http://k2c.pinky.ne.jp/event/main.html

Hibiki? Hibiki is on the cover of Hana to Ryuu 13? Poor guy didn't translate well to color. Dark events must be coming, but I would prefer it if he had been pictured with his brother rather than Ryuji. Is it March yet?

My jamall order arrived at last today. My OCTOBER order. Rather than race to open the box, I check Fujisan to see if G Defend is on its way.

posted at 9:38 PM

 
I wish I knew of a web resource listing all artists/circles with web pages who produce yaoi doujinshi and accept mail order. Not that I need more opportunities to spend more money, but I enjoy the feeling of supporting the circles directly and not relying upon luck and the second-hand stores. Once I finish the XML project and can turn my mind to more frivolous matters, I'll see how many I can dig up on my own. So far, I have only ordered from K2 Company, Kengamine Bishowjobu, and Death Powder.
posted at 8:25 PM

 
Catching up (and keeping up) on my shoujo collecting is hampered by the fact that I haven't had to research shoujo artists on the web for more than 4 years. I recognize my favorite BL artists by name, but I recognize my favorite shoujo artists by their artwork or by series name. I've added the shoujo (mainstream) publisher links to combat this.
posted at 11:54 PM

 
born to be a librarian
Nothing makes me happier than researching a text. This time, it was "Lesson VI," a title that has been included on Aestheticism's list of shounen-ai and yaoi videos since the page was first created...three years ago? I had seen most of the videos on the list, and could recognize the source material for the others, but Lesson VI was a complete mystery to me. No one ever mentioned it/reviewed it/traded it. So where did it come from? God bless Google. Searching on the title called up this page. I don't know how, I don't know why, but I do know that somebody, somewhere had to mistake the classification code "VI" as part of the title. And the page's creator had accidentally left the "XX" off of Lesson XX. Mystery solved.
posted at 7:37 PM

 
Are two titles enough to make up one's mind against a manga artist? Good. After reading Koibito Shigan and Kindan no Amai Kajitsu, I have decided that Haruka Minami is definitely not for me. Too shoujo, too pretty-pretty. What is interesting about her works is that she is supposedly making the transition from shota to regular BL with these books, but that transition doesn't involve changing her character designs or her themes.

Did I mention that fujisan cancelled my Motto!! G-Defend order as out of stock? Yes, I suppose it would first have to be published before it could be considered in stock, but...really. It's as if they don't want to make money, when they put quick processing before customer service. I have little hope that jamall will come through with it -- they still haven't sent my October order, for crying out loud! -- but I'm giving them a shot at it.

posted at 2:29 PM

 
The fates punish the self-righteous. I'm so noble, ripping only DVDs I own for my own use, and demmed laughing Greek demis run after me, making sure that the file which plays just fine on my home computer has jerky pauses on my work computer. Even downloading the file to the drive didn't help.
posted at 6:34 PM

 
I installed the DVD drive Thursday and am now in search of a hack that will let me get around the limited switches to the region code. I did rip my first DVD and burn my first CD today, so I can watch (or at least listen to) the Odoru Daisousasen movie at work. Volume's a little low. File's a little large.
posted at 9:44 PM

 
Well, here's the problem! In order to install the DVD drive, I have to turn off the computer, and that's just not going to happen.
posted at 11:24 PM

 
deja vu all over again
I don't grasp the appeal of watching an anime that doesn't deviate one iota from the major points in the manga you have already read. Okay, you're getting more of the thing you love, but you know the events of each episode before it airs. Months before it airs. It's like premasticating your food. (Okay, ick. Bad me.) I'm not frothing at the mouth to get to these HikaGo DVDs because I've been there, done that, bought the t-shirt. And I loved the 12 episodes I saw before reading the manga. The many faces of Sai (especially cute like a bunny cheerful Sai) and the intensity of Hikaru and Akira's relationship kept me riveted, the way the latter still does in the manga.
posted at 7:13 PM

 
Hmph. This entry will stand as a monument to my lengthy review of Chouko Kabutomaru's Seifukusha, which was cruelly erased in some blogger glitch. Bad Blogger. To sum up: I'm mildly dissatisfied with this title, a collection of unevenly successful short stories. The one that nags at me is the eponymous tale, about a young and beautiful government official who is secretly a willing sex slave to his bodyguard. The contrast between public and private self is enticing, but the story is too short, the sex scenes too modest (yes, too modest -- sex toys off to the side to suggest the action don't cut it here) and the psychology is insufficiently developed. Do I think it would be there if I could read the text? No. I did like the twist to the tale of the man being sexually abused by his boss on the train every morning, as well as the story in which the seme deconstructed the uke's typical protests and complaints.
posted at 4:46 AM

 
So here it is, the December order. Smaller not because of the trip to Tokyo but because December was slim pickings for Boy's Love.

1. G-Defend 16 by MORIMOTO Shuw
2. G-Defend 17 by MORIMOTO Shuw
3. Motto!! G-Defend by MORIMOTO Shuw
4. Motto!! Koori no Mamono no Monogatari by SUGIURA Shiho
5. Boku no sensei wa fever by MOTONI Modoru
6. Shinyuu henjou by MIZUKAMI Shin
7. Paraphrase by TAKAKURA Row
8. �D‚«‚É‚È‚Á‚¿‚á‚¢‚¯‚È‚¢�l by CJ Michalski
9. Lady M. o Sagase by FUJII Akemi

Let's hope I'm in a G-Defend mood when this shipment shows up. The Shin Mizukami title is one I saw serialized in the Magazine Be x Boy I picked up in Mandarake -- the one that caused all the trouble with the overcharge. If I hadn't seen it there, I would have been a little put off by the cover and sample art. Mizukami has a second title out from Biblos this month and another from Houbunsha in February, 2003. Here's an up and coming artist.
posted at 3:13 PM

 
Jamall cancelled G-Defend 16 as "out-of-print or out-of-stock indefinitely. There is no due date for reprinting." Uh-huh. We'll see what Fujisan has to say. Now I'm more impatient than ever to finish this %@&$ cataloging exam, so I can place my order with them. I knew I should have picked the book up in Tokyo.
posted at 3:53 AM

 
a good ramble, spoiled
This entry meant to be a lovely ramble on the superiority of Mamiya Oki's Lover's Diary as an art book with a BL slant, compared to works such as Kazuma Kodaka's Illustrations, Youka Nitta's Charisma and Shiuko Kano's Playgirl. The problem is, on my web search for an official artist's or publisher's page featuring the cover/ordering information for Lover's Diary, I began to question my own assumptions.

My memory told me that Oki's work was superior because she would suggest an entire story in a single frame. This impression was based on images like Libertine Life. When I compared my memory of Oki's work with Shiuko's new collection, the latter seemed more character-focused and less story-expansive. I theorized the difference lay in the fact that most of Oki's work was in novel illustrations (where a single cut might be expected to convey an entire scene) while most of Shiuko's was in manga, where a set of panels would unfold the action in a scene. But memory can be tricky. Comparing the two artists' web galleries, I realized that most of Oki's illustrations had the same composition as Shiuko's.

• Mamiya Oki's gallery
• Shiuko Kano's gallery

A large percentage of Oki's illustrations are fantasy while Kano builds her worlds closer to home, but both mostly feature portraits of their characters with backgrounds that don't call attention to themselves. It's the background in Libertine Life -- the paraphernalia and props -- that creates a story from the still life. In the absence of that, the image needs to capture an action that evokes a story (Lover's Diary has a great one, with a man in a tub pulling his fully-dressed paramour into the water). But the most exceptional images -- the ones that made me venerate Oki -- are missing from her page, just as Kano's most intriguing images are missing from hers...though her tattooed men are a world of their own.
posted at 11:01 PM

 
How many and varied are the analogies available for that elusive object of desire: sour grapes, the one that got away, even the good shepherd reclaiming his errant sheep. Why do none apply to my situation? I wanted doujinshi by Naifu and couldn't find any when I went to Tokyo. When I got back home, I did a web search in the hope that she did mail order -- no such luck, though it turns out that the doujinshi which inspired this obsession is part of a series. ARGH! Compilations and the book in the series are available at auction, but I need someone in Japan to bid/complete the transaction. I have never wanted my friends out of this country so badly.

I have paged through 18 HikaGo dj anthologies with only one story making an impression on me. Most stories are gag, because sex is funny, darnit. Akira is frequently cast as an obsessed stalker (big surprise). Sai gets no action at all. Touya-papa and Akira and Hikaru are Ogata-sensei's elusive objects of desire. Kishimoto has a bigger role in doujinshi than he ever had in the series (it's 'cos he looks like Tamahome and you'll never convince me otherwise). Waya and Isumi and Mitani are sexed up (WxI in a romantic way, Mitani as the series' sex kitten...literally). And, most delightfully, Tsutsui puts the moves on Kaga. Take that, Kodaka.

Know what I think? These anthologies are treading a delicate line not to offend the studio, publisher, rights owners, etc. Or the Japanese really do prefer gag to romance and eroticism.

posted at 10:26 PM

 
Friday
I checked into the hotel @ 7pm (room 806, with a middling view of Shinjuku 5 kilometers in the distance) and raced over to K-Books for some "just landed in Japan" shopping. Unfortunately, I don't carry a watch and was still browsing the Hikaru no Go doujinshi ten minutes after the shop had closed. Gomen, ladies!

Saturday
Aqua House first thing in the morning. I found it by walking past it by one block, then looking back and seeing the "Happy Place for Ladies" sign in the second-story window. This place would be BL heaven -- comics, novels, art books, drama cds, games, magazines, some character goods -- if the staff weren't so...rude. One other thing chafed at me: all the books are unwrapped for reading. This should be a plus (there's even a counter set up at the window with wrapped moist towels for browsers to sit and read -- very civilized, yes?), except it bothered me that I was now paying full price for books that could have been handled dozens of times. I returned to the hotel room with my loot and was chased away by housekeeping. (Okay, not literally, but she wanted to make up the room and I wanted the room made up and there wasn't room enough for the two of us to be in there at the same time.) I headed over to Animate and was rather disappointed in the selection of HikaGo goods. Not even a decent shitajiki, couldn't find the deck of cards being advertised above the crowded shelves (HikaGo was squeezed in between Prince of Tennis and...what? I don't remember.) After Animate came another visit to K-Books, which was packed with the Saturday shoppers. I couldn't find anything, though I bless them for the maps and lists posted at the ends of the aisles. Finally, I wasted hours and punished my foot by wandering around looking for Book Off on the west side of the station. I walked much further north than I needed to, finally giving up when I crossed the train tracks back to the east side via a walkway bridge. Hopelessly lost, but eventually found my way back to the Parco department store next to the station, from which I made my way back to the hotel.

Sunday
The first day I hit the rails, and the only day I really should have purchased an all-day discount pass for the JR lines. Also the first day with rain. Saturday had been gorgeous and temperate. I headed from Ikebukuru to Shinjuku to meet K at the Kinokuniya. I arrived with plenty of time to shop the comics on the first floor. Bought 2 of the new Earthian volumes for A, a few shoujo volumes for myself, and Zips 35 which I realized I had failed to pick up at Aqua House on Saturday. Then I made my way up to the foreign-language books where I had agreed to meet K. She found me (the fracture boot may have been a dead giveaway) picking up the fourth Harry Potter with the British "adult" cover. I pattered around behind her like a puppy (or a leech) while she browsed the English-language books, then we headed off for Shibuya to eat lunch at the shabu-shabu place above the Mandarake. Before we went upstairs, K dropped in some hobby place filled with gumball-like vending machines and UFO-catchers. She didn't find what she was looking for, but I asked her to drop 100 yen into a HikaGo keychain dispenser. Out came...Touya Kouyou! YEA! We didn't go to Mandarake (ah, to live in Japan and not feel obligated to drop in to every doujinshi store in search of the elusive fan book), but went back to Ikebukuro where K introduced me to KAC. Where has this store been hiding on my previous two trips? I couldn't find much to buy, but -- bless 'em -- the doujinshi are labeled. Labeled! series and pairing and love-loveness. K had left me while I was still shopping at KAC, so after dumping the goods back the hotel, I returned to Shibuya to go to Mandarake. I decided to pick up a Magazine Be x Boy that I thought had the last chapter of Love Mode in it (because I couldn't possibly wait 'til January for the tankoubon), which caused no end of trouble. I don't know how much I bought total, but I do know that I bought 18 volumes of used manga at 300 yen and the one magazine at 100 yen, because at the register, the clerk accidentally rang it up as one manga at 300 yen and one magazine at 18,100 yen. The funny thing is, I saw the wrong number pop up on the register and didn't say anything because I thought it might be the subtotal of all the manga before the doujinshi were entered. I didn't recognize the mistake until I got back to the hotel and tallied my day's expenses. Total panic. I thought I was going to have to carry the HUGE bag back to Shibuya to "prove" the error. I called the telephone number on the receipt, but the person who picked up did not speak English and I couldn't say "I was overcharged 13,000 yen" in Japanese. Head tumbling with ideas on how I would handle this, I eventually went down to the hotel's information desk and explained the problem to the woman there. It took a couple of run-throughs, but she eventually understood what had happened and called the store. Can I just say how impressed I am that Mandarake picks up its phone nearly an hour after closing? The accounting staff offered to look into the error and call back, so I was sent back to my room (with a note in hand, explaining what had happened in Japanese) where the information lady called about 30 minutes later to let me know the error had been fixed. *whew* But if I wanted a correct receipt, I would need to go back the next day and speak with Mishima-san or Ohta-san.

Monday
Guess where I went? Back at the Shibuya Mandarake, I confidently and incorrectly asked in Japanese to speak with Mishima-san. Eventually, Ohta-san (who speaks better English than I do Japanese) appeared and pure chaos resulted as she zeroed out the previous day's transaction and rang in the correct amount. Then? More shopping. Kind of an unpleasant experience, with two identically-dressed "hustler" girls aggressively claiming space in front of all the manga shelves I wanted to look at. This time, I tallied up my purchase before heading to the register and paid cash. I also grabbed another HikaGo keychain from the vending machine: Ogata-san. Regrettably, this set did not include a Sai to go with my Touya Kouyou. The evening included more searching for Book Off in Ikebukuro. Emboldened by seeing the Ikebukuro environs subway map, I thought I could get there using the directions I had printed from the Book Off web site. Wrong! That night, on TV, I caught an episode of Detective Conan.

Tuesday
I left the hotel fairly early for a trip to the Nakano Mandarake, a move which backfired on me when it turned out that the store doesn't open until noon! More proof that I can't be bothered to read the various directions that I printed out. I walked a few blocks down to the Nakano Book Off, which I had no problem finding. The web site says the store is small and they're right -- nothing of interest to me there. Back at Mandarake, the manga shopping was light. Most notably, I picked up a hard-to-find copy of Gakuran Tengoku 2 by Inuhiko Murano. Still haven't acquired volume 1. The yaoi doujinshi store promised on the third floor in this English-language map does not exist, so far as I can tell. (Of course, now that I'm home, I can check the Japanese site and see that it doesn't exist, really.) I did find a lady's doujinshi store on the second floor, but wasn't inspired by the selection. Mandarake definitely has better prices than K-Books in doujinshi, but used manga usually is the same at both stores (300 yen, with more recent releases going for 350). Mandarake does have a selection of 200-yen manga that K-Books doesn't offer, the price difference based on some combination of condition and age and popularity, I suppose. With my fairly light purchases tucked safely away in my fabulous tote, I got back on the train to Yoyogi to changed from the Chuo to Yamanote lines (because Yoyogi is sane and Shinjuku isn't), then got off at Komagome to visit Rikugi-en. Never doubt the wisdom of going to a Japanese garden in any season. It was beautiful, though my counterclockwise walk around the outside wall of the garden before I finally reached the entrance nearly exhausted me. Back to the hotel, where I caught an episode of Pokemon, then I was inspired to run back to Aqua House (which is open 'til 9pm). After making my purchase, I was turning to leave when I spotted what I thought were Haru wo Daite Ita trading cards. I splurged and bought a box (7 packs of 10 cards). When I got back to the hotel, I realized they were Biblos trading cards, featuring images by Nitta and Kazuma Kodaka and Yuki Shimizu and from the novel series Tokyo Junk and Pretty Baby. I decided to open the curtains and look out at Shinjuku while I played with my new purchases.

Wednesday
My last full day and Tokyo chooses not to rain but pour. I was late getting out of the hotel room and quite pouty, because this was supposed to be my day for going up to the 60th-floor observatory and a washed-out Tokyo is not a promising view. Looking out of the window to gauge the weather conditions, I noticed people in the damp courtyard below with cameras pointed skyward. I glanced right to see what fascinated them and was treated to the spectacle of two parasailors jumping from the top floors of the Sunshine 60. They swooped down, slid across the slippery courtyard, then packed up their chutes and ran off with the camerafolk in tow. Life can't always give you what you're hoping for, but it will usually compensate with the unexpected, as long as you're open to it. After that, I was open to a visit to Tokyu Hands, Animate, KAC, and K-Books (in that order). Later in the afternoon, I surprised myself by hopping the Yamanote to Sugamo, where I picked up the Mita line (expensive!) to Jimbocho in the pouring rain. My goal was the fourth floor of the Shosen Book Mart, which was in great disarray, but still offered the only copy of the third HaruDaki drama cd I was able to find in Tokyo. That evening, I turned melancholy and anxious, contemplating the uncertainly of my position at work, so I refrained from heading back to Aqua House to pick up another two packs of Biblos trading cards. I was fortunate enough to catch an episode of Hikaru no Go on TV...unfortunately, it was "Sayonara, Hikaru," and my superstitious mind ran rampant with the significance of that. After the anime, I ran across to the Sunshine 60 building and headed up to the observatory for half an hour. Tokyo at night is a jewel.

Thursday
I was Animate-d out by this time (although I now realize I'm missing the HaruDaki writing pad to accompany my Love Mode pad), so instead of doing the traditional manga shopping on my final day, I went to the aquarium on the top floors of the World Import Mart. It was sad in the way that most zoos are sad. Sad to think of these adorable dolphins and otters and penguins spending their lives in these tiny concrete tanks. But I could still enjoy the diver clad in a Santa-suit feeding the stingrays. Back in plenty of time to check out before 11am and catch the 11:20 "airport limousine" to Narita, where I discovered that the average price of a souvenir shot glass is 1000 yen. Wearing my fracture boot, I couldn't hope to climb the stairs to the plane, so NW had to call "the special bus" for me, and I was elevated to the opposite door.

posted at 11:57 PM

 
What do you mean, I have a papa fetish?
Of course, what Chiharu from Utsukushiki Kemonotachi. and Saeki from Waka!! have in common is their role as the older protector to the slightly spoiled son of a wealthy/powerful family. It's fun to see the many ways this motif can be played out in BL manga, though Masa will always be my favorite.

Probably a very western thought, but I notice that all these surrogate parental relationships take place in a world where the father is still there, though he is usually a distant player. So while the lover provides the support and guidance one might expect from a father-figure, he is not really there replacing the father. Tinge of incest alleviated?

posted at 11:59 PM

 
There is nothing Kou Fujisaki can do that will affect my love for Chiharu. Not transforming him from the magnificently cool and stern counterpoint to Kazuki's childish behavior into a groveling lover. Not mutating him into a jealous lover intent upon committing murder-suicide in a big angsty scene. I love this character and I'm thrilled Fujisaki developed the secondary relationship from Happy Yarou Wedding in its own book, even though that relationship did things to his character I never expected it to.

Waka!! was another big winner from the trip. There's double pleasure to be had when a book you're hoping to enjoy turns out to be every bit as good as you hoped. Not only do you get the satisfaction of a good read, you also escape disappointment...unless, like me, you choose to be disappointed that the series appears to end with just two volumes. I don't see what else Kirishima can do to advance Saeki's and Takara's relationship now that they have a mutual commitment.

Speaking of disappointment: I am still waiting for jamall to complete my order with volume 16 of G Defend. I saw it everywhere I went in Tokyo and didn't pick it up. Now I'll probably wind up ordering both 16 and 17 from Fujisan at the end of this month.

posted at 11:18 PM

 
the final tally

17	BL manga (new)
87	BL manga (used)
8	shoujo manga (new)
4	shoujo manga (used)
2	shounen manga (new)
4	artbooks (well, one's a game mook for Escape)
47	doujinshi (couldn't find Kemonomichi no Toriko OR anything by Naifu)
18	commercial doujinshi anthologies (all HikaGo)

For A-san: 9 novels and 2 manga

posted at 10:58 PM

 
When I left for Tokyo, I took the leftover currency from my previous trip -- about 950 yen in coinage, which the currency exchange booths at Narita won't accept. I have returned with 73 yen.

My checked bags weighed 50.3kg (about 111 pounds). When I rest up, I'll do a volume count and tally expenses.

I feel the urge to make a list of the woulda shoulda couldas so that I don't repeat the mistakes/experience the same regrets on my next trip, but I can already feel them evaporating. A couple of quick notes. Drink more water. Bring enough gum and mints from home for the trip out and the trip back. The window seat is great if there's no one in the middle seat, but I do feel trapped by the person on the aisle. I HATE 9-hour flights.

posted at 10:57 PM