This Week in Yuri

February 23rd, 2008

After last week’s flurry of activity, things this week have settled down, more or less, into “Here’s some stuff to look for!” :-)

Some of you may have noticed already that the newest chapter in the Mai Otome saga has been released – Mai Otome 0 s.ifr. Like all the previous versions of HiME and Otome, there are some recycled characters, but the cast is mostly new. Episode one already provided the desperate with some Yuri-service, so keep an eye out for it. ;-)

Eagle-eyed Erin points out that Torajirou Kishi, the creator of Maka-Maka, has a new series coming out in a collected volume, Mars no Kiss. We agree that this one does not sound very happy, but one never knows. :-) It’s running in Pianissimo magazine, a far cry from Jive, so my guess is that it’s a softer, more melodramatic story.

Gunjou, by Nakamura Chin, is running in Morning magazine in Japan. If I understand the synopsis correctly, it’s about the adventures of a woman and the woman she hired to kill her husband, as they take to the road after the murder. The author is a Yuri manga fan, and the art is really understated and cool. It’s has very high Yuri potential. I’ll let you know, once I’ve read it.

Lastly, in case you missed it on the Yuricon Mailing List, yesterday was Yuricon’s hunky mascot Yuriko’s birthday. We always like to do something special for that, so we’ll be announcing a “concert tour poster” contest – design a poster for Yuriko and Mayumi’s world tour, win a limited-edition fan club tour t-shirt! Also feel free to send Yuri a birthday greeting at yurisnr at yahoo.co.jp. She promises to answer all of them. :-)

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That’s about all I got for you this week. If you come across a nifty Yuri news item, don’t hesitate to send it to me at the email on my profile. I only have two eyes – your assistance is *always* appreciated!

Posted in Yuri Network News | 3 Comments »


Yuri Anime: Battle Athletes Victory, Volume 8

February 21st, 2008

In keeping with my tradition of being out of step with the large majority of Yuri fandom, I would like to take some time today and review the final volume of this mostly-unknown-to- today’s-generation-of-Yuri-fans anime.

Battle Athletes Victory Volume 8 is arguably the worst final volume of an anime I have ever watched. ^_^ It resurrects every irritating characteristic of the earlier volumes, manages to insert some entirely new, even *more* irritating concepts and then play it all for laughs, so if we get irritated, it’s obviously our lack of a sense of humor that’s the problem, not the fact that the story is a truckload of horseshit.

At the end of Volume 7, you may remember, Akari has won the title of Cosmos Beauty AND beaten her mother’s record, as unlikely as that seems. And, you may also remember, that the aliens chose that very moment to attack.

In Volume 8, we learn that the whole Cosmos Beauty thing was a cunning plan by schoolmaster Grant Oldman, in order to train a cadre of unbeatable female athletes to do one thing – take on the aliens! Oh my god, how clever he is! Not to mention nearly immortal, but they sort of gloss over that.

In any case, Kris is recalled (with her cow), Anna shows up to cook for the team, Ichino is added to the roster along with Akari, Jessie, Tanya, Mylandah and Lahrri, and we face off with the aliens, with “Mister Miracle” as our coach.

Of course, the aliens cheat.

And of course, we manage to somehow hang on despite the obvious bias. And, of course, it comes down to the final race, which is, of course, a dash and, of course, we’re relying on Akari and Kris. And, of course, the aliens pull out the ace up their sleeve. Because they are clever too, they have brought Tomoe Midori BACK FROM THE DEAD to race against her only daughter. Even better, they bring her back at the age she won the Cosmos Beauty title, so she’s actually a year younger than Akari. Bet you saw that coming, huh?

Akari has the usual crisis of identity, and Kris gets her to gambare again and in a complete shocker, she saves the Earth and wins.

The story doesn’t end there, however. The epilogue follows mostly everyone as they set out on their post-alien invasion lives. In most cases they stick with athletics, but we’re treated to a funny final scene with bratty Tomoe teasing Akari, and the absolutely shudder-making idea that her parents are together again and now expecting a baby.

And we all live *happily* ever after.

It just occurred to me that you might think, reading this, that I didn’t enjoy this volume. That isn’t true. I did enjoy it. But not for any of the above. ^_^

I spent most of the volume watching the only two reasonably sane characters left, Mylandah and Lahrri. They spend the entire volume in a world of their own. No one is gonna tell me that they aren’t totally together. And they’re damn cute together, too.

For Yuri fans who like their Yuri a little less subtle, Kris immediately pins Ichino to the wall about her total gayness for Akari. Kris insists that Akari is her’s, but Ichino won’t even admit she’s interested, although she’s immediately jealous. So the two of them engage in a bizarro rivalry throughout.

My one real question about this volume is – who named it “Volume 8: The Human Race”? Because I think that person deserves a blow to the head.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – seriously, it’s so over the top with dumb, it’s practically genius – 7
Characters – 6
Yuri – 4
Service – 5

Overall – 7

In the end, the end of the anime was nothing as satisfying as the manga, where Kris and Akari kiss in front of the known universe and Mylandah and Lahrri retire to a tropical love nest. But it was what it was. If Kris’ cow and Grant Oldman’s panty fetish made you laugh in the first seven volumes, you’ll probably think volume 8 was just fine. ^_^

Posted in Battle Athletes, English Anime, Yuri Anime | 3 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora, Volume 2

February 20th, 2008

Let’s play a game, shall we? I’m going to review Volume 2 of Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora as if Kaon and Himeko were the protagonists. Pretend you don’t know they are not. Read it all the way through and then *honestly* commment about the series. Because my guess is, all you Kannazuki no Miko fans would LOVE Kyoshiro, if Kaon and Himiko were the leads, regardless of how junky it is. (Of course it’s junky. Kaishaku writes junk. It’s all they have ever written.) The bottom line is that you loved KnM for the Yuri kisses, not for the story, despite how awesome you say you thought the story was because the story made little sense and rape really isn’t romantic no matter how you’ve chosen to fill in Chikane’s motivation in your head. Since the Yuri in Kyoshiro is secondary, you all *suddenly* noticed that Kaishaku suck. ^_^

Here we go.

Once upon a time, there was a girl named Himiko. She was very gentle and kind, and a very talented artist. Because she was so talented, she was recruited to attend an exclusive school run by the charming, but overbearing Ayanokouji Mika. Mika-sensei ran the school like a harem, taking various students, including Himiko, as lovers. But her true interest lay with a girl named Kaon. Kaon was tall and beautiful and powerful – because she was not human. In reality, she was the human form of a powerful weapon, an Absolute Angel. Himiko and Kaon fell in love, but they could not be together, since Kaon was Mika’s possession. They stole moments together and kisses here and there, but all the time they knew that Mika owned them both.

One day Mika commanded Kaon to kidnap a girl, which she did. But she was weakened in the attempt. The girl was immediately claimed by Mika as her own, and given to Himiko to take care of. But when the girl’s previous owner sent his weapon to take the girl back, Kaon was too weak to fight. Himiko kissed Kaon to giver her “mana,” the energy she needed to fight. But it was too late. The other weapon, named Setsuna, and her owner, Kyoshirou, took the girl away. Kaon was punished by Mika for failing, and she and Himiko were once again kept apart.

The next chapters follow the girl’s adventures as she is returned to Kyoshiro, but not left at peace. She learns that she too is an Absolute Angel, something that she simply can’t handle, having thought she was human all along.

And then, Mika and Kyoshirou’s crazy older brother shows up. Everything is about to change.

Ratings:

Art – 7 Orders better than usual. I wonder what happened.
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 7 Don’t forget that Mika is an EPL, too
Service – 7

Overall – 7

Admit it. If Kaon and Himiko were the protagonists, you’d love this story and wouldn’t be able to sit still waiting for Volume 3. Yuri fandom is willing, able and wanting to watch absolute crap (cognitive dissonance will assure us that it is good, as long as we liked it, anyway) as long as the lead characters are a Yuri couple.  ^_^

Kannazuki no Miko isn’t as good, and Kyoshiro isn’t as bad as you think you think. ^_^

Posted in Kannazuki no Miko, Yuri Manga | 9 Comments »


Red Garden Anime, Volume 1 (English)

February 19th, 2008

There’s a lot of stuff going on in Red Garden, Volume 1. (Here’s links to my previous reviews of the anime and volume 1 of the manga for compare and contrast.)

The whole thing starts with high-impact action scenes, throwing us right into the middle of the story with no warning. Much like the protagonists, who spend most of the early episodes backtracking to figure out what’s going on.

As I said, there’s a lot going on. ^_^

Among which, everything Kate, Rose, Rachel and Clare thought, assumed or knew was true in their lives…isn’t. Starting off with their lives. Because they aren’t alive any more, they’re dead. And now they have been given borrowed lives in order to fight against men who turn into demonic beasts.

These aren’t strong girls. Kate is smart, kind, a member of “Grace,” the Student Council of the school they attend. Rachel is entitled, hip and superficial. Clare appears to be tough and dirt poor, but she’s not what she seems at all, and Rose, the last of the group is sweet, poor and (understandably) a crybaby. The four have one thing in common – friendship with a girl named Lise, whose body was found in the woods, murdered.

The first volume of Red Garden introduces us the the four girls, to their lives and to their friends. We also meet Herve’, the heir to the family that appears to be “our” enemy, although why, we don’t as yet know. (Yes *we* the audience know. The characters don’t. Not yet.) And we meet Lula and her brother JC, who claim to be the four girls’ teachers, but their teaching goes like this, “Kill this guy or die. Your choice.” Lula’s not much for details.

Volume 1 is very emotional, as the girls deal with Lise’s death – and their own. There are several impromptu musical numbers. These are not sung prettily. In fact, one was so atonal that the wife asked, “What are you watching?!?”  But why should we expect that average, everyday girls have fabulous voices? We shouldn’t – and they don’t. I watched the English dub for the last song, where the English VAs do pretty much the same thing – sing the song in squeaky, not particularly on-key voices.

Volume 1 is also very violent. Lots of shrieking and wailing and screaming. Rachel definitely tastes best, based on results from 3 out of 4 beast men.

Let us not forget the that Volume 1 is also quite gay. I had completely forgotten *how* gay Paula, president of Grace, is for Kate. She doesn’t bother hiding it. And she’s so focused on Kate, that Jessica doesn’t have to bother hiding how jealous it makes her. Paula’s affection is so obvious and unfettered – and not quite odious – that it doesn’t take much to see the Yuri, with or without Yuri goggles. (Paula was one of the best thing about the series, IMHO.)

The translation was very good with one exception. For some reason, every time Grace was mentioned, instead of “Student Council” for Seitokai, it was translated “student group.” I can’t even conjecture as to why. I’m fairly certain that most high schools have a Student Council, even if, like mine, they really didn’t do much.

In terms of extras – there weren’t any. Nada. No interviews, no art, nothing. But the episodes are strange, violent, action-packed and riveting, which mostly makes up for it. ;-)

I’d forgotten a lot of what happens, and missed a lot of the details the first time around. It was a good watch and I look forward to Volume 2. I definitely recommend Red Garden for a strong dose of Yuri with extra creepy flavor.

Ratings:

Art – 7 It takes some getting used to, but it grows on you
Story – 8 Action-filled, but still remains character driven
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4
Series – 3 Other than fans of blood, there really isn’t much, the manga has more Goth-Loli and dress-up.

Overall – 8

I keep meaning to mention this, but it always surprises me how *short* Clare is. She’s so much the tough, butchy chick that when they are all standing and Rachel is a head taller than her it makes me laugh, every time. I wish she had worn the suit from the manga at the funeral, too.

And super thanks to Daniel for sponsoring today’s review!

Posted in English Anime | 3 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Magie Paire, Volume 1

February 18th, 2008

If you are a fan of Kokoro Library, Pure Marionation (Volume 1 and Volume 2,) or Cassiopeia Dolce (running now in Yuri Hime S,) you’ll definitely want to take a look at Magie Paire, for yet another Takagi Noboyuki Yuri comedy with a healthy dollop of service.

Maria is starting classes at an exclusive private school, where all the other girls seem to be obsessing about becoming a “Paire” with one of the older students. Tall, classical Japanese beauty Reina-sempai seems to be the choice person to be admired. Maria states plainly that she has no interest in pairing with anyone – so of course when the chips are down and she’s threatened, who else could it be who comes to the rescue but Reina? To Maria’s surprise, Reina manifest a magic weapon. To her even more considerable shock, *she* manifests a similar weapon and they fight off the threat. But when everyone congratulates her upon becoming Reina’s “Suite” she refuses point blank.

You can guess that they do become paired, can’t you? :-) Reina is the only remaining Magie on the student council unpaired, so the other members are pleased as punch. She is the “Rayf Master,” a master of Fire. (As soon as I figure out which language these names are butchering, I’ll fix the transliterations, promise. )

The problem, Maria insists, is that she can’t DO magic. Big-ass magic sword notwithstanding.

She’s right, of course. She and Reina wander off into the practice forest to practice and are immediately attacked by a host of things. Among the things is the “cute mascot thing,” a Fukuma, which proceeds to be as “cute” as possible. You know, drools, vomits, steal panties, all the usual “cute” things that just endear us to such creatures. The Fukuma also spends a lot of its time riding on Maria’s head, so we’re never free of its presence. And Maria doesn’t seem to be able to do magic, unless the chips are, indeed, down.

There is, as I mentioned, a lot of service. Takagi’s girls spend a fair amount of time dressing and undressing, bathing, swimming, etc. This is another Gum comic, the same company that has the Wani imprint, so it comes as no real surprise. The service here is much as it is in Pure Marionation where it’s constant, but sort of the soft cute to fanboys, but not to me, kind of cute. If you know what I mean. It’s still stealing panties and bathing, cute or not. And since we’re talking Takagi here, you get blushy baby faces on over-developed bodies, as well.

Ratings:

Art – 6 (+2 if you like his style)
Story – 7, then -1 after the Fukuma shows up
Characters – 7
Yuri – 5
Service – 7

Overall – 6

The plot is fine, sort of Marimite meets Harry Potter, but I sure wouldn’t mind losing the panty shots and Fukuma vomiting bits. :-)

Posted in Yuri Manga | 4 Comments »