Yuri News Update: May 2018

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There’s a lot to cover in this Yuri News Update, so let’s get started~

bloom into you anime

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard about the amazing news that Bloom Into You is getting an anime adaptation.

Unlike some other recent yuri anime adaptations *cough* Netsuzou TRap & Tachibanakan Triangle *cough*, an anime studio with some respectable titles under its belt will be handling this in TROYCA (Aldnoah.Zero, Re:Creators, and Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru).

When we last checked in, this was a leak that had yet to be confirmed, but it’s now official, and October is when this is set to premiere. If you remember, last year, Bloom Into You won our Yuri Tournament to decide which yuri manga was most deserving of an anime adaptation, so I think it’s safe to say that all of you folks who voted for it are responsible for this. Thanks. 😉

oshi ga budoukan ittekuretara shinu

Next up, don’t look now, but yet another yuri manga is getting an anime adaptation!

The manga in question is Oshi ga Budoukan Ittekuretara Shinu, and admittedly, I’m not familiar with it at all, but it does have the “Shoujo Ai” tag on Baka-Updates, so that has to count for something, right?

Here’s the synopsis, in case anyone else is as perplexed as I am. 😀

ChamJam is an indies idol group that is active in the Okayama Prefecture. A fan, who goes under the name of “Eripiyo,” supports the least popular member Mana Ichii. Eripiyo is so obsessed that she uses her all of her money to buy merchandise, and wears a red jersey as her school uniform. She also gets nose bleeds during live performances because she loves Mana so much. Until Mana gets to perform at the Budoukan venue, Eripiyo’s full idol otaku life continues.

I have no idea what to expect, but hopefully this isn’t just some yuri bait, and after the Netsuzou TRap and Tachibanakan Triangle anime adaptations, you have to wonder if this will be yet another short-form anime of iffy quality that’s rushed out the door…

On the bright side, the manga seems to have been well-received, with a score of 8.50 on MyAnimeList (even though that’s only from 10 users), and if you’re familiar with the manga, let us know a little bit about it in the comments~

kindred spirits on the roof yuri visual novel

We go from some potentially exciting news, to some potentially depressing news.

Several developers and publishers have recently received an ultimatum from Valve, the owner and operator of the uber successful PC digital distribution platform Steam: remove sexual content from your games, or they’ll be removed from the Steam store.

MangaGamer, Lupiesoft, and Sekai Project are among those affected, although as quickly as this news broke, there’s already an update.

Lupiesoft, MangaGamer, and Sekai Project have since said that they’ve been contacted by Valve and been notified that their games are being re-evaluated for content and are no longer in danger of being outright pulled from the Steam store in the immediate future. They’re not totally in the clear just yet, but at least this is a good first step to getting a fair shake.

It seems as though Valve’s policies regarding sexual content on Steam are written in crayon on the back of a napkin, because we’ve gone from games with sexual content being pulled from Steam Greenlight, to games like Kindred Spirits on the Roof given the go-ahead to release on Steam uncensored, to numerous other “adult” games also following suit, to this sudden backpedaling on Valve’s behalf.

Many of these developers and publishers are said to have run their titles by Valve and have been given clearance, but Valve apparently now has other ideas. Curiously, all of the games that have been flagged seem to feature anime-style artwork, yet other games with nudity and sexual content remain free to do business on Steam, so what gives?

Fan-favorite Kindred Spirits on the Roof is one of the titles that’s been threatened, but, of course, there are other avenues in which games like this can continue to be sold. It’s already encouraging to see MangaGamer and JAST USA open their doors and offer their platforms to others, and if this situation ends badly for the publishers and developers in question, I wouldn’t be that surprised to see others follow suit.

Still, removal from the dominant PC digital distribution platform would no doubt have an adverse effect on the bottom line of these publishers and developers, and a dev from Lupiesoft has stated that Steam accounts for a whopping 80% of their revenue, so this is a very big deal for the creators of these games.

Censorship is a tricky subject, and after all of the progress that visual novels have made, something like this threatens to undo some of that progress. Here’s to hoping that this whole situation gets resolved in a fair manner.

mangagamer gog visual novels

And that’s a great segue to this next story. We’re starting to see game publishers and developers branch out and offer their titles on digital distribution platforms other than Steam.

MangaGamer and Sekai Project have announced that they’re bringing some of their visual novels to GOG, a digital distribution platform that, unlike Steam, sells games that are DRM-free. At this point, none of the titles added are yuri visual novels, but MangaGamer says that they’re working closely with GOG to bring nine more titles to the platform, including Kindred Spirits on the Roof and Sono Hanabira: Maidens of Michael.

But it’s not only GOG that’s getting in on the action. Fakku—the largest English-language hentai publisher in the world—is also a beneficiary of this, as they’ve recently added yuri visual novels The Menagerie and The Stargazers to their games offerings.

No matter what happens regarding the Steam drama, it’s great that these publishers and developers are creating new retail partnerships and finding other avenues in which to sell their games to the masses. It’s truly a win-win for creators and gamers alike~

tsui yuri visual novel sisterly bliss

Keeping with the positive visual novel news, during the 2018 Anime Central convention, it was announced that Tsui Yuri is finally getting an English translation, courtesy of MangaGamer.

Sisterly Bliss ~Don’t Let Mom Find Out~ (which is a hilariously awesome title, by the way) is the game’s new name, and even though we don’t yet have a release date for this, it’s yet another welcome addition that I’m sure yuri fans will enjoy.

highway blossoms remastered

In more visual novel news, it’s been a couple of years since its release, but Highway Blossoms: Remastered has finally landed, bringing with it full English voice acting, a remastered soundtrack with three new tracks, some remade CG’s, and more Steam achievements, among other things.

The update is free to owners of the original or $12.99 on Steam for those who have yet to pick it up. You can get it right here~

princess principal anime

Keeping the positivity going, we’ll be seeing A LOT more of one of 2017’s biggest surprises, Princess Principal.

It’s been announced that six, yes, SIX, sequel films will begin hitting theaters starting in 2019. And these won’t be compilation films either. They’re brand-new works that pick up where the anime left off, so this is huge news for fans of the series.

This anime came out of nowhere and proved to be a breath of fresh air in the action genre, but the best part? That would be Ange x Charlotte. If you weren’t already on the PriPri bandwagon, there’s still room, so welcome aboard~

strawberry panic blu-ray

If you’ve been holding out on owning the DVD set of Strawberry Panic in favor of the inevitable Blu-ray version, you’re time has finally come.

Right Stuf has listed the set for pre-order, with the release set for June 26th. It’s great to see an all-time yuri classic get the Blu-ray treatment, so if you’ve got some extra cash burning a hole in your pocket, this seems like a worthwhile investment. Now, let’s do the same for some other yuri classics!

Last but not least, we have a little something extra to hold us over until the Kase-san OVA debuts next month. A new visual has been unveiled, which somehow makes the wait seem even longer…

kase-san anime

Pretty nice, huh? We’re only a few weeks away from the big day (June 9th, so mark your calendars), and it’s still a little surreal how great this year is shaping up to be for yuri fans. The only thing that could make 2018 even better is this OVA being a massive success that leads to a full-blown TV anime. Oh, and a Girl Friends anime adaptation. That, too. 😛

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30 thoughts on “Yuri News Update: May 2018”

  1. Didn’t talk about the Valve scandal in a post, instead choosing to tweet about and RT’ing details. Easier that way. Don’t have much to add. It’s good that other avenues have opened up for VN developers and publishers to sell the Yuri merch at. Valve being stupid…again, may affect the VNs’ promoting with them losing the (sadly) #1 online game store but that just means EVERY time we talk about the games it’s recommended to include every online store they’re available to purchase at.

    Not much else to add. Hopefully the “company of gloom and doom” won’t be picking up that hardcore idol fangirl show.

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  2. All great news, even Strawberry Panic!, a show I have a huge grudge against. (The show is fine, except for the sinking my favorite ship, literally seconds before the end of the show, snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory!)
    The steam thing was horrible, and showed Steam has different standards for indie games and AAA games. Games like The Witcher, GTA V, God of War, Dante’s Inferno, (which are all fun games in their own right, make no mistake, not bashing them or anything) all have nudity, hell, Conan Exiles has a dong slider! and all of them are perfectly allowed and not given a second thought. If they are going to have separate rules for AAA developers and Indie developers, that is fine, but they need to update their guidelines and TOS to reflect that, and not just appear to be neutral, that just seems shady.
    The Princess Principal is my favorite news, I LOVED the show, from it’s steampunk-esque spy theme (more shows and games should be steampunk!) to the heavy Ange x Charlotte subtext. Hopefully (and still a long shot) they actually develop something with that in the movies to come!
    Can’t wait for Bloom Into You’s anime adaptation either!
    Keep reporting the good news!

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    • The whole valve thing really upset me. From what I could tell, it really did seem like they were targeting games with supposed pornographic content that were anime-styled and often featured homosexual undertones, while turning a blind eye to a lot of triple-A games. Then it seemed that it was the doing of some conservative anti-porn group. I don’t know how much of this is true, but it rubbed me the wrong way especially since they singled out one of my favorite VNs of all time: Kindred Spirits on the Roof. 😡 I do like what MangaGamer had to say about Kindred Spirits on the Roof on their site: “We stand by our assertion then that content of the game is not pornographic, but an earnest and tasteful exploration of sexuality.”

      If they’re going to do this for real, I might be able to get behind it, but it had better be clearly stated, and applied to ALL games on their platform…

      Apparently, as a reaction, Lupiesoft put their title Mutiny!! on sale. It now retails on steam for about $1.00 USD, so in support for them (and also because it’s just $1), I just bought it blind. 😛 I’m told there’s some yuri in it. Has anyone here played it?

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  3. Princess Principal was a great anime, (it’s a shame Made in Abyss completely blew it out the water) and Im looking forward to see how the ship between the protagonist develops, hopefully with how Yuri is beginning to gain moderate popularity, we might get just that.

    Let’s also not forget the fact that Happy Sugar Life will get an anime as well, I understand why there isn’t many people excited about it, but still, more gay stuff to enjoy.

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    • More gay stuff to enjoy indeed.
      Well, sorry to say this but I’m also not thaaaaat excited about Happy Sugar Life since I fear it might turn out not so great, but we’ll see in a bit I guess.

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  5. Huh. I totally missed the Remastered Highway Blossoms! Looks like I know what I’m going to be playing later this evening. (though I know I’ll still want to slap some sense into Amber.)

    Bloom into You will air in October? I hope that’s enough time for them to put it together, but on the other hand, I can’t wait to see the first episode!

    Also, Tsui Yuri sounds interesting. I think it may be doing of Candy Boy, but I’m weirdly not bothered by yuri twincest. And I have to admit, the title made me smile too.

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  6. I can’t wait for Bloom into You, Kase-san and the Princess Principal movies. Perhaps you guys have posted this previously, but; https://twitter.com/asagao_anime/status/995540911802105862 and https://twitter.com/asagao_anime/status/993429637408608256 are both artworks for the anime. It is sad to see steam suddenly changing their policies regarding nudity and sex. I have no problem if they want to remove pornography from their platform, but then they should remove AAA and Indie titles, as well as the ridiculous amount of nukige found on the platform!

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    • Yeah it’s something we don’t understand and I honestly wonder how this will turn out…
      Well, I do have my hopes up that the right people will see how this is wrong.

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  8. This is quite the yuri news update! It is always a good thing when there is so much going on in the world of yuri! 😀 Glad to know we can look forward to seeing the Bloom into You anime in October! The four months we have to wait until then are going to be brutal though!

    That new yuri anime adaptation of Oshi ga Budoukan Ittekuretara Shinu really came out of nowhere, I only heard of the manga in passing and always thought is was more along the lines of Love Live with no real yuri aside from subtext. But seeing how it has been described as well as the positive reception to the manga I am hopeful the anime will deliver some great things in the yuri department! What is that like the 5th yuri anime to be announced this year? Things just keep getting better and better dont they? XD

    When I heard the news about yuri visual novels being threatened with removal on Steam I got worried that some of the games I payed good money for would be taken away from me. Hopefully that wont be the case but now it seems Steam is an unreliable source when it comes to Yuri visual novels. Just glad GOG was able to step in as a savior. Any future yuri VN that are released on both platforms I will definitely go for supporting GOG. Steam’s policies are just all over the place when it comes to content in games like this and it’s pretty hypocritical of Valve to target visual novels that do there best to follow there guidelines in terms of sexual content, but when conservative groups make a big stink over nothing Valve caves into there demands, but they refuse to remove any conventional games that have sexual content like the Mass Effect aeries, the Witcher series or even the GTA series. This is yet another reason to hate on Valve right up there with the fact they wont make another Half-Life or Portal game. At least we have a new yuri visual novel to look forward to with Tsui Yuri! Will be buying that on MangaGamer or GOG when it comes out for sure! So many Yuri visual novels to buy and play so little time! 😀

    I was surprised yet super happy to see that Strawberry Panic is being re released on Blu-Ray! I have the full series on separate DVD volumes as well as in a complete series DVD set, but I have every intention to buy this new Blu-Ray release just so I can continue to support yuri and to see one of the greatest yuri anime of all time in glorious high definition! I just hope series like Kannazuki no Miko and Simoun are released on Blu-Ray sometime in the future as well! 😀

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    • Haha I just knew that someone in the comments would pick up on the whole “no more Half-Life”-meme that has been going for years now 😀
      I was seriously waiting for someone to top it all off with it, well done! 😀

      But yeah, all jokes aside… this sucks big time…

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  9. I bought Strawberry Panic on DVD from a third party amazon seller last year, I’d already seen it and had other stuff to watch so it sat on a shelf for a long time. When I finally go to rewatch it, it doesn’t play. They looked like legit, full color printed discs but the reader side of the disc was purple like a CDR. I put them in my PC and every disc was full of hundreds of 30 second, odd resolution . WMV file clips of Yu Yu Hakasho. Easily the most bizarre third party seller scam I’ve ever seen, I’d owned it far too long to return it though.

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  14. Not entirely sure if this counts as yuri news or not but:
    There is supposedly going to be a reboot of MTV’s Daria in a new show called “Daria & Jodie”

    Talk about a blast from the past. And yes, I shipped them way back then. 😛

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