I’m going to make this short and sweet, because I don’t want to ruin the whole book for those who are still placing their orders. I received my fanbook on the 19th, and after flipping through a few pages (and trying not to cry over how beautiful the illustrations were), I had to take a few pictures.
Ready? Here we go!
First off, I apologize for the long (and unannounced) hiatus.
Secondly, there has been a bit going on for Nakamura Asumiko. Aside from her one-shot for Poco-Poco (Adorute to Adarute), she was recently in a set of 10 video clips on the site! I haven’t finished watching it yet, but seeing her at work coloring a manga (with just a mouse!) is enough to make me happy. You can also hear her voice! If that’s not incentive enough to get you to have a look, then hopefully the fact that it’s another manga for Poco-Poco (titled 「王と側近」(“Ou to Sokkin”/”King and Close Associate”)) will.
For those who have been waiting a long time, Nakamura-sensei’s “Graduation Album” fanbook IS. ON. SALE! I stumbled upon it while browsing Kinokuniya eleven days ago. If you’re in the US and you want this, you’d better get it while you can–as of this time it is still IN STOCK in the Los Angeles branch, so make your order now. The price tag may be a little hefty ($44.50), but it is well worth the price. Aside from being just a fan of Nakamura, one of the main reasons why I jumped on this was because part of the proceeds go to the Japan Disaster Relief Fund. I placed my order two weeks ago when it was on special order status, and I should be receiving it this week.
Expect a couple photos of the fanbook!
I admit, I was pretty nervous when Nakamura Asumiko (Doukyuusei, Sotsugyosei, Anata no tame nara Doko made mo) suddenly went on hiatus during the summer of last year. I really did think that she wouldn’t come back. As much as I love her work, her well-being is always a first priority, so as much as it saddened me, the fact that she was taking time off for the sake of her own health meant a lot.
So from July of 2010 till roughly January of 2011, we didn’t hear much from Nakamura-sensei. That is, until there was buzz about her newest tankoubon release, Tetsudou Shoujo Manga (鉄道少女漫画) was released in February of 2011. And now, there is a new 15-page short by her, titled Aadorute to Aadarute (アードルテとアーダルテ), which can be found here. As you can see, her artwork’s changed just a little bit, as it has lost the retro 70s-ish style that I came to associate with her works. It’s not a bad change; in fact, it looks a little more refined. The short is in color, and is a wonderful take on “The Prince and the Pauper.”
Nakamura-sensei, welcome back!!
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.
A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats.
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,000 times in 2010. That’s about 7 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 23 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 22 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 4mb. That’s about 2 pictures per month.
The busiest day of the year was October 22nd with 59 views. The most popular post that day was Mangaka Minute: Marta Matsuo’s 1st Tankoubon Release!.
The top referring sites in 2010 were twitter.com, en.wordpress.com, isnitfine.wordpress.com, shinkeikaku.wordpress.com, and azurekitsune.livejournal.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for usotsuki wa shinshi no hajimari, lies are a gentleman’s manners, marta matsuo, bang zoom entertainment, and nakamura asumiko.
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
Mangaka Minute: Marta Matsuo’s 1st Tankoubon Release! July 2010
1 comment
BL + Otome Games: Another Interesting Part of Being a Fujoshi September 2010
4 comments
My Top BL Manga Artists May 2010
1 comment
Mangaka Minute: Nakamura Asumiko taking a break July 2010
2 comments
A Coalition Against Scan Sites? June 2010
8 comments
The past two months have been especially unkind to scanlators as of late. With Libre going digital and Digital Manga bringing more licenses to the table, scanlators have their backs pressed against the wall, and only have one major option–shutting down.
I never thought I’d ever play Boys Love games or Otome games the moment I found out I liked yaoi. When I first got into yaoi, I only thought it encompassed just manga and anime–I had no idea about the games that were catered to the female audience in Japan! And for some strange reason, they tickle my fancy just right.
Yana Toboso, the mangaka of Black Butler (黒執事 – “Kuroshitsuji”), recently posted her thoughts in a blog entry about some email messages that she received. In those messages, a few “fans” pretty much stated that they had watched the Black Butler anime and read the manga on “overseas sites.”
This post is an update to an earlier post.
If you go to Nakamura-sensei’s site here, you’ll be met with a small message, which says this:
中村明日美子オフィシャルサイトは、
2010年7月末日をもちまして終了させていただきました。
ありがとうございました。
And it’s finally happened!
First reported on my friend ふう子’s site (along with the cover–take a look, it’s gorgeous!!), Marta Matsuo is releasing her very first tankoubon through Opera’s EDGE COMIX label. The title is called 「嘘つきは紳士のはじまり」 (Usotsuki wa Shinshi no Hajimari – Lies are a Gentleman’s Manners).
