The Misc. Shoujo, Josei, & Romance Thread: Don't think straight, think gay.

Kusaru · # ¿ Dec 29, 2010 06:00

Thanks for this thread, I've been trying to get into some more female-targeted manga recently, but I'm generally not sure of where to look. I try checking highly rated stuff on Mangafox but it's very hit or miss. I'd be interested in any ongoing shoujo or josei series to check out, or actually any good romances featuring people post-college where neither character is the other's subordinate.

I read through what there is of Oresama Teacher recently, and besides the first chapter it's been pretty funny, although the current arc seems like it may go somewhere angsty. It's basically the story of a girl who was expelled from her hometown high school for being a delinquent. She decides to be a normal girl at her new high school, but is picked by one of the teachers (who was actually her neighbor and taught her to fight back in the day) to help disband delinquent groups in the area. One of the potential love interests is said teacher, so there is potential for creepiness, but not so far.
The series hasn't been updated in going on 2 months, though!

I've mostly been checking out shorter stuff, because unless a series is really bad or painfully bland, I'll usually stick with it till the end.

Here are a couple josei romance one shots by Yuki Ando that I really enjoyed:
http://somemangas.com/manga/Matryoshka
http://somemangas.com/manga/Akai_Michi
Those are the only things I know of by her that are scanlated.

Momonchi is a 4 chapter story about a shy post high school girl opening up a little and getting her first real crush.

Sukimasuki is a 10 chapter manga by Yumi Unita, the author of Bunny/Usagi Drop. It's about a guy who's obsessed with peering into in between spaces, one of which is the girl across the street's window.

Nate RFB's take on Kare Kano is more or less the same as mine.

Adbot · # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 17:53

Kusaru · # ¿ Jan 9, 2011 00:10

a kitten posted:

Over in the Winter 2010 thread someone posted that there was an anime coming up for something called Usagi Drop. I hadn't heard of it before so I decided to give it a look. Turns out it's pretty good! I'm only on chapter 10 or so, but I'm already hooked. It's a josei series that started in '05 and is still ongoing.

I'm lousy at writing descriptions so I'll just give you this one:

It's similar to Yotsuba& in some ways although overall more serious in tone. Not that there's not humor, it's just a little more realistic look at raising a child as a single guy who stumbled into fatherhood rather unexpectedly.

One thing I've noticed that although Yotsuba and Rin are very, very different personality-wise they both feel like accurate portrayals of 5-6 years olds, which is kind of neat.

Usagi/Bunny drop is pretty well liked in ADTRW, it used to have its own thread before it was licensed by Yen Press and the scans stopped coming. I think an anime has potential, that's kinda awesome. Sukimasuki, a really short manga that I recommended earlier in this thread, is by the same author.

Kusaru · # ¿ Feb 8, 2011 02:00

LightWarden posted:

New Oresama Teacher.

The group that picked this up is burning through it, they're up to ch. 33 and releasing a new one every 2-3 days.

Edit: Ah, the translation/editing isn't that great, though.

Kusaru fucked around with this message at 03:11 on Feb 8, 2011

Kusaru · # ¿ Mar 6, 2011 05:11

Serious Frolicking posted:

Ahahaha, this is so badly written and creepy. http://www.mangafox.com/manga/zutto_suki_datta_kuse_ni/

Stories like that are unfortunately common.

Does anyone have suggestions for romance with actual progress involving people past high school?

Kusaru · # ¿ Mar 6, 2011 06:05

LightWarden posted:

Maison Ikkoku. Still Rumiko Takahashi's best work.

I can't believe I haven't read it yet, I've been meaning to forever... thanks!

As for what I have read, all I can think of is Honey & Clover, Kimi wa Pet(which I avoided for a long time because of the bizarre premise), and Nodame Cantabile.

Edit: I agree with your stance on Itazura na Kiss, the guy was really annoying. The thing that bugged me most, though, was going from not in a relationship to married in the course of an episode. I thought the girl's progress through the course of the series was pretty good, though.

Kusaru · # ¿ Mar 28, 2011 16:20

I had Spring Break a couple weeks ago and went on a romance kick. I started it off with Maison Ikkoku. :3:

The one that I've really been enjoying that hasn't been mentioned here yet is Sukitte Ii na yo (Say You Love Me).

Somemango.com posted:

Mei Tachibana has spent her 16 years without making either a boyfriend or friends. One day, she injures the most popular boy in school, Yamato Kurosawa, because of a misunderstanding but for some reason it seems that he takes a liking to her and one-sidedly claims that they're friends. Furthermore, he not only protects Mei from a stalker, he does it with a kiss…?!!

The premise is a little iffy sounding, but it doesn't stick with that as a pattern. Shy/outcast girl gains the interest of the hottest guy in school, but she generally doesn't do dumb things and there is steady progression. Both the leads are likable. However, there has only been one release since December.

I also checked out Kaichou wa Maid-sama!. I like it, it's too bad I ignored it completely when the anime came out. It took me a long time to like the male lead, but once he stopped being so 'mysterious' he really grew on me. The female lead is awesome constantly. Also: progress. If you just watched the anime, that's only about halfway through what's out in the manga now.

Last was Strobe Edge, because I saw that a couple Yankee/Megane fans liked it (I assumed it would be similar, it's not at all). Ridiculously naive girl gets crush on hottest guy in school, but he has a girlfriend. It held my attention enough to get through what was there, but I wouldn't call it great. It looks like it'll be wrapping up soon.

Has anyone read Chika Umino's (Honey & Clover) latest work, March Comes in Like a Lion? How is it & is it frustrating to follow chapter to chapter? I'm not expecting romance, just thought some of you who read one may have read the other.

Edit: And then today I found volume 1 of Bunny Drop for 50% off at a closing Borders! The covers are really thin, but the paper quality seems good.

Kusaru fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Mar 29, 2011

Kusaru · # ¿ Apr 7, 2011 06:12

Tesla Insanely Coil posted:

Strobe Edge is completely finished now, including two extras. As Kusaru said above, it isn't that great but the second extra was really cute - it left me with a warm fuzzy feeling. It's about Manabu, a side character - he grows up a little http://www.mangafox.com/manga/strobe_edge/v10/c038/2.html

That was cute! Actually, I'd have to say that the thing I liked best about the series was the side story flashbacks showing how the currently-failed/over couples originally got together.

Kusaru · # ¿ Apr 20, 2011 00:48

a kitten posted:

Holy poo poo, new Usagi Drop. And "holy poo poo" is pretty much the best description for this issue. I think the next issue will be the last one which is kind of a shame, but then again, having things end rather than drag them on for all eternity definitely has its merits. Plus they're animating it, so that's pretty cool.

The Yen Press versions are pretty good too, I can't wait til the rest come out.

Is 35 the most recent? I didn't realize how far behind I was, so I got to read about 5 new chapters today. For anyone interested, volume 3 is going for $6.88 on Amazon right now (it's licensed as Bunny Drop [sorry if that's really obvious]).

Kusaru · # ¿ Apr 22, 2011 01:21

I happened upon an online manhwa called Cheese in the Trap. It's in color and each chapter is one really long page that alternates between white and black backgrounds denoting the present and past.

Painfully generic description posted:

Hong Sul is a ordinary college student. Yoo Jung is the school's most popular upperclass man. He's good looking, rich, smart, and even nice. However, Hong Sul thinks there's more to Yoo Jung than what meets the eye..

It's definitely josei (or the Korean equivalent), but I'm having a hard time attaching a genre to it. It's not really romance, or at least not so far. Maybe a little mystery and a little slice of life with a pretty relaxed pace. It's about a college girl and the potentially sociopathic rich guy whose attention she gains. She's suspicious because the previous year he seemed so dismissive of her.

It's only scanlated up through chapter 24 (of 40+), but you can find in depth chapter summaries past that here and the Korean chapters here (apparently the creator asked that they stop scanning?). The chapter discussion on the board that has the translations is actually pretty good.

It took me too many chapters to realize that "sanbae" was the equivalent of "sempai" and not the name of various characters.

Kusaru · # ¿ May 5, 2011 15:38

Scans for the Kuragehime manga have passed the end of the anime and are coming out at a decent pace, though I think they're close to caught up. For anyone who missed the anime last year, it's the story of a group of shut-in otaku girls who face the destruction of their apartment and the very pretty boy (who most of them think is a girl) who helps them out.

Kusaru · # ¿ May 23, 2011 16:36

"What's being in love like?"
"It's when your heart goes 'kyuuuuu'"

Next scene, cute guy talks to girl then walks away.
Girl puts clenched hand to her chest.

I feel like I've seen that a bunch of times.

I enjoy the kind of slow-burn style of Kimi ni Todoke. I like that they're both inexperienced and working through all this at the same time.

Kusaru · # ¿ Jun 2, 2011 02:22

henne posted:

Usagi drop 36 is out. http://somemanga.com/manga/Usagi_Drop/36/

I heard this might be the last chapter?

Oh gently caress, here it is!

Wait, where the hell did that awful ending we all heard about go? Maybe the scanlators stopped just before disaster? Rin keeps blushing and vaguely hitting on Daikichi...

Kusaru fucked around with this message at 02:25 on Jun 2, 2011

Kusaru · # ¿ Aug 11, 2011 06:23

Paracelsus posted:

It was stills and text boxes that told a story about two of the side characters in the third person.

As for the manga, the last chapter implies that the best high school friend of the lead couple is going to hook up with their daughter, who is 15ish while the adults are ~35. I remember feeling a bit sick to my stomach while reading that.

Kusaru · # ¿ Aug 11, 2011 12:55

Robo Pope posted:

Haha, yeah I kinda felt the same way about season 1, since when I first watched it I was going through the same thing as Takemoto trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life. Season 2 was good, yeah, but it seemed like its whole point was to drive home that no one ever gets what they really want and that just depressed the hell out of me.

This feeling was compounded by the fact that the story took place over the course of 4 years. In 4 years, no one moved on or ended up contentedly together.

Nate RFB posted:

The manga had been stagnating for about 10 volumes by that point so the blow wasn't quite the sucker punch that was Usagi Drop''s sudden drop into insanity. Still pretty bad though. I'd like to think though that it hasn't tainted my enjoyment of the anime though, unlike Usagi Drop.

Yeah, the second half of Kare Kano was nowhere near as good as the first half. If I remember correctly, the main conflict was the lead male having an awful mother and therefore he was tainted somehow? Also I remember the sex-lead-up scenes being not romantic or even entertaining in the least. The creepy ending only added insult to "teen parents can still follow their dreams!" injury.

Kusaru · # ¿ Aug 28, 2011 15:28

I know it's pretty old, but I just finished reading Basara, after starting probably 10 years ago (I had the anime fansubs on VHS... yep). That was a good read, the entire last battle arc is really good. I'd stayed away from finishing it for so long because I thought it would be constant "will they find out who each other are" till the very end and the series was pretty long, but I thought the reveal was really well done. Also a nice, satisfying ending followed by a bunch of character one-shots that I haven't finished with yet. I've had 7Seeds on my reading list for awhile, so I'll have to check that out soon.

For anyone who hasn't heard of it, Basara is the story of a girl who takes over for her twin brother as the "child of destiny" in an attempt to rebel against the current emperor and his family. The setting is post-apocalyptic desert Japan. Some of the characters and stuff are goofy but I had a great time reading it.

I was skimming through early chapters and found this hilarious:

Kusaru · # ¿ Oct 3, 2011 21:59

The group scanlating Nodame Cantabile - Opera Hen finally finished: http://www.mangareader.net/1397/nodame-cantabile-opera-hen.html

Kusaru · # ¿ Nov 4, 2011 01:59

coathat posted:

I just read whats been scanned of http://www.mangafox.com/manga/tonari_no_kaibutsu_kun/ and it's pretty good Shoujo. I like that all the drama really comes from the main characters being awkward and weird people.

I like it! I'm only about halfway through what's there so far, but all of the characters are pretty entertaining, and it's a fun read, nothing infuriating. I'm a fan of the main character, she doesn't dance around her feelings.

Kusaru · # ¿ Nov 28, 2011 18:29

I've discovered Stiletto Heels Scans recently. They do pretty good josei stuff involving mostly post-college-aged people, but they have a lot of projects and only release every couple months.

I've particularly been liking Futago, which is about a set of fraternal twins who grew up mostly separately and their growing closer. This is accomplished by one bringing a young vagrant she spent her honeymoon with to live with the other.

3 AM Dangerous Zone is a cute, slow-moving romance about a girl who works long hours as a pachinko machine art designer and the guy she eats lunch with. The Mangafox link there has a thread that links to completed raws of the series, which is only 3 volumes.

They're also doing something called Toribako House by Yumi Unita (Bunny Drop). It starts with a 23 year old in a relationship with someone 12 years older. They've been together for 7 years!

Kusaru · # ¿ Dec 8, 2011 05:45

coathat posted:

New chapter of Tonari no Kaibutsu
http://www.mangafox.com/manga/tonari_no_kaibutsu_kun/v06/c022/

"Oh Haru, Do you know what Valentines day is?"
"Don't look down on me! I get the general idea. It's a day when girls throw chocolates at guys!

I like this manga, but I feel like everyone else under-reacts to Haru's violent tendencies. All of the other characters are just kind of quirky and awkward, but I cringed when he actually thought about pushing a guy off a balcony. Other than that, I find this manga enjoyable and it's being updated pretty quickly.

Way back I mentioned the webtoon manhwa Cheese in the Trap. Translations stalled for a long time when the artist protested against scanlations being hosted on other sites, but a new group has circumvented that by adding English text via code to the original site. They just have finished a couple chapters so far (1-24 can be found on your favorite scan sites) and it's a bit of a pain to go through the extra effort of inserting the code, but it's a good series.
Instructions: http://www.oddsquad.org/2010/01/irc.html
Translated chapters: http://www.oddsquad.org/p/citt.html

CiTT Summary posted:

Hong Sul is returning to college after a long break. But so is the rich and charismatic upperclassman, Yoo Jung. Unlike her peers, Hong Sul suspects a dark personality behind Yoo Jung's innocent facade, or... is she just being paranoid?

Kusaru · # ¿ Jan 18, 2012 07:22

Serious Frolicking posted:

Oh god, I can't stop laughing at this description. http://www.mangafox.com/manga/sakura_zensen/

That's amazing. I hope all that happens in the first chapter.

Kusaru · # ¿ Mar 2, 2012 21:04

I love the Kodocha anime, but yeah, there was no real ending and the NYC (I think) filler was not as good as the rest. I believe Kodocha is the only manga series I own in its entirety, my copies are sadly aged and I'm pretty sure it's out of print now. There's a one-shot floating around (I can't remember if translated or not) that takes place ~10 years after the end of the manga. In it Sana and Akito are together/married and I think they live in LA. He's a massage therapist and she is I think a news anchor. The conflict of the manga is Sana gets pregnant and Akito freaks out since his mom died in childbirth. It's a crossover with one of Obana's other works somehow.

Kusaru · # ¿ Apr 1, 2012 03:56

coathat posted:

Something to look forward to this summer, Natsuyuki Rendezvous one of the summer noitamina shows.

A young man with poor eyesight named Hazuki works part-time in a flower shop and falls hard for the shop-owner Rokka. But what happens when he discovers that residing in her apartment is the spirit of the man she can never forget?

Only 5 chapters translated so far but it's pretty cool.

Oh, I like that one so far. Stiletto Heels is scanlating that, I mentioned them a couple months ago as a group that generally translates decent josei stuff. They're also doing Sakamichi no Apollon, which has great buzz in the Spring season thead (I'm super pumped for it), and they just released chapters 4 and 5. While I'm at it I'll also recommend 3AM Dangerous Zone.

Kusaru · # ¿ Apr 22, 2012 22:49

I think way back this thread recommended Kinou Nani Tabeta? (What Did You Eat Yesterday) by Fumi Yoshinaga which is half recipes and half two gay dudes living together. It hasn't had an update in over two years, though. Some of Yoshinaga's other stuff is pretty good, too, like Antique Bakery which is licensed, but she does do some yaoi as well.

I found Otona no Mondai (Adult Problems) by Ichiko Ima recently, which sort of hits the very tip of the "gay issues" iceberg, but it's better than anything else I can think of offhand. It's also pretty short and has a cute ending!

Kusaru · # ¿ May 22, 2012 19:45

coathat posted:

Tonari no Kibutsu-kun is going to get an anime. Get hype!

Sukitte Ii na yo, too. Another series that I like pretty well. The protagonists are actually pretty similar, now that I think about it.

arisu posted:

I can't seem to ever get excited over anime adaptations of shoujo manga these days. They always seem to end before anything meaningful happens. The only recent exception I can think of is Kimi ni Todoke, and that's because we just luckily happened to get a second season.

You don't have to worry too much about that for these two series, in both they get together really early on and the series is more about their relationship ups and downs. I'm pretty sure in Sukitte Ii na yo, they're together by the end of the second chapter, and probably the end of the first volume in Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun. I'm cautiously optimistic for both!

Kusaru · # ¿ May 23, 2012 03:32

arisu posted:

I haven't read Sukitte Ii na yo, and I may be wrong because it's been a while since I read it, but in Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, aren't they still not together in the manga? I remember some kind of confessing going on but I remember that they still haven't quite gotten together. Again, it's been a long time since I read it though.

I was pretty sure they were definitely together, but it's been almost half a year since I read it. What I remember of the Valentine's/birthday stuff in particular makes me feel is they're not "officially" a couple they may as well be.

Kusaru · # ¿ Apr 5, 2013 02:51

Here's what I think about a few of those mentioned:

Classics:
Banana Fish - Use the top right panel here with the words SHOJO MANGA (spoiler for about halfway through):http://i.imgur.com/rkxL2td.jpg
Hana Yori Dango - Definitely a classic, but the early art is not very good and it is very very tropey (although it probably created half of them). This is coming from someone who mail ordered the anime fansubs on VHS and half the manga in Japanese before learning the language, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to a newcomer nowadays.
Rose of Versailles - For whatever reason I still have not read or watched this, but it's basically the definition of "classic shojo"
A Drunken Dream - Hasn't been mentioned yet, but I read this short story collection by Hagio Moto recently and really enjoyed some of the stories in it. Definitely atypical shojo, they tend to be more about family and belonging than romance, and the English release is just beautiful.

Ongoing:
Kimi ni Todoke - probably the most well-known ongoing series
Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun - I'm pretty far behind on this but I remember it being really entertaining
Wandering Son - the English language release is beautifully done.
Kuragehime/Jellyfish Princess - hilarious and manages to avoid a lot of the romance tropes that bug me about josei manga

Others that I like:
Honey & Clover - I never got over just how young Hagu looks, but it's a solid josei series
Kodomo no Omocha - I think the first plot line was amazingly well done in the anime, but there is plenty of filler later on.
Lovely Complex - has an excellent anime adaptation
Ouran Host Club - same here
Nodame Cantabile - has both an anime and live action adaptations. Not too focused on the romance aspect.

Kusaru · # ¿ Jul 22, 2013 15:57

Captain Invictus posted:

Only Eisner could afford those. Twenty dollars each, really? 25 for the preorder volumes? What? I haven't seen a manga volume over ten dollars in at least a decade. If I can find'em cheaper I'll buy'em, but 20-25 dollars is absurd these days for a single volume of manga.

edit: oh, they're hardcovers. That explains the ridiculous pricing.

And yeah, I had an idea that it looked alot like something I'd read previously.

They are really nice hardcovers with color pages and everything. If you want to see in person, libraries tend to have them, since volume 1 was on a "Top 10 Great Graphic Novels for Teens" list put out by the American Library Association. Hagio Moto's A Drunken Dream got similar treatment by the same publisher and is absolutely gorgeous, I really need my own copy.

Kusaru · # ¿ Jul 22, 2013 18:22

I haven't bought the series myself, I just check it out from the library whenever a new volume comes out, but the first 4 volumes are around $15 on Amazon with free Prime/Super Saver Shipping if that's available to you and you're interested.

Kusaru · # ¿ Sep 15, 2013 14:43

I actually started reading BL recently because I ran out of scanlated josei that I enjoy. I also was looking for manga with older characters and more even relationships (this part is very hit or miss!). I mostly like "new wave" artists like Yamashita Tomoko and Kusama Sakae (these two at least do other genres as well), so I don't know much about the classics. I've actually been planning on a Yamashita Tomoko effortpost for awhile, but clearly haven't gotten around to it. I guess good older mangaka would be Yoshinaga Fumi and Yamada Yugi.

Anyway, I don't have much time, but I recommend the following by Yamashita Tomoko: Yes It's Me (BL short stories, a big fan of the title story), Mo'Some Sting (shojo/josei w/ gay characters, was licensed by JManga so probably hard to find), Kuimonodokoro Akira (straight up BL), Mud (a Josei oneshot that was posted elsewhere in ADTRW at some point), and Illumination (BL one shots, a little uneven but I really like a couple). If you're worried about penises, I don't recall ever seeing any. When there is sex, which is rare, it's a fade to black sort of thing.

Butter is her seinen romance. I was waiting for more of it to be scanned to start reading, but I just checked and 2 volumes are done so far.

Aaand an art sample, why not (not sure what this is from, actually):

Kusaru · # ¿ Sep 15, 2013 23:01

kaworu posted:

Hinako Takanaga

I would like to warn against reading Koisuru Boukun by her. It's easily one of the rapiest, tropiest, emotioal blackmailiest, but still really popular BL out there.

Everything Burrito posted:

I didn't recognize the name at first but I've read Kinou Nani Tabeta? and really enjoyed it. It's cooking-themed slice of life but also explores the relationship the two leads have, addressing things like how they met, what their coworkers think of them, and family problems that arise.

I think I actually read this series via recommendation in this thread, and it was probably my gateway drug into BL now that I think about it. She's a great storyteller, and a lot of her stuff gets licensed.

Kusaru · # ¿ Sep 17, 2013 19:24

Dreamy Souffle posted:

Oh hey, cool to hear that the subject of BL isn't off-grounds! It's time for me to give back to this thread.

My favorite BL author is Hayakawa Nojiko, who's not got a lot of work behind her just yet. But she has a really, really fantastic way with atmosphere and page composition. Her artwork is a little loose and sketchy looking, but I think that's part of the charm. Her finished work are as follows:

- Endou-kun no Kansatsu Nikki.
- Yozora no Sumikko de.
- Kurayami ni Strobe.
- Toshokan no Yokai.

According to her twitter, Kurayami ni Strobe is due for two more side chapters before everything gets collected in a book proper towards the end of the year, though it sounds like the main story is more-or-less done. There's also no outright smut in any of her stuff so far, though there is a (brief) suggestive daydream and a few heated moments here and there.

I also recommend Doukyuusei by Nakamura Asumiko. It doesn't break any particular new ground as far as high school romance stories go. But in a genre that's over saturated with problematic stereotypes and rape, it is pretty refreshing! (While it stands on its own perfectly fine, Doukyuusei also has a sequel in Sotsugyousei, which follows Kusakabe and Sajou into their graduation. Said sequel does, however, crank up the rating because of sex and all that.) Nakamura's done some other BL, but a lot of them lean more on the psychological side of things.

Hideyoshico is also a pretty solid author! Negative-kun and Positive-kun is funny and sweet, as is Kanemochi-kun to Binbou-kun. On the more serious side of things, she has Ringo ni Hachimitsu and its sequel Kare no Barairo no Jinsei, and these latter two do feature smut.

Edit: Whoops, corrected a few links.

Those are all great recommendations. For newbies, keep in mind that for Hideyoshico, anything with an "A-kun to B-kun" title will have no sex, but her other stuff will. My personal favorite by her is Ringo ni Hachimitsu and its sequel.

I'd like to point out that Acme-dan scanlated pretty much all of the Hideyoshico and Hayakawa Nojiko stuff out there, so if you like those you will probably like their other releases. I can't think of anything they've released that I'd recommend against.

To all the other recommendations, I'd like to add Hana wa Saku ka by Hidaka Shoko. It's a super slow burn romance but there is an age difference (late 30's and 20-ish, so both are adults at least). The characters actually acknowledge that and are bothered by or work around it. It's not "cute" exactly, but very relaxed. It's licensed, but the first volume's release date has been pushed back a few times. It is ongoing, but I think it's planned to end at 5 volumes.

Kusaru · # ¿ Nov 4, 2013 21:40

a kitten posted:

Aya Nakahara, the author of Lovely Complex, has a new josei series called Dame na Watashi ni Koishite Kudasai/Please Love the Useless Me.

http://kissmanga.com/Manga/Dame-na-Watashi-ni-Koishite-Kudasai

Awesome! This was really what I needed this past weekend, and as always the reaction faces are excellent.

Kusaru · # ¿ Nov 22, 2013 14:20

I'm a big fan of Cheese in the Trap. I actually used follow it on a weekly basis, the Webtoon Live site used to have a CitT forum where a couple people would give a detailed summary of each week's chapter. When they changed the site, the forums died. Apparently they're trying to bring them back, but I guess it's ok because the series is on hiatus for a couple months.

Kusaru · # ¿ Dec 12, 2013 16:22

Chas McGill posted:

I'm not outraged by it, but the difference between a 17yr old and a 25yr old is massive, imo. I also don't think there's a particular narrative reason for her to be that young (she could be an adult and still get kicked out and have nowhere to go). I'm sure it's selling better because she's 17, helpless, and moe. It's not a relationship between equals in maturity, even if neither of them are underaged.

Unita Yumi (Bunny Drop) actually has a manga called Toribako House that starts with a 23-year-old dating a 32-year-old, and they've been together 7 years.

Kusaru · # ¿ Jan 31, 2014 16:47

http://www.ala.org/yalsa/great-graphic-novels-top-ten-2014
Strobe Edge made the Top 10 YA graphic novels of 2013 list by the YALSA subset of the American Library Association. I thought it was actually kind of mediocre, and enjoyed the side stories more than the main storyline. I guess it's better than just about any other recently licensed shojo? Kimi ni Todoke made the "Great Graphic Novels for Teens" list in 2010 only, so they may not allow repeats.

Meanwhile, Wandering Son's been on the Rainbow List for 3 years: http://glbtrt.ala.org/rainbowbooks/archives/1103

Kusaru · # ¿ Mar 23, 2014 22:46

I finally picked up Heart of Thomas by Hagio Moto from the library. Wow, Fantagraphics really went all out with the presentation, plus its huge. I highly recommend it. I thought it would only be good in a "this is early influential shojo" sort of way, but I basically couldn't put it down.

There was a really good, lengthy interview with Hagio that was published in A Drunken Dream that touches on Heart of Thomas. I'm pretty sure this is it: http://www.matt-thorn.com/shoujo_manga/hagio_interview.php
And he's a little sequel thing that wasn't in the book: http://www.mangapark.com/manga/Thomas-no-Shinzou/c8/all

Kusaru · # ¿ Jun 26, 2014 14:11

coathat posted:

Good news everybody! Moto Hagio's sci fi classic Marginal is finally being translated again. http://www.batoto.net/comic/_/comics/marginal-r1531
Good poo poo.

There's also a new chapter of Yasha by the always excellent Yoshida Akimi http://www.batoto.net/read/_/253249/yasha_v4_ch20_by_megchan%e2%80%99s-scanlations

Awesome! I read A Drunken Dream and Heart of Thomas and have been itching for more Moto Hagio.

Kusaru · # ¿ Jul 22, 2014 18:44

Sakurazuka posted:

On the other side of the fence, is there any decent BL stuff that isn't creepy rapey crap?

For Est Em, I like Ultras (Est Em's stuff gets weird, but not rapey. Ultras is pretty normal.).
Kuimonodokoro Akira by Yamashita Tomoko.
Himegoto Asobi by Sakuragi Yaya (has sex, though).
Kanemochi-kun to Binbou-kun by Hideyoshico

I just read and really liked the first volume of A New Season of Young Leaves by Tachibana Venio. First chapter is scanlated, but it's licensed and vol. 2 isn't out yet. Most they do is hold hands.

Kusaru · # ¿ Aug 29, 2014 04:42

Yes_Cantaloupe posted:

After becoming aware that What Did You Eat Yesterday? was licensed, I picked up the first volume today. I enjoy it as much as I remember, and the English version seems solid. I wouldn't mind a few notes on Japanese cooking in back, but I understand that it's not really trying to be a primer on Japanese cooking for westerners.

I've read plenty of yuri and straight romance stuff, but this is pretty much the only BL/yaoi stuff I've ever gotten into. I think it's been asked before, but is there anything else out there that's A) good, B) not rape-y, and preferably C) involving adults? I suppose I'd prefer D) less explicit, but that's secondary to A-C.

Try -
Ichigenme wa Yaruki no Minpou by Yoshinaga Fumi - same author as WDYEY, about two guys in law school.
Hana wa Saku Ka? by Hidaka Shoko - 20yr old art school student and 30-something businessman. Super slow progress, ongoing.
Kuimonodokoro Akira and Koi no Hanashi ga Shitai by Yamashita Tomoko - 20-something guy and 30-something guy who work at a restaurant and guy falls in love with friend-of-a-friend plus some one-shots
Darenimo Aisarenai and Saigo no Door wo Shimero by Yamada Yugi - translator and publisher who are former classmates and two guys who meet at a wedding.

Those all fit A-C, and D assuming my memory is accurate.

Adbot · # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 17:53

Kusaru · # ¿ Oct 19, 2014 20:29

While we're on the topic of awful shojo, I tried Kare wa Tomodachi thinking it might subvert some of those usual tropes (I must not have read the summary). When she got with her original love interest's friend really early on, I hoped it would just be them working on their relationship. It was not, and involved awful love polygons with people dating people they no longer care about and not admitting who they're in love with. I skipped ahead and there was a pregnancy in there somewhere and the girl had to leave town.