Archive for the Miscellaneous Category


It’s Lucky Box Time at Okazu!

December 7th, 2014

Every New Year’s Day in Japan, stores sell “Lucky Bags” which are blind grab bags with you-do-not-know-what in them. ^_^ You have to trust that the store is putting $200 shoes in a $100 bag. I love this idea, so once again, if you really like getting cool stuff and you really want to reward yourself, I have Lucky Boxes!

For those of you unclear on the idea of a Lucky Box or Grab bag – these are blind bags. You don’t know what you’re getting. There are no refunds, so if you’re not comfortable buying a box of you-have-no-idea-what, don’t worry, I’ll do less blind contests in 2015 again. I can’t tell you what is in each box anyway, because I just crammed stuff in as tightly as possible. ^_^ (We’ve had a few folks unclear on this in the past, so really please don’t buy one if you don’t like getting utterly random things.)

Just like as we’ve done in previous years, these are medium USPS flat rate boxes crammed full of things like magazines, postcards, doujinshi and manga, DVD/Blu-rays, games, figurines, clearfiles and stuff I picked up in Japan in October special for you! This time I will have three boxes, all with *varying degrees* of appropriateness and Yuriness (and there’s some BL in there too. If you don’t want it, please feel free to gift the to friends who might.)

Grab boxes are limited to the contiguous 48 states of the USA, because of the shipping, and people who are 21+ only, on principle.

Grab Box A – $35  Claimed!

Grab Box B  – $50  Claimed!

Grab Box C – $50 Claimed! Damn these things go fast.

Thanks to the folks who bought the Lucky Boxes -here’s to a happy holiday season!





No YNN today

November 29th, 2014

It’s a holiday weekend here at Okazu, and we’ve been stuck inside with a sick spouse and a bunch of tight deadlines for work. So I’m taking today off.

We’ll be back tomorrow with business as usual. Have a lovely day!





Giving Thanks

November 27th, 2014

As most of you know, today is Thanksgiving in the USA, and over the past few years I’ve written posts outlining my gratitude, because as far as I’m concerned, I can’t thank you enough.

Thank you Okazu Guest Reviewers – You are so important to me. You give us all unique perspectives and teach me something about something every time.

Thank you Okazu Sponsors and Subscribers – I quite literally could not do this without you. Heroes one and all.

Thank you to YNN Correspondents and Okazu Readers – everyone who reads, shares news and comments here on Okazu. I appreciate your fact-checking and your opinions. You are all the fabulous Yuri Network and without you, there’s be no point to doing any of this.  ^_^

Once again I am humbled by your support and enthusiasm. Wherever on the globe you are, have a wonderful day and thanks to you all. ^_^

 





Cream Lemon Escalation Figurine Set

November 21st, 2014

The other day, when I reviewed the Takahashi Makoto Artbook, Akogare,  I called it an OMG and I promised I’d tell you the most WTF thing I found in Mandarake this time.

Well…this has got to be the most OMGWTFBBQ thing I found on this trip:

clef

It’s a Cream Lemon Figurine Set that includes two Cream Lemon Escalation figurines: Rie and Naomi-oneesama in full BDSM gear. I didn’t know my eyebrows could go that high onto my forehead. ^_^ Of course I nabbed it right away!

I managed one more OMG thing from Mandarake, but that’ll wait until another review. ^_^





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – November 15, 2014

November 15th, 2014

YNN_MariKYuri Anime

Upcoming collaboration between Ikuhara Kunihiko (Revolutionary Girl Utena) and Yuri manga artist Morishima Akiko , Yuri Kuma Arashi, has finally moved past it’s obsession with the male characters long enough to give us the first glimpse of setting and tone with a short Promotional Video. I’ve read some of the manga and the story synopsis, and I still don’t really know what this story is about. But I know that the best way to deal with Ikuhara’s anime is to let it wash over you and not ask too many questions until the end. ^_^ Volume 1 of the Yuri Kuma Arashi, drawn by Morishima-sensei is hitting shelves next week in Japan!

Psycho-Pass 2 is well under way and Okazu is looking for a Guest Reviewer! If you’ve been watching the second season of this psychological thriller and want to tell us about it, please read the Okazu Guest Review Guidelines and shoot me off a email to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com.

The first season of Psycho-Pass  is available now in a Part 1 DVD/BD Combo and Part 2 DVD/BD Combo and as a Complete First season Premium Edition BD set. For those of you, like me, who are moving away from physical media for anime, Psycho-Pass can be watched in HD on Amazon,  or streamed for free on Funimation or Hulu.

If you’re watching anything else that you feel has notable Yuri content, please feel free to write in and let me know! Review proposals are especially welcome for anime, since I watch slowly and am way behind…. ^_^

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Yuri Manga/Comics

YNN Correspondent Emily-chan has some very cool news to share. “Chiisai Yuri Miitsuketa  will be going on sale on November 22nd this year. It’s a compilation of a Newtype column focused on Yuri, and is written by Ayana Yuniko with accompanying illustrations by HERO. The tankoubon will also feature an illustration by Amano Shuninta and a short two-page manga by Shimura Takako”. Well, thanks Emily-chan, that sound really interesting!

Considering the December release of the Yuri-focused volume of Eureka, (also with a contribution by Amano-sensei) I think we can say that Yuri as a genre, has arrived. ^_^

And YNN Correspondent Pucca has written to make sure we know about Sunstone, a popular webcomic on Deviantart, by Stjepan Šejić. Looking into it for this column,I learned that it is an upcoming Graphic Novel from Image Comics with a release date in January! Mature content, nudity and, it seems, lesbians. You know what to do. ^_^

While you’re compiling that holiday wish list, add Neil Gaiman’s The Sleeper and the Spindle, in which Sleeping Beauty is woken up with a Queen’s kiss, not a mere Prince’s.

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Other News

Reporting from the University of Woolongong, in Australia, Khursten Santos of Otaku Champloo wrote up a terrific summary of the papers presented at the Manga Futures Conference. Topics covering BL, Yuri, and other non-mainstream genres were presented. I had hoped to make it, but had to miss it this time.  Hopefully next time! Some good conversation in the comments as well. ^_^

And a happy birthday and congratulations to manga translator and friend Simon Stanzani, who was profiled in a recent HuffingtonPost Japanese edition!

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Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondentby sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!