Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – July 30, 2022

July 30th, 2022

Yuri Events

I will be presenting on the First 100 Years of Lesbian-themed Japanese Animation and Comics at Flamecon, August 20, 12:45 – 1:45 PM in New York City!

Via James Welker, check out the COMITIA official image for the September event! It’s not the first time they’ve gone in on a Yuri image, but this one is classic.

The next Girls Love Festival in Japan will be in November in Asakusa, Tokyo Metropolitan Industry and Trade Center Taitokan.The July one just wrapped up.

Lastly – next month is Okazu’s 20th anniversary! I am planning an anniversary treasure hunt event! Okazu Patrons will be getting a heads up on August 1 and I’ll be making it public after. Find Yuri treasures, for Yuri prizes. ^_^

 

Yuri Manga

Kodansha has some cool news, they’ve licensed Kanojo to Camera to Kanojo no Kisetsu by Tsukiko (all 5 volumes of which I reviewed back in 2012-14) as as She, Her Camera and the Seasons. This is a story about three young people in a complex relationship triangle. I thought the story was compelling and the ending well handled. I described it as “seriously intense, Dear Brother-levels of emotion.” I look forward to Kodansha’s English edition.

An absolutely wonderful story about a widow who finds life and, maybe, love with another woman – Hana Monogatari (はなものがたり), by schwinn, will be getting a collected Volume 1 in August. I adore this story, and read it regularly on Comic Walker.

 

 

Support Yuri News & Reviews
Become an Okazu Patron today!

Yuri Anime

Birdie Wing‘s second Blu-Ray box set is going on sale in Japan. To celebrate, they asked Koga Ryoichi, creator of Ninin ga Shinobuden / Ninja Nonsense to do a crossover promotional comic. This is a crossover none of us could have predicted.

Liam Dempsey has given us all a sense of relief as he reports that “Yuri no Aida ni Hasamareru. Aru Asa Dummy Head ni Natteita Ore-kun no Jinsei (“Caught Between Lesbian Relationships. My Life After Waking Up as a Dummy Head Microphone”) is officially changing its title to just Aru Asa Dummy Head ni Natteita Ore-kun no Jinsei (“My Life After Waking Up as a Dummy Head Microphone”)” for Crunchyroll News. Phew. I did not wanna watch that.

 

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

 

Yuri Live Action

Bloom Into You is getting a new stage play in Japan, Bloom Into You encore. Komatsu-san has the news over at Crunchyroll, where he writes, “according to the play’s official Twitter, the remake version “encore” tells the story up to the last volume of the original manga while being based on the first play. All of the main cast members, including Misato Kawauchi as Yu Koito and Moeka Koizumi as Touko Nanami, will return.”

 

Yuri Visual Novel

From burgeroise, we have news of their new Yuri VN, Coquette Dragoon, which they describe this way: “Girls love + alternative mecha VN series Coquette Dragoon is now out in early access! ~50k words. Contains full first two chapters and preview of chapter three! Coquette is for adults only and contains dark/suggestive themes, read at your own discretion.“

I’d love to have a review of this if anyone wants to read it for me! ^_^

Via Yuri Navi, comes news of a promotional video for a new Yuri VN, Watashi-tachi no Marriage. The PV opening is cute, but after watching the commercial…I couldn’t tell you what the VN is about, which maybe is not great for a promotional video. ^_^;. BUT the story of the two girls will play out in the remaining videos, according to Yuri Navi’s interview with the game creator, Noame Takii. The game will be released with English and Chinese subs in August on Steam.

 

Other News

By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga is now available through Kinokuniya USA online. Additionally, folks who buy it it at their store locations in Edgewater New Jersey, Katy Texas, Portland Oregon or Seattle Washington, will be able to get signed bookplates! If there’s a Kino near you and you’d like a signed bookplate, have them contact my publisher. They’d be delighted to get you one. ^_^

It’s exhibition season in Japan, and The Rose of Versailles is getting a 50th anniversary exhibition at Roppongi Hills. Richard Eisenbels has the details at ANN. There will be four rooms and, among the many items on exhibit will be the edition of the RoV manga I edited for Udon Entertainment! So there’s a benchmark for my mental photo album. ^_^ Check out the Room 4 lineup on the Roppongi Hills official site.

Did I say “exhibition”? Then I must have news of a new Sailor Moon Exhibition! Also in Roppongi, the Sailor Moon Museum has a new set of visuals and goods. Daryl Harding has the news over at Crunchyroll.

Not quite an exhibition, but Hana no Asuka-gumi creator Takaguchi Satosumi has opened an online store and is selling original designs with her characters. No Yohko, boo.

The first part of Gideon the Ninth (ギデオン　第九王家の騎士 上) is out in Japanese! You can take a look at the 41-page sample on Bookwalker.

My review of Summertime Rendering, Volume 3  from Udon Entertainment is up on ANN. This is a truly fantastic series full of eldritch horror and action and paranormal events. It’s a great read, honestly.

 

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. ^_^

Posted in Yuri Network News | No Comments »


Hello, Melancholic!, Volume 2

July 29th, 2022

Hello, Melancholic!, Volume 2 is, quite possibly, my favorite single volume of a school life Yuri story ever. ^_^

Minato faces her greatest challenge – performing with the band in public. We understood that she was traumatized by her former bandmates. But here, she is in the unenviable position of facing them down once again. Not only does she rise to the occasion, she excels! Minato, bolstered by Hibiki, Chika, Sachiko and Emma, faces down the fears of her previous self and moves past them.

For that alone, I loved this book. It’s not enough to know what’s held us back – we also have to keep moving forward. Minato takes a whopping huge step forward when she takes control of the audience. It won’t fix all her self-esteem issues, but it puts her in a much better place from which to address the rest.

From there on, this becomes a much more conventional Yuri romance story, but now, here, we’re open to it. The Minato that was terrified of standing out could never have been a partner to anyone, but the Minato that can confidently stand on the stage, can. And so we turn our attention to Chika and Sachiko and find out that there’s a whole lot we don’t know about them.

There’s still a lot for Minato and Hibiki to work through. As I said of this volume in Japanese, “I cannot tell you why, exactly, I want Minato to be happy – although there are a lot of superficially obvious reasons that I might feel that way – but I really want Minato to be happy. If Hibiki can make her happy, I’m all in for them. But I also know that there’s a lot standing between them before they get there…among them Minato herself. She’s a walking bundle of insecurity and hesitation. Ohsawa Yayoi’s come so far in the last few years – Minato’s expressions are really something. ^_^” 

That said, as we get ready for Volume 3 to come out in November, we are right there with them, ready to lend our good wishes. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9 More conflict in this volume is a good thing, as Minato becomes less passive
Characters – 9
Service – 1
Yuri – 9

Overall – 9

Another fantastic effort from Margaret Ngo, Marykate Jasper, Mo Harrison, H. Qi, Leighhanna DeRouen, B.Lillian Martin, Jenn Grunigen, and everyone on the Seven Seas team! This manga makes me cheer, every time. ^_^

Posted in English Manga, Ohsawa Yayoi, Yuri Manga | 6 Comments »


Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 4 (欠けた月とドーナッツ)

July 28th, 2022

Let’s start with the most important thing in Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 4 (欠けた月とドーナッツ) – this was the perfect, most exactly correct ending to this series that we could have hoped for. ^_^  I don’t want to spoil this in the least, but I have to say that some of the aro/ace representation that other series teased (and disappointed all of us in the process) is solidly presented here. It’s all handled with a lovely human warmth that suited the characters and the tone of the story.

How we get to the this perfect ending gives us the first few bits of real conflict we’ve had in the series. These, too, are wholly within the main theme of “being human is difficult, and communication is scary, but it’s better for everyone than not communicating.” Fuuka laid out her feelings for Asahi in Volume 3 now, she tells, Hinako, it’s your turn. Easily said, but both Hinako and Asahi have some hurdles they need to get past before they are free to address their feelings. 

Hinako’s mother comes to visit, and Hinako finally tells her something of importance. They have what may have been the only real conversation they’d had to that point. It lifts the burden Hinako has been carrying all these years of being the kind of person her mother wants her to be. This scene held a lot of resonance for me. As I typed this, it dawned on me that I was about the same age as Hinako, too, when I finally shed the last of my parents’ expectations.

Asahi’s burden is a different one, as she’s assumed it for Subaru…who has been clear that she’s ready to carry her own life now. Subaru and Fuuka team up to give Asahi the space to work through her own issues on her own without them to lean on. I’ll leave the catalyst for her revelation a mystery for now, because it was utterly cute and…us. ^_^

And then we get the exactly right ending for this series. ^_^

Watching the art and storytelling develop during this series has been a pleasure. Watching Shio-sensei stick the landing…priceless.

Ratings:

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

Overall – 10

I can’t wait for you all to read this! We’ll be getting Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon, Volume 4 in February of 2023.

This makes 4 volumes in one week of women building found families and I am just over the moon. With or without doughnuts. ^_^

Posted in Usui Shio, Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »


Comic Yuri Hime August 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年8月号)

July 27th, 2022

Comic Yuri Hime August 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年8月号) begins with a seasonally appropriate colorful travel image that put me in mind of nothing so much as a beach ball. ^_^

In Takeshima Eku’s “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau” Yori and Himari face a crisis of spending an evening alone together without parental supervision. Of COURSE our good girls are adorably sweet and cute about it. Kisses and embraces are shared and we all smile gently at them.

The air conditioning is broken and Ruriko proposes that she and Kurumi camp out in the living room in “Onna Tomodachi to Kekkonshitemita” by Usui Shio. Sleeping together in a way that they do not normally do, has Kurumi thinking about their lives together and finding it…nice.

Three for three on sleep-cutes this month, because Haru and Hinoto wake up extra early on their day off and decide to walk around their new home town while it’s empty and dark. They watch it wake up. After breakfast, they head back home for a sleep until noon. I adore this series by Keyyang. I’m all in for people just being happy together. Please…tell me more about your little town and how cute those pajamas are and how yummy breakfast is!

Ru’s “Natsu to Lemon to Overlay” is leaning hard into the “what is her motivation for dying?”  Konno-san is a mystery, but I hope we’re not being oversold on this as a plot.

We continue to wallow with Nene in “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” Her relationships with Sumika and Youko are starting to spiral together. Youko has clearly set them all up for revenge on Sumika, but I hope Nene and Kanako can maybe reverse the trajectory, if only they’d have a conversation.

Aaaahh! “The Scales of Love” arc has begun and Manaria-sama has arrived in “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.”! I love Aonoshimo-sensei’s casually boyish Manaria, taking down Rod with a “snap.” I’m ecstatic that this manga has gotten to Volume 2 of thr novels. At the very least, I hope we get through the Revolution arc. I say that, but tomorrow the 5th volume of the Light Novel lands on your digital devices and I cannot *wait* for you to read it! So I really mean- I hope that we get every last piece of this story. Every side thought, every reversed perspective. Everything.

Utatane Yuu’s “Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru” moves past trauma into training! Michiru and Kiki have a long way to go. This issue, they discover how long that road will be.

Sacred Dance by Miko Yuri wasn’t on my bingo card, but…now it is, with “Tsugai Miko no Nijimusubi” by Nanaji Yuuki.

Inui Ayu visits Kon-san’s family in this issue of “Kyou mo Hitotsu Yane no Shita.” In-law visits are fraught, but we are reminded that so is visiting one’s own family. ^_^;

Ohi Pikachi gets a little personal in this issue of “Pillow Talk ha Fuku wo Kite.” ^_^

As always, this is only part of what I read. I’m so excited for the Scales of Love arc, honestly the rest of the magazine could be crap and I’d be happy, but along with cute girls and cute women doing nothing and sex-focused stuff, there’s a lot of strong stories in here and enough to satisfy mostly all Yuri fans. Needs a little more action. And sports. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

The September 2022 issue is on sale now and waiting for me at the store! Speaking of which. The Kinokuniya in Edgewater, NJ has By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga in stock! If you buy it through them, you’ll get a signed bookplate. If it’s not in your local Kinkokuniya, ask them to order it and have them contact me, I’m glad to send them bookplates, as well.

 

Posted in Comic Yuri Hime, Magazines, Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Maitsuki Niwatsuki Ooyatsuki – Monthly With Ooya (毎月庭つき大家つき)

July 25th, 2022

Suga Asako finds herself alone quite suddenly when her partner decides their relationship is just not working. But her friend Hato isn’t listening because she’s more upset that Miyako, the lead singer of her favorite group, has walked off stage and disappeared.

Asako doesn’t give herself too much time to mope. She finds a new place to live. It’s a cute little detached house, with a garden and a room she can use for her work as a manga editor. The landlady seems super nice, so Asako takes it and gets settled in. Then one day, she notices a ladder to an upstairs room, where she finds her landlady chilling. The landlady calmly points out that,yes, she did not mention she was living in the attic room, but on the other hand, Asako did sign the contract which read, “maitsuki niwatsuki ooyatsuki.” Monthly, with garden, with landlady.

It’s not like the landlady is a creeper. Asako ends up cooking for both of them, as the landlady is fairly useless at that. But that’s not really a problem. Asako is sure, however she’s seen the landlady somewhere. Yep, you guessed it. Her landlady is he former lead singer of Elm, Miyako. This volume wraps up with a whole chapter of a minor conflict that is wrapped up instantly. 

What follows in Maitsuki Niwatsuki Ooyatsuki – Monthly With Ooya (毎月庭つき大家つき) is a nice comic about two people who have had their lives uprooted, trying to set down some new roots for themselves. This makes three books in a row for me with this same theme. ^_^ I swear it’s not on purpose, but I have to say that most of my favorite stories right now are about adult women forming connections with other adult women, not just romantic or sexual attraction, although those sometimes are in the mix. What is appealing to me, specifically, is the idea of intimacy that does not rely on sex. That said, I didn’t pick up this book knowing that this was the story! I picked this book up on the strength of the artist’s name. We seen Yodokawa-sensei in any number of Yuri anthologies. They’ve had at least one collection of short stories, but this is the first serialized book I’ve seen from them and I was totally willing to take a chance on this. So far this is not Yuri, per se. There’s implication and possibility, and Yodokawa is the creator., so we have a high chance of Yuri.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 0
Found family  – 8

Overall – 8

Whether it becomes a romance or stays a found family narrative doesn’t matter to me in the slightest. As it is, my to-read pile is 80% found family, intimacy between adult women – with and without romance and I’m just delighted, frankly. ^_^ More of this please!

Posted in Miscellaneous | 4 Comments »