Sasameki Koto Anime Announced: Time to party!!

Wow. *recovers from blissful stupor* The Anime News Network just posted an article officially confirming that a Sasameki Koto anime is being made!!!!! XD
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-03-17/sasameki-koto-yuri-manga-gets-tv-anime-green-lit

As with the Aoi Hana announcement, here is my reaction from the ANN forum:
Oh my freaking god, YESSSS!!!! I love this series!! It's one of the best romantic-comedy manga titles I've read, period. It's a yuri title that can be appreciated by people who aren't fans of the genre. 2009 looks like a fantastic year, indeed.

I am transcendentally ecstatic!! ^_____^ As excellent and realistic as Aoi Hana is, Sasame Kikoto, out of the two, is the title that leaves me simultaneously shaking with laughter and mindlessly fangirling the most over the wonderfully weird romantic antics the characters engage in. There are also a few things that especially please me about the anime announcement for this series:

1) Unlike the ANN announcement for Aoi Hana, Sasameki Koto is being promoted as a yuri series. No need for fans in the forums to do the work.

2) The announcement says that "Sumika hears that Ushio is also "a girl who like girls," but Sumika's feelings have yet to be reciprocated." This distinguishes Sasameki Koto from series like Kashimashi that use the tired old "Pure love that transcends gender! So the girl doesn't really like girls, just this girl," shtick that quite a few people seem to find charming. I don't, however, so that description being used in the advertising made me a happy little fan.

3) This series doesn't take place in an all-girls' school!! Yaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!! So no deluded fanboy can convince himself that the yuri is a result of the academic environment the characters inhabit. (Which is b.s. anyway. ^^ For evidence, see the lines of students at the women's college that I attend who take the weekend buses to party at the co-ed colleges in the area.)

4) I really like the line "school drama manga depicting a fresh look at bittersweet adolescence." It just sounds really cute and slightly nostalgic. XD It reminds me a little of the U.S. advertising for Ai Yori Aoshi- except that this is way better than Ai Yori Aoshi.

Here's a pic of the promo flier that somebody posted on the Shoujoai.com forum. Thanks to the user "plaid skirt" for contributing this:
And since the ANN article had Sasameki Koto written as two separate words instead of one, that's how I will spell it on this blog from now on, unless I see reason to do otherwise.

I am so covering this series here, along with Aoi Hana. After the yuri drought of 2008, this is fabulous news for yuri fans, or any anime fan who wants to watch a good romantic comedy.

2 More Fictional Yuri Fangirls: Back-to-Back Kaishaku

Whoops, two more.

My thanks to Kaishaku for creating this series, as well as the guy working in the CD section of the Fululu Garden department store in Japan who ordered in the KnM drama CD for me. Himeko's the character on the left.
7. Himeko in Kannazuki no Miko by Kaishaku (manga, anime, and drama CD): Even though Himeko only reveals herself to be a gushing yuri manga fangirl in the drama CD, her fan enthusiasm is very well played out. There's an especially great scene in which Chikane gets Himeko to read a portion of her yuri manga to her- twice. XD I don't much care for the anime anymore, because it's dripping with angst and crippled by mediocre execution, but the drama CD (and the Ayako Kawasumi CD I got in Akiba *cough cough*) still makes for a fun listen. Seriously Kaishaku, make an OVA out of this CD as your next project. ^^

Same thanks to Kaishaku for creating this hilariously crappy series.
8. Kozue from Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora by Kaishaku (manga and anime): The Makoto to Kuu's (the protagonist) Himeko, the Wakaba to to Kuu's whiny Utena, her fannishness isn't shown directly in the show, but it is alluded to by Kuu. When Kuu sees Kaon and Himiko (who are based off of Kannazuki no Miko's Chikane and Himeko) kissing, she not only realizes that they're in love, she realizes that she's seeing the same thing she's seen in her roommate Kozue's manga collection. lol

2 More Fictional Yuri Fangirls

D'oh, in my original list of yuri fangirls in anime and manga, I listed the obvious examples, but I forgot two more very fun characters.

Many, many thanks to Akiko Morishima-sensei for creating Hanjuku Joshi. Update on 03/20/2009: I'm not including a pic of Chie because there aren't any available, and I don't want to post any scanlated manga pages here. A chapter title page is okay, if nothing else is available.
5. Chie from Hanjuku Joshi by Akiko Morishima (manga): She seems to be more of a yaoi fangirl, but her starry-eyed meta-fictional lecture about the character dynamics in yuri to her little sister Chitose (who is one of the two protagonists of a girl's school yuri manga lol) makes her a fun addition to an already enjoyable story.

A plethora of thanks to Milk Morinaga-sensei for creating Girl Friends. Tamamin's the one on the right.
6. Tamamin from Girl Friends by Milk Morinaga: A hardcore otaku friend of the two protagonists, Mari and Akko, who deserves this spot for giving Milk Morinaga an excuse to create a meta-fictional parody series titled Revolutionary Pretty Girl Marriage (which draws influence from what I call the unofficial holy trinity of shoujo yuri- Sailor Moon, Revolutionary Girl Utena, and Maria-sama ga Miteru), further cementing the fact that Mari is definitely gay, while raising a few questions about Tamamin. Her fangirl antics provide effective comic relief in what is otherwise a very drama-heavy series.

Yuri Fangirls in Anime and Manga, and Con Season

Tralala... con season is rolling around again. Pocky galore, ridiculous-looking doujinshi to snicker at with a friend (Kyon x Itsuki was rather popular at the last con I attended; just putting that out there), tables of anime merchandise to drool over, and the sheer energy to be found in milling around a room full of Haruhi Suzumiyas and Vash the Stampedes. Good times. Plus, like at last summer's Yasumicon, I've got another yuri panel coming up at Conbust, Smith College's annual fantasy/sci-fi/anime/gaming con which distinguishes itself by focusing on "the female members of the participating community. While the various realms of geekdom remain stereotypically male-dominated, ConBust is held to celebrate the work of women amongst these genres." (As quoted from the ConBust website.) Granted, at anime cons, based on the few I've attended, the demographics seem to be split pretty evenly, with perhaps slightly more female attendees. But sci-fi/fantasy/gaming fandoms seem to be more predominantly male. It'll be interesting to see what the audience for my yuri panel at ConBust will be like, though. ^^ At Yasumicon, it was mostly guys (who were all nice, pleasant-to-socialize-with guys aside from one kinda creepy old guy), with a small yet healthy enough proportion of girls also. So I wonder how Conbust might be different. It's a general geek hobbies con, unlike Yasumicon (which was anime-only), so there might be some curious people at the panel who barely know what anime is, let alone yuri.

On that note, for fun, I decided to make a little list of yuri fangirl anime and manga characters, simply because such characters delight me. (Just as yaoi fangirls enjoy seeing members of their ranks depicted in anime and manga, a la Renge from Ouran.) So, here goes:

A mountain of thanks to Takashi Ikeda-sensei for writing/drawing Sasamekikoto. ^^ Aoi's on the right, next to the awesome Sumi-chan.
1. Aoi from Sasamekikoto by Takashi Ikeda (manga; hopefully an anime, if the rumors are true):
Currently the best example. She not only demonstrates the fun and excitement of enjoying her nerdariffic hobbies (like writing fanfic and talking about titles with friends), she also exhibits the ridiculous, sometimes awkward aspects of being a fan (like getting carried away gushing about a title one likes -_-;; *guilty*), without being unlikeable or slipping into being a caricature.


2. Hiyori from Lucky Star by Kagami Yoshimizu (anime; not sure about the manga):
A doujinshi artist, like Aoi, who has some funny moments, but lacks Aoi's three-dimensional characterization or Marimite-esque light novel obsession. XD Still a funny character.


3. Arguably, nearly every student at St. Lobelia Girl's Academy in Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori (anime and manga):
St. Lobelia is an obvious, hilarious parody of Lillian from Maria-sama ga Miteru, with the Zuka Club (from "Takarazuka") as a parody of the Yamayurikai. And virtually every single student goes nuts fangirling for them. XD The ladies of Lobelia only show up in two episodes of the anime (9 and 19; I'm not really sure about how much they appear in the manga), but both episodes are a fabulously funny send up of yuri and the fans that love it (especially Marimite XD ). I have to stop making Marimite references, but it'll be really hard with the next one.


4. Kanako from Maria Holic by Minari Endou (anime and manga):
After deluding herself into transferring to a Catholic all-girl's school in the hopes of living in yuri paradise, Kanako has a few fun fangirl moments (with one involving...a certain light novel series), unfortunately tempered by some of the more odious aspects of the plot, as well as some seriously pervtastic behavior on her part. She often seems like a stand-in for the drooling otaku who primarily watch this show. Or, I guess one could see her as the yuri equivalent of the stereotypical hellishly annoying, squealing, "bishonen"-harassing yaoi fangirls one sees zipping around at cons.

That's all that I can think of so far. ^^ Hopefully the list will grow, with more delightful yuri fan characters to provide an extra wink-wink, nudge-nudge point of identification for fans. Along with Sasamekikoto's wonderful eventual-couple Sumi and Ushio, I'm looking forward to seeing what becomes of Aoi, in all her fangeek glory. Viva la fandom!

Midterm Week Hiatus

検査のために調査している...
Studying for my next midterm on Friday.... I wish it were as fun as Ami makes it look. (Even though she's really holding a love novel. ^^;;)

Real First Post

Yay! ^^ This is my first post on this blog!! Since this past September, I've maintained a personal blog where I mostly posted about my life, with the occasional anime or manga-centric post thrown in when I liked or hated something enough to want to write about it. For organization's sake though, I decided to create a new blog where I can post my impressions of anime and manga separately. I normally write about a series that I love (like Strawberry Shake Sweet, Girl Friends, Maria-sama ga Miteru, or the upcoming Fullmetal Alchemist and Aoi Hana anime), loathe (like Candy Boy and possibly at least the first episode of the craptastic looking Queen's Blade), or consider a guilty pleasure that's fun to comment on (the Strawberry Panic light novel). I imported anime and manga posts from my older blog so that my newer posts on certain series I've already written about will seem less random. And as any thorough anime and manga connosieur may discern, I'm a yuri fan, so I'll be posting primarily on that. Douzo yoroshiku! ^^

A Yuri Fan's Dream Come True: Aoi Hana Anime!!

This morning the Anime News Network posted an article announcing that Shimura Takako's excellent coming-of-age drama/yuri romance, Aoi Hana, is being animated by J.C.Staff!! ^__^ To quote myself on the ANN forum:

OH MY GOD, YES!!!! Finally another good yuri anime!!! And it's canon, not subtext!! It isn't fan-sevicey or gimmicky or anything. Just a well-written high school drama with wonderfully realistic characters. Huzzah!!

I am ecstatic. It's been awhile since I last read Aoi Hana, and I started rereading it today. Great stuff. I think I like it even more now than when I first started it. The manga has so many little moments that made me smile, like when Yasuko's (literally) sparkling charm causes Fumi to accidentally sign up for the basketball team, Youko, Misako, and Miwa's (the girls in the Matsuoka Drama Club) goofy behavior, and so on. The relationships are organic, the characters are compelling and believable, and the drama and sprinkles of comedy blend together smoothly. What more could a fan ask for? For the anime to be an excellent adaptation of the manga, of course, but I'll just have to wait and see how it turns out. I'm really looking forward to this!