Diaさんのイラストまとめ

The manga version of STAR☆TWINKLE PRECURE (Tōdō Izumi & Kamikita Futago) starts in the March issue of Nakayoshi, out today. The anime TV series starts on Sunday. Also in Nakayoshi: KAT-TUN's Ueda Tatsuya & Johnny's WEST's Daiki Shigeoka promoting their new drama Setsuyaku Rock.

It finally has a cover - and it is beautiful!! ✨ Excuse this fangirly moment but may I introduce you to volume 1 of Adoresu Dochira/What’s Your Address? - the very first series by Flowers magazine's brightest hope Tani Kazuno. Out Feb 8, I can't wait to hold this in my hands!!

"Kimi to Yume Miru Hitsuji" by Yuzuki Utano & supervised by talent agency Horipro starts in next month's Ribon: small town girl Ao auditions for an idol project involving 8 girls. They call it a "girl crush" series (like the kpop concept), we'll see where they go with it...

Ribon manga artists Maki Yōko (Aishiteruze Baby, Romantica Clock, Kirameki no Lion Boy) celebrates her 20th pro anniversary this year! Next month's Ribon will come with a cute calendar feat. her "re-drawn in 2019" characters & a small pouch with logos of her various works 👶🕰️🦁

Valentine's Day's just around the corner so the current covers of shōjo manga magazines tend to be cavity-inducing. Ribon #3 keeps it cozy & warm with Haruta Nana's Rokugatsu no Love Letter. Questionable "Korean trend furoku" though: mirror with "Wanna be white as milk" design 🤨

During the 1980s shōjo/josei manga boom, when a lot of men read magazines like Ribon or Bouquet too, novelist & critic Takahashi Genichirō (a quirky & amazing person btw) called for the destruction of the wall between junbungaku & entertainment erected by so-called intellectuals.

Bouquet series often had protagonists transitioning from senior high to university & then finding jobs, marrying. Kind of like an in-between space for shoujo-josei manga, tending more toward what we today would call josei manga. (Another clue: no ruby/hiragana kanji readings.)

Ōsaka Mieko, Uchida Yoshimi, Oikawa Kaoru, the sorely missed Yoshino Sakumi and Matsunae Akemi (see 2nd LRT) were some of its biggest artists until Bouquet took a turn towards ladies’ comics in the 90s and then folded in 2000 to be replaced by newly-launched Cookie.

A man & his cello: Hozumi’s Boku no Giovanni on the cover of Flowers #3. Also in this issue: the return of Arai Rie’s legendary gag manga Peke; latest stuff by Taamo, Kodama Yuki & Saitou Chiho and many more. Comes with an instagrammable Banana Fish Ash & Eiji 2-shot clear frame.

Hidaka Shōko’s Hi ni Nagarete Hashi ni Iku moved from defunct YOU to Cookie & tells the story of Edo-era store Mitsuboshi which finds itself in need of modernisation during the early Meiji period. Gorgeous art, great story inspired by department store Mitsukoshi in Nihonbashi.