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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

November 9, 2012 by Sean Gaffney, MJ and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

JManga the Week of 11/15

SEAN: Nothing that makes me go squee in next week’s 4 new titles, but some interesting stuff regardless.

Takatoh-sanchi no Komatta Jijyou is another Be x Boy title from Libre Shuppan, with a smug square-jawed seme feeding his startled uke some pancakes. It’s designed for audiences who like that sort of thing, I imagine.

MJ: I tend to roll my eyes at covers like this, but I’ve also learned over the years that I can’t really judge a BL manga by its cover. I haven’t read any of Natsuho Shino’s other books, though a few of them have been released by both DMP and SuBLime. I have to admit that her (apparently unfinished) series Oh My God! (SuBLime) has one of those omyouji plotlines that tend to be kinda bullet-proof for me, even when they’re awful. Maybe I’ll check that one out first before braving the pancake cover.

MICHELLE: I haven’t read any of her stuff, either, though I must point out that back in the day, Kate kind of liked Oh My God!

SEAN: A Transparent Orange in the Lip, from Ichijinsha’s Yuri Hime magazine, is exactly the same, only for yuri audiences rather than BL. Look, vulnerable high school girls in love! (Why am I getting Kentucky Fried Movie flashbacks?)

MJ: Erica Friedman reviewed this title a couple of years ago, and… well, it’s not all that encouraging. Sadly.

SEAN: Our final two titles are both from Earth Star Entertainment, a company that has clearly made a big deal with JManga recently, as we’re seeing a huge pile of their stuff. They have a couple of magazines, and tend to have titles that run across multiple platforms, with anime, CD dramas, etc. Tokyo Cycle Girl is yuri-ish (in the same way that Zero-Sum titles are BL-ish) about a girl who tries to impress her new aloof roommate by upgrading her bike.

MJ: So does it follow then, that if I like Zero-Sum titles, I’d also like this? :D I’m hoping so, because I kinda love the premise. I hope it works out for the girl!

MICHELLE: It definitely sounds more promising than A Transparent Orange! And huzzah for more yuri and yuri-ish releases!

SEAN: You may notice that Koetama has 5 creators listed. It’s a project that was “conceptualized” by four voice actresses, who created characters based on what they would likely be cast as. Naturally, it’s a manga about aspiring voice actors. For seiyuu buffs, the creators are Nakahara Mai, Ueda Kana, Hayami Saori and Yahagi Sayuri. Intriguing, even if it looks very calculated.

MJ: This idea, while interesting, is kind of artistically suspect, though I suppose I should give it a chance.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I dunno. The cover says “not for you” in its art style, even while the girl herself is pretty cute-looking. I think I’ll wait for others’ reviews before I forge ahead.

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Filed Under: FEATURES & REVIEWS, manga the week of

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  1. MangaBlog — New Tezuka manga found, JManga finalists announced says:
    November 13, 2012 at 8:00 am

    […] I picked the best of the past week’s new releases at MTV Geek, Lissa Pattillo gives her take in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA, and the Manga Village team did the same back at their place. Meanwhile, the Manga Bookshelf bloggers look forward to this week’s new manga releases in print and at JManga. […]

    Reply


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