Comic Yuri Hime, June 2026 (コミック百合姫2026年6月号)

June 5th, 2026

On a green background, inside a red frame, a scene in yellow. A young woman with pink hair leans through a picture frame, holding a magic wand, while an older woman kneels before her taking a picture. Props of frames and teddy bears are strewn around, cables are visible in the background of this photo shoot.Chiriko’s cover this month is a jaunty yellow inside a red frame, on a green background. Once again a younger-looking girl is joined by an older one, this time, they play with picture frames, teddy bears and photography in a photo shoot.

The opening pages discuss Prism Garden and a few pop-ups happening, including the Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau x Sanrio collab. The Comic Yuri Hime 20th Anniversary art exhibit, happening right now in Osaka at the Nanba Marui.

Finally, “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau” has turned towards Hajime and her extremely conflicted feeling towards Momoka. I trust Takeshima-sensei to bring this arc to a positive conclusion, but its going to be a rough road that will definitely affect Lorelei’s future as pros.

Ikuta Hana’s “Hone ni onegai wo Hoshi ni Noroi wo” is so moody and tense. I’m still on the fence whether I like it or not, but I am definitely still reading.

“Muryoku Seijo to Munou Oujo ~ Maryoku Zero de Shoukansareta Seijo no Isekai Kyuukokuki” by Tamasaki Tama has taking a break from the wedding drama to go visit a in/famous elf teacher to see if they can get help with /waves hands/ everything.

Big shock! In “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” We are once again paying attention to Mitsuki. This week, her father comes to Liebe and Hime flails at the instruction to just treat him like another customer. Other than being very very tall, he doesn’t seem to have any other defining characteristics. I did appreciate that this wasn’t a “gotcha” episode. Mitsuki has told her parents what she’s doing and they approve. I love that.

Now that Haru has been challenged by Yuu’s famous older sister, LUPINUS works hard to come up with an original piece for the contest in “Kimi ga Hoeru Tame no Uta o”.

Rae fights her way in to see an imprisoned Claire and is soundly rejected. In original content for the comic, Lily, now almost completely integrated with Alter, attack Rae and Manaria and fights them to a standstill. Lily’s rage and hurt at being rejected by Rae comes to the surface.

Itoh Hachi’s “Yokouso, Kochi no Sekhai,” is a (to me,) shockingly good short by Itoh Hachi, who has returned to the magazine for the 20th anniversary. A burnt out animator meets and encourages a young girl with dreams of working in animation. They manage to inspire each other, and meet again when the now young woman begins her new life as an animator with her inspiration. 

And as always, there were other stories I read and enjoyed, or read and did not, and others I did not read. ^_^

Columns and features round out this volume. There are a number of horror manga running right now, all are so different. I’m still holding out for more action and one day, maybe, sports. ^_^;

Ratings:

Overall – 8

The July issue is out and I’m reading it already; one brief moment of being ahead of the curve!

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Unsung Epics of the Hero’s Journey, Volume 1

June 4th, 2026

To get right to the point, Unsung Epics of the Hero’s Journey, Volume 1 was good. Like, really pretty decent.

Rhuys Ferme is a cleric with an important, but secret, mission. The Hero’s Party is out hunting the Demon King, and she needs someone with serious skills to help achieve her goal. To that end, she commissions Araignée Les, an adventurer with a reputation for having mad skillz.

Unsure and terrified, Rhuys undertakes this dangerous mission with Araignée, whose nonchalance confuses Rhuys. As they travel together, they begin to open up to one another. They find they share a lot of similar baggage; both women having a past filled with rejection and exile. They draw closer, as they move towards a climactic battle with a powerful foe. Will they have enough trust in one another to achieve their goal? 

The story was reasonably well-constructed with characters one could sympathize with. This included some of their opponents, a tack I appreciated. The way contracts and commissions were serious business in this world gave it a bit of “real life” flavor. Araignée’s story, while interesting, was the most predictable, with two important reveals, one of which was telegraphed from the beginning of the book. She was still a solid character. Rhuys was a more complicated character. Her backstory made her actions and beliefs stand out as fully fleshed out. By the end of the book, I was wholly behind these two as a partnership, both in adventuring and life. 

The writing was, for a light novel, rather decent. Hachigatsumori clearly thought things through. All of the fighting was both interesting and sensible, as well as being clever at times. I love when writers get creative within their own rules. An extra point for the bad guy pulling the strings in the background actually just being punished. That was novel.

 NAT’s illustrations had our protagonists fully clothed, with armor that made sense! Points off for Araignée wearing shorts, but I’ll allow it. since her armor covered her chest in a way that might actually protect her.  And! the art is not moe. It was a nice change of pace, having characters that look as they are described. Thank you, NAT.

Ratings: 

Story – 9
Characters – 9
Art – 8
Service – 2
Yuri – 7

Overall – 9

Overall, I found Unsung Epics of the Hero’s Journey, Volume 1 to be an entertaining read, with strong characters, good action, some clever touches and a nice bit of Yuri. Volume 2 is headed our way in August, I’ll definitely be reading it.

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By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga on sale!

June 2nd, 2026

By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga is celebrating Pride Month, Yuri Day and a 4th birthday with 20% off the digital and print editions for the month of June Get your copy of this ground-breaking work on the history of the Yuri genre today!

This is our first-ever major discount for the book. I’m very thankful to my publisher for their help in making this happen. Discount is available until June 30th!

 

By Your Side is the complete Yuri resource I only ever dreamed could exist. Decades in the making, this glorious collection surveys, analyzes, and contextualizes Yuri with unparalleled detail and enthusiasm. Friedman graces readers with illuminating insights as they follow her through a century of the genre’s evolution and revolution. By sharing her extraordinary knowledge, she provides inquirers, scholars, and aficionados alike with a deeper appreciation and understanding of lesbian anime and manga while galvanizing them towards the next era of Yuri.

– Nicki Bauman, Yurimother

The first in-depth study of Yuri in English.

– James Welker, Professor of Cross-Cultural and Japanese Studies, Kanagawa University

 

DIGITAL Edition

Direct from my amazing publisher, Journey Press (worldwide)

Amazon Kindle (worldwide)

Google Play (worldwide)

Kobo (worldwide)

iTunes (worldwide)

 

PRINT EDITION

Ingram Direct link  (US and UK)

Amazon (worldwide)

 

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Yurimart Event Report and How To Make Your Own Yuri Event

June 1st, 2026

Yesterday I had a delightful day in Brooklyn, NYC for a Yurimart held at event and art space Yume. Yume does all kind of art exhibits and events, so do follow them online. I was accompanied by two young woman of my acquaintance who are Yurijin as well.

I had gotten a request for RSVP and knew that the space was small, and that they expected a line, so when we arrived and saw the line snaking down the block, and around the corner, it just whetted our appetite!

The event featured about 2 dozen or so local artists and bakeries!, including fan art, original art, ‘zines (which are so, so in again, take that capitalism!) and accessories. 

It was a surreal moment for me….surrounded by people talking about Yuri, many of whom were born into a world that never didn’t have Yuri. Many folks were adamant that there should be more things like this…and yes. And there are. And you should build your own Yuri event. Don’t wait for someone else to day it. I’ll beat that drum again in a bit. First…

Here is the line we saw when we got there:

And this was the line we saw when we left: 

When we entered Yume, there was a little board where you could add your own drawing: 

Then we entered Yume proper. It’s a bit of a railroad apartment, just a long, thin, space that this day was filled with Yuri art and Yuri fans. ^_^ I am short, so this is a terrible picture.

I took a moment to speak with Tai, the owner. She was inspired by Yen Press’s Yuri Cafe, but wanted to do something for and with the local community. She’s hoping to do some other events this summer with Rica Takashima, so keep your eyes peeled here for info!

Here are my purchases from the event:

The sticker on the bottom that says “This too is Yuri” is just too great. I also got a “Girl Prince” sticker, but that must still be in my bag.

There were a few folks who had some great retro urban lesbian art. And as you see I got a Lavender Menace keychain. I love that Yuri and Lesbian communities are now overlapping in exactly the way I hoped when I started promoting Yuri!

One of my favorite things to do all day was to answer the question “What is this line for?” Some folks just didn’t know how to answer, but I have been working on that elevator pitch for years, so I’d leap across the line and say “lesbian-themed Japanese animation and comics’ and a couple of people thought it sounded cool. Two said they’d come back and get on line, one said they’d tell their daughter. Did they? I don’t know, but I talked to folks and encouraged them to learn about Yuri. Which is what I do.

Which brings me to my real point. Many folks said things like “I wish they would do something near me.” To that I reply 1) “Who is they?” YOU, you are they. Be the Yuri event you want to see in the universe! and 2) People ARE doing this near you. Here are some events I saw causally flipping around IG: 

Green Yuri Market on June 14, in Los Angeles

Spill The Tea Yuri and BL event at Manga Lounge in Monterey, CA

Gamer Yuri Online Catalogue

 BL x GL Live DC Pride party

More importantly – you can do this. Start small. Tell folks you know that you’ll be at a park, or a cafe, or at manga store or library – have folks join you.  Have the theme be Yuri. There, you have organized an event. ^_^ It really is that easy!

One more thing. I am stealing this from the K-pop world, but you know what would be cool? If you are creative and have a little time, make a small thing to give away. I always have stickers and postcards, only apparently this time I had like 3 postcards left. :-( Boo me. I am making more stickers so next event, I have plenty to share. If you have OC characters, make a sketch and copy that. Anything. Let’s just share that Yuri.

Thanks to everyone at Yume for being so cool and nice, and to Tai for organizing the event. Thank you to my companions Manjiri and Avantika, you were both awesome! And thank you to all the Yuri fans out there. I look forward to meeting more of you.

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Yurimart in Brooklyn today

May 31st, 2026

I’m taking today off to go have some fun.

Yume, an art and event space in Brooklyn, NY is hosting a little Yuri pop-up event today from 12-6 called the Yurimart. This  event requires reservation and, as the space is mall, they are offering up some outside activities to fill up time while you wait.

I will be there, with exactly 4 postcards left. Once those are gone, I officially have to get some more portable merch. ^_^;

Drop by for some cute art and baked goods, and to meet fellow Yurijin! I hope to see you there on a beautiful spring day in Brooklyn!

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