There’s No Freaking I’ll Be Your Lover! Unless… ~Next Shine~

January 21st, 2026

There's No Freaking I'll Be Your Lover! Unless… ~Next Shine~ promo art. The 5 faces of the main characters, all wearing different, characteristic, expressions, above some information in Japanese giving the airing information

by Eleanor Walker, Okazu Staff Writer

**SPOILERS BELOW**

This sequel was announced at the end of season 1 in September 2025, and originally premiered in Japanese cinemas in November 2025, then on Japanese TV at the very beginning of 2026. REMOW has also brought the series to Western fans on Youtube, as they did for the first series.

 

All 5 main cast of No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover, Unless...members in their school uniforms, with Renako standing slightly forward of the others, a maid cosplay outfit over her arm. Kaho is immediately behind her, jumping and punching her fist into the air

This series is basically an almost exact adaption of volume 4 of the novel series, which I reviewed here on Okazu. As such, if you didn’t enjoy the first season, there is absolutely nothing for you here. This is solely for the fans who wanted more. The animation, art, music, and voice acting haven’t changed at all in style from the original 12 episodes. Picking up where season 1 left off, we can now properly meet the final member of the harem, Koyanagi Kaho, an extroverted cosplayer with a few secrets of her own, and a jealous streak as well.  There is however one very important difference between this adaption and the original novel, which ends with Renako confessing to both Mai and Ajisai and asking to date them both, but the anime ends with a screen showing a text message from Satsuki saying “Hey, you’re already dating two at once, so one more wouldn’t hurt, right?” Obvious sequel bait aside, I do respect that the show didn’t make Renako pick just one of the girls, and actually committed to the harem premise.

It’s nice to see a yuri anime get a sequel, especially when it was announced pretty much at the end of season 1. I hope the bait which was dangled in front of us is taken and we get “Season 2” of the series animated some day.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 6
Characters – 7
Service – 7. Renako has now bathed with every member of the group in animated form.
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7

Posted in Eleanor W, English Anime, Takeshima Eku, There's No Freaking Way I'll Be Your Lover! Unless, Yuri Anime | 2 Comments »


Galette Magazine 04, Special English Edition

January 19th, 2026

Galette 04 Special English Edition cover. A woman with dark hair , wearing glasses, hides behind a woman with long, blonde hair in a beret, playing a game of hide-and-seek with her, as the blonde looks to one side to see her, she is on the other.It was a long, difficult road for everyone, but this week folks began to receive their Kickstarter rewards for Galette Magazine 04, Special English Edition and, as usual, everything is truly lovely.

To begin with the dustcover on the magazine is a full image by pen, with silver accent in the title (that scanned as black here). The magazine cover proper is also by pen, with more color illustrations in the magazine, as part of the stretch goals. Stories by Miyuki Yorita, Mera Hakamada, Haru Yatosaki, Nekohariko 22, Milk Morinaga, Ringo Hamano, and the joint work by Izumi Kitta and Moto Momono fill these pages with Yuri stories about school and adult life.

As you may know from my reviews of the magazine in Japanese, I love Kitta and Moto’s “Liberty” very much. It’s a tale about trauma and passion which really suits Moto-sensei’s art. Nekohariko 22-sensei’s “I want you to show it only to me” is deeper than it appears, and I just love Hamano-sensei’s “Sky Blue Melancholic.” I wanted to take a moment to explain a small thing about the main character of this last one. The character is named Fumino, but her friends call her Bun-chan. This is because the first character of her name in Japanese is 文, the same character used in bunko 文庫, paperback. ^_^

Miyuki Yorita’s “That Woman in the Infirmary” has just finished in the Japanese issues and I already miss it, so it’s really nice to read it in big chunks in English. Milk Morinaga  has give us a one-shot that might make us think twice about rash choices.

My backer level gave me a cute standee, art postcards and Galette Special Booklet, a doujinshi of short stories, much like Galette Meets.

I know times are tough and life is uncertain, but I believe that queer and Yuri manga are important, and I will always do everything I can to make sure that these stories are told and available to as many people as possible. I really want to thank everyone at Galette for the effort they put into this for the English-reading audience. It’s so nice to see so many backer’s names in the credits and know that so many of us enabled this to exist.

Good new for folks that missed this or previous Kickstarters – the next Kickstarter for Volume 5 is in March! You can usually get back issues when you back the current one, if there are extras. Until then, enjoy another beautiful Galette magazine!

Ratings:

Overall – 9

Posted in Galette, Magazines | No Comments »


A Yuri Love Story That Begins with Getting Dumped in a Dream, Volume 1

January 18th, 2026

Two girls wearing blue button down short-sleeve shirts and red striped ties lay next to one another but facing in different direction, so only their heads are near. A girl with long, dark hair looks at the girl with short blonde hair, whose eyes are closed.A Yuri Love Story That Begins with Getting Dumped in a Dream, Volume 1 by Hijiki, is exactly what it says on the package. When I read it, I took some time to do an internal retrospective of the state of Yuri these days, because this felt very much like a (decent) throwback to Yuri manga of the late 00’s and early 10’s. 

Tsukushi and Hinoka have been friends since childhood. When Tsukushi wakes up from a dream in which she had told Hinoka she liked her…and was rejected, Tsukushi is going to think about that friendship a lot differently. First, she’s questioning if she does have those kinds of feelings, then when that is an obvious affirmative, what to do about it. 

The only thing Tsukushi is not doing is *looking* at Hinoka, who is likewise struggling because she is very in love with Tsukushi, who just doesn’t seem to notice. This situation would be annoying if their friends weren’t openly and overtly rooting for them. The friends watching them flail and being kind and supportive is both very cute and lightens what otherwise would just be two teens overthinking.  It also helps that among those supporters is a lesbian couple at school who are watching the baby dykes with kind eyes. As the people around them involve themselves in the budding relationship, both Hinoka and Tsukushi can flail cutely. Because being rejected by friends isn’t in the story set-up at all, both protagonists are free from worrying about larger issues of rejection of bullying, but are then able to get stuck in the muddiness of their own feelings. 

There very little else by way of story. This is an old-school school life Yuri romance, if you will. Hijiki’s art and characters help make this a cute and fun throwback read for folks that are looking for some “classic” school Yuri suitable for younger teens. ^_^

Ratings:

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

Overall – 7

Thank to Seven Seas for the review copy, via ANN, where I will also review this book for the Spring manga guide!

Posted in English Manga, Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – January 17, 2025

January 17th, 2026

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

Yuri Live-Action

Sr. YNN Correspondent Frank Hecker wants you to know about Candy, a new sapphic live-action series from Singapore, streaming on GagaOOLala. The synopsis sounds amazing: “Nuannuan—the girl she once left behind in her youth—reenters her life as an assistant. Under the pressure of fame and public scrutiny, the two escape the city to join a rural reality show.”

The Chaser Game W live-action series is getting a sequel film in May, says ANN’s Rafael Antonio Pineda.

Ironic shenanigans are occurring with the If My Favorite Pop Idol Made it to the Budokan, I Would Die stage play. A manager harassed a cast member with “inappropriate communications” so the cast member’s activities are being suspended and she is being replaced. Enraging. If there is a single series hat has made me truly loathe the idol industry, it’s this one. Anyway, Anita Tai has the details on ANN. 

Via Comic Natalie, we learn that Yuri manga Fukukaichou no Omona Oshigoto is getting a live-action drama. This is a high school story about the VP and President of a school council.

The Tokyo Dyke documentary is available to be watched on Vimeo, says YNN Correspondents eve, and blogbourri notes that Honey & Honey creator Takeuchi Sachiko is interviewed in this.

 

Yuri Anime

Bushiroad announced a Shoujo☆Kageki Revue Starlight sequel, says ANN’s Joanna Cayanan.

Andoroid wa Keiken Ninzuu ni Hairimasu ka? ? (アンドロイドは経験人数に入りますか？？) short anime is running right now on Japanese television, and other JP platforms. It appears that the OceanVeil streaming platform has AnimeFesta titles, so if you have a subscription to that, you can watch it there.

Sylvia Jones takes a really thoughtful look at the first two episodes of the anime adaptation of Roll Over and Die on ANN.

 

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Yuri Manga

Via Comic Natalie, Watashitachi no Koi ga Kanahiraku Toki (私たちの恋が花開くとき) is an isekai Yuri anthology. This is from Bamboo Comics and I don’t recognize any of the creators, so now I’m extra interested!

This one-shot in Comic Days F30 no Kimi  (F30のきみ) is about the mysterious things that happen after a girl draws her classmate. Yuri Navi tells us that this won an award from Afternoon magazine, and it is pretty interesting.

Galette Illustration Book No. 5 is out and available on Booth.pm! This continues the collection of pen’s amazing cover art and other color illustrations from the magazine. 

Speaking of the magazine, Galette Special English Edition No. 4 Kickstarter rewards have shipped. They look great as always and I think a special thanks to the folks at Galette WORKS is in order, as this one really stressed them out with concerns about the tariffs and higher shipping costs.

Amano Mochi celebrated on X, an honorable mention for their Yuri one-shot Harukasu no Furi (春風のふり) on the FLOS  Comics Awards. You can read this manga in Japanese on Comic Walker.

Yen posted on socials about Yuri and muromaki-sensei did them one better by promising good health if you read Yuri! ^_^

Thank you for everyone’s support!!!! Read yuri it makes your skin glow and gives you six pack abs in 100 days!!!!!

いつもありがとうございます☺️いよいよの英語版、大変光栄に思っています💓よろしくお願いします

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— ムロマキ@『百合に恋した101日間』発売中 (@mrmk.bsky.social) January 15, 2026 at 6:24 PM

 

Yuri Light Novels

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Vol. 8.5 is headed our way this month. This volume contains seven short stories about the characters. At last, something to read on the plane that won’t make me cry.

inori.-sensei has announced that her sequel to I’m In Love With the Villianess, Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou: Furimukinasai, Watakushi ni! has been picked up in Japanese by GL Bunko. She asks that you contact the publisher of the series in your country and ask them to license it. That’s Seven Seas for English readers. Luckily Seven Seas’ monthly licensing survey is live, so you can jump right over and ask!

 

Yuri Visual Novels

Via Yuri Navi, game dev company Yuri Lyrical has new Visual Novel, available on Steam. As a VTuber, you act as a guardian angel over various Yuri couples in Watashi-tachi Fake Marriage? (私たちフェイクマリッジ？)

 

 

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Other News

Morishima Akiko posted a piece of art in support for same-sex marriage in Japan on her X account.

Citrus on X says that that the series is running a Cool Japan collaboration at “Hotel Citrus” at the Tokyo Bay Hotel on Ariake. You can go there and get some merch! This collab runs through the end of the month.

The COSPA store is carrying the merch from the Comic Yuri Hime 20th Anniversary event, if you missed that.

Creator Kyota Ko, whose videos on the foibles of the Japanese language are very amusing (I loved the one about how Kyoto’s sarcasm is orders above Tokyo’s) has a new video. Via YNN Correspondent Roxie, he mentions Yuri in Why do anime characters nosebleed so often? Check it out on Youtube.

The mook Kikan SS is running an interview about creating the manga of  If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It To The Budokan, I Would Die, with creator Hirao Auri.

 

Good Things to Read

We have a pile of reviews for you this week. ^_^

Sr. YNN Correspondent Sean Gaffney thinks the LN series The Holy Grail of Eris, while not Yuri, might be of interest to Okazu readers. He suggests reading Rebecca Silverman’s review of the first two episode of the anime on ANN. The series is streaming on Crunchyroll. Yen has the LNs.

I reviewed the Drops of God Season 2 on Apple TV and interviewed the stars of the series over on ANN. It was a very short interview, but they were fun and engaged with the questions in a meaningful way.

My review of Baki The Grappler, Volume 5-6, grapples with staying interesting while the manga is basically this kid getting beaten and beating the shit out of people. ^_^ It’s so much fun.

Errata

Last week YNN and other sources reported that the Fed-Up Office Lady Wants to Serve The Villainess is getting an anime adaptation. This is not true. Creator Nekotarou has said on their X account that this was an erroneous announcement by SugoiLITE. No such adaptation is being planned. We apologize for sharing the misinformation here.

 

Your support for Yuri journalism and research has never been more important than right now. Patreon and Ko-Fi are where we currently accept subscriptions and tips.  Our goal is to raise our guest writers’ wages to above industry standard, which are too low!

Your support goes straight to paying for Guest Reviews, folks helping with videos, site maintenance, managing the Yuricon Store and directly supporting other Yuri creators. Just $5/month makes a huge impact! Become part of the Okazu family!

Become a part of the Yuri Network, by being a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share with us.

Posted in Yuri Network News | 4 Comments »


Love Bullet, Volume 2 (ラブ・バレット)

January 16th, 2026

Cover of Love Bullet, Volume 2 by inee. On a blood red background, a girl with white wings and pale blue tactical gear, holding heart-shaped grenades, is surrounded by bullet shells with a heart shape on the primer part of the casing.Now that we have Love Bullet, Volume 1 in English, I know we’re all wondering what will become of our new favorite Cupid, Koharu. Well, luckily Love Bullet, Volume 2 (ラブ・バレット)  is out now in Japan and you can bet I scooped that baby up right away!

Koharu is still getting the hang of her job, with her “sempai” Kanna’s assistance when wild card Chiyo shows up to challenge them all to a duel. If Kanna or Koharu wins, she’ll leave them alone, but if she wins, Chiyo wants them to do something for her.  The result of that duel will take the three cupids well out of the city, to a small town, which is still reeling after a landslide had tragic consequences at a local high school. And we’ll meet the fourth member of the cast, Cupid Ena, who insists that this is her territory. 

Once again, the story is breathtaking, with ripples that will affect everyone in the story. 

Not a huge spoiler and one of the funnier moments is Koharu appearing to a human as she cuts vegetables. With Chiyo and Kanna assisting invisibly, the person is gobsmacked by how much Koharu is able to chop.  

Like Volume 1, the real story here is sad, full of lost opportunities and missed moments and maybe an impossible future. Now that we have all the characters on the stage, I am very interested to see where this story will take us. I expect to need tissues wherever that is.^_^;

The armaments get absolutely ridiculous in this volume, with heart shaped drones and mortars. I love inee’s commitment to the bit.  ^_^ We also learn a little about the Cupid economy and just how much our eternal joy is worth. Also, I am even more deeply skeptical that becoming a Cupid is a Goddess of Love’s “blessing.”  I wonder if there is a story behind the scenes here. I hope there is.  Volume 2 has the same kind of happy-go-lucky violence we see in Volume 1, with Chiyo going even crazier about reckless use of weaponry. She’s definitely a stray bullet on her own and I wonder what well find when we get to her backstory. 

Ratings:

Art – 8 
Story – Poignant, violent, terribly sad and hectic, 8 
Characters – 8
Service – Violence with hearts
Yuri – 2

Overall – 8

The art is great, the story is both frantic and deeply, tightly wound. I’m looking forward to Volume 3 for sure. ^_^

Posted in Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »