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Posts Tagged Yen Press

Otaku USA: On The Shelf – August 03, 2011

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, August 4, 2011

Sorry for the silence here on Kuriousity, readers. We’ve had some technical difficulties with updating the past couple of weeks. Things finally seem to be smoothing out with our web provider however (as evident by you reading this post – yay!), so our backlog of content will be posted over the next few days.

Recently I was invited to contribute to Otaku USA’s web publication (helping expand from USA to more NA!). This week marks the first of my new manga column for them – On The Shelf. The weekly article will be a showcase of the manga available that week through comic-distribution (thus meaning predomiantly Diamond Comics). I’ll be listing the available titles from a variety of manga publishers along with taking some time to ~~gush~~ elaborate on a couple different books each week as well. I hope it proves a useful resource for manga fans!

I’ll be linking to my Otaku USA articles from Kuriousity from now on as they’re posted. My Swag Bag posts – where I share what I myself ending up buying that week – will continue to be posted here. I hope readers continue to share what they’ve purchased manga-wise that week (I’m always curious to know!) as well as contribute their own weekly recommendations over at Otaku USA.

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Categories: News, On The Shelf, Release Lists
Tags: Dark Horse, Manga, Otaku USA, Vertical Inc, Viz Media, Yen Press

SDCC 2011: It’s All About the Digital

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, July 24, 2011

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San Diego Comic Con 2011 is in its final hours today so its round-up time! As the biggest pop-culture convention of its kind, there were many bloggers on site to record all the details, so, while here on Kuriousity I’ll just be giving the brief run down of manga-related news, I’ll also be giving select links of where you can go to learn more.

Digital was the biggest news of the year. For everyone’s benefit, I’ll forgo my usual sad sighs and short rambles at the trend of more digital and less paper and skip right to summing up the news!

Edit (July 25th): More info re: Viz Media’s licenses added

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Categories: Licensing, Misc
Tags: 20th Century Boys, A Devil and her Love Song, Conventions, Dark Horse, Manga, Viz Media, Viz Signature, Yen Press

PR: Square Enix Manga Store Offers Free Volumes of FMA and Other

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, July 21, 2011

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SQUARE ENIX MANGA STORE to Offer Free Volume of Fullmetal Alchemist and Other Popular Digital Comics

Los Angeles, California (July 21, 2011) – Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Square Enix®) today announced a special offer to be conducted at its North American digital manga distribution site, the SQUARE ENIX MANGA STORE. For a limited time, eligible users will be able to download the first volume of numerous popular comic series free of charge.

Since its December 2010 launch, the SQUARE ENIX MANGA STORE has blazed new trails in PC-based digital manga distribution, offering over one hundred volumes of manga in pay-to-view streaming format and achieving tremendous popularity among manga fans. The free manga offer is part of a comprehensive effort to introduce Square Enix manga to an ever-wider audience—an effort that will also feature an official Facebook page opened in June 2011, and an exhibit at the San Diego Comic-Con to be held from July 20–24, 2011.

All attendees of the Comic-Con as well as all users who “Like” the official Facebook page will be eligible to receive the digital edition first volume (a $5.99 value) of any one of fifteen bestselling Square Enix comic series including FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, SOUL EATER and Black Butler available for purchase at the store.

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Black Butler, Fullmetal Alchemist, Yen Press

Swag Bag: Gender, Drama and Baseball

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, July 17, 2011

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Another week gone by and another stack of lovely new books to read! Lately I’ve been reading a lot of older titles since my haul at Animaritime but this week’s new titles definitely put up a huge fight for my attention (and who am I kidding, they won!).

First up was the new volume of Black Butler (Vol. 06) from Yen Press. Knowing that the whole curry fiasco is behind us and another mystery is afoot had me extra eager for this book. I was not disappointed! This series is worth buying for the art alone – such gorgeous Victorian outfits ranging from the wonderful to just plain weird. Throw in some detective work and sexual tension between pretty people and it’s an easy sell.

Much less in-your-face about its charms is the fourth volume of Cross Game. I’ve completely fallen in love with this series – I love the baseball games, the characters, the romance – it’s all good! It’s so relaxing, the kind of book you just want to curl up in bed with and not put down until you’re done. Plus I think I join the many in-story characters who have a crush on Aoba.

Adding two more volume sixes to go with Black Butler, I also bought Rin-Ne (Vol. 06) and Time & Again (Vol. 06). Both are series I have hesitations buying because the volumes have been hit or miss since the beginning. All the same, this is the final volume of Time & Again so I had to pick it up to see how things fare between the leads. Rin-Ne I buy consistently because when it’s good I really enjoy it, the kind of entertainment only Rumiko Takahashi can offer.

Speaking of hit or miss, two books came in the mail this week from DramaQueen – Missing Road and JUNK!. With three books now under their belt since their ‘comeback’ began, I’m ready to give them another chance and take a look at the new offerings. First impressions say the quality of the publishing itself is great but will the content itself hold up?

The big purchase this week was undoubtedly Wandering Son (Vol. 01), however. I’ve been waiting, waiting and waiting (patiently you see) for this book since it was announced. With this description, how could I not?

“The fifth grade. The threshold to puberty, and the beginning of the end of childhood innocence. Shuichi Nitori and his new friend Yoshino Takatsuki have happy homes, loving families, and are well-liked by their classmates, but they share a secret that further complicates a time of life that is awkward for anyone: Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy.”

The book has since been showered with praise and rightfully so for what it is. I absolutely loved reading it and will hopefully have a review done soon to highlight why. As a first impressions note, it’s another hardcover release from Fantagraphics so on publication quality alone you really get your money’s worth.

What was in your swag bag this week?

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Categories: Features, Swag Bag
Tags: Black Butler, Boys' Love/Yaoi, DramaQueen, Manga, Manhwa, Rumiko Takahashi, Viz Media, Yen Press

Manga to Motion: Interview with Bunny Drop Screenwriter

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, July 10, 2011

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This past week AnimeNewsNetwork posted an interview with Taku Kishimoto, screenwriter for the recently debut anime series, Usagi Drop. I provided the questions for ANN’s interview and was glad to see they garnered some interesting answers. Inadvertently my first Japanese-industry interview so my thanks to ANN for the opportunity.

Of the answers, I think the following was my favourite:

“…considering the current situation, there is a high possibility that this anime adaptation will expand the demographic of the Usagi Drop fanbase. I couldn’t be happier if the men who watched this anime realize that they don’t have to let women monopolize the enjoyment of raising kids.”

The manga (from which the anime was based) is currently being released in English by Yen Press under the translated name, Bunny Drop. It’s one of my favourite series being released right now and even the spoilers of the series’ end have done little to damper my enthusiasm for each new volume. It’s a really sweet story about a single, middle-aged man who takes in the illegitimate daughter of his recently deceased Grandfather. Unlike Yen Press’s other series starring a single, middle-aged man raising a girl he adopts (aka, the amazingly hilarious Yotsuba&!), Bunny Drop has a great balance of drama and humour that’s more focused on the emotional and logistical role of actually raising a child.

When it was announced they were making an anime I was really excited. One of my favourites being animated, huzzah! Seeing trailers and images come out only furthered my excitement – finally a new anime series I actually want to watch as it comes out! And yet… I haven’t watched it yet. Sure there’s only one episode so far but I just can’t get behind the watching-one-episode-at-time trend. It’s why I wait for boxsets of series then marathon them, similar to how much more I loved manga when they went from releasing single-chapter editions to full volumes. Anyone else find they have the same issue?

That being said, I hope someone licenses it! Series are getting picked up for English release earlier and earlier these days so I hope Bunny Drop falls in that category. In the meantime, I hope newcomers read the manga, the anime-curious check out the interview and those who don’t mind one-episode-at-time enjoy the anime as it comes out because it looks adorable!

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Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Anime, Bunny Drop, Manga, Yen Press

Swag Bag: All The RightStuf With BL, Kai and Viz

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, June 5, 2011

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Canada Post recently announcing their rotating strike was already bad news on its own but I was doubly cranky about it as my box of RightStuf goodies was presumably trapped somewhere between here and there. Luck was on my side though and on the morning the strike was set to start, my box arrived!

Taking advantage of their Digital Manga sale a little while back, I picked up a bunch of my must-have titles at prices I couldn’t possibly refuse! Paying their sale price on the US price, and the Canadian dollar as it is, I got each book for 50% off what I would’ve paid here.

Continuing current series, I bought Target in the Finder (Vol. 03), Kizuna Omnibus (Vol. 02) and Tyrant Who Falls In Love (Vol. 02). Now that I’ve got a couple volmes of Kizuna and Finder, it’s time to retire my BeBeautiful version to the storage bins. I also purchased Replica (Vol. 01) and Countdown 7 Days (Vol. 01). Both are shonen (I think?) series that I was able to get an early preview of from Digital Manga. I really liked them both and hope they still get a chance to impress people despite being hidden within DM’s big boys’ love library.

Back to the boys’ love, I got one of BLU’s final publications: Crimson Snow. It’s a one-shot title that I’ve been dying to have in my hand since I saw the gorgeous cover on Amazon last year. Learning the plot only furthered my want so it was the first to have its plastic covering ripped off. I also picked up the last two volumes of breath – a five volume BL series by the so far one-series company Yaoi Generation who’s been disappointedly quiet since last year.

And because a RightStuf purchase isn’t complete without some anime, I happily took advantage of the Funimation sale to buy Dragonball Z Kai Parts 2-4 and the second half of the series Welcome to the NHK.

Buying back on more local soil, I visited our big bookstore Chapters as the customary before-and-after seeing a movie ritual (aka, it’s right next door to the biggest theatre). Last week I was thrilled to get a copy of A Bride’s Story from Yen Press. It’s a really gorgeous book and you’ll want to spend some time oogling the hard cover design before you even crack it open.

This upcoming week is Viz Media‘s huge shipping list, which generally always happens the first week of the month. This often means a big armful of books for me and this month was no exception, especially with some of my absolute favourites out. Books carried to the check-out included Pokemon Adventures (Vol. 13), Bleach (Vol. 35), Blue Excorcist (Vol. 02) and Toriko (Vol. 05). I also bought Full Metal Alchemist 3-in-1 (Vol. 01) because of a friends’ recommendation. To try and round out the shonen just a little, I also bought Grand Guignol Orchestra (Vol. 03) – battling doll-like zombies with music while wearing Victorian gothic attire!

Thankfully I just finished a big Spring cleaning revamp of my manga bookshelves (which of course included adding a new one), so there’s plenty of space to start adding in my new goodies. That said, I’ll be selling a couple boxes full at this upcoming Animaritime so East Coast Canadians have another reason to come enjoy the event ;)

So what was in your swag bag this week?

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Categories: Features, Swag Bag
Tags: BLU, Boys' Love/Yaoi, DMP, June, Manga, Toriko, Viz Media, Yaoi Generation, Yen Press

Review: My Girlfriend’s A Geek (Vol. 03)

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, June 1, 2011

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Author: Pentabu
Manga-ka: Rize Shinba
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: May 2011

Synopsis: “Lady Luck may have smiled upon fresh-faced college student Taiga Mutou in the form of his cute coworker Yuiko agreeing to go out with him. But little did he know that this particular lady was rotten through and through! When the couple’s first Christmas rolls around, Taiga decides to tutor a schoolboy for some extra cash. Only Yuiko’s fujoshi filter seems to have rubbed off on Taiga more than he ever anticipated, and now he’s seeing his new part-time gig in a whole new light?! Can Taiga hang on to the job, or will his Christmas plans be thwarted by his own fully ripe and rotten tendencies — not to mention Mr. Perfect, Kashiwabari, who still wants Yuiko for himself?!”

Yuiko is still a geek, specifically a huge boys’ love geek. The facets of her and Taiga’s individual personalities haven’t changed much since the beginning which makes the frustrating nature of their relationship a continued fault. Seeing as how the book is based almost entirely around this, you can see the problem. Some quirks are still entertaining though, and some occasional circumstances sweet, but they only just manage to balance out the moments that just painful – or as in this volume, even a little creepy.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Manga, My Girlfriends a Geek, Yen Press

Swag Bag: Muscling In On Toronto’s Manga Supply

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, May 17, 2011

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Welcome to what is definitely the longest Swag Bag to date! Mostly because I completely failed to compile my Swag Bag from last year’s Anime North… None the less! – my recent trip to Toronto was chock full of fun finds, and painful but no doubt hilarious attempts at cramming it all into my suitcases. This post here consists of the manga I bought while traversing the packed streets of Toronto while my TCAF purchases will come in a later post once I’ve finished oogling them enough to write something coherent.

The books listed here were all purchased from either my local Strange Adventures (pre-con buying is important, like eating before going to the grocery store – it helps… I think). The rest with exception of I think 1 or 2 came from what I’m dubbing the manga treasure trove of Toronto – The Beguiling. My thanks to their very accomodating staff! If curious about my other comic shop adventures in Toronto, you can check out the Ontario section of Kuriousity’s Canadian Comic Shop listings.

Now onto the swag!

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Categories: Features, Swag Bag
Tags: 7 Billion Needles, ALC Publishing, Bakuman, BLU, Boys' Love/Yaoi, Bunny Drop, CLAMP, Deux Press, DMP, Hinako Takanaga, Makoto Tateno, Manga, Manhwa, Netcomics, Seven Seas, Shoujo Beat, TCAF 2011, Tokyopop, Vertical Inc, Viz Media, Yen Press, Yuri

Swag Bag: Bittersweet, Baseball and Butlers

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, April 20, 2011

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Another week, another round of shiny new manga purchases! Hard to believe it’s already nearing the end of April, especially with chilly days like today. The rain at least I was expecting. My thanks as always to my phenomenal local comic shop, Strange Adventures, for always having the newest books rain or shine.

My two bittersweet purchases of the week were Shinobi Life (Vol. 07) and Silver Diamond (Vol. 09) – two series that still have a number of volumes until their completion and now we’re unlikely to ever see them in English. It comforts me a little that I’ve found Silver Diamond severely lacking for the last few volumes but I’m still really curious how it manages to go for another 15+ volumes. This volume of Shinobi Life left me a bit disappointed too but it’s still one of the most enjoyable shoujos I’ve read in a long while – time-travelling ninjas in love!

Viz Media dominated my purchase bag this week with four new books. First and quickest to my bag was Cross Game (Vol. 03). Having already read it, I can attest to the fact it’s fantastic. I was a little let down by volume two, but volume three completely renewed the faith I had in the series after finishing the first book. Amazing stuff. 20th Century Boys (Vol. 14) was also a given. The series is dragging on a bit long for my tastes but each volume is still a real page-turner.

To add another relaxing read to the pile (which goes comfortably next to Cross Game in that regard), I picked up House of Five Leaves (Vol. 05). I also bought Itsuwaribito (Vol. 02) after finding the first volume enjoyable, though not overly exciting. I always try to give those not-sure titles at least two volumes however so we’ll see how that goes!

Last, but certainly not least, there’s Black Butler (Vol. 05)! Flipping through makes a little annoyed to see more of those gosh-awful background characters who ‘tend’ to Ceil’s estate but I’ll do my best to ignore them for more of Sebastien’s fantastically swoon-worthy butler-ness.

What made up your swag bag this week?

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Categories: Features, Swag Bag
Tags: 20th Century Boys, Black Butler, Manga, Tokyopop, Viz Media, Viz Signature, Yen Press

Review: Not Love But Delicious Foods Makes Me So Happy!

By Shannon Fay on Sunday, April 3, 2011

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Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Not Love But Delicious Foods Makes Me So Happy

Manga-ka: Fumi Yoshinaga
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: December 2010

Synopsis: “There is a Japanese saying that goes, “Hana yori dango,” or “dumplings over flowers.” And no one is more of an advocate of this adage than mangaka Y-naga, a woman whose life revolves around her intense work and equally intense sleep schedule. The only thing that can rouse her out of this infernal cycle of deadlines and being dead to the world? Food. As Y-naga and her friends visit restaurants around Tokyo to satisfy their appetites, their individual approaches to food add an extra dimension to their witty and comical interactions.”

Manga about food is similar to manga about music – they have to convey things through a visual medium that are pretty much impossible to capture visually. For music manga, it’s the sound of an instrument or a beautiful voice singing out, while for food manga it’s that taste of a delicious meal. But while you can’t substitute one sense for another, many manga-ka have risen to the challenge and found fun ways to convey different sensations through images. Fumi Yoshinaga only manages to make it halfway. While Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy! is a fun read, it didn’t leave me hungry, a bad sign in a manga about food.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Fumi Yoshinaga, Manga, Yen Press