Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


The Lying Bride and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate, Volume 1

March 6th, 2026

Cover of The Lying Bride and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate by Kodama Naoko. On a pale-blue background with pale white letters spelling out the title, a tall short-haired woman wears a tuxedo, back to back with shorter woman with light brown wavy shoulder-length hair in a wedding dress.In The Lying Bride and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate, Volume 1, Naoko Kodama offers up a lesbian that is a little more than just a plot complication. 

I’ve noted in the past, that some of Kodama’s work gets very close to discussions of trauma and the way people react to it.  In some cases, she sets up a reaction that is so extreme, the originating event appears to be serious, only to back off into a troubling, but not damaging, situation. There are two exceptions (mostly) to this trend -notably, I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up and the topic of today’s review. I say “notably,” because these two books, of all of her work, directly address queer life in Japan. 

Shigisawa is not out at her workplace, but she is very aware of and unhappy with the inequality she faces as a woman who will(can)not get married and a woman without children. She is grumpy about this. When a popular former colleague shows up needing her help, Shigisawa is not happy about that at all, either. On the one had, she had a mild crush on Goto and is grumpy about that too, as Goto left to get socially-approved married to a man. On the other hand, Shigisawa Rei is actually a softy and doesn’t turn Goto Saya away. 

The main conflict for Rei is being in close proximity to a woman she finds attractive and who appears to be all but throwing herself at Rei in what she believe is a clueless straight-girl way. For Saya, the conflict is very different, as her marriage is…she doesn’t know what it is, but it’s not working. This is not a funny at all, though. By not understanding her own self, Saya spends the volume unintentionally putting Rei’s emotions at risk.  

Because Kodama’s work typically comes with a guarantee of a happy ending, there isn’t that much tension in these two conflicts. We have to assume Saya will – at the last possible moment – deal with her failed marriage, and Rei will get the girl. And whether you like them as a couple or not is up to you. But at least, here in Volume 1 we get some pointed griping about Japanese society and their government’s abject failure to legitimize same-sex marriages, something that more than 70% of Japanese people think ought to exist (and despite multiple court rulings that lack of SSM is unconstitutional.)

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Service – 4
Yuri – 8
LGBTQ – 10

Overall – 7

Kodama-sensei’s work often strikes me the same way Melissa Scott’s science fiction in the 1990s did. It comes so close to making a point, dealing with an issue, managing an emotion, but shies away from follow through. That said, Kodama has been edging closer and closer and I hope that one, day, she’ll write the thing that has to be written.





Fatale Game, Volume 1 (ファタールゲーム)

March 5th, 2026

A woman with long black hair is draped possessively over a woman with short pink hair, sitting cross-legged, who looks put out by it. Envelopes with hearts fly about them.You may remember Battan from Run Away With Me Girl, all three volumes of which were reviewed here on Okazu by Guest Reviewer Matt Rolf. Well, Battan is back with a new series that is unique and uncomfortable in equal parts.

Fatale Game, Volume 1 (ファタールゲーム) is the story of Tainaka Seri, a one-hit wonder of a manga artists. Her first story was a massive hit and she’s been in a slump every since. When she gets a new editor she is ready to leave the manga world altogether, until she meets Fukami Sumire, her incredibly passionate new editor. Proclaiming her love for “Nanakusa”‘s work, Fukami begins to light a fire in Seri.

But that fire, clearly, is also likely to burn.

Fukami is passionate, yes, claiming to be moved to tears by Seri’s work, but she also is a grounded taskmaster, requiring more than just average work from her charge. Seri is being pushed out of her comfort zone by Fukami, and part of that is Fukami’s way of not quite crossing the line into inappropriate intimacy. As uncomfortable as she, is Seri is drawing and writing again, and feeling some kind of spark between them. 

When Seri meets another of Fukami’s manga charges, things take a turn. Iwao warns Seri away from Fukami, claiming that the editor has a definite ranking in who gets time and attention. And we see that Iwao and Fukami’s relationship is more intimate than Seri and Fukami. 

As the volume concludes, Seri goes to an awards ceremony to see Fukami and is confronted with the fact that he editor does this for everyone she is in charge of. She loves their work and would LOVE to see them reach number one in the magazine rankings! Seri meets the others as they begin Fukami’s “game,” but what will that entail?

As I said, this book is equal parts interesting and uncomfortable. Fukami’s femme fatale method works, and clearly she uses her personal charisma to motivate her writers, even possiblysetting them against one another to compete for her favor. It also can be read as Fukami does genuinely deeply, personally love manga and genuinely, deeply, personally wants every single one of her mangaka to reach for the number 1 ranking.  Her behavior borders on (sometime crossing into) inappropriate, but her desire is not for the mangaka, but for their art.

It also could easily be that both these readings are true at the same time, depending on which perspective you take. I’m waiting to see how it pans out in the next volume.  I’m interested enough to see if this is a deep psychological game by Fukami and where it leads, or if the game is simply “kick these do-nothing artists into high gear.”

Ratings: 

Art – 6 I don’t care for the messy, wet look of Battan’s art, but YMMV
Story – 7 Could be good, could be bad, might be creepy, might not. Don’t know
Characters – 7 A bunch of soppy, slumpy manga artists and a femme fatale editor….what could go wrong?
Service – 4 Mild, but suggestive situations
Yuri – 4 There’s some projection happening and mopey crushing and an inappropriate kiss

Overall – 7

If you like Battan’s art, complicated and uncomfortable humans in complicated and uncomfortable situations or stories about stuck manga artists facing their own truths, give Fatale Game a try. 





Yuri Kickstarter News

March 2nd, 2026

Two women embrace with a white cat between them, in a palette of pastels pink, lavender and gold. Art by Morinaga Milk.Today dawned with news on two Yuri Kickstarters! 

Yesterday, GaletteWORKS announced the upcoming Kickstarter for Vol.5 Yuri Comic Magazine Galette- Special English Edition which will go live on March 15.  Previous issues have been 300-400% funded, with tons of extras, even despite batshit US tariffs and inflated shipping charges.   Keep your eyes peeled for this!

This volume will continue series by Yatosaki Haru, Nekohariko 22, Milk Morinaga, MiyukiYorita, Izumi Kitta and Moto Momono, Ringo Hamano, and Mera Hakamada. If you missed previous issues, back issues are available as add-ons if there are available supplies. Extras for Galette are also pretty sweet, with an acrylic standee and postcards as well as a “Special” douinshi-style book, available at sever backer levels.

 

Two girls wearing little black dresses touch each other's faces while smiling brightly at each other. Art by Miyuki Yorita.

Miyuki Yorita’s 【vol.3】yuri manga「Her kiss, my libido twinkles」 Kickstarter campaign is live and it is already about 350% funded as I write! In fact, I expect that by the time I finish this post, it’ll have hit 400%.  This continues the story of two girls who met in the hospital. The introduction the KS is this delightful line: 

Wouldn’t you like to see more of this wonderful love story between the two girls?

I have mad respect for that. ^_^

I’ll be saying this a LOT in days to come. Your support of queer media and queer creators is more important than ever. Put your money where you want to see growth. 





Ryuu to Ryuu no Kekkon (竜と龍の結婚)

February 26th, 2026

Two young women in winter robes sit on a pink background chatting amiably, surrounded by white flowers.Lycoris is the Queen of the Dragon Kingdom. She’s a western style dragon, who breathes fire in her beast form and has fiery red hair and a temper in her human form. So, you can imagine her reaction when Reifa, the first Princess of the Dragon Country, an Eastern style ice dragon, and emotionally cool as a human, arrives to marry her and bring peace to their two countries.  In Ryuu to Ryuu no Kekkon (竜と龍の結婚) two dragons find a way to bring their worlds together.  

Reifa and Lycoris fall for one another pretty quickly, but there is a lot to get through before they can be together. Another dragon is invading the Northern border for one thing and Lycoris is very loathe to actually propose marriage out of sheer embarrassment. When Reifa decides she wants a child, but Lycoris learns that birthing might kill her, it throws everything into turmoil. 

This one-shot manga by Ikuta Hana was a touching, slightly silly and very schmaltzy one-shot volume. I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed that it gets licensed, because it’s really quite cute. 

 

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story  – 8
Characters – 9
Service – a teeny tiny bit of partial nudity
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

The difference between 竜 and 龍 is, I believe the Western Dragon is more like a lizard (or turtle, based on the kanji) and the Eastern is more like a serpent. They are both pronounced “ryuu” but have fundamental differences in shape and function. ^_^





Comic Yuri Hime, March 2026 (コミック百合姫2026年3月号)

February 22nd, 2026

In an orange palette, a young woman sits with multiple outfits thrown on her head by an older woman whose face we cannot see, as she holds out yet another outfit for approval. Art by Chiriko.Comic Yuri Hime, March 2026 (コミック百合姫2026年3月号) cover is another colorful piece by Chiriko. This time a girl is being playfully buried in different clothes by a woman behind her. I still don’t know if these  cover hair, lips and fits will also include blades, but we can hope . ^_^

A new series about a earnest, naive young lady being hunted by the school “wolf”,  “Dareka Ookami-san no Shitsuke-kata Shirimasenka!!?” by Anmi Tsuki has begun. I am not entirely sure how I feel about it and will give it time.

Touma’s “Kimi no Sei dakara, Sekinin totte yo ne” is heating up as both rental girlfriend and her client are thinking it could be more. If the series is going to wrap up swiftly, they’ll be fine. If this is supposed to continue…expect drama. ^_^

In “Hareta Hi no Dress Code” our protagonist is thinking about how the scars on her legs have shaped her life and shes really not okay with that anymore, while Natsuki wishes she could just wear pants and doesn’t really know why she won’t.

Inori. and Aonoshimo are absolutely killing it in “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” as Rei has to face the complete failure of her plan to save Claire. Misha is there to slap her out of it (and send her to her death, but…)

Hirao Auri joins the magazine with a one-shot about a girl who obsesses about aliens who learns that her club kouhai has been an alien all along. This is a silly as it sounds.

A quick note to note that “Genjitsu Sekai (Real) Demo Shiawase ni Shite Kudasai ne?” by Shiborikasuko, in which a young woman built a harem as the protagonist of a otome game, now has become a harem in our world as all the game characters have tracked her down in her reality. It is as exhausting as it sounds. ^_^

SheepD’s “Kanaria wa Kiraboshi no Yume o Miru” comes to an end, although I would have loved to see an extended after-happily ever after, as Ayano and “Tsubaki” make a life together overseas. (We haven’t seen that trope in years!)
 

As always there are other stories I read and enjoyed and others I did not or never read, which is exactly why a magazine is so useful! I am always interested in a theoretical way, for instance at the “other Yuri” recommendations by the staff. Obviously I don’t always agree, but seeing what they are reading and watching is interesting. I’m really hoping someone there will pick up Hajimete no Yuri Studies: Queer/Feminist no Shiten Kara ( はじめての百合スタディーズ: クィア/フェミニストの視点から) and mention it…but I can definitely see why there might be reasons why they would not, as well.

Ratings: 

Overall – 8

As always a good volume that would be perfect if we just had a little action and sports to balance out the school and adult life stuff. The April issue is on sale now in Japan!