Yuri Anime: Koihime Musou

September 1st, 2008

Admit it. You’re watching Ikkitousen:GG, but feel as if it’s missing something. What you really want in your anime reinterpetations the warriors of the Chinese classic The Romance of the Three Kingdoms as cute girls with large breasts, is something more…whimsical. All that doom and gloom and mind control and dragons that must not be released is too depressing. It would be so much cooler if the warriors in question wore colorful fantasy-inspired outfits, fought with polearms and, oh yeah, had some Yuri.

Well lucky you, because the fine folks at BaseSon had the same thought and helpfully created a PC game upon which this finely crafted anime was based.

Koihime Musou takes the large-breasted female reincarnations of ancient Chinese warriors to a whole new level of insipidity.

This very moe version of the Three Kingdoms is set in a fantastical China, where the clothes are unreal, women are rulers and warriors and no one wears a bra.

In this version of the Three Kingdoms story, Kanu wanders the world and in the course of her wanderings, picks up a number of other female warriors as companions and allies, as well as encountering other female warriors with whom they fight. There is a vague (reaalllly vague) attempt to kind of sort of, if you squint, maintain some of the relationships of the original story, but if you’re trying to make that work, then clearly you are *not* the intended audience for this anime.
Because the intended audience for this anime is delighted by the fact that, although all the characters have their Chinese names, they also have much “cuter”-sounding names that they use to refer to each other. So while “Kanu Unchou” is our lead, her companions refer to her (as they scream loudly while she’s almost-dead or almost falling off a cliff or almost sleeping with Sousou) as Aisha. Chouhi is likewise hideously named “Rin-Rin” and Chouun is named Sei, of course, because she is the resident lesbian perv.

Yes, there is Yuri. The aforementioned Sei is blatantly lesbian, and Aisha appears to be the gay-magnet for the series, because Sousou hits on her, then fakes a threat to one of her companions so Aisha will have to sleep with her. Of course, she doesn’t. Aisha will never actually be made to “do lesbian” – to quote Rica’s father in “More Rica ‘tte Kanji!?” – she will just be the Yuri-service we can all enjoy.

Ratings:

Art – troublesome
Story – a shadow of its former self
Characters – they sure are
Yuri – some of that, too
Service – not as bad as Ikkitousen

Overall – It’s not as bad as Ikkitousen, but it’s not as good, either. 7

Posted in Yuri Anime | 7 Comments »


Yuri Anime: Ikkitousen GG

August 31st, 2008

Erica is away on vacation this week. She will have sporadic computer access at best and frankly, isn’t really worried too much about checking in. So please be prepared for comment approval to be delayed, and for your thoughtful comments to go unanswered for some days, as Erica focuses on more important things like fish-shaped churches and orgone cannons.

When Ikkitousen: Great Guardians was announced I was cautiously hopeful that this series would contain the same kind of absurdly service-y Yuri that made the first series so entertaining. As of the time I am writing this review, it has been nearly everything I had hoped.

One of the significant problems with the original Ikkitousen series was that it attempted to have a plot. It is with great relief that that has been set aside form much of GG. Instead, we’re treated to Kanu’s sexual fantasies about Ryuubi – and watching Kanu follow in the footsteps of Kuga Natsuki as all her coolness is turned into nothing more than a wall of stoicism to be cracked repeatedly by stupid sexual gags.

More importantly Ryoufu is brought back from the dead, and set up in a situation that is one death away from being the perfect Yuri couple for this series. I know for a fact that I am not the only one who would like Saji/Ouin to die painfully and release Ryomou to find her true partner. Of course, Ryoufu being Ryoufu, there’s plenty of nasty Yuri-service to amuse us as well.

There’s a pretty good chance that the series will be over by the time this review posts, but as of the time I am writing, I expect Ryomou to throw the feelings that fetter her to Saji aside to save Ryofu, who will die nobly, yet again. Hopefully with at least one kiss between them. But I’m not holding my breath.

If you like Ikkitousen for the fighting or, god help you, the plot, (or if you insist on being deranged about the series and comparing it to previous series and expecting continuity and consistency) you may not like GG. If you’re more sensible and are watching it for the large breasts and service, then you’re welcome to join Serge and myself as we pronounce it the best of the Ikkitousen series. Especially if Saji dies. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 5
Series – 10

Overall – 8

I find it highly amusing that Ryomou has somehow become the tragic heroine of the series.

Posted in Ikkitousen, Yuri Anime | 4 Comments »


Last Friends Manga, Malika Magazine

August 29th, 2008

Some months ago, we reported a new josei magazine called Malika. Malika has a lot of the same artists as Feel Young, Sakurazawa Erica, Yamaji Ebine, Ikaring, etc. And it seemed, in theory to be very Yuri-friendly, with the first issue including a story about Yoshiya Nobuko, and with picking up the manga adaptation of the live-action drama Last Friends and all. But somewhere between the concept and the execution, the Yuri kind of just…never showed up.

The story about Yoshiya Nobuko took a look at the piece of her life just after she left home and went off to the big city, when she met a female writer and was wowed at the idea of being an independent female writer. That pretty much covered it. She did indeed leave home, pissing her father off royally, btw, to become a famous writer – which she did. She also fell in love with her companion for the entirety of her life, Monma Chiyo, just a few years later. But the manga didn’t cover that, or her involvement with the “S” movement. Just the “wow, I can be a writer,” part.

Last Friends is equally thin. Each chapter of the manga covers some three episodes of the drama and pretty much everything other than Michiru’s abusive relationship is sort of watered down. Yes, we get about a panel dealing with Ruka’s possible gender dysphoria, and about the same for Takeru’s issues, but those are shoved to the back. We don’t actually see Sousuke beat Michiru, but we do see the ugly results. Ruka’s feelings for Michiru were compressed into “wanting to protect her,” while Takeru’s confession of like for Ruka remained. And Sousuke’s terror attack on Ruka’s family was likewise watered down from “she is trying to get surgery to become a man,” to “she’s a man in a woman’s body, a monster.” Sadly, we also don’t get the same ending for Sousuke at all that we got in the drama, which was immensely satisfying due to large quantities of Sousuke’s blood involved.

It was disappointing in a lot of ways. There were so many ways it could have been good, but they took the easy way out on all of them. I was truly amazed when I realized that the live-action drama was going to be the version that was realer, rawer and more daring – I mean how bizarro is that, when you consider it?

So, a big ole boo to Malika and it’s incredibly uninspired and uninspiring manga adaptations of things that *ought* to be of great interest to Yuri fans.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 2
Service – 0

Overall – 6

Next month a new Yamaji Ebine series is starting up, but based on recent past performance I have exactly no hope that it will contain anything that might even vaguely hint at Yuri.

Posted in Magazines, Miscellaneous | 5 Comments »


Drama CD: Mai HiME Destiny, Ryuu no Miko, Volume 2

August 28th, 2008

In Volume 1 of the Mai HiME Destiny Drama CD, everyone ran around screaming, with a few thoughts here and there for the mystery of the new girl with the Dragon handcuffs and the incredible power.

In Volume 2, all of that is set aside in favor of an extended investigation into who is taking, copying and selling pictures of the various girls with their underwear down. This issue takes up about half the CD. The short answer: It’s Tomoe.

The second half of the CD is far more interesting, as we actually briefly touch upon the mystery of Mayo and her powers. Because, it turns out, some of the photos appear to have been taken in the past – or perhaps the future. More importantly, there are people in the photos that are not *at* the school right now. Several of the older students and staff recall that Mayo’s powers were held by a previous student, the legendary Mashiro. And the equally legendary Yumemiya Arika is mentioned as being one of the people in the pictures.

Quite suddenly, a bunch of the characters find themselves in an alternate world (past, future, we don’t know) and we meet both Mashiro and Arika, who are exactly the same as in the Otome anime, except now they are the previously mentioned legendary former students of this Garderobe. Like Mai and Mikoto in Otome, this Mashiro and Arika simply live outside the confines of the normal world. Everyone is appalled to find that the legendary students act like a squabbling couple of 17 year olds, but then the dragon arrives!

Mayo’s powers as the Dragon’s priestess take a hold of her – and the Dragon, accompanied by severe winds, attacks. The wind is felt in Garderobe, where Fumi and Reito comment on what will befall them should the Dragon not be stopped.

Just as it looks like it’s too late to turn the tide, Shion leaps in and kisses Mayo, sealing her powers and putting Mayo to sleep. She admits to having had that ability since childhood (and so, admits to having known Mayo since childhood, which she had completely denied up until now.)

And you know…I don’t have the vaguest clue how the Drama CD ends. I think with Mashiro and Arika arguing. ^_^

This DCD is set up just like an anime epsiode – it has an opening scene, an OP, commercials, and EP and a “next time on…” segment. It also has more Yuri in the commercials for Mai Otome than it has in any of the actual story segments. At least once Shizuru makes suggestive comments to Natsuki, and Tomoe says something suggestive about Shizuru.

The best thing about this series is the way in which they’ve integrated the HiME and Otome characters into yet another alternative Garderobe that has some slight sense of three-dimensionality. I’m kind of fond of the constant rehashing of the same characters in mostly the same situation, but everything is slightly different, setups. I’d like to see them continue this ad nauseum, just to see how crazy they’ll become trying to come up with the fifteenth version of this story and these characters. ^_^

Ratings:

Story – 3, then 7
Characters – 6
Yuri – 2
Service – 6

Overall – 6

The bits of this story which are not pandering to bottom-feeders are actually quite good. If you skip the first couple of tracks or so, you’ll get to the bits which don’t suck. ^_^

Posted in Drama CDs & Audiobooks, Mai Hime, Mai Otome | No Comments »


Yuri Manga: Kaprekar, Volume 1

August 26th, 2008

A few months ago, the manga Kaprekar, popped onto our radar and we reported it in the “Snatches of Yuri” segement of the weekly Yuri News report.

So I picked it up just to see what the deal was. Here’s the deal: Yuna and Uno are two girls with a past. At the end of their physical and emotional ropes, they sold their lives to the organization Arca, and were given new lives – and an amazing power to merge and transform into the magical/bad science being Karepkar when they kiss. Kaprekar fights “Craimu” – Monsters of the Day created by unsatisfied desires in the hearts of the miserable, hapless and hopeless. Kaprekar crushes the heart-shaped, blood-filled gems in the MoTD’s hearts to defeat them. Kaprekar’s (and therefore Uno and Yuna’s) handler is a guy they call Yamada (Provisional). He’s in love with Kaprekar and pretty mean to the girls, and is more an accountant than anything else. Because Yuna and Uno still owe loads of money to Arca for their surgeries, so Yamada makes them do work to pay back the loan.

Now all this sounds like it could be a decent story, but it’s not really. Because instead of developing the characters and their reasons for giving up everything to become Kaprekar, or looking at their lives and motivations now, the story does the typical service-y situations and focuses on bikinis at the beach and wacky school stuff.

Later in the book, Yuna and Uno rescuse a kid who is very close to becoming a Craimu, and decide to keep him around as bait, since his unhappiness will draw Craimu like ants to sugar. He’s a miserable little shota of a kid, who takes up the role of personal assistant to the girls and works his way into their hearts – but mostly only because he makes them food. He also supplies a series of role reversals as we get to see him sexually harrassed by a female classmate, only to have her turn into a Craimu that has to be defeated. I was shocked, I can assure you. ^_^

What about the Yuri? Well, Yuna and Uno care about each other – but the only reason they kiss is to turn into Kaprekar. I think it’s safe to say that yes, they do love each other. Other than that, it’s all in your head. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 6
Yuri – 3
Service – 4

Overall – 7

In the end, Yuna and Uno are no closer to paying off their debt than they were in the beginning. And so we look forward (or not, depending on what you like) to Volume 2 where, no doubt, more of the same will happen. ^_^

Posted in Yuri Manga | No Comments »