Well, Otakon is over for another year. It’s amazingly fun spending all day in the Dealer’s Room, watching the con walk by. I’m sure you’ll all be pleased to know that ALC Publishing nearly sold out of what manga we brought in three wild, wild days. ^_^

I want to thank all the folks who stopped by – old friends and new – who supported us by buying our manga, getting hugs, stickers, autographs, etc. and generally being the best part of the con. Next year should be even more fun and I promise that I’ll try and get a Yuri panel set up for once. ^_^

Since ALC’s newest Yuri manga premiered last weekend at the East Coast’s largest anime con, I think it’s ony fair to review it first, before I move onto all the other great swag I have to talk about, including a huge shipment from Japan of tons of new Yuri. But first things first.

Yuri Monogatari 2 is ALC Publishing’s second all-Yuri original English-language anthology. In other words – not a translation. The seven stories in this wonderful manga were created especially for this publication, including a wonderfully funny new story by Rica Takashima, author of Rica ‘tte Kanji, our first Japanese translation.

While Yuri Monogatari is by no means perfect, it is still a pretty darn excellent book and well worth your time and money, even if I do say it myself. And I do. Where else are you going to find original Yuri manga in English? Huh? ^_^

This new volume contains seven stories, written and drawn by people from five different countries: Belgium, Canada, Finland, Japan, and the USA. This gives every story a unique characteristic and completely different look and feel. While one story may not appeal to you, there is sure to be something for nearly everyone…

Here’s a quicky synopsis of the stories:

“Joe’s Haircut” – Funny stuff happens when gay girl Joe gets her long locks lopped. When four different girls hit on Joe after the haircut, she’s definitely thinking that too much of a good thing is too much, period. Big, grinny, happy ending for this one

“Toast” – A quirky scifi parody of being sucked into an alternate universe. You never knew what kind of stuff went on in your kitchen appliances…cool girl-gets-girl ending.

“Obenkyo Shinasai” – College student Grace spends more time fantasizing about her lover Miki than studying for her chem exam. This story is hysterical…and pretty hardcore, as Grace fantasizes some *interesting* things happening to Miki. Happy ending, but bad grades on the exam. ^_^

“Passing” – A sort of coming out story. I won’t blow the secret, but the art is really lovely and the girl gets the girl. ^_^

“Short Wish List” – Another parody, this time of action/fantasy stories. The magic genie of the toasters will grant wishes and the wishes aren’t what you think. Happy ending with lots of chocolate.

“Flora” – Angsty, poetic, reflective look at love versus lust. No happy ending, but some seriously beautiful sex.

“Night Out” – Girl meets girl, girl does girl and then the real story begins. A sweet and funny look at relationships. Girl has girl all along.

So there you go. Seven really fun stories, each one with a different focus and art style, characterization and story. And all Yuri, all the time.

And last, but not least, the Ratings:

Art, Character, Story, Plot – all variable depending on the story, as with any anthology. Yuri – 10.

This book is 100% Yuri, through and through. I hope you’ll pick up a copy and see for yourself!

Now that I’ve reviewed the newest Yuri manga from here in the West, I’ll start reviewing some of the fantastic new Yuri coming from Japan!