Yuri Manga: Itoshi wo Tome (Volume 1)

Set in the Heian period, Itoshi wo Tome ~ Kimi ga Kokoko ha ~ (愛しをとめ~君がこころは~) is a story about noblewomen Tachibana and Sakura, whose older sister had been a lady of the Emperor's palace, but had died. Sakura is living with Tachibana's family as a courtesy.

Tachibana falls in love with Sakura's tearful face early on but as much as they wish it, their story is not as simple as "Happily ever after." First, Tachibana is betrothed to the stupidest, most cheerful doofus ever. His words are decorated with ASCII art just to give you an idea of his depth and intelligence. When he discovers Tachibana and Sakura locked together in an embrace, Sakura is able to convince him to be their friend and ally.

But a far, far worse threat is around the corner. Tachibana remains engaged to her doofus, knowing he won't press the issue - but when Sakura is called up by the Emperor to be one of his women, there is no escape. Tachibana wails that as a woman she is powerless, but then comes to the surprising conclusion that even as a man, she would have had no power over the whims of the Emperor.

To protect her beloved Sakura, Tachibana takes her place in the Emperor's bed. It is not a happy moment for either woman and eventually Sakura interrupts to stop what she cannot bear to see or hear.

The Emperor claims that he has no intention of separating them, instead asking them to have sex in front of him, to "prove" their love. They do, because it's that or have sex with him (the saving grace of this scene is that he is young, attractive and not doing anything that would make a Yuri fan cry while he watches.) Unrealistically, he allows them to leave, unharmed. And despite my and Tachibana's suspicion, he appears to be as good as his word. The book ends with them in each others arms thanking the gods that each other exists.

I can't say I liked this book, really. It wasn't vile or anything, but it just didn't grab me. The art wasn't up to either the Heian clothing or the "beautiful people" that populated the Imperial Palace. The few glimpses of actual Heian-style art served to really pull us down to reality on what was considered beautiful during that time - something I did quite like. I would have liked a more elegant style, something more Mist-like.

Mostly, I just didn't like the story. It was very "Plot? What Plot?" Tachibana and Sakura barely talk before they are having sex and the sex isn't really portrayed well. (If you do that to breasts, guys, it hurts. I recommend not doing that if you don't want to be slapped.) The scene where the Mikado has them have sex in front of him is, perhaps surprisingly, perhaps not so much, the sexiest scene of the book.

The *best* scene of the book, IMH), was a moment when Tachibana carves Sakura's name (桜)into her arm with a knife. Sakura grabs the knife and threatens to carve Tachibana's name (橘) into her own arm. That'd be a heck of a carving.

This manga is a collection of another of the cell phone manga distributed by Ichijinsha. I'm not sure I'd subscribe to it - there is better out there.

Ratings:
Art - 6
Story - 5
Characters - 7
Yuri - 8
Loser Fanboy - 6

Overall - 6

OTOH, it didn't suck massively, either. I've read better, I've read worse.

Tags: Yuri Manga, Itoshi wo Tome

Yuri Manga: Red Garden, Volume 4

Red Garden, Volume 4 is 272 pages of blood, weirdness, violence and undead girls who look very fetching in that frock.

As you can see clearly from the cover, Kate steps forward to openly take her place as the lead character in this volume. It's been apparent that, although the story is *said* to revolve around Lise, it really revolves around Kate.

Kate and Herve' come together, and are ripped apart, Kate fends off Evil, Psycho Lesbian ^TM Paula who, completely unlike the wonderful, kind, sincere Paula of the anime, is a loathsome, unstable creature in the fine tradition of carnivorous lesbians in most media. But don't worry - she dies. then she comes back and turns out to be real nice after all. But she dies again anyway.

Kate is set apart from Rose, Rachel and Claire at the end when, in order to save everyone, she is forced to sacrifice herself. Although they mourn their loss, they are able to move on and live the lives that had been taken from them. Kate, however, does not die, but lives in this series' version of Tir-na-Og, the Red Garden of Roosevelt Island, with her beloved friend Lise. Which is why I am calling this a Yuri Manga. Surely even the undead can live in a Boston Marriage? ;-)

As with all the other volumes, there is violence, there is fashion, there is raw emotion and shoujo-style SHOCK! eyes. There is also an amazingly nice set of panels with all four of our heroines in the uniform of Grace, which is way more effective that I would have expected.

Ratings:

Art - 7
Story - 8
Characters - 8
Yuri - 4
Loser FanBoy - 3

Overall - 8

It's really hard to ignore the importance of clothes in this manga. What they are wearing is at least as important as what they are doing. ;-)

Tags: Yuri Manga, Red Garden

Yuri News this Week - July 4, 2009

What a week for Yuri fans!

Yuri Anime

The top story this week is, of course, that the Aoi Hana anime is not only available on, but is "simulcasting" an hour after its Japan TV debut on, Crunchyroll.com. If your country is not blocked, you can watch it for free, but a small subscription fee will get you a better stream, higher definition and more options. The anime has received critical acclaim so far, from both fans and reviewers. Smart folks on the Yuricon Mailing List like Katherine, have identified preorders available for the DVDs on Amazon JP and like Sal, noticed that it looks to be running 11 episodes. Here's hoping it does well enough to garner a second season.

I was chatting with @Funimation on Twitter and they let me know that the projected release date for El Cazador is autumn 2009 and Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne is sometime in spring 2010.

Speaking of 2010, Right Stuf/Nozomi (@AnimeToday on Twitter) has announced that the 4th season of Maria Watches Over Us is slated for a 2010 release. They also announced the licenses for Aria the Origination and the Arietta OVA to be released together in one set. Also Right Stuf is planning a line of Aria lithographs, which Gia Manry of Anime Vice explained as coming out one at a time until there's no money left in our pockets. :-)

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Yuri Manga

Erin S mentions on her LJ that Fujieda Miyabi has nothing in this month's issue of Yuri Hime, but that he'll be back in October's issue. To me, this says that we'll finally get that Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan tankoubon. It's pretty common for the mangaka to take a break the month of the collection release. I'm sure we all hope so! (This just in - Ichijinsha Mail Magazine has a release date for Ame-iro of July 25th, so there ya go.)

Bruce P wrote me to tell me about the summer Yuri-themed issue of a magazine called Kikan S (Esu). He says, "There are articles (principally author interviews and artwork examples) on a selection of Yuri manga: Aoi Hana, Sasame Kikoto, Manga no Tsukurikata, and Otome Keki. There is also an article about Anise magazine, in one sidebar of which I was pleased to see them show the cover and give publishing info on Rica'tte Kanji. Another sidebar describes the evolution of the word Yuri. The original illustrations in this issue are also mostly Yuri, though some of them are, in the unfortunate tradition of Kikan S, pretty skeevy. Artistic, but skeevy."

Lastly, if you've been wondering where Gunjou went, since it hasn't run in Morning 2 magazine in a while, I can assure that it is live and well! I haven't reviewed it, because honestly, the climax chapter was so raw and beautiful that I haven't been able to deal with it in words. I know that sounds melodramatic, but it's totally true. It was 72 pages of some of the best manga I've ever read and when I was done, I was wiped. Then the series took a few months off, I assumed it was because of the Morning International Comic Contest. It turns out I was wrong about that, but Gunjou returned to the magazine for issue 23 - which is the important bit. If you do like Gunjou, I hope you'll write Morning 2 and let them know. It's important to communicate these things to the editors and publishers.

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Yuri Drama CD

And really quickly, links are now up for the 4th Special Maria-sama ga Miteru CD and the newest Drama CD (and the first in a long time) Tears of the Rosary! They are both added to the Yuricon Drama CD Page, as well.

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I was going to get caught up on "Snatches" this week, but with so much real news, I think I'll leave it at that. It's a really wallow-worthy week, don't you think?

As always, if you'd like to share news with the world, please feel free to email me at anilesbocon01 at hotmail. dot com and share!

Alice on Deadlines Manga: Volume 3 (English)

If you have read Volume 1 and/or Volume 2 of Alice on Deadlines, then you already know what's going to happen in Volume 3.

There will be service, there will be lots of screaming, there will be lots of running around, cross-dressing of all kinds, and a new, crazy, violent character will arrive, throwing Alice into danger and forcing Lapan to deal with his past. But in between these snippets of plot, there is more service.

We begin with service, with a beach episode, in which we are treated any number of bathing suits that defy the laws of physics. Ume has a little crisis because he realizes that Lapan will never truly see him has a woman...I admit to being a little confused as to his transition as well. It's hardly important in a grander scale but there's some inconsistencies from volume to volume that confuse me as a reader.

But then Alice is captured by crazed, broken Shinigami Regina Rosso, who was clearly involved in Lapan's tragic past. He traps Alice in a beautiful but mute doll's body, forcing both Lapan and Alice to recognize their feelings for eacch other. The volume ends with a shocking revelation that really isn't shocking, but we'll pretend it is. :-)

Yuri comes in a variety of flavors this volume. Ume's feelings for Lapan in Alice's body have not changed. Lapan in Alice's body and Alice in the doll's body make a nice Yuri-looking couple, and poor Someya, the one lone human girl in all this, still has strong affection for her sempai Alice, no matter how she's used by Lapan or abused by Ume.

I'm not at all sure whether I'm just getting immune to this series, or it's getting better. :-)

Ratings:

Art - 6
Story - 3
Characters - 3
Yuri - 4
Loser FanBoy - 7

Overall - 4

Our Sponsor for today's review is Okazu Superhero Amanda M - many thanks Amanda for the entertainment!

Tags: Alice on Deadlines

New Anime Season Summer 2009: Yuri Anime: Aoi Hana

If you are not familiar with Aoi Hana check out my review of Volume 1 of the Aoi Hana manga (or if you want the story through Volume 3, check the Aoi Hana category on the sidebar. Today we're just going to talk anime.

Crunchyroll launched this anime with no fanfare - in fact, with barely even a blip on the radar. No press release, no time to build anticipation. But, there it was, with 6 hours to go before it launched on Japanese TV at some gawdforsaken hour, a simulcast in CR was announced to be shown one hour later. You can still catch that first episode, of course. Check out the CR Aoi Hana page for available episodes.

Rumors about this production were pretty rampant. The voice cast is newcomers to the field, maybe Ikuhara Kunihiko (of Revolutionary Girl Utena fame) might be animating the opening sequence. In fact, he did and it's quite lovely and although they are relatively new names to the seiyuu world, the skill and professionalism of the voice actresses was top notch.

So, the clock ran down and there we were watching what was certainly the most anticipated Yuri anime of 2009 to date.

Right off the bat, the opening sequence was lovely. Spoilery, maybe, but lovely. The ending sequence uses some of the watercolor art from the manga as a background and was, in its own way, just as nice. The songs were totally suitable.

As I said, the voice cast was excellent. Some people have complained that Fumi's voice is too high, but as usual, they are forgetting that by Japanese standards, a high-pitched girly voice is *more* attractive, not less. And despite the delusion we as fans have, there really is no sign that Japanese anime companies give a rat's ass about what we want. Especially as it is still Japanese fans who shell out the yen for what they want, while foreign fans are much more reluctant to do so.

I found the art appealing, and felt that the tone of the manga was captured perfectly. I have no complaints about the anime itself.

There were a number of issues with the subtitles. Although I had no problems, many people have written in here and other places to note that subtitles did not always work. At least one person commented that it's a known bug. This is unacceptable, really, for a company trying to rethink their business model and be *the* portal for anime to the western audience. In some cases, simply right-clicking and "enabling" subtitles worked to fix this. In other cases, refreshing the page did. In yet others nothing seemed to work.

On the positive side, it appears that there was no subscription embargo for the simulcast, although there were IP limitations. CR has posted a list of the countries in which the series can be legally viewed in their Aoi Hana forums - consider posting intelligently there to counter the "eww Yuri" posts. For my part, less than $7/month is less than one sandwich and chips and I think it's a ridiculously low price to pay for legal streaming anime, subbed, that I want to see, right after it was on Japanese TV. I'm more than happy to pay the price.

My main thought about all this is that we finally have a "Yuri" anime we can show people as a stereotypical Yuri series, in the same way that Gravitation has stood as a gateway "Yaoi" anime for so many years. This story has many of the most typical Yuri tropes, but is not a parody or a melodrama. It is a good story, but undeniably about a young woman who likes women. The characters are strong, are likable and are the kind of people you'd want over for lunch.

Yesterday I was able to watch a simulcast of Aoi Hana, eat ice cream and watch fireworks. It was just about the most perfect day ever. :-)

Ratings:

Art - 9
Characters - 9
Story - 8
Yuri - 7 (Ultimately, not in episode 1, however)
Loser FanBoy - 1

Overall - 9

This is a great way to continue the odd-numbered year Yuri effect. We can look forward to this, then autumn will bring even more good things for us with El Cazador and Sasameikoto.

Tags: Yuri, Yuri Manga, Aoi Hana, Sweet Blue Flowers

Yuri Manga: Ghost Talker's Daydream, Volume 3 (English)

You know what I just love? I love when people who aren't lesbian or gay tell us what we feel and think. So, how convenient that "what lesbians feel" is described for me in Ghost Talker's Daydream, Volume 3.

Saiki Misaki is an exorcist, She can see and talk to ghosts; spirits of the dead that are still attached for some reason to this plane. By seeing and speaking with them, Misaki facilitates their passing on.

In Volume 3, Misaki is asked by a lesbian friend, Shizue, to exorcise the spirit of a runaway who she didn't sleep with, but didn't help, either. The runaway, Arisa, and the woman who brought her to the lesbian bar, Naori (who, we are helpfully told is "gender dysphoric," a term that makes wanting gender reassignment surgery sound like a disease, something I object to on principle,) die together, but Arisa continues to haunt Shizue. In discussing Naori, Shizue kindly explains to Misaki that all lesbians have fallen for a straight woman at least once and cursed the fact that they were a woman. We have, have we? All of us? Oh well, yet again, I am a bad lesbian. Thanks for confirming that.

Naori saves Shizue from Arisa's anger, Misaki sends them all on to their next life and Shizue gets to live with guilt to go along with her shame.

It's sort of touching, sort of annoying, sort of creepy because, even in death, Arisa, Naori and Shizue don't manage to cut any ties. Now *that's* typical lesbian behavior. :-)

The next story follows Misaki's civil servant friend/sidekick in a weird little sleep-deprivation-driven dream, followed by a story about ghosts needing Misaki to guide their granddaughter, and a violent little epic of rape, murder, ghosts and taxicabs.

I'm not really sure what to make of this manga. It's clearly for Dark Horse's target adult male audience. Misaki dresses like a whore, but obsesses constantly about her virginity. There's almost sex, and implications of sex and mentions of sex, without there being any real sex, something I will never understand. Dark Horse does a nice reproduction job, though, so it's easy to read and reasonably entertaining.

On a day when I was in a good mood, I'd be inclined to be charitable and say I liked it. Today I'm in a foul mood, but can't bring myself to excoriate it. I'll stick with "it's sort of touching, sort of annoying, sort of creepy." It's also not really "Yuri." The characters are actually Lesbians. That's kind of a nice change. Too bad they need to "explain" stuff wrong.

Ratings:

Art - 8
Story - Variable, let's say 7
Characters - 6 (No one I'd have over for lunch)
Yuri - 0, Lesbian - 6
Loser FanBoy - 8

Overall - 7

My sincere thanks to sponsor for today's review, Okazu Superhero Daniel P, for introducing me to this series. I'll stick it on my "to read some more one day when I get the chance" list! :-)

Tags: Yuri Manga, Ghost Talker's Dream

Yuri News: Aoi Hana Anime on Crunchyroll

Fans of Aoi Hana will be able to watch the new anime within an hour of it showing on Japanese TV on Cruchyroll!

Check out the CR Aoi Hana listing for information. It will be made available at 3PM EDT for American viewers.

Update: This simulcast is subbed, and appears to be available to UK, Mexico and Canada viewers as well. If you can confirm any other countries, please let us know!.

Yuri Manga: Assistant Denki Keika, Volume 1

Imagine, if you will, a reader of Sasamekikoto who finishes up a volume of that particular high school Yuri drama and thinks, "That was great. But you know, it would be so much cooler if they were older, maybe, yeah, like assistants to manga artists, and there was an evil overlord trying to stop them and they had to defeat him then have really raunchy lesbo sex."

That's pretty much what you get in Volume 1 of Assistant Denki Keika, (aka Keika, the Romance of The Assistant.)

Keika is a Sumi/Fumi/Sachiko/Chikane/Simone classic Japanese nadesico beauty, armed with nibbed pens and the refuse from a million tones and a fistful of angry "get the fuck out of my way." So when soon-to-be-manga assistant Tamae is attacked by the evil overlord's henchmen, Keika's appearance is welcome. She saves the damsel, they spend the night together and use the tools of their trade as sex toys. There are bodily fluids.

They are joined in their violence and sex by Tsumugi, an absurdly cute cross-dressing young man. (If you count Sasamekikoto's Sumi as Keika and Ushio is Tamae, then Tsumugi is this manga's Akemi. If you care.) He has a massive crush on Keika, who has no time for him, and is glad to sell him out to the truly bizarre manga artist Ooba, in a chapter I immediately scoured out of my brain. There's only so much room for weird sex there and this was just past my tolerance point.

I really liked just over half of this book - especially after Keika and Tamae have sorted out the fact that they actually really like each other. There are moments of sweet nothings between them, pecks on the cheeks and snuggling that are awfully cute. Their sex is still full of bodily fluids but, in every other way is sincere. But the giant dildo/fake vagina thing at Ooba's place and the massive sucking away of sexual energy so she can draw kind of really didn't do it for me. I'm not opposed to finding out what happens, I just don't want to use my own money to do so. lol

The next to last chapter takes whatever semblance of cognitive dysfunction we're using to make this series work in our heads and throws it out the window, runs after it stomps on it and kicks it across the yard for good measure. Tamae and Keika are wandering through a park when they come across these two suspicious looking statues. behind the hedges they note a number of female couples going at it, and they take some reference photos, then are overcome and join the pack. They come to in their own apartment, the photos are pictures of themselves having sex and the suspicious statues are now covered in lilies and even more suspicious-looking. I have no idea what that last chapter was meant to be, but it clearly pointed out to me that this book is essentially crap and if we're trying to make it make sense in our heads, we are wasting our time. So I stopped trying. lol The last chapter is plain old weird.

Ratings:

Art - 6
Story - 5
Characters - 7
Yuri - 8
Loser Fanboy - 10

Overall - 6

I really can't say I liked it - but I really can't say I disliked it. There were some really good things, but some really bad things...bad enough that I'm not sure I want it in the house. It's a very problematic manga. I still kinda liked it, though.

Tags: Yuri Manga, Assistant Denki Keika, Keika, the Romance of the Assistant

Press Release: Prism Comics Seeks Grant Submissions‏

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

Contact: David Stanley Co-President, Prism Comics

San Diego, CA — Prism Comics is seeking submissions for its fifth annual Queer Press Grant, established to support and encourage new LGBT comics creators. In conjunction, Prism will again offer portfolio review at this year's San Diego Comic-Con International exclusively for those interested in applying to the grant.

"We were very happy to offer portfolio review last year," says David Stanley, Prism Co-President. "It was terrifically helpful for the applicants and the reviewers enjoyed it tremendously, as well."

The application deadline for the Prism Comics Queer Press Grant is October 1, 2009. Application guidelines are detailed on the PrismComics website at http://prismcomics.org/grant. Completed applications, along with queries about the grant, can be submitted by email to grants@prismcomics.org.

Past winners of the grant include Steve MacIsaac (Shirtlifter), Megan Gedris (YU+ME), Tommy Roddy (Pride High), Justin Hall (Glamazonia), and Pam Harrison (House of the Muses).

The grant award began with $1,000 for the first recipient and the amount has increased over the years depending on fundraising; last year’s award was $2,000.

Portfolio review will be offered at the 2009 San Diego Comic-ConInternational /exclusively/ to those interested in applying for the Queer Press Grant. Among the industry professionals offering advice and critique will be Phil Jimenez (The Amazing Spider-Man, Infinite Crisis), Bob Schreck (Editor, who has worked at DC Comics and Vertigo) and Colleen Coover (X-Men: First Family, Small Favors). Before attending the sessions, applicants are required to read through the application guidelines.