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Author Archive for Lissa Pattillo

More Manga, More Random: Kuriousity Now On Tumblr

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, March 11, 2012

Just a quick heads-up post today that I recently started a Kuriousity Tumblr account. I’m new to the site but it’s been lots of fun exploring the endless streams of content. Along with cross-posting from here on the website, my account there will also have some Tumblr-only originals that are a combination of random manga-related images and ponderings from me, to some reblogs of other interesting content shared from the Tumblr-verse. I’ve also got Tumblr’s question-feature turned on so if there’s a question you’re curious to ask, then feel free!

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Categories: Misc, Site Updates

Cute Guys and Cats – DMP Licenses Three New Titles for Fall

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, March 9, 2012

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With barely a breather between them, Digital Manga has announced another three new licenses to be released this fall:

Secret Thorns – Kikuko Kikyua (June)
Start With a Happy Ending – Risa Motoyama (DMP)
The Hentai Prince And The Stony Cat (Vol.01) – Okomeken / So Sagara / Kantoku (DMP)

Secret Thorns and Start With A Happy Ending were both announced via Digital Manga’s social media accounts and their website’s blog. The Hentai Prince And The Stony Cat was listed admist the string of new titles in their recently e-mailed Digital Manga Newsletter.

Secret Thorns is a one-shot boys’ love title by the same creator as the book, Entangled Circumstances, that DMP released last year. It’s a romance title set against the backdrop of an editor and author’s turbulent relationship when being lovers is thrown into the equation.

Start With A Happy Ending is a multi-volume series collecting a number of short stories and looks to be one for the cat lovers out there. The main title is about an individual who is reincarnated as a cat with seven days to live and reflect on their life before moving on. The series is only one volume currently but is on-going in Japan.

Despite its title, The Hentai Prince And The Stony Cat isn’t a hentai (18+) and will be released under the DMP line of books. Its story sounds as bizarre as the title though – it follows a young man who has obvious perverse intent behind everything he does and yet no one seems to acknowledge it. He wants people to see him for who he truly is and stop hiding his true feelings to save face. When a friend recommends a fix, he seeks out a stone cat that he hears can grant wishes. It’s there he meets a girl who wants the ability to actually hide her true self. Quirky, pervy hilarity apparently ensues! A short preview of The Hentai Prince and The Stony Cat can be seen at Amazon.jp.

Other extra tidbits in the newsletter include the license of Hinako Takanaga’s final volume of Tyrant Who Falls In Love (Vol.08) and affirmation that the first twelve volumes of Erementar Gerade will be “using translations adapted from the original English releases” (from Tokyopop), with volumes 13-18 being adapted by the Digital Manga Guild.

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Categories: Licensing, News
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, DM Guild, DMP, Hinako Takanaga, June, Manga

DMP Continues Licensing Spree with Honey*Smile and My Good Boy

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, March 9, 2012

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Digital Manga is the company that keeps on giving in 2012 so far, announcing another two new licenses recently. This brings them to, I believe, twelve print licenses so far for 2012. That’s quite a bit of momentum!

The first of the recent two was a new Project-H title, My Good Boy. This hentai (18+ only!) title by Youko Ohnami is a one-shot currently scheduled for print but with no exact date currently set. Company reps made note this title will have some minor censoring put in place by the Japanese publisher.

Digital Manga’s second license was announced yesterday evening – Yura Miyazawa’s Honey*Smile. This boys’ love title is also a one-shot with upcoming (undetermined) release dates for both print and digital editions. DMP previously released another one-shot by Yura Miyazawa, Love Syndrome. You can see a few preview pages for Honey*Smile via it’s listing on Amazon.jp.

Niether of DMP’s announcements included plots for these new stories but Honey*Smile does have a synopsis on its Amazon page. For all our sanity’s sake, I’ve opted not to attempt writing about it through only the use of Google Translate (entertaining as that can often be).

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Categories: Licensing, News
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, DMP, Hentai, June, Manga, Project-H

Otaku USA: On The Shelf – March 7, 2012

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, March 9, 2012

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Yikes, where did the week go?! For that matter where is the year going… can you believe it’s already mid-March? I’m not sure I can. At least there’s always the weekly manga buying trips to keep things evened out – time may be zipping by fast but I never seem to be able to get myself to the store fast enough to sate the need for new books.

This week’s shipping list can be seen in my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA. Highlights include a new shoujo series from Viz Media – The Early and Fairy – and the end of one of my personal favourites, Twin Spica, from Vertical Inc. For the omnibus lovers out there, two shoujo series are also returning in their new, extra value-ridden formats this week – Skip Beat! and Hana Kimi.

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Categories: Features, News, On The Shelf, Release Lists
Tags: Kodansha Comics, Manga, Otaku USA, Skip Beat, Vertical Inc, Viz Media

PR: Classic Shojo Manga HANA-KIMI and SKIP BEAT! Ominibus Editions

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, March 7, 2012

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VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES NEW
3-IN-1 OMNIBUS MANGA EDITIONS FOR
HANA-KIMI AND SKIP·BEAT!

New Releases Of Two Classic Shojo Manga Series Each Bundle Three Complete Volumes Into A Single Handy Edition

San Francisco, CA, March 6, 2012 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, offers fans a double-dose of shojo manga (graphic novel) fun today with the release of new omnibus 3-in-1 editions for a pair of classic series – SKIP·BEAT! and HANA-KIMI. Each of the new releases from the company’s Shojo Beat imprint bundles 3 complete manga volumes into a handy and compact reading companion.

HANA-KIMI 3-in-1 Edition Volume 1 · Rated “T+” for Older Teens ·
MSRP: $14.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN · Available March 6th
Mizuki Ashiya has such a crush on a track star named Izumi Sano that she moves from the U.S. to Japan to enroll in the all-male high school he attends! Pretending to be a boy, Mizuki eventually becomes Sano’s roommate… but how can she keep such a big secret when she’s so close to the guy she likes?

Creator Hisaya Nakajo’s manga series, HANA-KIMI, has been a hit since it first appeared in 1997 in the shojo manga magazine Hana to Yume (Flowers and Dreams). In Japan, a HANA-KIMI art book (also available from VIZ Media) and several drama CDs also have been released. Her other notable manga series include Missing Piece and Yumemiru Happa (The Dreaming Leaf).

SKIP·BEAT! 3-in-1 Edition Volume 1 · Rated “T” for Teens ·
MSRP: $14.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN · Available March 6th
Kyoko Mogami followed her true love Sho to Tokyo to support him while he made it big as an idol. But he’s casting her out now that he’s famous enough! Kyoko won’t suffer in silence – she’s going to get her sweet revenge by beating Sho in show biz!

Manga creator Yoshiki Nakamura started drawing manga in elementary school, which eventually led to her 1993 debut with Yume de Au yori Suteki (Better Than Seeing in a Dream) in Hana to Yume (Flowers and Dreams) magazine. Her other works include the basketball series Saint Love, as well as Can’t Give Up MVP, Blue Wars, and Tokyo Crazy Paradise, a series about a female bodyguard set in 2020 Tokyo.

For more information on HANA-KIMI, SKIP·BEAT!, or other shojo manga titles from VIZ Media, please visit ShojoBeat.com.

Read more…

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Skip Beat, Viz Media

Seven Seas Adds Haganai and Mayo Chiki! for Winter Release

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, March 5, 2012

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The eyes! They stare into my soul! They also command me to let you know that last week Seven Seas sent out a press release announcing two new manga licenses, both due out late this winter in single volume editions:

Mayo Chiki! (Hajime Asano and Niito) – “Kinjiro Sakamachi is a “normal” seventeen-year-old boy who happens to suffer from an abnormal fear of women, otherwise known as gynophobia. His phobia, which surfaces as an occasional nosebleed, has been kept more or less under control…until now. A fateful visit to the school bathroom turns Kinjiro’s world upside down, as he discovers the dashing and popular Konoe Subaru is actually a girl!? What’s worse, the principal’s cruel and domineering daughter, Kanade Suzutsuki, has every reason to keep this secret from leaking out, and makes it her life’s work to torment Kinjiro, while attempting to cure his gynophobia.”

Haganai: I Have No Friends (Yomi Hirasaka and Itachi) – “Recent high school transfer student Hasegawa Kodaka is pathetically inept at making friends. Kodaka is an outcast, with his natural blonde hair which he inherited from his deceased English mother, and his unpleasant, fierce gaze. When he comes across the brash loner Mikazuki Yozorai, who typically chats with her imaginary friend, the two outsiders become the unlikeliest of allies. Realizing they have no hope of a normal social life, the two rejects decide to form a group called “The Neighbor’s Club” in order to make friends and maybe even learn a thing or two about social skills.”

Perfectly timed for the eager, the first volumes of Haganai: I Have No Friends (US) and Mayo Chiki! (US) were added to Amazon for pre-order early this week. The retail website also has listings up for Girl Friends: The Complete Collection (Volume 01 (US) & Volume 02), both of which are listed with just under 500 pages each. Seven Seas announced their license for Girlfriends in November 2011. Seeing their listings reiterates these are some of my most anticipated releases of 2012. It’s going to be a big year for Seven Seas!

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Categories: Licensing, News
Tags: Haganai, Manga, Seven Seas

Review: Bleach (Vol. 38)

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, March 2, 2012

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Manga-ka: Kubo Tite
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: February 2012

Synopsis: “The Soul Reapers must guard the four pillars that are protecting Karakura Town from destruction of the hands of Aizen’s minions. Standing guard are assistant captains Yumichika, Kira, Hisagi and Ikkaku! But when Ikkaku goes down, will Karakura Town fall with him…?!”

Bleach’s multi-volume spanning fight scenes are nothing new to readers. Engaging as they can be, by now we’re just hoping this current one will be this arc’s climax so we can finally move on. Starring an assortment of new just-for-this-fight enemies and a dozen different Shinigami, each chapter continues to focus on one or two specific characters. It’s great for learning more about those who’ve been lost to the background but not such a great arrangement if you’re waiting for what happens next.

PR: Viz Media’s Earl And the Fairy – Fairy Doctor Caught in Victorian Intrigue!

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, March 2, 2012

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FANTASY AND INTRIGUE AWAIT READERS IN THE NEW VIZ MEDIA SHOJO MANGA SERIES THE EARL AND THE FAIRY

A Fairy Doctor Who Sees Magical Creatures Helps An Aristocrat Search For A Legendary Sword And Hunt A Mysterious Killer

San Francisco, CA, March 1, 2012 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, launches a fantastic tale of fairies and fantasy set in against the backdrop of Victorian England with the debut of THE EARL AND THE FAIRY on March 6th. The new Shojo Beat series, created by Mizue Tani with artwork by Ayuko, is rated ‘T’ for Teens and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

Lydia Carlton is a fairy doctor and one of the few people with the ability to see the magical creatures who share our world. During one of her rare trips to London to visit her father, Lydia’s quiet life is suddenly transformed when she is rescued from kidnappers by a mysterious young man!

Edgar Ashenbert claims to be descended from the human ruler of the fairy kingdom, and he urgently needs Lydia’s help to find and claim his birthright, the legendary sword of the Blue Knight Earl. Things will never be the same for Lydia as she is pulled into a dangerous quest against dark forces!

PR: Seven Seas Licenses HAGANAI and MAYO CHIKI!

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, March 1, 2012

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Seven Seas Licenses HAGANAI and MAYO CHIKI!

LOS ANGELES, February 29, 2012 – Seven Seas Entertainment is thrilled to announce that it has added two hilarious comedy manga series to its 2012 line-up-the high school fandom comedy Haganai: I Have No Friends and the zany gender-bender Mayo Chiki!

Haganai: I Have No Friends (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, aka Haganai), by Yomi Hirasaka and Itachi, is a wild, offbeat comedy about social outcasts that spawned a popular Japanese anime TV series that was simulcast in the US in Fall 2011 and will be released on video in North America by Funimation.

Recent high school transfer student Hasegawa Kodaka is pathetically inept at making friends. Kodaka is an outcast, with his natural blonde hair which he inherited from his deceased English mother, and his unpleasant, fierce gaze. When he comes across the brash loner Mikazuki Yozorai, who typically chats with her imaginary friend, the two outsiders become the unlikeliest of allies. Realizing they have no hope of a normal social life, the two rejects decide to form a group called “The Neighbor’s Club” in order to make friends and maybe even learn a thing or two about social skills.

Volume 1 of Haganai: I Have No Friends will hit store shelves in November 2012, with Volume 2 following in February 2013, with later volumes to follow.

Mayo Chiki!, by Hajime Asano and Niito, is a fan service-filled romp sure to please fans of wacky gender-benders like Kashimashi, rollicking harem comedies like Inukami, and over-the-top high school romances such as Toradora. Mayo Chiki! was adapted into a popular anime that aired on Japanese TV in summer 2011.

Kinjiro Sakamachi is a “normal” seventeen-year-old boy who happens to suffer from an abnormal fear of women, otherwise known as gynophobia. His phobia, which surfaces as an occasional nosebleed, has been kept more or less under control…until now. A fateful visit to the school bathroom turns Kinjiro’s world upside down, as he discovers the dashing and popular Konoe Subaru is actually a girl!? What’s worse, the principal’s cruel and domineering daughter, Kanade Suzutsuki, has every reason to keep this secret from leaking out, and makes it her life’s work to torment Kinjiro, while attempting to cure his gynophobia.

Volume 1 of Mayo Chiki! will come out at the end of the year in December 2012, with Volume 2 following in March 2013, with later volumes to follow.

Read more…

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Haganai, Seven Seas

Otaku USA: On The Shelf – February 29, 2012

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, March 1, 2012

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I’m still reeling over the last volume of XXXHolic (not bad… but not good?) so it’ll be nice to read some new books this week and give my brain something else to compute for a while. I’ve been doing some much needed early Spring-pruning of my bookshelves too so what better time to fill them back up again?

With some new BL from Digital Manga, the final volume of No Longer Human from Vertical Inc. and a new volume of Gate 7 from Dark Horse (don’t let me down, CLAMP!), we’ve got plenty to choose from and those are just my personal favourites. The full list of shipping titles is in this week’s On The Shelf article for Otaku USA.

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