Why didn't Wild Adapter 4 come with a cd like the others?! So sad!!!
BL Academy: Ani-Meth Toxicity Report
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
A few interesting yaoi books...
Okay, so I kept seeing these books but I wasn't sure if they'd suck or not...last night I finally read them and I must say I'm pleasantly surprised.
Border
Summary:
Welcome to a behind-the-scenes detective agency staffed by the most stunning men on the street…but don’t mistake this smooth, stylish crew for gumshoes! They always one-up the law with the greatest of ease and nab every crook, schemer and gang lord…but can they solve the mysteries of their own confused pasts? In the end, which of these sleuths will be rewarded with everlasting love?
Opinion:
I wasn't sure about this series because the work reminded me of Nitta's artwork and I find her characters rather slimy feeling, but I'm not only pleased I read them, but I'm going to purchase the books as well. The characters are a lot deeper than I thought they'd be and with their tragic pasts and 'family' jokes, I find I'm liking them all the more. My favorite scene though is portrayed above, they're just too cute together. :)
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Only Serious About You
Summary:
Busy chef Nao has to balance his ultra-hectic restaurant schedule with the demands of being a single parent for his sweet daughter, Chizu. So when flirtatious customer Yoshi offers to lend a helping hand in an emergency, it’s awfully hard to turn him down! But will Yoshi’s simple favor turn into an offer that Nao couldn’t possibly refuse?
Opinion:
I'd read this online a while ago, but I hadn't put it together in my head because I'd only seen the title in Japanese. I'm glad I picked this up because it's a very sweet story. The daughter is as adorable as her naive father.
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Bad Teacher's Equation
Summary:
Adorable Atsushi has just enrolled in a brand-new school so he can finally be reunited with his first, true love! But what if the man he’s sure is the one…isn’t at all?! Will another beautiful new face catch Atsushi’s eye and steal his innocent heart? Class is now in session…and there’s no telling who’s gonna get the highest marks!
Opinion:
10 books and counting, dang, I didn't realize it was so long as I've only seen books 1 & 2 on Akadot. Thank goodness for mangafox. Why is the artwork so weird though? The English covers don't match the insides at all. It feels like Gravitation in the style to me. I must admit though, I'm routing for the main characters. They're very cute in a 'I'm not so sure what I'm feeling' kind of way. The art work gets better towards the end, you can really feel the 1990s art style.
OMG I just found out there is an OVA of this! "Kusatta Kyoushi no Houteishiki" is what you have to look up though; there's also a drama cd.
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Other books of note:
I'm rather looking forward to an odd little series called: Countdown 7 Days. Book 2 has been pushed back to Mar. 1st release date, but still...it's so odd it's cute. I hope the characters get together, but right now they're just partners in crime, so to speak.
Summary:
Finding himself at the Sheol School for the Afterlife, Onigawara isn't really wanting to learn about being dead...he wants to collect on the deal he made with teacher Mitamura. Complete the set task within seven days and get his life back. The clock is ticking but there is one thing Onigawara is as yet unaware of. Once you're dead, you stay that way. Will Mitamura's machinations come to light, or does he know something no one else does? One thing is for certain, if things can go wrong, they will.
Border
Summary:
Welcome to a behind-the-scenes detective agency staffed by the most stunning men on the street…but don’t mistake this smooth, stylish crew for gumshoes! They always one-up the law with the greatest of ease and nab every crook, schemer and gang lord…but can they solve the mysteries of their own confused pasts? In the end, which of these sleuths will be rewarded with everlasting love?
Opinion:
I wasn't sure about this series because the work reminded me of Nitta's artwork and I find her characters rather slimy feeling, but I'm not only pleased I read them, but I'm going to purchase the books as well. The characters are a lot deeper than I thought they'd be and with their tragic pasts and 'family' jokes, I find I'm liking them all the more. My favorite scene though is portrayed above, they're just too cute together. :)
-------------
Only Serious About You
Summary:
Busy chef Nao has to balance his ultra-hectic restaurant schedule with the demands of being a single parent for his sweet daughter, Chizu. So when flirtatious customer Yoshi offers to lend a helping hand in an emergency, it’s awfully hard to turn him down! But will Yoshi’s simple favor turn into an offer that Nao couldn’t possibly refuse?
Opinion:
I'd read this online a while ago, but I hadn't put it together in my head because I'd only seen the title in Japanese. I'm glad I picked this up because it's a very sweet story. The daughter is as adorable as her naive father.
-------------
Bad Teacher's Equation
Summary:
Adorable Atsushi has just enrolled in a brand-new school so he can finally be reunited with his first, true love! But what if the man he’s sure is the one…isn’t at all?! Will another beautiful new face catch Atsushi’s eye and steal his innocent heart? Class is now in session…and there’s no telling who’s gonna get the highest marks!
Opinion:
10 books and counting, dang, I didn't realize it was so long as I've only seen books 1 & 2 on Akadot. Thank goodness for mangafox. Why is the artwork so weird though? The English covers don't match the insides at all. It feels like Gravitation in the style to me. I must admit though, I'm routing for the main characters. They're very cute in a 'I'm not so sure what I'm feeling' kind of way. The art work gets better towards the end, you can really feel the 1990s art style.
OMG I just found out there is an OVA of this! "Kusatta Kyoushi no Houteishiki" is what you have to look up though; there's also a drama cd.
-------------
Other books of note:
I'm rather looking forward to an odd little series called: Countdown 7 Days. Book 2 has been pushed back to Mar. 1st release date, but still...it's so odd it's cute. I hope the characters get together, but right now they're just partners in crime, so to speak.
Summary:
Finding himself at the Sheol School for the Afterlife, Onigawara isn't really wanting to learn about being dead...he wants to collect on the deal he made with teacher Mitamura. Complete the set task within seven days and get his life back. The clock is ticking but there is one thing Onigawara is as yet unaware of. Once you're dead, you stay that way. Will Mitamura's machinations come to light, or does he know something no one else does? One thing is for certain, if things can go wrong, they will.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
24 Jikan Eigyouchuu
So cute!!! Okay, so I got my new rapier in and am very happy right now, and this little cutie of a yaoi manga just made me even happier!
1-2) 24 Jikan Eikyou-chuu
Nakamichi works in the 24-hour convenience store on Sano's way home from school. Nakamichi is baffled by the amount of lollipops Sano buy everyday! But he gets very used to seeing Sano around, that when suddenly Sano stops showing his face at the store, he misses him! What happens to Sano? And why buy so many lollipops?
3-5) 24 Jikan Renai-chuu
Yoshino, an ordinary guy works at a convenience store where he meets a beautiful Yagami-san. He overhears Yagami-san having an argument over the phone with who he assumes is a girlfriend. What will Yoshino do when he sees Yagami drunk and collapsed outside the convenience store, and hears him whisper a guy's name in his sleep?
6-8) Extra: Jikan Eikyou-chuu
S: Spy
S (Esu): series
Title rating: 18+ only for graphic prose sex scenes and a few graphic illustrations, violence, language, some torture, etc.
- 4 novels (2005-2006), in English via DMP, complete
- 4 Drama CDs (2005-2007), complete
- 2 spin-off Drama CDs (“I’m Not Your Pet” and “I Swear”) (2007-2008), complete?
- Various spin-offs and doujinshi novels (ongoing)
There is an amazing review of these four books and the cds and such here. I've read the first 3 books and am starting on the fourth so I'll leave it to someone who has read them all this time.
For the uninitiated though:
S Vol. 1
Shiba is a detective in the fifth anti-organized crime division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, a.k.a. "Anti-Gang 5" specializing in handgun seizures. Shiba's secret weapon is "S" ("spy"), an informant who plays a key role in Shiba's information gathering. Shiba is training an informant who has been officially accepted into Shinjuku's Matsukura Group within the Budoha crime syndicate. One day, Shiba awakes to an anonymous phone call. "Watch out for your S." A tale of two men whose lust, pride and loneliness collide!
S Vol. 2: A Love Bite
Detective Masaki Shiiba’s informant or “S,” Keigo Munechika, has proven himself to be an excellent source of information. But the payment of sex for every lead given is taking its toll on Shiiba. But with his new assignment as back-up to a fellow undercover detective, Shiiba learns that there are far worse things than having sex with your male S—falling helplessly in love with him, for example. S volume 2 continues the drama and passion between a detective and his spy set in the highly-charged underground world of Tokyo.
S Vol. 3: Split
For almost a year now, Shiiba has been using Keigo Munechika as his “S,” his spy, to get information on the gun dealings of the Yakuza world. Shiiba uses his body in exchange for Munechika’s sensitive information... and only his body as far as Shiiba is concerned. Shiiba vows their relationship will not go beyond that. But when a rowdy young man with a penchant for piercing and an enigmatic Yakuza leader cross paths with the young detective, sins of the past are unearthed once more-sins that just might shatter the fragile bond between the detective and his “S.”
S Vol. 4: Afterglow
At the end of S volume 3, detective Masaki Shiiba was last seen running away from the hospital room of his injured S, Keigo Munechika. Now, Shiiba has turned in his resignation, bought a gun of his own, and is bent on only one mission—to kill Takanari Godou. He vows to get the truth from Godou, even if he has to throw away his morals and life to do it. But can he do it? Can he shoot another person and commit cold-blooded murder for revenge?
A part a highly agree with is:
"S does have its own weak points, ones that are particularly obvious to fans of non-yaoi crime drama. The writing is definitely a bit stilted and simplistic compared to a Western novel, but that’s standard within yaoi novels that don’t feature an extremely dedicated/slightly masochistic rewriter. S definitely isn’t the worst prose adaptation out there, and the story is so intense that it’s easy to overlook a poor writing style in a fervent desire to find out what happens next."
This is probably my biggest complaint with Yaoi novels. They always feel like a very young writer has written them and while I completely understand that this is a translation and the editors are trying to keep as close to the original as possible, I'm still unhappy that some of my LJ fanfiction friends have better control of story plot and development.
Another of her books is Decoy, which apparently has cameos of the S characters and takes place in their world.
Deadlock is another, though unrelated, work:
Yuuto Lenix, a former DEA investigator was arrested by a false accusation of killing his own partner. The FBI agents gave him a special deal, to look for a particular criminal hiding in the same prison. By the time he was detained in the Schelger Prison, he got to meet his cellmate, Dick Burnford, who didn't show signs of being kind and welcoming upon his arrival. Will he ever be in good terms with his inmates, especially to Dick?
Volume 1: Deadlock
Volume 2: Deadheat
Volume 3: Deadshot
Deadlock Side Story - Tooiyoake
Deadlock Side Story - Tsuyoki Mono, Nanji no Na wa Onna
DEADLOCK Side Story - Love begets love
Title rating: 18+ only for graphic prose sex scenes and a few graphic illustrations, violence, language, some torture, etc.
- 4 novels (2005-2006), in English via DMP, complete
- 4 Drama CDs (2005-2007), complete
- 2 spin-off Drama CDs (“I’m Not Your Pet” and “I Swear”) (2007-2008), complete?
- Various spin-offs and doujinshi novels (ongoing)
There is an amazing review of these four books and the cds and such here. I've read the first 3 books and am starting on the fourth so I'll leave it to someone who has read them all this time.
For the uninitiated though:
S Vol. 1
Shiba is a detective in the fifth anti-organized crime division of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, a.k.a. "Anti-Gang 5" specializing in handgun seizures. Shiba's secret weapon is "S" ("spy"), an informant who plays a key role in Shiba's information gathering. Shiba is training an informant who has been officially accepted into Shinjuku's Matsukura Group within the Budoha crime syndicate. One day, Shiba awakes to an anonymous phone call. "Watch out for your S." A tale of two men whose lust, pride and loneliness collide!
S Vol. 2: A Love Bite
Detective Masaki Shiiba’s informant or “S,” Keigo Munechika, has proven himself to be an excellent source of information. But the payment of sex for every lead given is taking its toll on Shiiba. But with his new assignment as back-up to a fellow undercover detective, Shiiba learns that there are far worse things than having sex with your male S—falling helplessly in love with him, for example. S volume 2 continues the drama and passion between a detective and his spy set in the highly-charged underground world of Tokyo.
S Vol. 3: Split
For almost a year now, Shiiba has been using Keigo Munechika as his “S,” his spy, to get information on the gun dealings of the Yakuza world. Shiiba uses his body in exchange for Munechika’s sensitive information... and only his body as far as Shiiba is concerned. Shiiba vows their relationship will not go beyond that. But when a rowdy young man with a penchant for piercing and an enigmatic Yakuza leader cross paths with the young detective, sins of the past are unearthed once more-sins that just might shatter the fragile bond between the detective and his “S.”
S Vol. 4: Afterglow
At the end of S volume 3, detective Masaki Shiiba was last seen running away from the hospital room of his injured S, Keigo Munechika. Now, Shiiba has turned in his resignation, bought a gun of his own, and is bent on only one mission—to kill Takanari Godou. He vows to get the truth from Godou, even if he has to throw away his morals and life to do it. But can he do it? Can he shoot another person and commit cold-blooded murder for revenge?
A part a highly agree with is:
"S does have its own weak points, ones that are particularly obvious to fans of non-yaoi crime drama. The writing is definitely a bit stilted and simplistic compared to a Western novel, but that’s standard within yaoi novels that don’t feature an extremely dedicated/slightly masochistic rewriter. S definitely isn’t the worst prose adaptation out there, and the story is so intense that it’s easy to overlook a poor writing style in a fervent desire to find out what happens next."
This is probably my biggest complaint with Yaoi novels. They always feel like a very young writer has written them and while I completely understand that this is a translation and the editors are trying to keep as close to the original as possible, I'm still unhappy that some of my LJ fanfiction friends have better control of story plot and development.
Another of her books is Decoy, which apparently has cameos of the S characters and takes place in their world.
Deadlock is another, though unrelated, work:
Yuuto Lenix, a former DEA investigator was arrested by a false accusation of killing his own partner. The FBI agents gave him a special deal, to look for a particular criminal hiding in the same prison. By the time he was detained in the Schelger Prison, he got to meet his cellmate, Dick Burnford, who didn't show signs of being kind and welcoming upon his arrival. Will he ever be in good terms with his inmates, especially to Dick?
Volume 1: Deadlock
Volume 2: Deadheat
Volume 3: Deadshot
Deadlock Side Story - Tooiyoake
Deadlock Side Story - Tsuyoki Mono, Nanji no Na wa Onna
DEADLOCK Side Story - Love begets love
Monday, January 23, 2012
New Twitpics
OMG Gojyo in a dress!! Gojyo in a dress!! Gojyo in a dress!! LOL
This just looks weird...I'm not sure why.
Monday, January 9, 2012
blah blah blah
I posted a few little ficlets from my journal and I really want to write up the next part of Summer from Hell, but I can't find my notes and I just know if I freehand it things will go differently than I have already marked out. *grumble* Why can't I ever find the pages I need?
Friday, January 6, 2012
The controversy of CLAMP
So, I started on CLAMP back in the day when the first animes in the U.S. included Card Captor Sakura and was always a fan of their artwork and stories until they came to AnimeExpo back in 2006. It was then that I realized they were very 'celebrity-esk' in their dealings with the fans which turned me off of their work.
From an objective point of view though, they are the pinnacle of mangakas in Japan with a long running career, fresh story ideas, and specific art style. They draw cute yet fierce females and handsome, princely men and then there are the androgynous characters that prevail over any other out there. RG Veda was the perfect example of that imo; see Ashura below-male or female, can you tell? Technically, he's a boy, but when they translated it into English they made him a girl, so it's really hard to tell.
Amazing RG Veda cosplay:
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A change in styles:
CLAMP lost me back with xxxholic (pronounced 'holic') with their elongated bodies and Tsubasa which incorporated every single character they'd ever created (a neat concept but confusing for fans of the other shows).
Now they've released Blood-C, which still uses the same elongated bodies and their newest release, Gate 7. I'm hopeful Gate 7 will be a return to their older style of more realistic body designs. I do however love their clothing designs. A smart move on their part would be to start a clothing brand featuring aspects of their outfits like this Tsubasa design.
------------------
Gate 7:
Plot Summary: Between our conscious, waking world and the subconscious state of slumber, there is a thinly veiled plane of lucid dreaming. While the conscious state belongs to individuals, the hidden plane of dreams is one shared by all human minds, past, present, and future. Yet only a few have ever possessed the power to enter this secret realm at will - where a war is being waged to control the waking world. For our earthly wishes and desires are not our own, but under the manipulation of these unseen masters of dreams. The heroine of Gate 7 is Hana, a high-school girl hailing from Kyoto, the daughter of a temple caretaker. Her peaceful ways give her the self-control to act in the hidden realm. But Hana can only reach it through the strange beast that acts as her totem in the world of dreams - and her companion on a journey to confront the puppeteers of our reality!
Opinion:
Okay, this is really cute! They gets extra points for dressing Hana like a frog, I want one of those sleeping outfits!!!
"Uarshi Chikan" I keep reading it as "Chicken" which makes it funnier I think. Could be the chai talking though. lol Ah geeze, is this seriously about the Tokugawa again? Really, Japan has been around for how long and they can't get past this? My head hurts. This is good though, I'm looking forward to reading more when it comes out.
My drink is problematic.
I've bastardized the above from Firefly, but that's not anime related so I guess it doesn't count. I have, in the space of an hour this morning, dropped my drink on the subway and then sprayed chai concentrate across my sweater once I made it in to work. At this point I'm not even sure it's worth it anymore.
On another note, I found these drinks from Japan that just make me shake my head. I guess you really need to have them in the EVA drink coolers I posted about a while back to make it just that much 'cooler'.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Why?
Why is it orders never arrive when you want them to?
******1/6/12*****
They came in! So, hehe, Love Stage v. 1 and Backstage v. 2 came in today as well as Koori v. 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, & 12 and Silver Diamond v. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25. See, I told you it was a lot!
Skip Beat!, Faster than a Kiss, and Karneval
Skip Beat!
v. 30 c. 184
OMG such a great chapter!! I just love the Heel sibling chapters. Kyoko's voice keeps bringing Ren back from Kuon's dark past. The part I really want to know though is how did he go from 'Fairy Prince' to 'Dark Lord'?
-----------------
Faster Than a Kiss
v.9 ch. 52
Oh! He never submitted the Marriage Registration?! He is so screwed. Stupid sensei.
-----------------
Karneval
v.6 ch. 31
So, who thinks it's a trap? I just can't trust Karoku at all and Gareki's starting to annoy me too. Just freaking ask Hirato what he means by 'child of the second ship'.
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