Yuri Manga

Anonymous wrote to let us know that Rakka Ryuusui, Volume 5 is soon to be out. Also, Anon points that a booklet for Shitsuji Shoujo to Ojou-sama is available – the PDF on the website tells you how to get it.

This month is going to see a pile of Yuri Hime comics released, so I’ll do a few at a time, so we can savor the list.

Soulfege ~ Sweet Harmony is among the group this time, with a mild story about a girl who faces adversity when she comes to a private school to find her beloved onee-sama.

Orange Yellow is another collection of shorts and Mizu-iro Cinema is a collection of the story of common girl Tae as she becomes involved with a film superstar, both by the quietly wonderful Hiyori Otsu.

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Snatches of Yuri

Nonnonbyoriatto is full of dorm hijinks and a super cool sempai beloved by her kouhai. And stuff that passes for Yuri.

Hidamari Sketch Volume 5 is full of dorm hijinks…and stuff that passes for Yuri.

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Yuri Reviews

I don’t usually point to other people’s reviews of books, but Jason Thompson had a two-for-one this week with a review of Maka-Maka on his 365 Days of Manga site and an overview of Rose of Versailles on his new column for Anime News Network, House of 1000 Manga.

Other News

I thought this worth passing on. Simon Jones of Icarus Publishing mentions an article on Tsurupeta about a semi-official Strike Witches bi-lingual doujinshi. I think this is worth mentioning, because you’re going to see more and more of this. There is a desire on the part of creators to reach their audience and frustration on their part with those fans who don’t respect their ownership of their work. More importantly, now that readers are starting to assign the power of choice of what is published not to publishers, but to hardware providers like Apple and Amazon, who are wielding that power haphazardly and unfairly, I think creators are smart to take as much control of their work as possible.

Which leads me to something else Simon links to – a report that 30% of books submitted to Apple’s iTunes on behalf of Kodansha have been rejected. Other publishers have commented that even when a first volume of a series is accepted, later volumes might not be. I know everyone’s blown away by the shiny iPad, but with the inconsistency and hypocrisy rampant in regards to iTunes, are the users going to tolerate this? Wield your money wisely when you purchase.

LGBT News

Kansasa City.com gives a short, incomplete and (not-surprisingly) American-comics biased history of gay characters in comics. It’s full of holes, but not done with malice.

And while I’m here, I might as well just mention that Batwoman is going to get her own series over at DC. I finally had a chance to read Detective and I can guarantee my impressions are not in line with everyone else’s. :-) Nonetheless, I’m glad DC’s giving the green signal to keep her and not just shelving her now that Rucka’s leaving.

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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.

While I enjoy the delights of Pittsburgh’s Comic Con, you can enjoy the delights of *not* being at Pittsburgh’s Comic-Con!

Yuri Manga

YNN Correspondent Erin S. wants us all to know that Comic Yuri Hime will be going bimonthly. (Insert obligatory “bi” jokes” here.) This is excellent news on all levels.

And YNN correspondent Sean G gleefully points out that Adam Arnold of Seven Seas wrote about plans for Hayate x Blade and why Strawberry Shake Sweet never got over here on the Shoujoai-Archive Forums.

I’d like to take this opportunity to once again address the issue of fan paranoia. Companies are NOT out to get you, screw you or otherwise do you in. Please, I beg you all, stop assuming the worst of every company. There is no company in the western manga industry that is doing anything other than doing their *very* best – with exceedingly limited resources – to bring you manga to read. Support them, stand by them, give them encouragement. Assuming the worst of them all the time is horribly disheartening to the people who are trying hard to do the best they can. Seven Seas has been honest, friendly, approachable and their quality has been top notch from beginning to end. They are also a business, so of course sometimes they will make decisions you don’t like, but I can guarantee that are doing their best to publish what they think you want to buy. Making them your enemy is weird and delusional. (Note to the extra frothy commenters that will follow this statement – seriously, it’s you. If you are getting THAT worked up about being denied something that is a comic book…it’s you.)

I completely forget to mention that a new series started in Ultra Jump that has some Yuri-service. It’s called “Sayonara Summer” and I think the service will be a regular feature, as the female protagonist professes to like girls. And she has some serious issues with baseball, as well. It looks interesting – if it becomes something worth watching, I’ll make sure to point it out.

Erin S. also want to make sure you know that Yotsuhara Furiko’s Sleeping Beauty is available for your reading pleasure.

The third volume of Watashi no Taisetsuna Tomodachi by Hakamada Mera is also out. One of the odd things about Mera’s work is that I always forget that she’s got all these series out there and then am surprised all over again when they pop pack into the news report. :-)

And I’m sure that someone is interested in knowing that the third volume of Creo the Crimson Crisis is available.

And I’m not sure if I told you that the Shoujo Yuri anthology will be getting a second volume or not. Well, it is. And this one will include stories by Kitao Taki and Mitou Kana, also known as Sakuraike, so at least two stories will definitely be good. :-) If there was anything that might tempt me to buy another volume – that was it.

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Yuri Anime

Media Blasters is streaming dubbed episodes of Magic Knight Rayearth on Hulu. They already have Ikkitousen available on the video streaming service. Go Media Blasters! Work those properties, you sexy thangs.

I started to watch Seikon no Kwaser, but when I started tasting bile, I stopped. Guest Review fodder if ever there was.

Yuri has also reared it’s gothic head in the newest Precure property, Heartcatch PreCure. There’s definitely *something* between Dark Cure and Cure Moonlight. I like to pretend it’s a relationship. :-)

A new anime for this year, called Tamayura, has some serious potential, as well. It’s been on all the Yuri lists, has the staff that worked on Aria and Satou Junichi for a director. In a waterfront town, a girl who loves taking pictures, ends up taking a picture of a fairy-like girl and her life is changed. It sounds sweet, and the buzz is that the Yuri will be a major-ish part of the story.

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Snatches of Yuri

In Literary – Mikaze High School Literary Club, the Belles Letters club of a school includes and encourages all genres – including BL and GL. The art kind of put me off, but I think I’m going to give this one a try.

YuyuShiki, Volume 2, is a 4-koma with skinship and possible actual Yuri interest. Volume 2 seems to up the level somewhat.

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Other LGBT News

In what I think surely must win the “Whuh…?” Award this week, Archie Comics has introduced a gay character, Kevin. Just to add to the “Whuh…?” factor, he comes out first to Jughead. In my childhood, Jughead would have responded to a comment like, ‘I’m gay” with something high-larious like, “Well you sure seem happy to me!” but that’s an ancient Jughead. This one cleverly plans to use disinformation to shame Veronica. How 90210 of him.

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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

Media Blasters has announced that Queen’s Blade will get a dub track. Because you’re watching it for the great dialogue. lol (Oh, and a quick note to those of you who know and care about Media Blasters, Chet and John are still there and say hi.)

Other Yuri News

YNN Correspondent ashi pointed out that the Crunchyroll Newsletter addressed the question “Why is there more Yuri these days?” Yuricon Mailing List Member Jacob summed it up well when he said, “Maybe it is because such relationships are more accepted. Maybe because it sells. But probably both.”

However…based on the conversation about “Fufu” on 2chan, I would say that same-sex relationships are nowhere near being accepted in Yuri fandom. The channel was split between people who insisted that Yuri and lesbian are the same (which they clearly are not) and those who said plainly that they don’t want lesbians in their Yuri. Which leaves – there’s more Yuri because it sells.

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Yuri Manga

Tsubomi 6 is out next month and the next issue of Comic Yuri Hime is out now. This is the issue in which Morinaga Milk makes her reappearance with a color illustration. It also has the return of Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan for those of us who have missed it.

Also coming from Ichijinsha is Yuri Hime Selection 2. The first volume of this was a collection of random stories and one-shots from Yuri Shimai that didn’t have enough chapters to be collected into a volume by one artist. I’d assume that this second volume is the same for Yuri Hime stories.

And while we’re on an anthology kick – new Yuri Anthology Hirari is also out this month.

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Snatches of Yuri

Award winning author Asakura Takuya has written a 2-novel series about two women who meet again after 15 years and find that their feelings for one another have, if anything, grown more intense. Old Friends Volume 1 and Volume 2 might appeal to the more adult readers among us.

A live action movie called GL – Little Witches Labyrinth looks just about as pandering as a non-porn can look. I would not expect quality.

Nekokami Yaoyoruzu is a cat-eared lolicon god comedy from Champion Red Comics, about a cute god who lives in a shrine in a little town’s antiques shop.

Another novel series that seems of interest is Kimi ha Boku wo about a town with a thriving shopping center and two girls that live there. Volume 2 is especially Yuri-riffic, but if I tell you why, it’ll spoil volume 1. ;-) If you can read the book, you can read the synopsis on Amazon JP.

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Other News

I was not able to attend MocCCA’s festival this year, but the last time I did, I wrote about a very talented woman named Margot Dabaie. Well this year, her book The Hookah Girl and Other True Stories: Growing Up Christian Palestinian in America made the “best comics from the 2010 MoCCA Art Festival” list on the New York Daily News! Congrats Margot!

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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!