Top news this week are some interesting license announcements from Anime Expo 2016 last night.

Yuri Manga

Yen leads the pack with the announcement that they have licensed “Violence Yuri” manga Murcielago, by Yoshimura Kana. I’ve reviewed Volumes 1-7 and if you’re not sure if this title is for you, definitely read my reviews. It’s an ultraviolent, vile and horrible manga, and I would never recommend it to anyone else, but I like it. ^_^

Yen had a bunch of news this week, including an agreement with BookWalker Global which will carry their English manga. If you are still resistant to paying for online manga, either because you don’t have a phone or tablet, or you don’t like subscription models, let me assure you that Bookwalker Global is the perfect solution. Their reader works great on a laptop or desktop screen, and they have a very large bookstore to choose from in both English and Japanese – with a pretty well-developed Yuri catalog in Japanese. In my opinion, it’s the online bookstore we’ve waited for and I really like using it, especially for light novels. I recommend it highly.

Viz has also blown us away with their news – a deluxe box set of the Revolutionary Girl Utena manga slated for 2017! If you are not familiar with the manga, be warned that the TV manga is significantly straighter than the anime. But artist Saito Chiho brings her signature elegance to the whole thing and it’s worth reading both TV and movie manga for 2 more wholly unique takes on the story. Like the TV anime and movie, the same characters are reworked differently to create a whole new story. (Additionally, the movie manga changed my life completely, so there’s that. ^_^)

Undoubtedly, there will be more news out of AnimeExpo, so keep tuned!

If you (like me) didn’t think to preorder the most recent issue of Nakayoshi magazine, you (like me) found out that it has completely sold out everywhere! Komatsu-san tells you why over at Crunchyroll News! (Hint: Cardcaptor Sakura is still super popular.)

All over my Japanese language feed last night was news of Nagata Kabi’s Pixiv manga now going to print, Sabishi-sugi Rezu Fuzoku ni Ikimashita Report (さびしすぎてレズ風俗に行きましたレポ) about the mating behaviors of native Japanese lesbians. ^_^;

And great news from our friend Niki Smith, who has a new graphic novel length work coming soon. Crossplay is about a group of friends figuring out sexuality and gender identity through cosplay and fandom.  She says “There will be more than a few women living happily ever after together.” Can’t wait to see it!

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Other News

Steven Universe will be returning on July 18th with new episodes! I am actually dying to see how the Peridot arc concludes, but I’ve enjoyed the sideline into Ruby and Sapphire’s relationship. ^_^

Completely off-topic for Okazu, but wow, two women have been signed by a minor league pro baseball team! Kelsey Whitmore and Stacy Piagno will be playing for the Sonoma Stompers this summer.

You remember the lesbian classic movie, But I’m A Cheerleader!, don’t you? If not, run out and rent it right now, I’ll wait. ^_^  I know that when I watched Natasha Lyonne and Clea DuVall in that movie I was kinda hoping that DuVall was actually gay. She’s so interesting. Well, apparently she is and she is reuniting with Lyonne and another Cheerleader co-star Melanie Lynskey for her directorial debut, Intervention.  DuVall and Lyonne will be paired once again as a lesbian lovers.  I’m definitely going to watch this.

Taneka Stotts is spearheading a very exciting Kickstarter for Afro-Futurism comics that I wanted to let you know all about. I’ve backed Elements: FIRE because it sounds simply amazing. It blew threw 1/3 of it’s goal on day one of crowdfunding – which is not yet over – so signs point to this being a successful project. (And again proves how delusional it is when publishers insist there is no audience for comics/literature/anything at all by and for people of color.)  I hope you’ll go take a look and consider backing this and other diverse indie comic projects! It really makes a difference.

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

I know that no one else on the planet cares, but you guys, I saw the most amazing thing at Kinokuniya today! YajiKita Gakuen Douchuuki is one of the three girl-gang series that ruled the 1980s and are my particular obsession, along with Sukeban Deka and Hana no Asuka-gumi. Well…there on the shelves was a new volume of this gonzo girl-gang/medieval Japanese literature mashup, with a light dusting of Yuri! Waaaahhh~~~YajiKita Gakuen Douchuuki F (やじきた学園道中記) is on sale now!

From Ichijinsha, Aoto Hibiki’s gender-bendy school comedy Prince Princess, Volume 2, (プリンスプリンス) wraps up with a surprise ending.

Also from Ichijinsha, the second volume of Sumu to Jigoku no Inferno (住めど地獄のインフェルノ) hit shelves last week.

Stretch, Volume 4 j(ストレッチ) just goes to show you that you can never really predict what weird crap will succeed. ^_^

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Yuri Anime

Funimation has scheduled Yuri Kuma Arashi as a DVD/BD Combo pack.

Other News

ANN has the scoop that a new Rose of Versailles music CD compilation is available in Japan, Restored, remastered with music that has never been available before, this 3 CD set sounds like a blast.

ANN also has confirmation that, yes indeed, the final Read or Die Light Novel will be making it’s way to print. I’m amazed. If you recall, we actually left everyone dab smack in the middle of an arc when the 11th novel ended back in 2006 (mostly because he had wasted 3 novels not writing the story.) ^_^;

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!

Another amazing Yuri-filled news week!

Yuri Manga

From YNN Senior Correspondent Grisznak, we have more excellent news -Polish publisher Dango have announced that they will release Kimi Koi Limit by Momono Moto in November. I hope the Polish Yuri fans are taking advantage of all these great releases! And I hope you get the sequel, Rainy Song, as well.

Thai Yuri Manga Lily Love (which I reviewed in 2015) is now available in English in print! Preorders are being taken now! and the new edition will include a few extras beyond the Thai edition.

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Yuri Visual Novels

Roadtrip-themed Yuri Visual Novel Highway Blossoms has been released on Steam. I’ve just started it, so review to come soon. ^_^ 15% off if you buy now!

YNN Correspondent Jamie wants to remind everyone that  Love, Guitars, and the Nashville Skyline, another Yuri visual novel about a road trip through America, from Cosmillica, is currently being localized by Sekai Project. 

Yuri Cartoon

By Daniel Errico, the same creator who brought us the adorable gay fairytale, Bravest Knight Who Ever Lived, comes a brand new lesbian-themed Hulu fairytale cartoon, Rosaline, which was darling and you should totally watch it right now!

LGBTQ  News

The 2nd biennial Queers & Comics Conference will be in San Francisco, April 14-15, 2017.  They are seeking proposals for panels or workshops. LGBTQ cartoonists, editors, publishers, scholars, etc. – don’t miss this amazing event! Proposals for panels are due JULY 1, so get them in! Queer Cartoonists of Color, Transgender Cartoonists and Queer Women Cartoonists are encouraged to submit proposals.

For your summer reading, check out this list of 10 Classic LGBTQ Novels to not-miss. Jane Rule’s Desert of the Heart is highly recommended by me.

HumbleBundle has put together a special pride month special of LGBTQ graphic novels for you to enjoy. Get a bunch of comics I’ve reviewed like, Infinite Loop, No Straight Lines, Wandering Son  and other LGBTQ manga classics like Heart of Thomas and Massive. Pay what you can for more than $200 worth of LGBTQ comics and manga!

Yuri Essays

We’re going to wrap up today’s report with some personal good news. I have had my first ever article for an academic journal approved for publication. Yayyyyy!

“On Defining Yuri” is slated for inclusion in Transformative Works and Cultures, No. 24, “Queer Female Fandom,” guest edited by Julie Levin Russo and Eve Ng, which will appear on June 15, 2017. Finally! a definitive look at why there can never be a definitive look at Yuri. ^_^ When it’s published, I’ll be sure to include a link to it.

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 Event

If you weren’t already planning on attending, get yourself down to AnimeNEXT in Atlantic City today at 3:30 for my last lecture of the first half of 2016! I’ll be talking “Yuri, Yaoi/Boy’s Love, Bara – How Fandom Made Queer Manga Possible” in Panel Room 319 at 3:30 PM. Prizes for good questions, as usual.

Yuri Manga

Well. Last week, we had a veritable deluge of amazing licenses from Seven Seas! They will be bringing out both Side A and Side B of the Okujou no Yurirei-san manga volumes under the western Kindred Spirits name. Both volumes were cute without being creepy, so that’s something we can really enjoy fully.

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Morinaga Milk-sensei is well represented with two new series, The Secret of the Princess (Ohime-sama no Himitsu) and her current series, Hana  and Hina Afterschool (Hana to Hina no Houkago).

Most exciting of all, they have licensed Takashima Hiromi’s Kase-san series, a series that has consistently made my Top Ten Lists and which was named Best Yuri Manga of 2014! (Here are my reviews of Asagao to Kase-san, Obentou to Kase-san and Shortcake to Kase-san.)

So kudos to Seven Seas and thanks for their continuing efforts to expand Yuri in the west. Good for them and good for us. You can be sure I’ll have links to these as soon as pre-orders are up. Now go tell friends – it’s up to us to make this a successful market.  ^_^

Yuri Comics and Novels

While we’re celebrating, let’s do a little jig at the news from Moviepilot.com that a Legend of Korra comic is coming from Dark Horse and it picks up after the series ends, Korra x Asami intact. Whee! (And btw, this site is your new best friend. Bookmark it.) YNN Correspondent Jennifer Y-D say she got the Free Comic Book Day prequel issue and it was great. This comic cannot come fast enough for me.

One more exciting publication on the horizon in English – the Steven Universe episode “The Answer”, which details the circumstances of Garnet’s origin will be made into a book, according to moviepilot.com. (I did tell you they were your new best friend.) And they have a lovely interview with Steven Universe creator Rebecca Sugar on why LGBTQ representation in cartoons is so important.

ANN has the news that Card Captor Sakura is getting it’s own newspaper.

And as a special for Pride month, YNN Correspondent Jennifer Y-D wants you to know that Humble Bundle has a LGBTQ book offer for Pay Whay You Want, which includes a number of graphic novels, as well as fiction and non-fiction books. This is an amazing deal – don’t miss it!

Yuri Visual Novel

A few weeks ago, we announced yet another Yuri VN coming down the pike. J. Kaplan has a new work coming out on Steam in a couple of weeks, called Highway Blossoms. Yuri Nation has an interview with J on the project. And I’ll be talking to him after I get a look at the VN! It looks pretty unique and I’m really holding out high hopes for it.

Yuri Light Novel

Paul Chapman at Crunchyroll News has the “what the what?” news of the month so far, with the scoop on Super Dash resurrecting the Read or Die Light Novel series!?!  You might remember from my reviews that the series basically crashed to a halt in Volume 8, then limped along for a few volumes, then just sort of stopped midway through an arc.  It’ll be interesting to see if Kurata can manage an ending for the epic series.

Other News

In my capacity as resident Quora expert about all things gay and animated, I wrote an answer to this question Why does everyone believe that Elsa is a lesbian just because she didn’t have a love interest in Frozen? that includes the gayest possible reading of Let It Go and the hope that we get a Disney romantic duet between Elsa and what I hope will be her dashing Princess.  ^_^

Speaking of gay media, Kitschmix.tv is a new on-demand service for lesbian movies and webseries that looks amazing. You can watch classics like Desert Hearts and brand new series like Carmilla. And it gets extra cred for the name.

Which brings me to a rewind. Someone legit asked if Kitschmix was carrying anime. No, but they don’t have to. You can already get a ton of classic Yuri anime (like Aoi Hana and Strawberry Panic) on Viewster and newer stuff (like Sakura Trick and Sailor Moon Crystal on Crunchyroll, free  – and legally.  And don’t forget company channels, like Revolutionary Girl Utena on Youtube. No need to reinvent perfectly good wheels. Nonetheless, it’s good to have a one-stop shop for live action series. ^_^

Our buddy Zan Christensen, publisher of LGBTQ comics and prose (with whom I have an upcoming project, squee!) made a splash this month with his pointed protest of Apple’s iTunes censorship of LGBTQ comics. This is not the first time they have pulled this and unless iTunes users complain, it won’t be the last.

We’re going to wrap up with some exciting, if mutedly so, news from Japan. Takarazuka City is the fourth Japanese municipality to offer same-sex certificates, and the first in Kansai. I want to run “fantasy themed” wedding packages so much and I don’t even like weddings. ^_^

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!

It’s kind of ironic that, on a week I’m off for a little R&R, we’ve had a ton of amazing news. Check out this week’s posts for all the main news and I’ll be back to summarizing when I get back!