Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – July 11, 2020

July 11th, 2020

Yuri Manga

J-Novel Club has licensed Ajiichi’s manga I Love Yuri and I Got Bodyswapped with a Fujoshi!. Crystalyn Hodgkins at ANN has the specifics.

Denpa Books has announced the license of Akili’s vampire series, Vampeerz. Crystalyn Hodgkins once again has the details on ANN. I’ve reviewed Volume 1 and Volume 2 here on Okazu.

The news prompted me to write a limerick:
 
There once was a reviewer of Yuri,
who said about all things vampire 「無理」
They might bring publishers luck
But I think they just…suck
So my reviews will be writ in a hurry.
 

YNN Correspondent Chris L has written in to let us know that Canno’s new short story collection, Mushoko to JK (缶乃短編集 無職とJK) is up for pre-order on Amazon Japan. Presumably this is a collection of her Éclair series shorts.

Via Yuri Navi, Shounen Jump Plus in Japan has added an interesting Yuri manga called Tomodachi Kekkon (ともだち結婚), by Nakata Yuuki. You can read the first chapter for free in Japanese on the SJ Plus site.

 

Queer Podcasts

I had the tremendous pleasure of speaking with the fine folks over at Imagine Me & Utena about one of our favorite Yuri series, Revolutionary Girl Utena on Friends Like That.

And I had an absolutely breathtaking conversation on the way One Piece handles queerness, with my nakama at the One Piece Podcast for Fight Together – Pride & Pirates.

I love doing these podcasts, because I meet the coolest people when I do them. If you’d like me on your podcast, hit me up!

 

Okazu News

We’ve redesigned the Okazu Patron badges – so if you are an Okazu Hero-level, and would like the new badge, drop me a line. Superhero is being worked on and Miko and Kami-level badges are staying the same, because I like them. ^_^

Patrons will get early access to our first Yuri Studio 3.0 video…which will be going up on YouTube as soon as I’m done here. ^_^

Help us pay our guest writers, invest in queer creators, support Yuri research and the whole Yuri economy. You are a critical part of the Okazu team, when you become an Okazu Patron!

 

Yuri Doujinshi

Irodori has launched the first of their Yuri doujinshi from their Irodori Sakura Yuri imprint and the first three releases, which are SFW, are up on their SFW-only site, Irodori Lite. Take a look and I hope you enjoy the competition in the world of licensed translated Yuri doujinshi.

Yurimother has announced that she’ll be stepping up and reviewing Yuri Doujinshi on her Tumblr this week. As *soon* as I have a second, I’ve got a bunch of doujinshi from Irodori and Lilyka I need to review for you, as well. ^_^

 

Yuri Anime

It won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I’m super delighted to see one of my trashy favorites, Air Master, on Crunchyroll. This series has one of the most ridiculous plots, constant panty shots, attempted rape, extremely ugly art. But it also has Paku Romi as Maki, the greatest opening theme ever in this history of anime, and has some of the most violent, best fights scenes I’ve ever watched. Most importantly, this series has the closest thing I have to an anime avatar, the delightfully deranged, Tai Chi beatdown, psycho devil lady wrestling queen, Sakiyama Kaori. It is one of my most favorite terrible series, that died an ugly death as a manga and still manages to have its own category on Okazu.

 

Events

Via YNN Correspondent Mariko S., Tokyo House Party is holding a virtual event on July 25, Cant Spell Anime Without “Me”: Creating Representation in Anime & Manga. The event will begin at 2PM CDT on their Twitch channel. Looks very cool, I’ll see about watching. Check out their Twitch to watch their previous talks.

 

LGBTQ News

Via YNN Correspondent Ivan V, Maya Gittleman writes We’re Gonna Win In The End: The Subversive Queer Triumph of She-Ra on Tor.com. It’s a wonderful article and a fun read…I’m not sure I agree that “subversive” is the term I’d use, just because there was no subtext in this series. It says something about us that the ideas of individual value and acceptance of difference is seen as subversive. Your thoughts in the comments, and another helping of Queer Triumph for me, please. ^_^

Speaking of She-Ra, Reuben Baron at CBR notes that some Fans Think They’ve Found Noelle Stevenson’s secret She-Ra Fanfiction.

Still speaking about She-Ra, Always Human creator Ari North shared these Catradora fanworks on her Twitter.

Mitchell Lineham wrote up 13 Games with Positive LGBTQ+ Representation You Should Be Playing to help you pass the time. ^_^

KPop duet Irene & Seulgi have some fairly high Yuri service in this video for Monster.

I’m going to wrap up with this unbelievably swoony performance by Jodie Comer of Vita Sackville-West’s letter to Virgina Woolf.

 

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to – thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network! Special thanks to Okazu Patrons for being an important part of the Okazu family. I couldn’t do it without you!

Posted in Yuri Network News | 6 Comments »


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

July 10th, 2020

Sometimes you start a thing for one reason and end up finishing it for a completely different reason. My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, streaming on Crunchyroll, is just such a thing.

2020 has been the worst-written disaster film of all time, with one crisis messily folding directly into another, and no neat resolution on the horizon. So, when my wife suggested I watch a wholesome feel-good anime I tentatively began watching this series, unsure what I might find. What I found was an an Alice-in-Wonderland story, flipped on it’s head, spun around a few time while blindfolded, and let go to comedically stumble it’s way through a plot line to a charming resolution.

An otaku destined for a lifetime of mediocrity is killed one day and wakes up inside the world of the game she was playing. Not as the lead character, but as the villain – a villain who comes to a bad end in every possible route. To ward off the many possible bad ends, she uses her knowledge of the game to change the scenario.

As you might guess, otome and bishoujo games are well outside my interest. Any story that makes me work at it in order to get to the end of a plot is not terribly appealing to me. That’s the author’s job, IMHO. ^_^  So the idea that this series takes places in an “other world” trope was moderately amusing, but no more than that. Immediately, howver, Uchida Maya’s loopily sincere Catarina Claes sucked me in. So why did this ridiculous story work for me when others of it’s kind have left me cold? I believe it’s a combination of several things.

Catarina’s guilessness is played as a charm point, which generally annoys the daylights out of me, but while she is a doofus, she’s not an idiot. Instead of her bumbling her way through the plot, she’s energetically striding through it, engaged in her own improvement and actively seeking ways to sideline the dangers. The only thing she’s oblivious to is her own charm. This works extraordinarily well. Like the characters in the story, we can see her earnest friendship, her steadfastness and caring as well as her genuine hard work, and allow that her silliness is really only in regards to herself. Catarina spends her energy on uplifting those around her, rather than being carried by them. This small change in focus keeps you coming back over and over.

Secondly, the creator marked out an incredibly intelligent path by having Catarina usurp not only all the love interests’ lines, but also by having her become the protagonist at the same time. There I was, actually enjoying a harem anime for the first time, with no reservations.

Yuri being part of the plot definitely helped. No matter who your “type” is, you’re going to have someone to love and root for. By mid-series, both my wife and I were firmly on Team Mary. ^_^  And, in this too, the voice acting went far above and beyond, as Okasaki Miho really sold Mary’s feelings for Catarina. I didn’t dislike any of the characters, which is always a plus for me.

This is a truly wholesome series, as well. I didn’t have to watch it around tiresome service, or ignore a creepy character’s unwholesome behavior. This is a series I could happily suggest to just about anyone without warnings or even too many explanations.

It was a really fun watch that happens to feature sincere Yuri.

Ratings:

Animation – 8 Not world shaking, but enjoyable
Characters – 10
Story – 9
Yuri – 6
Service – 0

Overall – 9

And, in the end, I found myself thrilled at the announcement of a second season, and started to read the Light Novels, so the anime did it’s job and created a fan…who is is still rooting for Mary. ^_^

Posted in English Anime, Yuri Anime | 7 Comments »


Galette, No. 13 (ガレット)

July 9th, 2020

Galette, No. 13 (ガレット) begins with a shift to a different cover material. Gone is the overlay and reflectivity from previous issues. The new cover stock is textured and matte that nonetheless has a reflective topic. Pen’s art is consistently excellent. I always look forward to their work for Galette.

The ongoing series continue to be very strong, among them Morinaga Milk’s “Watashi Kawai Neko-chan” and “Liberty” by Kitta Izumi and Momono Moto, which goes exactly where we feared it might when Liz’s previous manager appeaedr. “Motto Hanjuku Joshi” by Morishima Akiko gets…well…kind of weird, I guess, when Chitose’s first love turns out to be her current fencing rival.

I’m really enjoying Hakamada Mera’s “Sekai ga Owaru Sono Mae ni” with it’s honest exploration of an adult woman’s life that has gone through many changes. Sachiko’s admission to Shino that she had once been married becomes far more pressing when her ex-husband shows up at the door and she tells him that’s she’s there with her lover.

Nakano Mayaka’s one-shot “Sweet Spicy Lip Tint” is a cute apparent-opposites- attract story that includes a visit to Iakarazuka Theater. ^_^

The final pages include some data from the recent Galette questionnaire, about what readers are looking to read. I had filled this out along with others and, to my surprise I actually received the Hamano Ringo clear file it promised!

Ratings:

Overall – 9

A solid issue during uncertain times.

In fact, I had originally purchased and read this magazine digitally, unsure if I would be able to get it in print. Then it arrived and I was delighted. In the mean time, Volume 14 was printed in limited quantity and although GW made some issues available for overseas readers, the timing was off for me, and I was not able to get one. Nonetheless, Galette 14 is still available as a digital manga on JP Kindle or outside Japan on Global Bookwalker. I keep forgetting that I get a digital copy of the current issue at my level of patronage and end up buying it again, anyway. ^_^;

Posted in Galette, Magazines | No Comments »


Comic Yuri Hime, July 2020 (コミック百合姫2020年7月号)

July 8th, 2020

I’m really enjoying the crazy fonts of the current cover set by Rolua and so far, this is my favorite cover. The out-of-focus fence is fantastic and – even though we know what it says, I couldn’t make this font out at all, so that was fun. ^_^ It’s a heck of a way to begin Comic Yuri Hime July 2020 (コミック百合姫2020年7月号).

The magazine starts off with a new story, about a tall, introverted girl who is a semi-professional novelist in Yuama’s “Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata,” which feels strikingly similar to “Hello Melancholic” and is likewise, charming.

Himari finally sees Yori-sempai in concert and is once again blown away, in Takeshima Eku’s “Sasayaku Youni Koi wo Utau”…and, at last Himari offers her answer to Yori’s question.

Sumiya Zeniko’s “Majyo to Koisuru 5-byou Mae” is filled with action and shouting.

Since we know it’s ending next issue, “Umineko Bessoudays” by Kodama Naoko comes to a climactic moment as things are said that must be said to move forward.

Hinako makes an important decision in “Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts” by Usui Shio and we all cheer for her.

There are, as always, many other stories in the issue, many of which I read and enjoy. There are several I read that I don’t enjoy and others I skip completely. Which means that, depending on your likes and dislikes, there ought to be something for you, as well!

Ratings:

Overall – 7

There’s a bit too much wackiness and screaming in the newish series, but I’m willing to see where they go. ^_^

The August issue is out now and September hits shelves later this month. ^_^

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


Scarlet, Volume 2 (スカーレット)

July 7th, 2020

Finé is an agent of LEA, an organization dedicated to eradicating the use of an evil elixir which turns humans into sex crazed demons. Iris Redhood is Finé’s partner, lover, and…a werewolf. Finé is herself a human-wolf demon and uses her powers to defeat other supernatural beings. The two are bound by a promise made to one another.

In Volume 1 we met Misery, a young women who hoped to save her horribly scarred younger sister, instead turning her into a monster with the elixir.

In Volume 2 of Scarlet (スカーレット), the aptly-named Misery joins LEA, but does not find the redemption she hoped for. Finé learns a terrible secret about the terrible secret about the drug and the book climaxes with all the terrible secrets coming to a terrible end.

Writing a story, as many of us know, is a complicated process. Anyone who has ever attempted a story of any kind knows the feeling when the thread has slipped away…and the frustration of trying to pull it all together. Scarlet feels like a series that slipped out of the creator’s grasp. By the time it ended, the author had publicly struggled to get enough sales to continue the story, but even so, it felt messy – as if there were several strands that were being added in a desperate attempt to drum up interest. It’s a shame for Seven Seas, too, because it had the perfect Venn diagram of all their readerships in one series. For me, however, it was a dartboard full of ideas that never quite formed into a coherent whole.

I did like the epilogue however, for the sheer horror of it.

Ratings:

Art – 6 It wore poorly as the story went on. Breast squeezing. Yuck
Story – 7
Characters – 7 Never has a character been so aptly named as Misery.
Service – 7 Ugly lesbian sex. Yay. Breast squeezing. Yuck
Yuri – 6 Hunger is a kind of passion, I guess.

Overall – 7 Slightly less good than the parts of its sum.

You will be able to learn of all these terrible secrets and the ugly sex they necessitate when you read, Scarlet, Volume 2, out from Seven Seas in October! ^_^

Posted in Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »