Happy 10th Anniversary, Okazu!

August 15th, 2012

Ten years ago I thought about trying out one of those new-fangled “web log” things to record my thoughts about Yuri manga and anime, Yuricon and random related items. Ten years later,  Okazu gets about 2500 visitors a day and  has had more than 3 million unique visitors.

Let me take a moment to think about that.

Wow.

And…thank you!

Thank you to every one of my Okazu Heros and Superheros for making it possible for me to continue to bring you all reviews of good – and bad – Yuri anime and manga.

Thank you to all my Guest Reviewers – you provide variety and a different perspective, save my sanity and make me smile.

Thank you to everyone who has ever commented on Okazu. Thank you to all of your who comment regularly, for stimulating me in thought and keeping me focused. Thank you, too, to all of you who have disagreed with me over the years – it’s important that you keep doing so. And thank you to my insane, ranting, incoherent and/or delusional commenters. We’ve all enjoyed what you’ve had to say. ^_^

And finally, a special thanks to all of you, my dear readers, I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate your support and feedback…your very presence in my life. These last ten years have been absolutely extraordinary, something that can largely be attributed to you.

To thank you all and to celebrate Okazu’s 10th anniversary, I’m holding a contest. Ten lucky winners will receive Yuri manga or doujinshi!

To enter, please answer the following question in the comments. In your entry, provide your age and country and name. (If you go by Anonymous, please choose a nickname I can address you by, thanks)

Here is the question:

What would you like to see from Okazu in the next ten years?

As always, feel free to think completely outside the box. The more innovative and creative you are, the better the prizes. Go nuts. ^_^

I’ll be picking winners arbitrarily, but not randomly. If you’ve won a Yuricon or Okazu contest recently you are welcome to enter.

So, go ahead – help me blow out the candles on the Okazu birthday cake and tell me what you think Okazu should do, or look like, or be, for the next decade!

Happy Birthday Okazu – here’s to ten more amazing years!

26 Responses

  1. LilyEyes says:

    Happy birthday Okazu! Thanks for all the great reviews over the years.

    I think it’d be fun to see an Okazu webcomic. Something simple that could act as a reaction to a Yuri manga that goes alongside a review, a sort of summary of said review, or a play on Yuri tropes or fangirlisms. It could be fan submitted, or ask a special guest to submit something, etc. Then at the next 10 year mark you can look back and see how much has been collected by fans over the years.

    (Super sloppy example I whipped up to try and show what I mean XD http://lilyeyes.deviantart.com/art/Reading-Battle-Athletes-321403748)

    24, USA.

  2. Alice Crook says:

    WOW 10 years? that’s young, and i hope it will become more years to come. I would like to see more current updates on Yuri manga and good sites that feature subbed Yuri/shoujo-ai anime series. But other then that. GOOD job. I have loved coming to this site for information on series that are hard to find info on and this site has been very helpful THANKS! I’m 19 and live in the united States anf have been avid Yuri/shoujo-ai fan for three years now. I’ve watched and read pretty much every Yuri/shoujo-ai series out there except NEW ones. Or ones with no plot lol. ^_^
    Here’s to many more years of Okazu

  3. Mara says:

    Ten years is an amazing achievement congratulations.

    What would I like to see? If I may give kind of a cop out answer: I would like to see something that I have not even thought about. Something I cannot predict because I have not considered it a possibility or do not know of it.

    Something like that would cause me to re-think about what I take for granted or become aware of something that I did not know existed.

    24, UK.

  4. Atarun says:

    Long Live Okazu!

    What I’d want most would be a database, to search for series and find the associated reviews and grades. I know it’d be a lot of work to set up, though. Maybe I could help (I’m sure a lot of people could).

    Nadia Cerezo, 26, France

  5. Andreas Larsson says:

    Happy birthday Okazu :)

    Personally I would like some more reviews on Yuri/Shoujo-ai one shots.

    And dont stop doing Now This is Only My Opinion!

    20,Sweden

  6. Brian Ruh says:

    Happy birthday, Okazu!

    What I’d really like to see in the future is a book-length history of Yuri manga, from its origins in Japan to its current presence as a small yet global phenomenon. Something like that would be a treat for Yuri fans and a great resource for comics scholars.

  7. ashi says:

    In the next ten years, I would love to see Okazu provide an app for our reality overlay glasses / Google Glass. In a store with books / videos, it will highlight any items with girls love or lesbian content. When watching anime or reading manga, it might even make pairing suggestions. You could call it something like “Yuri Goggles.”

    43 USA Todd Allis

  8. julia says:

    Happy Birthday Okazu!!I don’t know what would be of my life without this amazing blog <3

  9. Ana says:

    Congrats!

    Come to Japan more! Otherwise, keep up the great job of providing Yuri-related news and reviewing Yuri manga, translated and untranslated! (^o^)/

  10. George R. says:

    Happy 10th anniversary. Here’s hoping your next decade is just as good.

    I hope to see you continue in the same vein with Yuri news & reviews, flavored and augmented by your personal whimsy and humor.

    With a decade of content, it would be nice to have something closer to an index than the current search function. Of course, like all good indices, this will take a chunk of work.

    Thanks again for helping me laugh and learn.

    George R.

  11. Happy 10th Birthday, Okazu!!

    I don’t have anything to add to the suggestions others have made here. But thank you for creating a blog that has been such a pleasure to read these past six years. :-)

  12. Chris d. says:

    Thanks for the insight into a fascinating culture that I may have never otherwise known of. How about 10 more years of the same? :)

  13. Takamina says:

    Happy birthday Okazu. I would like to see the blog branch out from including mostly just anime and manga to including news and reviews on Yuri movies and books, music (some idol groups give us some fun, if fanservicey Yuri subtext) LGBT issues in Japan etc.

    15, Australia

  14. Anonymous says:

    Congratulations on ten years!

    Someone else mentioned a more comprehensive index,and I would like to second that…as well as perhaps having a good search function to easily access older posts. (Although perhaps this exists and I just haven’t figured it out?)

    I’ve found your blog very interesting–particularly since I think we have very dissimilar tastes–and I look forward to the next ten years.

    Lynn A, 44, left coast of the United States

  15. BruceMcF says:

    I want to see more reviews of English translated Yuri manga available digitally ~ JManga, Nook Comics, whatever ~ because that then means there has been more English translated Yuri manga available, even if just digitally.

    And on something to be done, I’ll third/fourth/whatever the search. Maybe a tag editor that allows people that had to find something the hard way to submit tags so that the next person can find it the easy way.

  16. I fear the indexing issue is a lost cause (although I also wish there was a better solution. Google hates Blogger and is now refusing to even index posts. No doubt in a petulant attempt to move us all the Google+.

    Moving my blog to WordPress now would be a nightmare… and even WordPress does not have a useful Indexing plug-in.

    Indexing is incredibly time consuming and machines are notoriously bad at it, because it requires human understand of the relation of words and concepts.

    So while I understand your frustration and really wish there was a good solution, unless about 10 of you want to spend a few months working on building an index, I think we’re SOL.

  17. Anonymous says:

    Woot! 10 years?! Awesome ;)

    I would love to see more volumes of Yuri Monogatari, etc. from ALC in the years to come.

    It would be amazing if ALC Publishing became ‘the’ publishing company in the US for Yuri manga/novels since there are already companies that publish mostly yaoi in their lineup.

    For the person who suggested that there be a book written on Yuri history in Japanese culture, there is a book on shoujo history out called Passionate Friendship: The Aesthetics of Girls’ Culture in Japan. I ran across it on Amazon ;)

    On your blog, definitely more reviews of American comics that have Yuri pairings ;)

    Good luck with the next 10 years!

    Rachel, aka Bunny

  18. Ashrie says:

    Wow, that is a huge milestone! Congratulations! I’m always grateful to have discovered Yuricon and this blog by chance, almost 8 years ago now. You don’t know, but it helped me immensely, knowing there even was something like “girl’s love” stories. It helped me come to terms with who I am. And your Yuricon website, and this blog, helped me discover more titles than I ever knew existed. So Thank You for all of the hard work you and your team has put in throughout the years. It’s truly a wonderful thing you do here :)

    As for suggestions… Other than keeping up the reviews and opinion pieces, one thing I would like to see more of: interviews with people involved in the industry, Yuri manga authors, licensing companies, and such. I always think they’re fascinating to read and gain insight from. Oh, and it would be really cool to see photos of the Okazu collection as it stands now! XD

    All the best for the next ten years and more!
    Leticia, 28, Australia

  19. Suzuka says:

    What would you like to see from Okazu in the next ten years?

    I’d love to see more cross-linking and back-and-forth with other LGBT and manga blogs and sources; things ike guest posts from you on other blogs or others on this blog, recommended posts from other places or here (back and forth), etc. – aka more affiliation, as it were :D

    Alissa, 22, USA

  20. Suzuka says:

    I’d love to see more interaction with other blogs – things like guest posts from others here, or you on other manga/LGBT blogs, recommended back-and-forth posts – essentially ways of affiliation spreading resources around :D

    Alissa, 22, USA

  21. Ayana Mudou says:

    Congratulations for this first decade. I sincerely thank you for all the time and effort you have invested in this blog.

    Some loose ideas…
    Some of them, could be a little utopic, though…

    -Having live Yuri panels with mangakas discussing their works or with Yuri fans discussing objectively (as possible, of course) about their favorite series, doing a little review of it, then stating the meaning behind the series,if the plot is a setback or an improvement for the Yuri world, and so on.

    -Performing/doing/writing some parodies about the Yuri stereotypes.

    -Analyzing in depth the meaning about some mangas and/or doing a comparative essays about the series.

    -Interviewing more mangakas.

    -Not exactly Yuri related, but talking more about the LGBT scene in Japan: political views, lifestyle, nightlife, places to hang out, how they feel about the Yuri genre…

    -More Takarazuka features.

    (27, Mexico, Shei)

  22. Ayana Mudou says:

    Congratulations for this first decade. I sincerely thank you for all the time and effort you have invested in this blog.

    Some loose ideas…
    Some of them, could be a little utopic, though…

    -Having live Yuri panels with mangakas discussing their works or with Yuri fans discussing objectively (as possible, of course) about their favorite series, doing a little review of it, then stating the meaning behind the series,if the plot is a setback or an improvement for the Yuri world, and so on.

    -Performing/doing/writing some parodies about the Yuri stereotypes.

    -Analyzing in depth the meaning about some mangas and/or doing a comparative essays about the series.

    -Interviewing more mangakas.

    -Not exactly Yuri related, but talking more about the LGBT scene in Japan: political views, lifestyle, nightlife, places to hang out, how they feel about the Yuri genre…

    -More Takarazuka features.

    (27, Mexico, Shei)

  23. @Ayana Mudou – Thanks for the ideas.

    Don’t look for Japanese LGBT nightlife from me. I don’t do that at all in any country and it bores me to tears. There are loads of sites for that kind of info already, so it would be serious scope creep for me. ^_^

  24. Natasha says:

    Congratulations for the 10 years! Not so many people has arrived to this really commemorative age of blogging.

    As suggestions:
    -I would like you to also speak about Yuri outside of Japan and the USA. It would be quite curious if you did an article about it.
    -I would also like to see a top ten of all time Yuri both manga and anime.
    -It would be great if you review Yuri viedeogames.
    -If you recommended anime music with Yuri lyrics, I’d also be happy.

    21, Spain

  25. Anonymous says:

    LOL Talk about reading instructions correctly!

    Rachel aka Bunny, 30, USA

  26. Arkadi says:

    Damn, I missed this by almost two weeks! Happy Anniversary, Okazu! ^^ Here’s hoping for another 10 years (at least!)

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