This is a static copy of In the Rose Garden, which existed as the center of the western Utena fandom for years. Enjoy. :)

#26 | Back to Top10-28-2006 08:16:59 PM

Ragnarok
Caption Captor
From: Canada
Registered: 10-20-2006
Posts: 4472
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

I saw the first sixish episodes of Wolf's Rain and it seemed pretty interesting. Unfortunately it was introduced to me by a friend who gets excited about a series, shows it to everyone, watches it to the end and (if he decides he doesn't like it) never shares it again. I don't usually download anime myself, so I doubt I'll ever see the rest of it.

But the important thing about Wolf's Rain is that Tsume is clearly the love child of Akio and (FMA) Scar!


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#27 | Back to Top10-28-2006 09:10:26 PM

Giovanna
Ends of the Fandom
From: Edmonton, AB
Registered: 10-12-2006
Posts: 8797
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Ragnarok wrote:

(FMA) Scar!

Yeah, I'm definitely thinking of the wrong Scar.


Akio, you have nice turns of phrase, but your points aren't clear and you have no textual support. I can't give this a passing grade.
~ Professor Arisa Konno, Eng 1001 (Freshman Literature and Composition)

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#28 | Back to Top10-28-2006 10:01:22 PM

Romanticide
Cow Bellhop
From: Mazatlan
Registered: 10-18-2006
Posts: 447

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Ok this is not anime neither manga but I always recomend Fables published by DC vertigo.
It'd about fairytales living in the modern new york. All the characters are awesome and the stories are really adictive. Also the Prince Charming is in fact a bastard but charismatic womanizer who married and divorced Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.


http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/1390/firmautenaji0.jpg

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#29 | Back to Top10-28-2006 10:23:45 PM

Yasha
Bitch Queen
From: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Registered: 10-15-2006
Posts: 6031
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Romanticide wrote:

Ok this is not anime neither manga but I always recomend Fables published by DC vertigo.
It'd about fairytales living in the modern new york. All the characters are awesome and the stories are really adictive. Also the Prince Charming is in fact a bastard but charismatic womanizer who married and divorced Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella.

I've read this! It's sincerely awesome. Much love for the big bad wolf etc-love


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#30 | Back to Top10-29-2006 01:03:18 AM

Ragnarok
Caption Captor
From: Canada
Registered: 10-20-2006
Posts: 4472
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Giovanna wrote:

Ragnarok wrote:

(FMA) Scar!

Yeah, I'm definitely thinking of the wrong Scar.

Akio + Scar = Tsume


http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r9/RagnarokIII/spyschool.jpg

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#31 | Back to Top10-29-2006 03:24:42 AM

Hinotori
The Notable Death Mantis
From: Soviet Ohiostan
Registered: 10-23-2006
Posts: 1335

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Haha, everyone says how gorgeous the art is in Utena, but probably half the reason I was so attracted to the series is because I found the artwork slightly unsettling. I'm not going to say I disliked it, but I didn't really like it.... o.o


EDIT: What was here was me saying that a new series, Red Garden, has moments that remind me slightly of Utena, but I just finished the second episode and I'm pretty sure they were all coincidental.

Last edited by Hinotori (10-29-2006 03:31:50 AM)


Hinotori made this post, and then went back and changed it later. Such is life.

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#32 | Back to Top10-29-2006 07:02:49 PM

Alarm
Wakaba Wrangler
From: Atlanta
Registered: 10-29-2006
Posts: 12
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Sailor Moon~emot-rolleyesemot-wink


Fire * Soul * Love

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#33 | Back to Top10-29-2006 07:07:31 PM

skewed_tartan
Touga Topper
From: El Terra De Richard Nixon
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 55
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Ragnarok wrote:

Giovanna wrote:

Ragnarok wrote:

(FMA) Scar!

Yeah, I'm definitely thinking of the wrong Scar.

Akio + Scar = Tsume

I always loved how the rest of the wolves wore normal clothes but Tsume was dressed like it was Friday night and he was going to the local gay bondage club. etc-love

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#34 | Back to Top10-29-2006 07:21:09 PM

Ger
Rose Smilee
Registered: 10-21-2006
Posts: 139
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Giovanna wrote:

I've heard her latest offering, Nana, I think, is equally good. I'm always in the market for shoujo anime that's mature, my beef with most of it is that it's so aimed at little kids and OMG BISHONEN, I really liked in PK that the characters were older.

Nana is VERY good. It's aimed at older teenagers or young adults (university age/20s). Honestly, I can't tell you much about the manga because I only read the first one. It's rather soap-opera-ish in storyline, so that's something to watch out for if you're expecting just a simple straight-shot story, but everyone I've talked to about it says it's very well written, and it's equally popular with both men and women, as far as I can tell, even if it's billed as shoujo. It's completely normal "fiction" though (no supernatural things a la Utena).

That being said, I hope I don't sound like I'm spouting off about something I don't know XD I saw the Nana movie in the theatres in Japan when it came out and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes shoujo. The downside if you don't speak Japanese is that it's not subtitled, but most of the plot can be understood even without subtitles. The visuals are compelling and I really like the actors who were in it. They did a great job. I also love the two songs they did for the movie.

Last edited by Ger (10-29-2006 07:22:05 PM)

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#35 | Back to Top10-29-2006 07:35:14 PM

Ragnarok
Caption Captor
From: Canada
Registered: 10-20-2006
Posts: 4472
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

skewed_tartan wrote:

I always loved how the rest of the wolves wore normal clothes but Tsume was dressed like it was Friday night and he was going to the local gay bondage club. etc-love

To be fair I don't think Tsume could remove those pants after he put them on. One night of experimentation and he has to deal with it for the rest of his life! emot-wink


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#36 | Back to Top10-29-2006 07:43:04 PM

Imaginary Bad Bug
Revolutionary
From: Connecticut, USA
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 2171
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Alarm wrote:

Sailor Moon~emot-rolleyesemot-wink

Well... Sailor Moon S had become my favorite season of that show well before I found Utena, so... cool


http://lh5.ggpht.com/_HERdW38xV_c/S5xZ2QVrIwI/AAAAAAAAApg/uNpckSbLgUw/s800/utenaban.jpg

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#37 | Back to Top10-29-2006 10:07:52 PM

Alarm
Wakaba Wrangler
From: Atlanta
Registered: 10-29-2006
Posts: 12
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Imaginary Bad Bug wrote:

Alarm wrote:

Sailor Moon~emot-rolleyesemot-wink

Well... Sailor Moon S had become my favorite season of that show well before I found Utena, so... cool

Hehe~ then you already know the goods! emot-biggrin Hrmm...I'm trying to think of more enigmatic series like Utena but... I'm coming up short. emot-gonk

Shamanic Princess
http://img5.anidb.info/pics/anime/1573.jpg
A young girl with magical powers, Tiara, is sent to Earth from the Guardian World There, she must retrieve the Throne of Yorudo, which was been stolen by a man named Kagetsu. What really surprises Tiara is the fact that her best friend, Lena, is helping out Kagetsu.


OMG, you should watch Alien 9 - that is a kinda disturbing anime about girls... has major symbolism and um - very interesting and different. etc-love


Alien 9
http://img5.anidb.info/pics/anime/4932.jpg
In the 6th grade class of the 9th middle school, the class forces Yuri Otani to an undesirable post. She is made part of the Anti-Alien Team. She has to wear a symbiotic alien on her own head in order to fight the aliens that arrive in spaceships from other worlds. While her own alien will protect her, she is scared of it and the enemy. Life isn`t easy in the 6th grade.


(descriptions and pics taken from: http://anidb.info/perl-bin/animedb.pl?show=main )


I know the descriptions are a little.... unconvincing, but really, give them a try - you'll see what I mean by enigmatic. school-freud

Last edited by Alarm (10-29-2006 10:10:54 PM)


Fire * Soul * Love

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#38 | Back to Top10-29-2006 11:26:10 PM

Romanticide
Cow Bellhop
From: Mazatlan
Registered: 10-18-2006
Posts: 447

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Ger wrote:

Giovanna wrote:

I've heard her latest offering, Nana, I think, is equally good. I'm always in the market for shoujo anime that's mature, my beef with most of it is that it's so aimed at little kids and OMG BISHONEN, I really liked in PK that the characters were older.

Nana is VERY good. It's aimed at older teenagers or young adults (university age/20s). Honestly, I can't tell you much about the manga because I only read the first one. It's rather soap-opera-ish in storyline, so that's something to watch out for if you're expecting just a simple straight-shot story, but everyone I've talked to about it says it's very well written, and it's equally popular with both men and women, as far as I can tell, even if it's billed as shoujo. It's completely normal "fiction" though (no supernatural things a la Utena).

That being said, I hope I don't sound like I'm spouting off about something I don't know XD I saw the Nana movie in the theatres in Japan when it came out and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes shoujo. The downside if you don't speak Japanese is that it's not subtitled, but most of the plot can be understood even without subtitles. The visuals are compelling and I really like the actors who were in it. They did a great job. I also love the two songs they did for the movie.

I love Nana etc-love I love how the main girls are fully fleshed 3dimensional characters and not just their stereotype characters. I love ho Nana K.(Hachi) even if she is portrayed as sweet and girly is really daring sexually and doesn't shame on it. Nana O. is really cool but not godlike perfect she has insecurities. I also love how the characters are equally 3d even if they are minor ones. emot-smile


http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/1390/firmautenaji0.jpg

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#39 | Back to Top10-30-2006 12:31:10 AM

Toasty
Wakaba Wrangler
Registered: 10-27-2006
Posts: 14

Re: If you like Utena, then..

I agree about Shamanic Princess. It's got a bit of surreal, a bit of obtuse, and a whole lot of pretty people. Should be right up your alley if you liked SKU. It's a short OAV series, though, so it doesn't contain nearly as much character development as SKU does.
And I was also about to recommend some bits of Sailor Moon where Ikuhara's style shines through. The latter parts of the SuperS season are a good example, especially the last episode. Some of the themes and ideas from Utena are present, but not nearly as developed. The rest of the season is mostly shameless filler that can simply be skipped, though.

I've also heard a lot of positive things about a series called Princess Tutu. Silly title, but reviews and summaries I've read definitely make it sound pretty Utena-ish. Most likely worth checking out, I guess.

Last edited by Toasty (10-30-2006 12:36:10 AM)


I don't mind straight people as long as they can act gay in public.

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#40 | Back to Top10-30-2006 12:40:57 AM

satyreyes
no, definitely no cons
From: New Orleans, Louisiana
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 10328
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Alarm wrote:

OMG, you should watch Alien 9 - that is a kinda disturbing anime about girls... has major symbolism and um - very interesting and different. etc- etc-love

You totally should.  Alien9 is frigging weird and worth seeing.  It doesn't have THAT much to do with Utena, but it's very short, so you'll have time to appreciate the resemblances without getting bored because Utena is so good that it's turned you off to all anime that aren't Utena emot-smile  At least watch the first episode, which is one of the best first episodes of any show I've seen.

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#41 | Back to Top11-02-2006 09:58:19 AM

tohubohu
Precious One
From: Boston metro area
Registered: 11-02-2006
Posts: 289
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

My wife and I sat and watched the episode intro for the first episode of Maria-sama ga Miteru -- we haven't downloaded the rest of the episode yet, nor have we had the time to watch -- but when I turned it off, she turned to me and said, "I saw three references to Utena and one to lesbianism in that minute-and-a-half."  I had to ask about the lesbianism reference: apparently in parts of Africa (and possibly other areas of the world where French was a colonial language), "petite soeur" is the term a woman uses for a woman lover. 

Ah, the joys of being married to an anthropologist. cool

I found Haibane Renmei to be one of the most profoundly transformative stories I've ever watched.  Like Utena, it hit some of my really deep-set buttons.  Other than Utena, it's the only anime that makes me cry consistently.  I spent the day after watching one episode in particular in a daze of, "OMG *that's* what that means!" and spent an entire therapy session talking about the symbolism and meaning as it applied to my own life.  I finished watching the series and felt like someone had just taken a roto-rooter to my sinuses and the ventricles of my brain.  It was pretty much amazing, yeah.

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#42 | Back to Top11-02-2006 07:19:36 PM

Ivy-chan
Unfulfilled Juror
Registered: 10-19-2006
Posts: 232

Re: If you like Utena, then..

I recently read a manga called 'After School Nightmare', and it has some Utena-like qualities. Or, well, it has a boy-girl transexual, (I think), who wants to be a boy. Also, people disappearing when they 'graduate', a huge psychological dreamscape battle that's supposedly the class you must pass to graduate, and high school issues.

http://www.gocomi.com/series/nightmare/


If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants.
-Isaac Newton

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#43 | Back to Top11-06-2006 07:23:32 PM

Tamago
God of Comedy
From: Minami Goushuu
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 14280
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Ivy-chan wrote:

I recently read a manga called 'After School Nightmare', and it has some Utena-like qualities. Or, well, it has a boy-girl transexual, (I think), who wants to be a boy. Also, people disappearing when they 'graduate', a huge psychological dreamscape battle that's supposedly the class you must pass to graduate, and high school issues.

http://www.gocomi.com/series/nightmare/

I will certainly be looking for this series when it turns up at the manga store I frequent as I have not come across any manga that features intersexed individuals before now.  The nearest I usually find are cross-dressing manga like:

Hana Kimi

W Juliet

Kill Me Kiss Me

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#44 | Back to Top11-06-2006 09:26:38 PM

Hinotori
The Notable Death Mantis
From: Soviet Ohiostan
Registered: 10-23-2006
Posts: 1335

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Tamago wrote:

Ivy-chan wrote:

I recently read a manga called 'After School Nightmare', and it has some Utena-like qualities. Or, well, it has a boy-girl transexual, (I think), who wants to be a boy. Also, people disappearing when they 'graduate', a huge psychological dreamscape battle that's supposedly the class you must pass to graduate, and high school issues.

http://www.gocomi.com/series/nightmare/

I will certainly be looking for this series when it turns up at the manga store I frequent as I have not come across any manga that features intersexed individuals before now.  The nearest I usually find are cross-dressing manga like:

Hana Kimi

W Juliet

Kill Me Kiss Me

Really? It's a pretty common plot device in a lot of yaoi. Guy dresses as girl (for whatever reason), man meets girl/guy, becomes attracted to her, finds out she's a he, decides not to care.

Or the men know the entire time and play ignorant because she's cute or they don't get girls much.

Annnd there are a couple manga about genuinely intersexed people on Lililicious, and some of them are pretty unbad. Claudine (I think) Is about a female-male TS in france, but it's typical Riyoko Ikeda type stuff (WHERE HAVE WE HEARD THAT NAME BEFORE?), and the other one's about male to female, but it's only been scanlated a few chapters and the name escapes me.

I'm not going to dig it up right now since I'm tired and I need to study and I've wandered into run-on sentence land, but you're welcome to. o:


Hinotori made this post, and then went back and changed it later. Such is life.

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#45 | Back to Top11-21-2006 11:26:32 AM

rhyaniwyn
Myth is my Bitch
From: Tallahassee, FL
Registered: 11-09-2006
Posts: 684
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

I can't say that there are any anime I like that bear any RESEMBLANCE to Utena, in my opinion.  It's not gender ambiguity, cross dressing, or yaoi/yuri pairings that I like in Utena.  I DO like the sword-fighting... ;)  It's mostly the story, the meaning.  It's brilliant, and I haven't seen another anime that comes close.  There are some things that I found entertaining and enjoyable, but very few that were both entertaining and meaningful. :/

I like the Sailormoon manga (and the anime too, though I think the story comes across better in the manga).
I like the Rurouni Kenshin OVAs.  Great ambiance.  Hate the TV series.
I like Now and Then, Here and There.  Depressing, but very good.
I like Haibane Renmei.  Lots of un-answered questions for me in that one, but it's good.

Berserk upset me greatly.
I liked Escaflowne, though I felt the end was a cop-out.
I advise anyone who liked Howl's Moving Castle to read the book--it's good and the story is tighter.
I dug Witch Hunter Robin, particuarly the end, which gave me a Vampire Princess Miyu vibe. <3 Amon.
Hellsing, Trigun, and Cowboy Bebop are all good for a watch.

I liked Evangelion, of course, but I tend to avoid it due to its over-popularity.  FLCL is amusing, but doesn't totally inspire me.  Too random.
I keep meaning to watch Lain again...I found it rather pretentious when I first saw it--not bad, no, just...pretentious.
I thought Wolf's Rain had potential, but I already know how it ends, so I haven't managed to take the time to watch it through yet.

Most recently I loved Stand Alone Complex.  Sexy Kusanagi gets my vote anytime (stupid sucky movie). 
Old favs are Key the Metal Idol (geist!) and Blue Seed (very fun).

I haven't seen a lot of the stuff that is being/has been released or fansubbed recently. 

I want to see Scrapped Princess, because I hear good things.  There are a few others on a list at home that I'm interested in...  But I'm an evil person and I only buy HKs, so what I see is often dependent on stock.


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#46 | Back to Top11-21-2006 03:19:55 PM

Imaginary Bad Bug
Revolutionary
From: Connecticut, USA
Registered: 10-16-2006
Posts: 2171
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

rhyaniwyn wrote:

I keep meaning to watch Lain again...I found it rather pretentious when I first saw it--not bad, no, just...pretentious.

Putting my Yoshitoshi ABe bias aside for a moment, Lain never struck me as pretentious. (I first saw the show before I was a fan of his; Lain is what made me an ABe fan.) Lain was just all kinds of wonderful confusion.  It's my favorite ABe series along with Haibane Renmei, which is simply too beautiful for words.

Something like Noir, though... while I do like that show, that treads far closer to pretension, I thought.


final edit:  watch the 't's there mister... 'putting' has 2, not 3! emot-tongue

Last edited by Imaginary Bad Bug (11-21-2006 07:16:01 PM)


http://lh5.ggpht.com/_HERdW38xV_c/S5xZ2QVrIwI/AAAAAAAAApg/uNpckSbLgUw/s800/utenaban.jpg

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#47 | Back to Top11-21-2006 04:45:28 PM

Tamago
God of Comedy
From: Minami Goushuu
Registered: 10-17-2006
Posts: 14280
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Hinotori wrote:

Really? It's a pretty common plot device in a lot of yaoi. Guy dresses as girl (for whatever reason), man meets girl/guy, becomes attracted to her, finds out she's a he, decides not to care.

I must admit I haven't read many yaoi as most of the yaoi on sale are covered in plastic wrap and except for Negima (Which was also covered in plastic wrap thou I cant really see any reason for it) I tend to avoid buying manga that I dont have a chance to at least read a bit beforehand.

Or the men know the entire time and play ignorant because she's cute or they don't get girls much.

Thats what happens in Hana Kimi emot-keke

Annnd there are a couple manga about genuinely intersexed people on Lililicious, and some of them are pretty unbad. Claudine (I think) Is about a female-male TS in france, but it's typical Riyoko Ikeda type stuff (WHERE HAVE WE HEARD THAT NAME BEFORE?), and the other one's about male to female, but it's only been scanlated a few chapters and the name escapes me.

I guess they haven't released those books down here yet where I live.  I just have to hope they will turn up soon and that I have enough money.

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#48 | Back to Top11-21-2006 05:07:28 PM

rhyaniwyn
Myth is my Bitch
From: Tallahassee, FL
Registered: 11-09-2006
Posts: 684
Website

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Imaginary Bad Bug wrote:

rhyaniwyn wrote:

I keep meaning to watch Lain again...I found it rather pretentious when I first saw it--not bad, no, just...pretentious.

Puttting my Yoshitoshi ABe bias aside for a moment, Lain never struck me as pretentious. (I first saw the show before I was a fan of his; Lain is what made me an ABe fan.) Lain was just all kinds of wonderful confusion.  It's my favorite ABe series along with Haibane Renmei, which is simply too beautiful for words.

Something like Noir, though... while I do like that show, that treads far closer to pretension, I thought.

In fact, it wasn't the plot or characters I found pretentious.  It was those long scenes that happened a lot near the end where it was just a voice and some random visual stuff, talking all kinds of philosophy & science.  I don't like that at the end of the GITS manga either.

Noir definately had a pretentious air to it--in that it was trying to be cool.  I liked it anyways, though I think I mostly liked it for the music. ;)  The whole ... 'a toddler killed my family' thing ... always weirds me out, too.


http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o165/absolethe/itrg_signature.jpg

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#49 | Back to Top11-21-2006 05:15:13 PM

bella
Atlantean Singer
Registered: 11-04-2006
Posts: 581

Re: If you like Utena, then..

This may sound strange; it doesn't fit with SKU unless you stretch the knight plot a bit, but I LOVE Hellsing Ultimate. It's gory and exciting and good. yay.
<edit>
I forgot to mention that I love escaflowne. I like both the series and the movie, but the movie is more action based, and I enjoyed it a little more than the series. It's a really good fantasty title for anyone who hasn't seen it.

Last edited by belladonna (11-22-2006 05:25:53 PM)


Happy Holidays Everyone! :3

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#50 | Back to Top11-21-2006 08:18:45 PM

Hinotori
The Notable Death Mantis
From: Soviet Ohiostan
Registered: 10-23-2006
Posts: 1335

Re: If you like Utena, then..

Ah, all those are unreleased in english. I'm not really sure what the rules about linking to scanlators are here, or your personal politics, but http://www.lililicious.net/ has scanlated pretty much everything I've mentioned. Claudine is in finished manga projects, and Double House, the second one I mentioned, is in current projects if anyone's interested.

Most yaoi/yuri/TS doesn't get released in english, so it can be pretty hard to find. Luckily I have the moral fibre of an ovulating hyena.


Hinotori made this post, and then went back and changed it later. Such is life.

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