Kanon 2006 Anime (English)

October 11th, 2009

How rich the irony. I did watch the 2002 Kanon anime, but I have forgotten all but a very few things about it. I remembered that Yuuichi was a “nice guy” (a term used around my house to describe a particular type of man that is in no way pejorative. A “nice guy” is nice.) I remembered that I didn’t remember a thing about any of what passed for a plotline, but that it didn’t matter because the whole series was not meant to be enjoyed as an stand-alone anime, but as homeopathic porn.

And, I remembered Saiyuri and Mai.

Saiyuri was the cute, talkative one. Mai was the taciturn one, a quality that reads “butch” in a hyperfemme show like this. And I remembered that Yuuichi’s existence did not separate the two in any way. (In the anime, at least. I have no doubt that in the original game/Visual Novel, he had sex with at least one, probably both. No need to educate me on this, I really, honestly, don’t care.)

There was nothing openly Yuri about Saiyuri and Mai, just the sense that they were, *obviously* meant to be together. Mai, being the butchier of the two was “clearly” (when Yuri Goggles were turned up sufficiently) in love with Saiyuri. Turn those Goggles up another notch or two and Saiyuri “obviously” returned her feelings.

I did watch the whole 2002 series and this was basically all I retained from it. Not having been captivated by the original porn version, I failed to retain the sense of profound joy the anime apparently brought to those fans – as a result I was boggled that such an utterly dull series warranted an even longer, even duller remake. Nonetheless, I braved Kanon, 2006.

All of the storylines are given depth in this new version. This newer, longer version explains almost everything – including *why* the bulk of the cast has no memories. And yet, I found my time with these characters to be akin to sitting in a Doctor’s waiting room. Not really unpleasant, but not really pleasant, either.

I was watching it solely for Mai and Saiyuri. And in the end, I was most disappointed by their storyline. Try as I might, no matter how high I turned the Yuri Goggles, they remained friends. Plain old best friends without the vaguest hint of unreasonable affection or secret desire. Meh.

If I had loved the original game, and eagerly watched the 2002 series and waited breathlessly for this series, I’d have to say that this anime was pretty good, if ridiculously sentimental. But because all I wanted was Mai and Saiyuri to be more of a couple, not less of one, it was an epic failure. lol No, not really. For everything else, it was really okay. Except one thing. Which was so horrific I have to comment.

When I saw the girls’ character designs I actually screamed. Good god! You moe fans – does this REALLY look good to you? They look like their are wearing plastic heads over their real heads! It’s absolutely horrific! In a stunning display of personal retconning, I convinced myself that the original designs must have been better, because aaaaugh! Of course, after I took a second to check, I had to laugh at how utterly wrong I was. LOL The best things about those hideously huge-eyed, giganto heads is that they are *way* better than the original art. Which says something profound, I’m sure, but I couldn’t tell you what. lol

For the record, my lack of memories also has an explanation. You’ll just have to read all my posts here to find out why. :-)

Ratings:

Art – 3 I’m just not getting it, guys. They look stupid.
Story – 7 Sentimental, syrup-y romance
Characters – 6 One signature sound does not a great character make
Yuri – 0
Service – In one sense, Infinity. In another – 5

Overall – It was a 5 most of the way through, but the end was *so* goopy, I’ll give it a 7.

I bet this series is why Love Plus is selling so well – all those guys played Kanon when it was a VN and are disappointed that women are more complex than that, now that they are grownups.

Everlasting thanks to Okazu Superhero Dan P. for his contribution to my inner Fanboy, which has rejected this and is willing to send it back. ^_^

Posted in English Anime | 13 Comments »


Yuri Network News – October 10, 2009

October 10th, 2009

Yuri Anime

Top Story this week is Crunchyroll’s streaming of Sasamekikoto on their site. It’s simulcasting an hour after it shows on Japanese TV, which puts it on Wednesday at noon Eastern Time – and it’s already taken a different tack than the manga, so for fans in the US and Oceania, don’t miss it!

Also on CR is Shin Koihime Musou which layered on the Yuri-service pretty heavily the first time around, and I have no doubt that it will continue to do so. :-)

Eric P. wanted to share that, according to his local anime store, Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne has a street date of January 10, 2010.

***

Yuri Drama CD

Katherine wants us to know about the Saki Drama CD. The first one is listed as an original drama and the new one (#2) is just called the second one, so hopefully also original. So all you Yuri Mahjong fans have something to look forward to.

***

Other News

I was interviewed by Michiru online magazine, and the questions they asked were definitely different than the norm. Check out the Interview in Spanish and English! Thanks to Sigfrido for making that possible!

Also, Okazu Hero Bruce McF riffed interestingly on my market research question from earlier this week and came up with a potential crowdsourcing model for publishing. Take a look and let me know what you think!

And Eric also wants you to know that in case you haven’t heard Kodansha and Akita Shoten are partnering up. He points out that Akita Shoten’s titles including Alien Nine, Blue Drop, El Cazador, and Vampire Princess Miyu. “Maybe it’s indicating a future publishing (or republishing in Alien Nine‘s case) of these titles in the US, I don’t know.”

For the record Akita Shoten’s holding are *vast* and there are many series that they own that are far more popular than the ones Eric mentioned, so it’s more likely to be something else, but we can always hope. :-)

***

Snatches of Yuri

Petrouchka wanted you to know about Kedamono no Uta. “This one begins with a few full-color pages showing a girl finding her classmate crying, naked and with bruises all over her body. I think that pretty much says it all. The first two chapters include a murder, abusive classmates, an insane female teacher and lots of screaming and shocked faces. I’m not sure I want to know what happens next. Apparently there are no important male characters and the two main girls are close and touch each other a lot, so that could get people interested, but the plot with a girl getting killed and her twin sister (?) showing up to protect the dead girl’s friend from bullies is just weird. Ah well, I guess this has to happen sometimes when you blind buy stuff.”

So very true. :-)

***

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 | 4 Comments »


Yuri Game: Sapphism no Gensou

October 10th, 2009

Brain is a bit melty today, so it is with great relief pleasure that I welcome Guest Reviewer Ashley for today’s post! And even better, because as you know I don’t game and have no interest in games, Visual Novels or anything similar. So what a genuine pleasure to be able to provide you all with a review of the Sapphism no Gensou game that came out a few years ago and is undeniably Yuri. Take it away Mara!

Personally I do not comprehend the thinking behind same sex schools. Most of all I disagree with the argument that they somehow protect their students from something. But to each their own.

The school from Sapphism no Gensou on the other hand, I get. Not content with the usual standards of security a private school, the H.B. Polestar is a giant ship that sails an undisclosed course across the ocean to provide the best and most luxurious education for the daughters of the elite. Think a floating Ashford academy and you will not be far off. This is the absurd and fun setting of Sapphism no Gensou a visual novel by Lair-soft who since have done nothing else of note although they have kept with the theme of an unusual setting in nearly all their games.

This game’s unusual setting is home to a powerfully diverse cast, and not just diverse in the usual visual novel model of: ‘girl for every taste so we maximise sales’ way. The main character Anri, some sort of experimental fusion of Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena) and Tamaki (Ouran Host Club), deserves mention for not only being out but also deliberately going to this closed-off all-girl school so that she has the highest possible number of girls to hit on. Such openness and self-confidence are refreshing in a female main character in general, much less a Yuri main character. So much so that I overlook Anri’s massive ageism as a required character flaw (she gets over it anyway).

Anri is not alone in this story – besides the three main heroines, who are for the most part the dullest characters; there is Anri’s pre-existing, pre-Iono harem. These characters deserve an article all to themselves mainly because half of them are completely bonkers. For example there is Nicolle, the long-fringed daughter of an Italian mafia don who talks machine gun fast and has a serious gambling ‘interest’. Kanae, Anri’s sempai and incredible computation genius, who is addicted to coffee and goes into withdrawal if she misses her regular fix. Anne Shirley, the daughter of a Columbian drug lord, who constantly offers the rest of the cast giant fistfuls of ‘medicine’ and talks to spirits invisible to everyone but her, and the player.

I could go on forever.

For the most part the entire cast is made up of fantastically far out individuals with suitably silly dialogue; each scene with them is a treat. It is a good thing that the supporting cast is so amazing, as the three main heroines about which the three main story routes revolve are the dullest cookie cutter characters that could hope to disappoint you. This is almost appropriate though because the main story is utter crap.

Simply put, the writers seemed to have deliberately picked the only form of a closed circle mystery that could completely turn one’s stomach. A series of sexual assaults have been committed on board the H.B. Polestar and in this all female environment immediately the out lesbian is inaccurately labelled as the suspect. So much so that the onboard authorities decide to expel Anri regardless of her guilt so that they can escape charges of incompetence themselves. If this summary so far has not made you throw up then let me close it by saying that we are treated to one of the assaults as the opening scene of the game in an act of Somme-level idiocy by the designers.

This half of the story is so at odds with the pleasant atmosphere of the other half that I am truly convinced that Sapphism no Gensou was written by two completely separate groups who then shuffled their scripts together before sending it off to the producer. It is a real shame because this game does have some greatness that is not totally obscured by the crap that makes up the rest.

Luckily, the idiots who wrote the rape half of the game were fired for the special DVD edition of Sapphism no Gensou. This version comes with a whole game’s worth of extra short stories and scenes that expand on the all of the characters with further disregard for being disgusting in preference for being silly. All the characters get at least one including the main character and the old lady who founded the H.B. Polestar.

If you are a complete collector like myself then you should buy the DVD version of Sapphism no Gensou as the extras make it more than worth it. However I cannot recommend such a game generally when there are other, better, Yuri visual novels out there.

Art – 7
Story – For the main story: 3 For everything else: 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 9
Service – 10 (a massive neon 10 advertising a swimsuit maid cafe)

Overall – 8

I truly liked this game but I cannot recommend it to others for the same reason I would say that you should not become friends with a racist just to borrow their car.

Thank you for reminding me just why my aversion is something to treasure and nurture, rather than get over. ^_^ And thank you for today’s review! As I’ve said many times, if you, dear reader have a Yuri game you’d like to review, please contact me. Legitimately purchased copies only, no downloaded or pirated games, please.

Posted in Ashley P, Guest Review, Yuri Game | 6 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Tsubomi, Volume 3

October 8th, 2009

Yet again, I find myself almost completely forgetting every story mere days after reading the third volume of Tsubomi.

Really, it’s not that they are particularly bad or anything – they just have almost no substance. And the continuing saga of two older (barely pubescent) sisters who lust after each other’s younger sisters is so…ugh…that the fact that it starts and ends every volume does not help at all. In my desire to wipe these stories out of my mind, I seem to lose grasp of the rest of the content, as well.

Tsubomi is settling into an even fetishier space than Yuri Hime S. With a high percentage of May-December stories (she says euphemistically) and a lot of simply nothing stories I strongly feel that a number of talented artists are having their time completely wasted on stories that do nothing to showcase their skills.

Morinaga Milk’s story is wallowing in a space where nothing at all is happening, and Kurogame Kenn’s story pretty much looks like everything else he’s done. No one is pushing to do anything other than retread the same old tired tropes. I don’t know if this is a good thing for the artists – it’s pay after all – but as a reader it’s really annoying me.

The two stories I have the most hope for are Horii Kyosuke’s (of Junk-Lab/Raku-gun, an artist I really like) “Pedal ni Nosete” and the ongoing saga of Hotei and Ebisu in which nothing happens, but at least it’s not happening to adults.

Ratings:

Overall – 6

I’m edging closer to giving up on this magazine…unless at least one story has some sticking power.

Posted in Tsubomi, Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »


Shelf Porn, Okazu Edition

October 7th, 2009

No, I am not avoiding doing a review. If anything, I really need to do a review, because I have piles all over the place. But no. I am weak. Jason Thompson said that he would like to see my shelf porn and, weak-willed fangirl that I am, I obliged. I’ve always avoided this, because my collection is spread out through the house. Now, here’s selected pieces of it.

This picture is the one shelf I have of English-language manga. The bottom shelf is two books deep. I don’t keep much of the English stuff I read, because I prefer to read in Japanese. Not because I’m a purist (although I am) or elitist (guilty as charged) but because it takes me way longer to read it in Japanese and so I feel like I get my money’s worth. :-)

Click on the pictures to see a bigger version, but don’t come whining to me when it’s just a bigger version of my crap piled on a shelf. lol

This is a picture of my old shelves. These came built-in to the room and every shelf except the bottom one is two-deep. The top shelves are mostly my wife’s stuff, with some of mine mixed in.

The middle two shelves have a lot of Yuri, a lot of other and a lot of really other. And some of my slightly less beloved anime.

The bottom shelves are my art books, and random items that had no home that fit there back in the day when there was room on that shelf.

There’s no rhyme or reason here. Just a lot of books. I can *usually* find everything I’m looking for. Except when I can’t.

 This is my beloved new set of shelves, built for me by my father-not-in-law and covered with all the things I love so much I want them practically within arm’s reach of my sofa.

As you can see, I’m way out of space, but I don’t want to go two deep yet. I’m just not ready to go there.

Also featured on these shelves is my filthy little habit of collecting 4-inch plastic dolls and other random goods.

What you can’t see at all in this picture is that the bottom row on these shelves has all the Yuri Shimai/Hime/HimeS and Monogatari volumes. Tsubomi sits awkwardly above them, because it doesn’t really play well with the others.

This isn’t the greatest picture, but you can just about make out all the Yuri anthology mags, and the talking Kero-chan my wife bought me years ago for my birthday and the Asamiya Saki figurine she got me for another birthday (standing in front of my original run of Sukeban Deka, of course.) I even unboxed the Sachiko and Yumi mug Bruce broughtback from the Maria-sama ga Miteru event last year in Japan, just to  incite jealousy share.


These innocuous looking piles are my Mist and Morning 2 collection. I just don’t have anywhere else to put them. :-(

These next two pictures are the pride and joy of my collection. These are my doujinshi bins. They are labeled because we brought them all to the Yuricon 2007 Yurisai event. I love my doujinshi. Thanks to contributions from Hagiwara Mami-san, James Welker and Rica Takashima, my historical collection is probably pretty priceless. (Because who else would *want* them? lol)

That’s it for my collection. My wife has her own shelfporn, but I’m not sharing her dirty secrets with you. This is the bulk of my collection, although you really never see the stuff in the back of the two-deep shelves. You’ll just have to imagine. :-)

I hope you enjoyed this tour of my collection. The gift shop is just around the corner. Please come back soon!

10/8: Whoo-hoo! Jason T. responded with a fabulous bit of double entendre’: “Thank you for sharing! It’s even bigger and more impressive than I imagined! :)”

Posted in Now This Is Only My Opinion | 10 Comments »