We have a lot of catching up to do this week, what with me taking off in the middle of con season and all…
Yuri Light Novels
We have the full line-up of Yuri Light Novels that have been licensed by J-Novel Club now. Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With a Mythical Sorceress!, Otherside Picnic, Side-by-Side Dreamers, Last and First Idol, Seriously Seeking Sister.
Yuri Anime
Diskotek has picked up Senki Zesshou Symphogear, which I kind of remember was spoken of as Yuri-ish.
Sentai Filmworks just received a huge investment from the Cool Japan fund and, as a result of all that (unrelated) money, I think we should demand a much more deluxe version of Kase-san and Morning Glories Anime OVA, which is currently slated for a stripped-down disk only release. My complaint about this is that the JP disk already has English subtitles. All they have to do is…nothing. So give up some of the physical extras, for pity’s sake.
Fragtime Yuri anime OVA key visuals, cast and promotional video are now available and it’s still not sounding any fun at all. Check out the report on ANN for details.
Via YNN Correspondent Eric P., Maria Watches Over Us, Season 1 is now streaming on HIDIVE. It’s just S1 for now, but catch it while you can!
YNN Correspondent Super wants us to know about the 22/7 Idol Project anime. Super writes, “I don’t know how yuri-ish will be the anime itself, however, the original group is local known in the anime community because a significant part of their lyrics openly tells about lesbian/Class S/yuri experience. As far as I know, their stuff also openly performs with LGBTQ support, so maybe something interesting will come out of it.”
Yuri Manga
Riding the wave of excitement about Sentai’s announcement of the Kase-san anime OVA, Seven Seas has announced that they have licensed Kase-san and Yamada, the fifth volume of the series, which follows Kase and Yamada into college. I’m reading the just-released JP edition now. The English edition is slated for a winter 2020 release!
Science Fiction Yuri continues to be all the rage as Girl’s Last Tour picked up an award at the 50th Seiun Scifi Awards this year along with SSSS Gridman. ANN has the report.
On the Yuricon Store we’ve added the awkwardly named White Lilies in Love Watashi ga Yoishireru no ha, Natsu no Hizashi to Anata Dake. Shakaijin Yuri Anthology (White Lilies in Love 私が酔いしれるのは、夏の陽射しと貴方だけ。 社会人百合アンソロジー).
And I’m more interested in this than I actually would have expected, Isekai Tensei Yuri Anthology (異世界転生百合アンソロジー ). “Reincarnated in another world” has now entered the common manga vernacular.
LGBTQ Game
Via YNN Correspondent Sooz, “Reina the Holy Knight must team up with her ex girlfriend, Evleen the Dark Knight. Together with Jakob and Armin, a rogue-mage couple, they must travel to the strange Rapt Frontier to discover why the barrier between worlds is weakening.” Check out the brilliantly-named Date Knights by unity on itchi.io.
Yuri Events
Please join me at Yurithon at Otakuthon, August 16-18, 2019 in Montreal, QC for three days of queer manga and anime!
Other News
Utena fansite Empty Movement will stream the Revolutionary Girl Utena Black Rose musical with English subtitles on Twitch on August 8th, 9th and 11th. The DVD and BD for the musical are available on Amazon JP.
Via YNN Correspondent Sean G. on Twitter, Fly, whose artbook Marguerite, I reviewed last month, is doing the art for light novel Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki-kun.
Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!
Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!
Honestly, I still do not understand why someone still sees some kind of yuri in Girl Last Tour. Meanwhile, the Gridman you mentioned is more suitable for the role of SF yuri, albeit in some kind of metaphysical context with their spiritual love for oneself.
However, as you said, everyone has the right to their own interpretations, so I will not argue
The very end of the series seemed to me to be Yuri, although it is depressing.
Well, as far as I remember, the author doen’t give any clear answers, therefore, taking into account their situation, the yuri interpretation will definitely not hurt anyone.
Speaking of Senki Zesshou Symphogear. The char’s sexuality in-show is rather ambiguous, but the VA of the MC and her “best friend” seemed to openly admit that they played them as in love with each other. I don’t know if you like these shows, but I think that last season has very good canon couple yuri potential.
In the anime, they confess their love to one another before they die. I haven’t read the manga, so I’ll defer to you on that.
This scene is also present in the manga, the only difference is that it doesn’t end with their death, but with the open end, where they lose their supplies. So, regardless of the interpretation of their relationship, there isn’t much difference.
By “death” I meant just that. They had dwindling supplies and no hope of more. It wasn’t – in my opinion, of course – a scenario that offered any way out. Their deaths seemed to me inevitable.
“As far as I know, their stuff also openly performs with LGBTQ support, so maybe something interesting will come out of it.”
For example, one of their songs is directly devoted to a girl from a girls school, and the other is not very ambiguously devoted to a senpai in a drawing club. Also, one of VA even officially supported the Pride Mounth in Japanese and English on her twitter.