Andrea Ritsu

I realize these posts are starting to come out late every month now. I apologize for that, but here’s the list of new Girls Love stuff for July 2017!

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Manga – New Releases (July 2017)

After Hours (Volume 1) by Nishio Yuhta

Release Date: July 13th in Europe (Already out in North America)
Published by VIZ Media

An adult life drama between Emi, an unemployed girl in her mid 20s and Kei, a DJ at a club that takes an interest in Emi and that interest is mutual. This is definitely worth picking up if you’re the kind of GL fan who’ve gotten tired of everything being about high school girls. It’s been praised a lot in Japan and previous scanlation efforts showed promise for a western audience as well.

After a few months of silence, VIZ Media finally announced the European release date as well, which put my worries at ease since I want to grab this book myself once it comes out. The art is beautiful and the story sounds interesting.

Let’s hope it lives up to the praise from Japan!

Hana & Hina After School (Volume 2) by Morinaga Milk

Release Date: July 18th in North America (August 13th in Europe)
Published by Seven Seas

The latest series by Morinaga Milk is about two girls secretly working part-time at a store against the school rules. Hana is a small and shy girl where as Hina is trendy and outgoing, but soon the two start finding an interest in each other beyond the fact that they both work at the same store.

Hana and Hina also love everything that can be called cute, they begin finding each other fitting that very description and begin falling in love, adding yet another secret that must be kept between the two girls. It’s not the most uncommon or unique premise, but the part-time job angle adds a little bit of spice to the mix.

The series consists of three volumes in total, with Seven Seas planning on releasing all three throughout the year, the final volume set to release around November.

My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness by Nagata Kabi

Release Date: July 13th in Europe (Already out in North America)
Published by Seven Seas

Quite possibly the most important book to be featured in this series. My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness is an autobiographical manga diary by author Nagata Kabi about how she discovered her sexuality in her late 20s while struggling with depression and pressure from the outside world on who and what to be. It’s a harsh read, reaching deep into the mind of someone struggling in their life and I more than once felt that creepy feeling of “that’s just like how I feel?” while reading it.

I picked up the Japanese book last year and I’m so happy it’s been localized finally. It’s a must for anyone to read, even if you’re not into lesbian stories normally, this is simply that good. I don’t think I’ll be recommending any manga this year as highly as My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness and you absolutely need to pick up this book. You will not regret it.

NTR: Netsuzou Trap (Volume 3) by Naoko Kodama

Release Date: July 11th in North America (August 13th in Europe)
Published by Seven Seas

We first covered NTR way back in January and we’ll be covering it twice on this very list. This is where I wish I could say I recommend it and I’m glad to be talking about it, but that’s not the case. However, I’ll leave such details for my thoughts on the anime adaptation later on.

NTR follows the story of two girls who both have boyfriends who they cheat on with each other, hence the title referencing “netorare”, the Japanese term for cuckoldry. It also deals with abusive relationships and isn’t shy about rather graphic though not pornographic depictions of sexual acts. It’s a fairly popular series, currently having an anime adaptation airing, so it’s likely to stick around for a while.

Whether or not it’s for you I really can’t say, it’s certainly not for me.

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Anime – Current Releases (Summer Season 2017)

A Centaur’s Life (TV Anime)

Simulcast Date: July 9th – (Crunchyroll)
Localized by Crunchyroll

It’s finally here!

A Centaur’s Life is the story of Hime, a centaur, attending school in modern-day Japan. Sort-of. It’s actually a story about social politics and it gets very interesting on these points. I’ve only skimmed parts of the manga myself, but I assure you it’s worth checking out and sticking around for.

So why is it on the Girls Love list? Well, because of lesbians, of course. While there’s plenty of subtext and yuri fan service in place (seriously, start the first episode on Crunchyroll and you’ll understand what I mean in literal seconds) there’s also an actual already-dating girl couple part of the cast. They’re not in much of the first episode, mainly showing up as little comic relief bits, but I’m sure you’ll figure out who they are.

I highly recommend watching the pilot episode right away. Detailed first impressions will be going up later on this blog of course.

Netsuzou Trap -NTR- (TV Anime Short)

Simulcast Date: July 5th – (Crunchyroll)
Localized by Crunchyroll

We covered this in the manga section, albeit under a slightly different name. I’ll spare the story summary for this reason.

The first episode of NTR has not exactly gotten a good first impression, even from fans of the manga. While its dedication to sticking to the original manga’s more sexual content was praised by some, the general impression was that it was stale and boring. I’m going to once again save my detailed first impressions for its own post later on, but I will add that one of the main characters practically sexually assaulting the other girl is another thing people have brought up as concerning.

Again, I can’t recommend NTR, sorry. If you must watch it, it’s on Crunchyroll.

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Games – New Announcements (July 2017)

Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon (RPG)

Release Date: October 24th in North America (October 27th in Europe) on PS4 and Nintendo Switch
Localized by Tecmo Koei

I wrote about the first Nights of Azure game a while back when it released on Steam and I’m so delighted to learn that it did well enough for Tecmo Koei to bring out the sequel in the west this fall.

Now, it’s possible this game shouldn’t be on a list of Girls Love titles as I can’t actually verify its content, because it’s not out in Japan yet, but judging by the first game and how this sequel tries to hit the same notes I think it’s worth having the game listed on here to peak people’s interest.

The first Nights of Azure is rather unique in that it stars two girls falling in love as the main characters, much like the original title, the sequel follows a girl, Alushe, entrusted to be the knight and protector of another girl, Liliana. Liliana is set to be sacrificed as a bride of the moon, but during their journey to the ritual something goes wrong and a new adventure for the two begin.

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And that’s the girls love content of the month! Some old, some new, some good and some …less so.

Take care and I’ll see you all in August!

Header image from A Centaur’s Life.