PR: Yaoi-Con Set To Return This Fall In CA

Gardena, CA (May 30, 2013) Yaoi-Con, the largest convention dedicated to the yaoi genre, is excited to announce the convention's return in Fall 2014. After a 2012 event in Long Beach, California and a short hiatus in 2013, the convention will come home to the San Francisco Bay Area, with specific dates and venue to be announced in the coming months. Perennial fan favorites, such as the Bishonen Auction, Bishonen Bingo are scheduled to return, on top of the new and exciting events we're cooking up.

Interested in helping make Yaoi-Con 2014 the convention's best year to date? Fans, cosplayers, and bishonen alike are invited to contact us about volunteer/staffing/bishonen opportunities. Email us at info[AT]yaoicon[DOT]com!

For the latest Yaoi-Con information, visit our website, http://yaoi-con.com, follow us on twitter @YaoiCon, or like our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Yaoi-Con/423314747753170! Want to chat with fellow con-goers? Head to the Yaoi-Con forums: http://forums.yaoicon.com

About Yaoi-Conhttp://yaoi-con.com
Established in 2001, Yaoi-Con is the largest American convention dedicated to the yaoi genre. Derived from the Japanese phrase "yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi" ("no peak, no point, no meaning"), yaoi is a genre that defies simple definitions, but has become a catchall term in the West for male/male relationships in Japan-related media. Under Digital Manga, Inc.'s ownership, Yaoi-Con aims to continue the promotion and celebration of yaoi while staying true to the convention's fan-powered nature. 

Masaaki Yuasa's Kick-Heart Trailer Now Online

Masaaki Yuasa's anime project Kick-Heart has been fully funded via Kickstarter, and now the official trailer is online. The short anime film is set to have multiple screenings, although dates have yet to be announced.

You can watch it at this link. Vimeo sucks at the whole embedding thing! It looks like the kind of rollicking high-paced fun anime with a killer soundtrack that was totally worth throwing money at. I want my copy already!

Open Thread: Star Trek Into Darkness

Spoiler warning: Post and comment section will have spoilers for the new Star Trek film.

Yesterday morning (I do love me a morning movie!), me and my best friends had the honor of seeing the latest in the JJ Abrams/Bad Robot reboot of the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek Into Darkness (a movie made a hundred times better when sitting next to a Trekkie more seasoned than myself). If Star Trek was an introduction to the newly rebooted Enterprise crew, STID is their official entry into Trekdom, five year mission and all. It was shiny - oh, the lens flare! - and full of action and explosions and old school Trek references but it also had heart and was thoroughly entertaining. Perfect? No, but it is a worthy follow-up to the 2009 film.

Here are a couple things about Star Trek Into Darkness worth talking about, to get the ball rolling:

- The evolution of James T. Kirk as he turns into the starship captain TOS fans know and love. Although I wished we saw more of the nerdy genius side of Kirk.
- Benedict Cumberbatch as - well - you know. 
- The Spock/Uhura relationship, which has become canon and, IMHO, is great but could do without so much forced squabbling for drama's sake.
- All the TOS references! Anyone else catch the minuscule reference to "Mudd's Women"? That's not the only reference Abrams threw in there...
- KLINGONS. And Uhura speaking Klingon! Be still, my fangirl heart!

Feel free to expand on anything else in the comment section! I'm personally still starry-eyed over my Enterprise faves, Bones (who is really tapping into his Georgia boy accent this time round) and Chekov (who should probably stay on the bridge from now on!).

Manga Review: Short Program

Short Program
Mitsuru Adachi
Viz Media/Animerica Extra
288 pages

These eight short works by a master of manga storytelling, published for the first time in English, are rich with emotion and unexpected outcomes. Decidedly human, they deal with the kinks and quirks of love, lust, missed opportunity, fate, and temptation that make life both tragic and comic. (Source: Goodreads)

I've been a fan of Mitsuru Adachi since happening across his anthology Adventure Boys as well as his crossover one-shot with Rumiko Takahashi, telling the story of their involvement with the Shonen Sunday magazine. Then several summers ago, I started reading Cross Game, his series about baseball and adolescent, and I pretty much fell in love with Adachi's work. Apparently, so did the rest of y'all, since every review I've seen of Cross Game has been glowing and full of love.

Short Program, another collection of one-shots, is a hold over from the days of Animerica Extra, an imprint of Viz Media which has since turned defunct, the English language shojo manga magazine before Shojo Beat. It's a shame it's not around anymore if it was running boss manga like this and Banana Fish and X/1999.

Fujoshi O'Clock (5/24/13)

What time is it? It's . . . Fujoshi O'Clock, the biweekly feature at Nagareboshi Review, when I bring to you the latest fujoshi-related news and reviews and various shiny BL-flavored things. Why? Because rotten girls need love too!

This week on Fujoshi O'Clock:

• Melinda at Manga Bookshelf is lovesick over Loveless, the BL flavored title by manga-ka Yun Kouga. It covers up to volume six of the Loveless manga.
• SuBLime has licensed the four-volume manga series Crimson Spell. This Ayano Yamane has been previously released, partially, by Kitty Media.
• Japanese company Otome's Way is to release a guide to learn Japanese entitled A Fujoshi's Guide To Japanese as well as the Otome's Way Anthology. The Fujoshi's Guide book will be available digitally and in full color.
• Manga publisher PictureBox announces further plans to release more BL/bara titles, including more titles by Gengoroh Tagame.
• RightStuf is warning Canadian customers that their copies of the Bonds of Dream, Bonds of Love manga may be seized at the border. Each volume's listing on RightStuf now includes a line that the work has been banned in Canada and that it will no longer be shipped to Canadian addresses.

Reviews:

• Helen at Narrative Investigations reviewed volume one of Off*Beat by Jen Lee Quick.
• Naru at OASG reviewed The Cat In The Box by Sumako Kari.
• Daniella at All About Manga reviewed Love Makes Everything Right by Sanae Rokuya as part of her 30 Day Yaoi Challenge.
• Brain Vs. Book reviewed Bara Iro no Ho no Koro by Asumiko Nakamura, which is part of the J no Subete series.
• Experiments In Manga reviewed The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame: The Master of Gay Erotic Manga by Gengoroh Taname, a collection of bara manga.

Am I missing your blog? Got some awesome fujoshi-related news and reviews you think deserve a shout-out? Poke me with a link and a bit of description over at my Twitter: @theseventhl. I'm always on the look out for more BL love!

License Line: Movie Night

What is License Line? Put simply, it's a semi-regular feature on Nagareboshi Reviews in which yours truly posts about a certain anime/manga series that truly, desperately needs to be licensed and put on my shelves ASAP - from the obscure but well-deserving manga to the stream worthy but not yet DVD licensed anime.

It seems than when it comes to licensing anime, films kind of get lost in the dust of actual TV serfies unless they are part of an established franchise - Bleach, Full Metal Alchemist, Fate/Stay Night, and so on. Recently, there's been a rise in stand-alone films being licensed which is great! But I think we can do better. After all, a lot of anime fans got sucked into anime through film - Macross Plus and Ghost In The Shell and Akira are three of the essential titles that turned me to the otaku side.

Below are some anime films worth bringing over. Get cracking, anime companies! Maiden Japan? Funimation? Anybody?

Houkago Midnighters/After School Midnighters from Studio Koo-Ki.

Mako, Miko, and Mutsuko are three young girls visiting St. Claire Elementary, a school filled with strange legends. They have an abrupt encounter with Kunstrijk, a human body anatomy model, and Goth, a skeleton model. Both haunt the soon-to-be-demolished science room. Seeking revenge for being vandalized by the three girls, Kunstrijk invites them to the school's midnight party in order to scare them. Together, the five go on a quest to collect three mythical medals that can grant a wish and hopefully save the science room. (Source: ANN)

Manga Review: Black Butler GN 13

Black Butler volume 13
Yana Toboso
Yen Press
176 pages

His betrothed's unexpected skill with a sword having narrowly saved him from a gory fate at the gnashing jaws of the undead, Earl Ciel Phantomhive, along with his intrepid butler, Sebastian, fights to see another day aboard the doomed Campania. But as they draw nearer to the heart of the Aurora Society's scheme to reanimate the dead, the pair are met by the beautiful young "Kaiser," who holds all the keys to this mystery in the palm of his gloved hand, platinum blond locks fluttering in his wake... (Source: Goodreads)

Spoiler warning: Contains some spoilers for the Black Butler/Kuroshitsuji series so far.

It's been a long time since I've reviewed a volume of Black Butler - it's been almost two years and twelve volumes since then, actually. Since then, this series has taken a whole lot of twists and turns, and it's always been fun following the adventures of Ciel and Sebastian. Lately, Black Butler has gotten a hell of a lot more bloodier than ever before. Victorian killer zombies on a doomed cruise at sea? Just another day for the Phantomhive child heir.

Signal Boost: Little Blue Box Kickstarter

Kickstarter is growing into an unbeatable way to fund the oddest, most fun ideas people can come up with. One of them combines two awesome things - Doctor Who and reading - into one great combo. Florida Whovian Jennifer is looking for funding for her Little Blue Box Library, a library that is "bigger on the inside" just like the TARDIS it looks like. She is building this mini library to help promote literacy in her home town, funds will go to building the library, keeping it stocked, and making the area around it a worthwhile place to chill and read. You can even track its progress via its Facebook page.

Right now, all donations will go towards buying books, as it has already reached its initial backer goal. Still, a lot of great pledge levels are still open for backers, including one that sends out a Geocaching travel bug in the backer's name. Who knows: it could start a movement! Only five days to go!

PR: SuBLime's Newest Title, BLUE MORNING, Now Available

Yuuutsu na Asa Volume 1
© Shoko Kidaka 2009   

GLOBAL YAOI MANGA PUBLISHER SuBLime LAUNCHES THE NEW SERIES BLUE MORNING

Courtly Intrigue Between A Noble Family’s Capable Butler And His Young Charge Offers A Tender Story Of The Conflict Between What Duty Demands And What The Heart Desires

San Francisco, CA, May 16, 2013 – SuBLime, the global yaoi manga (graphic novel) publishing initiative between VIZ Media and Japan’s Animate, Ltd. (Animate), delivers an intriguing new series about aristocratic drama and the intricate relationship between the loyal butler of a noble family and a young heir he is duty-bounty to look after in the print debut of BLUE MORNING, by creator Shoko Hidaka. The new manga (graphic novel) series launched on May 14^th, is rated M’ for Mature Audiences, and will carry an MSRP of $12.99 U.S. / $14.99 CAN.

At only ten years of age, Akihito Kuze suddenly inherits the Kuze viscountship after his father’s death. The family's capable butler, Tomoyuki Katsuragi, takes over the task of raising the boy, serving as his tutor and mentor. However, the handsome and intelligent Katsuragi, well respected even among the aristocracy, remains cool towards his charge. Akihito finds himself relentlessly drawn to Katsuragi, frustrated by the distance between them and driven to discover the reasons why.

Ghost In The Shell: Arise PV Available

Hat tip to AnimeNation for the video. Production IG has put online a trailer/promotional video for the latest in the Ghost In The Shell franchise, Arise. The video itself clocks in at 90 seconds. Arise is a series of films as well as a prequel to the main GITS storyline, featuring a much younger Major Kusanagi as well as a new art style that deviates from all previous series.

According to MyAnimeList, it is scheduled to hit theatres June 22nd. No word on a North American license for home video or digital release.

Manga Review: Suzunari!

Suzunari! volumes 1 & 2 (complete series)
Shoko Iwami
Yen Press
128 pages (v.1); 128 pages (v.2)

Kaede Takamura's teenage life swerves to the brink of insanity when she comes face to face with her twin...or does she? Suzu is practically the mirror-image of Kaede - except for having cat ears and a tail and being far more well-endowed than Kaede thinks any teenager ought to be. But the Takamuras have no qualms about bringing this strange, happy-go-lucky catgirl into their home. With Suzu completely ignorant of the ways of modern society, it's going to be a very long year for poor Kaede. (Source: Goodreads)

Quick, name a 4-koma manga that has actually been wildly successful! Okay, you thought of Lucky Star, right? Now name another one. Azumanga Daioh? Yep. Name a third. Pause. A little harder, isn't it? It certainly helps that both above titles have anime adaptations and that, in the case of Lucky Star, has turned into an otaku phenomenon verging on a cultural movement.

Now, I'm not gonna lie to you and say that Suzunari! will every qualify as a success like those above. It pretty much ranks along with other 4-koma such as Shoulder-A-Coffin Kuro as titles that manage to push units but will never push the same amount of units as Konata and Chiyo. But Suzunari! has two things going for it that a lot of 4-koma may not: it's extremely cute and very short. Clocking at two volumes in total, it won't hurt your wallet to invest in it, and it won't waste your time reading it.

PR: Taiyo Matsumoto's SUNNY Coming Soon From VIZ Media

SUNNY © 2011
Taiyou MATSUMOTO/SHOGAKUKAN

VIZ MEDIA DEBUTS SUNNY, A NEW MASTERWORK FROM ACCLAIMED MANGA CREATOR TAIYO MATSUMOTO

Eisner Award-Winning Creator Offers A Poignant Story Of Beating The Odds In Ways That Count

San Francisco, CA, May 8, 2013 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, debuts a touching new work by award winning manga creator, Taiyo Matsumoto, with the release of SUNNY Volume 1 on May 21^st. The new hardcover release will be published under the VIZ Signature imprint, is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $22.99 U.S. / $26.99 CAN. SUNNY will also be available on the same day digitally for $9.99 U.S. / CAN from the VIZ Manga App and at VIZManga.com.

Translated by noted visual effects artist and Tekkonkinkreet film producer Michael Arias (The Abyss, Princess Mononoke, The Animatrix), SUNNY is the story of beating the odds, in the ways that count. It’s the brand-new masterwork from Eisner Award-winner Taiyo Matsumoto, one of Japan’s most innovative and acclaimed manga artists.

Open Thread: Iron Man 3

Spoiler warning: Post and comment section will have spoilers for the new Iron Man film.

Yesterday morning, I saw the latest in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Iron Man 3, the first true blockbuster film of 2013. And I have so many thoughts! Most of them are about Tony Stark, genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, but also include Pepper and Rhodes and a surprise throwback to the first film in the first three minutes of the film. Problem is, I can't possibly collect them all into a coherent post right now.

So let's have an open thread on the latest Iron Man film! Let's talk about what you enjoyed and did not enjoy. Feel free to come at it as a fan of the films or a fan of the comics or both! Below are some aspects of Iron Man 3 worth discussing:

- The multiple Iron Man suits
- Tony Stark's anxiety issues from the events of The Avengers
- Pepper Potts!
- The Mandarin as villain/terrorism in the MCU
- The after credits tag!

Also, point out the Stan Lee cameo!

Manga Review: My Only King

My Only King
Lily Hoshino
Digital Manga Publishing
164 pages

In the land of magic, a new king is being crowned. However, a mishap during the ceremonial rite causes the royal crest to be accidentally attached to a normal human, Kazuomi. To protect the crest from any villains who may be after it, Mewt - the cute and brave sorcerer - is dispatched to the human world. There, Mewt must live disguised as a girl, and as "she" and Kazuomi live under one roof together, the two begin to find themselves attracted to each other... (Source: Goodreads)

First things first: this is very much a Lily Hoshino book. That means cute hijinks, misunderstandings, love at first sight, and one person in the main couple being one of her trademark very feminine guys that often get mistaken for girls by unobservant readers. Only this one has magic! Yay, magic! My Only King is a fun yaoi title with a fantasy twist.

Fujoshi O'Clock (5/3/13)

What time is it? It's . . . Fujoshi O'Clock, the biweekly feature at Nagareboshi Review, when I bring to you the latest fujoshi-related news and reviews and various shiny BL-flavored things. Why? Because rotten girls need love too!

This week on Fujoshi O'Clock:

• Alex Woolfson's gay sci-fi webcomic Artifice is now in print, thanks to a recent Kickstarter that took his series from screen to page. The print version contains extras that cannot be found on the Yaoi 911 website.
• Ogiue Maniax's Fujoshi Files has reached File 70 with Shiguma Rika, the perverted fujoshi of Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai.
• the beautiful world blogs about the beautifully imperfect characters of Kaori Yuki's works, including those in her BL title Boys Next Door.

Reviews:

• Connie at Slightly Biased Manga has reviewed Drops of Desire by You Higashino, a SuBLime title as well as Picnic by Yugi Yamada, a Digital Manga title.
• the manga habit has reviewed Tokyo Shinjuu by Totempole, a series with apparently lots of smooching and blushing. Some scans are NSFW.
• Okazu has reviewed the classic BL title Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio which is kind of surprising, because I thought she was a yuri blog?

Am I missing your blog? Got some awesome fujoshi-related news and reviews you think deserve a shout-out? Poke me with a link and a bit of description over at my Twitter: @theseventhl. I'm always on the look out for more BL love!