Yuri Manga

Octave, Volume 5 is slated to hit the shelves in late August. I’m really looking forward to this volume! We’re well past the “happily-ever-after” bits into real life.

A few weeks ago, I mentioned that a third volume of Hinagiku Junshin Jogakuen is out. The reason I never reviewed Volume 2 is that every time I read a chapter in Comic Ryuu it seemed to be about the elfin teacher, not about the relationship between Ami and Yui. But, late in Volume 1 a new character was introduced (whose name I have completely forgotten.) She was like a mini-Yui. Well, the cover of Volume 3, probably falsely, indicates that having failed to get Yui, Ami has turned towards whateverhernameis.

I cannot believe this series is still running…

Yuri Hime Wildrose 6 is slated for release next month, as is Tokimeki Mononoki Gakuen, Volume 2 and a collection of Aoki Mitsue’s stories from Yuri Hime, Princess Princess.

I get a lot of questions about the overall popularity or sales of various manga put out by Ichijinsha. I don’t have any numbers to give you, folks, sorry. My bet is that even the most popular series aren’t reaching into the tens of thousands. However, no one can deny that Ichijinsha is putting out a lot of manga these days. They must be paying for themselves, don’t you think?

New manga magazine Comic Sumomo is launching with a high school girls love story by High School Girls creator Oshima Towa. The new magazine will hit shelves in Japan on August 10.

Oh, phew! There’s Maria-sama ga Miteru news. I was worried. The fifth omnibus volume of the manga is now available. The manga picks up again in the September volume of The Margaret (ザマーガレット) magazine. That will probably be out next month in Japan, it might take a little longer to get to the US. Just as a refresher, the manga stopped with the graduation of the Rosas: Youko, Eriko and Sei. The series will pick up with Yumi’s second year. You know what that means, right? We’re going to have to go through Rainy Blue…again. Sigh.

Of course, this is all to raise interest in the series for the late October release of the live-action movie. I can’t wait to see that. (I wonder what airfares to Tokyo are for October…?)

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Yuri Events

This very weekend is the 19th Tokyo Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. If you do get a chance to see anything there, be sure to tell us how it was!

I know that my own appearances have dwindled down to nothing. That is largely because of  an obsessive need to work now that I am again employed. Also, the whole lack of permanent employment kind of made it hard for me to travel. My apologies. If you want me to appear at an event near you, please be considerate of that – I don’t have an unlimited budget to travel, so if you are running an event, even a token offer of a stipend for food/hotel/travel can make the difference between me being there or not. I get an amazing amount of invitations that don’t account for this. (Come to Australia to do a panel! Um…)

In any case, here’s a few things in the coming months where you can find me and ALC Publishing!

Fresh Fruit Festival Art Show – July 20-31, New York City:

100% Yuri Manga by ALC Publishing will be part of the art show at the Leslie Lohman Gallery, July 20-31. Unlike art on the walls, our books will be out and open and available to read. Please drop by and see the great artists (including our own Rica Takashima!) who have contributed to this group art show. I was at this event last year for the opening and had an absolute blast. I hope you’ll drop by.

New York Comic-Con/New York Anime Festival – October 8-10, New York City:

I am going to be there working for the folks at Media-Blasters. I have applied for a Yuri panel, but have not yet heard back. Email them and tell them you want one! In any case, you should be able to find me at MB’s small city of tables.

MangaNEXT – October 29-31, East Brunswick, NJ:

I have *no* idea what I’ll be doing there. I volunteered to work PR (social media side, of course) but we’ll see what I’m actually doing. I hope to have a Yuri panel, because there’s a LOT of Yuri manga coming out in Japan now.

There’s the schedule right now. No, no Otakon, sorry.

2011, SDCC is on the list. I really gotta get there and see how it stacks up to Comiket. :-)

And YNN correspondent socchan reminds us that today is Femslash Day as celebrated by Femslash Con, a remote chat-based event. There is a Yuri Panel tonight 11PM EDT (GMT -5) in their Panel Room 2. It will be hosted by the (in)famous and awesome writer Dreiser and if I can, I’ll pop in, too! You’ll need to download and enable the Paltalk chat software to participate. Visit the Femslash con site to find out what you need and where you need to go.

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Okazu News

Thanks to everyone who has written in to say that they like the new header. (Once again my thanks to Lissa for her work on it. It’s absolutely grin-inducing.)

Here’s the question – would any of you be interested in a Okazu t-shirt with the design? We could do Okazu Super/Hero shirts, maybe, as well. Think about it. We’re coming up on an anniversary here and I want to do something special.

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Other News

This morning, before I started the YNN report, I read this great article about Internet journalism and comments, and my thoughts immediately turned to you, my readers.

I do my best to present all the Yuri I can here. I try to think critically about it – even going so far as to parse my own biases and explain the *whys* of why I feel about things and what, exactly, I like and dislike about it. I try to give my comments context, color, and a clear sense of humor. (There’s a reason the picture in the top right of the blog has me grinning. That’s the expression I try to blog with – this had better be fun, or why am I doing it!? )

When I post, I often provide history, artistic and literary background, I delve deeper into a thing than just “This was good. I liked it.” Blame my teachers – I was writing full-blown research papers from the age of 11. (Thank you Mrs. Ziegler!)

And of course, I write this weekly YNN report, which is pretty straightforward reporting – with editorial commentary because it’s my blog, duh. lol I admit to mistakes, fix errors and generally try to be as authentic as possible. I welcome feedback and input from you.

In effect, I strive to create good reading. A balance of the news and critical commentary, with a background of research and overall transparency. A Yuri magazine, if you will.

Of *course* I get trolls in the comments here at Okazu. I publish them 99% percent of the time and really, the only time I don’t is if they contain links to places I don’t want this blog to link to like porn sites and multi-level marketing schemes or when they contain threats of physical violence. The trolls sometimes are funny, sometimes are sad and are always indicative of the fact that a particular post made someone, somewhere feel *something*. Mostly anger, but that’s still a kind of engagement. ^_^;

But, you know, most of the comments here are wonderful. You – the readers of Okazu, my readers – are such a fun, intelligent crowd. You’re people I’m thrilled to meet in person, people I’d be happy to have over for lunch. You are my Heros, my advocates, my conversation partners and in many cases, my friends.

I may well be the luckiest blogger in the world.

Okazu is nearing an 8th anniversary, so I just wanted to take this opportunity to say to all of you – thank you.

You’re the best audience on the Internet.

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That’s a wrap for this week.

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!