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Licensing | Press Releases | Release Lists
It’s new manga time! This week’s edition of On The Shelf has been posted over at Otaku USA. Check it out for the list of titles that arrived in stores today, including my most anticipated of the week: A Bride’s Story (Vol.03), Bunny Drop, (Vol. 05) and Young Miss Holmes!
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!
After a couple days of teasing, Toronto Comic Arts Fest has officially announced that the creator of Chi’s Sweet Home, Konami Kanata, will be a special guest at this year’s TCAF! Her visit to the Toronto-based event, marking her first trip to North America, is being arranged with the support of Vertical Inc who is publishing Chi’s Sweet Home in English.
“Konami Kanata will appear at TCAF on Saturday May 5th and Sunday May 6th 2012, at Toronto Reference Library. She will have a signing session each day at the Vertical Inc. booth, and will participate in programming each day. In addition, Ms. Kanata will be participating in a special event supporting the Tohoku Region, on the evening of Saturday May 5th, with details to follow.” – TCAF Press Release
The Toronto Comics Art Festival is a free-to-attend event that brings in comic creators from around the world to display their works and interact with readers. Last year the event had two special manga guests – Usamaru Furuya and Natsume Ono. I’ll be attending the event again this year to stock up on amazing comics and prints, plus now hopefully be able to share a Konami Kanta spotlight as well. See you in Toronto this May, fellow TCAF-ers!
A listing on the Simon and Schuster website sent Twitter in a mini-buzz late this week with word that Viz Media had licensed Yuki Amemiya/Yukino Ichihara’s 07-Ghost. ANN confirmed the news with Viz yesterday so rejoice 07-Ghost fans!
07-Ghost is a story about an orphan gifted with magical powers who is enrolled as a student in a military-run academy until he discovers his father’s killers are there. The series was originally released by the now defunct GoComi who were only able to publish the first few volumes before dropping out in late 2009. Viz Media’s first volume is currently listed at $9.99/US with a November 2012 release date for volume one, and January 2013 for volume two.
I’ve since sold my volumes of GoComi’s 07-Ghost because it just didn’t interest me very much. I’m still sort of bummed about that fact because of how much I like the author’s illustration work and character designs. The story, unfortunately, just didn’t click with me. It’s been a few years now so maybe I’ll find it more to my liking starting over – we shall see!
Another listing on the Simon and Schuster website also revealed an upcoming omnibus edition of Yun Kouga’s Loveless. Viz Media originally announced the license at New York Comic Con 2011 but had only stated plans to release the series in single volume books starting where Tokyopop had left off (volume nine). The new listing shows the start of 2-in-1 omnibus edition kicking off from the series’ beginning. The first part is listed for $14.99/US and set to come out October 2012.
This new Loveless edition is great news for readers (and potential new fans) who didn’t have a chance to pick up Tokyopop’s volumes one to eight, while still pleasing those who did with the go ahead on volume nine+ in single format. Kudos to Viz Media for the dual release option!
Some of you may have noticed the Manga Is Not A Crime banner on my sidebar during one of your visits and the story of Ryan Matheson is a prime reason for my support of the work the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund does. Back in 2010, he was arrested trying to cross the border from the US to Canada when Canadian Customs official searched his laptop and found anime/manga imagery that they deemed child pornography.
CBLDF announced yesterday that all the charges against Ryan Matheson have since been dropped, which comes as fantastic news. Of course he’s not out of the woods yet with legal fees and some very unpleasant memories to follow him but it’s a big relief to see his immediate fight has finally ended.
Speaking out for the first time, Matheson says, “I’m glad to finally put this awful ordeal behind me. Ever since the beginning I knew I had committed no crime, so I was never willing to accept a plea to any criminal charge. The entire legal process is very traumatizing, and the overzealous bail conditions imposed on me were very difficult to endure. Although my defense was extremely strong, all trials are inherently risky and I value my life too much to risk a potential minimum mandatory sentence. I am very grateful for the spectacular work Michael Edelson and his team put into my case, and to all the generous people who supported me and contributed to my defense. I was able to stand up to the very last day and fight for something I believe in.”
As a Canadian, I have immense pride in my country as a place that values peace and equality. There’s no where in the world I’d rather live and I get homesick quick ever being off Canadian soil. Unfortunately nowhere is perfect and the pit in my stomach I feel crossing the border from trips to the US on my way home is a stern reminder of that. That I could be arrested for my bags full of comics is terrifying – it’s scary because it’s unfair for material that hurts no one, it’s scary because it could happen to anyone at anytime and it’s scary because if it happens, as Ryan Matheson’s case shows, there’s nothing you can do should someone else decide that what artwork you choose to look at is wrong.
MangaBlog’s Brigid Alverson has a really informative write-up on the case along with some history of other similar occurrences over at Comic Book Resources. It’s well worth a read and I hope gives you a good idea why supporting a group like CBLDF is such an important thing to do for comic readers everywhere.
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!
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 blog. The 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.
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.
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).
Yikes, where did the week go?! For that matter where is the year going… can you believe it’s already mid-March? I’m not sure I can. At least there’s always the weekly manga buying trips to keep things evened out – time may be zipping by fast but I never seem to be able to get myself to the store fast enough to sate the need for new books.
This week’s shipping list can be seen in my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA. Highlights include a new shoujo series from Viz Media – The Early and Fairy – and the end of one of my personal favourites, Twin Spica, from Vertical Inc. For the omnibus lovers out there, two shoujo series are also returning in their new, extra value-ridden formats this week – Skip Beat! and Hana Kimi.
The eyes! They stare into my soul! They also command me to let you know that last week Seven Seas sent out a press release announcing two new manga licenses, both due out late this winter in single volume editions:
Mayo Chiki! (Hajime Asano and Niito) – “Kinjiro Sakamachi is a “normal” seventeen-year-old boy who happens to suffer from an abnormal fear of women, otherwise known as gynophobia. His phobia, which surfaces as an occasional nosebleed, has been kept more or less under control…until now. A fateful visit to the school bathroom turns Kinjiro’s world upside down, as he discovers the dashing and popular Konoe Subaru is actually a girl!? What’s worse, the principal’s cruel and domineering daughter, Kanade Suzutsuki, has every reason to keep this secret from leaking out, and makes it her life’s work to torment Kinjiro, while attempting to cure his gynophobia.”
Haganai: I Have No Friends (Yomi Hirasaka and Itachi) – “Recent high school transfer student Hasegawa Kodaka is pathetically inept at making friends. Kodaka is an outcast, with his natural blonde hair which he inherited from his deceased English mother, and his unpleasant, fierce gaze. When he comes across the brash loner Mikazuki Yozorai, who typically chats with her imaginary friend, the two outsiders become the unlikeliest of allies. Realizing they have no hope of a normal social life, the two rejects decide to form a group called “The Neighbor’s Club” in order to make friends and maybe even learn a thing or two about social skills.”
Perfectly timed for the eager, the first volumes of Haganai: I Have No Friends (US) and Mayo Chiki! (US) were added to Amazon for pre-order early this week. The retail website also has listings up for Girl Friends: The Complete Collection (Volume 01 (US) & Volume 02), both of which are listed with just under 500 pages each. Seven Seas announced their license for Girlfriends in November 2011. Seeing their listings reiterates these are some of my most anticipated releases of 2012. It’s going to be a big year for Seven Seas!
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