Supporting Okazu by Shopping for Stuff

November 3rd, 2014

Hi all, I know I’ve been away a number of times recently and I have one more week of crazy ahead.  I just want to do some quick housekeeping, as requested by Okazu Reader Alison (sorry for the delay Alison! Thanks for your patience. ^_^). We’re moving into the holiday season and some of you will be buying gifts for your love ones on Amazon or RightStuf. I know a lot of you want to support Okazu, and don’t always have the money to subscribe. If you’d like to make sure Okazu gets a penny or two of your purchases, you can do this one of several ways:

On Amazon:

The easiest wait to throw an affiliate fee my way is to simply click through a link on Okazu. Purchases made through the Yuricon Shop are also affiliate links, but that site is a bit of a mess and horribly outdated. I need to update that, I know, I know. I kept hoping Amazon would update their shop interface, but nope. It’s on the to-do list.

You can also bookmark this page and shop through this clunky and unappealing search feature. The default here is “Yuri Manga” but you can search for anything:


 

On RightStuf.com:

We added Right Stuf affiliate links this year by popular demand. Interestingly, while a number of you used these right away, there’s been a lot of clicking, but very little buying on these. (This is not a judgement, I just found it sort of fascinating that more of you click on those links than on Amazon links, but for buying the percentages are flipped.)

As it turns out, practically everything I link to on TRSI is excluded from affiliate promotions, which is annoying, but understandable, as their discounts are crazy. ^_^;

To search for items on Right Stuf’s website through my affiliate account, please use this SEARCH on Rightstuf.com link.

Here’s a link if you want to use the Table of Contents on RightStuf.com.

Since Alison specifically wanted the Sailor Moon DVD set, here’s the links to those specific items:

Sailor Moon Blu-ray/DVD Set 1 (Hyb)

Sailor Moon Blu-ray/DVD Set 1 (Hyb) Limited Edition

Sailor Moon Blu-ray/DVD Set 2 (Hyb) Limited Edition w/GWP

Sailor Moon Blu-ray/DVD Sets 1-2 (Hyb) Limited Edition + 2nd GWP

As we’ve done for the last couple of years, I’ll put together a Okazu Gift Guide in the days ahead and it’ll have a lot for fans, new and old. ^_^ If you are looking for a particular link and haven’t seen it listed, just ask in thee comments and I’ll do my best to get it to you! And thanks for your support!

Posted in Okazu News | No Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – November 1, 2014

November 1st, 2014

YNN_MariK

Top news this week is the upcoming December issue of Japanese literary magazine Eureka (ユリイカ) which will be all about Yuri, with some *amazing* contributors, including Amano Shuninta, Maria-sama ga Miteru creator Konno Oyuki, scholars Mizoguchi Akiko, (hopefully) James Welker and, gods willing, me. Keep your fingers crossed and take a look at the magazine when it comes out.

Yuri Manga

Yuri anthology Mebae (メバエ) has made it to a Volume 3 which will hit the streets in late November. I’ve just finished up Vol. 1, and while it is firmly male gaze, it had a few stories worth reading.

 

Yuri Hime Comics has a veritable embarrassment of Yuri riches, with a load of current and upcoming releases:

Katakura Ako’s Ashita no Kimi ni Hanabata wo (明日の君に花束を)

Himitsu no Kakera by  Fujisawa Makoto (秘密のカケラ)

Humming Girl by Nakano Tomo  (ハミングガール)

Hiruno Tsukiko’s 2-parter Shirogane Gymnasium, (白銀ギムナジウム) Part 1 and Part 2.

Kodama Naoko’s going with the overused title Renai Manga for her collection (レンアイマンガ).

Starlight Melody by Fuki (スターライト メロディ)

Also keep your eyes out for Minamoto Hisanari’s two new collections, Yuridori Midori (ゆりどりみどり) and,  Rokujyo~hitomano Nekogamisama (ろくじょ~ひとまの ねこがみさま).

 

Annnnnd we’re finally get a few of the promised Hirari Comic wrap ups:

Shoushin (傷心) by Yukimura

Wakemonaku Kurushikunaruno (理由(わけ)もなく悲しくなるの) by Hakamada Mera

Kono Yo no Tadahitori (この世にただひとり) by Fuji Tamaki

Comic Natalie reports that Fujio-sensei’s autobiographical comic series  parlor that ran in Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari is moving to webcomic platform Wanpoko.

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 LGBTQ Comics

The Advocate speaks with comic artist Paige Braddock about her long-running slice-of-lesbian-life comic Jane’s World.

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Other News

Andrew Wheeler takes a look at the naming problems faced by female superheroes in Lady She-Woman: Female Superhero Codenames and Identity on Comics Alliance.

 

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Subcribe with Patreon Subscribe to Okazu with Patreon and keep the Yuri news coming!

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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 cool YNN correspondent’s badge. Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Posted in Yuri Network News | 3 Comments »


Hayate x Blade 2 Manga, Volume 1 (はやてxブレード 2)

October 30th, 2014

hxb2-1In Volume 1 of Hayate x Blade Nyan, the new semester is beginning at Tenchi Gakuen and everything is different. Students have split into two dorms – Tenkuu and Daichi, aligning with our favorite scion of the Amachi family, Hitsugi  or her “Black Group”-leading cousin, Hajime.

The Hoshitori has been revamped, as well, with more one-on-one battles ahead, and much, much more intense fighting. The first battle nearly mangles Ayana’s poor roommate Kei and introduces us to our first enemy of the new series,  a sadistic sociopath named Terma.

But before we can truly understand what drives Terma, we are turned towards Nagi. Nagi, Hayate’s older, more talented twin, who expected to take her place at the top of the Tenchi hierarchy only to find her goofy little sister firmly entrenched there. Instead of fighting for her place, Nagi has been overwhelmed by ennui. Even the passionate enthusiasm of her shinyuu, Kanai, has been  unable to motivate her. In fact, she’s gone so far as to join the Daichi dorm, but even Hajime doesn’t trust her. Hajime challenges Nagi to a duel and with the help of her shadowy shinyuu Shingetsu, defeats Nagi handily.

Kanai is terribly worried about her brusied and beaten partner, but Nagi insists she feels nothing. Hayate supports this, and calls in their mother to explain. Nagi, it turns out, doesn’t feel pain. At all. Which leads to another worry, because as part of the new Hoshitori rules, individual fighters can be called out for a duel – and Nagi has been challenged by Terma.

As everyone waits on pins and needles for Hitsugi’s opening salvo, the “Ultimate Hoshidori”, they watch as already wounded Nagi and Terma face off in a potentially 5-round fight. Nagi pulls out all the stops and wins the bout in a spectacular display of raw guts and skill. Hayate is so moved that she starts to mimic Nagi’s finishing technique.

Around the corner is Hitsugi’s “Summer Festival”, which they all dread, just because Hitsugi’s looking like she’s relishing the idea.

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Missing from this volume are the linking chapters that ran in the magazine, in which students were forced to slide across greased pipes to get to the new campus, but is otherwise full of the same kind of low gags and awesome fight scenes that we’ve come to expect from Hayashiya-sensei!

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Character – 9
Yuri – 1 Hayate gropes Ayana, and reminds herself to tell Jun. ^_^;
Service – 4 Hayate gropes Ayana, and reminds herself to tell Jun. ^_^;

Overall – 9

And, then, Nagi went BAM! and it was like “whoahhhhh….”

Posted in Hayashiya Shizuru, Hayate x Blade | 10 Comments »


Destro 246 Manga, Volume 2 (デストロ246)

October 28th, 2014

destro2 In Volume 1, we met teenaged assassin Imari, who is young, but looks younger than she is. She encounters and fights assassins Touno Sui (pictured on the cover) and Touno Ai, who work for their crime boss brother Touno Ryuichi. She also encounters Ichigo, the daughter of a crime syndicate, and her assassin bodyguards, Manten and Renka. The plot, however, was subsumed in the drive to look up skirts.

In Destro 246, Volume 2 (デストロ246), the story becomes clearer. A Russian mob boss, Laskov, is targeting Yokohama…in fact, he is targeting Imari’s high school, which does appear to be a hotbed of yakuza and professional killers. Ichigo’s crime syndicate, 893, is targeting Laskov, and his lackey Nagumo, a teacher at the school…and *his* assassin and lover, Motoka. Imari, Ai and Sui all join Ichigo to defeat the Russian interloper. Rawr us.

There is more Yuri in this volume than the first. Manten and Renka are definitely lovers, and definitely enjoy threesomes with Ichigo.

The overall feel is that the editor read Volume 1 and said, “get on with it” and Takahashi was required to come up with an actual plot. There’s less upskirting and more general nudity and some implied sex this volume. More importantly, I found I actually like Manten and Renka, as well as Imari, who comes off as being sort of sweet and honorable for an assassin. The characters aren’t nearly as well-developed as they were in Jormungand, but at least I can tell them apart now.

Of course, I couldn’t care less about Laskov and we loathe Nagumo by the end of the volume, so swift deaths can’t come quickly enough, so we can get back to our regularly scheduled teen female assassin bouts.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Story – 3
Characters – 4 I still needed to refer to the Character profiles from time to time
Service – 6

Overall – 6

Not award winning, but I’ll keep reading.

Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »


LGBTQ Manga: Lesbian-teki Kekkon Seikatsu (レズビアン的結婚生活 )

October 27th, 2014

ltksIn spring 2013, Higashi Koyuki and Masahara Hiroko made waves all around the world with the first ever same-sex wedding ceremony at Tokyo Disneyland Resort (TDR). The two are both activists and writers, and their story was widely shared around the Internet and in print publications.

Lesbian-teki Kekkon Seikatsu (レズビアン的結婚生活 ) is the manga retelling of their story. Beginning with their decision to do a wedding ceremony at Disneyland and their experiences convincing TDR to accommodate them, the story is a very honest, very real, touching and sometimes painful discussion of their lives, their lives together and their love for one another.

Koyuki-san, a former Takarisienne, is the more high-strung of the two. She has also written a book about familial abuse she suffered as a child. After flashbacks to her first love in school, we hear very little about her life, except to mention briefly how difficult life at Takarazuka is.

Hiroko-san is, of the two, the way more mellow personality. We get a fair amount of detail about her life, and her relationship to her parents, all of which is actually relevant to the narrative at hand, as her parents help pay for the extravaganza. Her father’s speech at their wedding is illustrated with guests bawling happily and I was no different. Hiroko-san’s parents were, in some ways, the real heroes of the book.

My favorite chapter tells of Koyuki-san asking Hiroko-san to propose to her romantically, then grading her half-hearted attempts. My favorite was the moment Hiroko-san came home. “I’m in the bathroom,” Koyuki-san says. “Let’s get married,” Hiroko-san says. “Negative 5 points,” is the reply. ^_^

Many of these flashbacks are related as answering questions from the wedding guests. When did you come out? Where did you meet? Who proposed? All told with humor and honesty, interspersed with educational essays about LGBTQ terminology, coming out and other LGBTQ life issues.

The artwork by Sugiyama Eriko is appealing and cute, rather than realistic. It balances out the heavier moments well and allows readers to focus on the story and the people, rather than getting lost in detail.

If you can read even a little Japanese, I’d recommend this book with all my recommends. The story it tells is a moment of history that may well be the moment a tide turned. This is as real as real gets.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
LGBTQ – 10

Overall – 10

Koyuki-san and Hiroko-san have written a second book, about becoming mothers, titled Futari no Mama kara, Kimi-tachi he, so you can follow their continuing story. ^_^

Posted in Comic Essay, LGBTQ | 6 Comments »