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Archive for November, 2013

Seven Seas Takes A Different Trip Into Wonderland with I Am Alice Series

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Seven Seas has added a new Alice in Wonderland manga series to their growing library, but this time they’ve switched things up with a title that may look familiar, but is actually a different take on the original story than the usual Alice in the Country of…:

I Am Alice: Bodyswap in Wonderland – Ayumi Kanou

I Am Alice is a body and gender-swap story staring a young male protagonist who finds himself magically transported into the world of Alice in Wonderland. On top of that, he’s been transformed into Alice. Now he needs to defeat the King of Hearts if he’s ever to get home, not to mention deal with the aid and advances from the world’s inhabitants.

The series is multiple volumes, and still on-going, but it isn’t completely clear from Seven Seas’ announcement if they’ll be releasing it as omnibus or single editions. They do however show the titles’ first volume cover. The current release date is September 2014. This will be Ayumi Kanou’s third series licensed for English translation after Seven Seas’ recently released Dictatorial Grimoire, and Bandai Entertainment’s Tales of the Abyss: Jade’s Secret Memories.

If you’re curious about this title, AnimeNewsNetwork has a detailed news posting with full body images for all the characters. It’s a very colourful cast and neat seeing new designs after we’ve become so accustomed to those in Alice in the Country of… (granted the art style itself is very similar). I’ve no doubt this series will find itself a lot of overlapping fans.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: I Am Alice, Seven Seas

Update to Boys-Luv.com

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, November 26, 2013

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Hello, site visitors! Some of you have noticed that since Kuriousity’s recent face lift, Boys-Luv.com – Kuriousity’s boys’ love exclusive partner-site – was no longer operating as normal. Part of the reason a little revamp of Kuriousity was done was to accommodate some recent software changes. Unfortunately those changes also broke Boys-Luv.com.

Because all the same content remains available here at Kuriousity, I’ve decided to shutdown Boys-Luv.com, at least for the time being (who knows what the future may bring!). All older posts from Boys-Lov can still be accessed via our archives, and any old links will automatically redirect to their Kuriousity equivalent.

For those who would like to continue reading only the boys’ love related posts, they are available via the Boys’ Love/Yaoi tag and can be subscribed to via their own RSS feed.

My apologies for any inconvenience or sad faces this may cause, and we all hope you stick around for the same fun manga and BL content here at Kuriousity!

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Categories: Boys-Luv.com, Misc, Site Updates
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi

Vertical Inc Adds to Deck with Cardfight!! Vanguard License

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, November 23, 2013

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It’s time to du-… fight! Vertical Inc. announced late this week that they’ve licensed their own card battling series:

Cardfight!! Vanguard – Akira Ito

The series has more in common with the better known YuGiOh than just the card duels they’re based around. The creator of Cardfight!! Vanguard was the artist who handled the YuGiOh R manga series. With that kind of global popularity, can you blame them for wanting to give it their own spin? Or Vertical for continuing to branch out into different demographics.

Cardfight!! Vanguard is also currently being streamed on Crunchyroll, who gives the following summary:

“The card game ‘Vanguard’ has swept the entire world and changed the fate of one boy. His name is Aichi Sendou. To make an impression on Toshiki Kai, a Cardfighter he deeply admires, Aichi begins to play Vanguard and soon becomes caught up in the fun and charm of the game.”

Vertical Inc is releasing two first volumes – one regular edition and one deluxe edition. Both have the same page count and a trading card, but the deluxe edition also includes a fifty card starter deck, game mat and box. Amazon says the titles will be released at the end of March 2014, while Vertical is listing April 2014.

Pre-orders are currently available via Amazon for the regular (Amazon CAN | US) and deluxe editions (Amazon CAN | US).

Cardfight!! Vanguard is one of those series that leaves me feeling out of touch with today’s ‘mainstream’ anime fans. I’m told it’s popular. I’ve seen the Walmart aisles littered with the merchandise and even a giant outdoor billboard. I think I may’ve even seen a snippet of it on television. What I’ve never seen or knowingly met, however, is an actual fan. Where are you, mystical fans? Fans of Pokemon and YuGiOh I still see on a regular basis – battling outside schools, meeting in local game shops, trading and arguing in the comic stores, begging their parents for the newest release. So… what gives?

Maybe the lack of Cardfight!! Vanguard fans is a regional thing. Whatever it is, I hope the series’ popularity I’ve heard such tell about means that it will be asuccess for Vertical Inc. Fortunately it seems to be going well so far.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Cardfight!! Vanguard, Vertical Inc

Leapin’ Lizards! Seven Seas Licenses The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, November 19, 2013

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The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer? I have no idea what to think of a series with that name. Even after I read the synopsis, I’m still not entirely sure what to think of this series. Seven Seas recently revealed it as their newest license via a teaser video:

The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer – Satoshi Mizukami

This series was originally distributed digitally by the now shutdown, JManga who gave the following for a description:

“Asamiya Yuuhi was an ordinary college student… until the day a lizard showed up and asked him to help save the world. The next thing he knows, he’s been given a ring and special powers, plus an enemy stalking him. However, he’s saved in the nick of time by the girl next door, Samidare, who’s planning… WHAT kinds of things?! This is an unconventional story that mixes ordinary life with the bizarre and supernatural!”

So lizards, rings, mysterious next door neighbour planning… things?! The plot doesn’t do much for me, but I’m a pretty easy win-over with art that cute. Biscuit Hammer‘s creator – Satoshi Mizukami – also had a story in Dark Horse’s anthology, Trigun: Multiple Bullets. That combined with their short time on JManga’s makes them a returning creator to the North American manga scene and hopefully one whose book will find its way into the hands of fans new and old.

As for when? That’s a mystery! Seven Seas has yet to comment on when they intend to release the first volume of this series. The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer is complete in Japan at ten volumes.

Credit for the news details goes to AnimeNewsNetwork

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Seven Seas, The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer

Viz Media Revisits Culinary Battle with License of Food Wars Manga

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, November 18, 2013

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It’s been a while since Amazon has revealed an early Viz Media license. Publishers have really been closing the gap between the timing of their announcements and when the new titles appears on retail sites, which is great for those who us want to order sooner than later. It does always leave little room for error though.

Viz Media missed this one by just a few days as eagle-eyed Amazon spelunkers found this listing (CAN/US) before it was confirmed by Shonen Jump’s podcast crew shortly after:

Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma – Yuto Tsukudo & Shun Saeki

We’ve been told Food Wars is “too racy” to place into the Shonen Jump magazine, so while it will be released under that title banner, it won’t be released simultaneously. Some ‘foodgasms’ gone too far perhaps? The series is about a young man named Sōma who is raised by his chef father and regularly engages with him in cooking battles. When Sōma is enrolled in a renowned culinary institute, he must put his skills up against a school of students where the graduation rate is next to nil.

I haven’t heard of this series before, but I really like the look of the art style. One of my current favourite series is also Toriko, so maybe that’s a good sign! In either case, the first print volume of Food Wars is scheduled for August 2014 with a digital edition intended for release a few months prior.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Food Wars, Magazine, Manga, Viz Media

NYCC 2013: Kodansha Comics Announces UQ Holder and Seven Deadly Sins

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, November 16, 2013

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You thought we were done with NYCC didn’t you?! Even weeks late, licensing news is great news indeed. Call us refreshers for all your manga convention news! Along with their Attack on Titan titles, Kodansha Comics also had a few other series under their sleeves to reveal that weekend:

Seven Deadly Sins – Nakaba Suzuki
UQ Holder – Ken Akamatsu

Kodansha Comics is touting Seven Deadly Sins as the “next Dragonball Z“. Those are some pretty big boots to fill! In this fantasy story, the manga’s lead Princess Elizabeth is searching for the seven deadly sins instead of the seven magic dragon balls. The sins are all legendary warriors and she hopes to use them to defeat the murderous Holy Knights, putting a twist on the usual who’s good, who’s bad stereotypes.

UQ Holder is a new series from Ken Akamatsu, best known to most as the creator of Negima!. Good thing too, since UQ Holder takes place in the same magical world many years later. The story begins in a small village where a group of boys dream of one day leaving and seeing the big city, and its’ giant constructed spire that leads into space. But, before they’re allowed to leave, they have to defeat their beautiful, and conveniently immortal, teacher.

Volume one of Seven Deadly Sins is scheduled for March 2014 (Amazon CAN/US), with UQ Holder (Vol. 01) right on its tail (Amazon CAN/US).

For those who’re curious and would like to read the series now, you currently can! Both these series are available via Crunchyroll’s new digital manga program. You can expect more on that news here at Kuriousity as soon as I make my way through the series they’re currently offering.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Conventions, Ken Akamatsu, Kodansha Comics, Manga, NYCC, Seven Deadly Sins, UQ Holder

Review: Sunny (Vol. 01)

By Shannon Fay on Friday, November 15, 2013

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Manga-ka: Taiyo Matsumoto
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Mature (16+)
Release Date: May 2013

Synopsis: “Synopsis: “What is Sunny? Sunny is a car. Sunny is a car you take on a drive with your mind. It takes you to the place of your dreams. Sunny is the story of beating the odds, in the ways that count. It’s the brand-new masterwork from Eisner Award-winner Taiyo Matsumoto, one of Japan’s most innovative and acclaimed manga artists.”

Anyone upset by the news of Hayao Miyazaki’s supposed retirement might find some consolation by picking up Sunny by Taiyo Matsumoto. Like Miyazaki, Matsumoto often draws on childhood and the surreal as inspiration for his work. The main difference would be that while Miyazaki usually centers his stories on strong female heroines, Matsumoto homes in on boyhood and young male characters. This is especially true with Sunny, a manga loosely based on Matsumoto’s own childhood experience of living in a group home.

PR: Viz Media Highlights A Score of Manga Releases That Make Ideal Gifts…

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, November 14, 2013

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VIZ MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS A SCORE OF MANGA RELEASES THAT MAKE IDEAL GIFTS FOR FANS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

2013 Holiday Wish List Includes New Manga Box Sets, Shojo And Shonen Manga Series, Deluxe Omnibus Editions, And Other Exciting Gifts

San Francisco, CA, November 6, 2013 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, highlights a wide selection of novels, manga, and special box sets perfect as gifts for a range of budgets and guaranteed to delight readers of all ages and interests this holiday season.

Holiday selections for 2013 include a hefty new ONE PIECE BOX SET: EAST BLUE AND BAROQUE WORKS and a BAKUMAN COMPLETE SERIES BOX SET, as well as a delightful novel and picture book commemorating the 25th Anniversary of the classic anime film MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO.

New shojo manga series that also make perfect gifts include the Christmas-themed SWEET REIN and the voice-acting romantic drama VOICE OVER!: SEIYU ACADEMY. Action fans also won’t want to miss the TIGER & BUNNY COMIC ANTHOLOGY and the 2-volume TIGER & BUNNY: THE BEGINNING manga adaptation of the hit anime superhero feature film. Horror fans should add the hardcover UZUMAKI 3-IN-1 DELUXE EDITION to their wish lists, while science fiction readers can savor the award-winning anthology THE FUTURE IS JAPANESE and the acclaimed novel SELF-REFERENCE ENGINE from the Haikasoru imprint.

Project-H Treats With A Foursome of Autumn Hentai Licenses

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, November 14, 2013

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Kuriousity just got a new face-lift, so now it’s time for some new content! In the on-going journey to catch up on a lucrative season of manga-news, we look to Project-H who recently announced four new hentai licenses:

Aqua Bless – Yamatogawa
Nametate Apple Pie – Ashita Morimi
Princess Lucia – Kouji Seo
Witchcraft – Yamatogawa

They start with a collection of short stories in Aqua Bless, ones which “…reveal the adventures of telepathic beauties, frustrated couples escaping to paradise, skimpy cow girls, twins falling for the same man, scandalous happenings at a ski resort, and more.” This one-shot assortment is scheduled for Fall 2014 as both print and digital editions. Those plots all sound good to me~

Ashita Morimi’s Nametate Apple Pie is a one-shot comedy scheduled for January 2015. Project-H smashed our hopes by saying “…it looks like a yuri manga .. but it’s not.” Alas! The story actually stars a man who uses his professional tongue-skills as an acupuncture-like replacement. Who needs needles? His skills are highly sought after but things get complicated when he reunites with an old crush. Dun, dun, dun…

Princess Lucia is a romantic comedy with I’m guessing an extra-pervy side if its in Project-H. It tells us the tale of a demoness who’s determined to have a child with a young man born on the devil’s hour, believing they’ll create powerful offspring. Opposing her are two equally attractive and interested angels. Princess Lucia is scheduled for release in both print and digital starting in Summer 2015. Project-H has announced they own the license for the first three books of this on-going series.

And last up, a second title by Yamatogawa – Witchcraft. The story follows a hapless young man and his run-in with “curvy and curious fortuneteller” who’s eager to test the limits of her hypnosis skills. Project-H has said that the series may be released with censorship, depending on what the original publisher provides for files. Whether it does or doesn’t, Witchcraft will be published in Winter 2014. I’m always up for some supernatural manga so I can’t complain to a genre crossover with my pornier purchases.

For those looking for some hentai now, Project-H has also been adding lots of their recent titles to their eManga platform. Remember, adults only!

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Aqua Bless, Hentai, Nametate Apple Pie, Princess Lucia, Project-H, Witchcraft

PR: Viz Media Gets In the Holiday Spirit with Launch of Sweet Rein

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, November 6, 2013

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VIZ MEDIA GETS IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE NEW SHOJO MANGA SERIES SWEET REIN

A Girl Takes On The Role Of Santa Claus With A Cute Boy Who Also Happens To Be An Enchanted Reindeer In A New Magical Romance

San Francisco, CA, November 1, 2013 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga & anime in North America, delivers a nod towards Christmas with the release of SWEET REIN Volume 1 on November 5th. The new manga (graphic novel) fantasy series by creator Sakura Tsukuba arrives from the Shojo Beat imprint in time for the start of holiday season, is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

SWEET REIN Vol. 1 will also debut digitally on the same day for $6.99 (U.S / CAN) from VIZManga.com and for digital download through the VIZ MANGA App for the Apple iPad®, iPhone® and iPod® touch, Android-powered smart phones. The title will also be available for purchase through the iBook, Kindle, NOOK, and Kobo stores.

Sad at the thought of spending Christmas alone, Kurumi Sagara goes out for a walk. While she’s crossing the street, a boy bumps into her, and a rein suddenly appears that binds them together. The overjoyed boy tells her she’s his master and that she’s a Santa Claus. Kurumi dismisses him as a crazy person, but then he transforms into a reindeer?!