Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


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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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.

 

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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!





Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Deluxe Edition, Volume 1

September 12th, 2022

After climate change begins to flood coastal cities and the remaining human population grows smaller, what will become of us? In Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Volume 1 by Hitoshi Ashinano – a series I have loved for many decades, – the end is inevitable, but gentle.

Alpha is an android. She’s a pretty advanced android, because not only does she look human, she cares about things like good coffee and beauty and can taste and cry. Alpha runs a coffee shop in what used to be Musashino City, and is now a small, sparsely populated area where the waving grass is slowly reclaiming roads.

In the pages of this series, we will be asked to experience things both common and fantastic from the perspective of someone who is always open to being moved by those things. Nothing happens in this series, but it often happens in the most breathtakingly beautiful ways.

Among the people we meet in Volume 1, is Kokone, another android . She is both more human, in that she can consume animal products and  also less, in that she worries quite a bit about fitting in with the humans she meets. Alpha will change her world, merely by being Alpha.

This deluxe edition is quite beautiful with color pages and color artbook images.  Yes, I have the artbook. ^_^ I also love the music from the Drama CDs and the stunning animation of the anime, which I would love to see be re-licensed, just for the beauty of the final scene over Yokohama.  I can’t lie – I’m with Kokone and find just staring at Alpha to be utterly entrancing.

The world in which this series is placed is so familiar and yet has elements of both fantasy and science fiction that make one question one’s own sense of reality. Shopping and fireworks and coffee…but also a giant ship shaped like a bird and a wild nature spirit and androids delivering packages… it can be our world, but would we want that? What will have to happen for us to have it?

The dialogue is simple, the scenarios are wholly about experiencing and feeling. There is no plot here. Just have a seat and a cup of coffee and watch the grass. At the end of the world, that’s all that’s left, anyway.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – A bit
Yuri – A little more than a bit, Kokone becomes infatuated, as we do, with Alpha

Overall – 9

My only criticism is that the word “android” is repeatedly translated as “robot.” As a science fiction fan, I don’t understand this choice at all. It is clearly “android” in katakana in the Japanese and the word android has been a word in the English language since 1837, as it happens. It simply makes no sense at all to translate this as robot.

UPDATE: I was mistaken about all of this. CW kindly informed me that it indeed “robot.” My memory was incorrect.  The translator was 100% correct. 

This one quibble aside, I cannot believe I am getting to read this series in English! Thank you to everyone at Seven Seas for such a beautiful volume for this poignantly beautiful series.