Drama CD: Hayate Cross Blade
Did someone say
Hayate Cross Blade Drama CD?
Yes indeed. Following in the footsteps of several other yuri-fied series from
Dengeki Daioh,
Hayate x Blade is being turned into a Drama CD. If you read Okazu regularly, you know that I adore those. More than the animation (which, let's face it, ain't so hot alot of the time) for me what makes a character come alive is a voice. And Drama CDs, being all voice, give the actors and actresses a chance to really push their skills. This particular Drama CD won't be out until March, but I thought I'd whet your appetites with a rundown of the voice cast. To understand better who I'm talking about, and why I'm so excited, you can read my review of the three manga volumes in past entries:
Volume 1;
Volume 2; and of course, yesterday was
Volume 3 (and a contest! If you missed it, go back and read it - entries will be accepted until Friday, Dec. 2)
I posted this all previously on the
Yuricon Mailing List, but here's a list of some of the voice cast from the upcoming CD. This cast would be splendid for an anime, hint, hint. ;-)
The character name is on the left, seiyuu on the right, followed by notable credits from the
ANN "People" database.
Kurogana Hayate - Mamiya Kurumi (Hamtaro in
Hamtaro)
Mudoh Ayana - Yukino Satsuki (Yomi in
Azumanga Daioh; Kagome in
Inu Yasha; Nenene Sumiregawa in
ROD the TV)
Amachi Hitsugi -Yajima Akiko (Anna in
Battle Athletes; Tsubasa in
Figure 17; Relena in
Gundam Wing)
Miyamoto Shizuku - Nagazawa Miki (Judy in
Cowboy Bebop; Sakura in
Key the Metal Idol; Maya in
Neon Genesis Evangelion; Miyu in
Vampire Princess Miyu)
Kuga Jun - Tomoguchi Megumi (Sei in
Maria-sama ga Miteru; Ayaka in
Stellvia; Winry Rockbell in
Full Metal Alchemist)
Yukari - Maeda Ai (Mimi in
Digimon Adventure; Shion in
Xenosaga)
Inugami Isuzu - Noto Mamiko (Shimako in
Maria-sama ga Miteru; Enma Ai in
Jigoku Shoujo; Yukino in
Mai Hime/Mai Otome)
Kibi Momoka - Ohmoto Mamiko (Na-chan in
Cutey Honey Flash; Miss Monday in
One Piece; Miki in
Tenshi na Konamaiki)
Note the preponderance of seiyuu that have previously voiced yuri-flavored characters... and note that the only openly lesbian character, Jun, is voiced by Sei's VA. Amazing, isn't it? Aren't you shocked - I know I am. :-) Six degrees of yuri strikes again.
Although Jun is the gayest cast member, there's yuri-service aplenty in other major pairings...Ayana and Yukari have a past that involves some kind of ugly breakup of their relationship; and Shizuku and Hitsugi are a cute couple. :-) Yukino Satsuki will *perfect* as grumpy Ayana.
One of my personal favorites is the choice of Noto Mamiko for Isuzu. She is a fantastically creepy character. Isuzu is really a nice girl, but creeps everyone out. Think female ghost that crawls out of the well in "The Ring". She and Momoka eventually become
shinyuu - sisters in arms/partners.
IMHO, this looks like a total win all around. You can be sure that I'll be getting it as soon as it hits Amazon JP. And if this series does indeed follow the trend, we might be looking at a future anime series. Since
Hayate Cross Blade is delightfully minimal in fanservice and funny as hell, it would be a refreshing change from the usual crap that's turned into anime.
Tags: Manga, Yuri Manga, Drama CD, Hayashiya Shizuru, Chicks with Swords, Hayate Cross Blade, Hayate x Blade
Yuri Manga: Hayate Cross Blade, Volume 3
Swords, girls, yuri and baka galore! What more can you ask from a manga series, really? Not much.
Unless you're me and then you want Drama CDs! Luckily, that's exactly what we're getting. But more on that tommorrow. Today, we do the manga - and a contest. But you'll have to read to the end to learn what the contest is. :-)
First, let's talk Volume three of Hayashiya Shizuru's action comedy
Hayate Cross Blade (or
Hayate x Blade if you prefer.)
At the end of Volume 2, Hayate had befriended Sou, a girl older than herself, but who looked the same age. Sou's
shinyuu is manipulative Mizuchi, who has some issue with Ayana. To make things worse, Mizuchi's mother is the one behind the destruction of Tanpopo Koen, the orphanage Hayate is trying to rebuild. (It's the usual story, Mom wants the land...)
Sou is very distressed when Mizuchi challenges Ayana, but despite her partner's proclamations, Ayana beats her down practically with one hand, which *infuriates* Mizuchi. To add salt to the wound, Ayana doesn't remember the insult (baka) that she handed Mizuchi last year...in fact, Ayana has no clue who Mizuchi is. This all rankles, but Mizuchi with Sou following behind her, backs off.
At this juncture we meet yet another new character. Pale, sickly Yuho, who turns out to be Jun's
shinyuu. Yuho is in and out of the hospital, therefore Hayate hasn't yet met her. Yuho and Hayate get into a friendly argument about who would win, Jun or Ayana...which naturally becomes a challenge for a battle in the next
Hoshidori. Whee! Jun vs Ayana - they should have sold tickets.
Ayana finds out that Mizuchi's mother is behind the desctruction of Tanpopo Koen, and, with a paper bag over her head as a disguise goes off to disuade Mom from encroaching - ever again. I can never begin to express to you how hysterical this scene is...it's something you have to see for yourself. The whole thing with the paper bag is insane and I love and adore Hayashiya-sensei for being the kind of person who can come up with this kind of madness. (In an earlier scene Hayate and Ayana - with paper bags in place - had protected the orphanage from Mizuchi's mom's henchdude. Hayate gave herself and Ayana nicknames based on the grocery stores names on the bags. When she goes to Mom's office, Ayana, killing herself for being a total baka, uses the name "Lawson Kamen" once again...then goes and bangs her head against a wall for a while afterwards.)
Meanwhile Shizuku, who is my third favorite character (right behind Jun and Ayana) is down with a cold. She can't ring the Hoshidori bell, so no fights can happen. The bell, apparently, is insanely heavy and she's the only one who can ring it. In order to feel better, she inexplicably takes Hayate's baka advice and makes herself *really* sick. The chapter ends with an incredibly touching and emotional scene between Shizuku and her shinyuu, the Head of the School, Hitsugi, right after which Hitsugi gets ill from taking care of Shizuku.
While the challenge between Jun and Ayana brews, we learn some back story stuff about Jun's relationship with Yuho. It turns out that *waaaaaaaaay* back, Yuho's family and Jun's were the same blood. But Yuho's side was royalty and Jun's side served them. And to this day, she serves Yuho as a retainer. In fact, she calls Yuho "Hime." We also learn that Yuho isn't just anemic sick, she's like terminal sick. And her mother objects, strongly, to her being at this school - blaming Jun, of course, because Yuho wouldn't be there if it weren't for her. Yuho's mother shows up, slaps Jun, is beaten about by an angry Yuho, hops on her broom and leaves. Now Yuho really wants to fight with Jun. And she wants to fight Hayate and Ayana.
Hayate and Yuho discuss their relationships with their partners and Hayate likens them to shampoo and conditioner. Each is fine, but limited, but togther - they work perfectly. Yuho feels less of a burden after this baka therapy. Meanwhile we're getting backstory about Jun and her early training in swordwork by her father, who instills in her a strong sense of duty to protect and serve.
Hand in hand, Yuho and Jun face off with Ayana and Hayate. Yuho and Hayate, as "Ten" (heaven) fight each other, and Jun and Ayana, as "Chi" (earth) square off. Hayate's complete lack of style is immediately no match for Yuho, but Jun and Ayana appear evenly matched.
As they fight, the tension rises, and we learn in an amazing display of power that Jun isn't just a servant to Yuho - she's a ninja. We're all impressed, but Ayana just smiles. As Hayate falls to Yuho's superior skill, the manga ends with Ayana and Jun passing each other in the usual samurai sword battle thing - gasp!
Here's the question I have for you...who do you think wins? Leave your comment here - who wins and why do you think that person wins. I will choose one person's comment and that person gets a Hayate Cross Blade figurine as a prize!
Ratings
Art - 7
Story - 9
Characters - 9
Loser FanBoy - 2
Yuri - 6
Overall - 8
Again, tell me who wins the battle between Jun and Ayana, and why you think she wins. Include an email where I can reach you, duh... One commenter wins a Dengeki Daioh Kurogane Hayate figurine, because I think it would be fun to do and it's a cool gashapon! I'll accept comments for this contest until Friday, Dec. 2. After that, you're just commenting. :-)
Tags: Manga, Yuri Manga, Hayashiya Shizuru, Chicks with Swords, Hayate Cross Blade, Hayate x Blade
Ouran High School Host Club, Manga Volume 3
Today's review is once again written by Guest Reviewer and yuri fan extraordinaire, Sean Gaffney.
***
I've been enjoying a manga from Viz,
Ouran High School Host Club. The basic premise is that a high school girl is mistaken for a man by the school's Host Club, a group of bishounen parodies that walk the earth. They induct her into the club, and then resolve to keep her secret after it's revealed (she wasn't really hiding it, she just dresses in men's clothing). The club itself seems designed to part high school girls from their money by pandering to their fantasies.
The manga is filled with yaoi parodies. The two twins are Fred and George from Harry Potter in Japanese clothing, and Hunny and Takashi are a cross between Momiji and Hatori from
Fruits Basket and the couple from CLAMP's
Suki. Everyone at some point plays gay for the girls, who all go "SQUEEEEEEEEEE!" just like American yaoi fangirls do. :)
In any case, in Volume 3, Haruhi (our heroine) is accosted by 3 members of the nearby Saint Roberia Women's Institute White Lily Club (also known as the Zuka Club). They're the female counterparts to our heroes, and Zuka is short for Takarazuka. The club is known for their dramatic productions. Naturally, the Host Club immediately thinks one thing about these girls: "L-L-Lesbians!?" (Something which, for once, isn't denied by the girls, at least not in this volume).
They insist they will get Haruhi to join their club instead, and the Host Club are worried, as they've wondered before, what with Haruhi wearing male clothing and enjoying the attention of the women who go to the Club, if she's a lesbian.
This is only one chapter of the volume, but the chapter ends declaring that the Lily Club is a 'new rival!', so I presume we'll see them again. The manga is quite funny, being a broad parody of yaoi and bishounen cliches, with this chapter also parodying yuri. The back says it's for
Hana-Kimi fans, but it reminded me more of Greenwood.
--SG
Viz's footnote: Lily = YURI!
***
Erica here again: I noted some interesting things about this manga when I read it. Notably, the girls of the Zuka Club appear in regular school girl uniforms, but they are imaginded by Haruhi and the guys in full-blown Takarazuka outfits. :-)
And it's kind of amusing that fans of
Hana-Kimi, in which a girl dresses like a boy to gain access to an exclusive boy's school in order to be with the guy she likes, are assumed to want to read a story about another girl who dresses like a boy and goes to a boy's school. Now...what kind of person might like that kind of story, in which the major feature is a girl in a suit? I wonder.... Maybe I ought to have someone do a story like that for
Yuri Monogatari. :-)
Again, my thanks to Sean for his guest review!
Tags: Manga, Takarazuka, Girls in Suits, Ouran Host Club
Things I'm thankful for
It's trite, but it *is* appropriate for Americans to take a moment today to reflect on things that we're thankful for, so here we go:
1) I'm thankful for the picture above, drawn by Kelli Nicely. One more addition to her
Chibi-Erica shrine. It's an accurate representation of my feelings on Saturday at Onna!. :-)
2) The folks who provide support, physical and emotional, for
Yuricon and ALC endeavors, my staff and dear friends. Thank you to all the folks who have ever leant a hand, a foot or other body parts (including the money from your pocket) to get us to where were are today. Thank you Rica Takashima, Kelli, Serge, Donna, Paulette, May, Stacy, Sean, Bruce, Zyl, Janice and Gideon, Editor Ed, Katie and bunches and bunches of other people who I love and adore and simply can't list.
3) The folks at the
Fanfic Revolution for their friendship and mad editing skillz. And all the folks who read my stories on
"Worldshaking" Fanfic and let me know.
4) I especially want to thank all the folks who read Okazu and comment, positively or negatively. The positive ones make me feel good, the negative one gives me a laugh or two. So, thanks.
5) All the members of
Yuricon and the
Yuricon Mailing List who have participated in coversations, bought yuri manga from ALC, stopped by our many tables at many shows and hung out, come to panels, etc, and generally make Yuricon the largest (and best) yuri community in the world.
6) The lovely ladies and gentlemen of
Lililicious and #otenba, who are funny and fun, and scanlate yuri manga for yuri fandom at large.
7) The folks at
Ichijinsha for backing
Yuri Hime and other yuri manga endeavors with an actual eye to increasing the popularity of the genre.
8) Duh...my family. In fact, as I'm sitting here typing, my mother is nattering on about I have no idea what, telling me that she'll let me finish writing before she bothers me about something else. LOL I love my family.
9) Last on this list, but always first in my thoughts, my beloved wife.
There's so much this year to be thankful for that a real list would be absurd, so this is a short list. ;-) To all my American readers, a Happy Thanksgiving Day today...to everyone else around the world, have a lovely day full of things to be thankful for.
Yuri: Anime: Mai Otome
Mai Otome is not so much a sequel to
Mai Hime as it is a fanfic written by the folks who originated the thing in the first place.
Right off the top,
Mai Otome is pleasantly free of the "tears and misery" theme of the original. Instead it's a fantasy world alternate universe, in which all the same characters show up, more or less, but in some cases, completely altered in personality and almost always altered in role.
The story focuses primarily on three girls:
Arika, a familyless, countryless girl who only knows that her mother was an "Otome" (this world's Valkyrie-esque female warrior-types) and that the blue stone around her neck is from her mother. Arika, by not having any country or family allegiance is refreshingly free of formal manners, without being a bumpkin.
Nina, The adopted, over-achieving, emotionally crippled star of the school who is Arika's immediate rival.
Mashiro, the spoiled and willful Queen of Windbloom. In
Mai Hime, Mashiro was a gentle, kind and tortured girl who ran the school. In this series she's a raving brat who runs a country. Nice, huh?
Arika is accepted to Garderobe, an exclusive academy in which Otome hopefuls train. Countries send their fair youth in hopes that they will become Otome, and give the country parity in military might to those who do have Otome. (Otome are super-powerful and excessively cool, despite having silly costumes.)
There's lots of hints about the past and about connections of all three girls to big secrets and yadda yadda, but I don't care much. (Partially because
Mai Hime's ending sucked so badly that I refuse to care about this until it proves that it doesn't suck.) But I do care about the yuri. So let's talk about that. :-)
Right off, Natsuki tells Arika that Otome can't have sex with men, because PSA and testosterone destroy the nanowhatever that gives a girl her Otome powers. Oh, really? So...hmmm...guess they have to learn to love the women they serve. And speaking of serving...
Shizuru is still cool. Certainly more mysterious, and definitely kick-ass. She is the Otome for the Principal of Gaderobe Academy, one Kuga Natsuki. As Natsuki's Otome, Shizuru has to stay close to her Master. How close we aren't yet sure, but they certainly seem comfortable in each other's company this time around.
Chie's yuri playboy cool rating was upped by about 2000x. And her one wink at Aoi is enough hint for most fanfic authors. Aoi is Mashiro's maidservant this time around.
Haruka and Yukino both did well in transition to the new series. Haruka is a quite excellent Otome serving the President of whatever country...yup, you guessed it. Yukino's organizational skills and detante finally aren't played for laughs. Haruka's no less nutsy than she was originally, but in a fun, powerful, and really competent way. (A very sexy quality in a woman, I always think.)
Yuri fanservice is plentiful - the older "Pearl Class" Otome in training are assigned younger "Coral Class" students as attendants. Chie isn't above making them blush cutely. Nor is Shizuru avoiding physical contact with the girls either. She must grab one often enough to cause Natsuki to roll her eyes when she does it to Arika.
And a new (I know that many fans say that *all* the speaking roles are characters that appeared in
Mai Hime. I'm not about to check, so based on key speaking roles, a new) character named Erstin has entered the ranks of
"The List". When an invisible tentacle eel-monster-thing invades the pool, she thinks (bizarrely) that Nina is copping a feel. (Nina's reaction is, btw, perfect - she tests Erstin's head for a fever...) Erstin tells Nina, quite unneccesarily, that they are both girls - but she qualifies this by saying that if it's Nina, it's okay. Later she gives Nina a form of mouth-to-mouth resucitation that is definitely NOT approved by the Red Cross.
Ratings:
Art - 6
Story - 8
Character - 8
Music - 7
Yuri - 6
Loser FanBoy - 8
Overall - 7
In short, pretty, shiny fun with a 40% chance of "good."
Tags: Anime, Yuri Anime, Mai Otome, Mai Hime
Important Notes and a New Rating!
I wanted to share this, because it applies to everyone who takes issue with things I say here. Before you comment, please read this incredibly crucial entry on Scott Adam's Dilbert Blog:
Results of Why I'm Stupid. Scott Adams is a genius at rendering my thoughts into simple sentences...something I myself am not all that good at. :-)
Here are some comments that I've received recently (summarized, but as honestly as I can do it, really) for which the above post is completely relevant:
Comment: Don't tell me to buy yuri manga in Japanese, I can't read it.
My response: My comments are directed, not to any one specific person, i.e. "you". but to the general population who may *wish* purchase yuri manga in Japanese, and thus enjoy new, less-well known titles (and incidentally support those authors, and communicate to those publishers that such titles are desirable.) If you are not one of those people, then the comment is not directed at you. You can just enoy the reviews of things you can download for free instead.
Comment: I am not a bottom feeder because I like ABC anime.
My response: Well, that *may* be true, I can't tell you, because I don't know you personally. (Unless I do, and in that case I can almost always guarantee that you *are* - if only because I know that my friends are, by and large, happily emotionally unencumbered bottom-feeder loser fanboys and girls. Just ask 'em. LOL) My comments are rarely meant as absolute statements, except in VERY specific circumstances, when I say plain out, "If you think this series is cute or funny, you're a loser." Which I admit that I have done in the past. Otherwise, if you are getting offended that I said that all people who like a certain series are bottom feeders, when what I *actually* said was that an awful lot of bottom feeders seem to like a certain series, then you're turning a generality into an absolute - and getting worked up over not much of anything.
(Also, let me point out that having a sense of humor about one's fetishes can help with not taking things personally. When people tell me that only total pervs would like
Ultra Sword, my response is to agree - and I like it plenty. It's a pretty heinous manga, really. LOL)
Comment: You're mean!
My response: Yes, yes I am. I'm also equal-opportunity. If you are mean back at me and make me laugh, I'll admire you forever. My number one rule in life is to not take myself seriously - especially in regards to what is an obsession with watching cartoons and reading comic books. I mean...really. (For the record, my second rule is "Never, EVER use absolutes.")
Looking ahead to the many reviews I hope to do, I've decided to add a new rating - the LFB, i.e, Loser FanBoy rating. This will measure the general perviness of a series (including, but not exclusively; loli, courtesy breasts, panty shots, gratuitous tentacles, etc.) *as perceived by me*.
The LFB rating will be on a one-to-ten scale like all the others, with 1 being the lowest, least pervy possible. If I'm reviewing, say,
Sleazy Night Train, the LFB rating will be high. Not that I'll be reviewing that particular anime - it just poppped into my head.
Why do I call it the LFB rating as opposed to the LFG (Loser FanGirl) rating? Because on the whole, I tend to watch stuff that women don't *tend* to get shrieky and irritating about. I have been known to jump and down in a totally LFG fashion at series such as
ROD The TV, or the Live-Action Sailor Moon,
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, but they are not the kinds of things that typical LFGs go crazy about. Those tend to be yaoi, for obvious reasons. I don't recall ever being told by a female friend that she enjoyed panty shots and sexual harrassment (although I know several who like tentacles... -_-;), but gosh an awful lots of guys seem to look for those - or at least praise anime and manga with, say, rape, in them as being "awesome." /cough/
Kannazuki no Miko/cough/
I will almost always approve your comments, even if I think you are a moron, because I believe strongly that the bulk of my readers are *not* morons and can tell the difference - especially when you accuse me of saying something I didn't say, or clearly didn't mean. (Like saying that it's ridiculous to assume people won't comment on my posts when I never made the claim that I didn't want people's opinions...or even anything LIKE that. In fact, I enjoy the free sharing of unedited opinions, hence my having enabled to comment function at all. If I didn't want people to respond to these posts, all I'd have to do is turn the comment funtion off, or only approve those posts that tell me I'm great and reject the others. LOL
I *did* say it was ridiculous to assume I won't be judgmental. Which it is.)
Oh, and before you go calling me sexist.... I'm not, but based on Scott Adams' blog entry above and my experience here, there's basically nothing I can tell you that won't be generalized, turned into an absolute, completely misinterpreted/misquoted, hallucinated and/or taken personally. So I won't bother.
Let the cognitive dissonance begin!
Yuri Anime: Blood+
I never reviewed the original
Blood manga? What was I thinking? I'll add it to the list...
In any case, the fall '05 anime season offers us yet another version of this chick with sword vampire series. I could be wrong about this, because I'm not checking or anything, but I believe the original
Blood was a game, that spawned a much-too short animated movie, followed by an exceptionally grim manga, which I will review at some point. Now there's a new manga and a shiny new anime...which the subject of today's review.
The Saya of the new
Blood is a really likeabale gal, quite the opposite of cold, heartless Saya from the movie and the first manga. This Saya has a father and two brothers, all adopted, but very normal and affectionate in an entirely appropriate way. She also comes with a best friend, Kaori, to snuggle with, pictured above. Unfortunately Kaori's participation in this series is short lived, as Saya has to become the semi-vampiric killer of giant mutant bats.
I pretty much assumed that this was the end of yuri goggle goodness in this series, but previews of episode seven offer us glimpses of Min, Saya's new roommate who will be completely gaga blushy over her. So, yay for yuri fans - a reason to keep watching. Which is good, because the plot kind of stalled out over the last few episodes while we killed Saya's father a few times.
I don't even want to conjecture about whether this is a good anime, because damned little has actually happened, but I'm still watching, for what that's worth to ya. :-)
Ratings:
Art - Studio IG
Characters - Schoolgirl with Sword, Vampires, Mutant Bats and Ordinary People Wearing Red Shirts
Story - Not So Far
Music - Pretty
Yuri - Goggles
Overall - Catch me again at the end and I'll let you know.
Tags: Anime, Yuri Anime, Blood+, Blood Plus
Events: Onna and Yuri Report on Sequential Tart...and more!
Check out
Revolutionary Girl is Watching Over You by Margaret McConnell on Sequential Tart for an interesting view of Onna!, Yuricon and Shoujocon's joint venture celebrating women's roles in animation and comics (and to a lesser degree, gaming). Despite the article's subtitle, she actually talks about yuri as much, if not more than yaoi, and the three pictures for the article are all yuri. :-)
Other Onna! coverage can be found at:
Newark Star Ledger
Friday, October 8Newark Star Ledger
Sunday, October 10Publisher's Weekly
Comic WeekAnd this amsuing comment from AfterEllen.com:
FEMALE COMICS FEST
A reader wrote recently to let me know about a conference in Newark, NJ this weekend called Onna!, which she described as "a collaboration between a girls in anime/manga convention, and a lesbians in anime/manga event. They've created Onna! to expand to female representation in Western comics/animation as well. Pretty much if you're a fan of any of these things it's THE place to be. It's like an event that has a pink ribbon in one hand, and a Hello Kitty vibrator in the other." Now there's a logo I'd like to see!The funny thing is that our gift to guests and staff for Yuricon 2003 was...you guessed it, the Hello Kitty Vibrating "Massage Wand." So there, AfterEllen, you think you're so clever... ;p
Tags: Anime Convention, Manga Convention, Yuri, Yaoi, Onna!
Yuri Anime: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's
Everytime I watch an anime like
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's, I'm torn.
On the one hand, it's a reasonably enjoyable boy's version of a magical girl anime, but on the other hand it's the kind of things that loli fetishists like - especially the kind who are saying how "cute"and "sweet" it is and "oh my god the fight scenes are *awesome*!" .
Well, you know, it's not really cute or sweet - in fact it's a bit grim and dark, which I quite like - and the fight scenes are okay. But if I were a bottom feeder who couldn't admit that I'd never sleep with an actual adult female...I'd probably say the same things.
Which is why I'm torn. I feel dirty even enjoying this series marginally. The yuckiest thing is the girls' new henshin. While I don't mind nude transformation scenes, I *do* mind these. They are not as utterly repusive as the
Ultimate Girl henshin, but they are definitely squicky. They are also a clue that you are not a "nice guy" who likes "cute and sweet" things. If you think the full frontal henshin of Fate and Nanoha is cool - you're a pedo.
Other than that,
A's is actually better than the original
Lyrical Nanoha series. For one thing, there's a plot.
In a nutshell:
An evil book, which creates fake guardian soldiers to protect it and gather power for it, tries to find a new master who will supply it with power, so it can destroy things. Once it has destroyed everything, it moves through space and time and does it all over again. The guardians this time are a tough chick, a smart chick and a goth kid....and the new master-to-be is a likeable disabled girl Hayate, who happens to befriend Nanoha's friend Suzuka. So you *know* we're going to have to "believe in" all of them at the end, so the book can either be destroyed or turned good, or something. Let's face it - we'll have to all be friends at the end. I've got money down that the fake guardians don't totally disappear, even, because you just *know* Hayate will use the book's power to give them real life.
Yuri fans will like the fact that Fate and Nanoha are not only reunited in this series, but get to live together - they even have some touching huggy scenes. Personally, I'm watching Signum, because I find practically non-verbal fightin' adult women with swords more appealing than kids. :-)
There's alot more weapons and fighters in this series. Less monsters, more people = good story, in this case.
Ratings -
Art - 8
Character - 7
Story - 6
Yuri - 3
Music - 5
Overall - 6
The best characters this time around, IMHO, are Fate's and Nanoha's weapons themselves. Bardiche and Raging Heart have developed strong personalities - and I quite like them. They seem so eager to beat the crap out of the bad guys. :-)
Tags: Anime, Yuri Anime, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha
Yuri Anime: Kaleido Star "New Wings Extra Stage"
I have a total love-hate relationship with
Kaleido Star. I hate about 90% of it, but the other 10% I honestly adore.
I had begun watching the original animation when it came out on TV, but quickly began to loathe it. Anyway, I did a few reviews of the first series back in January 2004. Once when I said there
wasn't any yuri, really...and the
next entry when I slapped myself silly for saying that.
I found the men oddly horrible. Like there was a coded message that girls need to lose them all if they want to be happy. Maybe it wasn't so coded, I don't know. All I know is that Carlos and Yuri and that goopy-eyed Ken made we want to spit. And I am *so* not a man-hating kind of gal. I hate people based on their individual idiocies, never on the basis of sex, color, creed, etc. However, I don't like circuses much, and cannot abide Cirque du Soleil, so this series wasn't really my cup of tea, but...
...gods, were the relationships between the women dynamic! Sora and Layla were electric together, and Mia and Anna made a cute couple - even Sora and Rosetta had vibe which didn't bug me too much.
I never even bothered writing up the second season, because I felt that it committed all the same exact sins over again - same horrible male characters, the same unecessary emotional torture...and not nearly enough tricks, which were the best bit of the show.
The thing that made the first season bearable, and in the end wonderful, was the energy between Sora and Layla. Animated as it was, it was breathtaking. The tricks they did were absurd, sublime and brought tears to my eyes. So I skipped the middle of each season, watched the last half dozen episodes and forgot I hated the series.
Some while went by before I could bring myself to watch the OVA
New Wings Extra Stage. I went back and watched the last episode of the second season, to get back into the swing of things, and found myself with a handful of tissues pressed against my face, as the Sora's Tenshi no Waza started. I had forgotten how beautiful it was. A great big kiss to whoever came up with the idea. I wish you'd do a real circus.
So, I *finally* checked out what is referred to as Episode 52. And it was actually not bad at all....
Rosetta is pegged by the Fool of the Stage to be the next star. True to her belief in a stage without conflict, Sora encourages Rosetta to step up as the Princess, while she herself steps back to play the Prince. Leon, another one of the vile male characters, pulls the stick out of his butt to be the fool who will win the princess. But the real Fool and Rosetta are confronted with a memory - this might be their real story! Okay, whatever. It's only an OVA, we really don't go anywhere with this.
The predictable yuri does show up - this time in the couple of May and Rosetta. I'd forgotten that it was May who forced Rosetta to take part in Swan Lake - and now she's the caretaker whose pushing Rosetta to become a star. It's kind of sweet in a weird way.
What was totally different in this OVA was the unsubtlety of the fanservice. Of course the original two season had fanservice - but it was all done with grace and subtlety. Not so the OVA. In this we watch crotches and breasts for about 1/3 of the screen time. It was a little startling, since the series is targeted (at least in the US) to a younger female audience. I guess they know they won't be bring this episode over here. Or not...I don't know and really don't care. :-)
The animation on all
Kaleido Star episodes are pretty good - this one has maybe slightly better than usual animation. And the music is much the same as any other j-popish OP/EP theme. "Tattoo Kiss" is a nice enough song.
A new
Kaleido Star OVA is in production, btw - this one is called
Layla Hamilton Monogatari, so I'm already stoked. Layla was my favorite character. But I bet we end up following a young Layla, when I'd much prefer the older sexy one, myself.
Ratings:
Art - 7
Story - 7
Characters - 7
Yuri - 4
Music - 6
Overall - 7
If you are a huge
Kaleido Star fan, its a must-see. Otherwise, its a fun, fanservicey, colorful killer of time. :-)
Tags: Anime, Yuri Anime, Kaleido Star
Yuricon News: Holiday Sale on 100% Yuri from ALC Publishing!
Just in time for your holiday wishlist, you can get 100% yuri in English from ALC Publishing at up to 50% off! Discounts have been deepened for yuri anthology
Yuri Monogatari 3, Yuriko's illustrated adventures in love,
Shoujoai ni Bouken. And the Printer Snafu Special has returned once again to bring you copies of our best-selling manga, the delightful tale of a young woman's coming out into gay society,
Rica 'tte Kanji!? by Rica Takashima, at half off at the
Yuricon Shop.
If you've been holding off getting 100% yuri, now's your chance to save on all ALC publications by buying direct. Or, order your copy of
Yuri Monogatari 3 through Diamond's
Previews November catalog at your local hobby or comic shop.
*Printer Snafu Specials are copies with incorrect ISBN numbers and slightly discolored spines. The contents are otherwise completely the same as undamaged copies.Tags: Manga, English Manga, Yuri Manga, Yuri Anthology, Yuri Monogatari, Shoujoai ni Bouken, Rica 'tte Kanji!?
Yuri Manga: Iono The Fanatics, Manga, Vol. 1
To put it simply,
Iono the Fanatics, aka
Iono-sama Fanatics is an excellent yuri manga and everyone who enjoys yuri really needs to run out and buy it now.
To start with, the artist is Fujieda Miyabi of Miyabi's
Moonphase, the same artist who does "Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majou to", the cute miko/witch story for
Yuri Hime. And a bunch of other stuff you may recognize if you are in the habit of trawling the Japanese yuri blogs and boards.
The story is, simply, a love comedy starring Iono-sama, the queen of a small country, who happens to love women with long, black hair. She comes to Japan to hit on girls and try to convince them to join her as a
sobame, a lady-in-waiting.
Iono is rejected by one girl - and this same girl keeps coming back like a bad penny as a running gag - and runs into our heroine, Eto. Eto agrees to be a sobame, but insists she's only joking, when a crazy woman attacks her and the Queen. The Queen takes off, carrying Eto with her. They end up at an onsen, where the Queen convinces Eto to join her and, incidentally mentions that the crazy lady who attacked is one of her staff. :-)
We learn that Eto was, in fact, in love with her kouhai in high school, but the younger girl left her for someone else. Now she's in college, but she thought she was past this kind of thing - but Iono is *very* convincing. Iono goes super cool and hits Eto with her magical lesbian powers and classy style and Eto falls into her arms, happily.
Iono is very, deeply and personally, in love with all her sobame. There's Cass, the blonde crazy who attacked them earlier. She's Iono-sama's personal secretary and insanely jealous. She wants Iono to love her exclusively. Which Iono does, when it's Cass' turn. :-)
Aida Bloomer is the Queen's costumer. She seems to understand the Queen - and Cass - way better than they do themselves. I'd say Aida has a thing for Cass, but as Cass is obsessed, Aida just plays with it a bit and doesn't stress.
Freshi is the Queen's security chief and her daughter Argent acts as the Queen's security force. Freshi is the black-suited G-man type, while Argent, who everyone calls Arugi or Aru, is a little goth-loli girl. With a sword.
Eto is a little depressed when she meets the other sobame, because they all have specific roles, while she's sort of a free agent. The Queen convinces her that her role is to "be there" and that's enough and invites her to debate various topics with her in the evenings (to which Aru comments that Iono probably means ero-topics...). But Aida helps Eto decide on the role of Tour Guide (complete with cute costume) to Japan, in order for Iono-sama to find more cute girls. Eto gets to show Iono-sama her favorite place in the world. Iono comments that this is no longer her job - this is now a date, and they spend quality time together.
Iono determines to hold auditions for more sobame, which drives Cass crazy - and into disguise. But Iono-sama knows all the women she loves, in disguise or out and Cass is found out. Cass gets some quality Iono-sama time, this chapter.
My personal favorite is the last round of auditions. One of the candidates, an adorable girl named Arata, misunderstands "sobame" to mean a woman who makes soba noodles. :-) Arata is initially unsure whther she can do the job, but she decides to go for it, after Freshi meets her in the hall and gives her encouragement. Arata does make delicious noodles. After an attempt on the Queen's life, leaves Freshi wounded, when Arata and Freshi are staring deeply into each other's eyes, Argent just gives her mother the old "Gambatte, Mom" and Iono-sama gives her blessing to them. They are impossibly cute together, especially as Freshi is a tough as nails, black glasses, gun slinging kind of gal, and Arata is a little soba maker. All I can say is "squee!". LOL
I recommend "Iono-sama Fanatics" highly for yuri that makes you smile. For yuri that is sexy without explicit sex, and funny and cute without being nauseating or loli - this is an excellent example of the breed. I know that I personally am looking forward to more.
Ratings:
Art - 8
Story - 8
Characters - 9
Yuri - 10
Overall - 9
2005 has been abysmal for yuri anime, but the manga has been exceptional. Let's all support
Iono,
Yuri Hime,
Hayate Cross Blade, and of course all the 100% yuri from ALC Publishing! If we buy good yuri manga, they'll make *more* good yuri manga...
Tags: Manga, Yuri Manga, Iono the Fanatics, Iono-sama Fanatics, Miyabi Fujieda
Yuri Manga: R.O.D. - Read or Dream, Volume 4 (Part 2)
We left
Read or Dream, Volume 5 with Anita and Hisa in a lovey-dovey moment, dancing at the folk dance.
We pick up the next chapter with Hisa, mooning over a picture of herself and Anita. Hisa'a manager arrives at the sisters' apartment and begs them to let Hisa stay with them, as a favor. Hisa has requested this as a way of getting past the final roadblock, the last scene of her newest story. Of course, they are all thrilled to be of assistance.
Hisa moves in and is promptly fondled (in an okay way - no bad touch) by Michelle, who offers Maggie a chance. Once again, we get to see how awkward Maggie is in social situations, in contrast to Michelle's lack of boundaries. But...really the dynamic is all about Hisa and Anita once again. Anita remembers her dream from several chapters ago, when she "met" Hisa. In the park, the two girls vow eternal friendship hold hands and otherwise exhibit all sorts of "in love" behaviors. Hisa realizes that she's found her last scene, and leaves. Anita returns to the apartment to let the others know that Hisa's gone, but hides her tears from them.
The manager gives them an early manuscript of the book, while far away Hisa is thinking of Anita. A paper airplane floats in with a picture and a message from Anita, saying that they'll meet again.
This pretty much functionally ends the story of this manga series. The next chapter looks backwards at a slightly differently told version of the meeting of the three paper masters, and their rebirth as the three paper sisters.If you've seen
ROD The TV, the beginning won't be unfamiliar. But the end will. In this version Michelle and Maggie are given Anita to take care of. For a year they live together and learn to love another...when Dokusensha shows up to take Anita away. They remind the two older women of the agreement they made, hand them checks for tremendous amounts of money, and take Anita.
Maggie and Michelle look at the checks, think of all the books they could buy - and run off to save Anita. When they finally arrive they hold out the checks, which have been voided with the word "ANITA" across the fronts, and take their "sister" with them. Incidentally, we get to see Maggie and Michelle in full battle paper master mode for what is maybe the second or third time in this series. Once they return home, they become the Three Sisters Bibliodetective Agency and we live happily ever after.
Except that there's one chapter left! And this chapter is the "Who's Who" chapter, where we basically recap all the original characters from the earlier, pre-Hisa stories, in case we forgot. lol Kuri and Ramu, the young man who was searching for an author, and the author he found, show up to say that they are getting married. They are all blushy and cute about it. :-) On the way home from the bookstore, (a trip about which she is NOT happy) Anita runs into the boy she met in the story about the Brigadoon-like library. Chi-Hon has decided to become an author - he's on his way to drop his manuscript off. Watching this exchange from a nearby rooftop is book (and author) thief, Lilith and her jaguar, Orion. She looks on, and vows (to no one in particular) to meet her young arch-enemy again, then rides off on Orion's back.
Anita starts the struggle home with her overlarge bag o'books, Anita collapses on a bench, where an exceptionally familar overcoat hangs off the corner we can see. Anita addresses the "old lady" on the bench and lo and behold! It is no one but our beloved Yomiko Readman, making her only appearance in this manga. Yomiko tells Anita why she loves books so much, and then procedes to explain to Anita that her hatred for books actually comes from her love of them. Anita thinks back to all the people she's met, and all the adventures she's had, because of books, and has to agree.
Yomiko comforts a young girl whose paper airplane gets crushed, and when she refolds the paper into a butterfly, Anita asks who she is. Yomiko replies she's a lover of books. As Anita watches Yomiko walk away, she misses the paper butterfly begin to fly behind her.
Anita goes home to find that she has a package waiting. Inside is Hisa's new book, inscribed to her. Anita announces that she'll be the first to read it - then spends some time fighting off Michelle. lol As the manga winds down, we see paper flying into the air, in which hangs a brilliant full moon, while the three sisters look on, smiling.
If you enjoy the goofy paper sisters, the
ROD-verse in any permutation, get this series, asap. Same yuri, same goofy, different stories and lots of fun.
It dawned on me yesterday that I had never put the
Read or Dream manga on the
Yuricon Shop. As it's a terribly yuri-licious series, it ought to be. Well, now it is. All four volumes can be found at
http://www.yuricon.org/shop/manga.html#ROD.
Ratings:
Art - 7
Story - 8
Character - 8
Yuri - 7
Overall - 8
It reads like an alt-universe fan anthology, with better art and consistent characters. :-) A definite must-have for
ROD fans. The only downer - no Nenene. Boo-hoo.
Tags: Manga, Yuri Manga, ROD, ROD The TV, Read or Die, Read or Dream
Yuri Manga: R.O.D. - Read or Dream, Volume 4 (Part 1)
This last volume of
Read or Dream reads like a "Who's Who" of the R.O.D. universe...well, this version of the universe, that is. I'll be doing this in two parts, because there's a lot to tell, yuri and otherwise, and because I'm pressed for time.
Because I cannot help myself, let me remind you that the various
R.O.D.-verse are as follows:
1)
Read or Die - Novels in which Yomiko and a youthful Nenene have adventures and Yomiko falls in love with her mentor/sempai/predecessor, Donny.
2)
ROD - Read or Die - A three-episode OVA in which Yomiko meets, falls for, and loses Nancy Makuhara, aka Miss Deep. Strong yuri component and a great soundtrack.
3)
ROD - 4-volume manga set in which Yomiko meets a youthful Nenene, and embarks upon adventures mostly having to do with her quest to find Donny.
These have been licensed and should be appearing sometime in 2006 in English. Unfortunately for us, they are not terribly good, or yuri. Nonetheless, because they live in the ROD-verse, we'll have them on the
Yuricon Shop when they are released.
4)
ROD the TV - A 26-episode TV series in which Yomiko, Nenene, now adult, Nancy AND three new Paper Masters all fight off evil and save the day. Last year this series made my Top Ten List because it was simply excellent. Lots of yuri, lots of action, good music, great plot and fantastic, characters.
5)
R.O.D. - Read or Dream - the most recent spin on the
ROD-verse has 4 volumes.
Volume 1,
Volume 2, and
Volume 3 have all beeen reviewed previously. Which brings us to the current, and final, volume.
As with the TV series, the protagonist of the
Read or Die manga is Anita. In this version, there does not appear to be a Nenene, and the famous author the three sisters have been protecting is Hishiishi Hisami, aka Hisa-chan.
In the first chapter of this volume, Hisa-chan is suffering from a crisis. Her books are popular, but girls her age and older dismiss them as being for children. She desperately wants to write a more adult story, but completely jams up when she realizes that she has no idea what it is like to kiss someone. Michelle steps in by directing a scene between Anita, dressed as a schoolboy, and Hisa-chan. They get *very* close to kissing, after pages of painful yuri service buildup, when Hisa's manager puts a stop to it all.
Chapter 25 begins with an irate manager letting the three sisters know exactly how much she dislikes them, but as Hisa seems to like them, they've been brought to Japan to watch over her. But Hisa's a little down, because she's still blocked. Anita takes her out on a date to cheer her up: the usual amusement park and fast food later, Hisa's feeling better. But as they pass a book store, some girls dis Hisa's book and she gets blue all over again. Anita starts to dfefend Hisa, who embraces her from behind and tells Anita that it's okay, she has to learn to make her books more real on her own. But they go off hand in hand, and we're convinced that this yuri feeling isn't just service.
The next chapter starts with more yuri silliness, as Anita learns that Hisa has received a love letter! She's obsessed with it, and jealous, but isn't sure how to handle it. Anita decides to find the "criminal". After a while, Anita asks Hisa about the letter and Hisa says that it's not good - their both girls after all and...Anita is forced to admit that she didn't write it and she, um, didn't mean that. Shocked, embarrassed (and a bit disappointed, we think) Hisa faints. Anita scoops her up and brings her to the doctor's office, where she learns that some nasty guy who is always rude to everyone is the love letter writer!
Anita brings the letter to the mangager's attention in the next chapter. She proceeds to throw a fit, because the last thing in the world she wants is Hisa's genuius being upset by a guy. Manager-san calls on some thugs who intimidate the kid who sent the letter...only it wasn't him. Of course, if you've watched the TV series, you know who the letter-writer is, Hisa's friend for forever, the bratty kid whose name escapes me. But he comes up and finds Anita, leads her to the library where Anita is sitting with an upperclassman and looking a little besotted. Both Anita and brat are bummed by this. Later walking home with Hisa, Anita learns that she's anxious about a book signing the upperclassman wanted her to do at the school festival. They hold hands and go home together.
Next chapter, Hisa finds the fortitude to go through with the book signing at the school festival - and, it turns out that the upperclassman wasn't hitting on Anita at all - he pretty much just wanted her to sign a book for his kid sister who admires her. Phew. But the kid who *does* like Hisa, confesses...and she tells him that she's sorry, but... Hisa goes off to find Anita and asks her to dance at the fire.
Yay, happy yuri ending for Hisa and Anita. :) So far...
Tags: Manga, Yuri Manga, ROD, ROD The TV, Read or Die, Read or Dream
Yuri Manga: Yuri Monogatari 3 available in the November Previews
Run right over to your local comic or hobby shop and pick up the November issue of Diamons Comic's
Previews, then fill out that order form and order your copy of ALC Publishing's 100% yuri manga anthology,
Yuri Monogatari 3.
Remember,
Yuri Monogatari is *still* the only all-yuri anthology in English in the world. In this issue, you'll find stories of lesbian life and love by Hiromi Nishikawa, Beth Malone, Sergio Aviles, Akiko Morishima and Althea Keaton, as well as art by Rica Takashima and Kelli Nicely. It's 128 pages of pure yuri. If you don't have a local comic shop, then consider going through
Comic Fusion - they take orders and have great customer service. Or, you can always order directly - and get a nice discount off retail price - on the
Yuricon Shop.
To those of you who have already purchased a copy - many thanks for your support - ALC and Yuricon couldn't do it without you!
Tags: Manga, Yuri Manga, Yuri Anthology, Yuri Monogatari, English Manga, ALC Publishing, Lesbian Manga, Lesbian Comic
Yuri Anime: Autumn 2005 Season
It's that time again - the new anime season has arrived. We're a few weeks into it, so I thought I'd give a few quick overviews of what I'm watching and why I think it has yuri potental:
Aria - I went over it only yesterday, but here's the short version. Beautful girls practice piloting gondolas on a terraformed Mars. Many fun things happen in which the girls are either beautiful or cute. Yuri potential: Watch Akira and Alicia, and Akari and Alice.
Jigoku Shoujo - Hell Girl, Ai Enma, comes armed with big eyes, Noto Mamiko's (Shimako in
Marimite) voice and a retinue of three: gorgeous woman, pretty boy, old man. People with grudges can condemn their tormentors to hell, but will also have to go there when they die. Yuri potential: None at the moment, but on the principal that this anime has basically ripped off
Vampire Princess Miyu, I'll bet it does, eventually.
Mai Otome - A fantasy riff using the character's from last year's
Mai Hime. Different heroine, completely different world, same lesbian couples. Shizuru is even cooler this time than before. Yuri potential: Practically anyone, but keep your eyes closely on Shizuru and Natsuki, Chie and anyone she comes in contact with, and maybe even Arika and Nina. Otomes can't be with guys - poor Akane is doomed...again.
Blood+ - Different from both movie and manga, this Saya is a decent kid just trying to figure out who she is. Tragedy is sure to follow her. Lots of violence, not as much blood as you'd expect. Pretty excellent graphics and an overall cool factor, if only we could lose the goth "Look! I'm in a vampire anime" guy. Yuri potential: Saya's best friend Kaori and she are *very* snuggly in the first episode. Kaori will probably be left behind, but you never know.
Not much, I know, but perhaps other things will pop up. Keep an eye out for
Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl this winter, too. :-)
Tags: Anime, Yuri Anime, Aria, Blood+, Mai Otome, New Anime Season
Don't forget, tomorrow,
Comic Fusion, 42 Main St., Flemington, from about 12PM on. Tell us you love yuri - get a little Yuricon googaw!
To be perfectly fair, this item isn't really yuri in any way. But it is SO damn cool, I thought you had to see it! Check out this gorgeous pre-orderable courier bag. It sports Aya from
Tenjou Tenge and is damn sexy, as well as being useful.
Okay, you want yuri? The second volume of
Stellvia is absolutely yuri-licious, with hardly any Shima and Kouta to clog up the view of that lovely lesbian couple, Yayoi and Ayaka. LOL
And that ends the very first week ever, in which I posted five days running. I need a nap. :-)
Yuri Anime: Aria
Aria the anime is well underway and there are some excellent things about it - and also some less excellent things. But it is *definitely* worth watching.
As I've mentioned in my various reviews,
Aria as a manga is not about anything in particular, it's just about being in the moment. The storyline is always that, around an given corner an adventure, or a moment of breathtaking beauty can be waiting for you to discover it.
Aria the anime is more about the people and less about the place. In the manga the canals of Neo-Venezia are narrow, echoing the real Venice, while in the anime, the girls ply their gondolas on broad seas and wide rivers, rather than claustrophobic canals. The advantage is, of course, that wide stretches of blue are way easier to animate than crowded populated areas. :-) It's pleasant enough to see, and easy on the eyes, but sort of makes the point of gondolas seems silly - who needs tours of nothing?
The focus on the characters in the anime is different from the manga - but its a nice difference. We're introduced to a new character, a young girl named Ai, to explian the letters that Akari is always writing. And we're introduced to Alice very early on in the series. Alice's personality is "niced" a bit. In the manga she remained grumpy way longer - but I suppose a short anime wouldn't have time for two grumpy characters, and Akira is overwhelming. She totally wins on grumpy.
They've simplified the characters a bit - Akari is always simple, Aika survives as the most complex, but Akira and Alicia are rendered a bit, to be one-line machines. Here's hoping we get to see them fluffed up a bit. Alicia *does* get moments of uber-cool which are lovely and serve to notch up the yuri a tad. But the voice acting is good and Minogawa Junko is perfect as Akira.
The number one thing about this anime that makes it worth watching is the art. Clean, favoring pastels and a hand-done water colour looks, it's not *quite* as sublime as
Yokohama Shopping Log, but it's in the same general region of your brain. The "ahhhh" region. And the music fits the art perfectly.
In terms of yuri, well, it's mostly yuri goggles, but really, you just cannot see Akira and Alicia together without seeing the vibe between them. And Aika's open admiration and desire to snuggle with Alicia, (which Akari and Aika both call "rabu-rabu", lovey-dovey) isn't played down at all. In fact, it's quite open. Aika's all bummed because she wanted to sleep with Alicia, but had to settle for Akari. So it's not like we see Alicia leaving Akira naked in bed or anything....but you know she did and got back to Aria Company before the girls woke up, which is why Akira aska, "When did you get here?" when she arrives. LOL
Ratings:
Art - 8
Story - 8
Characters - 7
Music - 7
Yuri - 4
Overall - 8
As I say, definitely worth watching. No mecha, no rape, just nice.
And now for some yuri from
Comic Fusion Online!
Who could resist this doll of Lain, looking all folk-singer-y and hip? Did she ever carry a guitar in the anime? I don't remember that. Why don;t they have a doll of her in her shift knee deep in computer components...that would make more sense.
No yuri anything collection is *ever* complete without Priss from
Bubblegum Crisis. And if you check out the store online, you'll find that there's a Syllia, Linna and Nene, as well.
Another Lain, this time lookiing unbearably adorable (no pun intended) in this plushie form. I hate plushies, but damn, this one is cute....
Tags: Anime, Yuri Anime, Aria, Amano Kozue
Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime, Volume 2 (Part 2)
Yay! Another chance to gush about the wonderful yuri anthology
Yuri Hime!
We left off after the stellar chapter by Morinaga Milk. That's a pretty hard act to follow, so as we're sitting there, all smiley and afterglow-y from that, we jump right into the one other series that matches it punch for punch, "Strawberry Shake Sweet" the love comedy by Hayashiya Shizuru. You may remember that Julia was "forced" to stay the night with Ran, because of worries that the young idol-to-be was being stalked. This chapter opens up with Julia's worst nightmare and greatest desire...sharing a bed with Ran. In fact, they did not start off by sharing a bed. Ran, ever the sweetie, gave Julia her bed and she took a futon on the floor. Only, late at night after a trip to the bathroom, Ran didn't think about it and got right back into her bed. With Julia. Who hasn't slept a wink as a result. :-)
As they leave the apartment, they encounter the stalker - who turns out to be freelance photographer Sera Mutski, and she is very interested in Ran. Sera asks Saeki if she can photograph Ran - she's *just* the person they were looking for. Immediately Julia is suspicious - no nude photos, she insists, even as she fantasizes about that very thing.
Saeki is excited - this is Ran's big chance to debut and she sets up the session. Julia is, however, still very suspicious and rightly so, because there seems to be something up... In the meantime, Ran is dressed up to look either super-cool, or like a 1982 music video, whichever way you want to look at it. And she's very lonely without Julia.... Tune in next time!
I forgot to mention - this volume also includes fanart of all the continuing series, which is really cute. :-)
Another fantastic story from Volume 1, "Voice" is continued in "Voiceful". Bashful Kanae is still overwhelmed every time she's with her beloved Hina, the singing star. But Hina is a very down to earth person and just wants to have a little fun. Hina confesses that she's only 17, but never been to school, so she's never worn a school uniform...and Kanae looks awfully cute in her's...hey, wait a minute! Hina drags Kanae off to the bathroom to switch clothes, but is dragged away by a call from her manager almost immediately.
Hina dutifully goes off to record, but her heart's just not in it - she wants to be with Kanae, and runs off to tell her so. Hina asks Kanae if she likes her music - and Kanae responds that she loves it, that she loves it so much...and Hina smiles, thinking that she can go back and record now with all her heart, if Kanae likes it. This story is to be continued, which makes me extremely happy!
The fractured all-female fairytale this time is Rapunzel, in which the witch is damn sexy and the Prince/ss is kinda cute and if I were Rapunzel, I'd just choose both and alternate. :-)
Yuri book reviews are followed by more color pages that intro a odd, but kind of fun story called "Sekai ni Itsudake no Atabana". Honestly have no clue what it means and haven't had time to figure it out.
Hana and Yuki are having a little light "relations" in the classroom when cute/innocent Haru walks in on them. She appears to be clueless...but isn't. And when she walks in on Hana *again* this time with a different student, Haru comments that she wishes Hana wouldn't do stuff like this at school - it causes rumors. LOL
Haru, after some cute pouting gives in to Hana, but just then an alien pops in and steals Haru! No, seriously. She's a little older looking and had mad magic usin' skillz, which all of a sudden Hana is able to match! Lo and behold, Hana, too, is a whatever it was and she just sort of forgot. Haru forgives her and they both remember a past experience that they kind of dropped from their collective memories. In the end, they are lovey-dovey, except at school, because Haru doesn't want any weird rumors. :-)
Next up is this installment of "Hatsukoi Shimai" in which something actually happens! Chika, depressed about being rebuffed by Haruna has let her grades slip. Cleverly Akiho (who is the only intelligent creature in the school, as far as I can tell) sets it up that Haruna becomes Chika's tutor. This is good for both of them - they are now spending quality time together in the library every day, laughing and studying (while poor tortured Akiho is forced to watch them be giggly at each other,) and Chika's grades go up. They go up so much, in fact, that after the mid-terms, Chika is accused of cheating and asked to take a re-test. This is all from the original Drama CD, in case you care. However, the class president, a pinchy-faced jerk named Teshigawara is not. And SHE accuses Chika of cheating - even though she is perfectly aware that Chika has been studying every day with Haruna. It's kind of instantly apparent that Tshigawara has some kind of problem with Haruna - either she's jealous or doesn't like her, but we don't know which yet.
More interesting to me is another scene not on the CD. Akiho and Haruna are at home and Akiho mentions that recently, since she started to hang out with Chika, Haruna has been very cheerful - like she used to be. Haruna agrees, that she was a little over-serious, and thinks back to a few years earlier when she apparently have a very close relationship with a sempai...oh-ho, a new plot twist!
Anyway, we leave poor Chika being confronted by the Teshigawara gang and Akiho and Haruna wondering why she hasn't shown up at the library. Cliffhanger! Tune in next...oh, wait. I used that one already.
Okay, you know how I harp endlessly about the "Koi Shimai" Drama CDs? And how I go on and on about how great they were, but you haven't heard them, so nyah nyah? *Well*! The next entry in this volume made me so jealous that I was jumping up and down with jealousy. Nyah nyah, indeed.
Akiko Morishima, you may remember, drew a lovely Yuricon in Tokyo report for the last volume. In this volume, she reports on a recording session of the NEXT Drama CD, "Hatsukoi Shimai" which stars not only the sexy Romi Park as Touko-sensei, but a host of other great seiyuu from very, very yuri series. Including Tsutako from Marimite. :-) And they've added Miyu and Kirika, the missing other cover girls from
Yuri Shimai and
Yuri Hime, so it's a whole new story - not just a redo of the original ones. Even better, it looks like Touko-sensei and Akiho are still paired! Yay! I cannot *wait* to get a copy of this. I will move heaven and hell to get one. When it becomes available, do rush off to get it - it's too cool not to have.
And I'm very, very jealous, Akiko-san. You got to meet the seiyuu. Argh! Jealous, jealous....
Moving on - "The unfamous country's song of love" is a silly story of a cry-baby ninja and the princess she loves. As children, the princess could hear the ninja girl crying, even when she couldn't see her. Now, the princess is going to get married and go to another country. The ninja has promised to be with her forever, but she is told that she cannot come. In order to keep the ninja from following, the princess fires her, but on the way to the wedding, her retinue is attacked. The ninja appears from nowhere to save the day, then disappears once again. But on the day of the wedding, everyone can hear someone crying, even though they cannot see anyone. While everyone interprets it as an unlucky sign, the princess knows that she's very lucky indeed to have such a devoted protector.
There's more general fanart in the back of the book - which I enjoy every time, because it's not particularly good - just fans drawing yuri couples. It all makes me happy.
And that brings us to the end of this truly excellent yuri anthology. With maybe one or two stories that would score 6 or so, I think the rest of the book is easily an 8 and in some cases 9.
Overall, if you like yuri manga, a copy of
Yuri Hime, Volume 2 is a must-have. You can click the picture above to order it on Amazon JP - it's linked.
And now it's time for the
Comic Fusion Item of yuri note of the day!
Sonsaku Hakufu, from
Ikkitousen looks pretty sexy - as long as she keeps her mouth shut. :-)
Who could resist the first soldier for love and justice who didn't need a man? Cutie Honey is a classic in every form but as Hurricane Honey, she's particularly sexy. :-)
If you're gonna get Honey, don't forget her arch-nemesis and number one desirer, Sister Jill of the Panther Claw gang. Whether Jill is a random evil queen who wants Honey for herself, or a beloved older sister protoype, in every version Jill wants more from Honey than just her defeat. One of the earliest love-hate relationships on the books. :-)
More fun yuri-flavored items from
Comic Fusion tomorrow!
Tags: Yuri Anthology, Yuri Manga, Hatsukoi Shimai, Koi Shimai, Hayashya Shizuru, Yuri Hime, Strawberry Shake
Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime, Volume 2 (Part 1)
What is there to be said about
Comic Yuri Hime, Volume 2 except "Yuri, yuri and more yuri!" :-) In fact, there's *so* much good yuri in this volume, I'll have to do this review in two parts...or maybe three.
The only real complaint I ever had about
Yuri Shimai was that it was a tad on the young and innocent side for me. Well,
Yuri Hime showed some interest in moving away from that into a slightly more adult outlook. And now, with Volume 2, I think
Yuri Hime has finally hit the exact right note. It's adult without being pornographic, and sweet and cute without being lolicon. Just the kind of thing that I've been looking for - and the kind of thing we have been publishing at
ALC Publishing. In fact, there's so many good things about this issue that I may sound a little giddy - I apologize in advance. :-)
Let me start with the cover, because the two smiling faces that grace it are of some significant import. Drawn by Hibiki Reine, the illustrator for the
Maria-sama ga Miteru novels, we are greeted by Chika (on the left) and Miyu (on the right). Both these characters are from the ongoing cover stories from the old
Yuri Shimai volumes. Once again, let me just remind you that Chika's story was turned into two Drama CDs entitled "Koi Shimai" which was eventually turned into a manga, that continued in
Yuri Hime as "Hatsukoi Shimai." This all confuses the heck out of everyone but about three people. Just go with it - it makes sense if you just get all the damn books and look at them. :-) I reviewed the
Koi Shimai Drama CDs some time ago in 2004:
CD 1 review and
CD2 review. And now I will leave this topic quite suddenly to move on in an abrupt fashion - don't worry, we'll come back to it later.
I won't go into detail about all the other stories' histories, since I just went over them in my review of
Yuri Hime, Volume 1, last week.
The first story of the book is the second, long-awaited installment of "First Kiss" by Taishi Zaou and Eiki Eiki. Once again we watch Reiko and Ayano torture each other with Unresolved Sexual Tension. If you remember that the pair who draws this manga is extremely well known for their yaoi manga, it won't be too surprising. :-) Reiko and Ayano are pining for each other - but inexplicably, neither can see the desire and loneliness in each other's eyes - perhaps because they don't really look at each other. Also, I just want to say that while I REALLY like my doctor, if she EVER sucks on my finger that messily, a lawsuit would definitely be in order. I mean really. LOL
This volume also contains some spiffy color pictures of Reiko nekkid and Reiko and Ayano as adults, in bed - a nice parrallel to the younger pair in bed last volume. (And a palpable sign of the maturing of yuri that this volume represents.) Volume 3 continues this story - will they get together? Probably. :-)
"Shoujo Bigaku" is a second story from Chi-Ran in which an unsuspecting "normal" girl is overwhelmed by the presence of an openly gay, openly amorous transfer student. Only in this case, the so-called normal girl, Yuno, is actually as queer as a three dollar bill. So of course, she does everything in her power to not be discovered by the openly gay Shinri. Shinri pegs Yuno in about 3 seconds flat - just about the time she finishes saying that Japan is a lesbian paradise. It's hopeless, Yuno. Shinri uses all her magic lesbian skills - and a few well-placed kisses - to make Yuno see things her way. Rabu rabu.
The first essay is on early 70's yuri - more specifically
Oniisama E, the early yuri classic by Ryoko Ikeda. Great art to support the essay. :-)
The story of Letty the Witch and Tsugumi the Miko continues the morning after they spend the night in the same bed. Letty freaks - then remembers that it was all platonic, but something is wrong with Tsugumi! She's coming down with a cold...or something. They go out to enjoy a beautiful day and discuss how they are connected forever by a red string. Tsugumi collapses and a stranger who suddenly appears tells Letty that its because she took Tsugumi away from the shrine. Letty drives off the stranger, but she comes back and tells them that Tsugumi is cursed. Tsugumi apologizes, thinking back on their times together, for having been a bother to Letty. The chapter ends with Letty screaming Tsugumi's name.... It's a pretty surprising chapter for what has been so far an innocuous, but pleasant story. I guess we're anticipating many more volumes of this magazine, if we're adding in actual plot complications, huh? A good sign, I think.
Takahashi Mako's story for this volume, "Tiger Lily" is shocking for the radical change in apparent age for her characters. They actually appear to be high school aged for once. The story centers around two students who take on, respectively, the roles of Wendy and Tiger Lily in Peter Pan. "Wendy" remembers everything about "Tiger Lily" because, she says, she remembers everything about the person she loves. But she can't remember a teacher who has made her his favorite and is surprised whrn Tiger Lilly mentions him. Wendy does remember that Tiger Lily had a thing for that teacher, though. It's all complicated young love as remembered by an old lady. A surprisingly non-psychotic entry by Mako and one that didn't make me cringe with distaste.
"Nanami to Misuzu," the continuing adventures of a rich chibi cat girl and her friend who plays the straight man to her physcal comedy, were marginally amusing this time, with the addition of Sakaki from Azumanga Daioh. Not really - but you know what I mean. She might as *well* be Sakaki. There was one very funny gag and the rest were just...gags.
Last for today's update came the winner in this half, Morinaga Milk's sequel to the very first
Yuri Shimai story, "Even If We're Not Friends". In this story, "When the ring finger is kissed" (or something like that. I'm not great at conditionals) we go back to our original couple, Nana and Hitomi. The first several pages of the story are absolutely beautiful color pages of the two girls kissing and undressing. It's so well done, so tasteful and sexy at the same time that it may set a new standard for yuri manga. It turns out to be a dream - Nana's under alot of pressure recently with mid-terms, and she hasn't been able to see Hitomi at all. But Nana has, once again, been avoiding Hitomi - this time because she's freaked out by Hitomi's desire to go further with their relationship. What's flipping Nana out is the fact that she also wants that, but she's scared out of her gourd. On the final day of mid-terms Hitomi takes matters into her own hands. She shows up at Nana's house, armed with sleepover materiel. Nana gets over her bad self and the two make their beautiful memory. Happy sigh.
This story was excellent. Simply excellent. The art on the color pages was breathtakingly sweet, and the story didn't make one squick. Nana's behavior, while marginally irritating *was* consistant wth her personality as it was given to us in the first story. And Hitomi's was, as well - her forthright expression of desire was no less lovely for its frankness. Top o'the yuri class for Morinaga Milk.
And that ends today's rant on
Yuri Hime Vol.2. But not this entry!
As promised, here is the
Comic Fusion Featured Items of the day:
These spiffy bags make two statements - that you like convenience and style - and that you think Paper Masters and other assorted powerful women who love women, are keen.
Whether you're trekking in the woods, beating the pavement on a city street or lugging your crap to school or work, you can show your love of yuri - and give your support for Yuricon staffer Stacy's new store, all at the same time.
Tomorrow: more
Yuri Hime 2 (available from Amazon JP on the
Yuricon Shop) and more cool items of yuri interest from
Comic Fusion!
Please excuse my devolution into blogging silliness. I'm just trying this out to see what happens. (I've got a tag cloud in the background too. maybe one day I'll let you see it! lol)
Tags: Yuri Anthology, Yuri Manga, Hatsukoi Shimai, Koi Shimai, Morinaga Milk, Yuri Hime
