So, due to circumstances that I’m too tired to explain, Yuricon & ALC are not in Con Row, bust instead in the Dealer’s Room, which is much better all around. :-)
Still Yuri paneling at 3PM on Saturday – don’t miss it!
Event: Yuricon & ALC Publishing at AnimeNEXT 2008
This weekend I will be at AnimeNEXT 2008, in Secaucus, NJ.
Yuricon and ALC Publishing will have a table in “Con Row” which is immediately outside the Dealer’s Room. We’ll have a nice selection of 100% Yuri manga, as well as our annual ” Yuri grab bag” sale, in which you can get twice as much crap as you pay for!
We’ll be doing a Yuri Panel at 3PM on Saturday, June 21 and I’ll be running the Fanfic Writer’s workshop on Sunday at 12. Both times are subject to last minute changes, so check the schedule to make sure!
We’ll see you there!
Yuri Anime: Maria Watches Over Us Preview (English)
Yesterday, I received a preview copy of Maria Watches Over Us, the Nozomi/Right Stuf US release of Maria-sama ga Miteru. Thank you Right Stuf for the preview! I was warned ahead of time that this preview only included the non-honorific subtitles track. :-)
Before I start to pick nits, let me sum up by saying that even with “Lady Sachiko,” I’d give the translation an 8 out of 10. One of the points lost was for a genuine error that made no sense. The other was for a few translation moments that were not wrong so much as just out of step with fan convention. No points were lost for the things that weren’t wrong, but just felt weird. After the nit-picking, I’ll touch upon some of the good things, just to balance it all out. ^_^
The Bad:
Unforgivably, Sachiko is translated as telling Yumi that her “scarf” is crooked. That doesn’t even make sense. She says “tie” using the English word, and even if one was going to mistranslate that, “collar” seems the most reasonable mistake. It’s September – no one is wearing scarves, and they call those mufflers anyway. And no one is wearing a fashionable scarf with their uniform, either. Given the many millions of “crooked tie” gags that have beeen propagated across the intertubes, this seems a particularly egregious error. ^_^
The Indifferent:
Both Japanese and American fandoms tend to use and become familiar with certain terms. In several cases, the RS translation isn’t wrong, but it just isn’t the same as the ones we’ve become comfortable with.
“Forest of thorns,” as spoken by Tsutako is rendered “forest of briars.”
“Mother Maria” seemed an odd choice in every language, since one naturally assumes that the translator would choose either English or Japanese. Mother Mary/Maria-sama/Blessed Virgin, whatever. But “Mother Maria” seems like a strange juxtaposition chosen only for its ability to be not instantly identifiable by people looking for things to get outraged about.
I’m pretty used to “Yamayurikai” but here it is translated as “Yamayuri Council.” Not hideously awful, just again, a sort of weird halfway-translated term.
And again, in the song Maria-sama no Kokoro, “Yamayuri lily” is pretty redundant. “Wild lily” or “mountain lily” is surely sufficient.
And while we’re on the topic of “Mother Maria’s Heart” – I don’t care that the correct name for the bird is the bush warbler – I find that amusing in an totally infantile giggly kind of way. lol
The Good:
All the Rosa’s retain their titles. Rosa Chinensis, Foetida and Gigantea are unmarred by attempts at translation. And so are their en bouton. “Rosa Chinensis en bouton petite soeur” graces our TV screen accurately, if unwieldily. ^_^ I absolutely appreciated that. In fact, that was kind of my biggest concern.
The Excellent:
The story itself is something I have not actually watched, or read, in a long time (although I am reading the novels voraciously these days.) So once again I felt that it was very nostalgic to see Yumi dealing with the Rosas for the first time. It’s a very, very amusing story. Sure Sachiko’s a raging bitch, but I love her for it – especially the moment when, after visibly having no recollection of ever having met Yumi previously, she blatantly lies to Youko about how close she and Yumi are…. ^_^
To sum up – there may be some issues even with the inclusion of the honorifics (and I don’t know to what extent honorifics will be included. Will “oneesama-gata” stay “dear sisters” or not? I don’t know for sure. Or will Maria-sama get her honorific back? No idea.) But I think that even with “Lady Sachiko” and “older sisters,” the translation was not *so* heinous that it couldn’t be enjoyed. It would be lovely to be able to give it a 10 out of 10, but with a little more smoothing, a 9 out of 10 ought to be easily obtainable.
Ratings:
Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Yuri – 2
Marimite Fan – 100
Translation – 8
Overall – 8
Aside from the usual fannish grinning like a moron, I’m very prepared to fall in love with this series all over again for the fourth time. ^_^
Yuri Live-Action: Last Friends
A great deal of anime and manga fanfiction is written with what we call around my house “Hand of God” writing – i.e., writing that uses a great big emotional trauma as a plot driver. Like taking an established couple from a series and killing one of them off in order to force the other to react. Its a very common tactic in fanfic, especially when people are first trying their hand at writing. A trauma that makes a character react or characters getting drunk to provide a lead-in to sexual encounters are “Hand of God” writing.
For original fiction, there’s no real difference. Soap operas thrive on ridiculous, overstated situations and melodrama to drive their plots. I’m immediately reminded of my youth, when *everyone* was watching Luke and Laura try to find to one-armed boy before the mysterious Australian Robert Scorpio did, on General Hospital. (And let me remind you all that Luke raped Laura earlier in their relationship, but then they became a couple, and after years, finally married with an amazing amount of fanfare and buzz.)
The live-action J-drama, Last Friends, is about 6 people whose lives intertwine deeply. Eri owns a house, which becomes a refuge for friends who find themselves in need of a support network. The friends’ lives are very complex and dramatic and frankly of no interest to me at all, except for the fact that two of them are named Ruka and Michiru and seem *awfully* similar to Haruka and Michiru from Sailor Moon…in a very “Hand of God” fanfic way. ^_^
**There will be spoilers in this post**
Do not read further if you do not want to be spoiled – perhaps emotionally damaged.
That is all.
** **
In this version, Ruka, still a motocross racer and still massively in love with Michiru since high school, is having serious issues about her gender. She simply feels wrong in this body – unable to compete equally in her chosen sport and unable to protect Michiru properly.
And boy does Michiru need protecting. Brought up in an abusive household, Michiru has entered into an extremely abusive relationship with Sousuke. Her inability to see and comprehend Ruka’s feelings for her and Ruka’s fear of verbalizing them sits like a wall between them. Everyone around them is, whether they know it or not, dancing to the tune of this non-relationship.
Adding to the complexity of the polygon is Takeru who is really gay, although he doesn’t know it (this is not in the story so much as in my watching of the story, because he is REALLY very gay) and who has fallen for boyish Ruka. (Well, duh.)
And then there’s Eri who owns the absolutely adorable house they all live in, whose own problems constantly take a back seat to the major drama, and the other guy, but no one cares about him at all.
The best thing about the series is Ruka’s actress. She does a fabulous job of being all but blatantly in love with Michiru in a way that only the willfully ignorant and straight can’t see. ^_^
Now here’s the thing. This story is 99% sure to not have the happy ending that we want. (Really 100%, but I’m being kind and offering is a glimmer of hope.) In the first five minutes of the show, we saw a pregnant Michiru talking about how if things had gone differently, “that person” wouldn’t have had to die. Realistically, what we should expect is Ruka dead by Sousuke’s hands, Sousuke in jail and Takeru and Michiru together to raise her and Sousuke’s baby whom they will name Ruka.
Alternately, Sousuke, who I am far more inclined to call “that person” than Ruka, will die and Ruka will leave to get her surgery and build a new life. Takeru and Michiru together to raise her and Sousuke’s baby whom they will name Ruka.
Of course there’s the infinitesimal chance that Ruka and Michiru will get together at the end, but what’s the likelihood? .0001%?
Because this series is highly unlikely to end in a way I find satisfying, I’ve taken up the hobby of constructing possible alternate endings to the series for fun. The individual episodes are so miserable, that if I don’t do something else with my brain, I get all stabby. I invite you all to join in the in the comments. ^_^ Here’s a few of the alternatives I’ve come up with:
Ruka has her surgery and comes back as a boy, stabs Sousuke in self defense and marries Michiru. Takeru realizes that he is (duh!) gay and lives with them as a housemaid.
Michiru and Ruka realize that they are in love and run away “to America.”
Takeru kills Sousuke and goes to jail. Eri loses the other guy, changes her name to Setsuna and the three of them raise the child together. (This one makes me laugh every time I think of it.)
Sousuke kills Takeru, we all feel bad for a microsecond, and Ruka, Michiru and Eri raise the baby together.
Sousuke dies and we all have a “ding dong the witch is dead” party at Eri’s adorable house and live happily every after.
Anyway, that’s a small selection of the endings that this series will not have. Feel free to add your own, because that’s about all the satisfaction we’ll get out of this particular fanfic. However, if you are one of those folks who likes WEtv, and enjoys the institutionalized sexism and violence against women of josei manga, this show is right up your alley.
Ratings:
Story – 4 (As we all know, I really loathe violence against women as entertainment for women)
Characters – 6 I’d like to like them more, but this is a J-drama….
Yuri – 4
Loser FanGirl – 8
Overall – 5
If I thought for a second that the ending would be Yuri-friendly, I *might* be able to tolerate the rest of the garbage heap, but I doubt it, really. ^_^
Update: It ended and it wasn’t as bad as expected. Ambiguously happy, which is about as good as we can expect from a J-Drama. “That person” did indeed turn out to be Sousuke. Yay.
Stray Little Devil Manga, Volume 1 (English)
Last time I was in Tokyo, I was standing in the K-Books used manga store in Ikebukuro (quite possibly my favorite place on earth) looking at titles. This series was pointed out to me at the time, with the caveat that while it had mild Yuri, I’d probably loathe it. ^_^ I don’t loathe it, but I will say that Stray Little Devil is one of those manga series that an awful lot of creepy guys think is “cute.” ^_^
Before I forget, I believe the today’s review was made possible by a grant from loyal friend of Yuri, Ted the Awesome. Thanks for once again being a hero and sponsoring a review, Ted!
In Volume 1, we meet Pam, an energetic kid who is trying to impress some friends by conjuring up some big magic. Shockingly, the magic spins out of control and she ends up being transported to another dimension. In this dimension, she learns, Angels and Devils live and fight and stuff. No one believes she’s human, so she’s turned into a Devil and told that if she manages to make full Devil status, she’ll be able to go home. Of course no one tells her anything at all about anything important – and of course she can’t figure out anything from reading the handbooks, because if any of that happened, there’d be no story. And it is *so* much funnier for her to bumble and stumble around hopelessly, causing havoc with every little thing she attempts because there is nothing more delightfully amusing than an incompetent moron who is thwarted at every turn. Like clown routines, Pam’s adventures are endless hysterical.
Of course, Pam is not a clown, she is a hapless manga character, so every time she manages to clear a level, she gains a new ally. Also because it is a manga, we look at her ass quite often. Apparently panty shots are not allowed in this manga…but staring at young girls’ asses being thrust in our faces in any number of unlikely positions and situations is perfectly acceptable. (Not in my book, personally. I find it exhausting on good days and on bad days it makes me murderous.)
In any case, in Volume 1, Pam is learning to become a Devil Intern, but before she does, she has a run in with a very elite Angel Lin-fa…who amazingly looks *exactly* like Pam’s Best Friend Forever, Rinka. (I’m only reading the English language edition, but I bet that those two names would use the same Kanji/Chinese characters.)
Lin-fa is yer basic Nadesico beauty with haughty attitude, who finds herself maddened by Pam’s energetic and cheerful bumbling. Absolutely not to be confused with the other 14 million series in which a classic Japanese beauty’s life is thrown into disarray by a cheerful, energetic average girl. And, of course, Lin-fa’s reaction is the *exact* reaction that Yuri fans who want to see 13-year old girls have romantic entanglements with other 13-year old girls see as the *exact* kind of love/hate they are looking for. The Yuri in Volume 1 is implication only, but based on what other people have said on the Yuricon Mailing List, it’s enough for many. ^_^
If you are of that ilk that like Yuri underaged, heavily sexualized, but in a way that you can mentally rewrite as “cute” and “sweet” you’ll probably like Stray Little Devil lots.
My genuinely favorite plot complication is the “conservation of luck” principle, which states that if a Devil helps an Angel, or vice versa, they will receive the same amount of bad luck in return. I quite liked that.
Ratings:
Art – 6
Characters – 6
Story – 7
Yuri – 1
Service – 5
Overall – 6
It wasn’t my cup of tea, no. Nor was it the worst thing I’ve ever read. I don’t think the plot itself would be enough to capture my interest without the Yuri angle – I’m not sure that that will be sufficient to maintain my interest in the long run. (And, oh god, PLEASE don’t write me and tell me how much better future volumes are. I’ve already read them, and they aren’t. I’m just reviewing *this* volume this time. Okay?)
