Yuri VN & Game News

Studio Élan is celebrating Heart of the Woods‘ second anniversary with a planned console release for Nintendo Switch and Playstation 4. And they are doing an anniversary giveaway of free Steam Keys, so get on that!

Via Yurimother, Sukerasparo, creative team behind Kudan Folklore, is planning an audio drama based on its Yuri comedy visual novel OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos.” YuriMother says “The audio drama, titled Oshi no Rabu Yori Koi no Rabu Akuruto Koi no Koukan Nikki, will vocalize a diary of love notes between series protagonists Akuru and Ren.” The studio is crowdfunding the project on Japanese platform CAMPFIRE. The project is scheduled for release on March 26.”

YNN Correspondents Megan and Evie want you to know about Blue Reflection, a RPG from Gust that is getting an anime! The anime official page definitely seems to be leaning in on the Yuri. Crystalyn Hodgkins has details and a trailer for Blue Reflection Ray on ANN.

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Yuri Manga

YNN Correspondent CW writes in to let us know that “Seikyouiku 120% (性教育120%) ended with volume 3 released on the 10th. It’s a sex education series that values LGBT inclusivity, written by a bisexual woman, with a yuri framing narrative. Topics in the last volume were Pregnancy and Abortion, Transgenderism, LGBT History and Bisexuality.”

Megan then pointed out that “So that series is wrapping up just as the English release gets going – from Yen Press under the title Sex Education 120%, vol 1 is penciled in for March 23rd!”

CW also notes that Volume 2 of Ise-san to Shima-san 伊勢さんと志摩さん) , also the concluding volume, comes out on the 16th. CW says “I think it’s an interesting series for the way the flashback chapter that shows how they started living together recontextualizes what the series was doing.” I enjoyed Volume 1 and will now look extra forward to Volume 2!

I have no idea how I missed this but, Akili’s Vampeerz, My Peer Vampire, Volume 1 and Volume 2  are out from Denpa Books. For those of you who have been around a while, Akili is Show Higashiyama, whose work does favor Yurisploitation, but isn’t bad…with flashes of really good story writing in between the panties and bodily fluids. It’s not porn, just pornishly drawn. I’m still reading it, but not reviewing it. ^_^

My hopes for this are tempered, but Dekono Takahide (I’m sure I have this name wrong, please feel free to correct me) announces  “bloody Yuri action”  DamDam!! (ダムダム) manga in Young Jump Battle 2 (ヤングジャンプバトル2). The link here goes to Bookwalker, where you can get this issue in ebook form, since I think the print issue of the magazine may be harder to get out of Japan.

We have some new items on the Yuricon Store:

Our Teachers Are Dating, Volume 3, will be out next month. ANN’s Rafael Antonio Pineda reports that this series is ending in the April issue of Comic Yuri Hime.

Strawberry Fields Once Again, Volume 2 will be available next month. Buckle in. ^_^

We’ve got Nettaigyo ha Yuki Kogareru, Volume 8 (熱帯魚は雪に焦がれる), which came out in December in Japan.  Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Volume 7 gets here in May 2021.

Nagata Kabi’s recent release, Meisou Senshi – Nagata Kabi (迷走戦士・永田カビ)  hit shelves this week in Japan, and you can read her next work, Meisou Senshi- Nagata Kabi Gourmet de Go! (迷走戦士・永田カビ グルメでGO！) in Japanese on Web Action now. Chapters 0 and 1 are up.

Yuri Events

The Yuriten is back! With key visuals from Nakatani Nio and Takahashi Minori, we now get to see Bloom Into You‘s Touko and Yuu all grown up. ^_^ Check the Yuriten feed on Twitter as they announce participating artists for their virtual exhibition.

Yuri Light Novel

I’m in Love With the Villainess, Volume 3 is now available for pre-order and is on the Yuricon Store! The print book in English is slated for a July release, but as with the rest of Seven Seas’ Airship line, I’d assume the digital will be released earlier.

Annnnd, Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou, Volume 4 hits at the end of this month. You can get this on Amazon Kindle in Japanese. or if you are in Japan, on Amazon JP Kindle from GL Bunko. I’ve already pre-ordered and cleared my calendar. ^_^

The Executioner and Her Way of Life, Volume 1 is hitting shelves early next week. I’m willing to give it a try.

Yuri Anime

ANN’s Rafael Antonio Pineda has cast and premiere news for Battle Athletes Daiundoukai ReSTART! anime. News characters and old will “compete” for the title!

Alex Mateo has the news that Funimation will be streaming the Adachi and Shimamura dub. Read the details on ANN!

Joseph Luster on Crunchyroll News, has some good news for us. Crunchyroll will be streaming Stellvia, which I’m going to encourage you to watch despite the fact that it is 99% enraging, because that 1% was worth it back in 2006. ^_^ I have a whole category for this series on Okazu: Stellvia – and, interestingly, for the final review, I compare and contrast Battle Athletes and Stellvia. Overall I rated Stellvia a better anime.

Other News

Last year I treated myself to some art by Robin Eisenberg, because monster girls on a lesbian date with food appears to be my jam. Well, she got to work with singer Marzz on the music video for So Frequently.  You can see the “cyclops girls on a pizza date” print I have hanging here in the living room in the background. ^_^

A bunch of my favorite people are talking about manga in a new podcast called Mangasplaining. Christopher Butcher, Deb Aoki and David Brothers have taken on comic artist Chip Zdarsky to see if they can find manga a non-manga reader like Chip will enjoy. They come out of the box strong with Katsuhiro Otomo’s classic, Akira. It was great to work to this conversation this week!

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Yuricon News

I’ve got some really exciting news for fans of Okazu and Yuricon – my book on the first 100 Years of Yuri, tentatively titled By Your Side, will be published by Journey Press. ^_^

This is a collection of my essays, articles and lectures on the history of Yuri and key “gateway” series, on Okazu, for other sites, and books over the past 20 years. I’ve commissioned a piece of original art by Rica Takashima for the cover. The book is slated for a June 2022 release, which puts it out in Pride month and in time for the 20th anniversary of Okazu!

All active Okazu Patrons at the time of release will get a e-book, but we’ll also looking into doing a Kickstarter with extras for both print and digital fans! I hope you’ll all be impatient and tell your friends as we get this ready. And of course, I’ll be giving you updates as we go. ^_^ Here’s to our journey through the past, present and future of Yuri!

Yuri Manga

We have some new items on the Yuricon Store for you:

Akiko Morishima’s short story collection Conditions of Paradise, Azure Dreams is out from Seven Seas and on shelves!

I’m super pleased to announce the availability of Morinaga Milk’s series for Galette magazine as a collected volume. Watashi no Kawaii Neko-chan, Volume 1 (私の可愛い子猫ちゃん) follows roommates Yuna and Reina as their lives and relationship change radically after they adopt a stray cat.

Kaishaku’s newest Kannazuki no Miko spin-off Himegami no Miko Volume 1 (姫神の巫女)  is now available as a print volume.

Running now in Comic Yuri Hime magazine, Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata, Volume 1 (君と綴るうたかた) about novelist who shuns her classmates and a classmate who wants to collaborate.

Koisuru Meiga, Volume 2 (恋する名画) offers more Yuri + fine art scenarios.

Alex Mateo at ANN reports that Kabi Nagata has a new series, Meisоu Senshi Nagata Kabi: Gourmet de Go! focusing on her eating disorder. This follows up her volume Meisou Senshi Nagata Kabi (迷走戦士・永田カビ) which focused on gender and sexuality. You can read Hittori Kekkonshiki (in Japanese) on Web Action.

Don’t forget to grab the remaining Yuri manga from the first Yuri publisher in English, ALC Publishing. Get Yuri Monogatari Volumes, 3, 4 & 6 for only $18.00 and a copy of the second-ever Yuri manga in English, WORKS by Tadeno Eriko for only $7.00 and free shipping in contiguous 48 with a purchase of $25 or more with the code ALC2020 from our friends at Chaeapmanga.com!

Anime News

RightStuf has a pre-order for Diskotek’s gorgeous-looking Blu-Ray release of Lady Oscar Rose of Versailles.

Via Yuri Navi, Pony Canyon announced an Adachi & Shimamura Online Special Event for February 21. Ticket information is available (in Japanese) at the link.

Oshii scholar and gentleman Brian Ruh has a write-up on about Vlad Love with the delightful title You Give Love a Vlad Name. As you know I loathe vampires and believe they deserve nothing but crappy puns and limericks, so I approve. ^_^ The whole article is worth a read, as is everything Brian writes.

Sailor Moon Eternal, Part 2 ends with a “To Be Continued” Teaser according to YNN’s RafaelAn tonio Pineda. Since the Crystal/Eternal series is an animated version of the manga, we’re in for a Three Lights group of cross-dressing women, rather than the gender-switching Starlights of the anime. I wonder how that will play.

Folks in Tokyo who want a participatory Senshi experiences have a year to enjoy a Sailor Moon-themed Escape Room in Shinjuku. Kim Morrissey has the scoop at ANN. Check out the Tokyo Mystery Circus site for booking.

Yuri Game & VN News

Georgina Young takes a look at Lesbian love syndrome: a history of Yuri and lesbian romance in gaming for Techradar.

Other News

Yuri Doujinshi localizing company Lilyka is looking for original submissions for publication. Check out Want to make your GL Manga debut? on the Lilyka site for details. Lilyka is also running a Valentine’s Day sale on translated doujinshi, so you might want to check into that too. ^_^

Also for Valentine’s Day, “butch Yuri manga artist” Mieri Hiranashi is opening up her online store and those of us who are her patrons have gotten a great look at the goods. Trust, me, you’ll love them! I know I’ll be buying at least a few things. ^_^

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

Thanks to our Okazu Patrons who make the YNN weekly report possible! Support us on Patreon to help us give Guest Reviewers a raise and to help us support more queer creators!

Yuri Anime

Last week, Yen Press announced the license of  Virgin Road (which, apparently is a colloquialism in Japan for the path a bride walks towards her husband at their wedding, which is pretty uhh…) and has changed the title to the surprisingly more palatable The Executioner and Her Way of Life light novel under the title and this week, we have news of an anime for the series. Jennifer Sherman over at ANN has the details and Youtube has the teaser. Thank you Sean, for the corrected titles.

Crunchyroll will be streaming Mamoru Oshii’s Vlad Love, with an auspicious launch date this month of…you guessed it, Valentine’s Day. Joseph Luster has the story at Crunchyroll News.

WATATEN!: an Angel Flew Down to Me, aka Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita! upcoming anime will get a theater release in Japan, date as yet unreported. Egan Loo has the scoop on ANN.

Not Yuri, but Rafael Antonio Pineda has the report on a 4-minute long Sailor Moon Eternal “digest” video which summarizes the first movie.

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Yuri Manga

Awesome news from Seven Seas – they have licensed the I’m in Love With the Villainess manga! Jennifer Sherman once again has details at ANN. For one of the very few times in my life as an otaku, I find myself actually hoping for an anime of a series. This one has enough wacky and service and action to work. (And queer-positive representation in a “Yuri” anime would be swell.)

Days of Love at Seagull Villa, Volume 2 is on the way and on the Yuricon Store! Naoko Kodama’s drama is intense this volume.

Also on the Store is Shio Usui’s office romance drama, Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon, Volume 1, which I utterly adore. I give this series my highest recommendation for being inspiring and heart-warming.

I’m ecstatic that Amano Shuninta’s Touma-kun (冬馬くん ) series from Galette magazine is now available as a single collected volume. I liked this one a great deal. Touma-kun doesn’t mean to break hearts, she just really wants the other girls to feel beautiful and loved. That’s why they call her “Everyone’s Boyfriend.”

Via Comic Natalie, Ane wo Sukina Onee-san to (姉を好きなお姉さんと) is about a woman who is living with her sister’s friend, then learns the friend is in love with and indeed, dating, her sister.

Also on Comic Natalie, Kore ha Yoi Dakimura, Minase Rururuu Yuri Short Story Collection (これはよい抱き枕 水瀬るるう百合作品集) is a collected volume of doujinshi works.

Yuri Visual Novels

Mangagamer is holding a Valentine’s Day Sale with VNs up to 50% off. Check out the Mangagamer blog post for the list of eligible titles. There are at least a couple of Yuri VNs on there.

Event News

Toronto Comic Arts Festival has regrouped and is going wholly virtual for 2021! They will be holding their fabulously international, diverse and inclusive event online from, May 8-15 including vendor areas, which have opened for applications. Since this is an online event, you can definitely attend. ^_^ See you there!

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

Thanks to our Okazu Patrons who make the YNN weekly report possible! Support us on Patreon to help us give Guest Reviewers a raise and to help us support more queer creators!

Yuri Manga

Yen Press has announced the cover reveal for Strawberry Fields Once Again Volume 2.

Kodansha  is hyping Chasing After Aoi Koshiba. Volume 1 is slated for a March release and Volume 2 will follow in May. The series is ongoing in Japanese, I’ve reviewed Volume 1 and 2 of Kyou, Koshiba Aoi ni Aetara, here on Okazu.

Seven Seas announced The Conditions of Paradise; Azure Dreams, which is a series of shorts by  Akiko Morishima, Pikachi Ohi’s Our Teachers Are Dating!, Volume 2 and from Takako Shimura, Even Though We’re Adults, Volume 1, which I have reviewed in Japanese and will be reviewing in English this coming week. It’s a great series for those of you who like “messy” relationships.

From Viz, we’re getting How Do We Relationship, Volume 3 in summer, which is also great if you like your relationships messy. ^_^

DMP has Can I Pretend to Buy You With Money, by Tachi on their emanga.com site. It was listed for a while on Amazon, but seems to have been pulled for what, in the larger world beyond manga, makes perfect sense.

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Gangan Joker has listed Volume 1 of Shoujo Manga Shujinko x Rival-san (少女漫画主人公×ライバルさん) about a girl who is love with the popular guy, and blocked by the popular girl…who confesses her love to our protagonist! You can read a sample chapter in Japanese on Square Enix’s Joker site.

Mochi au Lait and Majjocoid’s mistaken gender comedy Ikemen Onna to Hakoiri Musume, Volume 2 (イケメン女と箱入り娘) is available for people who find that amusing.

I have absolutely no idea if this is good, but I might take a look. Via Comic Natalie,  Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei (転生王女と天才令嬢の魔法革命) is an isekai about a “reborn” princess and her rival genius villainess, which seems derivative times two and possibly amusing.

Yuri Light Novel

ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight With My Love and My Cursed Sword, Volume 2 has hit shelves and it’s bigger and more pointlessly violent than ever before!  I started reading it yesterday; it presents a real problem for me, I can’t read it  during meals or before bed. Which means I have to make special time to absorb this grotesquely and lazily conceived violence for *entertainment*. ^_^;

Yuri Visual Novels & Games

Noodeltub Games is proud to announce the release of their 18+ Yuri VN, LOVE BAKUDAN, available on Itchi.io

And Kikai Digital is likewise pleased to announce their new Yuri VN, Melancholy Love, available on Steam.

YuriMother wants you to know about successfully crowdfunded game OVA Magica, where “you can live out your gay, blob-taming, farming dreams.” Additionally, she’s got the scoop on Story of Seasons game, Pioneers of Oliver Town in which same-sex “best friend ceremonies” are available.

Other News

Kim Morrisey at ANN has the not-all-that-surprising, but still shocking news that Toei, an animation company that makes a lot of money off of same-sex couples and gender bending in anime, not only refused to negotiate with a LGBTQ employee union, but engaged in a pattern of harmful harassment against queer employees.There are some legal employee protections in place for gender or sexual minorities in Japan, and some companies have adopted more inclusive policies. We’ll be watching this story closely.

Singer Saito Miki has released the official music video for the Otherside Picnic ED, which itself is a nice little Yuri story. ^_^ Komatsu-san on Crunchyroll has the details and the video!

In case you missed it, check out the video for the Japan Foundation’s video panel, Sailor Moon: How These Magical Girls Transformed Our World, featuring translator Mari Morimoto as moderator and some fantastic presentations and conversation. I learned some new stuff, which was great!

Molly Sprayregen on Forbes has written A New Documentary Tells The Story Of The Woman Behind The World’s Bestselling Lesbian Magazine, about Frances Stevens, the founder of Curve magazine. True story, I was an outside ad salesperson for Deneuve, then Curve, for a little while.

Absolutely pointless, but we are on Instagram at last! I’ll be posting what I’m currently reading when I have a chance and inclination. I’ll also give a short reaction. Visit the worst Instagram account at OkazuYuri. (^_^)

If you or someone you know is attending Michigan State University, there is still time to sign up for my J-Pop Translation & Adaptation Workshop (I didn’t pick the name…) featuring translators Mari Morimoto and Zack Davission as guest lecturers and me as the main instructor. We’ll be talking about roles in the translation process and challenges, and ways of interpreting meaning and feel.  People who complete the workshop will receive a certificate. I hope to see you there!

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Yuri Manga

Just as I was working on last week’s report, Yen Press announced two new Yuri titles: The Whole of Humanity Has Gone Yuri Except for Me, and the Nakatani Nio Short story collection, Farewell to my Alter, (which I reviewed here in Japanese last summer) Thanks to Senior YNN Correspondent Sean G for the heads up!

Syrup Yuri Anthology, Volume 2 is out from Seven Seas.

Travel-ish, Yuri-ish Futari Escape, Volume 1 (ふたりエスケープ ) from Comic Yuri Hime is available.

YNN Senior Correspondent Shannon L. wrote in to let our French-speaking friends know that Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is getting a French release as Escale à Yokohama from Meian! They are describing it as a “feel-good” story. Which is true, if you ignore that it is also a science-fiction story about the twilight of humanity. I envy our French readers, this is a magnificent series.

Seven Seas is promoting a Yuri pack of manga on Twitter, featuring 5 Yuri titles!

On Twitter, Kaishaku announced the publication of Volume 1 of their new sequel(ish) to Kannazuki no Miko, Himegami no Miko (姫神の巫女).

 Anime News

YNN Correspondent Evie wants you to know about the upcoming anime for Tai Ari Deshita. ~Ojou-sama wa Kakutou Game Nante Shinai~ (対ありでした。 ～お嬢さまは格闘ゲームなんてしない～). Komatsu-san has the details on CR News about this game competition anime set at a girl’s school!

The new anime EX-ARM has already been the target of much critical analysis of the production team and the animation. Now it’s added a new chapter of conversation (or controversy, if you prefer that kind of clickbait headline ) with a possibly(?) censored same-sex kiss. Yuri Mother has the details. Personally, I think the whole anime is a decent example of The Peter Principle, with everyone involved just completely out of their depth and leadership promoted to their level of incompetence.

My Next Life as a Villainess All Routes Lead to Doom! anime is getting a second season. Fans of Maria and Katarina will be so happy. ^_^ ANN’s Rafael Antonio Pineda has the report. 

PA WORKS has debuted a promotional video for upcoming anime Shiroi Suna no Aquatope (白い砂のアクアトープ). It’ll hit a lot of buttons – pretty location scenery, nice animation, “girl zoo” Yuri anime.

Blue Period, which has a gender nonbinary character (I haven’t actually read the volume, which is on my to-read pile) is getting an anime. I’m not sure how sensitive the character portrayal is, yet, but I’m told that it is not negative or malicious.) Alex Mateo has the details on ANN.

The first Okazu goal for 2021: Sustainably pass 100 Patrons. This will put us nearer to our next Microgoal. More Yuri Studio Videos, a raise for our writers here on Okazu and another new queer creator we’ll support! Become an Okazu Patron today!

Yuri Light Novel News

The second volume of Girl’s Kingdom is available for pre-order on Kindle and up on the Yuricon Store. An exchange student is going to throw Misaki’s life into turmoil, oh no! ^_^

Other News

Fans of Comic Yuri Hime series Wataten, Watashi ni Tenshi ga Maiorita! (私に天使が舞い降りた!,) might be excited to learn that Wataten 5’s first Solo Concert Delicious Smile! is set to stream overseas on February 6, 2021.  Visit E+ for ticket information.

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

Thanks to our Okazu Patrons who make the YNN weekly report possible! Support us on Patreon to help us give Guest Reviewers a raise and to help us support more queer creators!