Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Not So Shoujo Love Story, Volume 4

October 19th, 2026

In front of opposing black and white and color panels of fireworks, a girl with short reddish hair, leans into a startled girl with blonde hair.We have hit that moment in Curryuku’s story where the characters are going to have to figure some shit out. In Not So Shoujo Love Story, Volume 4, shit is beginning to be figured out.

Hana has long been saying that she likes Rei, but she’s smart enough to know that “like” and even love or desire are not enough to make a relationship happen, much less work. Rei’s a dumbass, but even she surely has to notice that she’s thinking about Hana all the time.

Even our resident alien, Hansum notices something is going down, although his understanding of it is imperfect.

The main part of the story is the tenuous, unevenly balanced relationship between Hana and Rei. Here all our existential cringe is balled up into one more horrific passage of time in high school, but real life is starting to peek in through the cracks, and other relationship begin to become more fleshed out. Rei thinks about her father as a person for the first time, and with that, the reality of life weighs on her. Hana’s father, likewise starts to see his daughter as a whole person for the first time. She isn’t who he assumed she’d be, but he’s working on understanding who she is. 

Of all the relationships in the story, Volume 4 let’s us see the unlikely friendship between Susan and Rei leave the realm of  snark and trash talk and actually become something that gives both of them strength. Of all the things I like about this volume, this friendship developing was my favorite.

And, lastly, there is a moment of reckoning for Hana and Rei. As creator Curryuku puts it at the end of this volume, “This not so shoujo love story has begun.”

I very much enjoy this series, even (maybe because of?) with so many extremely goofy gags. But once again…let’s look at that brilliant cover! OMG. The Black and white-manga-style contrasted with the all-color webtoon style panels, still functioning as a paper background. Every one of the covers thus far has been worth the price of the book for me.  Viz Media Originals have, thus far, been excellent.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – Nope
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8





Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 12 (雨夜の月)

October 8th, 2026

During a rainy night a tall girl with long, black hair wearing a baseball jacket in in red with white sleeves, meets a shorter girl with orange-brown collar-length hair, wear red sweat pants and jacket with white stripes on the arm and leg, under an umbrella.I just happened to notice the Amazon JP ratings when I was setting Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 12 (雨夜の月) up on the Yuricon Store and with several hundred ratings, it has 97% 5-star ratings.

It is really that good. 

This story has been about growth from the very beginning. Kanon was cocooned in a world of her own making, to protect herself from the outside world that did not care to understand her.  She let herself use her inability to hear to avoid things she did not want to deal with, and things she knew would hurt. Saki did not break those walls down, we learned from earlier volumes. Saki helped her want to break the walls on her own. Once she started to interact with people, and the people around her reached back for her, she stopped hiding in that world. Which meant, she faced feelings she had never had to feel before. 

Saki was hiding something from herself, as well.  She’s becoming more aware of her interest in other girls, but while an older gay women is able to see her right away, she’s still only taking tentative steps to acceptance. 

In many ways, adolescence is a kind of glass closet. Adults can see the people they may become, but it’s almost impossible to see it one’s self. In the case of Amayo no Tsuki, the closet is a one way mirror and both Saki and Kanon have not been able to see outside.

In Volume 12 all these things are about to change.

Saki will admit to herself who she is, and Kanon, will see herself from the outside for the first time and both will  come to the same conclusion.

And it it so, so good.

As an extra bonus, the trailer for the Amayo no Tsuki anime is live on Youtube! (I have a unsubstantiated theory that the trailer was being held until Volume 12 came out…for reasons. ^_^)

Ratings: 

Art -9
Characters – 10
Story – 10
Service -0
Yuri/queer – 10/10

Overall – 10

Volumes 1-8 of The Moon on A Rainy Night are available in English from Kodansha. Volume 9 will be hitting shelves in January 2027.





Comic Yuri Hime, September 2026 (コミック百合姫2026年9月号)

September 20th, 2026

A neon green color scheme, turned 90 degrees, shows a girl with green glasses lenses, laying among glass vials, perfume bottles and vases. Running behind again from crazy summer, cons, illnesses and other fun things, but today we’ll take a brief look at Comic Yuri Hime, September 2026 (コミック百合姫2026年9月号). CD Japan was crashing out when I put this up, but I’ll add the link as soon as it’s back up.

This month’s tone poem of a cover is neon green a color we’ve been spending a lot of time with recently. ^_^ For once we do not see the second person in the scenario, with the implication that we are that person. Chiriko’s art remains evocative and obscure.

This issues contains a number of one-shots by new and returning artists. I believe the stories at the end of the volume are promoting a new anthology by Ichijinsha.

The standout piece for me this issue was “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” The team at Liebe cafe, having met and been vetted by Mitsuki’s father, we now turn our attention her mother who, it seems, is more protective and concerned, but in a way that stifles, rather than frees. While this is going on, Hime is, for the first time, really investigating how she feels about Yano.

I thought Chiruha Chinmi’s “Kami ha Watashi o Toritai’tte Ittemasu!” (神は私を撮りたいって言ってます！) about cosplayers being recruited to save the world was fun.

“Zangai Shoujo, Kirakirana Sekai no Soko” has hit it’s cruising speed as we can now see how much bias there is against avatars, when Ao and Ariadne are mugged…by some of Ao’s classmates.

“Chou Fuka Uchuu Yori Ai o Komete” is rising towards a climax. Ten has a meaningful conversation with an acquaintance, and lays out everything, hr uncomfortable past, her fears about the future and Lulu. She decides to have an honest talk with the alien.

There were a LOT of one-shots this volume, and many series continuing. I found myself reading all but a few of the works. 

Ratings: 

Overall – 9

As I keep saying, Comic Yuri Hime has something for mostly everyone. I’m really hoping to see more action one day soon.

The October issue is out now and waiting for me to read it. ^_^





Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 6 (作りたい女と食べたい女)

September 18th, 2026

Four women stand around a tall, round table laughing and smiling. Three hold up chicken wings while the fourth takes a photo of them with her phone.In Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 6 (作りたい女と食べたい女), by Yuzaki Sakaome, the story shifts just a little bit. Up until now, it has been primarily about food (and, in Sena’s case, eating) with side quests into identity, consent, boundaries at work, in private and in public. Much as all of us in real life do, Nomoto and Kasuga have had to rethink and renegotiate with themselves who they say what to, and what the terms they might use are. 

Here in Volume 6, Nomoto comes out semi-publicly, online. I say “semi” because, while I 100% believe that parasocial relationship can be (or become) “real” relationships, and online friends are as real as school or work friends, there is still a gap between online life and in person life, for most people. If you come out online, people know that that nickname and avatar is out…but depending on how much you share online, there may not be a connection to the person who goes in to an office every day. I remember very clearly the day I began the Yuricon community, I discussed with my wife that I planned on being out from the beginning and, by association, she would be too.  We were out to our families and workplaces, so it was not much of a risk, but there is always a potential risk when people suddenly realize they were wrong about anything.

Nomoto comes out online and is met with both support and the incredible, yet predictable wave of “I only followed you for the food, wtf is this?” Dear friends, who the fuck care if you only followed for one reason or another? Fine, go away. Bye. /eyeroll/ Nomoto and Kasuga discuss the feelings this engenders, and Nomoto is convinced she did the right thing.

We then turn toward Nagumo, who has found a real friend and supporter in Yako. As Sena looks outside herself for the first time, she see that she is surrounded by women who are coming to know themselves better and she starts, maybe for the first time, to ask who, and what, she may be. Kaname patiently walks her through various ways of thinking about her gender and sexuality, until Sena discovers idea and words that work for her.

Finally, we turn towards Kasuga, who feel that she failed her own test on Valentine’s Day, when she was unable to admit that the chocolates were for her girlfriend. Of course Nomoto sympathized, but this is for her. Kasuga boldly goes into a florist, orders a simple flower and when asked if this is for a friend, takes the huge, terrifying step of saying “It’ for my girlfriend” out loud to someone. Of course we grin hugely and applaud!

Each one of our found family here is changing before our eyes. They are all growing out of the small selves they thought they needed to be, to embrace their truest selves. And, of course, they are eating delicious food while doing that!

Ratings:

Art – 7 There are moments that still feel rushed
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Service – YMMV, but in my opinion 0
LGBTQ+ – 10

Overall – 10

In a world that can feel dark if we let other people’s negativity drag us down, Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 6 is a reminder that we *can* and *should* make our own light.

Volume 6 is only recently out in Japan, there is no English edition release date yet, but I’ll put it on the Yuricon Store as soon as I see one. ^_^





How Do I Turn My Best Friend Into My Girlfriend? Volumes 4+5 and Series Overview by Luce

August 30th, 2026

I’m Luce, procrastinator extraordinaire and- how did I end up with more books than I started??? – book hoarder. You can call me a bookwyrm. Mostly hoarding, but getting back into reading novels. 

In the first three volumes of what I call Best Friend Girlfriend or ‘BFGF’ by Syu Yasaka, we met Minami, who realised she has a crush on her childhood friend and next door neighbour, Yuzu, and decided to try and get Yuzu to see her in a more romantic light – and generally failing in her attempts. We found out that Yuzu, however, also likes Minami, so we were landed firmly in the ‘mutual pining’ section.

Volume 4 cover, it does Minami and Yuzu sitting against each other in ski gear In volume four, Yuzu gets a cold and Minami looks after her, Kamiya tries her best to talk Yuzu into telling Minami she likes her, and Christmas arrives with all the romantic implications it carries in Japan. In volume five, things get romantic on the school skiing trip, but misunderstandings abound. Can Minami and Yuzu finally just tell each other?

Pining, pining, pining. As a fanfiction reader, and writer, I’ve read it, I’ve written it. The delicious tension of words unsaid, hands not quite reaching the other person. The roadblocks characters will put up to avoid saying anything, only to trip over them and have to catch themselves. The moment it all comes crashing down as they throw over the cliff of no return, yet find themselves flying as the other person returns their affections (at least, in the ones with happy endings). But there’s an art to it. There has to be a compelling reason why one or both wouldn’t just say something. Something has to be in jeopardy if they were wrong about it, no matter how big, and the creator has to sell you on that.

Which is to say, how much you like this will depend hugely on how much you like, or can tolerate, mutual pinning, and people just not spitting it out. I enjoy it… sometimes. It’s a well worn trope for a reason, and can result in breathtaking scenes of self-restraint, where you just want to hug the characters… but it can also leave the reader with frustrations where you’re thinking ‘just kiss already! They obviously like you!’. This tips into the latter, unfortunately. I get that it’s hard to admit you like a friend romantically, and daunting to tell them that. But there comes a point where it goes a little past denial into ‘how thick are you?’. There are various moments in these last two volumes where, in my opinion, there’s no compelling reason for them not to tell each other. Look. If someone is also going in for the kiss, that’s a pretty good sign they’re into you romantically. Don’t then say it was nothing! If someone says ‘I want you’ and tries to kiss you, that’s not ‘getting your hopes up’. Reacting that way is absurd denial, or ‘authorial delaying’. Making pining work as a trope is all about making the reader believe that the character genuinely believed that their feelings were unrequited in that moment. They’re normally not correct, but only the audience should know that.

Volume 5 cover. Minami and Yuzu look happy, hugging each other. I guess my problem with this manga is that the pining was quite cute for the first two or three volumes, after which it got too stretched out. The older I get, the more interest I have in stories that cover making a relationship work – getting over hurdles, managing intimacy and boundaries, and especially when the characters are in school, trying to work out where the relationship fits, if it can, in their futures. Series like Kase-san and… and You and I Are Polar Opposites have both been exploring this to various degrees, and it’s been really refreshing. It makes manga like this, where they dance around each other, and not even particularly convincingly, less interesting.

It also ends up so focused on the dance/mess between Minami and Yuzu that everyone else falls by the wayside. Their friends feel like puppets to react to the dramas rather than people. There was some hints in the early volumes that two of them might be interested in each other, but does it get mentioned here? No.

In total, a cute series that overstretches its premise to its own detriment. There’s a fine line in pining between ‘come on, you guys can get there!’ and ‘get on with it!’. Unfortunately, this series falls closer to the latter.

Story: 6
Characters: 5
Art: 7
Service: 1
Yuri: 8
Overall: 6

Man, I really want to go read some good fics about mutual pining, now. As for manga that give me some of that vibe, Hirano and Kagiura (BL) and If I Could Reach You (Yuri) comes to mind. A Sapphic book, Six Times We Almost Kissed by Tess Sharpe also did pining very well (amongst other things). Any favourites for pining Yuri manga?