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Posts Tagged Boys’ Love/Yaoi

Review: On Bended Knee

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo


Manga-ka: Ruri Fujikawa
Publisher: 801Media
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: June 2009

Synopsis: “Hibiki serves as the personal bodyguard of Wu Xiong Wang – an outgoing entrepreneur, whose influential Hong Kong family has conducted business in Japan for many years. Having grown up together as children, the two have a bond that goes beyond the trappings of master and servant. Hibiki has dedicated his life to keeping Wu Xiong safe, and remains vigilant against any threat a man in his position might face. When it appears Wu Xiong is to be named the new head of his family’s corporation, the danger becomes even more evident as rivals conspire against him. Will the rise in alert cause Hibiki to see the truth behind his employer’s playful advances? Or does the responsibility he feels for Wu Xiong’s safety outweigh his own personal happiness?”

A collection of multiple stories, Ruri Fujikawa puts together an assortment of stereotypical short chapters that follow a number of different couples. Inevitably the stories are built solely around getting the two couples to sleep together and the sex scenes prove the literal climax of each portion. Sadly it feels evident that the artist hopes these scenes, and the shallow self-indulgent romances before them, will serve as compensation for the lacking substance of both plot and character.

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Yaoi Press Caption Contest Winners Posted

Yaoi Press has posted the results of its previously announced Caption Contest. You can currently head on over to their contest page to see the winner, along with the runners-up and honorable mentions. Congrats to the winners! For the shiny posters, I would’ve loved to enter but conflicting interest or something like that no doubt.

Speaking of which, the panels used in the contest are from Yaoi Press’s newest anthology, Happy Yaoi Yum Yum which just had a release of volume one. I was allowed the opportunity to letter a couple of the stories (which was fantastically fun, let me tell you) so the book already has a special place awaiting it on my bookshelf along with being a collection of work from some talented creators. If you like your yaoi porny and your story’s funny, I recommend checking it out.


New Titles in June’s Web-A-Thon Future

Digital Manga

In follow-up to their press release outling Digital Manga’s newest endeavour, a preorder set-up that allows early releases for books recieving high orders, their web blog now lists a variety of future yaoi titles that will have the same opportunity for eager fans.

The titles include volume two of Yugi Yamada’s Close The Last Door! and volume three of Yukari Hashida’s Kabuki. You can see the complete list of titles on their website.


Review: Living For Tomorrow

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo


Manga-ka: Taishi Zaou
Publisher: Doki Doki
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: May 2009

Synopsis: “High school student Tasuku Mizuochi has a secret he knows and a secret he doesn’t. Even though he punches, kicks, and otherwise abuses fellow karate team member, Ryouta, on a daily basis, Tasuku has hidden feelings for his childhood friend. Confused and embarrassed by his secret crush, Tasuku takes his frustrations out on Ryouta to keep him from ever knowing the truth. When Tasuku learns that his late mother may have been an “ageman” (ah-gay-man) – a woman who brings men good fortune – he starts to believe he’s inherited these powers, too. Can having the ability to influence luck give Tasuku and Ryouta a future together? Or will all the people crawling out of the woodwork wanting to use Tasuku’s power cause him to run screaming for the hills?!”

Right off the bat you know this isn’t going to be your average boys’ love story as Tasuku spends the first chapter criticizing and literally assaulting his friend, Ryouta, out of frustration. The interaction and banter between the two is very cute, albeit a little violent, and it becomes all the fluffier as you read further into the story and see how the high-strung Tasuku uses those opportunities to vent his uneasiness at the growing affection he feels for Ryouta, his own variation of the ‘tease-because-you-like’ reaction.

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Review: Ludwig II (Vol. 01)

Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo


Manga-ka: You Higuri
Publisher: June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: June 2009

Synopsis: “Ludwig II, the King of Bavaria, has unthinkable wealth and legions of retainers at his disposal… but he’s the victim of a madness that is capable of turning reality into a mere shadow! Has passionate fantasies and hunger for life’s most unreachable beauties seize control of his every waking thought and transport him away from the dire day-to-day problems of conflict-riddled Europe and into a hypnotic dreamscape of his own design. But when the shy and handsome footman Hornig suddenly appears, the King finds himself irresistibly drawn to the sweet boy’s innocence and pure heart. Will Ludwig’s spell of isolation finally be broken… by love?”

A loose retelling of the days of true-life historical figure, Ludwig II, the book opens with a brief, event-to-event summary of Ludwig’s life up until his death, foreshadowing the apparent end result of the story as a whole. Ludwig II himself is set up by this opening chapter as an introverted dreamer with his own unique take on the world, a seductively torn character who is introduced to readers in more detail as the story progresses.

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Review: His Arrogance

Reviewer: Shannon Fay


Manga-ka: Takashi Kanzaki
Publisher: 801Media
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: December 2008

Synopsis: “Ryou is helping out at his father’s modeling agency. But, his classmate and rising rookie model at the agency, Kazuto, is openly antagonistic to Ryou’s older brother, a very charismatic model. Kazuto finally corners Ryou and demands that he looks at him only! After a passionate kiss, he promises that crossing him will incur punishment! Kazuto may be an arrogant boy who does nothing but give orders, but Ryou is undone by his forceful and dominating approach!”

His Arrogance is the story of Ryou, a cute teenage boy who helps handle the affairs of his father’s modeling agency. Naturally, this brings him into contact with a lot of handsome young men, including the ambitious new model Kazuto. Kazuto goes after everything he wants with a disarming arrogance, whether it’s a modeling job or Ryou’s affections. But before Kazuto can have Ryou all to himself he has to deal with Ryou’s hero-worship of his older brother, top model Tomohito.

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Review: The Way To Heaven

Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Manga-ka: Yamimaru Enjin
Publisher: DMP/June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: February 2009

Synopsis: “Cruel fate claims the lives of former boxer Moriya and former yakuza Watase off the edge of a busy freeway overpass. But the end for these two is just the beginning. Rescued from “ground zero” by a mysterious alien woman with magical powers, Moriya and Watase find themselves trapped in a world almost like the one they left – yet completely different! Appeasing the whims of their alien overseer seems to be the only hope Moriya and Watase ever have of returning to their former lives. Will the time traveling events Moriya and Watase find themselves in bring them closer together… or will they alter the past so much, it dooms any hope for a relationship?!”

This one-shot yaoi manga throws a sci-fi monkey wrench into the usual boy-meets-boy story. Watase and Moriya are saved from certain death by a female alien who needs their help. The alien wants the two men to go back to Earth and collect human energy. For Watase, that means basically becoming a vampire and sucking the blood of virgins. Moriya on the other hand, must collect seman by sucking off men.

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Tokyopop Title Tips, New News About Old News

Portrait of M and NA couple new Amazon finds today (feels like it’s been a while, doesn’t it?) and a few updates on some old news. Hold onto your seats, this could prove mildly of interest to you!

First off, Tokyopop has two new series listed over on Amazon.ca, both listed for February 2010:

Portrait of M and N (Vol. 01) – Tachibana Higuchi
Alice in the Country of Hearts – Unknown

Likely related to recent Domo-promotion news, Tokyopop also has a listing for Domo 7/11 Exclusive. No real idea what that is, but it’s atleast being sold to us considerably cheaper than whatever the heck these are: Pop Display — 2009 Volume 3: Chibi Vampire and Pop Display — 2009 Volume 4: Domo 7-11 Box. $431.68 Canadian? Alrighty then.

In updates on older news, Amazon now lists Yen Press’s upcoming omnibus re-release of Azumanga Daioh. The book is dated for December 2009 and with a 672 page-count. You can see the listing on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.

For those who can’t wait to get a hold of Viz’s VizBig omnibus  release of Inu-Yasha (sporting unflipped pages), Amazon also has that listed now as well. A 576 page-count with the first volume due out November 2009 can be seen at both Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.

For the Battle Royale fans out there, Viz looks to be re-releasing the novel. Viz originally released a copy of Koushun Takami’s brutal survival drama novel in early 2003. This new listing has the same description and page-count as the 2003 release so it’s likely a reprint over a formal rerelease if the information on Amazon is indeed correct.

Yellow by Makoto TatenoAnd finally, I checked back on a weird listing for something called Yellow 2:  Episode 1 that originally popped up on Amazon.ca earlier this month. The listing has been tweaked slightly, including to my memory, the additional information that the book is only 60 pages long. That’s pretty tiny for a graphic novel, and even more curious is that to my knowledge Makoto Tateno (still) hasn’t done a sequel to her popular boys’ love series, Yellow. Until now…? 

While this is purely speculation on my end (for a listing that may or may not even be accurate), it reminds me a lot of Dark Horse’s upcoming release of CLAMP’s mangettes, with the smaller page counts released over numerous ‘episodes’. I can’t help but ponder the possibilities: could Digital Manga could be hopping on the simulataneous release bandwagon and could we see some exciting news in the future regarding more potential titles like this from them? Time will tell!


Yaoi Press Caption Contest, Win A Book and Shiny Posters

Yaoi Press Caption Contest

From now until the deadline of June 22nd, Yaoi Press is holding a Captain Contest in connection with their weekly gag panels, Yaoi Not Actually. Entrants of the contest must take the images provided for the contest and give them some amusing dialouge that will likely be entertaingly out of context.

The prize for the funniest phrases? A copy of Yaoi Press’s upcoming first volume of Happy Yaoi Yum Yum and sixteen gorgeous 11×17 posters of various Yaoi Press artists’ work. You can check out the contest page for all the details. And don’t forget, if you win the contest and are wondering what to do with all those pretty posters, remember who told you about the contest, alright? ;)


Review: Manhattan Love Story


Manga-ka: Momoko Tenzen
Publisher: June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: March 2009

Synopsis: “In the heart of New York City, florist Dan “Diamond” Loving makes his living selling colorful bouquets to customers looking for a little romance in their lives. Actually, Dan has a romance of his own – a secretive affair with handsome, powerful CEO, Rock Melville. Rock owns a good part of the city, including Dan’s own flower shop, and the business responsibilities which go with that make him a hard man to get to. For some, money and power can be a powerful aphrodisiac, but for Dan, dealing with a workaholic boyfriend has its difficulties. True, the time he does spend with Rock always warms Dan’s heart, but what good is a lover he can only see once in a while?”

Starting with the love story of a humble flower storeowner named Diamond, and his successful businessman lover, Rock, Manhattan Love Story is a collection of interconnected short stories taking place within unexplored New York City.

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