Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Love Bullet, Volume 1

November 4th, 2025

On a vivid blood-red background, a girl in pale blue and white, with white hair wings, and red eyes, runs holding a pistol, while shell casings and white petals scatter around her. White block letters down the left side read, "Love Bullet". A small heart near the top left has a red '1' and artist inee's name in white below.I have long stood by an axiom that human nature does not change, only technology does. inee’s Love Bullet, Volume 1, one of the most anticipated titles of the year, also follows this same principle.

Cupids are real. People who died before experiencing love are sometimes given the Goddess of Love’s gift and become cupids. As cupids, they can work their way back into life by pairing people up with their perfect partners. And, because technology indeed changes, cupids are now armed with guns, which really sort of puts an emphasis on how horrid the idea of a “cupid” is. We’re so used to Raphael and Caravaggio’s chubby cheeked mini-angels, that the idea of being SHOT THROUGH THE HEART with a hormonal imbalance that causes irrational behavior stopped being horrific. But, here it is, genuinely horrific once again, in the more modern form of being shot by a gun.

We join the story in the middle of a raging disagreement between a group of cupids, over which two member of three friends ought to be the perfect love for the third. Koharu, the newest of the group, feels that there ought to be a way to come to a compromise, but while one side might be willing, one of the cupids really wants a fight and so, a fight breaks out. There is collateral damage as unwitting humans get hit by love bullets, but Koharu’s team is able to manage to fend off the other until Koharu makes a risky shot to solve the dilemma. 

We then learn a bit about Koharu’s life and death and the girl who loved her. We, and Koharu, are appalled to find that her first mission is to pair her dear friend up with someone. It makes for a powerfully bittersweet story about love…and makes us question whther becoming a cupid is really a “gift.” inee’s art is cute, which makes scenes like Koharu shooting her first love through the head in order to set her up with someone both horrible and deeply  moving.  One can understand why Koharu is always looking for a happy compromise in her pairings. 

inee’s art is simple, often relying on no or limited backgrounds, and all but line art for the cupids, but the body language and movement in the gunfights is excellent, and her narrative tension is top notch.  I finished this very much hoping that the international campaign to save this series was fully successful and lo and behold!, Volume 2 is hitting JP bookstores this very month. I’m interested in the other cupids and would like to have my emotions flailed with their sad stories, but also hope to see some happy endings. 

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – Bittersweet, with the emphasis on the bitter  – 9
Characters – 8
Service – Guns and other weapons
Yuri – 8

Overall – 8

Yen is saying that they expect this volume to be one of their best selling titles of the year, even with a release date in December. Imagine that. It’s really good, honestly, so I am delighted we’re getting it in English. Thanks, Yen for a review copy for ANN, I used it for both reviews. 

 





Galette No. 35 (ガレットNo.35)

October 30th, 2025

Two pale women in pale clothing blush as they look at one another, superimposed upon them are orcas swimming, with the words, " n my dream, you and I look at summer scenery."As of today, the Kickstarter for Galette Special English Edition Vol. 4 has ended, with a successful 713 backers…but don’t worry, there is a little bit more time to pledge! If you missed the kickstarter campaign, the folks at GaletteWORKS are keeping the Kickstarter open for a few more days so there is still a chance that they will make that 5th and final stretch goal. ^_^ Which makes today a great choice to talk about some Galette Magazine. ^_^

In Galette, No. 35 (ガレット)  we say goodbye to one of the long-running serials, Houkenshitsu Ano Onna, which you are now reading as “That Woman In The Infirmary” by Yorita Miyuki. I can’t pin point when I really started to look forward to this series, but I did, and I’m torn between being sad to see it over and looking forward Yorita-sensei’s new work!

We have two continuing stories by Morinaga Milk. “Himitsu no Recipe” has just finished up at the final chapter of the printed volumes, (which were never licensed in English, so it might be nice to see that published by Galette EN.) The final chapter is marked “To Be Continued” so we can expect more of that and of course, “Watashi no Kawiii Neko-chan” is ongoing. Yuna is facing down the baggage from her feelings about her family’s expectations of her…about which she may have been mistaken. Rena is still focused on opening her home salon, but they both find that they really just want to be together. 

“Yuruku SM Yattemiru” by Syanimuni follows two students who find a bunch of questionable props in a school closet. The volume came with a mini clear file of this series.

Inui Ayu’s “cool girl as boyfriend practice” “Koi ni Shiyakiunaina” turns from cute and akward to just plain cute as Momo and Ren realize they actually like each other. ^_^

Nekohariko22’s “Torokeru Heya nanoka” as Koyuki cannot stop fantasing about her  now live-in maid, who doesn’t seem to mind the idea.

I genuinely enjoyed Hakamada Mera’s weird little post-death scenario “Shindaramina VTUBER.”

“Kanojo Kuchizuke Kansenseuru Libido” continues, which kind of amazes me.  Sa-chan is struggling with feeeling sh wants more from Ayane, who seems to be just fine with moving their relationship to the next level.

“Foglight In The Gray” is a nice little post-apocalyptic romance by Dodmori, who art I quite like.

The magazine includes a short story about a woman whose dream to become a ballet dancer desert her, the Yurikko Research column, the 140-character stories, and more. 

As the staff looks towards a 8th anniversary, there’s a wonderful maturity about the content and design of Galette that I look forward to every issue. 

Ratings: 

Overall  – 8





The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 7

October 26th, 2025

Two young women in brown maid costumes with pink aprons and wearing cat ears walk arm in arm down a school hallway during a culture festival, smiling and laughing as they talk. Please allow me a moment of self-indulgence as I note that when I reviewed this volume in Japanese I re-read this volume 3 times, (and cried every time.) I  called this volume “absolute perfection” in my review. Now that I have read this volume once so far in English, I stand by my words.  The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 7 is absolute perfection. 

Every theme that this story has been building upon, every plot, every conversation, every moment leads us to a climactic school festival in which Kanon is about to face all of her fears all at once and find that with the help of the people around her, failure and success all have meaning. 

But first, we spend some time withKanon’s younger sister Rinne, whose new friend asks her what she wants to do. It takes a while before Rinne will admit she has some genuine desires, she’s so used to putting Kanon first. One of the repeated themes in this manga is how friendship works. Chiyama and Rinne are going to be good for one another, as each is there to help the other break out of their self-imposed boxes.

Then it’s time for Kanon to face her own limitations and fears. First, she fails and in failure learns a bit about her own pride. She’s reunited with Ayano, and now unexpectedly has yet another ally (and let’s spend a moment thinking how completely amazing that the old, broken relationship that festers for ages tropes is just…not. Good riddens to that!) Fortified by the support of the people around them, Kanon and Saki lead their class in the chorus competition. I want to address the choice of song here for a moment. It is true that Ebony and Ivory is a saccharine piece of music, but it was McCartney’s first-ever duet and the intention was, quite obviously to be a piece about racial equality. While this may seem simplistic, the South African apartheid government banned it, so even that simplistic a message terrified them.

When we consider that a high school class is meant to be singing this, we can understand that while we might not respect the music ourselves, it is an excellent choice for the story as a metaphor for diversity. And for this story, the song does it’s job. Kanon and Saki lead their class in a successful performance.

Kanon,  having achieved something so significant for herself with Saki’s help, for the first time realizes how little she knows about her friend. Not to beat up on a closet metaphor (because I don’t doubt we’ll be doing that with Saki soon,) but even Kanon understands that she’s able to step out of her little world into a bigger one now.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 10
Characters – 10
Service – Maid costumes with cat ears? Someone’s gonna be happy about that. 
Yuri – Holding at a muted 4, but it’s not not there.

Overall – 10

This series just keeps getting better and better. Every volume is fantastic. Volumes 1-10 of Amayo no Tsuki are out in Japan and I am just waiting with baited breath for Volume 11.





Whisper Me A Love Song, Volume 9

October 21st, 2025

Two girls, one with shoulder-length blonde hair and the other with long black hair, wearing Japanese school uniform hold hands and look deeply into one another's eyes.In Volume 8, Shiho finally admits to the “other” reason she split from Aki’s band. Yes, she does want to be a pro and is driven to excel beyond just having fun, and yes, she lives with the memory of a dead friend and rival she can never surpass haunting her…but mostly, it’s because she’s in love with Aki. It is this last that proved the impassable barrier, until Himari forced Shiho and Aki to have it out. 

Here in Whisper Me A Love Song, Volume 9 Himari isn’t done. In her role as cupid, she knows that it’s Aki’s turn to say something, so she forces Shiho to be there to listen. Aki take the opportunity of the finale of their Battle of the Bands set to talk intimately to Shiho…in front of the entire school. 

The school festival comes to an end. Unsurprisingly, Laurelei wins the battle. It would make no sense for it to be otherwise. (This was something that the anime did very well. SS Girls had cute music, but Laurelei’s song were amazing. ) Shiho, having had every one of the many wounds she let fester finally lanced, has no choice now except to try and be the person she was avoiding being. She must embrace joy and love…and everyone is watching over her to make sure she doesn’t fuck it up this time. ^_^ This arc took a long time to come to this point, but I think Shiho and Aki are perfect idiots and will be just fine together. Now we can all move on.

This volume reminds us that Hajime and Momoko are a story we have yet to address, but they are not where the next arc will take us.  The fantasy element of this story means that it isn’t going to drag these characters through the next morning angst of having to go to school where everyone knows your business. For the moment, we’re all free to just be a bunch of happy teens in and around a band.

Ratings:

Art – 8  The art is good, but the closeups are getting so close at this point, it is sometimes hard to see what we are looking at.
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 0
Yuri – 8

Overall – 9

Who will be paired up next? IYKYK!

9 Volumes in, and with only a very few scenes as exceptions – and those, only mild exceptions – I still think this story is one you can give to just about anyone to read. It’s sweet and earnest and occasionally intense. Kodansha’s team continues to do amazing work on it. As schoolgirl Yuri goes, I consider this one of the best series I have read. 





Comic Yuri Hime, November 2025 (コミック百合姫2025年11月号)

October 12th, 2025

Two women sit at a low table, eating, smiling and talking animatedly together. The image is laid out so the magazine will need to be rotated horizontally to see it properly. I love when the end of the year in Comic Yuri Hime is strong. There is one manga we’re saying goodbye to in Comic Yuri Hime, November 2025 (コミック百合姫2025年11月号), but we’ll get there in a moment.

To begin with hechima’s cover is homey and warm. We’ve had 11 months with these two young women, they are beginning to feel like friends. I’m hoping the December issue shows them a bit older, but I always hope for older adult representation. ^_^

As mentioned on YNN, Futari Escape is getting a live-action series. I’m very interested to see how they’ll do that, as it was heavy on the goofy, travel and goofy, weird fun and low on the Yuri scales.

The opening series is a new one…and I do not yet know how I feel about it. “Hareta Hi no Dress Code” features a girl who wishes she was brave enough to wear the slacks that her school dress code allows, but she also loves dressing in cute skirt and a girl who does dress in the slack because of scars on her legs, but wishes she didn’t have to. I hope very much that this develops into a story of freedom from gender presentation rules.

“Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” closes the Kanako x Sumika arc, but in a very humanly imperfect way. I do not know what the characters might face, but I hope Nene gets to meet someone nice now. ^_^

Lulu and Ten are accidentally dragged into the relationship issues faced by another student in Ashiaka Waz’s “Chouuchyuu Yori Ai wo Komete,” and it both puts strain on and opens a new door in their own relationship.

merryhachi returns to Comic Yuri Hime for the first time in years with a very cute one-shot, “Touko Swing-By.” Honestly, it was really sweet.

Somtime and suoh’s  “Gakeppuchi Reijou ha Kuro Kishi-sama o Horesasetai!” comes to an end. It’s a good end, a very solid end, but I don’t want it to end! Oh well. It was nice. I just wish we could have more! Waaah~~~

And props to the comic essay “Film ni Saku Yurinohana o Atsumete Kimi ni Okuritai” for not just talking about the Utena movie, but presenting an interesting fan discussion that the movie is Yuri, but the TV series is not. I agree that Utena and Anthy are not, in the TV series, a couple, but surely we cannot discount Juri and Shiori? Anyway. Good column. 

Once again, there were many stories I read and enjoyed and other I did not, or did not read. It’s an incredibly solid magazine now and I look forward to new series starting.

Ratings: 

Overall – 8

The December issue will be out on October 18. There is no cover image available for it yet, but you can pre-order it on Amazon JP now.