Archive for the Top Yuri Lists Category


Top Ten Yuri Countdown of 2007

December 24th, 2007

As I sit here and look over my top ten list for 2007, I have to laugh. I’m not sure I know what I was thinking when I wrote it. lol But that’s okay, I can’t imagine why anyone would care what I think, anyway. So here goes:

10) Cream Lemon Escalation Light Novel

Yes, this book is 20 years old. But I only managed to read it this year, so here it is. Not only is this Light Novel chock full o’Yuri hentai, it’s the ancestor of several other notable Yuri series. Like a pervy grandfather alongside our grandmothers Yoshiya Nobuko and Ikeda Riyoko, this story shaped what we know and love as “Yuri” today.

9) Cutie Honey/Cutey Honey

Speaking of pervy grandfathers. This year saw the release of the awesome Cutie Honey a-GoGo Perfect Volume *and* the new Cutie Honey the Live TV show. And once again, Yuri abounds in this heap of pandering, fetishes and pervtasticness. It’s almost a challenge at this point – how low and horrid can this series go and still be loads of fun? I don’t know – I guess we’ll find out, won’t we? :-)

8) Strawberry Panic Light Novels and Drama CDs

One more for the how low can you go file. These novels were full of tortured metaphors and ridiculous handwaves (can you say private helicopters? I knew you could) – and the occasional sexy and sometimes even lovely moment. I still await their English debut from Seven Seas with bated breath because they are so laughably awful and I await the response of fandom even more as they bend reality to justify how good they *must* be, since we can never admit to just liking something that’s junk. lol And the Drama CDs are even worse! This grandchild of Escalation makes this list for the combination of wtf-ness and Yuri.

7) Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl

This is the last time I mention this, seriously. Both anime and manga came out in English this year, marking Media Blasters’ entry into the Yuri market, and continuing Seven Seas foray into yuri-ish manga. I really don’t love this series half as much as it might seem from its presence on all of this year’s lists, but it was well-adapted in all cases and it’s just a fluke of timing, mostly. lol Although I still wished Tomari and Yasuna ended up together, Kashimashi makes this year’s top ten at 7th.

6) Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS

I’m going to allow my biases to show for one moment – this is on this list for being conglomeration of many things that I like, as much as because I saw it as Yuri. StrikerS had adult women, in military uniform, kicking ass in pretty colors, all of which made it one of the best shows I watched this year.

5) Blue Drop

And gee…Blue Drop has women in (admittedly ugly) military uniforms, etc, etc. I’m consistent. I like soup to have nice chunky pieces of meat and veggies and I like women in uniform. And spaceships and battles…and Yuri. Since the Yuri in Blue Drop is more overt that that in StrikerS, it makes it onto the list at fourth. I really wish this series was longer – I’d happily watch it for as long as they wanted to show it to me.

4) Simoun

The Megami magazine version didn’t do a thing for the mythos, but the Drama CD massively upped the “obvious” Yuri. And the anime, which I feared would not be adaptable and coherent, was extremely well handled by the folks at Media Blasters. And instead of downplaying the Yuri, they jumped right in and marketed it as Yuri, which makes them the first anime company to ever do that. Above all, the story remains brilliant, as does the art, the music and the characters. We can all look forward to more Simoun.

3) Maria-sama ga Miteru

The OAVs were fun, they were romantic, they were a very decent adaptation of the novels. The DJCDs and web radios massively pumped up the Yuri for fans’ enjoyment, and the novels…they are just full of love-love moments. I’m so far behind in reading them, that you’re going to have to hear about this series for a long time to come. :-) For Yumi and Sachiko, Rei and Yoshino, Tsutako and Shouko and Sei and everyone, lol, this series continues to make my top three for the year.

2) Yuri Hime and Yuri Hime S

Never before have so many artists, male and female, been gathered together to draw stories of girls (and women, sometimes) in love. Some of the best names in the industry, many who have been drawing Yuri/Girls Love/Onna x Onna manga for ages, are represented here. Yuri Hime, mostly by women who draw Yuri and Yuri Hime S, mostly men who draw Yuri, all drawing for us, the Yuri audience. Their collections are high quality and coming soon to western shores via Seven Seas, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them here. Because 8 times a year I get all excited to see what each new issue holds, Ichijinsha’s GL magazines are the second best Yuri of the year.

1) Iono-sama Fanatics

As I mentioned yesterday, I still find it incredible that Infinity is translating this. But even more so, how fantastic that second, final volume is, with its silly epilogue, fashionable clothing (Fujieda does brilliant costume design) and charming, appealing characters and all the Yuri a fan could want. Heck, for the cover of the second volume alone, this series could make number one. lol

The number one Yuri title of 2007 – Iono-sama Fanatics

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Let me take this opportunity to thank all the folks who have sent me items to review and the companies that have provided review copies – I couldn’t do it without you.

Most importantly, I want to thank everyone who has read and commented here over the past year! I wish you all a happy, healthy New Year!

Next entry, my adventures throwing money at the Japanese economy! See you there. ^_^





Top Ten Yuri Manga of 2007

December 23rd, 2007

Arrrghhhhh! How on earth am I supposed to pick a Top Ten? There was so much with dribbles of Yuri and so little that was *good*. I could do a Top 4 easy, 3 anyway. lol Again, to ease my indecision crisis of conscience, I’m splitting the list into English and Japanese…and cheating by having a bunch of Honorable Mentions. It’s not like this is a science or I get extra points for precision or anything. lol

English Language Manga

Honorable Mentions: Because they made the Top Ten lists last year and because I’ve beat them to death here at Okazu, I would like to give Honorable Mentions to both Read or Dream and Strawberry Marshmallow. I can’t get enough of them, but I’m sick to death of singing their praises. :-)

5) Kedamono Damono

This series is a go nowhere dead-end shoujo romance story where the Yuri is meant to provide comedy and ballast for the straight romance. But as far as the volumes I read went, the *only* part of the romance that was even marginally functional was the Yuri part, so, despite my personal disinterest in the story, we’ll give it fifth place.

4) Yuri Monogatari 5

This year’s anthology from ALC is almost *exactly* the book I want to publish. With 6 stories by Japanese artists and 8 by artists from the rest of the world, this is an awesome book. Happy sad, realistic, fantastic, there’s something for everyone. I don’t personally love every story, but every story taught me something. As the only example of josei Yuri by women for women out there, I’d be remiss if I ignored it out of humility. If I hadn’t published it myself, it would have still made this list – and probably at a much higher rank.

3) The Last Uniform

How I wish I liked this series. But I don’t. I don’t care for the endless gavotte these girls dance around one another and I have never liked the art. But Seven Seas does an exceptional job of reproduction and it’s the only really Yuri manga they mangaged to get on to the shelves in 2007, so I could point to it and say, “this is Yuri.” For the sheer Yuriness of it, The Last Uniform comes in third.

2) Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl

I was so very, very sure when I first read this series, that Hazumu was going to end up the series as a boy. I’m very pleased to have been wrong about that – and about every other thing in regards to this series that I predicted. lol The story had some serious handwaves to overcome, but is fairly solid as a love story and a Yuri one at that. And extra points to Seven Seas for what continues to be the best adaptation of a manga into English that I’ve seen.

1) Iono-sama Fanatics

I can’t tell you how excited I was that this apparently obscure Yuri manga was translated. It’s whimsical, fun, action-filled and well…Yuri. Fujieda Miyabi’s art is moe to the max, and yet it really grew on me. He writes sweet, somewhat goofy stories that don’t adhere to most of the tropes of Yuri. No schoolgirls here, just a Queen and her handmaidens, ridiculous adventures and Yuri love. While Infinity definitely can improve in their adaptation of the book, the story and characters carry this series far above and beyond the rest of this year’s lot. The winner, without question for this year’s best Yuri manga in English – Iono-sama Fanatics.

Japanese Language Manga

Honorable Mentions: These go to Kools which I have yet to read, but am adding to this list solely on the basis of Erin’s glowing recommendation. :-) And Gunsmith Cats Burst for bringing back Evil Psycho Lesbian Goldie and notching up Misty’s campaign to stay near Rally in a way that will surely start a new round of fanfic somewhere. lol

5) Sakura no Kiwa

No one paid the least bit attention as I reviewed this ridiculous series by the same artist that created Transistor ni Venus. lol It has a passive-agressive lesbian couple – in all sorts of denial – and slacker family members, and way too many cats. In a sane universe I would have loathed and despised it, only, I didn’t. In fact, I’m really hoping against hope for a 4th volume I know will probably never come. No one’s gonna scanlate this. No one cares. No one but me, that is. Fifth, dammit.

4) Kawaii Anata

Like many of the Yuri Hime collections, these stories work better as an anthology than they did as separate stories in the magazine. Hiyori Otsu also eschews the typical tropes for older, sometimes randomly cracked characters, but even the typical characters seem to have some depth. The art is pleasing, the stories don’t make one want to bang one’s head against the wall, so it comes in at an easy fourth.

3) Hatsukoi Shimai

This series, with two volumes out now in Japanese with a third around the corner,and one out any day in English, is so stereotypically “Yuri” that it hurts. Like The Last Uniform it is about love among students at an all-girl’s school. Unlike The Last Uniform, the girls actually get together, with admissions of love and kissing (necking, even) and all the stuff that so frequently is missing from schoolgirl Yuri. And it has Touko-sensei, whose inappropriate and unethical relationsip with Akiho is my most favorite couple in the series. :-) When they get together, this series goes up a rank. Third place for this Yuri Hime serial where the girl actually *gets* the girl.

2) Hayate x Blade

In reality, there is only one lesbian character in this series. But there are dozens of couples. Hitsugi and Shizuku, Kiji and Michi, Akira and Sae, Momoka and Isuzu…the list goes on and on. But above all of them, Jun, with her openly proclaimed love and desire for women and Hayate with her openly proclaimed love and desire for Ayana, make this baka school/action/comedy win for Yuri fans everywhere. With Hayashiya Shizuru at the helm, you can be sure to get laughs and Yuri love aplenty.

Envelope please…this year’s winner for best Yuri Manga in the Japanese language is….

1) Aoi Hana

Technically, this book was published right at the end of 2006, but I bought, read and reviewed it in the beginning of 2007. Sweet Blue Flowers is yet another schoolgirl Yuri story. With a simple, quiet feel, an understated realism and touching, interesting characters, this story, like Hatsukoi Shimai is practically a poster child for the genre. I was honestly hoping to have Volume 3 by now to review, but I’ll be sure to pick it up asap in Tokyo. Fumi and Yasuko’s relationship has few fireworks, but the drama is solid. For taking the same old story and doing something *good* with it, Shimura Takako’s Aoi Hana takes top prize.

We have one winner from the boy’s side – Iono-sama Fanatics and one from the girls’ side – Aoi Hana. How balanced we are here at Okazu!

Tomorrow – the final countdown for the year! Bring popcorn!





Top Ten Yuri Anime of 2007

December 22nd, 2007

Writing “Top 10” lists is *always* hard for me. This year’s list was especially difficult – while there are more Yuri characters and stories in general, there’s less this year that can be identified specifically as Yuri. But I did want to get this done before I left for Japan, so here we go. :-)

Let me remind you that these choices are my opinion, and based on the series that I watched over the past year. Chances are there a zillion series you think are Yuri-er, but here are *my* choices for the year. It’s almost guaranteed that most people will disagree with me. lol

I have split the list into 5 Japanese and 5 American releases, to allow me to cheat a bit. :-) Without further ado, the Okazu Top 10 Yuri Anime of 2007! Yaaaayy!

English Language

4) Tied for 4th (no, that’s not wrong – ties eliminate the lower position) are Burst Angel and Strawberry Marshmallow:

It’s true that neither series is particularly overt in their Yuri, but it’s “obvious” to us that Meg and Jo are an item, and I and many others remain convinced that Miu is a Evil Psycho Lesbian-in-training. Burst Angel has fights, Strawberry Marshmallow has funnies, and both have characters that this lesbian thinks are “friends of Yuri.”

3) Coming in 3rd for their English-language releases are My HiME and My Otome.

The Yuri is, perhaps, laid on a bit *thicker* through the translation choices and in any case, Shizuru still has the hots for Natsuki, Aoi and Chie are still a couple, Erst wants Nina and Tomoe has her eyes on Shizuru. Among a bazillion other slashable HiMEs and Meisters.

2) In 2nd place, after long consideration, I choose you Simoun:

For still having a terrific Yuri-esque setting, complex world and for keeping me glued to my seat for the entirety of every episode. This anime series remains a must-see, not only for Yuri fans, but anyone, anywhere, who enjoys animation as an art form.

And in first place…

1) Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl:

The setup was ridiculous, the ending even more so, with forays into the utter trite, tedious and absurd. But. The story is about three girls and their love triangle and it remains about three girls and their love triangle right to the very last, very Yuri, kiss.

It’s a one-two punch for Media Blasters, with their initial Yuri anime offerings this year, so congrats to them! (Unintentional, I assure you. It didn’t even occur to me until just this second.)

Japanese Language

5) In fifth place, we have the laughably awful Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora:

This story was a complete recycling of many of the most popular fetishes from previous Kaishaku stories. Kaon and Himiko were the token Yuri couple, trapped in a dysfunctional Yuri triangle with Mika. And yet where, at the end of Kannazuki no Miko, we have no reason to believe that Himeko and Chikane will live happily every after this time, we *see* that Kaon and Himiko do. Yes, yes, it’s crap. I still say fifth place.

4) No “Top Ten” list of mine is going to go by without at least one of the Maria-sama ga Miteru OVAs on it:

Yumi waking Sachiko up in her summer house, Yumi enjoying Sachiko in her Gakuran, Touko dancing in the boy’s role to dance with Yumi, Kanako engaging in a little light stalking, Rei and Yoshino running side by side in the hakama race and Sei. You don’t see Yuri? Fine. I do. Fourth place for every second we spent grinning as Panda Yumi and Sachiko embraced for ever.

3) Moving quickly into the final three comes Blue Drop:

Partially because there was damn little to choose from this year and partially because it’s excellent, I have to include this wonderful and all-too-short series. The girls are charming, Hagino had the greatest pickup line ever in the history of the universe and the love-love was about as overt and out as we can ask for and still get it on TV.

2) Let’s give some Yuri loving to El Cazador de la Bruja:

In this final entry in the “girls with guns on the run” trilogy, Bee Train and director Mashimo set intensity and angst aside, enjoyed a few tacos and had some fun. Because Ellis loves Nadie best when her eyes are shining, El Cazador de la Bruja comes in second.

No surprise here I’m sure, when I say that my choice for the best Yuri anime of the year is:

1) Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS:

Fate, Vivio and Nanoha make a wonderful family and I simply don’t care what anyone in the entire universe argues – I know a big, pluffy bed of lesbian love when I see one.

So Kashimashi and StrikerS, best Yuri anime of the year here on Okazu!

Come back tomorrow for the best Yuri manga of 2007!

Note to those of you who are writing in about Candy Boy. It was vile. It was never even vaguely considered for the top anything. fyi)





Top Ten Yuri Countdown of 2006

December 28th, 2006

As promised. And just under the gun, too, because I’m flying out tomorrow, and probably won’t be able to post again for the rest of the year.

Every year, when I post my Top Ten lists, I get comments like, “Why didn’t you include ‘xyz’? The answer is always the same – either 1) I simply haven’t read or watched it or, 2) I didn’t like it as much as you did. Pick the answer that seems the most likely to you.

This list is, as is everything here, *my opinion.* Other than the fact that I pretty much single-handedly spearheaded the genre “Yuri” as you know it here in America, I make no claim to being more expert than anyone else. :-) Not everything on the list is something I like – not everything I like is on the list. That having been said, here is my list for the year’s Top Ten Yuri-related things:

10. FanBoys/Girls – So awful, so wonderful. These, the large majority of the yuri fanbase, R us. From the bottom of the barrel, where they seriously *don’t* know why we think they are creepy, to the pick of the litter, those folks who turn their interest into great original art, videos and literature, Fanboys and Fangirls are the folks who, for better or worse (usually worse) support Yuri. I revile them/us, make fun of their/our propensity to eschew quality for service, to not be able to tell the difference between a good story and a bad one, but they/we are the folks who buy the videos, the manga, the t-shirts and postcards and other goods that keep Yuri (and Yuricon and ALC) going. For being our backbone (and our potbelly) and for inspiring me to write reviews, do lectures, publish books, run events and for giving me many a good laugh at our collective insanity, Yuri Fandom everywhere makes number 10 on this year’s list.

9. Mai HiME/Mai Otome – For the sheer volume of conversation, fanart, fanfic and the like, this franchise has to make this year’s list. The manga is foul, the anime is laughable and full of service, but you know, we had a good time picking it to pieces. And we’re still watching the OAVs, aren’t we? It’s shiny, it’s full of women who are easily slashed, if not obviously coupled, and it has lots of pretty colors. 9 out of 10.

8. Maria-sama ga Miteru – I’ll be sure to let you know when I get tired of this series. :-) In the meantime, I continue to read the novels (falling behind faster and faster as Konno Oyuki continues to pump them out), watch the OAVs, listen to the Drama CDs, and read the manga, because when it’s all said and done, these are some of the greatest, most three-dimensional characters I’ve ever encountered. Never dull, always human and frequently hysterical, I have every intention of raving about this series for years to come.

7. Ichijinsha – I’m sorry that I’m not going to be the one to bring the great, great manga put out by Ichijinsha to the US. I really am. (And I want you to know that I did try.) But despite that, I have nothing but admiration and desire (Can one akogare a publishing company? lol) for the fantastic manga being created by Ichijinsha and Comic Yuri Hime. Many of my favorite titles this year were Ichinjisha publications – Strawberry Shake Sweet, Voiceful, Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo, Simoun – and I look forward to everything they do in the future. I hope more of it becomes anime, too. Strawberry Shake Sweet would be an awesome anime, wouldn’t it? So, consider all but one of the above books all tied for number 7….

6. While we’re congratulating publishers, let me mention Seven Seas. They are the “new kid” on the yuri block, but with a PR machine, staff and money that ALC Publishing does not have, they’re instantly bigger and better known than we are after 3 years of paving the way. I’d like to resent them, but I can’t. LOL I just finished reading their translation of Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl and it may well be the best translation/transition to English I’ve ever seen for the American mass market. (A glowing review will be forthcoming.) I just wish they were picking up decent yuri titles, instead of the crap stories they’re promoting as “Yuri.” Stories aside, if their “Strawberry” imprint is as well executed as Kashimashi was, they’ll be on Okazu alot next year.

5. R.O.D and Read or Dream – This multiverse has alot going for it. Great characters, good action and, in one or two of the versions, some excellent writing. The anime for both were enjoyable and this year we got to see both manga come to the western market in English. And it was good. It’s not Yomiko or Nenene’s fault that the R.O.D. manga wasn’t that great – and it does help fill in some of the holes inthe TV series for those as didn’t know. Read or Dream is just fluffy yuri-filling fun. Yay Viz for giving us more Paper Masters.

4. Aoi Hana – This was not the world’s most popular yuri manga this year, but it should definitely be in the top ten. The art is simple, realistic, and the story is both simple and realistic, as well. The emotions are genuine, sweet, raw, and the characters – for once – act and look the ages they are supposed to be. I’m looking forward with bated breath to Volume 2, and praying that Yasuko-sempai doesn’t turn out to be a jerk. :-)

Deep breath, everyone. Here’s the top three Yuri of 2006…and not one surprise, I’m sure. lol

3. Hayashiya Shizuru – This woman is seemingly tireless. For years and years, she cranked out funny Yuri doujinshi, and last year “suddenly” exploded onto the scene as a popular yuri artist. Her doujinshi work in Jesus Drug has had to slow down, since she’s now responsible for one monthly series and another quarterly series, both of which are in my top ten. For both Hayate x Blade and Strawberry Shake Sweet Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei and her two fabulous manga series make my number 3 for the year. Either series would be a great anime (hint, hint, freakin’ Dengeki/Mediaworks who have made anime of much weaker series!!!!) and both are popular with the yuri crowd and beyond. I know how hard it is to do anything under a deadline – to have the constant strain of two deadlines is beyond my wildest nightmare. Kudos to Hayashiya-sensei. May she draw us yuri love comedies forever.

2. Strawberry Panic – And a panic it was. I, and others like me, panicked that we would, yet again, be forced to educate and inform shrieking hordes of near-illiterate fandumb, and the hordes panicked that they wouldn’t get more great stuff just like StoPani. Well, educate and inform I do, but still the hordes shriek for more. We talked about it a lot on the Yuricon Mailing List, parsing many of the multitudinous stolen concepts and characters, but in the end, it wasn’t so bad. It just wasn’t good. It was, therefore, insanely popular. This year’s “zOMG HAWT!!!111” series, I give you Strawberry Panic at number 2.

1. You have to have seen this coming. :-) At number 1, for the scope and breadth of the story, is Simoun.

It wasn’t perfect. But it *was* fascinating. Characters, plot complications, subcreation – all worked together to create an endlessly fascinating and meaningful world in which we watched a group of fine individuals lose a battle that was untenable from the beginning. This was not Gundam – they could not save their universe, but they did manage to find a way to save themselves. I admit to being a snob – any anime that confuses the majority of fandumb as Simoun did, is something I’ll consider worth watching. The fantastic art, the cinematic music (another OST I listen to all the time) the ship design, the religion, the politics and the people made it worth watching. Call it elitism, call me a stone cold bitch, but I call Simoun the absolute best Yuri of the year.

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There you have it. I hope you enjoyed this, and the other 193 posts on Okazu this year. That makes slightly more than a post every two days. Where *do* I find the time…?

It’s absolutely not too late to buy presents for me to thank me for my hard work or presents from me, to enjoy my hard work, although the latter will be a tad delayed while I have a vacation.

And with that, I will wish you all a wonderful New Year – I’ll see you in 2007!





Top Ten Yuri Manga of 2006

December 22nd, 2006

Okay, I admit it, I didn’t think anyone ever really read these lists. ^_^ So, thanks to everyone who commented on yesterday’s Top Ten Yuri Anime of 2006 list! I’ll try not to let it go to my head. ;-)

Because this year we finally have a body of translated manga that falls under my loosest interpretation of Yuri, I’m going to split the manga list into two Top Five lists, one for translations into English and one for untranslated Japanese manga. It’s sort of restrictive, only having five and five, but I don’t want to add things that are merely okay, just because they happen to be translated. That having been said, let’s go!

Top Five English-language Yuri Manga of 2006

5. Strawberry Marshmallow/Ichigo Mashimaro – Okay, even I’m beginning to get sick of this series now. LOL But the manga, like the anime, makes me laugh, Miu is whack-tastic and clearly an EPL (Evil Psycho Lesbian) in training, and it’s just freaking cute. Okay? Let’s never mention it again. LOL

4. Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl – I haven’t had a chance to review the Seven Seas translation yet, but on first glance it seems a solid transition to English. The story still has that not-quite-Yuri feel about it for the first volume but, like the anime, by the end the gender issue isn’t, and the story remains about three girls in a love triangle. My opinion might change when the manga ends (something that really ought to be soon…) but for the moment, this remains one of the top five.

3. WORKS – Imagine this. A lesbian artist, drawing beautiful art, with stories about lesbians, for a lesbian audience. No almost yuri here – in fact, this is the only title on this year’s list that can claim that. That’s why we call it “100%” yuri. Tadeno Eriko has a classic manga style, her stories have humor, and pathos and angst and love and sex – between adult women who look and act adult. Exactly the kind of thing *I’m* looking for in yuri. While this was originally published in 2004, this year’s revised edition had mainstream book and comic store distribution, so here it is at number 3.

2. Blue – The story is not earth shaking, but for sheer excellence in transition to an English edition, Nananan Kiriko’s Blue has got to make this list. By far and away, the *best* reproduction of a manga I’ve ever seen. The English-language edition is exact to the original in every way…except that I can read it alot faster. :-)

And this year’s winner:

1. Read or Dream, Volume 1 – Not the most yuri story, not the best reproduction, but overall, one of the most *fun* things to come out this year. This alternate ROD-verse has a little something for everyone, and double that for fans of the ROD The TV anime. This will definitely be one of my “go to” books for a quick hit of chuckles time and time again. I’m thrilled to have it in English and I can’t recommend it enough. A total win for anyone who doesn’t require angst for a story to be “good.”

Top Five Japanese-language Yuri Manga of 2006

5. Kotonoha no Miko to Kotodama no Majyo to – In the beginning, I did not like Fujieda Miyabi’s art. Seriously. As my regular readers know, I am not a fan of “cute.” But over time, both story and characters really began to grow on me. By the time the story ended, I was hooked. Of course, the fact that Letty and Tsumugi’s story has continued in Drama CD form only serves to keep me hooked. :-) In the mean time, like Fujieda’s Iono-sama series, I’ve re-read MikoMajyo multiple time already and enjoyed it more every time.

4. Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou – This series is in serious contention for my “Best manga series ever ever ever” award. And, although it ended this year, it will remain in my heart forever. Sounds goopy, I know, but it’s true. Art, story, characters, were all well-crafted with subtle, delicate strokes…a veritable masterwork of manga. It ended as beautifully as ever, with exactly the right touch of Yuri. I, and other fans of Alpha and Kokone, couldn’t ask for more.

3. Kuchibiru no Tameiki Sakurairo – I’m not the only Yuri manga fan to be sad that Morinaga Milk has decided to stop drawing for Yuri Hime magazine. Like most of the stories that began in Yuri Shimai and were continued in Yuri Hime, this began as a series of semi-related one-shots that developed into an actual story somewhere along the line. I’m sorry that we’ll never get to see Nana and Hitomi grow up, move in together and live happily ever after, but we do get to see them go from friends to lovers, with beautiful art. A pleasure to read – and again, a volume I’ve already re-read several times.

2. Hayate x Blade – Hayashiya Shizuru is surely angling for “Yuri mangaka of the year” this year. Her Hayate x Blade gets a little gayer with each chapter, a little crazier, a little cooler and a little win-er. The HxB Drama CD kept the Yuri and upped the wacky. And when, every month I pick up my copy of Dengeki Daioh, its Hayate x Blade that I save for last so I can savor every moment. Hitsugi x Shizuku, Momoko x Isuzu, Hayate x Ayana x Jun, and every other pair of shinyuu at Tenchi Gakuen make this series pure gold. If only an anime…

And this year’s new champion….

1. It’s a one-two punch for Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei, with her winning combination of Julia and Ran in Strawberry Shake Sweet! (You can’t be too surprised to find three of the Yuri Hime manga volumes on this list, right?) A Yuri mangaka, who has been doing comedy Yuri manga and doujinshi for just about *ever*, all of Hayishiya’s physical humor and goofiness come together in this strangely touching and strangely hysterical and plain old strange girls’ love series. There’s about two straight female characters in the whole series. And one of them is doomed. ^_^

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And that’s it for 2006’s Top Ten Yuri Manga. Sometime before I leave next week, I will sum the whole year up in a giant Top Ten of Yuri, but until then, don’t forget two things: scanlations do not pay artist’s bills, and comments don’t pay mine. Rent, borrow, buy – don’t download. If you love Yuri, support it in a way that pays the bills. On behalf of Yuri publishers everywhere, thanks to everyone who *has* supported Yuri by buying it from ALC and/or through the Yuricon Shop!