Yuri Manga: Mermaid Line

April 18th, 2008

In the face of the continuing moe-fication of the manga world in general, and the Yuri world in particular, it’s nice to know that there are a few men who can buck the trend. Like Kishi Torajirou’s Mars no Kiss, Kindaichi Renjurou’s Mermaid Line is a Josei-style book by a male author.

Mermaid Line is a collection of stories that ran in Yuri Hime magazine. They are collected together as short mini-series, done in an episodic, almost soap-opera-y way.

In “Megumi and Aoi ” Megumi confesses to her friend Aoi that, despite her ungainly swimming, she feels as if she is a mermaid. Aoi finds herself fantasizing about being the prince to Megumi’s mermaid, but Megumi runs to the arms of a boy, trying to put a beard on her feelings. Aoi is turned into the class target, but Megumi realizes that she’s made a bad decision and once more approaches Aoi. Eventually, they go out and, over cake, come to agreement that it’s not male or female that’s important, but that you like someone.

Ayumi, in “Ayumi and Aika,” wants to get married to her boyfriend so naturally, she’s shocked when he tells her that he wants to become a woman. She learns to cope with this and reconnect to him as a friend, but when he comes back into her life, as gay bar hostess Aika, friendless and homeless, Ayumi rethinks everything. It’s not marriage, but Ayumi’s pretty confident she can love Aika as a woman.

“Yukari and Mayuko” are both OLs. Mayuko’s between boyfriends and bored, so she asks Yukari to pretend to be her girlfriend. It works out well, until Yukari realizes that her feelings for Mayuko are more than just pretend. When Mayuko gets a new boyfriend, Yukari lets her go, but there’s no happy end for her.

And finally, in “Miura-san and Me” Okabe loves Miura’s beautiful hair. When Miura-san cuts it all off, Okabe learns to love her for herself.

Overall, the stories deal with feelings that are more complex than just “I like her.” There’s a sense of the characters being realer and deeper than the normal “Story A”types. There is angst and there’s bullying, and being outcast, but there’s also acceptance and growth and of course, love.

While none of these narratives are breath-taking, “Ayumi and Aika” stands out as the best of the bunch. By far and away, the strongest of the series in this book. I liked this series the first time around and it’s just as nice this time. Where something like Kashimashi plays the gender change card as a handwave you just need to go with, this miniseries looks at it with a light hand, a humorous touch and a sensitive heart.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 9
Service – 1

Overall – 7

The tagline on the obi says, “Love doesn’t come in only one form” which I think it a fitting, and pretty, summation for this book.

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


Karakuri Odette Manga, Volume 4

April 17th, 2008

It’s always a pleasure to find a new series to read. It’s especially a pleasure when both my wife and I find something in common to enjoy. So, when it turned out that the author of one of her pretty demon boy series turned out to also be doing a series about a robot girl, we agreed to try it.

Karakuri Odette by Suzuki Julietta, is indeed about a robot girl, Odette. (That’s Odette looking decidedly Utena-esque on the left of the cover.) Her guardian and inventor, Professor Yoshizawa, created her in the image of a high school girl and Odette is taking her role very seriously. In the beginning of the series, when she realizes that there are differences between her and the girls she saw going to school, she tells the Professor that she would also like to go to school. So, she does. And little by little, she closes the gap between her and the human girls around her.

Odette’s a good kid. She’s thoughtful and kind and wants to be a good human, so she throws herself into things like school and making friends and learning to eat with zeal, surprising, but not displeasing, the Professor. When a second robot, Chris, shows up to kill the Professor, Odette befriends him and ultimately, he’s adopted into the Yoshizawa household.

Crises in Odette can be just about *anything.* From wanting to understand “flavor,” to android assassins, to staying over a friend’s house for the night – the chapters run the gamut from sweet to freakish with nary a breath between.

In Volume 4, Odette is sent to the house of spoiled, creepy Ringosaka Shirayuki. And true to her name, Odette plays the prince to this Snow White, waking her from a lifetime sleep of loneliness and unhappiness. The entire volume follows Shirayuki as she is awakened by her prince (sadly not with a kiss) and as she changes her whole life to be closer to Odette. It’s not quite Yuri, but it’s sort of on the edgier side of akogare and friendship. Shirayuki has to learn to share Odette and play well with others. The end of the volume sees the two of them hand in hand as they walk off to face tomorrow.

There’s really nothing to dislike in Karakuri Odette. The character is charming in her sincerity; her relationship to the Professor never fails to make me smile. “Professor! I want to go to school.” “Whah? Okay.” “Professor! I want to be able to eat.” “Why? All right.” “Professor! I want a cell phone.” “No.” His reactions are very much those of a parent of a teenaged girl. ^_^

The human drama is spliced into silly android drama, so that any chapter might be about “what is love” or escaping from people trying to kidnap Chris, by shopping for sneakers. Because it is a “high-school romance” shoujo story, there are several rivals for Odette’s affection. Yukimura, the first-year boy who has no idea she’s a robot, Chris the other robot, who does, and Shirayuki, who also does. And then there’s Odette’s sempai Asao. He’s a “bad,” but sensitive type, who is blunt with her about important things, but is very protective of her. One of the best things about the story is that there isn’t that “He’s mean to me because he loves me” dynamic that rules so much of shoujo manga.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 2
Service – 1

Overall – 7

So, while mild on the Yuri side, I have to say that I’m quite enjoying having a new shoujo manga series to follow (the first one since Marimite!) and, as an added bonus, I can share it with the wife. ^_^

Posted in English Manga | 2 Comments »


Red Garden Anime, Volume 2 (English)

April 16th, 2008

In Volume 1 of Red Garden, Kate, Claire, Rachel and Rose, four high school students on New York City’s Roosevelt Island, learn that their typical teen feeling of being uncomfortable in their bodies can be directly attributed to the fact that they are not, actually, *in* their bodies. They are living in borrowed bodies while their real bodies lay elsewhere, dead.

In Volume 2, the four girls attempt to hold on to what is left of normality for them, while they try to figure out how to integrate their new situation. It doesn’t go well. Rose breaks and runs which, they learn, could put them all in danger. The stress of the violence that fills their lives pushes its way into their previous relationships, threatening to destroy everything that they thought they had.

While Rachel and Rose cling to denial, Kate and Claire find the mansion where they died. And later, all four return to see the brutal truth of their deaths. Having hit bottom, they band together to find some small happiness in the borrowed lives that they are now living. They find themselves sitting in Claire’s apartment, with no phone, no electricity, nothing but food out of a can, and each other. For the moment, it’s enough.

Yuri in this episode is more of Paula’s obvious, but unstated, feelings for Kate – and Jessica’s openly stated jealousy of Kate. It’s slight, but Paula always comes off with class and (no pun intended) grace. She’s a positive role model as lesbian Student Council presidents go ^_^

No extras except trailers and the like, but the riveting drama and excellent characterizations are plenty to make this DVD worth watching. Once again, it is my pleasure to thank Daniel P for giving me the opportunity to review this fabulous anime.

Ratings:

Art – 6 (the noses get really distressing this volume)
Story – 8
Characters- 8
Yuri – 2
Service – 1

Overall – 8

As I watched the scene in the mansion, I couldn’t help but think how much *better* Red Garden would be, if Kate and Claire were an item. ^_^

Posted in English Anime | 2 Comments »


Yuri News: Shoujo Sect Anime

April 16th, 2008

Shoujo Sect, the ero Yuri manga by Kurogane Kenn, is being made into an ero anime OVA.

The first episode will be out on 7/25, according to this attractive advertisement.
^_^

Posted in Shoujo Sect, Yuri Network News | 6 Comments »


Interview with Yuri Translator Erin Subramanian

April 15th, 2008

Here’s the second entry in our industry interviews! This time, we’re talking to Erin Subramanian, a freelance translator and the much beloved Rosa Chinensis of Yuri scanlation group Lililicious. Erin also reviews Yuri manga, mostly stuff I don’t review here, at her Livejournal. I recommend it to you, if you don’t already have it bookmarked.

Anyway, welcome to Erin, and let’s get started with today’s interview!

1) So let’s start with the most obvious question – tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am a yuri manga fan who translates for a yuri publisher (ALC Publishing) and translates and copyreads for a BL publisher. I also translate for free in my spare time. I have a B.A. in Japanese from the University of Rochester, and have been translating manga for around seven years now, though most of that work has not been for pay. I am a bisexual woman in a long-term relationship with a woman, and though yuri has a special place in my heart, I also love (male) gay and straight romance stories.

2) Are you a manga reader yourself? How did you get into manga? Did that lead you into working in the manga industry? Or do you just do it for the fame, glory and chicks? ;-)

Yes. I got into anime first–Sailor Moon–and then into manga from that. It was my enjoyment of manga that lead me to seek a job in the industry. Fame and glory don’t sound particularly appealing, and I think my partner would disapprove of the chicks (and dudes). :-/ However, when people ask me what I do, I get to tell them that I translate gay porn. It’s hard to top that.

3) Are you a fan of Yuri manga? Did you know it existed before you started working on a title? What were your thoughts upon seeing your first Yuri job?

Yes, yes, and “Cool, a yuri manga in a historical setting” (this was Morishima Akiko’s short one-shot “Ichigo-Hime,” from Yuri Monogatari 4).

4) Not every Yuri series is equal. Some are better than others. What, if any, thoughts do you have about the series you’ve worked on. Silly? Serious? Quality? Not?

I particularly like the works I translated for Yuri Monogatari 5–they’re a mix of silly and serious stories, and I’m glad that there is some sort of market for works like that here too. Not that I think they’re the only sort of works that should come over here, of course–there are a lot of great yuri titles of all kinds that I would love to see do well here.

5) Which Yuri titles would you like to see make it over here? Anything you’d like to get to work on?

Yamaji Ebine’s works. More titles from Yuri Hime, particularly “Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry-Blossom Pink,” “Strawberry Shake Sweet,” “Rakuen no Jouken,” and “The Miko’s Words and the Witch’s Incantations.” “Kaguyahime,” “Love Vibes,” “Maria-sama ga Miteru,” “Pieta,” “Plica” (and I’d love to see the “Plica” movie on something like Logo’s “Alien Boot Camp” series), “Shibuya District, Maruyama Neighborhood,” and “Sweet Blue Flowers.” More works from artists like Tadeno Eriko and UKOZ. No surprises there, I’m sure. As for the second question: All of them, I suppose. However, as long as the English edition is done well, it doesn’t particularly matter to me whether I personally get to work on it. There are always plenty of other titles out there that are in need of attention, and plenty of other things that I would enjoy translating.

6) What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about your job?

My favorite thing is getting to share something I enjoy with others. Those moments when the perfect translation of a line just comes to you are right up there too, though. My least favorite thing is agonizing over the best way to convey a line, particularly when I need to convince someone else to agree with me on it. Also, translating rape scenes.

7) Anything else you want to tell our audience?

I’m pleased to see more yuri coming over here, and hope it sells well. We’re fortunate that so much good yuri manga is being created; I try not to take its existence–or that of the artists and publishers who are taking a chance on it–for granted. That’s not to say that we should have lower standards when it comes to yuri, or praise yuri works when we think they’re mediocre or worse–I just think we’re lucky that there are enough of us to constitute a fanbase and that there are so many talented people out there who are creating yuri works. Let’s hope that state of affairs continues.

Thanks again!

It was my pleasure.

Posted in Interview, Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »