Yuri Novel

Yuri Novelist Fujima Shion’s novel Ikebukuro Fanatic Lolita has been made available for free in Japanese on Google Play: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.  And don’t forget to check out Fujima-sensei’s free e-book Yuri Wife. (Also in Japanese.) Her first book is a fantasy romp through the streets of my home away from home when I’m in Tokyo and so, I instantly loved it. It also has intrigue and maid cafes and even a little Yuri. Yuri Wife is in a diary format and is much more realistic. I hope you’ll enjoy them both!

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Yuri Manga

Squee! Worry. Squee! Worry. Poor Poor Lips Volume 4 (プアプアLIPS 4) is hitting shelves at the end of October….

Speaking of squee, Himawari-san Volume 3 (ひまわりさん 3) is also on the horizon.

For those of us with an endless urge for moe-fied Maria-sama ripoffs, there’s Nan-sama to Ren (ナン様とレン).

Zenryaku, Yuri no Kuni Yori (前略、百合の園より) Ojou-sama, cool, strict, blah blah, blushes when she something something, Yuri. Sounds same-old same-old, but the title appeals to me. ^_^

Boku no Kanjou ha Onna ga Suki  (僕の彼女は女子が好き) seems, on the face of it, a masterwork of pandering voyeurism.

Tanaka Rin continues to have a Yuri manga included in fashion magazine, commons & sense, number 43.

JManga continues their investment in Yuri with Eiki Eiki and Taishi Zaou’s Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu. This manga is also notable for the utter failure of BL tropes to work in a Yuri setting. In fact, I’ll be writing about that in upcoming days.

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Random Yuri News

I’m sorry I hadn’t noticed this before – if you’re a fan of Yuru Yuri, there are some nice wallpapers available for download from the Comic Yuri Hime official site. Scroll down to find them.

Totally keep forgetting to do this. As you know, I consider Nakamura Ching to be a revolutionary manga artist. She puts herself in front of the public and her readers with her work and her honesty. And now, she’s done something almost no one does – she’s uploaded pictures of herself at her book signing on her blog. Get to see the woman behind the manga.

I’m putting this here just to flip you all out. Remember when all the good anime had character song albums? (I have all the Sailor Moon character songs, even the song Ogata Megumi wrote herself for Haruka and they didn’t let her record, instead they went with Initial U.) Well for the three of you who have been waiting for just such an occasion, there is now a Yuri Danshi Character Song CD. Let the full creeping horror of the idea just crawl down the back of your neck, like something Lovecraftian…

And Crunchyroll News points out this kind of amazing Puella Magi Madoka Magica x Yuru Yuri mashup video.

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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!

Quick note, I’ll be on the road this week for some personal things, so do not expect much from me. OTOH, I plan on catching up on my reading and watching while I’m gone, so when I get back I should have some reviews for you.

Yuri Goods

GoodSmile has revealed a Nendoroid figurine of Akari from Yuru Yuri. ANN reports that the figurine will include a “Dango Bazooka” for those of you who have read through the second volume of the series. (And if you haven’t, you will be able to this fall. Then you will get the reference, too. ^_^)

And a Yuru Yuri Graphic T-shirt by Nijigen COSPA has been announced (in sizes too small to fit any of us, of course, but it’s a nice idea.)

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Yuri Anime

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE Second A’s (魔法少女リリカルなのは The MOVIE 2nd A’s) is hitting theaters at the end of September in Japan. Sadly, I’ll miss it by a few weeks. And I’ll be too early to buy the Blu-Ray there, so Amazon JP gets my money…again.

The fourth Hidamari Sketch anime production process continues – key visuals have been revealed.

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Yuri Manga

As I mentioned earlier this week, JManga has opened up a separate genre page for Yuri. Given the amount of Yuri that they will be putting out this autumn, it’s a good call. ^_^

Candy, (キャンディ) Volume 2 will be released in October. 

Hirari, the Yuri Anthology magazine, is putting out a special volume of Girls School Club Life. (ひらり、別冊「部活女子アンソロジー」) This special collection will feature work by Morinaga Milk among others.

Cool news for me and Bruce, at least, Senno Knife is doing a 3rd “lesbian” collection, this one called, I kid you not, Lesbian 3, Young Female Bloodsuckers (レズビアン3 吸血令嬢). You just cannot beat naming sense like that.

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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!

Another news dump week, but first let me tell you why.

 Normally this time of year, my day job sort of becomes a trickle. I usually have plenty of thumb twiddling time. Well, this year it didn’t. And JManga’s keeping ALC busy, and we’re still working on the 20th anniversary edition of Tokyo Love ~ Rica ‘tte Kanji!?.

I kept waiting for just one of those to lighten up on me, but it’s not happening. So I’m basically working three jobs, 7 days a week, 14 hours a day. I don’t even have much time to read manga for myself right now. I’m not complaining (actually, it’s all good.) I just want you to know that there is a reason why you’re getting sporadic reviews and news. And why this trend may continue for a while. As a result of all this, you’re also be getting more new Yuri manga from JManga and ALC! I’ll announce the titles as soon as they let me. ^_^

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Random News 

The third Annual Read Comics in Public Day is August 28, 2012! By yourself or with friends, get together, sit somewhere in public and read comics. Read whatever you damn well want. I’ll be going over to my local library for a while and sitting there reading comics from their terrific graphic novel section. ^_^

For those of you who can read Japanese, Yuri novelist Fujima Shion has written a fictional Yuri Diary entitled Yuri Wife, which is available for free download. I have barely started it, but I think it will be very interesting.

Rose of Versailles-themed underwear.

JManga has released the next of the ALC-localized Yuri manga, Yuru Yuri. Win prizes in a Yuru Yuri contest and don’t forget to read my summary of the Yuri landscape in Japan. My conclusion remains the same, Yuri is a slow, steady growth category with potential.

Next month brings with it cooler weather in my part of the globe, and also some Yuri manga releases. Akaneiro Confiture (茜色コンフィチュール) by Kurokiri Misao and Rock it, Girl! (ロケット☆ガール) by Tanaka Minoru.

There’s a Yuri Game I have basically been avoiding talking about called Hakuisei Renai Shoukougun (白衣性恋愛症候群) because it’s so pandering I just can’t cope. But to be fair, I probably should at least mention it. This game is set at a nursing college and is very moe. It also has a manga now, called Hakuisei Renai Shoukougun RE: Therapy  (白衣性恋愛症候群 RE:Therapy) if you want to get a taste.

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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!

Yuri Manga

Tsubomi, Volume 9 (つぼみ) is sitting on Japanese bookstore shelves, waiting to be purchased by you.

Yumeyumeutsutsu (ゆめゆめうつつ) follows suddenly orphaned Mikako, who starts living with Yuiko after her only relative dies. Will they find forbidden love? Yeah, probably.

This month also saw the debut of the first volume of Eden no Higashitsuka (エデンの東戸塚) by Hakamada Mera.

Mizu-iro, Sora -iro, (ミズイロ、ソライロ), a new collection from Yuri Hime goes live today.

Kami-sama bakkari Koi wo Suru (神さまばかり恋をする), from Tsubomi, is also available this month.

And last, but not in any way least for this week, I think I missed this one and I don’t want you to miss it – Rakuen: Le Paradis, Volume 9 (楽園 Le Paradis) is out.

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Random News

Here’s your utterly wonderful link for the day. ^_^

My wife’s friend has just had her first novel published. The Pyramid Waltz is a  fantasy novel about a “skirt-chasing Princess.” But the thing that really makes this standout is the book trailer the author, Barbara Anne Wright, made. It’s freakin’ hilarious. Watch it. It’s definitely made me want to read the book:

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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!