#hanamonogatari

[lesbianredpanda]

CHAPTER TWO OF YURI GRANDMA MANGA FINALLY GOT TRANSLATED

THIS IS NOT A DRILL

[flor4zul]

love letter to the manga of the moment

[crossbellfan472]

she bake/kizu/nise/neko-kuro/neko-shiro/kabuki/hana/otori/oni/koi/tsuki/koyomi/owari/zoku owari/oroka/waza/nade/musubi/shinobu/yoi/amari/ougi/shinomo/ikusa/tsugi on my mono til I gatari

[gayelderstourney]

GAY ELDERS BRACKET ROUND 2

Propaganda:

Hanayo Nishida/Yoshiko Dojima:

This story is sooo sweet and heartfelt. I 1000% recommend it. I feel really bad though because it was recently canceled, even though the creator still wanted to keep making it. (#homophobic smh 😔 /j) It centers around a 66 year old newly-widowed woman named Hanayo, who is trying to find new purpose in her life after the passing of her spouse. Her husband was 12 years her senior and often treated her like a child and belittled her interests and hobbies… he was kind of a jerk, and because of this, Hanayo had internalized a lot of his comments and must now learn to undo this self-toxic mindset. She meets Yoshiko, an attractive older woman, who owns a make-up and perfume shop at the local mall, and is immediately smitten. Yoshiko and Hanayo bond over their love of make-up and the importance of self-care and appear to be developing a very lovely relationship right before the story unfortunately was ended. From what was given to us though, Schwinn was setting up interesting commentary on the intersections of ageism and misogyny, the value of support systems, as well as planting the seeds to explore the damage of comphet, and the journey of deconstructing such damage by finding queer love and joy later in life.

Eda Clawthorne/Raine Whispers:

they were high school sweethearts but ended up going on completely different paths in life; they met again many years later and rekindled their relationship. they led a rebellion against the corrupt government together. eda turns into a harpy and raine’s reaction is pure awe. they’re canonically two of the strongest witches on the boiling isles. also their adopted son is the son of god!

[isaksbestpillow]

Just thought you should know there's a lovely girls love manga called Hanamonogatari about a 70-year-old grandmother who, following the death of her husband, rediscovers herself and her womanhood and develops feelings for a fabulous lady running a makeup store.

[sadgrrly02]

[agathathetransmechapilot]

The Hanamonogatari(old lady yuri) mc is so much goals.

She is fangirling on her bed over saphic romance books from the 1920s,living the dream.

[animeomelette]

On the subject of Koyomi and Suruga's relationship

Suruga and Koyomi are not romantically or sexually attracted to one another — In Suruga's case it's fairly unambiguously because she's gay; in Koyomi's case there doesn't need to be a specific reason but we can fairly assume it's because the thought of being romantically or sexually involved with his girlfriend's ex-girlfriend makes him uncomfortable for relatively straightforward social reasons

But a lot of people get thrown off by the fact that Suruga apparently flirts a lot with Koyomi, thinking this must mean that she's actually attracted to him — This isn't what's happening and there's a few angles to analyse it from

The first, and most straightforward, is that Suruga is flirting with him as a joke — You may wonder what's so funny about this ("is the joke that lesbians are secretly attracted to men? what's so funny about that?" a certain subset of people will surely cry out) but this isn't a joke for the sake of the audience — Koyomi and Suruga are friends and Suruga finds it funny to get a rise out of him by acting provocatively, and is comfortable enough in her own sexuality and her relationship with Koyomi to know that it will never actually lead anywhere

Her relationship with Hitagi is also important here — She wouldn't sincerely make a move on Hitagi's boyfriend because she wouldn't want to betray the trust of the woman who's still so dear to her — This also ties into her apparent attempts to seduce Koyomi in the "Suruga Monkey" arc of Bakemonogatari, before her rapport with Koyomi was well established — While her jealousy towards Hitagi's new partner is the most prominent factor in her actions in that arc, the degree to which she still sincerely cares about Hitagi cannot be understated — It's pretty likely that she'd be concerned that mysterious truant and possible delinquent Araragi Koyomi would take advantage of a girl who's been very ill for several years at that point only cheat on her at the first opportunity — In this regard it's also possible to analyse continued instances of her flirting with him as her reassuring herself that Hitagi is dating a good guy, that she doesn't need to worry that he's going to frivilously break Hitagi's heart (or that Hitagi will wind up getting arrested for assaulting any potential mistresses)

There's also the factor that Koyomi simply is not a reliable narrator — A significant proportion of what he describes strongly resembles intrusive thoughts — It's fair to assume that Koyomi might have primarily-obsessive obsessive-compulsive disorder, given how many scenes have him acting wildly inappropriately one moment only to resume their prior course a moment later as if nothing happened — So when Koyomi describes Suruga acting provocatively and flirting constantly with him, it's really worth taking that with a grain of salt — Some of it is probably her joking around, but a lot of what we're seeing is more likely a representation of Koyomi's anxiety that the strong platonic bond he's forging with his girlfriend's ex-girlfriend might undermine his romantic bond with Hitagi

It's also worth noting that we don't see the same sort of provocative flirting from Suruga when she narrates in Hanamonogatari, which has an added layer of significance given she's by far the most reliable narrator the series has (at least as far as Zokuowarimonogatari) — That can in part be attributed to the fact that Koyomi only appears in a couple of scenes in that novel, and the fact that Hanamonogatari is the last arc chronologically in the first-three seasons of the Monogatari series — But there's also a broader theme of the entire second season of Monogatari coming across there, that the person you think you know and the person they are inside are not the same — The Suruga we hear from in Hanamonogatari barely resembles the Suruga we see from Koyomi or Tsubasa's perspectives — Sure, she still has a manic episode in the later parts of the arc, but where others see her as a constant whirlwind of energy, underneath she has a far more depressive side that dominates her own narration

And that brings me to the final point, that Koyomi and Suruga's relationship works as well as it does because it represents a platonic bond between a man and a woman that you don't necessarily see all that often in fiction — And that bond is treated as being just as valuable and important as any other bond between any other character's in the series — And while it may be easy to be led astray from that fact by some of how their relationship is depicted in the series, really what we see is that it's a bond that can withstand social pressures and expectations surrounding gender and relationships

Of course, it could just be that Koyomi is a transfem egg who Suruga's gaydar is going off around — The door for Koyomi x Suruga yuri fanfiction is open for anyone who wants to disregard the rest of what I just said — Or you could make Hitagi transmasc and have it turn out that Koyomi is gay — Koyomi and Suruga could work well as a queerplatonic duo

[ougi07734]

some hanamonogatari audio commentaries clips i recorded

[f3lldrag0n]

[studentofetherium]

[houkagokappa]

The Yuri Manga Post

From when I first came across yuri manga a decade ago, followed by a long break from it due to the excruciating longing I’d experience reading about girls loving girls while not experiencing it myself, I’d been wanting to get back to reading yuri manga again. The loneliness hasn’t gone anywhere, but my love towards girls and girls loving girls has remained, and I’ve wanted to take part in it once more.

What got me started was Hanamonogatari by schwinn. People were hyping it up on twitter as old woman yuri, and not just yuri involving a grown adult, but an actual grandmother. So far only 2 chapters have been translated, so I don’t have a whole lot to say about the series. It’s a nice change of pace to read about someone in their 60′s, and it’s wholesome to see how they discover make-up as a new hobby and the salesperson as a new romantic interest. Life doesn’t end after your 20′s, y’all!

This inspired me to check out what else is popular these days, and one of the first works I saw recommended was Mahou Shoujo ni Akogarete by Akihiro Ononaka, which is the polar-opposite to Hanamonogatari. It’s about a young girl who adores magical girls, but ends up becoming a villain forced to fight them. Her new alter-ego is sadistic and enjoys teasing and torturing her opponents. The manga feels like a combination of Douman Seiman’s works and Kill la Kill, the way it’s stylized with high contrasts and contains plenty of wacky, sexy comedy that takes things just a little too far for comfort. Personally I love it. It’s not a manga for everyone, and I wish it would start wrapping up soon after 9 volumes, before it starts repeating itself too much. It’s been one of the most refreshing manga I’ve read in a while, a funny parody with an amazing artstyle, even if it also contains some... questionable scenes.

Looking at more conventional works, I picked up Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko ja Nakatta by Agu. It’s about a high school girl who falls for a guy as they bond over similar tastes in music, but as the title suggests, it turns out the guy’s actually a girl and her classmate (disguised in her casual/alternative style). The manga releases on twitter, and it’s been a fun exercise for me to keep up with it in Japanese. The twitter releases have also allowed Agu to use some colour, adding lime green to the traditional black and white, which makes the manga stand out and look really cool. The art itself is great too, both girls are super cute with their own distinctive styles. I like seeing how their relationship develops and I’m glad that it doesn’t dwell on the initial misunderstanding for too long. I will say that it’s a shame to be caught up with the story, since each weekly update is only 4 pages long and I’d rather read this in one go.

Next, I picked up Kakeochi Girl by Battan, since it was recent and renowned, with gorgeous covers. It’s about a woman who runs into her old high school sweetheart again after 10 years. While she never got over her, her old lover is now about to get married to a man, and have his baby. I wasn’t a huge fan of this manga. I thought it was sad how the main girl hadn’t been able to move on and felt stuck with her life for so long, while her romantic interest was stuck making bad decisions. I also didn’t like how the husband was portrayed as a villain of comical proportions. I think there’s value to the story which explores what comphet does to a woman, but it’s not something I care to read about when men become too central to the story. I also have conflicting feelings about the art. The covers, illustrations and some pages were absolutely gorgeous, and I love how Battan portrays different feelings, especially whenever something’s a little scary, but exciting, with tingles and sparks, but I’m not a huge fan of her style when it comes to the eyes and other facial features, which is a stylistic choice for her and a personal preference of mine.

I gave Battan another chance with Ane no Yuujin, since I couldn’t resist the enthralling, sensual cover. I liked it better than Kakeochi Girl, and it helped me appreciate the art more, thanks to her excellent portrayal of longing and joy. I was about to say that I liked the characters better too, but now that I think about it, I’m not sure I did. I think the fact that this was much shorter and focused on more characters masked it for me. I don’t think Battan’s works are for me, but I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who do love them for good reason!

I continued my yuri journey with another work I’d seen and heard much about, Sayonara Rose Garden by Dr. Pepperco. It’s about a Japanese maid who works for an English noblewoman, set in England in the early 1900′s. My first impression was that Dr. Pepperco is a genius for this setting and combination of aesthetics, with the Japanese maid dressing in kimono off-duty (!!!). The manga is beautifully drawn, and I enjoyed both main characters, but unfortunately a man had to get between them as well. It makes sense considering the setting, but it’s still not something I enjoy reading about, so my initial excitement was dulled out after the first volume. Overall it was a good read with great art, but because of my high expectations and slight disappointment, it didn’t end up as a favourite of mine.

After getting worried about not finding any more good yuri to read, I was happy to discover Ikemen Girl to Hakoiri Musume by Mochi au Lait and majoccoid. It’s another manga where one girl mistakes her classmate for a man and falls for them. Here the girl confesses right at the start, the other one accepts as a joke, and they end up dating while the misunderstandings are still at play. The girl who was mistaken for a man is incredibly sympathetic and a whole mood (TM), while her girlfriend is super bubbly and sweet. The manga is light-hearted and funny, and I wish I could find something similar to this, since it’s been one of my favorites.

Next up I read Yuunagi Marbled and Kimi Koi Limit by Momono Moto. Yuunagi Marbled was a tad bit on the edgy side, but still an okay read. Kimi Koi Limit had a real mess of a main character, which I enjoyed immensely, since I’ve been looking for something like that in yuri works. After all these stories about women who suddenly end up in lesbian relationships, or who have to hide the fact they want to be in them, it was refreshing to read about women who were open and assertive about their interests. I can’t say either of these works left a strong impression on me beyond that, but I found the girls cute and they were easy enough to read.

Then I went on to read Papa no Sexy Doll by Kajikawa Gaku. Look. The title is questionable. And the manga is indeed about a girl and her dad both having some sort of relationship with an android to get over the loss of the girls’ mother. I checked it out because I read something else by the same author, which left me curious about what else they’d done. Then I wanted to check what Papa no Sexy Doll could possibly be about, since it wasn’t marked as r-18. It was a pleasant surprise to see that it was yuri, and I actually got attached to the main character, who’s a young girl going through a rough patch with her crush/girlfriend and seeking solace (not necessarily sexual, but also that kind of comfort) from the titular doll. There are only a few chapters out and it’s still ongoing, but so far it’s been a nice story about loss and the pains of growing up. I can’t recommend it for everyone, but it’s been a pleasant surprise for sure.      

To continue with more questionable works, I was excited to give Kyou wa Kanojo ga Inai kara by Iwami Kiyoko a try, based on the gorgeous art and a powerful line I randomly came across and had to fish out the source for. Like the title suggests, it’s about a girl in a lesbian relationship, but said girlfriend is still in the closet afraid to show any sort of affection towards her in public. Furthermore, she keeps ignoring her in favour of club activities, which leaves our main girl sad and lonely. A third girl shows up, and with a few pushes, the main girl starts two-timing her girlfriend. I love how horrible the girls are, and how easy it is to see what drove them to be the way they are. The art is to die for, and although I can’t recommend such a controversial topic to everyone, it’s been one of my favorites. The manga is still ongoing, with 4 volumes currently, and things are heating up!

After reading all these popular and currently talked-about series, and not finding that much more looking though what’s popular, I discovered the greatness of Interest Stacks on MAL. There were a few collections with titles and covers that looked intriguing, and I started reading older works, with the oldest being Maya no Souretsu by Ichijo Yukari, published in 1972. I love the 70′s shoujo manga style, and the story was a tragic wild-ride about loss and revenge.

From there I kinda fell down the rabbit hole that was 90′s josei. Some of the yuri works I read were Love Vibes and Sheets no Sukima by Erica Sakurazawa. They are both about messy relationships that involve a lot of sex and cheating, and while love between women was central for both, there was more action between women and men. Because I read other josei works from the same era before these two, I came in thinking it was cool to see women be active and forward, so I didn’t mind it, but I do think Sheets no Sukima in particular suffered from not developing the relationship between the two women further. The ending was incredibly unsatisfying and abrupt, even if it could be seen as realistic and tragic in a way I usually love, because it reflects how uncertain and unsatisfying real life can be. I definitely preferred Love Vibes out of the two, where the feelings were more clear and reciprocated. Both works had a charming artstyle, and the girls were cute so it was nice reading them.

Back to the present day, although ready to take a journey into the past, I continued with Yume no Hashibashi by Sudou Yumi. It’s about two women in their mid-80′s who have been in love with each other since they were 14/15, but unable to be with each other due to various societal reasons. The manga starts with them in their old age and progresses backwards in time, with each chapter giving us a small glimpse of the choices they made and the feelings they had throughout different periods in their lives. It’s quite an interesting structure, and I loved seeing what drove the characters to make the decisions they did, when I already knew what they would lead to, and to see what prevented them from choosing to be with each other throughout the years. I wasn’t sure what to think of it based on the first two chapters, but I was crying as I reached the end. It was tragic, yet beautiful, and what hurts the most is how there are people out there who have gone through similar experiences. This was another favourite of mine and I highly recommend it, with the warning that it’s a heartbreaking read. I’d love to read more yuri by this mangaka, but unfortunately I couldn’t find much else.

Following these, I read Nettai Shoujo by Yoshitomi Akihito. I picked it up after reading Balance Policy, also by him, thanks to the nice cover art. Balance Policy contained some yuri as well, which would ordinarily be a nice bonus, except here it was paired with some of the most absurd ideas of how women work I’ve come across in a long time (weird stuff about periods etc.). Along with some other choices, it was quite obvious it was written by a man. I don’t think gender should prevent you from writing whatever, and I can even appreciate yuri that’s created for the male gaze, but oh man does it hurt when it’s combined with bad writing. Both Balance Policy and Nettai Shoujo got me though, since they depict summer in the countryside, which is one of my biggest weaknesses when it comes to manga settings, especially paired with queer themes. Nettai Shoujo is a collection of shorts around that theme, and it delivers, save for a couple instances where you can clearly tell it was written by a man, and a few “but I’m a girl” lines, which I didn’t know I’d come to dislike as much as I now do. In their defence, it was written in 2007, so I can’t be too mad about it.

It was only after reading Nettai Shoujo that I realised Yoshitomi Akihito is the man behind Blue Drop. I’ve read one or two installations from the series and I’ve always wanted to read through them all, so I’m now stuck in this weird love-hate relationship with Yoshitomi Akihito and his works. I’ve gotten quite busy, so I haven’t had the time to read more than the first (original) volume so far. I love the art and the sci-fi setting of lesbian aliens taking over Earth, but it feels aged and contains gratuitous fanservice, which I don’t enjoy. The girls are either undressing themselves at weird moments, too often, or it’s done to them in a way which feels exploitative. I’ll read and reread the rest of Blue Drop, and I’ll probably check out the anime too, but for now, I no longer have the time. Pride month is coming to an end too, so this shall be it for my big yuri manga review.

Thank you for taking the time to read any or all of this!

I hope you’ve been able to read some good yuri as well, and if you have any recommendations I’m happy to receive them!

[arcueidbrunestud]

[gayelderstourney]

OLD WOMAN YURI BRACKET ROUND 1

Propaganda:

Hanayo Nishida/Yoshiko Dojima:

This story is sooo sweet and heartfelt. I 1000% recommend it. I feel really bad though because it was recently canceled, even though the creator still wanted to keep making it. (#homophobic smh 😔 /j) It centers around a 66 year old newly-widowed woman named Hanayo, who is trying to find new purpose in her life after the passing of her spouse. Her husband was 12 years her senior and often treated her like a child and belittled her interests and hobbies… he was kind of a jerk, and because of this, Hanayo had internalized a lot of his comments and must now learn to undo this self-toxic mindset. She meets Yoshiko, an attractive older woman, who owns a make-up and perfume shop at the local mall, and is immediately smitten. Yoshiko and Hanayo bond over their love of make-up and the importance of self-care and appear to be developing a very lovely relationship right before the story unfortunately was ended. From what was given to us though, Schwinn was setting up interesting commentary on the intersections of ageism and misogyny, the value of support systems, as well as planting the seeds to explore the damage of comphet, and the journey of deconstructing such damage by finding queer love and joy later in life.

Navani Kholin/Raboniel:

Sorry submitted twice because I accidentally clicked the button instead of this text box. Navani’s in her mid 50s or 60s with multiple children, graying hair and wrinkle lines, Raboniel is an immortal ancient 12 foot tall crab woman who has died and come back so many times she’s nearly on the verge of developing immortality-related dementia. They’re both scholars but Navani is sort of repressed because of how her previous husband abused her and dismissed her interests, and Raboniel has antiquated views about their two species and how they can interact peacefully. Raboniel helps Navani come into herself as a scholar and scientist, while Navani helps Raboniel see that their war doesn’t need to lead to destruction: as she puts it “you say that oil and water don’t mix, but that’s not scientifically true. They’re different, but they can mix cleanly in the presence of an emulsifier” They hold hands and hum the tune of their souls in order to perform frequency combination science magic, they create a new form of light-energy together, Raboniel dies for the final time by Navani’s hand using a weapon they created together, and uses her final moments to protect Navani’s life. Absolute peak old woman yuri. Somehow they are not cannonically attracted to each other , despite the fact that everything I have described to you happens basically as is in the book. Insane how Brandon Sanderson can make the most accidentally queer characters in fiction.

Scientists working together but also against each other; their deep mutual understanding helps them make very cool new discoveries (in one scene they harmonize together to form a new "tone" - a sort of music with magical properties). The whole time there is so much tension as they are enemies (on different sides of the war), so they don't want to give the other too much advantage in terms of information/inventions.. raboniel wants to end the war (that has been going for thousands of years) by delivering a crushing defeat to the other side, navani wants to win (but is currently disadvantaged)… together they raise the idea of peace but despite wanting it know it wont happen… navani finds so much fulfillment in her research despite knowing it may (and does) aid the other side..

And they were labmates!

[doyouknowthisanime]

Do You Know This Anime?

[panette]