A White Rose in Bloom, Volume 3

September 2nd, 2024

Girls in green dresses with white puffy-shouldered sleeves pass on a brick walkway. A girl with long pale hair walks with a classmate, but looks back at two younger girls, one with blonde pigtails and one with short dark hair as they argue.Content Warning for off-screen violence and implication of intended sexual assault.

We have thus fa, been paying attention primarily to Ruby Canossa, that breath of fresh air that has come into her staid school that has many secrets, and “Steel” Steph the enigmatic and secretive older girl with a disability. In this volume we belatedly pay attention to Liz, Steph’s sister who is very possessive of and resentful about the older girl. In A White Rose in Bloom, Volume 3 we learn why and…phew, it is a lot.

Liz is, exactly as she seems – attention-starved and spoiled, but trying so hard to find love that she very nearly finds herself assaulted by a tutor. This explains her forcing herself on Steph in turn when she sees the older girl as a savior. It’s clear Steph cares for her sister, but has a lot of baggage with her own life to deal with and little energy for Liz. They both gain our sympathy once again, and now we’re hoping even more that Ruby can form a healthy bond with Liz.

Then we turn back to life at the dorm. A thief, a ghost, dire fortunes and a real-life mystery fill up the pages of the second half of the volume. What is the story of the missing items? Luckily, Volume 4 of Mejirobana Saku,  (メジロバナの咲く) came out last month in Japan (what timing!) but we’ll be waiting until next year to see it in English.

In the meantime, let us again revel in the first full-length serial Yuri from Asumiko Nakamura (creator of Classmates) and how she manages to keep us on a string with a sense of furtive feelings and cryptic histories, even as we delight in the change Ruby brings to the school, and how she forces the people around her to open up. Jocelyne Allan’s translation really manages to capture the dark shadows behind light words that match Nakamura-sensei’s art perfectly. Alia Nagamine’s letting is top-notch retouch for that authentic reading experience. Great work all the way down for the Seven Seas team.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – 5 Predatory behavior and gaslighting is gross
Yuri – 7

Overall – 9

This series is probably flying under the radar – but it shouldn’t. It deserves a few soapbox rants, because it is an excellent edition of a fantastic story by a master story-teller.

Posted in English Manga, Yuri Manga | 1 Comment »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – August 31, 2024

August 31st, 2024

In black block letters, YNN Yuri Network News. On the left, in black silhouette, a woman with a broad brim hat and dress stands, a woman in a tight outfit sits against the Y. Art by Mari Kurisato for OkazuIt’s been a long two weeks since the last report and there’s a bunch of great stuff to talk about. The top story at AnimeNYC has got to be the surprise license of Stop! Hibari-kun by PEOW2. This license came as a complete surprise to most of us. I spoke with PEOW2 a bit and will get back to you with that as soon as I have a second. Anita Tai at ANN has details.

But…seriously, wow. Eguchi Hisashi’s 1980s shounen romantic comedy manga about a trans girl is absolutely a welcome license! I reviewed Volume 1 of the Complete Edition here on Okazu in 2020.

 

Yuri Manga

At AnimeNYC, Seven Seas announced omnibus collections for sono.N’s SHWD and Black & White by Sal Jiang. Honestly think those are good choices and will do better as collections than as separate volumes.

Yen was pushing pre-orders for The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t A Guy At All with a huge display at their booth. I’ve said this before, and will continue to say – this title is being set up for success.

Yen also announced three Yuri licenses, Anemone wa Netsu wo Obiru by Sakuragi Ren as The Anemone Feels the Heat and light novel Watashi no Yuri mo, Eigyou da to Omotta? by Asakura Neru as Did You Think My Yuri Was a Sales Pitch?. They also licensed Merryhachi’s Zenbu Kimi no Sei da as It’s All Your Fault. (Thanks to Katgrrl for reminding me of the third.)

Sales of Yuri manga was a topic of much discussion the convention. Ultimately, it seems like Yuri fans are more discriminate than BL fans – which is not to slam BL fans at all. There more of them and their genre has been around longer, so they have more to choose from. But, my experience in Yuri leads me to believe that Yuri fans – especially queer fans, who are looking for stories with representation – are more likely to ignore stories that don’t speak to them, directly.

Which brings me to the other side of that. This month we have had (and still have a a few hours left of two) several amazingly successful Yuri Kickstarters!

Galette Magazine in English has a little more than a day as I type this, and has significantly surpassed its final stretch goal and is heading towards making 400% of the initial goal. More than 500 backers have made this possible.

Aneido’s No One Lurks Beneath The Snow, an 18+ erotic horror also nearly hit 3x the initial goal, with almost 500 backers.

Yorita Miyuki’s Her kiss,my libido twinkles has passed 4x the initial goal with nearly 400 backers.

So, where is the gap? How can Yuri kickstarters do so well when sales of Yuri manga is so variable? The answer is in the nature of crowdfunding itself. I think this might be a topic for an essay, but Tl;dr – fewer people can make a bigger impact by backing/supporting at higher levels with crowdfunding, where sales of manga are…sales of manga. The same 500 people buying a manga is low sales numbers. When I was publishing I had a break-even point for making a manga profitable. Crowdfunding doesn’t have that limitation.  Definitely a topic to digest later.

Azuki the manga reading app, has announced the addition of Kotonoha by Kisugae about a lost love reclaimed. I read and reviewed the first volume of this back in 2018 and now you can get it on Azuki!

Notably Hana to Yume magazine in Japan promoted the series Sono Urawashiki Hito ha, (そのうるわしきひとは、) as their first Yuri series in many years! This one-shot school life mystery sounds intriguing.

 

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Yuri Light Novel

Yen has released My First Love’s Kiss by Hitoma Iruma, illustrated by Fly. I love Fly’s art, but historically have a very hard time with Iruma’s writing. We’ve got a reviewer who is looking at this volume for Okazu, but if you want a quick overview, check out Sean Gaffney’s review. He expertly notes the weaknesses in this Yuri light novel.

 
Yuri Visual Novels

Incredible news from Studio Élan – Japanese visual novel company SukeraSparo has licensed their VN Please Be Happy! for Japanese  language release!

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Anime News

Whisper Me A Love Song is still getting the short end of the stick, with new delays announced for the Blu-ray and no word at all on the last two episodes. Rafael Antonio Pineda has details on ANN.

There’s a ton of PreCure news: Rafael Antonio Pineda wants you to know that Crunchyroll has added Futari wa PreCure Splash Star, and that Witchy Pretty Cure!!: Mirai Days has added visuals, staff and announced the musical artist for the theme. Joanna Cayanan has news about new cast additions to Wonderful Precure! The Movie.

ANN’s Anita Tai has the news that Girls Band Cry is getting a game.

 

Other News

Via YNN Correspondent Patricia Baxter, Why Is Shoujo So Gay (Even when it isn’t?) is a YouTube video by Colleen’s Manga Rec’s that explains a lot about the genre. Colleen is always worth a watch.

Bela on X has a nice little thesis on The Evolution of Safe Spaces in Yuri: From Greenhouses to Aquariums. I’ve asked them to flesh it out to an essay for us here!

 

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Become a part of the Yuri Network, by being a YNN Correspondent: Contact Us with any Yuri-related news you want to share with us.

Posted in Yuri Network News | 3 Comments »


This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Volume 2

August 30th, 2024

Surrounded by the dark, with only festival lights strung above them, a girl with light hair wearing a long-sleeved dress over a white blouse, turns to look at us over her shoulder, while a girl with long black hair and barrettes, in a pale shirtwaist frock looks at us directly, as they hold hands.In Volume 1, we meet Hinako, a girl who has lost almost everything and, as a result, doesn’t mind entertaining the thought of death. She is befriended by Shiori, a mysterious creature of the deep ocean, a mermaid, who assures Hinako that she wants the girl to live happily, so that she can eat her later.

Hinako’s only other friend, Miko, does not like Shiori and, in This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Volume 2, by Sae Naekawa, we find out why.

But first Shiori asks Hinako the question on all our minds, why is she is such a rush to die? Hinako looks back at the loss of her family and, again, prompted by Shiori, at her history with Miko. Shiori is really a monster, but she seems to think Miko is one, too?

In this eye-opening volume, in which much of what we were told turns out to be half-truths or full lies, Hinako will continue to reevaluate all her choices. When I read this in Japanese in 2021, I commented that it was a “freakin’ brillant volume of a manga” and I stand by that with this English edition. There is an underlying tension to this series that just fills one with foreboding, even when nothing in particular is happening. When the truth is uncovered, it is both a huge relief and a new chill on one’s spine.

This series is just the best summer horror tale with chills, thrills, a little blood and darkness, thus far rooted wholly in Japanese youkai – what lurks in the shadows in Japanese folklore. Caleb Cook once again brings a fantastic, nuanced translation. You can tell who is talking by how they talk. I can “hear” every character clearly. Bianca Pistillo’s lettering is good. I wish she was able to be amazing, but Yen’s house style of subtitling the sound effects is their style and I will just always whine slightly about it. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8 Ominous and compelling
Characters – 8 The more we know, the less we know
Service – Blood. Violence. Monsters From the Deep. Secrets. More Monsters.
Yuri – Miko is possessive, Shiori is infatuating

Overall – 8

This volume is headed your way in mid-September. Don’t miss out on this fantastic low-key horror book. It takes all the mortifications of school life and gives it extra claws and fangs. ^_^

I have Volume 8 of Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし) siting here on my to-review pile and I’m once again hyped to re-read and review it.

Thanks very much to Yen Press for the review copy! This is such a fantastic series, I always can’t wait to read it. ^_^

Posted in English Manga, Yuri Manga | No Comments »


I Can’t Say No to the Lonely Girl, Volume 3

August 26th, 2024

A girl with blonde hair and a light blue sweater over a white blouse. leans on the shoulder of a girl with long, dark hair wearing a navy blazer over a white blouse.We ended Volume 2 with a good feeling about whatever was building between Sora and Ayaka, however screwed up it was at the start.

But both of them had had kept Sora’s “favors” in one emotional box and now her feelings are threatening to leak out on to the rest of their lives. Now, in I Can’t Say No to the Lonely Girl, Volume 3 people around them can see that they really need to address whatever is going on, but since they began their time together in a place that was too intimate, neither of them know how to broach what they feel. Sora has her “favors” to draw on, but how is Ayaka supposed to respond? And just as they almost come to understand each other, Sora is going to transfer schools! At last, we finally see the “why” of Sora’s behavior and realize that she had been struggling all along.

Ayaka tres to face down Sora’s mother, but is rejected. Ayaka find strength and support in all her friends and her brother and decides that Sora is worth the risk she’s about to take.

This is the volume where the story gets good. Sora and Ayaka dancing around each other is a little hard, but Ayaka finding herself and deciding to save Sora is a fantastic climax for this volume. It is at this point there is now doubt that we’re rooting for them. Kashikaze’s art has matured quite a bit. Sora’s blank expressions have more depth to them, especially. Another excellent production from Kodansha.

Volume 4 is headed our way in a few weeks and the story is just starting to get good. ^_^

Posted in Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Yuri at Anime NYC!

August 22nd, 2024

This weekend, at Javits Center in New York City, many tens of thousands of anime fans will converge on AnimeNYC and I will be among them.

This is my first con back since COVID and it is surging right now, so Please Wear a Mask! I’ll have some to give away, so when you visit our table, please wear one over your mouth and nose. Events don’t have to be superspreaders, if we all care about one another.

Rica Takashima and I will be tabling together in the Artist Alley at Table E01 – see the big yellow arrow below. ^_^ We will have a lot of Yuri for sale! Get a copy of By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime And Manga signed by me, the author and by Rica, the cover artist and special giveaways as long as they last. I also am bringing a few bundles of ALC publications – 5 Yuri books in a bundle. Rica will have her original Yuri manga Rica ‘tte Kanji!? and more to pick up.

We’ve also developed a Yuri History in Anime display that you are encouraged to take a photo with! We look forward to seeing you there.

I’ll be on two panels and you bet Yuri and lesbian manga will be repped the heck out of.

The Rise of Queer Manga features amazing LGBTQ manga and some fantastic panelists – TJ “Tiff” Ferentini, Jacqueline Fung and Nicole Roderick and I talk about books that make a difference. Friday, August 23 3:00 pm–4:00 pm, Panel Room 3 – 1A21.

 

Zack Davisson and I will be moderated by Jillian Rudes for A History of Manga by Decade: Manga’s History Two Books at a Time, Sunday, August 25 12:30 pm–1:30 pm Panel Room 2 – 1A12. Will there be Yuri?…yes, duh. ^_^

 

See you all soon!

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