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ktffansub · 3 years

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Bijutsu Techo: Boys Love – Interview: Yoneda Kou

This article was first published in November 17th, 2014. Translated from Japanesse to Bahasa Indonesia by kalengjelek and then translated from Bahasa Indonesia to English by KTFfansub. Source: here

When did you first encounter manga?

I was born in a family with three daughters; while my older sister likes reading Ribbon magazine, I like reading Nakayoshi. It was the era of Asagiri Yuu-sensei, when I was in elementary school. My favorite at that time were Kusunoki Kei sensei’s works and Patlabor. When it came to Shonen, I would say I was more into Shounen Sunday. I also loved Kawaraha Izumi sensei’s works. When I think about it, rather than manga that were full of passion, I’d actually prefer manga that had calm and soothing kind of vibe.

Is that so… What about BL?

When I was in Junior High, my older sister showed me Captain Tsubasa Doujinshi by Ozaki Minami and I was dumbfounded, I thought, “So, there’s also a world like this!”. After that, I started to buy BL manga. At that time, the mangaka who left the most impression to me was Nishi Keikosensei. Her works such as Mizu Ga Koori Ni Naru Toki, Tenshi Ni Naranakya have unique openings, it made me reread them many times. Uida Shiuko (now Kano Shiuko) and Yoshinaga Fumi Sensei are also my favorite mangaka.

When was the first time you draw manga?

I seriously began drawing manga in my first year of junior high. At first, I drew a pair of man and woman, but after page three, I felt something was off. So, I tried drawing BL for the next one. Just like the present, I’ve always loved less expressive and less-talkactive main characters (laughs). But the more I draw, then an attentive senpai with good personality and short haired ones like Togawa in Doushitemo Furetakunai also appeared. At that moment I thought, “Oh, this is it!”

You really weren’t embarrassed, are you? (laughs)

Well, it’s because it was embarrassing, that’s why I’m not really open about my drawing manga activity.

(laughs) But you debut as professional mangaka eventually, how did that happen?

Yes, after that… I worked as office lady. I got married not long after, but then, I was getting through a marriage blues. At that time, I was invested in Kakashi and Naruto shown by my older sister along with Comiket catalogue.

The power of moe beats out your anxiety (laughs)

It’s true (laughs). Escaping from reality, I checked a lot of circles and opened some sites. There I found a work from a novelist (now has debuted professionally) that I really liked. This is why I started writing novel at first, not drawing. I have a lot of ways to accommodate my moe needs. I also once drew Doujinshi but due to my inability to use a proper diction, the result wasn’t optimal (laughs). After drawing slowly and more at ease, I got into Katekyo Hitman Reborn fandom and drew a lot of doujinshi for that series. A year later, I was contacted by Taiyou Tosho publisher.

“With that publisher, Yoneda Kou published Doushitemo Furetakunai which has been adapted into a movie. Since the beginning, Yoneda Kou didn’t draw one-shot but serialization. For the movie, even though it only tells a story of daily lives, but the directing, composition and dialogue are impressive. About 4,5 years later, the second volume of Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai that had the yakuza neighborhood setting was released. This has completely different feeling compared to Doushitemo Furetakunai.”

My first work was actually published in Drap, so I had it adjusted to be a less-heavy work. That’s why I ended up switching to another magazine.

Was it a demand from the editor?

Of course I only draw what I want to draw. But without realizing, I always draw them to fit the magazine. And it seems like Taiyou Tosho prefers me to draw more simple work.

So, sensei is the type who pays attention to editor’s suggestion. When you wrote the first chapter of Saezuru Tori Wa Habatakanai, did you already want Yashiro to be the main character (for longterm series)?

Right. I didn’t explain it in the first one-shot, but I always believe that no matter how you look at it, Yashiro really loved Kageyama. And (even though he’s drawn like that) he is actually a neko (uke). I think he is an interesting character. When I drew highschooler Yashiro and others, it had been decided that I wanted to write a serialization for this.

And only then the character Doumeki was born?

At that time, the character Doumeki didn’t exist, but I thought very hard about what kind of partner that would be suitable for Yashiro. I took a break from drawing for about two years. I only worked on illustration during that time, until one morning an idea suddenly came to me, “That’s right! Erectile dysfunction!”. I immediately sent an email to my editor: “A perverted impotent man!” (laughs). Afterwards, I finally worked on the first draft.

(laughs hard) Finally, the combination of Yashiro and Doumeki who are the opposite of each other was decided. What an amazing couple that can even make the readers losing sleep.

I do have this particular interest in people’s decision and behaviour resulted from a contrasting relationship that is full of conflicts. Because there are so many characters in Saezuru, I have this excel file compiling the plot for each character chronologically. Otherwise, I would’ve forgotten about it. If I didn’t seriously research (the setting of my own story), I wouldn’t be able to write anything when I made name. But even though I got through it, drawing a family with no blood ties like yakuza was still difficult. If I don’t focus, the story might turn out like Nagara Sakugyou*. That’s why now I’m just focusing on doing Saezuru.

*) nagara sakugyou: other work that being serialized at the same time

Up until now, Sensei has published 5 volumes and all of them have beautiful covers with varied tones.

Actually, the cover color for Doushitemo Furetakunai should’ve looked like red wine, but it seemed like there was an error in printing so the pink was contrasting into it. But it turned out to be good.

Then about the cover for the Saezuru first volume. It’s so impressive! The stepped-on man! All the people around me also had high appraise for this.

Actually, there were so many things happened in the process. By taking the request (it isn’t clearly explained whether it’s from editor/designer) of “Yashiro sitting alone”, I first submitted that illustration to the book designer. However, I couldn’t throw away the idea of Yashiro being stepped on, so, during the next three days I was stressed out. I’ve finally asked them to keep my idea and that’s how the cover of the first volume ended up the way it is now.

I see! For the second volume, it’s totally different, isn’t it? It’s a scenery, but when you do a double take, there are Yashiro and Doumeki!

I always want to give a different vibe in each volume. Actually I’m also a fan of the way Tsumugi Taku-sensei draws scenery.

Hoo-, sensei is a fan of Tsumugi sensei! Talking abough NIGHTS, when you open the cover, there’s a surprise in it!

Yes, if you look at the rough sketches there were 4 pages of picture that were interconnected. In the end, the desainer took picture number two as the cover and number four to put it on the bottom of the back cover. For Soredemo, I didn’t get any guide from the book designer. I combined the the feel of the story with a touch of water paint. At first, I actually wanted to make Deguchi pulling Onoda’s hand to get out of the train, but it ended up looking like Deguchi forced Onoda to stay (with him). So I decided it’s Onoda who’s getting off the train by himself with Deguchi waiting on the platform.

Do you do the coloring with computer? How about the non-colored script?

I use SAI for coloring but for monochrome I usually draw by my hand until the inking, then I do the tone using photoshop.

Do you self-learned drawing?

Well, I at least bought a lot of ‘pose reference’ books often. When it comes to buy things, it feels great, doesn’t it? But when it comes to manga, we draw to tell our moe concept.. well, I love drawing moe concept, but the thing is- I’m not really good at drawing. I like thinking about moe stuff, I also like to combine colors (inside my head) but when I do, I have no desire to draw I, even though that’s the important part. There are often times when I feel like drawing is a handful. In short, I want to draw something that isn’t too troublesome.

But, isnt it because you’re doing manga seriously that it feels difficult?

Because I’m too serious I feel like the story can be boring. Not only the work but also the author (laughs). I often read comments saying my manga is ‘down to earth’. I guess it’s shown obviously in every each of my works

Sure, there are people who think like, “In real world, there’s no way a wakagashira can be as masochist as Yashiro”, but apart from that, Saezuru still gives an impression of it being realistic. In drawing the important men’s arms and muscles in your work, sensei has done your best. Getting into the story, the characters also put extra effort to look elegant. Despite the young age, in a positive sense, sensei’s works feels like having Showa* vibe.

(*SHOWA ERA: 1926~1989)

I’m no longer young, though (laughs). Maybe this is why my works often get called “JUNE”. Especially Saezuru, I think it really fits (JUNE concept).

Are you an organized person?

I’m actually a person who have no chill (laughs). But I have this side of myself who tend to see things as a whole, look at my surrounding then step on the brake. There is also a side of me that is so energetic in creating my own moe that I turn into a selfish person. I guess that’s also my flaw.

It seems like sensei is the type who has her own editorial meeting inside her head (laughs)

I wish it’s not true, but unfortunately, I’m the type of person who is embarrased to admit that I have a relationship with manga. Even until now I have yet told my close friends about this job (as BL mangaka). I’m not that kind of person who like to share or tell others about my moe situation inside my head. When my moe concept is being visualized in public I would scream, “Don’t look! But if you want to read it, I’d be happy”. Yes, I’m that kind of person.

I wonder if sensei’s works are the manifestation of sensei’s own self-contradictions..

#saezuru #doumeki #saezuru tori wa habatakanai #yashiro #yoneda kou #interview

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shinahbee · 3 years

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Premonition of future events

Hello!

so I wasn’t going to post anything this week since i’m currently working on something for next week, but this has something to do with what I’m planning to post next week so i thought I would share my thoughts.

so as you may be aware if you have read my monthly favorites posts for a while that I have been delving into BL- yaoi manhwa/manga and have been recommending some in those favorites. one of which I have not discussed yet, mainly because I have been saving it for Feb favorites so look forward to that when it comes out!

and I have been following some of the manhwa creators twitter just to see upcoming projects and updates on the current manhwa I am reading, I follow the creator of this manhwa called “ pearl boy” on twitter and she drew something today that really interested me and I decided to break down the symbolism within the art piece. If you have not read this manhwa, none of this will make any sense to you, but i’ll explain it in detail next week when I finish my art.

I love symbolism and foreshadowing within a story and this picture she drew is just that, given the events leading up to this point and I really wanted to take this apart and see what I can come up with.

if you have read this than please bare with me, these are my thoughts only and how i interpret the art from the creator and has nothing to do with how she portrayed her art work, so just a disclaimer. I'm just doing this for fun.

i’ll link her twitter post here:

https://twitter.com/inking_zoy/status/1363278273476579329

and i’ll post the picture here, this is from her twitter so all rights belong to inking_zoy, the author/ artist of pearl boy

like i mentioned above, if you have not read the story then this will not make sense to any of you,but basically the guy in the left is named doshik, the guy in the middle is thier boss...i forgot his name..they both call him boss so we will keep it a that, the guy on the right is named Juha, so i’ll refer to them with these names. It is a little hard interpret this picture without knowing details about the story which is still not revealed yet, we see glimpses of the events through juha’s flash backs, so before that, the story starts off with doshik apparently running away from people looking for him cause he stole someones money and fled to the country side, he ended up having spent all his money and didn't even have any to buy food, he then stumbled across a seafood hot pot place and wanted to try eating and running, there in the shop was the owner “ boss” and juha who is working as a server and cook. the boss noticed him being weird and told juha to keep an eye on doshik cause he might bail from paying for his food, and that honestly was going to happen until juha confronted him and asked to payback with labor, it wasn't addressed as to what doshik did as a living before fleding to the country side but he did work at pub so i believe he was a host / sex worker or just a host that does sexual favors, so when juha told him to pay back the money he owed with his “ body” he thought he meant sex. There was a series of events both very terrible and unfortunate to serendipitous that happened between juha and dooshik in their entanglement with each other and with the “ boss “ as well.

so it goes Boss ----> sexual abuse juha by making him work as a sex toy for old ugly bastards -----> juha has ability to produce pearls from his body...guess how. lol. i’m sorry this seems so absurd, but it is how the story goes, which the boss monopolizes him -----> juha can’t run away because he is scared and owes boss money ----> juha was about to be assaulted by the ugly bastards ---> doshik shows up and saves him a couple times and ends up working at the shop as a co worker----> juha and doshik get to know each other after doshik saves him a couple times -----> juha asks doshik to have sex with him ( in order to produce pearls for debt payment) ----> doshik discovers juha’s ability but thought it was beads coming out of his body...LOL. he actually thought he had kidney stones and was genuinely concerned -----> doshik had a pearl that he found at the beach earlier on and used it to compare to the bead that came out of juha and found out it as an actual pearl after getting it appraised by the bank person ----> juha met up with doshik and wanted to tell him he wanted to be sex partners cause he liked doing it with him ----> juha and boss confront each other and boss is angry he didn't show up meet his business partners that night that juha and doshik were together -----> juha says that he’s only going to pay it off by himself with his one partner, he didn't tell boss it was doshik, but i think he found out later.

alright that seems good enough as to where we are right now, i hope my summary made sense for the most part. Now getting back to the drawing let’s take it apart, so there is a body of water that divides juha and doshik, with the boss being in the middle. The boss is holding juha tight and some people may interpret this as him having feelings for juha. I don’t think that is the case, the reason why i believe he is holding him and not letting go is because he wants to monopolize him for his self gain, not for the sake of feelings, but to make sure that he is the only person he will be able to turn to. juha can produce pearls and he owes him money and he is using that to gain profit, that’s honestly all i see since his interactions with people strictly revolves around business deals, so once he found out that doshik might know of juha’s ability he began to come up with ways to remove them from each other, because he thinks if doshik knows the money that can come from the pearls he will use it to profit himself.

of course us as readers knows doshik is not like that and that he genuinely cares for juha. so Juha is separated by the boss holding on to him and it is symbolic to the events of his past being forced into a situation he can’t get out of. if you have watched any anime or drama , there is usually a scene where a person drowns, what do you think happens then when you drown? the obvious, you can’t breathe, you get light headed, your consciousnesses slips away, you feel cold, your surrounded by nothing but silence and darkness the deeper you sink. The boss is like a rock pushing juha further down the abyss and drowning him essentially, he made a comment in the newest chapter saying that “ you can never get away from me no matter how hard you try”. which says a lot about his obsession towards juha. This probably made juha feel like he will always be alone and everything he did will always be hopeless. 🤬

But as we all know there’s always a person who comes and rescues a drowning person at the last second before they become unconscious, which is why in the drawing juha is not completely submerged in water and his face is still on the surface of the water. And as we see doshik is on the other side of that division and is symbolic of life and living, where as when you drown only death awaits you. Doshik is also affectionately kissing and holding juha’s hand as if to say “ i’m here for you, we will get through this together” and is the only thing that is keeping juha from letting everything go and drown in his situation. This can also be interpreted as doshik giving air to juha as well which makes sense in the context of drowning. You can also use light and darkness as symbolism to this piece as well, the light being the surface and doshik who appears on the other side and in contrast the boss being in darkness beneath the water. Need less to say there’s so much symbolism in this one picture and it made me want write how i interpret this from what i’ve read so far and how it relates to how this is portrayed. I also find it ironic that in the early chapters doshik did actually almost drown and it was juha that chased after him and got him out when he fell unconscious in the water...and this picture here makes me believe that doshik will in turn save juha from drowning in his sorrows in the upcoming continuation of the story.

well that’s all that I wanted to say, I hope what I wrote made sense and that you understood for the most part why i believe this is a premonition of whats to come. Most people who don’t know this story will just think its a picture of three dudes having a threesome and that is not it.lol. I’m curious as to how other people interpret this, i’ve read one so far and she had a similar analogy to how i interpreted the art, so i guess i’m not too far off.

hopefully you all enjoyed reading this, it was fun for me, since I’m currently bleeding out of my ass and procrastinating doing other things and a little pissy from having certain stupid memes flooding my Instagram. I hope you all are interested in reading pearl boy after this if you have not...obviously be over the age of 18 since it does deal with mature themes!

hope you enjoyed reading! give this a like if you want to see my fan art for this series next week!

see you all then.

sheena

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social media:

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Deviantart: she-be.deviantart.com

Instagram: shinb_art

Tumblr: shinahbee

#shounen ai #manhwa review #pearl boy #yaoi manhwa #bl manhwa #boys love #symbolism #korean manhwa

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herotheshiro · 3 years

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I didn't really want to make a whole post but I dont feel like cramming my thoughts into the tags of a reblog so I guess I have to make a post anyway. And it's gonna just be one long paragraph probably bc I'm on mobile so thanks for your patience.

So I reread /houkago edge/ just now after being reminded of it on IG; back when I first read it in like 2016 or so I thought it was a very cute manga and I was excited to see its updates (I think I ended up reading ch 5 like WAY later than the other chalters together so the conclusion's effect was kind of lost on me back then). And I think thts very interesting bc when I read it now, I don't think it's that cute ... I just felt uncomfortable for tobari. years later, i read it thinking more abt tobari's conflict rather than "hehe two boys in a BL" and I don't think it does well on that front. i recently read an interview with some Japanese gay men talking abt how BL nowadays is more open minded and "woke" than it was in the old days, and I can see that here with the manga being like "it's ok to be a guy comfortable with your gender as a man but liking things considered to be feminine" but like ... it could have done it better? I read a comment that was like "it's weird bc tobari would go out with inui but he would be uncomfortable the whole time which is kind of weird since the story is abt learning to be comfortable with who you are ..." and now that I think abt it I guess you could write that off as tobari unconsciously liking inui so that's why he was uncomfortable but. Yeah it reads weird even if its like "well inui thought tobari would like it which is why he suggests it rvery time". Like sure you can say the early parts where inui pushes tobari to buy makeup, clothes is good bc it forces tobari out of his comfort zone to buy stuff he wanted and wants when otherwise he would've stayed scared for a while more ... but it just felt very pushy and I'm personally not a huge fan of guys pushing me to do shit when I'm not that comfortable with them yet. my other thing is tht I felt like the whole man likes non-man things didn't really get fleshed out too much, I think the scene where tobari is like "i could never be public with this, ppl will think I'm disgusting" and inui's sad look in response was interesting and I get that the hate will never disappear which is why it doesn't really get concluded in the end (he is still hiding it, his friend's cat interest shows that other ppl are hiding their likes too though) but. Idk where I'm going with this. I feel like it's definitely in a more progressive direction re: general BLs but I prob would not tout it as like revolutionary or whatever. Him liking the feminine things could be replaced with really any other "wierd" thing and it wouldn't really change the story much IMO.

I did actually like how inui was written, how they slowly reveal that yes he is indeed an asshole even his ex said so, but also he wasn't trying to make fun of tobari but was trying to support him in his own twisted way ... tobari I think was not as well developed. Like yes he has his conflicts with toxic masculinity, homophobia to a degree, being comfortable with himself but otherwise ... idk. Not much to him other than letting himself get pushed around and then finally being like "ENOUGH. having to face who I am sucks when I usually just bottle it up" which sounds like enough character but it's not ...

i wrote this just to barf the previous thoughts, I had no real purpose or thread to this review. I just wanted to note how time has changed my view bc I know I really liked it back then but i read it now and I'm like eh .... I mean even back then I felt the ending was kind of disappointing, and I still agree tht the ending is very anticlimactic but I mean. I think mostly everything that needed to be concluded got concluded. still though, very interesting that I though this story was SO cute back then but now I’m just like meh at it. Like it’s an ok story, it’s not BAD, but eh

and also ignore the random incomplete sentence that might show up after this paragraph bc mobile desktop SUCKS, I swear they purposely make it unusable to force users to download the app

#reading

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gen-is-gone · 7 years

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Hoo boy so guess who just read issue one of Fence and has a lot of Complicated Feelings™ yeah that’s right it’s me

Oh ye gods it’s such a fucking anime of a comic, like it really is Free! and Yuri!!! On Ice and so very much Check Please! and so you get all of the like, snooty elitism played for laughs because sports anime/manga tropes? Except it’s fencing, and it’s very real. You get all of the I will defeat you!!! solemn vows and like obviously, I know Nicholas and Seji are gonna end up together, it’s not even remotely in question because this is Boom and this is a western comic BL sports manga, but the anger and bitterness and smugness and fucking desperation to show up all the stupid fucks who won’t shut up about their stupid fencing families and their money and prestige and fucking height? that is very real.

It’s just also going to be a boy’s own gay comic with probably two female characters and I can practically smell the locker room at DCF right now. And it’s gonna be cute, and it’s gonna be funny, and it’s gonna miss every little toxic thing and the reasons that it��s toxic. And I can see myself in Nicholas, except I can’t, because this is one place where my gender, assigned or otherwise, is not something that can be transcended for the sake of story. I knew those boys. I fenced those boys. Those boys got the hype, got the prestige, got the shot at JOs and nationals even from fucking New Mexico and the short female epeé fencer got ridiculed for being short and female and an epeé fencer.

I read this silly little comic and I can see just how much my coach (also a short female epeé fencer) wanted me to letter, and place, and go to JOs and do as well as fucking John and fucking Arlan and even fucking Tony. And my grades were spiraling and I was exhausted and being around them made me constantly angry even when I didn’t realize anger was what I was feeling, and none of it mattered because I loved fencing and I could never let Toby down. I was the person she put so much effort into, because I was the girl who’d stuck around. I’d been there almost longer than anyone else, for seven years I’d been fencing and I wanted it so badly. I was never gonna be an Olympic athlete but yeah, I wanted to go to JOs. We could never carve out the time and the money and the break away from school where I was always on the brink of failing. If I’d thrown everything I had into it, I’d still only be middling, only be average, because the bell curve in this sport in particular is incredibly steep, but I wanted it because everyone did, because we all looked at John and knew that out of any of us, he might actually have a chance, and he was enough of a prick to make us want to beat him out of spite.

At my best, at seventeen, I was 128 lbs, could run a mile in seven minutes (I had asthma, that was impressive) could bench press my weight and I could fucking fence. I could score a touch on the underside of someone’s wrist so light they’d never feel it, or hit the underside of their foot. I wasn’t the best, but I was good. And it’s amazing. Fencing is the best sport in the world. Epeé is the best weapon no matter what anyone says. You can take a bout fast or slow, take time to get into your opponent’s head or, if you’re fast enough, just fleshe over and over again and move so fast they never see you coming. It’s like flying. It’s the best damn high I’ve ever had. And even though I miss it and I’m not in shape anymore and I want sometimes so much to go back, the thought makes my heart pound because I’d have to go back to that tangled mess of hyper-masculine posturing bullshit.

And this comic is all of that, but it’s oh so very cute.

(A note: this is not remotely about its quality. I am going to continue to buy this and keep it on my pull list because it is very good as a comic, and hey, two queer boys of color in a comic with fantastic art by a beloved YA author are also massive perks. It’s a good comic. People should read it and support it with their wallets. It just hits some hurt places in my soul with maybe less care than I’m prepared to deal with right now.)

#i'm 100% gonna keep it on my pull list tho 'cause it deserves to do so well and I want to support it #this is not a criticism of its quality it's entirely personal #fence #fence comic #megan whines into the empty abyss of cyberspace

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writeforsoreeyes · 5 years

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BL LookBack - Shout Out Loud!

Welcome to BL LookBack, where I’m rereading some of the oldest BL series still on my shelves to see how well they hold up for me today!

[image description: the covers of Shout Out Loud! volumes 1 through 5. Each cover features three vertical manga panels highlighting the series’ main characters.]

story & art by Satosumi Takaguchi originally serialized 1996 - 2000 (Kadokawa Shoten) English edition: 2006 - 2007 (Tokyopop)

CW: sexual harassment/assault, age gap

Y’all, Shout Out Loud! is turning 23 this year. It is old enough to have $28,500 dollars in student debt and an underpaid office job. The series is mature in another sense too: while so much of BL revolves around students or young professionals, Shout Out Loud! is about a 30-something voice actor, his family drama with his teenaged son, and his rocky relationship with a colleague.

Shout Out Loud! was favorably reviewed by manga bloggers when it was released, which is likely how I wound up discovering it and reading it originally. While I remembered the basic setup, my memories of what actually occurred in the story were super hazy. However, I recalled it being overall sweet and fluffy.

Boy, was I wrong!

The story begins when Nakaya, a high schooler and hockey player, gets sick of living with his domineering, traditional grandmother. He shows up at his father’s apartment, asking if he can live with him from now on. Shino, a 33-year old voice actor is surprised to see Nakaya; while he knew he had a son, they’d never met. Still, being a kind-hearted and earnest person, he lets Nakaya move in and tries to bond with him.

Why exactly Shino has never met his son isn’t addressed. Shino and Nakaya’s mother (who is dead when the story begins) parted on amicable terms and they lived nearby, so it doesn’t really make sense except to increase the dramatics.

[image description: Nakaya examines Shino while he sleeps on the couch, thinking, “Man, he’s completely different from the dad I’d imagined. Look at that baby-face, for cryin’ out loud.”]

Since he has a son to care for now, Shino thinks that he better step up his career. He tells his manager that from now on he’ll take any job. That is how he winds up doing a lot of voice work for BL CDs -- and how he comes into extended contact with Tenryu, a slightly older and more popular voice actor.

Bear in mind that this story takes place in the 90s. BL, while popular, is still considered seedy, deviant even. (And a lot of the BL stories he’s recording ARE super seedy.) At first, Shino is hesitant about doing such roles. But he prides himself on being a professional, so he gives it his all -- even though he can’t really relate to the roles.

Tenryu is all too happy to help Shino relate.

[image description: While recording lines, Tenryu leans over and blows into Shini’s ear, startling a cry out of him. The staff comment that Shino’s cry fit into the recording perfectly, but Shino is flustered.]

Here’s my main issue with Shout Out Loud!: the story wants so badly for me to buy into Tenryu as a love interest. But he checks off a lot of boxes in the “yikes!” column of BL love interests. Emotionally pushy? Check. Physically domineering? Check. Condescending? Check. Zero regard for boundaries and the words “no” and “stop”? Check. Positive qualities? I have no idea. He’s good at his job? (Aside from when he’s harassing Shino at work.)

We’re supposed to believe that Tenryu knows what Shino wants better than Shino does. As readers though, with the benefit of direct insight into Shino’s thought, we know he doesn’t want Shino kissing him and touching him. He is simply too intimidated and acquiescent to stand up for himself. His feelings towards Shino inevitably begin to warm up as the story goes on, which honestly frustrated me because Tenryu hadn’t done anything really to merit Shino’s affection beyond being a broody stereotype.

Don’t get me wrong: I love brooding (fictional) men. But they’ve got to prove that they are something beyond assholes. I couldn’t help but think back to reading Gerard & Jacques last month while reading Shout Out Loud! Fumi Yoshinaga put in the work to show that Gerard had honest-to-God positive qualities; by the end of volume 2, you could understand why Jacques liked him, even if you didn’t agree with their relationship.

Satosumi Takaguchi had 5 volumes to convince me that Tenryu was at least somewhat likeable, but she never got me there. I guess I’m supposed to feel bad for him because he recently got divorced and won’t be seeing his kid much anymore? All I could think about that was, “Good for her, I’d divorce him too.”

[image description: Tenryu leans into Shino’s space and says, “I wasn’t joking [on the radio show.] I really did kiss you. I said as much, didn’t I? But you were pretty out of it. I... I got a good thirty seconds of a kiss.” Shino is taken aback.]

But enough about those guys. Let’s talk more about Nakaya.

Of the entire cast, Nakaya is the character who develops the most. He begins the story immature, thinking only of himself as teenagers tend to do. When he first discovers his father is voicing BL CDs, he’s disgusted. But he keeps listening and eventually comes to appreciate his father as a professional.

In addition to suddenly moving in with his previously-absent father, Nakaya has a lot of other drama going on in his life. From a pregnancy scare with his girlfriend Souko to his changing feelings about hockey, he navigates through a lot of teenage troubles. The biggest storyline, however, is that he finds himself unexpectedly attracted to one of the assistant hockey coaches at his club.

Akihi is a talented, 20-something player who had to give up competitive hockey due to an injury. Nakaya finds him incredibly cool but he soon comes to suspect that his admiration of Akihi might actually be attraction.

When Shino finds out about this, he freaks a bit, thinking that listening to BL CDs might’ve somehow turned Nakaya gay. Nakaya denies this, though he concedes the CDs opened his mind to the possibility. Shino’s misinformed and homophobic reaction is pretty typical for the time this manga was created, but still tiresome to read. (Not to mention kind of hypocritical since Shino has also been questioning his sexuality.)

[image description: Shino sits in seiza as Nakaya tells him, “But even if [listening to the CDs] was what made me a little curious... don’t you think it’d be normal to want to give it a try myself.” He thinks of Akihi skating and continues, “Akihi is amazing at ice hockey. And he’s really cool.”]

Akihi is well aware that Nakaya is attracted to him, but wary. As he explains to Shino, Nakaya is young and has never been interested in a guy before -- his feelings could be fickle. Akihi, on the other hand, is older and actually states aloud that he is gay (pretty uncommon for BL manga of the time.) He doesn’t want to get emotionally invested only for Nakaya to change his mind. Of course, he ends up getting invested anyway.

The age gap between Nakaya and Akihi is handled somewhat well. While Akihi is a coach, he’s not in charge of Nakaya’s team, so the power imbalance isn’t as bad as it could be. It also helps that Nakaya does more of the pursuing and that Akihi isn’t his first sexual partner. But the age gap will still undoubtedly be an issue for some readers.

Ultimately, I didn’t find myself rooting for either the Shino/Tenryu relationship or the Nakaya/Akihi relationship. They both fell prey to the same sort of “Once we get started, I won’t be able to stop” nonsense and other such emotionally manipulative, rape-y bullshit. Nakaya/Akihi wasn’t as bad about it as Shino/Tenryu, but I wasn’t invested enough with Akihi as a character to care much of their relationship.

The relationship that’s at the heart of Shout Out Loud! -- and the strongest aspect of the story -- is the odd bond between Shino and Nakaya. They are father and son and both of them would like to be close. But Shino has no idea how to be a father to Nakaya and Nakaya has no idea how to be a son to Shino. As a result, they both mean well, but they also both mess up a lot. It’s awkward and sometimes painful and the most “real” part of the series.

[image description: Shino checks out Nakaya’s baby photos in an album, commenting on what a cute baby he was. Nakaya is contemplative and tells him, “I totally forgot all this while... you know, how maybe... having your son show up out of the blue must’ve been a real nuisance. I just thought that and... I’m sorry.”]

To give credit where it’s due, it’s nice to read a BL with fleshed out relationships besides the romantic ones. Likewise, it’s also nice to read a BL with a heavy focus on the characters’ careers. Some of the most interesting parts were when Shino and the other voice actors were recording. (And the mash-up of Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Romance of the Three Kingdoms that they were working on was funny.) However, those elements weren’t enough to keep the series afloat for me.

In short, Shout Out Loud! doesn’t hold up for me at all anymore. I’m honestly confused about what I liked about it in the first place.

*final verdict: I’d only recommend this if you are interested in checking out older BL titles that are somewhat lengthy.

#shout out loud #satosumi takaguchi #bl lookback #shout out loud!

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ais-n · 7 years

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some random updates and manga commentary

I read more manga than books usually, but then don’t always say much about it because idk, usually I just have a thought or two and then move on. Sometimes I do these posts where I mention a bunch of series in one place in passing. If that sounds interesting, read on.

But first:

I’m fucking obsessed lately with One Piece Treasure Cruise somebody stop me I have problems I already spent $10 on it help

Ok, now onto manga mentions, commentary, etc:

I bought the latest Livingstone volume (4) and was all excited to continue reading that series only to realize unexpectedly the other night that it was the end of the series. MAN. It’s been awhile since I watched Deadman Wonderland but I seem to recall feeling the same way about that as Livingstone, only maybe less dramatically so, and that’s this: the creator is the same for both series, and comes up with really interesting ideas and throws in some interesting characters. But then the story itself feels like it ends before it explores the concept as deeply as it could or should. It’s not that I recall Deadman Wonderland’s ending being terrible, and it’s not that Livingstone necessarily had a bad ending either; it’s just that I feel like it ends right as it’s developing, so some of the impact is lost on me because I feel like so much more story still should have been told.

Finally got caught up (again) on Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler and D.Gray-Man. I’m seriously getting worried about Hoshino’s health for DGM :( I’m so worried something will happen to her that is more permanent even than has happened already, and I’m also worried the series will not be able to end properly as a result. Which is really sad to me because I want Hoshino to be okay, and I want her and her readers to not have any regrets about the series itself. I wish she would get an assistant to draw for her while she dictates the story, if for no other reason than to preserve her health more, but I imagine she is hesitant to do so because she has such a beautiful art style and it has to be incredibly difficult to struggle against health issues when you know once upon a time you easily could do far more than now you struggle to achieve. It’s so sad :( I don’t want her to push her health beyond its limits. Ganbatte, Hoshino! :( As for Kuroshitsuji, I swear to god that series is simultaneously the most ridiculous and sometimes most amazing thing XD I’ve been pretty embarrassed by the whole pop star thing because idk lots of reasons, but that’s happened for me before on other arcs that have happened and it always swings its way back. Anyway regardless I love Ciel and Sebastian and everyone and YES UNDERTAKER YESSSSS. Also, it’s been cracking me up seeing how much Soma seems to be having a ball in the latest arc XD

Just realized I’m a couple chapters behind on Magi, that’s the next thing I need to catch up on. Also I need to check on Love Stage!! because it’s been months since I last looked. Yotsuba&! came out with a new chapter too! But I need to read it still. Same with a few BL manga I’m following whose names I’ve managed to briefly forget so I have to track that down to look for updates ugggh I’m real good at this lol

btw did I mention I watched the Seven Days live action movie awhile ago? Because I did. I liked it! I was worried I wouldn’t but I did. I mean, I fucking love Seven Days so that’s probably no surprise, I just rarely watch live action of manga or anime, especially BL, so that’s why I wasn’t sure how I’d feel. But oh my god they paid so much attention even to little idiosyncrasies and movements! Good job, guys, good job

I still need to read Haikyuu!!, I don’t know why I haven’t yet. It’s my goal to do so at some point, because so far I’ve only seen the anime and read the first 2 volumes, and I want to read everything and be up to date with others!

I started Black Clover and was pretty excited about it but then it started pulling full on bullshit fanservice moves in the 3rd volume or something and it annoyed me so much I stopped reading... I should probably start up again but ugh, so sick of unnecessary fanservice

WAIT have I read the latest Noragami?? ....Shit yes I did I FORGOT ok so that series THAT SERIES goddamnit I love that series...

Same with Natsume Yuujinchou like goddamn, just as soon as you think surely you won’t cry at some new story in it because surely you’re immune by now, the series is like “So anyway here’s this really bittersweet or heartwarming-slash-heartrending story I’ll casually throw out there and Bee-Tee-Dubs, just a reminder that as nice as Natsume is, his life will probably always be a pretty sad and precarious mess because he cares too much about both humans and Ayakashi”

which now that I’m thinking about it is a bit Allen Walker-like.... no wonder I love both Natsume and Allen; they both are stuck in between all these other things but don’t use it as an excuse to hurt or hate others; if anything, they hurt themselves while trying not to hurt others. I just really love characters and people who don’t use misfortune as an excuse for harming others

There’s probably more but I’m getting so distracted by this gif faded in the background on tumblr that I can’t focus omg wut

Oh right, I hope Gangsta comes back sometime in the future. They have some spin off out I think, right? Based on Marco Adriano, called Cursed? I’m debating if I should give it a try.... Actually I don’t remember, maybe I bought the first volume and haven’t read it yet lolz0r Anyway if anyone’s read it, is it as good as Gangsta? The thing is, I don’t really care about Marco, so that’s why I haven’t read it yet. Not that I hate him or anything but I feel pretty meh about reading something solely based on him so I’ve hesitated. I mostly like Gangsta primarily for Worick and secondarily for Nicolas, and then I liked others like Doug, and it’s not like I hate the rest of the characters but they work best for me as the background to Worick and Nicolas’ story. So idk.

Similarly, I gave up on Dogs! Bullets & Carnage around volume 9 mostly because I love one character (Badou all the way, motherfuckers!) and am mostly ambivalent or not in love with the rest. Badou totally carried the series for me in the beginning, when he and Heine had all those great interactions, but now Naoto’s more prominent with Heine and I’m like bleggggh not a fan of Naoto almost at all, and Heine’s okay but I feel like he’s kind of a non-character so he doesn’t really work as the primary MC for me. The pacing of the story is not the best so it makes it harder for me to care about what’s going on. Basically I just want the series to follow Badou around and tell me occasionally about the crazy shit the others are getting up to. Give me a spin off on Badou and I’ll buy that any day! Come on! Anyway so if anyone is still reading that, I’m just curious if I should keep going... I’m a little curious about what the hell is even going on with the plot and background and etc but mostly I just want more Badou :( ...wait a second, I just saw there’s a prequel called just Dogs, that may be more along the lines of the story I want to read. I want just Dogs, man! Did I read it already years ago? Fuck if I can remember...

I also gave up on Tokyo Ghoul:re after it was so incredibly different from Tokyo Ghoul and the pacing and just everything kind of fucked around with what I was hoping to read as a continuation of that series, and in particular with me wanting to see more of Kaneki. I’m months behind at this point and idk man. I will probably read further at some point because I do think it’s an interesting world and I liked a number of characters in Tokyo Ghoul quite a lot, especially Kaneki. But :re has just been... I’m trying not to say mean things lol it’s just that I guess the pacing and style and story and character designs and just everything is basically like a whole different series. Which would be fine, if that was what I wanted. But what I wanted was more Tokyo Ghoul, so I’m disappointed so far. idk. I don’t think I’ve given up completely on it. I just think I have to wait until I’m in the right mood...

That just randomly reminded me I never finished Claymore. That was another series that started out interesting but then idk. The pacing or story or what just dragged a lot after a while, or made it difficult to follow. I should finish it sometime I guess. I think I probably only have a few dozen chapters to read to end it.

I did the same thing with Shingeki no Kyoujin/Attack on Titan... I was pretty obsessed with it when I first started reading it, then the story/style started wavering around the same time I got caught up with Japan and had to wait for new chapters, I read as chapters released for a few months, and then idk. At one point I just got too annoyed/frustrated with the series and stopped reading. I guess that’s another series where maybe I should wait until it’s ended and then read it all at once. I’m curious about some of the plot lines but I really only liked one or two characters pretty well and the rest I was ambivalent about or my feelings on them varied too much, and since I’m so character-driven as a reader/viewer I just can’t stick with series that don’t have strong and consistent plots while also having strong and consistent characters and character development. At least not week by week or month by month, one chapter at a time. It doesn’t seem to work for my attention span.

In anime news, I wish we’d get some sequels of some series like re:Zero or K Project or my god wouldn’t No. 6 be nice?? But these are all light novel based so my hopes are probably for naught. Actually, I take that back. K wasn’t based on LN, it just has novels in addition to the anime. But now I’m realizing, maybe I missed some things. That series is kind of weird with stuff all over the place and individualized outside of the anime itself so I probably missed things. Unsurprisingly, I’m sure, Shiro is my favorite, Kuro secondarily. But I primarily watched for Shiro lolz

Wow ok I just managed to use up all my time on StayFocusd rambling on all this shit so there you go, there’s a bunch of random thoughts about a bunch of random series, and I didn’t even cover everything but I had to stop somewhere I guess.

Probably no one even read this far but that’s fine; sometimes I write this even just to remember later my thoughts on some things. Like I said earlier in the year, I wanted to do Voice as my word for 2017, which means not silencing myself on stuff unnecessarily, so for things like this where I want to write a post talking about a bunch of different stuff just touching on them it’s silly to not do it if it’s something I want to do. If that makes sense.

Anyway if you are reading this, I hope you have a lovely day/night/whatever it is for you! And hey, let me know if you have thoughts on any of the series I mentioned or I guess if you want me to go more in depth on something if it was of interest to you. idk, just whatever.

Hmm maybe I’ll make a tag for these kind of posts so I can find them later... I think I’ll do “ais manga ramblings” hmmmm

#ais manga ramblings #manga thoughts #1 am ramblings #rambling like a mofo #and other rambling things wow how many times can I say rambling lets count

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recentanimenews · 5 years

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Bookshelf Briefs 10/24/19

Ao Haru Ride, Vol. 7 | By Io Sakisaka | Viz Media – Somehow I missed reviewing the sixth book, and may have missed reading it as well. In any case, things aren’t going well for our lead couple, which is suffering from the usual miscommunication drama that infects shoujo series like this. Indeed, it infects the rest of the cast as well, and so we have Kou’s brother getting in trouble for seemingly having an affair… with Futaba. It’s not what it seems. But it does inspire Shuko, who was terrified about what would happen to her crush, to confess to him. Fortunately, he’s a good teacher, so rejects her. We’re also getting some setup for a beta couple, which I think I would enjoy more if it wasn’t so obvious. This was a good volume, but I’ve grown to expect great from this series, and it wasn’t that. – Sean Gaffney

Cats of the Louvre | By Taiyo Matsumoto | Viz Media – I expected it would only be a matter of time before Cats of the Louvre was licensed, but I was initially a little surprised that Viz was the company bringing it over—up until this point, every volume of the “Louvre Collection” (including Hirohiko Araki’s Rohan at the Louvre and Jiro Taniguchi’s Guardians of the Louvre) has been released by NBM Publishing. But, on the other hand, Viz has been Matsumoto’s primary publisher in English. Viz has done a beautiful job with the release if Cats of the Louvre, combining both volumes of the Japanese edition into a single, hardcover omnibus. In part, the narrative follows a declining colony of cats that lives in the hidden corners of the Louvre and the humans that come into contact with it. Both Matsumoto’s storytelling and artwork are atmospheric, magical, and melancholic. But while there’s some darkness to the work, there’s also hope. – Ash Brown

Hakumei & Mikochi: Tiny Little Life in the Woods, Vol. 7 | By Takuto Kashiki | Yen Press – I think we’ve now caught up with Japan, so expect more of a gap before the next volume of this. Till then, we see our not-a-couple couple use bird mail delivery, get taken advantage of by local doctors, have troublesome friends over for the night, wait in a very long line for food that may not live up to the line, etc. Easily the best chapter is also the most serious, as an old mentor of Hakumei’s dies and sends her a final sake bottle, which she and Mikochi wander all over to try to drink quietly before Mikochi finally moves on so Hakumei can grieve a bit. This is always going to be the sort of series where “we couldn’t buy the cups” is gripping drama, but that’s why it has its fans. – Sean Gaffney

Himouto! Umaru-chan, Vol. 7 | By Sankakuhead | Seven Seas – Is this the end of the superdeformed Umaru? Well, no, but it makes for a nice change of pace, as Umaru realizes that she’s been hanging out with friends normally for a while, and wonders if she can admit to them her big secrets—both her slothful little self, and also her masked gamer. The message turns out to be “don’t rush growing up,” which is a bit disappointing but not surprising given this has like five more volumes to go. We also see the “rival” girl again, and she turns out to also be connected to this extended family in an oblique way. Unfortunately, emphasizing the similarities between her and Umaru works a bit TOO well—sometimes I can’t tell them apart. This is the definition of moe cuteness. – Sean Gaffney

Magus of the Library, Vol. 2 | By Mitsu Izumi | Kodansha Comics – The main selling point for this series is present and correct—it is gorgeous, and rivals Witch Hat Atelier for the prettiest manga in Kodansha’s stable right now. The main plot involves a somewhat older Theo setting out to take the Kafna test, despite the fact that it’s a job, much like “librarian” is here, seen as being for women. He’s joined by a young woman who seems to tick off every single box in the “easily flustered love interest” box, to the point where I actually found her a bit annoying. The series sure does love its books, though, and also loves its grueling three-day-long test, which is known to break many of its participants. Can Theo pass? If you guessed “I bet we find out in Book Three,” you’re right. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Vol. 6 | By Hideyuki Furuhashi, Betten Court, and Kohei Horikoshi | VIZ Media – With the departure of Master, Vigilantes seems to be settling in for the long haul. Koichi discovers two new applications for his powers, which leads him to engage villains in ways he really shouldn’t, though this comes in handy when he helps Aizawa take on another enhanced Trigger user. In fact, there is lots of Aizawa in action, which I appreciate, as well as an example of how effectively Midnight’s powers work in the field when she goes undercover to figure out who is dosing young men with the drug. Meanwhile, there’s a mysterious speedster lurking about who easily dispatches the villain that Aizawa and Koichi struggled with. This prequel really seems to be coming into its own and I find myself increasingly captivated by it! – Michelle Smith

Mythical Beast Investigator, Vol. 2 | By Keishi Ayasato and Koichiro Hoshino | Seven Seas – Last time I called this very readable but extremely forgettable. The two qualities invert in this second and final volume, as the “twist” that happens halfway through the book is rather startling, but I don’t really like the way that it’s handled, which seems confusing and probably reads better in the novel this is based on. The focus, appropriately, changes over to Kushuna, the grumpy rabbit demon accompanying Ferry on her journeys, and we see how they originally met and how he was won over to her side. But… ergh, I don’t want to spoil the twist, but let’s just say I disliked it and leave it at that. On the bright side, I’m very glad the series ends with the second volume. – Sean Gaffney

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 9 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media – The bulk of this volume is given over to the demon castle’s Summer Festival, which naturally Syalis is SUPER EXCITED for, despite meaning that outsiders might actually notice she has the run of the place. With that in mind, she does a café (well, haunted house was taken) which features her, as a hostage in big fake handcuffs, begging for food. It’s brilliant and also hilarious. We get a beauty pageant, which Syalis manages to lose despite seemingly being a shoo-in, as well as the final bonfire, which she sleeps through, much to her horror. The rest of the book is just as funny, and while the gags aren’t original they arrive with precision timing. This remains a fantastic comedy manga. – Sean Gaffney

That Blue Sky Feeling, Vol. 3 | By Okura and Coma Hashii | VIZ Media – I reckon some people are going to be disappointed by the ending of That Blue Sky Feeling, in that Noshiro and Sanada are not yet formally dating, but if one looks only at the change in Sanada, then it’s a satisfying ending indeed. Probably because of his experience being accepted by Noshiro, when Sanada’s long-time friend Ayumi asks whether he likes boys, he tells her the truth. And when Noshiro starts going out with a girl, it’s Ayumi who knocks some sense into Sanada, telling him that his feelings do matter in this situation. After Noshiro ditches his date to hear what Sanada has to say, it’s confession time and it looks like the feelings may be mutual. But what really stands out to me is Sanada’s face there at the ending—happy and at peace. His love was not rejected! I hope we get more Okura in the future. – Michelle Smith

Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, Vol. 5 | By Fumita Yanagida | Seven Seas – Beta couple Carol and Misaki get the main focus in this book, though they aren’t actually a couple. Carol seems to be waiting for Misaki to take the lead, and he just isn’t doing that—though seeing her and Misuzu threatened by some punks turns on his inner rage, as the cover art shows. As for Carol, once she finds that Misaki is trying to get stronger by spending time with Tomo at her father’s dojo, Carol suddenly finds herself jealous—and decides to do something about it by seemingly seducing Jun. Of course, she’s not really doing this, but it does serve to show off Jun’s paralyzing fear of intimacy, and also possibly the sexiest “rawr!” in all of manga ever. I love this series. – Sean Gaffney

The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms | By Nagabe | Seven Seas – After a wizard named Wizdom bestowed the shape and intellect of humans upon beasts, the demi-human tribes built a grand academy. The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms is a collection of BL short stories set at that school. I must say… as a major fan of Nagabe’s The Girl from the Other Side, I thought I’d like this more. Some stories are charming, like “Mauchly & Charles,” in which a human is clearly in love with his bear friend, but others are darker, like “Doug & Huey,” in which a crow sabotages his peacock pal’s efforts to find a girlfriend so that he can remain closest to him, or “Alan & Eddington,” in which the latter brews a love potion intending to make out with the former and leave him with no memory of their encounter. I was expecting more whimsy, I think. – Michelle Smith

By: Ash Brown

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

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miltonlicht · 6 years

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Nakatani Nio & Canno

…So, I create a separate thread for this, as suggested by Nezchan.

Original interview http://blog.livedoor.jp/geek/archives/51522471.html (SITE NOT SAFE FOR WORK)

It was published at the time volume 2 of YagaKimi came out. I apologize for potential inaccuracies in the translation.

(Doc file )

−−−−−−−−−−−

Special conversation between "Yagate Kimi ni Naru"'s Nakatani Nio and "Ano Ko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo"'s Canno.

From the origin of their fixation on yuri to their work ethics, to the works in which they "felt the presence of yuri", the two authors who carry the yuri genre on their shoulders openly talked with us.

−−Today we're having a conversation in which you two can't not participate, so I thank you both for coming while you're so busy. Is this the first time you actually meet?

Nakatani Nio: Since we met a few days ago at Yuri-ten in Ikebukuro, this is actually our second meeting.

Canno: Since Nakatani-san's manga has a very cool craft to it, I expected her to be equally cool. And when we met, well, she was, but she was also a very kind and lovely woman.

NN: Really? What's this all about! (laugh) I actually always bought Canno-san's doujinshis at doujin displays, so of course I've known about her for a while now.

Ca: Same for me, I've been reading Nakatani-san's doujins since before "Yagate Kimi ni Naru" started. I didn't know very well the exact genre of her works, but Melonbooks had a special page attached saying "It's an awesome manga!", so I bought them regardless.

−−So you knew who the other was before you were serialized. What started your interest in Yuri, Canno-san?

Ca: I guess the trigger was reading "Maria-sama ga miteru" (Shūeisha) in high school. I didn't really care much about the genre at first, but after reading it I became hooked on it.

NN: That's the most notorious entry point! What couple did you like the most?

Ca: My favorite character is Yoshino from "Yellow Rose", and I ship her with Rei-chan. Did you read MariMite, Nakatani-san?

NN: Since it's a sort of landmark for Yuri, I read volume 1 for my culture, and I liked it, but I don't have much time to read novels, so I haven't read the rest. For now I'm only reading one small bit at a time.

Ca: Please be sure to read at least to "Rainy Blue".

NN: I don't quite get that "stop at Rainy" phrase that Yuri fans always use...

Ca: Well, don't worry about that, buy them until Rainy Blue.

NN: Alright, I'll read it.

Ca: Have you enjoyed a particular Yuri series lately?

NN: In my last interview, when I said I like "Hibike! Euphonium" (novel by Takarajimasha, anime by Kyōto Animation), I was retorted that it wasn't Yuri. But there were scenes where I did feel a Yuri vibe, so it was fine by me. Of course, Euphonium as a whole can't really be called a Yuri, but to me it counts as long as I can feel it in some parts.

Ca: Yeah, I'm that way too. Take "Precure" (Tōei Animation): I watch it as a goldmine of yuri, and in my favorite series, Doki Doki, there's that girl called Hishikawa Rikka...

NN: Oh yeah, Hishikawa!

Ca: She's the main character Aida Mana's partner, but as Mana builds relationships with other characters, Rikka gets jealous and uneasy. If you watch this as a grade schooler, you can think that it's natural to feel this way towards a friend, but when you watch it as an adult, you totally feel the Yuri!

NN: Ahaha! So you have more fun seeing Yuri in mainstream works than reading actual yuri?

Ca: I feel it has become this way, lately, yes. Before, I read only Yuri-hime Comics and such, works that I fully knew were Yuri, but these times I've started to look for Yuri in works that aren't generally lauded as such.

NN: Did it start when you started to draw "AnoKiss"?

Ca: Hmm, I wonder? Lately I enjoy feeling the Yuri in stuff like the yonkoma in "Kirara" (Houbunsha), but I think I also got tired with overly serious and dark works as I grew older. So more than "AnoKiss", it may just be that I'm getting old (laugh).

NN: Since I've started drawing Yuri manga, I've become more conscious of other Yuri works, but what about you, Canno-san? Has drawing AnoKiss made your Yuri antenna more sensitive?

Ca: Not that much, I would say. Even before my love for Yuri awakened, I liked same-sex romance in general, so outside of that and seeing Yuri in girly anime, my sensitivity is still pretty much the same.

NN: I think I feel the same. So more than Yuri itself, what you really enjoy is shipping, right?

Ca: Yes, I love shipping. There are a lot of people who are both into BL and Yuri, aren't there. (?)

−−Then why do you write Yuri rather than BL?

Ca: I love drawing facial expressions, and if I have to draw very expressive faces, I have more fun with girls. And if I have two girls, that's twice the luck. (laugh) More than romantic love iself, I like ambiguous relationships that are close to love but might be something else. But if I write such relationships with a boy and a girl, everyone ends up naturally assuming that it's love. However, with two girls the feeling is a bit more balanced, I think. I guess it would be the same with two boys, but as I said I have more fun drawing girls, so… (laugh)

NN: It's true that in AnoKiss, the characters never use the words "love" or "romance". Is that deliberate on your part?

Ca: It's not exactly deliberate, but it's a natural result of that feeling, I guess. And you, Nakatani-san, what made you draw girl's love manga?

NN: I thought, "if a cute girl and a cute girl do cute stuff, it'll be hella cute."

Ca: So you're no different from me! (laugh)

NN: Your way of saying it was cooler, though. (laugh)

Ca: But in YagaKimi there's Maki-kun, who's a guy, right? Didn't you want to avoid featuring boys in a Yuri series?

NN: I didn't. In my interview for Dengeki Online, I said that "In a world where there are also men, I want girls to be chosen anyway." [sorry, I'm not quite sure what the original sentence means here > 「男性もいる世界観の中で、あえて女の子を選んだ形で描きたい」 ] But while there are girls that "fall in love specifically with girls", I think there are also girls "whose crush just happens to be a girl". I wanted to also show that side in the characters' personalities and specificities, and I didn't think I could really depict it if men were completely absent. What do you feel about the presence of male characters in YagaKimi's cast, Canno-san?

Ca: Since Maki-kun doesn't directly get involved in love affairs, I haven't really paid much attention to him, regardless of his gender. If he had made an obvious move on Nanami-senpai or Yuu-chan I would probably have thought "hey, he's a guy", but so far there's no indication he's going to approach them or any of the girls.

NN: I see, that's an original way to view it.

Ca: For now, I only think of Maki-kun as un uke, with Doujima-kun as the seme.

NN: Thank you very mu… wait, what? (laugh) In AnoKiss, however, there's not a trace of male presence.

Ca: Yes, right from the start I decided that there would't be any male characters.

NN: Writing the word "yuri" in the title feels like a sort of challenge. Didn't it take courage?

Ca: I thought that it might not reach the potential readers if I didn't say right away "this is Yuri". So I wanted to get that information across. Since the series was gonna focus on "yuri" and "kiss", the best-sounding title I found with those two words was "Ano Ko ni Kiss to Shirayuri wo". How did you decide on the title "Yagate Kimi ni Naru"?

NN: I did put a lot of meaning in the title, but even in the prototypes I chose ones that had a sort of Yuri aura to them. When volume 1 came out, I was very careful to appeal to Yuri lovers, with the cover (two girls gazing at each other) or the the band around the cover.

Ca: But that's not the case of the title.

NN: Indeed, but many yuri fans told me that "One Day, I Will Become You" sounds extremely Yuri. But some also say "I thought it was a story of substitution".

Ca: Like some kind of horror story. "I'll gradually take your place…" (laugh)

NN: Exactly. (laugh) In "AnoKiss", you have one kiss per chapter, huh.

Ca: Yes, my editor told me to include a kissing scene every time. And to create highlight scenes, in a Yuri manga the kissing scenes might be a selling point, they said. (laugh)

NN: I can get that. You think carefully about where the kiss will be, won't you?

Ca: I think the place where a kiss is given is significant, so I don't choose it at random. My editor even keeps an Excel file where they listed who kisses whom and where. Like, in volume 3, "kiss on the foot, indicating submission." (laugh)

NN: A kiss list, now that's interesting! Although, when you say "Excel", it kind of takes the magic away. (laugh)

Ca: But making a list of "character X gives a kiss there in chapter Y" means that by chapter 20 we've almost run out of body parts to kiss. (laugh)

NN: It's important to have some variety in the kisses, I guess. So far, my series has only had 2 kissing scenes, but I still have that voice telling me "this, here, is the highlight!", so I put all my effort onto that point. It's like a fighting game, where you wait for the exact moment when your special attack is sure to hit hard.

−−Nakatani-san, did you already know about AnoKiss when you started to draw YagaKimi?

NN: Well, if you draw yuri manga, AnoKiss has already become hard to ignore, so I read it intensely to help me for my own work. Even leaving that aside, my first impression when opening a volume was "Wow, the author is good!" (laugh)

Ca: No way! Thank you very much. (laugh)

NN: To me, seeing a yuri manga that wasn't shoujo-like was refreshing. Sure, it is love-themed, but in the tight lining and expressions, or in the panel layout, it feels closer to shounen. Since there are a lot of shounen aspects in my own way of drawing, I felt maybe we had some things in common in that regard.

Ca: I never read that many shounen manga growing up, and used to read almost only shoujo manga, but I do think my drawings aren't very shoujo-like, so you opinion confirms that.

NN: To me, that makes it easier to read, actually. So I'm glad there is a yuri series with this kind of style!

Ca: I found the art incredibly good too when I read YagaKimi's first chapter. Then Yuu-chan received a confession from a boy, I wondered how she would react, and what kind of yuri story it would evolve into, I was really excited. After reading the first volume, I was both supporting Nanami-senpai and sympathising with Yuu-chan, who couldn't understand what it was like to be in love. I actually think that if I was into Yuu-chan's shoes, I would be scared of Nanami-senpai. Even though you keep saying "I don't understand", she's constantly pushing in. So reading that and seeing Yuu-chan's acceptance of it, I find her incredibly kind-hearted.

NN: I see. (laugh)

Ca: And yet I'm like "Do your best, Nanami-senpai!", like I'm trying to fan the flames of yuri. (laugh) More specifically, I loved the entire chapter where Nanami-senpai went to Yuu-chan's place! But I guess that's how even a girl feels when she goes to the place of the girl she likes.

NN: I'm glad you say that. (laugh)

Ca: Also, I'm really intrigued by Saeki-senpai. When Nanami-senpai chose Yuu-chan for the election campaign, her friend started to worry that she didn't rely on her, and I love this kind of "complication". (laugh)

NN: Ah, so you do love complications! I actually love Towako from AnoKiss. (laugh) Personally, I sometimes feel I can't write a story without drama, but in a generally quiet and bright story like AnoKiss I was kind of surprised to see a girl like her, who brought problems. I find your way of drawing difficult emotions yet being very clear in the execution really enthralling. [難しい感情を描きつつ、爽やかに仕上げているのが魅力的だと感じます。]

Ca: For AnoKiss, I'm adamant on concluding a given arc within a single volume, or 5 chapters, so I can't create too much complications. So I found it difficult to write volume 3, where Towako appears, with a more dramatic appeal than usual. That's why I love girls in the position of Saeki-senpai… Err, but well, since I said I liked Hishikawa from Doki Doki Precure, I guess that wasn't much of a secret. (laugh)

NN: Indeed. (laugh)

Ca: So yes, I can't wait to see how Saeki-senpai is gonna interact with those two.

NN: I often hear that "Sayaka = Hishikawa", but Hishikawa is voiced by Kotobuki Minako-san, and in the recent PV for Yagate Kimi ni Naru, Kotobuki-san voices Nanami Touko.

Ca: Yes. That's why, when I saw that PV, I was like "It's Kotobuki-san, yaaay!" with a guts pose. (laugh)

−−How did you feel when you heard your characters talk?

NN: Their voices were as I imagined. I didn't picture those voices very clearly until now, but after hearing them in the PV, they are the voices I now hear in my head when working on my storyboards. AnoKiss had some Drama CD's released, what were your impressions?

Ca: From the start, there were characters who talked and others who didn't talk in my head. I was happy that the voices of those who talked inside me could now be heard by the readers. As for those who didn't talk, it felt refreshing, like "so that's what their voices sounded like". I had always imagined Kurosawa Yurine with the voice of Mizuhashi Kaori, so I thought "now everyone can hear it too". Shiramine Ayaka didn't talk in my head, so my feeling was more "Ooh! So that's what you sound like. You're cute, Shiramine." (laugh) The way I picture the characters hasn't changed, but right after the recording I really heard those voices in my head, though now they have quieted down.

Ca: I really think your art is pretty, but do you employ any assistants?

NN: No, I draw all alone.

Ca: You mean you draw everything by yourself, even the backgrounds? That's something…

NN: And you, Canno-san, do you employ assistants?

Ca: I do receive help from friends, occasionally, but normally I work alone. I'm afraid of drawing manga with people I don't know, honestly… Well, you could say I'm just shy. (laugh)

NN: Oh I know how you feel! I'm really shy too… Since I'm not very good a communicating with people, I end up more comfortable with controlling all of my work myself. But I'm aware that it may not be such a good thing when you draw manga.

Ca: That's a very mature comment.

NN: What I'm saying is very childish, though. (laugh) "I can't communicate, so I'm fine by myself!" (laugh)

Ca: Ahaha!

NN: Still, you're pretty impressive yourself. AnoKiss' backgrounds are really filled and polished.

Ca: You could say I'm a bit afraid of the void, so I often try my best to fill the blanks. In your art, however, it's like the blanks are used as an integral component of the picture, and I'm fond of that.

NN: Thank you very much! I have a question about AnoKiss: on the first chapters cover, many characters are drawn, and one of them in the back, Machida Kaoru, already appeared in volume 4. As you are writing an ensemble story, I wonder how far you had planned from the start.

Ca: Kaoru is an exception, actually. I had always planned on introducing her and even imagined the chapter, but she wasn't my top priority either, so she ended up appearing quite late. If the story had ended in 2 or 3 volumes, she wouldn't have appeared, but now we're at volume 4. So, no, I haven't really planned that much ahead. (laugh)

NN: Is that so. Since the gardening club arc and even the astronomy arc flowed so naturally, I thought you had all that in mind from the beginning.

Ca: I pretty much advance at random, but if it feels planned then I'm glad. (laugh)

−−You two have talked quite a lot today. How was it?

NN: As I was one of her fans, I almost feel guilty for talking with her so casually.

Ca: Oh no, I thank you, really. Yagate Kimi ni Naru has a very cool artstyle and you are equally cool, so I was afraid you'd tell me "I don't care about someone who draws such frivolous manga!", but luckily you are a kind person. (laugh)

NN: What do you mean frivolous?! No way! I'm really thankful that I could talk with you today. I could tell you what I liked and what my favorite character was in AnoKiss, so as a fan I feel content… AnoKiss and YagaKimi, despite being both yuri mangas, differ on a lot of aspects, but I was happy to find that I had a lot in common with you, Canno-san. I'll work hard on YagaKimi so that it doesn't lose to AnoKiss, so please be well!

−−Thank you very much for today.

Interview: Kaazu (Kaazu SP)

−−−−−−−−−−−

…So yeah, you can now consider me a NioCanno shipper.

But more seriously, imagine a yuri written by Nakatani and drawn by Canno. That would be something. * o *

(via Lyendith on Dynasty)

Interview #2

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murasaki-murasame · 7 years

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Thoughts on Rakugo v2

I think I’ve had this for a week or two but I only got around to reading it last night, so here we go.

Considering that I’ve never found the time to write up my thoughts on the anime, I think I may as well also do a bit of that here. Which means I might also just freely spoil parts of the entire story in these posts. So I’d probably suggest people avoid these posts entirely if they haven’t finished the whole series in either manga or anime form. I’ll probably mostly stick to discussing each volume at a time, but I might casually reference later events and entire character arcs every once in a while, so I’m just giving a fair warning.

It’s still difficult to figure out how to even word these posts, because it’s effectively a reread in that I know the entire story already, but this is my first time experiencing the manga version of it. It’s weird.

I’m kinda surprised that basically everything in this volume made it into the anime, after how half of v1 got skipped over [though I think that the director’s cut version properly adapts all of the first arc]. In fact, I’m pretty sure that the first two chapters of the Yakumo and Sukeroku arc were adapted into three anime episodes, so that’s . . . interesting. I definitely got the vibe that the anime gave itself way more time to breathe for this part of the story in particular.

Which gets into the whole topic of the general difference in tone and atmosphere between the two versions. I think I touched upon it in my first post, but I feel like the anime handled things in a slightly more dramatic way, and toned down on the more comedic aspects. And it does feel like, as said, this part of the story in particular had more time to breathe in the anime. I wish I remembered exactly what happened in this part of the anime, but it feels like there’s a few entire scenes/moments that apparently didn’t exist in the manga. Unless they were lifted from the next volume or so. I at least remember that the scene with Yakumo reciting rakugo to himself as a calming technique was way more fleshed out in the anime, and involved a moment of him talking to Matsuda, and a scene with Sukeroku about to walk down the hallway but stopping and sitting on the stairs when he sees Yakumo staring out the window. Stuff like that.

I also noticed that the part with Yakumo getting his first girlfriend was like two pages long in the manga but felt at least slightly longer in the anime. And the part where he worked at the factory was literally a single page long, with the scene of him leaving on the train being entirely anime-original.

I feel like these posts are mostly going to sound pretty negative, but I don’t really dislike the manga. It’s just different to the anime. I totally get why the manga must have been popular and beloved in it’s time. I mean, the story itself is obviously captivating and original no matter what. I just really like the things the anime did to take the manga and make it even better.

The art is really wonderful all round, though it’s still hard to get used to Kumota’s preference for drawing silly cartoon-y faces. It just comes across so differently to the entire tone of the anime. In general the difference in tone is my main issue with the manga version, with pacing being in second place. The more light-hearted style of the manga is fine, but I just personally prefer the more serious, atmospheric, contemplative tone the anime had. But it only really feels like an actual problem in a select few scenes that felt actively diminished due to being more fast-paced and light-hearted. Like the part where Sukeroku and Yakumo VII return from the war. It wasn’t necessarily bad in the manga version, but I think the anime handled it far better.

I appreciate that this volume felt like it had more actual rakugo performances than the first one did. Those were very well done. I might be forgetting a few performances that were anime-original, though. Seeing Nozarashi still tugs at my heart so goddamn much. It’s one of my favourite performances in the story, purely because of the emotional weight it gains through context and repetition. I was also happy to see the Yumekin story done in seemingly the same way as the anime.

The fact that Kodansha is translating the rakugo performance names is still throwing me off big-time though. It’s not a bad choice at all, but I’m just used to their Japanese names. I think I mentioned it in my first post, but I feel like Kodansha is translating everything that the anime subs didn’t translate, and not translating anything they DID translate, and it’s just odd to read.

I’m very curious to see how Miyokichi is going to be portrayed, since I’ve heard people say that the manga treats her more unsympathetically. I think it’s probably too early to tell how her portrayal differs between this and the anime, since she only really got one chapter of screen-time in this volume, but I can kinda already see it. It still makes me sad to know that the author wrote her with less depth and sympathy than the anime did. Miyokichi is still one of my favourite characters in the show, so it just kinda sucks to hear. It makes me wonder how the manga will handle the climactic moment of the flashback arc. The most I’ve heard is that when you get to see what really happened there, the manga handles the big reveal way worse than the anime did, but I don’t know how, and I probably won’t know for a fair while.

One thing I’ve noticed while reading this is that I can really vividly remember how the anime did things. I can basically always imagine the characters’ VAs in my head as I read their lines, I can imagine the scenery and the backgrounds from the anime, I can imagine the soundtrack, etc etc. I think it really lends to the experience, especially during the rakugo parts. I still think it was kinda inevitable that this sort of story would feel more natural in any format that has music and voice-acting. It’s all about an artform all about voice-work, so it feels slightly awkward in a silent, purely visual format.

As we get into the later volumes, it’ll be interesting to keep track of what parts made it into the anime and what didn’t. I’m curious to see if there’s entire scenes/chapters in this story arc that didn’t get adapted, like what happened with the first arc. But I think that v3-5 [which I think makes up the rest of this arc] would have been adapted into about three episodes each, so I have a feeling that there wouldn’t be much cut content in this arc. It’d probably mostly be noticeable for the second half of the story.

Fake Edit: OK I just checked wikipedia which has a convenient rundown of each volume and it’s contents. So apparently the Yakumo and Sukeroku arc is nine chapters long, and ends a third of the way into v5. Ep1 of the first season adapts the entire five chapters of the first story arc, which makes up all of v1 and the first third of v2. Ep2-4 of the first season adapts the first two chapters of the second story arc, and thus the rest of v2. So the other nine episodes of season one adapt the seven chapters that make up the rest of the story arc. Assuming that the first season ends with the last Yakumo and Sukeroku chapter. But from what I remember of how it ends, it might have gone a bit into the Sukeroku Futatabi arc. Maybe. So either way the rest of the anime seems like it’d be a nearly 1:1 chapter to episode adaptation, so I guess there probably wouldn’t be much cut content at all. I’m not sure, though. The third arc definitely seems to be where more cut content might be, since it adapts a 17-chapter arc into a 12-episode anime. But, again, if the first season did adapt a chapter or two of that arc, maybe that number’s slightly more even. Either way, I’ve heard from manga readers that the last three episodes of season two adapt the last volume of the manga, which is three chapters long, so that part’s a direct one chapter per episode adaptation, at least. Which makes sense because the last three episodes definitely felt like three distinct segments of one overall ending arc. So if we take that into account, then the first 12 to 14 chapters of the last arc would have been adapted into 9 episodes of anime, so yeah I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s some skipped material there. Which would make sense, since I could tell while watching it that most of season two felt a bit more rushed than the rest of the show.

OK that was a long tangent but these things interest me so I wanted to get it my thoughts on it down.

I hope the manga can help flesh out certain things from season two that felt kinda lacking to me. That’d be nice.

Even if I have some vague issues with the manga version of this, I’m still enjoying it, and I’m going to keep buying it as it comes out. I already have v3 in the mail, at least. I really hope that more of Kumota’s manga gets licensed into English, but since most of it’s BL I don’t think most publishers would touch it, sadly. Maybe someone will eventually license her manga adaptation of Fune wo Amu.

#murasaki rambles #showa genroku rakugo shinju #I keep having to remind myself what exact spelling variation of the title I use as my main tag for it lol

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recentanimenews · 6 years

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Peter's Fall 2018 Anime Premiere Recommendations

It feels like only yesterday I was writing this article for the winter season and I’m already giving my recommendations for the final season of the year. 2018 has been another great anime and fall looks to be ready to close it out in style with some returning fan favorite series like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind, Golden Kamuy, Sword Art Online Alicization, and Fairy Tail, but there are a ton of new series that are already showing a ton of promise.

Having watched every single premiere so far I have, as usual, found a bunch of gems among the many anime getting their start this season. Here are my top 5 recommendations for fall 2018 based entirely on their first episode!

Run With the Wind

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this series that came into the season with so little fanfare but wow was it visually stunning. I tend to have a soft spot for sports series--it’s keeping me around that’s the hard part--but even beyond my personal proclivities, every single moment of the episode felt so beautifully orchestrated, even fitting in some awesome animation in between a considerable number of character introductions. A penniless thief who relies on his speed for quick getaways finding himself the newest member an all-male dorm about to be coerced by one of their members into running an insane marathon is certainly a strange premise. I don’t want to set expectations too high, but I’m getting some major A Place Further than the Universe vibes.

ZOMBIE LAND SAGA

The production committee played things super close to the chest in advance of this anime, giving out almost zero information about the show beyond some key art, title, and the insane ramblings of its lead voice actor Mamoru Miyano. What might normally be considered a bad business move feels like genius now. Coming into this show cold is probably the perfect way to experience it, which puts me in a rough spot sharing why it’s so good. Read on only if you don’t mind spoilers or, just trust me on this one, and watch it. It’s got all the makings of an idol anime except for the unfortunate death of the lead which leads to her pursuing her passion posthumously and necessitates a musical genre shift to death metal. It’s crazy funny, defies your expectations multiple times, and I still have no idea what to expect next.

SSSS.GRIDMAN

The first thing I thought when watching Gridman for the first time was “this doesn’t feel anything like a TRIGGER anime,” which might be a dealbreaker for a lot of people, but stick with me. I eventually did see a bit of that TRIGGER glimmer in the character designs and their interactions, but much of the first episode felt very muted and atmospheric. A lot of time was given to unnerving shots of urban decay matched alongside dialogue from the main characters that was decidedly pessimistic and the silhouette of a massive kaiju standing over the city. Then the episode finishes with a massive tokusatsu-style battle with all the kids coming together and using their unique talents to save the day. It was a huge shift, but the transition felt so natural and… right? I’m not usually a tokusatsu fan and TRIGGER has talked up the new techniques they’re going to be experimenting with on this anime, so I feel like I’m in for a lot more surprises.

That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime

Before I talk about this show, I want you to know I’m super burnt out on isekai anime. I felt like the only two I could still have any hope of looking forward to are anything Re:ZERO forever and the upcoming So I’m a Spider, So What? Basically the last thing I expected was to end up putting this anime in my top 5 recommendations, but here we are. Normally the first thing that happens to the main character after they’re taken to another world is they do something really impressive to show off how great they are and set the tone. Our newly born slime coming across a dragon who, locked in a cave for 300 years, was starved for company, resulting in some tsundere interactions where it tried to keep the main character around while maintaining its dignity, did two great things. It took the focus off the main character to indicate the author had things they wanted to do with the world itself and showed a really wicked sense of humor--the PC in the bathtub being a perfect punchline.

RADIANT

There are so many reasons to be excited about this show as the first anime adaptation of a widely read shonen manga originally published in French. The success of this show could mean all sorts of things for the future of the Japanese manga and anime markets and I’m pretty damn excited, especially because the manga is good! Master scenario writer Makoto Uezu seems to be speeding toward to good parts as he cut a lot of fat off the first chapters and so far the animation looks to be doing some serious justice to Valente’s awesome art. As we’re headed into the first real fight, there’s not too much to report back on yet, so recommending this might be cheating a bit, but everything shows a ton of promise. For example, Romi Park plays the gruff, one-armed mentor. That alone would have me waiting in line for this anime.

Short Shout-out: Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san

Including this because there are always a few short anime each season that are criminally underwatched and, well, Honda-san was just that good. This easily digestible comedy short has a pretty self descriptive title, Honda works at a bookstore and is a skeleton. This may seem out of the ordinary but none of the customers seem too surprised and many of his coworkers are monster of some type so I guess we’re just supposed to accept it. Having to explain to a bewildered dad what “yaoi” means and figure out communication with foreigners looking to buy shonen manga and BL, on the other hand, feels like a very believable problem for his line of work and the comedic timing is perfect.

Those are my top 5--or 6--recommendations for the season, but they’re far from the only great premieres these past two weeks. For those looking for lighthearted laughs, Anima Yell!, Between the Sky and the Sea, and Ms. Vampire who lives in my neighborhood. all had great premieres. RErideD - Derrida, who leaps through time and Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai both made strong showings with some supernatural mystery. For those who want more fights need look no further than Hinomaru Sumo and DOUBLE DECKER! DOUG & KIRILL.

As always, I hope this list helped you find some new anime to fall in love with and, if I didn’t give your favorite shows the love it deserves, leave a comment to let others know! You might help someone else find their favorite anime of the season!

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Peter Fobian is an Associate Features Editor for Crunchyroll, author of Monthly Mangaka Spotlight, writer for Anime Academy, and contributor at Anime Feminist. You can follow him on Twitter @PeterFobian.

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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