Archive for the Yuri Manga Category


Yuri Manga: Lillium Terarium (リリウム・テラリウム)

March 17th, 2019

Lilium Terarium (リリウム・テラリウム) by ED is a collection of short comics from Yuri Hime @ Pixiv. As YNN Corespondent CW helpfully noted, “The serialization was based on a 4 page piece which got quite heavily retweeted when it was posted on twitter.”

The book itself is impressive, with glossy pages, comics printed in one or two colors that differentiate arcs from one other and clear printed dust cover, Lilium Terrarium is more like an artbook than a manga.

The name is, frankly, perfect. We watch young women in a variety of typical shoujo-style Yuri set-ups, much as we watch snails in terrarium, with interest, rather than engagement. These are stories we’ve seen before, just the markings are different. That said, the book is a very nice version of that Yuri terrarium and the snails all have nice markings. ^_^

My favorite of the arcs is the Kanako & Yumi arc, which begins with four friends playing at the seaside. Kanako and Yumi’s relationship is comfortable, but the camaraderie between the four is what warmed the cockles of my heart. (I had a grandmother who used to say that. We used to make fun of her, but I think I just figured it out, the ventricles kind of looks like cochlae. HUH.) I also enjoyed the heavy dark lines of the Mei & Aki arc and loved that the book ended with a sweet lightly-colored and charming story about Nanayo and Juri, who adorn the back cover, as well.

As a reproduction of digital comics in paper form, it’s unique and quite lovely.

I picked this up at Shosen Book Tower so I got one of the special paper inclusions, this one of Mei, I believe.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Service – 0
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7

All in all a nice, if not breathtaking, collection of Yuri schoolgirl stories which was more interesting for the presentation than the content. 





Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – March 16, 2019

March 16th, 2019

Yuri Manga

Kodansha has announced the license for tMnR’s If I Could Reach You, with a planned release in autumn.

Naoko Kodama’s I Married my Friend to Shut My Parents Up is slated for a release next month in English from Seven Seas. This one-shot nothing like NTR, so if that put you off, you need not worry. That said, if NTR turned you on, this next book is nothing like it, so be warned. Read my review of the JP volume to decide for yourself.

Vanilla Nonhuman x Nonhuman Yuri Anthology ( バニラ人外×人外百合アンソロジー) and Cinnamon Nonhuman x Human Yuri Anthology (シナモン Cinnamon 人外×人間百合アンソロジー), from Kadokawa  and SHIBUYA Gal Yuri Anthology (SHIBUYA ギャル百合アンソロジー) from Ichijinsha are now on the Yuricon Store and available on JP shelves this month. 

Also from Ichijinsha are two more anthologies hitting shelves at the end of the month: Macaron Idol Yuri Anthology (マカロン　アイドル百合アンソロジー) and Yuri-quer Alcohol Yuri Anthology (ユリキュール　アルコール百合アンソロジー) both of which are making me long for the days when Yuri anthologies were named after flowers. ^_^;

On the one hand I am thrilled beyond belief that there is so much Yuri coming out in Japan, on the other hand, I am vexed at the pumping out of themed anthologies designed to appeal to fetishes. But yay for artists getting paid to do work! I think some of these will, by necessity, be digital purchases for me. I don’t have the room anymore for getting every Yuri book ever, and I’m running out of time to read and review everything that comes out. I need more patrons so I can quit my day job and do this full time. ^_^ Become an Okazu patron, get sneak previews to new research, access to patron-only events and content and help us support queer creators and Yuri media. Five dollars a month can change the world.

YNN Correspondent Sean G tells us that Dengeki Bunko has announced an Adachi to Shimamura (安達としまむら) manga…and in looking around I see that it was already a 3-volume manga from Gangan Comics, but this appears to be a new serialization that will run in Dengeki Daioh magazine. Also, for those of you following the series, Volume 8 of the novels will be released later this spring.

And finally! a book I’ve been looking out for for months, Lily Lily Rose Volume 2 from Konno Kita. I enjoyed Volume 1 and have been hoping to see the continuation.

 

Yuri Event

YNN Corespondent endlessrain contacted us on Twitter to tell us that there is a Yuri and Yaoi event in Seville, Spain on March 23 & 24! Here is the website for more details. How exciting!

The Yuriten event has opened today in Ebisu, Tokyo! It will be in this location until the 24th and will open in Osaka on March 30.

The folks who publish Yuri manga magazine Galette is holding a Galette Yuri Matsuri on May 6 in Tokyo Culture Culture in Shibuya. Several of the magazine artists will be there, live drawing is planned and a Q&A with the artists.

I sincerely hope that you’ll join us for the 100th Anniversary of Yuri Tour in Tokyo in September! 

Yuri Anime

RightStuf is doing an inventory clearance on the Revolutionary Girl Utena 20th Anniversary Box Set. It’s $90 off, which made it affordable enough for me, finally. ^_^ The set comes with the complete series, movie, book with interviews, production drawings, character designs, art, etc., and a box with both the Duellist’s ring and the Black Rose ring. Limited while supplies last and all that. 

The Live Action stage play of Yagate Kimi ni Naru / Bloom Into You has announced cast and will be performed in May in Shibuya, Tokyo at the Zenrosai Hall / Space zero according to this Comic Natalie report.

 

Yuri Games

A bunch of folks have written in to tell us about Shiritsu Verbara Gakuen ~Versailles no Bara Re*imagination~ a Nintendo Switch game based on the Rose of Versailles series. Check out Crystalynn Hodgin’s report on ANN for details and Promotional video! 

New Yuri game Hatsukoi Shift has opened up a Twitter account….we’ll be waiting to see what the account announces.

Previously announced game with some Yuri, Shinrui no Minasam e, is now slated for release on Ps4 and Switch.

 

Other News

ANN has the video in which Brie Larson cites Sailor Moon as one of her childhood role models. ^_^

YNN Correspondent Super has written in to let you know that Universal Studios Japan is running a new Sailor Moon 4-D experience and this time, the Outer Guardians will join the battle! Check out the ANN report for details.

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

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





Yuri Manga: Galette Meets, Issue 3 (ガレットmeets3)

March 15th, 2019

The third Galette Meets, the doujinshi put out by the folks at Galette Works, is a pretty healthy body of Yuri work.

With 8 stories for 120 pages, some by artists we know and love and others by new folks whose names we don’t yet know, it’s a great way to dip your toes into a wider range of stories featuring the emotional range of women. There’s sweet here and ugly and mean, and kind and romantic all dealt with by varying artists in different ways.

Ogawa Masumi’s story about a toxic relationship was the standout story for me, as it takes a dark path through bullying, and using sex as a weapon, and the extremes of love and lust in a chaotic few pages.

Galette Meets 3 is available in Print and on Kindle from Amazon JP and on US Kindle (in Japanese). It’s not (yet, maybe?) available on Global Bookwalker. 

Ratings: 

Overall – 8

Galette Meets 3.5 will be available in print at the end of this month – which is an interesting little thing, because in the end of Galette Meets 3, it says that the next one will be, naturally 4, and yet, here is 3.5. with 90 pages of content. I’ll be interested to see what “a little sexy and more sweet” stories we’ll get this time. 





Yuri Manga: Kase-san and Cherry Blossoms (English)

March 13th, 2019

Love after high school graduation. Surprisingly few Yuri manga address the idea of a same-sex relationship in the “outside world” after secondary education. There’s a good reason for this, honestly, as life rapidly becomes more complex once a person is on their own. One day, you’re picking out a set of plates for your own kitchen and the next, you’re searching for renter’s insurance and a job that still offers real vacation time. 

Of all the many thousands of reviews here on Okazu, a mere handful of Yuri manga have so much as explored that space between high school and adult life. Morinaga Milk’s GIRL FRIENDS literally took a look at it, then shied away from dealing with the reality of adulthood. 

All of which is why I absolutely love Kase-san and Cherry Blossoms by Takashima Hiromi, the fifth book of the Kase-san series, out now in English from Seven Seas. Yamada does not suddenly become a confident adult the moment she graduates, Kase-san is not suddenly less jealous than she was, Miwachi isn’t less of a haphazard mess. They are all who they were in high school….and then again, they aren’t. The thing I’ve liked best about this series from the beginning is the naturalness of it. I feel like we’re watching these people in real time (although, as Takashima-sensei notes in the Afterword, the series began in 2010 – that’s a long time to be in high school!)

Kase-san and Yamada, that is to say, Tomoka and Yui, sleep together and grin goofily at one another, as one does. They support one another and spend time together. It’s just lovely to see them maturing and becoming adults who are in love. 

As always, Jocelyne Allen’s translation is so good, I can hear Yui and Tomoka saying the lines. The reproduction is high quality. Once again, Seven Seas has provided us with an authentic, enjoyable manga reading experience.

Ratings:

Art – 8 So much improved over the early days
Character – 9
Story – 9
Yuri -10
Service – 6 Some gratuitous underwear shots

Overall – 9

It’s unlikely that we’ll see Yamada and Kase-san addressing homophobia, social or political issues; some other manga will have to go there. But that’s okay. That’s not what we read the Kase-san series for.

 





Yuri Manga: Still Sick, Volume 1 (スティッルシック)

March 11th, 2019

Shimizu Makoto has a secret – she’s a Yuri doujinshi artist  – and no one in her office knows. No one, that is, until coworker Maekawa Akane sees her selling her Yuri books at a comic market.

Shimizu is terrified that Maekawa will blow her cover, Naturally, she assumes Maekawa will hold this secret knowledge against her. When Maekawa doesn’t do any such thing and, in fact, seems to be encouraging her, Shimizu has no idea how to handle it. Maekawa seems to be genuinely supportive of this hobby, but what Shimizu doesn’t know is that Maekawa Akane has a secret of her own. And what a secret it is!

In Still Sick, Volume 1 (スティッルシック) by Akashi, Shimizu is completely at a loss for what to do or how to deal with Maekawa’s apparent goodwill, but when she learns her coworker’s secret, Maekawa turns stone cold towards her. Since she’d let Maekawa into her life, Shimizu feels doubly uncomfortable for being cut out of the other woman’s life, and offers support but, if anything, that seems to make things worse. Even more difficult, Shimizu is starting to feel sincere affection for her coworker. When Maekawa kisses Shimizu after they have a minor confrontation, and Maekawa passes it off as a joke, Shimizu is left wondering what she’s really feeling. 

Volume 1 was marginally uncomfortable to read, mostly because Shimizu is a mostly always uncomfortable character. The story was not at all what I expected based on the synopsis, but I like the story more than I expected to based on that synopsis! Maekawa’s big reveal totally blind-sided me and now I definitely want to see what happens with the two of them. 

Ratings:

Art – 7 Solid, not outstanding
Characters – 8
Story – 8
Yuri – 3, with a lot of potential
Service – 0 so far

Overall – 8

Still Sick is a digital comic that has been collected by MAG Garden’s Blade Comics, a name I haven’t heard in years. Volume 1 sold out quickly on Amazon JP for the first order, and was one of two books that were on my must-get list when I was in Japan last month. I’m really glad I got it, and look forward to the next volume.