Yuri Doujinshi: Kotonoha 1 (English)

November 13th, 2018

When Emi and Aoi were in school, they were best friends…until one day they kissed. But Aoi never confessed, Emi and she stayed just friends until they graduated. 

Years have gone by and Aoi now works in an office, When conversation turns to relationships, Aoi gets that look on her face as she remembers “that guy” she was in love with. Sakura knows that look and jokes that Aoi’s description of that lost love sounds awfully like a male version of the new designer that the department just hired. Aoi is shocked to see Emi walk through the door. 

Issue 1 of Kisu Gae’s Kotonoha is a solid setup for a doujinshi story and, more importantly, its available in English on Kindle for less than it would have cost to buy the actual doujinshi at a comic market (significantly less when you remember that you don’t have to take yourself to Japan to get it.)

Issue 2 completes the set. Buy the both of them for under $5 and it’s still probably cheaper than it would have been if you bought one volume in print. ^_^ 

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8 Decent set-up anyway
Characters  – Same
Service – Not much in this issue, no idea yet what Issue 2 will bring us. ^_^
Yuri – 9

Overall – 8

It’s a whole new world opening up in digital, now that Yuri doujinshi are starting to appear on Kindle. 

 

 

Posted in Digital Manga, Yuri Doujinshi | 1 Comment »


Yuri Manga: Strawberry Fields wo Mou Ichido, Volume 2 ( ストロベリー・フィールズをもう一度)

November 12th, 2018

In Volume 1, we met loner Akira and enthusiastic girl Pyua, who claimed to love her.

In Volume 2 of Strawberry Fields wo Mou Ichido ( ストロベリー・フィールズをもう一度), we spend most of our time inside Akira’s head as she tried to figure out what the heck is going on with herself. 

What is going on with her, (obviously, to us) is that Akira, who is a very lonely person, is struggling with the idea that she cares about another person. 

We learn why she and her brother live alone – their father left, took up with another woman and had a second family, and their mother withdrew emotionally. Mom died in a car accident, leaving Akira alone but for her hikkikomori brother. 

And her brother is not on Akira’s side. He tries to run Pyua off unbeknownst to his sister. Worse,  at Pyua’s behest, Akira goes off to see her father for the first time in years. She’s doing well, even admitting that her new baby half-sister is cute…until her father’s new wife shows up. 

Akira runs off to find Pyua, trying to sort herself out. The moment she sees the other girl, she puts a name to everything she’s feeling. 

The art is clean and pleasant, typical of a Dengeki comic, and with little to no service, which is unexpected and nice. 

Volume 1 didn’t leave me with any particular hope that this series would develop any depth, but  Volume 2 surprised the heck out of me, frankly. Actually delving into Akira’s inner life turned out to be more uncomfortable than expected and watching her finally admit that she likes Pyua was more satisfying than I would have guessed. 

Ratings: 

Art – 7
Story – 7
Character – 7
Service – 2
Yuri – 6

Overall – 7

Whether this series will develop further, I don’t know. Guess I’ll have to keep reading. ^_^

 

 

Posted in Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »


Save the Date for the Okazu Patron Holiday Party!

November 11th, 2018

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Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – November 10, 2018

November 10th, 2018

Yuri Anime

Don’t forget that Kase-san and Morning Glories will be screening at AnimeNYC on Saturday, November 17 in Panel Room 2 at 7:30PM in Javits Convention Center, New York, NY. I have every intention of being there.

Also screening at AnimeNYC is Sound! Euphonium The Movie I want to resonate with you…! Check  the screening page on the AnimeNYC website for other special events, as well!

Funimation has added 300+ subtitled anime to their Funimation Now! service, and Crunchyroll has added 17 dubbed anime titles, according to ANN reports. Check out the lists for titles of interest.

Yagate Kimi ni Naru/Bloom Into You’s Touko and Yuu, Kotobuki Minako and Takada Yuuki will be hosting an event in May 2019. According to Comic Natalie, four main cast members will appear, and the two leads will sing the opening theme. There will be a contest and some other stuff.

 

Yuri Manga

The Yuri Fest at BOOK☆WALKER GLOBAL runs for 4 more days! Don’t miss your chance to pick up digital Yuri manga at discount prices and get reward coins so you can get even more Yuri manga!

Iwami Kiyoko’s Yuri manga collection, Toumeina Usui Mizu-iro ni ( 透明な薄い水色に) has been picked up by Seven Seas as Transparent Light Blue and is slated for a spring 2019 release.

Galette, No. 8 (ガレットNo.8)  hits Japanese shelves at the end of this month. This issue marks the end of Galette‘s second year, so I’m betting Issue 9 will be special. Galette is also doing a special campaign to encourage folks in Japan to purchase the magazine with one of their expanded digital options. 

 

LGBTQ Manga

On Quora, I passed the 10,000 answer mark with both a question and an answer: What are some manga with LGBTQ identity, not Boy’s Love or Yuri, but actually LGBTQ? (The rather bizarre question construction comes from a previous question that had been asked, not by me about anime. I wrote this one as a followup.)

In response to my post about that on Facebook, Tomo Hirai noted that Morning magazine had “just published a one-shot about a genderqueer couple. Debut work for a new author.” Check out Watashi no Kanojo ha Otoko no ko (私の彼女は男の子) on Morning Zero (in Japanese) by Akina Rutarou. 

 

Other News

A new Cardcaptor Sakura museum asks “Why is CCS being rediscovered now?’ and the answers given include sexual and gender diversity. It’s worth taking a look at the ANN report. 

Absolutely unrelated to anime or manga, it’s worth noting that Scotland has become the first country to mandate LGBTQ history, rights, homo- and transphobia be included in school curriculums.

In celebration of what would have been Osamu Tezuka’s 90th birthday, several locations in Japan are holding a Princess Knight “Dreamy Christmas” event with special themed gifts for folks who purchase the new edition of Ribon no Kishi. ANN has the details.

 

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com with your name and an email I can reply to! Our YNN podcast is now available, in which I take a look at some key news items this week..

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

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

 

Posted in Yuri Network News | 2 Comments »


Meet me at Derpycon on Friday, November 9, 2018

November 8th, 2018

I will be presenting two panels at Derpycon in Morristown, NJ on Friday November 9 at the Hyatt Regency.

The Secret History of Yaoi and Yuri: 2:30pm-3:30pm, Panel 2
LGBTQ in Anime,Comics, Manga, Cartoons: Friday 5pm-6pm, Panel 1

 

See you there!

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