Mangaka of the Month ~ CLAMP

CLAMP

Current members:

Nanase Ohkawa

Place & Date of Birth: May 2, 1967. Osaka, Japan.

Writing scripts, designing graphic novel covers, planning and sales

Tsubaki Nekoi

Place & Date of Birth:January 21, 1969. Kyoto, Japan

Drawing super deformed characters, assists in character design, applying screentones, correcting manga illustrations

Satsuki Igarashi

Place & Date of Birth: February 8, 1969. Kyoto, Japan

In charge of the design of the tankōbon, assistant to Mokona and Tsubaki Nekoi, production coordination, line artist, character designer

Mokona

Place & Date of Birth: June 16, 1968. Kyoto, Japan

In charge of character design, illustrator, colorist, composition designer

————

Tribute: Nujabes – Rest in Beats

 

瀬葉淳

(Seba Jun)

February 7, 1974 – February 26, 2010

Now it might seem distant but the time is near
When our thoughts take off and split the atmosphere
Pure sound wave travel semi-infinitely
Plus I’ll see you there utmost definitely

-luv (sic)

A little bit of Asuka 3/11

My copy of Asuka 3 has just arrived and I’m lovin’ it. Yes, I had to resort getting mine online since some Londoners have been sweeping up Asuka 3 in Japan Centre even though I have been constantly checking up the stores for the past 4 weeks. I’ll only be posting a couple of shots, if you’d like more detail about this issue head to Ayumikat’s blog, The Brownie Post II, I just discovered her blog(and realised I was super late in doing so, I’m still reasonably new in the manga/anime blogging scene) and she does fantastic scans, you can check out her Asuka 3 posts here & another post where she covered the Asuka Colours Booklet.

I got my copy of Asuka from YesAsia once again and I bought a little One Piece fob along with it which is now joining the likes of my Tamaki x Haruhi Lala phone fob, my four-leaf clover & and my Taurus horoscope thingy to dangle down my phone.

Otomen Vol 1

*May contain spoilers*

Title: Otomen

Author: Aya Kanno

Artist: Aya Kanno

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, School Life, Shoujo, Slice Of Life

Status: Ongoing

Asuka Masamune is a guy who loves girly things—sewing, knitting, making cute stuffed animals and reading shojo comics. But in a world where boys are expected to act manly, Asuka must hide his beloved hobbies and play the part of a masculine jock instead. Ryo Miyakozuka, on the other hand, is a girl who can’t sew or bake a cake to save her life. Asuka finds himself drawn to Ryo, but she likes only the manliest of men! Can Asuka ever show his true self to anyone, much less to the girl that he’s falling for?

————————————

My goodness, when was the last time we posted one of our reviews? It must have been donkey years! Well, I do find them difficult to write – and when I finally do get down to it, I leave my draft to arawr for a whole check-up before it goes live (I’ve always wanted to say that – ‘it goes live,’ hehehe). 

Otomen is among one of the tankōbon that I’ve bought blindly in the past (I don’t do that anymore) and I was lucky I enjoyed it! It’s a story that focuses on a male protagonist instead of a female, which is pretty rare for a shoujo/school life/romance manga (without action) – but what I found most appealing was the feminine qualities portrayed by this male protagonist that makes him Otomen.

One-Shot for the Weekend – Gate 7

Title: Gate 7

Author: CLAMP

Artist: CLAMP

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Shounen, Supernatural

Takamoto Chikahito had always wanted to travel to Kyoto. On the day of his first long-awaited visit however, he somehow ends up stumbling into a hidden realm. There, he comes across a girl and her two companions who battle the creatures that reside within.

Published as a one-shot in Jump SQ December 2010, and is currently serialised

———————————–

I’ll pay tribute to CLAMP since Chungky chose Syaoran and Sakura as our Valentine’s Day mascots. That, and CLAMP should be given tribute anyway since they’re CLAMP. In any case it’s good to keep up with times, and so now this week’s one-shot is their latest work that started its serialisation this month – Gate 7!

I wouldn’t say I’m in love with it yet. There’s just too much in it that reminds me of a mesh up between XXXHolic and Tsubasa. It can’t really be called unoriginal (since they are the creators for those manga) but it’s just very – well, CLAMP-ish. The characters, the setting – even the plot. What I see lacking so far is the unique streak that differs one CLAMP work from the other. Then again, Gate 7 just started so I’ll give it time.

Gate 7 is a simple read – it’s not the type of manga where there’s all these made-up concepts you have to grasp right from the start. It’s been planned out for a serialisation from the start though, so it doesn’t have the usual conclusiveness that one-shots carry.

Also, if you’ve been missing the fancy magic art from Tsubasa and are a fan of  XXXHolic’s character designs, here’s a chance to just sit back and feast your eyes. As always, CLAMP never dissapoints with the magic they work with their pens and ink.

If you love the story and art that CLAMP always brings to the table, you definitely can’t miss out with Gate 7 this weekend!

Rating: 3.2/5.0

-arawr >=3

M.W Shopper: Part 3

I won’t be doing as detailed posts like the last two since these items pop out constantly. I’ll be making these posts more brisk. Oh, if there are any hardcore High School Debut fans out there you should go get Betsuma 3, it has a High School Debut fan book and a Kimi ni Todoke DVD(with what I don’t know I just glanced at it in JapanCentre, I think it has something to do with the anime, bonuses I guess?).

LUKE CHUEH’S BLOODY VALENTINE WATCH

photo via MunkyKing

An exclusive watch design by Luke Chueh. I was gonna add this into our Valentine’s Day posts but I forgot. There are only 150 pieces available so you better get yours if you want one! Available at Vannen Watches or MunkyKing. Retails at $88.00.

Mushroom Manga! Barakamon & Oresama Sensei

I would just like to say that this post had been punctually written some 3 weeks back when Chungky said  ‘I want a Mushroom post by tomorrow!’ and then had a change of mind the next day and went ‘Nope! Let’s go all Chinese New Year! Gong xi gong xi!!‘ and so my Mushroom never saw the light of day.

Until now.

So yes. I just had to complain a little.

I’m done.

Moving on =D

<—–>

Barakamon (ばらかもん)

Manga-ka: Yoshino Satsuki

Genres: Comedy, Shounen, Slice of Life

As punishment for punching a famous calligrapher, handsome, arrogant, self-centred Handa Seishu is exiled to a small island. A city-slicker to the core, Handa is surprised (and annoyed) by his wacky new neighbours and their odd habits – people travelling around on tractors as if they were cars, unwanted visitors who never use the front door, annoying kids using his home as a playground…the list of grievances grows by the minute. Can a city guy really adapt to an easy-going island life?

———————–

First of, Barakamon is not a Digimon.

This manga has a really laid back feel. It’s not the usual shounen comedy that would crack you up coz something  amazingly stupid just happened (i.e. someone got shot out of a cannon or something) – it’s a really light-hearted humour that just makes you feel…  well, light-hearted.

One-Shot for the Weekend – Doctor Bird

Title: Doctor Bird

Author: Takahashi Pochi

Artist: Takahashi Pochi

Genre: Comedy, One Shot, Romance, School Life, Shoujo

Yuka’s dream is to become a doctor who flies around the world. And the guy who reached this dream before she did is back…?

———————————–

“A spring-time of life, where I will run across the sky”

-Takahashi Pochi, Doctor Bird.

 

————–

I absolutely love this one-shot, it re-created this sensation that I have not felt in a long, long time. It’s creates this moment where happiness & sadness can overlap, without harsh edges. 

The storyline is the biggest strength of this one-shot, it’s about a girl’s dream to become a doctor and to achieve that, she must study hard to take an exam which only takes place every 4 years. The story is quite original but the characters & the way it is executed may seem predictable and cliched to many, but it’s done very nicely.

The heroine is stubborn and childish and she wasn’t quite likable in the beginning but she makes up for that by being determined and passionate about what she does(you can actually see her succeeding in something). Her relationship between the hero is sweet, I’m reluctant to use the words cute & adorable because their relationship has a deeper & solid background and it would just be a crime to go ‘awww.’

Does she succeed in her exam? I loved how the story took an interesting turn from there. I honestly pray that this one-shot will b e continued by the mangaka one day, it’s certainly incomplete for me; not just because of the ‘romance,’ but I want to see the heroine succeed! 

Oh, and I love the art, it’s been my ongoing dream to read a manga drawn in this style. I don’t want to get your hopes up too high(even though I did, arawr was like ‘waddd…’ after she read it), but you might read and find that it’s just a normal shoujo one-shot with an interesting idea, and it is.

*UPDATE: I cut off quite a few bits I wrote.

I present two ratings this once, first of all my shameless, personal rating: 4.5/5

My more ‘professional’ rating would be: 3.6/5

Mushroom Manga~ *CNY Edition 2*

Today is the last day of the Chinese New Year celebrations, it is celebrated with a Lantern Festival. It’s almost like Japan’s Bon Festival where people light up lanterns to guide the spirits & ancestors back home. You can also call today Chap Goh Mei, which is what I usually call it. Oh, that’s right, just when you thought Valentine’s Day is over – BAM. Today is also known as the Chinese Valentine’s Day.

I’ve only included one story in this special Mushroom Manga post, I did have another but while I was writing about it I realised it wasn’t quite appropriate to ask everyone to read a tragedy on a rather joyous occasion so I scrapped it out at the last minute.

5 Doses of Manga Love for Valentine’s Day~

***chungky: Once again apologies for releasing this post so late! I’m so glad the world spins around because our friends in the Americas are still in 14th February. It’s actually 11:41pm now so strictly speaking, we still made it :D***

If you’re having a lazy day at home today or maybe you’re not even bothered by all the drama going on, here are a few reads to get you in the mood for love of all kinds – be it forbidden love or shounen ai, we tried compiling a range.