today in BL manga

it’s been a while since I’ve done this, huh? More than three months! So I guess we have lots of stuff to update about at the moment.

♔ → on Jaryuu Dokuro’s latest blog entry she announced a tentative date for the release of volume one of her story through Rutile BxP Anx: May! So after what’s felt like a pretty pitiful drought in works by Jaryuu Dokuro, we’re finally getting something substantial. Pretty exciting!

♔ → a good find I happened to stumble upon the other day while I was searching Chill Chill to get ready for my upcoming purchase: Kimi no Karada ni Yasashii Kiss wo. Click the link to see the absolutely lovely cover! And as if the beautiful cover weren’t enough, the theme is equally adorable. It’s a book of seven stories by seven artists about boys kissing. Unfortunately there aren’t any reviews yet but it pretty much sounds like the cutest thing ever.

♔ → lot of people have even brought it up with me to make sure I know, so I’m sure everyone else has already heard but Matsuo Marta has a new book coming April 30th through Chocolat! I’ve only read one chapter of her story through them (incidentally, it was the last chapter… orz) but it seemed really interesting so I’m looking forward to it. Matsuo Marta has a knack for writing wonderfully charming characters and storylines so I’m sure it won’t disappoint.

♔ → Two very nice covers I wanted to post about through HertZ and Craft, Towa and Okuyama  Puku both have releases this month:

You can go here and here respectively to see bigger versions since Amazon hasn’t posted the covers yet. I really love Towa’s, in particular.

♔ → Speaking of releases though Craft and HertZ, Inoue Nawo will be releasing a new book on April 26th titled Sora no Deau Basho de. The Amazon pre-order page is already up here, and you can see the POP here!

♔ → And then May releases through Hanaoto are also something worth getting excited for: Natsumizu Ritsu with K-sensei no Yajuu na Aijou and Chiba Ryouko with Uchi no Oujisama, both for release on the 29th!

♔ → Back to talking about April released to get pumped about (for me at least), Yamada Maya has a book coming out through Junet on the 28th, Gojoe Tiger has one coming out on the 12th, and Ike Reibun has one through Lynx on the 24th! April is starting to look like a pretty horrifying month, budget-wise… also just because it’s always a stressful experience to ship porn like Yamada Maya’s shota-y books. orz

♔ → Two other covers I’ve found particularly intriguing are volume three of Mamahara Ellie and Tono Haruhi’s Kayashima-shi no Yuuga na Seikatsu and volume two of Sakura Sakuya’s Oinari-sama no Honey Bunny.

I know it’s probably weird of me but I group these two together instinctively if only because they have one thing in common: both of them are series I started thinking it would just be a ‘filler’ between stuff I was actually excited about only to get really hooked. Kayashima-shi in particular—I just love the atmosphere of the story and it’s so unusually well-suited to Mamahara Ellie’s art style. I can’t wait to see what volume three has in store—if only I could read the novels as well!

today in BL manga

Long time no see!

♔ → On August 24th Yamamoto Kotetsuko will be releasing the second volume of her manga Lucky Number 13 through Rutile! I’ve been waiting almost a year for this so I’m ecstatic!

♔ → Also in release announcements, on August 25th Chiba Ryouko will be releasing a tankoubon through Chara. Admittedly I was hoping for Junko, but Chiba Ryouko is good as well! It feels like it’s been so long since I last read something new from her.

♔ → On Canna’s release date, the website was updated with information for July’s issue. Snae Hata gets the cover again! And Yamada Torico gets the color page. *w* They really are revisiting a lot of the mangaka they originally started out with! Also also, Inoue Nawo?? So great! Though I’m sad that Ootsuki Miu’s story still isn’t continuing. orz;;; It left off on a terrible cliffhanger so the wait is frustrating.

Speaking of Canna, though, they finally added the cover for Marita Yuzu’s upcoming tankoubon:

♔ → Not necessarily BL-related, but this month is great for Kumota Haruko as far as josei manga goes! Not only is she on the cover of ITAN but also volume one of her series through them was announced for release next month. The cover has already been posted to their blog, along with Bikke’s who also happens to be releasing a book through them in July. I’m hoping Aniya’s will be announced for August or September!

♔ → Some other covers I found interesting are Ishino Aya’s latest release through Rutile and then Komizu Kiyo and Ogasawara Uki’s through HertZ.

Ishino Aya’s, in particular, is so pretty. I love how innocent her BL illustrations tend to be—they tell a very simple but lovely story.

♔ → Ootsuki Miu is back in Daria! Actually, just that was enough to make me really want to purchase the latest issue but since I wasn’t interested enough in many of the other mangaka I had to pass it up. I went back and counted and this is Ootsuki’s third story through Daria (sixth, counting the online-only releases) so hopefully I can realistically keep my fingers crossed for a tankoubon soon.

This month was just generally a hard month for me when it came to magazine and anthology purchases, haha. Because Konno Satomi was debuting in Chara and also because Junko’s manga finished up in this issue, I wanted to buy Chara. But I also really wanted OPERA for Matsuo Marta and Nakamura Asumiko. ;; In the end I tried to take the ‘responsible’ route—since I couldn’t choose between the three magazines I bought a tankoubon from my backlog wishlist instead.

♔ → Yoneda Kou, evidently coming back full swing, is also on the cover of volume one of BiQ. She doesn’t have a story inside, though, sadly.

♔ → And lastly, Baby volume 17 has finally been released. As you may recall, this volume was originally scheduled for late March but had to be pushed back due to the earthquake in Japan. The theme is ‘yanki uke’ this time around, and the special guest and cover illustrator is Kyuugou.

Inoue Nawo novel cover

It’s so pretty that I wanted to post it here.

Novel by Asaoka Modoru with illustrations by Inoue Nawo. Somehow it feels like it’s been too long since I’ve seen something new by Inoue Nawo, so I always worry if her art style is changing a lot without me ever realizing it. But it’s nice to see that if it is changing at all, it’s just getting prettier.

Another cute novel cover is this one, Ookami-san ga Yattekita, by Ishihara Hinako with illustrations by Ogura Muku. Admittedly, I have always been a sucker for kemomimi-type stories.

It seems like all I do lately is sit on amazon.jp and look at cover postings since I’m waiting (impatiently) for Cab to come in stock so that I can put in my order for this month. /o\ Wahhh please hurry, Cab! I want to see what BLink is all about!

Spotlight: Inoue Nawo

Actually, I don’t really remember where I first heard about Inoue Nawo. I don’t remember how I stumbled across the first story I read by her—if maybe it was a recommendation or just a coincidence. But I do remember the first story of hers that I read (Sute Neko no Ie) and I remember being so struck by her artwork and her storytelling and her everything that I instantly sat down and wrote a livejournal post about how amazing she is. But now I have this blog. So I guess I should write it here instead.

Sute Neko no Ie
Amane no Uta

Snippets 017

♔ → The newest cover of Baby, themed “Kozure”, has been posted up to BK1. BK1 is evidently very good about posting their covers in a timely manner—even more timely than Baby, in fact, who released the anthology more than a day ago and still haven’t updated their site. Tokyo Mangasha #2 y/y?

♔ → Speaking of Tokyo Mangasha, they finally updated their site a couple days ago. Go there to see higher-quality images of the Nobara and Cab covers and also to see the line-up for Cab’s latest issue.

♔ → Good news for Kumota Haruko: Nobara is a compete hit! It was posted as a recommendation for the first week of its release on Chill Chill and is now currently at #4 on their manga ranking. I’m crossing my fingers for it to hit #1 any time now.

♔ → Kobato Mebaru updated her blog yesterday to talk about the Daria summer BL fair as well as the latest issue of Dear+. She also mentioned Ogura Muku’s meet & greet event for her upcoming release. I know it makes me a loser but awwwww those two are such cute friends! I love it when they talk about each other lol.

♔ → Joining the string of upcoming releases are two new book announcements under Chocolate Comics. The first is by Akira Norikazu and will be titled beast & feast. The second will be titled Teardrop and will be released by Asou Mitsuaki. Two very amazing mangaka, so please look forward to that!

♔ → B’s Garden, the website for Shy novels and CRAFT and HertZ comics, got a complete overhaul today. It used to be a sad, dreary dark blue but now is incredibly colorful. Just in time for the sunny days of summer. I definitely prefer this version of the site—nicer on the eyes and much easier to navigate once you figure things out. What do you think?

♔ → Speaking of B’S Garden, CRAFT (CLAFT, lmao) posted up the covers for their upcoming releases by Miyagi Tooko and Inoue Nawo. You can see them here. Hopefully in the next couple days the previews will also be posted.

♔ → Aniya Yuiji’s drama CD for Me wo Tojite 3byou comes out today! Exciting, exciting! /o/ Aniya Yuiji posted the cover on her site here and it’s so so soooo lovely. She is so amazing, I don’t even. BUT ANWAY, my sweet and lovely blog readers, I have a favor to ask. I do not run in drama CD circles because I don’t like seiyuu, so could anyone who finds a download for this drama CD when it’s posted please tell me? I really really want to listen to it because this is my favorite manga and. Yeah. PLEASE? 8(? I wanted to buy it but CDs are too expensive for me, especially since I’ll probably only listen to it once.

♔ → I don’t remember if I already talked about it so sorry if you’re hearing this twice, but Ootsuki Miu’s Melancholic Mellow Mellow will be getting a drama CD release through the same company, Fifth Avenue. The release date is set for July 28th. So congratulations to Ootsuki-sensei for yet another drama CD release from one of her plots!

♔ → BExBOY GOLD needs to post the cover already jfc.

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♔ → Comic Magazine LYNX’s site was updated for their latest issue, which was released today! The cover for this issue if Madarame Hiro, and there are also images of the color inserts by Sunae Hata (!!), Takaoka Motonari and Kousaka Tooru. The Sunae Hata image is so cuuuuute. Also amazing and included in this volume are Ootsuki Miu, Kojima Lalako, Umematsu Machie and Takarai Saki. Delicious!

Also, they updated the previews to now include Katase Waka and Kuju Siam’s newest tankoubon. So make sure to check those out if you have time!

♔ → Speaking of Kojima Lalako’s latest story in LYNX, she updated her blog about it and posted a sample of the insert image. It’ll only be 17p but that’s better than nothing!

HertZ band 38

HertZ! /o/ I got it in the mail Friday, apart from the rest of my order. And it was a huge band-aid on the hot mess that was drap, seriously. So many delicious stories to be had. :9 Though for some reason I was under the impression that MatsuMieco would be in this issue, so I found the lack of her general presence a bit depressing. Oh well. Life goes on.

Some explicit content behind the cut; underage readers beware, etc.

I hate June.

Every month I compile a list of book releases I plan on getting. If I’m lucky it’ll be a small release month and I’ll be able to include some backlog items from my wishlist. But when I’m unlucky I get a beast of a month like this upcoming June. orz

(image unrelated, but very sexy)

Ze Besto

Because I am asked this a LOT and don’t know how I could possibly format it to make it fit in the FAQ and I have nothing else to post about lol. A list of the BL manga that I often go back to when I feel like I’ve run out of things to read. I suppose you could take this as a list of my personal recommendations. Of course, don’t read them with your expectations too high—just because these are my personal favorites doesn’t mean everyone is going to love them.

Anyway, feel free to leave your own recommendations in the comments!

❥ Aniya Yuiji
Me wo Tojite 3byou
Danshi Meiro
Kangoku 69

❥ Asou Kai
Yachin Hanbun no Ibasho desu

❥ Asou Mitsuaki
Bitter Sweet Candy

Moe Danshi Gatari

I figured that I would take some pictures of this book and share them on here, since it’s so lovely. I only took pictures of my personal favorite illustrations, but if you have any requests (you can see all the artists mentioned in this blog post at Akibanana) for pictures just say so.