Archive for the Yuri Anime Category


Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie: The Adolescence of Utena in N. American Theaters June 21-22

May 29th, 2026

Title poster for Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie: The Adolescence of Utena, a brown-skinned woman with flowing dark hair in a flowing white dress floats diagonally upwards, a pale-skinned woman with flowing pink hair in a white school uniform jacket and shirts floats diagonally downward from the same center.It is with joy that I heard that Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie: The Adolescence of Utena is getting a theatrical release in the United States (and, apparently Canada!) Yesterday, GKIDS made their official announcement and I spent some hours tracking down every theater I could find that will be playing this movie, so before I rave about why you should go see it, here’s the most important information, about where and when.

 

Where To Watch Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie: The Adolescence of Utena

The following movie chains are carrying the movie.  The chain in my town is running the movie in my old hometown, but not here, so check for the nearest location.

AMC Theaters

Cineplex

Regal Theaters

Cinemark Theaters

The GKIDS announcement only mentions AMC, so do take a look at local theater chains…and, if there is a chain that is showing it that I have not included, let me know in comments. You don’t have to mention that the chain theater near you has it, unless it’s a chain I don’t have here.

 

When To Watch Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie: The Adolescence of Utena

June 21-22, 2026

These are the most common dates, but I have seen 21 and 23 for some theaters. Check your nearest theaters for time and dates. 

 

Why You Should Watch Revolutionary Girl Utena The Movie: The Adolescence of Utena

In 1990s, we had two anime series that were foundational for the growing Yuri fandom.  One of the directors for Sailor Moon was Ikuhara Kunihiko. Under his direction in the third and the beginning of the fifth seasons, we were introduced to Sailor Uranus/Tenoh Haruka and Sailor Neptune/Kaioh Michiru. This young lesbian couple changed the world, by making an anime one of the very first portrayals of a lesbian couple on Japanese TV.

Following that series, Ikuhara built a creative team, known as Be-Papas, and they created an anime and manga series, Shoujo Kakumei Utena (少女革命ウテナ) Revolutionary Girl Utena in English. (This link goes the category on Okazu, where you will see many, many posts about the series and its influence. One of those posts was included in my book: Retrospective of a Revolution – 20 Years of Shoujo Kakumei Utena.)

This movie is the one of four alternate versions of the Utena narrative. The TV animation is a 39-episode fantasy exploration of magical and school shoujo tropes, gender, abuse and redemption. It’s fantasy and funny as hell, with intense and fabulous background music.  At the moment it is out of print, but if you check your library system, you might find one of the many releases available. I know I donated at least one to my library. The manga from Viz Media, is another iteration of the narrative. It is much less queer.  The manga for the movie, the fourth iteration, is largely the major influence for me to discover the history of the references in the series, launching me on my trajectory of learning the artistic and literary history of Yuri.

And then there is the movie. This movie is visually one of the most astonishing experiences I have ever had. I first saw it on a shitty VHS copy from an illicit video rental place, then was able to see it on the big screen at the Japan Foundation in NYC.  It is my eternal pleasure to have introduced this film at the Frameline LGBTQ+ Film Festival in San Francisco. At that time I spoke to an audience of 1200 people (about 1000 of which had no idea what it was about)  at the Castro theater, with Ikuhara himself sitting in the front row. 

This movie is a magnificent work, often intentionally inexplicable, (sometimes unintentionally) with symbolism that may appear profound, and may not. The music is gorgeous and meaningful. The voice acting is memorable, even more so as  we have lost Kawakami Tomoko, Utena’s voice actress.

Please go and see this movie while you can…and if you find you cannot understand it, just let it wash over you, like the roses on the dueling ground. I promise it’ll be worth it.





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

May 17th, 2026

The title art for Botan Kamiina Fully Blossoms When Drunk. On the left is the title logo, while on the right is a collage of the main characters. One girl has long straight purple hair, wearing a white button front shirt and a slight smile. Below her, a strawberry blong girl with long wavy hair leans chin on hand, looking longingly to the side. Next to her is a girl with pink hair tied up in a pony tail with a black ribbon, tuning a red Yamaha Pacifica guitar. One girl has a wheat-colored bob and is holding a bottle of alcohol, leaning over a railing in the boarding house. One girl in a black knitted sweater dress and sporting medium-short black hair sees herself in a mirrored fireplace mantle, on which there is an assortment of airplane-sized bottles of alcohol. In the foreground of all of these is a girl with long pink hair tied up in dual ponytails with blue ribbons. She is wearing a light blue overcoat over a midnight blue cocktail dress. She's holding a giftwrapped bottle of booze and is sporting a slight smileIn 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





Does It Count If You Lose Your Innocence to An Android?, Streaming on OceanVeil

April 5th, 2026

A purple-haired woman in purple lingerie clings to and tries to kiss a startled woman with red-head in dark purple bra and underwear.Right now, Comic Yuri Hime magazine is running several adult titles and a number of sexually suggestive titles among their serialized works. Most of these have been picked up by Seven Seas, which has released series like My Girlfriend’s Not Here Today  and Asumi-chan Is Interested In Lesbian Brothels. They also are releasing the manga Does It Count If You Lose Your Virginity To An Android, by Yakinikuteishoku, which was adapted into a 9-episode series of anime shorts. 

Today we’re taking a look at Does It Count If You Lose Your Innocence to An Android?, streaming on the OceanVeil platform. You will notice obviously that the title is not quite the same as the manga. That happens sometimes when the manga and anime companies don’t or can’t communicate and sometimes when the divisions of the IP owner aren’t in communication. In any case, it is the same story.

Akane works for an electronics company. She’s a hard worker and much admired in the office, but at home she is a disaster. One day she finds a box on her doorstep and surprise! inside is a sexy android, Nadeshiko. Nadeshiko immediately takes up space as Akane’s helpmeet, cleaning cooking and having sex with a reluctant and not sexually knowledgeable Akane. This is all pretty standard “sexy android” territory.

The story hinges, in this early section, on Akane’s unwillingness to top Nadeshiko and therefore (imagine me heavy sighing here) claiming ownership of the android by pressing the right button. Akane is not just a bottom, she’s also really inexperienced and slightly freaked out about having sex with an android, as one might expect. This is also accompanied by a predictable feeling of rejection experienced by Nadeshiko. 

Because these episodes are short, sex scenes are pretty quick, without the exaggerated sounds that so marred Shoujo Sect. There is no explicit sex here, but it clear what is supposed to be happening. The result is that this anime is porn-ish. I appreciate that they are covering approximately a whole chapter per 5 minute segment and since the sex scenes are the point of most chapters, the rest of the content does not take long. 

I mention that Nadeshiko is Akane’s cleaner, cook and sex partner. When we disparagingly think about the kind of men who tend to desire this, we often put “Mommy” in this list, as a sardonic requirement of what some regressives think of a wifely duties. I did not add that…but this anime does. There is an entire episode where Nadeshiko stands in for “Mommy” and you do you, but I just jumped to the next episode without feeling I had missed anything significant.

It’s not that there is nothing interesting in this story – who sent Nadeshiko and why could be an interesting plot point, but it is mostly background noise and not resolved, even when Akane makes an attempt to find the truth.

If you are already a fan of the manga, these anime shorts will be entertaining. It might also work well as a way to decide if you want to get into this manga in the first place, as it’s a fairly accurate adaptation.

Ratings: 

Art – It’s not *bad* but the characters have moe-blob faces which make them look young, ick and all breasts and bodies looks identical. It’s not just the android that is a sex doll.
Story – There are some elements that might be interesting if telling a story was the point…but it’s not.
Characters – Sexy android, disaster office oneesan
Service – 100
Yuri – Akane legit feels weird about falling for an android

Overall – It has a place in the universe, but that place is not on my shelves.

OceanVeil is a weird-ass streaming platform, as well. There’s some 18+ stuff and some teen rated stuff. The GL Category has two choices, both of which are rated NSFW. This, and Aoihana aka Sweet Blue Flowers. Probably for the nudity in the OP. Prudes are so fucking stupid. 

You can also watch episodes  of Android Keiken Ninzuu ni Hairimasu ka? ? (アンドロイドは経験人数に入りますか？？) in Japanese on YouTube.





No Love 1/2

April 1st, 2026

In a noir palette of dark, muted colors, a woman wearing a dark suit with a blunt collar cut dark hair leans in towards the chest of a dark-haired woman in a sleeveless dark blouse.by Burkely Hermann, Guest Reviewer

Since its release in late January, tens of thousands of people have watched the first episode of No Love 1/2 on Internet Archive and on YouTube where it is age restricted because it “may be inappropriate for some users.” No Love 1/2 is created by Anne Yue (also known as Atelier), with help from producer Matthew Nguyen, and crew members working on 3D animation, sound design, casting, and voice direction. In a YouTube comment, Atelier stated that due to disappointment over rarely animating women or working on any girls’ love projects as a professional gaming industry animator, she worked for nine months to complete episode one. She promised at least two more episodes and hoped the episode would inspire others.

No Love 1/2 is more than a “cocktail mix of yuri with neo-noir and girls-with-guns.” Although those elements are prominent in the only episode presently released, which is 20 minutes long, there is more going on.

The episode begins with Hannah (voiced by Hanako Watanabe) meeting Melissa “Mel”/”Lisa” (voiced by Tasch Ritter). Mel worries about the planned heist while blowing smoke at Hannah even though she says her girlfriend, Annabel, “hates” that smell. It quickly goes wrong. Mel is hanging out at her bar when Nicky (voiced by Amanda Hufford) beats her up. She tells Mel she needs to give her the amount that the platinum bars, which she stole, are worth. She gives Mel three days to get “her” money back. Some time later, Mel busts into Hannah’s office, confronting Hannah when she’s about to make sweet love to Annabel (voiced by Madeline Dorroh). Surprised to see this in front of her, she says they need to talk.

She threatens her with her gun, believing that Hannah sold her out. However, Hannah is a skilled one-armed fighter and she easily disarms Mel. Hannah learns about a woman she detests: Nicky. Mel says she throws “one hell of a haymaker,” referring to a powerful, wide-swinging punch “designed to deliver a heavy blow” to any opponent. It turns out that Nicky, a mid-level mob boss in the criminal organization, is working for a crony, Holland (voiced by Maia Harlap). The latter threatens her, demanding money equivalent to ten kilos of “her platinum” and claims that Nicky will be targeted after she gets the money.

The next day, Hannah admits to her girlfriend that she is responsible for Mel getting into this mess. Later, her boss, a Black woman named Velda (voiced by Maganda Marie), who saved her in the past, coldly implies that Mel’s death is an “acceptable loss.” Hannah worries that Mel might compromise them. Her boss tells her she is getting “soft.” In a poignant scene, Mel challenges Hannah, saying she is only worried if she will rat her out and not about if she lives or dies. They have a nice heart-to-heart afterward. All this makes the series stronger than Metallic Rouge, which also features girls with guns, but has an infuriating storyline.

The episode’s final part has a gun fight between herself, Hannah, and Nicky’s goons, mostly involving handguns, with Hannah expertly using a sniper rifle. Hannah and Mel escape while Nicky is terrified to learn about Hannah. Velda is disappointed. She says that because Hannah got too “sentimental,” they couldn’t off Nicky. This sets the stage for future episodes.

No Love 1/2 was animated with Blender/Goo Engine. The resulting smooth 3D animation used various sources for modelling and animation, without using any machine learning/A.I. tools/algorithms. The neo-noir style, with music by Damien Osborne and lo sé, reminded me of yurish anime centering on girls with guns like the ever-popular Lycoris Recoil and three classic Bee Train series: Noir, El Cazador de la Bruja, and Madlax. Even though I thought immediately of early seasons of RWBY, that series did not use Blender. Seasons 1-3 used Poser and Autodesk Maya. Blender was prominently used in films like Flow, I Lost My Body, and Next Gen.

The voice cast of No Love 1/2 includes VTubers/streamers, game developers, vocalists, and singers, and those who are LGBTQ+, neurodivergent, Cantonese, and bilingual. Some voice cast lent their voices to characters in indie animated series (The Amazing Digital Circus and Monkey Wrench) and assorted anime (Wadance, Yakuza Fiancé, and Reborn as a Vending Machine). Furthermore, Nguyen, producer of No Love 1/2, is Vietnamese-American. He previously created an arcade flight action video game, Project Wingman.

The relationship between Hannah and Annabel is a major part of No Love 1/2. Hannah demands that Mel leave while touching Annabel’s breast, and asking if Mel if they can talk later. This is shown openly and unabashedly. When Mel enters Hannah’s office, she is taken aback at her boss’s boldness but does not object to the fact that Hannah is in a romantic relationship with a woman. Later in the episode, Annabel and Hannah lie the same bed together.

In another scene, Hannah’s shirt is unbuttoned and Annabel’s neck has hickeys, implying they had sex the previous night. The romance between these two characters is healthy, rather than toxic or abusive. In addition, Annabel and Hannah softly look into each other’s eyes and, at certain points, it is almost like they are staring at the viewer.

When Hannah and Velda talk at an arcade, Annabel is happily playing a claw game. Velda doesn’t mind her being there. Again, in the world of No Love 1/2, characters don’t even bat an eye at lesbian relationships. Lastly, Hannah shows she is considerate by not smoking around her girlfriend because she dislikes the smell.

Ratings: 
Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 4 or 5 (There’s some partial nudity, implied sex, and an almost-sex scene)
Yuri – 5 or 6 (at the very least)
Music – 9

Overall- 9

Burkely Hermann is a writer, researcher, and former metadata librarian. His reviews can be read on Pop Culture Maniacs or his personal WordPress blog. He can be followed on Instagram, Bluesky, or on Mastadon communities such as library.love, glammr.us, genealysis.social, and historians.social.





My Beloved Zako Streamer

February 18th, 2026
Two young women wearing different Japanese school uniforms, look into a cell phoneby Burkely Hermann, Guest Reviewer
Is the internet “forever”? A recent indie anime plays with that concept, following the story of a livestreamer and her best friend, who get romantically close to one another, and kiss twice on the livestream channel. The Japanese title for the series is Itoshi no Zako Haishinsha-chan 「愛しのザコ配信者ちゃん」streaming on YouTube. That title has many different translations into English, including My Beloved Underdog Streamer Girl, My Beloved Weak Streamer, My Beloved Low-Tier Streamer Girl (from the site of voice actor Mochimiyu), My Beloved Zako Deliverer (Melon Books and Niconi Commons), My Beloved Zako Streamer (Suruga-ya), My Beloved Zako Streamer-chan, or My beloved girlfriend is an unpopular youtuber (used in official subtitles).
This series director, Naoya Ishikawa, is well-known for his short series, Kuttsukiboshi. Five episodes and four promotional videos for Zako are available to watch on the company’s YouTube channel and there have been screenings in Tokyo. Firstly, this series shows the strength of indie anime, for which there are very few examples.  The series has official English subtitles, so users do not need to use the “auto-translate” feature. 
The reality of COVID-19, and importance of stopping viruses, is clear from the get-go. I liked that it showed, in a respectful way, characters wearing masks. In the first episode, some characters even compliment each other on their masks. This is something I have not seen in any animated clips or series, even though the COVID-19 pandemic began in December 2019. Many people sadly act like the pandemic is “over,” thinking they can go back to their “normal” behaviors. Others won’t even depict it at all. Beloved Zako Streamer reminds people that the virus is here to stay and that you can, and should, take precautions. 
The series contains some commentary on YouTubers / livestreamers. Mamiko (voiced by Koyori Nohana) is a very unsuccessful streamer. However, the person who inspired her to become a streamer is Mikittan (voiced by Popura Sawano), a young woman who lives in a messy, dirty, and disorganized apartment. She might be a hoarder. She claims she knows where everything is and gets lots of comments on her stream. In the fourth episode, Shii (voiced by Yui Otogura) is completely overwhelmed by the deluge of comments that Mamiko gets on her channel and wants them to stop. It reminds me of a recent episode of Oshi no Ko, where an adult-oriented cosplayer criticizes a series online, almost bringing it down.
The first episode begins with Shii dreaming that she is in a compromising position with her childhood friend Mamiko, then kissing her. As she wakes up for school, she realizes she had a wet dream. Later that day, she thinks that Mamiko doesn’t realize she is in love with her. She is caught off guard when Mamiko declares that she wants to do a livestream with her, making her believe that her dream will come true after all. This somewhat implies that Mamiko has feelings for her as well. It takes until the second episode of this ongoing series for things to heat up. Mamiko and Shii sit naked in the same bathroom, and then the same bathtub. Somehow, Shii still believes that she could never have a sexual relationship with Mamiko.

Using a camera she borrowed from Ita, their school friend, Shii and Mamiko begin their livestream. Ita (voiced by Nadeshiko Komae) and Miseri (voiced by mochimiyu), are hinted as having feelings for each other. In one episode, one of them tickles the other with her feet. They are among the stream’s six viewers. In the third episode, everything goes off the rails. Shii pulls Mamiko to the floor. They lie together before Shii pulls Mamiko into the exact position she had dreamed about. She asks Mamiko if she would save her from a train, or five of her favorite YouTubers, in a classic description of the trolley problem. Consent should have been emphasized better. The consent should not have been dubious. Even so, when compared to other anime, including some yuri works, perhaps Beloved Zako Streamer is better.

Only seconds later, she kisses Shii. Mamiko encourages Shii to take the next step. As the calm music plays, they kiss one another again. Their kisses gain them lots of viewers. They are unaware their stream is ongoing. In the following episode, Miseri and Ita continue watching. One of them snaps a photo of Mamiko and Shii’s kiss. Eventually they get in contact with Mamiko and Shii, before they do anything racy and get banned. Both finally learn they were livestreaming this entire time!
In the last-available episode of Beloved Zako Streamer, Shii desperately tries to reverse everything by going back in time thirty minutes. She thinks that the fairy of time, Tokkie, will help her go back to when she pushed down Mamiko. Tokkie warns her that if she does so, her special relationship with Mamiko will be reset. She promises to confess to Mamiko in a better way. She soon awakens and realizes that meeting Tokkie was her imagination.
Apart from secondary coupling-of-sorts, Ita and Miseri, who spend time close to one another, in the last-available episode, Shii’s false assumptions are blasted apart. She truly thinks that no one really watched the stream. When she returns home, her aunt reveals to her what she feared: she has become a celebrity-of-sorts. Someone snapped a photo of her kissing Mamiko, effectively publicly outing her. As she scrolls through the social media feed, she is horrified. She is worried that her “normal” high school life is over, meaning that she can’t be with Mamiko in the way she originally envisioned.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 3 or 4 (there’s some nudity but it is covered up by lens flares)
Yuri – 6 or 7
Music – 8

Overall – 8

Hopefully more episodes air this year, continuing my list of series that are yuriish. A preview at the end of the most recent episode hints that Shii and Miseri will begin their relationship for real. It seems that Beloved Zako Streamer will depict a growing, healthy relationship by two people under a lot of pressure as sort-of online celebrities.

Burkely Hermann is a writer, researcher, and former metadata librarian. His reviews can be read on Pop Culture Maniacs or his personal WordPress blog. He can be followed on Instagram, Bluesky, or on Mastadon communities such as library.love, glammr.us, genealysis.social, and historians.social.