Lesbian Live Action Movie

Way back in 2002, it was my very great privilege to present the Revolutionary Girl Utena Movie at the Castro Theater for the Frameline LGBT Film Festival. It was an amazing experience. I introduced the movie in front of Ikuhara Kunihiko himself and to 1200 people – 1000 of whom had never heard of or seen the TV show. That was the day I learned what it felt  like to have one’s bones turn to jelly. ^_^ It was an amazing experience.

At that Film Festival, I also had the pleasure of seeing Desiree Lim’s Sugar Sweet – a movie directed by a lesbian, about Japanese lesbians. (It was paired with a short called Three-Second Melancholy,” which introduced me to the evils of the phrase, “More than Friends, Less than Lovers.”) I never reviewed it here, because back then Okazu was a different blog. Well, Sugar Sweet is now available on DVD with subtitles. It has a great opening, and the first 15-20 minutes are very strong. The middle gets weird and the ending, while happy, is a bit muddled. It’s worth a watch, though if you want to see a glimpse of something at least vaguely resembling  lesbian culture in Japan. Grab the DVD off Amazon, or queue it up on Netflix, if you get a chance! This is a perfect example of how much the world has changed – in 2002, we could never have imagined that this movie would ever get a DVD release.

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Yuri Manga

July is heating up for Yuri Hime Comics with a number of collections on the horizon. Mizu Ether (水色エーテル), marriage black, Hatsukoi Tectonics (初恋テクトニクス), the third volume of Casseopiea Dolce (カシオペア・ドルチェ 3巻) and a new Girl’s Love Anthology, Girls Love -strawberry milk shake–.

From Hakusensha, Takemiya Jin’s Yuri collection Omoi no Kakera (想いの欠片). This one is a keeper, if you like stories that are written to be actual stories and not just a collection of one-shots.

Oh yay! Sabagebu! (さばげぶっ!) Volume 1 is out. This cracktastic shoujo series about a “Survival Game Club” has to be experience to be believed. There is some one-sided crushy, insane Yuri.

Morishima Akiko-sensei has a new manga series, Seigakuin Koukadaigaku  (星学院工科大学). It’s Morishima, is there any doubt that it’s got at least a *little* Yuri?

Exciting news! YNN Correspondent Komatsu-san let us know that Shimura Takako has a new manga series Awajima Hyakkei (淡島百景) and it can be read online (in Japanese.) It follows four girls at an musical theater school. The manga uses the PocoPoco viewer and it opened right up for me. You can make the pop-ups disappear by using the bottom tool bar command フキダシ消えた…and then you can add your own pop-up comments for the next unsuspecting reader. A clever, yet highly annoying, way to experience manga interactively. ^_^    Matt Thorn has written an *excellent* article about the new series. This is a must-read article!  

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Snatches of Yuri

YNN Correspondent Marc M. was first up with the news that Amano Kozue’s Amanchu!, is being published in French by Editions Ki-oon. The first volume is out in May, Marc informs us and the second volume in June. He says, “It’s Yuri-ish if you squint while wearing Yuri goggles. But it’s got some lovely scenery porn (is that the right term?).” Yes, it sure is the right term, Marc!

A collection called Yurikan (ゆりキャン) is already receiving 5 stars of Yuri from Japanese Yuri blogs, which makes me cringe just a bit. But, it’s from Hakusensha, which makes me feel a bit hopeful. :-)


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Yuri Anime

The trailer/commercial for the YuruYuri anime is up on Nico Nico Douga. It captures the feel of the manga perfectly. 4 girls sit around and goof off together. ^_^ On Crunchyroll News, Komatsu-san mentions that Namori-sensei, the creator, will be doing 4000 autographs as a promotion for the series.


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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 Miscellany

Comic Ryuu, home of any number of random Yuri-ish manga over the last few years, has announced that it is going on hiatus after the August issue (on sale in June) to plan for a big relaunch in December.

Prism Comics is looking for queer artists to appear at their booth at San Diego Comic-Con. Contact them directly if you’re planning on being there and want to sign in an openly LGBTQ space. They are looking for folks who are already planning on attending with Professional credentials, and there is a charge to partner. Prism Comics list the benefits of partnering as:

— You get 100% of all sales

— We keep inventory and sell your books when you aren’t at the table

— We handle credit card transactions

— You get backdrop display art space at the booth that’s up during the entire show

— You get more than half a full table space to display your stuff while you’re at the table

— Having a lot of LGBT stuff in one area helps introduce your work to new readers!

I’ve worked with Prism several times and have always found them to be a fantastic, down-to-earth group of people, with a very minimum of drama. I’ve also met some insanely cool folks through Prism, like Jennifer Camper, JD Glass and Alison Bechdel. So, if you’re going to be at SDCC as a Pro and want to maximize your LGBTQ visibility – go ahead and contact them. Tll them I sent you.

From YNN Correspondent Ashi, Epsiode 7 of Battle Girls – Time Paradox, has a scene with several scrolls of classic stories. But one volume was written by the keeper of (the scrolls, and she called it Yuri Monogatari.

(Lawsuit!!! Joke, joke. ^_^)

On Twitter, fan translator AXYPB approached me looking for help – he did a fan translation of Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke wo, and is looking for feedback from anyone who might have played it. Drop him a line if you can help.

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Not-Yuri Miscellany

I’m not in the habit of posting whole press releases here (because they usually make incredibly boring reading as they repeat the headline three times, each time with more detail,) but I am far too lazy right now to abstract from this one – and I am very pleased to see a manga company not my own recognize the role libraries have played in getting manga to young people:

VIZ MEDIA OFFERS LIBRARIANS FREE HEROES OF MANGA LIBRARY KITS

New Kits Highlight Popular VIZ Media Manga Properties And Help Foster Literacy And A Love Of Japanese Pop Culture Among Library Patrons Of All Ages

San Francisco, CA, June 2, 2011 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, gives librarians across the country a useful new tool to promote reading, literacy and love of manga (graphic novels). The company has made available Heroes of Manga Library Kits, full of items to entice patrons to explore the exciting world of Japanese pop culture and comics.

Manga is one of the most requested categories in libraries today. The Heroes of Manga Library Kit features some of VIZ Media’s most popular properties, such as NARUTO, FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, NURA: RISE OF THE YOKAI CLAN and POKÉMON, designed for a range of readers from All Ages to Young Adult. Each library kit contains 50 book covers, 300 bookmarks, 50 buttons, 5 assorted VIZ Media bags, and a full-color poster featuring NARUTO, and is available for FREE to library professionals. For more information, or to receive a kit, please submit information here before June 8, 2011. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

“VIZ Media celebrates its 25th Anniversary this year and throughout our history, we have made it our mission to help fans of all ages foster a love of reading through manga,” says Candice Uyloan, Director of Marketing. “Our latest campaign provides librarians with a free Heroes of Manga Library Kit that contains a variety of fun premiums that highlight some of our most popular properties. Our first efforts to promote the kits resulted in such an enthusiastic response that we have decided to extend the program and increase the number of kits produced. We invite librarians to send in for their free kit today and use the goodies exclusively created for them to inspire their patrons to explore the exciting world of comics from Japan!”

VIZ Media manga titles are regularly recognized by leading library associations for their imaginative stories and high quality. The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) recently recognized several notable VIZ Media manga titles recommended for those ages 12-18, meet the criteria of both good quality literature and appealing reading for teen readers. For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the U.S. leader in selecting books, videos, and audio books for teens.

For more information on VIZ Media manga titles, please visit www.viz.com/manga.

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Katherine Dacey, aka The Manga Critic, has a wonderul review of Rica ‘tte Kanji!? up, and it’s motivated me to get back to work on it, after a week or two of not, because day job sucked my time away. I am more committed than ever to getting this delightful book in front of everyone who wants to read it. Thanks Kate!

And last up in this collection of goos and gaws, my monthly article on Hooded Utilitarian aroused incoherent rage and some rather interesting, and some cognitively dissonant commentary and I made a new friend. Oh, the column is about how sick to death I am of fans dismissing open discussion about racism, sexism, homophobia and other topics in comics by telling people trying to point out the *obvious* racism, sexism and homophobia in comics “Don’t take it seriously, it’s just a comic…” as if images and words have no effect. Read here. I don’t rant, but I do pound my fist on the table a bit. ^_^

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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!

Some late-breaking news came in this afternoon, that I want to let you all know about right away!

Yuri Manga

From Twitter, Tanbishugi (who does a fantastic list of manga artists and industry sources on Twitter, among other great info) let me know that Tokyopop Germany, not having been fettered by a lack of interest in manga, is going to be publishing Eban Fumi’s Blue Friend in German. Both volumes are slated for a February 2012 release. Good news for the German-reading audience!

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Yuri Event

Rica Takashima informs me that she will be lecturing at the Mulberry Street Branch  of the New York Public Library at 10 Jersey st., New York, NY on Monday, June 20, at 4:30PM on “Queering Fiction: LGBTQ in YA Literature.” I can’t think of a more relevant topic to us these days, as YA literature sets the tone for literary interests for ages to come. If you’re local, I hope you’ll drop by and show her some support!

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Yuri Manga

The third volume of the Black Cat Mansion series, Shoujo Hakumei, (少女薄命~猫目堂ココロ譚~ ) hit the market this month.

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Snatches of Yuri

For fans of Rakka Ryuusui, Volume 5 is available as of today.

And if you’re a Fujieda Miyabi fan, you’ll be glad to know that he announced a fourth volume of Twinkle Saber Nova is forthcoming.

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Maria-sama ga Miteru News

We have movie-sign! Here are links for the DVD & Blu-Ray set (with animated spots that ran before the movie, illustrations by Hibiki Reine, making of, cast comments and other extras); just the Blu-Ray and just the DVD.

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Yuri Visual Novel

The folks who created Soulfege are now bringing you Hakuisei Renai Shoukogun, a tale of love and blinking among student nurses at a hospital. You can watch the trailer on Youtube. It seems like a sweet story.

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Other News

You know we’re in constant recruitment-mode for our Yuri army, right?Most importantly, we’re always looking for military materiel. After the helicopters of Strawberry Panic!,  something in my brain snapped and ever since then, we’ve been collecting awesome armaments for our eventual Yuri takeover. We’ve added fighter jets, and of course any number of handguns and sword, but what we were really missing was a tank. I just wasn’t going to be happy until we had some ground support. Well, today, we got it. Ana M. sent us this picture of the official Pixel Maritan tank. It’s perfect, isn’t it? I covet it, with its pink camouflage pattern. And Maritan’s cheerful “Fuck you!” over the gun. OMG, it’s just perfect. Thanks Ana! Now we need an Aircraft Carrier. ^_^

A number of manga artists, including Morinaga Milk are contributing to a Earthquake Relief fund charity doujinshi movement. You can find the website here. It is in Japanese, so don’t be surprised.

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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!