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Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Rica Takashima and Yuri Monogatari


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neocloud9



Joined: 06 Oct 2008
Posts: 1178
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:25 pm Reply with quote
As an anime fan and a lesbian, I thank you for the recommendation. Smile

Looking forward to that omnibus edition now.
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Valetina



Joined: 12 Jun 2008
Posts: 10
Location: Atlanta, GA
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:31 pm Reply with quote
neocloud9 wrote:
As an anime fan and a lesbian, I thank you for the recommendation. Smile

Looking forward to that omnibus edition now.


Same here.

Thanks for the recommendation ^^
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littlegreenwolf



Joined: 10 Aug 2002
Posts: 4796
Location: Seattle, WA
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 11:33 pm Reply with quote
Great subect this week. I'm not really into yaoi or yuri, but I've always been curious about what's out there.

As to Moto Hagio's theory on why yaoi is more popular in Japan versus America due to feminism, I don't buy it. I would automatically attribute the low interest here in America because you're sizing up a niche audience in an already niche group of buyers versus Japan where it's readily available just about everywhere.

Feminism is supposed to be advanced here, but there are still things that cannot be said? I'm just confused with that statement. Are you referring to the suggested idea that girls are projecting themselves into male characters of yaoi storylines, or that the guy on guy relationship talk is still taboo, because if it's the later, I've been hearing it since high school. I hang out with a number of gay men, and they aren't shy at all about the subject of sex, and I stopped blushing over the talk long ago.

I also don't buy the idea that girls reading yaoi are only reading it because they're not ready for similar stories with females. Most women I personally know reading yaoi are my age (college age) and they are in relationships, and read heterosexual manga as well.

I'm myself am not a particular fan of yaoi or yuri, and only dabble in a few titles on occasion because of recommendations (I'm finding I very much enjoy Cantarella, does it count? I found Gravitation to be all-right in story), so maybe it's because I don't project myself into any of the characters that I don't enjoy yaoi as much as the next fangirl, but that doesn't mean I don't have an interest in guy on guy relationships.

I wasn't even aware I thought they were particularly hot, at least with real men, until the show True Blood recently suggested such a relationship with their recent season premiere. That was when I realized "I really want to see those two guys make out." Talking about it with my friends who are big True Blood fans the following day (other women my age who aren't at all into anime or manga) I found they had exactly the same wish. It was a hot scene, and we wanted more of it.

In another instance that has always been a popular subject among female, American geek fans: Kirk/Spock slash. It's been around for ages, and you can probably call these women who create it the yaoi fangirls of America. I recently became a fan of the idea because I think the newest actors just look so good together, and they have awesome tension in the newest Star Trek film. I don't picture myself as either Spock or Kirk. I just want to see pretty guys get it on to a point. I can't explain it, but maybe it's the same as guys wanting to watch hot lesbians make out.

Looking at it, perhaps the idea of guy on guy is more popular now due to feminism, but it's different that what Hagio is suggesting. I think women of North America are finding more and more they want to see guy on guy relationships because it's ok to talk about sex, especially gay sex. We can now say the reversal to a guy going "I love lesbians making out" without people looking at us like we're weird. They say the Millennials and future generations as a whole are widely accepting of homosexuality than previous generations. Perhaps that's all there is to it.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8458
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 12:01 am Reply with quote
Rica 'tte Kanji!? seems pretty good from the samples. Maybe I'll check it out sometime. It's good to see lesbians just being portrayed as, you know, just regular folk, instead of fanservice bait.
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Player No. 3



Joined: 21 Jan 2010
Posts: 209
Location: San Antonio, Texas
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 12:08 am Reply with quote
Fascinating article this week. Thanks. I particularly like this end quote:

House of a 1000 Manga wrote:
That is the real tragedy of yuri and yaoi manga; 99% of it is produced for and by voyeurs, while actual gay voices are absent. There should be hundreds of manga like Rica 'tte Kanji!?, and tens of thousands of buyers to make them financially worthwhile to draw.


I wish this, too. At any rate, saving up for that omnibus Rica'tte Kanji!?. Thanks for the recommendation.
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RadicaLElly



Joined: 24 Aug 2004
Posts: 194
Location: Coral Springs, FL
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 2:20 am Reply with quote
It's not licensed sadly, but Honey & Honey by Sachiko Takeuchi is my personal favorite auto-biographical yuri manga.
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Moomintroll



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 1600
Location: Nottingham (UK)
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 3:07 am Reply with quote
I'd been put off buying this due to the ridiculous prices used copies sell for online so I'm very glad to hear that there's a new edition coming out.
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Pippin4242



Joined: 01 Jan 2006
Posts: 111
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:07 am Reply with quote
Huge kudos for the shout-out to Bechdel, as well. It's not that I thought 'Dykes To Watch Out For' was that engaging as far as stories go; it's that it's the only [expletive] time that I've been able to identify with the cast of anything. I thought of her as I read the first excerpts, and I'll definitely be buying this manga when it's re-released.

Thanks.

-Pips
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PingSoni
Subscriber



Joined: 05 Dec 2008
Posts: 195
Location: Lansing MI
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 6:52 am Reply with quote
Thank you for covering this subject and discussing all these titles!
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yuricon



Joined: 06 Oct 2004
Posts: 145
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:03 am Reply with quote
Sometimes, honestly, I wonder if I'm the only one who finds something funny.

The panel in which Rica's father accuses her of "doing lesbian" slayed me when I first read it. I'm *so* glad that you chose that particular page.

Yes, ALC Publishing is going to try to get an omnibus edition of "Rica" out. Rica herself is back in Japan, stoked to work on new material for it. Chances are it'll be e-book only,and we're going to do our best to make it accessible through multiple formats, because we at ALC Publishing don't think your reading choices should be determined by the hardware you buy, or the makers of that hardware.

Thanks, Jason, for this toe dip into the waters of ALC Publishing, where the girl always gets the girl!

Cheers,

Erica Friedman

PS - Yes, Rica and Miho sleep together, between the next to last chapter and the last. And yes, Rica wanted to leave untranslated pages in for people who were practicing their Japanese.
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vashfanatic



Joined: 16 Jun 2005
Posts: 3489
Location: Back stateside
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:23 am Reply with quote
Oh, awesome! This is precisely the kind of series I want to see translated, I am so buying that omnibus! Thanks for raising awareness of this title -- maybe we can get at least a few hundred purchases? Get the ball rolling?
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Moomintroll



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 1600
Location: Nottingham (UK)
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 7:53 am Reply with quote
vashfanatic wrote:
maybe we can get at least a few hundred purchases? Get the ball rolling?


Count me in if there's a print option but I've absolutely no interest in e-books. I understand why a print edition might not be feasible for ALC but, as underlined by my short-lived attempt to give Viz's Ikki site a chance, reading comics off a screen just isn't something I can get excited about, even when the comics are titles I really want to see.

Time to check for a reasonably priced used copy of the old edition again...
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Chrno2



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 6171
Location: USA
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 12:15 pm Reply with quote
Great section. Something greatly needing to addressed.

I had the pleasure of reading 'Rica 'tte Kanji' some months ago. I actually enjoyed it. Before I read that I read 'Honey x Honey' and 'Plica' by Amamiya Sae. Both of which I also enjoyed. And I realized just how different the "Class S" style literature is from actual "lesbian" themed literature. One is your "trashy" fantasy and the other deals with real life. I'll admit I enjoy the sappy, angsty, fanboyish yuri that's seen in anime and manga (ie. - 'MariMite', 'Kannazuki no Miko', 'Sasameki Koto', 'Shiroi no Heya' and 'Maya's Funeral Procession'). But I've also come to enjoy some of the more edgier "josei" titles that depict a more realistic take. I've read quite a few. 'Love my Life', 'Indigo Blue', 'Sweet Loving Baby', 'Free Soul' by Ebine Yamaji. All her works are excellent. Why hasn't anyone taken notice of her? But they publish a good deal of Erica Sawazawa. 'Sweet Blue Flowers' by Takako Shimura. It borrows a little 'Class S' but moves into a permanent decision and not some HS school "same-sex crush phase". But she's very versatile in her works. Then there's 'Gunjo' by Nakamura Ching. I've heard much about it. We got 'Maka-Maka' which was sort of fun. There's even 'Love Slave' by Onozucca Kahori. And of course my personal fan favorite yuri artist is 'Akiko Morishima'. Her works ('Hanjuku Joshi' and 'Lapis Lazuli Blue Dream') while very "moe" artwise she strives to come up with as many different types of yuri stories she can think of. From the fan-oriented to the more realistic. I've purchased all of her books. I highly recommend her. There's so many great yuri works out there for yuri fans but yet not a big enough market here. Erica Friedman reviews quite a bit of new titles not to mention older works. Yet "yaoi" sells like hotcakes. I'd like to see some of these titles translated and sold over here. I'm tired of reading scanlations. And while I don't mind buying the imports the way I've done in the past...I don't speak Japanese. It's highly. frustrating.

I never thought one day I'd find myself becoming a MariMite fan. Because I'm not used to the styles produced by "shoujo" artists. But I finally moved passed it somehow thanks to the show. 'MariMite' taught me one name, Nobuko Yoshiya. You'll understand why the 'Class S' genre we've come to know became such a prolific theme in literature through out history. Not to mention I now understand what 'Takarazuka' drama is and why it was an element in 'Sakura Wars'. Again who said you couldn't learn anything from anime or manga. Wink

Oh and 'Dykes to Watch out For' is an awesome read. That and 'Fun Home'. One of which I've read and the other (DTWOF) I'm still working through that.
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Parsifal24





PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:44 pm Reply with quote
I tried to like Yaoi and Yuri ultmitelly just something I couldnt get into I liked Little Butterfly and some of Maria Watchs over Us and Heart of Thomas but most of the other stuff just leaves me cold as being just a little bit too "pervy" in my opininon.
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Pocky Monster



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 237
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 3:26 pm Reply with quote
YESSSS. <3

There needs to be more licensed yuri manga like this.

I'm a big yaoi and yuri fan, but I'd love them a million times better if they actually had a realistic portrayal of homosexuals and the issues they face. But as it's been pointed out, the majority is just fantasy and very idealistic.

Count me in for buying the omnibus when it comes out.
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