Yuri Manga: Shiori o Sagasu Page-tachi, Volume 2 (しおりを探すページたち)

March 3rd, 2019

In Volume 1, we met Chitose, a nice girl who has fallen for upperclassman Touka and who suffers when the girl she likes suddenly turns cruel towards her. The reason for the change is a shock….Touka has died and the person Chitose is speaking to is Touka’s twin sister, Ayaka.

In Shiori o Sagasu Page-tachi, Volume 2 (しおりを探すページたち), what might have been a good psychological horror story, becomes a bland story of romance and redemption for Ayaka. An epilogue leads us to believe that this relationship, built upon deception, is stable and lasting. Ptui is all I have to say to that.

I wish the push to create a happy romance all the time in Yuri wasn’t so obvious. It hurts when a nuanced and terrible character is cleaned up just to provide a happily-ever-after end for a story that really didn’t need it. How much better this story might have been if Ayaka’s pain didn’t just clear up like a bad case of strep? What if Chitose’s reaction to the lie was stronger, more extreme, less forgiving? How much bullshit would Rikako have put up with before she saw Ayaka’s toxicity change her friend? Or would she have been able to step in and save Chitose from herself? 

It’s true that maybe this ending was what was always intended for this manga, but after the first volume’s end, it feels wholly like a bunch of lost opportunities. Even as I read it playing out in Comic Yuri Hime, I couldn’t see that the ending was going to make sense for the beginning.

Art -8
Characters – 6 Rikako ftw.
Story – 5 
Service  – Not really
Yuri – 5 

Overall – 5

A disappointing end to something with such a compelling first half.

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Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – March 2, 2019

March 2nd, 2019

Yuri Manga

Yuri Anthology ・LiLium (百合アンソロジー・LiLium has opened a crowdfunding campaign and with 17 days left, is at 81%. Good for them!

Slice-of-life Comic Yuri Hime manga Tsurezure Biyori  ( 徒然日和 ) got a Volume 2 in February.

Comic Natalie reports that “Meijrobana Saku,” Nakamura Asumiko’s Yuri story in Rakuen Le Paradis is getting a “real start” in Volume 29 I have no idea what that means, but the volume is sitting here waiting to be read, so hopefully, I’ll find out. ^_^ Denpa Books has released Nakamura-sensei’s book Maiden Railways, which includes a Yuri story, this week in English.

Rental Shop no Oneesan wo Rental Suru Hanashi (レンタルショップでお姉さんをレンタルする話) looks interesting, but Mochi Au Lait has disappointed me before.

Comic Natalie notes that the final chapter of Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo hit Japanese shelves in Comic Alive this week. The story of slacker genius Kurozawa Yurine and over achiever Shiramine Ayaka wraps up after 5 years. 

Finally! Kitta Izumi and Momono Moto’s Liberty (リバティ), from Galette will be released at the end of April. I cannot wait. It’s been one of my favorite stories.

Aoi Hana/Sweet Blue Flowers creator Shimura Takako will have a new Yuri series beginning this month in Kiss magazine according to Yuri Navi. ANN has details.

Legend of Korra: Ruins of the Empire Part One is slated for a May release. And Legend of Korra: Turf Wars has now been collected into a Library Edition.

Yuri Events/Goods

Yuriten goods are now up for you to browse. There’s no shop yet, but at least you’ll get a good idea of what will be for sale at the event! The Yuriten Event will be hitting 5 cities from March to May, check the event details for the one nearest you.

Comic Cune magazine has announced that February 27 is the beginning of their Yuri Meguri Fair, with special items at various store’s Yuribu. The Animate in Osaka has an announcement of their own about the Yuri Meguri.

Fans of Ikuhara Kunihiko’s work will want to be in Tokyo in late April for Kunihiko Ikuhara Exhibition: The Desire to Connect Us and The Survival Strategy of the Revolution” at Space 634 in the Tokyo Solamachi shopping mall. Check out ANN for details.

 

Yuri Game

Mangagamer announces the license of the Yuri game Lily Cycle Rainbow Stage. This series follows 15 girls in various relationships. Lilycle Rainbow Stage!!! also features voice actresses you may know. From the press release: 

Juri Kimura (Miyamori in Shirobako), MAO (Flip Flappers, Keijo), Haruka Terui (Yuki Yuna is a Hero, Brave Witches), Shiori Mikami (Attack on Titan, Yuru Yuri), Azumi Asakura (iDOLM@STER, High School DxD), Maaya Uchida (iDOLM@STER, Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Love Chunibyou & Other Delusions), Aya Uchida (Love Live!, Danganronpa 2, Kemono Friends), Rumi Okubo (Astolfo in Fate/Apocrypha, Chinatsu in Yuru Yuri), Aya Suzaki (Kill la Kill, Tamako Market).

To be honest, I have not followed this series at all. Everything about them is geared towards a segment of the audience I do not inhabit. After listening to a few samples at Animate over the years, I’ve just given them a pass. But we’ll see if an English-language release can convince me to give them a try. ^_^

 

Other News

I received a press release last week that was so spectacular in and of itself, I want to share it with you. That aside, the news it announces is exciting, as well. ComiXology has launched a new Originals line comic, Delver by Spike Trotman, M.K. Reed and Clive Hawken. Here is the opener for this press release. I actually tweeted to Chip to let him know how fabulous I thought this was.

“Special Note: Many of you know Spike Trotman as the woman who raised $1 million dollars for comic book projects on Kickstarter, though sadly her prodigious business skills have overshadowed her prodigious artistic talent. We’re excited to release Delver #1 today to help alleviate that problem. Spike is a “once-in-a-generation” talent, be it on the business side or on the creative side. She’s joined here by the also immensely talented MK Reed and Clive Hawken, delivering a very unique fantasy book that is nothing like what you’ve read before. As always, I’m excited to see how fans react… and excited to have another creator-owned comic series debut from comiXology Originals.

– Chip Mosher, Head of Content, comiXology Originals.”

 

Global BOOKWALKER has launched new simulpub storefront and adds simulpubs from Kodansha Comics to their lineup.

Leah Holmes posted this fantastic look back at Anime Babes, an early UK women’s anime fan group that had a lasting impact:  Artefacts of Geek Days Past: Anime Babes.

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!

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Yuri Manga: Galette Meets, Issue 2 (ガレットMeets)

March 1st, 2019

One of the ways artists in Japan build up their professional chops is through doujinshi. Because these self-published or small press books must be completed to deadline and have print runs and sales that can be measured, the comic markets at which they are sold make a very useful proving ground for amateur creators – and a healthy space for self-expression for professionals whose creations must conform to editorial guidance, house style and magazine popularity.

It makes a lot of sense, then that Galette magazine encourages submission of Yuri doujinshi artists for both the quarterly magazine and it’s own doujinshi publication Galette Meets. Galette Meets, Issue 2 (ガレットMeets) is, like Issue 1, all one-shot stories that the editors think are “Just a tad sexy and a little more sweet.”

In my opinion, Issue 2 is much stronger on both art and story than Issue 1. My personal favorite is by Miura Kozumi, a story about a work romance in which the cool, cosmpolitan and apparently worldly sempai who likes women has….no experience with women and is a complete uke in bed, in “Takamine-sempai and Nonchan.” Workplace romance is a popular theme, and so is casual acquaintance, which feels comfortable for this short.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

I like the idea of a Galette having a small proving ground, so to speak, providing other artists a venue for a publication credit.

Galette Meets, Issue 2 is no longer available in print outside Japan, but you can still get it digitally on JP Kindle, US Kindle (in Japanese) and Bookwalker (also in Japanese.)

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Yuri Manga: Goodbye Dystopia, Volume 2 (グッバイ・ディストピア)

February 28th, 2019

In Volume 1 of Hisona’s peripatetic manga, we met “Asami” who has left her past behind and “Mizuki” who has left home, after having been thrown away. The two women walk and ride their way through an often-deserted landscape, visiting abandoned buildings and unused railways.

In Goodbye Dystopia, Volume 2 (グッバイ・ディストピア), Mizuki finds herself accompanying Asami to what appears to be a place from Asami’s past. There, she meets Uzuki, a woman who clearly has a history with Asami and there’s something between them. What that is we don’t know by the end of the volume, nor may we ever know. I’m okay with not knowing, frankly. 

What we do learn is that Uzuki is not much interested in the world outside her town (which we, the reader, can guess is at least part of the history between Uzuki and Asami) and also that Uzuki is not particularly troubled to smooth over awkward situations.

We and Mizuki also learn that Asami’s home once stood on the hill where Asami has headed, but it burned down years ago. Amid the plants growing on the plateau, Asami finds another relic of her past as the volume comes to a close. 

I know I’ve said this before, but I genuinely love this story, and all of its unknowns.  There’s no compelling need to know the whole story and I kind of hope we never really do know everything that Asami and Mizuki have walked away from. Instead, I hope that space is given to the future they are headed towards. I love the loose, josei-art style, the fact that panels and sometimes whole pages go by with no dialogue.  

Ratings:

Art – 9 YMMV, but this is right in my wheelhouse 
Story – 10 There is none. I love it.
Characters – 8 
Service – 0 
Yuri – 2 At the moment, it’s in flashback and memory only

Overall – 9

This is one of my favorite series in Comic Yuri Hime and I hope it goes on for a long time.

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Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime March 2019 (コミック百合姫2019年3月号)

February 27th, 2019

Today’s review is dedicated to all the Okazu Patrons with especial thanks to our newest Okazu no Miko, Pauline! Your support makes this, and all our reviews, possible!

Kodama Naoko-sensei’s newest series, “Uminekosou Days” gets off to a bang in Comic Yuri Hime, March 2019 (コミック百合姫2019年3月号) and almost immediately settles into territory that makes me, personally, feel very uncomfortable. I have to just assume that Kodama-sensei’s and my areas of interest and ickiness are just not in sync. ^_^; Setting that aside, the plot follows a morose woman who is looking to start a new life after her best friend and boyfriend have had an affair and are now getting married. She’s escaped to a seaside town to become a teacher and immediately becomes involved with a female truck driver and her “family.” One the one hand I am glad to see a story about women and children. On the other hand, I really am not at all interested in children, so this one is going to alternately annoy and freak me out.

Hanimi’s story about love and cookies was adorable, Kanoko and Hime go on a “date” in “Yuri is My Job!” and despite Chibana’s concern, I think we’re still heading towards a crisis with Kanoko. I hope not, but…that girl is not stable.

“Luminous Blue” by Iwami Kiyoko is taking a turn into the unexpected, but Ohi Pikachi’s “Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsuiatteiru” stays just where we like it, in predictably grin-making cuteness.

Yuama’s “Ikemensugi desu, Shiki Semapai!” is developing a romance. Until now it’s not really been anything but admiration on Hana’s part.

“Scarlet” by Yuino Chiri turns uglier, as Iris may have just sacrificed her life for Feine.

Hisakawa Haru’s “Yurikon” wraps up all the married couple’s stories. I’m kind of sad that this particular fantasy didn’t get a third book.

And in Hisona’s “Goodbye Dystopia” Mizuki and Asami’s probably ex, Uzuki, have an awkward, but expository conversation, while Asami visits the ruins of her past.

Hime Cafe interviews Takemiya Jin-sensei, and new stories will begin next issue.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

I don’t want to become complacent or anything, but for now Comic Yuri Hime looks strong and has enough going on that I like, that I’m sort of relaxing as a I read. ^_^ The April 2019 issue is already out, so get ready to find out if annoyed and freaked out by Kodama-sensei is going to be the new standard, again. ^_^

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