Something had to give, and it looks like “magazines” is the breaking point. I have every Yuri Shimai/Yuri Hime/Yuri Hime S/Comic Yuri Hime magazine since 2003 with the exception of some of the curated volumes I didn’t keep. There are several huge cartons in storage and there’s just no more room to keep them really. I still have a subscription to the magazine with the local Kinokuniya, and hope I’ll be able to pick it up print sometime, but for now, I am shifting all my magazine reading and at least some of my manga reading to Global Bookwalker‘s system. In fact, I just assume the entire global pandemic is specifically because I was caught up with Comic Yuri Hime and this is the universe thumbing it’s nose at me. (I obviously do NOT assume that.) In any case, I’m running behind once again, but plan on forging ahead with new volumes digitally.  ^_^

So today I’m looking at Comic Yuri Hime, May 2020 (コミック百合姫 2020年5月号) which is still available in print on Amazon JP, or digitally on Global Bookwalker – which has the distinct advantage of not being as limited by region as Kindle and includes a English-language manga store, as well as Japanese, something I find very convenient. They can all be kept in one library, as well, so you don’t need to toggle back and forth. You do need to check out the Japanese manga from the JP store and the English manga from the EN store, which is a small inconvenience given the streamlining of the rest of the system. AND like all online systems, it has a points system, and there are sales and coupons constantly and give-backs.

And I gotta tell ya – there is no going back. I LOVED reading the magazine on the digital system! I’m able to change size (not as fluidly on my Surface as with an Android system, but the pen helps) and move easily around the page and the book. A 10″ tablet gives me a roughly full magazine page , I can shift to two page layout with a twist and the art looked great.  Honestly, the art looked clearer and better on the screen than it can on paper, which roughens it up ever so slightly.  I enjoyed the reading experience of the digital edition greatly.  And no soy ink smell! This is always a problem for me.

So how was the content? It was a solid volume, with some good and bad, as always. I have a few stories I want to note because they are doing something interesting. We’ll start with the surprising.

You know I have a complicated relationship with Kodama Naoko-sensei’s work. I like her art, I sometimes do not like the story. More oftenn I’m just creeped out by some fetishtry embedded in the tale. Her current series, “Uminekosou days” (recently licensed by Seven Seas as Days of Love a Seagull Villa,”) has been on brand with this. We’re setting Mayumi up to be betrayed by her “best friend,” because apparently stealing her boyfriend wasn’t enough. So ask me how surprised I am to find that Rin may not be corruptible? I’m really hoping she’s not. I’d love to see a series where the manipulative bully gets told to shove it and shove off. I’m still angry that Peach Girl Next even exists.

Also surprising was FLOWERCHILD’s “Warikitta kankeidesukara,” as it appears to be developing an actual plot. I did not expect that.

On a positive note, although it probably heralds the end of the series, Ohi Pikachi’s “Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatteiru” is teasing a mutual marriage proposal. I’d pay extra if the series just kept going and let the school be in an uproar about the wedding for, I dunno, a year and a half or so, maybe 2? ^_^

I’m also perfectly okay with “Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!” taking it’s time to wrap.  It’s kind of maddening knowing that in 2020 becoming a couple or proposing marriage is still the end of the story, instead of the beginning. Dammit. Give me more like Inui Ayu’s slice-of-real-life “Kyou mo Hitotsu Yane no Shita.” Please.

Ratings:

Overall  – 8, but an extra point for the digital experience. Damn, that was nice. So, 9

I’ll end this by reminding you that you may subscribe to the magazine directly on Bookwalker, a feature I find very intriguing, especially now. New volumes will be added to your library automatically. Each issue page includes a few sample pages, which is nice.  And for those of you interested, the June 2020 issue is already available (And with coins I’ve gotten from purchases and affiliate links, I’ll be paying 16 cents. Booyah)