Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – March 16, 2019

March 16th, 2019

Yuri Manga

Kodansha has announced the license for tMnR’s If I Could Reach You, with a planned release in autumn.

Naoko Kodama’s I Married my Friend to Shut My Parents Up is slated for a release next month in English from Seven Seas. This one-shot nothing like NTR, so if that put you off, you need not worry. That said, if NTR turned you on, this next book is nothing like it, so be warned. Read my review of the JP volume to decide for yourself.

Vanilla Nonhuman x Nonhuman Yuri Anthology ( バニラ人外×人外百合アンソロジー) and Cinnamon Nonhuman x Human Yuri Anthology (シナモン Cinnamon 人外×人間百合アンソロジー), from Kadokawa  and SHIBUYA Gal Yuri Anthology (SHIBUYA ギャル百合アンソロジー) from Ichijinsha are now on the Yuricon Store and available on JP shelves this month. 

Also from Ichijinsha are two more anthologies hitting shelves at the end of the month: Macaron Idol Yuri Anthology (マカロン　アイドル百合アンソロジー) and Yuri-quer Alcohol Yuri Anthology (ユリキュール　アルコール百合アンソロジー) both of which are making me long for the days when Yuri anthologies were named after flowers. ^_^;

On the one hand I am thrilled beyond belief that there is so much Yuri coming out in Japan, on the other hand, I am vexed at the pumping out of themed anthologies designed to appeal to fetishes. But yay for artists getting paid to do work! I think some of these will, by necessity, be digital purchases for me. I don’t have the room anymore for getting every Yuri book ever, and I’m running out of time to read and review everything that comes out. I need more patrons so I can quit my day job and do this full time. ^_^ Become an Okazu patron, get sneak previews to new research, access to patron-only events and content and help us support queer creators and Yuri media. Five dollars a month can change the world.

YNN Correspondent Sean G tells us that Dengeki Bunko has announced an Adachi to Shimamura (安達としまむら) manga…and in looking around I see that it was already a 3-volume manga from Gangan Comics, but this appears to be a new serialization that will run in Dengeki Daioh magazine. Also, for those of you following the series, Volume 8 of the novels will be released later this spring.

And finally! a book I’ve been looking out for for months, Lily Lily Rose Volume 2 from Konno Kita. I enjoyed Volume 1 and have been hoping to see the continuation.

 

Yuri Event

YNN Corespondent endlessrain contacted us on Twitter to tell us that there is a Yuri and Yaoi event in Seville, Spain on March 23 & 24! Here is the website for more details. How exciting!

The Yuriten event has opened today in Ebisu, Tokyo! It will be in this location until the 24th and will open in Osaka on March 30.

The folks who publish Yuri manga magazine Galette is holding a Galette Yuri Matsuri on May 6 in Tokyo Culture Culture in Shibuya. Several of the magazine artists will be there, live drawing is planned and a Q&A with the artists.

I sincerely hope that you’ll join us for the 100th Anniversary of Yuri Tour in Tokyo in September! 

Yuri Anime

RightStuf is doing an inventory clearance on the Revolutionary Girl Utena 20th Anniversary Box Set. It’s $90 off, which made it affordable enough for me, finally. ^_^ The set comes with the complete series, movie, book with interviews, production drawings, character designs, art, etc., and a box with both the Duellist’s ring and the Black Rose ring. Limited while supplies last and all that. 

The Live Action stage play of Yagate Kimi ni Naru / Bloom Into You has announced cast and will be performed in May in Shibuya, Tokyo at the Zenrosai Hall / Space zero according to this Comic Natalie report.

 

Yuri Games

A bunch of folks have written in to tell us about Shiritsu Verbara Gakuen ~Versailles no Bara Re*imagination~ a Nintendo Switch game based on the Rose of Versailles series. Check out Crystalynn Hodgin’s report on ANN for details and Promotional video! 

New Yuri game Hatsukoi Shift has opened up a Twitter account….we’ll be waiting to see what the account announces.

Previously announced game with some Yuri, Shinrui no Minasam e, is now slated for release on Ps4 and Switch.

 

Other News

ANN has the video in which Brie Larson cites Sailor Moon as one of her childhood role models. ^_^

YNN Correspondent Super has written in to let you know that Universal Studios Japan is running a new Sailor Moon 4-D experience and this time, the Outer Guardians will join the battle! Check out the ANN report for details.

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, 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!

Posted in Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Galette Meets, Issue 3 (ガレットmeets3)

March 15th, 2019

The third Galette Meets, the doujinshi put out by the folks at Galette Works, is a pretty healthy body of Yuri work.

With 8 stories for 120 pages, some by artists we know and love and others by new folks whose names we don’t yet know, it’s a great way to dip your toes into a wider range of stories featuring the emotional range of women. There’s sweet here and ugly and mean, and kind and romantic all dealt with by varying artists in different ways.

Ogawa Masumi’s story about a toxic relationship was the standout story for me, as it takes a dark path through bullying, and using sex as a weapon, and the extremes of love and lust in a chaotic few pages.

Galette Meets 3 is available in Print and on Kindle from Amazon JP and on US Kindle (in Japanese). It’s not (yet, maybe?) available on Global Bookwalker. 

Ratings: 

Overall – 8

Galette Meets 3.5 will be available in print at the end of this month – which is an interesting little thing, because in the end of Galette Meets 3, it says that the next one will be, naturally 4, and yet, here is 3.5. with 90 pages of content. I’ll be interested to see what “a little sexy and more sweet” stories we’ll get this time. 

Posted in Doujinshi, Galette, Yuri Anthology, Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Yuri Manga: Kase-san and Cherry Blossoms (English)

March 13th, 2019

Love after high school graduation. Surprisingly few Yuri manga address the idea of a same-sex relationship in the “outside world” after secondary education. There’s a good reason for this, honestly, as life rapidly becomes more complex once a person is on their own. One day, you’re picking out a set of plates for your own kitchen and the next, you’re searching for renter’s insurance and a job that still offers real vacation time. 

Of all the many thousands of reviews here on Okazu, a mere handful of Yuri manga have so much as explored that space between high school and adult life. Morinaga Milk’s GIRL FRIENDS literally took a look at it, then shied away from dealing with the reality of adulthood. 

All of which is why I absolutely love Kase-san and Cherry Blossoms by Takashima Hiromi, the fifth book of the Kase-san series, out now in English from Seven Seas. Yamada does not suddenly become a confident adult the moment she graduates, Kase-san is not suddenly less jealous than she was, Miwachi isn’t less of a haphazard mess. They are all who they were in high school….and then again, they aren’t. The thing I’ve liked best about this series from the beginning is the naturalness of it. I feel like we’re watching these people in real time (although, as Takashima-sensei notes in the Afterword, the series began in 2010 – that’s a long time to be in high school!)

Kase-san and Yamada, that is to say, Tomoka and Yui, sleep together and grin goofily at one another, as one does. They support one another and spend time together. It’s just lovely to see them maturing and becoming adults who are in love. 

As always, Jocelyne Allen’s translation is so good, I can hear Yui and Tomoka saying the lines. The reproduction is high quality. Once again, Seven Seas has provided us with an authentic, enjoyable manga reading experience.

Ratings:

Art – 8 So much improved over the early days
Character – 9
Story – 9
Yuri -10
Service – 6 Some gratuitous underwear shots

Overall – 9

It’s unlikely that we’ll see Yamada and Kase-san addressing homophobia, social or political issues; some other manga will have to go there. But that’s okay. That’s not what we read the Kase-san series for.

 

Posted in English Manga, Kase-san Series, Yuri Manga | 6 Comments »


Boogiepop and Others Anime (English)

March 12th, 2019

2019 dawned with me being the proud subscriber to more streaming services than I could imagine. Or need. Or want, really. As media goes, visual media is my least favorite, as it takes more time and concentration than I care to give to staring at a screen. Which is why I end up watching movies on airplanes, where I’m a captive audience. ^_^

Because I’m paying these services for access to anime, among other things, I thought I’d better, y’know, use them to watch stuff I didn’t want to buy. I’m all for buying the 20th anniversary Blu-Ray box set of Revolutionary Girl Utena – and watching it again. ^_^ Crunchyroll has been a staple for me for years, Hidive has been pretty good in providing access to Sentai Filmworks‘ titles, which I tend to enjoy watching once, but don’t really want to own (although there have been exceptions,) with Netflix coming in a distant third in anime for me, but it turns out to have Master of the 36th Chamber of Shaolin, so I forgive it all its failings.  Amazon Prime has been sort of interesting too, although I keep it around more for the free shipping than the anime. Nonetheless there are titles I’ve watched on that service. And of course, I’m trying to stay current on Yuri and Yuri-friendly series like Bloom Into You– but sometimes you gotta watch something new!

In an attempt to watch something out of the usual for me and something new, I turned to Boogiepop and Others, streaming on Crunchyroll.  This series looks at the light novels that precede the Boogiepop Phantom (this link goes to the Nozomi Entertainment Official Youtube channel dub) light novel.

Boogiepop and Others is not a Yuri series. Just to be very clear. There are, however, elements that may appeal to Okazu readers.

The opening credits include a same-sex kiss between the main character and herself, but I am not convinced that that has relevance to the story. The fact that it exists at all is merely indicative of the kind of Yuri one gets in this series.

The story centers on a supernatural being, a Shinagami known as Boogiepop who appears periodically to combat evil. Boogiepop, who refers to itself as “he/him,” manifests in the body of a high school girl, Miyashita Touka, who has no idea that she even becomes Boogiepop, although in a later arc, her mother does recognize that Touka is being possessed by a “strange man.”

In the first arc, there have been disappearances and murders, someone is killing high school girls (a repeated theme within the story.) Again there is some same-sex kissing. These kisses lack affection and are more a means of transmission of a compulsion than anything else.

Most interesting to me is the character of Kirima Nagi, whose backstory takes up the the bulk of the “Boogiepop at Dawn” anime arc (and, presumably, the light novel it is based upon.) When we first encounter her in the “Boogiepop and Others” arc, she has exceptional skills and fights Manticore, just as Boogiepop does…but they are not on the same side. They will encounter each other over and over throughout the series.

Miyashita, Kirima, and a third girl, Suema Kazuko, who has a strong interest in criminal psychology, form a triumvirate of main characters, around which the plots swirl. With the addition of a criminal organization, supernatural and alien influence, there’s always a lot going on in any given arc.

The animation is both good and not moe, with a number of adult characters. It’s been, frankly, a pleasure to watch, even with all the deaths.

I quite like that the series is always low-key horror even when what’s going on is actual horror. ^_^ Gruesome murders are presented with layers of narrative and artistic rendering to give us the thrill without too much of the grotesque. There’s a lot of pretension to psychological horror, but just as the tension rises, the arc comes to an end. This makes most of the arcs seem rushed, but if we spent any more time in the arc, the endings  – which mostly consist of Boogiepop talking the bad guy to death, then killing them – would be even less impressive than they are.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Characters – 8
Story – 8 Every arc is a lot of story crammed into a little space
Service – Yeah, there is some egregious undressing and the Yuri is clearly meant as service
Yuri – 2? It’s nothing more than window dressing and not why you should watch this series
Overall- 8

As I said, this is not a Yuri series, Yuri is merely a feature of some of the story arcs and is presented as a throwaway fetish. If you’re looking for well-developed Yuri relationships, this is not a place to look. However, if you are interested in a horror series with intriguing characters, decent people and terrible people, both male and female, adult and teens, strong female leads and a teeny dash of gender switching, this might appeal to you.

Posted in English Anime | 5 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Still Sick, Volume 1 (スティッルシック)

March 11th, 2019

Shimizu Makoto has a secret – she’s a Yuri doujinshi artist  – and no one in her office knows. No one, that is, until coworker Maekawa Akane sees her selling her Yuri books at a comic market.

Shimizu is terrified that Maekawa will blow her cover, Naturally, she assumes Maekawa will hold this secret knowledge against her. When Maekawa doesn’t do any such thing and, in fact, seems to be encouraging her, Shimizu has no idea how to handle it. Maekawa seems to be genuinely supportive of this hobby, but what Shimizu doesn’t know is that Maekawa Akane has a secret of her own. And what a secret it is!

In Still Sick, Volume 1 (スティッルシック) by Akashi, Shimizu is completely at a loss for what to do or how to deal with Maekawa’s apparent goodwill, but when she learns her coworker’s secret, Maekawa turns stone cold towards her. Since she’d let Maekawa into her life, Shimizu feels doubly uncomfortable for being cut out of the other woman’s life, and offers support but, if anything, that seems to make things worse. Even more difficult, Shimizu is starting to feel sincere affection for her coworker. When Maekawa kisses Shimizu after they have a minor confrontation, and Maekawa passes it off as a joke, Shimizu is left wondering what she’s really feeling. 

Volume 1 was marginally uncomfortable to read, mostly because Shimizu is a mostly always uncomfortable character. The story was not at all what I expected based on the synopsis, but I like the story more than I expected to based on that synopsis! Maekawa’s big reveal totally blind-sided me and now I definitely want to see what happens with the two of them. 

Ratings:

Art – 7 Solid, not outstanding
Characters – 8
Story – 8
Yuri – 3, with a lot of potential
Service – 0 so far

Overall – 8

Still Sick is a digital comic that has been collected by MAG Garden’s Blade Comics, a name I haven’t heard in years. Volume 1 sold out quickly on Amazon JP for the first order, and was one of two books that were on my must-get list when I was in Japan last month. I’m really glad I got it, and look forward to the next volume.

Posted in Yuri Manga | 5 Comments »