Yuri Manga

Strawberry Fields wo Mou Ichido (ストロベリー・フィールズをもう一度) is a new series about a first love starring a girl who loves otome games and another girl “with a secret.” (Bets that the secret is that she voice acts in otome games? ^_^)

Eureka magazine is continuing it’s look at Yuri pioneers. After the Ikuhara Kunihiko retrospective issue in September, they are rolling out an issue looking at Aoi Hana/Sweet Blue Flowers creator Shimura Takako’s work in the November issue. (ユリイカ 2017年11月).

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Events 

The Asagao to Kase-san team will be present at the Pony Canyon booth at the Animate Girl’s Festival on November 3rd in Ikebukuro, with original clear files and other goods. AFAIK, this is the first Yuri series highlighted at the AGF, which tends to focus on pretty boy series.  I’ve got fingers crossed they’ll have some of those clear files left when I get there a few weeks later!

I’ll be presenting a lecture on Queer Manga at Harvard on November 9th. 

The first AnimeNYC will be held November 17-19 at Javits Center in New York City. I’ll be there on Friday and Saturday as press. I have to bail on Sunday because I’m immediately heading out to….

Comitia 121 and the Kaigai Festa for international comics is going to be held at Tokyo Big Sight on November 23rd! I can’t wait! Comitia is the awesome all-original doujinshi event and I’ll be able to see a bunch of old friends at the TCAF-supported International pavilion for the Kaiga Festival.

I logged into Facebook the other day and found myself invited to a whole new comic show in Tokyo – Comic Art Tokyo 2, at Temple University’s Tokyo campus.  Well sure, why not! I’ll be there. 

If you’re interested in having me talk at your school or event, please contact me. I think we’re going to call 2017 full, but I still have room in 2018 although the spring is already filling up.

LGBTQ Comics

Geeks Out has a high-level look at queer comix by Devin Whitlock which is worth reading. Out of the Closet and Into the Costume: A History of Queer Comix.

Marvel’s new TV series Runaways will include Karolina Dean, a lesbian character. Pink News has this article and a roundup of other queer Marvel characters, like Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarock and America Chavez, who has her own series.

LGBTQ Japan 

Here’s a nice step forward: 700 students attended a LGBT career fair in Tokyo. Companies who are trying to take steps to increase diversity actually reaching out to queers students. Awesome.

Women’s Stories Site has a series of translated interviews with LGBTQ folks from Japan to talk about life there as a LGBTQ person, accompanied by some very lovely art.

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? 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 Manga

Well this is awesome – Kitao Taki-sensei  has put together a collection of her doujinshi from 2013-15 called, sensibly, 2013-2015 Compilation (2013-2015総集編). It’s available digitally on DLsite.com, which also has a”shop in English” feature for finding VNs and doujinshi in English, (although this collection is not on the English listings.) Amusingly, you can shop in English under tabs labeled “Males,” “Females” or “Gays.” ^_^; No lesbians, but searching “Yuri” does bring up a few items on the English shop and so does “lesbian.” No promises on quality, though. When I have $10 and a few minutes, I’ll test out the BQ download and see how it goes!

Kishi Torajirou’s Yuri situation comedy Otome no Teikoku (オトメの帝国) is celebrating it’s 12th volume by granting access to 3 chapters a day until November 21 on the Grand Jump website starting this week!

From Fumio Aya, the artist behind the Kindred Spirits second manga collection Nakayoshi Quiz, (released in English by Seven Seas as part of the Kindred Spirits on the Roof: The Complete Collection) comes a tale of good girl/bad girl school life in Watashi ha Kimi wo Nakasetai Volume 1 (私は君を泣かせたい).

Quarterly Yuri anthology Galette No. 4 (ガレット) is premiering at Comitia in November and hitting various Japanese shelves in early December. As soon as it’s available on US Kindle, I’ll share the link. This issue welcomes special guest artist Morishima Akiko…edging it ever closer to a “Erica’s best of” collection. ^_^

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Yuri Anime

ANN has the details for the cast of the upcoming Citrus anime, based on Saburouta’s manga, which is now headed to Volume 8 without a single happy person!

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? 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!

LGBTQ Comics

It’s an exciting time to be a fan of queer comics isn’t it? Award-nominated comic creator Hazel Newlevant has just released her newest book, a bisexual, polyamorous love story, Sugar Town. You can buy it directly from the artist at the link.

And this week the news broke that blockbuster crowdfunded black lesbian love story Bingo Love, written by Tee Franklin, with art by Jenn St-Onge, and colors by Joy San has been picked up by Image Comics. This is huge news that is both good and bad. Good, because maybe mainstream comics companies are starting to understand the sales power of diverse comics, but also bad, because let’s face it the Bingo Love team had to do all the work upfront to “prove” that sales power. If there hadn’t been a blockbuster Kickstarter and massive press, would Image have cared? Think about it.

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Yuri Manga

Crunchyroll News has a report that Ichigo Mashimaro will be getting an 8th volume in November. This manga has never actually stopped running. It just gets very short chapters in Dengeki Daioh magazine every few months.

Yuri Anime

Crunchyroll has added Dragonaut – The Resonance to their catalog. Check out Katie’s review of Dragonaut on Okazu to see if this older series is right for you!

Nozomi/RightStuf plans for a Shinobuden Ninja Nonsense Blu-Ray release has been pushed into the early part of 2018 according to Crunchyroll News.

Other News

Well, I am a bad obsessive otaku. Apparently Ogata Megumi went and crowdfunded a 25th anniversary album of anime songs and I missed it completely. /hangs head in shame/ But the news is still worth sharing because the crowdfunding campaign was for a world-wide release of [animeg 25th], which will include the previously-reported version of “Moon Revenge” sung by Ogata-san and Katsuki Masako, who was Sailor Neptune’s voice in the original anime. So, sorry I missed the campaign, but you can bet I’ll be getting that album when it hits. Oh, and you may wonder how I learned of it. Studio Canopus, is the circle name of the woman who draws the ultimate Haruka and Michiru art. Mizuki-san gets them righter than Takeuchi-sensei did. Mizuki-san posted the news on her blog and a bit of art she had done years ago for a Uranus x Neptune story called “Moon Revenge.”  I really just wanted you to enjoy all the exclamation points and screaming in the post. ^_^ 

Youjin Lee takes a look at the literary legacy of the creator of the Tale of Genji in Murasaki Shikibu: The Japanese lady who created romance for April Magazine.

It’s worth tipping our hats in the direction of master mangaka Takahasi Rumiko, who is turning 65 this week, as her 35th volume of Rin-ne hits the stores. Crunchyroll News has a selection of the birthday wishes she’s received on Twitter.

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? 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

So weirdly, I was looking around my shelves of anime the other day and thought, “wWw, another whole new generation of Yuri fans will have no idea who Shizuru and Natsuki are when I use them as an example of something in my book.” And lo and behold! Funimation has announced a new home video release of Mai HiME and Mai Otome. No excuses for you then. I think they are worth watching but probably for none of the reasons the anime production company thought so.  ^_^ (When they came out the first time, I spent a lot of time writing about them. Check out the Mai HiME and Mai Otome categories here to see what I mean.)

In case you missed it, we now have official news that 2018 will see a Asagao-to Kase-san OVA!

The Girls Last Tour anime will be simulcast on the Amazon Strike subscription streaming service.

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Yuri Manga

ANN has a report on two more new chapters of Rose of Versailles focusing on Rosalie.

Rachel Matt Thorn has asked for LGBTQ folks on Twitter to please contact her with their opinions of Shimura Takako’s Sweet Blue Flowers.

While we’re on the topic of Shimura-sensei’s work, YNN Correspondent Verso S also noted that Rachel has recently done a podcast with the Anime Feminist blog on trans issues in Shimura’s Wandering Son series, along with ANN’s Jacob Chapman and Youtuber Cayla Coats. Ohta Publishing is talking about a 20th-anniversary artbook of Shimura’s work. And Eureka magazine is also putting out an issue on her work.

Don’t forget that Kase-san and Shortcake hit shelves this month in English. Yamada and Kase-san are looking at the future and wondering if they can face it together. And, while we are getting Kase-san and Apron in February, we won’t be getting a deluxe version with the animation clip. This isn’t surprising, as Seven Seas really doesn’t involve themselves in animation licensing. The folks involved in the making of the animation,however, will be participating in the Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival this week.

Keep your eyes open for Red As Blue, an upcoming LGBTQ YA graphic novel by Ji Strangeway with art by Juan Fleites. Here is the official description: 

15 year old June Lusparian is an outcast caught between worlds. Half Mexican and half Armenian, June hovers on the border of adulthood, searching the streets of Paradise and the halls of Paradise High for signs of redemption – symptoms of life.  She longs to carve open her own space to find a beating heart in a barren world. Only her secret gift for music offers a hint of hope. When she falls for blonde, cool girl Beverly, captain of the Spirit Girls cheer squad, June hopes she may at last have found that one true thing. But as their nascent romance grows, June learns true connection requires more than a bond of pain and the ache of desire. Paradise is more than an idea, more than a town. And forgiveness never falls from heaven of its own accord.

Kuzishiro-sensei’s zodiac animal Yuri gag comedy Inugami-san to Neokyama-san (犬神さんと猫山さん) wraps up in volume 6.

Don’t forget that adult-life drama by Ohsawa Yayoi,  2DK GPen, Mezamashitokei., Volume 5 (2DK、Gペン、目覚まし時計。) is out now and Volume 6 will be on sale in November. 

Live-Action

Via YNN Correspondent soulassasin, the Le Souvenir Cafe will be running a Maria-sama ga Miteru cafe  with actresses playing the roles of the Yamayurkai in November in Akihabara, Tokyo.

The live-action of Saki Achiga-hen announced cast and has pictures of the actresses in costume.

Other News

Via YNN Correspondent David M, check out this fascinating story about the Bluestockings of early 20th century Japan. The Banned 1910s Magazine That Started a Feminist Movement in Japan.

If you’re around New York City on October 13, consider hitting up the Manga University event, at which Hiromi Tsuchiya Dollase will be speaking on the seasonally appropriate “Mother Horror in Japanese Shōjo manga.”

Outo is a new collective of queer feminist comic artists from Finland! Check it out on Facebook. 

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? 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

ANN has a couple of relevant items about the upcoming Card Captor Sakura Clear Card Arc anime. Fittingly, a classic singer, Sakamoto Maaya, is returning to do the theme. That’ll please all the older fans. ^_^ And announcements have been made on new character casting, as well.

Yuri Foxgirl anime Konohana Kitan is going to be on Crunchyroll this October. Check out Crunchyroll’s promotional video for the series.

Girl’s Last Tour, a post-apocalyptic series with cute girls, has been licensed by Sentai Filmworks. That it has an anime at all is amazing. ^_^ Check out the trailer on Youtube.

Okazu News

I know I do keep going on about this, but with the help of all of our amazing Patrons – and with humble thanks to our first God-level Patron, Ivan – Okazu is within spitting distance of being able to pay Guest Reviewers. I feel kind of strongly about this. Writing is hard work and it takes a lot of time and effort. I try to get you 4-6 posts a week here and it’s important to me to be able to pay our guest writers for their efforts. Sometimes a single paid gig can make the difference in a resume. 

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If you enjoy these weekly Yuri Network News reports, the reviews of Yuri anime and manga and lesbian novels and the guest reviews of Yuri VNs and games and anime, please consider subscribing to Okazu on Patreon. Even a dollar/month can make a difference…that dollar will go to rewarding a Guest Reviewer for their time and energy, and help us get to events of interest, do interviews with people you care about and for us to be able to tell you about all the great Yuri  news happening in this time of amazing things! Thank you very much for being part of the Okazu team!

Yuri Manga

I didn’t keep on reading it, but heavily supernatural-influenced Comic Cune had a lot of Yuri and Yuri-esque series. Comic Natalie reports that vampire story Kyuugetsgi-chan x Kouhai-chan (吸血鬼ちゃん×後輩ちゃん) is getting a collected volume and vampire x vampire hunter story Killing Me! (キリング・ミー！)  is starting in the November issue. I might have to take another look, despite my disinterest in vampires. ^_^

Comic Natalie also says that from the folks at Kadokawa’s web site magazine, comes Yuri Natsu – Minshokugaya (ゆりなつ-民宿かがや-」) a Yuri Twitter comic by  Nao Mochi-aulait. This series will start in October and I’m going to keep my eyes on it.

Equally, I’m not going to be reading Yuri “comedy” Akarui Kiokusoushitsu (明るい記憶喪失), Volume 2. “cheerful amnesia” is just a big no for me. ^_^

Yuri Visual Novel

YNN Correspondent Brendan B want you to know about “a cute looking Yuri visual novel called Butterfly Soup that was released this week.” This is an indie VN and is a free download. If you plan on reading it let us know how it is!

Live-Action

Also via Brendan, “Fun Home is getting a Japanese production, with former Takarazuka star Jun Sena playing adult Allison.” He said,  “That’s some casting!” and I was too busy screaming to reply coherently other than yah, it is. ^_^ It’s being performed while I’m there, but I make no promises. If I manage to see it, I promise to scream incoherently for a whole review. ^_^

Other News

ANN reports that Fukami Makoto is launching a manga about writers and I just bet that it’ll have lesbians in it. He loves his lesbians.

If you’re in or near Tokyo on November 18 and are interested in literary translation, why not attend Strong Women, Soft Power Symposium #1: Towards a Community of Practice in Japanese Literary Translation?

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? 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!