Yuri Manga

There never was an original Nanoha manga. The series got short interstial volumes that summarized the previous anime series and included additional gag comics. Well that’s been rectified, with a two-volume retelling of the first series.  ORIGINAL CHRONICLE Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The 1st (ORIGINAL CHRONICLE 魔法少女リリカルなのはThe 1st) Volume 1 and Volume 2. Two volumes seems fair for the relatively short first series.

Hirari collections Fuji Tamaki’s  Kono Yo ni Tada Hitori, (この世にただひとり), Hakamada Mera’s  Riyuu (Wake) monaku Kanashikunareno (理由(わけ)もなく悲しくなるの), are out now and Isotani Yuuki’s Sayonara Mutski-chan (さようならむつきちゃん) will be out at the end of the month. Comic Natalie reports that Comic Yuri Hime have picked up and will be putting out several formerly Hirari series, as well.

The third and final volume of Omoi no Kakera, (想いの欠片) by Takemiya Jin-sensei is getting a Christmas Day  release.

The same week sees the second volume of  Anoko ni Kiss to Shiroyuri wo (あの娘にキスと白百合を), a surprisingly good series. Here’s my review of Volume 1. I didn’t expect a sequel. That’s cool. ^_^

Woops, I missed reporting this in a timely fashion by taking last week off. Comic Yuri Hime celebrated it’s 10th anniversary last week. Congratulations! Here’s to another 10!

And squeeee, Nishi UKO-sensei’s new collection Tonari no Robot (となりのロボット) is out.  ^_^

There is growing interest in Yuri among Chinese readers! A manhua with Yuri, All Hail Empress Her Majesty (拜见女皇陛下) is a title that has got growing popularity among Chinese Yuri circles. (And for Chinese readers, the Okazu interview with Takemiya Jin has been translated into Chinese with my permission. Thanks Tsukasa!)

I’m a terrible person…I forgot in my overview of Sparkler Monthly, to mention another comic starring a lesbian – a trucker, no less! For Peace by Alexis Cooke, is up for you perusal for free! Go try it! The tagline is “The interstate of true love never did run smooth. ” You gotta love it for that. ^_^

I got my copy of Eureka‘s Current State of Yuri Culture issue (ユリイカ 百合文化の現在) today and I am extremely chuffed at seeing my name in the book. And for those who asked – the cover illustration was by Shimura Takako-sensei. ^_^

I was thinking about what I can offer folks who have subscribed to Okazu on Patreon as a special holiday gift. How about an early look at the English version of this article?

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Other News

MOON POWER! A Sailor Moon fanzine is available for free, alongside some of the artist’s other works. Again, there’s no reason to not try. Thanks to Senior YNN Correspondent Erin S. for the link!

YNN Correspondent Simon B wants me to remind you all  Wandering Son Volume 8 is up for pre-order. It’ll see a May 15th release. I’m glad that Fantagraphics is sticking with this title after it brought in a good chunk of contributors to their last Kickstarter. Volume 7 came out in September, so catch up before the new year!

On Crowdfunding watch as always, We Need Diverse Books! is addressing the very real problem of lack of diversity in children’s books head on.  WNDB is providing educational kits to libraries and schools, travel funding for writers and artists to attend conferences and funding for diverse interns at publishing houses. All to promote all kinds of diversity in children’s lit. They’ve already reached and exceeded their goal, but they’ve got a few days left – and we really need diverse books.

There is a Shingeki no Kyoujjn/Attack on Titan spinoff series called Lost Girls in the works. The first volume looks depressing as hell and has Mikasa and Annie on the cover. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for some Ymir/Krista time. But I’m not holding my breath. ^_^

Geeks Out is putting together a queer comics anthology called Power! that will debut at their now-funded Flame-Con in spring of 2015.

The Mary Sue has dedicated an article to the awesome trans character in Dragon Age Inquisition, Krem. Which then led to an article on Visual representation: Trans characters in comics. A good, if Sandman-focused article.

Shoujo manga powerhouse magazine Nakayoshi is celebrating 60 years with the help of some of our favorite magical girls. ANN Editor Lynzee Lamb has the story.

Action Labs is debuting a new Comic – Fight Like A Girl, by David Pinckney and Soo Lee, which looks darned good!

I just want to end with this fantastic video from Feminist Frequency, starring all male gamers, discussing the nature of the privilege that being male in gaming provides that people might just not be thinking about. It left me feeling better about the gaming community overall.

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Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondentby sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Yuri Manga

To celebrate the publication of Volume 3 of Saburaouta’s Yuri Manga Citrus, Ichijinsha has created a Promotional Video. Volume 1 of Citrus will be released in English by Seven Seas next month (Amazon preorder/RightStuf preorder) , so this is good timing for them, as well. ^_^

YNN Correspondent Emily-chan has checked in once again to give us some exciting news. “Miyabe Sachi will be releasing a volume of a Yuri gourmet manga called Manpuku Yuri (満腹百合)…. It will contain all seven chapters; the last one is running in this month’s issue of Comic Ryuu.” The book doesn’t have an affiliate link on Amazon Japan yet, but I’ll keep my eyes open for it. Food and Yuri, sounds perfect. ^_^ Thanks Emily!

YNN Correspondent Shannon L is pleased to report that the French-language comic, Infinite Loop, that we reported on last month has gotten an English-language publisher. IDW will be releasing this time travel and lesbian romance comic in April 2015. Watch here for pre-order linkage. ^_^ Good catch Shannon!

Makimura Asako (author of Yuri no Real) and Koike Miki have an intriguing comic essay volume titled Doukyonin no Bishoujo ga Lesbian Datta Ken (同居人の美少女がレズビアンだった件). (The Incident of the Cute Lesbian Housemate).

Rakuen Le Paradis Volume 16 (楽園 Le Paradis) hit shelves on October 31. And The January volume of Comic Yuri Hime hit shelves this week.

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Other News

Speaking of comic essays, Yuri Manga artist Aoki Mitsue has written a comic essay, Chuugaku Iranai. Futokou no Musume ga Koukou ni Kougaku Suru Made, about her daughter being a truant from school and getting her to a phase where she could graduate.  (中学なんていらない。 不登校の娘が高校に合格するまで )

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Enjoy staying up-to-date on Yuri news? Subscribe to Okazu with Patreon!

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Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Yuri Light Novel

This time last year, I reported on a Light Novel called  Yuri Gra-doru Yui: Forbidden Girls Love (百合グラドル・優衣 禁断ガールズラブ). “Gra-doru” is short for “gravure idol” one of the bikini-wearing models that adorn Japanese men’s magazine covers. I have it sitting here and haven’t so much as cracked the cover other than to scan the pictures – which were so appealing, that it sits there on the floor, untouched. Well, hey, if you loved the fictitious story of the exploitation of Japanese gravure idols, you’ll be pleased to know that there’s a sequel! Yuri Gra-doru Yui and Shiho Mechaku Love Shot (百合グラドル優衣&詩歩 密着ラブショット), presumably follows the explicit adventures of Yui and Shiho. Let me know how it is. ^_^

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Adult Yuri Manga

Well, since I started out on such a high class note, I might as well keep going. For fans of adult entertainment in manga form,  there’s Onna no ko-doushi no ecchi ‘tte, Iroiro Sugosugirundaga (女の子同士のエッチって、色々凄すぎるんだが), which  I, with a loose hand and tongue in my cheek, would translate as something like “Speaking of girls doing it, it’s way zOMG”.

Also likely to be questionable is “Yuri Violence Comic” (according to Comic Natalie,)  Murcilago. To get an idea if this is your kind of Yuri and/or violence, there is a Youtube commercial for Volume 3 . The ad says there’s no good guys, which appeals to me.  If you want to give it a chance, here’s links to Volume 1 and Volume 2. Don’t expect much, it’s from Young Gangan. ^_^;

Birz is getting into the Yuri swing of things, as well. They are running a Yuri collection in their December issue, and have an upcoming Yuri anthology from Birz Comics Deluxe, Yuribon (ユリボン). Which is not all that surprising to me, as they’ve been working with Morishima Akiko-sensei on the Yuri Kuma Arashi manga (Volume 1 of which has a street date in two weeks.)

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Yuri Game News

ANN reports on Yuri game imprint, Sei Michael Joshi Gakuen, that is looking to gain Twitter followers by offering up an anime if they reach 50,000 followers. Sono Hanabira fans are going to want to look into this, as this project shares some of the same team.

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Goods News 

ANN has a “wrap-up” of all the cool Sailor Moon paper goods available for the holiday season from Premiun Bandai and household goods from the Family Mart convenience store chain. Oh heck, let’s just bomb this, topic, with all the Sailor Moon things ever.

Again, we turn to ANN for this report on a Homura-themed hoodie that, clearly, we all need. And here’s a terrific Card-Captor Sakura stained glass charm for all your high-class jewelry needs. ^_^

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LGBTQ News

The fine folks at Geeks OUT! have begun a Kickstarter for an LGBTQ Comic Con, which they are calling Flame Con. With 25 days to go, they are over halfway on hitting their first goal. They’ve got the breakdown on what they plan on using the money on, and while I think they are being optimistic on costs, and they don’t have a date or venue yet, I think they are great folks and if I can I’ll be supporting this. My only concern is that they’ve chosen May as their possible date range and the Queers &  Comics Conference and TCAF are already in May. I’d hate for them to lose potential guests to bad timing.

Library Juice Press is calling for papers for their collection Queer Library Alliance: Global Reflections and Imaginings, a collection dealing with Libraries and LGBTQ issues.

Comic Natalie (and my entire FB feed!) reports on  the awarding of the Japan Medal with Purple Ribbon to one of the mothers of Boy’s Love, co-founder of the Magnificent 24-year group,  Takemiya Keiko-sensei. The Purple Ribbon is awarded for significant academic and artistic endeavors.

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Enjoy staying up-to-date on Yuri news? Subscribe to Okazu with Patreon!

***

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Top news this week is the upcoming December issue of Japanese literary magazine Eureka (ユリイカ) which will be all about Yuri, with some *amazing* contributors, including Amano Shuninta, Maria-sama ga Miteru creator Konno Oyuki, scholars Mizoguchi Akiko, (hopefully) James Welker and, gods willing, me. Keep your fingers crossed and take a look at the magazine when it comes out.

Yuri Manga

Yuri anthology Mebae (メバエ) has made it to a Volume 3 which will hit the streets in late November. I’ve just finished up Vol. 1, and while it is firmly male gaze, it had a few stories worth reading.

Yuri Hime Comics has a veritable embarrassment of Yuri riches, with a load of current and upcoming releases:

Katakura Ako’s Ashita no Kimi ni Hanabata wo (明日の君に花束を)

Himitsu no Kakera by  Fujisawa Makoto (秘密のカケラ)

Humming Girl by Nakano Tomo  (ハミングガール)

Hiruno Tsukiko’s 2-parter Shirogane Gymnasium, (白銀ギムナジウム) Part 1 and Part 2.

Kodama Naoko’s going with the overused title Renai Manga for her collection (レンアイマンガ).

Starlight Melody by Fuki (スターライト メロディ)

Also keep your eyes out for Minamoto Hisanari’s two new collections, Yuridori Midori (ゆりどりみどり) and,  Rokujyo~hitomano Nekogamisama (ろくじょ~ひとまの ねこがみさま).

Annnnnd we’re finally get a few of the promised Hirari Comic wrap ups:

Shoushin (傷心) by Yukimura

Wakemonaku Kurushikunaruno (理由(わけ)もなく悲しくなるの) by Hakamada Mera

Kono Yo no Tadahitori (この世にただひとり) by Fuji Tamaki

Comic Natalie reports that Fujio-sensei’s autobiographical comic series  parlor that ran in Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari is moving to webcomic platform Wanpoko.

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 LGBTQ Comics

The Advocate speaks with comic artist Paige Braddock about her long-running slice-of-lesbian-life comic Jane’s World.

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Other News

Andrew Wheeler takes a look at the naming problems faced by female superheroes in Lady She-Woman: Female Superhero Codenames and Identity on Comics Alliance.

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Subscribe to Okazu with Patreon and keep the Yuri news coming!

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Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a cool YNN correspondent’s badge. Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!