News! And Goodreads Recommends--Romance!

[skjam]

First, I finished the last of my homework, now it's just waiting to hear back if I did well enough to earn my Associates' degree. If so, it's time off from college and hopefully a new job somewhere

Comments

[q99]

-I'm not sure what my tastes in romance are, although I do find I somewhat prefer it from the male point of view.-

Hm, I tend to be the other way around, but I'll see what I can do.

Most of the harem-comedies of course, to get them out of the way (if you want recommendations within that, I can do so, but I mentally classify them separately).

Angelic Sanctuary qualifies for that (as do most Kaori Yuki series, come to think of it). And it's a fantasy one too, where it starts in the modern day but heaven and hell rapidly get involved, fairly goth-y style.

Mars has more of the female lead, but like Kare Kano it has some sections on the guy iirc. Though it is set in the modern day with no unusual elements.

Midori Days is a weird one- a thuggish guy wakes up to discover, one day, a girl who likes him became... and yes, this really is the plot... his hand. It's a pretty silly one.

Hetero only, or is other matchups ok? Seven Days by Venio Tachibana is a fantastic story of a guy who agrees to date anyone who asks for seven days, and another guy decides to take him up on it.

-And I seem to prefer romance to have a second genre mixed in, rather than straight up love stories. -

Oh, I am with you there :) My current shojo reading list is almost exclusively fantasy-ones. Dawn of the Arcana as mentioned is in a fantasy world with politics and such, Kamisama Kiss is about dealing with spirits (though, that's a strongly female-lead one).

SciFi is rare in manga, unfortunately, but in novels you've got Catherine Asaro's Skolian books, which I can go into detail in if desired. Any of them are a mix of romance / space action / culture shock / dice, in various quantities. The Last Hawk has a male lead and is one of the best, too (focuses: Romance, culture shock, dice).

Comedy's another common mix in (Ouran High School, Kamisama Kiss, Midori Days, the harem comedies).

-Comics and manga do better for me by making it unnecessary to have a mushy internal monologue.-

For comics, you know about Saga, right? Space Opera where a couple from opposite sides of a war etc. etc.. One of the best comics going right now.

Really, there's only three romantic comics I can think of worth mentioning. Saga, Empowered (bondage-prone female heroine, fairly soon encounters a boyfriend in a rather well-done relationship. Superhero sex comedy), and Love and Capes (mild-mannered bookstore owner together with the Crusader, the local equivalent of superman).

[skjam]

Enjoyed Midori Days, though I skipped most of the volumes the anime covered to get to the new bits.

Well, the two books with gay romance in them I've read in the last year didn't freak me out like they would have twenty years ago, but I wasn't overly enthused either. (They had other issues that were more important to me as a critical reader.) By the way, protip to writers: If I catch you avoiding pronouns that might hint at gender, I know something's up and won't be surprised.

Might consider the Skollan books.

I've been reading the Saga posts on Scans Daily, and entered the giveaway for one of the volumes from Goodreads--didn't win.

Have read most of Empowered and Love and Capes. The latter is a lot of fun, the former is deeper than it has any right to be.

Made a mistake, the next shelf post will be sports and games. Then young adult.

[q99]

-Well, the two books with gay romance in them I've read in the last year didn't freak me out like they would have twenty years ago, but I wasn't overly enthused either. (They had other issues that were more important to me as a critical reader.) By the way, protip to writers: If I catch you avoiding pronouns that might hint at gender, I know something's up and won't be surprised.-

Well my own bookshelf on the subject is rather short- I find most of them aren't exactly gripping and too dependent on form. But the aforementioned Seven Days is very good (My amazon review), and there's also a fun one called Princess Princess, which actually isn't even technically romance but as one panel at a convention on the subject put it, "It's the best story of guys growing close to each other, deal with their respective issues, etc. that I've read, despite not technically having them fall in love." (Story, guy moves to an all-guy school, and discover they have this weird custom of male 'idols' who crossdress to keep up student morale. He agrees upon hearing the benefits, and he and his fellow idols grow tightly knit). And by someone who normally does romance ones and still follows that style, just without, y'know, technically getting them into a relationship.

Hm, there's also Click, a korean manwha about a guy who discovers his family has a genetic quirk that causes them to switch genders (and she decides to try identifying as female), and thus she's torn between an old girlfriend and an old male friend. Lotsa drama.

-Made a mistake, the next shelf post will be sports and games. Then young adult.-

Ah, sports. I know some very over the top sports manga ^^