Random GL

I don’t usually read shoujo-ai but I’m trying to understand humanity more, for myself & friends, thus I took up reading it recently. The first story I read after a few years happened to just, thankfully be, an amazing one. I’ve completely fallen for this mangaka. No matter what genre’s (aside from H) they may venture into in the future; I shall follow! Beautiful, clean art & simple, pure, realistic, & beautiful stories. They all have an amazing, simple charm to them. This story is no exception. It’s about unrequited love, heartbreak, & the awakening of something new. It’s a sweet story. I hope, if you read it, you will enjoy it as I did.

「片恋姫」

Katakoihime

Mangaka: 乙ひより (Otsu Hiyori)
Genre: Drama, School Life, Shoujo Ai
Summary: “Ooishi has never had a crush on anyone, believing it was easier not to love. Until the moment she meets Mizuho, a self-proclaimed “Mermaid” who’s love will never be returned.” - Baka-Updates

Daily Manga

Today's manga, Heartbroken Chocolatier, by the great Mizushiro Setona-sensei is an interesting one. It's classified shoujo but seems more josei/seinen to me. Who knows/cares. Beautiful art and a great story. All about unrequited love, chocolate, & human relations. Only a few chapters have been scanned thus far, so you might not get that explanation for awhile, but eventually. (I'm trying not give anything away.) It's currently ongoing so I can't say too much, but thus far; I love it. It's put together perfectly. It's so balanced while handling things people usually consider taboo & things people usually over dramatize that I can only call it a masterpiece. No wonder it's been nominated for the 4th manga Taisho awards. At any rate. If you read it, I hope you'll enjoy it.

「失恋ショコラティエ」

Shitsuren Chocolatier

Mangaka: 水城せとな (Mizushiro Setona)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Shoujo
Summary: "Souta, who's attending a confectionary school, is in a relationship with Saeko, a girl one year older than him. He fell in love at first sight with her four years ago, and right before Christmas last year, they finally had their first kiss. Because his girlfriend really loves chocolate, every day, Souta tries to polish his chocolate-making skills. Even when his girlfriend smells like cigarettes although she doesn't smoke, even when she turns down his invitation to a date on Valentine's day, he's still not broken-hearted at all, and he still continues to love her...

Nominated for the 4th Manga Taisho Awards (2011)." - Baka-Updates

Daily Manga

A short oneshot from Nakamura Asumiko-sensei. It's incredibly beautiful. In every way. & If you've seen "The Man in The Iron Mask" with Leonardo De Caprio; It's quite similar, but better. Full color with Nakamura-sensei's amazing art. Anyways. I loved this one & hope you will too.

「アードルテとアーダルテ」

Adolte and Adarte

Mangaka: 中村明日美子 (Nakamura Asumiko)
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Seinen
Summary: "A full-color oneshot about two twins: one lives alone locked away in a tower and the other is a crown prince. What if they could trade places…?" - Baka-Updates

Daily BL

I'm a big Madarame Hiro fan. Not as much for their most well known works; but more so for their hint of craziness & beautiful, unique art. So. This is a oneshot & sequel to "Kyou Anata ni Wakare wo Tsugemasu" which I post a few pages back. It's terribly beautiful, as always. I hope you'll like it.

「明日君に愛をささやく」

Ashita Kimi ni Ai wo Sasayaku

Mangaka: 斑目ヒロ (Madarame Hiro)
Genre: Drama, Shounen Ai
Summary: "Years after a personal tragedy struck his life, Mei struggles to deal with its implications as an innocent bystander is sucked into his tangled web. Told from Mei's point of view, this story falls some time before the conclusion of its prequel, Kyou Anata ni Wakare wo Tsugemasu." - Baka-Updates

Daily Manga

"The Place Promised in Our Early Days", adapted by the amazing Sahara Mizu-sensei. I've only read chapter one so far, but I can promise I'll be reading it to the very end (& probably be wishing for more when it ends.) Sahara-sensei's incredible art just makes Shinkai-sensei's stories all the better. So, I hope you'll like it as well.

「雲のむこう、約束の場所」

Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho

Mangaka: 佐原ミズ (Sahara Mizu)
Author: 新海誠 (Shinkai Makoto)
Genre: Drama, Psychological, Romance, Sci-fi, Seinen
Summary: "In an alternate history of the aftermath of World War II, Japan has been cleaved in half, with the south—Honshu and the other islands—allied with the United States and the northern island Hokkaido annexed by the enigmatic Union. It was on Hokkaido that a mysterious tower had been built, a strand of metal reaching up out of the atmosphere, visible from the northern tip of Honshu. In 1996, three teenagers, Hiroki, Takuya and Sayuri, make a pact—they will build an experimental aircraft, almost invisible to surveillance, cross over to Hokkaido and unlock the secrets of the tower. Their dream was never realized, because Sayuri was sent to Tokyo for treatment after she fell into a coma. It is now three years later. The rosy illusions of youth have fallen away, but not the unbreakable strength of the trio’s promise. The truth of the tower will be uncovered, and with it, the link between it and Sayuri’s mysterious, carefully tended condition." - Baka-Updates

Daily BL

A story about a young man who was bullied after confessing to his male friend & ends up dropping out of school and becoming a NEET. When he's made to work in his uncle's convinience store, at first he thinks it will be a drag, but soon he finds great happiness there. A sweet love story between a shy ex-NEET & an outspoken convenience store part timer.

「コンビニくん」

Konbini-kun

Mangaka: ぢゅん子 (Junko)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Slice of Life, Yaoi
Summary: "To break away from his existence as a NEET and staying at home all day, Endou Hiroshi starts work at a convenience store. There he meets an arrogant and rude co-worker, Yamai Kouhei, whom he just can’t get along with. However, after seeing a different side of Yamai and getting to know him more, Endou’s impression of him starts to change for the better. But, just as things seem to be going fine for Endou and his return to society, his past comes back to trouble him.

(NEET = "Not in Education, Employment, or Training")" - Baka-Updates

Daily Manga

A very good & well known novel (made anime & now manga). Written by the same man that created Hoshi no Koe. Great art by the mangaka who adapted it. A very good, bitter-sweet, realistic story about first love, separation, losing one's self and dreams, & starting again. Most definitely worth a read (& watch. Hell. Buy the novel.)

「秒速5センチメートル」

5 Centimeters per Second

Mangaka: 清家雪子 (Seike Yukiko)
Author: 新海誠 (Shinkai Makoto)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Seinen
Summary: "A tale of two people, Tono Takaki and Shinohara Akari, who were close friends but gradually grow farther and farther apart as time moves on. They become separated because of their families yet continue to exchange contact in the form of letters. Yet as time continues to trudge on, their contact with one another begins to cease. Years pass and the rift between them grows ever larger. However, Takaki remembers the times they have shared together, but as life continues to unfold for him, he wonders if he would be given the chance to meet Akari again as the tale embarks on Takaki's realization of the world and people around him." - Baka-Updates

Daily BL

A BL manhua adapted from a Chinese novel. (Novel can be found on Sooky's LJ.) Beautiful art and a pretty interesting story. BL manhua has really caught my eye lately, yet most of the ones I come across are crap. So I' glad there are so great BL novelist/manhuaga's like these two, out there. If you'd like to try something new & see some beautiful BL; this is a great choice.

「鳳于九天」

Feng Yu Jiu Tian

Manhuaga: 王一 (Wang Yi)
Author: 风弄 (Feng Nong)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Yaoi
Summary: "Feng Ming was only 19 when he lost his life saving a child from death without hesitation. The grateful father of the rescued child grants Feng Ming a second chance at life. Unknown to Feng Ming, his soul is whisked away to a far away ancient land (resembling the dynasties of China).
Upon waking up, he finds himself inhabiting the frail body of Thunder Kingdom's crowned prince who is also graced with the title of the most beautiful man across all the lands. However, his beauty has a price as he attracts the unwanted attention of the minister of affairs, Rong Tian who finds every reason to torment the prince mentally and physically. As Feng Ming starts to get a hold of the conspiracies surrounding him, what will happen when the prince's true identity is revealed? And what happened to the 'real' prince?" - Baka-Updates

Daily Manga

Today's manga is one I had long been hoping to see scanned. When it was finally, recently, picked up, I was pleasantly surprised to see the group scanning it was Kotonoha. /Love explosion. This story is truly awesome. I just can't help loving a purely evil genius male lead. This story will, at some points, make you want to cry, and at others, make you want to laugh sadistically. The pure win of it. Complimented by the clean art style. This, to me, could not be more perfect. I can only hope you will enjoy it just as much.

「狼の口: ヴォルフスムント」
Wolfsmund

Mangaka: 久慈光久 (Kuji Mitsuhisa)
Genre: Action, Drama, Historical, Mature, Seinen, Tragedy
Summary: "Wolfsmund is a dark historical manga set in the early 14th century of Europe (Switzerland). The story revolves around the eponymous fortress in the St. Gotthard Pass which is ruled by a sadistic tyrant. Basically, each chapter deals with characters who for some reason have to cross the pass and who end up getting interrogated by the mentioned tyrant.

What sets this manga apart is the fact that there's rarely a happy ending for our protagonists. The author pulls no punches to show us just how brutal and inhuman the Middle Ages really were." - Baka-Updates

Daily Manga

Posting a bit late but! Today's manga is by one of my favorite mangaka. It's a beautiful story, somewhat bittersweet, with nice, clean art. If you'd like to read something touching & sweet that will make you feel like a kid again than this is a great one. Aside from that, my one problem with the mangaka is that, for some odd reason, I always feel the older men are pedophiles although I know full well they are not, lol. But anyways. Hope you like it.

「千夏のうた」
Chinatsu no Uta

Mangaka: きたがわ翔 (Kitagawa Shou)
Genre: Drama, Psychological, Seinen, Slice of Life
Summary: "The series takes place at a certain Japanese location, where a girl moves in with her aunt to a new house after experiencing some more or less shocking events back home. There she meets a boy named Fuyuki, who she from then on spends a lot of time with. The thing special about Chinatsu is her voice, a voice which many seem to have heard before, but from where? What's so special about this girl, and what'll happen in the future?" - Baka-Updates

Daily BL

Today's BL is a beautifully twisted, cruel, and unforgettable oneshot about a screwed up and seemingly impossible, heart wrenching love that could drive a person mad. By Madarame Hiro-sensei. The art is great as is the story. If you like dark, painful love stories or any of Madarame-sensei's other works; you'll love this. Hope you enjoy.

「今日あなたに別れを告げます」
I'm Bidding You Farewell Today

Mangaka: 斑目ヒロ (Madarame Hiro)
Genre: Drama, Yaoi
Summary: "In this tale of broken hearts and deception, three young men are caught in the protagonist's web of revenge. Will the unknowing victims be consumed or is it the weaver of the web who will face the final retribution?" - Baka-Updates

Daily BL

Today's BL is by the great Yamada Sakurako-sensei. Amazing art. The main story is pretty good but personally I was more taken by two of the following oneshots; Sukima & More Pain (with no connection to the main) and to a somewhat lesser degree the second to last called "Primrose". They all have somewhat of a beautiful, dark, twisted feel to them. The last is more angsty and angry with a happy ending though. At any rate! Hope you like it.

「思い過ごしも恋の内」
Omoisugoshi mo Koi no Uchi

Mangaka: ヤマダ サクラコ (Yamada Sakurako)
Genre: Drama, School Life, Yaoi
Summary: "Omoi Sugishi mo Koi no Uchi
Kishida and Hino met at a gay bar. While Hino’s a regular, Kishida was only there because he wanted to talk to someone who could help him understand his nephew he thinks might be gay. Even so, Hino finds himself falling for Kishida. Do Kishida’s smiles and blushes mean Hino can hope for something more than friendship?

Sukima
Story of a class president and his secret desires.

More Pain
A story about pain fetish.
Akira likes to inflict pain. Minami wants that pain and wishes Akira to be his master...

Primrose
Young Jamie is having trouble adjusting to life with his mother's new and much older husband. As well as life in a new town. Perhaps charming blond Ernest can help him understand the vagaries of love." - Baka-Updates

Daily Manga

Today's manga is a rather amazing work by a very promising new-comer (they even won an award for being so) & it happens to fall under an amazing amount of genres, lol. The art is, well, a bit questionable at time proportionally, but then again it /is/ a shounen manga and when it really counts it's very good. Well! I hope you like this. (& if you do; please keep an eye out for their future works!)

「進撃の巨人」
Shingeki no Kyojin

Mangaka: 諌山創 (Isayama Hajime)
Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Historical, Horror, Mature, Mystery, Psychological, Shounen, Supernatural, Tragedy
Summary: "Several hundred years ago, humans were nearly exterminated by giants. Giants are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a city protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of giants.

Flash forward to the present and the city has not seen a giant in over 100 years. Teenage boy Elen and his foster sister Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a super giant that appears out of thin air. As the smaller giants flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as their mother is eaten alive. Elen vows that he will murder every single giant and take revenge for all of mankind.

Nominated for the 4th Manga Taisho Awards (2011)." - Baka-Updates

Daily Manga

Today's manga is one I find to be very interesting. The subject matter is very interesting in and of itself but the way the mangaka wrote and illustrated this story just makes it that much better. When I picked this up the first time I didn't even check to see who the mangaka was but to my pleasant surprise it was Mihara-sensei (some of you will know her from Gothic Lolita Bible.) At any rate. This story gives you a good view of the life of an embalmer in Japan. I'm mainly sharing it because my mom enjoys having me watch The Bachelor with her and this last season there was a female embalmer who was eliminated mainly because of her profession. So. Hopefully this will help others to view embalmers differently. Hope you enjoy.

「死化粧師」
The Embalmer

Mangaka: 三原ミツカズ (Mihara Mitsukazu)
Genre: Drama, Josei, Mature, Romance
Summary: "A chilling dramatic series about Shinjyurou Mamiya, an embalmer in a nation where men of his profession are viewed as outcasts engaging in an unaccepted and unclean practice. For Shinjyurou, it's just a job. But in doing it, he's gained an understanding of death, and more important, what it truly means to live..." - Baka-Updates

Daily BL

Today's BL is your run of the mill, ordinary, expected, light yet troubled type of story. The kind the BL industry has an abundance of. But that type is also good sometimes, right? Besides! The art is pretty great! So. I hope that you will enjoy this. (I know those with a love of ossan's will.)

「進入禁止の恋」
Shinnyuu Kinshi no Koi

Mangaka: こいで みえこ (Koide Meiko)
Genre: Drama, Romance, Yaoi
Summary: "Popular actor Kenzaki Shinya had a one-night stand with a youth who happened to be the agency’s newbie, Mizutani Sachi. Not only did Sachi become Kenzaki’s assistant, he’s also a big fan of Kenzaki. Though he despised Sachi accepting everyone’s invitation in bed, Kenzaki simply couldn’t take his eyes off Sachi—…Was it their destiny to love each other?" - Baka-Updates

Daily Manga

Today's manga is possibly a bit troubling (being as it's apocalyptic) with the state of unrest many people are currently in, however, I am a bit sadistic so I can't quite help myself. Aside from that the main story and the two others are very good and definitely worth a read. The art is also quite nice. I hope you like it.

「Hotel」

Mangaka: ボイチ (Boichi)
Genre: Drama, Sci-fi, Seinen, Tragedy
Summary: "Compilation of short stories:

• Hotel
It is the year 2272 A.D.
A computer continues to live on in order to complete a mission in a world where all life, including Mankind, has gone extinct. This is a record of those 27 million years of its heroic struggle.

• Diadem
A "Diadem" is a word for 'crown' that has its root in Greek. "Stephanos", which appeared in "Mandala" 01, was also a 'crown'. It seems that we could consider this the second work in a continuing series of shorts that should perhaps be called a "Crown series".

• Present
Hanako suffers from a terrible disease. After awakening from a deep slumber, Hanako has only three days to live. During those three days, her husband, Takao, must endure a heart-breaking experience, knowing that the person Hanako really loves isn't him." - Baka-Updates

Daily Manga

Today's manhua is a great, full color compilation of oneshots based off of classic Chinese folk tales. Beautifully illustrated and translated in an easily understandable manner. The stories hold a sort of beautiful melancholy that I love. I hope you enjoy it just as much as I have.

「游园惊梦」
Peony Pavillion

Manhuaga: 夏達 (Xia Da)
Genre: Drama, Historical, Romance
Summary: "A series of oneshot illustrations of famous Chinese folk tales." - Baka-Updates

Daily BL

Today's BL is by another of my favorite mangakak's; Katou Setsuko. Beautiful art interesting, sometimes twisted sometimes sweet, oneshots with a great main story. I loved them all but I'd have to say my favorite was chapter 5 - "Hako" or "Box". It was so beautifully screwed up, but the ending of pretty much all the oneshots are so damn frustrating, lol. But that aside! Hopefully you'll enjoy them too.

「蔓草の庭」
Tsurukusa no Niwa

Mangaka: 加東セツコ (Katou Setsuko)
Genre: Drama, Yaoi
Summary: "Summer vacation has started and Yoshiyuki and his cousin, Takaharu are being tutored by Kurushima, who works for Yoshiyuki's brother. Though reluctant at first about having a home tutor, Yoshiyuki starts developing an attraction towards Kurushima. However, there's more to Kurushima than meets the eye..." - Baka-Updates

Daily Manga

Well I'm still in the mood for horror. Somehow I can't get out of it, lol. But this is a good one! Horror or not it is really worth a read. I'd read a few chapters when it came out but got distracted for sometime and only really got back into it the other day. I also noticed that it recently got an anime but I probably wont watch it, lol. Anyways. Hope you like it.

「屍鬼」
Shiki

Author: 小野 不由美 (Ono Fuyumi)
Mangaka: 藤崎竜 (Fujisaki Ryu)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Shounen, Supernatural, Tragedy
Summary: "Sotoba is an old-fashioned Japanese village nestled deep in the mountains. It has a small population of about 1300, and the villagers strictly follow age-old traditions and customs.
One sweltering hot summer, a mysterious and deadly disease begins to spread rapidly among the villagers, affecting young and old alike. Following these puzzling deaths, a family of beautiful and elegant individuals moves into the abandoned 'Kanemasa' mansion on the hill-side over-looking Sotoba..." - Baka-Updates

Daily BL

For today's BL I'm actually recommending a mangaka's complete works (-3 older hetero works) which are all FMA doujin. Most are Ed x Al (in the alternate world) but there are a few Ed x Roy. The art is, well, indescribably beautiful. I had a hard time picking a cover to share, lol. The stories are also amazing(ly sexy and beautiful) and some tie into each other. All the scanned works can be downloaded at Scan-Clan (the scanners). I Hope you enjoy them.

Depicted: Minature Garden
Story: Al's desire; gender bender

Mangaka: Idea (イデア )
Genre: Doujinshi, Drama, Gender Bender, Psychological, Slice of Life, Shounen Ai, Yaoi
Description: Full Metal Alchemist doujinshi. Mainly Ed x Al, but there are a few Ed x Roy (my favorite.)