13th Boy, Volume 1
13th Boy, Vol. 1
By SangEun Lee
Published by Yen Press
Hurray for Kate!
Just a quick link for those who haven’t heard, the fantastic Kate Dacey, who was Senior Manga Editor at PCS when I was brought on, has started her own blog, The Manga Critic! She gets things going with a roundtable of short recommendations from other reviewers (including me!) as well as a treasure trove of other content already put into place.
For a little history on Kate and manga, check out this introduction and then add her to your blogrolls and RSS feeds ASAP, because this blog should absolutely be a daily read for anyone who loves manga.
Her Majesty’s Dog, Volume 1
Good morning, folks! I’ve been on a bit of a crazy schedule, so I’m behind on answering comments to yesterday’s entry. I will work on doing so later tonight! Thanks for such a great response! In the meantime, here’s a quick review for today:
Her Majesty’s Dog, Vol. 1
By Mick Takeuchi
Published by Go!Comi
Ruminations on Grading
First things first, I have a review in today’s Manga Minis, for DMP one-shot, Hey Sensei? which is definitely my favorite of their BL offerings I’ve read so far.
Now it’s time to get around to my final topic from the poll! Originally in my head, this was called “The Futility of Grading,” but the more I thought about it, the more I realized what a silly thing that was to say. It’s not that grading is futile, just that it is tricky and subjective. I might not like being asked to assign a grade to something, but as others have pointed out, it does provide a shorthand for letting the reader know if you liked something or not. Or does it? Heh.
Nodame Cantabile, Volume 1
First, just a quick link to a review of mine over at Manga Recon’s Otaku Bookshelf column, for the second and third volumes of DMP’s The Guilty, a series of yaoi novels I had extremely mixed feelings about. And now, a quick review of something a bit more my style!
Nodame Cantabile, Vol. 1
By Tomoko Ninomiya
Published by Del Rey Manga
Why Twitter?
This is a bit out of order in terms of the poll, but since my mother is one of the readers who most wanted to see this post, I’m going to let her trump all. :)
Lissa Pattillo recently blogged about manga publishers and bloggers/reviewers she’s found on Twitter, and as one of those I felt a bit inspired to talk about my own experience there, especially since the thing I hear most from non-users is, well, “Why?”
St. Dragon Girl, Volume 2
St. Dragon Girl, Vol. 2
By Natsumi Matsumoto
Published by Viz Media
My Thoughts On Yaoi Manga, Part II
So I’m starting with this topic because it received the most votes, but I’ll be talking about each topic on the poll within the next week or so, and posting some reviews as well, so hopefully I will please everyone!
It’s kind of stunning now to go back to my original thoughts on yaoi, not because the things I have problems with in the genre have changed, because they really haven’t (though I probably have some new things to add). What’s changed is that I have finally nailed down what exactly it is I’m looking for in a boys’ love story, and the simple truth is that it is exactly what I’m looking for in any story, no more, no less.
I’ve read arguments from time to time (made by people I respect a lot, mind you) about certain things only being “okay” in a BL story–things they would not accept in any other kind of story. And while I can see the point that these things are potentially unavoidable in the vast majority of the genre, I still don’t like them, and wouldn’t purposefully read something with those elements included unless there was a lot of what I do like in there to balance the scale. So in this entry, instead of talking about what I don’t like in yaoi/boys’love/whatever, I’m going to talk about what I do.
Lunchtime indecision
My mind is quite scattered today. I spent my unusually long commute this morning (thanks, construction season) pondering Great Truths of Our Time, such as “Dunkin’ Donuts has better coffee than McDonald’s,” and “Those who ignore ‘yield’ signs are douchebags,” and since then I’ve encountered quite a bit of online conversation that has caused me to develop Deep Thoughts. First, some comments in Michelle’s blog got me thinking about my futile struggle with assigning grades in reviews, followed by an e-mail exchange that gave me a few new thoughts on yaoi (and wow, reading that old post, I’m struck with how much clearer a perspective I have on the subject now). Finally there came Lissa Pattillo’s post about Twitter which inspired some reflections on my own tweeting experience. In the end, however, here I am at lunchtime with no real direction to speak of. So I put it to you, dear readers (poll after the jump):
Hot Gimmick (VIZBIG), Volume 1
Hot Gimmick (VIZBIG), Vol. 1
By Miki Aihara
Published by Viz Media
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