There was no On The Shelf article last Wednesday because of a week without any new manga releases on my schedule list – how depressing was that? Well I guess we’ll accept those mini lulls now and again, especially with big release days like today following it up.

It’s Viz Media‘s big shipment of the month with nineteen new volumes of manga, including the first volume of A Devil and Her Love Song. You can read the full list of titles out this week over at Otaku USA’s On The Shelf article this week. Along with a slew of new volumes of shonen and soujo series, there’s also new volume of the well-loved Finder series from Digital Manga and two new of their Project-H books. Hopefully something for everyone – enjoy!

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.

Diamond Comics is North America’s largest comic book distributor. If you have a local comic store in your area, it’s very likely they get their books from them. Every month Diamond releases a giant magazine, Previews, containing all the products they have – from comics, manga, DVDs and merchandise – that will be released starting in about two months’ time, giving retailers and buyers the chance to put their orders in before shipping dates.

I’ve been picking up the Previews magazines for years, oogling all the different books coming out from publishers and wondering how long until the stacks of Preview magazines I’ve yet to get rid of will crush me in my sleep. Starting now I’ll be writing about the different manga content published in Previews each month here on Kuriousity. This includes all the manga titles listed, the top Manga sellers as tracked by Diamond and mention of other things of interest I spot. With the small two month window, Diamond Previews has rarely been the source of new licenses but it’s a great reminder and showcase of all the books coming our way soon, plus the perfect time to get your orders in, whether through Diamond or at your online retailer of choice.

I’ll also be including with these monthly Preview posts a downloadable PDF that you can print off and check off the manga  you’d like to order. Then it’s as easy as bringing it into your local comic or book store – wherever in your area that orders in through Diamond Comics! Currently the list is just the names and does not include the Diamond order codes. I’ve never come across a store that requires them for ordering but if yours does, let me know and I’ll include them on subsequent files:

January 2012 Manga Previews Checklist (PDF)

You may continue reading at your own discretion for my thoughts, elaborations, random pictures and the Top 10 Selling Manga of November 2011!

With Free Comic Book Day 2012 coming up on May 5th, a handful of pages were dedicated to showcasing the comics created specifically for that day. For manga publishers, Drawn & Quarterly, Fantagraphics, Viz Media and Yen Press were all present. The only work strictly manga-related (though more specifically, manhwa-related) comes from Yen Press who are publishing a sample of their upcoming adapted book, The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel. Viz Media’s sampler is for their upcoming original comic based on the Voltron franchise – Voltron Force. Both books will be the FCBD standard of 32 pages. You can learn more about Free Comic Book Day (a gloriously annual event!) and the comics they’re offering this year on their website.

Next up is Dark Horse‘s section where the company traditionally has a batch of full-pages promoting their upcoming releases. This month they have a preview page of the second volume of their Avatar The Last Airbender sequel comic, The Promise. Volume one is due out this February and I can’t wait!

It’s been a while since I’ve read Adam Warren’s Empowered series but I was pleased to see it continues with volume seven on the way. The series is hilarious, chock full of pop culture jokes and super hero story spoofs. It follows a try-hard fails-bad super heroine named Empowered and her collection of allies, enemies and weird in-betweens. I was always impressed and extra entertained by the manga in-jokes including a healthy dash of playing around with boys’ love tropes and manga stereotypes to amusing, not offensive, effect. It’s a series I’ve got to get myself caught up on.

Dark Horse’s FLCL omnibus has a preview page and a May 16th release date for $19.99/US. “The complete FLCL manga adaptation – now with bonus color illustrations and remastered story pages!”. Also in their preview section was Bride of the Water God (Vol.11) which they promote as being a “Best-selling series in the United States and Korea!”. I guess that means it’s doing well? The second volume of Blood Blockade Battlefront is promoted a bit more humbly as “Sci-fi insanity from the creator of Trigun and Gungrave!”.

Here’s a fun piece of new Star Wars merchandise – a t-shirt with a coloured interior page from the Star Wars manga. It was released originally back in the late 90s with art by Toshiki Kudo. With the old-school manga take on the characters and the fun giant comic sound effects, I’m tempted to buy it!

Yen Press‘s manga-style adaptation of Soulless made the Previews’ featured section, as did Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s Fallen Words being published by Drawn & Quarterly. Both are one-shots and definitely on my to-buy list. Soulless really caught my eye after I read the sampler they had at NYCC 2011. The art is fantastic! Fallen Words also earns the Preview magazines’ “Certified Cool” stamp, meaning books they note as being especially worth checking out.

Just like when Tokyopop shuttered their doors unexpectedly quick, it’s sad seeing ads for upcoming volumes of Bandai Entertainment books. Here they have Kannagi (Vol.04) promoted which would’ve been released in March. We know from Bandai’s PR that this book has been cancelled.

Digital Manga continues to buy full pages to promote select upcoming titles of theirs as well. It’s great to see the worth is there for publishers to advertise their manga to the direct market. In this month’s previews, they have full page ads for Itazura na Kiss (Vol. 08), Replica (Vol. 02), Countdown 7 Days (Vol. 02) and Moon & Blood (Vol. 03). Of the four, I’m most excited for Replica and Countdown 7 Days which are definitely hidden gems I think more would like if they came across copies. These ads may become posters on my wall after I’ve put my orders in.

Onwards Towards Our Noble Death – which was originally released in April 2011 by Drawn & Quarterly – is featured in this Preview edition as a Star of the Month title. It’s another distinction in the magazine for a notable title. Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life (which is going to a new printing) is also a Star of the Month. I really loved A Drifting Life so I’m glad it needs a second edition.  The creator’s four other one-shots are also featured - The Push Man, Abandon The Old in Tokyo, Black Blizzard and Good-Bye – so they should all still be available for you to order into your local store.

Kodansha Comics‘ has eight new volumes listed – Air Gear (Vol.23), Arisa (Vol.07), Bloody Monday (Vol.05), Cage of Eden (Vol.05), Gon (Vol.05), Deltora Quest (Vol.05), Love Hina Omnibus (Vol.03) and Sayonara Zesubou-Sensei (Vol.14). Adding to my frustration with the company, every synopsis is one generic to the whole series, saying nothing specific for the volume itself. Most are those used for volume one. It’s the same thing the company does on retail sites and even their own KodanshaComics.com. Drives me batty! I’ve contacted the company about it but haven’t heard anything back. Gon earned a special Kid-Friendly stamp while Sailor Moon (Vol.01) is re-listed as another Star of the Month.

I was pleasantly surprised to see a listing for One Peace Book‘s Breathe Deeply. The book caught me off guard when it appeared fully published and ready for the market at NYCC when news of the license hadn’t even been promoted. It’s good to see the dark medical one-shot get some wider market advertising, even if it’s description does start with the often groan-worthy “…begs readers to forget what they know about manga.”

Next up in the alphabetical publisher listings is Seven Seas Entertainment. They’ve got listings for Blood Alone (Vol.06) and Toradora! (Vol.04). Both volumes are listed at $11.99 which is a one dollar increase from the original $10.99 that the first two volumes had – I hadn’t even noticed the increase when I bought the third books. Uneven as the singles look next to the omnibus volumes on my shelf (I can’t help it, must be even!), I’m really eager for the new Blood Alone volume as they come out.

UDON Entertainment has a full page promoting the first volume of their upcoming Captain Commando manga. It looks and sounds pretty hilarious, touted as “The Return of Gaming’s Greatest Hero!”. It stars a “fighting force” consisting of Ginzu the Ninja Commando, Mack the Mummy Commando, Baby Head the Baby Commando and their fearless leader, Captain Commando. UDON hasn’t updated their own website in a while with schedule info so places like Diamond and online retailers have been the only real source for release dates.

Next up comes the Viz Media section which is usually a hefty multi-page addition to Previews. This time is no exception but it’s sad to see that almost all the artwork used is really low quality. It looks all grainy and pixelated. This isn’t a norm from them so I can only assume something went wrong between Viz and Previews this month. They’ve got a full page for Pokemon Black & White (Vol.05) and Voltron Force, then two-per-page splits for Blue Excorcist (Vol.07), Bakuman (Vol.10), Bleach (Vol.39), Rosario+Vampire: Season II (Vol.08), Nura Rise of the Youkai Clan (Vol.08), 20th Century Boys (Vol.20), Tenjo Tenge (Vol.06) and X 3-in-1 (Vol.02). It’s nice seeing the Will Eisner stamp next to 20th Century Boys though I do wish Viz Media would mix quotes up a bit – it’s getting old seeing the same Junot Diaz quote in every book and ad. All their other titles due out in March are listed with cover images, info and mini synopsis’s on a single page at the end of the larger preview sections. So many books! You can see the complete list in this month’s Manga Previews PDF.

Vertical Inc has three books listed - Drops of God (Vol.03), GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Vol.02) and Twin Spica (Vol.12). This volume of Twin Spica is the last of the series and clocks in at a whopping 400 pages! The eleventh volume out this month also has 400 pages and while I’ll be sad to see the series end, it looks like it’ll be an experience to savour with two extra large books seeing it out.

Yen Press is the last-up with eight new books scheduled for March – Soulless, Bamboo Blade (Vol.12), A Bride’s Story (Vol.03), Bunny Drop (Vol.05), The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya-chan (Vol.05), Pandora Hearts (Vol.09), Spice and Wolf (Vol.06) and the newly begun, Is This A Zombie? (Vol.01). Is This A Zombie is listed as their Spotlight On title. Seeing the cover of Bunny Drop (Vol.05) with Rin now a teenager makes me fearful for that ending everyone is often complaining about. I’ve been assured it still sticks to its quality coming-of-age and family drama right up until the end though so I’ll be with it until the end! The synopsis for A Bride’s Story (Vol.03) also shows that the story will be shifting onto Mr. Smith for a while and his journeys away from the village we’ve be in so far.

Listed in the back of the Diamond Previews are the top selling titles from a variety of categories based on several months of sales tracking. This month they have the results for November 2011.

Top 10 Manga of November 2011:

1. Sailor Moon (Vol.02)
2. Codename Sailor V (Vo.02)
3. Negima! (Vol. 32)
4. Mega Manga Gigamiz (Vol.03)
5. MPD Psycho (Vol.10)
6. Claymore (Vol.19)
7. D. Gray Man (Vol.21)
8. Princess Knight (Vol.01)
9. Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Vol.10)
10. Fairy Tail (Vol.16)

Sailor Moon (Vol.02) also made spot 8/10 on the overall Top 10 Graphic Novels & Trade Paperbacks list. Nostalgic shoujo manga up there with the superheroes and zombies, and in the direct market as well. Great to see!

That’s it for the manga-content of Previews January 2012. If you’re interested in browsing through all the comics, anime, toys and games scheduled for March(-ish), I recommend going to your local comic store and picking up a copy. Until next month! Well… for a new Previews post anyway.

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!

Best Release Quality

While we’re not getting the same amount of individual volumes of manga as years’ past, the quality of releases keeps getting better. This year I was really impressed with Yen Press‘s work on A Bride’s Story which was a hardcover book sporting a beautiful full-colour, matte finish cover slip. It compliments the work perfectly!

Another nice hardcover book was Wandering Son which was released by Fantagraphics. The book was also printed at a larger than normal size making for a book that’s a bit tricky to fit on the shelf but really enjoyable to read.

Viz Media‘s softcover omnibus of CLAMP’s X series was also a treat with lots of full-colour, glossy pages inside. The series is also released in its original visual format for the first time in English.

Best Boys’ Love

My boys’ love buying was a bit smaller than usual this year as much of Digital Manga’s attentions shifted to digital releases and I began running into a lot of supply issues trying to buy physical copies from them (a definite downer of 2011!). Of the titles I did read though, two really stood out. The number one was Only Serious About You (Vol.01) – a really charming story that felt like Future Lovers meets Bunny Drop. The art was nice and the story so sweet and romantic, even with things remaining mostly platonic in this introductory volume.

Another boys’ love title that I loved was Rabbit Man, Tiger Man. I couldn’t resist the visual contrast between the small, cute doctor and the tall, scary yakuza! The story itself was a lot funnier than I expected and I was entertained by every page. The English adaptation stood out to me as being really good too, I loved some of the word choices. I really hope the rest of the series gets licensed.

Favourite Fan Service

While neither are new series to this year, the continuing Black Butler (Yen Press) and XXXHolic (Del Rey) win again for best fan service (the kind that appeals to me)! The suedo-romantic(?) tension between it’s lead male characters and the gorgeous clothing design and dark inking make them immediate must owns, complete with the occasional squeals and swoons. XXXHolic has been a more consistent wow factor volume after volume so it’ll be bittersweet seeing it end early this new year.

Best Second Chances

Re-releases, omnibus and new editions have became a fairly regular occurrence and the chance to revisit something missed is great. This year I was pleasantly surprised by Seven Sea‘s Blood Alone (Vol.01), an omnibus edition of the original first three volumes. It’s a great vampire story that steers clear of most tropes and focuses more on a subtle but poignant relationship between a young girl and her protector.

One of my favourite series of 2011 was Full Metal Alchemist. Though it’s been coming out for a number of years, I’d only just started reading it thanks to borrowing a friends’ copies. Viz Media celebrated the last volume of the series coming out by releasing a box set of the entire thing – all twenty-seven volumes! It’s a fantastic value. I highly recommend it, while also suggesting you avoid the omnibus editions which only cover the first nine volumes then stop.

Digital Manga‘s continuing editions of Kizuna have been great as well. In 2011 we finally got to the point in the omnibus editions where the original English edition by BeBeautiful had stopped. New content! I love that we have a second chance to purchase it, and now the whole thing at that!

Best (Worst?) Good-Byes

While 2011 saw some great series start, it also saw some of my favourites come to an end. The biggest and saddest goodbye goes to Vertical Inc‘s edition of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack. This is one of my favourite manga series of all time and to finish reading the last volume was a sad experience indeed. It’s such a fun series and Black Jack himself is an amazing character. I’ve no doubt I’ll be re-reading it again and again.

Viz Media’s English edition of Full Metal Alchemist also came to an end. The pain of it ending was dampened by how I’d read the whole thing within a month leading up to it and because the ending was so, so good. I’m also thankful we got to read the entire story. I wish I could say the same for things such as Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo and Shinobi Life which we’ve had to say farewell to early because of Tokyopop’s shutdown. That wasn’t an easy goodbye in itself either – so unfortunate!

Top Can’t-Look-Away-Titles

Like watching a train-wreck and being unable to look away (as they say…?), sometimes there are those titles that are just dark, depressing and sort of scary. Bleak as they may be, the emotional rollar-coasting of reading them makes every page turn worth it. Vertical delivered two series that fit the description, both by Usamaru Furuya. Lychee Light Club is a one-shot with plenty of violence, sex and crazy, crazy people. I read it, loved it and honestly may never read it again. It’s just one of those kind of titles, you know? My signed copy sits proudly on the shelf.

Usamaru Furuya’s No Longer Human has been an experience as well. It’s more grim and dark than violent and shocking but I’m definitely in for the whole messy journey. I look forward to seeing how it finishes in 2012 with volume three what was started in 2011 with volumes one and two.

Getting to meet Usamaru Furuya and hear him interviewed at TCAF 2012 was also a big highlight of the year for me. Hopefully in 2012 I’ll be able to meet an idol with fewer than twenty minutes of self-psyching to work up the nerve to say hello – it could happen, right?

Most Long Awaited

Of all the English manga titles and trends started in 2011, I think it’ll be most known for bringing about two of the most long-awaited manga series of all time – Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon and Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight.

Kodansha Comics released the two volume prequel series, Sailor V, and the first two volumes of Sailor Moon – both are must haves for the magical-girl fans out there! Talk about a trip down nostalgia lane too. While Sailor Moon is one of the most well-known manga titles, Vertical Inc took the honour of releasing one of the very first. The company released both omnibus volumes of Princess Knight in 2011 so you can now buy the whole thing – prepare to enjoy!

As a big CLAMP fan, I was also thrilled to finally get the first volume of their new Gate 7 in my hands. With the title first announced years ago by Dark Horse, it’s been a much longer wait than any anticipated.

Hidden Gems of 2011

Two titles published by Digital Manga that I really enjoyed were Replica and Countdown 7 Days. Both are by Kemuri Karakara and are series it’s tricky to really nail down genre-wise. They’re very shonen in nature but more character-oriented with really nice artwork, less focus on stuff like fighting and ‘The power of friendship!’. Sort of like… D.Grayman, Arata the Legend, and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles – to name a few that come to mind first.

I really enjoyed both the series so far – great art, fun characters and some interesting stories. I heard little mention of either from the manga blogosphere or social media outlets though but I hope a lot of readers still got to check them out. I’m sure a lot of readers out where would enjoy them. Volume one of each were released in 2011 and I’m eager for the follow-ups in 2012.

Must-Own One-Shots

I love a good one-shot! When done well they’re a really satisfying experience, having either a nice collection of short stories or one solid piece planned for a one-go read. They’re also the easiest thing to suggest to new readers – short but sweet, without the commitment of multi-volume series. Of the one-shots published in 2011, my favourites were Natsume Ono’s Tesoro (Viz Media) and Taniguchi Jiro ‘s A Zoo in Winter (Ponent Mon). I’ve read works by both the artist’s before but these easily became my favourites of each. Both are high quality releases and have stories full of sincerity and compelling human drama – I highly recommend both!

Top Tear-Jerkers

I don’t consider myself quick to tears but sometimes a volume of manga manages to get me there. Goes to show you should always be ready with a hanky or two because you never know what tears a story may bring. Ouran High School Host Club (Vol. 17) was such a fun, high-energy and very satisfying read that I found myself tearing up from joy. That was a new one for me. I enjoyed it so much, seeing how far the series and characters have come. You can bet the last volume, due out in June 2012, will be one hard to say good-bye to.

My feelings were similar reading the last volume of Genkaku Picasso, also released by Viz Media. Picasso’s growth and acceptance of his new friends and their support for him was so touching. I never thought it’d be a series that would move me that much but, by the end of volume three, I was definitely wiping at my eyes to be able to see the pages.

Lastly, when it came to just downright heart-breakingly sad, Stargazing Dog from NBM Publishing won hands down. What made me cry wasn’t even always the sad parts, sometimes it was those bittersweet moments that predate them. It was no surprise to me that a book about the love and loyalty of a pet dog would be an emotional trip though. It’s a great read but definitely have your tissues ready for this one.

Yay-For-More-Coming Titles

We saw series start and end in 2011 but many others were just trekking their way through with more to come. My top-wanted series (because goodness knows there’re dozens of ‘em) that began in years past and have continued through 2011 and onward to 2012 are Kamisama Kiss, Bunny Drop, 20th Century Boys, Pokemon Adventures and The Tyrant Falls in Love. Saying good-bye to a year comes with a lot of good-byes in general but at least there are none for these yet!

Alas-Only-One Titles

Some continuing titles however, made their way through 2011 with unfortunately minimal appearances. A number of my favourite series only had one volume released over the entire year. While the books were great, the long wait is always tough. I’ve got my fingers crossed for more of Kaze Hikaru, Yotsuba&!, Berserk and The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service in 2012.

Most Redeemed

Along with the series that I already loved going into 2011, I also went into the year with a few series I was on the fence about. With several volumes of each throughout the year though, I was made a believer! While they each had some rough starts – be it too predictable, too slow or just painfully sexist, 2011 was a redeeming year for Rumiko Takahashi’s Rin-Ne (Viz Media), Kou Yaginuma’s Twin Spica (Vertical) and Tsugumi Ohba/Takeshi Obata’s Bakuman (Viz Media). Now I’ll be spending 2012 eagerly awaiting every new volume of these three.

Top I’m-Not-Sure-Why Reads

Most people have these kinds of reads – the ones where you really like them but you’re not really sure why. I went into 2011 not able to pinpoint why I love Viz Media’s Toriko and Kodansha Comics’ Air Gear so much and a year later I’m still not sure why. Both had several volumes out in 2011 and still the answer eludes me. One thing I do know though is I love Toriko more for the story, less for the art, and with Air Gear it’s the opposite. I guess as long as I still love reading them, it’s okay that 2011 held tight to their secrets!

Could’ve-Done-Withouts

Enjoyable as many reads were this year, there were some that I could have done without. They weren’t bad, per say, but I was left feeling so underwhelmed upon finishing that I felt my time and money could have been much better spent elsewhere. Blood Blockade Battlefront (Dark Horse), Drifters (Dark Horse) and Drops of God (Vertical) were all series newly started in 2011. While I usually give a series two volumes to impress, I think I’ll leave any future copies of these ones on the shelves for other more interested readers. Not necessarily bad, just not for me.

Most Gag Worthy

Alas where there is good and meh, there is also just outright bad. Thankfully I didn’t read too many stinkers this year but yikes, did the bad ever stand out when they did show themselves. While I don’t often regret reading a book, I got to that point with Ai Ore! (Vol. 01). With some of the most hateable characters I’ve ever read in a manga title, and the end of this first volume nearly earned the title a chuck at the wall. Why, Viz Media? Why?! Digital Manga’s The Beautiful Skies of Houou High was pretty bad also, but erred on the side of just being painful to read and falling short of being rage-inducing.

… and that’s it folks! My thanks to all the manga publishers, local retailers, fellow manga supporters and of course manga creators for a great 2011!

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.

Manga-ka: Ahiru Haruno
Publisher: June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: August 2011

Synopsis: “It was fierce love at first sight! When the adorable cub Mr. Wolf carries away to his cave turns out to be a wily tiger boy, little does the sly hunter know that he’ll soon become the submissive wife to his manipulative (but charming) captive! When Mr. Tiger calls the shots, Mr. Wolf can’t help but bend to his every whim. After all, who could possibly resist such a handsome, furry face?”

Lots of yaoi manga feature anthropomorphic animals and it’s easy to see the appeal: cute guys plus cute animals equals win/win. Mr. Tiger and Mr. Wolf doesn’t bring anything new to the table, but it at least delivers on both sides of the equation.

One of the manga’s strong points is how it doesn’t shy away from the animal side of the characters. The characters don’t even have names, they just go by ‘Mr. Tiger’ or ‘Mr. Wolf’ (or in the case of Tiger’s extended family, Brother Tiger, Father Tiger, etc.). Mr. Wolf is the leader of a wolf pack. One day he comes across a tabby cat and decides that the kitten will be his wife. He takes the cat home and teaches him how to live like a wolf. When Mr. Wolf returns from an extended hunting trip, he’s shocked to find that the little ‘tabby cat’ has grown up into a adult tiger. On top of that, Mr. Wolf also realizes that if anyone’s the ‘wife’ in this relationship, it’s him.

The manga uses the differences between wolves and tigers as a good source of conflict. Most of Mr. Wolf’s insecurities are born out of the difference between their two species: tigers aren’t usually monogamous, tigers live twice as long as wolves, etc. Mr. Wolf also starts to feel guilty for carrying off Tiger at such a young age and teaching him how to be a wolf rather than a tiger. If this were a manga featuring humans, the situation would be criminal and disgusting, but within the context of the animal world it’s not as creepy. The manga gets away with a lot because of how innocent the world and the characters are.

For the most part the book is light-hearted but near the end the manga-ka tries to amp up the stakes and make things serious. It’s a shift that just doesn’t work either tonally or plot wise. It’s a common problem in romantic-comedies in any medium and sometimes it works, but not often and not here. Still, it’s not such a severe shift in tone that it ruins the whole book.

Near the end we also get a chapter focusing on Brother Tiger and a hunting dog he meets in the woods. Their story is really cute and I would have liked to have seen more of them.

The art is cute and consistent. The manga-ka tries to include backgrounds, but I still would have liked more and in more detail. Also, I wish she had drawn the characters in animal form more often as she draws animals really well.

Mr. Tiger and Mr. Wolf is a sweet if silly little manga. It’s a nice read if you want something a little bit harder than shounen-ai but still light and fluffy.

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Digital copy provided by Digital Manga for review purposes

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.

Wednesday! New comics day! You can read the list of new manga volumes out this week over at my On The Shelf article at Otaku USA.

There’s a bunch of new Digital Manga titles shipping this week, and Viz Media has released their new original-orientation, newly translated and highly spiffy looking omnibus edition of X. CLAMP really owns the omnibus market here don’t they? Their works are definitely setting a standard!

Yaoi-Con may only have been a week ago but Digital Manga’s newest e-mail newsletter has two new for-print manga licenses. They’ve also since posted about titles on their blog.

Samejima-kun and Sasahara-kun – Koshino
Castle Mango (Vol. 01) – Muku Ogura & Narise Konohara

Just looking at the cover artwork you can see a big difference in the mood of each one. Samejima-kun and Sasahara-kun looks really fun and Digital Manga lists it as a “HILARIOUS comedy”. Their plot synopsis of Castle Mango definitely piques my curiousity though, roughly as it may be written: “A 30yr old gay Adult Video producer (seme) x A college kid, straight, inherited & owns a love hotel (uke).”

While I love we get licensing news so quick and directly from the publisher, it would be nice if they could provide a tad bit of substance when sharing. Titles, artists and cover thumbnails are all good but I’m disappointed to see no real synopsises for the stories. Sure we BL fangirls are known for adoring some titles for shiny artwork and man-on-man action alone, but that doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy something called a plot the majority of the time.

There are no release dates yet for the books’ publication from Digital Manga either (though these are likely little more than hopes and estimations this early on anyway) but based on past licenses, we’ll likely see these books available mid-2012. Titles released recently by Digital Manga (such as About Love last week) were originally announced just this past April.

It’s a week of especially amazing works coming out! Don’t waste a manga-buying moment and stop by this week’s On The Shelf article to see the titles being released tomorrow.

A Bride’s Story (Vol.02), Yotsuba&! (Vol.10), Drops of God (Vol.01)… and then you have the fangirl button pressing Black Butler (Vol. 07) and a guilty pleasure like Air Gear (Vol.20) sprinkled on top. But those are just my absolute must-haves – still lots more on the list where those came from.

Writing On The Shelf for Otaku USA, I continue to be impressed week after week about just how much manga is released in North America. Stacks of new books every week. And by stand nearly every book at 150+ pages and all this ‘after’ the manga bubble ‘burst’. Sure we can always want more and more but you know what? We’re so darn lucky and I love it! Thank you, publishers :)

Conventions are generally my time to dig through boxes of vendors’ manga to find those older missed titles but that doesn’t mean I skip a beat on the new titles out! My most recent On The Shelf article is up at Otaku USA with this week’s new releases.

I was really happy to see the new volume of March Story is out from Viz Media. It’s not a series that seems to be on many people’s radar but I really enjoyed the first two. They can get pretty gruesome but my interest in the characters and gorgeous imagery outweighed the sometimes overly-heavy violence elements easily.

Seeing the release dates come up for Digital Manga‘s big pile of boys’ love titles was the real kicker for me though. Rabbit Man, Tiger Man; A Strange & Mystifying Story; and Kizuna are three of my favourite boys’ love series. I hope I can find copies of these new books at NYAF this weekend!

Digital Manga’s weekly Newsletter was released tonight and in it were a couple fun tidbits of info for boys’ love fans.

Even though the upcoming YaoiCon is only a month away, Digital Manga is still revealing new licenses utilizing their newsletter. Exciting as the con atmosphere is for new licenses, I love that they’re sprinkling license news online like this. It definitely beats finding it randomly on Amazon. The new two books are:

Depression of the Anti-Romanticist
by Yasuna Saginuma (Author)/Riyu Yamakami (Manga-ka)

Beast & Feast (pictured above)
by Norikazu Akira

Along with the licensing announcements, some Digital Manga Guild reminders and job postings, they also made a few quick notes on the contents of their YaoiCon events:

YaoiCon takes place October 21st-23rd down in Burlingame, California. Digital Manga’s sponsored guest this year is Fusanosuke Inariya, creator of (to name an especially popular one), Maiden Rose. Digital Manga doesn’t make too many convention appearances but as a company that primarily publishes boys’ love, they always save up their resources and news for this yearly event.

While I’m always most eager to hear about new licenses, I’m curious about their ‘Top-Secret Announcement’. More publication exclusives such as Yellow 2? Related to DMG or the requests for novel translators this past month? More accessibility to their eManga library (access to it on a smartphone would be a ‘huge’ step in me dipping my toe into digital manga with all their DMG one-shots)? Maybe some yuri licenses?! …I can dream right? I keep telling myself their library of Eiki Eiki and Taishi Zaou means they have a great gateway in place already for fans so it could happen…

News-wise, I’m also curious if they’ll talk at all about their newly, and rather quietly, launched hentai imprint Project-H. Sure it’s not BL but I’m definitely not the only BL reader out there who likes a little senseless, heterosexual porn sometimes.

Convention season is coming to a close for another year (well… a handful of months anyway) but I’m sure we’ll have plenty to ponder, discuss and cheer for after YaoiCon and the upcoming NYAF/NYCC. Any big manga news you’ve got your fingers crossed for?

Is it really the last day of August already? Yikes… summer just flew by. I can’t believe people will be returning to school in just a few days. I may’ve graduated years ago, but I still love hitting the books – just a different kind of course (not that I didn’t read a heck of a lot of manga in my school years as well!). Otaku USA has my newest edition of On The Shelf posted for this week’s manga releases.

My top pick is definitely Kohta Hirano’s Drifters. Elves, magic, distorted and exaggerated historical figures and the creator’s snazzy art style = a must read! Fingers crossed we don’t have to wait as long for volume two of Drifters as we did for volume thirteen of Eden… Better than never though, Dark Horse, so my thanks for both this week!

Slipping in some under the radar news last week (unless you’re signed up with DMP’s handy newsletter), Digital Manga has added a few new boys’ love titles to their print line-up:

Devil’s Infirmary – Aco Oumi
(“Hokenshitsu no Akuma”)

Ambiguous Relationship – Masara Minase
(“Mijuku na Kareshi”)

Gentlemen’s Agreement Between A Rabbit & a Wolf – Oumi Shinano
(“Usagi to Ookami no Shinshikyoutei”)

Devil’s Infirmary is the second book Aco Oumi has had published by Digital Manga – the first being 801Media‘s Love Circumstances. Amibiguous Relationship‘s artist may look familiar to some also – they’ve had a couple works released by Drama Queen and were the artist for June‘s BL novel, The Lonely Egotist. Oumi Shinano hasn’t had any works released in English yet but they do have a one-shot titled Yakuza Cafe coming from June in October.

Digital Manga has also recently updated their website to include book releases up until September 2012. Some notable (and my most anticipated titles) include up to volume five of Tyrant Who Falls In Love and the Finder series, About Love (wedding planner yaoi? Must see!) and the long-awaited third volume of A Strange and Mystifying Story.

An important distinction to make is the licenses above are for print and don’t include Digital Manga’s growing list of one-shot titles being published through their Digital Manga Guild. This includes the recently released Tired of Waiting for Love. The DMG titles are digitally only and will be released on eManga.com as they come out. I recommend following Digital Manga’s Twitter account for guild news as it comes out.

*Image above is from cover of Oumi Shinano’s Gentlemen’s Agreement Between A Rabbit & a Wolf