Yuri Manga Highlights of 2011

As with my anime list, I decided to list the titles in this post alphabetically (well, alphabetically within each category) rather than worry about ranking them.

Top 5 Finished Series: 

Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan by Fujieda Miyabi (2 volumes + drama CDs):
A Happily-Ever-After ending to a very sweet, very gay series. (The Amber Teahouse is simply awash with women of the yuri persuasion.) May we continue to see Sarasa and Seriho cameo in many more Fujieda series.

Even though this isn't manga-relevant, I'd like to mention again that I really appreciate Fujieda for writing a new story for every single drama CD based on his works. Excluding the Marimite drama CDs, my face falls a little every time I find that a drama CD I've gotten re-enacts an already existing story.

Blue Friend season 1 by Eban Fumi (2 volumes):
This story incorporates some of the less positive tropes of yuri but, in a way, transcends them. Blue Friend's themes about overcoming the past and the fear of opening up about the bad experiences in one's life to someone whose opinion one deeply cares about were poignant and well-integrated with the yuri between its two leads.

Nobara no Mori no Otome-tachi season 1 by Shirasawa Marimo (2 volumes):
This story is a love letter to many of the fun tropes of yuri, made for a shoujo audience with nods to the older folks who know what series Nobara owes its heritage to. Even though I know that "yuri" isn't synonymous with "lesbian," etc, etc, I love that something like this (or Blue Friend, Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, etc) can come out in Japan without the homophobes collectively getting their panties in a twist over "protecting" children from being exposed to the idea of same-sex relationships.

Octave by Akiyama Haru (6 volumes):
We loved it, we hated it, we loved to hate it. But really, we mostly loved it. I would have loved to see Yukino come out to her family (she seemed like she was just about to before this series ended), but the ending to this series was still great, and we know that Yukino and Setsuko will be happy. As not only a yuri series, but a series about growing up and sorting out one's life as a young adult, Octave was excellent.

Renai Joshika by Morishima Akiko (2 volumes):
Morishima Akiko knows how to hit all of the right buttons. She loves writing about cute, lovey-dovey adult couples, and I love her for it. Arisu was a hoot to follow, and I'm glad she got a Happily-Ever-After with the girl she wanted. (Among the other cute couples this series has covered.) I also love Renai Joshika for making same-sex marriage a prominent point of discussion.

Honorable Mention: 

Sweet Little Devil by Nanzaki Iku (1 volume):
My most "subjective" inclusion in this post. This was a highlight for me because it's the first time I've bought a tankoubon by someone whose doujinshi I have liked for years. For a very particular niche of the yuri fandom, this book's publication was a huge "OMG!" moment.

Top 5 Series That Have Been Collected Into Tankoubon This Past Year But Are Still Ongoing:

Aoi Hana by Shimura Takako (6 volumes so far):
For Fumi coming out as a lesbian to her straight friends- showing how much she has grown since she first came out- and Orie and Hinako getting married and coming out to Orie's family. I still love this series to pieces.

Fu~fu by Minamoto Hisanari (1 volume so far):
For being an sweet look at domestic bliss, starring Suu and her wife Kina. (Plus Komugi and Hayase, the lesbian couple next door, and Kina's sister Kana, the lesbian Don Juan who finally meets her match.) Watching Kina and Suu just makes me happy, the other characters are fun, and I love Minamoto Hisanari for making a case for two women to be able to use the term "wife" for each other.

Gunjo by Nakamura Ching (2 volumes so far):
Speaking of transcending negative tropes...but in this case, tropes that are ascribed to queer women across different media rather than simply yuri. Gunjo is a challenging read (in more than one sense), and that's refreshing when- as in this case- it's done well. I cried for the character who died in volume 2, and I'm on pins and needles waiting to see how things end for Gunjo's nameless lesbian protagonist and the woman she threw everything away for.

Omoi no Kakera by Takemiya Jin (1 volume so far):
Out of all of the titles I've read for the first time this year, Omoi no Kakera easily has my favorite protagonist. Mika is a loveable, intelligent, refreshingly self-aware lesbian, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of her life. 

Sasameki Koto by Ikeda Takashi (8 volumes so far):
Sasameki Koto occupies a gray space between this category and the first category because it has ended but its final tankoubon hasn't been published yet. For its loveable characters and depiction of what it's like to be a gay teen in a way that rings true again and again, Sasameki Koto always deserves a spot on this list. I'm really looking forward to getting that final volume.

Series That Haven't Been Published As Tankoubon Yet:

Collectors by Nishi UKO:
Collectors is about Shinobu and Takako, two women who are complete nerds for very different things. Shinobu loves books and Takako loves fashion. They love each other despite, and to some extent because of their different passions. (Someone who isn't passionate about anything wouldn't make someone who is happy, imho.) I love the premise and look forward to seeing it in tankoubon form.

Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo by Morinaga Milk:
The return of Morinaga Milk's first (and arguably most) popular couple! And it addresses an issue that Girl Friends, realistic though it was, tiptoed around- coming out! (Four for you, Morinaga Milk! You go, Morinaga Milk!) The announcement of Nana and Hitomi's return was the best yuri news of 2011.

Must-Read Manga of Yuri Interest Published in English:

Cardcaptor Sakura omnibus 2 by CLAMP:
For continuing to re-introduce Tomoyo, one of yuri's most iconic classic characters.

Confusion

I got the issue of Ribon Special that has the 100 page epilogue to Blue Friend, Blue Friend ~after days~, and started flipping through it. I started reading ~after days~ verbatim, but a feeling of, "Wtf- how did the story travel from point A to point B here?" overwhelmed me by the end of page one and I decided to skim it. This epilogue raises more questions than it answers but it does clarify that Blue Friend has a yuri ending.

Steer clear from the remainder of this post if ye want to avoid spoilers.

More Thoughts on Blue Friend (and Marimite), and How Strike Witches Almost Ruined a Party

Have you ever had a series that you began reading or watching with ambivalent, or even antipathetic, feelings, but it eventually grew on you more than you expected?

When I first started watching Marimite, I had an irrational "Ahhh!!" reaction to it because I had just transferred out of a Catholic school I loathed. (Don't get me started on the mandatory praying at the beginning of every class and homeroom, lame attempts to get students to make purity pledges, the nutty religion teacher who told a student to kiss a Bible after he dropped it on the floor....) Seeing a bunch of characters being like, "Let us pray to Maria-sama; we take pride in our school's traditions" made me twitch, but they grew on me and by the time I finished the first season of Marimite, I thought that it was a beautiful story filled with loveable, relatable characters. (The Lillian student body's pervasive acceptance of very close bonds among themselves completely divorced it from my image of my old school.)

That's an extreme example, but it illustrates my point.

I have still only read (and re-visited) volume 1 of Eban Fumi's Blue Friend, and I'm dying to see what happens in volume 2. Will Ayumu and Misuzu's friendship be repaired quickly? Or has Ayumu's concern for Misuzu already mended, on her side, the alienation caused by Misuzu's panicked possessiveness? Will Misuzu's broken spirit completely heal? Why does Satsuki hate her when anyone with an iota of sense would realize that it isn't possible for an elementary schooler to seduce an adult? That there's this thing called rape, and that's what happened. (Or maybe she does know, and is using the doctor incident as a pretext for tormenting Misuzu for a different reason.) How will Ayumu and Misuzu construct a viable romantic relationship out of what they have? How will these characters develop?

It's tense, it's upsetting, it rings very true in some moments, it's sad and heart-tugging and sweet and dark and melodramatic (caveat: I have uneasy feelings about using the term "melodramatic" in some cases because what some people consider melodramatic is just life for other people) and I want to see what happens next. I must sound like I'm foaming at the mouth over this series now. I don't really care. Right now, I'm unwittingly hooked on Blue Friend and invested in following what happens, however I ultimately feel about the answers to my questions. We'll see how it goes.

Our two leads:

Satsuki cornering Ayumu and trying to turn her against Misuzu:

On a lighter note, this past Friday someone in my dorm threw a No Pants Party. (Which means that you can wear a skirt, dress, or shorts, pervs. Even though the title was obviously supposed to be titillating.) It was for residents of our dorm only, so there were no sketchy douche-characters who were like, "So you wanted no pants, ladies? Untz untz untz." (That's what I imagine might have happened if it were open to anyone.) Anyway- when partygoers were like, "No pants!! It's a no pants party!! Whoo-hoo no pants!!" it reminded me of the "war on pants" slogan that Funimation used to market Strike Witches, which made my brain implode a little. So thanks, Funimation. :P

I'll review volume 1 of Shirasawa Marimo's Nobara no Mori no Otome-tachi after I get a copy. It's been sold out for a while, but hopefully a re-print will be out soon.

...what was the point of this post?

Edit: Added pics.

Manga Review: Blue Friend volume 1

Drama, drama, drama. Eban Fumi's Blue Friend advertises itself as "この百合マンガがすごい！" ("This yuri manga is great!") on its obi, but the real theme so far is "You can't escape your past."

Kurihara Ayumu is outgoing, athletic, and generally well-liked.

Tsukishima Misuzu is pale, quiet, and popular with the boys at school, who she always rejects because she hates men. The other girls envy and ignore her, but she doesn't seem to care. When Ayumu tries to make friends with her, Misuzu at first rebuffs her but later warms up and they become friends.

Misuzu briefly kisses Ayumu one day, leaving Ayumu confused about what it meant. Misuzu tries to pass it off as nothing, and Ayumu doesn't push the issue further. A boy named Hirai tells Ayumu he likes her, but when he later takes back his confession and Ayumu hears that it was because she supposedly told Misuzu to tell him she isn't interested, and Misuzu doesn't deny it, Ayumu's a little freaked out. She finds out that Misuzu had a good reason for telling him to stay away, and she and Misuzu make up and become closer friends.

One day Misuzu gets a note in her locker from someone who knows about her "dirty past." Misuzu panics and the note-writer shows up out of the blue- Azuma Satsuki, a girl violating her suspension from school, whose every premeditated gesture and icy cold smirk screams, "Teehee, I'm a villain!" News quickly spreads around the school that she's appeared. Ayumu's the only person who doesn't know who she is.

Misuzu becomes increasingly shaken as she receives more and more notes. When Ayumu is putting some things in a school storage room one day, she finds herself alone with Satsuki. I will admit that I kind of hoped Satsuki would try to woo Ayumu and royally piss off Mizusu. Instead, she insinuates that Ayumu and Misuzu are in a relationship, then asserts that Ayumu really hates Misuzu. Ayumu insists that she does like Misuzu and leaves, but it's obvious that Satsuki struck a nerve.

In a flashback to Misuzu's elementary school years, she's sitting on the lawn outside of a hospital taking to a doctor. Misuzu's classmates hear about it, and start gossiping that he must be her boyfriend because he's handsome, and how her dad isn't her real dad. Satsuki(!) chases them away by spraying them with a water gun before spraying Misuzu. Satsuki infers that Misuzu has a crush on the doctor, even though she doesn't say so. I'm dying to know what happened to make Satsuki obsessed with screwing over Misuzu. Crap...this is a long review.

So- back in the present, Ayumu and Misuzu have a fight and the next day there are flyers all over the school saying that Misuzu seduced a doctor at her stepfather's hospital. It's obvious that the doctor from the flashback raped her after gaining her trust, but even grade schoolers aren't immune from victim-blaming. Misuzu faints and Ayumu tells her to hang on.

I felt like I needed a Tylenol after that ending. I want to see what happens to these characters, and I know that they will get a happy ending because of the Blue Friend ~after days~ epilogue that was published in the January issue of Ribon Special. (Blue Friend runs in regular Ribon. I haven't read ~after story~, but I've seen the post about it on Yurina Hibi. I didn't read through the vast majority of the text- just looked at the pictures, which seem happy enough.) Because I know about ~after story~, I can at least rest easy that Misuzu won't kill herself or die in a knife fight with Satsuki or anything. The real mystery is how the heck Misuzu and Ayumu will get that ending and whether their relationship will become healthy- not with Ayumu acting as Misuzu's sole emotional crutch and not with Misuzu remaining hyper-possessive. If not, then I can't really consider it a happy ending.

Ayumu serves her purpose in the story well. She's the kind of friend you would want if you were going through a shitty period in your life but, realistically, even she has limits to how patient she can be with Misuzu. Misuzu is realistic as a teenager who often behaves like an ass, but only because she feels like there is nothing really worth caring about and no one who cares about her- aside from Ayumu. I'm interested in seeing how the dance between these two plays out.

Blue Friend can be difficult to read at times, but it's definitely involving. I'm morbidly curious about what happens next.

Story: B-
Art: B+
Overall: B-