Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – July 13, 2019

July 13th, 2019

Yuri Events

With regret, I have had to cancel my appearance at Crunchyoll Expo. There were some complicating factors. I very much hope to make a future west coast con, but the airlines sure don’t make it easy.

My updated schedule is as follows:

Yurithon, August 16-18, Montreal, QC, Canada

Girls Love Festival, as part of the 100 Years of Yuri Tour!

New York Comic Con – October, 3-6, New York, NY, USA Tentatively, I’ll be there, doing some press work.

Michigan State University – October 14-16,  I’ll be out there talking about Yuri and translation. More on this as it develops!

Diversity Comic Con – October 25, New York, NY, USA. I will be joining them as a panelist on SuperQueeroes: Representation in Comics. Okazu is a sponsor of this event, as well. ^_^

AnimeNYC – November 15-17, New York, NY, USA – I’m very much hoping to do a talk on Yuri here. Write them and let them know you want me to speak!

Tentatively, I’m planning on attending Mechademia in Kyoto in 2020. I’m telling you this, in order to push myself to apply for a panel. ^_^

As always, I would love to speak at your organization, school, institution or event. Please feel free to contact me!

Yuri Manga

A few new items up on the Yuricon Store!

Our Wonderful Days, Volume 1. Seven Seas has licensed Tsurezure Biyori, so we can all share in Mafuyu, Koharu, Nanaya and Minori’s pleasant days together.

Mira Ong Chua’s successfully kickstarted ROADQUEEN: Eternal Roadtrip to Love has also been picked up by Seven Seas.

The fifth volume of Nettaigyo ha Yuki ni Kogareru,  (熱帯魚は雪に焦がれる) hit shelves at the end of June. As we head into summer, Konatsu and Koharu face Christmas and a winter aquarium show together.

At Anime Expo, Yen Press announced the license of Breasts Are My Favorite Things in the World. This will be the last time I mention this title on Okazu. ^_^;

Speaking of things which will never be mentioned again ^_^… Syrup Shakaijin Yuri Anthology  (シロップ 社会人百合アンソロジー) is getting a sequel, Syrup secret Forbidden Yuri Anthology, (シロップ secret 禁断×百合アンソロジー). There is so much Yuri being published right now and I cannot keep up as it is, I’m opting out of things that are set up to be blecch up front.

 

 

Yuri Novels

Via YNN Correspondent Sean G, J-Novel Club has licensed Yuri Scifi novel Otherside Picnic.  I’m reading the manga for the story now, in fact. Also from J-Novel Club is the license of (supposedly) Yuri light novel,  Onna dakara, to Party wo Tsuihōsareta no de Densetsu no Majo to Saikyō Tag wo Kumimashita. This news via YNN Correspondent Mecasonic13 on Twitter who says, “Kinda interesting to see a yuri/fantasy narou work that was written in reaction to the scandals involving Japanese medical universities discriminating against women in their entrance exams…” I’ll definitely be interested to see how it turns out.

Via Nambu Kumako on Twitter, we learn that Nambu-sensei is writing a note.mu novel Yuri Nurse ~ Kawaii Anoko~ (百合ナース！ 〜かわいいあの子〜) with illustrations by Morinaga Milk.

Also by Nambu-sensei, Sasayaki no Kiss~ (囁きのキス～), illustrated by Morishima Akiko, which has always been available on JP Kindle is now available for folks outside Japan on Bookwalker Global!

 

Other News

I can’t remember (and can’t be arsed to look) if I told you about this yet. but the second Steven Universe soundtrack is out and as it has “The Working Dead” you all need to get it. ^_^

Deb Aoki has an article on Publisher’s Weekly on Light Novels: Mixing Prose with Manga, Light Novels Attract North American Fans

Brown University Is Archiving Gay Pulp Fiction To Preserve A Moment Of LGBTQ History. It’s gay, not lesbian pulp, but how fun! Also NYU has a gay and lesbian pulp archive.

Have I been banging on about queer horror a lot these days? GOOD. Here’s some more: Via Ricardo Serano Denis at Comics Beat, Monstrous sexualities and empowering terror: queer horror gets its own Shudder documentary.

Avery Kaplan at Comics MNT takes a look at Getting Queer Comics Into Libraries.

A Beginner’s Guide to LGBTQ+ Manga by Amanda Pagan on the New York Public Library site makes a terrific, if BL-heavy, resource.

 

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 Network News | 4 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 2 ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな)

July 11th, 2019

Miwa met and started dating band member Saeko in Volume 1, and spent the volume not sure how she wanted their physical relationship to go.

In Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 2  ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな), Tamifull’s webcomic, Miwa and Saeko have resolved that issue and are now navigating how much, if anything, to tell the people around them – an issue that becomes increasingly important as the volume goes on.

Saeko isn’t hiding their relationship, but Miwa is visibly less comfortable with it being public knowledge. And  the guys in the band keep hitting on her, and then wondering about her and Saeko out loud. Both Saeko and Miwa are sharing confidences with the women in the group, but because Miwa isn’t comfortable with being out and open, the two of them are closeted in the open – as so many people often are.

The story is surprisingly tense a lot of the time, as Miwa is constantly put into positions she really just has no idea how to manage. She’s smart enough to realize that her own reticence is at the center of her problems, but it isn’t solving them.  In the meantime, this volume also delves into the inner life of Chie, a group member who really doesn’t get what people are going on about when they obsess about love and sex. One hopes that she’ll be developed a bit more in the future. (If you want to read her story, check out Chapter 14 of the webcomic, up now on Yawara Spirit. In Japanese, of course)

The band heads out for a overnight training camp – Miwa and Saeko are having serious communication and time problems. Saeko is the first to snap, asking Miwa if it is over. Miwa’s shocked to find that they’ve both been suffering from the same doubt. They reconcile. Now that the two of them know who and what they are and what they wan, it’ll be interesting to see where Volume 3 takes us when we get there.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – Still kind of sweet, but occasionally still hits a sour note. Let’s call it a 6
Characters – 6 This volume the band members are kind of annoying, especially the guys being clueless and intrusive.
Yuri – 9 / LGBTQ – 6
Service – 3

Overall – 8 Characterization is still inconsistent, but I’m sticking with it so far.

I’m still hoping for another bump up on the LGBTQ score in the future. It has an extra point this volume, for a potentially asexual character.

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Yuri Manga: Yurikon, Volume 2 (ゆりこん)

July 9th, 2019

In 2019 we have Yuri in the schools, Yuri in the office, Yuri slice-of-life, Yuri scifi, Yuri sports, and plenty of Yuri weddings.

Yurikon, Volume 2 (ゆりこん) picks up the thread laid down in Volume 1, in which two women get married and their story leads to the next couple and the next. As this volume opens, two of the marriages from Volume 1 are are having some communication and sex problems, but it’s all sorted out with talking, alcohol and photos that absolutely could be used for blackmail, if anyone was so inclined.

Two girls whose mothers are married are themselves in love. A young woman has to face rejection from the sempai she loves, and sempai heads off after graduation to marry her love. Despondent, Megumi is taken aback when the woman at the crepe truck confesses to her. But Rita is sincere and adorable and Megumi is swayed.

The next chapter is an old throwback to doujinshi past, as a recalcitrant child gets in the way of two women, but turns out to be their furbaby, rather than a human one. ^_^;

And, finally, a wrapup chapter that brings all the couples back into one story, as they various go out shopping, on dates, eating and running into old friends out on the town.

 

Ratings:

Art – 7 Cute and cuddly, in the oeuvre of Morishima Akiko.
Story – 7 V1 was Dum Dum lollipops, V2 is more like Jolly Ranchers. Super sweet, but there is some unique  flavor
Characters – 8 Precious, ever last one of them.
Service – Still obsessing about weddings and drawing different wedding dresses and a bit of wacky
Yuri – 10

Overall – 9  All the happily ever afters have happily ever afters. ^_^

It’s all an adorable and lively romp through Yuri romance without social or political identity. No one is struggling to be recognized by the government, or being harassed at work. Not a single heckle in these squeaky clean and cute stories of Yuri love.

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Yuri Manga: Yuri is My Job, Volume 3 (English)

July 8th, 2019

In Volume 1 and Volume 2, we met and learne about Hime’s inner life – or lack thereof – and, Kanako, Hime’s best/only friend who believes in Hime’s goal of marrying rich and living a comfortable life. But why would such a shy and retiring girl like Kanako even be friends with someone so shamelessly extroverted as Hime?

As we get into Volume 3 of Yuri is My Job! by Miman, it’s Kanako all the way down. How she met and became friends with Hime, and why she feels such intense loyalty to someone who, by her own admission, lies constantly, it’s all explained…to some extent. The rest of the story is Kanako’s own obsessive tendencies…tendencies that really worry Sumika.

As the senior member of the cafe staff, Sumika takes it upon herself to prioritize the harmony of the cafe over any one person’s needs. We get a tantalizing glimpse of her past and a situation involving employees in a romantic relationship and the fallout of that situation.

But for Kanako, she has a number of hurdles to jump. For one thing, her monomania means that she won’t speak directly to anyone else on the staff other than Hime, a situation that becomes that much more difficult when jobs have to be redistributed as a result of the chef calling in.

And then there’s the “Blüme” contest. Hime is shooting for the position, despite being told how inappropriate her desire is. Worse, in Sumika’s opinion, Kanako is going to support her. The politics of the situation are surprisingly complicated and everything is in turmoil. Sumika worries about the cafe and the customers, while Hime has to be reigned in and Kanako is forced to address her obsession.

Once again the author’s notes are excellent, really explaining the process and limitations of scripting an ongoing series.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 4
Service – 2

Overall – 8

Yuri is My Job! is a rich and thoughtful drama and a ridiculous comedy of manners rooted deeply in 20th century Yuri tropes.

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Light Novel: R.O.D, Volume 12

July 7th, 2019

We left the gang back in 2014. Yomiko, Ou-En and the Five Sisters had teamed up with China, leader of Dokusensha, in an attempt to keep the Gutenberk Paper from Gentleman and Joker. Wendy and Nenene were attempting to sneak out of China through tunnels carved under the Himalayas in a vehicle driven by a guy named Shark.  Nancy had caught up with Drake and his team in their submarine and were on their way to find Yomiko.

Got it?

Good, because not much of it is relevant to R.O.D., Volume 12.

Nenene and Wendy do make it out of the mountains and, after turning down several heartfelt proposals from Shark, Nenene has a proposal of her own. Weary and car sick, she suggests to Wendy that they go home. And so they do, never to be mentioned again.

The bulk of the book is a series of extended battle scenes. China and Gentleman duke it out for dozens of pages, some of which include Yomiko saying “…!” or just “!”.  After China goes down for the last time, Ou-En takes on Gentleman and here, at last the book gets weird. Joker is watching from his airplane, the Victorious, and makes some vague threats to Drake’s group and Yomiko. Morris reappears from a previous volume to serve Joker tea. China isn’t dead again, so Gentleman calls on the animals in the wilderness around them to attack.

Yomiko is injured. She creates a ball of paper around herself so we all expect a massive evolution but, predictably, when her evolution is complete, she looks exactly the same.

Gentleman has all but killed Ou-En when Faust finally appears and absorbs Gentleman’s life force. Both Gentleman and China are now really dead. Turns out the Gutterberk Paper was powering Ou-En, and when Faust draws it out of the young man, he threatens Yomiko with a choice to “Read…or Die.” Yomiko chooses protect Ou-En, even going so far as to sacrifice the book Donny gave her to bring Ou-En back to life. In return he gives her the black book with black pages that they’ve all been looking for.

“Well?” Nancy asks as the story winds down. “What will you do now?”

Narrator voice: We never learn what Yomiko does next.

Instead we see Morris serve Joker tea and when they finally get a clear image of the battlefield all that is there is Gentleman’s body and a bunch of dead animals.  Unsurprisingly, Joker has no clue what happened.

At last Drake goes home to his daughter Maggie, who asks where he’s been. And, so, he begins to tell her…

…and that’s it folks, thanks for coming by today! Hope you grabbed a drink and had a snack before you go and see the rest of the….

…

…

What. The. Actual. Fuck. Kurata-sensei.

I sat through school girls uniform, and comprehension contests and you whining about working while at Anime Expo a decade ago and this is what I get? DUDE. Not okay. Hire a ghost writer if you have no ideas.

If the series had wrapped up in Volume 10, as it should have done, even if it were a mash of incoherent whatever, it would have been acceptable. But waiting this long for incoherent whatever is just vexxing.

Here’s what *should* have happened:

China and Gentleman should have killed one another.
Ou-En and Faust should have fought one another, then Yomiko should have taken down Faust, brought Ou-En back from the dead with the book.
Eeverything with Joker the same. Sure let Morris serve him tea 3 times for no reason.
Nancy should have taken wounded Yomiko back to Japan, where Nenene was waiting.
Wendy should have gone back to the British Library one last time to tell Joker to stuff it.
Then Drake should have gone home to Maggie.

It really would have been very simple to end this series well.

Ratings:

Art – 5 Okay, but always of the wrong things
Characters – 9
Story – 0
Yuri – 0
Service – Meh.

Overall – It is a thing that has been read. It has lost the shelf space it has been taking up for years. Bye, R.O.D., you died an ignominious death.

I’m sorry about it too, but from now on, I’m sticking with the anime.

Posted in Light Novel, R.O.D. | 3 Comments »