Travelling through shoujo manga wonderland, the non-mainstream fringes & josei manga/seinen manga territories. Eyes always open to everything in its periphery.
Ikuemi Ryō's narrative & visual style succeeds in all fields - shōjo, josei & seinen manga. Her works are all realistic, literary even which makes them easy to read for people who usually prefer novels or film. Some of her series were turned into TV dramas/movies.
Out now: the July issue of Shogakukan's Flowers magazine featuring the start of the new Poe no Ichizoku "Unicorn" story arc. In the spring of 2016, Falka is waiting to finally meet Edgar again in Munich... Hagio Moto's cover artwork is out of this world!
Oh Betsuhana, you brought us classics such as Glass Mask & Patalliro! Some of my favorite artists like Banko Kuse, Takao Shigeru. Failed 1990s revivals like the terrible Fruits Basket sequel or that Nakajō Hisaya hedgehog bishōnen one. None of my faves are safe. Is Flowers next?
A last peek into Machida-kuns gentle world: the 7th & final vol. of Andō Yuki’s Machida-kun no Sekai is out May 25. One of the best shoujo manga of recent years, redefining what masculinity and male 'coolness' can look like - a work that will stay with you for a long long time!👓
Sora o kakeru yodaka was a real game changer for shoujo manga when it ran in Betsuma in 2014-2015 and earned Kawabata Shiki recognition as one of its biggest new talents. Available in 🇫🇷 as Rouge Eclipse, 🇩🇪 Dem Himmel entgegen, 🇪🇸 El patito feo que surcó los cielos 💶📚!!
Revolutionary Girl Utena - After the Revolution by Saitou Chiho is out today, featuring all 3 new "episodes" serialized in Flowers magazine since last summer. Plus a special contribution by none other than Ikuhara Kunihiko. Perfect occasion to reread the whole series! 🌹🤺
ARIA saw its biggest success when it serialized an Attack on Titan spin-off in 2013-2014. Nogiri Yoko’s Watashi no Ookami-kun also ran in Aria & found its way to the English-speaking world as That Wolf-Boy is Mine through Kodansha itself.
Saitou Chiho is presenting her take on the Heian period tale of Kaguya-hime (i.e. the Taketori Monogatari). Her new series Kaguya-den starts in the June issue of Flowers magazine, out today. I’m waiting for the book version so the next couple of months will be torture... 🎍✨🌕
Life after orange: Takano Ichigo's new series Kimi ni nare, inspired by a song by band Kobukuro, starts in the latest issue of Gekkan Action, out today & comes with a manga/band clear file.
That crazy wonderful feeling when you finally finish writing a review almost 1 year after you found out you had a real gem sleeping in your stack of unread shoujo manga for almost 1 year 💫