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Posts Tagged Boys’ Love/Yaoi

Swag Bag – Clones, Contagions and Perennial Prisons

It’s been a bit slow-going new purchases wise for me as of late – time to put a stop to that! Plus last week’s Swag Bag was late, so I figure why not slip this one in early? While my preferred and go to location for shopping is always my local comic store, Strange Adventures, I had some gift cards and coupons that sent me to one of Halifax’s Chapters bookstore chain stores. When it comes to pricing, I wouldn’t recommend Canadians buy their books at Chapters because they charge full CDN price regardless of our dollar’s strength. That said though, it’s hard not to drool over the sheer amount of selection they have. With that in mind, I enjoyed purchasing from a few different publishers with my assortment of books this week.

It was boys’ love time first – and ouch do these take a chunk of your wallet at full cover price. Each new BLU Manga book (Tokyopop‘s BL imprint) are $18.99 each. None the less, I purchased the second and final volume of Madness because I wanted some more of that demon x priest action. What can I say – I love that dynamic! Going for something a little more straight-forward, into the pile went the one-shot You and Me, Etc. As one of BLU’s most recent releases, it has the larger cut size which is really great to see.

20th Century Boys (Vol. 13)Speaking of larger cut sizes, I bought the second volume of Viz Media‘s Afterschool Charisma. The book is part of their SigIKKI line-up meaning it has both the large trim size and extra shiny cover design. I really liked the first volume so I’m eager to read this second part. The same can be said for volume three of 7 Billion Needles (from Vertical Inc.) – amazing first two volumes so here’s to volume three being as entertaining. Also an absolutely-must-buy was the thirteenth volume of 20th Century Boys – cue the zombie apocalypse without the zombies.

One more seinen to the pile, I bought volume four of Deadman Wonderland. The last couple of volumes have been a little messy execution-wise but the violence, intensity and in-prison conspiracy story makes it more than worth a continued read. But should I need a break from the darker content of the bulk of the books I bought, I topped off the receipt with the eighth volume of Silver Diamond. Pretty boys fighting with flowers and vines to save a dying kingdom – Lissa approved!

So what did you purchase this week?


Super Savings: EverythingYaoi and Clearance Doesn’t Hurt Either!

Everything Yaoi Clearance

Sales come and sales go but many online sites have sales on 24/7. EverythingYaoi.com, a site that earns its name, has a handy Clearance section where they list just what it sounds like – items on clearance you can get for up to 50% off the cover price (and sometimes more).

Of the books currently listed, below are my top recommendations:

Going in alphabetical order, the first two books I’d recommend added to any boys’ love shopping cart is Can’t Win With You!. The series is three volumes long and while volume one isn’t on clearance, Can’t Win With You (Vol. 02) and Can’t Win With You (Vol. 03) are with each priced at $4.99/US each. The series is about a cast of amusing, often sexually explorative and teasing teenage boys in an all boys’ school, drawn by Yukine Honami, whose works have been published many times since by Digital Manga. The story itself is written by Satosumi Takaguchi who wrote Shout Out Loud! which was published by BLU.

Two other second-half volumes I’d commend are Passion (Vol. 03) and Passion (Vol. 04). This series has always had a special place in my yaoi-loving heart as one of the first (if not the very first) strictly boys’ love stories to be published in English (excluding Tokyopop‘s early fare in the genre). I remember the day I bought volume one the day it came out… ah the memories and the first of many purchases. The series itself is pretty standard genre-fare but it’s sweet and fluffy and has those great classic cliches of student-teacher relations and starting said relations off on the seriously wrong foot.

Two other Digital Manga series worth adding to your bookshelf from the clearance selection are Moon and Sandals (Vol. 01) by Fumi Yoshinaga and Princess Princess (Vol. 02) by Mikiyo Tsuda. The first is part one of a two book series wherevolume one gets you attached to the characters and the following book proves a steamy follow-up. Princess Princess isn’t really a boys’ love story but pretty boys, teasing and crossdressing definitely makes it an applicable crossover for many fans.

And last but not least, a one-shot from Yaoi Press, the original boys’ love publisher affiliated with EverythingYaoi.com. The book is titled Surge and is a cute love story between a surfer and book nerd. It’s got some funny moments and an adorable art style plus one-shots are always a great cart topper. All in one!

Though these titles are just some of those in the site’s clearance section, it’s also recommended you check out their other sale sections to see what books from different publishers they’ve got on discount as well. Shipping prices can get a little hefty though so be sure to read through the FAQ section when making your calculations. Shop on, boys-love collectors!


Digital Manga Adds Stack of New BL Titles for New Year

Digital Manga Adds Stack of New BL Titles for New Year

A bit of an unexpected short hiatus for Kuriousity this past week but leave it to Digital Manga to surprise us with a bunch of new license announcements to start off the new year with a pleasant jump-start.

Originally these titles were announced through their Facebook page, a bit of an inconvenience as it requires you to be a Facebook user to see the news. Folks were quick to point manga fans in the direction though and soon enough Digital Manga’s Sales Manager, Yoko Tanigaki, was linking to the titles via her Twitter account. Impressively, and always a huge brownie point winner with me, was that within hours all the new titles were posted to Digital Manga’s website with covers, info and release dates. This all before the titles were posted to retail sites for an assortment of unconfirmed speculation as well. Thumbs up for being so on the ball!

That said, the new titles, predominantly boys’ love one-shots, announced were:

An Even More Beautiful Lie – Kei Kanai (July 2011)
Warning! Whispers of Love – Puku Okuyama (July 2011)
Sky Link – Shiro Yamada (July 2011)
A Liar in Love – Ueda Kiyo (June 2011)
A Fallen Saint’s Kiss – You Higashino
Tonight’s Take Out Night! – Akira Minazuki (June 2011)
I Give To You – Maki Ebishi (June 2011)
This Night’s Everything – Akira Minazuki (June 2011)
Entangled Circumstances – Kikuko Kikuya (June 2011)

… and some future volumes of continuing series:

Seven Days: Friday to Saturday – Rihito Takarai (August 2011)
Yashakiden: The Demon Princess Omnibus (Vol. 04) – Hideyuki Kikuchi (June 2011)
Angelic Runes (Vol. 02) – Makoto Tateno (June 2011)
Dog x Cat (Vol. 02) – Yoshimi Amasaki (June 2011)

It was an eye-opener to me when I learned (a while back now) that many manga series are licensed book to book and not as a whole series upfront. I really like seeing that Digital Manga has started announcing their x-number volume acquisitions as they happen, even if they don’t seem as exciting to most as a brand new title. It’s always good to see the series we’re already attached to getting continued attention from the company even with their newer titles coming in.

As for the new titles, based on the pretty covers, I’m most eager for Warning! Whispers of Love thanks to the unique looking design layout. It looks like it’d have more of a story than your standard love-you-love-you-more romance. But it looks to be another assortment of short stories, which tend to be more miss than hit for me, but I can remain optimistic! Going by just pretty-levels of artwork though, I’m intrigued by Tonight’s Take-Out Night!. So nice looking!

Going by those release dates, there’s going to be a big surplus of new boys’ love in the summer. There isn’t a lot of information listed just yet but with what we have, are there any here you’re most looking forward to checking out?


PR: Animate USA – New Releases in Amazon Kindle Store

TOKYO, JAPAN – January 18 – Animate U.S.A., Inc. is pleased to announce the new January release lineup for the Amazon Kindle Store!
Libre is proud to announce the release of three new chapters this month. We bring you the continuation of two very popular series as well as the relaunch of a series previously dropped by CPM, Shuiko Kano’s Play Boy Blues. All three of these series are exclusive to the Kindle. You won’t find them anywhere else! Be sure to download your copy today so you don’t miss these three great series, coming to you this January exclusively for the Kindle, brought to you by Libre!

For more information, please visit www.animate-world.com www.b-boy.jp, and to keep on top of all things about Youka Nitta, nittayouka.com, and Ayano Yamane, yamaneayano.com!!

Read more…


ANN Review: My Bad!

ANN Review: My Bad!

New review of mine posted over at AnimeNewsNetwork for a one-shot boys’ love called My Bad!, published by June manga:

“This book’s title speaks for itself like an apology from the artist. Either stagnant and predictable, or unnerving and unpleasant, there’s little to recommend about this boring batch of tropes that falls short of even making fun of itself.”

I’ve often found boys’ love one-shot collections mediocre but this one took it to a new level because even when it did try to step out of BL-bounds and be quirky, it was just gross or poorly executed. And some of the artwork, on the chapter illustrations in particular, were so disproportionately drawn! I get to wonder how those make it past editors sometimes. I’ve heard good things about the manga artist, Rize Shinba, so I hope My Bad! is an anomaly.


Review: Only the Ring Finger Knows (Vol. 01)

Reviewer: Jaime Samms
Only the Ring Finger Knows (Vol. 01)

Author: Satoru Kannagi
Manga-ka: Hotaru Odagiri
Publisher: June
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: March 2006

Synopsis: “It’s the ultimate expression of love to wear matching rings with your significant other, showing the world that you are a couple. High school student, Wataru Fujii, also wears one even though he is single. When he accidentally switches rings with a popular and handsome senior, Yuichi Kazuki, they discover that their rings pair up! Since that moment, Kazuki – who is known for being kind to all – becomes strangely harsh to Wataru. They alternate between hot and cold, as in between clashes they begin to sort their feelings for one another. Are Wataru and Kazuki the worst of enemies or are they actually soulmates?”

This is most assuredly your typical boys’ love high school romance, with the harsh seme protecting his feelings by trying hard to hide them and the confused uke denying he even has them. What isn’t typical about Only the Ring Finger Knows is the way in which Kazuki secretly falls for Wataru and all out stalks him long before they ever even meet.

Read more…


eManga Expands Creator Offering with Yayoi Neko’s Incubus

eManga: Incubus by Yayoi Neko

eManga has added a bunch of interesting new titles in this latter portion of 2010, notably a handful of new titles from artists outside of Japan, along with a new manga series exclusive to their site.

Most recent, and my most favourite, additions are the first two volumes of Yayoi Neko’s Incubus series. The print edition (currently up to volume three) has been published in its entirety so far by Kitty Media (after being picked up from Bang! Entertainment).

“Demonic beings longing to be human put Judas’ life at stake to possess the unique soul within him. The incubus Lenniel, has sworn to protect and defeat all who threaten the man he loves: the shy puritan Judas. But outside dangers are not all that threaten his human beloved. A painful past haunts Judas, preventing him from trusting anyone, especially Lenniel. This is an enemy the incubus is not sure how to defeat. How does one fight a crippling force that exists within another’s heart?”

I’m a fan of Yayoi Neko‘s work – it has an art style that offers something notably different than the vast majority of boys’ love released in North America (check out her website gallery). The first volume of Incubus also comes with a short called ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ (which was released originally by the artist in limited edition ‘floppy’ comic format) about a scientist and the robot he helped create with… well, it’s worth reading to get all the exact details.

Other new titles on eManga include the webcomic BL-hit, Starfighter, a sample edition of the artistically-gorgeous Teahouse (also a web comic) and Mizuki, which is a “never before released” shoujo by the creator of Wedding Peach.

Digital Manga sells its points “using a credit card at a typical rate of 1000 points for $10.”. Looking at a complete volume at 300 points, you’re only paying $3 for the rental (which lasts 72 hours). It’s a great deal for people who love to read a book once, especially when a second rental allows you unlimited time access (so about $6 a book for digital keeps).

While the addition of a variety of talented artists from around the globe is of course great, I also continue to be impressed simply by the amount of cross-publisher work being done with eManga. BLU (Tokyopop), Yaoi Press, Media Blasters and of course Digital Manga, all on one site – it’s quickly collecting all the boys’ love basics (plus some Harlequin thrown in there for good measure?). It’s a shame though that this collection of boys’ love, with its great prices in particular, isn’t able to be utilized on a more mobile platform. Even a digital-meh person such as myself wouldn’t be able to deny this kind of collection being in the palm of my hand instead of trapped on the internet-locked computer screen.


Review: No Touching At All

Reviewer: Shannon Fay
No Touching At All

Manga-ka: Kou Yoneda
Publisher: June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: November 2010

Synopsis: “On his very first day at a brand-new job, shy Shima is trapped in the elevator with a hungover mess of a guy…who turns out to be his boss! Togawa’s prickly exterior definitely puts the rookie recruit on-edge, but it doesn’t take long before Shima’s every waking thought is invaded by his overbearing yet totally thoughtful superior. Will Shima put aside a history of disappointment in order to take a chance on a complicated relationship?”

From the summary No Touching At All sounds like plenty of other workplace yaoi where an overbearing boss harasses his shy subordinate into some after-hours hanky-panky. But No Touching At All is a less a sordid office scandal and more of a laid-back love story. The slow pacing really helps sell the realism of the characters and the world. If you’re looking for a yaoi where the characters are going at it from page one, this isn’t it. The characters spend more time working at their cubicles than they do making out (another touch of realism).

Read more…


PR: Animate USA New Titles in Kindle Store, Simultaneous Release!

ANIMATE USA – NEW RELEASES IN AMAZON KINDLE STORE

TOKYO, JAPAN – DECEMBER 10 Animate U.S.A., Inc. is pleased to bring you the new December release lineup for the Amazon Kindle Store!

Libre presents two new exciting Kindle exclusive titles!  Yaoi fans both new and old are sure to enjoy reading the latest releases by beloved mangaka You Higashino and Youka Nitta.  Be sure not to miss these two exciting chapters coming to you this December exclusively for the Kindle, brought to you by Libre!

For more information, please visit www.animate-world.com which just relaunched, www.b-boy.jp, and to keep on top of all things about Youka Nitta, nittayouka.com, and Ayano Yamane, yamaneayano.com!!

December 2010:

You Higashino – “Hyper Loving A Maniac Part 1- Fundraising Version”   Simultaneous Release!!! & KINDLE EXCLUSIVE!!!

Youka Nitta – “ Sound of My Voice – Boku No Koe –  Part 6KINDLE EXCLUSIVE!!!

“Hyper Loving A Maniac Part 1- Fundraising Version” by You Higashino

This is Libre’s first “simultaneous release”!  This means that the book is being released as a paperback book and digital book in Japan, as well as an English digital version on Kindle available all over the world.  This may be the first time a simultaneous release has ever been done in Japan!  Don’t miss your chance to be a part of it!

Read more…


Win a Trip to Japan with ANN and PTJ, Win eCash with Netcomics

Time for some winnings! A few interesting contests going on right now that are worth a gander and an enter.

Firstly, AnimeNewsNetwork has teamed with Aniplex (from whom they’ve licensed their two simulcasting series) and Pop Travel Japan (the tour-company of Digital Manga) to offer a contest where the winner gets a fully-paid trip to Japan!

There are two trip packages to be won – Tokyo Anime Fair Tour: an Otaku-centric tour of Japan including a trip to the Tokyo Anime Fair and Akihabara; and Fangirl Paradise Tour: a more boys’ love fan-central tour that includes the infamous Otome Road and a visit to an “authentic butler cafe”.

Entrants for the Fangirl Paradise Tour are required to take pictures of themselves in togainu no chi cosplay, with one of the two images having a sign proclaiming ‘ANN Please Send Me To Japan!’. For the Tokyo Anime Fair Tour contest, participants are to draw some Oreimo fanart and submit for the judges to see (with the ANN logo included somewhere in the picture all not-sneaky-like).

The winning packages include airfare, hotel accommodations, transportation while there, tour guides and customized guidebooks. Us Canadians (alas  excluding myself) are able to enter the contest as well, though in place of airfare, there will be $500 given towards booking your own flight to Japan. Full guidelines and rules of course available over on the website.

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On their Twitter account, NetComics announced a fun little contest with the winner receiving $100 in e-Cash to go towards reading manga and manhwa on their website. With chapters for $.025, that’s a lot of reading!

1) Choose your favorite series.
2) Identify a scene/panel to recreate.
3) Do yer thang: bubbles, illustrations, etc.–the whole nine yards.
4) Q yourself whether or not your work is compelling/original.
5) Tweet it like there’s no tomorrow.

The deadline for NetComics’ contest is November 30th.

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RightStuf also runs numerous small contests, a current one being a draw for a random bag of swag. And though not really a contest but still for the artistically-inclined, a reminder that Yen Press’s current talent search is still on-going with a deadline of January 3, 2011.


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