Of course I picked out froggy bowls~  And my girlfriend, she picked out normal ones o..o~  But these ones are better~

Oh, also.  Lots of yuri.  It’s coming.  Yep.  It’s coming.

Oh, and here’s some Misaki/Hatoko.  Lately I’ve been drawing a lot and I decided to draw them.  Little do most people know, they are my all time favorite pairing.  Though, I’d say Madoka/Homura rank equally with Misaki/Hatoko… It’s just that I didn’t grow up writing fanfiction for MadoHomu.

Also, Madoka-sama loves you.

Himawari: Friend with one of those promises.
Wakaba: She’s finally got an opening to be Momo’s Nee-san*.
Aoi: Waifu.

Is it just me, or does Aoi seem to be the only one genuinely upset here?  Hmm…  Though there was heavy tomato innuendo this episode…  Maybe this has something to do with Akane’s tomato?

* And lover.

In the final chapter of Blue Friend, 2nd Season, Aki stirs up trouble for Kanako and Ao.

About Blue Friend: 2nd Season
Blue Friend, 2nd Season is a new serialization with different characters than the first series (Blue Friend). The first chapter was published in the July edition of Ribon. The manga ran for five chapters, and this is the last chapter.

Author:
えばんふみ　Eban Fumi

Original Title:
「ブルーフレンド:セカンドシーズン」

Published In:
Ribon (りぼん)　11/2011

Project Page: http://www.yurikai.com/blue-friend-2nd-season

Thank you Winterbraid for proofreading~

Please do not host or mirror this file nor its contents.

Momo knows best.

So hello peoples.

Blue Friend, 2nd Season: Chapter 5 (end) is pretty close now.  I powered through the required 20 hours of scan cleaning this week and will start typesetting tomorrow.  With any luck it should be out before the end of the weekend, but that’s more of a best case scenario.  Regardless, it will be soon.

This evening I was curious about the next part of Blue Friend and decided to take a look.  The talented Eban Fumi put out another chapter of Blue Friend shortly after the 2nd season ended and I had always assumed it would be Kanako/Ao… But upon closer inspection I discovered that it wasn’t.  It turns out that it’s a spin-off one-shot entitled 虹色の彼女, lit. ‘Rainbow-colored Girls’.  It is very tempting to translate it tomorrow, but I kind of want the 2nd Season done.  Kanako and Ao make such a cute pairing.  The ending is really nice, look forward to it!  There is also some extra 4koma in the tankoubon, but they probably won’t be released right away.  Since I scanned from the original manga, my tankoubon is still in-tact.

In other news, Vividred continues to be my Thursday highlight.  I decided I liked Wakaba/Momo so much I drew a picture (above).  Aoi still seems like the winner for Akane, but as for the rest of them… Still not sure.  There has so far been no chemistry between the trope masters Shinomiya Himawari and Kuroki Rei, but we’ll see.  That would make this easy… So far it’s been way to difficult.  Akane’s screen time with all the characters makes her super pairable with everyone.  The only difference between Aoi and the rest of the cast is that Aoi was totally into Akane from the get-go.  Anyways, I guess we wait and see.

Next post: Blue Friend!

My brain screams Nanoha.

Sooo… I had to write about this series because it’s been so fun.  I watched episode 1 yesterday and watched the recent episode 2 just now, and I must say that it looks like a winner.  There will probably be some slight spoilers so you’ve been warned (just go watch the first two episodes and then there is nothing to spoil).

Vividred feels like a mash-up of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Precure, and Rinne no Lagrange.  I didn’t see Strike Witches (yet), but I’m catching elements from there too.  Considering the demographic that the series is specifically targeting (older male audience), and the influences listed above, I have very high hopes for continued subtext.  I think the question is more how the series will handle the addition of two more characters (as hinted by the OP/ED) as well as just how strong the subtext may end up being.

Part of me feels, and secretly hopes, the series will break step from the recent orgy approach in anime and reinforce key pairings (ie Madoka Magika) rather than water them down (ie Lagrange).  This would almost be too goo to be true, but one can hope.  Also, I wouldn’t mind if they toned down the fanservice.  Let’s hope it’s like Kiddy Grade and the fanservice dies down to a quiet murmur by the end (though of course, no magic transformation sequence is adequate without some skin).

The Akane/Aoi pairing comes across as pretty strong and already feels like it will be a cult favorite.  Generally my work with DoujinPress requires me to keep track of series/pairings that may possibly become popular, and I think Vividred already has the basics.  However, due to it’s non-universal appeal because of its fanservicey nature and flat out male demographic target, it’s popularity won’t be anything like Madoka Magika.

Anyways, my forecast is as follows:

Strong mutual subtextual relationships
Predicted a 7.8/10 on my yuri meter which is just shy of the 8.5 reserved for overt lesbian relationships.  Overall a predicted 7.5/10 for the series as a whole, with negative points for too much fanservice and positive points for the sparse but enjoyable ingenuity.  Bonus points if Akane and Aoi enjoy a tender kiss on the lips and transform into goddess-incarnate.  We’ll see.

Oh yea, I want to kill the forums.  I’m so sick of this spam stuff.

So yeah, back to Comiket.  I was there all three days and spent something like $500.  I stood in line for Hakka-ya and then bolted to the rest of the tables.  I don’t even have a complete list of all the circles I visited because I wandered, but I do know what series I bought:

• Madoka Magica, mostly Madoka/Homura
• Precure, mostly Nao/Reika
• Hidamari Sketch, couldn’t find much Yuno/Miyako but I did find Hiro/Sae
• Rinne no Lagrange, one Madoka/Lan (I am sooo happy about this even though it turned out to be a lackluster series)
• YuruYuri, mostly Sakurako/Himawari
• Hakka-ya’s Saki stuff, and her Girls und Panzer book too!
• Some original stories

Ummm… I forget what else.  To be honest, I haven’t really had a chance to look through it all much since I got back.  It’s been extraordinarily busy.  Even today, I shouldn’t be typing this.  I should be doing laundry, cleaning the kitchen, packing up the last of the DP orders due out tomorrow…

Speaking of DP, I recently announced a couple of collaboration books that are relevant to the yuri community.  Here is the original post:

Starting in 2013 DoujinPress will be putting together collaboration books.  Quality entries are accepted from even non-DP artists.  These can be B/W manga pieces or full color artwork.  Collaboration books will have their own deadlines.  Each book has a theme or series.  All involved artists will be given 5+ copies of the book for free, depending on what they submit (shipping not included).  Key artists that put in more than 25% of the book will be given a cut of the sales.  Collaboration books are mostly for promoting artists, but with the free copies it’d be easy to make some money as well.  Additional copies can be purchased at artist price (email for details).

Currently planned collaborations:
Madoka Magica (Focus on witches but main characters okay too, non-adult, color, cover by PurpleKecleon)
Ib (No specific focus, non-adult, color, cover not decided)
Collaboration submissions due March 8th.

Please notify me if you are planning to submit for the books.  Collaboration submissions should be emailed to: collabs@doujinpress.com.  Questions should be emailed to kira@doujinpress.com.  DoujinPress reserves the right to reject any submission.

If you’d like to suggest a collaboration book, please email me.

Personally I’d like to see some yuri in both books, so if you or a friend of yours is a talented artist and wants to get involved with a cool book (and assist young girls in the rewarding and righteous path of lesbianism), email me~

And lastly, I’d like to announce a new DoujinPress book from House of Sixten featuring the Lunasa x Shizuha pairing:

Autumn Children

Shizuha the goddess of the autumn leaves is filled with envy for her popular and well known sister, the goddess of harvest Minoriko. Faced with a demon’s plan and supported by the new found friendship of believer, what will Shizuha do?

So that’s that. Stay tuned for more Blue Friend and stuffs!

On a side note, if you are a yuri fan and reside in Japan and are not a creeper, let me know too!

In the Blue Friend Volume 2 finale, Ayumu and Misuzu participate in a school play and make plans for their future.

Includes a very special extra illustration by the talented Ninamo. Those interested in supporting Ninamo’s work can purchase a copy of the print here.

Author:
えばんふみ　Eban Fumi

Original Title:
「ブルーフレンド」

Project Page: http://www.yurikai.com/blue-friend

Many thanks to Winterbraid, Anjou and Kasda for helping to make this release possible.  This completes the Ayumu/Misuzu Blue Friend arc.  Stay tuned for the conclusion of 2nd Season.

Please do not host or mirror this file nor its contents.

Blue Friend: 2nd Season, Chapter 5 is next on the list.  I will try and power out most of the editing this weekend~

Yurikai is getting an overall sometime next year… As soon as my schedule allows it.