My-HiME Manga, Volume 1 (English)

December 30th, 2008

In Volume 1 of My Hime, strange things are afoot at Fuka Academy. Monsters are appearing, girls with magical powers are fighting…and all of it seems to surround one boy, a transfer student by the name of Yuuichro Tate.

Tate is trying to redeem himself after a series of unavoidable choices caused tragedy to both him and the girl who admired him most. Instead of redemption, Tate finds himself in the middle of a storm, in which exceptional girls with exceptional powers want him to provide them with the means to fight.

Unlike the My HiME anime, this story is not about Mai, or Natsuki, or Mikoto. And unlike the anime, the service here has a nasty edge. Welcome to Champion Red and it’s special brand of woman-hating seinen manga. Despite the fact that you can expect to see woman depantsed, and deshirted with steady frequency, and the occasional rape thrown in for good measure, there are still some things to like about My Hime. The story is similar enough to the anime, that you can at least follow it,and there’s no Duke Nagi putting women in chains and beating them, for one thing. But that’s not what I was referring to. What I was referring to, of course, is…the Yuri service.

Shizuru remains a decidely Yuri character, with fangirls falling over themselves to be close to her. She also remains eyes only for Natsuki, so if that’s a key feature of the My/Mai franchise for you, then rest assured. The implied frottage between Mikoto and Mai is of questionable value to me, but I think that for this manga’s audience it’s spot on for appeal.

And despite the fact that this manga series is not about any of the many interesting characters in My HiME, instead focusing on the least interesting character in the known universe, it’s really quite all right for a trashy fantasy about trashy fantasy. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 2
Service – 7

Overall – 6

Speaking of fangirls, I am a huge fangirl for today’s sponsor, Okazu superhero Ana M! She is the absolute bomb! And btw, please notice the spiffy new “Hero Roll” on the right sidebar. Become an Okazu superhero by sponsoring a review and you too can be enshrined there for our permanent admiration.

Posted in English Manga, Mai Hime | 5 Comments »


Top Ten Yuri Manga of 2008

December 29th, 2008

Unless you’re a brand new reader, I don’t think anything on this list will surprise you. Here’s my choices for Top Ten Yuri Manga of 2008:

English Manga

5) Strawberry Panic – The manga was stoopid and silly and the light novels were *hysterical.* The manga series was killed in Japan, and the light novels died an equally ignominious death here in the US, but they gave us all something to talk about – and were the start of my Yuri military force. lol For using more than one private helicopter in a single volume, and putting a helipad on the top of the tower in St. Spica *high school*, I graciously give the number five position to the literary portion of the Strawberry Panic franchise.

4) S.S. Astro – It was yet another 4-koma with yet another Yuri-fetishist character. But it was not about school kids and their names were not cleverly thematic and the Yuri character was a suit- and glasses-wearing adult woman. Score. All of that *and* we get to welcome a new publisher to the list! Thanks Yen Press – give us more S.S. Astro!

3) Kashimashi ~ Girl Meets Girl – As a story, it was flawed in any number of ways. As an adaptation, it was nearly perfect. For not turning Hazumu back into a guy and actually having a resolution, the final volumes of Seven Seas’ translation of Kashimashi makes the top five of the year handily.

2) Hayate x Blade – I want to apologize, because this series has made one of my top ten lists I think for every year since I started doing them. But this year is different! Hayate x Blade is making the English language portion of the list, so how about that? I love this series and you’re all just gonna have to deal with me telling you over and over and over how good it is, so there. Seven Seas comes in with their third book on the list at number 2 for 2008.

1) Maka-Maka – Maybe this does surprise you. In a way, it surprises me. The story is totally “PWP.” The characters are surprisingly real and therefore, kind of annoying. lol But Media Blasters did such a spectacular job of reproducing the book that after reading both volumes I still think I like the English editions slightly more than the originals. My number one English-language Yuri manga of 2008 is Maka-Maka.

Japanese Manga

5) Girl Friends and Rakuen Jouken – While these two manga are written for completely different audiences, they have quite a lot in common. Both of them deal with “coming out”s of a sort; Girl Friends in a high school setting, Rakuen no Jouken in adult life. In every case, the story is driven by a woman coming to understand her feelings for another woman. In every case, the emotions feel totally honest to this reader. Because of this, they both make my number five.

4) Clover – I know that no one is paying any attention to Otsu Hiyori’s work. And I know that my words will not suddenly catapult this book to superstar status, but by god, if you want to read Yuri that does not suck AND has a happy ending, buy this damn book!

3) Octave – Unlike Clover, Octave is getting a lot of press (probably because it’s at least partially scanlated already.) Another example of a story that is not about schoolgirls, it touches on some very reasonable issues about sexuality and sex, it’s surprisingly adult and extremely well written. It’s a genuine pleasure to add Octave to the top five this year and here’s hoping that I’ll be able to do the same next year.

2) Sasamekikoto – Yeah, it’s back to schoolgirls again, but you know, it’s funny. Laugh Out Loud funny. And sweet, in a really annoying way. And touching in a really touching way. Above all, Sasamekikoto is a conglomeration of just about every possible Yuri trope all at once and it works. Waiting for Ushio and Sumi to get it together and get together is such pleasant agony. It’s a clear shot at the number two slot for this series.

1) – No surprises here. I told you right from my very first glimpse that this would be my number one Yuri manga series of the year. And nothing I saw convinced me otherwise. The writing is stellar, the art is captivating, the story is compelling, raw, horrible and beautiful. I have never read anything like it and probably never will again. Absolutely, positively the numer one Yuri Manga of 2008 in any language is Nakamura Ching’s Gunjou.

As always, you can find all the English manga listed here and many other titles available on the Yuricon Shop, where your support nabs you great Yuri. ;-)

Check back in a few days for my Top Ten Yuri of the year!

Posted in English Manga, Now This Is Only My Opinion, Top Yuri Lists | 5 Comments »


Mai Otome S.ifr Anime

December 28th, 2008

When last we left Rena and Sifr in Mai Otome 0~S.ifr (舞-乙HiME 0~S.ifr~) it was so many months ago that I pretty much had completely forgotten who, what, where, when and why. How always involves three things – partial nudity, explosions and lots of screaming, that one’s easy. ^_^

But the story was easy enough to catch up on. Sifr is the bastard child of the Windbloom family and thus, has the power to make the Harmonium work. Garderobe’s babealicious, but misguided headmistress has decided to kill Sifr to keep that from happening. On the other side, the evil-eyebrowed Schwarz is running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trailing a captured Sifr behind them. (Surely I was not the only one who thought them taking her to outer space then blowing up the station and taking her back to earth was just about the stupidest waste of fuel ever?) Defying both sides are Bruce, Rena, Shion, Mayo and Eliot. And Mayu, who obviously could have taken care of all of this on her own, but doesn’t, for whatever reason.

I kept getting the feeling that series continuity was being ignored in this OVA. Probably because in Mai Otome, the Harmonium had been been buried and forgotten for ages, but s.ifr only takes place a generation before. Or maybe it’s just an alternate universe. Or something else. But, it had the three things we cared about – a hot Garderobe headmistress, Rena getting to be uber cool as the Blue Star Sapphire Otome and some Yuri service. We even got the added bonus of Sifr having some brass. So really, who cares about the rest? It was shiny and colorful – exactly what we want out of our Mai.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Music – 8
Characters – 7
Yuri – 2
Service – 4

Overall – 7

Oh, and I completely forgot! An adult female kissed an adult male and he did NOT nosebleed or pass out or anything else idiotic. He blushed – totally approved behavior for being kissed by a pretty girl.

Posted in Mai Otome | 3 Comments »


This Week in Yuri – December 27, 2008

December 27th, 2008

Yuri Anime

Funimation has announced that it has picked up the licenses for Ikkitousen and Vandread. Whether that is good news or bad will entirely depend on your feelings towards these series. lol Personally, I’m split 50/50 on them. I love Ikkitousen‘s craptastic-ness and find Vandread-ful. :-)

Eric writes in to let us know that episode 1 of anti-Yuri series Mariaholic is live and streaming for your viewing (dis)pleasure. The “romantic comedy” plot centers around a Yuri-obsessed girl who falls for a beautiful girl at her school only to learn that the “girl” is actually a cross-dressing guy who treats her like crap. The plot of this series cascaded into a discussion in my house about how in anime, any main character wearing the clothes of the opposite gender almost immediately becomes a paragon of that gender and object of desire.

Right Stuf announces a March 24, 2009 release date for ARIA The NATURAL – Part 2 DVD Collection.

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Yuri Manga

The issue of Morning 2 magazine on sale on January 22, 2009 will feature a front and back, full color cover of Gunjou by Nakamura Ching. It will be awesome.

Erin S. kindly points out that February will see the advent of Yuri Hime Wildrose 3 and that the Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan collection also coming out in spring will, like the MikoMajyo series by the same author, come as a deluxe set with Drama CD as well as manga volume alone. Something for me to look forward to, anyway. :-)

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Snatches of Yuri

Jacob S. wanted to share this snatch of Yuri: Vanillaware has made a game, Grim Grimoire, where you play a young witch who goes from timid schoolgirl to royal mage-consul. He points out that there is a very mild (the game is rated E), but most definitely Yuri-ful, end.

Speaking of snatches…for the three of us who care, Hakodate Youjin Buraijou Himegami, Volume 4 is on sale!

Something that’s all over the Japanese Yuri blogs, and yet is unlikely to be something I’ll ever read, is Wasabi ala Mode. It’s Kirara CR. It’s moe Yuri-ish maids. Whoo.

In Fura Furu, we follow Natsu and Hana who are exploring the latest Yuri fetish – poverty. It’s all the rage in Yuri manga these days…haven’t you noticed? I have. Anyway. Rabu-rabu, or so the J-blogs say.

And Yasashii Ira is a collection of shorts, many with Yuri, and with a mopey looking kid on the cover. Moe and bittersweet is my best guess.

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Other Yuri News

Maria-sama ga Miteru: Hello Goodbye went on sale on the 26th in Japan. Yes, I ordered a copy and am racing to the end of Scenes Before Graduation to be ready when it arrives. And, as I went to get the link to it just now, I notice that it is Number *3* on the book charts at Amazon.co.jp. Wow.

The new OP for Ichigo Mashimaro “Encore” is up on YouTube. It includes Chika going completely tsundere for Miu as they hold hands and Ana and Matsuri also touching, although I tend to think of that relationship more as a primary caregiver and her functional, yet mentally disabled patient. lol

Last up, Pizza Hut announced a new Maria-sama ga Miteru campaign in honor of the 4th season next week. This commemorative box will picture Sei and Yumi.

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So much excitement this week. See you next week for more fabulous Yuri news!

Posted in Yuri Network News | 8 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Clover

December 26th, 2008

Otsu Hiyori is a darn good storyteller. Not many mangaka are. If they can draw, they often can’t write. Vice versa applies, as well. And even if you have an awesome team of artist/writer, if the magazine’s editing staff has specific, overwhelming requirements, or they aren’t good at their job or any number of other things, the end result can, to coin a phrase…suck.

Not so with Otsu Hiyori, whose deft, light-handed touch makes for individual stories that read pleasantly and, when collected, turn into a little slice of wow. One such slice is Clover. It is a collection of stories that ran in Comic Yuri Hime and one fabulous omake chapter that makes it all the more ‘wow’-er.

Let us begin at the beginning. I *completely* missed that the stories that make up Clover were about 4 sisters. Sure, they all had the same family name, but I never noticed their family name in the first place. And the stories are told in non-chronological fashion – and the magazine comes out 3 months apart, so pardon me for not noticing, okay?!? ^_^

So, the Tachibana family has four sisters, each of whom have had at least one relationship that involves falling for another woman, or having one fall for them. They are all very cool about it; it’s not screaming, knife-wielding drama for this family (nor for any of Otsu’s characters ever, really.) And for most of the sisters it was but a fleeting moment in time. Except for one.

In “Bitter Girl,” Midori finds herself at rope’s end working at a cake shop during the holiday season with no help. She asks the girl who drops by all the time to help out and so, Sugiura starts to work with her. As they work together, they talk about themselves and ultimately, Sugiura and Midori start going out. Midori’s not entirely sure about this, because she thinks she’s doing it as a lark, but when a boy asks her out, and Sugiura breaks up with her to free her up, Midori realizes that she’s fallen for Sugiura! She runs after the other girl, only to catch up to her and find that despite the cheerful face she had on when she said goodbye, Sugiura is crying. Midori and she are honest with one another at last. The story had a nice extended epilogue in which we learned that Sugiura really don’t like cake at all – she liked the girl at the cake shop. ^_^

The collected volume Clover also has an extended epilogue omake that finds Sugiura and Midori still together 3 years later. Sugiura is in law school and always busy; Midori is home, feeling a bit resentful of playing the role of the wife. She feels as if she’s being taken for granted and is starting to rethink this relationship. When she confronts Sugiura, the other woman falls apart instantly, as she did all those years ago. Midori realizes that she was misinterprating Seiko’s feelings completely, and the two of them patch it up instantly. On the final page, we see Sugiura, now a successful lawyer (we can tell because of the suit,) being seen off by Midori – and so we can assume happily ever after.

I just loved this collection. Otsu’s stories rarely feel typical, even when they are playing in safe waters. There’s always a feeling of self-awareness about the characters, as if they are looking at themselves and seeing some of their situation from outside themselves. Otsu’s style fits the atypical stories – the ones set outside of high school – best, because her characters are so often mature and laid-back.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Stories – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 8
Service – 1

Overall – 8

A great book, one that will fly under most people’s radar because there are no mecha, no sex, no over-the-top melodrama. I know Seven Seas can’t bring over the more explicit Yuri Hime books and if they bring this out it probably won’t sell well because “nothing happens.” But this is a *fabulous* example of Yuri that does not suck and I hope that they can bring it over here and you can all prove me wrong by making it a best-seller. ^_^

Posted in Comic Yuri Hime, Yuri Manga | 6 Comments »