Archive for the Magazines Category


Comic Yuri Hime, February 2026 (コミック百合姫2026年2月号)

January 29th, 2026

On a bright blue polygon in a darker blue background, a pink-haired girl sits on stairs, her long locks being brushed by hands from off-scene, while she sis comfortably, one hand resting on a fist, her arm resting on her crossed knee.Chiriko’s cover for Comic Yuri Hime, February 2026 (コミック百合姫2026年2月号) is, yet again, a brightly colored study. This time we have a portrait of  pink-haired girl in a blue world, her hair being brushed from behind. After last year’s white covers, this is a refreshing look. More importantly – who is this mysterious hair and makeup person?

“Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” by Miman is not just looking forward, it has Hime still thinking about the future. What does “marrying rich” even look like, as a plan. Both Kanako and Mitsuki are very not sure what they should do with themselves as a result.

In “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” by inori. and Aonoshimo, Claire makes her decision and it is not the one Rae has been working towards. The climax of the Revolution arc draws ever closer.

“Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau” by Takeshima Eku includes a new problem…fame. Lorelei is going viral and Shiho has to figure out what that means to them, and whther her and the bad are really going to shoot for being professional musicians. Yori-sempai makes the same decision for herself. She’s going to follow in her father’s footsteps.

As the pages of “Chouuchyuu Yori Ai wo Komete,” by Ashidaka Woz open us, Lulu’s predatory fiance threatens earth, but Ten finally realizes that she wants to protect Lulu and fights back. The story finally gets to the bottom of Ten’s unhappiness, so she can embrace the love Lulu offers.

SheepD’s “Kanaria ha Kiraboshi no Yume o Miru” chooses the path of chaos as Fumino runs from an unwanted marriage, with Tsubaki (not her real name) in hand, as the pleasure district burns behind them.

 

As always there are more stories I read and others I didn’t, and overall, Comic Yuri Hime is keeping a steady stride into 2026. 

Ratings: 

Overall – 8

The March issue has already hit JP bookshelves and will be on mine shortly. ^_^





Galette Magazine 04, Special English Edition

January 19th, 2026

Galette 04 Special English Edition cover. A woman with dark hair , wearing glasses, hides behind a woman with long, blonde hair in a beret, playing a game of hide-and-seek with her, as the blonde looks to one side to see her, she is on the other.It was a long, difficult road for everyone, but this week folks began to receive their Kickstarter rewards for Galette Magazine 04, Special English Edition and, as usual, everything is truly lovely.

To begin with the dustcover on the magazine is a full image by pen, with silver accent in the title (that scanned as black here). The magazine cover proper is also by pen, with more color illustrations in the magazine, as part of the stretch goals. Stories by Miyuki Yorita, Mera Hakamada, Haru Yatosaki, Nekohariko 22, Milk Morinaga, Ringo Hamano, and the joint work by Izumi Kitta and Moto Momono fill these pages with Yuri stories about school and adult life.

As you may know from my reviews of the magazine in Japanese, I love Kitta and Moto’s “Liberty” very much. It’s a tale about trauma and passion which really suits Moto-sensei’s art. Nekohariko 22-sensei’s “I want you to show it only to me” is deeper than it appears, and I just love Hamano-sensei’s “Sky Blue Melancholic.” I wanted to take a moment to explain a small thing about the main character of this last one. The character is named Fumino, but her friends call her Bun-chan. This is because the first character of her name in Japanese is 文, the same character used in bunko 文庫, paperback. ^_^

Miyuki Yorita’s “That Woman in the Infirmary” has just finished in the Japanese issues and I already miss it, so it’s really nice to read it in big chunks in English. Milk Morinaga  has give us a one-shot that might make us think twice about rash choices.

My backer level gave me a cute standee, art postcards and Galette Special Booklet, a doujinshi of short stories, much like Galette Meets.

I know times are tough and life is uncertain, but I believe that queer and Yuri manga are important, and I will always do everything I can to make sure that these stories are told and available to as many people as possible. I really want to thank everyone at Galette for the effort they put into this for the English-reading audience. It’s so nice to see so many backer’s names in the credits and know that so many of us enabled this to exist.

Good new for folks that missed this or previous Kickstarters – the next Kickstarter for Volume 5 is in March! You can usually get back issues when you back the current one, if there are extras. Until then, enjoy another beautiful Galette magazine!

Ratings:

Overall – 9





Galette No. 36 (ガレットNo.36)

January 12th, 2026

Turned 90 degrees, a woman in a beret style cap looks at us, another woman hiding behind a piece of paper look sideways at the first. Colorful, but blurry red and yellow apples make up the foreground air.As Galette prepares to step into a tenth year, we are here celebrating the completion of their 9th successful year. In an industry which is very much subject to editorial whims, reader fads, distribution breakdown, declining self space and a host of other disruptions, to see a Yuri magazine committed to consistently to creators telling the stories they want to tell, the way they want to tell them, is extraordinary. Galette is that magazine.

Galette No. 36 (ガレットNo.36) opens with an ending this volume. Morinaga Milk’s “Watashi no Kawaii Neko-chan” comes to an end, as Yuna and Rena take a short trip just before Yuna finally opens her own salon. This feels like an end of an era. It’s also really nice to see a Morinaga Milk story that is left alone right to the *very end* where the characters can actually address the issues and come together as a partnership.  Theclearfile that came with this volume celebrates the end of this story, with Yuna and Rena in wedding gowns on one side and Chibi wearing a ribbon on the other.

“Otome no Shinden” by Nakako Nui, which has been a not-creepy doll story takes an interesting turn as Rikako joins the handicrafts club at school and makes a friend…a friend who wants to see her doll. The doll is all for it, but for some reason Rikako is not. 

“Koi ni Shitakunaina” by Inui Ayu is the second female client falls for a hired escort story already this month. This series takes Momoa and Karen a step closer as they share their real names…but is that really okay in a paid relationship? Momo is thinking that she’s falling too deep.

There are a lot more stories that I genuinely enjoyed in this volume including some new work by artists I  am not familiar with, like Sagami’s swet “Cosmos no Saku Tokoro” and the end of the two-part short story that began in the previous volume, as well as all the 140-character entries including the illustrated one. 

Galette hits more than 200 pages once again in this volume, something I always want to celebrate. I hope more indie artists and writers submit to Galette and we get to see their unique view of Yuri, as well. 

Ratings: 

Overall – 9

2026 is going to be trying for all of us, so it’s really lovely to know that Galetter is here, bringing us more great independent Yuri!

 

 

 

 

 

2026 is going to be challenging for many of us, 





Comic Yuri Hime, December 2025 (コミック百合姫2025年12月号)

December 21st, 2025

In front of a bright blue sky on a summer day, two young women wear wedding dresses, holding hands and smiling brightly.Woops! I hadn’t had a chance to pick up my books in a while and fell behind two months on my Yuri. ^_^ Comic Yuri Hime, December 2025 (コミック百合姫2025年12月号)  is the final issue with hechima’s cover story….our two young women having a June wedding. ^_^ The cover text tells us that they are 25 years old, and the writing, I think was well chosen for this magazine in it’s 20th year: “Thank you for every shared moment.”

The color pages at the beginning advertise the live-action Futari Escape, the manga reprint and new chapter of the Taguchi’s manga, the upcoming anime shorts for Does It Count If You Lose Your Virginity to an Android? and the Comic Yuri Hime 20th Anniversary Cover Art Collection.

The first story is a new series, by Touma, “Kimi no Sei dakara,  Sekinin totte yo ne” about a “rental girlfriend” i.e., escort, who takes on her first femal client and finds love. There’s a move in there somewhere. ^_^

“Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” by inori. and Aonoshimo is coming up on the climactic chapter, as Re and Claire face down Dole and lies to Rae about facing things together.

In “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau” Himari finally meets Yori-sempai’s parents and it turns out that her becoming a musician carries a lot of baggage for this family.

Nana has come to an important conclusion about her relationship with Princess Luriam in “Muryoku Seijo to Munou Oujo ~ Maryoku Zero de Shoukansareta Seijo no Isekai Kyuukokuki ” by Tamasaki Tama. 

“Chouuchyuu Yori Ai wo Komete,” by Ashidaka Woz is moving deeper into Ten’s school trauma, as Lulu is jut good and kind and helpful. A threat is on the horizon, though and it is not from this world.

The team’s music video is done in Kashikaze’s “Kimi ga Hoeru Tame no Uta o.” and now it is out in the world to be enjoyed and judged.

Time is running out in SheepD’s “Kanaria ha Kiraboshi no Yume o Miru” but the clothing design is being worked on for a customer and both protagonists are committed facing the future together. Clearly crisis awaits.

A gal agrees to turn into a magical girl as a part-time job in “Majyo’tte Baito-dai demasu?” by Pya. I really enjoyed this take on the genre.

Koharu and Minato play house, and columns look at movies, books behind the scenes of voice acting and more. 

Ratings: 

Overall – 9

A very strong, very fun issue to round out the year. Congratulations on 20 years, Comic Yuri Hime!

The January 2026 issue is already on shelves, with a new cover artists and more 20th anniversary fun.





Galette No. 35 (ガレットNo.35)

October 30th, 2025

Two pale women in pale clothing blush as they look at one another, superimposed upon them are orcas swimming, with the words, " n my dream, you and I look at summer scenery."As of today, the Kickstarter for Galette Special English Edition Vol. 4 has ended, with a successful 713 backers…but don’t worry, there is a little bit more time to pledge! If you missed the kickstarter campaign, the folks at GaletteWORKS are keeping the Kickstarter open for a few more days so there is still a chance that they will make that 5th and final stretch goal. ^_^ Which makes today a great choice to talk about some Galette Magazine. ^_^

In Galette, No. 35 (ガレット)  we say goodbye to one of the long-running serials, Houkenshitsu Ano Onna, which you are now reading as “That Woman In The Infirmary” by Yorita Miyuki. I can’t pin point when I really started to look forward to this series, but I did, and I’m torn between being sad to see it over and looking forward Yorita-sensei’s new work!

We have two continuing stories by Morinaga Milk. “Himitsu no Recipe” has just finished up at the final chapter of the printed volumes, (which were never licensed in English, so it might be nice to see that published by Galette EN.) The final chapter is marked “To Be Continued” so we can expect more of that and of course, “Watashi no Kawiii Neko-chan” is ongoing. Yuna is facing down the baggage from her feelings about her family’s expectations of her…about which she may have been mistaken. Rena is still focused on opening her home salon, but they both find that they really just want to be together. 

“Yuruku SM Yattemiru” by Syanimuni follows two students who find a bunch of questionable props in a school closet. The volume came with a mini clear file of this series.

Inui Ayu’s “cool girl as boyfriend practice” “Koi ni Shiyakiunaina” turns from cute and akward to just plain cute as Momo and Ren realize they actually like each other. ^_^

Nekohariko22’s “Torokeru Heya nanoka” as Koyuki cannot stop fantasing about her  now live-in maid, who doesn’t seem to mind the idea.

I genuinely enjoyed Hakamada Mera’s weird little post-death scenario “Shindaramina VTUBER.”

“Kanojo Kuchizuke Kansenseuru Libido” continues, which kind of amazes me.  Sa-chan is struggling with feeeling sh wants more from Ayane, who seems to be just fine with moving their relationship to the next level.

“Foglight In The Gray” is a nice little post-apocalyptic romance by Dodmori, who art I quite like.

The magazine includes a short story about a woman whose dream to become a ballet dancer desert her, the Yurikko Research column, the 140-character stories, and more. 

As the staff looks towards a 8th anniversary, there’s a wonderful maturity about the content and design of Galette that I look forward to every issue. 

Ratings: 

Overall  – 8