Yuri Manga
A new license this week from Seven Seas, Namekawa-san Won’t Take a Licking! Vol. 1, a Comic Yuri Hime classroom gonzo comedy series. The link leads to Amazon right now, but as soon as there are other options, we’ll list it on the store. I think this manga will appeal to those of you who like School Zone Girls – lots of goofy faces and action.
Speaking of which, School Zone Girls, Volume 3 is now up on the Store! There’s no Bookwalker link, but as soon as that’s available, we’ll add it.
Whisper Me a Love Song, Volume 4 by Eku Takeshima is out now in digital and print.
I want to take a moment and editorialize today.
You may remember that earlier in the year, there were several problems with Seven Seas books and fans were, predictably, (but still, it is a strange phenomenon) taking production and translation problems as a personal insult. It turns out that the reason for the translation problem really was that their process was not up to the rigors of more nuanced, or problematic, works. They have resolved this and I know that they have staffed up to stop this from happening again. In the middle of these issues, as they were wading through a lot of angry emails, I had to be the cherry bomb on the flaming shit cake, when I reviewed the manga of I’m in Love With the Villainess, Volume 1. I love this story and want it to be perfect. Unfortunately, there was a translation choice, which I mentioned in my review of the book, that was really ill-conceived.
So, I wrote Seven Seas. In the middle of a storm of negative feedback, I wrote with more critical feedback. Because I knew what they were going through, I was polite throughout. I received an equally polite reply that my feedback was appreciated.
And this week, I received a copy of the newly translated I’m in Love With the Villainess, Volume 1. It is so much better. I can now highly recommend this manga! Which is good, because I really love the manga for this series. It is a case where the visual element genuinely enhances the narrative. Aonoshita-sensei’s art is fantastic. I sincerely hope they get through at least Volume 3 of the light novels. Volume 2 of the manga will be released in January and Volume 3 is going to be a spectacular you will not want to miss.
The point of this editorial is, once again, that companies are totally willing to listen to feedback. But threats and demands are not useful and will only make it harder for your legitimate concerns to be heard. The folks at anime and manga companies are, just like you, fans of the work. They want the audience to be happy, too. So, if and when you feel they’ve done something wrong, drop them a polite note outlining your concerns, but be respectful of the time and effort they put into everything. Creating something takes a long time, but destroying it can take a moment.
My very sincere thanks to the folks at Seven Seas for taking our concerns seriously and fixing the problems. It made the book better.
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New on the Yuricon Store, we have the JP manga for Sexiled, Onnadakara, to Paati o Tsuihousaretanode Densetsu no Majyo to Saikyou Taggu o Kumimashita (女だから、とパーティを追放されたので伝説の魔女と最強タッグを組みました). You can read sample chapters of this in Japanese, of course, on the Sunday Webry site.
Tamamushi’s new Yuri manga for Comic Cune can be sampled on their twitter feed. Check out Dore ga Koikaga Wakaranai (どれが恋かがわからない).
Inui Ayu tweeted out the news that her autobiographical comic for Comic Yuri Hime, Kyou ha Hitotsu Yane no shita (今日はひとつ屋根の下) will be getting a collected volume in November! Yay!
Rafael Antonio Pineda has the news that Ganbared Sisters, which we just had a review of here, will be wrapping up at Volume 4. Check out the article on ANN.
Check out the gorgeous full-color first chapter of Kamatani Yuhki’s new manga,Hiraeth ha Tabiji no Hate (ヒラエスは旅路の果て) on moae.jp.
Crowdfunding News
With 40 days to go in the Kickstarter, [Boyish²] Butch×Butch Yuri Anthology is well over it’s funding line and we’re getting cover previews and glimpses of some of the art!
23 days to go for Taiwanese Showa Yuri manga Kitanhana Monogatari (綺譚花物語). It’s 71% funded, and I’d really like to see this get fully funded. Admittedly, the goal is pretty high, but hopefully, that means we’ll get a really slick product.
Queer Animation
Harley Quinn is getting a 3rd cartoon season and you can get the inside scoop from Harley herself in this trailer.
Zombieland Saga‘s movie is official. Avex Pictures tweeted the news after the live concert. Crystalynn Hodkins has details at ANN.
CR News’ Daryl Harding has a report about the two Mawaru Penguindrum movies for the 10th anniversary of the series.
Other News
Yuni, creator of I Love You So Much I Hate You tweeted about an interview on Shakaijin Yuri for bizSpa! This is of course in Japanese, but you’ll be able to get the gist with a translation tool.
Kim Morrissey at ANN has an interesting article, Hanasaku Iroha Character Designer Mel Kishida Reflects on Changing Attitudes Towards Fanservice In Japan. I’m not sure I agree with Kishida, I’ve certainly seen no lessening of a market for lolicon, but at least I can hope mainstream anime becomes less enamored of sexualizing representations of children. (Note: Do not bother defending this, you’ll just be blocked.)
Cutie Honey the Musical has a stage play digest, now with English subtitles available, Komatsu-san reports on CR News.
We’re going to wrap up here with an interesting coincidence. A conversation on the Okazu Discord about Yamaji Ebine’s Yuri manga led me to find that this very week, Comic Natalie has an article about Yamaji and a few other artists doing illustration comments for a film, Little Girl.
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