Ouran High School Host Club

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

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Author Archive for Lissa Pattillo

PR: Psychic Finds Love While Fighting Aliens in Mistress Fortune

A TEENAGE PSYCHIC MIXES ON-THE-JOB ROMANCE WTH INVADING ALIENS IN ARINA TANEMURA’S MISTRESS FORTUNE MANGA FROM VIZ MEDIA

New Shojo Beat Title Is The Latest From The Creator Of FULL MOON And THE GENTLEMEN’S ALLIANCE†

San Francisco, CA, January 20, 2011 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, will delight shojo manga (graphic novel) fans with the release of Arina Tanemura’s MISTRESS FORTUNE on February 1st. The new single-volume story will be published under the company’s Shojo Beat imprint, is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

Fourteen-year-old Kisaki Tachibana has psychic powers. She works for PSI, a secret government agency that fights aliens. She’s in love with her partner Giniro, but PSI won’t allow operatives to get involved. Just when Kisaki thinks she may be getting closer to Giniro, she finds out she’s going to be transferred to California!

“We’re exited to release MISTRESS FORTUNE for current and new fans alike,” says Nancy Thistlethwaite, Editor. “Arina Tanemura pulled from her experience of visiting San Francisco, the home of VIZ Media, as well as San Diego Comic-Con for this manga. Her huge following of readers here will have fun with this story that takes place in both Japan and the United States.”

Read more…


PR: Animate USA – New Releases in Amazon Kindle Store

TOKYO, JAPAN – January 18 – Animate U.S.A., Inc. is pleased to announce the new January release lineup for the Amazon Kindle Store!
Libre is proud to announce the release of three new chapters this month. We bring you the continuation of two very popular series as well as the relaunch of a series previously dropped by CPM, Shuiko Kano’s Play Boy Blues. All three of these series are exclusive to the Kindle. You won’t find them anywhere else! Be sure to download your copy today so you don’t miss these three great series, coming to you this January exclusively for the Kindle, brought to you by Libre!

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

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ANN Review: My Bad!

ANN Review: My Bad!

New review of mine posted over at AnimeNewsNetwork for a one-shot boys’ love called My Bad!, published by June manga:

“This book’s title speaks for itself like an apology from the artist. Either stagnant and predictable, or unnerving and unpleasant, there’s little to recommend about this boring batch of tropes that falls short of even making fun of itself.”

I’ve often found boys’ love one-shot collections mediocre but this one took it to a new level because even when it did try to step out of BL-bounds and be quirky, it was just gross or poorly executed. And some of the artwork, on the chapter illustrations in particular, were so disproportionately drawn! I get to wonder how those make it past editors sometimes. I’ve heard good things about the manga artist, Rize Shinba, so I hope My Bad! is an anomaly.


PR: Viz Media Announces 2011 YALSA Manga Selections

YALSA NAMES TEN VIZ MEDIA MANGA TITLES TO ITS 2011
GREAT GRAPHIC NOVELS FOR TEENS LIST

San Francisco, CA, January 13, 2011 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, is proud to announce that ten of its manga (graphic novel) titles have been selected by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) as among 2011’s Great Graphic Novels for Teens. The annual list highlights titles that exemplify the quality and range of graphic novels appropriate for teen audiences. The books, recommended by the association for those aged 12-18, meet the criteria of both good quality literature and appealing reading for teens.

Among these, SATURN APARTMENTS, which is published by VIZ Media’s Signature imprint, was ranked among YALSA’s 2011 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens. For more than 50 years, YALSA has been the U.S. leader in selecting books, videos and audio books for teens.

VIZ Media titles featured on the 2011 YALSA Graphic Novel list include:

AFTERSCHOOL CHARISMA Vol. 1 · by Kumiko Sukane · Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens
At St. Kleio Academy, all of the students are clones of famous historical figures. Are the clones doomed to repeat the fate of their genetic progenitors, or can they create their own destinies?

BIOMEGA Vol. 1 · by Tsutomu Nihei · Rated ‘M’ for Mature
In a nightmare vision of the future, the N5S virus has swept across the earth, turning most of the population into zombie-like drones! Zoichi Kanoe is humanity’s last hope, and he’s not even human!

BOKURANO: OURS Vol. 1 · by Mohiro Kitoh · Rated ‘M’ for Mature
Saving the world is hard. Saving yourself is even harder.

CROSS GAME Vol. 1 · by Mitsuru Adachi · Rated ‘T’ for Teens
A poignant coming-of-age centered around a boy named Ko, the family of four sisters who live down the street, and the game of baseball!

HOUSE OF FIVE LEAVES Vol. 1 · by Natsume Ono · Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens
An out-of-work samurai finds himself drawn into a mysterious gang known as the Five Leaves.

LIBRARY WARS: LOVE & WAR Vol. 1 · Original concept by Hiro Arikawa; manga story and art by Kiiro Yumi · Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens
In the near future, the federal government creates a committee to rid society of books it deems unsuitable. The libraries vow to protect their collections, and form a military group to defend themselves – the Library Forces!

MAOH: JUVENILE REMIX Vol. 1 · Original story by Kotara Isaka; manga story and art by Megumi Osuga · Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens
What do you do when the city’s savior is actually a devil in disguise…?

NATSUME’S BOOK OF FRIENDS Vol. 1 · by Yuki Midorikawa · Rated ‘T’ for Teens
Natsume can see the spirits and demons that hide from the rest of humanity. Moving to the small town where his grandmother grew up, he discovers that he has inherited more than just the Sight from the mysterious Rieko.

not simple · by Natsume Ono · Rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens
A young man with a fractured family history travels from Australia to England to America in the hope of realizing his dreams and reuniting with his beloved sister.

SATURN APARTMENTS Vol. 1 · by Hisae Iwaoka · Rated ‘T’ for Teens · A Top 10 Selection
A touching, character-rich vision of an intriguing new world. Mitsu takes on his late father’s dangerous job as a window washer on the Ring circling the earth where all humans have been relocated…

The complete list of YALSA 2011 selections is available at:
www.ala.org/yalsa/booklists/.

Read more…


Swag Bag – Finding One Thousand Nights in the Twelve Kingdoms

Thursday again already? Where does the time fly! Under a few feet of snow in some places it seems. We got a good blizzard here but not as much snow as some places, that’s for sure. None the less it was a great time to settle back with some good books and I was happy to finally get an Amazon order with just that in it.

While I haven’t gotten to pick up this week’s new manga releases yet, I nabbed a few titles on my ‘must-have’ backorder list thanks to Amazon.ca. First to be pulled from the box was the eleventh and final volume of One Thousand and One Nights. I love this series so the fact it’s taken so long to get the last book still boggles my mind; perhaps I was just avoiding the end! I adore the cover on it, that dress-vest and collared shirt looks fantastic on Sehara.

One Thousand and One Nights (Vol. 11)Also criss-crossing time and fashion-space is the second book of the light novel series, The Twelve Kingdoms. The first book blew me away as a detailed and believable fantasy story about a girl ripped from her world and dropped into one of demons, Gods and people hatched from egg-fruit.

Lastly, I bought the first two volumes of Ayano Yamane’s Finder series. I have what was released in English already by BeBeautiful but I’d heard too many good things about Digital Manga‘s version to pass up a revisit. While I like to think I’d care enough to check the differences between the two editions, I’m sure I’ll just be enjoying the eye-candy and the shiny new design work on the covers.

Oh, and though not a new volume of anything, I did finally purchase a one-year Got Anime? membership. A couple purchases a year from RightStuf at at least $150 a piece and it seems more than worth it to me.


PR: New POKEMON Movie on DVD and Manga Adaptation Feb1st!

THE STRUGGLE FOR TIME AND SPACE CONTINUES IN POKÉMON: ARCEUS AND THE JEWEL OF LIFE, ON DVD AND IN ADAPTED MANGA FROM VIZ MEDIA

The Latest POKÉMON Feature Film Delivers Another Action-Packed Adventure With Ash And His Friends!

San Francisco, CA, January 12, 2011 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, is proud to announce the release of POKÉMON™: ARCEUS AND THE JEWEL OF LIFE on DVD and in a manga adaption on February 1st (both under the VIZ Kids imprint). The feature film DVD is rated ‘A’ for All Ages with a MSRP of $19.97 U.S. / $28.99 CAN; the manga adaptation is rated ‘A’ for All Ages, with a MSRP of $7.99 U.S. / $9.99 CAN.

Long ago, Arceus created the Jewel of Life from fragments of its awesome power. Humans used the Jewel of Life to turn Michina Town from a barren wasteland to a lush and thriving city. But when it was time for the Jewel of Life to be returned, Arceus was betrayed, and vowed to one day get revenge.

Now Arceus has returned– enraged, vengeful, and seemingly unstoppable! Not even the combined might of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina can stop Arceus from devastating the land.

But there’s hope. Ash, Pikachu and their new friend Sheena may have discovered the only way to make things right. Their journey will be both dangerous and uncertain: will there be time to return the Jewel of Life before Arceus enacts vengeance on the world?

Read more…


Comment Issues on Kuriousity

Hey everyone – just a short post to give heads up and some apologies for some comment issues for anything posted in the last evening. I mistakenly deleted three valid comments that had gotten trapped in the Spam catch. If yours was one of them (including someone who wrote a detailed and honest rebuttal to my post about Viz Media’s website, and a comment on my Ouran Host Club review), I apologize profusely and welcome a re-comment.

Speaking of Viz Media’s website, they’ve begun updating their new site with content! There’s now manga info available and nice simple new URLs so finding series is relatively easy even if you have difficulty finding it via the imprint breakdowns. (Example: vizmedia.com/death-note) . There’re still a number of broken links in place but Google is already catching up with their new manga links to slowly replace the dead links it was indexing from their old site. Yay for finding stuff again!


PR: Sample The Latest Cross Game Manga and Anime Releases

SAMPLE THE LATEST CROSS GAME MANGA AND ANIME RELEASES, NEW FROM VIZ MEDIA

VIZ Media has just announced new additions to its critically acclaimed CROSS GAME property. On the manga (graphic novel) side, CROSS GAME Volume 2 (bundling Vols. 4 and 5 of the original series as released in Japan) will be published under the Shonen Sunday imprint. The latest volume releases on January 11th, is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $14.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN. On the anime side, to celebrate the CROSS GAME Vol. 2 manga release, two new episodes (episodes 39 and 40) will be available to stream – for free – beginning the week of January 10th on VIZAnime.com, the company’s premiere website for anime content.

CROSS GAME is a moving drama that is heartfelt and true, yet in the brilliant hands of creator Mitsuru Adachi, the story delightfully flows with a light and amusing touch. The series centers around a boy named Ko, the family of four sisters who live down the street, and the game of baseball. This poignant coming-of-age story will change readers’ perception of what shonen manga, can be.

Read more…


ANN Review: Ouran High School Host Club (Vol. 15)

ANN Review: Ouran High School Host Club (Vol. 15)

New review of mine over at AnimeNewsNetwork this afternoon, this time for the newest volume of my newest manga-love, Ouran High School Host Club (Vol. 15).

I marathoned the entire series (released so far) in about a week leading up to reviewing this newest volume and I’ve easily found one of my favourite manga series. I’ve already seen the anime a few times (for which Funimation and all the VAs did amazing work, by the way) but I never felt compelled to read the manga. Thank goodness for the cheap up-to-date set that I was able to buy from Strange Adventures!

The series overall is really cute and silly in the best of ways, and I was really glad to see the art improve so much over the duration of the story. The amount of character development slipped in over time was impressive, though it did start beating readers over the head by around volume twelve. How can people be so in love with someone but not realize they’re in love?! It boggled the brain. But in the fifteenth volume, a lot of these emotional elements are resolved and now it’s up to the final few volumes to show us what comes of it. I’m eager to find out!


ANN and The Great Canadian Evangelion Ticket Giveaway Again

AnimeNewsNetwork's Evangelion 2.0 Giveaway

Anime News Network is holding a contest to give away theatre-showing tickets to the upcoming Neon Genesis Evangelion 2.0! The site had a similar contest for the first movie last year. This time they’re giving away not one, not two but 240 tickets – that’s five for each of the theatre showings across the country. It’s a simple enter-your-info-to-be-qualified contest and with that many tickets to give away, chances are good!

The showing is a single-night event on January 20th. Along with the contest, ANN’s site also has the complete list of theatres confirmed as playing the movie.

January 13, 2011: Winners announced – congrats folks!


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