Winter 2019 Anime Impressions

Out of the blue, some short impressions on stuff I will be following this winter.

Honourable mentions, good but probably won’t be keeping up with: Endro, HizaUe, Kotobuki

B class residents:

TateYuusha/Rising of Shield Hero: Isekai adaptation blessed with a motivated staff and a decent budget. I felt the opening was a bit too heavy-handed for its own good, but the series has more unique ideas later down the line. Now it is all a matter of whether a proper plot direction can be established and whether character chemistry can save the series from mediocrity. Very easy to follow, though, with a constant mix of action, humour and character development.

Kemurikusa: There is a lot to Kemurikusa that feels fresh, and that is its main forte. The setting, plot progression and dialogue flow are simply different from any other production of the season. That said, the pacing is on the slow side and I actually enjoy listening to the show more than watching it, so I went through episodes two and three while grinding Octopath Traveler on the side.

A class:

Yakusoku no Neverland/Promised Neverland: Probably the top title to recommend to anime outsiders from this season. It is a universal and powerful thriller setup that makes you root for the characters while also being scared of all the possible ways they might fail. Top notch production values with a distinct but down-to-earth artstyle which will keep the show graphically relevant even after years pass. So there is more than enough to like here. However, thrillers live and die by their story developments, and there seems to be a general consensus out there that the first arc is the best part of the show. I am still looking forward to seeing how things play out, though.

Wataten!/An Angel Flew Down to Me: The positive surprise of the season turns out to be a comedy/slice of life show. Ostensibly a yuri series, Wataten gives equal focus to a whole range of personalities and relationships, delivering every episode with a tremendous dosage of warmth. I read a few pages of the manga back when this was announced, and expected very little of the final product. Turns out I was to be smitten yet again by the divine powers of Douga Koubou’s slice of life mastery. And they already have Sewayaki Kitsune announced for later this year…

Egao no Daika/The Price of Smiles: Original story of a twelve-year-old taking over as her country’s queen just as they are all about to be crushed by the neighbouring empire and starve due to a planet-wide crop failure. I can only applaud any show that shows a room full of military higher-ups frowning at a huge stack of lettuce and despairing that the vegetables being delivered to the frontline might swing the tide of battle in the enemy’s favour. With a balanced narrative between the two sides and no obvious solution to the conflict at hand, Egao no Daika might be the show I most look forward to each week. I just hope that the art does not fall completely apart mid-way (it is already struggling at times…) and that they focus on further developing the setting and characters, rather than forcing drama.

Dororo: Solid samurai fare. Another title you might show to an anime outsider without doing much explaining. Hopefully the overarching story ends up no less solid than the episodic offerings so far.

Manaria Friends: What sorcery is this show? Not only is it a yuri series oozing production values from every frame, it might well be one of the season’s bestsellers depending on whatever goodies for the game version and mother-series Shingeki no Bahamut get attached to the discs.

But putting such surrounding circumstances aside, Manaria Friends is a genuine and heartfelt yuri/friendship story. It places its characters in a lovely fantasy setting, but strays away from world-building exposition, preferring viewers to take in the world through osmosis and at their own pace. The focus here is very much on the characters, and so far they are all a blast. Even the princess’s bodyguard who does nothing but follow his lady around becomes a humorous character once we see things from his perspective. The opening episode involves An struggling with the solitude brought about by everyone seeing her more as a princess and prodigy than a person, and while the trope should by all means be worn out from its usage in other places, here it is brought to new life by not only refusing to state the issue openly, but not even letting An herself realise her own predicament and desires until the very moment she is brought relief. At only two episodes in, the series has already impressed a lot, so I will be looking forward to whatever it turns out to be.

So, with seven series on this list and three carry-overs (SAO, Index, Slime), I have a total of ten winter series to follow for a nice average of two episodes a weekday. I am away on a delegation throughout the whole season, as always playing with the legal limits for working time in my country, so spare time is of the essence. I want to avoid wasting too much of it on youtube/social media and just watch some good old anime. Thankfully the winter season appears promising so far.

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Anime Bisexuals Who Got Away With It

In anime-land characters can get away with both being straight (obviously) or gay (if they show up in the right genre). Bisexual characters, though, tend to find themselves in a rough spot. A love interest in a mainstream series suddenly swinging the other way might creep out half the target audience, while characters “growing out” of their homosexuality and into a normative relationship is one of the more outrage-inducing yuri/yaoi tropes.

Nevertheless, there are some crafty characters who managed to swing both ways without causing a storm or a split in the fanbase. Here is a quick look at those characters and the circumstances which let them be who they are without causing a riot.

Suehiro Anna (Wandering Son)

…as well as some other characters in Shimura Takako’s works. This is kind of cheating, because the titles in question focus heavily on characters discovering and struggling with their own sexuality, and are not something that people touchy about the topic would pick up in the first place.

Anna is introduced to the reader/viewer as somebody who “likes weird things”. However, unlike the frivolous approach of some genki-type characters, Anna’s attitude is that of a calm confidence in her own preferences. Which is why she remains mostly unfazed when it turns out that her new boyfriend has a penchant for cross-dressing.

Anna does have her moments of doubt when it turns out that her partner’s habit is more than a hobby. As the issue comes to light, causing friction with all their acquaintances, it even leads to a temporary breakup between the two. But through it all, Anna only grows stronger, more accepting of and supporting towards her partner. So it does not come as a shock when Anna, faced with her partner’s eventual decision to transition and officially become a woman, responds with something along the lines of “Well, I guess I’ll have a girlfriend now.”

Vector/colouring by LBC

Konoka and Setsuna (Mahou Sensei Negima)

Negima’s shtick is that everyone in the class has some kind of feelings for their chibi homeroom teacher Negi. The two ladies above get their fair share of ship tease with the male protagonist and are one of the earlier students to get a pactio with Negi – kissing their way to a power-up.

With Konoka a supportive mother figure and Setsuna a reliable comrade on the battlefield, either one of them might have been a strong contender for Negi’s heart… if only the two could keep their hands off each other. As we learn more about the connection between Konoka and Setsuna, we find some resemblance to a Lady and the Tramp kind of story, except that the open-minded Konoka could not care less about things like status, race or gender. And Konoka’s gift of positivity is exactly what the eternal worryguts Setsuna needs to keep her grounded in reality. Before we know it, this fan-favourite couple is making an additional pactio with each other, and their wedding dates suspiciously overlap…

Kawasumi Mai (Kanon 2006)

As one of the heroines of the Kanon visual novel, Mai has a close connection to the novel’s male protagonist, Yuuichi. The two meet as children, and Yuuichi becomes Mai’s first true friend as the one person unafraid of Mai’s otherworldy powers. The two get along really well until Yuuichi leaves the town, not to come back for many years. That part of the story can be assumed to be canon for all the novel’s routes. In Mai’s route, the reader can help the two reconcile after their painful separation. There, the two assumedly end up as a couple.

However, by the time the action of Kanon starts, Mai has already given up on ever meeting her old friend again. Instead, she forges a new strong connection with one Kurata Sayuri. The two girls are close, very close. To the point that in the visual novel, we are privy to Yuuichi’s R-rated imaginations of them doing this and that together. In the Kazahana OVA, the two go on to live together as they study abroad.

The most contentious scene regarding this relationship must be the one where Yuuichi questions Mai’s attitude as she attempts to protect Sayuri from danger by pushing her away and preventing her from getting involved. Mai justifies her approach with a deadpan: Sayuri no koto ga suki. Daisuki dakara. I think it has been argued to death which of the suki/daisuki pair is stronger and more romantic as far as confessions go, but it seem like the taciturn Mai is not interested in those discussions, so she just drops both of them in rapid succession.

Still, there is always the interpretation that Mai is just very intense about all her friendships (which she is), so the two factions are never forced into a direct confrontation.

Katsura Hinagiku (Hayate no Gotoku / Hayate the Combat Butler)

The biggest relationship trouble this superpopular pink-haired tsundere finds herself in involves her inability to come to terms with and confess her feelings for Hayate, resident combat butler, chick and misfortune magnet extraordinaire. Which might be why many people forget about a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment when she admits that “for a moment, her heart beat faster because of a girl”. All that in an internal monologue – Hinagiku would not be caught dead making that kind of confession out loud.

The lucky girl is Hinagiku’s dear friend and love rival for Hayate’s heart – Nishizawa Ayumu. But should Hinagiku ever become more open to the yuri side of force, there are apparently plenty of gals waiting for their chance. One of them is another of Hinagiku’s close friends, Hanabishi Miki, who admits that she is waiting for the pink-haired tsundere to notice her, even as she fears that Hinagiku will be forever out of her reach.

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You might want to add classics like Haruhi Suzumiya, who “doesn’t care if it’s a guy or a girl as long as they are mysterious”. Also be sure to check out the incoming anime adaptation of Happy Sugar Life, whose protagonist has a bed rep from sleeping around with every other guy… until the day she finds her one true love in the tiny angel Shio-chan.

…and I am aware that the powers of my yuri bias have filled this entry with female characters. I did consider Love Stage and Ouran High School Host Club characters for a male representation, but they did not fit all my criteria. So if you have any favourites I missed, fill me in!

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Hai-furi, or Navy Catfight

As you would expect from Girls und Panzer on water, Hai-furi has more than its fair share of characters taking care of all the tasks aboard their ships. While we will probably end up calling most of them by their post (torpedo-girl, navigation-girl and so on), the show is also kind enough to highlight the main players by giving them special nicknames, and it seems cats are the name of the game.

Misaki Akeno’s "Mike", China Moeka’s "Moka" and Munetani Mashiro’s "Shiro" are all popular cat names, along the lines of “Spot”, “Mocha” and “Snowy” respectively. While some other members of the crew also get catlike nicknames, the above three also have a color theme going on (tricolor, brown and white). Akeno’s nickname in particular is the classic name for calico cats, and if Suzumiya Haruhi taught us anything, it is that the tricolored fellows are natural main characters of the Japanese feline world.

More importantly, the naming pattern is unmistakably meant to foreshadow the catfight that the love triangle will eventually lead to. Moeka seems easily in the lead right now, but the road ahead is uncertain. Typical anime tropes would have Akeno’s kindness and cheer break though the tsun-tsun wall of her deputy-captain just in time for the two to face, and ultimately overcome, Moeka’s behemoth of a ship. But a twist or two could not possibly hurt, right?

Looking forward to where the choices those kittens make will lead them.

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On Yuri 2 – Changing Definitions

Continuing down the path Medievalotaku-senpai got me started on, I provide you with a translation of a part of the Ayana Yuniko interview published in the Eureka, poetry and criticism magazine issue devoted to yuri works and culture. As a scriptwriter, Ayana-san was involved with the production of Kiniro Mosaic, Natsuiro Kiseki, Rokodoru Yatte Mita and Aoi Hana anime series. She is also the writer behind the long-running Found a Little Yuri (Chiisai Yuri Miitsuketa) corner published in Newtype (and now collected and published in book format, the cover of which is featured above).

Ayana-san has been one of the go-to people for yuri content in recent years, and it is interesting to see how her thoughts on the genre changed over time.

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Interviewer: Now I’d like to hear your thoughts on yuri. It might not be the most elegant question, but if you were to state your personal definition of yuri, what would it be?

Ayana Yuniko: Now that’s a difficult question (laughs). Sometimes it’s a direct extension of friendship, sometimes the boundary is more vague. I think recently I’ve become more accepting… Or maybe I’ve just grown up enough to gain some perspective. I’ve come to think that “if there are two girls together, it probably counts as yuri”. When I was around high school age, I had a strict set of rules for the genre and would discard anything that didn’t fit, like: “yuri should be defined as follows…”, “Aoi Hana is the pinnacle of yuri, nothing else even counts!” and all.

I: You were a yuri fundamentalist, so to speak.

Ayana: Exactly. Like Kamakura and the other Yuri Danshi characters, I would scream: “That’s unacceptable!”, and I was ready to fight for what I thought, too. But I’ve come to think that whether the girls at the center of it all are aware of it or not, if everyone around thinks it’s yuri, then so it is. An irresponsible approach though that is (laughs).

I: Was there any particular reason for you taking a more relaxed approach?

Ayana: If I were to point to a particular reason, I guess it would be Yuru Yuri; the manga came out, the number of yuri fans increased and I found myself feeling grateful about it. After that, I suppose I was able to accept everything; I saw that it was one way to get to know the genre. At around the same time, I had the opportunity to work on Kiniro Mosaic, and part of me found it weird the work could be considered yuri, but another part of me said “oh well, there’s nothing wrong with that either.”

I: “If it works for you, you can call it yuri.”?

Ayana: Yes. There were parts of it that made my yuri spirit burn, after all (laugh). Now that the work is all over, I can say this openly, but when I was working on Locodol, writing some parts of it helped me release the frustration pent-up from Kiniro Mosaic. Writing Kiniro Mosaic, I could only use the purest parts of myself lest I defile the beauty of the work, and it wasn’t easy. So when the time came to work on Locodol, only the dirty me was left. For that reason, the yuri intensity degree of the work became relatively high. Nevertheless, my intention when writing the script was to include enough humor to make the yuri ambiguous. But the execution of the finished product was going in the real deal direction. I saw it and thought, “Can’t make excuses for that…” (laughs).

I: By the way, what was the idea behind making the final episode of Kiniro Mosaic into a musical?

Ayana: When we decided that the final episode would include the characters producing their own work, the director told me “Well then, let’s make that part into a musical.” I myself was surprised at the content, but I thought it would be a waste not to do something we normally couldn’t in the main story episodes. Because the characters are acting out a musical and not themselves, it was fine for Aya and Youko to become a mermaid princess and a prince in a romantic relationship.

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On Yuri

Good friend medievalotaku recently reposted a manga best seller list, happy that a favorite of his made it to the top. What gathered more attention from his commenters, though, was the fact that a yuri title made it to fourth place. Many comments bemoaned how lust and sin will always sell. This made me realize that the old misconception of yuri being a subgenre of porn, featuring two ladies going at it and aimed at heterosexual males, is still alive and well. I am not going to argue how you should define the genre, but I want to provide some data for reference and perspective.

1. Yuri – for boys or girls?

It is difficult to get clear-cut data on the male-female ratio of yuri readers, and the most reliable data we have dates back to 2008, coming from magazine Yuri Hime’s reader questionnaires. At that time, the magazine was divided into two sister titles, the lighter Yuri Hime S and the core-audience Yuri Hime.

Yuri Hime S: 62% Male / 38% Female

Yuri Hime: 27% Male / 73% Female

The two magazines fused together in late 2010, the stated reason being an increasing readership overlap, as readers of the lighter Yuri Hime S reportedly migrated to the main magazine.

No official data has been published since after the fusion, though some speak of a 50-50 ratio nowadays.

2. Yuri and erotica

Yuri being just a genre, and a broad one at that, you can find all kinds of stories and story elements if you look hard enough, But how unwholesome (perverted) is the average yuri title nowadays?

I took a quick look through the May 2015 issue of Yuri Hime, and classified the story chapters into three categories: family-friendly, fanservice and physical intimacy.

For fanservice, I looked for images which could be considered titillating, regardless of the significance to the plot. Nudity and provocative clothing were the most common reasons for getting included into this category. Just one such element was enough to include a given series.

For physical intimacy, I looked for characters expressing their affection physically, starting from kisses and going up to sexual foreplay. (No story contained characters having actual sexual intercourse.) I did not include hand-holding and hugs, as I do not want to live in a world where you cannot give your friend a hug. Sorry.

There were a total of 22 works in the issue. I only counted Yuru Yuri (two chapters) once, and counted the A-side and B-side short stories by Canno as one whole story.

Results:

Family-friendly: 12/22 – 54,5%

Non family-friendly: 10/22 – 45,5%

Non family-friendly includes both stories containing fanservice and physical intimacy.

Fanservice: 5/22 – 22,7%

Physical intimacy: 7/22 – 31,8%

Two of the stories qualified for both categories, Saburouta’s citrus containing non-erotic nudity in one scene and some sexual foreplay in another. Kodama Naoko’s Netsuzou TRAP –NTR- was the most daring story this issue, as a shower scene between two friends (the Japanese and their public baths) momentarily borders on something less innocent. The above two stories were also the only two this issue to contain sexual foreplay. Other than that, there were three kisses, one instance of a character teasing another with a near-kiss, and one (implied) masturbation scene.

I was more disturbed with some of the fanservice.

Korur’s Momoiro Trance only features the slightest wardrobe failure which just barely made the cut for the fanservice category. So far so good.

Unfortunately Aoto Hibiki’s Prince Prince starts things off by undressing ugly girls (what is with that artstyle, honestly), only to up the ante by providing us with a pantyshot showing off the buttocks of a character later to be revealed as a cross-dressing male. And that is the first chapter of a new serialization. I hope this one dies ASAP…

merryhachi’s Tachibana-kan To Lie Angle closes the list off with a chapter dedicated to the main heroine (?) trying not to wet her panties as she waits for the toilet in her apartment to get fixed. I know there is need for this particular fetish on the market, but if that is chapter three of your story, the times ahead are dark indeed.

Overall, it seems medieval’s commenters were right to regard citrus as a work containing an open portrayal of homosexual love. Claims that the yuri genre is all about “selling lust”, on the other hand, turn out to be largely unfounded. More than half the titles in the genre were able to develop or hint at a romantic story without resorting to either fanservice or overt physical affection. I was also happy to see that those stories that delved into the physical side of a relationship did so with good taste. The few notable exceptions will hopefully not last long.

Thank you to Yuri Hime staff and artists for their hard work (the next issue comes out in two weeks, doki doki) and to medieval for an excuse to fill this blog with yuri images. I might yet get back to this topic if time allows.

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