Yuricon founder Erica Friedman and Journey Press are pleased to announce By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Manga & Anime.

The term “Yuri” began life as a coded reference to lesbianism within manga and anime genres, but in the last two decades has been shaped by creators, publishers and fans into a genre of its own. Though Yuri as a genre is a modern development, it has a century of artistic and literary history behind it. In “By Your Side: The First 100 Year of Yuri,” we take a stroll through that history, from Yoshiya Nobuko’s pioneering works for young women in 1920s Japan, to current 21st century trends in webcomics, light novels, visual novels, events, manga and more.

Factual, funny and highly entertaining, By Your Side is a series of interlocking essays, articles and lectures from Friedman’s work on Yuri anime and manga. Meant to be approached as informal discussion in the manner of convivial conversation over multiple dinners, or panels at an anime convention, through these essays, readers will become familiar with the key creators, tropes, concepts, symbols and titles of the first 100 years of the Yuri genre. Walk by our side as we journey through the past, present and future of Yuri!

By Your Side is scheduled for a June 2022 release, in time for both Pride Month and the 20^th anniversary of Okazu, the oldest and  most comprehensive site on Yuri in any language.

About Erica Friedman

Erica holds a Masters Degree in Library Science and a B.A. in Comparative Literature, and is a full-time researcher for a Fortune 100 company. She has lectured at dozens of conventions and presented at film festivals, notably the San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival. She has participated in an academic lecture series at MIT, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Harvard University, Kanagawa University, and others.

She has edited manga for JManga, Seven Seas and Udon Entertainent, most recently Riyoko Ikeda’s epic historical classic, The Rose of Versailles.

Erica has written about Yuri for Japanese literary journal Eureka,  Animerica magazine, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund,  Dark Horse, and contributed to Forbes, Slate, Huffington Post, Hooded Utilitarian, and The Mary Sue online. The founder of Yuricon, she has written news and event reports, interviews Yuri creators and reviews Yuri anime, manga and related media on her blog Okazu since 2002.