Hana no Asuka-gumi Lonely Cats Battle Royale
When you think of great yuri love affairs, you tend to think of Michiru following Haruka in hopes of a ride in her car, or Anthy and Utena breaking through the world's shell to gain the outside world. Or maybe you think of Sei falling hard for Shiori as she prays in the church at Lillian.
You probably *don't* think of Yohko snidely commenting to a wounded Asuka that she wouldn't be able to fight effectively with a broken hand.
But you should.
The second
Hana no Asuka-gumi OVA is really quiet remarkably sexy for an old series that has no sex, and really no affection, at all. Because in this case the sexual tension is all sublimated into physical beatings - consider it the ultimate in "love taps."
The full title of this untranslated OVA is
Hana no Asuka-gumi Lonely Cats Battle Royale and it is the animated version of one of the "extra" volumes of the manga. It's a rather complex tale that weaves in threads of a current (well, current in the mid-80s) gambling ring that involves people without their consent and a damsel in distress with a serious food allergy, and the backstory between Asuka and Yohko.
Let me mostly ignore the plot in favor of the backstory. :-)
So, way back, Asuka was a badly bullied kid in school. She tried to kill herself, but was saved, both physically and emotionally. She learned to channel her rage at others rather than herself, and determined to become stronger than anyone so she could kick their bully asses. When we see the current Asuka, she has done just that - she's the strongest fighter in all of Tokyo, bar maybe one or two people. (And Yohko, but that's a different thing).
But between here and there, there was a time when Asuka was getting into alot of fights - and losing. This is where Yohko found her, huddled up on the street nursing that broken hand. Yohko was nasty to her, derisive, and Asuka followed her more to annoy Yohko as much as anything else. Yohko had saved her previously from a false charge of shoplifting, only to thrust her into a seriously dangerous situation. When Asuka follows Yohko, the older girl knows that she's found the perfect dupe.
Asuka falls hard in love with her tor/mentor.
The rest of the story is taken up with Asuka's tough love rescue of the damsel in distress and the break up of the Ichigo Milk gambling scheme, but it ends up, as all Asuka/ Yohko interactions do, with the two of them fighting. I mean, really beating the daylights out of each other. This is rough sex without the kissing, and its *really* obvious - even to Yohko, who know perfectly well what Asuka feels for her. Ultimately (although not in this OVA) Asuka realizes, as well.
Of the two
Hana no Asuka-gumi OVAs, this one is the win, because you get so much of Asuka's backstory and alot of Yohko-Asuka interaction. The animation is still pretty "bleah" and the music is excruciating, but as girl gang OVAs go, this has a yuri quotient right up there with the
Sukeban Deka OVA.
Ratings:
Art - 6
Characters - 8
Story - 8
Music - 5
Yuri - 7
Overall - 7
No lovey-dovey here - Asuka and Yohko's love is a violent and dysfunctional love. But its definitely love.
Onna! announces "Project Manga"!
Onna!, a three-day festival of women�s roles in animation and comics taking place October 8-10, 2005 in Newark, NJ, is proud to introduce
Project Manga!
Based on the hit television show,
Project RunwayTM,
Project Manga will give aspiring young artists a chance to pitch a manga-style story and art to a panel of publishing professionals, including Onna! Guest of Honor, creator of
Jane's World, Paige Braddock. The panel will include representatives from manga publishing companies - contestants will get guidance and advice from people who are leaders in the manga and comics industries. The winner has the possibility of being published by an American manga company.
Project Manga is just one of the original
games and contests developed specifically for Onna!. You�ll also have a chance to play an English-language version of
Hyakunin Isshu, the classical Japanese card game of verse-matching, or have the chance to participate in Onna!�s original Drama CD recording. Of course, Onna! will also have all the popular contest and games, from
Music Video Contest to a whack-a-thon!
Pre-registration for Onna! is strongly encouraged � save $15 off the at-door price and reserve yourself a place at the most unique con of the year!
Register online or email
registrationchair@onnafest.com for a mail-in registration form or more information.
Onna! � By women, about women, for everyone
October 8-10 2005
Newark, NJ
Boku ha Onna no Ko
I've been reviewing so many things I like that I thought it was time to be a downer again. LOL
This manga,
Boku ha Onna no Ko, i.e.,
I am a Girl (where the "I" is a boy's form) is...okay. I have seen this many, many, many times on "Yuri Manga" lists in Japanese. I've never really been tempted to buy it, but on my last night in Tokyo I was going crazy and throwing money around Comic Tora no Ana like I was a millionaire. So I got it.
Boku is a collection of short stories by Shimura Takako, that are all very "eh." The first story - the title story, "Boku ha Onna no Ko," seems to be about a boy who fell into a several-months long sleep and, upon waking, finds that she is now a girl. Even as a Kafka-esque piece, this story seemed forced to me. We get most of the Greek Chorus commentary from an older brother with a girl's name - can't remember it at the moment. Nothing happens, except we get to see her naked and confirm that yes, she is a girl, and um, the kids in school all want to know what it feels like. Tomorrow she will go out and buy dressses. The end.
The middle stories made absolutely *no* impression on me and I cannot recall any of them.
The final story had the most personality. In "Sweet 16 - Hina," a young, very boyish girl named Hina falls in love with her (I think) music teacher, a woman. The teacher, in a very emotional scene, both acknolwedges and regretfully rejects Hina's feelings, but it wasn't nasty in any way - the teacher is in love with a man and is suffering a bit for her own love. The story is mostly a coming of age type thing, very mild and a little bittersweet. But nothing really happens.
I was not whelmed by this book, either over- or under-. It is gone from my collection now and after I upload this review, I will simply forget it.
Ratings:
Art - 6
Stories - 5
Characters - 5
Yuri - 6
Overall - a bland, uninteresting 5. There's worse, but there's better, too.
Saving Face
Last night 7 intrepid friends and staff of Yuricon went to the NYC premier of
"Saving Face," a "romantic comedy" about Chinese-Americans, lesbians, and mothers and daughters written and directed by Alice Wu.
It was excellent. For one thing � it was actually funny. That makes it the only romantic comedy I've ever watched that I laughed at.
The plot is simple: Wilhemina is a successful almost 30 years old Chinese-American surgeon in New York City. Her mother lives in hope that she will marry a nice Chinese boy one day. One day, Wil comes home to find her mother on her doorstep, pregnant at 48. As her mother moves in, Wil has to deal with a burgeoning relationship with a nice Chinese girl, Vivian, who is a professional dancer.
Wil desperately searche for a husand for her mother, while balancing Vivian's increasing desire for their relationship to be publically acknowledged.
It was very well acted. I genuinely think Joan Chen as Mom and Michelle Kusiec as Wil are way better looking in real life than on the screen, and Joan, particularly looked radiant on screen. (But Michelle was absolutely adorable at the party. I would have liked to had a chance to actually talk to her, but you know how it is - she's moving around thanking everyone...) But Joan Chen in real life - wow. I want
to look that good when I grow up. Most of the cast was at the premier.
The writer/director, Alice Wu, was so cute! LOL She spent the night importuning people to tell their friends and get them to go to the first weekend openings, because this weekend's box office takes will influence how heavily Sony markets the movie. So, here I am, telling all the folks in the NYC and LA areas to go see this movie! It's funny, it's well done, the girl gets the girl and...did I mention it's
funny? :-)
Once again, May 27th, this Friday, opening places:
NEW YORK: the ANGELIKA (in Soho) and the AMC 25 (on 42nd Street)
LOS ANGELES: the SUNSET LAEMMLE 5, the WESTSIDE PAVILION, PLAYHOUSE (Pasadena), TOWN CENTER (Encino), and the SOUTH COAST VILLAGE (Costa Mesa)
And
SF BAY AREA: opens the weekend of JUNE 3 at the Landmark EMBARCADERO, the UA STONESTOWN Twin, the Landmark SHATTUCK (Berkeley), PALO ALTO SQUARE, CENTURY 5 (Pleasant Hill), SANTANA ROW (San Jose) and MARIN/ SAUSALITO.
For a glimpse of the trailer visit the
Saving Face website.
Ratings:
Cinematography - 7
Characters - 8
Story - 8
Yuri - 10
Overall - 8
A fun night out for any fan of lesbian stories.
Air Master DVD Volume 3
We did a mini-marathon last night and watched all the
Air Master we had on DVD. Why? Because it's a *great* series!
Last entry I pointed out some of the issues I had with the DVD release. Well, good news, kids, by Volume 3 some of the most egregious problems have been fixed. And as the plot (well...let's call it that for argument's sake...) just gets better and better, by Vol. 3 this series has kicked into high gear.
Let's start with the thing that everyone complains about most - the art. Yup, its ugly. That's not going to change. Move past it.
Next, what passes for a plot. In Vol. 3, in between big air and bloody, brutal fights, we actually learn quite a bit about Maki, and we even get a glimpse into the great Sakiyama Kaori's past. But really, the fights are the point, and in this volume we get lots of Maki flying - my wife's favorite part.
Yuri-wise, we get a nice handful of yuri to hold onto. Mina completely gives up on pretense and falls for Maki wholeheartedly, even going so far as to say that she will confess her love - and then does so (while asleep, mind you, but...). Maki, after fighting to the point of collapse, does collapse - in Mina's arms. Sadly, we don't get the followup scene from the manga where, as the Black Union grieves over Kinjiro, Mina takes Maki to a love hotel... Man, I would have LOVED that scene to be animated. lol
Many of the problems with the first two volumes - the closed captioning subtitles and really lousy translation simply disappears halfway through this volume. The translation, while loose, is *much* more casual and slang-filled, which gives the series the voice it needs. Lucha Master remains Roo-cha and the honorifics are still gone, but everything else improves significantly.
But what makes this volume so great is Sakiyama Kaori. My wife, who has completely disparate tastes in anime from myself, is equally as enamored of Sakiyama Kaori as I am. Because she is the GREATEST CHARACTER EVER. LOL Not only is she utterly, totally psychotic, violent and strange, but she is lovable and admirable all at the same time.
Volume 3 sees the beginning of the "Fami-wrestler" arc, in which Sakiyama Kaori and Maki become professional female tag team wrestlers. It's my favorite arc, without question. The fights are brilliant, and Sakiyama Kaori simply shines as unrepressably insane and funny.
Yes, the art sucks. Yes there's fan service out the wazoo, but come *on* - the fight scenes are brilliant. You can see exactly what technique everone is using - even if a move is unlikely, improbable or impossible its still cool that you can follow the fighting. Watching these fights makes me want to be a streetfighter. Really. lol And Sakiyama Kaori is my idol.
One last thing - it's not the first thing that comes to mind but, the music for this series is top-notch. The opening and closing themes are brilliant, and the BGM is really, really well-done, and surprisingly subtle.
Ratings:
Art - 3, and I'm being generous
Characters - 10
Story - 8
Music - 9
Yuri - 8
Overall - 9
God, I love this anime! You can find Volume 1, 2 and the much improved 3 at the
Yuricon Shop - buy it and join in the streetfighting fun. :-)
Air Master DVD Volume 2
No, you didn't miss a review of
Air Master Volume 1.
Anime Castle was out of that volume when I was there to pick it up. Since I already know the story, I just took it from Vol. 2, and there we are.
To start, I reviewed this series way back on
November 17, 2003 (it's still running and yes, I am still reading) and the anime on
February 26, 2004. If you want to know what the story is about and why we care - read those reviews.
Now, here is my review of the Geneon release of
Air Master on DVD:
Geneon Entertainment Customer Service
c/o The Right Stuf International
PO Box 71309
Des Moines, IA 50325
Dear Sir or Madam;
My name is Erica Friedman, the President of Yuricon. The over 1200 members of Yuricon greatly enjoy many Geneon anime series, so we take it rather seriously when we feel that the quality of a DVD is exceptionally low. I am therefore writing to address two issues on behalf of my organization.
(I have snipped a portion here that is not relevant)
But far worse is the DVD of Air Master. The subtitles are incredibly small and hard to read - and they appear to actually be a close-caption track, rather than subtitles. It is incredibly annoying to pay good money for such a shoddy product. I and many of the members of Yuricon are perfectly aware that Toei anime seems to tend towards sub-par quality, but we do believe that the translation - which *is* yours - is poor enough that, at times it seems as if we are watching a bootlegged translation from Hong Kong, rather than the legally licensed version for America. It seems utterly strange to us that your translator was not familiar with
shumai, a common Japanese dumpling (translated as
siu-may) or Lucha (translated as
Roo-cha) Master being named after the
luchadores, Mexican masked wrestlers. Neither of these are particularly obscure terms...
We at Yuricon look forward to the day when Geneon licenses
Maria-sama ga Miteru for the American audience, and we very much hope that your company strives to improve the quality of your translation and subtitling by then. And we do expect to see a revision in future volumes of Air Master. The current subtitling is simply inexcusably bad.
(Another small, irrelevant snip)
On behalf of the members of the Yuricon community, we thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Erica Friedman
***
You will notice that I left in the address for Geneon. Please feel free to write them and politely express your disapproval of this product. It's the only way they will know what we think.
Shoujoai ni Bouken: The Adventures of Yuriko
Today I will attempt to write about my own work. A monumental task, as you can imagine. :-) I'm sorry, but I remain unrepentantly biased. LOL
Way back in 2000, when I created what is now
Yuricon, I knew that I wanted the mascot to be much, much *cooler* than other con mascots, which tended to go for cute, rather than cool. And she had to be an out lesbian, because otherwise what was the point of having her? And, above all, she had to have blonde hair and blue eyes with hair down over her right eye, because I find that impossibly sexy. LOL
So I created Yuriko. I made her a pop idol because you can do *anything* with a pop idol and find a way to make it plausible. :-)
Shoujoai ni Bouken: The Adventures of Yuriko was originally released as twice-weekly issues to the
Yuricon Mailing List. Currently, the releases of
Saiyuu no Ryouko, the sequel to
SnB are released on a once or twice a month basis, due to time constraints, but they are still released with resonably regularity. In fact, the next issue of
SnR will go out tonight, after I finish this review. lol
As Yuricon grew, I wanted people to get to know Yuriko, so I added
SnB to the Yuricon website. Over the years I have had dozens of offers of people who wanted to draw the story as a manga (but when faced with the concept of creative control and deadlines, they all faded away) and been bombarded with hundreds of requests for the same.
Well, making
SnB into a manga was just too big a project, but I came up with what I think is a good compromise. Kelli Nicely has been a staff illustrator for Yuricon for years and she does what I consider to be some of the best pictures of Yuriko around. So I asked her to illustrated Volume 1. And to be 100% honest - I think she did a great job. I'm really pleased with almost every picture in the book.
While she labored at the illustrations, I had a team of editors read my story and point out an enormous number of errors. lol I had never had the original edited, only doing proofreading and editing in-house, if you will...and boy did the story need to be edited!! So thank you to Editor Ed, Sparkle and Paulette. Many times thank you.
So, with solid illustrations and good editing, that brings me to the story itself. Is it good?
When I started to write
Shoujoai ni Bouken I had almost no idea of what the story was going to turn out like. 91 "issues" and 3 chapters of
omake later, I was totally in love with my creation. I decided that I would keep writing about Yuri, (and Midori, her famous writer girlfriend) because I honest-to-goodness loved writing them. 5 years later my opinion has not changed. I adore them both and all the other characters that inhabit Yuriko's world, especially Kishi-san, Yuriiko's gruff chain-smoking manager, and Mariko, Yuri's best friend - possibly the only character with which I have anything in common. (Probably because we're both Virgo.)
So, yes, I genuinely believe that this is a good yuri story. It is everything I am looking for in a yuri story - plenty of drama, angst, an older protagonist who is uncontestably gay, with enough sex and romance to give it spice without making it porn.
But, with a natural tendency to write for myself, of course I would think that, so here is my proof to you that
SnB is a good story.
Editor Ed from ALC Publishing is not a manga fan. He is not an anime fan. Ed is not a yuri fan, either. He is frankly uninterested in such things, but he is an *excellent* editor. He does this for a living, so I know that he will be brutally honest in his editing. I was sweating bullets when he was working on this volume, because if he said it was "okay" or he shrugged or got that look on his face - you know the one, the "polite" look - I was going to be mortified. I mean, this is a guy who works for a major publishing house. If he hates it (and I've heard about some of the books he's had to work on....pee-yew!) then that would pretty much mean that the story sucked rocks.
When he gave me the manuscript I asked, knowing that this could kill my ego forever, what he thought. He said it was fun, enjoyable, that he kept looking for the sex, but when he got there, it turned out to be awfully sweet...then he looked at me and said, "I want to know what happens next."
There you go folks. There's *the* proof. That was all I needed, anyway. :-)
Ratings:
Art - 8
Characters - 9
Story - 9
Yuri - 100%
Overall...lol
Just go and buy a copy at the
Yuricon Shop - and you tell me. ;-)
Shoujoai no Bouken, Volume 1
At long last! LOL
ALC Publishing, North America's only publisher of yuri manga and novels proudly presents the first volume of
Shoujoai ni Bouken: The Adventures of Yuriko, available now for pre-order on the
Yuricon Shop!
Yuriko is an out, lesbian pop idol sent back to school as a high school senior for a "reality" television show. Now Yuriko has to learn to balance the rigors of interviews, live appearances and fan adoration with English homework and a math teacher who hates her. And who is behind the mysterious lunches appearing in her shoe locker?
Will she make the basketball team, will she find a way to defeat the school bullies or will she break in front of the ever-rolling camera? And most important, will she ever find love? Find out in
Shoujoai ni Bouken: The Adventures of Yuriko, Volume 1!
(More of a review on this, less of an ad, tomorrow. lol)
Yuri Manga: Bakaretsu Tenshi, Volume 2
Sometimes, there *is* cosmic justice and a marginal anime series is actually a damn fine manga.
Bakuretsu Tenshi is one of those series.
After the dissapointments of series like
Kannazuki no Miko and
Uta-Kata, its a pleasure to read a manga that is really just a decently written and enjoyable story.
Enjoyable, you might remember from my
review of Volume 1, if you like guns, girls, mutating undead half-zombie, half-Boomer creatures, etc.
(In fact, if you like
Bubblegum Crisis, you will probably like this manga - they've got alot in common, with an added dose of more overt yuri in
BT.)
In Volume 1, we meet Jo and Meg, who live in a world of nearly inexplicable violence. In Volume 2, the girls (and us readers) get a hint that it may not be as inexplicable as all that. Sei and Emi, who appeared in the first volume, are established as being specifically after Jo...although we don't yet know why. We don't know yet because there's an actual plot and we have to wait to find out what it is...we hope.
From what I can tell, the anime begins after the manga story resolves and all four women are working together. I will say that, having seen the anime, I think the prequel-esque manga is working quite well.
And then there's the yuri.
As I mentioned in my original review, the anime did a bang-up job of pretending that Meg was not interested in Jo, while poor Jo was forced to go about saving Meg's butt all over the place for little more than "thanks" and a hug.
Not so the manga. The first chapter of Volume 2 has Meg renting a suspiciously cheap house for the two of them. Her first thoughts upon taking up residency is a not at all subtle fantasy in which a naked Jo leans over a naked Meg and says, (in a sexy voice, assumably,) "I won't let you sleep tonight." Meg's out loud response to this internal fantasy is to say, "Please be gentle with me." lol
Later, Jo and Meg learn that the house is haunted, but instead of bailing like all the previous residents, they discover that the ghost is merely a hologram and they confront the rental agent with the fact. Turns out that he is divorced and his alimony is killing him, so he's set up this scam to keep the rental fees coming in on this dilapidated house.
Later that night, Meg is saddened by the thought of falling out of love with the person you love. She asks Jo, a little desperately, if they might ever separate. Jo responds by feeding Meg soba noodles and, quite romantically saying that the noodles represent the length of time they would be together. At which we cut away to Emi and Sei watching this on a monitor. We see Meg jump Jo, all huggy and snuggly and then Emi turning to Sei and asking, "Sei-'nee, whare we recording this?" To which Sei replies, red-faced and embarrassed, "Kids shouldn't watch some things!" (Thanks to Zyl for correcting my translation there.)
Later Sei meets with Meg and offers her money to break up with Jo. Meg refuses, violently and swears that whatever the truth about Jo is, they'll face it together.
So that settles that. It's not a one-way yuri thing in the manga. It's lurv. And lust, for which I am eminently thankful. In fact, the preview notes to the third volume mention that Meg will be beginning an ero-ki battle for Jo's attention. Hmmm...how do I explain that? Think naked, come-hither looks being thrown in Jo's direction, with determination. :-)
Not surprisingly, I am actually looking forward to the next volume in a way I never did to the next anime episode. I sincerely hope that the manga continues past this arc into the anime and completes the story, because frankly, I think it'll do it with more style, better writing and a lot more yuri. LOL
Ratings:
Art - 7
Characters - 7
Story - 7
Yuri - 7
Overall - 7
Worth a read, if you like this kind of action-adventure shounen thing.
Tags: Manga, Yuri Manga, Meg and Jo, Burst Angels, Bakuretsu Tenshi
Aria, Volumes 4, 5 & 6
One of my more happy finds in Tokyo was the last three collected volumes of
Aria, this quiet, pleasant side-trip into the quiet, pleasant life of an
undine (aka gondolier) on Neo Venesia (New Venice). It is a manga of simple pleasures - a lesson I now and again need to relearn. :-)
I reviewed
volumes 1,2 and 3 in February and, as you may remember, in English. Since ADV has not yet released the next three volumes, I was glad to find them in K-Books. (K-Books' used manga store is one of the many reasons I love Ikebukuro so much. lol)
The story is not much different in the final three volumes than in the first three, but there *is* some character development. Alice, the slightly snotty young trainee does loosen up, by the end of Volume 6 quite considerably, in fact. Enough to admit that she wants to be the best undine ever, and that she has a long way to go.
Aika turns out to be a damn fine person and an excellent undine. When she first showed, I was convinced she was to be the "hated rival", mostly because she was dark-haired, but she has consistently been a funny and enjoyable character. For the record, she *does* say, "Embarrasing words prohibited!" which ADV translates slightly differently, but well enough. :-)
Akari doesn't change much over the final three volumes but, as she's one of those sweet and lovable types, there's really nowhere for her to go. Her adventures remain whimsical and fun, with pretty much no emotional baggage, ever. For this reason alone,
Aria is a welcome respite for all the crap that passes as published works these days. Between the lovely art and the lovely characters, unless you crave angst and hate anyone being happy while you yourself suffer so, there's really nothing to hate in this manga!
There's no obvious yuri, either. HOWEVER, after reading these three volumes, I am convinced, with an unshakable conviction, that Alicia and Akira (Akari's and Aika's sempai, respectively) are lovers. They are just always together. They act like lovers in subtle but distinct ways. The yuri goggle setting for Akira and Alicia is pretty much the exact same one used for Torako and Asagi in
Yostubato. There's no *proof* per se, but,...duuuuh! LOL Seriously. I am 100% convinced that they are "together' and Akari will one day be somewhat surprised to find them in bed together. Alicia will smile and explain that they develop a bond as undine this way and encourage Akari to do the same with Alice (as her kouhai) and send Akari off with a nod of encouragement. Or maybe I'm just thinking of the fanfic that Sean Gaffney will write about this series. LOL
In any case, no overt yuri, but I'm putting Alicia and Akari on
The List or anime and manga lesbians at
Yuricon anyway.
Ratings:
Art - 9
Characters - 7 (pleasant, but a bit shallow)
Story - 8
Yuri - 3
Overall - 8, because I find a few moments of quiet joy, gorgeous art and simple pleasures to be something really worth experiencing.
Noir, DVD Volume 1
A blast from the past! But, you see, I never originally reviewed
Noir. Isn't that odd? I did talk about it a little in my initial
overview of Bee Train series for my review of Madlax, but I have never talked about this series in detail. As it just made the Top 10 Must-See Yuri Anime list over on the
Yuricon Mailing List, I thought it was worth a revisit. And it gave me a good excuse to rewatch the series. :-)
Let's start with the bad.
There is so much repeated footage in the early episodes that it's a wonder anyone gets past episode four. After watching the first volume again, I hated that damn watch and its musical theme all over again, something that time and distance had dulled.
The animation is surprisingly weak in places, especially in regards to the characters' faces, which is all the more obvious when laid against really detailed and cool backgrounds.
Lastly, there is the small issue of entry and exit wounds...they do not exist. Guns make *holes*. People do not bleed by osmosis. We are watching an anime about assasins. We should REALLY have wounds. And while it's a small issue, it just hits absurd proportions later on in the series, when Kirika and Mirielle are gunning down dozens at a time. Blood yes, but only behind bodies and with no wounds. Come ON, Bee Train, get some balls!
I will admit that they partially addressed the issue in
MadlaxThat's about it for the bad, now for the good.
Oh my god is the music orgasmic! I bought all three soundtracks to this anime, something never before heard of. With the exception of the watch's theme, (and only because it's just overused,) every track in this show rocks. Canta Per Me and Salva Nos are indescribably sexy as background music to the various "running around with guns and shooting people" scenes.
It's about women who use guns. Like
Gunsmith Cats, no matter how absurd the storyline, we'll put up with it, because, well, it's got sexy woman with gun and we like. :-)
The various settings are fun. I think Bee Train do a really nice job of moving the story around the world - in this first volume we start in Japan, move to Paris and briefly slaughter some people in a tropical climate. I really like the mobility of the story. Especially as it will take them, eventually, to the woods of New Jersey. lol
The occult coolness. Could anything be cooler than two female assassins traveling around the world, killing with dispassionate skill? Yes! They could be investigating a Medieval occult conspiracy!
Da Vinci Code step aside - Soldats has you beat flat.
Oh, and erm...gee they seem kinda yuri don't they? LOL
Okay, in Volume 1, there is already a definite vibe between our two lovely leads. And there does seem to only be one bed doesn't there? And gee, Mirielle seems a sensual, passionate sort, and she's only a few years older than Kirika...
Oh, yeah, the yuri goggles are firmly in place for most of this series, because even though the entire body of evidence of them as a couple is confined to the following facts: 1) They are twice seen naked in bed together (which means nothing....) and; 2) the letter. You know...THE letter. I'll talk about it later in the appropriate review. But as of Volume 1, it's all yuri goggles and gaydar.
And anyway, geez, who *else* could they sleep with? It's not like they'd be meeting lots of nice people to hang out with, or be able to buy sex, since it would be too risky. Bottom line is, it's obvious, right off. And Bee Train tells us that if we want to see it there, it is, so I say it is. There, that's settled. LOL
Ratings:
Art - 7
Characters - 8
Story - 9
Yuri - 6
Overall - 8
Not for the cute, fluffy crowd, but a definite yuri fan fave.
Notes on Rosa Canina
Part 2
Have I mentioned that Sei is gay? 'Cause she is. Really, obviously gay. I just want to make the point.
In case you feel like arguing that falling in love with a woman once doesn't make you gay, with which I agree, let me remind you that, after Shizuka and she have their conversation, Sei comments that Shizuka is quite charming, and that she would have liked to get to know her sooner - they could have been good friends. Then Sei kisses Shizuka as close to the lips as she can. Still not convinced? Read on...
Nagakiyono 1)
The New Year's arc is written in first person, from Yumi's point of view. It gives us some serious insight into her thoughts. The rest of the Yamayurikai do not show up for this arc, something that is done correctly in the manga, but not in the anime.
2) The entire first part is Yumi at home with her family on New Year's Eve and Day - all very normal family interaction and establishes her relationship with Yuuki much better than the anime does. It turns out that
Yuuki was conceived right after her birth then born prematurely, so that he's a little small for a boy. It mortifies Yumi that they look like twins, but she's glad he's a boy, so not in the same school
as her. She's also very older sister-y to him, despite the fact that they are pretty much the same age.
3)
Sachiko's New Year card was drawn with calligraphy pen and ink - Yumi did hers on the word processor with clip art, last minute, because she forgot. :-)
4) Yumi hears the phone ring and her mother answer it, and based on the responses, she thinks it must be her grandmother, because her mother is speaking so formally. So she's quite shocked to find out that it's Sei.
5)
Yumi's first thought at Sei's invitation to hatsumode (first shrine
visit of the new year) is that she might get to see Sachiko praying at the shrine in kimono.6)
Sei goes from speaking like an old man, wanting to see Yumi's pajamas in her bag, to speaking like a child - probably just to drive Yumi crazy. When Yumi asks how Sei got there, Sei responds, "bun bun" - like a baby calling a car a "vroom vroom."
Sei shoves a bag of sweets in Yumi's coat pocket, then spends the rest of the scene reaching into Yumi's pocket to pull out candy. (Yumi does, as well, so the scenes are accented with flavors as she puts pieces in her mouth.)
7)
When they get to the shrine, Sei makes them get fortunes first. Yumi finds it hard to believe that Sei is even normally religious (and, in fact, Sei never prays while at the shrine), but when she sees that pretty young miko seem to be handing out the omikuji, Yumi becomes suspicious of Sei's motives.
Sei comments that in Yumi's family, she can tell that Mari-sama and Buddha live side by side, because of the smell of incense and sacred wine that comes from Yumi. Yumi starts to protest, but Sei just looks at her seriously and says that it was just a metaphor. Yumi think that she's right though - although her family isn't religious, they have
ofuda hanging, and Yuuki has Buddhist objects from Hanadera Academy, while she, obviously, has Christian things from Lillian.
8)
When they finally get up to the front of the line Sei does, in fact, flirt with the miko, giving them openly "eroppoi" looks - let's call it somewhere between a leer and bedroom eyes, shall we? When the miko hands over the
omikuji, Sei takes her hand and holds it.
On the way to the car, Sei keeps handing Yumi all the bags of food to carry - at some point Yumi feels as if she's running away from home.
9)
It turns out that *Sachiko * was the one who coined the "Gingko Prince" nickname for Kashiwagi. (And, btw, neither Sei nor Yumi can remember his name initially.)
10) There is no butler at the door of Sachiko's house, like in the anime - really, all the servants are gone. Yuuki answers the door, to Yumi's shock. Which brings me to this point -
Yuuki did not lose a bet at the game center - he WAS the bet. His friend Kobayashi lost to Kashiwagi, so Kashiwagi got Yuuki for the night. lol
11)
When Sachiko comes to the door, we get a *detailed* description of her clothes, her hair - even how her make-up is romantic. Yumi is overcome by the desire to turn around and shout, "This lovely woman is my onee-sama!" to everyone and anyone around.
12)
Sachiko's mother, Sayoko, is very relaxed and delightful. She tells Yumi right off to call her Sayoko, and that she will call Yumi Yumi-chan. (Yumi notes that when Kashiwagi called her Yumi-chan, Sei got pissed, but when Sayoko does, Sei doesn't protest.)
I think that Kashiwagi is gayer in the novel than he is in the anime. Remember - Sei pegged him immediately in the first novel. Here he serves tea...traditionally a woman's job.
13) Sayoko plays cards with everyone and Yumi begins to really like her. But
when Yumi catches Sayoko-obasama pouting at Sachiko she wants to run up and hug the older woman, because she's so cute! (I'm SO sorry we didn't have time in the anime to get to know Sayoko better - she's really adorable.) Oh, and Yumi recognizes the pout - she's seen Sachiko use it on Rosa Chinensis.
14)
Yumi catches Kashiwagi stealing sushi out of Sachiko's box and gets indignant...even when she realizes that he's probably just taking the things she doesn't like, it still annoys her. In her head she calls him, "You bastard Kashiwagi" - in the same tone of voice that Rosa Gigantea uses when she talks to him.
Oh - when the sushi is opened, both Yuuki and Yumi hesitate to eat it, knowing that if they do, they will never be able to eat sushi again. lol (I've had that problem myself, so I sympathize. Once you've had good sushi, you can never order it again at a place that's mediocre.)
14) Unlike in the anime, (where Sachiko and Yumi never had this talk)
Yumi *does* know about Kashiwagi's sexual preference and she worries through the whole story about Yuuki. (Acting older sister-y again - and she's very conscious of the fact.)
15) Kashiwagi and Sei get into an argument just before Sayoko comes by with the Nakakiyono paper and brushes.
Kashiwagi complains that no one likes him because he's too cool. Yumi think of Yoshino's line - "your brain is turning into miso."Sei just clears her throat derisively.
Sayoko and the boys all do the Nakakiyono charm with the girls. Yumi complains that her writing is terrible - she's not used to writing vertically, or right to left, or with a brush. Then she sees Yuuki's characters and feels better.
16) And last of all,
Yumi's first dream of the New Year is this:Sachiko, dressed as Benten, goddess of wisdom, is staggering under
many large black boxes of sushi, while Sei, as Kokuten, god of wealth,
has bags of takoyaki and roasted corn in one hand and in the other
from her mallet flows a wave of candy, "falling down like a never-
ending rain."
The End
I have to say that, with every Marimite novel I read, I'm falling harder for all the main characters. They're just so darned delightful.
I've just finished the fifth novel, and am looking forward to jumping into the sixth one asap!
Once again, a fun book from Konno Oyuki, a woman for whom I have
nothing but immense respect as a writer. (Except her puns kill me.)
Oh, and btw...Sei is really gay. lol
Notes on the fourth Maria-sama ga Miteru Novel: Rosa Canina
Part 1Wahhh! I thought I had posted this weeks ago, but find I did not. Oh well. That means I'm ahead of myself for a change, since I'm now writing up notes on the fifth novel for the
Yuricon Mailing List. lol
Before I say anything else, I want to say this - the anime did *such* a disservice to Sachiko. She is, without fail, THE most romantic character I've come across in a years. She is always touching Yumi, caressing her, snuggling her, and gnerally doing unbelievably romantic things. (like the hair ribbon in the last book....)
The anime failed to communicate that well - not because of any flaw in Sachiko, but because we see it through Yumi's eyes and she feels so unworthy that she doesn't take note of it. She sees Sachiko's attention as being corrected, when it really means that Sachiko simply cannot take her eyes (and hands) off Yumi.
Sachiko's only real fault is that she doesn't want to burden Yumi with her own worries...and of course, that's what blows up in their face in Rainy Blue...but I digress. In any case,I am now, officially, a Sachiko fan. :-)
Notes on
Rosa Canina, by Konno Oyuki
Once again there is suprisingly little change from the anime or the manga) with about three small scenes cut from the anime altogether. The election arc takes about half the book, while the New Year's arc is the other half - so there wasn't as much detail lost in the translation to anime as I feared. The changes to the New Year's Day arc in the anime were sort of odd, but ther manga remained much closer to the novel.
1)
The "Cast of Characters" at the beginning of the book is presented as snapshots by Tsutako. I really liked that. :-)
2) At the beginning of term ceremony, Yumi watches for Sachiko while waiting for all the older students to be seated. She's so obsessive that, as she drifts off into a nap,
Yumi dreams that she has "Sachiko-itis" and that Sei is a doctor who tells her that she'll have to take medicine after every meal.
3)
Shimako acts "uncharacteristically throughout the whole novel...which leads me to believe that Yumi doesn't really understand Shimako's character at all. (Shimako bursts into the Council room, she runs after the bus waving her arms and calling for it to stop, and later cries in Sei's arms.)
4) And how is it that
Yumi has never heard of the school elections or how they work?
5) On the bus that afternoon,
Sachiko asks Yumi to sit close and leans on her. They huddle for warmth and space. Yumi, who has been feeling very distant from Sachiko is thrilled, but also still feeling distant.
6)
The reason Yumi thinks that Rosa Canina should be a black color, is that black is the traditional color for villains.7)
Tsutako comments that Yumi has a natural charm, and Yumi misunderstands her to mean that she is a natural goof. (We also get several mentions in this novel of Yumi's low-self-esteem/self-abhorrence from Yumi herself.) Tsutako tells Yumi that that is NOT what she meant, and we get a teeny little glimpse into a Tsutako that is just a teeny little jealous of Yumi and Sachiko.
8)
In the classroom, Shimako is standing in front of a window with mist on it, and Yumi thinks it makes her look like she has wings. This prompts a thought in Yumi's mind that white is definitely angel-like Shimako's color, at which Tsutako (who has clearly had the same thought) turns to Yumi and jokes that as she's a member of the Red Rose family, she's going to have to blush every day. :-)
9) Initially, a big part of Yumi's stress factor over the school elections is the
concern that Shizuka may supplant Sachiko as Rosa Chinensis. She isn't really aware that Shizuka poses the biggest threat to Shimako until it is pointed out to her. (The other half of her concerns - the part that blows up in Yumi's face over and over is that both she and Sachiko sort of feel that they ought to be able to intuit weach other's needs, and thoughts and moods. Since neither really knows what the other is thinking, they base their actions of what they *think* the other is thinking and get upset when that doesn't seem to be working. This will be a theme that comes back over and over...)
10) No one really remembers Shizuka, because at the school festival, her hair was long.
It is rumored that Shizuka cut her hair to mimic Sei, since she was (so the school newspaper reported) a leading candidate for the position Sei's petite soeur. When this rumor is revealed, Sachiko wonders if Shizuka is anything like Shiori, while Rei says that Shizuka seems like the kind of person who deserves to be at the Rose Mansion.
11)
Tsutako is the one who reveals Shizuka's information to Yumi, not Yoshino, as in the anime.
12) In the library, after Yoshino explains that Shizuka, aka Rosa Canina, is the nice librarian who helped Yumi,
Yumi notices slips of paper marking pages in the books she is holding. One after the other, they mark the pages with pictures of Rosa Chinensis. The last one marks Rosa Canina. Yumi and Yoshino think that it must be a message from the enemy.
13) Shimako confesses to Yumi the one of the reasons that she is not running is that she has never really had a chance at "normal" student life, because she was brought into the Yamayurikai almost immediately upon entering. She expresses a desire to become friends with Yoshino and Yumi. (Later we learn that one of the reasons Shizuka considered running for the Yamayurikai is that she's been in chorus as a soloist from
the beginning and she wanted to be in a "normal" club. Sei points out, rather sarcastically, that being a member of the Student Council is hardly "normal" student
life.)
In the manga, we get foreshadowing of Shimako's later arc, with comments inside her head like, "Every day I am here, I'm committing a crime.") But those are not in the novel.
15)
When they hear Shizuka's footsteps on the stairs, Yumi thinks it must be Rosa Chinensis, because the footsteps are soft and even, like Youko's or Shimako's. She notes that her footstep ID is getting better, although not as good as Sei's.
16) One thing not really captured in the anime or manga is that
Shimako is really cold, and almost rude, to Shizuka when she comes to the Rose Mansion to make her offer. (It's done well in the Drama CD, though.)
17) In the manga,
when Shizuka meets Yumi in the hallway, Yoshino is with them. In the manga and novel Yumi is alone with Shizuka, until Sei joins her and Shizuka leaves.
18)
Youko confronts Yumi about her role as imouto, not on a bench outside, but immediately outside the Rose Mansion door. She brings Yumi inside the storeroom on the first floor, puts her up against a wall, puts both hands on her shoulders and talks into Yumi's face.
In the anime, Youko never touches Yumi, until she is about to graduate. In the manga, Yumi is once again on the bench, and Youko has brought Sachiko with her, instead of sending Yumi up to her. The manga also cuts out the lecture Youko gives about how being a little sister, it's not Yumi's job to worry. She should simply support her onee-sama and be cheerful for her. It's the older sister's job to be responsible. As the chapter is called "What is a little sister?" I was sad that they cut the speech, since it answers half of Yumi's concerns.
18) When Sachiko sees Yumi again and realizes that they have both been worried about their onee-sama,
she tells Yumi that what she wants most from Yumi is that when she is down, for Yumi to hold her hand.When Sachiko goes to give her speech, Yumi kvells at her from the wings. ("Kvelling" is a yiddish word for when you're so proud and happy that you want to burst.)
19) Cut scenes:
Shizuka's supporters, wearing Rosa Canina headbands and shouting her name at the assembly.
Shizuka asks Sei to meet her after the elections, regardless of the outcome.
Yumi, Sachiko, Rei and Yoshino in the Rose Mansion, waiting to get the results of the election. When they go to learn who has won, Sachiko asks that Yumi and Yoshino stand with her and Rei. Shimako comes late because she was at a committee meeting; Shizuka never shows.
20) Sei meets Shizuka, as requested. The scene is pretty much intact in the anime (with the exception of Shizuka's reasoning for wanting to run.) Since we originally saw this scene without having seen Sei's arc, we lack a little crucial information -
Shizuka is, IMHO, coming on rather strongly to Sei. "I wanted to see my reflection in your eyes just once." Go home and try that. You have to be darned close to see your reflection in someone's eyes. Shizuka admits that she doesn't want to be Sei's soeur...and Sei understands, I think, and gives her a kiss as a "going away present." It's an *incredibly* sexy scene between them.
21) Yumi, who has been eavesdropping, thinks to herself that
if she ever saw Sachiko kissing anyone, on the cheek or forehead, she'd freak. So she promises Sei she won't tell Shimako, but Sei can't understand why.
22) After Yoshino and Rei leave (and my, isn't the interaction between them really suspicious! Yoshino comes running up, grabs Rei's arm and the two of them hustle off, "Got to go! Bye!" and they practically run off together....uh-huh, she says, knowingly...) Yumi sees Shimako crying in Sei's arms. Sachiko and she leave and
Yumi asks Sachiko if she can do anything for her - anything at all. She'd bungee jump, eat glass, whatever. LOL
Sachiko just asks if they can go back to the Rose Mansion and eat the lunches they couldn't eat earlier out of nervousness. "Seeing your face has suddenly given me an appetite."
The End of Part 1
Mahou Sensei Negima, Volumes 1-5
Today's entry is a guest review! Written by
Sean Gaffney, none of the opinions in this review are mine *at all*. I have asked Sean to review
Mahou Sensei Negima for you, because I utterly loathe all of Ken Akamatsu's work with a firey passion.
Love Hina so enraged me that I am incapable of even attempting to read or watch anything else by this man. Why? Because the characters were
VILE. The lead character, Keitaro, is SO utterly, horrendously, stupid and useless that the idea of anyone, ever, falling in love with such a complete yutz makes me physically ill. And the endlessly unfunny gag of seeing girls half-naked over and over and over and over, and zOMG, this is so funny the way he accidentally catches girls half-dressed or falls on them, ripping part of thewir clothes off and they beat him up, let's see it again! still makes me see red.
So, many thanks to Sean for writing this review. :-)
***
This review only covers the
Negima manga released in the US to date:
Negima's from the creator of
Love Hina, Ken Akamatsu. The basic premise has been called "Harem Potter", and that's not far off. A 10-year-old prodigy wizard is sent by his Hogwarts-esque school in Britain to Japan, there to teach English to14-year-old Japanese schoolgirls at an all-girl's school. There are 31 girls in the class (well, one's a ghost and one's a robot, but you know what I mean), and Negi has his work cut out for him - not only does he have to bring their grades up, but he can't let them know he's a wizard!
Being from the creator of
Love Hina, yuri fans weren't expecting much from this series. But there's a lot to find here once you get past a few basic problems.
The first, and most obvious, is that a lot of these girls have crushes on a 10-year-old boy. There's a lot of slapstick grabbing of his crotch, etc, and as with
Love Hina there's just scores of bath scenes. There's a basic 'ick' factor in the main romance that's difficult to get past, though it helps that Negi has no sexual desire for any of them, whatsoever.
Once past that, it's a basic adventure story, with Negi getting to know a new classmate every 3-4 chapters and going through some sort of bonding. By the end of Volume 8, a good 13 of the 31 girls are aware he's a wizard, so the secret thing? Not so much. But Negi is likeable in a genuinely likeable way, as opposed to
Love Hina's Keitaro, who seemed merely hapless. And Akamatsu is genuinely trying (and succeeding a good 75% of the time) to make each girl distinct and separate from each other girl.
Anyhow, on to the yuri factor. Nonexistent for the first 3 volumes, it kicks into gear in the 4th Volume, where we meet our Repressed Swordswoman, Setsuna Sakurazaki. On the Kyoto trip, she is paired with Negi and several other girls, including Konoka Konoe, who seems delighted to be going with her. Setsuna, however, is reluctant and aloof, and avoids Konoka as much as possible.
In the 5th Volume, we discover part of the reason for this: Konoka is the heir to a huge magical school, and Setsuna was introduced as her friend/bodyguard when the two were small. However, one day Konoka was almost drowned in a river, and little Setsuna couldn't save her. Setsuna vowed to make herself stronger, and also to become more detached, so she wouldn't let friendship interfere with her mission to protect.
The problem is, as the two have grown up, Setsuna's friendship has turned into a full-blown crush. Which is a big problem, as not only is Setsuna trying to remain detached and failing miserably, but she's also been brought up to believe that feeling such things for another girl is wrong. It doesn't help that, once their initial 'I'm avoiding you' difficulties are settled, Konoka is nice and sweet and glompy and basically doing her best to be lovable, if completely oblivious.
There's more I could add, but I'll wait till Volume 6 comes out in June to reveal the
other big reason why Setsuna wants to keep herself separate from Konoka. It's a doozy.
Overall, I wouldn't recommend Negima to the shoujo yuri fan. It's filled with gratuitous nudity and slight
shouta overtones. However, there is a good plot underlying this, and the Setsuna/Konoka pairing, while one-sided, is quite well done for both comedy and angst/drama, so for those who like shonen yuri, it's a good one to pick up.
Ratings:
Art: 8 (Akamatsu's a very good artist, and his fight scenes are actually easy to follow)
Characters: 7 (lots of girls, and with a few exceptions they're each their own person)
Story: 6 (This may go up as more of the huge brimming backstory is revealed)
Yuri: 5 (Setsuna's pretty much it so far, but her yuri arc is well handled).
Overall: 6.5. Not as bad as you might think, especially once past Volume 3.
--Sean Gaffney
Ichigo Mashimaro, Volume 1
Still playing "catch up". Last month I tried, but failed horribly, to hate
Ichigo Mashimaro. You can read about my shameful failure in the
April 1, 2004 entry.
So, with tail tucked firmly between my legs, and lots of discretionary income to spend, I parked myself in front of the Dengeki Comics section of Mandarake in Nakano and proceeded to buy the first volume of this just too-cute-to-hate series.
My opinion has not substantially changed from the first review. I've got the hang of the story now, though. Basically, each chapter is about some totally normal and a little silly situation that, slowly and adorably, goes out of control until you're giggling and feeling slightly foolish to be doing so at your age.
There is a definite, yet minor-key, rivalry for Nobue's attention between Matsuri and Miu, but mostly on Miu's part. Matsuri is too much of a baby to have a real crush on Nobue, while Miu's desire to be noticed by her would be a teeny little pathological if it weren't so damn cute!
The manga begins with Nobue at 16, as a blonde kogal with a nasty nicotine addiction, surrounded by her little sister's friends who crawl in and out of the windows to their apartment like it was their own home. As the up-coming
anime has Nobue at 20, I can only guess that Miu's crush takes on a little complexity as time goes on. Future volumes of the manga will tell, assumably.
Even if there wasn't yuri in this (and I have to have the yuri goggles turned up fairly high to see it, honesly)
Ichigo Mashimaro is just too freakin' cute to miss.
Ratings the same as the first time around.
If this manga can melt even my hardened little heart, the rest of the world will probably adore it.
Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl, Volume 1
Back in
March, I reviewed a random set of chapters of this manga. Well, I�ve backtracked and bought the first volume of the manga to fill in my missing knowledge. I�m not 100% sure I know what�s going on, even after having read it all. LOL
Okay, so the first volume begins with a picture of Hazumu being kissed by Yasuna in the classroom, as Tomari walks in on them.
The story immediately backtracks to some weeks previously. Hazumu is your basic �nice guy� type boy. We, the audience, never see his face, but when he manages the usual full-body fall onto classmate Yasuna, she comments with a giggle that his face looks like a girl�s. He smiles and says he�s always looked a little girly. Shortly thereafter, he confesses his like to Yasuna, who responds by bursting into tears and running away, saying that she�s sorry.
Depressed, Hazumu wanders off on his own into the mountains.
Where he is taken up by an alien ship and transformed into a girl.
Seriously, after reading this bit three times, I�m still no clearer on the motivation here, except to say that, it�s a �hand wave� that we must accept.
Since the alien ship approaching was very public, everyone in the world hears the alien�s broadcast, and everyone knows that Hazumu has become a girl. For the first several chapters of the volume, the media are parked outside Hazumu�s house.
Back at home after waking up as a girl, Hazumu seems remarkably complacent about his change. His mother admits to always wanting a daughter, and his father becomes a tiresome pervert who is supposed to be funny. Reading Dad's "funny" attempts to sexually molest his "daughter" has led me to decide that I will start to carry around a rolled-up newspaper to hit boys who think that kind of thing is funny over the nose until they are better trained.
The next few chapters are taken up with crucial stories like Hazumu�s first bra and which bathroom to use. Bizarrely, we are supposed to believe that Mom, while out buying fourteen million dresses, has somehow managed to forget to buy underwear for her newly-forged daughter. Only a man would write that, I swear.
Hazumu�s best friend Tomari protects her from the media, just as she protected Hazumu the boy from bullies when they were young. It is *this* that makes Tomari realize that she is in love with or, at least, is beginning to fall in love with, Hazumu.
In the meantime, Yasuna admits that she likes Hazumu - who is confused at the news because, as a girl, she feels obliged to not fall in love with other girls...although she�s kind of unclear how to do that. Tomari starts to realize that Hazumu still has feelings for Yasuna, just as she realizes that she herself has feelings for Hazumu.
Hazumu couldn�t get one girl as a boy, but as a girl, has two. What�s the irony level there? Snort.
Yasuna also admits that, ever since she was a child, she has a hard time *seeing* the faces of males, although Hazumu�s was beginning to become clearer to her over time, and she was, genuinely developing feelings for him. But now that Hazumu is a girl � she can see her clearly and is very in love with her!
Yasuna comes to the classroom where Hazumu waits for Tomari and kisses her, just as Tomari walks in, thus bringing us full circle in a story so full of hand waves and plot holes that, if it weren�t kind of sweet and cute and harmless, it would really, really suck. LOL
But it does not suck. It�s just sort of silly and stupid and yeah. ;-)
Ratings:
Art � 8
Characters � 7
Story � 5
Yuri � 9
Overall � 7
Anyway, I guess I�ll *have* to get the next volume and see what happens, huh? LOL
Ultra Sword
Right off, special thanks to Touko_no_doriru-san who gave me this manga on my last day in Tokyo. Sir, I have not forgotten your kindness and I am getting together a pile of things to send you as soon as I can!
Also, special thanks to Youko, who warned me away from this manga because it had some icky stuff in it, right after I had read and enjoyed it! lol Thanks for watching out for my poor, battered, soul, sweetie. :-)
This manga was drawn by my current fave Hayashiya Shizuru, author and artist of "Strawberry Shake" from
Yuri Shimai and
Hayate Cross Blade, among many other titles.
Before you get all excited, let me be honest - while there is yuri in this manga, it's all service. And the story is comprised of much violence and rape. If these things bother you, then you will want to avoid this manga. If they do not - read on!
Four girls - tough Rui, gay Yuki, horny Aoi and creepy otaku Tsubasa, are given swords and told that they must protect the victim who is the sacred bride from a demon infestation that will attempt to obtain her for their leader. Confused, but determined, they set off to find this victim.
Enter Mizuki, a girl who is being severly molested on the train. Tsubasa saves her, but shows no social skills in doing so. Later that day, Mizuki is attacked again, by a guy in the park and Tsubasa saves her once more - this time accomopanied by the rest of the gang. They identify Mizuki as their victim and swear to protect her from the multiple rapists, molesters and demonic seducers that she will have to face in future chapters.
They are only marginally successful. lol
That is, the sexual violence continues, not only against Mizuki, but pretty much involving every female character in the book - including the four themselves. But as that is the plot, and the manga is REALLY honest about it, I can hardly fault it.
The first seducer is a really sexy hermaphrodite gym teacher, and later Rui's obsessed kouhai appears and rapes her (having been possessed by the demon-y side) and finall Tsubasa gets possessed and goes all demony. That's about it for yuri, except Yuki's genuine expressions of desire for Mizuki which are beaten down VERY forcefully by Rui.
If you prefer sweet lesbian love, really, take a pass on this manga. lol
If violence and rape don't bother you or, like me, in context you can deal, then go ahead and brave this super-strange eromanga adventure.!
Ratings:
Art - 8
Story - /coughcough/
Characters - 6
Yuri - 6
Overall - Honestly, *maybe* a 6, but I liked it anyway!
Really - I think it's just Hayashiya-sensei's art. It made the horrible, constant sexual violence seem kind of...fun. -_-
Kannazuki no Miko, Manga Vol. 1
I say "Volume 1" like there's a second volume, but there isn't...even though there should be, because no matter how you look at it, this volume does not end. It just stops.
I have read several comments about my earlier reviews (
October 20, 2004 and
January 7, 2005) of the
Kannazuki no Miko anime stating that I was over-harsh, that it was a good story with lots of lovely yuri, etc, etc.... I remain unreptant. I do not think it is harsh to require a story to make sense or at least to be internally consistent. The anime made no sense. The horrible eternal fates that Oogami, Chikane and Himeko fought against were, to be sure, horrible. But, and here's the crux of my complaints, they lasted a few minutes, not millennia. The ridiculousness of the ending of the anime sucked whatever meaning the plot had managed to hold on to (which was damn little considering the bad guy in the series turned out to be not much more than a really loud voice.) No. I'm sorry - I was not harsh.
However...I am about to be harsh.
This manga is a piece of utter, plotless dreck, wrapped up in frisson of hormonal angst, senseless screaming and a rape scene that has no meaning or context, because the story simply stops. I imagine that a second volume was initially planned, but none has been printed, so there is pretty much no explanation at all of anything. Which is kind of a mercy, because if the explanations are anything like the ones from the anime, they will make no sense at all, and simply cease to have any meaning at some point.
Yes, I am perfectly aware of the meaning of the rape, and all the other stuff that goes on, and if a decent writer got a hold of it, it would all make a damn GOOD story. But no decent writer did, and the version we are forced to endure has SO many plot holes, assumptions and sections where common sense simply has to be abandoned, that I just can't say that it all makes sense, and still look at myself in the mirror. lol
Kaishaku, the mangaka also known for
Steel Angel Kurumi isn't really known for strong plots. I sincerely hope that he didn't write this as well, but was just hired to illustrate someone else's story. It reads like a story idea that just sort of peters out mid-way, like a fanfic writer who burns out halfway through an epic
Evangelion fic.
Okay - to be fair, the plot, such as it is, is pretty much the same as the anime, with a little more time for Miyako, the nun/1st Kubi. Also, Chikane is, IMHO, much more openly seductive and desirous (and not in the bizarro-world psychotic way of the anime, but in a genuine, gosh-I-want-you normal way) of Himeko. For her part, Himeko is less wishy-washy, but only because there's less of the manga to be wishy-washy in. The final score at the end of volume one is: Kisses from Himeko; Oogami 1, Chikane 1. Rape of Himeko; Chikane 1, Oogami 0. So depending on what kind of person you are, Chikane either has won or lost.
Doesn't matter, though, because the story doesn't end...heck, it barely even starts.
No ratings, since this is the only volume and either you like it and are willing to ignore that it simply makes no sense, or you're not.
Pretty art, though.
