Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Comic Yuri Hime, October 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年10月号)

September 26th, 2022

Comic Yuri Hime, October 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年10月号) was a pretty darn good issue!

The cover continues the colorful travel theme with photos, (one blurry one clear, which was a lovely touch) of a beach scene. The water is genuinely outstanding. I love that this looks like it was painted using brush strokes that are visible, even as it is obviously done digitally. Isshiki’s work has been a lot of fun, visually.

“Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata” starts to move forward. Kaori’s illness has paralyzed Shizuru once again, but finally she’s shaken out of her own PTSD, when confronted by Kaori’s little sister who resents Shizuru and the upcoming loss of Kaori deeply. Even as this series comes towards a close in Japanese, you will be able to read it in English, next month as The Summer You Were There, from Seven Seas.

The Scales of Love Arc has begun and Manaria seems dead set on taking Claire away from Rei. As a commoner and Claire’s maid, Rei has no way to fight back and is, apparently throwing herself recklessly into the monster hunt before the festival. Things are tense in “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.,” written by Inori and illustrated by Aonoshimo. So, so good.

Keyyang’s “Kimi to Shiranai Natsu ni Naru” has gotten a bit more serious. Faced with the near impossibility of getting a job without a degree, Hi-chan is thinking of taking a major step and going back to school. What will this do to their idyllic life?

“Onna Tomodachi to Kekkon Shitemita,” by Usui Shio is also taking a turn for the serious. Now that Kurumi and Ruriko are settled in, an old acquaintance has turned up and is causing chaos for the pair when she goes missing!

The last pieces are put into place in Shiho’s back story, in “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau” as Himari learns that Shiho has been competing with – and singing for – a dead girl, for years. This was a very moving chapter. Shiho’s still a jerk, but I’m now inclined to be a little bit forgiving, because she’s 15, ffs.

Boots drop all over the place in Miman’s “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” Sumika and Nene have a long, long, long overdue talk about important stuff that needed to get said. As the chapter ends, we can see the dark cloud of confrontation around the corner approaching. Story aside…as the adult in the room, how does Mai not see any of this going on?

I’m starting to wonder if “Natsu to Lemon to Overlay” has a plot. Like Yunimaru, I cannot see the end game at all, for Konno’s playing around and having fun before, presumably, dying, maybe, but we can’t tell?

“Odoriba Skirt ni Naru” hit me really hard for randomreasons this chapter. We’ve dealt with Kiki’s body image issues, and this time we deal with Michiru’s strong objections to being seen as cute. CW for an attempted assault on a child. 

“Lonely girl ni Sakarenai” starts with a happy, cheerful school trip and everyone ganging up to figure out how to support the other couple in the group, but ends in crisis.

A few new one-shots and features, comic essays and the usual columns made for a really chunky 500 pages of Yuri manga and a very good issue. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

The November issue has hit shelves in Japan and I’m waiting impatiently for it to arrive at my Kinokuniya.^_^





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – September 24, 2022

September 24th, 2022

Yuri Manga

We have a bunch of news via Yurimother!

Yukiko’s Yuri manga Cats and Sugar Bowls, is now available from Seven Seas, as is Yuama’s The Summer You Were There, Volume 1.

YA Novel Night Owls & Summer Skies by Rebecca Sullivan and illustrated by Samadrita “Tikklil” Ghosh, has been adapted as a Webtoon.

GL Web comic, Master of the Fox Bead is now being serialized on Tapas.

 

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Become an Okazu Patron Today!

 

Crowdfunded Taiwanese Showa Yuri manga collection, Kitanhana Monogatari (綺譚花物語) has been released. I backed this crowdfunded project and have my ebook here, but it’s available in print in Japanese and in French from Mahô Éditions. I am looking forward to reading it!

 

Yuri Anime

HIDIVE Announced that they have licensed My Master Has No Tail,  fantasy anime about a tanuki learning rakugo, which is classic Japanese comedic storytelling.

 

Yuri VNs

Yurimother wants you to know that Ebi-hime’s Yuri VN, Dreamy Planet is available on Steam and Itch.io. The game follows Haruka, who suffered a breakdown five years before the story began. She abandoned her old life and hid away from her best friend, Shiina.

Studio Élan is asking for your feedback! If you’d like to help them out, please consider filling out their Survey.

Studio YuriEureka is pleased to announce that the demo for their upcoming Yuri VN, Kiss the Demiurge is available on Steam.

 

 

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Yuri Doujinshi

Lilyka has released Letters From A Rainy Day – Oceans and Lace, by Lily Spinel.

 

Other News

Nona the Ninth fans will want to read this interview with Tamsyn Muir on Lyctorhood as Genderfuckery and Greasy Bible Study in Nona the Ninth.

At long last, Japan is going to open borders to independent travelers. No visas, no booking with travel agencies, no pre- and post-travel testing. Masks are still required for most places and, frankly, I cannot understand how anyone is doing anything without masking around other people. Alex Mateo has the news over at ANN. I’m going to hope to visit next autumn, once again.

Fun.com has some …fun…Sailor Moon exclusives! The sweaters are awesome and I want them all.

 

If you’d like to support Yuri journalism and research, Patreon and Ko-Fi are the ways we currently have  \active to accept subscriptions and tips. Your support goes straight to paying for Guest Reviews, folks helping with videos, site maintenance, managing the Yuricon Store and directly supporting other Yuri creators. Just $5/month makes a huge impact! Become part of the Okazu family!

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Hana ni Arashi, Volume 10 (はなにあらし)

September 22nd, 2022

High school is a weird time. So much is going on in your body, in your head, in your heart. It’s the last time to have fun as a kid, the first time to start building your life as an adult.

Nanoha and Chidori are trying to not be sad about having chosen schools that are distant from one another. They are having as much fun as they can – together and with friends. They are not thrilled to not be together in class for their final year, but they are finding ways to be together and to make time. It’s all really good. But…the future. It’s a thing that is sort of hanging over them. And there’s something else they’ve got on their minds….

They ask each other if it is time to tell their friends about the fact that they are a couple?

The thought makes them burst into flames of mortification, but…but…

They’ve come a long way, in small steps. At the beginning of this series I wasn’t actually convinced they were seeing each other. ^_^ Now, when they may have to be apart, at least for a while, there’s no doubt that they are. I can’t even call this a slow burn series, it’s more of a two girls together, growing up slowly series.  Nothing else has changed, really. The art is a little bit tighter and the story telling feels more confident, but that could be because the characters have more confidence and maturity, as one does during high school.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 7
Service – 0 Thankfully

Overall – 7

I definitely want to see this one through to the end. I kinda want to see them off on their way out of school into what we jokingly refer to as real life. ^_^





Yoru to Umi, Volume 3 French Edition, Guest Review by Laurent Lignon

September 21st, 2022

Welcome back to Guest Review Wednesday on Okazu, where we welcome back our French language Journaliste/Chroniqueur, Laurent Lignon. Laurent is finishing up this series for u s – don’t miss his reviews of Volume 1 and Volume 2. Please give him your kind attention – the floor is yours, Laurent!

NOTE : this review is based on the French translation of the third and final volume of the series, Yoru to Umi, Plongée dans la nuit, released in stores by Taifu Comics http://www.taifu-comics.com/

“I learned the secret to let it go a long while back. If everything I held had to disappear at some point, then I’d be better if I’ve never cherished them in the first place.”

A third year has passed for Tsukiko and Aya, and both girls starts to think about what the future will hold for them and their relationship. Aya is sure they’ll keep some sort of contact, despite going to different universities, but has no ideas of what to do with her future life. Tsukiko feels the same, unsure of what she want to do but having already assumed that their relationship will stop when both of them will leave college.

This pushes the story in three different directions.

Aya understands what was already revealed to the reader in the previous volume: the swimming pool in which she spent most of her time is representing her teenage years, and she needs to go out of it and face newer swimming challenges to actually move on in her life. Having understood that, she’ll try to confront her greatest fear: swim into the ocean. And while that first ‘confrontation’ goes as humorously badly as expected, it helps Aya understand that it is time for her to enter adult life and carve her own path. However, she is not ready yet to leave Tsukiko behind.

On the other hand, Tsukiko finally unlocks from her memories the reasons behind her attraction to Aya. And, most importantly, why there is nothing more that she loves than to see Aya swimming. Having understood that, she also finds what her purpose in life will be but comes to the conclusion that her presence will prevent Aya from moving on with a life of her own. Thus, she takes the hard decision to cut the ties gently with Aya.

The third path is, once again, a vision of their relationship through the eyes of a secondary character. This time it is Jûmonji, a friend of Maihara who hides her own aromanticism behind her only hobby : otome video games. Thus, she is quick to understand the dynamics between Tsukiko and Aya, comparing their roles to characters found in her favorite games while not understanding why none of them goes any further in their relationship.

Goumoto-sensei likes to play with the expectations of her readers. When the separation finally comes, it is with a soft wind and not a storm. This is done with the perfect level of emotional writing, and Tsukiko is clearly written as aromantic despite liking the time she spends with Aya. This looks like a bittersweet ending, but then the epilogue (with its brilliant humorous double plot twist) gives us everything we hoped to see while respecting the personality of each of the characters. This is complemented by a bonus chapter, which takes place after the epilogue, and which shows how much each of them has matured, with Tsukiko doing something she has never done before for anyone else.

This is the story of a different type of love, one that isn’t based on romantic or sexual elements. An aromantic story ? Perhaps, at least from Tsukiko’s point of view. But as Aya said as the final word in the book, finally acknowledging and understanding how each woman feels about the other :

“This distance between us is our bond.”

ART – 9 : as usual, some magnificent backgrounds especially in the epilogue
STORY – 8 : a different Yuri, yet a beautiful if unusual story
CHARACTERS – 8 : this is good to see both girls mature and understand what must be done to move on. But once again, there are barely any secondary characters save Jûmonji.
SERVICE – 1 : swimsuits, mostly
YURI – 8

OVERALL – 8

Erica here: Well, that ending sounds like it’s worth reading! I’ll have to take a look at this. This manga IS licensed in English as The Evening and the Sea by Houbunsha through the MangaPlaza manga platform.Maybe I’ll give this a chance to test out the platform. ^_^

Thanks so much Laurent!

 
 




Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Manga, Volume 4 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。)

September 15th, 2022

Grab a hankie, it’s time to read, Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 4 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) In this pivotal issue, the Commoner Movement arc develops quickly and comes to a climax, one that specifically affects Claire. Not only is she a noble, and thus stands in opposition to the commoners, but the collateral damage of this arc will damage her, personally. And, while the commoner’s movement is quelled, we are given to understand that it was also covering up a larger plot, one that will engulf everyone in the cast.

This is the volume where everything, all of the goofy light-hearted comedic moments, fall away and what remains is social justice withheld, love perverted into betrayal and a new, unpredictable, danger. We finally meet Salas, the King’s right-hand man, a key player in the oncoming storm. I mention him because it is often stated how attractive he is in the novels – in fact, without him being attractive, his character fails to make sense…so I was really interested in seeing how he was portrayed. Not at all coincidentally, we also meet Lily, the nun, who also become a major player in the narrative, for the first time.  I believe now all the primary pieces are on the board. The game begins with a huge loss. If you’ve read the novels, you know how huge a blow it will be for Claire, and as the end of the volume comes with a letter from Susse, what that means to Rei having to battle for her.

That’s about all I can say without spoiling anything in this highly emotional and action-packed volume. Aonoshimo-sensei’s art is really just fantastic. Everything, from Salas’ cold beauty to Relaire’s adorable jiggles, is just so good. inori-sensei’s characters come alive in these manga volumes. I hope this series can continue through to the final LN volume, because so many reasons! Nur, the dance, the *wedding*, Dorothea, the Demon Queen, that ending. Let’s all keep telling Ichijinsha how much we love this manga series!

Now that we’re past this volume, I can set aside the handkerchief and get ready for the coming of butchy Manaria-sama, and Rei’s greatest trial for Clarie’s love – until the next one. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 6, since it’s not the focus. But it soon will be.
Service – Rei in that outfit at the end is definitely service. Hope we get a standee of those looks.

Overall – 9

I am reading the exact same same scene in this month’s Comic Yuri Hime and in Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou -Revolution-, Volume 2 , so that’s kind of fun, getting the scene described, then seeing it drawn.

Volume 3 of I’m in Love With the Villainess manga, in English will be hitting shelves this month!