Manga-ka: Tomo Maeda
Publisher: GoComi
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: November 2008

Synopsis: “Shikimi remains trapped within his body, tormented by the memories of those he’s killed. His own memories of Taki lend him the strength to survive… but is it enough to overcome the demons when Taki finally fulfills his promises?”

Everything comes full circle here in the seventh, and final, volume of Black Sun Silver Moon as readers are pulled back to the bloody confrontation of the previous book, all in preparation for a page-heavy instalment that manages to leave few questions unanswered.

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Five months after I say these release lists will be monthly occurences and suddenly ‘poof’, nothing. Sorry to those who’ve been coming back and looking for them. Your e-mails have not fallen on blind eyes and Kuriousity’s monthly release lists are back! Collecting the release titles in a month can be time-consuming but it’s still something I hope to keep up with that I’ve got myself a much easier system, aka, no author names which saves an amazing amount of time on typing and formatting.

So that said, mark May 2009 as an awesome start to a manga-filled summer and check out of the titles you can look forward to seeing on your bookstore shelves in the next month :)

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Manga-ka: Hinako Takanaga
Publisher: BLU
Rating: Mature (18+)
Release Date: December 2008

Synopsis: “Painful, heartbreaking memories suddenly surface for Haru when he agrees to fill in as teacher for the high school archery club. In his youth, Haru was a brilliant archer who competed for the national championship. But uncontrollable urges for a male rival forced him to give up on his archery dream and run away from his true feelings. Now that he’s back in the bow-and-arrow game, Haru becomes drawn to the brother of his long-lost love – and he must find out if his desire has taken on a new, seductive aim…”

In his high school days, Haru Mochizuki was a national competition class archer with a bright future in the sport. Suddenly he drops the sport he once loved so much, graduating and leaving his school without explanation. Unbeknownst to others, Haru had fallen in love with his best friend and rival, and those feelings made archery impossible to concentrate on, and in his fear of failure, he quit. A few years later he returns to the school as a substitute teacher, only to again become drawn to the beauty of the sport and swept up in the passion of one archer in particular, the younger brother of his first love.

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Admist my graduating from school, finishing the last days of my current part-time jobs and packing in prepreation for my move at the end of the month (so many books but so worth any pain, spare any potential broken backs), I’ve been toiling away at this new layout. Yay!

I’ve been thinking Kuriousity needed an upgrade for a while now and in this new layout I hope to have addressed most of the different requests and issues my site visitors have brought up. Credit for the design’s base goes to Bingo Web Design (edit: link added). Along with the new look, there’s now a variety of new additions:

• The post share feature, which allows you to easily share what I’ve posted on a variety of different network sites
• A handy little e-mail form for those who’d like to make quick contact
• A new sidebar addition where you can view the most recent posts and comments, along with see what posts are currently the most popular
• Reorganized and nested Category list
• Post comments have been overhauled to include Gravatar-powered avatars and nested administrator replies

The About and Review list sections have been tidied up and I’ve added the most popular current categories to the top of the site’s navigation to make finding what you’re looking for all the easier.

Also, since April’s Book of the Month, Winter Demon (Vol. 04), went up a little early and I’ll be busy moving at the end of the month, May’s Book of the Month is going up a few days early. Welcome to the sidebar for a month, Pluto (Vol. 01)! Well worth a read.

I hope people like the new look as much as I do, and that it works well for everyone. Though I’m still doing a few tweaks on pages, I can only do so much troubleshooting on my end so I’d greatly appreciate it if you could let me know if there’s anything that doesn’t seem to be working right. :) Thanks in advance and enjoy Kuriousity’s new look!

Manga-ka: Atsushi Ohkubo
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: January 2009

Synopsis: “Shotaro continues his search for Emine in the I.C. Prefecture. But a careless comment sends him on the run from an angry kappa. Meanwhile, Mana is eager to enter the Robot Fight Tournament — sponsored by the “Happy Factory” — and get another commendation, but Yohei senses there’s something far more sinister than the tournament going on at the Fear Factory . . . That doesn’t stop him from building a powerful battle robot that’s guaranteed to take home the prize. Just when Mana is confident of her victory, the Fear Robot itself steps into the arena — with NoFix the King of Spin at the helm!”

B.Ichi continues to throw characters around a little freely and it’s easy to get mixed up the who, what, where and whys, but various key plot points throughout the volume help to ground readers with the important stuff. Several chapters also begin with short summaries of what’s happened up ‘til now to make sure you know enough to understand what’s going on, which though convenient, does suggest that the artist knows their story is a little on the confusing side.

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Manhwa-ga: Kim Dong Hwa
Publisher: First Second
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: June 2009

Synopsis: “When Ehwa goes to the town festival, she meets a handsome young wrestler named Duksam who’s eager to catch her eye. After he wins the festival wrestling championship, he and Ehwa begin to meet, sneaking spare moments to be together. But a shadow falls on their romance when Master Cho sends Duksam away and asks for Ehwa’s hand in marriage himself It is then that Ehwa discovers the pain of heartbreak – and that love is always complicated. In the tradition of My Antonia and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn , from the pen of the renowned Korean manwha creator Kim Dong Hwa, comes a trilogy about a girl coming of age, set in the vibrant, beautiful landscape of pastoral Korea.”

Following The Color of Earth, The Color of Water resumes the story of Ehwa: a young girl coming of age in years-ago Korea, as she lives with her widowed Mother. The bulk of the story is now, more than ever,  the search for a husband to fulfill them, and with the notion being all the more focused here in the second installment, it’s beginning to feel more sexist than it is sweet.

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The folks over at Manga Recon are holding a contest where the winners can recieve free tickets to see Viz’s upcoming theatre release of Death Note: L, Change the World. (Note: Contest showings are for the US cities NY Metro Area, Denver, San Francisco/San Jose/Oakland, Peoria/Bloomington). The  entry method? Writing a Death Note inspired limerick or haiku of course!

The contest is open until 11:59pm April 26, 2009 so if you’re in the area of the ticket offers, head on over and enter your limerick. Sounds like fun and while the contest prizes aren’t applicable to me, I’m still more than a little curious about the entries :) Fun idea for a contest!

Gardena, CA (April 21, 2009)- The newest DokiDoki promotional giveaways are here, with beautiful fukuseigenga to go with them! The next two titles in the DokiDoki inaugural line are Living For Tomorrow by Taishi Zaou, and Brilliant Blue Vol. 1 by Saemi Yorita! Hurry and order today to receive a great promo item with it-and for DokiDoki members-remember, books are available early in late April/early May in limited supply! Still wondering what fukuseigenga are? Check out pictures and customer feedback on the DokiDoki Blog!

There are two ways to retrieve your special promo item: the first is to go to www.dokidokibooks.com, and click on the Register button for the DokiDoki newsletter. Just fill out a brief survey, and it’ll direct you to Akadot Retail (www.akadot.com) checkout for purchase of the book of your choice with the promo item. For those who purchase a DokiDoki title in bookstores, there is a special promo code in the back of the book. All you have to do is go to www.dokidokibooks.com, and click on the Enter Promo Code button. Enter the promo code specific to your title, and after filling out the survey, you will be able to checkout just the promo item. Easy!

Now the legal details: promotional items are limited in quantity, and are therefore on a “first-come, first-serve” basis. Promotional items are free, but are subject to a shipping and handling fee (continental US only) and are only eligible after registration for the DokiDoki newsletter and a one-time survey participation. We will not divulge any personal information to any third party, nor is it used for anything but internal purposes-but your participation in the survey helps us help you! Promo items will vary from book to book. Promo items are limited to one giveaway per book bought, but you are not limited to the number of DokiDoki titles you purchase to obtain the promo item. By all means, buy as many as you want! Plus, being on the DokiDoki newsletter will keep you notified ahead of time of the newest titles, their date of availability, and the special items that come with each title. To start, you can pre-order these two titles now to be first in line for your promo item!

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LIVING FOR TOMORROW written and illustrated by TAISHI ZAOU – Rated M+ (Ages 18+), 5″ x 7.2″, MSRP: $12.95 US, Yaoi Manga, Available In Stores: May 20, 2009

*Click here to order!
High school student Tasuku Mizuochi has a secret he knows and a secret he doesn’t. Even though he punches, kicks, and otherwise abuses fellow karate team member, Ryouta, on a daily basis, Tasuku has hidden feelings for his childhood friend. When Tasuku’s mother died, Ryouta was always there to comfort him, and these emotions grew over time to become something else. Confused and embarrassed by his secret crush, Tasuku takes his frustrations out on Ryouta to keep him from ever knowing the truth. When Tasuku learns that his late mother may have been an “ageman” (ah-gay-man) – a woman who brings men good fortune – he starts to believe he’s inherited these powers, too. Can having the ability to influence luck give Tasuku and Ryouta a future together? Or will all the people crawling out of the woodwork wanting to use Tasuku’s power cause him to run screaming for the hills?!

BRILLIANT BLUE VOL. 1 written and illustrated by SAEMI YORITA – Rated YA+ (Ages 16+), 5″ x 7.2″, MSRP: $12.95 US, Yaoi Manga, Available In Stores: May 6, 2009

TAISHI ZAOU is the pen name for MIKIYO TSUDA, creator of PRINCESS PRINCESS and THE DAY OF REVOLUTION for all her BL (boys love) manga. SAEMI YORITA is the creator of various shonen-ai and yaoi manga in Japan, and BRILLIANT BLUE is her first US english release.

Coming soon on the heels of the the first two DokiDoki releases, Living for Tomorrow and Brilliant Blue (Vol. 01) are set for release this May, and as with before, Digital Manga is offering some promos to go along with them. By simply purchasing the books (this includes in-store purchases) and filling out a survey, you’ll be sent a fukuseigenga, print-out copies of the original pages signed by the artist. The same offer was extended for the previously released Princess Princess + and Train*Train (Vol. 01). The fukuseigenga are pages from the books purchased.

I recieved my fukuseigenga in the mail from Digital Manga and I have to say its a really nice bonus to have, doubley so if you’re big fans of the artists (yay me!). I was actually surprised at how large they were. It’s the same size as the original manga-ka’s work and admittedly I keep taking time to stare at it. You can see where the artists’ lines stopped at the margins, see the marker strokes in the filled in areas and see the blue margins of the manga template paper it was drawn on. Though I know that manga is, of course artwork, it’s fun to stop and stare at it in a form that makes it feel more… real? Good wording fails me, but either way, I really like my fukuseigenga. And they have signatures on them too, extra bonus!

For the curious, here you can see a larger, uncropped photo of one of the fukuseigenga above, where I hope my thumb will act as better indication of their size.

Read the full press release.

A little late into their release date of April 22, but none the less Viz delivered tonight with the first chapter of Rumiko Takahashi’s new series, Rin-Ne. You can read it over on their Rumic World website with their simple but slick manga reader.

“When she was a child Sakura Mamiya mysteriously disappeared in the woods behind her home. She returned whole and healthy, but since then she has had the power to see ghosts. Now a teenager, she just wishes the ghosts would leave her alone! At school, the desk next to Sakura’s has been empty since the start of the school year, but one day her always-absent classmate shows up, and he’s far more than what he seems!”

As for me, I’m already really liking this new series, having been eager to see something new after years of Inu-Yasha (Sorry, Rumiko, it was great stuff but 56 volumes of the same repeat storyline got a little old). Though only chapter so far, Rin-Ne reminds me a great deal more of Rumiko Takahashi’s earlier work, Ranma 1/2 than the more recent, Inu-Yasha. The comedy and pacing felt so nostalgic. Thumbs up from me on that point alone, though I am happy to see her taking another strong go at the supernatural genre.

Speaking of Inu-Yasha, the Rumic World blog has also some exciting news regarding future releases of Inu-Yasha. For the first time in English, the series will be released unflipped! Yay! The unflipped version will begin with the upcoming release of the 38th volume and also includes the VizBig versions of the series, which collect 3-in-1 volumes from the beginning, starting in November. Single volumes will also begin coming out on a monthly basis.

While I understand the culture-related will/need to release manga in our left-to-right format, its a shame when it involves flipping the artwork. As any artist knows, if you flip your art over, it’s rarely ever pretty! Yuck. Not to mention the cultural flaws created by a flip in this case, such as the yukata styles. Art should be seen as the artist drew it so I can’t wait to get my hands on an English copy of Inu-Yasha presented as the artist intended.

CMX DelRey Digital Manga Funimation GoComi Tokyopop UDON Viz Media Yaoi Press Yen Press

As of today, Digital Manga has joined the numerous other manga/manhwa publishers on Twitter and in light of this, I felt like it was about time to share the pleasantly growing list.

For those new to the service, Twitter is “a real-time short messaging service” where users post their thoughts, news and general going-ons for their watchers to see in entries no longer than 140 characters. Its proven to be an excellant source of quick info and publishers have taken good note of this fact, offering mini press releases, hints, links and in-studio glimpses through their use of Twitter accounts. Oh and it’s also highly addicitive :) I’m also on Twitter along with lots of other fun-to-read bloggers. Take a look around and see who others are following: you’re bound to find lots of interesting accounts to check out including company employees, conventions and lots of people with similiar interests.

You can check out the manga and anime companies on Twitter at the links above. If there’s a relevant company on the list that I’ve missed, please don’t hesitate to let me know so I can add them (and watch ‘em!).

Manga-ka: Eiki Eiki
Publisher: DokiDoki
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: April 2009

Synopsis: “Welcome to Minami-Kitazawa Station, where the trains run strictly on time, customer service is an important priority, and the staff is entirely made up of super good-looking guys! That’s the environment 18-year-old Asahi Saruta gets dropped in the middle of when he finds himself assigned there. Asahi’s goal is to one day become a train operator like his father, but never in his wildest dreams did he imagine he’d have to deal with a group of strange co-workers like this. Even though Asahi may have been chosen more for his cuteness-factor than his job skills, can he rise to the challenge, or will the day-to-day mayhem of working in a train station cause him to reevaluate his career path altogether?!”

Cross together one-part pretty boys with two parts transit system and a dash of host club vibes and you have yourself Minami-Kitazawa: a train station where the young men running it aim to please and fangirls are more than happy to indulge in the attention. Customer satisfaction is the name of the game, even if they use some unique tactics to achieve it. Train*Train’s brand of comedy may not be for everyone, but if the plot strikes a chord of curiousity for you, than it’s well worth a read.

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Nobody gets me?

Manga-ka: Mikiyo Tsuda
Publisher: DokiDoki
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: April 2008

Synopsis: “Fujimori Academy students Kiriya Matsuoka and Tomoe Izumi have been chosen as this year’s princesses, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work to bring them up to speed. Enter former princesses Kouno, Shihoudani and Yutaka for a bit of princess training! Although Matsuoka and Izumi seem willing and able to take over the job of dressing up as girls and cheering at school events, they’re not exactly what you’d call “friends.” Can President Sakamoto and the ex-princesses convince Matsuoka and Izumi to bond for the sake of the school? Or will it take more than a common experience to bring two very different people together?”

A sequel to Mikiyo Tsuda’s series, Princess Princess, Princess Princess + introduces two new characters to the mix: kind and honest, plus financially well off, Tomoe Izumi, and the financially troubled and sensitive introvert, Kiriya Matsuoka. Entering their first year as students at the Fujimori Academy, the pair have accepted the positions of school Princesses for the year, hand-chosen as two who will dress up in girls’ clothes and provide moral support and shining smiles for all at the all-boys’ school.

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Manga-ka: Shiro Ihara
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: July 2008

Synopsis: “Poor Alice’s trouble seems to know no bounds when she has to deal with a shinigami worse than Lapan… (Is that even possible??) And she has a run-in with the king of the shinigami. Some days it doesn’t pay to be a girl trapped in the body of a skeleton…”

Take a perverted guy and turn him into a girl. Then turn some of his friends/comrades into girls as well and let them loose on the world. While they proceed to do inappropriate things to each other, blow stuff up, cry, whine and act completely obnoxious, they also try to tell a complicated story of deceit and betrayal. The dark and ominous company of Shinigami threatens to make this story interesting, but there’s little to no reason to fear that could ever actually happen.

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