Sequel to the "Yuri made me human" interview with Iori Miyazawa, this event titled "The last summer and yuri of the Heisei era" was held on 24.08.2018 at the yuri section of the Shosen Book Tower store.

You can read the original interview on the Hayakawa Books blog.

A Russian translation of the interview is available here.

If something is unclear or requires corrections, please message me at @kati_lilian.

■ Infernal curtain-raiser

Iori Miyazawa (@walkeri, I.M.): Thank you very much for coming today, I'm Iori Miyazawa.

Gengen Kusano (@The_Gen_Gen, G.K.): Good afternoon, my name is Gengen Kusano! Please call me Gengen! The sci-fi writer Gengen Kusano is delighted to make your acquaintance!

Rikimaru Mizoguchi (@marumizog, R.M.): And so, today we have Miyazawa-san, famous for the exciting "Encountering Yuri in 2018" interview held during the SF Seminar, sitting next to Gengen-san, author of the extremely radical yuri sci-fi anthology "Last and First Idol".

G.K.: It's a dream match-up!!!

I.M.: Oh yeah... Even though I was insisting so much that I don't want to talk about yuri in public, thank you very much for dragging me out on stage again...

R.M.: First of all, why don't we look back at the overwhelming response to the transcript of the "Encountering Yuri in 2018" interview.

I.M.: Looks like quite a lot of people read it... During the interview I said that "yuri made me human", which became the title of the transcript at the Hayakawa Books blog, and some time later a friend met me with "oh look, it's the human!"

R.M.: To be more specific, in just three days the transcript broke the record as the most viewed article at the Hayakawa Shobo blog, and by a wide margin. It was in the top links of Hatena Bookmark and "interview with Iori Miyazawa" was trending on twitter. It even reached the Korean and English segments of the internet via some volunteers.

I.M.: I don't know about the Korean translation, but I found someone trying to translate it into English. No idea if it ever got anywhere, but they were tweeting "This guy is an absolute madman" and stuff. Come on, that's rude, I haven't said anything out of the ordinary... is what I thought.

R.M.: Well, a madman is still a human, so. As a matter of fact, that day Gengen-san was sitting in the front row of the audience, so he came up in our conversation a couple of times.

I.M.: I was talking how yuri is about depicting humans, to which you replied that "some authors these days manage to depict yuri without actually depicting humans", and we were both looking at Kusano-san.

R.M.: You were listening to the talk in person, Gengen-san, any impressions?

G.K.: Hmm, the pressure was too strong, it was so strong that at times it was convincing, but on the other hand I felt opposed to it every now and then. That's how I honestly felt. Perhaps this is because our approaches to writing are different.

R.M.: At the SF Seminar Miyazawa-san brought up the concept of "yuri of absence", and in general I feel that he said about everything there was to say, but since we have you with us today, Gengen-san, can you tell us about your thoughts on yuri?

G.K.: Give me a bit of time. I'll draw a diagram.

R.M.: A... diagram?

(Sound of a whiteboard rolling out on stage)

■ Strong yuri, weak yuri

R.M.: Uhh, please explain this diagram, then.

G.K.: I would call the approach Miyazawa-san described in his lecture "Strong Yuri". And it's all about the emotionalism. It focuses on feelings and the human heart, and if you take that to the extreme — fictitious relationships become real... That's how it goes.

I.M.: Fictitious, as in, relationships between fictional characters.

R.M.: "Fictional characters don't exist, but their relationships are real".

G.K.: That did feel convincing for a moment. That would mean that I — that is, the author — am a magnificent, godlike entity. Why — because I have a metaphysical ability to bring imaginary beings into reality.

However, I had doubts whether I actually possessed such divine powers. That's when I realized that my goal is not "Strong Yuri", and changed course into the opposite direction. That is, "Weak Yuri".

R.M.: Weak Yuri.

G.K.: "Strong Yuri" is characterized by realism. It focuses on feelings. On the reality of having emotions in a fictional setting, and its ultimate expression — making emotions real. That's what I'm calling "Radical Strong Yuri", when you reach that stage — fiction becomes real.

R.M.: Feelings of characters become equivalent to feelings in the real world.

G.K.: In "Radical Strong Yuri" the boundary between fiction and reality disappears altogether. Taking my works as an example, when I was writing "Evolution Girls" (TN: the novel is included in the "Last and First Idol" anthology), I was standing at the "Strong Yuri" side of things. I was operating under the premise that the feelings of the cast are real, studied personality analysis from the psychology standpoint, and was creating characters based on which kind of personality they fall under. But I got worried that using this method may not get me very far. Because when I submitted the plot of a new story to Mizoguchi-san, my editor, he replied with "I want you to write more sensible characters".

R.M.: That I did.

G.K.: I took his advice, and that got me thinking — what exactly makes a sensible character, what does "sensible" mean, how can I go about making a character sensible. I pondered a lot about this, and it occurred to me that it means a person's theory of mind must be functioning in a sensible way. "Theory of mind" is the ability to logically interpret the state of mind of another person, what they may be thinking, and hypothesize that this must be the feeling they are experiencing. It doesn't require the feelings and the mind to be real.

R.M.: Does this really make a sensible character...

G.K.: I named this approach that ignores whether the mind is real or not "Weak Yuri". As opposed to the realism of "Strong Yuri", "Weak Yuri" is yuri based on anti-realism, or, perhaps, epistemology. Interestingly enough, if you take "Weak Yuri" to its extreme, real people's minds become fictional.

R.M.: So we're nothing more than fictional beings ourselves, you're saying.

G.K.: That's right. Like when you read a sentence in a book and logically assume that "there must be a feeling of sadness here", you see someone's facial expression and logically interpret it as "there must be a feeling of sadness here". In "Weak Yuri" taken to the utmost extreme, in "Radical Weak Yuri", even the relationships between real people become imaginary. Basically, the extremes of both "Strong Yuri" and "Weak Yuri" places real beings and fictional beings on the same ontological level. The Ouroboros comes full circle.

To provide a concrete example, we can take a look at Yutaka Maya's mystery novel "More Than Friends, Less Than Detectives". The protagonists are two wannabe-detectives, two girls with completely different personalities and lines of reasoning, one relying on intuition and the other on logic. In the end there is a twist that topples over the logical paradigm surrounding the feelings of one of them, and I saw something akin to "Weak Yuri" — that prioritizes theory and logic — there. You could say it's yuri that utilizes twists in a theory, something intrinsic to the mystery genre. However there is a right answer in this story, so it's still within the bounds of realism.

As a more relativistic and multifaceted example, there's "Yuri Kuma Arashi".

R.M.: The anime directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara.

G.K.: This can be said of all anime directed by Ikuhara, they aren't based in realism at all. That's why they are said to be difficult to comprehend. But if you understand that they're not based in realism, you find room for interpretation.

In "Yuri Kuma Arashi" the so-called "Yuri Trials" are held, a process by which what you have felt, your background, your true nature are ratified by the "Yuri Approvals" given by the court. In that world, your heart is multifaceted, it depicts a world that permits a self-contradictory heart to exist. I found "Weak Yuri"-ness there.

(Pointing to the diagram) I've written "Cause and Truth" next to "Strong Yuri", cause is something that affects the world — and truth is something that exists independently, on its own. On the other hand, the leitmotifs of "Weak Yuri" are "Reason and Theory". Reason itself cannot affect anything, it only functions as one within a theory when it's interpreted as being a valid one.

I.M.: (looks away from the whiteboard)

R.M.: Why are you looking at me?

G.K.: And what's important to form a theory is an individual's life. The entire life of this individual determines their understanding of what feelings are on display. Depicting a character is the same as depicting how their entire life determines their theory of mind.

Now I'm finally getting to the writing principles, to how I wrote characters when I was told to make them sensible. I was writing them while contemplating about the theories of mind they possess, and how they come to understand what feeling is being expressed according to those theories.

R.M.: Thank you very much. I'll be more careful with my words next time.

I.M.: You said some interesting things. "Radical Strong Yuri" is making relationships of fictional characters real. "Radical Weak Yuri" is making relationships of real people fictional. As an example of the latter... Would you say the so-called """yuri fanservice""" of real idols is one...? (TN: "yuri eigyou", business yuri)

G.K.: (pointing at I.M.) There is a fictional relationship between us as well!

I.M.: Our relationship is imaginary?

G.K.: Everything is imaginary. We're living inside an imaginary world.

I.M.: Okay.

G.K.: The border between fiction and reality loses any meaning. They become one.

R.M.: By the way, you were saying that in "Strong Yuri" the author essentially becomes God, but what will the author become from the "Weak Yuri" standpoint?

G.K.: Hmm... The world?

R.M.: I see.

G.K.: God is above, the world is below. They are one and the same, existing simultaneously.

R.M.: Okay.

G.K.: One more thing. I believe that yuri and hard sci-fi genres have a very strong affinity for each other. That's why I expect a lot of hard yuri sci-fi to be produced from now on.

R.M.: Why do you think so?

G.K.: The fatal flaw of hard sci-fi is that it's not interesting to anyone except for fans of science fiction. Its main course are scientific explanations, and even though there are many different stories, in the end they always give way to walls of scientific text. But readers, except for sci-fi fans, barely feel any catharsis from that. Let's be honest, what's so interesting about having to read a longass explanatory infodump? That's why the sad reality is that hard sci-fi won't spread beyond the sci-fi fanbase. However if you make that hard yuri sci-fi, the scientific explanation segment becomes a scene of women having a conversation with each other. In other words, a yuri scene, something that all of you love.

I.M.: I'm very impressed. You're absolutely right. The scientific explanation part in hard sci-fi always ends up being a long conversation, doesn't it. It didn't occur to me that you could integrate the relationships in it, and it does seem like a great combination.

R.M.: You used that technique in the last scene of "Dark Seiyuu", right?

G.K.: Exactly. Though at the time I haven't formulated it in words yet, I ended up putting it into practice.

R.M.: Miyazawa-san, I think in your "Otherside Picnic" the sci-fi setting is also explained in character dialogue.

I.M.: That was out of necessity, or rather, it's a result of a struggle to avoid dry explanations and somehow shove them into the conversations. I'm sure everyone does that... I thought that in hard sci-fi, which inevitably has an explanation part, consciously doing that is the right way.

G.K.: I'll be mass-producing hard yuri sci-fi from the "Weak Yuri" standpoint.

■ GenGeneral principles

R.M.: Let's move on to the next topic then. How should you make yuri sci-fi from 2018 onwards — during the previous interview Miyazawa-san presented the ideas of interspecies yuri and yuri of absence. The latter states that just an emotional scenery is enough to create yuri, even without humans. Sounds difficult to outdo this, but do you have any ideas, Gengen-san?

G.K.: I've been thinking, differentials really are yuri, aren't they.

R.M.: Differentials.

G.K.: Differentials, mathematical ones. Let's say we have a function. Like "X = 2Y". If you define one of the values, it defines the other one as well, right? In other words, one of them depends on the other. That's yuri, isn't it. A function is a pairing. You get it, right?

R.M.: Yes.

I.M.: I do.

G.K.: A differential represents how f(x) changes with respect to changes of X. When one of the women is going through a change, how does that change her partner — to answer that you need to calculate the derivative of the function.

I.M.: Yuri can be represented with formulas, you're saying.

G.K.: You can model yuri with a differential equation. What do the function represent — for starters, mental state. Happiness, anger, there is a multitude of dimensions. X and Y, a function of the feelings of them both. A function that expresses what one of them feels when the other one experiences something. Or you can also represent various situations with functions. For example, how does one of them react when the other one calls her. What does one of them do if the other one gives her chocolate on Valentine's Day. Or maybe a probability space. If one were to become a writer, what would happen to the other one — describing such counterfactual space with functions. In "Weak Yuri" these functions would define the theoretical parameters of the characters. The theoretical model of one of the characters contains mental states, possibilities, and situations that can be expressed with functions, as well as different functions regarding the other character's theoretical model. The relationships between these functions give birth to new functions. That is functional yuri, from my "Weak Yuri" standpoint. In "Strong Yuri", these functions all exist in reality.

I.M.: I see, this was very easy to understand.

R.M.: Indeed it was.

G.K.: You still have to find the original equations from the differential one, that is, backwards-deriving from countless situations what exactly is this pairing like — which solves the differential equation.

I.M.: Can you also represent real human relationships in this manner?

G.K.: There are as many theoretical models as there are people, and they all change with the passing of time. Functions change depending on people and time, and new functions are formed out of the relationships between existing ones. That's what reality is.

I.M.: I understand everything now.

R.M.: Right.

G.K.: I was wondering if I could turn it into a short story. If I could write it in Toh EnJoe's style, maybe.

R.M.: A functional yuri story, I see.

I.M.: The way Mizoguchi-san said this made it sound like "if you carelessly blurt something out, I'll actually make you write it".

R.M.: Oh no, I wouldn't.

■ A man accelerating into nothingness

R.M.: I'd like a few words from you as well, Miyazawa-san.

I.M.: Let's see... There are many conventions, rules, and things like that making up the yuri genre as it is right now, but I think they are growing antiquated in geometric progression.

For example, in the previous interview I brought up "onee-sama" as the first one among the concepts that should be updated. I feel I didn't explain it very well, but I didn't intend to say that the "onee-sama" concept itself is outdated. In things like 80s-90s shounen manga there was something like a contempt for the genre, "yuri is where they shout 'onee-sama~' and stuff, right?". That's what I've been seeing, and what I wanted to say is that these days things are rapidly progressing from there.

Just like that, I think that yuri we are reading right now will be getting more and more outdated, eventually becoming cliché. I can't yet say what exactly will change and how, but I believe the mission of yuri creators is to keep the updates rolling so the genre doesn't grow stale. Though if you follow this to its logical conclusion, yuri as a genre itself may end up becoming cliche.

R.M.: The more yuri is made, the more it weakens, you mean.

I.M.: I mean, to begin with, saying "I'm writing yuri" yourself feels kinda frivolous, has a nasty vibe to it (※). "Shut up and do it seriously", you'd think. I feel that the more you talk about something, the more you put into words, the more stale it grows. And it's not just individual cliches, you can say it about genres as a whole. And perhaps in the end the yuri genre will become something as banal as relationships between a human and a human.

(※ Note from I.M.: This is referring only to what Miyazawa feels towards himself. These words are not directed at anyone else. Dear readers, do not use them as a convenient cudgel to beat people you don't like with. Make your cudgels yourselves)

R.M.: The very yuri that made Miyazawa-san a human.

I.M.: Talking about a specific direction, I think there is a quite a difference in perception growing between people who follow Virtual YouTuber yuri and those who don't. Virtual YouTubers put yuri-like relationships between real people on display. Unlike yuri between completely fictional characters, you start to get this feeling, "should I really be allowed to watch this?". Like, the relationships we get to see are indeed wonderful, but shouldn't they normally unfold somewhere far away from any peeping eyes...?

R.M.: The internal conflict: is it really fine for me to consume this as content?

I.M.: Rather... You get this feeling that you want them to happily spend time where nobody's eyes can follow, without any regards to ourselves. Especially with Virtual YouTubers, there are many cases of people who know well the worldview of yuri otaku becoming Virtual YouTubers and doing yuri stuff. It's like a Russian reversal, "in Soviet Russia characters are watching you!". You get anxious that our observation has an effect on its targets, or rather, when you happily chatter about two women getting along with each, "this is yuri, ain't it", you get a sense of guilt for selfishly categorizing other people's relationship. This is so blatant with Virtual YouTubers that everyone is at a loss for words.

That said, all of this is nothing more than behavior of a small fraction of extreme otaku (TN: "genkai otaku", kind of "painfully over-the-top otaku"). Yuri as a creative genre is still developing, and I believe it's going to keep rapidly expanding in the future. I think listening to the rants of extreme otaku is insane (looking angry, for some reason).

R.M.: Though it sounded as if you declared yourself to be an extreme otaku.

I.M.: Well, yeah... That's why even if there are inconsistencies in perception like that, yuri as a genre will probably keep functioning as a home... in a home and away game fields sense.

R.M.: What do you think about this, Gengen-san?

G.K.: Maybe it's because I'm not watching Virtual YouTubers that much, but I can't say I'm definitely feeling what Miyazawa-san was describing. Is there any difference with, say, following seiyuu or idols' relationships?

I.M.: I wonder about that. I'm, conversely, not very well-versed in seiyuu and idols so I don't really know.

R.M.: But on the other hand, there are no such fears in regards to something that is completely fictional? When you were writing yuri in your stories, Miyazawa-san, were you feeling any sense of guilt about pairing the characters together?

I.M.: No, I wasn't. Because when I'm writing it, I'm doing it with a firm conviction that there is a strong relationship there.

R.M.: I see. So it's not so much an issue during writing, it's extreme otaku behavior that appears in situations like this, when you cannot avoid talking about yuri.

I.M.: Well... y-yeah... kill me, please……… (suddenly groans)

R.M.: Are you all right?

I.M.: Now look, there are these ideas like "I want to become a wall" or "I want to become a decorative plant and look after them". But I never wish for anything like that.

R.M.: Why is that?

I.M.: Huh? Because I'm unnecessary, of course.

R.M.: You don't want to exist even as a wall?

I.M.: Yes. I don't want to be an observer.

G.K.: I don't really get this "want to become a wall" thing either. How much consciousness would that wall have?

I.M.: Precisely.

R.M.: Though walls are frequently anthropomorphised.

I.M.: That's just a wall-shaped human, I'd say. I don't want to become a wall at all. A barely acceptable idea would be something like what mangaka Tetsuya Imai-san tweeted when "Kemono Friends" was airing, "I want to become human remains lying around somewhere in the far corner of Japari Park". That's the absolute maximum I could accept.

R.M.: Like that corpse of a Kunekune victim (TN: a Japanese urban legend, similar to Slenderman) in the beginning of Otherside Picnic.

I.M.: Hmm, I'd prefer if it was more weathered.

R.M.: As if a century had passed since then.

I.M.: Exactly. At most, bleached bones scattered around. Of course I don't need consciousness, I wouldn't want to affect anything with my observation. I want to write unobservable yuri.

R.M.: Unobservable yuri, I see.

I.M.: I want to become nothing.

R.M.: Let's do our best.

■ Public editorial meeting

R.M.: In conclusion, if you have any announcements regarding your new works, please go ahead. Let's start with Miyazawa-san.

I.M.: The first volume of the "Otherside Picnic" manga is now on sale. Eita Mizuno-sensei of the "Spiral" fame is drawing it. Square Enix is making an incredible comic adaptation, so I very much recommend checking it out.

R.M.: I get to read the storyboards of every chapter, and Miyazawa-san also goes through them, it really is wonderful.

I.M.: Mizuno-sensei takes the source material very seriously and incorporates its aspects into his work. I think it is a truly respectful adaptation.

R.M.: There is also an all-new short story written by Miyazawa-san specifically for this tankoubon release. It's about Virtual YouTuber activities of a character called Kozakura, and based on our discussion today it's quite a sinful episode, I wholly recommend reading it.

How far will the manga adapt the original novel is not set in stone, so as long as it's well-received it will keep going on, I'll be very glad if you support it.

I.M.: Also, the new chapter of the "Otherside Picnic" novel will be released by the end of August. It's titled "Sanless-san and Karatist-san" (TN: Sannuki-san to Karateka-san), and features the return of Sorawo's karate-using underclassman. The third volume is scheduled to release in November.

R.M.: Thank you very much. Your turn, Gengen-san.

G.K.: Right! Hayakawa Books will be publishing my new long novel. With a serialization being planned.

R.M.: Huh?

G.K.: The book is titled "Megaevolutionary Animal Death-game". I'm writing the climax of the first volume at this very moment, so I'll probably hand in the first draft in September. Consequently, it should be published next spring!

R.M.: This is the first time I'm hearing about this. I see.

G.K.: What?! You mean it's not coming out?!

R.M.: The project hasn't been greenlighted yet, and yet all of a sudden you're already clearing the way for it.

G.K.: It's a multi-protagonist yuri ensemble. There is a total of 18 characters, 18 girls building up their mutual relationships. The total amount of pairings is about 150. You can imagine it as a combination of "BanG Dream!", "Kemono Friends" and "Gene Diver". The entire class of an all-girl school, all 18 students, are sent 8 million years back in time to the Miocene epoch, where a battle unfolds for the history of humanity, for the history of life itself, it's a hard yuri sci-fi adventure.

R.M.: This is all only if the draft is interesting, and if the project is given the go-ahead within the company.

G.K.: Indeed. So everyone, please put some pressure on Hayakawa Books! If the first volume sells well, I'm planning to turn this into a series!

R.M.: "If the first volume comes out," that is.

G.K.: Yes! The first hurdle to clear is to publish volume 1! The first volume will sell well! Then all the bigwigs at Hayakawa Books will say "All right, go ahead!" and confirm the serialization! That is my plan, so please help me out! I've got nobody else to rely on except for you!!!

(TN: the first volume of "Megaevolutionary Animal Death-game" really was published this spring)

R.M.: I often hear "you can't win against Gengen" from people who've met him, and I can certainly understand them. How about your projects with other publishers?

G.K.: The most recent one is a short story in the upcoming Shousetsu Subaru #10 releasing in mid-September. It's a sci-fi story combining VTubers with Wittgenstein's philosophy. Please look forward to it. There is a somewhat yuri-ish development in there, too.

Also, there are plans by Shogakukan to publish a school rom-com under their Gagaga Bunko label. They put a harsh restriction that the protagonist has to be a boy, and for some reason I ended up writing a school rom-com light novel, but I can't write one to save life, so when I proposed a story where sci-fi and fantasy invade the rom-com world, I more or less got an OK. This is also planned for next spring, so look forward to it! (TN: Released since then under the name "This Is a School Rom-Com")

R.M.: All right, thank you very much.

■ Public editorial meeting (extra round)

R.M.: Actually, I also have to make an announcement today. Though I haven't told either of you in advance about it.

I.M.: Interesting.

R.M.: With the way things have been going lately — "Otherside Picnic" was very well-received and got serialized, Kusano-san's "Last and First Idol" is the first debut work to win a Seiun Award in 42 years, the "Yuri made me human" interview exploded in popularity, and we have so many people coming here today... Considering all this, you cannot possibly ignore the momentum of yuri sci-fi any longer.

And so — I want to do a special yuri feature in the S-F Magazine.

G.K.: Ooh!

R.M.: I've got the permission of the editor-in-chief, so it will happen right before the end of 2018, in the issue releasing in December. And so... I've got two writers sitting right next to me, yes?

I.M.: Ah—

R.M.: Kusano-san. Functional yuri, was it?

G.K.: Yes.

R.M.: May I ask you to write it?

G.K.: Uhh... I've got another idea! "Super Doping Battle", a story about doping to the extreme to win at sports and...

R.M.: Is that yuri?

G.K.: ...The girls are fighting each other, so...!

R.M.: Don't you think functional yuri sounds more interesting?

G.K.: Yes.

R.M.: And now, Miyazawa-san. Unobservable yuri, you were saying?

I.M.: ………………………Understood.

(Applause in the meeting hall)

R.M.: Well then, we decided on two of the stories right here, right now, so I'll be doing my best to make the special feature happen. Thank you very much for coming today!

(24th August 2018, Tokyo, Shosen Book Tower)

※ ※ ※ ※ ※

● Iori Miyazawa （@walkeri）

Born in the Akita prefecture. Made his debut with "My Magic Sword is Too Noisy". In 2015 won the 6th Sougen SF short story award with "How Gods Walk". Joined the Adventure Planning Service, worked on replays and setting of "nSANe" and other TRPGs. Hayakawa Bunko JA is publishing his "Otherside Picnic" novels.

● Gengen Kusano （@The_Gen_Gen）

Born in 1990, in the Hiroshima prefecture. Graduated from the Keio University environmental informatics department, currently studying in the Hokkaido University Graduate School, Faculty of Science. In 2016 his "Last and First Idol" won a special prize in the 4th Hayakawa SF Contest, and he made his official debut as a writer with the release of its digital edition. The same work received the Sense of Wonder Award ("Idol Soaring Into The Future Award") at the 48th Seiun Awards (Japanese short stories category) in 2017, the author himself received a prize at the 27th Dark Nebula Awards (guest category), and the story was also published in English.

● Interviewer — Rikimaru Mizoguchi （@marumizog）

Editor in Hayakawa Shobo's S-F Magazine, editor of "Otherside Picnic", "Side-by-side Dreamers", and "Last and First Idol".

(TN: S-F Magazine with the special yuri feature was only available physically and quickly sold out despite having several reprints, but the stories have been since re-published in the new sci-fi yuri anthology "A Bouquet For Asterism" that is available in e-book form)

Iori Miyazawa is a science-fiction writer and author of the yuri novel series Otherside Picnic (Urasekai Picnic) and a novel in the same genre Side-by-side Dreamers (Soine Dreamer). An official English release of Side-by-side Dreamers was recently announced by J-Novel Club, with the first chapters already available on their website (and it's really good!).

The interview took place in May 2018 during the Science Fiction Seminar and commemorated the Japanese release of Side-by-side Dreamers. The topic of the interview was "Encountering Yuri in 2018".

You can read the original interview on the Hayakawa Books blog.

A Russian translation of the interview is available here.

If there's something unclear, please ask me to correct or clarify things where it may be necessary: @kati_lilian.

07.07.2019 Addendum: Side-by-side Dreamers has since been released in full, and J-Novel Club also picked up Otherside Picnic for an international English release.

■ Resolve

Iori Miyazawa (@walkeri, I.M.): Hello, my name is Iori Miyazawa. I was invited on this stage since Hayakawa Bunko started publishing my Otherside Picnic novel last year.

Rikimaru Mizoguchi (@marumizog, Hayakawa Books editor, R.M.): Otherside Picnic is a science-fiction survival horror novel that tells a story of two girls exploring a world full of mysteries that lies on the other side of our own. While it's highly regarded for its SF and horror elements, the "two girls" aspect was especially well-received, and so it became serialized with two volumes having been published to date.

I.M.: I'm really glad that yuri fans also took so well to it.

R.M.: And so today, in this "Encountering Yuri in 2018" segment, I would like to ask Miyazawa-san about the forefront of yuri that he experiences when writing his novels, or, perhaps, as a reader that comes in contact with the culture as it exists in 2018.

I.M.: They told me to "talk about yuri", but frankly speaking it's easier said than done. I don't really want to say anything...

R.M.: Among the young readers of today, and even writers, many feel a desire to read or write yuri. Take Gengen Kusano, the author of Last and First Idol (TN: Saigo no Shite Saisho no Idol, released in English by J-Novel Club). Except people from the industry told him "yuri light novels won't sell".

I.M.: That's just unforgivable.

R.M.: So in order to change this state of affairs, among other things... I just want to hear your personal opinion here, your thoughts and ideas about yuri.

I.M.: I see... It's true that I don't want to say anything... I think there's this mutual understanding among yuri fans, "don't talk about yuri, make yuri". If I accidentally blurt something out, it'll provoke a flame war, and I don't want to have what I say here spread around with a totally different meaning. And if it does, I'll have to slice you all in half. I'll be talking today with these feelings in mind.

R.M.: All right, go ahead.

◆ 4th May 2018, Tokyo, Ochanomizu, Zendentsu Hall

■ Nine updates

I.M.: Well then, let's talk about yuri in 2018. But before we start... If you ask people that haven't been following the latest trends in yuri what does "yuri", in fact, mean, most of them would answer something vague like "love between two women, I guess?", so first I'd like to share several old concepts and ideas that are in need of an update. (starts writing "common obsolete concepts" on the whiteboard)

1. "Onee-sama" (TN: literally "older sister", in yuri/class S works often refers to an upperclassman)

This is a very old concept, there was a time when the hierarchy between female students was a major element of the yuri genre. The so-called "Class S novels", stories about romance between female students. Symbolic representations taken from those were prominent for some time, but there is much more variation in how modern yuri is expressed.

2. "I want to get in between them"

"Let me (♂) join these buddy-buddy girls" is a phrase typical of a male viewpoint, and it will get you killed. Never listen to anything those kinds of people have to say.

3. "It's just a transient phase of puberty"

Saying this will also get you killed. Even if a relationship is intentionally depicted as yuri, some will nonetheless insist it's all a fleeting delusion, people who can't take a single step out of their heterocentric values where love only exists between a man and a woman. Report spam → Block user.

4. "The relationship being same-sex has to cause conflict"

The number of works depicting love between women as something absolutely normal has been growing, so I'd say this kind of trouble is something you can write in if you want to, or if the story demands it. But it's not at all necessary.

5. "Yuri and rezu are different things" (TN: rezu, coming from "lesbian", is often used in Japanese communities to refer specifically to R18 content)

There are some people who want to split things into "yuri" and "rezu" based on whether those have sexual content, but this distinction doesn't exist.

6. "It's not yuri if there's a male character"

The recent influx of yuri works established that yuri featuring men in its cast is also a thing. For example, in the Korean movie The Handmaiden there is a "man who wants to get between the two girls", however it's an incredibly strong yuri, and it even accomplished an unbelievable feat of making said male character seem charming. There is also the American comic Sunstone, released in Japanese this year, with the ex-boyfriend of one of the girls making an appearance, and they are depicted as being on friendly terms with each other.

7. "It's all just lookism"

A commonly heard criticism is that it's always, in the end, about young and cute girls, but there are many works where this is not the case. Yuri about relationships between adult women in their 30-s/40-s has been gaining traction as of late, and, say, the manga Veranda of Metamorphoses (Metamorphose no Engawa) is about a relationship between a high-schooler, who is not at all a so-called "pretty girl", and an elderly lady. Yes, "pretty faces" is important, but this would lead to a serious discussion about facial attractiveness in general.

8. "Yuri made by men is fake"

You can't escape from your masculine value systems, after all — however, the number of strong yuri works written by men disproves this argument. It's the same as saying "women can't write BL", which shows how utterly nonsensical it sounds. Although it is frustrating that for me as a male yuri writer there is, in the very end, an impenetrable wall.

9. "Crazy psycho lesbian"

I think it got popular around 2014. It's basically a female version of a pervert character, but I haven't seen those much as of late. It's hard to use this character type these days, you would have to raise the degrees of each element — of craziness, psychosis, and lesbianism, — to make it work.

That's it, some of these stereotypes could still be living inside of you, but I hope you understood that an update is required to keep moving at the speed of 2018. If you see someone who's still stuck-up about this sort of stuff, tell them "oh come on, it's 2018".

R.M.: All right.

■ Strong yuri

I.M.: Next I want to talk about the prerequisites of yuri. First, the concept of "woman". In daily life, if you say "woman" unceremoniously, that's quite a strong word, it even feels frightening.

R.M.: Right.

I.M.: But it's an unavoidable word in the context of yuri. It's a condensed concept wrapped in many overlapping layers of meaning, it's a if you add tons of quote marks to """woman""". And "woman and woman" is a relationship vital to understanding yuri. Because if you ask what is yuri — it is unmistakably a "relationship between a woman and a woman".

(TN: referring to someone as 女/onna in Japanese can be about as rude as referring to someone as "that female")

R.M.: I wonder if this is how most people perceive all this.

I.M.: They typically do, within my range of observation.

R.M.: I see.

I.M.: This "relationship" doesn't necessarily have to be "love", love is one of the things this colossal "something" envelops within itself. I think at this point everyone can agree that the definition of yuri as just "love between two women" is no longer applicable. This "something" that connects two women together is sometimes referred to as an "unidentified enormous emotion". This concept dates back to around 2016. The better you depict the change in the "emotions", the more "high-resolution", the more real the work of fiction will feel. High-resolution yuri is "strong" yuri.

R.M.: Do you theorize that yuri can be classified by its "strength"?

I.M.: I didn't come up with the words "strong yuri", but I do always strive to write strong yuri. Which is, basically, to depict human beings. Though it's been said that this is what science fiction have never been good at since time immemorial.

R.M.: But I feel that some authors these days manage to depict yuri without actually depicting humans.

I.M.: True... (both end up glancing at Gengen Kusano sitting in the audience)

But let's return to the subject at hand.

R.M.: Right.

I.M.: If you take this idea further, while fictional yuri depicts relationships between "two women", even though these fictional "women" don't exist, the fictional relationship between the "two women" is very much real.

R.M.: If relationships between people in real life are constructed from certain kinds of fiction, then, if you flip it, relationships between fictional people exist just like the real ones... I guess that's what you mean.

I.M.: It's not that you can just make them real and call it a day, but it certainly increases the "strength". And just like with emotions, I believe that if you don't avoid female libido and carnal needs in your writing, that will make it stronger. These were the prerequisites of yuri I wanted to share with all of you.

R.M.: Thank you very much.

◆"Otherside Picnic" by Iori Miyazawa

■ Assault of a carrier strike group

R.M.: To continue, can you tell us about the 2018 yuri content you've been observing?

I.M.: Before that, let me talk about the "Jaguarman series".

R.M.: What's that?

I.M.: "Jaguarman series" is a collection of AMVs featuring Jaguar, a character from the anime "Kemono Friends", along with Devilman, Casshern, Tiger Mask, and many others. It became a lifeboat for refugees after the "Kemono Friends" commotion, but at first these were just very kind videos full of "i like dis" remarks.

R.M.: So it's from Niconico Douga culture.

I.M.: Numerous videos drew further upon that context, becoming outlets for people to talk about what they love. This spirit, sort of, of "i like dis" is spreading as a cultural phenomenon. And it's the same with yuri. Though you feel the tension, at the same time others are supportive of what you love. "i like dis" — "yea me too".

R.M.: A culture where it's easy to share your "likes".

I.M.: So then, regarding yuri content in 2018. First of all I must bring up the "BanG Dream!" franchise. It's a multimedia project by Bushiroad where actual voice actresses do real band performances. This concept was developed into novels and manga, and there was even an anime series. A social game called "BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!" was released in 2017, and this "Garupa" has some amazing yuri. I'm calling this "Bushiroad's bloody powerful carrier strike group".

R.M.: A carrier strike group of yuri.

I.M.: The story of the 25 characters is updated about once every 10 days, and the "woman-woman" relationships in its text are also updated with tremendous vigor. There is "weight" behind every spoken word, and you can spend all eternity just following them.

R.M.: The protagonist doesn't get involved, it's all about the yuri between the heroines themselves, right?

I.M.: It's common in social games with lots of female characters that the developments are often favorable towards the player. However in "Garupa" the player has no such human rights. The player can only stand still and listen, and thus is often made fun of as being "just a wall".

R.M.: A wall.

I.M.: The player does get a position of a freshly hired music club assistant, yet isn't involved in the actual story, and is only shown the changing relationships between the 25 girls. Take the Valentine's Day event, for example — in other games the player would receive chocolate, right? The player gets none. And only gets to listen to the episodes where girls give other girls chocolate and that's it, see you next time, sort of.

R.M.: It was announced the other day that the game has over 6 million users now, so it looks like making the player a wall was a hugely successful plan.

I.M.: The president of Bushiroad told in an interview that they're turning "Garupa" into one of the pillars of the company. With the release of the English version they truly intend to take over the world with yuri content. In 2018 following "Garupa" is how you can experience the frontiers of yuri, I believe.

R.M.: The wall that you mentioned reminded me of "Liz and the Blue Bird" that opened in theaters a short while ago. The official twitter ran a poll asking "who did you identify with while watching the movie", and besides the main characters there was a third option of "a wall or a desk".

I.M.: I also went to see "Liz and the Blue Bird". I guess this notion first appeared in BL, where you don't self-insert into one of the characters, but rather prefer to see yourself as a wall or a decorative plant watching over the couple. And in this movie the camera explicitly fixates on walls and floors.

R.M.: From the get-go the shot composition makes it seem like you're peeking at the two of them from where you really shouldn't. The pamphlet even states that it's intentional.

I.M.: Yeah, it was totally nerve-wracking. From the tiniest movement of the characters to the backgrounds and the music, everything was permeated in the "woman-woman" tension. I thought I was gonna bite the dust right there.

R.M.: Speaking of which, your novel "Otherside Picnic" is in first person, but it's not written in a way that would make you associate with the main character. I'd even say that it's trying to resist effortless self-insertion.

I.M.: That's right. It's not a narrative trick or anything, but I try to use the strengths of telling the story in first person to their fullest, deliberately avoiding depictions of anything the protagonist herself doesn't look at, I'm paying attention to this sort of stuff when writing.

R.M.: So that's why only the description of the beauty of her partner is so excessively detailed.

I.M.: In sci-fi you don't want to write characters that are too stupid. It's common in horror fiction to have plot developments where someone's foolish actions lead to the worst possible outcome. But I think in science fiction the readers' interest would be dampened by the presence of irrational characters. Yet in real life people end up doing illogical stuff, so in "Otherside Picnic" I let the characters occasionally do or say something careless, to show that things doesn't always go their way.

R.M.: I do feel like you frequently describe miscommunication between the characters, or their feelings having a different side of the coin, so to speak.

I.M.: Well, I think it's fairly common in shoujo manga and such.

◆Manga adaptation of "Otherside Picnic" by Eita Mizuno (artist or "Spiral", etc)

■ Air strike of the "V"

I.M.: Speaking of yuri in 2018, you can't avoid mentioning the Virtual YouTubers (speaks with a serious tone)... Roughly speaking, it's when you put a character skin on a YouTuber, and there's been a sharp increase in their numbers from the start of this year.

R.M.: They use a specialized app to synchronize their expressions and movements with the characters when they talk in front of a camera, so this tech allows them to stream as if they're these characters themselves. They're also called "Vtubers".

I.M.: They use all kinds of things from 3D models to static sprites, but it's the relationships between those Virtual YouTubers that are... extremely, er... terrific... It's the so-called nmmn (namamono) (TN: a term that refers to content based on real people, as opposed to fictional characters), or rather Vnmmn, you get to see virtual "humans" with a real soul getting along with each other every day on streams and social networks. Do you get this? Even if they've been staying silent, that just makes you wonder if they've been doing something out of the viewer's sight, you can feel meaning in the silence itself, and that only drives you deeper down...

R.M.: At this point it's a non-stop supply without even a minute's break.

I.M.: But you also feel anxious whether you should consider this as content for consumption in the first place... You're presented with raw, exposed emotions, and the line between character role-play and the real "self" leaking out from the soul gets blurrier and blurrier... Though if you mention it to idol otaku with a long history of nmmn appreciation, they might just say "well, duh, what else is new". But still, announcing a "sleepover stream" from a hotel room on the day of an event and letting you hear sounds of their life together, that's something you'll never get with any idols! So... following Virtual YouTuber yuri is really... making my head... go bonkers...

R.M.: Are you all right?

I.M.: Anyway, it's a terrifying swamp... To talk about it, you must dive deeper first...

R.M.: So basically the state of things that you've described so far is, like you said in another interview, "the zone of complete air superiority patrolled by AC-130 gunship-like masters of yuri".

I.M.: Indeed. Heavily armed fighter aircraft circling around. Sometimes one of them would hit the limit and start to fume... But then the incredibly powerful Garupa aircraft carrier would come, and Virtual YouTubers would unleash an army of drones. To produce original yuri in 2018, you have to fly through this territory with just a single novel. That's why I'm so desperate with "Otherside Picnic"... I'm writing this with "it's kill or be killed" in mind.

R.M.: Reminds me how you once said in a meeting that "yuri is the same as gangsta rap".

I.M.: At least when you mean the extreme yuri otaku community (TN: "genkai otaku", kind of "painfully over-the-top otaku"). If you say something careless, you die. So the possibility of losing the "respect" is always keeping me on my toes. Though maybe it's just me.

R.M.: For the sci-fi element, you're incorporating first contact themes from "Roadside Picnic" (TN: released in Japan as "Stalker"), and for the horror one — you're scaring the readers with real ghost stories. So you're saying that you're committed to writing yuri that is as strong as either of those.

I.M.: Exactly. I'm relying on my nerves a lot.

■ Towards the infinite possibilities

R.M.: I want to ask you about the potential of yuri beyond 2018. What kind of yuri, SF yuri could appear next on this highly competitive battleground?

I.M.: Out of obvious things, interspecies yuri. I've recently read "The Soul of an Octopus", it's a book about an octopus, but straight from the beginning it depicts something that you can only describe as interspecies & age difference yuri between a 54 y.o. woman, the author, and a 2 y.o. female giant octopus.

R.M.: Interspecies & age difference yuri between a 54 y.o. woman and a 2 y.o. female giant octopus.

I.M.: The author lowers her arm into the water tank, the octopus approaches her. The author's monologue goes on top of it, but the octopus can taste her with her suction pads, and since female octopuses, like humans, possess estrogen, she says "It is possible that this octopus, in fact, knows I am a female". She then adds, "her embrace is an experience unlike any contact with a human", and so on — her immense feelings are flowing onto the pages.

R.M.: I feel like this depends on interpretation.

I.M.: Are you trying to say I'm crazy?

R.M.: No, I'd never. It's more like, with due training you can start to feel the yuri. I've heard that there can be BL between a ceiling and a floor, it's something like that.

I.M.: I think pairings between a ceiling and a floor are commonly accepted in the BL community, but I haven't seen much of that in yuri. But on the other hand, I think a concept of "yuri of absence" is beginning to form.

R.M.: Yuri of absence.

I.M.: That is, an emotional scenery is already yuri.

R.M.: Right.

R.M.: Wait, what?

I.M.: A cliff is towering over the sea, grass is growing on top of it, there is a fence, the gray ocean and sky are stretching beyond the horizon, there is an empty bench for two... Someone was uploading these images with a "#yuri" tag. You can totally get that.

R.M.: So it's like the cover of chapter 9 of "Otherside Picnic", where the two girls ride on a farming vehicle, and a boundless meadow is around them... You're saying this is yuri.

I.M.: Yes. Now remove both girls from this scenery.

R.M.: Right.

I.M.: A rusty, decaying vehicle is resting on top of wheel tracks.

R.M.: Right.

I.M.: Then you imagine that one day two girls were there... Isn't that already totally yuri?

R.M.: Right...

I.M.: So a grassland somehow becomes yuri.

R.M.: A grassland, huh.

I.M.: Not the Tokyo Sougensha publisher. (TN: "grassland" is "sougen" in Japanese)

R.M.: I get that much.

I.M.: For some reason that's enough to feel a taste of yuri in a vast scenery.

R.M.: In that sense, you're writing your ideal yuri in "Otherside Picnic". You're combining scenery yuri with character yuri.

I.M.: You're seriously on point there. I actually didn't have any interest in writing about human emotions, originally. There's a famous saying, "sci-fi is all about the image" (TN: this quote is attributed to Masahiro Noda, a prominent SF writer in Japan). I shared that point of view and, if anything, preferred to only write the setting and the scenes, the sights. But to write yuri you have to focus on the feelings and emotions of the characters, so in the end I had face humans.

R.M.: You first faced humans to write yuri.

I.M.: You could say that "yuri made me human".

R.M.: Did it all begin with "Otherside Picnic"?

I.M.: "Otherside Picnic" is the first time I had to tackle something that is so densely filled with human emotions. Even though the techniques I'm using are common in shoujo manga, I was surprised at just how difficult it is to apply them to science fiction. So I'm writing "Otherside Picnic" as a combo move consisting of the imagery I want to write and the emotional impact.

R.M.: I see. Thank you for the interesting talk.

I.M.: Oh, there's something else I really want to mention, a variation of non-existence yuri — "this music is yuri".

R.M.: Please elaborate.

I.M.: There is this movie called "Sicario" by Denis Villeneuve, released in 2015 (TN: released in Japan as "Borderline"). It's a thrilling masterpiece about the drug war in Mexico. The composer of the movie soundtrack, Jóhann Jóhannsson, passed away this year, and according to one of his interviews, there were two themes in the soundtrack. The sense of dread of two wild beasts glaring and pouncing at each other represents the battle to the death between the illegal police force and the mafia. And the other theme was the melancholy of the border area, two emotional themes. If you listen to the soundtrack with that in mind, you cannot perceive it as anything but "yuri". Though the movie itself is not yuri at all.

R.M.: So if neither the story nor the characters have any yuri, what exactly are you supposed to imagine?

I.M.: Two wild beasts glaring and pouncing at each other. It's yuri, isn't it?

R.M.: I see.

I.M.: And the sentimentality of the border area is also yuri, so I believe this soundtrack is unmistakably yuri, but people don't tend to agree with me on this.

R.M.: Count me not surprised.

■ With kindness and respect

R.M.: To wrap this up, a couple of announcements regarding Miyazawa-san's new works. Season 3 of "Otherside Picnic" is starting this spring, the manga adaptation by Eita Mizuno continues to be published and is garnering high praise, and this summer a single-volume novel "Side-By-Side Dreamers" will be released.

I.M.: As the title suggest, it's yuri about sleeping side-by-side.

R.M.: It's sort of a high-school girl version of "Inception", so please look forward to it. ...Though compared to social games and Vtubers that we were talking about today, it takes slightly more time to produce novels.

I.M.: They're tough opponents. "Garupa", YouTubers' videos, social networks, we have to oppose such rapid and mighty firepower with novels. I'm scared out of my wits, but I don't intend to lose.

R.M.: In conclusion, how do you think people who became interested in yuri for the first time should approach it, with what feelings in mind?

I.M.: I was intimidating today, but I believe that yuri is a kind genre.

R.M.: (looks at the "obsolete concepts" on the whiteboard)

I.M.: No, that's not it. What I wanted everyone to understand is that these stereotypes have one thing in common — the lack of respect towards the genre and the people. Stand on the shoulders of your predecessors and write relationships properly, that's what I was trying to say. I think yuri has a much wider definition than sci-fi (the audience starts to get noisy), as long as you have the "i like dis" spirit and face it with respect, it will reward you and welcome you with open arms.

R.M.: And you yourself draw upon the ideas you were talking about today, forming the constraints and resolve you need as you keep writing "strong yuri".

I.M.: Yes. I want to get stronger.

R.M.: Thank you very much.

(04th May 2018, Tokyo, Ochanomizu, Zendentsu Hall)

In August 2018 Gengen Kusano joined Iori Miyazawa and Rikimaru Mizoguchi for the second round, and you can read the sequel interview here:

"Yuri made me human — part 2"

◆ I only said perfectly normal things in the intervew, so it feels embarrassing...

● Iori Miyazawa （@walkeri）

Born in the Akita prefecture. Made his debut with "My Magic Sword is Too Noisy". In 2015 won the 6th Sougen SF short story award with "How Gods Walk". Joined the Adventure Planning Service, worked on replays and setting of "nSANe" and other TRPGs. Hayakawa Bunko JA is publishing his "Otherside Picnic" novels.

● Interviewer — Rikimaru Mizoguchi （@marumizog）

Editor in Hayakawa Shobo's S-F Magazine, editor of "Otherside Picnic" and "Side-by-side Dreamers".

◆  Iori Miyazawa's notes in preparation for the interview and later additions; "MisaKoko TaeSaaya //////"

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

◆ When you're going camping with your friends, but only the frog has a driving license.

◆ You can buy the book on Amazon

While the whole world is intently watching the adventures of powerful nobles fighting against an evil horde bent on wiping humanity and all kinds of amazing superheroes thwarting off a menace that threatens to destroy the entire universe, I couldn't help but feel that the stakes are just too low for me to follow either of those massive franchises.

Because there is something that is more powerful than Thanos, there is an entity capable of annihilating the army of the dead with a single flicker of its eyes.

Headlamps, to be precise. After all, it's a small Japanese delivery truck. Isuzu ELF.

If you read a lot of isekai (transported-to-another-world) stories, you may have noticed that the adventure of the protagonists, destined to become legendary heroes, often starts with the aforementioned heroes being hit by a truck, which is also a common cause of drama in other, more realistic genres of Japanese entertainment. So it only makes sense that a small truck-kun is stronger than the so-called "Ore TUEEE" nigh-invincible heroes. And just like this, a well known Japanese author, Tamazou Yanagi, took this wild idea and ran with it, somehow even getting an official approval of Isuzu, the oldest active automaker in Japan.

"But wait, Kati," — you may say, — "you're a self-proclaimed digital yuri advocate, yet I don't see any girls making out here, only isekai memery". Do not fret, as the most common complaint I've seen about this book is that, despite the title, it's not for the diehard fans of the ever-so-popular wish-fulfillment genre. Isekai fans were quick to call the novel a "de-ochi", when the punchline is dropped pretty early in and the rest is not really fun at all.

And there is a grain of truth to that, as after Nagi, an ordinary but very lonely schoolgirl dreaming of exciting adventures in a parallel world (much like Hazuki from the recently completed and also very yuri-friendly Märchen Mädchen anime), gets thrown into a fantasy dimension and to her own surprise one-shots a dragon with her aluminum-plated summon, the 6th generation Isuzu ELF, the story neither devolves into a parody of one-sided battles, nor does it go too deep or meta with the concept of an all-powerful small delivery vehicle.

◆ There is an actual elf here (not an Isuzu truck), too.

Kreuzwerk, the world Nagi finds herself in, is full of demi-humans, beastmen, and gratuitous German names, but it's also well prepared for visitors from all over the multiverse — after all, only they are able to keep the local monsters in check. And central to helping Reisenders, in other words people summoned to this world, are two lion-eared sisters: Mia, the kind and caring priestess and heiress to the throne, and her younger sibling, the courageous demon-slaying princess Arashi.

And The Truck, being the seventh element standing above the six classic ones like Water or Fire, is a legendary power that shaped the history of Kreuzwerk hundreds of years ago, yet Nagi is simply too embarrassed to use it — what kind of proud hero stands atop of a pile of corpses of a defeated demon army... with a compact white delivery truck by her side? Instead she looks up to Arashi, a truly heroically looking individual wielding a Holy Spear, and strives to become her trusted companion in a way that doesn't involve killing things with a vehicle designed for safely carrying goods.

This is, ultimately, a story about two girls growing closer together through overcoming their own insecurities. One with an extremely low self-esteem, being too embarrassed to use her powers, and the other putting up a front for what she believes is the greater good, yet being too shy to reveal her true character. And having a controversial history with trucks, but one that ultimately brings the two heroines together.

◆ The artist's name (bun150) and art style do resemble another popular light novel illustrator, however unlike Bunbun it's not another "neighbor" (read: secret identity) of abec.

The novel neatly wraps up in one volume, so Tamazou Yanagi, penning light novels for well over a decade, made the right call to avoid describing the inevitably one-sided battles in greater detail here, and instead focused purely on the character development. On strengthening the bond between Nagi and Arashi as they help each other to accept themselves for who they are, not just for the roles they're supposed to perform.

Most of the novel is a comfy slice of life with constant retorts by the main character about trucks being way too out-of-place in a high-fantasy world, a literal living mascot of Isuzu's online service being part of the cast, way too many truck trivia infodumps that neither the protagonist nor the readers ever asked for, and a couple of a surprising scenes along the way. This is light feel-good reading, the author never tries to be too clever with the plot, but makes sure the basics are done right — and the book does hit all the right notes with a heartwarming and satisfying conclusion.

It's common practice in the West to label only romantic relationships as yuri, but for me a strong relationship between two girls is good enough. To borrow the term used by Iori Miyazawa, a sci-fi yuri writer, in the well-known interview, an "unidentified enormous emotion" that brings the characters together is what makes a work yuri. So "Isuzu ELF is the World's Strongest Truck" gets a Kati's Yuri Seal of Approval™. It's funny, easy to get into and, if you don't mind slice of life, it will be a pleasant ride, all thanks to the Smoother Ex transmission and a very efficient D-CORE engine. Yes, if anything, you'll have no trouble landing a job in an Isuzu dealership afterwards.

◆ Note how at 0:13 it shows off a new, safer version of isekai teleportation.

"It's not at all what I expected!" — regularly exclaims the protagonist.

Thank goodness it wasn't!

Oh, and if you ever want more proof that yuri and trucks mix really well...