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Posts Tagged Bond of Dreams Bond of Love

Swag Bag: Marching Into Spring With All The Right Stuf

Swag Bag: Marching Into Spring With All The Right Stuf

It’s this week’s second Swag Bag! While I was busy hitting up my local comic store for goodies, RightStuf was preparing a box full of animated wonders to send my way as well. My Visa may’ve wept this week, but not as much as it has in the past thanks to RightStuf’s new shipping policies for Canadians.

Though I haven’t seen any of it, I started with parts one and two of Funimation‘s DVD sets of Toriko. I bought it based on my adoration of the manga. I’ve already made my way through both sets, which are a bit short at only thirteen episodes each. The show itself doesn’t offer anything more than the manga, but I really like the dub which is something I can usually count on Funimation to do really well. It had many funny, memorable quotes so I’m sure I’ll be watching it again just for the fun script.

My biggest purchase was the entirety of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood on Blu-ray. I haven’t seen any of this either but the manga is phenomenal and I recently finished watching the original anime on Netflix. I’m very excited to see my favorite characters who were not in the first anime. Lin! And I’ve heard that the production values are great. This purchase includes the whole series, plus the OVA collection.

And also on Blu-ray in my collection pile was the box set of Black Butler II. It actually includes both the DVDs and Blu-rays, which is a great touch. I really liked the first season of Black Butler but it ended at a point that definitely didn’t feel like it needed a sequel. Can’t say no to the fans I suppose right? From what I’ve seen of Funimation’s previews clips, the new little butler-owning prepubescent has some seriously scary issues.

Fate/Zero Keychain: Rider SDRounding out the shopping trip were some Black Jack DVDs to finish off my collection (yay discount bins), and also an adorable Sailor Moon keychain and Tuxedo Mask plushie. I also couldn’t help but buy a couple Fate/Zero key chains of Rider and Waver. I’ll buy anything with those two on it! Maybe someday I’ll do a write-up of the phenomenal statue of Rider I received a couple weeks back…

And last, as I naturally cannot make any online order that doesn’t include at least some manga, I caught up on a few recent boys’ love titles – Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love (Vol. 03) and Awkward Silence (Vol. 03). I really love SuBLime‘s releases, from the clean and consistent cover design they use across all their titles, to the solid translation and lettering work inside courtesy of decades of experience from their parent company, Viz Media. I was a little disappointed that His Favourite (Vol.03) was spaced far enough apart from the other two third volumes that I wasn’t able to include it in this shipment. Ah well, next time!

That does it for this week’s Swag Bag. As always, feel more than free to share what purchases you’ve made recently and if you’d recommend them!


Swag Bag: Searching for Shinigami, Knife-Makers and Reasons to Smile

Swag Bag: February 10, 2013

It’s a Viz Media week for me today as I get caught up on several on-going series from their Shonen Jump, Shoujo Beat and SuBLime imprints. So many great goodies to be had! I’ve also been keeping up on their weekly digital editions of Shonen Jump, but that’d be a whole post in itself someday – and maybe it might be, if people are interested?

Toriko (Vol. 14)For now though, it’s the collected editions and I start with Bleach (Vol. 55). It’s the start of a new story arc now, which is a big relief after the previous few books which I found pretty dull and silly after the huge Aizen fight. It was fun to read scenes in this volume where everyone is chummy. Defeating Hollows and defending their town is now something the leads do between class and lunch at Ichigo’s house. However, things turn bad quick when…! Some people show up I won’t spoil, but I will say this… could you really not go for this particular mission, Uryuu? Really?!

My second dose of Shonen Jump collected was Toriko (Vol. 14). I have so much love for this series! I hope it’s selling okay, I’d hate to think of it stopping in English because of it’s… strangeness. In this volume Toriko goes off to find a missing knife-maker while Komatsu is left behind to tend to the self-confidence of the knife-maker’s disciple. While there’s some of the usual scary monsters, weird food and humanly impossible survivals, most of the volume is actually pretty light-hearted fun as Komatsu makes a new friend, and Toriko continues to treasure the friendship he has with his new partner. Ah, shonen bromance…

Then for some shoujo, I picked up Kamisama Kiss (Vol. 12). This volume looks more about the swamp yokai and her human boyfriend then Nanami and her cranky fox-demon but I see plenty of adorable and funny moments to come. Plus, Julietta Suzuki’s artwork is really gorgeous. It gets better with every book – some of the full body character spreads in this volume are fantastic!

Far less cheery a series is A Devil and Her Love Song. I bought and read volume seven the other day, and what a downer! It’s a beautifully drawn story with some really heart-wrenching emotional scenes about friendship and love, but this volume had little in the way of progress towards happy times. In fact, not only are things more strained than ever between this group, hearts of the most loyal are broken, and now we’re seeing more glimpses of Maria’s traumatic, repressed past. I need a tissue.

A Devil and her Love Song (Vol. 07)

Then it was time for some boys’ love as I work to get caught up on the three SuBLime series I’m following before their third volumes come out later this month. From one of my favourite artists, Hinako Takanaga, is Awkward Silence (Vol. 02). It’s a really cute story about a young man who can’t express his emotions outwardly, and has little inner dialouge and doodles to show what he’s really thinking inside. That’s about all there is to it, alongside his caring, baseball playing, boyfriend. More adorable hijinks shall occur, I’m sure.

Quite the opposite communication-wise is Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love (Vol. 02) where the lead character is a little pretty boy who is very open and direct about what he wants, and that happens to be an older friend who works at a neighbouring shrine and who cared for him growing up. Drama! And the fine line of underage dating – beware!

While in that series’ it’s the smaller who tries to control the situation, in His Favourite (Vol. 02), I’m confident that the smaller guy is going to continue being freaked out and unsure about the frequent advances of his popular and good-looking friend, whose insistence on loving him brings the ire of his school’s female fans. I really love Suzuki Tanaka’s art style, especially when she draws really cleanly and more ‘cartoonish’. His Favourite is a little more BL generic looking for her titles, but there’s a short story at the end of this second volume that I love the look of and really catches what I try to describe so flimsily as cartoonish.


PR: SuBLime Announces Eleven New Manga Titles for Release in 2013

GLOBAL YAOI PUBLISHER SuBLime ANNOUNCES ELEVEN NEW MANGA TITLES FOR RELEASE IN 2013 INCLUDING YOUKA NITTA’S EMBRACING LOVE

Publisher Delights Fans At YaoiCon 2012 As It Details Multiple New BL Manga Titles Scheduled To Debut During The First-Half Of Next Year

San Francisco, CA, October 24, 2012 – SuBLime, the global yaoi manga (graphic novel) publisher, thrilled fans during its packed panel discussion at the recent YaoiCon 2012 with the announcement of eleven new manga (graphic novel) titles the imprint plans to release throughout 2013.

The forthcoming new titles are rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers. Select releases will be offered as either print-only editions with an MSRP of $12.99 U.S. / $14.99 CAN, or as digital-only releases with an MSRP of $5.99 (U.S. / CAN). Other titles will be made available in both formats.

For digital releases, the $5.99 purchase price will offer readers digital access to two versions of each manga volume on www.SuBLimeManga.com – a downloadable PDF that is viewable on any enabled eReader device and computer or via the embedded online manga viewer found on the web site.

New Print and Print+Digital Titles:

EMBRACING LOVE Vol. 1 2-In-1 Edition, by Youka Nitta 
Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers  Available In Print And Digital April 2013

SLEEPING MOON Vol. 1, by Miyamoto Kano  Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers  Available In Print Only June 2013

BLUE MORNING Vol. 1, by Shouko Hidaka  Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers  Available In Print Only May 2013

FALSE MEMORIES Vol. 1, by Isaku Natsume  Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers  Available In Print And Digital July 2013
From the creator of DEVIL’S HONEY, also published by SuBLime

Hide And seek, by Yaya Sakuragi  Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers  Available In Print Only July 2013
Sequel to BOND OF DREAMS, BOND OF LOVE, also available from SuBLime

SPIRITUAL POLICE Vol. 1, by Youka Nitta  Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers  Available In Print And Digital October 2013

New Digital-Only Titles:

THE RAVISHING OF THE CROWN PRINCE, by Wang Yi & Feng Nong 
Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers  Available January 2013
Taiwanese creator and artist

SWORD AND MIST, by Hayate Kuku  Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers  Available February 2013

THE MATCH SELLER, by Sakae Kusama  Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers  Available March 2013
From the creator of THE BED OF MY DEAR KING, also published by SuBLime

EGOISTIC BLUE, by Mio Tennohji  Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers 
Available April 2013

BOYS, BE AMBITIOUS!, by Saburo Nagai  Rated ‘T+’ for Mature Readers  Available May 2013

Read more…


PR: SuBLime Continues The Summer Yaoi Sizzle With New Manga Releases

GLOBAL YAOI MANGA PUBLISHER SuBLime CONTINUES THE SUMMER SIZZLE WITH THE DEBUT OF BOND OF DREAMS, BOND OF LOVE AND STARTING WITH A KISS

Bold English-Language Yaoi Publisher Will Delight Fans With Both Debuts Available Now In Print And STARTING WITH A KISS Also Available Digitally From SuBLimeManga.com

San Francisco, CA, August 14, 2012 – SuBLime, the global yaoi manga (graphic novel) publisher, delivers more hot summer romance with the debut of Yaya Sakuragi’s BOND OF DREAMS, BOND OF LOVE, and Youka Nitta’s STARTING WITH A KISS. Both new series launch today, are rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers, and carry a print-version MSRP of $12.99 U.S. / $14.99 CAN.

STARTING WITH A KISS is also available as a digital edition worldwide from www.SuBLimeManga.com for $5.99 (USD), and is downloadable as a PDF for viewing on any enabled eReader device or computer, as well as accessible via the online manga viewer found on the SuBLime web site.

BOND OF DREAMS, BOND OF LOVE Vol. 1, by Yaya Sakuragi 
Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers  MSRP: $12.99 U.S. / $14.99 CAN
High school student Ao has been dreaming about his longtime neighbor Ryomei, a priest at the local Shinto shrine. A little freaked out—and a lot excited—at the prospect of having a relationship with Ryomei, Ao gathers up his courage, confesses his feelings…and gets turned down flat. Luckily, Ao’s not the kind to give up easily. Thanks to some creative persistence (and Ryomei’s weakening resolve), he finally gets a kiss. But one single kiss won’t satisfy him for long!

Yaya Sakuragi’s previous English-language releases include Tea For Two, Hey, Sensei? and Stay Close to Me. She is also a prolific novel illustrator.

STARTING WITH A KISS Vol. 1, by Youka Nitta  Rated ‘M’ for Mature Readers  MSRP: $12.99 U.S. / $14.99 CAN  $5.99 Digital From SuBLimeManga.com
Tohru, the son of a yakuza boss, is sent into exile on a deserted island for his own protection during a gang feud. Fiery and impetuous, he isn’t thrilled to be sidelined when he’d rather be in the fight, and is even less thrilled that Mutsumi, son of the gang’s second in command, is going with him. The serious, studious Mutsumi is Tohru’s opposite in every way, and it doesn’t take long before the sparks between them begin to fly!

Youka Nitta made her publishing debut with GROUPIE in 1995, and since then has become one of the most prolific and popular yaoi creators worldwide. Her most well-known series, Embracing Love, has been adapted into both a drama CD as well as an anime series. More information about Youka Nitta is available on her English-language website at: http://nittayouka.com.

“Hot yaoi romances continue to sizzle this month for fans worldwide with the print release of BOND OF DREAMS, BOND OF LOVE and the print and digital release of Starting with a kiss,” says Jennifer LeBlanc, Editor, SuBLime. “Yaya Sakuragi shows how a not-so-innocent kiss, mixed with plenty of determination, can lead to so much more, while Youka Nitta demonstrates her prowess as one of the genre’s greatest creators with a sultry tropical gangster love story. We also invite readers to visit SuBLimeManga.com and heat up the rest of their summer season with a variety of other sexy yaoi titles available now!”

Read more…


SuBLime Licenses Yaya Sakuragi’s Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love

SuBLime

2012 is really shaping up to be the year of adult manga so far, isn’t it? It feels like the bulk of licensing news since the new year began has been mature titles from SuBLime and Digital Manga Publishing, be it hentai, boys’ love or Tezuka’s darker-themed, Barbara. It’s become a notable trend so far but I’ve no complaints. It’s been fantastic seeing this time of year full of manga licenses when typically I associate them as coming in bulk in the summer.

That being said, SuBLime continues to roll along with their new  licenses, announcing today they’ll be releasing Yaya Sakuragi’s Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love:

“High school student Ao has had a wet dream about longtime neighbor and Shinto priest, Ryomei. He’s taken aback and excited by this dream, and starts to consider the joys of a relationship with another man. Ao approaches Ryomei in the hopes of making his dream a reality, but is flatly refused. Not one to give up easily, Ao persists until he finally gets his kiss. But will this horny high schooler really be satisfied with a simple kiss? Bonus story included!”

I’m looking forward to buying this one, having enjoyed some of Yaya Sakuragi’s work in the past when published by DMP and the now defunct BLU. Plus it has a priest in it which is always a soft spot of mine – robes are so pretty to look at!  Volume one is scheduled for release in August 2012 with following volumes being printed every three months. Currently SuBLime does not have rights for releasing Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love digitally.

SuBLime also announced they’ve licensed Makoto Tateno’s How’s Your Ex?. Unfortunately this one-shot title is a digital-only release. It’s scheduled for April 2012 and is one of the creator’s most recent projects, just published in Japan back in November 2011.


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