Category: Yuri vibes

‘The Rich Man’s Daughter’ Actress Rhian Ramos Sends Birthday Greetings to Co-Actress Glaiza De Castro, Fans Hyped and went on a #TRMD Throwback

Fans of GMA’s 2015 lesbian TV drama series The Rich Man’s Daughter cheered and went on throwback when actress Rhian Ramos posted a birthday greeting to her co-star Glaiza de Castro on Thursday, January 21 on her official Facebook page. Ramos and De Castro played the lead roles of Jade and Althea respectively.

Happy birthday, Glaiza De Castro

Posted by Rhian Ramos on Thursday, January 21, 2021

As of press time, the said post has reached more than 21,000 reactions with almost 700 shares. The majority of the comments were birthday greetings to Glaiza with some saying that they missed The Rich Man’s Daughter. Their chemistry is well-loved by fans that their fandom ships are named RaStro (a combination of the girls’ last names) and JaThea (a combination of their TRMD character’s first names.) Posts (e.g. fanfiction, fanart, fan videos) related to this pair are still very much around the net even if the series has ended years ago.

Glaiza made a response for everyone who greeted her on her birthday on Twitter.

 

Unfortunately, the ship will not be sailing as Glaiza is happily engaged to her Irish boyfriend. A September 2020 report revealed that Rhian is single again after dealing with a bad breakup with her boyfriend.

Missed the series? You can watch the entire episodes of The Rich Man’s Daughter here.

Glaiza De Castro is a Filipino actress and singer notable for playing the role of Althea from GMA Network’s 2015 top-rating lesbian TV drama series The Rich Man’s Daughter. The show also starred Rhian Ramos as Jade. De Castro also stars in the 2016 remake of Encantadia as Pirena and the titular character of the network’s 2010 TV fantasy series Grazilda. 

Source: Rhian Ramos (Facebook), GMA Network, Manila Bulletin

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Tomoyo Daidouji – The Perfect Girl Who Deserves More Love

It’s September 3—Tomoyo Daidouji’s birthday. As a tribute to the best girl, it’s fitting that I would be talking about her today.

It seems to be pretty obvious that I recently got back in the hype of the Card Captor Sakura franchise after I did another Card Captor Sakura – Clear Card anime marathon a while back. I did write about the Card Captor Sakura franchise (well, you can see them all here) in general but I never really got to write about my favorite girl specifically.

So Tomoyo deserves more love—because she never really got the love she wanted in return. Honestly, it hurts me a bit. She is the perfect girl you would ever want to have: beautiful, rich (very rich), intelligent, and very talented. 99% of the time, she has always been with Sakura’s side through thick and thin. I admit that if Sakura never had Tomoyo in the picture, she might have not have reached a lot so far both as a Card Captor and also as an ordinary girl.

Honestly, there is that part of me that wished Sakura did return her feelings to Tomoyo (both in the manga and in the anime). Until now, I still do. But I know that CLAMP would never really do this because Sakura was meant for Syaoran in the end. No contest.

But why would they make such a perfect character just be in the friendzone?

She deserves to be with someone. Honestly, you can ship her with all the other characters in the series like Meiling or Eriol (please don’t), but all the other characters aren’t really a perfect match. I guess you might say that Tomoyo is just completely perfect to be with anyone, with an exemption to Sakura. I know it would be so wrong in comparing this to the Phantom of Opera musical situation where there is a romantic love triangle involved—but it just hurts me to know that this girl only lacked that one piece of her almost perfect life.

If you check out the hashtag #大道寺知世誕生祭2020 on Twitter, you would notice the great amount of love that fans give Tomoyo on her birthday. I also posted mine too. I will never forget this tweet because this was liked by Tomoyo’s seiyuu herself, Junko Iwao. This smile hasn’t worn off since I saw the like on my Twitter notifications.

 

Tomoyo is a great and memorable character that I am not ashamed to repeat that over and over again. You might say that she doesn’t really do much because she doesn’t have powers unlike Sakura and Syaoran. However, the devotion, love, and support that she gives are more than any kind of magic. I do hope that Tomoyo gets more love as the Clear Card manga is still ongoing. Perhaps maybe a special chapter dedicated to her (or a side-story manga of sorts perhaps?)

Anyways, Happy Happy Birthday Tomoyo-chan. You are one of my favorite anime characters and I do hope you continue to inspire many fans like me with your kindness, generosity, and your complete perfection.

 

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I hope you enjoyed this small birthday tribute. If you like this article, you can check out more of my articles here in The Lily Cat. Also, you can also help me continue do yuri and fandom reviews and news through tipping me a cup of coffee or be part of the Kitty Squad in Patreon.

The Sakura and Tomoyo Relationship: Revisited

Well, hey! I am back (again), from the grave! For good reason, too. As a way to celebrate Pride Month, I went back into writing something I love the most.

So, a couple of weeks ago, I finally was able to fully marathon Card Captor Sakura: Clear Card anime without the fan noise and after so long of avoiding some key spoilers. Due to the immense hype and the return of an “O.G. magical girl series,” I knew that people would be talking about it for a long time. So I avoided it and waited. The wait was worth it. I enjoyed it to its full glory, and I wanted more.

Now also, as of this writing, the first Card Captor Sakura anime is now available for streaming on Netflix. Honestly, this write-up isn’t entirely a review about the anime series (I’ll probably make a separate one for this). This review, however, will be focused on two particular characters—the two specific people that got me into this beautiful genre of loving and shipping two-dimensional girls: Sakura Kinomoto and Tomoyo Daidouji.

Previously, I made a feature of Sakura and Tomoyo. I decided to go back into talking about them here because, God, I just love these two very much!

While watching Clear Card, I am just wholly hands down to how very loyal and caring Tomoyo is to Sakura. Although her comedic moments were a bit too cheesy for me (I guess CLAMP wanted her to make part of the comedic relief aside from Keroberos), I am happy to know that we got to see more of Tomoyo being ahead and doing whatever it takes to help Sakura. Not missing an opportunity to get footage on all her heroic acts (though some of them didn’t go well as planned.)

Every time Sakura and Tomoyo had a “moment,” it always makes me want to fangirl and giggle. These two were just completely cute together. Also, let’s give props to Tomoyo y’all—she was there for Sakura all the way when Syaoran wasn’t around for a while. Imagine if Sakura didn’t have Tomoyo, and she had to deal with the pain of not having her date because he left for Hong Kong. She was there for Sakura when no one never did.

Also, it amazes me that because of wanting to capture almost all of Sakura’s heroic moments, Tomoyo upped her game. She let her mother (the President of Daidouji Toys, mind you) create better gadgets so she could get better footage of Sakura. Imagine that dedication. Never have you seen someone from anime go into this level just for the person they care about the most.

Aside from watching Clear Card, I also took the time to do a small rewatch of Card Captor Sakura the Movie. Oh, Lord! How I loved this movie—in fact, watching both the CCS movies have become a tradition of sorts for me every New Year’s Eve.

In the first movie, Sakura and the gang won a trip to Hong Kong and encountered a mysterious person calling for Sakura. When Sakura finally got to meet the said person (which appeared to someone from Clow Reed’s past), this person took all of Sakura’s friends, and our heroine Cardcaptor would have to defeat her if she wants them back. Sakura wasn’t able to rescue everyone with the magic she had (and time was ticking), but she was able to successfully rescue Tomoyo. This scene is probably one of my favorites as it shows how Sakura really cared for Tomoyo.

Okay, now we go back to Clear Card. Same as the first anime, Clear Card Tomoyo still plays the best friend-sidekick role. There was no hint of borderline romantic moves from her because, well, Sakura had Syaoran already. A lot of people would revolt if ever there was a hint that Tomoyo DID make a move on her.

As much as how I wish there was a hint of more romance between the two girls, but I think we would just end up having the CLAMP-flavored subtext that we have always gotten over the years. Regardless, I will always be proud enough to say that I got to love this genre (and writing Yuri-related stuff) because of the Tomoyo and Sakura ship. I would probably not stop talking about them anytime soon. In fact, I even talked about it a recent podcast with Jay Agonoy (keepsakes.).

I still look forward to what’s to come with the Card Captor Sakura franchise. Although the franchise itself isn’t really yuri, the subtext and the characters were my gateways into getting into this beautiful genre.

This is definitely one great comeback into writing Yuri-related stuff again after almost a month of no updates whatsoever here on the site. Hey, there’s definitely more to come. As always, Sakura and Tomoyo will always be one of my favorite Yuri ships of all time.  

Now, to formally end this post, I would like to share one of my recent favorite Sakura and Tomoyo fan art created by @neko_cer on Twitter. Still can’t get enough of this, really. Come on, CLAMP! Give Tomoyo some love, please?

Tomoyo and Sakura fanart by neko_cer

 

Happy Holidays from Your Fave GL Creators!

2019 was one awesome year for the Yuri fandom. What better way to add in more love into the yuletide season but by seeing our favorite GL series celebrating the holidays, getting ready for the new year.

This year we have spotted  a few of our GL content creators posting Christmas art related to their works and here they are.

What Does The Fox Say creator Team Gaji posted a Christmas art of both Sungji and Sumin together. Sumin is wearing a Santa outfit as she was lifted by Sungji wearing a Reindeer costume.

https://twitter.com/gaji0712/status/1209504789102350338

Also, the webtoon (which is published in Korean on Kakaopage) has recently ended. You can read the series officially in English on Tappytoon in both SFW and NSFW versions.

Thai GL manga and webtoon artist Ratana Satis posted a Christmas art in her official Facebook page. Featuring the main characters from hit GL works Pulse, Lily Love, and Lily Love 2 – Frosty Jewel. 

https://www.facebook.com/ratana.satis/photos/a.788935964499217/2769830703076390/?type=3&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDaQk_TM9Tpy-Kl_sPR9A5gEotKM7bovapBK0W3NtNXsThezmd0GwMThq5S_eVYtoMsTr03iFJYhAw1OknjhIeczN671FN-9ciEq5TDuBI2HfQgOLls0SteOq5a7QXuXk8dHf-wjRWw9N_AsMJCx18yM_Pvu9FfpNgHdV1um5nZ1TtaQc0FnvibJCQO-X8wO5zK6QU5p9T19jDPc_blwCJ5-2M2z4GLZRl8N3dCEIGutFq4D1VCOAYTuV1FzZj3yZJKpFa_mcfP8RD-L7Sxpn7WBiFUCROxJxu4duhsrPqit0QSOEjDtAjncTLJEj86KoTK9ujIUGE0HS18Pj3rIBdX6w&__tn__=-R

The artist has recently teased art and characters of her upcoming GL series Soul Drifters.  Speaking of Pulse, you can preorder the 6th volume right now. 

Artist Darunni has also posted a Christmas on her official Facebook page featuring our two lovely girls from She’s A Keeper. 

https://www.facebook.com/artsbydarunni/photos/a.872399416243692/1476960549120906/?type=3&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARAxXghLm_5NUy6TT8FkHuakzhrB4hvKTJyAUWGWNnghnpT0-arJjFbX_mF7oHOlc6-R9IBRCFTbAiznvo1dSzGiq6IFhIIy2RHQKZU5ZS_pbHjnm5-jPOeDVPf_OCWNFg_R0bWYZXiOaENLbrbpy9oWZ6HKc2vth-oPnmW3kGIm56aKD_3MQWb0NNGNFoub6RexU0KTUUNGMz5cLdAltNxbytc9xKVK3MpYCSDemEfGw_ivap7TzRRxlSd3Tpom9PllQhaBO5sIRX8T9glNk4PgC3zWa0QecHOKDRbyLwOMo9dLnQzdICHatls_ZkfWQfRpwmhs7KCT1jImIuacg4LrUQ&__tn__=-R

She also has another ongoing webtoon series titled BABE! which you can read on WEBTOON. She’s A Keeper can be read on Webcomics.

Tan Jiu, creator of the popular Their Story / SQ Begin with Your Name series also posted a Christmas update on their Weibo page. Also, let’s not forget that December 25 is also Sun Jing’s birthday!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope your holidays have been great and may your 2020 be awesome.

Long-Running Yuri Blog Yuri Nation is now The Yuri Empire

The Yuri Empire banner

Because a lot of people have been asking what has happened to Yuri Nation owned by a fellow yuri blogger OG-Man (http://yurination.wordpress.com), the notable and long-running yuri fan blog is now under a new name and URL called “The Yuri Empire.”

In a post publish by OG-Man back in July 2, he explained for the intention of the name change.

This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Something I should have done from the start. It is a necessary change.

Put simply Twitter was the last straw. For years some rapscallions kept making the same joke about the web address (remove the Y). It wasn’t much of an issue back then but after Twitter repeatedly removed the site link for that very reason I thought “Yeah the time for change has come.” The Yuri Nation is gone. In its place is The Yuri Empire. HOPEFULLY this will be the last time I’ll have to change the blog’s name.

The reason I say I should have gone with this from the start was because this blog was originally named “The G-Empire”. “G” being the first letter of my surname so think of this new name as a throwback. There is no long-winded speech about the change. Like I said Twitter annoyed me by repeatedly removing the website link on my page so I finally decided to change it.

I also planned on introducing a new Twitter page where I could freely talk about whatever I wanted, RT as many sexy anime and real life beauties as I wanted and just do my thing. Unfortunately Twitter doesn’t want register my phone number and I don’t feel it’s worth going through all the trouble of unlocking that 2nd page so it might as well be a failed experiment. Thus I’m still using the same Twitter Page, just with a new name @TheYuriEmpire. instead of YuriAmbassador. It’ll be the same as always with me talking about yuri, games, wrestling etc. The only difference is my trying to RT less sexy pics…emphasis on TRY. Yuri pics of course will remain plentiful, just pics of barely clothed beauties will be SOMEWHAT lessened.

This change was also necessary because while it was fun referring to myself as an ambassador for yuri goodness I bet many out there saw me as egotistical for doing so, which I kinda am, but it’s time to go back down to Earth and accept the fact that I’m just a (short tempered) yuri fan who still hopes to continue spreading the yuri love. I’ve been doing this for over 8 years and hope to keep going as long as possible.

Like last time it’ll be a while before the blog returns to its former glory but I’m a patient man and hopeful my fans, friends and passerby will help spread the word of this change.

Thank you for your understanding.

The Yuri Nation is one of the longest-running blogs dedicated to Yuri and Girl’s Love content notable for its anime, manga, and video game reviews under the related genres. The Lily Cat highly recommends this blog if you are looking for news and updates written by a dedicated yuri fan.

Don’t forget to like The Yuri Empire’s official Facebook page as well.

Source: The Yuri Empire

‘Bloom Into You’ Stage Play Cast Visuals are Revealed!

The stage play adaptation of Nio Nakatani’s hit yuri manga series Bloom Into You brings in more excitement as the production’s official website released visuals of the cast in full costume!

Koito Yuu

Nanami Touko

Kodama Miyako

Kanou Koyomi

Hyuuga AkariHakozaki Riko

Sayaka Saeki

Suguru Doujima

Seiji Maki

The stage play production will have a limited run from May 3 to 12 2019. Official selling of tickets began last April 13 and priced at 6,800 JPY each. According to the official Q and A page, the play will run for estimate of 2 hours.

Yagate Kimi ni Naru or Bloom Into You was first published in April 2015 in Japan and still ongoing. It is now being released in English by Seven Seas Entertainment. The manga was ranked number 3 in a Japanese poll asking which manga series that you want to be animated next and the results were revealed during the AnimeJapan 2018 weekend.

The anime officially premiered in Japan on October 5, 2018 and ended in December of the same year. Sentai Filmworks gets exclusive distribution rights for the anime in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK, Ireland, South Africa, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America. You can watch and stream the series on HIDIVE. Sentai Filmworks plans for a home video release of the anime.

Source: Bloom Into You Stageplay Website

Remembering Ssamba and the Impact of ‘Fluttering Feelings’

February 20, 2018 was probably one of the saddest days for the Yuri community as a great artist passed away leaving us two beautiful characters but with an ending still remained uncertain until this very day.

It was really hard to believe that when Comico officially confirmed the passing of the Korean webtoon artist Ssamba due to cancer, everyone was in shock and it was a fact that people couldn’t swallow. Even I couldn’t believe it. A lot of my friends contacted me about it. I remember sobbing in a local pizza place after finding out about the news. It was really heartbreaking. She was gone too soon.

Fluttering Feelings is a webtoon with a very simple story. It tells the tale of two ordinary girls finding out their fluttering and lingering feelings for each other as days go by. Now with such a very simple plot, why is this GL webtoon so memorable?

For me, the webtoon had a very simple message to those who are reading it: Love will always find a way no matter what.

No matter how different you are, no matter what circumstances you’re going through, if you give your all, love will always finds its way.

The webtoon was ongoing during the hype of other GL series that were showing so much skin. Fluttering Feelings stood out from all of that due to how innocent and pure the story is. The characters are also very memorable. With the creator now passed, we will never know what the true ending of the series would’ve been. To be honest, the time when Ssamba was sick, the ending of the series didn’t matter anymore. I was only wishing for her to recover. But now she is no longer suffering and I guess that’s what matters now.

Thank you so much, Ssamba. A year has passed but that empty void still lingers sometimes when someone opens about Fluttering Feelings. However, we are very thankful that you have given us Seol-Ah and No-Rae. The story may be unfinished but your series will always be remembered forever. Your series will always (and always be) one of my favorite webtoons.

How ‘Bloom Into You’ Made the Yuri Fan in Me Great Again

November 25th is the birthday of Nio Nakatani, creator of the popular yuri manga series Bloom into You (Yagate Kimi ni Naru). As a small tribute for her of sorts, I decided to write about the series and how it made an impact on me.

The Resurrection of the Yuri Fangirl

To be honest, I don’t know where to start from here. As the title says, I am amazed to how this manga brought back the joy in me as a yuri fan.  I can never be happier.

I heard of Bloom Into You around 2016, a year after its manga debut in Japan. However, I regretted that I didn’t follow this series religiously like my friends because I focused all my attention to Lezhin’s GL webcomics, in which there is a part of me that feels guilty or full of regret to why I haven’t read this sooner.

This is what the yuri fandom needs right now: a story that is innocent, realistic, and beautiful. The perfect yuri story that doesn’t show skin or multiple panels of kissing, gropping, and so on.

The last time I was able to have these kind of emotions was the time I read Octave, a manga by Haru Akiyama. Those realistic emotional feelings just returned to me when I read Bloom Into You. Just a couple of chapters on, I already had my mind thinking that this manga deserves an anime treatment– years later, it did.

Breaking the Anime Adaptation News

I think it’s safe to say that I was the first person (or maybe there are others beside me let me know) who wrote of Bloom Into You possibly getting an anime adaptation after the results of an online poll was revealed in this year’s AnimeJapan. I wrote about it with much excitement considering how this typical industry works (due to my full time job) and published it. Of course, just hours later, I received some backlash ironically from a Yuri Facebook group saying that “it was fake news “where in I fact I had legit sources that would reveal that it can happen. I remained professional on the matter, kept silent, and hoping that at least a good animation studio would pick it up.

The Leak 

Just a month after I posted that article, info of an image leak of a Yagakimi anime banner came out and I knew that my hunches were right from the start. I tried to calm down after I published about it. Thoughts were going through my mind. One is “I hope it’s not an OVA” (like what they did with the adaptation of Kase-san). Second is “I hope the anime is close to the manga.” I didn’t want the anime adaptation to be like Citrus where there are some things that were missing and totally off. Third is “They shouldn’t change anything.”

Beautifully Accurate

When the anime adaptation was confirmed, I had the biggest smile on my face. After watching the first episode, I remember shedding a small tear on my right eye and my hair stand on end due to how it was really close to the manga.

This series is a rare gem and I do hope the animation studio TROYCA continues to keep the aesthetics of the original source until the end  (just in case you guys don’t know, the manga is still ongoing). I am very happy that both old and new fans of Bloom Into You are loving the anime and I look forward to what it has in store for 2019 and beyond.

If you guys haven’t read or watch the series, I suggest you give it a try. You won’t regret it. I intentionally made this article spoiler-free for the benefit of those who are still planning to add this to their yuri reading and watch this. Hopefully if time permits, I will do an in-depth review on it.

To Nio Nakatani, thank you for creating this awesome series. It was in Bloom Into You that got me back to my first love that is yuri manga and I can never thank you enough to bring me to back to innocent and beautiful side of this genre. Happy Birthday!

 

Yen Press Announces New Yuri Releases During Anime NYC Panel!

Last weekend’s AnimeNYC (November 16-18, 2018) was epic as American manga publisher Yen Press announced in their panel that three of the 14 new manga licenses they have acquired were under the Yuri or Girl’s Love genre.

The following titles are:

Yuri Life, by Kurukuruhime.

Yuuna’s an illustrator, Manami’s a web designer, and the two are living together! It’s the everyday romance of two women who see a future with each other.

Whenever Our Eyes Meet…: A Women’s Love Anthology. 

The love between girls never stops blooming in this collection of office flings and workplace romances.

Killing Me!, by Akiyama

“Love-hate relationship” takes on a whole new meaning in this girls’ love occult romance about two classmates—a vampire…and a vampire hunter!

Three awesome titles! It’s great to know that Yen Press is now slowly picking up yuri titles and and we look forward to their upcoming licenses in the future. You can check their official website for the release dates and purchase details.

Next year’s Anime NYC will happen on November 15 to 17 at Javits Center in New York City.

Source: Okazu (Erica Friedman), Yen Press (Facebook Page), Yen Press (Official Website)

Pre-Order Lily Love Volume 4 English Edition Today!

 

While Lily Love 2 – Frosty Jewel is ongoing in Lezhin, you can now get yourself a physical copy of the fourth volume of Ratana Satis’ Lily Love! You can pre-order your copy today until November 25.

One book purchase is priced at USD $21 (including shipping). If you are looking for a case to fit all your Lily Love volumes, a soft box is also available priced at USD $3.

Lily Love is one of Ratana Satis’ first successful GL work before her webtoon hit masterpiece Pulse. The series was first released in Thai and was later available for English. It centers on two different girls Donut and Mew as their closeness slowly begins intimate. Their relationship is encountered with a lot of hurdles and doing their best efforts to be there for each other.

While the first Lily Love is centered on Donut and Mew, its second installment Lily Love 2 – Frosty Jewel is centered on Ploy and Ice. Lily Love 2 has just started its second season. Lily Love is also available digitally in Lezhin Comics.

Source: Ratana Satis (Facebook Page)