*comiket intensifies*
I am obsessed with planning for Comiket. For the first time in several Comikets, I am super interested in fandom doujinshi, so of course the Comiket gods decided to smite me by putting everything I care about on the same day. This Comiket is going to require military precision planning. Thank goodness I have awesome friends and we're going together because if I were on my own I'd just give up and curl in a ball in the corner and cry.
Anyway...this weekend I was going through the original BL section of the Comiket catalog to make sure I hadn't missed anything and came across this picture that made me go "WAIT WHAT IS THIS I NEED IT." I decided to flag that circle and a few others that looked interesting and check out their published works. [Advanced level shopping: buying stuff to decide whether I need to buy more stuff.] This is a backwards way to find new manga, but whatever. Let's do this:
Ijiwaru Shinaide - Yoshio Akira
Katou is in love with his coworker Serizawa, but when he confesses and asks Serizawa to go out with him, the response he gets is "Gross, no way." This makes Katou cry (omg) which Serizawa finds unexpectedly adorable and immediately changes his mind. Serizawa teases, but is clearly crazy about Katou and his unexpected ways of showing it killed me dead (over and over). This may be a new pinnacle in the execution of tsundere characters. (Oh, Serizawa's face when he looks at Katou. Oh.)
Comiket verdict: I NEED doujinshi for this. I want more of this couple forever. (By the way, this was the catalog picture I saw and knew I needed. [link] Sometimes I have really good instincts.)
Hinekure Chaser | Motto Hinekure Chaser - Panko.
Hirokawa Hozumi is a rich kid who was going to a rich kid school, but transferred to a regular school to follow his crush, Yamato (who saved Hirokawa from a traumatic incident). Hirokawa is jealous to find that Yamato is always around his childhood friend, Misaki. Hirokawa takes to bullying (or "bullying") Misaki, both because he's jealous of Misaki and to get Yamato's attention. From there, things descend into a spiral of Hirokawa being a sad puppy hiding his feelings (but not doing a very good job), Yamato being confused about why he's so attracted to this sad puppy, and patient Misaki trying to get them together. Once they do get together, Yamato is patient and gentle boyfriend and Hirokawa is a complete idiot, but they are pretty darn cute. I felt the second volume left off kind of abruptly, so I hope this is continuing (but there was no author's note, so I'm not really sure).
Comiket verdict: I would like doujinshi for this, but I won't die if I don't get it. Probably. Also need to check out this, since she says she'll have doujinshi for both.
Mousou Oneroom - Umiyuki Lily
1. A man who has no job and has been living with his girlfriend in exchange for doing all the cooking and cleaning, finally gets dumped and goes to find an old friend (because he has nowhere else to stay), but it turns out that friend's brother is living in his apartment and is a popular ero mangaka. [He gets to stay because the assistants are hungry, um, and also because the mangaka is in love with him.] 2. Next door neighbor childhood friends love each other but are insecure about the other's feelings.
Comiket verdict: I think this art is super cute, and I kind of really like the childhood friends, but it's unclear what manga her new doujinshi would be for (the art in the catalog isn't any of these characters), so...wait and see, I guess. I might need to look at some of her other titles and see if there's anything I might care about. Otherwise, it's a pass.
Kyouju to Shitsuji no Shizuka na Seikatsu | 2 - Kanai Kei
Shiba Sougo's only living relative, his older brother, dies and leaves him a house, and a (pretty) butler, Yakumo Haruki. Sougo hates to be controlled and Haruki is terrible at showing emotions, so at first they don't get along at all, but gradually they open up to each other.
The first volume of this is just okay. In fact, the second half of it is a different story (about roommates who are in love with each other but hiding it), and I liked that better. But the second volume is soooooo cute. First of all, these guys are just goopy over each other. Second, Haruki shows way more personality. (his pouty face, hee! Also, line without context: "But master, it's an undeniable fact that your butt is very attractive!") Third, did I mention the goopiness? They ooze love and adoration. I'm sad that it's over and there's no sign of it continuing (it really seems like it could).
Comiket verdict: Probably? When I picked which manga to buy, I wasn't looking at when they were published, and this came out early last year, so it's unlikely Comiket doujinshi will be for this manga. (But apparently there's a special booklet I need to look for, because of course there is.) I think doujinshi is likely to be for this (since the author already put out one doujinshi for it at this year's J Garden), so I need to read this, too, I guess.
Anyway...this weekend I was going through the original BL section of the Comiket catalog to make sure I hadn't missed anything and came across this picture that made me go "WAIT WHAT IS THIS I NEED IT." I decided to flag that circle and a few others that looked interesting and check out their published works. [Advanced level shopping: buying stuff to decide whether I need to buy more stuff.] This is a backwards way to find new manga, but whatever. Let's do this:
Ijiwaru Shinaide - Yoshio Akira
Katou is in love with his coworker Serizawa, but when he confesses and asks Serizawa to go out with him, the response he gets is "Gross, no way." This makes Katou cry (omg) which Serizawa finds unexpectedly adorable and immediately changes his mind. Serizawa teases, but is clearly crazy about Katou and his unexpected ways of showing it killed me dead (over and over). This may be a new pinnacle in the execution of tsundere characters. (Oh, Serizawa's face when he looks at Katou. Oh.)
Comiket verdict: I NEED doujinshi for this. I want more of this couple forever. (By the way, this was the catalog picture I saw and knew I needed. [link] Sometimes I have really good instincts.)
Hinekure Chaser | Motto Hinekure Chaser - Panko.
Hirokawa Hozumi is a rich kid who was going to a rich kid school, but transferred to a regular school to follow his crush, Yamato (who saved Hirokawa from a traumatic incident). Hirokawa is jealous to find that Yamato is always around his childhood friend, Misaki. Hirokawa takes to bullying (or "bullying") Misaki, both because he's jealous of Misaki and to get Yamato's attention. From there, things descend into a spiral of Hirokawa being a sad puppy hiding his feelings (but not doing a very good job), Yamato being confused about why he's so attracted to this sad puppy, and patient Misaki trying to get them together. Once they do get together, Yamato is patient and gentle boyfriend and Hirokawa is a complete idiot, but they are pretty darn cute. I felt the second volume left off kind of abruptly, so I hope this is continuing (but there was no author's note, so I'm not really sure).
Comiket verdict: I would like doujinshi for this, but I won't die if I don't get it. Probably. Also need to check out this, since she says she'll have doujinshi for both.
Mousou Oneroom - Umiyuki Lily
1. A man who has no job and has been living with his girlfriend in exchange for doing all the cooking and cleaning, finally gets dumped and goes to find an old friend (because he has nowhere else to stay), but it turns out that friend's brother is living in his apartment and is a popular ero mangaka. [He gets to stay because the assistants are hungry, um, and also because the mangaka is in love with him.] 2. Next door neighbor childhood friends love each other but are insecure about the other's feelings.
Comiket verdict: I think this art is super cute, and I kind of really like the childhood friends, but it's unclear what manga her new doujinshi would be for (the art in the catalog isn't any of these characters), so...wait and see, I guess. I might need to look at some of her other titles and see if there's anything I might care about. Otherwise, it's a pass.
Kyouju to Shitsuji no Shizuka na Seikatsu | 2 - Kanai Kei
Shiba Sougo's only living relative, his older brother, dies and leaves him a house, and a (pretty) butler, Yakumo Haruki. Sougo hates to be controlled and Haruki is terrible at showing emotions, so at first they don't get along at all, but gradually they open up to each other.
The first volume of this is just okay. In fact, the second half of it is a different story (about roommates who are in love with each other but hiding it), and I liked that better. But the second volume is soooooo cute. First of all, these guys are just goopy over each other. Second, Haruki shows way more personality. (his pouty face, hee! Also, line without context: "But master, it's an undeniable fact that your butt is very attractive!") Third, did I mention the goopiness? They ooze love and adoration. I'm sad that it's over and there's no sign of it continuing (it really seems like it could).
Comiket verdict: Probably? When I picked which manga to buy, I wasn't looking at when they were published, and this came out early last year, so it's unlikely Comiket doujinshi will be for this manga. (But apparently there's a special booklet I need to look for, because of course there is.) I think doujinshi is likely to be for this (since the author already put out one doujinshi for it at this year's J Garden), so I need to read this, too, I guess.