Events: Yuricon at Comic Fusion Grand Opening
You are invited to join me on November 5th at the grand opening of
Comic Fusion at 42 Main St. Flemington, NJ.
Yuricon staffer and long-time friend Stacy has been running Comic Fusion online for some time now, and she and her business partner have decided to expand from clicks to bricks, with a move into a nifty store in Flemington. I was there this past Saturday helping set up and I have to say it's a really nice store!
While Comic Fusion is primarily a collectibles and American comics store, they do have a very nice anime toy section, with some lovely items of interest to the yuri fan. I'll be highlighting some of the great stuff you can pre-order from Comic Fusion all week, but I'll start off the week by mentioning some of the fun items that they have in stock - just to entice you to drop by and join us. :-)
While setting up the anime section I found this nifty Kanzaki Akari from
Battle Athletes figurine. I didn't even know there *was* an Akari figure. Now if we can only find a Kris Kristopher, or a Mylandah one, huh? LOL
When I saw this Maggie from
ROD The TV figurine, I nabbed one for myself. Most of the Maggie figures make her look a little vapid and passive and this one has her in full cool Paper Master mode. Plus you can't beat the price. :-)
What collection of yuri-flavored figurines can ever be complete without Shimei Ryomou from
Ikkitousen, aka
Battle Vixens? There's also at least one
Sonsaku Hakufu statue in stock and two, (cooler, IMHO) available for pre-order.
Comic Fusion does do manga pre-orders and they discount pretty deeply online, as well as have contests every month with cool giveaways, so if you don't have a specific favorite store and want exceptional customer service, discounts and to suport a close friend of Yuricon, drop by Comic Fusion for your cool toy and manga needs! :-)
And don't forget - I'll see you on Saturday, Nov. 5th for the grand opening. I'll be bringing fun yuri giveaways for anyone who shows and says they love yuri!
Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime, Volume 1
Only three months late and just in time for the arrival of
Yuri Hime, Volume 2 comes the "more detailed" review of
Yuri Hime, Volume 1 I promised back in July.
For new readers, let me give a quick historical overview:
Comic Yuri Hime, as it is more properly titled, is the newest incarnation of the quarterly yuri manga anthology magazine that was begun in 2003 as
Yuri Shimai. The series that became popular from the original magazine were all transferred to the new version, pretty much intact. Only a few name changes show that there was any switcharoo at all. :-)
Let's start with the cover, which is more important than you'd think. The cover characters are pig-tailed Chika and wavy haired Miyu not, as you might suspect, Yumi and Shimako. You may remember that the cover artist is Hibiki Reine who *happens* to also illustrate the
Maria-sama ga Miteru novels.
Chika and her eventual girlfriend Haruna are the cover characters for the first
Yuri Shimai, and the focus of a short story in that issue, which was turned into a Drama CD, and eventually into a manga. Miyu and *her* eventual girlfriend Kirika (I think) were on the cover of the third
Yuri Shimai. Remember this...or bookmark it or something, because it *will* all be very important later. Promise.
In the meantime, let's move on to the content. The book starts off with a color poster of Kouya and Yamato, the lesbian couple from
Loveless, drawn as children by Yun Kouga. The back of the poster is the Big, Bad Wolf and Riding Hood envisioned by Shio Sakura, who illustrates the yurified fairytales in each volume.
We start off with the next chapter of "Strawberry Shake Sweet." This chapter is the usual hijinks between Ran and Julia. Complications this time once again come in the form of band members from all-lesbian band Zlay and Ran herself who seems to be flagging. It turns out that Ran feels as if she is being stalked. Julia nearly loses her mind when she's volunteered to stay at Ran's apartment for the night. She most definitely loses serious blood out her nose when Ran offers to give her a massage in thanks. :-)
Next we're treated to the sweet "Kuchibiru ni Cherry" by Morinaga Milk. In this continuing saga of the all-lesbian high school, we meet Chiharu who is deeply in love with her best friend, Eri. Eri was a star flute player until she suffered an arm injury. Since then, she's turned her attention to making sweets, which Chiharu loves as much as she does the cook. One day, while over Eri's to try a new recipe, Eri offers to serenade Chiharu with her fluter, which becomes a confession of love. All very blushy and sweet as befits Morinaga's yuri saga.
Following this is a yuri life essay by Miura Shiwon, all of which are interesting to anyone who can read Japanese, but for those of you scanning the pictures, it's not really worth much. lol
"Shortcut" by Mako Takahashi is a story about a girl who cuts her hair, and how the girl who loves her simply isn’t fazed at all by it. Personally, I always try to like Mako's work, but it doesn't do it for me - the characters always look too young and are too...broken, for me to like them. Of the stories so far, this is definitely the best.
It would be work to translate the next title and my dictionary is all the way over there. So I won't. But the story is drawn by Himawari Souya and is a fairly tale of a emotional princess and the paladin she loves. It's cute. Really. The princess gets all jealous of her knight, when she thinks that she's playing around with commoners...but of course Louise has eyes for no one but her Hime-sama. They make up with a kiss.
"Alice Turn Back the Clock" is drawn by Shinkai Inoue, who drew "Pops" and "Pops 2nd" for
Yuri Shimai. The basic premise of "Alice" is the same as those for the earlier series - a relatively "normal" student is drawn into weirdness by a hyper goofball student. Unlike the original series, *this* particular weirdness involves Escher-esque buildingscapes, a sexy Queen of Hearts, a disturbing alien Cheshire cat and a desk island that floats in the middle of an endless sea, along with other Alice-in-wonderland-esque stuff. (Did you know that
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is the third most quoted book in the *world*?)
Well-known for their yaoi, Eiki Eiki and Zaou Taishi started to do yuri for
Yuri Shimai, but just as they were hitting their stride, the magazine was discontinued. Their story of a girl who sexually harasses (in a funny way, you know) "Female Wolf" was followed up by a story that took place in the same school, but involved two of the adults, instead. Reprinted in
Yuri Hime, "First Kiss" promises to be the first in a series of stories about the school doctor and her first love, now a teacher at the same school. It's pretty darn obvious that the doctor has it very, very bad for her friend...but by the end, we still aren't *quite* sure that the feeling is returned, although we have an inkling that, since this is a yuri mag...it might just. We do learn that they shared their first kiss when they were students at this school. We are also treated to color pages of them in bed together as young women.
The next entry goes back to the cover characters. As you may remember, the story of Chika and Haruna's meeting was retold not in the original cover story, but on the original Drama CD from the earlier magazine, entitled "Koi Shimai." It was turned into a manga in the fourth volume of
Yuri Shimai. When the new publishing company bought the magazine, they bought the characters and the story and it continues in
Yuri Hime as "Hatsukoi Shimai." The first HS entry is a short story about Haruna and her beloved little sister, Akiho (who is, because of the second Drama CD, one of my two favorite characters.) Again - it's a text thing, so if you don't read the language it won't mean much to you.
Then comes the next chapter of the manga. Chika, having been frozen completely out by Haruna finds herself in a huge academic slump. The school they are in is pretty tough, so this ain't so good. Akiho fights against her natural tendency to be overprotective of her sister and arranges for the two of them to get together. Yay.
Then comes the fairy tale of Snow White told as a yuri tale with an all-female cast. I am not enamored of these little stories or that art that accompanies them, myself.
"Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodame no Majou" is the renamed (and thank god for that!!) story by Fujieda Miyabi about Letty the English witch and Tsumugi, the miko she rescued. I honestly adore this series. There's something so uncomplicated about Tsumugi's admiration and desire for Letty that it's plain refreshing. Today's thrilling adventure - clothes shopping, then bed! Whee! Letty's a sweetheart, but is in full self-flagellating mode about her desire for Tsumugi (who is totally game and says as much...repeatedly) so she protests much too much. But sleep together they do after a kiss which Letty insists is just a goodnight greeting in her country. Uh-huh. I've been to England, dear....I'm not fooled. :-)
Natsuko Mori is Japan's most noted lesbian novelist - and a very lovely and gracious lady, I might add, having had the pleasure of her acquaintance. She has been writing essays on yuri since the first YS issue, about love and life and yuri.
Sunao Minakata's story, "Nanami to Misuzu" (which I am convinced is a title full of puns that I am only partially getting) is about a chibi-ko with cat-ear things and a habit of whining, crying, face-fauting and other oh-so-endearing qualities, and the normal looking girl who does not kill her. You can tell I liked it...not.
At last we reach the always-color Chi-Ran story. This short "plot what plot" entry, which reads like exactly every other Chi-Ran story involves two girls undressing and four pages that would naturally follow "I want to see your body" when two of the four pages are the credits and the first is the set-up.
The rest of the color pages are full of internal ads, reviews of anime we talk to death on the
Yuricon Mailing List, and other colorful things.
All of a sudden, we are back in the black and white pages and in the rest of the Chi-Ran story that started so bluntly above. As it turns out, superstar model Mahime has come to an all-girl high school and for reason unknown to her, focused all her attention on our overwhelmed protagonist, Mari, in the sexual tension filled "Shoujo Bigaku". They end up together, don't worry.
Akiko Morishima reprints one of her doujinshi stories, about a younger girl and the older one she admires, called "Momo no Aji". Akiko's art is very cheerful, everyone has pink cheeks and happy smiles. The story is most notable because they *don't* end up together. Yet. Perhaps.
This is followed by a report of the Yuricon in Tokyo event, also by Akiko Morishima. She was very funny about this - she did an interview with me and asked me a question that I understood, but had a REALLY hard time answering. How nice that she managed to convey my frog-like expression for this volume. Her version of the event is slightly different than the English-language version she wrote for
Yuri Monogatari 3, where she left out my line about if I like it, it's "yuri." Lol The funnest part about her reports, to me, are that I can recognize many of the folks there - not just organizer and all around-goddess Rica Takashima, but also translators Ive and Trevor and a lot of the guests, and some of the folks who came dressed up. Between the two reports I feel like I can never forget the event. (That and the fact that the café owner's wife is now in NYC and we've had dinner together.) These things reminds me that it wasn't a dream...it really happened after all!
Last up is "Let's go Tengoku" by Izumi Yuu. It's a slightly disturbing, sort of sexual harassment story, with a happy(?) ending? I'm not in love with it. One girl attempts to convince another to go to paradise with her - by which she seems to mean she wants to have sex. They both look too young and the word "no" doesn't seem to make an impression, but wait! They really are in love with each other, so it's okay. Bleah. Thumbs down.
There's also reviews of books and other items of yuri interest, presents I'll never get, because I'm not in Japan and can't get my mail back fast enough, letters, comments, more internal ads for the next issue and the like. All very shiny and wonderful and which I will one day read from beginning to end. But not yet. :-)
Once again, if you have not gotten YH1, I heartily recommend it, if only to prepare you for the *next* issue which is just about the best yuri anthology I've read, barring of course,
Yuri Monogatari LOL So run on over to the
Yuricon Shop and grab a coupla copies of each (one to read and cut up, one to keep, one to give away to the girl you're trying to get into yuri, obviously) and check back soon for the next detailed review for which you will NOT have to wait three months. I promise. YH2 was way too good to wait to talk about!
Ratings:
Overall - 8
Tags:
Yuri Anthology,
Yuri Manga,
Hatsukoi Shimai,
Koi Shimai,
Morinaga Milk,
Yuri Hime
Yuri Anime: Crimson Climax
It's not like
Crimson Climax is *good* hentai, but as hentai goes, it's not the worst I've ever seen, either.
The sex is split between lesbian scenes, which are almost always cut short, and straight sex which is not entirely non-consensual. If you skip the non-con stuff, what's left is a weirdly touching tale of a family curse and the devoted female servants who sacrifice all for their mistresses.
Did I mention that this anime is a horror hentai? Guess not. Well, it is. So that means there's a lot of blood, and some pretty gruesome and pointlessly wasteful deaths, and the main character appears to be a cyborg doll thing with bits of humans holding her together. It's all confusing and since I didn't actually care, I have no idea how or why or, in fact, even what.
Did I mention the reasonably decent lesbian sex scenes? Yes? Well, then. There's your review.
Tags: Hentai Yuri, Hentai Anime, Crimson Climax
Maria-sama ga Miteru Eight Novel, Itoshiki Toshitsuki, Part 2 (Second Half)
Notes on the 8th Maria-sama ga Miteru Novel,
The Loving Times, Part 2 (
Itoshiki Toshitsuki, Ato Ben)
"One Hand Entwined"
This story is told in alternating first person, from Sei's and Shimako's points of view. There was very little different in the novel from the anime - just a few details here and there.
***
1)Sei stands under the sakura tree, letting the flowers wash away the world.
When the students call her "Rosa Gigantea" now, she's not used to it - it's not her title, it's her onee-sama's title. She doesn't hate the students anymore, like she used to, but she still feels no connection to them.
2) The first time Sei sees Shimako, she's reminded of Shiori - they don't look alike, there's just something similar about them. Sei suffers a profound sense of deja vu, as she feels the same way she did upon seeing Shiori for the first time.
3) Shimako immediately wanted to learn more about Sei. Her face, which looked like a carving, not terribly Japanese, had a look of grief which Shimako's classmates find sexy.
4) Yoshino was sent by the Yamayurikai to invite Shimako to the Rose Mansion, because she was the only one who knew what Shimako looked like.
5)It irks the daylights out of Sei that Youko understands her better than she understands herself. lol
When Youko invokes Shiori's name, Sei is repelled by Youko and demands that she not speak that name. Sei thinks that it would be a good goal to be able to forget Shiori, but knows she can't - Shiori is her cross to bear.
Youko says that she thinks that Sei and Shiori would have made bad
soeur, but if they had just gone and become soeur, they might have been able to spend the next years accumulating good memories.
Youko admits to being very surprised when Sei asked about Shimako - Sei had the same expression she had had when she had asked about Shiori.
When Youko tells Sei that Shimako reminds her of Sei, Sei comments that if she's like me, then she has my weak points. Youko responds, "I like your weak points." Sei shoots back, "I hate your strong points."
As Youko disengages from this conversation, she comments lightly that she'd better leave or Sei really *will* hit her.
6) Cut from the anime:
After the above conversation, Eriko and Sei walk out of the Rose Mansion together. Eriko wonders if it was all right for her to have remained. Sei says that she thinks it was better that there was a referee.
Sei asks Eriko what she should do. Eriko asks if it would really be that bad if Shimako helped the Yamayurikai out?
7) Another cut scene!
Youko finds Sei wandering the first-year's hallway, fixing the first-year students collars and ties and generally touching them and making them blush. Youko call her out on this, but Sei just responds Youko's the one whose always remind Sei about her duties, and upperclassmen are supposed to tell underclassmen about their collars
or ties - she's just being proactive.
Youko complains - why are you fixing everyone's ties?
Sei shrugs - It would be unfair not to.
Youko - Being conscious of equality isn't like you.
Sei - oh look, your tie needs to be fixed, too.
Youko backs off.
8) As they walk out onto the school grounds, Youko points out Shimako. Sei and Shimako lock eyes, and Sei feels "caught." (In the anime, Sei was by herself at this moment.) She's feeling self-conscious because Youko can see her reaction to Shimako.
9)Youko confronts Sei to ask why she hasn't invited Shimako to assist the Yamayurikai with the festival. Sei accuses Youko of becoming an unpleasant person. Sei thinks that Sachiko is a hypocrite, Rei is a fool and Yoshino is a braggart. But she tells Youko that's she, Youko, is evil.
Youko says that Shimako not joining the Yamayurikai would be a heavy loss - then
comments that there are other ways to make sure it happens, Shimako could always just run for a position in the elections...
10) Sei comes to a realization (
satori) that Shimako is really her wish come true - someone who understands her, a replacement for Shiori for whom she can care, but not desire. Shiori was an angel and therefore, they couldn't ever be together. But Shimako is human and Sei can remain separate from her. And that, she concludes, would be nice.
11) At a Yamayurikai meeting one day, quite suddenly, Sei calls Shimako "Shimako",
with no honorific. Soon everyone follows suit. For the first time, Sei begins to enjoy the idea of a "Rose Family" and she starts to forget her unhappiness and discomfort.
12) Shimako sees Sei with Goronta and asks her if she likes animals. When Sei says yes, Shimako wonders to herself is humans are included in that.
13) When Sei finally asks (commands, really) Shimako to be her
soeur, more
than the request, it's the look of loneliness in Sei's eyes that makes Shimako say yes.
After Shimako agrees, Sei tells her that she's too serious. Shimako tells Sei that she is too insincere.
When Shimako says the word "Onee-sama," it reverberates inside her. And she apologizes internally to Sachiko and to all the Rosa Gigantea fans, because she needs this person in her life.
The End
For notes from the 9th novel, and all notes as the are released, join the Yuricon Mailing List!Tags: Maria-sama ga Miteru, Marimite, Itsohiki Toshitsuki, Loving Times
Maria-sama ga Miteru Eight Novel, Itoshiki Toshotsuki Part 2 (First Half)
Notes on the 8th Maria-sama ga Miteru Novel,
The Loving Times, Part 2 (
Itoshiki Toshitsuki, Ato Ben)
This book took me a lot longer to read than usual, mostly because of preparations for
Onna! and getting
Yuri Monogatari 3 to print, but also because of a number of other things which killed my free time completely.
It actually took me almost a week to just get these notes typed up...
There were less notes than usual, only about 10 pages this time. The anime did an exceptionally good job I think of these two episodes. I'm assuming,as a always, that you have seen the anime, and I'm just commenting on things left out, of interest or I forgot that it was there in the first place. :-)
***
"Will"
The prologue begins with a discussion of the inevitability of time. Time moves on, no one can stop it. At the end of February, when the 3rd-years' pictures are taken for the yearbook, no one cries. It's still in the future. But one day, traditionally, a countdown appears in front of the office "Two days until graduation."
And then....
1) Yumi is positively *shocked* when she realizes that it's Rosa Chinensis who has grabbed her. She's sweeping the tree-lined path and is sure some classmate will see them. She thinks Youko may be possessed by a spirit, she muses, when Youko pouts at her(!) and kicks a pebble(!) cutely in protest.
Yumi wonders at all the Rosas using each other's given names w/out honorifics. (This will come back as a theme over and over in this novel.)
Youko takes Yumi to the milk hall for warm milk. She explains that her parents gave it to her as a child - it's become a comfort thing. As they walk, Yumi thinks about the school Youko has chosen and comes to the conclusion that she herself would not be comfortable at a co-ed school.
2) Eriko took several exams - she didn't really care what course of study she took - she's probably going to a fine arts school. Youko chose the school she tested for on her "greatest day". She figured that passing that exam that day was a sign.
While she's talking to Yumi, Youko begins to cry, even though she's smiling. She's going to law school because, although she wants to go to a fine arts school, she can't really help people doing that.
Yumi thinks about Youko's desire to do something meaningful - that she likes people, and wants to help them. She comments that it's a good thing Youko doesn't want to be a surgeon, because that would mean she likes to cut people up.
3) Yumi's late. Shimako tries to defend her from Sachiko's wrath "Shimako's here, where is Yumi?" "We had different areas to clean." Sachiko stands in front of them and demands an explanation - which sections did they have and how far away were they from each other. She says she wants to see whether Yumi's excuse holds any water. Yumi is blown away - Wow, what magnificent sarcasm. She compares Sachiko to a stereotypical TV drama mother-in-law.
After she stops being annoyed at Yumi (who stops her cold with a mention of Rosa Chinensis,) Rei whispers that Sachiko was worried - Sachiko throws a fit and lifts a hand as if to strike Rei. But on second thought decides that striking a
nidan (second-degree black belt) in kendo is a bad idea, puts her hand down and kicks a chair, instead. Rei teases her, saying that she shouldn't keep her anger inside, stress poisons you.
4) Yoshino likens Rosa Chinensis' last request to a confession of love, because some of her feeling is left behind with it.
5) This was in the anime, but slightly changed:
Yumi asks Shimako if Sei had any last requests for her, Shimako says that she gave none to her, but Yumi can go ahead and ask her. Yumi apologizes for being the one Sei hugs, but Shimako says she's happy about it. Yumi gets suddenly anxious about Shimako and begs her to not go away anywhere. All of a sudden, Shimako sseems to disappear and reappear, but have no real substance.
As Yumi holds Shimako's hands, the teacher comes up behind them and takes their hands in hers. She apologizes for throwing cold water on this beautiful expression of friendship, but homeroom is starting...
Yumi is so embarrassed, that she wishes she had a backspace button with which she could erase the last three minutes - her head is buzzing and she feels like a teapot steaming. When Shimako mouths a-ri-ga-to-u to her, Yumi knows she doesn't have to backspace after all.
6) Cut scene:
After cleaning that day, Yumi sees Katsura. She's about to call out, when Katsura squats down and begins to cry. Yumi sees some girl holding a tennis racket, talking to Katsura as she, Yumi, was about to call out. (We are told that, during the Yellow Rose Revolution, Katsura and her onee-sama broke up, but were reconciled when it ended.) As Yumi watches the girl with the tennis racket, Tsutako arrives and tells Yumi that the girl wit the racket is the Vice-President of the Tennis Club. As the VP helps Katsura to her feet, Tsutako takes a picture of them. Yumi is about to complain, when Tsu says that that picture was taken at Katsura's request.
The VP hands Katsura her racket. Katsura looks surprised, but takes it, hugging it to her. Tsutako narrates as all this is going on:
When Katsura split from her onee-sama during the Revolution, she fell for the VP of the Tennis Club.
Yumi immediately grasps the picture - Katsura akogare/admires the VP, but has an onee-sama who is feeling a bit uneasy right now in their relationship.
7) Yumi enters Sei homeroom and even though Sei is smiling, somehow Yumi senses that she's not her usual self.
(At this point, I note in my notes that Konno Oyuki is genuinely a master of mood - in a sentence or two, we can really *feel* Sei's melancholy.) Because Yumi thinks Sei's melancholy is contagious, she takes Sei's hand in sympathy. This surprises Sei so much that she springs to her feet in shock and Yumi sees an expression on Sei's face that she's never seen before.
8) As Sei tries to kiss Yumi, she tells her "Close your eyes like a good girl." Yumi zooms in on the parts of Sei's face that look Japanese and thinks that Sei is really lovely. In her head, the scene plays out like a movie shoot, hence the "Cut!" she cries out when she pushes herself away.
Yumi is torn. She's not hating the idea of kissing Sei, but senses that it's not really a joke - Sei's quite serious about the kiss. Yumi's feeling really torn, and feels genuinely bad for running away. As she stands there, thinking over her own reaction, Sei asks her what she's thinking Yumi thinks, but does not say, "About the kiss. What else?" She's thinking about it being a first kiss and the fact that the problem she was having with it is that it was on the lips. In her head, she hears Yoshino calling her fickle.
9)Sei picks on Yumi by telling her that she's not going on to college at all. Having seen Yumi made her want to stay here as a student.
Sei also says, that although she was never very ordinary, after having met Yumi, she wishes she had been. She tells Yumi that she doesn't want Yumi knowing where she is going to school, because she fears Yumi might coming running after her "beloved Rosa Gigantea." Yumi laughs, but thinks that Sei actually hit the bull's-eye with that.
Sei really did think it would be funny not to tell Yumi that she'd be at Lillian University, and see how long it took Yumi to notice her there. She's going on to study English and American Literature.
(This seems unlikely, if you remember that she hates reading novels, but this is not true - she only learned to hate *romance* novels. Think about the scene in
Ibara no Mori. where Sei reads the entire novel in about an hour. This is *not* the way a non-reader reads. Only hardcore readers read that fast. It was fairly obvious from other comments in her arc that Sei was always a serious reader - she mentions that she read alot by herself quite often. She's the perfect Comp. Lit. major...says the former Comp. Lit. major. lol)
10) Youko watches the girls handing out flowers to the graduating seniors. She remembers that the year before, her classmates played
janken to see who would do the honors, but she doesn't remember playing janken. Then she remember that they all sort of voted her to do it unanimously.
11) Sei thinks the graduation program guide looks like a menu.
12) A classmate asks Sei if she's nervous. Sei asks if she looks nervous. As she's talking with the classmate, she thinks to herself that in all these years, she's never really chatted nonsensically with a classmate before. Suddenly Sei blurts that she's sorry that she didn't ever contribute more to the class. The classmate says it couldn't be helped. She adds that Sei was one-sama to the entire school.
13) Sei fell asleep at her onee-sama's graduation...
14) As a child, Eriko was not bored all the time - she was very class leader-y and "let's go!" all the time.
Sei preferred to be by herself. When Eriko asked "Are you American?" all of a sudden, so impolitely, Sei just sort of snapped.
Because of the fight they had, Eriko and Sei remembered each other from kindergarten. In middle school, they were seated next to each other and Sei remembered her - which was unusual, because she didn't remember anyone else from that time. At which point the classmate who Sei has been talking to is taken aback to find that Sei does not remember that they have been in classes together for more than one-third of their school years.
15) In her first year, Eriko was in Go club, in her second year, Calligraphy club. Third year was Table Tennis. Eriko was the one who pointed out Sachiko to Youko. She saw that Sachiko's level of calligraphy was significantly higher than everyone else's.
Upon meeting Youko, Eriko realized that the other girl was one of those "can-do" type people and immediately decided to not try and compete with her - even though Eriko had initially decided that she'd be class rep and honor student. (Eriko, Sei and Youko were all in the same class their 1st year in middle school.) Because Youko had gained the position of class representative, when Youko came over the first time, Eriko assumed it was to gloat. (Remember, Youko had transferred in to the school just that year.) Youko asked Eriko about her tie, instead, offering an awfully adult kind of reconciliation.
16) Youko is feeling terribly impatient with the graduation ceremony and only wants it to be over. She thinks that she just has to get past the formal farewell address and the reply and it's over.
She's sure that Sachiko will do well, but she wonders if her own reserve will hold, or will tears collapse the dam of her emotions. She also wonders if address and reply being done by soeur is accidental or on purpose...and whether it's happened before.
As soon as Sachiko begins her formal reply, Youko thinks, "This is bad. Very, very bad." Her eyes fill with tears almost instantly. But the dam that breaks first is Sachiko. As she stands there on the podium crying, Youko looks at Sachiko as if seeing her for the very first time.
17) When Rei joins Sachiko and continues the address, Youko is glad, but also a little jealous.
Youko doesn't remember the last two graduation ceremonies she attended being this eventful. Last year the mic was broken and no one could hear anything.
18) In the anime, Youko wonders if, had it been she that cracked, would Eriko and Sei save her like Rei did Sachiko. She thinks they'd just laugh. In the novel, she thinks they'd *point* and laugh.
19) In middle school being in a club was mandatory, so Sei joined Reading Club, Youko was in Literature Club. Because of good grades in gym class, Sei was always getting invitations to join from the volleyball and softball teams.
20) Ultimately, Eriko doesn't really know why she didn't choose Lillian University.
21) Sei changes the words to the traditional song to fit Yumi - changing the word "beloved" to "adorable".
22) Eriko is *really* harsh to Yamanobe. When he says he didn't think he had the right to be there, she replies that because she wished it, he was worthy and so, should have come to the ceremony.
23) As Eriko and Sei think back on their original argument in kindergarten, Sei mentions that she eventually figured out why Eriko thought that she was American. She says that in the past, one of her relatives on her father's side didn't have Mongoloid genes. Apparently, she favors that ancestor.
Eriko responds, "Atavism, huh?" Then she asks if that ancestor was American, Sei says she doesn't know - probably of mixed blood.
Eriko and Sei reconcile after 14 years of antagonism, but afterward, Eriko thinks to herself that Sei's making it up, probably.
***
The end of the anime was pretty much word-for-word from the novel. :-)
Tags: Maria-sama ga Miteru, Marimite, Itsohiki Toshitsuki, Loving Times
Yuri Manga: Transistor ni Venus, Volume 6
Feeling down? A little depressed?
Transistor ni Venus is just the ticket. This yuri spy series is so exceptionally goofy that it'd take more than a blue mood to hold out against Enus and her adventures. As always, my deepest thanks to Touko_no_doriru-san for insipring me to read this series!
Volume 6 is a paean to love.
On a planet that looks like a Mediterranean resort, Enus and Eriari encounter a Romeo and Juliet kind of situation. Po, a young aristocrat, and Kurani, are in love. But Kurani's family and Po's are not about to let them be happy together, for reasons that are no doubt idiotic. Po's brother is engaged to Kurani, but she and Po (who is male, btw...straight couples are rare enough in this series that it's noteworthy) are really, really in love.
Of *course* they end up together, duh. No one suffers in
Transistor ni Venus. And they look quite tropical and exotic in their wedding gear. Even young spy in training Eriari finds himself a cute girl. Enus is saddened that she doesn't have a nice girl, or guy in a pinch, to marry. Shiku, shiku.
The second half of the volume is taken up with a search for cannisters containing something or other of crucial importance. For this job, Enus is teamed up with Professor "Call me Iselin" Suiminkova. Iselin spends every second she is not busy communicating telepathically with her trained dolphins to seduce Enus...or, really, to begin seducing her, the blaming Enus for making her do weird things. Thankfully, Enus and Iselin are captured by the Lizard guys and their pet human Samaja. Samaja and Iselin immediately forget Enus even exists, freeing her to free them all and recover the cannister and get herself the hell out of there.
Enus goes running off to find Mariaana, her usual fallback lover and takes her immediately to bed. She says to Mariaana that she's glad that they are friends, and Miariaana goes all pouty. Just friends? Lovers, Enus assures her. Just lovers? Enus asks what she's getting at and Mariaana wonders if Enus would marry her. Hooray! Enus is glad to agree and is ready to take off to do the deed this second, when Mariaana starts coming up with delays. Oh well - at least Enus got Mariaana in bed, and that's good enough for now.
The outcome? Enus and Mariaana are more of a couple than before, and Enus really, really comes to dislike dolphins.
Ratings:
Art - 8
Story - 8
Characters - 8
Yuri - 9
Overall - 8
Now, if this series, and
Hayate Cross Blade ever become anime, *then* I'll be a happy Erica.
Tags: Yuri, Yuri Manga, Transistor ni Venus
Yuri Anime: Noir, Volume 4
I rewatched Volume 4 of
Noir in the post-Onna! "marathon of watching and reading things non-stop so I don't have to talk to people" fest. It's quite good. And remarkably bad.
Let's get the plot complication stuff over quickly...the first two episodes are designed to make Mirielle and Kirika seem more human. I think. In the first episode of the volume Kirika befriends an ex-mercenary turned painter and takes up painting herself. Mirielle warns her away from befriending anyone, but Kirika persists, with tragic results. In the second episode, we learn yet another little piece about Mirielle's past and, if we are not entirely clueless, will come to realize that this is not just "making Mirielle seem more human" but really a hint that her past is quite relevant to the story. Think about it - Kirika has no past and we never, not really, try and figure out who she is. But little by little Mirielle's family, and their fate, keep popping up, over and over and over....
In any case, this attempt by Mirielle to recreate an old relationship fails in a slightly more tragic way than Kirika's attempt to make friends. In Kirika's case, the guy is killed more by circumstance than anything else; in Mirielle's case, she actually pulls the trigger and kills her beloved uncle.
The second two episodes are ridiculous. I love them, but if they were disappeared the story as a whole would not suffer one iota. A Chinese Tong sends a irresistably goofy assassin to take out Noir, (she kills with poison nails...and wears a fashionable leather jacket, all at the same time!) with predictable results. This is the mini-arc in which we see Kirika's magic bullet shield on full - she kills about 40 people and not one of them manages to so much as graze her with a scathing look.
But, let's let that all go and talk about the yuri. You're probably thinking that I'm on crack about now. Yuri? In Volume 4, where Kirika obsesses about a guy and Mirielle about her uncle? Why, yes, now that you mention it.
This one was easy - watch Mirielle react to Kirika's new hobby. Neutral, a little amused. Then watch Mirielle react to the cause of the new hobby...open jealousy, baby. I never noticed it the first time, but Mirielle spends the entire rest of the episode *bristling* when she thinks about Kirika spending time with that guy. Great voice acting from Mitsuishi Kotono there - she sounds deeply irked and bitchy. lol
Then we have the other half of the equation - Mirielle returns with the news that her uncle is in town, yay! Kirika would, assumably, be annoyed, yes? Something to take away from the well-oiled machine that is Noir? Nope. She's pleased as punch that Mirielle has regained this link to her past. Why - because she can see how happy this has made Mirielle.
Now add those two little things up. They equal a relationship. Not, perhaps one between lovers, but certainly one between people who care, a lot, for each other.
Now, Bee Train has already said about
Noir that if you see yuri, it's there. I choose to see a relationship that is beginning to leak past professional into personal.
And because, for some reason I cannot fathom, some people like Chloe, I'll also mention her stalking Kirika to Hong Kong as a sign of her obsession about the other girl. But I strongly feel that the vibe is one-way. While it's clear that Chloe sees Kirika as her perfect future partner, I don't get the sense that Kirika even sees Chloe as a an existence, really. Her mind is on her partner *now*. And from my perspective, it stays there...except in the bits where they brainwash her. But I'm getting ahead of myself. :-)
Ratings:
Art - 6, it's horribly inconsistent from scene to scene
Story - 7
Characters - 7
Music - 9
Yuri - 5
Overall - 7 and a great way to pass a gloomy Sunday afternoon. On par with a decent kungfu flick. :-) There was something terribly important I wanted to say here, but now I've forgotten what it was. Oh well.
Tags: Yuri, Anime, Yuri Anime, Noir, Kirika and Mirirelle
Mahou Sensei Negima, Manga Volumes 6 and 7
Once again, we bring you a guest review of
Negima! Magister Negi Magi by the redoubtable Sean Gaffney! Yaaaaaay! (Say this last bit in a Kermit the Frog from the Muppet Show voice.) Sean's review is quite timely, because as you know, I loathe Akamatsu's work and didn't feel like writing anything today. :-)
Let me take this opportunity to thank Sean, also, for having been one of the most AMAZING staffers we had at Onna!. He was a whirlwind, handling not only the panels, worksops and demos, but also stepping in to handle many of the Programming events, which freed me to do important things like tell people where to find paper and pens and interview for 80 minutes with people who quoted me for less than 20 words. LOL Sean, you have my eternal thanks. No foolin'.
Without further ado, here is Sean's review of
Negima, Vols. 6 and 7:
The manga and anime Rurouni Kenshin is known for its Kyoto arc, which is generally considered to be lightyears ahead of the other arcs. Likewise, Negima really steps up with its own Kyoto arc, dropping most of the comedy for a Volume to focus on action and drama, as Negi and the others are under attack from their rivals.
The action is fairly well drawn, with little of the confusion that mars series like Trigun. We get a few more girls finding out Negi is a wizard, though Mana and Ku Fei don't seem very surprised. Negi's secret is still one of the worst kept ever.
Then there's the yuri. Aside from the 'grasping at straws' couples ("Look! Kaede is holding Yue in her arms after rescuing her! It must be love!"), there's still just Konoka and Setsuna. Luckily, that's more than enough.
Setsuna in this volume reveals her other big secret - she's half demon, and has big wings. Setsuna is convinced this will make everyone loathe and fear her. But these aren't bat-like wings, they're big, fluffy bird wings - everyone notes they look cool. So Setsuna races off to save Konoka, who notes that they make Setsuna look like an angel. OK, self-worth crisis over, mostly.
(In the Negima anime, they kiss. But the Negima anime is awful in so many other ways that I can't recommend it even to the staunchest yuri fan unless they just get one episode, watch the kiss, then delete it.)
In Volume 7, there's less of a focus on the two. However, we see Konoka being told that with training, she could be a very powerful mage. She chooses to begin the training, and wants Setsuna as her partner.
This is the best part of the volume. Konoka relates to Negi that Setsuna says that girls shouldn't kiss, but she wants Setsuna to be her partner, so is there another way to make a pact? It's very clear from Setsuna's denials that what she meant was that when the two of them kiss, it shouldn't be just for a simple magical pact, but for something deeper. Her expressions are very cute.
One last thing to note on the yuri front is Kazumi, the sly newspaper girl, who is clearly amused at Setsuna's blushing denials, and notes that 'It's just a kiss. Girls our age experiement with that stuff all the time'. Which again is a nice bone to throw to those seeking more yuri in the series than Konoka and Setsuna. OK, it's a tiny fragment of a bone.
Negima continues to be far more interesting than it should be, considering the artist and all the shounen fanservice. And indeed the 10-year-old hero. Despite all that, it's still a page-turner, and more and more characters are gaining depth as they get focused on.
Oh yes, and in the Translation Notes, Del Rey will tell you what a paipan is.
Erica here: I like melon pan, best, myself. Especially when its slightly green in color and the shell is a bit crunchy. Mmmmm. Now I have a craving. lol
Once again - thank Sean! (Insert wild applause, again in Muppet Show style)
Tags: Yuri, Manga
Yuri Manga: Aria, Volume 7
Since the
Aria anime has just started, there's a fair amount of interest in this series now, so I thought a review of the manga was appropriate.
For refreshers, you can read my reviews of
volumes 1,2 and 3, which are available in
English and
volumes 4,5 and 6 which you can get from
Amazon Japan.
The first 6 volumes are sweet, pleasant and not particularly melodramatic slices-of-life about the adventures of Akari, a gondolier in training on Neo-Venezia. If there's any weakness in this series it is that we don't go very deep into any of the character's, well...character.
Volume 7 remedies this.
Our journey this time begins with a story about vanity. Aika, Akari's fellow trainee and rich girl heiress, has always prided herself on her beautiful long hair, so when it is accidentally burned and has to be cut, she has to face her own self-image - and her dreams about what she wants to be when she grows up. To bring her to the realization that she has to strive to be herself, her mentor Akira has to resort to some tough love.
The rest of the book follows this lead - spending more time on the trainees (Akari, Aika and Alice of the Aria, Hime and Orange companies, respectively) and their relationships with their
sempai; Alicia, Akira and Athena. It's a nice glimpse a little further beneath the surface of the trainees' endless admiration for the older women. It's especially nice to get some extended time seeing Alice grow into more of a person. (To her benefit, she is considerably younger than Akari and Aika and we are apt to forget that in the face of her extraordinary skill as an undine. This time we can see Alice the young woman, instead of Alice the trainee. Trust me - it works.)
Alice and Aika spend some quality time together, as well - yet another angle on the kids. We're so used to Akari's outlook, that it's refreshing to see Akari from the outside, and learn a little bit more about all three in the process.
The final chapter does something new yet again - we get a chapter from inside Aika's head. And her point of view is significantly different from Akari's. In fact, for once we get to see Akari through her eyes, which is rather amusing. We end as we began - with Aika's hair. Only this time, it's all complicated by love. Because although the other women think her new hairdo is spiffy....there's Al, who hasn't seen it yet. Of course, he loves it. :-) (But then, he thinks the cat looks spiffy too in her clothes...)
We finsh up with a side story about Akatsuki which shows him at 6 - all very funny if I though kids, or cats, were cute. Which I don't.
In any case, this volume is, by far and away, the *strongest* volume so far for this enjoyable series. It gives me hope that we'll get the same treatment for the older undines - more exploration of their pasts, their hopes, dreams and the relationships they have with each other.
Ratings:
Art - 9
Characters - 9
Story - 8
Yuri - 3 (Aika still has that lingering
akogare for Alicia, and the way Akira talks about her....I got give it a few points!)
Overall - 8
A really fine story in the tradition of
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. Great characters, fun times that make you smile. A win all the way around.
Tags: Manga, Aria
Yuri Manga: Bakuretsu Tenshi, Vol. 3
Why couldn't the
Bakuretsu Tenshi anime have been this decent? That's what I want to know.
In Volume 2, Jo suddenly has to face her past, of which she remembers nothing. People attack her for the very skills she treasures, and Sei and Emi seem to know more about her than she does. Only Meg loves Jo for who she is, but Jo rejects Meg in a fit of grand self-loathing. Her only objective is to learn what she is, and what she was.
If you're at all familiar with anime and manga in general, you can, of course *guess* what Jo is...a bioengineered killing machine. One of many, and the one that got away. Duh. Does this make her not human? She fights against this concept like many a Boomer before her, but unlike most of the biomechanical killing machines that have gone before, this one has something special. Jo has Meg.
Meg runs off to find Jo and indeed, does find her, in the middle of a battle for her life. Meg (quite unlike the more tedious Meg of the anime) throws herself into the battle and changes the outcome - on several levels. She not only makes it possible for Jo to win, but after seeing the gentle look in Jo's eyes as she reclaims her partner, her opponent realizes that Jo is, after all, not a killing machine but a human.
But...too bad the evil conglomerate doesn't think so! They kidnap Meg and, in a sense rape Jo, (rough surgery to reclaim some part that had alot of kanji that I didn't feel like translating.) Essentially they ripped her spine out.
But Sei comes on the scene and saves Jo, then accompanies her to Evil Conglomerate Inc. HQ where they save Meg, destroy *this* particular weirdo and live happily ever after.
The volume ends with a note that the story continues in the animation
Burst Angel - both note and title are in English. I swear to god, I want to be an English consultant to Japanese anime companies, hired to suggest less dorky translations, and to work on the r/l confusion....
In any case, Meg's love is what saves Jo from a short life of violence and catapults her into a much, much longer life filled with violence.
The biggest problem with the anime, especially after the manga, is how Jo and Meg really *don't* connect. We see Jo save a suddenly incompetent Meg frequently, and we see Meg snuggle an unresponsive Jo a few times. What a damn shame we don't get to see the Jo and Meg of the manga appear in the anime - how much better a series might it have been? We can only conjecture - and that's what the
Yuricon Mailing List, and fanfic, is for. :-)
Ratings:
Art - 7
Story - 7
Characters - 7
Yuri - 6
Overall - 7
Better than mediocre, the
Bakuretsu Tenshi manga series is far superior to the anime.
Tags: Yuri, Yuri Manga, Bakuretsu Tenshi, Burst Angel
Yuri Anime: Ichigo Mashimaro
Why on earth do I find
Ichigo Mashimaro so appealing?
It could be the talented voice cast, or the sheer insanity of the non-plots, or Miu's pleasantly sociopathic worldview, or the goofball situations, or even the incredibly sticky opening theme. Any of those things is enough.
But I think ultimately,that its just that its so darn *cute* that really wins. And don't think that that doesn't irk the daylights out of me! It does - I hate being swayed by cute. I maintain myself as the anti-cute reader, a single point of pessimistic darkness in the world of moe/loli yuri fandom who think two cute girls snuggling equals yuri.
And yet...
As much as I don't want to think about it, this series *does* have yuri. Miu is clearly crushing on Nobue. I don't see Nobue actually having desire for any of the kids, but this series is probably the best example (certainly the least gross) of
moe, I've ever seen. Nobue's affection for Matsuri and Ana has all the qualities of moe. She clearly has a need to protect, and desire to snuggle, them like a kid with stuffed animals.
But for me, the real attraction is Miu. She's barking mad and happy to be it. Nobue and she have enough in common that the resulting tension moves the story zippily along and is darned fun while doing so.
Ratings:
Art - 7
Story - 8
Characters - 8
Music - 7
Yuri - 7
Overall - 7.5
Really, talking about this series doesn't cut it. Just watch it and laugh. There, that was easy.
Tags: Anime, Yuri Anime, Ichigo Mashimaro
Events: What a weekend at Onna!
To quote Paulette Hodge, the co-chair of Onna!, "That was the best con I've ever attended and didn't see anything."
Seriously. Onna! was, without doubt the most amazing con, full of energy and fun and great things to do and see and buy, and people to meet, and little miracles that just kept happening, that I am still processing it all.
The best thing about Onna!, to me, was how magnificent my staff was. Every department ran smoothly because the folks who ran our committees and the people who helped them gave 149%, and then a little more, because that's the kind of folks they are.
Sunday night at 3AM when I was wrapping up the video rooms, there were small crowds of kids still hanging about, talking and asking if we were doing it again next year. :-) And this time, the idea didn't make me nasueous. Mostly because of Paulette, who was great about letting me get some sleep. (I returned the favor the next day.)
Our guests were all gracious, charming and alot of fun, so my thanks to Paige Braddock, Euralis Weekes and Tania Del Rio. They can totally consider themselves invited to anything I ever do again.
Also, big hugs to Tran and her sister from
Drama Queen, who rock my world. Thanks for everything.
The new manga talent contest "Be Discovered" uncovered some exceptional artists indeed! Expect to see at least some of our finalists publishing some great work...and soon. :-)
Two miracles occurred in the form of invited masters. The martial arts demo group - the NY Budo Kai - showed up, totally controlled their demo, wowed their audience cleaned up and then wandered around taking in the con. Zero maintenance needed. Deb - your group was amazing. Please come again!!
And the second little miracle came in the form of Anna Nakada, an Ikebana master who was the most *amazing* (by which I mean breathtaking, adorable, talented and elegant artist I've met in years). She positively captivated the audience and when I walked in on the end of her workshop I simply went breathless. Her ikebana was indescribably gorgeous. In any future Onna! I run, she will get a bigger room and and longer workshop, and I will literally herd people into it to get a taste of something refined and spontaneous in a way we almost never get to experience. I can only say this - if you did not see Anna's ikebana creations, your life is poorer for it. I mean that. I feel quite uplifted and enriched having simply *seen* them.
Sigh.
Back to the topic - Onna! was a great success, nearly everyone had a fantastic time (except for those people who come to cons full of dissatisfaction and loathing and whose only joy is to ruin things for other people.)
Lastly, let me thanks all the many, many
Lililicious folks who came, helped, partied and basically had the good time I wished I was having. LOL
Bottom line, we hope we'll be able to do it again. Keep your eyes peeled for announcements on the website.
Events: Off to Onna!
Well, as of just about 30 minutes from now, I'm off to the yuriest US con of 2005,
Onna!.
If you're still on the fence about coming, see if you can make it on Sunday. Saturday will, no doubt be sold out early, and while there's lots to do and watch on Saturday (Guest panels, Concert and Cosplay are all going to be popular,) Sunday has even MORE guest panels, the new manga talent contest "Be Discovered at Onna!," a Harajuku Fashion show, a Gaming Arcade and a dance! As well as all the usual fun games, fan panels and great videos.
If you're sticking around on Monday, we've got a cool panel-video programming connection going on, where the panels we're running are coordinated with the Video schedule. So you can talk about classic 70s shoujo, then wile away the morning watching it. :-) Or Takarazuka...or Rumiko Takahashi.....
If you're a reader of Okazu, or a member of the
Yuricon ML, or #lilicious or #otenba and we haven't met face to face, please, please at least catch me for a sec and introduce yourself. It's always my great pleasure to meet the folks who are my online friends and fans. :-)
Don't be surprised if I don't update for the next few days, but I do have a camera, and you never know. I might be bored and insomniac one night.LOL
In the meantime, here is an
article about Onna! that appeared in today's Newark Star Ledger newspaper. In the tradition of all newspaper articles, it is full of errors. LOL But they got the hotel and the dates right in the paper, so it's okay with me. ;-)
See you all at
Onna!!
Maria-sama ga Miteru Drama CD 6, Valentine's Gift
Surprised to see me posting so close to
Onna!? Me too. ;-)
This is short post in any case. The Drama CD for
Maria-sama ga Miteru, Valentinusu no Okurimono, (Valentine's Gift), was, as always, another delightful interlude with the talented ladies that comprise the Marimite team. The story is almost exactly like the novel, at least so much so that I can't think of any significant alterations.
One of the exceptionally fun things about the Drama CD is that we get to hear the sections of the novel that were cut from the anime. Specifically, the bit where Yoshino and Eriko angst amusingly about the cake Rei gives them for Valentine's Day. Yoshino's voice actress, Ikezawa Haruna has a chance to stretch her range a little. I quite enjoyed her melodic musings.
Also, to my great joy, we get to hear Shinohara Emi narrate "The Greatest Day of Rosa Chinensis' Life." I cannot stress how fun this story is. Totally worth the price for both CDs. Just for the "psychedelic" music as Youko's meds kick in, really.
Anyway, another excellent entry in the series, and a chance for use to get a few more moments with a team of exceptional seiyuu bringing together exceptional characters by an exceptional writer.
Ratings:
9 all the way around.
BTW, all the pictures for these posts are now linked to the Amazon JP entry for the item. So if you read a post and wish you too can enjoy Yumi stressing over Valentine's chocolates for Sachiko...well, now you can! :-)
Tags: Yuri Drama CD, Maria-sama ga Miteru, Maria-sama ga Miteru Drama CD
Yuricon News: ALC Publishing signs Diamond for yuri manga distribution
ALC Publishing has signed
Diamond Distributors as theexclusive distributor for its 100% yuri manga titles to major bookstores. This follows closely upon the success of ALC's relationship with Diamond for distribution to the hobby market.
The first book to be available to the general book trade will be ALC Publishing's third 100% yuri anthology,
Yuri Monogatari 3. This English-language
anthology features yuri manga written and drawn by artists from Japan, America and Europe.
Yuri Monogatari 3 will be available in bookstores in winter, but is premiering in Newark, NJ at
Onna!, a festival of women's roles in animation and comics,October 8-10, 2005.
ALC Publishing is the publishing arm of
Yuricon. For more information on ALC or Yuricon, please visit our website or email us at
anilesbocon01@hotmail.com
Maria-sama ga Miteru Seventh Novel Itoshiki Toshitsuki First Half , Part 2
Itoshiki Toshitsuki (
The Loving Times) First Part
Part 2Itosewashi Hibi (Busy Days)
This part is written in first person from Yumi's point of view once again. It begins with an overview of how, after being Sachiko's soeur for 6 months, she still feels inadequate.
1) Until Yumi absent-mindedly mentions something, the en bouton had completely forgotten to arrange a party for the departing Roses. They have been completely absorbed in the arrangements for the school-wide event for the graduating third-years.
2) Once they decide upon a date, Yumi offers to confirm with the Roses. To us, in her head, she confides that she's not much in looks or brains department, but she has footwork covered.
3) As Yumi gets up to make the phone calls, Sachiko says for her to wait, but she also feels something strike her in the middle of her back. She sees an eraser roll away and hears Yoshino say, "Even if I do say so myself, nice control." LOL Yumi thinks that Yoshino thinks she's Zenigata Heiji. (This cracked me up – I used to watch a show about ZH on TV on Sunday mornings. Zenigata Heiji was a famous Edo-
period constable, police detective type. In any case, on the TV show at least, ZH would throw a coin to stop people in their tracks.)
4) Yumi takes on the job of calling the Roses to confirm the date of their party. She makes a note of their real names and rehearses quickly what she's going to say. Yumi thinks that she's really gotten more confident in the last 6 months, compared to how nervous she was when she first called Sachiko and got all flustered.
5) Youko says, "So, you guys forgot, huh?" Yumi denies it, and is sure to make sure she doesn't run off at the mouth, like she would if she was lying. Youko and she laugh, but they've been nailed.
6) Eriko answers the phone panting, she's just run in to make her curfew (7PM). She's willing to break a date following Yamanobe-sensei around to make the party.
7) Sei, quite seriously, asks what they will do for the talent show. She says that it is an established practice and that Rei crushed apples in her hands, while Sachiko danced and sung Swan Lake.
Sei asks that they do it because her dream is to have one really good laugh before she goes. (Youko's dream was to see the Rose Mansion full of people.... Eriko's is to get married.)
8) The next morning the three first-years have a conference in the library. Yoshino takes over as president immediately and decides that Shimako should dance. Shimako is concerned, because she doesn't really do comedy, but Yoshino says it's okay if Shimako dances, she and Yumi will provide the comedy. Yoshino informs Yumi that she, Yoshino, will do magic, and that Yumi should do a party performance. Yumi panics,
she has no idea what to do, so Yoshino hands her a book on the topic.
9) On the way to the Rose Mansion, Yumi is approached by Saeko, a classmate of Yoshino's' who is the soeur of the president of the flower-arranging club. Saeko want to know when they will need to bring the vases and flowers over, and how long will they need the vases for. Yumi says she'll look into it. (The Yamayurikai has to pick the color and arrange for the corsages for the graduating class). Yumi feels
like she's at last able to help her onee-sama in some concrete way. And we can see that she's stepping into her future en bouton duties. Then Yumi is asked by the Fine Arts club about the signboard for the party, Yumi says she'll handle that as well.
10) At home, Mom helps Yumi look for a box of props. They find a box wrapped so tightly that Yumi thinks it like breaking into an Egyptian tomb (the curse of the pyramid) – or perhaps there's pictures of naked women. Inside is cassette tapes, 5-yen coin and a something other crap. Mom and Yumi are totally confused as to why this was hidden and wrapped so tightly.
11) Just as an interesting note, Lillian has a wide variety of clubs, which include a comedy club, and a general athletic club, as well as all the others we've seen mentioned over the books.
12) People are coming and going like crazy in and out of the Rose Mansion, very much like the school festival, only this time the en bouton are running the event. Yumi is extremely busy helping out.
13) Yumi runs into Shizuka who has come to the Rose Mansion. Shizuka has come to discuss the borrowing of a pianica. Yoshino wants to borrow one and Shizuka wants to know which one. Yumi had no idea there were different kinds. (You may remember the pianica from the anime – it's a recorder with piano keys.)
14) Yumi goes to pick up the sign from the Fine Arts club, but Yoshino never shows, so she carries the sign, which is heavy and taller than herself to the Rose Mansion, by herself.
15) At home, Yumi asks Yuki to rub her shoulders. She promises to give him a caramel if he does and he tells her that that is very childish – but he does rub her shoulders. She spies the package from the other day in his room and interrogates him about it. Yuki says that it's a hazing tradition in his school – one first –year is forced to do this performance and keep the bag of stuff. Yumi asks him to show her the dance.
16) Yumi runs out of the house without eating and is on the bus late with a lot of drunken salarymen (returning late from all-night after parties, assumably) which makes her ill. Between that, overwork and not enough sleep for practicing her performance, she passes out. She vaguely remembers hearing Sachiko's voice. When she wakes up, she starts to cry, because she wanted to be a big help to Sachiko, and
instead is only a burden.
17) Sei comes o get her and escort her home. Sei tells her that they all care about her and she shouldn't try and do everything alone.
When Sei has left, Yumi's father says, "You go to an all-girls' school, right?" then goes on to say that Sei seems awfully
oyaji. :-)
18) Ultimately Yumi chooses the color for the roses – salmon pink, because it's a mixture of red, white and yellow. And she says that she thinks it's become her favorite color.
***
19) The day of the talent show and party is told from Youko's point of view and her POV begins, "What on EARTH?" lol
It's unbelievable – like a dream – there's Yoshino doing magic...Youko comments that she'd notice that, unlike Rei, Yoshino had no talent for handicrafts, but she's impressed with her sleight-of-hand.
Youko overhears Sachiko blame Sei for the talent show and Sei confesses. "I told them that it was a tradition, and they believed me." Youko thinks that Sei is pathologically selfish.
When Yoshino finishes, Rei claps loudly and longly and Youko is a little embarrassed.
20) Shimako begins to dance, but the music Yoshino chose is "Maria-sama no Kokoro" which doesn't fit Shimako's traditional Japanese dance. (But, then, Youko thinks, Yoshino in a top hat and school uniform was weird too.) Shimako falters in her dance, because the music doesn't match but, then, keeps dancing.
At which point Youko begins to laugh. She decides to stop analyzing and just enjoy it all. The third time the chorus starts, Youko begins to sing along, and so does everyone else. (We learn that Youko did not attend Lillian from nursery school, but Sachiko taught her the words to the song.)
21) When the music switches for Yumi's dance, Youko is simply blown away. She knows instantly what the music is and has plates for eyes when Yumi does indeed begin this comedic dance from one of the islands. Out of the corner of her eye, Youko can see Sachiko laughing so hard that she's crying.
With this, Youko thinks to herself that the future Yamayurikai will be strange, but fun. And she can leave Lillian with no regrets or worries.
***
Part 3
"A Short Interlude"
This is from Eriko's point of view and recounts her meeting with Yamanobe-sensei.
The one thing of note was when, after Yamanobe offers her some of his yakiimo (roasted sweet potatos which are easily enough for two people) she offers to buy him some tea and she thinks to herself that this is the first time in her eighteen years of life that she's ever made that offer to a guy. (Would you like to drink some tea?" is a common pick up line.)
The End
Tags: Maria-sama ga Miteru, Marimite, Itsohiki Toshitsuki, Loving Times
