As the clock ticks down on 2013 (a year that was, for me, both excellent and terrible), we find ourselves looking back at the people, companies and random things of note that made up our Yuri Year. Here’s my Top Ten Yuri …People, Companies and Random Things… of 2013

10 – Okazu Readers

Traditionally, I start each year’s final list thanking you, Okazu readers and Yuri fans everywhere. This is not affectation, I really mean it! Without you reading, I’d be writing this to an empty room. Without your passion for buying, watching, reading Yuri, we’d have little to say. Without your news tips, your opinions, your corrections, your guest reviews, your support, Okazu would not be what it is – the oldest and most comprehensive Yuri blog in the world.

Once again, from the bottom of my heart, I say You deserve to be on the Top Ten List for 2013.

9 – Crunchyroll

I don’t give much love to Crunchyroll, which isn’t fair. It had a few years of being of generally low quality, but with higher profile, more investment and better project management, it has improved considerably since the early days. (The first one of you who mentions how it used to be something else, loses all commenting privileges for 2014. Move on already. That was years ago, sheesh.)

But you know, they have shown themselves to be very open to acquiring Yuri and LGBTQ-friendly anime and they are now moving forward with manga. I’m hoping that our shared ideal of the “manga library” we all want, to be able to click into and read lots of manga from lots of publishers, may one day be a reality. For giving it a try, CR makes #9.

8 – Funimation

Way back in the day, ADV was my go-to company for anime that had lesbian characters. Then Geneon picked up the baton. Now as I look back at my reviews for the past year, an awful lot of the anime have links back to Funimation.com. Thanks to Funimation, we have free, legal (with regional restrictions) anime for not-children that rather often includes lesbians. I’ll take it!

7 – One Peace Books

I know I am not alone in saying that I cannot wait for One Peace to bring out Sasamekikoto as Whispered Words. Woot. Double woot even. How cool to have a new publisher on the scene willing to invest in Yuri. More importantly, a publisher looking for decent stuff that might actually sell, instead of obscure junky titles no one wants, so they can say, “Look, we tried and you didn’t buy it” and we’d reply, “No, you didn’t. No one wanted Tori Koro. No one except Erica has ever heard of it. Try for real.” ^_^;

Tied for 5 – Ichijinsha, Shinsokan, Hobunsha and Futabasha

You may not really know these names, but you should For one thing, you need to know them to be able to shop for Yuri in Japan. These publishers have continued to publish Yuri manga that we want to read, by artists we want to support. Comic Yuri Hime and Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari are still with us and with their continued presence, Yuri the genre gets actual space on the manga store bookshelves.

4 – Seven Seas

The folks at Seven Seas continue to invest in Yuri, we continue to invest right back. It’s a win-win on all sides. They’ve got a lock on the Morinaga Milk pipeline and with luck we’ll see them expand on Yuri in the future. For putting out two Milk manga collections this year, they absolutely deserve a spot on the list!

♪ People. People who need Yuri need People. ♪  The people who create stuff we want to read and watch and obsess about….

3 – Hayashiya Shizuru

Hayate x Blade is over, long live Hayate x Blade Nyan! All hail Vegako!

Look, it’s just simple, Hayashiya-sensei draws stuff I want to read. You could totally read Hayate x Blade and never see Yuri in it. I can’t. ^_^ And with Shishunki Seimeitai Vega, we got her back in the 100% Yuri story for a bit. Any year I can put Hayashiya-sensei on this list is a good year. I declare 2013 to have been a good year, dammit. ^_^

2 – Shimura Takako

Aoi Hana completed a fabulous 8-volume run after a spectacular tie-in event last year and and release of the anime in English this year. Hourou Musukou is winding down, but the manga is being translated into English. It was a terrific year for lovers of Shimura-sensei’s work and for that I award her the #2 spot on this list.

This year, my top honor for mover and shaker in Yuri goes to…

1 – Riyoko Ikeda

The Goddess of Manga, whose skills and influence in Shoujo and Josei rivals that of Tezuka and whose influence in Yuri surpasses his. This year, her masterwork Rose of Versailles received a lovely release and amazingly we also were able to participate in the release of her classic Oniisama E, Dear Brother.

For Lady Oscar Francois De Jarjeyes, Saint-Juste and Claudine, (whom I hope one day you will all get to meet) Riyoko Ikeda-sensei is this years #1 on my Top Ten Yuri List.

I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2014. Happy New Yuri Year!

P.S. – Yes, I know there’s no #6. Futabasha and Hobunsha would be 6 and Ichijinsha and Shinshokan would be 5, if I split them up. But I didn’t. ^_^

As always, you are welcome to tell me what I missed in the comments!

10 – Shishunki Seimeitai Vega, (思春期生命体ベガ)

I’m imagining you quirking your head slightly and making a noise that sounds like, “Hurh?” right now. Shishunki Seimeitai Vega, you say, Erica? Whah?

I look at you, meeting your eyes, with a slightly crazed look. Yes, Shishunki Seimeitai Vega! It was the first Yuri manga we’ve had from Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei since Strawberry Shake Sweet. And it had giant monsters! Yes. /nod nod/

9 – Zenryaku, Yuri no Sono Yori, Volume 1 and Volume 2 (前略、百合の園より)

I have no idea why this is on the list, except that when it was time to write the list…it totally felt like the right thing to do. The art wasn’t all that, the story wasn’t terribly original and yet, I found it charming and fun. I’m going with my gut and putting this doujinshi-like story of a doujinshi artist on the list at #9.

8 – Strange Babies (ストレンジベイビーズ)

The story that began in  Black Yagi to Gekiyaku Madeline (ブラックヤギーと劇薬まどれーぬ), just got weirder and less comfortable as it went on, but there is no doubt in my mind that I’m putting Ohsawa Yayoi’s series here because it starred a girl who wore a goat head. Full stop. You just can’t beat that.

Tied for 6 – Collectors (コレクターズ）and Fu~ Fu (ふ~ふ)

Two completely different stories about women in solid, stable and still, strangely goofy, relationships. Good reading and warm fuzzies all around.

Now we’re getting to the hard part…

5 – GIRL FRIENDS  (Volume 1 and Volume 2) & Kisses, Sighs, Cherry Blossoms Pink

2013 was a huge year for English-reading Morinaga Milk fans as Seven Seas offered up not one, but two collections of her work from both Futabasha and Ichinjinsha. Her moe art and realistic stories of love make her work a hit with readers of all kinds. And Seven Seas has already promised more.

You should see me working on these lists, switching titles around, trying to for optimum presentation.  Positions 4-2 were all so close in the running, they might as well have been tied. Even now, I’m waffling. So #4, #3 and #2 are all pretty much at the same level for me.

4 – Steps and Omoi no Kakera, Volume 2 (想いの欠片)

I unabashedly love Takemiya Jin-sensei’s work. One of my high points for 2013 was being able to interview her for Okazu. Her stories ring true, her characters have the kind of strength of self and honesty that I can’t get enough of, but it doesn’t mean they’re paladins. Snark runs high in her work. Satomi telling Ayuna to take her self-loathing and looking down on her and get lost was a highlight of my reading year. ^_^

3 – Ohana Holoholo (オハナホロホロ)

Torino Shino’s series was unexpected. It never did what it seemed like it was going to do, from beginning to end. I’m always happiest to see Yuri in Josei stories, where it is less of a fetish and more like life. I never gave up hope that this story would leave me with a smile and sure enough, that’s what it did. It could have ended in a dozen ways, but the way it chose was a celebration of love, of family, no matter how unconventional, and the girl deserved the girl she got, which is why Ohana Holoholo makes it on to my Top Ten manga list for the year. ^_^

2 – Aoi Hana (青い花)

Aoi Hana took us on a long ride and when it ended, I wasn’t sure that ride was really over. The reason this manga makes it so high on the list is not just that Fumi is the character I had always wanted, or that it had the ending so many fans wanted. The reason I ultimately find this series to be so good were the inconsistencies, the unanswered questions…the potholes in the road. I don’t actually consider the ending a happy ending, I consider it a possible happy beginning. Who knows what time will bring Fumi and Akira? I sure don’t. There may not be happily ever after and that intrigues me – and that is why Shimura Takako’s Aoi Hana manga is on this list. ^_^

I’ve been waiting to write this list for many weeks for this moment. ^_^ I’m thrilled to say that my Number 1 Yuri Manga of 2013 is….

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1 – Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na (私の世界を構成する塵のような何か) (Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3)

I love Amano Shuninta’s “lesbian drama” series. I love Ruki having basically no idea about love. I love Sachi for knowing too much. I love every character (except Fueko) and I want Asuna to find someone nice. I love Maasa’s personality, and I enjoy not particularly liking Remia and being annoyed at Meru. No one is unbelievable except in totally believable ways. You can imagine yourself, sitting at a bar, or a cafe and hearing these characters talking just near you.

This series has the rare honor of making it to a third volume, certainly the best Comic Yuri Hime series to have done so.

For great characters in realistic situations, and a refreshingly adult story, my Top Yuri Manga of 2013 is Amano Shuninta’s Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na. ^_^

Next up, the wacky, devil-may-care Top Ten Yuri Anything list. ^_^