Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – November 18, 2023

November 18th, 2023

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.

Yuri Audiobook

I’m In Love With the Villainess, Volume 1 just launched as an audiobook on a few platforms. Others are still pending.  I *just* finished listening to it, as I was working on today’s report and overall, it’s excellent! I’m really looking forward to the next volumes in the series. Narrator Courtney Shaw does a very good job. Review forthcoming. ^_^

 

Yuri Manga

Wonderful news for fans of She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat, creator Yuzaki Sakaomi has announced through the TsukuTabe official twitter account, that the series will be returning to serialization on December 1st, with a 5th volume on the way in Japan in February. Yuzaki-sensei had put the series on hiatus due to her health, but hopefully she used the time to plan forward and give herself some more rest. She also notes that all series info will be through the official account going forward.

MangaPlanet has announced a print volume for Lilies And Voices Borne Upon The Wind, a series I reviewed here on Okazu in Japanese and very much liked. I’m excited to see this in print! They’ve had the digital license since last winter, as well, if you prefer to read that way.

 

We have a few new titles on the Yuricon Store!

If you enjoyed the first volume of animal-girl romance, reviewed this week by Luce, Sheep Princess in Wolf’s Clothing, Volume 2 will be headed our way in March 2024.

Rafael Antonio Pineda confirms that January issue of Comic Yuri Hime will be the end of the series The Summer You Were There. I just finished reading the penultimate chapter, which I will detail tomorrow in a review of the December issue of CYH. ^_^

The final volume of Shimura Takako’s Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 10 (おとなになっても) looks to be the happy ending we weren’t sure we’d have, in this complicated adult life drama.

Thai publisher Lily House is releasing a collector’s edition of the I’m In Love With The Villainess light novels, with a box designed as if for the in-story game, “Revolution.” It looks great!

Via Yuri Navi, Aiseki ii desuka? (相席いいですか?) is a new series that has begun serialization in Weekly Young Jump; a story about two women coworkers who learn to communicate despite being very different people.

 

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Yuri Light Novel

There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… (Light Novel), Volume 2 is on shelves for you!

 

Yuri Essay

We’ve added a new link to our Yuri Essays page on Yuricon (with more to come!) Frank Hecker, a long-time supporter of Okazu and Yuricon, puts together a evolutionary chart of the “Five Ages of Yuri” in Notes toward a unified theory of Yuri. Take a read and let him know what you think! If you’ve written an essay on Yuri, either academic or fan research, let us know and we’ll add it to our page of research resources.

 

Yuri Videos

Via YNN Correspondent Cryssoberyl, Hololive personality “Houshou Marine just released a song collab MV with (popular English vtuber) Gawr Gura that is basically a fully animated vintage-artstyle yuri oneshot set to city pop music.” You can watch SHINKIRO on Youtube.

 

Yuri Live-Action

Via YNN Correspondent Patricia B, manga Chaser Game is getting a 2nd live-action drama, this time featuring lesbians who work in the game industry. Rafael Antonio Pineda has details over at ANN.

 

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Queer Visual Novels

Take a Hike by Jane Titor is described by LezLiz on Mastodon as “… a yuri visual novel where high school girls go camping, enjoy the mosquitos and bicker to each other a ton. “

From Patricia B again, we have news of com__et, which is described as “A queer romance/horror visual novel about being locked into a path, and having _______ words hidden from You. Find Your way to discover what’s missing and reach Your ____ End.” Patricia calls it a “a delightful little visual novel that uses the medium in a smart and creative way.”

 

Yuri Novel

In another expression of Yuri lit, alternative Russian history meets science fiction meets Yuri in Chou to Teikoku  (蝶と帝国) by Yoshitaka Namiki.

 

Other News

In honor of voice actresses for Suletta, Ichinose Kana and Miorine, Lynn, attending AnimeNYC this weekend, Ken Iikura-Gross has the scoop on ANN of a voice “selfie” recording on Youtube, in Gundam: Witch From Mercury Voices Reunite to Record New York City Selfie.

YNN Correspondent Lena Tama wants you to know that Yuri is My Job leads Mitsuki and Hime are getting chibi figurines from FuRyu. Check them out on Degenki Hobby Web.

To wrap this report up, we’d like to wish ANN a very happy 25th anniversary this weekend!

 

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Posted in Yuri Network News | 4 Comments »


Sheep Princess in Wolf’s Clothing, Volume 1 Guest Review by Luce

November 15th, 2023

A wolf-woman in a butler's suit leans over a sheep-woman in a colorful dress, with flowers floating around them.In the Land of Sheep with ‘Wolfa’ – people with wolf ears and tails, and ‘Sheepa’, those with sheep ears, Aki Rukijo, a Wolfa butler, is the private tutor to Momo Shiudafaris, a Sheepa princess. Princess Momo is known as the ‘frigid’ princess, and rarely leaves her rooms. After an incident with a wild wolf on a full moon which Aki saves her from, Momo has Aki appointed her private tutor, although that’s not really her true aim. On a night of a full moon, when wolves find their instincts harder to ignore, Momo sneaks into Aki’s bedroom and declares that she loves her, and she’ll ‘gobble her up’!

Despite what sounds like a racy beginning for Sheep Princess in Wolf’s Clothing, Volume 1, by Mito, nothing much actually happens in that scene beyond kissing and them getting naked. And it doesn’t happen again in this volume, although Momo is definitely thinking about it. Bluebell, Momo’s Sheepa maid, is fully on board with the princess’s courting of Aki. Aki is more reserved about the whole thing, mostly since she is a commoner, and Momo is, well, a princess. Thus, Momo continuing to try and court her. It’s all rather cute, really.

Momo, being a princess and possibly having some previous bad experience, is somewhat limited in her experience of the outside world – the two of them go on a castle date, which is cute, but Momo wants more. Egged on by Bluebell and aided by Sakaki and Kiku, fellow Wolfa friends of Aki’s, the two of them disguise themselves and go into town, which is suitably adorable, and actually shows them getting on as people, bonding over the play they went to see, and over books.

I wondered if there might be some class difference between the Wolfa and Sheepa, but if there is, it isn’t touched upon much in this first volume. The royal family is Sheepa, although we only see two here, third princess Momo and her mother, the queen, but other than that, no mentions are made. I think there might be other animal hybrids, but they aren’t mentioned by name. It feels very much more of an aesthetic choice than a story-driven one, which is honestly fine. A work doesn’t always need to have something to say in particular, and the mangaka likely just wanted to draw cute girls with wolf and sheep ears; not to mention the role-reversal of the more confident sheep courting a flustered wolf. I can understand that.

Ratings:

Story: 6 – more about cuteness than plot
Art: 8 – lots of blushing, but the art is nice throughout, the colour pages are very pretty
Yuri: 10 – definite courting between the main couple, possible background yuri couples
Service: 3 – Momo in her underwear, and Aki in butler wear. It suits her.
Animal ear rating: 10 – they even flap when the characters get excited

Overall: 9

If you like animal hybrids and a cute story, or always kind of wanted the princess to get with their maid/another woman close to them, this seems like a pretty good bet. Volume 2 is headed our way next spring –  I’ll certainly continue reading. Final aside, Aki reminds me a little of Zakuro of Tokyo Mew Mew, albeit only by looks, and Momo is a bit like a more assertive Elianna from Bibliophile Princess.

Thank you very much to Seven Seas for the review copy! The translation was by Jan Cash, with lettering by Rina Mapa – I didn’t notice any issues with either, which usually means a job well done!

Posted in English Manga, Guest Review, Luce, Yuri Manga | 3 Comments »


The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 2

November 13th, 2023

Pictured: Two girls, one in a beige sailor-collar blouse and blue skirt Japanese school uniform and one in a sweat jacket, white blouse and jean shorts, hold hands as they walk in a moody night setting. In Volume 1, we met Saki, a high school student who meets and befriends Kanon, a student who is hard of hearing. Kept at a distance by Kanon, who appears aloof, in part because trying to read lips can be exhausting, and the background noise of people is difficult for her to parse…and because something happened in middle school to make her withdraw from people, Saki does her best to gently cross barriers between her and the other girl.

In The Moon On A Rainy Night, Volume 2 Saki and Kanon both take steps to become closer, and to assist Kanon in participating in society on her own terms. Kanon finds an ally in her teacher Miura-sensei, who turns out to have a fairly balanced perspective on life with disability. He finds a physical space where Kanon can relax, and introduces her to a club that suits her. The Literature Club welcomes her to their group.

All is not smooth sailing, though, as Kanon’s over-protective little sister, Rinne, makes Saki feel unwelcome. That she’s not wrong about Saki, makes it harder for her to fight. But a crisis ends up convincing Rinne that Saki is, perhaps, not a bad person. A trip to the movies opens up more cans of worms and Saki struggles with her feelings for Kanon. Kanon tells Saki her side of the issue that came up in middle school. The conversation that follows takes away one more barrier between Kanon and Saki – something that will become very important in future volumes, trust me.

Once again, I beg you all to read this manga. Yes, Saki is a young queer person, but that is only one piece of an incredible multi-layered story about friends, family, disability, and society. It’s some of Kuzuhiro’s best work to date, and really opens up pathways for abled folks to address the needs of disabled folks without being weird about it. What really makes this book work is that every main character so far is dealing with more than one issue. No one is an “XYZ character,” even someone like Miura-sensei comes across a fully-featured person who is dealing with issues in his life and work and searching for balance, as we all are. 

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 8
Service – On principle only
Yuri – 3 Creeping up slowly

Overall – 9

I’m so thankful Kodansha licensed this. Terrific translation by Kevin Steinbach, lettering by Jamil Stewart in the caption style is eay to read, ( but you know I’m gonna say give the letterer time and money to do retouch!) Phil Basman’s iteration of the cover is very moody and solid. A fine job by the team from Kodansha.

This is an outstanding manga that almost assuredly will be overlooked by the Eisners because it’s not a Shonen Jump title, but for my money, it’s among the best series of the year. Read it for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments!

Posted in Artists, English Manga, Kuzushiro, Yuri Manga | 3 Comments »


Yuri Hakaarashi (百合墓荒らし)

November 12th, 2023

An adult woman in a business suit stands back-to-back with a girl in a Japanese school uniform, in front of a background of white lilies.With a title translated on the cover as “Lily Grave Vandalism” you just know I had to pick up Yuri Hakaarashi (百合墓荒らし) by Natsuo Tougen.

Yutaka hates her name, which is much more commonly used for boys. But when she was in school, she had a best friend who called her “Yuka-chan.” Sayoko and she went on adventures together into the mountains around town and had their own “secret base.” Yutaka always loved Sayoko and misses her terribly, since she went missing 7 years ago. Now Sayoko’s family has declared her dead and is finally holding a funeral for Sayoko. Yutaka returns from her job and home in the city to pay her respects. As she arrives in town, she is greeted by the spirit of Sayoko who remains the high school girl she last saw her as.

As the book develops, we learn what really happened when Sayoko went missing and why Yutaka is back home one last time.

This novel is a debut work by Natsuo Tougen and, to some extent, it reads like one. A lot of foreshadowing and flashback try to keep the reader off balance, but a single line gives away the whole story. About 1/3 into the story I wasn’t sure where it might go, but by halfway I knew exactly where it would go. And even when there was a chance for it do something unpredictable, the narrative hewed closely to the most obvious conclusion. While I would have been much happier to see Yutaka to get some therapy and leave the whole thing behind…as a story rooted in a high school Yuri setting, this had some good elements one might expect from a “missing for seven years” story.

All that said, it’s always good to see a new entry into the world of Yuri literary fiction. As I pointed out in my review of Yuri literary magazine Zerogoh, there is a surprising amount of Yuri fiction out there right now. I still have another short story collection from yet another publisher still to be read on my pile from earlier this year.

Will you want to read Yuri Hakaarashi? It depends on how much you’re looking for imaginative original work.

Ratings:

Overall – 6

The cover is by our old friend Mebachi-sensei and is very evocative of the story.

 

Posted in Novel | No Comments »


Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – November 11, 2023

November 11th, 2023

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.Yuri Anime

ANN’s Egan Loo has the scoop on more staff and a delay until spring for upcoming Yuri anime Whisper Me A Love Song, based on the manga of the same name (out now from Kodansha in English). Things might be delayed, but the first full trailer is in and all I can say is “wow.” I wish all anime looked that good.

 

 

Yuri Manga

Couple of new releases this week:

The Moon on A Rainy Night, Volume 2 hit shelves this week. Gosh I love this story. ^_^

This week sees the release of My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness: Special Edition, a hardcover edition, with foil highlights and new, original content by author Kabi Nagata!

 

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We have a number of new titles up on the Yuricon Store, as I once again play catch-up with the listings. ^_^;

Alter Ego 2: Noel & June continues Ana C. Sánchez‘s popular story about finding love in all the places where you totally weren’t looking. That’s headed our way in summer 2024.

Taguchi Shouichi’s Futari Escape, Volume 4 now completes this light-hearted story of a woman and her sempai avoiding adulting as hard as they can.

I Don’t Know Which Is Love, Volume 2 will arrive in winter 2024! Luce took a look at Volume 1 here last summer and pronounced it a fun roller-coaster of a Yuri harem.

Nekobunig Sumire’s Silhouette of the Sea is now available on Kindle in English and Kindle JP in Japanese!

Via Comic Natalie, Futsu no Koi ‘tte Nani?,  (フツーの恋って何？) is a high school love triangle from the perspectives of all three girls. Volume 1 hit JP shelves last week.

 
Yuri Audiobook

Coming up next week is the I’m in Love with the Villainess, Audiobook, Volume 1! As a note, not all the platforms listed on Seven Seas’ page actually have this for sale. The Yuricon Store entry only includes sites that have active links for the book as of now.

 

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Yuri Light Novel

And, while I flogging inori-sensei’s work, don’t forget that her newest novel, Yuusha ni Naritai Shoujo To, Yuusha Narubeki Kanojo (勇者になりたい少女と、勇者になるべき彼女) hit shelves in Japan this week!

On the Yuricon Store, we’ve also added the third and final volume of the Claire P.O.V. spin-off Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina!, Volume 3, (平民のくせに生意気な！) in Japanese on Kindle in US and JP. (In case you cannot wait until this is translated into English by Seven Seas, as I cannot. ^_^)

Also up on the store is Shuu ni Ichido Classmate wo Kau Hanashi ~ Futari no Jikan, Iiwakeno Gosenen~, Volume 1 (週に一度クラスメイトを買う話 ~ふたりの時間、言い訳の五千円~) a LN about a girl who sells herself to a classmate, perhaps to hide her feelings? Probably not, but you never know.

 

Other News

This week History is Gay and Okazu teamed up to talk about the grandmother of Yuri, Yoshiya Nobuko and her amazing life and love in A Husband is Unnecessary: Yoshiya Nobuko & Japanese Girls’ Culture. This was so much fun! I hope you’ll listen to it and subscribe to Leigh’s podcast, which is excellent.

Andrew Osmand wants us to know that BOA’s song “Duvet,” best known as the opening theme for Serial Experiments Lain, has a new official music video – and the band has reformed to make it, as the song has remained incredibly popular since the 1998 anime.

 

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 2024, 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!

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 | No Comments »