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Posts Tagged DMP

PR: HINAKO TAKANAGA Appearing At Yaoi-Con 2010!

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, May 19, 2010

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

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Conventions, DMP, Hinako Takanaga

Review: Vampire Hunter D (Vol. 04)

By Andre Paploo on Friday, April 16, 2010

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Reviewer: Andre

Author: Hideyuki Kikuchi
Manga-ka: Saiko Takaki
Publisher: Digital Manga
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: December 2009

Synopsis: “The City, a tiny metropolis of a few hundred sheltered citizens floating serenely on a seemingly random course a few feet above the ground, has long been thought safe from the predation of marauding monsters. It seems like a paradise – a paradise shattered when an invasion of an apparent vampire threatens the small haven! While the Vampire Hunter known only as “D” struggles to exterminate the scourge, a former denizen of the city, the attractive Lori Knight, and the brash John M. Brasselli Pluto VIII seize control of the city, lurching it onto a new and deadly course. D’s travails are just the beginning…”

In this fourth volume of Hideyuki Kikuchi’s Vampire Hunter D, D finds himself under the employ of the mayor of a floating city, with a mystery to solve amidst the usual doomed atmosphere of his post-apocalyptic realm. Taking an approach similar to OEL projects, this is a work Digital Manga commissioned themselves, and it presents a complete adaptation of the fourth Vampire Hunter D novel without the usual chapter breaks and cliff hangers of serialized manga. Allowing for a natural yet efficient pace, the story reveals it secrets while also creating questions like a good mystery should. Takaki continues to provide a stunning interpretation of Kikuchi’s work that comes close to the ethereal nature of Yoshitaka Amano’s illustrations, while also providing her own touches to the comic.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: DMP, Manga

PR: Vampire Hunter D On Playstation’s Digital Comics

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, April 15, 2010

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IDW AND DIGITAL MANGA LAUNCH VAMPIRE HUNTER D
ON PLAYSTATION’S DIGITAL COMICS

Partnership brings first manga title to PSP™(PlayStation®Portable)

San Diego, CA (April 15, 2010) – IDW Publishing and Digital Manga Publishing forge ahead in the world of digital comics today by bringing the first manga title to Sony’s hot new PSP Digital Comics offering: Vampire Hunter D, as part of continued growth to become one of the best selling manga titles globally. Vampire Hunter D first gained notoriety when it landed ashore as an anime property in the late 1980’s. Its popularity has continued to grow with subsequent feature anime films, English adapted novel series and jumping boundaries over to manga form. With over 17 million copies sold in books, video, and merchandise worldwide, the Vampire Hunter D property now debuts in this new digital medium.

“We’re very excited to release the very first digital manga on the PSP and to kick off our partnership with Digital Manga,” said Jeff Webber, Director of ePublishing at IDW. “Vampire Hunter D is an excellent story to launch the PSP manga catalogue, offering this popular series for manga fans worldwide through this new platform. We’ll be rolling out the first volume of the series as a new chapter each week for the next six weeks.”

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: DMP

Review: Keeping Luke’s Secret

By Shannon Fay on Saturday, April 3, 2010

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Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Author: Carole Mortimer
Manga-ka: Hinoto Mori
Publisher: Harlequin K.K./SOFTBANK Creative Corp.
Rating: Older Teen (16+)

Synopsis: “Out of the blue, Leonie is asked by Rachel, a renowned actress, to write her biography. Although she has published a biography once before, she has no idea why Rachel chose her as the author. Her doubts about the job deepen with Rachel’s son, Luke, who for some reason relentlessly intimidates her. As Rachel was unmarried when giving birth to Luke, it was one of the biggest scandals at the time. While being aware of his hostile attitude, Leonie is drawn to his cold green eyes, and she decides to accept the job…”

I’ve read a few Harlequin romance manga before and wasn’t that impressed, so I admit I went into Keeping Luke’s Secret with a bit of a bias against it. To the manga’s credit, it managed to hook me from page one and keep me reading until the end. While there are several gaping holes in the plot, I was more concerned with what would happen next when I was reading rather than the inconsistency in each reveal.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: DMP, Manga

PR: PJT Announces Yaoi-Centric “Fujoshi Paradise” Tour

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, April 2, 2010

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Pop Japan Travel announces the Yaoi-centric “Fujoshi Paradise” Tour!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Gardena, CA (April 2, 2010) – Pop Japan Travel, the premier provider of pop culture-themed tours of Japan, is pleased to announce their latest tour for yaoi fans: the 2010 Fujoshi Paradise Tour.

Designed with the sizeable international fan base for yaoi in mind, the Fujoshi Paradise Tour isn’t just another tour of Tokyo. The tour is a full week of activities and experiences just for the yaoi fan, such as an exclusive meal at a butler cafe, and is hosted by tour guides from the yaoi publishing industry and yaoi fandom alike. Pop Japan Travel has also announced that famed manga creator Makoto Tateno, the creator of yaoi series like Hero Heel, Yellow and Blue Sheep Reverie will also be meeting with tour participants for a private Q&A session and a night out on the town.

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, DMP, Makoto Tateno

Review: Taimashin – The Red Spider Exorcist (Vol. 01)

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, March 16, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Author: Hideyuki Kikuchi
Manga-ka: Yong-Gwan
Publisher: Digital Manga
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: December 2009

Synopsis: “Traveling in-between the world of the living and the twilight world of the dead, Akamushi,the shaman is known as the Red Spider Exorcist. With the powers of a giant spider, he combats the demons of the netherworld. When career woman Megumi is suddenly pursued and attacked by unholy demons, she seeks Akamushi’s help. But as it seems, the minions of the underworld may also be too much for Akamushi to handle. But why are these creatures of twilight after her? What truths will unravel about her true self and everyone around her? And what of Akamushi—can he use his unique shamanic spider-like powers to cast out and purify himself from the demon scourge?”

An evening stroll soon takes a potentially disastrous turn for a young woman named Megumi who finds herself trailed by a group of suspicious men. Running into an alley, she’s steered towards the aid of a mysterious man named Akamushi, one whose prowess could prove more deadly than the very forces she seeks to escape from.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: DMP, Manga

Finders-Keepers for Digital Manga

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, March 12, 2010

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On the one night in who-knows-how-long that I decide to go to bed a few hours early, Digital Manga goes and finally drops the F-word! You know the one, boys’ love fans. But I can’t complain about having good news to wake up to. Fans rejoice – Ayano Yamane’s popular Finders series is no longer in English-license limbo!

Digital Manga has announced that they will be releasing the Finders Series under their June boys’ love imprint. It looks like it’ll be printed at their 801Media cut-size. Digital Manga has set up a website specific for the release at FinderSeries.com. Along with the press release, the site has short character bios and the series’ synopsis.

“While our on assignment trying to document the illegal activities of the Japanese underworld, the photographer Takaba crosses paths with the dark and mysterious leader Asami. Asami takes Takaba captive, in an attempt to subjugate and possess him. But when the son of the Chinese mafia enters demanding evidence that Takaba may have, will Takaba be able to survive being caught in the crosshairs of a deadly underworld feud?”

The first volume of June’s edition of Finders will be in summer 2010 – which isn’t that far off from right now. It’s almost as if they were conveniently timing it for some event with overlapping interest…

Though the excitement over this news is already apparent, it’s been long-anticipated along with the concern from fans that by being published under the June imprint could mean that the Finder Series will face minor edits and censoring of the original work. Many assumed that because of the graphic nature of Finder Series it would be published under their 801Media imprint to avoid this (myself included admittedly), as they have with other of Ayano Yamane’s series. While Digital Manga has censored some of its June imprint work in the past, these edits were very minimal and this does not mean that the Finder Series will have changes.

Those interested in the news can check out Digital Manga’s complete press release which also includes word directly from Libre Shuppan, Japanese license-holders of the series.

As a short history lesson, the Finder Series was previously licensed by the now-defunct BeBeautiful which released three volumes of the 5-book series, all of which have spent years selling for inordinate amounts of money after they went out of print. Those who couldn’t afford $200 a book need weep no longer.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, DMP, June, Manga

PR: Digital Manga Licenses Finder Series For June Imprint

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, March 12, 2010

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Gardena, CA, March 11, 2010—Digital Manga Publishing and Libre Shuppan are proud to announce the licensing of the Finder Series by Ayano Yamane! The Finder series has been one of the most heavily requested series from our readers, and has been considered by fans of the yaoi genre to be the quintessential yaoi title. From one of Japan’s top-selling yaoi mangaka, Ayano Yamane, DMP is proud to release the Finder series beginning with volume one in the summer of 2010 under the June’ imprint. For more information, news updates, and to keep on top of all things Finder, visit the Finder website at !

From our friends at Libre Shuppan:

We are pleased to announce that Kazuma Kodaka’s KIZUNA-絆- and Ayano Yamane’s Finder Series, both of which were previously licensed by Central Park Media, are now acquired by Digital Manga Publishing (DMP). For these series, all volumes will be newly translated and will be published under DMP’s June imprint. Finder Series is set to be released in Summer of 2010 and Kizuna is scheduled for September of 2010.
For further inquiries regarding this matter, feel free to contact us at rights@libre-pub.co.jp or Digital Manga Inc, at contact@emanga.com We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading our books and for your continued support.
FINDER VOL. 1: TARGET IN THE VIEWFINDER, Rated M+ (for ages 18+), MSRP: $13.95, Available: SUMMER 2010, SIZE: B6, June’ Imprint

While out on assignment trying to document the illegal activities of the Japanese underworld, photographer Takaba crosses paths with the dark and mysterious leader Asami. Asami takes Takaba captive, in an attempt to subjugate and possess him. But when the son of the Chinese mafia enters demanding evidence that Takaba may have, will Takaba be able to survive being caught in the crosshairs of a deadly underworld feud?

Read more…

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: DMP, June

Review: Prisoner of the Tower

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, February 26, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Author: Gayle Wilson
Author/Artist: Karin Miyamoto
Publisher: Harlequin K.K./SOFTBANK Creative Corp.
Rating: Older Teen (16+)

Synopsis: “It’s the social season, and 17 year old Emma heads to London, with her family’s hope of finding a rich husband weighing heavily on her shoulders. One night, a mysterious man approaches her. A refined handsome face, curly black hair and deep blue eyes… Emma falls in love at first sight and shares with him her first kiss. 12 years later and now a widow, Emma visits the Earl of Greyston to discuss the marriage of her stepdaughter. It is the Earl’s younger brother who is betrothed to her stepdaughter, but the Earl never shows himself. While staying there, Emma spots the man she kissed all those years ago in a portrait on the wall…!”

On route to London to find a rich husband and rescue her family from poverty, Emma is a young woman who dreams of one day falling in love. During a snowstorm that momentarily strands her, she meets a man and the two share a kiss they’ll remember for years to come. Flash-forward those twelve years-to-come and young Emma is now a middle-age widower. While she doesn’t regret the content life she has led, she does mourn the romantic love that never was and her thoughts soon trail to the man with whom she shared only a few moments.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: DMP, Manga

PR: Pop Japan Travel announces “All Dolled Up” Tour and Contest

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, February 10, 2010

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Pop Japan Travel announces “All Dolled Up” Tour and Contest

Gardena, CA (February 5, 2010) – Pop Japan Travel, the original tour company for pop culture-themed tours to Japan, is pleased to announce their latest tour: All Dolled Up. This will be the third year in a row that Pop Japan Travel has organized a tour for fans of Gothic-Lolita fashion, and this year’s trip promises to be the best yet. In addition to announcing the tour, PJT has launched a contest for the tour as well, inviting fans to submit their most fashionable look for a chance to win some amazing prizes!

First created in 2008 as the “Tokyo Darkside Tour,” Pop Japan Travel has escorted groups of goth-loli fans to Japan each year to visit the stores, designers, and events that have helped propel the goth-loli style into the public eye. People attending the tour get to visit the Alamode Market, a fan event where big name clothiers and hobbyists alike sell their products to attendees. Taking the experience a step further, tour participants will have the chance to meet the designers behind the “Angelic Pretty” clothing line and Aya, one of the most prolific designers in the field. Of course, all of this comes with the chance to explore Japan and experience all that Tokyo has to offer as well.

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: DMP