While I enjoy the delights of Pittsburgh's Comic Con, you can enjoy the delights of *not* being at Pittsburgh's Comic-Con!Yuri Manga
YNN Correspondent Erin S. wants us all to know that Comic Yuri Hime will be going bimonthly. (Insert obligatory "bi" jokes" here.) This is excellent news on all levels.
And YNN correspondent Sean G gleefully points out that Adam Arnold of Seven Seas wrote about plans for Hayate x Blade and why Strawberry Shake Sweet never got over here on the Shoujoai-Archive Forums.
I'd like to take this opportunity to once again address the issue of fan paranoia. Companies are NOT out to get you, screw you or otherwise do you in. Please, I beg you all, stop assuming the worst of every company. There is no company in the western manga industry that is doing anything other than doing their *very* best - with exceedingly limited resources - to bring you manga to read. Support them, stand by them, give them encouragement. Assuming the worst of them all the time is horribly disheartening to the people who are trying hard to do the best they can. Seven Seas has been honest, friendly, approachable and their quality has been top notch from beginning to end. They are also a business, so of course sometimes they will make decisions you don't like, but I can guarantee that are doing their best to publish what they think you want to buy. Making them your enemy is weird and delusional. (Note to the extra frothy commenters that will follow this statement - seriously, it's you. If you are getting THAT worked up about being denied something that is a comic book...it's you.)
I completely forget to mention that a new series started in Ultra Jump that has some Yuri-service. It's called "Sayonara Summer" and I think the service will be a regular feature, as the female protagonist professes to like girls. And she has some serious issues with baseball, as well. It looks interesting - if it becomes something worth watching, I'll make sure to point it out.
Erin S. also want to make sure you know that Yotsuhara Furiko's Sleeping Beauty is available for your reading pleasure.
The third volume of Watashi no Taisetsuna Tomodachi by Hakamada Mera is also out. One of the odd things about Mera's work is that I always forget that she's got all these series out there and then am surprised all over again when they pop pack into the news report. :-)
And I'm sure that someone is interested in knowing that the third volume of Creo the Crimson Crisis is available.
And I'm not sure if I told you that the Shoujo Yuri anthology will be getting a second volume or not. Well, it is. And this one will include stories by Kitao Taki and Mitou Kana, also known as Sakuraike, so at least two stories will definitely be good. :-) If there was anything that might tempt me to buy another volume - that was it.
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Yuri Anime
Media Blasters is streaming dubbed episodes of Magic Knight Rayearth on Hulu. They already have Ikkitousen available on the video streaming service. Go Media Blasters! Work those properties, you sexy thangs.
I started to watch Seikon no Kwaser, but when I started tasting bile, I stopped. Guest Review fodder if ever there was.
Yuri has also reared it's gothic head in the newest Precure property, Heartcatch PreCure. There's definitely *something* between Dark Cure and Cure Moonlight. I like to pretend it's a relationship. :-)
A new anime for this year, called Tamayura, has some serious potential, as well. It's been on all the Yuri lists, has the staff that worked on Aria and Satou Junichi for a director. In a waterfront town, a girl who loves taking pictures, ends up taking a picture of a fairy-like girl and her life is changed. It sounds sweet, and the buzz is that the Yuri will be a major-ish part of the story.
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Snatches of Yuri
In Literary - Mikaze High School Literary Club, the Belles Letters club of a school includes and encourages all genres - including BL and GL. The art kind of put me off, but I think I'm going to give this one a try.
YuyuShiki, Volume 2, is a 4-koma with skinship and possible actual Yuri interest. Volume 2 seems to up the level somewhat.
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Other LGBT News
In what I think surely must win the "Whuh...?" Award this week, Archie Comics has introduced a gay character, Kevin. Just to add to the "Whuh...?" factor, he comes out first to Jughead. In my childhood, Jughead would have responded to a comment like, 'I'm gay" with something high-larious like, "Well you sure seem happy to me!" but that's an ancient Jughead. This one cleverly plans to use disinformation to shame Veronica. How 90210 of him.
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That's a wrap for this week.
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Thanks to all of you - you make this a great Yuri Network!