A realistic look at lesbian life in Japan: The Plica-chan movie

The Plica-chan movie is a bit of strange beast- not for its story, but its storytelling format. It was produced by the folks at the Love Piece Club (a woman/GSM-friendly sex shop in Tokyo), who wanted to adapt a story by, about, and for the Japanese lesbian community.

The cover of the movie is as seen above because the DVD comes in a CD case instead of a DVD case. When you start playing it, the first thing you'll see is a menu with the option to watch the movie in 日本語 ("Japanese") or English (as in, with English subtitles). I wonder how many people outside Japan have bought this movie.

The first part is titled "Blue Sky in the Window," featuring scenes of Plica and Mari after they've started dating. In the opening scene, Plica stops holding Mari's hand when they're outside because she's nervous about the stares they get for it. She berates herself and swears that she won't let go again. I don't think that this scene was in the original comic, not that that's a negative.

This movie isn't animated. It sequentially shows the panels from different comic strips sans text, with seiyuu voicing the characters and sound effects (people milling in the background, sipping, a knife chopping food on a wooden board, etc) and background music playing. It's like reading the comic while listening to a drama CD. (There is a little animation in one scene.)

At about 9 minutes in, the movie switches to a Q&A that over a dozen women participated in. The questions are: "When do you feel you are lucky being a lesbian?," "How did your parents react when you came out?," "What do you like most about women's bodies?," and "Do you want to 'marry' your girlfriend?" This part alone makes the movie worthwhile.

The next part is inexplicably titled "Useless "How to Sex" Tips for Lesbians." More cute scenes with Plica and Mari. ^_^

The next part is "Stop Multiplying Machiko, Please," starring, you guessed it. This part is mostly composed of new story material.

The voices in this movie all fit. Plica sounds perfect. Mari has a deeper voice than I'd expected, but it suits her. Machiko's seiyuu gets extra points for delivering her lines in a way that makes Machiko a little more amusing.

"One day next summer" returns to Plica and Mari, yay! The story in this part is unique to the movie also. Plica and Mari make a soumen dinner and Plica thinks about how she wants to still be with Mari when the next summer comes. ^_^

Next, the movie provides a description of Plica-chan's history. Then the credits roll, followed by an epilogue titled, "Let's Go to the Parade!" in which the characters attend a Pride parade. The entire movie, including the credits, is a little over 31 minutes long.

Like the manga it's based on, this movie is a realistic look at the day-to-day lives of a group of lesbians living in Tokyo. Plica and Mari are great characters, Machiko is "meh" but too realistic to dismiss entirely, and the other characters (the closeted teacher Saki, Machiko's butchy friend Roku, Plica's mom, various other acquaintances) serve their roles well. I'm glad that the people who produced this movie decided to make it a mix of the story that readers of the manga are familiar with and new material.

Like the Plica manga, this movie is highly recommended for anyone interested in what it's like to be a lesbian in Japan.

Story: A-
Art: B-
Overall: A-

The Plica-chan movie is still in stock at the Love Piece Club website. They ship internationally.

Manga Review: Plica-chan

There isn't anything else like quite Amamiya Sae's Plica-chan. It began in the now-defunct lesbian magazine Anise (which printed other manga also) but later moved onto the Love Piece Club website (some strips, as well as the main LPC site, are nsfw). It isn't available in tankoubon format. Plica is a comic aimed squarely at queer women that aims for a realistic depiction of lesbian life in Japan.

Plica is a closeted lesbian who drinks herself into a stupor when the woman she's in love with invites her to her wedding. In a stroke of incredible luck, the person who takes Plica home and helps her clean up is a beautiful woman named Mari, who could tell why Plica was depressed because she has been in a similar situation. (Sans the getting smashed and throwing up on a stranger bit.) Plica and Mari soon start dating and have a happy love-love relationship. No massive angst here.

There are two prominent side characters: butchy Saki, a teacher (unlike Plica and Mari, who are both office workers) who isn't as closeted, and Machiko, a woman who is newer to the "bian" scene (and looks like Moe from the Three Stooges). Saki's on-again-off-again girlfriend Rui and Machiko's friend Roku also appear occasionally.

Plica follows the usual strip format of telling a joke or making a point within a sequence of square panels. (Although unlike most Japanese comic strips, the Plica strips usually contain more than four panels.) Some of the strips cover random day-to-day stuff, like Plica's habit of brushing her teeth in the bath or her urge to dance when she's alone in an elevator- or, quite amusingly, how she ignores people who hand out free tissues (which is an advertising practice in Japan) unless it's a hot woman offering them or she has a cold.

Some strips deal with relationships (facilitated by Plica's over-active imagination- my favorite part of Plica, btw) and some deal with issues like coming out and homophobia. In one strip, Plica speculates on how her mom might react to her coming out while they're watching a TV special about lesbians ("The Lesbian World: Undercover Report")- none of the options that she can imagine look good.

There are some cute strips that flashback to Plica's childhood ("How long have you been a lesbian?") and some that poke fun at assumptions made about lesbians by the straight and lesbian characters alike (see: Plica's great reaction to hearing that lesbian sex is endless), including the obligatory deconstruction of girls' school yuri tropes.

The characters are generally likeable, although Machiko's "Woe is me, I'm miserably single" schtick wears thin. Some of Plica's generalizations about human interaction early on in the story fall flat, but they're outmatched by the story's gems. All around, it's enjoyable and highly recommended for anybody interested in what it's like to be a lesbian in Japan- or in reading a manga that's different from the norm.

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

The fantastic Sparkling Rain anthology has some Plica strips printed in it.

Manga Containing Adult Yuri Characters: Version 2.0

Huzzah!! ^^ I've finished the list.
(Extra comment after posting: ...damn. This is a long list.)

Anime Containing Adult Yuri Characters: Version 2.0

I wasn't able to finish listing every single anime and manga containing adult yuri characters today (which is a very good thing, if I look at it optimistically...without thinking about how I'm making soup from stones from some of these series), so I decided to create two new separate lists- one for anime containing adult yuri characters and one for manga containing adult yuri characters. The anime list is the one I'm posting today and the new manga list will go up tomorrow. Again, please feel free to suggest any series I've missed. ^^ I also decided to add pictures of the series listed to make the list more aesthetically appealing.