Digital Manga Publishing announced via their Twitter Thursday night that they’ve re-licensed the manga series, Erementar Gerade (followed up with a post about it as well).

The series was originally released in English by Tokyopop under the name Elemental Gelade, but they stopped production of the series with volume twelve in August 2010. The series is eighteen volumes total and complete in Japan, but has a currently on-going sequel.

“After a routine raid, rookie air pirate Coud Van Giruet discovers a most unusual bounty: Ren, an “Edyll Raid,” is a living weapon that reacts with a human to become a fighting machine. As he realizes that Ren is even more prized than he thought, she is captured by an evil man who sells Edyll Raids on the black market. Can Coud and the agents of the Elemental Gelade Protection Agency team join forces and rescue her without killing themselves… or each other?” – Elemental Gelade (Vol. 01)

Having never read the series, and being unfamiliar with its selling history, I wasn’t sure what and where the demand was which prompted Digital Manga  to pick it up. Is there a demand big enough to warrant a re-release? It became easier to understand why the company would take a risk on a title that never seemed to be a big hit when they announced via Twitter tonight that it would be digital only, starting from volume one.

Erementar Gerade is now scheduled to be a part of their Digital Manga Guild offerings where translation, editing and lettering will be done by the guild’s members instead of Digital Manga’s full-time or freelance staff. The title will then, if released the same as their other titles, be available through their eManga website and Amazon’s Kindle.

Any manga license announced as digital-only still leaves a big pit in my stomach as I make no secret of my heavy preference for print. Optimistically in this instance, at least, I’ve met and read of quite a few Kindle owners frustrated by the overwhelming amounts of boys’ love content compared to anything else available to purchase. It’s good to see these individuals will have some more different material to choose from in the future as Digital Manga branches out genres with their guild offerings. With questions coming up regarding the quality of the guild’s work varying wildly group to group (Twitter folks, always food for thought there!), it’ll be interesting to see if any further editorial oversight is given to a series that will likely face a much broader audience.

AnimeNewsNetwork reported that Kodansha Comics will be releasing the sequel to Genshiken – Genshiken: Second Season. A listing for volume one of the series appeared on both Amazon.com and Amazon.ca earlier this week.

Kodansha Comics will be releasing the prequel series in omnibus format with the first volume coming out this May. There’s no indication in the retail listings that Genshiken: Second Season will be released in a similar fashion, though the shipping weight does match the Genshiken omnibus (observation only!). Genshiken: Second Season is currently two volumes in Japan and on-going.

The series is a direct continuation of the original story (unlike it’s several spin-off series), which resumes the story of the Genshiken school club and the activities of it’s ‘otaku’ members.

Digital Manga’s newsletter this week announced a new boys’ love title license – Shoko Takaku’s I’ve Seen It All. The series currently has two volumes released in Japan, though Digital Manga’s announcement doesn’t specify if their license is for the first or both.

09/02/12 Update: ANN has confirmed with Digital Manga that their license includes both volumes.

I’ve Seen It All is about a doctor who specializes in male genitalia. He spends his days helping men with a variety of issues and becoming more and more disenchanted with the notion that a male can be attractive between the legs. Enter a man named Asano! I’m sure you can guess the rest. You can read (in Japanese) a more detailed description and see a close up of the cover on Amazon.jp. Sounds pretty entertaining to me!

I still get nostalgic seeing Shoko Takaku’s work since their title Passion was one of the first boys’ love released in English (excluding Gravitation which had strong BL elements). It was thus the first BL title I bought. I still remembering running to the store from school to buy it the day it came out and being the first in my group of friends to proudly hold up a boys’ love book. Her work was thus the first BL to hit my bookshelves and the start of many more to come!  Along with the four volume series, Passion, Digital Manga has also released two Shoko Takaku one-shots, Kissing and Shy Intentions.

There’s no news yet on when I’ve Seen It All will be published.

As a little end of the week treat, Digital Manga announced via their Twitter account that they’ve licensed Momoko Tenzen’s one-shot, Flutter.  It’s one of their most recent works, published in Japan just this past October. Digital Manga confirmed on their Twitter shortly after that Flutter is one of their standard licenses, meaning it’ll go to print and have a digital edition.

Flutter is about two businessmen who come into a relationship after being paired together on a project at work. The book also includes another short story titled Sleepless Siesta.

Digital Manga has released seven other Momoko Tenzen one-shots in the past and each one was under their boys’ love imprint, June. Flutter will presumably be published under the same imprint as well. If curious about the creator’s other works, Shannon has reviews posted for La Satanica, Ciao Ciao Bambino and Suggestive Eyes. I also wrote a review for Momoko Tenzen’s Manhattan Love Story.

Digital Manga announced a new manga license early this weekend – Chihiro Harumi’s Velvet Kiss. The title has been licensed under their Project-H imprint which is for their hentai titles (18+ only!).

Velvet Kiss is currently four volumes in Japan. Digital Manga’s license is currently for the first two though there’s no info yet regarding when the first volume will be released. The series is about a young man who finds himself looking after a woman in lieu of paying off a large debt he owes.

(( Edit: The news of Velvet Kiss being licensed was previously announced back in November 2011. My mistake and apologies for forgetting I’d already posted on it, while Digital Manga themselves seems to have made the same ‘oops!’. Nothing wrong with some extra enthusiasm… right? ))

I haven’t had any luck getting copies of Digital Manga‘s Project-H books as of yet, with multiple titles currently released. The company’s books are tricky enough to get a hold of with release dates through their Akadot website varying by a couple months to bookstores and Diamond Comics. Project-H books seem to be doubly hampered by low print runs (which is not unexpected for this kind of title) that have left me on cancelled or waiting lists for Amazon, Chapters and the direct market since their first book was released mid-2011! I’ve heard from a few who’ve been able to get copies shipped their way though so the books undoubtedly exist, they just take a bit more effort than many it seems. If you’re ordering online, pre-ordering these titles seems your best bet to get a copy. You can expect a review or two here on Kuriousity for Digital Manga’s newest imprint as soon as me or my writers manage to find a book!

On Friday Digital Manga Publishing launched their second Kickstarter – a crowd-souring website that takes monetary pledges towards a goal. While DMP’s first project was to fund Osamu Tezuka’s Swallowing the Earth back for a second printing, this time they’re collecting pledges to go towards licensing and publishing a new Tezuka title – Barbara.

“Wandering the packed tunnels of Shinjuku Station, famous author Yosuke Mikura makes a strange discovery: a seemingly homeless drunk woman who can quote French poetry. Her name is Barbara. He takes her home for a bath and a drink, and before long Barbara has made herself into Mikura’s shadow, saving him from egotistical delusions and jealous enemies. But just as Mikura is no saint, Barbara is no benevolent guardian angel, and Mikura grows obsessed with discovering her secrets, tangling with thugs, sadists, magical curses and mythical beings – all the while wondering whether he himself is still sane.”

In only two days the company has received pledges totalling more than the $6500 they were asking for. Their press release states that additional rewards (extras for those who pledge more than the $25 cost of the book) will be released throughout the month leading up to the date they’ll be closing the drive and collecting the money (February 13th).

While those who pledge $25+ in this drive have been guaranteed copies of the book once it’s complete – scheduled for sometime in July 2012 – Digital Manga’s Ben Applegate has stated that copies will also be printed and distributed to bookstores as well. I’m grateful for this as it allows me to keep supporting my local businesses and avoid the $20+ I’d very likely end up paying just for the shipping of a single book to Canada through their service (which I’ve now learned is considered overseas? Choose a better word, USPS!). It also means those new to Tezuka or manga, or those curious but not willing to buy blindly, can still have a chance to flip through and make an informed decision. There’s no word on what size this print run will be though and it’s questionable how available this title will be when they need to seek outside funding from consumers just to finance it initially.

The last time Digital Manga used a Kickstarter drive to fund their operations I was skeptical and even after the first’s success, I still am. I’m thrilled to see another older title get a shot at English publication, let there be no question of that. But that Digital Manga is again using a system like Kickstarter – typically used by individuals or small groups without financial backers or partners that companies have – still just doesn’t sit right with me. While I shared my initial thoughts back in November, this second project prompted elaboration as I continue to try and pinpoint what this kind of move means to me and other manga readers.

Note: The thoughts and opinions expressed in this editorial are based on Digital Manga’s use of Kickstarter and not other projects utilizing the website.

There is definitely excitement and enthusiasm from fans fueling this drive, but it also feels like driving the pledging frenzy is the underlying sense of guilt and worry. After all, if you don’t pledge, you may never see the book. If you don’t pledge, it means you don’t want the manga at all. If you don’t promote this book you’ve likely never read and this initiative you only have on a promise will deliver, there will be no book. If Digital Manga Publishing isn’t able to create and print this book it is your fault.

There’s a difference between empowering a consumer and passing off the responsibility to them.

It bothers me that DMP’s kickstarter expects a big blind buy by consumers. For some, this is okay. Maybe it’s faith of a creator’s previous work or simply artwork or a story that really strikes them. Ordering online is a blind buy in many respects already but usually previews, reviews and advertising play a large role in the decision to buy. For something like Barbara there’s certainly faith in Osamu Tezuka – his reputation, his previous works. But will you like this one? Do you have any way of knowing unless you’ve read it already via alternative means?

This is a pre-order process you cannot back out of. Typically with pre-orders you wouldn’t pay until your book is shipped or has arrived for you. You don’t give your money until you know you have a product in exchange. Kickstarter is designed to not have the pledges paid out until their goal is met, but even then the money is paid out on a promise. Digital Manga has even said in the case of Barbara, the title hasn’t even been licensed by them yet! That’s a tricky enough process to nail down in itself, let alone any production snags along the way. Pre-orders to me are about companies and retailers gauging the interest in a title and to stock accordingly. They’re a way for readers to feel confident they’ve secured themselves a copy and one they only pay out to when that confidence is rewarded come release-day, a security I don’t see this Kickstarter providing.

I believe a company holds the key responsibility for marketing, distributing and promoting their own product. It not only defines their role traditionally but also defines a great bulk of their purpose. Of course in this age of internet and social media, word of mouth is going to play a role but a company shouldn’t expect this to be the entire push process. It’s the companies’ job to determine interest, to fund their work and to put it out there. It’s readers responsibilities to then support it and the companies further responsibility to shoulder the results. This is what they use going forward – to know what to publish, what to decide against and how much to do. They have a vast library of previous titles at their disposal for example and financing. They’re a business and these are just some of the resources that further define them as such.

Companies traditionally take chances, put the work in, make a solid product and then give it to the customers, reaping the benefits of their hopeful successes. Digital Manga is watching as it’s consumers do the initial legwork, and then rewarding ‘us’ for our work – if we worked hard enough anyway.

What happens if the pledge numbers are reached (as they have been by this morning), and then the book doesn’t happen? License issues, printing problems, cut-backs, push-backs, cost fluctuations – who knows. Will everyone get their money back? What about those bonus rewards? Null, void? Is there any security you’ll be re-compensated if the promise isn’t met? I personally have faith Digital Manga will publish what they say they will eventually, but I’ve also been buying their books for almost a decade. Where’s the assurance for others? Kickstarter itself offers no assurance to individuals who pledge should a project owner for any reason not deliver. I wouldn’t expect them too either as the platform, not a partner. If this project hits the worst case scenario, where are we at?

Seeing so many pledgers in such a short period of time is promising. It’s great seeing eager fans come out and support the manga they want to see. Even so, the number of backers is still individually quite small – currently under 200. This makes the average pledge per person very high, much more than the same number of supporters would be giving to Digital Manga if they were buying the books off the shelf. We can assume this small pool of readers were buyers before but it makes me curious about past sales numbers. Actual numbers are usually a mystery with manga but with such little faith in a positive return for this work if done traditionally, it really makes me want to know how Tezuka’s works turned out previously for them. They seem to do well for Vertical, who pushes and promotes their works extensively, but what about Digital Manga? How did Swallowing the Earth do in its initial run?

It kills me that I feel so troubled over supporting manga in print, one of my greatest passions to see continue, but I can’t help but feel used. I feel like our love for manga is being taken for granted. Taken for granted we’ll do not only do the fund-raising but the marketing now as well. Not to mention the cheap crowd-sourcing already under way with Digital Manga Guild – it has its own barrel of pros and cons. This is different from community hyping – this is crowd-sourcing that lets a company sit safely on the sidelines while we shoulder the burden. It leaves those desperate to support left with nothing if others can’t or won’t step in to support something on blind faith. No one loses here but the reader, teased with a title they may never see…

I’m not entirely against a process like this. I do believe companies will need more consumer support to take risks on titles as the market continues to fluctuate. I love they say their backers may even get some input into things like the graphic design and access to extras like posters and t-shirts. I do believe, however, that a company like Digital Manga needs to still make the initial steps themselves. License a title. Ensure to us the product will actually be there first, in at least some capacity. Don’t tease us. Don’t make us shoulder the guilt that we can’t finance your company getting a title in the first place. If it’s an instance where it’s a multi-volume series and sales dip so much you can’t publish anymore, it’s alright. We understand. We’re sad but we know you at least tried. But right out the gate with a volume one or one-shot? That’s your train to get started. Get it for us and we will get on board.

Why not license and publish the book digitally first? Give us a way to preview it. Let us pay the digital amount to read the whole thing. If we want a print copy, go for print on demand or a system like Kickstarter. I think this where the method is appropriate. It shouldn’t be all or nothing. It’s allowing collectors a premium service, not denying them altogether if others aren’t able or willing to be as zealous.

I like that Digital Manga’s Kickstarter is working because I want to read this title. I will very likely buy a copy of this book when it’s released and available for me, when I’ve had a chance to flip through it, read reviews on it, learn about it, form my own opinion and then support it with an eager buy like I do all the other titles on my shelves. I still don’t feel this use of Kickstarter is the right way to go for publishing books like Digital Manga is, straight from the gate and with a license not evenly firmly in hand. It offers a great opportunity but at questionable cost. While for me as someone living ‘overseas’ , the almost 50% additional final shipping cost is painful enough, but I feel the price truly most harmful is the cost of faith in Digital Manga’s own independent abilities.

Gardena, CA (January 13th, 2012) As part of its effort to accelerate the licensing and publishing of high-quality niche and classic manga in the United States, Digital Manga, Inc., today launched a campaign on crowd-funding site Kickstarter to translate Barbara by Osamu Tezuka, an adult drama never before published in English. For the next 30 days, fans will be able to pledge in exchange for a variety of rewards, including copies of Barbara and exclusive bonuses. If the target total of $6,500 is reached by the deadline (Feb. 12, 2012), production of Barbara will move forward.

The campaign follows on a previously successful Kickstarter project to fund a new print run of another work by Tezuka, Swallowing the Earth, which made more than 220% of its goal in November and December. (New copies of Swallowing the Earth will be available through Akadot.com in February.) If the Barbara campaign reaches its target, Barbara will be published under Digital Manga’s DMP Platinum imprint in a large paperback, 5 7/8″ x 8 1/4″, the same size as Swallowing the Earth.

Additional bonuses include a digital companion to Barbara available exclusively to Kickstarter backers, a limited-edition Tezuka tribute poster with original art screen-printed by Two Rabbits Studios in downtown Los Angeles and original T-shirts printed by Forward Printing in Oakland, CA. Final art for the posters and T-shirts as well as additional rewards will be posted on the Kickstarter page as the month progresses.

“Put simply, Barbara is the story of a man caught between artistic decadence and madness.” – Osamu Tezuka

Barbara opens with famous author Yosuke Mikura wandering the packed tunnels of Shinjuku Station, where he makes a strange discovery: a drunk woman, her rags caked in mud, who can quote French poetry. Her name is Barbara. He takes her home for a bath and a drink, and before long Barbara has made herself into Mikura’s shadow, saving him from egotistical delusions and jealous enemies. But just as Mikura is no saint, Barbara is no benevolent guardian angel, and Mikura grows obsessed with discovering her secrets, tangling with thugs, sadists, magical curses and mythical beings – all the while wondering whether he himself is still sane.

The father of modern anime and manga, Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989) is the creator of iconic characters including Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion as well as the author of many acclaimed graphic novels including Buddha and Ode to Kirihito. Written in 1973 and 1974 and inspired by the classic opera “Tales of Hoffman” by Jacques Offenbach, Barbara is one of Tezuka’s most psychological and personal manga, an allegorical look at the difficult choices and torturous doubts every artist must face.

“We are incredibly excited to bring Barbara to American readers, and to explore this new route to publication for niche-oriented manga,” said Ben Applegate, editor of the DMP Platinum imprint. “In the future, we hope to offer more Tezuka titles through Kickstarter as well as titles from other Japanese artists whose work is underrepresented in the United States. First and foremost, of course, we are grateful to the fans who made this possible and to Tezuka Productions for taking a chance on a brand new way to license manga.”

The Kickstarter campaign, with promotional materials and a video, can be viewed here:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/digitalmanga/publish-osamu-tezukas-barbara-in-english

* – All logos and art are not final.

_______________________________

About Digital Manga, Inc.

Located in Gardena, CA, Digital Manga, Inc. is one of the industry’s most unconventional and innovative companies, specializing in building corporate and cultural bridges from Japan to the Western Hemisphere – specifically through the licensing, importation and preparation of anime (Japanese animation), manga (Japanese comic books) and related merchandise for the North American mainstream and subculture markets. In this capacity, DMI serves as a catalyst for the expansion of Japanese pop culture institutions into global arenas. The company’s DMP Platinum imprint publishes classic manga from Japan, including Swallowing the Earth by Osamu Tezuka and Speed Racer: Mach Go Go Go.

For more information about Digital Manga Publishing, visit www.digitalmanga.com or www.dmpbooks.com.

Follow us on Twitter at: @digitalmanga
Find us on Facebook: Digital Manga Inc.

Let’s Eat Ramen appears in GEN 8 and will be available nationwide Jan. 2011!

NEW YORK, NY – GEN Manga Entertainment, Inc. announces the release of Let’s Eat Ramen in GEN 8. (GEN 8, 162 pages, black and white, 1.99) will be available Jan. 2011.

Nagumo is the author of the popular series Radio de Go! Making his debut in Manga Time Kirakira Carat in 2007 he has since made waves in the Japanese doujin community with his smash hit Radio de Go! Now Nagumo will be releasing a new original story for GEN Manga titled Let’s Eat Ramen.

Let’s Eat Ramen is the story of Saeki, a girl who loves ramen noodles. At last, she thinks that she has finally found the perfect ramen shop, but the problem is the shop is completely full of old regulars and she can’t get in. Will the timid Saeki ever summon the willpower to reach out and get the ramen that she desperately wants? An indie manga about the finer points of eating ramen noodles from the creator of the radio manga Radio de Go!, brought to you by genmanga.com.

Junji Ohno creates his second sassy new cover for GEN 8. Ohno made his debut at the age 19 in Weekly Shonen Magazine, and has been a regular contributor to numerous weeklies in Japan, such as Weekly Shonen Fang, Comic Bonbon, and Shonen Comic Champion. Ohno’s work includes: Shiritsu Justice Gakuen (1998), Hotshot, Axel Rex, and Spider Riders. Junji Ohno is the newest edition to GEN, America’s number one source for authentic doujin manga, where Junji will be making his American debut as the new cover artist.

Readers can also find consecutive issues available on Graphicly. Graphicly is available on numerous platforms, including the Nook, iphone, and Android.

GEN stories are published nowhere else in the world. These stories are created by the elusive doujincreators in Tokyo’s secret underground circles, otherwise known in the west as independent creators and hard core fans.

Presenting new indie manga circles from Japan, GEN, a monthly publication, will be released in the US and Japan simultaneously. Digital format and print editions for GEN are available now. Based in New York,GEN Manga Entertainment (www.genmanga.com) endeavors to publish new and unseen graphic workfrom Japan, being in the unique position to bring readers work first, more original and untamed manga will be sure to come!

For more information, please contact Robert McGuire by phone – (646) 535-0090, or by email –editor@genmanga.com

ANIMATE USA – NEW RELEASES IN AMAZON KINDLE STORE

TOKYO, JAPAN – January 12th – Animate U.S.A., Inc. is excited to announce its monthly releases for January! New this month is a never-before-published story by You Higashino, “Theorem of Desire.” It continues the previously released story “Aphrodisiac Kiss.” Also available in January is the one-shot story “Platinum Pasta” by Youka Nitta and the continuation of Naduki Koujima’s popular “Selfish Love” series. “Platinum Pasta” and “Theorem of Desire” can only be found on the Kindle, so you can’t get them anywhere else!

For more information, go to www.animate-world.com and www.libre-pub.co.jp If one release from Youka Nitta isn’t enough to satisfy you, check out nittayouka.com for recent news, comments, wallpapers, and more. We don’t have an Ayano Yamane release this month, but you can always keep up with her on her website yamaneayano.com complete with updates, artwork, and author commentary! Support your favorite authors by visiting their websites!

January 2011:
Youka Nitta – “Platinum Pasta” KINDLE EXCLUSIVE!!!
You Higashino – “Theorem Of Desire” KINDLE EXCLUSIVE!!!
Naduki Koujima – “Selfish Love Vol.2 Part 4” KINDLE DEBUT

“Platinum Pasta” by Youka Nitta

It’s been a year since Mamiya opened up his Italian restaurant at a coastal resort. Stocking up on top-class ingredients from a fisherman named Ohsuga and an herb garden owner named Eiji, his restaurant has skyrocketed. Then one night, Mamiya happens to see a lover’s quarrel between Ohsuga and Eiji, and he begins to plan an intervention…

“Theorem of Desire” by You Higashino

Never before published in print, it’s finally out for the Kindle!
It’s the sequel to “Aphrodisiac Kiss.”
Ayashima was about to be attacked, but he was saved by Takamura.
Takamura’s kisses melt his stubborn heart from his painful past and draw out his sexual desire…

“Selfish Love Vol.2 Part 4” by Naduki Koujima

The Unexpected Climax!
Orito, the President of the Honors Society, won’t take “no” for an answer. He refuses to stop pursuing the affections of Ryuuya, the Vice President.

After all, according to Orito, the Vice President is supposed to be his “right hand man.” The advances keep escalating, and Ryuuya’s honor is at stake!

Will he remain pure and defiant, or will he give in to Orito’s strong and sensuous game of love?

About Animate U.S.A., Inc.
From North to South, it’s by far the largest anime store chain in Japan! It’s the go-to place for any anime/manga fan! Character goods from anime, manga, game, comics, art supplies… You name it!  All anime/manga-related merchandise is available! Additionally, you can find original Animate goods, specials, etc. Furthermore, we have special events such as autograph sessions, panel discussions, campaigns, and more! Come to Animate filled with ‘Dreams’ and ‘Hope’!!
See http://www.animate-world.com/ for more information.

About Libre Publishing Co., Ltd.
The biggest BL publisher in Japan. The company name “Libre Publishing Co., Ltd.” is taken from the Latin base “Lib” which can mean “Book” or “Liberty.” Such is the aim of our company, to be able to share this love of “books” and “freedom” by the unique contents of the works that we offer, for the enjoyment of our readers. See http://www.libre-pub.co.jp/ for more information. (in Japanese)
For further inquiries regarding this matter, please feel free to contact us at the following:
Regarding titles: rights@libre-pub.co.jp
Regarding Kindle Releases: ebookinfo@animate.co.jp

We would once again like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading our books and for your continued support.

NBM Publishing has confirmed on their website that they’ll be releasing a one-shot from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures’ creator, Hirohiko Araki – Rohan at the Louvre. The title originally popped up on Amazon early this past Autumn.

The book will be hardcover and full-colour, clocking in at 128 pages. It’s due for release in April 2012 and will cost $19.99 (both US and CAN). It’s great to see newer titles are coming out with equal pricing across North America!

“Rohan, a young mangaka, meets a beautiful mysterious young woman with a dramatic story. Seeing him draw, she tells him of a cursed 200 year old painting using the blackest ink ever known from a 1000 year old tree the painter had brought down without approval from the Emperor who had him executed for doing so. The painting meanwhile had been saved from destruction by a curator of the Louvre. Rohan forgets this story as he becomes famous but ten years later, visiting Paris, he takes the occasion to try and locate the painting. Little does he know how violently powerful the curse of it is until he has the museum unearth it from deep within its archival bowels…”

Rohan at the Louvre is also available to purchase online at Amazon.ca. It was listed in this month’s Diamond Previews for ordering into your local comic store. The title is also available to purchase in French and you can see interior preview pages on the Amazon product webpage.

Digital Manga announced a new title license for their print line earlier this week, just in time to head off for holiday vacation – Miki Araya’s Secretary’s Job. It’s a one-shot title by the creator of Digital Manga’s previously released I’ll Be Your Slave. There are no further details on the imprint or release date, but it’ll likely be under the June line based on Miki Araya’s previous title.

Secretary’s Job is about a “legendary secretary” who is assigned to the son of a company’s president. An office romance springs from a sudden kiss. Also included in the book is another short story titled ‘Fried Rice’. The book was originally published in Japan this past September.

Just as promised when news of their existence was announced, SuBLime has launched their website this week. No titles are yet available to purchase but they have release dates listed for their first four titles due out January 31, 2011.

I really like the website’s design – simple, fast-loading and quite visually cute while simultaneously rather classy. There’s a newsletter  you can sign up for, as well as registration for the site itself which will allow you to comment and purchase and download the digital editions when they’re available. The forum is currently marked as ‘Coming Soon’.

Tonight SuBLime also announced a new title – Iwamoto Kaoru and Fuwa Shinri’s Yebisu Celebrities. The first volume was originally released by BeBeautiful back in 2007. SuBLime will be releasing this five volume series digital-only, starting in March 2012. The story takes places at a design firm, one where only the talented and attractive are allowed, as the new part-timer catches his boss’s eye. As part of the new license, SuBLime will be doing some related giveaways in January when the staff returns from holiday vacation.

AnimeNewsNetwork has confirmed with Drawn & Quarterly that the company will be releasing a new Yoshihiro Tatsumi collection of short stories titled Fallen Words. A listing for the book originally popped up on Amazon.ca, followed shortly there-after by Amazon.com.

“In Fallen Words, Yoshihiro Tatsumi takes up the oral tradition of rakugo and breathes new life into it by shifting the format from spoken word to manga. Each of the eight stories in the collection is lifted from the Edo-era Japanese storytelling form. As Tatsumi notes in the afterword, the world of rakugo, filled with mystery, emotion, revenge, hope, and, of course, love, overlaps perfectly with the world of Gekiga that he has spent the better part of his life developing.”

News of a fresh Yoshihiro Tatsumi license comes with perfect timing for me – I just finished his one-shot Black Blizzard and revisited his sprawling and wonderful, A Drifting Life. Both are different kinds of stories but each left me wanting more of the creator’s work. You can expect I’ll be picking up this new book when it’s released this Spring.

Following up on recent news of Digital Manga licensing Starry☆Sky, the company’s website has now been updated to show the series is being released under their Digital Manga Publishing line. Originally the site’s listing had the title being published in their boys’ love imprint, June.

Starry☆Sky now joins Digital Manga’s other series such as Itazura na Kiss and The Beautiful Skies of Houou High, which seem much more suiting company to this series about a girl pined after by a group of attractive young men in private school. The book’s cover image has also been replaced with a new look sporting the recent DMPBooks cover design instead of the ‘Yaoi Manga’ sidebar it was posted with previously.

Fans of the series were confused over what seemed like Digital Manga’s original decision to release the title as a boys’ love series. Whether a mistake or a change of heart, this switch-up looks like a much better fit and should appease Starry☆Sky‘s fans and those who like having faith they’ll get boys’ love in their BL.

Digital Manga’s newsletter came out yesterday, re-confirming their license of My Cute Crossdresser and listing another title, Starry☆Sky. The first volume of the series is due out in April 2012.

Starry☆Sky is a manga series based on a visual novel game of the same name published in Japan. It’s one of several manga adaptations of the story which follows a girl entering a private school that was until recently an all boys’ school. Over time she makes friends with a group of boys who’re based on the Western zodiac and romance ensues.

Starry☆Sky seems like an odd choice for releasing as a June book, similar to what I thought when I first saw My Cute Crossdresser licensed for Project-H. My confusion wasn’t helped by the genre listing of ‘shonen’ on Digital Manga’s website. This manga series was originally released in a magazine, Comic B’s-Log Kyun, that publishes shoujo series. Some of them look to have some BL-implication – such as a version of Togainu no Chi – but none implicitly boys’ love in nature. With that in mind, plus that it’s based on a shoujo girl-is-surrounded-by-a-harem-of-young-men-who-could-love-her game, is Starry☆Sky being published under their June line for actual BL content or just having a high pretty boy count?

Update (11/12/2011): Digital Manga has switched Starry☆Sky‘s imprint to DMP.