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Yuri

Yuri Light Novel: Amagami Emmenthal
2009-09-16 23:10:00
Upon reading the back cover of the Light Novel Amagami Emmenthal (??????????), I commented to the wife, "You gotta figure that any story in which the clothing gets credit as a cast member is definitely gonna be *great.*" (I was being sarcastic, in case that doesn't come across well in text.) In the end, the clothes actually *were* a member of the cast, and I could sort of see it being justifiable. But I'm starting with the end, so let me move backwards to the beginning. At Seiran Private Girls School, Kokone and Riko are classmates, roommates and, apparently, soulmates. But their relationship is far darker than that. Riko is a vampire and Kokone is her source of blood. On the other side, the continued pain and scars from Riko's feeding over the years has turned Koko-chan into a masochist, who fetishizes the wounds Riko causes. The story begins with them in middle school then, much like this review, backs up into their first meeting in first grade, then follows them through the ...
Yuri Network News - September 12, 2009
2009-09-12 20:27:00
Lots of Yuri News this week! Yuri Anime Animevice reported that He is My Master is going to be showing on Anime Network Online and out on DVD, and Ultraviolet 044 (yes, *that* Ultraviolet - based on the crap movie, and wasting starring the voice talents of Paku Romi) will be getting a US DVD release. If you aren't following Animevice on Facebook or Twitter or on the site directly, you're missing some extremely otaku-tastic news, btw. Highly recommended. Aoi Hana on Crunchyroll has ended for those of us who purchased subscriptions, and will end next week for the remainder of viewers. I cannot express how much I liked it. Yes, there were a few changes from the manga - in every case for the better, I thought. From beginning to end it is one of the best anime I've seen in the last few years and an exceptional example of schoolgirl romance Yuri. The 11 episodes covered three volumes of manga and, as of yet, there are only 4 volumes out so it may be some time before we learn if ther...
Yuri Manga: Hakodate Youjin Buraijou Himegami, Volume 5
2009-09-12 18:22:00
Demons, women, women demons and women who fight demons. It's a much of a muchness in Hakodate Youjin Buraijou Himegami, Volume 5 (???????????). Having defeated the evil, demony, well-endowed, cross-dressing French proprietor of the Black Widow brothel, Himeka has been indulging in some well-deserved snuggling with Hyou, despite Hyou's reluctance. Once the marks of her curse recede, Hyou uses that as an excuse to escape from Himeka's clutches. (What a maroon, as Bugs would say. Himeka's also well-endowed with full lips and soft skin. DUH, Hyou.) Himeka is making no bones about her interest in Hyou. We'll just have to imagine that she wears the girl down eventually. In a long, drawn out bathing scene (where we see Hyou, Himeka and her Himegami sisters Ranka and Aika - but not Kirika - naked, without seeing anything at all, which is kind of an art in itself, I think) we learn that Hyou's "miburo," the marks on her back that indicate the presence of the Youjin, the power that fo...
Yuri Manga: Linkage
2009-09-09 18:00:00
"Do you remember, the moment your love first began?" Thus begins Linkage, the collection of Yuri Hime stories by Kurata Uso. These stories are linked only by their exploration of that one moment, when two people realize that they share the same feelings as one another. Two office workers who misunderstand their importance to one another, a young flutist and the woman who loves her, a rebellious schoolgirl who falls for a blind girl, two sisters who have always been close, and an AI researcher and her creation. None of these really has any 'link' to one another. The links are forged between the women in the relationships, and between them and us as we watch their love blossom into something real. There's little here that stands above and beyond the Typical "Story A," really, except that that characters are well drawn and well conceived. Despite the fact that only one of them even acknowledges the difficulty of the admission of loving another woman, these stories are pretty dar...
Yuri Manga: Tetragrammaton Labyrinth, Volume 6 (English)
2009-09-06 22:39:00
In Volume 6 of Tetragrammaton Labyrinth, what was always implicit becomes finally explicit. As Angela, Meg and their allies face the evil, insane and powerful Gilles de Rais, and find that their own power comes up short against his, he raises the issue that has been the leitmotif of this entire series. Killing the living, raising the dead and stealing souls, he attests, is not for personal power. No, he commits heinous acts of brutality for *love.* It will come as no suprise that this fails to convince Angela to sympathize, but it brings up the obvious. De Rais asks Angela if she has anyone to love - truly love - give up her life for love. Well duh, dude. The final acts play out exactly as one expects. The good guys peel off one at a time to fight the bad guys, so we can be sad at our losses and the final confrontation has reversals and lots of screaming and blood and severed limbs. And, the ultimate sacrifice, as Angela gives up everything to keep Meg at her side. In the fina...
Yuri Network News - September 5, 2009
2009-09-05 19:46:00
So much great Yuri news this week!Yuri AnimeNovember is going to be a bang-up month for Yuri fans, with Sasamekikoto in Japan and El Cazador here, and now we have yet another thing to look forward to: Arca Jeth (and many other people!) want you to know that Sentai Filmworks announces that they'll be releasing Blue Drop in November as well. It'll be coming out as a season box set, for a reasonable price. Can't ask for better. :-)***Yuri MangaYNN correspondent Sean G. is pleased to note that the new Udon Press editions of the Silent Mobius manga has begun. Volume 1 is out, and full of Rally Cheyenne goodness.And in case you hadn't heard the news, Dark Horse will be putting out a Cardcaptor Sakura and Magic Knight Rayearth in omnibus editions.Also in November, Sylwia says that the Comix Grrrlz website is publishing their first Polish lesbian comic book anthology. Their project is not concentrated on manga style arts. "We want to publish a book contains different art styles and diff...
Yuri Manga: Tenbin ha Hana to Asobu, Volume 1
2009-09-01 22:03:00
In Volume 1 of Tenbin ha Hana to Asobu (???????), Yohko is a transfer student into the elite Lotus Girls High School. She's tremendously energetic and, it turns out, athletic, but she's not clueless or clumsy. She's just not elegant. Certainly, not as elegant as Shuu, the lavender-haired beauty who takes Yohko on a tour of the school. Upon meeting Shuu, Yohko's reaction is rather unusual - she claims to smell blood and asks Shuu if she's hurt. No, Shuu answers, but looks like there's something more to behind it. Shuu shows Yohko around, but after hours Yohko realizes she's forgotten something, and runs off to the the infirmary where she comes in on Shuu apparently drinking the blood from the school doctor's neck. The school doctor confirms what Yohko thinks she just saw - Shuu is a vampire. Not only is she a vampire, but at the moment she is genderless. Depending on whether she drinks more male or female blood, when she turns 18 she will become male or female.Yohko promises ...
Yuri Manga: Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan, Volume 1
2009-08-31 21:25:00
At last.In a small, friendly town, down at the end of the main street, in a spot just by the edge of the park, is a shop where you can sit and relax and have a cup of excellent tea. It's called the Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan, The Amber Teahouse. This volume tells the story of this store and the people who make it so wonderful.The store owner is Seriho, a sweet, somewhat helpless woman. Luckily for her, she is assisted in the day-to-day operations of the shop by one very intelligent young lady, Sarasa. Sarasa, it is soon apparent, has a second agenda. It is not just the tea shop she loves, but the tea shop's owner.This first collected volume follows Sarasa and Seriho as they wrangle with the complexities of running the tea shop and with their feelings for each other. The story of how they met, originally told in the second [es] Eternal Sisters anthology is gathered here, as is the fateful story in which Sarasa and her friends forever change the destiny of the Amber Teahouse with a Ta...
Yuri Network News - August 29, 2009
2009-08-29 21:01:00
As the endlessy rainy days of summer (here, at least) draw to a close, we look at bright sunny days of Yuri!Yuri Magazine NewsBased on the number of magazines that are covering Yuri and GL, I think we can say that Yuri is just about the new Black. There was Davinci last week and this week:YNN Correspondent Katherine reports that the September 2009 issue of Manga Erotics F is going to be a "special edition" Aoi Hana issue with some bonus Aoi Hana content by Shimura-sensei! Plus, according to the Aoi Hana website Goods Page, an Aoi Hana official guidebook will be coming out in September. The street date is September 4, but I don't see an entry on Amazon JP for it yet.George R. also wants you to know that the September issue of Newtype has an 8-page article on "Girls x Girls!" about how relationships between girls are now the rage in anime. (Now!?!) He says "They start with K-On! pointing out that it led the "Girls Anime Movement" in '09, but that this century has seen an unpredicted...
Yuri Light Novel: Otome ha Hana ni Koi wo Suru
2009-08-28 03:37:00
If Strawberry Panic didn't exist we'd have to invent it. More importantly, now that it does, Ichijinsha had to re-invent it. And so they do in Shiritsu Katorea Gakuen: Otome ha Hana ni Koi wo Suru ( ???????? ?????????) in which cute, energetic outsider Hina meets, falls in love with and ultimately gets together with the Prince of the school.In the typical LFB version of "Story A," the cute, clueless, clumsy, energetic outsider comes into a old, tradition-steeped private school for girls and bumbles around like a moron. For some reason this behavior is considered cute, and the star of the school is captivated by this. In a series of service-y almost-kisses, the characters torture themselves by not actually getting together and in the end share a chaste kiss - if we're lucky.In this version Hina, the cute, energetic outsider makes it into the elite St. Cattelya school. (Catellya is a kind of orchid.) Hina does run around the school lost in the first scene, but after that, she cease...
Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime, Volume 17 (Part 2)
2009-08-24 21:00:00
The second half of Volume 17 of Yuri Hime (???????) starts off with another very doujinshi-style story. Which makes me wonder...why do I think of them this way? Probably because i first encountered them when I began collecting original Yuri doujinshi. These stories that I think of as doujinshi stories are almost always high school settings, almost always kind of imperfect, good-but-amateur-ish art and almost always about those first steps to admitting that the characters are in love. They end with the moment that both characters acknowledge that they feel the same way about one another. Rarely do they go much further than that, but I do tend to like it when the stories do. Kimochi no Katachi (originally published as the Tact series) by Sakuraike was one of those series, Volume 1 and Volume 2, but then spent more time looking back before Satsuki met Kino than forward.In any case, in "Watashi no Kawaii Hito" Ika met and Sempai a while ago and, after Sempai confessed to her, they've b...
Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime, Volume 17 (Part 1)
2009-08-23 23:29:00
Welcome to Volume 17 of Yuri Hime (???????), which was both very good and very bad - sometimes at the same time.The cover story, and new series by Eiki Eiki and Zaou Taisho is...really frustrating. It's the 22nd century, all the men are dead and women have, for some reason, reinvented hesterosexist society for themselves. Women are either "Adam"s who play the male role in a relationship or "Eve"s who are the female role. In effect, the entirety of human society has become Takarazuka. The protagonist of this story, Aoi, is an "Adam," attending an "Adam's" private school. The number one rule of this school is that Adams MAY NOT have relationships with one another - only with Eves. Not only is this ridiculous, it does something I am simply unhappy with - it turns this story into a BL/Yaoi story since it is *painfully* obvious that Sakura and Aoi will be the main couple here. I find this vexing. Severely vexing. Frankly, it just pisses me right off. I have nothing against BL. I unders...
Yuri Network News - August 22, 2009
2009-08-23 14:29:00
Well, the results of the YNN logo contest are in and yes, I was going to let you vote but when it came time, I decided I wanted to make sure the one I liked best won. lol And then, I couldn't decide between two of them! So...it's a tie. I'll be switching randomly back and forth between the two.So, officially announcing the winners of the YNN logo contest - congratulations to Lissa Patillo and Mari Kurisato! Lissa's logo captures the soft feminine side of our Yuri Network:Mari's logo nails our hard-boiled side. (Yes, double entendre intended, Duh.)I'm having "correspondent" badges created for all of *you* who write in - you're the Yuri Network. Proudly display your badges on websites, in emails, on your social media profiles, etc.As for our winners, they will each receive their very own Women Make Comics t-shirt, in a style, size and color of their own choosing. The proceeds go to charity, so it's a win-win all around! Many, many thanks to all the folks who sent in an a logo...
Yuri Network News - August 15, 2009
2009-08-15 20:57:00
There's just under a week left in the YNN logo contest, so if you have a logo you'd like to send in, get it in by August 20th! I'll run entries next Saturday and you can pick the one you like best.Now - on to the news!Yuri Manga Yuri Monogatari 6 has finally made it on to Amazon Japan, so if your Japanese penpals are looking for a copy, they can now order it locally!Some titles that you ought to keep your heads up for are:Octave 3 - We'll finally get to see what happens after Yukino makes her decision at the concert.Tsubomi 3 - There's been some excitement about this volume, as artist Ohishi Masaru has been added to the lineup.Choir 2 - No one really cares about this, but the first volume wasn't that sucky and the girl got the girl, so Vol. 2. Let's see if that develops at all.And Girlfriends 3 - So, now we can wallow as Acchan tortures herself. ;-)***Yuri AnimeKomatsu-san of Ultimo Spalpeen tells me that in the UK there is some noise about a reissue of Sailor Moon on DVD. He...
Yuri Network News - August 8, 2009
2009-08-08 15:37:00
It's a lazy summer day, let's start off with news for the lazy!Yuri AnimeThe Anime Network has announced that in celebration of National Lazy Day on August 10, they are offering all of its online content, including "premium" content, for free. There a number of Yuri offerings in their catalog - they are an ADV company after all. YNN Chief correspondent Sean G also wants to add that ADV has added Revolutionary Girl Utena to their Anime Network Cable VOD, Satellite VODAlso from Sean "per Right Stuf's site, a My-Otome Complete Collection box is out 10/20 as part of the 'Anime Legends' series. Run time seems to suggest this is just the TV series, not including the OAVs."***Snatches of YuriYou probably dont even remember this manga, but almost exactly a year ago, I reviewed a title called Kaprekar, about two girls who are so close that when they kiss they become a magical being and defeat the bad guys. It's up to Volume 3 now. The girls really love one another. They kiss and defe...
Yuri Drama CD: Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan ~ White Engage
2009-08-06 01:44:00
It has been previously established that the Ame-iro Kouchakan rates very high on the 'ole Yuri-o-meter. In fact, it seems to draw female couples like bees to lilies and yes, I'm mixing my metaphors, thank you.So, it will come as no surprise that Mana-chan-sensei from the earlier mini DCD, "Pink Princess" has taken to doing her work at the Amber Teahouse. The Yuri atmosphere is perfect for her to get in the St. Lotecia groove. She loves watching Seriho and Sarasa dance around each other, She loves to love/hate her devoted editor Shiko and she just loves Yuri. And so we find ourselves in "White Engage," the Drama CD that comes with the deluxe edition of Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan, Volume 1.The conflict here is small. And predictable. A sudden wrench is thrown in Mana-chan's and Shiko's working relationship that causes a crisis between them. Seriho and Sarasa are able to help the two of them work it out. They do work it out, rather creatively, I thought. And with a wonderfully voice ...
Yuri Manga: Yuri Hime S, Volume 9
2009-08-04 22:24:00
Yuri Hime S, Volume 9 (???????S (??)) is...Yuri Hime S. I keep wanting to like it, I really do. And mostly I kind of sort of enjoy it. But it is not for me and I am reminded repeatedly of the fact as I face chapter after chapter of stories like "Yuru Yuri," "Love Cubic," "Minus Literacy," "Cassiopeia Dolce" and the new series "Konohana Teikitan." They are simply not for me. Like or not like is beside the point. I'm the older sister reading a younger brother's Yuri and just not feeling it.It's not even that the golden allure of schoolgirls' thighs are nothing to me, it's just that there's nothing *happening* in these stories, because the fetishism fills the pages so full with cat/wolf/elf ears and bathing suits and underwear that the characters don't have any time to develop. Take "Shingami Arisu," a story that had a pretty bloody opening in which our protagonists meet over a murder. Well, in this next chapter...our protagonists meet over a murder. It was pretty much the same ...
Yuri Network News - August 1, 2009
2009-08-01 20:10:00
As Yuricon is about to turn 9 years old, and Okazu 7, I've been thinking about what we've accomplished so far and what there is still yet to do. In many ways we have no influence over what happens in Japan, of course. Other than perhaps buying so much Yuri that we actually become a blip on their market radar. In subtle ways, however, we are making some changes. How Yuri is (or is not) marketed, how well it does here and how likely a company is to pick it up - these things are still up to us. Most importantly, we've changed how the anime world perceives us, Yuri fans. We've been covered by The Advocate, Afterellen, Curve, The Blade, The Examiner and countless blogs and online magazines. We've run events in two countries and presented on three continents. It's true that we're still going to get hate from groups of emotionally and sexually immature people, but we really don't care about them. I care about you - my readers, my Heroes and Superheroes, my friends and the YNN Corre...
Yuri Manga: Tsubomi, Volume 2
2009-07-31 00:16:00
I was about to sit down this morning, at an obscenely early hour, while the sun rose into my living room (bringing light and heat, but not joy) when something important happened. I picked up my copy of Tsumbomi, Volume 2, (???) all ready to damn it with faint praise - how the stories were like eating Spicy Thai potato chips - pretty good, sort of painful and, after a while, you can't really taste them, because you've gone numb. I opened the magazine to realize that if I did so, I'd be lying. Because the stories weren't like eating Spicy Thai potato chips (recommended by the way) they were like that hard candy your grandmother had in a dish on the living room table. They were candy, it's true, and they were different flavors, but somehow they just never satisfied your craving for sweets.I was going to rag that Volume 2 was just like Volume 1, sort of bland and the same. I was going to hold up one solitary story, "Hotei and Ebisu" as an example of the only different story in the ...
Yuri Manga: Gokujou Drops, Volume 2
2009-07-27 23:38:00
Everyday at the Ootori Dorm is a passive-aggressive kind of day in Volume 2 of Gokujou Drops, one of the Yuri manga distributed on cellphone by Ichijinsha.Komari is not *quite* as sappy as she appears, and certainly not nearly as sappy as she started out in Volume 1, but she's not conquering the universe yet, either. While Yukio and Komari are more of a couple than previously, Komari is well aware that Yukio in no way considers her anything like a partner or equal in their relationship.Sexual harassment around the dorms is toned down to an introduction to and sexual harassment chapter by yet another upperclassman, Sai, who is considered to be weird even by the other decidedly weird dorm residents. But after that, Komari is left to stress out about Yukio unreservedly.And stress she does. Yukio goes home with nary a word and no follow up communication at all. Komari puts up with the silence, but is concerned. More for Yukio's well-being than her own. She calls up all the courage she...
Yuri Network News - July 25, 2009
2009-07-25 18:14:00
This is the first week in a while that there hasn't been loads of Yuri news. Everyone is at San Diego Comic-Con this weekend, and while there are tons of announcements coming out in manga, none of it has been Yuri. It's interesting to note that while Yuri manga is exploding in Japan, it has become nearly moribund here in the US. Lack of sales is a factor, of course. There's just nothing we can do about being a buying audience of 2000 people. When we're a buying audience of ten times larger, we'll be able to see more, I have no doubt. Luckily for us, Yuri anime is doing reasonable well right now here in the west and we can look forward to more on the way this year!In the meantime, let us wallow in the wave of Yuri manga coming from Japan. :-)Yuri MangaFirst and foremost, Ichijinsha's email newsletter insists that Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan hits the streets today. (Last night my time.) We'll see if Amazon JP agrees. ;-) If so, expect to get your Manga only edition or Deluxe editi...
Yuri Manga: Butterfly 69
2009-07-21 01:13:00
Butterfly 69 is everything that is good and right about Yuri manga. It makes me happy to be a manga reader.Right from the first panel of the first story that ever appeared in Yuri Hime, I found Natsuneko's art appealing. It has vibrancy, an energy that lacks in most manga these days. It's not just that there's action and energy depicted. The characters feel lively and real - even when the situations are ridiculous and unreal. Which they mostly are. :-)In "Butterfly 69," the title story and one of my two favorites, we are introduced to Maria, the mixed-race singer of Butterfly 69 and Ageha, the prim and proper President of the Student Council at the elite music school Maria attends. Maria is an affront to everyone and everything at the school, with her crazy clothes and earrings and wild not-really Japanese self. Unbeknownst to the student body and staff, Maria and Ageha are engaged in a passionate love affair. Maria is given the opportunity to make it big overseas, but will have ...
Yuri Network News - July 18, 2009
2009-07-18 17:11:00
Welcome to the relaunch of the News Report as Yuri Network News. YNN correspondents have reported in from around the world! I just whacked together this logo, so I'm officially announcing a YNN logo contest. Send in your YNN logo to anilesbocon01 at hotmail dot com and I'll come up with something fun as a prize, along with sincere gratitude and the approbation of your peers.Yuri Animedarkchibi wants you all to know that the first episodes of El Cazador de la bruja are available for viewing on the Funimation Channel. We're not sure if this is a reguarly placed series or a DVD teaser, but as soon as I know, I'll let you know.This hasn't gotten too much mention anywhere, but Needless will have some Yuri. It's not really a good series, unless you like magic fightin' school-lolis. If that's your schtick then you'll *love* it. For anyone else, I want to warn you, I've been reading the manga in Ultra Jump magazine and while it has some good elements, I often feel like my brain ne...
Yuri Manga: Morita-san no Mukuchi
2009-07-17 21:19:00
There are *so* many ways Morita-san ha Mukuchi (???????) could have been annoying. But it isn't annoying. Not at all. It's very funny and very enjoyable.Morita Mayu is, compared with other people, more silent. It's not that she can't talk, or that she doesn't want to talk, it's just that she thinks before she speaks - she thinks a lot before she speaks and sometimes misses the chance altogether. Or the mood isn't right, or her timing is off. Honestly, she'd like to speak more, it just never seems to work out.At home, her mother tries to coach Mayu, but between Mom yelling at Dad or them being really lovey-dovey at each other, Mayu feels the mood is rarely conducive to her saying anything.Despite her silence, Mayu is not at all ostracized by the kids at school. Once the girls get used to it, they tell her all their secrets because they know she won't tell anyone. They trust Mayu and like her and she likes them back. There's one or two girls that find her a little odd at fir...
Yuri Manga: Butterfly Kiss Blade, Volume 1
2009-07-16 21:00:00
In the beginning, there were the Inklings. From the Inklings were born Lord of the Rings and the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. These misbegot such things as the Sword of Shannara and the Belgeriad and from these were, ultimately, begot Harry Potter. From Harry Potter came Negima! and now, here we are at the seventh bastard of the seventh bastard, Butterfly Kiss Blade, Volume 1.Homura and Sakurako (who are NOTHING like Setsuna and Konoka, let me assure you,) attend Prinpikia Academy, which is one syllable shift away from being a pretty great name. It is a school of magic, of course. And there are fights, of course. With giant weapons. There is also a nadesico-type classic beauty, complete with henchchicks and political and magical power who is in love with Homura's partner, the sweet, kind, passive, frontally lobotomized Sakurako. There are also panty shots, but I'll come back to them later.The bulk of the first volume is Shizuka's ever more pathetic attempts at defeating Homu...
New Anime Season Summer 2009: Yuri Anime: Kanamemo (English)
2009-07-14 03:20:00
We've talked about how similar 4-koma comics are to each other many times. They are usually slice of life, perhaps at a school, in a club, a bunch of friends, all hangingoutandbeingsilly. Life, you know.Well, Kanamemo isn't like that. It has a rather depressing set up, as it happens. Kana's parents had passed away when she was young and she was living with her grandmother until she also passed away, leaving Kana alone. So alone, in fact, that not a single adult, government agency or busybody neighbor even notices that she's got to go somewhere. As the movers begin to take her grandmother's items, it struck me as odd that whoever was in charge of the funeral thought to get the old lady's personal items cleaned up, but somehow forgot to find somewhere to put her *granddaughter.* When Kana panics and runs off with only a rucksack, she finds, after much travail, a live-in position with a newspaper delivery office populated by 4 adults, an elementary school girl for an office chief...
Yuri News This Week - July 11, 2009
2009-07-11 16:10:00
I was in NYC last night at "Passion Fruits," the Lesbian art show that is running as part of the Fresh Fuits Festival this month. Rica Takashima has some pieces in the show. It was a really, honestly an amazing opening, and tomorrow I'll be posting some pictures I took of people with her art. In the meantime, here's this week's Yuri news!Yuri AnimeIt's an anime kinda week this week!First of all, as I announced yesterday, Afterellen.com will be streaming the Aoi Hana anime series, which is really amazing - and will get Yuri in front of a lot of people who never heard of it, but need to see it! There's a lot of positive response for the first episode, so hopefully it'll be a successful venture for all.Anime Network has announced that Revolutionary Girl Utena will be shown on their online channel. Since ADV rescued some of the CPM properties, this make loads of sense - and it's nice to know that this classic anime won't disappear entirely from the world.Katherine is pleased to ...
Yuri Manga: Miyuki-chan in Wonderland (English)
2009-07-10 21:00:00
Wow, it's only a few years ago, but reading Miyuki-chan in Wonderland feels like stepping back a million years into the past. To a time when Tokyopop was *the* name in manga, when they were cutting edge and hot. And CLAMP was the name on everyone's lips all the time. From X to Chobits to...well just about a zillion series, whatever CLAMP touched turned into money.Miyuki-chan is a collection of 6 short, service-filled stories of hapless high school girl Miyuki, as she wanders through dreamscapes loosely based on Lewis Carroll's iconic works, games and CLAMP's own work. All of these are filled with primarily female characters, mostly adult, and almost all focused on feeling Miyuki up or stripping her down. A psychological reading of the book could easily attribute all sorts of pent-up lesbian feelings to Miyuki but, as she's completely fictitious, we have to just assume that CLAMP really likes drawing women in underwear. :-)The Yuri in this manga is really Yuri - there are no les...
Yuri News: Aoi Hana on Afterellen.com
2009-07-10 13:35:00
The largest online lesbian media source, Afterellen.com will be premiering this summer's Yuri anime hit, Aoi Hana: Sweet Blue Flowers via Crunchyroll.Afterellen covers lesbian media and entertainment of all forms, and they stream a number of live-action drama and news series on their site. This is their first anime stream.Both the anime stream and an article I wrote about the series goes live tonight at 11PM EST. Check it out and don't forget to rant about how much you love my articles in the comments! :-)
Yuri Manga: Itoshi wo Tome (Volume 1)
2009-07-08 21:00:00
Set in the Heian period, Itoshi wo Tome ~ Kimi ga Kokoko ha ~ (?????~??????~) is a story about noblewomen Tachibana and Sakura, whose older sister had been a lady of the Emperor's palace, but had died. Sakura is living with Tachibana's family as a courtesy. Tachibana falls in love with Sakura's tearful face early on but as much as they wish it, their story is not as simple as "Happily ever after." First, Tachibana is betrothed to the stupidest, most cheerful doofus ever. His words are decorated with ASCII art just to give you an idea of his depth and intelligence. When he discovers Tachibana and Sakura locked together in an embrace, Sakura is able to convince him to be their friend and ally.But a far, far worse threat is around the corner. Tachibana remains engaged to her doofus, knowing he won't press the issue - but when Sakura is called up by the Emperor to be one of his women, there is no escape. Tachibana wails that as a woman she is powerless, but then comes to the surpris...
Yuri Manga: Red Garden, Volume 4
2009-07-06 22:23:00
Red Garden, Volume 4 is 272 pages of blood, weirdness, violence and undead girls who look very fetching in that frock. As you can see clearly from the cover, Kate steps forward to openly take her place as the lead character in this volume. It's been apparent that, although the story is *said* to revolve around Lise, it really revolves around Kate.Kate and Herve' come together, and are ripped apart, Kate fends off Evil, Psycho Lesbian TM Paula who, completely unlike the wonderful, kind, sincere Paula of the anime, is a loathsome, unstable creature in the fine tradition of carnivorous lesbians in most media. But dont worry - she dies. then she comes back and turns out to be real nice after all. But she dies again anyway.Kate is set apart from Rose, Rachel and Claire at the end when, in order to save everyone, she is forced to sacrifice herself. Although they mourn their loss, they are able to move on and live the life that had been taken from them. Kate, however, does not die, but l...
Yuri News this Week - July 4, 2009
2009-07-04 16:50:00
What a week for Yuri fans!Yuri AnimeThe top story this week is, of course, that the Aoi Hana anime is not only available on, but is "simulcasting" an hour after its Japan TV debut on, Crunchyroll.com. If your country is not blocked, you can watch it for free, but a small subscription fee will get you a better stream, higher definition and more options. The anime has received critical acclaim so far, from both fans and reviewers. Smart folks on the Yuricon Mailing List like Katherine, have identified preorders available for the DVDs on Amazon JP and like Sal, noticed that it looks to be running 11 episodes. Here's hoping it does well enough to garner a second season.I was chatting with @Funimation on Twitter and they let me know that the projected release date for El Cazador is autumn 2009 and Rin: Daughters of Mnemosyne is sometime in spring 2010. Speaking of 2010, Right Stuf/Nozomi (@AnimeToday on Twitter) has announced that the 4th season of Maria Watches Over Us is slated for a ...
New Anime Season Summer 2009: Yuri Anime: Aoi Hana
2009-07-03 02:55:00
If you are not familiar with Aoi Hana check out my review of Volume 1 of the Aoi Hana manga (or if you want the story through Volume 3, check the Aoi Hana category on the sidebar. Today we're just going to talk anime.Crunchyroll launched this anime with no fanfare - in fact, with barely even a blip on the radar. No press release, no time to build anticipation. But, there it was, with 6 hours to go before it launched on Japanese TV at some gawdforsaken hour, a simulcast in CR was announced to be shown one hour later. You can still catch that first episode, of course. Check out the CR Aoi Hana page for available episodes.Rumors about this production were pretty rampant. The voice cast is newcomers to the field, maybe Ikuhara Kunihiko (of Revolutionary Girl Utena fame) might be animating the opening sequence. In fact, he did and it's quite lovely and although they are relatively new names to the seiyuu world, the skill and professionalism of the voice actresses was top notch.So, the ...
Yuri Manga: Ghost Talker's Daydream, Volume 3 (English)
2009-07-01 21:00:00
You know what I just love? I love when people who aren't lesbian or gay tell us what we feel and think. So, how convenient that "what lesbians feel" is described for me in Ghost Talker's Daydream, Volume 3. Saiki Misaki is an exorcist, She can see and talk to ghosts; spirits of the dead that are still attached for some reason to this plane. By seeing and speaking with them, Misaki facilitates their passing on. In Volume 3, Misaki is asked by a lesbian friend, Shizue, to exorcise the spirit of a runaway who she didn't sleep with, but didn't help, either. The runaway, Arisa, and the woman who brought her to the lesbian bar, Naori (who, we are helpfully told is "gender dysphoric," a term that makes wanting gender reassignment surgery sound like a disease, something I object to on principle,) die together, but Arisa continues to haunt Shizue. In discussing Naori, Shizue kindly explains to Misaki that all lesbians have fallen for a straight woman at least once and cursed the fact tha...
Yuri News: Aoi Hana Anime on Crunchyroll
2009-07-01 14:22:00
Fans of Aoi Hana will be able to watch the new anime within an hour of it showing on Japanese TV on Cruchyroll! Check out the CR Aoi Hana listing for information. It will be made available at 3PM EDT for American viewers.
Yuri Manga: Assistant Denki Keika, Volume 1
2009-06-29 23:57:00
Imagine, if you will, a reader of Sasamekikoto who finishes up a volume of that particular high school Yuri drama and thinks, "That was great. But you know, it would be so much cooler if they were older, maybe, yeah, like assistants to manga artists, and there was an evil overlord trying to stop them and they had to defeat him then have really raunchy lesbo sex."That's pretty much what you get in Volume 1 of Assistant Denki Keika, (aka Keika, the Romance of The Assistant.) Keika is a Sumi/Fumi/Sachiko/Chikane/Simon-e classic Japanese nadesico beauty, armed with nibbed pens and the refuse from a million tones and a fistful of angry "get the fuck out of my way." So when soon-to-be-manga assistant Tamae is attacked by the evil overlord's henchmen, Keika's appearance is welcome. She saves the damsel, they spend the night together and use the tools of their trade as sex toys. There are bodily fluids. They are joined in their violence and sex by Tsumugi, an absurdly cute cross-dressing ...
Yuri News This Week - June 27, 2009
2009-06-27 14:58:00
Yuri AnimeKatherine is once again jazzed to let you all know that there are not one, but *two* trailers for Aoi Hana on the website. She hopes you'll all pop over and watch.Good news, everyone! Looks like, after the issues Funimation was having with their streaming anime, Air Master, which is not hardly simulcast, but was pulled along with the rest of the Funi TV titles, is back up online. ***Yuri MangaComing soon from Yuri Hime S, moe Yuru Yuri, Hakamada Mera's Kono Onegai Kanau Nara, the Nekodome Saga and Minus Literacy will all be hitting the shelves in July.Also out from Yuri Hime Comics, is the reprint of Pure Marionation, Volumes 1,2 and 3. This is an older series by Takagi Noboyuki that Ichijinsha's re-releasing because it's more cute, pink-cheeked Yuri with lots of bathing, same as all his work. :-)And good news on the Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan front. The new projected release date is also in July. Let's keep our fingers crossed - but let's not hold our breaths. :-)***...
Yuri Manga: Suzunari, Volume 2 (English)
2009-06-25 23:21:00
Let's be blunt. Suzunari was not written for me, W.C. Fields or anyone like us. It was written for a particular kind of reader - primarily male, adult, who likes cats and kids, not quite inappropriately. They find cat ears and maid costumes on girls irrestibly adorable, like Yuri-cest, and don't mind a story that is not complex, as long as it has most of the above in some measure. This is moe fandom and Suzunari is for them.In Volume 2, Suzu and Kaede slide through many of the typical school-life tropes; school trips and festivals and class activities, in a jerky, semi-non-linear fashion. I expect that the timing made more sense for the months in which the manga ran in its magazine. Like soap operas, manga may be anywhere in the story line, but will always be seasonally appropriate. :-)Suzu's need to be acknowledged and her love explicitly returned becomes more and more of a critical plot device, one that - to me at least - makes even less sense once we learn who Suzu is. As a c...
Yuri Manga: High School Girls, Volume 9 (English)
2009-06-24 22:43:00
Behind the premise of High School Girls, Volume 9 runs a strong feeling of nostalgia for the bygone days of youth. "Time Stopped at Age Seventeen" screams one header prominently, which immediately causes me to cringe with a feeling of horror crawling up my spine. It wasn't that my high school years were bad - far from it, I had a great time. However, there is NOTHING that would ever be incentive enough for me to want to have that time extended by a single second. lolNot so for Eriko or the other girls in the Idiot group, each one of which is determined to wring as much fun from the rag of life as they can. And I approve. What the hell good is being 17 if you're not going off and doing incredibly dumb things that must be fun because everyone tells you so? Heck, what's the good of life at all if you're not having fun doing dumb things? When was the last time you did something fun and dumb? Anyway, the trip to Okinawa draws to a close and everyone on the trip is as annoying as pos...
Yuri This Week - June 20, 2009
2009-06-20 15:00:00
I'm out on the road today, so keeping it short. Next week I'll be at Jim Hanley's Universe on Gay Pride Saturday with a number of LGBTQ artists and writers for a Prism Comics book signing. Saturday, New York City, the summer, Gay Pride weekend. You know you wanna~ See you there!Yuri Light NovelsA number of people have noted that there is indeed going to be a new Maria-sama ga Miteru Novel, Little Horrors. The former novels are now being referred to as the "Sachiko Arc" and this is post-Sachiko. I'm still of the belief that this will be a short story collection wrapped in a Yamayurikai wrapping. I say this because I really, honestly read a bunch of non-YYK stories in Cobalt that had not yet made it to a novel by Hello Goodbye. Pre-order on Amazon JP isn't up as of typing, but as *soon* as I can, I'll put it on the Yuricon Shop Light Novels Page and link to it here as well.***Yuri AnimeKatherine notes that the sketches for the opening sequence Utena director Ikuhara Kunihiko is ...
Yuri Manga: Burst Angel, Volume 3 (English)
2009-06-19 23:15:00
Answer: LoveQuestion: What is the one thing that defines something as being not a "monster?"In Volume 3 of Burst Angel, the revelation that Jo was actually created to be a monster comes too late for us to ever be able to believe it, because we've already seen the look in her eyes when she looks at Meg. And so has Meg.So, no matter what people say about Jo - no matter what Meg hears about her inhumanity, she knows damn well that Jo is really a human and really, truly, someone that she'd go to the wire for. It doesn't matter that Sei offers her scads of cash to stay away, that a crazy-ass killer named Rumpelstiltskin insists she was a cold-blooded killing machine or even an evil corporation that reveals Jo was created as a Genocide Angel, can keep her away from Jo's side.And that, my friends, is all we ever wanted to see out of this series. Jo and Meg together. And it is why the manga is orders better than the anime. Thankfully, the reproduction was up to snuff this time. At last,...
Yuri Doujinshi, Lesbian Comics and Other Neat Stuff
2009-06-15 20:12:00
Well, the first two event-filled weekends of my event-filled June are over and I thought I'd take a moment to review some stuff I have sitting here that doesn't fit into neat categories and, incidentally, ramble on a bit about related things.Let's start with the concept of Doujinshi. As you can see, we defined this in the Okazu Glossary as: Small-press or self-published works. Doujinshi are sometimes parodies of existing anime, manga, novels, games and even popular celebrities, but are also often original works. In Japan, there is a well-accepted undermarket of these works which often violate copyright as it is understood in the west.Here in the west, we also have doujinshi, which we often refer to as "Indie comics" or sometimes "Comix." Indie, short for Independent, which is shorthand for saying "Marvel and DC aren't hiring." lol Kidding, kidding. Comix are often meant to be alternative, underground or otherwise not for kiddies.The best Indie comics are incredible. Good or bad,...
Yuri News this Week - June 13, 2009
2009-06-13 15:15:00
Yuri EventsYuricon and ALC Publishing is, even as you read this, selling Grab Bags and Yuri Manga in Con Row at AnimeNEXT! Drop by tonight for the Yuri Panel at 6PM, in which we will talk about many things - almost all good. :-)***Yuri AnimeKatherine was pleased as punch to be able to share the news with the Yuricon Mailing List that "Aoi Hana is premiering [in Japan] on July 1, according to the website which has been newly revamped, complete with new anime art, a wallpaper section (an adorable relationship chart, and a ton of other material."Yuri Light NovelAnd again, top Yuri reporter Katherine would like you to know that Tiara Bunko has released a Yuri Light Novel, complete with illustrations by Chi-Ran called Ai Yuri Gakuin Youkoso E. The plot seems more of the same, but, hey, *more* of the same!***Yuri MangaThe second volume of Creo the Crimson Crisis arriving on shelves next week is excellent testimony to the fact that my opinion is hardly the only one. :-) And don't forget y...
Yuri Anime: El Hazard - Magnificent World (English)
2009-06-09 00:00:00
I know I've told the tale many times, about how Sailor Moon was my gateway into Yuri. But it was not my gateway into anime. My first anime was back when I was watching Star Blazers after school and instinctively understanding that anime was a black hole into which all my time and money would go, so I avoided it like the plague. A decade later, I was teaching martial arts and hanging with a group of other MA teachers. We'd get together and watch crappy movies and stuff and one day one of them brought along Tenchi Muyo, the TV series, and for some reason, we all got hooked on it. We watched that and the movies...I'll never forget how filthy the third movie made us all feel. lolBecause, or perhaps despite the fact that Tenchi was one of my gateway anime, I somehow managed to skip El Hazard...until now. Of course I had *heard* of El Hazard. I knew of Fatora and Alielle. But I had never actually watched the anime.When I announced on Twitter that I was about to embark upon watching Mag...
This Week in Yuri - June 6, 2009
2009-06-06 04:30:00
I, Rica Takashima and some our our Yuricon folks are at MoCCA Fest in NYC (at Table 516 PRISM Comics) today. I hope we'll see you there!In the meantime, a short, bittersweet news report.Yuri Manga Creator of classic Yuri manga Paros no Ken, and grandmother to the Light Novel and Josei genres, Kumimoto Kaoru, died at 56 years old from cancer last week. Her influence can be felt in many different ways and her contributions to both the Japanese and English manga industry are myriad. She will be greatly missed.Manga to be on the lookout for in July:Tact collection by Sakuraike, a prominent Yuri doujinshi circle. If this gets mainstream distribution, I will be sure to link to it.Linkage by Uso Kurata, a collection from Yuri Hime Comics.Nettai Shoujo by Yoshitomi Akihito, a Yuri Hime S collection.(There are many more than this, of course. If you notice I only post a few at a time so you don't get overwhelmed with a long laundry list, in case you were wondering. ^^;)***Yuri AnimeSentai A...
Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime, Volume 16 (Part 2)
2009-06-05 19:18:00
The second half of The Comic Yuri Hime, Volum 16 starts off with what I consider to be an interesting turn of events. In "Honey Mustard" Morishima Akiko details a silly little story of two careerwomen, Kaori and Mitsuki. Some years ago they were lovers, but are now good friends - then rivals, as they fall for the ubercute server at the window of what we used to call in college a "grease truck." Mai finds both women attractive in their own way, but her coworker, Chiho is less enthusiastic because she is, quite clearly jealous. The story itself is cute. It's nice to see more adult characters, but that is not particularly what interested me. What interested me was something Chiho said. In response to Mai's comment about how attractive both Kaori and Mitsuki were, Chiho says "My gut tells me that those two aren't like us." In fact, she uses a phrase "Kocchi no Ke." I'm not sure I'm going to be able to explain this right, so my apologies if I cock this up but in this sense "ke" is a...
Yuri Manga: Comic Yuri Hime, Volume 16 (Part 1)
2009-06-04 21:01:00
The 16th Volume of Comic Yuri Hime starts off with a big "Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan" presence. Sarasa, Seriho and two new characters, Mana-chan and Shiko, adorn the cover. Inside the cover is the "Pink Princess" Drama CD in which we are introduced to Manako and Shiko.This is followed by something I do not particularly care for. There is a thing that Japanese seiyuu do, to play with the images of their characters and as a form of service, where they pose or imply Yuri between them and the other actress(es) who voice characters in the same show/CD. It's pretty popular among fans, there's even blogs that track this fake lesbian coupling among seiyuu...but it really kinda squicks me. They aren't a couple, and they don't look like they even want to touch each other. It strikes me as icky, not cute. Nonetheless, those kinds of pictures accompany completely banal interviews with the voice actresses of "Pink Princess," and more ads for the delayed first volume of Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan...
Yuri Manga: Negima!
2009-06-03 17:40:00
It's Wednesday, which must mean it's time for a Guest Review! Today Sean Gaffney will catch us up to date on the Yuri in Negima! Magister Negi Magi. Take it away, Sean!I haven't done a review going into the Yuri in Negima in a long time. Mostly as there's been almost nothing to say. The only Yuri couple with any subtext, Setsuna and Konoka, have remained pretty much at a stasis for about 20 volumes. However, this new arc in the Magic World seems to be finally showing some character development. Tsukuyomi, the Evil Psychotic Lesbian of Negima (whose psychotic crush on Setsuna is shown even more blatantly, to the point of verging on attempted rape), notes that Setsuna is weaker now that she's more 'human', and notes that she'll never be able to protect her ojou-sama that way. (This will be in Volume 25, which should be released here in early 2010.) We're now 3 volumes later (i.e. what you'll see at the END of 2010), and Setsuna is still worrying about this. This is unsurpris...
Yuri Manga: Hayate x Blade, Volume 3 (English)
2009-06-02 20:56:00
I told you, didn't I? I've been telling you for years now and you *finally* realize that I haven't been lying. Hayate x Blade, Volume 3 is...awesome.In this volume, two major things happen - we start to learn that the characters we all thought were idiots are in, fact, amazingly, stupendously cool. And we also learn that as amazingly, stupendously cool as they are...they are still all idiots. :-)You are not alone when you decide that Jun is the most amazingly, stupendously cool character, by the way. As you will see in the next volume. You may also be amused, but not at all surprised, to learn that Jun is voiced on the Drama CDs by Toyoguchi Megumi. Yes, she *is* the Sei of this series - it wasn't just your imagination.So, in Volume 3, we realize that Ayana is deeper than just being a grumpy old grump and Hayate has a lot to learn and Jun has a very important person in her life and that person is quite amusingly broken. We also learn that Hitsugi and Shizuku are awesome. We actu...
Yuri News This Week - May 30, 2009
2009-05-30 19:35:00
Once again, we are off in a blaze of Yuri!Yuri MangaFrom a conversation on the #lililicious channel on IRC, Erin S is pleased to report two new Yamaji Ebine books, Aoaza Shimi and Ai no Jikan. Be warned however that the second is not Yuri in any way - it's about a possibly gay girl who falls in love with a definitely gay man after he saves her from being stabbed by a rapist. (It was a really depressing story, I read it for many chapters in Feel Comic.) The first title looks more promising.Anonymous says that Gunsmith Cats Burst Volume 4 in English is tentatively due out in Autumn 2009 , while Volume 5 is planned for Spring 2010. (Yay!!!!!)Coming next month from Ichijinsha is Butterfly 69, the collection from Natsuneko. Woot.And double woot for Hayate x Blade 10 also hitting the shelves next month. The current arc is amazing, btw. :-D***Yuri AnimeSean reports back from the Funimation panel at Anime North, where he dutifully asked them about things that I care about. Sadly, they have...
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