After last week’s flurry of activity, things this week have settled down, more or less, into “Here’s some stuff to look for!” :-)

Some of you may have noticed already that the newest chapter in the Mai Otome saga has been released – Mai Otome 0 s.ifr. Like all the previous versions of HiME and Otome, there are some recycled characters, but the cast is mostly new. Episode one already provided the desperate with some Yuri-service, so keep an eye out for it. ;-)

Eagle-eyed Erin points out that Torajirou Kishi, the creator of Maka-Maka, has a new series coming out in a collected volume, Mars no Kiss. We agree that this one does not sound very happy, but one never knows. :-) It’s running in Pianissimo magazine, a far cry from Jive, so my guess is that it’s a softer, more melodramatic story.

Gunjou, by Nakamura Chin, is running in Morning magazine in Japan. If I understand the synopsis correctly, it’s about the adventures of a woman and the woman she hired to kill her husband, as they take to the road after the murder. The author is a Yuri manga fan, and the art is really understated and cool. It’s has very high Yuri potential. I’ll let you know, once I’ve read it.

Lastly, in case you missed it on the Yuricon Mailing List, yesterday was Yuricon’s hunky mascot Yuriko’s birthday. We always like to do something special for that, so we’ll be announcing a “concert tour poster” contest – design a poster for Yuriko and Mayumi’s world tour, win a limited-edition fan club tour t-shirt! Also feel free to send Yuri a birthday greeting at yurisnr at yahoo.co.jp. She promises to answer all of them. :-)

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That’s about all I got for you this week. If you come across a nifty Yuri news item, don’t hesitate to send it to me at the email on my profile. I only have two eyes – your assistance is *always* appreciated!

Here we are, at the end of another fun week of Yuri news!

The big news for ALC Publishing is that recruitment has begun for the sixth Yuri Monogatari Project! Writers and artists who wish to be considered for the new anthology should read the submission rules carefully before sending any materials. Questions can be emailed to anilesbocon01 at hotmail.com. Recruitment will be held through March 15, 2008.

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Many astute readers have commented and written in to point out that Candy☆Boy has been greenlighted for another 7 episodes. Many people seem to think that this is a good thing. :-) Read the ANN News item for more details.

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I’ve been asked to track up-and-coming series for folks here, so here are three manga titles of note for you:

On sale as of February 18, Mermaid Line, the newest collection from Yuri Hime!

Also of interest, Maria-sama ga Miteru manga Volume 8 is now on sale. More hot Rosa action. lol

For those of you looking for something in English, Skim looks very interesting. Featured in Publisher’s Weekly, Skim is the story of a Canadian Goth-Loli, who has a relationship with a female teacher.

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We’ve also updated the Yuricon website, with great new SnB fan art from Zeromus One on the Gallery, all the above manga and more on the Yuricon Shop, and a newly revamped Mission Statement and History.

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See you tomorrow with more Yuri reviews!

Astute “Friend of Yuri” Erin has informed us that Yuri manga artist Morinaga Milk was interviewed on HiPa~ web radio, the web radio for the publishers of comic High. She says that the whole thing is about 50 minutes long, Morinaga’s segment starts at 13:30. For a nice little synopsis, check out Erin’s post on the Yuricon Mailing List. Thanks for the heads up Erin!

I’d forgotten to mention this earlier, but Comic Seed has been releasing current issues online. This includes Yuri-esque manga Girl x Girl x Boy about a love triangle between two girls and a boy. The boy likes one of the girls who likes the other girl who likes him.

To listen to the HiPa~ radio and read Comic Seed, you will probably need IE. No guarantees for Firefox or Opera, anyway.

Okazu has been named to the Top 5 of Anime Blogs on Blogged.Com. I’ve never heard of any of the other top 5, so I’m not sure how I should react. Yay? LOL

Let’s see, Yuri scan/sub group Lililicious has a new community on the Japanese social networking site Mixi. You can talk to Erin, Lili’s Rosa Chinensis, myself, and other Lili members – *and* practice you Japanese language skills all at once! Of course, you can always chat with the group on their irc channel, as well, but how much cooler is it when it takes you an hour to say something banal. LOL

Oh and for fun, since Valentine’s Day is coming soon, I thought that I’d help all of you with some suggestions – after all, not everyone has time, energy or skill to make home-made chocolates, here are a few ideas for Chocolates For The One You Love (TM). :-)

So I’ve scanned through Amazon and come up few thoughts for those of you at a loss for the perfect gift.

Classic Satin Box of Chocolates, for the tried and true approach:

Chocolate Dipped Oreos, for a contemporary fun feel:

Dark Chocolate Roses, to cover all the bases:

Nana’s Cookies for the Cookie hound in your life:

If your sweetie can’t have chocolate, here’s a fun Nostalgic Candy Box:

For the Vegans, a sweet little Valentine’s Gift Box:

And last, for those of you who want to roleplay Rei and Yoshino (or Sachiko and Yumi,) some decadent chocolate truffles!:

And don’t forget to remind your sweetie about White Day – I’ll be back
in a month with more suggestions. :-)

I can’t swear that I’ll do this *every* week, but I kind of like these Saturday Yuri News reports. What do you think of them? Let me know!