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On The Shelf: August 21, 2013

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, August 21, 2013

It looks like Otakuthon was a lot of fun this year. I’ve always wanted to try going, but just haven’t planned it yet. Maybe 2014? Good excuse to take the train! I love our sad, barely running little train system.

As for manga, this week I’m most looking forward to Bunny Drop (Vol. 09) from Yen Press. This volume wraps up the main story and is the book long criticized for its ending. I’m so conflicted by the idea alone. On one hand (no spoilers!), yuck. On the other? Maybe Yumi Unita can make it less yuck? We’ll soon see.

No. 6 (Vol. 02) from Kodansha Comics is also a must-buy after enjoying the first so much, plus the anime adaptation. Yen Press is starting a new series with Judge (Vol. 01), the sequel to Doubt, and Viz Media is releasing the long-awaited Ikigami: Ultimate Limit (Vol. 09). At last!

Also work a note is this week’s Shonen Jump. Because the magazine is on holiday in Japan, there are no new chapters but Viz Media also released a special Naruto art book in its place. I’m not a Naruto reader myself, but it’s great they still put together something. My fingers are crossed they do the same for future holidays – I’d love a cover art collection of other series, such as Toriko, Bleach or Dragonball.

Battle Angel Alita: Last Order Omnibus (Vol. 02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
BTOOOM! (Vol. 03) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Bunny Drop (Vol. 09) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Ikigami: Ultimate Limit (Vol. 09) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Judge (Vol. 01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
No. 6 (Vol. 02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Pokemon Adventures: Heart Gold & Soul Silver (Vol. 01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice (Vol. 02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Umineko When They Cry: Turn of the Golden Witch (Vol. 02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]

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Categories: On The Shelf, Release Lists
Tags: Battle Angel Alita, Btooom!, Bunny Drop, Ikigami, Judge, Kodansha Comics, Manga, No.6, Perfect Square, Pokemon Adventures, Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Spice and Wolf, Umineko, Viz Media, Yen Press

Yen Press Returns to the Demon World with Spin-Off Series, Bloody Brat

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, August 20, 2013

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Yen Press has confirmed with AnimeNewsNetwork that they’ve licensed a spin-off to their currently running series, Blood Lad:

Bloody Brat – Yuuki Kodama & Kanata Yoshino

This one-volume book has a collection of short stories and 4-panel comics based on the characters and worlds written in Blood Lad. A page for the series popped up on Amazon (US) earlier this week, which lists it as scheduled for March 2014.

I’ve only read the first volume of Blood Lad so far, but I really liked it. The art style was a little dull but I was surprised by how smitten I became with the lead, Staz the vampire, and the humor the series has. I’ll need to get myself caught up before Bloody Brat comes out.

Yen Press released the third omnibus volume of Blood Lad this past May, while Viz Media is streaming the new anime adaptation (though unfortunately to US viewers only).

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Categories: Licensing, News
Tags: Blood Lad, Bloody Brat, Manga, Yen Press

DMP Deals in Body Guard Drama with Kou Yoneda’s Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, August 19, 2013

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Digital Manga took to Twitter on Friday to announce a new boys’ love license:

Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai – Kou Yoneda

Contrary to most license announcements, Digital Manga announced this one with the original Japanese title, Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai (囀る鳥は羽ばたかない). It’s a little odd to have a license announced without giving the English name, but I assume one’s coming. Currently they have no release date for the title either but did confirm it would be available as both print and digital editions.

Digital Manga has previously released Kou Yoneda’s No Touching At All, which Shannon Fay thoroughly enjoyed. Here’s hoping this newest work lives up to the expectations! SuBLime also recently announced their own Kou Yoneda license, NightS, which they’ll be releasing in January 2014.

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Categories: Licensing, News
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Digital, DMP, Kou Yoneda, Manga, Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai

Review: Body Guard

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, August 15, 2013

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Manga-ka: Kimiyoshi
Publisher: Digital Manga Guild
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: May 2013

Synopsis: “Takahiro’s normal life as a high school student gets turned on its head when his father marries a super rich Hollywood actress named, Elizabeth Adley, and leaves Japan to be with her. Takahiro is forced to leave his apartment home move into a lavish hotel room. Fantasies of naked nights of porn and debauchery begin to fill Takahiro’s mind. Too bad his new mother in law has other plans. In order to protect Takahiro (and her money) from kidnappings, Elizabeth hires two bodyguards from a distinguished American company. Any thoughts of unsupervised nights of fun quickly rush from Takahiro’s mind. On the up side, his new bodyguards are totally cool.”

Sometimes there are books so bad that you almost have to recommend them as an important genre piece. Some books just make the good books look better. That said, Body Guard is still not a book I would recommend to many, but I would lying if I said I hadn’t shown select pages to a number of fellow boys’ love fans just to get a good laugh.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Digital, DM Guild, eManga, Manga

On The Shelf: August 14, 2013

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, August 14, 2013

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MAGI is here! I’ve been eager to read this manga ever since I started watching the anime adaptation on Crunchyroll. I really love the characters, and hope the manga is as much fun. I’m still in shock it’s by the creator of Sumomomo, Momomo though. If curious, you can read Andre’s review of Sumomomo (Vol. 02).

Other exciting titles for me this week include the new editions of Embracing Love, courtesy of SuBLime, and volume one of the Tiger & Bunny Comic Anthology from Viz Media.

Blue Morning (Vol. 02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Dorohedoro (Vol. 10) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Embracing Love 2-in-1 (Vol. 01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Excel Saga (Vol. 26) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Inu Yasha VizBIG (Vol. 16) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Itsuwaribito (Vol. 09) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Knights of Sidonia (Vol. 04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
MAGI (Vol. 01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Neon Genesis Evangelion 3-in-1 (Vol. 04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Tiger & Bunny Comic Anthology (Vol. 01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]

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Categories: News, On The Shelf
Tags: Blue Morning, Boys' Love/Yaoi, Dorohedoro, Embracing Love, Excel Saga, Inu Yasha, Itsuwaribito, Knights of Sidonia, Magi, Manga, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Omnibus, Shonen Jump, SIG Ikki, SuBLime, Tiger & Bunny, Vertical Inc, Viz Media

Review: The Betrayal Knows My Name (Vol. 05)

By Shannon Fay on Monday, August 12, 2013

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Manga-ka: Hotaru Odagiri
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: February 2013

Synopsis: “Though the Zweilt are together at last, the calm before the inevitable storm of battle lingers. With no sign of activity from the camp of their sworn enemy, Reiga, Yuki and his allies are beguiled into a sense of peace. But even the distraction provided by a retreat to the Hidden Springs of the Giou to rest weary hearts and souls will not prepare Yuki for Sairi’s revelations about the brave but terrible end met by the Light of God through the ages…And when Takashiro is called in to investigate a pair of suspicious deaths, the winds of war begin to pick up in a frenzy…”

In the beginning The Betrayal Knows My Name was a shojo action manga with the occasional fan service scene. It’s since become a shojo manga with lots of fan service and the occasional action scene. The series has always coasted by on its pretty art, but with this volume it feels even more vacuous than ever.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Omnibus, The Betrayal Knows My Name, Yen Press

Vertical Inc Dishes Out Fumi Yoshinaga’s What Did You Eat Yesterday

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, August 11, 2013

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And the manga crowds cheered! Vertical Inc has revealed at their Otakon panel this weekend that they’ve licensed a much anticipated series:

What Did You Eat Yesterday? – Fumi Yoshinaga

“The manga revolves around Shirō Kakei, a methodical lawyer, and his lover Kenji Yabuki, a sociable hairstylist. The manga tells the story of their everyday lives together in their apartment through their cooking and eating habits. The series also provides recipes and cooking tips for the food featured in each chapter.” – AnimeNewsNetwork

Vertical Inc has volume one planned for March 204 for $12.95/US, $13.95/CAN, and there will be a new volume out every two months. The series is currently seven volumes long and on-going.

The majority of Fumi Yoshinaga’s early series released in English have been boys’ love – by Digital Manga and BLU – but her strong characterization and expressive, minimalist artwork has made her work popular among all sorts of manga reading circles. Yen Press previously released her one-volume food manga, Not Love But Delicious Foods, and Viz Media is currently releasing her on-going feudal drama, Ooku.**

Fumi Yoshinaga is one of my favourite manga creators and I’ve never hesitated purchasing everything by her released in English. What Did You Eat Yesterday? has been a series I’ve been wanting to read for a long time, both because I enjoy reading series about food and food preparation that’s new to me (which is pretty much everything you don’t microwave) and for a story about a gay couple that doesn’t focus on that as it’s only story element. I also think the series is in really good hands with Vertical Inc, so this is a win-win-win situation.

**Edit: For more Fumi Yoshinaga, you can read Shannon’s review of Not Love But Delicious Foods and my review of Ooku (Vol. 01), as well as my thoughts on her series Flowers of Life, The Moon and Sandals, Solfege, Garden Dreams, Truly Kindly, Don’t Say Anymore Darling, Lovers in the Night, and Ichigenme.

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Categories: Licensing, News
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Fumi Yoshinaga, Manga, Vertical Inc, What Did You Eat Yesterday

On The Shelf: August 7, 2013

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, August 9, 2013

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Happy Birthday to me! Well, belated. Sort of. This week’s shipping day, August 7th, just so happened to be my birthday, and what a birthday it was! This week was a huge one for new manga – thanks predominantly to Viz Media – and among the spoils were some of my favourite series still running.

Notables for me included Toriko (Vol. 17), the final volume of Bakuman, A Devil and Her Love Song (Vol. 10), Kamisama Kiss (Vol. 13) and the very long awaited Kaze Hikaru (Vol. 21), a title that only comes out once a year! Plenty to choose from. Seek, read and enjoy~

A Certain Scientific Railgun (Vol. 08) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
A Devil and Her Love Song (Vol. 10) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Alice in the Country of Hearts: The Clockmaker’s Story [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Bakuman (Vol. 20) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Dance in the Vampire Bund Omnibus (Vol. 03) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Happy Marriage!? (Vol. 01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Kamisama Kiss (Vol. 13) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Kaze Hikaru (Vol. 21) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Kimi ni Todoke (Vol. 17) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Kitaro [Amazon CAN, Amazon US]
Knights of Sidonia (Vol. 04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Library Wars: Love & War (Vol. 10) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Naruto (Vol. 62) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (Vol. 16) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Otomen (Vol. 16) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Pokemon Adventures: Heart Gold and Soul Silver (Vol. 01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Pokemon: Black and White (Vol. 11) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Rosario + Vampire Season II (Vol. 12) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Slam Dunk (Vol. 29) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Tegami Bachi (Vol. 14) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
The Sacred Blacksmith (Vol. 02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
The Wallflower (Vol. 31) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Toriko (Vol. 17) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
World War Blue (Vol. 02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]

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Categories: On The Shelf, Release Lists
Tags: A Certain Scientific Railgun, A Devil and her Love Song, Alice in the Country of..., Bakuman, Dance in the Vampire Bund, Drawn and Quarterly, Happy Marriage?!, Kamisama Kiss, Kaze Hikaru, Kimi ni Todoke, Kitaro, Knights of Sidonia, Library Wars, Manga, Naruto, Nura Rise of the Yokai Clan, Otomen, Pokemon Adventures, Rosario + Vampire, Seven Seas, Shonen Jump, Slam Dunk, Tegami Bachi, The Sacred Blacksmith, The Wallflower, Toriko, Viz Media, World War Blue

Review: Blood-C (Vol. 01)

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, August 6, 2013

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Manga-ka: Ranmaru Kotone
Publisher: Dark Horse
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: March 2013

Synopsis: “Saya Kisaragi is a kindhearted, if somewhat clumsy, student who trains by day to perform standard religious duties at her father’s shrine – but she becomes an unstoppable, monster-slaying swordswoman by night! The saga that began in Blood: The Last Vampire and the Blood+ anime series continues here! Don’t miss the schoolyard foibles, weird creatures, and katana-swinging action in this new manga series by Ranmaru Kotone, based on the hit Blood-C anime and infused with CLAMP’s original concepts and characters!”

Blood-C is like the manga equivalent of lasagna – you can enjoy all the different ingredients, but it doesn’t mean you’ll enjoy the final product. And that’s kind of weird. This adaptation of the anime series, Blood-C, has a plot that’s easy to follow, cool fight sequences, a cute lead character and even some nice artwork. Unfortunately when all those things are put together, their result is a hollow read that is difficult to pinpoint the exact flaws of.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Blood C, CLAMP, Dark Horse, Manga

Review: Don’t Tell My Husband (Vol. 01)

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, August 5, 2013

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Manga-ka: Kei Kousaki
Publisher: Digital Manga Guild
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: January 2013

Synopsis: “Because Minano has spent her entire life sheltered by her wealth and parents, she has seldom experienced the hardships of everyday life. Nothing changes after her marriage to a wealthy CEO, as she is still spoiled shamelessly by her husband. Why then, would she try and break into said husband’s company to steal a heavily guarded opal necklace? Or why, when she’s held up in a bank robbery, would she take matters into her own hands to thwart the robbers? Is she really who she seems? Does one high-heeled madam with nerves of steel even stand a chance against gun-wielding criminals? Just who is this sheltered wife?”

This is a strange little manga. I wasn’t sure what I was getting when I went into it, and I still wasn’t really sure when I finished. It’s an amusing little distraction but feels as flighty as its lead who fails to carry these episodic chapters.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Digital, DM Guild, eManga, Manga