Sirius: Twin Stars by Ana C. Sánchez, Guest Review by Luce

February 15th, 2023

In front of a night sky over an ocean, two young women dance. One of them has long, blonde hair and smiles happily, the other, with short dark hair, looks at us somberly. In yellow letters the title reads Ana C. Today on Okazu - Sirius: Twin Stars by Ana C. Sánchez.Hello and welcome back to Guest Review Wednesday! I am so pleased to be able to host another great guest review today! Thanks so much to Okazu Patrons and Supporters for making this possible, we could not do it without you. If you’d like to see us host more guest reviews, support Okazu on Patreon or Ko-fi and become part of the Okazu family! Today we once again welcome Luce!

It’s Luce, catching up with reviews; I can be found on the Okazu discord as farfetched. This time, it’s a Spanish manga offering from Tokyopop.

Sirius: Twin Stars tells the story of Dani Torres, daughter of a star tennis player. Trying to follow in her footsteps, Dani asked her mother to coach her. Her mother’s perfectionism causes the relationship between them to become ever more fraught, until her heart literally gives out. Fresh out of heart surgery and fresh out of aspirations, Dani is packed up to the family’s vacation home by the beach to ‘recuperate’ – or escape her mother who will no longer speak to her, as she sees it. There, she meets a girl called Blanca who loves astronomy and the stars. They have a bit of a rocky start, but Dani begins to build a friendship with her – and more.

I really enjoyed this story. Not many of us have been where Dani is literally, but I think we’ve all been a little lost, not knowing where to turn or where to go next, so her feelings are relatable. Blanca is adorable, vibrant and happy without being over the top, and I liked how their relationship developed. I greatly appreciated that there was no ‘but she’s female!’ from either party. Unusually for a manga, it was set in Spain, although aside from the names, there wasn’t a great deal to remind you of this. Still, it’s nice to get a story not set in a high school, although they are of school age.

Being a single volume, the conflict of the story isn’t drawn out, but it’s backed up enough that it doesn’t feel rushed – you can see that both Dani and her mum are hurting, and although due to Dani being the protagonist, we side with her – it’s obvious that this split is hurting Dani too. I also really enjoyed the resolution of it; there is an epilogue with neatly ties up a few loose ends, and ends us on a happy note.

The art here was lovely, too. It really suited the story, and detail is given where needed. There are a few colour pages at the start which really ping, and the figurative illustrations of Dani’s struggles really come through. In the physical version, somewhat unusually, these are matte pages, but it still works very well.

Story: 9
Yuri: 10
Service: 2 – they’re in Spain in the summer so some clothes are more revealing, but nothing feels salacious or is done with service in mind
Art: 9
Overall: I would usually hedge my bets, but I actually love this story, so for me personally, it’s a 10. A really good balance between angst and resilience.

This came out from Tokyopop a while back. Ana Sánchez also wrote and illustrated Alter Ego, which I haven’t read yet.

Erica here: Thank you so much Luce! I have read Alter Ego and reviewed it here on Okazu in 2021. There is also a sequel in the works, Noel Y June. It’s great to see Sánchez developing as an artist and a writer.

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


Radcliffe Hall, by Miyuki Jane Pinckard

February 13th, 2023

Today we’re doing something a little different, because I just read something so in line with our interests here at Okazu, that I wanted to immediately tell you all about.  Today, we’re talking about Radcliffe Hall from Uncanny Magazine, Issue 48, by Miyuki Jane Pinckard. The title is linked to the full text of this story. I recommend it highly.

Tomoe Kikuchi is a young Japanese woman from the Hakone region of Japan who is running away from a tragedy. Having been schooled in London, she has moved with her family to Boston in the United States and is to begin attending a small women’s college in the American Northeast. As she is driven up to the foreboding building in which she is to live, Radcliffe Hall, it all starts to go dark…and dangerous.

This is a long short story, or perhaps novelette, so I really don’t want to spoil any piece of it, but I must hint. If you wish to read it completely unspoiled – go read it right now. ^_^

Set in the early part of the 20th century as it is, Radcliffe Hall has many influences one might expect from a paranormal suspense novel set in a small women’s college in the American Northeast. Imagine me winking broadly here. There is a Lovecraftian under (and over) tones, and a ‘S’ sensibility that befits the Japanese protagonist. The story is clearly meant to call those two things up.  Aside from these, there is also a strong sense of psychological horror, rooted separately in two period influences – spiritualism and racism. Of these, the greatest horror is white supremacy. The story is too short to let this build up as slowly as it ought to, but it’s there from the beginning and is as much a cause for the overwhelming sense of danger as the paranormal happenings.

This story is also sapphic as heck and in that portion of the story lay redemption and safety. It functions like a beacon of light in an otherwise gloomy setting.

If you are a fan of Otherside Picnic, you may find the explicable terrors a little bit banal, but I think you’ll enjoy the story overall. It hits right in that sweet spot of lesbian loss and love and crazy shit happening that both OP and, the web series Carmilla both capture, with a historical flavor.

Ratings:

Overall – 9

This was a great read. 

Check out Uncanny Magazine for other fantastic stories and consider subscribing and help support great writing!

How about that title, too? Radclyffe Hall was a noted lesbian novelist, writer of the in/famous Well of Loneliness.

 

Posted in Miscellaneous, Novel | 2 Comments »


Lycoris Recoil Ordinary days (リコリス・リコイル Ordinary days)

February 12th, 2023

In light of yesterday’s news about a new Lycoris Recoil anime on the way, today seems like the perfect time to review the light-novel spin-off, Lycoris Recoil Ordinary days (リコリス・リコイル Ordinary days).

Just to set the scene. I enjoyed the anime. And I also noted that it had plot holes so huge you could push a destroyed radio tower through them. ^_^ It hardly mattered whether the plot held together as we were in it for the moe girls shooting guns while engaging in what passes for witty repartee in a moe action anime. Because of all this, LycoReco was the runaway season hit and despite the fact that much of the Yuri was in our imagination, it was a huge hit with Yuri fans.  When the spin-off novel was announced, it sold 100K copies in pre-orders and passed a quarter of a million copies in print by November of last year. Of course I had to at least give it a try. ^_^

The title is a pretty solid clue as to what the book is like. An introduction to each short provides the ribbon story, with mostly adult men coming to the cafe and having their lives transformed by good coffee, delicious food and cute girls, in that order. This is followed by a short stand-alone story that range from typical DA shenanigans against armed opponents to an in-depth exploration of Takina’s terrible cooking.  And detailed discussions of the coffee, traditional Japanese sweets and guns. Pretty much exactly what you might expect. It’s a slice-of-life story mostly, so is slow going. Early chapters include an attempt by Chisato to set Takina up on a date with one of the cafe’s regulars. It was a bit of a slog for me, as it it will surprise no one that I didn’t care about Doi-san or his shoes. ^_^;

I also did not expect there to be any Yuri. It was my interpretation of this series that the Yuri was seeded to string viewers with a Yuri interest along, as Bee Train did in the 00s. If you want to see it, it’s there, kind of Yuri. If you want to call it something else, that’s fine. I was wrong. ^_^ Imagine my surprise when a zombie story ended up including Takina literally awakening to her interest in the idea of being alone with Chisato, forever. So there we go, Yuri fans, at least Takina kind-of-sort-of has a clue now.

The final story was the most problematic. More problematic than setting adult men on dates with a young teen girl? Yes, actually. It was problematic in the sense that the bulk of the story forces us to watch a middle-school girl being bullied and tortured, and gives us only the promise of future retribution. I deeply dislike this kind of story, so I finally gave up and skipped to the end. It was an unsatisfying way to end what was otherwise a harmless, sometime dull, deeply fannish look at a world that has plenty of room to play in. 

Ratings:

Art – 6 Moe heads floating in a panel with largely the same one expression. Chisato smiling, everyone else looking at her.
Story – I would have said 7, but the final story really tanked it.
Characters – Same ones you know from the anime. Mika’s an 8
Yuri – 6, BL – 6 Now that we know Mika’s gay, we do have to mention it. It’s in the contract
Service – No, until that final chapter

Overall – 6

These scenarios were created by Asaura, the writer for the LycoReco anime. My guess is, therefore, that all or some of these stories will be in the new season.  “Takina’s cooking,” “Lycoris of the Dead” and an introduction which focused on coffee and the order in which one should eat one’s traditional Japanese sweets were fun to read. These would make good episodes of an anime. ^_^

 

Posted in Light Novel | 1 Comment »


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

February 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.

Yuricon 2023

Yuricon 2023 has begun! The Opening Ceremony video is up on Yuri Studio.

I have 3 panels in for editing, am running another tonight and am arranging for more to come. Stay tuned for announcements. ^_^ Apply to run your own Yuricon 2023 panel or do a presentation today! We want to know all about your Yuri.

 

 

Yuri Manga

Doughnuts Under A Crescent Moon, Volume 4 is hitting shelves in English in March! Look forward to the ending of this lovely adult-life story.

Arai Sumiko’s Twitter manga Ki Ni Natteru Hito Ga Otoko Ja Nai, (気になってる人が男じゃなかった) is being released by Kadokawa as a series in April. On her twitter account, Arai-sensei specifically thanks overseas fans for their support and credits them for being a part of why this happened. That makes two creators who have specifically said that overseas fandom did have an impact. We may be at a critical tipping point for this. Up to now, the assumption always has been that JP publishers saw overseas fandom as a nice add-on. But if we’re seeing creators crediting out-of-Japan fandom for getting their books to be published…that’s a whole new ballgame.

Make that three. schwinn-sensei also thanks overseas fans for their support and offers some sketches for color images for her series Hana Monogatari. ^_^ h/t Ashley for spotting this.

Rafael Antonia Pineda has the news over at ANN that the Assault Lily: League of Gardens – Full Bloom manga series is ending with Volume 4 & 5 shipping simultaneously. This has been more common recently – I can see the wisdom of getting the whole end out at once, so folks who are engaged actually get the entire series, instead of having the final volume release linger and lose engagement.

 

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Yuri Anime

Lycoris Recoil is coming back with more anime! This cannot possibly be a surprise with the staggering sales for the spin-off novel Lycoris Recoil Ordinary Days – which I just happen to be planning to review tomorrow. ^_^ If you recall, thisspin-off sold more than a 100K copies before it was even released, and passed a quarter of a million copies shortly after release. I expect the next season to basically be the book. ^_^ Egan Loo has details of the announcement on ANN.

Along with the vast riches of Yuri anime already announced, we’re also getting Hoshikuzu Telepath! Alex Mateo has the details on ANN. I honestly thought I’d be doing a handful of “react” videos this year. Now we’re up to 8 Yuri and Yuri-adjacent series and I’m already exhausted. ^_^

Joanne Cayanan at ANN reports on the character video for Lanie Cyan from The Magical Revolution Of The Reincarnated Princess And The Genius Young Lady.

 

 

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Yuri Live Action

GAP Theory has one episode left and it’s being streamed initially as a pay per view event. IDOLFACTORY has said on their Twitter account, tickets will be a one-time event, with encore showings. Tickets are being sold on Thai site TicketMajor. I haven’t had a chance to pursue how this might work for overseas fans, but if you, have – weigh in!

 

Yuri VNs & Games

Lilyka is running a Valentine’s Day sale on Yuri VNs with checkout code VV.

Rafael Antonio Pineda has news about the new game in the Blue Reflection series, Blue Reflection Sun.

Ebi-hime on Mastodon announces that The Fairy’s Secret has been released! They edscribe this as a “cute yuri visual novel about a grumpy goth girl and her plucky knight partner as they explore the idyllic English countryside, kiss a lot, and uncover what’s lurking in the woods…” This is available on Steam and itch.io!

 

 

Other News

People are talking about the Sailor Moon x Jimmy Choo shoe collaboration, Richard Eisenbeis has the details at ANN. I…kinda like them. ^_^

Richard also has a fun report about a lacquer “magical girl wand” done as a piece of art for Tokyo University, by artiss Okamura Karin.

 

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Posted in Yuri Network News | No Comments »


Yuricon 2023 Opening Ceremony, Tonight on Yuri Studio!

February 10th, 2023

It’s been an amazing 20 years since our first Yuricon event and, while the world has gotten both better and worse since then, I at least wanted to do *something* to celebrate our anniversary. So, I welcome to you to Yuricon 2023 on Yuri Studio. Join us tonight at 8PM, for the “opening ceremony” video and enjoy a variety of great video content celebrating the genre we love throughout the year

As always, I thank you in advance for your “likes” and kind comments on Youtube!

 

 

Our first discussion will cover the life and work of the Grandmother of Yuri, Yoshiya Nobuko, with Professor Sarah Frederick. Stay tuned!

Posted in Yuri Studio, Yuricon | No Comments »