Upcoming LGBTQ Comic/Yuri Manga Events

September 21st, 2014

DSCN5321For folks on the East and West Coasts of the USA or in and around Tokyo, Japan, there are a number of events of interest coming up and I *hate* reports that start “Oh, hey, I did the coolest thing this year and forgot to mention it was happening in time for you to plan to be there!” So, in order for some of you to make plans to be at these events, here are several upcoming events that I think you might want to make an effort to attend!

 

GLFes 

October 19, 2014, Yokohama, Japan, Yokohama Minato Mirai, Hall Marineria (横浜みなとみらい・横浜産貿ホールマリネリア)

This is the 12th Girls Love Festival event and it looks fantastic this year.  I think this is their first time in Yokohama, and next year it appears to be back in the Tokyo area. I actually changed my plans this year to attend, because under the GLFes umbrella, one of the events is “Onaji Hoshi ni Umareta Futari” an all-Yuri Sailor Moon doujinshi event. Amano Shuninta-sensei (Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na) did the cover art and I felt almost obliged to be there for the first-ever all-Yuri Sailor Moon event, y’know?  ^_^

The way GLFes works is that there are a bunch of thematically-organized sections. There will be a KanColle “event”, the above-mentioned Sailor Moon section, Sakura Trick, Yuru Yuri, PreCure and whatever other series are popular will get their own sections. Tucked in between are original works which, as you may be aware, is what I like best. ^_^

There are no panels, but I will be with a few folks with coherent Japanese and hope that I can speak to a few of the folks there interviewy-like. Fingers crossed.

 

Geek Girl Con

October 11-12, 2014, Seattle WA, Washington Convention Center

The reason I will not be at NYCC this year is because I am going to Geek Girl Con. This year is the 4th GGC and I wanted to at least experience it once.  Pretty much the entire Panel Schedule is of interest to and focused on Women in fandom, gaming, media, comics, etc. What I’m not seeing a whole lot of is LGBTQ-themed stuff, which sort of surprises me.

Queerbaiting in Genre Television: Representation or Exploitation?

Gaylaxy Quest: Exploring Queer Fantasy and Science Fiction

are the only things I see on the schedule. There is a BL-focused panel. No Yuri, but I wasn’t applying to run one, and there are, as I always say, way more straight girls than gay ones.  There are some “Female Gaze” panels, but from experience I know that those tend to be very straight (and usually pretty objectifying men-focused) and not my cup of tea.

I know The Legend of Bold Riley‘s creator Leia Weathington is supposed to be there and I hope to hang with her and a couple of Friends of Yuri. If you’re gonna be there, do let me know and we’ll make time to catch up and say hi!

 

New York Comic Con 

October 9-12, 2014, Javits Convention Center, New York City, NY

New York Comic Con has gone back and forth on Queer presence and equity of representation, but this year they seem to be making a special effort to have a number of panels on Women in Comics and Geek Media. Here are few you probably don’t want to miss:

Prism Comics Presents: Women in Queer Comics

Women of Color in Comics: Race, Gender and the Comic Book Medium

The Mary Sue Presents – Strong Female Characters: The Women Shining in Geek Media

Because I will be on the other side of the country for the weekend, if you do attend NYCC, (especially any of these panels) and would like to do a write-up of your impressions, please let me know and I’ll give you a quick tutorial on how to write something up! Industry panels are written up by every blogger in the universe, but far fewer people cover the meaty topic-oriented ones. I’d love to have eyes and ears at NYCC. You’ll get a colorful YNN Correspondent badge to display on your webpage or social profile in thanks. ^_^

 

International Manga Festival

November 23, 2014,Ariake, Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Big Sight

The International Manga Festival, aka the Kaigai Fes, is held as a part of Comitia, the biannual all-original doujinshi event. Begun just a few years ago, the Kaigai event is getting larger and more exciting every year. A bit like the opposite side of the TCAF card, the Kaigai Fes has comic artists from outside Japan, and it’s a lot of fun, seeing folks who are bridging the oceans to communicate about comics and comicking.

Comitia itself is a very cool event. Because it focuses on all-original doujinshi, I’ve found some good LGBTQ narratives and some straight-up Yuri as well. Next year I plan on revisiting the Kaigai and Comitia and seeing how far they’ve come. ^_^ If you can’t make it, rest assured, a number of manga bloggers will be covering this event. Keep your eyes especially on Deb Aoki’s Manga Comics Manga site for news and reporting.

 

Winter Comiket

December 28,29,30, Ariake, Tokyo, Japan, Tokyo Big Sight

World’s biggest small press and self-published comic show. Makes SDCC look like a baby event. It’s huge, intimidating and electrifying. Everyone who loves comics should do this once. ^_^ There are Yuri parody and original circles, but you have to work at it a bit to find them all.

 

And while this is 6 months out, I want to give you all a heads up for these 2015 events:

Queers & Comics – LGBT Cartoonists’ Conference

May 7-8, 2015, New York, NYC, Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS)
The Graduate Center, CUNY – 365 Fifth Avenue, NYC

The Keynote speakers will be Howard Cruse and Alison Bechdel.  More information can be found on their website or their Facebook page. I’m hoping to be there, although it means I will probably miss TCAF, because the world is like that, but I don’t want to miss it!

 

Toronto Comic Arts Festival

TBA, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I can’t rave enough about TCAF. It’s got a strong manga presence, a strong LGBTQ presence and it’s generally the most fun I have at a North American event. The 2015 dates and location(s) have not yet been announced, but if you can make it, do!

 

So there’s a few vacation ideas for you coming up in the next half year or so. If you’re going to be at Geek Girl Con or GLFes, let me know so I can say hi!

 

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Posted in Events, LGBTQ, Western Comic/Comix, Yuri Manga, Yuri Network News | 9 Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – September 20, 2014

September 20th, 2014

YNN_MariKYuri Anime

ANN reports that the Yuri Kuma Arashi anime created by Ikuhara Kunihiko and featuring character designs by Morishima Akiko will have a January debut. There is now a teaser site for the anime.

YNN Senior Correspondent Griznak reports that the Yuru Yuri OAV designs are now up on Crunchyroll News.

ANN tells us that Psycho-Pass 2 cast and staff lists are complete. Yayoi and Shion are on the list, woot. Now let’s see how much more horrible and violent the second series is…orz. ^_^;

Also from ANN, the first Sailor Moon Crystal Blu-ray “Digest” streams, with glimpses of extras.

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Yuri Kinetic Novel

Grisznak also wants you to know about a new Yuri, free, English-language kinetic novel titled Tunnel Vision. It sure seems like something we’ll all be interested in! ^_^

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Queer Comics

YNN Senior Correspondent Erin S. has suggested a few Yuri webcomics of interest:

Like a Shark In A Swimming Pool by Verity Hall. A coming of age story (warning: homophobic language)

Elias Ericson’s Super Queer Artsy Blog, looks like it’d be a heck of a timesink. ^_^

And this Korra x Asami fancomic series Songs of Evela, which is apparently ongoing. ^_^

Liz Prince’s Tomboy: A Graphic Memoir is now available on Amazon in print and on Kindle.

You may have heard that Alison Bechdel, creator of Dykes to Watch Out For and Fun Home has won a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant. Her next work is another comic memoir, on her obsession with fitness. Congrats to Alison, who has changed the way we talk about female representation in media forever.

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Yuri Live Action

Edge of Normal is described by Diverse Media as “cute girls with superpowers crush on other cute girls with superpowers”. Okay, it’s on my to-watch list now. ^_^

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Other News

Anime destination touring is really heating up in Japan. The Kanagawa prefecture is launching Kanamoe, a prefecture-wide tour of popular anime locations.

If you’re attending New York Comic Con, don’t miss the Women of Color In Comics panel.

Absolutely do read this article: The Greatest Black Women In Superhero Comics (Who Aren’t Storm)

Also The Most Feminist Moments in Sci-Fi History.

Must Read: Women Who Conquered the Comics World

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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 | 4 Comments »


Gakuen Polizi Manga, Volume 1 (English)

September 18th, 2014

GP1In April 2013, I was pleased as punch to be able to review Morinaga Milk-sensei’s most recent series, Gakuen Polizi. At the time, I pronounced it “good” and commented that I chose “Polizi” as a transliteration for ポリーチェ because it looked stylish. I’ll take it as a compliment that Seven Seas went with my transliteration. ^_^

Gakuen Polizi, Volume 1 (Amazon/RightStuf) is, as Morinaga-sensei mentions in the author’s note, a conflation of her two favorite things – high school girls and TV cop series. I’m down with that. The first few chapters are a little unsteady as we meet over-enthusiastic new undercover school cop, aka “Polizi”, Sasami Aoba and, eventually her truculent, cynical partner, Sakuraba Midori. They flail around the school a bit, which provides plenty of space for exposition and the setup for Midori’s backstory. Here’s hoping it will be heart-wrenching.

The story really begins to take off in the second half of the book, as Aoba deals with rather serious issues high school girls face. Here in Volume 1, Aoba’s determined to solve a series of gropings on the train and the final, rather poignant, arc deals with a stalker.

I originally described this volume as Morinaga-sensei using her powers for good, and reading this translation, I’m convinced that I was right. Yes, Aoba and Midori could have solved missing cat crimes (and may still) but what we spend time on was a girl traumatized by an ex-boyfriend stalker, a very real, very serious problem. While the end is a touch convenient, if she had taken the darker route, this would have been an entirely different series. Cops shows and high school girls, there’s definitely potential here.

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If there is one thing you can absolutely count on from Seven Seas, it’s good technical work. The translation is solid; it starts to get a bit harsh in the middle then is reined in, so there is a consistent feel of “yeah, it’s a girl’s school” and the reproduction looks good.

Volume 2 is up for pre-order on Amazon in English, and is available in Japanese. It’s definitely on my to-read list and I’m looking forward to seeing the story develop.

Ratings:

Art – 9 Morinaga’s style is fully developed and her lines are more confident now than they have ever been
Story – I’m giving it a solid 9. 8 for being a good story, +1 for not being a straightup romance
Characters – 7, but we’ve barely begun to get to know them
Service – 2 -Psychological only, with talk of gropers and stalkers
Yuri – 1 A teeny weeny bit of fakey-service, but possible implication of more to come

Overall – 8

It’s a solid beginning to something completely different from Morinaga Milk-sensei and I’m really interested to see where she goes with it!

This book came in as a sponsorship from some lovely, generous Okazu Hero, but with no name. Please email me at yuricon at gmail so I can thank you properly!

Posted in Morinaga Milk | 6 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Hoshi wo Futari de (星をふたりで)

September 17th, 2014

hwfdKazama Ayami’s Hoshi wo Futari de (星をふたりで) is her first collection of Comic Yuri Hime shorts, although her work has appeared in Volume 9 of Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari, as well.

To be very honest, I almost stopped reading with the first story, an excruciating tale of a girl who finds it hard to say three words strung together and the girl who gives her a voice, but I’m actually rather glad I kept going. Ria is a transfer student, she and Natsumi bond over the book The Little Prince. Although Natsumi’s reticence is not presented as a condition, I chose to approach her speaking difficulties as if it were a stutter or other speech pathology.  But quickly, my handwave became meaningless, as Natsumi finds her voice, her confdence and her strength – not in Ria, but because of her.

The second story also had roots in a literary reference, as free-spirited Mimori and Sena bond over Miyazawa Kenji’s Night on the Galactic Railroad.

Despite Satsuki’s personality, Airi and she have been friends since childhood. But recently Satsuki’s been even more prickly than usual. Satsuki faces rejection and confesses her feelings, only to find them returned after all.

A popular fashionable girl shakes Chihana’s world, when they end up missing their physicals and having to change together, but it turn out that Hosaka thinks Chihana is cute, too.

Riho is happy for her dear friend Nako, now that she has a boyfriend and is trying really hard to be willing to include him in their together time. Nako finds it all uncomfortable and finally admits that she wants their together time to be for them alone.

The final story returns us to Ria and Natsumi as they spend a lovely day together celebrating Natsumi’s birthday.

The art in this collection is moe, and yet, completely tolerable, once I got used to it. The Yuri is firmly Story A territory, a few embraces, a few kisses, one shirtless scene, but no more, which was a good thing. In fact, in the one shirtless scene, the art style is radically different, so Hosoka looks her age, a touch that worked both for the story and for my mental well-being.

Ratings:

Art – YMMV, but I’ll go so far as to give it a 7
Characters – 7 Better than I imagined
Story -Variable, oh let’s say 7 for these as well
Yuri – 5
Service – 7 for the one scene, 1 for the rest

Overall – 7

While this book won’t make a Top Ten List for me, as a series of shorts, it was pretty enjoyable.

Posted in Yuri Manga | 4 Comments »


Yuri Anime: Card Captor Sakura (English)

September 16th, 2014

ccsSo, the last month or so I have been mainlining all 70 episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura on Crunchyroll.  And y’know…I like it all over again. ^_^

You have to remember, we were coming off a Sailor Moon high the first time. All those amazing voice actresses, and there they were scooped up the immensely talented all-woman studio, CLAMP, no less. It was a perfect set up for Yuri fans.

And then…it started going all bent and alt-sexuality right away. The BL fans went gaga (rightfully so) over Touya and Yukito, fans of intergenerational relationships had Terada-sensei and Rika, and Kaho and Touya, and Fujitaka and Nadesico. Yuri fans had Sonomi’s feelings for her cousin Nadesico, mirrored by Tomoyo’s feelings for Sakura. So, basically everyone had something to be weird about. Boy with wings and long silver hair? Here’s Yue. Androgynous cute being? Have Ruby Moon. There was something for everyone, wrapped in a pretty CLAMP animation with ribbon and cake.

NIS did a really decent job with the translation, until they didn’t. And when they didn’t, it  became one of those moments that you just suck it up and do the best you can and hopefully realize that you can’t just ignore the honorifics and hope they go away. (Only companies keep making the same mistake over and over. How about we learn to translate names as they are presented, already and stop fighting it, huh?) So instead of Li-kun becoming Xialoang (a transliteration I 100% approve of, btw. It is correct), they struggle with Xiolang to…um, “bestie.” Yeah, no.

The film quality is great, and when/if I get this, I think getting Blu-Ray will be worth it. NIS has a Hybrid Blu-Ray (Amazon/ RightStuf) version available.

It actually felt more Yuri to me this time around – Tomoyo is well and truly besotted, much more so than her mother. (Bonus for us seiyuu otaku, Sonomi is is played by Itou Miki, who played Sachiko in Marimite.)

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Ratings:

Art – 8 One of CLAMP’s most colorful and swoopy
Story – 8 Weird, but fun
Characters – 10 Enduring in a lot of ways. There never would have been a Tamao in Strawberry Panic, if there hadn’t been a Tomoyo in CCS.
Yuri – A steady, underlaid 3
Service- 6 Not physical, but psychological hoo-whee!

Overall – 9

It’s been a long time since I watched this series and I think I enjoyed it more this time around. ^_^

Posted in Card Captor Sakura, CLAMP, English Anime, Yuri Anime | 6 Comments »