Sasamekikoto Anime on Crunchyroll

October 6th, 2009

I’m pleased to report that Crunchyroll has obtained the license (limited to US and Oceania this time… don’t blame them, blame stupid country licensing issues) to Yuri anime Sasamekikoto. Here’s hoping that the anime captures the book’s zaniness without losing the solid emotional story in the back and vice versa, that it doesn’t wallow without the comedy to temper it.

In honor of the news, I’ll review Volume 5 later today. :-)

I just love their press release that says this series is “one of the most famed yuri manga of all time in Japan.” LOL I’m thinking not so much, really. But, yay for Yuri fans anyway. :-)

So, what do you think is the “most famed Yuri manga of all time”?

Posted in Ikeda Takashi, Sasamekikoto, Yuri Network News | 10 Comments »


Monday Manga Market Research

October 5th, 2009

This is a quick piece of off-the-cuff market research for Monday. This is completely rhetorical. No company I know is doing or considering doing this, I’m making these numbers up and they are based on nothing at all. I just want to be clear – this is simply a thought exercise.

If a company offered a flat fee for a full manga series that, if they hit a certain number of purchasers, they would *guarantee* publication of the full series and, it was series you liked – would you buy in?

If yes, here’s three scenarios. Which one would you be most likely to commit to, which one least?

5 volumes at 200 pages per volume – $50.

4 volumes at 300 pages per volume – $60

3 volumes at 450 pages per volume – $75

(Yes, I know these are not the same page counts. There’s a point to that. But all the models have the same exact value per page. These are not the same deal – it’s not the same series. One series is 1000 pages long, split into 5, one series is 1200 pages long, split into 4 volumes. The third series is 1350 pages long, split into 3 volumes. You can’t get the 1350pp series in 5 volumes. You can’t get the 1000pp series in one.)

Where do you draw the line on “this is too much for me to commit”?

What price point seems most sensible to you?

What would entice you to make the commitment (i.e., is getting the entire series enough, or would extras makes the difference?)

What model would you propose to head off the dreaded “sales dropped off, we can’t finish the series” problem?

Feel free to ramble your thoughts in the comments field. I’m really interested in hearing them. :-)

***

Here’s a few conditions of this thought exercise, to limit the variables:

1) You can’t make this question about savings. It would cost *exactly* the same as a single volume at a time – you’re simply funding them at once. The subscription you buy ensures that all of them will be printed because the company definitely has the money now.

2) You can’t ask about bulk release. No manga company can front the cost to release a 26 volume series in hopes that enough people *might* buy it. That’s an insanely stupid risk that is almost guaranteed to fail and guaranteed to cause the company to shut down. Maybe the three-volume series could come out at once – but only if you don’t mind waiting for all three to be put together….that’s going to take longer than one at a time.

3) The company won’t go out of business. Sheesh. Not until after this series is complete.

4) You’ll get all of the volumes. They will be delivered to you by a scantily clad person of the gender you are interested in who will scatter flowers upon you as you sign. :-)

If these other things are absolutely critical to you, then the thought exercise will fail. Manga companies cannot fund bulk releases of whole series at discounts for fans who *might* buy.

What we’re testing here is one thing – would you be willing to front the money for an entire series in order to make sure it’s all printed. Nothing else.

Second note: These responses are a great example of why consumers are the WORST possible place to go for information. LOL Basically, you want a company to front all the money for a series, print it all at once, somehow make all the stores carry it all until you feel like buying it – and you want it cheaper than it cost to print. With extras! lol

– E

Posted in Microniche Marketing | 66 Comments »


Aria Manga, Volume 4 (English)

October 4th, 2009

Let’s talk akogare.

Akogare is a verb in Japanese that can mean anything from straight out admiration to a full-blown crush. It’s considered normal, even helpful, for a young person to akogare an older role model…an intrinsic part of the mentor/protégé relationship. Akogare means you will do your best to learn and replicate those qualities which make the older and more experienced person so “cool.”

Akogare is a space, like shinyuu, that is very open to misinterpretation by people who like to read into vaguely defined spaces. It is these two words that allow so *much* Yuri-service, precisely because they are not as easy to label for westerners. In reality, we do have these spaces but, because we have no words for them, they still are often instantly turned into slash relationships by fans. Some people simply find it hard to believe that two people of any sex, gender or sexuality, can be close physically and emotionally, but not involved sexually.

In many anime and manga, this gray-space-ness of akogare and of shinyuu is played for service. As much as some fans would prefer labels be solidly applied on anime/manga couples (are they together or not, ARGH!) this will not happen. Ambiguity sells to a larger audience than specificity. The larger the audience, the more possible sales. The producers are not going to alienate the Nanoha x Yuuno ‘shippers by making the “Fate and Nanoha get married” episode, because those people buy stuff too. :-)

In Aria, Volume 4, we have several examples of akogare. First, let’s look at Aika. Her admiration for Alicia borders right on the line of “having a crush on.” This is interesting because it’s damped down from the beginning of the series when it was very crushy. The reason for the change? Al. All akogare is assumed to be a phase. Whether it’s same or opposite sex crush, everyone understands that it is an expression of immaturity, a part of growth. That’s why it’s cute when a teenager likes a pop idol to the point of lining up for goods and appearances…and kind of creepy when an adult does. ;-) Aika clearly admires and kind of sort of desires Alicia. Her growing interest in Al will temper that to a more adult admiration.

Akari’s admiration of Alicia is – in my opinion – totally without desire. She admires Alicia’s skills, her grace, her personality. To the point of idolization. What we *never* see is any sign of Alicia being moody, or in fact, human at all. She remains from beginning to end, a Fairy. (Unlike Akira who is snappy and Athena who is clumsy.)

Volume 4 is a chance for us to watch as the mentors actually force the shift away from them to their protégé’s own skills. It’s an interesting perspective, because the idolized seniors start to push the chicks to venture out of the nest, knowing that this will make them, as role models, less necessary. As well as being perfect at their jobs, they are the perfect sempai.

So, no, no “Yuri” as such in Volume 4, but a chance to watch a similar, but not the same, series of relationships between women develop.

And more time spent in the company of the Undines of Neo-Venezia, which is never a bad thing. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 0
Service – 3 (bathing suits, fine, but seriously, that level of anatomical detail is creepy.)

Overall – 8

It is my sincere pleasure to thank Okazu Hero Frederick D. for sponsoring today’s review! You are our hero. ^_^

Posted in Aria, English Manga | 14 Comments »


Yuri Network News – October 3, 2009

October 3rd, 2009

Yuri Light Novels

I have been the recipient of a large number of questions about the third volume of the Strawberry Panic Light Novel, which has appeared on Amazon.com with a December 3, 2009 release date.

I emailed Seven Seas last night and they confirm that the 3rd LN is NOT coming out, they still have no plans to print it. This is an errant entry, from back when they had just kept pushing the date back. They didn’t say this, but I am sure they apologize for the confusion.

***

Yuri Manga

YNN Correspondent Erin S. has two great pieces of news:

“Tankoubon versions of several Yuri Hime cell phone manga are due out on November 18:
Gokujou Drops volume 3 by Hajime Mikuni
Sorairo Girlfriend by Rikachi
Honey Quartet by Tokoro Kemeko
Otome Senshi Lovely 5! by Jounouchi Nene
Yukemuri Sanctuary by Amano Shuninta

and

The website for the new Rakuen (Le Paradis) anthology has been updated with descriptions of the stories in the first issue. Some appear to be het, but a few have promising descriptions: Takemiya Jin’s, Nishi UKO’s (she will have two pieces in the issue–a 4-panel comic and a short one-shot), and Kiryuu Suruga’s.

Thanks Erin!

Although Yohko’s been dead (for about 20 years now,) she still talks to Asuka in New Hana no Asuka-gumi, Volume 8, which is finally coming out after a really long delay. More importantly…where do Kiryuu and Bara no Miya go off to? They always seem to be in a back room together. Volume 8 is accompanied by a new volume of Gaiden, related side stories of the folk that inhabit Asuka’s world. (Also, if you missed this in the comments last week, Ana M. reports that one of the stars of the new Hana no Asuka-gumi movie is the mangaka, Takaguchi Satosumi’s daughter. That’s worth getting it, just for that!)

And Kate Dacey informs me that Dragon Sister! is not only a *third* version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in which all the roles are played by buxom women, but that there is predatory lesbianism. Woot!

***

Other News

Right Stuf announces a new Aria lithograph: “Those Nightshine Chimes.” Fan-selected artwork to be released on December 8, 2009. Visit aria.rightstuf.com for more info.

***

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 Hana no Asuka-gumi, Strawberry Panic, Yuri Network News | 2 Comments »


Yuri Light Novel: R.O.D., Volume 1

October 2nd, 2009

The reason I didn’t post yesterday was that I was hustling to finish this novel so I could write about it today. ^_^;

Most ROD fans are familiar with the anime – the OVA and the later R.O.D. the TV series. Fewer have read the two manga series, R.O.D. and Read or Dream. Each of these occupies a slightly different version of the ROD-verse, which the TV series neatly tied together in a strange, but amazingly satisfying package. Amazingly, because we end the series with many unanswered questions…but it’s perfectly all right that they remain unanswered.

Well, I had one question that I was NOT all right with not having the answer to. “What happened in the novels?” was an itch I couldn’t scratch any other way than by reading them. I obtained the entire series in pieces some years ago and there they sat on my shelves, visibly taunting me with their bright yellow spines. Hah hah, they seemed to say, you have no idea what happens inside us – and the pictures don’t help at *all*! Hah!

So, at last I have finally read the first light novel of the R.O.D. series.

The book begins with a really creepy scene as Joker confronts a book thief and Yomiko is introduced in the skankiest way possible, practically orgasming as she “confirms” a book’s provenance. Then a fight breaks out and it is revealed that she has super strange skills with paper.

Immediately, the book takes a right turn into a plot that you will basically recognize as the plot from the first volume of the R.O.D manga. Yomiko arrives at a school to become a teacher in order to meet and save genius teenage author Sumiregawa Nenene. The bad henchguy is different – where the manga has a fire wielder, the book has a guy called Scissorhands (because of his…you got it, right?) who had previously battled the former The Paper, Yomiko’s deceased mentor and lover Donny Nakajima. Yes, they were lovers.

Crazed fan “Paul S.,” who kidnaps Nenene, is all the same as in the manga. With extra creepy nuttiness thrown in for good measure.

Here’s the key differences – Nenene doesn’t kiss Yomiko upon meeting her, although she is still writing a different novel with each hand. There is way more actual violence in the novel, because Scissorhands cuts limbs off people.

When Nenene and Yomiko spend one quiet night together, there is a real sense of them actually thinking they might like one another, until the next morning Scissorhands blows it all to pieces. However, when Yomiko arrives to rescue Nenene, she actually does confess her love for the girl. We know this is what she meant by “Suki” because the narrator helpfully tells us so. “After this confession of love,” the books says….

Most importantly, the ending of the book makes it VERY, VERY, VERY clear that the emotion goes both ways. So if you weren’t really quite sure about Nenene and Yomiko the answer is – yes, they like one another.

Here’s the other thing of note that the anime leaves a little gray. In this version, Yomiko did definitely kill Donny, in order, she says, to become The Paper. As she so succinctly puts it, “He chose me over books – I chose books over him.”

Having finally read this thing I find myself liking Yomiko more than I ever have. She is very disturbed, that is clear. Her bibliomania is an advanced Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, yes. But despite the first chapter, once she meets Nenene, she becomes instantly sweeter, more human and more sympathetic. By the end, when Nenene finds and reads Yomiko’s farewell letter to her, I found myself saying “awwww.” Because it was a really sweet letter.

And, at the end of the book, when Nenene follows Yomiko to England, because she can’t get Yomiko – not The Paper, but the woman behind the title – out of her mind, I finished the book with a big ass grin on my face.

Definitely, positively not High Art. It’s full of service and the art really focuses on the insanity of the characters, as it does in the manga. But now I know what happened and I finally really like Yomiko. I just like her better with Nenene than without her. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 4
Story – starts at 4 but ends at 8
Characters – same
Yuri – 5
Service – 5

Overall – If I had stopped halfway, 5, but by the end, 8

I liked the end so much that I immediately pulled the next one down and stuck it on the pile of “things to read.” But today my order from Japan came in (a mere 34 hours after I placed it…) and so now it will probably be another 5 years until I get to it. ^_^

Posted in Light Novel, R.O.D. | 5 Comments »