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Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – January 8, 2022
I foolishly took New Year’s Day off, so we have a LOT of news to get through today. Ready? Let’s have at it!
Yuri Manga
Seven Seas has announced the license of Ratana Satis’ Yuri webtoon, Pulse. And they seem to be specifically launching a new Seven Seas Webtoon‘s section of their website.
Via YNN Correspondent Laurent L, French manga publisher Taifu Comics has licensed Takeshima Eku’s Sasayakuyouni Koi o Utau as Whispering You a Love Song. This was among my top series for 2021, so yay French readers!
While I’m gathering up some amazing news about the international licensing scene, I want to add this piece of non-Yuri news: Webtoons is publishing a comic by Princess Jellyfish creator Higashimura Akiko. Alex Mateo has the news on ANN.
Tokyopop has licensed a new title, this one from Comic Ryu – Yuri Espoir. The OASG broke the news on Twitter. I think Ryu titles suit them and hope to see them pick up some others.
The Adachi and Shimamura light novel series will reach Volume 8 next month, with a release from Seven Seas and, based on the summary alone – will have not moved forward at all as a plot. Reminder kids, being obsessed with someone to the point that you are incapable of handling anything else or them interacting with anyone else, is super duper unhealthy and not at all romantic.
We have a few titles in Japanese and English that are on the Yuricon Store!
Heading our way soon is Miyako Miyahara’s I Can’t Believe I Slept With You!, Volume 1, from Seven Seas (originally known as Even If It Was Just Once, I Regret It).
Chasing After Aoi Koshiba, Volume 3 is now fully loaded with affiliate links to various print and digital vendors. No clue why, but Bookwalker just wasn’t coming through with that.
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Also on the Store:
Yuzaki Sakomi’s Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 2 (作りたい女と食べたい女), which I just finished reading, is so good. ^_^ YNN Correspondent Patricia B has written in to let us know that this series was voted #2 in manga for female readers by “Kono Manga ga Sugoi!.” Look Back, which I reviewed recently, turned up at #1 on the list for male readers. Alex Mateo has the whole list over on ANN.
We have Inui Ayu’s adorable autobiographical comic Kyou mo Hitotsu Yane no Shita, Volume 1 (今日もひとつ屋根の下) in print or digital format on the Store. It’s just so charming. ^_^
From webnovel to light novel to manga and back to revised light novel, Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou. -Revolution-, Volume 1 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。-Revolution-) is Ichijinsha’s rebooted light novel for inori’s series, now with illustrations by Aonishimo-sensei, who does the art for the manga. My copy should be arriving today! Can’t wait to see it.
Ane no Shinyuu, Watashi no Koibito. (姉の親友、私の恋人。) by Fujimatsu Mei is a complicated story of a woman with a siscon who falls for her sister’s friend. Via Yuri Navi, there is a 18-minute long voice comic on Youtube for this story. Having listened to it, I am really waffling on how I feel about the whole thing. ^_^;
Akuyaku Reijou to Ai No Tamenara Nan Demo Suru Onna – Ane Ido Hyaku Go Sakuhinshu (悪役令嬢と愛のためならなんでもする女 姉井戸・百合作品集). This collection of work by Ane Ido has a title story of a woman summoned to another world to meet her favorite character, the “villainess.” I love the cover art and plan on giving it a try.
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Via Comic Natalie, the first volume of Yuri love comedy, Oshi V ga Oshiego de Watashi ga Mama de!? (推しVが教え子で私がママで!?) Volume 1, is available for those who may enjoy the hijinks between a student teacher and her student Vtuber.
Also via Comic Natalie we have news of Volume 1 of Anata ga Watashi wo Terasu kara. (あなたが私を照らすから。) from Comic Cune, by Muku. In this cute-by-design story, the school holds a “best couple” contest to determine the Student Council President and VP. Akie has fallen for Yuki, will they be the next best couple?
Yuri Anime
Egan Loo at ANN reports on new details of cast, staff, music and more for the spring debut of The Executioner and Her Way of Life.
Via YNN Correspondent dm, Kodansha’s series My Master Has No Tail is getting an anime! This is a great choice. I have no doubt it will make a fun anime. Egan again has the report on ANN. I’ve reviewed Volume 1 and Volume 2 in Japanese here on Okazu. Check out the trailer on Youtube. The novels are available from Yen Press, and I have reviewed Volume 1 and Volume 2.
Yuri VNs
Bad Faith is a “solo-developed psychological horror/drama visual novel about sanctuaries, secrets, and serious consequences.” This new Yuri VN looks like a pretty dark take on the private school trope. It comes with content warning as soon as you hit the page, so they ain’t playing around. Still, it looks interesting if that’s your cup of tea. If you are giving it a whirl, let me know, I’d love a review.
Yuri Doujinshi
Lilyka has a new title, A Manga About An All Girls’ College Student by Yuriemon. “Miwa Wakamatsu is a female college student who is interested in studying psychology…? and LIKES GIRLS! One day she goes out to casually confess her love but is immediately turned down, which makes things very awkward.”
Other News
It was a week of mergers and acquisitions in the anime world. AMC has acquired Sentai Filmworks and HIDIVE, and Cinedigm has purchased RetrocrushTV. I expect that to kill the free-with-ads model for Retrocrush, so watch what you want to see now if you’re opposed to paying for anime. As Justin Sevakis noted on Twitter, this makes Discotek the only independent anime distributor now.
If you’re looking for something to read with no pictures, check out this list of 10 LGBTQ Mystery Books by CJ Connor on Book Riot.
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Uchi no Shishou ha Shippo ga nai, Volume 2 (うちの師匠はしっぽがない)
Weirdly, it was almost a year ago that I reviewed volume 1 of this series, in which we met Mameda, a tanuki who wanders into the big city and becomes enamored by the magic of rakugo, Japan’s traditional form of storytelling. This week I finally made time for Uchi no Shishou ha Shippo ga nai, Volume 2 (うちの師匠はしっぽがない)
Rakugo is, effectively, a one-person play, in which the story teller captivates an audience by playing all the roles in their funny, or sometimes sentimental, story. If you did not know any of this before you came into this series, I assure you that you will most definitely know about it. when you leave.
Each chapter is accompanied by interstitial notes on some of the specific cultural touchpoints of that particular chapter. In this chapter Mameda will up her rakugo skills and defeat a mischievous god child at the Tenjin Matsuri, be possessed by one of the three most famous ghosts in Japan, Okiku and she’ll help out her master’s shamisen player, Koito-san, when an accident threatens to stop the show.
All of these things are true, but the descriptions don’t do justice to the idea of a playful tanuki navigating through human and rakugo culture at the same time. Luckily, I don’t have to work too hard, because you can read My Master has no Tail, in English from Kodansha, available from these helpful affiliate links on Amazon, and Global Bookwalker, because this is not on the Yuricon Store.
And why is this not on the Yuricon Store, although I discovered it through Yuri lists? Because while I don’t argue that there is a bond growing between Bunko and her baka-tanuki disciple, Mameda, I’m not entirely sure I see it as Yuri. It is absolutely cute, and there are some obvious set-ups that are designed to make people think of more, but…well, I just don’t buy it. ^_^ Nonetheless this is a darling manga and very funny in places that I absolutely enjoy the heck out of and will probably read more.
TNSK’s art favors silly, rather than realistic, but the Osaka of the story is lively and fun and you’ll learn a lot about rakugo, which is always nice.
Ratings:
Art – 8 Good, but not to my taste
Story – 8 Goofy and charming
Characters – 8 Koito surged to the head of the pack. She ain’t no dope
Service – 4 Yeah, bathing and some implications and setups.
Yuri – Eh. Affection, definitely, so YMMV
Overall – 8
The Okiku chapter was particularly fascinating, because the very night before I read it, I had just finished a chapter of Zack Davisson’s book Yurei on that exact story. Zack’s book is a great read, by the way, especially f you like ghost stories. He’s a friend of mine, so I’m glad to say that I enjoyed it immensely. ^_^ But what a coincidence!
Kyou mo Hitotsu Yane no Shita, Volume 1 (今日もひとつ屋根の下)
Starting in 2020, Yuri manga artist Inui Ayu began an autobiographical comic essay column in the pages of Monthly Comic Yuri Hime. For almost two years, she had about a couple of pages every month to talk about her life with her girlfriend. It is absolutely adorable, and apparently garnered enough support that it was expanded into a full page series in 2021. Now it has been collected into a volume and I, for one, am really happy to be able to read it in one place!
Inui-sensei portrays herself as a bit silly, but primarily to show us how her partner, here known as Kon-san, is so solicitous and intuitive about her needs. We are assured they both love a lot of the same things, they are both into Yuri, and idols. In one particular chapter, something that made me laugh was, as they both watch some media with a lot of female characters, they are both like, “Oh yeah, this so Yuri.” Wifey and I have been known to say that very thing, so…yeah. ^_^
We learn how they met, and started dating and eventually move in, about their daily lives, and mostly, it’s all a giant love letter from Inui-sensei to Kon-san. Chapters are split up by short Q&A pages where Inui-sensei and Kon-san answer questions about their lives together; how they deal with social issues, whether they plan on getting married, and what kinds of foods they like – a whole gamut of questions, very personal and less so. Inui-sensei’s art style is cute, with broad, blushing faces, but her characters are not infantilized. These are adult women, with fashion choices and hairstyles. I love the looseness of the art.
It’s real life, but only a small slice, of course. Nonetheless, as I am very appreciative when Yuri artists are out, this kind of comic essay makes me extremely happy. This is a pretty openly queer story, too, which gives me hope for the future. It took Comic Yuri Hime a long time to be home to queer manga, and the more we, get the better it is for Yuri, I think. I’m so proud of the younger generation of manga artists who are much more open about themselves and their lives. Yay for them and yay for us! ^_^ This is, again, the future I want to see for Yuri manga.
Ratings:
Art – Inui-sensei’s signature style. Lots of blushy cheeks.
Story – Small slices of real life
Characters – Real people, but presented in a way to make them seem extra adorable. ^_^
Service – No, this is about the love-love of daily life
Yuri/LGBTQ+ – 10/10
Overall – 9
A cutely conceived and executed look at a real-world relationship turned into a manga about life and love. Sign me up for more of this!
Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 5 (不揃いの連理)
Mikanuji’s Fuzoroi no Renri, Volume 5 (不揃いの連理) continues as a smorgasbord of miscellaneous relationships between various couples.
In this volume, we take time to expand on a few previously established couples. A mangaka and her editor who bond in their game world, take their relationship into the real world, and it turns out it works rather well.
Two women meet in university and everything just works beautifully.
Minami has Iori now, but Shizuka remembers when they had no one else to rely on but each other. She’s not ready to move on, but Minami seems so happy now, Shizuka finds it hard to not be jealous…and she’s maybe not winning that war. The epilogue spends time with Minami and Iori and their happy life together and, finally, we see Saori reminding Shizuka that there is someone there waiting, if she cares to look.
The art here is primarily cute, emotional and sweet. The couples are living in that world where expressing one’s feelings is fraught, but the real world considerations that make that true, are absent.
Ratings:
Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 3
Yuri – 10
Overall – 8
As a light snack of happy Yuri couples in Mikanuji’s cute art style, this volume is sweet treat.
No author’s note this time, but the book came with a comic on cardstock as Shizuka has a smoke while chatting with Minami.
