As literally everyone and their mom did during quarantine , I too decided to re-watch the Avatar series, starting with The Last Airbender, of course, finishing all three seasons in lighting speed, and then moving on to The Legend of Korra, taking my time with the 4 seasons and appreciating every Korrasami moment I could get.
I only realized midway through The Legend of Korra that besides the comics that were available for both series, there was also something else – a novel featuring another Avatar. But it would not be the Earthbender following after Korra, but instead one of the past Avatars, even predating the one before Aang.
As we do at the beginning of every month, it’s time to recap what’s been going on in the world of yuri. If we missed something important, feel free to let us know in the comments, but without further ado, let’s get started.
First up, we’re just over a month away from the premiere of the anime adaptation of Adachi to Shimamura, and to tide us over until then, a new PV and key visual have been released. The E.T. vibes of the visual are nice, and the PV? It further cements this as a “can’t-miss” anime for yuri fans.
The sweet tone of the PV is something I’ve been missing from all these other anime, and with the yuri drought we’ve been experiencing almost at its end, Adachi to Shimamura should be the most anticipated yuri anime since Bloom Into You. But that’s not all the AdaShima news there is to pass along…
Synopsis: A catastrophic earthquake has left Tokyo, and most of the Earth for that matter, under the sea. Aika is a salvager who retrieves various remains from the watery ruins. When Aika accepts the dangerous mission of locating and obtaining the mysterious Lagu, she discovers that she’s not the only one after it.
STORY
First off, I should mention that this OVA is listed as having seven episodes, but the last three of those are essentially filler, so for maximum enjoyment, I’d recommend just to stop watching after episode four.
Synopsis: It is the year 4999 – mankind has long abandoned war in favor of intergalactic competition through athletic events. One of which is an all-female contest for the coveted “Cosmo Beauty” title. Akari Kanzaki has just entered the University Satellite in hopes of becoming the latest Cosmic Beauty – a title held by her mother long ago. On her first few days in the university, she meets new friends, encounters fierce rivals, and struggles to become the best of all the Battle Athletes.
Synopsis: For many individuals in N-City, playing the popular social role-playing game Magical Girl Raising Project is as close as they could come to being a real magical girl. However, for some rare players, that dream can become a reality. One such girl is Koyuki Himekawa, who receives a notification one night that she has been selected to become a magical girl, her in-game avatar Snow White.
As Koyuki and other chosen players in the city begin helping those in need, they all receive yet another notification: the admins have decided that they want to reduce the number of magical girls. Whoever collects the least amount of Magical Candies—which are awarded for their magical girl activities—in their competition each week will lose their powers. But when a real-world tragedy happens to the first player that drops out, they are shown the repercussions of losing their abilities. As more participants inevitably lose the competition and more twisted rules are added, the girls soon realize that their “contest” is actually a desperate fight for survival.
It’s that time of the month again, time to go over what’s been happening in the world of yuri anime, manga, and visual novels. So sit back, relax, and enjoy August’s Yuri News Update~
And as usual, if we missed anything important, let us know in the comments.
There are a lot of manga licenses to get to, so let’s start off with one. Thanks to the kind folks at Seven Seas, Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon will be brought to audiences in North America, with the first volume being released in February 2021. In case you’re not familiar with it, here’s the description.
Uno Hinako throws herself into makeup, fashion, and falling in love, hoping that will make her seem “normal” to the other people at her job. But no matter how hard she tries, she’s a self-doubting mess inside, and her attempts at “normal” romance with men just keep failing. When she starts to think she might be alone forever, a new normal presents itself–in the form of her relationship with Sato Asahi, a level-headed woman who works at her company, which starts as respect until it becomes far more intimate.
While yuri anime fans have to make do with the typical assortment of idols, magical girls, and school girls, yuri manga fans get interesting stories like this, and I’d be lying if I said I’m not jealous. Not every story has to star fifteen-year-olds, so manga fans have it pretty dman good, especially with all these licenses that keep coming down the pike.
Synopsis: Most people would prefer being the protagonist of a world full of adventure, be it in a game or in another world. But, unfortunately, a certain girl is not so lucky. Regaining the memories of her past life, she realizes that she was reborn in the world of Fortune Lover—one of the games she used to play.
Unfortunately, the character she was reincarnated into—Katarina Claes—is the game’s main antagonist, who faces utter doom in every ending. Using her extensive knowledge of the game, she takes it upon herself to escape from the chains of this accursed destiny.
However, this will not be an easy feat, especially since she needs to be cautious as to not set off death flags that may speed up the impending doom she is trying to avoid. Even so, to make a change that will affect the lives of everyone around her, she strives—not as the heroine—but as the villainess.
STORY
Given the current state of anime, I know a lot of people might be experiencing isekai fatigue right about now, and I thought I was too, until I started watching My Next Life as a Villainess, which I’ll be calling Hamefura for the remainder of the review. Thanks to mediocre anime like BOFURI, my expectations are pretty low for shows in this genre. A reason why I felt differently about this anime isn’t because Hamefura does anything radically different than other isekai anime, it’s simply because the show seemed fun and clever, two things I personally haven’t felt about this genre since the olden days of SAO and The Devil is a Part-Timer!.
