Well, Anime Expo is over and there are a few series licenses that were announced that will be of interest to the Yuri community. Since I already discussed Seven Seas Yuri manga licenses here, I thought I’d summarize the Yuri anime licenses, too:
ADV – ADV announced that they have licensed Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora, Kaishaku’s most recent series. Although I do not hesitate to say that this series was laughably bad, I absolutely maintain that it was better than everything other Kaishaku anime in terms of internal consistency and sensibleness. AND the Yuri storyline was pretty good! If you liked Chikane and Himeko in Kannazuki no Miko you ought to like Kaon and Himiko here.
Geneon – No Maria-sama ga Miteru announcement as of yet, but based on the Q&A at the panel, they haven’t killed the idea or anything. Instead, Geneon licensed Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and the second and infinitely better season Nanoha As. Third season (and even better than the former two) StrikerS wasn’t included in this particular announcement. But now that we’ve seen Nanoha and Fate as lesbian moms, we might as well look back fondly on their early relationship. :-) To be honest, I’ll probably like this series better this time around, knowing that it does go somewhere and does get better.
Funimation – Although this will not be something I will purchase, Funimation announced the license to the Negima! anime. Konoka and Setsuna fans will surely be happy. (I’ve never reviewed the anime for this – nor do I plan to. If you’re interested in doing a Guest Review for Negima! contact me.)
Media Blasters – Our buddies at Media Blasters took my suggestions to heart, I see. :-) They had an awesomely Yuri-ful announcements list starting with Strawberry Panic! and including the ever more service-y Otome ha Boku (Onee-sama) ni Koishiteru (another series I’m not planning on reviewing, so feel free to send in a Guest review), and Ikkitousen: Dragon Destiny. While Otoboku is not something I’ll be reviewing, as it’s based on a game where the main character is a boy dressing like a girl to fulfill the plot complication, the “Yuri” in the series comes in the form of the girls who fall in love with what they think is a girl. It’s real, if stoopid. And of course Ikkitousen is a thin plot connected by breasts, underwear and unresolved Yuri longing on the part of Kanu Unchou. Most popularly, we can once again enjoy the open theft of concepts, characters and whole storylines from earlier Yuri anime and manga series in Strawberry Panic!. :-)
So – some stuff to look forward too, albeit all quite servicey, where Yuri is one more fetish in the long list of fetishes catered to. ^_^
I find it interesting, and rather encouraging, that you’re enjoying Nanoha StrikerS more than the previous two series. I am too, but I think it’s very much the minority view judging from the blog response. Like you, I’m enjoying it for the fact that we’re dealing with adult women (in uniform…) who are just casually living together without unnecessary titillation or drama. I do find myself cringing at the fanservice though, which is terribly blatant when it appears, and was afraid that might turn you off to StrikerS positives. Can I just say, I’m glad it hasn’t. ^_^
I might have a crack at doing a couple of those reviews you mentioned, although it’ll take a couple of days.
Finally, just wanted to say, I’ve been reading your blog for a while now and thoroughly enjoying it. If I want a useful, well-informed and interesting review of anything Yuri, this is the first place I look up. Thanks, and keep up the good work!
We already have a taker on the “Hitohira” review offer. That will be coming up soon.
Just remember, when you contact me, your email *IS* your audtition! :-) Keep your reviews to roughly, my format and try to get the grammar and spelling reasonably correct. One typo, I don’t notice. 10, I do. :-)