It’s a holiday weekend here at Okazu, and we’ve been stuck inside with a sick spouse and a bunch of tight deadlines for work. So I’m taking today off.
We’ll be back tomorrow with business as usual. Have a lovely day!
Sparkler Monthly Brings You Girls Love for the Holidays
It’s the holidays, what better time for us all to enjoy the sparkle of the season? ^_^ We’ll start with a new look at Sparkler Monthly, the magazine put out by Chromatic Press.
Sparkler was launched to be a venue in which female writers, creators, and fans are given an open and LGBTQ-friendly space to enjoy manga and manga-derivative works – in effect, an English-language Josei magazine. Sparkler Monthly lead their first year with a license rescue of Tokyopop Rising Star Jen Lee Quick’s BL story Offbeat. They’ve also published volumes of other series, a few one-shots, prose stories and an Audio Drama.
Last year they had Denise Schroeder debut with a cute “Story A”, girl-meets-girl, Before You Go. Well Denise is back for the December issue with a sequel and our friends at Sparkler have given her characters the cover!
Sparkler Monthly is periodically open to submissions, so if you are a writer or artist (or team) do check their submissions schedule and guidelines. They are closed right now, but bookmark this link and keep it in mind for future use.
More importantly, Sparkler Monthly is run by people like you – fans of manga, who feel that there ain’t nothing wrong with Shounen Jump, but there’s room in the universe for something that’s female-friendly. This is not just a doujinshi, either – the editors are experienced industry professionals and they know what works. Sparkler is available by subscription – 12 months for the price of 10, plus a free ebook. A one-month trial is a mere $7. If you want to try them out before you hand over a cent, you can – they have chapters of their manga up for free and I gotta tell you – new series Windrose looks mighty nice.
Sparkler Monthy wants to get us all in the holiday mood, so they are doing a big Holiday sale. Use the code HOLIDAY to get 15% off almost everything in the Sparkler shop! And hey when you’ve subscribed, let ’em know what *you* want to read and buy, because they actually do care about that. ^_^
Personally, I’d love to see them succeed. It’s long past time for a Josei manga magazine in the west to make it on its own. And this is the one I want to see make it. ^_^ Let’s give ’em a hand, shall we?
Giving Thanks
As most of you know, today is Thanksgiving in the USA, and over the past few years I’ve written posts outlining my gratitude, because as far as I’m concerned, I can’t thank you enough.
Thank you Okazu Guest Reviewers – You are so important to me. You give us all unique perspectives and teach me something about something every time.
Thank you Okazu Sponsors and Subscribers – I quite literally could not do this without you. Heroes one and all.
Thank you to YNN Correspondents and Okazu Readers – everyone who reads, shares news and comments here on Okazu. I appreciate your fact-checking and your opinions. You are all the fabulous Yuri Network and without you, there’s be no point to doing any of this. ^_^
Once again I am humbled by your support and enthusiasm. Wherever on the globe you are, have a wonderful day and thanks to you all. ^_^
Yuri Manga: Mebae, Volume 2 (メバエ)
Well, when I read Mebae, Volume 1, I had some hope. Then I read Mebae, Volume 2 (メバエ).
Wow, did this volume stink…
…must have been all those bodily fluids. ^_^;
Ratings:
Overall – 1
I feel transported back to the bad old days of Yuri when “bodily fluids” was the plot. Whee.
Thank You, Okazu Heros!
Thanks to your support, Okazu Heros and Superheroes, today we hit our first goal on Patreon – going ad-free.
Effective immediately, and hopefully forever more, no ads on Okazu posts. Phew. They always made me feel a little guilty. ^_^;
I thought about using a traditional congratulations image, but this one seemed so much more appropriate for us. ^_^
Thank you for your subscriptions, your sponsorships of English and Japanese language items, your support, your passion and most of all – thank you for being an important part of the Okazu family!
