Yuri Anime

It’s a good news week for fans of Yuri 4-koma school life comedy stories!

RightStuf has announced pre-orders for Yuruyuri: Happy Go Lily Blu-ray Season 1 (S) Premium Edition.

And Sakura Trick (which I recently mentioned in my MangaTime Kirara Miracle review) is getting an anime. I’ll give Sakura Trick this – it has actual Yuri. It’s still not my kind of story, but for once a “Yuri” 4-koma that actually has Yuri. That’s gotta count for something. ^_^

Thanks to all of you who wrote in last week to point me to this news: Kouga Yun (creator of Loveless) is working on a new story – Akuma no Riddle – that, upfront, is being said to have at some Yuri. I like Kouga-sensei’s art and am interested to see what she’ll d with this story. It’s about girl assassins, which is up my alley in a way that school life comedy is never going to be. ^_^ This series has been greenlit for an anime adaptation, as well.

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Yuri Webcomic

Not manga, but a lovey lesbian webcomic suggestion from Erin S. The mermaid and the pirate takes a few well-known stories and reworks them with some exquisite line art. It’s a feel good read and well worth a click!

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Other News

Bandai has announced new toys for the new, yet shrouded- in-mystery Sailor Moon anime. In a nod backwards to the henshin stick lip glosses of the 90’s (which are sometimes available in auctions, always obscenely expensive) the new toys are nail polishes inspired by the Inners’ transformation wands  from Sailor Moon R.  ^_^

You remember the book trailer for the lesbian fantasy novel Pyramid Waltz by Barbara Ann Wright?  Well the book has a sequel and so does the trailer! Here’s  a link to the trailer for the sequel, For Want of a Fiend. The book is serious, but the trailer is a comedy. ^_^

You know I’m not a gamer, but I know many of you are and you’ll want to know this.  The Mary Sue reports that Aveline de Grandpré, the first female playable character in the Assassin’s Creed franchise will be getting her console debut with the upcoming Assassin’s Creed IV: Pirates Black Flag. She looks very cool. Someone will have to let us know how it is.

The NFL Player’s Association is supporting gay pride with a line of #Pride t-shirts, each with the name and number of a NFL Player who has publicly supported gay rights and openly gay NFL players. I’m probably going to get a Chris Kluwe shirt, because he’s funny as heck and a total nerd. ^_^ (What better way for the NFL to do clandestine market research on public support for gay players, huh?)

This week’s link to help you learn Japanese is Kikitori – a site geared towards helping you practice your listening skills. If you’re like me, reading Japanese is not problematic, but when it comes to verbal skills…ouch. Learning to *hear* is critical in learning to speak a language.

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That’s a wrap for this week! Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge. Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Many, many thanks to the crowd at lat night’s AnimeNEXT Yuri Panel! Those were some of the best questions ever.

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Other News

Let’s start the day off with the important stuff. After a ten year absence, a new Sailor Moon musical (Sera Myu) has been announced, with extra geeky things all around, in and underneath the news! Takeuchi-sensei is reported to participated in the auditions herself. And the role of Tuxedo Kamen went to former Takarazuka actress Yamato Yuuga. I am *so* down with this. Yamato was stellar in “Singing in the Rain.” I think I’m going to have to own this DVD not matter how excruciatingly expensive it is. I expect it to be ridiculously expensive. ^_^ The show will run in the middle of September, 2013.

Cutey Honey Curry is a thing that exists. ^_^

It’s definitely a mix-and-match your geekiness kind of day. The cast of the Yuru Yuri anime will sing the second My Little Pony opening theme.

And my hero, Go Nagai had a tribute show in LA. “Devils & Robots” (gawd what a clever title, that) featured 5 of his own paintings and tribute from over 60 other artists. Last week saw the introduction of what I can only imagine must be the greatest manga ever, Cutey Honey vs Devilman Lady, which is running in Champion RED, so you know it’s classy. (That was sarcasm. But I still want to see it!)

Last week I added a new feature here, where we’ll discuss apps and tools to help you get started in Japanese. To start with basics I suggested RealKana, and rdm00 suggested iOS app Japanese Flip.

Well, I’d like to make this a regular feature, so if you are using any apps, tools or sites to help you learn Japanese, let us know! The more tools on our toolbelt, the better. To send in a recommendation, give us the name of the app/tool/site/program, a link if there is one and why you like it in the comments.  Although I personally have never used any of these, I found an article on Top 10 Kanji Recognition Apps, if you’re a bit more advanced in your learning.

Today I’m going to feature this app, suggested by Kit. She says, “For beginners, Human Japanese is good; it provides context for lessons, and not just in the “here are some words” way.” Thanks, Kit! Context is everything to me. If you learn a few words at a time, it becomes easier to fill in the rest of the sentence. ^_^

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Yuri Manga

Morinaga Milk’s Kisses, Sighs and Cherry Blossoms Pink: The Complete Collection  hit the street this week. I’ve lined up a Guest Reviewer for it, since I’ve reviewed it 3 times already, when it first came out from Yuri Hime and Volume 1 and Volume 2 of the new edition when Futabasha put them out. It’s someone else’s turn. ^_^

Ran across this one quite randomly while searching Amazon JP. Seitokaichou ga Yuri suki demo Mondai nashi!? (生徒会長が百合好きでも問題ナシ! ?) Um, I really don’t know what to say about a story in which the only “conflict” is that the perfect, smart, rich Student Council President likes Yuri. Duh? ^_^

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That’s a wrap for this week! Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge. Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

I receive many emails and comments to the effect of “I can’t read Japanese so…” But you know, I couldn’t read Japanese either, at first. I learned – so can you. Here’s a free online tool to get you started, RealKana. Start by memorizing the syllables now and by the end of 2013, you’ll be able to read simple sentences. にほんごをべんきょうしましょう。Start now. There’s nothing at all stopping you from trying. ^_^ I’ll add other tools to the list, but this seems like a really good place to start.

Yuri Anime

Nozomi RightStuf has announced the extra that will come with pre-orders  for Rose of Versailles, Part 2.

The second round of voting at Daisuki is up, and this packet includes some titles of interest, including Devilman Lady (which was SO gay) and Heartcatch PreCure (which was SO gay). So get those votes in and get some Yuri up on Daisuki!

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Yuri Manga

Comic Natalie reports that Takemiya Jin’s Omoi no Kakera, Volume 2 went on sale today with variant extras, depending on the bookstore at which it was purchased.  Speaking of Takemiya-sensei…tomorrow’s Okazu will feature an interview with her! So please make sure you drop by tomorrow for another look at a prime mover in the Yuri genre! (I can’t wait!)

15 -sai (15才) is one of those manga you just know is going to be filled to the brim with redeeming social value. (-_-)

Yuikan, Volume 5 (ゆりキャン) exists.

Because I’m perfectly comfortable judging a book by it’s cover, I think Bloody Lily (ブラッディ・リリィ) looks worth the time it will take me to read it. ^_^

Yuru Yuri, Volume 10 (ゆるゆり) streets today in Japan, with 2 different special editions.

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Other News

maeydaygeist mentioned on Twitter yesterday that Monica Nolan, writer of Bobby Blanchard, Lesbian Gym Teacher (which I reviewed) and Lois Lenz, Lesbian Secretary (which I forgot to review last summer) has a new book, Mamie Mainwaring, Lesbian Dilettante. That is so on my summer reading list. Nolan has a way of portraying the innocence of another time in a way that is sweet and utterly excruciating at the same time.

Our own Bruce McF has a lovely article up, Experiments in a new media economy on crowdfunding for anime. It’s well worth your time to read it, as it is so rare to get an economist’s take on anything in this industry, much less an economist who knows something about the industry, as Bruce does.

For those of you in Tokyo on June 6th, Nakamura Ching-sensei will be participating in a retrospective of Taniguchi Natsuko’s art in Shibuya. Read the report on Comic Natalie for details.

ANN has this to hurt your brain: Former Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth murders Sailor Moon’s iconic line “In the name of the Moon, I will punish you,” before murdering people in this preview for his short film Tokyo Story, in which he plays a stoic assassin in Japan.  Couldn’t be more typical if it tried. Just go watch. ^_^

The industry fights back in Japan, with various associations making their voices heard as new, more restrictive, legislation to fight child pornography is proposed that threatens people who draw and animate not-remotely-real characters.

I am finally sitting down with Yurist (百合人), a “magazine for people who love Yuri”. The contents start off with some statistics about Yuri fans. Of the self-identified Yuri fans questioned, 52% are female, 35% male, 11% other, 4% didn’t answer. This not far off my experience, I’ve been saying Yuri is relatively close to an even split in the West, as well. 62% of respondents are in their 20s. Only 2% in their 40s! But more importantly, 19% said they were teens, which means the audience is skewing younger. This is a good thing. Less hang-ups. 37% are “out” about their interest in Yuri, 43% partially so, or at least don’t hide it.

So the typical Japanese Yuri fan is a woman in her 20s who is comfortable with her interest and at least partially open about it. (In other words, probably not ranting at work about going to Comiket, but totally telling her friends.) So far, entirely consistent with my own findings here.

If anything else surfaces from this issue of Yurist, I’ll let you know!

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Event News

AnimeNEXT is next weekend. I’ll be running a Yuri panel on Friday, June 7 at 6PM. I’ll be giving away loads of stuff! I hope to see you there. ^_^ Bring questions!

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That’s a wrap for this week! Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge. Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Yuri (and other) Anime 

From YNN Correspondent Shannon Luchies, we have more interesting Media Blasters news this week – according to their Facebook page, they have licensed Yami to Boushi to Hon no Tabibito. Thanks for the heads up Shannon! Yuricon Staffer Serge suggests “Completely forgettable except for Hazuki” as an honest pull-quote for the packaging. ^_^

Serial Experiments Lain DVD/Blu-ray Complete Collection Limited Edition on sale at RightStuf. With extras and stuff. ^_^

The September release of an Aoi Hana Blu-Ray box set in Japan will be accompanied by original art by manga creator Shimura Takako, Comic Natalie reports. Blu-Ray would be worth it for a change, since the animation is so lovely. It’s on my Amazon JP Yuri Wish List if anyone feels like buying me a birthday present. ^_^

I know you were on pins and needles about this: Sentai Filmworks has announced the release of Queen’s Blade Rebellion has been pushed back to September. Awww.

And another new free, legal anime streaming site has popped up – AnimeSols. This site is working with a number of anime studios and the Yomiuri media company to both stream and crowdfund older anime. To my surprise, I recognized a name in the credits. It was my pleasure to work with QuarkPro founder Sam Pinansky last year during our JManga adventure. AnimeSols has the shoujo classic Creamy Mami in the lineup, which is good news for shoujo anime fans. Unlike Daisuki, Animesols is available to North America only. I’ve had a chance to ask Sam about this and it comes down to the fact that they are using the crowdfunding upfront to get the disks printed (not as, say, a Kickstarter perk.) If they took donations from non-NA countries they’d be required to file sales and tax info in all those countries – and follow local censorship laws. Plus, just to drive a stake through the heart of the global economy, licensing agreements in countries from decades ago still apply. So there are countries that could not get streaming rights regardless. Okay, that’s the bad news – on the good news side, once sets are printed, they have an agreement with TRSI for fulfillment, so you’ll be able to buy sets wherever you are.

I hope to have an interview with Sam next week and we can get the whole scoop. ^_^

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Other News

Manga artist Nao Yazawa is once again giving away some of her titles on Kindle! You can download Moon and Blood, Volume 1 in Japanese and Nozomi, Volume 1 in English for free until the 27th of May.

You may have heard that Amazon Kindle is opening a new service for creators of fanfic. Well, yes and no. It’s essentially a farm league for authorized fiction. Only series that have licensing agreements with Amazon will be allowed  – none of which are anime or manga, they are all US TV shows at the moment. ANN gives a succinct rundown on all the rules. With the success of several high-profile fanfictions that have transitioned into original work, this makes sense. My only concern would be if media rights holders use it to squash “unauthorized” fanfic. We’ll have to wait and see what happens. ^_^ In the meantime, your Madoka porn stories are probably safe. ^_^

A  lesbian film is making a splash at Cannes this year, La vie d’Adèle (Blue Is the Warmest Color), which is an adaptation of a graphic novel titled Le Bleu est une Couleur Chaude by Julie Maroh. It appears that Arsenal Pulp is releasing this in English in Autumn 2013 under the name Blue Angel. (Thanks bystrouska for the clarification!)

Comic Natalie reports on a new line of Rose of Versailles dolls.I think they are terrifying. ^_^ Speaking of dolls, if you know who this is,  are you as amazed as I am at the fact that they are still making figurines of him? It’s a pretty good one, too. ^_^

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That’s a wrap for this week! Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge. Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Event

Yuricon Presents the Yuri Panel at Anime Next! We’re so glad to be returning to our home event for another year. There will be a lot of  good news (and some bad) and we’ll be giving away a lot of fun stuff, so we hope to see you there. ^_^

Other News

In an exciting new attempt to leverage “Cool Japan,”  a new anime streaming site has launched, Daisuki.net. The site appears to be be globally accessible. It’s unclear if all the anime on the site is globally accessible, as well. If you live somewhere other than North America, and have registered for Daisuki, can you let us know in the comments if all the series are accessible to you? Bruce_McF wants to know. The launch campaign includes a contest for various goods – and there is a promise of a store in which goods can be purchased. Some of the anime on Daisuki is available on Crunchyroll, but this is really big news for European anime fans.

Anime News Network has a glimpse of the second Bandai Sailor Moon figurine – no surprise, it’s Sailor Mercury.

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Yuri Manga

There’s a pile of new manga from Comic Yuri Hime: Tsuki to Sekai to Etoile (月と世界とエトワール), Kimono Nadesico Volume 2 (きものなでしこ),  Sentimental Dust (センチメンタルダスト),  and steps by Takemiya Jin. Whee!

Rakuen Le Paradis (楽園 Le Paradis) Volume 12 will hit shelves at the end of June, and so will the first volume of Seijukuki Jinmei Vega by Hayashiya Shizuru,(思春期生命体ベガ)! Whee!

Nogami Takeshi’s online comic series Marine Corp Yumi has launched an English version. There’s some Yuri-service and a load of insight to military life in the United States of Amerigo. The translation is courtesy of our own C.O., Ana Moreno.

Comic Natalie reports that Transistor Ni Venus creator Takemoto Izumi has a new sci-fi school series in Comic Beam, Shinraku Mono De…. Bruce, we expect a review. ^_^

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Yuri Anime

Ghost in the Shell: Arise full trailer is now streaming for your entertainment. It looks like Kusanagi gets another woman to talk to/be enemies with.

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That’s a wrap for this week! Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge. Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!