Genkaku Picasso

Welcome to Kuriousity

News, reviews and features with a focus on manga, self-published works and a Canadian perspective. Enjoy fulfilling your Kuriousity!

SITE RETIRED - Thank you for the years of support and readership!

Archive for August, 2010

Swag Bag – Talking Cats, Female Shogun and Making Manga

Another week, another slew of new releases! I was too late to get a hold of a copy of 20th Century Boys (Vol. 10) but there was still plenty of other good titles to pick up (now with some pictures):

Voice or Noise (Vol. 03)BLU, the boys’ love imprint of Tokyopop, had a couple of new titles out this week. The most exciting of which was the third volume of Voice or Noise. The second volume was released in February 2008 so it’s been quite a wait for this follow-up. None the less I’m as excited to finally purchase a copy now as I was looking forward to it after finishing the last. Great boys’ love series!

The other title I picked up from them is Scarlet, a one-shot by the same creator who did Cute Devil. Honestly, I don’t have much interest in this artist or this premise but I bought the painfully overpriced book all the same because it marks a new (potentially continued?) book style and I wanted to check it out/support it. It sports a larger-than-the-norm trim size and colour inserts at the front. I flipped through it and it was actually a bit disorienting reading a BLU title suddenly notably larger, though snazzy all the same. It’s great to see, especially since it takes a step closer to almost justifying the $18.99 price tag.

Continuing on the semi-boys’ love trend, I was amazed to see a whole slew of DokiDoki titles on the shelf of Chapters (the B&N/Borders equivalent to you Americans out there). They’ve only ever carried sparse copies of Vampire Hunter D from Digital Manga so seeing them branch out to this varied imprint was exciting, plus very promising to the local boys’ love fanbase who are too timid to special order. Though not boys’ love, I purchased a physical copy of Alice the 101st which I reviewed earlier in the month for ANN.

Butterflies, Flowers (Vol. 04)Moving onto other genres, I picked up a copy of Bakuman (Vol. 01) – the team of Death Note makes a manga about making manga – and the fourth volume of Ooku in which it feels like the faux-Shakespearean speech that I really dislike seems more toned down (or is that just me?). In the mail I got a copy of the newest volume of Butterflies, Flowers which is hilarious – I am completely enamoured with the mature silliness of this series and I hope many others are too.

And lastly, thanks to my local library, I’ve been reading the Manga Guide to Databases. After reading the Manga Guide to Statistics last week and being impressed with how much I actually retained from it, I sought out this one as I’ve been wanting a basic introduction to databases. Yay for learning?


Review: Moonlit Promises

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo
Moonlit Promises

Manga-ka: Souya Himawari
Publisher: June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: April 2010

Synopsis: “Roh is an outrageous orphan who has survived on the streets relying solely on his own strength. When he is taken in by a loving grandfather and grandson, Roh begins to believe that life may not be that bad. But when Seishin’s grandfather dies unexpectedly, Roh finds himself responsible for more than just himself!”

A one-shot collection of short stories, Moonlit Promises easily surpasses the mediocrity of other similar collections. Visually pleasing artwork and tender stories that vary from a genetically-engineered song-bird to a genie trapped in a ring and two boys becoming mercenaries to make a living, this trio of stories is worth having on any boys’ love readers’ shelf.

Read more…


Review: Garden Sky

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo
Garden Sky

Manga-ka: Yuko Kuwabara
Publisher: June
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: August 2010

Synopsis: “When happy-go-lucky Shiro is suddenly murdered by a jealous lover, he finds himself summoned to heaven by the teeny-tiny (and totally bored) God Kami-Sama. The two soon hatch a plot to form a “family” featuring the beautiful ninja Kuro…but little do they know that Kuro has his own troubled past! Will these three lonely misfits find a way to overcome their differences and forge a lasting bond?”

Garden Sky is another of the books I question the validity of labeling boys’ love, especially when Digital Manga has their Doki Doki line-up which fits this one-shot like a tailored glove. There’s the potential for boys’ love here but that’s about as far as it goes. The book is split up into two different stories, each one building itself up like your average tale of boy-loves-boy but then stops just before the point where you’d officially deem it one. This isn’t to say the book will really appeal to those who aren’t fans of the genre, but even those who are will likely find themselves a bit disappointed in more ways than one despite some polished art and likeable characters.

Read more…


Review: Can’t Win With You! (Vol. 01) – eManga Edition

Reviewer: Jaime Samms

Author: Satosumi Takaguchi
Manga-ka: Yukine Honami
Publisher: eManga
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: August 2007

Synopsis: “Yuuhi-kun planned to build a soccer field on the piece of mountain land that was his inheritance, but when his brother’s elite Shuuiku Academy needed a new campus, Yuuhi was forced to reconsider. Now he finds himself both the landlord, and a student at the school! Needless to say, the other students are none too happy about being shipped out to the boonies, so Yuuhi – AKA “chicken-head” – has become the object of their collective ire. But there’s something about the country bumpkin that has many students eyeing Yuuhi in a different way…a way that makes him very uncomfortable. Seems there’s a lot more than “book-learnin’” going on at this school, and Yuuhi’s about to get a whole ‘nuther kind of education!”

I used to think I was not a fan of the school boy stories, however, I keep reading them, so I guess I must see something in them after all. This one uses the typical excuse of a school full of hormonal boys to explain why they are constantly all over each other.

Read more…


Swag Bag – Culture-Shock, Doctors and Yuri

My local comic shop Strange Adventures is having a 20% off everything sale this month – hopefully that means lots of new books in the coming weeks!

While there this week I picked up a few different books:

Peepo Choo (Vol. 01) – This book was insane. I read it on the way home on the bus (for which thankfully I was sitting in the back because this is not the kind of book you want to think people are reading over your shoulder). Very 18+ material and pretty mean too. I liked it over all because of the sheer amount of ridiculous energy but the creator is definitely out to make a statement by being pretty insultive. But though over-emphasized, it’s still based on nerd-dom truths so you can’t hate it for that. The stereotypical anime fans versus comic fans scene is pretty entertaining and hits the nail on the head. The amount of sex and violence really surprised me though but I did very much find myself wishing it’d stick to those parts and leave the ‘weeabo’ drooling, shiney-eyed main character behind.

Black Jack (Vol. 12) – One of the series that I just cannot wait to pick-up – when I know it’s out, I must have it! This volume continues the trend of never disappointing. I do find each time I read a new volume I always think ‘this is darker than before’ in regards to how the stories end but since I have that thought every time, I think it just proves how much continuing good shock value some of the stories have, not that they’re actually getting more grim or serious over time.

And from the wonderful bargain bin I picked up volume four of Me & My Brothers and volume two of A Tale of an Unknown Country. I haven’t read either of the series before so reading through these volumes should give me an idea of if I’d like to hunt out the rest of the volumes.

And arriving in the mail for me this week was two volumes of Yuri Montogari which are really uniquely varied stories of lesbian-love stories (some with definite twists in some stories) and a copy of Moto Haigo’s Drunken Dream and Other Stories from Fantagraphics Books. I was really surprised to see Drunken Dreams is a large-trim, hardcover book with glossy decoration work.

And as a little birthday present for myself I picked up an artbook by Ken Mizuki titled Sarasa. It’s a pretty small artbook compared to the others in my collection (small page count) but the cost was cheap and the art inside still very pretty. I think this artist primarily does doujinshi so while I’ve never read any of their manga, it was neat to see some artwork in here that I remember seeing scattered across fan-forums back in the days of Gundam and Saint Seiya fandom.

And lastly, thanks to the public library, I’ve been reading the Manga Guide to Statistics. It’s admittedly weird reading something that makes me feel like I’ve been dropped back in high school yet at the same time I really have to give the book credit for being such a good teaching tool. I had to reread some parts a few times to grasp the more involved stuff yet the fact that it makes me want to learn this stuff enough to do so is impressing me in itself. I’m definitely planning on reading the other books in this series.


ANN Review: Alice the 101st (Vol. 01)

Happy Birthday to me! I’m 24 today which I’ve been warned means I’m only one year away from being five years to thirty – this is scary now I’m told.

On a completely unrelated note (and one considerably more post-relevant), I’ve got a new review up over at AnimeNewsNetwork – Alice the 101st (Vol. 01).

I was really excited for this book as a fan of the artist’s previously-released-in-English series, La Esperanca. Alice the 101st is thus far considerably less melodramatic but that’s not a bad thing; there’s some interesting different plot elements coming together and a fun amount of humour in this one as well. I thought things fell into place a little too easily though so there’s room for improvement in volume two in regards to handling the plot it has a little better. What I liked the most though was the artwork which looks really sharp, especially the stronger use of black. Snazzy stuff and fun to see how her art’s evolved since the last series I read.

A digital copy of this book was provided by eManga.com for review purposes


Review: Royal Pain (Part 01)

Reviewer: Jaime Samms

Purchase now
@YaoiProse.com

Author: Yamila Abraham
Artist: M.A. Sambre
Publisher: Yaoi Prose
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: April 2010

Synopsis: “An enticing new-comer has arrived in King Jereth’s court. Moors has invented electricity in the Middle Ages, and has quite a high opinion of his accomplishment. When he’s installed as the kingdom’s Royal Alchemist he begins to make outrageous demands, and then throws tantrums when those demands aren’t met. King Jereth is amused with the attractive upstart at first, but then finds his spoiled attitude tedious. No matter how brilliant the man is Jereth will not tolerate disrespect. When Moors accidentally hits Jereth’s bottom with a sharp piece of metal he reaches his limit. Moors is thrown over his knee and spanked. Despite being spurred by anger, the act has an unusual effect on both king and vassal. It gave Jereth a thrill he didn’t expect, and Moors became subdued and aroused. A most unconventional romance has begun!”

This story is just a thinly veiled excuse for a bit of a spanking fantasy – not that there’s anything wrong with that. I enjoyed Moors’ characterization. He was no shrinking violet, and had every reason to resist the king’s advances based on his previous experiences at the hands of a capricious monarch. Plus, being a genius is tough enough without the distraction of a groping king to worry about. His resistance is believable in its source, at least, and the king’s tenacity is truly epic. Whether the spanking as punishment would hold up in a true D/s situation is debatable, but it is fun to watch, and interesting to see how Moors manages to retain his independent, belligerent streak despite his inner desire to actually submit, and his fear surrounding giving up that independence.

Read more…


Review: Brain Camp

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Authors: Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan
Artist: Faith Erin Hicks
Publisher: First Second Books
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: August 2010

Synopsis: “Neither artistic, dreamy Jenna nor surly, delinquent Lucas expected to find themselves at an invitation-only summer camp that turns problem children into prodigies. And yet, here they both are at Camp Fielding, settling in with all the other losers and misfits who’ve been shipped off by their parents in a last-ditch effort to produce a child worth bragging about. But strange disappearances, spooky lights in the woods, and a chilling alteration that turns the dimmest, rowdiest campers into docile zombie Einsteins have Jenna and Lucas feeling more than a little suspicious… and a lot afraid.”

(Editor’s note: Sharing something a little different today, a review of Brain Camp to commemorate it’s release this week. Sure manga’s the proverbial bees-knees for most of us, but let us never forget how much other fun, quality stuff is on shelves to check out also. Now and again I’ll be having these special reviews to show some other titles that I think readers here would be interested in as well. Enjoy!)

Read more…


PR: Animate USA – New Releases in Kindle

TOKYO, JAPAN – August 4 – Animate U.S.A., Inc. is pleased to reveal its August release lineup for the Amazon Kindle Store! Four more Yaoi titles published by Libre Publishing in Japan, including Kindle Exclusive title “Pet in Love – Pet on Duty Bonus Story-,” have been added to the Kindle Store.

For more information, please visit www.animate-world.com, www.b-boy.jp, and to keep on top of all things about Nitta Youka, nittayouka.com!!

August 2010:
Nase Yamato – “Pet in Love – Pet on Duty Bonus Story” Kindle Exclusive!!!
Youka Nitta – “Sound of My Voice – Golden Goose Part 2”
Shiuko Kano – “P.B.B. Play Boy Blues – Act 2”
Makoto Tateno – “See You in the School of the Muse Vol.1 (in Japanese)”

Read more…


Review: Taimashin the Red Spider Exorcist (Vol. 02)

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Author: Hideyuki Kikuchi
Manga-ka: Shin Yong-Gwan
Publisher: DMP
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: March 2010

Synopsis: “In a serendipitous moment, a young girl meets Akamushi, finds him so beautiful and unforgettable, falls in love with him at first sight. Turns out her grandfather and mother are haunted by a “Waraigao” demon – a demon that attacks living human bodies from inside the body to erode and eventually deteriorate their nerves that kills them. Akamushi senses that her family is in danger, follows her home, only to discover that she is being attacked by her own family member that was fully possessed by “Waraigao.” Can Akamushi eliminate the demon and save her life?”

The story that made up the entire first volume ends fairly swiftly here in the second. It comes as a bit of a surprise since the first volume felt as though it was setting up what would be the continuing plot throughout the series. Turns out to the story’s benefit however that this isn’t the case.

Read more…


Take me back to the top!