Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – June 19, 2021

June 19th, 2021

Yuri Events

Join me on Discord for CasaCon on June 26-27:

June 26 8PM EST US for What Goes Into Manga Licensing and Translating?
June 27, 2PM EST US time for the “Secret” History of Yaoi and Yuri.

Not Yuri, per se, but adjacent, The Japan Foundation in NY is hosting No Friend to Girls: Kawabata Yasunari and Appropriation of Girls’ Culture, with Deborah Shamoon and Melek Ortabasi. From the JF site, “This lecture reevaluates Kawabata’s fiction in terms of his involvement with and appropriation of girls’ culture, through analysis of the novels Otome no minato (The Girl’s Harbor, 1937-1938) and Utsukushii tabi (Beautiful Journey, 1939-1941). Kawabata’s use of the idealized shōjo is consistent in his writing for girls and adults, and is a parallel to the fascist aesthetics and colonial ideology in his work of this time period.”

Also adjacent is this fun post by WikiVictorian on Twitter about Modern Girls (モダンガール) in Japan after WW1, which are also relevant to Otome no Minato and to mid-century proto Yuri manga Sakura Namiki.

Keep your eyes peeled for my appearance at virtual event Anime Lockdown in July.

August 14th, on Zoom, we’ll be doing a Yuricon 20th anniversary event with myself, Verena Maser and James Welker. Okazu Patrons will get early registration, so if you don’t want to miss this – and want to assist our efforts to give financial support directly to queer creators, become an Okazu Patron today!

Girls Love Fest is returning to the Pio Building on September 4, 2021 in the Tokyo Metropolitan area!

I’ll be sticking to online appearances for a while longer, so if you have a virtual event happening and would like me to participate, drop me a line and we’ll talk!

 

Yuri Manga

BOOK☆WALKER Yuri Festival 2021 is on! Purchase eligible volume 1-2 eBooks through the Bookwalker Global platform for a 40% Coin Back and sequel volumes for a 25% Coin Back. Plus, BOOK☆WALKER members can download a “I Love Yuri” bookshelf cover image for free – all until June 26th 11:59 PM, 2021 PT. This offer is not valid for volumes purchased through the Japanese BOOK☆WALKER portal. Thanks to YNN Correspondent Luce for the heads up!

 

Yuri Visual Novels

Studio Élan has some great news. Their newest Yuri VN, Please Be Happy demo is out now with full voice acting. You can grab that on Steam or itch.io.This feel-good story is described on their site:

“Born as a fox in the forest of Korea, Miho carries with her the memory of a traveler who showed her kindness and spoke of home. Now more human than fox, Miho has spent a long, long time searching for her person. She arrives by airship to Wellington Skyport, one of the jewels of the floating island of New Zealand.

Despite her years spent observing humans, she still has a lot to learn about their culture and society. She’s made a living so far as a thief, her heightened senses allowing her to easily take advantage of people. She’s also seen a lot of the worst of what mankind has to offer.

It’s only after meeting Juliet, the owner of a small library, and Aspen, an aspiring novelist, that Miho starts to understand what kindness is, and that there’s more than just the bad stuff when it comes to people.”

And happy 5th anniversary to Studio Élan’s breakout hit Highway Blossoms! To celebrate, Élan is releasing the original VN and the DLC together to current gen consoles as Highway Blossoms Gold Rush! Which consoles haven’t yet been specified, I’ll keep you informed. According to their twitter account, they’ve sold 50,000 copies of Highway Blossoms on Steam. That is an amazing milestone. Happy birthday and congratulations to everyone at Studio Élan!

Via YNN Correspondent Eleanor, Steam is running a 65% off sale on A Little Lily Princess, a Yuri VN adaptation of A Little Princess through the 21st of June. We had a guest review of the VN by Brian a while back – you can read the review here on on Okazu!

YNN Correspondent Patricia Baxter has two exciting pieces of news for us! First up is A Year of Springs by npckc. This is, Patricia writes, a “remastered version of their previous three games of a visual novel trilogy focusing on three queer women, with updated visuals and a new epilogue. It follows the lives of a transgender woman, two lesbian women, and an aromantic asexual woman living in Japan, and covers heavy issues that queer women encounter (transphobia and heteronormativity) respectfully and with empathy while still having a positive ending for all three protagonists.”  This is $5 USD, so give it some love!

Patricia also reminds us that Queer Games Bundle is a collection of over 200 indie games developed by and focusing on, queer people for the price of a single AAA video game ($60 US) on itchi.io There’s also a “Pay what you can” version of the bundle! Thanks Patricia. ^_^

If you’ve got an idea for a Yuri game, don’t miss this year’s Yuri Game Jam, which will begin in October of this year. Get ready….

 

Queer Comics News

I had a chance to watch No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics streaming on the Tribeca Film Festival’s website and I am so glad I did! I hope you will, too. Learning about the history of queer comics in the USA was a perfect way to celebrate Pride month… . Shoutout to Jennifer Camper, Justin Hall and Vivian Kleiman and everyone involved, for such a fantastic piece of history.

WeHo Pride ran a series on LGBTQ+ History in Comics with Prism Comics, which is now on Youtube. Check their full list for all the videos readings by comics creators!

George Gene Gustines has written up 8 Comic Books in Honor of Pride for the NYTimes. Paywalled, but I believe in you. ^_^

I’ve ordered Marvel Voices #1 and DC Pride anthologies from my Local Comic Store (click the link to find your LCS!)….we’ll see what I think when they both get in. ^_^ YNN Correspondent Shannon L found this post by Lucciano Vecchio, one of the contributors to the DC Pride book and I loved reading how passionate and happy he was about his story! ^_^

 

Other News

We have a new digital manga subscription service on the scene – Azuki Manga App  launches late this month with offerings from Kodansha. Alex Mateo has the full list at ANN. If you’re trying to divorce yourself from Amazon/Comixology, why not take a look at Azuki? Congratulations to Evan, who sent out Azuki’s press release this week. I’ve known Evan since he was a young, and I’m super proud of his accomplishments!

Which lead me to something I’ve been thinking about a lot these days. Popular culture fandom and industry is so very much a group effort and I’m honestly blown away by all the people out there I have met that have pursued their interest and turned it into a thing. A blog, a site, a company, an event, work as writers and artists and producers and managers. So, if you are working in the industry you love as a translator, or editor, production manager, press person, or whatever, if you writer for or run or are EiC of a news site or service, if you contributed to a game or an animation, congratulations! You’re doing important and amazing work. On behalf of everyone who enjoys your work – thank you and great job. ^_^

 

Become a YNN Correspondent:  Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share and be part of the Yuri Network. ^_^

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!

 

Posted in Yuri Network News | 3 Comments »


Save the Date for a Yuricon Community 20th Anniversary Event!

June 18th, 2021

Back in the day, there was a brand-new online community for fans of lesbian characters and stories in Japanese comics and animation. That group was named AniLesboCon mostly as a joke1. By 2001, I was transitioning that name to a new name, one that I hoped would re-connect this new genre to its ties to Japanese lesbian history. In August 2001, I relaunched our website as Yuricon2, a virtual convention and community for fans of what we were now calling “Yuri.”3. Here we are, 20 years later, and still going strong! If anything, we’re stronger than ever, with more Yuri manga and anime coming out in Japan and being translated for a global audience. (Okazu followed a year later, also in August, and I’ve got some ideas for next summer, too.)

Clearly, a 20th anniversary calls for a celebration.

As you may know, I was part of what I believe was the very first Yuri-focused panel at Mechademia this year, at which I was joined by Prof. James Welker and scholar and translator Verena Maser. It was a tremendous honor and a lot of fun. But, because to attend you had to register with Mechademia, we ran into a lot of limits – we had limited access and we couldn’t record the panel. And so, to celebrate the Yuricon community’s 20th anniversary, I invite you to save the date for an exciting event:

Saturday, August 14th, 2021, 21:00 JST (8 AM US EST, 1PM BST) I will be joined once again by James and Verena for a live panel on Yuri!

We will be recreating our panel from Mechademia, Transporting Yuri Across Borders. This panel focuses on challenges and opportunities in the evolution and transformation of Yuri as it is transported across chronological, geographic and linguistic borders. This time we will be able to discuss things more leisurely, take more questions and, hopefully, record the session to be able to post on Yuri Studio later, for folks to watch the whole thing.

Registration will be free, but there will be limited space available. Okazu Patrons will get early access to registration and be able to send in questions beforehand. I want to apologize to folks on the West Coast, this timing is the best we can do to not drag into super late hours for Japan and still be accessible for me on the East Coast. Hopefully some of you early birds will still be able to attend.

I hope to see many of our friends and Patrons there! Links to registration will be posted to Okazu Patrons in July, followed by general registration in August. So, save the date and we’ll see you on August 14th at our Yuricon anniversary event!

***

1Named after the fictitious Animated Lesbian Convention (AniLesboCon) from Dreiser’s fanfic, Scenes From An Elevator.

2This was followed in November by YahooGroups nuking the ALC community in a Yuri/BL/Queer/Porn purge and me re-starting it as Yuricon, a group that survived into late 2010s.

3https://www.yuricon.com/what-is-yuricon/#whatisyuri

 

Posted in Events, Yuricon | 4 Comments »


Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 2 (欠けた月とドーナッツ)

June 17th, 2021

In Volume 1, we met Hinako, a woman who is crumbling under pressure to conform to society’s requirements for a “good” life and Asahi, a woman who has cast aside any interest in conforming for her own reasons. Usui Shio’s Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts, Volume 2 (欠けた月とドーナッツ) brings them to a whole new level of intimacy between two adult women who are very tentative about trusting someone else with their true selves. I know I have said this before, but it bears repeating – I adore this series. There’s nothing melodramatic here, just quiet real-life concerns, and two women whose loneliness had become a fact of their lives that they didn’t think they could do something about.

In Volume 2, Hinako is desperately trying to not impose on Asahi and Subaru but, equally desperately, loves spending time with them. When Subaru asks Hinako bluntly to please, please free her sister from her own choices, Hinako finds a little courage to admit that she actually wants to do that…and then, magically, takes steps to do so. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that her feelings for Asahi are more than she’s willing to cope with, until she meets Fuuka, Asahi’s ex (bing bing! the bell goes off in Hinako’s head) and best friend. Fuuka makes Hinako look her own feelings straight in the face and acknowledge them.

As for Asahi, we learn why she’s so removed from her own life. She’s made choices that prioritize Subaru over herself. This will not go unnoticed by her little sister, who simultaneously wants Asahi to have a happy life of her own, for herself to be free of obligation and to forge her own path forward. To be fair, Subaru really likes Hinako and is clearly rooting for the two older women to get together, for all the reasons.

I absolutely love everything about this story. The characters are all entirely likeable and we cannot help but root for them, not just to get together, but to be happy. I love the art, which is stylish and clean, and the constant touches that make this story feel so firmly rooted in adult women’s lives. Clothing and makeup and food and peer pressure and work concerns….these could be real people who you might know.

The struggles are internal, the drama is internal. This is not the explosive hyper-dramatic relationships of high school. It’s not even a messy relationship. It’s just really…tentative. And we want, so very much, for everyone to be happy. If Hinako and Asahi end up happy together, then yay for all of us. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 6
Service – 0

Overall – 9

Volume 1 is already available from Seven Seas and Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon, Volume 2 is headed your way in August, so get ready for some grown-up feels!

Posted in Usui Shio, Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Comic Yuri Hime, June 2021 (コミック百合姫2021年5月号)

June 16th, 2021

Okay, yes. inori-sensei is right, Relaire is very cute. In Comic Yuri Hime, June 2021 (コミック百合姫2021年5月号) we get to meet our very own Yuri water slime and it is an adorable jiggly thing, with cute eyes. ^_^ Even more importantly, in “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou.” Claire and Rae are about to take each other on in the big Academy Knights qualification bouts! I’m really looking forward to this.

In Yuama’s “Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata” I sincerely hope we’ve moved past the not-at all-convincing plot complication as Hoshikawa-san finally lightens up and has…gasp!…fun.

“Sasayaku Youni Koi wo Utau” by Takashima Eku, turns back towards our principals and allows us to squee at their cuteness together all over again.

I’m delighted to see “Odoriba ni Skirt ga Naru” by Shiime start up again. I find this one utterly charming, even beyond the issues of body discomfort and conformity…the art is so lovely, I just want it to go on forever.

“Lonely Girl ni Sakaraenai” by Kashikaze comes to a major turning point, where everything about Sora finally drops into place and Ayaka is very angry on her behalf. Go Ayaka!

Normally, this is where I say “I read some stories and not others,” but I feel like I barely read this volume. Whole chapters look unfamiliar to me! I’d better get back on that.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Before I wrap up I want to say that semelparous is getting worse and, at this point, I find it physically repulsive. I would never mention it again, except that I already know that the next chapter, from Comic Yuri Hime July 2021, is one of the most incredibly ugly and ridiculous things I have ever seen in my entire life. I might mention that, because good fucking gods on high, tits DO NOT do that. So if I have time, I absolutely plan on ridiculing it. Then I will never mention it ever again, as long as I live. ^_^

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


Girl’s Kingdom, Volume 3

June 14th, 2021

Girls Kingdom, Volume 3 is a remarkable book. I am not lying to you about this. You will absolutely agree with me when you read it that it was, indeed, remarkable.

We pick up Volume 3 after Misaki, our normal girl in an abnormal and absurd environment, has undergone a series of trials that has pushed her skills as a detective and diplomat to their limits and, in the end, increased her skill points as maid to the Vice-Chairman of the Amanotsuka Academy, Amanotsuka Himeko.

Please do not worry too much that her being a detective and diplomat making her a better maid makes basically no sense. The entire premise of this series and the school it exists within, makes no sense. It doesn’t matter, however, because this book is so remarkable that nothing, not even semi-ootsey-cutesy sexy bathing scenes, sexual harassment by girls on other girls that is just as absurd and offensive as one might expect, idiotic plot complications, and the entire premise of the school setting, will change the fact that this book is remarkable.

There is no question, either, that Misaki makes this book work. This despite her showing up to a school that has an endlessly long list of written rules and even longer list of unwritten ones, none of which with she’s bothered familiarizing herself, despite the fact that she is the highly visible maid to the Vice-Chairman of Amanotsuka Academy, Amanotsuka Himeko. Entirely unremarkable, the relationship between Misaki and Himeko is actually quite sweet and I find myself rooting for them as a couple, even though it’s a stupid idea given the setup of the story. The first scenario leapfrogs pleasantly through the absurdities of this set-up for a genuinely human moment.

Ratings:

Art – 8 I’m losing my mind, I think, because the Societal Arts uniform is starting to appeal
Story – 7 Blows Volume 1 and Volume 2 out of the water on “What did I just read?”
Characters – 8 Likeable and loopy
Service – 7 Underwear, baths, groping are endlessly exhausting
Yuri – 4.25 Misaki admits to finding Himeko’s body appealing

Overall – 7

Volume 4 is in process now, with an August release date and oh boy, I just can’t wait to find out which Salon the new girl joins! Yes, I am kidding. I couldn’t care less. ^_^

Amanotsuka Academy, you see,
is for young women both rich and lovely
With salons on the line
for those the most divine
Won’t you please join them for tea?

Thanks very much to J-Novel Club for the review copy. ^_^

Posted in Light Novel | 5 Comments »