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Archive for the Licensing Category

Deux Saves Cigarette Kisses

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Those lamenting the loss of Brocolli Book’s yaoi imprint, Boysenberry, because they feared that they’d never get their hands on an English edition of Nase Yamato’s Cigaerette Kisses, need fear no more. In a surprisingly swift move (from our consumer perspective anyway), Deux Press announced today their acquistion of the title.

“Deux Press, the yaoi imprint of Aurora Publishing, has picked up the title Cigarette Kisses by Nase Yamato. Originally, Boysenberry Books, the yaoi imprint of Broccoli Books, was to release this title. However, with Broccoli Books shutting down, the title will be dropped from their list. Lucky for all of the Nase Yamato fans, Deux Press (who is already releasing her Take Me to Heaven in January 2009) was able to acquire the rights to the title, and fans can expect the manga to be released sometime in the second half of 2009.”

This news comes to Kuriousity compliments of Fujoshi Library.

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Shut Downs, Slow Downs and Possible Start Up

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, November 21, 2008

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Doesn’t it always seem like lots of stuff goes on and e-mail boxes get flooded on the few days you’re out of town? Darn irony! So upon my arrival home from an entertaining anime & manga presentation I helped run for Teen Read Week in Halifax, I came across several different things so it’s short round-up time!

Biggest manga news in recent days is undoubtably the announced shutdown of Brocolli Books USA International. While not a big fan of the publisher myself, it can’t be denied that they had some popular titles and a good reputation of quality. I first heard of Brocoll’s shutdown thanks to Gia who was quick to learn of the news. Since then ICv2 has recieved confirmation of the shutdown and more information was shared with the public through Brocolli Books’ production blog.

Yaoi Press’s Twitter reminds those waiting for some of DMP’s December releases that they’ve been pushed back until sometime in 2009, including Vampire Hunter D (Vol. 03) and Kabuki (Vol. 02). The full list can read from ANN’s post this past October.

On a potentially more positive note, another post over on the DramaQueen forums had this to say:

“Tyrant QC is done so next phase is printing!!! OK – we will be updating the website with pre-order for weekend after Thanks Giving – that would be Nov. 29th that Saturday.

We are timing the pre-order as close to the time we get the books in-house from our beloved printers. So there might be a 2 week lag from pre-orders to shipping date. Just wanted to let everyone know in advance!”

As usual, we shall see…

Also, at BLU would like to remind readers to stop asking about Love Pistols (Vol. 06). It hasn’t yet been released in Japan so harassing them about it won’t make it available in English any faster. Even I’ve recieved e-mails asking about it so I can only imagine what their e-mail boxes must look like. Please be courteous and do your research before you make an inquiry :)

And finally on a great note if it turns out to be true, Danielle over at Comics Should Be Good! is spreading the word that it looks like Viz may have picked up the license to Fumi Yoshinaga’s Ooku. Edit: And ANN continues this news with a bunch of other titles as well!

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Categories: Licensing, Misc
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, DramaQueen, Fumi Yoshinaga

Yen with Tena on S-string, Amazon Predicts Some More

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, November 9, 2008

5 Comments »

Slow week for manga news here on Kuriousity so I thought I should give you guys something atleast ;) While doing my usual Amazon browsing today, I noticed a lot of previously announced Yen Press titles have popped up in recent weeks, though among them it seems there is one that’s yet to be formally announced: Tena on S-string by Sesuna Mikabe. Remember, nothing posted on Amazon is an absolute, but it’s a pretty darn good indication.

Other titles I came across that I don’t believe have been announced yet (please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong), are: Love Machine by Amayo Tsuge, Idol Pleasures by Fuhri Misasagi, and Chocolate Surprise by Lily Hoshino. All three are boys’ love stories listed by Aurora Publishing, aka Deux Press. Also under Aurora Publishing is Tango by Tetsuzo Okadaya. UDON also has listed The Big Adventures of Majoko by Tomomi Mizuna and Ninja Baseball Kyuma by Shunshin Maeda.

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Categories: Licensing

License Fortune Telling… But Not Really

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, October 20, 2008

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Back in March of this year, Tokyopop sent out a lengthy remove list to scanlators and download sites through it’s German branch, Tokyopop Germany, (or atleast that’s where I picked up on it first). On that list were 230 manga titles, many of which had been licensed at the time, both by TP and other publishers, while a number of them had not. Well, I kept my hands on that list (due mostly to me being a computer packrat) and I periodically went and checked off titles that were licensed over the past year since then, just for kicks I guess. In these last seven months I’ve crossed off quite a few new titles, the majority of which were picked up by Tokyopop.

I went back this morning to add the newest slew of Tokyopop pick-ups as posted on Amazon over the month, and noticed that my remove list had dwindled down to a mere 23 yet-to-be-licensed titles. While the list in no way guarantees that these titles will be licensed, it’s sure been a good little fortuneteller in its own right thus far, showing a good array of titles Tokyopop, in particular, has had (or still has) on the bargaining table.

I know I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Amatsuki, Harlem Beat and Rose of Versailles (alongside my wishes for a big Sailor Moon manga revival thanks to the yet-to-make-any-announcements English branch of Kodansha. … please, Kodansha?).

Under the cut, I’ve provided the list for any other curious, with titles crossed off indicating they’ve been licensed (feel free to correct me on any mistakes!). What purpose does it serve? Maybe very little, but for those keeping their fingers crossed for some of the remaining titles, may it offer some light at the end of the hopeful tunnel :)

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Kingdom Hearts, Loveless

More TP on Amazon

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, October 14, 2008

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A few new titles that’ve popped up since last Saturday, listed as being published in summer 2009 by Tokyopop:

Zone-OO (Vol. 01)
Kyujyo Kiyo

Bloody Kiss (Vol. 01)
Furumiya Kazuko

Summoner Girl (Vol. 01)
???????

There’s also a listing up for the fourth volume of the series, Kingdom Hearts II, due out in August 2009. Tokyopop still has an artbook for Kingdom Hearts listed but the October 2008 date has been pushed back to January 2009.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Kingdom Hearts

TP’s Summer 2009 on Amazon

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, October 11, 2008

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During my Amazon sifting today, I came across a bunch of new Tokyopop listings for summer 2009, including some (to my knowledge) new licenses that haven’t been announced and some titles that had been fear cancelled but have several future volumes to look forward to.

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Categories: Licensing

Go!Comi Yaoi Con Licenses and 07-Ghost

By Lissa Pattillo on Saturday, October 4, 2008

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I’m a little late on the draw with posting this news but doesn’t hurt to toss it out there anyway, right? Good stuff!

Go!Comi sent out a press release regarding two boys’ love licenses they announced at the past Yaoi Con 2008. The titles are Get the Moon and Brandoll, both by Ryo Takagi whose manga, The Devil Within, has already been released by Go!Comi.

“Get the Moon” tells the story of Getto, and his complex relationship with Moon – a handsome android created by his father! Getto’s sibling rivalry with Moon is inflamed by the fact that his father clearly prefers his android creation over his human one. As Getto and Moon fight for their “father’s” approval, will their relationship turn to hate – or love?

“Bran Doll” details the misadventures of the hapless Fen, who signs up for his country’s Special Defense Force, only to find himself enrolled in the Special DOLL Force instead! Now Fen must hunt down and retrieve a collection of precious, missing bran dolls (that’s right – bran dolls, the kind they use in voodoo) that have been scattered to the four corners of the world. Unfortunately for Fen (but fortunately for the reader) he has four beautiful men to accompany him on his quests!

Go!Comi’s website for their series 07-Ghost, is also up and running now. To celebrate the site’s launch, and the upcoming release of volume one, they’ve started a draw-contest with the winner recieving the original seven book set of the 07-Ghost tankobon.

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Categories: Contests, Licensing
Tags: 07 Ghost, Boys' Love/Yaoi

Digital Manga Speaks After Yaoi Con 2008

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, October 2, 2008

12 Comments »

Today I recieved an e-mail from Michelle Mauk from Digital Manga Publishing regarding the recent Yaoi Con convention and there’s plenty of good news to go around! From book announcements made at Yaoi Con, to the state of their imprints, you can read it all under the cut.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Fumi Yoshinaga, Makoto Tateno

NYAF 2008 Recap

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, September 28, 2008

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Not many announcements made at the New York Anime Festival this past weekend but there’re still some new manga licenses to share! No word from publishers on any announcements made at this weekend’s Yaoi Con (yet).

Licenses, thanks to Gia and Deb Aoki, are under the cut.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Conventions

Yuri from Yaoi and a Missed License?

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, July 29, 2008

1 Comment »

A few random things of interest worth noting today:

A post over at Yaoi Press’s blog says that Yuri fans will have something to look forward to from the original Yaoi publisher at their Otakon booth.

According to ANN, the comedy manga Cafe Kichijouji de is set to continue in the anthology magazine Wings. Originally based off drama CDs, Cafe Kichijouji de is currently being made into a live-action television drama in Japan and has had it’s original three volumes of manga published by Digital Manga Publishing.

And lastly for now: Amazon.com has recently been updated with just about all the Digital Manga Publishing, and its imprints Doki Doki & June plus sister-group 801Media, books licensed and announced at Anime Expo. So if you’re looking for release dates of the many titles, then give Amazon a check. Gotta love that one of the Hellboy graphic novels is currently the number one selling manga, wouldn’t you say? Note: I have nothing against the Hellboy comics, just Amazon’s current placement of them it seems.

A notable title to pop up also, however, is Train*Train, a comedy by Eiki Eiki which I don’t recall hearing any licensing news for. No complaints from me on this licensing though! Train*Train is the story of Asahi Sarutaa, a boy who wishes to be a train conducter, only to discover that his dream job location only hires the most attractive people to work there.

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: Yuri