My big news for the day is to point you all to my review of Jason Thompson and Victor Hao’s King of RPGs over at About.com!

In the interest of being professional (as well as conforming to About.com’s strict format and character limit) I did not gush nearly as much over this comic as I might have in this blog, so let me make this perfectly clear: I really enjoyed King of RPGs. I mean, really, really, really.

Was it my experience with gamers that most hooked me? Hard to say. Was it my love of shonen manga? I dunno. Do I think Jason Thompson is Just That Funny? Maybe. All I know for sure is that I spent a significant portion of my reading time laughing out loud in a truly obnoxious fashion and that there was one Death Note reference that literally had me falling out of my chair.

Whether you love gamers, manga, or just a good, long laugh, I recommend giving King of RPGs a try. Check out Deb Aoki’s introduction and my full review for more. You may also be interested in Deb’s recent interview with the creators, Jason Thompson and Victor Hao, here!

I’ve never read Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl series. I’ve never even seen the television adaptation. So why is this announcement so exciting to me? I’ll tell you why. Yen Press’ adaptation is being written and illustrated by manhwa-ga HyeKyung Baek, author of Bring it On! (among others), a highly enjoyable manhwa series originally brought to English-speaking readers by IceKunion and now part of Yen Press’ extensive manhwa catalogue.

Whether Baek’s adaptation can have the same impact as the original novels or the very popular TV series obviously remains to be seen, but this seems like a smart move on Yen Press’ part and I’m frankly thrilled that they continue to turn to talented Korean artists for so many of these projects. Furthermore, this license is very much in step with other recent acquisitions, particularly Lisi Harrison’s The Clique.
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Earlier this year, I took a tour of eManga.com and though my experience was overall a very positive one, the one thing I wished for was more content. Well, it looks like DMP is making that wish come true, though time will tell if this is content I’ll truly enjoy. Never having been a fan of Harlequin romances, my immediate reaction was on the negative side, but that judgement is far from fair. I’ve never read any Harlequin manga and it’s only right that I give it a shot! With eManga’s recently announced weekend promo (thanks, Michelle!) this is surely the time to start!

Regardless of my own tastes, it seems likely that this is a good move for eManga. With their primary focus being boys’ love manga, romance is clearly key and I’d expect the audiences for both types of romance to overlap quite a bit. For more insight, you may want to take a look at reviews from those who have been reading Harlequin manga, like Julie at Manga Maniac Cafe, Bamboo Dong at Anime News Network, and Craig Johnson at Manga Life. Meanwhile, check out DMP’s press release for more details:
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Nightschool, Vol. 2
By Svetlana Chmakova
Published by Yen Press

Buy This Book

Determined to find out what happened to her sister Sarah, young weirn Alex enrolls in the nightschool, though just getting inside proves to be more of a challenge than she could have expected. Her first “night” gets off to a rocky start as well, when Alex’s unusually advanced magical skills win her an enemy on the teaching staff. Fortunately, her abilities get her transferred into a class that may very well be the key to her search for Sarah, though Alex is undoubtedly in great danger there herself. Meanwhile, the Hunters are on a search of their own, desperate to find the silver-haired girl who stole life away from a number of their crew, though evidence suggests it may be too late to save them.

After the first volume’s whirlwind pace, Svetlana relaxes a bit in the second to provide some very rewarding moments of drama and playful characterization. The story’s momentum hasn’t subsided in the least, but this volume has a bit more ebb and flow to it, pausing gravely over the fate of the fallen Hunters, accenting some bits of humor involving the supporting characters, and offering up Alex’s somewhat bratty yet immensely satisfying triumph in astral training class.

Sarah’s disappearance (even from people’s memories) continues to be a mystery, though there is an interesting exchange between Alex and the leader of the main nightschool student clique, suggesting that Alex may not be the only one who remembers her sister. Alex’s true identity remains a mystery as well, and although a few small clues have been laid out, I find I honestly don’t yet want to know. Like all well-told stories, the true pleasure is in the journey and Nightschool’s journey is so well-paced and deftly plotted, I’m more than content to take it as it comes.

Yen Press’ production is lovely, with a small swath of color pages provided several chapters in. The larger trim size is a nice treat as well and I’m really glad this series has been given such deluxe treatment.

The more I read, the more I enjoy Nightschool. Its intriguing characters, snappy dialogue, easy-flowing artwork, tight pacing, and wonderfully suspenseful plot make it a true gem in Yen Press’ OEL catalogue.

Full Disclosure: Review copy provided by the publisher. Also, I once sat next to Dee DuPuy at dinner.

I’ve been doing a lot of staring at the blank page lately, and it’s been apparent in this blog perhaps more than anywhere. I’ve been under an unprecedented amount of stress in both my personal and professional lives lately, and it’s definitely taking a toll on my productivity. This has led to such soul-soothing activities as media bingeing (lately that’s been NANA in all forms) and creating pointless blog pages with photographs of each of our pets (oldest-to-youngest): Dorrie, Lucy, and of course, Kino. I feel a lot of guilt, however, towards those of you who keep clicking over here in search of real content.

I may not be writing, but I have been reading a lot recently. I’ve started using Google Reader, which has made keeping up with my blogroll a lot easier. A few links to share:
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I saw this headline in the geeks group at Propeller, and it blew my mind for a few minutes.

Gene Hunt Hints at Cause of Bipolar Disorder

If you’re not a Life on Mars fan, that probably means nothing, but if you are, you may be able to imagine the several minutes I spent trying to figure out how Gene Hunt was involved with Bipolar Disorder. Heh.

Links! Johanna Draper Carlson reviews Kasumi vol. 1 at comicsworthreading. Now, you may remember back when I was lamenting on shojo manga (yes, this was before I lamented on boys’ love), I mentioned this comic as one that I’d looked forward to until I saw its official write-up. The review brings me back a little more toward hope. It still sounds fluffier than my original expectations, but maybe there’s a little substance after all? Or at least some genuine whimsy? I hope so! I’ll try to pick this up soon.

Rambling about OEL manga to follow:
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