Yuri Manga

Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari Magazine is alive! According to the Shinsokan website, Hirari is beginning distribution as an e-book, with a free issue, Volume 0, available on practically every e-book retailer in Japan. I had no problems signing in and getting the issue to open in the reader on E-bookJapan, for what it’s worth. Volume 0 is composed of first chapters from some of their most popular series.

Competition is good for Yuri artists. ^_^

Hirari titles available on E-bookJapan are listed here. The prices are very reasonable for e-books.

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Last week, the Seven Seas translated edition of Bodacious Space Pirates: Abyss of Hyperspace Vol. 1 hit shelves, and now Volume 2 is up for pre-order! This is the manga for the movie, which has not been licensed here in the US.

Kumicho has a new online Yuri series, Idol Green Rhapsody (アイドれ！グリーン♥ラプソディ), available on Yawara Spirits online site. No online reader needed, which I quite like. As you might imagine from the title, it follows two members of an idol group.

Ichijinsha is up to Volume 3 of Saburouta’s Citrus in a new Special Edition format.

And they are also re-releasing Mikuni Hajime’s “ecchi comedy”(which you may remember from JManga, when they were funct,) Gokujou Drops. Volume 1 is now available!

Meno’s Yuri stories from Comic Yuri Hime have been collected into a new volume, Kawaisa Amatte Sukisa 100-bai!! (かわいさ余って好きさ100倍!!)

Canno’s adorable private school Yuri series, Anoko ni Kiss to Shiroyuri wo  (あの娘にキスと白百合を) returns for a third volume.

Yuri Light Novel

Yuri no Kishi to Bara no Hime (百合の騎士と薔薇の姫) is a a new novel with a really old, tired plot. Can you guess? Yes, it’s another Princess being married off who falls in love with her female knight. Gee, we’ve never seen that before. ^_^

Other News

If you’ve ever wondered what Comiket really looks like, here is a short, enthusiastic and not creepy NHK documentary, in English. While it shows the amazing line management, it doesn’t really talk about it. Shame, because that’s one of the most amazing things about Comiket.

You know you wanted an AKB48 music video with post-apocalytpic Mad Max-ian combat. I spent the entire video analyzing the fight choreography and I have to say, it was pretty, but annoyingly bereft of good tactics. ^_^ Also fighting with feather costumes.

Here’s Three Indian Comics Artists You Should Know About from Panels.net

Comic artist Kelly Sue DeConnick spoke at 99u, and her talk, How To Make People Uncomfortable (And Still Make a Living),  is well worth listening to all the way through. It’s not aspirational or inspirational, so much as how to function in the world as it is. Let’s call it Realspirational.

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!

Essays 

Let’s start this week off by doing some deep thinking.

ANN’s Justin Sevakis took a look at the issue of racial diversity in anime and manga on Answerman’s Why Aren’t More Races Represented In Anime And Manga?

And while we’re on the topic, it might be worth looking at What Black Anime Fans Can Teach Us About Race in America by Cecilia D’Anastasio on Vice.com

I took a look at what the key changes in the LGBTQ community in my lifetime have been, with my answer to Will the ruling on same-sex marriage greatly affect American gay culture? on Quora.

MTv has a wonderful article on How ‘Trans Girl Next Door’ And Other LGBT Comics Are Actually Saving Kids’ Lives.

Yuri Events

All-Yuri doujinshi event Girls Love Fest is coming up on September 13 in the Tokyo area.

I will be paneling hard at Nijicon in Philadelphia on October 24-25. Nijicon is a LGBTQ-friendly con, but will realistically be heavily BL-focused. I’m hoping to bring some Yuri to the event. ^_^ My proposed panels a Must-See/Must-Read Yuri and The Secret History of Yaoi and Yuri. Locations and times TBD, but I hope to see you there!

Yuri Manga

OMGOMGOMG! A new Kase-san manga is on the way! Shortcake to Kase-san ( ショートケーキと加瀬さん。) is hitting shelves in Japan on September 30.

Ichijinsha has released a special edition of the second volume of Saburouta’s melodrama, Citrus.

Nekota’s Comic Yuri Hime Stories have been collected in Tomiko no Kimochi.

And very exciting news – Ichijinsha is re-releasing Nanzaki Iku’s explicit romance collection, Sweet Little Devil. It was fun the first time around, you should definitely look into getting it.

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Yuri Anime

From ANN, Yuruyuri Nachu Yachumi!+ second episode will premiere on Japanese TV on September 17.

Other News

Komatsu -san reports on the new PreCure! novel adaptations being released in September in Japan. I know I’m pleased to hear that Heartcatch PreCure! will be represented with a novel from Cure Moonlight/Tsukikge Yuri’s point of view.

J. Tabon recommends a pile of books with bisexual POC characters for your summer reading pleasure.

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 Anime

Last week I took a moment to wax poetic about my favorite lesbian couple in anime, Haruka and Michiru on Quora. This week you can learn to love them too, as Sailor Moon S is now available streaming on Viz’s Neon Alley, subbed – the dub is slowly catching up. I’m looking forward to the S dub for the first time in ever.  ^_^

Yuri Manga

New on the Yuricon Store this week!

One of the new re-prints from Ichijinsha, Rokuroichi’s Kuchibiru ni Saketa Orange Special Edition (くちびるに透けたオレンジ 新装版). They are also putting together a special edition reprint of Saburouta’s Citrus 1 Special Edition (Citrus 1 新装版).

Kuzushiro’s Inugami-san to Nekoyama-san gets a spinoff volume, Ryuuzaki-san to Torao-san ~ Yuri Hime Short Story Collection (龍崎さんと虎生さん ～百合姫短編集～).

And we now have the much-anticipated English translation of sci-fi lesbian Bande dessinée,  The Infinite Loop. We definitely need more Yuri sci-fi and I’m very much looking forward to reading this story.

Yuri.pl on Facebook reports that the fifth and final volume of the Polish edition Morinaga Milk’s GIRL FRIENDS is hitting shelves today!

Comics Alliance had me screaming in joy with the news that Lumberjanes To The Max hardcover volume is coming in November! Aaaaaaahhhhh!

Yuri Live Action

Did you enjoy the creepy/funny/fanservice-y Innocent Lilies? Well, Denpa-gumi is back with Innocent Lilies 2 – White Witch Academy streaming on Viki.com. Expect slightly higher budget for costumes, zero extra budget for plot or scripting. ^_^

Event News

TGIF/F,  “a gal pals convention”, celebrating femslash is being held in February 2016 in Los Angeles. If you’re going, do let me know and I’ll deputize you to write up a event report for us!

Other News

Brigid Alverson on Comic Book Resources, has filed her report on the Creating Unique Gay Characters in Alternative Comics panel at San Diego Comic Con.

Slate has an interesting article and video on Polari, the underground slang of gay men in the UK before it was  decriminalized in 1967.

Mizoguchi Akiko, a leading BL researcher in Japan, has just published her first book. Book and author are profiled on the Japanese-language LBGTQ site 2chopo. Congrats to Mizoguchi-san!

PrideSource has a report about an LGBTQ-inclusive sex ed book for young people, Sex is a Funny Word.

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!

Crowdfunding News

Our friends at Sparkler Monthly are setting up for their 3rd year, and would like your help to continue publishing fantastic female-creator and female-focused comics, prose and audio dramas! Support their Kickstarter to support Josei for the English-speaking world. The price of one manga will get you an ebook, the digital desktop set and their thanks. There’s even special creator levels that focus on Yuri creators KAIJU and Denise Schroeder.

This has nothing at all to do with manga, but I’m enamored with the iBackpack, a portable comunications hub, with enough charge for you and a bunch of friends to recharge your phones,  have wifi hotspot and a number of other features that will make it invaluable on the con circuit. The Indiegogo campaign launches August 15th. Stay tuned. I think this one might be a game changer for those of us who travel and con.

Other News

We knew this, but here’s the confirmation doubters won’t accept anyway – creators of Steven Universe agree that the Ruby and Sapphire are a lesbian couple.

Comic Natalie reports on a new Yuri Sci-fi manga series called “Heart of the Girl” beginning in Mangatime Kirara Miracle magazine.

ANN Reports that Otome Teikoku, an “ecchi comedy” by Maka-Maka’s  Kishi Torajirou (by which I mean it’s fairly unreadable,) is getting a “petit anime.” I reviewed Volume 1 in 2011, and never looked at it again.

Sentai Filmworks has released their first Sabagebu anime collection shots. It looks damn good. ^_^

I don’t honestly expect any great licensing news out of Otakon this weekend, but Summer Comiket is coming, and there’s always treasures galore there. The circle Lesbian Erotica, for instance, is going to be selling their BDSM comic, YuriKa, (ゆり母) collected this year, after having been online for YuRibon and on LINE manga.

Transformative Works and Cultures is looking for articles for a special Queer Female Fandom Issue. The Call For Papers can be found on Fanstudies. org.

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!