Shiny New Releases: Mobile Sweet Honey and Himitsu ga Hanazono by Akiba Tohko

I haven’t read anything by Akiba Tohko in a while and apparently she has two new releases.

There’s Mobile Sweet Honey:

Looks like it’s about a technical, PC-loving otaku who starts to crush on an email friend. But the friend is a member of the guy’s hated liberal arts bunch.. ha. Science people don’t hate liberal arts as much as people like to think, but I’m amused nonetheless as a science geek. So I’m guessing different worlds, rivalry, comedy themes. I like that.

That is Himitsu ga Hanazono. The story is about seven male students who transfer into a previously all girls school.  Instead of getting his glorious harem of women, it looks like somehow Irie is going to be drawn to another of the guys.

They both look like cute, fluffy reads.  And then there’s backlog! Like Ore wo Aishitemo Iindaze?

Orange Days has an ore-sama tag on chil-chil.net. I’m weak to that when done well and I think she can pull it off.

Hito wa Sore wo Koi to Yobu has a cute guy turning down advances from other classmates in the all male school, but seems interested in a particular one.. I like the impish look.

Honjitsu mo Jougai Rantou looks energetic.

Choices, choices. What to get?  All of them. It matters how much room I have left in this order. This is what I get for falling behind. On ONE author.. she’s damn prolific.

Shiny New Releases: Ore Monogatari!! by Kawahara Kazune and Aruko

I found a high school shoujo romance manga that I want terribly.  It’s been a while since I’ve burned with such strong manga lust.  It’s because the main character of Ore Monogatari!! is a bit different this time.

For starters, Takeo is about two meters tall and weighs 120 kg (265 pounds).

The more typical-looking shoujo manga male character is Suna, Takeo’s best friend.  Despite their gap in appearance, they’ve been good friends since childhood.  The only problem is that every girl Takeo likes ends up chasing after Suna, who never accepts confessions from the girls anyway.  However, Takeo’s luck might be turning around after one girl seems to have eyes for him and not his friend.  If only the awkward and dense Takeo could realize it.

Takeo is as pure as untouched snow–a feature typically reserved for the heroine.

I could go and on about my love for this manga, but I figure that means I should just do full entry on it sometime.  Thus, I should save something for that time!  There’s a lengthy sample available online to satiate the hunger in the meantime.

Oh god, where have you been all of my manga life?  You’re late!!

Shiny New Releases: Limiter by Monden Akiko

I ordered a pile of various Monden Akiko manga, including her new BL manga release, Limiter.  I did this before I saw the cover.  The cover is out.  No. regrets.

Okay, so it’s tiny, but it can barely contain that sexy beast on the cover~  It has the catch line “I’ll rewrite your memory.”  Kinda like overwriting a hard drive, but using other hard objects… yeah, I’ll stick to NOT making terrible jokes.

There’s a little blurb about the story.  The police detective Yagi partners with the younger Amemiya.  While there’s some buried feelings between the two, Amemiya is consumed by his desire for revenge on a vicious criminal from his past.  The publisher then bills it as a story where brakes can’t stop the love crisis between two police detectives.  Ha, you can kinda guess how the story is going to play out, but I found that she’s good at writing harsher, more human characters and I think she’ll pull off something worth reading.  It will be released 2/28 under the Hanaoto Comics imprint.  Is it early March yet?  I want all these booooks.

Shiny New Releases: Clover no Kuni no Alice ~Kishi no Kokoroe~

As a fan of QuinRose’s Alice otome games, their manga releases (outside of the main manga serialization) are a guilty pleasure of mine.  I own almost all of them and the quality wildly varies, particularly considering the books are expensive at 998 yen a pop.  For the most part, the books are a fun supplement for fans hungry for more.  Unlike the main serialization, you get different manga that individually feature all major (and popular–a few are neglected lol) characters as Alice’s suitor. What surprises me is that, despite his wild popularity, Ace doesn’t have much dedicated to him.  Only Clover no Kuni no Alice ~ Heart no Kishi features Ace as Alice’s love interest.  While it was a pretty decent manga, I want more!  But his nature often secures him a supporting, antagonistic role instead of crazy-ass lover boy.

Back in July, online bookstores listed “Heart no Kuni no Alice ~Kishi no Kokoroe~, which would obviously star Ace.  However, the book was never released and fell off the radar.  Until recently!  It’s back as Clover no Kuni no Alice ~ Kishi no Kokoroe~ and this time it’s labeled as only the first volume, so we’re going to get even more yandere lovin’ than previously planned!

I’m pretty excited for all three QuinRose releases this month.  Elliot has been growing on me too and I enjoyed the last manga that featured him.  While I don’t believe they can be placed on the same level as the Heart no Kuni no Alice main serialization (not sure about Joker yet!), I think this will be a decent appetizer for this Ace fan.  The cover illustration is lovely at least!

I’ll be getting my copy in early March along with my next big order, which I need to type up still.  I still need to take some pics of the freshly arrived batch as well!

Shiny New Releases: Koi to Gunkan

Taking a look around here shows that I read some of Nishi Keiko’s manga, so I was naturally interested in her newest release, Koi to Gunkan (Love and a Warship).   What interested me the most (aside from that title) was a common cry from readers: “Wow, this was published in Nakayoshi?!”, implying it was a bit uncharacteristic/mature for the shoujo magazine.  I love things that exist outside the boundaries they’re “supposed” to remain within, so I ordered this one.  It’s pretty popular–there was even a lag in the supply, with amazon temporarily out of stock (otherwise I’d be reading it now–I’m not bitter or anything) and bk1 just recently got another batch after low availability.  So what is this manga all about?

Endou Kana is a middle school girl secretly in love with a man 28 years her senior, the town’s handsome mayor.  However, he has a suspicious relationship with an older, scruffy, and smoking ero-mangaka.  The two men wear the same cologne, have matching bathrobes, and they even regularly stay overnight together…?!  So which is the purest, most acceptable form of love?  The love of a middle school girl or adult love?  And is it really okay to let Nishi Keiko run rampant in Nakayoshi like this?

Look at that scruffy oyaji, oh yeah!  Oh, I guess the girl is cute too. Got distracted..

Apparently, it is more than okay.  Actually, you know what?  I AM bitter.  I wish I was reading this right now and not a month from now.  I’m kinda pissed that it didn’t make it into my first order. :-p  Koi to Gunkan is published by Kodansha, so there’s the usual 3-ish page preview available.  In case you’re not familiar, at least you get to see Nishi Keiko’s cute line art. :3

Shiny New Releases: Oujisama to Haiiro no Hibi

For being a relatively new magazine, Aria has some tempting manga. While trying to decide on my latest order, I was going through their works and picked a few. Oujisama to Haiiro no Hibi (The Prince in His Dark Days) by Yamanaka Hiko was a surprising purchase for me, considering that I didn’t care for Ouji to Kotori. I think I was the only one that wasn’t crazy about it (lol), but it just felt too much like a Harlequin romance novel plot, down to the main guy being the classic foreign damsel in distress saved by the wealthy, handsome oil money prince. Characters are usually the most important aspect to me in a book and they were very lackluster to me. But when I read the blurb about her new work, Oujisama to Haiiro no Hibi, it sounded like she was showing us a much bigger range and I wanted to give her another chance.

It's hard to say no to that suit/flower combination.

Atsuko is a high school student who leads a harsh life because of her alcoholic father.  She works dubious part-time jobs just to get by.  The opening pages show her con a man who wanted to take an upskirt picture out of his money.  She does this with no malice or any emotion for that matter.  Atsuko figures misfortune is a given in life and nothing can be done about it.  That is, until she meets people at the opposite end of the spectrum: a group of rich high school boys named Ryou, Itaru, and Shuuya. (?)  From there, all their fates change drastically… Atsuko becomes a body substitute for the financial group’s heir, Itaru, and is subsequently taken away to a palace and becomes a “prince” in his place.  With so much to gain from this deal, what could Atsuko possibly lose?

It’s a premise that has certainly been done before (I love HanaDan!), but I’m particularly intrigued by just how… dead Atsuko seems at the beginning.  I’m curious to see how that will change.  There’s just a few pages available for a preview.

If you poke around a bit, there’s positive buzz, including good comments about the characters, so I think this will be much more agreeable with me. :3 I’ll find out in early November when this order arrives (aah, can’t wait)… if it turns out to be crap, we are SO done. :-p

Shiny New Releases: Z Complete Edition

On 10/14, Aoike Yasuko will release Z Complete Edition, which is a full collection of Agent Z’s short stories and will include numerous color pages.  Z is a minor character from Eroica Yori Ai wo Komete.  He’s an earnest, hard-working, and capable rookie agent that even the picky Major favors.  Z’s own spin-off stories were originally published from 1979 to 1985 (her style’s golden years, btw!) and collected into two volumes of manga.  The stories tend to be more serious than the main Eroica storyline.

With the revival, Aoike herself even remarked in her blog that it will allow readers to (once again) experience some of her great years. With a price tag of 1680 yen, it must be one hell of a high quality, collectable edition!  I held off on buying the originals/earlier reprints of Z since there was news of this complete edition and I’m glad I waited.  Now that the date is announced, looks like my next manga order cut-off date is decided!

Shiny New Releases: Yuri Danshi

Can you tell I’m on the prowl? It just proves that even if you think you’re too busy, there’s always time for… a handsome man who is obsessed with yuri manga?  Sweet!  Yuri Danshi by Kurata Uso looks far too fun to pass up.

Yuri Danshi is a comedy manga about Hanadera, a high school boy who loves yuri to the point he constantly watches his female classmates and just lets his imagination run wild.  He’s living the fabulous life of a man obsessed with yuri, but this is also source of personal conflict:  if a yuri-filled world is so perfect, where does he fit in as a man?

Don’t let that fool you into thinking it’s some serious work about questioning his own self-worth or that he’s the male equivalent of the supposed female fans who hate all women in BL.  The general opinion is that it is a crazy and silly gag manga.  There’s mountains of positive buzz surrounding this title and I’ll definitely be picking it up sometime.

Shiny New Releases: Ebihara-san no Iutoori

Rejoice, Hiiragi Nozomu just released a new manga!  At least I’m crazy giddy about it. Ebihara-san no Iutoori sounds like more Hiiragi Nozomu genius for us to bask in.  If you’re not familiar with her work, that must be fixed!  Stop by my Oyajina! and Docchi mo Docchi manga previews and wallow in her greatness. ♥  For now, let’s take a peek at the premise of the manga.

Taira works part-time at a convenience store with his senior, Ebihara.  Taira just can’t get along with Ebihara.  He’s a blunt, yet good-looking guy who effortlessly attracts lots of attention from many different female customers.  Taira is the serious kind of guy who stays loyal to a single girl, thus it’s impossible for him to relate to Ebihara.  After scolding Ebihara’s ways one day, Taira inadvertently stirs those powerful pheromones…?

Between this and Silver Diamond 24, I’ve been needing to place a modest order.  I can’t wait! There’s just a few preview pages available, but enough to send me into a wild frenzy.

Aaah, between that cute blush and the “I’m a sexy bitch and I know it” pose, this looks great. :3

Shiny New Releases: Furou Kyoudai

Furou Kyoudai is a comedy shoujo manga that started as a oneshot and was extended to a short serialization.  The tankoubon was just released and judging from the cover (which I’m oh so good at~), it looks like a lot of fun.

Kyouko and Daisuke are inseparable twins. At school, at home, in the bathroom… they are always together.

….awkward, lol.

Since this is Hana to Yume, we know it’s not like…. that (damn).  The twins are strongly attuned to the supernatural and as soon as they are separated…

… all hell breaks loose!

As long as they stick together, the ghosts leave them alone.  However, they are getting to an age where things like taking baths together might be a bit… socially unacceptable, especially when it comes to dating.  So what’s a pair of haunted twins to do?

This looks like a very entertaining gag manga with those adorable deadpan looks.  🙂  Omari’s Sister released the oneshot version and you can preview a few pages of the story at Hakusensha’s website.