Okazu

Drama CD: Maria-sama ga Miteru Rainy Blue

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:57:46 PST

In case you haven't had a chance to read it yet, drop by Anime News Network's "Chicks on Anime" for a segment with me on Yuri, and the following comments from people about how I don't know anything about it. lol Thanks to those of you who have weighed in with positive feedback! I'm kind of sad that no one thought my line describing the typical Yuri fan as being bipedal, with two front-facing eyes, was funny. :-(

In any case, my thanks to Bamboo and Casey and ANN for hosting that chat!

Now, from fun to misery, as we turn our sights, hopefully for the very last time, to Maria-sama ga Miteru: Rainy Blue. Like the Drama CD before it, there was a little rewriting going on, but ultimately it remains the same uber-depressing story, as Yumi sees her love for Sachiko cast aside in favor of Touko's.

This is not true, of course. Sachiko is dealing with issues of her own and is only barely aware of how badly Yumi is suffering. Not realizing just how bad Yumi is feeling, Minako and Yoshino fan the flames of her unhappiness. In the end, the only one Yumi feels she can turn to is Sei.

As with the every version of this story, for me the lowest point is when Yumi collpases in hysteria in the foyer of her house, railing at the symbolic loss of her umbrella and what feels like the loss of her beloved onee-sama. I was very careful to listen to this part of the Drama CD on the way home in the car, so I didn't ruin my day.

Ueda Kana carries the bulk of this story, but the rest of the cast subtlely adds to the story. In fact, when the cast credits were listed, I was surprised that so many of the cast had had lines. In my mind, it had been Yumi and maybe a few others. In fact, almost everyone had a line or two.

The bonus track was a discussion about "rain." There were a few interesting anecdotes, but nothing that withstood the test of a few really busy weeks. I remember that I wanted to remember them, but, uh, forgot. :-)

The absolute best part of this Drama CD is, we're done. That was it. We've gotten over the hump once more and can finally move into what are, IMHO, some of the best story arcs in the series.

Ratings:

Story - 8
Characters - 8
Yuri - 3
Loser Fan Boy - 1

Overall - 8

Parasol wo Sashite is one of my favorite novels of the series. Can't *wait* to hear it!

Yuri Manga: Ruri-iro Yume

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:55:08 PST

In Ruri-iro Yume Morishima Akiko gets to realize a dream of hers - one that I happen to share. She is able to draw a series of stories about adult women in relationships with other women.

I've been saying over and over how she's the one Yuri manga creator that consistently pushes at this particularly truculent line in the sand. Most "Yuri" stories lie firmly in a world of schoolgirl crushiness or some equivalent fantasy space. The understanding is that, while the emotions are real - the relationship is ephemeral. Women don't stay with their school days female lovers, it's "playing at" romantic love. Of course they will go on to marry a man and have children, thereby giving up any pretense at a professional life. This would all sound like me being sarcastic, except that it is very much the prevailing attitude in Japan. Women work until they find a man, then sequestor themselves in a life as a domestic caretaker until their kids leave. Everyone knows that's how it goes.

Morishima takes a few quirky looks at lives that don't fall into this stereotypical life plan by first dealing with someone whose dream is, in fact, very stereotypical. Ruri is an OL, a Office Lady. Office Ladies are a kind of mix between an admin, a hostess and a maintenance worker. They do random odd jobs around the office, including copies, serving coffee and changing light bulbs. It is stereotypically a job that a woman would take in order to meet and marry a nice salaryman. (Since she is naturally going to stop working when she gets married, there's no conflict about office romances.)

Ruri has a dream of finding a nice guy, getting married and having a child she names after herself, a hint that this dream is at least a little narcissistic. But she finds herself instead involved with a female co-worker, Mitsukuni. Ruri mentions her dream of a typical life one night at dinner and is *shocked* to be rejected by Mitsukuni. Next week, back in the office, Mitsukuni admits that that dream repulses her - she wants nothing of the sort. Ruri has to decide what she really wants...and ultimately decides that Mitsukuni's love is more important that her childish dream.

I found this story to be rather ironic, myself, since Ruri casts aside the typical dream of a pretty boring, repressive life as if it's childish and unrealistic, instead embracing what is traditionally seen as an "immature" love.

In the next story, although the two women are college students, their love is still an exploration of childhood dreams, in which one is the long-suffering Prince to the other's selfish Princess.

And then there's "Honey & Mustard," which started a new series that's now running in Yuri Hime. This series deals with adult women in adult jobs and a variety of relationships. In my review of this story when it ran in the magazine, I pointed out that it was significant for using the phrase "kocchi no kei," i.e., "one of us," thus for the first time in the pages of Yuri Hime acknowledging that there is an "us." Us, of course, being lesbians. The main characters are women who were once lovers and are now good friends, but no less lovers of women, despite the fact that they have put aside their schoolgirl days.

The next story explores the idea of "alternative family" from a slightly different perspective than usual. Kyou has been in love with Konomi since she was a child. After Konomi's husband died, she took over being Konomi's companion and ultimately became her lover. But there's a gap somewhere in the relationship and it makes Kyou uncomfortable. Ultimately she decides that being Konomi's family means more than being her lover and they start all over again.

A continuation of Eri and Keiko's May-December romance provides some classic Unresolved Sexual Tension and a look at what love means when you're "over-the-hill" by Japanese standards.

And finally, in a side story from Hanjuku Joshi Chitose's older sister Chie goes to Chie's school festival looking for Yuri, but is shocked to find love.

It might not seem like much to you, reading these one at a time, but I know what Morishima-san read as a young woman and I know why this is all an amazing shift to a much more realistic look at lesbian life and love.

In "Story A" a schoolgirl is usually portrayed only in the school setting. She is in love with the idea of another girl and the story ends when they to recognize their mutual interest in one another. Even when she is doing this, Morishima adds layers to it. Chie's search for Yuri was semi-professional, but her feelings for a younger girl totally bowl her over. Kaori and Mitsuki are adult women, "careerwomen" as they say in Japan. They have already acknowledged their love for women and its just another part of their lives. Keiko finds herself dealing more with her age issues than issues about Eri's gender, and Kyo decides a different relationship will bring her closer to Konomi, not further apart. And then there's Ruri, rejecting the childish dream and embracing a reality that is still often shoved into the closet to fulfill other people's expectations.

These are not your usual Yuri stories. That having been said, Morishima's art is *extremely* moe. Even when her characters are 28, they look round cheeked, fresh-faced and cute, as opposed to cool or mature. This is Morishima's style and it fits nicely with Yuri fandom's need to keep Yuri out of the realm of reality and strictly in the realm of fantasy. Imagine the consternation of those 30% of Yuri Hime readers if the magazine didn't just say, "Men Not Allowed" (as it does on the cover in a way that is clearly designed to drawn men to it like flies) but instead had realistically drawn and told stories of lesbian drama. Think about it.

...

It would be hilariously dull.

In any case, Morishima's art is super-duper cute. But her stories are smart, poignant and often very real. And, okay, sometimes her stories are super-duper cute, too. :-)

Ratings:

Art - 8
Story - 8
Characters - 9
Yuri - 9
Lesbian - 7
Loser FanBoy - 7 Loser FanGirl - 7

Overall - 9

Blatant Self-Promotion!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:31:06 PST

Got a couple of housekeeping/promotional things I want to bring to your attention today. I'll try and get a review in later, since you haven't had one in a few days.

First, ALC Publishing is holding a Pre-Holiday sale on all 100% Yuri publications. Visit the ALC page on the Yuricon Shop for 30% to 50% off all books. This is for a limited time, so get your holiday orders in today!

Secondly, I've heard from a few people that there's some confusion about the double-underlined words in the body of my blog posts. Like the interstitial ads, these are the omnipresent evil of advertising. Those links and the Google ads aren't Blogger having their way with me. I put them there in order to attempt to monetize this blog. Feel free to enjoy the sponsored content as you roll over them...or not. :-)

Thirdly, there is a new addition to the right-hand sidebar here to which I'd like to draw your attention. Under the header "Be a Hero" you'll see that I've added a Amazon JP Wishlist to the Amazon.com one. This was quite specifically at the request of devoted readers. Shipping from Japan to the US is pretty ridiculous, which is why I didn't have one before now. Amazon JP is in Japanese, but all the buttons are the same shape and size as they are on Amazon.com, so it's not that hard to navigate. When you get to checkout. Then you can switch to English. There'll be a link that asks if you want to see the page in English. You are never obliged or pressured to buy anything ever for Okazu. But, there. At your request, I caved. :-)

Once again, I want to thank all my many Heros and Superheros, my Guest Reviewers, and every single one of my fabulous readers. Your support makes this possible - and I meant that both literally and figuratively. Thank you for the comments, the Diggs, the RTs and the friendship. As we head into a season of holidays, friends and family, I want to let you know, you are more than just my Yuri Network, you're a family to me. Thank you.

Yuri Network News - November 7, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 07:20:19 PST

Yuri Drama CDs

Katherine H. is first out of the gate with news for the DCD crowd (which I believe consists of me and her. lol) She wants you to know that there is a Canaan DJCD, which means it is an original recording from the web radio show, not a recycled storyline from the anime.

And, she tells us, there's a Sasamekikoto Drama CD, as well. Also an original story (according to the Amazon JP write up, anyway.)

But wait, there's more! (Katherine says in the spirit of early holiday shopping) there's the Aoi Hana "Sweet Blue Radio CD", as well. So your stockings can be filled with all sorts of Yuri goodies this holiday season.

And one more from me. There is a Maria-sama ga Miteru Premium CD up for pre-order. It's also an "Original recording" which could be the actresses talking, one of the un-recorded stories, or a live event and we'll never know until we buy it and listen. :-)

***

Yuri Anime

Media Blasters has announced that they've acquired Ikkitousen GG, so fans of Kanu can watch her love for Ryuubi be turned into a dumb gag. :-) And in case Ikkitousen is too high-faluting' for you, they are also licensing Queen's Blade.

Mai Hime is due out in Blue Ray format in Japan, and to reward you for spending the money, there will be four new service-filled shorts that will make a mockery of the price that fans paid for such a sophisticated video set up. Or so I imagine. :-)

***

Yuri Manga

A pile of Ichijinsha's Yuri cell phone manga collections are slated to hit the shelves any day!

Gokujou Drops Volume 3, can you believe it? What's left? The girl got the girl and we've run out of upperclassman to sexually harass her. I'm gonna guess there's a basement apartment in the dorm we didn't know about or something. lol

Yukemuri Sanctuary is surely going to involve bathing.

Otome Senshi Lovely 5! is, I'm thinking, pretty self explanatory.

I don't know what Honey Quartet is about, but as it's a one of the cell phone manga, there's likely to be sex. That'll sell, regardless of anything else. lol

And, last up for this month's releases, we also have Sora-iro Girlfriend.

***

Other News

As Simon Jones (blog frequently NSFW) so beautifully put it, here is an article about why people in $4000 suits are starting to look at manga as an advertising tactic. Why am I linking it here? Because understanding the business side of this whole industry is way more important than remembering the name of the third girl on the left in Episode 8 of whatever series.

***

Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There's a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage - stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent's badge.

Thanks to all of you - you make this a great Yuri Network!

Manga Readers Read Badly, Anime Watchers Watch Badly

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:10:06 PST

I'm on my way to present at an event tonight, so don't have time for a review, but I wanted to share something I've been thinking for a while...and open it up for discussion.

When I was a kid comics readers were also book readers. Voracious book readers. Kids who read comics read pretty much anything that had words on it and for ages every comic fan I knew read way above their "appropriate" age level. We were the only kids not surprised in sex ed class, because we'd all been reading books for adults for so long that it wasn't a shock to the system how that all worked.

I can't help but notice that many manga and anime fans these days seem to be...pretty bad readers. They don't get literary or artistic references. In fact, if it's not games, they often miss that anything all was referenced. They haven't read classics in mostly any genre. If it wasn't a movie, they've never heard of it.

I'm not saying every reader of manga is a bad reader or every watcher of anime is a bad watcher, but based on comments here and on forums Internet-wide and in fansubs, where references are often missed in herds, some folks really need to crack open a book without pictures from time to time.

So, here's the discussion part.

If you were going to suggest *two* novels for a manga reader to read to extend their understanding of the world they inhabit, which novels would it be? It can be any genre, history, myth, sci-fi, non-fiction, anything. If you are suggesting a book like Romance of the Three Kingdoms, it might be helpful to suggest an edition or ISBN, as well.

My two suggestions are:

Summer of the Ubume, by Natsuhiko Kyogoku, recently translated by Vertical. It covers a *lot* of ground through Japanese religion, mysticism, the world of Yokai and science. All very useful information if you want to understand tons of references in anime and manga. And there was, gods help us, an anime based on the next book of the series, Mouryou no Hako. Yes, it's that author.

My second suggestion may seem totally off the wall, but trust me there's a reason I'm suggesting it. If you haven't already read One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, I beg you to do it now. It's a brilliant tale of human nature. Which is *exactly* what manga and anime fans seem to lack - a critical understanding of human nature. Not only does a little dose of Stalinist Russsia make you realize how wonderful your life is, Solzhenitsyn is simply a great writer.

I'll take the best and most cogent comments (suggestions with commentary on why it's a good choice) and move them to the body of the post with links for easier access.

And let me remind you that classic literature is often found for *free* in your local library. So you don't really have an excuse to not at least try a book or two.

So..let's have 'em - what do you think people ought to read in order to be better readers of manga and watchers of anime?

***

WOW! What fantastic suggestions! Here are a few that are either extremely popular, or just amazing, "You really ought to read this" kind of books. I'll break them down into a few categories for ease of understanding the motivation behind the suggestion. But don't limit yourself to these - read all the comments and read all the books. I've added a few to my own to-read list, in fact. And please remember, you can find almost all of these and the ones suggested in the comments at your local library - for FREE.

Japanese Literature

Kwaidan - A must-read for understanding of Japanese spirits and monsters, known as yokai.
Summer of the Ubume - a must-read for psychology meets yokai
Tale of Genji - Aside from being the oldest novel, it's the oldest josei work. You're read this a million times even if you've never read it once - it's about a pretty boy, the women he treats like crap and his clothes.

Russian Literature

Crime and Punishment - As Kate mentions, many Japanese manga artists went through a "Russian" phase. This book is a classic of psychology.
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - because this lesson of managing expectations is timeless.

There are no new plots

Shakespeare - He did it all.
Decameron - Boccacio did it all first.

Classic Girl's Literature

Anne of Green Gables - intense friendship between girls, echoed by practically every schoolgirl story ever. Got your souer right here.

Little Women - Classic, classic, classic. And mentioned in every third school play.

Little House on the... - no one mentioned this, but this, along with Little Women *defined* American girls' literature for a century, in the same way Hana Monogatari defined Japanese girl's lit.

Human nature

1984 and Animal Farm - These two brutal, ham-handed allegories on politics make sense every day in every place on the planet.

Tale of Two Cities - Deception, love, self-sacrifice and giving one up for the team maps perfectly to just about any anime or manga.

and in a category by itself;

Just READ this already

Alice in Wonderland and Alice Through the Looking Glass - These stories have been ripped, stomped, shredded, parodied in too many anime or manga series to count. It has instantly recognizable visual imagery and is, after the Bible and Shakespeare, the third most quoted book in the *world*. If you haven't read the original, you've missed.

Read. It make you a better person and a better fan!

New Anime Fall 2009 Season: Kämpfer

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:32:19 PST

Kämpfer is either an incredibly silly anime with no redeeming value whatsoever or a surprisingly intelligent critical look at "magical girl" tropes in seinen anime.

As a silly anime, it's the story of Senou Natsuru, a a stereotypically nice but sort of dorky guy who, for plot purposes, suddenly changes into a girl in order to fight for her life. Natsuru is one of those characters who asks the wrong questions badly, so gets useless information in return. Several episodes into the series he still has basically no clue why he's fighting. Natsuru as a boy is nice, ineffective and stutter-y. As a girl, Natsuru is *exactly* the same, except she now has magic powers. Natsuru's neighbor and friend, Sakura, is uninterested in Natsuru as a guy, but when she is saved by female Natsuru, she falls head over heels. ("And the moral of that story," said the Duchess, "is that women will always fall for magic competence over ineffectual niceness." To which Alice replied, "Nonsense! The moral of the story is that Sakura is a lesbian.")

As a surprisingly intelligent critical look at tropes of the guy's version of magical girl anime, we are introduced to a man who is a better woman than he is a man, but really not that great of a woman. He transforms into a magical fighter then given *no* reason to fight; he is pursued by the women around him as both a man and a woman, but is incapable of following through with any of them in any form. There are "cute" magical mascots in the form of eviscerated and mangled stuffed animals - I'll come back to them later - and, in what I consider a piece d'resistance - he is subjected to all the stereotypical service dress-up scenes after which he sighs, "I feel as I've just had my humanity stripped from me." Yes, Natsuru, you have. Just as all the other girl characters who've been put through that nonsense have.

The real reason any sane person would watch this anime is the "Entrails Animals." These evil and unpleasant little mascot creatures are voiced by popular voice actresses - with a 4th wall crushing recognition of each other's voices. Not *just* popular voice actresses, but VAs that have themselves built up a following voicing characters in exactly the kind of anime of which this series is a meta-comment.

I'd like to give Kämpfer the benefit of the doubt and assume that it is consciously written as a poke at the genre. I'd like to, but I can't. It's probably just a really silly series. ("And the moral of that story, said the Duchess, "is that you can't compare gender-switching comedy anime to a critical reading of societal norms." Alice nodded solemnly. "I think that's the only sense I've ever heard from you.")

Ratings:

Art - 8
Story - 4
Characters - 5
Yuri - 7
Loser FanBoy - 36

Overall - 7

Taisho Yakyuu Musume Manga, Volume 1

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:00:42 PST

Once again it is my great pleasure to welcome back George R., with another timely review, so I can get a few chores done. :-) As it happens, thanks to another Okazu Superhero, Bruce P., I am currently reading this very volume, so I may have some comments at the bottom. In the meantime, George, the room is all yours....

Seeing Taisho Yakyuu Musume from this summer's anime lineup prompted me to look at its appearance in other media. This show followed the now-common path of starting as a light novel series, then branching out to both manga and anime adaptations. I'll talk about Volume 1 of the manga here, as I still need to get the novels. In this case, the manga adaptation is done by Shimpei Itoh, a well-established mangaka, though not one known for Yuri.

I think the manga works well on its own, though it is interesting to see how it differs from the anime. For instance, several girls end up playing different positions, which makes me wonder where the novels originally assigned them.

The art is unquestionably Shimpei Itoh's style. This differs from the anime, but is just fine in its own right. In fact, the art and humor remind me of his 1999 manga, Shoujo Tantei (Girl Detective), which was also set in the Taisho era, but has no Yuri. I think Itoh-sensei's girls are a bit less moe than those of the anime, or at least Koume and Noe are.

It also follows Itoh-sensei's story-telling style including a healthy dose of physical comedy and over-the-top humor. Somehow I doubt the novels include Noe experimenting with small rockets for military use (unsuccessfully) or suggesting they make bats from aluminum (accompanied by an illustration of an aluminum-armored tank from the '70s). Those just seem his style. A couple bath scenes give us a little humor and also a chance to see the characters modelling their birthday suits. I wonder why the Japanese seem to have a fascination with spring-based resistance training harnesses. I've seen these in multiple shows. These appear a couple times here, though only played for humor.

The first volume of the manga covers introducing the characters and assembling the team. Baseball doesn't even come up until the second chapter where we get Akiko's motivation and her request to form the team.

Koume is still the sweet girl who happily follows and supports her friends through their adventures. Her mother seems to have no problem with her and baseball, wishing her a fun time and even letting her wear a western school uniform.

Akiko is the same rich daughter who is chauffeured to school, so naturally she is called Ojou. Noe is more of a ringleader here, taking Akiko's baseball idea and running with it. She is the only one, other than Anna-sensei, who starts knowing anything about baseball.

We are given a closer look at some of the supporting characters. Shizuka is possessive of her twin sister Tomoe, and they both seem equally athletically competent. Their dad is a well-known doll-maker, and some call the twins living dolls he made. Tomoe likes Koume's friendliness and warmth and hopes that becoming friends will warm the heart under her (and maybe Shizuka's) cool porcelain skin.

Tamaki and Yuki are childhood friends. Tama-chan takes care of all the cooking at home as her mother is busy being a newspaper reporter. This may be a bit anachronistic for Japan of this era, but I find it hard to argue with women having independent careers like she and Anna-sensei do. However, Tama-chan certainly wishes her mother was a bit more responsible at home, which may be the source of Tama-chan's attitude. Yuki is her same responsible, caring self, supplying her
friends with advice and equipment among other things.

Saburo comes off well as Koume's fiancee, even taking her out for a date to watch a practice baseball game. When he finds she knows little of the game, he happily explains it to her.

What Yuri is here requires goggles to see. Mine needed a higher setting for the manga than the anime. We are treated to displays of both akogare and shinyuu in the different relationships among the girls. Kome and Akiko vary between the two. Tama-chan and Yuki have the comfortable ease of shinyuu, whereas Tomoe's feelings for Koume are definitely akogare, as are those of Tomoe's fanclub.

Ratings:

Art - 7
Story - 6
Characters - 8
Yuri - 1
Loser Fanboy - 4

Overall - 6

In all, I found this an amusing manga. Though it never made me fall off the couch laughing, it did bring many a grin to my face. I will admit to preferring the anime. Perhaps because it seemed better at keeping the feel of the Taisho era: some of Itoh-sensei's humor jars my mind out of the era. Or perhaps seeing the anime first left me naturally biased in its favor.

Erica here. The art style is distinctively Itoh's and, as a result, everyone is a bit over the top. Akiko's fiancée's rant about women in the home was three pages long and done at high volume, as opposed to his quiet, old-fashioned confusion as to why on earth women would want more from the anime.

I disagree that baseball is not mentioned until the second chapter - and, oddly, it seems that you're not alone in thinking this, George. In the first chapter, the baseball team is *already* formed, Koume's mother asks her if it's fun to play baseball, and she waxes rhapsodic about how much fun practice and games are. The rest of the story is a flashback to how the team was formed. I'm guessing that, since Itoh's specialty is not sports manga, they skipped trying to show any of that. :-) So we can understand that Koume and the others are, in fact, *already* playing ball, even if we don't see it. Which we don't. :-)

The other thing I wanted to add was that the anime, surprisingly, added a great deal of dignity to the story. By pulling back from over-the-top antics and rants, the issue of feminism was handled really, shockingly, well. Considering the dehumanization of women into object d'fetish so often in anime, it was just that much better handled than I could have possibly expected. Where the anime was a comedy-drama, with an emphasis on "sports drama," this manga is definitely "comedy." Fun, art times funny, but firmly in the "wackiness ensues" side of comedy. It is Itoh, after all. :-)

Well thank you, as always, George for a great review!

Yuri Manga: Manga no Tsukirikata, Volume 2

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:36:41 PST

In Volume 2 of Manga no Tsukurikata, it's been a year and Morishita and Kawaguchi are still going out. They haven't moved past the occasional hand-holding, but hey, that's okay Kawaguchi's manga is progressing, so...yay?

Kawaguchi's plan appears to be working; by going out with Morishita, she has stimulated her creativity and her new manga series has debuted. She is thankful, she is kind, she gives Morishita a one-year anniversary present. Morishita is appreciative, but this prolonged strain on her one-sided feelings is starting to show. She has a crisis of faith about her own manga, and about her relationship with Kawaguchi.

I can't blame Morishita - in a year, they still aren't calling each other by their given names, a sign that they haven't truly moved into any kind of intimate relationship at all. Kawaguchi is supportive and encouraging - everything a sempai ought to be, but still, is failing at the lover part.

For my part as a reader, I'm having a hard time understanding this manga. ("Understanding" as in, "why the heck am I reading this?") It's so barely Yuri that it's almost unfair to give it that label, but it *is* Yuri. Morishita's feelings are real. I'm having a lot of trouble coping with Kawaguchi's attitude - a year is a loooooong time to string someone along when you don't really love them. Her affection for the younger woman is undeniable, but that's it - it's affection. Like a sister, a friend, a sempai for her beloved kouhai. It's annoying to watch Morishita hanging on the hook with no worm in sight.

And then there's the real plot. The real plot has nothing whatsoever to do with any real or imagined relationship - it's a meta-story about drawing a Yuri manga. Here I am, the mangaka says to us in each chapter, flailing around trying to write a Yuri manga when I don't really "get" the whole thing. Which is exactly what the series feels like - a Yuri manga written by someone who doesn't "get" the whole thing.

The issue of honesty that I brought up in Volume 1 is not addressed at all in Volume 2, and I feel like the mangaka has abdicated authority on the story, The potential is slipping away as chapter after chapter of not hardly anything glides by. As a story of a woman drawing manga, it's not bad, but there's this whole issue of her completely fake relationship in the way of my enjoying it. It's not just Morishita who is being cheated out of a good experience, it's the reader, as well.

Ratings:

Art - 7
Story - 6
Characters - 6
Yuri - 3
Loser FanBoy - 1

Overall - 6

Best chapter of this volume was when Kawaguchi's fan/assistant arrives and spends the entire chapter cluelessly dissing Morishita's art, not realizing she's a popular mangaka in her own right.

Click Manhwa, Volume 4 (English)

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:44:34 PST

There are two crucial qualities for a "Love Comedy" (as opposed to a 'romantic comedy,' which is something else entirely.)

First, there ought to be Love. Almost without exception, both Japanese manga and Korean manhwa fail at this part. (I don't know if Chinese manhua does, since I have read very little of it, but I suspect so.) Instead of characters who love one another, they are filled with characters who barely tolerate each other and are, from time to to time actively violent both verbally and physically. This, we are meant to understand is because they *care deeply* about one another.

It's not that this is particularly unrealistic. There are many couples who show their love by sniping incessantly at one another. But it's less fun than a barrel of monkeys for people caught on the sidelines. (I'm saying this with complete awareness that my wife and I have a strong tendency to be that kind of couple.)

Translated to a story, it makes the characters really unlikable. If you don't like him, we think, why not just walk away? Love is not some overwhelming magnetic force that means you *have* to stay with her.

The second thing a Love Comedy needs is Comedy. This is also something that manga and manhwa are pretty slipshod on. Flipping up a girl's skirt is neither romantic nor funny, for instance. "Accidentally" grabbing a girl's breast is simply not as hilarious as manga editors seem to think. And manic-depression in the form of denial, even when you call it tsundere isn't really all that charmingly fun.

The problem with Click, Volume 4 is that it completely fails to have much Love or much Comedy.

There is *some* love. Joonha is "in love with" her idea of Jinhoo, but it's not Love. It's more like an obsession, or an itch. They would even make an okay couple since Jinhoo knows from years of experience what an ass Joonha is, but Joonha's gender change is as much an obstacle to their being together as her original gender was.

Since we all know men and women absolutely, positively cannot be friends without sexual feelings for one another, a perfectly good friendship between perfectly good equals is ruined by Taehyun's feelings for Joonha. On the one hand, it's exhausting, on the other, Taehyun's interest in Joonha is pretty much the only honest affection there is in the story.

And then there's Heewon. She has no Love in her, for Joonha, for herself, for anyone. She's wounded and angry and lashing out. And as a joke, she's tired. Her verbal and physical abuse of everyone around her is exhausting, and the fact that Taehyun's ~~lackey~~ friend is a perfect partner for her dominatrix side isn't really satisfying on any level.

Every one of these characters has gobs of talent and money and not an ounce of Love or Comedy in them. It makes for a constipated read, something you watch like a train wreck, waiting for the inevitable crash.

However, I can't find it in my heart to hate these characters. They, like Jessica Rabbit, were drawn this way. I can't *quite* stop reading this series until Heewon gives up Joonha for good and then everyone will be tucked neatly in proper little heterosexual boxes, except for the Jinhoo x Joonha thing, which will be strung along as a fake BL story as long as the author can manage.

Ratings:

Art - 6
Story - 6
Characters - 6
Yuri - .5
Loser FanBoy - 1

Overall - 6

Thanks kindly to the sponsor of today's review, Dan P. I feel bad for you, my heroes, that better stuff is not being translated, but your support is nonetheless very much appreciated!

Oh, and a Love Comedy that does work? Strawberry Shake Sweet. Funny, and actually about love.

Yuri Drama CD: Blue Drop, Enemies Side

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:19:31 PST

What you've all been waiting for! (Admit it, you were...) A Blue Drop Drama CD that deals with everyone's favorite half-alien lesbian, Yui and her on-again, off-again, wish-I-could-love-you-but-have-to-kill-you relationship with Misato-sensei right out of the first volume of the Blue Drop manga.

Having recently slogged through a number of near-identical stories by Yoshitomi Akihito, it was instantly apparent that the stories in this Drama CD are probably his strongest ever. Yui is a sloppy drunk, a letch and a goof, but she's honest and gentle and cares. Misato is also a letch (because being an alien means you're not just lesbian, you're a carnivorous consumer of women with no self-control) who is actually quite sympathetic.

Their story centers around Shouko who has been injected by Misato's serum and is (temporarily) an Issejin. The resistance makes themselves odious, the humans aligned with the aliens make themselves moreso and it's left to Yui to protect Shouko from pretty much everyone.

In between the story, we learn dribs and drabs about the alien invasion, why the water is not safe for humans and other backstory stuff - and we learn about the poignant, unresolvable relationship between Misato and Yui.

If you are a fan of the first manga volume and have even the most basic Japanese skills, you will definitely want to get this DCD. If you have little Japanese, this is not the series you want to be practicing with - there is a lot of fake/technical and military terms. But, if you're familiar with the manga and can understand a basic school-day conversation, you'll be able to make it through those conversations with some little difficulty.

I was surprised at how...sloppy...Yui sounds. She sounds like she's faking about 80% of what we hear, which totally works for the character. The story between her and Misato desperately needs a sequel. Something after all that rebellion stuff is resolved.

And it nicely whetted my appetite for the upcoming Blue Drop TV series release. :-)

Ratings:

Art - 7
Story - 7
Characters - 7
Yuri - 6
Loser FanBoy - 6

Overall - 7

There's an extra comic that's a continuation of the extra from the previous DCD about a girl whose Isseijin sempai has introduced her to tradtional Japanese bondage, starting something she can't control. lol

Yuri Network News - October 31, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 09:25:35 PST

Happy Halloween!

Yuri Anime

According to Anime News Network, Pre Cure Fresh anime is being made into an Online Game, which mimics the "anime's world of Clover Town, and users (primarily children) can create their own avatars to experience life there and interact with Love Momozono, Miki Aono, Inori Yamabuki, and the other anime characters."

***

Yuri Manga

From Sylwia, we get a link to a Polish lesbian comic book anthology - this anthology contains nine stories and one pin-up, all about lesbian love, life, coming out and other things. All the authors are from Poland. The official relase date will be 20th of November. We're looking forward to seeing it, Sylwia!

And finally, there's a link for Rakuen Le Paradis - and at least a few of the stories are Yuri. I'm so hoping it's a cut above Tsubomi, that's for sure.

***

Other News

Anime News Network also reports that the 5 actresses that voiced the "Inner Senshi" of Sailor Moon, will be reuniting for an event to celebrate the DVD box release. How I wish I could be there....

Writers Residence did an interview with me as an editor, about query letters and rejection and all that kind of reality stuff.

***

Snatches of Yuri

In case you haven't had a chance to wallow in Amano Kozue's newest Yuri Goggle-busting manga full of women who are affectionate, but not romantic,
Amanchu!, Volume 1 is out and ready for you to enjoy.

Gakko No Sensei - I'm super lazy today, but I'm pretty sure this is about a girl who likes her teacher. I could be wrong, but I'm too lazy to actually read the description. Update: I was indeed wrong! Wai tells us that it's about three girls who *become* school teachers and it is indeed Yuri. Thanks Wai!

Bamora has high school girls on the cover. I'm guessing at least one likes the other.

***

That's a wrap for the week!

Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There's a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage - stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent's badge.

Thanks to all of you - you make this a great Yuri Network!

Yuri Manga: Hinagiku Junshin Jogakuen, Volume 1

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:17:52 PDT

Hinagiku Junshin Jogakuen, Volume 1 is the story of Ami, a smart, beautiful, elegant, rich girl who collides in the hall with sweatpants-wearing, geeky-looking Yui and falls madly in love. It comes as a great shock, therefore, to find that Yui has been in her class all the time.

Yui is smart, she is definitely a geek, and she works very hard at a part-time job, but that none of that explains the incessant slamming into people. Nor does it explain why other people slam into Ami, too. Nor does it explain why, after Yui and Ami become friends, and Yui affects Ami's life by introducing her to rice balls and to the world of part-time jobs so she makes her own friends and money, why the manga suddenly explodes into a few final chapters about things like bathing suits, cosplay and aliens. I kept waiting for Dondi and shady underworld figures to show up just to complete the "wtf" factor.

The basic plot of the first 4/5 of this volume go like this: Yui slams into Ami, with an onigiri in her mouth. Yui *loves* onigiri. Ami spends a LOT of time in this volume obsessing about rice balls - wondering what they are, trying them for the first time, trying to make them, having her cook make them, all in an attempt to get closer to Yui. Of course, if Ami just *asked* if she and Yui could be friends, it's obvious that Yui would be glad to comply.

When Ami takes over for Yui at her part-time job selling fried things at a convenience store in what was really the top couple of chapters, a whole new world of relating to people opens up for Ami. She never really gets her wish to get closer to Yui the way she'd like, but she gets something more important - self-reliance.

This volume of manga is silly and repetitive. It's a sit-com in which the "sit" is Yui slamming into Ami. But despite that, it has some genuine charm. And just about the time you think it's time for the story to progress a bit - Aliens. Cosplay. Bathing Suits. The usual.

Ratings:

Art - 7 4-koma cute, you know the type
Story - 5 I'm being generous. There actually isn't any story
Characters - 7 There is some character development, instead of a story
Yuri - 4
Loser FanBoy - None, until the final chapters, then 5

Overall - 6

I wish the author had had the opportunity or balls to move the story forward. I would have liked to see Yui clue in a tad. But, should you be willing to wait it out, there is a Volume 2 out and who knows, onigiri might lead to love after all.

Lesbian Novel: Songs From the Other Side of the Wall

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:01:29 PDT

Today falls under the "now for something completely different" category. But first, let me tell you a story.

When I first started writing Yuri fanfiction, I was pretty much one of a handful of women writing in the genre and, as far as I can remember (which isn't very far,) I was *the* out lesbian doing so. So, I got a lot of emails from people - women who were happy to see stories by a woman, not some nerdy teen boy, etc and also from guys who wanted my feedback. Many of these guys wrote to me to tell me how other people said "they wrote women well." I almost invariably disagreed, because any writer who sees his or her characters as "men" or "women" is probably too caught up in gender roles to write anyone well.

So, when recently I received a message on Facebook from Dan Holloway asking me to read and possibly review his lesbian novel, Songs From the Other Side of the Wall, I cringed. Years of reading sad attempts at "realistic" lesbians written by men made me reluctant to read this. I told Dan that I would read the book with one upfront condition - if I hated it, I would not review it, because no one would gain from me skewering it. If I did not hate it, I *might* review it, but no promises. Dan was totally cool with that. And he never once said he "wrote women well," so I had some hope.

Songs From the Other Side of the Wall is a *very* good book.

6 pages into it, I was really, really enjoying it. The main character was likable, real and yes, I would have her over for lunch.

The story follows Szandrine, (don't roll your eyes - there's a reason for her name,) a young Hungarian musician, after the loss of a dear online friend and his sister, with whom Szandrine had fallen in love at first sight.

Dan's writing is convincing - Szandrine is mature for her 17 years, but still 17. Her poetry, songs and writing ring absolutely dead-on true for her personality and age.

The story travels in intent, and often location, all over Europe, which I quite liked. But above all what holds this book together is Szandrine; her loves, her likes and dislikes, her quirks and even her stupid skinny jeans. lol

It's a rather complicated story, and not perfect - there about three handwaves too many to be perfect. There was one instance - one in the entire book - where the author's voice overshadows the character's - easily ignorable. And honestly, I didn't love the ending. I didn't like where it had been going, and I wasn't thrilled with where it ended up, but I never once thought about stopping reading. Overall, a great read. Thank you Dan, for being brave and sending me this book. And for writing women well. :-)

Ratings:

Story - 8 Good story, but too many handwaves
Characters - 9 Very real people
Lesbian - 10
Loser Anything - .5, because chances are without pictures, they couldn't follow it.

Overall - 8

Now, here's the best part - you can read this book too. For free. Dan is offering his book as a free PDF download on his website. If you like it, I ask one thing from you - when it becomes available in print - buy it. The hard copy I received is a softcover trade book of decent quality. Definitely worth a buy.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy Songs as much as I did.

Anti-Yuri Manga: Maria Holic, Volume 1 (English)

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:44:36 PDT

I want you all to know that I REALLY tried. I took a deep breath, smiled and prepared to do my very very best to approach Maria Holic Volume 1, with an open and cheerful mind. It is absolutely obvious that Maria Holic is meant to be read as broad parody of Yuri tropes. (Yes, yes, pun intended.) What it is, however, is broad and crude.

Kanako is attending a very elite all-girl's school where she hopes to become closer to the memory of her late mother who was a student there, and to find a soulmate, because she is attracted to women. Kanako is portrayed as a typical "onnazuki," a person who likes women, but is too hapless and hopeless to get a girlfriend. Kanako falls for practically every girl she sees, which is both cute and sad at the same time.

Because this is not a romance, but a "comedy," Kanako immediately falls into the clutches of physically cute, but emotionally sadistic Mariya, who is really a boy cross-dressing for reasons not yet mentioned. (I know they will be. I'm reviewing *Volume 1*.)

Kanako blunders around the school both befriending and be-enemying various characters, and generally making a fool of herself for our "entertainment." The people around her act in ways that make no sense, except that they are meant to be exceedingly broad parodies of typical Yuri tropes, and so act like those tropes unrestrained by sense or sensibility.

I want you to know that I did my best to not read more into this manga than was warranted. I will *not* rant about how Maria Holic is not only anti-Yuri but anti-woman. I squelched that pretty hard as I sat there gritting my teeth, feeling more and more cranky as I read.

I will not talk about how a feminist reading of this volume made me want to grab up my friends Mr. Knife and Mr, Hot Tar and take them trick-or-treating with me, because that would be me being ridiculous and you'd all take me seriously.

What I will say is this - I found the anti-lesbian "humor" painful. At one point, Mariya calls Kanako "lesbo girl" and it really, really upset me. It was meant to be hurtful to Kanako. We're supposed to find humor in her reaction to this. But, when in a single panel she pleaded with her dead mother, "why is everyone picking on me?" I lost it and started to cry. If you found that line funny, I hate you. It's as simple as that.

When I reviewed the Mariaholic anime, I said that the anime was, at it's core, about the emotional torture of a young lesbian. I can see that the manga is not quite that - it's colder, more dispassionate. Where Sasamekikoto plays with typical Yuri tropes in a goofy way, drawing on their faces, if you will, Maria Holic is more mean about it - flipping up skirts and then saying *we* overreacted.

Ratings:

Overall - For me, it's in negative numbers. Too many tears, too many nosebleeds, too much pain.

The very worst thing about this series is knowing that, instead of finding love in a healthy relationship, Kanako will be fall prey to Stockholm Syndrome, and Mariya - who is loathesome - will become progressively more sympathetic until we can justify what will clearly be an unhealthy, unequal, unreasonable relationship. Once again, it is Mariya on the cover, not Kanako. And that says everything there is to say about this series.

Thanks to Okazu Superhero Dan P. for sponsoring today's review!

Interview with Yuri Manga Artist Morishima Akiko

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:15:44 PDT

As anyone who is paying the least little bit of attention to the Yuri manga scene will know, right now one of the most prolific and popular Yuri manga artists is Morishima Akiko-sensei. Not only is she drawing for Yuri Hime (both magazines and the cell phone comics) she always has projects with other publishers and her own work as well.

Morishima-sensei has been a staple of the Yuri scene for many years, starting with her own circle, Girlish, and she's also drawn (straight) shoujo manga for a number of publishers. She does design and art for her website and her blogs about her work and her life.

I had the pleasure of meeting Morishima-sensei at Yuricon 2005 in Tokyo, where she was one of our guests. She interviewed me briefly at the time, so I felt that it was more than fair I got her back on that. lol This summer, Morishima-sensei released the third and fourth collected volumes she's done with Ichinjisha. She very graciously took time out of her schedule to talk a little bit with us here. Please give an enthusiastic Okazu welcome to Morishima Akiko-sensei!

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Q1: Please Tell Us About Yourself
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I am a Japanese woman who won't stop loving Girls and Yuri.
Both my hobby and my work is manga.

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Q2: How did you become a mangaka? Was it a childhood dream?
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It all started when my 4-panel comics were adopted by lesbian magazine Anise.

Although, to my regret, Anise suspended publication, I continued with a public sequel on the Web, so it might become serialized in a 4-panel magazine.

My childhood dream was to become a company employee with a steady income and a steady life.
But, you need a plan, not a dream. Perhaps, one day I might possibly grow up. (smile)

Although I liked drawing, I didn't think I had the talent to become a professional...
I am the most surprised at my current life. I'm very grateful for this happiness.

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Q3: Which artists are your role models?
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Japanese musician Yuki.
Her music and her self are both very cute, yet very tough, and her way of thinking is totally flexible.

I always think that I want to draw such an attractive heroine.

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Q4: If you were not a mangaka, what kind of work would you be doing?
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I went to school to study architectural design.
Even now, I love looking at buildings.
I also enjoy drawing doujinshi and working on my website.

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Q5: What were your motivations for creating Yuri Manga?
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While right now the number of Yuri manga is growing, just a little while ago there were hardly any stories of women in love to read.
So, thinking "If there's nothing to read, then I'm going to have to draw if for myself," was the primary motive.

Because it takes a lot of time to draw a manga, it is very difficult to do it as a hobby. Therefore I am very happy that I can draw as my work.

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Q6.1: Please tell us a little bit about your process.
How long does a chapter take to draw?
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In a busy month, working by myself and including dialogue, I can do about 30 pages. If an assistant is helping, 40-50 pages.

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Q6.2: (Please tell us a little bit about your process.)
How many assistants work with you? What is the first step, what is the final step?
-------------------------------------------------------

I have two assistants.

First the frame borders and the backgrounds are drawn, then small things are added.
First I do the panel layout, and last the screentones are added, both of which I do. I do most of the drawing myself during this time.

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Q7: What has been the reaction in Japan to Hanjuku Joshi, Rakuen no Jouken and Ruri-iro Yume?
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"I get the feeling that this is familiar and real, but also a dream, too," is often the impression, I am told. To me, this feeling is a basic of shoujo manga, an especially likable quality, so that makes me happy. More than being popular, I want to feel my manga has continuous support from the people who like it.

The reaction to Hanjuku Joshi has come in three kinds:

People who feel that it's a standard Yuri setting, with a flavor that is sweet and fluffy.
People who feel that it's sympathetic to the romance within sex between women.
Or, people who enjoy both these.

I would like the reader to enjoy it freely, for their own reasons.

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Q8: You got your start with doujinshi. How does it feel to be a leader in this new wave of Yuri manga popularity?
-------------------------------------------------------

Nono, I'm no kind of leader!

I'm just a servant, a servant of Yuri Manga (smile)
I work with pleasure for the Yuri Manga of tomorrow!

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Q10: What question do you have for overseas fans?
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I am always impressed at the zeal of overseas fans, sometimes they have more information than Japanese fans. Everyone, how do you acquire all your information on Japanese books and DVDs?

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Q11: What message do you have for overseas fans?
-------------------------------------------------------

I would think that Yuri Manga is something that is strongly Japanese, a particular cultural convention of Japan. So, I am very glad and interested that overseas fans understand it. The word "Yuri" has reached people from far away countries, hasn't it? Please continue your support and consideration of Japanese Yuri.

***

Thank you so much Morishima-sensei for your time and all your hard work creating beautiful Yuri for us to read.

Readers, let's show our support for Morishima-sensei's hard work by buying Hanjuku Joshi, Ruri-iro Yume and Rakuen no Jouken. Remember, it's nice for you to read a scan, but that doesn't help the artist at *all*. Without the artists, you wouldn't have anything to read. So please, join the majority of readers here at Okazu by paying for your entertainment and supporting artists like Morishima-sensei for their creation of great Yuri!

Yuri Network News - October 24, 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 07:02:35 PDT

There is getting to be *so* much Yuri news, that I'm thinking about developing a form, to standardize formatting... :-)

Yuri Manga

Bruce P has written me with what well may be the piece of news that is the *most* interesting to me. He tells us that the Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (Yokohama Shopping Log) manga is being reprinted in Japan. Why is this interesting to us? Because Kodansha USA is finally up and running...and they've started with two old classics, Akira and Ghost in the Shell. (Interestingly, they've reprinted Dark Horse's editions, and in the case of the latter title, used the censored version, so no gratuitous lesbian sex for Americans from Kodansha.) I'm not saying that YKK being reprinted in Japan has any direct bearing on Kodansha USA...just that now would be an exceptionally good time for them to consider it.

In any case, Bruce P. says, "the first two volumes will be released on 10/23. This is great news since many of the original volumes are no longer available through Amazon.co.jp. Now if only they would reprint the art book." Here are links to the reprinted Volume 1 and Volume 2.

Shelia was the first of several to point out that Nakamura Chin, creator of Gunjo, has a short story collection out called Chinman. If you love her art, as I do, I hope you'll support her work.

Also, Sheila and Erin both mentioned that there is yet *another* Yuri anthology planned, called Comic Lily, while the publisher who put out Sakuraike's work's new anthology has changed it's name to Yuri Shoujo - and it appears to be planned for a November 19 release at Comitia, so not necessarily a bookstore release. We'll see.

Waaahhh. Such drama over a title.

Here are some recent and upcoming manga releases:
Comic Yuri Hime Magazine

Gokujou Drops 3 by Mikuni H.

Otome Senshi Lovely 5 by Jonouchi Nene

Honey Quartet by Tokoro Kemeko

Also on December 4th Mori Natsuko will be releasing a new novel called Futari no Hitori Asobi.

And Yuri Hime Wildrose 4 is due out in December.

***

Yuri Anime

George and I are on the same page, wanting to let you know about some Yuri anime this season. Kampfer is not going to win any awards, but there is a strain of Yuri running through it, as a country might say there's a strain of virus running through it. :-)

Also no less ridiculous, but somehow more fun, To Aru Kagaku no Railgun has a major Yuri character, played for laughs and pathos.

Also, George and several others noted that first episode of Hidamari Sketch x365 Tokubetsuhen aired last week.

I also want to say - when are we gong to see a Yuri anime from Ichijinsha? They were the one who unleashed Loveless on the world. I think it's time for them to provide us with the same kind of virality. Here's today's question - which Ichinjinsha (Yuri Hime, Yuri Hime S, Comic YH) series would *you* like to see as an anime?

***

Other News

This past Wednesday, I had the pleasure of moderating a Queer Manga Panel at NYU as part of their Pride month. The panelists were Ivan Velez Jr., June Kim, Hiroki Otsuka and the always fabulous Mari Morimoto. One of the attendees, James Leung, did a great write-up of the panel, so I'll let him tell you all about it on his blog, Random Access Information.

And last, but very much not at *all* least, I want to draw your attention to an amazing piece of investigative reporting by YNN correspondent Bruce McF. This is not Yuri, but it is *huge*. Because of some interesting circumstances, Bruce began to look at where pirated streaming anime was served from and he uncovered the fact that the largest percentage of illegally streaming anime in America is served from properties owned by Rupert Murdoch. Go read the article - it's absolutely fascinating.
Rupert Murdoch is the Biggest Pirate of the US Anime Market.

***

Well, we began with a Bruce and we ended with a Bruce. That's a wrap for the week!

Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There's a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage - stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent's badge.

Thanks to all of you - you make this a great Yuri Network!

Yuri Anime: Sasamekikoto (English)

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 16:43:32 PDT

What an amazing year. Not only have we had a ton of Yuri in anime in general, we had the delightful and lovely Aoi Hana and now...unbelievably, in English, for free, legally streamed to our computers, the Yuri comedy-drama Sasamekikoto. It's like a dream state. lol

In short, Sasamekikoto, the "thing that is whispered," is a story about Murasame Sumika who is in love with her best friend, Kazama Ushio. It's a hopeless love because, despite the fact that Ushio loudly proclaims that she likes girls, she only likes cute, petite girls. Tall, athletic, hypercompetent Sumi just isn't cute and frilly, the way Ushio likes them. May I just editorialize for a moment and say Ushio's an *idiot.* Sumi is perfect.

The first few episodes start off on a dour note, with Sumika pining away for an oblivious Ushio, who appears to fall for a new girl each week. The first few episodes follow the manga pretty closely, so I don't expect too much change as the story goes on.

Sasamekikoto is surprisingly richly animated, well voiced by a mostly-new cast and is an interesting take on a variety of Yuri tropes. Best friend, one-sided love, cross-dressing, and more to come. (For all full breakdown of all the tropes, check out my review of Volume 2 of the manga.) Although the story is decidedly melodramatic, it has pretty steep ups and downs of comedy and drama to manage, which it does pretty well.

The only real negative I can muster for Sasamekikoto is that I suddenly realized - I don't like Ushio. lol Sumi beating the crap out of the bag in karate made me realize that I really *like* Sumi and want to slap Ushio. It's a sign of a good story that I'm feeling anything at all about any of the characters, so bravo for the anime producers.

And bravo for Crunchyroll, who continue to invest in Yuri! They've told me that they have a genuine interest in building up the Yaoi and Yuri audiences, and I'm very excited to see that they are putting their money where their mouth is. Now we, the Yuri-viewing audience, needs to do the same.

I know, I know, the licensing doesn't cover huge swatches of the planet. Trust me - if they could get those covered, they would. But for those of us in the US and Oceania - here it is, Yuri. For Free. In English. One hour after it airs in Japan. Support this please, because the better their numbers are - the more they will get. It's really *that* simple.

For the price of a sandwich a month, you get good Yuri like Sasamekikoto and Aoi Hana and really stupid Yuri like Koihime Musou and not Yuri, but really, like it needs to be any more weird than it is, like Book of Bantorra. (What? You're not watching it? Oh, you should be...it's absolutely dreadful. Laughably, hilariously so. And Paku Romi as Hamutz Meseta. There are no other reasons needed to watch this.)

Watch Sasamekikoto and collect the whole set of Yuri Tropes!

Ratings:

Art - 8, with a few obvious cost-saving measures
Story - 7
Characters - 7, but they will get better
Yuri - 8
Loser FanBoy - 2

Overall - 7.5

Teenaged girls with wildly roller coastering emotions? Ridiculous.

Joshibu ahoy!

...

I like Tomoe and Miyako best, if anyone cares.

Yuri Manga: Hayate x Blade, Volume 4 (English)

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:50:31 PDT

If you follow *one* series it should be this one. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Hayate x Blade, Volume 4 is a non-stop, fast-paced, slam-dunk, action-filled crazy-fest from the very first page to the very last. And it's funny as hell. As I've come to say on Twitter, it's a 4 SLOL (Snort Laugh Out Loud) book.

The book begins with the end of Ayana and Jun's match and OMG, I cannot believe you can read this in ENGLISH. I remember reviewing it in Japanese and wishing I could share it with you all, because it's so excellent.

Because *so* much happens in this volume, I want to talk about the translation. Yes, Jun does curse. It seems uncharacteristic in this series, but that's only 'cause you haven't met Sid yet. :-D (Sid! How I want you to meet Sid and Nancy! OMG, they are so awesomely hysterical. /Fangirly squeal/) And no, Hayate's comments about her and Ayana being Jon and Ponch and Cagney and Lacey are *not* weird attempts are localization - they are actually what she says.

Once again, I want to thank, worship, akogare the team of translator and adapter on this book for making it feel so right. I feel as if every voice has been kept intact. Adrienne, Ed, you make this series a real pleasure to work on as a professional, and to read as a fan.

Also, I really, really, want to thank Tor and Seven Seas for 1) giving me the opportunity to work on this series and; 2) fixing that one mistake I kept pointing out. You know the one. Thank you. :-)

Jun fights Ayana, Yuho fights Hayate, Jun and Yuho have a tender moment, Hitsugi and Shizuku prepare for their first fight in a while, Hayate gets close to Akira despite dire warnings, and Momoka and Isuzu (Isuzu! OMG, I just love her. I hope you do too.) have a *major* crisis that introduces Michi and Otoha, who are a pair of utter freaks. LOL There is action, comedy, blood, guts, affection, desire and banana peels.

Isuzu=Yuri, and if you are like me and most of the Japanese doujinshi artists, you see Michi and Otoha as a couple, too. Because...duh.

If you are not buying this manga, you are utterly fail. Don't bother trying to explain yourself.

Ratings:

Art - 8
Story - 9
Characters - 9
Yuri - 3
Loser FanBoy - 2

Overall - 9

I want you to know that a contact (not my editor, but another editor) at Tor offered to send me copies, but I refused. I like it better that my Heroes get the credit. Today I thank once again, ever more fervently, Okazu Superhero Eric P. for sponsoring today's review and giving me the chance to sings paeans of joy about the BEST MANGA EVER. IN ENGLISH!

Event: Queer Manga Panel at NYU - tonight!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:14:14 PDT

If you're local to NYC, I hope you'll join me, Hiroki Otsuka, June Kim, Ivan Velez Jr. and Mari Morimoto for a panel on Queer Manga.

Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Time: 6:00pm - 7:30pm
Location: Kimmel Center, Room 912
Street: 60 Washington Square South
City/Town: New York, NY

We're going to discuss Bara, Bian and other Queer manga, as well as the artists' current and upcoming projects. It's going to be a great panel - I hope to see you there!

Yuri Light Novel; 384,403 km ~ Anata ni Sarattara

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:17:10 PDT

When I see a book with illustrations by Kurogane Kenn, my first thought is, "Oh, this is going to be great, I can tell." I'm willing to bet that my tone of voice is not the same as many of yours would be if you were to say that. lol

And so I did say, when I first came across 394,408km ~ Anata ni Sarattara, a light novel written by Kousaka Hio and illustrated by Kenn.

The novel primarily follows the singular obsession of Miyuki for classmate Rise. Miyuki is an honor student, ojou-sama type, but in reality, her family is not rich and she is not able to follow Rise to an elite school after elementary school. But that doesn't stop her from obsessing about her. For eight years.

When Miyu's father suddenly hits the lottery, her first and only concern is to get into the same elite school that Rise attends. With her excellent grades, it's no problem at all. At last, Miyuki can be reunited with her beloved Rise who, by the way, has no idea at all that Miyuki feels this way. Miyuki had asked Rise to be hers, back in 1st grade and is now determined to realize that dream.

On the way to meet Rise, whose class is inexplicably on the floor above her own, Miyu runs into the "Silver Witch," green-eyed Mikado Maria. Maria smells the scent of lilies about Miyuki, and invites her to join her "Romantic Love Study Group." After an odd, lukewarm reunion with Rise, Miyu is approached by the president of the Morals Committee, who recruits her to join the Romantic Love Study Group in order to infiltrate and get the dirt on their repulsive, filthy behavior. Immediately, Miyu can see that the President has some feelings for Maria, but whatever. Since Rise's a member, she'll do it.

The first day in the RLSG is not easy. Witch Maria plays with people like toys and it's immediately obvious that the group follows her whim. She makes Rise and Miyuki flirt for them all, and they end with a kiss. Frustrated that it is merely a kiss between friends, Miyuki walks away from the group.

After witnessing Maria and Rise doing more than just kiss, Miyuki challenges Maria to a duel to win Rise. Maria calls for the match to be strip poker, which Miyu loses, but in the end she does gain Rise.

The rest of the book is them having sex. Sometimes from one perspective, sometimes from the other.

Ratings:

Art - 7
Story - 6
Character - 6
Yuri - 10
Loser FanBoy - 10

Overall - 7

The title, by the way, is the distance between the Moon, of which Miyuki has always fancied herself the Queen, and the Earth, which of course is Rise (her name even contains the character for Earth.) But I think Sean Gaffney said it best when he asked if that was the distance between this book and literature. :-)

Yuri Manga: Transistor Tea Set, Volume 1

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:35:57 PDT

In Transistor Tea Set ~ Denkigai Jizu, Suzu is a mecha otaku who lives and works in the dark depths of the Electic Town area of Akihabara. Her close friend, a younger girl named Sairi, has a raging crush on her, and helps Suzu cope with daily tasks like waking up and eating.

Suzu is not wholly unaware of Sairi's feelings, occasionally asking Sairi if she likes her. Sairi is a typical tsundere, so it's no surprise that her reaction is to scream "Idiot!" and run off.

Sadly for Sairi, Suzu still carries a torch for an old childhood friend, Midori, who had to leave Akihabara to go overseas. They promised to meet again, but that was many years ago. So, when Suzu gets a mysterious phone call and runs home to find that the front part of her shop has been turned into a maid cafe, it's three steps beyond "a shock." Complicating matters, is Midori, returned at long last, acting as the cafe's maid. Midori sucks at cooking, cleaning, making tea and pretty much everything and anything maids might be expected to do. What she wants to do is to be close to Suzu, who probably wants the same thing, but is reacting with typical "comedic" rejection.

The chapters are filled with a lot of self-referential otaku humor, along with some very silly throwaway setups. In one chapter, Midori asks Suzu to build a robo-Maid. She does, but it loses its head (literally) and escapes into the town to create a swath of horror among late-night Akihabara dwellers. I expect the headless robo-Maid to return in some later chapter. You can't just walk away from something like that. :-)

The final chapter of the book follows a ghost/love story that has a happy ending and only tangentially involves Suzu and co.

Yuri is the totally one-sided crush Sairi has for not-unaware, but not probably interested, Suzu, and the mutual, but uneven, feelings Midori and Suzu have for one another. It's not likely to go anywhere, which is kind of a shame, I think I'd like Suzu more if she opened up to Midori, but it's also not the point of the story.

Ratings:

Art - 6
Characters - 7
Story - 6
Yuri - 5
Loser FanBoy - 6

Overall - 6

The point of the story is that Suzu is a schoolgirl uniform-wearing robotics fetishist and Midori dresses like a maid. The end. :-)

Conventions, Trade Shows and the Anime/Manga Bubble

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:00:00 PDT

Another essay in my series on marketing anime and manga in a rapidly changing business environment.

***

It's obvious to most people that anime and manga companies have pulled back *significantly* in their relationships and appearances at conventions, in a way that is not dissimilar to tech companies after the first Internet bubble burst.

I remember clearly walking through Javits Center at the Internet Expo which, at its height, filled the whole building - and two large tents set up outside. The last time I attended the Expo (many years ago) it was in one room. Few large companies were there, and their presence was significantly scaled back.

Anime and manga companies have seen their first bubble burst. And, it struck me that what anime and manga companies have not learned was something that all the tech companies that attended that year did - reward the consumer contingent upon some kind of commitment.

About 7 years ago, I was the moderator at a very large industry panel at Anime Expo. The line for the panel was incredibly long, but I realized that this was because they were giving away t-shirts to anyone who walked in the room. It was no surprise to me that people were entering the room, getting their t-shirt and exiting the room through another door. Even then, I though that could have been handled better.

At an anime convention, every company there has already accomplished the first part of my Microniche Marketing basics - Find Your Audience. The audience has plopped itself in their laps, ready to be engaged.

For the most part, companies use panels to achieve the second part - Engage Your Audience. This is a topic for another essay entirely, because companies go through staff rollover all the time, so the message, the marketing and the format never really has a chance to mature. Companies are still holding the same awkward,"are you getting this title?"-type Q&As that they've been holding since the beginning of time. "Engage" is a step that is still a little weak.

But where anime and manga companies really fail is at Reward Your Market. Instead, they have been rewarding the *audience,* regardless of their commitment to the company. That means there's no meaningful way to gauge genuine interest and the size of the market becomes conflated with the size of the audience. Market Research cards and mailing lists are not commitment. It's easy enough to fill out a card or sign up for a list with fake or junk info.

There are only two real measurements of commitment - Time or Money.

Time and Money are measurements of passion. Reward people who give you Time or Money and your reward will have significance. People value want they pay for and do not value what they receive for free. Make fans sit through a 10-minute discussion of why subs and scans are killing what they love - then reward them for sitting through it. It reinforces the time they spent and the *value* of that time. And the thing they get becomes more meaningful because they had to work for it.

Instead of handing out bags to anyone who stops by in hopes that free publicity translates into sales, how about giving bags to people who pre-order one of a specific set of items, or who sit through your panel, get the card handed out at the end and cash it in for that goodie? Make your consumer *work* for that reward and they'll value it more.

Don't distance yourself from the retailers that sell your product - make your promotions part of their sales. If a person buys $100 worth of anime, why not throw in an extra something? This person has already committed their time and money to you - reward them for it.

Anime and manga companies need to mature their promotional process and recognize that by taking control of the message they can grow their market, not just their audience.

It's not just about picking and choosing where you set up a booth, but also about picking real performance indicators for that presence. "How many bags did we give away?" becomes a real indicator of success when you know that for each bag you gave away, a fan gave you their commitment.

Yuri Network News - October 17, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 07:11:50 PDT

Yuri Manga

Erin S. is pleased to share the news of *another* Japanese Yuri anthology - Lily Yuri Anthology. This one is supposed to be published by Cosmipub, the folks that put out Circle Sakuraike's Kimochi no Katachi collection.

From Syosida_biatika, founder of Lesbian Erotika, and Erin, we hear that Tadeno Eriko-san's current work is now online at Pixiv. Requires registration and no fear of Japanese websites.

And for the cover alone, you should be queuing up for Hayate x Blade, Volume 11 which comes out next week. The story is great, too. :-)

***
Yuri Anime

Nick from the Yuricon Mailing List points out that the Mnemosyne Trailer is on Funimation.com.

***

Snatches of Yuri

Seriously, I refuse to even pretend to tell you what the Otome Ouji ~ Joshikou Manken Host Club is about. If you can't figure it out from the title, then you fail at Yuri. :-)

And I have no doubt that Assistant Denki Keika, Volume 2, will have as much strange, yet undeniably lesbian, sex as the first volume. I am both intrigued and repulsed.

I've actually already read 384,403km: Anata wo Tsuki ni Sarattara, and I don't want to give away too much, but let's just say that it's a tale of an insane obsessive and the girl she adores. :-)

It's my unadorned opinion that Takagi Noboyuki has finally written the manga of his dreams with Onsen Wakusei. Finally - an entire manga about girls taking baths! He must have been in his happy place - or ruing the day he ever became a mangaka.

***

That's a wrap for this week.

Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There's a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage - stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent's badge.

Thanks to all of you - you make this a great Yuri Network!

Shitsurakeun Manga, Volume 1

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:36:53 PDT

If you really, really like Shitsurakuen (失楽園 Volume 1, let me caution you about reading this review. I did not like it at all. I will be critical and, if you're a typical fan, you'll take that as me criticizing you, your tastes and your family - despite the fact that there is no intent to do any such thing. My intent is only to explain why *I* do not like it. So if you do like it and you are that kind of remarkably fragile that fans so often are when it comes to other people not loving what they love, then maybe you'd better skip the rest of this review. Your other option is to lecture me in the comments about how I *clearly* don't understand what I read. Feel free to do that, of course, but be aware that my friends and I are laughing at your need to "educate" me. I did understand what I read - I simply understand it differently than you.

Shitsurakuen takes place at the oxymoronically named Utopia academy. We join the school along with transfer student Sora, and once again find that she has somehow - like so *many* heroines - managed to be accepted and transfer in without an inkling of what the school is actually like. Her expository friend Tsuki helpfully explains that she's pretty much just transferred into hell.

Male students battle for supremacy, while female students are forced into subservient, near-slave positions, where they are dominated and abused by the males students and used to produce weapons with which the boys fight.

Fans of Revolutionary Girl Utena will immediately recognize many of the qualities of the duels, and will understand that every girl has been turned into Anthy. It comes down to our not-even-remotely androgynous, but nonetheless determined-to-protect-a-princess Sora. Sora's name made me smile, btw. Utena's family name was "Tenjou" - ceiling. "Sora" has broken free of the confines of that limitation and is the entire sky.

As far as the duels go, despite the guys' screaming, Sora mostly keeps winning, except when she's sucker-punched or ganged up on, thus accumulating a harem of 2.5 girls by the end of the volume. (.5, because one girl is currently questionable, for various reasons. No doubt she will join our our team - wink, wink, nudge, nudge - by the end of Volume 2.) Plus Tsuki, whose job it is to provide exposition.

As I said initially, I did not like this manga at all.

For one thing, the humiliation and abuse of the girls at the school made me ill. The near gang rape of a middle school student was pretty much the icing on that shitcake. And the premise that, if left unchecked, all men become abusive, rapist animals makes me angry on behalf of the men I know. I really didn't enjoy spending time at Utopia. I want all the women to pick up cast-iron frying pans and swing. Knees break easily, as I always say.

I'm sure that Sora will continue to save the day and will eventually save all the women at Utopia.

Ratings:

Art - 7
Story - 8 if you can make it work in your head, 2 for me
Characters - same
Yuri - 1
Loser FanBoy - 6

Violence against women as entertainment for women deeply disturbs and puzzles me. Violence against women as entertainment for men enrages me. And that is why I did not like Shitsurakuen - because being enraged does not make me feel happy. Give me a manga where equals kick the crap out of each other and I'm there. Something like this? Pass.

Drama CD: Maria-sama ga Miteru Rosario no Shizuku/Kibara Chuuihou

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:48:14 PDT

I gotta admit, when I received my package from Amazon JP and it included the Drama CD Maria-sama ga Miteru Rosario no Shizuku/Kibara Chuuihou ( マリア様がみてるロザリオの滴/黄薔薇注意報) and Rainy Blue, I thought, "Well geez guys, this is unfair. I have the misery all bundled together and, yet, Parosol o Sashite remains yet unrealized." But I bravely waded into the rain to listen the stories of White and Yellow Rose sisters.

As you may remember from the anime and the novels, Shimako is unduly torturing herself because she does not want to burden Noriko with a weight of responsibility by giving her her rosary. Luckily, Noriko is stronger than that and ultimately makes the decision easier for her beloved Shimako-san. This Drama is about 35 minutes long - nothing major is left out. It is told from Shimako's point of view.

The second disk is also about 35 minutes long. It follows Yoshino and Rei as they fight to carve out new territory between them, now that Yoshino is hale and hearty. In the first Yellow Rose Revolution, Yoshino has our whole-hearted support, as she pushes the envelope for Rei's sake. This time, we (and she) are blaming her more and rightfully so. In a real sign that she *does* accept that Yoshino is healthy, Rei fights back. I feel like the end of this DCD version of the story was rewritten and not, IMHO, for the better. I felt a little unsatisfied with the way it was handled, but that could be me retconning. One day when I have time, I'll check the novel and see if I'm just imagining things. In any case, they too reconcile and until nearly a year later will have no more disagreements. Phew.

Which leaves us with just one more rainy season story for me to deal with...and every time I have to face it, I feel less and less happy about it. How I very much wish that Parasol o Sashite was already out! T_T

Ratings:

Story - 7
Characters - 8
Yuri - 3
Loser Fan Boy - 0

Overall - 7

I'll be better once we get past this arc. I promise. /sniff/

Tags: Yuri Drama CD, Maria-sama ga Miteru, Maria-sama ga Miteru Drama CD