What the hell happened here?? Is like a battlefield one game over here dafuq.
Anyway I'm looking forward to some romantic progression between Hina and Hana

last edited at Nov 23, 2016 5:01PM

Nez Note

The discussion about Mare affecting the rest of Morinaga's work is officially over. GG everyone.

last edited at Nov 23, 2016 5:18PM

Browsing Morinaga Milk's works is hard

Browsing Morinaga Milk's works is harder than trying to cross a Revolutionary Cuban's minefield... What's what ;A;

Morinaga to me has gotten better at things like composition and backgrounds. Her characters have gotten a little bit more personality, but they're still pretty flat considering she has multiple chapters to show them to the viewers. I know every story has already been told (that's why tvtropes exists!), but I get the same feeling with her as I do with Joss Whedon nowadays.

Joss Whedon was praised years back for many out of the box choices he made in his shows, but nowadays he's been getting more and more criticism for not growing and changing with the times. What he was praised for with Buffy 20 years ago no longer gets praise, and he seems completely baffled that what worked for him before no longer gets him the praise he used to.

Morinaga is similar. When A Sigh a Kiss and Cherry Blossom Pink came out, it was super popular. It was angsty, and it had a ~*YURI*~ misunderstanding, and it ended cute and fluffy. It came out in the early/mid 2000s and back then angst was THE THING. It came out just before the My HiME and Kannazuki no Miko animes. But as an author, Morinaga hasn't grown when it comes to the stories themselves. Her stories still follow the same tired tropes, and she hasn't branched out and shown us she's capable of anything different in her multiple chapter works. It's like we the viewers are stuck in a loop, and Morinaga can't change with the times and make a story that doesn't rely on the exact tropes she used in her previous famous works. I absolutely LOVED Girlfriends and think with a bit of tweaking story-wise it would have made a decent 12 episode anime around 2007, but now if they made it it would be too late because it's no longer innovative. Everything she's made since Girlfriends has really fallen flat because it's just the same story with different characters.

I'm not saying she should stop writing. But if she doesn't start branching out and exploring other yuri plot possibilities, she's never going to stand out from the vast swaths of yuri managaka competitors coming out today. Sure there will always be newbies to yuri who find her writing style cute, new, and relatable, but she's going to be relying on newbies her entire career at this rate and that's not a very sustainable fanbase to rely on. I'll glance at her new stuff that comes out, but I'm not going to get my hopes up anymore. I'm tired of waiting for something new.

Everything she's made since Girlfriends has really fallen flat because it's just the same story with different characters.

The Secret Recipe.
School Police.
Secret Of the Princess.

Yup, same story as Hana & Hina. Checks out.

I tried to take a friend of mine to one of those gourmet burger joints.

"What's the point?", he asked. "A burger's a burger, right? Doesn't matter if it's some kind of frozen disc that they just reheat, like at McDonald's, or if it uses freshly ground kobe beef and artisanal buns. All burgers are the same!"

I left him at home. I went and grabbed a burger at the gourmet burger joint.

He ordered pizza. Pepperoni and mushroom.

He ordered pizza. Pepperoni and mushroom.

Surprised he didn't go for frozen. same thing and a lot cheaper, right?

Morinaga to me has gotten better at things like composition and backgrounds. Her characters have gotten a little bit more personality, but they're still pretty flat considering she has multiple chapters to show them to the viewers. I know every story has already been told (that's why tvtropes exists!), but I get the same feeling with her as I do with Joss Whedon nowadays.

Joss Whedon was praised years back for many out of the box choices he made in his shows, but nowadays he's been getting more and more criticism for not growing and changing with the times. What he was praised for with Buffy 20 years ago no longer gets praise, and he seems completely baffled that what worked for him before no longer gets him the praise he used to.

Morinaga is similar. When A Sigh a Kiss and Cherry Blossom Pink came out, it was super popular. It was angsty, and it had a ~*YURI*~ misunderstanding, and it ended cute and fluffy. It came out in the early/mid 2000s and back then angst was THE THING. It came out just before the My HiME and Kannazuki no Miko animes. But as an author, Morinaga hasn't grown when it comes to the stories themselves. Her stories still follow the same tired tropes, and she hasn't branched out and shown us she's capable of anything different in her multiple chapter works. It's like we the viewers are stuck in a loop, and Morinaga can't change with the times and make a story that doesn't rely on the exact tropes she used in her previous famous works. I absolutely LOVED Girlfriends and think with a bit of tweaking story-wise it would have made a decent 12 episode anime around 2007, but now if they made it it would be too late because it's no longer innovative. Everything she's made since Girlfriends has really fallen flat because it's just the same story with different characters.

Exactly!

Morinaga's writing isn't what I'd call terrible but is very by the numbers and safe. Either she hasn't realized that sensibilities have changed and Yuri has matured enough as genre to allow new and different approaches to it, or she is trying to make lighting strike twice and repeat the success that she found with Girlfriends. In way, she has become the mangaka equivalent of a one hit wonder.

Ironically, I think shown the most creativity and willingness to try new things when she made the wonderful mindfuck that is Mare

I'm not saying she should stop writing. But if she doesn't start branching out and exploring other yuri plot possibilities, she's never going to stand out from the vast swaths of yuri managaka competitors coming out today. Sure there will always be newbies to yuri who find her writing style cute, new, and relatable, but she's going to be relying on newbies her entire career at this rate and that's not a very sustainable fanbase to rely on. I'll glance at her new stuff that comes out, but I'm not going to get my hopes up anymore. I'm tired of waiting for something new.

The way Hina and Hana was cancelled midways while her other recent stories have been short lived is proof enough she can't rely on her reputation much longer. She needs to shake things up, and to explore the possibilities current Yuri offers if she wants to remain active on the yuri scene.

I have to say that this claim that uses the same tropes over and over again is way overblown. Really, what tropes does she use over and over? That there is a confusion in a romantic story? Come on, this idea that she uses the same plot line is melodramatic in of itself. To say that Girl Friends is similar to Secret Recipe or Secret of the Princess or Hana to Hina is asinine.

:tiptoes out of thread:

Glad I was occupied back in November...I'm not even sure what the hell it is I just read....

:tiptoes out of thread:

Glad I was occupied back in November...I'm not even sure what the hell it is I just read....

My Gf just moved to u.s.a reading this Mangas has helped me whit not being too sad about that,I love the work morinaga does

My favorite is still probably Secret Recipe, simply because of Wakatsuki's progress from popular girl who manipulates boys and feels pity for the unpopular little girl in the baking club to washing her hair in the janitor's closet because she's anguishing over that same girl. It's also the best "table-turner" yuri manga ever :)

I like the Secret Recipe because I spend much of my time reading yuri thinking "just kiss already", but that happens at the very beginning of the first chapter.

My favorite is still probably Secret Recipe, simply because of Wakatsuki's progress from popular girl who manipulates boys and feels pity for the unpopular little girl in the baking club to washing her hair in the janitor's closet because she's anguishing over that same girl. It's also the best "table-turner" yuri manga ever :)

I want to agree with you here because I love The Secret Recipe too, but for the record, Wakatsuki doesn't manipulate boys, she just has an easy time getting asked out by boys she thinks she likes. And she never pities the president. She crushes hard on her from the start, and kisses her in the first chapter because she's quitting the club over it and wants to have one first and last intimate moment with her.

Source: Chapter 3

last edited at Jan 8, 2018 4:23PM

Honestly .,,.,.,. so good.

Classic

I am, and will forever grateful that Morinaga sensei to take that big leap and decided to draw fluffy girl x girl with happy endings because not many mangaka does this genre during her days. She said that during her note after her Kisses, Sigh and Cherry Blossom that the sole reason she did so is because she loves drawing girls, and with that reason alone, I am forever indebted.

Without Morinaga sensei's works that bring the spotlight to this genre, there wouldn't be heaps of yuri mangas nowadays.
If anyone were to say who's their favourite yuri mangaka in the mid 2010s, Morinaga sensei is definitely within the top list, along with Morishima Akiko sensei and a few more.

I considered her one of the pioneers who bring forward genre yuri. She, together with a few other yuri mangakas push it, then other mangakas decided that, "hey, doing what we love and what we like isn't bad at all", and decided to join the circle.
We now could see a variety of mangas presented, and some great yuri mangakas who are better at working towards the script, storyboard or even the characters and the flow of development. We learn so many great pairings in and also interesting stories with some touches of yuri, and also discovered great yuri mangakas on our way.

Therefore, I really am grateful to Morinaga sensei, and she will forever in my top list, my favourite pairing being Hitomi x Nana and Akko x Mari.

So yes, I am aware that she used to draw H, but that's all right.
Everyone has their place to start.

Badmouth Morinaga sensei is a nono in Yuri circle.
Thanks to part of her contribution, Yuri is where it is now.

You may not like her works, or think that it's bland, but she has devoted fully on yuri and focus on writing story development between two girls who are in love with each other with no other side characters that go make the whole story difficult, just the easy yuri story of : two girls who love each other, that's it, and her stories are focused mainly on the inner development of two girls(which she is really good at expressing it towards her arts) : how they initially curious, deny, then slowly accepting the feelings and decided to confess and fall for each other (And we know deep down, it's relevant to us. Why? Most of us started out like this, and nowadays it is difficult to kind of getting this setting, because the other yuri mangakas will start incorporate some other elements, like adding side characters that are totally out of nowhere or even trying to deviate the yuri setting by making the story like two best friend forever, instead of what we have known yuri for : two girls who love each other.

If you really like Yuri in the first place, you would never badmouth someone who has given so much to this circle.
Else I suspect that your sole reason to create an account to express your disdain towards someone has other motives which are demeaning and simply pure evil.

last edited at Jul 24, 2024 4:53PM