#like what do you MEAN you have a whole line titled shojo beat and then you don't pick up anything...

[otomevibes]

Anyway here's the shojosei licensing announcement I'm most excited for from Viz:

[kuroos-world]

The Bookshop Keeper - Dabi mini series

Masterlist A/N: thank you for reading ! :) lmk if you want to be tagged !

Pt.1 EC Pt.3 Pt.4

Ever since your official introduction Dabi comes in more frequently. Often the two of you stay way past closing, discussing books you’re reading and theories you have about certain lines. Recently though you’d been reading lots of poetry, which you read aloud and Dabi listened intensely. Your voice was so soothing to him and he loved the way you annunciated your words. One night while you’re reading poetry, you sneak in some of your own. ‘Casually’ asking Dabi his thoughts on it, and when he realizes it was an original he’s elated. Demanding to read everything you’ve ever written, he’s so impressed and loves how intelligent and knowledgeable you are. Really though he’s just happy you trust him enough to read your innermost thoughts, and he learns so much about you through it. Pains you’ve hidden from others, topics that are important to you, how deeply you're capable of loving, and so much more. You become his escape from reality, and he was yours.

No matters what struggles you faced during the week, the two of you could always come to one another and relax. Whether it be reading in silence next to each other (which was Dabis favorite) , venting about the problem (mainly you) or distracting yourselves with talking about anything. He even stayed with you on long nights when you had to update your records or check inventory. Dabi became your most trusted friend, he knew practically everything about you, and even though he never talked about his personal life you felt like you really knew him too. But the closer you grew the more worried Dabi became. He feared his life with the LOV would catch up to him or worse you, he wanted to keep you as far away from that as possible.

“Dabi?” Your voice is so soft as you call out to him.

“Yeah? What’s up?” He asks from across the aisle. Tonight the two or you were unboxing and shelving a new edition of shojo manga, “Thanks for always keeping me company,” you’re smile is sweet and pure, Dabi chuckles, “anytime”

“I really like hanging out with you, mm, maybe though we can hangout outside the shop too?” Your tone is hopeful but you catch his gaze, Dabi stares at you with a blank face. He knows he has a mission coming up so he probably won’t be around for a while anyways “...or not” your voice falters but you smile at him to show you’re not upset. “Uh I mean I’d like to but I can’t for now” you nod and busy yourself with shelving the new books. He leaves soon after and you mentally kick yourself, ‘ he probably doesn’t want to or maybe he just doesn’t like being around me as much as I like being around him’ you lock up shop walking home quietly ‘only 2 blocks’ you tell yourself. You’re too wrapped up in your thoughts to notice the shadowy figure trailing behind you. He walks slowly mentally scolding himself for being so cold to you, but also for barely realizing you walk home alone every night. ‘I always stay late with you, dangerous and this idiot hasn’t even realized I’m following, ugh why don’t you ever say something?’ He thinks as he watches tensely as you walk into your apartment before walking away.

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

You haven’t seen Dabi in about two weeks, you were worried you overstepped your boundaries. You sigh feeling lonely as you close up shop for the night. There was a quiet knock on the back door, you opened up to see Dabi. He was breathing heavily, his turquoise eyes wild with adrenaline, he’s holding his side leaning into the frame. His whole demeanor had changed from the quiet pensive man you knew to a cocky bastard, he smirks looking down at you, “can I come in?” He asks his voice full of arrogance, but you side step anyways. The two of you walking towards your office, “what happened?” You sounded so worried it was almost enough to bring Dabi down from the high he currently felt, “don’t worry about it-,” he sighs and you feel a change in him once again as he sits scratching his neck awkwardly, “uh I just need to lay low for a few hours, can I stay here?” You nod, “course you can” you touch his side and he hisses, your eyebrows furrow and you reach out to him. He lets you, watching you tentatively, you pull up his shirt seeing his scars but also a giant bruise forming right under. You stare at him eyes full of worry and pain for him, “ ‘s okay hun, I’m fine, I just need to lay low,” He was so excited to see you after his mission he completely forgot he’d have to lie about where he’d been and why he needed to hide out. The main reason he came here was because he’d rather hide out in a place he could feel close to you. He sits back in your comfy chair, eyes even more tired than you’ve ever seen. “stay with me tonight,” you say the words before your brain can even process them, Dabi still laying back, opens one eye, peaking at you. Once he sees the pink in your cheeks and the seriousness in your eyes he nods. The two of you walk side by side avoiding the open roads or anything with too many lights and people. When you arrive at your apartment your heart is racing, Dabi walks in behind you, his mouth hung open in surprise at the wall of books you had, filled from top to bottom. “Um so it’s not much but this is the living room, the kitchen is there, the bathroom is on that side and my room is through here,” you point everything out to him and walk into the room with Dabi right behind you, he laughs when he sees another small bookshelf by your bed, “those are your favorite ones right?” He asks seeing how worn most of them are and noticing a few familiar titles, your face heats at his words, “yeah.. I like to have them close” the innocence in your voice drives Dabi mad, you’re too cute. “Anyways, you can stay in here and I’ll take the couch” you smile at him, “y/n” his tone is stern and his eyes meet yours, “I know you read a lot of romance so not to be cliche but, we’re adults we’re more than capable of sharing a bed,” you give him a sheepish look, and he laughs loudly, more than you’ve ever heard him laugh. “Dabiii, I knoww,” you huff and he laughs louder, a full belly laugh, Your heart skips a beat at the beautiful sound, and he teases you some more. His demeanor was no longer cocky but also not as pensive as usual, he seemed more in his element, more comfortable than in the shop. He looked like he belonged here, teasing your embarrassed state, and laying in bed next to you with a book in his hand.

You leave him laying in bed while you go shower, you come back changed and sleepy. You yawn as you crawl in next to Dabi, who was still reading. He turns his attention away from the book, “y/n” he waits to have your full attention before continuing, “I appreciate you letting me stay with you,” he smiles, so kindly at you, you return the smile, “anything for you” he smiles wider, “read to me” he whispers, his face inching closer to yours “okay” you respond whispering too. He hands you the book, you open your mouth to read but he stops you, “come here” he pulls you to him. He leans against the headboard and sits you between his legs, you lay back against his chest, looking up at him in the dim light. He smiles down at you, playing with your hair, “read hun,” and so you do. The two of you lay like that you reading and him listening playing with your hair, happy to be in the blissful world you create.

You continue to read until you can barely keep your eyes open, Dabi takes the book from your hands placing it to the side and turning the light off, as your body relaxes into his,

“Y/n, lovely as ever,

Kind as can be,

You’re so very clever,

Please always stay with me”

he laughs at his own sappiness, pulling you closer and kissing the top of your head.

——————————————

Tag list:

@orenjineki @liitlesushi @icedtea-with-lemon16

@dabis-bitch @c0metar5on

[christinaroseandrews]

High-Schooler and budding graphic novel writer is on her way to her first anime con with her boyfriend, Derek. While she's traveling with two 21+ friends, she's getting thrown into the deep end with having a table in the Artists' Alley. The con is huge. Confusing. Worse, Derek and her friends seem to think the best way to experience a con is to be thrown in feet first -- sink or swim -- without checking to see if the person is able to handle something like that. And worst of all, her boyfriend, and also the artist/partner on her graphic novel/webcomic, is flirting with every cute cosplayer who stops by their table.

When Christie can't handle it any more, she takes off. Running through the crowded halls and directly into the chest of the too-cool-for-words Matt. The sparks fly. And when did Christie's life turn into a Shojo Manga?

Oh my stars, how Dramacon by Svetlana Chmakova takes me back. Initially published in 2005, the manga accurately depicts the convention scene from back then -- I should know I worked them. Everything from the chaos (which still happens), To the labyrinth of the various convention centers (which is still the case), To the sleeping arrangements (Let me tell you of the time I slept in the bathtub of a hotel) rings true to reality. There’s lots of in-jokes and callbacks to the time. Like the lines. The Pocky. And the cosplayers.

The story is definitely in the vein of a Shojo manga. There’s a lot of the same tropes and beats -- the whole thing is very much an homage to both the convention world and Shojo. It reminds me in some ways of Skip Beat! and KareKano. The art style is lovely. Especially if you like the styles seen in things by Yuu Watase and Arina Tanemura -- especially Watase seriously some of the asides reminded me of how Watase did them.

Seriously!  LOOK at this amazeballs art!

I mean look at that Kimono... the detail!

And trust me the splash art is equally lovely.

(Thank you TOKYOPOP for providing samples for reviewers to use... I don’t typically feel comfortable sharing artwork without the publisher approval.)

Seriously, I’m getting MASSIVE Yuu Watase Vibes... like all of them

So back to the story, I especially liked the characters -- particularly Bethany and Matt. Christie is a pretty typical teenager -- in fact she reminds me greatly of the kids I'd see at cons. Most of the cast could easily be a typical con-goer... you have the purists, the old-pros, the n00bs, the cosplayers, the fangirls, etc. There's even an older Mangaka, Lida, who is there as a Guest of Honor.

One of the things I liked most about this collection as a whole is that it features PoC and people with disabilities. That's something that is still rare in graphic novels/manga.

As a note, it is laid out/written Left-to-Right as opposed to Right-to-Left so don't do what I did and start reading from the wrong side. LOL

Also for those who need them, there are some pretty hefty trigger warnings I should share - spoiler alert since some are definitely late game

Triggers -  attempted sexual assault, underage drinking, infidelity, racism, ableism, jealousy, emotional abuse, jealousy, family drama, medical trauma, unwanted physical contact.

Let’s just say that Dramacon lives up to the title and that the book doesn’t shy away from showing the seemy and darker side of the convention and artistic life.

Frankly I really loved this trip down memory lane complete with nostalgia glasses.

Five stars

If this is your jam, you can get the paperback omnibus here. Or it’s on Kindle - Volume One, Volume Two, and Volume Three.

If you like these kind of honest reviews, please consider supporting us here!

I received an ARC via NetGalley.  

Definitely consider getting the Omnibus which has all three volumes. Reading on an e-reader doesn’t quite have the same feel.

[recentanimenews]

Off the Shelf: Battles, ballrooms, & a baffling noise

MICHELLE: Hey, Melinda! What do a plum and an elephant have in common?

MELINDA: Wow, Michelle, I have no idea! What do a plum and an elephant have in common?

MICHELLE: They’re both purple! (Except for the elephant.)

MELINDA: Ahhhhhh, now this feels right. Starting off with a bad joke. That’s the stuff Off the Shelf is made of.

MICHELLE: Quite possibly nobody else enjoys it, but it is tradition, after all!

We’ve dusted off the shelf to discuss a few recent series, including one title that we both read. But would you like to go first with your solo read?

MELINDA: I’d love to!

So, nobody will be surprised to hear this, unless they’re just surprised that it took so long, but I’ve been reading the first two volumes of Platinum End, the latest from one of my favorite manga artists, Takeshi Obata, and his frequent collaborator, Tsugumi Ohba of whom I am historically much less fond. But, y’know, I love Obata and I’ll take what I can get, so here we go.

Mirai is graduating from middle school, but he couldn’t be more miserable. Orphaned at a young age and forced to live with abusive relatives, all he wants is to end it all. But when he tries to do that by jumping off his roof, the intervention of an angel, Nasse, drags him instead into a deadly, Highlander-style tournament in which he is competing with 12 other humans to win the chance to become the next God. Armed with a few special powers—angel’s wings, red arrows that work like a love spell, and white arrows that kill on contact—Mirai must prove that he’s worthy of inheriting the power of God.

Okay, so besides humiliatingly showing my age, the Highlander reference is also somewhat inaccurate, at least in theory. There is no rule in the angels’ truly weird competition that requires the God contestants to kill each other in order to win. But in Ohba’s pessimistic (and probably depressingly accurate) view of humanity, there is inevitably a candidate who immediately decides that the surest path to victory is to kill the other candidates, creating an atmosphere of terror and violence in the competition right from the start. Just as typical of an Ohba manga is the specificity of the powers’ rules—the red arrows only work for 30 days, for instance—and the competition’s built-in inequity. The angels choosing the candidates from among the downtrodden are not all created equal, and their contestants only inherit whatever powers their personal angel can also wield. Mirai, luckily, has a special-rank angel who can give him all three, but he’s a rarity in the bunch.

I’m talking a lot of plot here—also an Ohba trademark, of course—so let’s get down to the business of reviewing this thing. I generally expect to have a love-hate relationship with an Ohba/Obata manga, and my expectations were even lower going into this one, since I tend to be bored by angel stories. Interestingly, I get the sense that Obata might feel the same way, as his angel characters are the least imaginatively drawn in the series so far. But that said, I came away from these first two volumes actually hating very little.

Like most of Obata’s collaborations with Ohba, the story leans very heavily on plotting and strategy, but the real story seems to be about Mirai figuring out the point of living. Though his new wings give him a taste of personal freedom he’s never before enjoyed, his true liberation comes from the destruction of his abusive family, which he unwittingly causes, sending him into a guilt spiral and forcing him to confront questions of morality on a level most middle-schoolers are years away from having to think about outside of YA novels and video games. He’s made immediately aware of the consequences of his anger, and the cost of manipulating others with his new powers. Meanwhile, he’s learning to forgive the manipulation perpetrated by those weaker than he is, starting with his middle-school crush—herself a God candidate—whose weaker angel advises her to take pre-emptive actions against Mirai in order to protect herself.

Obviously I can’t be sure where this series is headed, but getting to read a new Takeshi Obata manga that doesn’t present me with either an utterly hateful protagonist or outrageous sexism right from the get-go feels like a treat.

MICHELLE: I, too, am bored by angel stories and I confess that I expected you were going to say you disliked it. Now my curiosity is piqued!

It seems, too, like there might be some symbolism in Mirai’s name, as “mirai” means future. And that’s really what’s on the line for him.

MELINDA: I think it might help on the angel front that the story is really not about them. Also, they are pretty strange, amoral beings who seem perfectly comfortable advancing a sort of hyper-selfish, Ayn Rand vision of individual happiness over all on behalf of their candidates, one of whom uses his newfound power to make swaths of female idols fall in love with him, so that he can spend his life immersed in a 24-7 orgy. Meanwhile, Mirai’s angel is utterly unable to comprehend why enacting bloody revenge on his horrible relatives, despite their Dickens-level villainy, does not make him happy.

The nature of God is equally ambiguous, especially since we’ve seen that only those who have already given up on humanity are actually eligible for the post. All of this plays into the creative team’s strengths, as it gives them a lot of morally gray material to work with (and lots of shonen-friendly competitiveness), while avoiding some of the things that sometimes makes their work unreadable (for me, anyway) by letting Mirai be our gateway character who is just as weirded out by most of this as we are.

It works for me, at least so far, which is a bit of a relief!

MICHELLE: Yeah, it really does sound pretty interesting! I will have to check it out.

MELINDA: I think the rest of the Battle Robot so far has not enjoyed it as much as I, so ymmv. But for me, this is a win.

So what have you been reading, Michelle? Something less morally ambiguous?

MICHELLE: Oh, indeed. Nothing is ambiguous about Welcome to the Ballroom, after all. It’s all about passion and determination!

Specifically, I’ve been reading volume three, but I’ll give you a short introduction to the series in case you’re not familiar. Fifteen-year-old Tatara Fujita had nothing that he was especially good at. When he is saved from bullies by a champion ballroom dancer named Sengoku, he doesn’t have the courage to tell the other man that he was actually looking at a part-time job advertisement and not a flyer for the dance studio. Once he sees a recording of Sengoku in action, looking confident and self-assured, he vows to change himself by also entering into the world of dancesport. It doesn’t hurt that his lovely classmate, Shizuka Hanaoka, is also one of the top amateurs.

In volume three, Fujita is competing in his first tournament. He’s also got a wager on the line with Shizuka’s bellicose new partner, Gaju, who has tossed aside his sister and longtime partner, Mako. Because he’s a newcomer, he lacks the stamina and repertoire of the others, and his attempts to beat Gaju are not successful. However, once he realizes that his real goal ought to be helping Mako outshine Shizuka (and thus convincing Gaju to partner with her once more), there’s a palpable shift in his performance. He goes from merely leading to becoming the “frame” for the “flower,” executing moves that allow Mako to shine to her best advantage.

I really enjoyed seeing how a ballroom dancing competition works, but what I found especially impressive was that Tomo Takeuchi’s art actually conveys this change in Tatara’s attitude. There was a tension in his earlier performances, when he was essentially taking full responsibility upon himself, and once he internalizes the notion of becoming the “frame,” his whole body language changes. It’s difficult to explain in words, but to be able to depict that difference in a way that even an utterly ignorant-of-dance person like me could pick up on is seriously cool.

MELINDA: For some truly unfathomable reason, I have yet to pick up this series, and I really can’t believe it. Everything you describe just sounds both dramatically exciting and fun. Making a story about dance work with only still drawings is a huge challenge, but when it works, it’s just spectacular. The visual storytelling sounds incredible, from what you describe.

MICHELLE: I think you’d like it quite a bit. Another thing that’s neat is that, unlike a lot of sports manga with a male protagonist, the female characters aren’t cheering on the sidelines or serving as the team manager. They’re co-competitors. And, in fact, it’s by Tatara allowing Mako full agency and achieving nonverbal yet total communication with her that the pair really attracts notice.

MELINDA: That’s definitely a welcome feature in a “sports” manga, and possibly the push I needed to get me to the bookstore!

MICHELLE: I hope you do check it out. And, of course, one generally doesn’t dance without music, which is my not-so-subtle segue into discussing our mutual read for this column. Would you like to do the introductory honors?

MELINDA: I will give it a go, sure! Our mutual read this week was the first volume of Ryoko Fukuyama’s Anonymous Noise, recently released on Viz’s Shojo Beat imprint.

Nino loves to sing with her best friend, neighbor, and habitual punster, Momo, but when his family suddenly moves away, she’s left with the fear of using her voice at all, as all she wants to do is scream. She finds momentary salvation in the company of Yuzu (who nicknames her “Alice” as a shortened version of her surname “Arisugawa”), a kid she finds writing songs on the beach, but he ends up disappearing on her, too, after he realizes he has no shot at living up to her dreamy memory of Momo.

Flash forward a few years, and these three are thrown back together in high school, where Yuzu is the main songwriter for an Alice-in-Wonderland-themed pop band, Nino is destined to become their new lead singer, and Momo is a mysterious dude befriended by Yuzu whom Nino hasn’t yet recognized. Also, the pop band (who sing all their songs while wearing face masks?) is operating incognito as the pop music club at their school, and Yuzu has super-long eyelashes, which is somehow a plot point.

I think that’s the best I can do, here. Michelle?

MICHELLE: That about sums it up! (The repeated eyelash references were especially odd.)

Anyway, I’m not really sure what I expected from Anonymous Noise, but it wasn’t quite this. To me, it reads almost breezy (with dumb jokes and kooky supporting characters) and a bit muddled, though it’s possible the storytelling will calm down some now that everyone is at high school together. Some elements of the story come through clearly, like Nino’s longing to see Momo and Yuzu again and the way that singing eases her pain. But unlike, say, NANA, I’m not getting much sense of what Yuzu’s band sounds like, or what Nino’s singing voice sounds like. We are shown its power to transfix others, but is it high? Is it low? Is it raw? Is it pure? No idea!

Another slightly muddled area for me was Momo’s and Yuzu’s reactions to seeing Nino again. Yuzu, it seems, didn’t want to see her because he has been wanting to escape his obsession with her, but there’s some disembodied narration that I think is Momo, also wishing that he could escape being in Nino’s thrall. Or something? How did you read that part?

MELINDA: I, too, found myself comparing it to NANA, which really isn’t fair at all. And, like you, I couldn’t exactly say what my expectations were for this manga, but whatever they were, I didn’t expect what we got, and what we got was largely disappointing. I’m willing to give it more time to come together, and I think it still could end up being interesting, but so far it’s kind of a vague mess, with a few clear elements as you describe. I feel like I’m the most interested in Yuzu at this point, but it’s really because he’s the character we’ve gotten the clearest read on so far. His needs and desires are fairly transparent, and he ends up being my favorite character just by default. I don’t think that was the author’s intention, though.

As for that section of narration near the end… I read it the same way as you did, but I didn’t really understand it. Is Nino’s voice the cage? And if so, why? Or was that Yuzu’s narration? I was pretty confused by that sequence, I have to admit.

Maybe the expectation that wasn’t met was an idea that somehow this was written for an older audience than it actually was?

MICHELLE: That may be it. I think I was expecting a story about a determined girl who’s serious about her band. And that’s not what this is, at all. Now, maybe Nino will grow into that kind of girl—Fukuyama does make a point of showing how terrible she is singing with others, and maybe that was laying a foundation for growth—but I kind of doubt it at this point. It seems like “music leads to Momo” will always be her true obsession rather than music for its own sake.

MELINDA: I long for that, I admit, and also perhaps a clearer idea of what any of the music sounds like, besides her childhood obsession with “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.” In my mind, it’s all kind of “Twinkle, Twinkle” at this point, and that is just not very compelling.

That said, I’ll definitely read the next installment.

MICHELLE: Haha, yes, exactly. I agree on all points.

MELINDA: And so we live in hope. Until next time?

MICHELLE: ‘Til then!

By: Melinda Beasi