It's Moving Time----

Since staring this site a little over a year ago, I've quickly outgrown it. I'm excited about the new look and location of my new site, and look forward to many more conversations there in the future.

All my followers can follow my rss feed or bookmark me at:
http://heartofmanga.com

Cheers!

Laura

Best New Shojo of 2009

One more "best of" list that focuses only on the shojo genre of 2009.

1. Kimi ni Todoke - Adorable and heartwarming, Kimi ni Todoke is a high school slice of life love story between Sawako, a shy, socially inept girl and Kazehaya, a kind, popular boy. Art style and paneling combine to accent the poignant moments in this story.




2. Black Bird - Spicy and naughty, Black Bird is the newest shojo guilty pleasure. The target of demons due to the power she holds, Misao can only accept the protection of her perverted childhood friend, Kyo, leader of a tengu clan and a demon himself. Does Kyo only want Misao for the power he can gain, or is there more behind his desire to possess her?

3. Rasetsu - Supernatural romance with beautiful artwork, Rasetsu continues the story of Yako Hoshino from Yurara. Cursed to find love before her 20th birthday or be taken away by a demon, Rasetsu works as an exorcist while looking for the right guy. Yako Hoshino with spiritual powers of his own, works as part of Rasetsu's team while pining for his lost love. Will he become the one who saves Rasetsu from her horrible fate?

4. Honey Hunt - Another girl becoming a celebrity title, Honey Hunt provides a love triangle between brothers. Yura's parents are both famous celebrities. When her parents divorce, Yura finds her first love with her mother. Furious, she decides to destroy her mother's image by becoming an actress. With the support of two brothers, she determines to make her way as a success.


5. Otomen - Otomen is the teen girl's fantasy male character that could be your best friend. Captain of the kendo team with excellent judo and karate skills, Asuka Masamune is considered the manliest guy on campus. He has worked hard to preserve his darkest secret. He loves cooking, sewing, the color pink, shojo manga, and plushies. However, once he meets outgoing Ryō Miyakozuka who has just transferred to Ginyuri Academy, his hobbies become more difficult to hide.

6. Venus Capriccio - Playing with the idea of role reversal, Venus Capriccio tells the story of tall and athletic Takami Habara who has a bluntly honest and outgoing personality. This is far from her ideal girly personality of a beautiful and demure princess. Her long time childhood friend, Akira Sasaki, has served that role in her mind; a talented pianist whose blond hair and blue eyes project a delicate beauty rivaled by any princess - except that Akira is a boy. Now teens, Akira decides to enlighten Takami about his own masculinity and sets out to prove which of them is really the "princess".

7. Name of the Flower - Serious and sentimental, Name of the Flower tells the story of a young girl Chouko, taken in by a distant relative when her parents suddenly pass away. The relative Kei, a young novelist, relates to the girl's grief and watches her as she begins to live again. In his latest novel "Hana", his deepest feelings are expressed. Will Chouko reach Kei and help him find happiness?

8. Maid-Sama! - A fun romp, Maid-Sama! centers around Misaki Ayuzaka, president of the student council at her recently all boys turned co-ed high school. Working hard to keep the school in high reputation to increase the girl population, she is considered a tyrant by the boys. Since her father left her family Misaki must work part time after school at a maid cafe. When one boy finds out her secret she expects to be belittled at school. Instead he keeps the secret. What could his motive be?

****************************************************************************

The following titles I would have included except the first book was released in November 2008.

Shinobi Life - A time-traveling romance, Shinobi Life brings together an orphaned ninja from history and a modern day rich girl. Kagetora believes himself to be protecting his princess Beni-Hime, and modern day Beni, who has already been the subject of numerous kidnappings, thinks he's a bodyguard hired by her rich father. When both realize the time difference, Kagetora's feelings get confused, because he realizes he is now developing emotions for the new Beni, and poor Beni just wants Kagetora to love her for herself and not think of her as Beni-Hime.

We Were There - Serious and depressing, We Were There focuses on a boy's grief and angst at his first love who dies in an accident, and the girl who tries to love him. Yano cares for Takahashi Nanami but has numerous issues with jealousy and trust. Takahashi loves Yano, but until he can heal himself, there is only so much she can give him to provide happiness. A realistic look at a relationship and how emotions linger in one's heart.

Vampire Knight 8 - Interrupted

So after waiting a couple weeks to dive into my copy of Vampire Knight 8, I got a rather disappointing surprise. My copy happens to be a misprint. I know these things can happen, but I wondered if it was just my particular copy or if it happened to a whole batch. There are about four pages that look like the one below:


I know Viz would happily replace the book, but what is the best way to go about it? Do I return it to the book store, or try to somehow contact Viz for a new copy? Anyone had this experience before?

Writing in the Wee Hours...

I have to say that this past week has been exhausting. I've gone back to work after being a stay at home mom for the past two years, and I'd forgotten how much time my career eats up. Now with a toddler in tow, it is even more frazzling and my personal time has been whittled down to almost nil. I'm so tired from my first week back at work that my brain is slush and even if I tried to write it would be junk. My writing time is now allotted to the couple of hours I have in the evening once I put my son to bed (recently I can't even think straight then), or when he is asleep on the weekend. That is why there have been fewer posts of late, and hardly any this week. I am still reading and even had a series all completed in order to write the review this weekend, but I had some things for work to get done that took precedence over my writing time. So it will most likely be delayed another week, until I get rejuvenated and adjust to the new routine. Bear with me until then, and know that I will be back - I'm just taking a week off to recuperate. Read some good shojo this week and let me know what you absolutely loved. Arigato!

Unforgettable Manga Beginnings

In one of my more reflective moments I began thinking back to which manga series I've read that had the best "hook". This would be an image or content within the first chapter that roped me into the story and made me HAVE to read it. For me, it usually starts with an image, since I'm more of a visual person.

One of the most striking images in recent memory comes out of Setona Mizushiro's After School Nightmare. As I flip through the first few colored pages, the bright red blood on a pale tile floor catches my eye. Scanning down, the next panel shows main character Ichijo (male) standing gangly and nude in the shower from the waist up. Finally my eyes come to rest on the last panel of his feet, blood running into the drain. Now some of you are probably thinking "ewww...", but the idea of a boy menstruating in the shower was a shocking enough image to make me start wondering where in the world the author was taking this character. I had to know more. After reading the whole series it was a fantastic journey, and I'm so glad I read it. I may not have ever bought the first novel if it hadn't been for Mizushiro's dramatic and shocking imagery.

But it's not always just an image. Sometimes it's the characters and the actions that occur that demand my attention. Now, normally I'm not really big on fan service. I can do without it. Yet for some reason Mizuki Kawashita's introductory scene of Strawberry 100% stands out as quite memorable. Maybe because it was a unique character introduction, or perhaps just the absurdity of the situation itself. But after main character Junpei is flashed by a pretty girl in strawberry panties on the roof of the school at sunset, my interest in the characters was piqued. Who is this clumsy girl? What happens to the guy who wants to get the panty shot in the sunset on video? (Future porno director?) Kawashita's tale doesn't disappoint, and of course there are many more funny fan service scenes that provide comic relief through out this series, but it is the characters that drive the story. That vivid presentation of the protagonists (with the white strawberry panties) still sticks in my mind.
There are many more that I could describe. Fruits Basket, anyone? How about High School Debut? After coming up with some memorable ones for myself, I wondered what images or content in stories sucked in other readers. So tell me, what jumps out in your mind as a story that has an unforgettable "hook" ?

I Still Like Comics...at 30...and I'm Female

After reading several blogs about the SDCC Twilight events and gender debates, I was forced to consider my own experiences with gender bias and comics. My two copies of Shonen Jump I've received in place of my Shojo Beat subscription are still sitting untouched on my dresser. Maybe I'll eventually read them if I find time and interest. It frustrates me that the newly highlighted enterprises in the graphic novel industry have been for shonen and seinen manga. I know from a business perspective, that it's a wiser investment. But I still feel like I'm being punished. It's like when you take a piece of candy from one child, and then you give it and another handful to another child just because he's a boy. I realize it's not as simple as that, that's just how I FEEL about it. No matter how much I could advocate for the shojo/josei/romance genre of comics, it all comes down to the numbers. As for the critics of the genre, everyone's allowed their opinion, and I get to decide whose I find valid. So criticize it all you want, there are others who appreciate it for what it is.

Being a long time fan of romance literature, I guess I have become conditioned to gender bias in the sense that I have been looked down upon for my reading material for most of my life. Sadly as a teen, I still put book covers on all my romance novels I took to school so no one would know what I was reading. I was embarrassed. But now I am used to it, try not to let it get to me, and tell myself that everyone is allowed their own opinions. I know what is enjoyable for ME to read, and if I get something out of it, that's all that matters. I don't have as big of a problem when I am personally confronted with gender bias, such as when I'm in a book store. I've had a tween boy stare at me open mouthed and ask, "You read that?!" when I've picked up a copy of Naruto. Or when a college guy snickers as I pick up the most recent Fruits Basket. I either respond with, "Is that a problem?" or I ignore it. But it's not so much a gender issue for me as it is an AGE issue. I know the stereotypical image of a comics reader is a tween to young adult male. And slowly that is evolving to include females of that same age group too.

In my comics experience, I've had more issues with age bias than anything. (It doesn't help that I'm female too.) For example, I get perturbed with my local library when I go to check out manga. The manga, with the exception of adult or hentai titles, are all kept in a glass encased room declared "Teens". On the doors and throughout the room there are large posters (maybe 6-8 posters) that say: "12-18 only...no trespassing". I get that it's suppose to be a haven for teenagers at the library, and also a warning to parents that the books within are for a specific age appropriate audience. I think it's great that they're giving teens their own space. What bothers me is that the propaganda is discouraging me from getting to the material that I, in my 30s, would like to read. I just ignore the posters and walk in the doors to the manga shelves. But I'll be darned if a librarian doesn't ask me if she can help me find something. That doesn't happen in the children's section of the library, which I frequent to find books for my son. Now, I'm not bashing librarians for doing their job, I'm just making an observation that because of my appearance, I look like I need assistance in that section of the library.

The other day I went into a local bookstore chain and headed towards the comics section, which is in the back close to the children's lit section. On my way an employee stopped me and said, "Ma'am, I can direct you to some recent fiction releases that you may enjoy." - which happened to be in the opposite direction. I told her thanks, maybe later, and maybe she was just trying to sell me merchandise, but geez! - I just wanted to see the most recent manga releases. And it never fails that I get some odd looks from other adults who drop in that area with their tweens and teens. Almost as if they're taken aback that I'm standing there reading a manga.

*sigh* I guess like with my romance preferences when I was younger, I'll eventually get used to being looked at strangely when I pick up the most recent comics. I just wish people would be more open minded, and quit stereotyping me. Although, that's a long shot, seeing as it's human nature to classify and stereotype. Maybe by some miracle shojo and josei comics will explode in popularity. But until then, I'll just remain a small minority of proud female comic readers over 30.