Yuri review of the year 2008
Posted on | December 29, 2008 | 12 Comments |
We here at Yuri to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito wish you the very best for the holiday season and in view of the upcoming new year, I felt that there needed to be a review of the highlights in the yuri manga and anime for 2008.
Anime and hentai
It turned out to be an interesting year for the yuri crowd in anime with the release of Kurogane Kenn’s much vaunted eromanga Shoujo Sect. The three part hentai aimed at the yuri crowd had some good points – Kurogane sensei’s distinctive art style was quite well preserved (though in significantly lower quality) and the voice acting was not as terrible as it could have been. Unfortunately, the story was chopped apart and scenes switched around so that the storyline (what there was of it) was difficult to understand with random sex scenes when you weren’t expecting them and none when you were. Still, it was a noteworthy addition to the parcimoniously stocked yuri hentai shelf.
Hatsu Inu also returned to our video shelves for a second installment with our taciturn purple haired heroine deciding that the best way to break her silence is to have hawt yuri secks with the other person who is after her boyfriend. That…makes sense.
This year was also notable for the release of the ONA of Candy Boy, the first (and probably the last) anime to be made about incestual lesbian sisters. Tastefully done without even a hint of nudity or reverse breast grabbing, Candy Boy did charm me with its clean pastelly art style and Sakuya, the underclassman yuri nympho stalker (my favourite character type). The only problem being that the episodes aren’t being released fast enough! Let’s hope for more installments to rather touching series in the new year.
On the new releases this side of the Pacific there was an unexpected development – the licensing and release of Maria sama ga miteru in English. Now it would be difficult for me to say this was one of my favourite yuri series (since nothing actually happened in it particularly), but perhaps its the most realistic representation of Catholic girls’ school life of the options available. ON its side are strong, believable character development, cute couples and subtext that could break a camel’s back. Witht he 4th series on its way in the new year, its the right time for Marimite virgins (pun intended) to indulge in the original series.
In other news, various shows with yuri storylines debuted or continued this year. The always-a-guilty-pleasure anime Ikkitousen returned this year with Ikkitousen Great Guardians. Sadly, the lesbian subtext between Kanu and Gentoku which was always one sided and only hinted at in other series (and the manga) was played to the max this season, with lots of cheap fanservice and Kanu nosebleed moments almost degrading this into yuri eye-candy rather than making it a more fulfilling relationship with interesting “discovering sexuality” development. Still, at least it fits with the show’s personality.
Hidamari Sketch returned with Hidamari Sketch x365 with more SHAFT based nonsense. Hiro and Sae are still awesome and their relationship is further hinted at this series. Cute and definitely worth a watch. The short anime Penguin Musume Heart continued with various yuri undertones between Penguin, Etorofu and Chi. One of my favourite anime of the year. Lucky Star returned briefly with the Lucky Star OVA, and more yuri fluff between Konata and Kagami – What did dream Konata make Kagami say? Only your imagination can tell you…
Newly on the radar, Ga-rei Zero popped onto our screens with its high budget low inspiration violence and a refreshingly chaste and innocent oneesama/kouhai relationship turned bad between Yomi and Kagura and additionally the most ridiculously weapons known to man.
Manga
This year was a great one for yuri manga. Mid year heralded the launch of Wings of Yuri – a scanlation site also translating yuri novels and games, whose efforts have rapidly filled out the translated yuri manga folders of the faithful with bountiful goodness. Most notably, translation of the Eternal Sisters anthologies, Gokujou Drops and Hanjuku Joshi as well as the doujin novel story to go with the yuri visual novel Kono hanabira ni kuchiduke wo. All praise to them, please go on helping poor souls like us into next year.
Other scanlation groups were also awesome this year. Makimaki carried on bringing us my favourite yuri manga series Girlfriends, one of the more realistic coming of age stories by Morinaga Milk with two best friends slowly and clumsily falling for each other in the cutest possible way. Slowly being the operative term. Tranquil Spring (who recently rejected my application for QC on their team) have been translating the equally good Octave, which takes the more adult storyline of a hasbeen idol who meets another girl in her position who seduces her and causes her to re-evaluate her life.
Well known favourites Lillilicious continued to bring us yuri goodness, but especially the continuation of Hayashiya Shizuru’s Strawberry Shake Sweet, which continues to amuse yuri-fluff lovers everywhere. SSS takes the Candy Boy character of Yuri scary stalker and puts her in the leading role. What chaos can she wrought in a poor innocent kouhai’s life when she fixes her crosshairs on her? A lot, apparently. Not for people who want a believable plotline ^^. Dynasty-Scans took over a lot of Lililicious’ and TEA Scans’ projects, most notably parts of Yuri Hime S, Wildrose and Sasamekikoto, which I have in hard copy. It looks like there will be more releases of this series in the near future, so watch their site for more “Tomboy-wants-best-friend” goodness. Also, Chatting at the Amber Teahouse, Fujieda Miyabi’s new work continues her list of cute lesbians doing unusual stuff – this time running a failing teahouse. I’m the tea cosy, you’re the teapot.
My old favourites, Taruby’s Paradox, who caught my attention with their previous work on Gacha Gacha, have continued this year with two (arguably) yuri works – Seijou Kouchakan no Jijou and Ichinensei ni Nachattara. In the former, a boy visits a teahouse and drinks a strange brew which turns him into a girl. Thankfully, the girl who he liked and was about to confess to was a lesbian then! In the latter, a high school boy saves a little girl but gets hit by a truck and turned into a primary school girl by a passing ero-scientist. Obviously semi-ero-yuri moments then result in this currently 2 volume series with lovely clean artwork.
Miscellany
Finally, in addition to Wings of Yuri’s work on the Doujin novel that goes with the visual novel Sono hanabira ni kuchiduke wo, a translation project was started this year to translate the first game in this series. All credit goes to Countpackula, who seems to be doing most of the work himself. The translations seem to be all done, and whats left that needs to be done is editing, proof reading and the rest of the program editing. So maybe next year then. ^^;
And of course, there’s us. Thank you all for supporting Yuribou in 2008, we’ll see you all in 2009 with the continuation of Christmas is Fetish season and more besides!
Best wishes to all
Yuribou and Love.
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December 29th, 2008 @ 12:28 pm
Just a minor correction–Dynasty didn’t take over any of Lililicious’s projects. They just picked up Yuri Hime S and parts of Yuri Hime Wildrose, which happen to be from the same line of comics as Yuri Hime but are completely different publications.
Also, you left Horobi no Michi, Otenba, and Anonymous off the list of scanlators.
Happy Holidays!
December 30th, 2008 @ 12:29 am
Based on your recommendation I just cranked through the available chapters of Girlfriends. Good pick, thank you!
December 30th, 2008 @ 3:36 pm
Thanks for the end of year shindig. It really was a pretty good year for all the stuff we love.
Hope you had a good year as well, and happy new year.
December 30th, 2008 @ 4:12 pm
What?! Hatsu Inu had a Yuri scene? Or is it a new episode?
December 30th, 2008 @ 10:55 pm
Does the manga series manyuu hikencho have any yuri in it?
December 30th, 2008 @ 11:01 pm
Thanks all
Max – Hatsu Inu 2 episode 1 had a yuri scene
h4p – Not read it, sorry!
January 1st, 2009 @ 8:25 pm
Hi! I love your blog! Thanks so much for weeding out the good yuri from the fanboy stuff!
I wonder if you’d heard about the new anime “Maria Holic”, based on the manga of the same name? I got to watch the pre-episode and I absolutely love it! The series beings in early January. I hope you like it as much as I do! Also, what did you think of “Maka-Maka”?
Off to read “Girlfriends”…
January 2nd, 2009 @ 12:54 pm
What a yuri-year. Why can’t there be a year where there are yuri animes as much as yaoi doujinshi are wrote. But to be true I actually just didn’t came to watch very much of good yuri.
Angel H. – I already mentioned “Maria Holic” in some earlier comments in a post and as far as I can tell yuribou will take care of it.
To tell something about it myself, the pre-episode didn’t look like any good yuri, but I’m open for surprises…
Sorry for the late post~ things to do.
January 3rd, 2009 @ 4:20 pm
Hatsu Inu again (2) episode 2 also had a yuri scene. Shame the animation was no where near as good as the first Hatsu Inu series.
January 29th, 2009 @ 8:06 am
What’s the source of the kissing image?
February 1st, 2009 @ 11:55 pm
Sorry for late reply, Jenn – it is Shoujo sect
February 19th, 2009 @ 4:52 pm
[...] Yuribou’s recent post sums up Girl Friends well…’one of the more realistic coming of age stories by Morinaga Milk with two best friends slowly and clumsily falling for each other in the cutest possible way’. [...]