YNN Addendum – Very Bad News and Very Good News

July 12th, 2015

AnaMorenoHi folks. As you know, San Diego Comic Con is in full swing and we’ve gotten an amazing piece of news out of it. But first, I want to share a piece of amazingly bad news with you.

Our good friend, Yuri supporter, translator, creator of Marine Corps Yumi, Anastasia Moreno, has passed away.

Ana and I met when she was working on Strawberry Panic (and other Seven Seas titles) and since then, we’ve had some amazing adventures together. We beat the crap outta each other at Takarazuka just last October. She’s been fighting a particularly awful cancer since last year. Selfishly, I’m glad I was able to Skype with her this week, so I have a recent memory of her.

Marine Corps Yumi will continue in Japanese and English, with Nogami-sensei taking over the story as well as the art and Dan Kanemitsu handling the English translation. I hope you will continue to support the series.

RIP Ana. You were one of a kind. We’ll miss ya.

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And now for the good news.

UDON Entertainment has licensed the Rose of Versailles manga. All I can say to that is “holy crap.”

They’ll be releasing it in 2-in-1 omnibus volumes starting in spring 2016. At last! You’ll be able to see Lady Oscar in her bell-bottom uniform pants. ^_^

If anything else cool comes out of SDCC, I’ll let you know.

Posted in Yuri Network News | 5 Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – July 11, 2015

July 11th, 2015

YNN_MariKCrowdfunding News

There are a number of crowdfunding campaigns I wanted to highlight before they wrap up.

I know I mentioned this before, but it bears repeating, Hope Nicholson’s The Secret Lives of Geek Girls is all of everything all at once. The contributor list makes my eyes water, in a good way. ^_^

Sparkler Monthly is looking to fund a third year of publication, both off-line and online. They’ve been a big promoter of BL and Yuri stories and tons of great (by which I mean complex and interesting) female characters…and creators…in their pages. Support female-focused comics, by folks who support you!

This next campaign has nothing at all to do with Yuri, or manga, or anything we usually cover here, but it’s for a friend who is doing an amazing thing – helping young people to fulfill their dreams of artistic excellence. Manga Bookshelf’s Melinda Beasi is running an opera workshop with her students. As of time of writing, they are 78% funded and when you read this, they will have 4 days left. Please help support the arts, help support young performers, and help one of my dearest fellow bloggers, Melinda.  Please support Act Too Studio Opera Workshop: The Medium. A dollar can make a major difference to them!

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Yuricon Store News

New on the Yuricon Shop! The Yuri Goods page. Featuring Uranus and Neptune figurines and henshin wand lip glosses right now, more to be added.

Also featured is  our *brand new* original I Love Yuri Goods page at Redbubble. Click on the “I Love Yuri” logo and scroll down to see all the items available. Our original “I Love Yuri” design is now  a clear-background transfer to shirt, so colors other than white will look just as good. Here it is in dark blue. I think it looks swell. We’ll be putting up some more designs in the upcoming months.

dbluily

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Yuri Manga News

My wife is making her debut as a YNN Correspondent! She wants you to know that Tezuka’s Ribon no Kishi/Princess Knight is getting a new reprint in Japan, one that is reproducing color and title pages from it’s original appearance in Nakayoshi magazine, as reported on Crunchyroll News.

Sean Gaffney has the licensing news from Anime Expo, and for us the title of interest might be Saki, which is going to be a digital only release by Yen Press. This series has a lot of fan-pairings and a few canon ones in the story.

I’m going to keep reminding you that Fujieda Miyabi’s Iono-sama Fanatics , Volume 1 is hitting shelves in Japan at the end of this month!

Hanako’s private school Yuri series Shiritsu Seijou Gakuen Kirarin Ryou (私立星城学園きらりん寮)  is digitally available on Comic Walker.

I’m probably the only one who really cares about this, but I really enjoy “violence Yuri” manga MURCIELAGO, and so, I really enjoyed this little PV for the series by Square Enix on Comic Natalie to celebrate it’s being released in digital motion comic for Volume 5.

Comic Yuri Hime is celebrating a 10th anniversary and, according to Comic Natalie,  is doing all sorts of giveaways I can not apply for, (and probably don’t want!) ^_^

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LGBTQ Comics News

Have you read these 5 LGBTQ comics that are out now?

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Miscellaneous Wonderfulness

“Kase-san” creator Takasaki Hiromi was pleased to share a piece of Korra x Asami fanart, along with a plea to bring LoK to Japan on Twitter.

Late addition to today’s report. Our own Rica Takashima has made the New York Times as part of their look at the emerging artists of the FLOW exhibit on Randall’s Island (which I am hoping to visit today.)

I think we’ll finish up with this look at 19th-century Lesbian erotic art, because why not.

Know some cool Yuri News you want people to know about? Become a <strong>Yuri Network Correspondent </strong>by sending me any Yuri-related news you find. Emails go to <strong>anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com</strong>. <em>Not to the comments here, please, or they might be forgotten or missed</em>. 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 | 5 Comments »


Western Comic: Rise – Comics Against Bullying

July 8th, 2015

Rise_1-463x700The older I get, the more I am convinced that it’s rare to feel normal. Too smart, too stupid, too hairy, too pale, too dark, too clumsy, too graceful…everything in life is stacked against everyone, honestly.

But it’s obvious to anyone with eyes and ears that some groups bear the brunt of systemic bullying. Kids are a horrible little microcosm of humanity, without the filters and buffers we (presumably, hopefully,) develop as adults.

Awareness of bullying – and of the depths to which bullying destroys people’s humanity, whether they are victims or bullies, is increasing and increasingly reported.  Not surprisingly, comic artists respond to this crisis by creating comics that are designed to take on issues surrounding bullying.

Rise: Comics Against Bullying, is a so-far two-issue anthology series published by Northwest Press, full of shorts designed to make people feel less alone, to explore all the facets of being  a bullying victim or a bully and, most importantly, to increase empathy for others. In addition, proceeds of sales benefit organizations including GLAAD, Prism Comics, and Stand For The Silent.

Taking a look at people suffering from bullying as children, adults, and for any number of reasons, from health issues to cluelessness, these comics also address bullying of children by teachers, and the kind of bullying that develops in adult groups when scapegoats are chosen. Some stories included apologies later in life and others did provide closure of one kind or another – at least for the reader. Whether that closure would be sufficient in the real world when a child is being bullied by a parent or teacher is left unexplored.  Like all Northwest Press comics these issues are available in print and digital versions.

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RISE2Volume 1 and  Volume 2 include stories that take a fanciful perspective on bullying such as children geniuses calling out a brutal teacher, or a woman with health issues who channels her migraines into superpowers.Other stories stuck with the tried and true issues of bullying of gay kids or kids who like geeky stuff in school. These also took a moment to remind us to have empathy for those bullies who are themselves abused, neglected, fearful or scared.

These stories are presented in a way that “ought” to be palatable to any young person, but I don’t know how many kids who are being bullied will feel better reading a comic about it.

Ratings:

Overall – 9  Art and content are variably of interest to each reader, but very good as a whole

Thanks to Northwest Press for the review copies! As a bit of feel-bad-to-feel-good comic storytelling, Rise does two things – remind us as we are not alone and help us support causes that give marginalized people voices. And that is something I can get solidly behind.

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Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime, July 2015 (コミック百合姫 2015年 07 月号)

July 7th, 2015

CYH072015-275x395Following on from my conclusion after reading the May 2015 issue, Comic Yuri Hime for July 2015, (コミック百合姫 2015年 07 月号) is a fully-featured magazine with something for nearly everybody.

For me, it has two somethings that had me bounding around the room like an, well, like an otaku. This issue of Comic Yuri Hime included not only a chapter of “Iono-sama Fanatics,” but also one of “Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan,” both by Fujieda Miyabi and both as wonderful as I remember. ^_^

In addition, I enjoyed a new chapter of “2DK, G Pen Mezamashidokei”, which introduced a new character, and a new series by Takemiya Jin. Also fun was the goofball Yuri series following an earnest Yuri fairy by Minamoto Hisanari, “Kanaete Yuri Yosei” remains entertaining. There were other stories I enjoyed, as well and many that I did not, which means those of you who like things I do not will enjoy those. ^_^

Ratings:

Overall – 7

A reasonable mix.

Posted in Comic Yuri Hime, Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Yuricon Store News

July 6th, 2015

yuriconKeep up with what’s New on the Yuricon Store!

I know you haven’t seen a lot of reviews. It’s not even that I’ve been out having fun. The bathroom renovation has been slightly short of Money Pit-ish. Family, holidays, stuff. So I am reading, but reallllllly slowly. And I’ve been working feverishly on the Yuricon Store, getting ready for a formal launch party next month to celebrate Yuricon’s 15th year and Okazu’s 13th. Crazy, huh? We’ll be doing all sorts of contests to celebrate.

In the meantime, I thought an update is warranted. All the Anime, Manga, and Book sections are completed, and being kept up-to-date. I’m trying to make sure items get entered when we have image art, unless it’s a super important item. ^_^

We’ve added some new stuff from Sparkler Monthly into our Digital Manga  and English Manga sections, of course we’re always adding new stuff in all the other sections as well.

And, now we’ve added a  Yuri Goods page. Featuring Uranus and Neptune figurines and henshin wand lip glosses and and our *brand new* original Yuricon Apparel and accessories at Redbubble. Click on “Buy on Redbubble” and scroll down to see all the items available. More items to come, with more images! And of course, as we see cool Yuri-themed items from our vendors, we’ll add those, as well.

Do drop by and watch as the Store is being built…one day at a time.  ^_^If you see anything wonky, or there’s something you’d really like to see on the store, please feel free to Contact Us with your requests!

 

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