Yuri Manga

Top news story this week, in case you missed it, is that Seven Seas announced that they have licensed GIRL FRIENDS by Morinaga Milk and will be releasing it in omnibus format. The first volume is slated for autumn 2012.

Shannon L. reminded us on the Yuricon & ALC group on Facebook  that Yen Press licensed the Puella Magi Madoka Magika graphic novels, the first one of which also should be coming out in spring 2012.

YNN Correspondent Tomo K. wrote in with the most wonderful news! Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan (飴色紅茶館茶話) is getting a number of post-series one-shots Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan～Golden and Silver Tips～. Terrific news for all of us who enjoy spending time in Fujieda Miyabi’s Amber Teahouse. (And maybe, just maybe, for those of us who would like to see more well-established, older couples in the pages of Comic Yuri Hime?)

***

Yuri Anime

Nozomi/Rightstuf is restarting showing Season 1 of Maria Watches Over Us on their Youtube channel. Catch 2 episodes a week for the next few weeks.

Also of interest to us on the Nozomi/Rightstuf website, is an interview with Director of Revolutionary Girl Utena, Kunihiko Ikuhara. Of specific note, Okazu reader and contributor Cryssoberyl asks the first question – and it’s about the romantic relationships involved! Cool for Cryssoberyl – and the answer is cool for us! ^_^

***

Other News

Deb Aoki on Twitter brought this to my attention: We Love Fine, a t-shirt company has a Saiilor Uranus/Sailor Neptune meets Nagel art t-shirt design. Looks pretty cool. If you buy it, let them know I sent you. ^_^

***

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

Peter on the Yuricon Mailing List was very excited to let us know that Morinaga Milk’s GIRL FRIENDS will be out this spring in German from Carlsen as Wir Beide. That brings the total to four languages: Japanese, English (on JManga), French and now German.

Bruce P wants you all to know that Wandering Son, Volume 2 is up for pre-order on the Fantagraphics website.

Sailor Moon, Volume 2 is now available for purchase. If you’re not reading this core Yuri manga, you really should. (Warning: Volume 2 is very heterosexual. Just so you know.) Codename is Sailor V, Volume 2 is out too – it’s also not Yuri, but you should really read it anyway.

Anytime Torako and Asami  share the page my Yuridar pings, and just in case they do appear, I’ll be getting Yotsuba &!, Volume 10. (I lie, I’d get it anyway and enjoy it. Also, please do not see the previous statement as a challenge to be responded to. If they are/not in the volume, don’t spoil it for us, thanks.)

George R. pointed out that the gentle tale of an attractive bookseller and the girl in like with her, Himawari-san, Volume 2 (ひまわりさん) is now on sale.

Josei drama Ohana Holo Holo, Volume 3 (オハナホロホロ) is heading for shelves and the Yuri subplot is not dead yet…

I’m pretty sure I mentioned this already, but it’s worth a second pass. Hoshikawa Ginza Yon-choume, Volume 2 (星川銀座四丁目 2) and Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep (ロンリーウルフ・ロンリーシープ) from Tsubomi magazine have hit the shelves. For totally different reasons, two of my favorite series from that magazine.

Let me digress for a bit – Mizutani Fuuka, creator of Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep is, right, now, in serious ascendance on my “I really like this creator” list. If you’re not reading her work, do. She’s a great story teller, something that is rarer than one might imagine in manga. For a utterly non-Yuri, but nonetheless charming story, check out her 14-sai no Koi (14歳の恋) from Rakuen Le Paradis magazine. It’s an absolutely delightful story about a boy and a girl falling in love. Just utterly adorable in every way. Get it even if you can’t read the Japanese, because the story is pretty easy to grok from the pictures.

***

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!

Extremely short news report this week, I’m pounded with work.

Yuri Event News

Sailor Moon and Aria (also Doremi and Tamayura) anime director Satou Junichi will be a guest at Ushicon in Austin, Texas in February. Texan readers – if any of you are going, please let us know how it goes!

I’ll be a guest at Yaoi and Yuri Con in The Netherlands on April 1, 2012! I’m very excited to be able to meet some of the Yuricon and Okazu fans there. If you’re in Europe, I hope you’ll come by, and say hello! I’ll be on a Yuri panel, of course, and hope to do a lecture, as well.

***

Yuri Anime

Sentail Filmworks has announced that they’ve licensed A Channel. I couldn’t watch this, so if you’re picking it up and want to write a review for Okazu, by all means, please contact me!

Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika is being adapted into a 3-part film project. They are so not done milking this yet. The anime is being released by Aniplex USA this winter.

***

Yuri Manga

Don’t forget that next week, the second and, sadly, final, volume of Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan (あめ色紅茶館歓談) hits the shelves. There is a deluxe version with Drama CD and a manga-only edition.

Also out next week is the January issue of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫).

The third volume of Blue Friend (ブルーフレンド) hits the shelves next week as well.

***

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 Anime

(In a moment of extreme laziness, I’ve cut and pasted this from the press release, so apologies for formatting that is unlike the rest of this blog.)

Right Stuf, Inc.and Nozomi Entertainment are pleased to announce the first story arc of REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA, known to fans as The Student Council Saga, will be added to the streamed anime programming found at www.youtube.com/nozomient. The first two remastered episodes,“The Rose Bride”and“For Whom the Rose Smiles” are now available for viewing to fans in the United States and Canada. Two additional remastered episodes (through episode 12) will be posted each week leading up to the December release of the third and final limited-edition Utena DVD box set. Each episode, beyond the first two, will stream for alimited time, and all episodes will be presented with Japanese audio and English-language subtitles. REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA: The Apocalypse Saga DVD Set L.E.(Remastered Box Set 3) is scheduled for release on December 6, 2011,and it is now available for pre-order at fine retailers.

For a limited time – and while supplies last – fans who purchase ALL THREE Revolutionary Girl Utena remastered L.E. DVD Sets via RightStuf.com will receive a replica of the signet ring worn by Utena in the series. This exclusive gift item will be shipped to those who are eligible with the third and final DVD box set.

***

Yuri Game

A new YuruYuri iPhone App allows you to waste time with characters from Namori’s Yuri Yuri series.

***

Yuri Manga

Sailor Moon Volume 2 (and Code Name is Sailor V , Volume 2) are imminent.

Bokura ha Minna Ikiteru! (ぼくラはミンナ生きテイル！) is being touted as a animal ear and Yuri high school story.

Kaname Etoile ( かなめエトワール) Joining the ranks of Nakayoshi and Ribon magazines is is Sho Comi.  with this long-awaited ballet/ Yuri mashup we all knew had to be written eventually.

Yuri Mielle (百合缶) is another upcoming Yuri anothology by the people that brought us Yuri Feuille.

***

Other News

YNN Correspondent Jenna M points out a followup to a story in a May 2008 YNN report:

“Robin Brenner has just published some of her research with Snow Wildsmith on the relationships American LGBTQ fans have with Yaoi and Yuri, in a book called Mangatopia. The chapter is called “Love Through a Different Lens: Japanese Homoerotic Manga through the Eyes of American Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Other Sexualities Readers”.

The Google books preview is available here, but isn’t complete.” (Erica here – it shouldn’t be complete. People who want to read the book should buy it, or borrow it from their library system. Otherwise the authors don’t make money.)

Thanks Jenna for the update!

***

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

Morinaga Milk’s Kuchibiru no Tameiki Sakura Iro is being serialized in Comic High! magazine and, in celebration, you can read the *whole thing*online for free, until it is pulled.

Rakuen Le Paradis (楽園 Le Paradis), Volume 7 is heading for the stores. I can’t wait!

And, from that magazine comes a new collection by Takemiya Jin – Seasons. If you are not collecting her work, you really should be. Her protagonists are huggably grumpy and wonderful and they are welcome over for lunch anytime.

Tsubomi, Volume 14 is also on the way. There’s still a few series I like running, although I’ll miss “Lonely Wolf, Lonely Sheep.”

Um…there’s a “Yuri Boom”? Sure wish I saw some sign of it. Anyway, the folks at Megami magazine say so and so they are, in their infinite wisdom, marketing a new magazine called Megami Magazine Lily (メガミマガジンリリィ). According the marketing department there at Megami it’s “For Girls,” but we know that if it’s from Megami, it’s really for guys who want to think that it’s “for girls.”

Mikuni Hachime’s Houkago Kanon (放課後カノン) from Ichijinsha will hit shelves in November.

Fumi Ebon’s Blue Friend (ブルーフレンド), Volume 3 has been much different than the first volume, but follows a similar-ish formula – one popular girl and one outcast. But this time it’s the popular girl who seeks to change.

There’s a sequel to Joshi Kousei? Really? Yes, really! Set in the same school a whole new set of wacky girls will do things that make us cringe, in Joshi Kousei – Girls Live (女子高生Girls-Live)

Manga expert Helen McCarthy discusses the importance of Princess Knight on her own blog. This manga is a must-read for anyone interested in Shoujo and Yuri manga and this post is a must-read for anyone interested in manga, full stop.

ANN reports that a new R.O.D Project Planned for Super Dash & Go! Mag. Phew. We needed a new R.O.D.

Yuri magazine Xenocross Volume 1 has launched in English, Japanese, Spanish, Chinese and Indonesian (via @tominonakiyoshi on Twitter) This anthology includes an officially approved Sono Hanabira side story; the money goes to an anime project for the series, so if you are a fan, really, it’s all on you to make that happen. A portion of the proceeds also goes to charity.

Nanzaki Iku is beginning a Queen’s Blade sequel manga in Comp Ace magazine.

***

Yuri Novel

Download Fujima Shion’s Yuri novel “Fantastic Lolita” (in Japanese) or read it online: Registration required for download, but not to read it on the site. There are other items tagged Yuri on the site, I may investigate some of them. ^_^ This novel was lots of fun, and I’d love to see a sequel.

***

Yuri Anime

The Black Rock Shooter anime website is live. I really hope they go somewhere with this story.

***

Other News

Lecture & Reading from Dolltopia by International Manga Award Winner Abby Denson at Sophia University in Tokyo. I mentioned Dolltopia a while back, but I just picked up the GN and can’t wait to review it. Dolltopia wins for having non-creepy lesbian dolls.

***

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!