What is 'Yuri in the Broad Sense'? A Report from the Reigosha Talk Event at Machi★Asobi Vol. 29, with the Editor-in-Chief of a Yuri Literary Magazine and the Director of a Yuri Sci-Fi Robot Anime



The genre of works depicting relationships between women that go beyond friendship is called 'yuri,' and it dates back to the girls' novels that were popular in the late Taisho and early Showa periods, and continues to be featured not only in novels but also in anime and manga today. At Machi★

Asobi Vol. 29, a talk show entitled 'A Planning Meeting for a 'Broadly Defined Yuri' Work with Editors and Producers' was held, featuring Rem Rem, editor-in-chief of Reigosha, publisher of the yuri literary magazine Reigo, and Shin Hirasaka, the single-handed creator of the yuri sci-fi robot anime Varisia of the Forgotten Star .



The location is the entrance to ufotable CINEMA.



The speakers were Remremu and Hirasaka. Remremu is the editor of 'Reigo', the representative of Reigosha, and also the distribution and promotion producer for Hirasaka's anime 'Valisia of the Forgotten Star'.



Before independently producing 'Valisia of the Forgotten Star,' Hirasaka had contributed illustrations to 'Reigo.'



Remremu is the one who edits 'Zerogo' alone. He is in charge of all sorts of work, so he says, 'There's just too much to do.'



And here's the story behind this event. Reigousha was founded in February 2021, and published the brutal yuri anthology 'Edge of Lilies' in November of the same year. The magazine, which claims to be about 'the critical point of emotions, the forefront of emotions,' is a yuri-themed anthology that depicts 'raw emotions that are not just love, but also murderous intent and hatred, intertwined between two people,' and has sold over 2,000 copies. Reigousha is the publisher , after all.



The first chapter of the yuri sci-fi robot anime 'Valisia of the Forgotten Star' will be released in 2023.

[Independent Anime] Varisia of the Forgotten Star Chapter 1: Hellfire [Sequel Now Showing!] [Yuri Robot Anime] - YouTube


After that, Hirasaka continued working on the sequel, Chapter 2, but RemRem was extremely busy and, as he puts it, 'broken.' He took a break from productive activities and spent the time traveling and watching anime.



The first volume of the second chapter of 'Valisia of the Forgotten Star' was completed in early 2025. Hirasaka thought, 'Remremu is the only one who will take a look at it,' so he asked Remremu to check it out, even though he knew he was on a break. After seeing the second chapter, Remremu praised it highly and decided to distribute it himself. The second chapter of 'Valisia of the Forgotten Star' was actually released in April 2025 at theaters such as Osu Cinema, ufotable CINEMA, and Shimokitazawa Toriwood, and was met with great acclaim. Through these activities, Remremu realized that 'anime has become so interesting recently!!' and made a comeback.

Theatrical animation 'Valisia of the Forgotten Star Chapter 2: Ultramarine' official trailer | Released in spring 2025 [Independently produced Yuri SF robot anime] - YouTube


So, let's talk about the topic of today's talk, 'Yuri in the broad sense.' 'The only yuri' means that although there are other media outlets that feature yuri as a theme, such as 'Comic Yuri Hime,' 'Zero' is the only literary magazine that compiles novels and specializes in yuri. The phrase 'yuri in the broad sense' also conveys the idea that 'yuri is not just about friendship and romance between girls.'



For example, the early anthology 'Satsubatsu Yuri' doesn't just focus on girls getting along, but also on relationships where the two girls aren't very close. Hirasaka commented, '(The 'Satsubatsu Yuri Anthology') also has a proper dictionary meaning.'



In short, the range of interpretation is so broad that the broad definition of yuri is 'whenever there are two people, emotions arise, so let's just decide that everything is yuri.'



Furthermore, it was announced that 'girls' romantic comedy' will be the trend for yuri in 2025, and the light novel 'Watanare

: There's No Way I Can Become a Lover, Impossible! (※It wasn't impossible!?) ' was introduced. The TV anime will also be broadcast in the summer of 2025, and it has been decided that a sequel will be produced and broadcast on TV. In November 2025, a special edited version of the five-episode series, 'Watanare: There's No Way I Can Become a Lover, Impossible! (※It wasn't impossible!?) ~Next Shine!~' will be released in theaters ahead of the TV broadcast. A 'Watanare' event will also be held at Machi★Asobi Vol. 29.



At this point, Mr. Remuremu stood up and started rummaging around.



What appeared was a panel of promotional posters for 'Watanare: Next Shine!'



Although Reigosha was not involved in 'Watanare ~Next Shine!~', the original author of 'Watanare', Mikamite Ren, actually contributed to the first issue of 'Reigo', so there was a connection between the two. Remu Remu expressed his gratitude to Mikamite Ren for his contribution, saying 'Thank you!'



'And to all Mikami and Ren.'



'Congratulations!' The venue was filled with warm applause.



After the congratulatory speech, the conversation turned to 'So, where do people who have read light novels like Watanare go next?' When the question arose, 'I'd like to explore a wider variety of expressions, such as mystery and science fiction,' Reigo, advocating 'yuri in the broad sense,' points to its open-mindedness toward expressions that 'we'll accept anything as long as it's interesting.' On the other hand, Remu Remu said, 'I don't understand yuri at all, but I'm picky about emotions.'

To explain what it means to be tolerant of expression while competing with emotional urgency, the cover of the second issue of 'Reigo' was introduced. The cover illustration was by manga artist

Shin Takahashi . His representative work, ' Saikyou no Kanojo, ' is an essential work when discussing the so-called 'sekaikei' genre, and is known as a boy-meets-girl story representative of the 2000s.


In other words, just as there is a 'boy meets girl' story between boys and girls, Remremu said that 'zero-go' is the setting for a 'girl meets girl' story, or a yuri story.



Toremuremu declared that 'Reigo,' the 'only yuri' magazine, is a 'girl meets girl' literary magazine.



The topic then shifted to 'Where does your yuri come from?' At this point, Sato, a PR staff member for the PC game brand '

Front Wing ,' joined the discussion as a guest.



'

Lilya and Natsuka's Pure White Lie, ' released by Front Wing in 2024, has been highly praised as a visual novel game with a yuri theme, and Remremu and Hirasaka have both posted reviews praising 'Lilya and Natsuka's Pure White Lie.'



Hirasaka says that the inspiration for her work came from the TV anime '

School-Live! ' that she watched when she was in high school, and the precarious relationship between Norii and Kurumi made her wonder, 'They support each other and care about each other, but doesn't that lead to codependency? Is it okay not to go further than that?' After that, her creative content began to lean more towards yuri, with works like ' Princess Principal ' and ' Flip Flappers .'

Sato then said, 'I'm someone who accepted homosexual expression as normal even before I became aware of yuri. I was from a generation where I really loved the anime Cardcaptor Sakura, and I understood that Sakura and Tomoyo's feelings were normal and that it wasn't friendship. It wasn't until I entered junior high school that I realized, 'That might have been yuri.''

Furthermore, Remremu says that her interest in yuri started with her 'love of Yun Kouga's ' LOVELESS ,'' and that she was greatly influenced by the 'strength of emotions' depicted in the work.



Based on what we've discussed so far, let's move on to the future of Reigosha. The theme of the third issue of 'Reigo' is 'Yuri is (good).' The key point is that there are parentheses around 'good.'



In other words, 'Yuri is cool!!!!!'



So, the cover of the third issue features the duo of Yun Kouga and Jun Minakata, who are well known for '

Devil's Riddle .' The two also appeared on the cover of 'Satsubatsu Yuri Anthology.'



The catchphrases for the third issue of 'Reigo,' scheduled for release on March 14, 2026, are 'Emotions never fade' and 'Joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness belong to me.' Toremu wanted to include all emotions, not just joy and happiness, but anger and sadness as well, so he asked these two to design the cover.



Comments from Yun Takaha were introduced at the venue.



In response to this, Jun Minami made a powerful comment: 'I'll do my best!'



And Remu Remu expressed his enthusiasm, saying, 'I will do my best as editor-in-chief!'



Furthermore, Reigosha plans to publish something other than the third issue of 'Zero Issue' in 2026. It was also announced at the end of the event that in 2027, the final chapter of 'Valisia of the Forgotten Star: The End' and a re-edited omnibus trilogy will be released in theaters.

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