Archive for 2023


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – June 24, 2023

June 24th, 2023

A blue silhouette of a girl with a white flower in her hair, embracing the earth. Blue block letters read YNN Yuri Network News. Art by Lissa P. For Okazu.

June 25th is “Yuri Day” in Japan! So happy Yuri to all of you! ^_^ Check for sales on Yuri at Bookwalker Global and Bookwalker JP.

Yuri Event

Anime Expo will be holding a premier of Episode 1 and 2 of the I’m In Love With The Villainess anime, in conjunction with Aonoshimo-sensei’s appearance.

 

Yuri Manga In English

The Summer You Were There, Volume 3 by Yuama came out this month. Kaori gently forces to Shizuku to clean up her Akashic ties.

Volume 3 of Akili’s Vampeerz: My Peer Vampires will be hitting shelves in August.

Not Yuri, but possibly of interest to the Okazu audience, MMA manga Teppu has been licensed by Kodansha for digital release. It’s on Bookwalker and Kindle. The OASG on Twitter has the scoop!

 

Yuri Manga in Japanese

Speaking of Vampeerz, we have Vampeerz, Volume 2 (ヴァンピアーズ ), in Japanese up on the Yuricon Store – we’ll get caught up on this shortly.

Futari Escape, Volume 4 ( ふたりエスケープ), the final volume, is out in Japanese. Volume 3 hit shelves in English-language bookstores this month.

A spin-off from Mizutani Fuuka’s Love At Fourteen, follows classmate Aoi and her relationship with school doctor Hajima-sensei in Reliance, Volume 1 (リライアンス). I was surprised at the development of this relationship in the original manga, but it wasn’t the only problematic side story in this series.

Kono Yo De Ichiban Sutekina Owarikata, Volume 1 (この世で一番素敵な終わり方) is the historical Chinese zombie Yuri we didn’t know we needed. Now we need one with beautiful women and long flowing everything, rather than cute moe art.

A-shi to Watashi Gal x Yuri Anthology ( あーしとわたし。 ギャル×百合アンソロジー) is, as it says a Gal Yuri Anthology. But I note that “gals” have changed a lot in the last 20 years. They used to be way edgier and a bit scary, now they are kind of normalized. This collection has a few creators whose names are familiar to us here.

 

Yuri Light Novels

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Volume 5 will be hitting shelves and devices in August. I can’t wait. Euphie and Anis go on a dangerous mission…or is it their honeymoon?

Sorawo finally decided to understand her enemy in Otherside Picnic, Volume 7. Now we are all ready for the upcoming Otherside Picnic, Volume 8, headed our way in August.

Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta The Third adds a new complication to this already complicated polyamory series.

 

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Yuri Visual Novels

We’ve added a bunch of Yuri VNs to the Yuricon Store! This week we’ve added:

 Fragile Feelings by ebi-hime – an intriguing story of illness and recovery.

Yumeutsutsu Re:Master -&- Re:After – This story is set in a small game studio, which now includes 5 stories that happen after the main story concludes.

A Summer’s End – Hong Kong 1986 just looks amazing. It “is about seeking identity and meaning in a rapidly changing world where conflicting worldviews and cultures collide.”

From YuriEureka, Kiss The Demiurge is a story about a girl who is hiding magic for a secret society.

Lycoris Works has released the key visual and details for their upcoming Uso Kara Hajimaru Koi No Natsu (嘘から始まる恋の夏). This is via Yuri Navi, which has more details and a trailer.

 

Yuri Anime

Birdie Wing has ended, but it will live in our hearts forever. Sr. YNN Correspondent Sean G. has found a somewhat spoilery interview with the Producer, Sekiyama Akihiro, on Season 2 of the anime. Part 1 | Part 2 in Japanese.

Richard Eisenbels has a review over at ANN on the final episode of Yuri Is My Job. I’ll do a review (and maybe a video) on it shortly. What was your opinion of this series?

Sailor Moon Cosmos has a fabulous new retro anime OP, a la S season season, to “Moonlight Densetsu.” Now I hope they do one to the “Sailor Star Song,” the original OP to the Stars season. ^_^

 

Yuri Live-Action

Via Yuri Daily, the Polish Yuri news page on FB, we have news of She Is Still Cute Today, an upcoming Chinese Yuri drama based on a webtoon of the same name.

Korea seems to be gearing up for a Yuri summer with the movie The Summer, which is racking up awards and profit unusual for Yuri animation. Manga Mogura has the trailer.

Via YNN Correspondent Frank H, we have news of a something new starring GAP Theory stars Becky and Free. Uranus2324 thus far has only a few visuals. After some consultation with a Thai-speaking colleague, this appears to be an advertising campaign.  Shipping in Thai BL is a big deal and FreenBeck fandom is going strong since GAP was announced. ^_^

 

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Other News

Via Nastuo Mutsumi on Twitter, a crowdfunding campaign has opened for Women Wearing Men’s Kimono Photograph Collection. Natsuo-sensei says their partner is one of the models. Of course, I funded this right away, but even if you aren’t funding them definitely check out the photos on the page. For one thing, the kimono styles are terrific and are designed for everyday wear by the kimono artist. For the photographer and artist, this seems like a life work, rather than just a bunch of pictures. Among the rewards for backing the book is be part of a photoshoot yourself (for folks in Japan, but it looks like they are at least thinking about how to make it work overseas.)

Women Write About Comics has a very thoughtful discussion about LGBTQ manga in the Pride Month Roundtable, Manga Edition.

Until I Love Myself  is a comic essay about a non-binary manga artist. MrAJCosplay has written a well-considered review of this difficult manga at ANN.

 

If you’d like to support Yuri journalism and research, Patreon and Ko-Fi are where we currently accept subscriptions and tips. Your support goes straight to paying for Guest Reviews, folks helping with videos, site maintenance, managing the Yuricon Store and directly supporting other Yuri creators. Just $5/month makes a huge impact! Become part of the Okazu family!

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Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 6 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。)

June 22nd, 2023

A girl with medium-length brown hair in a maid's outfit, lifts a blonde with big banana curls wearing an orange dress, in her arms. Green flowers blooms, a bird flies overhead, a water-blob creature wear scuba mask on the brown-haired girl's head. Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 6 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) manga covers a pivotal moment. Yes, Claire and Rae are on vacation and yes, Claire is finally getting a literal taste of commoner life and finding it, unsurprisingly, unpalatable. She meets Rae’s family, and some folks who knew her back in the day…and the mystery of Rae Taylor is no less mysterious for all that.

But then the story takes a a turn. A ship of the Undead has arrived, which is bad enough, but there is something much more malevolent at work here. One of Rae’s old acquaintances turns against them – an act of desperation, but also with a clear mission of stopping Rae Taylor and Claire François. Who is pulling the strings?

Rae and Claire prevail, but the truth of Lui’s decision further radicalizes Claire to hate income inequality. A hero has begun to be born, only she doesn’t know it yet. And we are looking at the beginning of a revolution. There are still some arcs to go, yet, however. Next up, we will meet Lily and the Church will become a piece on the board. The volume ends with a few short scenes, and a short story from Misha’s point of view.

inori-sensei’s story gets better every time I read it. I’m free to pay attention to smaller and smaller details each time. And Aonoshimo-sensei has shown themselves to as deft with big action scenes as they are scenes of domestic joy – i.e., Claire finally getting food she can eat – or beach pinups.  Always, this series is a delight. We’ll be getting Volume 5 in English from Seven Seas in October, so look forward to that.

Ratings:

Art – 9 The fight scenes are quite excellent
Story – 9 It’s starting to get serious
Characters – 9
Yuri – 5
Service – Bathing and bathing suits

I had a thought today – this mostly medieval society has bikinis. Huh.





Soulmate, Volume 3, Review by Laurent Lignon

June 21st, 2023
It is time for us to go back to the story of Qi, a Chinese lesbian teacher whose mind has been switched in time with her past teenage self. Will she then be able to save the woman she loves from the disease that is slowly killing her? This review contains some spoilers for Volume 3 of Soulmate written by Wenzhili and illustrated by Keranbing.
 
“Soulmate” has been released as a webtoon in Mandarin Chinese by Kuaikan Manhua and in English by Tapas/Comic Panda, while the printed version has been published in French by Nazca Éditions.

IN THE PRESENT : Teenage Qi is finally reintegrated in her job as a teacher, a remark from her director pushes her to question the reasons that had led her to practice this profession in the first place. An incident allows her to discover who was the anonymous slanderer who outted her on the school social network, while at the same time discovering why she became a teacher and what price she had to pay for it : in order to have a regular income to help pay for Yuanzi’s medical expenses, she refused a contract to publish her first short story. Finally confronting the slanderer in person helps Teenage Qi realize the extant of her love for Yuanzi and decide to fulfill her dream of becoming a full-time writer with her help

IN THE PAST : Something is wrong. Adult Qi has told Teenage Yuanzi that she was in love with her, yet Yuanzi does not react accordingly to the news. Is something missing, maybe Yuanzi hasn’t fallen in love with her yet? Or perhaps it has something to do with the play their friend Keke is about to produce, a play that Adult Qi knows fully well that Keke’s father didn’t came to watch in her original timeline. To be sure that her own future will change and that she’ll be able to save the life of her loved one, Adult Qi decides to ensure that Keke’s father will be there to see his daughter ‘s first success as a play director.

Well, a lot of things happen during those 326 pages ! The stakes keeps getting higher and it is funny to see Adult Qi acting like an adult while in a teenage body (like when she literally break some would-be intrusive flirting boys in a single sentence). The chapter dedicated to the theatre play is perfectly drawn, showcasing some interesting part of the Chinese culture (the play is an adaptation of the classic tale “Tang Buo and Chow Heung”, which was adapted as movies in 1969 and 1993) and allowing Adult Qi to finally understand what is missing for her to fix everything and go back in her own timeline. When that event finally happen, it is in the most romantic way possible.

As for Teenage Qi, it’s a pleasure to see her mature this way and finally accept who she will become. This is to the point where she thinks she will never go back in the past and decide to carve her own path for the future, reciprocating Yuanzi’s feelings for her and accepting that their love will be short, for Yuanzi cannot be saved now. Unless…

Really, too bad that the gorgeous cover art is spoiling the ending ^-^

The secondary characters are what makes this volume so good, each one getting one or more chapters dedicated to how their own issues impact Qi in both timelines. Perhaps the most interesting one is Xinjue, Teenage Qi’s student who outed her anonymously : we finally learn why she did it, as well as the troubles she has in accepting her own closeted homosexuality. While she ends getting a well-deserved backlash for her actions, I still believe it is perhaps too much a strong one… Yet, this allows the story to be more realistic as this is probably what would befall Xinjue if she had done such acts in the ‘real life’. And I can’t help but to feel some pity for a girl who acted on impulse in trying to get herself loved and ended in losing everything she had.

Luckily, not all is dark and there is also a lot of humor, which helps to de-dramatize the most serious moments (my fave ? The reactions of Adult Yuanzi, desperately wanting to have some love action with Teenage Qi… But unable to pass the block of knowing that, even if stuck in an adult body, it’s a teenage girl completely unexperienced in sexual matters that lives with her)

As said before, you’ll know the end just by looking at the cover and it’s as romantic as you could expect (if not more). Those ladies deserved their happy ending, and it’s all wrapped up simply and with cuddly feelings oozing from every case.

ART : 7 – Lizi WENHZI knows how to draw good looking characters, I’m less of a fan of her super-deformed faces for comic relief but that is never a problem. The background are well drawn, and the colors aren’t too artificial looking despite being computer made.

STORY : 8 – Too bad for the cover art spoiling everything, but all the threads are wrapped up nicely until the end. The bonus chapter doesn’t bring anything new or useful, but is still a nice touch showcasing more how Qi and Yuanzi couple works as adults.

CHARACTER : 9 – Every character is relatable to, even the bastard ones like Keke’s father : we all know people like this, whether they’re good or bad persons. They may be just imaginary characters, yet we all know people who are like them. And we love them more for being that way.

SERVICE : 0 – Even with the few sexual innuendos of Yuanzi really turned on by accidentally seeing the naked body of her lover (barely shown on page).

YURI : 10 – As per the two previous volumes, of course.

OVERALL : I’m a sucker for well written love stories that end well and for well written science-fiction/fantasy : having both in the same manhua is a delight and, while Soulmate doesn’t break new grounds as a general rule, it is well worth your time.

I wish the World could be filled with more people like Qi, Yuanzi and all their accepting friends and families : it would surely be a better place.

“In tens of thousands of spaces and times, I will always love you.”





Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 4 (作りたい女と食べたい女)

June 19th, 2023

A large woman with long hair in a ponytail, wearing sweats carries fresh greens, a shorter woman in cream blouse and long, green skirt carries a box of groceries. They are smiling gently at one another.There are so many reasons that Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 4 (作りたい女と食べたい女) is an amazing volume of manga, that I’m hard pressed to pick one thing. That said, the best thing about this volume of manga is that it is extremely queer even as the characters basically just sit around eating food. ^_^

I don’t want to spoil anything about this volume because it is just so good, but I will tell you that it includes Valentine’s Day, important backstories and a huge decision that will change everything. I just love how everything in this series is rooted in reality. The story acknowledges trauma, but does not wallow in it. In fact, it offers a clear – and kind – path forward.

In the mean time, Nomoto and Kasuga have developed a family. Nomoto’s friend Yako hosts wonderful food parties, so we can enjoy them making takoyaki. New member of the family, Nagumo, begins to find her own self because of Kasuga’s and Nomoto’s kindness. That, in a word is why this series has become important to me – it is rooted in women taking care of each other, of accepting one another as they are. There is so much pressure even – often, especially – by other women, to conform to certain norms, that a series based around women caring for one another is exceptionally wonderful.

Because so little happens, and the story mostly revolves around people talking and eating, the expressions carry a lot of narrative weight. Yuzaki-sensei’s art is lively and fun, especially when the four are all together having a food party.

I will also tell you that Valentine’s Day is, typical of this manga, more to that than just shared chocolates. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 10 It’s not perfect but the expressions are fantastic
Story – 10
Characters – 10 Ahhhhhh!
Service – 0
LGBTQ+ – 10

Overall – 10

This volume just came out – I bought a print copy, but that wasn’t going to arrive until today, so I also bought this on Bookwalker so I could read it on the 15th. ^_^ Now, having written this review, I’m heading over to get caught up on Comic Walker. ^_^ Not obsessed much.

We’ll be getting She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat, Volume 3 in October from Yen Press.





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – June 17, 2023

June 17th, 2023

In blue silhouette, two women face each other. One wears a fedora and male-styled attire, one is in a dress and heels. Their body language is obscure - they may be dancing, or laughing or fighting.

Event News

I’m In Love With The Villainess and Aonoshimo-sensei has announced their participation at Anime Expo, July 1-4 in Los Angeles Convention Center.

If you are attending, please let us know how it goes!  There’s no way I can attend this year, but I will be thrilled to live vicariously through your experiences. ^_^

Yuri Anime

Hoshikuzu Telepath trailer is up on Youtube. Introverted girl meets “alien” and her life begins to change. In stories like these, it is my belief that the sped-up anime is good for the story.

The big news this week was the announcement of the seiyuu for Sailor Cosmos in the second Sailor Moon Cosmos movie.  They’ve gone with a voice who was there from the beginning and helped make this franchise what it is, so welcome back Kitagawa Keiko, the original Sailor Mars, to the story! I’m pretty happy with this choice. She retired from voicing anime fairly early on (although apparently she continued working in games), so having her back for this is a nice touch. Alex Mateo has details on ANN. Check out the second Cosmos trailer on Youtube.
 

 

Yuri Manga in English

YNN Corespondent Luce wants you to know that Bookwalker Global is running a Yuri Showcase, with 30% discount and 30% coin back on selected titles.

Run Away With Me Girl, Volume 2 by Battan is up on the Yuricon Store and was reviewed on Okazu this week by Matt Rolf!

My Future Starts Today ~Miku Kyoko~: Volume 2 finishes the story begun in Volume 1, which was reviewed by me this week, as well.

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, Volume 4 is up on the Store.

Qualia the Purple Complete Manga Collection hit shelves this week.

ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword!, Volume 3 of the manga is also on the Store. (This is about where I thought – hey, I’m almost caught up and then realized that no, haha. I’ll never be caught up. There is too much Yuri to keep up with. ^_^)

You can get My Date Is A Total Ike Woman, as print or digital, in English and Japanese editions by author Mutsumi Natsuo. Don’t miss this charming butch x butch doujinshi.

Manga Mogura announced on Twitter that Futaribeya will finish up with Volume 10 which will be released in Japan in July. Tokyopop will be releasing the final volume in English in September.

Rafael Antonio Pineda reports on ANN that Kiss the Scars of the Girls, which will be out in English from Yen Press in November, has ended it’s run in Comic Newtype.

 

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Yuri Manga in Japanese

It’s the 25th anniversary of Yuru Yuri by namori-sensei and to celebrate, Volumes 1-15 are available for free on Bookwalker JP!

Morninga Milk’s Watashi no Kawaii Neko-chan, Volume 2 (私の可愛い子猫ちゃん) is already sold out as a print volume but is available in digital format. Volume 2 of My Cute Little Kitten will be hitting EN shelves in January 2024.

Taguchi Shouichi’s Futari Escape, Volume 3 (ふたりエスケープ) is s fun frolic of food and adult life avoidance.

A new series in Comic Yuri Hime, Osoto Gohan wo Go-issho ni (おそとごはんをご一緒に) Volume 1 is up on the Yuricon Store. This series is about food and friendship.

From Galette magazine, we have Watashi no Naka de Ichiban ni Hikaru, Anata ( 私の中でいちばんに光る、貴方), a collection of shorts by Yatosaki Haru.

The Yuribute Yuri Hime One-Shot Story Collection (ユリビュート 百合姫読切再録集)  is a “Yuri tribute” to one-shot stories that ran in the original Yuri Hime magazine from 2004-2010.

 

Yuri Doujinshi

Last week, YNN Correspondent Patricia B. had mentioned this, but it bears repeating – new high-fantasy WLW doujinshi, Tsurugi by Nerikomi Tōkichirō is kickstarting… and has already passed it’s initial goal!

Hitorimi De: 60-sai Lesbian No Single Seikatsu, Issue 1 (ひとりみで: 60歳レズビアンのシングル生活) is  a short about an older lesbian at 60, with no lover or family, by Morishima Akiko.

 

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LGBTQ Live-Action

Amazing news out of NHK! The She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat live-action series is getting a sequel! Crystalyn Hodgkins has the details over at ANN.

In Her Words: 20th Century Lesbian Fiction, a film by Lisa Marie Evans & Marianne K. Martin with interviews with major lesbian fiction writers of the 20th century, will be showing at the Frameline Festival and streaming June 24- July 2.

 

Yuri Light Novels

Volume 1 of the Light Novel series There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless…,  is up on the Yuricon Store.

 

Yuri Webcomics

Mage & Demon Queen creator COLOR_LES, and Galatea are teaming up with singers Hayley Kiyoko, while other artists are partnering with Ava Max and MAY-A, for a new webtoon called Love Stories. Here’s the full press release from Business Wire.

 

Yuri Visual Novels

Studio Élan’s Please Be Happy has joined the listings on the Store. I’m making a concerted effort to expand these Yuri VN listings, so if you know of a great Yuri VN and would like to see it listed – or would like to review a Yuri VN – contact me!

 

If you’d like to support Yuri journalism and research, Patreon and Ko-Fi are where we currently accept subscriptions and tips. Your support goes straight to paying for Guest Reviews, folks helping with videos, site maintenance, managing the Yuricon Store and directly supporting other Yuri creators. Just $5/month makes a huge impact! Become part of the Okazu family!

Become a part of the Yuri Network, by being a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share with our readers.