Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon, Volume 4

May 15th, 2023

Two women face us , holding hands. One with long brown hair wearing a brown skirt and white blouse, smiling brightly, shorter woman with short black hair, where pants and a white blouse, smiling gently. "Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon" is written in orange letters, with a chocolate glazed doughnut for the letter O, and a crescent moon just above and to the left of the O. Number 4 in the upper left hand of the page, a squiggle line, the Art & Story by Shio Usui.When Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 4 (欠けた月とドーナッツ) landed in summer 2022, I said this about it, “…this was the perfect, most exactly correct ending to this series that we could have hoped for.” Now, in 2023, as I read Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon, Volume 4, I would not change a word of that. This was the perfect ending for this series. We could not have asked for better.

Hinako is every person who has been measuring themselves against a set of criteria that do not fit at all. Asahi is everyone who is spending their energy on someone else so they don’t have to think about themselves. When they meet each other, their ill-fitting facades begin to crack. Neither of them have ever had the leisure to develop any adult relationships. Asahi, because of her parents death, has kept her one old friend, but been unable (unwilling?) to make others. Hinako’s friendships are – she believes – based upon the construct she had created to pass in society, while she blames her failures to build romantic connections on herself.

This is a lovely, gentle story of lonely people breaking out of the habit of loneliness that they built up as the cornerstones of their lives.

This manga checks off so many of the things that makes  a good manga for me – adult women building different kinds of relationships with the women around them, emotional intimacy of differing kinds with those women and adult women breaking free of the constraints put upon them by society, family and themselves. Joyfully, this manga is also full of adult friends who continue to be friends when their friend basically stops pretending to be someone they cannot be.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Character – 10
Service – 0
Yuri – 10

Overall – 10

Asexuals are getting their time in the manga limelight right now, as well – if you were looking for a book about adults understanding themselves better, this should definitely be on your list.

I was *sure* that Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon was a shoo-in for a best Yuri manga of the year when Volume 4 hit, but it has to compete with Birdie Wing and She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat, both of which are so outstanding. That said, this is an excellent manga and you should not miss it!

 

 

Posted in English Manga, LGBTQ, Usui Shio, Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – May 13, 2023

May 13th, 2023

In blue silhouette, two women face each other. One wears a fedora and male-styled attire, one is in a dress and heels. Their body language is obscure - they may be dancing, or laughing or fighting.Yuri Anime

It lives! I’m In Love With the Villainess will be premiering in October 2023! Check out the trailer on Youtube.  Crystalyn Hogkins has details of casting over on ANN. My only benchmark for this anime is whether or not it keeps the lunch conversation about Rae being gay or not. ^_^

Also premiering in October is Hoshikuzu Telepath, a Mangataime Kirara series. I guess I should get around to reading the manga before it hits. ^_^

ANN’s Kim Morrissy notes that Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury has assisted the Gundam franchise to record-breaking revenue, including sales of the Aerial figurines. I’m gonna to say – with tongue firmly in cheek – that I bet Birdie Wing helped too, by reminding a bunch of those of old golf-playing dudes in Japan of the Gundam franchise they loved in the youth. ^_^

 

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Queer Comics

LSBN is a lesbian mech rom-com graphic novel by Ignatz and Prism Award-winning cartoonist Emma Jayne with coloring by Sloane Leong. It looks great and is on pre-order now! This seems totally up our alley here on Okazu. ^_^

 

Yuri Manga

Clearing out some items of interest from Comic Natalie, today. ^_^

Mizutani Fuuka, creator of the popular school romance story, Love at Fourteen, has a spin-off of the series, Reliance (リライアンス). This story is about Aoi, the student who fell for Hajima-sensei, told from the perspective of another classmate, Tachibana.

Takane-san and Arashi-chan (高音さんと嵐ちゃん) is a story about two second-years in high school. Their relationship seems to lack nuance, but the story doesn’t look unpleasant. Volume 1 of this full-color Yuri manga is out in Japan, or check the sample pages over on Bookwalker and see if it interests you.

A! Yasei no Ojou-sama ga Tobidashitekita!! (あ！ 野生のお嬢様がとびだしてきた!!) also looks to have some potential, although in an off-beat manner. In a old-fashioned school for young ladies the Student Council is the Lily Cross Society. Sumire, a first-year joins, only to find that the LCS is involved in a bus accident in the mountains. Can the remaining members survive? Volume 1 is collected, Volume 2 will be released in June and, again, there are sample pages on Bookwalker.

If Itou Hachi is your bag, they have combined their favorite fetishes of animal-eared girls, ane-loli and Yuri again in a new series Inari no Kekkon (いなりの結婚) running now on Web Action.

 

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Other News

Congratulations to YNN Correspondent Patricia Baxter for having a terrific article published on Anime Feminist. Give her The Joyful Affirmation Of Plus-sized Leads In Yuri a read and like!

ANN’s Rafael Antonio Pineda has the news that several of the major Japanese art/content sites are banning AI art. DLsite, Ci-en, pixiv FANBOX, Fantia have all taken a stand against people using AI to create revenue streams on their sites.

Sr. YNN Corespondent Sean G notes that From Introvert Cringe to Yuri Harem—Watamote Turns 10, by Norbert Daniels, Jr. on ANN might appeal to those some folks, although he notes that the Yuri is more obvious in the manga after the anime ended. I’ll take his word on it.

 

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Posted in Yuri Network News | 1 Comment »


Comic Yuri Hime, May 2023 (コミック百合姫2023年5月号)

May 12th, 2023

A woman in green, with a dog, watches as a group of schoolgirls in dark blue Japanese school uniforms walk past.Well, it had to happen. The May volume of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫2023年5月号) was mostly not of interest to me. There’s a lot of stories that have sex portrayed in a way that is super unappealing to me. Coerced, manipulated, not an expression of love, but of power or desperation. It’ll never be my thing, but if you love shocked/unhappy faces in your sex scenes…enjoy.

There were a small handful of go-to series that I read.

We finally got Lorelei’s performance at the Battle of the Bands and of course it was super intense after Shiho dumped her whole heart on Aki in Takeshima Eku’s “Sasayakuyou ni Koi wo Utau.” I’m kind of sorry the anime will never get this far in the manga.

This chapter of “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou,” written by inori and illustrated by Aonishimo, is the very-intense Undead Hunt, which will lead up to a shock next month. Speaking of anime, we have a date for the ILTV anime! Clear your calendar in Oct 2023.

Miman’s “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” goes somewhere I feared it might, but manages to work it’s way through a deeply awkward and painful moment for Kanako and Sumika. I finally have hope that we’ll see them both come out of this okay, now. Phew.

For some reason a number of the stories I genuinely like are all headed off various cliffs, some of which are plot, but a few feel a bit like “who needs a plot when we have drama?” So overall, this was not my favorite issue ever. But that happens and then the next issue comes out and we’ll be good again. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 5

I would like a few more new stories about non-moe characters doing interesting things and falling in love, and much less about unpleasant high school girls being manipulative and creepy, but YMMV.

Posted in Comic Yuri Hime, Magazines | 3 Comments »


Changes

May 10th, 2023

After 13 years, I’ve been let go from my job.if you enjoy the stream of Yuri news and reviews you get here, I’m asking you to help support the work by becoming a patron on Patreon or Ko-Fi Your support is greatly appreciated! I’m taking a day or two to settle myself and reviews will commence. ^_^

Posted in Miscellaneous | 3 Comments »


Catch These Hands, Volume 4

May 7th, 2023

Two women picnicking in a park, one of them tries to keep food away from a jumping dog.Decades ago, I was doing a number of community-centered activities, and I noticed that people who came into community spaces often had no idea how to act. In some cases, they were ND, but in many cases, it was people who came to that community with a focus that was important to them and no real interest in other people. For instance, we had a number of events where people with food limitations would walk into the space and before saying “Hello,” they would look around, ready to be angry and say, “Is there anything I can eat here?” I really sympathized with that, having grown up with food (and other) allergies that other people ignored. So, I took it upon myself to greet people at events and point out amenities, facilities, food options and restinq/quiet places. Which everyone who knew me, found hilarious, as there are few people who care less about other people than myself. ^_^

All this is to say that there are a lot of people who are faking their way through social interactions – including me. ^_^ I ask myself what the extroverts around me might do, if I want to social, or I huddle in a corner, if I don’t.

Takebe and Soramori have both hit a wall on how to social. As young people, their interactions were competitive and physically violent. Now that they like one another…they have no idea how to act.

In Catch These Hands, Volume 4, they have hit the limit of faking it, and have to overcome the final hurdle between them – actually having a conversation. It’s fraught. Even between pointless interruptions and  Rube Goldberg complications, they manage to learn a little bit about each other and finally have that last battle between them where they are honest with one another. It’s awkward and lovely and I wanted to grab them both and give them hugs for doing it.

The lesson of this volume is – what you are thinking people think about you is probably completely untrue. Stop assuming. When Soramori and Takebe stop assuming, the world suddenly becomes a brighter place for them.

Amanda Haley’s translation and Bianca Pistillo’s lettering, were fantastic. It’s clean, easy to read and gets the gruffness and awkwardness across beautifully. I can also thank Jacquelyn Li and Carl Li for their editorial work, and Wendy Chan for the design. Gimme those credits, Yen! Everyone deserves a credit. Nice job by the Yen team. So glad we got this fun little manga series.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 0
Yuri – 7

Overall – 8

Murata-sensei really sticks the landing here.

This series was goofy and relatable (despite the fact that I was never a gang girl. Well…once, for a day, but that’s a silly story) and I recommend it for being something you can just relax and enjoy.

Posted in English Manga, Yuri Manga | 4 Comments »