Okazu » Staff Writer

Archive for the Staff Writer Category

Yoshiya Nobuko 130th Anniversary Exhibit at the Kanagawa Museum of Modern Literature

June 28th, 2026

Today we have a special report! At my request, our Japanese Correspondent, Sasori took her and us to the Kanagawa Museum of Modern Literature for a special exhibit celebrating the 130th anniversary of Yoshiya Nobuko, a foundational writer for the Yuri genre. Her book Yaneura no Nishojo established many of the most common tropes of Yuri. Yoshiya-sensei also built a house in Kamakura (in Kanagawa) with her partner, Monma Chiyo, where they lived their lives out. That house is now a museum, which I visited.

So please give your attention to Sasori as we spend some time with Yoshiya-sensei’s life!

by Sasori, Okazu Staff Writer

It was time to take a trip to Kanagawa, Yokohama, to learn about origins of yuri and the “founder of the “S”(slang for sister/deep female friendship) relationship novel”, Yoshiya Nobuko. The exhibit. “Yoshiya Nobuko: The Origins of Sisterhood” was held from, 4/4-5/31, at the Kanagawa Museum of Modern Literature, the museum specializes in historical works from Japanese authors. This exhibit was a focus on her life’s work in novels and her history from (1896-1973). I did know a bit about Yoshiya’s yuri influences, thanks to sister/Catholic school yuri themes from series Marimite, Strawberry Panic, as well as Dear Brother and her being a pioneer of shoujo manga.

Hand drawn art and words in a notebook, image and at by Sasori. No pictures were allowed in the exhibit, but I was enchanted by all the preserved books and novels from the 1920’s and 30’s. There were also newspaper and activism articles, my favorites being about female political movements. I tried to scribble out a few memorable ones in my notebook!

The close friendship of women longing for other women, being the theme of many covers, as well as flowers, really reminded me of how modern yuri came to be today.

I also enjoyed spotting parts of Yoshiya’s Hana Monogatari, flower stories, lined up together. Her novel “Yellow Rose”, is one of the few from that series translated into English, and something I plan on reading to broaden my historical yuri knowledge.

As for the museum goers, it was quite busy for a weekday, and many patrons were older and some seemed to be historical scholars.

After the exhibit, there was a display of many Japanese novels influenced by her writings.

Image of exhibit space, featuring many of the novels and story collections influenced by Yoshiya Nobuko's work.
The museum is very Japanese text heavy, it is a literature museum after all, but if you are up for the challenge, be sure to stroll through their rose garden and stop by the museum!

Erica here: Thank you Sasori! One of the reasons I was particularly interested in this exhibit was, for the first time, a retrospective of Yoshiya-sensei’s work was acknowledging Monma Chiyo as her life partner. One of the items on display is a letter sent to Monma-san.

If, as you read this, you are interested in the items on exhibit – a few of which are shown on the Museum page linked above – you can purchase the exhibit catalog on Amazon JP. None of us love Amazon, but it was a lot easier than trying to get the museum a bank transfer (which is what they suggest… ^_^;)

Some of the items, like Yoshiya-sensei’s desk accouterments really make her feel like she just got up and took a walk, but will be back in a sec. If you’d like a glimpse into the life of the woman who is in large part responsible for so much of what we think of as “Yuri,” the catalog will be just that.

Bad Girl!, Volume 1

June 19th, 2026

by Eleanor Walker, Okazu Staff Writer

Your enjoyment of Nikumaru’s Bad Girl, Volume 1 will depend entirely on your tolerance of the combination of 4-koma manga and misunderstandings so obvious that they must be deliberate. Even now, Azumanga Daioh is still the master of the genre in my humble opinion, as well as being one of the first yuri-adjacent series I ever encountered, back in the early 2000s.

Bad Girl is the source material of the titular anime adaption, reviewed here on Okazu and available streaming on Hidive. Our protagonist Yuu Yuutani has a crush on the head of the school disciplinary committee, Atori Mizutori, who’s so popular she has her own fan club. Yuu therefore decides to become the titular “bad girl” to try and attract Atori’s attention. Unfortunately for her, she has good grades, perfect attendance and has never been in trouble ever and her idea of being bad is to write in the condensation on a window. Hijinks ensue.

This series is basically “Notice Me, Sempai” the manga. Yuu’s attempts to be bad are kind of adorable, like a little kid acting out to try and get the adults around them to pay attention to them. Like all 4-koma/gag series this is like popcorn, best consumed a few pages at a time, otherwise it gets tooth rottingly sweet and outstays its welcome very quickly. Don’t think too hard about it, otherwise it all falls apart. Just enjoy the silliness.

Ratings:

Art – It’s definitely cute. The colour pages at the beginning are nicely done.
Story – What story? It doesn’t need one though.
Characters – A lot of silliness
Service – n/a
Yuri – Mostly just an unrequited crush at this stage.

If you like your cute girls doing cute things with a yuri flavour you’ll probably enjoy this series. Volume 2 is scheduled to release in English later this summer, and the series is up to 5 volumes in Japan. I am curious as to how much story we’ll actually get out of this premise, so I will at least stick around for volume 2.

Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk Anime, Episodes 1-5

May 17th, 2026

In Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk (currently streaming on Crunchyroll), incoming (hic) college freshman, catches her RA Tonami Ibuki enjoying a whiskey highball at a spring festival. Ibuki, who is something of an alcohol otaku, only drinks alone because…she hiccups a lot when she drinks and has a complex about it. Botan is charmed by her (hic) regardless, and the two end up as drinking buddies, and perhaps something more…?

It turns out Botan, who took a convenient gap year so that she’s of legal drinking age (burp) as a freshman, turns into a big flirt after a drink or two–no surprise, given the title of the show. Thankfully, she’s not the handsy type, but there’s an odd purity to the dynamics here. I’m not asking for sloppy drunken makeouts in a pile of empty Yebisu cans…OK I kinda am, I remember what it was like in college. (hic) Really, Botan just got the big ol’ doki-dokis for Ibuki, and her RA is just a bit too overwhelmed by her forthrightness. But also, the show does twist itself into knots around Ibuki’s hiccup hangups. It is (hic) mildly annoying to me as a viewer when you know the show is going to find a way for every other character to leave a scene just so Ibuki can be alone with Botan and feel comfortable drinking. (hic)

Three other girls round out our small cast: the quick-tempered Yaeka Kitamori, her travel-partner-cum-possible-musician-girlfriend (?) Akane Yusa, and Kanade Gujou, the cigarette-smoking (hic) grad student with a failgirl crush on Ibuki. As of this writing, there is a sixth cast member who has yet to arrive, I assume to pick Gujou up out the smoking wreckage that she made for herself trying to get Ibuki to (hic) notice her. They are all perfectly fine, though they are all fairly one note so far.

Here’s the thing with this (burp) anime: not a lot happens. The girls in various permutations find themselves traveling, drinking, or often both. Some light flirtation occurs, maybe some mild yearning or angst. End scene. A character-driven story this is not; I know more about series creator HEY’s taste in music from one scene in episode 4 than I do about any of these (hic) girls. But there sure is a lot of product placement, mostly of alcohol (note that the anime had its own sake collab), but also Yamaha music equipment.

The Botan Kamiina anime is a spiritual successor to the Bocchi the Rock adaptation. My evidence:

-pink-haired protag ✅
-yuri/yuri-ish elements ✅
-animation showcase ✅
-Yamaha guitar product placement ✅

— Matt Marcus (@hyperartmarcussan.bsky.social) May 2, 2026 at 9:52 AM

If you are expecting fireworks, you will find it in the animation flexing that inexplicably shows up in (nearly) every episode. Much ado (hic) has been made online about the intentional changes in art style and direction between each episode, with different staff leading the production week to week. Mostly I find this successful, but occasionally it can be VERY distracting (looking at you, Episode 3). If nothing else, it covers for the otherwise (burp) languid development of anything you’d call plot. I will say though that the OP, with a song performed by yonige and made to look like handheld Super 8 footage, is gorgeous, as are the watercolor-styled ED sequences that do a strong job fleshing out each character’s backstory. There is a lot of craft being put into this anime, but the substance of the story itself is (hic) fairly thin.

It really is hard to pin down this (hic) show. It’s not hobby enough to teach you about brewing or mixology; it’s not travelogue enough to be a guide book (although people have already made their own); it’s not quite Yuri enough to do more than whet the palate for something more. For me, personally (burp), I don’t want to just see Botan sip delicate sakes or infuse upper-shelf single malts. I want to see her wax poetic about the top notes of Mad Dog 20/20. I want to see her do Edward 40-hands with Steel Reserve. I want to see her drink like a college student, damnit! (hic) Also where do they get the money for all of this.

If it sounds like I’m damning with faint praise, fear not. I’m enjoying watching this series every Friday night, with a drink (or two) in hand, as you might have been able to tell. (hic) Bottom’s up, y’all.

Art – 7 Knocking off a point for ep 3
Story – 5
Characters – 7
Service – 3 Bartending is service, right?
Yuri – 5

Overall – 7

Botan Kamiina is currently streaming on Crunchyroll on Fridays.

One thing to note: there was a recent blow-up on social media around HEY’s bookmarked art on Pixiv, particularly at least one that included Botan in a (seemingly) non-yuri scenario. Whether or not that crosses a boundary of good taste or morality is something that everyone should decide on for yourself. Having looked into it myself, I am personally less bothered by the fanart and more troubled by some other choices, but nevertheless I will continue to follow the series.

Matt Marcus is a cohost of various projects on the Pitch Drop Podcast Network. You can find him mostly reskeeting Yuri posts and sports takes on Bluesky @hyperartmarcussan.bsky.social

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, Volumes 7 and 8

May 15th, 2026

by Luce, Okazu Staff Writter

I’m Luce , and I must apologise for the delay on the review for these volumes, 9 is nearly upon us! Onward!

The young ladies are back to prove that they do indeed play fighting games, and violent ones at that! Not only that, but they want to make their pugilistic simulations into a club activity?

In Volume 7, the tournament wraps up and the girls head back. After a few days rest from gaming to allow/force Mio to recover from her random nosebleed, they start their midnight training again. Aya is acting weirdly, but that’s the least of their concerns when they get caught by a disgusted member of the disciplinary committee! Can they fight their way out of this one – with words?

Volume 8, and the fighting is no longer contained to a screen. It’s Mio, fighting for her right to disobey her mother’s wishes and continue to play video games, versus her mother, fighting to get the idea into her daughters thick skull that video games are no good! The gloves are off, child services are probably gonna get called, who will win this showdown?

Honestly, this series is so much all of the time, and it’s great. We know Aya had a vicious jealousy that maybe she wasn’t Mio’s biggest rival after seeing her fight Arisa on stage in Volume 6. The way she tries to deal with that is kinda hilarious… and the way it ends is magnificent. Mio basically getting kidnapped by her mum for playing video games, and duking it out for the right? Crazy.

We discover that Arisa, the bratty kid that Mio fought, is the sister of the president of the student council. While she doesn’t play games herself, she likes seeing her sister happy like she was when fighting Mio, so she’s on board with them being allowed to play. Pulling a few strings, she manages to reduce their sentence to suspension for a few days, but… ‘Mama Mio’ as she’s referred to by the other characters is not having her daughter become a video game playing wastrel. Even if she has to fight her about it, literally.

The panelling, art and dialogue is always fun in this series. The assembly with the student body is no less dynamic than the actual fight scenes, and often the characters don’t react how you might expect. It is, if you’ll excuse the phrase, ‘batshit’. Aya, Tya-senpai and Inui all commentate on the Mio Vs Mama Mio match like they would a fighting game, but even commenting on things that are different from their normal fighting game, like the fact that it’s in 3D rather than 2D. It’s just glorious. Full of zany and deranged characters, I’m always looking forward to what they get up to next.

Volume 8 sets up a conflict for the next episode – the problem with an advisor for a club, and needing more members! Volume 9 is coming out shortly, and it won’t be long until the anime is airing too.

Art: 9
Story: 7
Characters: a wild 9
Yuri: 6 – more breathtaking declarations of rivalry and competition, but it sure could go there
Service: 2 – they had a panel that could have been a pantry shot and wasn’t, so that’s pretty good
Overall: 8

It’s stupid in many ways, but it’s also glorious.

Images From Prism Garden

May 13th, 2026

by Sasori, Okazu JP Correspondent

Last week, the anime and manga chain Melonbooks sponsored a Yuri event called Prism Garden. Our Japan events Correspondent Sasori visited and took a number of photos for us!

Sasori noted that this ran for the whole of Golden Week in Omiya.”..it was an entire gallery and interactive standee walk along complete with a sticky note board for event goers. They also sectioned off buyers in accordance to time slots so it was never too busy.”

This was, like most of the Yuri exhibitions in Japan, part exhibition, part pop-up store. Enjoy these photos as we walk through the event space with Sasori!