Yuri Anime

Via YNN Correspondent Jst and several others,  ANN Reports that a 3rd Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha movie has been greenlit, but that it is not going to be a StrikerS reboot. The movie, Reflection, will have a new story not based on previous material.  In retrospect I am pleased about that. Unlike the first two series, StrikerS was a fully-formed story that was given plenty of time to develop. A movie of it would not add to the story and might well take away key plot and character development. On the other hand, I’m betting this is just an excuse to pander more to the lolicon audience in Japan, who has shown themselves ready to mortgage their lives to buy this stuff. I hope I’m wrong and they’ll give us grown-up Fate and Nanoha, but I’m not betting money on it.

YNN Correspondent Eric P and others want us to know that, as promised, Ikuhara Kunihiko has unveiled his new anime project, Yuri Kuma Arashi. It’s about a bear that turns into a girl  – in, I would imagine, a surreal animation sequence. Well we don’t know much yet, but we know it’ll be worth taking a look at, anyway. ^_^

More special episodes on the way for Saki Achiga Hen – look for them to stream Episodes 15 and 16 in May. Episode up to 14 are already available for free, legally, with some potential regional restrictions on Crunchyroll.

Japan is getting geared up for the Japanese release of My Little Pony~Tomodachi ha Mahou, with news that HKT48 will be singing the ending theme and an upcoming manga in Pucchigumi magazine.

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Yuri Manga

PreFure -Precious Friend – (プレフ) is a schoolgirl like story about friends, much like other school girls friends stories, so some fans see Yuri. At least one Japnese blog says this is really Yuri. I have no idea if that’s true or not. ^_^

Transistor Tea Set (トランジスタティーセット　~電気街路図~) has made it to Volume 5, but I’ll never be able to love it again, unless I get a headless robot maid once more.

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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!

It’s a hodgepodge kinda week.

 Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, Volume 10 (ピュア百合アンソロジー ひらり、 vol.10) hits shelves the end of this month. For the first time probably ever, I like the cover art.

Morinaga Milk’s new series Gakuen Polize (which Ipresume is at least loosely based on an old doujinshi series she drew) is also a March release. Since my Amazon JP order isn’t going to get here for 2 months due to bundling, some of you will read it before me. If you’re interested in a Guest Review, drop me a line!

Adachi to Shimamura (安達としまむら) is a Light Novel that has food and Yuri. I’m there. ^_^ (Thanks to tsuki and kei for the name correction!)

YuriTetsu ~ Shiritsu Yurigasaku Joshikou Tetsudobu (ゆりてつ~私立百合ヶ咲女子高鉄道部) looks vile and it’s from GX Comics,  which pretty much guarantees it’s vile, but it does appear to be about  schoolgirls  who are train enthusiasts…and and it may have Yuri. (Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3)   Bruce, if you do get it, you *will* write a review… ^_^

If you’re looking for a legit e-manga site now that JManga is gone, Manga Reborn is still around and is looking darn good. Many of the manga they have up are free to read. Please bear in mind that if you do pay  – you are paying for the ability to read and enjoy the content on the site, like Netflix or Amazon streaming services.  Like JManga, they have a number of obscure titles and there are some titles that you may be familiar with. They also encourage readers to become translators and editors, so you can roll up your sleeves and get things done the way you want to. Manga Reborn is a legit site – I’ve had the pleasure of meeting the folks who are running it and talking with them. Because some of what they have is also available in English print, you can read, say, the first chapter of Sakuran before you decide to give Vertical Publishing your money (which you should totally do, because it was an amazing manga.) At the moment, they don’t have any Yuri, but that’s subject to change.

Speaking of not Yuri, there are two manga you need to be reading and, while neither are Yuri, that’s just no excuse. ^_^

Moto Hagio’s Heart of Thomas, which is as central to the origin of BL as Shiroi Heya no Futari is to Yuri, has been put out by Fantagraphics (the same company that’s putting out those gorgeous volumes of Wandering Son). It’s a must-read shoujo classic. I’m thrilled we all have the chance to read this in English at last.

Completely different, but no less amazing, Yen Press has given the hardcover treatment to Yamazaki Mari’s wackadoodle classic, Thermae Romae. If you haven’t heard of this one, let me editorialize by saying this is the most bizarre historical  manga you will ever read. An architect from ancient Rome is sucked into the bath and finds himself in modern Japan, where he picks up ideas about bath design, bathing and bath culture, which he brings back to ancient Rome. It’s an absolutely fantastic series that I’ve been following in Japanese for a while now.

The commercial for the continuation of To Aru no Kagaku no Railgun  is live on ANN. Check it out. The “Sisters’ arc in the manga has little sign of Kuroko or the others, but it looks like the anime will make sure they all get a chance to appear.

And TWO awesome history lessons this week: The first, from Jason Thompson on ANN, a Quick and Dirty History of Manga in the US, and on MTV Geek, Sean Kleefeld’s Part 1 of Fanthropology, which looks at the origin of the concept of “Fandom”.  Both of these articles are fantastic reads.

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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 Manga

Yay! Fu~Fu (ふ～ふ), Volume 2 is slated to hit shelves in Japan in April. Woot! Boo, Fu~Fu, Volume 2 is the final volume. But the ending is spectacular, I promise you. ^_^

YNN Correspondent Tomo K. wants you all to know “Dowman Sayman’s Nickelodeon Green (ニッケルオデオン 緑) came out last month. This is a collection of 13 short stories which were published in Shogakukan’s IKKI magazine. Each story is 8 pages long. Two of the stories have a Yuri twist.

In “Inshu Bancho”, a girl’s saliva suddenly turns to sake, so her female friends start kissing her to “have a drink”. In “Hikkii and Gakkii”, the class rep keeps bringing school handouts to her hikikomori classmate whose home is filled with trash. The two girls finally confess their feelings for each other when the ward office decides to come take away all the trash.

The series is still ongoing in IKKI.”

Thanks Tomo, we appreciate the heads up!

Via @tougehiro on Twitter, Miniskirt Space Pirates (Bodacious Space Pirates) is now a manga from Asahi Comics. Reviews are comparing it to the TV series and finding it lacking. The manga covers Volume 2 of the novels – the Golden Ghost Ship arc.

Comic Natalie reports a Rose of Versailles magnet included in Cocohana magazine, Volume 4.

Rakuen Le Paradise (楽園 Le Paradis), Volume 11 is available, have you bought it yet? ^_^  

Real Bian manga by Japanese gravure idol Ichinomiya  Ayaka about her coming out as a real lesbian in the Japanese entertainment world is now available in full for free with download of the Zero One Viewer,(the green link in the middle). DL the viewer and choose the complete Real Bian from their menu – the title is in English, so it should be relatively simple. The book is in Japanese.

While I wasn’t looking  Sabagebu (さばげぶっ) has gotten a Volume 3 and Volume 4. Volume 4 is supposed to be turning up the Yuri-o-meter to high. I wouldn’t be surprised, given the earlier volumes.  (Here’s a refresher on the series, if you’ve forgotten the Survival Game Club.)

ROD REHABILITATION, Volume 1, with the new, completely different, Yomiko, goes on sale at the end of April.

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Yuri Anime (and related stuff)

RightStuf’s Spring catalog is a total Yuri fest, with Rose of Versailles on the front and Sweet Blue Flowers on the back. ^_^ Can’t wait for the mail? Download it and enjoy their continued commitment to Yuri anime. ^_^

One More Lesbian’s Lesbian Film Guide: Friends, Lovers and Other Complications covers Desiree Lim’s Sugar Sweet which I saw in San Francisco in 2002 and was released on DVD in 2011. If you missed it the first time around, check out this tale of true love and lesbian porn. ^_^

Hidamari Sketch‘s not-Yuri couple Hiro and Sae will be graduating in a very special episode this month. A promotional video for the episode is up on YouTube. If you like Hiro x Sae, you’re gonna want to watch it. ^_^

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Other News

Rica Takashima’s got a new FB page for her art, the Peeakboo Art Project. Join her for a unique look at life and interactive art projects all around the globe!

On Magazine no Mori this week, I look at GFantasy, a shounen manga magazine for women.

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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!

It’s a bibble and bob kind of week.

Namori-sensei, creator of Yuru Yuri, made the internet squee with a tweet of a cute napkin sketch.

I haven’t read Volume 1, but Volume 2 of Watashi ga Kanojo de Kanojo ga Watashi de (私が彼女で彼女が私で) hits shelves this month.

Yurina Hibi reports that Ichijinsha’s Palette magazine 4-koma series Oikaze Run Jump Throw! (追い風らんっ・じゃん・すろー!) is very high on the Yuri score. There’s at least one couple and some flesbian service.

Fashion magazine commons & sense, Issue 44 – CUBE, has Yuri manga by Tamaka Rin-sensei.

US-based Internet Service Providers have begun tracking file-sharing. Read up on the “6-warning system,”  know your rights and make your choices intelligently.

I was able to wax enthusiastic about the Grandmother of Yuri, Yoshiya Nobuko, in my answer on Quora to ‘Who is your gay hero?’  ^_^

Just the other day, I was whining to myself that there hasn’t been a Yuri-flavored Drama CD in a while, and lo and behold! I learned of the existence of a brand-spanking new one, Seijukuki Jinmei Vega, (思春期生命体ベガ) based on the action-adventure Yuri series by Hayate x Blade’s Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei, that runs in Rakuen Le Paradis magazine. Vega is an alien who fights off giant sea monsters that attack a small seaside town with power she gains from kissing her human sempai. (My wife comments, “Don’t we all?”) The series is one of the many that make that magazine my favorite of all the many manga magazines I read. A Drama CD with Yuri, aliens AND giant sea monsters? I’m totally there.^_^

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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!