New Video on Yuri Studio! S02 E05 Gateway Anime Part 3: The 2010’s – Present

August 30th, 2021

In a blatant attempt to give myself more time to read Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou, Volume 5, the newest video on Yuri Studio is now public! Yuri Studio S02 E05 Gateway Anime Part 3: The 2010’s – Present completes the Yuri Gateway anime series and wow, was that a lot of fun. ^_^ This video starts in the 2010’s and drags us into the present and contains a wish for the future. ^_^

I apologize, there is an error in this video. Akikan! was an Ultra Jump comic, not Dengeki. I was so sure that I remembered it from a Dengeki magazine, I didn’t double-check. My mistake. Thanks to CW for pointing that out.  I stand by my point, however. I know several manga artists who have shifted from Dengeki/Kadokawa because they did not want a short-run anime to market the manga. (And, Akikan! was absurd. ^_^)

 

Thanks so much to Okazu Patrons for their suggestions and for their support, which helps us to make these videos!

Next one, I’m thinking of doing as a live stream, as the topic is short, but densely packed. Let me know if that sounds interesting. ^_^

As always, your likes and subscribes (and comments and shares) on YouTube help us so much, thank you in advance for those!

Posted in Yuri Studio | 4 Comments »


My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Volume 9

August 29th, 2021

Today I want to talk about My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Volume 9 and I think I’m probably more surprised than anyone about that. ^_^

If you are still reading by Volume 9, you know that for anything in this series to work, Katarina must remain an uncarved block and all the people around her will flail to preserve her simplicity, at any expense. That remains true here as well, but also, we get to see a new facet of our protagonist…and it kind of changes everything we think about her.

Larna takes Katarina, Sora and Maria on a mission to track down the source of the child trafficking ring that has been constantly mentioned, but sort of skimmed over as a “bad thing over there that we’re not looking at” much the same we most of us deal with, well real-world child trafficking.

In a beautiful seaport town, Katarina makes her peers fall in love with her all over again and drags a new enemy-to-ally into the harem. She forgets that she commands a powerful magical creature, then remembers, then forgets, then remembers. All is well and this crop of children are rescued and maybe, possibly we’re one step closer to finding the shadow noble / dark magic practitioner who is doing all this. But none of that is why I am writing this review.

As you know, I am firmly on Team Mary for shipping with Katarina. Sure, I like Maria, but did not agree when last year, Maria x Katarina came on top of the best couples poll for the series. Until this volume. ^_^

Maria’s no dummy. She can confess as openly as she’d like to Katarina, knowing that no matter how low she flies her banner of love, Katarina will not understand it (and, realistically, it won’t threaten anyone else, as she’s a commoner.) In Volume 9, Maria’s declarations of love are SO blatant that even Sora thinks Maria’s the best choice. In the end, I was convinced that if this were an otome game, Maria probably does have the best route end, by a single scene in which Katarina was allowed to be good at something.

The premise the readership has assumed is that Katarina is a doofus. What if…she’s not? What if you or I had actually been reincarnated as a Duke’s child and forcefed years of etiquette and arcane language classes for magic we couldn’t control? Go ahead…think about it. It’s not a stretch to imagine that I’d also have gotten into loads of trouble for climbing trees and doing shit unbecoming a young lady. (Thanks, Mom and Dad, for not punishing me for climbing trees.)

So, here in this seaport town, as Maria takes over the management and cooking for a restaurant and we learn that Katarina was in her past life a *completely competent waitress,* it kind of changes everything. Even Katarina allows herself a fantasy in which she and Maria run a restaurant together…it’s hard to argue that it wouldn’t work, when we can see that it most certainly would.

If you’re reading this series for Yuri, it’s only here and there in between everyone else’s gaga-ing over Katarina, but you know what? It’s there! For those of us who wish there was a full-on book just about that, our wish is coming true. My Next Life as a Villainess Side Story: Girl’s Patch is on the way from Seven Seas in May 2022.

Ratings:

Art – 7 Perfectly fine, always irrelevant
Story – 8 Predictable with a side of Yuri
Characters – 10 I’m not reading this for the intense crime story
Service – 3 Katarina being swept off her feet by Maria is service, yes.
Yuri – 4 Same, plus 1 for Sora agreeing with us.

Overall – 8

While I will never give up rooting for Mary, now I can definitely agree with the Maria groupies. ^_^

Volume 9 is available now in digital format from J-Novel Club on Amazon Kindle or Bookwalker Global. It will be out in print in winter 2022.

Posted in Light Novel | 1 Comment »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – August 28, 2021

August 28th, 2021

Welcome to an edition of Okazu that transcends time and geography!  We have some really exciting news this week.

Yuri Manga

Starting, as always with new Yuri manga on the Yuricon Store. The store is the largest catalog of Yuri media and goods on the internets – if you’re looking for the newest volume or an older volume to fill in your collection; for anime,manga,  LNs, drama CDs and other media, you can search by creator, title, publisher, in Japanese and English. It’s a damn good resource, if I do say so myself. ^_^

School Zone Girls, Volume 2, a juvenile delinquent school life comedy is on shelves now from Seven Seas.

Don’t miss Cocoon, Entwined, Volume 3, as this school romance becomes more and more complicated out now from Yen Press.

Crowd-funded, creator-owned Galette, No. 19 (ガレット)  is out. One more and they make the big 5 year mark! You can of course get this as a print volume from Japan, but you can also get it as a digital magazine in Japanese on Bookwalker and Amazon US Kindle!

I haven’t read this yet, but love the cover, Anemone ga Netsu wo Obiru, Volume 1 (アネモネが熱を帯びる) is a school life drama by Sakuragi Ren.

Comic Natalie hosted a 4-way conversation about Kaijuu-iro no Shima (かいじゅう色の島) between Yuri manga artist Mochi Au Lait, Animate Yuribu Editor Saigusa Kensuke, SF magazine editor Mizoguchi Rikimaru and Yuri Navi’s Furippe.

 

 

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Yuri Studio

Okazu Patrons now have access to our newest video, the final entry in our Gateway Yuri Anime review. Part 3 covers 2010-present. Become a patron and get access today! Part 1 and Part 2 are available on Yuri Studio for you to enjoy.

 

Yuri Light Novel

Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 5 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) landed on Kindle this week and you are very lucky I took precious reading time away to do this news report. ^_^ I’ve carefully steered clear of spoilers for this final volume of the Nur arc.

 

Live-action

I’ve been really interested in Yuri outside Japan recently, I’ve bookmarked a Chinese GL webnovel I want to try to work through (致女神（娱乐圈GL)) and I was absolutely beside myself when BL scholar and gentleman Thomas Baudinette looped me into the news that an upcoming BL series in Thailand, Secret Crush on You was going to have a separate Yuri storyline. I detailed as much of the information as I had on Thai Yuri novel GAP ทฤษฎีสีชมพู being adapted into a live-action story, ทฤษฎีสีชมพู GAP The Series in a post on Friday, Thai Yuri Novel Adapted Into Live-Action: Pink Theory GAP, The Series.

WELL, since then, Thomas let me know about another BL series that includes a GL storyline: “The final of the 7 episodes titled “Remember.” The official trailer of 7 Project can be found on Youtube. Cool, huh?


Yuri Anthologies

Super fab news from queer manga artist Mutsumi Natsuo, a person whose work I was introduced to for our video, Are There Queer Creators Creating Yuri?. Mutsumi-sensei announced the second volume of a “butchy lesbian” anthology, called Boyish², being crowdfunded now. I backed it, and Mutsumi-sensei told me that an English-language digital version is being planned. Woot! Of course I’ll keep you in the loop when that happens.

Thousands of Books announced an upcoming Taiwanese Showa Yuri collection, Kitan Hana Monogatari (綺譚花物語). This is also being crowdfunded in Japan…I’ve backed it, as I love Showa and Taisho period pieces and I’m excited about/for the Taiwanese Yuri fandom.

 

Yuri Visual Novels

Via Yuri Anime News, “Taiwanese studios Narrator and Storia recently announced on Steam plans for a character image refurbish for their Yuri visual novel” Lingua Fleur: Lily.

Via Yuri Navi, we have a new Yuri VN, Watashitachi no Marriage ①. Watch the official Twitter account for updates.

 

LGBTQ Comics

Out Magazine offers up 18 New & Upcoming Queer Comics We Love by Mey Rude.

Queer manga artist Rica Takashima tells me that she’s got a table at AnimeNYC artist’s alley, and she’ll be selling her self-published comics, including her “Rica ‘tte Kanj!?” stories. Rica’s been working hard on the cover art for By Your Side: The First 100 Year of Yuri Anime and Manga, and let me tell you…it looks amazing. Okazu Patrons were able to see a teeeny little piece of the cover and even that looks awesome. I would like to attend AnimeNYC, but think the arc of COVID will keep me away.

AV Club has this terrific article in which writer Willow Maclay and artist Cressa Beer discuss the intersection of anime fandom and transfeminine identity, from Sailor Moon to Neon Genesis Evangelion: “Anime was a safe space”: On magical girls, damaged villains, and trans adolescence.

 

Other News

I haven’t done this in a while, but there are a couple of global same-sex marriage news items that I want to round up this week.

Marriage for All Japan announced this week that both Saga and Mie Prefectures are starting prefecture wide same-sex partnership programs. They join Osaka, Ibaraki, and Gunma prefectures and about 100 other individual principalities.

In Mexico, Yucatán’s Congress has passed SSM, making 22 of 32 states in that country in which same-sex unions are legal.

The Church in Wales is going to take up the issue of blessing same-sex unions in Welsh churches and I kind of think it’s likely to pass.

 

Thanks to our Okazu Patrons who make the YNN weekly report possible! Support us on Patreon 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 | 1 Comment »


Koisuru Meiga (恋する名画), Volume 2

August 26th, 2021

In 2020, I reviewed Volume 1 of a series that overtly connects Yuri with fine art. Today I want to take a look at the sequel, Koisuru Meiga, Volume 2 (恋する名画).

The first few chapters feel as if the entire book may have pivoted towards horror scenarios…and, okay, that’s legit. Art can be super creepy, especially when we’re meant to be looking it in the eye. The book begins with Rosseau’s The Sleeping Gypsy, and manages to skirt at least some bloodshed. But this is followed by a few stories which instantly step into “eugh” territory, with Willam-Adolphe Bourgereau’s Little Girl. Fujita Tsuguharu (Leonard Fujita)’s Neko wo Daku Shoujo is turned into a really creepy lesbian doll story….

At this point, the book takes a strong turn away from creepy, with a modern spin on a piece I like and have seen many times, Suzuki Harunobu’s Setchuu Aiaigasa.

From here, the book steps back into a few key Yuri tropes. First love is illustrated by Egon Schiele’s Two Women Embracing. The book finishes with the old marriage part of ‘marriage or death,’ with a lovely iteration of Johannes Vermeer’s Girl With the Pearl Earring.

But it is the penultimate story I want to end with because it was a short, bitter, creepy ensemble of social media stalking, modern art and a hefty helping of “this is bad, but it could have been REALLY bad.” The story follows the lover of a popular idol as she manipulates her lover with cyberbullying and social media.  The painting? One of Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe silkscreens all named Untitled. The mashup here of topic was brilliant in layers and as a whole.  Honestly…kind of a fucked up little masterwork.

A few of the artworks are not reproduced in the book (presumably due to copyright,) but it would not be hard to envision them…one only need take a short glance at this page to know what is being referenced.

Overall, a better collection, I think, than Volume 1, by virtue of not attempting to reproduce as much as re-interpret. Using the art as a prompt, if you will.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7 A tad dark, but not intolerable
Characters – Widely variable from creepy dolls to lovers in the snow
Service – 5 Some nudity, other service, creepiness
Yuri – 6

Overall – 8 Darker, but I liked it more.

This volume had a nice variety of art in period and style. I hope you’ll take a look at the originals and think about how you might write a Yuri story around them. ^_^

Posted in Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Comic Yuri Hime September 2021 (コミック百合姫2021年9月号)

August 25th, 2021

What a wonderful issue Comic Yuri Hime September 2021 (コミック百合姫2021年9月号) was!

In no particular order, Claire and Rae finally have their one-on-on battle for the Academy Knights. Woo-hoo! It’s as exciting as one might imagine. Of course we know the outcome, but that doesn’t stop it from being super fun to watch. Also highly amusing is Relaire, the little water slime picking on Thane. I think I’m really coming around to Relaire. ^_^

Also wonderful and heartfelt is Usui Shio’s “Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts” (which, yes, I spell differently than the English title, because I feel like it.) I will not tell you what happens. Be patient and you’ll get to read it next winter in Doughnuts Under the Crescent Moon, Volume 3, I think.)

Also, also wonderful was Inui Ayu’s expanded chapter of “Kyou mo Hitstu Yaneura no Shita.” Usui-sense’s “Onna Tomodachi to Kekkon Shtiemita” took a surprising turn as sempai brought her parents in to explain the situation…but I’m not sure Ruriko is okay with  how she explained it.

The cover story took an interesting turn this month as Showa-period influenza meets modern-day Tamiflu. I wonder what will happen in our time-skip romance.

Takeshima Eku’s “Sasayakuyouni Ko wo Utau” finally drops Shiho’s story and it’s about what you would expect.  ^_^;

Icing on the cake this time, was a slightly more realistic than usual delivery woman x waitress romance by Ohsawa Yayoi. By “slightly more realistic than usual,” I meant than the server gave flirting a try, but when the delivery woman kept being a beat or seven too slow, she finally lost it and just said what she was thinking. If you know me, you know I appreciate that in a story. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

 

There’s some new, some ongoing, some sweet and some other in this volume, but overall, an excellent read and again, I’m really pretty pleased with the percentages of what I like, to what I don’t. It’s good for just about anyone.

The October issue is out now in Japan, hopefully it’ll get to me soon. ^_^

 

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