Yuri Manga: Red Garden, Volume 1

April 19th, 2007

I liked the anime for Red Garden enough that, when a manga became available I jumped right on it. The combination of likeable characters, solid horror/action plot and Yuri worked just fine for me. The fact that the one actual lesbian character wasn’t diminished in any way, did not die or become psychotic or any other predictable negative outcome, just added to my overall enjoyment. (My prediction in my review was, therefore, completely wrong. And I’m thrilled.) In fact, I thought the whole situation was handled beautifully.

So, I was really interested to see what Gonzo was going to do with the manga for Red Garden. And while it is definitely different from the anime, I’m still liking it pretty much.

The artist for the manga, Ayamura Kirihito, doesn’t appear to have done any other manga, although he does have some art collections, and a really creepy doll photo book. And dolls really seem to be his interest. So the art for Red Garden is very lush with a strong preference for GothLoli, and a tendency towards the grotesque…while being really violent and horrific at the same time. There’s some scenes where Lula, in particular, would have fit in neatly on any page from Hellsing.

The basic plot is the same: four young women attending a school on Roosevelt Island in New York City, bound only by separate friendships with a dead girl, learn that they too have died but are not yet allowed to rest in peace. Instead, under the guidance of mysterious Lula, they are forced to fight off beast-men for what reason they don’t yet know. (Not, at least, at the end of Volume 1.)

The characters are the same, still likeable; with a little less character development than went on the anime. I think that if one read the manga first, Kate, Rose, Rachel and Clare would be a little less approachable than they were in the anime, where a lot of time was spent with each on their personality and backstories.

The art *is* different from the anime – Herve’ is evil right off the top, and Kate in particular has a tendency to have hyperdramatic glowing 70’s shoujo “shock!” eyes (if you know what I mean, you know what I mean) which gets a little tired by halfway through the volume.

Rose gets a GothLoli makeover which suits her, and both Lize and Kate tend that way too, which doesn’t. I have NO idea what Rachel is supposed to look like. Not a New York rich girl, certainly. lol Clare gets hit with the butch stick – apparently right out of the Mod closet. Her slightly flared-pants men’s suit for Lize’s funeral was really hot. It’s too bad about Clare, really – she would make such a good lesbian. ^_^

In terms of Yuri, for this volume at least, it’s the same as in the anime – Paula is very gay for Kate and doesn’t bother hiding it. I just hope that, like the anime, she remains cool and graceful to the end. But Jessica’s little thing gets a steroid injection to a bout of insane jealous rage, which has her giving Kate openly evil “Die, I hate you” looks throughout the volume. So we have at least *one* psychotic lesbian. Phew.

Otherwise – lots and lots of blood and violence, evil, horror, mystery, underlit grinning faces, etc, etc. Just the kind of thing you want to read while eating a rare steak. LOL

Ratings:

Art – wildly inconsistent, ranging from “eww” 3 to “wah” 8
Story – 6 intruguing, but a little weak
Characters – 7 we’ll hope to learn more as we go along
Yuri – 5 ahh, psychotic schoolgirls and their crushes, how sweet
Service – 3, unless violence gets you off, I guess, then 7

Overall – 7

I’m really hoping that future volumes go deeper into the characters, but as this is Gonzo, I suspect it won’t get that chance. The color pictures the author has done are really pretty though. Check out his website for some examples.

Posted in Yuri Manga | 4 Comments »


Yuri Anime: Best Student Council, Volume 1

April 18th, 2007

The first of *many* thanks to Ted for sponsoring today’s review! Give him a round of applause, will you? /round of applause/ Thank you kindly, sir.

As a counter to a day of heavy-duty thinking and talking about work-related issues, Best Student Council, aka Gokujou Seitokai, Volume 1 is a perfect way to unwind.

Volume 1 follows the adventures of Rando Rino, a slightly less average than most girl, as she leaves behind her life after her mother dies, and moves – with the assistance of a mysterious penfriend – to the exclusive Miyagami Gakuen. With no money and no where to live, Rino is at a loss, until she runs for the position of class representative and, in a bizarre upset, wins. Now she has room and board for free.

Because of a successful attack on an arsonist by the puppet Rino wears on her arm, Pucchan, Rino is further inducted into the Gokujou Seitokai, the supreme student council, which runs the school.

And *then* wackiness ensues. This includes giant nuclear cannons, a curry battle, a mysterious puppet disemembering and most of all, payapaya.

The supreme leader of the Supreme Council, the supremely admired Jinguji Kanade, seems to have taken a very keen interest in the newcomer. So keen, in fact, that when she’s spotted leaving Rino’s room one morning, rumors fly about the two of them doing “payapaya.” This meaningless word is given a very ripe meaning by sheer force of repetition. ^_^ The relationship isn’t Yuri, sadly, but the rumors sure are.  Assualt Squad member Rein even describes “payapaya” as “Yuri,” which the guys at ADV inelegantly translated as “girl on girl.” Thanks ADV, for rendering the genre I live and love into a porn term.

After Rino gets settled, she is assigned to patrol with Assualt Squad member Izumi Kaori who, despite initial over-reactions to and continued rivalry with Rino, turns out to be a competent, intelligent and honorable character. As we learn a little bit about Kaori’s difficult past, we also get the first of many clues to Kanade’s true abilities, as well. And, we also get a honest reflection by Kaori about her feelings of admiration (and possibly more) for Kanade-sama.

Lastly, based on nothing but their weird interaction and the fact that I have an overactive imagination, I still maintain that Vice President and Assault Squad leader Nanaho and Vice President and Covert Squad leader Kuon have a thing going on. ^_^

Good things about the DVD: 5 episodes, Pucchan stickers as an extra.

Bad things – “girl on girl” – feh, Pucchan stickers as an extra.

Weird thing – Ayumu gets the honorific “Ayu-chan.” All other honorifics are cut. Huh?

Ratings:

Art – 6 Silly, but not meant to be more
Story – 6 Goofy, yet charming
Characters – 7 – ditto
Yuri – 4 – You mean “girl on girl” don’t you? Grrr.
Service – 2 The cover seems to be the worst offender

Overall – 7

Entertaining, not taxing, with surprising moments of hysterical. Plus, Seina. She’s a great character, especially as no one even remembers her. ^_^

Posted in English Anime, Gokujou Seitokai, Yuri Anime | No Comments »


Yuri Anime: Noir, Volume 5

April 17th, 2007

Wow, there’s nothing like taking a step back a few years to really appreciate both what went before and what we have now. I recently sat and rewatched the volume with the most awesome episodes of Sailor Moon (106-109, in case you care) and on the train on the way to a professional conference, I rewatched Noir Volume 5 for the first time in many moons.

Volume 5 of Noir is not high art. It makes the art of Madlax look stunning by comparison, but story-wise, it’s pretty much the lynchpin moment, the moment at which the entire story alters.

It begins with one more foray into Mirielle’s past where she learns the horrible truth about herself – that she is a child of the organization who now hunts her. Turning away from her own past, she now decides to focus on Kirika’s. Kirika, in the meantime, when faced with a choice of knowledge about herself, Noir and Soldats, or saving Mirielle’s life doesn’t hesitate to chose her friend over herself. I say “friend” here, because it seems that that alone is enough of a revelation for both of them, that they might, perhaps, be becoming friends.

When Mirielle reminds Kirika of the promise that they made – that when they both understand who Kirika is and what, exactly Soldats wants, she will kill the younger woman, there is a edginess to it – we can see that that promise is now a lie, even if they can not.

Just as they start to deal with this change in their relationship, it all comes to a crashing halt. Chloe, who has been stalking Kirika from the beginning, shows Mirielle, in an impressive and incontrovertible display of skill, that she and Kirika are the True Noir. Her explanation of what Noir is, and why Noir is, only serves to highlight the gulf between Mirielle and her partner. When Kirika begins to respond to words that Chloe utters, it becomes obvious that Mirielle has lost the battle, if not the war.

This is a very “having loved and lost” kind of volume. We watch Mirielle gain knowledge of her past, but lose some of her understanding of what her childhood meant to her. She gains Kirika as a friend, but loses her as a partner. And she gains understanding of Soldats and Noir, but loses herself in the process.

I found the Noir/Soldats manuscript lines just as silly this time as the last, but somehow – and really, I don’t know how – it all sort of seemed to make perfect sense. Above all, the sense of loss that Mirielle was experiencing at the very end was very poignant and very powerful. And because El Cazador de la Bruja has already begun, I found myself hoping that I care half this much about Nadie and Ellis by the end, as I do about Kirika and Mirielle.

What makes the story here so interesting, is watching Chloe take everything that Mirielle has fought so hard to gain. What makes the rest of the series so interesting is watching Mirielle fight even harder to get it back.

Ratings:

Art – 4
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 2

Overall – 7

I still think Chloe’s character design looks weird and out of place, but I guess that kind of works…

Posted in Bee Train, English Anime, Noir, Yuri Anime | 4 Comments »


Spring 2007 Anime Season: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS

April 16th, 2007

I was going to wait for a few more episodes before I wrote about Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, but heck, I’ve speculated on less than two episodes, so… (three, now, which made me rewrite a bit in the middle. ^_^)

I was not the biggest fan of the original Nanoha series, but I didn’t hate it, either. It was a perfectly fine, completely derivative magical girl series, without the captivating characters or seiyuu of Card Captor Sakura from whence it came. It also had the unfortunate addition of an extremely distasteful nude transformation scene, which appealed to a particular sector of the anime viewing audience which is not me.

The second series, Nanoha As, had a much stronger story, great characters and even better character development…and that unnecessary henshin. In fact, aside from that one thing, the series was pretty darn good. ^_^

And now Nanoha, Fate and Hayate are all adults (yay!) and in uniform (yahoo!) and all working as commanders in the Time-Space Administration Bureau. I have already joked that after my bitching about the last two series catering to a fetish that is not mine, they sort of lumped a bunch of mine together into one anime, just to shut me up. ^_^

The anime starts with Fate, Nanoha and Hayate working as commanders of three separate divisions of the Time-Space Administration Bureau. After a particularly grueling and difficult rescue operation, Hayate asks the other two to collaborate with her on a new division that would handle all the “other” issues that come up, like Lost Logia retrieval and special rescue coordination. Of course Fate and Nanoha want to be a part of this. And so Nanoha StrikerS begins with the recruitment of several new team members for the new division.

Yuri in Nanoha has always been speculative, and mostly about Fate’s pretty much one-sided feelings for Nanoha. I cannot beat Zyl’s brilliant post on Fate’s feelings, so I won’t try. Episode 3 (which I *just* watched) lets us know that Fate and Nanoha are at least sharing a bed, so I’m rewriting my initial speculation that Fate’s feelings are one-sided, and have now decided to assume that they are an established couple. I’m glad to see that, honestly. It makes me happy to think that. (And really, as commanders, they should easily be able to afford their own places, so if they are not only living together, but sharing a big, pluffy bed, I think we have to assume it’s not just “roommates.”)

There’s the easily pairable new recruits Subaru and Tiana. Time will tell if they have something more than just a strong partnership. Personally, I see no yuri there, but they touch each other, so fandumb will undoubtedly pair them up. ^_^

Let me suggest, just for fun, an unreasonable, yet amusing, alternative. Not a pair, but a troika. Hayate does not pop as a Yuri candidate, (unless one looks back and considers her history of forming a household with her female knights Signum, Shamal and Vita, and makes a few illogical leaps.) Instead, let me offer this unreasonable piece of “proof” as all we in Yuri fandom call it:

Why, I ask you, does Hayate own a bed big enough for the three of them? (Four if you count Reinforce, which I don’t.)

I invite you to think about it at your leisure. ^_^

Send the fanfic links to the Yuricon Mailing List. ;-)

And there’s always Signum who, with her lack of social skills and intrinsic butchiness always pings my gaydar.

Other random thoughts about this anime: The second law of thermodynamics need not apply for this series, thanks. And I really like all the sentient weapons. They have consistently been one of my favorite things in the series.

Ratings:

Art – I quite like it – 7
Story – Remains to be seen, but I have high hopes – 6
Characters – The More the Yurier – 8
Yuri – 6 (upped after the “incontrovertible proof” in Ep. 3 that Fate and Nanoha sleep together.)
Service – 5

Overall – 7 with potential for better.

Adult women in uniforms…me so happy…

Posted in Nanoha | 8 Comments »


Yuri Manga; Strawberry Marshmallow, Volume 3

April 15th, 2007

I’m on the road today (in the middle of a huge, dangerous Nor’easter, of course. Say an Ave for me, will you?) So today we have a guest review, once again, from fellow Cult of Miu member, Sean Gaffney (who is also working on an Ichigo Mashimaro fanfic for me. Feel free to harass him into finishing it.)

We’ve hit the third volume of Ichigo Mashimaro, and this is the volume where things really change… no, wait, it’s not. Things continue on exactly as before. But that’s OK, cause this is Ichigo Mashimaro, and you aren’t watching for growth or change, you’re watching for freaky Miu and sarcastic Nobue. Which this has in abundance.

I will admit I wasn’t as fond of the first story as the others, as generally when Miu is Miu I don’t like it to have as much consequence as it does here. After that, though, this is probably one of the strongest volumes to date. Even the interstitial art, with the girls involved in various sports, looks great.

Miu’s relationship with Nobue gets a deeper look in one story where we see Nobue pushing her teasing too far and genuinely upsetting Miu. It’s probably the Yuri-est this series gets, without, of course, being Yuri at all. Oh, and it’s got an awesome punchline.

The other thing that impressed me about this volume was how it showed the friendship between Chika and Miu. Chika rarely gets a long look in the book, being the one who is there to make the others look stranger, but her interaction with Miu here, and her acceptance of Miu’s strange ideas to a degree, show how the two care about each other.

I mean, sometimes you do have to wonder why the others don’t just tell Miu to get lost. She’s certainly not friendly with Matsuri (still a drip in this volume) or Ana (who has almost become a complete non-entity, and barely registers on the page for me anymore). And Nobue tends to suffer her more than actually like her.

The answer is Chika. Chika likes Miu, and Miu likes Chika. And it shows in this volume, from the hysterical chapter when they try to avoid being loud as Nobue sleeps, to the festival where Miu’s Ultraman makes Chika break up, to Miu’s video diary, where Chika actually participates a bit in Miu’s freakiness.

To be honest, nothing much really happens in this volume, much like the other volumes. But I grow more and more enamored of these three characters every time I read more. (Sorry, Matsuri, Ana, you’re dull.) They’re just fun to read, and fun to imagine in other situations.

Art: 7. I especially liked the sporting event interstitials.
Story: 6. By story I mean catalyst more than actual plot.
Characters: 8. Love that Nobue/Miu/Chika dynamic.
Yuri: 5. Bumping it up a bit for Miu’s magic yuri pregnancy, and for the ending to the Cinderella story.
Service: 5. Naked Ana is not something I needed to see, thanks.

Overall: 7.

Definitely recommended.

E here: Gotta say, I agree completely with all of the above, but would add in Miu’s ninja skills as a plus, as well. Thanks so much Sean! I’ve been on a 3-hour train ride for 6 hours, so thank you, thank you…

Posted in English Manga, Ichigo Mashimaro, Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »