Ore to Atashi no Kareshi-sama Chapter 5

This has nothing to do with this manga or Omari's Sister, but go see "Pacific Rim". It's the funnest movie of the summer season IMHO. I've been spamming the heck out of everyone on Tumblr with it. Anyhow, go give it some money, because we need more movies like this and less "Transformers" and "Battleship" crap.

Okay, back to the manga at hand. I think the release pace of "Ore to Atashi" is going to continue on like this. We're working on chapter 6 now, but I can't say with confidence that we'll release it in August. There are simply too many complex time-consuming redraws.

Anyhow... this chapter we start getting into the nitty-gritty matters of being female and we start scratching the surface of Hayate's "siscon". I think in terms of the nitty-gritty matters, this is best gender-swap manga I've read so far (not that I've read a great many of them.). And poor Tsukiyono... his precious feelings...

Okay, now onto the release!

Oneshot: "Ongaku ga Mieru Otoko" ("The Man who Could See Music") by Tsukiji Nao

FINALLY!!! It's done! Tsukiji Nao oneshots are a pain in the butt to letter. This oneshot in particular had A LOT of text and sound effects.  A big thanks goes out Kaito and Aricania for lettering this project. Also, a HUGE thanks to Jade for translating all that text!  The English adaptation is GORGEOUS!  Hooray for Jade!!! I think she really nailed this one!

This comes from the "Haikyo Shoujo" collection too. As you'll notice all the oneshots from that collection are connected by junk piles/ruins and hallucinations. This oneshot, in particular, has a nice life lesson -- one I recently learned myself.  I hope you all take comfort from this oneshot like I did.

And now onto the release!

Oneshot: "Milkman" by Nangoku Banana is out on Bakeneko's Lair

Here's the LINK

"Pochamani" Chapter 7

Thanks to everyone for waiting patiently for us to continue "Pochamani".  I wanted to do this chapter in particular in high quality, and I think it was well worth the wait. From now on to be in-synch with the tankoubon releases, we will release one chapter per month. We anticipate no multiple months long hiatuses in the near to mid-range future.

I've included the artwork from the volume 2 tankoubon, so if you are feeling inspired, I would love some Pochamani banners for the blog (width: 1250px, height: 250 - 350px, PSD with separate text layer preferred)

Oh! I almost forgot! A big thanks goes out to our newest member Aricania for typesetting this chapter. Great job!

This is the Christmas chapter. I suppose I should leave my thoughts after the links so I don't spoil things here, so on to the release!

Summer 2013 Anime Season First Impressions

I haven't done one of these kind of posts in years. I'm sorry for the neglect. I can't promise anything, but I'll make a more concerted effort to review anime and manga in the future.  I'll keep my thoughts short here.

Insta-hate within 10-mins:

• Fantastic Doll: Clearly a show designed to get children to buy dolls and cards. The was a weird mix of Clamp-like shoujo, but poorly done. They even gave the main character Sakura's hair style -- CHEAP....
• Kiniro Mosaic:  Japan, don't English... just don't... and I promise not to Japanese (I'll only translate). We watched for a very uncomfortable 10-mins before the pain became unbearable.
• Gatchaman Crowds:  We actually got through the entire first episode out of disbelief that that annoying girl was the main character. Who would trust a ditz like her with a secret. I wanted to put my fist through the TV
• Makai Oujo -- Devils and Realists: uh...no... just no... (It's too fabulous to live... >_>)
• K-On clones (Kitakubu Katsudo Kiroku, Love Lab, Tamayura More Aggressive...etc...): I hate K-On. I don't understand K-On's appeal. Stop making K-On.
• Dangaronpa The Animation: I've had enough of psychopath stuffed animals and extraordinary kids locked in a prison-school where exiting is contingent upon winning a life or death battle.

Didn't Hate but probably not gonna watch:

• Blood Lad: I can tell that this is good and it's going to be popular, but I smell endless shounen on it (even though I've been informed it's seinen.) and I just don't care
•  Rozen Maiden 2013: Meh... the first episode was a recap, so maybe to be fair I should watch the second episode. But still I'm tired of psychopath females preying on other females to be the fairest to gain some man's affection... >_>
• Gifuu Doudou!! Kanetsugu to Keiji -- Way too much manliness

Gonna Give These a Few More Episodes:

• Servant x Service -- I don't know if this show can keep up the gag momentum
• Kamisama no Inai Nichiyobi -- The first episode piqued my interest. I wanna watch some more to see what this is about.

Hooked and Gonna Watch:

• Free!: Hands down the best show of this season. It combines fanservice for females, wonderful characters, a nicely developing story, and every episode leaves me smiling broadly.
• Gin no Saji: Haha! I learned eggs come from chicken butts, and I laughed heartily at the main character's frustration. It's a keeper.
• Uchouten Kazoku -- Tanukis and the like in human society. This show is immensely entertaining even though it's not clear yet what the story is. 
• Dog and Scissors -- Another immensely fun show. I sympathize deeply with the poor little dog who used to be human.

Continuing from Last Season:

• Shingeko no Kyojin -- 'cuz now there's Levi... >_>
• Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S

Haven't Watched Yet, but on my list to try:

• Watamote
• Hyperdimensional Neptunia
• Yami Shibai
• Fate/Kakeid Liner Prisma Illya

 Haven't Watched and Avoiding Like the Plague:

• Brother's Conflict -- Yeah... I have a habit of avoiding Otoge series.
• General Moe Crap -- too many to name

Projects Open to Spanish Retranslate

Pickings are getting slim in term of projects that do not have a Spanish language partner.  Here's a list of what's left (if you are a Spanish language group who has permission from us of any of these works, please contact me so I can update this list):

• Assassin Red Riding
• Bride on Loan
• Kaichou-san no Koneko
• Kanojo no Kare
• Katakoi
• Majo to Yajuu
• Ojousama no Untenshu
• Oz no Kakashi Tsukai
• Please Leave, Hero
• Red House
• Sekai no Hate no Sougen
• Summer Blue
• The Honeybee Earl and the Flower Dress
• The Most Beautiful Name
• The Wizard and the Love Potion
• World End Garden

"Magnolia" Chapter 33

With this chapter, we are caught up again to the Japanese release of this series.  Just to set your expectations correctly, this is a monthly series that runs in Aria magazine. Aria releases every month on the 28th.

The story takes a big leap forward with this chapter.  Thank goodness, because I was getting tired of  beating around the bush.  Now that we've spent time exploring each possibility for Ayato and establishing that Ayato has no interest in girls, we can move onto the next arc.  What that will be about is tough to say because there are many possibilities.  Regardless, I'm eager for the story to keep moving. Such that I don't spoil things, I'll write my thoughts in the comments section later.

Onto the release!