My Future Starts Today ~Miku&Kyoko~, Volume 1

June 12th, 2023

On a background of blue hydrangeas, are two girls in tan sweater and red skirt school uniforms are back to back. Standing, one holds a camera. The other reaches back above her head to hold the other's ponytail and reaches behind her to hold the other girl's wrist.Do you remember Blue Drop? It began as a manga, then had a couple of Drama CDs. Some years later it was given an anime that was both very interesting and kind of forgettable at the same time.  Funimation licensed it, releasing a complete collection in 2010. That’s practically a human lifespan ago and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if you didn’t remember it. But the point is, that the creator, Yoshitomi Akihito has gone on to make a number of stories and few series, most of which center on sexualizing schoolgirls. None of them have made it over here. I was very surprised to learn that My Future Starts Today ~Miku&Kyoko~, Volume 1 has been localized and released as a digital volume.

Kyoko and Miku have been friends since childhood, but Kyoko doesn’t really understand Miku. So when Miku tells Kyoko she’s in love with her, Kyoko has no idea how to feel about it. It doesn’t help at all, that Miku offers Kyoko her body to do whatever she wants with.

Miku sets about trying to appeal to Kyoko, to seduce her, but Kyoko…while not opposed, per se, really doesn’t know what Miku is thinking. Miku ramps up the seduction with every chapter until Kyoko pushes her away, causing a separate misunderstanding. As this volumes ends, Kyuko hears rumors in school that Miku is hanging with the predatory lesbian Nana-sempai! 

The major down side to this story is Miku’s behavior. She’s written and drawn like every pervy middle-aged dude who thinks high school girls are seductive, thinks girls are like. It’s frankly exhausting. But this has always been Yoshitomi’s oeuvre, so I can’t say I was surprised. That said, both girls stay mostly full dressed (Miku does undress a little) and while they do kiss, when Miku tries to touch Kyoko is when she is pushed away.

This series is complete at Volume 2 if you’d like to see what becomes of Kyoko and Miku. I think I can guess. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 7 Very clean and understandable, lots of “sexy” poses
Story – 5 Miku wants Kyoko, there’s not that much subtlely
Characters  – 7 Other than the immediate circumstances, we don’t learn much about the as people
Service – 7
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7

I’ve encountered the publisher MediBang and Media Do Co., Ltd.once or twice, but I finally looked them up. MediBang seems to be a publishing and art platform, while Media Do describes themselves as “one of the largest eBook distribution companies in the world ” – and they own Netgalley, for those reviewers out there. On the translation side they seem to be doing a fine job, but this manga hardly had complicated ideas to communicate, either. They don’t credit humans for the production and I have a nagging feeling that some or all of this is automated. I hope I am wrong.

Posted in English Manga, Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »


My Date Is A Total Ike Woman

June 11th, 2023

A short dark-haired woman in red and black carries a woman with short light-colored hair in a denim jacket and white pants, who gently strokes the dark-haired woman’s chin. The title “My Date Is A Total Ike Woman and a small image of a merry-go-round in lavender. Logo that says Tomboy in the upper right corner in blue. In the upper left, also in blue read “Butch x Butch” and “Presented by Natuo Mutsumi.”Mustumi Natsuo is a name with which we at Okazu are familiar. Mutsumi-sensei was the face of the Boyish² Butch x Butch Yuri Anthology project last year. This year, Mutsumi-sensei ran a Kickstarter for a new work, also a butch x butch comic. And, like the last project, this one blew past early goals. In fact, we’ll be getting a voiced reading of the comic at some point, since stretch goals were likewise met.

So today, I thought we’d take a look at My Date Is A Total Ike Woman, the English language edition of Date Aite Ga Ikemen Onna Datta Kudan (デート相手がイケメン♀だった件). Both Japanese and English language editions are available on the Tomboys Booth.pm page, where you can purchase them both as a physical book and as digital. When I backed the Kickstarter, I pledged for both the JP and EN editions as physical books. As soon as the PDFs became available, I scooped them up, so I could talk about them here!

The title of this comic is a pun on the Japanese word ikemen (イケメン) which means an attractive guy. We’ve seen that in some works here, like, Ikemen Onna to Hakoiri Musume and Ikemen Sugidesu Shiki-senpai! For anyone familiar with the term, this title would be expressive.

My Date Is A Total Ike Woman is a 37-page comic about Ushio and Asahi, two otaku butches on a blind date at an amusement park. In this short story, there are so many qualities that makes this comic worth owning and reading. When they meet for the first time, they are both blown away how cool each other is…and immediately become intimidated in rather cute and relatable ways. They spend their date negotiating boundaries both mental and physical. Both are otaku, with different interests, but both have had some negative experiences and don’t want to give up to much and get hurt. As the date goes on, they learn to open up and be honest with each other. This comic ends in a perfectly satisfying way that makes me hope for a sequel some day.

The translation is very good. In an early page Asahi sees Ushio for the first time and thinks, “Crap, their hotness level is clearly over 9000!” which of course made me laugh out loud, being a good otaku myself. The art is simple, with fantastic body language and facial expressions. When they should look cool, they look very cool indeed. For sample pages, check out Mutsumi-sensei’s Twitter page. 

If you’d like to read an engaging comic featuring two butch women on a date, definitely get yourself over to Tomboys and grab yourself a copy!

Ratings:

Art – 9 100% in wheelhouse
Story – 9 Covers a lot of ground in few pages
Characters – 9 So cute
Service – Well, ahem, cute butch women, so…10 for me
LGBTQ – 10

Overall – 9

The book ends with an interview of Mutsumi-sensei, about trying to create more queer comics in Japan. Obviously, I will always support that.
I hope we’ll get more of these two and their various otaku pursuits. ^_^

 

 
 

 

 

Posted in Doujinshi, LGBTQ | 2 Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – June 3, 2023

June 10th, 2023

In black block letters, YNN Yuri Network News. On the left, in black silhouette, a woman with a broad brim hat and dress stands, a woman in a tight outfit sits against the Y. Art by Mari Kurisato for Okazu.English Yuri Manga

Still doing some catch up on the Yuricon Store, but I’m mostly through the back log now and heading into the final stretch, at which point, I’ll be hustling to catch up to what’s coming out now. ^_^

Coming out this month, we have The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Vol. 4 of the manga. Annis, Euphie and Tilty embark on discovering the mysterious power of Lanie Cyan.

ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword!, Volume 2 of the manga is up. Follow Flum and Milkit on their (kinda gross) adventures!

Futari Escape Volume 2 and Volume 3 are up, so let’s get goofy and kills some time learning about dinosaurs and eating food, while pretending it’s winter in the summer.

If I Could Reach You, Volume 7, the final volume of tMnR’s series, will land on shelves this month from Kodansha. In conversation on the Okazu Discord, Hyperart Marcus-san noted that there is a doujinshi that was available with th final volume in Japan that provides an epilogue. I did some digging and found that doujinshi as a digital read on Bookwalker JP! If you want to see what will become of Uta and Kaoru, check out Tatoe Todokanu Itoda to Shite mo “Tsumuida Ito no Sono-saki de” (たとえとどかぬ糸だとしても『紡いだ糸のその先で』). This is in Japanese. I always choose Bookwalker because it has global reach, in case you wonder. ^_^ Also, check out Luce’s overview of the series this week on Okazu!

The climactic final volume of Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit, Volume 5 will be out this month, from Seven Seas! What will become of our heroes and their quest to protect humanity from X’s Antinoids?

 

Japanese Yuri Manga

Sal Jiang’s violent tale of two women in an overly competitive battle for supremacy in the workplace wraps up with 白と黒~Black & White~, Volume 3. We’ll be getting Volume 2 of Black and White: Tough Love At The Office in February 2024.

YNN Correspondent Patricia B wrote in with the news of a new Yuri manga  Tsurugi by indie yuri mangaka Nerikomi Tōkichirō, who has self-published yuri manga in the past and contributed to the “Boyish2” anthology, that is currently being crowdfunded on Kickstarter. Patricia says “It looks like a fun fantasy story with political intrigue” and she hopes it’s successful.

Yuri is My Job! Official Comic Anthology (私の百合はお仕事です！公式コミックアンソロジー) has some amazing contributors! Ohsawa Yayoi, Hara Yuriko, Yuama, Yoshimurakana (!) and others.

Shimura Takako’s series Ottona ni Nattemo (おとなになっても) will be ending soon, but Volume 8 is up on the Store for you to enjoy! Akari and Ayano move in and have to face the reality of their relationship.

Mikanuji’s Fuzuroi no Renri (不揃いの連理 ), Volume 7 seems to focus on deliquent Shizuku and schoolgirl Saori’s relationship under pressure. You can find out who these two are in Assorted Entanglements, Volume 1  and Volume 2  – which is out this week from Yen Press!

Kuchibeta Shokudou (くちべた食堂) is another Yuri and food story that I’m looking forward to reading. It’s been 5 years since this customer has been here – will she find what she’s looking for?

The delightful Yuri Monogatari, (はなものがたり) about two older women bonding over makeup and building a new life, will be ending in July for a 3rd volume of the manga. ANN’s Rafael Antonio Pineda has the details. Volume 1 has been reviewed here on Okazu.

 

Yuri Light Novels

We’ve got Qualia the Purple up, for those of you who would like to read a popular science fiction LN about a girl who sees things differently.

Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta The Second is listed on the Store. Interestingly, while the first and third volumes are on Amazon, this one is not. Grab this poly story and let us know why.

 

Okazu News

It has been a month since I was fired from my job. If you have enjoyed the news and reviews here at Okazu, please consider supporting us. Now is definitely the time. This will keep us able to pay Guest Reviewers and make new videos now that I am feeling better! We can really use your help.

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Yuri Animation

Via Manga Mogura on Twitter, they introduce The Summer, a Korean Yuri animation by Red Dog Culture House. Check their twitter link for the trailer. On the Okazu Discord, Frank turned up that The Summer is apparently an adaptation of a novella by Choi Eunyoung. It’s available in a Korean-English bilingual edition: The Summer. Frank also noted that according to a summary he found, The Summer is not just a high-school story but extends into adulthood. And he found an interview with the author on Pen.org. Thanks Frank, great work!

 

Yuri VNs and Games

It’s time to pre-order Birdie Wing for Nintendo Switch!  This game has a multiplayer mode and a story mode, with mini-games with “gimmicky putting.” It sounds like this really might be great.

Akaiito HD Remaster is a classic Yuri VN adventure. Kei sorts through her late mother’s things and learns of her inheritance deep in the mountains.

Aoishiro HD Remaster is a series set in the same timeline. Syouko goes to a temple with her kendo club for training and finds a girl washed up on the beach.

Noodletub Games’ GOOD LUCK BABY! is now up on the Store. This is a “heartwarming, comedic and emotionally-driven yuri visual novel about love, found family, and saving the world. “

Via Yuri Navi, Lycoris has released the key visual for their upcoming Yuri VN, Uso Kara Hajimaru Koi No Natsu (嘘から始まる恋の夏) on Twitter.

 

 

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Other News

Briana Lawrence at Crunchyroll News has put together a weekly list of manga suggestion in Pride Month Reads.

Our dear friends at Cheapmanga.com are retiring after 30 years of cons We’ll miss them, but you can help them clean out the store – go to Cheapmanga.com and get 20% off you order with the code Clearance20. 20% off a copy of By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime And Manga is a great deal!

 

 

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Posted in Yuri Network News | No Comments »


Pension Life Vampire

June 9th, 2023

The first thing that must be said about Pension Life Vampire by Shouichi Taguchi, is that it is available to read in English, for free on the Shueisha Mangaplus app. I like this app, because it has all the popular Shonen Jump comics, and some from Ultra Jump and other Shueisha mags. It is completely free to use and read, but there are time embargos on some chapters of some series. (For instance, if a volume is on shelves now, those chapters are not available.) Many series are completely free to read – once. Once you open a chapter and read it, it is no longer available to be read. As compromises go for free, this is perfectly fine for me. I’m following a number of series on this app.

The second thing that must be said is that Pension Life Vampire by Shouichi Taguchi is a lot of fun. You may recognize the art style or Taguchi’s name, because he is the creator of Futari Escape from Comic Yuri Hime.  Volumes 1-3 are available in English, Volume 3 came out this week in fact. Volume 4 is slated for 2024 English release. Like Futari Escape, Pension Life Vampire is goofy, Yuri-adjacent and worth reading if you like that kind of stuff.

Eri was part of an elite force of teens, the Rewriters, who were tasked with hunting legendary monsters. When the war is over and the Rewriters disbanded, Eri starts a new life as a student in a regular school. She really gives it her all, and actually figures out this making friends thing, which was refreshing. She also discovers a cute little vampire who is running a boarding house (the “pension” of the title) close to the school. Eri ends up working for Veronica – call her “Nica” – and having a life still filled with monsters and mayhem, but also with ice cream parfaits and friends.

There is a warm heart at the center of this story. Even as shouty and full of hijinks as individual chapters are, the jokes are only slightly groan-making and generally sweet, rather than mean-spirited. Nica is kind to Eri, who is learning to be a person after having been a soldier for most of her life, and new characters quickly become friends.

I said that this series is Yuri-adjacent, and I stand by that. Much like Futari Escape, (in which there’s no way to know that the protagonists are a couple, except that we are told they are,) Vampire Pension Life is filled with hijinks and jokes, some of which are based upon the idea that Nica actually like-likes Eri.I would dismiss it entirely but in a chapter where Eri thinks she is about to lose Nica, she becomes upset far out of proportion to losing the acquaintance of someone she hardly knows. To her credit, Eri understands that she’s overreacting and implies that…maybe…her feelings are not just friendship. Then the hijinks continue.

If light-hearted vampire x vampire hunter comedies are your thing, I think I can actually recommend this one. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 6 It’s Taguchi, so the focus is on ebullient rather than good
Story – 7 Amusing, occasionally laugh out loud funny
Characters – 8
Service – 1 on principle, but it’s not the point
Yuri – …probably a 2, but let me have my fun.

When a vampire hunter needs a new life
A mysterious vampire think she’ll make a good wife
Monsters great and small
Walk up and down the hall
But in this monster’s house there’s no strife

A vampire story I can enjoy. Woot.

Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »


Mejirobana Saku, Volume 3 (メジロバナの咲く)

June 8th, 2023

Two girls in flower-like green school uniforms, pass another girl in the same uniform, on a brick path.It was summer 2021 that last time we visited this manga by the insanely hard-working Nakamura Asumiko. When I initially encountered it in the pages of Rakuen Le Paradis in 2018(!) I did not expect it would keep going as it has. But as I spend time with the characters, I find myself more interested in them.

In Volume 1 we met Ruby Canossa, a young lady at a private school for girls and Steph, the engimatic older student who fascinates and terrifies her. In Volume 2 a crisis pops up when it appears that means that Ruby may have to leave school. Ruby’s reluctant and resentful roommate Liz rises to the occasion and helps out, but don’t assume she’s a friend!

Now in Volume 3 of Mejirobana Saku (メジロバナの咲く) our attention is turned towards Liz…and Steph. The circumstances of Steph’s injury, Liz’s complicated feelings for the older girl…and a teacher’s grooming of Liz are all entwined in a way that makes this volume compelling, incredibly hard to read and emotional. Content Warning for off-screen violence and implication of intended sexual assault. It wasn’t an easy volume.

Now, at last, we understand the undercurrents that wrap around Ruby. And now, a new plot has appeared. There are rumors of a ghost are starting to appear around the school and small items are going missing…! <shiver>

Nakamura-sensei’s art is so distinctive and so evocative. When a scene is getting intense, it’s really intense. Because the magazine this series runs in is quarterly, we’re only getting a volume every other year, but every volume has been a delight. It’s impressive to see Nakamura-sensei do such an interesting and pretty unique Yuri story, given that the setting is pretty Class S and she’s best known as a BL artist. That said this is a really great story.

Nakamura-sensei’s art is so distinctive and so evocative. When a scene is getting intense, it’s really intense. Because the magazine this series runs in is quarterly, we’re only getting a volume every other year, but every volume has been a delight. It’s impressive to see Nakamura-sensei do such an interesting and pretty unique Yuri story, given that the setting is pretty Class S and she’s best known as a BL artist. That said this is a really great story.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – Nothing overt, but the implications were dark
Yuri – 7

Overall – 9

Great stuff and I always look forward to more. We’ll be getting this volume in English as A White Rose in Bloom, Volume 3 in January 2024.

Posted in Yuri Manga | No Comments »