BLU, the boys’ love imprint of Tokyopop, has posted information for those who may have received defective copies of the recently released one-shot, Croquis.

Some customers have found random portions of the book in German, an accidental overlap from an earlier edition Tokyopop published in Germany.

“This was due to a printing error — unfortunately, due to some technical and human errors, some German text from a previously published edition was not properly deleted, and therefore some editions were printed with German text in a few word balloons.”

Those who have a book with this issue can cut out and mail the bar code to Tokyopop and they’ll replace it with a new ‘clean copy’. It isn’t clear if this offer is open only to the United States or if international customers can do the same.

Updates made this afternoon to BLU’s website have made official what online retail sites have been warning boys’ love fans since mid-November – starting in 2010, BLU (the boys’ love imprint of Tokyopop) will be releasing their books at a cover price of $14.99/US.

Scarier yet for some of us, $18.99/CAN – thank goodness for the strong Canadian dollar keeping those terrifying prices relatively obselete on bookstore shelves!

Original volumes of BLU manga, published first in 2005, were priced at $9.99/US. This includes the first volume of the popular now-completed series Love Mode and the on-going Junjo Romantica. This means boys’ love fans have seen a five dollar increase over five years – averaging out the costs, we’re looking at an increase of one dollar for each year BLU has been publishing. BLU’s last price increase was in early 2008, raising from their debut $9.99/US to $12.99/US.

The first book listed to be released at the $14.99/US price is Hinako Takanaga’s Croquis, due out February 2010.

Editors on the BLU forums have cited different reasons for the price increases and variances since their debut, including related-decisions to keep or remove colour pages from books because of shrink-wrapping issues. All Tokyopop books have seen price increases over the years, garnering some negativity from consumers when accompanied by lower quality paper and fewer-to-no colour pages. Tokyopop has since returned to a higher quality paper while their pages range around $10.99/US.

BLUManga.com’s recent updates included a new info page and banner for Croquis, as well as its addition to the release calendar. BLU’s recent press release outlined releases through to Spring 2010.

Edit: BLU Manga has since stated that their future releases will all have 2-4 colour pages to go along with the price increase. (via TheYaoiReview)

BLU Presents:
The Spring 2010 Publishing Lineup

Forget February – Romance Is in the Air All Year with BLU in 2010

Los Angeles, CA (December 3, 2009) – Romance blooms all year long with the latest releases from BLU. Fans will swoon over the latest JUNJO ROMANTICA, laugh through several unique short story collections, and fall in love with all new yaoi manga from Japan.

The year starts out with LOVE HURTS by Suzuki Tanaka (MENKUI!) in January – a truly unique collection of supernatural stories that are sometimes gruesome and unsettling, and often hilarious. From mysterious corpses to mystical crime lords, this manga will keep you on your toes and your thoughts spinning.

Read more…

Manga-ka: Hinako Takanaga
Publisher: BLU
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: November 2009

Synopsis: “After fleeing Tokyo, trying to escape a personal crisis, hapless Itary winds up drunk and passed out on a neighbourhood trash heap. His misery is documented by prickly cameraman Kouki, who works for a local cable station, and soon the two end up roommates and co-workers. But with a company full of quirky characters, including a perky, winsome cross-dresser, and their own personalities to content with, will Itaru and Kouki ever truly understand one another?”

While out on assignment, Kouki stumbles across a runaway sprawled in an alleyway. A good deed not going unrewarded, he finds himself both puked on and his new camera smashed! None the less he generously takes the young man, Itaru, back to his apartment to get cleaned up – but with Itaru having no where to go and no money for payment, he soon becomes a more long-term tenant of Kouki’s home.

Read more…

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.

Read more…

Black Knight (Vol. 04) – Kai Tsurugi
Published by BLU

Sometimes I wonder why I keep reading this series. Black Knight at this point is more political period-drama than a boys’ love story, and with the exception of a handful of the lead characters, I can’t tell who’s-who well enough due to similar character designs to even understand that much of the story.

Thankfully when the story steps back from the who-done-its, the characters themselves are still likeable with often the background crowds proving the most entertaining (as evident by some amusing mini-strips at the end). Christian, the youngest Prince of the Aran royal family, is currently in the neighbouring country of Dunhalk, the same country said to have tried to assassinate his Father. Far from being on vacation however, Chris is being held as a voluntary hostage to Dunhalk’s second Prince in a bid to create peace between their two countries. At his side is the ever-vigilante, Zeke, his bodyguard and secret-lover who still remains injured from a fight taking place in the previous volume.

While the boys’ love is at an all-time low in this one, fans have some overzealous royals, incestuous brothers and foreboding political plots to look forward to. The book’s last third takes a break from the main storyline and enjoyably takes us back in time to see Zeke in his youth, easily my favourite part of this book along with more of the gorgeous period clothing and detailed background settings that I’ve come to love since volume one.

While I do occasionally find Black Knight a little on the dull side thanks to some plot that falls just short of catching my interest, there’s successfully been enough focus on characters to keep me reading with eye-candy present to fill in any gaps. With the main plot steering for some choppy waters, I’m looking forward to reading how Christian and Zeke will make it through what the royal world has in store for them.

Review written April 1st, 2009 by Lissa Pattillo
Book purchased in-store from Chapters

A couple more new listings have popped up on Amazon.ca today, suggesting a few more licenses to go along with those I pointed out from Digital Manga the other day.

First off though, I wanted to remind my readers that while Amazon listings are a good indication of a company’s intent to release something, it is not a sure thing. Also, as brought to mind by Snow over at Fujoshi Librarian, it hadn’t occured to me that there’d be confusion for people over why Amazon.ca has these listings while Amazon.com does not.

Simply put, listings on different countries’ Amazon merely reflects who updated first. Each site is, as far as I know, managed differently and updated seperately. In my experience, Amazon.ca tends to have its new listings up much faster and more frequently than its American counterpart, Amazon.com. So, along with where I go to order some of my books, it’s also the first place I look for new listings. It does not mean that “only Canada is going to get it!”. It’s just a matter of what site posted the new information first.

That said, here’re a few new-to-my-knowledge titles:

Madness (BLU)
Shimotsuki Kairi

Liberty Liberty! (BLU)
Hinako Takanaga

Taimashin Demon Hunters (DMP)
Hideyuki Kikuchi/Shin Yong-Gwan

There’s also listings for two OEL books. First from DelRey is Ben 10 the Manga, based on the television show and illustrated by the artist of Tokyopop’s Gyakushu, Dan Hipp. It was originally announced back in Sepetember 2008. (Second OEL book has been removed by publisher request).

BLU’s apparent new titles definitely excite me the most, but that might have something to do with the fact I’m a huge Hinako Takanaga fan and someone who’s waited a long time to read Shimotsuki Kairi’s Madness. It’s also nice to see that DelRey is going through with an original Ben 10 manga as they originally planned instead of just sticking with the screenshot-cut-and-paste version that’s due out a few months before it.

Some boys’ love links of interest tonight:

BLU forums are pointing the way to Tokyopop’s site where you can view some preview pages for the upcoming and long-awaited fourth volume of Black Knight. Pretty artwork awaits you!

Some exciting news over at the Yaoi Generation forums where the staff had this to say:

“We’re also wrapping up a couple new licenses! Yay! We’ll be announcing it soon… well, soonish… hehe.. It’s not one of the suggested ones though. We’ve been working on getting these upcoming licenses since middle of last year, and it’s finally nearing completion, so we’re very excited!”

So much for waiting until the end of their first series, breath, before diving into others. But who am I kidding, I’m happy. Here’s hoping they handle it well and we get some more quality work. I was impressed with their first release and hope to be with future ones.

Deb Aoki’s Best of 2008 manga polls continue, including Best New Yaoi/Shonen-Ai Manga of 2008. It’s down to a race between the global boys’ love title ANIMA by Dany&Dany, and Ayano Yamane’s A Foreign Love Affair. Personally, I voted for Future Lovers, no contest my favourite on the list. Head over there and vote for your favorite and definitely check out any titles there you haven’t read yet. There’s some good ones for sure!

A new title from Kitty Media? Sense and Sexuality, with a release date listed for April 2009 (Edit: update). And how about a potentially new title from Deux Press? Have some Spicy But Sweet, a sequel to their already licensed Naughty But Nice. And from DMP, The Lonely Mgoytist (this one seems familiar to me but I can’t find news on it before my head hits the desk from sleepiness so apologies if this is repeat news).

Y!Gallery, aka YaoiGallery, the biggest online art community revolving around men, men and men on men, has recently had a big overhaul of their Rules and Terms of Use. One of the biggest changes includes the return of ‘furries’. Characters with strong animal characteristics were originally banned due to user complaints and a blurred line of beastiality. Site users are now given the option to filter their accounts so that furry art doesn’t show up for them. Other rule changes include no copyrighted material or work taken without permission being used for literature thumbnails (saving people like me a hundred headaches for clicking on what looks like really well done fanart only to find one of a million fanfics).

And finally, Tina Anderson and MTCopyright’s full-colour webcomic Whore of Turfan continues to update weekly with lots of shiny drama to look forward to every Friday! (Whoops, how’d this plug get here? ;) ) Seriously though, a strong start for the series from two talented individuals and I can’t wait to see where its going.

Manhwa-ga: Yuki Shimizu
Publisher: BLU
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: November 2008

Synopsis: “The mysterious figure of Shiki finally appears in this flashback — we find a younger and more naive Aoe escaping his familial responsibilities to the countryside of England, where he shares a simple bed and breakfast home with Takamiya and Shiki. While Aoe can’t deny his feelings for the happy-go-lucky Shiki, he can’t shrug off his duties to his family. The tension and seduction builds to an unexpected event that will rock his world forever!”

Volume eleven marks the end of Love Mode, a character-driven story of men brought together by a bomcintion of their business and pleasures. As testament to her skill, Yuki Shimizu has left pinnacle events in characters’ lives a mystery until this final point, revealing to readers past events in what is easily one of the most dramatic books of the series.

Read more…

Manga-ka: Yaya Sakuragi
Publisher: BLU
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: August 2008

Synopsis: “Clumsy Takamaru and graceful Hasune have started dating, but are the challenges facing them nothing that can’t be settled over a hot cup of tea? First, Takamaru is focusing on baseball while Hasune is busy practicing the tea ceremony, giving them little time together – and their quickies in the Tea Ceremony Club room just aren’t cutting it! Then, a former upperclassman of Tokumaru’s arrives, and suddenly, the older man is all he seems to see or talk about…”

After some relatively successful lessons in tea and grace, Takamaru and Hasune have started dating. Things between them are going smoothly except for the fact that between baseball and the tea ceremony, they hardly seem to have anytime for one another. If time wasn’t obstacle enough, the future suddenly seems a daunting thing for these teenagers getting ready to graduate from high school, and an old friend from Takamaru’s past returns to put a little doubt in Takamaru’s lacking life-goals.

Read more…

Manga-ka: Yaya Sakuragi
Publisher: BLU
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: May 2008

Synopsis: “Clumsy Madoka Takumaru can’t seem to go a minute without breaking something. To teach him a little self-control, Takumaru’s sis forces him to help out the Tea Ceremony Club despite the hesitations of the club president, the graceful Kazuma Hasune. Compoased and cool, he is the exact opposite of the brash Takumaru. Will the two be able to bridge their differences, or will a potentially hot romance cool like iced tea?”

Tea For Two is the story of Madoka Takumaru, a clumsy teenage jock who has a problem with breaking things. Fed up with his lack of grace, his younger sister puts him under the tutelage of their school’s Tea Ceremony club president, Kazuma Hasune. Now it’s a matter of whether or not some tea and kimonos will be enough to calm Madoka’s bad habits or if something aside from good manners will form through their lessons.

Read more…

Manga-ka: Yuki Shimizu
Publisher: BLU
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: May 2008

Synopsis: “The flashback continues… After Haruomi saves Kiichi from Miyamoto, he decides to look for his long-list twin brother Tien – who unexpectedly shows up at the Aoe household to kidnap Kiichi! Will Tien finally forgive his brother for abandoning him? And with all that Haruomi and Kiichi have been through, will these two become more than just friends? Find out how Haruomi and Kiichi get together in this love-filled volume of Love Mode!”

Prepare for a big page count here with volume nine of Love Mode. The back story of Aoe Kiichi and Haruomi continues where volume eight left off, the two in the manicial clutches of a man seeking Kiichi’s body for himself.

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Manga-ka: Yamimaru Enjin
Publisher: BLU
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: March 2008

Synopsis: “Shinichiro and Narusawa are getting closer, but it’s been months since Narusawa’s cat Acht said a word to either of them. Determined to get him talking again, Shinichiro rushes off to Tokyo were Naruawa is teaching a special seminar. But after a crazy night of drinking and sexual advances from Naruawa’s students, is Shinichiro really ready for relationship? This next volume of Voice or Noise proves the sometimes actions do speak louder than words…”

In volume two of Voice or Noise, Shinichiro continues to lament the loss of communication with Acht, the spirited black cat who stopped speaking after an accident. Wishing to find a way to talk to his feline friend, and better understand his natural abilities, Shinichiro begs Narusawa to begin training him again to understand animals. However his growing feelings for the older man are becoming a bit problematic.

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Manga-ka: Toui Hasumi
Publisher: BLU
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: June 2008

Synopsis: “An angel loses his place in Eden only find a mysterious and dangerous new patron… A poor painter finishes a woman’s portrait without his subject… Two bounty hunters face mysterious demons in the night… This unearthly collection of boys’ love stories will delight fans of beautiful angels and demon boys everywhere!”

Fallen Moon is a collection of short stories that barely teeter on the edge of boys’ love. With religious and mythical references, the attractively drawn stories range from demon hunting to beautiful imprisoned sorcerers atop a tower.

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Manga-ka: Yuki Shimizu
Publisher: BLU
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: February 2008

Synopsis: “Delve into the past as we find out more about the Aoe household! The Aoe brothers are doing pretty well for themselves these days, but hidden in their past are a slew of dark secrets. Kiichi and Haruomi seem like a caring couple, but what forces brought them together many years ago?”

Love Mode, volume eight, is a look back at the pasts of some of the story’s most relevant characters. Readers are taken back to the teenage years of Aoe Reiji and his older brother, the doctor Aoe Kiichi, as well as the childhood of Kiichi’s housekeeper and lover, Haruomi. Through tragic events, the characters are brought together and experience anguish at the hands of Reiji and Kiichi’s abusive father, setting the stepping-stones for their personalities and lifestyles later in life.

Read more…