| A few links |
[Apr. 28th, 2008|08:47 am] |
NHK ventures into the closet for first time with program on homosexuality.
For those of us who don't get NHK, Tokyo Wrestling has a lot of info up about the program (in Japanese only at the moment, but they do have an English-language section of their site, so perhaps they'll do a report on it in English too), and there may end up being some discussion about it at the Gay Japan News mixi community.
Have you guys all read Free Z already? Short, but it packs a punch. Warning: sad.
Preview of a manga about Yoshiya Nobuko. It's from the new women's manga magazine Malika (Mallika? It's from the Sanskrit word for "jasmine"). Apparently there's a TV drama running now based on one of Yoshiya's books, and this manga ties in with that. Note: the woman Yoshiya meets in this chapter is not her life partner (Darn! Hope she turns up later.).
According to Yuri na Hibi, the first issue of Malika also contains a prologue to Last Friends, though it's not listed on their webpage.
An interview with me.
Meant to link that sooner. Nothing terribly profound in there if you already know me. Oh, but it does remind me to link this as well: Alien Boot Camp has Talking About Amy (about yuri manga artist Takashima Rica) up to watch for free, among other things. |
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| List of yuri manga with happy endings |
[Apr. 7th, 2008|04:53 pm] |
An expansion of one of my favorite categories from here.
Yuri Manga Available in English That Have Happy Endings
It's happened to all of us, I'd wager--you're reading a nice yuri manga, the characters have confessed their love for each other and everything seems to be going fine, and then, out of nowhere, BAM! "It turns out we're sisters, she died in a fire, and, oh, did I mention I'm getting married now?" That's an extreme example (though it is a real one--Maya's Funeral Procession), but there are countless yuri manga out there where the characters don't end up together for one reason or another. And while I enjoy the occasional unhappy or ambiguous ending as much as the next person--seriously, they can be a nice change of pace from happy endings--I think we could use a list of yuri manga with happy endings... much as I dread the inevitable arguments over why X or Y manga should or shouldn't be on the list.
What exactly constitutes a happy ending is a rather gray area (as is whether or not a manga "counts" as yuri; I'd rather not have to decide that at all, but some sort of classification is necessary for the purposes of this list), but to make it onto this list, a manga must contain characters involved in a yuri pairing who are both alive (though there are reasonable exceptions, such as vampires) and together (and not just as friends) at the end of the manga.
Aside from the stuff from yurizuki.net, everything on this list is either licensed or scanlated (though not necessarily complete). In some cases, I've linked to http downloads at yurizuki instead of a scanlator's website, for ease in downloading; you can look up scanlators' websites at Manga Jouhou and other such sites.
My favorite manga are in bold; I've put asterisks after the ones that are available entirely in English and pound signs after the ones that are heavy on the smut.
( List behind the cut. ) |
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| A fic rec |
[Apr. 4th, 2008|11:28 pm] |
Something in a recent post by archlords brought to mind a Star Trek: Voyager fic (No, don't stop reading! Hear me out!) that I love and haven't recced to anyone in a while:
In the Genes. I'm sure there are plenty of "what if there's a gene out there for homosexuality and humans decide to eliminate it" stories out there, but this one has really stuck with me for some reason. |
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| Words on a yuri one-shot: "Nami no Ue no Tsuki" |
[Feb. 5th, 2008|08:47 am] |
"Nami no Ue no Tsuki" ("The Moon Above the Waves"), from Hikari no Umi by Kodama Yuki (ISBN: 9784091308405):
( Cut for length. ) |
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| A List of Must-Read Yuri Manga |
[Jan. 27th, 2008|12:17 pm] |
I put this list together a little while back and was just going to scrap it (a list like this is so subjective that I was afraid it would just inspire a lot of arguments about why people's favorite manga didn't make the list), but some people in #lililicious convinced me to post it today so they could read it.
It's basically just intended as a starting point for people who are new to yuri. To make it onto the list, a manga has to either:
a) Be considered a staple/classic by the yuri fan community; or,
b) Be very popular in the yuri fan community; or,
c) Be so excellent or unique that I personally think everyone should give it a try.
There are no doubt going to be titles on here that you think are total crap and/or don't consider yuri. If you don't like the list as a whole, I suggest you make your own and point people to that instead--whatever saves people from having to list the same old recs over and over again. :)
This list only includes manga that are available in English. Titles with an asterisk (*) after them are commercially available in English (or soon will be).
In some cases, I've linked to http downloads at yurizuki instead of a scanlator's website, for ease in downloading; you can look up scanlators' websites at Manga Jouhou and other such sites.
( Cut for length. ) |
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| Translation of Strawberry Shake Sweet Q&A (from SSS 1.5) |
[Jan. 21st, 2008|11:12 am] |
Figured there might be some out there who would appreciate reading this sooner rather than later. :)
As it says in the subject of the post, this is the Q&A section from Strawberry Shake Sweet 1.5.
( Cut for length. ) |
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| A minor Strawberry Shake Sweet spoiler |
[Jan. 19th, 2008|07:58 am] |
( Cut for spoiler. ) |
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| Words on a yuri one-shot from Hari to Oreenji |
[Jan. 17th, 2008|02:03 pm] |
Hari to Oreenji by Kizuki Akira (ISBN: 4901978527):
There are two yuri stories in this collection: "Hari to Oreenji" and "Tanoshii Natsuyasumi." Since I already reviewed "Hari to Oreenji" here, I'll just be talking about "Tanoshii Natsuyasumi" ("Fun Summer Vacation"), which is quite short.
Two girls are at the beach for--what else?--summer vacation, hoping to find boyfriends. They read about a "What would you do if you could be a guy for a day?" survey in a magazine; the most popular response was "pick up [a woman] and have sex!" One of the characters, Taeko, points out that that pretty much amounts to two women together. The other one, Miki asks if the opposite would be the most popular response if men were asked a similar question, and Taeko says no (I'd have to concur there; I think "jumping up and down in front of the mirror" would be a good candidate for the top response). She goes on to say that if she were a guy, she'd totally have sex with Miki. Miki blushes, but replies that she'd probably go at it all day with Taeko if the tables were turned. Both girls pass it off as a joke, but after that summer, they both stop talking about how they want boyfriends. The story ends there.
It was a cute story, but I certainly wouldn't have protested if the artist had decided to have them get together instead of just ending the story where she did (I do appreciate the subtlety, but...). |
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| Words on a Japanese lesbian movie: Natural Woman |
[Jan. 7th, 2008|12:29 pm] |
Natural Woman, based on the book by Matsuura Rieko (DVD: B00008OJS3, newest edition of the book: 4309408478):
( Cut for length. ) |
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| Words on a yuri anthology: Girl's Only |
[Dec. 15th, 2007|08:48 am] |
Manga Carmilla: Girl's Only (ISBN: 4780801079):
I was warned that the manga in the lesbian magazine Carmilla were very odd, but decided to get this book anyway and see if there was anything in there to my taste. Luckily, there were a few stories I liked... they were just outnumbered by the ones that may have scarred me for life. Oh, well. At least I didn't have to spend outrageous amounts of money buying individual issues of the magazine just for the manga.
( Cut for length. ) |
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| Words on a yuri one-shot: "Suki yo" |
[Dec. 14th, 2007|07:21 pm] |
"Suki yo" from Ai no Hito by Takano Miyako (ISBN: 4403615929):
This story was just plain weird. A woman routinely gets drunk and cheats on her girlfriend with men that her girlfriend (who is only into women) brings home. When she comes home, her girlfriend is angry with her but when the protagonist promises it'll never happen again, she forgives her. The only explanation I can think of is that the girlfriend is a manipulative bitch who pushes her into cheating so that she'll constantly feel like she isn't good enough for her, and the protagonist is too dumb to figure it out. Ugh. If the twist ending (that her girlfriend is setting her up--we only discover this at the end of the story) wasn't so terrible, I might have liked it better.
The one good thing about this story was the nice, subtle sex scene, and since it's only three pages long, I wouldn't recommend buying the book just for that. The other stories in the collection look more promising, but none of them are yuri. |
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| Words on a yuri one-shot: "Kools" |
[Dec. 14th, 2007|11:23 am] |
"Kools," from Kools by Takahashi Miyuki and Watanabe Makiko (ISBN: 9784063654660):
( Cut for length. )
All in all, this story definitely belongs on my list of favorite yuri manga. I highly recommend it. |
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| Words on some yuri one-shots from Zoushoku Fetishism |
[Dec. 12th, 2007|04:41 pm] |
Zoushoku Fetishism by Kizuki Akira (ISBN: 4847035704):
( Cut for length. ) |
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| Words on a couple yuri one-shots from Lens no Mukou |
[Dec. 12th, 2007|08:04 am] |
Lens no Mukou (official English title: Through Eyeglasses Darkly, which I'm guessing is a play on Through a Glass Darkly) by Hisaka Mika (ISBN: 4592142691):
This is a one-shot collection (the common theme being "eyeglasses"), but the 2 yuri one-shots in it are about the same couple. I quite liked them--I thought they managed to be subtly erotic while keeping the main focus on the couple's relationship and feelings.
The first one-shot, "Kamareta Onna," begins with a girl asking her tutor (a woman) whether she's ever had sex, and the woman replying that she has, and did just this morning. Then we flash forward to the future, where the two are a couple and are living together. Their past conversation continues to haunt the younger one, who worries that she doesn't measure up to the elder's ex-boyfriend. While they're making out one day, she bites the elder girl, then apologizes and runs off. She feels like she can't face her, but while she's out walking, she remembers that they were going to go back and buy a couple dresses when they went on sale this morning. She goes into the store and elbows her way through the massive crowd to find them; she finds the one the elder girl wanted, but not hers. As she's going up to pay for it, she runs into the elder girl, who of course has the dress the younger girl wanted. The two of them go home together, and realize that both of them were injured by the crowd. The younger apologizes to the elder and tells her to bite her back, and the elder says she's weird. Then they talk about how the elder's past isn't going to just disappear, and how the other girl wouldn't want it to anyway, since that was what made her realize she was in love with her.
The second one-shot, "Toketeiku Koori," is about how your hands get cold in the winter. No, really. lol
The younger woman's hands never seem to warm up in the winter. The elder suggests drinking alcohol, but that doesn't work; what does work is putting her fingers inside the other woman. In the end, the elder mentions 9 1/2 Weeks, and the other correctly guesses that it's an erotic movie. There's a 2-page extra tacked onto the end where the younger woman looks up the movie online and asks the other what she thought was erotic about it. The elder says she'll show her if she wants to know, since just telling her would be boring. She blindfolds the other and sets a glass of ice down nearby, indicating that they're going to re-enact the ice scene from the movie.
This is one of the books from the bk1 order, so it is still in print. ISBN is at the top of the post if you want to look it up at Amazon Japan or some other bookstore. :) |
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| Words on a yuri manga: Secret Garden |
[Dec. 10th, 2007|05:32 pm] |
Secret Garden by Amagatsu Toriko and Egawa Hiromi (not to be confused with Fujii Mihona's similarly-titled manga)(ISBN: 4391905531):
The thing that surprised me most about this manga was the amount of sex in it--the description on the back cover says it's a work of nonfiction based on an actual couple, so I was expecting something more along the lines of Honey & Honey, even though Secret Garden is a josei manga.
I love that this is a story about an adult couple that's living together, as that's pretty rare in yuri manga. We only find out about how they met (and got together) in the last chapter of the book. It's not a particularly romantic meeting--both go out and get plastered after being dumped by their respective significant others, and end up hooking up. The next morning, Misono discovers that Masami is a woman, and runs out. A few days later, she comes back to Masami's apartment, wanting to be friends with her. After a year of being friends, they start going out, and move in together. Chapter 1 takes place three years after that first meeting.
Most of the story just revolves around sex, but it does have some substance, too, and even some domestic moments. In the final chapter, after the flashback to how they first met, the couple goes to Masami's ex-girlfriend's wedding, and Misono wonders what the future holds for her and Masami--they're still in their twenties now, but 5 or 10 years down the line, pressure will mount from both their parents and society at large. Ultimately, though, she decides that as long as she and Masami can smile together in the end, that will probably be enough. She's thinking this just after she catches the bridal bouquet. It's a nice ending.
On a semi-related note, my bk1 order just came today, so expect more reviews soon (and of books that aren't out of print!). So many yuri manga, so little time... -_- |
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| A bit of yuri in a BL manga: "Haru ni Nareba Kusa no Ame" |
[Nov. 26th, 2007|08:37 pm] |
Haru ni Nareba Kusa no Ame (This title is a play on words--"Kusa no Ame" is the name of the guesthouse, but it also means "rain that falls on the new shoots of grass in the spring." The "haru ni nareba" part means, roughly, "when spring comes" or "in the spring.") by Yoshikawa Utata:
I was disappointed by the small amount of yuri in this one, but it was a fun story nevertheless. The basic premise: Our hero goes to work at a guesthouse (Which, incidentally, they use the English word "pension" for. Dictionary.com tells me that this usage is from "France and elsewhere in continental Europe." Hunh.), only to discover that the guests (and staff!) are gay.
The yuri is in the third chapter: A woman, Tsubaki, has a fight with her girlfriend and comes to stay with her friends, who run the guesthouse. She and the protagonist of the manga are out on a walk together when it starts to rain. Tsubaki tells the guy that her significant other, Makoto, is afraid of thunder. While she's on the subject of Makoto, she tells the guy that their families didn't approve of their relationship and so they both left home and moved in together. Then today, Makoto was talking about moving back in with their families, so they had a fight and Tsubaki left. The protagonist suggests that Tsubaki go back home and just have it out with Makoto.
When they get back to the guesthouse, Makoto is there--she came looking for Tsubaki despite the storm. The two of them apologize to each other, and all is well. Then the protagonist gets a shock--Makoto is a girl. The End. Not exactly earth-shattering, but a fun bit of yuri.
If only the proportion of BL to yuri content had been a bit more equal, this manga would have really had me. Speaking of yuri in BL manga, there's a bit of yuri content (not much, so don't get too excited) in Furachi na Bokura by Fuwa Shinri, which is a future project of a BL scanlation group called Attractive Fascinante. It's fairly late in the volume. |
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| Words on a yuri one-shot: "She & She" |
[Nov. 23rd, 2007|10:44 am] |
"She & She" from Angel Heart by Azuna Shuuko:
The story is set in a girls' school (surprise, surprise). The protagonist, Mika, is a major idol at the school because of her androgynous looks. She's both Student Body President and president of the tennis club. Her rival of sorts is Rumiko, who's vice president of the student council and the tennis club. She's also the head of the "orthodox" faction of the school--the school is divided into two factions, "orthodox" and "lezzie." Any guesses as to who heads the "lezzie" faction?
Mika's had a thing for Rumiko for years (ever since she saw her trying to help a stray dog), but Rumiko can't stand Mika. When Mika tells a couple of her admirers about her feelings for Rumiko, they decide to help her get on good terms with Rumiko. The girls arrange a dinner for the pair of them, and slip Rumiko some sleeping pills. When Rumiko collapses, Mika takes her to the infirmary. Mika leans over to kiss Rumiko, then realizes that she can't do it--she wants Rumiko to like her first.
Rumiko finally gets fed up with Mika and challenges her to a tennis match with some high stakes--if Rumiko loses, she'll disband the "orthodox" faction, and if Mika loses, she'll disband the "lezzie" faction. Everyone thinks that Mika is going to lose, since she's always skipping practice and slacking off, but it turns out that she had a pro tennis coach back when she was living in New York (Did I mention she's half-American? Well, she is, which adds to her appeal.). She wipes the floor with Rumiko, and offers to let Rumiko keep her "orthodox" faction if she'll let Mika come over to her house that night. Rumiko is not happy with the arrangement, but has little choice in the matter.
That night, Rumiko tells her maids to just tell anyone who comes to the door that she's sick. But when Mika arrives, the maids are so charmed by her that they let her in anyway. When they tell her that Rumiko is sick, Mika calls Rumiko on her bullshit excuse and tells her to come out of hiding. When she does, Mika says she has something to talk to her about in private; Rumiko refuses to budge, so Mika says, "Please marry me," which causes such a commotion that Rumiko has no choice but to take Mika up to her room. Once there, Mika tells Rumiko that she likes her. Rumiko calls her a bunch of names (most notably, "pervert," which seems to be Rumiko's favorite insult for Mika and the other members of the "lezzie" faction), then confesses that she doesn't like Mika because Mika beats her at everything. Mika says that Rumiko might end up liking her someday, but Rumiko swears that will never happen. Then Mika apologizes and starts to cry. Rumiko says she's sorry and tells her not to cry. She adds that the big problem is Mika's gender--if Mika had been a guy, she might have really fallen for her. Mika points out that gender doesn't matter when it comes to love, and Rumiko agrees to try and be friends with Mika. She kisses Mika's forehead, telling her it's just a platonic kiss. Then Mika jumps her, and Rumiko tells her to get off her. The End.
I liked the art, but this story was just okay overall. It was published in 1994--yet another mediocre 90s yuri one-shot. Since it's out of print, I wouldn't suggest getting it unless some aspect of the story really appeals to you or you're trying to collect all the yuri manga out there. |
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