Archive for the Staff Writer Category


There’s No Freaking I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless… ~Next Shine~

January 21st, 2026

There's No Freaking I'll Be Your Lover! Unless… ~Next Shine~ promo art. The 5 faces of the main characters, all wearing different, characteristic, expressions, above some information in Japanese giving the airing information

by Eleanor Walker, Okazu Staff Writer

**SPOILERS BELOW**

This sequel was announced at the end of season 1 in September 2025, and originally premiered in Japanese cinemas in November 2025, then on Japanese TV at the very beginning of 2026. REMOW has also brought the series to Western fans on Youtube, as they did for the first series.

 

All 5 main cast of No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover, Unless...members in their school uniforms, with Renako standing slightly forward of the others, a maid cosplay outfit over her arm. Kaho is immediately behind her, jumping and punching her fist into the air

This series is basically an almost exact adaption of volume 4 of the novel series, which I reviewed here on Okazu. As such, if you didn’t enjoy the first season, there is absolutely nothing for you here. This is solely for the fans who wanted more. The animation, art, music, and voice acting haven’t changed at all in style from the original 12 episodes. Picking up where season 1 left off, we can now properly meet the final member of the harem, Koyanagi Kaho, an extroverted cosplayer with a few secrets of her own, and a jealous streak as well.  There is however one very important difference between this adaption and the original novel, which ends with Renako confessing to both Mai and Ajisai and asking to date them both, but the anime ends with a screen showing a text message from Satsuki saying “Hey, you’re already dating two at once, so one more wouldn’t hurt, right?” Obvious sequel bait aside, I do respect that the show didn’t make Renako pick just one of the girls, and actually committed to the harem premise.

It’s nice to see a yuri anime get a sequel, especially when it was announced pretty much at the end of season 1. I hope the bait which was dangled in front of us is taken and we get “Season 2” of the series animated some day.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Service – 7. Renako has now bathed with every member of the group in animated form.
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7





There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless…, Volume 4

January 7th, 2026

Cover of There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover Unless...! Two girls embrace, looking out at us. One has pink hair with a crossed barrettes as decoration on the front, the other has silver-blue hair tied up with a gold ribbon. They both wear Japanese style school uniforms of white blouses with red piping, and gray plaid skirts.by Eleanor Walker, Okazu Staff Writer

It’s been a while, but I’m back to volume 4 of the light novel There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless… We’re back to the standard cover design of Renako x whoever is the focus of this volume. If you’re looking to start where the anime ends, this is the volume you need.The anime which aired earlier this year covered volumes 1-3 of the novel series and introduced our first 3 members of the harem who are Oduka Mai, Sena Ajisai and Koto Satsuki.  There is, however, this one more introductory volume to go, which focuses on the last member of the group, Koyanagi Kaho.

Like the other members of the group, there is more to Kaho than meets the eye, but it turns out Kaho and Renako have actually met before, at cram school when they were younger. Kaho, much like Renako has reinvented herself from nerd to popular girl, and due to changing her surname because her parents divorced, Renako doesn’t immediately recognise her. Hijinks of course ensue, including an amusement park trip with a ride on the Ferris wheel of course, and we learn that Kaho is actually jealous of Renako and her newfound popularity, partly because she likes Mai too.

By now, if the first 3 volumes or the anime didn’t grab you, then this one won’t either. The writing style is as it always has been, with lots of exaggerated freaking and internal monologues from Renako especially. Eku Takeshima’s art continues to be pleasant and I do enjoy Renako’s panic face. This volume, much like the previous 3 with the other characters, focuses mostly on Kaho and sets her place in the harem. As well as reinventing herself as an extrovert, Kaho is also now a pretty popular cosplayer, and she ropes Renako into dressing up with her and doing a photoshoot together. and then performing together at a cosplay event where Mai is a surprise judge/special guest. Nothing is ever simple for a harem protagonist is it?

In the afterword, the author describes this volume as the conclusion of season 1, and I am interested to see what happens in the next volume. The harem is assembled, Renako hasn’t been forced to choose just one person, so now we’ve been introduced to everyone, let’s see what happens next.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Service – 7 Renako has now bathed with every member of the group.
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7





ClaireBell

December 22nd, 2025

Promotion poster for the Thai series ClaireBell. It shows Claire and Bell in bed in their prison cell. Claire is in the upper bed and is handing a red rose to Bell, in the lower bed.by Frank Hecker, Staff Writer

Content warning: This series includes multiple scenes featuring blood, violence, and sexual assault.

Many of the key developments in Thai live-action yuri have been sparked by first-timers taking big chances on new productions. Idol Factory could not find sponsors for GAP: The Series, self-funded it, and then saw it become wildly successful, make stars of Freen Sarocha Chankimha and Rebecca Patricia Armstrong, and kick off a still-growing wave of Thai yuri series. Fan-created Nine Star Studios took a chance on thirty-something Faye Peraya Malisorn and saw her become a star in the age-gap romance Blank. Now actors and first-time producers Mai Davika Hoorne and her husband Ter Chantavit Dhanasevi have taken Thai yuri into new territory with the prison drama ClaireBell, airing uncut on the OneD streaming service and with significant edits on YouTube.

The Bell of ClaireBell is a naïve young woman who celebrates her university graduation at a nightclub with her boyfriend and their friends, has someone stash their drugs in her purse unbeknownst to her, is caught in a police raid, tried for drug dealing, and sent to prison. There she languishes, abandoned by her boyfriend, too ashamed to reach out to her terminally-ill father, and brutalized by the reigning prison gang. She then slowly falls into the orbit of “rabid dog” Claire, a seemingly-psychopathic inmate convicted of the savage murder of a schoolteacher, and finds protection and (ultimately) love in her arms. Meanwhile around them others live out their own lives in prison: Claire’s elderly cellmate sliding into dementia, a corrupt warden and his upright son whom he hires as a guard at his wife’s urging, the “3D” gang of two sisters and a cousin who control the prison’s black market, and Bell’s cellmate, who offers friendship but may want something more.

The first thing to be said about ClaireBell is that it looks and sounds fantastic: Made on a relative shoestring budget of 30-40 million baht (about $1 million US), it has set design, cinematography, and music and sound design comparable to those of “prestige TV” from services like Netflix, HBO Max, or Apple TV. It also has a high level of acting. Newcomers Pangjie Paphavarin Sawasdiwech as Bell and Mable Siriwalee Siriwibool as Claire are joined by a company of veteran Thai actors, some of whom (including Davika and Ter themselves) have been stars and award-winners or nominees in other productions. I’d especially single out Noon Siraphan Wattanajinda as “3D” leader Dao and Belle Kemisara Paladesh as Bell’s cellmate Kae; their struggles for dominance over the inmate hierarchy amid their own personal troubles drive some of the most compelling subplots in the series.

Those who go looking will find various things to critique in ClaireBell: A few of the plot elements, most notably the circumstances behind Claire’s imprisonment, strain credulity. The 8-episode runtime somewhat rushes the development of Claire and Bell’s relationship. Yuri purists may object to the inclusion of heterosexual couplings (including one scene jarringly intercut with a love scene between Claire and Bell.) And, most amusingly, the product placements that helped fund the series cause the action to occasionally pause as Claire and Bell feed each other slices of bread out of a prominently-displayed loaf, enthusiastically consume yogurt or instant ramen, or comment on the softness of each other’s bras.

But quibbles aside, ClaireBell is top-tier television. Among Thai series I’ve watched I would put it next to The Loyal Pin in terms of overall quality, and I think it almost as significant for the continued development of Thai yuri as was the original GAP. Idol Factory has now imploded in an orgy of financial mismanagement and executive and cast resignations, with Freen and Becky leaving to pursue their own paths. Nine Star is struggling for relevance after Faye’s departure under controversial circumstances (did she jump or was she pushed?). In contrast, Davika and Ter seem to be as competent producers as they were actors. I hope their Mine Media production company builds on the success of ClaireBell to create further yuri series whose quality convinces other Thai production houses to up their game.

Ratings:

Story – 8
Characters – 9
Production – 9
Service – 6
Yuri – 10
Overall – 9

ClaireBell offers a touching romance, compelling performances, and interesting stories, all combined in a high-quality production. It‘s strongly recommended for anyone looking for alternatives to the all-too-common fluff or melodrama of many Thai yuri series.

Extra fun fact: Mable Siriwalee Siriwibool, the “Ble” in “Blejie”, has a masters degree in cellular and molecular science for biomedical applications and is the co-author of several scientific papers.





Pink Candy Kiss, Volume 3

December 3rd, 2025

Two women, one with short hair and one with long hair. The long haired woman has her arms around the shoulders of the short haired one. by Eleanor Walker, Okazu Staff Writer

In Pink Candy Kiss, Volume 3, we start out with Ema looking for an apartment which she can live in separately from her husband so of course she enlists Takara the real estate agent’s help. This volume mostly deals with Takara’s internal conflicts as she finally realises the strength of her feelings for Ema, and also the fact that Ema is married to a lovely man who seems to absolutely adore her. It would definitely be much easier for her if Hario was an awful deadbeat husband but he’s quite the opposite, kind, caring and completely supportive of his wife. Cruicially though, we learn that she wasn’t interested in him at first, in his words he “wore her down but she chose me in the end” even though other guys were also interested in her.

What I especially like about this series is that it’s very nuanced. It’s very easy to come out with the blanket statement that “all cheaters are automatically irredeemably bad people and homewreckers” but often it’s a lot more complicated than that because people and feelings are messy and complicated. That’s what makes us human after all. Takara clearly loves Ema, she says as much but she’s also very aware that she could ruin Ema’s life. This is also fiction, so no real people are going to be hurt.

It seems that Ema is wanting to relive the summer of 20 years ago with Taka, and do all the things they never got to do back then, as well as using Taka’s blog for inspiration. Whether they’ll actually kiss this time remains to be seen. I of course, hope they do.

Overall, I’m still really enjoying this series. I still need more josei yuri in my life and I’m looking forward to volume 4.

Art – Still a fan. It’s a shame there aren’t colour pages with the chapter art on.
Story – My only quibble with the story is that I find it very hard to believe that Ema’s husband would just be so accepting that his wife suddenly wants to live by herself. Apart from that, still lots of complicated and messy feelings.
Characters – As before. I’m rooting for no one to get hurt. And for them to just kiss dammit.
Service – None. It still doesn’t need it. This is a story about women’s feelings, written by a woman for other women.
Yuri – So much yuri.

Volume 4 of Pink Candy Kiss by Ami Uozumi will hit English bookstore shelves from Viz Media in January 2026.





The Secret of Girls

November 19th, 2025

Promotional poster for the Chinese baihe drama The Secret of Girls, showing the four main characters.Baihe (Chinese yuri) is having a mini-moment. Seven Seas Entertainment just released its first baihe novel, the Baiheverse site is making steady progress on its project of licensing baihe manhua, novels, and other works (including the short film When We Met), and enough other works are being teased for licensing that what has been a mere trickle of official English translations promises to become a growing stream (albeit nowhere near a flood).

Unlike baihe novels, which (like their danmei/BL cousins) mostly seem to traffic in historical fantasy, The Secret of Girls (original title 如果有秘密) is a realistic contemporary baihe drama, now available on the GagaOoLala premium service. As it begins, young Xu Jingxi (He Lei) is laid off from her job, decides to go traveling (for a reason that the GagaOoLala synopsis spoils, but I will not), loses her wallet, ID, and phone while helping another woman, and ends up prevailing on older hotel employee Wen Shan (Sun Cailun) to let her have a room in exchange for working at the hotel.

At first glance the setup is reminiscent of many other yuri works: a free-spirited extrovert who’ll end up softening the frosty exterior of an introverted tsundere. However, Xu Jingxi’s outgoing persona is a cover for her suffering, the nature of which is slowly revealed as her romance with Wen Shan progresses. But the series is about more than the ills of one woman: the back stories of both Xu Jingxi and Wen Shan, and their relationships to their mothers in particular, form a sharp critique of a patriarchal society that demands that daughters show filial piety but offers them little or nothing in return.

Suffice to say, The Secret of Girls is not a series with a “happily ever after” ending, but it’s far from being “tragedy porn.” This is in large part due to the performance of He Lei, who takes what could have been a simplistic character and makes her richer and more complex. (As it happens, He Lei also starred in When We Met, another tale of a younger woman winning the heart of an older one.) Sun Cailun is a worthy companion to her, portraying Wen Shan’s slow and subtle opening up to friendship and then love. I should also mention Li Keyi and Wang Miao, who play hotel owner Ling Yung and bar manager Qin Bei respectively. Their characters support Xu Jingxi and Wen Shan in their evolving relationship and contribute a more light-hearted tone and a very sapphic vibe: The two women live together and are clearly in a relationship of their own, and Qiu Bei’s bar “Her” is advertised as being “Where Ladies Meet.”

My main complaint with The Secret of Girls is with its packaging: It was originally released as 24 five-minute episodes on the WeChat app, and the amount of actual content is such that it could have been (and I think should have been) released as a feature film. However, GagaOoLala is presenting it as 16 episodes, with multiple minutes in each episode taken up by a lengthy OP (which spoils many of the scenes in the series and is untranslated to boot) and even more time taken up in several episodes by an equally lengthy credits sequence. Regarding other aspects, the GagaOoLala version has at least one scene that was almost certainly excised for the Chinese domestic audience; it makes explicit what was already very much implicit in the portrayal of Xu Jingxi and Wen Shan’s feelings for each other.

Rating:

Story – 7 (a potentially clichéd and maudlin plot redeemed by the writing and acting)
Characters – 9
Production – 6 (points deducted for chopping up the material)
Service – 3
Yuri – 10
LGBTQ — 5 (not explicit but very queer-coded)
Overall – 8

The Secret of Girls is not an easy watch at spots, but it’s definitely recommended for viewers who are tired of relatively superficial or melodramatic yuri series (looking at you, Thailand) and want to see a more realistically emotional human drama. It also marks a welcome second outing for He Lei, whom I hope to see more of in future baihe series.