Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – November 28, 2020

November 28th, 2020

Yuri Manga

On the Yuricon Store, we’ve got a couple of new items!

Whisper Me a Love Song, Volume 2, will be hitting shelves next month.

Yamada and Kase-san, Volume 2 (山田と加瀬さん。). I can’t wait to read this! Because I haven’t gotten to Japan at all this year, I feel so behind on this series ^_^

Also super high on my looking forward to reading this list is Akuyaku Reijou desu ga, Heroine ni Kouryakusaretemasu wa! (悪役令嬢ですが、ヒロインに攻略されてますわ! アンソロジーコミック) This anthology has five stories in which the Villainess gets a HAPPY END with the Heroine. ^_^ The description was so exuberantly otakuish I laughed.

 

Support Yuri News and reviews, support queer creators and support the Yuri ecosystem
Subscribe to Okazu on Patreon!

 

Kodansha has licensed a merely Yuri-adjacent manga, called Will It Be the World or Her?. You can get the details from ANN’s Adriana Hazra.

From Wings magazine, we have a two-part OL and witch story, Mi-chan to Airi (みーちゃんとアイリ). Volume 1 and Volume 2 are available in Japan.

Also in two-parts, Yume no Hashibashi (夢の端々), Volume 1 and Volume 2, tells a story about a school love that manages to survive over 70 years and lifetimes of obligations.

For those of you still reading, Akili’s Vampeerz, Volume 4 (ヴァンピアーズ) is out in Japan.

Mikanuji’s Fuzoroi no Renri (不揃いの連理) has a new chapter up on Web Newtype and a voiced comic promotional video! I enjoy those so much. ^_^

 

Yuri Light Novels

Otherside Picnic, Volume 4 will be out on Kindle or Global Bookwalker at the end of December.

Bloom Into You Regarding Saeki Sayaka, Volume 3 is also hitting shelves in December.

Wow, there is a new edition of the Cream Lemon: Escalation novel, Escalation (エスカレーション). Much nicer cover than the original!

Doukyusei no Oshi Sakka ni Yuri Mousou ga Bareta Kekka (同級生の推し作家に百合妄想がバレた結果) is a cute story about a girl whose classmate is her favorite writer. Read it for free in Japanese on Sai-zen.

YNN Correspondent Megan shares this gonzo piano Yuri comic, Kizu-darake Piano Sonata (傷だらけのピアノソナタ), which you can read on Shonen Jump Plus, in Japanese.

 

Anime News

Komatsu-san at Crunchyroll news has a bunch of reports this week:

WATATEN! An Angel Flew Down to Me launches a new project.

Toei announces the next PreCure series, Tropical-Rouge! PreCure.

And the first 6 minutes of the 20th anniversary Ojamajo Doremi project Majo Minarai wo Sagashite is up on Youtube for us to enjoy. I have the Ojamajo Doremi 20s novel sitting here. I’ll get to it one day. ^_^

VLADLove trailer is up and as if it is determined to keep me from watching, it’s not just going to be old guys/young girls vampires…it’s going to be slapstick! Ah. hah. Paul Chapman has the details on CR.  YNN Correspondent Megan also dropped some more VLADLove news: There will be a “Vlad Love advance screening event on Dec 28th – event will also feature a talk with Oshii and other staff.

There’s also a casting interview up on the official Youtube, plus cast announced for the dads of the main characters – I suppose Oshii wasn’t exaggerating with how this anime only has bishoujo or Ossan characters and nothing in between.”

I think there’s an ever-decreasing chance for this to be Yuri. ^_^;

 
Other News

I’m delighted to hear that India is getting their own legal streaming site, Animei TV! It should launch in 2021 if all goes well. That’s a huge market, so if there is a legal option for the subcontinent, that’s all to the good!

Via YNN Correspondent CW, Waseda University’s queer group, GLOW, has a wonderful interview with Morishma Akiko-sensei! This was a great read. ^_^

 

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 helping us reach our 2020 goal of giving guest writers a raise and helping us support queer creators!

 
Posted in Yuri Network News | 5 Comments »


Hitogoto Desukara!, Volume 2 (ヒトゴトですから!)

November 27th, 2020

In Volume 1 of Yuni’s office life drama, we met Komori Mio a woman who has been transferred into Human Resources instead of getting promoted in sales, at which she excels. She excels, at least in part, at sales because she is very good at schmoozing women, which suits her fine. In HR she’s mentored by Yamanobe Kyouko who initially seems very uptight, but is also, as it turns out, very good with the ladies.

Volume 2 of Hitogoto Desukara!, (ヒトゴトですから!) begins with Komori encountering a weakness in herself. She’s not great at conducting internal interviews. Having always approached negotiation from a transactional perspective, Komori isn’t suited to the more conciliatory interviews of HR.

But more importantly, the interview leads us to learn about Yamanobe’s early years, and an old love affair with repercussions in the present. And the situation just gets more and more complicated as relics of Yamanobe’s life keep her tied to her past and unable to move forward, to the detriment of her future.

The whole story is ironic in several senses, as HR reps are the ones that are meant (in theory) to help you out of sticky personal issues in the workplace. At least here in the US that’s completely fictitious as HR serves primarily as a risk management tool for corporate leadership. Reading this book with an American eye, every one of the female characters would be hounded out of their positions, while Haruma would be promoted to the position Komori deserved. But it’s not all that difficult to stay amused as these people all fail to function appropriately. ^_^

It’s bitter, it’s funny, it’s wacky….it’s a bit like being the colleague in the office who can see all the drama, but isn’t sucked into it. We’re all the older lady in the corner who thinks these young people have too much energy. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 9
Story – 7
Service – 0 More drunken, than licentious this volume
Yuri – 8 Two definitely queer woman, and two I think have potential. ^_^

Overall – 8

I do not want Komori and Yamanobe getting together, but I like that they can sort-of rely on one another enough to talk to about whatever nonsense they are dealing with in their love life. ^_^

I don’t know if Yen Press will license this series; it is a bit more real-life business stuff (there are notes in the back to the actual HR texts used as references in the back of the book) than usual for the Yuri audience, but as a corporate drone myself for most of my adult life, I sure appreciate it! ^_^

Posted in Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »


More Thankful Than Ever for Yuri in 2020

November 26th, 2020

It’s “Thanksgiving Day” here in the United States, a day rife with lies, colonization of the first people on this land, traffic, family trauma and now, a dose of COVID-19. It’s never been a favorite holiday of mine, but I wanted to take a moment and reflect on how immensely thankful I am right now.

First of all, I am most thankful to all of our Okazu patrons, and to thank them properly we’ll be hosting an online Holiday party once again!

This year, as travel and events were complicated by the pandemic, I’m extra-thankful for the manga companies who are bringing out more Yuri! I can no longer effectively keep up, which is a problem, but it’s an amazing problem to have. ^_^ As a result, I’m also super thankful for other folks in the manga news and analysis spaces, Yuri Mother, TomoChoco Podcast, Yuricast, and all the folks at ANN,  Crunchyroll News, Yuri Navi, our international friends, like the Yuri/GL Phillipines and all our global Yuri News Network Correspondents. I would not be able to function without you. The global Yuri Network grows every day and it’s an awe-inspiring thing. ^_^

I’m thankful to you, my Okazu readers and writers. I’m very thankful to everyone who has contributed to making Okazu a Yuri resource for almost 20 years. I’m especially thankful to Louise and Pattie, who have made it possible to do videos for Yuri Studio. I know I owe you a video. Which brings me to why you haven’t gotten one yet. ^_^

I’ve been working on cleaning up the office in my house. It fell out of use when we ceased to use desktop computers and became a giant closet. After having it painted and the floors refinished, we’re at the point of redecorating. I wanted to share a few pictures with you. This is still work in progress, as only the doujinshi are in there (and only in temporary situation), and all the books are yet to be dealt with and all the art is waiting to go up on the walls.

Before:

After:

Here is my small original art gallery to go up once the corner shelf is in place.

Today, as I sit, surrounded by a sea of Yuri manga that I will be sorting and re-arranging in order to find homes for all of it – and planning Lucky Boxes for all of the stuff that has been weeded from the boxes and cartons and closets – I am so very thankful for Yuri creators and and for the stories and characters that have given me a lifetime of joy.

I’m most thankful for my wife, Pattie, for everything. I could not do any of it without you.

Thank you all. I promise I’ll get working on that next video shortly! Happy Thanksgiving.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 6 Comments »


Éclair Orange: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart

November 24th, 2020

Éclair Orange: A Girls’ Love Anthology That Resonates in Your Heart, the fifth and final book of the Éclair anthology is a hefty volume full of favorite Yuri creators, with some of the best stories so far in the series.

The cover story by Nio Nakatani follows two women ready to make a significant commitment to their relationship.

Among the many stories we have Miyako Miyahara’s happy accident with two girls who braid their lives together in “Unbreakable Distance.”

Cocoon, Entwined creatorYuriko Hara, whose art is unmistakable, does a fantastic and phantastic story about reliance and dependence.

“Wavering Lips” by Ruka Kobachi is a short poignant story about the path not taken while Taki Kitao’s “Please Go Home” is kind of the opposite, a story about chance encounter leading to a life-changing decision.

Kazuno Yuikawa’s “A New Star” is a stark, powerful science fiction entry that covers a *lot* of territory in a short story touching on freedom and servitude. I quite like this one.

Entries by Kabocha, Canno, Kiriyama Haruka and others explore a number of ways relationships work.

The Éclair series is perfect to introduce readers to a wide selection of Yuri artists and Éclair Orange is a fine conclusion to this fun anthology series that has, I hope, introduced you to a new favorite or two. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 8

For those of you who would like to see more Kazuno Yuikawa or Taki Kitao, Kadokawa has put together special collected works volumes for each of those creators in Japanesde: Éclair Special Kazuno Yuikawa Masterpiece Collection (エクレアSpecial 雑草譚 結川カズノ百合作品傑作選) and Éclair Special Sukinano ha Onnonoko Kitao Taki Yuri Sakuhin Kessakusen (エクレアSpecial 好きなのは女の子 北尾タキ百合作品傑作選).

Posted in Yuri Anthology, Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »


Rose of Versailles Anime Full Analysis Mook (ベルサイユのばら アニメ 大解剖)

November 22nd, 2020

One of the best things about shopping in a bookstore is the serendipity of finding a completely unexpected, marvelous, find. Over the years I’ve found all sorts of unexpectedly wonderful Yuri shopping in used bookstores like Mandarake and bookstores all over the world. This month I had the pleasure of coming around a corner at my localish Kinokuniya and finding a reprint of an older anime guidebook book of the Rose of Versailles anime. This is a “complete preserved edition” according to the cover. Actually, the cover has a lot to say! “A historical romance that continues to fascinate women all over Japan!” and “The fate of the Splendid Rose”.

The title of this publication is Berusaiyu no Bara Dai Kaibou (ベルサイユのばら アニメ 大解剖) which I’m translating as a “full” analysis rather than”big” but hopefully you get the point. This is one of those mooks with art from the series, character profiles, interviews, key scenes summarized with accompanying stills, a timeline, a full 40-episode synopsis, historical timeline of events and related art, character designs, scenery, and pages of series goods that are available. This volume includes title card gallery, still shot scene gallery, a color illustration gallery by Himeno Michi, interviews with Oscar’s voice actor, Tajima Reiko, Andre’s voice actor Shigaki Taro, and “Berubara Fan” and SKE48 member, Hata Sawako.

Well, that means this isn’t just an archival reproduction, but also has new content. The goods shown go at least as far current as the face masks, which I have bought for Oscar and Rosalie embracing on the packaging. ^_^

I’ve been so consumed with looking at the pretty pictures, I haven’t had a moment to read the interviews….but I’ll get there. In the meantime there’s a lot of shiny to look through.

So if the UDON edition of The Rose of Versailles manga has whetted your appetite for more, take a look at this lovely book in your spare time, while waiting for some company to re-license the anime for streaming.

Ratings:

Overall –  10

If you, like Hata-san, are a Berubara fan, this mook is a treasure chest of shiny melodrama and fun.

Posted in Rose of Versailles | 1 Comment »