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Posts Tagged Natsume Ono

Otaku USA: On The Shelf – December 19, 2012

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - December 19, 2012

There are no new manga volumes out this week, but it’d come as no surprise if certain events have readers a bit behind on prior releases. Sort of like my delay in posting about the books that hit store shelves on December 19th – oops!

You can read my thoughts on that week’s books over at Otaku USA’s On The Shelf article.

Danza [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Dorohedoro (Vol.08) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Oh My Goddess (Vol.43) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Paradise Kiss (Vol.02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Tenjo Tenge (Vol.10) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Vagabond VizBIG (Vol.11) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]


Review: Tesoro

Tesoro

Manga-ka: Natsume Ono
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: November 2011

Synopsis: “A treasure of 14 charming stories about family, friends, couples and unexpected bonds. Written by Natsume Ono over ten years, here is the long-awaited collection of her early work, including numerous illustrations and previously unpublished stories!”

Every now and then you find a manga-ka who you fall in love with. You stumble upon a work of theirs that just speaks to you, that is different from anything else you’ve seen. You seek out other of their works, from the big hits to the obscure early ones. As you continue to read and see the both the good and the bad, the highs and the lows, you realize that they might be a great artist but they are fallible and capable of creating crap as well as fine works. Some of your initial infatuation starts to wear off, and you begin to fall out of love.

Read more…


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – September 19, 2012

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - September 19, 2012

It’s manga finale week! Not the end of manga of course (apocalypse!) but the end of a few different series that will all be greatly missed – 20th Century Boys (Viz), Cardcaptor Sakura (DH) and House of Five Leaves (Viz). Filling the gap in our manga buying lives just a bit is the start of Dark Horse’s release of Angelic Layer. This is one of my favourite CLAMP series, so it could definitely warrant a re-buy for me.

You can read more of my thoughts on this week’s releases over at my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA.

And new to my brief postings here on Kuriousity, and for your shopping convenience, a handy list of this week’s releases complete with links* to buy!

20th Century Boys (Vol. 22) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Angelic Layer Omnibus (Vol. 01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon USRightStuf]
Attack on Titan (Vol. 02) [Amazon CAN, Amazon USRightStuf]
Berserk (Vol. 36) [Amazon CAN, Amazon USRightStuf]
Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus (Vol. 04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon USRightStuf]
House of Five Leaves (Vol. 08) [Amazon CAN, Amazon USRightStuf]
Sailor Moon (Vol. 07) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]

*As a disclaimer, links on the site are affiliation links for Kuriousity with any and all proceeds from them going towards our hosting fees.


Kodansha Comics Speaks and Shares Three New Manga Licenses

Kodansha Comics Announces Three New Licenses

It’s another round of manga license time! With this many new licenses prior to the thick of convention season I hope it means good for the summer months. This time it’s Kodansha Comics who sent out a press release, which in itself came as a surprise considering the silence that usually comes from them outside of book releases.

Battle Angel Alita: Last Order – Yukito Kishiro
Danza – Natsume Ono
Missions of Love (Watashi ni xx Shinasai) – Ema Toyama

Battle Angel Alita: Last Order is a relicense, having been originally published by Viz Media. Viz released the fifteenth volume back in October 2011 and Kodansha Comics will continue from there with volume sixteen in December of this year. The series is currently in tournament mode as its character duke it out to win the Zenith of Things Tournament.

Danza is a title I was surprised to see on the list, if only because Viz Media pretty much has a monopoly on Natsume Ono’s work. It’s great to see more of her work published in English and I’ve always enjoyed her short story collections the most. Danza is a one book release with six different stories. You can read a synopsis of them in Kodansha’s PR if you’re curious for more details on the story specifics. The title is scheduled to be released in December 2012 as well, with an Amazon.ca listing already up.

Last up from Kodansha today was their confirmation of Watashi ni xx Shinasai – or Missions of Love, as it’s now been renamed. At last! I contacted Kodansha Comics about this over a month ago when the listing popped up on Amazon. Alas, I got no response, which is pretty standard from them (busy, understaffed bees over there I’m left to assume). Ema Toyama has had two other series published in English already – I Am Here! (Del Rey) and Pixie Pop (Tokyopop). Missions of Love is about a secret phone novel author who blackmails a popular classmate into performing  “daring missions of love” to gain live-inspiration for her work. The first volume is currently scheduled for November 2012.


Year In Review: Lissa’s Favourites of 2011

Lissa’s Favourites of 2011

There are no shortage of ‘Best Of’ lists this time of year. While I like popping around to different peoples’ sites and seeing what they thought, it’s a bit of a frustration that I can’t seem to write one myself. How people choose a solid list containing five or ten favourites, from across different genres and subject matters, is just something I can’t seem to muster the brain power for. Not enough conviction I suppose? There’s just so much to love!

But I can’t overlook the perfect chance to look back at all the great titles a year had to offer and 2011 had some really fantastic ones. So then where is this going, oh rambling one, you ask? My semi-traditional equivalent to the yearly best of – the random Lissa’s favourites and best-ofs list! Which really just means you get a lot more titles broken into a lot more categories so I can remain a lot more loving to a lot more series. And in some cases not so loving… From the Best Release Quality to the Favourite Fan Service and even to the most Gag Worthy – here are a bunch of my favourite titles from 2011!

Read more…


Kuriousity Reviewers In and On The Coast

The Coast

The Coast is a local free paper published weekly here in my home-city of Halifax, Nova Scotia. It’s “independent and locally owned”, publishing every thing from local news, editorials, reviews and entertainment schedules, not to mention a bevy of ads that I love for always letting me know about fun local businesses I wouldn’t otherwise discover.

Recently I began writing reviews for the paper and my first was published in this week’s edition. The Coast is available to read digitally with its full print layout online and in blog-like format, where you can directly read my review of Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight. Writing in the shorter format has been a great exercise and I’m eager to share more of my favourite titles with fellow Haligonians.

Fellow Kuriousity writer, Shannon Fay, has been writing and reviewing for The Coast for a couple years now. Her reviews have recommended plenty of great manga titles to our local comic-loving populous. You can read her reviews online at The Coast’s website as well:

GoGo Monster
Solanin
Saturn Apartments (Vol. 01)
Black Blizzard
Peepo Choo (Vol.01)
Not Love But Delicious Food Makes Me So Happy!
A Drunken Dream
No Touching At All
La Quinta Camera: The Fifth Room
A Bride’s Story(Vol. 01)

Bakuman and Wandering Son also made her picks for Top 11 Books of 2011.

From now on I’ll be doing occasional round up of reviews by Shannon and I as they’re published in The Coast. If you’re in the Halifax area, I hope you pick up copies of the print edition and enjoy all the local literary flavour!


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – September 21, 2011

On The Shelf - September 21, 2011

It’s Full Metal Alchemist week! Only two volumes left, making tomorrow’s release (Vol. 26) the penultimate installment. With Viz Media‘s trend of stopping series mid-omnibus (which seems rather ridiculous to me!), I’m looking forward to buying the huge boxsetout in November. The whole series, plus some bonuses, all in one go – it’s a beautiful thing.

Back to the here and tomorrow, you can see the list of books released this week over at my Otaku USA: On The Shelf article . My top picks (alongside FMA) are XXXHolic (Vol. 17), Arata the Legend (Vol. 07) and Berserk (Vol.35). Some modern fantasy, overlapping modern/ancient fantasy and then some outright old-fashion, demon-ridden Western-style fantasy – an excellent combination for manga reading this week!


Review: La Quinta Camera

La Quinta Camera

Manga-ka: Natsume Ono
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: July 2011

Synopsis: “An apartment in Italy. In four of the rooms live four single men with singular personalities. Into this peculiar ménage steps an exchange student, the new tenant of the fifth room. Brought together by chance, friends by choice, they pursue their dreams together as the days drift gently by.”

Over the past year I have become a big fan of Natsume Ono. House of Fives Leaves is currently one of my favourite manga and I’m happy to see more and more of Ono’s work being licensed. La Quina Camera is a solid little stand alone graphic novel which should appeal to fans and newcomers alike. It has a nice, uncomplicated atmosphere which makes it an easy read.

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TCAF 2011: Spotlight on Natsume Ono

TCAF 2011: Natsume Ono

Natsume Ono was a special guest at this year’s Toronto Comic Arts Fest and on Saturday there was a special interview session hosted by About.com’s Manga Specialist Deb Aoki. While no recording was allowed, I did take some notes and I’ve done my best to put the neat facts and information together here for the Natsume Ono curious. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to provide any quotes because of the recording rule so apologies for the choppy paragraphing. Those disclaimers aside – enjoy!
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