Archive for the Top Yuri Lists Category


Top Ten Yuri Anime of 2006

December 21st, 2006

It seems to be that time of year again, when “Top Ten” Lists of everything from manga to Bollywood Babes pop up and, as I am leaving next week right after Xmas for Tokyo and Comiket, I thought I’d better start working on this now. ^_^

As always, this list is going to be a mix of old and new, licensed series and as-yet unreleased in the west, because otherwise the list would be darn short. ;-) It’s also all in *my* opinion, so go ahead and comment that I’m wrong, but it’s not like you’re gonna change my mind.  In any case – here we go!

***

10. Aria the Natural – This anime is making this year’s top 10 list, not because of its brilliant overt yuriness, but because part of the fun of watching it was looking for every teeny weeny little thing that could be vaguely run through the Yuri goggles and pointed at with a successful “Aha!” I and many others, remain convinced that Akira and Alicia are an item.

9. My HiME – What might have been a HUGE release for this anime in the US seems to have fizzled, largely in part to the DVDs for Volume 1 having issues. But the love of ShizNat, and other smexy Yuri couples, with or without any basis for existence, made this series a Yuri fandom fave in 2006. I personally think a strong push as a “Yuri” series would have bumped sales considerably.

8. Ichigo Mashimaro/Strawberry Marshmallow – I know, we’ve been beating this series to death this week, but when I bought the first volume of the anime I remembered all over again just how snortingly funny it is. And how much Miu is all about getting a little sugar from Nobue. Because, despite myself – every freakin’ time – I watch this, I laugh, and because there’s more than enough Yuri in it to make a case for just about anyone and anyone, this series makes number eight this year.

7. Coyote Ragtime Show – Sometimes a show just gets it right. The women are cool and sexy without making you feel yucky for thinking that, they look voluptuous, but not absurd, and they make you laugh, even as they are capping some redshirt. When neither the men nor the women are weak or incompetent and there’s a sense of something, you know, between the women. Throw in some space opera and friendly ruffian-type action, and you got yourself a winner. To paraphrase a very bad movie, give me a bottle of redeye, a crazy straw and Coyote Ragtime Show, and I’ll be one happy Erica. ^_^

6. Tied for sixth place are Kannazuki no Miko and Ninja Nonsense – Kannazuki no Miko was undoubtedly one of the most popular yuri releases of 2006. I’ve talked alot about KnM and why it’s popular but not good and, every time, people prove my point by writing incoherent comments filled with righteous indignation at me. But re-watching it, I was able to divorce the anime from the fandumb and remember why I thought it fun in the first place. The same is true for what is being released here as Ninja Nonsense. It’s openly tacky and ridiculous and, unlike KnM, is not going to have armies of insane fans, but *like* KnM it has a really cute Yuri couple, and some fun moments. Fun train-wreck Yuri anime. Number 6.

5. Mai Otome – It ended in spring 2006 without the enormous thud that tarnished Mai Hime. It was not nearly as good a story, and the plot holes were, well large and plentiful. But it had about 1/100th the angst and the whole setup read like an alternate-universe fanfic for the original anyway, so anyone who expected “good” clearly lacked critical thinking skills in the first place. What it was, was a fun, stupid take on the characters of the HiME-verse and it remained, from beginning to end a coherent, consistent, fun stupid take on the HiME-verse. And once again in the minority, I liked the ending. ^_^

4. Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl -I haven’t reviewed the thirteenth episode yet, but it hasn’t changed my opinion overall of the anime. This is another series I was prepared to dislike, but never really needed to. Sure, it was light, fluffy, full of incredibly convenient plot complications….but hello, anime? This is not Ghibli. So, for the anime, at least, once Hazumu became a girl, she stayed that way and it became a Yuri story by sheer force of the fact that it was girls in love with a girl. When the end came, which I saw as “the right choice for the wrong reason” I wasn’t surprised. When the *real* end came, which I saw as “the wrong choice for the right reason” I still wasn’t surprised. I was surprised at the outrage among viewers at the fluffiness of the end. Did they not notice that the plot was about a boy who was turned into a girl because he was killed by an alien spaceship? In any case, although it will never be something I recommend as a representative “Yuri” anime, it was still fun to watch.

Now for the big three. ^_^

3. I am SO glad the Maria-sama ga Miteru OAV 1: Kyuuka no Hitsuji/Vacation of the Lambs made it in for this year’s list! I think the OAV did a great job of capturing Yumi’s feelings of akogare/admiration/desire for Sachiko, while significantly cutting down on the self-loathing. It’s romantic and sweet and win. Once again, my akogare for Konno Oyuki grows by leaps and bounds. ^_^

2. Strawberry Panic was undoubtedly, the hottest Yuri anime this year. What began as cheesy, blatant rip-offs of every other Yuri anime and manga ended as a cheesy blatant rip-offs with a decent story, characters that didn’t blow and a fun, if predictable, ending. The Yuri was as blatant as the rip-offs, and all the plots and characters were recognizable and therefore easy to comprehend. Fandumb rooted for all the wrong characters, for the wrong reasons, and delighted in the gouts of fanservice and pandering. This series will be a benchmark series for me going forward. If a person likes Strawberry Panic more than Marimite, they won’t be coming over my house for lunch, ever. And they probably won’t ever understand why. ^_^ But in the end, the characters proved us wrong and they all went ahead and became three-dimensional anyway, and it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been.

1. Simoun and Strawberry Panic were opposites in nearly every way, but they both undoubtedly shaped this year’s Yuri anime scene. Simoun was an eclectic mix of Yuri fanservice, war story, character story, gender issues, politics and religion. Not everyone who saw it liked it, but those who liked it, loved it. And rightfully so. This was not an anime for the lowest common denominator – it presupposed some genuine intelligence in the viewing audience. For that alone, it stands on top of the pile. No blatant rip-offs here – this series took actual work, because the world it was set in was original and unique…and they never filled in all the details. And yet, because the characters were strong, and the reactions real, the holes in the world weren’t a problem. After all- who knows everything about why people do what they do in this world, either? I wouldn’t recommend Simoun to a beginner, but if I were doing an academic course and wanted to use an anime to engender discussion, Simoun would be the one I would choose.

By far and away, the most outstanding Yuri anime of 2006, Simoun.

 





Top Ten Yuri of 2005

December 30th, 2005

Well here we are – on the cusp of a new year. Thank the heavens is all I have to say. ^_^

There were a lot of good thing Yuri-wise in 2005, and many mediocre things. Here are some of the series, things, events and people that I think made 2005 Yuri-riffic.

10. Mai Hime and Mai Otome. It’s not that often than an anime series gives the Yuri world a poster-child couple. Sailor Moon gave us Haruka and Michiru, Utena gave us Utena and Anthy, Maria-sama ga Miteru brought us Sei and Shiori (as well as Yoshino and Rei, Sachiko and Yumi, Shimako and Noriko and a host of alternate variations. ShizNat, as Shizuru and Natsuki have come to be known, have joined the popular consciousness as a couple…even when really, there’s no evidence that they are one. LOL For this and all the reasons stated in this year’s top ten anime list, and the fact that they both spawn much conversation, discussion and conjecture on the Yuricon mailing List, both Mai series make this year’s top ten.

9. What would my top ten list be without a monstrously unsubtle self-congratulatory plug for Yuricon and ALC Publishing?. ^_^ Let’s see – in 2005 Yuricon sponsored not one, but *two* events – including one in Tokyo. How amazing is that? ALC Publishing remains the only English-language publisher of Yuri in the world and continues to gather the finest Yuri artists and writers together for the Yuri Monogatari anthology. This year’s included Japanese veteran Yuri artists Akiko Morishima and Rica Takashima. This year also saw the distribution of Yuri manga for the first time to comic book stores – and now to chain bookstores in the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. I don’t feel one whit bad about saying that the staff, artists, writers and supporters of Yuricon and ALC have had an amazing year and deserve, 100%, to be on this list of top ten Yuri everything for 2005.

8. Kannazuki no Miko, ugh. Despite my feeling of hoplesseness every time I read a post by someone who uses the word “HAWT” in conjunction with this series, I have to get off my high horse for a second and admit that this god-awful farce of an anime and manga is what passes for Yuri to an awful lot of people. Not people I’d invite over for lunch or anything, you understand, but…. KnM put “Yuri” on the map for scads of fanboys who wouldn’t understand why “Strawberry Shake Sweet” is actually *good*, with a plot and characters etc., etc. For shoving the word “Yuri” up the noses and into the collective consciousness of the lowest common denominator, Kannazuki no Miko comes in at number 8.

7. Let’s talk dedication here for a second. Let’s talk shinyuu, friendship that goes above and beyond the bounds of sense and propriety. Let’s talk about two people you don’t know well enough, but you should – two people whose unending efforts in the cause of Yuri has made a real difference to us.

Rica Takashima has been a driving force behind a Yuricon presence in Japan. She was the organizer and host of Yuricon 2005 in Tokyo – and turned it into a history-making event quite single-handedly. She mans the Yuricon table at Comiket, creats cards and comics and art that make people happy – worldwide – and is an amazing person. And all this year, in *between* doing all this, she’s been handling a weekly cartooning job for a newspaper, and spending time, effort and energy on her own life. To say that all of Yuri-dom, owes Rica a debt of gratitude is not an understatement. Without her, Yuricon in Tokyo would not have been the success it was, and all the artists and writers who were there, who are now sitting in East Hall 5, Row Po at Winter Comiket, would not be talking about themselves as “Yuri” artists. Rica should probably come in at number one, really. But to her, I say, from the bottom of my heart, “Thank you.”

The other person I want to mention here has gone essentially unnoticed in the world of Yuri. She tends to hide behind me, but without her, there would be no, well…Yuri. Kelli Nicely has been the Yuricon staff illustrator for several years. She does the covers of our Yuri Monogatari anthologies and incidental art for them. She is the talent that brought Yuriko and her friends to life in the illustrated Shoujoai ni Bouken, and she’ll be illustrating a short for the next YM anthology. She created the wonderful “I Love Yuri” logo you see above. Posters, logos, whatever Yuricon needs, and whatever *I* need, Kelli has cranked it all out. And for all that work, she receives an unending stream of abuse and agita from yours truly. She also gets alot of lunches and snacky foods, but in the big picture she gives more than she gets. So for all her hard work as my whipping girl and right hand, Kelli Nicely makes the top ten this year.

6. While I’m talking about people who have influenced Yuri, I have to mention Hayashiya Shizuru. I’ve only mentioned her or her work about 10 times this year, but as the year moved on the frequency of her name popping up in my conversation has increased significantly. Her works, from the early ero-manga Ultra Sword to fanboy fave Onegai Teacher, from her doujinshi work as Jesus Drug to her Yuri serial Strawberry Shake Sweet, and of course, Hayate x Blade, Hayashiya Shizuru is making waves, setting trends and establishing a whole new wave of Yuri with humor – can you imagine? No more overwrought angst…no, the angst is now accompanied by ridiculous sight gags and egregious puns. And silly, silly situations. Yuri fans everywhere should say an Ave that she’s out there cranking out funny, happy, goofy Yuri.

5. I talk about them constantly, I can’t get enough of them. My drug of choice this and every year is Drama CDs. And at number 5 is the slowly but steadily growing collection of Maria-sama ga Miteru Drama CDs. One more moment in Rosa Chinensis’ Greatest Day, one more time for Yumi and Sei to interact, one more chance to hear Sachiko have a hysterical fit over something, one more chance to hear Shizuka sing. These CDs are the perfect way to get another infusion of the voices that make the characters come alive. Next year expect to hear about Hatsukoi Shimai and Hayate Cross Blade CDs, as well as more Marimite. But for now, the lovely ladies of Lillian make my best of without question.

4. Did I mention how utterly delightful Iono the Fanatics is? Yes? Oh well, let’s go over it again. Great storyline, charming characters, adorable art and sexy without cheesy fanservice. Can we get more of this please? :-)

3. I’m totally biased, I know. And I’m not above sucking up, either, so once again Japan’s quarterly Yuri manga magazine, Yuri Hime makes my list. Last year it made this list in its Yuri Shimai incarnation and now, reborn as Yuri Hime it’s even better than before. They’ve upped the grown-up-ness of the stories, added some significant artists and generally started putting out the Yuri manga magazine I’d like to see. If we can get their collected works over here through ALC, that would be icing on the cake.

2. I’m not *quite* sick of talking about Hayate Cross Blade yet, but I’m betting you’re all getting sick of hearing about it. :-) It’s funny, it’s deep. It’s got great, original characters and situations, and it has chicks with swords. In my personal opinion – a winning formula. The only reason I’d like to see an anime of it, is because then more people will see how wonderful it is. :-) Otherwise, I’d be happy with the monthly manga chapters that I read over and over in anticipation of the next collected volume. My most re-read manga of the year and greatly anticipated Drama CD…Hayate, Ayana, Jun, Momoka and Isuzu all make number two for the year.

Drum roll please……

1. In September 2004 I began reading these. I have read just about one a month since, and am steadily falling behind as Konno Oyuki cranks out more. LOL I’ve typed up notes, I’ve talked about them ad nauseum, and I’ve lived, eaten and breathed them for the last year. My number one diversion, and best Yuri anything of 2005 is, hands down, the Maria-sama ga Miteru novels by the magnificent Konno Oyuki-sensei. I am a notoriously picky reader – being a writer and editor has just about ruined reading as a pasttime for me. I constantly note inadequacies in the text, characters and situations. I just finished the thirteenth novel and all I have to say is – Konno is brilliant. The characters are delightful, the situations are fun and funny, and dramatic and worth every second it takes for me to translate, take notes and type the same up, so you all can spend another second with the Yamayurikai, too.

And so, please excuse me as I wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year, Akemashite Omodetou, etc, etc, and end this, so I can begin the next novel. ^_^

See you in 2006!





Top Ten Yuri Manga of 2005

December 29th, 2005

This list was way easier to put together, let me tell you! Yuri Manga in 2005 had more variety and more energy than anime by far. Looking over the titles I’ve chosen, there ought to be at least *something* for everyone on this year’s top ten…

10. With a surprising amount of yuri considering the original manga series, we’ll start this list off with the ROD – Read or Dream manga. Yes, it had a severe lack of Nenene, but it’s jam packed with Anita x Hisami and not really in a yucky way, either. Ah, young love…. Anyway, as I went on and on during the year, this was an interesting fun and Yuri-filled spin on the ROD-verse.

9. The Maria-sama ga Miteru manga has not been as notable as I could have hoped, but it’s also coming out very slowly. At this point the individual issues are running once every other month in Margaret magazine. The manga adds in internal monolgue that is lost in the anime, and the additional dialogue and rewrites have not been painful. The art is different than that of the novels and, I think, better than the animation. The stories have been handled with care and most importantly, the incidental art strikes exactly the right note of goofy creativity. I only wish it was coming out faster.

8. Coming in at number eight is that old classic that I love so much, YajiKita Gakuen Douchuuki. The Yuri is, if anything, *more* pronounced than in the original 22 volumes. Not only does Kita-san have the usual gaggle of girls running after her, she now has Ruriko obsessively seeking to dress her up in a tux and make her her lover. I really can’t get enough of this series.

7. Ichigo Mashimaro. As I’ve said many times, I tried to loathe this, but just couldn’t. It’s just too funny. There are so many reason why I shouldn’t enjoy it, but Miu is too damn Yuri and funny to hate. That, and this series’ persistent life on all Yuri blogs, lists and sites brings it to number seven in my top ten.

6. It’s true that Transistor ni Venus is older than just this year, but I discovered it in 2005, so on this list it goes. This is more like the kind of thing I look for in yuri, especially when the main players are all adult women. The art is very pinup-y, the plots are bare wrapping around the many kissing scenes and frankly, the stories are stupid. But I really enjoy the heck out of this manga and I really wish there was more!

5. Bakuretsu Tenshi was, IMHO, a really bleah anime. What a surprise then, to find that the manga wasn’t half bad! The Jo x Meg thing that had completely been suppressed to the point of needing yuri goggles on high in the anime, was surfaced nicely in the manga. I only wish they had gone on with the story and rewrote the entire sequence of anime events, but you can’t have everything. ^_^ In any case, for Meg and Jo sharing soba and kisses, this makes number five for the year.

4. Shameless? Why *yes!* It may seem utterly absurd for me to say this, but I really do believe that Yuri Monogatari 3 is one of the best Yuri manga of the year. It’s got adult content, without it being icky, squicky or loli. There’s something for everyone in this year’s Yuri anthology – angst and violence and humor and even a sympathetic tentacle monster, lol. Every year our anthology gets stronger…I gotta tell you, YM4 is *already* on the way to being a really excellent book. Bigger and more chock-filled with excellent Yuri. And that’s what this list is all about, dammit! LOL If you haven’t gotten a copy of YM3, you’re missing, really.

3. Iono the Fanatics *had* to make this list. Original, funny, adorable, sexy, with one of the most charming eponymous protagonists I’ve come across in years, my copy of the first volume has already been re-read several times, and I eye the author’s site constantly waiting for the next volume. This manga makes my short list for “why can’t they make an anime of THIS????”

2. Who says money can’t buy you happiness? In fact, four times a year, it does, when the new issue of Yuri Hime comes out. This quarterly anthology has improved since Ichijinsha took it over. The stories and art are getting stronger with each volume and the number of popular yuri artists joining the collection grows every issue, as well. Soon we’ll be seeing collected volumes of stories from Yuri Hime, and we can buy copies and keep our fingers crossed that we’ll see more!

And finally, coming in at number one, my current raison d’etre and best Yuri manga of 2005…

1. Hayate Cross Blade

You can find my reviews of the collected volumes and Drama CDs of HxB in the category for the series.

No, this manga has no serious kisses, no sex, nothing of that kind. But it does have genuine emotional connection and conflict between women who love, love/hate and hate each other; it has Jun, an openly lesbian character; it has chicks with swords; and shinyuu; and it has partners who are in love, or in physical relationships with each other (yes, really…). Basically it has lots of girls, lots of fights, lots of comedy and a fair dollop of Yuri through all of the above.

Written and drawn by Hayashiya Shizuru, artist of so many other Yuri-riffic series, including the upcoming collected volume of Strawberry Shake Sweet, HxB wins hands down as my favorite Yuri manga of the year.





Top Ten Yuri Anime of 2005

December 28th, 2005

It’s the end of the year and since I has so much fun doing this last year, I thought I’d see about doing this once again. So today we’re doing the Top Ten Yuri Anime of 2005. And let me tell you how *hard* this was, since 2005 has been a particularly weak year for anime.

10. Coming in a number ten is the anime that, as my wife pointed out to me the other day, made “fluting” a verb, Kannazuki no Miko. I reviewed this anime in The Girl Got The Girl, But….. My opinion hasn’t changed, really. It was loud, it was silly. It made no sense. But a bazillion young’uns thought it was the most amazing Yuri they’d ever seen, so it makes the list.

9. At number nine is the reason I stuck in that late review earlier this week.- Loveless. It was one Yuri arc among many yaoi, but it was a good arc. It was happy. It was not loli and it had kisses and hugs and a pair of black furry ears. Yamato and Kouya are an angsty pair with a hopeful story – one good enough to make my top ten for the year.

Now it gets harder. Do we go with pointless obsession, lolicon, or service…to quote the brilliant choreographer Pina Bouche, “There are so *many*!

8. At number eight I’m calling on my ability to ignore that this series has actually been out for several years in favor of it only just having been released here in the US. So we’re going with Madlax, for number eight. I’ve reviewed the individual DVDs, so you’ll have to look around for them, rather than me listing every review, but suffice to say that I find the story compelling, the characters cracked and interesting, the holes in the plot full of possibility and ditto the Yuri. Eleanor x Margaret, Eleanor x Vanessa, Vanessa x Madlax, Madlax x Rimelda, whatever your flavor, there’s a couple that’s right for you! Bee Train’s finest work to date and a worthy purchase for your collection.

7. Mai Hime makes the list and really, despite everything bad about the series, belongs here. If you ignore Tate, Shiho and the craptastic ending, it was a truly excellent anime, and gave the world Shizuru and Natsuki, Haruka and Yukino, AND, through the determined efforts of Yuricon member Ashley, Aoi and Chie. :-) Shizuru was definitely the coolest psychotic lesbian of 2005, and I’m always partial to a woman with a polearm. Remember these faces and names, too, because they’ll be back…

6. Gokujou Seitokai is one of those series in which the Yuri is mostly Yuri-goggledom, with the occasional bit of service to remind us not to forget that this *is* an all-girl school, wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Nonetheless, it is worth watching and it has introduced a whole new onomatopoeia for snuggling – “paya paya.” Introducing a new word into two languages has got to be worth a space on this list. :-)

5. Number five is another funny series, Ichigo Mashimaro. Loli as it is, there’s just too much Yuri-ness to ignore. The good thing about Ichigo Mashimaro is that it’s snortingly funny, which makes it totally worth watching. The whole thing is really just adorable. Kills me, it does.

4. This anime is so new, I haven’t really had a chance to review it yet, but this year’s top four has absolutely got to include Kaleido Star: Legend of Phoenix (Layla Hamilton Monogatari). At *last* we have the Sora x Layla episode we’ve all been waiting for! This OVA is the Kaleido Star I personally had hoped to see from the very beginning. It’s all Layla realizing what Sora means to her – oddly, as she bicycles down Route 17 in New York State…a place I have fond and surreal memories of myself. :-) This OVA hasn’t been subbed yet, but it doesn’t matter. It’s totally worth watching in any form.

3. Mai Otome wasted no time in re-establishing Shizuru as lesbian supreme, and it upped Chie’s playgirl cool considerably. Shizuru and Natsuki are a not particularly ambiguous couple, Haruka and Yukino now have state authority to be a couple and there’s more than enough Yuri service for the average fan and some of the not-so-average ones.

Honorable Mention. For a series with no visible *Yuri*, but lots of akogare, and some invisible, but you have got to know it’s there Yuri-goggle type Yuri, Aria wins an honorable mention. If you can watch this anime and not see that Akira and Alicia are lovers, you are clearly not a true Yuri-goggle wearin’ Yuri fan.

And tied for first place for 2005:

1. Gakuen Alice and Stellvia.

Gakuen Alice is the best unreleased, partially unsubbed Yuri of 2005. Mikan’s love (and desire) appears to be mostly one-sided until the big romantic dance. Then Hotaru rules the Yuri world by taking Mikan as her “we’ll be in love forever” last dance partner. If you haven’t seen this series, you’ve actually missed a damn fine story.

And since I have ranted and raved about it so *many* times, here is the full-line-up of all the many reviews I’ve done on Stellvia.

Decent story, wonderful characters, fantastic dialogue and a really yummy Yuri storyline. One of the best releases of 2005, hands down.

As I said, 2005 was generally a mediocre year for Yuri anime, but we have some fun things to look forward to in 2006: Kashimasi Girl Meets Girl; Eikyuu Alice; Jyoshi Kousei and of course the third season of Maria-sama ga Miteru. Whether 2006 is as strong as 2003-4 for Yuri…we’ll all be waiting to find out, with bated breath.

Tune in tomorrow for the Top Ten Manga of 2005!





Okazu’s "Top 10" of Yuri 2004

December 31st, 2004

This year I have read, watched, bought, listened to, published and discussed more yuri than probably just about anyone else on this planet. LOL Today’s entry is simply a celebration of yuri-related anything that I read/watched/got/enjoyed/developed, etc over 2004. This is my “Best of 2004” list.

10) ALC (Anilesbocon) Publishing
We managed two books in 2004, one translation, WORKS (which is very nearly sold out!) and one anthology. We’re working on a 2nd edition of Rica ‘tte Kanji!?, a new anthology – Yuri Monogatari 3 – and an illustrated novel, Shoujoai ni Bouken, Vol. 1. It may be self-aggrandizement, but at the moment, we’re *still* the only yuri manga publisher in the western world. And you know, that makes me very, very proud. My thanks goes out to all the contributors to the Yuri Monogatari anthology, Ed. Ed, Kun, and especially to Rica Takashima and my wife – I quite literally could not do it without them. I think that, for all our hard work in spreading the yuri genre to the English-speaking world, we at least desrve 10th place on this “Best of” list. :-)

9) Lililicious
This scanlating and fansubbing group deserves recognition on my Top 10 of 2004 list, definitely. Not only are they a really fine group of women and men (although the women are finer – if you know what I mean… lol) and fun to hang with, they are also really dedicated to making decent, unlicensed yuri manga and anime accesible to online yuri fandom. I especially thank them for scanlating some of the truly obscure, but classic, yuri manga out there, like Claudine and the stories from Mist, because these are *so* out of print and so very worth knowing about.

8) ROD The TV on DVD
I’ve beaten this to death all year long, so suffice to say that, this series has been one of the best things I’ve gotten all year. The double sided pencil boards and covers have more to do with the fact that we get twice as many episodes per DVD than the Japanese do, than good marketing, but you know, you can see that Geneon is *trying*; trying to finds a happy medium with the translation, with the packaging, with the extras. I remember when an A.D.Vision VHS tape had one episode and nothing else – for the same price as a 4-episode DVD with double-sided cover, liner notes, mini-poster and a double-sided pencil board is now. Think about it. :-)

7) Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Live Action)
I wrote about this series alot too, but haven’t yet done a wrap-up entry. I’ll do that later. Let me just say that this was pretty much the perfect thing for this series’ 10th anniversary. It got me all jazzed up again about the Senshi and all their lovely yuri potential…and reminded me just why I consider Haruka and Michiru to be the eternal Queens of Yuri. We now have several new additions to our terrifyingly large wand/locket collection in the house and, yesterday, *just* in time to sneak onto this list, I received in the mail the original toy of Haruka’s communicator watch from Sailor Moon S! Yep – the thing is nearly 10 years old and looks perfect. Battery’s dead, though. LOL In any case, here’s hoping this series never dies. PGSM/BSSM and related toys make number 7 on the “best of the best” list.

6) Azumanga Daioh on DVD
Not only is this series gut-splittingly funny, the yuri is not at all subtle (even if it is ultimately just one more gag.) The DVDs have excellent episode count, REALLY good liner notes – best of the breed in fact – and fun toy surprises. This wins “best bang for your buck” award for licensed DVD releases this year from me. ADV deserves recognition for doing what almost approaches a perfect job. (Now, just leave the honorifics alone and you’d be golden!) ADV also deserves a real nod of gratitude for their continuing support of yuri-friendly anime in general and this series in specific, which is definitely one of the best of 2004.

5) Yuricon
I know, I know, another shameless plug moment…but no, not really. Four years ago, we had a goofy website, a tenuous premise and not much else. Now, entering our 5th year of existence, we have just announced an event *in Japan,* have almost 900 members on our Mailing Lists, have a line of “I love Yuri” gifts, and a presence at some of the largest and most influential anime cons in the country. Yuricon’s efforts have spawned like-minded efforts in Japan, and I have been informed by several Japanese yuri fans that Yuricon pretty much created the idea of a genre of yuri whose birth we are witnessing right now. Who *knows* what the next five years will bring – but I’m betting that you’ll see some pretty amazing changes in regards to yuri and shoujoai.

Let me take this opportunity to thank my staff at Yuricon, starting with Kun, my right hand and whipping girl, who does very nearly anything I ask of her, including neck rubs. Also Katie, May, Paulette, Trevor, Serge, Donna, Rica and everyone who has put time and money into Yuricon to help it further the cause of yuri and shoujoai in anime and manga. And of course, my wife. :-) But mostly, I want to thank all you fans of yuri and shoujoai who keep convincing me that there *is* a market out there, if only we can reach it. Yuricon will keep trying to do everything we can to increase our presence, and gain respect for the genre we love so much. So, for all that everyone has done, and all that we have accomplished – Yuricon makes the top 10 list for me this year.

4)Yuri Doujinshi Circles
At Comiket 67, which took place last weekend, nearly 80 circles were selling yuri doujinshi and novels. These groups, made up of individuals who put their own time and money into these self-publishing efforts, rarely make back the money they put into the projects. But every year, they keep on doing it – because they love yuri. Some of these circles do fan art, but more and more of them are doing original work, and every year another group of women who draw and write yuri seem to join this incognito army. It is because of these people that Maria-sama ga Miteru gained enough popularity to become an anime, and it is these people from whom ALC will draw publishing projects. Because of their dedication and hard work and because for many yuri fans, doujinshi make up the bulk of their yuri-related reading, the folks who write for various yuri doujinshi circles get my thumbs up for 2004.

3)Yuri Shimai
As I said yesterday, it may not be perfect, but this quarterly manga magazine has created ripples in the manga word, spawining me-too anthologies and generally changing the landscape of yuri manga completely. In a mere five issues, it has improved dramatically and we can hope that we’ll see even more improvements and growth for the next year. For having such a significant effect on the genre of “girls love” manga – Yuri Shimai makes third place in the Best of 2004.

2) Koi Shimai Drama CDs
For me, what makes a manga or anime come alive is the voices…hearing a character, even more than seeing him or her animated, makes a character real for me. It’s well-known that I started my otaku career because of Ogata Megumi’s voice, and I’m still captivated by excellent voice acting. Because of this – even more than the magazine from which it came, I feel that the Koi Shimai Drama CDs were the second best yuri-related thing I got this year. The story is simple, a little unsatisfying, but the idea that they managed to find women who were willing to put their voices into characters that specifically were in a “girls love” drama really makes them special. The second CD, which features Park Romi as hunky Touko-sensei is wearing thin as I listen to it over and over and over. It’s SO sexy that it’s inspired me to write a fanfic! LOL Again, kudos to Sun Publishing for the idea – and here’s hoping that we see more of these!

Which leaves me with my number one get for 2004. If you know me, if you’ve read these entries, or my posts on the Yuricon Mailing List, you will probably not be surprised at all. :-)

My number one best of everything yuri of 2004 is….

1) Maria-sama ga Miteru Drama CD, 1,2, 3 and 4
These were, bar none, the absolute *best* things I got this year. These four CDs contain voice dramas of the first three Marimite novels, as voiced by the actresses from the anime. With more detail than the anime, or even the manga, the Drama CDs contain not only the story, but also the emotions of the story, as interpreted by some of the finest voice actors extant. As I wrote in my review of the Ibara no Mori/Shiroi Hanabira CD, there were moments when I was left breathless by the virtuosity of the actresses’ work.

The packaging for the Drama CDs is lovely, with covers from the novels, extra art by novel artist Hibiki Reine, nice little inserts, and of course, those fantastic plastic dolls of the Yamayurikai which greet me every day on my desk at work. :-) The fourth Drama CD is now available and I’m just *dying* to see what extras they’ve put in it! LOL

To put it simply – these rock. If you can understand even a little Japanese, run out and get them for the best yuri-related experience you can have that doesn’t actualy involve another person. :-)

Overall, as it has made my Top 10 in anime, manga and general Best Of, I think we really have to say that Maria-sama ga Miteru wins overall award as “Best Yuri of 2004”.

When I first got into yuri, we had Haruka and Michiru as poster children. When I created Yuricon, we had Anthy, Utena and Juri…now, as a whole new era of yuri is being born, we welcome it in with Yumi and Sachiko, Sei and Youko (or Shiori or Kei!) Yoshino and Rei, Noriko and Shimako, and characters yet to come. :-) I think the future’s looking bright, myself.

You all know that the calendar is arbitrary, right? Today is no more “the last day” of the year than it is the “first day of the rest of your life.” Nonetheless, I wish you all a Happy New Year/Akemashite Omodetou. May 2005 be filled with yuri for us all!