Yuri News this Week – May 9, 2009

May 9th, 2009

Yuricon & ALC News

Top story today is that I am the top story at Anime Today. :-) I was very pleased to spend some time with the utterly fabulous folks at Anime Today this week, and our resulting talk can be found at this week’s Anime Today podcast. We talk about lesbian comics, and the realities of marketing and publishing in a niche market. I hope you’ll tune in – it was a LOT of fun!

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Yuri Anime

That great Yuri classic Vandread will be rearing it’s head once again, like the undead, horrible rotting thing it is. This time, we’ll be treated to a feature-length synopsis of both seasons. Since the series is being shrunk for your viewing pleasure, there’ll probably be even less lesbians on that all-female ship than there was the first time around.

Comcast On Demand began airing the first episodes of Maria Watches Over us. Can you believe it? It’s like some weird dream, in which an American anime distributor actually listened to me. lol

In reality, Right Stuf needs no edumacation from me – they “get it.” I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it – Right Stuf is best of breed right now in anime distribution, and Funimation is hustling, too. There are smart people at these companies. Support them with money, not just with words, so they can be smart for you a little while longer.

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Yuri Manga

Katherine wants you to know that Hitohira is winding down in Japan, but that the artist will be starting a new series which also has more than one female character, so some Yuri may be manufacturable. :-)

Not Yuri, but most definitely lesbian, Ariel Schrag’s collection Likewise has been released. This autobiographical, raw and honest review of a young lesbian’s life is garnering some good reviews.

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Yuri Light Novel

Anonymous cheerfully informs us that there is a Rakka Ryuusui Light Novel. There is also a good chance of light Yuri. :-)

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Snatches of Yuri

Speaking of novels, they are not Light, or even light, but Yoshiya Nobuko’s generation-defining Hana Monogatari are out in a handsome new edition in two parts. Part One and Part Two look spiffy.

Harenochi Cinderella is a rich girl/poor girl like story at a (what else?) school for rich girls. There may be Yuri. :-)

Assistant Denki Keika is an “ecchi” (a word that frankly makes me shudder with lack of anticipation) manga about an assistant to a mangaka and her sexual adventures, which include, obviously, Yuri.

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Other Yuri News

hasekura_rei says “it seems like the group that was running the Marimite SIM on Second Life is back together and has a new SIM (complete with the Old Unpopular Greenhouse finally) and they’re accepting applications for their pine, cherry blossoms, mum, and camellia classes. The SIM Location is http://slurl.com/secondlife/Hakata/202/138/23. If [you’re] interested, grab a rules and group info notecard next to the entrance way. It’s in Japanese and decent enough English.”

So if you are a Second Lifer and want to hang out with a bunch of guys pretending to be Lillian students, check it out and let us know how it goes!

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That should be enough to keep you for a week. Become a part of the Yuri news team, and let me know of any Yuri News you hear!

12 Responses

  1. Anonymous says:

    Um… yeah, biggest news this week in Yuri SHOULD have been the Candy Boy finale that delivered on a major scale! (I feel it at least deserves a mention whether you are opposed to the two sisters aspect of it or not.)

  2. Mara says:

    “That great Yuri classic Vandread…”

    Eh?

    I understand the sarcasm but surely Vandred’s setting and everything disqualify it from being Yuri. Or is that just me?

  3. @Anonymous – I did not know that the Candy Boy finale aired this week, or it would have been included. This is why I ask people to email me and tell me things. I can only watch so much, and since I don’t follow the series, it’s unlikely that I’d know a finale aired. I will be sure to mention it next week.

    @Mara – It was merely meant as sarcasm. There are lesbian couples in the original, however, which surely qualifies it as Yuri.

  4. socchan says:

    Shoot, did Seven Seas forget to send you a copy of the new Hayate Cross Blade again? It just came out this week.

  5. @socchan – Yep. :-)

  6. Senbei says:

    I was psyched to hear about Hana Monogatari being rereleased. Every time I’ve visited my local Japanese bookstore for the past few years I’ve checked for Yoshiya’s stuff and found nothing. I’m sure it’s just a matter of space, but maybe I can convince them to order these for me and then they’ll realize there is a market in the US for her work.

  7. @Anonymous. I just watched Candy Boy – seriously, you consider that a “delivered on a major scale?” Seriously?

  8. Anonymous says:

    Well, yes, yes I do. Are you freaking kidding me?!? You’ve gotta take this series in context. If we would have seen say Sachiko and Yumi do the same things we would have screamed YURI! Nanoha having her finger sucked by a fox tailed Fate? YURI, YURI! Considering you wrote Candy Boy off early on as not being Yuri the show has turned out to be more Yuri than the majority of things that have been reviewed on your blog this year. It beats Strawberry Shake Sweet’s ending… and how long were we waiting for that?

    I get that you don’t like the show and the subject matter is squicky for many of us but to dismiss Candy Boy as Yuri while cramming other series in our face where you have to set your Yuri goggles onto high beam to even see the faintest hint of Yuri seems odd to me. I was really expecting some snarky remark from you about how loser fanboys (and girls) can rush out and buy the Lovely Version of the DVD just to replay that scene of a food malfunction over and over again.

  9. @Anonymous. Okay, that’s fair. I’ll concede the point – for what this series is, this is a major payoff. :-)

    Also, since you clearly did enjoy this series, perhaps you’d be willing to review it for Okazu? I’d absolutely love to have your thoughts on the series as a whole.

  10. Comcast On Demand began airing the first episodes of Maria Watches Over us. Can you believe it? It’s like some weird dream, in which an American anime distributor actually listened to me. lol

    In reality, Right Stuf needs no edumacation from me – they “get it.” I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it – Right Stuf is best of breed right now in anime distribution, and Funimation is hustling, too. There are smart people at these companies. Support them with money, not just with words, so they can be smart for you a little while longer.In addition, by watching locally-aired dubbed anime (mostly in Tagalog), the TV stations who pay for the broadcasting rights (regardless of the dub quality) also financially support the stability of the anime industry.

    I’ll invest my money on smart decisions and something I could pass on to my children. :)

  11. Anonymous says:

    There was an attempt to translate Yoshiya Nobuko’s works into English and to publish them as part of a Japanese lesbian short story anthology, but unfortunately the copyright holder declined permission.

  12. @Anonymous. Yes – that’s mentioned in the anthology’s editor’s notes. I’ll be reviewing that anthology shortly.

    A shame that the family of such an influential writer doesn’t can’t be proud of her work.

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