Yuri Events

Today at the School of Visual Arts in New York City we are celebrating queer comics of all kinds at the Queers & Comics event. Join scholars Yukari Fujimoto, James Welker, Kazumi Nagaike, artist Rica Takashima and myself for Queer Manga: History and Cultural Context at 5:15! This is going to be a brilliant conversation.

You can catch 100 Years of Yuri at AnimeNEXT at Atlantic City Convention Center, Saturday, June 8, 12:30 in Panel Room 310.

Yuri Publishing

Via their Twitter account, Yuritribe (ユリトライブ) is a “label created by YURI Media Entertainment with LGBT+women and ally artists. Get out of the preconceptions and prejudices in Japan and send out a new Yuri.” English site to come soon, they say. This is super exciting news.  We’ll watch this closely to see what develops!

Yuri Podcasts

I spoke with the lovely ladies of the TomoChoco Podcast about 100 Years of Yuri and had soooo much fun! I hope you enjoy listening!

You can listen to the Creator Spotlight with Emily Carroll, creator of When I Arrived at the Castle that I moderated at TCAF on thecomicbooks.com. Thanks Jamie Coville for recording this!

We didn’t get all four nights done, but this TCAF, we did manage to make two nights of Ladies in a Hotel Room, now subtitled “I need to work on my deck”. Thanks to Heidi MacDonald and her brilliant recording equipment for TCAF 2019: Three Women in a Hotel Room: Episode One and TCAF 2019: Four Women in a Hotel Room: Episode Two in which we were too busy and need to to finish our decks!

 
Yuri Light Novels

Via YNN Correspondent Sean G, Kati on Twitter says, “‘Yuri made me human’ J-Novel Club recently announced Side-by-side Dreamers (Soine Dreamer) by Iori Miyazawa, so here’s an interview that was held prior to the original release of this SF yuri novel and garnered lots of attention among yuri fans in Japan.”

Yuri Game

From Mangagamer we have the newest Yuri game, with a twist. This all-ages Yuri tale about a girl who finds herself in another world. From the press release: “…what truly makes The Expression:Amrilato so unique and wonderful is the language barrier Rin faces. Though the girl who takes Rin in, Ruka, speaks a small spattering of Rin’s language, the language of this other world is entirely foreign and unknown to Rin. Lost in a world where she’s unable to communicate with others, Rin and the reader both must struggle together to learn the language of the world she finds herself in, which is represented with the actual language, Esperanto.”This game uses language learning quizzes and puzzles to move the player forward. Check out the OP trailer!

 
Yuri Anime

From Dengeki Bunko’s Twitter feed via YNN Correspondent Super,  Hitoma Iruma’s Adachi to Shimamura light novel series is getting an anime series.  In 2013 when I reviewed the first volume, I was not impressed, so I hope the series has gotten better.

From ANN, Viz announces the dub cast of Sailor Moon Stars. I’m happy for Starlights fans, but happiest for Haruka and Maichiru fans, because they have a pretty damn gay series.

YNN Correspondent Super also points out the Best Yuri Anime of the Heisei Era article on ANN. Obviously your mileage may vary when it come to the choices.

Other News

Niki Smith’s new YA queer fantasy book, The Deep & Dark Blue, about a trans girl and her brother, is about identity and and adventure in a fantasy world.

For our London friends, do not miss It’s a Girls’ World: Talk on Shojo Manga with Artist HAGIO Moto and Editor FURUKAWA Asako on May 20 at The Hall, Japan House, 18:30-19:30. Admission is free, registration required.

For Sailor Moon fans, this year’s Met Gala included Lily Rose Depp in the vintage Chanel that Takeuchi Naoko imagined Setsuna wearing. Check out Michelle’s Twitter thread on Takeuchi’s love of and use of fashion for the Senshi.

 
Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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Yuri Manga

From the twitter feed of Suzuki Paisen, a “sexy” harem Yuri manga has begun serialization in Shonen Jump Plus. You can read a sample of Tonari no Heya kara Aegigoe ga surun desukedo… (隣の部屋から喘ぎ声がするんですけど…) in Japanese on the Shonen Jump Plus website.

Via ANN, Towa Oshima, creator of High School Girls, will launch a new manga about frenemies, Daishinyyu, (大親友) in Young King Bull magazine. Given the many years of Yuri or nearly-Yuri  from this creator, we can expect hijinks, breast jokes and gags aplenty. ^_^

Still Sick by Akashi has been licensed by Tokyopop, according to the TheOASG’s Twitter feed. I reviewed this office Yuri romance this spring and I’m actually quite positive about this coming out in English.

We’ve got a couple of new things up on the Yuricon Store (which is now functioning better than ever, thanks to our web weaver):

Yagate Kimi ni Naru Saeki Sayaka ni Tsuite, Volume 2 (やがて君になる 佐伯沙弥香について), the second light novel following young lesbian Saeki Sayaka, which I am reading right now. ^_^

Ohsawa Yayoi’s first serialized story, Strange Babies (ストレンジベイビーズ 完全版), is getting a Complete Edition. And, now that 2DK, GPen, Mezamashitokei is over, we’ve got news of her upcoming series, “Hello, Melancholic!” (ハロー、メランコリック！) which will have  60-page debut in a future issue of Comic Yuri Hime. This new story will follow a Yin/Yang sempai-kouhai pair. Mismatched personalities do seem to be all the rage right now. And since the ad says its going to debut on the magazine that’s on sale in June, I’ll presume it’s the August issue.)

Kodama Naoko’s Uminekosou days, Volume 1 (海猫荘 days)  is now available.

Ichijinsha’s Surechigai Kyodai Kanjou Yuri Anthology (すれ違い巨大感情百合アンソロジー) is another example of mismatched pairings, with deep emotions.

Live Action

Last year we saw the Revolutionary Girl Utena live-action stage musical and it was actually pretty good! Now via about every YNN correspondent and media outlet, we have the scoop on the Black Rose arc musical. Ikuhara is going to be supervising again and most of the main cast is returning. ANN has the details and the first visual from Shōjo Kakumei Utena ~Fukaku Hokorobu Kuro Bara no.

Sailor Moon News

Viz has announced additional voice roles for the upcoming release of Sailor Moon Stars according to ANN.

The newest Sailor Moon 4D experience at Universal Japan includes the Outer Senshi. Check out the promo video on ANN.  (The Sailor Moon franchise is doing well outside the usual 2nd and 3rd dimensions, isn’t it? ^_^)

Other News

Via Yuri Navi, Yagate Kimi ni Naru/ Bloom Into You is getting a set of LINE stamps if you’re on that platform.

I was working on my day job when I encountered this amazing manga, The Story of Basic Immunology. This comic appears on the Japanese pharmaceutical company Kyowa Hakko Kirin’s website in Japanese and English. My coworkers found the manga (and the overlap of my worlds) very amusing. ^_^

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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Yuri Events

Please join me in Atlantic City on June 8th at AnimeNEXT for a 100 Years of Yuri presentation! There will be prizes for good questions!

The deadline for signing up for the 100 Years of Yuri Tour in Japan is July 9th. We need 4 more people to join our tour to make it a reality. I hope you’ll be part of this historical event! The tour itself is scheduled for September so we can finish off with the Girls Love Festival Yuri doujinshi event. ^_^

Yuri Manga

We have a release date for the sixth volume of the Kase-san series in Japan, Yamada to Kase-san (山田と加瀬さん。) This book will be hitting Japanese bookshelves in late July. We don’t yet have a date for the English edition, but I’d expect an early 2020 release.

Okujou PikaPika Romance Complete Edition (屋上ぴかぴかロマンス 完全版) a re-issued collection of Ohsawa Yayoi’s early shorts for Comic Yuri Hime, was released this month.

In celebration of the opening of Pride Month, Anime Feminist is giving us a three-pack of Yuri articles, the first of which is the honorable Vrai Kaiser’s The Beginner’s Guide to Yuri Manga. I hope you’ll pop in and give thanks and praise (and your own 2 cents, because obviously, you will, ^_^) in the comments. Please remember to be respectful, you are representing Yuri fandom and everyone’s opinions are correct for them.  One of the upcoming articles is by me, but I have no idea what the third is, so I’m looking forward to reading it along with you!

LGBTQ Comics

In my discussion with Emily Carrol, creator of When I Arrived at the Castle, I commented that we’re not yet seeing a renaissance of queer horror. I wasn’t faking my prescience with that – I’ve been feeling it coming for a while. Black Horror has been on the rise, which is awesome, so I honestly expected Queer Horror to be next. And here it is! Northwest Press’s collection Theater of Terror: Revenge of the Queers is a Kickstarter I’ve backed. I cannot wait.

The Nib offer’s this important LGBTQ history lesson with Dorian Alexander and Kazimir Lee’s comic, The Homophobic Hysteria of the Lavender Scare.

Yuri Literature

Science Fiction publisher Hayakawa (whose Yuri issue of SF Magazine I reviewed last winter) found that it was a pretty popular issue – it sold out quickly and had to be reprinted. Now they’ve  decided to do a Scifi Yuri Anthology, Asterism ni Hanataba wo (アステリズムに花束を), which will be released late this month.  The worlds of queer scifi and queer horror are ready for their closeup now.

This is not a drill. We are getting a 3rd volume of Yagate Kimi ni Naru: Saeki Sayaka ni Tsuite!  No link yet, but check out the ad in the back of Volume 2. This will take us and Sayaka into her life after graduation from high school. I am all a-flutter with anticipation.

LGBTQ Media

Yuritribe Lesbian Media Project is looking for folks who want to be a concrete part of their work. If you’re fluent in Japanese and want to or have worked in media creation, take a look at their recruitment form.

Get a dose of happy feels by watching And Then She Kissed Me!, a short animated film by Alexia Khodanian.

Got family or friends looking for queer family friendly reading? The Toronto Public Library offer Reading With Pride, a curated collection for “LGBTQ2S Families.”

Other News

Viz Media’s Urian Brown walks us through a private video tour of the British Museum’s Manga exhibit.

This week, I took the first concrete steps to developing an online course on Steven Universe! I plan on running it in the late autumn. It’ll be 4 weeks, 2 classes a week, with assigned pre-reading, a lecture, class discussion and a Google Docs workspace for writing assignments.  Keep your eyes open for the announcement. ^_^

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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100 Years of Yuri

I hope I’ll see you at 12:30 today at AnimeNEXT in Atlantic City for the 100 Years of Yuri! I’ll only be there for the panel, but I’ll have a great wopping box of things to give away for good questions!

And if you can’t make it, be sure to take a look at Anime Feminist, on which I ask a question that we don’t often occasion to ask…Is Yuri Queer? I get some Yuri mangaka to weigh in on this as part of their Pride month articles.

And, as part of this series, definite check out Alex Henderson’s look at Bloom Into You on Anime Feminist in Not “Just a Phase”: How Bloom Into You challenges common yuri tropes. (It would also be easy enough to also note how it doesn’t challenge the tropes,  but the perspective is valid and excellent, as always. ^_^)

Yuri Manga

Via YNN Correspondent  Alice D., French-language “manga” Hana no Breath: Scent of Flowers by Caly is available in English on RightStuf. You can find the French language edition out from H2T.

Yen Press’s Yuri Life hits shelves in mid-July. If you’re looking for a slice-of-life manga about two adult women in love, this is the  book for you!

Also hitting shelves in in July is Miman’s Yuri is My Job!, Volume 4.

MURCIÉLAGO, Volume 10 is available in English, while Katakura Ako’s Hiru Shitagari, Mata, Volume 2 (昼下がりに、また) is now available in Japanese.

DMP’s Lilyka imprint of Yuri doujinshi has released Boat of Reeds, “A high school girl struggles with the loss of her parents, and is on the verge of just letting it all go. Her friend is puzzled by her strange question at first, but soon realizes the pain she is in…”

Galette, No. 10 (ガレット ) is also now available in print and digital (on Amazon JP and Amazon.)

Via YNN Correspondent Ash, Mag Comic’s Pixiv vehicle, Magxiv is offering School Zone, (スクールゾーン), a “devilish” Yuri gag comic.

Yuri Anime

Diskotek is putting out the New Cutey Honey OVA on Blu-Ray. Now if we can get Re: Cutey Honey, I’ll be happy. ^_^

Yuri Events

Via James W, Comic Horizon 7 is Yuri doujinshi event being held in October in Taiwan. How cool!

Yuri Photographer

You can now stay on top of  Yuri photographer Takahashi Minori’s (whose work is featrured in every issue of Galette and in the Yuriten exhibit),  photos which can be seen on this dedicated Twitter account.  Her work is not salacious, but it is intimate. I quite like it.

Yuri Live Action

I was a bit surprised when I was followed on Twitter by Happy Days a “Yuri Short Drama” on Youtube. These short films follow two women who live together. They eat candy, they argue about dirty clothes on the floor. It’s pretty low budget, but well-acted and kinda sweet.

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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Special News

For Pride Month, Seven Seas is teaming up with Yuricon & ALC Publishing to give away prize packs of LGBTQ books to libraries! Three library systems PLUS three individual libraries will win free books. Library staff need to fill out this form by June 30 to enter! Please share this news with your local library. Let’s get some great LGBTQ manga on your library’s shelves!

There are 3 weeks to sign up for the 100th Anniversary Yuri Tour of Japan. We need 4 more people to join this tour to make it happen. Okazu Patrons will get a discount off the deposit and a special 100th anniversary design T-shirt! I’ve made you a (really) short video to try and convince you to sign up!

Yuri Anime

ANN reports on the upcoming Yuri Theatrical OVA Fragtime teaser video, main visuals and staff and that it will have a November debut.

LGBTQ Cartoon

The team behind Steven Universe posted a tweet that sent my heart all a-flutter, with the announcement of the folks working on music for the Steven Universe Movie. Chance the Rapper is co-producing. How awesome is that? It also leaves me with questions. Is Bismuth getting a song? Will we see Opal again? When will I get a Peridot x Lapis fusion?! ^_^

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic debuted a same-sex couple this month! Aunty Holiday and Auntie Lofty are Scootaloo’s guardians. Taimur Dar writes about this, Arthur, Doc McStuffins and LGBTQ representation in kids cartoons on The Comics Beat.

Yuri Manga

Nikurashii hodo Aishiteru  (憎らしいほど愛してる) is a story about an office affair between a married woman and a woman who loves her maybe too possessively?

Hayakawa publishing (publisher of the popular Yuri issue of SF magazine) is about to release a Yuri science fiction short story anthology, Asterism ni Hataba o Yuri (アステリズムに花束を 百合).

Yuri Doujinshi

DMP’s Lilyka imprint has a bunch of new Yuri doujinshi including SHWD an action Yuri series full of beefy women that I picked up last winter at Comiket!

Yuri VN

Mangagamers has released Yuri VN Amrilato: The Expression. Enjoy Yuri romance and learn Esperanto at the same time!

LGBTQ Comics

Comixology has added LGBTQ superhero comic series The Pride Season Two.

Over on School Library Journal, Brigid Alverson looks at LGBTQIA+ Graphic Novels for Young Readers.

Yuri Event Reports

I just wanted to take a quick look back and thank all of our intrepid YNN Correspondents reporting from spring 2019’s Yuriten events in Osaka, Sendai and Fukuoka! Thanks Zoey, Mercedez and Jenn!

Here’s a lovely account from Takashima Hiromi-sensei’s panel at the Japan Foundation in Toronto in conjunction with TCAF.  I can’t see it when I’m in it, so it was really nice to see what the impression from the audience was. ^_^

I’ll be posting a new appearance schedule this week on Yuricon, so look out for that!

Other News

I’ll now put myself out of business when I point you to Yuri Times, a Twitter feed that covers Yuri news in English. ^_^

Comic Historian Carol Tilley presents this brilliant history piece – Jane Krom Grammer: A Golden-Age Comic Book Artist Finally Receives Credit for Her Work.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC’s Tale of Genji : A Japanese Classic Illuminated was very interesting! In effect, it was Muromachi and Edo period fanart and fanfic of Genji. ^_^

Gentleman Jack’s Finale Was One of the Finest Hours in Lesbian Cinematic History article by Heather Hogan on Autostraddle neatly summarizes everything I thought and felt about the end of the first season of this terrific show.

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast (I know I owe you all one!) Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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Yuri Manga

We’ve got a few new items up on the Yuricon Store:

Garasu no Kutsu o Nugisutete (ガラスの靴を脱ぎ捨てて) tells five short stories of working women finding love. ^_^

Goodbye Dystopia, Volume 3 (グッバイ・ディストピア) wraps up one of my favorite manga, boo.

Yuri Bear Storm Volume 2, the English-language edition of Yurikuma Arashi continues as Ginko and Kureha’s story unfolds.

We’ve got a veritable Miman festival going with Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu! Volume ５ (私の百合はお仕事です!) and Yuri Is My Job, Volume 3 and Volume 4!

I was on Shodensha’s Manga Jam site looking up Akegata Yuu’s Tsuki to Suppin (月とすっぴん) Yuri web comic, when I learned that last year there was a new-new Hana no Asuka-gumi series called Hana No Asuka-gumi BS  Volume 1 and Volume 2. But even more importantly, there is a new-new-NEW Hana no Asuka-gumi series, Hana no Asuka-gumi Infinity (花のあすか組！∞インフィニティ), the first chapter of which is up on Shodensha’s Manga Jam. It begins with a “who’s who” of characters and the various pieces of the Zenchuu-Ura and upon seeing that, I yelled at it, “How can I be expected to read this if you EXPLAIN it to me!?!” 

It was a genuine pleasure to speak with Evan and David over at Ani-Gamers Podcast about Nagata Kabi’s autobiographical comic essays, My Lesbian Experience With Lonleliness and My Solo Exhange Diary Volume 1 and Volume 2!

Yuri Anime

Via ANN, Midnight Pulp anime streaming service has added Devil Lady and if you can, I recommend this anime so very highly. It’s the Go Nagai we need right now.

Yuri Drama CD

Via YuriNavi, we learn about original Yuri Drama CD Himitsu no Hanataba (秘密の花束) which is holding a Talk-show event in July at the Asgaya Loft.

Yuri Game

To celebrate the upcoming release of PS4 game Jinrui no Mina-sama e (じんるいのみなさまへ), this week also sees the release of a companion manga, Jinrui no Minasama e -Watashi-tachi no bassho- (じんるいのみなさまへ ―わたしたちの場所―).

Other News

The Yurikuzu Youtube Channel has posted an interview (in Japanese) with Tamilfly, creator of Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, ( 付き合ってあげてもいいかな). I’ve reviewed Volume 1 and Volume 2 is available now in Japan and waiting to be read by me. ^_^

I had the great pleasure of reviewing MangaClassics’ edition of Shakespeare’s Macbeth for School Library Journal.  I’m really enjoying the Manga Classics editions. Right now I’m working on Count of Monte Cristo (from which Eugénie Danglars has been cut, boo.)

I’m working on an updated piece on how to not comment on blog posts. If you as a writer have any pet peeves, drop them in the comments or on this thread on Twitter!

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast (I know I owe you all one!) Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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Yuri Manga

We’ve added a few new things to the Yuricon Store:

Still Sick, Volume 1 by Akaishi, in English from Tokyopop has a November release date.

Tamifly’s super popular online hit Tsukiatte Agetemo Iikana, Volume 2 (付き合ってあげてもいいかな ) is out now, review coming soon.

The delightful school life romance from Takashima Eku, Sasayakuyouni Koi o Utau, Volume 1 (ささやくように恋を唄う) is also on shelves now.

Do I keep mentioning that Yamada to Kase-san (山田と加瀬さん) by Takashima Hiromi is hitting shelves at the end of next month? Good. I’m going to keep mentioning it.

BOOKWALKER is running a special coin-back Yuri sale until July 1st in celebration of “Yuri Day” which was apparently June 25th.(We’re not entirely sure why. I did find a flower calendar that said June 25th’s birth flower is the lily, so…?

With permission from the publisher, yesterday I announced the Special Project I’ve been working on is …I’m editing Rose of Versailles for Udon Press! I plan on writing about the project from my point of view because to say it is blind luck that I ended up doing that is an understatement.  ^_^ In the meantime, I can assure you that it is going to be *amazing.* Also, I am ready to defend the translation in a duel, so when people start whining and griping (and they will because if they can’t, they don’t know how to engage,) come at me, I will be ready with swords any time you want. ^_^ In related news, I may have collected dozens of screencaps of Oscar’s eyes over the 3000 pages I read.

Rafael Antonio Pineda over at ANN reports that Yagate Kimi ni Naru/Bloom Into You will end in three chapters (we knew from previous reporting that it was going to wrap up at 8 volumes.)

100 Years of Yuri

We’re running an Okazu Patreon special this month! If you subscribe to Okazu at the $5 month level between now and July 6th, you will receive a sticker with the Okazu 100 Years of Yuri logo!

July 9th is the last day to sign up for the 100 Years of Yuri Tour of Tokyo with Yuricon and Pac-Set Travel. We’re still a few people short of the number we need to make this happen. Please join us for this once-in-a-lifetime chance!

Yuri Anime

Via YNN Correspondent Super, ANN reports Tamayomi baseball manga from Mangatime Kirara is getting an anime. Whether it will in actual fact have Yuri, I don’t know, but all the JP Yuri news outlets keep mentioning it.

Super also wants you to know about Mamoru Oshii’s newest project, a “Girl-Meets-Girl” anime show, Vladlove Vampire.

LGBTQ News

There is so much this week to talk about.

This year as we approach World Pride weekend in this 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, let us remember that we have have so much left to do to protect ourselves and the generations to come. There are important elections in your local districts every year – know who is running and what they stand for! Everyday should be an uprising right now. If you’ve ever thought “I woulda done…” in regards to Stonewall, or civil rights or even World War 2, well, now is your time to do that thing.

Last night, on the 50th anniversary of Stonewall at Stonewall, a black trans woman was threatened with being removed forcibly and having the cops called on her because the partiers lacked any sense of historical perspective. This is unacceptable at any time, but this weekend it’s especially critical for us to do better. Black Trans Lives Matter. This must matter to all of us every day.

You may remember that this week, Viz Media had a chance to stand up and correct some past and present editorial decisions that combined to feel a bit like LGBTQ erasure…and they did it. I was very vociferous in noting that there was no malice intended, because fans do tend to become unhinged by this kind of thing and imagine all sorts of conspiracies….

…which brings me to the Netflix release of Neon Genesis Evangelion. As you probably know by now, the translation on the Netflix release is different than the 20-year old version and for a lot of reasons, people are not happy about it. The thing is… 1) the new translation does nothing to unqueer Kaworu’s and Shinji’s relationship and; 2) it does accurately translate what was said. The new translation actually adds nuance to a complicated relationship. As I noted on Facebook,

“The whole point of the Shinji/Kaworu thing is that Shinji had never experienced *affection* of any kind ever before. Kaworu’s affection is profound…and meant to be unsettling, even inappropriate. The ambiguity of “suki” makes much more sense in that context.

Kaworu’s emotive affection was never ever supposed to be “Look, Shinji has a boyfriend but they can’t *say* it.” It was always supposed to be what we think of as queerbaiting, just as every other relationship in the series is equally as disturbing.”

Nothing in this new, more accurate and layered, translation is telling you that you cannot slash the barely-functioning dissociative human boy with the alien attempt at a human. It is merely saying “We have no idea what is actually happening. Does Kaworu know what he is doing? Is it malicious or kind or affectionate or…what? We cannot tell. Neither, to some extent, can Shinji…or Kaworu.”

You are of course welcome to disagree with this or any interpretation, but the point I am making here is not that this interpretation is either right or another wrong, but that the anger, the doxing, the death threats and other completely irrational reactions to some words being changed are not okay. It is not normal or healthy for anyone to respond to a editorial choice by harassing the translator, creating a conspiracy theory or imagining some kind of malicious intent. It’s just not okay.

If Viz had indeed come back to me and said “we are sticking by our editorial decisions,” I guarantee I would not have tracked down the editors and sent threatening emails. I would have definitely positively simply not bought the thing I was unhappy with. I would have written another letter expressing my disappointment and hope that at some future date the decisions would be reviewed and a different conclusion reached. That is my right and responsibility as a consumer. Harassment is never a reasonable or, I dare say, normal response. If you know someone angry about the translation, feel free to point them here. Even better, if they are sliding into irrational anger, look ’em in the proverbial or literal eye and say, “This is not cool. Translation is an art and the creators approved this translation. You can still have your OTP. No one is taking them away from you.”

For a balanced look at the issue, I refer you to ANN’s discussion of the differences, with input from the translator…and some comments by Japanese fans confused at the negative reaction.

Last item, so we end on a positive note! The Japanese prefecture of Ibaraki will begin issuing same-sex partnership certificates. This is pretty closely an equivalent of Iowa recognizing same-sex marriage in 2009. Like Iowa, Ibaraki is a agricultural prefecture and represents a very “heartland” image. There’s a lot of politics behind this decision and the ruling party, the LDP, did as much as it could to stop this, so don’t think they are softening. But there you go. Progress. The first of 47 prefectures has taken the plunge.

However you choose to celebrate Pride this year, enjoy. And on Monday, get back to work, calling your legislators and making them work for you. Happy World Pride Week!

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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Anime Expo weekend is the weekend that a lot of the news I planned on reporting gets set aside for more urgent announcements. ^_^;

Yuri Anime

Top story already from Anime Expo, Sentai Filmworks has licensed the Morning Glories and Kase-san OVA! I’ve got requests in to them for a timeline on that release, although since the subtitles are already in existence, I hope for a 2019 premier. I’m also hoping that we can coordinate a release event, whether it be a streaming event or a contest, or…something. I’ll let you know if I hear back.

The 8-Bit panel announced that they’ll be handling the animation for Hirao Auri’s Oshi ga Budōkan Ittekuretara Shinu (If My Favorite Pop Idol Made it to the Budokan, I Would Die) anime, with a 2020 television debut. (See, Sentai, that’s how a timeline works..) I’ve reviewed Volume 1, Volume 2,  Volume 3, Volume 4, and  Volume 5 of the manga here on Okazu.

Funimation and Nozomi RightStuf have entered a streaming agreement, which means that  Revolutionary Girl Utena and Aoi Hana/ Sweet Blue Flowers will be available on Funimation.

Viz has released a follow-up statement about the Sailor Moon Stars (Season 5) booklet. Read it carefully and remember, the Japanese publisher gets the final say as to what we see. The relationship indicator probably came from them originally…and we could be asking for a change to something that was not there in Japanese. Could be interesting. ^_^

Yuri Light Novel

Also from Anime Expo, Seven Seas announced that they have licensed the Bloom Into You: Saeki Sayaka ni Tsuite light novels! Woot! I reviewed Volume 1 and Volume 2…and am awaiting Volume 3 with baited breath. ^_^

Yuri Manga

Big news for lovers of classic Yuri via Yuri Navi, Himitsu no Hanazono (秘密の花園) Fujii Mihona’s 1999 Cinderella fantasy is now available on JP Kindle and Bookwalker Global! I reviewed this book back in 2004 – it was one my foundational Yuri series, so I’m feeling positive about the news. ^_^

Last week, in conjunction with Tsukino Usagi’s birthday bash, Kodansha announced a world-wide digital release of the Sailor Moon Eternal Edition manga in 10 languages. I give you the details over at The Comics Beat.

Not quite Yuri, but in our wheelhouse, this May Seven Seas licensed the Penguindrum manga by Ikuhara Kunihiko, Shibata Isuzu and Hoshino Lily. tr Expo, they announced the license of Citrus+ for fans of that series. Super exciting news, they’ll also be publishing Morishima Akiko’s Rakuen no Jouken, as The Conditions of Paradise! This is a lovely little adult-life one-shot. Click the Japanese title link to read my 2008 review.

A few new items up on the Yuricon Store!

Canelé Souer Yuri Anthology (カヌレ スール百合アンソロジー)  – we haven’t had a “souer” collection in years. Fun, huh?

Watashi Igai Jinrui Zennin Yuri, Volume 1 (私以外人類全員百合) is a alternative world science-fiction Yuri manga in which a girl who loves ordinary things, finds herself in a world of women where love between women is ordinary.

Dekisokonai no Hime-tachi, Volume 2 (できそこないの姫君たち), Kaede and Nanaki find themselves being drawn together, despite not actually being friends.

Hentai publisher FAKKU has announced a “LGBTQ” imprint of manga, Kuma. I put quotes around “LGBTQ” for what I consider obvious reasons. Japanese porn is not ever intended as representation and I think they are stretching the truth quite a bit to consider what they publish “LGBTQ” in any meaningful sense. ^_^

Yuri Events

100 Years of Yuri Tour of Japan is happening in Sept, 2019 and there’s still room for you to join us! The dead-dog last day to sign up is July 9th, so please don’t miss this opportunity!

I’ll be making my only west coast appearance at Crunchyroll Expo. If you’re planning on being there, let me know in the comments. I’m looking for a roommate.

Our Lily is a Yuri event being held in Seoul, Korea in 2020. How cool!

Other News

Via YNN Correspondent Sean G. Yuri Made me Human, part 2, an interview with Iori Miyazawa and Gengen Kusano (Part 1 can be found here) has been translated and put online. This is connected to the publication of the Yuri issue of SF Magazine and the current Science Fiction Yuri boom in Japan.

For UK fans who love Japanese pop culture, summer 2019 is fairly awesome. The British Museum’s Manga Exhibit is wowing crowds and HYPER JAPAN event is coming your way, as well!

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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Yuri Events

With regret, I have had to cancel my appearance at Crunchyoll Expo. There were some complicating factors. I very much hope to make a future west coast con, but the airlines sure don’t make it easy.

My updated schedule is as follows:

Yurithon, August 16-18, Montreal, QC, Canada

Girls Love Festival, as part of the 100 Years of Yuri Tour!

New York Comic Con – October, 3-6, New York, NY, USA Tentatively, I’ll be there, doing some press work.

Michigan State University – October 14-16,  I’ll be out there talking about Yuri and translation. More on this as it develops!

Diversity Comic Con – October 25, New York, NY, USA. I will be joining them as a panelist on SuperQueeroes: Representation in Comics. Okazu is a sponsor of this event, as well. ^_^

AnimeNYC – November 15-17, New York, NY, USA – I’m very much hoping to do a talk on Yuri here. Write them and let them know you want me to speak!

Tentatively, I’m planning on attending Mechademia in Kyoto in 2020. I’m telling you this, in order to push myself to apply for a panel. ^_^

As always, I would love to speak at your organization, school, institution or event. Please feel free to contact me!

Yuri Manga

A few new items up on the Yuricon Store!

Our Wonderful Days, Volume 1. Seven Seas has licensed Tsurezure Biyori, so we can all share in Mafuyu, Koharu, Nanaya and Minori’s pleasant days together.

Mira Ong Chua’s successfully kickstarted ROADQUEEN: Eternal Roadtrip to Love has also been picked up by Seven Seas.

The fifth volume of Nettaigyo ha Yuki ni Kogareru,  (熱帯魚は雪に焦がれる) hit shelves at the end of June. As we head into summer, Konatsu and Koharu face Christmas and a winter aquarium show together.

At Anime Expo, Yen Press announced the license of Breasts Are My Favorite Things in the World. This will be the last time I mention this title on Okazu. ^_^;

Speaking of things which will never be mentioned again ^_^… Syrup Shakaijin Yuri Anthology  (シロップ 社会人百合アンソロジー) is getting a sequel, Syrup secret Forbidden Yuri Anthology, (シロップ secret 禁断×百合アンソロジー). There is so much Yuri being published right now and I cannot keep up as it is, I’m opting out of things that are set up to be blecch up front.

Yuri Novels

Via YNN Correspondent Sean G, J-Novel Club has licensed Yuri Scifi novel Otherside Picnic.  I’m reading the manga for the story now, in fact. Also from J-Novel Club is the license of (supposedly) Yuri light novel,  Onna dakara, to Party wo Tsuihōsareta no de Densetsu no Majo to Saikyō Tag wo Kumimashita. This news via YNN Correspondent Mecasonic13 on Twitter who says, “Kinda interesting to see a yuri/fantasy narou work that was written in reaction to the scandals involving Japanese medical universities discriminating against women in their entrance exams…” I’ll definitely be interested to see how it turns out.

Via Nambu Kumako on Twitter, we learn that Nambu-sensei is writing a note.mu novel Yuri Nurse ~ Kawaii Anoko~ (百合ナース！ 〜かわいいあの子〜) with illustrations by Morinaga Milk.

Also by Nambu-sensei, Sasayaki no Kiss~ (囁きのキス～), illustrated by Morishima Akiko, which has always been available on JP Kindle is now available for folks outside Japan on Bookwalker Global!

Other News

I can’t remember (and can’t be arsed to look) if I told you about this yet. but the second Steven Universe soundtrack is out and as it has “The Working Dead” you all need to get it. ^_^

Deb Aoki has an article on Publisher’s Weekly on Light Novels: Mixing Prose with Manga, Light Novels Attract North American Fans

Brown University Is Archiving Gay Pulp Fiction To Preserve A Moment Of LGBTQ History. It’s gay, not lesbian pulp, but how fun! Also NYU has a gay and lesbian pulp archive.

Have I been banging on about queer horror a lot these days? GOOD. Here’s some more: Via Ricardo Serano Denis at Comics Beat, Monstrous sexualities and empowering terror: queer horror gets its own Shudder documentary.

Avery Kaplan at Comics MNT takes a look at Getting Queer Comics Into Libraries.

A Beginner’s Guide to LGBTQ+ Manga by Amanda Pagan on the New York Public Library site makes a terrific, if BL-heavy, resource.

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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Queer Cartoons

Couple of important trailers dropped at San Diego Comic Con this week!

First up the Steven Universe Movie will be premiering on Cartoon Network on September 2, 2019. Catch the trailer on the Cartoon Network Twitter feed.

And the She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Season Three trailer can be seen on io9.

From Comic Natalie, we have the promotional video for upcoming Yuri comedy Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu (推しが武道館いってくれたら死ぬ).

25Years Later has done a retrospective on Sailor Moon: A Shōjo Super Power that was a very interesting read.

Yuri Manga

Udon Entertainment will be releasing the first volume of their five-volume The Rose of Versailles manga in December 2019. I posted about my role in this classic manga’s publication yesterday, if you’re interested in some excellent advice from my mother and a discussion of the gritty world of excel spreadsheets in manga publishing, take a look. ^_^

We have a pile of new manga up on the Yuricon Store!

Takemiya Jin’s delightful romance about a young woman and the older woman she likes to bake for, Itoshi Koishi, Volume 2 (いとしこいし) which just hit shelves this week.

Yoru to Umi, Volume 1 (夜と海) by  Goumoto. I haven’t read this at all, but it appears on all the Japanese Yuri lists. It looks like it starts with a mystery and develops into a romance.

FLOWERCHILD’s uncomfortable series for Comic Yuri Hime, Warikitta Kankei Desukara. Volume 1 (割り切った関係ですから。)

Avalon ~bloom~ Yuri Anthology is the next in this series of Yuri from the lesser known publisher [girls x garden comics].

Mermaid Line Complete Edition (マーメイドライン 完全版) is a reprint of an older Yuri Hime comics collection that includes what I remember as a very lovely transgender lesbian story. I reviewed the original collection in 2008.

tMnR’s popular girl falls for her sister-in-law manga Tatoeto Dokonu Itoda Toshitemo (たとえとどかぬ糸だとしても ) is coming to us in English from Kodansha in September as If I Could Reach You, Volume 1.

Via Yuri Navi, here is an odd-couple adult life romance, Nukumori Blanket (ぬくもりブランケット). You can read this short (in Japanese) on Sukima.

Yuri Visual Novel

Via Yuri Mother, Visual Novel Heart of the Woods by Studio Élan announced today via Twitter that they would be updating their Yuri visual Novel with full English voice acting. “The voice acting will be included in a free update for the PC, Mac, and Linux versions of the game and will be included on release for the game’s Nintendo Switch port, set to release in Early 2020.”

Studio Élan announced on their Twitter feed that they are specifically looking for a transgender voice actress for the lead role of Tara – and other roles – for this voiced version.  Don’t self-censor, if you think you’d like to do this…do this!

Other News

According to the Comics Beat article on why Ruby Rose is unable to attend, by the time you read this the Batwoman TV pilot episode will have already been screened at San Diego Comic Con. Keep an eye out for it! (Fun reading my Twitter feed on it – 900 posts saying how awesome it is, one woman declaring her nerd cred and how she’ll “give it a chance” and one lone dude saying “everyone says it sucks.” Poor little angry dude.

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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We have a lot of catching up to do this week, what with me taking off in the middle of con season and all…

Yuri Light Novels

We have the full line-up of Yuri Light Novels that have been licensed by J-Novel Club now. Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With a Mythical Sorceress!, Otherside Picnic, Side-by-Side Dreamers, Last and First Idol, Seriously Seeking Sister.

Yuri Anime

Diskotek has picked up Senki Zesshou Symphogear, which I kind of remember was spoken of as Yuri-ish.

Sentai Filmworks just received a huge investment from the Cool Japan fund and, as a result of all that (unrelated) money, I think we should demand a much more deluxe version of Kase-san and Morning Glories Anime OVA, which is currently slated for a stripped-down disk only release. My complaint about this is that the JP disk already has English subtitles. All they have to do is…nothing. So give up some of the physical extras, for pity’s sake.

Fragtime Yuri anime OVA key visuals, cast and promotional video are now available and it’s still not sounding any fun at all. Check out the report on ANN for details.

Via YNN Correspondent Eric P., Maria Watches Over Us, Season 1 is now streaming on HIDIVE. It’s just S1 for now, but catch it while you can!

YNN Correspondent Super wants us to know about the 22/7 Idol Project anime.  Super writes, “I don’t know how yuri-ish will be the anime itself, however, the original group is local known in the anime community because a significant part of their lyrics openly tells about lesbian/Class S/yuri experience. As far as I know, their stuff also openly performs with LGBTQ support, so maybe something interesting will come out of it.”

Yuri Manga

Riding the wave of excitement about Sentai’s announcement of the Kase-san anime OVA,  Seven Seas has announced that they have licensed Kase-san and Yamada, the fifth volume of the series, which follows Kase and Yamada into college. I’m reading the just-released JP edition now. The English edition is slated for a winter 2020 release!

Science Fiction Yuri continues to be all the rage as Girl’s Last Tour picked up an award at the 50th Seiun Scifi Awards this year along with SSSS Gridman. ANN has the report.

On the Yuricon Store we’ve added the awkwardly named White Lilies in Love Watashi ga Yoishireru no ha, Natsu no Hizashi to Anata Dake. Shakaijin Yuri Anthology (White Lilies in Love 私が酔いしれるのは、夏の陽射しと貴方だけ。 社会人百合アンソロジー).

And I’m more interested in this than I actually would have expected,  Isekai Tensei Yuri Anthology (異世界転生百合アンソロジー ). “Reincarnated in another world” has now entered the common manga vernacular.

LGBTQ Game

Via YNN Correspondent Sooz, “Reina the Holy Knight must team up with her ex girlfriend, Evleen the Dark Knight. Together with Jakob and Armin, a rogue-mage couple, they must travel to the strange Rapt Frontier to discover why the barrier between worlds is weakening.” Check out the brilliantly-named Date Knights by unity on itchi.io.

Yuri Events

Please join me at Yurithon at Otakuthon, August 16-18, 2019 in Montreal, QC for three days of queer manga and anime!

Other News

Utena fansite Empty Movement will stream the Revolutionary Girl Utena Black Rose musical with English subtitles on Twitch on August 8th, 9th and 11th. The DVD and BD for the musical are available on Amazon JP.

Via YNN Correspondent Sean G. on Twitter, Fly, whose artbook Marguerite, I reviewed last month, is doing the art for light novel Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki-kun.

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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Yuri Events

We’ll be at Yurithon from August 16-18 in Montreal, QC. With panels and games and advice about Yuri, and prizes for good questions! Hope to see you there!

Yuri Anime

Following up a news item from last week, baseball anime Tamayomi is being worked on by the staff of baseball anime Major, and certainly, Yuri Navi thinks of it as a “Yuri” anime. It’s still not the sports story I want, but it’s a step forward. ^_^

Kase-san and Morning Glories is now available for pre-order directly from Sentail Filmworks for a sensible $19.99 for the Blu-Ray.

LGBTQ Live-Acton

Via YNN Correspondent Batwoman Tomoyo, The Paley Center in NYC is doing a free showing of the new Batwoman television series on September 7, in NYC.

Yuri Performance

Via Comic Natalie, Doctor Pepperco’s Sayonara Rose Garden, English woman x Japanese maid manga (of which I have reviewed Volume 1) will performed as a live reading at February 8th and 9th 2020 in Tokyo TACCS1179.

Other News

Not Yuri, but I can almost guarantee there will be lesbians, as old-school crime and violence manga (like Lady Snowblood) almost always did, take a look at Major Spoilers’ review of Ryuko, Volume 1.

Via Timeboxer, the Guardian’s Amal El-Mohtar asks Why are there so many new books about time-travelling lesbians? The answer is quite good.

Always worth a read is any article about lesbian pulp. Erin Blakemore takes a look at how Pulp Fiction Helped Define American Lesbianism on JSTOR.

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

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Yuri Events

You will find me this weekend in Montreal, talking about queer manga, and Yuri and traveling to Japan at Yurithon! Do join us for fun and laughs and candy and prizes!

The remainder of my schedule is:

Saturday: 15:00-16:30 in 513D: Must Read/Must Watch Yuri: 2019 Edition
Saturday: 18:00-19:30 in 513D: History of Queer Manga with James Welker
Sunday: 10:00-10:45 in 513B: A Yuri Otaku in Japan

Next month, I will be doing too much in a short time with the 100 Years of Yuri Tour!

Yuri Anime

Sentai Filmworks has released a trailer for the dub of Kase-san and Morning Glories dub.

Yuri Manga

We’ve added absolute piles of Yuri Manga to the Yuricon Store! In English:

Cocoon, Entwined, Volume 1 is already available.

tMnR’s If I Could Reach You, Volume 2, will be available in November.

Yuri is My Job, Volume 5 hits shelves in December 2019.

In Japanese:

Still Sick, Volume 2 continues the story of the otaku and the former mangaka.

Hayama-sensei to Terano-sensei ha Tsukiatteru, Volume 2 (羽山先生と寺野先生は付き合っている) is available now.

The adorably sweet, Sasayakuyouni Koi wo Utau, Volume 1 (ささやくように恋を唄う) is out now, as well.

Also quite sweet, Pixiv tale Jyoryusakka to Yuki (女流作家とユキ) continues in Volume 2!

In Strawberry Fields wo Mou Ichido, Volume 3 (ストロベリー・フィールズをもう一度) Akira finally comes to terms with her feelings about Pure.

Sailor Moon

Not really Yuri, the trailer for the first movie of the 4th Season of Sailor Moon Crystal, Sailor Moon Eternal  is up on Youtube.

The Sailor Moon show and cafe, Shining Moon Tokyo is on and it looks like I’ll be able to make a show! I’ll report back. ^_^

For 2020, Tokyo is creating a miniture cityscape called Small Worlds, which includes a teeny little Crown Fruit Parlor and Tuxedo Mask watching over Azabu-Juban. ^_^

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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Yuri Manga

Yuri Life by Kurkuruhime has hit shelves in English. Read this cute slice-of-life story about adult women who share their lives. (You can read my review of the JP volume from last summer.)

If there is a single question I’m getting most frequently now, it’s people asking for Yuri manga with transgender characters. In English, we have a relatively limited selection for this: Wandering Son which is incomplete; Riyoko Ikeda’s classic Claudine, The Bride was a Boy comic essay. Well, Tokyopop has picked up Caly’s French-language Yuri romance about a transgender girl and put it out in English as Breath of Flowers. Volume 1 is on the Yuricon Store!

Tokyopop also has released Yuri Bear Storm, Volume 3. Now we have all of Kureha and Ginko’s story. The manga is less visually striking than the anime, but the story holds together better. (You can read all previous reviews here.)

Ah toka Uh shika Ienai Manga, Volume 2 (あーとかうーしか言えない ) just hit shelves in Japan. Volume 1 got high marks in my review.

If teacher x student is your particular fantasy, you might be interested in Ichijinsha’s Kyoushi to Seito no Yuri Anthology  (教師×生徒の百合アンソロジーコミック).

Akili, creator of popular webcomic Stretch has a new webcomic, Vampeerz, (ヴァンピアーズ) about…as you might guess…school girl vampires. The link will take you to Chapter 1 online (in Japanese) for free.

Via ANN’s Rafael Antonia Pineda, we have the news that the first volume of saburouta’s CITRUS+ will get simultaneous online release in Japan, North America, South Korea, Germany, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Spain, and Argentina in November. Seven Seas page for the series has further info. Now, if only we can get them thinking globally by language instead.

Yuri Anime

Yuruyuri 10th Anniversary anime will be shipping in November, according to Alex Mateo at ANN.

This is old-school and only ever Yuri-ish, but Steel Angel Kurumi, by the team known as Kaishaku (the same folks who created Kannazuki no Miko,)  is getting new merchandise for the first time in…probably forever. This series came out in the days before merchandise was a thing. ^_^

Yuri Events

From Twitter, there will be a Bloom Into You pop-up shop at the Shibuya Marui until October 31. There will be official original goods.

Also from Twitter, Serena says that the Yuri/GL Philippines group will once again have a booth at Cosplay Mania 2019 in Manila.

I missed this because I was away, but Ehime prefecture ran a pilgrimage based on the A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow series – the manga will be released in English in November from Viz.

Yuri Visual Novel

Via YuriNavi, Innocent Grey’s FLOWERS Shiki (FLOWERS 四季) will be available on Nintendo Switch.

Sailor Moon News

ANN’s Alex Mateo reports on the new Sailor Moon Musical, starring members of idol group Nogizaka46, which will be traveling to Shanghai in November.

Sailor Moon – Shining Moon Tokyo – restaurant is open in Azabu-Juban (the section of town where Usagi lives) in Tokyo until October 31!

Other News

In case you missed this – Archive of Our Own (AO3), one of the Internet’s largest fanfiction sites, run by women, won a Hugo Award last week. If you have a story on A03, you are now a Hugo Award winner. ^_^ (I do, in fact, have one story there. I recently wrote a Swan Lake fanfic because no one else has ever done the pas de deux between Odile and Odette that we deserve. ^_^) Anyway, Casy Fiesler takes a look on Slate as to Why Archive of Our Own’s Surprise Hugo Nomination Is Such a Big Deal.

Kim Morrisy on ANN has a report that Boruto’s creator Kodachi Ukyo supported LGBTQ representation in media on Twitter this month.

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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Animation News

Steven Universe the Movie premieres commercial free on Cartoon Network 6PM Eastern US time on Monday, September 2. If you’re not already a fan, Cartoon Network is leading up to it with all the Steven Universe episodes this weekend (ask me what my plans are!) My wife and I have had this series on on a loop for the last several years. We watch a few episodes every night and when we get to the end, we start over again. It’s basically the thing that’s keeping us grounded these days. Check out the movie trailer on Youtube.

In case you missed it, Carole and Tuesday, has hit Netflix this week. This is not a Yuri story, but it is a beautiful story of a friendship between two women, built upon music – and the music is good. There is a lesbian character early on, but she is a throwaway. Nonetheless, she’s great for the moment she’s in the story. ^_^

Yuru Yuri‘s 10th anniversary opening theme has a PV anime. Check it out on Youtube.

Okazu News

Be -or become!-  an active Okazu patron paid through September 5th and you will gain access to a sneak peek from the Big Book o’Yuri! This time, we’re giving you a look at our comprehensive Yuri Events history chapter, which covers from the earliest known Yuri events into the near future, before all this information disappears into the oubliette of SNS obscurity. Subscribe to Okazu on Patreon! Support Yuri interviews, and news, and help pay Guest Reviewers. $5/month makes a huge difference to us!

Yuri Events

The participating circles list is available for Girls Love Fest on September 16 in Tokyo. If you’re going to be there, give me a shout!

Celebrate  “100 Years of Yuri” with $10 off every shirt with this coupon. If you get the classic t-shirt, that’s more than half off!

Live-Action News

File this under amazing news about good friends: Lesbian novel Punk Like Me, by author JD Glass, a long-time Yuricon supporter and personal friend, is getting a live-action television adaptation on OUTtv, a Canadian LGBTQ programming channel. You can subscribe to it monthly and it’s available as part of Amazon Prime, so keep your eyes peeled for this exciting series!

Every Xena: Warrior Princess episode is streaming online for free (probably region locked to North America). I rewatched the first episode and was charmed all over again by how goofy and ridiculous it is. Thanks Syfy!

Bonus Xena news, Vita Ayala promises that their Dynamite Entertainment’s new Xena comic series is “even gayer”. ^_^

Yuri  Manga

Via Comic Natalie we have a couple of “Yuri Comedy” series to be on the look out for:

Bakeneko Satsuki no Shimai Jiken (化けネコ葉月の姉妹事情) about two girls and a ghost cat.

From Champion Red, (so we know it’s not going to be respectful of women’s bodies or dignity,) comes Ateuma Kanojo (当て馬カノジョ), a story that Comic Natalie paints as a good title if you enjoyed the cuckolding of NTR.

Other News

Via Comic Natalie,  Japanese magazine Weekly Bunshun WOMAN is featuring Yuri titles in a special issue “Yuri Manga now is amazing!” The issue includes an interview with Shimura Takako.

To wrap up this week, I want to tell you about a personal project I am very proud of! I was invited to contribute to an exciting publication of mid-20th century science fiction. If you love science fiction amnd/or are looking for great writing by women, this is the book for you! Rediscovery: Science Fiction by Women (1958-1963). This collection is available as a paperback on Amazon or as an e-pub directly from the publisher. I hope you’ll read and review this, because this is an important piece of women’s literary history and we want people to know about it!

Do you have questions about Yuri? Write in and ask and I’ll do my best to address them on the Okazu YNN Podcast, Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to!

Thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

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Yuri Events

There will be no YNN report ntXt week, as we will be in the middle of the 100 Years of Yuri Tour of Tokyo! Check in regularly to learn how cool Girls Love Fest, the Bloom Into You popup shop and the Sailor Moon restaurant are. ^_^ I’m nervous as heck, as we’re starting off with a small typhoon, but happy travels everyone.

Yuri Manga

A few new items up on the Yuricon Store!

Galette, No. 11 (ガレット )  is hitting shelves in Japan as I type this. This means that the next issue is the completion of their 3rd year. That’s always a huge hurdle, getting through 3 years, so fingers crossed for everyone that they continue to grow.

Resonant Blue (レゾナントブルー) is a new girls’x garden anthology from the folks bringing us the Avalon anthologies.

A new school life drama Kyou, Koshiba Aoi ni Aetara ( 今日、小柴葵に会えたら)…

…and a new “adult” adult life drama, Tonari no Heya kara Aegigoe ga Surundesukedo… / 隣の部屋から喘ぎ声がするんですけど… the first chapter of which I believe was in Ultra Jump’s Yuritora Jump anthology.

Lilyka is DMP’s newest imprint, focusing on Yuri doujinshi. They are releasing a series I picked up last winter at Comitia, SHWD, an action series about beefy, athletic women in a monster-disposal special unit. If you’re looking for something a little science fictiony, a little less school, check it out.

Mochi Au Lait has a previously released online series debuting in Comic Rex‘s November issue, Ikemen Onna to Hakoiri Musume (イケメン女と箱入り娘) about a too-cool woman mistaken for a man.

Yuri Anime

ANN has the second promotional video from Hirao Auri’s Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu, idol group love comedy.

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to – thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network! Special thanks to all of our Okazu Patrons, who make this report possible!

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Yuri Manga

Seven Seas announced a passel of Yuri titles this week! There’s a nice variety for Yuri fans.

Starting with the manga for upcoming Yuri anime, Fragtime manga is slated for an April 2020 release in omnibus format.

Hitoma Iruma’s Yuri light novel series Adachi and Shimamura will be released in single volumes starting in summer 2020. I reviewed the first volume in 2013. There’s been 8 volumes of the series since then and an anime is heading our way in 2020, as well.

Ajiichi’s Failed Princesses is a high-school romance between two students who are not friends at all. I reviewed Volume 1 of Dekisokonai Hime-tachi (できそこないの姫君たち) last spring and have Volume 2 on the to-read pile.

Ichijinsha’s Syrup anthology is on the way in English in summer 2020. I can’t find a review, so either I haven’t read it, or I did and didn’t review it. Not sure which. ^_^

Last, but not least, Seven Seas has licensed the historical drama Goodbye, My Rose Garden. Once again, I have reviewed Volume 1 of Sayonara, Rose Garden (さよならローズガーデン) and have Volume 2 to read.

Okazu News

I want to thank everyone who joined the 100 Years of Yuri Tour last week. We had an amazing time! Reviews to come this week.

Current Okazu Patrons will be receiving early access to a new chapter of the Big Book O’Yuri, a history of Yuri Events! Become a Patron and receive perqs like sneak peaks at the book, early access to research and exclusive goods.

Yuri Anime

Via YNN Correspondent Adrian O., we have the news that Sentai Filmworks is releasing a Premium boxset for the Bloom Into You anime. This will include the entire anime series, Special Book, Storyboard Book, Original Script Booklet, Art Cards (x6), Rei’s Recipe Card. This last contains Yuu’s older sister’s cheesecake recipe. ^_^

Viz Media has begun their replacement campaign for the booklets included with Sailor Moon Stars, so that Haruka and Michiru are once again partners. Check out ANN for details on how to get your replacement.

ANN reports on the cast and main visuals of the Tamayomi anime, which will debut in spring 2020.

Once more via ANN, Fragtime anime OVA announces more cast and a theme song.

Via Comic Natalie, Yuri Yuri is getting a 4-episode anime miniseries on Youtube starting this week, culminating in the release of a new OVA in November.

Light Novel News

Ojamajo Doremi is a popular magical girl children’s anime franchise in Japan that is celebrating a 20th anniversary this year. To celebrate, ANN reports a new novel for the series will be released next month that catches up with the girls 20 years later. ^_^ Ojamajo Doremi 20s (おジャ魔女どれみ20’s) will see an October release. I’m including this because in the original series, there was some indication that Ai was queer, but whether that will exist in this novel, I don’t know. I doubt it.

Kickstarter Watch

Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, artist for the award-winning Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me (which I reviewed in Spring 2019) has a new book coming out, via successful Kickstarter, Don’t Go Without Me. Queer horror, scifi and drama, and it looks fabulous.

Live Action News

Via a number of YNN Correspondents, cooking manga that centers on two sisters by marriage who find common ground through food, Shinmai Shimai no Futari Gohan  is getting a live-action drama. ANN has the details.

Other News

The Library of Congress is hosting an exhibit called Comic Art : 120 Years of Panels and Pages, and I want to offer my congratulations to my friend, extremely talented comic artist Marguerite Dabaie, for having a page of her work Hookah Girl included! The exhibit is largely available online, so I encourage you to check out the link.

There’s a new Sailor Moon game available via the official Sailor Moon site. Check out Crystal Puzzle, available on iOS and Android. According to the fan club newsletter, 2020 will see a Sailor Moon on Ice event.  I don’t see a website announcement for it yet, so details TBA. And that seems like the perfect place to wrap up this week’s report. ^_^

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to – thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network! Special thanks to all of our Okazu Patrons, who make this report possible!

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Yuri Manga

Couple of new titles up on the Yuricon Store!

Kadokawa has a new anthology: White Lilies in Love Akanesasu Koigokoro o, Akaku Somete Hoshī no Anata ni (茜さす恋心を紅く染めてほしいの貴方に。 社会人百合アンソロジー).

Ahead of Seven Seas’ license of Goodbye My Rose Garden, Sayonara Rose Garden, Volume 2 (さよならローズガーデン) is available in Japanese (and on my to-read pile.)

In Strawberry Fields, Mou Ichido, Volume 3 (ストロベリー・フィールズをもう一度) looks like the romance is ramping up for real.

Fukami Ken’s Haru to Midori, Volume 2 (春とみどり) gets intense as Midori must sort through her mother’s things, forcing Haruko to really deal with her feelings.

Nakamura Asumiko’s school life Yuri drama, Mejirobana Saku, Volume 1 (メジロバナの咲く) hits shelves in Japan in mere days. This high-tension Yuri drama from a popular BL creator has definitely been worth reading so far.

Via Miman’s Twitter account, Watashi no Yuri ha Oshigoto Desu! is now out in German from Tokyopop as Cafe Liebe, translated by Yuri scholar and all-around fascinating human, Verena Maser! We’ll be talking with her about it later this autumn.

Yuri Anime

Funimation has added Aoi Hana / Sweet Blue Flowers to their streaming offerings via Alex Mateo’s reporting on ANN.

From October 5 through December 22, if you’re in or near Okayama check out the art exhibition, idol performances and talk events in honor of the upcoming anime release, based on Hirao Auri’s manga Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu. Details on Comic Natalie.

Via YNN Correspondent Yoko, a pleasant little clip of Yuri animation by kaynimatic on Twitter.

Bloom Into You News

Via Yuri Times on Twitter’s translation of the Dengeki Daioh report, we have news of 7 new Yagate Kimi ni Naru / Bloom Into You projects planned:

The final volume of the manga will be released in November, an art book by Nakatani Nio-sensei, a short stories book by Nakatani-sensei, a second volume of a comic anthology (read my review of the first volume here on Okazu); Volume 3 of the Saeki Sayaka ni Tsuite novel series (my reviews of Volume 1 and Volume 2 are here on Okazu); a  LINE sticker set of the series and; an encore stage play is scheduled for autumn of 2020.

Live Action News

The live-action trailer for Shinmai Shimai Futari Gohan has been posted by the series official account on Twitter.

Yuri Game

Via YNN Correspondent Xan, check out Laura Dale’s review Sayonara Wild Hearts is Neon Lesbian Biker Panzer Dragoon Narrated by Queen Latifah.

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to – thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network! Special thanks to all of our Okazu Patrons, who make this report possible!

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Yuri Manga

Via Senior YNN Correspondent Sean G, we have some news out of New York Comic Con. Viz Media has announced the license of Tamifly’sTsukiatte Agetemo Iikana? (links to reviews of Volumes 1 & 2) as How Do We Relationship? for Summer 2020. The title translation is not in any way literal, but it really suits the tone of the story. ^_^

Via ANN, Blue Drop creator Yoshitomi Akihito is launching a new Yuri manga this month. Kyou Kara Mirai will be on HEROS Flat website on October 18th.

ANN has the full layout of the post-manga series projects for Bloom Into You. I just read the final chapter/epilogue in Dengeki Daioh, and have some thoughts about that. Will write them down in a future review. ^_^

Now that the damn has broken with Yuri Kuma Arashi being licensed by Tokyopop as Yuri Bear Storm, it looks like we are getting more work by Morishima Akiko-sensei. We can look forward to Conditions of Paradise, the English-language release of Rakuen no Joken in February 2020 from Seven Seas! This is excellent news.

Yuri Anime

ANN has the promotional video by Yuri anime Fragtime leads Misuzu and Haruka, prompting people to order their tickets for this theatrical release through online ordering app Kinepass.

LGBTQ Comics News

Also out of NYCC, Heidi Macdonald on the Comics Beat reports that LGBTQ comic Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me (link to review) won in the Best Children’s or Young Adult Book Category. Check out all of the Harvey Awards winners,  because if you want to see the changes for the better that are going on in comics right now….here it is in list form.

Amanda Steele on The Comics Beat is taking a look at some key LGBTQ artists in NYCC’s Artist Alley for your reading pleasure!

Yuri Visual Novel News

 Studio Élan is holding a Kickstarter to do a fully-voiced version of the Heart of the Woods, their stunning first Yuri VN release.

Yuri Events

This Sunday, October 6, at New York Comic-Con, I will be on the Comixology Panel Manga Ikimashou! – LET’S GO MANGA! in which I and a number of illustrious panelists do the one thing I always swear I will not do – recommend manga to you! ^_^ You can catch us 2:30 – 3:30 PM in Room 1A02.

I’ll be doing two lectures at Michigan State University, October 15-16. Both these lectures are free and open to the public.

October 15, 5PM, B122 Wells Hall, MSU Campus
I will be talking about about Rose of Versailles and Sailor Moon to a class on translation. They each pose a significant set of challenges to translators and adapters. This is free and open to the public (check with the school for registration.)

Wednesday, October 16, 5PM, Rom 301 International Center, MSU Campus
We’ll be talking about 100 Years of Yuri!

Oct. 25, I’ll be at Diversity Con, Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, NY.

And rounding out my 2019, I’ll be presenting 100 Years of Yuri and verbally sparring with translator Zack Davisson at AnimeNYC, November 15-17, at Javits in New York City.

Other News

Add this to your morning reading – Brigid Alverson interviews George Takei on his new comic memoir, They Called Us Enemy, about his life in an internment camp during World War Two. Read it, if only as a reminder that the last time we put people in concentration camps was within a lifespan and here we are, as a nation, doing it again.

Speaking of NYCC, I took a look at this year’s AnimeFest and laid out some of the anime and manga-related events and panels you can expect this weekend at The Comics Beat.

To round out this week on a positive note, we can report a couple of steps forward in Japan. Akita held its first-ever Rainbow Pride festival this past month. Love the parade poster. ^_^ And even more importantly the Kanagawa city of Zushi has added same-sex partnerships.

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to – thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network! Special thanks to all of our Okazu Patrons, who make this report possible!

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Sailor Moon News

Yesterday was National Coming Out Day here in the United States – as a result, many of my friends were musing on how coming out is a process that happens over and over in a life, coming out to many people, in many ways. For instance, every time I meet a new client and we’re discussing our lives, I end up saying “My wife and I…” at some point in the course of that discussion.

As fans of media, many of us understand that the media we love has inspired folks to come out, and has put us, both on- and offline, in the middle of discussions of queerness and representation. This sometimes leads to a call for the companies that make /distribute that media to recognize and accept the queerness of characters who we, the audience, feel have represented us.

When Sailor Moon first picked up popularity on Cartoon Network, and the characters Sailors Uranus and Neptune became known there were, predictably, some viewers who went to great pains to explain why they weren’t a couple – explanations that did not work and were dismissed by the creator who said they are lovers. Also predictably, this did not stop those people from creating even more complicated scenarios that still did not take away the fact that Uranus and Neptune were a couple.

After the anime and manga were over, the live-action musicals would periodically revive the story and every single version I have seen of these, really pushed Haruka and Michiru more openly as lovers over time. Their relationship has now been enshrined as “partners,” which is a terrific way to give people who want acknowledgement of their couplehood an adult way to refer to it.  (In pre-marriage equality societies, “Partner” was/is a popular and common choice for making a point and, as many other people have noted, “wife” and “husband” are uniquely gendered in Japan as ideograms, making even wife and wife uncomfortable for some.)  This was why the kerfuffle with Viz inexplicably changing Haruka and Michiru’s relationship from “partner” to “friend” in the Stars booklet was puzzling. It was a step backwards from where Japan had put them. Luckily Viz was on the side of right and good here and that has been fixed – they are partners once again.

In the last 25+ years, we have seen Haruka and Michiru come closer and closer to being out. In recent years, official goods have made the point of pairing them as a couple in whole lines of goods and as the usually male/female dolls for girls’ day. I’d like to think there’s someone at Sailor Moon Official just pushing them inexorably out of the closet. (I’d like to believe it’s Takeuchi-sensei herself.)

But. ^_^ You know what we have never once gotten? “Love.” Haruka and Michiru have not said they love each other on page or panel, in song or dialogue. They’ve gotten close…and in symbolic ways they have, but romantic love, “ai” 愛, the word that Usagi says constantly,  is not something that has been given to Haruka and Michiru.

Until now.

Sailor Moon Official has announced a new series of Sailor Moon Girls Night Out cafes in six cities. Among the offerings is this parfait, the Haruka and Michiru Night Drive Parfait, the description of which says “A parfait filled with the love of Haruka and Michiru. In the image of these two, this is a refreshing sweet with chamomile, pistachio ice cream and mint jelly.“

So, as far as I’m concerned, this is the first time we’ve seen this so openly stated by the official Sailor Moon channel. On National Coming Out Day 2019, Haruka and Michiru have come out once again, one more step out of the closet. When you remember how many people were motivated the first time they saw this partnership on their television, it’s not absurd to imagine that this, too, will have positive effect. That someone in one of those cafes will read that description and have that last wall on their own personal closet come down.

And may those comings out be sweet. ^_^

Also in Sailor Moon News, ANN reports on the details of the new-new-new-(echoing into the distance) Sailor Moon musical starring Nogizaka46 running this autumn. The story is starting from the beginning, as usual.

Other News

In other wonderful Coming Out Day x Comics news Archie Comics and It Gets Better Project partnered to create a series of genuinely lovely comic strips in which the folks of Riverdale respond to various coming out scenarios with support. Check these comic strips for Coming Out Day on Bleeding Cool, it’ll do your heart good.

Yuri Doujinshi

I picked up a bunch of Yuri doujinshi at Girls Love Festival last month and among them are the continuing adventures of adult women who do things like work, and eat and play. Among these are two series by Hazuki Ruri, whose art appeals to me very much. It’s very for and about adult women. These series go under the names of Wednesday and Saturday, and you can read some of the various stories in English through Lilyka, DMP’s Yuri digital doujinshi online shop. Check out Saturday – Luna Chikai’s Hands-On Yuri Company or Wednesday – Maybe I Love You among others.

(I haven’t gotten there yet, but there are a few doujinshi I picked up on that trip that I will be reviewing.)

Yuri Manga

We have a couple of new items on the Yuricon Store this week!

Kase-san and Yamada, the 6th volume of Takashima Hiromi’s Kase-san series will be hitting shelves in English this February. Kase-san and Yamada have made it to Tokyo and college life together!

At last, weve got the first volume of Sweet Blue Flowers creator Shimura Takako’s newest series about two women in a bitter(!) lesbian love story, with Otona ni Nattemo, Volume 1 (おとなになっても).

Yuri Anime

Anime News Network reports on details for three upcoming anime:

The Princess Princess sequel film Princess Principal: Crown Handler now has cast, staff and delays. We have more cast info and a new trailer for Oshi ga Budokan Ittekuretara Shinu and details on cast and line art for Adachi to Shimamura.

Become a YNN Correspondent by reporting any Yuri-related news with your name and an email I can reply to – thanks to all of you – you make this a great Yuri Network!

Special thanks to all of our Okazu Patrons on Patreon, who make this report possible!

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