Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Goukaku Tame no! Yasashi Sankaku Kakei Nyuumon ( 合格のための！ やさしい三角関係入門)

February 23rd, 2021

Mayuki is determined to get into the school of her choice to be close to the girl she likes, her old sempai on the basketball team, Akira. But her grades are just not that great. She gets a tutor who goes to that very school,  Ootomo Kouko. When Mayuki had toured the school she saw two girls kissing and then having a fight, because the one girl said her affections can’t be limited to one person. Lo and behold! when Rin, her new tutor arrives, it turns out to be the one of those two girls who cannot love only one person.  Back at Ootomo, Rin and Akira are becoming closer, too and Akira really likes Rin. Mayuki hasn’t been able to tell Akira how she feels, but she has confided in Rin, who find herself attracted to Mayuki. But she really likes Akira, too.

Canno’s Goukaku Tame no! Yasashi Sankaku Kakei Nyuumon ( 合格のための！ やさしい三角関係入門) is about a three-way relationship that will undoubtedly work. It’s designed to work. We already know Rin’s  and Mayumi’s feelings and Akira’s are right on the cusp of being right there with them both. And yet, I did not much like this story. I’ll do my best to articulate why.

In Kiss and White Lily for my Dearest Girl, Volume 6 Canno had created a three-way relationship that I felt worked, where our reviewer for the volume, did not. I have a nagging suspicion that our opinions would be reversed this time. ^_^ To begin with, Rin starting the series with the declaration that she cannot choose – while I completely understand would be a totally valid way of self-identifying as poly, (especially before having the word to do so) – felt hollow presented with no context surrounding it. We are then backed into the relationship she’s currently in because of Mayuki seeing it’s end. And later we learn how it began, and we are left feeling awkward about Rin starting this new relationship before really handling the old.  On an entirely personal note, I was also made uncomfortable by Rin and Mayuki’s kissing. It seemed an abuse of power and age, drawn to be acceptable because the younger girl asked for it, which is exactly the opposite lesson one should take here. No, Rin. You are the older person, in a position of some (admittedly small) power. It is up to you to say no and establish boundaries. The deep kiss closeups are uuugghhh, for me. It’s like…I get it.

I found myself more interested in Akira, but am concerned that she will feel coerced into this relationship by Mayuki and Rin. The cover even bothers me! ^_^ It’s not Mayuki at the center of this relationship. At the moment, it’s Rin. Which brings me to the point I want to make. These characters are just too young for me. I found it hard to like Mayuki or Rin. I just…don’t care about them, separately or together. They are not interesting outside the fact that they have a relationship. Mauyki and Akira have basketball in comm. Rin and Mayuki have…studying for an entrance exam and teenage libido in common. Snooze. Ultimately, the linchpin of the three-way relationship, Rin, has the least going for her.

If you enjoy Canno-sensei’s art, then you will absolutely like this volume. There might be slightly more emphasis on reactions and close-ups than in Kiss and White Lily, but it is the art you know and love.

 

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 5
Story – 5
Service – Yep. Dressing/undressing, those kisses, some cleavage
Yuri – 8
Queer – 5 I don’t think this is the story I’d hand to someone to explain being “poly” to them, but if some folks read it and discover they are poly because of it, that’s all to the good.

Overall – 6

I hope they are all happy at the end of the next volume when it is released in the next few weeks after the series ends next month, but I am fairly convinced I don’t want to read the book to find out. ^_^; I might keep an eye out on Comic Walker to see how it goes.





Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Volume 3

February 22nd, 2021

Hanako is a young woman who has traveled from Japan to meet her favorite author. Volume 1 follows Hanako as she meets the beautiful, yet tragic Lady Alice and enters into her service. We watch their relationship deepen and their secrets come to light in Volume 2. Here we are, then, in the final volume and its hard to imagine that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And yet.

One of the burdens of writing historical fiction is, quite obviously, history. As Dr. Pepperco writes a story explicitly set in a time and place where the society would, could and did place women in mental institutions for the crime of independent thinking or non-conforming behavior, it takes commitment to write a better end. Volume 3 of Goodbye, My Rose Garden has that commitment. Therefore, as we watch over them benevolently, we see Alice and Hanako meet women of like mind, find solace in each other and create both the tunnel and the light for one another.

I’ve been talking a lot recently about media that imagines a better way forward. I also feel there is room for stories that supplies us a better way to look backward. Not every story needs an unhappy ending….but more to the point, not every real story had an unhappy ending. Some 130 years previous to the setting of this book, and some 300 miles to the northwest in Wales, about 6 hours by car now, Sarah Ponsonby and Eleanor Butler lived together and built a joyful life for themselves. (I find all arguments that they didn’t have a sexual relationship because they didn’t leave proof to be absolutely idiotic. Who does that? They called each other wife, let’s not be dumbasses.) Let us look to the Ladies of Llangollen then, for Alice and Hanako’s new life, in which they choose to live somewhere quietly together, supporting themselves as writers and raising a lovely rose garden.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 3
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8

I appreciated some of the visual touches in this book, but once again, far more important were the literary references. Victor Franks may not have been real, but the other writers whose works are mentioned, are. While it’s not in Hastings, I recommend to you The Feminist Bookshop in Brighton, another UK beach town with a long, queer history, where you can find classics like Kate Chopin’s writing and newer works, maybe a biography of Ann Lister, as well as a really terrific comics section, with a fair bit of lesbian representation…and even a Yuri manga or two! So, when this pandemic is over, maybe you and your girl can just play at being Hanako and and Alice for a day in a nice little queer-friendly bookstore in a English beachside town. ^_^

My sincere thanks to Seven Seas for the review copy! It’s always a pleasure to see how the Seven Seas team handles work like this, which has the interesting challenge of both time period and English ideas being translated from Japanese back into English. Nice work by translator Amber Tamosaitis, adapter Cae Hawksmoor and letterer Kaitlyn Wiley and the whole Seven Seas crew!





Our Teachers are Dating!, Volume 2

February 19th, 2021

In Volume 1, we met Hayama Asuka and Terano Saki, two teachers at an all-girls high school who find themselves falling in love with each other, pretty much in the public eye. Luckily for them, their students, peers and administration all think they are absolutely adorable.

In Our Teachers are Dating!, Volume 2, Saki and Asuka continue to be ridiculously adorably in love. Bandou-sensei, the Yuri otaku, thinks HayaTera is the best ‘ship ever, even as she’s annoyed to death by them. ^_^ And they are, honestly so absurdly adorable that it’s very hard to take their drama seriously. Between a minor misunderstanding and visible hickies after an enthusiastic birthday evening, they just keep getting cuter and cuter. This is not a bug, it’s a feature.

It’s really critical to me to have manga like this where we see an ideal situation – where a world without homophobia and sexism is modeled for us, so we can imagine that one can exist. Queer literature is full of failure to make utopias works, and failure of current society to give space to the joys of life. Come at me, but I think it is equally as important to have stories that center joy, even if it means ignoring reality. Saki and Asuka are in love – their first love. And we are able to enjoy their feelings, think of our own, and enjoy a world full of sparkling sunshine and blue sky days and moonlight nights, full of those feelings. It is perfectly okay to want that.

For those of you who might counter, “But what about society, Erica? Aren’t you always banging on about queer characters having someone to talk to?” My reply to you is yes. Bandou, while not gay herself, is a good friend and gives good advice, but also…wait. This series may be a bit idealized, and because of that, you can be sure there will be someone to talk to. ^_^

In any case, this series is darling and handled in the most charming manner by translator Jennifer Ward, adaptor Rebecca Scoble, editor Jenn Grunigen. Erika Terriquez does a nice balanced lettering and retouch job and kudos to Nicky Lim for another creative cover design that doesn’t just mimic the Japanese, but still feels right. T

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 10
Story – 9
Service – 5 There is nudity and sex, but it is sweet rather than salacious
Yuri – 10

Overall – 10

Finally, you all know what I mean when I say “Okay-saurus!”

Thanks very much to Seven Seas for the review copy. It’s always appreciated. Great job as always.

Full of Yuri joy, Our Teachers Are Dating is a celebration of love. You’ll be able to enjoy Volume 3 next month when it hits shelves at the end of March 2021.





Mi-chan to Airi, Part 1 (みーちゃんとアイリ (上))

February 15th, 2021

In Mi-chan to Airi, Part 1 (みーちゃんとアイリ (上)),  Midori is heading home one day and passes a pile of garbage bags, on which she sees the sleeping form of a girl. So she takes the girl home, as one does. Gives her a bath and some food and a place to sleep and asks her to lock the door on the way out. Only, when Midori comes home later, there’s the girl!

The girl, Airi, says she’s a witch and while that may or may not be true, as the days go on, she definitely brings a little magic into Midori’s otherwise dull life. Even coworkers start to notice that Midori is bringing lunch from home, instead of just grabbing junk food, and Midori is dressing nicer…and smiling. Is Midori in love? In the meantime, Airi is practicing cooking and is cleaning the apartment. She take long walks, sometimes – we see her find a little girl’s missing ribbon and it sure looks like she’s using real magic this time.

This first volume of a 2-part series by Ichikawa Natsuo is messy and fun, just as a “a witch meets an office worker and brings magic into their lives” ought to be. Midori is average, Airi is irrepressible. As they grow accustomed to one another, it sure seems like they are starting to like each other, only for a threat to pop up in the last few pages of the volume that could tear them apart. Oh no!

The art is likewise “messy” with sparkles and flowers and stars and markups and decorations of a dozen kinds, all of which bring color and texture to Airi’s airyness. Midori is never allowed to be too unpleasant or grumpy, or the set-up might grind to a halt.

All in all, this is a cute and fun little story that drew me in unexpectedly. I came into this completely unsure whether I would like it, but everything grew on me as I read.

Ratings:

Art -7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 1 Kisses as service I guess?
Yuri – 6 Plenty of room to go up

Overall – 8

Part 2 is already available and I’m kind of looking forward to reading it now.





Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon, Volume 1

February 12th, 2021

Hinako understands what is “normal.” Her whole life she’s been told that for a woman, looking pretty, always smiling, wearing stylish clothes and makeup so that you can date a nice man and eventually marry and have a family is “normal.” And so, she does the normal things. But she knows she’s not “normal,” because she hates these things and hates herself for trying and failing to be what is expected of her. After yet another failed attempt at normality, Hinako meets a colleague, the apparently austere Satou Asahi, who is kind to her in a way Hinako has never experienced before. Slowly, Hinako begins to build a picture of what her own normal could be and it shakes her life up completely.

Yesterday I said that its rare to see a Yuri manga that really does the work – Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon, Volume 1, by Shio Usui does the work. There are no major handwaves here. Hinako doesn’t meet Asahi, get swept away and they live happily ever after. Instead, Asahi becomes a role model for Hinako to build a life for herself that makes her happy, something she had never before considered. Hinako still struggles with doing what is expected because it is expected, but Asahi is there showing her that it does not have to be accepted. Asahi believes in Hinako. As Asahi and Hinako grow closer, Hinako starts to believe in herself, as well.

This manga was tied for first (along with three other manga) on the Okazu Top Yuri Manga of 2020. There’s no secret as to why – I love everything about this manga. Usui-sensei’s art is exactly in my wheelhouse, the characters are terrific, the narrative is centered on self-acceptance and growth as a human. I’m so pleased that you too can read and enjoy this series now that it’s out in English from Seven Seas.
Jenny McKeon’s translation is terrific and has caused me to coin a new phrase – “light touch” translation, by which I mean the translation avoids heavy-handed literality in favor of feel and sense – i.e., how do we, as humans in 2021 say that in English, as opposed to how it was written in Japanese.  I very much liked the light touch here, where it felt completely right.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 6
Service – 0 Not so much as a bath scene. What a pleasure

Overall – 8

As usual, the entire Seven Seas team did a great job bringing you one of my favorite manga I am reading right now as it is serialized in Comic Yuri Hime magazine. Some exceptional moments coming your way in Volume 2 when that hits shelves in July, I assure you.

My thanks to Seven Seas for the review copy, which means I will have an extra copy to give away when it shows up later this month.

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An utterly delightful Yuri manga about adults, centered on self-acceptance and growth as a human. Win-win-win!