Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, Volume 4 (私の拳をうけとめて！)

April 13th, 2021

Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete, Volume 4 does something wonderful. But first….

Soramori and Takebe are taking a trip. To an onsen. Overnight.

Yeah, and don’t think they haven’t considered that. It’s all they can both think about. But, before that, they play a little Edo period dress up and Takebe sucks at shuriken, but looks cool doing it. When bed time comes around they are bot so sure they are the only one with those thoughts, it doesn’t happen.

The rest of the volume keeps that level of tension, just about ready to burst. Until it’s just too much. Takebe has something she has GOT to say to Soramori but she just can’t quite find the right atmosphere. Finally alone, on a paddle boat in the middle of a lake Soramori says she knows that Takebe doesn’t like her. Horrfied that her message is not getting across accurately Takebe grabs Soramori by the collar and kisses her. As Soroamori struggles, Takebe *finally* says what she wants to say, what she’s thought all along….that she likes Soramori. When Soramori opens the gift Takebe brings her and sees that it’s a bouquet of origami flowers, there’s no doubt, finally, that Takebe has made her point. At last.

I’m not generally a fan of sudden kisses, but this one felt pretty good after 4 volumes of Takebe just not being able to deal with her feelings, then not able to communicate them. But this was not the wonderful thing. The wonderful thing was that now their feelings for onw another were made plain…they talked about them a bit and Soramori ends the story with her own confession of love. THAT was the absolutely wonderful part – that they were able to say that to one another, at last. This was followed by a couple of shorts that give us a sense that this relationship is going to be okay. Also that Soramori’s apartment is oddly empty. It’s one of those moments that you’re reminded that, while Takebe appears to be less able to adult, Soramori is kinda faking it as well. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Service – 0
Yuri – 7

Overall – 8

Murata-sensei really sticks the landing here.

I understand why no one but me might care about this story, but something about gang girls who have aged into adulthood and managed to find love and share ridiculous hobbies together makes me really happy. I’m kind of a sucker for post-gang life characters generally, but also a huge sucker for Yuri couples that live happily ever after, after all. ^_^

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Comic Yuri Hime April 2021 ( コミック百合姫2021年4月号)

April 11th, 2021

Comic Yuri Hime April 2021 ( コミック百合姫2021年4月号) has some wonderful things in it. But first, we’ll be saying goodbye to “Hayama-sensei to Ternao-sensei ha Tsukiatteriru.” Having gotten as married as a same-sex couple can get in modern-day Japan, surrounded by their friends (including a new, kid of obvious, couple among them) and family, Saki and Asuka are off for a wedding night together. When you ask people to describe this series, they almost always tell you how adorable it is. Which is totally true, but also this is pretty much one chapter of explicit sex after the other and how delightful is it that it is both at the same time with nothing being lost or compromised on either side.  Ohi-sensei deserves some kind of award for that, alone.

Aki confronts a former band member and her feelings in this chapter of Takashima Eku’s “Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau.”

Rae’s protagonist power finally shows in “Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou desu.” She and Misha are invited to be part of the Academy Knights. Rae’s fantasy of swooping in to save Claire is perfection. Aonoshit-sensei completely nailed it. Coming up, we’ll meet Relaire!

 This year, I definitely see a turn towards more adult content, sadly without a lessening of  stories apparently about toddlers, based on the art. Oh well. There are a good half dozen continuing series I’m still greedily reading every month. And still any number of stories I avoid. But overall, I’m once again delighted by the variety. Now we need some mystery and hey, maybe a sports drama. That would be cool. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 7

Actually an 8, but I’m said about losing Asuka and Saki. :-(

I guess we’ll see what will fill the space shortly, when I pick up the May 2021 issue next week!

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Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – April 10, 2021

April 10th, 2021

Yuri Events

Our top story today is the very exciting news that creator of My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, Nagata Kabi will be a special guest of this year’s Toronto Comic Arts Festival! This year’s TCAF will be held virtually from May 8 through May 15, so you, too, will be able to see Nagata-sensei interviewed by the inimitable Deb Aoki. Frankly, I can’t wait! TCAF is always my favorite North American comics show, so I hope you’ll all watch some of the panels, see some of the guests, and support the artists – your purchases do triple duty, as they pay artists and support both the library and the sponsoring comic stores.

I was absolutely thrilled to have caught Sarah Frederick’s talk from Brown University this week, “Reading Like A Girl: Yoshiya Nobuko.” When that video is posted, I will absolutely recommend you all watch. It was a great talk.

 

Anime News

Discotek has opened up pre-order on their gorgeous remasters of Riyoko Ikeda’s classic anime Rose of Versailles Collection 1, Rose of Versailles Collection 2 and Dear Brother.

Daryl Harding notes that the Mawaru Penguindrum film crowdfunding campaign made it’s goal in less than three minutes. He has the details on Crunchyroll News.

Over at ANN Crystalynn Hodgkins has cast and staff news and a new promo video from the folks making upcoming anime Aquatope of White Sand.

You can watch Blue Reflection Ray anime over on Funimation, and read the ANN Spring Anime Guide team’s first impressions.

TubiTV, free streaming service has added Liz and the Blue Bird. Joseph Luster gives us the report on CR News.

Crunchyroll is getting Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid S and has the shorts for those of you who can’t get enough!

Crunchyroll also launched Zombie Land Saga Revenge this week, and Alex Mateo has the promotional trailer voiced by Mitsuishi Kotono, who also voices the series’ best zombie, Tae. Kara Dennison shows us the cover art from the ZLS manga anthology.

Once again we turn to Kara for news on the Puella Magi Madoka Magica 10th anniversary project and the new OP “Luminous.”

 

Okazu News

This week I’ve added a new video to the Okazu Patreon detailing not just what you’ll get as a Patron, but even more importantly, the impact you have on the Yuri ecosystem! I hope you’ll take a couple of minutes and hear me out, because as an Okazu Patron you do a lot to make a difference on a micro, meso and macro levesl. We’re just a few patrons away from adding support for another creator and giving Okazu contributors another raise!

 

With the mad translation skills of our buddy Mimmy Shen, we’ve added Japanese subtitles to the Yuri Studio video What Makes a Story Yuri? Now you have two subtitle choices. If you want to add a new language translation to any of our videos, please contact me and we’ll work something out.

While I’m banging on about all the cool stuff we do here on Okazu, one of the folks we support directly as a part of our microgoal program, manga artist Hiranashi Mieri has posted a new video as well, detailing a “Week in the Life of a Japanese Manga Artist.”

 

Yuri Doujinshi

Lilyka is running a “Sakura sale” on most of their Yuri doujinshi this week. Coupon Code is YURIS21 for 20% OFF of eligible title through April 11.

 

Yuri Manga

Speaking of Lilyka, I was amazed and pleased to see that they have Momono Moto’s, The Rain and the Other Side of You, which I reviewed some years ago in Japanese, Ame to Kimi no Mukou (雨と君の向こう).

Yurimother has the news that newest volume of the Yuri Drill anthology (百合ドリル) Includes a transgender character.

Hana ni Arashi, Volume 8 (はなにあらし) continues the sweet love story of Nanoha and Chidori.

Ahead of this coming out in English later this year, we’ve added KUJIRA”s Sekai no Owari to Majyou no Koi, Volume 3 (世界の終わりと魔女の恋) to the Yuricon Store.

Yuri roadtrip manga Kita no Onna ni Tamesaretai (北の女に試されたい) is up on the Store, as is Kuzushiro’s office life story, Egao no Taenai Shokuba Desu., Volume 1 (笑顔のたえない職場です。)

Coming this month from Seven Seas is Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit, Volume 1.

 

Yuri Light Novels

Pre-order for the print edition of Ameco Kaeruda’s A Lily Blooms in Another World is up on the Yuricon Store.

Via Senior YNN Correspondent Sean G, we have some early digital release dates a’coming!

The *amazing* I’m in Love With the Villainess, Volume 3 is headed our way on June 3. No kidding, do not miss this . Just because it has one of everything.

ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! (Light Novel) Vol. 3 will hit your digital device on April 29.

 

Yuri Visual Novels

Via YuriMother, we have news that “El Dia announced a new Yuri mystery adventure visual novel Kanda Alice mo Suiri Suru which will be released for Nintendo Switch in late April. The game’s scenario is written by Hatsumi Hatsumi, who also wrote the Flowers series, The Curse of Kudan, and contributed to Yumeutsutsu Re:Master.”

KikaiDigital are planning to release a new Yuri Visual Novel in Summer 2021, Symbiotic Love – a demo of which is already available on Steam. According to the press release, “Symbiotic Love is a coming-of-age Yuri visual novel set in a southern coastal city of China, with mystery elements. It is the prequel to Melancholy Love, another visual novel already localized into English. The game is influenced by notable works such as Flowers. It also integrates Chinese traditional and youth culture to create a very Chinese story which is part of the Linghua Series (a total of four Yuri VNs).”

 

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 the Yuri ecosystem!

Posted in Yuri Network News | 8 Comments »


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.  ^_^;

 

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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.

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