Archive for the ALC Publishing Category


ALC Manga to be carried by Diamond Comics

March 17th, 2005

ALC Publishing has just signed a distribution agreement with Diamond Comics Distributors, the largest comics distribution network in North America. Starting in the May 2005 Previews magazine, you’ll see our all-yuri anthology Yuri Monogatari, followed by Rica ‘tte Kanji!? and more to come.

Now getting ALC all-yuri manga is as simple as dropping by your local comic book store, cracking open a copy of Previews and placing your order!

You can also find ALC yuri manga at our friends at Anime Castle and, of course, always at the Yuricon Shop!





Event: Four Special Guests for the Yuri Revolution!

March 4th, 2005

Yuricon is pleased to announce four special guests who will be joining us for our historic Yuri Revolution event in Tokyo, Japan, on April 16, 2005!

Novelist and essayist Mori Natsuko: Mori-san is a popular writer of science fiction and has contributed essays to “Anise” magazine. Her most recent essays for Yuri Shimai have piqued the interest of fans around the world.

Scholar and lecturer Mizoguchi Akiko: Mizoguchi-san has lectured widely on queer identity and yaoi comics, from a uniquely lesbian persepctive.

Yuri manga artist Tadeno Eriko: Tadeno-san returns as a special guest to a Yuricon event for the second time and we’re thrilled to have her join us once again. Tadeno-san is a well-known yuri managaka, whose collection “WORKS,” was translated into English in 2004 by ALC Publishing.

Yuri manga artist Rica Takashima: Author of Rica ‘tte Kanji!?, Rica Takashima made a name for herself with her involvement in Phryne and Anise magazines, and her collection has just gone into a second edition here in the US. It’s very exciting to have her helping out on this historic occasion!

To learn more about the Yuri Revolution tour and event, please visit our Events page or join the Yuri Revolution Mailing List





Yuri Doujinshi Circle: Office Mono

January 31st, 2005

Those of you familiar with ALC Publishing will no doubt be rolling your eyes at the choice of this circle for review. But, the reason ALC chose to translated and print Works was that it was really quite good. :-)

Tadeno Eriko is the primary artist of Office Mono, and I think her art style is clean and easy to enjoy – a nice example of the josei genre of manga. (Josei is manga targeted towards older girls and women.) Like my other favorite authors, Yamaji Ebine and Rica Takashima, Tadeno-sensei does solid artistic work and had a nice depth to her stories.

Office Mono’s series Lavender of Romance tells a series of stories, some one-shots, some with second and third chapters, about a variety of women in lesbian relationships. There are reasonably few schoolgirls in Tadeno’s work – she favors characters that are in the workforce, something that appeals strongly to me. Which is not to say that there are *no* schoolgirls or college-age women in her stories. Another strength of Tadeno’s works are the wide variety of ages she covers – everything from the usual high school crushes to older couples who have been together for decades.

In a nutshell, that’s the real reason I like her work so much – the variety. (That and a single panel in Lavender of Romance 6 where a woman is looking at her half-dressed lover (who is short and stubby, much like yours truly) and sees in her mind an adorable stuffed teddy bear. This is the kind of image that anyone in any releationship can totally identify with, even grumpy ole me. :-) It’s another idiotic grin moment, definitely.)

So if you want to enjoy this wonderful anthology pictured above, you can find it available at the Yuricon Shop!





Yuri Manga: Yuri Monogatari 2

August 3rd, 2004

Well, Otakon is over for another year. It’s amazingly fun spending all day in the Dealer’s Room, watching the con walk by. I’m sure you’ll all be pleased to know that ALC Publishing nearly sold out of what manga we brought in three wild, wild days. ^_^

I want to thank all the folks who stopped by – old friends and new – who supported us by buying our manga, getting hugs, stickers, autographs, etc. and generally being the best part of the con. Next year should be even more fun and I promise that I’ll try and get a Yuri panel set up for once. ^_^

Since ALC’s newest Yuri manga premiered last weekend at the East Coast’s largest anime con, I think it’s ony fair to review it first, before I move onto all the other great swag I have to talk about, including a huge shipment from Japan of tons of new Yuri. But first things first.

Yuri Monogatari 2 is ALC Publishing’s second all-Yuri original English-language anthology. In other words – not a translation. The seven stories in this wonderful manga were created especially for this publication, including a wonderfully funny new story by Rica Takashima, author of Rica ‘tte Kanji, our first Japanese translation.

While Yuri Monogatari is by no means perfect, it is still a pretty darn excellent book and well worth your time and money, even if I do say it myself. And I do. Where else are you going to find original Yuri manga in English? Huh? ^_^

This new volume contains seven stories, written and drawn by people from five different countries: Belgium, Canada, Finland, Japan, and the USA. This gives every story a unique characteristic and completely different look and feel. While one story may not appeal to you, there is sure to be something for nearly everyone…

Here’s a quicky synopsis of the stories:

“Joe’s Haircut” – Funny stuff happens when gay girl Joe gets her long locks lopped. When four different girls hit on Joe after the haircut, she’s definitely thinking that too much of a good thing is too much, period. Big, grinny, happy ending for this one

“Toast” – A quirky scifi parody of being sucked into an alternate universe. You never knew what kind of stuff went on in your kitchen appliances…cool girl-gets-girl ending.

“Obenkyo Shinasai” – College student Grace spends more time fantasizing about her lover Miki than studying for her chem exam. This story is hysterical…and pretty hardcore, as Grace fantasizes some *interesting* things happening to Miki. Happy ending, but bad grades on the exam. ^_^

“Passing” – A sort of coming out story. I won’t blow the secret, but the art is really lovely and the girl gets the girl. ^_^

“Short Wish List” – Another parody, this time of action/fantasy stories. The magic genie of the toasters will grant wishes and the wishes aren’t what you think. Happy ending with lots of chocolate.

“Flora” – Angsty, poetic, reflective look at love versus lust. No happy ending, but some seriously beautiful sex.

“Night Out” – Girl meets girl, girl does girl and then the real story begins. A sweet and funny look at relationships. Girl has girl all along.

So there you go. Seven really fun stories, each one with a different focus and art style, characterization and story. And all Yuri, all the time.

And last, but not least, the Ratings:

Art, Character, Story, Plot – all variable depending on the story, as with any anthology. Yuri – 10.

This book is 100% Yuri, through and through. I hope you’ll pick up a copy and see for yourself!

Now that I’ve reviewed the newest Yuri manga from here in the West, I’ll start reviewing some of the fantastic new Yuri coming from Japan!





Yuricon News: New Yuri Manga at Otakon!

July 29th, 2004

Well, it’s that time again, and a bunch of folks from Yuricon and ALC Publishing will be at Otakon in Baltimore this coming weekend.

And we have very exciting news for this Otakon, because we’re premiering our brand-new, all-yuri, all-original, English-language manga anthology, Yuri Monogatari!

You can get it at the Planet Anime booth in the Otakon Dealer’s Room exclusively for the con. Afterward, you can stop by the Yuricon Shop and get a copy through our good friends at Anime Castle.

Yuri Monogatari has over 140 pages of truly wonderful art and stories, and it’s all-Yuri, all the time. And if you’re at Otakon, bring your copy over to the Anime Next and Yuricon table, and Cover Artist Kelli Nicely will autograph it for you. :-) We’ll also have all our ALC yuri manga, and some random classic yuri and Yuricon goodies for sale. I hope you’ll make a point to come by (look for “Anime Next” on the DR map) and say hello and chat about yuri and shoujoai.

When I get back, I’ll give you a nice detailed review of Yuri Monogatari and lots of other yuri goodies.

I’ll see you at Otakon!