Yuri Doujinshi

It’s that time of year again! Winter Comiket is just around the corner. This year the hordes will gather at Tokyo Big Sight on December 29-31. For those of you planning on going, (or planning on buying doujinshi from Toranoana, Yahoo JP Auctions or through a buying service afterwards,) here is the Small Call List of Comiket 79 Yuri Doujinshi Circles.

Also for folks who plan on attending Fuyu-Comi, I recommend a very silly tool called Twitcomike. It’s a Twitter extension that maps circles to their locations, based on their profiles on Twitter. (Many, perhaps most, artists on Twitter add their table at the next event they will attend to their profiles.) You can search by Day, Hall, Table Number, Circle Name, mark circles of interest, follow circles. Click on a table and the circle’s profile from the catalog pops up, including their Twitter address. You can download your map as a PDF. Frankly, I’m absolutely in love with this tool. Now I need never feel sad that I don’t have the catalog. I intend on attending the 2011 Winter Comiket and this tool will be my guide.

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Yuri Drama CD

On her blog, Morinaga Milk-sensei lists the cast for the upcoming GIRL FRIENDS Drama CD. Here are the two leads:

Akko: Endou Aya (Bachou in Ikkitousen:XX, Miyuki in Lucky Star, Lena in Mai Otome S.ifr)
Mari: Sasaki Mikoi (Hercule Barton in Tantei Opera Milky Holmes)

The rest are on her blog for your perusal.

The January issue of Comic High contains a manga-fied Drama CD recording report drawn by Morinaga-sensei.

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Snatches of Yuri

Furui Suguri’s Futarism will be out in January for fans of “Sister Love-Love.”

I have no idea what kind of Yuri this has (the reports indicate that there is a “Yuri episode”) but Nekogami Yaoyoruzu is being turned into an anime. The title alone is enough to tell me that I am uninterested. If you watch it and want to do a guest review, let me know!

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Maria-sama ga Miteru News

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, a new Marimite novel is on the way. It’s coming out on December 28 and it’s called Maria-sama ga Miteru:Step. Unsubstantiated rumor has it that we might be meeting Noriko’s potential soeur.

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Other News

At Experiments in Manga, Ash is giving away some Strawberry Panic! manga. She also gives you a chance to win on Twitter. Check it out for a chance to praise the Yuri Manga you love best!

Last up, this isn’t Yuri at *all* but I want to call your attention to the absolutely fabulous comic Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword by Barry Deutsch. When I was growing up, I consumed a lot of Jewish folk stories. Actually, I read a lot of folklore and myths, full stop. But Jewish stories always fascinated me because the heroes were rarely strong, but they were always smart. Didn’t matter if they were men or women, wit almost always won the day. Not being strong, but being endowed with a full measure of sarcasm and wit as a kid, I could totally get behind that. Hereville is set in a fantasy Orthodox Jewish village in Somewhere, Europe, after taxes, before America. (That last bit is a joke – if you get the reference, you’ll laugh. If you don’t, you’ll correct me in the comments.)

Mirka is one of a number of daughters who wants more out of life than knitting and cooking. She’s smart, but not stupendously so, and has a terrificly snarky step-mother. Mirka gets involved with a magical pig, a witch and a troll, providing her all the adventure she ever wanted and more.

Hereville captures the feeling that I got as a kid reading stories of the Golem of Prague or of the townspeople of Chelm. That Olde Worlde Europe Jewish life that I was glad to have stories of, but was even gladder that I didn’t have to live.

I can’t think of a better book for a young me. 11-year old Mirka would have been a fine companion in my desire for adventure and magic and a chance to use my wit against the odds. If you know a young girl with an open mind, and interest in folk tales and a desire for a sword, Hereville would make a terrific, totally-not-what-they-expected gift.

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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!

Short report today, folks. It’s been a long week.

Yuri Manga 

YNN Correspondent Katherine H. starts us off right with the news that the first volume of Waza ari- Kiwami-chan ( わざアリっ きわみちゃん ) is due on the shelves on December 24. You may recall from my review, this series has a little bit of Yuri in the form of a friend crushing on Kiwami, but the real strength of the story is in Kiwami’s “this girl don’t take no BS from the boys” attitude.

The New Year is also going to start off with  bang – the second volume of GUNJO (羣青) will be on sale at the end of January. This year the story has been full of wild ups and downs. I haven’t been reviewing the chapters because every time I get a copy of IKKI, I think I’ll catch you all up…then the story overwhelms me and I can’t write about it. I’ve begun describing reading this series as “eating the most delicious razorblades ever.”

Also on sale at the end of January, Mikuni Hachime’s Mousou HONEY (妄想HONEY), a collection of the Yuri Hime installments.

From MangaTime KR comes Kyoumei Suru Echo (共鳴するエコー), a collection of stories that range from school love to love between adults and all around the barn. Regard for this collection has been rather high on the Japanese Yuri lists, but I’m always loathe to take that as gospel. In any case, this seems like an interesting bet.

Ibara no Namida, ( いばらの泪 ) is another Yuri Hime collection slated for the beginning of next year.

And just a reminder that Tsubomi, Vol. 9 (つぼみ)  is now available. Can you believe that? They must have had some good investment money in this….

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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 Anime

I already pointed to this yesterday, but for those of you who missed it, RightStuf is doing a deep discount on all 4 seasons pack of Maria Watches Over Us for $84.99 That’s about $100 off the retail price.

Crunchyroll has added the surprisingly not-cute Kiddy Girl-and. I was unable to make it past the first episode and stopped reading the manga, even though I was getting the magazine for something else, for what that’s worth to you. If you liked Kiddy Grade but felt that the leads needed to accidentally lose their underwear more often, then you’ll love this series.

Sentai Filmworks has announced that they have licensed Shin Koi Hime Musou and Shin Koi Hime Musou Otome Tairan, expect both in Spring 2011.

I can’t remember if I mentioned this, but Sentai also released the extremely odd series, Uta-Kata, which appeared to be one thing, was actually something else and suddenly developed a Yuri couple one episode (aside from the leads, which fans slashed instantly.) There were definitely some good qualities about the series, and a whole lotta holes in the story that were never filled.

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Yuri Manga

Coming in 2011 from Ichijinsha, is a book with the subtle title Dream Yuri Ane.

Also appearing on shelves in early 2011 is the second volume of Ohana Horohoro and Octave, Volume 6.

Oh, and I have no idea how much Yuri this will have, but Oshima Towa (High School Girls) has got a new volume out called Bustician. This series (I am not making this up, I swear) follows the wacky hijinks of two women who work in an aesthetic spa, helping women to increase their bust sizes. (Sean, I’ll leave that one to you. Let me know how it is.)

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Other News

YNN Correspondent Simon wants everyone to know that the Hourou Musuko anime site is running a fan art competition that appears to be open to anyone who follows them on Twitter

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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 Anime

The Anime Network (the cable network, not to be confused with ANN) has announced that they’ve added some titles of interest to their streaming service. Episodes of CANAAN, Uta-Kata, Lucky Star and Taisho Baseball Girls have all been added to the subscription-based site.

Media Blasters announced on Twitter that they are doing a dub and sub version of both Loveless (with it’s terrific Yuri arc) and Kashimashi ~ Girl meets Girl. Kind of strangely, these are both being called a “Vocal Collection,” so don’t get confused that these are CDs or something. The previous releases of both series were subtitled only. They are slated for a March 2011 release.

This was sort of interesting – the official Japanese Simoun blog, which had been dead for sometime, came back to life to announce a new box set…and a Twitter account. That was the interesting part, because why bother if they don’t have something to say on an ongoing basis? Right now it’s repurposing of material, but there’s always hope and insane fan speculation.

In possibly the most inexplicable news this week, the third volume of the utterly unfun and all-but-totally-not-at-all-Yuri Yuriseijin Naoko-san will have a short anime as an extra. I followed this series for years when I was getting (and it was running in) Dengeki Daioh. All I can say is, for pity’s sake, fellas! My vote to manga that most needs this treatment goes to Poor Poor Lips, not this crap.

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Yuri Manga

Good news for folks who liked Shitsuji Shoujo to Ojousama, because Volume 2 is being released in January 2011. More Butler x Tsundere Mistress wackiness with service.

I have forgotten if I’ve told you this yet and I am too lazy to look, so, Tsubomi, Volume 9 , out this month.

Blue Friend is apparently getting an “after story” in a Ribon Magazine special issue. I wonder if it’ll be a good after, or a bad after….

The Third and final Volume of Choir! has been announced for a January release – it promises a happily-ever-after Yuri end.

MangaTime Lovely magazine has announced that veteran BL creator Tanaka Rin will be trying her hand at some GL. When I was in Animate last month, I almost passed out at the number of MangaTime this and that magazines.

And how fun is this? Rakuen Le Paradis, Volume 4 has their info page up. If you scroll down a bit, you’ll see two long horizontal boxes on the right. One says “New!” and the one below that is red. Click on the red box and you’ll get a page which is a manga Advent Calendar! Clicking on a number opens a page with a short manga story by one of the creators (controls are the little gold boxes on the left. To see the whole thing, press the control that says 進む, second row from the bottom on the right.) Because it’s an Advent Calendar, you can’t open the box until that day of the month. How freaking cute is that?

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Other News

You may have heard that a spin-off of Shueisha’s Super Jump called Girl’s Jump (ガールズジャンプ) is launching on December 15. The premier issue will include a one-shot by Nakamura Ching, creator of Gunjo. Obviously, you must all by it. ^_^ Although the creators are all female, the audience is presumed to be young men. I’m very much looking forward to it. As soon as I can get a Amazon JP link for it, I’ll be sure to give it to you.

This week, David Welsh of Manga Curmudgeon was gracious enough to host a review by me – twice. The first, discussing Mr. 2 of Oda’s One Piece, I already mentioned. He was also kind enough to host my rather long look at Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, in which I discuss some of the problem with “critical” analysis of shoujo manga, along with discussing some of the primary themes of this book. I hope you’ll read and enjoy them.

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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!

Snatches of Yuri

CANAAN, Volume 2 from Kadokawa Comics has been out for a while, but since I just started rewatching the anime, it’s in my head. So why not check that out?

Daremo ienai looks really interesting. It’s being published by Hakusensha and the Amazon package deal is with Rakuen le Paradis, so I’m guessing it skews towards an older female audience.

Himitsu, by Otomo Megane is subtitled “Secret Love” and the cover features two girls holding hands. This is a KR comic and with all those things I project that it is /drum roll/ Story A. When it hits the shelves next month we’ll know for sure. (YNN Correspondent Erin S. confirms that this is a collection of Otomo’s stories from Tsubomi anthology, so I feel even more confident that they are Story A. ^_^)

From bottom-feeding Champion Red comes Minori Scandal. The first line of the first review on Amazon JP reads “I love Yuri hentai!” and the cover shows a girl – I assume it’s Minori – looking “sexy” for our bottom-feeding pleasure. I’m done with it, but if you decide to throw money at it, feel free to write a guest review!

I’m sure that, somewhere, someone likes Gokujouu, but that someone wasn’t me. It’s made it to Volume 3, more’s the pity.

Densho is said to be very, very, Yuri by people I almost always disagree with. ^_^ I have absolutely no idea what it’s about and am adding it to the report to be as comprehensive as possible.

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Yuri Manga

Back in the world of manga that doesn’t make us sad to be alive, Uso Kurata has a new collection out from Ichijinsha. Sore demo Koi wo Suru will be hitting shelves on December 18th.

Yuri Hime Wildrose is undergoing a name change. From now on it will be known as Yuri Hime Girl’s Love. It remains to be seen if the content undergoes any change.

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Maria-sama ga Miteru News

Take a deep breath. According to Shueisha’s release list, a new Maria-sama ga Miteru novel will be out on December 28! I’ve been enjoying the O-shaka-sama ga Miteru series, (with the exception of the odious Andre-sempai) but I’ll be thrilled to return to Lillian for a bit. As I have not been reading Cobalt Shueisha, I can’t tell you when the stories are, if they include any of “our” Yamayurikai or what. Maybe someone else can help us out on that end.

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Yuri Anime

You may remember the manga I mentioned last week, A Channel. It’s being turned into an anime. The official anime website has announced the staff and the names are familiar to many Yuri fans. Folks that worked on Strawberry Panic, Saki and Strike Witches are gathering together to work on this moe 4-koma to anime.

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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!