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Posts Tagged June

Digital Manga Announces New Licenses to Anime Expo Audiences

Digital Manga Announces Licenses to Anime Expo Audiences

While I was away at Animaritime, one of North American’s biggest anime conventions was taking place the same weekend – Anime Expo. I was a little surprise to see so little news come out of the convention but there were still some new manga licenses courtesy of Digital Manga. These titles, an assortment of boys’ love, hentai and josei/shojo were announced at Anime Expo and then soon after via their Twitter account.

Absolute Monarch Syndrome (Vol.01-02)- Shigeyuki Iwashita (Project-H)
Caramel – Puku Okuyama (June)
Juicy Cider – Rize Shinba (June)
Idolhouse (Vol.01) – Takayoshi Sano (Project-H)
Lies Are A Gentleman’s Manners – Matsuo Marta (June)
Takasugi-san’s Obento (Vol.01) – Nozomi Yanahara (Digital Manga)

DMP also announced they had licensed subsequent volumes of existing properties – Itazura na Kiss (Vol.11), Velvet Kiss (Vol.03) and Lovephobia (Vol.03).

Two of these titles are by repeat-DMP creators. Caramel is Puku Okuyama whose Warning! Whispers of Love was published by DMP last year. I thought Warning! was really cute and funny so I’ve got high hopes for Caramel also. You can read a detailed review of the book over at 腐女子です!♡

Juicy Cider is by Rize Shinba whose previous books include My Bad! and Intriguing Secrets. My thoughts on My Bad! were pretty bad so we’ll see if Juicy Cider can change my opinion of the manga artist.

While some new boys’ love and mature-rated titles from Digital Manga are expected (and appreciated), one stand-out title from this batch is Takasugi-san’s Obento. It’s a manga about a man who takes in a now orphaned young girl and the relationship that forms between them through the bento boxes she makes. You can read a bit more about the series at Just Bento. Foodie manga fans, rejoice!

There’s no information yet regarding when these books will be published or if each individual title will be digital or print-only. DMP has made a good habit lately of releasing this info (and sometimes even a story synopsis) on their website blog shortly after announcing licenses so keep an eye out there for more info as they make it available. (Edit: Digital Manga’s website has since updated with release dates for these titles) In short though, yay new titles!


Review: Your Story I’ve Known

Your Story I've Known

Manga-ka: Tsuta Suzuki
Publisher: June
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: June 2011

Synopsis: “Hart Matsumoto will never be able to erase the painful memories of his abusive mother and her rotating cast of lovers…but he also can’t help but be drawn to Shibuzawa, one of the kindest men to ever set foot in his tumultuous home. Is this strange yakuza actually the best thing in Hart’s crazy life? And how will Shibuzawa react once he discovers Hart’s true feelings?”

Short story collections of boys’ love are kind of like buffets, in that you get your pick of several different dishes. In Your Story I’ve Known, there’s a story between a yakuza and a naive young man, another featuring two high school students, another one about a teenage boy and the ghost of a long-dead samurai, and a romance between two co-workers. But, while you can count on buffets and BL anthologies for variety, sometimes the quality isn’t as good as you’d get in a normal restaurant or single story graphic novel. Sometimes you’ll love one dish and the others will leave you wanting. And, unlike a buffet, you can’t go back for more of the dish you like.

Read more…


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – June 27th, 2012

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - June 27th, 2012

This week has some very, very, very pretty manga coming out. Yen Press is the big winner this week in that regard for their complete series, omnibus release editions of Alice in the Country of Hearts and the gorgeous one-shot, Olympos.

Other notables of the week include the first volume of Kodansha ComicsAttack on Titan and the final volume of Digital Manga‘s Kizuna. You can see the full list of titles shipping out this week at my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA.


Swag Bag: Farewell Ouran, Hello Shonen and Bye-Bye Kizuna Boys

Swag Bag - June 13, 2012

Swag Bag time! Below are some of my thoughts of books I’ve purchased in the past two weeks (and love very, very much). As always these books were purchased at my local comic shop, Strange Adventures.

My favourite buy of recent weeks was the final volume of Ouran High School Host Club (Vol.18). I couldn’t even wait to get home to read it so I was quick to find a place to sit down and enjoy. It was a fantastic ending, probably one of the best I’ve ever actually read in manga series, especially a shoujo. I plan to go into it in more detail in an upcoming review, but in summary – yay! Though I’m really sad there’s no more to read.

Also from Viz Media this week were the first two volumes of their Bleach speed-up. Despite some pleadings from my wallet, I simply couldn’t leave volume 41 on the shelf when I was walking away with volume 40, so both it was! I enjoyed these together more than I have Bleach in a while and having two volumes at once I think played a big role in that. You can read more of my thoughts in my recent duo-review of the volumes.

Hopping back on a different shonen train, I purchased Toriko (Vol.09). It’s still one of my favourite on-going series right now which I never would have expected when I first came across it. It feels so reminiscent of Dragonball, including Komatsu who ups his adorable and toughing-it-out points in this new volume. On the flipside, I bought Dawn of the Arcana (Vol.04) which is a series I thought I would really like but it has yet to click with me. Volume four is it! If I don’t get into it after this, then I’m done with this iffy shoujo series.

With one series over and three others continuing, I sought something brand new by buying Puella Nagi Magica Madoka (Vol.01) from Yen Press. I haven’t seen the anime but heard the story was really good. The manga didn’t live up to my expectations, but I can see it being worth exploring further in some format at least. I wrote and posted a review on my Madoka thoughts last week.

Evyione (Vol.01)Catching my eye was an older title from UDON EntertainmentEvyione Ocean Fantasy (Vol.01). Even knowing their track record for continuing manhwa past a first volume is horrendous, I couldn’t help but buy it. It’s a retelling of the Little Mermaid story except the mermaid is a gorgeous mysterious merman and the prince is instead, you guessed it, a princess. I really like what I read here but I won’t hold my breath for getting volume two.

And then it was boys’ love time! Two new Digital Manga titles arrived in-store, which is always a surprise since you never know for sure when their books will ship. Both titles were by Kazuma Kadoka – Kizuna (Vol.06) and Bad Teacher’s Equation (Vol.04). I was a little disappointed to see that the Kizuna volume was only a single, where all the others released by DMP were omnibus. Nothing that can be done when that’s all that’s left though. I’ll miss the series now that it’s over – it’s a true BL classic. Bad Teacher’s Equation as a series is so silly – I have fun reading it so I’m glad there are still a few volumes left to go.

And in non-manga buying news, but something that still overlaps a lot with the fandom, I purchased the second Avatar the Last Airbender: The Promise graphic novel from Dark Horse. As a big fan of ATLA, I adore these graphic novels for reading so much like the original series (very amusing dialogue, for one) and for being drawn by the very talented, GuruHiru.


Digital Manga Grabs a Snack with Mr. Mini Mart, Announces Yaoi Con GOH

Digital Manga Goes Out For Snacks with Mr. Mini Mart

Convention season is officially underway and Digital Manga was at Fanime with some news to share. Just before that though they announced another new boys’ love license: Junko’s Mr. Mini Mart.

The book is scheduled to be released in print next year (Summer 2013) at a cost of $12.95. This license announcement even came with a plot synopsis, something I’ve bemoaned DMP before for lacking, so yay on actually knowing the plot of a book so I can properly anticipate it!

“NEET shut-in Endou just wants to get his life back on track, but employment at a convenience store brings the rude Yamai Kouhei into his life…soon Endou finds himself troubled by his past and trying to get along with Yamai.”

During their Fanime panels, Digital Manga shared current and upcoming plans for their digital-only release group, Digital Manga Guild, including news they’ll be releasing translated light novels and have licensed Erementar Gerade: Flag of Blue for a digital-only release (they’re currently releasing Erementar Gerade this way). They also let fans know that success of their previous two Kickstarter projects has prompted them to put another Osamu Tezuka title into the works to be funded the same way. No word yet on what the title is.

Now that Digital Manga are owners of Yaoi-Con, they’ve announced their guest of honour for the 2012 boys’ love event is Uki Ogasawara. DMP has currently released two volumes of her series, Black Sun (review), while DramaQueen previously released two other stories, Chronicle of the Divine Sword (correction: this title was licensed, but never released) and Virtuoso di Amore (review).

This is going to be my first year at Yaoi Con and I was really hoping for a bigger name guest, notably more akin to previous guests such as Fusanosuke Inariya, Ayano Yamane or Hinako Takanaga. I still feel the leftover tears from not being able to attend the years those artists were there. Uki Ogasawara is still a good guest, of course, as a published manga artist and a new comer to the event, but with this being Digital Manga’s first year as Yaoi Con management (and them facing scrutiny over how they’ll handle it), I was expecting a more fan-favourite creator to wow the crowds. Of course Yaoi Con 2010 had almost a dozen artistic guests so who knows what else could be announced between now and the convention this October.


Swag Bag: Girls and Guys, Guardians and Ghouls

Swag Bag

It is raining so hard outside! While this has left me soaked during my early morning treck home, it at least provides the perfect opportunity to curl up in a warm, dry set of blankets with a good book. My past two weekly trips to the comic store has alloted me plenty to choose from (but where to begin!?):

I stocked up on shoujo with the second volume of A Devil and Her Love Song (which I loved as much as the first) and volume one of The Earl & The Fairy (which really could’ve used more fairies). Both were from Viz Media.

From Kodansha Comics, Sailor Moon (Vol.05) was a big given. This particular volume is extra hefty with pages and a lot happens, finishing up the entire Dark Moon arc. It’s been so long since I’ve read the story so a lot of little elements of the plot are fresh surprises, which is awesome! I love these original versions of the characters so much, Sailor Moon and Chibi-Usa in particular. Everyone is super classy.

Speaking of another type of classy, I bought a few new seinen titles all of which are continutations of series I’m collecting – Saturn Apartments (Vol.05), Blood Alone (Vol.06) and Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Vol.12). The first two are really relaxing reads, very laid back and mellow, even when things get dramatic. In some series I’d find it boring, but in these two it’s their greatest charm. Kurosagi is still fun to read, what with all the corpses, murders and creepy endings. The wait between each book is rough! I do hope we see a return to the connecting stories earlier books had though. I miss those…

Last, but certainly not least, comes some new boys’ love! Digital Manga served up another action-packed and sex-filled time with the fourth and fifth volumes of Ayano Yamane’s Finder series. So much gun-touting melodrama as the hunter is now the hero – it’s the sort of kinda-trash you can’t help but love. It was all fluff, feelings and a little physical-fun, however, in the sixth volume of Hinako Takanaga’s Tyrant Who Falls In Love (Vol.06). I really like this series because of the characters but it’s tough watching their relationship dragged on so long. In this volume the cast of the prequel series, Challengers, show up too – bonus!

Those were my recent purchases – feel free to share some of their own! Anything you’d recommend? Loved? Despised? Share the contents of your own swag bag!


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – May 16, 2012

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - May 16, 2012

Life’s been a bit of a blur since I came back from TCAF, but aside from a horribly messy post-trip bedroom, things are finally smoothing back over. This means – new comics! Before I take my weekly trip down to my favourite comic store, I had to do my usual romp-through of the new books available to buy once I get there.

My most-eager-to-buy books of the week are Sailor Moon (Vol.05) and Tyrant Who Falls In Love (Vol.06). You can see the complete list over at my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA. Buy and enjoy manga lovers!


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – May 9, 2012

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - May 9, 2012

Manga time! …which as a statement is sort of redundant here on Kuriousity. New week means new manga and while I continue unpacking my goodies from TCAF, I took a break for my weekly round-up of what new books are on the shelf this week. You can check out the full list and some thoughts over at my On The Shelf article at Otaku USA.

Some notables this week are NonNonBa from Drawn and Quarterly, Flowers of Evil from Vertical Inc. and the FLCL omnibus from Dark Horse.


Vampires, Bosses and Leather: Digital Manga Licenses Six New Titles

New Digital Manga Licenses

Last week Digital Manga announced another six new print licenses! And I’ve long since run out of semi-creative ways to carry into that sentence, since it’s happened so much in recent months. Not that that’s a complaint in the face of so many new volumes of manga to anticipate for 2013. Yay for books! And now onto the good stuff:

A Century of Temptation – Kairi Shimotsuki (June, Summer 2013, $12.95/US)
Deflower the Boss – Ayan Sakuragi (June, Summer 2013, $12.95/US)
The Incredible Kintaro – Naomi Guren (801Media, Spring 2013, $15.95/US)
Ninth Life Love – Lalako Kojima (June, Summer 2013, $12.95/US)
Priceless Honey – Shiuko Kano (June, Summer 2013, $12.95/US)
Ray’s Days – RYOHZOH (Project-H, $17.95/US)

All of the titles above are one-shots so they’re a convenient one-book full package deal. None of them immediately stood out to me but we’ll see how appealing or ‘meh’ each looks as finished cover designs and plot synopsis’ appear between now and their release dates.


Digital Manga Says See Me After Class, President Momoi Kun

Digital Manga

It’s new manga license time-! Again! Digital Manga sent out an e-mail about two new manga licenses, continuing their recent trend of revealing new licenses in pairs or trios of hentai and boys’ love. This week’s new licenses are:

See Me After Class (Vol.01) – Munyu (Project-H)
President Momoi Kun – Higashi Nishida (June)

Both books are scheduled for a print release in Spring 2013. See Me After Class will be $17.95/US, while President Momoi Kun is being listed at $12.95/US. You can see a few preview pages for President Momoi Kun over at its Amazon.jp page.

Digital Manga also recently sent out press releases announcing two new partnerships to release more manga digitally – Papyless (publisher of young woman’s comics) and Leed Publishing (hentai titles). I’m still not very keen on reading manga digitally but some of those Papyless titles are certainly tempting me to make some exceptions. We shall see!


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