Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – April 9, 2022

April 9th, 2022

Yuri Live Action

Idol Factor has released three short trailers for their upcoming Thai Yuri live-action GAP The Series: The “cutie” trailer; the “tears” trailer, and; the “savage” trailer are all on Youtube.

This series looks like it will lean well into the Yuri, as more and more Thai  series have leaned into the BL aspect. Based on the comments on Youtube, the audience is read for a Yuri series with some bite.

 

Yuri Manga

Finally! Whisper Me a Love Song, Volume 5 will be hitting shelves in May. So you can finally see Shiho’s deal. (Warning…it’s ridiculous. ^_^)

Boyish² Butch x Butch Yuri Anthology is extending their sale period. I highly recommend giving this independent queer Yuri anthology a few bucks and show your support for their work! In a statement on Twitter, the creators noted that this is, in part, an attempt to curb piracy. I’m sure I don’t have to tell Okazu readers, but as a reminder, its not okay to pirate manga. It makes the creators really sad. Especially when it’s a small, independent creation.

My Idol Sits the Next Desk Over! Volume 4 hit shelves this week.

 

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Tokuwotsumu has a bittersweet adult life story about a woman who find her former lover’s diary in Haru Tsudzuru, Sakurasaku Kono Heya de (春綴る、桜咲くこの部屋で). Love their work, so I bet I’ll like this.

Speaking of loving their work, I’m reading Kuzushiro’s Uyanotsuki, Volume 1 right no and looking forward to Uyanotsuki, Volume 2 (雨夜の月). This story is about two high school girls who meet under unusual circumstances. One is a piano player and the other is hard of hearing.

 

Yuri Anime

The Executioner and Her Way of Life debuted on HIDIVE this month.

A really interesting piece of news from CR News’ Kara Dennison – the Black Rock★★ Shooter DAWN FALL Blu-rays will include the spin-off novels, written by Fukami Makoto. Now that’s a bonus I can get behind.

Kara also has the details of the Revolutionary Girl Utena pop-up shop in Shibuya. If any Okazu reader can get there, and would be willing to shop for me, please let me know!

 

Yuri Light Novel

You can get Yume no Kuni kara Mezamete mo (夢の国から目覚めても), a story about two women in a doujinshi circle, on JP Kindle or Bookwalker! I might give it a try. ^_^

 

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Yuri Interviews

That awesome time when Animeforwomen interviewed me and inspired me do more stuff is now up on Youtube! (Of course now I have to do more stuff. ^_^)

I also had the chance to talk with the lovely Lum and Colton from Manga Mavericks about Kabi Nagata’s book My Wandering Warrior Existence.

 

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Other News

Gengoroh Tagame has a new mainstream manga, Our Colors, following the life of a gay Japanese boy navigating school and family life. Alex Schlesinger takes a look at this story for Screenrant. Pantheon is putting the entire series out in a hefty 528 page hardcover volume that will hit shelves in June.

 

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Posted in Yuri Network News | No Comments »


Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou. -Revolution-, Volume 1 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。-Revolution-)

April 7th, 2022

It’s almost impossible to believe that I have never actually read the Japanese Volume 1 of this series, but it is true. I had read some of it as a webnovel, when it was licensed by Seven Seas, before I had a chance to pick up the GL Bunko digital edition. I read and reviewed Volume 1 in English a year and a half ago, in fact, and then ran ahead to read the rest in Japanese, because it was that good. Until now, it was only available in digital form in Japanese.

Well, now Ichijinsha has licensed the series for a print release and, finally, I have had a chance to read the first novel in Japanese. Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou. -Revolution-, Volume 1 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。-Revolution-) was just as excellent as I remembered. Company drone Oohashi Rei wakes up as the protagonist of her favorite otome game, and decides to romance the villainess, the high-minded daughter of nobility, Claire François. Rae Taylor’s actions are ham-handed, but her experience with the game gives her powers and knowledge that offers many advantages.

Having had a year to experience the entire story from Rae’s point of view (and some of the story from Claire’s point of view) I can now see many things that were seeded to be resolved later…and some hints of the Truth (TM) about the world. It’s nice to see those things being seeded way back in the beginning. I know many more will also appear in the next two volumes. The overtly queer content still makes this series stand out from a lot of Yuri work. I’ll never get tired of that. ^_^

Ichijinsha did a great job on the book, with color dust cover, color character page up front (with hanagata’s original art for the GL Bunko cover as  fold out. The cover for this edition is a new work by hanagata. All of the original illustrations are included and two extra stories. The first story is from Lene’s point of view, the final bit from Misha’s. I think I’d love to have this whole story once more from Misha’s point of view, for reasons that are a spoiler. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7 Portraits of the people, mostly, rather than the scenes
Story – 9
Characters – 10
Yuri – 7 one-sided in this volume, but…
LGBTQ –10
Service – 2 Dressing and undressing, Rae acting like a perv….

Overall – 9

This print edition doesn’t add anything new to the story, but it gives us a definitive volume for lovers of this series. If you’re still a holdout and where waiting for a print edition in Japanese, now is the time to grab a copy. Although, I won’t lie, having the Kindle translate feature makes reading the GL Bunko volumes a breeze.

It will be such a pleasure to be able to give this series more space on my shelf. ^_^

 

Posted in I'm in Love With the Villainess, inori, LGBTQ, Light Novel, Light Novels | 1 Comment »


My Idol Sits the Next Desk Over, Volume 2 Guest Review by Luce

April 6th, 2022

Please welcome back Luce, who will take a look at the remaining volumes of this series for us!

In the first volume, we saw Sakiko get over a good part of her shyness and awe of Chihiro, the girl sitting next to her that happens to be her favourite idol in a group called Spring Sunshine. She also manages to somewhat wrangle Maaya, a Spring Sunshine superfan, into their group, and there was a surprise concert – they all go, of course, but now Sakiko is awestruck by Chihiro again!

Volume 2 of My Idol Sits the Next Desk Over starts where we left off. Sakiko, having had Chihiro wave at her from on stage, is elated… But also awestruck? Having seen Chihiro as Chiro-chan the idol has made her nervous about the distance between them, although it seems somewhat evident to the audience that may only be half the problem.

Next, a sports festival, in which Sakiko tries to protect Chihiro’s identity from her photographer senpai so she doesn’t get outed as an idol. The three of them go on a ‘chic-nic’. Chihiro faces some criticism from classmates. And Sakiko and Maaya try to protect Chihiro from possible scandal in their own ways…that may not be very conducive. Finally, someone confesses to Chihiro! A lot happens in these chapters!

Now that Sakiko has come out of her shell a lot, the whole thing is a great deal better. That said, she has her hands full dealing with/mitigating the effects of Maaya. I think these two are intended to show two sides of fandom: the invested but respectful, and the obsessed and possessive. Due to Sakiko’s influence, Maaya never quite succeeds on her schemes, which largely involve singling Chihiro out and getting rid of any ‘interfering’ parties (in her opinion), but it is annoying. Her stalkerish tendencies will never become comfortable, and I hope she leaves them behind either by force or by choice. I feel a plot point in a future chapter may well be Chihiro linking Maaya and the forum aggressor as one and the same, and her reaction. But her view currently is clearly ‘Chihiro belongs to me’, and it is uncomfortable. Her actions towards Sakiko at times and some other characters are definitely not alright – if you can ignore them, the manga can be quite enjoyable. If it’s too close to home, maybe give it a skip. Vol 3 came out and by the end of that she’s not much better, Sakiko is just working more as a conscience engine for her. I await further developments.

Sakiko is another story. Being friends with Chihiro (and Maaya) has helped her immensely – we see her converse with other people in class quite freely by midway through, and it’s lovely to see her grow into herself. It seems fairly clear to us that she at the very least has a crush on Chihiro, and their growing closeness unsettles Maaya, who reacts in a… very Maaya way. It could be worse, and it’s resolved fairly quickly. One of her photography club senpais even thinks to herself about whether Sakiko is in love with Chiro-chan. So on the yuri front, I would say it is increasing. For her part, Chihiro seems to have had a bad experience in junior school, so her friends are very important to her, although she tends towards Sakiko – could we see something into this?

We get a few more characters in this book, which is nice. A thought I had is that’s its nice to have male characters who aren’t portrayed as creepy and aren’t just there for plot drama. We get some people who aren’t into idol groups, and announce their discovery of Chihiro as an idol in a slightly unfavourable way, which is greatly frustrating to the three of the main characters – but Chihiro deals with it in her own way, which was lovely to see. Especially with the other two seeming to think she needs to be protected – she is a bit clueless at times, so there is some reason – it was good to see her stand up for herself in her own way.

Story: 8
Art: 8, its bright and sunny, suits the story it’s telling.
Service: 1
Yuri: 5. Sakiko hasn’t made it there yet. Not sure if Maaya is in love or just obsession. Possibly both.
Overall: 9

The story is tending towards Spring Shine getting more popular, even if just within the class, but if they do, that could change things quite significantly. Maaya is uncomfortable at times, but over-ride-able in my opinion. I’ll be staying tuned – Volume 3 and and Volume 4 have come out as of 5th April!

Posted in English Manga, Guest Review, Luce, Yuri Manga | 4 Comments »


Hana ni Arashi, Volume 9 (はなにあらし)

April 4th, 2022

We have watched Nanoha and Chidori since they began dating. For a very long time, it was under the radar, but as they look towards a wider future together, they’ve been less concerned if their friends know.

Hana ni Arashi, Volume 9 (はなにあらし) is a festival of festivals. Christmas and New Year’s and Valentines Day and all the attendant joys of finding time together, giving each other gifts and spending time with friends.

There is no new ground here; this has been a slow, incredibly gentle first love story. But for all that it’s been fun. And, almost incredibly, it hadsprovided Chidori and Nanoha with people they don’t have to hide in front of. I would not have expected that. But, there they are making chocolate with Mai for Valentine’s Day so she can give it to her new crush….her basketball team sempai. She’s got a much better chance with sempai than she did with Nanoha.

In it’s attempt to not stress anyone out, this narrative is falling a little into the Yuritopia rut – every relationship is romantic, every friendship is pairing up. But you know what? Fine. Let all the kiddies have girlfriends. It won’t hurt them or me. ^_^ Chidori and Nanoha are feeling freer to show physical affection to one another, which also kind of nice.

This is still straight-up girl-meets-girl kind of “Story A.” It remains unlikely to contain a radical coming out scene, or anything other than sweet, cute scenes of first love, coupled with occasional ugh-making bath and locker room scenes. Chidori and Nanoha are adorable and it’s okay for us to just want them and their friends to be happy.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 8
Yuri – 7
Service – 3 Why? Fucking creepers.

Overall – 7

I am endlessly surprised that this has not been licensed yet.

Posted in Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Comic Yuri Hime, April 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年4月号)

April 3rd, 2022

Comic Yuri Hime, April 2022 (コミック百合姫2022年4月号) starts off with an evocative cover image. I very much continue to enjoy this year’s cover design, with it’s patchwork of color and texture. Great design work there! It’s always nice when Comic Yuri Hime chooses creative design for their annual theme.

The first story of interest to me this issue is inori-sensei’s “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” We’ve come to the climax of the commoner movement arc, which means we’re almost at the end of the first novel. I hope you’re all filling out the monthly questionnaire and letting them know you want more of this series! I can say that, for this series, an international audience is recognized. Let Ichijinsha know that we want Drama CDs and anime and all the things. ^_^

In “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto desu!” Kanako is in crisis. So much of her identity has been wrapped up in Hime that now that Hime and Yano are reconciled, Kanako is floundering. What direction will this desire for Hime head in? It could get ugly, but by now I completely trust Miman-sensei to take care of these characters. (Although I’ve got my eye on Nene…she’d better be okay, is all I’m saying. (-_-)

Kashikaze’s “Lonely Girl ni Sakeraenai” was absolutely adorbs this month. Ayaka finds her path in life, she and Sora eat cookies. I’m going to jump here and also mention, Inui Ayu’s and Ohi Pikachi’s comic essays on life with their girlfriends. After decades of high and low dramas, I like having an iyashikei manga or three to read and just be happy. More wholesome Yuri please!

Life as a married couple is going well for Kurumi and Ruriko in “Onna Tomodachi to Kekkonshitemita.”

“Kimi to Shiranai Natsu ni Naru” continues to be one of my faves, as Haru and Hinoto craft a homemade marriage certificate and decide to get jobs to keep up this beach house lifestyle. With this, they have fully thrown away the business suit lifestyle and they are positively glowing.

I have to tell you that “Odoriba Skirt ga Naru” just NAILS the landing here. 10/10 Michiru and Kiki are always so tenuous and now they might be on the edge of a breakup, but they talk…and then they dance. The three page set where their counting slowly comes together and eventually shows them in perfect synch was an outstanding use of word balloons. You could practically hear the music swell behind Uttane-sensei’s art.

Taguchi Shouichi’s “Futari Escape” is so goofy that I can’t possibly dislike it. In this chapter, they create a fictitious cat for themselves and really lean into the fiction hard.

In honor of the re-release of Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu and Love Gene Double XX by Taishi Zaou and Eiki Eiki, the first chapter of each is included this month. These manga originally ran back in the late 2000s, early 2010’s in Yuri Hime. I’ve reviewed them all here on Okazu (Love Gene Double XX Volume 1 | Volume 2  and Haru, Natsu, Aki, Fuyu)…they were both problematic. I still don’t know if the problems stemmed from primarily BL creators creating Yuri, but it sure seemed that way at the time. I’m not sure they’ve worn well, but YMMV.

Inui Ayu and Kon-san discuss negative things about each other, to temper all the lovey-dovey in her essay comic so far and Ohi Pikachi let’s us in on when she and Fuuka spent the night together for the first time.

As always, there are stories I read and have not mentioned and stories I do not read. (Like, there was a manga that ended this issue with both characters dead and my thought was, “that’s okay.” It’s not worth it to me to mention some of these.) But for the things I am reading, there’s more to like than ever before, overall, a fantastic issue of Comic Yuri Hime!

Ratings:

Overall – 9 (“Odoriba” put it over the line. ^_^)

The May issue is already in my greedy little hands, and it’s so good. ^_^

 

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