BL anime announcments thus far

So here's what we have to look forward to in 2009:

Hey! Class President by Kaori Monchi. There's not a lot of information available so far other than PrimeTime will be in charge of production.

Sex Pistols by Tarako Kotobuki. This will be a two volume OVA.

Last, but certainly not least, a remake of Ai no Kusabi, by Rieko Yoshihara. This will be 13 volumes and released fall of '09.

I'm excited about Ai no Kusabi and Sex Pistols. Sex Pistols has always been one of my favorite boys love manga. The plot is very interesting and unique. If you haven't read this manga you might want to snatch up a few volumes before the anime is released. The one I'm least excited about would have to be Hey! Class President. The first and only manga I ever read from this creator was Imadoki no Shishunki (Awakening Puberty). I wasn't a big fan of the story or the art so I pretty much avoided any of her other work. But maybe this will be like Junjou, where a scoffed at it before it was released but ended up watching it and falling in love.

Source: ANN

KakaIru heading into 2009

In japan the KakaIru fan community seems to be slowing down. Dying? Not quite, and probably not until we see the end of Naruto. But it has reached a sort of loll. One of the signs of this is when Halco of Chikadou fame announced in her blog that she would cease publication of any future KakaIru material. Halco, I believe, is one of the people who has helped shape Kakashi and Iruka by giving them traits that have become a part of fanon. These personality quirks such as Iruka's shyness and Kakashi's overactive libido can be found in many doujinshi. Not to say there aren't those that go against the norm or there isn't any tweaking between the artist. Sometimes Kakashi is super sweet, or kinda jerky, but undoubtedly he will also be a total horn dog. This shows how certain aspects have become a standard in this community.

artwork by Halco

This consistency found throughout the fandom is one of the reasons I find it so enduring. For me, it has become the definitive. Really. If I read a fanfic and Iruka is the seme or if I see a fanart with him on top I literally get pulled out of the element. This very rarely happens to me because I'm usually all about swithcin' it up. But when it comes to KakaIru I'm all about Kakashi being on top.

As the years continue to pass the KakaIru community will begin to dissipate even more. In order for it to regain some strength there will have to be a resurgence of new artist and writers willing to breathe life into the fandom. As much as the consistent characterization has given KakaIru staying power, I think changing it up might help revitalize it. Making Iruka an aggressive uke would be interesting. Or even just making them sex buddies while they carry on romantic relationships with other female Naruto characters would be a cool twist. Be creative! Although KakaIru will never return to what it was when Naruto was at its height in Japan I would love to see it go out with a bang. So keep it coming with the fanfiction, art, and comics, 'cause I'll be here to read, look, and buy.

artwork by Satoru Shigemi

Final Episode of Junjou Romantica

So, there was no sex, a bad soundtrack, and very little terrorist, but you know what? The second season of Junjou is still good. If this season has accomplished anything, it has made me like the romantica pairing. They are still my least favorite, but I actually have come to care for them and appreciate their storyline.

It was a fun ride, and who knows, maybe it will get an OVA release some day. I doubt there will be another season, especially with the little material they have left to pull from the manga. And if there is an OVA release I can only hope it's terrorist, because their storyline deserves the attention.

Menkui! Libre editions

So I finally got my copies of the Libre Shuppan editions of Menkui!, and I must say I am quite impressed.
Marvel at my mad camera skillz!
As you can see both books have new covers. Ooooh, shiny! I'm quite glad they replaced the old cover to the first volume because I was never a big fan of it. But for those who are, it's included as a color insert. I did, however, like the second cover and would have preferred it to the third cover insert included in volume two. Also the new volume two cover had me lol. Akaiwa is gonna poke poor Kotori's eye out with that pointy chin of his! Oh noes!
One of the great aspects of this two volume set is it excludes all the filler comics that were a part of the original releases. So all you get is ooey gooey Menkui goodness. Not that I didn't like the extra comics, but it's nice to have each story run into the next without any interruption.
The first volume includes Menkui! 1-4 and the bonus story about Kotori's older brother. The second completes Menkui! 4 and has stories 5-7 as well as the bonus story about Chikage's adorable little brother and his best friend turned boyfriend, Shinobu. Each volume also contains a new side story written by Tanaka. Her drawing style has gotten exceedingly better as the years passed, so it's nice to see her draw her old characters with her updated technique. And I swear, in the case of Akaiwa, there isn't some huge change, but she has somehow accomplished making him look sexier.
*drools*
There's something about Kotori that is different, but I just can't put my finger on it. I don't know if it's the length of his eyes, or his chin, or...I just don't know!
Whatever it is, my uber sweet looking Kotori has been replaced with a manly looking one.
I really like this new release and it shall be displayed proudly on my bookshelf right next to the older version (yes, I'm keeping them >_>).

No sex in the champaign room...

...Or in Junjou Romantica, it seems. Have you been watching the new season? Things just seem, different, and the absence of sex scenes is just one of those differences that stood out to me. Don't get me wrong, sex scenes does not a good anime make. I guess I'm just curious how we go from sex in every episode to absolutely none. Did they get in trouble for being too risque? Okay, okay, the way I'm going on and on about this sex thing people are going to start to think that was my favorite part of the show. But it's not! Actually one of the things I really enjoyed was the soundtrack. I felt it gave those emotional moments life and vitality. I do believe that this show would not be as "romantic" without the music. But this new season doesn't make much use of the previous seasons soundtrack. In fact, they use mostly the same 3 or 4 bg's over and over again. And there is this one song they use repeatedly. You'll recognize it when you hear an accordion. Man, I am not feeling that accordion. It gives Junjou this European feel, like I'm watching Heidi or something, not a BL. And, not to be mean, but seriously, these new songs sound as if they were cheaply done. As if they just snatched 'em out of a public music archive (not to look down upon those because you can find some real awesome music there). But a lot of the music just sounds generic. Have you also noticed the near absence of chibi's? And if they are used they're not in Nakamura's unique style. I'm not just nitpicking, I'm trying to point out the things that have changed this season. Now for other people out there these changes might work for them, but I'm not one of 'em. I'm not going to stop watching Junjou, I still like seeing these characters animated and I LOVE the voice acting (<3 Nowaki), and I like following their relationships. I just think this season isn't as stellar as the first. And I'm still holding out hope for the terrorist couple. Hopefully this is the couple they will show next week, but I have a gut feeling they're going to save them for the end.

And God said: Let there be fluff!

The Libre version of Menkui was released today in Japan with a pretty new cover, so I thought this would be a good time to reminisce about the first Boys Love manga I ever purchased. Menkui tells the story of Kotori, your average joe who has a thing for beautiful people (who doesn't >_<). Kotori ends up catching the eye of one of the hottest guys at his school, Akaiwa, and the two become an item. Doesn't sound too interesting so far, right? I mean, here you have your typical high school romance set up, be it BL, shoujo, or shounen. So what sets Menkui apart from the norm? If you are familiar with any of Tanaka Suzuki's work you will notice she likes sci-fi. Because of this love of the abnormal she has been able to put a twist on the conventional storyline. For example, in volume 2 of Menkui, Kotori is swept into a mirror world to keep a beautiful stranger company. And in volume 3 Kotori enters a different dimension where everyone is the opposite of their original personalities. This was something very different from the dead on romance stories I had been reading, so I was intrigued. Tanaka also has a great sense of flow which makes her stories an easy read (and easy for non-Japanese readers to follow). This skill is very helpful for the subtleties she makes use of throughout. One of the things I loved about Kotori and Akaiwa is they have this thing where they'll look into each others eyes and some how, without words, they reach an understanding. I know, I know, it sounds corny, but this is something Tanaka makes use of in many of the chapters, so it becomes a part of who these characters are. In the first volume when Akaiwa and Kotori are having an argument they do not make eye contact at all. When Kotori is looking at Akaiwa, Akaiwa is looking away. When Akaiwa is looking at Kotori, Kotori is looking towards the ground. Then at the end of the chapter Kotori and Akaiwa meet up, both of them have their eyes focused downward and then, they both look at each other. The scene prior seemed to illustrate how they had closed themselves off to each other, and now with this simple eye contact they had opened back up. Awwww, so sweet. But hey, I'm a English major I love analyzing things like this! For all you who read BL for teh SEX, I am sorry to inform you, there is none to be found here. In fact, all of Ms. Suzuki's works are devoid of it. Yes, there's a kiss here, a feel-up there, but there's no "Omigod, right there, I think I'm gon-gonna COOOOME". Yeah, none of that stuff people. Don't worry, Akaiwa feels your pain. Wanna buy the new release? Of course there's always Amazon Japan or if you are Japanese impaired you can always go to Jpqueen and check and see if they have it in stock.

We are Open for Business

Hi-hi! Welcome to Yaoi Crazy. I will post a wide range of things here from ramblings on bara to Static joining the DCU (Robin/Static slash go!). This is mostly just a place for me to wile out and be totally fannish. Anyway, I'm returning home this weekend and while I'm there I'm going to watch Junjou with my sweet little cousin who has been sending me death threats because I took my Junjou Romantica with me when I left for the semester. I also want to her to watch the second season, I'm really curious about what a younger audience member thinks about the new season. Speaking of the second season the newest episode is about Nowaki and Hiroki (the most adorable of the three couples). You can check out the preview here. As much as I love these two I can't wait until they get to the Terrorist storyline. I think they just have more going for them plot-wise.