New York Comic Con 2009 Report

February 8th, 2009

I had a hilariously funny dream last night. (Actually, I had two, but one wasn’t relevant at all to this blog.) I was at a con, doing a “panel” – by which I mean I was being grilled over hot coals by fans who wanted external validation and entertainment. Typical Yuri panel. Time was up and I had another panel to do, so I told everyone to come with me and we’d keep going. Everyone did. So, the room is *packed* when I come in and step on the stage. I say, “Whatever you think this panel is, it isn’t going to be that.” And people start looking like they want to leave. Some people are egding towards the door. Finally I say, “Anyone who wants to leave, go ahead and leave, it’s okay” and like 90% of the audience start to leave. At which point, someone hits the music, and a solemn march, something like Pomp and Circusmtance kicks in and, while I laugh hysterically from the stage, those people file out.

So, NYCC.

You may have heard that Saturday sold out. There was a short period of time where the halls were really full and it seemed it, but other than the places where people stopped traffic to take pictures (please, American cons, can we PLEASE have staging areas for this and not allow people to block traffic?) and people just stopping in clumps and talking, it wasn’t too bad. Having survived Comiket, this was a piece of cake. :-)

As usual I went to no panels, Industry or other. A zillion anime/manga journalists (see below for likely suspects) will report on those, and I always find them boring as hell.

I love the Exhibitor’s Hall, because it reminds me that not only aren’t American Comics dead, but also Indie comics are more alive than ever – and there’s still an awful lot of people selling vintage American comics. Although few are selling Golden Age these days. Mostly Silver Age and the years I collected which are now called Bronze Age and Copper, which I think is stretching the metaphor and starting to seem a bit ridiculous. Personally, I vote for the Metal Men schema: Gold, Silver, Iron, Tin, Lead. :-) Also, collectors are even more constipated now – they don’t just bag and board a comic, they have them authenticated and sealed permanently in plastic. Uh, guys – the joy of a comic is in the *reading* of it….

For myself, I switched my role there three times during the day. I entered the con as a Publisher. My first pass through the Exhibitor’s Hall was as a Publisher, stopping and speaking to several other of the manga publishers there. Not all of them were there and not all of them were relevant to what I needed to do, but it was a nice way to “graze” my way through the EH. I spent some time speaking with with Stephen Robson, the publisher of Fanfare/Ponent Mon, who you might know as the publisher of the translated edition Kiriko Nananan’s Blue. For my Spanish-speaking readers – there is a Spanish-language version of this, as well. They are not a “manga” publisher so much as a publisher of sequential art, and the quality of their books is unlike anything else being published right now. There’s good, there’s really good – then there’s Fanfare.

There were a number of mainstream book publishers present as well, not just Hatchette/Yen and Del Rey, but also Tor/Seven Seas, Penguin/Scholastic and about a dozen others biggish and smallish. Most had at least *something* comic-y, but a few really didn’t, but were pushing speculative fiction of all kinds. (I only heard Twilight mentioned twice during the day, so I lose on that to the other journalists who were counting. ^_^)

After completing my spin through the EH as a publisher, I changed caps completely and joined the guys at Media Blasters. I switched on vendor mode and started to sell like a maniac. No particular reason why, I just thought it would be fun to sell their porn. :-) “So, what are you into, MILF, bondage, demons?”

Obviously I also sold their Yuri and Yaoi – and was totally in Fury mode for the kid who told me Kannazuki no Miko is a beautiful romance. And for the guy who kept asking about the Yuri in series where the Yuri is in only your head. It’s okay to make it up – really, but it’s actually NOT THERE. When he asked me about the Yuri in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (we were at the Yen booth) I think the flames shot out of my head visibly. Back at MB, I had a great time selling the Yaoi. “What’s good?” they’d ask. “No clue! This one has a pretty cover.” I’d reply cheerfully. Everyone seemed happy with what they got in the end.

Two of the folks who had attended my Ghost in the Shell lecture at the Brooklyn Museum recognized me and stopped by and we chatted for a while, which was really lovely. And talented Yuri Monogatari artist Jess B dropped in, as well.

After putting in a stint with the good folks of MB, I switched official hats for the last time, and joined a bunch of the Anime/Manga bloggers and journalists. Mangablog‘s Brigid Alverson, Mangacast‘s Ed Chavez, Animealmanac‘s Scott VonSchilling, Anime Vice’s‘s Gia Manry, manga.about.com‘s Deb Aoki, Kethylia’s Livejournal Casey Brienza and many other great folks. You *should* be reading these folks if you care about anime and manga. It was a perfect cap to the day and leads to another great story…

While I was selling at the MB table, I just happened to be standing in front of the Bible Black series. Everyone likes Bible Black, so it was selling pretty well. This man comes up and says that because he’s Japanese, he has a question. He wants to know the issues and complexities of translating something like that. I tell him that, of course, translations will differ with translators and editors, how much time there is, etc. I also mention that there is difference in Japanese and American bedtalk, so usually American translations go with sense over meaning for that kind of thing. Sound effects don’t map directly, either for manga. Then I smiled and said, “But you know, when it’s demon rape, does it *really* matter what they are saying?” He laughed and bought the DVD.

Okay, so later, I’m talking to the A/M bloggers and tell them this story, Brigid Alverson shoots back, “Do they use honorifics? You have to call him ‘Tako-san’ the first time he rapes you – you can’t just be familiar, you haven’t been properly introduced!” Which absolutely slayed me.

Most importantly – thanks to Mari and Stacy for their delightful company for dinner.

The 2010 NYCC will be in October, so there’s a 19 month delay until the next one. A lot of things are going to change between now and then. It will be so very, very interesting to see who is still standing when the smoke clears!

Posted in Events | 7 Comments »


Yuri News This Week – February 7, 2009

February 7th, 2009

Another quiet week in the news, and I’m at NYCC today, so I’m keeping this short.

Yuri Manga

Erin wants you to be ready for the spring releases of Yuri Hime comics collections. April 18th will see the release of Fujieda Miyabi’s Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan (Chatting At The Amber Teahouse) which will also be available in a special edition with Drama CD. Sweet Peach! will make its debut and there are second volumes of both Hanjuku Joshi and Gokujou Drops in your future, as well.

As you know, I can’t stop talking about Gunjou. This time I told the folks at Afterellen.com. The response was a staggering silence. Post a comment and push the thread back up into the sight of people who need to know!

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Yuri Anime

Johann is excited that Animax-Asia reruns Maria-sama ga Miteru this Sunday. Back to back episodes, 11pm (GMT+8).

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Other News

GLAAD has announced finalists for their annual Media Awards, which includes a “Best Graphic Novel” category – apparently this year you needed to be working for DC or Marvel to nominated. Tell them about Yuri.

Speaking of nomination, nominees for best lesbian blog of the year, the Lezzie award, is open to the public. Naturally, I hope you’ll nominate Okazu along with your other favorite lesbian blogs. :-)

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I want to take a moment to thank all my new Okazu Heros and Superheros – your generosity is simply staggering. It’s going to take me ages to get through all this, so if I don’t review your sponsored item right away, it’s not because it didn’t arrive! It’s just that I only have so much time in the day. :-)

I’ll report back Sunday on NYCC (no Twitter from my phone, no lol) – see you then!

Posted in Fujieda Miyabi, Yuri Network News | 1 Comment »


Yuri Manga: Maka-Maka, Volume 2 (English)

February 6th, 2009

makamaka2In Volume 2 of Maka-Maka, Jun and Nene continue on their happy adventure together having intimate contact in public places, and becoming closer on emotional level.

Nene and Jun are happiest together, although they both have boyfriends. These, we are told repeatedly, suck as lovers. (We can probably take for granted that they suck as human beings, as well.) But that’s okay, because they have each other. And in between getting fondled at a restaurant or in a clothes store changing room, Nene is letting Jun touch even more intimate parts of her emotional life. Jun, very much the tachi of this couple acts, from time to time like she takes Nene for granted, but she also opens up to the other woman in a way she would probably never do with a boyfriend.

We learn about their respective childhoods, their first time with a man, their hopes and dreams, their fears and weaknesses.

But mostly, we watch them have sex. ^_^

Depending on your particular set of turn-ons, very hot sex.

As with the first volume, the reproduction is top notch. Color covers, protective obis that hide secret covers on both sides (hint: in the shower, they’re nekkid) double-sided insert poster and excellent reproduction of the internal color pages – all reproduced beautifully – with metallic inks on the cover even. The translation is smooth, makes perfect sense and gives each character a voice of her own. Phew.

Interestingly, Maka-Maka was listed on the manga.about.com poll for best josei series. I spoke to Deb about it because it is not really josei at all. It was drawn by a man, for a men’s magazine as an adult comic for men. You know – the whole lesbian sex/male gaze thing. But let’s face it, the distinctions of genre that are absolutely rigid in Japan (god help you as an adult male buying a magazine for young women, or vice versa) fail completely when manga reaches the market here. At least half the people who bought this book were women, likely more than half. It’s being sold as a “Yuri” manga here, not an “adult manga for men,” which makes me think that if the western manga market survives this economy, I *strongly* recommend rethinking the whole shoujo/shounen/josei/seinen genre scheme completely. I think western publishers should focus on subject genre (scifi/fantasy/mecha/guns/romance/sex) and age appropriateness, which is bollocks but necessary here. In any case, I agree with Deb – list it on the josei list because here in the west, at least, it’s a manga as much for woman as it for men.

The end of this volume is particularly Yuri-fan friendly, as Nene and Jun make a very public statement about Sex. Life. And Communication.

I can’t tell you why exactly, but for whatever reason I like the English adaptation better than the original. Frank, you did a fabulous job. If there were an adult manga award, I’d give it to Media Blasters for Maka-Maka. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 9
Service – 9

Overall – 9

When I read this volume originally, I remember being turned off by the excess of bodily fluids, but reading it this time, it didn’t strike me that way at all. No idea why.

And let me once again thank Media Blasters for the first copy of this book off the printer. It doesn’t mean I’ll give you a better review, but you do get a bigger smile of thanks!

Posted in English Manga, Maka-Maka | 14 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Gunsmith Cats Burst, Volume 5

February 4th, 2009

Finally, the ending that Gunsmith Cats always deserved.

**Warning: This review is one big spoiler, so don’t read it if you don’t want to know how the series ends.**

In Volume 4 of GSC Burst, we were treated to the return of Goldie Musou, Mafia boss and one of my personal favorite Evil Psycho Lesbians. After many gunshots, chases, hand grenades and other typical mayhem, Goldie regained her memory, which had been lost (a decade ago our time) after she had had her own drug administered to her in large, brain-killing quantities.

In Volume 5, some time has passed and Rally is wrapping up a few things, as she prepares to close Gunsmith Cats and leave Chicago. May and Ken are just returning from a honeymoon in Japan. Loli fans will be pleased to wallow in a chapter where May tries on many stereotypical cosplay outfits, as long as they don’t think about why she has them in the first place.

Rally hasn’t heard from Misty – except through a short, tense message from Roy, in which the former thief expressed her desire to not see Rally for a while. While out in town, Rally accidentally sees Misty, who consents to at least talk to her. Misty explains that she’s living with Goldie now. Rally’s asbolutely horrified, sure that Misty is being brainwashed, but she says no, it’s honestly her own choice.

We see that Misty, Goldie and Goldie’s maid – with whom Misty had struck up a pretty friendly sort of relationship in Volume 4 – are living together in a cheerful threesome. Misty’s big issue is her concern that Goldie might be using her as a replacement for Rally. Despite Goldie’s insistence that Misty is Misty, her fears are confirmed when she finds a secret room in Goldie’s mansion that is clearly a shrine to the bounty hunter.

Becky obtains some information that leads her to believe that Goldie is selling a powerful new drug. Rally and May decide to rescue Misty, despite the former thief showing up and telling them flat out that that she does not need – or want – to be rescued. A lot of running around goes on – utimately we learn that yes, Goldie is selling a new drug, it is not terribly harmful and may actually be beneficial and honest-to-god, Misty is with Goldie by choice. (There’s also some Bean Bandit stuff going on through all this, but he bores me, so I am skipping it. Here’s the synopsis: Bean drives, car chase, guns, someone throwing up, bad guys lose, Bean’s chin remains pointy.)

May consults with the madam at her former brothel, who explains that Misty is an adult and they should butt out. May thinks back on everything she knows about Misty and realizes that they’ve know since the beginning that she’s a lesbian, and if you think about it, this really is none of their business.

Rally gives up trying to rescue Misty, who calls and asks if Rally will meet her. They go out to dinner, where Misty says that she was worried about Goldie’s feelings. Rally asks, aren’t you doing the same thing – using Goldie as a replacement for me? Misty agrees that she is, and has come to a place of balance with herself about it. She really, honestly loved Rally and wanted her, but Rally was never interested. So, she has Goldie and she’s pretty happy with that – after all, Goldie is a powerful leader, filthy rich and a good lover. And, she admits, she’s a thief, from a long line of criminals. Being at Goldie’s side isn’t a bad fit for her.

As she and Rally part, Misty asks for one favor, which Rally correctly guesses is a goodbye kiss. (It is made very plain in this book that Rally, despite what most fans have assumed, has never been clueless about Misty’s feelings.) She and Misty kiss for three pages – Rally even goes so far as to grope her ass a bit (maybe just getting a better grip? ^_^) It was a hell of a goodbye kiss. They part with a wave and a wish for the best.

The epilogue shows us Goldie, still a Mafia don, and Misty, living together. May and Ken with a child, Roy moved up to a nice position in a pleasant part of town; Becky has switched her info skills to the more lucrative world of finance and nothing at all changes with Bean.

Rally packs her bag and heads off to parts unknown to work on her shooting/people hunting skills, maybe to return to Chicago one day.

The End.

I could not have asked for better.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 6
Service – 5

Overall – 9

I think we can safely put the period on this series. But my hat’s off to Sonoda for allowing us a glimpse of what we’ve always known about Rally and for Misty and Goldie together as an actual lesbian couple.

Here’s a toast to the recovery of the economy and to Dark Horse eventually putting out Volumes 4 and 5 in English.

And thanks to Nettogrof for pointing out that the flag that was puzzling me in the manga is the flag of the City of Chicago.

Posted in Gunsmith Cats | 8 Comments »


Steel Angel Kurumi Anime Season 1 and 2 (English)

February 2nd, 2009

Once more we turn to guest reviewer and Okazu Superhero, Eric P, for a look at a series we all know, but never really think about much. :-) Take it away, Eric!

Before Kyoshiro and Kannazuki, the infamous Kaishaku did Steel Angel Kurumi, a surprisingly popular and critically acclaimed series when it first came to North America.

Set in alternative 1920’s Japan, a young boy named Nakahito trains to be an Onmyou mystic, but is a poor student for it. Everything changes when he explores a house of a mad scientist, finds a life-like doll his size dressed in a maid outfit, and kisses it by accident. The maid doll, Kurumi, awakens, and at first sight she falls in love and pledges her devotion towards Nakahito. As it turns out, she was created as part of the Steel Angel project, a series of battle dolls driven by Angel Hearts, cores infused with the power of angels to gain superhuman abilities; they were basically meant to be military warfare combining science and mysticism. While not a proficient mystic, Nakahito still had the latent powers that awakened Kurumi. She is however, more special and powerful than the other Steel Angels, for she is imbued with the Mark II angel heart, which also seals demon powers. Due to the danger of her latent power, both the Imperial Army and Academy (for which Kurumi’s scientist creator, Dr. Ayanokoji, works) hunt her down. Everything ensues with Nakahito and Kurumi running off on a journey together to evade them, gaining companions and learning secrets/truths along the way, ultimately leading to the climactic finale upon the Academy’s suspended-in-the-sky castle, along with the basic power-of-love message that transcends Kurumi’s unconditional devotion and Nakahito’s weakness as a mystic.

The Yuri found in this series mostly centers around Kurumi’s Steel Angel ‘sister’ Saki, who Kurumi awakens with her own kiss with the power of her Mark II heart. Because of this, Saki falls in love with her just as Kurumi had for Nakahito, then fulfills the role of the obsessive lesbian archetype. She constantly fantasizes the perfect life she might have with Kurumi and always jumps on the opportunity to bathe with her – for obvious reasons. There’s one interesting scene in the middle of the series where she decides to tell Kurumi how she feels to clear up a misunderstanding, and actually does it. In response, it’s unclear whether Kurumi understands, but lets her down easy by saying she loves her as a sister, or whether she remains oblivious.

This is all the first series. The sequel of Steel Angel Kurumi, however, is a straight-out yuri harem series, where all the characters are enveloped in a web of girls-love, all stemming from the main protagonist being a girl this time. Taking place in the early 21st century, Nako, a descendent of Nakahito’s family, is a talented, aspiring cellist while also being a shy klutz. Her best friend is Uruka, who comes across as the somewhat cold, tsundere-type character that puts up with Nako’s clumsiness. Everything changes when they explore underneath the shrine where Nako lives, and they discover Kurumi. Nako kisses her by accident, Kurumi awakens, and thus history repeats itself as Kurumi falls in love at first sight and pledges devotion toward Nako. We discover at that moment that Uruka is gay and had harbored secret feelings for her friend, which gets crushed and encroached upon by Kurumi’s entry into their lives. Wanting nothing more than the romantic rival to be out of the picture, she turns to her father who runs their family private military, unleashing robots to attack Kurumi, which she constantly defeats. He soon finds Saki, whom Uruka awakens with a kiss. But Saki is less interested in fighting Kurumi than she is still being her romantic interest, while at the same time having unconditional feelings for Uruka, so she often fantasizes having a three-way relationship. Regardless of her devotion, Uruka will have none of it, even though she lets Saki stay with her in her room. Nako, for one, is clearly hinted to have mutual interest in Kurumi, but because of her reserved shyness, this does not develop.

Unlike the first series, nothing really happens here story-wise, nor does it reach the same epic scale, making it come across as having been made for pure Yuri service. The story is mostly about Kurumi integrating herself in Nako’s normal life, i.e., attending school with her; Uruka’s constant plotting to take back Nako for herself; and Nako’s rise as a self-confident cellist. Even so, if you don’t mind having pure Yuri service with a predominant Yuri cast of characters, then for some the second series may still be more entertaining than the first.

If you were able to read through and follow the story summaries of the two series above, with or without a straight face, you can basically surmise that Steel Angel Kurumi is almost everything you would expect from Kaishaku. The story is about as nonsensical as it can get, although this is actually their most coherent one. If you like Kaishaku at all, or you’re at least tolerant of their works, then you’ll likely find something to enjoy in this. Ask this reviewer, I’d say in a strange way this is actually one of their best series, or at least this is a best anime adaptation of one of their series, even if it isn’t ‘good’ per se. It’s got some nice action and some funny humor (especially in the English dub, which admittedly took some liberties but still gave it lively flavor). There’s also no lesbian rape, which should count for something, right? If you’re interested, feel free to check it out on CrunchyRoll if it’s still there. (Erica here: They are, but marked as mature, so yu’ll need to be registered as an adult.)

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – Series 1, 6; Series 2, 9
Service – 7 (the usual Kaishaku panty shots, skin, fetishist outfits [mostly maids in this case], and other things I can’t recall from the top of my head)

Overall – 7 (my usual rating for everything it seems)

Erica again: Thank you Eric! I haven’t thought about this series in ages. I wonder if I’ll ever watch it again. lol

While I’ve got you all on the topic, did you know that there was a *Live-Action* Steel Angel Kurumi series? I didn’t. You can get the Live-Action version on Amazon if you’re feeling brave. ^_^

Posted in English Anime, Yuri Anime | 3 Comments »