Each month in this section, OCAG's resident Marine, Hugo (aka Commarine) showcases a selection of anime and manga titles, whether new or classic (or both) and shares his reviews for each title as well as a run down of the plot. So for your enjoyment, check out the latest installment of Commarine's picks and be sure to check out the archives for past months by clicking one of the buttons above.
More from Commarine:
Ah Valentine's, the holiday of love. A time when all types of relationships flourish through gifts, candy, and romantic retreats. It seems only fair that my picks this month offer a fair amount of romance. However, I plan to add a little twist to my picks of amore. This month I'm picking an entire genre that's been steadily on the rise in the American otaku world: the genre of yuri.
Now I know what some of you are thinking. Yuri is just a form of hentai where the story takes the back burner in favor of graphic, hardcore sexual encounters. Though this may be true for some yuri material, I'm focusing on the newly imported yuri that focuses more on romance and the relationships between the characters. Sort of following the lead of the established yaoi scene, the new yuri is changing the genre from simple hentai to a romance genre. So, I'll be reviewing three prominent yuri manga. This is mainly because the aren't very many yuri anime imports (Only Kashi Mashi comes to mind). Historically however, manga tends to the precursor for anime, so I expect yuri anime is not far from reaching our shores...
The Last Uniform
At Tsubakigaoka Girl's Dorm, love is in the air, yet no one is making the first move! Just about every girl has a crush on another. To make matters worse, many are roomed together. With all the girls in such intimate surroundings, can any of them remain 'just friends'? Or, will one or more be overcome with emotion and confess their love? For the girls of Tsubakigaoka, only time will tell.
Main Characters
Too many to list! This is one of a few rare stories I read were every character is as important as the other. What makes it more atypical is its large cast. Most stories with an equal level of character importance tend to have a small amount of characters to make the story manageable. The Last Uniform is one of the few stories I've seen that does character equality well with such a large amount of characters.
Why I like it: This is a very cute story that harkens me back to my younger days. Back when family comedies showed love in innocent and endearing ways. The Last Uniform masters these moments to the extreme. With each girl having a crush on one another (with some crushes crisscrossing) almost every moment of the story has an inkling of love. Though this may sound like the story is nothing but frustration and awkward moments, the writer deftly composes the story so the possible tension between characters becomes more like sweet antidotal events. This is somewhat similar to those after school family sitcoms that I used to watch as a kid. Shows like Family Matters or Full House portrayed their relationships with funny, a little romantic, but always innocent interactions. Unfortunately, this runs the risk of the story becoming bland. The writer detours the risk by emphasizing the premise of the crush.
Though each girl likes another, none of them have made of move yet. Mostly because of fear or shyness, the girls are keeping their feelings secret despite the situations they often encounter. Sooner or later however, one of them will eventually confront their crush and confess. The interest for the reader lies in which girl will be the first. Will it be one of the more outspoken girls? Or will one of the quiet ones surprise the readers take the lead? Either way, the question of who will it be keeps the reader interested enough to follow the story through each consecutive volume. The art is based on the tall, skinny style mainly seen in shoujo manga and anime, this gives the girls a more youthful look despite being in high school. Though I'm not a big fan of this style, the art is very clean and simple emphasizing the innocent love that the story projects.
My Verdict: Despite its multiple, confusing relationships, the is a sweet and simple yarn that is a great introduction ot reading yuri.
Voiceful
Kanae is a xenophobic girl commonly referred to as a 'NEETS'. For quite some time, she remained in her room trying her best not to leave. Things changed for her though when she began listening to the music of internet pop star Hina; gaining resolve from Hina's songs, Kanae strives to leave her room and become once again a productive member of society. On her first day out, she is surprised when she passes her idol Hina on the street. Confronting Hina and expressing her gratitude, she and Kanae becomes friends and begin to develop a close relationship between idol and fan.
Main Characters
Kanae: Incredibly introverted, she used Hina's music as inspiration to go back out into the world. In their first encounter, she unthinkingly blurted out, 'I wish you all the happiness in the world!' and presented Hina with a piece of strawberry daifuku (pastry). Though thinking herself an idiot, Kanae's actions will eventually have Hina contact her and start the close relationship between them.
Hina: An independent singer from a broken home, she has trouble singing live. As such, she kept her herself to the small studio in her house. But as her music becomes popular among internet music sites, the demand for her to sing live steadily increases. Hina is deep in thought with this problem when she encounters a wide-eyed girl on the street. After a weird conversation Hina goes home with the gift given by her fan. Now preoccupied with her encounter, Hina strives to find her biggest fan which begins the relationship that may change each girl forever.
Hiru: A guitar player and former street performer, she met Hina on a bench the day Hina ran away from home. After hearing her story, Hiru took in Hina and encouraged her to sing. Years later, Hiru became her manager when Hina's music was posted on the net. Despite being young herself, Hiru quickly became the mother figure in Hina's life.
Why I like it: There is no end in what I can say about the effect of music in people's lives. For both these girls, music has helped them to pull through some incredible hardships and to find a meaningful relationship. Hina's life began in a broken home. Her mom left at an early age and her dad was a drunk. Her only point of light in her life was her sister. But when her sister died in an accident, she felt lost and ran away from home. Feeling despondent, Hina's life was given a new lease by music when she met Hiru and began to sing under her tutelage. Though now having a purpose, she once again confronts another obstacle when her stage fright prevents her from progressing in her singing career. Once again music lends a helping hand when Hina meets her biggest fan Kanae and begins a relationship that gives her strength to sing live.
For Kanae, music helped her through inspiration. Being a xenophobe, she feared leaving her room. Through the music of Hina, Kanea gained courage to leave her room; this in turn allowed her to meet her idol. Despite her awkward introduction (I'm fairly sure I may have done something similar if I met one of my musical idols), her newly found courage helped her find a relationship with Hina. With music, Kanae not only gained strength, but love as well.
Unlike the Last Uniform's innocent style, Voiceful reads more like a prime-time drama such as the OC or One Tree Hill. Despite their connection, Kanae and Hina often encounter problems that effect the way they feel about themselves or each other. Aside, from their aforementioned obstacles, other problems like musical criticism or an arising sense of inferiority add depth and complexity to their bond. This pulls in the reader with the drama of their struggle to keep their relationship together. Their use of the strength to overcome their problems also helps by acting as the payoff of the emotional investment the reader places on the characters. The art is similar to the shoujo style. However the artist rounds out the characters faces similar to the art of Azumanga Daioh or Strawberry Marshmallow. Despite the round faces, the artists excels in making the characters have a late teenager look which creates the style needed for a dramatic story.
My Verdict: If you're a fan of those young drama shows such as the OC, this story is a great read with a yuri twist.
Strawberry Panic
Transfer student Aoi Nagisa walks with enthusiasm as she begins her first day in St. Miator Girls Academy. Aoi suddenly stops on her way when she spots a pale-skinned beauty standing on a low hill. For Aoi, seeing Hanazono Shizuma (the most popular girl in school) it is love at first sight. However, things are not what they seem, to Aoi's chagrin, Hanazono is a notorious heartbreaker and has set her sights on Aoi herself. Can Aoi shy away from Hanazomo's advances or will the impeding Etoile competition will be the breakpoint for her?
Main characters
Aoi Nagisa: Transfer student to St. Miator. Being in a new environment, she tries to redefine herself as a person. However, when she became the new target for Hanazono, her school life has now become a cat and mouse game where she tries to fall into Hanazono's clutches and have her heart broken by the school's resident playboy (er.... girl).
Hanazono Shizuma: The most popular girl in school, she was St. Miator's Etiole (meaning star) the previous year with another classmate. Despite her relationship with the other girl, she is easily bored and dumps her with little emotion. When Hanazono sets her sights on Aoi, her attraction to her grows exponentially as Aoi rebuffs her advances. To get closer to Aoi, Hanazono devises a plan to have her and Aoi become the Etoile couple for the next competition. Will her plan work and get possession of Aoi or will Hanazono be rebuffed again and force her change her ways?
The Schools: Like the Last Unifom, there are way too many characters to include in this list, so I will say a little something about Astrea Hill and The Etoile System. Astrea Hill is a district consisting of three Catholic Girl's schools: St. Miator, St. Spica, and St. Le Rim. Being so close, the girls of each school often interact with each in sports, clubs, or just casual relationships. The most important interaction of the three schools, however, is the Etoile Competition. The Etoile is a competition where a couple from each school is chosen to represent their school where the winning couple will be known as the Etoile Couple. The winning couple brings prestige to their respective school making the Etoile highly sought after by the three schools. As such, they try to get their most popular students to compete. Though the previous winner was Hanazono with another girl, when she volunteered to compete again as long if it's with Aoi, the student council used all their power have Aoi be Hanazono's partner. Thus begins the chaos in the life of Aoi Nagisa.
Why I like it: This is by far my favorite story of the three yuri manga. It is written as an anime romantic comedy similar to Aoi Ori Aoshi or Love Hina. Most of the comedy is based on funny situations with a little bit of slapstick. The characters are very unique and easy to relate to. Best of all, the story has one of the weirdest dualities I have ever seen in manga. Strawberry Panic veers to and fro within two different undertones, religious reverence and lesbian romance. Astrea Hill is a District of Catholic schools. For this reason, the story contains a lot of images and references to the Catholic religion. What I find interesting about it is how this story portrays the religion. Most other manga/anime that utilize Christianity often pick and choose pieces from the religion that suit the premise of the story.
Often times, usually accidentally, the pieces of the religion fused with parts of the story contradict with one or more principles exalted by the religion. Strawberry Panic surprised my by utilizing the Catholic religion with great care and reverence. The writer gave great thought when using Catholicism for the story. Instead of blaring it at the reader, Catholicism is presented in subtle references such as crosses on uniforms, or having the main characters retrieve holy water from the church to show a walking conversation scene. The writer even placed a religious reference on the setting of the story by slyly making Astrea Hill a three school district (a subtle nod to the Holy Trinity). Though religion plays a big part of the story, it is offset by proliferation of risqué romance. Of three manga reviewed, this one is the most adult; the previous two stories depict intimate moments between couples by innocent hugging, hand holding, and longing stares. At most, a kiss masked by their hair is as for they the two stories will go in terms of intimacy.
Strawberry Panic ups the a bar by being a little more racy. Though Strawberry Panic won't be considered a hentai (it stops short of nudity), it does become a more suggestive manga by adding sexual attraction to relationships. Scenes containing kissing, embracing, and slight fondling are not uncommon. One of the more more naughty elements of the story that I found very fascinating was secret purpose of St. Miator's library. To most girls in the Astrea Hill, going to St. Miator's library rarely meant going to study. The immense size of the building and the labyrinthian aisles create many secluded spots away from prying eyes. As such, many couples of the three schools make their way to St. Miator's hallowed book depository for a bit of 'private time'. To me, this little extra spices up the story and makes many of the more humorous moments just a bit funnier.
The art is a clean style similar to manga/anime romantic comedies such as Mahoromatic or Love Hina. It is a bright style with expressive characters and a moderate use of chibi. Though not innovative, the art's familiarity does help ease the reader into the story.
My Verdict: If you're a big fan of the romance comedy in anime/manga, this story is a superb read. It's a great manga that goes to show that you don't need a male lead to make a great harem story.
Bonus info: Though new to the American shore, Strawberry Panic is a big franchise in Japan. Light novels, audio CDs, anime, OVAs, video games, as well as manga make up Strawberry Panic's rich lexicon of media. Given time, this story may be one of the first yuris to pioneer into the America as an anime.
