Yuri Manga:Tenbin ha Hana to Asobu, Volume 2

December 20th, 2009

Welcome to the second and final volume of Tenbin ha Hana to Asobu (天秤は花と遊ぶ). I think I understand the title now.

But that’s the end of the story. Let’s start with the beginning.

Youko is a transfer student to this particular iteration of elite girl’s school and her guide around the school is the White Rose, Shuu (which means red. Ha?) Shuu, Yohko learns, is a blood-drinking human and, oh by the way, genderless until “she” turns 18 and takes the gender of the gender whose blood she drinks most. Yohko likes Shuu and is glad to be her soda fountain. But oh noes! someone knows Shuu’s secret.

Actually, no, the secret the secret letter writer knows is nothing to worry about, and the whole kerfuffle is clearly a clever way to introduce Popular Girl Aika and her Best Friend Forever, Rico.

Nudged on by her brother, Shuu is having issues with her feelings for Yohko, while Yohko is ferreting out the identity of the girl who wrote her a love letter. She is very sweet and kind about it when she does find the girl. Shuu is also dealing with underclassman Misora’s raging case of crush, but again, Yohko comes to the rescue and treats Misora with respect and kindness, even as she deals the final blow to Misora’s hopes.

Shuu tries to relax, but find herself getting all hot and bothered while reading a teen romance series – even going so far as to imagine herself and Yohko kissing! Shuu’s even more amazed to learn that it is Rico who authors the series, in a chapter where Rico goes missing and Aika becomes extremely depressed as a result. Aika tells Shuu that if they were male/female, she and Rico would definitely be considered “going out.”

Shuu tries to figure out what to do with her feelings for Yohko, and her brother points out that, if she continues to feed from Yohko, she’ll become a girl who is in love with a girl. Shuu pushes Yohko away for a while, but by the end of the book and the series, has decided that she really doesn’t care. The choice is not hard after all. She likes Yohko and likes her blood and that’s the way it is. The scales balance at last.

And, erm, the series ends there.

What made the series actually work is Yohko. She’s fun, lively, down-to-earth, but not stupid or provincial. The whole school steadily, irrevocably, comes to move at her pace – a smart, snappy pace into a bright future with a smile at what they might find there.

Fluff, fluff, fluff. Like cotton candy with a slight metallic aftertaste. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Yuri – 4
Service – 1

Overall – 7

The whole vampire thing could have been thrown out and everything left as is and it would have been fine. Really.

Posted in Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »


Yuri Network News – December 19, 2009

December 19th, 2009

Just a quick personal note to start off – for the next month or so I’ll be working three jobs and, so, reviews may be sporadic, because this is a fourth job and even I have a breaking point. ;-) As a result, I am soliciting guest reviews – here are some basic guidelines for doing so.

What I’m looking for is reviews of series I will not review. I know that that’s asking you to be a bit clairvoyant and I apologize for that, but it’s not an impossible task. If you’ve read a Light Novel or manga series I’ve never mentioned, or watched an anime that has never popped up here then you’re looking at a good bet for a Guest Review. You can use the categories on the sidebar and the search at the top to see if the series in question might already be part of the blog. So, while I understand your interest in reviewing, say, Hayate x Blade, I’ll be handling that myself. :-)

Lastly – if this is a licensed series, then I would strongly prefer you not review based on scans, subs or rips you have downloaded. Write about the actual licensed item that you have bought, borrowed from friend or library or rented. Please. Thank you.

Now, onto some news!

Yuri Manga

Here’s something exciting! Morishima Akiko-sensei has been working on an Edo-period manga that is now out from Mangatime KR Comics, O-Edo tote Schön. You may remember that she had a period piece in her first collection of manga from Yuri Hime and it set her off on an interest in the period. I’m really looking forward to this, it ought to be fun.

For those of you who are enjoying Sora’s battles to save the girls of Utopia Academy, the second volume of Shitsurakuen 2 will be on sale in about a month. (This would be a great subject for a guest review, if you’ve bought and enjoyed the series!)

Last year I was saying that there would be no more Maria-sama ga Miteru novels, but you know, I was totally wrong. Yes, Yumi and the gang are no longer the main focus, but Konno-sensei is still cranking them out. Several of them have followed Yuuki and his adventures as a first-year at Hanadera (finally explaining what *really* went on with the island dance he had to learn) and I’m reading Little Horrors right now. Yumi and “our” Yamayurikai show up in the story that ties it all together, but are not the focus of the individual shorts. The point of saying all this is, there’s a new novel hitting the shelves on Dec. 25 – Maria-sama ga Miteru ~ Watashi no Su.

***

Yuri Anime

LexXxich points us in the direction of “Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor, which is a sequel of 2007 Darker than Black. Second season features Hazuki, nicknamed Lesbian Lightsaber Ninja, a contractor whose remuneration is kissing males. She does not like it one bit, going as far as to flush her mouth with vodka after the deed, and kissing her female assistant Kyouko to “remove a bad aftertaste”. She even tries to molest Kirihara, a (female) ex-cop working now in her agency. She’d just go down the drain as “another predatory lesbian”, if not for a disaster happening to Kyouko, during which it’s revealed that their feelings were mutual. Any more spoilers would be awful, so I stop here.”

Funimation has announced the English voice cast of the second season of the Strike Witches anime.

***

Snatches of Yuri

L16 volume 2 is about 16-year old Nanaka-chan who admires her beloved 28-year old onee-chan. (Real or symbolic sister, I don’t yet know.)

From the creator of Maka-Maka and Mars no Kiss comes a news series, i.d.. There’s not so much Yuri in this first volume, but Yuri Goggles will help with that, it seems. I’m probably more interested in this series because I found Mars no Kiss so sensitive and intelligent and was surprised at the delicacy of art and writing that were displayed in that volume.

Yuka-hime!, another Mangatime KR comic, sounds like Doki Doki School Hours with the main character being the class president, rather than the teacher. Absurdly short, large chested Yuka is cuddled and fondled by her adoring classmates. The standard Nadesico beauty of the class uses every opportunity to touch her, making for very Yumi/Sachiko, Himeko/Chikane photo ops. :-)

***

Other News

Egypt Today has posted an interview with Cutey Honey and Devilman Lady (among many other series) creator, Go Nagai.

Urushihara Satoshi has a new artbook out. If you have ever looked at any of his artwork, you’ll know what to expect – shiny girls, often naked, sometimes Yuri, overt or implied.

***

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 Yuri Network News | 7 Comments »


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 »