Classic Yuri Sci-Fi Series ‘Qualia the Purple’ Licensed in English

On Wednesday, February 9, Seven Seas Entertainment announced that it had licensed Misamitsu Ueo and Sirou Tsunasima Yuri series Qualia the Purple. Both the series original light novel and Tsunasima’s complete manga were licensed.

The publisher describes the series:

Through the uncanny purple eyes of Yukari, all people appear to her as robots. Her talent is both a blessing and a curse. She is able to assist the police in sizing up threats, since her “skill” allows her to evaluate humans’ quirks and physical capabilities like cataloging the parts of a machine–yet her strange sight has cost her the friendship of her peers. She does have one friend in her corner: Hatou “Gaku” Manabu, a girl at school who cares deeply for Yukari. When Yukari is recruited into a secret organization, the real trouble begins. Gaku is thrust into a realm of mystery, quantum experimentation, and alternate universes, with only her wits–and her love for Yukari–to guide her along the way.

Qualia the Purple was initially released in 2009 under Kadokawa’s Dengeki Bunko label. The series is notable for the heavy inclusion of high science fiction concepts and elements, something relatively unsees in Yuri before its point. It is a precursor in many ways to modern sci-fi Yuri like Otherside Picnic andLast and First Idol. The series is highly reviewed and well regarded for its characters and plot.

The light novel’s original illustrator, Sirou Tsunasima, created a manga adaption of Qualia,which was serialized in Dengeki Daioh from 2011 to 2013. Kadokawa publishes three volumes of the manga in Japanese.

Qualia the Purple is another classic Yuri announcement in recent years. Seven Seas will release the light novel digitally and in print in November 2022, over a decade after the original Japanese publication. This was similar to the 2019 announcement of Akiko Morishma’s The Conditions of Paradise, another classic Yuri work given new life with a new audience years later as the genre’s popularity grows.

TheQualia the Purple light novel will be released in a single edition in November 2022 and the manga collection will be available in June 2023.