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Posts Tagged Yaoi Press

Review: Punishment

Punishment

Author: Yamila Abraham
Artist: Yifeng Jiang
Publisher: Yaoi Press
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: September 2012

Synopsis: “As the son of a former Prime Minister, Vishva could have any government job he wants. He chooses to work as someone who canes political prisoners. Vishva’s despicable personality makes him the most loathed person in the department. That is, until an ethnic minority is hired. Fang took the wretched job because there are few prospects for him in their country. He”s quickly exposed to prejudice and abuse. Vishva befriends Fang because it infuriates his co-workers. But, the more he studies him, the more fascinated he becomes… ”

I’m not personally a big reader of yaoi manga but I, like most people who have been in anime/manga fandom for a decent amount of time, had an idea of what to expect from such a book: two bishounen in a relationship that most likely would be lacking in the consent department. In this respect, Punishment certainly did not disappoint.

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Review: Tender Master

Tender Master
Tender Master on Kindle

Author: Yamila Abraham
Artist: Ero Pinku
Publisher: Yaoi Prose
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: June 2012

Synopsis: “Caleb knew he was from a special race born to serve the Crystalline gods. Monks trained him as a priest until he reached adulthood, and then he went to Crystalline palace to serve his masters—as a sex slave. Caleb’s world is shattered. His beloved gods are lascivious pigs. He can’t accept that the righteous faith he built his whole life around is a farce. Caleb flees the gods’ harem to try to be a missionary for them. He hopes putting some distance between him and his new duties will somehow bring back the ideals he had growing up. Unfortunately for Caleb the Crystalline gods aren’t the only ones who desire his kind. General Caine, a high-ranking demon for the Crystalline gods’ worst enemy, is looking for a mate just like Caleb. When his ship is destroyed he’s marooned on an icy world with his new demon suitor.”

Well, this was a really fast read, which is something I look for in this type of book, but for once I sort of felt cheated. Tender Master went by in a blur and read more like the outline for what could be a really great story.

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Sleepless Nights, In These Words – New BL Titles Scheduled For Print

New BL Titles Scheduled for Print

A few different tidbits of boys’ love news rounded up from the week today. Always makes me happy when I can write up about more books heading to print!

Continuing a recent trend of license announcements, Digital Manga has posted news of their license for Sachi Murakami’s one-shot story collection, Sleepless Nights. The title is scheduled for both a digital and print release, with dates yet to be revealed. The book’s title story follows two men who, after sharing a sexual relationship when younger, meet years later and become roommates.

Over on Amazon, I also came across a listing for a print edition of Guilt Pleasure’s In These Words. The Guilt|Pleasure website confirms this book will have a summer release. As a big fan of Jo Chen’s artwork (Guilt Pleasure is her group name for her boys’ love work), I’m thrilled to see In These Words coming to print in English with some wider distribution. It’s listed as being published by Digital Manga’s 801Media imprint, also an exciting note for the branching out it symbolizes for the company. Digital Manga already offers several originally English-language titles on their digital eManga website such as a Teahouse preview and Yaoi Press books but this is the first time they’ve published one in print.

A text version of the story can be read over on the creator’s website and you can drool over her gorgeous artwork on the site’s blog. A short synopsis from their site for In These Words is as follows:

“Asano Katsuya is an US trained psychiatrist who had been recruited by the Tokyo Police Department to provide a profile through the victims’ data.  Based on Asano’s profile and recommendation, an elaborate plan was put in place to lure the serial killer out.  It was within months the plan bore a successful result. After three years and twelve victims, Shinohara Keiji was finally in the police custody.  Shinohara had promised a thorough confession, however, on the absolute term that Asano has to be the one to receive it. Besides the curious request by the killer whom Asano was only familiar with on paper, disturbing nightmares began to plague him as soon as he was given the case…”

Yaoi Press – a publisher of boys’ love content from artists around the world – is returning to print publishing with a new title due out in the summer as well. The company has focused almost exclusively on digital BL novels via their Yaoi Prose (18+) imprint since 2009. Punishment is a one-shot graphic novel written by the company’s owner, Yamila Abraham, and illustrated by Yifeng Jiang. A synopsis and larger cover image for the book can be seen over on the Yaoi Press website. I’m really happy to see them returning to print publishing for a couple titles, and even more so that it’s a simultaneous return to fully illustrated releases.

And lastly, in digital BL news, SuBLime has released another title for purchase and download this past Valentine’s Day- Isaku Natsume’s Devil’s Honey. Originally scheduled for the same day, volumes two of Love Pistols and Husband, Honeymoon have both been pushed back to February 29.


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!


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.


Art for Aid – Artists Sell Original Artwork For Haiti Donations

Since the earthquake that struck Haiti quickly nabbed media attention around the world, support has been flooding in from every corner of the globe. The internet is certainly no exception and many artists have opened commissions and auctions to sell their services and work for charitable donations in support of Haiti.

Two well known manga-style artists have also done just that. Christy Lijewski (artist of RePlay!, published by Tokyopop) and KOSEN (artist of Saihoshi, published by Yaoi Press) have each put up a piece of their original artwork on eBay with all proceeds going to a Haiti support charity. Great art for a great cause!

Christy Lijewski is selling the original copic-coloured artwork commissioned by Tokyopop for the cover of the third and final volume of RePlay. The auction ends January 23, 2010.

KOSEN is selling an original copic-coloured drawing of the character Yinn from their boys’ love fantasy series, Saihoshi. The auction ends January 19, 2010.


Kuriousity Holiday Cards 2009

This past holiday season I sent out holiday cards to a number of publishers – my little way of showing my appreciation to those companies who helped make 2009 a real treat for both me and my readers here on Kuriousity.

I created custom Christmas cards for Yen Press, Vertical, Viz Media, Digital Manga and Yaoi Press, and since then a couple have asked me to share the artwork. I put it off a couple weeks to ensure everyone had time to receive their cards and maintain some charm to the surprise ;)

The curious can now check out my five manga-holiday images under the cut. All pre-existing characters belong to their respective copyright holders/companies/people-of-greatness.

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EverythingYaoi.com Mega Sale – Ends December 14!

EverythingYaoi Mega Sale

From now until December 14th (Monday), EverythingYaoi.com is having their holiday Mega Sale:

“Everything Yaoi is having a mega sale for a very short time. Please help Yaoi Press make up a budget shortfall by taking advantage of sale prices on every single item! We could call this a 25% off sale, but it’s 25% off what our discounted price was to begin with! That means 801 Media books are only $9.74! Yaoi Press books are only $5.63! And you won’t believe the deals in the Clearance Section!

You will still get our friendly service and free gifts. Right now every order gets a Yaoi Christmas Ribbon, and orders with 12 points or more get an Uke Butt button!

If you’ve shopped with us before you know we usually only have one copy of each book in stock. There’s just too much yaoi to fit everything in Maria’s house! This means the best stuff will go out of stock fast.”

EverythingYaoi.com ships internationally and offers the payment choices of their secure online payment system, Google Checkout or PayPal.

Some great prices there to take advantage of for gift shopping, be it a treat for yourself or to find something to slip under the tree for your yaoi-loving friends. Short window of time though so give it a look-see while you can!


Yaoi Submissions, Schedules and a Staggering Zombie

Boys' Love Snippets

Some boys’ love news snippets today with submission closures, convention schedules and an undead publisher still looking to make a return:

Yaoi Press has recently updated their info page to inform propestive creators that their submissions are currently closed. This is a uncommon state for Yaoi Press which has spent the majority of its time open to new stories by writers and artists. The page does however offer up an honest and open look at why their submissions are currently closed and assurance that they still have previously submitted works on file.

Word has been circulating for a while about Digital Manga’s big yaoi title announcement, promising many happy fans, and that they’ll be making said-announcement at the upcoming Yaoi Con. Today Digital Manga has posted their Yaoi Con schedule including their industry panel and signing times for special guest, Makoto Tateno (see art above).

Digital Manga has also sent out a press release about signed and framed Makoto Tateno artwork which will be available for sale both at Yaoi Con and on their online shop, Akadot.

And lastly, in an odder turn of events, DramaQueen has updated its online shop to showcase what they’re calling a “Rebirth Sale”, offering up several of their back issue books for cheaper prices along with a message that suggests they’re still working on the comeback that they’ve promised for so long. Hmm… sounds sort of familiar.

I won’t beat the proverbial horse on this one but suffice to say DramaQueen hasn’t done anything to win readers’ sympathy or support in the past two years but I suppose it’ll still be interesting to see if they ever do release another book. Still, as much as I’m all for supporting the industry, it’s my honest opinion that shoppers should stay away from ordering through DramaQueen’s online website. The risk is simply too high that prospective buyers will only join the line of people still waiting for DQ to pay their dues.


PR: DMP/Yaoi Press excited to announce YP titles on eManga

Gardena, CA (September 28, 2009) – Digital Manga Inc., one of the industry’s most innovative and unique companies, is excited to announce eManga’s latest online rental titles from Yaoi Press, as they bring their favorite yaoi titles to eManga! Yaoi Press publishes global yaoi in a host of different languages, with over 45 publications to date. They have brought great yaoi creators from around the world, including Studio Kosen of Spain and M.A. Sambre of France to the US, and have helped develop yaoi within the Western market outside of creators in Japan. With their continued commitment to yaoi publishing and dedication to readers, Digital Manga Publishing is excited that Yaoi Press will be coming on board to share their amazing titles with yaoi fans everywhere! The first titles from Yaoi Press are Yaoi Hentai Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, now available at www.emanga.com!

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