What, did you think this was going to be written by a guest author?
Too bad! It’s just Re-oh wait nope it’s a guest author again since Regris is going to be busy this week.
Anyway, last time I wrote about the awesome yuri-doujin/manga making group called Energia. This time I’ll be writing about the awesome yuri-doujin/manga making group called RIRIADOLL. At least, that’s what I would say if I hadn’t done some research on what sort of doujins they’ve released recently and HOLY SHIT did I find out that they have a ton of yaoi doujins too. Made me sad. It’s hard looking through their release list, expecting a lot of awesome yuri, and instead seeing all these TIGER & BUNNY things instead. Hurts straight in the heart.
Back to the point, they’ve released quite a lot of doujins through the years on a variety of sources. Tiger & Bunny, El Shaddai (seriously?), Puella Magi Madoka Magica (the reason I know about them in the first place), Katekyo Hitman Reborn, and Heartcatch Pretty Cure. And before you go “Well hey, guest author, there’s some yuri in there and it isn’t an avalanche of yaoi”, YOU WOULD BE SO DAMN WRONG. There’s only one PMMM doujin so far and four Heartcatch Pretty Cures. On the other hand, they’ve made 22 Hitman Reborn doujins ALONE.
This article is making me angrier with every word I type because I was deceived by the utter goofiness and delicious yuri of their PMMM doujin. I only saw the delicious girl love frosting on top of the horrible boys love cake. Also apparently they have some genderbend in there too. I didn’t take a really good look. Oh, they also have some het stuff too. It’s lost within all the COCKS BANGING TOGETHER but yeah, it’s there.
Now, earlier, I did mention that they write manga as well. Not only do they have releases on an ero magazine that I spotted on their main site, they also write a rather fantastic yuri manga called Creo the Crimson Crises. I personally have been reading it and it’s quite nice and RIRIADOLL’s unique style really shines through in their work. Once again, I’m not good at describing it, but it’s very…uh…look, really, just look at this image right here and that’ll tell you all you need to know.
Anyway, that’ll be it from me. I’m sure their yaoi stuff is awesome but I sure as hell am not going to read it or look for it (there’s plenty on their pixiv so if you want some hot Tiger & Bunny loving, just click on the link below). If you’re a yuri fan like me, all you need to do is find their PMMM doujin (which is scanlated on the internets). Then you can read it and pretend that’s all they ever did because besides Precure and Creo the Crimson Crises, THERE WILL BE SO MANY DICKS.
What, did you think this was going to be written by Regris?
Too bad! It’s just a guest author again!
Anyway, today I’ll be talking about a doujin circle named Energia that I found out about thanks to the amazing Puella Magi Madoka Magica doujins they released in recent Comikets. They didn’t actually start with releasing PMMM doujins. In fact, their first release was a doujin of a comedy, slice-of-life manga called Hyakko. The group mostly focuses on happy, lovey-dovey style yuri doujin, although there are exceptions. For their Hyakko doujins, their main focus is on Torako so if you’ve read the manga and like the character, then it’s your job to hunt them out. I’m sure some of the Torako x Touma doujins have already been scanlated (because I’ve seen them) so you’re certain to find them if you bother looking.
When PMMM came out, however, Energia decided to simply devote all their time to PMMM doujins, although to be fair, that was only the last two comikets. Their two releases are actually related to each other and feature an absolutely adorable Sayaka x Kyouko dynamic which, as an unabashed yuri fan, makes me so giddy inside. Of course, the setting itself was modded a little bit to make sure that those two can enjoy life together (unlike in the anime).
Energia’s artist, Pikachi, has a very soft, rounded art style that’s well suited for the fluffy comedy that they release. You shouldn’t expect hardcore action scenes (or hardcore H for that matter), but Pikachi doesn’t skip on the porn scenes in the doujins. I wish I could say more about how much I like the art or stuff, but really there aren’t any words I have to describe how much everything just fits together. The art, the storylines, and the dynamics are just way too good. If you ever get your hands on these doujins and are a yuri fan, there’s no doubt that you’ll enjoy them.
By the way, this isn’t completely unrelated, but I swear to god, this guy on Pixiv named Momochika is part of the group. Or at least does some of the art. Or is the same person but has two names, like he’s an evil twin except he also draws KyoSaya and isn’t evil.
I mean, I know it says on the cover that it’s a different circle but COME ON. LOOK AT IT.
I don’t care if it’s unrelated, the world can always use more KyoSaya.
For the second article in this little event, I’m going to cover WAVE. Now, WAVE is a circle that’s always been close to my heart. The first time I’ve heard their music was with the Symphonic Caprice/Fantasia dual release at Reitaisai 3 and I basically fell in love with it. I’m a sucker for classical, but to be fair I’ve never had to endure the rigors of musical theory or playing a violin, so that might be why I still like it.
As a circle, WAVE has three two primary members and a loose circle of musical talents that may be featured on any given CDs as guests. Tadahiro Tsuchiya, alias MORRIGAN (Yes, the one from Darkstalkers. Check out his Soundcloud) who does most of the composition work and Azrael=Robin, who is primarily their lyric writer. While there are also other dedicated members doing management and art and similar jobs, I’m going to focus mainly on the music.
Since most communities, gaming, music, et cetera are pretty close knit in Japan, it’s no surprise that there’s a lot of cross-pollination with other groups and composers. In their recent pursuit of original works though, they basically grabbed two of my favorite vocalists, Katakiri Rekka and Noriko Mitose. I’m basically going to spend the next paragraph or so hyping one of their newer albums, so if that’s not your thing just check out the media links, they’re worth your time if my ranting isn’t.
So, thanks to the wonder that is Twitter and a small musical discussion, one of WAVE’s recent original CDs caught my attention. And, well I started listening to it… And then something happened. On this CD alone you have an extraordinarily well done (To me, at least) compilation of songs spanning several genres and languages, composed masterfully into an album of concentrated goodness. As of this writing, they have a second album out (Released last December, if I remember right) that’s basically a continuation of this one. Do want.
Anyways, that’s enough of my gushing for now. Look up WAVE and check out their works. Below you’ll find all the relevant circle information as well as what’s probably my favorite song of their Sekigan no Eden album.
For part one of our two parter musical double header totally awesome power hour, I want to discuss a circle that Hen Da Ne has come to know personally, in a way. As a ‘second generation’ of workers for HDN, it may seem like I pointlessly fawn over some of the things my predecessor did. And it’s true, I do to a degree think that I may overblow some of his accomplishments. But some of the things he did for the company, and moreso the community, were simply amazing. And one of those things was establishing a relation with the circle, Kimino Museum.
Kimino Museum as a circle is pretty high quality, all told. Their styles are a mix of jazz and rock inside baroque trappings, of which are executed quite well in my opinion. Also I’ve never heard such a well done accordian before. They probably have some of the better vocalists I’ve heard insofar as Touhou arranges go, and not jumping towards the denpa style that Iosys and Innocent Key (which have plenty of their own merits) does is rather refreshing. All told they’re probably one of my higher ranked circles for music.
And then there’s the palette compilation. For those of you who ran with us in 2010-2011 you probably recognize, or better yet, own a copy of this. This is one of those products that I wish I could supply to every one of our Touhou fans. Being a two CD compilation, the first CD is kimino museum’s awesome work and the other disc is full of really awesome artists (SYNC ART’S, Shishimai Brothers, k-waves LAB, just to name a few). On top of all this, the album came with an extremely professional looking binder loaded with beautiful art and lyric sheets printed on some heavy duty card stock.
The merits of Kimino Museum’s style are numerous and definitely a good circle to keep an eye on for their solid instrumental style, if that’s your cup of tea. Their website contains all of their album and twitter information as well, so if you want to keep tabs on them just check out the link below.
Just as a quick note, we have three copies of Da Capo’s Limited Edition left from MangaGamer and we do not have plans to restock them. So once they’re gone? That’s it. Done. So buy them while you still can!
Buy these games or Nemu may accidentally send you to a hospital.
