Yuricon 2023

The first discussion panel of Yuricon 2023 is up on Yuri Studio! The first of our Scholarship track, Boston University professor Sarah Frederick and I talk about the woman I call the grandmother of Yuri in Celebrating the Life And Work of Yoshiya Nobuko. We talk about her political and literary life, her love life, and her works including Prof. Frederick’s translation of Yellow Rose from Yoshiya-sensei’s Hana Monogatari series. It’s a chunky discussion to start with, but I wanted us all to know Yoshiya-sensei as the amazing, accomplished woman she was. 

Our next panel will be the first in our “Yuri Is Their Job track,” in which we talk to folks who translate some of your favorite Yuri manga. We have several panels recorded already and have a few more scheduled, including a special guest for Yuricon 2023. All we need now is your panel or presentation! Please apply for your panel today. I really want to hear from you!

Comitia is happening tomorrow in Japan. This is always an incredible show and a great place to discover new original Yuri work.

Girls Love Fest is returning to the Tokyo area on March 19. It has more adjacent festivals than ever, so keep your eyes peeled for Lycoris Recoil, Bloom Into You, Revue Starlight, idol and magical girl series Yuri doujinshi. ^_^

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Yuri Manga

Mieri Hiranashi’s outstanding autobiographical manga, The Girl That Can’t Get A Girlfriend has been released by Viz Media! I exhort you all to read this. It is touching, and heartbreaking and hilarious and uplifting.  Of note, Mieri wrote the script for the manga in Japanese and in English. Autostraddle’s A. Tony Jerome’s review is spot on: This Butch4Butch Manga Made Me Feel Heartbroken and Heartfixed.

Yen Press has announced a number of new Yuri licenses this week! I Don’t Know Which Is Love!,  and two by Mikan Uji, Assorted Entanglements, (which I have reviewed up to Volume 5 here on Okazu as Fuzoroi Renri) and I Don’t Need A Happy Ending.

Do not forget that Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon, Volume 4 is heading our way next month! I really don’t want you to miss the ending of this wonderful story.

Morishima Akiko is back! This time with a serialized story about a 60 year old, single lesbian. Grab A Single Life: Akiko, in English on US Kindle or in Japanese (ひとりみです①: 60歳レズビアンのシングル生活) or English on JP Kindle.  This is being released one chapter at a time. As I have said for many years, it is likely that we’ll see more senior years Yuri as my generation of artists age up…and here we are, aging up. ^_^

schwinn’s Hana Monogatari, Volume 2 (はなものがたり) is hitting JP bookshelves this coming week.

Galette, No. 25 (ガレット) will hit shelves in March. You can pre-order it on Amazon JP or pick it up at Comitia. This brings us to the end of their 5th year! It’s will be interesting to see where the magazine goes from here.

Okazu Guest Reviewer Matt Marcus has embarked on a detailed and deep dive into the How Do We Relationship manga, that he has been reviewing here on his new blog, Oh My God, They Were Bandmates. If you’d like to get into the weeds of this series, head on over and see what Matt is doing!

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Yuri Anime

The Yuri Is My Job anime premieres on April 6th. (The worst possible day for me, so my “react” video will be a tad late, as I’ll be at Anime Boston that weekend. ^_^) Joanna Cayanan has details and a second trailer on ANN.

Friend of Okazu, Philip has a review of Birdie Wing over on Otaku News. Which we can read while tapping our feet impatiently. One the one hand, I need more Birdie Wing in my life. On the other, in a year of an absurd amount of great Yuri anime, I love the idea of S2 of Birdie Wing being a climax for us all. ^_^

In the meantime, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady continues to satisfy deeply. As Cryssoberyl noted on the Okazu Discord, a new Yuri trope might be forming before our very eyes. AnimeCorner seems to agree – and notes that there’s even more of a pattern than we thought. I know a meme isn’t “news” per se, but I found this kind of interesting and wanted to share. ^_^

Other News

Speaking of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury, if you are in the market to proclaim your allegiance to House Earth (and Chuchu’s beautiful punch) the Gundam Store has you covered, literally, with House Earth hoodie or sweatshirt. ^_^

ANN did a Valentine’s Day Special  and Gabriella Ekens gave us our represent with Anthy and Utena for Your Favorite Anime Couple.

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Yuricon 2023

Yuricon 2023 has begun! The Opening Ceremony video is up on Yuri Studio.

I have 3 panels in for editing, am running another tonight and am arranging for more to come. Stay tuned for announcements. ^_^ Apply to run your own Yuricon 2023 panel or do a presentation today! We want to know all about your Yuri.

Yuri Manga

Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon, Volume 4 is hitting shelves in English in March! Look forward to the ending of this lovely adult-life story.

Arai Sumiko’s Twitter manga Ki Ni Natteru Hito Ga Otoko Ja Nai, (気になってる人が男じゃなかった) is being released by Kadokawa as a series in April. On her twitter account, Arai-sensei specifically thanks overseas fans for their support and credits them for being a part of why this happened. That makes two creators who have specifically said that overseas fandom did have an impact. We may be at a critical tipping point for this. Up to now, the assumption always has been that JP publishers saw overseas fandom as a nice add-on. But if we’re seeing creators crediting out-of-Japan fandom for getting their books to be published…that’s a whole new ballgame.

Make that three. schwinn-sensei also thanks overseas fans for their support and offers some sketches for color images for her series Hana Monogatari. ^_^ h/t Ashley for spotting this.

Rafael Antonia Pineda has the news over at ANN that the Assault Lily: League of Gardens – Full Bloom manga series is ending with Volume 4 & 5 shipping simultaneously. This has been more common recently – I can see the wisdom of getting the whole end out at once, so folks who are engaged actually get the entire series, instead of having the final volume release linger and lose engagement.

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Yuri Anime

Lycoris Recoil is coming back with more anime! This cannot possibly be a surprise with the staggering sales for the spin-off novel Lycoris Recoil Ordinary Days – which I just happen to be planning to review tomorrow. ^_^ If you recall, thisspin-off sold more than a 100K copies before it was even released, and passed a quarter of a million copies shortly after release. I expect the next season to basically be the book. ^_^ Egan Loo has details of the announcement on ANN.

Along with the vast riches of Yuri anime already announced, we’re also getting Hoshikuzu Telepath! Alex Mateo has the details on ANN. I honestly thought I’d be doing a handful of “react” videos this year. Now we’re up to 8 Yuri and Yuri-adjacent series and I’m already exhausted. ^_^

Joanne Cayanan at ANN reports on the character video for Lanie Cyan from The Magical Revolution Of The Reincarnated Princess And The Genius Young Lady.

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Yuri Live Action

GAP Theory has one episode left and it’s being streamed initially as a pay per view event. IDOLFACTORY has said on their Twitter account, tickets will be a one-time event, with encore showings. Tickets are being sold on Thai site TicketMajor. I haven’t had a chance to pursue how this might work for overseas fans, but if you, have – weigh in!

Yuri VNs & Games

Lilyka is running a Valentine’s Day sale on Yuri VNs with checkout code VV.

Rafael Antonio Pineda has news about the new game in the Blue Reflection series, Blue Reflection Sun.

Ebi-hime on Mastodon announces that The Fairy’s Secret has been released! They edscribe this as a “cute yuri visual novel about a grumpy goth girl and her plucky knight partner as they explore the idyllic English countryside, kiss a lot, and uncover what’s lurking in the woods…” This is available on Steam and itch.io!

Other News

People are talking about the Sailor Moon x Jimmy Choo shoe collaboration, Richard Eisenbeis has the details at ANN. I…kinda like them. ^_^

Richard also has a fun report about a lacquer “magical girl wand” done as a piece of art for Tokyo University, by artiss Okamura Karin.

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Yuri Anime

The dub of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury is in the news. First Crunchyroll announced the dub cast, then there has been an ongoing discussion of the lost (ignored) opportunity to make space for MENA actors in anime. Lynzee Loveridge has a good summation of the situation on ANN that is well worth reading for focusing on the important side of the issue. The forums (OMG, I read some of the forum, what am I doing?!?) point out that there has been some neurodivergent roles that might have been given to ND VAs. Those people who argue that this is a non-topic that is looking for relevance quite obviously have no skin in this game.  ANN user ChibiGoku hit the hammer on the nail with this comment:

Discotek has announced the license for Re: Cutey Honey! I’m really excited about that. This three-episode OVA gave us a grown-up Na-chan and Honey dynamic that worked really well. In the same announcement Discotek said they’ve licensed Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Reflection. If one of you gets that, I’d love a review. (I’m only interested in reviewing that series if the franchise moves forward, not backward.)  Rafael Antonio Pineda has the news at ANN.

Rafael also has the scoop on the new Sailor Cosmos trailer which gives us a look at Hayashibara Megumi’s Sailor Galaxia and the sounds of ‘Tsuki no Hana’ by Daoko. Honestly, this two-part movie for the final arc looks quite excellent and I once again rage that the first two seasons were cheaped out on and rushed by Toei.

There’s big news in PreCure world with the handoff video from Toei for Soaring Sky! PreCure, Crystalynn Hodgkins and Alex Mateo havecovered this on ANN. A boy PreCure is setting all the insecure fans on edge, but the overall vibe is one of positive anticipation. It is always so weird when fans create arbitrary rules for what a fictitious, corporate franchise designed to sell toys and make money is “supposed” to be. This series has had plenty of Yuri couples and a trans characters….if we can get a puppy fairy who becomes a PreCure, why wouldn’t there be a boy PreCure? I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here. ^_^ Finishing up Delicious Party PreCure is on my plate of things to do today, in fact!

Yuri Events

Yuricon 2023 is about to launch!  The Opening Ceremonies will be hitting Yuri Studio shortly. By the end of this weekend we’ll have three panels in the can!   Don’t miss this opportunity to talk about something that’s important to you – apply to run a panel or do a presentation for Yuricon 2023.

Girls Love Fest is running their next event in the Tokyo area on March 19, 2023. Girls Love Fest 37, will include special “only” sections for Bloom Into You, Assault Lily,  Lycoris Recoil and other popular franchises. Let me know if you’re attending, I’d love a report!

Yuri Studio

Speaking of Yuri Studio, in the middle of what is a ridiculously busy month for me, I and my delightful hardworking and patient editor, thank you Ashley) have gotten a new video out:  S04 E02 Erica Reacts (not really) To Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero King to Extraordinary Squire. This is up for Patrons only right now, but will go live soon, keep your eyes out. ^_^

Yuri Manga

In other Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury news, ANN’s Joanna Cayanan reports that a G-Witch side story manga will be launching this spring in Gundam Ace magazine.

Crystalynn Hodkins wants us to know that the Adachi and Shimamura manga will resume this month in Dengeki Daioh magazine.

Yuri Light Novels

Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel To Trifecta, The Second is out now from J-Novel Club. Yurimother calls this a “poly” story but I feel like that’s giving it a lot of unearned credit. Sean Gaffney’s comment that “There is an attempt at discussing the differences between sexual attraction, familial love, and close friendship. It’s an attempt that is somewhat steamrollered by the plot, but the attempt is made.” seems to me more accurate. Your mileage may vary.

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Other News

Mangasplaining this week takes a look at Takako Shimura’s Even Though We’re Adults, Volume 2 at Chip Zdarky’s request. I know I have mentioned this podcast before, but if you enjoy manga – or want to learn more about manga – or would like to expand your reading into other genres but aren’t sure what to try – I highly recommend this podcast. It’s gotten me to read any number of titles I would not otherwise have read.

Over at Autostraddle, Heather Hogan offers advice on how to get involved in 8 Queer Nerd Hobbies And How To Get Into Them. ^_^

Global Bookwalker polled editors of various manga magazines to see what titles they recommend and among them was schwinn’s Hana Monogatari, (はなものがたり) the senior Yuri story running on Comic Walker. I love this story so much and really hope one day to see it licensed in English. Feel free to politely request it of Yen Press. ^_^

Yuri Survey

In case you missed it, the results of the Global Yuri Fandom Survey was posted on Okazu as my 5000th post here. I’ve been told the results of the Comic Yuri Hime foreign readers poll were less queerfem aligned, so I am interested to see how that data shakes out.

I’m shoehorning this in here, but the February Seven Seas Reader Survey is live. Hit them up with your favorite unlicensed titles and get a coupon for Global Bookwalker.

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Yuri Manga

Otherside Picnic, Volume 3 is out now from Square Enix and up on the Yuricon Store. I’ll be finishing it up this weekend and reviewing it soon. It has one of my favorite creepy scenes in it. ^_^

Via Yuri Daily on Facebook, Polish manga publisher Waneko has announced the Polish editions of Handsome Girl, Sheltered Girl (Przystojna dziewczyna i panna spod klosza) and Yuri Is My Job! (Yuri to moja praca! -Schwestern in Liebe!-)

Kuchibeta Shokudo (くちべた食堂) is a 2021 Japanese-language webcomic about food and Yuri that has been collected into a volume.

Yatosaki Haru has a new collection of 11 Yuri shorts called Watashi no Naka De Ichiba Ni Hikaru, Anata (私の中でいちばんに光る、貴方). You may recognize Yatosaki-sensei’s name from Galette magazine, but this collection is coming out from Beam Comics.

Crystalynn Hodgkins at ANN has the news that the Adachi to Shimamura (安達としまむら) manga adaptation is resuming in February in Dengeki Daioh magazine. The manga has been on hiatus since August.

Eunnie‘s debut Graphic Novel, If You’ll Have Me, is about to girls on the path to love. ^_^ With an October release date from Penguin Random House Books, you have plenty of time to pre-order it!

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Yuri Live Action

Via YNN Correspondent Eleanor, Service Charge (สถานะเต็มคาราเบล ) is another Thai GL live action series on Youtube.

Yuri Webtoons

YNN Correspondent Matt recommends the webtoon 48Km by iaraNaika about two people expressing their feelings in an awkward and indirect way ^_^

Yuri Visual Novels

Christine Love’s Get In The Car Loser: The Fate Of Another World is now available on Steam and Itch.io!

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Other News

Over at Crunchyroll News, Komatsu-san has the details on the PreCure 20th Anniversary Video and wow was that some excellent schmaltz.

Liam Dempsey at CR has the news that Mizuki Nana and Hayashibara Megumi are joining the cast of Sailor Moon Cosmos.

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Yuricon 2023

We are off to an amazing start for Yuricon 2023. The first discussion video will be recorded this week, as will my “Opening Ceremonies” video. (This will be posted when our new mascot art is completed. I am an otaku, after all and have ideas.)

We have almost a dozen confirmed panels/ presentations/discussions lined up so far and another half dozen proposals, but the Internet is nearly infinite and hope you will fill out the Application form to talk about your Yuri obsession, whether it be a series, or a character or a subgenre that really drew you in. Or, maybe you want to talk about art of fanfic or a Light Novel series that changed your life. Making Space for folks and different perspectives is a key concept for this event. 

Don’t self-censor – Apply to run a Yuricon 2023 panel or do a presentation today! We want to know all about your Yuri. All panels will be recorded and shared on Youtube, but I am hoping to do at least one livestream event in Q3. ^_^

Yuri Manga

New items up on the Yuricon Store! I’m about halfway in clearing out the backlog of stuff to get up. ^_^

The Summer You Were There, Volume 2 his shelves last month in English from Seven Seas.

The print volume of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is up for pre-order for a May release.

Takeshima Eku’s Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 7, in which we learn the Truth(TM) about Shiho.

Mejirobana Saku, Volume 3 (メジロバナの咲く) by Nakamura Asumiko continues her first Yuri title with what happens after Ruby manages to stay in school.

This is a 2020 Yuri rom-com, Lily Triangle, (リリィ・トライアングル) by the creator of Futari Monologue.

Ichijinsha has a new anthology out this week, Cosplay Yuri Ecchi Anthology (コスプレ百合えっちアンソロジー).

And, while you’re getting Qualia The Purple Light Novel, you should know that there is also a manga for it. Seven Seas will release the Qualia The Purple Complete Manga Collection  in June of this year.

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Polish fan group Yuri Daily on Facebook has written a review of 2007 doujinshi Manga Carmilla Girls Only, collection. This collection was created by Carmilla magazine, a Japanese lesbian magazine that ran in the mid-2000s which featured 18+manga, club news and stories and sex-forward lesbian media. There are some 3rd-party sellers on Amazon JP with copies to sell, if you’re interested. I reviewed an issue of Carmilla almost 20 years ago here on Okazu. It wasn’t for me at all, but it might be for you.

Vincisblog has reviewed all three volume of the German Edition of Goumoto’s Yuri manga, Umi to Yoru, out as Night and Sea from Taschebuch in Germany. Start with their review of Volume 1.

Yuri Anime

Birdie Wing is on the short list for “Best Original Animation” Crunchyroll award and the official account on Twitter is asking you to help them win! And now, so am I.  These are the worst awards voting ever, because we can stuff the ballot box meaning that whatever is most popular wins. So let’s do this thing. ^_^

Not-Yuri, but of interest and looking mighty fine, the Sailor Cosmos trailer dropped this week, with our first look at the Three Lights/Sailor Starlights and the haunting notes of ‘Search For Your Love!” Rafael Antonio Pineda has the details on ANN.

Steve Jones and Christopher Farris take a look at the new season of Isekai anime and determine that The Magical Revolution Of The Reincarnated Princess And The Genius Young Lady is worth watching. Line of the review is Chris’ “…Anis having more personality and face game in her pinky finger than 90% of the potato-tagonists of seasonal isekai shovelware combined.” Outstanding.

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Yuri Live Action

Again via Yuri Daily, Ohsawa Yayoi’s short Takeout Dekimasuka? will be getting a stage adaptation! This will have 6 performances, March 10 through 12 at Performing Gallery & Cafe Ezorabako. The comic upon which this play is based was part of her 2DK, GPen Aftertime Short Story Collection from 2021.

If sapphic content from other than Japan interests you, I highly recommend you follow douqi on Twitter and check out their list of Asian WLW Dramas list.

ANN’s Rafael Antonio Pined has the news that the Live-Action If My Favorite Pop Idol Made it to the Budokan, I Would Die Film Opens on May 12.

Yuri Visual Novels

Studio Élan has  key visuals from their upcoming project, Summer At The End Of The Universe up on their official Twitter account.

YNN Correspondent Patricia B. (who just reviewed 77 Oleander Avenue Ghost House Investigation this week on Okazu) wants you to know about a number of sapphic VNs:

First up is Super Lesbian Animal RPG by ponett, which is exactly what it sounds like: an RPG with anthropomorphic characters and sapphic leads. On top of the main cast entirely being comprised of sapphic women, including transgender women, the majority of the surrounding cast is also very queer. I found it to be a very fun and well-made role-playing game, full of heart, humour, and a good challenge for those familiar with the genre. This game can be purchased on either Steam or itch.io.

The second is The Elevator Game with Catgirls by NoBreadStudio. This is a horror visual novel with point-and-click adventure elements. You play as Asahi, who is trying to find her girlfriend, Kirin, who went missing after attempting a ritual known as the “Elevator Game”. And yes, Asahi and Kirin are both catgirls. This game can be purchased on Steam or itch.io:

The third and final game is Margo by ygretz. It is a short, laid-back, if slightly melancholic, point-and-click adventure game about a day in the life of a young woman named Margo. The game is free, but there are ways to support the developer on the store pages. This game can be purchased on Steam or itch.io:

Yuri Prose Collections

Yuri Hakaarashi (百合墓荒らし) is a Yuri short story collection by Tougen Natsuo.

Joining the pack is Yuri Short Story Collection wiz (百合小説コレクション wiz) a collection of stories by 8 writers.

Along with Zerogoh magazine and the Yuri Hime/Pixiv/Hayakawa Literary Yuri contest (of which I reviewed Volume 1, read and disliked Volume 2, so never reviewed and am currently reading Volume 3, and selected shorts from the Volume 4 are running in Comic Yuri Hime this year,) Yuri writers and readers have some options these days!

Other News

Joanna Cayanan on ANN notes that Taguchi Shoichi, the creator of Yuri travel/food/hangin’ around manga Futari Escape, is looking for some assistants!

Thanks to our Okazu Patrons who make the YNN weekly report possible! Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi to help us give Guest Reviewers a raise and to help us support Yuri creators!

Become a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share and be part of the Yuri Network. ^_^