In honor of the upcoming Toronto Comic Arts Festival in Toronto Ontario, which is always a very queer comics friendly event, I’m going to do a big ole queer content YNN Report this week:

Check out the books of Shira Glassman, a queer Jewish feminist author, who has a fab-looking YA series collectively known as the Mangoverse, which are “f/f fairytales focusing on LGBTQA+ Jewish characters getting happy endings” and “found family.” I squeed when I saw this. Gon’ have to get me some. This is creator-owned work that’s worth supporting.

Kabi Nagata’s My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness will hit bookshelves on June 6. This is the first lesbian comic essay out of Japan to make it to the west, but if it sells well, I bet it won’t be the last.

Gengoroh Tagame, creator of My Brother’s Husband, which is available now from Pantheon Books, will be a guest at TCAF. He is a genuinely lovely man and his book is fantastic. I hope you’ll support it.

***

Support Yuri News and Reviews –  Subscribe to Okazu with

***

Small Favors, Collen Coover’s classic “girly porno” comic is getting the deluxe treatment with Small Favors: The Definitive Girly Porno Comic Collection, which collects volumes one and two of Small Favors, the never-before-collected color special, behind-the-scenes materials, and a brand-new introduction.

The Tate Britain is holding an exhibition called Queer British Art 1861-1967. It’s not LGBTQ art per se, but it gives you a whole new perspective of well-known pieces and their creators. Here is Cheryl Morgan’s review of the show that provides some specifics.

LGBTQ Events

Tokyo Rainbow Pride and Comitia were held this past week, and if Twitter was any indication, there was more Yuri than ever before at Comitia.

Girls Love Festival is back at the Pio building in the greater Tokyo Metropolitan area, on June 4th. Here is the list of participating circles ,so you can plan your purchases.

Toronto Comic Arts Festival – Guests include Tagame-sensei, the only out gay male mangaka working in mainstream comics in Japan right now, Colleen Coover, creator of Small Favors, Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda, creators of Monstress, Skim‘s Jillian Tamaki and many others. Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 13-14

My schedule at TCAF  is as follows: (Check the schedule for locations)

Friday I’ll be on a panel about Queer Comics in Libraries as part of TCAF’s Librarian and Educator Day. They know I’m not a public or K-12 librarian, but asked me anyway. ^_^; 

Saturday I’ll be moderating:
11:00 Teamwork: Comics and Collaboration

4:00 Spotlight: Svetlana Chmakova (Awkward, Brave) x Cecil Castellucci (Soupy Leaves Home)

 Sunday I’ll be moderating:

2:45 Sweaty Pages: Comics and Erotics

4:00 Challenged Books

I’ll otherwise be wandering around visiting with folks and eating almost incessantly. I am literally booked for meals all weekend long. ^_^ Better go out for a long walk now. I hope to see you there!

Okazu News

Patrons of the Okazu Patreon were treated to a sneak peek of an upcoming article for publication. There’s still time to see it, if you subscribe now!

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find.Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Loads of wonderful things this week from the Yuri Network. I barely know where to begin. ^_^ So, let’s start with…

Yuri Manga

YNN Correspondent Verso S has written in with a ton of news about the upcoming Kase-san manga volume. I’m going to editorialize a bit first. The Kase-san manga is a real success story. After Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari was taken out of print, it could well have simply disappeared. But Shinsokan clearly believed – as I did – that this was a series worth investing in. Takashima-sensei has continued to work on the series as a digital release and the third volume was collected from chapters released online. Now Shinsokan is actively finding digital venues to release the new chapters, including their digital FlashWings magazine, Line Manga, Kindle, Nicovideo. (In fact, you may remember that Shinsokan was one of the earliest adopters of JManga. They *clearly* believe in digital.) For the full line up of chapters and links, check out Verso’s informative comments on my recent Kase-san review. BUT, the main point I want to make is 1) the new storyline is called “Yamada to Kase-san” which made me burst out in applause and 2) the news of that included a short note to watch the animation clip, because…we don’t yet know why.

And the official account for Asagao to Kase-san has started asking questions in English like – are we planning on going to Anime Expo 2017? Hrm…should we be? Or what do we like about the series? Check that out and throw them a response!

In addition, Yurimate over in Ikebukuro just had Kase-san specially made “can badges” (pins) and  yes, I was annoyed as hell that I was not there to get one. But, I believe that I will, eventually, find myself there. ^_^

From the official Yagate Kimi ni Naru Twitter account, the August issue of Dengeki Daioh (which already runs Yagate Kimi ni Naru,) will the see the debut of “Kago no Shoujo ha Koi wo Suru”(籠の少女は恋をする). 

Also from the same account is news that Yuri anthology Eclair (エクレア) is getting a second volume Eclair: blanche Anata ni Hibiku Yuri Anthology (「エクレア blanche あなたに響く百合アンソロジー」)

Which brings me to my last point in this whole thing. With the advent of these Yuribu, these  Yuri clubs out of bookstores, and the official series accounts,  for the first time there is a shockingly well-developed “Yuri Twitter.” I’ve kept a non-comprehensive running Twitter list for years with Yuri anime and manga creators and magazines, and the like, but I find that more and more these Yuribu accounts are quickly becoming centralized points of information dissemination (no surprise, they *are* bookstores) and loads of interaction from Yuri fans and creators are centered around them.

I love it. ^_^ 

Because of all the new additions, I’ve renamed my Twitter List the Yuri Resource List. Feel free to follow or cop  accounts from it!

Hana and Hina Afterschool, Volume 2 is available on the Yuricon Store, awaiting it’s English-language release in July. 

Also on the Store is Yuri Hyakkei (百合百景),  “100 Views of Yuri” a riff on the famous work 100 views of Mt. Fuji. This book claims to contain 100 hyper-short Yuri stories. Also, we’ve added Shouraiteki ni Shindekure (将来的に死んでくれ).

Kickstarter Watch

Molly Ostertag and Brennan Lee Mulligan are pitching for the funds for Strong Female Protagonist, Volume 2, a print version of their fabulous webcomic. I very much enjoyed Volume 1 when I read it, and look forward to the next volume.

Resistance News

Here we are, at Day 100 of what I can only hope will be seen as the turning point in American history, when the country finally confronted it’s own systemic misogyny and racism and chose to change for the better.

The Republicans, determined to repeal Obamacare, which is by design the very least good healthcare reform that they could have created in the first place – are now flogging themselves to come up with en objectively even worse one. HR 1628 is *so* bad that Congress has amended it to say that Congress, their families and staffers will not be affected by it.

I want to recommend a tool I have been using constantly. In addition to emailing, tweeting, writing physical letters and calling my spineless Congressional Representative (my Senators are imperfect, but in the normal pre-2016 way)  I am using Resistbot. Obsessively. It does ask for some personal info – name, address so it can identify your Congressial Rep and Senators, but it is a fantastic tool that I recommend highly. The more you use it, the more useful it becomes. You can target messages to your House Rep or Senator(s). These will be faxed and can also be mailed, or send as Letters to the Editor to local papers.  Try it. Resistbot is free, but I use it so much I’ll be donating to support it.

Call, write, text, email, but do something. Resistbot makes it easy to pound your Rep with a reminder that you will not be forgotten and your voice will be heard. 

Other News

Coherent Cats has written up their take on LGBTQ Anime and Manga with Beyond Yuri on Ice! 

Geeks Media has a fantastic interview with Jennifer Camper on the Queers & Comics conference, with illustrations. I’m thrilled that the idea of archiving the discussions and content is baked into the event, so these folks and their stories will be preserved for future generations.  And Dan Avery of New Now Next has his own write-up of the event, as well.

MTV has a column worth reading on How Female Cartoonists Are Changing Mainstream Publications.

YNN Correspondent Michaelangelo H. sends us a link to a fun bit of digital animation called Golden Blond and Jet Black.

I’ll wrap up today with a link to the Podcast discussion of Monstress, Volume 1 by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda I was honored to be able to participate in with Okazu Superhero and Guest Reviewer Louis P and his friend Huw, both of whom I cheerfully add to my list of shockingly funny British men I know. (Adam, you’re also on the list.) This discussion is rambling and silly and a probably a horrible waste of time if you like the comic, but we laughed and laughed…

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find.Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Okazu patrons will be getting a special sneak peek of an upcoming article that will be published this summer. 

If you’re interested in Yuri research, please consider becoming an Okazu patron with Patreon. You’ll be supporting Yuri news, reviews, research and events. I’m planning on working on a book of essays about Yuri in the coming year, so thank you for your support!

***

Support Yuri Research and News! Subscribe to Okazu with Patreon!

***

Yuri Manga

Comic Natalie reports on a new Yuri love-comedy with the decidedly unfunny name Shoraiteki ni Shindekuru (将来的に死んでくれ).

Also from Comic Natalie, Hirao Auri’s idol Yuri series Oshi ga Budokan ittekuretara shinu, has a promotional video with narration and Eripyo’ lines read by seiyuu Hayami Saori.

Volume 1 and Volume 2 have been reviewed here on Okazu.

Takemiya Jin’s newest adult life Yuri story collection, Fujyourina Atashi-tachi (不条理なあたし達 ) was released at the end of the last month. \o/

And Kurogane Kenn’s Yuri manga for Hirari magazine has been resurrected in a 2-volume collection. Volume 1 of Hoshikawa Ginza Yon-choume (星川銀座四丁目 上) is available now. 

Yuri Anime

The Asagao to Kase-san anime site added a lovely Art Gallery last week. Take a look for some “awww”-inspiring art.

ANN’s Jacob Chapman is off and running in rewatch-retrospective of the entire Revolutionary Girl Utena series!

Yuri Visual Novel

A link for another American-road trip based Yuri Visual Novel from Sekai Project, Love, Guitars and the Nashville Skyline is up on the Yuricon Store.

LGBTQ Comics Interviews

Marguerite Bennett Talks Batwoman, Representation and the Importance of Fallible Queer Heroes on Autostraddle.

And CBLDF talks with early lesbian comic artist in She Changed Comics: Roberta Gregory Interview. (One of my highlights from Queers & Comics, was getting her to sign a Bitchy Butch collection with “Thanks for Last Night.” ^_^)

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find.Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Well, folks, April Fools’ Day played me. ^_^ I’m usually pretty good about not falling for anything, but Animate hit me right in my weak spot. It took a few days to disappear, but the Yurimate page is gone. The Shosen, Gamers (blecch) and Animate “Yuri club” pages are still in existence, but my dream of a dedicated Yuri section in the Ikebukuro Animate is once again a dream. And dream I shall continue asking for, until I get what I want. ^_^

And my appearance at Kean University tomorrow is also not happening, so we’ll chalk that up to April Fool’s as well. It’s no one’s fault, Kean is just bizarrely strict about paperwork (more so than any other university I have ever spoken at) and it wasn’t filed with enough time to get it done. 

There will be no YNN Report next week, as I’ll be busy with Queers & Comics, jut FYI.

***

Subscribe to Okazu with Patreon. Help us pay our Guest Writers!

***

Yuri Manga

On the positive side, we have some excellent news this week. The creator-driven Yuri mook project known as Galette is putting out a 2nd issue. This is very good news. I sincerely hope this project continues.  Self-publishing is so much easier these days, and the printing and distribution which make it hard here in North America, have long been smooth in Japan from refinements for the comic markets. That said, it’s keeping groups of creators to deadline that can still be challenging. ^_^

After Hours by Yuhta Nishio in English from Viz is slated for a June release and pre-order is up on the Yuricon Store! Despite the cutesy art on the cover, this ought to be a story about and for adults.

A Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Volume 2 from Yen Press will be hitting shelves at the end of May. And so will MURCIÉLAGO, Volume 2. 

Ratana Satis’ Lily Love, Part 2 in English is available for pre-order on the Three Musqueerteers Tumblr page. Just as with last volume, one fills out the form and when the book is ready to ship, they’ll invoice you through Paypal. Pre-orders come with some physical extras and the first 100 orders will get a free keychain. ^_^ Part 1 was a very nice Story A, and I’m looking forward to seeing the characters develop in Part 2, as their relationship, and the story, becomes more complicated.

Events

Next weekend, there are queer academic events on both US coasts. Queers & Comics in San Francisco and  in New York City, CLAGS is holding the LGBTQ Scholars of Color Conference, both on April 14-15. 

ANN reports that the Sailor Moon series is going to have it’s first-ever classical concert in Japan  August. Fan club members will have first dibs on tickets. Hrm…I’m a fan club member….hrm….

Other News

Gender-bending in Asian pop culture is hardly new, and neither are boi bands, but the buzz behind China’s newest boys-who-are-girls group is both amusing and alarming in a “Really? They look like boys to you? Really?” kind of way. ^_^ Here’s the scoop about Acrush. 

From YNN correspondent soulsassasin, here is an interesting interview with writer and director Sam Lee on Filipino lesbian film Baka Bukas, which will be getting a North American release this summer.

Autostraddle is celebrating the accomplishments of 16 Lesbian Power Couples Who Got Shit Done, Together.

Via Takenouchi Daisuke on Twitter, here are a  few pictures of the live-action Silent Mobius stage play cast in costume. ^_^

Resistance

We’re in week 12 of a presidency of a man who can’t read, can’t count, can’t speak in cogent sentences, is prone to temper tantrums and has the codes to nuclear weapons. It’s time for some fight songs.

Joan Baez, the world-renowned folk singer and activist, has come out of retirement to create a new song for all our feels. Here is Joan singing Nasty Man. 

Music is often cathartic, and the winner of the cathartic award is Jussie Smollett’s video to F.U.W (Fucked Up World), a video so woke that Fusion magazine actually breaks down all the references in the video. And it’s a damn fine song.

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find.Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!