Archive for the Yuri Network News Category


Yuri News This Week – June 14, 2008

June 14th, 2008

It was a long week this week and all sorts of news from all over…

Yuri Anime

Amuri in Star Ocean, which is a manga series that runs in Dengeki Daioh magazine has posted a streamed version of the anime trailer on the website Amuri.jp. Amuri consistently has some Yuri service in the manga. I don’t actually know if the anime has any or not. Interestingly though, the trailer is available in a “moe” version and a “sci-fi” version.

The Shoujo Sect anime trailer has been uploaded for you to do whatever it is you want to do while watching it. Looks like they are covering quite a few of the scenarios from the manga. All I want is the very final chapter. Probably not, because it has comparatively little sex.

And Right Stuff has said that anyone who directly preorders the first season of Maria-sama ga Miteru from them, will get a Rosa Chinesis phone strap as a free chotchke. I spoke briefly with them about gew-gaws. We agreed that this audience would be a huge consumer of “stuff” if they let us get any. :-)

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Yuri Manga

The husband and wife team that writes and draws He is My Master has split. Asu Tsubaki, the artist half, who draws for Yuri Hime S, among other things, has said she will not continue the series. I’m heartbroken, as you can imagine.

Steady Beat creator Rivkah reports that Tokyopop will be releasing the third volume of her series on the Web only. This seems to be the fate of many of their World Manga/OEL titles.

Someone asked last week what the TP contraction would mean for the Yuri titles. I think its safe to say that the one or two titles they had that were even vaguely Yuri will take a hit. The third, which had not been released yet, will also likely not see the light of day. I’m conjecturing here, but overall, compared with Yaoi/BL titles, Yuri do comparatively poorly in sales. I’ve figured out why, too. BL titles’ audience – women – *buy* more than guys. A lot more. Guys, if they like a thing want to know where to download it – for free. Women come running up to a table, buy everything and run off. lol Don’t know why, but I’ve seen it over and over at events.

Also, to continue a conversation on the Yuricon Mailing List, this contraction has already trickled to the Tokyopop UK group and is likely to hit Germany and France soon. What that means for the translated Maria-sama ga Miteru novels in Gernmany is as yet unknown. Money talks, so if the books are selling well, they may well be continued.

Friend of Yuri Steven reminds me to mention GIRL X GIRL X BOY, a manga series I keep meaning to review, but keep forgetting. It’s out in tankoubon now. As the title indicates, it’s about a love triangle. While not earthshatteringly brilliant, it does have a happy ending.

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Snatches of Yuri

From Rei, a news item that Shin Megami Tensei Kahn has utterly trash-ariffic Yuri. The Publisher’s Weekly review listed on the Amazon site sums it up nicely: “The book has a surprising amount of violence and nudity: nearly all the female leads appear nude, including Nobu’s mother. Saeko is coerced into graphic demon lesbian sex in one very long scene. At worst, this book is a poor introduction to the MegaTen franchise. At best, it is a mediocre story about demons and a fast pulp read.” Okay then.

And once again from Ana, who knows me so well!, a mention that Light Novel Vanilla – A Sweet Partner has trashy Yuri girls with guns. I am *so* there. I’ll be sure to report back – and put it on the Yuricon Shop’s Light Novels page!

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Other News

Since I mentioned Tokyopop’s collapse, I guess I ought to to give ADV the same courtesy. ANN reports that the next issue of PiQ magazine, ADV’s replacement for Newtype will be its last. I can’t say I’m surprised, but I did think it was a decent magazine. It’s just that the costs of printing and distributing magazines these days make it hard to support the business model. I hope they think about continuing it as an online or mobile magazine.

And last for today, once again my novel Shoujoai ni Bouken is the subject of discussion at Ultimo Spalpeen (In Japanese.) This time Komatsu-san informs me, he is reassuring Japanese readers that my understanding of Japanese culture is not cringe-making. lol Thank you once again, Komatsu-san! I wrote it 8 years ago now, and there are definitely things I’d do differently, but I’m very pleased to have no huge gaffes instantly apparent. Phew. :-)

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That’s it for this week. Don’t forget to join me at 12:30 at the Brooklyn Museum of Art for Ghost in the Shell: Innocence!. See you there!





Yuri News This Week – June 7, 2008

June 7th, 2008

We’re trying something new this week. This is pre-recorded programming. Cool, huh? Even as you are reading this post, *I* am in NYC at Puck Building, joining the fab folks of Prism Comics for the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Art Festival today. If you are in or near the NYC area, drop by. It’s an amazing event full of amazingly talented independent comic artists from all over. The MoCCA event is a don’t-miss event if you like comic art!

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Yuri Anime

It’s pretty much the all Mai edition this week! First off, Bandai has announced that they will be releasing all four of the Mai Otome Zwei episodes on one disk. In the past Bandai ran into some serious clashes with the fans over Japanese-style DVD releases (two TV episodes or one OVA per DVD.) In this climate of contracting markets and struggling anime sales, it’s nice to see that they’ve gotten a clue.

Speaking of Mai devoted reader Eric P. points out that Bandai has announced a new Mai HiME series, starring a girl named Mao. There’s not much more info available, but I expect it to be the same service with a light negligee of plot that the rest of the series wears. :-)

While I’m beating the Mai series to death, I just want to say that I have added the Mai HiME/Mai Otome/Destiny Light Novels to the Light Novel Page on the Yuricon Shop. I had no idea how many Mai novels there were!

And for those three of you who were wondering if there’d *ever* be a new Mai Otome ~ S.ifr, the answer is – yes. Look for episode two of that OVA to arrive sometime in July.

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Yuri Manga

Speaking of July, you can look forward to a new edition of Yuri Hime Wildrose coming out that month. (Yes, yes, pun intended.) Look for more girls who are not lesbian having sex with other girls, even though they don’t quite know what girls do in bed. This will be released on the 18th, the same day that the next Yuri Hime magazine hits the selves.

Looking for a quick fix of 4-koma goofiness with a light flavoring of Yuri? Rakka Ryuusui, Volume 3 is already on sale in Japan. Get your fill of kyuudo klub komraderie and inexpressible puns. :-)

Here’s an interesting piece of news – Hayate x Blade is switching not only magazines, but publisher as well. Up through Volume 9 it will continue in Mediaworks’ Dengeki Daioh, but as of the September issue, which ships in August, it will be running in Ultra Jump magazine and the collected volumes will be printed by UJ Comics. How interesting…. Makes you wonder what went on there, doesn’t it? LOL It was reported on Hayashiya Shizuru’s blog. (Thanks to Erin, btw, who made me *read* what it actually said, because when I scanned it the first time, I completely missed what she was saying. lol)

Also of note, creator of Yuri OEL manga Steady Beat, Rivkah, has some very interesting things to say on her Livejournal about the reorganization of Tokyopop and what it means for the third and final volume of her story! She includes some of the pencils from the climax, so definitely check them out.

And Sean reminds me that Strawberry Marshmallow, Volume 5 is shipping next week. For all us Miu fans.

And for those who have Internet Explorer, don’t mind downloading Digital Object Reader and can navigate basic Japanese, Young Gun Carnaval has been made into a free manga distributed through Flex Comics’ Yahoo Japan site. I’m told there’s Yuri in the novels. I don’t know if there actually is. There are girls who kill people. That’s good enough for me. :-D

For fans of Mnemosyne, there is a manga for the series “Daughters of Mnemosyne Manga: Miss Black” running in Comic Valkyrie. Has Yuri-service just like the anime. :-) I’m not sure at this point if it is a one-shot or not. I’m sure someone will weigh in with details.

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Other Yuri News

There is a very interesting blog which I have mentioned before – Ultimo Spalpeen – which follows the American anime and manga industry in Japanese for a Japanese audience. The writer, Komatsu-san, has been a terrific supporter of Yuri in general and Yuricon, ALC and Okazu in specific. Last week he emailed me with a question about the title of my Light Novel, Shoujoai ni Bouken. He asked me if I knew that it wasn’t quite right Japanese. I told him my little secret about the titles for SnB and the sequel Saiyuu no Ryouko, i.e., SnR. I *chose* to use not-quite-right Japanese for the titles on purpose, since it always fascinates me that so much anime/manga/doujinshi use English in a way that is not-quite-right. lol We had a long conversation about the whole thing and he’s transcribed the entire thing in Japanese for his readers. Thank you, Komatsu-san for all your support!

Now on to much more important things, like Strawberry Panic fighter jets!

Anastasia Moreno posted on her Manga Gunkan blog that Friend of Yuri, soulassassin547 realized, after learning that Ana is a ex-Marine who translates Strawberry Panic, that Astrea Hill would be the natural location for an air base. To that end, he designed the StoPani fighter jets…and one special Lillian squadron. (Commander “Ice Queen” Ogasawara. Swoon….)

Also from Ana’s blog, this Pixel Maritan AMV. The song is from the CD that accompanied the book I reviewed. There are subtitles in English, so you can enjoy it fully. You all have to watch – this way you’ll get a feeling for how insane this series really is. I believe Ana told me that she wrote the English lyrics for this song. My favorite line is “Let’s beat those evil fuckers now!” (Yay!)

Last up, a non-Yuri item, but it may be of some interest to readers here – and feel free to pass it on to other MLs and groups you know of:

The Kurodahan Press Translation Prize

It gives us great pleasure to announce the Kurodahan Press Translation Prize, awarded for excellence in translation of a selected Japanese short story into English. We hope that it will be possible to continue this prize as an annual event.

Kurodahan Press was established to preserve and circulate contemporary and historical observations of Asia, and to produce informative and entertaining translations. The Japanese literary world needs no help from us in producing outstanding works, but they cannot be introduced to a broader, global audience without skilled translators capable of rendering delicate nuances and atmospheres into another language.

The Kurodahan Press Translation Prize is held to help locate and encourage these translators.

The short story to be translated is 笛塚 by 岡本綺堂, and is about 9500 characters in length.

Submissions will be accepted through September 30, 2008, Japan time.

Three judges will select the winning entry (alphabetical order by surname):
– Juliet Winters Carpenter, Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts
– Meredith McKinney, Visiting Fellow, Japan Centre, Australian National
University
– Royall Tyler

The winning entry will receive a cash prize, and an additional payment for first English publication rights in the upcoming kaiki anthology. Submissions will not be returned, but translators will retain all applicable rights to their work.

For additional information and a complete contest package download, please see our website:http://www.kurodahan.com/mt/e/khpprize/

or write us at:

Kurodahan Press
3-9-10-403 Tenjin
Chuo-ku, Fukuoka
810-0001 JAPAN

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It’s been a long post, but finally, that’s it for today! See you next week!





Yuri News this Week – May 31, 2008

May 31st, 2008

Top Story this week – I am once again gainfully employed. Yay. (And I’ve got a part-time gig whch I’m keeping secret for the moment, but I’ll tell you all about it alter. Promise.)

Yuri Manga

R.O.D.‘s Hideyuki Kurata is doing a new series that will run in Dengeki Daioh magazine. There’s no word yet on whether it will contain Yuri, but we are talking Kurata and Dengeki, so there’s likely to be *something* we can make up in our heads. :-)

Suzunari! an uber-moe series said to have Yuri by the Japanese Yuri blog Yuri na Hibi, is now available in English. Whether that is a *good* thing or a bad is entirely personal. lol

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Marimite News

A couple of people have forwarded this cover of Cobalt Shueisha starring Yuuki. This is indeed a special story about “Buddha Watches You,” starring the fine young lads of Hanadera Academy. A few folks have jumped to the conclusion that this marks a whole new series, which is kind of a leap. I’m sorry to disappoint – it’s only a special issue. (I consider it another delaying tactic, myself.)

The folks from Anime on DVD ferreted out this super-secret not final art for the packaging of Season 1. Looks like Marimite, doesn’t it? :-)

Those of you on the Yuricon Mailing List will know that with the assistance of Sukoshi, I was able to complete the translation of In Library. After which, I’ve decided to retire from translation for a while. But thankfully Sukoshi and Rei have stepped into the gap, while I move back to a “coordinating” position. So look forward to Novel 19 being posted here eventually, and Novel 20, Souer Audition to the YCML and then to Okazu. Yay Sukoshi and Rei!

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Snatches of Yuri

Watching Kaiba last night and episode six, while being much like stabbing yourself in the eye with a fork, including an interesting gender-bent love affair of a sort between Warp, currently inhabiting a girl’s body and Gel, who lives in a man’s body. The vibe (from my perspective) was that Gel was as much attracted to Warp’s body as personality. YMMV.

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Other Yuri News

Speaking of Yuri blogs, I’m please to introduce you to Heavenly Blue, the first Yuri blog I know of written by a Japanese woman. How cool, huh?

If you, or a friend read Yuri or Yaoi – especially if you are GLBT – and you have a moment or two, please help Robin Brenner with her research, by filling out this survey. She’s trying to get a bead on what the GLBT community actually thinks about Yaoi and Yuri.

Also, let me once again mention the Manga/Anime exhbit at the GLBT lending library in St. Paul Minnesota, Quatrefoil. Thanks to “Friend of Yuri” Ellen K for helping set up the exhibit. If you or a friend can, do please drop by – spread the word and visit Quatrefoil!

Lastly, we have a bunch of updates at Yuricon, including a redesigned Shop. We’ve split the Japanese and English manga into separate pages and added a new Light Novels in Japanese page. (The only Yuri LN series translated into English so far is Strawberry Panic, which you can find on the English manga page.) So far there’s only a few LNs up on the LN page, but I’ll be adding more as time goes on. Plus, new events, the 2008 Yuriko Poster Contest Winner and more!

Which brings us to the end of this week’s new report. Can’t wait to see what next week will bring!





This Week in Yuri – May 24, 2008

May 24th, 2008

Yuri Anime

I spoke to Right Stuff this week, about Maria-sama ga Miteru and the second subtitle track. They basically said that they know that the audience for Marimite is pre-existing, with high expectations, and not off-the-street 12-year olds in Best Buy. They told me that they actually got emails that said that if they left out the honorifics, that the writer would not be buying it, which didn’t surprise me in the least. It was refreshing to speak to a company that gets fandom, really. The media rep assured me that they really want to do the best possible job for the fans, and I believe her. After our conversation, I’m completely convinced that they *get* it.

The other thing I asked, which I was fairly certain I would not get an answer for was – how are sales going? I knew they wouldn’t tell me numbers, but was it 100 units or 1000? This is what I got in reply – “We were very, very, *very* pleased with sales.” Like myself, many folks ran out and bought all three season sets. :-) But that third “very” was encouraging.

If you haven’t ordered yet, here is the link for Season 1 pre-order on Amazon. :-) (Available, like so much great Yuri anime, through the Yuricon Shop!)

I was also told that they’ve got some cool things planned for the series and to keep my ears to the ground. Previously, I had suggested to Pizza Hut that they run a campaign here (I’m sure you can imagine the confusion and bewilderment with which that suggestion was met…) but seriously, how much fun – and how bizarre! – would that be here in the US? lol I wrote a fanfic about the Pizza Hut campaign, a while back, after a comment I made on the last “Now This is Only My Opinion.” I put it up on “Worldshaking” Fanfic for you to enjoy. (Oh, oh – but here’s the funny thing! I saw a picture of Yumi, Yoshino and Shimako eating pizza in an official ad, and you know, I was *very* close in my fic. lol)

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Yuri Manga

Yuri fan flojistik informs us that Maka-Maka is now available in French through Amazon.Fr! I know a lot of people would like to see it in English – I also know that there’s a company working on it, so just be patient, ‘kay? :-) In the mean time, French readers can enjoy ther own edition of this adult Yuri manga. If someone gets it, please write in and let us know how it is!

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Okazu News

Thanks to my loyal readers for wondering about that Yuri Wishlist being unpopulated for so long. The balance finally shifted in my piles on the table here and I’ve repopulated it, if you care to sponsor reviews once again. I’m going to do my utmost to review every day this coming week, and get that “to-review” pile halved.

Also, since Amazon is *still* not carrying Mai Otome 4, if someone wants to volunteer to get me that from another source, I’m going to accept graciously. Just email me first, because I don’t want to get 4 copies.

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Other Yuri Interest

It’s not a very active group, but I’ve created an IRC channel to talk in detail about all things Marimite – #[email protected]. This is a spoiler chan for the novels, anime and manga, and we do talk about fine points of what’s going on with MASSIVE spoilers. So if you don’t want to know what happens, don’t join. lol If you want to talk about inexplicable Shimako things, and fine points of Yoshino references, this is the place for you!

And for something completely different, through Mangablog, whch got the link through When Fangirls Attack, here is an essay by Kristin McCauliff about gender roles in Revolutionary Girl Utena. It’s feminist, but not lesbian, but still totally relevant to our interests. :-)

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That’s it for this week. As always, if you have Yuri news you want to share, or any new or obscure series in which you feel there’s a little Yuri you’d like people to know about, feel free to email me with the Subject line “Yuri News” (so my idiotic spam filter doen’t lose it) and I’ll tell the world!! :-)





Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime 12, Part 2

May 22nd, 2008

Onward into the dark depths of Yuri Hime Volume 12!

“Tokimeki Mononoke Gakuen” continues from the moment after Kiri and Arare have kissed. Arare is flipping out – not because she didn’t like it, but because she did! Immediately, she wonders just how Kiri got to be that good a kisser and freaks as she imagines her practicing with just about everyone. Arare wakes up in bed, assuming it was just a weird dream, but in a series of fabulous visuals, finds herself becoming insanely, irrationally jealous of Kiri and Pero. Arare and Kiri make up, Arare wondering if they should become lovers, when Kiri drops the bomb – if they do, Arare will become a real Youkai. Finally! A reasonable reason for the inevitable not getting together! What will happen? Tune in in July.

In “Sweet Peach” Touka flashes back and forth between what appears to be a “normal” world and the world she’s actually stuck in, with a floating perverted hamster-girl as a companion. Airei and Chun, the warrior-elf and the maid-doctor, show up to save her, and a fight looks to be forming when priestess-y Uzume-sama breaks it all up. Airei and Momoka are together when something very important, and yet heavily servicey happens and they find themselves in each other’s arms. We can look forward to even more fantasy elements to be crammed in to this story next time.

A new chapter of the next game in the Aoi Shiro canon, begins. A girl is trained to be another girl’s bodyguerd and servant. I won’t be buying this game any more than I bought the other game, so unless something happens in the story (and I’m betting that this chapter was really just an advert in manga form) I won’t care.

FINALLY! The one thing you all really cared about – the next chapter of “Strawberry Shake Sweet.” Having admitted their feelings, Ran and Julia spend a few pages being pretty sure they must have been mistaken. Ran falls asleep while Julia is in the bath. When Julia returns, waking her, Ran asks for a kiss, which Julia gives. Ran admits that she feared she had made it all up in her head and was just testing. While Saeki is held back from trying to reach them in the dead of night, Julia and Ran end up sleeping together, holding hands.

That’s the good news. Here’s the bad news – this story will be finished in two chapters. Now, that doesn’t *definitely* mean we won’t get more from Hayashiya-sensei. We don’t know yet. So don’t ask me what’s next. I do not know, any more than you do. OTOH, I think we can guarantee that Ran and Julia will live happily ever after. :-)

A girl is always watching Hasekawa, and when she notices, she inexplicably attacks her, trying to force a kiss and possibly more. When Hasekawa is injured, the girl visits her and receives an apology, but frankly, I didn’t like Hasekawa anyway. Thus concludes “A Beautiful Thing” by Hakamada Mera.

Yahoo! “Hatachi Otome Virgin Season” by Morishima Akiko, picks up the story of 20-year old art student Eimi and her lover 30-year old art teacher Keiko. Still wrestling with the age difference, they plan a trip to an onsen. They get sidetracked by a fight about an old boyfriend of Keiko’s, but they get back together in a fit of adorable love-love.

A new series by the artist of Hatsukoi Shimai, which has a name that I simply don’t feel like translating. LOL Anyway, it was exceedingly average. Girl comes to a mysterious store Nekomedou, as she struggles with feelings for her friend who adores her writing. She writes Yuri filth which upsets her friend, but makes up when she realizes that she’s never getting the girl, and her gallant stories of romantic Yuri love are all she can give her.

Last and utterly least is “Nanami to Misuzu” which I totally skipped.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Like I said, yesterday, Yuri Hime is a bag of mixed candy. You’re going to like some, not like some and love and hate one or two. That’s the advantage and disadvantage of an anthology. On the whole I really liked about a third of the stories, which is a fine percentage – I’ve bought magazines where I only liked one or two of the stories, so 6 out of 17 “really like” and 5 “okay” is a totally acceptable to me. And of course, you make like some or all of the stories I disliked. ^_^