Yuri Anime
I spoke to Right Stuff this week, about Maria-sama ga Miteru and the second subtitle track. They basically said that they know that the audience for Marimite is pre-existing, with high expectations, and not off-the-street 12-year olds in Best Buy. They told me that they actually got emails that said that if they left out the honorifics, that the writer would not be buying it, which didn’t surprise me in the least. It was refreshing to speak to a company that gets fandom, really. The media rep assured me that they really want to do the best possible job for the fans, and I believe her. After our conversation, I’m completely convinced that they *get* it.
The other thing I asked, which I was fairly certain I would not get an answer for was – how are sales going? I knew they wouldn’t tell me numbers, but was it 100 units or 1000? This is what I got in reply – “We were very, very, *very* pleased with sales.” Like myself, many folks ran out and bought all three season sets. :-) But that third “very” was encouraging.
If you haven’t ordered yet, here is the link for Season 1 pre-order on Amazon. :-) (Available, like so much great Yuri anime, through the Yuricon Shop!)
I was also told that they’ve got some cool things planned for the series and to keep my ears to the ground. Previously, I had suggested to Pizza Hut that they run a campaign here (I’m sure you can imagine the confusion and bewilderment with which that suggestion was met…) but seriously, how much fun – and how bizarre! – would that be here in the US? lol I wrote a fanfic about the Pizza Hut campaign, a while back, after a comment I made on the last “Now This is Only My Opinion.” I put it up on “Worldshaking” Fanfic for you to enjoy. (Oh, oh – but here’s the funny thing! I saw a picture of Yumi, Yoshino and Shimako eating pizza in an official ad, and you know, I was *very* close in my fic. lol)
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Yuri Manga
Yuri fan flojistik informs us that Maka-Maka is now available in French through Amazon.Fr! I know a lot of people would like to see it in English – I also know that there’s a company working on it, so just be patient, ‘kay? :-) In the mean time, French readers can enjoy ther own edition of this adult Yuri manga. If someone gets it, please write in and let us know how it is!
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Okazu News
Thanks to my loyal readers for wondering about that Yuri Wishlist being unpopulated for so long. The balance finally shifted in my piles on the table here and I’ve repopulated it, if you care to sponsor reviews once again. I’m going to do my utmost to review every day this coming week, and get that “to-review” pile halved.
Also, since Amazon is *still* not carrying Mai Otome 4, if someone wants to volunteer to get me that from another source, I’m going to accept graciously. Just email me first, because I don’t want to get 4 copies.
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Other Yuri Interest
It’s not a very active group, but I’ve created an IRC channel to talk in detail about all things Marimite – #marimite_spoilers@rizon.net. This is a spoiler chan for the novels, anime and manga, and we do talk about fine points of what’s going on with MASSIVE spoilers. So if you don’t want to know what happens, don’t join. lol If you want to talk about inexplicable Shimako things, and fine points of Yoshino references, this is the place for you!
And for something completely different, through Mangablog, whch got the link through When Fangirls Attack, here is an essay by Kristin McCauliff about gender roles in Revolutionary Girl Utena. It’s feminist, but not lesbian, but still totally relevant to our interests. :-)
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That’s it for this week. As always, if you have Yuri news you want to share, or any new or obscure series in which you feel there’s a little Yuri you’d like people to know about, feel free to email me with the Subject line “Yuri News” (so my idiotic spam filter doen’t lose it) and I’ll tell the world!! :-)
I would have LOVED to have seen the conversation between you and Pizza Hut. “It’s a what, now? What does that have to do with pizza?”
I emailed their marketing dept with an explanation of the Japanese marketing campaign, and a follow up suggestion that they do the same campaign here.
I got a phone call from a drone, telling me that if I wanted freebies for an event I could contact….blah, blah, blah.
I was like – “Uh, no, I’m talking about a marketing campaign, not freebies.”
They said they’d pass the message on. I’m not holding my breath.
Given the fact that not everyone pays attention to anime, it’s an extremely slim chance to see a major fast-food chain in America sponsor an anime series that’s largely alien to them. To those guys — the drones and the suits, really — the only anime they know of are the high-profile ones: Pokemon, Naruto and DBZ. xD
On the other hand, it’s also a very good thing to know that Rightstuf is watching every word from the whole fan community.
Anything else? Although it maybe remotely related, this recent update coming from Cobalt might as well be a radical turn for Marimite: Yuuki gets a starring role in what seems to be an official spinoff.
Thank you and good morning. :)
Erica,
I enjoyed the pizza fan-fic. Thank you for writing and sharing it with us. Ah, what I would give to share a pie with the YamaYurikai! I would even happily eat that raisin, olive, and pine nut pizza Sei had suggested. Hmm, but then I’d probably do anything Sei suggested.
grace – I ate that pizza myself, in the UK. It was very good. :-)
soulassassin – That’s a one-shot special for spring, not a series. And I bet that its a rare marketing person at Pizza Hut who knows Naruto. :-)
Oh My God. I laughed so much with your very short pizza fic. Hahaha, they have such weird tastes, and Noriko’s comment was hilarious! Thanks for making me laugh. :)
Gald you enjoyed the pizza story. My favorite line is Sei chuckling about the corn smut topping. (“Heh heh. That was a good one.”) LOL
That was a good one. Corn smut… heh heh, I still can’t get over it. I’d order it just for how much fun I can get out of it. “How’s the smut? Hot enough for you?” “Can I get extra cheesy smut?” or even “smutty pizza.” Feels like you really pegged them, and the size was just enough for a treat without being too short or too long. Great little fic. Or dare I say… a real slice? *grins*
Thanks for clearing things up on the “Oshaka-sama” matter. :) Thought it’s something big.
Have you seen this at AnimeNation? They mention “ALC Press” twice.
http://www.animenation.net/blog/2008/05/16/ask-john-could-Yuri-become-more-popular-than-yaoi-in-america/