Archive for the Yuri Monogatari Category


Rica Takashima × Akiko Morishima Talk Event Report

July 9th, 2026

Last month, folks in Japan had the chance to attend a historical discussion of Yuri in the 1990s and the birth of Yuri in America, with creators Akiko Morishima and Rica Takashima. Our Japan Correspondent Sasori is here with a report on the proceedings!

Signboard for lonliness books in Higashinakano, with a poster that read "Yuri Story" and features Rica and Miho from the cover of "Rica 'tte Kanji!> by Rica Takashima.

 

I’m headed to loneliness books in Higashi-Nakano, to meet two Yuri icons, Rica Takashima and Akiko Morishima.

Rica Takashima is best known for her series Rica ‘tte Kanji!?, one of the first English translated yuri manga. Her later sequel in 2025 being New York Love: Rica ‘tte Kanji!? I remember when I first read her works in the US anthology Yuri Monogatari!

Akiko Morishima is the creator of Hanjuku Joshi, Rakuen no Jouken (The Conditions of Paradise), Yurikuma Arashi, as well as many other yuri manga. She also did cover illustrations for Hajimete no Yuri Studies: Queer/Feminist no Shiten kara (Introduction to Yuri Studies: From Queer and Feminist Perspectives). She is now serializing Hitorimi Desu (Living Single) (KADOKAWA/CandleA), about the life of a single lesbian in her sixties.

(Sources from the description of the event)

Walking into the bookstore was like walking into a manga gallery, the entire wall was lined with Takashima-san’s works! Under her original manga pages, were magazine publications as well as By My Side and all the Yuri Monogatari anthologies. I’ve never seen all of them lined up before, it felt like a yuri time capsule. 

A wall with original art pages by Rica Takashima displayed in plastic sleeves.

Seeing close up manuscripts of the manga is always a treat because you can see all the typography glues in the speech bubbles and hand done screen tones. I also liked seeing the English translated manga surrounded by their respected JP publications.

Table with Japanese and English language Yuri art and books, and pins with art by Rica Takashima.

My only wish was that I had infinite money to buy more books! There was so much on sale.

A shelf with multiple editions of Rica 'tte Kanji!?, and Yuri Monogatari, By Your Side

Original art by Ric Takashima displyed on the wall.. Color images of Rica and Miho, as well as original pages of Rica 'tte Kanji!?

Lined next to the manuscripts were small shikishi and original prints, sifting through the prints in the binder was so satisfying.

Original pages of Rica 'tte Kanji!?

 

Close up on art and books for sale, original work by Rica Takashima and By Your Side.

A print image of Rica and Miho in the snow with a grocery bag.

 

The talk started at 20:00 ( 8:00) in the middle of the bookstore. There were a total of about 15-20 people, so a really comfortable turnout. Takashima sensei began by passing around a bowl of American candy, and she knew her stuff, there were Twizzlers and airheads in there! Both Takashima and Morishima sensei were very upbeat and could back and fourth really well about honestly any topic as well as their respected works .

Takashima sensei talked about what it was like living in New York and brought up the history of Yuri, often referencing By Your Side and even Fun Home. I also liked Morishima sensei’s response to some questions about gender equality, and she also talked about being a fan of Sailor Moon and Cutie Honey.

Other topics covered were the current lesbian fashion of the past and present (Butch military styles, overalls, and more feminine attire), the lesbian bar scene, and a shared love of mini skirts.

It was kind of like listening to two friends reminiscing about the past, which was very comforting.

A photo of a small, cute bookstore crammed with books, and a talk event space in the middle.

The talk went a little past it’s allotted time, but I was able to buy some cute stickers and a copy of Tokyo Love, that Takashima sensei signed with an adorable sketch of me, complete with heart eyes. I was hoping I could stay a bit longer to see if Morishima sensei had any books, as I am also a huge fan of hers, but sadly I had to catch the late train home.

A close-up up Toyo Love - Rica 'tte Kanji!? cover and two Rica/x Miho pins.

I’ll be sure to revisit the loneliness bookstore, not only for the awesome LGBTQ+ rep, but also because it’s rare to see so many English publications outside of Kinokuniya.

If you ever find yourself in Higashi-Nakano, be sure to take a peak, maybe you can buy some issues of Yuri Monogatari! 

 





Wynnona Earp on Netflix

July 26th, 2020

Wynonna Earp is ridiculous, it’s gross and violent (the very first scene involves someone’s tongue being cut out), it frequently makes no sense, it piles one plot complication on top of another, without resolving it, or the three previous plot complications before it. Worse, when 99% of the characters are undead, undying or unreal, no bad guy ever just…goes away.  It’s a modern paranormal western with absurd shootouts and some of the most godawful fight choreography I’ve ever seen.

But I kinda like it anyway. ^_^

It helps that several of the characters are openly queer and others are probably queer given the right circumstances. Queerable, if you will.

It also helps that this series, developed by Syfy, now also on Netflix, is so stupendously absurd that I can comfortably watch it with almost no real concern, since by the end of Season 3, at least, pretty much all of the main characters have died at least once and are still with us. It’ll get harder and harder to believe anyone is actually dead and out of the show until Twitter tells me so. ^_^

Descendant of Wyatt Earp, Wynnona, has her whole life struggled under a family curse that, (among other things,) ended up with her killing her father and, later, being sent away to an asylum. The curse is real, and so are all the hellish demons plaguing her family and Wynnona’s only real problem, it turns out, is that she’s perfectly sane and is the Heir of Wyatt’s curse. Wynnona and her sister, Waverly, are joined in their fight by the immortal Doc Holliday, and eventually by a host of adorable misfits and weirdos.

Waverly, a bubbly young woman who taught herself ancient languages in order to be worthy of being the Heir, falls in love with new cop in town, redheaded Nicole Haught. In Season 3, the team gets gay researchers/scientist/whatever they need him to be/generic lab guy Jeremy and then he gets a boyfriend who is also a total whatever they need him to be for that arc, forest ranger, lost boy, twink, Robin.

Ultimately what’s keeping me watching is the vulgarity and the fact that the all the characters, female characters especially, are written with depth, with variety and with skill. Even the bad characters have depth and not just tragic “evil person sad story” depth…although every character does indeed have a tragic backstory.

I was not blown away by this show at first, but I find that it has seriously grown on me and not just because it hasn’t given in to Bury Your Gays. That is to say, it has killed most of the gay characters at least once, but all of the characters have been killed at least once, so that’s not an issue.

Ratings:

Cinematography – 6  CGI effects, batman angles, too close on kisses, horrible fights
Story – Goes from ridiculous to laughable
Character – 8 Inconsistent, but fun
LGBTQ – 9
Service – 3 Some, but fairly sprinkled about

Overall – 8

I’m always on the lookout for a series to half-assedly pay attention to as I work and Wynnona Earp is perfectly suited to mostly ignore. ^_^ But when I do look up, the people are pretty, the gays get to have sex, too, and everyone is permanently not-dead. So, that’s good. The actress playing Waverly, Dominique Provost-Chalkley, has recently come out, which is sweet.

It’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer the western, in 2020.





No News Report This Week

November 21st, 2009

Just wanted to let you know that there will be no News Report this week. I’m beat.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a review. I just need a day or two off to recharge and work on other projects. Instead, I’ll leave you this:

This week, we submitted Yuri Monogatari 6 to the Lambda Literary Awards.

YM6 Video Trailer Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yli_kPSVkFs

Yuri Monogatari 6 on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/bgnvut

Yuri Monogatari 6 on Yuricon Shop: http://tinyurl.com/alcpub – Holiday Sale is still ongoing, so get yourself copy of what is sure to be the winner of the Lammy for Best LGBT Anthology!





Earn a copy of "Yuri Monogatari 6" through "Project Engage!

May 10th, 2009

As you know, ALC Publishing recently launched Yuri Monogatari 6 and as we know there are a lot of you who would like a copy of the book but, for one reason or another, cannot get it. Maybe you’re in school and can’t afford it, or maybe you live somewhere where shipping from Amazon makes it outrageously expensive.

So, we’ve developed this new Project special for you!

Here’s how it works:

“Project Engage” is very simple. Use any and all social media you *already use* to promote YM6 and EARN a copy of YM6 for your efforts!

– Mention Yuri Monogatari 6 in a relevant Forum, Mailing List, Blog post, Twitter about it, or talk about it on your Facebook, MySpace, LiveJournal page, or any other form of social media *that you already use* with a link to either the ALC Page on the Yuricon Shop or Amazon and get *5* points.

– Embed the Yuri Monogatari 6 video trailer (see below) on the any of the social media *you already use,* and get *10* points.

– When you have earned *50* points, email us links to these posts, your age and your address at anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com with the subject line “Project Engage Links” and we’ll send you a copy of “YM6!”

It’s that simple.

Here’s the IMPORTANT GUIDELINES YOU MUST FOLLOW TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR A BOOK:

1) You MUST be 18 or over. There is no exception to this rule. Include your age in your email the first time. Don’t make us chase after you for it.

2) You may not create dummy accounts/blogs or pages for this. If we check and you have no other posts on your blog, or no other posts on the Forum in question, your entry will not count AND you’ll make us look bad, like we’re spamming the world. So – please only use accounts on places that you already use regularly.

3) This project is meant to support and promote ALC and YM6. A link followed by a damnation of everything we are doing will not make you any friends. If you want to help us out, we’re delighted. If you want us to die a fiery death, don’t feel obliged to “help.” :-) Lying and cheating to get a book is also not the point. This is to reward folks who *want* to do something concrete to help support us.

4) All links *must* be verifiable. I’m willing to sign up for forums, or friend you, but if you stick them in a private area that no one but you can see, then that’s kind of not the point. -_-;;

5) Yes, previous posts, links and embeds count. If you already mentioned YM6 somewhere before today, that is absolutely, positively acceptable. Just collect *50* points worth and you’ve earned yourself a copy of YM6!

6) If you are not 18+, please feel free to share links and embeds, but at this time we cannot send you a book. However, your support is still very much appreciated and I want to thank you, so email those links and I’ll send you an “I Love Yuri” postcard to show our thanks!

***

Here are the links to share:

YM6 Video Trailer Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yli_kPSVkFs

YM6 Video Trailer Embed (click on the arrow icon on the bottom of the video next to the volume control and cut and paste the “embed” code to your blog/page:)

Yuri Monogatari 6 on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/bgnvut

Yuri Monogatari 6 on Yuricon Shop: http://tinyurl.com/alcpub

***

Project Engage is open to anyone 18 or over, they do not need to be a member of the Yuricon ML or a reader of Okazu. So feel free to get your friends involved. A few of you banding together *can* get a book to share – the point is to get the word out.
:-)

If you have questions, please ask them here in the comments, so everyone can see the answer. Thanks and here’s to the success of Project Engage!





Yuri Monogatari Launch Party Report

April 19th, 2009

I only took a few pictures, and these aren’t all of them. But at least I remembered to take pictures, so you have to give me some credit!

First of all, as always I want to thank Bruce, Serge, Donna, Sean and Kelli. You guys are truly the best. And of course, I want to thank my wife, because. And *of course* I want to thank Rica, JD, Jess and Althea for coming and making the night a total blast!

So we arrived early, and Donna immediately began to shop. The Rare Flix store doesn’t just have anime, they have a really amazingly diverse selection of live-action, horror, porn, sci-fi, cult movies, anime, with nice Yaoi and Yuri sections, and the occasional totally random item like Pride and Prejudice.

(Click on the pictures for larger versions.)

Bruce, always ready to do whatever, doing whatever.

Serge, who was piling candy on plates with determination, as if he was playing tetris or something. The man was possessed.

This sign in the bathroom warmed the cockles of my heart. I had to take a picture.

We eventually corralled all four guests and made them pretend to be having fun. :-) From the left to right they are: Jessie, Rica Takashima, Althea and JD.

I stepped outside for some air, and got this picture.

And here are a chunk of people watching the YM6 trailer. They look a little creepily engrossed here, I think. lol

We gave away a few prize bags, we marveled at the $600 velvet box set of the entire Cream Lemon anime series, people bought a ton of stuff. (Honestly, I don’t think anyone walked out there empty handed. Even I bought the complete Dangermouse box set – oh, yes, there is one and they had it. That’s what I mean by they have an amazingly diverse selection.) We all had a nice time hanging out, forcing asking the guests to sign books and chit-chatting with everyone. A very laid back and fun night for all.

I hope to do this again for the next book – it was really a great party. Thanks to our guests and to everyone who came, thanks everyone who wished us well and thanks, as always to all the heroes who support ALC by buying Yuri Monogatari 6!