Yuri Manga

Top News (for me) this week: Hayate x Blade 2, Volume 1 (はやて×ブレード2), by Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei is a thing that exists right now in the universe! Whee! Hijinks and idiots at the new Tenchi Academy.

Sweet Blue Flowers (Aoi Hana) by Shimura Takako is available from DMP in Kindle format! Grab a copy while you can!

Hopefully by now, you’ve all had a chance to read Morinaga Milk’s Gakuen Polizi, Volume 1 in English (Amazon/ RightStuf), out from Seven Seas. Volume 2 is now available in Japanese, and for pre-order in English on Amazon.

Ikeda Takashi’s Yuri dramedy Whispered Words Volume 2 (Amazon/RightStuf) and Volume 3 (Amazon) are both available for pre-order!)

This coming week brings us a pile of Yuri Hime Comics: Kimi-iro Shoujo (キミイロ少女),  Pastel Days (ぱすてるディズ), Himitsu no Kakera (秘密のカケラ), and Hakkou Snowflake (薄光スノウフレーク).

Not Yuri, but of interest, ANN has the news that Dark Horse has licensed the Fate/Zero manga. I’ve read the first three volumes and its pretty much exactly like the anime, so we’ll get Fate being all cool and courtly to Irisviel at the very least. ^_^

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Yuri Anime

ANN writes that there’s a new Ikkitousen series in the making. Ikkitousen: Extravaganza Epoch will be an OVA, going direct to Blu-Ray sometime soon presumably, as the official site says 2014.

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Sailor Moon

Premium Bandai knows you’re sitting around wishing you had a cute little cosplay set of your fave Senshi…so thye went ahead and made you one of each. Sets include neckband, collar, pantiy and skirt. You’re on your own for a white leotard.

Footage from the second Sailor Moon Musical, Petite Étrangère is aavailableon the official Sailor Moon You Tube channel. ANN has the write-up!

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LGBTQ News

The Smithsonian Museum has added a LGBTQ History collection to their Museum of American History which includes media of all kinds, from campaign buttons to protest posters to episodes of Will and Grace. (Don’t laugh, if you think about it, that sitcom, Ellen and other TV show were some people’s firsts exposure to LGBTQ people!)

The new DC TV show Gotham is slated to have Renee Montoya as the Latina lesbian detective we all know and love. Victoria Cartagena will play Renee and the actress is totally aware of what a positive representation means to viewers.

CBR put together a terrific look at LGBTQ comics for young readers that were present at SDCC.

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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!

Yuri Event

Meggie, the director of Yurithon, has written in to tell us all about the event. She says, “Yurithon is part of a larger convention called Otakuthon, which is the major anime convention in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This will be the 5th year that Yurithon is taking place.

Yuri Manga

Woo-hoo! Thanks to YNN Correspondent Emily-chan, there’s some lovely news this week. “Nishi UKO will be releasing a new book, Tonari no Robot, on November 14th. The series is about a robot and her high school student neighbour, the only one who knows her secret, and all eight chapters are to be compiled into this one volume. Also, although it ran in Akita Shoten’s Princess GOLD, which appears to be a shoujo magazine, I’ve seen at least one reader say that they thought that it felt like something that could have been serialised in Yuri Hime instead, so there might still be something for Yuri fans.” Yay, great news Emily, thanks for writing in.

While we’re at it, let me remind you that Nishi UKO-sensei has a new book out this summer too, Houseki-iro no Koi (宝石色の恋) which hit shelves on July 31.

The September issue of Comic Yuri Hime is already available (although, with the closing of the local Sanseido, I don’t yet have it, myself,) and the November issue is avialable for pre-order.

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Comics/Manga of Note

via YNN Correspondent  Elizabeth F., a little webcomic about being a Magical Girl that really ought to be a whole series. ^_^

Courtesy of pro manga translator William Flanagan, here’s a link to the Out-of-Print Manga Library.  These are untranslated Japanese manga for which the copyrights have run out or the creators have allowed them to go online. Free legal and a great door into those kinds of manga that never, ever get translated. (Not hentai, just all the other stuff you’ll just never see.)

Here’s a cool Kickstarter for Valor: A Fairy tale comic anthology about courageous heroines. It’s already made it’s goal, but it’s something to keep an eye out for!

Also via Elizabeth, ODY-C, is a new gender switch version of the Odyssey, in space. How awesome is that?

The X-Button on ANN provided us all with the fictitious pitch for an alternative, child-friendly version of the Simoun anime  (look about 1/3rd down.)

Also from ANN, if you’re in the New York City area on October 10 check out the iConiQ fan ensemble musical tribute to Sailor Moon. I’ll be on the other side of the country, but if you can make it, please consider writing something up for us here on Okazu!

While we’re on Sailor Moon (and that never happens…) ANN reports that the Sailor Moon Musical, Petite Étrangère is getting it’s first out of Japan show in Shanghai.

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LGBTQ Live-Action News

OMG! Netflix has Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah ze Moveeh for rent or stream with English subtitles. Squee! Really, everyone out to watch this musical about a transexual who turns into superheroine Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah, based on a very popular Filipino comic book. It was great. Grab the popcorn and have a blast.

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That’s a wrap for this week! 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!

Comic of Note

Today’s headline isn’t a manga and it isn’t LGBTQ, but you, my dear readers, really would like it and I want to you to know about it. It’s called Wayward. “Rori Lane is trying to start a new life when she reunites with her mother in Japan, but ancient creatures lurking in the shadows of Tokyo sense something hidden deep within her, threatening everything she holds dear. Can Rori unlock the secrets of her power before it’s too late? JIM ZUB (SKULLKICKERS, Samurai Jack), STEVE CUMMINGS (Legends of the Dark Knight, Deadshot), and JOHN RAUCH (INVINCIBLE) team up to create an all-new Image supernatural spectacle that combines the camaraderie and emotion of Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the action and mystery of Hellboy.”

Wayward is on pre-order until August 27th. If you know anything about American comics, you know that pre-orders can make or break a new title, so place those pre-orders today with your Local Comic Shop!

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Yuri Anime

Many thanks to eagle-eyed YNN correspondents Grisznak and Jst for this news item! The headline is a lie, this anime isn’t going to be Yuri, except in the back story, but ANN reports that a new Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime has been greenlit. This time, the story is Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid (which I reviewed briefly several years ago now.) Vivid follows Vivio’s life in school and training for a large martial arts competition, along with another clone of an ancient ruler, a young woman named Einhart Stratos. It’s high on the loli factors, and there’s a lot of high kicks which means a lot of crotch staring, but still has some good elements. Like all the Nanoha franchises the characters are likable. 

We get to see both Nanoha and Fate as Vivio’s parents, but up to the last point I read in the manga (Vol. 4 or so), we don’t really get to see them together much. So, expect low Yuri, but appealing attacks. ^_^

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Yuri Manga

A new Yuri doujinshi anthology is on the scene. Yurigaoka Jogakuen (百合ヶ丘女学園) is the circle and the anthology is Fleur de Lis. There are some very interesting names contributing, so if you can grab a hold of either of the two anthology volumes, get 2 copies, so I can have one too. ^_^

Comic Yuri Hime collection Ashita no Kimi ni Hanataba wo (明日の君に花束を) by Katakura Ako hits stands next month.

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Yuri Light Novel

Yuri Light Novel series Adachi to Shimamura (安達としまむら) has spawned a Volume 3. I have Volume 2 here to try and slog through, but now knowing that it will not end the series, I’m not sure if I want to read it. (For the explanation of my ambivalence, take a look at my review of Volume 1.)

I’m also ambivalent about Yuri-iro Gakuenryou:  Koibito ha Roomate (百合色学園寮　恋人はルームメイト), which screams “parting the gauze curtain” all over it, from the cover to the title to the description. Yuri love triangle at a girl’s school, zazoom!

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Other News

Japan has licensed an American-made anime. 

Via Rica Takashma, Oscar Francois de Jarjeyes graces the cover of a Japanese magazine, in women’s clothing.

CBR has a terrific look at the Gender in Comics Panel at this past San Diego Comic-Con.

We’ll round this week’s report out with some super fun Sailor Moon Senshi redesigns that includes one that has Rei and Minako sharing a bike, so I approve. And, if you’re in need of a timesink, here’s a search for Uranus x Neptune fanart on Deviantart. You’re welcome. ^_^

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That’s a wrap for this week! 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!