No cutesy headlines today. Let’s start by talking honestly about some of the shakeups that are happening in the industry right now. Print schedules are effectively canceled until further notice. But companies are still working on digital releases…although on a slower schedule. Since a lot of manga printing was done in China and even aside from that, distribution has been disrupted globally, I hope we’ll all be patient and supportive of the people putting out our entertainment.
Publisher News
Via ANN, Yen announces delays on print through September, as does Dark Horse. Diamond comics distribution is delaying shipments. According to the ANN article, Viz says they are moving ahead with print through Simon and Schuster, but I have some questions about that, as S&S is up for sale right now.
Seven Seas suggests print will be delayed, but digital is still going forward, which is a good thing, because when June comes you *will* want the third Sayaka novel. I will review it tomorrow, but suffice it to say, I smiled through it. ^_^
Kodansha Comics have also delayed print titles, but will be going ahead with digital releases.
On Twitter last week I suggested that if I were a manga publisher now, I would make Volume 1 of every series free on digital, to encourage folks to start series they’d put off. Unsurprisingly, some publishers are doing something just like that.
Hentai publisher FAKKU has made subscription hentai free for two weeks (starting March 29.) They do have a Yuri tag, which does not fall under the subscription, and it includes a Yuri anthology I never reviewed here, because it was a porn anthology and I’m reviewing those rarely now, unless there’s a specific motivation to do so. You can find When Budding Lilies Blossom, doujinshi by Yurism and other Yuri and Yuri-sh hentai on their site.
Tokyopop has made some of their manga free, with new titles being unlocked every week. Breath of Flowers is available free, and Still Sick will be made available this week.
Viz always has free chapters of manga available through their app, primarily their Shonen Jump stories, but consider asking them to add their Yuri titles, too. ^_^ I will, when I get this post done.
Comixology is running a 99 cent sale on all their Originals, which includes Kodansha titles, including Yuri is My Job, Volume 1.
J-Novel Club is partnering with Global Bookwalker to offer more than 50 volumes free, in what they have cleverly titiled I Couldn’t Go Outsude so I Just Stayed in and Read Light Novels All Day! This promo includes the creepy cool Yuri Otherside Picnic series.
In Japan, Jump+ is also releasing a bunch of manga for free on limited time basis, including, from Kishi Torajirou’s twitter account, Otome no Teikoku!
Creator Nakamura Ching is posting pages from chapters of her masterwork, GUNJO in English and Japanese on her ChingTV page on Note. Chapter 1 is free, you can buy the full chapters for a few bucks each. ALC Publishing is working with Nakamura-sensei on the translation and I can tell for certain that we are very excited about this!
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HIDIVE has a free 30 day trial (not really different than their usual, but hey, you’ll have the time!) for anime and they have the Sentai collection, so you’ll get access to Bloom Into You, Revue Starlight and Kase-san and Morning Glories.
RetroCrush TV is a brand new all-free ad-supported streaming app that is showing anime of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Tom Speelman wrote about the timelessness of classic anime for Funimation’s blog in Astro Boy, Speed Racer and the Value of Watching Classic Anime.
And, of course, Crunchyroll is still free, ad-supported streaming anime.
This is everything I’ve cobbled together, but if you know about more publisher or streaming news, don’t hesitate to write and let us know!
Before we move on, though, let me also suggest that – IF you can do so – if you have a local comic or book store that can’t ship or do pickup right now, if you have orders or pull-lists with them, consider paying them upfront so they have some operating cash during this time. Big companies can get bailouts, but little guys often can’t. Comics companies are laying off a lot of folks right now. The comics industry has not ever managed to forge itself into something resilient, in fact, it has become increasingly fragile over the last few years. So support your fave artists and check out their sites and feeds for creator-owned material that you can purchase.
I know it’s a punchline to the rest of the world, but the US really doesn’t have anything like national healthcare and comics artists are freelancers, so they don’t qualify for unemployment benefits in most states. They are going to need the crowds who say they love their work to support them.
Yuri Doujinshi
Irodori is another new company seeking to launch a line of translated legally licensed Yuri Doujinshi, Irodori Sakura. They want your thoughts about the kind of doujinshi you want and the creators you want it from. Fill out their survey and let them know you get your Yuri News from Okazu!
This means that, along with Lilyka, we’ll have a plethora of new original Yuri doujinshi in translation.
Twa on Twitter, is a doujinshi creator whose doujinshi Between She and Her is available on Lilyka, tweeted that a friend is also translating her comic Shiori and Yuki. Both links will give you some pages in English to read!
This is entirely self-serving, but this week I learned that Hayate x Blade creator Hayashiya Shizuru is doing a Yanki x food doujinshi (ヤン恋食堂 A定食) and if anyone who lives in Japan wants to get me a copy, I will love you forever…or until I need the next issue. ^_^
Yuri Visual Novels
And while we’re all sitting around and filling out surveys, you ought also to go to Studio Élan and fill out their survey about what you want to see in upcoming Yuri Visual Novels!
Other News
From YNN Correspondent Jeyl, we have the utterly delightful news that April 6th at 2PM, the cast of Legend of Korra will be doing a live-reading of the Turf Wars comics, which start with Asami and Korra on a romantic vacation in the Spirit Wolrd…and, if you recall, them coming out to Korra’s family. They will make a free digital edition of the comic available before the live stream so you can read along and there will be giveaways during the reading.
Kim Morrisy on ANN reports that Toranoana and Melonbooks are donating all proceeds from sales of the Comiket catalog to the Comiket comittee, for future events. The committee asked people to buy the catalog for the canceled event to defray costs, which spiked briefly it to the top seller in Amazon JP rankings.
Also from Kim on ANN, Onnakatsu (女活) a new womens’ life anthology is being launched by a number of popular Jousei artists. And on that hopeful note, we’ll wrap up. ^_^
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! Special thanks to Okazu Patrons for being an essential part of the team!
