This week’s YNN is brought to you from over the pond in Scotland by Okazu Staff Writer Eleanor. I hope you enjoy my first attempt to cover for Erica and thank you for reading.

Yuri Manga

inee took to X this week to announce that Love Bullet (ラブ・バレット) is up for voting in this year’s “Manga I want to see animated contest.” It’s #45. You know what to do. ^_^

Suzunagi Shin on X noted that this year there is a Kono Yuri ga Sugoi! 2024 contest, named after the notable anime and manga popularity contests.) The Google form for your suggestions is open!

Our very own Erica Friedman reviews the final product from the Galette no. 1 Kickstarter for ANN. The Kickstarter for Volume 2 is now live and closes at the end of the month, hard copies of volume 1 are still available while stocks last.

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Anime News

Rafael Antonio Pineda over at ANN brings us a new video from the upcoming Rose of Versailles anime film. The film is set to premiere in Japan at the end of the month and I am very excited. I’m crossing my fingers it’ll come to the big screen over here. (Scotland Loves Anime, you know what to do…)

For the Precure fans among us: the latest installment, You and Idol Precure, has had a film announced for later this year. Joanna Cayanan at ANN has more details.

And for the trainwreck fans out there, including the Okazu Staff, we braved the first 2 episodes of GoHands’ latest work, Momentary Lily, so you don’t have to. James Beckett from ANN also came down into the trenches with his own take on the first 3 episodes. The first line alone of his piece had me snorting tea everywhere.

Egan Loo at ANN has the news about an upcoming Lycoris Recoil short anime film.

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Other

Mira Ong Chua, creator of ROADQUEEN and Vampire Blood Drive, has just launched a new Kickstarter for a graphic novel titled “The Prince In The Basement.” The campaign describes it as “An 18+ queer fairy tale romance.”

Diamond Comics, one of the largest comic distributors, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Viz Media, Square Enix and Udon Entertainment are listed among the creditors who are owed money. Alex Mateo at ANN has further details.

The Sailor Moon musical is coming to the USA (and London) this spring. More details, including dates at the official site.

From #1 Thai yuri fan and Okazu Staff member Frank comes a few updates. First, power couple BeckyFreen have a new series, Cranium, what looks to be a supernatural/sci-fi thriller starring them as biological anthropologists investigating an ancient mystery. The 8-minute pilot is on YouTube, featuring some Freen martial arts action. (CW: pictures of burned hand bones and skull)

Writer Salmon announced on Twitter (X) that Idol Factory (producers of GAP and The Loyal Pin), will be adapting their series of 4 books titled Four Elements. The starring couples (one for each book) have not yet been announced but should be soon. Freen and Becky (GAP, The Loyal Pin) will likely be one of them, since they’re under contract to Idol Factory. Others rumoured to star include Faye/Yoko of Blank and Engfa/Charlotte Austin of Show Me Love and Love Bully.

Rival production company GMMTV have also announced a new project, Girl Rules, and released a trailer.  It’s billed as another “yuri supergroup” project featuring three GMMTV couples: Milk and Love (of 23.5), Namtan and Film (of Pluto), and View (who played a supporting character in 23.5) and Mim (who had a supporting role in Us).

Via Anime Feminist’s latest Weekly Roundup, Youtuber MidnightBirdie presents a retrospective look at the classic yuri/queer anime Simoun. Thanks to CeleryMan on the Okazu Discord for sharing.

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 2024, 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!

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Yuri Manga

Yorita Miyuki has launched the Kickstarter campaign for her next volume of「Her kiss, my libido twinkles and it has already passed the initial and first stretch goal!

Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru, Volume 5 (踊り場にスカートが鳴る) hit shelves last month.

Via Comic Natalie we have a couple of Yuri-ish items: 

Love ka Like ka Wakaranai! (ラブかライクか分からない！) by SasaKuma will begin serialization in the February issue of Managatime Kirara. This is after 3 stand-alone chapters of the series about the relationship between two best friends have previously run in the magazine.

In Danshi Koukousei, Otome Game no Akuyaku Reijou ni Tenseisuru.Volume 1,  (男子高校生、乙女ゲームの悪役令嬢に転生する。) A boy is reincarnated into an otome game as the villainess and pursues a “non-existent Yuri route.” Check out sample pages in Japanese on Bookwalker.

Gatchi Koi Count 2.9 (ガチ恋カウント2.9) follows office lady Rico who becomes “Heel Maiden Toriko” in the wrestling ring after meeting her favorite wrestler at a home center . It looks absurd, but also fun in the 46-page sample on Bookwalker.

And Dengeki Daioh is running yet another story about a guy reincarnated, this time as the only man in a Yuritopian world
 in Danshi Kinsei Game Sekai de Ore ga Yarubeki Yuiitsu no Koto Yuri no Manihasamaru Otoko toshite Tenseishiteshimaimashita. (男子禁制ゲーム世界で俺がやるべき唯一のこと 百合の間に挟まる男として転生してしまいました).

Via YNN Correspondent Cryssoberyl, Twinstar Cyclone Runaway, Volume 1 is on sale on Bookwalker.  I read this volume, but apparently never got around to reviewing it. ^_^;

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Anime News

As mentioned when I reviewed Volume 10 of Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau this week, the official news is that there will be no Japanese Blu-ray release for the anime. After delays and news of poor working conditions, this new is a bitter, but not unexpected pill.

I sincerely doubt we’ll get the kind of Yuri we had with GWitch, but Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuux certainly has a bunch of girls, which will undoubtedly cause shipping. Interestingly, Khara and Sunrise, who are teaming up for this series, are releasing a movie first, before the television series. Check out the trailer on Youtube.

SugoiLITE’s SUGOI BINGUS account on X notes that Miss Kobyayshi’s Dragon Maid: A Lonely Dragon Wants To Be Loved, movie sequel from Kyoto Animation will have new info announced this coming week.

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Other News

Via Sr. YNN Correspondent Sean Gaffney, loveandladyjustice on Tumblr takes a look at Modern Yuri/BL and Queer Identity.

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 2024, 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

News this week has to start off with the blazing success of Galette magazine’s Galette- Special English Edition02 Kickstarter campaign which launched on January 1st and surpassed the first four stretch goals by today where it is at about $300 away from beating that final (for now) stretch goal at time of posting.

I reviewed the first issue of this EN translated special edition on the 1st and found that it was exactly what I hoped and more. I expect Issue 02 to be just as good and possibly better, as the number of backers on 01 ended up at 674, and the 02 campaign (which does have a method to get Issue 01 as long as supplies last) is already over 400 – with 26 days left! So if you want to support independent, crowd-funded Yuri manga, this is a great Kickstarter campaign.

Yorita Miyuki is also about to launch the 2nd volume of her independent Yuri series, [her kiss, my libido twinkles]. According to Yorita-sensei, Volume 1 will be available as an add-on to the V2 campaign.

Former Bilibili manhua, Straight Girl Trap by 42℃ Latte and Ice Free Herbal Jelly has been picked up by Tapas comics. This is about a bitchy boss and the worker she favors who is sure that the boss is straight, but wishes she wasn’t….

Via Sr. YNN Correspondent Sean Gaffney, here is a very cute 6-part Yuri manga in Japanese on X. Idol Group no Oshimen to “Kekkon” Suru to Hanashi (アイドルグループの推しメンと”結婚”する話) is by Akuse-chan.

ANN’s Rafael Antonio Pineda has the news that Yomogimochi’s Yuri manga “Boys Gilding the Lily Shall Die!? (Yuri ni Hasamaru Otoko wa Shineba Ii?!) manga will change its title to Kiss Yori mo Kimi no Neiro de Me ga Sameru (Your Timbre Brings Me to My Senses More Than a Kiss Would)” and then begin serialization once again.  I was able to read the early chapters of this as a doujinshi. The story isn’t at all suited to the original title – possibly not the new title, either. ^_^  Volume 1 of this band rival Yuri is out from Tokyopop.

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Anime News

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS Gun Blaze Vengeance anime has been announced for 2025. Anita Tai has the details on ANN.

We had a pleasant watch-along on the Okazu Discord, but I have not had a second to write up a review of this so, here is ANN’s Rebecca Silverman’s review of the Whisper Me A Long Song anime, Episode 11-12 finale.

Not Yuri, but firmly in Cute Girls Doing Cute Things Cutely territory, Egan Loo has the news that Non Non Biyori anime staff has reunited for Hibi wa Sugiredo Meshi Umashi: Food for the Soul.

Light Novel News

Did You Think My Yuri Was Just For Show sounds like it could be interesting as a tale of two voice actresses, one up-and-coming and the other trying to hang on to her career, which will be out in February from Yen Press.

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Other News

Okazu Staff Frank Hecker has done some analysis of Yuri titles and has put together a nice chart detailing the growth of Yuri published in the years since 1990 using the listings at Anime Planet as a dataset. It’s interesting reading, you should take a look. There was an apparent peak of titles in the year just before the pandemic, which has not been met since, but I would say that has to include some work that was self or small-press published, since I’m seeing far more Yuri being published by the top half dozen JP (and EN) publishers now.

The folks at ANN put together their Best Manga and Light Novels of 2024 list which includes a number of Yuri titles.

I did a not-Yuri thing! My review of Tonbo!, Season 2 is up on YNN.

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 2024, 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.

And here we are, the very last YNN Report for 2024. This year has undoubtedly been an astoundingly good year for Yuri and we’ll certainly hope that that that energy increases in the new year. Okazu Staff is working on our Best Yuri of 2024 list even as we speak, but there was definitely more great Yuri than fits on a list for sure. ^_^

Yuri Event

TODAY is the premiere of Whisper Me A Love Song, Episode 11 & 12 on HIDIVE. We’re having a watch party on the Okazu Discord, now! We’re streaming all of Whisper Me A Love Song right now and will continue to do so until the new episode launch….then will undoubtedly run into technical difficulties. ^_^ Feel free to join us for the stream and a chat!

Yuri Manga

We have a few new titles up on the Yuricon Store for you:

She Loves To Cook and She Loves To Eat, Volume 5 by Sakaomi Yuzaki, from Yen Press, is only a few weeks away.

Yuama’s The Summer You Were There, Volume 6 brings this dramatic story to a close. We’ll be getting that from Seven Seas at the end of January.

Also closing out a very different kind of story, Shio Usui’s I Married My Female Friend, Volume 4 hist EN shelves from Seven Seas in February.

Yen has Naekawa Sai’s This Monster Wants To Eat Me, Volume 3 coming out in January, as well.

Via Chris Beveridge over at The Fandom Post, KManga has added Yuhki Kamatani’s otherworldly manga about love and loss, Hiraeth.

The magical revolution continues in The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Volume 6 of the manga, written by LN author Piero Karasu, with art by Yuri Kisaragi, from Yen Press.

And we have Akiyama Haru’s  Watashi no Blue Garnet (私のブルーガーネット)  up on the Store.

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On X Arai Sumiko revealed the cover art for Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 3 (気になってる人が男じゃなかった). She’s listed all the various stores where there will be extras in the thread on X.

Via Comic Natalie, Kashikaze’s new series, Kimi ga Hoeru Tame no Uta o, Volume 1 (キミが吠えるための歌を) is out in Japan, and so is the Lonely Girl ni Hanataba o Kashikaze Short Story Collection (ロンリーガールに花束を 樫風短編集).

Via Lexie on X, Love Love Shitai Tatsunomiya-san wa Jouriku Shimashita (結婚したい竜宮さんは上陸しました) is a love story between an undersea princess and a handsome female college student.

Via Okazu Staff Writer Matt Marcus, there will be a new Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury spin-off manga in which Suletta and Miorine are regular schoolgirls. I guess I’m the only one who wants the spin-off when they are both adults and handling shit together. ^_^;

Rebecca Silverman reviews There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover, Unless…, manga Volume 1-6 on ANN.

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Yuri Kickstarter

Galette WORKS’s second English-language Galette magazine Kickstarter will begin in the new year.  Links to digital copies of the completed first magazine have been sent and physical copies have arrived in some European and Asian countries. We’re still waiting for them in the US. ^_^ Galette Works also told Japanese magazine backers that they will be selling a limited number of EN editions at Comiket and Comitia, as supplies last and they are working to get the EN edition available in Japan digitally. It’ll be interesting to see what they can arrange.

Yorita Miyuki is also planning a Kickstarter for the second volume of the English-language edition of her Galette manga, Her Kiss, My Libido Twinkles. The first one was very good in terms of production.

Light Novel

If you enjoyed The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio, you might want to check out Futsu Ota Hairimasen!  ~ Gakeppuchi Seiyuu, Rajio de Jinsei Risutaato!~ (ふつおたはいりません！2 ～崖っぷち声優、ラジオで人生リスタート！～) An experienced voice actor who is having trouble getting work starts a new radio series with a young, upcoming seiyuu. Sequels occur. ^_^

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 2024, 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.

Anime News

While it’s not Yuri in any sense, Magilumiere is a very affirming series about adult women – and it is getting a second season! Alex Mateo has the details on ANN. I’m really pleased by this news, as I look forward to every episode.

Look Back has received a nomination for this year’s Annie Awards. ANN”s Crystalynn Hodgkins has the news. I still haven’t been able to bring myself to watch it. ^_^;

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Yuri Manga

Galette WORKS has announced an imminent second English-language Galette Magazine Kickstarter. Click to be notified when it opens.

Yen Press has licensed Convenient Semi-Friend, a sketchy looking roommate story. ^_^

Don’t forget to pre-order She Loves To Cook And She Loves To Eat, Volume 5, which will hit EN shelves in January!

Utatane Yuu’s Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru, Volume 5 ( 踊り場にスカートが鳴る) hit shelves this week in Japan! It’s love, it’s intense emotion, it’s longing, it’s ballroom dancing!

Volume 1 of Shibori Kazuko’s Genjitsui Sekai Demo Shiawasenishite Kudasai, Ne? (現実世界でも幸せにしてくださいね？) is a reverse isekai story in which characters from a game come to our world to interact with their “hero,” who is a lonely women who actually needs some self-esteem. This series runs in Comic Yuri Hime.

Chapter 3 of Morishima Akiko‘s Hitorime is up on Amazon JP Kindle, and chapter 2 of the English edition of THE SINGLE LIFE: A 60-year old lesbian who is living single and alone, is up on US Kindle.

Via narandearuite on X, for folks who liked the original, a Fragtime Anthology (fragtimeアンソロジー) is in the works.

Akashi, the creator of Still Sick, has a new series with Ichihatsu Yuzuko, Sweet Lime Juice (スイート・ライムジュース) about two women who meet again after years of one-sided dislike. Check out sample pages in Japanese on Kadokawa.

I freely admit I have been paying no attention to Anemone ha Netsu wo Obiru (アネモネは熱を帯びる), but MangaTime Kirara on X says that Volume 8 is out now in Japan! Yen Press has licensed this series as The Anemone Feels The Heat to be released in March 2025.

Yuama, creator of The Summer You Were There, has a new series coming out in Summer 2025, according to their post on X.

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Yuri Light Novels

In terrific news, inori,’s fantasy series The Girl Who Wants to Be a Hero and the Girl Who Ought to Be a Hero, Vol. 1 has been licensed by Yen Press. Maybe we’ll get a chance to get the extremely fun acrylic standee I got with my copy of Volume 1 in Japanese, as an extra if we ask Yen nicely. (I spoke about the lack of extras yesterday on Bluesky. There is a market for this stuff, and I hope we get some!)

Via Yuri Navi, Teren Mikami has a new light novel, this time illustrated by Yuri Is My Job‘s Miman, Makemasenkara to Iiharu Kao no Ii Onnanoko o, Zenryoku de Kuppukusaseru Yuri no Ohanashi (負けませんからと言い張る顔のいい女の子を、全力で屈服させる百合のお話), is being debuted at Comiket. The JP Kindle version is available in Japan.

Yuri Live Action

Via YNN Correspondent CW, Shandou Yuki’s Call Me By No Name (コールミー・バイ・ノーネーム) is getting a live-action series. I absolutely remember reading this novel, but I never reviewed it here on Okazu.

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Other News

Justin Guererro has put together Tools To Get You Started In Webcomics over at KComics Beat.

The KyoAni shop is celebrating 15 years of K-ON! with cute goods.

We end on a somber note today, remembering Takahashi Macoto, who passed away last month. He is one of the folks responsible for our ideal of what Shoujo and Yuri art looks like and creator of proto-Yuri manga, Sakura Namiki. His doll-like girls with sparkles and hearts in their eyse influenced generations of mangaka. Anita Tai on ANN has the news. In 2014, I reviewed an artbook I had picked up in Nakano Mandarake, Akogare – Takahashi Makoto Collection.

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 2024, 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.