New Series "Seiten Kickoff" ("Sunny Day Kickoff") by Kota

It's been a long time since we debuted a new series. The second chapter of this series caught my attention with its bold color pages. I went back to find the first chapter and was delighted even more. This is a sports shoujo where the female protagonist actually does the sport, which is unusual to find these days. Most of the shoujos involving sports now are about girls having relationships with sporty boys.

Kota is newish to me. I've read a couple of Kota's oneshots (not scanlated yet, but we will), and they deal with challenging gender stereotypes and roles. This series is no different. The sport in this series is soccer. American are gonna think it's weird that soccer is characterized as manly, since in the US soccer is okay for boys until a certain age, but ultimately soccer ends up being dominated by females after elementary school. If I'm not mistaken, the US is unique in this view of soccer. Just as an aside, sporty boys in the US usually go on to play American Football, Basketball, or Baseball in Junior High rather than continuing in soccer. I imagine girls continue on in soccer because it's one of the few team sports they can be in.

As usual, I posted my thoughts on this chapter on Lovely Manga Blog (LINK). However, as long as you don't spoil, please leave some feedback on the series in the comments here.

"Seiten Kickoff" runs in The Hana to Yume which is quarterly publication, in other words new chapters come out every three months. I have the second chapter, which we are currently working on. After that, the next chapter won't come out in Japan until the end of October.

And now, onto the release!

Oneshot: "Saite no Kimi wo Wasurenai" (You're the Worst, but I won't Forget you) by Yuu Mitsuha

As one of the proofreaders pointed out, it's been a long time since we've released a oneshot. Yep! It's been since February. We've been pushing really hard to catch up on our top priority monthly series, and now that we've pretty much caught up, we can start releasing oneshots again.

This oneshot has been translated and sitting on the back burner for about a year. I think this may be our first oneshot from Betsucomi magazine. Anyhow, this is pretty straight forward girl friendship shoujo, so I don't feel the need to write my thoughts about this oneshot. For me it's nostalgic because I've been on both ends of the ignore-a-former-friend situation. Although, it's a bittersweet, I think this oneshot is very calming and pleasant read.

Thanks to Peonine for a lovely translation and to our new letterer, Cortz, for completing the lettering very quickly.

And now onto the release!

"Nemurenu Ou ni Sasagu Yogatari" Chapter 4

Chapter 4 is the last chapter of the "Nemurenu Ou ni Sasagu Yogatari" main story. There's actually one more story left, which we will release within a week. The discussion for the chapter is on the Lovely Manga Blog (LINK)

And now onto the release.

"Nemurenu Ou ni Sasagu Yogatari" Chapter 3

Get out a couple of tissues, because you're going to need them for this is chapter, unless you're Evilnemesis, who I guarantee will be laughing hysterically at the shoujo treacle. I also expect an extremely different reaction from Silverlunar. I'm feeling very:

Even though I've read this many times during the translation and editing process, something about this story punches me in the gut and chokes me up every time. The discussion for this chapter is at the  Lovely Manga Blog (LINK)

And now onto the release!

"Sabaku no Harem" Chapter 6

First of all, I'd like to thank Ichigo Stars and Silverlunar for doing some crazy Photoshop gymnastics to get the redraws done for this chapter.

Ugh... as soon as we catch up, a new chapter comes out with another special chapter coming out in Lala 9 days from now. And with that, we're two chapters in the hole again. This series is going to be the death of me and the redraw artists! I hope it's printed in the good section of Lala and it's less than 50 pages. Please, please, let it be a short with a nice raw. But before we get back to this series, I would like to release "Bread & Butter" chapter 5 and catch up on the "Kanojo ni Naru Hi's".

This is pretty heavy chapter. I'll write my thoughts about it on the Lovely Manga blog sometime tomorrow. Chapter 7 is a fun filler chapter. I assume the second Lala Special chapter will also be filler.

And now onto the release!

Manga Review: "Hatsu * Haru" by Shizuki Fujisawa on Lovely Manga Blog

This series is well-written typical shoujo. It would make a great starter shoujo and at the same time satisfy veteran shoujo readers who love to see their favorite troupes played with nice writing and super cute characters. This is a series that I would like to see licensed with tween and teen readers in mind.

To read the full review, go to the Lovely Manga Blog:
http://lovelymangas.com/2015/03/16/manga-review-hatsu-haru-by-shizuki-fujisawa/

Review of "Zetsubou Baby" on Lovely Manga Blog

 

First Impressions:

The first I saw of this series was the last chapter in an Issue of Cheese! magazine. I thought the chapter was hilarious and I wanted to know how this odd couple came to be. Without reading the words, the illustrations in this series are misleading. Reading the story, I keenly felt Kasumi’s social awkwardness and I understood her desire to flee the aggressively aggressive rich boy who insists upon chasing her and dragging her kicking and screaming out of her shell. On top of all of this, the series is hilarious!

Read the entire review on Lovely Manga Blog.

Link: http://lovelymangas.com/2015/03/14/manga-review-zetsubou-baby-by-hina-sakurada/

Valentine's Day Oneshot #2: "Joifo" ("Joyful") by Haru Kudo

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone on this side of the world! This is our first project from The Margaret. For years I avoided Shueisha and Shogokugan manga and josei, but last year I gave the publishers' magazines a chance and fell in love with The Margaret. I highly recommend this magazine if you love high school romance shoujo oneshots that have a more depth and maturity than the usual stuff from Margaret/Betsuma.

"Joifo" is one of the oneshots I live Tweeted months ago. The response on Twitter was quite favorable, so I decided to translate it for Valentine's Day. Folks with strict parents and folks who know what it's like to restrain your true self should resonate with this oneshot. And for everyone else, it's about cosplay! I hope you like this oneshot!

And now on to the release!

"Danshi Gurashi" Chp 2

Recruitment: 
We are in desperate need of proofreaders and QCers. I realize for people who are in school, now is midterms, so this may only be a temporary need. But if you are fluent in English, know English grammar, and pay close attention to detail, we need your help now. If you would like to volunteer, please contact me, Kuroneko003, using the link in the upper right hand side of the blog.
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Here's chapter 2 of "Danshi Gurashi". We'll be finishing up this series within a week (most likely by Wednesday). We will not be adding a new series to fill in for it. Rather we we do oneshots.

This chapter plays with the notion of the fujoshi bait and is very conscious of the fact that this series is fujoshi bait. I think it's a sad world where any two people sharing an apartment are assumed to be romantically linked. Most of the time, roommates are just roommates. My guess is that Ryouga's fears are stupid and reflect a lack of confidence on his part. Seriously, why give a rat's ass about something like that?

And now onto the release!

Oneshot: "Replay" by Yutaka Tachibana

Here is the second oneshot from Yutaka Tachibana after "R-15 Horror", which was released a little earlier. I ask shoujo lovers to push through the horror to read the touching story of friendship in this story. Some of this was hard for me to get through when I was translating it, but I felt the overall story was worth the trip to a place I didn't want to go. I think this is the best oneshot of our Halloween party.

I like Yutaka Tachibana's oneshot shots a lot, so I will be looking out for more works by her in the future. And now onto the release!

I Lied -- "Rocker in Locker" by Tama Yukida

I lied. This is an opportunist release and it's another cute story. There's no horror in it at all. We were going to do a day after Halloween thing and discuss the various traditions around November 1st, but quite frankly, I think we're all exhausted and need a break. Some of those planned oneshots are in some state of completion, so we'll release them after we take a short break and release some of our regular monthly series. I'll detail our plans for the rest of fall and winter in a later blog post.

Thanks to Peonine for a fun translation and thanks to Aricania for lettering.

"Mimi ga Kieta Hi" ("The Day Mimi Disappeared") by Isuzu

Nothing good can come of spending time in an elementary school rabbit hutch, and that's all I want to say about this oneshot.

"The Friend Doll" Case 3

Here's the third story from "The Friend Doll" compilation. There are many questions about what's going on at the end. If you have any theories, please do share. I'm not going to say much about the oneshot, because the fun is in letting the story unfold.

We will finish "The Friend Doll" compilation. Because we had limited time and resources for our Halloween releases, we had to prioritize projects. Expect Case 1 and Case 4 this winter.

And now onto the release!

Magical Change Chapter 4

This is one of the short chapters in "Magical Change". Demons guys are hot. 'Nuff said.

"The Ghost Apartment Manager" Chapter 13

This chapter is a continuation of Tatsumi's story. In this chapter, though, the perspective changes to Kanie, the person who Tatsumi is worried about. This time I took the time to give Tatsumi a distinct accent. I probably laid it on too thick. Oh well. There's also some more development of the relationship between Sekka and Usami. I can't seem to think of Usami as being suspicious. I think he's lonely like Sekka and wants to be friends. Granted he may want to make use of Sekka's ability to see ghosts, but given the way this series has been going, he probably wants to say something to a dead loved one or he's just interested in the occult. That's just my guess. I guess we'll see. I'm getting worried about the child ghost. Stories about dead little children are always sad.

And now onto the release!

New Short Series: "Danshi Gurashi" Chapter 1 by Mai Mishikata

We've been sitting on this short series for a while. We finally have a typesetter, so hopefully we can release the rest of the series soon. This series came out in Hana to Yume in 2013 before "Lip Smoke". It reminds me of a modern day "The Odd Couple". The series is pretty low-key and pleasant with a some fan service thrown in once in a while.  Basically it's fujoshi bait, so fujoshi, go at it. I, on the other hand, will take this for face value.

I think Doujima looks like a younger version of Seta.

And now onto the release!

"Kanojo ni Naru Hi -- Another" Chapter 5

When I first saw this frontis page, I thought, "please let Sagara become the school bancho". That would be cool! Maybe it'll happen. Who knows. Anyhow, what does happen sets up for an interesting arc for the series as a whole. The question is whether anyone will actually do it and how does this bleed over into the main series "Kanojo ni Naru Hi".  Oh, ho, ho! I guess we released that oneshot just in time.

A reminder: "Kanojo ni Naru Hi" with Mamiya and Miyoshi is resuming in September in Ane Lala magazine. Of course, we will be translating the series unless and until it is licensed.

And now onto the release.

"Kanojo ni Naru Hi -- Another" Volume 1 Extras

Purchase —
     Volume 1: Amazon JP / YesAsia
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Finally! Here they are! This big bundle of goodies includes the "Kanojo ni Naru Hi" Miyoshi and Mamiya story that ran in Lala a few months back. I'm glad I waited for the high quality tankoubon version.

In case you didn't know, "Kanojo ni Naru Hi" will be returning in September. It will run in Ane Lala, which is switching to bi-monthly publication instead of quarterly. Of course, we will continue with the series. I'm looking forward to it!

And now onto the release!

Lala Fantasy Oneshot: "Vered no Rosemary" by Hitsuji Harumi

This is one of the oneshot from Lala Fantasy, a special Fantasy themed Lala magazine. The frontis page of this oneshot struck me. It looks like one of those carved cameo. I also like the rosemary wreathe and the ornament in Rose's hair.

I really enjoyed Peonine and Jade's translation of this oneshot. Great job ladies! Ahhh... and Ichi's redraws... Hee! Anyhow, I'm a sucker for royal romance like this one.

And now onto the release!

Oneshot: "Shoujo Jump" by Yuu Kurumi

We wanted to release this during the Winter Olympics, but the release didn't come together until now. Thanks to Ichi for taking on and producing some wonderful redraws! Thanks to Peonine and Jade for the translation! And lastly, thanks to Suzume for lettering the oneshot.

This is an ice skating oneshot, obviously. Haha! I thought it was super cute and I like the action drawings, something we rarely see in shoujo. It's too bad we'll not see any sports shoujo manga soon since the US publishers assume we won't buy the series. Grr...  I hope you all enjoy this confection!

And now onto the release!