Episode 8: Dancing! Academy! Investigation!
In a formulaic continuation of spending entire episodes delving into a specific agent’s irrelevant backstory, Maxine (“Max”), aka “Boxer” is up next, and by extension, her partner Yuri, aka “Robot.” On one hand, a platitude-drenched, cliche-driven slog of a twenty minutes. On the other hand… biker lesbians.
Continue reading REVIEW: Double Decker: Doug & Kirill (Episode 8)
Episode 5: The Problem With Choices
The slow burn continues to sputter at ignition, and that’s the best tagline I’ve got.
Episode 4: The Distance Between Fondness and Kisses / Not One of the Characters | 好きとキス距離／役者じゃない
Bloom Into You is nothing if not a slow burn, but even “burn” has been an exaggeration when protagonist Yuu hasn’t had even a modestly lukewarm shade of attraction toward Touko. But are we slowly starting to see the beginnings of what could potentially become the suggestion of maybe perhaps an almost flickering of a cheap votive candle’s worth of flame, if the lights are out and we squint really hard?
Bloom Into You | やがて君になる
Release: 2018
Nio Nakatani’s popular yuri manga-turned-anime has already drawn attention just three episodes into its 13-episode run. At face value, it’s hardly groundbreaking: a high school GL romance featuring a popular and intelligent student council president ‘seme’ with long silky black hair, and a younger light-haired ‘uke’ who stumbles around awkwardly and isn’t notably capable at doing anything except capturing the previous girl’s heart. But to hammer this show down to cliches would be to pulverize the delicate details that make Bloom Into You so worthwhile.
Episode 4: Derick Returns! | 帰って来た、デリック！
If episode 3 sagged a little under the weight of its lackadaisical plot and character development, episode 4 shrugs that burden right off its shoulders, pops the pin of a grenade and jumps gloriously into action.
Part of this could be is that Doug and Kirill are stagnant until we a) learn more about Doug and b) Kirill is able to either advance the plot or personally level up, and the story doesn’t seem to be willing to budge on either point yet. So the best course of action is to swap MCs, ramp up the personalities of its side characters, throw in a few minors twists, and dial the comedy to an eleven.
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for Derick Deana del Rio!
Continue reading REVIEW: Double Decker! Doug & Kirill (Episode 4)
Double Decker! Doug and Kirill | ダグ＆キリル (Episode 1-3)
Release: 2018
When I started this blog, one of the anime I wanted to rewatch and critically assign gay points to was Tiger and Bunny. Before I could get around to it, Double Decker came crashing majestically into view. By the same studio and rumored to be set in the same universe, Double Decker is a spiritual successor, if not literal sequel, to the colorful, cartoonish crime-and-cape comedy and a hot tip says this time, it’s gay. Um, gayer.
So crank up the jazz and grab your donuts because we are going full frontal buddy-cop. Move over, vigilante superheroes, because we bought these gainfully employed protagonists with our own damn tax money. Meet Kirill, the aspiring hero whom no one, not even the narrator, takes seriously, and Doug, the standoffish hyper-intelligent veteran detective who misses the killshot in the first three minutes of the show. Add a sparkling posse of lady detectives, at least some of whom are possibly lesbians and-
Wait, are we shooting for both BL and GL here? Aw man, this really is a double-decker!
Continue reading REVIEW: Double Decker! Doug & Kirill (Episode 1-3)
Citrus | シトラス
Release: 2018
It was the probably the most anticipated yuri anime this year. Based on Saburouta’s popular yuri manga running from 2012 and concluding just last month. I’m going out on a limb here and guessing that the 12-episode anime doesn’t cover the full story, but we’ll go with what we have.
Our leading ladies are Yuzu Aihara, a blonde and outspoken gyaru fashionista, and Mei Aihara, a beautiful but stone cold bitch. Yes, they have the same last name, and no, it’s not a coincidence, but don’t worry: they aren’t sisters. Sort of.
There’s no point in a drum roll when the opening credits are comfortably explicit, but for the sake of thematic uniformity: is it gay?
Revolutionary Girl Utena | 少女革命ウテナ (ANIME VERSION)
Release: 1997
The 39-episode animated masterpiece about the girl-prince and her Rose Bride is not only ground-breaking as a yuri anime, as a 90’s shoujo it is virtually unrivaled. Ostensibly a magical girl anime (that isn’t), or a romantic fairy tale (not quite), it burrows into a dark juxtaposition between fantasy and reality, tearing apart the motives and ambitions of its cast while the unknown actuality of the setting looms ominously over them, swaying between purgatorial and theatrical.
To review Utena with any modicum of authenticity is a heavy project for which I am unworthy. When engaging any media, I adore picking out parallels, meaningful transitions, reoccurring symbols and themes, and emphasizing the significance of the details. But Utena is so overwhelming on all accounts that a analysis of that sort would better be a thesis in format. Its wicked surrealism makes the whole experience metaphysical to the point that you’ll have no idea if the plot is what it is, or something else entirely, and its intricacies would be impossible to describe exhaustively.
So first, let’s take a step back and focus on what’s really important: is it gay?
Summer is coming to an end. We are in the last throes of what could have been the perfect relationship: at first, it was sweet. Coy. Full of ambition and teasing dreams of what we could accomplish. The weeks flew by in a lazy haze, until we sat up in July with the dreadful sense of momento mori. In late August, it slips away from our grasp, losing interest in us day by day, and we are left older. Deader. Alone.
But you’re not alone in the fall. Not really. You’ll never be alone as long as there is gay anime to look forward to.
Cheer up! Here’s two upcoming anime to watch out for, on the house.
The #1 Huggable Man Is Threatening Me (Dakaretai Otoko 1-i ni Odosarete Imasu |抱かれたい男1位に脅されています):
An anime adaptation of Hashigo Sakurabi’s popular BL series. Protagonist Saijou Takato is an idol the reigning champion of the competitive “Most Huggable Man” title. But everything changes when new actor Azumaya steals the crown. How will Saijou reclaim his throne?
This sounds so shamelessly dumb, which could make it awesome in the best ways. Let’s watch it together in October 2018.
BLOOM INTO YOU (Yagate Kimi ni Naru | やがて君になる):
Based on Nio Nakatani’s GL manga series. Shoujo lover Yuu Koito wants to experience love like in the comics, but feels nothing when a male classmate offers her his love confession. She consults student council president Touko Nanami for romance advice, and bonding with her over their mutual lack of interest in boys leads Yuu to realize she may be falling for Nanami instead.
What is it with yuri stories and student council presidents? Join me in researching this very important question October 2018.
In other words, your run-of-the-mill saccharine yuri and delightfully depraved yaoi. Or not. I have no idea, I haven’t read either manga, but these two seem to be the vanguard of this fall’s gay battalions. And if they suck, at least we’ll still have more Banana Fish to look forward to!
Otaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii | ヲタクに恋は難しい
This charming slice-of-life about the bumbling romances of nerdy office workers isn’t the gay you need, or the gay you deserve. But don’t write Wotaki: Love is Hard for Otaku off completely. The series is nothing if not meta and blissfully self-aware. It may not be a BL, but it is about BL fangirls and their boyfriends who are, if not fudanshi, rather good sports about the whole thing.
26-year-old Narumi Momose has a secret: she is a rotten, rotten girl (that is, a fujoshi) who spends her free time devouring anime and writing erotic yaoi doujinshi to sell at anime conventions. When this dirty secret is exposed, she quits her job, moves across Japan, and applies at a new company – this time determined not to expose her inner otaku. She is immediately exposed, however, when she bumps into Hirotaka Nifuji, a socially clueless childhood friend and hardcore gamer who is now her new colleague. This drama comes to a neat conclusion by the end of episode one when it is revealed that this office is decidedly more otaku-friendly. 27-year-old Hanako Koyanagi is a fellow yaoi-lover and famous cross-playing cosplayer, and her boyfriend and the office sempai Tarou Kabakura secretly reads moe comics. Exposed and among “her people”, Narumi, whose boyfriends have always dumped her when they have found out she’s a nerd, starts a relationship with Hirotaka, where date nights are pretty much just playing video games together.
With that little problem out of the way, the rest of the series is as free as its cast to shamelessly nerd out. From regular shopping trips to Animate, to navigating the crowds of Comiket, and playing Pokemon Go long after it stopped being cool, Wotakoi is a delightful insight into Japanese nerd culture.
Gay Anime Symposium 