Happy Valentine’s Day! Because Yuri is now a profitable market and marketing people have the collective creativity of a cracker (speaking as a marketing person, ahem), it feels like every company on the planet is announcing new Yuri licenses this week. Plus a ton of other news, so…buckle in folks. This is a Yuri Love Valentine’s Day extravaganza edition of Yuri Network News! Ready? …. (You’re not ready…)
English Yuri Manga
Yen Press has a load of new books. We have Assorted Entanglements, Vol. 9 cover debut and it’s up on the Yuricon Store now. The Demon Bride: “I Love You” Are Frightening Words tells a Yuri tale of paranormal love.
From Tokyopop’s LoveLove imprint, we have How My Cute Girlfriend and I Started a Love Story, Volume 1 by Reon Nomiya. Tokyopop has confirmed that There, Beneath the Water, Volume 1 is a Yuri horror manga. When these have official covers they’ll go up on the Store.
ANN’s Adriana Hazra has the news that Kadokawa is releasing two Yuri titles in English, Farewell, My Firsts: How My Heartless Childhood Friend Stole All My First Experiences One Bet at a Time and Shino and Ren by Minori Chigusa. I have read one Kadokawa book and was very impressed with the quality, so look forward to these.
Seven Seas is running a Valentine’s Day Yuri contest on X. They also have a a bunch of licenses this week:
A Love Yet to Bloom by Kon Fukaumi. This is a chance meeting at school story.
A Couple Drifting in the Wind by Puebro. I’m reading this right now in Japanese. A nervous young photographer meets a woman with a unique tattoo on campus.
Sleeping Idiot by Masakazu Ishiguro. I read and reviewed this here on Okazu a lifetime ago. ^_^ Seven Seas says “Two roommates struggle to make ends meet until an opportunity changes everything—the manga that inspired the hit live-action film Nemurubaka: Hypnic Jerks”.
Yuri Publisher No.9 is running a Yuri Contents Festival through March 6. Yuri series are free or discounted on their platform.
Korean GL
Yen Press has a huge announcement this week – hit Korean GL manhwa, What Does the Fox Say? by Team Gaji. This is a pretty popular title, so this is huge news. ^_^ I’m glad someone got this.
Japanese Yuri Manga
Yamada to Kase-san, Volume 5 (山田と加瀬さん。) is on JP bookshelves and on the Yuricon Store.
rui obata on X announced a new series, Isso, Koidattara Yokatta (いっそ、恋だったらよかったのに). Check it out on Comic Walker. This is the story of two women who meet years after high school, when one was just thinking about the other.
Baihe News
Crossed Hearts has announced their first Glam Beat imprint license on X, Borrowing Your Textbook (175160) by Taa Ro. This will be digital-first license. They say more Baihe on the way.
Seven Seas is launching a whole new imprint for Baihe with a rather cheesy video, I have to say. I know we’re getting more, they told me so, but what, I don’t yet know. We’ll look forward to it together. ^_^
Via NongAnnTokyo X.com, who says they “found this one-shot about love and martial arts between two young women in the Ming Dynasty. It’s the author’s graduate project and honestly such a cool read. ” Liǎoliǎo Jiàn Sōngxuě (了了見松雪) by Chen Yige is on Seika manga.
LoveLove has announced She Is Still Cute Today by Guo Si Te which features a romance between two very different kinds of people.
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Yuri Light Novel
J-Novel Club just announced the license for Unsung Epics of the Hero’s Journey. I have this on my Bookwalker to-read pile. Guess it’s time to get into it. ^_^ Hat tip to OASG for the news.
The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Vol. 8.5 is up on the Yuricon Store, and a review of this short story collection is forthcoming soon. ^_^ Volume 9 is also coming soon.. This completes the series. Speaking of Piero Karasu, the creator of MagiRevo is debuting a new LN, Mob Shoujo ga Rasubosu Majo o Shiawasenisuru Made (モブ少女がラスボス魔女を幸せにするまで) which is an isekai about a girl who decides to save her beloved friend from becoming the final boss.
Lycoris Recoil: Recovery Days continues the story of those happy-go-lucky schoolgirl assassins, from Yen Press. Yen also announced The Girls’ Last Tour Collector’s Edition.
Seven Seas has announced the license for I’m In Love With The Villainess: Come On And Notice Me Already, the sequel story following Rae and Claire’s daughters, Mei and Aleah. inori.-sensei has been releasing this on her Pixiv Fanbox, so I’m caught up. It has some very good elements and some that I am less happy with, but I trust the author.
Lipton Sousaku‘s contest-winning light novel Jinsei Zenbu Kakete mo, Gin no Majo ni Kachitai (人生全部賭けても、銀の魔女に勝ちたい) will be out next week on digital platforms. This Yuri story is about two witches who meet again five years after the one defeated the other in a school battle. The author describes it as “A stubborn and talented tsundere x a secretive and lonely genius who is an emotional rival Yuri.” ^_^
Teren Mikami has a new manga, with art by Moroko Kurasaki and original character designs by Miman, Makemasenkara to Iiharu Kao no Ii Onnanoko o, Zenryoku de Kuppukusaseru Yuri no Ohanashi (負けませんからと言い張る顔のいい女の子を、全力で屈服させる百合のお話).
Seven Seas announced There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… Spin-off Collection by Teren Mikami and Musshu. They also have the audiobook for Adachi and Shimamura, Volume 9 light novel.
LoveLove has licensed Ugly Girls by Rokakoen. This multi-country paranormal story sounds intriguing. And this is a novel, not a LN. This is a trend I’m seeing among manga publishers. Yen has a number of non-illustrated LNs -y’know, novels – that I have genuinely enjoyed. Maybe I’ll do a quick round up for you all here.
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Yuri Visual Novels
Studio Élan says that Witch You Want, their cozy Yuri fantasy game is available on Steam! Of course you can get it directly from the publisher, as well.
Takano_wf on X wants you to keep your eyes peeled for Kyuketsuki no Hanayome (吸血鬼の花嫁) a full=voice Yuri VN.
Yuri Short Stories
Yuri Short Story Collection wiz 2 (百合小説コレクション wiz 2) is hitting JP shelves this month. I reviewed Volume 1 briefly along with two other story collections a year ago.
Animation News
Khianna Khansmith’s Pretty Pretty Please I Don’t Want to be a Magical Girl has some exciting news at the end of the Episode 2 Animatic on Youtube!
The Rose of Versailles movie came out a year ago and there are all kind of shops and goods and celebrations and music to celebrate. There’s way too much and this news report is huge, so just follow them on X to get all the news.
Live Action News
Shoujo Kageki ☆ Revue Starlight El Dorado will be on stage this spring. The key visual looks good, I have to admit.
Yuri Events
Kinokuniya is doing a worldwide pop-up store for The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All with exclusive merchandise. That’s it. What’s even next? A themed Himalaya ride? ^_^
Anchor rainbow port Tokyo, the Yuri-friendly bar in Shinjuku has created a special Yuri Club for fans! They’ll be doing more special events and even get-togethers to do location pilgrimages and other fun things in and outside the cafe. If you’re in or near Tokyo, follow them on Pixiv to keep up with the Yuri Club activities.
Morishima Akiko has shared a few photos from the Yuri Kuma Arashi 10th Anniversary Event on her X account.
As I write, today is the last day of Yen Press’s Yuri Cafe. It was a lovely warm spot in the middle of what has been a very cold February in NYC. My article about the cafe on ANN is live, and so is my more personal perspective here in Okazu.
Looks like the Sailor Moon Shining Theater restaurant is back in Tokyo at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel Club eX. Rafael Antonio Pineda has the details on ANN. That was so much fun, I highly recommend the experience.
Other News
Jiji Books announced the definitively-titled Light Novel Taizen (ライトノベル大全), A Guide to Light Novels. According to their X.com, this will include “500 Masterpieces Selected by Experts! A definitive, collectible edition showcasing their impact on publishing and society.” inori.-sensei notes that I’m In Love With The Villianess is included, I also see No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover, Unless…! on the list.
Melonbooks has a Yuri news focused X account, Melon_yuriuyuri, so you can track all their specials and extras.
Sylvia Jones review of Roll Over and Die, Volume 5 on ANN is worth reading, even if you’re not interested in the anime. CW for discussion of sexual assault and the aftermath.
I took a look at two girls taking a look at the end of the world in Touring After the Apocalypse Volume 6-7 for ANN.
Manta, the K-Comic publisher, is looking for vertical-scroll comic artists to submit work. They want committed artists and are looking for 50 panels to start.
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A great update as always. I don’t know all these series, but you did great postings about the yuri cafe. The news about Pretty Pretty Please I Don’t Want to be a Magical Girl (also known as IDWTBAMG) is very exciting and I hope it is picked up for a fully-animated series (apart from just fully animating the pilot)! I love that Khansmith is so active with the fandom and everyone drawing fanart. She is constantly drawing fanart of the characters, especially Aika and Zira, in all sorts of outfits, whether on her Tumblr or Instagram, sometimes even adding music along with it. Despite the perils and dangers when it comes to crowdfunding, there is clearly a lot of exciting things going on in the indie animation space right now, as Matt Braly is starting his own show (after the film he was going to make with Rebecca Sugar was shelved by Sony for not being “commercial enough”), Dana Terrace’s pilot Knights of Guinevere got greenlit for a full order, and everything else. I’ll have to check out all these links to these other manga, light novels, short stories, and everything else you mention here. Thanks for doing this, as always.
Wow. That’s a lot of great content to digest. I’m really happy to see She is Still Cute Today. I loved this series when it was on Tapas as My Darling is the Cutest in 2021-2022. It’s adorable and I’ve been waiting for a print release for years. I also enjoyed What Does the Fox Say? when it ran on Tappytoon (yes, I read a lot of yuri content on the apps). It’s a love triangle filled with a lot of drama. The complete opposite of the sweet, chaste rom com of She is Still Cute Today.