Well, folks, April Fools’ Day played me. ^_^ I’m usually pretty good about not falling for anything, but Animate hit me right in my weak spot. It took a few days to disappear, but the Yurimate page is gone. The Shosen, Gamers (blecch) and Animate “Yuri club” pages are still in existence, but my dream of a dedicated Yuri section in the Ikebukuro Animate is once again a dream. And dream I shall continue asking for, until I get what I want. ^_^

And my appearance at Kean University tomorrow is also not happening, so we’ll chalk that up to April Fool’s as well. It’s no one’s fault, Kean is just bizarrely strict about paperwork (more so than any other university I have ever spoken at) and it wasn’t filed with enough time to get it done. 

There will be no YNN Report next week, as I’ll be busy with Queers & Comics, jut FYI.

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Yuri Manga

On the positive side, we have some excellent news this week. The creator-driven Yuri mook project known as Galette is putting out a 2nd issue. This is very good news. I sincerely hope this project continues.  Self-publishing is so much easier these days, and the printing and distribution which make it hard here in North America, have long been smooth in Japan from refinements for the comic markets. That said, it’s keeping groups of creators to deadline that can still be challenging. ^_^

After Hours by Yuhta Nishio in English from Viz is slated for a June release and pre-order is up on the Yuricon Store! Despite the cutesy art on the cover, this ought to be a story about and for adults.

A Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Volume 2 from Yen Press will be hitting shelves at the end of May. And so will MURCIÉLAGO, Volume 2. 

Ratana Satis’ Lily Love, Part 2 in English is available for pre-order on the Three Musqueerteers Tumblr page. Just as with last volume, one fills out the form and when the book is ready to ship, they’ll invoice you through Paypal. Pre-orders come with some physical extras and the first 100 orders will get a free keychain. ^_^ Part 1 was a very nice Story A, and I’m looking forward to seeing the characters develop in Part 2, as their relationship, and the story, becomes more complicated.

Events

Next weekend, there are queer academic events on both US coasts. Queers & Comics in San Francisco and  in New York City, CLAGS is holding the LGBTQ Scholars of Color Conference, both on April 14-15. 

ANN reports that the Sailor Moon series is going to have it’s first-ever classical concert in Japan  August. Fan club members will have first dibs on tickets. Hrm…I’m a fan club member….hrm….

Other News

Gender-bending in Asian pop culture is hardly new, and neither are boi bands, but the buzz behind China’s newest boys-who-are-girls group is both amusing and alarming in a “Really? They look like boys to you? Really?” kind of way. ^_^ Here’s the scoop about Acrush. 

From YNN correspondent soulsassasin, here is an interesting interview with writer and director Sam Lee on Filipino lesbian film Baka Bukas, which will be getting a North American release this summer.

Autostraddle is celebrating the accomplishments of 16 Lesbian Power Couples Who Got Shit Done, Together.

Via Takenouchi Daisuke on Twitter, here are a  few pictures of the live-action Silent Mobius stage play cast in costume. ^_^

Resistance

We’re in week 12 of a presidency of a man who can’t read, can’t count, can’t speak in cogent sentences, is prone to temper tantrums and has the codes to nuclear weapons. It’s time for some fight songs.

Joan Baez, the world-renowned folk singer and activist, has come out of retirement to create a new song for all our feels. Here is Joan singing Nasty Man. 

Music is often cathartic, and the winner of the cathartic award is Jussie Smollett’s video to F.U.W (Fucked Up World), a video so woke that Fusion magazine actually breaks down all the references in the video. And it’s a damn fine song.

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find.Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!