I was in NYC last night at “Passion Fruits,” the Lesbian art show that is running as part of the Fresh Fuits Festival this month. Rica Takashima has some pieces in the show. It was a really, honestly an amazing opening, and tomorrow I’ll be posting some pictures I took of people with her art.
In the meantime, here’s this week’s Yuri news!
Yuri Anime
It’s an anime kinda week this week!
First of all, as I announced yesterday, Afterellen.com will be streaming the Aoi Hana anime series, which is really amazing – and will get Yuri in front of a lot of people who never heard of it, but need to see it! There’s a lot of positive response for the first episode, so hopefully it’ll be a successful venture for all.
Anime Network has announced that Revolutionary Girl Utena will be shown on their online channel. Since ADV rescued some of the CPM properties, this make loads of sense – and it’s nice to know that this classic anime won’t disappear entirely from the world.
Katherine is pleased to shout out that the voice actresses for Sasamekikoto have been announced. Like Aoi Hana they seem to be favoring new voices.
Crunchyroll is really hotting up the Yuri pot with new anime Kanamemo, a series based on a Mangatime Kirara 4-panel comic. There are two characters that are said to be a “Yuri couple.” I will withhold a final decision until I actually see it. ;-)
And another new anime of interest, Canaan has just started in Japan – it has a Yuri-ish air about it, and is about two women with guns. Noir fans take note!
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Snatches of Yuri
Nekomimi Days is getting tons of press on the Japanese blogs. It is about moe school girls with cat ears, so it will appeal to people who are completely unlike me. I should warn you that it is from Gum Comics, which means it isn’t as innocent as you want to pretend it is.
Yuyu Shiki is exactly what it looks like – another “cho-kawai” 4-koma from Mangatime Kirara. The connecting theme this time is that all three have name that begin with “Yu.”
And Arisu no O-chakai takes featureless moe faces one step further into “circles with eyes” territory. It tells the story of 3 girls who are members of the “Chado” club – the tea ceremony club.
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And there you have it, guns, 4-koma, moe, schoolgirls and sword duels. Sounds like Yuri to me. :-)
They make it obvious early in the first episode that Yuuki and Yume are in love (they work with Kana-chan, the main character). It’s not overly done and sweet, imo. I’m anxious to see more.
I’m picking up large quantities of Yuri-win in this sector, Captain.
The Canaan website has lots of headings translated into English … but no actual content.
Is that to help guide early adopters overseas who have some knowledge of Japanese but might need some guideropes … or is it just because the english headings make the website look more kewl?
I imagine that the white haired girl and the black haired girl in the trenchcoat are the protagonists … but only because they are the first two that show up on the character slideshow … and the other characters are a mix of friends, comic relief, and bad guys.
@BruceMcF – I think it’s probably the kewl factor. Most JP anime sites don’t expect to (and often don’t want, so they block) foreign visitors. Why? No clue.
What’s the target audience for Gum Comics books ? I’ve seen a few of them at my local Book Off, and they were quite innocent-looking at first sight… Guess I’d have been proven wrong if I had actually flipped through them.
@Anonymous – Gum/Wani are targeted towards late teen and college age guys with their perv on. Ikkitousen is probably their best known title here.
I saw the article on AfterEllen! I was pretty stoked, since I know that the folks there aren’t all usually anime fans or animation fans, but it’s nice to get it out there for other people interested in lesbian material to see it. I think some of the general comments came from those who don’t even watch anime at all or regularly, and they seem interested.
I think I said it before, but FINALLY: a Yuri anime that we can be proud of to show people. Aoi Hana is totally our honour student kid we take pride in (while Strawberry Panic, the “face” of Yuri nowadays) is the skanky older sister who’s a little on the ditsy side that some of us can’t disown but have to live with.
Btw, you know how you said you’d be glad if you could ever make one more person a fan of Aoi Hana?
On the site I have my main online profile, I’ve also decided to join the cause and try to promote this anime as best as I could.
Today, randomly, someone left me message saying that they saw my “promotion” and decided to watch Aoi Hana. They said it was their first Yuri anime and they are really liked the first episode and look forward to the rest.
I don’t know how to describe it, but I think I feel that emotion you get when you’ve just done something to make a tiny difference.
Sure this anime will never score legions of fans. But it just got one more.
And thank you again for your blog, entirely. I don’t know if I ever said that, but I’ll say it now. Your site is a retreat for Yuri fans who mostly have nothing in terms of news, reviews and general studies and musings of our beloved genre. So thank you!
With regard to Kanamemo…though Haruka’s antics are and will probably continue to be a blemish on the show, Yuuki and Yume’s very natural and sweet relationship will has a lot of potential. I hope you will like them.
@The Denominator – How wonderful! You’ve made a difference in the lives of not just one person by that, but many. Your life changed, that other person’s life, *my* life is different because of it, and you affected Crunchyroll and the people who work there, too. Think about that. :-)
Now you know why I do this. Every single person whose life is changed for the better because of a post, an event, a panel, affects me and many other people. It means a lot to me, so thank you for the kind words.
Erica, you rock! I love Aoi Hana! Where can I buy the dvd set? I don’t like waiting for them to come out episode by episode at crunchy roll…It’s torture!
@Anonymous – 1) The series is ongoing, episode 3 *just* aired this week in Japan, so you’ll just have to wait for the rest of the episodes to air one at a time, just like everyone else. 2) There are no US DVD licensors – Crunchyroll is the only way to legally watch Aoi Hana in the US right now. 3) The only DVDs available right now is the first of the Japanese DVDs (without English subtitles, they are meant for the domestic Japanese market.) You can order than on Amazon Japan, if you want it.
So, there is no DVD set, because only three episodes have aired and no one licensed it for DVDs. Just watch it on CR like the rest of us. :-)