ALC Publishing will be reprinting WORKS by Eriko Tadeno this summer. This will be the third printing. Look for it in the Diamond Previews catalog for May, and of course we’ll be doing pre-order deals on the Yuricon Shop. Look for those starting in May, as well.

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There’s been some trouble getting Seven Seas titles in the non-US market, and after some digging around, Brigid Alverson of Mangablog uncovered a blog post that talked about why:

Tiamat’s Disciple had trouble finding Seven Seas titles, so he e-mailed the company and got an interesting explanation: They switched distributors from Diamond to Tor/Macmillan, and Diamond wouldn’t let go of their backlist stock until the end of February. TD is in the UK, but I’m wondering if that problem affected the US as well.

So, that’s probably why you’re having some trouble finding it. So, your choices right now are – check out local book stores and see if they have it on the shelves (an activity that will also get you out of the house and might help you discover some *other* titles of interest, too, so it’s a good idea all around) or just hold on and wait a month or so, until the distribution issue clears.

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We have two new collections from Yuri Hime magazine coming up. Epitaph is the story of Towa and Ash, goth loli girls who deliver messages from the dead. And the final volume of Hatsukoi Shimai,will also be avaiable shortly. Both are, of course, on the Yuricon Shop under manga from Japan. I probably won’t be getting Epitaph, so it you want a review of it, feel free to write one. :-)

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As I mentioned last week, the first volume of the Strawberry Panic anime hit the shelves recently, so I hope you’ll get that, as well. There’s 6 episodes on the first disk, which is a pretty good deal. :-) (Also available through the Yuricon Shop. We try to be comprehensive. lol)

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Friends of Yuri from Japan tell us that at the Comitia 84 comic market in Tokyo, there will be a mini Yuri market called “Yuribu,” made up of 100 Yuri doujinshi circles. Details about this and other upcoming events on the Yuri Events page on Yuricon. Check there for panels, lectures and other Yuri related events from around the world!

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There’s lots of exciting Yuri news coming around the corner, I promise. I’ll tell you as soon as I can. :-)

After last week’s flurry of activity, things this week have settled down, more or less, into “Here’s some stuff to look for!” :-)

Some of you may have noticed already that the newest chapter in the Mai Otome saga has been released – Mai Otome 0 s.ifr. Like all the previous versions of HiME and Otome, there are some recycled characters, but the cast is mostly new. Episode one already provided the desperate with some Yuri-service, so keep an eye out for it. ;-)

Eagle-eyed Erin points out that Torajirou Kishi, the creator of Maka-Maka, has a new series coming out in a collected volume, Mars no Kiss. We agree that this one does not sound very happy, but one never knows. :-) It’s running in Pianissimo magazine, a far cry from Jive, so my guess is that it’s a softer, more melodramatic story.

Gunjou, by Nakamura Chin, is running in Morning magazine in Japan. If I understand the synopsis correctly, it’s about the adventures of a woman and the woman she hired to kill her husband, as they take to the road after the murder. The author is a Yuri manga fan, and the art is really understated and cool. It’s has very high Yuri potential. I’ll let you know, once I’ve read it.

Lastly, in case you missed it on the Yuricon Mailing List, yesterday was Yuricon’s hunky mascot Yuriko’s birthday. We always like to do something special for that, so we’ll be announcing a “concert tour poster” contest – design a poster for Yuriko and Mayumi’s world tour, win a limited-edition fan club tour t-shirt! Also feel free to send Yuri a birthday greeting at yurisnr at yahoo.co.jp. She promises to answer all of them. :-)

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That’s about all I got for you this week. If you come across a nifty Yuri news item, don’t hesitate to send it to me at the email on my profile. I only have two eyes – your assistance is *always* appreciated!

Here we are, at the end of another fun week of Yuri news!

The big news for ALC Publishing is that recruitment has begun for the sixth Yuri Monogatari Project! Writers and artists who wish to be considered for the new anthology should read the submission rules carefully before sending any materials. Questions can be emailed to anilesbocon01 at hotmail.com. Recruitment will be held through March 15, 2008.

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Many astute readers have commented and written in to point out that Candy☆Boy has been greenlighted for another 7 episodes. Many people seem to think that this is a good thing. :-) Read the ANN News item for more details.

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I’ve been asked to track up-and-coming series for folks here, so here are three manga titles of note for you:

On sale as of February 18, Mermaid Line, the newest collection from Yuri Hime!

Also of interest, Maria-sama ga Miteru manga Volume 8 is now on sale. More hot Rosa action. lol

For those of you looking for something in English, Skim looks very interesting. Featured in Publisher’s Weekly, Skim is the story of a Canadian Goth-Loli, who has a relationship with a female teacher.

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We’ve also updated the Yuricon website, with great new SnB fan art from Zeromus One on the Gallery, all the above manga and more on the Yuricon Shop, and a newly revamped Mission Statement and History.

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See you tomorrow with more Yuri reviews!