Sweh manga report

[wednesday_10_00]

You know you're really crazy when you develop your own damn rating system. Especially when said system includes made-up words.

A = sweh
B = heh
C = meh
D = bleh
F = ylehck

...Keeping in mind that I'm liberal with my swehs. There's an unlimited number of exclamation points I can add when I come across something REALLY good.

でも分りやすくていいでしょう？やっぱだめかな...

One Night Lesson Takagi Ryou
(heh) Semi-amusing short stories. The longest story involves this kid with a split personality, only one of whom is in love with the main character. It's a stupid premise, and goes in a really stupid direction, but I liked the second chapter of it. I also liked the last story, about two boys going to an all boys school, both determined to not end up with a boyfriend. (I think you can all guess how successful they were with this.)

Shugoreisama ni Tsuitekoi♥ Takagi Ryou
(meh) It's like the cast of Kirepapa got dropped into a weird fantasy universe (where all humans have their own guardian spirit) and given a plot. I'm afraid the similarities between the two just make it more obvious that this one isn't as good.

Kagakushitsu no Ouji Sakuraga Mei
(sweh) A short story collection with two chapters for the title story. I love it because I love nerds. And even cuter than Inuzuka being a nerd ("Akai, look at the beautiful purple color of this reaction! Isn't it romantic?") is the way Akai thinks it's cute, too. It's too bad the "plot" in the second chapter is so stupid, but the cute characters make up for it. The other stories are cute too, but beware of high cheese content.

Otenki no Oniisan Minamikawa Peto
(bleh) I cannot for the life of me remember why I picked this up. I saw the cover. I read the back. I knew it was going to be stupid. But somehow I couldn't resist. If you want something ridiculous (ridiculous like the Pierce/June one page smut-fests are ridiculous) with no other merits whatsoever, by all means, get it.

Lovely Sick (1-3) Ohmine Shouko
(sweh) I picked up the first two volumes of this a few months ago, when I heard the series was licensed by Drama Queen, and they sat in my "to read" pile until I saw that the third volume had come out this week. (I hadn't even realized it was still running.) So I picked that up, too, and read them all in one go.

My main problem with the series is that the entire second volume is a flashback to how the main characters met and fell in love, and...I think it reads better with that part of the story first. (This is not like me--I will forever hate and despise the new "official" order for the Narnia books, for instance. I really think books should be read in the order published.) Starting from the first volume, the characters seem overly clingy and, frankly, borderline psychotic. But when you start from the beginning of their story, and see all they've been through, it's easier to see why they act that way. Or maybe you just get used to it. Or maybe I just think the second volume should be read first because that was my favorite part of the series. (I mean...this page is so beautiful and full of longing it literally hurts me to look at.) I also really like seeing the way Naoyuki grows up and gets stronger--he's a very well-developed and believable boy.

But the series isn't all angst and depression; we also get scenes like Ryouichi and Naoyuki making dinner:
Ryouichi: Scalpel.
Naoyuki: *hands over knife* ...Wait, that's a knife! Quit using hospital lingo on me!
Ryouichi: You understood, so it doesn't really matter, does it?

I must give a warning, though, to anyone who's thinking of going out and getting the Japanese version of this: the end of the third volume leaves off on a bad cliffhanger. Is it going to be Cripple Love!? I'm a sick girl, so I kind of hope it will be. <--(The offical spoiler tag color of cripples)

I went shopping this weekend, and remembered why doujinshi shops are EVIL and it's a BAD IDEA for me to go into them. Anyway...I got the weird AU Koisuru Boukun doujinshi, which was ostensibly the reason I went shopping. (sara_tanaquil, I'm sending you an e-mail about this in a second.) It's...weird. Well, not, uh...Shino-tan weird, but still weird. (Even Takanaga says so, in her notes in the back. Like, "Why is Morinaga a bear but wearing a lab coat? And Tatsumi's not wearing one?) And, while there's some hot licking of wounds, there is, alas, no hot sex. But, on the bright side, wolf!Tatsumi is nicer than real Tatsumi. He's not REAL, Denise.

I happened to find a Chintsubu doujinshi, which was totally and completely adorable. I checked Yamato's homepage, and it kind of looks like doujinshi is the only place she's continuing the series right now? But there is a note saying that the doujinshi stories (there are three so far) may be collected into a tankoubon someday. (May. Someday. ARGH.)

I also found a Wagamama doujinshi! ...Well. The inside was all character sketches and author notes. But it was worth getting for the cover:



Natsu: Get in, get in!
Shuu: What, you want me to be the present?



(I think I just died from cute.)

And, two doujinshi I didn't pick up...one was a Junjou Romantica(!!!) doujinshi, which looked to have been published before the manga came out, and the other was a Koicha no Osaho doujinshi (which may or may not have been illicitly posted somewhere the other day). I didn't get them because they were 5,000 yen each. Ow. I've bought some pricey doujinshi before, but...5,000?? I'll pass. For now.

And now, pimping of a different kind: I recently downloaded a free trial of Media Man and have been enjoying adding books to my collection. I LOVE this program, because it's the first one I've seen that can access Amazon Japan. And being able to only input the ISBN and suddenly have everything I ever wanted to know about the book stored on my computer is really lovely. (Of course, I still have to add Tosuisha titles by hand...) Maybe now I'll keep better track of my collection.

Edit: I forgot to mention, as a warning for sara_tanaquil, or anyone else who wanted it, the new Suzuhara manga does NOT have the Koyubi story in it. :(

Edit #2: If I'm not around so much the next couple days, it's because I'm at the Returning JETs conference. Oh god, morning commute in the direction of Tokyo. KILL ME NOW, PLEASE.

Comments

[spacealien-vamp.livejournal.com]

Lovely Sick (1-3) Ohmine Shouko

Coincidentally, I just saw #3 when I was shopping yesterday and the cover made me want to buy it...except the bookstore didn't have the first two. So I wrote it down for later reference. I'm glad to know it has a recommendation behind it.

[wednesday-10-00.livejournal.com]

The third cover is definitely the cutest, but I like that they're all color coordinated. I think you'll like it, but be patient with the characters at first...unless you read them out of order like I think you should.

I hope I got the color right

[mangaroo.livejournal.com]

I clearly have a fetish for Cripple Love: there's "Agnus Dei" from my one-shot list, and one of my favorite Bohra Naono stories is 吐息の熱 (which also feeds my fetish for toshishita seme and their more prudish uke).

I shall be waiting for the English version of Lovely Sick. There's no need for me to cultivate prejudices against the English translation by growing attached to the Japanese.

a Koicha no Osaho doujinshi
By...Sakuragi Yaya? Really? Noooooooooooooooooo*headdesk*x∞oooooooo!

The official cripple color is 993300

[wednesday-10-00.livejournal.com]

By...Sakuragi Yaya? Really?

Yes.

*shifty eyes*

Apply knife to nose. Saw vigorously.

[mangaroo.livejournal.com]

No illicit copy for me, but thank you for the sotto voce offer. I can't be "scans are evil...unless it's something I want." Well, I could be, but that would make me something uglier than a self-righteous nag.

I shall hunt for a copy in March. Or August. If you tell me it's worth reading and not just a collection of calendar poses and character profiles.

Re: Apply knife to nose. Saw vigorously.

[wednesday-10-00.livejournal.com]

"scans are evil...unless it's something I want."

I was thinking more, "Well, when it's really rare and hard to find and outrageously expensive..."

It is very worth reading. (I dunno about worth 5,000 yen, but...) If you really want it and it's still there when I go back to Tokyo in two weeks, I can grab it for you, if you'd like.

Also, I heard a rumor that it's on J-List, but since I live in Japan, I can't look at anyone's links to J-List without being redirected, so I don't know if it is, or how much it would be.

Re: Apply knife to nose. Saw vigorously.

[mangaroo.livejournal.com]

Be glad you're redirected (to what?). I'm trying to search the J-List site now. The manga and doujinshi page is currently advertising a bishoujo game with the translated title "Do you like horny bunnies?" Usa-san, don't look!

Speaking of horny bunnies and hard-to-order titles, have you read Love Prism by Asami Tohjoh? It supposedly came out in January.

Re: Apply knife to nose. Saw vigorously.

[wednesday-10-00.livejournal.com]

to what?

J-Box. I have no idea how this differs from J-List (the prices are in US dollars, even?), because I've never seen J-List. However, the person who mentioned it said that J-List "has a lot of yaoi," and I don't see ANY yaoi there, so I guess it is different.

have you read Love Prism by Asami Tohjoh?

Unless I've completely lost my mind, no. I can't remember seeing it even, but I may just not have noticed it.

[twigcollins.livejournal.com]

Sweh!!!

[wednesday-10-00.livejournal.com]

It's my favorite new word. XD

[sara-tanaquil.livejournal.com]

Koicha no Osaho doujinshi (which may or may not have been illicitly posted somewhere the other day). I didn't get them because they were 5,000 yen each. Ow. I've bought some pricey doujinshi before, but...5,000?? I'll pass. For now.

Ouch! I really enjoyed the illicitly posted version, which would normally make that an automatic buy, but... Ow. I'll look for it in the used shops in May, and hope for the best.

Thanks for the reviews. The Sakuraga Mei title sounds cute, I will look out for it. (And thanks for the cliffhanger warning on that other one -- I did not click on the spoiler tag. I can't take any more bad cliffhangers in my life right now.)

[wednesday-10-00.livejournal.com]

Oh no, I don't think you understand. The one I saw WAS used. It was published (I think) in 2003, and thus is now rare because you can only find it used, and Sakuragi Yaya is really popular. I'll bet it was only 500 or so when it was new. 700 tops.

I did not click on the spoiler tag.

Actually, I was purposely vague with that, so it probably wouldn't matter. But as for cliffhangers...yeah, now I'm thinking I should start reading Aqua magazine. Ugh.

[sara-tanaquil.livejournal.com]

Edit: I forgot to mention, as a warning for [info]sara_tanaquil, or anyone else who wanted it, the new Suzuhara manga does NOT have the Koyubi story in it. :(

I forgot to comment on this the first time. WHY?? Darn it, that was the only story of hers I actually liked. I really wonder what goes through the heads of publishers compiling tankoubon sometimes.

Thanks for the warning -- I would really have been pretty confident otherwise that that story would be in her first tank.

[mangaroo.livejournal.com]

the new Suzuhara manga does NOT have the Koyubi story in it.
Then I'm glad I dropped it from the huge order I placed last night. bk1 had it on 1-3 week status, and I didn't want a title I was buying on spec to slow down the rest of the the order. Especially because this is the BEST ORDER EVER. Brother 2, Koicha 4, Harudaki 11, the not-exactly-brand-new Bohra Naono, Luv 19, CMAX 4, Furuba 19, some mangafication of Kyo Kara Maoh. And porn! Oh, the frabjous porn. Plus that one title by the artist who has yet to write anything I like, but I still buy all her stuff because I think I would like it if the art weren't so stiff.

Have you seen Koicha 4? If you haven't, I'm wondering if it might include the doujinshi story. When I think of what I paid for some of the Balalaika stories that are now appearing in the Harudaki tankoubon. Oy. I realize there's probably more in the dj than just the manga bits, but the story is all I really care about.

[wednesday-10-00.livejournal.com]

Really now. You think Koicha's been out for two weeks and I haven't seen it yet? No, unfortunately, the doujinshi story's not in there. I feel your pain with the Harudaki doujinshi though--there's another one in volume 11. *sigh* She wrote in her notes in the back that the magazine chapters have some stuff added to them, though; I just haven't looked through closely enough to see what.

[mangaroo.livejournal.com]

You think Koicha's been out for two weeks and I haven't seen it yet?

My head was thinking that since you probably read all the chapters serialized in the mangazine, maybe you didn't race out to purchase the tankoubon. My head apologizes and offers to email itself to you in penance.

[wednesday-10-00.livejournal.com]

Obviously I'm much more obsessive than your head thinks. I buy new manga on the day of release 90% of the time. (There are the rare occasions when I'll wait a day or two if I'm not that excited about it and nothing else is coming out that day). Also, in the case of Koicha, I was hoping for a 書き下ろし story about Tokumaru and Hasune in their sexy college days. (Okay, Tokumaru's sweatsuit isn't that sexy. Whatever.) Alas, instead I'm reduced to hoping Sakuragi will write a sequel about Shunpei and we'll get to see Tokumaru and Hasune in that.

...And now I have to go read it again. See what you've made me do? I'll never get anything done tonight.

[hallucino.livejournal.com]

Where's 'S' and what would it stand for?

[wednesday-10-00.livejournal.com]

...S? In my rating system, you mean? Why would there be an S?