A few people have sent in the news that J-Drama Last Friends has a Yuri couple, but I think I’m the first to comment that they are named Michiru and Ruka – and that Ruka rides motocross. Hmm….sounds so familiar somehow…

Seriously, I was watching the first episode and started to laugh. We never got the Outer Senshi in the Live-Action Sailor Moon, but if you don’t mind a totally fanfic-y setup where Michiru is in an abusive relationship and Haruka’s lost part of her name, then you ought to be happy with this show. The opening credits make it plain that this will not be a happy story for anyone – but so far there has been one straight kiss that looked like the people actually enjoyed touching each other – never seen that before! – and at the end Ruka kisses a sleeping Michiru. Two firsts for Japanese TV, surely.

While we’re talking live-action, the ironically named Water Lilies was nominated for an award at Cannes. This story is perfect for the live-action moe fan, a coming-of-age and hopping-into-one-another’s-bed story about three girls. (The original title Naissance des pieuvres means “Birth of Octopuses”, but somehow I think the English title is more…fitting. Wonder why that is? lol)

And Lightnovel.org has announced the first few of Ichinjinsha’s “Girls’ Novels” line. Just to be clear – I do not believe that these are “girls love” novels, just that these are the first in their imprint “for girls.” Of these Loveless is the only one I’m familiar with and we can only hope that it will include Kouya and Yamato’s arc. If anyone knows any of these titles are specifically GL, do let us know! (I’ll take a look at the report in Yuri Hime when I get a chance to order it and report back, otherwise.)

Every week I think “what on earth am I going to write about this week…” and every week, somehow, we have a bunch of news. Cool, huh?

I’m pleased to report that I was completely totally wrong about the Love My Life, live action movie. It is indeed coming here for a US release, courtesy of Wolfe Video. It’s always a pleasure to be wrong about such things. :-)

I kept meaning to mention this, but never did. In case you were having difficulty finding copies of My Otome/My Z-Hime, Volume 4 – I spoke with the folks from Bandai at Anime Boston. They tell me that the DVD had some problems, and that the new error-free disc was shipping just about then. So hang on and you should be able to find it soon.

Eagle-eyed Sean tells me that Morning 2 magazine, home of non-moe Yuri story Gunjou, is going monthly, so perhaps we’ll get chapters of this great story on a regular basis. However, the website still hasn’t updated, so who knows.

Coming up from Ichijinsha, look for the Yuri Hime manga of the popular game Aoi Shiro, and Yuri Hime 12. (For fans of Aoi Shiro, there’s actually another manga of the story, not from Yuri Hime, but from Jive. I’ll be reviewing it in day to come.) Also up from Ichijinsha, the third and final volume of Hatsukoi Shimai. All of these have a release date of April 18.

Last – and quite probably least – a quick clarification on the new Ikkitousen:GG series. Looks like Ryofu will be making a return, as will Ryomou, Hakufu and Kanu, so I think we can say that the sleazy Yuri fanservice will also me making a comeback. :-)

If you know any interesting news of interest to Yuri fans, feel free to email me at anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com, and I’ll be sure to add it to the next This Week in Yuri!

ALC Publishing will be reprinting WORKS by Eriko Tadeno this summer. This will be the third printing. Look for it in the Diamond Previews catalog for May, and of course we’ll be doing pre-order deals on the Yuricon Shop. Look for those starting in May, as well.

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There’s been some trouble getting Seven Seas titles in the non-US market, and after some digging around, Brigid Alverson of Mangablog uncovered a blog post that talked about why:

Tiamat’s Disciple had trouble finding Seven Seas titles, so he e-mailed the company and got an interesting explanation: They switched distributors from Diamond to Tor/Macmillan, and Diamond wouldn’t let go of their backlist stock until the end of February. TD is in the UK, but I’m wondering if that problem affected the US as well.

So, that’s probably why you’re having some trouble finding it. So, your choices right now are – check out local book stores and see if they have it on the shelves (an activity that will also get you out of the house and might help you discover some *other* titles of interest, too, so it’s a good idea all around) or just hold on and wait a month or so, until the distribution issue clears.

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We have two new collections from Yuri Hime magazine coming up. Epitaph is the story of Towa and Ash, goth loli girls who deliver messages from the dead. And the final volume of Hatsukoi Shimai,will also be avaiable shortly. Both are, of course, on the Yuricon Shop under manga from Japan. I probably won’t be getting Epitaph, so it you want a review of it, feel free to write one. :-)

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As I mentioned last week, the first volume of the Strawberry Panic anime hit the shelves recently, so I hope you’ll get that, as well. There’s 6 episodes on the first disk, which is a pretty good deal. :-) (Also available through the Yuricon Shop. We try to be comprehensive. lol)

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Friends of Yuri from Japan tell us that at the Comitia 84 comic market in Tokyo, there will be a mini Yuri market called “Yuribu,” made up of 100 Yuri doujinshi circles. Details about this and other upcoming events on the Yuri Events page on Yuricon. Check there for panels, lectures and other Yuri related events from around the world!

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There’s lots of exciting Yuri news coming around the corner, I promise. I’ll tell you as soon as I can. :-)