Archive for the Yuri Network News Category


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – September 28, 2024

September 28th, 2024

A blue silhouette of a girl with a white flower in her hair, embracing the earth. Blue block letters read YNN Yuri Network News. Art by Lissa P. For Okazu.

First of all, my very sincere thanks to Luce, who covered YNN last week. It’s always a lot of work and she did a great job!

Yuri Manga

We’ll pick up right where Luce left off, with the fascinating saga of Love Bullet by creator inee (pronounced eye-ni).  I’ve gone ahead and added it to the Yuricon Store. You can also read sample chapters in Japanese directly on Comic Walker.  Via Unseen Japan (a terrific resource I highly recommend,) journalist Kyama Ryuji has interviewed inee-sensei about the work’s cancellation and the overseas fandom-driven campaign to save it.

Kinokuniya has announced an exclusive variant cover for the upcoming release of The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All. I have a lot of thoughts about this, as you may imagine. ^_^ On the one hand, I really like that the largest Japanese bookstore chain in America  is so highly engaged with this title.  This also is an interesting shift in the way manga is being marketed here. In Japan, different outlets often have different extras – booklets, original sketches, even acrylic standees. So a JP bookseller having a unique item rather than going through a generic online store seems like a reasonable marketing campaign for the US. On the other hand, it is easy to see variant covers as a cash grab, as they can be in Western comics sometimes…but, they also are great for anthologies and multi-creator titles, so you can support the artist you like best. It will be very interesting to see how this pans out.  For those going the digital route, Bookwalker Global is doing a point boost on pre-orders.

I was in France last week and saw a copy of the French edition – it was raining very hard and I did not have  coat or an umbrella so I didn’t buy it as I had a long, wet slog back to the hotel. ^_^; Interestingly, it was released with an English title that was only half of the whole title. That prompted some discussion on the Yuricon Discord as to why that choice was made.

Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl: The Complete Manga Collection from Seven Seas is on EN shelves now. This story of “mistaken identity” takes the joke a little too far, but has a nice enough end, as I found when I read Volume 1 and Volume 2 in Japanese. You’ll get to read the whole story at once in this complete manga collection.

Kiyoko Iwami’s raunchy high school drama continues in My Girlfriend’s Not Here Today, Volume 2, out now from Seven Seas.

Via Ashley, Osananajimi BIG LOVE (幼馴染) is a rom-com about a girl who had a friend who was a perfect angel and when they meet up again in high school, she finds her angel has turned into a gal.

Via YNN Correspondent Sister Carmilla, the official X account for Watashi o Tabetai, Hitodenashi says that the series will be featured on the cover of the December issue of Dengeki Maou.

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of the Bloom Into You manga’s completion, Kadokawa has announced that they will be releasing new merchandise on their Kadokawa Store.

Takeshima Eku is getting a solo art show which includes work from Sasayakuyouni Koi Wo Utau /Whisper Me A Love Song!  From the announcement on X: Approximately 50 digital original drawings from Takeshima’s series will be on display at the Kibi Kawakami Fureai Manga Museum in Takeshima Sensei’s hometown in Okayama.

Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou, Volume 9, is headed towards JP bookshelves next week and Ichijinsha has announced extras for the bookstores and their own shop, while Melonbooks has announced an acrylic standee of Cardinal Lily and Rae. As son as we get an official cover, I’ll add this to the Store.

 

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Yuri Anime

Via YNN Correspondent Cryssoberyl and Comic Natalie, for the 25th anniversary of the Shoujo Kakumei Utena anime, The Adolescence of Utena movie will be get a theatrical showing in Tachikawa Cinema City in Tokyo from October 11th to 17th. A special talk show event is scheduled for October 12 with Director Ikuhara Kunihiko and manga creator Saitou Chiho. That event is supposed to include a special “superb sound screening.” I hope someone writes up a report of that! All I can think of is that Castle Car scene and how great it looked on a big screen.

 

Yuri Live Action

Via sad tuna on X, GL manhwa Request to Resign is getting a short drama series featuring TWICE Jihyo’s sister Lee Ha Eum. Something to keep an eye out for.

The Ayaka-chan ha Hiroko-sempai ni Koishiteru TV Drama will be getting a Blu-ray Box set this winter.

 

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Yuri VN

Ebi-hime is at it again, this time with the upcoming Yuri VN Cage of Roses, which they describe as “A haunting gothic romance set in the 19th century. Follow Meike, a young woman from an impoverished noble family, as she’s swept off her feet by the mysterious Magdalena: a vampire who possesses a dark secret. “

Looking for more Yuri games and VNs? Don’t forget that the Yuri Game Jam is on now – keep an eye out for the amazing new stuff that will come out of that.

I hadn’t seen this when it came out, but “Life After Magic is a queer, retro visual novel that follows jaded ex-magical girls as they reconnect, deal with young adulthood, and face off against one last threat before Y2K hits.” It honestly looks adorable.

 

If you’d like to support Yuri journalism and research, Patreon and Ko-Fi are where we currently accept subscriptions and tips.  Our goal now, into 2024, is to raise our guest writers’ wages to above industry standard, which are too low!

Your support goes straight to paying for Guest Reviews, folks helping with videos, site maintenance, managing the Yuricon Store and directly supporting other Yuri creators. Just $5/month makes a huge impact! Become part of the Okazu family!

Become a part of the Yuri Network, by being a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share with us.





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – September 21, 2024

September 21st, 2024

In black block letters, YNN Yuri Network News. On the left, in black silhouette, a woman with a broad brim hat and dress stands, a woman in a tight outfit sits against the Y. Art by Mari Kurisato for Okazu

This week’s Yuri Network News has been written by Okazu Staff Writer Luce. Thanks Luce for stepping in!

Welcome to Yuri News Network! I’m Luce, contributor to Okazu, and taking over for Erica this week on the news as she’s away in France. Apologies for anything missing – I’m not able to access or read many of the Japanese sites and accounts that Erica may follow, but I’ve done my best to bring you yuri-related news from around the web. Enjoy!

Yuri Manga

Via lexie on X, Sukeban to Tenkousei will end with its third volume. In a machine translated statement, the mangaka, Fujichika-sensei says that they were informed that low sales are the reason they’re not able to continue. Shame – it looks interesting!

Also from lexie on X , inee, the mangaka of yuri manga LOVE BULLET has stated that unless sales increase, the series may be cancelled at two volumes, despite her having a long story planned. Currently not licenced, they give us a buying guide for both the ebook and physical copies, albeit in Japanese. It appears to be a modern take on cupids – instead of bow and arrow, they’ve upgraded to firearms, but the mission remains the same – to get the right people to fall in love. Fingers crossed it can continue, and hopefully get licenced!

From Yuri Times, the complete collection of ‘Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl’ by Mocchi-au-lait will be releasing in English this week. A college girl mistakes a female classmate for a handsome man, and asks her to a mixer! Unable to say no, and somewhat charmed, Mizuki agrees on the proviso that they go on a date – something she didn’t expect Satomi to agree to. How will she clear up this misunderstanding, and can they continue dating once the truth is out? Signs point to yes.

From the OASG, pre-orders for ‘I Married my Female Friend Volume 4 by Shio Usui are up in various places – the final volume! I need to catch up, but I have been enjoying this tale of two friends who married and moved in together, from the same mangaka as Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon.

 

 

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Yuri Anime

Via Anime News Network, the newest film in the Puella Magi Madoka Magica universe, PMMM The Movie: Walpurgisnacht: Rising has had a teaser trailer released, and is currently slated for release in winter 2025, delayed from winter this year. Additionally, a new smartphone game, Puella Magi Madoka Magika: Magia Exedra is due for release this year. Time to catch up with the time-and-space-bending yuri couple!

Via Sugoi LITE and Manga Mogura, the horror drama ‘This Monster Wants to Eat Me’ by Sae Naekawa may have an anime releasing next year. No sources are stated, but Manga Mogura notes a domain taken of ‘wata tabe dot com’. I’ve yet to read the manga, but I’ve heard very good things from Erica and others about this manga, which came out recently, and the Japanese volumes (Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi Volume 1) have also been reviewed on Okazu. A depressed high-school girl is attacked by a monster one day, and is saved by another monster, who promises to protect her… to eat her when she’s more grown up. English review of the first volume is here.

Anime News Network has news that ‘Murder Mystery of the Dead’, a party game, will be receiving a TV anime starting in November this year. Teren Mikami, author of yuri light novel series ‘There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless…’ is writing the scripts. Not sure it will have intentional yuri, but there sure are a lot of girls involved. I can’t find any English description of the plot, but it’s safe to bet there will be murder. And screaming.

Possibly yuri adjacent, but via Yuri Anime News (amongst others), a film entitled ‘Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: The Lonely Dragon’ will be released in Japan in 2025. The poster depicts Kanna, so who knows. We await further information.

And via Yuri_SRL on X/Twitter, a yuri mermaid indie anime will be screening during FRENZ 2024! By Ishikawa Naoya, the linked tweet has a short clip, it looks very interesting, involving a mermaid who had been in hiding and a human girl who has now found out! The clip has English subtitles, I hope there will be a way to watch the whole thing. Great to see independent publishers getting recognised.

Yuri Games

From Christine Love on Bluesky, the game Get in the Car, Loser! is now out on Nintendo Switch eShop. From the description there: “Everyone knows the story of how the great hero of legend Agi of Roses fought the Machine Devil and used the Sword of Fate to seal him away for a thousand years. Now, hateful Machine Devil cultist edgelords are spreading terror in order to summon him again, and the Divine Order that rules over our world claims that fighting them before it’s too late would be “just as bad as them.”
Obviously that won’t stand, and that’s why three young attendees of the local Academy of Order and one renegade angel from the Divine Order are heading off on a road trip to take the fight to the Machine Devil and his cultists. Will Sam Anon succeed in her mission to seal away evil for another thousand years, hit every diner along the road on the way, AND make it through a single conversation without blushing over her beautiful companions? The toughest challenges she’s ever faced in her life lie ahead!
A lesbian road trip RPG by the co-creator of
Ladykiller in a Bind about fighting for love and justice in the face of indifference, and “discovering yourself,” whatever that means.

From Eniko on Bluesky, their ‘lesbian fox girl’ platformer Kitsune Tails is currently 15% off on Steam and Itch. The game is compared to Super Mario Bros 3, and the Steam write up reads: ‘Run, jump, and dash across a land inspired by Japanese mythology and untangle the love triangle between three young women on a journey of self discovery. Explore the complicated relationships between kitsune and humans through classic platforming action.’. Sounds cute! Shame I’m terrible at platformers. If anyone would like to play it and pitch a review, the guidelines can be found on the sidebar of the Okazu website.

 

 

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Events

From rero on X/Twitter, real name Kasumi Nakamura, they will be participating in two events.
Firstly, on October 12th-13th, is the ‘Waseda Workshop on Sexuality: Japanese and International Perspectives’, where they will be talking about “how the maids in maid cafes manage the intimacy between maids and customers”. From the program, later on the 12th after their talk is one entitled ‘Dating Preferences and Sexual Orientation’ from Raja Halwani and another entitled ‘Intimate Relationships between Adult Women in Japanese Yuri Comics’ from Reika Shinoda. The program is running from 10:00-17:20 in Japanese Standard Time, but the official language will be English. I hope I’ll be able to catch some of this, although the timing may not be very easy with time zones.

Secondly, on November 1st, Nakamura-san will be a commentator on a lecture by Thomas Baudinette, ‘Exploring Queer Fantasy Work in Idol Fandom Culture Across East and Southeast Asia’. This is a Zoom webinar running from 14:00-15:00 JST, but again will be in English. This looks to cover the positives aspects of idol fan culture in Japan, but also in Korea, the Phillipines and Thailand.

James Welker will be speaking at an event in Tokyo about his new book, ‘Transfiguring Women in Late Twentieth-century Japan’. The event will take place at 18:00-19:30 JST on Friday October 25th at Sophia University. In person only, but pre-registration is not required, so show up and support if you’re able!

Finally, Shortbox Comics Fair is coming back! For the entirety of October, there will be over 100 short comics by various artists for sale on the site. This normally includes many queer focused comics, although topics and ratings vary widely. Support some artists! Everything is digital, so no posting fees either, just good comics, delivered straight to your inbox.

 

If you’d like to support Yuri journalism and research, Patreon and Ko-Fi are where we currently accept subscriptions and tips.  Our goal now, into 2024, is to raise our guest writers’ wages to above industry standard, which are too low!

Your support goes straight to paying for Guest Reviews, folks helping with videos, site maintenance, managing the Yuricon Store and directly supporting other Yuri creators. Just $5/month makes a huge impact! Become part of the Okazu family!

Become a part of the Yuri Network, by being a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share with us.

 





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – September 14, 2024

September 14th, 2024

In blue silhouette, two women face each other. One wears a fedora and male-styled attire, one is in a dress and heels. Their body language is obscure - they may be dancing, or laughing or fighting. Art by Mari Kurisato for Okazu

Yuri Events

Yuri Kissaten LeLis is running a one-day event at Cafe Fuze in Sangenjaya, Setagaya. Join the staff on Sunday, November 10 for a lily-scented tea time.

Girls Love Fest is happening once again on October 6 in Asakusa, Tokyo.

 

Yuri Manga

Seven Seas has a new license for fans of their 18+ works, 12 Dirty Deeds to Unite the Princess and Her Heroine by Moridam. Sentiment over this in the comments on X was pretty mixed with a few enthusiastic endorsements, but more negative comments.  My thoughts were this: The description of the manga  reads in part, ” This fun and spicy tale follows a princess and the knight she loves—who returns from an epic battle as a pervert!” I replied that it really lost me with the word “spicy.” I know there is a lot of censorship of certain words on social media which has required us to find euphemisms for terms about sex, bodily functions, disease and death, but…it exhausts me. Of course if you like to refer to adult content as “sexy times,” I won’t stand in your way, I’m just finding some words more infantile than others. (This theme will be revisited next week, I should warn you. ^_^;)

I’ll also remind folks that just because we suggest something be licensed, doesn’t mean it can be, or that it will be with any alacrity. If you’re reading a Yuri manga you love, it’s going to take time to get it licensed. In the meantime, publishers are also licensing work they think will sell. If, for instance, Yuri with explicit sex is outselling adult-life office romance…guess which one gets prioritized by publishers?

Yuri Times wants you to know that Spoil Me Plzzz, Hinamori-san! is headed our way in English from Kodansha. This story follows the perfect student at the school who just wants someone to make her feel taken care of for a change.

 

Galette magazine has another form of support for folks who want to back creator-owned Yuri manga. The Galette Fanclub offers similar plans to those on Pixiv Fanbox and Fantia, but it looks like they are cutting out the middlemen for support and sales of their books and upcoming goods, which is great. Their first new book is Namae no Nai Tenshi by Nui!

Nomiya Rion’s Shakaijin Yuri series Watashi to Kanojo no Kawaii Koi no Hajimekata (私と彼女のかわいい恋のはじめ方) is available on Pixiv. Read the first few chapters then  start following from the current chapters.

Comic Newtype (!) announced a interspecies Yuri anthology,  Umare ha Chigaedo – Koi Takushou Ishuzoku × Yuri Anthology (生まれは違えど一恋托生 異種族×百合アンソロジー), which, based solely on the cover, looks kinda cute honestly.

Via Comic Natalie, Yokubare Ningen-san! (よくばれ! 人間さん) is a Yuri comedy about a lethargic human female and a caring angel and devil.

 

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Yuri Live Action News

Via Yuri Navi, Aniplex has announced a new live-action imprint to bring non-Japanese Asian Yuri drama to Japan, ALiL. YNN Staff Writer Frank Hecker found this article on the aLiL distribution deal:  and an interview with Kyoko Ota, who headed the team at Aniplex / aLiL responsible for distributing GAP: The Series in Japan, both subtitled and dubbed. Frank goes on to say that “It seems to have been very much a “passion project” for her and the other folks at Aniplex who volunteered to work on this.” This interview mentions ANCHOR rainbow port Tokyo, which happens to be running a Thai GL collaboration through October 7th, so I gather this is a specifically timed announcement. ^_^

 

Anime News

MediaOCD is offering the Bubblegum Crash! Blu-ray for the nostalgic price of $24.95 for three episodes. Experience the 1990s all over again!

Via SugoiLite on X, There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless... will be getting an anime series. This Light Novel series is written by Teren Mikami, with illustrations by Eku Takeshima and a manga adaptation by Takeshima-sensei. Both Light Novels and manga are available from Seven Seas.

Egan Loo reports on ANN that the Girls Band Cry anime is getting two compiliation films.

DokiDoki PreCure is getting a novel set ten years later written by the anime’s head writer. Rafael Antonio Pined has the story at ANN.

 

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Yuri Voice Drama

SukeraSparo has announced a Voice Drama for their Yuri VN, Lip Trip Lip Plumper, Lip Trip ~ Henshū-chu (Boss) ha Watashi no Genetsuzai (リップ・トリップ~編集長(ボス)はわたしの解熱剤), which is a follow-on story of the original VN with original illustration drawn by Minori Chikusa.

 

Other News

This week was a hard one for those of us who love Sailor Moon, with the news of the passing of Shinohara Emi, who played many important anime roles, but will forever be Kino Makoto, Sailor Jupiter to me. Ken iikura-Gross reports on the condolences from those who knew and loved her in the industry. I was okay, until I read some her fellow original Senshi VA’s tweets.  (T_T)

inori-sensei noted that the non-credit opening song for the I’m In Love With The Villianess anime has passed 500K views on Youtube. Why not go listen to Raise Your Hands! once again and smile at our ridiculous girls. ^_^

 

If you’d like to support Yuri journalism and research, Patreon and Ko-Fi are where we currently accept subscriptions and tips. Our goal now, into 2024, is to raise our guest writers’ wages to above industry standard, which are too low!

Your support goes straight to paying for Guest Reviews, folks helping with videos, site maintenance, managing the Yuricon Store and directly supporting other Yuri creators. Just $5/month makes a huge impact! Become part of the Okazu family!

Become a part of the Yuri Network, by being a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share with us.





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – September 7, 2024

September 7th, 2024

A blue silhouette of a girl with a white flower in her hair, embracing the earth. Blue block letters read YNN Yuri Network News. Art by Lissa P. For Okazu.

Yuri Events

The Girls Love Fest doujinshi market will be held in the Tokyo Asakusa/Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center, Taitokan, once again on October 6th.

ANCHOR rainbow port tokyo is running a Thai GL collaboration from September 27 through October 7 with special food, drinks and limited edition goods. Follow their Pixiv fanbox for event news!

Okazu Staff Writer Frank Hecker wants you to know about the live readings of Cosmic Warlord Kin-Bright, “this millennium’s best giant robot yuri space epic,” in verse. Author Thaliarchus is doing live readings on Twitch starting today! You can also download the poem on Itch.io…and clearly…you should. We need more epic Yuri poetry. ^_^

 

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Yuri Manga

Kadokawa and NicoNico announced the Next Manga Awards 2024 and the English-language edition of Kiyoko Iwami’s My Girlfriend’s Not Here Today from Seven Seas won the Global Special Prize English Edition! Congratulations to everyone at Seven Seas!

Mejirobana Saku, Volume 4 (メジロバナの咲く), the continuation of Nakamura Asumiko’s first serial Yuri story hit JP shelves in August and I’m dying to know what happens. It’s up on the Yuricon Store!

Via Comic Natalie, beginning at the end of August in コミプレ-Comiplex- magazine is Shinni Modori Ojou ha Ikinobiru tame ni Yuri Harem o Tsukurukoto ni Shita (死に戻り王女は生き延びるために百合ハーレムを作ることにした), about a selfish princess who is executed. When she returns to life, builds a Yuri harem to survive.

Also via Comic Natalie, the September issue of Comic Cune includes a new Yuri comedy, 7-Kakan Gentei Kanojo (7日間限定彼女) about a gal and an honor student “trying out” dating for a week.

Via X, Shonen Jump magazine has announced Ichi the Witch by Osamu Nishi and Shiro Usazaki starting this Sunday in Shonen Jump! In this world magic is alive, but only women have the aptitude to wield it. Until one fateful day…  If you love “the one guy in a world of women” fantasies, this may be for you.

Headed to shelves in Japan in November is Kawaikutte Tottoi! Yuri-ple no Kaki-kata (可愛いくって尊い! 百合ップルの描き方) an anthology of how-to draw Yuri Couples by a number of Yuri artists.

Via Comic Natalie one more time, we have Volume 1 of Koroshiyasare Sankaku-Kankei ni Watashi ga Ima kara Hairu’n desuka?  by Suzuki Fumi. This is a Yuri triangle story about a girl who tries making friends and ends up with a group of murderers. I’m passing on this one, but do let us know what you think if you read it.


Yuri Games

The Yuri Game Jam is upon us! From September 30 through December 2, get your Yuri game dev hat on and submit those Yuri VNs and games! We all win when we get more Yuri work. ^_^

Studio Élan is also running an internal game Jam with Bellhouse to develop YuriVns. Check out their post on Studio Élan  Garden Variety: Dandelion Set to learn more.

A year late and probably never, Birdie Wing -Golf Girls’ Story- Golf Venus app’s production has been “put on hold.” Anita Tai has the news on ANN.

 

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Anime News

Crunchyroll has opened the flood gates! PreCure Max Heart will be added to their library, and a number of other PreCure series are on the way. Still no Heartcatch though…. ^_^; Anita Tai has this report on ANN, too.

 

Other News

Kodansha is trying something new with Kodansha House, an interactive cafe/meeting space focusing on manga, with a manga library, manga artist talks and more. Opening on October 4 in SOHO in NYC, it will be very interesting to see where this experiment goes!

This Week In Anime on ANN looks at the book banning landscape now that it has found BL manga to demonize in Banned Together. In that article, Steve mentions the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and I’ll just mention that I wrote an article for the CBLDF some time ago about the legality of reading drawn characters. That was more than a decade ago…

 

If you’d like to support Yuri journalism and research, Patreon and Ko-Fi are where we currently accept subscriptions and tips.  Our goal now, into 2024, is to raise our guest writers’ wages to above industry standard, which are too low!

Your support goes straight to paying for Guest Reviews, folks helping with videos, site maintenance, managing the Yuricon Store and directly supporting other Yuri creators. Just $5/month makes a huge impact! Become part of the Okazu family!

Become a part of the Yuri Network, by being a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share with us.





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – August 31, 2024

August 31st, 2024

In black block letters, YNN Yuri Network News. On the left, in black silhouette, a woman with a broad brim hat and dress stands, a woman in a tight outfit sits against the Y. Art by Mari Kurisato for OkazuIt’s been a long two weeks since the last report and there’s a bunch of great stuff to talk about. The top story at AnimeNYC has got to be the surprise license of Stop! Hibari-kun by PEOW2. This license came as a complete surprise to most of us. I spoke with PEOW2 a bit and will get back to you with that as soon as I have a second. Anita Tai at ANN has details.

But…seriously, wow. Eguchi Hisashi’s 1980s shounen romantic comedy manga about a trans girl is absolutely a welcome license! I reviewed Volume 1 of the Complete Edition here on Okazu in 2020.

 

Yuri Manga

At AnimeNYC, Seven Seas announced omnibus collections for sono.N’s SHWD and Black & White by Sal Jiang. Honestly think those are good choices and will do better as collections than as separate volumes.

Yen was pushing pre-orders for The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All with a huge display at their booth. I’ve said this before, and will continue to say – this title is being set up for success.

Yen also announced three Yuri licenses, Anemone wa Netsu wo Obiru by Sakuragi Ren as The Anemone Feels the Heat and light novel Watashi no Yuri mo, Eigyou da to Omotta? by Asakura Neru as Did You Think My Yuri Was a Sales Pitch?. They also licensed Merryhachi’s Zenbu Kimi no Sei da as It’s All Your Fault. (Thanks to Katgrrl for reminding me of the third.)

Sales of Yuri manga was a topic of much discussion the convention. Ultimately, it seems like Yuri fans are more discriminate than BL fans – which is not to slam BL fans at all. There more of them and their genre has been around longer, so they have more to choose from. But, my experience in Yuri leads me to believe that Yuri fans – especially queer fans, who are looking for stories with representation – are more likely to ignore stories that don’t speak to them, directly.

Which brings me to the other side of that. This month we have had (and still have a a few hours left of two) several amazingly successful Yuri Kickstarters!

Galette Magazine in English has a little more than a day as I type this, and has significantly surpassed its final stretch goal and is heading towards making 400% of the initial goal. More than 500 backers have made this possible.

Aneido’s No One Lurks Beneath The Snow, an 18+ erotic horror also nearly hit 3x the initial goal, with almost 500 backers.

Yorita Miyuki’s Her kiss,my libido twinkles has passed 4x the initial goal with nearly 400 backers.

So, where is the gap? How can Yuri kickstarters do so well when sales of Yuri manga is so variable? The answer is in the nature of crowdfunding itself. I think this might be a topic for an essay, but Tl;dr – fewer people can make a bigger impact by backing/supporting at higher levels with crowdfunding, where sales of manga are…sales of manga. The same 500 people buying a manga is low sales numbers. When I was publishing I had a break-even point for making a manga profitable. Crowdfunding doesn’t have that limitation.  Definitely a topic to digest later.

Azuki the manga reading app, has announced the addition of Kotonoha by Kisugae about a lost love reclaimed. I read and reviewed the first volume of this back in 2018 and now you can get it on Azuki!

Notably Hana to Yume magazine in Japan promoted the series Sono Urawashiki Hito ha, (そのうるわしきひとは、) as their first Yuri series in many years! This one-shot school life mystery sounds intriguing.

 

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Yuri Light Novel

Yen has released My First Love’s Kiss by Hitoma Iruma, illustrated by Fly. I love Fly’s art, but historically have a very hard time with Iruma’s writing. We’ve got a reviewer who is looking at this volume for Okazu, but if you want a quick overview, check out Sean Gaffney’s review. He expertly notes the weaknesses in this Yuri light novel.

 
Yuri Visual Novels

Incredible news from Studio Élan – Japanese visual novel company SukeraSparo has licensed their VN Please Be Happy! for Japanese  language release!

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Anime News

Whisper Me A Love Song is still getting the short end of the stick, with new delays announced for the Blu-ray and no word at all on the last two episodes. Rafael Antonio Pineda has details on ANN.

There’s a ton of PreCure news: Rafael Antonio Pineda wants you to know that Crunchyroll has added Futari wa PreCure Splash Star, and that Witchy Pretty Cure!!: Mirai Days has added visuals, staff and announced the musical artist for the theme. Joanna Cayanan has news about new cast additions to Wonderful Precure! The Movie.

ANN’s Anita Tai has the news that Girls Band Cry is getting a game.

 

Other News

Via YNN Correspondent Patricia Baxter, Why Is Shoujo So Gay (Even when it isn’t?) is a YouTube video by Colleen’s Manga Rec’s that explains a lot about the genre. Colleen is always worth a watch.

Bela on X has a nice little thesis on The Evolution of Safe Spaces in Yuri: From Greenhouses to Aquariums. I’ve asked them to flesh it out to an essay for us here!

 

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