Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – July 16,2016

July 16th, 2016

YNN_Lissa

Yuri Manga

Top story this week comes from Comic Natalie who announces that, with the January 2017 issue (on sale in November,) Comic Yuri Hime is moving to a monthly format. This is a first for a Yuri manga magazine. Congrats to the folks at Ichijinsha and gambatte to all the manga artists.

***

Subscribe to Okazu with 

Subcribe with Patreon

and help support Yuri news and reviews!

***

Huge news from Denise Schroeder, creator of  Yuri Manga Before You Go for Sparkler Monthly. She has announced that, if the Year 4 Sparkler Monthly Kickstarter reaches full funding she’ll be creating a third story in her Yuri series, which will take this to a full graphic novel size.

I’ve repeatedly sung the praises of Sparkler Monthly and this news gives me  chance to do two things I like doing – promote good manga and promote a worthy, diverse Kickstarter. The folks working on Sparkler totally get their audience’s interest in Josei, BL and Yuri manga, Light Novels, and Voice Dramas and provide a wide variety of styles and story. If you’d like to see more and better of all of this, please consider throwing some money at them!

Itou Hachi’s newest legally married fox-earad girls story, Gohou Fuufuhon, ( 合法百合夫婦本) is available, as is the Special Edition of the 5th Volume of Saburouta’s Citrus.

Anime News

Amano Kozue’s Amanchu! has launched on Crunchyroll. If you’ve watched it and have any thoughts, let us know in the comments!

ANN has the scoop on the art for the Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 Box Set cover art. It’s nice. ^_^

Other News

Japanese telecom DoCoMo has a new TV ad that features, among others, a lesbian couple. Awww…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38827HPvfzc

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

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

Posted in Yuri Network News | 6 Comments »


Getting Ready for Takarazuka in New York City

July 14th, 2016

Starting next week, New York City will be seeing a rare overseas performance by retired (OG) Takarazuka stars in Chicago, at Lincoln Center. 

I’ve got a week of fun Takarauka-themed reviews coming up, including an interview with a former Takarisienne, discussion with Takarazuka researchers and more!

In the mean time, whet your appetite on this article from the NY Times,  that is both accurate and not condescending. ^_^ And enjoy this trailer from Lincoln Center. Thanks to YNN Correspondent and Yuricon First Lady for the article!

Posted in Takarazuka | 3 Comments »


Comic Cune, January 2016 (コミックキューン2016年1月号)

July 12th, 2016

cune1601Okay, Okay. I know that this review is 7 months late. I’ve been busy. ^_^

The important thing to know is that Comic Cune is 1)  getting Yurier and 2) the girls are still eating a lot of sweets and 3) Comic Cune is getting weirder by the issue.

So this issue has more Yuri, more supernatural creatures (now, with moe Elder Gods!) and more baked goods than ever before.

I keep saying I won’t read any more of this, then I see the Yuri mixed in with the vampires, aliens, Elder Gods, zombies and the like and I think…okay. One more. It’s like the Lay’s potato chips of moe manga magazines.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

Fine, fine, I’m just getting a subscription to this stupid magazine. Sheesh

Posted in Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »


LGBTQ: Dates Anthology (English)

July 10th, 2016

DatesCrowdfunding has been an amazing source of press and distribution for LGBTQ comic and narrative anthologies. Where traditional publishing would not be flexible enough to publish a niche volume and get it out to distribution in large enough numbers to make an impact, crowdfunding allows folks who would pay to see it published actually pay to see it published, with room for the creators to either invest in larger print runs and seek bookstore/online distribution AND/OR provide interested parties a chance to get a PDF so they can enjoy the content and save room on their shelves. It is, quite literally, a win-win situation.

Among the many crowdfunding efforts I supported last year was Dates! an anthology of historical LGBTQ fiction and comics. Dates! is available in softcover and PDF format from Margins Publishing on Gumroad. (Gumroad has been a huge boon for comics and niche creators, giving folks a chance to create the kind of small-run print and e-book offerings that I would have killed for in 2003. ^_^; )

Right off the bat, the thing that stands out in Dates! is the multiculturalism of content and characters. Stories set in locales from Ireland to Korea, in time periods from the stone age to during the Mahabharata to Renaissance Italy to 20th century America.  I never felt like I was reading the same story over or suffering from the kind of “typicality” that themed anthologies often suffer from, where too many stories seem too similar.

The stories are also pleasantly widely cast along the spectrum of gender and sexual minorities, with a number of strong entries discussing gender, sexuality (or lack thereof) without any self-loathing or external hatred needed. In fact, if I had to sum the book up I’d say “coming out need not apply.” These characters are not coming out, dealing with or working through…they are. Then the story happens.

The art is variable and so is the storytelling and characters, so your interest will certainly be piqued by the kind of story set in the place or time you like best, but there was something for nearly everyone in this collection.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

This is was an absolute delight and a terrific use of crowdfunding. I hope to see more from the folks at Margins in days ahead.

Posted in LGBTQ, Western Comic/Comix | 9 Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – July 9, 2016

July 9th, 2016

YNN_Lissa

LGBTQ Comics

From YNN Correspondent Shannon L, Heathen, by Natasha Alterici, is a Norse tale of a young Viking woman who sets off to defeat a god with the help – and love – of a Valkyrie. Bitch Media gave it rave reviews. Click the link on the title to get a preview of the work. I’m adding it to the to-read pile.

Also from Shannon, and I quote, “Lesbian bountyhunter in SPAAAAACE.” Satellite Falling looks quite good. I guess my summer reading is going to have to be a pile of western works again. ^_^

Panels has a discussion of Magically Queer Webcomics that’s worth taking a look at.

 

LGBTQ Events

San Diego Comic Con is coming up and they have a small set of LGBTQ panels that look interesting:

Thursday, July 21
5:00pm – Queer History in Comics (Description: LGBT)
6:00pm -LGBTQ Geek Year in Review
6:30pm – SuperheroIRL: How Pop Culture Media Brings Justice and Healing (Description: LGBT)

Friday, July 22
10:00am – Queer Representation in All-Ages and Youth Media (Description: LGBT)
7:00pm – The Gay Agenda in Horror: Terrifying Subtext (Description: LGBT)

Saturday, July 23
4:00pm – We Are All Heroes: The Changing Landscape of Comics, Geekdom, and Fanboy Culture (Description: LGBT)
6:00pm Gays (and more) in Comics (and more): Year 29: Queerly Inspired (Description: LGBT)

And over on the east coast, Flamecon in Brooklyn is moving to a larger venue. They’ve got a new no-weapon-looking-things-at-all policy for cosplay in support of post-Orlando trauma  and on Sunday, August 21, they are giving free access to teens in partnership with the Ali Forney Center. I’ll be presenting during Flamecon and will be massively jet lagged, so watching me flounder ought to be funny. ^_^

From August 3 to7th in Tokyo, a play called Fragment Edge will include a story that touches on girls in love. Comic Natalie has the report.

***

Subscribe to Okazu with 

Subcribe with Patreon

and help support Yuri news and reviews!

***

Yuri Anime

Again from Shannon L. A new Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha spin-off anime, Vivid Strike! has been announced. Komatsu-san on Crunchyroll News has the details.

Crunchyroll has added the Sound! Euphonium OVA to their lineup, Scott Green reports.

Other News

Kinokuniya has announced a new promotion called Bibliobattle in which you have a limited amount of time to present the content of a book, and fieled questions about this book. Winner is chosen by majority vote and I have to say that this eerily similar to the “Read Fight” described in  the Light Novel R.O.D., Volume 10.

Takarazuka is coming to New York City in just a few weeks and seats are still available. See Takarazuka performs Chicago…it’ll be a hoot.

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a Yuri Network Correspondent by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com. Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed. There’s a reason for this madness. This way I know you are a real human, not Anonymous (which I do not encourage – stand by your words with your name!) and I can send you a YNN correspondent’s badge.

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

Posted in Yuri Network News | 4 Comments »