Yuri News This Week – December 13, 2008

December 13th, 2008

Strap yourselves in, we have a *lot* of news this week.

Yuri Live Action

I have been forgetting to tell you about this for *ever, so I’m putting it first so I can’t forget this time.lol Yoshida Akemi, mangaka of Lover’s Kiss and many other classic manga, also wrote a story called Sakura no Sono (The Cherry Orchard.) It was made into a movie a long while back, but earlier this year, a remake of the movie was made. There are two trailers, one from the original version and the second from the new version – you can see how the tone changed. Here is the original trailer, here is the new trailer. The basic plot is that a new girl transfers to a private girls school and runs up against the usual stereotypes (bullying ojousoama and henchicks, girl who falls for her, etc…), and then learns it used to be traditional to perform Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard every year until tragedy put an end to it. She decides to revive the tradition – melodrama happens. Aside from the fact that it once again allows me to mention Chekhov on this blog, this story is an eary Yuri classic. Keep an eye out for this movie.

While I’m on live-action, I discovered an incredibly good way to waste chunks of time with Afterellen.com’s short lesbian detective web series BJ Fletcher, Private Eye. It’s hammily written and hammily overacted and the protagonist is not the hero, but it’s a great way to blow a half hour here and there watching a couple of episodes. (Episodes are about 15 minutes long.) :-)

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Yuri Anime

It’s busty women in battle bikinis! The Queens’ Blade trailer is up for your viewing…erm, pleasure.

AND the 4th season trailer for Maria-sama ga Miteru is up on Animate TV, along with a list of the cast (which gives us on the irc channel #[email protected] a good idea of how far this season is going to go through the novels. Join us if you want the low down.) Here are the narrowband and the broadband trailers. Extra points if you can tell what story all that comes from. :-)

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Yuri Manga

Erin wants us to not be sad, but the second volume of Strawberry Shake Sweet will be delayed until January.

In the meantime, the next Yuri Hime S is out in 5 days, so no crying. :-)

And please don’t forget that Yuri Monogatari 6 is in the December Previews and that pre-ordering really *does* make a difference!

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Yuri Light Novels

On December 26th, the next Maria-sama ga Miteru novel, Hello Goodbye hits the streets. In case the title is too subtle, this is likely to be the *last* novel in the series. Fans all over the world are smiling through their tears.

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Yuri Drama CDs

Through the kindness of Okazu superhero Ana, I just recently received a copy of the fifth Ichigo Mashimaro Drama CD. It’s crazy, and just slightly beyond my ability to follow, but as it’s the typical IM setup you have Nobue perving over Anna and Matsuri, and Miu fighting for Nobue’s attention. I’m kind of sympathetic to Chika when she says, “Are you really my sister?” lol

Katherine wants you to know about the Maria-sama ga Miteru Christmas CD, and I want you to know about the Maria-sama ga MiteruSpecial DCD, which comes out on Christmas.

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Yuricon News

Members of Facebook, you can now ‘Become a Fan’ of Yuricon & ALC Publishing! Just visit the Yuricon & ALC page on Facebook and become a fan!

Not on Facebook? You can friend Yuricon & ALC publishing on LiveJournal, MySpace or follow us on Twitter, too!

Also – Yuricon is looking for, well…a new look. The website is four years old now and it’s time for a new design. This is a paid contract job, I’m looking for someone with good design skills, excellent communication skills and a strong sense of deadline and responsibility. You will be responsible for creating the design and assisting with the migration of the site. Students of design are welcome to apply.

If you would like to apply for this position, please email me at yuricon at hotmail dotcom with an introductory email and if possible a link to your portfolio or an example of your work.

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Yuri Doujinshi

Winter Comiket is right around the corner. If you are going to be in Japan for New Year’s Eve, drop by Tokyo Big Sight on 12/30 and stock up on Yuri doujinshi! Use Small Call’s List of Yuri Circles to plan your purchases. (The List is in Japanese, but if you can’t even read the list, then there’s basically no way you’ll be able to make it around Comiket without a guide, lol.) Visit the West Hall, Row Mi (in hiragana), Table 36a for Office Mono, our own Eriko Tadeno’s newest Yuri doujinshi! (yay!!)

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Yuri 3-D Worlds

Lastly. You may remember that I mentioned a Rose Mansion event on Second Life this week. Well, due to other resposibilities I did not make it (I’m still hoping to make the event on 12/19 11PM Japan time…) but someone did! (And, after only a little verbal abuse from me, wrote up a nice little report for us) Let me turn this over to Rei:

This morning I visited the Rose Mansion open house on Second Life. I have to say I was impressed. The entire SIM is really quite amazing – it’s apparent that someone spent a lot of time painstakingly recreating the setting of Maria-sama ga Miteru. As you approach the gate you’re given a free change of clothes for your avatar into a Lillian uniform (or Hanadera uniform for the guys) and from there on it only gets cuter. If you explore far enough you’ll discover there are Photography Club and Newspaper Club branch offices in the Rose Mansion. Here you’ll find free armbands for your avatar. I chose to adorn myself with the Photography Club arm band. There’s also a church on the premises that features pictures from past MARIASAMA group events, and of course, the ever-serene Maria-sama’s garden, replete with statue.

The visitors are also very charming: chatting away in Japanese about everything under the sun, but mostly fashion. I met two locals who were very encouraging and helpful. MAO Amaterasu seems to be a Linden Millionaire who has various gorgeous avatar costumes to change into, hair that never stops flowing and walks like she’s on imported air (thank you Blondie). Her cute rosary-toting soeur, Sakurako Ceriano, gave me some toast to carry around in my avatar’s mouth and told me all about Hatsumoude at her local shrine. I think there were games and stuff but I arrived too late to for the party-favors. Anyway, it was a blast.

For anyone interested, the SIM is located in Sonima, but just so you know, you can’t fly within school grounds: walking slowly so as not to disturb the pleats in your skirts is the preferred mode of travel here. Have fun exploring and be sure to bring your parasol. ~Rei (Known on Second Life as Kohime Matsuri)

Thanks Rei, that was fabulous and now I really want to make it to the next event…!

Oh, btw, Rei also told me that when you arrive at the Rose Mansion, the light shines through the stained glass above the stairs and rains three colors of light down upon you. LF heaven.

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That’s all there is for this week, except for the stuff I forgot. Oh well, there’s always next week!

Posted in ALC Publishing, Maria-sama ga Miteru, Yuri Monogatari, Yuri Network News, Yuricon | 6 Comments »


Aria Anime, Volume 2 (English)

December 12th, 2008

You know *that* moment? That one second when you’re watching an anime and something makes you grin lopsidedly and nod to no one in particular, saying sagely to yourself, “I knew it.”

Volume 2 of Aria has one of those moments. ^_^

The days pass gently in Neo-Venezia, full of stories of challenges and friendship and of course, backed by beautiful scenery.

In Volume 2, we’ve been introduced to all of the journeyman Undine, and we’re getting to know their mentors a little better. Five seconds of Akira’s no-nonsense, in-your-face competence and your gaydar is through the roof. You know it. She’s “one of us.” ^_^

And then there’s *that* moment. Akira, having been described as being popular with female customers, blatantly turns her overwhelming otokoyaku charm on a client, subtlely making her husband appear a clod, and yet, being nothing but attentive. Akira, according to the book that accompanies this box set, “is one of the few Undines that can always provide a superior level of service to her clients.” Especially, we think, wearing a lopsided grin, her female clients. The story is about tough love and living in the now. And about how gosh-darn sexy Akira is when she’s angry.

Aside from that, this volume provides an unusual opportunity to wallow in the company of the Three Faries of the Water and even hear Athena sing – all very, very good reasons to watch this anime. But the number one reason is to watch any of Aria is the beautiful scenery, both architectural and human. This, more than just about any other series I have ever seen, is all about bishoujo appeal.

And, at least for this one female client, the best of the Three Fairies is the Crimson Rose. I would totally agree that she provides superior service. lol

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 7
Yuri – 3
Service – 1

Overall – 8

Once again, thanks to Okazu superhero Dan P for sponsoring today’s review! (And, btw, if you are considering sponsoring a review, by buying something off the Yuri Wishlist, consider getting a “used” copy – especially of the older, and more obscure items. And thanks!)

Posted in Aria, English Anime | 10 Comments »


Soutennenshoku-iro Otome-gumi Manga, Volume 1

December 10th, 2008

Let’s talk 4-koma.

They are all basically the same.

Regardless of the setup, the punchlines all start to feel repetitive after a while. Every once in a blue moon you get something a little standout, but mostly 4-koma are about average protagonist girl, ambiguously gay girl and relaxed (or slow) girl reacting to hyper/crazy girl’s antics. In some cases the *only* thing that distinguishes the oh-so-average protagonist girl is that she is the protagonist. If she dropped out of the story altogether, it wouldn’t change much.

Soutennenshoku-iro Otome-gumi (Completely Naturally-colored Girl Group) is notable for having no notable characters whatsoever. The only thing that distinguishes them at all is that all of them (indeed, almost all the named characters) are named after a color. In no other way does any of the story differ from any other 4-koma. This manga is so generic that you could use it as a blank template upon which to dub your own ideas. Name them after fruit and make the setting an agricultural school; name the characters after well-known voice actresses and actors and pretend it’s at a voice acting school. Ignore the clothes and write a story that takes place anywhere, anytime, with anyone. Trust me, it’ll work.

(As an aside, I also noticed yesterday that the words for “O Fortuna” work perfectly well if you sing it about your wireless connection. “Oh, wireless connection, changeable as the moon, ever increasing and deteriorating.” It’s been that kind of week. ^_^)

Oh, so, yeah, Soutennenshoku-iro Otome-gumi. There’s this girl with red hair named Akane who gets lost trying to find her way around the huge school and runs into two other girls – green-haired Midori and ambiguously gay, blue-haired Aoi. Aoi is very otokoyaku-like and naturally wows all the girls with her masculine charm. But she’s not *trying* to, honest and always seems puzzled and annoyed by her skills at picking up girls. Evil ojou-sama Beniko (look it up, and you’ll be able to tell what color her hair is) hates how close Akane gets to Aoi, because she is nose-bleedingly desirous of her.

Add in the typical school scenarios, and give Akane a really fabulous, sensitive, nice older brother we only ever see in bear and magician costumes for his part-time jobs, and there you have it. The most unoriginal 4-koma ever. On the other hand, it’s not hurting anyone either. It’s pleasant, has Yuri-inspired nosebleeds and an older brother that, despite his sartorial choices, doesn’t suck and is not an object of incestuous desire.

If you are a fan of 4-koma, I say, go for it~! Read it, yay! In fact, I’ll lend you my copy. Feel free to forget to return it. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 5
Character – 6
Yuri – 3
Service – 1

Overall – 6

Thematically named characters does not a great manga make.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 6 Comments »


Yuri Monogatari 6 in Decembers Previews Catalog

December 9th, 2008

ALC Publishing is pleased to announce that Yuri Monogatari 6 is available for pre-order on page 198 of the December Previews catalog as Item Code: DEC083715.

Get new 100% Yuri from Circle UKOZ, Rica Takashima and Eriko Tadeno, and a special side-story from lesbian novelist J.D. Glass’s newest novel “American Goth”! With stories of lesbian love and love from artists and writers around the world, the award-nominated “Yuri Monogatari” anthology is wholey unique in the world of Yuri.

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Special Note About Reality:

Because of the antiquated distribution system for comic books and manga, your pre-order is *crucial* in making later orders possible. Essentially, the distributor only bases order on how many have already been sold, not how many could potentially be sold. So if you want to see Yuri Monogatari on the shelf, *you* have to pre-order it, so that someone else later can walk in and see it. It is a terrible system, but it’s all we have.

So, please, please, don’t wait to decide when you see it on the shelf of your local bookstore, because unless you pre-order, it won’t be on the shelf – ever.

If you’d rather order directly through ALC Publishing – the preorder will be up on December 20. I’ll do a sneak peek here, too, just to whet your appetite. :-)

On behalf of everyone at ALC Publishing – thanks for your support!!

Posted in ALC Publishing, Yuri Monogatari | 1 Comment »


Yuri Manga: Tori Koro MW-1056

December 8th, 2008

It’s been a *loooooong* time coming, this third (and I think final) volume of Tori Koro. As I am likely to be the only person who purchased the translations of Volume 1 and Volume 2, I would not expect to see it out in English any time soon.  ^_^

Volume 1 set the tone of this story about two high school students who come to stay with a friend of their mother’s, while they attend school. The daughter of the household, Yae, is older than both Makishi and Tatami, but looks significantly younger. Which supplies the fodder for about 1/4 the jokes.

By the second volume, we’ve added a fourth girl, Niwa-chan, a rich classmate who starts out with some significant social retardation but ends up with a huge, barely hidden crush on Yae. In addition to these characters, Yae has a big fat pigeon they call “Nanase” (Yae’s family name,) as a pet and her mother Sachie as, well, her mother. That’s pretty much the cast of characters.

The manga is another slice of life 4-koma (Yen Press…you listening??) manga in which the “adventures” revolve not around school, but around life outside school. Summer doldrums and taking out the right garbage on the right day, shopping and eating, etc, etc. There is no high drama here…in fact there is no drama here at all, just a series of untranslatable puns and really small misunderstandings that allow for “heh” moments of humor. For example, the absolutely side-pounding hilarity of the girls eating all the grapes and forgetting to leave any for mom. Or when Tatami addresses Niwa-chan’s mother with an informal, unprompted and weird nickname.

Niwa-chan provides the Yuri as always and by now, she’s not really even trying to hide it. If Yae was opposed, I’m pretty sure she’d be saying no to snuggling up against her. Not gay, but undoubtedly Yuri. :-)

While I can’t say this book is laugh out loud hysterical, I rarely find 4-koma to be that funny, so it’s not surprising. I was glad to get the final volume of this series even if there’s no real story to be resolved. Basically, I just liked the comic and wanted to read more. ^_^

For them as care, this volume also came with an alternate cover choice, with Yae portrayed as a fox girl.

Ratings:

Art – 4
Story – 5
Characters – 7
Yuri – 4
Fanservice – 3 (with some small weirdness as Niwa-chan’s mother dresses in her school uniform…)

Overall – 6

Even though DrMaster did a bad job on the first two volumes, and even though this one is mostly full of not-particularly funny “jokes,” I’m kind of sad we’ll never see it in English. I’m not entirely sure why. ^_^;

 

Posted in Yuri Manga | 5 Comments »