Vampire Princess Miyu TV Anime, Volumes 3 and 4 (English)

July 30th, 2008

Fandom is so clever that when there isn’t a word for a thing, we make it up. In the case of anime fandom, we often borrow or adapt words from Japanese, just as Japanese fans borrow and adapt from English – and for the same reason, too, because it sounds cooler and creates more of an us/them dynamic, which is crucial for community.

However, I find myself lacking a word for what I want to talk about. Perhaps we can come up with one by the end of this post. lol

Here’s the sitch. In Volume 3 and Volume 4 of Vampire Princess Miyu, nothing remotely “Yuri” occurs but, we can’t help but notice, that for a snow spirit that professes to not care about anything or anyone, Reiha sure seems to have an idée fixe about Miyu. In fact, her gaze never wavers from Miyu. Reiha *says* that she’s concerned that Miyu performs her duty as Guardian properly (and why she cares, we don’t know yet…well, I do, but if you are only just watching this anime for the first time, then you don’t, yet,) but her interest in Miyu has long ago crossed the border of obsession.

Which made me think of how many stories – especially Asian stories – in which two warring generals, or lifelong enemies think about nothing other than each other. Ah! I have the term I need – devoted enemies. See? That was easy. I just needed to talk it out and I knew I’d come up with it. Thanks for listening. LOL

In any case, after a tiff over how much Miyu has the right to decide the fate of Shinma, Reiha once again declares herself Miyu’s enemy, hops on her broom and flys off with an oujou-sama cackle as she goes, after making her doll utter vague threats. And back with the humans, Chisato continues to circle on the periphery of Miyu’s orbit, soon to be drawn in for a collision.

Miyu continues to wade through semi-miserable and often dementedly ironic stories and we get a glimpse of Larva’s entirely Yaoi-licious backstory. Which I had competely forgotten. lol For which I thank the sponsors of today’s review – Ana M. and whoever bought me Volume 3. (Again, I apologize…I *swear* I keep all these papers together, but sometimes I’m overzealous and throw one out before everything on it has been accounted for. Stand up and make yourself known!) Anyway – thank you my fabulous sponsors!

Ratings for Volume 3 and 4:

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Irony – 7
Yuri – 2
Service – 2

Overall – 7

I can’t *wait* to get to the creepy lesbian doll episode…!

Posted in English Anime | 3 Comments »


Ask Konno Oyuki Questions on Right Stuf’s Maria-sama Website

July 29th, 2008

RIGHT STUF’S NOZOMI ENTERTAINMENT Launches the MARIA WATCHES OVER US Official Site – mariasama.rightstuf.com

Asks fans to submit their questions for the series’ creator; celebrates release of Season 1 DVD Collection

GRIMES, IA, July 29, 2008 – Anime producer and distributor Right Stuf, Inc. and Nozomi Entertainment are pleased to celebrate the July 29 release of the MARIA WATCHES OVER US – Season 1 DVD Collection with the launch of the series’ official site, at mariasama.rightstuf.com (http://mariasama.rightstuf.com). Also, as part of the site’s grand opening, fans will have a special opportunity to submit their questions for the series’ creator, Ms. Oyuki Konno.

At mariasama.rightstuf.com, visitors can:

– Read the latest news about and reviews of the first season;

– Check out in-depth character profiles (first-season spoilers are noted);

– Watch the first-season trailer; and

– Download Maria Watches Over Us wallpapers and avatars.

** PLUS: Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment have been granted an interview with the creator of Maria-sama ga Miteru, novelist Oyuki Konno, and want to know what questions fans have for her. Please submit questions, via the form located at mariasama.rightstuf.com, by 11:59 p.m. CDT on August 15, 2008.

The Maria Watches Over Us DVD Collection – which includes the entire 13-episode first television season of Maria-sama ga Miteru, plus the Season 1 “specials” – is now available. It features Japanese audio, along with English on-screen translations, and two English-language subtitle tracks: one with regular dialogue subtitles and a second, special subtitle track that retains the Japanese honorifics.

The box set for the series’ second television season is currently scheduled for a Fall 2008 release.

****

AnimeOnDVD.com Pick of the Week

“leaves you eagerly wanting more” – AnimeOnDVD.com

“a truly beautiful anime” – Future Anime (July 2008)

The Maria Watches Over Us anime is based upon an ongoing series of novels – written by Oyuki Konno and illustrated by Reine Hibiki – that began in 1998 and currently spans 32 volumes. Short stories related to the series have been published in the shoujo (girls’) magazine Cobalt, and a manga adaptation is serialized in the anthology magazine Margaret. The series’ publisher, Shueisha, also produced 14 drama CDs (with radio-style plays).

The anime adaptation of Maria-sama ga Miteru – also referred to by fans as “MariMite” – encompasses two, 13-episode TV seasons, a 5-episode OVA (original video animation) as its third season, and a fourth season, currently in production in Japan.

The first three seasons of Maria Watches Over Us feature animation by Studio DEEN (Fruits Basket, Gravitation, Rurouni Kenshin), direction by Yukihiro Matsushita (Blue Dragon, Sugar Sugar Rune), and scripting by Reiko Yoshida (Aria, Boys Over Flowers, Story of Saiunkoku).

About MARIA WATCHES OVER US (Maria-sama ga Miteru) – Season 1

When Yumi Fukuzawa entered the Lillian Girls’ Academy, a prestigious all-girls Catholic school in Tokyo, she never imagined she would catch the eye of beautiful and demure Sachiko Ogasawara, one of the school’s most popular students. Now Sachiko has offered to be Yumi’s sœur – her “sister” and guide for all her years at the academy. The whole idea has Yumi completely flustered: After all, they hardly know each other! The entire campus is abuzz with rumors about the two of them, but Yumi is conflicted over accepting Sachiko’s offer. While she admires Sachiko, being her sœur would also mean constantly being at the center of the entire school’s attention! Contains the complete 13-episode first season, plus the Season 1 “specials.”

MARIA WATCHES OVER US (Maria-sama ga Miteru) – Season 1 DVD Collection

Pre-Book: 6/24/2008

Street Date: 7/29/2008

Runtime: Approximately 325 minutes, Dolby Digital Stereo, Color

Genre: Drama

Suggested Rating: 13+

Format: DVD (2.0 Japanese, 2 English Subtitle Tracks, English On-Screen Translations)

Catalog #: RSDVD0815

ISBN: 1-57032-790-4

UPC: 7-42617-0815-2-1

SRP: $49.99

Discs/Set: 4

Item Measurements: 5 3/8” x 1 7/32” x 7 5/8” (LxWxH)

Case Qty: 9 sets / case

DVD Features:

Scene access; Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo audio for Japanese dialogue; two English subtitle tracks (regular dialogue subtitles, plus a special subtitle track that includes Japanese honorifics); and English on-screen translations. PLUS: Season 1 “Specials” 1-7, character bios, liner notes and Nozomi Entertainment trailers.

* Cover Art: http://outgoing.rightstuf.com/sleeves/rsdvd0815.jpg

MARIA WATCHES OVER US (Maria-sama ga Miteru) Season 1 © OYUKI KONNO / SHUEISHA o YAMAYURIKAI Licensed by d-rights Inc.

* To view this image, cut and paste the URL into your Web browser.

** Product specifications and content may be subject to change.

ABOUT RIGHT STUF, INC.

Currently celebrating its 21st year in business, Right Stuf, Inc. was one of the first players in the U.S. Japanese Animation (“anime”) industry, as both an anime producer/distributor and a retailer. Right Stuf works to promote knowledge of its own products, as well as the anime and manga industry, in general, through its online storefront at RightStuf.com and a variety of media including podcasts and special publications.

Nozomi Entertainment, Right Stuf’s production division, is dedicated to the highest quality releases. True to the Japanese word that inspired its name, Nozomi’s focus is on “what fans want.” By focusing on a limited number of anime properties each year, the Nozomi production team ensures each release receives the care and attention to detail it deserves.

From anime classics like Astro Boy, Kimba and Gigantor to modern comedies, dramas and favorites such as The Irresponsible Captain Tylor, His and Her Circumstances, Gravitation, Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars, Ninja Nonsense, To Heart, The Third: The Girl With the Blue Eye, Emma: A Victorian Romance, Maria Watches Over Us and ARIA, Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment produce quality programming for fans of all ages and interests. For more information, visit www.rightstuf.com and www.nozomient.com.

Erica here: Already put my questions is. None of them were even vaguely related to Yuri or the character’s relationships. ^_^

Posted in Anime, Maria-sama ga Miteru | 5 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime Wildrose, Volume 2 (百合姫 Wildrose)

July 29th, 2008

Yuri Hime Wildrose, Volume 2, (百合姫 Wildrose) is the second collection of slightly more explicit short stories by authors from Yuri Hime and Yuri Hime S. Most of the stories are one-shots, but there is at least one continuation from the previous volume.

In most cases, the stories are set at schools or involve schoolgirls, although there is an ocassional adult to break up the monotony and add a little illegality to the proceedings. lol Mostly the stories are sex as affirmation of yes, we really love each other, which is a nice step forward from sex as experiment into what do girls do together? (I am always honestly boggled at this question. I’ve gotten it – quite earnestly – from both men and woman from a number of nations, and I still don’t have a good answer, because it seems so obvious to me. I guess not though, if one’s idea of sex is limited to one action only. But I digress.)

Since incest, or something close to it, is all the rage right now, there are a number of sisters/onee-sama-imouto/cousins-who-are-close-like-sisters to chose from. (This trend continues into both Yuri Hime and Yuri Hime S, btw. So once again, the LCD wins and I wait through yet another cycle of fetishes that aren’t my thing, until the tide turns and possibly my thing will become more popular. Although…probably not. lol) Chi-Ran’s story refreshingly remains about sex between two people who know nothing whatsoever about one another. Not even each other’s names. ^_^

And Natsuki x Shizuru fans will appreciate that the blatant parody this time is not Marimite, but a faux Shiznat thing that was actually quite nice. If you can imagine Natsuki as the older student, closing in on graduation and Shizuru as her lover/kouhai and add sex, you’ll have a close enough idea about the goings on.

Of course I did not like each story equally, but overall I think I liked this volume more than the previous one. I can’t think of any story that was standout wow, but nothing that made me cry, either. ^_^

Ratings (variable, so everything is averaged):

Art – 6
Stories – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 9
Service – 7

Overall – 7

This book is sort of the middle step between soft Yuri and porn, so if you’ve bemoaned the fact that there’s little in that middle space before it becomes full-blown fluid-spewing hentai, then you’ll probably like this book a lot.

Posted in Comic Yuri Hime, Yuri Anthology, Yuri Manga | 4 Comments »


Slowing Down

July 28th, 2008

Just a quick note to let you all know that reviews will be undergoing a significant slowdown for the forseeable future. I’ll do my best to keep ’em coming regularly, but if you don’t see me for a few days at a time, don’t worry. Work is taking up a lot more of my time than previously, and I have less time to read and watch, and to write reviews. I’ll try to get something in tonight, and then as often as I can manage.

Thanks for understanding!

Posted in Okazu News | 2 Comments »


Yuri News This Week – July 26, 2008

July 26th, 2008

Short post today – I’m incredibly pressed for time.

Yuri Novels

Ichijinsha has released the first two Yuri Light Novels in their new Girls Love Line. Wild Bouquet looks to be a maid/mistress story and Period is a girls with guns thing that is notably illustrated by Shoujo Sect‘s Kurogane Kenn. Thanks to Kazu-kun for also sending me info on these. There’s previews of these novels in Yuri Hime S (plus an “Otomeiro Stay Tuned” clearfile by Fujieda) and some Yuri Hime Wildrose side stories in Yuri Hime as extras, so if you want to take a look before haring off and buying them, you can.

I do have to say, though, that for series supposedly part of their line for girls, these two novels look *awfully* like they are really for the guys. Unless “girls” novels really meant “novels about girls.” No clue and don’t really care one way or another. I’m just sort of thinking out loud. lol

***

Yuri Manga

WORKS by Eriko Tadeno is back in print! Place your orders now at the Yuricon Shop for this fabulous 100% Yuri collection.

Bandai has yet again announced that it has licensed the Lucky Star manga, which is probably good news for Konata x Kagami fans.

***

Yuri Event

If you are in the Miami, Florida area and you have some time, run over to Yasumicon and join Katherine on August 2 at 3-5PM for a fabulous Yuri Panel!

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That’s it for this week! As always, feel free to send your news items to me and I’ll do my best to let the world know!

Posted in ALC Publishing, Comic Yuri Hime, Events, Yuri Network News | 9 Comments »