We’ve been working hard here to update, upgrade and move forward while we’re all in pandemic lockdowns. With the help of all of our Okazu Patrons, here’s what we’ve accomplished this year!

Tech Updates:

We had some false security notices recently. It turns out that the SSL certificate we had was no longer sufficient for the way our site works. Yuricon and Okazu are both much older than SSL, and they were built long before WordPress, so there are relics of construction and moving over multiple systems and platforms. We’ve invested in a better SSL certificate – your devices can be confident now in our security. ^_^

There was a problem with the mobile theme on Yuricon that turned out to be Jetpack fake-breaking it, so we’d have to upgrade to pay service. Thanks to Tabby, that is now fixed and the mobile view ought to work perfectly.

“Worldshaking” Fanfic is back up and running and has a shiny new look. This was a test run for moving content over from one theme to another, so hopefully, we’ll be updating Yuricon’s look next year. This year’s holiday shopping has commenced for a new theme. ^_^

 

Content Updates:

If you haven’t already taken a look, the third iteration of Yuri Studio is up and running and we’re working on our 3rd video right now! Our first two videos answer questions from Yuri panels:

Why Are There So Many Schoolgirls in Yuri?

What Makes a Story Yuri?

Yuri Studio is also scheduled to get it’s own page here on Yuricon in 2021, so the Essays page can look even cleaner.

(Also, enjoy those old AMVs from the past versions of Yuri Studio. I will leave them up as long as I can, because they are fun.)

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2021 marks the 20th anniversary of Yuricon and we’ve got a bunch of mascot fun planned for – and with – you!

A new serial about Yuricon mascots Yuriko and Midori will be joining Shoujoai no Bouken and Saiyuu no Ryouko. Years have passed since we’ve seen them – what have they been up to since Yuriko left for her first world tour? You’ll enjoy visits with all your favorite characters and meet some great new characters. Keep an eye out for this in 2021.

Once the new series has begun, to celebrate our 20th, we’ll be holding fanfic and fan art contests and giveaways through the year. How about a virtual Yuricon? Why not? Let’s do it!

 

ALC Publishing:

We’re liquidating the ALC Publishing inventory. With no events, no panels to give away books, no tables to sell at, the boxes are taking up space that we need. The office is being rehabbed, so it’s time to say goodbye. You can get a piece of Yuri manga history with the remaining volumes of anthology  Yuri Monogatari 3,4 and 6 and the second-ever Yuri manga in English, Eriko Tadeno’s WORKS for a total of $25 – with free shipping on orders of $25 with the code ALC2020 thanks to our friends at cheapmanga.com. The last copies of Shoujoai ni Bouken, Volume 1 will become available, as well in the future.

 

Patreon Updates:

We are *one* $5/month patron away from making our 2020 goal on Patreon. What does that mean to you? (Update: We have made our 20202 goal. Realistically, we’ll hover around here for a while and support is always welcome, but now we can do all these things:)

Well, since we’ve instituted microgoals, we’ve added a new queer artist that we support for every $50. At the moment, we’re supporting a magazine, four queer artists, and have plans to announce a fifth, the moment those numbers tick over.  Take a look at the Patreon goals for the list of folks we support and watch how it grows! (Also, boy do we need a new pitch video. That’ll go onto the to-do list.)

We’ve hired folks to work on our subtitles for Yuri Studio in English and following that, in Japanese! The money goes to paying for video editing, design work, audio and video tools and equipment. We’ve gotten a new camera and mic, which have helped a lot with quality.

Thanks to Okazu patrons, writers on Okazu are getting a raise! We’ve been paying for guest writing for some time, but now we’re up to $40/article with the help of patrons. We’ll give writers a raise for every $100 we move the bar. ^_^

And of course patrons make it possible to buy, stream, rent, and ship the masses of manga, anime, LNs, novels and videos we get here to review. We definitely could not do this without you all.

To celebrate, we’ll be holding an online Holiday Party for all our Patrons!

 

As we head into our 20th year of existence, everyone at Yuricon thanks you for all your support and engagement and we look forward to the next 20 years being just as amazing as the first 20.

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