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Archive for May, 2008

DramaQueen Comeback Updates

By now I’m sure most have heard about DramaQueen‘s apparent preparations for a come back, publisized highly in an article by Publishers Weekly. Quick recap, it’s been a loooong time since DQ has released any of their books, leaving many worried that they were going under or dropping licenses.

Now with word of a comeback on the near horizon, DramaQueen has begun sending out cease and desists to scanlation groups for some of their licenses, such as the Tyrant Who Falls In Love.

Taisa, DQ’s representative on the DQ forums, has been doing the best she can to keep the curious informed while remaining under a non-disclosure agreement. She did have this to say recently though: “I’m not sure what the bosslady intends to do as far as announcements. But if she doesn’t say something by the end of May, then I’ll be sure to spill whatever beans I have to spill.”

Just a little more to let us know there does indeed seem to be something stirring over at DQ. Now we just need some release dates!


Review: Satisfaction Guaranteed (Vol. 01)


Manga-ka: Ryo Saenagi
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: July 2006

Synopsis: “Shima is a jack-of-all-trades who can solve any problem that’s presented to him. When he’s approached by Kaori, a super-hot teenage model who’s being followed by a mysterious figure known as “The Snowman”, the two team up to catch the stone-cold stalker in the act. One thing’s for sure: When you hire this hot duo, your satisfaction is guaranteed!”

Meet Shima Yoshitsune, a young man (though not nearly as young as he looks), who single-handedly runs Anything Agency, claiming that he can do and solve anything. When his newest client ends up being the famous supermodel, Kyo, the two become friends and team up to solve the problems of others. It’s one mystery after another in this episodic series of events.

Read more…


Review: Gorgeous Carat Galaxy


Manga-ka: You Higuri
Publisher: DMP/June
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: July 2006

Synopsis: “The trio decides to visit the castle of a distant relative known for its unique garden full of monstrous sculptures. However, these mysterious topiaries are more than mere decorations and hold secrets that could be deadly. When a mysterious figure begins to attack the houseguests and an unexpected blizzard keeps everyone confined to the grounds, this peaceful trip to the countryside soon becomes something out of a nightmare, full of mystery, intrigue and murder.”

Gorgeous Carat Galaxy, released by DMP, is a sequel to the BLU released series, Gorgeous Carat. The same cast of characters are back in this one-book sequel that continues off from where the last left of. Ray, the charismatic and charming thief-by-night; Florian, the beautiful astriocratic son sold by his family and Lila, Ray’s assistant, take a trip out to the country to visit a distant relative’s estate. Soon everyone there finds themselves trapped by a freak blizzard and at the mercy of someone out to get them!

Read more…


Review: Off*Beat (Vol. 01)


Author/Artist: Jen Lee Quick
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: September 2005

Synopsis: “Meet 15-year-old Tory Blake, a self-proclaimed genius who is somewhat antisocial and more than a bit cynical about the world Life is just tedious for Tory… until the day an attractive but secretive boy his own age moves in across the street. Tory becomes obsessed by his mysterious new neighbour and begins documenting his every move. But this pursuits of friendship – and possibly more – leads Tory to the one thing he wasn’t expecting to discover.”

Off*Beat isn’t so much a mystery in its own right as it is the story of a boy looking for one. Tory Blake is the story’s lead. He’s an intellectual, anti-social teenager who doesn’t give the world a whole lot of credit, plus it seems to bore the heck out of him. One day a boy named Colin moves in across the street in the dead of night and suddenly Tory’s found a target for his obsessive-compulsive nature.

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Review: Kamen Tantei (Vol. 01)


Manga-ka: Matsuri Akino
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: September 2006

Synopsis: “A pair of young aspiring mystery writers tries to crack the most bizarre, baffling and hilarious cases around them. But when clues lead to a dead end, fortunately for our duo, the Masked Detective always seems to show up in the nick of time to help! In this light-hearted mystery from the creator of Pet Shop of Horrors, it’s not always about solving the crimes – but you can be sure that trail of evidence will lead to a hoot and a holler!”

A mystery story about mystery lovers solving mysteries: A perfect beginning to this week’s theme! The story follows Haruka Akashi and Misato Nishina, two high school students, and best friends, with a shared love of mystery novels. Together they make up their school’s Mystery Book Club and write stories of their own under the pen name Taro Suzuki. When a fellow student commits suicide, Haruka decides they need to put their skills to the test and set out to discover what really happened. When the two hit a dead end, a strange man decked in costume appears to help, calling himself Kamen Tantei!

Read more…


Review Themes: Mystery Week

mys·ter·y

  1. any affair, thing, or person that presents features or qualities so obscure as to arouse curiosity or speculation:
  2. a novel, short story, play, or film whose plot involves a crime or other event that remains puzzlingly unsettled until the very end
  3. obscure, puzzling, or mysterious quality or character

It’s the beginning of Kuriousity’s summer of weekly manga themes! Starting it off is a week of mystery: detectives, thiefs and good ‘ol fashion sluething. There’ll be one review a day, making for a total of five reviews for some series I think are worth sharing! First one goes up tonight.

If there’s a mystery-themed manga that you’ve enjoyed, feel free to comment here and tell me a little about it. A fan of mystery vs. not so much? Think you’d like to see more mystery manga on the shelves? Don’t be afraid to share your thoughts!

Previous mystery-related reviews:

Kat & Mouse (Vol. 01)
Kat & Mouse (Vol. 02)
Satisfaction Guaranteed (Vol. 06)


No More Heroes: Play Without Regrets

nomoreheroes_exam.jpg

 While I plan to write up a full review for this in due time, I’m taking a minute of this slow Saturday to plug one of the best games I’ve played in ages: No More Heroes for the Wii (nothing like you’ve ever played on the Wii, not for the kiddies!). You play as the main character Travis, a fan of anime and Mexican wrestling, on his way to becoming the top assassin. It’s a hilarious, beautiful stylized and over the top action game that makes great use of the Wiimote’s capabilities, taking the hack and slash action platform to a much more entertaining level. Extra recommendations if you like a challenge; this game has some of the toughest bosses I’ve ever faced in a video game. It’s also a bit of a parody, poking fun at the game genre stereotypes with both plot, dialouge delivery and in-game play actions. Much more shortly put: I loved it and cannot recommned it enough for a good time (and finally an anime fan representation whose really awesome, once you get past the 27 year old virgin part).

And completely unrelated but added for my purely anime/manga visiting fans: Amazon has a new listing for an exclusive complete Inu-Yasha series set, $419.99 f0r 3900 minutes of Shikon searching action. Glad I’m not really a fan. I have trouble enough getting past $70 boxsets! Ouch. Good for those who’ve been waiting to get it all in one go though I suppose.


Review: +Anima (Vol. 07)


Manga-ka: Natsumi Mukai
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: April 2008

Synopsis:
“As Cooro and company travel through a dark tunnel on the way to Sailand, Husky tells them the reason why he wants to go there – to see his mother. But it looks like the family reunion will be delayed when the children discover that in Sailand, +Anima are kept as slaves! And if that weren’t bad enough, Husky and Senri are captured by slave hunters! Can Cooro and Nana fly them to freedom?”

A lot happens in this joyfully extra fat volume of +Anima. Cooro, Nana, Husky and Senri continue their trek through the underground tunnels to the neighbouring country of Sailand, seeking people from Husky and Senri’s pasts. Upon getting there, they find out that Anima are looked at as lesser beings and kept as slaves by the humans. While Cooro and Nana are taken in by a kind Anima-keeper, Husky and Senri are captured by much less hospitable slave hunters.

Read more…


Fellow Blogging Females Come Forward

Gia posted a link today over to a fun sounding little get-together of female bloggers. Its aim is to get a collection of girls who run anime/manga related blogs to sign up, then respond to issues and topics voted for by the group. They word it much better than I possibly could (as I make this last minute post before running out the door) so go check it out for yourself. I and a bunch of others have already slapped our names up for participation so it should make for an interesting endeavour!


Review: Welcome to the NHK (Vol. 06)


Author: Tatsuhiko Takimoto
Manga-ka: Kendi Oiwa
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: March 2008

Synopsis: “Satou’s hallucinations of an Angel-Misaki are getting worse! Having run away from home, he now turns to arcades and pachinko bars for relief. But he soon learns that there are expensive habits, and this escapism comes at a cost he might not be willing to pay. Feeling alone, with no one to turn to, especially now that Yamazaki’s got his own girl problems, Satou is at an all-time low. Where will he turn?”

The hallucinations, social downfalls and episodic insanity continues in volume six of Welcome to the NHK. Satou, Misaki and Yamazaki all get their time on centre stage to let readers know that nothing’s really getting any better, despite what opportunities present themselves.

Read more…


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