Yuri Manga

Some news from Seven Seas this week. They have licensed Mochi_Au_Lait and majoccoid’s Ikemen Onna to Hakoiri Musume (イケメン女と箱入り娘) series as a 1-volume omnibus under the name Handsome Girl And Sheltered Girl: The Complete Collection. I reviewed Volume 1 and Volume 2…and I missed “the joke,” but primarily because I was desperately hoping that that wasn’t the joke. But, it is. A naive woman assumes the handsome person she’s met is a man… spoiler, she is not. Alex Mateo has details on ANN.

Seven Seas also wants to remind you that How Do I Turn My Best Friend Into My Girlfriend?, Volume 1 is up for pre-order right now. By  Syu Yusaka, creator of Monologue Woven For You, this manga series hits shelves here in March!

New Items on the Yuricon Store!

Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 5 (作りたい女と食べたい女) has hit shelves in Japan just as the TV drama is airing NHK. This story of found family is just so good.

Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru, Volume 4 (踊り場にスカートが鳴る) by Utatane Yuu continues to be an interesting look at body image and self-esteem through the lens of ballroom dancing.

Relationships are not always forever, as we discover in Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 12  (付き合ってあげてもいいかな). YNN Staff writer Matt notes that a Tsukiatte online merchandise lottery is opening up shortly at Oshi Chara (this is in Japanese and they probably will only deliver in-country, so you’ll need a shipping company like Tenso or White Rabbit to give you a JP address.) 1 ticket is 770 yen (a little over $5 USD right now.) The lottery runs through March 25.

Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata, (君と綴るうたかた)  by Yuama has ended in the March issue of Comic Yuri Hime.  I’ve added Volume 5 and the final volume, Volume 6, to the Yuricon Store. The Summer You Were There, Volume 4 just hit EN shelves last month from Seven Seas!

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Yuri Audiobooks

On the heels of my review this week of Volume 3 of I’m in Love with the Villainess Audiobook, Volume 4 is out now!  They’ve thwarted the Pope’s assassination, but the tensions in Nur continue. This has been a very rewarding way to re-experience this series. Narrator Courtney Shaw does a great job.

Yuri Light Novels

It’s been a month since I reviewed Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina!, Volume 3, the finale of this series, but we’ll be getting I’m in Love with the Villainess: She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner, Volume 2 of Claire’s perspective in April in English.

I mentioned this last week, but as a reminder  Karasu Piero’s new LN series, Seijou-sensei no Mahou wa Sunderu! Ochibore no Kyoushitsu (聖女先生の魔法は進んでる!1 落ちこぼれの教室 ) is hitting JP shelves this upcoming week. Adriana Hazra has more details on ANN.

Yuri Literary Fiction

The second volume of Zerogo, Yuri Literary Fiction magazine, (零合 百合総合文芸誌 第2号 ) actually exists in the universe! Yay! I reviewed the first volume last autumn and found it to be one of the best Yuri short story collections I have read. This second volume already intrigues me, as they are serializing some new works, which means that they definitely have a plan for future volumes, at least.

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Yuri-ish Anime

Check out Twitter for a key visual on the Look Back anime official account. Alex Mateo has details on ANN. This one-shot by Chainsaw Man creator Fujimoto Tatsuki was a profound read. I reviewed it here on Okazu in Japanese and English.

Crystalynn Hodgkins has the news about the music for the upcoming Sound Euphonium 3 anime series over at ANN.

Other News

Via Sr. YNN Correspondent Sean Gaffney, ANN’s Monique Thomas and Christopher Farris take a look at a roundtable by Nick, Chris, Nicky and Steve on When Your Fav Anime Couple Is Problematic, with some of our own Yuri favs popping up.

Scholar James Welker has put together a list of fan (doujinshi) events in Japan. It’s on Facebook, so you’ll need an account to read it, but this is an incredible resource for those of us who research in fan spaces.

Polygon has done a survey of 4000 anime watchers and broken it out by the numbers in Who Watches Anime?

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

Melonbooks is doing a promotion if you buy Volume 2 of Kininatteru Hito Ga Otoko Jankakatta (気になってる人が男じゃなかった), by Arai Sumiko, you will be entered into a drawing for a signed copy. Purchases must be made by February 18th.

Galette No. 29 (ガレット) is available for pre-order through Fantia until February 16. Galette web is taking 140 character descriptions for “a world of Yuri,” for a shorts in the magazine. This would be in Japanese, but if you think you can do it, why not take a stab at being part of the project!

Probably no one but me cares, but ANN’s Joana Cayanan says that Sukeban Deka Pretend (of which I have reviewed Volume 1,  and Volume 2  and read, but did not review, Volume 3) will end in March. It ‘s been a lot of fun. I think Wada-sensei might actually not have hated this one.

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Yuri Anime

Members of the Birdie Wing staff will be doing an event in Osaka on March 3. Luminaries include the producer, director, art director and other staff, and they will be doing an audience Q&A. I find this lingering of the anime very interesting. 

Of course, JP companies decided that since Birdie Wing went so well, we need more…golf anime. Sigh. So we’re getting the generic sounding Sorairo Utility. Undoubtedly there will be no Yuri, and it will be real golf, which just utterly misses the point of everything we loved about Birdie Wing. Check out Crystalyn Hodgkin’s article on ANN for details. It probably isn’t Yuri, but it will be cute girls doing things cutely.

For another cute girls doing things cutely anime, we may wish to check out Yoru no Kurage ha Oyogenai (夜のクラゲは泳げない) for which an anime is coming in April. Check out the trailer on Youtube and grab the details on ANN from Joanna Cayanan.

Also coming in April is the anime for Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, which is both cute girls doing things cutely AND a darling Yuri romance. Some of the voice actors will be attending a preliminary screening of the anime. Details can be found at Comic Natalie.

Yuri VN

The demo of Love In A Bottle from Studio Élan is available now on Steam and Itchi.io. “Ankora the Love Demon only has a month to prove she can live on her own, but the CUTE SINGLE LADIES IN HER AREA might turn out to be a distraction! Can she settle down and find love?! “

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Other News

Alex Mateo has the news that a new Nogizaka46 Sailor Moon musical will be opening in Tokyo this spring. This is the first in four years and will feature performers from the 5th generation of the popular idol group.

Casey Baseel on Sora24 News, has the news that Sailor Moon art manhole covers will be appearing in selected sections of Tokyo that are related to the series.

Bluesky has opened to the public, please join the anime/manga/comics community there! There is a Yuri feed run by Seriously Sempai and my Yuri Resource List, which I am rebuilding slowly as folks move over. If you know of – or are! -an artist, writer, game dev, notable or company related to Yuri on Bluesky, contact me there, and let me know, so I can add it to my list!

Dafne Veliz take a look at The Tezuka Revue: How an all-woman theatre troupe influenced the Godfather of Manga,  for Anime Feminist.

YNN Correspondent Patrricia Baxter wants you to know that comic Influenca by Jade LFT Peters is available for pre-order now. This Short Box Comics Fair entry is a collection with a queer take on a zombie apocalypse.

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.

Some personal news to start. This week I begin a new job, in a new industry for the first time in 30 years(!), so reviews may be extra sporadic until my schedule gels. The fun part of this job is that my work on Okazu and Yuricon is largely relevant to me getting the job, so I’m looking forward to putting my online content skills to use in a new venue. ^_^

Now on to a week that is chock-full of Yuri news!

Yuri Manga

Hana ni Arashi, the slow, sweet love story of Chidori and Nanoha, two high school girls in love, has been licensed by Viz Media as Rainbows After Storms with a projected fall 2024 release. You can read reviews of Volumes 1-11 here on Okazu.

Shilin Huang announced on Twitter that the Kickstarter for Amongst Us, Volume 2 is going live in March. This is the our-world AU of the main characters from her fantasy epic Carciphona. Volume 1  is available from Seven Seas, which I reviewed last October here on Okazu. Hopefully, they will pick this one up, as well.

My Cute Little Kitten, Volume 2 by Milk Morinaga is out from Seven Seas. I am motivated this weekend to finally get to back to reading Galette magazine to catch up on these two….

Via YNN Correspondent Patricia Baxter, Galette Works is putting out a collection, Ai no Kotoba (愛のことば), an Inui Ayu Collection. You can pre-order it on Galette’s Booth.pm page or Melonbooks.

Asumi-chan is Intertested in Lesbian Brothels, Volume 4 hits shelves this week in English everywhere except Amazon. Link here is to B&N, because I was too lazy to look further.

Melonbooks dropped this link for Sora ni Hoshi, Futari ni Koi (空に星、二人に恋) which is a BoKita anthology from Bocchi The Rock and I am mentioning it because there are some Yuri notables among the names in the ToC. ^_^ If you like that pairing, it might be worth a look.

Yuri(ish) Anime

Manga Mogura notes that Look Back, by Chainsaw Man creator Fujimoto Tatsuki has had a domain registered for an anime. I reviewed Look Back in 2021 and it was amazing and devastating. Highly recommended. It is available in English, so really, read it. Just bring tissues.

Burkely Herman has a spoiler-filled review of Stardust Telepath from last season. It’s a solid review.

Sound Euphonium 3 will premiere in April according to ANN’s Crystalynn Hodgkins.

Yuri Audiobooks

Yen Press is offering The Executioner and Her Way of Life, Volume 1 as an audiobook! This is narrated by Annie Wild. I would love for someone to review this for me, do let me know if you listen to it.

Yuri Light Novels

Creator of The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Pierro, has a new light novel series coming out, Seijou-sensei no Mahou ha Sunderu! (聖女先生の魔法は進んでる！) “A girls’ light novel about substandard teachers and drop-outs” (in a magical setting.)

Volume 6 of the MagiRevo Light Novel series will be hitting shelves in March.

Yuri Live-Action

The live-action Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, is streaming on NHK Plus and it is so absurdly heartwarming and hungry-making. I watched the first 30 seconds and wanted oyakodon. You’ll need a VPN to watch this, and a NHK account (which will be the bane of your existence, because they *constantly* send you messages to re-up, then cancel your account anyway.) Here is the advert: If you use my code to get NORDVPN, you get a 3 months free when you sign up for a year – and so do I. I’ve found it very useful to watch shows from Japan, from the UK and even Eurovision, so I can get all my nerdly interests on my computer screen. ^_^ Do not miss the manga, which is out from Yen Press as She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat. It is outstanding!

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Queer Animation

Via Yuri Anime News on Twitter, check out the the promotional video for the manga for Watashi ga Koibito ni Nareru Wakenaijan, Muri Muri! (*Muri Janakatta!?) (わたしが恋人になれるわけないじゃん、ムリムリ！（※ムリじゃなかった!?）), which is released in English as There’s No Freaking Way I’ll Be Your Lover, Unless…!

Okay, I’m just going to grab some bits of this Kickstarter description and you will understand why: “WHEELS & ROSES is a Sailor Moon meets Roller Derby YA animated coming-of-age series.
…

This show is unapologetically queer! Unapologetically soft! As well as unapologetically tough– ’cause duh, roller derby!”

Queer Novels

For various reasons, I have some book recommendations for you today. ^_^

Via Luce on the Okazu Discord, Voyage of the Damned, by Francis White, which is a queer magical murder mystery set on a cruise. It sounds super fun! Also The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes, which Luce says is very fun, as well.

My recommendation is The Thread That Binds, by Cedar McCloud, a queer magical library fantasy that honestly was an excellent read in every way. I plan on doing a review later when I am able to. This is an indie book, and even a few extra sales could be a huge help.

Links on this and most Okazu pages lead to affiliate accounts, where they can and buying from them is another something you can do to help to keep this place running. But don’t think it’s the only way to support people – your local library is a great place to order these books. Most libraries also offer digital and audio book choices. So please consider using your local library and reading some of these great books!

Looking for other queer reads? Check out Queer Your Bookshelf, which has lists of great indie reads.

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Other News

Okazu Kami Frank Hecker has a terrific short essay on one of my favorite poets in my school years, H.D. and Otherside Picnic that is worth reading: H.D. and Bryher in the UBL.

Burkely Hermann takes a look at Yuri and Beyond: LGBTQ+ Representation in Animation in 2023 on his blog.

YNN Correspondent Patricia Baxter takes a look at Indie Comics You May Have Missed in 2023 on her her blog, where she focuses on queer and neurodivergent representative works.

Bilibili is shutting down it’s online comics platform. I’m told that if you are reading some of the GL there, follow the creators online to see where their comics land.

Some pretty steampunk Baihe from DouQi on Twitter, “Preview available for the audio drama adaptation of Listen, God (听神), a time loop murder mystery in a showbiz setting, based on the novel of the same title by Malaysian author Xian Yu Bu Chi Cai (咸鱼不吃菜, literally: Salted Fish Doesn’t Eat Vegetables).“

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.

Baihe News

Terrific news from Monogatari Novels on Twitter: Two of Qǐng Jūn Mò Xiào’s titles, Female General and Elder Princess, and Clear and Muddy Loss of Love are being released in Vietnamese and English. These will be our first officially licensed Baihe (also written 百合, as the word is Chinese for “lily”) novels in English. I am extremely excited to have them coming out in English.

If you are interested in Baihe, I suggest once again that you follow DouQi (from whom I hope to have a review here in the near future!) on Twitter, who also noted this week that the Baihe series Miss Forensics, was releasing a “vows” series of official merchandise. I’d love to see Seven Seas and J-Novel Club jump on this bandwagon. ^_^

Thai GL

For our Thai friends, ChaoPlanoy, creator of GAP The Series, is getting another live action series for her work. On her Facebook page she announced a casting call for MATE The Series.

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Anime News

Kuzushiro is having her much-deserved moment in the sun, as her workplace manga Egao no Taenai Shokuba Desu is getting an anime! Joanna Cayanan has the details on ANN. I read, but did not review Volume 1 when it originally launched.  Also by Kuzushiro, just released is Amayo no Tsuki, Volume 6  in Japan and The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 3 in English.

Yuri Manga

Joanna also has the news that Ryousuke Asakura will launch a new manga titled Anastacia no Ikita 9-kakan with Square Enix’s Monthly Shounen Gangan Magazine. Looks Yuri, but we know that JP covers lie. ^_^

Tsukuritai Onna To Tabetai Onna, Volume 5 (作りたい女と食べたい女), will hit JP shelves next month!

Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!, Volume 13 (私の百合はお仕事です!) is out in Japan and on the Yuricon Store. All 12 “radio” talks from the anime series have been collected and are available as the TV Anime “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” “Cafe Liebe Gakuen Yori Ai wo Komete ” Radio CD (TVアニメ「私の百合はお仕事です！」「カフェ・リーベ女学園より愛を込めて」 ラジオCD on Otomart. You can listen to these 12 segments on Youtube as well.

We also have School Zone Girls, Volume 5 up on the store. This is probably the final volume of the series, which is on indefinite hiatus, now out from Seven Seas.

Sometime, creator of Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit, has teamed up with scenario writer Suoh for a new series in Comic Yuri Hime, Gakeppuchi Reijou ha Kuro Kishi-sama o Horesasetai! (崖っぷち令嬢は黒騎士様を惚れさせたい！) which I think means “A Lady on the Edge Wants To Makes the Black Knight Fall In Love With Her.” I am hopeful that this is more than just a premise.

Via Comic Natalie, we have news of Aishi Tabun Dake Aishite Hoshii~! (愛したぶんだけ愛してほしいっ！) a story about a mentally unstable (maybe?) woman and the cheater she allows herself to be seduced by.

Lycoris Recoil creator Asaura has a new manga series with artist Gomeyuki Nishima called Double Helix Blossom. A cop awakens in the future…, so it’s a cop x criminal buddy scifi isekai. ^_^ Rafael Antonia Pineda has details on ANN.

 
Yuri Live Action

Well gosh, since we’ve already mentioned Lycoris Recoil, ANN’s Joanna Cayanan has news that it will be getting a second live-action stage play this summer.

We are hours away from the second season of Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna live-action drama second season on NHK Plus.

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Other News

The I’m In Love With The Villainess Maid Cafe is at Cure Maid Cafe in Akihabara through the month end, but GEE! Store already has all the goods they are selling on their online shop. I finally caved and bought the Ralaire tee shirt. ^_^

Incidentally, Cure Maid Cafe is the oldest continually operating Maid Cafe in Akihabara. It’s been open since 2001. The earliest references I can find to an anime (or related) themed cafe, rather than maid cafes is 1998. If you know of an earlier one, let me know! It’s for research.

The Creator’s Guide To Comics Devices is online, for free. It’s is an excellent resource for creators…but also, as a reader it helps to understand what we are seeing. It has gotten some recommendations from folks I know who are professional comics creators, so definitely take a look!

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 Cafes & Collaborations

Starting off the new year with another I’m In Love With The Villianess event, we have the Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou Maid Cafe at Pure Cafe in Chiyoda-ku in Tokyo, through January 28. The cafe even has a promotional video you can watch on the cafe’s Twitter account.

In the “things I did not predict I would be writing about in 2024,”category comes this collaboration by Sukera Sparo’s Lip Trip and Soup Curry Kamui collaboration. The collab event is over now, but it’s important to remember it happened, so we all don’t think we hallucinated it. ^_^

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Yuri Anime

Discotek announced the license of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A‘s in high def. I’m holding out for StrikerS, which never got a release back in the day.

Yuri Audiobook

I’m In Love With The Villainess Audiobook, Volume 3 came out this week – I’m about 2/3 finished with it. It begins the Nur arc and I really think narrator Courtney Shaw does a fine job, except for some of the name pronunciations, which I do not think is her fault. She’s got a few voices  that are simply excellent.

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Yuri Manga

Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta, Volume 2, (気になってる人が男じゃなかった) hits Japanese shelves at the end of February! Now that Yen has licensed This Monster Wants To Eat Me, we can start haranguing asking them nicely about getting this title. ^_^

Via YNN Correspondent Patricia B., Nerikomi Tokichiro’s crowdfunded manga, Tsurugi, about a female knight and the woman she serves, is now available in English on Booth.pm.

Wings magazine celebrated the new chapter of Kase-san and Yamada in the February issue with an adorable illustration on Twitter.

Hara Yuriko has a new collection of post-Mayu, Matou / Cocoon, Entwined stories, titled Out of The Cocoon (アウト・オブ・ザ・コクーン) which is out now in Japan! Cocoon, Entwined, Volume 5 came out in English last month from Yen Press.

Via Comic Natalie, we have a collection of work by Sanke, Hitori to Hanasu node Seiippai (ひとりと話すので精一杯).

And from Yuri Navi, we have a one-shot manga on Ichijin Plus online, Akuyaku Reijou to Gyaru Meido (悪役令嬢とギャルメイド) a comedy about Selina, a former gal reincarnated in the world of otome game “Magic Dedicated to Your Future,” who ends up working for Almeria, the villainess who appears in the game.

Other News

Shoujo Beat is asking for suggestions of their shoujo manga folks want to see back in print on Twitter.

Via YNN Correspondent Frank H, Cambridge Press has a new translation of the “complete” works of Sappho. As most of you know, we have a lot of fragments of her works and not much complete poetry. There is also an audio version available, which I bet is pretty cool.

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.