Events

Normally around this time of year, this segment of the news report would be filled with Yuri panels and appearances. To be honest, I am not planning on attending a live event for the rest of 2020 at the absolutely minimum. (Honestly, I’m still iffy about 2021, because I know history and expect a second wave of COVID-19, as with the Spanish Flu. Not to be a downer, but I’d expect this to be ongoing well into 2022.) But this year events are going online and showing some success already. Air Comiket (which I was following closely on Twitter) was really quite wonderful. The Comiket twitter feed made the usual announcements, directing people to places and cautioning folks against running. They paged people and shared videos of previous years so we could applaud when the event opened and “walk up” the stairs to Big Sight. Artists set up tables in their homes and promoted their work online. Kim Morrissy over at ANN says that I was among the 440,000 people who enjoyed the AirComi experience together from their computer screens. I thought it absolutely delightful.

San Diego Comic Con has announced an online Comic-Con@Home event. ANN’s Crystalyn Hodgkins has the details.

The Cartoon Art Museum is holding the Queer Comics Expo this weekend on Discord!

I will be holding an Online Yuri Panel on May 31 on Youtube. (link will be forthcoming.) I’ll also be holding an Okazu Patron Backstage Event on May 27, where they can post questions I’ll answer at the panel and get to watch (and laugh) as I set up my “studio.” Support Yuri reviews, news and interviews – and get “backstage” access –  become an Okazu Patron today and help us support the Yuri ecosystem!

Yuri Manga

We have a bunch of new titles up on the Yuricon Store:

tMnR’s If I Could Reach You, Volume 4 is already available. This story is perfect if you like relationship angst and unresolved sexual tension.

Sailor Moon Eternal Edition, Volume 8, in which the combined Senshi defeat Neherenia and free Helios.

Galette, No. 14 (ガレット) has been released in print through direct sale only in limited quantities, but is available for the JP Kjndle in Japan, and on Global Bookwalker next week for folks outside of Japan.

Speaking of Galette, they’ve released a bunch of free sample chapters, including Hakamada Mera’s Sekai ga Owaru Sono Mae ni (世界が終わるそのまえに), Hamano Ringo’s Sora-iro Melancholic (空色メランコリック) and Yatosaki Haru’s Ami-chan no Nikki (あみちゃんの日記).

Comic Walker offers a free sample chapter of Kyuuketsuki to Yobaretai (吸血鬼と呼ばれたい) by Pyaa, about vampire girls who attend Vlad Gakuen, and I mention this primarily because my wife immediately said, “What? Not Saint Vlad Gakuen? Missed opportunity.” and I want you to have that stuck in your head as it is in mine. ^_^

Yuri Light Novels

Hitomi Iruma’s Adachi to Shimamura, Volume 2 is slated for a September release in print, but will be getting an end-of-May release on Kindle!

Yuri Doujinshi

Also on Kindle is Ruri Hazuki’s REFACTORS 1: Nana  & Kanon, a workplace romance doujinshi we encountered at Girl Love Festival during the 100 Years of Yuri Tour.

If you like Hazuki’s work, Lilyka has just also added her -3.25 Hazy World Saturday – Lunch Menu – 2, a continuation of her office romance series named after days of the week.

Minamoto Hisanari, creator of the delightful Fu~Fu (ふ～ふ) manga, has released a Fu~Fu 10th anniversary doujinshi for Air Comiket that is available on Melonbooks. This is Act 1, and an Act 2 is supposed to follow later. There are sample pages on the Melonbooks site. 

Hayate x Blade creator Hayashiya Shizuru, has a new doujinshi series out that combines two of my favorite things: Yanki girls and food. Yan  Koi Shokudo (ヤン恋食堂) Set A (which offers some sample pages) and Set B look amazing. Hayashiya-sensei said on Twitter there will be a Set C and she apologizes, but she hasn’t gotten to the Yuri part yet…. ^_^

I’ll take this opportunity to tell you that, despite the fact that Japan Post has had to suspend shipments to the USA and other  countries, because of the slow-down of commercial flighst, proxy service Tenso has added DHL shipping as an option.  I’ve used Tenso before (and am using them now for these and a bunch of other doujinshi) and can recommend them as a buying service. Signing up is free, you just prove you identity. You are assigned a Japanese address, to which you can ship your items. Tenso will hold the items for a time, if you need to combine orders. And when you ship from Tenso to you, there are multiple shipping options. I was willing to let these go by sea, but since DHL is available, why wait? ^_^ (Tenso also has a proxy buying service, if you don’t read Japanese and don’t want to figure out their almost-always exhausting hoops to buy stuff. I don’t know why, but my goodness buying from a Japanese site has so many steps!

Lesbian Anthology

One more Kindle item of note! Silk & Steel: An adventure anthology of queer sf&f with high femmes & dashing women pre-order on Kindle is now available. And I gotta say that the lineup they’ve got is genuinely fantastic. Aliette de Bodard, Ellen Kushner, Yoon Ha Lee, Django Wexler and more. I have already pre-ordered this and cannot wait to read it. ^_^

Queer Cartoons

Via Dinah Frost on Twitter, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are now officially a couple in the Harley Quinn cartoon.

She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Season 5 has dropped on Netflix and it’s everything we could have hoped.

Other News

I was deeply honored and delighted to be asked to contribute to the British Film Institute‘s Sight and Sound magazine‘s Anime Special: 50 Essential Films summer issue. I can’t wait for you all to read it. It looks amazing!

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Yuri Events

Join us all today on the Okazu Discord for our lowest-key Yuri event ever. There is no agenda, so come by, relax, have some tea and snacks with like-minded folks on the Okazu Discord Yuri Tea Party! ^_^

Please mark your calendar for May 31, and join us on Youtube for an Online Yuri Panel! I will be sending out a link when we are sorted.  The Panel will be free to anyone. If you support Okazu on Patreon for as little as $5/month, you’ll get backstage access! We could really use a few new patrons, too. We’re hovering at just around $500 , I’d like us to be able to move past that sustainably and start investing in Yuri creators again. ^_^

I’ll be joining a couple of podcasts in days ahead, so keep you ears peeled for those, too!

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Yuri Anime

Adachi to Shimamura anime will have a October premier date and has a second trailer on Youtube. It looks just as exciting as I remember it being with extra slo-mo on the already-slow scenes of them doing nothing. Honestly, I remember the whole book being slo-mo.

Mamoru Oshii’s VladLove anime has been delayed due to COVID-19, according to Jennifer Sherman at ANN.

Yuri Doujinshi

Irodori Sakura has announced their first set of translated doujinshi which, they say, will include 3 safe for work and 1 NSFW titles. Momoko Wants To Do What? by Ichinorai is the one they are working on now.

Yuri Manga

Yuri Mother has collected together suggestions from a ton of folks who discuss Yuri manga with The Ultimate Quarantine Yuri Reading List! Take a look for some ideas. ^_^

Yen Press‘ Éclair Blanche is now available, featuring works by Kiss and White Lily creator Canno and Bloom Into You‘s Nakatani Nio. Check out my review from last month – this is a pretty solid anthology and a good read.

Also from Yen Press, Volume 14 of MURCIÉLAGO.

Out this week is Bloom Into You, Volume 7; as Yuu and Touko struggle to figure out what they mean to each other, Sayaka confronts her final inner boss.

Yuri Voice Drama

Galette announces a new Voice Drama story, Ippen Arumi’s Shinda Onna no Hanashi (死んだ女の話). The first part is up on Galette online!

Other News

Via YNN Correspondent Vialla, renaissance woman Sandy Toksvig has taken to doing videos from her home and in one of her recent videos, she discusses Japanese suffrage and Kimura Komako, a Japanese woman who came the the United States in 1915 to be part of the Women’s Suffrage March in NYC. Here is a photo of Kimura-san from the archives of the Japan Society in NYC. So, if a shouty primate tells you that feminism in Japan is modern or a Western import, share this name and information with them. ^_^

The British Film Institute is celebrating 100 years of Japanese cinema with months of Japanese films streaming on their BFI player. They’ll be releasing some of these for free, so take a look at the schedule and catch up on Japanese cinema classics.

Senior YNN Correspondent Sean G reports on Megan’s thread on Twitter of their translation of an “interesting interview with Japanese openly gay LGBT+ rights campaigners Nanasaki Ryousuke, Mizonoguchi [sic] Akiko, Matsuoka Munetsugu, about the evolution of BL and whether queer media should be realistic.” 

ATo wrap up, the Japan Foundation has shared this memory from a year ago, when we kicked off the 100 Years of Yuri celebration with an interview of Kase-san creator Hiromi Takashima as part of TCAF!

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Loads of Yuri news this week!

Yuri Manga

Starting with the new license I accidentally skipped last week, woops, thanks for the reminder, Megan. ^_^

Seven Seas licensed Even Though We’re Adults, by Takako Shimura. This is a story about a married woman and the woman she meets and sleeps with. Tthe Japanese edition, Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 1 (おとなになっても) is on the Yuricon Store, but Volume 2 is no longer available in print. It is available in digital format on Global Bookwalker. I just finished the first volume, so expect a review shortly!

Bloom Into You, Volume 7 now out from Seven Seas and there’s only one volume left in the series. Volume 8 will probably be out late this year.

Seven Seas has also just released Nameless Asterism, Volume 5. This pleasant school life story touches on BL and Yuri, as well.

Via her Twitter account, Ohsawa Yayoi has released the first few chapters of 2DDK, GPen, Mezamashitokei (2DK、Gペン、目覚まし時計。) on Piccoma for free in Japanese.

We have a bunch of titles up on the Yuricon Store including FLOWERCHILD’s Warikitta Kankei Desukara., Volume 2 (割り切った関係ですから。)

And super-happy news for me is that Takemiya Jin’s Fujyourina Atashi-tachi, Volume 2 (不条理なあたし達) is out this week in Japan. It’s a sequel I never even expected! I described this in my review of Volume 1 as “a story about two crappy people who end up with a happy ending that they actually deserve.” ^_^

Hakamada Mera’ Aikata System ~ Gakuen ga Eranda Unmei no Onna no ko~ , Volume 2  (相方システム~学園が選んだ運命の女の子~) is up on the Store. I just started Volume 1 last night. I’ll get back to you on it.

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A couple of titles popped up recently that I hadn’t heard about (or hadn’t been Yuri) until the last volume. If anyone out there has read either of these, let me know if they were of interest? Via Comic Natalie,Wakusei Closet, Volume 4 (惑星クローゼット) is a science fiction horror, which appears to have a Yuri ending.

Also via Comic Natalie, the 11th and final volume of Jousei series Nigeru wa Hajida ga Yakunitatsu (逃げるは恥だが役に立つ) has a Yuri ending. This is sold out in print, but you can still get it digitally on Global Bookwalker.

One more via Comic Natalie, Itazura Privacy (悪戯プライバシー) is about a Yuri relationship between two bullies. Huh, that’s different-ish. You can grab that on Global Bookwalker or in print on Amazon JP.

Lastly, one of the new Comic Yuri Hime manga, Lonely Girl ni Sakaraenai, Volume 1 (ロンリーガールに逆らえない) is just out in Japan, but is out of stock in print, so I’ve added the digital edition on Global Bookwalker to the Yuricon Store. I think this is a pleasant enough story. ^_^

Yuri Light Novels

Penguindrum, the Light Novel, will see Volume 1 released at the end of this month, and Volume 2 headed our way, in the autumn via Seven Seas.

Adachi and Shimamura Light Novel , Volume 2 is also slated for a early autumn release. Volume 1 is available now.

Via Yurimother, we have news that the webnovel sequel to Kannazuki no Miko by creative team Kaishaku, Himegami no Miko will be serialized in Dengeki Maou magazine. It wasn’t as much of dumpster fire as Zettai Shoujo Amnesium, but it wasn’t a literary classic, either. ^_^;

Yuri Doujinshi

Lilyka has made their doujinshi available on Kindle, so to get you started, I’ve added irua’s The Wanderers and Ruri Hazuki’s Saturday 2-book collection to the Yuricon Store.

Also on the store is Twa’s Between She and Her. Lilyka has an interview with creator Twa on the Lilyka site.

LBGTQ Live-Action

Via YNN Correspondent Roxie, Alice Wu’s new queer teen drama The Half of It, has been released on Netflix. You may remember Alice Wu’s work on Saving Face, What interests me most is that the news was released on Netflix Malaysia’s Twitter feed.

Also via Roxie and Netflix, A Secret Love is a biographical story of two women who fell in love when it was not a thing one does, and their relationship over time.

Queer Comics

Emma Vieceli and Claudia Leonardi are creating a Life is Strange, Volume 1: DUST, a sequel to the popular game franchise.

Other News

Air Comiket, the first-ever online Comike,t launched their new logos this week. I think they are perfectly charming. ^_^

Sotheby’s in Hong Kong has a Manga auction coming up this week with original cels up for bidding. They are expecting a fair amount for some of these.

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There’s a lot of Yuri news this week, which is good – and amazing, given our present circumstances. Japan is suspending shipping by air to the USA, among other countries, as flights have been stopped. Shipping by sea is still happening, and Amazon JP appears to be, for the moment, still shipping…presumably because they have their own planes. But do be aware that if you buy anything from Japan right now, there may be significantly delays. I will continue to write reviews here as long as I have material to review. And, given the number of manga in the report this week, that doesn’t seem like it’ll be a problem. ^_^

Seven Seas dominates the news this week with a pile of new licenses.

Yuri Novels

Seven Seas released the second Sayaka novel this week digitally, you can get Bloom Into You Regarding Saeki Sayaka, Volume 2 on Kindle or Bookwalker Global (you’ll be seeing more of Bookwalker, just because the system makes it easy to get both English and Japanese materials in one digital library.)

Pixiv announced the winners of the 2nd Yuri Literary Novel Contest! You can read the entries in Japanese on Pixiv, including winner Taiyou no Yoakeato. (太陽の焼け跡) by Kotobuki Shika. As you can imagine, the idea of a Yuri novel contest makes me happy. I will aspire to become a judge. ^_^

Seven Seas announced an interesting new license with I’m in Love With the Villainess, a GL Bunko light novel. by Inori, with art by Hanagata.  You may remember I reviewed Girls Kindgom 1&2 from GL Bunko and found the story to be silly and the translation adequate, but not good. GL Bunko teaming up with Seven Seas for translation and distribution means you might get to read these goofball Vampire x Samurai novels I’m reading now. ^_^ In any case, this is a good choice for GL Bunko.

Yuri Manga

Seven Seas already licensed the Light Novel, and now they have acquired the manga for ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! You may recognize the artist, Munakata Sunao as having done the art for the Riddle Story of a Devil manga.

Kodama Naoko’s Uminekosou days has been licensed as Days of Love at Seagull Villa. This story has, so far been entirely on-brand for Kodama-sensei with solid characters and fetistry that makes me feel wholly creeped out. ^_^; Link above leads to my review of Volume 1, and Volume 2 is sitting here waiting for me to get to around to it.

Not Yuri, but I am ecstatic about it being licensed, Seven Seas has picked up Kageki Shoujo! The Curtain Rises!, a story about a young woman who enters a school for an all-woman musical theater troupe. I really enjoyed the first volume of this.

Also not “Yuri” per se, but a manga from one of our own, My Alcoholic Escape From Reality, is Kabi Nagata’s most recent autobiographical volume licensed by Seven Seas. I reviewed the Japanese edition, Genjitsu Touhishitetara Boroboro ni Natta Hanashi, this past winter. I also would like to take a moment to shout out the title translation on her work, which now presents a consistent body with “My Lesbian Experience…,” “My Solo Exchange Diary, ” and now “My Alcoholic Escape…”. This is really quite exceptionally well done. For an overview of everything Nagata-sensei has done so far, and why I think it is important I wrote an essay about her work, Kabi Nagata: Opening Doors at an Intersection.

From Rafael Antonio Pineda on ANN, we have the news that Love to Lie Angle manga is wrapping up in Comic Yuri Hime magazine.

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Yuri Visual Novel

YuriNavi has news of Yoru, Tomosu (夜、灯す) a “horror Yuri” VN headed for Playstation 4 and Nintendo Switch this summer.The link has screencaps and character designs.

Sailor Moon News

In the countdown to the new Sailor Moon movie, Sailor Moon Eternal, the Sailor Moon Official site reports that for the next several months, the first three seasons of the original anime will be available on Youtube in Japan. All 5 seasons are available in English on Viz Media’s website. Sailor Moon Crystal, for which Eternal is the 4th season, is available on Crunchyroll.

And, at last, we have a trailer and a date for Sailor Moon Eternal the first movie that will comprise the “SuperS” season. On the positive side, the animation is genuinely good. Check out this comparison of a similar frame from the original anime, Crystal and Eternal from CC Takato on Twitter. Look at Ami’s face and you can really see the difference.

Other News

In “feminist scholars you should be following, Grace Ting,” who writes about queer theory and feminism in Japanese and Asian pop culture, is writing a series of intros to Japanese feminist writers on Twitter. I’m super excited about this, frankly.

Nerd Lolz: I made a joke this week about Evangelion 3.0 being a Tales of Hoffman for anime and Loryn Stone came back with this brilliant summation on Twitter. The comment by Empty Movement is also spot on.

ANN’s Crystalyn Hodgkins let us know that Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 has already been greenlit for a second season.

And, to wrap up this week, Anthony Gramuglia offers up Girl’s Love: Where to Start With Yuri Manga on CBR.

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We’ll start off with a bunch of stuff on the Yuricon Store!

Yuri Light Novels

Iruma Hitoma’s Adachi and Shimamura, Volume 1 is officially launched in English. Volume 2 will be released this summer.

Bloom Into You Regarding Saeki Sayaka, Volume 2 is making its English-language debut this week! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Yuri Manga

Makoto Hagino’s A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Volume 4 is slated for an August release

Kayoko’s adult life story, One-Night Friend (ワンナイトフレンド) follows Mayu who, after a bender wakes up with a naked stranger in her bed….and with this, I am officially tired of this trope. ^_^

Ai ni Airashi Itoshi Anata (愛に愛らし愛しいあなた) by Suzuki Ariko follows a beautiful OL and an average high school student who fall in love.

Model-chan to Jimi Mane-san, Volume 2 (モデルちゃんと地味マネさん) continues the story of flaky model Yuria and her serious-minded manager Okabe.

Inui Ayu’s Teiji ni Ageretara, Volume 3 (定時にあがれたら) continues this soft and sweet office romance.

Rafael Antonio Pineda on ANN reports that namori’s Yuru Yuri is getting an Isekai spinoff comic.

I’m putting this here to remind myself: Himitsu no Kaidan Reunion (ひみつの階段 reunion) doujinshi is available on Booth.pm, as a pdf, from creator of this Yuri classic, Konno Kita.

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Yuri Visual Novels

Aikasa Collective’s Yuri Visual novel Mizuchi is now on Steam with a special launch week discount. Early reactions have been very positive so far. I hope to have a review and an interview with Aikasa coming up soon for you. ^_^

I took a look at Angela He’s interactive comic there’s this girl last week, which was very sweet, and sad with a pretty palette. It’s worth a look.

Not-Yuri, But….

Crystalyn Hodgkins on ANN just reported that anime VladLove just cast Park Romi and so I’m going to have to watch it now. Damn you Mamoru Oshii.

Crystalyn also has the news that the 20th anniversary film for Magical Doremi, Looking for Magical Doremi, has been delayed because of the pandemic.

The artists of Carole & Tuesday recorded a message of love and support for fans, according to Kim Morrisey on ANN. The visual is a bit of a spoiler. ^_^

While we’re at talking about series that aren’t Yuri….Aria is, gods help us, going to have a 15th anniversary theatrical film release, according to ANN’s Rafael Antonio Pineda.

Let’s wrap up with the very best news this week…. via Hayashiya-sensei on Twitter, all of Hayate x Blade is available to read online for free (in Japanese) through May 6th! Hop on this and get  your fill of the best action comedy manga ever written.

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