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Archive for May, 2009

Mini Review: Awaken Forest

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, May 7, 2009

Awaken Forest – Yuna Aoi
Published by June (DMP)

A warning to readers looking for romance and fluff: you won’t find it here in this collection of short stories. Any attempts at it was superficial at best, a light coat of sugar overtop much darker themes, including incest, rape and violent bullying. Those stories that did end with a semblance of romantic joy were the least likeable in the whole batch, in full because they didn’t feel justified or believable.

The first story was the most notable example of this, where the age-old ‘love at first sight’ excuse is used to have two men fall incomprehensively in love with one another. The obstacle, if you would call him that, in their way is a younger brother who treats his elder sibling as a slave in retribution for a past injury. The story was surprisingly dark and twisted for something I went into expecting the usual boys’ love romance, and admittedly I found that made for an engaging read as the issues formed between the brothers made up the bulk of the story’s attention. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for the relationship haphazardly formed between the two leads, which was laughable at best, and thrown in for good-yaoi-measure in the end.

With following stories of sadistic bullies and abusive masters, it’s a bit hard to see why Digital Manga would pick up such a title and slide it into their June imprint, which (though with a few exceptions) is more the romantic or comedic variety of boys’ love. While some readers may find the content of Awaken Forest unsettling, for those who can stomach it, they do prove the real spark to the chapters.

If only the half-hearted attempts at romance, bad by even stereotypical boys’ love standards, weren’t there to spoil what otherwise could’ve been a darkly satisfying read of twisted psyches. An engaging read for those looking for some harsher content, and willing to put up with its slogging romances, but a definitive no for those looking for light-hearted material who would likely be offset by the abusive nature of the stories.

Review written May 6, 2009 by Lissa Pattillo
Book provided by Digital Manga for review purposes

Categories: June, Manga, Reviews, Yaoi/Boys' Love |

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Review: Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden (Vol. 08)

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, May 6, 2009

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Manga-ka: Yu Watase
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: April 2009

Synopsis: “Takiko helps Uruki grieve for the loss of a loved one- a loss she knows only too well. But now that the Qudong army knows how to fight Celestial power, Takiko and the Celestial Warriors have no time to lose. As they prepare to rescue Teg, Uruki learns the truth about the prophecy: to summon Genbu, the Priestess will have to sacrifice her life. Refusing to let another death happen, Uruki vows to send Takiko back to the safety of her own world… by any means necessary.”

Remaining safe to say, the anguish of Soren’s death gave the series its greatest emotional crescendo to date in the previous volume. While the passing of Uruki’s dearest friend and protector proved to be a tear-jerker, here in volume eight, Yu Watase, to her credit, manages to muster even more touching sympathies for him and all those affected during an emotionally rousing funeral. Keep your tissues handy for this one!

Kodansha Comics Appearance, Rereleases Listed on Amazon

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, May 5, 2009

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Kodansha Cometh...?

There’s been lots of speculation about Kodansha’s silence on their plans to publish in North America since it was first announced back in July 2008. Rumours of a cease in their plans due to America’s economic issues seemed to make sense, but still, it was only a matter of time before something new turned up. Could that time be now?

Amazon.ca has listings for Akira (Vol. 01), Akira (Vol. 02) and Ghost in the Shell (Vol. 01), all listed under ‘Kodansha Comics’ as the publisher. Both these titles have been previously released by Dark Horse. Second editions of both Ghost In The Shell and Akira were released by Dark Horse in 2004, both sporting slightly higher page numbers than these Kodansha Comics listings.

Credit where credit is due to Andre and AnimeVice who were quicker on the draw posting this than I. Though in doing so Andre’s new blog: Geekery with Andre, has been discovered. Happy to see it, Andre! Loved your posts over at LiveJournal.

So what do these listings foretell? Who knows at this point exactly, but may it be the start of rereleases to come. Why? Because I’m now on 24/7 Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon watch. Kodansha, you’ve been warned.

Edit: Quick-to-action Gia of AnimeVice has already made contact with Dark Horse’s Marketing Coordinator:

“Marketing Coordinator Aaron Colter informed that while he couldn’t comment on any license expiration, he could confirm that Dark Horse wouldn’t be publishing either of those titles in the future, so if Kodansha says they’re reprinting them, then they probably are.”

Categories: Dark Horse, Licensing, Manga |

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CLAMP Fan Appreciation Book Deadlines Posted

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, May 5, 2009

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CLAMP Fan Appreciation

Deadlines for submissions to appear in the upcoming CLAMP Fan Appreciation Book have been posted over at the clamp_now LiveJournal community. Submissions are due between July 11 to July 25th of this year and must be sent to the person in-charge of overseeing contributers in your specific country/area.

You can check out the full post to read the details including submission guidelines and contact information.

Looks like I’ll have more than SDCC to prepare for that month! Here is me telling myself I will try to get some shiny artwork done for it. Fingers crossed! I’ve no doubts it’s going to be a lovely book when it’s done, full of much love and appreciation for CLAMP and the lovely work they’ve shared with us over the years.

Categories: Manga, Misc |

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Flood Makes Mush of Yaoi Press Stock, KOSEN Cards for Auction

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, May 5, 2009

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KOSEN Yaoi Press Cards

Prior to their appearance at the recently held, Animeland Vegas, Yaoi Press was struck with some bad luck when a flood at a storage facility made a mess of a portion of their books waiting to be sold. Over one hundred Yaoi Press books were left unsellable.

To make up some of the loss, Yaoi Press is now offering several complete decks of their KOSEN card sets up for auction on eBay. While you can currently obtain these cards as multiple-piece bonuses through their online store, EverythingYaoi.com, these auctions allow you ownership of the entire deck all in one go, plus the money goes to a good cause.

Gorgeous Yaoi Card Deck @eBay.com

Categories: OEL/GlobalManga, Yaoi Press, Yaoi/Boys' Love |

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Back to the Internet, Shiny New Blog Layouts

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, May 4, 2009

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As some of you may have noticed, updates have been less than their usual level of consistency here on Kuriousity the last week. A frantic moving day (is there any other kind?) mixed with some issues getting internet set up in my new place had left me offline for the last while.

But, internet has graced my computer yet again, so without further ado, let’s get those updates flowing again, shall we?

First to start off my upcoming updates, I want to thank people for their response to Kuriousity’s new layout. I’m glad people find it loads smoother and has easier navigation. Of course it still stands that any issues, comments or suggestions you have are more than welcome!

And on that note, it seems I wasn’t the only one looking to do some springtime clean up and site tinkering in recent weeks.

Check out the spiffy new looks some of my favourite sites are now sporting (and new blog on the block, Manga Critic, which is well worth a visit):

Categories: Misc, Site Updates |

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Review: Reading Club (Vol. 01)

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, May 2, 2009

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Author: Cho Ju-Hee
Manhwa-ga: Suh Yun-Young
Publisher: UDON
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: December 2008

Synopsis: “After getting stuck with the job of cleaning her high school’s long-forgotten library, a 9th grade girl stumbles across a suspicious looking book. Simply opening the book causes her to see unspeakable horrors… does she dare read it? Inside, she could find something more terrifying than she ever imagined. Fear and insanity take hold in Korea’s first horror comic for girls.”

After being asked by her crush, Kyung-Do, Eun-Sae agrees to help clean up her school’s long-since unused library. In its collection however she discovers a book that emanates evil, not to mention has a bad case of possession. However Kyung-Do, lover of literature, has begun reading that book and it turns out that it has more to do with him than Eun-Sae originally realizes.

Free Comic Book Day 2009!

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, May 1, 2009

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Free Comic Book Day

Regretful that I’m so last minute reminding folks about the glory that is Free Comic Book Day! On the first Saturday of May, comic book stores around the world offer just what the name would suggest: free comics!

Tomorrow being the 2009 date (May 2nd), definitely make time to check out your local comic book stores and pick up some goodies, meet some people and have fun with the deals, atmosphere and good times that can only be achieved with free swag enjoyed by many!

If comics aren’t your thing, there’s something for manga fans as well (though admittedly not as much as has been made available in the past by publishers). This year Viz will be offering a 32-page Shonen Jump edition that includes a chapter of Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei’s collaboration piece: Ultimo. You can see a preview of the free booklet here.

As a volunteer, I’ll be lending a hand to the amazing folks of Halifax’s Strange Adventures in handing out over 20,000 free comics! If you’re in the area, be sure to stop by. Along with free swag there’ll be some surprise appearances, artists on-site to draw some goodies for the young ones (including Faith Erin Hicks, creator of Zombies Calling, and MTCopyright, artist of Whore of Turfan) and a bunch of great in-store deals!

Expect an overview and photos of the day here in Halifax soon after. All the best to everyone out there; enjoy your free comics!

Categories: Canada, Misc, Viz Media |

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Mini Review: XXXHolic (Vol. 13)

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, May 1, 2009

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XXXHolic (Vol. 13) – CLAMP
Published by DelRey

The bulk of XXXHolic‘s thirteenth volume keeps its focus on Kohane, the young pychic driven to perform despite the relentless hounding of skeptics by her Mother. While previous volumes with Kohane have disappointed slightly in their deviation from focus on Watanuki, here in the eleventh book all the tension that’s building surrounding Kohane and her Mother comes full circle in a climatic resolution.

Kohane herself is an adorable character and one that invokes a great deal of sympathy for her rushed maturity and daily emotional hardships. Despite Watanuki and Domeki rushing to her aid, everything collapses when she exposes her Mother on live television leading to some violent confrontations. From these moments of uncertainity to Kohane’s later reflection and tears, there were no pages that didn’t make me feel something, be it the want to shake the book in hopes of detaching Kohane’s Mother from her vice-grip on an already injured daughter, to wiping away a tear when Kohane finally has a chance at happiness.

But it isn’t all deviation from Watanuki, especially after previous events have left him in flux with his own perception of existence. Here he truely begins to understand his position, or at least give it more considered thought, and it leads to him realizing just what exactly in life is important to him, including his faith in Domeki. It was a little sad seeing Watanuki’s melancholy expressions lamenting what he stands to lose, but then the moments where Domeki’s intentional badgering to get a distracted rise out of him becomes all the more appreciated.

All of this combined with some exquistely delivered plot revelations guaranteed to keep readers eagerly awaiting future volumes, and the gorgeous stylized simplicity of CLAMP’s artwork, XXXHolic continues to be one of my favorite manga series currently running. The mystisism remains suspenseful, the characters entertaining and the emotions never short of moving.

Review written April 4, 2009 by Lissa Pattillo
Book purchased instore from Chapters

Categories: Del Rey, Manga, Reviews |

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