Yuri (and other) Anime
From YNN Correspondent Shannon Luchies, we have more interesting Media Blasters news this week – according to their Facebook page, they have licensed Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito. Thanks for the heads up Shannon! Yuricon Staffer Serge suggests “Completely forgettable except for Hazuki” as an honest pull-quote for the packaging. ^_^
Serial Experiments Lain DVD/Blu-ray Complete Collection Limited Edition on sale at RightStuf. With extras and stuff. ^_^
The September release of an Aoi Hana Blu-Ray box set in Japan will be accompanied by original art by manga creator Shimura Takako, Comic Natalie reports. Blu-Ray would be worth it for a change, since the animation is so lovely. It’s on my Amazon JP Yuri Wish List if anyone feels like buying me a birthday present. ^_^
I know you were on pins and needles about this: Sentai Filmworks has announced the release of Queen’s Blade Rebellion has been pushed back to September. Awww.
And another new free, legal anime streaming site has popped up – AnimeSols. This site is working with a number of anime studios and the Yomiuri media company to both stream and crowdfund older anime. To my surprise, I recognized a name in the credits. It was my pleasure to work with QuarkPro founder Sam Pinansky last year during our JManga adventure. AnimeSols has the shoujo classic Creamy Mami in the lineup, which is good news for shoujo anime fans. Unlike Daisuki, Animesols is available to North America only. I’ve had a chance to ask Sam about this and it comes down to the fact that they are using the crowdfunding upfront to get the disks printed (not as, say, a Kickstarter perk.) If they took donations from non-NA countries they’d be required to file sales and tax info in all those countries – and follow local censorship laws. Plus, just to drive a stake through the heart of the global economy, licensing agreements in countries from decades ago still apply. So there are countries that could not get streaming rights regardless. Okay, that’s the bad news – on the good news side, once sets are printed, they have an agreement with TRSI for fulfillment, so you’ll be able to buy sets wherever you are.
I hope to have an interview with Sam next week and we can get the whole scoop. ^_^
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Other News
Manga artist Nao Yazawa is once again giving away some of her titles on Kindle! You can download Moon and Blood, Volume 1 in Japanese and Nozomi, Volume 1 in English for free until the 27th of May.
You may have heard that Amazon Kindle is opening a new service for creators of fanfic. Well, yes and no. It’s essentially a farm league for authorized fiction. Only series that have licensing agreements with Amazon will be allowed – none of which are anime or manga, they are all US TV shows at the moment. ANN gives a succinct rundown on all the rules. With the success of several high-profile fanfictions that have transitioned into original work, this makes sense. My only concern would be if media rights holders use it to squash “unauthorized” fanfic. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. ^_^ In the meantime, your Madoka porn stories are probably safe. ^_^
A lesbian film is making a splash at Cannes this year, La vie d’Adèle (Blue Is the Warmest Color), which is an adaptation of a graphic novel titled Le Bleu est une Couleur Chaude by Julie Maroh. It appears that Arsenal Pulp is releasing this in English in Autumn 2013 under the name Blue Angel. (Thanks bystrouska for the clarification!)
Comic Natalie reports on a new line of Rose of Versailles dolls.I think they are terrifying. ^_^ Speaking of dolls, if you know who this is, are you as amazed as I am at the fact that they are still making figurines of him? It’s a pretty good one, too. ^_^
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That’s a wrap for this week! 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!
The Cannes Film Festival awards haven’t been announced yet; competition isn’t quite over, I think there’s still two films shown today (including Polansky’s latest), and the awards will be presented tomorrow night.
Now, with that being said, it certainly looks like La Vie d’Adèle will definitely get something, though which exact prize is still up in the air: while it does look like one of the (if not *the*) strongest contender for the Palme d’Or (Best Film) so far, many think the main actress(es) might be awarded the Best Female Performance, and/or the director Best Direction—in which both cases the film itself wouldn’t get the Palme d’Or. We’ll see!
Thanks for the clarification. I’ll blame my source for hyperbole and myself for not fact checking. ^_^
Anytime! Can’t really blame your source for the hyperbole, though, given how enamored everyone seems to be with the movie at this point. ^^
Plus! The film was awarded the Fipresci prize (international press award) earlier tonight, further reinforcing speculation it might get the Palme d’Or tomorrow. It’s an exciting weekend, to say the least!
That is exciting. Thanks for the continuing updates. Any chance we can get an article from you about it?
Sure! I would be honoured to contribute an article. Should I make it a presentation of the film and its critical reception?
If that is what you want to write about, we’d love that. If you want to write about the graphic novel and its adaptation, or just a random love song to it… whatever gets your blood flowing. We will be thrilled to read whatever you choose to present. ^_^
And remember, “new” episodes of Creamy Mami every week, so people should sign up for a membership, go there to watch, and tell their friends to do the same. And pledges start at $5, so even people with very limited means such as myself, at this time of year, can do their little bit to help out. I plan to pledge $5 for every series I finish streaming, whether or not I want to get the boxset.
One week in, and Creamy Mami has 17% of its goal, $3,275 out of $19,000 needed to press the disks and do the release. Its a $40 pledge for the boxset, so it makes its goal if 475 out of the pressing of 1,000 is pledged for.
I’ve seen lots of Kickstarter aficionados like Zac at ANN (@ANNZac) declare AnimeSols dead because none of the titles hit half of their budget on release.
But, of course, this is not Kickstarter. There’s nothing to DO at a Kickstarter other than to see how fast the thing is moving, and if it hits its basic goals, what stretch goals they come up with. By contrast, at AnimeSols, there’s a new episode every week for each series ~ one per day, given the series they have.
So rather than a rush of pledges at the beginning and a rush of pledges at the end, if AnimeSols works, it could well have a steady flow of pledges as the series is running, and then hopefully a rush at the end when the time limit is hitting and its put up or shut up time.
For a site like this, with a physical product to distribute and legacy rights issues from the 70’s and 80’s, the only practical way to get broader international access is to first get it up and running for the North American market, and then if it is successful, work out how to expand to more territories/languages.
In a way, this is the flip side of the greater range of legit streaming alternatives the US has because of the size of the audience in a single media market: its on those of us in the US whether this crowdfunded means of getting classic anime licensed takes flight or crashes and burns. The market fundamentals mean that fans in other markets are on the sidelines, looking on, while its US fans that have the opportunity to get on the field of play.
Well said, Bruce!
I was completely gobsmacked by the Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito news. Should the release ever come to pass I may have to purchase it just to have proof it existed!
“What next”, I thought, “Touka Gettan?”
OMG, those Rose of Versailles dolls are HORRIBLE!!!
I had the same thought, Antony. I’m still impatiently waiting for Ikkitousen XX from Funimation, who rescued the license for that and GG last year and then I’d be glad to never think about crappy Yuri again. ^_^
So it would seem to La Vie d’Adèle just won the Palme d’Or. Rejoice!
Woo-hoo!