Queer Manga That Changed The World at Citrus Con

February 24th, 2026

Please join me on Saturday, February 28 at 2:30 to 3:30 PM Eastern US time, online at Citrus Con, for “Queer Manga That Changed The World,” a panel I have been thinking about for years and years, as I delve into stories that had an impact on queer readers…and queer creators.

We always have a great conversation at Citrus Con and there is a ton of queer content, so take a look at their schedule and see if anything else looks interesting! 

The panel will be held on Zoom and shared to the Citrus Con Discord server. Registration is free, but you do have to register. I hope to see you all there!  Now I gotta go finish writing this presentation. ^_^;



Comic Yuri Hime, March 2026 (コミック百合姫2026年3月号)

February 22nd, 2026

In an orange palette, a young woman sits with multiple outfits thrown on her head by an older woman whose face we cannot see, as she holds out yet another outfit for approval.  Art by Chiriko.Comic Yuri Hime, March 2026 (コミック百合姫2026年3月号) cover is another colorful piece by Chiriko. This time a girl is being playfully buried in different clothes by a woman behind her. I still don’t know if these  cover hair, lips and fits will also include blades, but we can hope . ^_^

A new series about a earnest, naive young lady being hunted by the school “wolf”,  “Dareka Ookami-san no Shitsuke-kata Shirimasenka!!?” by Anmi Tsuki has begun. I am not entirely sure how I feel about it and will give it time.

Touma’s “Kimi no Sei dakara, Sekinin totte yo ne” is heating up as both rental girlfriend and her client are thinking it could be more. If the series is going to wrap up swiftly, they’ll be fine. If this is supposed to continue…expect drama. ^_^

In “Hareta Hi no Dress Code” our protagonist is thinking about how the scars on her legs have shaped her life and shes really not okay with that anymore, while Natsuki wishes she could just wear pants and doesn’t really know why she won’t.

Inori. and Aonoshimo are absolutely killing it in “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” as Rei has to face the complete failure of her plan to save Claire. Misha is there to slap her out of it (and send her to her death, but…)

Hirao Auri joins the magazine with a one-shot about a girl who obsesses about aliens who learns that her club kouhai has been an alien all along. This is a silly as it sounds.

A quick note to note that “Genjitsu Sekai (Real) Demo Shiawase ni Shite Kudasai ne?” by Shiborikasuko, in which a young woman built a harem as the protagonist of a otome game, now has become a harem in our world as all the game characters have tracked her down in her reality. It is as exhausting as it sounds. ^_^

SheepD’s “Kanaria wa Kiraboshi no Yume o Miru” comes to an end, although I would have loved to see an extended after-happily ever after, as Ayano and “Tsubaki” make a life together overseas. (We haven’t seen that trope in years!)
 

As always there are other stories I read and enjoyed and others I did not or never read, which is exactly why a magazine is so useful! I am always interested in a theoretical way, for instance at the “other Yuri” recommendations by the staff. Obviously I don’t always agree, but seeing what they are reading and watching is interesting. I’m really hoping someone there will pick up Hajimete no Yuri Studies: Queer/Feminist no Shiten Kara ( はじめての百合スタディーズ: クィア/フェミニストの視点から) and mention it…but I can definitely see why there might be reasons why they would not, as well.

Ratings: 

Overall – 8

As always a good volume that would be perfect if we just had a little action and sports to balance out the school and adult life stuff. The April issue is on sale now in Japan!

 



Yuri News Network – (百合ネットワークニュース) – February 21, 2026

February 21st, 2026

In blue silhouette, two women face each other. One wears a fedora and male-styled attire, one is in a dress and heels. Their body language is obscure - they may be dancing, or laughing or fighting. Art by Mari Kurisato for OkazuYuri Events

I’ll be talking about Queer Manga That Changed Everything at Citrus Con on Saturday, Feb 28 @ 2:30 PM EST. It’s free to attend, you do have to register. I’ll see you on their Discord!

 

Yuri Manga in English

Viz Media released Not So Shoujo Love Story, Volume 3 this month. Curryuku’s ongoing school rom-com is actually quite funny as it plays with the tropes of rom-com manga.

Yen Press has put their “Do You Know Your Yuri?” crossword puzzle from the Yen Press Cafe online so you can play too! It’s really do you know your Yen Press Yuri, but it’s a really cute thing to play.

Via Sorryteam on X, who noticed that Tokyopop did not announce this new Yuri manga last week, What is Normal Love? Volume 1 by Hana Ikuta. Ikuta is the creator of the series Oni to Yoake, in which the souls of Bakumatsu “patriots” re reborn in high school girls. I’ve reviewed several of those volume here on Okazu. Hang tight, more Ikuta is on the way. ^_^

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games, Volume 9 is up on the Yuricon Store and headed our way in April. We have reviews of Volumes 1-6 here on Okazu.

Inklore Books just announced and English edition of HER TALE OF SHIM CHONG, the popular Korean GL based on a historical Jeoson story.

If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die, Volume 10 is up on the Yuricon Store. It’s a big volume as Cham Jam front Reo is retiring.

 

Yuri Manga in Japanese

I’m trying to catch up with the vast backlog of books to get up on the Yuricon Store, so let’s start with something new by Ikuta Hana, Nise Ai, Hon Ai, Volume 1 (ニセアイホンアイ) is about a romance between an actress and a college student who saves her.

Shin’uchuu] Yori Ai o Komete, Volume 1 (超深宇宙より愛をこめて) by Ashidaka Woz, tells the tale of an ostracized girl and the alien princess who saves her. 

Anemone ga Netsu wo Obiru, Volume 6 (アネモネが熱を帯びる) spreads the Yuri love around this Yuritopia of a school with more couples.

Koi Yori Aoku, Volume 4 (恋より青く) is when the story takes big turn towards love as Takamine and Sakura collaborate on a joint club magazine.

 

Yuri Manga in English and French and Japanese

Last week Yen announced the license of Chigusa Minori’s Shino and Ren. This week French publisher Meian announced Shino et Ren in French, and in Japan, the sequel, Shino to Ren Future, Volume 1 (志乃と恋Future) is on the Yuricon Store. This follows the two after school, when they are trying to find time together as adults.

 

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Yuri Anime

The anime for Kimi ga Shinu Made Koi wo Shitai /I Want to Love You Until Your Dying Day, which is premiering in July,  has a new promotional video on their official X account.

Sentai Filmworks is reprinting the Bloom Into You complete anime collection! We were recently disussing how rarely Yuri gets a reprint. It’s nice to see this influential series get one. If you missed it the first time around or want to have a copy that a streaming license loss can’t steal away, preorder it on Blu-Ray now.

 

Yuri Visual Novels

Studio Élan announced a new Yuri VN – My VTuber Rival is Actually Cute?! Wishlist this rival to lovers streamer romance today on Steam. 

 Via the official account on X,  A Summer’s End – Hong Kong 1986 will be on sale on Steam and Itch.io from February 17 to March 3. We appreciate your support. 

 


Yuri Audiobook

The audiobook adaptation of Adachi and Shimamura, Volume 3 is up on the Yuricon Store.

 

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Yuri Light Novels

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady has come to an end with LN volume 13. T celebrate, Karasu Piero’s official X account offers up a lovely voice-drama video retrospective of all of the volumes.

“Hitokiri Shoujo,” Koushaku Reijou no Goei ni Naru, Volume 1 (『人斬り』少女、公爵令嬢の護衛になる) about  a girl who is trained as a bodyguard, but exiled for a crime she didn’t commit and a nobleman’s daughter who is running for her life. 

 

Yuri Research

Hajimete no Yuri Studies: Queer/Feminist no Shiten Kara (はじめての百合スタディーズ: クィア/フェミニストの視点から) is on sale now in Japan! I cannot wait to read this. ^_^ I am also very honored to have an essay included in this book.

 

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Tayutau Futari, Volume 1 (たゆたうふたり)

February 19th, 2026

A woman in a loose blouse and long skirt, with a camera around her neck, opens the door to an outside smoking area, where a woman has unzipped a coverall as she smokes, revealing parts of a stylized centipede tattoo winding around her torso.This manga first crossed my feed a few weeks ago, when I saw a social media post about it. Over on Bookwalker, I saw that I could read the first chapter for free, and so I did! At which point, this series came in and out of conversations on multiple platforms and in different contexts over and over for the next few weeks. So, when I saw Volume 1 at Kinokuniya, in our after-Yen Press Yuri Cafe visit, I grabbed it to see what the rest was like. Then, last week, Seven Seas announce they had licensed it as A Couple Drifting in the Wind.

Tayutau Futari, Volume 1 is a chance meeting that presages changes in two lives. First-year college student Kaori is huddling by herself on a bench, wishing she had some friends when a captivating beauty sits down, unzips her coverall to reveal a tattoo of a stylized centipede winding around her torso. Kaori asks if she can take a photograph, to which the answer is yes. This sets off a series of unexpected meetings and circumstances between her and the other woman.

The story moves quickly, almost too quickly for a collected volume. It will make more sense if you slow down, read a chapter, then come back to it in a few days or a week. That will give the story the time it needs to develop behind the scenes. Reading one chapter after another makes the events seem an almost ridiculously swift set of coincidences. Regardless, those coincidences gather two completely different women to set them on a path together in a tale that is charming and gentle. 

There is very little drama here, also very little of what we might think of as Yuri, except for Kaori being very aware of Momo’s attractiveness. There’s no time for romance or deep intimacy, but as a story of two strangers who become friends (and…maybe more as he story goes on? I have no idea, honestly) Tayutau Futari is a pleasant read. 

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters- 8
Service – The whole point is the tattoo
Yuri – 1

Overall – 7.5

A Couple Drifting in the Wind, Volume 1 will be headed our way in English from Seven Seas in December 2026



My Beloved Zako Streamer

February 18th, 2026
Two young women wearing different Japanese school uniforms, look into a cell phoneby Burkely Hermann, Guest Reviewer
Is the internet “forever”? A recent indie anime plays with that concept, following the story of a livestreamer and her best friend, who get romantically close to one another, and kiss twice on the livestream channel. The Japanese title for the series is Itoshi no Zako Haishinsha-chan愛しのザコ配信者ちゃん」streaming on YouTube. That title has many different translations into English, including My Beloved Underdog Streamer Girl, My Beloved Weak Streamer, My Beloved Low-Tier Streamer Girl (from the site of voice actor Mochimiyu), My Beloved Zako Deliverer (Melon Books and Niconi Commons), My Beloved Zako Streamer (Suruga-ya), My Beloved Zako Streamer-chan, or My beloved girlfriend is an unpopular youtuber (used in official subtitles).
This series director, Naoya Ishikawa, is well-known for his short series, Kuttsukiboshi. Five episodes and four promotional videos for Zako are available to watch on the company’s YouTube channel and there have been screenings in Tokyo. Firstly, this series shows the strength of indie anime, for which there are very few examples.  The series has official English subtitles, so users do not need to use the “auto-translate” feature. 
The reality of COVID-19, and importance of stopping viruses, is clear from the get-go. I liked that it showed, in a respectful way, characters wearing masks. In the first episode, some characters even compliment each other on their masks. This is something I have not seen in any animated clips or series, even though the COVID-19 pandemic began in December 2019. Many people sadly act like the pandemic is “over,” thinking they can go back to their “normal” behaviors. Others won’t even depict it at all. Beloved Zako Streamer reminds people that the virus is here to stay and that you can, and should, take precautions
The series contains some commentary on YouTubers / livestreamers. Mamiko (voiced by Koyori Nohana) is a very unsuccessful streamer. However, the person who inspired her to become a streamer is Mikittan (voiced by Popura Sawano), a young woman who lives in a messy, dirty, and disorganized apartment. She might be a hoarder. She claims she knows where everything is and gets lots of comments on her stream. In the fourth episode, Shii (voiced by Yui Otogura) is completely overwhelmed by the deluge of comments that Mamiko gets on her channel and wants them to stop. It reminds me of a recent episode of Oshi no Ko, where an adult-oriented cosplayer criticizes a series online, almost bringing it down.
The first episode begins with Shii dreaming that she is in a compromising position with her childhood friend Mamiko, then kissing her. As she wakes up for school, she realizes she had a wet dream. Later that day, she thinks that Mamiko doesn’t realize she is in love with her. She is caught off guard when Mamiko declares that she wants to do a livestream with her, making her believe that her dream will come true after all. This somewhat implies that Mamiko has feelings for her as well. It takes until the second episode of this ongoing series for things to heat up. Mamiko and Shii sit naked in the same bathroom, and then the same bathtub. Somehow, Shii still believes that she could never have a sexual relationship with Mamiko.

Using a camera she borrowed from Ita, their school friend, Shii and Mamiko begin their livestream. Ita (voiced by Nadeshiko Komae) and Miseri (voiced by mochimiyu), are hinted as having feelings for each other. In one episode, one of them tickles the other with her feet. They are among the stream’s six viewers. In the third episode, everything goes off the rails. Shii pulls Mamiko to the floor. They lie together before Shii pulls Mamiko into the exact position she had dreamed about. She asks Mamiko if she would save her from a train, or five of her favorite YouTubers, in a classic description of the trolley problem. Consent should have been emphasized better. The consent should not have been dubious. Even so, when compared to other anime, including some yuri works, perhaps Beloved Zako Streamer is better.

Only seconds later, she kisses Shii. Mamiko encourages Shii to take the next step. As the calm music plays, they kiss one another again. Their kisses gain them lots of viewers. They are unaware their stream is ongoing. In the following episode, Miseri and Ita continue watching. One of them snaps a photo of Mamiko and Shii’s kiss. Eventually they get in contact with Mamiko and Shii, before they do anything racy and get banned. Both finally learn they were livestreaming this entire time!
In the last-available episode of Beloved Zako Streamer, Shii desperately tries to reverse everything by going back in time thirty minutes. She thinks that the fairy of time, Tokkie, will help her go back to when she pushed down Mamiko. Tokkie warns her that if she does so, her special relationship with Mamiko will be reset. She promises to confess to Mamiko in a better way. She soon awakens and realizes that meeting Tokkie was her imagination.
Apart from secondary coupling-of-sorts, Ita and Miseri, who spend time close to one another, in the last-available episode, Shii’s false assumptions are blasted apart. She truly thinks that no one really watched the stream. When she returns home, her aunt reveals to her what she feared: she has become a celebrity-of-sorts. Someone snapped a photo of her kissing Mamiko, effectively publicly outing her. As she scrolls through the social media feed, she is horrified. She is worried that her “normal” high school life is over, meaning that she can’t be with Mamiko in the way she originally envisioned.

Ratings: 

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 3 or 4 (there’s some nudity but it is covered up by lens flares)
Yuri – 6 or 7
Music – 8

Overall – 8

Hopefully more episodes air this year, continuing my list of series that are yuriish. A preview at the end of the most recent episode hints that Shii and Miseri will begin their relationship for real. It seems that Beloved Zako Streamer will depict a growing, healthy relationship by two people under a lot of pressure as sort-of online celebrities.

Burkely Hermann is a writer, researcher, and former metadata librarian. His reviews can be read on Pop Culture Maniacs or his personal WordPress blog. He can be followed on Instagram, Bluesky, or on Mastadon communities such as library.love, glammr.us, genealysis.social, and historians.social.