Yuri Manga
On the Yuricon Store this week:
The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 5 hits shelves this week! Do not miss this wonderful story by Kuzushiro from Kodansha.
I Can’t Say No to the Lonely Girl, Volume 2 also hits shelves this week. While the premise was a bit sus, I will continue to promise that it does get better and ends in a terrific place. Just bear with this volume. ^_^;
How Do I Turn My Best Friend Into My Girlfriend?, Volume 2 by Syu Yasaka will hit shelves in September, which seems impossibly far away, but will be here all too soon.
Twinstar Cyclone Runaway, Volume 1 (ツインスター・サイクロン・ランナウェイ) is the “comicalized” version of an award-winning story from the Literary Yuri Short Story Contest run on Pixiv annually. It tells a science fiction story of a young woman who is looking for a marital partner so she can go out and fish (something only married partners do on this world,) and the restaurant server (which is sort of meant to explain the incongruent maid costume) who joins her. It was a fine short story, I guess we’ll see what it becomes as a manga.
Via Comic Natalie, V Drive (Vドライブ！) is about a girl who joins a talent agency that is a front for saving the earth from alien invasion and is paired with someone who can’t stand her, but with whom she is in” Business Yuri” relationship on stage. Throwing everything at the wall to see if anything sticks, I guess. ^_^ Check out a sample chapter in Japanese on Comic K.
Yuri Drama CD
We’ve added the Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta Drama CD, Special Edition (ドラマCD 気になってる人が男じゃなかった) to the Yuricon Store. How exciting that Drama CDs are making a comeback. This is particularly a fun one as the entire premise is about retro music. ^_^
Okazu News
If we get $50/month more in patronage/support on Okazu this month, we can give every single reviewer – staff and guest – a raise. Help us get Yuri reviewers the wages they deserve! You can support us on Patreon or Kofi. This is a huge help to us and allows us to do more coverage of the Yuri you love! This Pride month, help us support queer creators and their work!
Help us give raises to our Staff and Guest writers!
Become an Okazu Patron today!
Yuri Live-Action
Big news from Sal Jiang, creator of Black & White! Her office romantic comedy Ayaka-chan ha Hiroko-sempai ni Koshiteru is being made into a live action drama for Japanese TV. (Yet again confirming my long-held belief that Josei work is almost always more suited to live-action than anime.) This will begin next month on several JP networks and I’ll be looking for some way to watch this without bending the rules of time and space. ^_^ I have reviewed Volume 1 and Volume 2 here on Okazu, but have not yet had a chance to read Volume 3. I’ll bump it up, now.
Sailor Moon News
Netflix has announced that Sailor Moon Cosmos will be headed our way in August. ANN’s Egan Loo has details. Fans are, predictably, relived that we’ll get the final two movies of the Crystal series.
Now. Wouldn’t it be cool if the next time they redo the anime, Toei doesn’t rush or shortchange it, puts directors on it that understand the franchise and the US localizer doesn’t hire toxic asshats to handle talent? Just saying, I would like to think this series will one day actually get a chance to shine.
Yuri Visual Novels
Via YNN Correspondent Patricia B, Studio Élan has announced two new VNs!
A Tithe In Blood, is a “A dark yuri visual novel, about a quiet university student who discovers blood magic in the depths of her grief. Stepping into a world she little understands, Honoka finds unexpected love, and inadvertantly [sic] sets in motion a deadly series of events.” Wishlist on Steam or download on Itch.io. Trailer is up on Youtube!
“After getting lost in a blizzard you find yourself in Rainbow Valley—a strange mountain with even stranger villagers.” Wishlist Rainbow Valley on Steam. Creator Izzy calls Rainbow Valley a “cute dating sim, set in a secluded mountain village.”
Support Yuri journalism on Ko-fi!
Other News
In honor of Pride Month, the outstanding documentary about Queer Comics, No Straight Lines is streaming for free on US PBS (Public Broadcasting Stations). If you have not seen it, I hope you will make time for it, it is fantastic. I reviewed it back in 2021 and it is even more important as we lost more of our first-gen folks this year, including the incomparable Trina Robbins.
In fantastic news, Anime NYC, The Japan Society and star anime journalist and opinion-maker Deb Aoki announce the creation of the North American Manga Awards! I know Deb’s been working on this for years and it’s amazing that it finally is off the ground. With manga accounting for almost half of comics sales in the US and only just this year being eligible for Eisner Awards outside the English Edition of International Comic (Asia) category, it’s been time for a long time that we have our own award. Congrats to all the judges and to everyone involved. I’m looking forward to the results. Get the details on ANN from Alex Mateo about this long-anticipated award.
This week’s fun fact, Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou in this month’s Comic Yuri Hime is the second Yuri manga reference to Japanese Edo-period costume drama television series Mito Koumon. The first was Fujieda Miyabi’s Iono-sama Fanatics. (Another series that just did not get the chance it deserved through bad timing and organizational incompetence.)
If you’d like to support Yuri journalism and research, Patreon and Ko-Fi are where we currently accept subscriptions and tips. Our goal now, into 2024, 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.
