#miman

[yuriskies]

The Performative Romance of "Yuri Is My Job"

Content warning: Yuri Is My Job contains depictions of homophobia, bullying, and sexual assault.

My friend @esselfortium recently convinced me to read "Yuri Is My Job" (which from now on I'm going to refer to by its fan abbreviation, WataYuri), written by Miman. I'm glad she did, because WataYuri turned out to be an extremely pointed and engaging commentary on the yuri genre. I'll try to keep this review/recommendation mostly spoiler-free while highlighting what I think are the most interesting parts.

Hime Shiraki is a high school girl whose dream is to marry into money and to that end, cultivates a "facade" of the perfect people-pleaser. She is coerced into becoming a staff member at Cafe Liebe after 'injuring' the manager on the way home from school. Cafe Liebe is a roleplay cafe where the waitstaff perform in character as student council members of the Liebe Girls' Academy, a setting intended to mirror a Class S romance novel. The manga explores the character relationships between Hime (performing under the name Hime Shirasagi) and the other members of the staff as she settles into the new job.

At a surface level, WataYuri functions as a criticism of the Class S romance genre, which focuses on close, hierarchal relationships between women within girls-only schools. These relationships often take on the shape of performative romance as a form of emotional fulfillment in the absence of "real" partners (men) within the setting, justifying itself as preparation for courtship after graduation. These close relationships often doubled to disguise intimate same-sex relationships at a time when these relationships were illegal.

The Class S genre leans into the ambiguity between the real and the performative; simultaneously providing a form of quiet affirmation and a cautionary reminder to its audience. This dynamic is understandable given that it is a subversion of pre-war publishing standards and laws regarding same-sex relationships, but many of the themes and plot beats inspired, influenced and survived into modern yuri.

Miman crafts their story in a way that digs into the nature of these legacy ideas with a certain perverse glee. The ever-watchful eyes of the authorities are replaced by those of the parasocial audience Cafe Liebe cultivates. The ambiguity - and often painful miscommunications that result from it - come less from "relationship/situationship" and more from the distinction between performance and the raw emotion it draws from.

In an early comedic moment, the latter dynamic is illustrated when Hime's cafe senpai Sumika Tachibana (an aloof, bookwise character on duty and a somewhat meddling gyaru off duty) and Mitsuki Ayanokouji (a caring, big sister character on duty and a curt, socially distant person off duty) argue in character over how to best handle a floor situation where Hime is struggling. Hime and her friend Kanoko Amamiya (a painfully shy girl with a secret crush on Hime) misinterpret this argument as a genuine romantic argument, and Kanoko uses the opportunity to flirt in character under the guide of expressing support for Hime's ability to do the job. Hime then reads Kanoko's intervention as a purely professional step. Nothing the characters are attempting to communicate gets through, because no one is certain on which side of kayfabe the communication is being made from.

Later chapters begin to tackle darker subject matter, exploring how the job both creates and exacerbates insecurity, conflict, and unhealthy relationship dynamics among the staff. As this tonal shift occurs, Miman writes a fantastic (sometimes horrifying) series of character sketches. Each of the story arcs these sketches support dig deeper into the relationship dynamics and shapes that are commonly adopted in modern yuri, illustrating just how toxic and ingrown the relationships produced by these story patterns can get.

Miman is not afraid to take the story into fraught territory - WataYuri covers a range of subject matter from childhood bullying, coming to terms with acearo feelings, internalized homophobia, and sexual assault - but they handle these matters delicately and sympathetically. These events ultimately highlight the strengths of the working relationships at Cafe Liebe - for as much hurt as the job is capable of generating, the staff's knowledge and personal relationships with one another equip them with the tools and resilience they need to begin resolving these issues as they come up.

Despite taking on the trappings of a shallow workplace dramedy, WataYuri delivers a wickedly sharp exploration of the roles we assign ourselves when building and maintaining our relationships. As it builds off of its consistently great character moments, it argues that our own self-enforcement of those roles is ultimately harmful when using those roles to soften or shield ourselves from the possibility of hurt that comes from expressing our true feelings. At best, it prevents us from finding genuine connection; at worst, it prevents us from moving on while our emotions turn poisonous.

#yuri is my job! #WataYuri #Miman #yuri #manga recommendation #mini essay

[manekinekocake]

#yuri is my job! #official art #miman

[leylinefount]

Merry Christmas! You brought Macca, I hope.

#atlus #shin megami tensei #smt #megaten #gustave #merry christmas #smtv #smt5 #macca #miman #cadavers hollow

[hatsumishinogu]

Watashi no Yuri wa Oshigoto desu! Vol.13

#watashi no yuri wa oshigoto desu! #yuri is my job! #miman #girls love #manga

[parsleysagerosemarytimemachine]

Messy queer relationships, by girls trying to figure out how to get what they want (or even what they want in the first place), and not knowing how to ask for it. Love that they're trying, even if there's obviously foreseeable catastrophe ahead. Here's hoping for love and happiness (and calm) in the future for them.

#manga #reading #reviews in brief #Yuri Is My Job #Miman

[oratokyosaigunda]

Watashi no Yuri wa Oshigoto desu!, volume 13

#Watashi no Yuri wa Oshigoto desu! #Yuri is My Job! #Miman #manga covers #YuriHime manga

[lgbtqmanga]

New Releases Nov. 15, 2022

Canis: Dear Mr. Rain (Second Edition) by ZAKK

Canis: Dear Mr. Rain features story and art by ZAKK in this new expanded and updated edition of the original CANIS.

Hat maker Satoru finds Ryou passed out on street and is then embroiled in an international crime drama.

Business is tough at men’s haberdashery Dante. A big sale is coming, and they are extremely understaffed. So after getting chewed out by his staff a broken Satoru heads home to find a stray napping in the rain.Ryou isn’t your standard American longhair, though. He is a mysterious nineteen-year-old with charisma, good looks and an air of someone with a past, despite their age. After a meal, a nap and a shower Ryou was ready to model for Satoru. But their contract was for just one day. And the reason why Ryou had to go was he had a meeting with the mafia.

Failed Princesses vol. 6 by Ajiichi

CONFESSIONS AND CONFUSION

Upon realizing what her feelings are for Kurokawa, Fujishiro confesses to her! Kurokawa, however, is taken aback. This isn’t the Fujishiro she knows and admires! What will happen when her own feelings well up—and explode?

FINAL VOLUME

Futari Escape vol. 1 by Shouichi Taguchi

A professional manga creator and her slacker girlfriend try to relieve the pressures of adulthood by finding joy in the little things in life–and each other!

Two young women—one an overworked manga artist, the other a jobless slacker—try to escape the realities of adulthood. Whether it’s by going into debt while splurging on an epic meal or taking an impromptu trip, “Kouhai” and “Senpai” find a way to make the most of their days! Kick back and relax with this adorable yuri comedy!

The Husky and His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun vol. 1 (Novel) by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou

The wildly popular danmei/Boys’ Love novel series from China! Also known as 2ha (“Erha”), this highly requested historical fantasy epic about a tyrant’s second chance at life and the teacher he can’t get out of his mind will be released in English for the first time!

Cruel tyrant Taxian-jun killed his way to the throne and now reigns as the first ever emperor of the mortal realm. Yet somehow, he is unsatisfied. Left cold and bereft, abandoned by all he held dear, he takes his own life…only to be reborn anew.

Awakening in the body of his younger self—Mo Ran, a disciple of the cultivation sect Sisheng Peak—he discovers the chance to relive his life. This time, he vows to attain the gratification that once eluded him: all who defied him will fall, and never again will they treat him like a dog. His greatest fury is reserved for Chu Wanning, the coldly beautiful and aloofly catlike cultivation teacher who betrayed and thwarted Mo Ran time and again in their last life.

Yet as Mo Ran shamelessly pursues his own goals in this life he thought lost, he begins to wonder if there might be more to his teacher—and his own feelings—than he ever realized.

Yuri Is My Job! Manga vol. 10 by Miman

Sumika realizes that her friend was right about her crush on Kanoko. In order to keep things professional, Sumika distances herself from the first-year, but Kanoko doesn’t understand why Sumika’s suddenly grown so cold... As the customers in the salon begin to notice a change in their relationship, an alumna shows up, complicating things further.

#new releases #manga #queer manga #lgbt manga #Canis: Dear Mr. Rain #zakk #failed princesses #dekisokonai no himegimitachi #ajiichi #futari escape #shouichi taguchi #the husky and his white cat shizun #erha #2ha #meatbun #meatbun doesn't eat meat #rou bao bu chi rou #yuri is my job #watashi no yuri wa oshigotodesu #miman

[eerieayres]

Art Fight 2022: Sol

Posting up some of my old art trades I missed. This one was from 2022.

Solideryx's specter OC Sol is back for a second year, and he's doing the Nahobino pose in honor of SMT V! Are those some Miman with him?

I painted this for Art Fight 2022, an online OC art trade event that takes place through the month of July.  

Character © Solideryx Artwork © EerieAyres Shin Megami Tensei V © Atlus

#artists on tumblr #not my oc #shin megami tensei #shin megami tensei v #smt v #smtv #smt5 #miman #megaten #monster #monster boy #phantom #ghost #artfight #artfight 2022 #art trade #my art #digital art #portrait #illustration

[eirikrjs]

It's probably going out on a limb but the "shattered" heads of the Miman suggest to me that this is a uniquely "damaged" state. I think that pre-Knowledge humans were probably just humans without essential "enlightenment", ie. the oblivious Adam and Eve, but that the punishment of Knowledge removal from an existing human degrades them to a husk status. They have some parallels with the Mannequins, as humans or echoes of humans missing a fundamental element. Also - "mi-man" vs "hu-man"

Nice, I like these suggestions!

Perhaps the one unfortunate side effect of all of this though is that the Knowledge-enlightened "humans of God" that would have had to be created sometime in the first millennium BC (they never say exactly when YHVH rose to power but it feels reasonable to consider it historically) opens the door to to JJCAT, even perhaps around the same timeline as the Gad tribe's journey to Japan whenever the hell that was supposed to take place. Luckily, the game doesn't go into specifics about it.

#smt5 #miman #jjcat

[readtilyoudie]

YURI IS MY JOB! VOLUME 1

#yuri is my job #watashi no yuri wa oshigoto desu #miman #comedy #queer #sapphic #manga

[narizentupidocartazes]

[2023] 17 de Junho | Desordem é Progresso#08 | Bruno Parrinha & João Gato | Mariana Dionísio & Duarte Ventura & Zé Almeida | SMOP - Lisboa Cartaz [Travassos]

#Nariz Entupido #Miman #Bruno Parrinha #João Gato #Mariana Dionísio #Duarte Ventura #Zé Almeida #SMOP #Lisboa #Ciclo Desordem é Progresso #Travassos #Cartaz #Música #2023

[manekinekocake]

#yuri is my job! #official art #miman

[radiodman]

reading the Yano and Hime arc(s) is like shoving two different shaped blocks into a different shaped hole. Eventually they fit through after you shave off the edges but even then… it’s not enough, but you know that’s okay

#yuri is my job! #miman #yuri #Comic Yuri Hime #manga #mitsuki yano #hime shiraki

[leylinefount]

#atlus #shin megami tensei #smt #megaten #女神転生 #smtv #miman #happy new year

[hatsumishinogu]

Watashi no Yuri wa Oshigoto desu! Vol.11

#watashi no yuri wa oshigoto desu! #yuri is my job! #miman #girls love #manga

[parsleysagerosemarytimemachine]

'Yuri Is My Job' continues to complicate everyone's relationships - just as one seems settled, more feelings rise up, as well as a surprise return of an old flame. I'm really enjoying reading this, and love the gradual revelations as they all start to figure themselves out.

#manga #reading #mtg custom #Yuri Is My Job #Miman #couple #reposting so it's got the actual correct commentary this time #ugh #too tired for this