Flame Con is Back And Better Than Ever

August 21st, 2022

I had intended to be at Flame Con for Saturday only, but two things happened to change my mind.

The first thing was that Rica Takashima and I nearly sold out of copies of By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga, so I am going back in to bring more books!

The second thing that happened was that…I had so much fun seeing folks, that I really want to go back today do my job as press. ^_^ Quick shout out, Yurisoft, the new Yuri VN team is here and they are awesome and adorable.

I picked up a lot of business cards yesterday and today I want to do a short interview or two to write up a real report.

If you weren’t sure whether to come to Flame Con 2022, please do, and drop by Table U180 to pick up a copy of By Your Side, signed by me and Rica! You’ll have a great time.  Full report after I get back. ^_^

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Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – August 20, 2022

August 20th, 2022

Yuri Events

I will be presenting on the First 100 Years of Lesbian-themed Japanese Animation and Comics at Flamecon, today, August 20, 12:45 – 1:45 PM in New York City. I’ll be joining Rica Takashima at Table U180 where we’ll be dual-signing copies of By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga! Drop by for my panel and a copy of the book.

Help us celebrate Okazu’s 20th anniversary! Join us for our Yuri Treasure Hunt event! Find Yuri treasures, for Yuri prizes.

One way or another I intend to be at AnimeNYC, November 18-2022 in NYC. I’ll be making the rounds and will definitely be selling signed copies of my book. If you’d like me to be a guest there, write and let them know. I’d like a table of my own. ^_^

 

Yuri Manga

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou Omnibus, Volume 1 is out in English! I’m so excited to have the quiet, slow end of humanity come to our shores at at last. Meet Alpha, a humanoid android who runs a coffee shop at the end of the world and her friends.This is a beautiful manga that may leave you with more questions than it answers. 

I’m in Love with the Villainess, Volume 3 has hit digital devices and will be out in print at the end of September! Get it from a variety of vendors on the Yuricon Store.

If you are a fan of ILTV, do check out this lovely art Fanbook collection by the ILTV Project created for Inori-sensei’s birthday. Merci is a free download. It was very sweet. A new fanfic collection is being worked on now, as well.

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, Volume 3 is hitting shelves in September.

Very much looking forward to Volume 2 of the Otherside Picnic manga from Square Enix, which will hit shelves this month.

 

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ULTIMATE-MAMA, Volume 1, Hayashiya Shizuru’s ribald violence/action Yuri is up on the Yuricon Store!

Via Yurimother, the final volume of Himawari-san (ひまわりさん), Volume 13 will be released in Japanese this month.. I have reviewed it through volume 7, then forgot to keep reading. Maybe this is a good chance to get it on Bookwalker and play catch-up. ^_^

You can pick up the digital version of Galette magazine’s next cover art book, Galette Illustration Book, No. 2 on Amazon, or Amazon JP.

 

Support Okazu on Ko-fi! Drop a tip here or become a subscriber

 

Yuri Anime

Just reviewed this week by Matt Marcus, Project A-ko Perfect Edition, the definitive release of this classic Yuri anime series, is now on the Yuricon Store!

Alex Mateo has the news that Revue Starlight, The Movie will air on HIDIVE on August 24. I’m actually looking forward to this. Thinking I might do a watch party on the Okazu Discord.

 

Yuri Visual Novel

From Studio Élan, Who is the Red Queen is now released on Steam! Who is the Red Queen? is a horror fantasy lesbian visual novel developed by 4noki & co. that follows Alice falling into a strange and familiar Wonderland in search for the Red Queen’s missing pieces from Bellhouse.

 

Other News

My Clueless First Friend Vol. 1 from Square Enix. This heartwarming slice-of-life comedy series follows the unusual budding friendship between gloomy Nishimura and cheerful Takada as they experience a fun and memorable summer together is scheduled for release on March 7, 2023. Not Yuri per se, but strong friendship is always a good read.

 

Thanks to our Okazu Patrons who make the YNN weekly report possible! Support us on Patreon or Ko-fi to help us give Guest Reviewers a raise and to help us support Yuri creators!

Become a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share and be part of the Yuri Network. ^_^

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Liberty, Volume 2 (リバティ)

August 19th, 2022

In Volume 1  Liz, the emotionally fragile singer for a band Liberty. And we met Maki, who is  is managing  the Liberty account for her company. Liz is a real handful, too, as she tends to use sex as a weapon.  Despite that, Maki has fallen for Liz. And sometimes, she thinks Liz returns the feeling. However, every time they get a little closer, something sets Liz off again, leaving Maki unsure of what she is to the singer.

Liberty, Volume 2 (リバティ) begins with another of the things that sets Liz off. Only this time it wasn’t a thing, it was a person. The very fashionable and sexy Sumire who works for Liberty’s newest sponsor. It’s immediately obvious to us, the reader, that there is some history between Liz and Sumire.  Unable to say no to Sumire, Liz finds herself seduced, possibly coerced…and more possibly that this is how they always have been since they met in school. Liz is ashamed of herself and unwilling to talk to Maki, who is feeling left out. All of this brings up an unwelcome memory for Maki as well.

We have hit pure Jondalar Syndrome* here, my friends. One honest conversation would end this manga. So, of course, that ain’t gonna happen.

*Jondalar Syndrome is named after one of the characters from The Mammoth Hunters (one of the Clan of the Cave Bear series.) Had he and Ayla ever just discussed anything at all, the book would have ended instantly. It was a nightmare for me, a Virgo (which has a lot of mythological tie-ins to communication), with a fetish for good communication practices between people. Made me so angry I named a bad plot device after it, for when two people just do not have the conversation they need to have as a plot driver.

Since this manga is about the drama – and about giving Liz makeovers – and it is drawn by queen of manipulative drama and mopey leads Momono Moto, I’m cool with it. But, I follow the author, Kitta Izumi on Twitter and she’s vehement about being one’s authentic self in public, so I’m hoping that we’ll get to a better place for both Maki and Liz.

I love the art in this manga, I think this is Momono-sensei’s best work to date. It’s super stylish, which suits the world in which it is set. And I love that Maki has a good friend who will realtalk her when everyone else around is either ignoring her or…what? I’m sure Maki doesn’t yet know what her role is in this story, but by the end of the volume, she may be getting there. I’ll wait on tenterhooks to see how things develops.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 7 we’re in a bit of a holding pattern in this volume
Characters – In the real world, we’d all gently suggest Liz speak to a therapist. For the story, she’s a walking plot complication
Service – Not really. Both the sex appeal and the sex are adult and mature.
Yuri – 10 Yuri all the way down

Overall – 8

While I wait, I have Volume 22 of Galette magazine to read, and Volume 23 will be debuting at Comitia next month!

Posted in Momono Moto, Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Project A-ko **Perfect Edition** Blu-ray, Guest Review by Matt Marcus

August 17th, 2022

Welcome back to another Okazu Guest Review Wednesday! Today we welcome back Matt Marcus once again. Matt is a cohost of various projects on the Pitch Drop Podcast Network, such as the JRPG games club podcast Lightning Strikes Thrice that is currently covering Final Fantasy VIII.

Back in March 2021, Discotek Media’s official Twitter account posted that they were canceling their planned digital restoration of the first Project A-ko film for their upcoming Blu-ray release. In its place, they announced that the Blu-ray would instead be based on an upscaling of an original 35mm master, all copies of which were once thought to be lost to time. It was both a stroke of good luck for classic anime fans and a cautionary tale about proper filing procedures (said copy of the film had been filed under the wrong name and had been hiding for years). Project A-ko **Perfect Edition** released in December of 2021.

It is hard to feel the need to introduce this film, given its historical significance and how Erica has previously covered it on the site, but here is a brief overview: Project A-ko is a 1986 theatrical film produced by APPP, the creators of the Cream Lemon series of adult OVAs. It is a wacky screwball action comedy that is lavishly animated and stuffed to the gills with parody and references to other media (including but not limited to Fist of the North Star, Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, Creamy Mami, Harmadeggon, Captain Harlock, Starship Troopers, Megazone 23, The Flying Phantom Ship, Wheels on Meals, The Long Goodbye, and a couple of famous American comic book characters).

The premise is simple: head–and body–strong teenager A-ko and her childhood friend C-ko start their first year of high school in a posh girls school and run afoul of B-ko, the resident queen bee, who falls head-over-heels for C-ko. Oh and there is a crew of female aliens who are looking for their lost princess. Also B-ko is a mecha engineering genius? Look, the film opens with a “meteor” decimating a major city and then immediately cuts to sixteen years in the future where the city has been rebuilt inside the impact crater. Wild stuff all around.

Watching this film for the first time in 2022, I found a lot to like and a few things to side-eye. The mecha and spaceship design is gorgeous. The music is the perfectly aged flavor of ‘80s cheese. The detail put into the destruction of many, many bits of the environment is something to behold. Nevertheless, this is the Cream Lemon team, so even though the content is not R18 there are still a couple scenes of teen nudity and countless panty shots. A few other gripes: B-ko is a psycho lesbian trope (even though I love her); there is a surprising amount of murder happening being treated as slapstick; and I have no idea who finds C-ko’s wailing anything other than incredibly grating. I try to imagine an ‘80s salaryman watching this film in theaters, chuckling to himself as he thinks, “Oh ho ho, that C-ko is crying again! What mirth this bestows upon me!”

What really interested me the most with this release is the plethora of extra features, the standout being the 30 minute mini-documentary aptly titled The Music of Project A-ko. It is centered around interviews with the writing and composing duo of Richie Zito and Joey Carbone, as well as singers Annie Livingstone and Samantha Newark. (Sadly, Valerie Stevenson, who sang lead on C-ko’s theme song “Follow Your Dreams”, passed away in 2015.) As a music production nerd, it was very fun to hear the history of how the music made it to the film. I would also highlight the small featurette on the scrapped CD-ROM game, which is especially entertaining if you experienced PC gaming in the ‘90s.

It’s clear that Discotek had a lot of love for this film. As a newcomer to it, I appreciate it more than I like it. If you love Project A-ko, you’ve already bought this. For those who have yet to check it out, there is fun to be had if you allow it some grace for its vintage.

Art – 9 This is what you are here for, seeing lots of things crumble, shatter, tear, and explode
Story – 6 The story is just an excuse for gags and action, which it does well enough
Characters – 5 There’s some fun rapport but this is not a character-focused vehicle
Service – 7 Yes, definitely
Yuri – 5 / LGBTQ – 0 To quote one of the extra features, “B-ko’s obsession with C-ko seems to border on the homosexual”

Overall – 8 The currently best way to enjoy a classic

I would like to give a shoutout to my podcast cohost Sibyl (you can find her projects here). She and I covered this film in detail on a bonus episode of Boku No Stop, available only for Pitch Drop Patrons.

Erica here: Thanks for a great review Matt and a couple of guffaws! The key news about this release of Project A-ko was when Diskotek found the original 35mm masters literally in someone’s closet. The animation for this has never looked so good. Not even when it was originally animated. ^_^

 

Posted in Classic Yuri, Guest Review, Matt Marcus, Yuri Anime | 2 Comments »


Lycoris Recoil, Streaming on Crunchyroll

August 15th, 2022

In a near future, the world is peaceful because, in part, of an elite group of teenaged girls who are trained in the art of defense and assassination. Called Lycoris, they are highly skilled, obsessively competitive and dangerous.

When Takina comes close to putting one of her Lycoris peers in danger, she’s shunted away from the headquarters to a branch office/cafe. Here she meets an infamous Lycoris, Chisato, who only uses non-lethal bullets. Despite the obscurity of their office, and the absurdity of their situation, Chisato and Takina are drawn into a series of terrorist attacks that could shake the foundation of their peaceful world. This is Lycoris Recoil, Streaming on Crunchyroll

Okay, that’s the basic setup. And, I have to be honest…it’s really stupid for a reason I will get to in a second. I wouldn’t have watched it at all, except I saw someone on Twitter describe it as “John Wick with cute girls” and after redefining in my head it as “John Wick with moe blob-faced girls for imagination-impaired adult men” I started to watch it. I really like it, despite a list of flaws longer than the cast and staff. ^_^

So if I like it, why do I call it stupid?  Let’s start with the idea of 16 year-olds being better at assassination than anyone else. For one. Then you take the two absolute best agents you’ve ever had…and exile them. For reasons.This is SO fishy that it reminds me of why Magical Girls have to be so young. No one with an ounce of emotional maturity could possible not see that some shit is up. I’m not sure I would have been that naive at 16, even.  On top of this, we have a series of character types, not characters. Including an absurdly young-looking hacker, thank you Serial Experiments Lain for giving us that forever. And let’s not forget drunken adult lady. Our one bright light is the office head, who is black, gay, smart and a decent guy, who just happens to have an obviously tragic backstory and was an assassin and all sort of other bad things. Also, a bunch of reveals that are super obvious. 

And a gloaty bad guy. I fucking hate gloaty bad guys. Get your thing done right, then gloat. UGH.

Despite these flaws, I’m really enjoying the heck out of Lycoris Recoil, because really, it’s John Wick with moe-faced girls and that is Perfectly Okay. ^_^

The Yuri is very much by implication. Since Lycoris (pronounced licorice with a soft ‘c’, not ‘sh’) work in pairs, and rely on each other in life and death situations, we’ve got a totally Spartan dynamic between couples. Chisato is, apparently flakey and maybe not super insightful, but she’s cheerful and absurdly good at what she does, while Takina is brooding and dark, making them the traditional Yuri trope pair, only make them assassins. In a recent episode, Chisato went for a femme fatale look and Takina took the butch route and we all nodded in approval. (Of course most of the art seems to be more obsessed with Takina’s head briefly hitting Chisato’s butt, thus a Beavis and Butthead rating. )

Specific episodes are underwear-level humor, with a very unfortunate tendency by the translators to rely on utterly outdated and lazy translation choices. Insisting on using “panties” for underwear, and saying an admired character “swings that way” when discussing that he is gay. I commented on Twitter that translators don’t have to do that – they are not obliged to make characters sound like 80 year old homophobes. They can and should make better choices in 2022. We can’t tell the writers to stop pandering, but we can expect the translators to grow the fuck up.

And still, I am very much enjoying this story. Watching two children beat the crap out of supposedly professional hitmen is amusing.  I’m good with amusing crap.

Ratings:

Art – Pretty bad, honestly, but whatever
Story – Cute girls shoot guns, men drop like flies
Characters – Surely Chisato will both help Takina find meaning in life and redeeem herself then convince Takina to reject the things she thought she wanted, probably by fake-dying.
Service – Heh heh, Takina’s head touched Chisato’s butt
Yuri – Takina’s head touched Chisato’s butt/ Butch x femme dynamic / Sisters-in-arms/ Two girls on the screen together

Overall – A fun 7

This ain’t no Birdie Wing, and fandom has even odds on Chisato fake-dying by the end of the season, but if you like mindless violence perpetrated by anatomically inaccurate teens, this may be your jam.

Posted in English Anime | 5 Comments »