Archive for 2025


Tough Love At The Office: The Complete Yuri Collection

August 4th, 2025

A woman with ripped blouse and bloodies face and body, scowls at a pair of woman's legs in white heels and a pink skirt.CW: Extreme personal violence, rape, emotional and psychological abuse in a workplace setting.

Sal Jiang’s Black & White, the  3-volume series of violent and psychopathic competition at highly competitive Japanese financial firm is now available in English as Tough Love at the Office: The Complete Yuri Collection and it asks us to ask ourselves what is really important to us….but not until we grin through 400+ pages of two women who are trying to eat each other for lunch, in all the meanings of that phrase. 

Kuroda Kayo comes in to her new job brimming with confidence and acclaim and immediately runs into Shirakwa Junko, who has her eyes set on power. The two of them instantly dislike one another, but also cannot stop having violent, angry sex that is clearly meant as rape to destroy the others’ will. Both are equally matched in smarts, skills, popularity and desire to destroy the other. 

I loved the first volume of this in Japanese and I still think it is the strongest part of the story. To quote myself from my review of the JP Volume 1, “Jiang’s art is terrific – clean and stylish, cute and approachable, and nasty af, in turns as the narrative requires. The characters are terrible people, but they sometimes do good or kind things, which gives them nuance. Neither of them is a sadist to the pleasant office drones around them. They are, however, two dominant humans fighting for dominance in every way possible. Yeah, baby. I’ll take as much of this as I can get.”

When Kuroda and Shirakawa are teamed up by a scheming senior executive, he gets exactly what he hopes for – an unethical power-hungry machine to take down his enemies. But then they are turned on one another again. When Kuroda makes a misstep on an overseas trip, she causes a chain reaction that will ultimately lead to the end of the series…

…where we are asked to consider what is truly important to us. The answer to that question for both Kuroda and Shirakawa may surprise you. 

This is not a Baihe-style “in love with my cold, tough boss” story. This is a potentially/eventually disturbing exploration of deepest, darkest expressions of five of the seven deadly sins. But what this story also is is pitting two evenly matched competitors against each other in a evenly balanced match. And for that reason, I can enjoy the heck out of it (although I admit, I would have ended it differently. ^_^) 

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Service – 7 Not a lot of nudity, but a lot of sex and violence
Yuri – 7 See above

Overall – 10

 

 

Alexa Frank’s translation and Asha Bardon’s adaptation does everything it can with the blurry “business” stuff . The Seven Seas team does a great job here as usual. 





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – August 2, 2025

August 2nd, 2025

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.A very happy birthday month to all of you! Yuricon and Okazu were both born in August and this year, the 24th anniversary of Yuricon, we are going to be launching a brand new look!  All of the designs have been approved, Okazu Patrons and Supporters got to see some previews, feedback has been really positive. This will be the 5th design for Yuricon, 7th overall if we include it’s predecessor AniLesboCon. I hand coded the first three iterations, had the next three built for me and now am entrusting this full rebuild to the incredibly talented team of Katy and Chris at Hand Design Co..  It’s gonna be a big birthday gift to Yuricon for it’s 25th year. ^_^

If you love the work we do, the massive catalog of Yuri on the Store, the reviews here on Okazu, the essays and lectures and event appearances, news and event reports, and the welcoming and fun Yuri communities we provide, please consider becoming a Patreon Patron or Ko-fi Supporter! Your financial support is invaluable to us. Thank you to all our Patrons and Supporters for standing with us for all this time. It has been an absolute pleasure to walk by your side on this adventure!

Support the people who bring you Yuri Journalism 
Become an Okazu Patron today!

Yuri Anime

Roll Over and Die: I Will Fight For An Ordinary Life With My Love And My Cursed Sword anime has announced staff, cast and posted a trail, says ANN’s Alex Mateo.

Creator of This Monster Wants To Eat You, Naekawa Sai, is a guest of Otakon this year and will be promoting the upcoming anime for the series. 

Otakon also has cast and staff from Rock Is A Lady’s Modesty as guests this year, so it’ll be a good year for Yuri fans. Adrian Hazra has the details.

 

Yuri Manga

Manga Mavericks presents Hanakage Alt’s Sempai no Kouhai in English, as one complete volume!

Ikuta Hana, whose Bakumatsu souls reborn into modern high school girls manga have fascinated me, has a new volume out, Bakumatsu Mesukousei Hana to Ookami  (幕末女子高生 花と狼). Check out my reviews of previous volumes, Bakumatsu Joshikousei – Oni to Yoake ((幕末女子高生 鬼と夜明け) Volume 1, Volume 2, and Oni to Yoake Yuzikiyo (鬼と夜明け 夕月夜), which I read in the wrong order. ^_^

Weekly Champion (blecch) has a new Yuri manga, Obaka wo Mederu, (お葉花（バカ）を愛でる」) about Kunika, a doofusy Student Council President and her VP, a childhood friend, via Comic Natalie.

 

Support Yuri News and Reviews on Ko-fi!

Yuri Light Novel

Via Sr, YNN Correspondent Sean Gaffney, the 6th novel in the Roll Over and Die series, ‘Omaegotoki ga Maou ni Kateru to Omouna’ to Yuusha paati o Tsuihousaretanode, Outo de Kimama ni Kurashitai 6 (お前ごときが魔王に勝てると思うな」と勇者パーティを追放されたので、王都で気ままに暮らしたい ) has a late August release in Japan.

Via Sean once again, the Girls Line imprint of Fantasia Bunko, Shino to Ren Future (志乃と恋Future) is the novelization of their Yuri series Shino to Ren. This is an adult life novel series based on a 4-volume manga of the same name, about a model and a math teacher.

Via YNN Correspondent akatsukinoluna, “Hitokiri” Shoujo, Koushaku Reijou no Goei ni Naru (人斬り』少女、公爵令嬢の護衛になる) by Sasato Goro, was an “enjoyable, fantasy yuri – bodyguard for hire & the countess she’s protecting.” Not deep, but fun.

 

 
Other News

Kalai Chik writes about the band NOMELON who did music for Gundam GQuuuuux, is hoping to take their music global.

 

Support Yuri journalism and research and help us celebrate our birthday! Patreon and Ko-Fi are where we currently accept subscriptions and tips.  Our goal now, into 2025, is to raise our guest writers’ wages to above industry standard, which are too low!

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 us.





Rainbows After Storms, Volume 4

August 1st, 2025

Two girls in Japanese sailor-style school uniforms of white blouses with blue collard, blue skirts, red ties, sit close on a bench, one sleeps, while the other gestures us to be quiet.In Rainbows After Storms, Volume 4, Chidori and Nanoha are still dating…and still keeping it from everyone. ^_^

Summer has arrived and there is a LOT going on for these two – sleepovers and a day at the beach bring our to lovebirds closer, even as they are trying to keep their relationship hidden. On sleepover night, it seems obvious that their friends are trolling them, about it, but not so obviously that they notice. 

Then the school festival arrives and with it, that troubling piece of Chidori’s history allude to in the last volume. Because, as we see, Chidori wasn’t her first love. The story is a familiar one in Japanese media, Chidori’s sempai initiated an affectionate that she then withdrew when Chidori returned the emotion. We’ve seen this story before, most notably in Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka. Here, when Igarashi snidely asks Chidori if she and Nanoha are really an item, Nanoha throws the truth in sempai’s face, in what they will later remember was their first coming out. In my review of Volume 4 in Japanese, I name Igarashi a “fairly stereotypical Yuri villain” who “realizes that she might well have made a terrible mistake with her life.”

Chidori had already been admonished by Nanoha to open up to her and rely on her a bit more.  At this point, Chidori has nothing left to hide. On the night of the fireworks festival, they kiss.

We’re only a third through this series, so there’s a lot more of Nanoha and Chidori yet to come, but be warned…they will still imagine that they are hiding their increasingly obvious feelings for one another.  ^_^

I did want to mention that one of the folks over on the Okazu Discord noted that every chapter tells us this same thing, but the words themselves are always a slightly different. “The two of us are dating…but its a secret…from everyone.” “Chidori…and Nanoha… They’re keeping it a secret from everyone… but they’re dating.” Each chapter begins ever-so-slightly differently. It’s an interesting touch and one that I admit I never noticed. So thanks to akatsukinoluna, for noting that. 

Viz Media has done nice work with this volume. David Evelyn’s translation feels true to the tone of the original and to the characters. The lettering by Annalise “Ace” Christman is outstanding. I always will like it when full touch-up is used, since it allows us the time to just “read” the story.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 6
Service – 4 Bathing suits and showers. So…ugh

Overall – 6

As I said of the Japanese volume, “For a series which, until this moment, had climaxed with hand-holding, this was a big volume.”





Bad Girl Anime, streaming on HIDIVE

July 30th, 2025

Six high girls in school girl outfits in various poses. A multi-colored logo said “Bad Girl.”

by Matt Marcus, Staff Writer

Your butt is mine, gon’ tell ya right

So opens Michael Jackson’s 1987 mega-hit “Bad”. I’ve always found this line risible, like a 7-year-old trying to sound cool. Don’t get me wrong, the song is a certified banger, but no amount of buckles or hip-thrusts were going to convince me that MJ knew how to throw down.

Even less convincing is Yuu Yuutani, the titular so-called Bad Girl,streaming on HIDIVE. You see, she wears earrings (that are actually paper clips)! And she doodles on the bus window! That will definitely catch the attention of her beloved senpai and public morals committee member, Atori Mizutori, won’t it? Turns out she’s very bad and being…well, bad. But despite this, she gets her wish, as Atori finds herself fascinated with this small scared animal who follows her around.

Every character is an easily identifiable archetype: we have the socially inept lead; the grumpy gyaru best friend with a crush; the conceited clout-seeking cutesy girl; and the well-admired and respected senpai. Not much in the way of surprises here, although aside from the “school idol” girl they are likeable enough.

Nothing about Atori’s sudden interest in Yuu makes a lick of sense aside from the fact that there wouldn’t be a premise without it. You can’t look at Bad Girl and expect anything resembling verisimilitude or character growth—it’s simply a vehicle to deliver well-worn jokes around our lead struggling to communicate yet failing upwards. There is also a layer of lewdness to the gags that feel very calculated, starting with the OP that includes several moments of our cast posing with each other in the nude for no reason.

The animation is solid, the comedic timing is tight and punchy. It’s a well-executed version of what it is: a gag manga adaptation with few fresh ideas. To paraphrase Wesley Snipes: it ain’t bad.

Art – Cutesy. Very cutesy
Story – Goofy and fluffy
Characters – Here just to be silly
Service – Kya-hoo out of 10
Yuri – Should’ve called this series Down Bad Girl

Overall – It’s not bad, but it’s not particularly great either

You can watch this series on HIDIVE, if you’re bad enough

Matt Marcus is a cohost of various projects on the Pitch Drop Podcast Network, as well as the writer for the blog Oh My God, They Were Bandmates analyzing How Do We Relationship in greater depth.





There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless… LN 1

July 28th, 2025

A girl with blonde hair embraces a girl with pink hair, who looks uncomfortable about it. They wear the same school uniform skirt of black plaid, white blouses and red ties. The blonde wears a black blazer, as well.by Eleanor Walker, Okazu Staff Writer

This series has been on my radar for a while, but with the anime now airing I took the chance to read the first novel, which is mostly covered by episodes 1-3 of the anime adaptation of the light novel There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless…, Volume 1

Content warning: sexual assault

Mai Oduka has it all. Money, good looks and brains. So when former loner Renako decides to reinvent herself for high school and go to a new school where no one knows her, she of course attracts the attention of Mai. Renako becomes part of Mai’s friend group, and is stunned when Mai confesses her feelings to her. Renako, however, just wants to be friends, so they set up a contest where some days they’ll try being lovers, and other days just friends. If Mai wears her hair up, it’s a friends day, if it’s down, it’s a lovers day.

I like the premise, it’s silly and a little bit of wish fulfillment for those who want to imagine how the other side lives and date the most popular girl in school. I just wish the author understood consent. There is one particular chapter in this volume where Mai and Renako end up in a hotel room because of course they do, and of course they end up naked together as well. I would describe what Mai does to Renako at this point as sexual assault. If you (supposedly) love someone, you listen to them when they say no. Granted, Mai does apologise later and says she got carried away, but it still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

From this point, feelings start to get a little more messy. Mai tries to put Renako out of her mind, and hosts a private party to find a new partner. After a confrontation with Satsuki (another member of the group who has the potential to be very interesting), Renako dashes to find Mai and they quite literally kiss and make up. I must applaud whoever came up with the pun “friends with Rena-fits” at this point, as that’s how their relationship is going to proceed into volume 2. Not quite friends, not quite lovers. I do wonder if the reason Mai likes Renako so much is that she treats her relatively normally and actually says no to her, when she’s spent her entire life getting what she wants as soon as she wants it.

A potentially much more interesting development is Renako and Ajisai’s relationship. Ajisai is another member of the friend group, described as “the class archangel” but there seems to be more to her than just that. She has siblings who she has to care for and it turns out she’s also into video games, so while Mai is away working in France, Renako invites Ajisai over to play games with her. Renako has a little bit of a crush on Ajisai and does tell her that, so I’m interested to see where that goes, although I’d be very surprised if she ends up with anyone other than Mai.

Overall, this book is more complicated that it first seems. What seems to be a very shallow, over the top, harem-ish premise actually has some interesting characters in there. Renako’s reaction to being assaulted is also surprisingly realistic, she blames herself for not being firm enough with her boundaries and feels bad for slapping Mai. Girl, you are not the problem here. I was heartened to see that the most popular comment on episode 3 of the anime on YouTube at the time of writing was “The word of the day is consent”. Maybe there’s hope for the internet after all.

Ratings:

Art – 7 I do enjoy Eku Takeshima’s art
Story – 6 This would have been a lot higher if there was no sexual assault.
Characters – 7 So far the side characters are more interesting than the main couple.
Service – 6 A few illustrations but nothing too indecent.
Yuri – 7 It gets better as it goes on.

Overall – 7 I just hope there’s no more sexual assault in the next volumes.