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News, reviews and features with a focus on manga, self-published works and a Canadian perspective. Enjoy fulfilling your Kuriousity!

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Posts Tagged June

The Coast: January – March 2012

The Coast Manga Reviews

Shannon Fay and I have had a few more manga reviews published in our local free newspaper, The Coast over the past couple of months. The majority have been to their website so for a couple thumbs-up titles we shared with our local readers, you can check out the links below:

Shannon:

About Love
The Drops of God (Vol.01)

Lissa:

Codename: Sailor V
Only Serious About You (Vol. 01)

The tricky part is always deciding what to review next. It’s interesting writing reviews that are not only considerably shorter than we’re used to for Kuriousity, but also in a way that bears in mind that the majority of The Coasts’ readers likely don’t read manga – or perhaps even comics – on a regular basis, if at all.


Digital Manga Adds Wild Honey and Tender Hearts to 2012 License List

Kuriousity may have some posting lulls but Digital Manga hasn’t hit one yet, announcing another two new titles destined for print. Both titles were announced on DMP’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Wild Honey – Sei Takenaka (June)
Tender Hearts – Konomi Shikishiro (Project-H)

Both of the titles are one-shots with no specific release dates announced yet, though Digital Manga did say readers can expect Tender Hearts in Spring 2013. This will be the first time either artist has been published by DMP.

Via their Project-H account, a representative also stated: “…the new website is almost ready so please be patient while we run the final tests. Thank you!”. The Project-H website has had temporary placeholder pages since they launched back in July 2011. They also added that consumers can expect to see some release dates for their titles announced over the past couple of months.


Love & Sex on the Job – DMP Announces Three New Print Licenses

DMP Licenses for March 16 2012

Digital Manga Publishing kicked off the recent weekend with another three new manga licenses – when will their licensing streak end!? Not a complaint, mind you.

Their three new licenses are:

Love Makes Everything Right – Sanae Rokuya (BL)
Hot & Steamy – Hiroshi Itaba (Project-H)
Love on the Job (Vols. 1-3) – Harumi Chihiro (Project-H)

All three titles are by creators Digital Manga has previously licensed works from. DMP has previously published Sanae Rokuya’s boys’ love titles Red and King of Debt, while Harumi Chihiro’s better known Velvet Kiss was announced back in November. Hiroshi Itaba’s Three P, another one-short story, was one of Project-H’s launch books. All three new titles are scheduled for print release but there are no dates yet as to when they’ll be published.

Love Makes Everything Right – a oneshot BL – is an office romance where a man finds his new job has landed him at the receiving end of sexual harassment. You can see a few preview pages over at it’s Amazon.jp listing. DMP’s newest multi-volume series and hentai addition, Love on the Job, is of a more consensual-from-the-get-go nature. It follows a young man and woman who each land their dream jobs. When they realize  they’ve been hired at rival companies, however, they need to keep their romantic relationship a secret or risk losing everything they have.

Of these new books, I’m most looking forward to Love on the Job. The plot sounds ripe for entertainment and drama while Harumi Chihiro has a really nice looking art style.

In additional DMP related news, boys’ love light novel fans will be happy to see volume seven of Ai no Kusabi is now available for pre-order on Amazon (US/CAN). The previous volume of the series was released back in July 2009. It’s been quite a wait so enjoy the return, Ai no Kusabi readers!


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – March 14, 2012

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - March 14, 2012

This week’s On The Shelf went up a couple days early but that just means more time to plot and plan your manga buying trip tomorrow! Sailor Moon (Vol.04) is an easy decision for top pick but I can’t ignore all those new boys’ love books either. The full list for this week’s shipping manga is available over at Otaku USA – enjoy!


Cute Guys and Cats – DMP Licenses Three New Titles for Fall

DMP Licenses Secret Thorns and Start With a Happy Ending

With barely a breather between them, Digital Manga has announced another three new licenses to be released this fall:

Secret Thorns – Kikuko Kikyua (June)
Start With a Happy Ending – Risa Motoyama (DMP)
The Hentai Prince And The Stony Cat (Vol.01) – Okomeken / So Sagara / Kantoku (DMP)

Secret Thorns and Start With A Happy Ending were both announced via Digital Manga’s social media accounts and their website’s blogThe Hentai Prince And The Stony Cat was listed admist the string of new titles in their recently e-mailed Digital Manga Newsletter.

Secret Thorns is a one-shot boys’ love title by the same creator as the book, Entangled Circumstances, that DMP released last year. It’s a romance title set against the backdrop of an editor and author’s turbulent relationship when being lovers is thrown into the equation.

Start With A Happy Ending is a multi-volume series collecting a number of short stories and looks to be one for the cat lovers out there. The main title is about an individual who is reincarnated as a cat with seven days to live and reflect on their life before moving on. The series is only one volume currently but is on-going in Japan.

Tyrant Who Falls In Love (Vol. 08)

Despite its title, The Hentai Prince And The Stony Cat isn’t a hentai (18+) and will be released under the DMP line of books. Its story sounds as bizarre as the title though – it follows a young man who has obvious perverse intent behind everything he does and yet no one seems to acknowledge it. He wants people to see him for who he truly is and stop hiding his true feelings to save face. When a friend recommends a fix, he seeks out a stone cat that he hears can grant wishes. It’s there he meets a girl who wants the ability to actually hide her true self. Quirky, pervy hilarity apparently ensues! A short preview of The Hentai Prince and The Stony Cat can be seen at Amazon.jp.

Other extra tidbits in the newsletter include the license of Hinako Takanaga’s final volume of Tyrant Who Falls In Love (Vol.08) and affirmation that the first twelve volumes of Erementar Gerade will be “using translations adapted from the original English releases” (from Tokyopop), with volumes 13-18 being adapted by the Digital Manga Guild.


DMP Continues Licensing Spree with Honey*Smile and My Good Boy

DMP Licenses Honey*Smile and My Good Boy

Digital Manga is the company that keeps on giving in 2012 so far, announcing another two new licenses recently. This brings them to, I believe, twelve print licenses so far for 2012. That’s quite a bit of momentum!

The first of the recent two was a new Project-H title, My Good Boy. This hentai (18+ only!) title by Youko Ohnami is a one-shot currently scheduled for print but with no exact date currently set. Company reps made note this title will have some minor censoring put in place by the Japanese publisher.

Digital Manga’s second license was announced yesterday evening – Yura Miyazawa’s Honey*Smile. This boys’ love title is also a one-shot with upcoming (undetermined) release dates for both print and digital editions. DMP previously released another one-shot by Yura Miyazawa, Love Syndrome. You can see a few preview pages for Honey*Smile via it’s listing on Amazon.jp.

Niether of DMP’s announcements included plots for these new stories but Honey*Smile does have a synopsis on its Amazon page. For all our sanity’s sake, I’ve opted not to attempt writing about it through only the use of Google Translate (entertaining as that can often be).


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – February 29, 2012

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - February 29, 2012

I’m still reeling over the last volume of XXXHolic (not bad… but not good?) so it’ll be nice to read some new books this week and give my brain something else to compute for a while. I’ve been doing some much needed early Spring-pruning of my bookshelves too so what better time to fill them back up again?

With some new BL from Digital Manga, the final volume of No Longer Human from Vertical Inc. and a new volume of Gate 7 from Dark Horse (don’t let me down, CLAMP!), we’ve got plenty to choose from and those are just my personal favourites. The full list of shipping titles is in this week’s On The Shelf article for Otaku USA.


Diamond Manga Previews: February 2012

Diamond Previews: February 2012

I was a bit late picking up my Previews magazine this month so my apologies to the two of you who were wondering where the heck my second installment of Previews was (I kid! …don’t I?). So here I am taking advantage of that extra day – Happy Leap Day! This month’s previews didn’t have as much manga content as January’s but still lots of fun stuff to look forward to and order in at our local comic stores.

February 2012 Manga Previews Checklist (PDF)

You may continue reading at your own discretion for my thoughts, elaborations, random pictures and the Top 10 Selling Manga of December 2011 and Diamond Comics top selling manga of all 2011!

Read more…


Review: About Love

About Love

Manga-ka: Narise Konohara
Publisher: June
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: February 2012

Synopsis: “Asaka is a dedicated wedding planner who’ll do anything to guarantee his clients’ happiness. Sadly, his own love life has all but vanished thanks to his ridiculous work schedule! But when Asaka’s first patron resurfaces, the precious spark of true love may finally fly for him. Can he plan the perfect affair…or will it just have to happen by chance?”

About Love is less a yaoi and more a straight up drama. It’s the kind of the story that could possibly happen in real life, but upon hearing about it your first thought would probably be ‘Geez, that’s messed up.’ This manga was uncomfortable to read at times, but even when I winced I still had to keep reading.

Read more…


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – February 22, 2012

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - February 22, 2012

One piece of good news this week – a new volume of XXXHolic! The sad news of the week – it’s the final volume. I’ve been buying the series since high school and it’s one of my favourites, if not my actual favourite, amidst CLAMP’s books over the years. I’ve heard people say the ending isn’t very satisfying but I’m going in with an open mind, and the glee of simply having another chance to drool over the beautiful artwork.

Along with the one series ending, Vertical Inc. has a new series (well, newly continued): GTO The Early Years (Vol.11) and Digital Manga is releasing the fifth deluxe re-issue of the boys’ love series, Kizuna. You can see the complete list of releases this week over at my Otaku USA On The Shelf article.


Take me back to the top!