Yuri Events

On October 29-30 Yaoi Yuri Con will be held in Lyon, France – their first ever, how cool for them! If someone attends, please feel free to write up a report!

And Yaoi and Yuri Con in The Netherlands returns for March 2012. This con has been around a few years and every time I’m in communication with these folks, it just gives me a sense of energy and joy. There’s some great grounded, creative energy behind this con.

Someone recorded the NYCC 2011 Panel: XX Women in Queer Comics,so you can listen to it and be wowed by the stories by Jennifer Camper, Joan Hilty, Abby Denson and Kris Dresden. Thanks to the folks at Gay Nerds.com for putting this up!

Pop Culture News has filed a report on the It Gets Better (With Comics!) panel from New York Comic Con.

And thank *you* all for your contributions to the CBLDF at NYCC: They raised over $12,000 towards the legal fees of Brandon X with your help.

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Yuri Manga

Morinaga Milk is participating in a Yuri anthology: 百合缶Feuille.

YNN Correspondent Anon-kun wants you all to know that Rakka Ryuusui (落花流水) Volume 6 is out. He also reminds you about Hidamari Sketch (ひだまりスケッチ), Volume 6 and suggests a new series for fans of the above, Whip Note (ホイップノート).

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Yuri Anime

YNN Correspondent Katherine H has this to say: “It turns out that a fall series that recently premiered, Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon has a Yuri couple. It’s a trashy series, but it’s a trashy series with a surprisingly nice couple. (Admittedly, I’m a little bowled over because I didn’t expect anything from this season beyond the one-sided crush going nowhere on Working!! season 2 and the creepy one-sided crush in Shinryaku!? Ika Musume.)”

and she add this for good measure:

“Just wanted to mention that’s there’s supposed to be a canon Yuri side character in this season’s Ben-to. I haven’t seen it myself. More satisfyingly, Saber, the cool, iconic female fighting character in Fate/Zero, is being slashed by some fans with a character named Irisviel for her debonair suit-wearing kakkoii-ness in episode 3. They will never actually get together, but it still makes F/Z more fun to watch.”

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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

The next issue of Hakusensha’s Rakuen le Paradis (楽園 Le Paradis), which hits shelves on October 31, has another guest story by Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei – and looking at this splash page for the magazine, it looks cheerfully Yuri.

YMM Correspondent Komatsu-san wants us to know that French Publisher Taifu is doing a GIRL FRIENDS trivia contest to celebrate their Yuri release. (The page in French, but not that hard to figure out.)

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Digital Platforms News

JManga has Hitohira from Aurora publishing as part of their offerings. JManga also focused on GIRL FRIENDS this week, which is available in English on their site – there is a preview of the first few pages available for free with an account. Right now you have to have a subscription to the site to buy from them, but they’ve dropped some manga prices down to about half – so you can get all of Volume 1 of Morinaga Milk’s adorable Yuri manga for $4.99 for a limited time. I hope you will all support their English releases of Yuri manga, because the more they sell – the more they will pursue Yuri. (I have asked them about allowing ad hoc purchases and also sent them a list of Yuri titles they should pursue and found them in general to be very responsive and professional. In fact, when they did the one day focus on GIRL FRIENDS, I was very pleased at the synopsis of the story. It was appropriate and not at *all* pandering or obnoxious. Let them know what titles you want to see, they are listening!  I expect pretty great things from them as time goes on.)

Akamatsu Ken’s digital site JComi has posted some of the  manga restricted by the new Tokyo Law. The site, and the manga, are in Japanese.

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Yuri Anime

For those of you who liked the hot mahjong action of Saki, a new Saki spinoff, Saki Achiga-hen, is in the works.

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Other News

Cover artist for the new Comic Yuri Hime, and artists for BL series Starry Sky, Kazuaki, has a fetching artbook available on Amazon JP. Kazuaki Artworks: カズアキ

Last week for my column Magazine no Mori on Manga Bookshelf, I take a look at the eclectic manga magazine @Comic Bunch.

The Director of Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica, is publishing a prequel book for the story, known as Beginning Story.

Melinda Beasi adds to the conversation about manga on the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s site with a chilling discussion on why the manga community can not just stand by while Brandon X goes to jail for manga or doujinshi he wanted to read – check this amazing essay out on the CBLDF’s website.

YNN Correspondent Catherine D has started a really exciting new project. She’s hoping to create Vocabulary lists to help fans learn Japanese as they watch the anime. She’s begun her project on the Crunchyroll Forum – Vocabulary lists and she very much hopes some folks will join her project. Right now she’s working on Sasamekikoto and Moribito.

And one last note from the Yuri Network – YNN Correspondent  YNN Correspondent Ransui-san on Twitter points out that this weekend is the kickoff for the Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. If you’re in or around Tokyo and manage to get to see any of the festival, please do report back. We’d love to hear about it.

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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

From YNN Correspondent Tomo K. “This month’s Good Afternoon (a bi-monthly Kodansha magazine) has a story with a Yuri twist. Asou Mikoto’s ‘Rouji Koibana’（路地恋花)  has a woman prosecutor eloping with a bride (her ex-colleague) on the bride’s wedding day, sort of like the movie The Graduate. The manga features various Kyoko craftsperson at work and love, and this is the first time a woman who declares “I only like women” has appeared.” I don’t know about you, but this is right up my alley. Thanks Tomo!

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Not-Yuri Anime (but sort of related)

Gokujyouu manga is getting an anime. All I have to say is Noooooooo!!!!!

The Ikkitousen Shugaku Toshi Keppu Roku Promo on Crunchyroll  goes a whole 44 seconds before we see Ryoumou’s underwear. That’s got to be a record.

4-koma series about a high school girl who is an assassin and the classmate that tries to understand her, Baby, Please Kill Me! is also getting an anime. (I read the manga, but there won’t be any review, there really wasn’t even fake Yuri to latch on to. Nonetheless, a silly, entertaining 4-panel manga.)

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Other News

Fujima Shion’s Fantastic Lolita, which is set in Ikebukuro, and provides an action filled romp around the maid cafes and Sunshine 60-dori is available as an e-book. I was given the pleasure of reading an early manuscript of this novel and it was a lot of fun. If you can read Japanese, I recommend it.

It’s official: I’ll be working with Comic Book Legal Defense Fund at New York Comic Con, to help promote awareness of freedom to read issues in the manga community. They can use volunteers, so if you care about your right to read whatever the hell you want, join us at Table 1158 at New York Comic Con and help Comic Book Legal Defense Fund protect your freedom to read! Conveniently, Table 1158 will be near both Prism Comics and GeeksOut, so you can buy great LGBTQI books, then drop by CBLDF to donate to support the freedom to read those books.

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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!