Yuri Manga

We’ve added a couple of new titles to the Yuricon Store!

Galette No. 12 (ガレット) is hitting shelves this week and the cover, illustrated by pen, is just lovely.

The fifth anthology in the Éclair series, Éclair orange – Anata ni Hibiku Yuri Anthology (エクレア orange あなたに響く百合アンソロジー) also makes it to Japanese bookstores this week.  This one features a new story by Bloom Into You creator Nakatani Nio.

Speaking of Nakatani Nio…the final volume of Yagate Kimi ni Naru is being released this week in Japan. Yagate Kimi ni Naru, Volume 8  (やがて君になる). Now I’m just killing time until that third Sayaka novel. ^_^

I’m currently reading Yuri to Koe to Kaze Matoi (百合と声と風纏い) about a girl who has no real idea what love means…until she falls for a mysterious woman with a motorcycle who helps her out on a rainy day.

Now that I’m done with events and traveling for a little while, I’ll play catch up on the Store and get some more stuff up!

I’ve just gotten a glimpse of the Udon edition of The Rose of Versailles, Volume 1 and …it’s breathtaking. I expect to have it in my hands this week and I will stop everything and review it immediately. In the meantime, pre-order it, you will not be disappointed.

Lilies Anthology Volume 8: Nodding Lily is now available in print and digital on a number of formats!

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LGBTQ News

Via Cartoon Network’s Twitter account, Steven Universe Future has a premier date! I’ll keep saying this – this cartoon is the only thing standing between me and a complete breakdown since November 2016. Around my house every night we take two episodes before bed. ^_^

Be Gay, Do Comics is a queer comics anthology; 250 pages of queer history, memoir and satire from amazing political cartoon website, The Nib.

Avery Kaplan takes a look at Queerness in Naoko Kodama’s manga I Married My Best Friend To Shut My Parents Up.

Now You Know, an animated history of 200 years of LGBTQ history and rights is narrated by Wanda Sykes.

This Renault car ad is the best lesbian movie of 2019. ^_^

Yuri Podcast

I was a guest this week on Anime News Network’s ANNCast. Zac Bertschy and I talk Yuri and queer representation in Revolutionary Girl Erica (and the comments drop down to Queen’s Blade as a good Yuri in under two pages, so you can see exactly what Zac is talking about very clearly. I was trying to be kind, but guys..seriously…Queen’s Blade is not good representation. )

Yuri Events

Folks in the Shinjuku area on March 1, should plan on attending the 20OL Expo, a doujinshi market focusing on Yuri romances in the workplace.

I’m very pleased (and proud!) to announce that our panel: Transporting Yuri Across Borders has been accepted to the Mechademia conference in Kyoto in May 30-June 1, 2020. Myself, James Welker and Verena Maser will be presenting papers about “challenges and opportunities in the evolution and transformation of yuri as it has been transported across chronological, geographic and linguistic borders.” Sounds cool, right? Now we have to, y’know, write the papers! I’ve been using the Nanowrimo energy of the month to push myself and have gotten a third of the way through the thing.

Interestingly, a whole new section of my paper opened up with my desire to create a new word for Yuri fans. We’ve gotten first-hand testimony from Rica Takashima that Itoh Bungaku-sensei meant to specifically coin a phrase for lesbians when he chose Yurizoku and I’ve done some primary research this week of currently used terms. Yuri is a common genre term now, but there is no clear pre-eminent word for Yuri fan. Yurizuki has been suggested, but it’s no more common than anything else, having been primarily promoted on Twitter through the efforts of two bots who RTed it an average of 5 times a day in 2013-2015.  So a bunch of us are now working with 百合人-Yurijin…although predictably there’s already valid discussion about pronunciation and calling it Yuribito…but as I was typing this I realized why I don’t care for that. Yuribito describes a single person’s identity or role within a society. I’m thinking of us all as “the Yuri people,”so Yurijin it is for me.  (Leaving Yurizoku still for lesbians, as opposed to anyone who likes Yuri the genre.) I’ve been among those who shape how we talk about this genre for 20 years now and I love how we’ve pushed and prodded it towards a broader vision of inclusivity. ^_^ This conversation will evolve, undoubtedly. Who knows what we’ll call it in another 20 years! Isn’t language fascinating? 

Other News

Here’s a fun interview with Laurie Halse Anderson, creator of Wonder Woman: Tempest Tossed on rebooting Diana’s origin story through a real world lens.

Here’s a funny story to wrap up. Reed Pop, having whiffed twice at creating an anime festival at NYCC is trying again over at Emerald City Comic Con with Pop Asia. Why. Seriously.

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to – thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network! Write me with any questions you have, and I’ll do my best to answer them on my YNN podcast, when I revive it this winter!

Special thanks to all of our Okazu Patrons on Patreon, who make this report possible!

Yuri Events

Next weekend, catch the 100 Years of Yuri presentation at Anime NYC, Friday, November 15, at 3PM at Javits Convention Center, Room 1E17. I’ll also participating in the Great Debate with Guest Zack Davisson at 6PM! Watch us argue passionately about things that do not matter. ^_^

It is not the last chance to hear about 100 Years of Yuri, though – you can still contact me with an invite to be on your podcast, at your school or convention!

Comiket is approaching in Japan and circles are announcing their participation. Twitter is a great place to track those announcements. You can use #コミケ97 as a link for all posts regarding the event or check out my Yuri Resources List on Twitter for folks to follow.

Sexiled author Ameco Kaeruda has announced on Twitter that she’ll be contributing to a ComiketYuri anthology called DSD Project. If anyone of you is going to be there and can get it for me, please let me know, as I won’t be able to make it myself.

LGBTQ Comics

You remember I was at FIT Diversity ComicCon a few weeks ago? It was *awesome* and while there I got to talk to the amazing Alison Wilgus about her comic Chronin (which I have, of course reviewed. Read my thoughts on Volume 1 and Volume 2 here on Okazu.) Our chat on her queer time-travel, crossdressing historical samurai epic has been published on the Comics Beat. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed doing it!

The emotional climax of Shimanami Tasogare is upon us. Volume 4 is available for pre-order.

Via Yuri Times on Twitter, Saburouta’s Citrus+, Volume 1 is going on sale digitally in 7 countries on the same day and Argentina just slightly early (because of distribution schedules.) However I feel about the content of that series, this is a groundbreaking moment. You can get this digital release on Kindle or Bookwalker Global. The print volume will be out in English in February 2020 from Seven Seas.

Rafael Antonio Pineda on ANN reports on Nagata Kabi’s newest manga about her worsening mental and physical health. Genjitsu Touhi Shitetara Boroboro ni Natta Hanashi (現実逃避してたらボロボロになった話) is available this week in Japan.

Kyra Kupetsky posted an adorable romance comic between a middle-aged woman and the woman telemarketer who calls her in “This is She” on her Twitter feed. Read and enjoy!

Yuri Anime

The Bloom Into You Premium Blu-Ray box set from Section 23 has been added to the Yuricon Store. You know this is the holiday present you want. ^_^

The Fragtime OVA will be premiering at Anime NYC on Saturday, November 16 at 1:30 to 3:00 PM in 1E13 with guest voice actress Miku Ito and producer Yusuke Terada.

ANN’s Egan Loo has the news that Revue Starlight will get two films in 2020, one is a compilation and the other will be new content.

Other News

Via Out magazine, actress Lucy Liu has been painting beautiful lesbian erotic and romantic paintings for years. Just one more thing to like about her.

Via Anime Herald‘s Seth Green on Twitter (one of my compatriots on the Comixology manga panel at NYCC October 2019) here is a fun Yuri-ish music video from Sheena Ringo and Hikaru Utada.

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to – thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network! Write me with any questions you have, and I’ll do my best to answer them on my YNN podcast, when I revive it this winter!

Special thanks to all of our Okazu Patrons on Patreon, who make this report possible!

Yuri Manga

Spring boarding off yesterday’s review of Kiss & White Lily Volume 10, we have news via Yuri Navi and CW about Canno-sensei’s next series, a story about 3 girls in a “triangle love story.” According to her Twitter announcement, details will be announced when the series premier approaches. Since I actually liked the three-person relationship best in Kiss and White Lily, I’m hopeful about this new series!

We’ve got some new items on the Yuricon Store!

Ohsawa Yayoi’s Hello, Melancholic, Volume 1 (ハロー、メランコリック!) is turning out to be delightful. I’m all for redemption stories when the person has been hurt and just needs to love life.  (Trombones are like the bass clarinet of the brass section. Everyone needs them, but no one gives them any attention. Trombones deserve love, too!)

Mudakun reminded me to remind you of Sore ha, Haru no Arashi no You ni, Volume 1 (それは、春の嵐のように), an opposites-attract story about an “ordinary” Office Lady and a writer who wants to be “free.” ^_^

Yoru to Umi, Volume 2 ( 夜と海) continues a school love story.

I was quoted in the Rose of Versailles, Volume 1 page on Udon Entertainment’s website, how fun. ^_^

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Yuri Anime

Via Yuri Navi, to celebrate the upcoming Fragtime anime, the staff is appearing at a free screening of Asagao to Kase-san on November 4th at The Tokyo International Forum, Hall A.

Welp, it looks like I’m going to have to watch Queen’s Blade Unlimited OVA, too, as the promotional video makes it clear that along with the usual tits and crotch fetishizing there will be Yuri. Sasuga Nanzaki-sensei. Sigh.

Yuri Live Action

ANN ‘s Crystalyn Hodgkin’s has the details on the upcoming Cutey Honey Live-Action Stage Play coming in February.

Yuri Novels

Sexiled creator Kaeruda Ameco announced on her twitter feed that she’s going to be participating a Yuri novel anthology for winter Comiket. Her story will be about a prostitute who does not want to be held by a man but also will do whatever she needs to survive.

LGBTQ News

YNN Correspondent Eric P notes that a My Brother’s Husband Omnibus is available for pre-order at RightStuf. Get all 704 pages of this heart-warming manga in one volume.

I picked up a copy of the Dead Beats anthology at FIT Diversity ComicCon and am loving this oddball collection of super-short horror comics, with a fair amout of queerness and a lot of blood – perfect reading for the Halloween season. ^_^ (Added bonus, for every copy sold a *.*gater loses his shit.)

Caly’s Breath of Flowers, Volume 2, will be seeing a release from Tokyopop in English this month.

I strongly recommend you read Dee’s delightful Nonconforming in the ‘90s: How Pokemon’s gender variance caught the hearts of generation on AnimeFeminist. It has made me desperately want to write about Haruka and Michiru in excruciating detail. Again.^_^

I found an LGBT Japanese series on Youtube called Day by Day. It’s low-budget, but definitely LGBTQ, not Yuri.

Other News

Via YNN Correspondent Jeyl, the Hazbin Hotel Pilot is available to watch on Youtube. Jeyl notes “This pilot follows the exploits of Charlie, the Demon Princess of Hell who is on a quest to rehabilitate other demons with a hotel. The Yuri comes from her relationship with Vaggie, her supportive and often overprotective girlfriend.”

Phaidon is putting out a new book Great Women Artists, featuring 400 women artists.  This is definitely going on my shelves.

The Yuri Times web page has launched! This group translates Japanese language Yuri tweets, news and other fun things of note.

In case you have nothing to do this post-Halloween weekend, here is a live-tweet of a Sailor Moon musical that took place in Transylvania and had vampires. ^_^

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to – thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network! Write me with any questions you have, and I’ll do my best to answer them on my YNN podcast, when I revive it this winter!

Special thanks to all of our Okazu Patrons on Patreon, who make this report possible!

Yuri Manga and Novels

Big news this week is that The Rose of Versailles, Volume 1, by Riyoko Ikeda, from Udon Entertainment, is now available for pre-order! It’s real…and it’s gorgeous. I can’t wait to hold it in my hands. (As an added bonus, check out these photos by Yuri photographer Takahashi Minori on Twitter which are a Berubara collaboration.)

Seven Seas announced in September that they licensed Syrup Yuri Anthology. Futabasha has announced a third Syrup anthology volume, Syrup NIGHT, First Night Yuri Anthology, (シロップ NIGHT 初夜百合アンソロジー ).

More new anthologies are on the way from Kadokawa. Aoharu Band Yuri Anthology ( 青春バンド百合アンソロジー) looks fun. ^_^

Viz is putting out Makoto Hagino’s charming aquarium-focused  A Tropical Fish Years for Snow, and we’ve got Volume 1 and Volume 2 up on the Yuricon Store.

I’m reading Hara Yuriko’s Mayu, Matou, Volume 2 (繭、纏う) ahead of Cocoon, Entwined, Volume 2 from Yen coming in spring 2020.

Hayakawa Publishing, having decided that Yuri is a growth market in science fiction (from which J-Novel Club is drawing its so-far excellent Yuri novel choices,) is branching out into Yuri mystery with the collection Yuki ga Shiroi Toki, Katsu Sono Toki Kagiri (雪が白いとき、かつそのときに限り). If their mystery is as good as their sci-fi, this should be great.

In related, but not specifically Yuri, news, Seven Seas has previously licensed the Penguindrum manga, and this week they announced the license of both the Penguindrum novels and a Sarazanmai spin-off manga. ANN has the details.

LGBTQ Cartoons

SheRa and the Princesses of Power, Season 4 is on the way! Check out the trailer. This season will see the introduction of a nonbinary character, voiced by a nonbinary voice actor.

Yuri Events

Via Twitter, Animate has announced a Nakatani Nio-sensei autograph session in Akihabara in December to celebrate the 8th and final volume of Yagate Kimi ni Naru (やがて君になる,) which will be released in Japan in November.

Via James Welker, we have a couple of pictures from Comic Horizon 7, a Yuri comic market held in Taipei, Taiwan this month. If we’re lucky we’ll get a short write up of the event, as well. It certainly seemed very well-attended.

Don’t miss learning about 100 Years of Yuri at AnimeNYC, November 15, at Javits Convention Center in New York City.

There’s just about a month in 2019 left to book me at your school, university, organization, or convention to celebrate 100 years of Yuri, so feel free to contact me and we’ll make it happen!

Yuri Live-Action

Check out this Korean short film call Family Plan on Youtube. Once again, the camera is way, way too close, making it nearly impossible for me to watch it, but despite the absurdly pandering YT headline, the movie is interesting and full of ambiguity.

Yuri Visual Novel

This news popped into my email box literally JUST as I was about to hit Publish on today’s report!
Studio Élan Announces that their charming Yuri Visual Novel, Highway Blossoms will be getting a DLC coming in early 2020 called Highway Blossoms: Next Exit! This DLC will be fully voiced by the original cast. It’ll all ages, with art from moekki and kamifish.

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to – thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network! Write me with any questions you have, and I’ll do my best to answer them on my YNN podcast, when I revive it this winter!

Special thanks to all of our Okazu Patrons on Patreon, who make this report possible!

Yuri Manga

Via YNN Senior Correspondent Verso S, Haruyama Aki’s LGBTQ manga Octave (オクターヴ) has been licensed in French by Taifu Comics, and in Spanish by Planeta Comic. It does not yet have an English release, but I think it’s not unreasonable to suggest it to some of the companies who are already licensing Yuri here, to see if that can change. In the meantime, you can read all 6 volumes of the original Japanese manga on Bookwalker Global.

Via Yurimother, we learn that the Princess Principal series will be adapted into a web manga. 

Yuri Anime

We’ve added the Bloom Into You Premium Blu-Ray Box set to the Yuricon Store.

Yuri Anime Fragtime is being premiered at AnimeNYC and both voice actress Miku Ito and Producer Yuusuke Terada will be there!

Yuri Events

I’m a Guest at FIT Diversity Comic Con on October 25, at the Fashion Institute of Technology. Update: I am on a panel – “SuperQueeroes: Representation in Comics,” 10:30 AM at John E. Greeves Great Hall (Conference Center) at Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC, on the corner of 28th Street & 7th Avenue!

I will be presenting my 100 Years of Yuri Panel at 3PM in Room 1E17 and will be joining translator Zack Davisson for !? vs !s: The Great Debate at 6PM in the same room for Anime NYC on Friday, November 15 at Javits Convention Center. These are my final appearances for 2019, unless you get me invited to an event near you! ^_^

Yuri Light Novels

This morning, I woke up to a “sempai noticed me!” moment when I found that Kaeruda Ameko-sensei had retweeted my review of her book Sexiled. Far more importantly, she has a new Yuri light novel coming out in 2020 from GL Bunko – who were responsible for Girls Kingdom, which I reviewed last year – called (deep breath) Issekai ni Saku ha Yuri no hana ~ Kon’yaku hakisaretanode Honmei no Akuyaku Reijō to Onna Futari de Tanoshiku Kurashimasu!~  (異世界に咲くは百合の花～婚約破棄されたので本命の悪役令嬢と女ふたりで楽しく暮らします！～) Let’s see if I can translate this on the fly: A Lily Flower Blooms in Another World~ Since the Engagement was Broken, I Live Happily Together with The Villianess! ~ (Thanks, CW for the clarification.) Ask me how much I want to read this book. Be prepared for a long answer. ^_^

Other News

Via Loryn Stone on Twitter, Tokyo Toys has launched a new line of Tezuka canon dolls, including a lovely Sapphire figurine that is now up for pre-order.

Via the Lilyka Blog, I learned that while I was in Japan I missed this one-day Taisho Yuri concept cafe, Partier! How vexing, even though we did a ton of stuff, this would have been damned cool. Click the link and check out what we missed.

Bitch Media has this seasonal article for your reading entertainment: Vampires, Psychics, and Ghosts: A Look at Queer Women in Horror

Cartoon Network twitter shared this lovely animation of DC heroines transforming in Sailor Moon style. It’s cute and grin-making.

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to – thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Special thanks to all of our Okazu Patrons on Patreon, who make this report possible!