Some personal news to start. This week I begin a new job, in a new industry for the first time in 30 years(!), so reviews may be extra sporadic until my schedule gels. The fun part of this job is that my work on Okazu and Yuricon is largely relevant to me getting the job, so I’m looking forward to putting my online content skills to use in a new venue. ^_^
Now on to a week that is chock-full of Yuri news!
Yuri Manga
Hana ni Arashi, the slow, sweet love story of Chidori and Nanoha, two high school girls in love, has been licensed by Viz Media as Rainbows After Storms with a projected fall 2024 release. You can read reviews of Volumes 1-11 here on Okazu.
Shilin Huang announced on Twitter that the Kickstarter for Amongst Us, Volume 2 is going live in March. This is the our-world AU of the main characters from her fantasy epic Carciphona. Volume 1 is available from Seven Seas, which I reviewed last October here on Okazu. Hopefully, they will pick this one up, as well.
My Cute Little Kitten, Volume 2 by Milk Morinaga is out from Seven Seas. I am motivated this weekend to finally get to back to reading Galette magazine to catch up on these two….
Via YNN Correspondent Patricia Baxter, Galette Works is putting out a collection, Ai no Kotoba (愛のことば), an Inui Ayu Collection. You can pre-order it on Galette’s Booth.pm page or Melonbooks.
Asumi-chan is Intertested in Lesbian Brothels, Volume 4 hits shelves this week in English everywhere except Amazon. Link here is to B&N, because I was too lazy to look further.
Melonbooks dropped this link for Sora ni Hoshi, Futari ni Koi (空に星、二人に恋) which is a BoKita anthology from Bocchi The Rock and I am mentioning it because there are some Yuri notables among the names in the ToC. ^_^ If you like that pairing, it might be worth a look.
Yuri(ish) Anime
Manga Mogura notes that Look Back, by Chainsaw Man creator Fujimoto Tatsuki has had a domain registered for an anime. I reviewed Look Back in 2021 and it was amazing and devastating. Highly recommended. It is available in English, so really, read it. Just bring tissues.
Burkely Herman has a spoiler-filled review of Stardust Telepath from last season. It’s a solid review.
Sound Euphonium 3 will premiere in April according to ANN’s Crystalynn Hodgkins.
Yuri Audiobooks
Yen Press is offering The Executioner and Her Way of Life, Volume 1 as an audiobook! This is narrated by Annie Wild. I would love for someone to review this for me, do let me know if you listen to it.
Yuri Light Novels
Creator of The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Pierro, has a new light novel series coming out, Seijou-sensei no Mahou ha Sunderu! (聖女先生の魔法は進んでる！) “A girls’ light novel about substandard teachers and drop-outs” (in a magical setting.)
Volume 6 of the MagiRevo Light Novel series will be hitting shelves in March.
Yuri Live-Action
The live-action Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, is streaming on NHK Plus and it is so absurdly heartwarming and hungry-making. I watched the first 30 seconds and wanted oyakodon. You’ll need a VPN to watch this, and a NHK account (which will be the bane of your existence, because they *constantly* send you messages to re-up, then cancel your account anyway.) Here is the advert: If you use my code to get NORDVPN, you get a 3 months free when you sign up for a year – and so do I. I’ve found it very useful to watch shows from Japan, from the UK and even Eurovision, so I can get all my nerdly interests on my computer screen. ^_^ Do not miss the manga, which is out from Yen Press as She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat. It is outstanding!
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Queer Animation
Via Yuri Anime News on Twitter, check out the the promotional video for the manga for Watashi ga Koibito ni Nareru Wakenaijan, Muri Muri! (*Muri Janakatta!?) (わたしが恋人になれるわけないじゃん、ムリムリ！（※ムリじゃなかった!?）), which is released in English as There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover, Unless…!
Okay, I’m just going to grab some bits of this Kickstarter description and you will understand why: “WHEELS & ROSES is a Sailor Moon meets Roller Derby YA animated coming-of-age series.
…
This show is unapologetically queer! Unapologetically soft! As well as unapologetically tough– ’cause duh, roller derby!”
Queer Novels
For various reasons, I have some book recommendations for you today. ^_^
Via Luce on the Okazu Discord, Voyage of the Damned, by Francis White, which is a queer magical murder mystery set on a cruise. It sounds super fun! Also
My recommendation is The Thread That Binds, by Cedar McCloud, a queer magical library fantasy that honestly was an excellent read in every way. I plan on doing a review later when I am able to. This is an indie book, and even a few extra sales could be a huge help.
Links on this and most Okazu pages lead to affiliate accounts, where they can and buying from them is another something you can do to help to keep this place running. But don’t think it’s the only way to support people – your local library is a great place to order these books. Most libraries also offer digital and audio book choices. So please consider using your local library and reading some of these great books!
Looking for other queer reads? Check out Queer Your Bookshelf, which has lists of great indie reads.
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Other News
Okazu Kami Frank Hecker has a terrific short essay on one of my favorite poets in my school years, H.D. and Otherside Picnic that is worth reading: H.D. and Bryher in the UBL.
Burkely Hermann takes a look at Yuri and Beyond: LGBTQ+ Representation in Animation in 2023 on his blog.
YNN Correspondent Patricia Baxter takes a look at Indie Comics You May Have Missed in 2023 on her her blog, where she focuses on queer and neurodivergent representative works.
Bilibili is shutting down it’s online comics platform. I’m told that if you are reading some of the GL there, follow the creators online to see where their comics land.
Some pretty steampunk Baihe from DouQi on Twitter, “Preview available for the audio drama adaptation of Listen, God (听神), a time loop murder mystery in a showbiz setting, based on the novel of the same title by Malaysian author Xian Yu Bu Chi Cai (咸鱼不吃菜, literally: Salted Fish Doesn’t Eat Vegetables).“
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Thanks again for mentioning my posts / articles on here! I am cautiously optimistic for the year ahead. I just finished perhaps one of the toughest reviews I’ve ever written (apart from the ones on Vol. 9 of RWBY or the one on BanG Dream! It’s My Go!!!! last year) on “The Vexations of a Shut-In Princess”, for which I was not a fan, at all, of the sexual harassment, non-consensual actions, and otherwise creepy behavior (primarily by Villhaze toward Komari). I thought some themes, like the fact that Komari is acting like she is strong when she is actually weak (but really isn’t weak since she is only hypnotized to dislike blood), to be interesting, but that’s it. In more positive news, I do plan on reviewing Metallic Rouge, Soaring Sky! Pretty Cure, Acro Trip, Nanare Hananare, and Cherry Magic!, among many others, in the year ahead. Also, I’m slowly adding the ILTV series to my shelves, as I currently have vol. 1 of the spinoff and vol. 1 of the manga too. Getting a VPN to watch shows in Japan would be useful, especially for series never released in the U.S. (like Pon no Michi). I plan on donating to “Wheels & Roses” too. Thanks again for all you do with this blog! I always use it as a resource for what’s going on in the world of yuri.
And thank you for your enthusiastic reviews!
Thank you very much for providing a link to my most recent blog post Erica! Looks like 2024 is shaping up to be another great year for yuri between Yen Press and Viz’s recent licenses and our first baihe novel licenses.
Congratulations on the new job!
Also, the audiobook for the second volume of the audiobook for *The executioner and her way of life* will be out in mid-March
Thank you…and thanks for the kind words. ^_^