Yuri Anime

Top news this week is the Kadokawa’s confirmation of an anime adaptation for Sumiko Arai’s The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t A Guy At All.  Volume 2 of the manga is out on EN bookstore shelves – and Kinokuniya is offering a line of original merchandise and pre-order goodies, while Volume 3 is out in Japan and international Kinokuniya is going to be selling some special overseas-only goods for that, as well.

Via YNN Correspondent Burkely Hermann, Jellyfish Can’t Swim In The Night Blu-ray collection is up for pre-order on Sentai Filmworks. Burkely also suggests we keep an eye out for Maebashi Witches, which is coming to Japanese theaters soon. It’s another idol group story, but Burkely says that it focuses on friendship between the characters.

Volicia of Pluto popped on our radar in 2023 with a short movie/long episode of a funky mecha story rooted in Yuri on Youtube. Cryssoberyl wrote it up for us on Okazu. I thought it pretty good and trippy. Well it’s back and the second part, Volicia of Pluto -Vapor Trail Another Age 2006- trailer is up on Youtube. Rafael Antonia Pineda has the story on ANN.

Also on ANN, Crystalynn Hodgkins has the scoop that Aniplex is teasing a new anime with the tagline, “Two girls, motorbikes, travel.” The key visual shows two young women standing next to a bike in Shibuya. I’m in.

Yuri Events

Join myself, Mala Kumar and J.D. Glass for an evening of queer joy on March 21, 2025 at the Ripped Bodice in Brooklyn, NY. Tickets are $15 – you get a $15 coupon for a book in return. Get some great books, signed by the authors, and fun talk about the Gift of Queer Love!

The second Queer and Feminist Perspectives on Japanese Popular Cultures symposium has launched it’s call for papers. I *highly* recommend doing something for this event. It’s a great place for independent researchers to speak alongside academic researchers. Last year the presentations were *amazing* and the audience was super engaged, welcoming and fun.  Don’t self-censor – get your research ideas out there. I’m working on two different projects right now (plus new job eating my life, yay,) so can’t put in to present, but I will definitely sign up to attend. Last year was a blast.

Via the official account on X, there will be a Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau pop-up in the Atre at Akihabara in April with an Alice in Wonderland theme. (I’m telling you that, because I had to actually read the post to understand what I was looking at. Extra points for Shiho as the Queen of Hearts, though.)

Mark your calendars for Flamecon, August 16-17 in NYC! It’s a great, gay time for comics, games and other pop culture media lovers.

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Yuri Manga

Via YNN Correspondent an overachieving potato, Yuri Navi has announced the results of their Sixth Top Yuri Manga Election. Check out the ranking results and see which ones have you screaming at the screen. (^_^)

Kodansha has announced Sailor Moon Box Set 2, which includes Volume 7-12 of Eternal Sailor Moon and Codename: Sailor V, Volumes 1-2 for an autumn release. I have put a moratorium on any new Sailor Moon manga purchases until someone at Kodansha admits that academic rendering for the Outers’ names looks ridiculous as Ten’ô, Kai’ô, Mei’ô. When someone there just stops doing that, I’ll be back on buying every new edition. ^_^;

Rainbows After Storms, Volume 2 is out in English now, from Viz Media and Volume 3 is on the way in April.

Galette No. 32 (ガレット) is now available from multiple print and digital sources.

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Live Action

Big News in Live-action this week, as Ottona ni Nattemo (おとなになっても) / Even Though We’re Adults manga finished up, Comic Natalie has news that there will be a live-action series on Hulu JP in April.

Revue Starlight -THE STAGE- Seigfield Rerise (少女☆歌劇 レヴュースタァライト -The STAGE 中等部- Rerise) is happening June 7-14, 2025, at Hikosen Theater in Higashi, Tokyo.

Other Great Reading

Super exciting reading from Jamie J. Zhao, with her new article, Queer women prefer older sisters: the onee-san voice, the woman game streamer Southern Senior Female Schoolfellow, and the Aurora Australis fandom. You can read this for free at the above link. Obviously, I am ecstatic to see an analysis of another Yuri fandom.

Once again back to our friend Burkely Hermann, who does a retrospective of queer rep in animation in From Mahjong to Loving Magical Girls: LGBTQ+ Representation in Animation in 2024, which is well worth reading.

I once again want to highly recommend James Beckett’s ANN reviews of Momentary Lily, which are not only vastly superior to the anime itself, but have become a psychological horror story unto themselves. I am – no joke – watching the anime so I can more more fully experience his reviews, which are a masterwork.

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 2025, 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 Event

Feeling a bit hopeless these days? Queer joy is the number one way to enrage the assholes who want to destroy things. Join myself, JD Glass and Mala Kumar for a talk at the The Ripped Bodice on Friday, March 21 in Brooklyn, NY to celebrate queer joy and give a hearty fuck you to the Nazis in the world. Ticket price will be refunded as a coupon for a book, so come by and get some great books signed by great authors!

Yuri Manga

Seven Seas celebrated Valentine’s Day with 5 Yuri licenses!

The Fed-Up Office Lady Wants to Serve the Villainess by Nekotarou. “A frustrated office worker gets transported to the world of the visual novel she’s been playing and decides to help the villainess succeed in this fantastical isekai manga!”

The Lying Bride and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate by Kodama Naoko. Shisagawa Rei meets an old coworker, the darling of everyone at the office, who imposes upon Rei to escape her unhappy marriage. This starts rather darkly, but ends on a surprising note.

A Yuri Manga That Starts With Getting Rejected in a Dream by Hijiki sounds interesting. “When one girl gets rejected by her best friend in a dream, she starts to reevaluate her feelings. Is the dream a premonition or a spark to set a romance in motion?”

We got some Yuri vampires with I Won’t Let Mistress Suck My Blood by Paderapollonorio.

My Goddess is Precious Today, Too by Kawauchi is a collection of goddess-like girls and girls who are a mess who meet and fall for one another.

While we’re on Seven Seas, I Married My Female Friend, Volume 4 hit shelves this month. Back in the Dark Ages of Yuri, the couples often broke up in a trope I called “Death or Marriage.” One would die or leave to get married, forcing the other to cope. Now the marriage is more often the couple getting married and I just can’t be mad at that.

Absolutely recommended by me as being hilarious, Not So Shoujo Love Story, Volume 1 by Curryuku, out from Viz, is a very funny webcomic that has been picked up as part of Viz Originals. It’s up on the Yuricon store for your convenience.

Fans of The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All, will be excited to know that Kinokuniya is doing a pre-order for Volume 2 with a special keychain. And, according to Arai Sumiko herself on X, Kino International stores will be selling Volume 3 in Japanese with exclusive merchandise.

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Inui Ayu’s Matou Kimi, Hokorobu Watashi, Volume 1 (まとう君、ほころぶ私) is available on Bookwalker JP or JP Kindle. This is a serialized story about a woman who is small and cute and is therefore often treated like a child and the woman at a kimono shop she encounters. Check out chapter 1 in Japanese on Feel Web.

Yuri Light Novel

I’m going to keep pounding this drum – The Girl Who Wants to Be a Hero and the Girl Who Ought to Be a Hero, Vol. 1  by inori., with illustrations by Akamoku, will be out in English in June from Yen.  I reviewed this volume last June in Japanese –  Yuusha ni Naritai Shoujo To, Yuusha Narubeki Kanojo (勇者になりたい少女と、勇者になるべき彼女) and gave it an overall 9. Pre-orders make a huge difference to authors, I hope you’ll all pick this up.

Yuri VN

Studio Élan is excited to announce that Please Be Happy is coming to Sony PlayStation 5 & 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Microsoft Store on February 21st.

Ebi-hime released Cage of Roses for Valentine’s Day – “A haunting gothic romance set in the 19th century. Follow Meike, a young woman from an impoverished noble family, as she’s swept off her feet by the mysterious Magdalena: a vampire who possesses a dark secret. “

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Yuri Anime

Our favorite golf girls have a crossover mini-anime! Seriously! Visit Youtube for the First Part of the Sorairo Utility and Birdie Wing Special Collab Mini-Anime (「空色ユーティリティ」×「BIRDIE WING」スペシャルコラボ ミニアニメ)!!! Anita Tai has details on ANN.

Via Sugoi LITE on X, Yuri Drinking Comedy Manga Kamiina Botan, Yoeru Sugata wa Yuri no Hana (Kamiina Botan, the Drunken Form is a Lily Flower), created by Hey has a TV anime adaptation in the works. I had not heard of this, nor have I read it yet, but it is a Champion manga, so I am cautious. At a glance, it looks like unnecessarily childish women get messily drunk. 

 
Other Reading

It’s a kind of joke at Anime News Network that their reviewers are constantly being accused of not liking isekai, y readers who perceive any critical comment as hatred for the subgenre. As I am now a part-time reviewer with them, it was my great pleasure to be part of an article Our Favorite Isekai Titles Are… . There are a bunch of great titles in this article, including a few Yuri titles that are not my entry, so drop by and give it some love. 

Anime Feminist hosts Maddy’s thoughts on Kamikaze Girls: An alternative and queer retrospective. I also touched on the franchise’s potential queerness in my reviews of the movie, novel and manga, almost 20 years ago when they first hit. ^_^
 

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 2025, 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

The Kickstarter for Miyuki Yorita’s EN-language translation of Her Kiss, My Libido Twinkles, Volume 2 has 16 hours to go, as of writing, and has met all of the stretch goals except the final one. Another 364,150￥ (about $2400) will do it.

We have a bunch of new items up on the Yuricon Store!

Shio Usui’s I Married My Female Friend, Volume 4 wraps up the series from Seven Seas.

Viz Media is releasing Ami Uozumi’s Pink Candy Kiss, Volume 1  in April. “After 20 years apart, Takara reconnects with Ema, the girl she nearly kissed in middle school—who’s now a beautiful, married woman.”

Kase-san and Yamada, Volume 4, which is the ninth volume of the Kase-san series(!) is headed our way in April, also from Seven Seas.

Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 3  (気になってる人が男じゃなかった) will be hitting shelves this month in Japan. Many hijinks and dress-up moments await in Arai Sumiko’s runaway hit series.

Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 9 (不揃いの連理) focuses on Shizuku’s relationship with Saori.

The final volume of Osoto Gohan wo Go-issho ni, Volume 3 (おそとごはんをご一緒に) has food and camping and goodbyes.

Via Comic Natalie, Yuri no ha Hajimari Dorei kara, Volume 1 (百合のはじまりは奴隷から), tells the story of a girl who is asked to confess for a schoolmate and is sucked into a slave/master relationship with the object of the other person’s desire.

Twinstar Cyclone Runaway, Volume 2 of the manga was  released in December.

With Galette, No. 33 on the horizon, Galette No. 32 (ガレット) is on the store! We’re still waiting for a Bookwalker JP link, but you can get it digitally on Booth, and physically from the Melonbooks and Booth if stock is still available.

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Yen Press announced the license for Lycoris Recoil Official Comic Anthology: React. Alex Mateo at ANN has the details.

Joana Cayanan on ANN has the news that Suzu Akeko will end Love Shitai Tatsunomiya-san wa Jouriku Shimashita manga in the 2nd Volume. This manga is about a mermaid who falls in love with a woman and moves in as her neighbor.

Anime News

Via Comic Natalie, the Citrus anime will be streaming for free on Youtube on Valentine’s Day. This will probably be without subtitles, as it is meant as a JP campaign.

In “This Week In Anime” on ANN, Lucas  and Coop cover Anime That Feels Like A Bad Trip, featuring Momentary Lily and Revolutionary Girl Utena.

Speaking of the damned, do NOT watch episode 6 of Momentary Lily, but DO read James Beckett’s horror story/review of it. Seriously, do not watch it.

Girls Band Cry 2-Part Compilation Film Project Opens on October 3, 2nd Film Screens on November 14, ANN’s Alex Mateo has the details 
 

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Yuri Audiobook

Roll Over and Die: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword!, Volume 1 Audiobook from Seven Seas Siren is on the Yuricon Store. Volume 2 will be out soon.

Yuri VN

Autumn Wright at PC Gamer magazine takes a look at Studio Élan‘s National Park Girls in A yuri VN about national parks that turn into anime girls is, somehow, the most relatable game I’ve played in my 20s.

Other News

Bookwalker is merging with Dwango, says Crystalynn Hodgkins at ANN. Kadokawa says the service will remain the same, but we’ll see.

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 2025, 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.

I started a new job last week, this one in-office, so my life is now commute-work-commute for the first time in 15 years. Keeping up on reviews has taken all my free time, so I’m keeping today short and sweet to make some time for catch up. ^_^

Yuri Manga

The Galette Special English Edition02 kickstarter has come to a successful close, surpassing the 5th and final stretch goal! Our own Frank Hecker did a little number crunching: Over ¥8M pledged (up from ¥7M for the first kickstarter), 400% over-subscribed, 759 backers (up from 637), average pledge of over ¥10,600 (down slightly from ¥11,100).  Here is my insight: The slight decrease in ¥ per backer can be explained by the increased number of backers. Since the high amount rewards level were limited, people coming in after  will join at the more unlimited lower reward levels. In any case, yay GaletteWORKS for an even more successful run this time. I am so looking forward to seeing this edition. ^_^

ANN’s Alex Mateo has news that Kakinouchi Narumi and Hirano Toshiki will launch a new Vampire Princess Miyu-Yui manga. This is about the only vampire anything I really enjoy. Kakinouchi’s art is fantastic and the stories are batshit. The anime is a fave of mine, with the best creepy doll and lesbian story ever.

J-Novel Club has announced a license for a print edition of Gushing Over Magical Girls light novel by Ononaka Akihiro. ANN’s Crystalynn Hodkins has the details.

Yuri Short Stories & Light Novels

Via Canno, the short story collection WSS Yuri Anthology- Watashi ga Saki ni Suki Dattanoni  (WSS百合アンソロジー 私が先に好きだったのに) is available on Melonbooks for those folks who can get it. ^_^ It features 7 Yuri short stories.

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Anime News

Joanna Cayanan has the new cast members, character highlight trailer and news about last week’s premiere of The Rose of Versailles anime movie on ANN.

Crunchyroll is streaming the Precure baton pass with EN subtitles, ANN’s Egan Loo reports. Following up the change from Wonderful (which I watched all the way through, and it was pretty wonderful, with a human boy Precure by the end) we look to You and Idol Precure, which will also stream on Crunchyroll according to ANN’s Alex Mateo.

Speaking of Precure, (which we are now doing with a regularity that alarms me slightly,) Sr. YNN Correspondent Cryssoberyl says that Mahoutsukai PreCure!! ~ Mirai Days~ is getting pop up shops in Loft stores in Ikebukuro Tokyo, Yokohama, Umeda and Nagoya.

Rafael Antonio Pineda reports on ANN on Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- film stayed at #1 for a 2nd weekend.

Look Back has won the Tokyo Anime Award Festivals’ top award for animated film of the year. Crystalynn Hodgkins has the details.

One more from Crystalynnn Hodgkins,  Zombie Land Saga: Yumeginga anime film will debut in 2025. 

Yuri Audiobook

Qualia The Purple audiobook, narrated by Katy Vaughn is up on the Yuricon Store!

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Yuri Videos

Via Sr, YNN Correspondent Ashley, Unmounted Stones on Youtube is “An excerpt from a larger story about thieves, crime, and debt. Dangerous valuables have dangerous owners.” by arainydancer.

Via YNN Correspondent mandtheblubird, Thai GL novel My Honey She Is The Best has a fun little promotional animation up on Youtube!

Other News

Ado, Yoasobi, Atarashii Gakkō! are going to be in concert in Los Angeles in March. Any one of those would be amazing, but together, that is a holy cow kind of concert. Hope they do a recording/stream/something. ANN’s Adriana Hazra has the news.

Sailor Moon Super Live tickets are starting pre-orders! They are visiting 20 cities in 2025. This was so much fun when I saw it the first time. I hope if you go to a local show, you’ll write something up for us. I’ll be at the Newark, NJ performance at NJPAC, so if you’re there, say hello! It’s really fun. ^_^

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 2025, 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

Galette’s Booth.pm account is promoting Sakurake Yukino’s – Inu to Dorei no 100-nichi Sakusen (-犬と奴隷の100日戦争-)

ANN”s Anita Tai has the news that Kamejiro’s The Flower Princess of Sylph is getting an English-language release on Bookwalker.

Anemone ga Netsu wo Obiru, (アネモネが熱を帯びる) will be wrapping up at 9 volumes, according to Rafael Antonio Pineda at ANN. We’ll be getting that series in English from Yen Press this spring as The Anemone Feels The Heat.

project sapphic on X wants us to know that Bilibili has a new Vampire Baihe series in Chinese starting up, Kiss Me In The Dark Of Night.

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Anime News

The Rose of Versailles anime movie announces 7 more cast members and a new promo video, says Alex Mateo on ANN. The newest Rose of Versailles anime movie trailer features Oscar’s beloved friend, Andre.

Also from Alex, Sailor Moon is returning to Cartoon Network’s Toonami block today at 3AM. It would be worth doing a watch party of Sailor Moon Super, episode 3 if they get there, just to celebrate how far we have come. ^_^ But…3AM.

If you are not yet watching Momentary Lily…and I strongly recommend that you do not…. ANN’s James Beckett is processing it for you.

Bubblegum Crisis Perfect Collection is on the way from the newly reborn Animeigo. Meet Priss, the very first character voted best lesbian in anime by fans in 1999. ^_^ (And then I got hate mail for the results of that poll for the next ten years! She wasn’t my choice either!) Joseph Luster has the details on Crunchyroll News.

Alex Mateo on on ANN has details of the Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX -Beginning- anime film English-subtitled trailer streaming on Youtube. I really don’t think it’s going to be Yuri, but we might as well wait and see.

Yuri Merchandise

Curtain Damashii is selling The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and The Genius Young Lady goods. I quite like the acrylic standees – they are actually touching AND smiling,. Sadly those are sold out. ^_^;

STRICT-G x THE KISS collaboration with Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury brings us official Suletta Mercury and Miorine Rembran wedding rings! Plus little Ericht charms.

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Yuri Light Novel

inori-sensei on Bluesky says that her newest novel Homunculus’ Tears is now available for pre-order on Amazon. On X she revealed that the illustrations will be Aonoshimo and design by Hiiragi Ryo. English translation will be by Kevin Ishizaka. This is a direct to Amazon publication, so pre-orders will help this project get promoted. It will also have Japanese, German and  Spanish editions!

Other

The folks at Moom Comics want you to know about a Kickstarter for a German and English project Between the Trees, the tale of two women who meet and fall in love while in a religious cult.

Nanphatchaon Phumithammarat and Natthanai Prasannam of the Faculty of Humanities, Kasetsart University, Thailand have written a paper in Thai looking at Thai Yuri/Girls Love Novels as Popular Fiction: A Case Study of 23.5 When the Earth Spinning Around. The PDF of the article is free to download and you can always use a machine translation to read it.

Ema Skye looks at the tensions between Yuri danshi and non-Yuri danshi in Indonesian Yuri fandom in Transbudaya, Solusi Menyelesaikan Konflik antara Yuridanshi dan Non-Yuridanshi.

Over at ANN Rebecca Silverman talks to TOKYOPOP’s Editor-in-chief Lena Atanassova, in a conversation that discusses their queer imprint. LOVELOVE.

If you’d like to support Yuri journalism and research, Patreon and Ko-Fi are where we currently accept subscriptions and tips.  Our goal is to raise our guest writers’ wages to above industry standard, which are too low!

Your support goes straight to paying for writers, editors, 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.