Yuri Web & Digital Comics

Via her Facebook page, Kuru, aka Color_LES, has announced that Mage & Demon Queen will conclude this year. Of course I will miss this wonderful Yuri comic. I’m thrilled for Kuru that she’ll be see it through a final arc – and I’m looking forward to what she does next!

Elise Schuenke wants you to know about her comic Love Rumble, a rival to lovers comic that has been submitted to the Bitter x Sweet artzine.

Via Natsuo Mutsumi, the host of the Boyish² butch x butch anthology, we have news of Electro Magnetic Bottle Rocket, which they praised as “Aliens, Mysterious Technology, and Childhood Memories: …… I’m so excited! Here was the romance I was looking for!” This is available on Gumroad.

Which brings me to two things I need to say, given some stuff that has happened in the past weeks in the comics industry:

In order to support comics creators that still use Kickstarter, I will continue to linking to projects, but I will no longer be supporting Kickstarters myself. I genuinely believe blockchain is wasteful and stupid, NFTs are exploitative, harmful to the environment and only appeal to suckers or the con men who rip them off.

Likewise, I will not be purchasing work on Gumroad, after the handler for their Twitter account attacked NFT critics with some deeply unpleasant comments and what came very close to doxxing.

Comics are hard enough and right now we need people who are not exploitative or harassing at the top of the systems we use. I will not condemn anyone for using what they use (I know I’m worried about Patreon going crypto, as they have been threatening to do for a while now,) but I can choose to not support it. Spike Trottman, founder of Iron Circus Comics  pulled all her content from Gumroad, and resolved to not use Kickstarter (a system she largely validated with her hugely successful campaigns.) Going forward, she’s created her own crowdfunding platform.

Get early access to videos, research and more!
Become an Okazu Patron today

Yuri Manga

Seven Seas is doing their annual #yuriVday giveaway on Twitter. Drop them a tweet about your fave Yuri, use the hashtag #yuriVday and be entered to win some of their new titles! They are also running a giveaway on TikTok, if that’s more your style. ^_^ They’ve got a lot to celebrate, too, as there are 9 new Yuri titles out just this month from Seven Seas, 5 ongoing series *and* RightStuf is running a sale on all their titles.

Yuri Light Novel

Seven Seas continues their domination of Yuri licensing with both the manga and the light novels of a decade old series, Qualia the Purple  – about a girl who has the ability to “evaluate” the bodies of the people around her. I never read any of this originally, although I remember being told about it. To be perfectly honest, those people who were most into it had tastes that did not align with mine, so I gave it a pass.

Support Yuri writers and creators!
Support Okazu on Pixiv Fanbox!

Yuri Anime

Via Senior YNN Correspondent Mariko Shinobu, we have a fun tidbit – Paste Magazine published a list of their “30 Greatest Anime.” Mariko wants you to note that Utena is #4 and Sailor Moon is #11. I also notice that a few other Okazu classics are in the list, notably Serial Experiments Lain, Wandering Son, and .hack/Sign.

Egan Loo at ANN has the news that Black Rock Shooter is returning with a new anime, Black Rock Shooter Dawn Fall. I doubt it will go back to it’s Yuri(ish) roots, but I can hope. ^_^ Looks like we’ll get Mato, Yomi and Yu, but a whole different set-up. Check out the trailer on Youtube!  Komatsu-san has a related report about Kanako Takatsuki (a member of Love Live!‘ s Aquors) who is singing the ED for the new BRS anime.

Egan also has the news of a new anime by Tsuzuki Masaki, creator of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Extreme Hearts, which looks like a serious sports anime. I’m…hopeful, primarily because of this quote, “This is the story about how we met our greatest friends.”  Sports and yuujo and girls. I’m in. ^_^

Kara Dennison over at Crunchyroll News has the very scoop that GKIDS is teaming up with Tubi to release great anime. Among the first batch is Liz and the Blue Bird, so if you haven’t yet seen it, do! You may recall that I thought it outstanding.

Other News

Crunchyroll is doing a series for Black History Month, in which they are highlighting black talent in the anime industry. I hope you take a look! Week 1 | Week 2. Week 2 includes a profile of our own Okazu family member, Meru Clewis, who has recently become part of the LN staff at Seven Seas. We’re so proud of her!

Thanks to our Okazu Patrons and Fans who make the YNN weekly report possible!

Become a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share and be part of the Yuri Network. ^_^