Yuri Network News – (百合ネットワークニュース) – December 17, 2022

December 17th, 2022

Buckle in folks, we have a *lot* of news this week.

Yuri Anime

The top story this week is definitely the formal announcement of Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou. anime for 2023! Do check out the trailer on Youtube. Rafael Antonia Pineda has the details on ANN. The official page doesn’t give us more than “2023,” as a release date, so stay tuned!

This is especially exciting in the light of the fact that we’re also getting several other Yuri anime next year, including another series running in Comic Yuri Hime, Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu! and Kadokawa’s Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei. Volume 3 of the light novel is out now and on my to-read pile!

2023 is, as it happens, the 20th anniversary of the first Yuricon event…and I think we’re going to be able to say that it’s an extraordinary year for Yuri. I *intend* to do something to celebrate – keep June 2023 open on your calendar. I have some thoughts about these series and would love to chat with you all about them. ^_^

Not-Yuri, but worth a mention for the intense sports rivalries, Aim For The Ace Blu-Ray is up on RightStuf for a very reasonable price. Thanks mateo for the heads up! mateo also noted that the team who created the VN Summer’s End cite Aim for the Ace as an inspiration!

 

Yuri Live Action

Via Sr. YNN Correspondent Sean G., Sugoi Lite has the news that a live-action movie of Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, will be made with Matsumura Sayuri reprising the role she played in the TV version of the series (which I have not yet managed to watch, so if you have and would like to review it for Okazu, let me know!)

We’re currently enjoying the marvelous live-action adaptation of Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, (作りたい女と食べたい女) and I hope to review tomorrow. ^_^ It’s so good!

Via Sr. YNN Correspondent Cryssoberyl, here’s a link to a Korean GL live-action series, She Makes My Heart Flutter.

Via YNN Correspondent st. owly – meb, a Thai bookseller, has an English-language edition of Pink Theory: GAP, the novel that has inspired the live-action Gap The Series – which you may watch legitimately, with subtitles, for free on the Idol Factory channel on Youtube. There’s no reason to hunt for subs for this.  st. owly and I have  both done some research and this does appear to be a legitimate translation. The publishers apologize that it’s not great English, but I imagine we’ll get the idea.  And this way we can let the author know we appreciate their work in a way that gets them some money. ^_^

 

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Yuri Light Novels

Bookwalker Global announced the top 100 English=language Light Novels this year from their platform. Yuri came in at #31 The Executioner and Her Way of Life  from J-Novel Club and #45 with The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady from Yen Press. Read the full ranking list on BOOK☆WALKER Global!

In Japanese, Yuri didn’t really have much of a showing this year in the top rankings, with only Yuri-adjacent series like Lycoris Recoil and My Next Life As a Villainess making it into the ranks at all. Check out what did make the top on the JP Bookwalker site.

GL Bunko has released the second Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou Claire-P.O.V. light novel, Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina, Volume 2 (平民のくせに生意気な) on JP Kindle. No link yet for a US Kindle version of this Japanese-language LN (we do have volume 1 available as a JP-language novel on US Kindle, which I reviewed last February.) We’ll be seeing She’s So Cheeky For A Commoner in English next year from Seven Seas.

Speaking of ILTV, as we find ourselves doing so often these days…. Volume 3 of Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou -Revolution- (私の推しは悪役令嬢。-Revolution-), is now available. (This is the print edition of the light novel series from Ichijinsha. GL Bunko is the publisher of the original digital editions.) IF you pre-order this volume and Volume 5 of the manga at the same time, Melonbooks has a special offer with clear file and other gewgaws. Of course…I ordered that. ^_^ It’ll probably be here by March. ^_^;

 
Yuri Visual Novels

YNN Correspondent Patricia B. wants you to know that Oleander Avenue has been released on Steam. She says of the game, “one of my favourite games of the year and an excellent piece of interactive fiction. That being said it is a queer horror, with extremely graphic content throughout,” so she says some content warnings are in order. Here are the CWs on Steam: “body horror, portrayals of child abuse, religious abuse, unreality, homophobia, transphobia, suicide, and other potentially disturbing topics.” Patricia also suggests a photo-sensitivity warning, as there are some scenes with a lot of flashing.

Patricia also notes that The 13th Month (十三月のふたり姫) is out on Steam. This also has a 18+ warning for “sexually explicit sex.” Of this game she says, “This is a visual novel adaptation of the fairytale “Sleeping Beauty”, with the core focus being on the witch and the princess she curses to an eternal slumber. Apparently, the story is good, but there are some odd technical issues hampering the game.” Just glancing at the trailer made me a little nauseous from vertigo, fwiw. ^_^;

 

Yuri Doujinshi

I cannot express how happy this particular piece of news makes me. Miduki Monica has resurrected her doujinshi series Lavender of Romance and has a new issue out Lavender of Romance neo.1.  This digital edition is available as a download from Melonbooks’ digital service, Fromagee. Miduki-sensei created the Lavender of Romance series back in the early 00s, where I met her at Winter Comiket in 2002. I have 6 of the first 9 issues. I was honored to be able to publish her manga WORKS as the second Yuri manga in English in 2004. I’m so delighted to see her working again! This one is important enough that I put it on the Yuricon Store.

 

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Yuri Manga

We have a bunch of titles up on the Yuricon Store!

Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna, Volume 3 (作りたい女と食べたい女) continues this utterly delightful tale of two women (and the women who intersect with their lives) who bond over food.

Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 5 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) of the manga is out now and begins the a pivotal arc for Rae and Claire, as Rae’s greatest rival – future-Queen, quadcaster and Claire’s first love – Manaria arrives!

Kimi to Sekai no Owari o Tazunete (きみと世界の終りを訪ねて) is a collection of science-fiction post-apocalyptic shorts that ran in Comic Yuri Hime.

We have two titles from Galette magazine and, for the first time, one of them is coming out in English. ^_^

My Cute Little Kitten, Volume 1, by Milk Morinaga follows Yuna and Rena as they – and their cat – build a life together. This is hitting shelves in English this week from Seven Seas!

Ogawa Masumi Short Story Collection (小川ますみ短編集) is collected from Galette magazine and Galette meets doujinshi.

Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu!, Volume 11 (私の百合はお仕事です!) is when things are starting to get really real. Yuri is My Job!, Volume 10 is out now in English from Seven Seas.

Patricia B also points out that Girl Meat Girl, (ガールミートガール) as reported on by Joanna Cayanan on ANN, “looks pretty likely to be something yuri-ish based on the title and one of the two lead girls being named “Yulily” (yuri + lily). This might also be less a wholesome romance & more a thriller/sci-fi/coming-of-age romp with yuri elements, but it’s too early to tell just yet.”

 

Other News

My publisher wrapped up my year with a look at a bunch of the stuff we’ve done this year for By Your Side: The First 100 Year of Yuri Anime and Manga in On The Road With Erica Friedman.

Laneha House recognized a number of key comics folks in this year’s awards. Among them, I want to congratulate some folks, I consider friends. In their Community Pillar awards, Laneha honored Jennifer Camper, co-founder of Queers & Comics and an amazing comic artist, and Annie Koyama, whose Koyama Provides grants encourage Canadian comics creators, and the Community Inclusion award Mari Naomi, founder of the the Cartoonists of Color Database, the Queer Cartoonists Database, and the Disabled Cartoonists Database – and also a talented comic artists and writer. These are amazing people, doing amazing work. They deserve these honors.

Last thing – I am asking you all to please follow me anywhere else than Twitter now. I’m moving my Twitter activities over to Mastodon, because both Twitter and it’s owner are becoming increasingly unstable. The Yuricon Links page has a list of where else you may follow me for news and conversation.

 

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Yuri & BL Conversation Tonight at CasaCon!

December 16th, 2022

Tonight, at 8PM Eastern US time please join myself and BL scholar James Welker as we interview each other about our respective books on Yuri and Boy’s Love at CasaCon on Discord! We’ll be chatting in Panel Room 1 on the CasaCon Discord.

CasaCon is free and virtual and everyone is invited. Register on Eventbrite.

Bring your questions about BL & Yuri and about our books. ^_^

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Yuri Espoir, Volume 3

December 14th, 2022

Back in the mists of Internet history, fanfic was one of the key drivers to fandom.  Not just my fandom, but many folks would read a fanfic and find themselves enamored of the ideas, the situations and the characters in that fanfic…sometimes more than the fiction that the fan-created derivative fiction was based upon. I’m not immune to this. I have very clear and specific ideas about how the glamour that protects the Senshi in Sailor Moon works, for instance, even though it is never explicated in the series, which one must constantly remind one’s self was created for 11 year olds. ^_^

So a story about creating stories seems, on the face of it, right up my alley. If the Yuri stories created within the story continued to be the point, I’d be on board. Unfortunately Yuri Espoir, Volume 3 falls into a trap  which often ended up weighing down otherwise decent fanfic – it is taking itself very seriously. It is truly unfortunate, because stripped of what has become a rather dire actual plot, I really enjoy the idea that Kokoro and Amami walk around fictionalizing complete strangers into comfy Yuri tropes. It hurts no one, and is only marginally weird. ^_^ (Real people shipping can be very weird, but let’s face it, it’s not uncommon. Much of the BTS Army exists for that purpose.)

Now, in V3, we get the real depth of despair Kokoro feels, the real backstory about the art teacher and the fact that both of their lives revolves around a faceless guy with the personality of a bucket of warm water. It’s…not fun. In fact, this volume gets quite dark in places. I have to ask myself “why?” To what end is this darkness? Will it go anywhere? I can’t tell.

In the spaces between Amami and Yuki’s unrequited love for people who have been portrayed as idiots, there are some cute ideas. But like every fanfic in which a potentially queer character was drowning in the darkness their author had nowhere else to express, there’s a distinct lack of espoir in this volume.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Stories – 8 for the fanfic, 5 for the main plot
Characters – 8
Service – 4 – there’s some, expressed in ways that are “this is a bad thing” but they are there.
Yuri – 9

Overall – 7

Had I been the editor, I think I would wrap this up next volume, unless it can shed this habit of trying to be a Very.Important.Story. 

Thanks to Tokyopop for the review copy and thanks to their team for their hard work!

Posted in English Manga, Yuri Manga | 2 Comments »


Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 5 (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし)

December 13th, 2022

You know, it sounds kinda cool to have a bunch of youkai fighting over you for your delicious blood but, as Hinako has found out, it’s not, really. Worse, it turns out that Hinako’s blood may not actually be as delicious as she thought. So…why are the youkai fighting to get to her?

Hinako thought she had gotten used to the idea of being eaten by Shiori – one day. But, in Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi, Volume 5 (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし) when Ayame, revealed to be a futakuchi onna, returns after having been defeated by Shiori….she tells Hinako a different story. And, when Hinako asks her best friend, the kitsune Miko, if her blood will help her heal, gets the confusing confirmation that it’s not her blood that any youkai wants. Hinako’s blood is kinda gross, actually.

Shiori is avoiding Hinako, who wants to understand the truth…about her family’s death, about her own survival, about Shiori. Can she handle the truth? Shiori, the mermaid, tells her. It’s her own blood that everyone is after and Hinako was given some of it, after the accident that killed her family. Now Hinako has to decide all over again how and why she will continue to live.

I know I keep saying this, but I really love this story. It’s creepy and gross in a shivery ghost-story kind of way. The blood is for ambience, it’s not the point of any scene. I don’t much care about Hinako, per se, or Miko, or Shiori, but I do want to know where this story is going and why all these youkai seem to be drawing lines around Hinako. Which youkai will attack next and what will happen? Each chapter feels very portentous,  although it isn’t if you examine it too closely. Gimme more Yuri creepy youkai please. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8 We’re setting up for something here, it’ll all ominous whole notes
Characters – 8
Service – Did I mention creepy youkai?
Yuri – ? If Shiori doesn’t want to eat Hinako…why is she here?

Overall – 8

This series remains one of my top “license this title, please” titles. Fingers crossed for 2023.

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Take the 2022 Yuri Fandom Survey!

December 11th, 2022

Over the years there has been a lot of research into Boys Love and BL fandom and it seemed time to set up something to get a feel for what Yuri fandom is like in the 2020s, now that it has an established presence in most Japanese pop-culture media.

I would like you, readers of Okazu and members of Yuri fandom, to participate in  a 2022 Yuri Fandom Survey.

This survey is about you, the fan, and by extension, the shape of Yuri fandom, but all information will ONLY be used in an aggregated or anonymized form in articles on Okazu and/or Yuricon. This survey is for research purposes, the data will definitely not be sold or shared.

Please read the intro of the survey carefully before filling out the survey – we did our best to explain our choices. When it comes to titles, I know folks think of series differently. Please use the most common/official title and I’ll do my best to aggregate similar answers

This survey will stay open until January 11th, 2023. A summary post will follow after, and further research will take place in Q1-Q2 2023, if all goes well. ^_^

I hope you’ll share this survey in your fan spaces, FB groups, Discord servers and the like, where you engage in Yuri fandom! Feel free to translate the invitation into other languages. The survey is still in English, but I’d like to get as many people to fill it out as possible.

Thanks to everyone who helped alpha and beta test the survey and to everyone who fills it out! Let’s see what we look like. ^_^
 

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