#tomoka

Tokyo style vs Kyoto style… While browsing the web for pictures of Mukojima Hangyoku, I came across these from the Dojoji Ryotei’s blog. They were taken in August 2013. Here, you can see Hangyoku Tomo 友 from Mukojima, Maiko Eriha 恵里葉 (1st picture)/Chiyoko 知余子 (2nd picture) from Gion Kobu and Geisha Kiyotaka 清貴. All three of the Maiko went on to become Geisha/Geiko. Chiyoko retired in 2018, Tomo changed her name to "Tomoka" 朋加 upon Erikae and retired in 2020. Eriha is still a Geiko as of 2023.

So I'm changing her last name to a proper Japanese one (sorry to all Japanese and Chinese people. I promise that was not done on purpose).

I made me too, can you lovelies tell I’m trying to avoid working on asks lol 😂

(Disclaimer: The following is a non-profit unprofessional blog post written by an unprofessional blog poster. All purported facts and statement are little more than the subjective, biased opinion of said blog poster. In other words, don’t take anything I say too seriously.) Just the facts 'Cause you're in a Hurry! Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP): 29.99 USD How much I paid: 19.99 USD. Animation Studio: Zexcs Licensed and Localized by: Sentai Filmworks   Audio: Japanese Audio with Subtitles and English Dub available.   English Cast: Bryn Apprill as Yui Yamada, Morgan Berry as Tomoka Kase, Apphia Yu as Mikawa and Luci Christian as the Teacher Length: 60 Minutes Number of Discs: 1 Blu-ray Disc Does this come a digital voucher to redeem?: No. This only has the Blu-ray disc. Are there plans for a DVD release: Not as of the writing of this review. Bonus Features: Japanese Promo, Japanese Trailer and trailers for other Sentai Filmworks’ licensed shows.   Notable Localization Changes: In the English Dub, Yamada refers to Tomoka as “Kase” as opposed to “Kase-san” in the original Japanese. “San” is an honorfic, similar to Mr. or Ms. While it makes sense for Kase to refer to Yui as Yamada in both the English Dub and Original Japanese, omitting the “San” for Yamada suggests a familiarity when the original Japanese suggests that Yamada addresses Tomoka formally. The rest of the dub script stays close to the original. My Personal Biases: I like other shows in the Shoujo Ai genre such as Mai Hime, Mai Otome, Maria Watches over Us, Strawberry Panic and yes, even Kannazuki no Miko/Destiny of the Shrine Maiden.   My Verdict: Beautifully animated, wonderfully composed, well voiced acted and so sweet you may have to get tested for Type-2 Diabetes afterwards, Kase-san and Morning Glories feels like a benchmark for longtime watchers of Shoujo-ai. Despite the high price tag and short runtime, this is an absolute must buy for loves of Women Love Women. Kase-san and Morning Glories, a Blu-ray review

I honestly don’t think new Shoujo-ai fans realize how lucky they are right now. Given a plethora of options as well as their own section to look for, the history of Yuri anime has been an attempt to balance the romantic side of the relationship with the fanservice bits. You youngsters don’t know how good you have it. We didn’t have Bloom Into You. Hell, we didn’t even have Citrus, Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid or Sakura Trick. In fact, before the 1-2-3 Punch of Strawberry Panic, Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl and Simoun in 2006, Kannazuki no Miko was considered the pinnacle of Yuri Anime. But in 2018, Yuri anime seemed to make a comeback in full force with the 1-2-3 punches of Kase-san and Morning Glories, Bloom Into You and, yes, Citrus. The three adaptations of manga titles managed to be an oasis in the desert after titles such as Simoun failed to find an audience, Sweet Blue Flowers ending on a cliffhanger and Whispered Words bombing so hard, it was rumored to have killed the Yuri anime genre for years. Even titles after that such as Yurikuma Arashi and Valkyrie Drive: Mermaid didn’t manage to find a larger audience other than the converted niches they were aiming for. But with Kase-san and Morning Glories, seeing the theatrical and home release of a love story manages to give even a cynical sourpuss like me hope for the future. Here’s a review of “Kase-san and Morning Glories”. Plant appointee Yui Yamada and athlete Tomoka Kase have recently started dating each other. As Yamada becomes anxious when she is unable to spend time with Kase, Kase explains how she came to admire her. Later, Yamada invites Kase to her house, where a serious development almost takes place. During a school trip to Okinawa, Yamada becomes embarrassed when she sees Kase naked, leading Kase to worry that she wants to break up with her, but they manage to clear up their worries the next day. Later, as Kase is set to go to a sports university in Tokyo, Yamada has to decide where their future relationship goes. One of the strengths the OVA (Original Video Animation) has is the foresight to get to the relationship in question. See, where other Yuri adaptations tend to adapt from the very beginning, Kase-san goes straight into the meat, taking place after the initial chapters and instead adapting from when Kase and Yamada have already started dating. There, we get montages of everything a couple goes through: miscommunication, the first time coming into one’s room, playtime at the beach and the fear of separation. The God is in the details. Studio Zexcs makes every color pallet, every movement and every composition work. It’s a splash of warm colors that emphasized by the music and carried by the voice actors to make you really feel that these two are in love. When Kase is kissing up Yamada’s arm, it’s a subtle movement that moves your heartstrings. Just the same, seeing Yamada become nervous and giddy for thinking about Kase really does tell you “Wow, these two girls are crazy for each other”. Sentai Filmworks did the localization of the series. Byrn Apprill (who you might recognize from another Yuri title this year, Himeko Momokino in Citrus) voices Yamada and she does a pretty good job at it. Granted, her Yamada voice tends to be really squeaky, but Apprill imbues the role with enough range to tell the difference between each situation. Morgan Berry (who voiced Tokaku Azuma in Akuma no Riddle aka the Devil’s Riddle) as Kase manages to capture the tomboyish nature of the character, but I was rather struck on how she managed to handle some of the more subtle scenes with enough nuance to do both the original character and Japanese voice performance justice. One thing I should note is the use of honorfics. In the manga and original Japanese, Yamada refers to Tomoka as “Kase-san”. For those not fluent in Japanese, “San” is a sort of title one gives to address formality. For example, in Revolutionary Girl Utena, Anthy uses Utena-sama or Ms. Utena to call her formally. In the English Dub, Yamada calls Tomoka as simply Kase. This (inadvertently and unintentionally) suggests a hint of familiarity not found in the original Japanese. See, it makes sense for Kase to refer to Yui as Yamada, because it suggests that Kase’s more causal and open to the relationship while Yamada calling Tomoka Kase-san suggests that she’s still, subconsciously or not, keeping her at a distance. It’s just a personal nitpick that bothers only me. THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE WITH SUBTITLES IS AVAILABLE. CAVEAT: As a package, Kase-san and Morning Glories is rather thin. Aside from the OVA, there’s no additional features other than the Japanese Trailer, Promos and commercials for other Sentai Filmworks shows. But I’ve always been of the party that, at times, an artwork can justify short content for a worthwhile experience. “It’s not what a movie is about, but how it’s about it” said the late Roger Ebert. And for 20 bucks, I more than enjoyed the 60 minutes I had with Kase-san. It’s a short experience, but one that’s worthwhile. Verdict: For any Shoujo-ai fan out there, it’s an enthusiastic Full Price!