Something had to give, and it looks like “magazines” is the breaking point. I have every Yuri Shimai/Yuri Hime/Yuri Hime S/Comic Yuri Hime magazine since 2003 with the exception of some of the curated volumes I didn’t keep. There are several huge cartons in storage and there’s just no more room to keep them really. I still have a subscription to the magazine with the local Kinokuniya, and hope I’ll be able to pick it up print sometime, but for now, I am shifting all my magazine reading and at least some of my manga reading to Global Bookwalker‘s system. In fact, I just assume the entire global pandemic is specifically because I was caught up with Comic Yuri Hime and this is the universe thumbing it’s nose at me. (I obviously do NOT assume that.) In any case, I’m running behind once again, but plan on forging ahead with new volumes digitally.  ^_^

So today I’m looking at Comic Yuri Hime, May 2020 (コミック百合姫 2020年5月号) which is still available in print on Amazon JP, or digitally on Global Bookwalker – which has the distinct advantage of not being as limited by region as Kindle and includes a English-language manga store, as well as Japanese, something I find very convenient. They can all be kept in one library, as well, so you don’t need to toggle back and forth. You do need to check out the Japanese manga from the JP store and the English manga from the EN store, which is a small inconvenience given the streamlining of the rest of the system. AND like all online systems, it has a points system, and there are sales and coupons constantly and give-backs.

And I gotta tell ya – there is no going back. I LOVED reading the magazine on the digital system! I’m able to change size (not as fluidly on my Surface as with an Android system, but the pen helps) and move easily around the page and the book. A 10″ tablet gives me a roughly full magazine page , I can shift to two page layout with a twist and the art looked great.  Honestly, the art looked clearer and better on the screen than it can on paper, which roughens it up ever so slightly.  I enjoyed the reading experience of the digital edition greatly.  And no soy ink smell! This is always a problem for me.

So how was the content? It was a solid volume, with some good and bad, as always. I have a few stories I want to note because they are doing something interesting. We’ll start with the surprising.

You know I have a complicated relationship with Kodama Naoko-sensei’s work. I like her art, I sometimes do not like the story. More oftenn I’m just creeped out by some fetishtry embedded in the tale. Her current series, “Uminekosou days” (recently licensed by Seven Seas as Days of Love a Seagull Villa,”) has been on brand with this. We’re setting Mayumi up to be betrayed by her “best friend,” because apparently stealing her boyfriend wasn’t enough. So ask me how surprised I am to find that Rin may not be corruptible? I’m really hoping she’s not. I’d love to see a series where the manipulative bully gets told to shove it and shove off. I’m still angry that Peach Girl Next even exists.

Also surprising was FLOWERCHILD’s “Warikitta kankeidesukara,” as it appears to be developing an actual plot. I did not expect that.

On a positive note, although it probably heralds the end of the series, Ohi Pikachi’s “Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatteiru” is teasing a mutual marriage proposal. I’d pay extra if the series just kept going and let the school be in an uproar about the wedding for, I dunno, a year and a half or so, maybe 2? ^_^

I’m also perfectly okay with “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” taking it’s time to wrap.  It’s kind of maddening knowing that in 2020 becoming a couple or proposing marriage is still the end of the story, instead of the beginning. Dammit. Give me more like Inui Ayu’s slice-of-real-life “Kyou mo Hitotsu Yane no Shita.” Please.

Ratings:

Overall  – 8, but an extra point for the digital experience. Damn, that was nice. So, 9

I’ll end this by reminding you that you may subscribe to the magazine directly on Bookwalker, a feature I find very intriguing, especially now. New volumes will be added to your library automatically. Each issue page includes a few sample pages, which is nice.  And for those of you interested, the June 2020 issue is already available (And with coins I’ve gotten from purchases and affiliate links, I’ll be paying 16 cents. Booyah)

Here we are at the April 2020 issue of Comic Yuri Hime magazine(コミック百合姫2020年4月号). This year the cover theme is women in ill-fitting clothing having what always looks like furtive assignations in back alleyways and deeply weird fonts.  ^_^

A number of series have wrapped up and to fill the spots, the editorial staff have done some interesting things. This month I want to focus on two specific entries, as we did last month.

First up, in Ruume’s “Yuritsukushi no Kyoushitsu de” (ゆりづくしの教室で) which appears to be a class full of “Yuri” pairings, the first chapter is focused on establishing the people in the story, so there’s a bit of wandering about and “meeting” everyone. Among the characters we meet a fat girl, called “Sachin” by one of the other girls. Sachin is fat and pretty. She’s not slightly, vaguely plump, like we are usually given, she doesn’t just have a very slight bit of fat when we’re making a point (I’m looking at you, “Pochi Climb.”) Sachin is large. Sachin is also sparkly and kind and has food with which to feed those around her. She reminds me of my wife. ^_^ It was nice to see some body size variety that ins’t just big breasts in the magazine.

Secondly, there is at the end of the issue, a short 4-page story from/intro to the Rakugo school Yuri manga by TNSK, “Uchi no Shisho ha Shippo ga nai.” (うちの師匠はしっぽがない) You might recognize the creator’s name as the person who did the cover art for Yuri science fiction LN, Last and First Idol. I’m not yet convinced that this will be for me, but I’m willing to give it a try, as the idea of a Rakugo Yuri story works, and I’m a sucker for Taisho period stories. The first two volumes are out in Japanese (Volume 1 and Volume 2) and the series is running in Kodansha’s good!Afternoon magazine. You can read the first chapter on that site, in Japanese.  Which is why I wanted to point it out – this preview is not for a comic in Comic Yuri Hime at all. That interests me a lot. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it for an already well-established comic in another magazine.

Ratings:

Overall – 7

The May 2020 issue will hit shelves on the 18th of the month which means, for the first time since this magazine went monthly I am ahead of the curve. Haha, take that, giant piles of things to read! There’s no cover image up yet, so I have no idea what monstrous font they’ll use this time. Did you notice this month the title was in English? ^_^

Last note: I think it’s time to drop the “Yuri Manga”, “Western Comic”, etc., tags from the titles on Okazu posts. Back in the day when Yuri manga or anime was super hard to find, those tags made an impression and people needed to know that that stuff was out there.

If I drop the tags from the title, will it be too difficult for you as a reader to recognize what the thing I’m reviewing is? Let me know in the comments whether you find the title tags useful or distracting!

Now that we’ve settled into to the new year’s look of artistic fonts vomiting all over the cover and ignoring the third of the magazine that makes me want to punch people, we’re all set for Comic Yuri Hime March 2020 (コミック百合姫2020年3月号). ^_^

In this volume one of the two stories that really stood out for me is “Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts,” by Usui Shio, which is a paean to building one’s self-esteem wrapped in a gentle office maybe-romance. I know it’s never going to break ground, but reminding adult women that it’s perfectly okay to not fulfill other people’s expectations is a win.

In Ohsawa Yayoi’s “Hello Melancholic” we get the back story on two of the more enigmatic members of the band, as Chika pulls Minato’s strings while telling her about her relationship with Sakiko. Minato is very easy to tease, so Chika doesn’t have to work at it too hard, but Minato is kind of cute when she overreacts. ^_^

And things are getting serious in “Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatteiru” as the happy couple celebrates a major anniversary – their first! Rings are being deployed. Presumably Hayama-sensei was galvanized by meeting her new friend last issue. ^_^

As always there are more stories I read and enjoyed and others I read…and others I didn’t read at all. ^_^;

Ratings:

Overall – 7

The good continues to be good, but the bad has shifted from marginally awful to bad. I will continue to support the good!

The April issue hit shelves in Japan today, so so far, I’m all caught up to 2020. Yay me! ^_^