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Yuri Anime: Shattered Angels, Volume 1 (English)
2008-07-23 09:30:00
Shattered Angels (originally known as Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora) is a story that takes place in the land of Academia - a small country with an abundance of schools, and therefore students (but no teachers, I can't help but notice.)In this world there is a girl, Kuu, whose name means "empty" and indeed, she appears to lack mostly everything except incredulity and a childhood dream of a Prince. When Ayanokoji Kyoshiro arrives at the school, dressed in the school uniform of the one school that has been destroyed completely Kuu, like everyone else, is wowed by his princely-ness. So when he grabs her shirt and rips it open, she's pretty aghast. Of course this being a Kaishaku story, she forgets to stay upset - and all the other girls in the school likewise have no frontal lobes - so when Kyoshiro asks Kuu to come with him, she does.Immediately she finds herself the center of a battle for...herself. Why, Kuu has no idea and no one really tells her, but that's not really important becau...
More About: Anime , English , Volume , Yuri

Okazu Reader Profile and "Now This Is Only My Opinion" Solicitation
2008-07-23 00:32:00
I *will* make the rest of the data available to you at some point, as promised. But I have a load of work to get done this week and next looks worse, so you'll just have to wait. :-)In the meantime, I thought you might get a kick of knowing who you are.Okazu readers are female (70%) (which surprised me quite a bit) as likely to be straight (31%) as lesbian (30%) or bi (26%), between 18-25 (47%) and from the United States (49%). (A message to a few of you who chose "Other" - Alaska and Hawaii *are* part of the US. LOL)You are likely to read Okazu a couple of times a week (75%), with almost half of you reading me at nearly every update (44%) - and thank you for that.Here's the thing that didn't surprise me at all - 60% of Okazu readers have bought anime or manga in the last *month*, with 25% having bought in the last week. I was convinced that you, more than any other audience in the whole world, were likely to be active consumers and I am very gratified to find that my assumption ...
More About: Opinion , Reader , Profile

Stray Little Devil Manga, Volume 2 (English)
2008-07-21 19:00:00
More amusing examples of "not only can't you please everybody all of the time, sometimes you can't even please some people some of the time." LOLWhen I openly admitted that I have completely made up the Akira x Alicia couple from Aria in my head, I was accused of being a moron. (My ongoing discussions of Aria as Yuri are in no way based on that completely fictitious and decidedly alternative-universe pairing - it is based on *other* fans' perception of Aria as Yuri. Mostly, I really don't think so at all.)Conversely, when I pointed out that I didn't see any Yuri in Murder Princess - not *yet* at any rate - I was...you guessed it, called a moron. lolSo today's review is a chance for those of you who love to hate me to yet again call me a moron, because after reading the first two volumes of Stray Little Devil I'm really not seeing anything that I consider Yuri. Let's recap for those who are just joining us - In Volume 1, Pam is accidentally transported to the realm of devils ...
More About: Manga , English

Events: Otakon and MangaNEXT
2008-07-20 16:00:00
Two event-related news items!Otakon - August 8-10, 2008, Baltimore Maryland. Yuricon/ALC will be running the Yuri Panel on Friday, August 8th at 1PM. Check the schedule for the location - and to confirm the time. You *know* it will change. :-)Also, drop by the Yuricon/ALC booth in the Dealer's Room (Table 611) for Yuri manga, t-shirts, pins, postcards and other goods - we even have a "I Love Yuri" Teddy Bear! Anyone who spends more than $25 at the table will get a chance to enter a drawing for this anime art-inspired Catwoman figurine. Cool, huh?MangaNEXT - October 31 - November 2, 2008, Somerset, NJALC Publishing is looking for Yuri artists and doujinshi creators to get together for a "Circle of Yuri" in the MangaNEXT Artist's Alley. If you are a Yuri artist, and would like to reserve a table in the Circle of Yuri, please contact me at anilesbocon at hotmail dot com with the subject "Circle of Yuri". You will be paying for your own table - a table and membership will be $50. I'l...
More About: Events

This Week in Yuri - July 19, 2008
2008-07-19 13:28:00
This week, we once again start off with a retraction of a news item from last week. :-)Yuri AnimeADV says that Best Student Council DVDs are *not* on the discontinued list - and in fact, fans should keep their eye out for a thinpack, coming soon. Thanks for this news item goes out to Eric P., who is always vigilantly scanning the wide world of news for us. :-)Right Stuf announced that the trailer for Aria is up on their Aria website.Coming any day now are the first episode of the Shoujo Sect anime and the second episode of Mai HiME 0 ~ S.ifr, finally.***Snatches of YuriThe new Koihime Musou anime is full of LFB Yuri goodness. I'm told that it reads like a parody to people with a brain cell, so I have no doubt that when I finally get to watch it and say, "gee, it's a parody" I'll be called all *sorts* of names. LOLAnd over on the manga side of the equation, if Candy Boy is relevant to your interests, you'll probably want to keep an eye out for L16 the touching story of two sister...
More About: Week , July , 2008

Okazu Reader Survey
2008-07-17 16:34:00
The Okazu Reader Survey is now closed. Thanks to the 300 people who took it! I'll report the results as soon as I have a moment so you can see just who you are. :-)Last night, I received a comment that made me realize that while I *write* Okazu for two 40-something women who happen to live in my house, I am often read by people who are younger, male and totally LFB. So I thought about it a bit, and decided that I'd like to know who you are better than I do. I probably won't change my writing style or opinions, but I was just curious, because I have a pretty good idea of who I *think* is my audience.So, if you have a few seconds, Click Here to take survey. It's only 10 questions. I'm not collecting names or anything, I just want to know if you are who I think you are. :-)Thanks in advance!

Lesbian Novel: Sempai to Watashi
2008-07-16 20:30:00
Mori Natsuko-sensei is a well-known and well respected author in Japan. She got her start in speculative fiction/horror, and built up quite a following. She happens to be a lesbian and also writes lesbian and gay stories, many of which are extremely explicit and often, in my meager experience with her work, to have at least mild bondage. Mori-sensei currently writes the "Yuri doujou" advice colum for Yuri Hime magazine, in which she fields the same three questions over and over ad nauseum, but does it with the kind of humor and flair I would never be able to muster about someone else's tedious relationship problems. lol Mori-sensei also happened to be a guest at Yuricon 2005 in Tokyo, where I found her to be a sophisticated and cultured woman.Previously, I reviwed her book, Himeyuri-tachi no Houkago, which was a hilarious collection of exceptionally filthy short stories, almost all of which were so bonkers that my shrieks of laughter disturbed many an Acela passenger that weekend....
More About: Lesbian

Yuri Anime: Simoun, Volume 4 (English)
2008-07-15 21:00:00
It's not uncommon to run across this comment in anime forums in any language, referring to any anime - "It gets better in later episodes." Whether it's correct or not is entirely dependent upon whether you *like* whatever literary theme that particular anime is abusing, of course. lolIf you have been reading my reviews of Simoun here, you will know that I thought it was pretty breathtaking right out of the gate, but indeed, it also gets better in later episodes. I know that there are many fans of the series who consider Volume 4 to be the pinnacle of achievement.However...I have a dilemma. In order to talk to you about this particular volume coherently, I will need to spoil it. I don't want to do that, but there's no way to get around it. I'll do it as gently as I can.In Volume 4, several major themes are coming together and landing directly on the heads of the priestesses of Chor Tempest: One - their theocracy and the government based on it is weak, corrupt and foolish.Secondl...
More About: Anime , English , Yuri

Suzunari Manga, Volume 1 (English)
2008-07-14 22:34:00
Among the many amusing bits of fallout from my post yesterday, I got to bang my head against the the MegaTokyo Forums, the posters at which were completely befuddled by my refusal to stop being an all-Yuri publisher, and who, when I tried to gently explain that no one else out there is publishing the kind of Yuri I want to read, called me a "Feminazi." LOL I therefore dedicate this review to those fine, upstanding human beings. Suzunari is a moe catgirl 4-panel comic, with mild implications of Yuri twincest. I am well aware that there are many people who find it incredibly appealing to imagine that an underaged girl (drawn to look even younger) with cat ears might have an unrequited crush on a girl who looks exactly like her. I am not one of them. So for me, the "cute" in Suzunari went completely unappreciated. In fact, I had to force myself to finish the book. By about 2/3 of the way through though, I did actually say "hehe" in response to one of the 4-panel comics. So perhaps that...
More About: Manga , English , Volume

The Truth About Publishing, Selling and Buying Manga
2008-07-13 17:59:00
One of the top subject among all anime/manga blogs these days is the difficulities and frustrations of finding and buying the items that, as fans and consumers, we want to suport.I don't know if I'm going to be able to express well enough all the many complexities of the issues, so my apologies in advance if I seem like I'm oversimplifying or making things more confusing. To try and explain the whole mess, I thought I'd split the whole thing into three perspectives. Hopefully as I go through the process from each group's point of view, you can start to see the problem areas on your own. Honestly, I have no suggestions at all about how to fix this. Let's start with the point of view of the consumer:I want to buy a manga. I have several choices to decide how to do that. If I go to a comic book store, I can look through a copy of Previews (for which many comic stores charge, something that I think is criminal,) and decide what I want to read three months from now. The comic store...
More About: Truth , Buying , Selling , Manga , Publishing

Yuri News This Week - July 11, 2008
2008-07-12 15:00:00
While there's no huge news this week, there's a *lot* of Yuri -related news this week, so here we go!Yuri MangaSo, Seven Seas says that their Yuri line is fine, but many fans are frustrated and angry about their inability to *find* them. Even I have run into this. I've got some insight into the issue, but it is a very complex situation, so I'm going to write more about the publishing/distribution/buying cycle and its accompanying array of dizzying difficulties tomorrow. In the meantime, I'd like to hear from Seven Seas what they suggest for fans trying to find a copy of some of their earlier Strawberry titles?Yuri Hime Volume 13 goes on sale next Saturday, as does YH Comics collections, Yuri Hime Wildrose 2, Tokimeki Mononoke Gakuen 1 (yay!) and Creo the Crimson Crisis 1, which I will be skipping. Preorders are up on Amazon JP.Suzunari in English, will also be out shortly. It's got some Yuri - I'll be reviewing it here soon.There's a new manga coming out in English called Kas...
More About: News , Week , July , 2008

Drama CD: Hayate x Blade, Volume 3
2008-07-11 21:00:00
At last, we have another chance to wallow in the company of the competely dysfunctional students of Tenchi Academy, in Hayate x Blade Drama CD, Volume 3.And wallow we do, as amusing dysfunctions are paraded past our bemused ears, in this collection of 6 unrelated, original stories that showcase a remarkably large cast.In the first track, Ayana's room is filled to breaking point when pretty much every character ever mentioned in the manga shows up and crowds in....including all 80 of Akira's fan club, the A-team.We follow Mizuchi and Sou on a shopping trip to town, so Mizuchi can shed her old lady image - an objective that seems to be working until someone calls them mother and child.Jun visits Yuho for the usual touching moments, then - wait for it - the Amachi conglomerate's helicopter comes to pick her up. Yes! Tenchi Gakuen *also* has a private helicopter! Isn't that wonderful? Now I have three helicopters in my Yuri army air division! LOL In return for the visit, Yuho sends ...
More About: Volume 3

My Zhime (My Otome) Anime, Volume 4 (English)
2008-07-10 21:00:00
Welcome to Volume 4 of My Otome, the straightest volume of this otherwise quite gay series. (Don't worry, it gets gay again later.)Before I forget (which I am often wont to do,) thanks go out to Eric P. for his kindness in sponsoring today's review! So, in Volume 4, we spend most of the volume following Arika, who is suffering from a nasty (and I mean that both ways) case of lovesick. In other scenes, the Federation begins to crack and several of the countries start to gear up for war. The worst possible thing occurs and two Meisters are ordered to fight.Also in this volume we finally see that Tomoe has been the viper in the nest all along, as she sets Arika up to be attacked and throws Miya under the bus for it. We also get the first, brief, glimpse of her evil gayness, but it's only a hint at the moment.Speaking of gay, Shizuru leaves and we don't get a tearful scene between her and Natsuki, just a quiet moment of regret which speaks volumes about the trust and intimacy betwee...
More About: Anime , English

Seven Seas Says Strawberry Survives
2008-07-09 15:00:00
Breaking news!Seven Seas was kind enough to let me know that their Strawberry line of Yuri manga is *not* on hold. In fact, Strawberry Panic Light Novel, Volume 2 is out *right now*. You should of course run right out and order it because it is utterly cracktastic. Actually, while I'm talking about this book, let me warn you in advance that the translation is EXCELLENT. It's just that the original text is really quite laughably bad. LOL (See my review of the Japanese volume here.) I'll definitely review the English edition asap, because I want to see how they handled the overblown goings on at Astrea Hill. :-)In any case, thanks Seven Seas for clearing that up - we look forward to more Yuri from you!

Hanayashiki no Junin-tachi Manga
2008-07-09 01:08:00
After my Ghost in the Shell lecture at the Brooklyn Museum, myself, Sean and the wife went over to the shiny new Kinokuniya bookstore on 6th Avenue in Manhattan. It was indeed quite shiny and had goodies like that month's Cobalt Shueisha and a few other things of interest. Including Hanayashiki no Junin-tachi, the subject of today's review. Yet again, based solely on the cover art and my knowledge of Japanese manga, I was prepared to hate this story. lol I can't say I hated it, but it's not going in my top ten either. The art looked vaguely familiar to me, and I now find that the artists also did Blood +, so that explains that.I knew that the story would have to be a threesome that included - and starred - a guy, since there are two girls on the cover, touching and this is a Kadokawa book. It could not *possibly* be a Yuri manga about two girls. And indeed, it was not. The story follows a poor bastard named Aki, whose father is a drunken loser who beats Aki all the time, because...
More About: Manga

Yuri Anime: Kaleido Star, Volume 3 (English)
2008-07-08 00:49:00
Yuri fans hit paydirt with Volume 3 of Kaleido Star , in which Layla suddenly comes to the conclusion that Sora is her important partner. (Finally!) And we get to spend moments here and there noticing that Anna is acutally quite hunky and cool and that Mia is besotted, although more of that will come later. lolWe start the volume with a little time wallowing in Anna's backstory, then we spend not nearly enough time as Layla and Sora bond over their "Amazingly Hot New Production" (the amusing title of the episode) - in which they star as pirates fighting in a storm, while the ship/swing bursts into flame below them. Seriously, if you do not want to see *that* you are clearly beyond help.To cap off the volume, we get a painful episode where we learn that Carlos is in love with Sara, even though he treats her like crap (ah, beautiful Japanese-style heterosexual love.) Nothing against the straights, but, I'm sticking with Sora and Layla fighting with swords on a swinging, burning pira...
More About: Anime , English , Yuri

Yuri News This Week - July 5, 2008
2008-07-05 17:00:00
This news report is 100% complete as of the time I typed it, but there are still plenty of Industry panels to come at Anime Expo, so expect more updates later on.Yuri AnimeA second Ichigo Mashimaro OVA has been announced, so members of the "Cult of Miu" rejoice! (And look - I made us a badge. lol It's crappy. I don't care and I don't see you making one, so shush, you.)Funimation announced that they have picked up distribution rights for many Geneon and ADV anime properties including Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Murder Princess, and Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora, which was licensed (and already suspended) by ADV as Shattered Angels. Kyoshiro first volume was technically released and Volume 2 suspended, but I haven't actually seen Volume 1 anywhere, so basically, we're waiting for it from the beginning.Nozomi/Right Stuf announced Gakuen Alice at their Expo Panel last night.***Yuri MangaBig news this week is that Kodansha is launching a Kodansha US office to release manga on their own...
More About: News , Week , July , 2008

Happy Independence Day
2008-07-04 22:52:00
Today is the day Americans celebrate the choice, more than 200 years ago, to break with England and become an independent nation. Most people really don't think about that decision too much, but if you take a look at it objectively, it took some serious balls. No country had ever done that before. Ever. I sometimes wonder how different history might have been if our founding fathers hadn't made that decision. How long might it have been for any other country to take that leap, if ever? The French people revolted in part because they had a precedent - the Americans had successfully destroyed the mutually agreed-upon illusion that Kings were akin to Gods.I remember in 1976 when this country was celebrating that decision all year long as part of the Bicentennial, and every freaking class, club and organization I was in did *something* related to 1776. During that year I visited Philadelphia (site of the signing of the Declaration of Independence ,) Washington, D.C, (where I saw the a...
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Yuri Light Novel: Vanilla, A Sweet Partner
2008-07-04 03:04:00
You may have gotten the mistaken impression from reading these reviews, that I enjoy making a complete fool of myself in public, by laughing out loud and snorting in amusement while on public transportation, airplanes, waiting rooms, etc. This is not true - it's just that, given the average quality of what I read and watch, I can't help myself.Which brings us to today's review of a high quality lesbian schoolgirl killers Light Novel, Vanilla , A Sweet Partner , by Asaura. And special thanks to Anastasia Moreno for pointing me in the general direction of this work of "literature!" lol Vanilla follows the lives of the totally deranged schoolgirls Kei and Nao and their guns. And the guns of everyone around them. And random gun information, because, you know - guns! Yes, the author is a gun otaku and since I am not particularly enamored of guns in my native tongue, other than the fact that Kei used a Beretta 90 TWO and Nao a Takami rifle, I can't tell you a single thing about any of t...
More About: Light Novel

Goshujin ni Amai Ringo no Okashi Manga
2008-07-02 19:09:00
After having seen an essay on the manga Goshujin ni Amai Ringo no Okashi in Yuri Hime, I kind of expected something more than there was. -_-; I mean, for the little enough in there - it was awfully long essay. lolThe title story follows a girl who takes the position of maid for a wealthy household and who, through force of will and positive disposition, changes the outlook of the sulky master of the house. This is followed by a Yaoi/BL story of a prisoner and warden, that was the best, certainly the most engaging, story in the book.Last up is the one Yuri story, "Greenhouse Dancing Club," which is so mildly Yuri that I'm still not sure that it was worth reading, unless what you like to read most is endless variations of barely crushes among two-dimensional high school girls at, you guessed it, an all-girls school. Honestly, it was so nothing that it's not worth summing up. If you really, really, really want to read it, take a look at the Lililicious site. They have it. And they su...
More About: Manga

Yuri Anime: Puni Puni Poemy
2008-07-01 21:00:00
So, maybe you're sitting around watching some of your older anime and thinking, "Gee, I really like Excel Saga, but I wish it had more mindless Yuri and made less sense." Well, lucky for you, there's Puni Puni Poemy (aka Puni Puni Poemi). I get PPP. I really do. Because there have been days after I finished writing a really intense story or completed a series and I've lost my mind, too. You can't really stop it - it's like an allergic reaction. You need to get rid of the toxins somehow. In my case, I parody my own work and clearly, Nabeshin does, too. :-)So, there's a girl called Poemi who calls herself by the name of her seiyuu, Kobayashi, and who, after much tragedy, learns that when she skins a dead fish and holds the skeleton aloft, she becomes a powerful magical girl. It may seem a little strange at first glance, but when you think about it, it's really no more strange than accepting a locket from a talking Moon Cat or listening to your stuffed animal, or praying to God,...
More About: Anime

Live Action: Arch Angels
2008-06-30 21:00:00
After watching and reading fourteen million hours worth of Catholic schoolgirls getting into vary degrees of trouble, or not, I am the obviously not the only one who thought, "I wonder what would happen if these characters had superpowers and had to fight evil nuns?" Kawahara Izumi clearly had that same thought and so wrote the shoujo manga Warau Daitenshi Mikaeru, about three girls at St. Michael's Academy, a private school for girls. I have not yet had a chance to read the manga, but after watching the Live Action adaptation of the story, which has come to America under the name Arch Angels , I absolutely will track it down.The story follows Shijou Fumio, whose life radically alters when her mother dies. Although they lived in poverty, it turns out that Fumio's father was unbelievably wealthy and her older brother, who had been kept by the grandmother who threw her pregnant mother out, now wants Fumio in his life. Fumio transfers to St. Michael's and instantly, due to her good g...
More About: Live Action

This Week in Yuri - June 27, 2008
2008-06-28 15:49:00
Obviously, while I was at AnimeNEXT last week, some stuff happened. :-)Yuri MangaTop story is that Media Blasters has licensed and is working on Maka Maka, in glorious full color, with the internal extras. (No dolls, though. I asked about the dolls and they didn't know what I meant. Oh well, still no Jun and Nene dolls for me. Boo hoo. Unlike Right Stuf, Media Blasters folks don't really get the fans' (my) interest in physcal extras. Too expensive, no one cares, was the basic feedback I got. I think they are totally wrong about that, so if you happen to be talking to them at a con, tell them that you like the physical extras - postcards, dolls, phone straps, etc, too!) In any case, look for Maka Maka one day soon. :-) In the meantime, if you don't know why you should care, here's links to my reviews of Volume 1 and Volume 2.Here's an interesting little fact, through Brigid Alverson's Mangablog. Germany Tokyopop functions as a separate company from the American side, and they ...
More About: June , Week , 2008

Yuri Manga: Gunjou, Chapter 7
2008-06-28 01:03:00
While everyone else in the mangaverse is talking about the July issue of Morning 2 magazine because of the wonderful new manga series by American artist Felipe Smith, *I* want to talk to you about Morning 2 because of the story that's the main contender for best Yuri Manga of 2008, Gunjou.This manga is so awesomely dysfunctional that it makes me want to dance around in joy every time I get a new chapter. :-D Chapter 7 was complete and total win. Here's the quick background: A brunette, who is a straight, married woman - whom I refer to as BN - asks her close friend, a blonde lesbian (BL,) who is in love with her to murder her husband. BL does the murder, and BL and BN are now on the run from the police together. Before you read today's review, go read my review of Chapter 6, so you can catch up on where we are.BN is in her room, thinking miserably about how BL wishes she had killed her, rather than her husband. She is clearly missing BL, although she can't admit that. There is...
More About: Chapter 7

Kurau Phantom Memory Anime, Volume 5 (English)
2008-06-26 19:55:00
In Volume 5 of Kurau Phantom Memory , not only do Kurau and Christmas have to face the secret behind their situation, but Ayaka is also confronted with the ugly truth about her own life and loss.Despite the fact that all the characters are forced into sudden crises, there's really nothing that surprising to us, the audience. Certainly nothing that we hadn't guessed was at least a possibility.Christmas and Kurau do their best to protect and nurture Yvonn, but he cannot survive in the world as he is. They have another few quiet moments, where they charge their own energy and emotions, but when Ayaka joins them, more layers are peeled back around the corrupt core of the GPO and their absurdly dangerous and utlimately idiotic experiments with Rynax energy. (Dear all governments ever - any plan that includes phrases like, "human evolution," "super humans" "advanced army of humans" and anything similar, is guaranteed to be a Bad Idea TM. I hope that helps.)In any case, *just* as Kurau an...
More About: Anime , English

Light Novel: Maria-sama ga Miteru: Margaret ni Ribon
2008-06-05 19:58:00
In Maria -sama ga Miteru : Margaret ni Ribon, White Day is approaching and Yoshino, Shimako and Yumi have all gathered at the Rose Mansion to plan a way to return the chocolates that they received on Valentine's Day. They decide to buy candies and make small bags that they will decorate. As they decide on the forms, materials and decorations of the bags, each conversation leads into a short story. The first story picks up with the current life of former Rosa Chinesis, Mizuno Youko, first-year law student, but forever meddler and onee-sama to everyone around her. Youko's determination to be a completely different person - say, someone like Sei - fails utterly.Then we take a moment to look at former Rosa Foetida, Torii Eriko's, relationship with Yamanobe. This story was the best in the book, as she meets, befriends and ultimately agrees to be rivals with, Yamanobe's daughter. It was a short story, but very touching and beautiful. We get to see a side of Eriko we've never seen befor...
More About: Light , Light Novel

Gakuen Alice Manga, Volume 2 (English)
2008-06-04 19:38:00
Today's review of Gakuen Alice , Volume 2, is entirely due to the kindness of Grace E! Thanks Grace, for entering the ranks of sponsors here at Okazu!In Volume 1 of Gakuen Alice, we met irrepressibly positive and energetic Mikan, and followed her as she moved heaven and earth to be reunited with her BFF, Hotaru.In Volume 2, Mikan is now officially a member of the Alice School but, because because all energetic and cheerful protagonists need to overcome horrible and unnecessarily cruel obstacles, she is forced into the bottom of the entire class by being given no stars, i.e., no privileges. And to continue the abuse, the students have decided to scapegoat her, (which is hideous and annoying, but pretty sensible on their part because of the overwhelming fatalist beliefs at the core of most societies.) They can be abusive because she has no power - and having no power is proof that she deserves to be abused.To add to this cheerful scenario, Mikan learns that her letters to her Grandfat...
More About: Manga , English

Kaleido Star Anime, Volume 2 (English)
2008-06-02 22:36:00
For anime fans in general, but more specifically for fans romantic pairings, there's a delicious moment when one of the couple starts getting very irritated at his/her reaction to the other one. Often that irritated reaction is the sum and total of their personality, spawning any number of tsun-xyz combinations. Sometimes, they move beyond that phase...but not too often.In Volume 2 of Kaleido Star , Layla Hamilton - for a brief moment - becomes pointlessly and hopelessly irritated at Sora. It's kind of cute, but mostly because I know it's temporary. :-)In any case, there are all sorts of Yuri-esque situations floating around Volume 2, but the main plot is Carlos giving Sora all sorts of amazing opportunities, but doing it in the most assholish way possible. Of course, because Sora is our heroine, she overcomes every obstacle, and starts to create her own unique presence on the Kaleido Stage. It works. It really does. I gotta hand it to the writers, the whole "Little Mermaid" arc j...
More About: Anime , English

Hakodate Youjin Buraijou Himegami Manga, Volume 2
2008-06-01 17:25:00
In March, I took a chance on a new manga on the off chance that it might not suck, and lo and behold! it totally was wonderful manga crack! Women with giant haunches and breasts fighting supernatural creepy things in provocative clothes to save the poor peasants of Hakodate against evil foreign influences in the early days after Perry forced Japan open to the west. I enjoyed the heck out of it.And so we crack open the covers of Hakodate Youjin Buraijou Himegami Volume 2. The bad guys this time are a bunch of Civil War rejects that have become Youjin, who are seeking to encourage the assistance of a particular man by killing his son and threatening the rest of his family. His one child escapes and goes running straight into the arms of Cabaret dancer Himeka. Hime of course grabs Hyou and they head out to fight the evil foreigners.Of course Hyou gets in a little trouble and of *course* Himeka transforms into Himegami and this time we get to watch. Whoo. So Himegami and Hyou fight the ...
More About: Manga

Yuri News this Week - May 31, 2008
2008-05-31 15:43:00
Top Story this week - I am once again gainfully employed. Yay. (And I've got a part-time gig whch I'm keeping secret for the moment, but I'll tell you all about it alter. Promise.)Yuri MangaR.O.D.'s Hideyuki Kurata is doing a new series that will run in Dengeki Daioh magazine. There's no word yet on whether it will contain Yuri, but we are talking Kurata and Dengeki, so there's likely to be *something* we can make up in our heads. :-)Suzunari! an uber-moe series said to have Yuri by the Japanese Yuri blog Yuri na Hibi, is now available in English. Whether that is a *good* thing or a bad is entirely personal. lol***Marimite News A couple of people have forwarded this cover of Cobalt Shueisha starring Yuuki. This is indeed a special story about "Buddha Watches You," starring the fine young lads of Hanadera Academy. A few folks have jumped to the conclusion that this marks a whole new series, which is kind of a leap. I'm sorry to disappoint - it's only a special issue. (I consid...
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