Archive for the Now This Is Only My Opinion Category


LadyBroad Ledger Independent Newspaper

April 29th, 2018

I talk a lot about supporting the comics ecosystem here and to celebrate the support Okazu is getting from our own community, and give back to that ecosystem, we launched a series of Microgoals for the Okazu Patreon this spring. These goals allow Okazu to directly impact creators by giving them the kind of income they need to be able to live so they can do their work. This kind of patronage is different than the project-based crowdfunding at Indiegogo or Kickstarter and I want to talk about that for a moment.  Creating is a process and, generally speaking, readers only grasp some pieces of that process. And one of the things people don’t grasp is that it’s work that deserves to be paid for. Not just the end result…all the middle stages, too. 

In early crowdfunding days, I knew of one comic artist who attempted to crowdfund their daily expenses as they worked on a book that they would then also have to crowdfund. They did get some money, but backers were resistant to the idea of paying the creator’s rent or food. I understand why, of course. “Backers” want to “back” a thing; a production, a publication, something concrete that they can see and hold. In the same way that investors don’t invest in ideas – they want to see that something has been built and is being used, backers expect results…whether they are putting money in a Broadway play or a database or a comic, it seems unreasonable to ask people for money for paying your rent while you write the play or draw the comic.

But the reality is that for comic artists, there are only a few ways to make a living off their work. Comic strips and comic books are not stable, long-term gigs (and, as with most industries, only a few make the numbers that let them make a living from those.) Anthologies are piece-work. Until recently, there just hasn’t been a simple system to charge for webcomics. This piece of the ecosystem has been precarious for some time, but the technological reinvention of patronage is a key factor for creators who have been searching for a way to live.

My objective with the Okazu Microgoals is to contribute to creators’ ability to live as they create. And I am specifically choosing marginalized voices and diverse creators, with an especial focus on the queer community. To that end, I have chosen a fabulously talented Native writer, Nakawē Writer Mari, whom you may remember from the Absolute Power: Tales of Queer Villainy! anthology, with her brilliant story, “Chrome Crash.” Mari is, incidentally, closing in on her primary goal, which is to achieve a level of patronage that will allow her to have ADA-accessible housing. If you think you can help her get a little closer to that, I’d appreciate it. 

My second choice was the subject of today’s review – an honest-to-goodness local newspaper out of Burlington, VT. The Ladybroad Ledger is “a group of female and nonbinary cartoonists from Vermont. Our goal is to produce a FREE twice annual newsprint publication to promote comics and comic art by femme Vermont cartoonists and distribute it throughout the state.”  As a result, the ads are not local to me, but give me hope for a vital, inclusive, and diverse community in a place as alien to me as Bali. ^_^

The Winter Issue includes comics on community, motherhood, food, politics and a decidedly queer comic “Frenchman’s Cove” by arby essex. It is brimming with love of comics for comics sake. I’m very pleased to have a few extra issues some of which will be part of the next round of Lucky Boxes. ^_^ Just to be able to share the love of comics, I will also give one issue away here. Entering is easy – suggest a cool Patreon to add to the list of people we should follow (and hopefully support) in the comments (make sure you’ve got a real email attached to your WP profile) and I will pick a recipient of this fantastic niche print newspaper. Remember – I’m looking to support comics and creators with disabilities, folks of color and/or queer folks. Drop your suggestions in the comments with links so everyone can check them out and maybe win a copy of the Ladybroad Ledger!

Ratings:

Overall – 8

THIS is the kind of stuff I love supporting, which is exactly why I like independent comics shows best, like the upcoming Toronto Comic Arts Festival in Toronto and Comitia in Tokyo. 

 

 

 

 
 




Supporting Your Comics Ecosystem in 2018

April 1st, 2018

Three years ago, I wrote up a little treatise on the importance of financial (as well as emotional) engagement in our comics and manga ecosystem in Supporting Your Comics Ecosystem in 2015. And I’ve been thinking a lot recently about how things have, not so much changed, but we are able to see the situation with more nuance. So today, I wanted revisit this topic (although I am also behind on reviews and have some other writing to share with you, as well….!) because we’re at an extraordinary point in the evolution of comics – a term I will use here to include manga, doujinshi, webcomics, zines and mini-comics for the purposes of saving a few key strokes. If you haven’t read the original essay, go do that first. I’ll assume that you have, and then move forward.

The Macro-Level

In 2015, I focused on the importance on purchasing comics through legitimate licensed dealers with the understanding that our money supports the companies and that they are in turn supposed to support their employees and the industry. It is a reality that we live with that this is only partially true now. Yes, while supporting the companies does provide jobs to people at all levels, from the artists through to the kid shelving the books, it is also true that many of these jobs are not paid living wages nor do they have reasonable working conditions. Nonetheless, I still believe that purchases made on what I am now calling a macro-level of consumption does put some money back into the larger economy through wages, and taxes for all levels of employment, even though we must know also recognize that corporations are not paying their fair share.

That said, this macro-level, which we can also look at as the more traditional model, also includes small businesses like local comics shops (LCS) and online retailers. When you think about how many layers your dollars get sliced into, it can be very hard to believe that not paying for a comic will affect anyone negatively, but the drain from the ecosystem can be death to smaller pieces of that larger system. We’ve seen how the erosion has affected LCSs, for instance.  There’s a certain amount of inevitability in this erosion. When a store opens up near you that has everything you might want, the one store that only carries some of what you want will suffer. The LCSs I see surviving have taken one of two tacks – they’ve evolved to be community centers for the comics audience, running gaming nights and events, opening shelf space up to a more diverse audience or they’ve hunkered down, watching a shrinking audience stick to formats and characters with whom they are comfortable.

In the meantime, large retailers have seen sales go up and down in waves, but when we look at the larger ecosystem of comics, and include graphic novels outside the traditional LCS market we can see that it is young and diversifying.

I  buy a lot of my comics through major retailers. I buy Sweet Blue Flowers from Viz on Amazon, and pick up my Comic Yuri Hime by Ichijinsha at Kinokuniya (and while I am there, maybe I buy Slumbering Beauty by Seven Seas  or Nakayoshi from Kodansha as well.) Of these, only Viz and Seven Seas are “small” companies and they legitimately have larger companies invested in them. These purchases are the lifeblood of the traditional comics ecosystem.

 

Comics in the Middle

By 2015, we saw the creative success of a meso-level of consumption. When we pay money to projects on crowdfunding platforms we are injecting much-needed funds into what might otherwise be a closed system.

What do I mean by a “closed system”? When I was younger, I would attend events like pagan festivals and various “culture” festivals. At all these events, you could see the same vendors and performers on a circuit. And, at all these events, someone might have a personal life change- a marriage, a baby, etc. The vendors and performers who all knew each other, would often chip in to pay for expenses or buy gifts. This is where the system was closed – people might give this person a gift or money, and then next time a gift or that money was returned for something else. That same amount would cycle through the community. I’d buy a necklace from someone that bought a piece of art my wife was selling. We both “made” money, but nothing was gained or lost. Outsiders and spectators were the lifeblood of these events.  They brought in new money to the community. If I bought a piece of jewelry and was not there to accept something back because I was not part of the community, then that money remains with the community. This does not really apply to vendors at anime cons, except, maybe among the smaller sellers and artists, because vendors are not making or consuming their or other people’s goods. A dealer buys 200 DVDs to sell, they sells them, but doesn’t take that money to the artist’s alley or buy a figurine from someone else. They then pocket that money. It may go to con expenses, but doesn’t get recycled back into the community by purchase of good or services from the community.  

Crowdfunding has changed the way we perceive this meso-level comics market. Smaller publishing companies have a chance to put out nicher material – material that may well be appealing to a diverse audience, but will not or cannot be published by larger corporate publishing companies who rely on traditional models of printing, logistics, wholesale and retail. These meso-level publishers often have condensed staffing with only a few people for multiple tasks, and they often prioritize creator’s income over their own. They use social media and crowdfunding to recruit talent, staff, buyers and utilize customized distribution models that the macro-level publishers do not need. Again, some of this money goes to outside expenses, but a large portion of it gets recycled into the community directly in the form of paying artists and staff because that is what encourages backers to commit. Few backers are enthused by the idea of giving more money to support company costs, and in one notable case, the direct request for corporate expenses to be covered by backers tanked an already tenuous campaign.

I put my money behind crowdfunded publications as often as I can.  Right now I’m hoping that Lemonade Summer, a kid-friendly LGBTQ novel makes its goal! I’m much more likely to back original, niche work than I am reboots or remasterings of old work. Backing new work not only brings new money into circulation, it brings new artists in from outside, as well. I don’t have anything against anime auters of the 1990s getting HD reboots, but it doesn’t encourage creativity from them, or give jobs to folks breaking into the business. 

 

One to One, Person to Person

Now, in 2018, we are watching the success of payment processes that allow readers, consumers and fans to fund the work directly. These micro-level publishers are the creators themselves, for whom that income is, well, income, and is used however it is needed or wanted. Patronage is a a pretty old concept, but we have a pretty new technology for it. We can individually fund multiple creators through smaller payments or back a few or one creator with larger payments. This is revolutionary, because we can regularly inject the cash needed to fund people to have the lives they need to have in order to be able to create the work we want to see. 

(There are, of course, many external influences to the ecosystem, as well. The ACA was a massively positive change that allowed USA-based creators to have the kind of healthcare that other industrialized countries take for granted and freed people up to just create for a living…and the ongoing sabotage of that has had a detrimental affect to creative industries in the country.)

We are also now in a place where we can directly see the influence of our dollars in a way that we could not have, even a decade ago. Amazon proves for us that sales of a story about a lesbian manga artist with depression can sell well.  We can see directly that a small comic company can raise the kind of money that most comic companies would die for and that we are not alone in demanding more diverse and more representative comics for everyone.

As I stated this week, I’ve launched new microgoals for Okazu. For every $50 more we make at this point on Patreon, I will be supporting another creator. I’ll specifically be supporting micro-level efforts like individuals, small collaborations like Okazu (which at this point is 94% me, and 6% other folks creating content, and all me doing the editing, promotion and the like. ) To begin with I’m supporting a talented artist, Nakawē Writer Mari and writer and a feminist collaborative newspaper the Ladybroad Ledger.

What does all mean for us? It means that we can be less naive about how our money is used. Yen Press might seem like a massive company with corporate backing, but it’s still a pretty small company with only a few employees. Sure, you might not want a huge book chain to make more profits off of you, but your money does impact Seven Seas or local comic shop…and the lack of it, even more so. Buy your books at the level of convenience and ethical responsibility that’s comfortable to you. But when you parse your purchases, remember you can directly affect the industry at macro-, meso- or micro-level as you choose, and at at each level, you’ll be helping to support a sustainable industry for the future.





Top Ten Yuri Manga of 2017

December 27th, 2017

2017 brought us a veritable excess of Yuri riches. So much so, that with 2 exceptions, every item in this list is available in English and Japanese – and even one of those is available on USA Kindle. It’s been an amazing year and has set up an amazing 2018 for us. What a perfect time to look back and celebrate some of the best the year had to offer. Check out the Yuricon Store for links to all these Yuri manga series and more.

 

 

10. Hana & Hina Afterschool /Hana to Hina no Houkago (ハナとヒナは放課後)

A new story by Morinaga Milk is always good news. This story contains all her favorite themes, which means we can sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.  ^_^

Hana and Hina are both likable, their struggles with “what is this feeling?” are adorable rather than awkward and we spend all our time with them hoping for a happy ending.

A solid example of “Story A” – exactly what Morinaga-sensei does best. Cute, sweet, slightly sexy, without deep emotional commitment.

 

 

9. Bloom Into You / Yagate Kimi ni Naru (やがて君になる)

Nakatani Nio seems to have hit a zeitgeist with this story of an aromantic and the girl who is in love with her. Provocative, with sleek shoujo manga-style art in a seinen series, and a lot of unanswered questions, makes this a fascinating (if occasionally maddening) series to read.

The addition of an adult lesbian couple as role models and guides for the young lesbian character puts this series up on LGBTQ points, part of a positive new trend in Yuri. 

 

 

 

8. Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl / Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo (あの娘にキスと白百合を)

I admit to being a sucker for stories that do all the Yuri tropes, all at once but don’t let that sentence fool you. Characters here are more than a single trope, and the main relationship is given plenty of time to develop past it’s own set-up, so when this series ends, we’ll have gotten a well-developed relationship rather than just a Yuri coupling.

Yes, this series by Canno lacks the emotional gravitas of her previous series, but trading one emotional triangle tangle for multiple ways to explore relationships – including poly relationships – makes this an interesting take on the all-Yuri couple school.

 

 

7. After Hours (アフターアワーズ)

Adults doing adult things. Check. Adults struggling to find meaning in life. Check. Actual relationship dynamics that make sense, by making no sense. Check.  The complexity of the character’s emotions, the conversations they have – even the way their spend their time signals that this is not a child’s story. 

Nishio Yuhta does a good job of building two unique and interesting characters without pandering, even if the art is the only not-adult thing about the series.

It’s so refreshing. I can’t wait to find out what will happen in Volume 3!

 

 

6. Sweet Blue Flowers / Aoi Hana (青い花)

Classic S tropes wrapped gently around a modern tale of a young lesbian coming to terms with herself and her place in the world. Shimura Takako never loses the touch with early 20th century, but gives her characters a 21st century sensibility.

More importantly, the main characters have family, they have friends, they have agency. Decisions have consequences and we watch them mature as a result of making them.

The art is simple and stylish, the roots deep and literary. And Viz had given us the definitive English-language edition of this new Yuri classic.

 

 

5. My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness / Sabishi-sugi Rezu Fuzoku ni Ikimashita Report（さびしすぎてレズ風俗に行きましたレポ）

A heartfelt and  honest look at a life with chronic depression and an eating disorder, Kabi Nagata’s autobiographical online comic made it’s mark on both the Japanese and English manga scenes by speaking directly about real life issues for many.

With a rough style that echoes the storyline, this manga has been on the top of the charts since it’s release. This story, of the less functional aspects of adult life, clearly resonated with many readers. 

 

 

If you enjoy these end-of-year lists, and all the reviews, news and interviews we write on Okazu, please consider subscribing! Even a dollar a month helps us pay Guest Reviewers, cover events and buy the content we review. 

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4. MURCIÉLAGO (ムルシエラゴ)

Yoshimurakana’s “Violence Yuri” manga is unique in being an action manga, starring a lesbian serial killer, a lesbian sociopath and a lesbian Yakuza, with a bunch of other random lesbians, all in the middle of gonzo violence and ridiculous enemies.

The art is ugly, which suits the characters and situations well. 

Blood, guts and lesbians all around. I love it.

 

 

3. Kase-san Series/ 加瀬さん シリーズ

This schoolgirl romance is awkward and wonderfully realistic in turn. A “story A” that reminds of all those moments when we first had those feelings. 

The art is loose, a little service-y and occasionally excruciatingly sweet.

Asagao to Kase-san, the first book, already has been made into an adorable animation clip and will soon be a OVA getting theatrical release in Japan in 2018.

Sometimes all we really want is a story where two lovely people get to be together. This is that story.

 

 

 

2. 2DK, GPen Mezamashitokei (2DK、Gペン、目覚まし時計。)

I love this Josei Yuri series by Ohsawa Yayoi for what it isn’t, as much as for what it is. A story of adult life that includes things that adult women often care about, like having more than one outfit and nice smelling face soap and, I don’t even know, normal life things like having a drink with a friend, and being competent at work. 

Kaede is a human golden retriever and Nanami is a girl magnet and I want them to get together…just not yet.

This series is a “josei” series, for adult women by an adult woman. It would make a terrible anime, which is exactly why I like it. No hijinks, just humans.

 

The Top Yuri Manga for 2017 is….

 

1. Galette (ガレット)

This is the Yuri magazine I have been waiting for for years. Talented Yuri creators banding together, supported by fans, creating the Yuri they want to create, rather than the Yuri editors want them to create.

Already the magazine has taken a few chances with narrative, but in ways that expand the genre. There’s still plenty of schoolgirl Yuri for readers, but the stories about adults are some of the best I’ve read this year. 

For this…for being the Yuri magazine I’ve wanted to be able to support for so long, Galette is my top Yuri Manga of the Year. 

 

 





2017 Yuri Gift Guide, Part 2: Anime

December 10th, 2017

Part 1 of this year’s Gift Guide was all manga and comics, so it seems sensible that we take a few minutes to take a look at some anime that has come out this year in sets so you can populate your gimme lists with items that you can’t afford for yourself. ^_^

Title:  Sailor Moon S, Part 1 and Sailor Moon S, Part 2

What It’s About: Sailor-suited warriors for love and justice, the Pretty Guardians, take on invaders from Tau Ceti in order to save the world, but find themselves embroiled in a battle with another team of Senshi from the Outer Solar System as well. Junior racer Tenoh Haruka and and concert violinist Kaioh Michiru battle their fate.

Who Will Like It: Haruka x Michiru fans, fans of the original voice actresses, since they are all stellar here. Fans of Sailor Moon, because, let’s face it….

Beware: …it’s a 20-year old anime with  mediocre animation, repeated footage, Monsters of the Day and other cost-saving shortcuts.

 

Title:  Sailor Moon Crystal ,Season 3

What It’s About: Sailor-suited warriors for love and justice, the Pretty Guardians, take on invaders from Tau Ceti in order to save the world, but find themselves embroiled in a battle with another team of Senshi from the Outer Solar System as well.

Who Will Like It:  Fans of the Sailor Moon manga, new fans of the series.

Beware: Faster paced than the original anime, it loses important character development. But the animation has settled down and the new voice actresses do a great job. Haruka and Michiru get their manga moments as a couple which are different than the original anime, but satisfying.

 

Title:  Revolutionary Girl Utena: Complete Series

What It’s About: Having been saved as a child by a prince, Tenjou Utena wants to become a prince herself. Caught up in the Student Council duels, she finds that she is “engaged” to the Rose Bride and must, after all, become a prince. Where it all leads and how she gets there makes for a surreal and magnificent series.

Who Will Like It:  Fans of the surreal, fantasy fans, magical girl genre fans who don’t mind some darkness in their magic.

Beware: Sexual abuse, incest, violence and whole lotta unexplained symbolism.

 

Sets to look for in 2018:

Title:  Aria The Animation Collection

After a massively successful Kickstarter, all of the Aria series will be dubbed and released on Blu-ray.  Look for pre-orders announcements in 2018.

What It’s About: Akari trains to be a gondolier in New Venice. Lots of travelogue and scenery porn while she befriends people around town and learns their stories.

Who Will Like It: People who want to just calm the fuck down and look at pretty scenery, people who like pretty girls.

Beware: Nothing happens. Paddling around is the point. (And the end of the series is infuriating, IMHO.)

 

Title: Konohana Kitan

Not licensed yet, but I bet it will be.

What It’s About:  Fox girls working at an otherworld Inn help clients reach their destination, while boecming closer to one another.

Who Will Like It: Moe fans, animal-eared girls fans, fans of cute, sweet, schmaltzy stories. 

Beware: It’s got a pile of fanservice, including constant bathing, with occasional creepy sexual stuff.

 

Title: Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid

 

Not licensed yet, either, but I expect it to be.

What It’s About: Boring career woman Kobayashi is befriended by a dragon who bring much-needed chaos into her life.

Who Will Like It: Fans of 4-koma comic strip-type humor and “wackiness ensues.”

Beware: Kobayashi is exceptionally dull.





2017 Yuri Gift Guide, Part 1: Manga

December 5th, 2017

Holy cow, it’s already December and gift giving and getting time! It has never been easier to get good Yuri, so for once you can hand your relatives this list, smile, sit back and get yourself a pile of great Yuri.  Or pore over it looking for just the right gift for yourself, your Yuri-loving friends or relative. Some of these items are still to be released, but most will have links, so you can at least order them right now. There’s just *so* much (and this isn’t everything out in English, just some popular items) that I’m splitting the list into two. Today we’re just doing manga and comics. For all the manga available in English, check out English Yuri Manga on the Yuricon Store!

 

Title:  Bloom Into You by Nio Nakatani

Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3| Volume 4| Volume 5 | ongoing

What It’s About: This school life drama follows Yuu, a girl who does not have romantic feelings for anyone and Touko, the President of the Student Council, who says she feels the same. But, then Touko develops an romantic interest in Yuu. Yuu admires Touko but, beyond that, is not sure of her feelings. 

Who Will Like It: People a little tired of simple girl-meets-girl romance, or who want a little (or more than a little) nuance or difficulty in their schoolgirl Yuri. 

Beware: Yuu is presented as aromantic, but the premise is a romance. Expect Yuu to cave.

 

 

Title: Hana and Hina Afterschool by Milk Morinaga 

Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3

What It’s About:  Hana meets Hina while working at a part time job after school. They become friends and start working together. They start to think of each other as more than just friends. ^_^

Who Will Like It: Milk Morinaga Fans, folks who like their Yuri cute, sweet, without serious crisis and/or with a tenuous connection to reality.

Beware: Don’t expect anything deep here. Morinaga’s specialty is the space between recognizing feelings and confessing them and this is firmly in that space.

 

 

Title: Kase-san Series by Hiromi Takashima

Kase-san and Morning Glories | Kase-san and Bento |Kase-san and Shortcake

What It’s About:  A breathtakingly sweet romance series between Yamada, an average girl who loves flowers and the star of the school track club, Kase.

Who Will Like It: People looking for something a little more realistic than Morinaga’s work. Yuri fans not completely jaded from years of schoolgirl romance.

Beware: Still schoolgirls in love. Does not shy away from fanservice, may not be visually appropriate for the young readers who could use it the most.

 

 

Title: My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Kabi Nagata

1 volume

What It’s About: This manga was serialized on Pixiv, as Nagata details her struggles with depression, an eating disorder and finding friends and companionship as a lesbian.

 My Solo Exchange Diary by Kabi Nagata

1 volume

What It’s About: Kabi Nagata is back with a sequel to her blockbuster, continuing the story of her trials and travails, as she pieces her life together.

Who Will Like It: People craving representation of life with depression and/or adult life issues.

Beware: Despite flashes of self-deprecating humor, this is not a light-hearted series. It is, however, a honest look at chronic, debilitating depression.

 

 

Title: Claudine! by Riyoko Ikeda

1 volume

What It’s About: Claudine is assigned female, but desires male privilege and to be able to love women freely. Claudine struggles with sexuality and gender in this emotional classic Yuri by the creator or Rose of Versailles.

Who Will Like It:  Fans of Rose of Versailles, Dear Brother and other Ikeda masterworks. This story can read as trans or butch lesbian (the lack of specificity can be attributed to the creator having written it 40 years ago.) Classic Yuri fans will definitely want to get it.

Beware: This is not going to end well.

 

 

Title: Citrus by Saburouta

Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3 | Volume 4 | Volume 5 | Volume 6 | Volume 7 | ongoing

What It’s About: Mei and Yuzu are sisters by marriage and despite the fact that both have deep, unresolved emotional issues, they are passionately attracted to one another. 

Who Will Like It: People who enjoy melodrama and soap operas, and watching train wreck stories full of damaged people.

Beware: It’s full of manipulative behavior, some violence and no one ever looks happy about anything.  Ever.

 

 

Title:  After Hours by Yuhta Nishio

Volume 1 | Volume 2 

What It’s About:  Emi and Kei meet at a nightclub, and spend the night together. Kei is a DJ and draws Emi into her production team, as she sets up as rave. An adult relationship story (although the art is a bit infantilizing.)

Who Will Like It: Adults looking for adult characters whose emotional lives are not stuck in high school…and audiophiles. People looking for a story where the physical relationship isn’t service-y or immature.

Beware: If you don’t like moe art, the character designs could be off-putting. It’s not really a romance, but you will learn a lot about sound equipment.

 

 

Revolutionary Girl Utena Manga Box SetTitle:  Revolutionary Girl Utena Manga Box Set by Chiho Saito and Be-papas

2 volume set

What It’s About:  Every year Utena receives a mysterious postcard. This year, the postcard leads her to Ohtori Academy to look for the prince who saved her as a child. Instead she’s put in the position becoming a prince to the Rose Bride. This is the high-quality treatment that this fantasy series deserves.

Who Will Like It: Fans of the surreal, fantasy fans and people who like mind fuckery.

Beware: There is serious sexual manipulation, incest, and sexual abuse.

 

 

Title: Sweet Blue Flowers by Takako Shimura

Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3 | Volume 4

What It’s About:  Fumi hasn’t seen Akiko in years, but her friend is back in town and once again they are thick as thieves. When Fumi starts dating an upperclassman at her all-girl’s school, she tells her best friend and gains strength. Shimura  drew on classic Yuri tropes for this “S”-style school romance, but with a deft touch and compelling characters, drags the whole genre into the 21st century. 

Beware: The ending and beginning are trope-y, with loads of tiresome creepiness at the beginning. The middle is amazing and worth it.

 

 

Title: Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl by Canno

Volume 1 | Volume 2| Volume 3| Volume 4 | Volume 5 | ongoing

What It’s About:  This ongoing school serial begins with two girls, Yurine Kurozawa and Ayaka Shiramine, who could not be more opposite if they tried, and the relationship that one of them wants desperately to deny.  Later volumes follow other couples at the same school as well as circling back to Ayaka and Yurine.

Who Will Like It: People who’ve been reading Yuri for a while and will enjoy new takes on the old tropes. People who are new to Yuri and aren’t burned out on the old tropes.

Beware: Every girl in this school is paired, seemingly. Makes you want to see the story of the one straight girl in school.

 

 

Title:  Murciélago by Yoshimura Kana

Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3| Volume 4| Volume 5| ongoing

What It’s About:  This extremely adult, extremely gruesome, madcap “violence Yuri” story follows psychopathic killer Koumori Kuroko and her partner Hinako, as they track down and kill other killers for the police. There are no good guys here. Everyone is broken, the stories are gross, sometimes with side of extra creepy and the lesbian sex is weird. ^_^ 

Who Will Like It: People looking for something not cute or sweet. This series is violent, amoral and has ugly, unrealistic lesbian sex.

Beware: This series is violent, amoral and has ugly unrealistic lesbian sex.

 

 

Éclair: Ananta ni Hibiku Yuri Anthology

1 volume

What It’s About: An anthology of school-life Yuri, headlined by Bloom Into You creator Nio Nakatani and Kiss and White Lily For My Dearest Girl creator Canno.

Who Will Like It:  People who like the aforementioned series or those who really like stories about love experienced in school.

Beware: It’s a whole lotta schoolgirl stories and “Story A.”

 

 

 

Legend of Korra: Turf Wars

Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3 by  Michael Dante DiMartino (Author),‎ Irene Koh (Illustrator),‎ Vivian Ng (Illustrator)

What It’s About: The Avatar, Korra, and her new love Asami enter the spirit world together. Upon their return to Republic City, they find their world in turmoil – a conflict that will involve the Spirit World, as well.

Who Will Like It: Kids, adults, fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra, action anime fans. Fans of color looking for representation that isn’t focused on suffering or overcoming obstacles.

Beware: Fast-paced and fragmented, this is definitely a western comic.

 

 

Title: Bingo Love by Tee Franklin (Author),‎ Jenn St. Onge (Artist),‎ Joy San (Artist),‎ Genevieve FT (Artist)

1 volume

What It’s About: When Hazel Johnson and Mari McCray met at church bingo in 1963, it was love at first sight. Forced apart by their families and society, Hazel and Mari both marry young men and have families. Decades later, now in their mid-’60s, Hazel and Mari reunite again at a church bingo hall. Realizing their love for each other is still alive, what these grandmothers do next takes absolute strength and courage.

Beware: LGBTQ comics about black women are rare – you may find yourselves weeping with joy at finding such a good one. 

 

 This manga is not Yuri, but is gay and you definitely want to add it to your orders!

Title:  My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame

Volume 1| Volume 2 

What It’s About:  This adult life drama follows Mike Flanagan, a gay man from Canada who visits his late brother’s home in Japan, in order to learn about his childhood. He meets he husband’s estranged brother, Yaichi, who now has to deal with things he never thought he’d have to deal with, like his brother Ryoji’s sexuality. 

Who Will Like It:  People looking for wholesome, non-sexual gay representation, or a good comic to recommend to a family member with passive homophobia or ignorance about being gay.

Beware: Like Bingo Love, you may be prone to weeping with relief.

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There’s a lot on the list and more on the Store, but we’re going to wrap it up here. Next time I’ll drop some anime titles and some of other fun stuff!