Yuri Anime: Ikkitousen GG OAV 2

October 31st, 2008

Ikkitousen Great Guardians OAV 2 is five minutes of absolutely nothing. But in those five minutes, thousands of LFs of every gender get to watch Ryoufu Housen play doctor with Ryomou Shimei.

So, really, what do I have to complain about?

Nothing, except “doctor” doesn’t do it for me and I really, really want to see them beat the crap out of each other. Sadly, thousands of otaku prefer dress up to beat down. Oh well. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 0
Yuri – 5
Service – 10

Overall – 5

It’s probably going to take you longer to read this review than to watch the whole OAV. It might make more sense, too. ^_^

Posted in Ikkitousen, Yuri Anime | 5 Comments »


Event: MangaNEXT Yuri Panel Schedule

October 31st, 2008

Just as a reminder, I will be in Somerset, NJ for MangaNEXT from today through Sunday, Nov. 22.

Here is my panel schedule;

Friday – 7PM – Writing for Manga

Saturday – 2PM – Yuri Panel
6PM – 10 Steps to Impressing a Publisher

Sunday – 12:30 – Manga Recomendations Show and Tell (I’m just facilitating this one.)

There’s going to be *plenty* of great Yuri and Yaoi flavored panels at the con – guest Mari Morimoto will be presenting “Gay Manga 101” Friday night, in which she will discuss the differences between “Gay” and “Lesbian” manga and “Yaoi” and “Yuri” manga.

Guest Rica Takashima will be participating with Mari and guest Misako Rocks! in a panel called “My Life in Manga” on Saturday and on Sunday, you can join a book club discussion on Rica’s works.

Don’t forget to visit Rica in the Artist Alley and the ALC “Circle of Yuri” where we’ll have some of our Yuri artists and writers hanging out to talk Yuri to you!

I’ll see you there. :-)

Posted in Events | 1 Comment »


Yuri Manga: Hayate Cross Blade, Volume 1 (English)

October 30th, 2008

It has been almost three and a half years since I first reviewed Hayate x Blade and in all that time, never once has my delight in this series lessened one iota. So you can imagine how thrilled I am to tell you now about the English-language edition of Hayate x Blade, Volume 1. (In case you somehow missed my raving about this manga, please feel free to check out my reviews of the volumes already out in Japanese.)

The story of Hayate x Blade is an entertaining mix of comedy, action, drama, chicks with weapons, and a a Yuri-ish setup that grows ever more Yuri as the plot develops. Pairs of girls, sword sisters, competing in battles for supremacy, power and money….and mostly for the amusement of the chairwoman of Tenchi Gakuen, the wholly whimsical Amachi Hitsugi. This is awesome stuff.

In terms of the reproduction there’s something I really need to tell you. It was my pleasure to be able to be the copy editor on this book. No, seriously. Remember way back last spring when I told you that I had gotten a side job? Well, that side job was to be able to edit manga for Tor. I love working on the Seven Seas manga, not just because it gives me the opportunity to see the books early (because, frankly, I don’t really feel any need to see Inukami ever, much less early) but because they do such good work. It’s very enjoyable to be part of the process.

So, before I tell you that the English edition is damn good, you need to understand that it’s pretty much a conflict of interest. ^_^; Nonetheless, I honestly think they did a pretty damn good job with this book!

The volume is not entirely without problems, but those that exist are so small – slightly too thin paper, slightly too dark print, I don’t really love the design for the logo – are so incredibly small and tedious that they bear mentioning only in the interest of fairness. The important stuff – the reproduction, the translation, the adaptation, the lettering, the sound f/x, etc. are all top-notch.

Yuri in Volume 1 is mostly confined to the existence of openly lesbian (i.e., shounen-style pervy girl) Kuga Jun, roomate to one of our leads, Mudou Ayana. But don’t be disheartened, the Yuri quotient rises as the series goes on. And I just finished reading the most recent chapter and can swear to you that the series has never let me down in any way. Yuri, comedy, drama, action – it’s all there in spades.

I am so very, very glad that Hayate x Blade made it out in 2008, so I can happily name it the best English-language Yuri manga of the year.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 6
Service – 2
Overall – 8

Run! Run! Buy this for yourself and two copies for friends. Yes, it’s that good.

Posted in English Manga, Hayashiya Shizuru, Hayate x Blade | 25 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Octave, Volume 1

October 29th, 2008

One more for the file of stories with adult female leads, Octave, Volume 1, (オクターヴ) has many admirable qualities that make it a series to keep an eye on.

Miyashita Yukino wanted, more than anything else, to become an idol. In defiance of the odds, she actually did manage to accomplish her dream only to find that being an idol is not enough to make one a celebrity. The idol group Yukino was part of failed to sell. Yukino went back to school, spending the remainder of her time there wading through jealousy and curiosity from the girls and a mix of sexual interest and disrespect from the guys.

Now 20, Yukino lives in Tokyo, far from her remaining friends and family, trying to forge a new life on her own as a talent manager. But she’s not really having any fun at it. Her life lacks purpose and rhythm and, even now, she has a nagging sensation that she should be that girl on the pedestal.

Yukino finds herself befriended by Setsuko, the sister of the guy who runs the laundromat she uses. Suddenly, Yukino feels that maybe Tokyo isn’t such a lonely place. She’s finally found someone she can relate to – Setsuko was a member of a small musical group that, like her own, only released one album. Setsuko now barely makes a living writing songs for singers who don’t even know who she is.

One night, as they eat mabutofu, Yukino finds herself telling Setsuko about her encounter with failure, and about her desire for a boyfriend, maybe marriage – a normal life. Setsuko responds by sitting much too close and forcing Yukino to face some of her own fears. That night they end up making love.

Yukino’s found what she thinks is a little happiness, but of course nothing stays the same forever. As she tries to find a place for her feelings for Setsuko, Yukino will encounter situations that wrap her in jealousy over Setsuko (who is bisexual,) over the paths her former partners in the idol group have taken, over everything everyone thinks of as a normal life.

Octave is not melodramatic, it’s not overwrought, it’s not full of love affairs going horribly tragic, or violent, or a life in crisis. It’s not WEtv. Thank *heavens.* It’s a grown up manga for grown ups, who like to read grown up stories about grown up women who like grown up women.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 8
Service – 4

Overall – 8

I definitely recommend it for realistic, non-ridiculous Yuri narrative and sincerely hope that someone will consider picking it up for translation here.

Posted in Yuri Manga | 11 Comments »


Red Garden Anime, Volume 5 (English)

October 28th, 2008

Since we’ve been talking about it, I just had to drag out Red Garden, Volume 5 to enjoy the blood and angst once again. ^_^

The amazing thing about Volume 5 is that a ton of stuff goes on, and there’s pretty much no way to talk about it without spoiling it rotten. Well, okay, I could be irritatingly vague instead. I’ll try to thread the needle here and say that a lot of things that have been slowly building to a crisis point finally come to a head and the girls find themselves deeply involved with not only the usual battles, but the reason for the battles…and residual complications of family, friends and lovers and the like.

Our four protagonists reevaluate their relationship to Lise, only to find – once again – that everything they thought they knew to be true is a lie.

And the chase is on. We move quickly, almost frenetically, towards a climax that will resolve nothing and everything.

In the middle of all of this, Paula’s love for Kate is neither perverted, nor selfish. Her love is real and beautiful and while Kate cannot return it, she does not reject it.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 8

The cover copy continues to amuse and befuddle. The quote on the front cover is quite good, but the back cover reads “LOVE will break your HEART. & LOVERS will bleed you dry.”

Asside from the questionable punctuation, I have to ask…whuh? This volume is inexplicably subtitled “Love Lies Bleeding.” Sounds like the copywriter was desperately hanging on to that whole Buffy the Vampire thing, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Posted in English Anime | 4 Comments »