Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – March 13, 2021

March 13th, 2021

We have an absolute avalanche of news today, so let’s get right into it!

Yuri Webnovel

I am absolutely delighted to announce that Manga Planet has licensed Girls Love of the Dead, the zombie the micro-light novel by Hoshii Nanao with art by Morishima Akiko. I reviewed Volume 1 last Halloween. It’s a hoot.

 

Yuri Anime

HUGE news from Diskotek this week on a couple of key licenses.

Dear Brother, the deeply melodramatic masterwork of shoujo anime based on the manga by Riyoko Ikeda, directed by Dezaki Osamu, on Blu-Ray is a major announcement. This will be a limited offer – don’t wait on this if you missed it the last time it became available. The link to Diskotek’s twitter announcement include the trailer, so you can give it a watch!

Diskotek also announced the resurrection of the Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl anime. This is an enjoyable and problematic anime and our conversations about it 20 years on are worth revisiting. ^_^

Diskotek’s third announcement was so big, I could hear the roar across the planet. ^_^ They had been slated to do an upscale remastering for a classic old anime, but the project was canceled, because they found the original masters! So we’ll be getting a new Project A-ko from the originals. That’s awesome. Yes, it absolutely can be considered Yuri if only for Shinohara Emi’s B-ko, and it is also super annoying. ^_^ Check out the remastered clip on Youtube and remember – every shadow, every highlight, every everything was drawn by hand. Like Dear Brother, it is a benchmark of animation.

Funimation has picked up seasons 1 and 2 of Yuru Yuri for streaming, according to ANN’s Alex Mateo.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica has announced a 10th anniversary event! Alex Mateo again has the news on ANN.

 

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Yuri Manga

Via YNN  Correspondent Evie, and making a big splash this weekend was this animated promotion video for the first manga volume of Kaijuu-iro-no Shima, (かいじゅう色の島). Rafael Antonio Pineda  has the details on ANN.

Yuri-dol Dakedo Yuri Janai (百合どるだけど百合じゃない) is a comedy about a woman who part of a “Yuri Concept” Idol group, but who is not…you get the point. ^_^; You can read it (in Japanese) on Comic Meteor. You know…”hah.”

 

Yuri Events

The Yuriten is still on and last week I indulged in buying myself some stuff and a few things to go into Lucky Boxes! I took some time to wander the exhibits by series and enjoy the panels and the original art that had been contributed.

We’re doing a “tour group” through the Yuriten on the Okazu Discord. How about next Saturday afternoon my time (US EST)? Join us as we walk through the exhibit together! Details as we figure them out.

 

Queer Comics

DC has announced a DC Pride Anthology, featuring their queer characters. Even a year ago I might have rolled my eyes at this, but looking at the artists and writers, I’m going to absolutely get this. Mariko Tamaki and Amy Reeder working on a story together is  1-2 punch for me and Vita Ayala and anyone. So, yeah, I’m in.

Mere days later Marvel also announced Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1.  It’s going to be an interesting Pride month this year. I’m less familiar with some of these writers and artists, but of course I’ll get this.

It’s a pretty decent feeling to have top queer talent on these things. ^_^

Mira Ong Chua’s newest series is a Kickstarter success. GOODBYE, BATTLE PRINCESS PEONY will be a book. ^_^ I wonder if Seven Seas will license this one, too?

 

Yuri Doujinshi

Lilyka has announced the release of  translated Magnum Lily, a two-part Yuri boxing doujinshi (of which I swear I have at least one part floating around this house from some doujinshi event or other). In any case, I picked it up for myself last night, because of course I did. ^_^

 

Yuri Visual Novels and Games

Mangagamer is doing a White Day Sale through March 19th on selected Yuri titles and others.

 

Other News

Raya and the Last Dragon’s Kelly Marie Tran Thinks Her Disney Princess Is Gay is an interesting look at how Disney is lagging behind in queer representation in animation, by Joanna Robinson for Vanity Fair.

Takumi Furusato did an amazing write-up for ANN on the history and current state of derivative works (i.e, doujinshi, fanfic, cosplay, etc) in Japan. It’s absolutely worth reading, because this is a quickly evolving area of law and finance. Derivative Content and Property Rights: How Does Fanfiction Work in the Anime and Manga Industry?

Totally relevant to this same topic, Revolutionary Girl Utena fangroup Empty Movement is reaching out to folks to help an acquaintance do some research into fandom perceptions of fan translations.

Ogata Megumi-san has posted her first music video in 25 years, says Komatsu-san over at Crunchyroll News. She calls the video chuuni-ish and I’m not gonna disagree. ^_^  Very art school.

 

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Posted in Yuri Network News | 7 Comments »


Syrup: A Yuri Anthology, Volume 2

March 11th, 2021

There are several games in town on the Yuri Anthology playing field in Japanese, Kadokawa, Ichijinsha and Futabasha. (Thank you CW for the correction!) In English, we’ve gotten the Éclair anthologies from Yen Press and Syrup from Seven Seas, respectively. If you read all the anthologies, as I am wont to, you’ll see a lot of the same names floating around on the contributor list, which occasionally gives one a sense of deja vu. ^_^ Today we’re looking at the second Syrup anthology  out from Seven Seas. Of Volume 1, I said “Syrup is a very good Yuri anthology for your growing Yuri anthology section of bookshelves and a great way to add work by some of the best in Yuri.” This holds true for Syrup: A Yuri Anthology, Volume 2, with some caveats. 

“Caveats?” you ask? Yes, to be very honest, overall, I am less fond of the Ichijinsha and Futabasha anthologies than I am of the Kadokawa. Second, because an anthology covers a wide range of styles and content, you are unlikely to love everything in any given anthology. In this volume’s case there were a few stories that put me off quite severely. One, by an author I know I don’t like and was therefore able to skip it, and at least one other by someone I had not previously been familiar with.

That said, here in Syrup, Volume 2, we have a fair number of decent stories and a brace of stories that I thought lifted the whole anthology out of the pack.

Matsuzaki Natsumi’s “The Fourth Woman” was an excellent crossover between two subgenres, with a idol fan and her idol meeting once again in office life, which left me smiling at the short, but on point story. The final story, “At What Point?” by Morinaga Milk also hit me in a few sensitive spots. The collection as a whole has some names I’m pleased to see; among them, Takahashi Mako, Whispered Words‘ Ikeda Takashi, Amano Shuninta, who I’m always really glad to see in any anthology and what now looks like a very, very early contribution by Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl creator, Canno.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Solid work by translator Jennifer Ward and adaptor Asha Bardon make this a quick read. I want to note that doing lettering and retouch on multiple author’s work, as Kaitlyn Wiley did here, can be trickly. Another fine job from everyone at Seven Seas and another authentic manga reading experience.

Thanks to Seven Seas for the review copy!

Posted in English Manga, Yuri Anthology, Yuri Manga | 3 Comments »


A Witch’s Love At The End of The World, Volume 2

March 10th, 2021

In Volume 1, we meet Mari a girl at a school for witches who apparently has no magic. Assigned to help her in her studies is top student Alice who has a great deal of magic, and who has been warned to never fall in love. As I say in my review, ” Mari and Alice discover that they can transcend not only their personal limitations, but the strictures placed upon witches. Mari becomes a key and a lock, which Alice unlocks. In doing so, she finds herself changed.”

In A Witch’s Love At The End of The World, Volume 2, Kujira’s tale of magic and loss and love takes a shocking turn, as Mari and Alice find themselves wandering Mari’s old neighborhood…only to discover that all traces of her family have been disappeared completely. The situation is not at all cleared up when Madam Dolly finds them and sends them back to the school. Alice is feeling feeling she has been explicitly warned to stay away from and Mari, who doesn’t really care about being a witch at all, just wants to know what the heck is going on.

This book reminds me a great deal of a story from my childhood that I loved. The multiple perspectives of same events and characters trying to understand those perspectives. It’s not at all the same story, but it has a similar feel. As a result, I find myself probably more engaged with Mari’s quest to find the truth and make a path for her and Alice through this than maybe I might otherwise might have. In any case, I still enjoy the art – which has become much more filled in now that Mari and Alice are in the “real” world –  and the characters. I hope the story will hold up to through the end.

Yen’s edition is nicely put together, featuring the translation of Eleanor Summers and lettering stylings by Sara Linsley (who, relevantly, just had a great little Twitter thread about lettering over art.)

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – The jump comes from an unlikely quarter, but…yes
Service – Still not really

Overall – 8

Volume 3 will be out in May, and I’m hoping for the ending I want, not the ending it’ll probably get. ^_^

Thanks so much to Yen Press for the review copy and for bringing out this interesting story.

Posted in English Manga, Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »


Still Sick, Volume 3

March 8th, 2021

Here we are at the end of Akashi’s workplace-romance that became a completely different story. In Still Sick, Volume 3, as I said in my review of the Japanese edition, there is a lot of story to tell and, overall, this volume is up to the task.

Maekawa is still locked in a struggle with herself about drawing manga. But being locked in a struggle is what Akane does best, as she’s simultaneously locked in two other struggles. Also vying for her attention is her increasingly serious feelings for Shimizu Makoto ,and her refusal/inability to deal with her depression…a depression that has some deep roots.

Makoto, in the meantime, has decided to be everything she can be for Akane. She’s supportive of the other woman’s choices, and forces her to confront some of those roots. And, while Makoto forces Akane to grow on in her personal life, her editor pushes her to do the same professionally. When the dam breaks for her, Akane, she is finally able to get past her blocks. Makoto takes a leap into the unknown too. Ultimately they walk together into a much less foreseeable future than either of them could have predicted.

As a story, this was also a stronger one than we could have predicted. There was a lot of room for Akane’s passive-aggressive nature to just continue to be played for “laughs,” but I believe that would have done a disservice to characters and readers. Instead, Akashi ties the series up pretty tightly and allows us to close the book knowing neither we nor Akane and Makoto were jerked around by lazy writing. As I said with the JP edition, to get everything tidy, the art suffers on some places, but I will always take a well-told tale with slightly sketchy art over detailed art, with an underdeveloped story.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Characters – 9
Story – 9
Yuri – 9, LGBTQ – 7
Service – 3 some noodling around, underwear, bed

Overall – 9

Tokyopop did a decent job on the technicals with a solid translation by Katie Kimura, editing by Lena Atanassova and some very nice letting and retouch by Vibraant Publishing Studio. I took a closer look at the cover design and, honestly, without the title and author in black across front of the the cover, Sol DeLeo & Soodam Lee’s cover design is honestly more open and easy to read than the original. Nice work, folks!

Tokyopop has not announced any other Yuri Yuri manga, but they are still bringing out manga-inspired comics, so keep an out for more from them. ^_^

Posted in English Manga, Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »


The Complete Guide to “Yuri Movies” (「百合映画』完全ガイド) 

March 7th, 2021

While on the Yuri Tour in 2019, one of the last places I visited was Toranoana’s Yuri section. I mention this because, while it does not have a Yuribu like Animate, Gamers, or Shosen, Toranoana’s logo-less “Yuri Corner” is by far and away my favorite. Of the Yuribu, I think Shosen gets closer than the others, with curation that spans a wider range of interests for Yuri fans, but nothing approaches the scale or comprehensive curation that Toronoana offers. It begins next to a broom closet on the 4th or 5th floor of the Toronoana in Akihabara (I can never remember which floor) that’s covered with fake brick designed paper ( which you can see on the second picture.) The Yuri Corner goes along the wall, across the wall on the side where the registers are, then down back along the first full size bookshelf, then it turns the corner and is now another, growing section  on the other side of that same bookshelf. Here a few photos of the section. You can see how low-rent the sign is…totally printed from a computer.

 

 

 

 

BUT – and here is the key point – this is the best Yuri section in Tokyo.

Why?  Because it has manga and novels and light novels and reference guides and mooks and other nonfiction and doujinshi. And so when I am in Tokyo, I always save this store until last, because it will not only have everything I wanted to get, but couldn’t find anywhere else and things I didn’t know I wanted, but it will also have books I didn’t know existed and obviously need to read.  Books like the subject of today’s review.

In actual fact, I bought this on Amazon JP last year, but I guarantee that had I been able to visit in 2020, I would have found this book on those shelves.

The Complete Guide to “Yuri Movies” (「百合映画』完全ガイド)  by Fujinoyamai is a fascinating look at someone outside the anime and manga industry looking at media through an explicitly “Yuri” lens.

The book begins with an interesting explanation of the history of Yuri, and then a justification for the use of the term Yuri for looking at movies that have lesbian content without lesbian identity…a distinction that breaks down only towards the most modern of the choices here.

The guide itself is split into three parts. It begins with Japanese movies, beginning with the 1933 silent film Japanese Girls at the Harbor  (港の日本娘) and continues to 2019’s A Girl Missing,  Yokogao よこがお.  Each entry includes a synopsis, a short analysis and details of staff and forms of release.

The second part of the book cover non-Japanese movies. These begin in 1931 with the German film Mädchen in Uniform and continue through 2020’s The Half of It, which I reviewed here on Okazu.

The third part might be the most interesting for us here on Okazu, as it covers anime movies, from 1986’s Doreamon movie, Doreamon –  Nobita and the Steel Troops (ドラえもん のび太と鉄人兵団,) to 2020’s High School Fleet (ハイスクール・フリート), neither of which I knew anything about. So that’s all to the good.

Some of the anime choices are – to my mind, obviously – not “Yuri” as I understand it, which doesn’t bother me in the least, and one or two that I might have included that are not there. I won’t hold it against Fujinoyamai-san, they’ve taken on a huge topic with this book and done an interesting and thoughtful job with it.  I found the book to be a really interesting read. I’m particularly happy to have a guide to Japanese movies I might not otherwise have known about, with English-language lesbian film history being so Europe- and America-centric. On the whole, I’m inclined to agree with their choices.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

If Yuri as a genre interests you, and like me, you believe that it is a useful genre term for media outside anime and manga, this book is a great addition to your shelves…and these movies to your watchlist! And, if you get a chance to get to Tokyo post-pandemic drop by the Akihabara Toronoana and see what other unique Yuri printed material they have for sale. You never know what you’ll find.

Posted in History of Yuri, Live Action, Miscellaneous | 3 Comments »