Yuri Manga Review: Haru Ni

Quick post today about a one-shot I randomly came across scrolling through Dynasty Scans (I think that's probably my favourite past time right now... ).

The title of the yuri one-shot is Haru Ni by Huyou Satoyoshi:

I will start out by saying that the scantalations group translated a short intro on the author at the beginning of the manga, and being female myself, I always find it surprising how male authors can do yuri mangas (converse is true too, how female authors could articulate yaoi mangas).

The manga depicts a conversation between 2 childhood friends, on the day of their high school graduation. It somehow reminds me a little of the movie, Before Sunrise, where much of the movie's plot is told through conversations between the 2 protagonists. You actually don't get much of an introduction to the 2 protagonists in the manga (hell I have read the manga twice over the last hour and I still cannot remember the names of the 2 protagonists), but that's not important because not much character development takes place in the one-shot.

The plot revolves strongly around the theme of "farewell" and "crushed dreams", dramatising how the realities of life destroys dreams and hopes of teens. As the 2 teens reminiscence how life throws them lemons,  honestly, as an adult female reader out in the working world, I find it hard to empathise with the 2 protagonists. Perhaps today I am in a bad mood, or perhaps I just simply do not understand the point of the author centering the story around crushed dreams. I somehow find that the whole manga felt like 2 spoilt teenage girls complaining that they did not get all they wanted in life.

When life throws you lemons, make lemonades! Girls, be ambitious!!

Honestly the only part of the one-shot that resonated with me was when 1 of the protagonist gambled everything and suddenly confessed, out of the blue. However, there were no nuances in the story previously to suggest that they had any special kind of relationship aside from being childhood friends. But seeing as one of the theme of the manga is "crushed dream", you could probably guess what happened next.

The art is not too bad, but not fantastic. I didn't like the way the protagonists were drawn as I personally prefer traditional moe-look for manga characters, but I have to say the author drew the sakura trees and some of the background splendidly. Therefore, no particular complains in that department.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this manga, unless you are really bored and need to look for some SFW yuri to kill 10 minutes of your time. Otherwise, don't bother, they are much better manga out there (hint, my previous 6 blog posts). I would rate this manga a 3/10.

Yuri Manga Review: A Kiss and A White Lily

The manga that I'm going to review today is A Kiss and A White Lily by Canno. I actually came across this manga while non-chalantly flipping through the recent additions to Dynasty Scans, and I have to say, this manga was a pleasant surprise to me.

First off, let me start by saying that this manga stays very true to its Tsundere tag. The manga series, though still ongoing, is at 17 Chapters on Dynasty Scan and has several pairings already, typically involving an excited partner with a tsundere partner. However, the transition and interlinks between the couples are done tastefully well by the author, that none of the couples are come across as annoying or redundant.

The foreground characters are also the first and main pairing of the series

The first pairing that the series introduced, and perhaps the main pairing in the series, is honestly not my favorite, but did well enough to capture my attention. They are the titular characters shown in the above picture, with the one on the left being Shiramine Ayaka, the primary tsundere character in this pairing. Shiramine is the typical honor student - smart, works hard and takes pride at being at the top. Guess a picture says a thousand words, so I'm just going to let the picture below speak for itself:

The other character is Kurosawa Yurine, who is a genius that the outperforms Shiramine, and basically everyone in the school in everything, without even needing to try:

Over the first chapter, the 2 characters draw closer to each other mainly through Shiramine's competitive spirit and Kurosawa's amusement. It was interesting premise since this was somewhat similar to Kare Kano (if you haven't seen this anime, its a hetero romantic, school-life story between a top female honor student and the top male honor student). Kurosawa's indifference to everything makes her genius-like abilities very likeable, coupled with how that makes Shiramine irritated, produces quite a bit of comedic moments. 

At first glance, I thought the manga would be a drawn out tsundere-type story as Shiramine sees another side of Kurosawa and etc., and I was honestly ready to pass my judgement (and maybe give up on the manga if it was going too slow) on the first chapter of the manga until I saw this at the last few pages of the FIRST chapter:

Then it's game on.

And immediately my interest was piqued and sustained.

My favorite pairing of the series is actually Senoo Mizuki (incidentally, Shiramine's cousin) and Nikaidou Moe:

These 2 remind me of the couple from Kase-san, where Mizuki who is nicknamed “prince” is actually not very princely-like, while Moe does not exactly fit into the damsel in distress stereotype. These 2 display to me a somewhat more evolving, mature side of school-life, yuri romance that is similar to Sasameki Koto. Without spoiling the manga further for you, I would say this pairing would not disappoint if you are looking for a romance similar to Sasameki Koto.

There are other pairings in the series too, namely a senpai and kouhai relationship (or should I say 2 senpai and kouhai relationships) and another pairing involving a more psychotic tsundere partner (not Mai-Hime’s Shizuru psychotic-level but still, pretty intense) and a gardening club president. All of the pairings really has their own appeal which would most likely keep you reading on, rather than skipping the pages and looking for only the main pairing.

Aside from the story and the characters, the art is, as usual, of very high quality. The characters and background are very well-drawn that I have not spotted any peculiarity at all.

Overall, I would rate the manga a solid 8/10 and recommend that you try it, if you like a good school-life yuri romance manga.

Yuri Fanfiction Author review: aprileagle

Had a bit of inspiration today to blog about something different today when I was walking home from work. So about 4-5 years ago, I was actually a fanfiction author fanatical about posting fanfiction on Sailormoon's Haruka and Michiru. Well, all I could say was my obsession with bittersweet romances (and yuri, basically) started quite a while back.

This blog post would be about the author that inspired me to write Haruka and Michiru fanfiction: aprileagle (https://www.fanfiction.net/u/92755/aprileagle). I have to admit that this author was the one who got me started fervently reading Haruka and Michiru fanfiction, hoping that I could find more that could emulate what this author wrote.

Of course along the way, I found a few good ones... maybe I would do a post about the top 10 Haruka and Michiru fanfiction I have ever read. Or maybe just a blog post about a collection of awesome Haruka and Michiru doujins, fanfiction and materials. But let's leave that for later.

Aprileagle has a huge talent for writing and it is a pity that she stopped posting new stories back in 2008 on fanfiction.net. Her Haruka and Michiru fanfiction never fail to incite emotions in me that I never knew could be incited, through fanfiction. Her stories mostly revolve around heartwarming love stories in bittersweet circumstances.  Something that I liked about her stories as well, is that there is a recurring similarity pictorial descriptions, for instance, the recurring setting of Haruka and Michiru living at a lighthouse converted home, near the sea. Somehow after reading the first story with the same visual theme, the rest of the stories is easy to visualise, making the reading experience much more intimate.

Now in 2015, the stories are a little old, since they were written during the period of 2003 - 2008, but still a goodie.

Below is a list of my recommendation that in my honest opinion, if you are a fan of yuri, you should read them if you haven't:

1. Heaven's Starlight
Synopsis by the author: COMPLETE! Haruka leaves Michiru. She doesn't want to go. She doesn't want to leave. But she has to. Until Michiru finds out that her Ruka is an angel's child. Desperately she starts to fight for her love.
Rated: M
Genre: Romance/Angst
Chapters: 11 , Words: 124,023
Status: Completed

Review: This is honestly my favorite work amongst all her fanfiction stories. The plot is seriously like a German soap opera where Haruka falls prey to a mysterious illness, and the aftermath it does to her family. However, the way Haruka and Michiru reacts to Haruka's illness is exactly how I would envision them in the anime to react. I have to say I literally bawled my eyes out the first time I read this story. This story made me like soap operas, and inspired me to write my own Haruka and Michiru fanfiction (which I am too embarrassed to share it here right now in case anybody actually reads my blog). I highly recommend this to anybody looking for a good, angsty drama that ends off with a really romantic ending.

One quote from the story: "I am sorry, that I wasted all our years" was a quote that stuck with me for life.

2. Home
Synopsis by the author: The pupil at school don't like Haruka very much. The wild tomboy. Until a new pupil comes into the class and conquers Haruka's heart easily.
Rated: M
Genre: Romance/Drama
Chapters: 7 , Words: 80,090
Status: Completed

Review: If I have to choose a 2nd favourite, this would be it. This coming-of-age story perfectly depicts how a supportive friend can change an unpopular, depressed kid's perspective of the world. Add to the fact that it is a Haruka and Michiru fanfiction, plus the romantic outcome at the end, this makes one of most perfect yuri fanfiction combination ever. However, Haruka's character, in my honest opinion, is a little out-of-character (OOC). So if you don't mind a little OOC and a good, tearjerker, this is a must-read.

3. No child of mine
Synopsis by the author: Michiru searched for a long time for her Uranus in vain. The senshi of wind never woke up. So she has to take care for baby Hotaru all on her own after they were able to defeat Mistress 9 without Uranus. Until one night...
Rated: T
Genre: Romance
Chapters: 7 , Words: 62,528

Status: Completed

Review: This story depicts an Alternate Universe (AU) where Haruka was never awakened and Michiru had to go through the events of Sailormoon Super all by herself. Again, to be completely honest, Haruka (and even Michiru) is a little OOC. But, aprileagle still managed to retain the more endearing qualities and add a bit of angst into their backstories to make this story another well-worth 8 hours of read. Not as tearjerking as the first 2 stories that I have listed, but nevertheless heartwarming still.

4. Break the silence

Synopsis by the author: Haruka and Michiru love each other...but have yet to break the silence. So they go on vacations together.
Rated: T
Genre: Romance
Chapters: 6 , Words: 30,602

Status: Completed

Review: Of all her stories, this one stays the truest to the anime (although fans of Yamada Mario's doujins might disagree). Though this story is substantially shorter than the previous few, I have to say this has the most realistic depiction of Haruka and Michiru, were they real, actual humans living in this world. The struggle of coming out individually is real, but the struggle dragging another person potentially through the mud is also real. I can totally relate to Haruka's fears depicted in the story. I would recommend this for another heartwarming read.

5. Wanted Child
Synopsis by the author: Michiru always wanted to have an own child. But a bad illness destroys her greatest wish. While she's on tour to accept that destiny, Haruka accepts the gift Usagi makes to prevent a great tragedy.
Rated: T
Genre: Romance/ Angst
Chapters: 10 , Words: 40,294

Status: Completed

Review: Another OOC story (I seriously cannot, for the life of me, visually imagine Haruka pregnant) but tells of a story where one woman makes all the necessary sacrifice to save her lover. Again, I have to stress how strange I felt to imagine Haruka pregnant. However, that being said, aprileagle still did a great job writing the story and making it believable, despite my imaginarium reservations. Heartwarming and sad as always, but not quite the tearjerker as the first 2 stories.

And there you have it, a list of 5 stories that I would recommend you, if you are interested in reading from one of my favourite fanfiction authors to date.

As always, feel free to let me know your thoughts.

NSFW Yuri Manga Review: The Cutest Girl in the World

This is probably a tamed (well I've seen worst), but NSFW yuri manga... The Cutest Girl in the World by Takano Saku. (http://mangafox.me/manga/the_cutest_girl_in_the_world/c000/1.html) 

**warning: NSFW pictures ahead depicting sex, do not read if you are under 18 (in fact, I would not even encourage you to read my blog if you are under 18)

So basically, the manga is about 2 real sisters falling in love, and depicts the actual "confession" scene between the 2 sisters, which turns into sex pretty soon:

I have to first qualify that I am not a particular fan of incestuous relationships, no matter what form they come in. However, if you are looking for a short, sweet yuri one-shot about girls confessing their love for one another, this short manga would not disappoint.

The art is fantastic (I realise I have been reading manga with great art so far) too, so no complains there.

I would rate it 5/10 (read only if you are bored).

Yuri Manga Review: As Yet I Have No Name

Thinking I should really start reviewing mangas the moment I finish them, as a way to remember I've actually read this before. Ha ha.

Anyways, the manga for today would be As Yet I Have No Name by Kazuma Kowo. There's a total of 3 chapters + 2 extras in the series. (http://dynasty-scans.com/series/as_yet_i_have_no_name)

Another strange manga that I would tell you right now I rate it 5/10 (read only if you are bored and have some free time).

Let me start out by saying that I have never heard of the author until today when I read this. But checking her profile out, I realise the author was the same author as Pure Adolescence Water, which was one of the yuri mangas that I know a few bloggers out there would rate it as amongst their top 10 or 20 manga. I have yet to try that manga, so I can't really say much about it. But don't worry reader, I will review it when I do.

When I came across this manga randomly on Dynasty Scans, can't say I had high hopes because I simply didn't like the way one of the protagonist was drawn to be so masculine that I easily mistook it for a hetero couple. But seeing how Haruka was so masculine in Sailor Moon, I decided to give it a try. But the more I read the manga, the more the whole manga felt like a fanfiction of Haruka and Michiru, just drawn with new characters.

You might wonder why did I draw that reference?

For starters, the long-haired protagonist, Kisaragi, was literally observing the other protagonist, Amamori, with a strange obsession, like how a lot of fanfiction writers envision Michiru to be with Haruka.

But the manga takes a strange turn when a normally rude gesture is somehow portrayed as cute and "relationship-building" which I cannot comprehend.

Why on earth is forgetting someone's name cute?

Anyways, for those who just want to know if the story ended well, let's just say it manages to tie up some loose ends nicely... which is probably why I would give it a 5/10 and not lower.

But I have to say the art is fantastic, the details and quality is not a let down at all. Pity about the character and story though...

Well, TL;DR: Try is if you are looking for something short and yuri while you are bored and you have some spare time.

Yuri Manga review: Eventually, I will become yours (ongoing)

Let me just start out by saying that I am really a beginner in this blog business, tagging and reading yuri mangas.

I started picking reading mangas only this year in fact, but the first yuri manga I've read (probably blog about it some other time) inspired me so much to fervently seek out the yuri genre. From then on, my love for yuri manga just... exploded.

Right now all I really want to is to blog about the stuff that I read.

Feel free to comment as well... I welcome all comments on yuri manga :)

Right now I will start with the review of Eventually, I will become yours.

Honestly, I started reading the manga because I was following Nakatani Nio. The author has a few awesome doujins about the Touhou project and let me tell you in no uncertain terms, I enjoyed her Touhou doujins. If you came across this blog but have not heard of her, you can check out some of her works over at dynasty scans: http://dynasty-scans.com/authors/nakatani_nio 

Eventually, I would become yours is still ongoing and as of this review, only 5 chapters and 1 extra has been translated and released.

I would certainly recommend it to those who are looking for a manga similar to Fragtime - except that the protagonists have no superpowers to stop time, though one of them do remind me of a psychopath, somehow.

Well, without spoiling too much of the story, so far the story started off about a 2nd year high school student council member and a high school freshman's (lack of) views on romantic love, where they actually bonded over rejecting confessions. However, the similarity in both of them ironically piqued their interest towards each other and... I'm sure you can tell how the story goes after.

The art is awesome as you can see:

But I would like to caution that the one of the protagonists, is strange, to say the least. Well, she didn't have super powers like Moritani-san from fragtime, but her level of internal indifference is difficult for me to comprehend. On one hand, she portrays all signs of "normal", for example, having fun with friends, being a filial child to her parents and grandparents, but somehow her internal conversations revolve around herself having no feelings almost close to psychopathic indifference, though yet she exemplifies all signs of a normal girl's reaction towards being showered with affection. Or maybe it's just me who finds it strange. Hmm.

For the other protagonist... let's just say I thought she had a friend who was more deserving of her affections.

But what interest me the most is the changing dynamics between the two protagonists, how it transformed from the freshman looking up to the senior to the reverse.

Well I'll definitely be waiting for more chapters to be released.

For now in my own personal rating system, I would probably give this manga a 6.5/10. Try it, if you liked fragtime.

Starting a simple yuri blog...

Hi world...

Noticed the lack of Yuri blogs around (though I can name a few good ones that I follow, like Yurination and Yuri Review) and decided to contribute to the Yuri community and start one on my own.

Hope you enjoy the read and feel free to leave comments!