Top Ten Yuri Anime of 2009

December 27th, 2009

I probably should have put this disclaimer on the Top Ten Manga of 2009 too, but I always assume that my readers understand that this list is *my opinion*. If you see a series you disagree with, or don’t see one you like, then the answer to your question is, “Because I have a different opinion than you do.”

Also, for various reasons I’ve just combined the list into one again, like I did with Manga. I’ll note whether something is available in English, Japanese or both.

And with those restatement of the obvious disclaimers, here’s MY Top Ten Yuri Anime of 2009!

10. To Aru no Kagaku no Railgun (Japanese)

The Yuri in this series is meant as a joke. It’s played as perverted, as over-the-top-uncontrollable, as laughably embarrassing and pointless. Pretty much everything Yuri was in most anime for the last 30 years – a veritable step back into the “blackface” era of Yuri.

But.

Kuroko was in all ways a wonderful person; reliable, intelligent, loyal and friendly. Her feelings for Misaka were, wayyyyyy deep down past the layers of hopeless pervy-ness, probably real.

And frankly, who cares? Railgun was a fun anime with some crappy characteristics and some good ones. It was entertaining, which is why I watch entertainment. So, step back into hopeless, psycho lesbian urges, yes, but it still makes the list at Number 10.

9. Maria Watches Over Us, Season 3 (Japanese & English)

Sachiko would recognize Yumi, even in a panda suit.

8. Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha/ Nanoha As (Japanese & English)

I’m really sorry that these series didn’t do better here. There’s some issues with the fandom that I wish we could resolve with fire and pain but, below the icky service and tiresome loli, there was an awesome series with the beginnings of a wonderful couple.

For those moments of off-stage quiet, when you can imagine Fate and Nanoha flying together for the sheer fun of it, and for a future Pluffy BedTM that we didn’t get to see licensed, but we know is there, this is my Number 8 anime series for the year.

7. Candy Boy (Japanese)

I stopped watching it after 5 episodes, so I have no idea if it got to a place where I would have actually thought it “good,” but that’s not why Candy Boy is on the list. Clearly, Yuri fandom liked it. That’s a truism. But what was most interesting and important about it is that it showed that an ONA – Original Online Animation has a future in Japan, where fans will pay. Will it ever be a realistic model in the west is still a bit up in the air. But, for changing the way Japanese anime companies think about things – and maybe paving the way for a new wave of short, original works – it makes Number Seven.

6. Kanamemo (Japanese & English)

Good heavens, there were some really crappy things in this series. lol But setting aside an elementary school age manager and a mopey protagonist and everything about Haruka, Kanamemo presented us with quite possibly the single most realistic established lesbian couple in anime this year – maybe ever – Yume and Yuuki. They are presented with a surprising amount of empathy, romance and love. They kiss. We don’t see, but we know, that they they sleep together. Above all, they are treated as an established couple by the people around them.

I couldn’t say it was a “good” anime, but Yuuki and Yume are definitely a great couple.

5. Saki (Japanese & English)

I’d seen this manga on the Japanese Yuri lists forever when the anime began – and my first impression was, “uh, yeah, okay.” Sure Saki and Nodoka, sitting in a tree….but, once we got the other schools into the mix, the Yuri rating took off. I know that I’m in a minority, but I still think Momo and Yumi were the best couple of the series. :-)

4. Blue Drop (Japanese & English)

This may well be the last thing I’ll ever like by Yoshitomi Akihito. It’s true that the anime tromps all over the same tropes he’s beaten to death over the last few years, but aside from the Dead Lesbian and the Psycho Lesbian, and the school girls and hopeless romances, this prequel to the Blue Drop manga stands strong as a fascinating “clash of cultures romance.” Still holds the record for the best pickup line ever too.

Are you getting excited? This is where I always get a little doki-doki….

3. El Cazador (Japanese & English)

I love Bee Train’s Girls With Guns On The Run trilogy. I’ve loved all of the series for themselves and love them all together as a series. I’m still a bit over the moon that we actually have all *three* series on DVD in English. It’s kind of amazing – like an alternate universe in which stuff I like actually gets licensed in the US. Catch me, I’m feeling woozy….

There’s no question that this series, as it’s sister series in the past did, would make my Top Ten list but, because I love Ellis’ “Yes, sir!” and Nadie’s “Yuigon attara, dozo” and above all I love Ellis who loves Nadie when her eyes are shining, this series makes Number Three.

2. Sasamekikoto (Japanese & English)

I didn’t expect this series to translate as well as it did to anime, but…wow, it did! And I didn’t expect people to like it, especially folks who weren’t familiar with Yuri tropes, like Aoi’s Loser Fangirlyness or Sumika’s hopless love for her best friend but, amazingly, it transcended tropes and communicated directly with viewers’ hearts.

Sasamekikoto marks the first time an anime has been seen on several high-profile lesbian entertainment sites, and the second time Afterellen.com has carried a Yuri anime. It also marks the truly significant fact that Crunchyroll has made a conscious and conspicuous effort to support and promote Yuri Anime. Heck – they even have a Yuri kisses contest. lol

For all these many reasons, and for others I haven’t thought of, but you probably have, Sasamekikoto is my Number Two anime of the Year.

And finally, probably no surprises here…

Aoi Hana (Japanese & English)

It was…beautiful. It was quiet and gentle and real. It was lovingly animated, it was extremely well-adapted from the manga – perhaps slightly better than the manga in places.

It had characters I could wish over for lunch, and a storyline that resonated as one of the absolutely most realistic portrayals of a young woman in love with another woman ever seen in an anime.

It had an Opening sequence that made us smile.

It simulcast in many English-speaking countries an hour after it ran on Japanese TV.

It is, finally, what we have never before had – a gateway Yuri anime.

There was never any question in my mind as I watched this all-too-short season that Aoi Hana was the absolute best Yuri Anime of 2009.

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I only hope that I can wish 2010 be as good, because besting this is going to be hard. :-) And crichey – look at how much of it came out in English!

One more list to go – check back on New Year’s Eve for my Top Ten Overall.

And once more I end with the question – what was YOUR Top Yuri Anime of the year? Tell me in the comments!

Posted in Now This Is Only My Opinion, Top Yuri Lists, Yuri Anime | 18 Comments »


Yuri Network News – December 26, 2009

December 26th, 2009

Last News post of the Year – freaky, huh? In Japan, everyone is gearing up for Winter Comiket and New Year’s. Here’s the news….

Yuri Anime

One of the oft-noted things about the Japanese anime market right now is that it is focusing more and more on small fetishes and off-center stuff, because the audiences there who like that kind of thing (like, say, giant breasts) are more likely to pay for anime when it’s targeted to them.

Hence, Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke o for which a brand new adult anime is being launched in 2010, based on the popular Yuri sex game. (And I find myself amused to note that even the Japanese fans on 2chan don’t want the same people who did Shoujo Sect to work on this. lol They are all very happy that the folks who made Strawberry Panic! the classic it is, are on the team.)

The economics of fetishism don’t hold for the western audience, though. High school and college age men who are the most likely to watch these anime are the statistically least likely to pay for them. So although Media Blasters has licensed Queen’s Blade here, I really wouldn’t expect them to do well with it. Perhaps it’s time for them to develop a streaming model too. Of course, I *hope* I’m wrong and that all of the fans of QB shell out enough money to make it a success, because I always hope that every licensed series is a success. :-)

Also coming up in 2010 is yet another fetishy series, the third series of Shin Koihime†Musou: Otome Tairan. If the first two seasons have done well on Crunchyroll, expect to see it there.

Will the non-fetishy Yuri audience get a new anime to enjoy? No news as of yet, but remember, we are heading into an even-numbered year and the likelihood seems low. Even the Yuri Hime editors are pulling for an anime of their most moe, least interesting series.

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Yuri Manga

Speaking on Yuri Hime comics, Apple Daydream Volume 2 is available, as is Yuri Wildrose, Volume 4.

Yuri Anthology Comic Lily Volume 2 is slated to hit the virtual shelves some time this month.

Looking forward a little bit, Tsubomi Volume 5 will be out in February.

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Snatches of Yuri

Otome Kakumei Ayame no! Light Novel Series takes place at a private girl’s school! It involves the school idol and memory loss! And it has Yuri!

And Harenochi Cinderella manga takes place private girl’s school! Involves the school idol and an average girl! And has Yuri!

Konohana is about a girl and her robot and has egregious ass and breast usage, from Champion Red, beloved by women-haters everywhere.

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Other Yuri News

It’s my great pleasure to welcome the Lirica Cafe into our Yuri Network. Lirica is a Japanese doujinshi circle that emailed me recently and I have to tell you – I’m already impressed with their art! I look forward to learning more about them. Visit their site and let us know what you think. ^_^

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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!

Posted in Yuri Network News | 1 Comment »


The Worst Light Novel Ever

December 25th, 2009

If you’ve been following me on Twitter or Facebook, you know that I have been reading the world’s worst book.

As I’ve been reading it, I’ve been thinking about what makes it the worst thing I’ve ever read. After I tell you what it’s about, I’ll tell you why.

Memeko is an extremely youthful-looking agent of the secret organization Al Hazan, that collects and protects rare eyeglasses. They are attempting to get a hold of the rare and dangerous Medusa glasses that, like the rare and dangerous Gorgon glasses, turn people into stone. Memeko is a Glasses-User, and can make a kind of energy knife shoot from her glasses-wearing gaze.

But, for all her unusual strength with eyeglasses, Memeko is terrified of the world outside eyeglasses. When her handler, Lucia, asks her to attend and infiltrate Misono Gakuin to find the secret to the eyeglass theft that goes on there, Memeko finds it hard to talk to anyone who does not wear eyeglasses. In her homeroom that leaves her with one option – the tall, beautiful Ai.

I will not torture you with descriptions of the scenes that in another action book would be the “secret agent cleaning a gun” scene, or the “love interest and agent getting to know each other scene,” but I will mention that when Ai is saved by Memeko’s super Al Hazan eyeglasses skillz, she falls into the standard pattern of believing in and relying on Memeko.

Let me cut to the chase – the traitor was their homeroom teacher who was obsessed with Ai’s beauty and who stole all the eyeglasses to find the perfect ones for her. He attempts to scare Ai by telling her the truth behind Memeko’s skills, but it backfires and their love for one another defeats his ridiculous plan.

In the end, Memeko returns to the school, not as a secret agent, but as a 16-year old and a friend and probably soon-to-be-lover of Ai. And now she can talk to people who don’t wear eyeglasses, too. Phew. Happy end, except for the bit where there is a implication that there might be a sequel. AAAUUUGGGHHHH!!! As it happens there are at least two sequels. Scary, huh?

Okay, so, here’s why I think this is the worst Light Novel ever. Not because it was badly written. In fact, it was actually pretty well written, so scenes were exactly where they belonged in a genre title like this and the dialogue was exactly the same kind of jaded lines you’d expect from an action-adventure story. No, the real reason I think this is the worst Light Novel ever is because the author clearly felt that if you were going to buy a story called Kanoujo ha Megane-HOLIC (彼女は眼鏡-HOLIC) then you deserved whatever you got.

And he was right.

Ratings:

Art – 5
Characters – 2
Story – 2
Yuri – 2
Loser Fan Eyeglasses Fetishist – 451

Overall – 2

This book actually beats out Adam Smith’s On the Wealth of Nations for the worst book I have ever read. Congrats.

Posted in Light Novel | 8 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Tsubomi, Volume 4

December 23rd, 2009

Tsubomi Volume 4 is good example of why it’s worth reading a few volumes of any anthology magazine before you give up.

It’s not that Tsubomi is perfect, just that it’s better than it was. Some of the stories have had a chance to get their feet under them and get some speed going after a soft start. Other stories are jumping into the race at speed. Others stories are still stumbling along, looking a little worse for the wear as a result.

This volume gets off to a strong, if predictable, start with Kurogane Kenn’s story of a teacher and the student she’s fallen for. Thoughts of Christmas presents and taking care of each other start to slip for both into dangerous territory.

Yoshitomi Akihito has two stories of friends in love with each other’s sister and who will *obviously* end up together. This series never fails to bore and annoy me, because he’s a better writer than this and compared to the more sincere stories in the collection, this story seems plain old skanky and tired.

Most of the stories play it safe in Story A space. There’s a girl, she’s in love with another girl. Sometimes they realize they love one another – sometimes we’re left wallowing in the pre-work of “Oh my god! I’m in love with her!” Even Morinaga Milk’s series is treading a well-worn path to nowhere at the moment.

The stories are mostly non-committal, pleasant and some of the pairs are adults (in theory at least, they often still look ridiculously childish.)

Tsubomi has finally reached the space where Yuri Shimai started, so I’m hopeful, but not expecting, a little growth at this point. I do wish we could skip all this girl meets girl nonsense and start with good solid stories about girls in love, but for so many this many-times retold tale is what Yuri is. I will keep my fingers crossed that the authors want to and are allowed to be a little more creative in the next 4 volumes.

Ratings:

Overall – 7

Okay, okay, I’ll give it one more issue…. :-)

Many, many thanks to Okazu Hero George R for thinking of me as he shopped around Japan to provide more Yuri to review! Thanks, George!

Posted in Tsubomi, Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Top Ten Yuri Manga of 2009

December 22nd, 2009

Here we are once more, looking back at a year that is never going to end fast enough. lol

This year has been pretty special in a lot of ways both good and bad but, in terms of Yuri – it’s been pretty darn good. The odd-year Yuri phenomenon hit once more and this time we were practically *inundated* with good, bad and indifferent Yuri series. Yay us!

One of the striking differences for me, as I started to work on my Top Ten Lists, was that for the very first time since I began this (somewhat tedious) round-up of the year, the Top Ten Anime list was easier to build than the Top Ten Manga. Not because there wasn’t good manga, mind you – there was actually too much manga – but for once we had more than enough anime to choose from.

I can see another striking difference, but I’m going to wait until the very end to explain. See if you can see it too, as you read the list.

Because the English-language picks in manga this year were, with only a few exceptions, utterly lame, I’ve combined my Japanese and English picks into one consolidated list.

Let’s all take a deep breath – here we go!

10. Gunsmith Cats Burst Volumes 4 & 5 (Japanese & English)

We knew it, didn’t we? Despite the disclaimer in Misty’s bio, we always knew she had the hots for Rally. And sheesh, how obvious was Goldie’s obsession? But mostly, we knew all along that Rally’s gay and just more in love with her car and her guns than with any other human. Sonoda finally, finally got around to showing the world what we always knew – Rally Vincent is a lesbian magnet – and what we guessed – she’s a damn good kisser, too. lol

9. Hayate x Blade (Japanese & English)

I’m besotted with this series for any number of reasons. I’m well aware that it’s actually pretty low on the Yuri scale, with only Jun playing overtly for our team, and everyone else stuck in akogare or shinyuu space. But hell, it’s about sisters-in-arms fighting for their pride, their lives and their loved ones. It’s about guts and glory and reaching for the stars. It’s basically the one manga that makes me laugh, cry, laugh and snort in like, 4 panels. And it makes me want to hit the lottery so I can start a high school just like Tenchi Academy and become Hitsugi. lol

It’s really my favorite series in English or Japanese. It’s number 9 on this year’s list.

8. Linkage/Butterfly 69 (Japanese)

One of the things I look for in collected volumes is variety. I want shiny stories, and silly stories, and moving stories, and passionate stories. I want a creator to show off their art skills and their writing skills. Both of these collections have exactly those qualities I look for. There’s depth even though the stories are short, there’s variety of personality and voice. These collections have young women dealing with their first love and older women dealing with their true love.There’s passion in the story telling, and sometimes in the story itself. They are a delightful mix of everything – just the way I like it.

7. Tsubomi/Comic Lily/Shoujo Yuri/Yuri Hime/Yuri Hime S/Yuri Monogatari (Japanese & English)

Good heavens – 6 Yuri anthologies in one year. I’m…flabbergasted. It’s a landslide of Yuri, from brand new artists, from established artists, from well-known doujinshi artists that have never been seen by the “mainstream” audience before. I don’t know what the next 5 years will bring, but 2009 brought as close to an explosion of Yuri as we’re likely to see for a while. Wow. Let’s wallow in all the companies that see Yuri as an area for expansion – and let’s let them know that there’s an overseas market by buying their books!

6. Papaya Gundan (Japanese)

This manga was a sleeper hit for me. It came out of nowhere, told a story I hadn’t read seventy-five thousand times already, the girl got the girl – even asked her to marry her – and the alternative family built from the affection the hostess bar workers have for each other wins. There’s no way you’re likely to see this any time soon in English, but if you can read Japanese, it’s a surprising, fun read.

5. Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan (Japanese)

Squee. Seriously. Only Fujieda has the magic to make me squee over something so moe. Another story about an adult and the young woman who loves her, with a slow, slow, slow relaxed pace that make me feel at ease – just like a good cup of tea. I’m in no rush at all for Sarasa and Seriho to get together because I’m enjoying them being clueless. lol All I ask is that when they do get together, I want a massive cross-over with all of Fujieda’s characters, darnit. (Like there’s a chance that that won’t happen…! lol)

4. Sasamekikoto (Japanese)

Where Maria+ Holic took the typical tropes of Yuri and stomped all over them with jackboots, Sasamekikoto presents them with humor – not afraid to poke and tease, but subtle enough to know when to stop. It’s a comedy, it’s a drama, and it’s nowhere near resolved. I’m interested to see where this series takes Ushio and Sumi. It transfered much better than I expected to anime, as a bonus. :-)

3. Hanjuku Joshi/Girl Friends (Japanese)

For most fans of “Yuri” right now, there are two indomitable names – creators who have forged their own path in the genre when there was barely a genre to create in. Morinaga Milk and Morishima Akiko both have transformed the Yuri landscape over the years. These two series are gently, but irrevocably, shifting the boundaries of Yuri into realistic story-telling about women in love with women. Like a Yuri glacier, they’ve told our stories – our real stories – about fear, and loss, and hope and love.

It’s my sincere pleasure to put these two series at Number Three and I hope that one or both will one day make it over the ocean to these shores soon.

2. Aoi Hana (Japanese)

Like the above names, Shimura Takako’s name would have to be added to the Yuri Hall of Fame. The anime sort of overtook the manga in the news and in the discussions, but this manga series is still magnificent. There’s a real story in here, told beautifully, sensitively, about a girl you can imagine you know and about her dealing with her feelings for other girls. It’s about the friends and people around her that care about her and support her, and the people whose lives she affects. It’s a gentle story that doesn’t shy away from harsh reality and bad decisions, but always comes back to a place of simple pleasure in friendship. Like the old school buildings Fumi falls in love with, I’ve fallen a bit for Fumi and her friends and I’m glad to return over and over to what I consider to be the second best series of the year.

IMHO, the Number One best Yuri Manga of the year was…

1. Octave (Japanese)

I don’t know where to begin with this series. It’s…spectacular. I get angry, I laugh, I cry, I wait patiently for Yukino to become her own person.

It’s about sex and love and attraction and affection. Both of the leads are adult women, arguably both of them are bisexual, which is remarkable in a serious manga. The relationship between them is real and lovely. This would make a stellar live-action drama.

I can’t think of a better series to offer up as consideration to any company that might want to bring a really excellent Yuri series over here. Targeted towards adults, who are the ones who actually *buy* manga these days, Octave would rock the josei manga world if someone let it.

For all these things Octave is my Top Yuri manga series of 2009.

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So, did you see the striking difference? In seven spots out of ten at least part of the story included an adult woman in love with another woman. Think about it….think about how amazing that is compared to past years which were all schoolgirls, all the time. Sure, there’s still plenty of school girls and you know, that’s okay. It’s just cool to note that slowly, Yuri is starting to look a little like stories about and by lesbian and bi women.

Feel free to join the Top Ten fun and add your nominations for #1 manga series of the year in the comments – I look forward to reading your thoughts!

Posted in Now This Is Only My Opinion, Top Yuri Lists, Yuri Manga | 17 Comments »