Archive for the Magazines Category


Comic Yuri Hime, June 2026 (コミック百合姫2026年6月号)

June 5th, 2026

On a green background, inside a red frame, a scene in yellow. A young woman with pink hair leans through a picture frame, holding a magic wand, while  an older woman kneels before her taking a picture. Props of frames and teddy bears are strewn around, cables are visible in the background of this photo shoot.Chiriko’s cover this month is a jaunty yellow inside a red frame, on a green background. Once again a younger-looking girl is joined by an older one, this time, they play with picture frames, teddy bears and photography in a photo shoot.

The opening pages discuss Prism Garden and a few pop-ups happening, including the Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau x Sanrio collab. The Comic Yuri Hime 20th Anniversary art exhibit, happening right now in Osaka at the Nanba Marui.

Finally, “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau” has turned towards Hajime and her extremely conflicted feeling towards Momoka. I trust Takeshima-sensei to bring this arc to a positive conclusion, but its going to be a rough road that will definitely affect Lorelei’s future as pros.

Ikuta Hana’s “Hone ni onegai wo Hoshi ni Noroi wo” is so moody and tense. I’m still on the fence whether I like it or not, but I am definitely still reading.

“Muryoku Seijo to Munou Oujo ~ Maryoku Zero de Shoukansareta Seijo no Isekai Kyuukokuki” by Tamasaki Tama has taking a break from the wedding drama to go visit a in/famous elf teacher to see if they can get help with /waves hands/ everything.

Big shock! In “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” We are once again paying attention to Mitsuki. This week, her father comes to Liebe and Hime flails at the instruction to just treat him like another customer. Other than being very very tall, he doesn’t seem to have any other defining characteristics. I did appreciate that this wasn’t a “gotcha” episode. Mitsuki has told her parents what she’s doing and they approve. I love that.

Now that Haru has been challenged by Yuu’s famous older sister, LUPINUS works hard to come up with an original piece for the contest in “Kimi ga Hoeru Tame no Uta o”.

Rae fights her way in to see an imprisoned Claire and is soundly rejected. In original content for the comic, Lily, now almost completely integrated with Alter, attack Rae and Manaria and fights them to a standstill. Lily’s rage and hurt at being rejected by Rae comes to the surface.

Itoh Hachi’s “Yokouso, Kochi no Sekhai,” is a (to me,) shockingly good short by Itoh Hachi, who has returned to the magazine for the 20th anniversary. A burnt out animator meets and encourages a young girl with dreams of working in animation. They manage to inspire each other, and meet again when the now young woman begins her new life as an animator with her inspiration. 

And as always, there were other stories I read and enjoyed, or read and did not, and others I did not read. ^_^

Columns and features round out this volume. There are a number of horror manga running right now, all are so different. I’m still holding out for more action and one day, maybe, sports. ^_^;

Ratings:

Overall – 8

The July issue is out and I’m reading it already; one brief moment of being ahead of the curve!





Comic Yuri Hime, May 2026 (コミック百合姫)

April 19th, 2026

A young woman in lavender-grey outfit seated, another girl in a pale green dress, her face unseen, half hidden by pale green curtains.Comic Yuri Hime, May 2026, (コミック百合姫) begins with a cover showing a young woman in lavender-grey outfit, another girl in a pale green dress, her face unseen, as the rest of these covers have been. As we never see the girl in the background, I’m finding these covers slightly menacing. What’s your impression of Chiriko’s covers?

We start the magazine off with “Genjitsu Sekai (Real) Demo Shiawase ni Shite Kudasai ne?” by Shiborikasuko, a reverse -isekai harem, in which all the characters of a game world have come to our world. A calamity will occur on the night of the meteor show in their game world…will everyone be able to return in time? And will they be able to get back to our world if they do? 

Usamimiki’s “Zangai Shoujo, Kirakirana Sekai no Soko” continues the story of a bunny-eared android and the tinker girl who fixes her in this dystopian world. 

In Touma’s “Kimi no Seinandakara, Sekinin o Totte you ne” both protagonists are feeling their way slowly closer, while navigating the gaps in their knowledge of each other because they met as client and escort.

“Koharu to Minato” gets a center color full spread as they and their dog, visit their friends for an overnight. It’s all fun and games for everyone -even the dog. ^_^

“Muryoku Seijo to Munou Oujo ~ Maryoku Zero de Shoukansareta Seijo no Isekai Kyuukokuki ” by Tamasaki Tama picks up yet again, with Nana stressing out about the upcoming wedding, as she and the Princess have not yet been able to clean up the miasma that besets the villages. 

Now that Haru’s voice is being heard and appreciated, Yuu is feeling like she might lose her, in Kashikaze’s “Kimi ga Hoeru Tame no Uta o” and now that Yuu’s mother has made an appearance, their success is more important than ever.

I absolutely loved “Girls Live In Live House” by Moriguchi Ryou. This one-shot follows two co-workers who get to learn about each other’s truest selves when they mosh at live shows. It was adorable.

Now that we are in a musical mood, Kujou takes the stage in “Inkyo Gal Demo Ikigaritai!” which was really nice to see. ^_^

Comic essays, letters, anime promos and many other series fills another great volume of Comic Yuri Hime!

Ratings: 

Overall – 8

The June issue is out now in Japan.





Yamada to Kase-san, Volume 5 (山田と加瀬さん。)

April 9th, 2026

Two young woman stand before background of colorful cat face silhouettes, cups and toothbrushes. The taller, with dark brown hair wears a brown bear sweat jacket with ears on the hood. The short woman with collar-length blonde hair, wears pink and white stripes sweater and a white cat ear Alice band, as they hold toothbrushes and bathroom cups.There are several extraordinary things about Yamada to Kase-san, Volume 5 (山田と加瀬さん。)  that I want to call out. 

First, this series has been one the most persistent works I have ever read. It “should” have ended several times; when Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari was cancelled after a respectable 4 years and when the initial series ended on Web Hirari. Instead of becoming an interesting relic of Yuri history,  Takashima Hiromi-sensei kept drawing.

The Kase-san series moved to the online edition of Wings and then to the print edition of Shinsokan’s flagship magazine. It’s even been the cover series. Kase-san and Yamada graduated, moved to Tokyo are going to college…and now they are living together! This volume makes Takashima-sensei’s 10th volume of the series.  All of this is just…amazing. Not miraculous, though. I believe that Takashima-sensei just works hard at the series and keeps it thriving.

In Volume 5, we turn to Yamada who is living her best life…a little too hard. In her desire to buy beautiful things for her . and Kase-san, she is pushing herself to her limits. This choice ends up hurting Kase-san unintentionally. Thankfully, Yamada realizes that her failure to prioritize her time in the right ways is her own fault and they make up, agreeing to prioritize their time together. It’s almost nice to be annoyed by Yamada for something other than low self-esteem. ^_^

Kase-san and Yamada are entirely relatable than in this volume and there’s no sign of the jealousy from previous volumes, just the small day-to-day adjustments we make as a couple. 

Ratings: 

Art – 9
Story – 9
Character – 9 
Service – eh, 2?
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9

So congratulations to Takashima-sensei for this 10th volume of the Kase-san series, which still bears the Hirari comics imprint – which is the last notable thing I wanted to point out. ^_^ Still carrying the Hirari torch, 12 years later. How incredible is that?





Galette No. 37 (ガレットNo.37)

March 27th, 2026

Two women embrace. We see the back of the head of a woman with collar-length light brown hair. We can see part of the face of a woman in a hoodie with darker brown hair and glasses, as she holds the other woman tightly.Happy 10th anniversary to Galette magazine! Galette No. 37  (ガレットNo.37) begins their 10th year in business and is filled with exactly the kind of independent Yuri manga, stories and art that makes this magazine such a treasure.

The print issue comes with a mini clearfile for the lead story by Hakamada Mera. “Akuyaku Reijou ha Tenseishitara Yurisakka ni Natteshimashita”. This is, exactly as the title suggests, about a villainess who has been reborn into our world. When invited to a get-together for artists, she is confronted with  her idol…who is the very woman who killed her in her former life.  ^_^ I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes!

Inui Ayu’s story about an escort and client falling in love, “Koi ni Shitaku naina” continues to be cute. Momo is feeling her feelings for Ren very much and has no idea what to do with them. 

In an important moment, Ririko has Rikako over to meet her doll, Mimi and it goes about as well as could be imagined in “Otome no Shinden”!

In “Me ga Au, Sono Saki e” a girl find that being online doesn’t mean having friends…but also making friends isn’t impossible.

Continuing series include, “Kanojo no Kuchizuke, Kansensuru Libido,” ” Torokeru Heya no Naka,” “Himistu no Recipe” and a collection of 140 character stories and essays. The final pages are filled with happy 10th anniversary cards by magazine contributors. 

There is a unique joy in being able to enjoy Galette magazine. Knowing that young Yuri artists and writers will grow up with an independent, creator-owned option for Yuri, as well as the more traditional publisher-driven routes makes me incredibly happy for the future of Yuri. That this independent venture has thrived for 10 years speaks to the perseverance of the creators and management team, but also to the support of the fans who help this magazine thrive. 

Once again, happy birthday to everyone at Galette!

Overall – 10

The Kickstarter for Galette Vol. 5 Special EN Edition has 4 days to go and is very close to that final stretch goal! Let’s get it over the line, shall we?





Comic Yuri Hime, April 2026 (コミック百合姫2026年4月号)

March 20th, 2026

A deep, chocolately brown cover of a girl cheerfully buried under a pile of hats, which threaten to fall on the mostly-obscured person behind her.Comic Yuri Hime, April 2026 (コミック百合姫2026年4月号) begins with a deep, chocolately brown cover of a girl  cheerfuly buried under a pile of hats. The gloved woman behind her looks as if she is trying to ward the inevitable collapse off. 

So, now that we have 4 issues in hand, we see that this is not a story on the cover, per se, but a series of clothing, make-up, hair-related scenarios, in which one girl is in the front, being managed by another (obscured) woman behind. Chiriko’s covers are striking and colorful, but not necessarily meaningful.

The book begins with a newcomer, Usami Miki’s tale of finding joy in dystopia, “Zangai Shoujo, Kirakirana Sekai no Soko” whics has the English translation, “wreckage, maiden, sparkle at the bottom of the world.”  

Lorelei gets their big break in Takeshima Eku’s “Sasaybig-time Sasakuyouni Koi wo Utau”! A big record label (Queen Records, hint hint) has discovered their videos…do they want to go pro? Shiho knows what she wants, but are the others on board? Hajime agrees, but questions what her goals are.

In ” Tayutau Koi no Chirisai ni,” our protagonists go on their first date, but have no idea how money or tickets work? Kind of threw me out of the story there.

Ikuta Hana’s “Hone ni Negai o, Hoshi ni Horoi o” Aoi and Mashiro begin to go through Akane’s things, lancing the wound that binds them both.

“Kimi no Seinandakara, Sekinin o Totte you ne” Reina and Suichan continue their progression from paid escort and client to girlfriends.

Tsumugi Meme’s “Hina-chan ga Iketeru nara” continues to be creepy as fuck, as Hina-chanan, apparently returned from the dead after years, and who has not aged, is angry that Ku-chan has gotten her period, first, leaving Hina behind.

“Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” takes a long look at Mitsuki who, IMHO, is neurodivergent, and the struggles she has at school reading other people’s intent. As she has to decide what she wants to do with her future, the quesion looms havily for her. Hime offers her a safe haven. 

inori. and Aonoshimo offer up an emotional chapter of “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijo.” Rei, demoralized and defeated, finds unexpected allies in her quest to free Claire.

Koharu and Minato get deep into “oshi-katsu” and idol fandom in “Koharu to Minato”, which will be out in English in April as Koharu and Minato: Happy Life with My Girlfriend, Volume 1!

Ayster and Oto-toi bring us another weirdly compelling editor motivates low-energy manga artist in “Haru no Uzumibi.”

And interestingly, Kubara Yuuko’s “Film ni Saku Yurinohana o Atsumete Kimi ni Okuritai”, comic essay takes a look at the explicitly lesbian movie Carol, based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel The Price of Salt. This movie  was brilliantly acted and directed and is, IMHO, a must-watch.

I am reading and enjoying close to half the work in this magazine right now, which is an outstanding amount for me and any magazine. And many of the most popular series aren’t in my wheelhouse, so there is really something for just about everyone. ^_^

Ratings: 

Overall – 8

The May issue is out now in Japan!