I want to start off today by thanking all of you who have been sending me support and good thoughts. This is my first YNN report since February and I’m keeping it short today, but it’s good to be back!

Yuri Manga

At Sakuracon, Yen Press announced the license for Maitsuki Niwatsuki Ooyatsuki by Yodokawa as Monthly in the Garden With My Landlord. I reviewed Volume 1 and Volume 2 of this charming manga and look forward to it in English!

Yen also licensed Cheerful Amnesia. I know a lot of people really liked it, but I sided with Bruce, our late friend, when he wrote his last review for Okazu on that series. ^_^;

Live Action Yuri

Via Ashley, we have a tweet from Mark Julio on a live adaptation of Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, with trailer! According to Mark, this will be on the Lemino streaming service in Japan in May.

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Yuri Visual Novels

Aikasa Collective has launched a new Kickstarter for Red Rebellion, an historical fantasy romance game featuring Robin Hood and Little Red Riding Hood as they team up and fall in love! With 25 days to go, it’s about half-way, so if you can, give this indie game some love. ^_^

Studio Élan is taking pre-orders for a limited run of physical console editions of their popular Heart of the Woods Yuri VN! You can get HoW on Switch, PS4 or PS5. Pre-orders close May 21.

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Yuri Voice Comic

Manga artist Natsuo Mutsumi kickstarted a successful campaign for her manga My Date Is A Total Ike Women! in Japanese and English. The final stretch goals were the creation of a voice drama for the comic and an original piece of music. Natsuo-sensei will be recruiting for non-Japanese voices, so keep an eye out for their tweets!

I’m In Love With The Villianess has also been given a voice comic reading, in anticipation of the upcoming anime. inori-sensei posted a link to it on her twitter. Also for fans of ITLV, Plang has expanded their Claire’s Birthday game- Revolution Lily – they say it has additional scenarios and illustrations. ^_^

Yuri Light Novels

Yen Press has announced the license of the print versions of Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire. J-Novel Club has the digital editions. I really enjoyed that anime, although calling it “Yuri” would be pushing boundaries, but it is a fun series centered on young women’s friendships.

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If you’d like to support Yuri journalism and research, Patreon and Ko-Fi are where we currently accept subscriptions and tips. Your support goes straight to paying for Guest Reviews, folks helping with videos, site maintenance, managing the Yuricon Store and directly supporting other Yuri creators. Just $5/month makes a huge impact! Become part of the Okazu family!

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Okazu Needs Your Help!

2023 is a year that is especially full of new creative content for all of us – tons of Yuri manga, light novelsvisual novels, and brand new Yuri anime – which means new “Erica reacts” videos, our Yuricon 2023 panels and presentations and more as the year goes on. It’s only March and we already have 7 videos up for Season 4 of  Yuri Studio! We have a bunch of new guest reviews here on Okazu and, of course, there are the usual news reports, reviews and some features lined up for the near future.

All of this takes time and money. If you enjoy any or all of the content you read hereon Okazu or watch on Yuri Studio, or the conveniences of the Yuricon store and the Yuricon Essays page…

Please consider supporting Okazu on Patreon or Ko-fi. Your financial support goes straight to paying the writers, artists and editors we employ to keep all of this going.

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Yuri Anime

Whisper Me A Love Song anime, based on the manga by Takeshima Eku now has a premier date of January 2024! New cast and key visual can be found on Crystalyn Hodgkins item on ANN.

Yuri is My Job and the second seasons of  Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury and Birdie Wing all have April premier dates.

Fresh Precure 5, Maho Girls Precure both are being given sequel anime series with the characters as adults. Rafael Antonio Pineda has the details over at ANN. I am intrigued at the idea of these series taking a look at the characters years later, but how I wish it had been Heartcatch!  Fresh was one of the seasons I just could not make it through. Ah well. ^_^

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Yuri Light Novels

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Volume 4 is poised for an April release in English – perfect timing as the anime will have just wrapped up and we’ll all be hungry for more!

The Executioner And Her Way Of Life: A Casket of Salt, Volume 6 will hit shelves this week and the battle between Menou and her mentor will come to a climax.

Yuri Manga

This week on Bookwalker, there are a number of coin back/coin up promotions including free volume 1s and up to 50% coin back on selected volumes of Kodansha Manga. Drop in to Bookwalker here to see what you can nab!

Speaking of Kodansha, something to eagerly await is The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 1, which will reach us in September. This story about a hard of hearing girl and a hearing girl who become friends with her is absolutely not disability inspiration porn. It is a solid tale of otherness and accommodation, friendship and love. I have reviewed Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 here in Japanese and Volume 4 is coming out shortly in Japan. Don’t miss this series when it his shelves in autumn.

Seven Seas has licensed Sheep Princess in Wolf’s Clothing, about a wolf butler to a sheep princess.

Also hitting shelves this week is She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat, Volume 2! Nomoto and Kasuga think about food and each other and make new friends.

Amongst Us, Book 1: Soulmates is a fun AU comic by Shilin Huang of the leas characters from her epic fantasy Carciphona. Blackbird and Veloce live in our world, but they are still themselves. This is a lighthearted slice-of-life about a Very Odd Couple.

Chidori and Nanoha have finally decided what to do about their futures in Hana ni Arashi, Volume 12 (はなにあらし).

Manga Mogura’s Twitter account highlighted a new Yuri manga called Ironna Onnanoko to Kiss o Shite Itara, Yuri Kiss ni Mezamete Shimaimashita vol 1 (色んな女の子とキスをしていたら、百合キスに目覚めてしまいました…。) by Betock. According to MM, this is a “comedy about a high school girl who finds a unconscious angel girl in the woods. The only way to save her is to kiss her!”

Yuama’s The Summer You Were There is slated to wrap up with a 6th volume. Rafael Antonia Pineda has the details on ANN.

Ikuta Hana’s Kage to Hana (影と花) is a Web Action Yuri comic about a girl’s school for ninjas! I’ll have to give it a try at least. ^_^

Kickstarter News

Studio Élan is running a kickstarter for physical copies of their top Yuri Visual Novels which has blown past it’s initial goal and is already funded through the second stretch goal. Next up would be a LN based on one of their games. It’s always a good bet to back an already-successful kickstarter. ^_^

Also already fully funded through new stretch goals, with 12 days to go is My Date Is A Total Ike Women [sic], a butch x butch manga by Natsuo Mutsumi – an original song added to a now-illustrated voice drama is the only remaining goal! I bet we get there.

Thanks to our Okazu Patrons who make the YNN weekly report possible! Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi to help us give Guest Reviewers a raise and to help us support Yuri creators!

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Yuri Manga

ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword!, Volume 3 manga is out from Seven Seas, after more than a year since the previous volume.

Natsuo Mutsumi-sensei was one of the creators behind Boyish² – Butch x Butch Yuri anthology. They have a new project and it’s going to be amazing. They had released art from My Date is a Total Ike Woman, in Japanese and English on Twitter where we all went ballistic for it. ^_^ Now is has launched as a bilingual Kickstarter and in one week blew past all the initial goals and stretch goals. The book is a only a few thousand yen away from a illustrated voice drama on Youtube with original music! I backed it for both a JP and EN edition, because of course I did.  ^_^ There’s just under 3 weeks to go. I hope you’re all as excited about this as I am. ^_^

ANN’s Rafael Antonio Pineda has the news that Kyou Kara Mirai Yuri manga by Yoshitomi Akihito (probably best known here for Blue Drop) is ending. I was kind of surprised it was still ongoing, only because recent Yuri work by Yoshitomi-sensei had been mostly shorts. I’ll have to take a look at this again, I think! I bring this up because Volume 1 and Volume 2 are available in English on Bookwalker Global, brought out by publisher MediBang, a company that mostly seems to do 18+ works. This was news to me, I had seen no announcements at all about it.

Yuri Events

We have a new video for  Yuricon 2023, one that I was exceptionally moved by: S04 E06 – Finding Inspiration in Yuri, Featuring Rev. Sandy Ferguson.  Sandy is very open and honest about his approach to faith, and how Yuri helped him find healing and a way to relate to others. This video now is captioned in English.

We’ll have a new video up tomorrow, as well on an important topic! Aand then we are talking a short hiatus while I attend to other business. We’ll be back in April with more great content and hopefully you’ll apply to run your own Yuricon 2023 panel or do a presentation today! We want to know all about your love of Yuri. ^_^

One of the items I will be attending to is that I am a guest panelist at Anime Boston 2023! I will be on 6 panels, I believe, including  a brand new Best of Yuri – 2023 Edition with Yurimother and Rocky, Anime Boston’s home team Yuri speakers. I’ll have a table in the Artist Alley, where I’ll be selling and signing By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime And Manga as well as selling some other Yuri manga.  Definitely drop in and say hello!

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Yuri Anime

Mobile Suit Gundam – The Witch from Mercury is gearing up for a release in April, ANN has a lot of coverage of it. Joanna Cayana has the release date. Rafael Antonio Pineda hands us the S2 trailer and OP,  Kim Morrisey notes that the website briefly had a spoilery synopsis listed. (Eh, not *that* spoilery.)

Rafael Antonio Pineda has also cast announcements for the upcoming Hoshikuzu Telepath anime.

Last week Twitter was abuzz with this charmingly personal announcement from online streaming and on-demand platform PlutoTV

I’M LAUNCHING A 24/7 SAILOR MOON CHANNEL TOMORROW AND I CAN’T CONTAIN MY EXCITEMENT ANY LONGER. 🐈‍⬛🌙

— Pluto TV (@PlutoTV) February 28, 2023

And so they did! You can watch Sailor Moon 24/7 now on Pluto TV free and legally, or watch the movie or series of your choice on demand. A bunch of us asked for them to see if they can add the live action series, too. ^_^

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Yuri VNs & Games

Noodletub Games is pleased to announce the launch of GOOD LUCK BABY! on Steam and Itch.io. “An out of this world yuri visual novel about falling in love, defeating an evil Empress, and finding a magic baby on your crush’s doorstep….a heartwarming, comedic and emotionally-driven yuri visual novel about love, found family, and saving the world.” Sounds fun!

Yuri Live Action

One more from Rafael Antonio Pineda on ANN, who brings us a trailer and details about the live-action movie for Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, based on the manga of the same name by Hirao Auri. The manga is currently being released in English by Tokyopop – I reviewed  Volume 1 on English here on Okazu!

Other News

YNN Correspondent Patricia Baxter write in to let us know about”a great indie comic that, while not explicitly GL, still strongly focuses on the relationship between two women characters. It’s called See You Again, Maybe by Vivian Nguyen (aka LaweyD). Pre-orders for it are available until March 16th.”

Thanks to our Okazu Patrons who make the YNN weekly report possible! Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi to help us give Guest Reviewers a raise and to help us support Yuri creators!

Become a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share and be part of the Yuri Network. ^_^

Yuri Events

Yuricon 2023 continues this week with the first of our “Yuri is their job!” track.  I spoke with three professional translators about their work on some of your favorite Yuri titles in Yuri Is Their Job – Translating Yuri with Jocelyne Allen, Kevin Ishizaka and  Diana Taylor!

Your kind words and “likes” on Youtube are always appreciated. They also help get these videos more widely seen. Please feel free to share the video links, or our Yuricon 2023 playlist to any Yuri fan communities you’d like.

Don’t miss this opportunity to talk about something that’s important to you – apply to run a panel or do a presentation for Yuricon 2023. I’m especially looking for folks who normally don’t feel like they have a chance to talk about their specific interests or perspectives at conventions. Yuri Blerds and fans of color are especially welcome to apply, queer folks of course and folks from any country. Don’t self-censor. I really do want your panels!

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Yuri Anime

Birdie Wing official has released a new key visual and a premier date in April! Woo~~ Crystalynn Hodgkins has the story on ANN.

ANN’s Joana Cayanan shares the news that Miyamoto Yume will be returning to Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury as Nika.

Yuri Manga

Seven Seas has announced the license for Usui Shio’s Onna Tomodachi to Kekkon Shitemita (女ともだちと結婚してみた。) as I Married My Female Friend. Volume 1 will hit shelves here in December 2023, Volume 3 is out this month in Japan.

Also from Seven Seas, Futari Escape, Volume 2 and  Monologue Woven For You, Volume 3 hit shelves this month.

Yuri Doujinshi

Via Yurimother, we learn that Irodori Sakura has released lesbian doujinshi 100% Ice Drop by Pikachi Ohi, creator of Our Teachers Are Dating.

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Baihe News

Via YNN Correspondent Ashley, DouQi’s Twitter account (*the* source for English-language baihe news) announced pre-orders for volume one of the print edition of tomb-raiding baihe novel 问棺/Wen Guan/Reading the Remnants by 七小皇叔 opening on 25 February at 1900 China Standard time! Douqi also shared this book unboxing video series from Weibo, narrated by an audio drama voice actress.

Yuri Visual Novels

ebihime announced a Steam store page, so you can wishlist their new 18+ Yuri VN, Fragile Feelings.

Other News

Honey’s Anime has a terrific interview with Mieri Hiranashi, creator of The Girl That Can’t Get A Girlfriend, which was reviewed this week on Okazu.

On ANN, Rebecca Silverman looks at I Want To Be A Wall, Volume 2.

Utterly tangential, but the creator of my beloved obsession Hana no Asuka-gumi (of which ANN only lists two pieces of the franchise) Takaguchi Satosumi, has a series called Grandma no Yuutsu, which is getting a live-action drama. Joanna Cayanan has the details on ANN. I can’t really complain, Hana no Asuka-gumi had  TV show in the 80s and 2 movies…but I want a new live-action series! ^_^

Thanks to our Okazu Patrons and Supporters who make the YNN weekly report possible!

If you’d like to support Yuri journalism and research, Patreon and Ko-Fi are where we currently accept subscriptions and tips. Your support goes straight to paying for Guest Reviews, folks helping with videos, site maintenance, managing the Yuricon Store and directly supporting other Yuri creators. Just $5/month makes a huge impact! Become part of the Okazu family!

Become a part of the Yuri Network, by being a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share with our readers.

Yuricon 2023

The first discussion panel of Yuricon 2023 is up on Yuri Studio! The first of our Scholarship track, Boston University professor Sarah Frederick and I talk about the woman I call the grandmother of Yuri in Celebrating the Life And Work of Yoshiya Nobuko. We talk about her political and literary life, her love life, and her works including Prof. Frederick’s translation of Yellow Rose from Yoshiya-sensei’s Hana Monogatari series. It’s a chunky discussion to start with, but I wanted us all to know Yoshiya-sensei as the amazing, accomplished woman she was. 

Our next panel will be the first in our “Yuri Is Their Job track,” in which we talk to folks who translate some of your favorite Yuri manga. We have several panels recorded already and have a few more scheduled, including a special guest for Yuricon 2023. All we need now is your panel or presentation! Please apply for your panel today. I really want to hear from you!

Comitia is happening tomorrow in Japan. This is always an incredible show and a great place to discover new original Yuri work.

Girls Love Fest is returning to the Tokyo area on March 19. It has more adjacent festivals than ever, so keep your eyes peeled for Lycoris Recoil, Bloom Into You, Revue Starlight, idol and magical girl series Yuri doujinshi. ^_^

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Yuri Manga

Mieri Hiranashi’s outstanding autobiographical manga, The Girl That Can’t Get A Girlfriend has been released by Viz Media! I exhort you all to read this. It is touching, and heartbreaking and hilarious and uplifting.  Of note, Mieri wrote the script for the manga in Japanese and in English. Autostraddle’s A. Tony Jerome’s review is spot on: This Butch4Butch Manga Made Me Feel Heartbroken and Heartfixed.

Yen Press has announced a number of new Yuri licenses this week! I Don’t Know Which Is Love!,  and two by Mikan Uji, Assorted Entanglements, (which I have reviewed up to Volume 5 here on Okazu as Fuzoroi Renri) and I Don’t Need A Happy Ending.

Do not forget that Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon, Volume 4 is heading our way next month! I really don’t want you to miss the ending of this wonderful story.

Morishima Akiko is back! This time with a serialized story about a 60 year old, single lesbian. Grab A Single Life: Akiko, in English on US Kindle or in Japanese (ひとりみです①: 60歳レズビアンのシングル生活) or English on JP Kindle.  This is being released one chapter at a time. As I have said for many years, it is likely that we’ll see more senior years Yuri as my generation of artists age up…and here we are, aging up. ^_^

schwinn’s Hana Monogatari, Volume 2 (はなものがたり) is hitting JP bookshelves this coming week.

Galette, No. 25 (ガレット) will hit shelves in March. You can pre-order it on Amazon JP or pick it up at Comitia. This brings us to the end of their 5th year! It’s will be interesting to see where the magazine goes from here.

Okazu Guest Reviewer Matt Marcus has embarked on a detailed and deep dive into the How Do We Relationship manga, that he has been reviewing here on his new blog, Oh My God, They Were Bandmates. If you’d like to get into the weeds of this series, head on over and see what Matt is doing!

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Yuri Anime

The Yuri Is My Job anime premieres on April 6th. (The worst possible day for me, so my “react” video will be a tad late, as I’ll be at Anime Boston that weekend. ^_^) Joanna Cayanan has details and a second trailer on ANN.

Friend of Okazu, Philip has a review of Birdie Wing over on Otaku News. Which we can read while tapping our feet impatiently. One the one hand, I need more Birdie Wing in my life. On the other, in a year of an absurd amount of great Yuri anime, I love the idea of S2 of Birdie Wing being a climax for us all. ^_^

In the meantime, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady continues to satisfy deeply. As Cryssoberyl noted on the Okazu Discord, a new Yuri trope might be forming before our very eyes. AnimeCorner seems to agree – and notes that there’s even more of a pattern than we thought. I know a meme isn’t “news” per se, but I found this kind of interesting and wanted to share. ^_^

Other News

Speaking of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, if you are in the market to proclaim your allegiance to House Earth (and Chuchu’s beautiful punch) the Gundam Store has you covered, literally, with House Earth hoodie or sweatshirt. ^_^

ANN did a Valentine’s Day Special  and Gabriella Ekens gave us our represent with Anthy and Utena for Your Favorite Anime Couple.

Thanks to our Okazu Patrons who make the YNN weekly report possible! Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi to help us give Guest Reviewers a raise and to help us support Yuri creators!

Become a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share and be part of the Yuri Network. ^_^