With only a day until 2008 is officially behind us, it’s no wonder people are taking the time to look back at the year with reflection. It’s been an incrediable journey for me and my website this year and even more so for the manga industry and its loyal fans. I couldn’t help but sit down and write some of my thoughts of the year. Truely they only scratch the surface of a long but satisfying year and I hope that others have reason to remember the year as fondly as I have :)
   |
Manga-ka: Duo Brand
Publisher: Go!Comi
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: December 2008
Synopsis: “Akito and Neon set out with the mysterious skipper Haran in search of medicine to save Yaya’s life. Their search leads them straight to Neon’s home town, where Neon has been branded a criminal. Can Akira help eon restore his people’s faith in him before it’s too late? And will Haran’s demand that Akito play for him in dangeros circumstances lead to their capture at the hands of the deadly warlocks?”
I keep being surprised while I’m reading Cross x Break that’s it a Duo Brand book. I’ve read several of their boys’ love series, and though this series does have its teasing moments, it still has a dramatically different tone. There’s a lot more focus on humour and a sense of pacing that’s both exciting but erratic. Is it a shonen-like shoujo or a shoujo-like shonen? I can’t say for sure, but it’s neat reading a series by a team who are, to my knowledge, best known for one genre but whom are still capable of doing a notable job on another.
 |
Author/Artist: Judith Park
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: December 2008
Synopsis: “Yagate was happy to help his best friend Yoshitaka with his girl troubles, but it’s Yoshitaka’s turn to return the favor. Yagate’s ready to escape his female admirers and find the man of his dreams. He’s got his heart set on Ra-Myun, a handsome college student. Unfortunately, Chana has her eye on Ra-Myun too and is ready to put up a fight! Meanwhile, Ju-Jin’s long-awaited photo shoot ends in total disaster! Will Yoshitaka finally tell Ju-Jin how he feels before she turns to another?”
It looks like things may finally be going Ju-Jin’s way when she gets her first modelling gig and she drags the snarky but dependable Yoshitaka along for the ride. But where’s the fun in a smooth road? Now Ju-Jin is angry at Yoshitaka yet again and it looks like his feelings may not get through as clearly as he’d hope. On top of that, he owes his best friend, Yagate, help finding a boyfriend of his own. When it looks like Yagate’s dreams arrive in the form of Ju-Jin’s older brother, things might not be so easy when there’s a little female competition.
 |
Authour: Jeon JinSeok
Manhwa-ga: Han SeungHee
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: December 2008
Synopsis: “Socrates and Alcibiades must combat intrigue in plague-ravaged Athens when Critias conspires to tear the lovers apart… but the conspiracy does not end with Sehara’s tale. As Shahryar prepares to oust invading Crusaders, a betrayal from within diverts his attention from battle and leaves his kingdom – and Sehara – vulnerable to attack!”
There are very few new releases I await with more anticipation than those of One Thousand and One Nights and volume six is no exception. Sehara’s story continues from where it left off in the previous volume: a love story between Socrates and the beautiful Alcibiades. When war pulls Socrates out onto the battlefield, Alcibiades asks his Uncle to place him in the same group so that he can stay by his lover’s side.
 |
Manga-ka: Shinri Fuwa
Publisher: DMP
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: December 2008
Synopsis: “When Kyoya, a former employee at Homura Yasobe’s host club, stumbles upon his boss’ clandestine affair with Touji Karasuma, the leader of a rival Yakuza faction-Kyoya seizes upon the opportunity to blackmail Homura into going out with him. But will the cold and calculating Touji accept defeat and let his beloved Homura go?”
After a former employee of Homura’s host club learns about his boss’s four year affair with rival Yakuza member, Touji Karasuma, he seizes the opportunity to blackmail Homura into a date. What begins as a protection of the men’s status turns into an emotional leaning post for Homura whose thoughts just can’t be pried from Touji despite their growing absence from eachother’s lives.
 |
Manga-ka: Est Em
Publisher: Deux Press
Rating: Teen (18+)
Released: May 2008
Synopsis: “A stylish, tempestuous dance of anguish and passion. Seduce Me After the Show contains seven short stories which take place within the artistic worlds of dance, painting and music. Overall themes focus on the dichotomy of hope & despair as well as the relationship between pleasure and longing. Devastated by the death of his world famous dancer mother, Theo Gallardo abandons his own dancing cateer to become an actor and co-stars in a film with popular Hollywood idol Darren Fergus.”
Seduce Me After the Show is a collection of seven short stories. Numerous positive reviews prompted me to pick this title up, and though I did find it a nice overall read, ultimately for me its greatest failing was not living up to its community hype.
 |
Manga-ka: Aya Kanno
Publisher: Viz
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: December 2008
Synopsis: “What does it take to find you true innter self? Zen’s memory has been wiped, and he can’t remember if he’s a killer or a hero. And a l ot of people will do anything they can to keep it that way? At an abandoned military base, Zen finally finds the trth about his identity. Now that he knows who he is, does that mean his destiny is written in stone? Conspiracies, espionage and attempted coups d-etat all tie into the conclusion of Aya Kanno’s intense tale of lost identity.”
Zen along with his doctor acquaintance, Hakka, travel back to a location that triggered pain in Zen’s mind, a pain that could signify a connection to his forgotten past. On his trail is the now ex-soldier, Kyrie, determined to defeat the deadly Zen, and protect the blind Rian who, determined to find her own freedom after her encounter with Zen, follows Kyrie on the dangerous mission.
 |
Author: Lee YunHee
Manhwa-ga: Kara
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: October 2008
Synopsis: “Dong-Young confronts Bi-Wal and lets slip a confession of love! But with her engagement to the King of Hell, does this budding relationship stand a chance? As the guardians argue about what to do, Queen Hong appears with an even more earth-shattering revelation!”
The time for fun and games is over and the subject on the table is peace. Keeping the peace between heaven and hell is nothing to laugh about, but the four guardians have had trouble weighing out their morals. Do they send the princess back home to marry a man she has never met, or do they keep hiding her on earth and risk losing everything? The longer they take in making their decision the more complicated the situation is becoming. Only time will tell, and who knows, maybe in this crazy world everything will work out for the better.
 |
Manhwa-ga: Lee YoungYou
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: November 2008
Synopsis: “Having survived the battle with the Soon-La renegades, Myung-Ee can’t remember anything about the fight! In her quest to know what really happened, she finds herself crossing paths with Sa-Eun more than once. Though he stays silent about the battle, he lets slip a shocking secret about himself to his rabbit adversary! Meanwhile, Yu-Da has returned safely with the help of two mysterious friends… who appear to be intent on wreaking havoc on both the Rabbit and fox tribes!”
Taking readers back to the battle that the fourth volume ended with, Myung-Ee confronts the dangerous Sa-Eun. Though he defeated those who attacked them, the bloodlust in his eyes keeps Myung-Ee a little uneasy but she maintains her faith in his actions. But when she comes too back in her own world after the fight, she realizes she can’t remember anything that happened after she appeared there in the first place.
I’d noticed that I wasn’t recieving many pingbacks or comments here at Kuriousity in recent weeks, coincidentally since I updated to the new Word Press at the time. Well today I upgraded my WP yet again, only to discover the option to splunk through the comments that WordPress automatically labelled as spam. And splunked I did! And found many comments left by people that I had never seen :( So if you’ve left a comment in the last month or so and wondered why I didn’t respond or approve it, I apologize! I spent a good while clearing them all out today and approving around 30 comments. Many thanks (and apologies) to you all!
And saddly, if that wasn’t enough, I decided that if the lack of comments was weird then my e-mail slump may’ve been too. Thus I discovered that my kuriousity e-mail wasn’t working either! So after much testing, that’s fixed as well. Unfortunately I have no way of retrieving e-mails that may not have reached me, so if you’ve tried to contact me at my lissa@kuriousity.ca e-mail and recieved no response, there’s a good chance I never recieved it.
Hopefully that shall be the end of my communication woes and I can yet again be reachable. Sorry for any percieved rudeness of my behalf over the last while and I look forward to reading future e-mails and comments from my visitors without issue :)
 |
Manga-ka: Duo Brand
Publisher: DMP
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: December 2008
Synopsis: “The delicate edge of a perfect sword can slice through flesh without a sound… but only the rarest weapon houses an apparition-battling spirit, too! Two warriors – one naïve and one experience – must wield their special blades with great care in order to conquer their opponents. Elsewhere, a clumsy young scientist and a cautious priest feel the sharp pangs of desire… and an ancient-monster lashes out for the one he loves.”
I’m a huge sucker for stories involving priests and monks, and in a lot of cases, traditional Japanese clothing in general, so some of these short stories had me at the get-go. Personal interest aside, however, this collection of inter-connected stories managed to earn few brownie points for itself past that quirk.
Could it be? Naono Bohra in English?! (With no thanks to DramaQueen) Kitty Media has a listing on RightStuf for Naono Bohra’s supernatural one-shot Yami no Tooboe, Mune Ni Toge (which they’ve renamed Yokai’s Hunger). Big fans like me will obviously be very happy of what will hopefully be the first of many of Naono’s work to be licensed for English release. And even better, not long to wait with Yokai’s Hunger due for release in March 2009.
Listing originally spotted by sharp-eyed voiceofreason36 at the YaoiGen forums.
Time for some more reasons to make you guys think I must live on Amazon :) Discoveries are fun stuff and the stuff found often even funner:
Trill on Eden (Vol. 01) : An unannounced license from Go!Comi? By the same manga-ka who brought us The Devil Within.
And as an update on some old news, Viz announced earlier in the year their plans for graphic novel boxsets of the Dragonball and Dragonball Z manga. They were announced with November 2008 release dates, which has obviously come and gone, but they’ve been rescheduled with Feburary 3rd, 2009 releases. Certainly one heck’ve a purchase for DB fans who don’t wish to collect the series via the Viz Big line. Just wanted to show off the big and shiny boxsets for those who haven’t seen ‘em before becaues I think they’re lovely and I want them :)
On a newer note, Amazon also lists volumes of an upcoming addition to their Viz Kids line-up, Dragonball chapter books. Time to get kids reading some paragraphs again! And then on top of that, VizKids has Dragonball The Movie Chapter Books, with volume one slated for a Feburary 29th, 2009 release date (you can see a tentative cover image here.) Check out the epic synopsis:
“Goku thought he was a normal high school student until he found out he’s actually a martial-arts whiz with all kinds of crazy powers. Now he and his new group of teen warriors are on a quest to find all the Dragon Balls before they fall into the wrong hands. But they may already have! Goku must battle the evil madman Piccolo with all he’s got to save the planet Earth!”
Goku is actually a martial-arts whiz?! Golly! Movie still looks fun though. Just block out the few referrences you’ll see to Dragonball and all shall be well… er, better atleast.
And finally, because it’s fun: Star Trek The Next Generation (Vol. 01) and my first look at the cover art. I’m looking forward to this because, come on, it’s Picard in manga style. It has to be seen! Accidental discoveries of disturbing doujinshi don’t count…
 |
Author: Yi DongEun
Manhwa-ga: Yu Chung
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: October 2008
Synopsis: “For their next mission, the Nonblods head to the seaside to locate “the tears of the mermaid.” But this mission won’t be a day at the beach… especially when an unexpected rival shows up to kick sand in their faces! But what are the tears of the mermaid and what deadly, ancient secret do they really hide? And the secret that ties Tublerun and Chroma together is illuminated in this final installment of Freak!”
Volume five of Freak marks the end of this series, a story about a group of thieves calling themselves the Nonblonds and a member in particular, Tublerun, who has mysterious powers. This final book begins with a light hearted side story before throwing itself into a darker plot that serves to explain the real origins behind the mysterious runes from volume four and the truth of Tublerun and his rival, Ecliptor’s, existence.
Ouran High School Host Club (Vol. 17)
" It feels like all the stops were pulled out for this amazing climax."
Read more...
Free previews, legally available and
frequently updated!
