And here we are, the very last YNN Report for 2024. This year has undoubtedly been an astoundingly good year for Yuri and we’ll certainly hope that that that energy increases in the new year. Okazu Staff is working on our Best Yuri of 2024 list even as we speak, but there was definitely more great Yuri than fits on a list for sure. ^_^

Yuri Event

TODAY is the premiere of Whisper Me A Love Song, Episode 11 & 12 on HIDIVE. We’re having a watch party on the Okazu Discord, now! We’re streaming all of Whisper Me A Love Song right now and will continue to do so until the new episode launch….then will undoubtedly run into technical difficulties. ^_^ Feel free to join us for the stream and a chat!

Yuri Manga

We have a few new titles up on the Yuricon Store for you:

She Loves To Cook and She Loves To Eat, Volume 5 by Sakaomi Yuzaki, from Yen Press, is only a few weeks away.

Yuama’s The Summer You Were There, Volume 6 brings this dramatic story to a close. We’ll be getting that from Seven Seas at the end of January.

Also closing out a very different kind of story, Shio Usui’s I Married My Female Friend, Volume 4 hist EN shelves from Seven Seas in February.

Yen has Naekawa Sai’s This Monster Wants To Eat Me, Volume 3 coming out in January, as well.

Via Chris Beveridge over at The Fandom Post, KManga has added Yuhki Kamatani’s otherworldly manga about love and loss, Hiraeth.

The magical revolution continues in The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Volume 6 of the manga, written by LN author Piero Karasu, with art by Yuri Kisaragi, from Yen Press.

And we have Akiyama Haru’s  Watashi no Blue Garnet (私のブルーガーネット)  up on the Store.

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On X Arai Sumiko revealed the cover art for Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 3 (気になってる人が男じゃなかった). She’s listed all the various stores where there will be extras in the thread on X.

Via Comic Natalie, Kashikaze’s new series, Kimi ga Hoeru Tame no Uta o, Volume 1 (キミが吠えるための歌を) is out in Japan, and so is the Lonely Girl ni Hanataba o Kashikaze Short Story Collection (ロンリーガールに花束を 樫風短編集).

Via Lexie on X, Love Love Shitai Tatsunomiya-san wa Jouriku Shimashita (結婚したい竜宮さんは上陸しました) is a love story between an undersea princess and a handsome female college student.

Via Okazu Staff Writer Matt Marcus, there will be a new Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury spin-off manga in which Suletta and Miorine are regular schoolgirls. I guess I’m the only one who wants the spin-off when they are both adults and handling shit together. ^_^;

Rebecca Silverman reviews There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover, Unless…, manga Volume 1-6 on ANN.

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Yuri Kickstarter

Galette WORKS’s second English-language Galette magazine Kickstarter will begin in the new year.  Links to digital copies of the completed first magazine have been sent and physical copies have arrived in some European and Asian countries. We’re still waiting for them in the US. ^_^ Galette Works also told Japanese magazine backers that they will be selling a limited number of EN editions at Comiket and Comitia, as supplies last and they are working to get the EN edition available in Japan digitally. It’ll be interesting to see what they can arrange.

Yorita Miyuki is also planning a Kickstarter for the second volume of the English-language edition of her Galette manga, Her Kiss, My Libido Twinkles. The first one was very good in terms of production.

Light Novel

If you enjoyed The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio, you might want to check out Futsu Ota Hairimasen!  ~ Gakeppuchi Seiyuu, Rajio de Jinsei Risutaato!~ (ふつおたはいりません！2 ～崖っぷち声優、ラジオで人生リスタート！～) An experienced voice actor who is having trouble getting work starts a new radio series with a young, upcoming seiyuu. Sequels occur. ^_^

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.

Anime News

While it’s not Yuri in any sense, Magilumiere is a very affirming series about adult women – and it is getting a second season! Alex Mateo has the details on ANN. I’m really pleased by this news, as I look forward to every episode.

Look Back has received a nomination for this year’s Annie Awards. ANN”s Crystalynn Hodgkins has the news. I still haven’t been able to bring myself to watch it. ^_^;

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Yuri Manga

Galette WORKS has announced an imminent second English-language Galette Magazine Kickstarter. Click to be notified when it opens.

Yen Press has licensed Convenient Semi-Friend, a sketchy looking roommate story. ^_^

Don’t forget to pre-order She Loves To Cook And She Loves To Eat, Volume 5, which will hit EN shelves in January!

Utatane Yuu’s Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru, Volume 5 ( 踊り場にスカートが鳴る) hit shelves this week in Japan! It’s love, it’s intense emotion, it’s longing, it’s ballroom dancing!

Volume 1 of Shibori Kazuko’s Genjitsui Sekai Demo Shiawasenishite Kudasai, Ne? (現実世界でも幸せにしてくださいね？) is a reverse isekai story in which characters from a game come to our world to interact with their “hero,” who is a lonely women who actually needs some self-esteem. This series runs in Comic Yuri Hime.

Chapter 3 of Morishima Akiko‘s Hitorime is up on Amazon JP Kindle, and chapter 2 of the English edition of THE SINGLE LIFE: A 60-year old lesbian who is living single and alone, is up on US Kindle.

Via narandearuite on X, for folks who liked the original, a Fragtime Anthology (fragtimeアンソロジー) is in the works.

Akashi, the creator of Still Sick, has a new series with Ichihatsu Yuzuko, Sweet Lime Juice (スイート・ライムジュース) about two women who meet again after years of one-sided dislike. Check out sample pages in Japanese on Kadokawa.

I freely admit I have been paying no attention to Anemone ha Netsu wo Obiru (アネモネは熱を帯びる), but MangaTime Kirara on X says that Volume 8 is out now in Japan! Yen Press has licensed this series as The Anemone Feels The Heat to be released in March 2025.

Yuama, creator of The Summer You Were There, has a new series coming out in Summer 2025, according to their post on X.

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Yuri Light Novels

In terrific news, inori,’s fantasy series The Girl Who Wants to Be a Hero and the Girl Who Ought to Be a Hero, Vol. 1 has been licensed by Yen Press. Maybe we’ll get a chance to get the extremely fun acrylic standee I got with my copy of Volume 1 in Japanese, as an extra if we ask Yen nicely. (I spoke about the lack of extras yesterday on Bluesky. There is a market for this stuff, and I hope we get some!)

Via Yuri Navi, Teren Mikami has a new light novel, this time illustrated by Yuri Is My Job‘s Miman, Makemasenkara to Iiharu Kao no Ii Onnanoko o, Zenryoku de Kuppukusaseru Yuri no Ohanashi (負けませんからと言い張る顔のいい女の子を、全力で屈服させる百合のお話), is being debuted at Comiket. The JP Kindle version is available in Japan.

Yuri Live Action

Via YNN Correspondent CW, Shandou Yuki’s Call Me By No Name (コールミー・バイ・ノーネーム) is getting a live-action series. I absolutely remember reading this novel, but I never reviewed it here on Okazu.

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Other News

Justin Guererro has put together Tools To Get You Started In Webcomics over at KComics Beat.

The KyoAni shop is celebrating 15 years of K-ON! with cute goods.

We end on a somber note today, remembering Takahashi Macoto, who passed away last month. He is one of the folks responsible for our ideal of what Shoujo and Yuri art looks like and creator of proto-Yuri manga, Sakura Namiki. His doll-like girls with sparkles and hearts in their eyse influenced generations of mangaka. Anita Tai on ANN has the news. In 2014, I reviewed an artbook I had picked up in Nakano Mandarake, Akogare – Takahashi Makoto Collection.

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 Light Novel

inori.-sensei has announced a new light novel! Homonculus no Namida: Kieta Kimi no Renkinjutsu (ホムンクルスの涙 ～消えたいキミへの錬金術～). This will be simultaneously published in Japanese and English as Homunculus Tears: Alchemy for the Brokenhearted through Amazon KDP, in Spanish from Sekai Edition and in German by Dokico, with illustrations by Aonoshimo-sensei.

The Executioner and Her Way of Life by Mato Sato is slated to come to a completion in March 2025 with volume 11. Rafael Antonio Pineda has the details on ANN.

Yuri Games and VNs

There have been a record-breaking number of entries for the 2024 Yuri Game Jam. The counter currently says 110 submissions! We’ll have a review of a few that our writer really liked coming up soon. As I read my feed, I discovered one of them is Three Peach Hill, by m ebel, about a fox-girl and the woman who woos her.

The creators of  Kyuuketsuki no Hanayaome  – Vampdoll no Hanayome The Novel Game  (吸血鬼の花嫁 ヴァンプドールのはなよめ The Novel Game) took to X to ask folks to wishlist their game on Steam.

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Yuri Manga

ANN’s Joanna Cayanan want you to know that Assorted Entanglements by Mikanuji is set to conclude with a solid ten volumes.

I forgot to mark down the source for this, hopefully someone will help me out and remind me. Another Yuri series that is struggling in Japan has been identified as Kimi no Tame no Curtain Call (君のためのカーテンコール) by Satoru Shiho, with art by Shigeta Megumi. This appears to be an odd-couple style high school romance.

Galette Web noted on X that the English-language Galette Magazine, Volume 1  has shipped to kickstarter backers! A few folks have received theirs already. I’ll certainly report in when I get mine. ^_^ Supporters for Galette through Galette Fan Club will also receive a digital copy of the magazine in English.

Hanakage Alt has also stated that all of the Sempai no Kouhai Yuri manga kickstarter signed books have been sent out.

Akiyama Haru provided a 14-page sample of her new book Watashi no Blue Garnet (私のブルーガーネット), Volume 1, on X. Volume 1 is out now in Japan.

Light novel Doushi Shoujo yo, Teki o Ute (同志少女よ、敵を撃て) the story of a girl left orphaned by the war and the passionate conflict she wages with her Russian military instructor, Irina, is now a manga.

And from Comic OGYAAA! on X, Koi Yori Aoku, Volume 3‘s (恋より青く) release is being celebrated with a cute acrylic standee of the principles, Takamine and Sakakura.

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Anime News

See You Tomorrow At The Food Court manga is getting an anime adaptation. Crystalynn Hodgkins has the details on ANN.

Discotek announced the release of the original Cutie Honey anime series. It’s not really Yuri, but it sets up a decades long ship that will never go away. ^_^

Somi, a company known for their vinegar, is partnering with The Rose of Versailles movie to…um, sell vinegar! They are running a contest with a possible prize of a trip to France.

I still doubt that this is at all Yuri, or even Yuri-ish, but Momentary Lily is slated for a January streaming start on Crunchyroll, according to ANN’s Alex Mateo.

Other News

Manga Erotics F, which has been out of print for ten years, is launching an online presence. This was the magazine in which Shimura Takako’s Aoi Hana/ Sweet Blue Flowers ran. Anita Tai has the news at ANN.

Good news for researchers needing access to Japanese art and imagines. NCC Japan now has a image use protocol and form for gaining access to images for reseaarch. These probably do not include much manga, but this is a good resource to bookmark.

Via Senior YNN Correspondent Sean Gaffney, ZeroReq011 note the power of Cute Girls Doing Cute Things Cutely (often abbreviated on the Okazu discord as CGDCTC ^_^) in Not Your Average Anime about Cute Girls Doing Cute Things on ANN.

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 Manga

Hakamada Mera announced on Bluesky the launch of her two-volume series Aikata System (相方システム), available through the Galette Web site. I reviewed Volume 1 and Volume 2 when they were released by Dogenzaka Shobo. The series has recently concluded in Galette and is now available in two parts. I’ll probably get these, it’s an intense but good, series.

As I mentioned in my review this week of Oshigoto x Buddy Yuri Anthology Comic (お仕事×バディ 百合アンソロジーコミック), YURI HUB is a new imprint on Bookwalker JP that includes works by Inui Ayu, Nomiya Rion and the folks at Rainbow Port Tokyo Anchor, formerly Yuri Cafe Anchor – and some of them are translated into English! Check out the lineup, including Room For Honeys, a coffee shop romance that gives back almost half the cost in points right now.

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Light Novel News

Creator of The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady (of which I owe you a review of Volume 8, hopefully this week), Karasu Piero’s new series, Seijоu-sensei no Mahou wa Susunderu!is getting a manga adaptation. Anita Tai has the details on ANN.

Kadokawa announced the manga adaptation of light novel Shoujo Seikan Hyouryuu-ki (少女星間漂流記) about two girls who travel together through spaceto find a safe haven, written by  Higashizaki Tomoko with art by Younogumo.

Yuri Events

JaME on Bluesky promoted an upcoming event, Olá BL&GL Thailand in Brazil, promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, which will bring together 8 artists from BL and GL series on February 1, 2025, at Terra SP in São Paulo. Tickets are free.

Yuriten is coming soon in Tokyo from January 25-February 2, and in Osaka from February 8-16. I am hoping the universe will allow me to make one of these, but am not expecting it, so if you plan on visiting, please let us know if you want to write up an event report for us.

My book talk in Brooklyn with JD Glass and Mala Kumar on “the gift of love” an queer joy, has been postponed to March 21, 2025. Registration is now open!

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Other News

Innocent Grey took to X to tell folks of the upcoming 10th anniversary publications for the FLOWERS visual novel series, Flowers Art Works Petit Couleur  and Flowers Orchestra Concert Mémoire éternelle.

Megan Navarro Conley has an interesting look at Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko! and the toxic workplace on Anime Feminist.

Graphiction Books on Bluesky announced a new two-volume tribute artbook for the Cutie Honey series. The set will be split into the “Cutie side” and the “Honey side.” Check their posts, to see the contributor names!

Designer rosé-nik has released a new Revolutionary Girl Utena-themed purse and brooch, which are available on their store.

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 Events

Yuriten is ramping up with the opening of their Yuriten Store online. All orders are pre-orders, which will be filled after the exhibition has concluded in February. Even knowing I’ll get burned on shipping in the new year, there were a few items I just had to have, so my order is in. 

Yuriten is also planning an event awards ceremony – rules for voting are posted at Yuriten2024cherish.com. You’ll need to have an active X account. Last week I asked them to consider moving to Bluesky and they responded by blocking me, so I won’t be voting. ^_^;

If you are in the NYC area on December 10, please join authors JD Glass, Mala Kumar and myself at The Ripped Bodice in Brooklyn, NY for a discussion of “The Gift of Love” and queer joy. This is going to be a powerful discussion and I’d love to see you there! Registration is $15, but you get a $15 discount on any book in the store – and we’ll be signing our books, of course.

Via Shoujo Crave on X, Sailor Moon Super Live will be returning to London in February 2025. This is highly recommended by me and my wife, who says “Go! Go! Go!”  We attended the 2019 NYC show and it was fabulous! Do see it if you have a chance.

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Yuri Anime

The new Precure series has been announced and it seems to be the inevitable evolution of the franchise, as You and Idol Precure♪, will be the 22nd series. Rafael Antonio Pineda has the details on ANN.

ANN’s Alex Mateo wants to warn you that NIS has stated they will no longer be printing physical media for it’s anime titles, which includes Card Captor Sakura, among others

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha franchise has announced a 25th anniversary project, including a new manga, new merch and an television edit of the Nanoha movies. Egan Loo has the details on ANN.

Yuri Manga

Yen has debuted the cover and release date for She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Volume 5 which is headed our way in January!

Yuina Chiri’s Okiku-san ha Icha Tsukitai  (お菊さんはいちゃ憑きたい) has sample chapters on Comic Walker. An Edo-period demon in our time is less interested in demoning than in kissing a pretty girl. It’s pretty servicey, just so you’re warned.

A story about two warring factions in a girls’ school, Kimi Meku Yoru no Kogarete (君めく夜に焦がれて) seems overwrought and fun. Check it out on Bookwalker JP!

Nomiya Rion has a new series, Watashi to Kanojo no Kawaii Koi no Hajimekata (私と彼女のかわいい恋のはじめ方) which you can read for free on Pixiv, is about a cute receptionist and the apparently cold and unfriendly sales rep who unexpectedly invites her to dinner.

Check out this 5-second animation on X by Kamejiro from their Yuri series, The Princess of Sylph (シルフの花姫) which you can read on Pixiv.

Ayumi Shinozaki wants you to know that her English translation of Yuri series My Magical Girl is available on DL Site and it is not 18+, even though the site requires you to affirm that you are over 18 because a lot of content there is very adult.

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Yuri Merch

Bookshop.org is offering free shipping and the chance to support your local independent bookstore while enjoying the convenience of shopping online. Grab a copy of my book, By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga for yourself or a friend!

Melonbooks is running a Yuri special for Fuzuroi no Renri, Volume 9 by Mikanuji, with a Saori x Shizuka acrylic standee. Melonbooks will stop taking Visa and Mastercard on December 18, and this goes on sale the 17th, so you might be able to squeak in!

Takeshima Hiromi-sensei wants you to know about this lovely Kase-san and Yamada acrylic standee on the Yuriten store!

Sweets co-op Anisugar announced a collab with Whisper Me A Love Song on X for various adorable sweets as part of a multi-faceted “matching outfits” series of merch tie-ins, including a pop-up shop in the Shinjuku Marui annex.

Studio Élan is doing a massive Black Friday sale for merch and VNs on their store.

Other News

Galette magazine has just radically changed it’s supporter levels as of today (Dec. 1 in Japan.) Pixiv Fanbox support is now down to two choices – 500￥ or 5000￥. For more options, go to their Galette Fanclub, which still has a simplified 4 levels of sponsorship.

Comic Yuri Hime magazine is posting job openings. This could be a good opportunity to get in on the ground floor if you are looking for work in Japan.

Not Yuri, but of interest, Seven Seas licensed The Twelve Kingdoms light novels. This blast from the past was one the most enraging anime I have ever liked. ^_^ I’m interested to read what happened after the anime ended.

Kabi Nagata’s newest comic series focuses on her troubled relationship with food, You can read Kore ha Yuganda Shoku Report Desu  (これはゆがんだ食レポです) in JP on Comic Action.

CW for imperialism, war crimes, Japanese nationalism: I found an English translation of one of Yoshiya Nobuko’s articles written in Manchuria about the Japanese invasion into China. This translation is from 2014, but the site it is on is very much a right-wing revisionist org with a clear propagandist bent. If you still want to read, here is Yoshiya Nobuko’s Bearing Witness To The Ravages Of War In Northern China from 1937.

With help from our Senior Asian Live Action Drama staff writer and supporter of Okazu, Frank Hecker, the Okazu account is verified on Bluesky, yay! Thank you Frank! Follow and chat with me at @okazu.yuricon.com on Bluesky. I’ve moved off of X completely, except for following JP accounts still there.

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.