The World (Of Hack) Has Been Saved!

Breaking news: Funimation has made it Christmas in July for Dot Hack franchise fans! Their license rescues include the original .hack series, the Roots series, the Twilight series, and the G.U. trilogy. Before today, the only Hack title they had in their library was the Quantum series, which came out last year.

If these titles do well, Funimation might very well license other titles in the Hack franchise. I hope they somehow wrangle the rights to the Limitation OVAs that were originally bundled with the games. What Hack titles are you looking forward to getting?

Manga Review: Bleach GN 55

Bleach volume 55
Author: Tite Kubo
Viz Media/Shonen Jump
198 pages

The peace is suddenly broken when warning sirens blare through the Soul Society. Residents there are disappearing without a trace, and nobody knows who's behind it. Meanwhile, a dark shadow is also extending itself toward Ichigo and his friends in Karakura Town . . . (Source: Viz.com)

Spoiler warning: Review contains spoilers for some events of Bleach's 55th volume.

Bleach is back in the swing of things: new arc, new antagonist, same Ichigo and friends. But this time, this may be the last battle for Kurosaki and the whole of Soul Society. A new group of dangerous warriors have descended upon the various realms of Bleach, intent on wiping out those who won't join them. 

The name of this story is the Thousand-Year Blood Arc, and as Tite Kubo sets the stage for the series finale, the body count is already steadily rising. It's the beginning of the end for this shonen superstar and it still manages to demand your full attention as ever before.

Manga Review: Cross Game GN 7 & 8

Cross Game volume 7 & 8

Author: Mitsuru Adachi

Viz Media/Shonen Sunday

376 pages (omnibus 7) & 376 pages (omnibus 8)

Spoiler warning: Review contains spoilers for the entire Cross Game manga series.

With his final summer in high school approaching, Ko and the rest of the team are right in the thick of the regionals to qualify for Koshien. They manage a win in their first game, but the next round pits them against Kurokoma, led by none other than Seishu’s infamous former coach, Daimon. Seishu is cautious because they know Daimon would really hate to lose to the “Portables” twice. And as the team battles its way toward Koshien, Akane Takigawa is dealt a blow to her health and is hospitalized. (Source: Goodreads)

On the anime website MyAnimeList, the highest rating you can give a manga is a 10 - a masterpiece, quite a weighty label to give any piece of fiction. A masterpiece carries the airs of some perfect art, untouchable by flaws and utterly undefinable by any modern standards. When I rate something a 10, I don't do it lightly. The work being rated has to evoke in me an undeniable emotional reaction, a need to be in this fictional world as long as possible, and a mixture of melancholy and satisfaction when I finally reach the end of the story. Naturally, I've given Cross Game a rating of 10. To me, it is a masterpiece.

Fujoshi O'Clock (7/12/13)

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:

• Manga Bookshelf is hosting the latest Manga Moveable Feast, featuring the works of Loveless manga-ka Yun Kouga. The July Feast officially begins in two days.
• AnimeNation: An anime film of the Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi light novel/manga series has recently been announced. The manga had once been licensed by Tokyopop's Blu imprint but was never actually released in English.
• the manga habit shares images of the BL video game No, Thank You!!!, in which there are lots of cute guys including a super handsome oyaji (!!!); there is a link to her Tumblr, where more images are.

Reviews:

• Experiments in Manga reviews volume one of Off*Beat by Jen Lee Quick, an OEL manga that has recently been republished by Chromatic Press.
• Brain Vs. Book reviews Kaze to Ki no Uta volumes 9 & 10 by Keiko Takemiya, a BL-tinged series by the manga-ka behind To Terra and Andromeda Stories.
• Leroy at I Reads You reviews Sleeping Moon volume 1 by Kano Miyamoto; the story is part mystery, part ghost story.

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!

Manga Review: Sakura Hime GN 10

Sakura Hime volume 10
Author: Arina Tanemura
Viz Media/Shojo Beat
184 pages

Rurijo captures the smitten Hayate and uses moon spring water on him. Princess Yuri, betrothed to Lord Fujimurasaki, seeks the private company of another man. And Princess Sakura is taken hostage by the emperor... (Source: Viz.com)

Spoiler warning: Review contains spoilers for the latest English translation of Sakura Hime.

If volume nine of Arina Tanemura's latest manga Sakura Hime was a departure into the more shojo-style romantic sphere of the series, volume ten brings us crashing back into the conflicts that propel the manga forward. Sakura's ancestry and curse of immortality once again comes into play, as does Hayate and Rurijo, two supporting characters caught in the web of Enju's machinations. Tanemura is bringing the danger and the drama back to Sakura Hime and it creates one of the strongest volumes of the whole series.