Today we have a Yuri Event Guest Review by a brand new Guest Reviewer, Zoey B! Zoey commented that she was in Osaka in time to catch the first round of the Yuriten Exhibition, which was open from March 30-April 8 (so it closed a few hours ago in Japan) and offered to tell us all about it. So let’s let her get on with it. Take it away, Zoey!

The event took place in the event space of the Namba Parks shopping mall – given the size of the shopping mall, the actual event area was smaller than expected. We got there soon after it started at 11, and were surprised to find that there were only a few people lined up outside to get in. 

The staff were controlling how many people were in the space, so you were able to enjoy looking at the exhibits at your own pace without feeling crowded. When you enter, you can see to the left the shop and check-out area, but you first head to the right through the exhibits.

The exhibits were laid out on the walls, with each author’s work grouped together by series, or photographers work grouped together. There were a few illustrations and signed author messages that were made specifically for the event, which was nice to see – and you were able to freely take pictures (as we did). It reminded my wife of going through an art museum; with little plaques about each authors’ work, it was a good way to introduce people to new series they may not have tried yet.  

Once you had gone through the exhibit – which had a good amount of different artists and series, covering major series over the last decade from what we could tell – you were naturally led into the shop area. The merchandise was all separated by series – each would have copies of the books, as well as clear files, posters, or other specific merch made for the event. The merch seemed to be designed to fit the content of the series – eg 2DK, G-Pen was focused on office supplies, whereas Kase-san had a make-up mirror and tote bag that you could see the characters using. Galette and other magazines were also there, and there were some Yuriten-themed items as well – we got a double-sided clear file, with the illustration on one side and the photograph version on the other!From the shop area, you could either get into line for the check-out or go out directly – though it did feel like you were strongly encouraged to buy something. The whole time we were there, I don’t think that the line to check-out was less than 15-20 people at any point, so we hope it was doing well! Most of the items did seem to be marked-up for the event, however – clear files for Y500 – and not great quality for the specific items. The choice of merch per series was quite limited – only two or three items – but there was a lot of stock of the books and magazines actually being shown. 

The ratio of people attending was interesting (assuming genders for the purpose of this). There were a lot of male attendees, but there seemed to be more female attendees – including ourselves – which was nice. A lot of people were buying books rather than the other goods, and some people had entire baskets full of seemingly all the books you could get there! Impressive.

The feel of the event itself was not quite what we had been expecting – my wife said that she had expected it to be more of a celebration of Yuri, whereas it came across more as a pop-up shop with an art exhibit. It was definitely good! – how it was set up allowed you to really take your time, appreciate the displayed artwork and series, and leave you wanting to read each work. It definitely seemed to succeed as a way of generating interest in Yuri as a genre – just not as we’d imagined it. With the chance to take our time, it made the event more enjoyable.

As we were there for the opening day and time, we were expecting some presence of the actual authors or publishers, but there were only the Village Vanguard staff (the hosts for the Osaka Event). It does make sense, though, as the last two days of the scheduled event are planned to be the signing portion – for Osaka, the 7th and 8th April. You were allowed one book per person – having to have purchased vouchers from Village Vanguard for your chosen series in advance – each author scheduled for some time in the two days. We did not get to see this, but maybe next year! 

Overall, it was a very organized event, which my wife and I enjoyed going to very much. The displays were very nicely done, and we’re hoping that it grows bigger and better next year. Thank you for bringing it to our attention! 

Erica here: Thank you Zoey for the report and the photos. I’m even more excited about it now, because it seems so…pleasant. ^_^ I’m especially interested in seeing it displayed at Studio Lightbox in Aoyama.