Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Comic Yuri Hime, July 2025 (コミック百合姫2025年6月号)

July 6th, 2025

Comic Yuri Hime, July 2025Two girls take a selfie on a street decorated for a festival, as balloons rise into the air around them. One wears a red, white and blue stripped fascinator as she smiles and makes the 'v' sign into the camera, the other has her hand resting lightly on the decorative hat. (コミック百合姫2025年6月号) is an honestly excellent volume of the only monthly Yuri manga magazine! Some great stories, including a number of fantastic continuing serializations.

Our first story is a new serialization by Nishina about a girl who has transferred into an old crumbling provincial school, but who finds something to care about when she is partnered with another girl to work on the school yearbook and starts photographing the people and the places around her.

Claire is appalled at her father’s actions and Lily takes some steps to remedy her own sins in this chapter of “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” written by inori. and illustrated wonderfully by Aonoshimo.

Another game character wanders into our world looking for Machino, but Aurora has her own agenda, to revisit another old friend, in “Genjitsu Sekai (Real) Demo Shiawase ni Shite Kudasai ne?” by Shiborikasuko.

Tama Tamasaki’s “Muryoku Seijo to Munou Oujo ~ Maryoku Zero de Shoukansareta Seijo no Isekai Kyuukokuki” takes a HUGE step in this chapter, as Nana and the Princess not only have purged the miasma from the town, but develop a pathway for cultural and economic recovery for it, showing themselves to be the leaders this world needs.

“Chouuchyuu Yori Ai wo Komete,” by Ashidaka Woz also takes a few steps forward as Lulu’s personality is opening up Ten’s life and attracting new friends.

Kashiaze’s “Kimi Ga Hoeru Tame No Uta Wo” puts Haru to the test, as she has to sing online during a contest. Struck silent by stress, Haru finds strenghth in Yuu’s fail and wows host and audience.

AHAH! The boot has dropped exactly where we expected it in “Kanaria wa Kiraboshi no Yume wo Miru” by sheepD. As Ayano and her fiance are presented at a party, Ayano is only truly concerned about Tsubaki. She manages to convey her true feelings to the other girl. Takahiko, howver does turn out to be conspiring with his older sister to get into Ayano’s family.

“Gakeppuchi Reijou ha Kuro Kishi-sama o Horesasetai!” which was *just* licensed this weekend as Marrying the Dark Knight (For Her Money),  a title I do not love, but I do love the story. In this chapter we get the first of many pieces of Frost’s tragic back story, in which her father rejected her and her mother because of a misunderstanding about genetics, and she took her father’s life in revenge for her mother’s.

Korose’s “Gan no Hime” was amazing, if a bit talky, as we learn the final parts of the true nature of the world and who Isana is. Where this will go, I have no idea, but it’s solid plotting for sure.

And finally, we are treated to a lesbian classic + vampire story, with a young woman who meets a vampire who has been stabbed by an ex, as she lays bleeding. The vampire is looking to find someone to become a vampire with her, so she won’t be lonely anymore. Chise isn’t making any promises, but she’s willing to help the vampire to life life to her fullest right *now* at any rate. It was a pretty good story given the tropiness throughout.

And, as usually, there are other stories I read and others I didn’t and some were good and some were not. ^_^

Ratings: 

Overall  – 9 

The August issue is already on my to-read pile. ^_^





Assorted Entanglements, Volume 7

June 30th, 2025

The cover of Assorted Entanglements volume 7. Shizuku and Saori lie in bed together in their school uniforms, both looking at their phones. Shizuku has her arm around Saori's shoulders and is looking over at her. You can see their matching gorilla phone charms hanging from their phone cases.

by Matt Marcus, Staff Writer

I ran into an ex once at the public batting cages in Arlington, VA. Well, she wasn’t really an ex, more like the other half of a pseudo-situationship. I spied her out of the corner of my eye as my then-girlfriend-now-wife and I looked for an open spot. If I were punching up this story, I would say we locked eyes through the wire fence. In a moment frozen in time, I’d be shot through with the pain of regret of decisions not made sooner, words left unsaid. My date would notice I had become quiet and distracted; I would shrug off any questions about it despite my soured mood, kicking off a downward spiral that ruins our date. But nothing so dramatic happened; we simply found an open cage, hit some dingers, and had a lovely rest of our evening.

In the previous volume of Assorted Entanglements, Shizuku was rattled by seeing a woman we haven’t seen before while walking Saori back to her house. Saori noticed, but couldn’t bring herself to ask. Turns out that the garishly-dressed woman is Shizuku’s ex.

A notable amount of Assorted Entanglements Volume 7 is dedicated to Shizuku’s past with this woman, Miki, and what Saori decides to do in response. This is the most seriously dramatic tone that Mikanuji-sensei has gone for in this series and I think that it pays off. We thankfully get no more detail about the abuse she suffered from her parents (and the violent reaction that landed her in juvvie), but her story with Miki, a hairstylist who took Shizuku in after she ran away from her foster parents, is tantamount to grooming. We don’t know much about how Shizuku extricated herself from that relationship or how she feels about it now (though she still wears her hair with the cornrows that is Miki’s personal style), but the effect of the encounter in the present makes her retread into her prickly Bad Girl shell.

Thankfully, what could prove to be a setback in “progress” turns into the opportunity for Saori to finally admit her honest feelings–that despite all her bluster and dismissal, she does indeed love Shizuku. Shizuku tacitly accepts this, and another ship sails. To be honest, I’m still iffy on the recurring theme that these so-called delinquents (read: abused young women) who have severe self-worth issues need to be whipped into shape by the normie girls/women who happen to love them. If I am being charitable, I’d highlight that the point being made is that they (Shizuku and Minami) are indeed worthy of the love they receive, which is good and true. I just wish they weren’t punished by their lovers for struggling with accepting affection.

Let’s not forget that this is still an ensemble story. Iori and Minami are up to their normal hijinks (this time they go to an onsen!). We get one short chapter of Sugimoto at her part-time job glowing about her aquarium date and not taking heed of her boss’ advice not to get her hopes up. Unfortunately, Heke-sensei and Shinohara-san finally succumbed to Mikanuji-sensei’s love of “slapstick” violence for one gag, but otherwise their chapters continue to be a sweet love story of a failgirl nerd and her blunt-but-secretly-tender lover/boss. It’s all solidly entertaining stuff.

If you have been waiting, nay, shouting at the pages for Shizuku and Saori to finally just get over themselves and have it out, then you will be pleased as punch here. With 3 out of 4 couples established, that leaves one last problematic pair to wrap up.

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 1
Yuri – 8 / LGBTQ – 8

Overall – 8 Somehow made me “happy” for the worst couple here

The story of these mismatched women continues in Volume 8, coming our way in August.

Matt Marcus is a cohost of various projects on the Pitch Drop Podcast Network, as well as the writer for the blog Oh My God, They Were Bandmates analyzing How Do We Relationship in greater depth.





Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, Volume 5 & 6

June 27th, 2025

Volume 5 cover. Tamaki, a girl with light brown hair and yellow eyes stares at the viewer, tears in her eyes, looking stricken. It’s Luce with the ‘2’ of the 1-2 punch of reviews, so let’s get down to business on the series that can be best described by removing the ‘don’t’ in the title. Volumes five and six, memorise your combos and hit player select!

Well into the tournament by Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, Volume 5, Aya, Mio, Tamaki and Inui all have their battles to play, and hopefully win. Into the second pool battles, the opponents are more difficult. Mio is 1-1 against Cafe au Lait, a pro-gamer with a grudge match he wants a rematch on. Aya is in the same position with his previous opponent, Gekido, and struggling to keep her composure. Inui is trying to get the vitriolic kid Arisa to eat her words through the screen, while Tamaki battles her demons – or rather, her sister.

In Volume 6, Mio faces down Arisa in the loser’s bracket… . But, due to a viral tweet about her previous match, it’s been moved to the main stage! Who will win, between Mio fighting on instinct and Arisa with rage?

Do not smack yourself in the head with a game controller. Aya and Mio did break through a window escaping detention, so they clearly have anime sturdiness, however! Despite how metal it might look, it is not a proven strategy for… anything. Other than a trip to hospital with possible concussion. Also, never, ever tell people to ‘kill themselves’. Even in the heat of tournament. It makes sense for Arisa’s character and shows her immaturity, but even still. Just don’t. (The commenters are clearly shown to also disagree with her, so there is push back in canon). Sorry, had to get that out of my system. Onwards.

It’s somewhat odd to have the girls in a more anime style, and then most of the men in a more realistic style. That said, it’s nice to have ‘not perfect’ looking characters? Some characters that look closer to how Japanese people look? I just wish this could be extended to some of the women. Although the implications that those drawn in a more manga style are the prettier ones, so… I do like the art, it just stuck out more in these volumes, where we have a lot of different people commenting.

Volume 6 cover. Girl with bright green eyes and reddish brown long hair elaborately braided at at the top, Arisa glares at the viewer, tears in her eyes and looking frustrated.

Speaking of the art though, the rage faces in this area off the charts. Arisa is just a small ball of rage, all of the time. Her back story is probably pretty relatable to anyone who’s tried to connect with someone over something and had it gone badly. Gosh, she was just so desperate to impress Miyu, but it backfired. It’s really difficult as a kid when you’re good at something – most normal adults would be able to go ‘it’s impressive you’re so good at this’ and any jealousy is (should be) kept behind the eyes. For kids though, that’s a lot more difficult. In Miyu’s eyes though, I can see how she thought Arisa had flat out lied to her. I hope they get some resolution, actually.

The match between Mio and Arisa is just absorbing. Between the commentary of the crowd and online (I particularly like ‘nani the fuck?!’ as a comment) and their thoughts, it felt engaging in a way I haven’t felt with the other matches. Part of that is that we know a bit more about these two, and why they play fighting games, but it’s also panelled really well, flitting between them, the crowd, and the commentators without losing focus on the action. The visual of being underwater, not breathing, just living completely in the game works fantastically. I won’t spoil who won, but if you have enjoyed the series so far, volume 6 is the peak of the fighting game action.

Outside of this, Aya gets some of her gayest lines in these volumes. ‘I want to mean more to you than anything else’. If this series doesn’t have a moment where Aya kisses Mio in the heat of victory/defeat, I’ll be disappointed. That said, Aya has some thinking to do, when seeing Mio and Arisa’s match, and realising that she might not be Mio’s biggest rival, and being really upset by that. I want gamer girlfriends by the end of the series, dammit! Is that too much to ask?!

Ratings:

Story: 8
Characters: 8
Service: 0
Yuri: 9

Overall: 9

 

Volume 5 was good, but volume 6 was great. If you’ve enjoyed any of the series so far, highly recommended. In the imMortal Kombat words, Fatality!





Rainbows After Storms, Volume 3

June 26th, 2025

A tall girl with long blonde hair and a short girl with short dark hair that frames her face smile at one another. They wear matching white sailor-style school uniform blouse with blue collar.Exams, summer break, sleepovers, birthdays. High school life is both chaotic and relaxed for Chidori and Nanoha in Rainbows After Storms, Volume 3. 

This summer, they are both devoted to having fun and making memories, so their prioritize a group sleepover at Nanoha’s house with the requisite number of underwear discussions for a not-really-shoujo manga about girls. Despite the fantasies of those in charge of this manga fantasies, girls, who are mostly mortified that they have bodies at all, hardly ever discuss underwear. 

Chidori and Nanoha go on a date. They are impossibly adorable.

We are told, repeatedly that they are keeping their relationship secret, but in Volume 4 that faced is no longer really credible. In fact, I read this volume this time thinking that their friends are gently trolling them, because the lead-ins to Nanoha and Chidori stuffing their hands in their mouths, felt way too on the money to be accidental.

The art and story here are gentle, silly and just a little banal, presumably to create a soft nostalgic feel for the presumed readership. It makes for a very fast-reading volume, as nothing unusual or complicated is going on. This story is exactly what it appears to be, a high school love story between two nice girls. 

And then the final chapter shows up, throwing that whole last sentence out of the ring.

In an earlier volume Chidori has indicated that Nanoha is not her first love. And she looked clearly pained at the memory. In the final pages and older girl is seem arriving on a train, confidently, perhaps even arrogantly, wondering how her kouhai is doing…. and we know immediately that this woman is Chidori’s sempai. And…we already don’t like her. Something is about to happen.

What will the next volume bring? Well, Rainbows After Storms, Volume 4 is already out from Viz Media so don’t wait to find out. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 6
Characters – 6
Yuri – 3
Service – 4 Underwear, bras, etc.

Overall – 6

 





Pink Candy Kiss, Volume 2

June 20th, 2025

A woman with long hair leans over the shoulder of a woman with short hair. They wear the same teal color and accessories and it looks as if they are looking into a mirror.Having now read two volumes of Pink Candy Kiss, I have come to the conclusion that I need more josei yuri in my life, but perhaps maybe on a different theme than “married woman falls for another woman.” Although the premise instantly reminded me of Even Though We’re Adults by Takako Shimura, this series is definitely different enough to be worth checking out as well. It somehow feels softer and more delicate, less obviously dramatic than Even Though We’re Adults.

As Erica said in their review of volume 1, ““What am I feeling?” goes only so far to carry a story.” Whilst Pink Candy Kiss, Volume 2 does also suffer from this to a certain extent, we do at least get a confession of feelings from Taka, and Ema thanks her for telling her. So they’ve both realised they’re in love, but what are they going to do about it? Hopefully we’ll find out sooner rather than later. Unlike in Even Though We’re Adults, Ema seems to enjoy her relationship with her husband, but I get the feeling she’s not in *love* with him. How the story figures this triangle out will make or break the series and I look forward to reading more.

The last chapter takes us somewhere rather different. Taka visits a lesbian bar and receives some wisdom from an elder butch lesbian that yes, her feelings are totally normal because she’s in love, and it’s OK to be in love with another woman. What she will do about these feelings, and Ema about hers, remains of course to be seen.

Ratings: 

Art – I really like it, particularly the colour palette and slightly sketchy feeling.
Story – Lots of feelings. But the lesbian bar chapter is excellent.
Characters – I’m rooting for no one to get hurt. And for them to just kiss dammit.
Service – None. It doesn’t need it. This is a story about feelings, written by a woman for other women.
Yuri – So much yuri.

With thanks to Viz for the review copy. I will definitely be buying my own when it’s released.

Overall – 8