Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


I Don’t Know Which Is Love, Volumes 3 & 4

January 28th, 2026

I Don't Know Which Is Love Volume 3 cover. It shows Maria, a pretty lady with long brown hair wearing lipstick, holding up a phone that shows a surprised looking Mei. I’m Luce, and it’s been a while! I’m back today with a double issue of the Yuri rollercoaster, which contains no actual rollercoaster content. I can be found on the Okazu discord as farfetched. Onwards!

In Volume 1 & Volume 2 we saw Soraike Mei get closer, in various different ways, to her five love interests, and generally be something of a lesbian disaster. In Volume 3 of I Don’t Know Which Is Love, she’s practicing for the play, which involves kissing – having kissed both Karin and Kaoru, she’s confused as to why it felt good both times! Good that there’s a certain psychology professor to help her sort it out… Or just make it more complicated? In Volume 4, the play having gone well, Mei ends up in a situation with a drunk Maria, and meets up with her high school crush who broke her heart. Resolving herself to date Karin, she finds her kissing another girl! Riri wants to see her, so invites her to a photoshoot… but it’s in a swimsuit – will Mei, disaster lesbian extraordinaire, even be able to take photos?

This sold as a romcom – and in many ways it is – but it also feels more like watching a race – who can kiss Mei first? Who can date her first? Karin and Maria are pretty ahead, with Kaoru closer behind. I called it the Yuri rollercoaster in previous reviews, and that’s the feel – not much room to breathe. That said, it’s kind of refreshing for a series not to be ecchi per se but to admit that part of romance for a lot of people is sex. These are college students, it’s not weird for them to feel attracted to each other physically, and no one is shaming them for it, although sometimes they’ll tell themselves off – not in a puritanical way, but in a ‘she’s my professor’ or ‘we’re not even dating’ kind of way.Cover for I Don't Know Which Is Love volume 4. It has Karin, a young woman with short blond hair, looking flirtatious, about to lick Mei's finger.

If you really don’t like Professor Maria being one of Mei’s love interests, probably best to sit this out, since she’s not going away. At least Mei is a college student rather than a high school one, but I understand it might irritate people. Of all the love interests, Riri gets the least to do here, only appearing a few times, although she is cute when she does. She does pop up in Volume 4 in a photo shoot, wherein Mei realises she has a thing for boobs.

At the end of Volume 4, Mei asks Maria for a quiet beach spot so Riri won’t get harassed while they’re at the beach. Maria uses this as an opportunity to get all of Mei’s love interests together, so Mei can choose one. Which sounds like a set up for a final volume, but apparently a sixth volume recently came out in Japan, although there is no date for the fifth one in English. It doesn’t really seem to be gunning for any kind of polyamory ending, but neither is any girl really ‘winning’ right now. Mei certainly can’t make her mind up!

Perhaps an issue with this kind of series is that it either needs to be long or short. How Do We Relationship had the time and (I suspect) the planning to carry out that tangled mess of relationships. Although that was more of a serious tone and the intents are different, I’m not sure the author here has a particular plan in mind. As such, I worry it might end up being a bit more meandering. We will have to see; I still enjoy it, but I’m honestly not sure where it’s heading.

Ratings:

Yuri – 10
Service – 6
Art- 7
Characters – 7
Story – 6

Overall – 7

You know, for a series about lesbians, they sure don’t say the word lesbian much. If at all.





Heimin No Watashi Desu Ga Koushaku Reijou-sama o Taburakashite Ikite Imasu, Volume 3 (平民の私ですが公爵令嬢様をたぶらかして生きています)

January 26th, 2026

Cover of Heimin No Watashi Desu Ga Koushaku Reijou-sama o Taburakashite Ikite Imasu, Volume 3 / 平民の私ですが公爵令嬢様をたぶらかして生きています by Kitao Taki. A red-headed girl leans over a dark-haired girl, stroking her face with predatory expression. They both look at us and are wearing the same fantasy school uniform of red and white.In Volume 1 we meet Laila, a commoner who parents sold her into slavery so they could debauch, and Evangeline “Eva” Mayer, the daughter of a Duke, and Laila’s childhood friend who, through accident, runs in to Laila and is able to take her as a bodyguard to the Royal Academy. In Volume 2, Laila deal with some prejudice and bullying, but her magical abilities are so significant, her fighting skills so good and her personality strong enough that she gains the respect of some of the students. 

In Volume 3 of Kitao Taki’s Heimin No Watashi Desu Ga Koushaku Reijou-sama o Taburakashite Ikite Imasu (平民の私ですが公爵令嬢様をたぶらかして生きています) the 4 major houses are set against each other in a battle of wits, magic and combat by the King, who mostly wants some entertainment. He’d also like to get a feel for how strong this commoner is and to show off his beloved grandchild Eva’s power. 

The Mayer family starts down a member, but a masked (but not disguised, really) person joins them…with intel. The competitions get more and more complicated in the first round. There is no clear winner going in to the second round which is a dungeon that the King needs clearing. But once in the dungeon the students find that there’s some very serious magic in the dungeon, and the magic is going to mimic the person they want to fight the least. Eva and Laila watch in trepidation as another Laila walks out of the mist….

I know I say this every volume, but I really do enjoy Kotao Taki’s manga. And this story is building on itself, well away from simple romantic comedy to a full-blown epic adventure, with tons of fighting, magic and intrigue.Will Laila and Eva end up together? Probably, but that is not the story. I’m still holding out for Laila, Lisette and Eva kicking Catherine’s butt and all out ass whoop. ^_^ It’s also nice to read a fantasy that isn’t an isekai for a moment. 

For loads of action, adventure and a pleasant bit of Yuri seasoning, I’m really enjoying this series. 

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service –  1? Very little, as everyone is busy fighting
Yuri – 4, as everyone is busy fighting

Overall – 9

From Volume 3 on, this book is only available in digital format on Amazon JP, Bookwalker and other online platforms. Thank heavens for Bookwalker.





A Yuri Love Story That Begins with Getting Dumped in a Dream, Volume 1

January 18th, 2026

Two girls wearing blue button down short-sleeve shirts and red striped ties lay next to one another but facing in different direction, so only their heads are near. A girl with long, dark hair looks at the girl with short blonde hair, whose eyes are closed.A Yuri Love Story That Begins with Getting Dumped in a Dream, Volume 1 by Hijiki, is exactly what it says on the package. When I read it, I took some time to do an internal retrospective of the state of Yuri these days, because this felt very much like a (decent) throwback to Yuri manga of the late 00’s and early 10’s. 

Tsukushi and Hinoka have been friends since childhood. When Tsukushi wakes up from a dream in which she had told Hinoka she liked her…and was rejected, Tsukushi is going to think about that friendship a lot differently. First, she’s questioning if she does have those kinds of feelings, then when that is an obvious affirmative, what to do about it. 

The only thing Tsukushi is not doing is *looking* at Hinoka, who is likewise struggling because she is very in love with Tsukushi, who just doesn’t seem to notice. This situation would be annoying if their friends weren’t openly and overtly rooting for them. The friends watching them flail and being kind and supportive is both very cute and lightens what otherwise would just be two teens overthinking.  It also helps that among those supporters is a lesbian couple at school who are watching the baby dykes with kind eyes. As the people around them involve themselves in the budding relationship, both Hinoka and Tsukushi can flail cutely. Because being rejected by friends isn’t in the story set-up at all, both protagonists are free from worrying about larger issues of rejection of bullying, but are then able to get stuck in the muddiness of their own feelings. 

There very little else by way of story. This is an old-school school life Yuri romance, if you will. Hijiki’s art and characters help make this a cute and fun throwback read for folks that are looking for some “classic” school Yuri suitable for younger teens. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7

Thank to Seven Seas for the review copy, via ANN, where I will also review this book for the Spring manga guide!





Love Bullet, Volume 2 (ラブ・バレット)

January 16th, 2026

Cover of Love Bullet, Volume 2 by inee. On a blood red background, a girl with white wings and pale blue tactical gear, holding heart-shaped grenades, is surrounded by bullet shells with a heart shape on the primer part of the casing.Now that we have Love Bullet, Volume 1 in English, I know we’re all wondering what will become of our new favorite Cupid, Koharu. Well, luckily Love Bullet, Volume 2 (ラブ・バレット)  is out now in Japan and you can bet I scooped that baby up right away!

Koharu is still getting the hang of her job, with her “sempai” Kanna’s assistance when wild card Chiyo shows up to challenge them all to a duel. If Kanna or Koharu wins, she’ll leave them alone, but if she wins, Chiyo wants them to do something for her.  The result of that duel will take the three cupids well out of the city, to a small town, which is still reeling after a landslide had tragic consequences at a local high school. And we’ll meet the fourth member of the cast, Cupid Ena, who insists that this is her territory. 

Once again, the story is breathtaking, with ripples that will affect everyone in the story. 

Not a huge spoiler and one of the funnier moments is Koharu appearing to a human as she cuts vegetables. With Chiyo and Kanna assisting invisibly, the person is gobsmacked by how much Koharu is able to chop.  

Like Volume 1, the real story here is sad, full of lost opportunities and missed moments and maybe an impossible future. Now that we have all the characters on the stage, I am very interested to see where this story will take us. I expect to need tissues wherever that is.^_^;

The armaments get absolutely ridiculous in this volume, with heart shaped drones and mortars. I love inee’s commitment to the bit.  ^_^ We also learn a little about the Cupid economy and just how much our eternal joy is worth. Also, I am even more deeply skeptical that becoming a Cupid is a Goddess of Love’s “blessing.”  I wonder if there is a story behind the scenes here. I hope there is.  Volume 2 has the same kind of happy-go-lucky violence we see in Volume 1, with Chiyo going even crazier about reckless use of weaponry. She’s definitely a stray bullet on her own and I wonder what well find when we get to her backstory. 

Ratings:

Art – 8 
Story – Poignant, violent, terribly sad and hectic, 8 
Characters – 8
Service – Violence with hearts
Yuri – 2

Overall – 8

The art is great, the story is both frantic and deeply, tightly wound. I’m looking forward to Volume 3 for sure. ^_^





Galette No. 36 (ガレットNo.36)

January 12th, 2026

Turned 90 degrees, a woman in a beret style cap looks at us, another woman hiding behind a piece of paper look sideways at the first. Colorful, but blurry red and yellow apples make up the foreground air.As Galette prepares to step into a tenth year, we are here celebrating the completion of their 9th successful year. In an industry which is very much subject to editorial whims, reader fads, distribution breakdown, declining self space and a host of other disruptions, to see a Yuri magazine committed to consistently to creators telling the stories they want to tell, the way they want to tell them, is extraordinary. Galette is that magazine.

Galette No. 36 (ガレットNo.36) opens with an ending this volume. Morinaga Milk’s “Watashi no Kawaii Neko-chan” comes to an end, as Yuna and Rena take a short trip just before Yuna finally opens her own salon. This feels like an end of an era. It’s also really nice to see a Morinaga Milk story that is left alone right to the *very end* where the characters can actually address the issues and come together as a partnership.  Theclearfile that came with this volume celebrates the end of this story, with Yuna and Rena in wedding gowns on one side and Chibi wearing a ribbon on the other.

“Otome no Shinden” by Nakako Nui, which has been a not-creepy doll story takes an interesting turn as Rikako joins the handicrafts club at school and makes a friend…a friend who wants to see her doll. The doll is all for it, but for some reason Rikako is not. 

“Koi ni Shitakunaina” by Inui Ayu is the second female client falls for a hired escort story already this month. This series takes Momoa and Karen a step closer as they share their real names…but is that really okay in a paid relationship? Momo is thinking that she’s falling too deep.

There are a lot more stories that I genuinely enjoyed in this volume including some new work by artists I  am not familiar with, like Sagami’s swet “Cosmos no Saku Tokoro” and the end of the two-part short story that began in the previous volume, as well as all the 140-character entries including the illustrated one. 

Galette hits more than 200 pages once again in this volume, something I always want to celebrate. I hope more indie artists and writers submit to Galette and we get to see their unique view of Yuri, as well. 

Ratings: 

Overall – 9

2026 is going to be trying for all of us, so it’s really lovely to know that Galetter is here, bringing us more great independent Yuri!

 

 

 

 

 

2026 is going to be challenging for many of us,