Yuru Yuri from the prospective of a queer woman

At a glance, Yuru Yuri looks like your typical moe show but with yuri flavoring for the otaku dudes who prefer the “pure love between two women” to claiming fictional women as their “waifu”. It’s a slice of life school show with moe girls, after all. There are at least three tsundere girls in this show, after all. Hell, one character is even an otaku herself, not to mention a doujinka! But, as a woman who likes other women, I saw some other things in this show.

The main thing is rather specific. There’s an episode in season 2 where Yui asks Chinatsu out, just the two of them, on what can be presumed to be a date. Chinatsu has been head over heels for Yui for most of the series, so of course she’s elated. But during the date, she starts noticing all of the couples around them…all of which are heterosexual. She starts doubting herself. Is it weird for her to have feelings for Yui? Is it right? Would Yui be creeped out by this (as if she hasn’t noticed)? Et cetera. By the end of the episode, however, she realizes that no, there’s nothing wrong here, her feelings are legitimate and she shouldn’t feel bad about them.

This episode caused a bit of a shitstorm with the fans. People even went so far as to say it was a homophobic episode. That attitude honestly pisses me off.

I like my escapist yuri where the girls are all lesbians and no one questions it plenty. After all,isn’t that how the world should be? Not that all girls are lesbians, but that it isn’t looked upon negatively when someone happens to not be heterosexual. I wish that was our reality. Thing is, it’s not. Unfortunately, it’s very rare for a yuri title (or a BL title, for that matter) to do anything other than either everyone’s gay escapist fantasy or something where one or more characters incessantly angst about their attraction to the same sex. Of the two, I definitely prefer the former. However, I’d really like it if more series did what that one episode of Yuru Yuri did. It addressed that this isn’t considered “normal” in modern society, but it also concluded that it isn’t wrong. It wasn’t about Chinatsu going into a fit of self loathing over being a lesbian. It was about society’s standards making her doubt herself, but her own conviction in her feelings making her realize that she can’t possibly be doing anything wrong. That was so uplifting for me, and I’m not even a Chinatsu fan.

 

The other major thing is also a specific scene. There’s an episode in which we see Sakurako and Himawari, two of the tsundere characters, in their childhood. This episode had a scene showing that they didn’t always fight. In fact, as little girls, they got their hands on the copy of a marriage registration form. They filled it out and declared that they would marry each other when they grew up, then, after a small tiff over “who has to be the husband”, they decided they would both be the wife. There is so much here that made my rainbow-colored heart soar, just in this sweet little scene of young love blossoming. Watching little kids with crushes on each other is usually pretty cute, especially when they’re innocent lesbians who haven’t faced the outside world’s hatred yet. The most incredible part of this scene, though, was actually when Sakurako scratched out the line that said “husband” and wrote in a second line that said “wife”. Why? So often LGBT couples, both in fiction and real life, are shoved into heteronormative roles, insisting one partner must be the “man” and the other the “woman”. This is bullshit (assuming both partners identify as their biological genders, issues relating to transgender individuals are another topic entirely that aren’t relevant here, as all of the characters in Yuru Yuri are biologically female and self-identify as female). It’s very offensive, and it’s yet another manifestation of homophobia that shows up in anime fandom. You know, all of those male/male pairing wedding fanarts that put the “uke” in a dress. Pretty often it happens with the “tachi” girl in a yuri pairing in a suit, too, which is acceptable on some occasions when the character in question would be far more likely to prefer to wear pants. But nevertheless, neither partner in a female/female relationship is the “husband”, and I loved that Yuru Yuri acknowledged that in a scene that was already melting my heart with cuteness.

I also enjoyed there being a relationship in which two tsundere characters are tsundere for each other, but then I never claimed to not like moe, otaku bait elements, did I?

Asobi ni iku yo! More to it than kitties and titties, I promise

Okay, how many times have we seen a cute girl alien fall to Earth? Quite a few. How many times does said cute girl run into a relatively average guy after landing on earth and latch onto him? Most of them. How many times does the series proceed to become a fanservice-y harem show in which the alien girl and a handful of other alien and/or human girls all fight over said average guy? Again, most of the time. How many times does the show then proceed to become a sci fi and otaku reference gag comedy with lots of action scenes? …Not very often, but that’s what Asobi ni iku yo!, titled Cat Planet Cuties by FUNimation, does. This show is certainly one that will appeal to people who want ecchi fanservice and harem shows. With both busty women and those with more humble assets, both of the catgirl and ordinary human variety, and plenty of gratuitous camera angles of all of them, it’s kind of  given. However, this show has more to it than that, surprisingly enough.

 

Eris, the adorable catgirl with “imported goods”, as some of the Japanese female characters put it, comes from the planet Earth. Yeah, kind of a funny coincidence, there; the cat aliens call their planet the same thing we do. As such, they changed it to Catia to avoid confusion. So correction; Eris, the adorable catgirl with “imported goods”, comes from the planet Catia. She is here on a mission of a friendly nature; survey the culture of the Earthlings, and potentially establish formal intergalactic relations with them should they be deemed suitable for it. Thing is, when she set out for Earth she kind of forgot to pack food. Luckily, she can apparently communicate with normal cats, because she runs into a cat named Aura who directs her to its family, telling her they’ll surely feed her.

 

Luckily for Eris, the cat’s tip-off is a good one. She finds herself treated to what appears to be something similar to a barbecue party on the beach, with lots of meat and lots of alcohol. Not that she should have been served alcohol, since she’s only 16, but whatever. This is when she meets Kio, the boy she ultimately ends up living with. His uncle was the host of that little barbecue party. Cue the awkward-around-girls embarrassed protagonist meeting cute chick with kitty ears, being awkward around her, and—surprise!—ultimately offering to let her stay at his house for a while. Okay, pretty predictable.

 

What isn’t predictable, though, is the actual first scene of that show. It isn’t that. It isn’t anything to do with Eris or Kio at all. It’s actually a scene of the female assassin known as Charmed Momiji carrying out a mission. This scene is essentially an action-packed gun battle, and actually a pretty good taste of what quite a bit of the series will ultimately be like. Charmed Momiji is actually Aoi Futaba, a cute and shy girl that’s known Kio for a while now. They’re classmates and they seem to have bonded over a shared love for sci fi movies.

 

Know who else loves sci fi movies? Maki Itokazu, one of Kio’s teachers. She’s just a side character, but she’s worth mentioning for one reason; she is part of one of the most hilarious factions in this story; the Beautiful Contact organization. As the series progresses, quite a few factions end up in various sorts of conflict. Charmed Momiji’s organization, the CIA via Manami Kinjou, Kio’s childhood friend who is busty, gun-crazed, and dreams of joining the CIA as a full fledged member and is in training with them when the series begins….and then the crazier ones. The Beautiful Contact organization is a terrorist group make up of…

 

Uh.

 

Crazed sci fi nerds who don’t think Eris is a cool enough looking alien to be the first alien to make contact with the Earth and be officially acknowledged by world governments.

 

Yeah. They went there. And it is glorious.

 

Not to be outdone by the crazed sci fi nerds, however, is the religious cult known as The Underside of the Kitten’s Paw. This group, ran by a young girl multimillionaire with little else to do with her time, is basically your standard anime convention weeaboo amped up to 11. They worship kitty ears. As in, this is their religion. To them, the supreme being is someone with cat ears and a tail that are actual parts of their body and not just headbands and the like. So in other words, to them Eris is basically the coming of God to these people.

 

Yeah. Worst (best?) religious cult ever.

 

Finally, we have the actual antagonist of this series. Janes comes from the planet Dogishua. Care to guess what sort of animal-eared people live on this planet? Yup, totally not obvious at all. Nor is it obvious that the inhabitants of this planet have a bit of a rivalry with Catia. Apparently the Dogishuans have had a trading treaty with Earth for a while and feel threatened by the Catian advances, so Janes, Dogishua’s ambassador to Earth, tries to block Catia’s way to establishing relations with Earth by any means necessary. Unfortunately, she pretty quickly becomes a Team Rocket-esque figure. That is, until the final battle, but I won’t give further details, as that’s actually a very well done climax for the show.

 

As excellent as all of the showdowns between the factions who want to claim Eris for various reasons are, the show is still a harem. Eris, Aoi, and Manami all have their eye on Kio for some inexplicable reason. Sure, he’s kind of cute, but he’s not really the type that sexy women like these three would normally go for, despite being more interesting and less virginal than most harem protags (he even owns porn!). Though, as odd as their attraction to Kio seems, it does come off as sincere and sweet.

 

Speaking of the harem aspect of this show, one unusual thing about how the girls’ feelings are handled is that Manami has already given up on her chances with Kio. Instead of going for him, she decides to try to help Aoi, because apparently she’d rather anyone than Eris have him for some inexplicable reason. It’s interesting to see a character act like that in a harem title. It’s also interesting to see how Manami and Aoi’s friendship plays out. They didn’t seem to know each other prior to the encounter with Eris, but they bond rather well. Aoi teaches Manami how to properly handle guns, while Manami does her best to teach Aoi how to cook. In general they get to be very good friends despite their differences; Aoi is an introverted nerd at heart, whereas Manami is more boisterous and fairly “normal” aside from her fascination with firearms.

 

Honestly, all of the characters are enjoyable to me, including minor characters like the other Catians that show up to assist Eris, the lovely lady of the CIA known as Jack, Miss Itokazu, Sara, the eyepatch-wearing maid of The Underside of the Kitten’s Paw whose obsession with cute things is bordering on ridiculous, Kio’s eccentric uncle, and Jans of Dogishua herself. Although none of these characters get much screentime or development, they’re all enjoyable characters, and very few come off as basic archetypes. Even the ones that do, such as Melwin, the petite and rather kuudere-ish Catian, are still enjoyable additions to the cast in their own right.

 

All in all, I cannot recommend this show highly enough. Unless any fanservice or harem elements whatsoever kill a show for you, give Asobi ni iku yo! A try. You’ll probably be pleasantly surprised by what you find in it.

Why Would You Call it Cat Planet Cuties?

This is a rant about FUNimation’s decision to title Asobi ni iku yo! “Cat Planet Cuties” in its USA release. I will hopefully have an actual review of the show up in the next few days. Until then, enjoy my opinionated rant here. Or argue with me about it.

FUNimation, why did you choose to change Asobi ni iku yo’s name to Cat Planet Cuties? Why? This was seriously stupid. Now, I’m not upset for any silly reason like faithfulness to the Japanese title or anything like that. I’m upset because it makes the show sound like something it’s not. This is a lot like when Tokyopop changed Kimi wa Petto’s name to Tramps Like Us. It had nothing to do with the manga itself and it made it sound like a cheap porno when really it was a touching, if a bit risque, josei title.

Asobi ni iku yo! is a sci fi comedy that happens to include ecchi harem elements and catgirls. People who can’t stand there being any fanservice whatsoever in their anime won’t like it, sure, but the series has a lot broader of an appeal than one might expect from the cover art. Or from it being called Cat Planet Cuties. Fans of shows from the 80s and 90s with similar themes would probably enjoy this show quite a bit if they knew what it actually was. Unfortunately, making it look sort of like Tenchi Muyo but with cat ears is the best FUNimation has done for it, and it’s still better than that.

It saddens me that this show is going to be passed up by so many people entirely because of the title change and lack of marketing towards the audience that really needs to be told about this show. The sort of people who will be pulled in by a title like Cat Planet Cuties are already going to have their interests piqued by the cover art of Eris. Those people don’t need to have the show heavily marketed to them. The people who would like it for what it is but wouldn’t like it if it was just a generic fanservice show are the people that need to be targeted, and as far as I can see, FUNimation has done more to push them away than draw them in.

Please, do not think I have anything against FUNimation by my saying this. Overall I think they’re a great company and I want to support them. If anyone reading this happens to be a fan of Asobi ni iku yo! and is boycotting it because of the title change, please don’t. This show deserves to be a success, even with the poor choice in titles. That’s actually more or less why I’m writing this; to get the word out there that this is actually a good show. Even if harems and ecchi aren’t normally your thing, if you like comedies with sci fi elements, give this show a try. Seriously.

“I just want to touch it…her brilliance” – A Canaan Review

Oh, girls with guns shows. It’s kind of interesting how a fairly specific premise like that became its own genre. If someone says “girls with guns show”, you can probably think of at least five titles that fit that description. They tend to be fairly similar in plot, too. Typically at least one girl is raised to be a killing machine. She usually has a rival, who is usually also a girl. From there, there’s a bunch of awesome fight scenes and usually some angst about what a killing machine the girl[s] have become.

 

That is basically Canaan’s plot.

 

However, that certainly doesn’t mean the series isn’t good.

 

It’s not revolutionary, obviously, being a girls with guns standard, but it’s a good girls with guns standard, and that’s what counts. Not everything can be groundbreaking, after all. In fact, this is an attitude among some circles of anime fans that I find maddening; the dismissal of shows that aren’t masterpiece tier works as trivial and unnecessary. But that is another rant for another time.

 

When you have an archetypical plot like this, the two most important things are that the characters are compelling and that the storyline is tight, so its typicality doesn’t stand out as badly. Canaan pulls both of these off quite well. The story follows two reporters, Mr. Mino and his apprentice, Maria Osawa. Maria dreams of becoming a great photographer, and as such she’s very excited to receive the opportunity to go with Mr. Mino to Shanghai for an assignment. However, things get a lot messier than either of them expected. They arrive during a festival, which is enjoyable enough…until a shootout happens, anyway. From there, a mysterious woman named Canaan appears, and Maria seems to know her. From there, the reporters find themselves getting entangled in the affairs of a terrorist organization known as Snake, which is led by a woman who is out for Canaan with a personal vendetta, and their work with the mysterious and deadly Ua virus.

 

Luckily, both of our leading ladies are enjoyable characters, as is Mr. Mino. Maria is kind of the cute but not very smart character type, yes, but she’s still lovable as a character and not just a cut-out archetype, though she is one of the blander characters, I have to admit. Even without a bombastic personality or a mysterious past or whatever else, though, she is compelling. Maria Osawa is just an ordinary girl finding her place in the world who happens to be surrounded by eccentric and often dangerous people, and that’s exactly how she comes off. If anything, it’s a bit surprising how tough she can be. There are times when she’s fully prepared to die.

 

Mr. Mino pretty rapidly takes a back seat in importance, but he provides much needed tension breaks with his occasional outbursts of energy and skirt-chasing behavior. However, that’s not to say he’s purely a comic relief character. Mr. Mino is involved with this mess as well, and his life is on the line on more than one occasion. Being Maria’s mentor of sorts, he does have a more mature side to him that is capable of giving advice, which is usually quite sound.

 

 Canaan is very cold and methodical, like the badass gun-wielding girls in these shows usually are, but there are other layers to her. Canaan does have emotions. There are people that she cares about, like Maria for instance. In fact, Maria is probably the most important person to Canaan. Any time Maria is in trouble, protecting her becomes Canaan’s only priority, even when she knows she’s running straight into a trap from the enemy. Although she has been conditioned to be an Army of One, she still retains her humanity.

 

The rest of the cast, from equally cold and methodical but far less human Alphard to sadistic and crazy Liang-Chi and masochistic Cummings to repentant Santana and silent Hakko to the eccentric cab driver who doesn’t even have a name, is filled with intriguing characters whose plights are rather hard to not care about.

 

One thing I’ve found rather odd is how little recognition this show seems to get among the yuri fan community. It’s pretty hard to not see hints of a romantic relationship between Canaan and Maria. Canaan makes it very clear that Maria is the most important person in the world to her. She will do anything to protect her, because Maria is her light. Maria, meanwhile, so desperately wants to become stronger so she can stand by Canaan’s side as her equal, as someone worthy of being with her. The dialogue does leave itself vague enough to allow for it to be interpreted as simple friendship, of course, but honestly it’s pretty blatant that Maria and Canaan are in love without them actually saying so or kissing on screen or anything. There’s also Liang-Chi’s psychopathic love for her sister Alphard. Though it’s unrequited, they don’t even pull any punches with Liang-Chi’s feelings. Why is this series not a yuri classic? I just don’t get it.

 

This show does have its drawbacks, however. Certain aspects of the plot feel rather hazy, particularly that of the Ua virus and its importance. Instead of feeling like an actual concern, it seems more like an excuse for conflict that is simply shuffled off into the basement, never to be heard from again. Or something.

 

Also, a fairly major plot point is that Canaan has synthesesia, a condition where the senses get mixed up. Some people with it can smell or taste colors. In Canaan’s case, it means she can see a different colored aura around people, and what color it is helps her determine things about the person. It’s actually a rather nifty character quirk, but my issue with it is this; apparently Canaan relies on it to fight. Not it helps her out a little. Not it’s a convenient boost to her abilities. She absolutely requires it to fight. The question is why is it so useful? It doesn’t really do anything except reveal her opponent’s intent to her when she fights. Perhaps that’s all the edge she needs from it, but it would be nice if there was more explanation as to why it’s such a big deal that she gets her ass handed to her if her synthesesia isn’t working for whatever reason. Which is a thing that actually does happen. Then she gets it back. And neither of these happenings make much sense either. Apparently either overusing it and/or the impact of being in a building that gets hit by a missile kills it, and getting the crap kicked out of her by Alphard gives it back. Does this mean she could potentially lose or regain her synthesesia from a bout of particularly rough sex? Ladies and gentlemen, the questions that plague my brain.

 

In short, my feelings on Canaan are generally positive. If you like standard girls with guns shows, you’ll like Canaan. If you’re willing to give the concept of a girls with guns show a chance, you’ll like Canaan. If you hate girls with guns shows, hate lesbians, or expect masterpieces out of everything you watch, you will probably hate Canaan.

An Example of Dubbing Done RIGHT: Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt ep. 1-2 dubbed

Oh hey I have a blog, I almost forgot.

 

Anyway, I was at Anime Central and had the pleasure of attending the Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt dub premiere. This mini review here contains my feelings on it. Enjoy.

 

What specifically was screened was the dubbed version of episodes 1 and 2 of Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt. In other words, the four short segments “Excretion Without Honor and Humanity”,  “Death Race 2010”, “The Turmoil of the Beehive”, and “Sex and the Daten City”. As such, this means I have no idea what the Demon Sisters or Corset will sound like, but I have a pretty good sampling of everyone else. This is the cast list:

 

Panty – Jamie Marchi

Stocking – Monica Rial

Garterbelt – Chris Sabat

Chuck – Ian Sinclair

Brief  – Joel McDonald

Kneesocks: Cherami Leigh

Scanty: Colleen Clinkenbeard

Corset: Chris Ayres

Fastner: Chris Bevins

 

Personally I’m not too worried about Scanty because I generally like Colleen Clinkenbeard, though I don’t know anything about Cherami Leigh.

Anyway, as for the actual dub? Let me sum up about how the characters sound. Panty sounds like an oversexed bitch. Her voice is lower, pretty similar in pitch to the Japanese, actually, but it doesn’t sound like they’re trying to match pitch with the Japanese like so many awful dubs do. It just seems to me like Jamie Marchi happens to have a similar pitch to Arisa Ogasawa, the original seiyuu, on top of being more or less perfect for the part. Stocking sounds like the rude gothloli that she is. Her voice has a distinctive quality to it that I can’t really describe, but I like it. It definitely suits Stocking. I had a friend who saw the trailer say they expected her to sound more girly, but I have to say what Monica Rial did with her was way better than that would’ve been. Chuck sounds like….Chuck. Yeah. I’m not entirely sure what the point of dubbing him even was, but Ian Sinclair enjoyed the work and it gives another actor some money to eat with, so I’m not complaining. Garterbelt sounds like a flawless combination of a black Southern preacher and a black cop from a cop show. This is extra hilarious given how utterly not black Chris Sabat is. Brief sounds like a nervous wreck and a nerd.

In short, everyone is spot on.

Now, I know a lot of anime fans hate the practice of “fifteening”; when unnecessary swearing that wasn’t in the original dialogue is inserted into a dub to make it sound edgier. Normally, I also hate this practice. However, with Panty and Stocking, it’s more or less necessary, and entirely welcome. I mean, really, it’s Panty and Stocking. Not maximizing the foul language would just be wrong. They’ve managed to include quite a few interesting curses into the dialogue, as well, such as “shit pickle”. Garterbelt has some rather phenomenal lines that I can’t recall to recite verbatim that had me rolling with laughter.

Now is probably a good time to note that, if anyone is still actually worried about censored anime DVDs, it’s been confirmed that Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt’s release will be 100% uncensored. The trailer has bleeps, yes, but that’s since it’s posted on the internet where just about anyone can get to it.

All in all, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt is pretty clearly getting a dub that is both true to the series’ original tone and feel and is excellently executed. Definitely worth picking up.

Anime Central 2011 As Experienced by Stringed

It’s a bit late at this point, but I thought doing an ACen 2011 con report may be fun! I didn’t make any industry panels, but I did attend a fair amount of fan panels, which are also important in my opinion. So, these are my thoughts and feelings on ACen 2011. Enjoy!

Anime Central 2011 program guide

Pokemon Black Day #10 – FINAL

I finished the game like…two months ago, but got lazy about doing this post. Sorry about that! For the record, these are my thoughts on the game.

I never played Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald or Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, but I can definitely say that I like the direction that the Pokemon franchise is going with Black and White. This is the first time I’ve ever really cared about the in-game characters. This is the first time that I ever felt like I could say I was interested in the plot in a Pokemon game. I had my reservations at first, but I loved the pokemon this gen. All in all I really loved Black and I’m glad I played it.