Creator-owned and crowdfunded, quarterly Yuri anthology magazine Galette (ガレット) is a success. How can I say that with such confidence? Keep reading and find out. ^_^

This is the 4th volume of this Yuri quarterly, rounding out their year with the addition of Morishima Akiko-sensei to their already star lineup. Stories range from first loves to failed loves and lots of school stories, with room for adult life narrative…and now the magazine is allowing room for more complicated and sometimes unpleasant or unhappy stories. I like that some of the work here is emotionally challenging. I want more from Yuri than Story A.

But above all other things, what I actually love best about the magazine is the design. The cover art for this issue is sublime. It’s not just that the art isn’t moe, it’s that the design elements are design elements. The magazine looks professional, and not just slickly printed. This is a magazine for adults who love Yuri, made by adults who love Yuri…even when the stories are set in school. 

I bought this issue at Comitia, (where I also picked up a couple of extra copies for the New Year Lucky Boxes. ^_^) and was able to get a Galette 2018 calendar, with the cover images and other color interior art. The other pictures are nice, but sign me up as a fan of Pen’s cover work.

This issue is available in print, as a Kindle release in the USA (in Japanese, coming in at #79 in the Foreign Language>Japanese>Comics & Manga category) or in Japan (where it comes in at #43 for the Comic>Light Novel -BL>Comic category*, and at fine manga bookstores across Japan and at selected events. Which brings me to why I said it’s successful. With crowdfunding patronage through Enty, the book is bring in more then $5000/month, which puts $15,000 into every issue before a single sale. Japanese manga is able to sell through more than one stream, as I’ve previously noted, like making the book available on non-JP Kindle.The price point of $23/print issue seems like a lot, but when you remember that people are being paid for their work at every level, as opposed to manga artists subsidizing the work until collected volumes, and for 300 pages of top-notch work beautifully put together, it seems good value for the money.

Ratings:

Overall – 9 (and only because I’m holding out for a few artists to join the team.)

I’ve been on the publishing teams of magazines and manga anthologies. Quarterly publishing takes a lot of resources and Galette seems well-positioned to continue if they keep on as they started. That’s why I call it a success.

*Amazon has no Yuri category in either Japanese or English. Please feel free free to contact them to ask them to add it. I have done so more than once.