Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – November 21, 2015

November 21st, 2015

YNN_LissaI am working on two so-far secret projects that I can’t tell you about just yet, but I promise that they will both be of interest to the folks reading Okazu.  And now a third project has popped up that I do want to tell you about. I’ve been invited to be part of Rainbow Week events in Japan. Rainbow Week is the week of events surrounding the Tokyo Rainbow Pride Parade. The idea of speaking about Yuri with a roomful of Japanese lesbians thrills me no end and there is high likelihood of wonderful things coming your way from it. Of course I will be reporting on the events, the parade and will give you details so you can join me. ^_^

If you have ever thought about contributing to the Okazu Patreon, this is exactly the kind of thing you’d be supporting. Lesbians talking about Yuri, bridging cultures, bringing us all together. Last time I had a chance to do something like this was at Yuricon 2005, right before Yuri Hime magazine launched. Maybe this event will be the beginning of something new, too. ^_^

So, if you are a regular here, enjoy our news and reviews and insights and events reports and can afford even $1/month, I’m asking that you please consider subscribing to Okazu. Click this link and receive my sincere gratitude, a Hero’s Badge and the knowledge that you are helping make LGBTQ Yuri history.

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Yuri Anime

If you’re in Japan this week, check out this all-night Sakura Trick marathon at a theater with, of course, special goods for sale.

ANN reports that Crunchyroll has added Princess Knight, the ur-Girl Prince anime series. ^_^

Yuri Manga

Right now is a good time to try Kadokawa’s Bookwalker Global if you’re interested in getting digital access to Yuri manga from Japan. Bookwalker now has access to the considerable backlist of Yuri Hime comics’ Yuri manga selection, including many books that are no longer in print and also the defunct in print, but trying to stay alive in digital, Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari‘s ebook selection as well. If you have any digital device, phone, tablet, computer, for very reasonable prices you can have literally dozens of great Yuri manga at your fingertips!

ANN reports that Kuzushiro is launching a new manga “Ani no Yome to Kurashiteimasu” (I’m Living With My Brother’s Bride) in Young Gangan magazine in the 24th issue of this year, with a December release date.

Comic Natalie has an amazing interview/conversation between Yuri Kuma Arashi‘s (ユリ熊嵐) Morishima Akiko and Shoujo Kessen Origa‘s (少女決戦オルギア) Ejima Eri.

 

Yuri Light Novel

I know you’re always looking for high-quality Yuri to read.  Yuri Mau Oasis Ruru to Miki to Houseki to Majyo (百合舞うオアシス ルルと美姫と宝石の魔女) is probably not it. But if you’re looking for low quality Yuri LNs, you might want to give it a try. ^_^;

 

LGBTQ News

Some terrific book news from good friends!

Jude McLaughlin has collected her popular Wonder City Stories into a published volume. Jude’s a terrific writer and I’ve been pushing her work for years. It’s great to see it make a print debut. If you like superheroes and people and their problems and diversity and female characters with depth…check out Jude’s new book!

Another writing pal, J.D. Glass, has reissued her work Red Light (which I reviewed back in 2007) with a new publisher, on print and Kindle. And, in fact, it’s cracked the Amazon Top 100 in 3 categories already, congrats J.D.!

While I’m at it and since it’s that time of year, Bold Strokes Books is running a sale on ebooks of their lesbian romances starring princesses and other creatures. Perfect for a gift for a close friend or yourself when you get tired of sweaters. ^_^

 

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!

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Time Fiddler, Volume 1 (English)

November 20th, 2015

tumblr_nxbmj6UwXa1so0o5uo1_1280Samantha is a relatively normal girl who one day follows a stray cat into an abandoned building. What happens to Sam is not normal at all, as she is thrown through a rift in time to the late Cretaceous Age, where she meets Caroline, a girl who claims to be a time-traveler.

The tagline for this series is “Time Travel Girls Love Feels” so, as you can imagine it interested me greatly. And, as it’s currently in the middle of a Kickstarter, I thought it suitable to mention it on the Yuricon Facebook Group, right after I supported it myself. In return, creator Ellis Kim has kindly sent me an advance PDF to share with you. ^_^

There’s a fair amount of Dr. Who-esque hijinks in Time Fiddler, and the Whovian in me thinks that’s perfectly cool. Sam is a companion-type character (you know, nice kid, seemlingly normal life) who suddenly gets dragged into a time-traveling adventure that involves dinosaurs. Only – and this is a big sell for me – instead of being just another companion, Sam becomes a time traveler herself. Very little time is spent in explicating what “The Agency” does or why or how or…anything. The specifics of pretty much every plot point must be accepted as such with no discussion so far. Even the repeated line “read the manual” is given to Sam without an actual manual. (Which blew the chance for an old-school RTFM joke, but Kim seems too young for the reference anyway. Oh well, guess I’m just old. ^_^)

On the less-good side, the plot is uneven, with TV pacing, (you know, spurts of action followed by explication while we wait to run some more) and a few odd throwaways, like Caroline’s “boyfriend” Ulysses, who was introduced clearly wearing “I’m a future plot complication” expressions. When we suddenly have a confession from Caroline that she likes Sam, it becomes even more crystal clear Ulysses was introduced to be broken up with and get pissed off, which is wholly unfair to him. The art is manga-inspired. It has moments, but still Kim’s style is still evolving. One sees it more in his color art his black and white pages thus far.

On the positive side, the next adventure takes place in 1880s California and Sam and Caroline are cute, so final judgment will remain reserved until volume 2.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story -7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 4
Service – 0

Overall – 7

Time Fiddler is a fun webcomic that I hope will take itself to a more sophisticated level of writing and art, but which is worth throwing the price of a cup of coffee at in order to help it do so.

Thanks Ellis for the advance copy and best of luck to you!

Posted in English Manga, Western Comic/Comix | No Comments »


Yuri Manga: Cider to Nakimushi (サイダーと泣き虫)

November 17th, 2015

CtNm-275x401Canno burst onto the Yuri scene in 2014 with her delightful school series Anoko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo. It gained enough popularity that, when Yuri Hime Comics started buying up the back lists of Yuri creators, putting together their previously un-published or doujinshi works, it seemed a natural fit. The resulting collection is Canno’s Cider to Nakimushi (サイダーと泣き虫).

The two main series in the book are completely unalike, which is both good and disconcerting. The first mini-series follows Mifuyu and Natsuko, childhood friends whose relationship has become complicated over time. The series draws in several of their acquaintances, as well, as they all try to parse various relationships (and non-relationships) between them. Mifuyu is the crybaby of the title, her tear-stained face is a common site through the series.

We then turn to a much sillier 4-panel comic strip series about an occult club at school. It is, as most strips are, “heh” funny, not laugh out loud funny.

The collection wraps up with a couple of one-shots and a return to the first series for a gag comic.

If you like Canno’s work, you’ll like this book. If you are not a fan, you’ll find it less compelling, but it’s still a solid, if not necessarily inspiring, Yuri collection.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Yuri – 4
Service – 1 on principle

Overall – 7

Not a must-have, but it’s a pleasant bedtime read.

Posted in Canno, Yuri Manga | 4 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Mebae, Volume 4 (メバエ 4)

November 16th, 2015

download6-e1430358570192 The newest Yuri anthology on the block, Mebae, continues on with a Volume 4, and so I guess I’m going to have to start taking it seriously now. ^_^

The stories vary widely, but there are still clear indications in both contributing artists and content that indicates that, despite the protagonists mostly being schoolgirls, the audience is presumed to be adult men who like reading stories about schoolgirls. Nonetheless, there were a few stories I found appealing. Among these, it was a surprise and delight to read the Kurogane Kenn story which combined the end of the world and girl’s love in a rather romantic way.

The most wonderful story was, IMHO, Matsuzaki Miyuki’s “Duet”, which followed two young ladies doing ballet as friends and rivals, until their relationship is strained by the rivalry. The end, in which they do a pas de deux together as professional dancers made me extremely happy. ^_^ Most importantly, the pas de deux is done both in women’s roles/costumes. That was especially nice.

So, yeah, I’m going to have to stop treating this magazine like a fly-by-night and acknowledge it as the successor to Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari that it is.

Ratings:

Overall – 7, but I’m following a couple of the series now, so maybe 8 since I’m in a good mood. ^_^

Volume 5 hits shelves the end of November 2015.

Posted in Mebae, Yuri Anthology, Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – November 14, 2015

November 14th, 2015

YNN_MariKLGBTQ Game

Famitsu reports some exciting news – Japanese RPG Lucent Heart will feature same-sex relationships and marriages as options. Check out the link for absurdly cute screenshots of potential couples. ^_^

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Yuri Manga

Japanese Yuri fans are enthused about the Yuri-service of new series Shoujo Kessen Origa (少女決戦オルギア), which is running in Young Magazine. It’s promoting itself as a girls’ battle royale, so we can guess what it’ll be like. ^_^

From Comic Yuri Hime, fans of Sound! Euphonium can look forward to band-themed 12 Minute no Etude by Nakahara Tsubaki, (12分のエチュード).

Fans of Takemiya Jin will be pleased that she has a new collection, See-saw x Game. (シーソー×ゲーム)

Also from Yuri Hime, we have Aoto Hibiki’s school comedy, Prince Princess (プリンスプリンス).

Yuri Anthology Mebae (メバエ) is still cranking out questionable content with a Volume 5. ^_^;

For fans of something completely different, we have the third volume of Hayate x Blade 2, yay! (はやて×ブレード2) and Himawari-san, Volume 6 (ひまわりさん).

The January issue of Comic Yuri Hime (コミック百合姫2016年1月号) hits shelves in Japan this coming week.

Other News

HuffPo has a list of 11 Lesbians in History you should know. The presumption that you don’t know them is irritating, but that’s where we are in the world of clickbait headlines. It’s still worth looking at.

Sam Bosma’s amazing kids’ series Fantasy Sports (of which I reviewed – and adored –  Volume 1,) is continuing in Spring 2016 with Volume 2.

I want to wrap up with something extremely personal. In the US, Thanksgiving is less than 2 weeks away. I make it a practice of being explicitly thankful all the time, but this year especially so. As many of you know, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis three years ago, but I am holding my own and plan on running a 5K this coming Thanksgiving. For the asthmatic kid I was, this is daunting, but as much as I’ll never enjoy running, it’s a way to make sure my body is still doing what I command it to do, MS be damned. The 5K benefits a local food pantry and literacy volunteers, and since food and reading are two of the most important things in my life, this seems a good fit for me. ^_^

So my point is – if you have a few dollars to spare this Thanksgiving, please donate to a food pantry and/or literacy volunteer group local to you. You will be helping real people – your neighbors – to not go hungry, to find hope or escape in a book, or be able to fill out a form that might get them a job or benefits. That would mean a lot to me. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart for your continued support for Okazu and me!

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 »