[General] Where's the love America (for Yuri)

So yesterday I started reading a manga called Girl Friends, and it's really good, the romance is believable and the characters are nice. But if it was just for that then it would just be another shoujo romance (and do we really need more of those), but what sets it apart is that it's Yuri. Now I will admit, I did just start reading it to see some girls making out, and they did, but now I see that this manga is more than just girls making out. It's about the relationship between two people that most people would consider unacceptable. Wow that was a long intro, anyway to my main point, if this manga is sooooo good then WHY THE FUCK IS THERE ALMOST NO YURI MANGA IN ENGLISH, seriously I can find like 5 Yaoi mangas at my local bookstore but not one yuri. Why is that, anyone know.

It probably has something to do with demographics and "selling power". A lot of girls buy manga in the US. That would include Yaoi, I assume. Since it sells, they continue to release it.

I can name three yuri manga that came over to the US by Seven Seas Entertainment: Strawberry Panic, First Love Sisters, and Kashimashi (if you can count that as yuri). Strawberry Panic's manga never finished because the artist got sick and never continued (it stopped at vol 2). Seven Seas never released past vol 1 of First Love Sisters even though the whole series is 3 volumes. The reason was sales, I think. Kashimashi is the only of the three that was both finished and released in its entirety in English. There maybe other yuri manga brought over here but as far as I know those are the only ones.

Since there is little selling power for yuri manga in the US, there is little incentive to waste time and money bringing them over.

hmm...wonder why. Wow funny how true that is a shelf of yaoi but I never see any yuri~XD Unless its hidden in the bunch of manga somewhere (but I dont look for yuri manga so I cant be certain)

I already knew that Seven Seas had some kind of Yuri (god bless them) but if sucks that 2 never finished Kashimashi seems pretty interesting. And it is sad that this genre will get very little time in America because of all the Yoai fangirls and all the male reads usually don't want to admit that they like Yuri. Also my computer does not recognize Yoai as a real word, but it recognizes Yuri :)

Because Yuri is also a name.

On topic, probably no market for it. Which makes it a little strange, since you'd think half of all guys would read it just for girls making out, and another for the waff-y storyline that follows.

It may have something to do with the fact that yuri manga/anime seems somewhat rare to find...or at very least, not many people read it in English, and thus few go on to recommend it, so a lot of it goes under the radar.

And if people don't know what it is, they won't buy it. Or at least that's what publishers believe.

Again unfortunately true. And it is odd that it's not more popular you know with all the girls making out and what not.

I went to a panel at an anime convention about this, and it basically just boils down to sales. Not many yuri titles are being licensed anymore because unlike the yaoi fans, yuri fans don't seem to buy as much/are more discreet about their hobby. I also asked the woman who was running the panel if she ever thought that a yuri series could ever have as much appeal as some of the more popular series today, and she said no due to it being such a niche market. She said that Aoi Hana was the yuri industry's biggest success so far, but even that did poorly with bd/dvd sales.

It's not easy being a Yuri fan T_T

Nope, it isn't, but we gotta do our best as fans to support it as much as possible.

HELL YEAH

You never see people walking around with 8gb of yuri pictures on their cellphone.
You DO see people waking around with 8gb of hard core yaoi on their cellphone... A LOT!

You can't blame the companies, like people have said. If it's not going to sell, of course they're not going to produce it. So the real question is, why aren't there more fans of yuri in America? That buy the stuff, I mean.

I do know of one series that's been brought over - Maka Maka. It's two volumes and really good. It manages to be super-sexy but also personal. If there was a series just about the two girls being together, no sex involved, I would read it. (It's also in full-color, which is a big bonus.)

I've thought about buying it, but being strapped for cash, it was a little expensive for me, especially since I already had it downloaded.

Funnily enough, I also have on my computer a lesbian comic series that was produced and released in the US, Small Favors by Colleen Coover. That's one more piece of yuri out there, if you can consider it such being American.

ugghhhhh...I know someone who has that much yaoi -_-

Again yes it's sad. Also I looked up that Maka Maka manga...the cheapest I could find it was 70 bucks, and it was brought over by Media Blaster...who own Kitty Media...so I would have to safely assume that it's at least borderline hentai.

You need to use the yuri googles. And who buys manga anymore?

...I do

I support you. Just remember to show it to your future partner.

Yep, because my manga collection will surely get me laid

This is a classic example of subtle sarcasm that lets me be right either way, or lets me say two things at once. If I was being sarcastic, I would be saying, "Eh, but a huge manga collection could be seen as nerdy". If I wasn't being sarcastic, I would be saying, "You have to find someone who'll accept all of you".

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