valentine's day 2011

Continuing with Manga Bookshelf’s Valentine’s Day theme, today’s Follow Friday will focus on bloggers who prioritize romance manga. In my limited circle, at least, this amounts to shoujo manga blogs, boys’ love blogs, and yuri blogs, though I’m hoping you readers might have more to share! Here are a few of my particular favorites:

I’ve linked to yuri super-blogger Erica Friedman here before, of course, but another less-known yuri blogger well worth following is Yuri no Boke‘s Katherine Hanson. I first met Katherine at my local college nerd convention, Smith College’s Conbust, where her fantastic little yuri panel was nearly the only manga-related offering of the whole weekend. Her blog is another must-read for yuri fans. You can follow Katherine on Twitter @yuriboke.

For BL fans, I recommend Alex Woolfson’s Yaoi 911, where he not only reviews yaoi manga, but also offers up his own BL comics, as well as advice for young writers and artists interested in creating BL comics of their own! Also very valuable is his post on finding English-language bara manga, which we’ve seen very little of over here. Bonus? He’s also just a really nice guy. Follow Alex on Twitter @alexwoolfson.

Fans of shoujo manga should be reading Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page, the best source around for reviews and information about untranslated shoujo, divided up into useful categories like “romance,” “smutty romance,” “teacher-student,” and so on. Find Emily on Twitter @MagicalEmi. And if it’s new English-language releases you’re eager to hear about, check out Laura’s Heart of Manga for all shoujo, all the time. Follow Laura on Twitter @Ellesensei.

These are, of course, just a few great bloggers to follow for all your romance needs. Readers, who are your favorites?

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, a shoujo manga fan’s mind tends to wander toward an image of a thousand shy (but optimistic!) Japanese schoolgirls presenting handmade chocolate to the boys of their dreams.

This week, I got to thinking… what dreamy manga boys would I have given my chocolate to, had I been a Japanese schoolgirl?

Behold today’s 3 Things!

3 manga Dream Boys for teen MJ:

1. Shinichi Chiaki | Nodame Cantabile | Tomoko Ninomiya | Del Rey Manga – Yes, yes, he’s stubborn, arrogant, and completely unable to express his feelings through any means other than music. But damn, with that beautiful talent and unstoppable confidence, I would have fallen for him in a heartbeat. You know. In high school. Or college. Not like I sit around dreaming about fictional musicians now or anything. Because that would be totally insane.

Totally.

2. Shizuka Doumeki | xxxHolic | CLAMP | Del Rey Manga – So, would I want a guy who’d give up most of his blood and half an eye for me, while quietly putting up with my clumsy emotions and constant flailing? Yes. Yes, I really would. Okay, I hate to cook, so it’s not exactly a match made in heaven, but a girl can dream. Though in real life, I’ve prefered the clumsy, flailing type (opposites attract, my ass), there’s a daydreaming teen still hidden away somewhere, admiring the tall, quiet guy who’s kinder than he looks.

Do you think he’d eat my store-bought chocolate?

3. Nobuo Terashima | NANA | Ai Yazawa | Viz Media – Given how strongly I identify with one of this series’ protagonists, Nana Komatsu, it should come as no surprise that, out of all the dream boys here on this page, it’s Nobu who most strongly resembles the kind of guy I’ve typically gone for in my non-fictional life. Short and a bit geeky, with his heart on his sleeve, Nobu is the very picture of my perfect dream boy, in manga or anywhere else. Though he lacks the obvious confidence of either Chiaki or Doumeki, he’s definitely a gem in my book.

Bet he’d eat that chocolate, too.

And what of my beloved Eiji Okamura, you ask? My bullet-proof character type if there ever was one? He’s upset not to be included, too. Should I have made it Four Things Friday?

Poor Eiji. *snif*

So, readers, who are three of your manga dream boys? Inquiring minds want to know!

Follow Friday: Looking for Romance

3 Things Thursday: Valentine’s Dream