Air Master, Volume 1
I managed to get a copy of Volume 1 of
Air Master at last. This series has become a "comfort" series for me - I stick it on the TVwhen there's nothing else on and I don't want to have to pay *too* much attention. But, then I end up watching it anyway and not doing whatever it was that I was slacking off doing in the first place. lol
I won't beat the plot, character of yuri components of this volume to death - I have repeatedly ranted about how wonderful this anime is in several of my previous posts: From the first recommendation back in August 2003 to
Feb. 26, 2004,
May 21, 2005, and
May 23, 2005. And that doesn't include all the rants about the manga, either.
So, yeah, I like this anime - a lot.
And I've already discussed the problems with the DVD release, some of which have been addressed in the second half of the thrid volume.
What did shock me about this first volume was how utterly, horribly *BAD* the translation was. Again, I felt like I was watching a bootlegged copy or poorly fansubbed version. Whole sentences were completely, totally, changed from what the characters were saying, as if the translators kept assuming what they "really" meant was....I imagine that this was a dubtitle issue, but even so, there were entire sentences that were just plain *wrong.*
Oddly, the language in the first volume subtitles is much ruder than in the second, and in that way, fits the story better.
But I'll admit, if I had bought this volume first, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have bought 2 or 3. So I'm a little glad I bought them first.
Story-wise, Volume 1 is not particularly strong, either - again, by going backwards I can see how much three-dimensional the characters are only a few episodes later.
I think it really sucks that this release was so bad - there are plenty of folks that might enjoy
Air Master, but who, if not already turned off by the ugly art, will just give up in frustration with the unbelievably poor quality of this DVD.
What makes even this volume worth watching is, of course, the characters and the fighting.
Ratings:
Art - 5
Story - 7
Characters - 8
Yuri - 6
Technical Details - 3
Despite the crappiness of this particular Volume, I recommend the series. If you're going to buy it from the
Yuricon Shop, look for a used copy or a cheaper copy on the Amazon marketplace. This way you won't feel quite so ripped. Also - do not be afraid to write the distributor and express your dissatisfaction - if you don't tell them, they can't know.
Transistor Ni Venus, Volume 3
Once again, my thanks to Touko_no_doriru-san, for giving me this volume of
Transistor ni Venus, so I can share this fine manga with everyone. :-)
In Volume 3, we find April Enus starting off on another harrowing - yet somehow not really stressful or even moderately tense - adventure that involves her and another attractive female removing most of their clothes. LOL Enus is escorting a bag filled with some top secret materials on a plane when a botched theft not only leaves Enus and the thief handcuffed together, but stranded on a desert island. In the end they kiss and make up. :-)
The next story focuses on Winslow, Enus' sentient cat, as he heads out on assignment - for the next few months, he is going into deep cover as...a cat. He pretends to be a stray to be picked up by a family who has something he needs to retrieve. While he lets them take care of him, we see Enus off on a variety of exciting and dangerous adventures. Winslow gets regular meals and is petted while Enus is bombed, shot at, crashes, etc. Of course, Winslow gets the goods and returns to HQ a hero.
The rest of the book takes place at the private all-girls school where "Miss April" has a position as teacher. The school is pleased as punch that the students sem to be doing *much* better at their studies, so they don't inquire too deeply at Enus' methods. In fact, she rewards the students with kisses for their academic excellence.
We are introduced to two creepy incestuous twin girls who are in love with their teacher - and who see Miss April as a rival. As Gyauza-sensei isn't really interested in Enus or the twins, it's kind of a pointless rivalry, but when Miss April fights off the girls in a fencing match, she claims a kiss as her reward anyway. :-) (Enus is most certainly interested in Gyauza...even if the feeling isn't entirely returned.)
Eventually we learn that Enus is at the school to find a girl with important marks upon her back - we get a variety of bath, swimsuit and nude posing for art class scenes in order to do provide us the opportunity to "subtely" check the girls' backs. Mixed in to this high-octane plot is a variety of kisses, from pecks for the young to "adult kisses" for the of-age.
Eventually, Enus accomplishes her objective and learns that the twins are actually years older than they look (and act!) and they all end up in bed together. The end.
Ratings:
Art - 8
Story - 6
Character - 8
Yuri - 9
Overall - 8
If this weren't so funny and sweet a comic - it'd be pretty trashy, huh? But it never *feels* trashy. It's all in good fun and it always puts a smile on my face to read a volume of
Transistor ni Venus.
ROD The TV, Volume 6
ROD The TV Volume 6 was a tough watch for me - the story is amazingly good, but it will, all too soon, draw to an end. So I actually put off watching this volume for several weeks after purchasing it. I know its a little infantile of me - after all, I can watch it as often as I want. But, still....
There are so many more positives than negatives with this volume, let's start off with the good. First and foremost - the story, the plot, the dialogue, the characters are all "Wow." This volume is an edge-of-your-seat type of anime. Not only do we get to see how everyone handles a crisis (with some serious surprises) but we get to see how a really decent set of writers bring a complex plot to fruition. Joker's plan is no less insane than the I-jin's in the
ROD OVA, but the writers have handled it so much better that the "whoa, fuck" far outweighs the "for pity's sake."
In terms of characters in this volume, Nenene wins, hands down. If you didn't love her before, in this volume she downright shines. More mature and aware, if somewhat less supernaturally powered than her companions, she is the physical embodiment of the adage "the pen is mightier than the sword." (And it should not be lost on you, dear reader, that now that Yomiko is back in her life, Nenene is writing like a madwoman.)
But really, there's no bad or weak characterization in Volume 6. Everyone really peaks as a character. And Nancy has some serious shiny moments which are totally kick-ass...even if they don't really make sense in terms of the history we've given her. I mean, brain tissue doesn't spontaneously regenerate when its been removed, does it? LOL Nonetheless, watching her kick into Miss Deep mode is another great "Whoah!" moment.
Animation-wise, this volume has had some obvious post-TV touchups done. It's especially obvious in the hair. As with the previous volumes, it helps, so no complaints from me. I just wish the original art had been tighter.
Oh, and the question you all have is, I'm sure - what about the pencil board? Well, it's not horrible! Whee! On the one side, the usual three paper sisters and Nenene (carrying her own book) and on the other - Wendy looking rather sexy, if we ignore that her body shape really says "feed me several steaks". The usual double-sided cover (the inside significantly better than the outside) and liner notes.
Now for the not-so-positive. Three episodes. Please. This and the next volume should have been combined for one 6-ep disk and you bloody well know it, Geneon. And the incredibly lame gag of the American President peeing in his pants is done. Move on. It was only moderately amusing the first time, it seems slighhtly stupider every time thereafter and this time it was just boring. Let's be real - if the guy had a problem, he'd wear diapers.
But to be fair, that's about it for the less than positive. And the writing rocks in every other way, so we can afford to be magnanimous.
Ratings:
Art - 7
Story - 9
Character - 9
Music - 8
Yuri - 6
Overall - 9, because the story and characters are both developing together, which makes this show a total win.
Let me please remind you that if you want to support yuri anime, please don't bittorent this, or any other licensed series -
buy it, rent it, borrow it, share it, but don't steal it.
Oh - and thanks to everyone who let me know they liked the new format!
Noir, Volume 2
I spent some time this weekend rewatching anime that I own, but haven't yet reviewed here. It was edifying, let me tell you. There were some things that were great and some less so. I decided to start the week off with a reasonably strong entry. :-)
Noir Volume 2, *feels* like a second volume. The art is significantly less good than the first volume, the plot sort of drops off a bit in favor of character development (sort of) and the use of repeated footage begins to grate. But otherwise - its excellent. LOL
On the positive side, the characters do become more than just ciphers. Despite myself, I was feeling a little for Mirielle and Kirika as they faced what, for them, were major life crises - Kirika's lack of knowledge about herself and Mirielle's past trauma come back to haunt her.
We also get a glimpse of Mirielle in bed in the nude, which has carried yuri fans for some time, as there is only one bed in the room. It would take a strong woman, so we rationalize, to sleep in the nude with someone with whom you are not sleeping. ;-) In fact, I think it's a bit early for them, but hey, yuri goggles go a long way to building character development. lol
Geographically, we go from New York City to (the wildly improbable deep woods and high mountain passes) of New Jersey to sunny Sicily. For this alone, the "Intoccabile" arc is worth it. But this arc is worth watching, in general. I think Intoccabile would have made a much worthier opponent than Chloe and it was a damn shame we used her up so soon.
This volume also gives the viewer glimpses into a Kirika who is exactly as she appears - a young woman, apt to fall for a cute kitty or a good sob story. I liked that. It gives her more depth than most people assume she has. And Mirielle gets a chance to gently gloat about her superior knowledge of Russian literature. LOL
So, yes, the second volume has problems - notably the art and repeated footage issue (and the no-wound thing, which plagues the whole production), but as far as giving the characters some three-dimensionality, this volume is fairly crucial - and actually not a bad watch.
Ratings:
Art - 5
Music - 7 (
Salva Nos playing as they run through NJ's bamboo forest is, to me, priceless)
Character - 8
Story - 7
Overall 7
Not as strong as the beginning, or the end, but a must for fanfic writers. LOL
Of course, you can get a copy of this DVD through the
Yuricon Shop. Everytime you buy through us, we get a miscroscopic commission, which allows us to publish more yuri, or do another event, etc. So your support is greatly appreciated!
P.S. - Blogger was having some odd formatting issues with my last template, due to some new "features" of theirs, so I decided to make a change. What do you think of the new format? I kind of like it. :-D
Notes from the Fifth Maria-sama ga Miteru Novel
Valentinusu no Okurimono (Valentine's Gift Part 1)
Part 2
1) The second part of the novel, which takes place entirely on Valentine's Day, begins with Yumi's thoughts, "If anyone had red eyes that day, it wasn't from crying. If so, a great calamity had had befallen up to a third of the entire class."
Obviously, most of the girls had, like Yumi, stayed up late making chocolates and finishing hand-made gifts.
2) The day begins with Yumi overhearing all her classmates talking about their chocolates, about giving it to onee-sama in front of Maria-sama, or not being able to give it until after school, etc.
3) Yumi thinks, after being told by one of Sachiko's classmates that they were all rooting for her in the treasure hunt, that for the 2nd-years the treasure hunt is much less urgent or desirable. After all, who wants to go out on a date with a friend whose desk you push against yours every day for lunch? Yumi thinks that she feels pretty much the same way about winning the ticket for a date with Shimako.
4) AGAIN we find Shimako's behaving strangely, as Yumi find her coming out of the first-floor storeroom, with her face all red. Yumi assumes she was hiding her card.
This was in anime and manga, but I want to make the point that, Shimako isn't so much acting unusually , but that Yumi *thinks* that she is. I point this out, because in every single novel so far, at least once, usually twice, we've seen Shimako doing something unusual, "mezurashii". I've become convinced that this is the author's way of pointing out that Yumi hasn't a *clue* what kind of person Shimako is (much the same way she really didn't know Yoshino at first), but more that no one - not even we the readers know the real Shimako yet. We know that we will, later, learn more about her and find that she really is hiding a secret, etc, etc, but right now, it's just a thing here and there that makes her enigmatic.
Which makes me wonder how mortifying all this card hunt for a date must be to Shimako. All she ever wanted was to be a normal, unexceptional student, and here she is, an en bouton as a first-year, Rosa as a second year, super-famous star of the school, with people vying for a date with her. Poor Shimako!
5) Yumi asks Sachiko to meet her in the greenhouse after everything is over that day. Sachiko agrees, but has a "complicated" expression. (We will learn that the reason for it is, of course, that she buried the red card there, but neither we nor Yumi know that yet.)
6) When the time comes for the searching for the cards to begin, both Yumi and Yoshino are held back in the Rose Mansion to help clean up (and search the premises, subtlely).
When Yumi gets away, she finds herself being followed by a group of students and ends up climbing through a window to escape them. All of which was in the anime. What wasn't in the anime was that she was caught by her classmate, of all people, Kagura the busybody, who immediately wanted to know what was up. Yumi lied and said that the
door to the bathroom (the window led to a bathroom) was locked. To ensure verisimilitude, Yumi goes back into the bathroom, locks the door, then climbs back out the window. lol
7) In the case of a tie, i.e., several people finding a card at the same time, the rules provided for a Janken Taikai - that is, a rock-scissors-paper tournament - as tie breaker. This is needed for Rei'scard, as it happens. Three students found it at the same time.
They found it because the newspaper had reported Rei and Yoshino's interests reversed. Rei had hid the card in books that Yoshino liked (while Yoshino looked in books that Rei liked.) But because the newspaper had switched their interests, the other students thought Rei liked samurai novels and found the card. lol
8) When Sachiko and Minako head to the greenhouse to show where the red card was buried, they are accompanied not only buy Yumi, but about 10 disappointed Sachiko fans.
9) It is Tsutako who proves that the card was reburied. Sachiko has no clue how deep she buried it, but Tsutako had (for photographic record) measured the hole with a school notebook. The notebook had not been completely buried when she took the photo. Now, as they find the card, the notebook is completely underground.
10) Sachiko smiles at Yumi when she tells her that she believes her story of the other girl in the greenhouse, and Yumi wishes that time would stop, so she can just look at that smile forever.
11) It's not stated in the anime (although there is a short manga by Hibiki Reine for Cobalt Shuiesha that tells of Yumi making "surprise chocolates" for Sei), but Yumi puts things like umeboshi (pickled plum, which is really salted apricots...don't ask) and tuna in the centers of Rosa Gigantea's chocolates. lol
The remainder of the book is the resolution of the Yellow Rose family's chocolate issues, as seen through the eyes of all three girls. This is totally, completely different than the anime. And a lot funnier.
6:50 PM - It begins with Eriko, staring at the box she had just received from Rei, who had bicycled through the snow to give it to her. Eriko has not opened the box, but is sure that she has received the wrong box based on the size. It was much too large. Last year Rei had made bittersweet chocolate truffles and Eriko had adored them and asked for the same this year. But this box was the size of a shoebox
and couldn't possibly have truffles.
After about 30 minutes of staring at the box, waiting for Rei to call and explain that she had given Eriko the wrong box, she hides the box (to keep it safe from her brothers and "tanuki father") and goes to dinner.
7:18 PM - Yoshino stares at the box she had received from Rei, sure that she has received the wrong box. Surely this giant shoe-box sized thing was destined for Eriko? Yoshino's thoughts are consistently the most convoluted and difficult for me to read, but in this case, her thoughts are meant to echo Eriko's almost exactly.
Yoshino feels that her deductive abilities must be failing, because she can't figure out what is in the box, and she wasn't able to guess where the yellow card was hidden. She decides that her biorhythms are low. She also thinks that she wants to open the box, because her father is running late and they hadn't eaten dinner yet. But what if the box isn't hers?
7:30 - God, poor Rei! Not only does she have school and kendo club and her duties for the Yamayurikai, but when she gets home, her father expects her to train at his dojo, as well.
We learn that several years ago, unbeknownst to her father, Rei started giving his youngest students sweets on Valentine's Day. Eventually, as the years passed, he learned about it and by this time it was just a tradition. He'd say to his students that his daughter made too much and so save face. (Dad's a really traditional guy.)
Dad compliments Rei on her chocolate chip pound cake for this year's handout, but when she offers to make it again, he says that if she has time to make more cake, she should spend it practicing. Lol
(We get this massive fanservice scene of Rei taking a bath while she does her thinking. I make this point, because I'm reading these novels as electronic text files, with no pictures. So, when I opened the actual book, I was not at *all* surprised to find a "naked Rei in the bath, looking impossibly bishounen" picture. LOL I'm telling ya - this scene was TOTALLY fanservice.)
Rei thinks that, as she's used to midwinter practice, bicycling to Eriko's in the snow was no biggie - but it was a tad lonely. She ponders how annoying it is that they don't have a shower, and we learn that she sneaks over to Yoshino's house to use the shower, especially in the summer, when she doesn't want a hot bath.
We learn that Yoshino did give Rei chocolates. Not *quite* handmade. She bought commercial chocolate, melted it into molds and gave Rei those. Rei is totally happy at this because, despite the fact that it's not really home-made chocolate, it's a step towards them and it shows that Yoshino cared enough to try. So she's terribly pleased with them. Yoshino, for her part, handed the chocolates over with the
romantic line, "Baka." LOL
At which point, Rei's brain "melts into miso" from the heat of the bath and "an intoxicating sense of accomplishment."
11:00PM - Eriko
She stares at the box a little more and caves, since shortly it won't be Valentine's Day anymore, so she'd better eat it now. And she's hungry from studying for exams anyway. Inside is a chocolate chip pound cake, which Eriko decides must be something Yoshino likes. She considers asking Yoshino what she got, in the morning, to see if there really was a mix-up, but then what? So she just eats a piece of cake. The flavor is sweet, (Yoshino's favorite?) but really delicious. All she says about it is, "Hunh."
11:PM - Yoshino
The first few sentences of this section are word for word the same as Eriko's. lol
Once she starts to eat the cake, she's annoyed as hell that she can't stop. She finds the fact that it's so delicious extremely vexing. She snaps the box with her fingers - exactly as Eriko does at the same time. She eats another piece and says, "Hunh."
11:10 - Rei
And here we get the punch line to all this. As she's lying down to go to sleep, she vaguely remembers that Eriko wanted truffles again. The truth was - she had *completely* forgotten to make anything for anyone, until that morning when she arrived at school and saw girls exchanging presents in front of Maria-sama. She called home and asked her mother to pick up chocolate chips and flour, ostensibly for Dad's students, and after the treasure hunt RAN home, made six pound cakes, bicycled over to Eriko's, gave Yoshino her cake and finally got home to go practice at the dojo and give the kids there their cakes.
As she falls asleep, she thinks that Eriko probably forgot anyway, and collapses into unconsciousness.
The last few lines of the novel extol the soeur relationship and how well soeur understand each other. LOL
The End.
Conclusion? I worship Konno Oyuki, she's a hoot. I'm 3/4 through Valentine's Day Gift, Part 2 - join the
Yuricon Mailing List for the next installment of notes!
Notes from the Fifth Maria-sama ga Miteru Novel
Valentinusu no Okurimono (Valentine's Gift Part 1)
Part 1Ta-da! The "Cliff Notes" for the fifth Maria-sama ga Miteru novel have arrived. :-) You can find all the notes I took on the first four books on past Okazu:
Notes on the First Novel:
Maria-sama ga Miteru.
Notes on the Second Novel:
Kibara KakumeiNotes on the Third Novel(Part 1):
Ibara no Mori.
Notes on the Third Novel(Part 2):
Shiroki Hanabira.
Notes on the Fourth Novel (Part 1):
Rosa CaninaNotes on the Fourth Novel (Part 2):
NakaniyoThese notes assume you are familiar with the story and has spoilers galore. If you haven't watched it, then do - it will help to understand what I'm talking about. :-)
I want to start with the very, very end of the book � the author's notes, in fact - because I really wanted to share this. Sean Gaffney once commented that "Saying Sei is your favorite character is like saying the sky is blue." I was talking to my friend Masako-san, (who arrived at my hotel in Tokyo toting
Soeur Audition, the latest
Marimite novel, lol) and she said that she likes Sei best, too. Just for the record.
Well, in the author's notes, Konno Oyuki mentions that she got a lot of letters asking if she had any intention of sending Sei off to school in Italy, assumably to follow Shizuka, with whom she "might have become good friends." (So, that pretty much confirms my belief that Shizuka was coming on pretty darn strong!) In any case, Konno-sensei says, no way! She plans on Sei going to school at Lillian University because she loves her best and can't let her go. LOL So there you go. Sei is *everyone's* favorite character. (I can even tell you why.... She is not just a happy-go-lucky lesbian; she's also the most complex character of the bunch, shifting from goofy dirty-old-man mode to insightful and deep thoughts in mere seconds. The most subtle thinker of all the characters. The second deepest thinker, btw, is Yoshino. I'll talk about that later in part 2.)
Okay, and with that somewhat bloated intro � here we go with the Notes:
Because the fifth novel has not yet been made into a manga (except in small part) and I have not had time to rewatch the anime, there may be bits that I comment on that *are* in the anime. I've ceased to think of these write-ups as just "here's the differences" but more of a "here's the salient points" � just like cliff notes, in fact. You'll have to excuse me, I was a Comparative Literature major in college and
I cannot help myself. ;-) That having been said, there *are* some differences � notably the entire end of the Yellow Rose family situation. I will elaborate on this as we get to it.
For the record � 10 pages of notes...again.
1) As she ponders the expense of Valentine's Day chocolates,
Yumi thinks how, even though she goes to a rich girl's school, there's a HUGE difference between herself and Sachiko's world.
2) I don't think anyone else has ever commented on this...in a school with uniforms right out of the turn of the 20th century, the
students wear gym uniforms and play sports that are exceptionally unladylike. Just struck me as odd. :-)
3) In this novel, we see
the third-year Rosas all manage their soeur all at once, for the first time. We've seen little of Eriko or Sei managing their soeur, but when they do, it's a doozy! Each one of the Rosas has a completely different technique, which is entirely based on the personality of their little sisters. Youko, having been accused of meddling by Sachiko, invokes the one thing Sachiko is helpless in front of � Yumi's happy, smiling face. Eriko simply overbears poor, henpecked Rei and *totally* disses Yoshino. Sei just tells Shimako to "
gambatte" and Shimako caves. LOL Yumi thinks that Sei should have said that when Shimako was running for the Yamayurikai. Shimako caves in so quickly, obviously, because as an one-sama Sei doesn't ever ask her to do anything, or ever get in her way of doing something. With such an
onee-sama, how could Shimako resist a direct request?
4) When asked by Yumi for advice,
Tsutako suggests that Yumi make chocolates but, if Sachiko is in a bad mood on Valentine's Day, not giving them to her. Instead she can share with Tsutako, later. LOL
Yumi briefly considers asking Tsu to be there for mental support when she braves Sachiko's wrath to give her the chocolates (remember, Yumi thinks Sachiko hates V-Day chocolates,) but decides she doesn't want her rejection by Sachiko documented.
5)
Rei gives Yumi the recipe for the chocolate by pretending that it is something she wants Yumi to deliver to Yoshino.
6) When Shimako sees the recipe, Yumi has a sudden realization that,
although Shimako is an en bouton, she's really only a first-year and still responsible for such things as serving the upperclassmen tea and cleaning. All of a sudden Yumi realizes how terribly busy Shimako must be, with the environmental committee and the Yamayurikai.
7)
Yumi meets Shizuka in the music room. Shizuka comments that all of her, Shizuka's, classmates are jealous of Yumi because she is close to Sachiko and should be able to find the red card easiest. But...the real prize, the half-day date, hadn't been announced at that time, so everyone is just assuming that the prize is a card or chocolate from Sachiko.
Initially, Shizuka isn't terribly interested in the treasure hunt. She jokes about setting up a crystal ball booth and selling potential hiding places. But she does suggest to Yumi that she, Yumi, should think about where *she* might hid the card, if it were her, which might lead to realizing where Sachiko would hide it.
While talking to Shizuka, Yumi comes up with the idea to give chocolates to the older girl and also has a brief thought of making chocolates for Sei.
8) Shizuka explains to Yumi that, even as a first-year,
Sachiko received many presents of chocolate from her own age group and even some of the older students, which might explain why she doesn't like them, Shizuka suggests that it was a very lonely experience for Sachiko.
Shizuka also tells Yumi that Sachiko is kind *because* she rejected all of the chocolates last year.
9)
Sei finds Yumi in the Rose Mansion, and leads her out with a really odd discussion of how Yumi looked very self-satisfied and how she was like a kid who visits a lot of temples and shrines to pray for something. Yumi listens, but is pretty much confused by it all. Sei seems to ramble on about depending on one's preferences, bathing in cold water and then eating a hot meal is nice. Sei is not rambling, of course � she's trying to tell Yumi a few important things, in her own
way. One, that she had been seen going to everyone for advice (visiting shrines and temples) and two, that depending of the circumstances something that sounds bad, might be good (Sachiko's dislike of Valentine's Day chocolates.)
Shimako shows up and Yumi is much relieved to end the conversation which confused her.
10) We get to see that
Shimako really *does* understand Sei. Sei turns to her soeur and says only, "Success" and Shimako understands immediately and congratulates her. Yumi follows up with an extended train of thought that gets her to the right conclusion � that RG has passed her university exam.
11) After the fight with Sachiko,
Yumi goes to the greenhouse and tells the Rosa Chinensis plant how much she loves Sachiko and yearns to be with her, but she's sure that Sachiko hates her now.
12)
Sei finds Yumi in the greenhouse. (Interestingly, throughout the novel Sei keeps being described as a "shadow.") She apologizes to Yumi for walking out, leaving Yumi and Sachiko in the middle of a fight. She says it seemed like the thing to do at the time, but afterwards, it left her with a nasty taste in her mouth.
RG goes on to say that the fight reminded her of "back then" and tells Yumi that, although she doesn't realize it, she is very much like Sachiko. They both keep close counsel, unlike say, Yoshino, who doesn't hesitate to speak her mind. Youko had had to actually train Sachiko to speak up.... Sei mentions, causally, how Sachiko has still left the Kashiwagi affair unsettled, because of her dislike of speaking up. Sei goes on to tell Yumi that Youko and Sachiko had almost the exact same fight last year, in October. Because she, Sei, was preoccupied with someone else, she wasn't paying attention to them much and didn't know what set it off, but she was an eyewitness to the fight.
Yumi realizes that what Sachiko had probably been most angry with, was the reflection of her past self in Yumi, unable to speak up.
Sei excuses herself with, "Well, I'm going back. I dislike this greenhouse." Shadows of Shiori, assumably.
13) At this point, even
Yumi realizes how much Sei is acting like her onee-sama and throws herself at Sei to get a hug. She mentally apologizes to Shimako for "borrowing an arm" and wraps Sei's arm around herself.
Yumi asks Sei if she, Sei, and Shimako are anything alike. Sei responds with "a little". She goes on to say that she was a real pain as a first-year, while Shimako is much her superior. But she understands Shimako, which is why she doesn't want to be interfering.
14) As they leave the greenhouse,
Sei sets herself up for the nasty chocolate joke, by going on and on about how handmade chocolates by Yumi would be really good. They get on the bus together and Sei goes off on a monologue about chocolates and coffee, how she likes chocolates where the sweetness has been curbed, especially with liquor centers. Then she asks Yumi to make her chocolates and starts to chant, "Chocolate, chocolate" in her "oyaji mode" voice until other people on the bus start to stare. LOL
End Part 1.
Sister Red, Volume 2
I just reviewed
Sister Red, Volume 1
last week, but since both volumes are
available in English, I thought I might as well review the second volume, too.
We left off in Vol.1, with Mahito facing several crises - one, the burgeoning of strange, new, powerful, and not entirely pleasant powers as the "Heart of Scarlet" lives within her dead body; the fact that her fellow night creatures are a horrible and human-hating lot, and; the fact that her high school has suddenly developed a force of crusading anti-night creature schoolgirl warriors who think of her as an enemy, or, at best, a nuisance. (It's fairly plain, by the way, that these girls were the "inspiration" for Hayashiya-sensei's next manga, the hentai demon-fighting adventure
Ultra Sword.)
Even as Mahito learns about the origin of the night creatures, and her own powers, she's forced to face more and more powerful opponents, like the eyepatch and slinky dress-wearing Viola, who I (not surprisingly) adored until she died. lol
Worse for Mahito, Yuri - Alice's psycho brother who is searching for Scarlet's Heart - decides that the key to getting it is Erika, her beloved cousin. Now secrets are flying fast and thick, as we learn the truth about Erika's past and I am *so* not going to spoil any of it for you, because it's fun, even if a little predictable and rushed. Just get the books and read it yourself. :-)
The end is in no way happy or even complete. In fact, the lack of a third volume to wrap everything up is the series' biggest weakness.
Again - not yuri, per se, but all about intense relationships between women, many of whom kick serious ass. I just wish it had ended. I want to know what happens after Volume 2 ends! Boo-hoo.
Ratings:
Art - 8
Story - 7
Characters - 7
Yuri - 0
Overall - 7
Hayashiya-sensei, can you just draw the rest of the story for us fans? LOL
Yuri at Anime Next
Join the staffs of
Onna!,
Yuricon and
Shoujocon at
Anime Next this weekend at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, NJ.
Onna!/Yuricon will have a table in "con row" right outside the Dealer's Room, and Yuricon'll have some discount yuri goods on sale - only $5 for yuri doujinshi and translated manga! Let's call it our 5th anniversary sale, shall we? :-)
We'll also be offering discounted registration to Onna! - the price goes up on June 20th, so get those pre-registrations in and save!
Join me for the
Fanfic Writer's Workshop at 5:00 PM on Friday, June 17th in Panel Room III, and again for the
Yuri Panel on Saturday, June 18th at 7:30PM in Panel Room IV.
Interestingly, this is the only con I've attended that had a yuri panel, but no yaoi panel. Has yaoi peaked? Or is Anime Next just not girly enough? (There's no shoujo or josei panels, or really anything to do with women/girls' anime or manga at all.) Or maybe everyone's just waiting to get their fill of women in animation and comics at Onna! lol
P.S. - Extra special congratulations to Yuricon and Onna! staffers Serge and Donna, who are getting married this weekend (their reason to not be working the con...pfft.) Blessings on both of you for a happy life together!
Sister Red, Volume 1
Another first today for Okazu! But a rather bizarre one, I admit. Today I am reviewing
Sister Red a manga with absolutely *no* yuri at all whatsoever, except in the most peripheral sense.
Once again, I'd like to offer my gratitude to Touko_no_doriru-san, who gave me both volumes of this manga in Tokyo. Subsequently I have learned that Comics One has translated it into English.
Sister Red, Volume 1 is available through Amazon.com.
If it ain't yuri, then why am I reviewing it? Because it's the second series by manga artist Hayashiya Shizuru, creator of yuri series
Strawberry Shake and artist for the mostly-yuri doujinshi circle, Jesus Drug. It is therefore of interest to me, and perhaps to other fans of her art.
To put it simply,
Sister Red is a vampire story, although the word "vampire" is never used.
We are introduced to our heroine Mahito, during a typical school day. Mahito lives with her father and her cousin, Erika who is very like a sister to her. Erika is a little spacey, and has a tendency to be weak physically and emotionally. Mahito loves Erika and is always there to protect her, but is also, deep inside, a little resentful that Erika doesn't fight back more for herself.
One night, on the way home from school, Mahito decides to take a shortcut home and is promtply hit by a car. As she bleeds into the street, the men in the car see her dying and run off without calling for help. Mahito sees a mysterious woman in a black trenchcoat who says inexplicable stuff about her heart. She closes her eyes - only to find herself at home in bed, with a doctor in attendance. Unfortunately it wasn't a dream, as she learns when the mysterious woman, Alice, appears again and explains that she has given Mahito part of the heart of Scarlet in order to keep Mahito alive. Because, in fact, Mahito did die because of the accident. Now Mahito is one of the walking undead, and is developing mighty weird powers.
The plot of
Sister Red is actually rather complicated - Alice is being tracked by her half brother Yuri who wants the heart back so he can become truly immortal. But who Scarlet is and why Alice has her heart is still a mystery to Mahito at present. In the meantime, she is forced to deal with other Night creatures - some of whom masquerade as human and prey upon real humans. Mahito starts to embrace her powers when another night creature seduces and kills her kouhai, an innocent and sweet girl. (This is the only even vaguely yuri-ish bit in the story, btw, since the creature was masquerading as a girl - and implies that she had her way with the kouhai before killing her.)
It's a dark story, moody, and really, really violent. Lots of blood and beheaded bodies and mangled body parts and the like, once again showing that Hayashiya-sensei is not afraid of a little gore and random acts of extreme violence. Some of the action scenes are exceptionally well executed - especially in the second fight with Yuri's first lackey, whose name escapes me at the moment. And I'm not just saying that because she's an eye-patch wearing kick-ass chick. lol
The only downside is that the character development is a bit rushed, because it's a short series.
Ratings:
Art - 8
Story - 8
Characters - 6
Yuri - 0.5
Overall - 7
All in all, a dark, creepy, gory, yet fun to read, vampire story from Hayashiya Shizuru
Yuricon at Summer Comiket
Quick news item today -
Yuricon/ALC Publishing will have a table at
Summer Comiket on Sunday, August 14, East Hall 5, Row "Pe", Table #49a .
Drop by, say hi to Rica Takashima, buy "I Love Yuri" goods and yuri manga from ALC Publishing!
Battle Athletes Victory, Volume 3
Okay, so I was going to do a review of something new-ish, or maybe some cool news, but last night I sat down to do some work to the dulcet tones of the third DVD of
Battle Athletes Victory subtitled "Tragedy and Triumph."
And by the end of the disk I was sitting there repeating, "Oh my god, this so *SO* gay" over and over and over. So I thought I'd share with you. :-)
If you haven't watched (or heard of) the
Battle Athletes OVA and/or
Battle Athletes Victory - you really should give them a try. Neither are as spectacularly wonderful as the still untranslated manga, which I
reviewed previously, but still - both are about as yuri as one can get without it being actually "lesbian."
Before I do the review, let me run the ad: You can find
Battle Athletes Victory on the
Yuricon Shop and I hope you'll all go and get a copy, because it really is *that* good.
First the down side - the main character is more of the "idiot svant" type that I don't care for. Of practically suicidal low-esteem, Kanzaki Akari waffles from hugely incompetent to impossibly briliant in a way that bodies just cannot support. So forget realism. And she's a whiner. The worst bit is, that with the beginning of each arc in the anime, we are subjected to the very same self-esteem issues and behaviors as we did in the previous one, renedering the first volume of every arc dull and irritating. But the ends, in this case, are totally worth the means. In fact I don't own the first volume of this series and am not going to bother reviewing the second, because I have a low tolerance for whining. But from this point on, the anime gets better in many ways - and is abysmal in only a few, so it worksd out to be a series totally worth having.
Other than Akari, the characters in this series are mostly all strong women who are driven by the need to perfect themselves in their chosen endeavor, which happens to be sports. (In fact, I find it hard to watch this anime sitting on the couch. I have to get up and excercise while watching, or my brain explodes...).
So, where's all the yuri? All OVER the place. In the early volumes Akari follows her mother's dream and enters into althletic training. She becomes friends with Ichino and, almost immediately, becomes dependent upon her. I won't kill the plot entirely, but let's just say this - this DVD is *filled* with Ichino and Akari longing for each other and striving to be together. The climax of the DVD, which is the climax of the this portion of the storyline, is one gigantic confession of love between the two of them - followed by a scene so romantic that Ichino's kid brother even comments that they are acticng like lovers. Trust me. No one could watch this and not see it.
There's a side thing that will never happen between Ayla and Jessie as well, which has about 30 seconds total to spring to life, falter and fail, which I thought was brilliant. It will be echoed again later in the thing between Mylandah and Lahrri (which, amazingly, will not fail, but I get well ahead of myself.)
Because I know what's coming up, I'm all gung-ho about watching the rest of this series again. At least Kris isn't in the sort of denial that Ichino is - she knows yuri when she sees it too. LOL
Okay, so, the anime never quite will go as far as the manga, where Kris and Akari kiss in front of the whole world, but its still damn gay.
Ratings:
Art - 7
Story - 7
Characters - 8
Yuri - 8
Music - 7
Overall - 8 It's not the greatest series ever...but oh my god, it's *so* gay. LOL
Stellvia, Volume 4
You know what really sucks about Stellvia?
Nothing.
By Volume 4, the whole space opera plot seems to have disappeared completely, with only the vaguest twinges of something coming in the future. So the writers are at leisure to explore the relationships between people, rather than focusing on external (and, admittedly, somewhat silly and nonsensical) threats from space. As a result, this particular DVD feels much more like a
shoujo series than the
shounen one it is.
All of the cadets on Stellvia now have to switch to a completely new flight system. Shima, who, with a lot of time and practice, was a decent pilot with occasional flashes of real skill, now shoots to the top of her class as a prodigy. This causes Ayaka of the "Big 4" to peg her as a rival, and to try and stop her meteoric rise. In a pretty nastly little scene, Ayaka sets out to hurt Shima in a joust, and is only stopped because Kouta gets out into space in time to save Shima. We learn that this is not the first time Ayaka has done this - she was the reason Yayoi was injured and held back a year.
This "incident" is the major conflict that drives the entire volume. Shima stresses that Ayaka hates her, even as the episode brings her closer to Kouta. Yayoi is confronted by two wildly conflicting issues - one, she can't ever forgive Ayaka for what she did to her, but two, she wants desperately to be able to forgive Ayaka.
In the background of Shima and Kouta's relationship (which is so utterly, completely NORMAL and not dysfunctional, that it's a bit disturbing...) we see the development of something growing between taciturn Akira and goofy Jojo, a hint of the space station commander's crush on the doctor and, of course, Ayaka and Yayoi.
All in all, a very satisfying volume, really.
But let me go back and obsess for a second on Kouta. When I watched this series originally, I really disliked him - and up until know, I have maintained that dislike, because I really find idiot savant characters distasteful. Well, on second viewing I now find that I have no characters in this show to dislike. They are all so damn normal. And real. And not at *all* stereotypical Japanese dysfunctional relationship dorky. I mean, sure the guys are dorky, but like real 16 year old guys - not like emotionally and sexually dysfunctional sociopaths, like so many male characters in anime. (If *I* were a guy, I'd really protest how utterly stupid and pathetic so many male characters are...but I'm not, so I don't care. But I digress.)
In fact, when Kouta kissed Shima I was so relieved that I almost cried. It was just like real people who do actually touch their boy/girlfriends, hold hands and kiss them and stuff. Wow! Imagine that!
But that leaves me with no one to hate. How irritating. I'm really even having a hard time disliking Linna. Darn these incredibly likable and well-written characters!
Over on the yuri side of things, Ayaka and Yayoi's relationship begins here, in a sense. There's always been *something* between them, but after we learn about the the "incident", anyone with eyes can see that that's not all. And the end of the volume is just the beginning for them, as well as everyone else in the series.
Even the art is, for this brief moment in time, very stable and decent...sometimes almost approaching *good.*
Ratings:
Art - 7
Story - 9
Character - 9
Yuri - 7
Overall - 8
So far, Volume 4 of
Stellvia has been the best of the breed. I hope that it gets better from here!
Once more with feeling - get
Stellvia Foundation 4 and the rest of this excellent series at the
Yuricon Shop!
Madlax, Volume 1
I'm not sure if
Madlax is better than I remembered it to be, but it is definitely damn good. In this series, I think Bee Train might well have hit their peak - animation, story, music, etc, all work together to make a really enjoyable whole.
I reviewed the early part of the series about a year ago
in June 2004, so I won't repeat the basic plot stuff since, obviously, that has not changed. ;-)
So let's talk packaging. Like
Noir, the packaging is minimal. No posters, no pencil boards, just a disk and some liner notes. The notes are interesting, but not
Azumanga Daioh-level stellar. 4 episodes on the disk. I know it's standard, but you know my rant - it shouldn't be. 6 episodes on a disk *should* be standard, or why have we switched at all from VHS?
The music has a definitely similarity to that of
Noir, without being a complete copycat. I did notice, this time around, that "The Book" (or individual pages from The Book) has a plinky, irrirtating theme, much as The Watch did. The book also comes with a pretentious quasi-militaristic, vaguely Teutonic male choir, which means that even if you're only half paying attention, you'll look up when it comes on-screen. :-)
I'm always fascinated by the phenomenon of watching an anime I enjoyed with that 20/20 hindsight that comes from knowing what will happen. It frees one to notice many more details - in this case I was able to appreciate just how really flaky Margaret is. lol
For the yuri fan, there is instant rapport between Elenore and Vanessa, who seem to be sharing some kind of obvious secret as they trade snarky comments. And Rimelda gives off gaydar vibes like crazy...but maybe that's just me.
The whole war thing actually makes more sense this time around - I think we get alot of Madlax's point of view in the beginning just to establish that pretty much everyone knows this war is meaningless - except for the guys fighting it. Hey, *that* sounds familiar.... I also like Madlax's sensuality in the middle of everything. The first time watching it seemed frivolous - this time it feels somehow necessary.
The biggest downside to this series hasn't really yet been established: Bee Train has a nasty tendency to severely overuse repeated footage, like some kind of animated nervous tic. In the case of Volume 1, we have yet to really see the repeated scenes, but we will, we will...established by Episode 4, they just keep coming back again and again and again, until we want to scream. Or maybe that's just me.
Other than that - the violence is appropriate, people bleed (an issue I had with
Noir) from their wounds and the only serious handwave is Madlax's mad assasinatin' skillz. Which is *the* handwave, really, so we'll let it go. She can fight in a cocktail dress if she wants, so there.
Ratings:
Art - 8 (I think BT really hits a high here. It's the best they've done so far.)
Characters - 8 (Intriguing rather than interesting)
Story - 7
Yuri - 4 with a hint of more to come
Music - 9
Overall - a strong 8. If you liked
Noir, you'll probably like
Madlax. Get it at the
Yuricon Shop and support yuri!
Hot new items at Yuricon
We've been making some changes and additions on the Yuricon website, so if you haven't visited in a while, drop by now and take a look!Right off the bat, we have a brand new
Contest:The 2005 Yuriko Fanfic Contest will be running until August 1. Yuriko, our beloved mascot has done many things as a pop idol - tell us about her best, worst of funniest job and win some great prizes! Please read the
submission rules before sending anything.
As always, there are new names on our ever-exapnding
"The List" of anime and manga lesbians, lesbian wannabes and oughta-bes.
We've added more anime and manga to the
Yuricon Shop and we've also switched to the Paypal system to make it more convenient for you to make purchases of
ALC yuri manga, doujinshi and novels! Don't forget to get a few
I Love Yuri" gifts and t-shirts while you're there, too.
And there's a new essay up on our
Essays page. The members of the
Yuricon Mailing List voted on their absolute top must-read and must-see yuri anime and manga. We've collected those titles into a
Yuri 101 primer for folks who want to know where to begin.
Last, but not at all least, check out our exciting
Calendar of Events to find out where you can join Yuricon staff and friends for fun yuri-related panels, events, and more.
Make sure you write down
October 8-10, 2005 on your calendar and don't miss out on
Onna! the yuriest con of 2005! Co-sponsored by Yuricon,
Onna! will have plenty of yuri content, video programming, panels, guests and more, so
Pre-register today and save! The price of admission goes up on June 19th, so get that registration is and make Onna! part of your 2005 events calendar!
And there's more - new issues of
Shoujoai ni Bouken: The Adventures of Yuriko (now available as an illustrated novel on the
Shop), and of course, a great group of people to chat about yuri with on the
Yuricon Mailing List - so visit the site, buy your goodies, then come to the list and let us know what your favorite yuri couples and series are!
Yuri News Items!
Today we'll cover a bunch of news snippets, because there's *alot* going on in the world of yuri!
The magazine formerly known as
Yuri Shimai is back in a new incarnation, now known as
Yuri Hime!
According the website, we can expect all of our favorite authors, art and stories. We cab also expect a manga report of Yuricon in Tokyo. I'm a little worried about that!. LOL
***
Rica 'tte Kanji!? and
Yuri Monogatari were both reviewed in the June issue of
Curve and
Girlfriends magazines. (
Curve actually ran separate sidebars on both
Yuricon and
ALC Publishing.) The verdicts?
"...my new bedside table fave, Rica 'tte Kanji!?..." - Diane Anderson Marshall, Curve
"Yuri Monogatari 2 is a more titillating collection with some, let's just say satisying, graphics..." "[Rica 'tte Kanji!?] is a fun graphic novel about sexual awakening..." - Lauren Dockett, Girlfriends
Overall, very positive comments from a non-manga reading audience. :-)
***
Back on
February 8th and
May 17th and I reviewed a lovely little manga series called
Aria. Alert reader Ladios pointed out that an anime of
Aria was forthcoming and today I received an email pointing to this Anime News Network release that confirms it:
Animate.tv has confirmed that Kozue Amano's manga series Aria
is to be adapted into an anime. More details are expected to be announced the the August issue of Monthly Comic Blade (on sale June 30th). Mag Garden's website states (in Japanese) the anime is to be released in July.So there you go - an
Aria anime is coming. Thank you alert readers!
PS - Don't expect high levels of yuri, but look for Aika's
akogare/crush on Alicia - and see if Alicia and Akari look like lovers in this version, the way they do in the manga. lol
And to finsh off for the news items - if you haven't been to the
Yuricon website recently, you should stop by. We have a
new essay up and new anime and manga titles up on the
Yuricon Shop. And, until June 14th, get $10 off all orders of $30 of "I Love Yuri"
gifts and apparel from Cafepress.
We've got new names on
"The List" and a new issue of
Saiyuu no Ryouko: The Continuing Adventures of Yuriko!
That's it for today - send more news!
Transistor ni Venus, Volume 2
No, you didn't miss a review Volume 1 of
Transistor ni Venus. I just haven't been able to find it yet.
First, once again, my deepest thanks go out to Touko_no_doriru-san for getting me started on this manga! I'd seen it on and off at the used manga store for years, but had never actually gotten it. Your gift of Volumes 3 and 6 were *just* the thing I needed to make me go out and get as much as I could find! (And extra thanks for the artbook - I'm a huge artbook fan and I planning on scanning some of the pictures in for the folks on the
Yuricon Mailing List!.)
This series is delightful. It follows the career of April Enus, aka Venus, a spy in the late 24th century. In classic James Bond-like fashion, she sleeps with nearly every woman she encounters, and has amazing adventures on land, in the water, in the sky and even out into space.
Enus's world is populated by aliens, sentient animals and a wide variety of really adorable men and women, because the art style is very pin-up, rather than manga.
Enus definitely prefers women, but will certainly take a man at a pinch. Although we never actually see her stoop that low. She trades kisses with a few guys, but saves her real skills for the women.
In her off hours Enus is a teacher at an girl's private school, where the students regularly ask her for "treats" of kisses when they do well in their schoolwork. She's happy to oblige, but saves the "adult kisses" for the adult students, and again, sticks with taking the other female teachers to bed.
Volume 2 starts off in a blimp. Enus has hooked up with an attractive lounge singer who favors tuxedos...and jewels. Jara, the singer, has a unique jewelry box, and Enus spends most of the volume attempting to break into it. In between attempts, she sleeps with Jara, who develops a fetish for dressing her up in cosplay outfits. Enus likes Jara plenty, but wishes she could "take the lead" once in a while. Jara is pretty adamant that *she* wears the pants in this relationship, until circumstances force the crew to use the water in the singer's bath to cool an overheating engine. Jara is livid, but Enus suggests that she use her bath - one one condition.
As the next scene begins, Jara enters the lounge wearing a fetching dress, while Enus is now clad in tux. Apparently you can only have one butch at a a time in this relationship. lol
Enus' adventures are silly and frequently, downright funny. There's rarely any sense of urgency, although there is action - and not just in bed. There's also a nice selection of ray guns and bombs and counter espionage all drawn and written in a nicely fluffy, tension-free way.
The second scenario in the book involves Marianna, one of Enus' lovers and Marianna's brother Rashiko, who kisses his sister on the lips, which upsets Enus. (She gets hers though, the end of the story finds the Marianna in bed with Enus.)
The volume ends with a *very* goofy story about Enus being companion to an 8-year old girl, much to her distress. Forced to abandon several female lovers along the way, Enus and her chargwe switch from one space ship to another as they are attacked again and again. It's all very silly and enjoyable.
I'm definitely on the hunt for the first volume now. I think I have all but 1 and 8 and every volume is sillier and more full of girl-girl kisses than the last. Although I don't think we see Enus in bed with a lover nearly as much in the other volumes as we do in this one.
Ratings:
Art - 8
Story - 8 (great fluff - who needs substance)
Characters - 9
Yuri - 10
Overall - 9
Definitely keep an eye out for this one. It's way out of print, but more fun than a barrel of lesbians.
