Manga-ka: Hyouta Fujiyama
Publisher: DMP/June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released:

Synopsis: “Nanase and Heiji are back, and this time the only thing standing in their way is Nanase’s brother, Yoichi. Something about the overgrown, over-bold Heiji makes big brother’s blood boil – and that’s before he founds out about their secret pact! Yes, it’s true that at Kinsei High, ninety percent of the all-boys school student body are gay (or bi), but Yoichi’s hardly ready to face those facts.”

Ordinary Crush, volume two, continues where volume one left readers. After an initial ruse led to their going out, Nanase and Heiji are now happily involved and join the ranks of the 90% of gay or bi population of their all-boys’ school. A problem arises in the form of Nanase’s brother, Yoichi, a previous student of Kinsei High. Yoichi is well aware of the behaviour of Kinsei’s students and was hopeful his brother had avoided those kinds of complications. Along with the fact that Yoichi has no like for Heiji, and that’s before even discovering Heiji’s dating his little brother, Yoichi was bound to cause some problems.

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Old news? New news? Good news for sure. During my splunking for upcoming purchases over at Chapters.ca, I came across an October 2008 listing for Akira Himekawa’s Legend of Zelda manga, published by Viz.

It’s a really cute series, one I’ve always wondered about being published over here, especially with the recent success of Zelda-franchising such as Twlight Princess, Smash Brothers Brawl & the numerous DS games. Looks like the time has come; though I can’t help but be a little surprised it’s Viz? Seems more a Tokyopop kind of deal, though Viz is releasing the manga adaptation of Blue Dragon… (unfortunately). Either way, I’m looking forward to this one for sure.

Other random finds include Bleach SOULs. Official Character Book (Nov 2008), and volumes 25+ of too many series. Already knew about The Art of Bleach, but The Art of Full Moon? News to me, very pretty artwork by Arina Tanemura.

There was something I forgot to make specific note of yesterday in my post about Gia’s Sakura Con coverage; something that I’m going to take a little more time going into today.

The speakers at the TokyoPop panel were asked a question about whether or not they would be changing their Canadian prices on their books to reflect the strength of the Canadian dollar. Their answer was yes (adding on that of course they have no power over books that have already been distributed).

Manga publishers who currently display both American and Canadian prices on their books are Tokyopop/BLU, Viz, Kitty Media, ICE Kunion (absorbed by Yen Press), DelRey and CMX. Will they follow suit?

In the meantime, and in the future with older releases, what are companies and individual sellers doing to insure that what the Canadian consumer pays reflects the strength of our dollar?

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Sending out some more pimpage to Gia over at her blog. She’s currently at Sakura Con 2008, live-updating her site with the going-ons in the industry panels including Tokyopop (CLAMP’s working on Gohou Drug 4? News to me and made of win!), Funimation and Brocolli.

Manga-ka: Ryo Saenagi
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: February 2006

Synopsis: “As a school punishment, Kanata has to ring a bell in a deserted church. But when the floor collapses, he falls into a room where he discovers a coffin – from which a vampire rises, killing Kanata! But Kanata’s soul is saved, and he and the vampire soon realize that they are bound to each other through a magic spell! With a cool style and sensibility, Sequence showcases the ultimate in pretty boys and vampire slayers!”

Sequence doesn’t waste anytime in giving readers most of what the back cover synopsis promises: within the first ten pages, Kanata, a young high school student, accidentally discovers a vampire in a coffin, hidden within an abandoned church, and is promptly killed by him. Moments later he awakens with no clear memory of what happened… though he is alive so all’s right with the world, right? Not quite. Strange occurrences at his school bring about Kanata and the vampire, Kamyu Titi’s, second encounter when they both realize they’ve been connected through a magic spell, one that combined their souls and leaves both their bodies susceptible to the other one’s pain, including death.

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Manga-ka: Hyouta Fujiyama
Publisher: DMP/June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released:

Synopsis: “Welcome to Kinsei Private School – a respected, all-boys institution where it’s rumored ninety percent of the student body is gay (or bi). For the straight Nanase, this means constantly evading day-to-day advances from his love-struck classmates. Just what is a “normal” boy to do in this sea of “abnormality?”

Nanase’s solution to his private school woes is to go along with the plan suggested by his upperclassman, Heiji, who suggests the two of them pretend to date. Now throw in the fact that Heiji is already crazy for Nanase along with other students who aren’t willing to let Nanase go that easy. To make matters even more complicated, or in the case of a yaoi, simpler, Nanase finds himself acting in love with Heiji a little too passionately and thus it doesn’t take much thought to see where this is going.

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Manga-ka: Aoi Kujyou
Publisher: DMP/June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released:

Synopsis: “Kazushi has longed for his childhood friend Izumi for years. And just when it looked like Kazushi had finally convinced him that they would make an excellent couple, Izumi up and disappears!?!? Watch the two lovers’ relationship evolve and mature, in this collection of works by Aoi Kujou.”

Love Share is the story of two men: the levelheaded and predominantly passive Kazushi, and the free-spirited and mysterious Izumi. Though all follow the same couple, the chapters in Love Share are more like a string of short stories that give us different glimpses of this passionate but unstable relationship.

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The magazine asked for these puns; it’s out of my control. Today I’m posting my review on the first issue of PiQ, ADV’s new magazine as follow up to NewType USA’s cancellation. Originally written last week, it was a task in itself avoiding the reviews for it that began springing up everywhere until I was done my own, but in literacy-freedom now, there seems to be a lot of the same things said for PiQ‘s premiere publication.

PiQ: Entertainment for the Rest of Us Issue 01 April 2008Pages: 128 Coming in on the heels of NewType USA’s cancellation arrives PiQ, ADV’s new entry into the magazine industry. Is it really “Entertainment for the Rest of Us”?

Revealed shortly after the announcement that NewType USA was approaching its final issue, PiQ was promoted as of “keen interest” to NT fans with content including “anime, manga, video games and other aspects of pop culture.” Almost immediately the anime community rose up in scrutiny over the broader reach this new magazine would cover. While multi-subject magazines don’t usually find themselves under this kind of pressure from individual communities, its position as NewType’s replacement has made PiQ a prime target for critical anime fans everywhere. Could it still offer the same quality, and quantity, of anime content that NT readers had come to expect?

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See that cute little Canadian maple leaf that now graces my blog header? Click on it and you’ll be led to the beginnings of my section tentatively (and enjoyably cheesily) called ‘Oh Canada!’: the Kuriousity resource for Canadian anime and manga fans. It’s a baby now but give ‘er time! Edit: Seems that FireFox dislikes my maple leaf link. Darn? Browser compatibility stinks. Will hopefully be fixed soon.

Quick news clippets of the day:

AnimeNewsNetwork has begun their information posts on Anime Boston including a few new licenses and updates on previously announced releases (CLAMP School included, finally!).

I love big convention weekends; it keeps the internet community buzzing (unlike most update-dry weekends!)!A couple days old but interesting non-the-less to fans; KOSEN has stated on their personal blog that they’ve completed work on volume one of their current series with Tokyopop called Daemonium. They’re not allowed to release the details yet but it’s definately something to look forward to! KOSEN has gained worldwide recognition for their yaoi works, currently released in English by Yaoi Press, including Stallion and Saihoshi.On a stranger note, Japanator‘s John Martone = gay porn star? Who knew. Gia reveals all!

Manga-ka: Nao Kodaka
Writer: Rika Tanaka
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Everyone
Released: May 2007

Synopsis: “The wicked Queen has captured Kilala and Rei! Unless Kilala gives the Queen Rei’s magic tiara, she will be forced to eat the poison apple! Snow White shows up just in time and offers to eat the apple instead – can Kilala defend the tiara and save Snow White?”

It’s not a bunny but it is cute and fluffy! I continue to be undeniably charmed by these short but adorable books. The story picks up where volume one left off as Rei and Kilala are forced to face the evil Queen to retrieve the magical tiara. When Rei is injured and the two are taken hostage, it’s up to Snow White and the seven Dwarves to come to their rescue.

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Manga-ka: Nao Kodaka
Writer: Rika Tanaka
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Everyone
Released: August 2007

Synopsis: “When a giant wave washes Kilala and Rei into the sea, they discover the magical world of the Little Mermaid under the sea. Kilala wishes she could enjoy and swimming with Ariel and the other mermaids, but she’s worried – the sea is a vast place, and Rei has suddenly disappeared. This latest volume of the hit series is filled with the most enchanting Disney princesses and packed with tons of magic!”

The drama heats up volume three of Kilala Princess. Kilala’s best friend Erica is acting strangely and makes off with the tiara. Meanwhile, Rei is about to leave forever unless Kilala’s peril is enough to make him stay (naturally). A stormy boat ride leaves the two separated and Kilala finds herself in the care of Ariel under the sea but Rei’s nowhere in sight.

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More clean-up around the site today. All manga reviews are up and now complete with some handy Amazon.ca links for fellow Canadians out there looking to add to their collections!

Over at ComicsVillage, the weekly reviews have been posted including one for Kitty Media’s Crimson Spell by yours truely.

On the news front, June recently announced five new yaoi titles. There’s a lot of my favourtie artists and writers in the bunch (Hinako Takanaga = more please) so I hope others are looking forward to them as much as I am! Check out the following link for all the details and some pretty pictures to accompany them. Source: AnimeNewsNetwork

Some big layout modification today! I’m hoping these changes will make my site more visitor friendly and easier for me to update from multiple locations. Some parts still need some format-tweaking so please bear with me as I sneak through and edit some things in the coming while. Thumbs up for shiny new features and learning new things!

Manga-ka: Hotaru Odagiri
Publisher: DMP/June
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: September 2007

Synopsis: “At the Ouka Acadmeic Institute, an elite all-male private school for the nation’s most gifted, exists a student council with some extraordinary members. Among them is Yuushi Satou, the student council president admired by every student. Despite his cool, elegant demeanor, he is a passionate leader. In fact, unbeknownst to him, his concealed passion is what makes him attractive to the rest of the students.”

Invisible Boy follows the life and escapades of the exclusive Ouka Academy’s student council. Led by the nearly perfect student council president Yuushi Kitou, they’re a diverse group of bishonen out to make the most of their days together at school and be sure that all members are included.

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