ), I expressed the sentiment that I did not want Setsuko to be hurt, even as I knew that there was no way to avoid it.

And indeed, as the pages of Volume 3 open, there is Setsuko, crying. It didn’t help that I expected Yukino to come home and lie about her evening. It did help that the characters of Octave are hyper real and they manage to deal with some very seriously drama-inducing situations in a way that few, if any, people would actually deal with them.

And so, as Yukino’s esteem issues come to a head, Setsuko and Mari’s calm sensibility and reasonable natures forced Yukino to grow the fuck up and take responsibility for her choices.

Phew.

On the bad side, Setsuko cried.

On the good side, Yukino comes out to her friend, the newly re-debuted idol and admits her jealousy of Mika. A pretty excellent scene – without “Afterschool Special” overtones, just one adult female having to verbalize something that is not real until it is actually verbalized – I am in a relationship with another woman.

On the best side, Yukino finally putting her past behind her and, with a little push from Mari and Setsuko as they close the laundromat, moving forward into a relationship of equals and life of her very own.

If this had been the final volume, I would have been satisfied. But it isn’t. The story continues. I’m…speechless.

What am I always saying here? That I’d like to see a story that goes past the happily-ever-after to the bits that aren’t so good and then are good again. Well…there it is.

Yukino meets Setsuko and they like each other. Not the end of the story. Not the end at all. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 9
Service- 3

Overall – 9

I cannot *wait* until Volume 4. Please, those of you reading scanlations, do not helpfully educate me as to what is going to happen in later chapters. I’d much prefer to read it myself. Thanks. ;-)

Posted in Yuri Manga | 17 Comments »


Yuri Network News – December 12, 2009

December 12th, 2009

The holiday season is in full force and buying is reaching frenzied heights – which I’m totally for. Let me see if I can help with some good suggestions for holiday gifts, shall I? ^_^

Yuricon News

The Yuricon 2009 AMV contest is heading into final hours. Please get those entries in soon! We have a fabulous art contest coming up so keep your eyes peeled!

The up-to-40% off sale on 100% Yuri from ALC is also coming to a close. Please get any orders in by Monday, Dec. 15 for Xmas shopping.

***

Yuri Anime

RightStuf & Nozomi Entertainment announce the ARIA The Origination Collection for March 2, 2010. The set will include the series’ third (and final) TV season, plus the OVA. For more info, downloads, extras and lots of pretty pictures, visit RightStuf’s Aria website.

Sasamekikoto is heading to the end of a successful first season and to celebrate there will be some contest-like thing you might want to know about. I didn’t mention this, you just *might* want to check back on Wednesday. Just sayin’.

No clue what the anime will be about, but Candy Boy‘s Hoshikawa Takafumi is working on a new, unnamed project, along with Seed Project.

I do not know if there is any intention of bringing this to the west, but in Japan, April will see R.O.D. The COMPLETE BluRay Box set. For this, I might *actually* be tempted to buy a BluRay player and a sound system, but it would probably all be wasted on my craptastic TV. :-) (The wife suggests I put all the components on my Yuri Wish List. lol)

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Movie The 1st two-minute trailer is streaming live and online for your pleasure. The movie is due out on January 23rd. I think it looks overall good, with some (sadly inevitable) creepiness.

***

Yuri Manga

While we’re on the topic, Digital Manga Publishing has licensed the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS manga and I should probably warn you that Yuri content in that is low to non-existent. If you like Nanoha for itself, it’s good. Don’t go reading it looking for Yuri, you’ll be disappointed.

It’s time for the next issue of Yuri Hime S, featuring “Konohana Link” on the cover and filled with a ton of stuff and even the occasional story about women who like one another. ;-) YHS will hit the streets on December 18.

Kono Koi ha XXX is an anthology of short, PWP stories with Yuri content and sex by an artist who formerly contributed to Yuri Shimai. So you know what you’re in for.

Hayate x Blade Volume 5 is out. I will review it as soon as I can. Trust me – it’s fabulous.

And Nijiburi has been on all the Japanese Yuri lists recently. I’m sure it is relevant to our interests, but I’ve hit the wall on large eyes for the morning. :-)

***

Yuri Light Novel

Light Novel Kimi ga Boku wo Doushite Sora ha Aoi no? sounds, gasp! interesting. In a shopping center that was formerly prosperous, a girl finds herself involved in working with (for? as?) a butler to an official, i.e., another girl. The story sounds half typical and half not so much. I might give it a try, just because it has to be better than the LN I’m trying to read right now.

***

Other News

From time to time I get requests for suggestions and recommendations for LGBT books. I don’t actually do recommendations of any kind, but I can provide links. I’ll try and do my best to add some good LGBT book links here from time to time. Since it is the holiday season and you may be looking for some LGBT lit other than manga to buy, here are a few sites that may be of interest to you:

GLBT Bookshelf

Bella Books

Bold Strokes Books

Alyson Books

Brisk Press

I hope you find something fun for the LGBTQ-friendly folks in your life. ^_^

***

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!

Posted in Nanoha, R.O.D., Read or Dream, Yuri Network News | 9 Comments »