You are invited to the 2020 Online Yuri Panel!

May 25th, 2020

Please join me on Sunday, May 31 at 5:00 PM Eastern US Time (9PM GMT/ 2PM PT) as I take your questions about Yuri manga anime and the state of the Yuri state for the 2020 Online Yuri Panel.

This panel is open to the public. I look forward to seeing you all there!



Spring Cleaning 2020 Lucky Boxes – Claimed

May 24th, 2020

It’s Spring Cleaning here at Okazu Central and that means Lucky Boxes full of utterly random things. I really mean it’s random. I pack these for fit, not for continuity or sense – if a random volume of a thing fits, it goes in. ^_^ And because we still have a good 2 dozen boxes of Bruce’s books in the basement, I’ll be doing more of these all summer long until the garage is cleaned out.

This time we have 5 Lucky Boxes: 1 Large box, 1 Premium Medium box and 3 regular Medium boxes. All the boxes contain a random assortment of manga, books, candy, toys, random pieces of paper things I put in there, and a lot of stuff from our friend Bruce’s collection.

In addition, we have 2 boxes full of BL and adult doujinshi culled from my wife’s collection. These are classic series, like Yu-Gi-Oh and KareKano.

When you email me, please refer to the box you want by the title and #1. First come, first served and these always go fast! These are listed out so I can cross them off as they go.

Large Box 1 – Claimed
Medium Premium Box – Claimed
Medium Box 1 – Claimed
Large Box 1Medium Box 2 – Claimed
Large Box 1Medium Box 3 – Claimed

For the BL doujinshi, we have 2 medium boxes, doujinshi only – these are priced to pay shipping, Paypal fees and handling (i.e., the price you pay for me to carry piles of books up and down stairs, pack them up and such.)
We have two 16lb boxes at $20 each.

BL Doujinshi Box 1 -Claimed
BL Doujinshi Box 2 – Claimed

I can 100% guarantee these boxes are filled with absolute pure stuff, with no guarantees of any other kind. No returns, because look – either you like the fact that you’re spending money on someone else’s stuff, or you don’t.

***

To be eligible to buy a Lucky Box, follow these instructions carefully. Please. Thank you. Failure to follow all of these instructions will disqualify you. It’s not personal, they go fast and I don’t have time to track you down for a piece of information.

1- You must live in the Continental USA (contiguous 48) only, no APO/FPOs – sorry about that, really. It’s vexing, I know.

2 – You must be over 18, I am not policing which books you get and since these boxes have doujinshi and other items, I really don’t know what you’re getting.

3 -Email me at anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com with the subject “Lucky Box”. Use an email you check regularly. Because I will reply asap.

4. *****Please include your name, age, mailing address. ***** Tell me which box you want. Even if you’ve given me your address previously, please include it, I am very lazy.

5- I will contact you at that point and give you details about payment by Paypal. Please be prepared to check your email and get payment out so this post doesn’t linger. Thanks in advance.

This whole process will be handled with utmost capriciousness, as usual. ^_^ 

Ready? Get your Lucky Boxes!



Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – May 23, 2020

May 23rd, 2020

Online Yuri Panel

Just a bit over a week until our 2020 Online Yuri Panel. Patrons of Okazu will get special backstage access on Wednesday, May 27th as I do set up!

 

 

Yuri Light Novels

Via Senior YNN Correspondent Sean G., Roll Over and Die, Volume 1, Adachi and Shimamura. Volume 3 and I’m in Love with the Villainess, Volume 1 all from Seven Seas, have early digital pre-orders. I’m looking forward to reading some of these. ^_^

Kasucchi on Twitter recommends 101 Meter Hanareta Koi, (101メートル離れた恋), describing it as a “yuri science fiction work that explores gender (including trans themes), sexual exploitation, and human/robot relationships in a very neat mystery structure.”

 

Yuri Manga

Galette Magazine has found it’s new normal, and Galette, No. 14 (ガレット) is now available as a digital release on Global Bookwalker or on Amazon US Kindle in Japanese!

Volume 3 of Mayu, Matou is slated for a June 2020 release in Japan and creator Hara Tsukiko revealed the cover image on their twitter feed. Not gonna lie, I really hope the school Prince is saved from her hopeless obsession by this plucky younger student and her hair. ^_^

Via YuriMother,Yuri VN Kundan Folklore is getting a manga serialization in Comic Yuri Hime. Also via YuriMother, Seven Seas has licensed the manga adaptation of I’m in Love With the Villainess Light Novel.

Via Comic Natalie, we have news of Kuwabara Tamotsu’s Anata to Watashi Shuuhatsu, (あなたと私の周波数)  collection from Yuri Hime Comics, which includes a story about two women attempting to bury a corpse late at night, so there’s that. ^_^ (It wasn’t a terrible story, honestly.)

Also via Comic Natalie, the June issue of Sunday GX Comics (サンデーGX」6月号) has an addition – a  live-action Vampeerz Special Yuri Photo Book  in which live models are “recreating the world” of Akili’s Vampeerz. So, basically, its a cosplay photo shoot. Vampeerz,  Volume 3 (ヴァンピアーズ) is also available as of last week.

 

Yuri Visual Novel

Studio Élan has announced Highway Blossoms Next Exit: a DLC for Highway Blossoms. The link will lead you to Steam, where you can wishlist it.

Via Senior YNN Correspondent Yeo, we learn of GirlJail which creator Alexander Ocis describes as a “bullet-hell minigame” with an average play time of 3 minutes. ^_^

 

Yuri Anime

YNN Correspondent Megan wants you to know that Mamoru Oshii’s VLADLove anime has announced a second set of key visuals. They added a character type and a voice actress I cannot resist and I hate them for it. ^_^ (I looked at the character design and instantly thought, “/bleep/ers hired Paku Romi, didn’t they?” And yes, yes they did.)

 

LGBTQ News

Via Melon on Twitter, “On May 30, the first lecture of「レインボー大学SAITAMA」will take place via Zoom. This first session will feature discussions of the manga “Love My Life”, in order to explore the situation of lesbians. Attendance seems to be open to everyone.” Check the thread on how to get tickets. The lecture will be in Japanese.

On June 3rd, grand damme of lesbian fiction, Katherine V. Forrest, will be running a zoom lecture on her classic lesbian novel Curious Wine and the history of modern lesbian fiction.

 

Other News

Check out #Sailormoonredraw on Twitter for some fun, delightful and amazing re-workings of Sailor Moon art. It’s an endless bag of sweets. ^_^

Speaking of something sweet, stjepan sejic posted a piece of Mage and Demon Queen fanart today and the Internets lost their collective mind, as you might imagine.  I just sat there grinning like a loon for Kuru/ Color_LES. ^_^

 

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 essential part of the team!



In Memoriam, Zac Bertschy

May 22nd, 2020

Okazu is not a globally influential news site, so we’re not in the habit of reporting deaths. We’ve lost a few friends over the years, however. Today we’re joining thousands of others as we say goodbye to ANN Editor-in-Chief, Zac Bertschy.

I knew Zac from back in the day, but over the last decade or so, we’d grown a little closer. He was kind enough to have me on ANNCast from time to time. I always had so much fun talking with him about whatever.  I’ll regret the rest of my life that I never actually got to meet Zac in person. It always seemed like we’d have time. He wasn’t able to make it NYCC last year and we just soft-promised to catch up this year.

What I will remember about him, is the way his voice cracked just a little as he and I talked about Revolutionary Girl Utena and how much it meant to us on ANNCast. He was opening himself to me and to all of our listeners and it was a lovely, vulnerable moment. Thanks, Zac, for letting me come on the show and talking about the things we love together.

Here are links to the shows I did with Zac. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Revolutionary Girl Erica – ANNCast

El Gee Bee Tee – ANNCast

Pop Vulture – ANNCast

ANN La CAST

Zac was a massive influence on thousands of folks every day in the anime community. He has left us a legacy and I hope all of us can continue his work, spreading love of visual media and pop culture.I know. I’ll  continue to do my best. 

RIP, Zac.



Tsuki to Suppin, Volume 2 (月とすっぴん)

May 21st, 2020

This past March I became enamored of Akegata Yuu’s Tsuki to Suppin, a Jousei Yuri manga from Feel Comics, about Akari and Shiho, an odd-couple who are nonetheless very happy together. We ended Volume 1 with Akari taking Shiho to her hometown to meet her parents, which went very well.

In Tsuki to Suppin, Volume 2 (月とすっぴん), we meet Shiho’s sister with whom Akari gets along famously…to Shiho’s vague concern. ^_^ You know how it is, if your lover and your relatives are laughing together, its a good bet that they are laughing about you. ^_^

We watch Akari and Shiho move through the year together, through holidays and birthdays and sick days. There’s no doubt that they love each other, although we rarely see them engaging in anything more intimate than hand-holding or a kiss – a choice I appreciate. In fact, there is a vignette in which Shiho is getting a solo photography show and she is asked if the show can use some of the photos she’s taken of Akari on vacation. She talks to Akari about it, but ultimately decides that her private life is private and chooses not to use them…even if they are great photos, they are great photos for her and Akari’s own enjoyment. Which is how this story plays out – we see that they love one another and are in love, but that is as far as we have access. I like the restraint of that access. I don’t need to see them having sex to know they are intimate. It feels very adult and very much like we are friends, rather than voyeurs.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 10
Service – .5 Cat ears for Halloween is about as racy as this series gets.

The story is ongoing, and you can read new chapters (in Japanese) on Manga Jam on Pixiv. I recommend it highly for relaxing Jousei Yuri manga.