Hero-san to Moto Onna Kanbu-san, Volume 3 (ヒーローさんと元女幹部さん)

April 8th, 2021

In Volume 1 we met Honjou Hayate, a woman with a secret identity as the hero Rapid Rabbit and her evil arch-rival Honey Trap. Honey leaves the presumably evil Antinoid organization (whose goal is obscure, but clearly evil,) and teams up with Hayate in life and superheroing,  We left our protagonists at the end of Volume 2 after someone else’s traumatic experience leaves them feeling mildly down.

As the pages of Hero-san to Moto Onna Kanbu-san, Volume 3 (ヒーローさんと元女幹部さん), Hayate and Honey are having a vacation at the beach. Hayate tells Honey her origin story and it’s pretty darn depressing (and I think pretty heavy on the foreshadowing.) But the head of the Antinoid army, X, is taking a personal interest in these two and she spends the remainder of these pages looking for ways to force Honey to rejoin the her organization. In order to save Honey, Hayate has to come to terms with her feelings for the former evil henchwoman.

In what appears to be a climactic battle, Honey and Rabbit defeat X! But wait, there will probably be a 4th volume. Don’t worry, though, Hayate and Honey are in love and you know what they say about love saving the day. ^_^

If you like Kamen Rider-like transforming baddies, and Saturday morning cartoon heroes, a dollop of of dark storytelling contrasted with a cheerful Yuri love story, you’ll want to keep your eyes peeled for Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit, Volume 1 coming this month from Sevens Seas.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Service – 4 Bikinis
Yuri – 4

Overall – 7

For a series about heroes who are saving humanity, an awful lot of people seems to remain unsaved in this story.  ^_^;

 

Posted in Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Girl’s Kingdom, Volume 2

April 6th, 2021

We met Misaki, a new student at Amanotsuka Girl’s School, when she unceremoniously climbed the wall to save some time and ran into Amanotsuka Himeko. Their meeting was kismet, because the girl who never wanted to become a maid and the girl who didn’t want a maid,  turn out to be an excellent mistress and maid combo. This was all detailed in Volume 1.

In Girl’s Kingdom, Volume 2, Misaki and the newest member of the Sky Salon, Misaki’s roomate Kirara, are roped into any number of impossible tasks in order to make their ladies’ lives better. Because this series is goofy and fun, they manage to accomplish them all, no matter how silly. And let me assure you they are varied and very silly tasks. From arranging a successful marketing relationship, to saving a restaurant, to becoming better maids, Misaki makes in-roads in all manner of issues at this unreal school, peopled by unreal people, in unreal situations.

It’s challenging to find things to say about this volume that I haven’t already said in my review of Volume 1. It’s still absolutely mad as a porridge knife, full of pointlessly salacious nonsense, then covered by other pointless nonsense…but all the pointless nonsense is the plot, so one can’t really complain. And, might one think to complain, British transfer student Sarah would surely scold. After all, England is the place maids come from, we are assured, so clearly she will be better at this than anyone. Because being a maid can be learned by osmosis, apparently.  ^_^

More importantly, this novel is absolutely goofy; adapted ably by Philip Reuben and editor teiko, who keep both the fake humor and the real humor behind, it in this theater of the absurdly written. Illustrations that sometimes match the descriptions in the text are an added bonus. It’s a hoot and everyone deserves some off time for their brain. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8 Pretty, but why?
Story – 7 Even sillier than Volume 1
Characters – 8 Likeable and loopy
Service – 7 Underwear and baths, how revelatory.
Yuri – 4 Slowly getting there, amazingly. A whole half-step forward, at least

Overall – 7

If all this maidly and mistressly excitement isn’t enough for you, Volume 3 is coming your way in June! All three Girls Kingdom volumes are available from J-Novel Club on Amazon, Bookwalker Global and are on the Yuricon Store.

Posted in Light Novel | 1 Comment »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – April 3, 2021

April 3rd, 2021

Yuricon Store Update

Thanks to our Okazu patrons, the Yuricon Store reboot is about to get into full swing. We’ve re-enabled the multiple retailer option, so you’ll have more choices of zaibatsu you want to give your money to. ^_^; These will all be contingent upon any given system having the item available, obviously.

English Manga, English Anime and Light Novels will be available through Amazon, RightStuf and Bookwalker Global (GL). Japanese Manga and Drama CDs (which have sort of faded out, but aren’t dead, yet) will have Amazon JP, CD Japan and Bookwalker JP options. Digital Manga will be available on Bookwalker GL and Kindle, or directly when they are not on a large system. Yuri Literature will be getting links on Amazon and Bookshop.org. Other items, like Visual Novels and Games and Yuri Goods will be sold through Amazon or directly through their own sites and Yuricon and Okazu apparel and branded goods are still through Redbubble. When this update is over, I’ll consider adding a doujinshi category, but that might end up being more complicated than it’s worth. ^_^;

I really appreciate Okazu Patrons’ candor and assistance with these choices  and with their help, we have two assistants who will be continuing the cleanup of old entries and adding in new vendors! Hopefully, they’ll be able to fix the older entries, while I am able to add things going forward. Here’s to getting this done by end of summer!

We’ve added a number of items onto the Store – where we were able to add the multiple links, we have. Please bear with us, while we are in the awkward phases of getting it all done. ^_^

 

Yuri Manga

The Rose of Versailles, Volume 5 is headed our way in May!

Takeshima Eku’s delightful school band love story, Whisper Me a Love Song, Volume 3 is headed our way in English in June, and Japanese readers are up to Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 4.

I’m in Love With the Villainess manga, Volume 1 is a great visual for the this series we love so much.

I’m absolutely digging the manga version of Flum Apricot on the cover of ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword!, Volume 1.

Tsukiko’s Yuri-adjacent Futaribeya, Volume 2 went up his week.

The conclusion of Ohsawa Yayoi’s delightful school band love story, Hello, Melancholic! Volume 3 (ハロー、メランコリック!) is now on my to-read pile. Yay!

As I mentioned in yesterday’s review, Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 6  (付き合ってあげてもいいかな) is out in Japanese and I have no idea what to expect.

The Special Edition of the manga version of  Kudan no Folklore (クダンノフォークロア 特装版), Sukerasparo’s paranormal VN includes an original soundtrack,  art postcards and more.

 

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Seven Seas announced on Twitter that Iwami Kyouko’s Transparent Light Blue is now available on multiple digital formats.

Yen Press reminds us that Strawberry Fields Once Again, Volume 2 is now available and that they still really do have the Yuri manga Breasts Are my Favorite Thing in the World! which is a real thing, not an April Fools joke, but also never going to be listed on the Yuricon Store. ^_^

ANN’s Alex Mateo has the news that  Otona ni Nattemo is resuming serialization after creator Shimura Takako suffered a sudden illness. This series is released in English as Even Though We’re Adults.

Also at ANN, Adriana Hazra has the note that Hagino Makoto, creator of A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, is slated to begin a new series for Dengeki Mao. Hopefully we’ll enjoy that one as much as we did this.

Via Megan and  Comic Natalie we have Uso to Kisu ha Houkago ni (嘘とキスは放課後に), about a girl who has a “man habit’ after her mother, but who becomes lovers with a female family friend. It is running in GanGan Joker, so we can guess it will be a mean-spirited Yuri story. ^_^;

Also via Comic Natalie we have Kyuugetsuki-chan to Maido-san (吸血鬼ちゃんとメイドさん), which is a short story collection by Zanka, full of master/slave, vampire/loli and other popular fetistry combos.

One last Comic Natalie link, a book I’m actually really looking forward to as I’ve been reading it online. Kita no Onna ni Tamesaritai (北の女に試されたい) is an absolute mess of story and art, but this women’s road trip by Minoda Kaido centered around food and women is my jam.

 
Yuri Doujinshi

Magnum Lily, Volume 3 is up on Lilyka! Still hoping for Yuri in this Yuri boxing doujinshi. ^_^ Lilyka also has a anthology that interested me, TNT – Short Cut Anthology, for fans of women with short hair, one presumes. ^_^

 

Yuri Light Novels

Thanks to YNN Correspondent NaraMoore for the news that J-Novel Club has announced Volumes 5 and 6 of Otherside Picnic on their Twitch announcements this week. No specific dates, just confirmation that they are on the way.

Not-Yuri, but totally in my wheelhouse, J-Novel Club also announced a new imprint, J-Novel Pulp (and I rejoiced. I love pulp fiction.) One of their first books planned is Jessica Bannister and the Midnight Séance. Yess……

 

Other News

The Yuriten is over for this year, but I had a great time visiting it over the entire month. I dropped them a quick tweet to thank them and hope for the same next year. ^_^And thanks to all the folks who joined us on the virtual walkthrough this year on the Okazu Discord!

Egan Loo at ANN has the news about a new Sailor Moon Musical. This autumn we’ll get Kaguya-hime no Koibito, and some cute Luna as a human action.

The Penguindrum countdown clock hit zero and we found out we’re getting a compilation film for the Mawaru Peguindrum series. Once again we turn to Egan Loo for the news at ANN.

The Blue Reflection franchise kicks into high gear with the announcement that it is getting 2 new games and the upcoming anime will run for two cours. ANN’s Rafel Antonio Pineda has the details.

 

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

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Posted in Yuri Network News | 1 Comment »


How Do We Relationship?, Vol. 2

April 2nd, 2021

It seems entirely fitting to end a tempestuous week here on Okazu with a tempestuous series. Tamifull’s college drama fits the mood perfectly.

In Volume 1, we met Saeko and Miwa, two students who start dating, but flail a bit figuring out how to make their relationship work both physically and emotionally. As we open the pages of How Do We Relationship, Volume 2, we can see that they have worked out the physical half of the problem. The emotional half, however, is more complicated – as it mostly always is with humans.

Because they now “fit,” together, one might believe that the barriers that keep them from communicating would likewise be coming down. However, Miwa spends her hours concerned that she’s holding everyone back, especially Saeko. Saeko’s denial of her own emotions keeps putting a wall between them. And on top of all this, neither of them are particularly open and out, which causes confusion and jealousy. Add to the mix some clueless bandmates and an aggressive encounter, and things start to look tenuous.

It’s about now that I see stress fractures in this relationship. I don’t really know what other people are seeing, but it seems really obvious to me that if this was a real-life couple I knew, we’d all have a betting pool to see how long they last before they broke up. I’d give them a couple of months, tops. Full props to Tamifull for putting stress on this relationship from all the possible angles at once in a realistic and interesting way.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7 Awkward, jangly, makes you want to run up and give them all advice
Characters – 6 The band members are kind of annoying, especially the guys being clueless and intrusive.
Yuri – 9 / LGBTQ – 5
Service – 3

Overall – 8

Will Miwa and Saeko figure out how to talk about what they are feeling? Tune in to Volume 3  coming from Viz Media this June and find out!

I’ve got Volume 6 here in Japanese and really have no idea what to expect!

Posted in English Manga, Yuri Manga | 3 Comments »


Yume no Hashibashi, Volume 2 (夢の端々 下)

April 1st, 2021

In Yume no Hashibashi, Volume 1, we took a journey  backwards through the years, following Kayoko and Mitsu as adults. From their senior years back through their different paths in life; Kayoko having marriage & children thrust upon her versus Mitsu pursuing a career; watching them struggle in a world that had no place for them as a couple.

Now, here in Yume no Hashibashi, Volume 2 (夢の端々 下), we look back further. Into the 1950s, as Mitsu seeks to establish a career and of course faces the kind of systemic and personal sexism that still mars women’s career worldwide. A journalist tracks down Kayoko and Mitsu to discuss their failed attempt at suicide, but in the end they have no messages for one another. We then, at last, look back at their first years together in school, and the circumstances that lead them to attempt a lover’s suicide.  After failing to die together, Kayoko loses part of her finger to frostbite and Mitsu chooses to cut her own finger off so they have that in common forever. This is not, however enough to keep them together, as we earned in Volume 1.

The last few pages return us to the present, in which Kayoko is struggling to remember her own daughter. Kayoko sets off by herself for a walk and, after a fall, dies. But we can see that she is not alone in death. Mitsu who had been killed in an accident, is there to greet her. Both of them, school girls once more, are together in death as they could never be in life.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 7
Characters – 8 It hurt more when we see that Kayoko was once able to smile
Service – 0
Yuri – 7

Overall – 7

This was a hard story for me, as I spent a great deal of time raging in my head about the unfairness of life. But as I said in my review of Volume 1, for those of you who are looking towards a future in which all of this is as alien as horse carts and flint-napping, it’s a beautifully drawn fiction that details a real historical artifact. Let us never have to return to those days, nor allow them to be inflicted upon anyone else. Amen.

Posted in Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »