Just a quick personal note to start off – for the next month or so I’ll be working three jobs and, so, reviews may be sporadic, because this is a fourth job and even I have a breaking point. ;-) As a result, I am soliciting guest reviews – here are some basic guidelines for doing so.

What I’m looking for is reviews of series I will not review. I know that that’s asking you to be a bit clairvoyant and I apologize for that, but it’s not an impossible task. If you’ve read a Light Novel or manga series I’ve never mentioned, or watched an anime that has never popped up here then you’re looking at a good bet for a Guest Review. You can use the categories on the sidebar and the search at the top to see if the series in question might already be part of the blog. So, while I understand your interest in reviewing, say, Hayate x Blade, I’ll be handling that myself. :-)

Lastly – if this is a licensed series, then I would strongly prefer you not review based on scans, subs or rips you have downloaded. Write about the actual licensed item that you have bought, borrowed from friend or library or rented. Please. Thank you.

Now, onto some news!

Yuri Manga

Here’s something exciting! Morishima Akiko-sensei has been working on an Edo-period manga that is now out from Mangatime KR Comics, O-Edo tote Schön. You may remember that she had a period piece in her first collection of manga from Yuri Hime and it set her off on an interest in the period. I’m really looking forward to this, it ought to be fun.

For those of you who are enjoying Sora’s battles to save the girls of Utopia Academy, the second volume of Shitsurakuen 2 will be on sale in about a month. (This would be a great subject for a guest review, if you’ve bought and enjoyed the series!)

Last year I was saying that there would be no more Maria-sama ga Miteru novels, but you know, I was totally wrong. Yes, Yumi and the gang are no longer the main focus, but Konno-sensei is still cranking them out. Several of them have followed Yuuki and his adventures as a first-year at Hanadera (finally explaining what *really* went on with the island dance he had to learn) and I’m reading Little Horrors right now. Yumi and “our” Yamayurikai show up in the story that ties it all together, but are not the focus of the individual shorts. The point of saying all this is, there’s a new novel hitting the shelves on Dec. 25 – Maria-sama ga Miteru ~ Watashi no Su.

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Yuri Anime

LexXxich points us in the direction of “Darker than Black: Gemini of the Meteor, which is a sequel of 2007 Darker than Black. Second season features Hazuki, nicknamed Lesbian Lightsaber Ninja, a contractor whose remuneration is kissing males. She does not like it one bit, going as far as to flush her mouth with vodka after the deed, and kissing her female assistant Kyouko to “remove a bad aftertaste”. She even tries to molest Kirihara, a (female) ex-cop working now in her agency. She’d just go down the drain as “another predatory lesbian”, if not for a disaster happening to Kyouko, during which it’s revealed that their feelings were mutual. Any more spoilers would be awful, so I stop here.”

Funimation has announced the English voice cast of the second season of the Strike Witches anime.

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Snatches of Yuri

L16 volume 2 is about 16-year old Nanaka-chan who admires her beloved 28-year old onee-chan. (Real or symbolic sister, I don’t yet know.)

From the creator of Maka-Maka and Mars no Kiss comes a news series, i.d.. There’s not so much Yuri in this first volume, but Yuri Goggles will help with that, it seems. I’m probably more interested in this series because I found Mars no Kiss so sensitive and intelligent and was surprised at the delicacy of art and writing that were displayed in that volume.

Yuka-hime!, another Mangatime KR comic, sounds like Doki Doki School Hours with the main character being the class president, rather than the teacher. Absurdly short, large chested Yuka is cuddled and fondled by her adoring classmates. The standard Nadesico beauty of the class uses every opportunity to touch her, making for very Yumi/Sachiko, Himeko/Chikane photo ops. :-)

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Other News

Egypt Today has posted an interview with Cutey Honey and Devilman Lady (among many other series) creator, Go Nagai.

Urushihara Satoshi has a new artbook out. If you have ever looked at any of his artwork, you’ll know what to expect – shiny girls, often naked, sometimes Yuri, overt or implied.

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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!

The end of the year draws nigh and I guess it’s time to start thinking about my Top Ten Lists. Number One will be easy but ugh, the rest is going to be hard – this year because we had a ton of good stuff to choose from. And here’s a few more titles, to complicate matters. :-)

Yuri Manga

Choir! was a horrible-looking comic strip that turned out to be totally tolerable, with moments of actual funny and a surprisingly genuine Yuri couple. Now there’s a second volume out.

I still haven’t had a chance to read it, but Japanese Yuri lists say that at least one of the stories in Nakamura Ching’s collection Chin-Man is Yuri.

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Yuri Drama CD

YNN correspondent Katherine H. is glad to share the news that there is a *third* Saki original Drama CD in the works.

While we’re at it, I want to share the news that the Maria-sama ga Miteru Premium CD with original recording, is now available. Those of you who favor Yumi x Touko (by which I mean…Sean) will like the cover.

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Yuri Anime

Moonphase announced that Mitsudomoe is going to become an anime. A single glace at the cover of the manga was enough for me. If you like the idea of fetuses in frilly dresses, and a vaguely sort of Yuri-ish feel then you’ll love this, I’m sure.

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Snatches of Yuri

Akane-iro Symphonia – Ichijinsha’s *other* novel line has been putting out a few Yuri novels and this seems to be the latest. High school girls and desktop music, with Yuri.

Sakura Ricetto looks, well, Yuri with lots of service. Girls, bathing, Yuri. Yup.

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Other News

Google has released a new Japanese IME for those of you who would like the ability to type in Japanese directly. If you do not read Japanese, it will not be a big help to you, but if you can type Romaji, it will. Like the Microsoft IME, it gives you choices for Hiragana, Kanji and Katakana when you type Romaji in. I like it so far, which is to say, for the twice I used it this morning. :-)

(IME is Input Method Editor, in case you were wondering. Read about them here.)

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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!

With the remnants of Ida beating at my house, it’s a curl up and read a book kinda day….

Yuri Manga

Let’s see…we already mentioned Comic Lily (which mostly has artists that specialize in infantile Yuri, so my expectations are low to non-existent) and Yuri Shoujo. Have I mentioned yet *another* Yuri anthology, called Shoujo Yuri? Not sure. Well, now I have. As I mention in the comments, I saw a cover, but forgot to save the reference and now can’t find it. Oh well. More info when I find it again.

Also not sure if I pointed out that Tsubomi 4 is out. I’ve been a little disappointed with Tsubomi so far. It’s been pretty lackluster, but Yuri Hime took a while to really get going and it’s only now shifting into territory I really like, so I’m giving it the benefit of the doubt for a few more volumes. It’s just kind of…okay. I finish each volume *really* tired of school girls kind of liking each other a bit.

On a positive note, a series that has a character who actually says out loud that she’s a lesbian, and that I *never* expected to see a second volume of, Poor Poor Lips, Volume 2 is a-comin’. I thoroughly enjoyed Volume 1. While I don’t expect “progress” to be made in the relationship and the one-joke character of the lead was a tad wearing, overall, it had more depth and was a better series than most 4-koma comics.

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Snatches of Yuri

Juji wrote in to let you all know that in addition to the Light Novel Dorobo no Meijin, there are a number of other novels by the same author, all with high likelihood of Yuri.

Dorobo no Meijin ~ Side Story: Itaikena Goshujin

Kimi ga Boku wo ~ Doushite Sora ha Aoi nano? and a second volume slated for a release this coming week.

Another novel with likelihood of something that passes for Yuri is Murasaki-iro Qualia, a story about a humanoid robot with pretty purple eyes and a charmingly doofusy personality that makes her the mascot and object of skinship in her middle school class.

Rousoku-hime has been *all* over the Yuri lists these days. I guess the inside must be better than the cover…. In any case, it’s about the beautiful daughter of a nobleman, Squa, who is sent to a nunnery with her handmaid, “swarthy” Fleure.

Action Comics, which has brought us both Hakamada Mera’s and Morinaga Milk’s work, also offers up Pheromone No.5, which looks like it hits a number of popular tropes – private girls school (check), transfer student (check), glasses (check), pervy female Student Council President (check), “funny” sexual harassment (check.) The Amazon reviews were 5 stars and 1 stars. :-)

And Kate Dacey of Mangacritic informed me that translated manga Dragon Sister has a “predatory lesbian.” It’s on my to-read pile now, thanks to Okazu Hero Martin S. I’ll let you know if she is sufficiently predatory for our tastes. ^_^

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And, 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!