By Yumisuke Kotoyoshi
Released in the US by Icarus Publishing
Slugline: All of these poor women are going to have back problems, or will need industrial bras once the sagging starts...
First off, this is PORN. For the people who got to this review via keyword search, there is no actual porn in this review, so you may leave. There are links below to buy the title, but please respect the 18+ barriers. This also means I am reviewing it as porn title which has different standards.
There are two multi-part stories in this volume whose protagonists are featured on the cover. Megumi is a Lara Croft wannabe who travels the world exploring ruins. However, the creatures and the other nasties in said ruins just can't leave her alone. In the other, Saeko is a cop who often ends up the prisoner of the exploitative criminals that she is trying to capture and has to be rescued by her partner, the smart yet cute one of their two women team. The rest of the volume is filled up with one-off stories.
The women here are not completely helpless, which is a step up from most hentai. The women manage to be exploited and the exploiter at the same time for the two main story arcs, which I am sure says something very ironic in feminist theory. The story that I enjoyed the most was one of the one shots that finished out the volume, Sleep Talking, in which two old friends end up being a couple, or do they? The women here are used for their bodies but they ultimately turn the tables on the men by use of their brains, and the women substitutes who literally lack their own mind (such as robots) are unable to turn the tables. So I guess that is an interesting subtext, so on its own terms it mostly succeeds. But I still had to deduct points for the tentacle scene...
Midara, 2nd ed. is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
Released in the US by Icarus Publishing
Slugline: All of these poor women are going to have back problems, or will need industrial bras once the sagging starts...
First off, this is PORN. For the people who got to this review via keyword search, there is no actual porn in this review, so you may leave. There are links below to buy the title, but please respect the 18+ barriers. This also means I am reviewing it as porn title which has different standards.
There are two multi-part stories in this volume whose protagonists are featured on the cover. Megumi is a Lara Croft wannabe who travels the world exploring ruins. However, the creatures and the other nasties in said ruins just can't leave her alone. In the other, Saeko is a cop who often ends up the prisoner of the exploitative criminals that she is trying to capture and has to be rescued by her partner, the smart yet cute one of their two women team. The rest of the volume is filled up with one-off stories.
The women here are not completely helpless, which is a step up from most hentai. The women manage to be exploited and the exploiter at the same time for the two main story arcs, which I am sure says something very ironic in feminist theory. The story that I enjoyed the most was one of the one shots that finished out the volume, Sleep Talking, in which two old friends end up being a couple, or do they? The women here are used for their bodies but they ultimately turn the tables on the men by use of their brains, and the women substitutes who literally lack their own mind (such as robots) are unable to turn the tables. So I guess that is an interesting subtext, so on its own terms it mostly succeeds. But I still had to deduct points for the tentacle scene...
Midara, 2nd ed. is also available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.
-Ferdinand
