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TOKYO, JAPAN – June 4 – Animate U.S.A., Inc. is pleased to reveal its June release lineup for the Amazon Kindle Store! Four more Yaoi titles published by Libre Publishing in Japan are now available! For more information, visit these websites, www.animate-world.com, www.b-boy.jp.
June 2010:
Nase Yamato – “Cigarette Kisses”
Natsuho Shino – “Oh my god! Vol.1”
Kano Miyamoto – “Say Please”
Kano Miyamoto – “Two of Hearts”
Read more…
Some technical difficulties over the weekend put a bump in my final update regarding Anime North but while I await the retrieval of some material, I notice it’s been a while since we’ve had a news snippet post. Time for some boys’ love loving with news today.!There’s been a few tidbits the past while so here’s a quick round-up of each:
AnimeNewsNetwork is reporting the next Gakuen Heaven manga has been listed on Amazon by BLU (the boys’ love imprint of Tokyopop). The book was also listed in this month’s Preview catalog from Diamond Comics. The company has already released the first two of the Gakuen Heaven books. Based on a boys ‘ love sim game, each book follows the lead character being involved with a different character. The title of this third volume is Gakuen Heaven: Endo ~Calling You~. BLUManga has also posted on their Twitter account that the third volume of Voice or Noise has gone to the printers (yay!).
Yaoi Con has updated its website with a whole look and a bunch of new announcements. This year’s Yaoi Con, North America’s largest convention dedicated to boys’ love, is celebrating its ten year anniversary. They’ve updated their website with guest information – including Hinako Takanaga, Ayane Yamano, Jo Chen and Kano Miyamoto – as well as information regarding returning events such as their AMV contest.
Over at The Yaoi Review, blogger Jennifer LeBlanc has proclaimed June to be Global Boys’ Love Month. Over the month she’ll be covering boys’ love works from creators around the world. Should be lots of interesting stuff to come!
On the note of global boys’ love, there’s some related news to check out on that front as well:
Artist Jo Chen, whose gorgeous painted works can often be seen on the cover of Marvel comics and Buffy issues, has some new independently released books that are definitely worth a look. Firstly she’s completed her first doujin (noted by Yaoi Con) – In These Words. The work is 52 pages altogether and was sold at the recent Fanime, plus will be available at Yaoi Con. Secondly she’s also releasing an art book of her cover illustrations, restricted to only 1500 copies, that she’s selling through e-mail. The book is in Chinese, has 140 pages and costs $45.
Tina Anderson, GlobBL creator whose work include Only Words and the web comic, Whore of Turfan, has a new independently published work coming out with the pre-order date closing in. Loud Snow is a story of “romantic ice-age hilarity” with art by Amelie Belcher. A digital edition is already available via Kindle with a version soon to be available on eManga. The print edition is coming out this July with pre-orders available for only $8.00.
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Manga-ka: Souya Himawari
Publisher: June
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: April 2010
Synopsis: “Mizuo, your average modern day teenager, is mysteriously transported into Feudal Japan and worshipped as a Living Buddha in a time when war is the way of life-so it’s no wonder he’s desperate to return home! But Mizuo soon meets the charismatic leader of the Yamako army, Takakage, whose bravado on the battlefield is matched only by his adoration of Mizuo! When Takakage demands that Mizuo stay and become his personal page, will Mizuo still desire to return home?”
Time travel romance is a tried and true staple of the shojo genre, with Fushigi Yugi, Red River and From Far Away being notable titles. Right Here, Right Now uses a similar template to the aforementioned: an ordinary high schooler gets sent to a distant past/fantasy world, is hailed as a deity of some kind, and falls for a hot local. It works just as well in yaoi as it does in other manga, and Right Here, Right Now looks like a fine addition to the time travel romance (time-rom?) genre.
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Manga-ka: Yugi Yamada
Publisher: June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: April 2010
Synopsis: “Little Tatsuhiko says to Itaru, “…when I grow up, I want to become a politician and change the law so two men can get married. Will you marry me then?” Ten years later, his family members are notified that Tatsuhiko left a note and disappeared from his prestigious academy. His family servant is asked to find him, only to discover that time changes people and learns things aren’t the way it used to be…”
When was the last time you read a yaoi manga and couldn’t predict what would happen next? Or read a yaoi that had characters who were actual people and not just stock roles? I was surprised by how much Dry Heat caught me off-guard – a yaoi manga that actually puts the plot first and the smut second.
Yesterday my review of Yen Press’s My Girlfriend’s a Geek (Vol. 01) was posted over at AnimeNewsNetwork. I’m glad to see readers curious about checking out the series in the comments and some already-fans.
This was a series I’d been really eager to read since Yen Press announced it. A series about a guy dealing with his girlfriend’s obsession with yaoi sounded like it could be ripe with great humour potential if handled correctly. Well the series definitely isn’t disappointing – I adored the first volume. I laughed out loud a couple times and found the romantic element of the series really endearing, at least from the angle of the male lead. There isn’t much in the way of romance coming from the girl unless you count her endless fantasies about boys loving other boys.
A shout-out thanks to my local comic store Strange Adventures for again providing me with all the best goodies to purchase each Wednesday :)
Gardena, CA (May 19. 2010)– Digital Manga Publishing is excited to announce their special guest for Yaoi-Con 2010, the prolific and fan-favorite yaoi mangaka-Hinako Takanaga! The creator of numerous manga, including Little Butterfly, The Devil’s Secret, Challengers, Croquis, Love Round!!, Liberty Liberty, and the soon to be released The Tyrant Falls In Love, Hinako Takanaga has been one of the most popular yaoi mangaka in the US, and will be making her second appearance at Yaoi-Con!
So come up to San Francisco in October, and meet the immensely talented Hinako Takanaga in person, and hear her answer questions about her process and her work!
Yaoi-Con takes place over the Halloween weekend, October 29-October 31, and at a brand new location in Burlingame, CA! For more information on Yaoi-Con, including location, hotels, and registration, please visit their site at: www.yaoicon.com
ANIMATE USA RELEASES MORE YAOI TITLES ON KINDLE
TOKYO, JAPAN – May 12 – Animate U.S.A., Inc. is very pleased to announce that 4 more Yaoi titles published by Libre Publishing in Japan are now available in the Kindle Store! For more information, visit these websites, www.animate-world.com, www.b-boy.jp.
May 2010:
Saika Kunieda – “Future Lovers Vol.1”
Saika Kunieda – “Future Lovers Vol.2”
Rize Shinba – “Mister Mistress Vol.1”
Rize Shinba – “Mister Mistress Vol.2”
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“FUTURE LOVERS” by Saika Kunieda
A romantic lover awaits you… in the future.
Kento Kumagaya wishes for the simple things in life: to have a happy family with the ideal housewife, loving kids, and kind grandparents all living together, happily ever after.
Fate, however, has other plans. Enter Akira Kazuki, a smart, beautiful and unrestrained gay man who shatters Kento’s dream with a single night of wild and passionate sex.
This is a romantic, sweet and funny story between two different people (in more ways than one) who unexpectedly find the same future together.
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“MISTER MISTRESS” by Rize Shinba
Fujimaru is your average adolescent boy – horny and girl-crazed. Like many guys his age, he enjoys spending “alone time” in the bathroom with erotic magazines, doing… you know.
Unlike many guys his age, Fujimaru has a sexy demon incubus, Rei, lurking about his house. Rei wants nothing more than to feed off of Fujimaru’s perverted mind! Soon, Fujimaru’s life becomes an erotic nightmare.
He’s just a normal boy whose raging hormones and wet dreams are the source of the incubus Rei’s ever-growing lascivious power.
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Manga-ka: Makoto Tateno
Publisher: DokiDoki
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: May 2010
Synopsis: “Naive and easy-going Kousaka is a bartender at a local popular hangout place. One night, a couple–a young mischievous, spirited guy and a rich, handsome and well-groomed man walk in. Kousaka noticed that they seemed a bit odd being together-but little did he know, they weren’t there for happy hour drinks! They were there to approach Kousaka and to be a part of their 3-way relationship. When he finally realizes that he is wanted by the two-Kousaka finds himself embroiled in a messy love triangle! Now what will he do?”
Some boys’ love manga can only be enjoyed by stretching your disbelief. For example, in How to Control a Sidecar, one of the characters goes through a horrible trauma, only to brush it off. In real life no one would react the way this guy reacts, but, this isn’t the real world. It’s still a little disconcerting to see a manga casually wave off something like rape, especially since otherwise How to Control a Sidecar is a fun manga.
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Manga-ka: Hiro Madarame
Publisher: BLU
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: May 2010
Synopsis: “Tohru Akiyoshi is comfortable in life with his top grades and student council responsibilities. Only problem is he’s got a complex about his effeminate looks. And to make matters worse, the prettiest boy in school, Fuuta Naruse, not only comes onto him… he downright jumps him! Behind that mask of innocent beauty, Fuuta’s got a savage streak, and he’ll stop at nothing to make Akiyoshi his!”
For those who have read their share of boys’ love stories, there are a number of things you’ve come to assume they’ll provide: schoolboys, guys prettier than nature generally allows and forceful love justified by genre – to name a few. Cute Devil does what it can to fulfil a number of these expectations – whether or not it succeeds much past that is debatable.
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Author: Hikaru Masaki
Manga-ka: Masara Minase
Publisher: June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: March 2009
Synopsis: “Minami has gotten a hot start as a young interior designer. In fact, he’s just been chosen as the primary designer of a new luxury hotel. When Minami enthusiastically goes out to meet his client, Asakura, the hotel owner turns out to be a dazzling, sexy man. On top of that, the overwhelmed Minami finds his contract is actually for a love hotel! Seeing as how Minami lacks experience in this particular area, Asakura promises to show him the ropes. But is it really necessary to try out ALL the beds…?!”
To start off with, I have to share a bit of a personal preference. I’m not a huge fan of forced ‘seduction’. I know, it’s an often-used device in uaoi, and a legitimate plot within the genre – it’s just not one of my favourites. So, that said, now let’s now put my personal preference aside and talk about the book… it’s good.
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