Teenager angst is such a staple of fantasy literature that we don’t really question is any more. We all know that been an adolescent is fraught, (complicated, unnerving and frustrating) as well as full of unknown excitement and opportunity. So of course it’s a fertile area for queer and queer-adjacent works to suggest alternatives to this reality. Comic Yuri Hime, June 2024 (コミック百合姫2024年6月号) begins with one such new story.  “Genjitsu Sekai Demo Shiawasenishite Kudasai Ne?” follows Machino, a girl who is deeply, obsessively a fan of manga. When the president of the manga club introduces her to an Isekai game in which she can play the love routes as a girl or a guy, she falls hard.  She plays the game over and over, playing all the routes as a girl. When the princess appears in her room one night and confesses to her, things are (clearly) gonna get wacky.

This is followed by “Gakeppuchi Reijou ha Kuro Kishi-sama o Horesasetai!” in which a hapless princess is trying to find the way to her heartless Black Knight fiancee’s heart through…food. A time-honored strategy.

Shiho *finally* has her come-to-god moment! It’s really about time, She’s just been so intolerable. Now she’s merely annoying in a totally normal way, in Takeshima Eku’s “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Uta.” In case you’re watching the anime and wondering if she ever gets less appalling Yes, eventually.

Still REALLY liking “Salvia no Bouquet” with its focus on finding joy and sharing emotional bonds through magic. There is a lot of fntasy in the magazine right now, as I have pointed out, so it’s good that some of it is…nice.

I have a lot of big feelings about “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” by Miman. Kanako has come to some important conclusions for herself but in doing so, has still forgotten that Sumika is on her own journey. I am  – as I have been all along – hoping that the to of them can be sisters to one another in a supportive way.

In “Odoriba ni Skirt gag Naru,” Shion is finally given space to think about her relationship with Kiki. My hope for them is that they lean into a friendship based on healthy competition.

Kodama Naoko’s “Utsotsuki Hanayome to Dousei Kekkon-ron” is moving into it’s “crisis because we can’t have a conversation” phase. I’m sure all will be well, since as dark and bitter as her set-ups are, they tend toward fluffy endings.

Ciel  rips her father a new one in “Kiraware Majoureijou to Dansou Ouji no Kon’yaku” as a distraction (and confession) while the rest of the cast tries to figure out some clues to the dozen or so secrets laying around the story.

In “Ooto Gohan Wo Gossho Ni” food is bought and then prepared and eaten outside. Please the gods this story never develops a plot. It’s fine just the way it is!

“Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijo.” gives a Rae, Lily and Claire working for the Crown, but maybe against their fathers? and the infamous Mito Koumon reference, which I am pleased to note makes this the second Yuri manga to reference this series. ^_^

I have no idea where “Gan no Hime” is going, but I guess I’m okay with wherever it is. As basically the only scifi in the magazine right now, it is carrying a lot of weight for me.

And also of interest to me was this moth’s film review which took a look at Sakura no Sono – a 2008 remake of an earlier 1990 movie of the same name that I reviewed based on a manga by Yoshida Akimi, creator of BL classics Banana Fish and Lover’s Kiss.  Katherine Hanson reviewed the manga for Okazu,  I really enjoyed this movie when I watched and reviewed it in 2013, so click the link above to read my thoughts. ^_^

As always there’s a lot I read, but didn’t mention, or just didn’t read, but flipping through, I am reminded that I’m reading about half the stories here and enjoying most of those – and of those, I am enjoying very much, so that’s an excellent percentage.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

I’m back on my normal schedule now, reviewing one volume of Comic Yuri Hime just as the next comes in to the bookstore. It was nice being ahead for a month or two! ^_^ The July issue is on Japanese bookstore shelves now and, once again, waiting for me at Kinokuniya.

We’re the beginning of of Q2, and Comic Yuri Hime May 2024 (コミック百合姫2024年5月号) has settled in for a lovely variety of Yuri manga – from the openly queer, to fantasy, to toxic relationships and a fair amount of goofy stuff in between.

This issue begins with a new story, featuring a well-worn trope that…I don’t hate for some reason.  “Saborinara Houkenshitsu de Douzo? Despite the fact that I don’t utterly hate the “hot, young school doctor and student” trope, I am always reminded of my own school nurse who was a horrible person, incompetent, hated kids and thought we were all lying all the time, as a wrinkled prune of a person. I wonder if our nurse was young and cool, what I might think about this trope. ^_^

On to “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Uta”! This time Yori-sempai is staying over Himari’s house, and yet again, they face the issue of consent and what Himari wants. I expect this will be resolved this time.

I’m pretty happy with the way “Gakeppuchi Reijou ha Kuro Kishi-sama o Horesasetai!” is shaping up, even though the premise is a bit violent in both emotional and physical ways. Clearly, we’re going for a Bakarina internal monologue stule here.

“Salvia no Bouquet” has shifted towards a more typical school story but, again, I’m quite enjoying it. It’s really hard to dislike Ellen or Stella and magic, school, Yuri romance…okay. Extra points, though for the denouement here, when the spell was a failure, but also very much a success.

“Kiraware Majoureijou to Dansou Ouji no Kon’yaku” s taking itself a little seriously before it has a right to, but we are assured that there *is* a plot on the way!

And “Gan no Hime” is likelwise developing a plot, and one that radically changes everything we knew about this world. I do not love the art, but the story is very good. It’s the only scifi we have in the magazine now and I have high hopes for it.

Shikabane Shoujo to Ai ga Omoi Sei-kishi no Toubatsu Gakuen Life is waffling between being a VERY SERIOUS STORY and a light magical school adventure and I’m not sure which I want it to be, honestly.

In the final comic essay, by Kobara Yuuko, which is a review of a “Yuri” film, this month the topic of discussion was Liz And The Blue Bird, which, I will remind, I thought fantastic. Highly recommended.

Overall a solid volume with a lot for people who have tastes vastly different than mine, as well as those who like the kinds of things I like. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

The June issue is in JP bookstores and waiting for me at Kinokuniya. ^_^

Comic Yuri Hime, April 2024 (コミック百合姫2024年4月号) is an incredibly strong issue of what is turning out to be a very good Yuri manga year.

There are a nice mix of kinds of stories here, from fictional slice-of life, centering adult women, and school girls, as well as some autobiographical works/comics essays, which gives the a- story-about-two-people-in-a situation some depth across the magazine.

Fantasy is fairing well here, with at least five original stories. I always have hope that they will break out of the romance mode into a plot that’s more deeply developed, but none of them have collapsed in on themselves yet and the new entry, “Gakeppuchi Reijou ha Kuro Kishi-sama o Horesasetai!” (崖っぷち令嬢は黒騎士様を惚れさせたい！) starts with a pretty good punch. “Shikabane to Ai ga Omoi Seikishi no Toubatsu Gakuen Life,” “Konoyo de Ichiban Sutekina Owarikata,” “Shikabane to Ai ga Omoi Seikishi no Toubatsu Gakuen Life,” “Salvia no Bouquet,” and “Kiraware Majyo Reijō to Dansou Ouji no Kon’yaku,” are taking up a fair amount of real estate in this magazine right now. None are the same as each other, which is pretty  impressive. This is the most fantasy I’ve seem in this magazine at the same time.

“Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” comes to some kind of conclusion. I don’t think we will know what the consequences will be until the end of this volume, but it was good to see Kanako regain some kind of control over her situation. I just really hope she’s come to a healthy conclusion.

“Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru” by is closest I have to a sports manga and it’s doing pretty well at it, even if it’s focusing on things other than the competition, which suits the theme just fine.

We’re still not getting the kind of science fiction I as a SF reader am looking for, with complex worldbuilding and plot, and in part I think that’s because of the serialized nature of the magazine. Every chapter has to end on, if not a cliffhanger, than some moment of tension, forcing storytelling to sacrifice development for impact. That said, we’re getting a number of fantasy stories that are trying to or are exceeding my expectations.

And of course, there’s plenty of slice-of-life stuff for those of you looking for small crises and resolutions. From relaxing food while camping to the “totally relatable” crisis of a married woman staying with a lesbian and neither of them being capable of having a conversation that lasts more than a panel or two, to the actually relatable story of two women living together, being in love and having fun with it, this was a really excellent issue of a magazine that has truly hit it’s stride this year.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

The May issue has hit JP shelves and waiting for me at the book store! Amazingly, I’m holding steady as she goes with reviews. I have no idea how that is happening. ^_^

Comic Yuri Hime, March 2024 (コミック百合姫2024年3月号) starts off with a new story, “A Bouquet of Salvia,” which was rather sweet as a opening  – and could have stood alone on it’s own merits. A girl who was rescued from dire circumstances finds family and a mentor in a young witch who has taken her in and is training her. In this opening chapter, the emphasis is on found family, understanding there is more to life than duty and the profoundity of joy. I’m all for it. ^_^

So much water has gone under the bridge in “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” that we seem to have come to the beginning of the river, once again. Kanako still does not understand herself but, at least this time Sumika does.

“Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” steps back to interrogate Misha and Rae’s friendship. On the eve of an audacious plan to save Yuu, Rae has to trust Misha with the whole truth about the world and herself. Rae learns something important that might explain a few things. Eventually.

Yuama’s “Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata” comes to an end, exactly where I expected it to. Despite the fact that the whole story was telegraphed from the beginning, it did some interesting things. I’m not sure I would have given it as much time to be told as the magazine did, but I don’t regret reading it. There’s something to be said about a story that moves past forgiveness into redemption.

“Garan no Hime” has suddenly become much more interesting! Where we seemed to be flailing looking for a lost sister, we have sudden have a whole new level –  one in which Hime is the key to something important.

In “Shikabane to Ai ga Omoi Seikishi no Toubatsu Gakuen Life” Mari unlocks Shurika’s memories…for good or ill.

There were a number of decent one-shots in this issue including Inaba Mine’s “Kemuri ni Yosete,” which felt very old school as an established couple works through the distance building between them.

As always there were other stories I read, and did not read, which makes for a magazine that will appeal to a wide range of Yuri fans!

Ratings:

Overall – 8

The April issue is on JP shelves now and it’s a very exciting issue, in which the arc about Prince Yuu comes to a climax in “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” and a new manga fantasy written by Suo, and illustrated by Superwomen in Love!‘s Sometime, “Gakeppuchi Reijou wa Kuro Kishi-sama o Horesasetai!”

Comic Yuri Hime, February 2024 (コミック百合姫2024年2月号)  is an excellent volume of this magazine. Right off the bat, the stories about evenly split between stories I am reading and stories I am not reading. 50% is an almost unheard of percentage for me. But there is another thing in this issue, I want to discuss, because it was really good.

I talk a lot about Yuri literary fiction here on Okazu. I’m unapologetically as much a literature nerd as I am a comics nerd. Many school years of reading literary fiction somehow did not manage to break my interest in the idea of fiction. In fact, this year I am actually a judge for an award for independently published fiction and overwhelmingly, the books I have been reading are very interesting. Reviews to come when the embargo is lifted.

So yes, in this volume Aki and Shiho go out on a date in “Sasayakuyouni Koi Wo Utaa” finally, and Rae comes up with a bold and dangerous plan to rescue Yu from an imposed gender curse in “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou” and the climax to “Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata” was a fucking sucker punch *even though we knew it was coming for the entire story.* And the King in “Kiraware no Majoreijo to Dansou Ouji no Konyaku” is a dip and we applauded Eve for yelling at him, and Kiki and Michiru danced their hearts out…even though Kiki was injured and it was really stupid, in “Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru.” These and many other continuing stories were great.

And we got the first chapter of a very old-school shoujo romance feeling “Toi Et Moi” by Nakato Nui. And “Daiuki Desu!”  by nmi, among others both of which were very good.

But what I really want to talk about is the short story, ” Tsuitou Juu-shunen Tokubetsu Kiji  ‘Tousakusha Sakakiba Mizue no jinsei’.” by Maruchou. This translates to Special Article On The Tenth Anniversary Of Her Death,  “Plagiarist Sakakiba Mizue’s Life.” This was the grand prize winner of the 5th Yuri Literary Short Story Contest, co-hosted by Pixiv, Comic Yuri Hime, Shinchobunko, Early Wing and Shosen Bookstore. And yes, it absolutely deserved the prize.

This was a fantastic fiction that is presented as a non-fiction about the life of a person who “everyone knows,” but who never existed, with interviews with people who knew her and one of the best endings I have ever read in my life. Oh my gosh, this was SUCH a good story.  You can read it for free on the contest website. Please go read this, even if you just use google translate. Seriously, it was gorgeous work. 10/10.

So both thumbs up on this issue.

Ratings:

Overall – For the short story alone, it’s a 10

I also have the March issue here and am digging right in!