Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – March 26, 2016

March 26th, 2016

YNN_Lissa

Sailor Moon News

As we get close to Sailor Moon Crystal‘s 3rd season, the video clips are coming thick and fast! ANN has two separate reports on the various opening and ending songs and animation, a new extended trailer and plans and singers for other EDs.

But to make it easy on you to watch this repeatedly, here is the first look at the Sailor Moon Crystal Third Season Ending theme, “eternal eternity”, sung by the voices of Sailors Uranus and Neptune, Minagawa Junko and Ohara Sayaka:

Two other notable things – in the extended trailer we see Sailor Venus with her sword, and I was immensely gratified at the final moments when the Senshi are arrayed very similarly to the way the are in the opening of ‘S’.

I have to say, I’m really very pleased with this. We deserve a little service. And Toei appears to not have forgotten the success they had with Sailor Moon S.

If you’re in Japan in this spring, consider hitting up Roppongi Hills for the Art of Sailor Moon exhibit! I’m gonna do my damnedest to get there. Because I will be in Japan in late April and my hope is that there will be a metric fuckton of Outers’ goods. ^_^ So, hey, please consider subscribing to Okazu! I need more stuff and to go to the Card Captor Sakura cafe for you. (Just kidding, all subscription money is used to buy stuff to review and to pay for massages. ^_^)

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Anime News

The Spring anime season is heating up and there’s all kinds of stuff happening.

Yuri!!! is an upcoming skating anime that, realistically is probably about a Russian skater named Yuri, but the odd font choice that is strongly reminiscent of Yuri Kuma Arashi, makes me wonder. It’s probably too much to ask, but it would be lovely if there was even a smidgen. A skater and her coach, or even better, two skaters…., please? ANN has the report.

ANN reports that creator of Aria, Amano Kozue’s series Amanchu!, about diving, is getting a 13-episode series. As with Aria, expect less plot and more scenery porn. It was a nice, not compelling manga. Check out the first key visuals on ANN.

YNN Correspondent Day has a news item of “somewhat dubious quality.” Day says “A website for a project of some sort currently under the name of Umamusume has gone up. It’s from the game company Cygames, so I’m assuming it is a game, although it may be a mixed-media project as the PV currently posted depicts no gameplay and instead seems like it may be for an anime. From what little there is, the underlying story is of a group of horse-girls pursuing success on the racecourse, with a dash of idol nonsense thrown in. Yuri is in the form of an intense locking of eyes, and a liplock between a pair of figure-skating horse-girls in the PV. “

So I watched that PV.  (O_O) I’m laughing hysterically, horrified. There is so much wrong with that anime I don’t even have words. A pop idol group of horse-eared girls, who also ice skate, eat a lot (think about it…) and race like horses. I…can’t… holy god that’s vile and amazing.  Thanks, Day. Your punishment is that you’ll have to write the review. ^_^

Manga News

YNN Correspondent Katherine H wants you to know that Yen Press has licensed Kiniiro Mosaic which, at Sakuracon they described as Yuri-ish.

The 7th volume of Murcielago (ムルシエラゴ) has hit stands at last and if you buy it at various bookstores in Japan, Comic Natalie reports, it will include one of a series of special art pieces by the artist.

Yuri Events

Y/Con is a Yaoi and Yuri vent in Paris on November 12th-13. If you’re going to be able to make this, do please consider writing up a report for us!

I’ll be speaking about Queer manga on April 18th at LaGuardia College in Queens, NY.

Tokyopop Germany tweeted that they are  bringing Yuri Manga  Citrus creator Saburouta to Animagic, held in Bonn Germany, July 29-31.

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 | 12 Comments »


Silent Mobius QD Manga, Volume 2 (サイレントメビウスQD)

March 24th, 2016

SMQD2In November I had a chance to look at the first volume of Asamiya Kia’s return to his classic sci-fi Tokyo of the future, threatened by hard-to-discern creatures from another dimension and the women of the Attacked Mystification Police who fight them.

In Silent Mobius QD, Volume 2, (サイレントメビウスQD) we spend a little time getting familiar with Yamigumo Nagi, the cousin of AMP’s former member Yamigumo Nami, and Irene Wong who, like AMP Chief Lebia Maverick, is a visionnaire.

The volume is non-stop action, with third attracion attacks all over the place and a rescue mission of a vessel called the Bell Liner. In the middle of the action, Aoi continues to be difficult, we grow to like and respect Tasha and Chris insists that she’s there for Aoi…and we’ll never learn why. Unfortunately for us, the series comes to an end here at two volumes. Who Chris is, how and why Aoi can use Grospoliner, will remain mysteries forever.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 3 It bit off more than it could chew
Characters – 8 Wish we got to know them
Yuri – 2 Woulda coulda shoulda on Chris and Aoi. Chris’s emotion was way intense.
Service – 4 Tasteful (hahah) nudity, Irene’s got a nice back tattoo.

Overall – 7

I so wish we had gotten the rest of this. I really wanted to know what the deal with Chris was.

Posted in Miscellaneous | 2 Comments »


Event: Gay/Lesbian/Yuri/BL/Bara Manga Discussion at Rainbow Pride Week in Tokyo

March 23rd, 2016

I am pleased and excited to announce that I will be participating in a discussion of Gay/Lesbian/Yuri/BL/Bara manga in Tokyo on May 3rd as part of Rainbow Pride Week events.

The discussion will be at the Aisotope Lounge (http://aliving.net/access.html) in Shinjuku Ni-choume on May 3rd, from 13:00 – 16:00, with guest manga artists Tagame Gengoroh and Nakamura Kiyo (who wrote GUNJO as Nakamura Ching) and Chairman Satou Yasuki.

I hope you’ll all join us and  I’m confidant that I’ll create a whole new exciting set of verbal gaffes for this event. ^_^; I’ll be presenting a brief history of Yuri in the first half and acting as “commentator” in the second. It should be a blast! ^_^

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私はゲイ、レズビアン、百合、BLマンガ会話に参加しているであろう：
5月3日　13：30～16：00
場所：新宿2丁目　AiSOTOPE LOUNGE http://aliving.net/access.html

第一部　性指向をめぐる日本の同性間表現の過去・現在・未来
百合とゲイ雑誌
司会：サイトウヤスキ
エリカ・フリードマン（百合ジャンル）
未定（ゲイジャンル）

第二部　性指向をめぐる表現、コミュニティの外へ内へ
セックスと恋愛の後にくるもの
司会：サイトウヤスキ
ゲスト：田亀源五郎
中村キヨ
コメンテーター：エリカ・フリードマン

わくわく！緊張する。^_^

Posted in Events | 2 Comments »


Rose of Versailles Manga, Volume 12 (ベルサイユのばら)

March 21st, 2016

download Rose of Versailles, Volume 12 (ベルサイユのばら), is composed of two stories. One following the hapless Florian F Girodel (no one knows what the ‘F’ stand for,) as he watches, but does not participate fully, in Versailles life – and while Oscar pretty much robs him of everything he desires, without even trying. She’s got his job, isn’t becoming his wife as he intends, she gets all the attention and she even gets the girls, as he finds out when he meets Fersen’s sister, Sofia. We watch him suffering through Oscar’s resignation, and her death, and we learn of his fate after the war. Girodel’s life, as so many others, ends with a date with Madame Guillotine.

The second half of the book, follows a tempestuous affair between a young woman, betrothed to a well-borm man old enough to be her father, and a gorgeous young noble, whose love of Lorraine matches her own. Despite her betrothal, Georgette sleeps with Regnier, and later admits her crime tearfully to her mother. The engagement is called off, and her lover, with the new prince’s permission, accepts a commission in the Army, sweeping Georgette away to Versailles to become Mrs. Regnier de Jarjayes, and the mother of Oscar Francois (named after the new Prince of Lorraine) de Jarjayes.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – More sex, but still a lot of crying 8
Characters – 9
Service – 2
Yuri – 1, if only for Sofia’s obvious crush on Oscar.

Overall – 8

Oscar’s mother is actually one of my favorite characters, because you sort of assume she’s not even alive at first, then suddenly midway through the series you find that she’s perfectly fine and has been at Versailles all along. ^_^

Also included in this volume are the 2014 images of Oscar created for fashion magazine Spur.

Posted in Riyoko Ikeda, Rose of Versailles | No Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – March 19, 2016

March 19th, 2016

YNN_MariKLive Action News

Wahooooooo! ANN reports that Sentai Filmworks has licensed the live-action Arch Angels, a crazy movie based on a cute shoujo comic Warau Daitenshi Mikaeru. I heaped praise upon this movie back in 2008 and have been praying daily for someone to license it. There’s a little akogare/crushiness, nothing more Yuri however, the movie stars Ueno Juri and has a nun with an eyepatch who has eyeball grenades, so I think that makes up for any perceived flaws. ^_^

 

Yuri Event

Yuriten is a collaboration event to celebrate Yuri series by a bunch of Yuri artists (Including Kanno, Amagure Kido and Takasaki Hiromi)  in Osaka in February and Ikebukuro in March, and as I will be in Ikebukuro in May don’t think I’m not gnashing my teeth in frustration at missing this. Grrrr.

 

Yuri Manga

Nari x Yuki Living (なり×ゆきリビング なり×ゆきリビング ) is a seeries that follows two coworkers who end up living together in an odd-couple-y fashion. The plot doesn’t sound all that Yuri, but the series is listed under the BL Comics on Amazon (which is where the Yuri is indexed. They really need a new category header.)

And we have Morinaga Milk’s new volume Hana to Hina ha Houkago (ハナとヒナは放課後) on the Yuricon Store, as well. ^_^

Lilies Anthology is an Tumblr project looking to publish Yuri comics. They are recruiting artists (unpaid) and have a few months of submissions in their archives and first issue is imminent according to a recent update.

 

Other News

Comic Natalie reports that Yuri Danshi is being released in a new 5-volume set and a in the May issue of Comic Yuri Hime Kurat Uso will have an extra “doujinshi” story, Ore no Yome Nanka Inee~” that I have zero hope for, but will refrain from further comment until I have seen it.

Also on Comic Natalie Murcielago‘s Yoshimura Kana, Baccano’s and Durarara‘s Narita Ryougo have a 4-part conversation with Fukami Shin about, presumably writing gonzo crime stories. ^_^

Komatsu-san has the scoop that former Takarisenne Reon Yuzuki is starring in  a Bio Hazard/ Resident Evil stage musical on Crunchyroll news. Now take a moment to re-read that and think about the idea of a musical  Resident Evil adaptation. Best of times…worst of times.

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 | 1 Comment »