Okazu

The Great Manga Gift Guide - Okazu Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:19:04 PST

Here it is, my friends, the Okazu Edition of the Great Manga Gift Guide. These are my suggestions for manga that would make great gifts for the fan(s) in your life.

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Dogs, Bullets Carnage - This title is unbridled action. It's a bunch of broken, violent people in a violent world. The art is *very* stark, which works totally for what little of the story exists. Mostly, the story is the frame for the fighting. There is a chick with a weapon, but don't look for more than that.

Who Would Like It: Not for beginner manga fans, but if your gift recipient thinks they've seen it all - here's something with all of it at once. :-)

Kimi ni Todoke - This is one of my wife's favorite series right now. It's got that thing that we westerners so often miss in manga - someone who just spits it out already. The protagonist is...nice. And the fun of the series is watching everyone else realize that, too. This female lead is no typical "he's mean to me because he loves me" heroine.

Who Would Like It: Got a shoujo fan (or closet shoujo fan) in your family or friends? Give them this for something that is totally feel-good, without making you put your brain on hold.

Black Lagoon - Girls, Guns, Drugs, and loads of crazy. This is actually one of my favorite series overall right now. As there isn't the vaguest hint of Yuri, I have no reason to review it here, but hot damn, this is awesome manga. It's just chockful of loony women who are armed to the teeth and not afraid to pull the trigger. Yums.

Who Would Like It: Action fans, anyone who spends a lot of time watching Spike TV and anyone who likes women who kill first, then tell you to *^&# off! later will love this.

MW - There's a reason why Tezuka is consistently held up as a master of the craft. In this volume, he deals with "Homosexuality" in nearly as insensitive a way as possible - and it totally works. In this fraught horror story in which a broken man seeks to punish everyone for his existence, the one stable, normal and happy person is a lesbian editor who appears on only a few pages. Hardcore angst and melodrama, a fistful of self-loathing and misanthropy.

Who Would Like It: This book is great for folks who like it dark, with an even darker background for contrast and horror fans.

Aria - Nothing happens in this series. But it happens beautifully, and with grace and humor and joie de vivre. And scenery porn.

Who Would Like It: Perfect for the jaded, the cynical and any fan that still wants to recapture a feeling of childlike joy at, well, everything.

Iono-sama Fanatics - this volume about a totally lesbian Queen of some small country who happens to love girls with black hair is a very pretty and very sweet fantasy. It's not often we get to enjoy fantasy romance that's almost entirely angst-free.

Who Would Like It: Readers who love their manga cute, sweet, harmless and did I mention cute, will love this. It's charming, as in "Princess Charming." :-) (I guess that would be Queen Charming, huh?)

WORKS - I haven't given this book enough air time, really and I blame myself. Tadeno-san has been cranking out Yuri manga since long before you ever heard of it and, although these stories are early (and therefore a little dated,) they still stand the test of time as solid looks at lesbian life and love.

Who Would Like It: Self-serving, yes. Still, a great Yuri primer for an interested adult. A good choice for a lesbian who doesn't know Yuri., yet.

Kashimashi~ Girl Meets Girl Omnibus 1 and Omnibus 2 - This silly story of a boy who becomes a girl and suddenly find herself the center of a love triangle still stands as one of the best adaptations of a manga from Japanese to English I've ever seen.

Who Would Like It: Not for beginner Yuri fans, but for folks who can take a handwave or two in their lives.

Azumanga Daioh Omnibus 1 - This collection is a reworking of one of the funniest 4-panel comics to hit American bookshelves to date; there's really no downside to this volume. It's a nice chunky book, it's got some gut-bustingly funny bits and a lot of "heh" parts and is overall a lot of fun. And hey, there's Kaorin and her totally hopeless love for Sakaki.

Who Would Like It: If you missed this the first time around, now's a *great* time to add it to your wish list, or get it for a friend, then "borrow" it. :-)

Hayate x Blade - Are you totally unsurprised that this is a Great Manga Gift in my opinion? First of all - funny. Crazy, stupid, funny. Snort-Laugh Out Loud funny. Then there is awesome action. And there are girls. Almost 100% girls, who are in romantic partnerships with darn little romance, honestly, but that doesn't stop us from projecting.

Who Would Like It: I wouldn't get this for a little kid, because there is a lot of violence, but for anyone who is getting jaded on service and lack of plot drivers in manga, anyone who longs for action and comedy and something intelligent, anyone who wants a story written by someone who can actually write - hand them this and step back if they are drinking something.

Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 Volume 4 Volume 5

Ed Sizemore also suggested we all add a "piece of coal" book, one that was really not good and you'd give to someone you wanted to punish. Clearly, I'd pick Mariaholic for the role. In fact, I'd give you my copy, but I put it through the shredder.

Thanks to David Welsh for coming up with this fabulous idea - and thanks to all the bloggers and readers who participate!

Now, here's where you come in! What I want to know is - what are your Great Manga Gift Suggestions - and what book is your piece of coal? Let's have 'em in the comments!

The Great Manga Gift Guide Project

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:45:39 PST

Last week, the New York Times posted their Graphic Novel Gift Guide and to no one's surprise there wasn't a single manga on the list. (Seriously, NYT, it's totally cool that your GN guy doesn't read manga - no one is saying that it's not. Can you just PLEASE also hire someone who cares about manga to be the one to write about it? Thanks, we really appreciate it.)

In response, David Welsh of Precocious Curmudgeon came up with the idea of the Great Manga Gift Guide. Reviewers and readers will be posting their suggestions for great manga gifts on Thursday. (That's Thanksgiving in America, for anyone who doesn't get the timing. This day is traditionally followed by a day of crazy sales frenzy on consumer goods.) This will give us manga readers some things to be thankful for. :) David is even willing to devote space on his site to folks who would like to participate who don't have blogs of their own.

Because one of the most amazing things about the Anime/Manga scene on Twitter is that is has allowed many of the bloggers to communicate easily, I and a number of other bloggers jumped on the Great Manga Gift Guide bandwagon. Here is a not-comprehensive list of some of the folks that are participating. Tomorrow and through the next week, drop by their blogs and see what they have to suggest! Also search Twitter for the hashtag #gmgg for others bloggers I've missed. I'll add people as they let me know that they are going to be part of the guide.

David Welsh - Precocious Curmudgeon
Deb Aoki - Manga.about.com
Melinda Beasi - Manga Bookshelf
Lori Henderson - Manga Xanadu
Lissa Patillo - Kuriosity
Alexander Hoffman - Eye of the Vortex Onlin
D. Orihuela-Gruber - All About Comics
Sean Gaffney's Live Journal
Ed Sizemore - Comics Worth Reading
Jason S. Yadao - Otaku Ohana
Mizelle - Golden Age Girl
Ysabet McFarlane - Cat Named Segue
Brigid Alverson - Mangablog
Emily's Random Shoujo Page
TangognaT
Linda-animemiz's scribbling
Scott Green - Ain't It Cool News Anime
Japanator
Robin Brenner - No Flying, No Tights
Katherine H - Yuri no Boke
Julie - Manga Maniac Cafe
Satoshi Miwa
Kate Dacey - Manga Critic

Of course, I will be doing a Yuri list, because we should all run out and buy Yuri for at least one friend for the holidays. ;-)

If you'd like to join the Project, just add your link to the Comments and we'll look forward to reading your guide!

Yuri Manga: Assistant Denki Keika, Volume 2

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:59:31 PST

Well, now. If you thought Assistant Denki Keika, (アシスタント伝奇ケイカ) Volume 1 was odd, you'd be right. Volume 2 is off the rails.

Tamae is in a match to see who is the best person for an assistant mangaka position. Her competition is a normal guy and some freaky alien who communicates by placard and says her name is Omugai Shoujo. After they all participate in a round of Kokurri-san (think Ouija board and you'll get the point) they call up a vengeful spirit who chased them all out of the house. Relaying this to Keika, Tamae learns that Keika's afraid of scary stories.

Tamae and Keika fight off an evil presence in their apartment, which turns out to be their boss...only it's not really...wooooohhhhhh~~~

They hit up a sex club in order to "do research" and Tamae ends up with some good ideas for Keika, if not her manga.

And then the story gets weird.

Attacked by the forces of evil, Keika is saved by Omugai Shoujo, who Keika recognizes as her older brother (this is not a typo. Brother.) Omugai Shoujo says that they'll never meet again as they part. Bets?

Tamae is attacked and saved by the motorcycle riding woman from the previous volume. The upshot - Tamae gets a new sex toy to try out on Keika.

After a chapter in which we follow the little cross-dressing guy from the first volume, and which ended rather happily ever after, the war really kicks in. The forces of evil gun after Keika hard, involving nearly every single character in the book so far, and they are saved by...Omugai Shoujo. Seriously...not even gone two whole chapters!

We get a break and follow Keika and Tamae to a hotel with the loudest people in the universe. They don't get much work done because of the noise, and then they don't get any work done as they become the source of the noise - if you get my meaning.

An apparent climax (herhn herhn) approaches as Keika is abducted by the evil baddies only to be brought face to face with their leader - her father. Oh yes. This war against assistant manga artists is a father's disappointment in his daughter's choice of occupation. All the characters from all previous chapters rolls out to save her from a fate worse than fate. The final pages finds Tamae, now an established mangaka, and her assistant, Keika, working harder than ever.

I really don't even know what to say about this. It's...strange. Strange in a totally strange way. Strange in a no-matter-how-hard-I-try-I-can't-picture-an-editor-and-artist-having-this-conversation way.

Aside from strange, it's kind of fun and kind of disturbing. Keika and Tamae are definitely, positively a couple. I like that. I'm having a hard time with the rest of it. lol

Ratings:

Art - 6
Story - 5
Characters - 7
Yuri - 9
Loser Fanboy - 10
Strangeness - 154

Overall - 6

Today's review marks a first! Today, we thank Okazu Superhero Ariel D. for being the first ever person to sponsor a review from the Amazon Japan Yuri Wish List! For that act of crazy generosity, Ariel, you go right on the Superhero list - I'll email you your badge asap. Thank you, thank you!

Dragon Sister Manga, Volume 1 (English)

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 11:35:41 PST

I don't know about you, but I really can't get enough of the atrocities perpetrated upon Romance of the Three Kingdoms in anime and manga. Unlike, say, Alice in Wonderland - which is already seriously WTF, Romance is staid and serious and political. So when anime/game/manga people rework it, it's like dyeing Guan Gong's beard hot pink.

In Dragon Sister, Volume 1 the story is pretty much left alone, except for one small thing...all the great heroes are turned into women. Unlike Koihime Musou or Ikkitousen however, we're actually given a reason for this. To wit, the three Zhang brothers, leaders of Huang Jin rebels, are given magic that they decide they will use to save their land. In the course of their deep meditation upon this magic, one of the brothers decides that the best thing would be to turn all the heroes into women. Of course this backfires, turning them into women.

From there, the story remains surprisingly true to the original. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, both of whom are female, meet an uncommon common guy named Liu Bei and the three swear brotherhood under the peach tree.

But, in order to gain status for Liu Bei, whose leadership of an irregular force is dissed by the loyalist army, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu sell themselves out to Dong Zhou, who plots to kill Liu Bei in the middle of the battle so that she can keep them.

The art is very person-focused. There's little background art and the action is a bit hard to follow, but the approach is soap opera like, anyway - lots of people talking about things, and little happening. Everyone is cute as opposed to cool and there's a lot of posing going on.

Yuri is mostly in Dong Zhou's open, lustful, desire for Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Lust for power, lust for women, 6 to one, half dozen to the other.

And yet again, Guan Yu is shown with a interest in Liu Bei that's less like sibling and more like love. I am so going to have to re-read this epic, because the idea of making Guan Yu have a thing for Liu Bei makes me laugh. It's almost enough to make me want to write a BL Romance fanfiction. Almost. Don't get your hopes up. lol

Ratings:

Art - 7 The cover is worse than the interior art
Story - 8
Characters - 8, even if they are caricatures of themselves
Yuri - 4 Predatory lesbian could have been *way* more predatory.
Loser Fanboy - 4-ish The heroes all have breasts, yes, but it's not like they are flashing them.

Overall - 7

It's not like this is *good* really, but compared to other Romance versions where the heroes are large-breasted women, it at least keeps close to the original story!

Many, many thanks to Okazu Hero Martin S. for sponsoring today's review. I'm always happy to see what nonsense can be done with the Romance.

No News Report This Week

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:44:24 PST

Just wanted to let you know that there will be no News Report this week. I'm beat.

I'll be back tomorrow with a review. I just need a day or two off to recharge and work on other projects. Instead, I'll leave you this:

This week, we submitted Yuri Monogatari 6 to the Lambda Literary Awards.

YM6 Video Trailer Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yli_kPSVkFs

Yuri Monogatari 6 on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/bgnvut

Yuri Monogatari 6 on Yuricon Shop: http://tinyurl.com/alcpub - Holiday Sale is still ongoing, so get yourself copy of what is sure to be the winner of the Lammy for Best LGBT Anthology!

New Anime Season Autumn 2009: Shin Koihime Musou

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:31:37 PST

Quick, name an all-female anime/manga version of the Chinese Epic, Romance of the Three Kingdoms. No, wait - quick, name three.

Last year we were 'treated' to Koihime Musou, one of several gender switch versions of the historical epic Romance. This year we have the debatable pleasure of a sequel, Shin Koihime Musou, currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

The sequel begins with the appearance of the real Ryuubi since, as you may remember from last season the guy we thought was Ryuubi was not. The real Ryuubi is a bit of a ditz, but is, of the entire cast, probably the most sane.

Having thus met the third of their triad, Kanu and Chohi renew their vow of sisterhood, just in case we forget the whole vow under the peach tree thing.

The three, and a few of the others head off to something something which in this case is get Ryuubi's sword back, have adventures and eat - a lot. An inordinate amount of time is spent watching the travelers eat. In the meantime, the story veers off to follow three sisters who turn themselves into pop idols through magic.

There's also a mad dash to squeeze in a bunch of new characters, to round out the cast.

Sei's Yuri quotient has dropped significantly along with her screen time - one of the side effects of too many characters, so older ones are used less effectively.

For Yuri we've got Kakuka who is obsessed with Sousou and frequently has explicit fantasies about her. (Please note: "Perverted" does not apply. Sexual fantasies are not "perverted." They are completely normal. I'm freaking sick and tired of seeing the word "pervert" misused to describe a person having a fantasy. Not having sexual fantasies is far weirder than having them.) I'm really rooting for Kakuka in this. I think she and Sousou would make a fun couple, much better than Sousou and Kanu.

This season is no better or worse than the first season. It's all much of the same - silly things that have nothing to do with the Romance take center stage, while important political things are pushed to the background. Breasts still bounce, clothes are still silly, the writers are clearly hungry and stuff happens.

For what it is, it's fine. I turn my brain off and watch the pretty colors move around the screen. :-)

Ratings:

Art - Meh, but what can you do
Story - It's in there somewhere I'm sure
Characters - There's alot of them
Yuri - Go! Go! Ka-ku-ka!
Loser FanBoys - Are watching this

Overall - 7

I *really* don't remember Guan Yu falling for Liu Bei in the original. But it's such a prevalent theme in these anime/manga/game bastardizations that I'm now beginning to wonder if I was just blind to the obvious. I'm going to have to re-read that and see if I can read between the lines more. :-)

Yuri Manga: Girl Friends, Volume 3

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:59:08 PST

In Girl Friends, Volume 1 and Volume 2, we followed Mari as she struggles with her increasing interest in and desire for her best friend Akiko.

Mari's conflict largely arises from the fact that she is fairly introverted, and has therefore not had the experience of close friendship with girls her age. She spends a lot of time sure that she's not normal, and A-ko is. She's doing her best to put her feelings aside, if not behind her, and at least recapture the friendship that she and A-ko shared.

In Volume 3, we turn our gaze towards A-ko. She's been Mari's object of desire, but we've never really gotten into her head - until now.

A-ko finds herself thinking way more about Mari than about anything. So much so, that she starts to see a pattern in her obsessing. After Mari's confession and their kiss, it seems almost obvious for Akiko to realize that she has fallen for Mari. But it's a long way from point A to Point B.

But...and this is a big "but"....A-ko still isn't really considering how Mari must be feeling. Now that she's come to realize that she wants to be with Mari, she's not seeing the distance Mari is carefully putting between them. By pressing the issue, A-ko is now causing Mari as much, if not more, stress than before.

I'm not usually a big fan of the "obsessive internal monologue" style of romance writing, but the writing in Girl Friends has consistently rung true. Where introverted Mari is rolling in quiet misery, extroverted Akiko is doing her best to not explode in public, but can't stop herself from leaking around the edges.

There are still about a gazillion hurdles for Mari and A-ko to leap before they can be together. The 100-yard dash to the finish line isn't really even out of the starting blocks, yet. There's no telling how this race will end! Here's hoping that Mari and A-ko are the winning team. :-)

Ratings:

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

Overall - 8

This is the territory that Milk does best. Just after the confession, before the consummation. I'm very interested to see if we get more than just "happily ever after" - or not.

Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime, Volume 18 (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:59:57 PST

Volume 18 of Comic Yuri HimeThe second half of Volume 18 of Comic Yuri Hime is what you've all been waiting for - Sarasa and Seriho's first official date, in this chapter of "Ame-iro Kouchakan Kanadan!" Fujieda does what he he does best - he shows them wandering around, shopping, eating and generally doing the kind of stuff my wife and I call "Playing House." You know - the stuff you almost never see female couples doing in Yuri series. Sarasa is wholly unaware that Seriho has an agenda, trying to suss out Sarasa's feelings for her. So used to hiding what she feels, Sarasa has no idea that Seriho thinks that she, Sarasa is, "normal" and the only one in love is Seriho.

Ayumi likes Miki in "Yuri Yuri," but Miki tells her it's gross. They play passive-agressive for a while, until Miki's homophobia turns out to really be sublimated love for Ayumi. Bwah-bwah-bwahhhh.

In "Apple Day Dream" Yuma is marginally less passive-aggressive to Kaoru than usual. And I swear her name has been Mayu this whole time, until now, so either I've been dyslexic this whole time, or it suddenly switched for some reason. Either explanation is probable. :-)

In this chapter of the Nekodome Mansion saga, a younger girl finally gains the courage to tell the older girl she's loved since she was a child know how she feels - just in time to see her married off by her father. But don't worry, they can have their little something on the side, after all, it's a marriage of convenience and they really love each other. Stories like this make me wonder about that age-old double standard for men who are, in most cultures, encouraged to have women on the side, but women aren't supposed to ever cheat. Once again, I really don't get you straight women, putting up with that crap.

Kagura makes cookies and Sukune-'neesan eats them, but still has no idea who Kagura is in "Soulphage," which is failing to appeal to me on any level.

Creo's breasts are suddenly three times larger than ever before in "Creo the Crimson Crises" and frankly, I was so distracted by and distressed by this I have no idea at all what happened. It involved Suoh crying a lot.

There's a little series of reviews about Yuri series that make you cry. I can honestly say that none of the series I'd read in the section made me even a little weepy. :-)

In a surprising turn of events, Hakamada Mera's "Sore ga Kimi ni Naru" pairs unlikely couple Kyou and Amane, the older woman who burst into tears ar seeing Kyou last chapter, over a meal. Kyou is smart enough to see that *something* is up, but Amane really surprises her by coming right out and saying that she was once in love with a girl who looks just like Kyou.

Tae is having an even harder time than before finding her place in Yui's life, now that they've returned to Tokyo in "Mizu-iro Cinema." Yui's busy on shoots and Tae's flailing a bit trying to figure out where to be and what to do. When rooting aimlessly around Yui's apartment, Tae finds a discarded photo of Yui and another girl. She keeps it in order to have a photo of Yui, but perhaps missing the larger implication. Coming home from a day out together, they are both - for different reasons - surprised to find the girl in the photo standing at the door of Yui's apartment building. Here's my new rule for series like this - it can do anything it wants right now, but it *may not* make Tae cry. Or I will be very unhappy with it.

"Himekoi" has a lot of screaming and pages of breast obsession. I note that "Nanako to Misuzu" has left the building. I guess it found a better reception over at Yuri Hime S. "Himekoi" seems to be the replacement "crrrraaazzzyyyy, wacky things and lots of screaming" series.

Adrienne is a cameraman on a shoot for an ero-photo book and finds herself improbably involved with one of the models in "Aka-me Adrienne."

Definitely more good than bad and some interesting things going on in the pages of Yuri Hime these days!

Overall - 9

Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime, Volume 18 (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:29:07 PST

Volume 18 of Comic Yuri Hime once again has cover art from Eiki Eiki and Zaou Taishi's "Love DNA Double X," series and wow, have they laid the lilies on thick. Literally. The lily flowers practically crowd Sakura and Aoi off the page. In case you love the picture a lot, the extra for this volume is a postcard of the cover image.

The first story begins with a girl recounting her many, all female, loves.

We then break for some advertising and a chat with the Sasamekikoto voice actresses, in which they say the typical things about a Girl's Love story.

Back to Shiroishi explaining to her friend that, yet again, she has fallen for a female classmate - this time the stylish, popular and apparently cold-hearted Midori. Tsubaki is incensed - she confronts Midori only to have the obvious pointed out to her - Tsubaki likes Shiroishi. I'm thinking of calling this plot complication "Crisis in Infinite Schools." What do you think?

Mistue Aoki's "Bankara Otome Gakuen" details the relationship between Yanki girl Shio and her ditzy friend Makiko. Smart, rich Yuka wants Makiko in the worst way - and is willing to kidnap and tie her up to get her. But Shiho saves the day and Makiko gets the girl. I so so so wish this would continue. It's a perfect setup for Shiho to be cool and keep re-winning Makiko over and over. But it was so goofy and condensed, I'm thinking one-shot.

"Love DNA Double XX" does three things. It establishes Aoi and Sakura as friends, introduces Sakura's posse, and gives us a glimpse of the backstory that sets Sakura up as Aoi's enemy and reason she's here at the school - to gain revenge.

Takase-sempai is the object of Mashiro's interest and desire, but is having a hard time wrapping her brain around it in "Sayonara Folklore."

"Delicious Time" was a great "Story A." A girl stops by the bakery every day to get a single mini-croissant. The baker's daughter, finds "mini-cro" fascinating. It's obvious that the girl attends the same school she recently graduated from so, when an opportunity to attend the school festival presents itself, she takes it. Of course they meet up and share their darkest secrets - as the daughter of a baker, the protagonist prefers rice and, Sakura, who is the daughter of a rice dealer, prefers that morning mini-croissant...and, the woman who sells it to her. As a way of expressing her own feelings, the baker creates a rice-bread to celebrate their meeting. Brava! Encore!

The essay and "Para Yuri Hime" remains unread. I have had several weeks of hard labor and simply haven't had time.

The next story is kind of odd and interesting. "Roku Tatami-han Shukai Osore" follows the relationship between a very outgoing, extroverted high school girl and the older shut-in she's seeing. Ito-chan, the shut in, finds herself inevitably pulled outside by Hatoko.

Arare and Kiri have a fight in "Tokimeki Mononoke Gakuen" and as Arare runs after the creature she loves, she finds herself - and Pero - unexpectedly back in our world.

In "Chinchin Puipui" bar Mama Michiko appears to magically transform into a cute, young woman and whisk miserable Kana away on a series of dates. Only, it wasn't that kind of magic at all.

Morishima Akiko continues her new series about adults with "Renai Joshika." It initially appears to be one of "those" series, where everyone in the series is going to be paired up. But, the first story belies that. Hirano falls for Shirohane, but finds out that she's already got a lover. Hirano realizes that her choices are not limited to one gender and that Shirohane is really a good person that she would, potentially, like to be with. She decides that her love battle has just begun.

This is a good place to stop for the day, I think.

I'll do my best to finish this up tomorrow!

Yuri Network News - November 14, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 08:45:20 PST

With the remnants of Ida beating at my house, it's a curl up and read a book kinda day....

Yuri Manga

Let's see...we already mentioned Comic Lily (which mostly has artists that specialize in moe loli Yuri, so my expectations are low to non-existent) and Yuri Shoujo. Have I mentioned yet *another* Yuri anthology, called Shoujo Yuri? Not sure. Well, now I have. As I mention in the comments, I saw a cover, but forgot to save the reference and now can't find it. Oh well. More info when I find it again.

Also not sure if I pointed out that Tsubomi 4 is out. I've been a little disappointed with Tsubomi so far. It's been pretty lackluster, but Yuri Hime took a while to really get going and it's only now shifting into territory I really like, so I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt for a few more volumes. It's just kind of...okay. I finish each volume *really* tired of school girls kind of liking each other a bit.

On a positive note, a series that has a character who actually says out loud that she's a lesbian, and that I *never* expected to see a second volume of, Poor Poor Lips, Volume 2 is a-comin'. I thoroughly enjoyed Volume 1. While I don't expect "progress" to be made in the relationship and the one-joke character of the lead was a tad wearing, overall, it had more depth and was a better series than most 4-koma comics.

***

Snatches of Yuri

Juji wrote in to let you all know that in addition to the Light Novel Dorobo no Meijin, there are a number of other novels by the same author, all with high likelihood of Yuri.

Dorobo no Meijin ~ Side Story: Itaikena Goshujin

Kimi ga Boku wo ~ Doushite Sora ha Aoi nano? and a second volume slated for a release this coming week.

Another novel with likelihood of something that passes for Yuri is Murasaki-iro Qualia, a story about a humanoid robot with pretty purple eyes and a charmingly doofusy personality that makes her the mascot and object of skinship in her middle school class.

Rousoku-hime has been *all* over the Yuri lists these days. I guess the inside must be better than the cover.... In any case, it's about the beautiful daughter of a nobleman, Squa, who is sent to a nunnery with her handmaid, "swarthy" Fleure.

Action Comics, which has brought us both Hakamada Mera's and Morinaga Milk's work, also offers up Pheromone No.5, which looks like it hits a number of popular tropes - private girls school (check), transfer student (check), glasses (check), pervy female Student Council President (check), "funny" sexual harassment (check.) The Amazon reviews were 5 stars and 1 stars. :-)

And Kate Dacey of Mangacritic informed me that translated manga Dragon Sister has a "predatory lesbian." It's on my to-read pile now, thanks to Okazu Hero Martin S. I'll let you know if she is sufficiently predatory for our tastes. :-)

***
And, 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!

Gunsmith Cats Burst, Volume 4 (English)

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:29:48 PST

What were you doing in 1996?

I was working in an ad agency, studying Martial Arts, and was just about a year away from diving head first over a cliff into the chasm of anime and manga that would ultimately take over my life.

Rally Vincent was already neck-deep in crazy cases as a bounty hunter with her partner May and their researcher Becky. And, in 1996 or so, she met the Evil, Psycho Lesbian mafia donna, Goldie Musso.

13 years later, in Gunsmith Cats Burst Volume 4, Rally is not older, although she is much wiser. And she is doing the same thing she was then - bounty hunting.

In the course of a case, even though she is certain that Goldie is dead, Rally sees her. And in a sense, Goldie's henchman later assures her, Goldie is dead. She has no memory. Dennis begs Rally to help Goldie regain her memory and, after much shooting and many deaths, she does just that. In a close one-on-one fight, Rally breaks through the barriers Goldie's own mind had
erected to awaken her memories.

In the chaos, Rally loses contact with Misty. Although Becky is really concerned about that, for some reason, Rally is less so, sure of the thief's ability to land on her own two feet.

This will all set up the final, fabulous end to Gunsmith Cats Burst.

It was not quite two years ago that I first got my hands on this volume in Japanese. I'm even more thrilled to read it in English, if only because I long for excruciating details of guns and cars. (No, not really. It's just easier than reading kanji, duh.)

And once again I'm thrilled to the point of squealing that you get to watch heads blown off all so Rally can be the most important person in Goldie's life - again. Poor Misty. Hell, poor Dennis.

In any case, this penultimate volume is *exactly* what one looks for from Gunsmith Cats. And the end, when it comes, will be just right this time around. See you once more, in Volume 5. :-)

Ratings:

Art - 8
Characters - 8
Story - 8
Yuri - 3
Loser FanBoy - 5

Overall - 8

These good times brought to you by Okazu Superhero Bruce McF! Thanks for sponsoring today's review and letting us relive the madness all over again.

New Season Anime Fall 2009: To Aru Kagaku no Railgun

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Friedman) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:16:50 PST

Every week, I save To Aru Kagaku no Railgun for last. Yes, I am definitely the kind of person who saves the best for last. (Sasamekikoto isn't on the same queue as Railgun, in case you wondered that doesn't have the position of honor. It does, on an alternate viewing day.)

I know that Railgun is a side story from To Aru Majutsu, a series about which I know nothing and care not at all. (This does not mean I don't like it, or I am implying in *any* way that liking it is bad. Please don't read meaning into this statement in a tiresome way. Thank you in advance.)

As with most anime, I had no expectations for Railgun. In this case it all worked out and I think that it is really good goofball fun.

In Academia City, where the major industry is education, students are ranked from 1-5 according to their "abilities." These abilities are of the extranormal kind and, in keeping with Arthur C. Clarke's third law, we'll just call it magic and get it over with. :-)

Railgun follows the unlikely friendship of the least powerful and the most powerful in the city. The least powerful is represented by Uiharu Kazari (who is rated at a 1) and her friend Saten Ruiko (rated 0). Uiharu on with Judgement, the city's self-police force with Shirai Kuroko, (who is rated at a 4) and her in/famous, incredibly powerful roommate and object of desire, Misaka Mikoto, one of the city's few Level 5s.

When Uiharu and Saten are introduced to Mikoto, they - and we - are surprised to find that she's a really nice, down-to-earth person. And this simple fact, and the fact that being Level 1 and 0
in abilities does not mean that Uiharu or Saten is in any other way ineffective, makes this series totally watchable.

Uiharu's special abilities might be low, but her computer skills are aces. Saten is a Level 0, but she has guts and sense. Misaka's only real flaw is her desire to test her incredibly dangerous electrical power against someone in power-to-power combat. Which brings us to Shirai Kuroko, who is indubitably the real star of this series.

Kuroko is an annoying-voiced ojou-sama with a heart of gold and a sincere, if hyperactive, desire for Mikoto. She's a scream. Again, what makes it all work is that for all that she's powerful and rich and all that, she's a nice person. She's friends with Uihara and there's no "buts" at the end of that sentence. Levels of power, money, status, none of that matters to Kuroko. She's a nutball, but in a good way.

So far the anime has been fun. There's a plot developing, with a crazy, amoral, over-stressed, no one understands me-they all have to die bad guy, and I'm content to let it take me wherever it goes. I'm cool with watching Uiharu and her companions keep Academia city safe for students of all levels.

Ratings:

Art - 8
Story - 8
Characters - 9
Yuri - A lopsided 9
Loser FanBoy - 2 One of the bits I love best - the self-satisfied smirk the anime wears when viewers *don't* get panty shots.

Overall - Sold at 8. Don't bother wrapping it up, I'll watch it on the way out.

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.