I'm still wowed that this happened: Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink, The Complete Collection

You know the movie romance trope in which the protagonist spots their love in a crowded room, and everything else- aurally, visually- melts away? That was my experience when I encountered a stack of copies of Seven Seas' release of Morinaga Milk's Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink Complete Collection at Anime Boston even though its release date is today. I was with three other bloggers and we each bought a copy. Few English-language manga releases have made me as happy to read as this one.

Covering the technicals first- this omnibus has the same page size as the Girl Friends omnibi, no surprise there. I love that the back of this omnibus not only touts Girl Friends' status as a New York Times best-seller- which Girl Friends omnibus 2 also does- its front cover proclaims, "From the best-selling author of Girl Friends!" Here's to Kisses making the best-seller list too!

As with Girl Friends omnibus 1, the Kisses omnibus is marketed on Amazon and Barnes & Noble's website with a tagline selling the "forbidden-ness" of the gay aspect of its protagonists' relationship, but thankfully, the actual books- and their descriptions on Seven Seas' website, as well as on Right Stuf's website (not sure about other retailers')- don't have that.

It's Seven Seas, so the translation is strong, as expected. It's a good quality release all-around, collecting the Kisses chapters that ran in Yuri Hime magazine as well as the new ones from Comic High! in the order in which Comic High!'s publisher Futabasha re-published them last year. I reviewed both volumes of Futabasha's release of this series fairly recently, here and here, so look there if you want an in-depth look at Kisses' contents. I also reviewed the original Kisses tankoubon published by Yuri Hime's publisher, Ichijinsha, making the original Kisses chapters the most re-reviewed (and re-bought) thing I've written about here.

It was funny to start reading this book and remember how, until not too long ago, I wasn't sure I would see the Yuri Hime Kisses tankoubon in print again- I had no idea what Morinaga's rights to it vs Ichijinsha's were or how that would affect its status in out of print limbo. Delightfully, not only did Futabasha pick up all of the original Kisses stories, they ran them online and re-printed them, Morinaga drew five more chapters giving us a great send-off for Kisses' main couple, and here we have the entire thing being published in English. The planets really aligned for this series.

As with Morinaga's Girl Friends, I have read this collection multiple times. To add to my previous commentary about the new Nana and Hitomi chapters- despite the concern I expressed about part of Nana's rationale for not wanting Hitomi to strive to be "the man" in their relationship, I'm still glad Morinaga included some discussion of gender roles in gay relationships, especially given that a lot of straight people assume someone has to be "the man" in gay relationships, among other similarly presumptuous ideas about gender roles/expression in such relationships. Granted, there are folks in the lesbian community who make boneheaded gender role assumptions too- although like Hitomi, not necessarily for unsympathetic reasons (actually quite sympathetic in Hitomi's case)- hence the plausibility of Hitomi's behavior before Nana clears the air between them. Just to clarify, I'm not criticizing butches or butch-femme relationships- just, for example, folks who think that if you're butch, you must only do things traditionally considered masculine or always be "the strong one" or... well, you get the picture.

Anyway, if you liked Girl Friends or you're a yuri fan... you're probably waiting for your copy of this series to arrive. lol Like Girl Friends, Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink is a favorite of mine, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys good love stories.

Final Grade: A

My Top 11 Yuri Manga Highlights of 2012

Sorry about the neglect here as of late- I moved from my hometown in Florida to New York City last Thursday. Now that things have settled down, this blog will revert back to regular posting. Sorry again about the dry spell, and thank you for your patience!

The Top 11 titles below all came out in tankoubon format in Japan in 2012. Following them, I've listed a few series I really look forward to seeing as tankoubon and, last but not least, a summary of the goodies English-speaking yuri fans saw published in 2012. (In that respect, we have a lot more than we did after 2011 and 2010.)

Aoi Hana by Shimura Takako (7 volumes, ongoing):
Because like many of you, I love Fumi and Akira and am waiting with bated breath to see what becomes of them. I have more to say about their current relationship and its possible final outcomes, but will save that for my review of volume 7. Also- not in volume 7, but I love the increased focus Hinako and Orie got in recent chapters.

Collectors by Nishi Uko (1 volume, ongoing):
Collectors is that rarest of yuri delights- a series about two women who are already in love and well past "Does she like me back?" Takako's hobby is collecting fashionable clothes while Shinobu's is collecting books. Despite their very different interests, they clearly belong together. Nishi Uko has been drawing realistic yuri doujinshi as one half of a circle called UKOZ for years (some of which I own; you can read some of her earlier work in English in the Yuri Monogatari 5 and 6 anthologies), so it's great to see her going pro with this series, which is running in the josei magazine Rakuen Le Paradis.

Girl's Ride by Isomoto Tsuyoshi (1 volume, complete):
Wow, does this series make me grin. Simple premise- Sei is a new student at Nan's school, Nan befriends Sei, Nan picks up motorcycle riding because of Sei, and Sei and Nan go riding to different places- often out of town- together. This series has a bit of an old school seinen vibe, it isn't servicey (not even the beach chapter), and its characters are incredibly charming. And, well, it's part of a yuri imprint, so... ^^

Gunjo by Nakamura Ching (3 volumes, complete):

Volume 2 of this series was, as noted in my Yuri Manga Highlights of 2011 list, an emotionally gut-punching book. Volume three's resolution is... haha, I wont tell you. I'm not just being an asshole here- you really should read it without being spoiled. If someone had spoiled it for me prior to my reading it, I would feel like punching them in the face. On that heartwarming note, if you're following this series but haven't read its ending, I hope you get to asap. By far the most likely licensor for this title is Viz (because of its Sig Ikki line; Gunjo ran in Ikki magazine), but I could also see it fitting in, say, Vertical or Dark Horse's catalogues. (Basically, publishers that have shown interest in dark, offbeat seinen titles.)

Hatsukoi Kouzoushiki by Amano Shuninta (1 volume, complete): 

I've become such a big Amano Shuninta fangirl. This collection is a goodie bag of everything she does well- goofiness, sweetness, realism, weirdness, and, yes, sexiness. (She is one of the special few mangaka whose PWP work I find hot. See why this list is so subjective?) My favorite in this collection is one of the non-PWP stories, though- the one about a woman who decides to counter how boring and stuck-in-a-rut she's becoming by ordering a mega-spicy bowl of ramen and eating the entire thing before, eyes watering and lips swollen as an unintended side effect of the ramen, confessing to the co-worker she's in love with. It's utterly adorable, and I love its message.

Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo by Morinaga Milk (2 volumes, complete): 

Specifically, the Kuchibiru reboot, for giving Nana and Hitomi a more conclusive Happily Ever After, and their own place! ^_^ Morinaga has wanted to finish Nana and Hitomi's story for a long time, and Futabasha finally gave her the chance to do so. She did a wonderful job, and while I would be thrilled to see more of Nana and Hitomi, I'm happy with where they are at the end of this series.

Pie wo Agemasho, Anata ni Pie wo ne by Sakamoto Mano (1 volume):
For, quite simply, excellent execution of a variety of premises, featuring characters who feel like people I could know and make me want to see what will happen to them. My favorite in this collection is the one about an actress (a lesbian, happily in love with her girlfriend) moving on from how the idol duo she was once a part of broke up. I don't want to spoil too much, but it's a really lovely, poignant story. As with Nishi UKO, Nakamura Ching, Amano Shuninta, Goto Hayako and Morishima Akiko's work on this list, this collection's focus on adult characters is refreshing.

Poor Poor Lips by Goto Hayako (4 volumes, complete):

Ahhhhhhh! I don't want to spoil how this series resolves either. I will let you know that volume 4 ends happily, and that there is a completely unexpected plot twist in it. I'm so, so happy to see Ren and Nako get a happy ending, though. Those two had me rocking in a fetal position in a corner, hyperventilating, after the events of volume 3.

Renai Joshi File by Morishima Akiko (1 volume, sort of complete):

As long as Morishima Akiko continues putting out at least one yuri tankoubon a year, she'll always have a spot on these "Top Yuri Manga of Such-and-Such Year" lists. This entire collection was great, but it included two things I especially like- seeing a character who lost in a love triangle in another series find her own love, and a long-term, adult lesbian couple acting as role models for a younger lesbian couple finding their footing. I hope it's a long, long, long, long time before Morishima Akiko retires.

Sasameki Koto by Ikeda Takashi (9 volumes, complete):

Sasameki Koto's final chapter came out late in 2011, but its final tankoubon came out in early 2012. As you can see from volume 9's cover, our two lovebirds Sumi and Ushio finally graduate high school. The ending they got made me tear up, in a good way- particularly when I read the chalkboard message from their classmates.

Series That Haven't Been Published as Tankoubon Yet:

Cirque Arachne by Saida Nika:
This series' last chapter ran in the last issue of Yuri Hime to come out in 2012, but its tankoubon hasn't been published yet. It's due to (finally!) come out on February 18. Anyway, want to read something different- as in a yuri manga with an unusual setting? Check, this series is about two women who perform in a Cirque du Soleil-like troupe called Cirque Arachne. What's that, you want to know if the actual story is good? Yes, it's very sweet.  And have I seen Kaliedo Star? Yes, I enjoyed it quite a bit. If you liked it, you should like this series.

Kazuma Kowo's one-shots in Yuri Hime:
Count me as a Kazuma Kowo fangirl also. I've enjoyed Junsui Adolescence and Sayonara Folklore, her two other Yuri Hime collections (and Dear Tear, her het romance from Rakuen Le Paradis), but her one-shots are my favorite part of her body of work so far. I'm also glad she continued the couple from "Recalculation"'s story, since I liked them (especially Kisaragi) quite a bit in their original one-shot. Oh, but all of them are squee-worthy. ^.^

Hayashiya Shizuru's one-shots in Rakuen Le Paradis:
It's no secret that Hayashiya Shizuru's Strawberry Shake Sweet is one of my all-time most beloved series. As great as Hayate x Blade might be as a yuri-flavored action-comedy, I'm very glad to see Hayashiya also doing more romance-centric work in Rakuen Le Paradis. ^^

Under One Roof by Fujio:
I will probably die of old age before this series comes out in a collected volume (it being only 6 or so pages in each issue of Hirari), but man, this is such a delightful little series. Miho, a recent college graduate, decides to move out of her parents' house, so she tours a sharehouse where the only resident is a woman around her age named Fuuka. Fuuka and Miho get along swimmingly, and Fuuka tells Miho right off the bat that she's gay, just to be sure Miho's cool with it. Miho is, and they become housemates. What happens when Miho and Fuuka fall for each other? ^^ (Hint: Squeeee!)


Goodies English-speaking yuri fans got last year:

Cardcaptor Sakura omnibi 3 and 4 by CLAMP (release by Dark Horse):
Yeah, sucks for Tomoyo that she didn't get the girl, but she's still one of yuri's most iconic classic characters, and CCS is a great story all-around.

Girl Friends omnibus 1 by Morinaga Milk (release by Seven Seas): And omnibus 2, now that it's out. Want a realistic coming-of-age yuri romance? Girl Friends is just the ticket. Not only was having this series published in English an utterly delightful surprise, so was its selling well enough to make the New York Times best-selling graphic novel list, AND Seven Seas licensing Morinaga's Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo, which they will publish this summer.

Rica'tte Kanji!?: Tokyo Love by Takashima Rica:
This wonderful yuri classic about a lesbian college student named Rica- her moving from her hometown to Tokyo to attend a college and finally meet other women in the lesbian community, before getting together with her girlfriend, Miho- is now in electronic format, with the addition of Takashima's Rica chapters from the Yuri Monogatari anthologies, a cracktastic original doujinshi by Takashima, and some snazzy all-new content. This 2.0 version of Rica'tte Kanji!? is going to come out (hurr) in print at some point- but for now, it's available as a DRM-free downloadable e-book and can be read for free on ALC's website, which I think is quite neat.

Sailor Moon volumes 6 through 8 by Takeuchi Naoko (release by Kodansha): Haruka and Michiru. Enough said.

Lots of yuri on JManga, most of it published in partnership with ALC Publishing:
Thanks to the influx of yuri on JManga, I got to see some favorites licensed and released this past year (like Sweet Blue Flowers a.k.a. Aoi Hana, Hanjuku Joshi, Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu, and Poor Poor Lips) and check out titles I hadn't read (for the love of god, if you haven't read Tears of Thorn, READ IT). I'm glad Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan is on there as of today, and look forward to seeing what else comes next. ^_^

5 More Great Coming Out Examples in Yuri Manga

In honor of National Coming Out Day, in no particular order, here are some more excellent examples of manga characters coming out as women who love women. My previous Coming Out Day posts are here and here. This post is also of interest.

1. Omoi no Kakera by Takemiya Jin:
The funniest example on this list.

When Mika leaves a lesbian bar in Shinjuku Nichoume ("I come here once a month. I'm not out of the closet, so it's like a paradise to me."), she sees her classmate Harada breaking up with his boyfriend. (The boyfriend decks Harada before running away, so good riddance.) Harada assumes Mika is one of his fans from school, and she's like "...Seriously? We're in a building full of gay and lesbian bars in the gay district. I'm here because I'm gay."

Now Mika has a friend she can be out to at school. ^_^ The bad news is that after Harada starts acting chummy towards Mika at school, his fans start bullying her. Thankfully, Mika doesn't let it get to her and Harada gets the bullies to stop asap.

Mika and Harada's mutual coming out isn't the only great example of coming out in this series, but it's the one that sets the series' gears in motion. Harada has a younger sister, who starts- to her chagrin- to develop feelings for Mika.

2. "Sweet Lovin' Baby" in Sweet Lovin' Baby by Yamaji Ebine:
Last year I praised Poor Poor Lips' Ren for being an out business owner, even though it meant having to put up with assholery from people like Furui and most of the job applicants who interviewed to work at her shop. "Sweet Lovin' Baby"'s protagonist Kyou is not an employer but an employee- an OL at a company who comes out to her co-worker Megu (who wouldn't shut up about getting Kyou a boyfriend before that) at the risk of, you know, Megu creating a Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep scenario and getting Kyou fired.

Given the risks of coming out at her job, I would completely understand if Kyou hadn't come out to any of her co-workers. But she did, and that's pretty badass.

3. Gunjo by Nakamura Ching:
In Gunjo, the ex-wife of one of the protagonists (let's call her "B", since she is nameless in the story) comes out to her mom, who responds wonderfully and brings some welcome levity to B's situation. (LISTEN TO HER, B.)

But B's dad's response to her being gay- specifically, to her feeling like she has disappointed her parents by not being able to have kids- is beautiful, and addresses an issue that I haven't seen dealt with in a satisfactory way before in manga. (Usually when the issue of gay couples not being able to have kids in Japan comes up in manga, it's in a "She's leaving me because she wants kids'" context.) He tells B that it's fine because he loves her more than he could love any grandchild.

4. "Ayumi & Aika" in Mermaid Line by Kindaichi Renjuuro:
After Aika comes out as a woman to her ex-girlfriend Ayumi, who she dated when she presented as a man, Ayumi assumes that Aika likes guys. Nope. Aika's gay, and makes it clear that she has always loved women as a woman. Aika only broke up with Ayumi because she figured Ayumi wouldn't want to be with her any longer. Ayumi realizes that she still loves Aika, and they get engaged. ^^ This series not only debunks the assumption that trans women's gender identities have anything to do with who they like, it's really sweet.

5. Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo by Morinaga Milk:
In last year's Coming Out Day post, I hoped that Morinaga would finally write a "grand coming out" in this series. And she did.

Hitomi comes out to her friend Chie and deflates a stupid idea some would posit about her and Nana's relationship. Despite her good intentions, Chie is insensitive for using that idea to bait Hitomi into coming out (although on the plus side, Hitomi's counter against it is excellent), but she later feels bad and apologizes for it and is otherwise a great friend and ally to Hitomi after she comes out. Most of all, it's great to see Morinaga explore what it's like to come out and why it can be such a relief to do it.

Fu~fu no Hon by Minamoto Hisanari:
I'm cheating here. Fu~fu's creator, Minamoto Hisanari, drew Fu~fu no Hon as a doujinshi side story to Fu~fu. Here we see how Kina and Suu started out, as high school sweethearts. Suu confesses her feelings for Kina, scared as hell and expecting to be rejected, but nope. ^^ The entire thing is adorable, but the most adorable bit is Kina's flashback to how blatantly gay her older sister Kana has always been, causing her to think of liking girls as no big deal. I do love Fu~fu, and I have a soft spot for yuri stories in which a woman who likes women has an easier time being herself because she has a role model.

The picture at the top of this post comes from Rica'tte Kanji!?, in which Rica meets her soon-to-be girlfriend Miho. I've listed Rica in a Coming Out Day post before because of Rica's coming out to her family. I don't want to list the same title twice, but I'm mentioning it again (as I did with Aoi Hana and Hanjuku Joshi last year) because that moment- Rica's first time being out to another lesbian, after going off to college- is wonderful also.

Agree with the titles I've mentioned? Disagree? Other recommendations? Feel free to share!

Manga Review: Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo volume 2

"Cherries For Your Lips" and "Real Love", two of the Kuchibiru stories that ran in Yuri Hime, are in the back of this volume. But I'll cover them first.

In "Cherries For Your Lips" Chiharu is in love with her best friend Eri. She noticed Eri for her beautiful flute performance, and stuck with her after she injured her right arm and quit playing. Chiharu justifies her not confessing to Eri as not wanting to give her something else to worry about, but eventually admits that it's her own pain she's avoiding. She tells Eri there's something she wants to say to her before the story ends. One gets the impression that whether Eri reciprocates or not, she'll respond gracefully to Chiharu's confession, which is a relief. And I find it refreshing that, unlike in most girl-pining-after-her-best-friend-thinking-it's-hopeless one-shots, Eri works up the gumption to confess. (Kinda helps when you know the friend you want to confess to won't be weirded out in response.) For its story type, this one-shot is pretty feel-good.

"Real Love" is about Nosaka, an introvert who has never dated and writes het romance as a member of her high school's literature-writing club. Her kouhai Michiru, a beauty who reminds Nosaka of her ficitonal heroine, asks Nosaka out. The difference between Michiru's behavior when they date (pretty much what Nosaka expects from a romance hero) and the behavior Nosaka expects from Michiru based on her girly romance heroine appearance throws Nosaka off kilter. This story, like "This Love From I Can't Remember When", leaves me lukewarm for a Kuchibiru story, since Michiru is the most obnoxious of the Kuchibiru love interests and Nosaka's rationalization of how she rejected Michiru's kiss irritated me. If someone keeps trying to kiss you after you tell them no, a slap is justified. ^_^

And nowwwww...the main attraction, the new Nana and Hitomi chapters! ^_^

Nana and Hitomi's story in volume 2 picks up where it left off in volume 1.

After five volumes of Girl Friends, Morinaga has honed her ability to write cliffhangers to a science. Gone is the gentler, more easygoing tone of her Yuri Hime stories. Not that I'm complaining. Morinaga has been waiting to draw this story for years. She planned it knowing that she had several chapters to spend on one couple, unlike her work for Yuri Hime, where her position as a contributing mangaka was more tenuous.

So.

Hitomi's basketball team kouhai Kagami has an obvious thing for Hitomi but suffers from internalized homophobia-itis. ("My feelings aren't dirty like that!") Kagami anonymously posts a message on the basketball team's online message board, snarking about how Nana always sits on the bench with the team at invitationals. Fearing someone may pick up on her relationship with Nana by watching their interaction at games, a shaken Hitomi asks Nana not to come her next game, but doesn't tell her why.

You may remember that at the end of the last Nana and Hitomi chapter that ran in Yuri Hime, Hitomi resolved to "protect" Nana. While the Nana and Hitomi stories that ran in Yuri Hime focused on Nana's insecurities about her and Hitomi's relationship, Hitomi's desire to carry the entire burden of protecting Nana from whatever threatens them, and her insecurity at the root of it, is ultimately the central conflict of this series.

As in their pre-Comic High! story, Nana and Hitomi just need to be honest and talk about whatever relationship issues they're having to resolve them, which they do- overly simplistically at first (I found it kind of troubling that Nana's argument against Hitomi always protecting and supporting her while she doesn't do anything to protect either of them or contribute money to their future household is simply that they're both girls; if Hitomi were a guy, I would hope Nana wouldn't just be like "Oh well, you're a guy and I'm a girl, so okay"), but then really touchingly. Now, with Hitomi knowing she doesn't need to emulate society's ideal of masculinity to make Nana happy and Nana rejecting the lofty pedestal Hitomi put her on, they can plan their future as equals.

Which brings me, backtracking, to this story's second major conflict, coming out. As lovely as Girl Friends is, it doesn't address coming out as much as I would have liked. I would have loved to see Mari and Akko come out to someone (someone supportive, of course), because it does suck to hide that area of your life from friends and family. When I saw, in this series, that Morinaga was going to address that issue, I did a little dance. And for the most part, she does a great job with it.

At first, Nana and Hitomi tell themselves that being in their own little bubble just makes their bond stronger. But they come to admit that, as happy as they are with each other, they want support from others also. Hitomi comes out to her friend Chie, debunking a bullshit argument some would make about her and Nana's relationship, and gains an ally. Nana doesn't come out to anyone, but at least she wants to. I like to think she will come out to someone soon- say, Abe- and be pleasantly surprised. ^_^ Until then, Nana, there's this magical place called the internet, where there are lesbian websites and blogs and forums (and 2ch, if you're Medley) and everything for support. It isn't a substitute for being out to people in real life, but it's a boon for the closeted teen- or adult- who doesn't want to feel as much like they're out at sea.

This series doesn't achieve everything it wants as well as it might have. (Consider my critique of it a form of tough love.) Nevertheless, it's a great sequel to Morinaga's original Kuchibiru stories with a heartwarming send-off for its leads. I would be happy to get another continuation, further along in Nana and Hitomi's lives.

Story: Variable, as in the previous volume. But as in Kuchibiru volume 1, I'm counting the non-Nana and Hitomi stories as bonus stories, set apart from THE story.
Art: B+
Overall: A-

A Second Look at a Yuri Classic: Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo volume 1

Once upon a time, a magical manga magazine named Comic Yuri Hime ran a series of one-shots that became legendary in the realm of Yuri, Morinaga Milk's Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo (Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink). The Kuchibiru stories focused on several couples, but one couple, Nana and Hitomi, emerged as the undisputed queens among their brethren. Readers and author alike adored them. After Ichijinsha published the Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo collection, containing two Nana and Hitomi-centric chapters, Morinaga wrote a continuation about Nana and Hitomi for Comic Yuri Hime.

But alas, a dark shadow fell over the land. Morinaga vanished from Yuri Hime in a puff of iridescent smoke after drawing two chapters of her continuation.

The Kuchibiru stories went out of print while every other Yuri Hime collection serialized in Kuchibiru's time remained perennially in print. Readers were left wanting more after those two uncollected chapters, and some wistfully wished to see a re-print containing all of Morinaga's Yuri Hime work.

Morinaga reemerged in the distant land of Comic High!, where she drew Girl Friends, a five volume romance featuring a Nana and Hitomi-like couple who captured many a heart.

And then, lo and behold! Nana and Hitomi appeared, like a phoenix rising from its ashes, in the land of Comic High! Birds sang from tree to tree, fatidic stars shot across the charcoal night sky, and yuri fans danced in appreciation. Morinaga drew five new chapters about Nana and Hitomi for Comic High!

Futabasha published all of Morinaga's Yuri Hime stories as well as her new Nana and Hitomi chapters in two volumes entitled Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo, and there was joy and peace in the land.

The first Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo volume Futabasha published includes all the Nana and Hitomi chapters Morinaga drew for Yuri Hime, along with "The Summer Closest to Heaven", "A Kiss, Love, and a Prince", and "This Love From I Can't Remember When." The second volume includes the Comic High! continuation of Nana and Hitomi's story, as well as "Cherries For Your Lips" and "Real Love."

"The Summer Closest to Heaven" ties with "Cherries For Your Lips" as my favorite of the non-Nana and Hitomi-centric Kuchibiru chapters. "The Summer Closest to Heaven" is a lovely little story about Katou, the ghost of a girl who died of illness in high school. When Katou was alive, spending most of her school time in the school nurse's office, she befriended and fell in love with a girl named Komatsu. Komatsu spent a lot of time in the school nurse's office because she didn't fit in with her classmates. Katou transferred out of school before she died, and Komatsu never learned what happened to her. Now an adult, Komatsu works as the school nurse at that same nurse's office, where Katou lingers. Katou possesses a healthy student, and you'll be shocked to know that Komatsu realizes it's her in there. Katou tells Komatsu what she has wanted to tell her for a long time, allowing them both to get closure.

"A Kiss, Love, and a Prince" is the goofiest of the Kuchibiru stories. I should mention that all the Kuchibiru stories feature characters who attend (or in Komatsu's case, work at) two different girls' school, which Nana and Hitomi attend separately. At Nana's school, Abe plays the princess in her school play, co-starring with the idolized prince of her school, Tachibana-sempai. Beneath her cool, lofty image, carefully cultivated by her fellow seniors in the Drama Club, Tachibana is thick-headed and doofusy. After Tachibana impulsively kisses Abe as they rehearse alone, Abe runs away and drops out of the play. Long story short, the curtain closes (har) on a happy ending.

"This Love From I Can't Remember When" is the weakest of the Kuchibiru stories. Suzuki has a one-sided crush on her classmate Mizuki, who takes it in stride when she finds out Suzuki likes her, although Suzuki never learns that Mizuki knows. I agree with Suzuki that her feelings aren't likely to last and she'll find real love later, but not the way she means. ^_^; She's infatuated with her image of Mizuki, not Mizuki herself, who she barely knows. If her crush were a straight crush, her feelings would be just as shallow but social norms wouldn't treat them as dismissively. Suzuki's rationalization of her crush is sadly realistic in its own way.

And now the meat of this volume, the Nana and Hitomi stories.

Nana and Hitomi used to be best friends, but they became estranged and went to different high schools after Nana rejected Hitomi's love, scared of her own feelings for Hitomi.

Hitomi reaches out to Nana again as a friend, and Nana apologizes and admits that she loves Hitomi. Thankfully for Nana, that ship hasn't sailed, and Happily-Ever-After for both of them.

The remaining Nana and Hitomi-centric chapters in this volume follow Nana and Hitomi's relationship's growth as they begin to move past Happily-Ever-After and think about what's ahead. ^_^ As Erica notes,

This was one of the first stories we - that is, the Yuri-reading audience - encountered that had more depth to it than just a kiss, or holding hands, or even sex. This was one of the first Yuri Hime stories that approached the concept of a same-sex relationship as a relationship, as opposed to a crush, or an immature love, "playing at" love, etc. As a result it was wildly popular with fans.

The original Kuchibiru stories (as opposed to their recent continuation) were a formative yuri manga for a lot of people, and they hold up today as an excellent representative example of yuri set in high school.

Once on Twitter, I told Morinaga that her stories are realistic (really referring to Kuchibiru- especially the Nana and Hitomi chapters- and Girl Friends) and she responded that that's what she's aiming for.

Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo and Girl Friends, Morinaga's most beloved titles, are fantasies to some extent, like pretty much all fictional romances, but they're fantasies that play out in a way that touches something in a lot of queer female readers, regardless of which magazine they run in. Realism in Morinaga's stories manifests in the emotional veracity she imbues her characters with, regardless of the probability or plausibility of the plot developments they undergo. (Like Nana conveniently running into Hitomi for the first time since middle school the day she starts to admit to herself that she loves Hitomi.)

I'm thrilled that Comic High! allowed Morinaga to resurrect Nana and Hitomi and that we have all of her Kuchibiru stories in print! ^__^ And I'm incredibly happy Seven Seas licensed this series in addition to Girl Friends.

Story: Variable from the lows of "This Love From I Can't Remember When" to the heights scaled by the Nana and Hitomi chapters.
Art: B+
Overall: A

I reviewed the original Kuchibiru collection here.

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.

Happy National Coming Out Day!

Like last year, I've decided to make a list of 5 yuri titles that include excellent examples of coming out.

What are they this year?

Best Yuri News of 2011

Now I don't feel delusional for wishing for more Nana and Hitomi- mwahahahahahahahaha!

That's right. More Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo in the same magazine that ran Girl Friends. (I will unnecessarily note that Girl Friends is the only good thing that seems to have run in Comic High, based on one issue- the one with the drama CD comic- and the Comic High selection I've seen in book stores.)

The September issue of Comic High can't come soon enough. Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo has been out of print for a while (unlike pretty much every other tankoubon published by Yuri Hime), so I wonder if those chapters will be re-printed. And only in tankoubon form, or in the magazine also, to get readers up to speed before the new story begins? We'll see....

This news was found via @Yuricon and @yurinahibi.

Yuri Manga: Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo

Before I start this review, I want to thank my super-cool fellow Japanophile and college classmate Sara for lending me her copy of this manga. Thank you for contributing to the cause, Sara. I would fain own this title myself, but by the time I tried to buy it online, it was out of print (and I still can't find it... ;_; Why, Yuri Hime?!).

Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo (or Kisses [more literally translated as Lips, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink) by Milk Morinaga is an adorably girly volume of yuri one-shots, only two of which feature the same protagonists, fan favorite couple Nana and Hitomi (seen in the picture above). The unifying theme of this collection is that the main characters of each story attend the same all-girl's high school. While the stories vary somewhat in quality, from the dizzying romantic heights of Even If We're Not Friends and If I Kiss Her Ring Finger to the comparatively so-so one-sided love that goes nowhere in This Love From I Can't Remember When, the entire volume as a whole makes for a very enjoyable light reading experience, and a must-read for yuri fans.

While Morinaga does a good job crafting the stories in this volume (aided by the protagonists of the different one-shots briefly appearing in each other's stories), being in the format that it is, Kuchibiru lacks the cohesion, immersive worldbuilding, and more painstakingly developed characterization found in Morinaga's ongoing monthly serialized manga, Girl Friends, which fans of Girl Friends may notice. On the plus side, Kuchibiru cuts through the thicket of its characters' emotions and misunderstandings in a far more speedy fashion, providing the satisfying romantic resolutions that impatient readers are still hopefully anticipating in Girl Friends. I normally don't compare two titles by the same mangaka too much when evaluating each, but since most people who have read Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo read it before reading Girl Friends (as I originally did), I should acknowledge how one may view this title in retrospect after reading Morinaga's later work. One of the key differences between the two titles is that in KTS, the characters exist as vehicles to drive the romance, while in Girl Friends, the romance exists as a vehicle to move the characters forward, if that makes any sense. ^^;;

As for the art, the character designs are pretty and cute, and Morinaga conveys moods and emotions adeptly. The layouts, while not especially inventive, aren't tediously conventional or overly crowded either, and they allow the story (err- stories) to flow smoothly without distracting from one's reading experience at all. Morinaga's use of layouts on certain key pages sometimes produce an especially lovely visual effect.

Although the characters in this manga do a lot of reflecting, this isn't by any means a deeply introspective work, but a fun, enjoyable, light shoujo romance collection that one can reread without detracting from one's overall enjoyment. It's like a slice of homemade chocolate cake- not terribly substantive, but very satisfying, comforting, and sweet.

Story: B
Art: B+
Overall: B+

Milk Morinaga created two more stories in Yuri Hime magazine that aren't printed in this volume (Chocolate Kiss Kiss and Wishing on the Moon) that star the protagonists of Even If We're Not Friends and If I Kiss Her Ring Finger. I hope they get published in tankoubon format someday, since they're delightful stories that really deserve to be printed outside of their respective issues of Yuri Hime magazine. (Maybe include them in a second deluxe printing of this collection, Ichijinsha? ^^ *hint hint*)