Archive for the Yuri Network News Category


Yuri News This Week – April 4, 2009

April 4th, 2009

Before we start today’s News Report, I just want to thank a few people. The Yuricon site went down last week, due to the sudden disappearance of the server owner. In mere *moments* of my asking for a new temporary space, I had several responses. I was quite overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity. Thank you all.

I also want to thank the past and current owners of Shoujo-ai Archive who have been hosting the Yuricon.org site since 2002. We have now parted ways as far as our sites go, but in every way, I wish them (and they me) the very best of luck. They are very good people, for whom I have nothing but respect and good wishes.

The Yuricon site is, with luck, going to be getting a facelift this year. When it does, I’ll be looking for a new, permanent home. But in the meantime, I want to thank a few folks who are (and have been) tremndous Yuricon heroes.

Thanks to Nora for offering hosting space as a temporary haven, so we can stay up and running!

Thanks to Zyl, Marie, Bruce P and many more of you who have donated to Yuricon. Yuricon has always been a labor of love. Your support is very greatly appreciated.

And thanks to everyone who supports Okazu. I absolutely could not do it without you. You are all my Heroes!

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And now, turning to today’s news….

It’s 2003 all over again. -_-;

Yuri Anime

Funimation has announced that they are picking up some of Toei’s titles, including one of my very favorite crappy anime ever, Air Master, Digimon Adventure 02 and Pretty Cure as well, for release here on the Funimation digital channel and also, hopefully, on DVD. If you were a Yuri fan about 5 years ago, you remember when Toei decided to enter the American anime DVD market, then proceeded to ignore everyone’s advice. Click the “Air Master” right-hand sidebar for the reviews of those misbegotten DVDs. I know it’s a piece of shit, but I adore Air Master and think that the OP is the single best anime theme ever. (I also am keeping my fingers crossed for Funi getting the third season of Digimon because that rocked the house. And my wife wants to mention that she *also* liked Air Master and, as we so rarely agree about anime, this is quite notable! lol)

The Queen’s Blade anime began this week, and I was amazed at how much more horrible it was than the manga. The manga is fetishy, low and crass. The anime is filth. Once again, Japanese otaku culture provides us with only the best in women’s crotch views. The Yuri is of the unrequited sister love variety, so I’ll see how far I get before giving in altogether.

senbei is pleased to report that the Season 4 DVDs for Marimite have “Maria-sama ni ha Naisho” extras, as did the previous three seasons.

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Yuri Manga

Yen Plus has divulged that they have picked up the Azumanga Daioh manga and are going to do it right this time. Azumanga was one of ADVs first forays into manga and while their intentions were good, it was at the very cusp of the days when names were changed and “localization” meant pretending the characters weren’t Japanese at all. I had skimmed Volume 1 in the bookstore, and never even looked at the rest, although I have been repeatedly assured that the manga treatment got better, if not actually good. It’ll be great to see it done by Yen.

Yuri Monogatari 6 hits the shelves this week! Look at all the news here today and think about this – hideously gigantic breasts, women who walk into the room crotch first, schoolgirls, sisters in love. Is *this* really what you want from your Yuri? It is not what I want. YM6 is the only Yuri publication out there that protrays women in love with woman, actual stories of lesbian life and love. Fight back against the fetishism, the plain old…yuck…of it all and get YM6 today!

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Snatches of Yuri

Okazu Superhero Dan P. cheerfully pointed out Ghost Talker’s Daydream 3 as a series with a “ill-fated” lesbian love triangle, and a plot that will make me cry. It appears to be an “sexy” version of TV’s Ghost Whisperer…or something. Sounds dreadful. We’ll see how it goes. lol

Several people have noted that the advent of Candy Boy has catapulted sister love back into the height of popularity. Bearing in mind that it also presents the least threat to men, because of course, a girl can love her sister forever, but she’ll still have to get married and have babies, because that is what one does – plus there’s always the chance that the guy reading this will get to do those hot bottle-blonde, siliconed twins, you know, as long as his credit card is good, making it an appealing fantasy space for “Yuri.” (Which is exactly why it does not appeal at all to me.) In honor of this trend, which I hope soon will move on and go about it’s business, the rest of today’s “Snatches” are Yuri-cest. Skip them if that kink does not appeal.

I will not be getting any of these, but if *you* are, please feel free to send us a review. I am actually ready, willing and able to post reviews of things I might not personally like – especially if you *do* like them. I am not looking for reviews of scanlations. Please only contact me if you are reviewing a manga you have purchased.

A series that I will likely not be trying, but hope one of you will is Chiisana Wakusei Chiisana Hanashi. It’s very love-love sisters. Fans of Kokoro Library will probably like it lots.

Eru Eru Sister is another series getting rave reviews from the Yuricest crowd.

And, another for the same crowd is Smile Sweet.

And another. Be- Twins. Because too much of a thing is never enough.

Again, if you read any of these, please feel free to review them for us. You do not have to “defend” your like of them – just provide an honest review. Email me for details on my preferred formats.

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And there is your week in Yuri for April 4, 2003.





Yuri News This Week – March 28, 2009

March 28th, 2009

The Yuriscape is very anime-heavy this week.

Yuri Anime

Sean and Eric leapt to tell us that a Simoun box set will be shipping in June. I was asked recently why Media Blasters didn’t ship the first volume along with the box option, like companies used to. I thought I’d share my answer with you all.

For one thing, the business model of a higher priced first volume with a cardboard box was almost universally despised by the market. It added very little value, saved no room and was basically annoying, as it rarely came with incentive to buy the rest of the set, except to fill the box. Companies toyed with expanding the offering – providing t-shirts and other physical extras and, towards the end, offered coupons for purchase of the next DVD in the set. But let’s face it, the single DVD model is pretty much dead here in America. More and more anime is coming out as season or half-season sets, packaged smaller, with less physical stuff. Media Blasters typically does very nice “box” sets, with large jewel cases that contain all of the disks, with no physical extras at all.

The reasoning behind single disk sales followed by repackaged multi-disk sets is simple: cost. The most expensive disk to press is the first. (This is true for books, as well.) Let’s say it cost $4000 to press the first disk. (I’m making up numbers here, don’t quote me.) The second disk will not make the cost go up significantly, since the press is already set, as it were. So two disks still cost $4000, but now cost $2000/disk. If the company prints 1000 disks, the total cost has gone up, but the cost-per-disk has dropped to (again, making this up *completely*) $5/disk. Got that? Okay, so.

Company A sells individual DVDs in nice boxes, with pretty pictures, etc, and the total thing costs (fictitiously speaking) $8/disk, not including cost of promotion, distribution, etc. So they sell it for, say $20, and make enough to cover the costs, plus a bit towards the next disk in the set. Still with me?

Now, after Company A has sold as many of the single-DVDs as possible, there are *plenty* of people who would still like the anime, but didn’t want to spend $120 for it. So they take the disks (which are now at a low cost-per-disk, because it’s the end of the run, not the beginning) and repackage them into a season set and charge, say $40. At this point, the cost-per-disk, even with packaging and distribution, etc, has fallen, so the company scrapes up more sales from something that costs them less. Same thing, one more time, with thinpaks. After an anime is past its shelf life it’ll go on discount – that’s a few more sales for the last, and thus cheapest, disks.

That having been said, American otaku are not like Japanese otaku. Japanese otaku express their devotion to a series through buying obsessively. The more DVDs, figurines, etc., one has, the more uber you are. Simon Jones of Icarus Publishing has a great summation of this that I strongly recommend for light reading. (Blog reasonably NSFW, but totally worth reading!) American otaku are not willing to part with $ as an expression of love, so most anime companies are moving to that season or half-season box set format. I approve, if only for the fact that I am now completely out of room on my lovely shelves.

Anyway – I hope that explains the “why” behind the repackaging and discounting thing. And why Volume 1 in a cardboard box is passe’.

Back to news:

Right Stuff has announced the release of a season set for Gakuen Alice. I know many people did not see it as a Yuri series. Many people did. I’ve just reviewed Volume 5 of the manga and see nothing as of yet to dissuade me of the notion. (Yes, I *know* later volumes, blah, blah, blah. My delusion is mine. So there, nyeh.)

Katherine is pleased to tell us that, after she ragged a bit at them, the Afterellen editors caved and announced the coming of Sasamikikoto and Aoi Hana animes. She promises to now rag at them about YM6. lol

In other anime news, Sean unenthusiastically reports that there will be a Venus Versus Virus season set coming out soon from Funimation, as well.

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Yuri Manga

Anime News Network reports that both Strike Witches and Koihime Musou will be getting manga in the near future. So moe Yuri fans will have something else to read in scanlation, not buy, and then complain about. Phew.

Not in the least least, Yuri Monogatari 6 has been shipped to the distributor and will hit the stores and Amazon as soon as it’s processed. Yay! I still haven’t seen it myself, however and am waiting for the shipment to arrive here, where non-bookstore or Amazon pre-orders and direct orders will be processed as *soon* as I get the darn things! I cannot wait to see it.

Let me unashamedly plug YM6 for all of you Yuri fans who want to see more actual women in love with other actual women and less schoolgirls, first crushes and not-gay couples. It is the *only* Yuri publication that honestly and openly represents the GLBT world.

And please put our YM6 Launch Party on your calendar – April 18th, in Secaucus, NJ. Spend a night with the artists behind YM6 – get your copy autographed and have some good, clean, Yuri fun!

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One last thing before I finish up today. Both the 4th season of Maria-sama ga Miteru and the Mariaholic anime finished up this week. I just watched the Marimite finale – it was exactly what I hoped for and handled beautifully. I am convinced that there will be no 5th season, but of course I still wish for 4 OVAs to cover 4 of the novels that got left out that I *really* would pay money for. However…one never knows. I will watch the end of Mariaholic as well and if time permits, write a compare and contrast, because…why not? :-)

Anyway, there’s your news for the week! See you next week with more great Yuri news!





Yuri News This Week – March 21, 2009

March 21st, 2009

Off we fly, into the wild Yuri yonder!

Yuri Anime

Sasamekikoto anime has been confirmed. I’m flabbergasted, gobsmacked and tickled. Hopefully, those of you who see Sumi and Ushio will be moved to buy the manga, which is absolutely delightful.

And speaking of delightful, there is a trailer up for Aoi Hana. No animation as of yet, but you can see the pretty watercolors from the manga and say “oooh.”

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Snatches of Yuri

Looks like a new web-based Mai HiME property is on the way: Mai HiME Rebundei Nekohime Blog. Based merely on a superficial glance at the web page, I already hate it. lol

George R points an enthusiastic finger at the novel Memories Off 2nd ~ Precious Hearts, which has unexpected and not entirely craptastic Yuri. He has provided a review which will surely be used at some time in the future. :-)

Otoshite Apri-gal is also something that, based just on first glance is nothing I want to read. But those of you who disagree with me on mostly everything will surely like it!

And last for today is yet another Mangatime Kirara (KR Comics) series called Manken which is in every single Yuri list, so I guess it has Yuri, huh? As it’s KR, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s probably a 4-koma, with a wacky girl, an average girl, a butchy-ish girl and the other girl. :-)

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That’ll give you something to chew on while I take a few days off and go do other, completely non-anime/manga things that involve people who don’t read any of this crap. See you when I get back!





Yuri News This Week – March 14, 2009

March 14th, 2009

Happy Π Day!

Yuri Events

You are invited to join Rica Takashima, J.D. Glass, Althea Keaton, Jessie B. and the cast and crew for a Yuri Mongatari 6 for a Launch Party on April 18th, 2009 at the Rare Flix store in Secaucus, NJ. This event is co-hosted by Yuricon and Media Blasters, and will include the premiere of our “Yuri Monogatari 6” video trailer, and plenty of Yuri anime on the TVs! We’ll be there from 7PM til will throw you out, so stop by! Bring friends! Buy Yuri!

Sakuracon announces Serial Experiments Lain‘s Yoshitoshi Abe as a guest. Ask him whether Lain and Alice were a couple – I’m sure he’s never been asked that, before. :-)

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Yuri Manga

y_y let me know that the doujinshi circle Sakuraike will be publishing a mass market collection of their adorable Yuri series, Tact. It’ll be available in July. This is honestly very, very cool news for them. As soon as there’s info for purchasing the book, you can be sure I’ll make it available to you.

You’ve probably heard of this already, and I think I even mentioned it before, but – Moonphase says that there may be Sasamekikoto anime, and 2chan is all over it, endlessly. Will it be reality? Who knows.

Comic Yell, the “Shoujo magazine for Boys” from Hobunsha (publisher of Tsubomi,) is ending, leaving no competetition is Comic Hai (home of Morinaga Milk’s Girl Friends.) I wonder if Tsubomi is meant to take up that slack….

Here’s some Yuri Manga you want to pick up this month!

Rakka Ryuusui 4

Sasamekikoto 4

Ichigo Mashimaro 6

Yuri Hime S, Volume 8

Of course all of these have been added to the Yuricon Shop, as well.

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Other News

I attended the KRAZY! exhibit at Japan Society a couple od days ago. The exhibit is very small and, because of the lack of context for it, it appeared to me to be the zOMG! moments of a person’s anime/manga interest. As it turns out, there was a huge western component to it that had to be cut out for space. The original exhibit was much larger and talked more about the evolution and convergence of visual culture and zeitgeist to make an explosion of concepts that defy cultural hegemony to create a kind of translocal modernism. (Words from Ueno-sensei one of the lecturers the night I attended.) It might seem a tad pretentious, but if you take a moment to parse it – so exactly right. :-) I want to thank translator Mari Morimoto for asking me to accompany her.

I got to meet Roland Kelts of Japanamerica, who did a very very good job of speaking to an audience that was half Japan Society members with no understanding of anime or manga and half anime and manga fans with no understanding of Japanese art.

Lastly for today, Riyoko Ikeda has been awarded the French Legion of Honor for her efforts promoting French history through Rose of Versailles. Hopefully that will inspire everyone involved to get that movie completed already!

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It’s also Einstein’s birthday today and White Day, so take a moment today to celebrate art and science, math and language and the power of the human mind.

See you next week. :-)





Yuri News this Week – March 7, 2009

March 7th, 2009

Really short news report this week, because I’ve been miserable sick all week.

Yuri Manga

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is getting a 4th series, this time in manga. the previous Nanoha manga series were short, almost in between the spaces of the anime series. (I just finished reading the StrikerS manga last week, as it happens.) This new series will kick off in new magazine Nyantype from Kadokawa, the title of which does not fill me with hope. *However,* we are told that in this series Nanoha will be 25, which IMHO makes her fully cooked, at last. Phew.

Fans will be pleased that Vivio is getting her own series, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid, in Kadokawa’s Comp Ace magazine.

Yuri Monogatari 6, the newest 100% Yuri anthology from ALC Publishing has been sent off to the printers. There’s still time to pre-order! Get great new Yuri from Rica Takashima, Circle UKOZ, Eriko Tadeno and many more. It’s a terrific book, I’m very pleased. :-)

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Yuri Anime

In what has to be the weirdest choice ever, Shimura Takako’s Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers) will be getting an anime. Don’t get me wrong – I think it’s a wonderful, terrific choice. But an odd one, if you think about it for a second. :-) In any case, we’ll all be getting to see our babydyke hero Fumi power her way through other people’s issues, with her vulnerable, sweet, core of steel personality. A great role model for young Japanese girls who will never see this, because I’m sure it’ll be on at 2AM lol.

Speaking of school series in which nothing happens, the third season set of Maria Watches Over Us has begun shipping. I’ve already watched one disk. lol And my Yellow Rose swings from the corner of my now overloaded phone. It’s not *quite* the same as headbands and postcards and panda cloths, and more postcards and marble-patterned photo albums and all the other good crap we got from the Collector’s sets, but it’s a thing. I’m happy. :-)

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On Saturday, March 14 at 2PM, and Monday, March 16 at 7PM, please join me at the Morris County Free Library for lectures on their absolutely stellar Graphic Novels collections – which include a nice amount of both Yuri and Yaoi, so do please come down and show your support for the library and for GNs!

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Like I said, short report this week. But quality totally makes up for quantity, this time. :-)