Archive for 2023


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – February 25, 2023

February 25th, 2023

Pictured: In black silhouette, a woman in a dress and wide-brim hat stands and a woman in a body-hugging bodysuit sits next to black block letters that read "YNN" and below that "Yuri Network News."

Yuri Events

Yuricon 2023 continues this week with the first of our “Yuri is their job!” track.  I spoke with three professional translators about their work on some of your favorite Yuri titles in Yuri Is Their Job – Translating Yuri with Jocelyne Allen, Kevin Ishizaka and  Diana Taylor!

Your kind words and “likes” on Youtube are always appreciated. They also help get these videos more widely seen. Please feel free to share the video links, or our Yuricon 2023 playlist to any Yuri fan communities you’d like.

 

Don’t miss this opportunity to talk about something that’s important to you – apply to run a panel or do a presentation for Yuricon 2023. I’m especially looking for folks who normally don’t feel like they have a chance to talk about their specific interests or perspectives at conventions. Yuri Blerds and fans of color are especially welcome to apply, queer folks of course and folks from any country. Don’t self-censor. I really do want your panels!

 

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Yuri Anime

Birdie Wing official has released a new key visual and a premier date in April! Woo~~ Crystalynn Hodgkins has the story on ANN.

ANN’s Joana Cayanan shares the news that Miyamoto Yume will be returning to Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury as Nika.

 

Yuri Manga

Seven Seas has announced the license for Usui Shio’s Onna Tomodachi to Kekkon Shitemita (女ともだちと結婚してみた。) as I Married My Female Friend. Volume 1 will hit shelves here in December 2023, Volume 3 is out this month in Japan.

Also from Seven Seas, Futari Escape, Volume 2 and  Monologue Woven For You, Volume 3 hit shelves this month.

 

Yuri Doujinshi

Via Yurimother, we learn that Irodori Sakura has released lesbian doujinshi 100% Ice Drop by Pikachi Ohi, creator of Our Teachers Are Dating.

 

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Baihe News

Via YNN Correspondent Ashley, DouQi’s Twitter account (*the* source for English-language baihe news) announced pre-orders for volume one of the print edition of tomb-raiding baihe novel 问棺/Wen Guan/Reading the Remnants by 七小皇叔 opening on 25 February at 1900 China Standard time! Douqi also shared this book unboxing video series from Weibo, narrated by an audio drama voice actress.

 

Yuri Visual Novels

ebihime announced a Steam store page, so you can wishlist their new 18+ Yuri VN, Fragile Feelings.

 

Other News

Honey’s Anime has a terrific interview with Mieri Hiranashi, creator of The Girl That Can’t Get A Girlfriend, which was reviewed this week on Okazu.

On ANN, Rebecca Silverman looks at I Want To Be A Wall, Volume 2.

Utterly tangential, but the creator of my beloved obsession Hana no Asuka-gumi (of which ANN only lists two pieces of the franchise) Takaguchi Satosumi, has a series called Grandma no Yuutsu, which is getting a live-action drama. Joanna Cayanan has the details on ANN. I can’t really complain, Hana no Asuka-gumi had  TV show in the 80s and 2 movies…but I want a new live-action series! ^_^

 

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If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, Volume 1

February 22nd, 2023

A 7-member pop idol group, each singer in a specific color, on a white background. In the foreground, a girl with brown hair in pigtails, in salmon pink holds her hands out to us.Eri is a fan. Not just a regular fan, but a full-on fanatic. Her favorite idol is a singer with Cham Jam, a small, not-well-known idol group from Okayama, in western Japan. Eri has given her life over to support her idol, who is very cute, pathologically shy and almost always in the back row. While her fellow fans shout their support for the main three, Eri enthusiastically lets Maina know she’s got at least one fan.

The problem is, that neither Eri nor Maina can seem to communicate. Eri tries to give Maina her support, but is awkward and incompetent…and the author will complicate this in maddening ways. Maina is apparently unable to understand Eri or communicate with her in any way that makes sense, setting these two up for a frustrating relationship in which two people who appreciate each other are completely unable to express that to each other. 

This is on top of what I have to believe is a critical look about the mutually manipulative relations between idols and fans, because if it I believed it were really only cheap jokes, I would collapse in tears.

If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, Volume 1 has come out in English and I still don’t know what to think about it. It’s well executed. If you read my reviews of the 8 volumes I’ve read so far, you’ll see me go through a whole journey and back. ^_^; 

This is what I said about this first volume in Japanese, back in 2016. “So used am I to feeling frustration born of absolute disinterest in hideously boring characters in previous Hirao Auri manga series, that reading Hirao Auri’s new manga, Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, Volume 1（推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ）instilled in me a wholly new feeling – frustration because I actually care about the characters! It’s a completely different feeling, I assure you. ^_^”

I have been wearing this series like an albatross around my neck for 7 years. So, like the Ancient Mariner (wow, two classic literature references in a week, I’m on a roll!) let me warn you: This series is not light comedy. It pretends to be light comedy and we are supposed to be laughing.  I have laughed out loud once that I can think of in 8 volumes – which is *still* a better record than I had with Hirao-sensei’s previous long-running series Manga no Tsukurikata. It does get better. It’s a slow crawl, but it does get better and, funnier.

I really like the otaku group. They aren’t all one thing, but we really get to see a side of the idol/fan relationship we don’t tend to see if we’re not part of it. And the Cham Jam girls are nice, as well. You don’t feel yucky liking them

If you are interested in a mockumentary about provincial idol groups, with a highly improbable main Yuri relationship (and a few actual side ones, and a business Yuri relationship or two, for flavor) this is a solid series. As light comedy, it’s agonizing.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – Frustrating, but there is hope for a decent payoff; some moments of joy, no matter how brief
Character – 8
Service – Not really, except for it being a pop idol group, but even the costumes aren’t creepy.
Yuri – 4 Hovering at “I think I feel something for you, but can’t put a finger on it,” to “I can’t look you in the eyes, but don’t know why” with potential

Overall – 8

Thanks very much to Tokyopop for the review copy. It reminded me of all the feelings I have about the idol – and fan – industry. And Hirao-sensei. ^_^





The Girl That Can’t Get A Girlfriend

February 21st, 2023

A blonde short-haired woman holds up a hand to black and white weebish girl with short dark hair holding a hear-tshaped flower. Letters read "The Girl That Can't Get A Girlfriend, Story and Art By Mieri Hiranashi."Disclaimer: I am a huge, weeby fan of Mieri Hieranashi and contributed to her patreon for many months, Do not expect anything like an “objective” review. I am about to gush.

The Girl That Can’t Get A Girlfriend is an autobiographical manga by a young butch lesbian who would like, very much, please, thank you, to find a butch girlfriend. This is, as many of us know – and some might guess – a complicated ask. It’s not that the lesbian butch/femme dynamic is a given, but human sexuality is a really complicated system and there are many moving parts to who we like and why.

….

Well…, maybe why isn’t that complicated.

Mieri, like so many of us, discovered Haruka and Michiru. ^_^

 


We’ve all been there. ^_^ (This is me, looking at the Sailor Moon fanfic I wrote in the late 90s through the 2000s.  I ain’t ashamed, it’s all still on my fanfic site.) But fanart is one thing and real life is another, as Mieri discovers, trying to find a partner and, ultimately herself.

When she finds a girlfriend in Japan, she falls in love and her whole world changes. We’re watching over her, like a virtual Maria-sama and can see that what feels to her to be the right choices may not be the best choices for her. We struggle with her struggle and hurt when her heart is broken. Can I be a literary nerd for a second? This is the manga equivalent of The Sorrows of Young Werther* and I wish to heavens I had had this when I was in college I would have compared and contrasted the shit out of it…I’d like to say “just to piss my teacher off,” but that teacher probably would have been cool with it.  Everything in this book is relatable even if a reader hasn’t experienced that specific thing. We know those feelings.

As a counterpoint to the emotional drama, The Girl That Can’t Get A Girlfriend is laugh-out-loud funny. Mieri’s use of meme is always spot on. Her own reminder to remember a potential date is also human had me laughing for a whole day.

You can feel the timeliness of the memifications and jokes. They will hold up as a snapshot of dating life in the early 21st century. My wife and I still joke about “today’s chin” from when I read that scene on Patreon.The humor is humorous, even when it’s a little sad or more than a little self-deprecating. There is a quite a bit of negative self-image in this story…again, relatable for most readers. Mieri presents the women she dates as dashing, while drawing herself a caricature with one exception. Did you catch the one panel where she doesn’t draw herself goofily? Tell me in the comments.

Mieri wrote both the Japanese and English script for this book and you can feel how personal it is to her in both the images and words. Which is why the final chapter is so important. We are carrying her burden along with her as she tells her tale. It is important for us as readers, that we are left with a hopeful look, not just for ourselves, but for her as well. Much like Kabi Nagata’s 282 liter refrigerator, we can see this book as a physical expression of her finding herself and triumphing.

Extras for this volume also include a gallery of sketches she did for the cover art. 28 sketches!?! Yikes, Viz.

Which brings me to one last thing I want to touch on. I had the pleasure of talking with one of the editors of this book at AnimeNYC. I want you all to know how enthusiastic Viz has been about publishing this book. I can see many of the changes made from the original Patreon pages and I could see how loud Viz was about letting people know about it.  This is a beautiful, heart-breaking and hilarious book about queer life and love.

Ratings:

Overall – Yes, Erica, what rating would you give this heart-rending, emotional autobiography?

9, goddammit, it’s a 9.

Absolute must-read for anyone who has ever existed as a human on this planet.

*Yes, I did just compare this book to a novel by Goethe. I will not apologize.

 





Sukeban Deka Pretend, Volume 2 (スケバン刑事Pretend）

February 19th, 2023

A girl with short blue hair, throws a blue and white Yo-Yo. Behind her a girl long pink hair and a '70s style dark blue Japanese school uniform, makes the same motion. In red letters, the title reads Sukeban Deka" followed by a blue "P" . A red number 2 is next to the pink -haired girl's head. In Volume 1, we met Yasaki Asami, a high school student whose primary life goal is to get 10,000 friends online. Her life changes when a red Yo-Yo falls out of the ether and she finds that she can see a girl with long pink hair and a 70s style school uniform who exhorts her to transform into Sukeban Deka. Asami does, and finds herself battling a corruption among the students and staff that takes the form of a snake sigil on their bodies. That snake causes them to victimize the students around them. At the end of the first volume Asami is joined by Chisato, a member of the morals committee as Sukeban Principal.

As we head into Sukeban Deka Pretend, Volume 2 (スケバン刑事Pretend) we’ve got the idea, right? Someone is loosing their grip – whatever cause or interest they have, has become an obsession, or thy have stopped regarding the students around them as people and have committed actions that cause someone else to suffer. Our sukeban team will right this wrong by standing up for the victims.  This is not dissimilar from the kinds of crime the original Sukeban Deka, Asamiya Saki, fought, so we can understand the spirit of Saki being there.

Or, can we?

But first, we are introduced to a new student. Kyouichido Mika, a popular upcoming TV talent and model has come to their school to study. The students are delighted and welcome Mika. A few who try to get signatures are beaten by Mika’s guards and Mika’s mother has the tell-tale evil-possessed face of someone influenced by the snake. Mom berates Mika, keeping her from so much as having a nice lunch with her classmates and gets worse and worse as the story progresses. Mika is suffering, but she loves her mother and tries to do what is asked. When Asami find a yellow Yo-Yo, her mother reveals that she is indeed under the power of the snake, then proceeds to lock Asami and Chisato in room…and swallow the key. Saki appears and helps Mika transform into Sukeban Precede. She releases the others and the three of them free Asami’s mother.

Which is where this story gets interesting. The three Sukeban P, had asked the mysterious girl her name. She claimed to not know. Now, they really want to know who she is. They go though school records and find a photo – we can see it was Saki and the mysterious teacher who seems to know what’s up. They are suddenly transported to the 1970s. They are standing in the same office, but it has an old coal stove and tatami floors. I don’t know if there were still schools with coal stoves in the teachers’ room in the 1970s or not. It struck me as really kicking the old people reading this in the shin. ^_^

They find a teachers’ notebook that says something about the disappeared Yo-Yo and the name…Saki. Suddenly they find themselves in a no-space, transformed. Their Yo-Yos combine into one, which pops open to reveal the Police seal, as Saki’s always did. They see the Yo-Yo and themselves floating over a scene of cheering people  and suddenly…are back in their own time and school (which is now confirmed to be the same school Saki attended, of course.) Saki is with them. The photo of Saki and the teacher is now blank. Asami ask if her name is Saki…but Saki says she doesn’t know. So they all say they will call her Saki. Saki blushes.

This fascinating bit is followed by a regularly scheduled, “the person one least/most expects is causing harm to a classmate scenario” which they defeat and a set-up for Volume 3, will be released in March. You bet I will be reading it.

On the one hand, this story is more gripping than the original Sukeban Deka, with higher stakes than “yakuza does illegal stuff” or “rich girl runs the school,” drama. On the other hand, it’s actually a lot more upsetting as the harm is caused by people one ought to be able to trust, even in a little way – the club president, the teacher, one’s parent. The fantasy element is, of course, that the Sukeban P squad can fix the problem and the person will acknowledge their actions…a very 1970s plot.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Characters – 8
Story – 9
Service – 2 Yeah, actually a little in the end story, but it’s not hyper sexualized, just creeper-y
Yuri – 0

Having three Sukeban also reminds us of the TV show, in which Sukeban Deka became a title that was passed to three different girls, who then teamed up to fight in two movies, of which I reviewed one. Ultimately the name Asamiya Saki itself became a title to be worn by the chosen Sukeban Deka. But here, we have Saki, out of time and place, without memory, exhorting other girls to take her place. It’s a helluva way to get around Wada -sensei’s ban on further adventures of Saki. I hope he’s not rolling in his grave. Saki definitely isn’t.

 
 

 

 





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – February 18, 2023

February 18th, 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. Next to them, blue block letters read YNN Yuri Network News. Logo by Mari Kurisato (https://www.wordglass.site/) for Okazu.Yuricon 2023

The first discussion panel of Yuricon 2023 is up on Yuri Studio! The first of our Scholarship track, Boston University professor Sarah Frederick and I talk about the woman I call the grandmother of Yuri in Celebrating the Life And Work of Yoshiya Nobuko. We talk about her political and literary life, her love life, and her works including Prof. Frederick’s translation of Yellow Rose from Yoshiya-sensei’s Hana Monogatari series. It’s a chunky discussion to start with, but I wanted us all to know Yoshiya-sensei as the amazing, accomplished woman she was. 

Our next panel will be the first in our “Yuri Is Their Job track,” in which we talk to folks who translate some of your favorite Yuri manga. We have several panels recorded already and have a few more scheduled, including a special guest for Yuricon 2023. All we need now is your panel or presentation! Please apply for your panel today. I really want to hear from you!

Comitia is happening tomorrow in Japan. This is always an incredible show and a great place to discover new original Yuri work.

Girls Love Fest is returning to the Tokyo area on March 19. It has more adjacent festivals than ever, so keep your eyes peeled for Lycoris Recoil, Bloom Into You, Revue Starlight, idol and magical girl series Yuri doujinshi. ^_^

 

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Yuri Manga

Mieri Hiranashi’s outstanding autobiographical manga, The Girl That Can’t Get A Girlfriend has been released by Viz Media! I exhort you all to read this. It is touching, and heartbreaking and hilarious and uplifting.  Of note, Mieri wrote the script for the manga in Japanese and in English. Autostraddle’s A. Tony Jerome’s review is spot on: This Butch4Butch Manga Made Me Feel Heartbroken and Heartfixed.

Yen Press has announced a number of new Yuri licenses this week! I Don’t Know Which Is Love!,  and two by Mikan Uji, Assorted Entanglements, (which I have reviewed up to Volume 5 here on Okazu as Fuzoroi Renri) and I Don’t Need A Happy Ending.

Do not forget that Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon, Volume 4 is heading our way next month! I really don’t want you to miss the ending of this wonderful story.

Morishima Akiko is back! This time with a serialized story about a 60 year old, single lesbian. Grab A Single Life: Akiko, in English on US Kindle or in Japanese (ひとりみです①: 60歳レズビアンのシングル生活) or English on JP Kindle.  This is being released one chapter at a time. As I have said for many years, it is likely that we’ll see more senior years Yuri as my generation of artists age up…and here we are, aging up. ^_^

schwinn’s Hana Monogatari, Volume 2 (はなものがたり) is hitting JP bookshelves this coming week.

Galette, No. 25 (ガレット) will hit shelves in March. You can pre-order it on Amazon JP or pick it up at Comitia. This brings us to the end of their 5th year! It’s will be interesting to see where the magazine goes from here.

Okazu Guest Reviewer Matt Marcus has embarked on a detailed and deep dive into the How Do We Relationship manga, that he has been reviewing here on his new blog, Oh My God, They Were Bandmates. If you’d like to get into the weeds of this series, head on over and see what Matt is doing!

 

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Yuri Anime

The Yuri Is My Job anime premieres on April 6th. (The worst possible day for me, so my “react” video will be a tad late, as I’ll be at Anime Boston that weekend. ^_^) Joanna Cayanan has details and a second trailer on ANN.

Friend of Okazu, Philip has a review of Birdie Wing over on Otaku News. Which we can read while tapping our feet impatiently. One the one hand, I need more Birdie Wing in my life. On the other, in a year of an absurd amount of great Yuri anime, I love the idea of S2 of Birdie Wing being a climax for us all. ^_^

In the meantime, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady continues to satisfy deeply. As Cryssoberyl noted on the Okazu Discord, a new Yuri trope might be forming before our very eyes. AnimeCorner seems to agree – and notes that there’s even more of a pattern than we thought. I know a meme isn’t “news” per se, but I found this kind of interesting and wanted to share. ^_^

Table with 9 boxes. Across the top from left to right: The logo for the The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young lady" anime; "Episode 7"; The logo for Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury anime. Euphilia, a sliver haired girl in a white uniform with blue and gold trim, speaking with force; "Constructive speech promoting her loved one's goals"; Miorine, a white-haired girl in a blue dress holding up a digital device, speaking with force. Anisphia, a blonde in a white and pink uniform, trimmed in gold, looking stunned and moved; "The heroine is awe-struck", Suletta, a red-haired girl in a red dress, looking stunned and moved.

 

Other News

Speaking of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, if you are in the market to proclaim your allegiance to House Earth (and Chuchu’s beautiful punch) the Gundam Store has you covered, literally, with House Earth hoodie or sweatshirt. ^_^

ANN did a Valentine’s Day Special  and Gabriella Ekens gave us our represent with Anthy and Utena for Your Favorite Anime Couple.

 

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