Comic Yuri Hime May 2025 / コミック百合姫2025年5月号

May 1st, 2025

Two young girls in different school uniforms run across a reflective gym floor on a sunny day. They hold hands, smiling and laughing.Comic Yuri Hime, May 2025 (コミック百合姫2025年5月号) cover by hechima shows our unnamed protagonists on March 23rd, 2018 11:40:52 GMT 1900/ 12 years old as they ask each other “So, any plans after this?” in English.

I find myself somehow comforted by the underlying narrative in Ashida Kawozu’s “Chou Fuka Uchuu Yori Ai o Komete” is about finding one’s self – and using that self to help others find themselves.

Likewise, I am enjoying Tamasaki Tama’s “Muryoku Seijo to Munou Oujo ~ Maryoku Zero de Shoukansareta Seijo no Isekai Kyuukokuki” very much and look forward to seeing what  is the source of the country’s miasma. It’s not all that surprising to me that a story of collaborations being stronger than a person alone is appealing to me. ^_^

Asahi Tetra’s “Magic Hour” is a story in which a girl falls in love with another girl’s vibe and finds she is loved in return. Not original, but cute nonetheless.

No clue how sheepD’s “Kanaria ha Kiraboshi no Yume o Miru” can resolve, but for the moment, Ayano’s fiance seems like he might not be a terrible person. Is there hope for her rescue Tsubaki from a life of prostitution?

Isana and Hime are drawing closer to understanding what happened to their world, when they run into the sister Isana is looking for…but she is not who Isana hoped to find, in “Garan no Hime,” by Korose.

Koharu and Minato investigate same-sex partnerships…and find that the paperwork is a bit more complicated than they expected, but it’s still important for them to be recognized as a couple in “Koharu to Minato.”

As always, there are many stories and  columns I read but have not mentioned and others I did not read.  And, as always, I am glad that there are both. ^_^A solid, but not outstanding issue.

Ratings:

Overall – 7

The June issue is on JP shelves now and waiting for me at the bookstore. ^_^

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


Anne Shirley, Streaming on Crunchyroll

April 30th, 2025

In a large field of flowers, two girls make flower crowns. A girl in a green dress and dark hair places a crown of flowers on the head of a red-haired girl in a white jumper dress over a dark read blouse who clutches a flower crown in here hands.Guest Review by Burkely Hermann

Burkely Hermann is a writer, researcher, and former metadata librarian. His reviews can be read on Pop Culture Maniacs or his personal WordPress blog. He can be followed on Instagram, Bluesky, or on Mastadon communities such as library.love, glammr.us, genealysis.social, and historians.social.

Anne Shirley is an eleven-year-old orphan girl who has a troubled childhood and comes to live with her cousins (the Cuthberts) in a house named Green Gables on Prince Edward Island in Canada. While Anne’s cousins were expecting a boy instead of a girl, Matthew quickly warms up to her, taken in by her active imagination. However, Marilla wants to replace her with a boy, at first, but later comes to like Anne. Even so, she attempts to be strict and firm with her, in an attempt to tame Anne’s impulses and occasionally stubborn nature, which are seen as socially unacceptable, like wearing a flower crown to church. Through it all, Anne becomes used to her new life, farmwork at Green Gables, family-of-sorts, and friends, even though she has many insecurities and loses her temper when people make fun of her. Anne Shirley is the newest anime adaptation of Lucy Maud Montgomery’s classic 1908 book Anne of Green Gables. The last time this story had an anime adaptation was in the late 1970s.
The series artistry is colorful and vibrant, thanks to Answer Studio and character designer Kenichi Tsuchiya. He previously worked as the key animator on 37 out of 39 of episodes of the classic yuri anime Dear Brother. Anne Shirley has a nice, charming, and beautiful feel to it. This is complimented by Michiru Ōshima’s wonderful music composition, which sets the mood for series, especially when it comes to Anne, which the series centers around. Ōshima previously composed the music score for Bloom Into You. Series writer Natsuko Takahashi also screenwrote for two series with yuri themes: Blue Drop and Stardust Telepath. Furthermore, some of the series cast have lent their talents to voice characters in Kannazuki no Miko, Fragtime, Blue Drop, Akebi’s Sailor Uniform, and other media with yuri(ish) themes. For instance, Yume Miyamoto, who voices Diana Berry in this series, voiced Rouge Redstar in Metallic Rouge last year. Otherwise, voice acting is one of the strong suits of Anne Shirley.
Vrai Kaiser for Anime Feminist has said that viewers can see traces of protagonist Anne in the “evolution of shoujo and yuri” and stated that Anne’s friendship with Diana fits into the “tradition of Class S” that Yoshiya Nobuka pioneered beginning in the early 20th century. Some years ago, on this very site, it was noted that the scenes, in the original novel, in which Anne and Diana take friendship vows “could be as romantic as anyone could wish.” Otherwise, many years ago, scholar Laura Robinson quibbed that Anne, during the aforementioned novel, “consistently establishes intense relationships with women” and manages, while achieving community social acceptance, to disturb complacent attitudes on everything, including sexuality.
The second episode of Anne Shirley is where the yuri-ish content of the series begins. Anne meets Diana for the first time and they agree to be “very best friend[s].” They solemnly swear to be faithful bosom friends, i.e. very close, cherished, or intimate companions, “as long as the sun and moon may endure,” while holding hands. There’s a certain romantic aura to it, which reminded immediately of the beautiful scene between two protagonists in RWBY‘s most recent volume. Otherwise, Anne gushes about Diana to Marilla, and signals to Diana in Morse code before going to sleep, again showing their connection.
In the episode thereafter, Diana’s painting (that she gifted to Anne) is hung in Anne’s room. Later, at the Sunday school picnic, Diana calls Anne her “dearest friend” and places a flower crown upon her head. For two days in a row, Anne walks to school with Diana and the other neighborhood girls, and all of them have fun together. Diana makes clear her worries about Anne after she hits Gilbert Blythe, a playboy adored by fellow schoolgirls, over the head with her school slate after he makes fun of her red hair. Not long after Anne tells Diana she would do almost anything for her before leaving school. In that same episode, the series opening sequence is shown for the first time. Among many other moments, it features Anne and Diana dancing together, and enjoying one another’s company, leaning against a fence, when both are older, with Diana holding a flower crown in her hands.
The most recent episode had some of the strongest yuri-ish moments, if they can be called that, in Anne Shirley as a whole. Anne expresses her worry that Diana will leave her when she gets married to a man. When it is threatened (by Diana’s mother) that they will never see each other again after Anne accidentally gets Diana drunk, they promise to one another in a manner that makes them sound like lovers. At one point, Diana says “I couldn’t love anybody as [much] I love you” and declares that she will always love Anne devotingly. Anne acknowledges and reciprocates Diana’s love. Following this, she kisses her on the forehead and cuts off a lock of her hair (with Diana’s consent), and promises to remain faithful to her. As they part, tears are shed, especially by Diana. Their separation is short-lived. Anne and Diana writes letters to one another, which fellow students pass to them in the one-room schoolhouse, either declaring that they love each other or will be together until “death do us part.”
Unsurprisingly, Anne and Diana are allowed to be on speaking terms again after Anne helps Diana’s sister Minnie May get better from terrible and deadly cough. The episode ends with Anne reading a letter Diana sent her, with both voice actors reading the last two lines together, including the statement that “nothing but death can part us two,” which foreshadows that something will pull them apart in the future. I am reminded of what Pragya Agarwal wrote in The Conversation about medieval women: that letters gave them the opportunity to “express themselves and wield power, when they had little other means of exerting influence,” while allowing them to express their “forbidden” emotions. The same idea applies here to Diana and Anne. When the former’s mother put a clampdown on their close friendship, this did not stop them from communicating. In fact, their communications became more eloquent and abundantly made clear their deep emotional connection.
While the original novel and previous adaptations have a heterosexual ending, akin to the ending of Dear Brother, or the heterosexuality baked into the Western animated series Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, which have yuri themes and yuri subtext respectfully, this series is slated for a full run of twenty-four episodes, with nineteen remaining. It will likely end in a heterosexual way with Anne becoming romantically involved with Gilbert (since Anne dances with him in the series opening). Even so, there is no denying that the strong and intimate female friendship between Anne and Diana will remain a key part of the series going forward.
Ratings:
Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – Maybe 1 or 2? This is pretty tame.
Yuri – 2 or 3
Music – 9
Overall – 8
With four episodes currently aired, I am curious to see where this series goes from here, even though I am fully aware it won’t have yuri themes anywhere close to Marimite nor Rock Is A Lady’s Majesty, both of which have Class S themes. There’s something to be said for intimate female friendship, which seems in vogue for anime these days, and that’s what’s a fundamental part of this series, even if it (more likely than not) has a heterosexual ending.
 
Erica here: for this interested in the making of the original 1979 anime based on Anne of Green Gables, check out ANN’s Richard Eisenbeis talking with the voice of Anne for that anime, Yamada Eiko.
Posted in English Anime, Guest Review | 4 Comments »


The Anemone Feels the Heat, Volume 1

April 28th, 2025

With hair and flowers swirling around them, a blonde girl with medium-length hair and a long, dark-haired girl embrace one another. The Anemone Feels the Heat, Volume 1 is a story of missed chances and opportunities gained.

Nagisa, who might have passed quietly through life at an elite high school, misses her chance to do so, due to an act of human kindness and has to accept a place at a local school. She is committed to bettering herself, but finds that she may have missed that chance, as well. Mashiro is a girl who has little chance to do anything, as she is usually ill. She’s happy to be in Nagisa’s class, but Nagisa sees her as a burden she didn’t want, holding her down.

Mashiro is trying to not lean too much on Nagisa, but circumstances are not in her favor. All she can do is appreciate the other girl…and learn to care about her own health a little bit more. She’s never thought about making opportunities for herself, but Nagisa encourages her to do so. Nagisa’s existence opens up chances for Mashiro, to live, to enjoy things – chances she never expected to have.

Very much despite her stated intentions, Nagisa finds herself wanting to help Mashiro. When she and Mashiro hug in the infirmary, something in Nagisa…changes. Grows? She’s missed her chance to become one kind of person, but has an opportunity to become someone else, someone she never expected to be. She was convinced she didn’t like Mashiro, but now…she thinks she likes her.

The final chapters lighten this all up a bit, as Nagisa explores the boundaries of hugging with her friends – who are super happy to help out, which takes Nagisa a step forward to looking Mashiro in the face. Baby steps, but welcome ones.

Ren Sakuragi’s art is strong enough to give the characters some flavor, but here at Volume 1 it is not apparently obvious if the narrative itself will develop any depth. That said, the fact that this series is thus far 8 volumes in Japan indicates that it does. ^_^ Mei Amaki’s translation is quite smooth, and yeah, I get why Yen has Rebecca Sze doing subtitle-style sound effects, I will always hope for a smoother reading experience.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7
Characters – 7
Service – 2 Hugs, I guess?
Yuri – 2 Hugs, I guess?

Overall – 7, with some room for growth.

Overall, a solid opening to this hopeful schoolgirl Yuri story. Here’s hoping it builds into something bigger.

Posted in English Manga, Yuri Manga | No Comments »


Galette, No. 30 (ガレット)

April 27th, 2025

Pale blue background with yellow, white and green ribbons, pixelated letters in orange read "Ribbon of Fate". Art by pen. Still working my way through the backlog of Galette magazines, which brings me to Galette, No. 30 (ガレット).

Aneido’s “Watashi ha Kimi no Kami dayo”, which has the best English tagline of “Oh my God! Yes, I am your god” continues the delightful story of a grifter who is working on seducing the apparently innocent accountant for a religious cult, by pretending to be her god. Everything about this is wonderfully ridiculous.

Morinaga Milk’s Yuna mopes around because Reina will not handle her issues in “Watashi no Kawaii Neko-chan.” I need to spoil a bit here. Because I am now several issues ahead of this, I can say it gets better, but this was really a last straw for me. IF the story just kept going down this road, I was going to drop it. I wasn’t having fun watching Reina be oblivious to Yuna’s suffering while simultaneously ignoring her own health.

Yorita Miyuki’s “Houkenshitsu na Ano Onna” has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Those of you who are getting the English-language edition of Galette magazine are encountering a drab teacher and the glamorous women in the infirmary who obsesses her. It is becoming clearer than Tsukino-sensei and Yukino-sensei might actually be okay together.

I love Yamada Torico’s “That girl day in the life” for a number of reasons. The protagonist name is Seoyun, it’s nice to see a Korean name and it’s a refreshing change of pace from fourteen million ‘Hana”s and the like. ^_^ Her best friend who is making her question her feelings is a carefree and fun girl, but not reckless or dangerous. It’s just…sweet.

Momono Moto offers us a new work, since Kitta Izumi has backed off of writing Liberty. I’m sorry about that, but glad to see her sticking around.

Ratings:

Overall – 8

More manga, 140-character stories, Yuri discussion and illustration fill out a nice 216 page volume of Galette. I’ve already read No. 31, and hope to review that soon, as I am still trying to catch up. ^_^

This week, backers of Galette Special English Edition #2 were informed that May will see the next Kickstarter for Issue #3 (of an initial 7 planned.) We’ll be sure to let you know when that launches!

Posted in Galette, Magazines, Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – April 26, 2025

April 26th, 2025

A blue silhouette of a girl with a white flower in her hair, embracing the earth. Blue block letters read YNN Yuri Network News. Art by Lissa P. For Okazu.Last post of April already! Time is moving fast this year!

Yuricon News

Two quick items. We have committed to a collaboration with Hand Design Co. to give a new look and functionality to the Yuricon site. This is the first new site we’ll have there in a decade. I coded the first three Yuricon sites myself, then had rebuilds in 2006, 2012ish and now. This will be a big undertaking, so if you love our weekly news roundups, event reports, interviews and reviews, now would be a GREAT time to become an Okazu Patron or Ko-Fi Supporter!We’re starting by getting updates on the Yuricon Store done, we’re on the last few sections now, and I am hopeful that this look will last us another decade. ^_^

Thank you to all our Patrons and Supporters for helping us to get to this point.

 

Help us build a new Yuricon!
Become an Patron today!

 

Secondly, here is my speaking schedule thus far this year:

    • CitrusCon – June 20-22 online
    • Flamecon – August 16-17, New York
    • BlymeCon – Aug 31-Sept 1 online
    • University talk (TBD end of October)
    • Y/CON  – November 14-15, Paris

Of course I would love to speak to your organization, class or at your convention! Contact me and we’ll work something out. ^_^

 

Yuri Manga

Galette No. 33 (ガレット)  is up on the Yuricon Store and so is Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 14 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな ) the final volume of Tamifull’s series.

To backers of Volume 2, Galette WORKS has announced the upcoming Kickstarter for Galette Special English Edition, No. 3. This will launch in May and will have a shortened campaign. I’m reading No. 2 right now and honestly think it looks even better than 1.  I have to find some time to review some of the stuff sitting here that I have already read first!

Baiheverse announced the release of Submission Time: Yes or Yes? manhua with  a series PV on Youtube. Chapter 1 is free to read in English.

Via Okazu Staff Matt Marcus, Battan (Run Away With Me Girl) has a new manga debuting next month in KISS magazine.

Matt also wants you to know about Blue Proustian Moment which is available right now on Shueisha’s MangaPlus app, and at leas Chapter 1 on desktop. He says this feels as if it has a lot of potential.

Not Yuri, but of note:

Seven Seas has announced an EN edition of Kabi Nagata’s My Twisted Eating Disorder.

Via YNN Correspondent Patricia B and ANN’s Rafael Antonio Pineda, Bloom Into You creator Nio Nakatani has a new manga series beginning in Dengeki Daioh magazine in the fall.

Star Fruit Books has licensed classic shoujo sports manga The Final Strike by Chikae Ide. ANN’s Crystalynn Hodgkins and Anita Tai have that news item.

 

Yuri Light Novels

Homunculus Tears: Alchemy for the Brokenhearted is here! inori-sensei’s first self-published work is out today. I hope we can all agree that supporting her is a good thing. ^_^ inori-sensei announced on Bluesky that this series is being adapted into a manga by Kadokawa, with art by Nata Ookura, so cool for her!

Via Sr. YNN Corespondent Sean Gaffney, Volume 11 of Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei will be hitting JP shelves in June.

 

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Yuri Live Action

Matt Marcus points us to X where, Shimura Takako says that episodes 1 and 2 of the live-action adaptation for Otona ni Nattemo is now streaming on Hulu Japan. Check out the trailer on the official Hulu JP site.

 

Yuri Anime

“Ambivalence” does not cover my feelings about the news that Roll Over And Die: I Will Fight For My Life With My Love And My Cursed Sword, is getting an anime. I expect that the grossness will have to be ratcheted back for time, if nothing else. Maybe it’ll be like The Executioner and Her Way of Life and be better as an anime that it was a novel. Crystalynn Hodgkins has the news on ANN. I reviewed Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3 of the LNs, but could not bring myself to read Volume 4 after Sean Gaffney’s obvious distress at having read it.

Not Yuri, but we’ll let it in the club as a friend, the Zombieland Saga movie has cast, staff news and a teaser. Alex Mateo on on ANN has the news.

Look Back anime has won the Japan Movie Critics Award. I keep telling you about this movie, because I really, really  want you all to watch it. ^_^ Rafael Antonio Pineda has this news on ANN.

 

Yuri Games/VNs

Via YNN Corespondent KatGrrrl, Love Curse: Find Your Soulmate, a Yuri VN by Xso, is on sale for 20% off on Steam.

 

Yuri Doujinshi

YNN Correspondent Patricia B. wants you to know that aneido’s newest doujinshi in English Kickstarter features two different books: The Soul-Selling Corporate Drone & Other Fanciful Tales and The Snared Siren & Supernatural Stories. Positing this reminded me to back these. ^_^ With 22 days to go, this has already made almost 500% of the initial goal, and the first two stretch goals are unlocked.

Lastly, my very sincere congratulations to our friends at Manga Mavericks for entering the publishing world with a number of new titles including Yuri works Now No One Lurks Beneath the Snow  and The Murderer and Her Runaway Desire by aneido and Senpai no Kohai by Hanakage Alt, all translated by Red String. Great news for all of us!

 

Bit of a story here. You know that I absolutely love Hayashiya Shizuru‘s work, yes? Creator of Hayate x Blade, Strawberry Shake Sweet, Utimate MAMA and a bunch of other great series, is someone whose doujinshi I also collect obsessively. I am confident that I have most of her books, from back in her earliest years. She had a new doujinshi out at Comiket last winter and I planned on getting it through Melonbooks, but they are no longer able to accept American credit cards for online purchase. This is not their fault. This is part of an endless, ongoing battle by regressive asshats here in the US and Japan to increase censorship using Visa and Mastercard.

Hayashiya-sensei announced her new work and I commented on her Pixiv that I was sad I would not be able to get it this time. The universe folded, as it sometimes does, and 1) Hayashiya-sensei released the entire doujinshi for free on her Fanbox and now on public-facing Pixiv and, 2) Roxie asked if I wanted anything from Japan. Today I have a  hard copy of and you can read a digital copy of original doujinshi Shake Rock Candies, by Hayashiya-Shizuru. It is an idol story…also not really. ^_^

 

Other News

Check out WONK|Deep Dive: online- GHOST IN THE SHELL concert on the official GiTS channel on Youtube. ANN’s Ken Iikura-Gross has details on the concert series.

Rebecca Silverman reviews A Sinner of the Deep Sea manga series on ANN, which she sums up as what if the Little Mermaid had a friend who would sacrifice everything to save her?

ANN’s Steve Jones gives us the Rock Is A Lady’s Modesty, Episode 1-3 review we deserve.^_^

Comic Natalie has an interview with Kitagata Sahoko, who is a Shueisha Deputy Editor-in-Chief for Cocohana magazine about how she shepherds manga into the world. Good insight from an experienced editor.

 

If you’d like to support Yuri journalism and research, Patreon and Ko-Fi are where we currently accept subscriptions and tips.  Our goal now, into 2025, is to raise our guest writers’ wages to above industry standard, which are too low!

Your support goes straight to paying for Guest Reviews, folks helping with videos, site maintenance, managing the Yuricon Store and directly supporting other Yuri creators. Just $5/month makes a huge impact! Become part of the Okazu family!

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Posted in Yuri Network News | 2 Comments »