Another definition of the word "canon" in this case is also specifically a type of musical piece of work. This is the wikipedia article on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_(music) -- the main idea is that there are multiple "voices" repeating the same melody of music. The musical canons that the teacher's teacher used to play can be seen as a metaphor for the "repeating patterns of first love", so that the teacher coming to like canons again shows how she's regained an appreciation for love.

Are you sayin' that you want to see more chibified versions or that you're glad that there's less of them? o.O
Uh.. I also like it :)

Anyway, as for this, I liked the chibified versions, lol. However, I also still really like Kazuma Kowo's later work which doesn't have them. So I guess my main point was just that I like her work either way :P. Maybe that I'm also a little curious about if Kazuma Kowo has noticed she's stopped doing it.

Kiyo is quite a cute girl, but in the end I still prefer Nanao x Sensei. I hope Kiyo still manages to find happiness elsewhere, her perspective was kind of interesting.

last edited at Apr 3, 2013 3:18PM

I appreciate the feedback from Orzz and Yoori. I have received quit a bit of feedback, so here is exactly what is planned on the revision:
...Re-write where needed to make the language smoother and more understandable (I did translate very literally, I'm too used to Japanese).

Haha, it's pretty funny, because I didn't have any trouble understanding/even notice that there was anything awkward about the translation on my first reading, maybe because I'm too used to Japanese too. It just made total sense to me. So I just wanted to say that, although you've received a lot of constructive criticism and there is definitely a lot of room to improve, you've already done a lot to deserve appreciation with what you've put out so far.

This chapter is a really good setup. Yuri's popularity issues have been pretty much solved, which leads to some possible changes to the story. Since it's possible now for Yuri to have "normal" friends, she can distinguish between that and other (more special) feelings, allowing her to recognize Fujiwara in a way which goes beyond just simple friendship. Although a wall does exist between them, realizing that is in fact the first step to overcoming it. Although the way the chapter ended was kind of abrupt and sudden, I'm really looking forward to what will come next.

I dunno if it isn't about yuri either, though. I think the message could also be about the shallowness of obsessing about guys, which is something the main character grew out of. A meaningful relationship is built on more than superficial, surface attraction. The main character, missing what she had with her friend, could be thinking back on that, but it's not like regaining/coming to value that meaningful relationship in the first place couldn't lead to yuri.

Holy crap! You have no idea how long I've been waiting to read this one. I love Otsu Hiyori, and Your Cuteness is a freakin' awesome yuri collection. Whenever I looked at the table of contents page and saw this story it always left me dying to be able to read it.

The story itself also doesn't disappoint. I wonder why Lilicious skipped it way back when. The characters in this one are totally hnnnngh-worthy...man Otsu Hiyori is great.

Many thanks to Fly by Yuri for doing this! Dunno how long this one-person scanlation group will last, but I'll gladly look forward to anything else released by them.

last year was a beast too. as I remember it was a change from yuri to yaoi completely? someone remind me

You are completely correct, they still use one of the banners from that time, so great. xD

Ya know, thinking about it, I wouldn't mind at all having the option to make monthly donations, but it's hard to say who I would want this to go to. With scans coming in from all over... Maybe we just need a yuri 'humble bundle' so we can designate just who we want our money to go to, heh.

I think if people want to donate, they should look into the individual scanlation groups or imported/licensed official manga instead of focusing too much on Dynasty. I mean, I love Dynasty and all, but with them being an unlicensed fan hosting site, ultimately our support should go to the authors and mangaka, with fangroup donations only being remotely justified if they are restricted to covering operating costs. Seeing as Dynasty has not opened themselves up for donations (or donation mediation to other groups, which is kind of a bizarre idea) for now, I would completely put away the idea of giving them money.

Even though Dynasty exists, it is conscientious to remember to go and visit the individual scanlator groups and leave a word of thanks or see how they're doing. A lot of them will have info about donation drives or such things on their page if they are doing them. If people would like to support those groups or the projects they are working on, they should think about donating there.

Dunno but i'm doin' the last page and i still would be glad if you would look if it's acceptable or not :D .. After all that work. If it's not acceptable then you would have to find someone else until i learn how to Edite properly :)

Done Editing 9 chapter o_O .. What now? :D
How can i uploade to Yuri Project to se if they'll approve my editing or not?

Seems like Yuri Project principally works with mediafire...just upload your work there in a zip file, and post the link in the Yuri Project thread. The admins and QC people will take a look over it.

This was pretty good. A bit darker than the usual yuri work. I like Ayame's expression on pg. 51. Her sullen look was also very cute in general. Thanks to Yuri Project for scanlating it!

Yeah, I've been quite looking forward to more of this one as well. The art is very pleasing and the plot/premise, while fairly straightforward, is great.

Looking at Kodama Naoko's other stuff...lol, I had no idea those were by the same author. The ecchi oneshots are pretty nice (especially Everyday★Lingerie)...and man, I seriously wish there were more translated Marimite doujinshi. Can't get enough of that.

Haha. I am a hardcore Yayoi x Reika shipper. That's why this doujin is the best for being the first (translated, I guess?) one I've seen which actually does something with it.

While I've seen some previews for full Yayoi x Reika doujins, the selection has been somewhat limited, and with the 'mainstream' leaning towards Nao x Reika even raws have been very rare. There has been some great stuff on pixiv though, if you've got enough Japanese to try to work through it.

http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=26346873 in particular was a pretty short/simple idea which I found absolutely amazing.
It got continued here:
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=27869646
and here:
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=28359355

A more lighthearted general collection about Yayoi x Reika was posted up here:
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=30634141

And this one was a kind of light but cute story which almost didn't use any words at all:
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?mode=medium&illust_id=30201659

I sure love Kazuma Kowo's art. Even if it's not always perfectly refined, there's something about it...I think it's partly how she does eyelashes/eyes, and the way she does expressions in general. Really good stuff.

Rereading Pure Water Adolescence also reminded me of how good it was. In general, I think I like the art in her later oneshots better...and I didn't like Sayonara Folklore much, but in terms of writing Pure Water Adolescence is pretty impressive due to the defined and thoughtful way Kazuma explore's its themes. In that regard, some of her later work can't really compare...

There are other differences like the way Kazuma has kinda stopped using chibified versions of her characters in her later oneshots...sort of reflects her development as an artist, I guess. In any case, her stuff is quite good in general, I like it.

The funny thing is, while Fujiwara's "kind and perfect" face is a mask, her "sadistic tease" personality is a mask too. To a degree she's just playing up the character-type she thinks Yuri finds attractive from her manga. The real Fujiwara underneath definitely has some loneliness and abandonment issues.

It seems like Fujiwara's forwardness and drive to come onto Yuri in this chapter was partly driven by this desperation--to establish something exclusive between them, even if forced and shallow (i.e. purely sexual or experimental). What we've seen from Fujiwara thus far does not represent exactly the healthiest basis for a loving relationship. Nonetheless, I obviously hope Yuri and Fujiwara will work something out together, and Fujiwara's actions this chapter have at least opened the door of possibility for a sexual/lesbian part to their relationship. And regardless of her immediate feelings, Yuri's reaction in this chapter was still adorable.

I will say that it's not just the yuri which makes this series so awesome, but the art and comedy too. Even before this chapter I really liked this series. Girlfriends is not even my favourite work of Morinaga's (it's kind of an older work of hers by now, and you can see where her stories have gotten more skilled/sophisticated), so I don't really have any problems putting this on the same level.

last edited at Mar 24, 2013 6:56PM

Good stuff. Fumika is quite cool. The Fuso Sea Incident is mentioned all the time in the anime and other side material so I'm also pretty excited to see what it was all about.

Chapter 6 was freakin' amazing, lol. This is a yuri manga for the ages. One of the very best.

Thanks for the release. Would be interested in other stuff by this author...and hopefully a continuation of this too!

The drawings are really cute...I like this. I like it a lot.

http://okazu.yuricon.com/2013/03/18/hard-decisions/

Pretty messy. I really do sympathize with Erika on this, but at the same time some of the criticism is justified.

The whole fall of JManga thing seems to have been a pretty major thing within yuri circles/the yuri community particularly because ALC was so involved and yuri become such a prominent part of JManga's limited success. However, I think ultimately the point to realize is that yuri is a niche and so the survival of the digital manga licensing/publishing industry needs to first bank on the sustainability of a mainstream model. Even if all the western yuri fans bought into JManga, they would probably still have a tough time getting by.

As far as a mainstream model, as just another leecher/fan I'm not really in a position to talk about it, and, given goals/ambitions/commitments in other directions, will probably never have the opportunity to do something particularly concrete. Here are just a few of my thoughts though, given the discussion in this thread and in the blog post:

• digital downloads are probably not necessary as a core component of a digital manga publishing service. Crunchyroll doesn't offer them, and the popularity of online reader sites like MangaFox, Batoto, and even Dynasty points towards the acceptability of online access (however objectionable some aspects of that format might be).
• what is important is speed and content. The major, most popular manga series have to be targeted. Crunchyroll got its foot in by bagging popular shounens like Bleach and Naruto and putting the freeze on fansubs for those series. A mainstream digital manga service needs to do the same thing, aiming for a subscription based service based on magazine releases, rather than sticking to collected volumes.
• digital downloads for collected volumes could be maintained as a side option. Therefore the basic subscription would give readers access to the entire output of weekly/monthly magazine translations, while full volumes for individual series could be downloaded for a separate fee.
• the most difficult aspect of this model (aside from obtaining enough startup capital to try it) would be acquiring enough translators, due to the vastness of magazine content versus broadcast anime. Individual manga publishers over in Japan would have to be won over on a case by case basis, targeting select serialized magazines based on translation capacity (Shounen Jump being key, for example).
• on the other hand, with major magazines like Shounen Jump being so thoroughly covered by 'fan' scanlations, another significant opportunity exists with regards to pursuing publications for niche content (like YuriHime). I'm sure that much of the yuri community would jump on the chance to have full scanlations of YuriHime nearly simultaneously after physical release for example, given our current lack of scanlation capacity, just for a small monthly fee.
• The combination of acquiring popular mainstream magazines and establishing currently non-existant support for niche ones would create a sustainable model. As the service became more established and becomes able to manage/acquire more translators, they could expand to support other serialized publications they initially passed up on.

I admit I have little practical knowledge of business given my current experiences, but I imagine a service such as this could probably reach a level of sustainability similar to Crunchyroll.

last edited at Mar 18, 2013 6:18PM

Hoh, this one was pretty fun. I also quite like Yotsuhara Furiko's artstyle, I think I'll reread some of her works.

Yeah, I feel bad for the people who bought stuff. I also feel bad for what this represents from the perspective of those people interested in legally supporting the industry. Although I never did sign up for JManga's model, I do maintain a seasonal subscription at Crunchyroll, and was definitely planning to seriously look into their (JManga's) service at some point if their catalogue got wide enough.

Hopefully, some other digital manga licensing service pops up at some point with a more sensible business model. Logistically speaking though, it does seem as if manga licensing faces a whole host of greater obstacles in terms of competing against fan scanlations than the anime simulcasting sector does.

last edited at Mar 15, 2013 3:49AM

Damn. I totally thought that we were lucky enough to get two quick chapters in one day today, but they were actually just renaming the chapter from 4.5 to 5.

Man, all this forum discussion is making me look at older stuff again. Haha. This one was kinda out there, but I actually like the ending because of how it sounds so kinky. Then again, it looks like most of the Girls Love anthology pieces are.

Hmm, I liked Asatsuki Shinobu's other work too.

Seems like a serial. I really like Imamura Youko's art, I'm looking forward to more.

Yeah, this one was quite good. I'm looking forward to the next chapters too.

Ahaha, hot damn this was amusing. I decided a while ago that maybe I should properly get into Touhou yuri, and so to start with I figured I'd look into some Reimu x Marisa, but then I discovered these alternate Marisa ships all over the place. While it's probably not very canon, the twist this doujin put on things was both super hot and hilarious (dat kiss! Holy crap, lol). While I am still only slowly becoming familiar with all the Touhou characters, this doujin was super enjoyable.

We've had some pretty good (and old) stuff by Shisei Kuromasa on the reader since long ago anyway. In the end this story was still kinda (...kinda?) vanilla anyways, I don't see the problem.