Muscle Supremacy: Mojio Ikejiri’s “See You Again Tomorrow, Mr. Policeman”

Read on Renta!:
See You Tomorrow, Mr. Policeman by Mojio Ikejiri

Japanese title:
Omawari-san, Mata Ashita
お巡りさん、また明日

Links:
Mojio Ikejiri Twitter
B.Pilz Twitter
B.Pilz Website

Haruto’s an incredibly kind and hard-working neighborhood policeman with ten years on the force. He’s well-known among the locals for being incredibly selfless, and he’s always there to help. This self-effacing attitude of his, however, is starting to negatively impact his personal life. His most recent girlfriend grew cold since he was always working, and he tries his best to never rely on others, which keeps people feeling distant.

When he’s assigned to work the local town festival, he’s more than happy to serve his community. One moment of letting his guard down is all it takes for his life to be at risk, but security guard Sakura—assigned to protect the idol who’s there to perform—steps in and saves him in the nick of time. Haruto wants to thank Sakura, but Sakura’s gruff and distant. Having dealt with plenty of this kind of attitude during his time on the force, however, Haruto isn’t deterred. After Sakura goes on to save the idol from a stalker fan, Haruto approaches him again and is able to break down his walls a bit.

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Yamayade “You Should Be The One To Come Kiss Me” STELLAMAP Drink Stand

Today, March 21st, the drama CD for Yamayade’s smash hit Omae no Hou kara Kiss Shitekure yo (released on Renta! as You Should Be The One To Come Kiss Me) came out to much fanfare, and in celebration a pop-up shop for the series also opened at Sofmap stores across Japan! In collaboration with the Akihabara location’s STELLAMAP café, which often hosts BL collabs and cafés, there was a drink stand on the sixth floor. Thankfully, our kind boss graciously gave us the go-ahead to take a short work trip to hit up the drink stand and pop-up on opening day, so we’ve decided to post a report!

For the drama CD itself, the following write-up is from Sou, since I’m not particularly well-versed in the drama or seiyuu scene:

The main cast features none other than Chiaki Kobayashi as Eito Kanda and Ryōta Suzuki as Kou Ueno. The two of them are accomplished seiyuu with a long list of roles under their belts in a myriad of series, including both mainstream and BL works. Perhaps most notably for BL fans, the two of them recently co-starred as Kiyoshi Adachi and Yuichi Kurosawa respectively in the drama CD and anime adaptations of the mega-hit BL series Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!

The CD comes in both regular and deluxe edition (titled the “Kiss me more?” set — how adorable is that??), with the latter including an extra CD with bonus tracks and a special booklet that includes a bonus manga, a Q&A with the characters, and other special extras. Plus, there may be little bonuses that vary depending on where you purchase the CD from, so be sure to check out the 特典情報 (“bonus info”) for whatever retailer you’re looking to buy from! For Sofmap, this is a pair of “polaroid-style” cards with a foil-stamped replication of Yamayade-sensei’s signature. I was particularly stoked for this bonus, so I immediately bought a copy from Sofmap while enjoying the pop-up shop and drink stand. And, you know I had to splurge on the “Kiss me more?” deluxe edition for that extra booklet and audio! I’m personally excited to experience this story all over again, with the new addition of voices for the characters I’ve come to love so much.

Sou was super excited to be able to pick up the CD along with the drinks and goods, and spent much of their time in line going over the various special editions from a bunch of different stores. I, unfortunately, actually get really flustered and embarrassed listening to voiced BL content, so I don’t usually partake. But it was fun seeing Sou excited over the drama CD release.

But we’re rushing into things…! Let’s start from the beginning.

Continue reading “Yamayade “You Should Be The One To Come Kiss Me” STELLAMAP Drink Stand”

J.GARDEN 57: Return to Paradise

Spring is here! To many people that means the scent of melting snow, the blooming of flowers surrounded by freshly green leaves, beautiful warm weather, cute spring clothes, the excitement as summer approaches, etc. etc. but for me…

It means J.GARDEN is back again, baybeeeeee!!

I unfortunately had to miss J.GARDEN 56 due to going back to the States for the first time in two years, which was devastating (though, nice to see my family and enjoy Minnesota’s fall weather), but thankfully Sou was there to step in and pick up all the books I wanted. (Including all of Jiro Kawaii’s!) Either way, I’m stoked for J.GARDEN 57.

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5 Reasons You Should Check Out “Redoing My Youth In Another World -The God Of Death Is My Fanboy-“

Read on Renta!:
Redoing My Youth In Another World -The God Of Death Is My Fanboy-
by Taiyo no Taiyo & MANGA SHOKUNIN STUDIO; original story by Hare Takizawa

Japanese title:
青春のやり直しは異世界で~死神は俺のことが好きすぎる~
Seishun no Yarinaoshi ha Isekai de -Shinigami ha Ore no Koto ga Sukisugiru-

Links:
Hare Takizawa’s Twitter (original author)
DeNIMO’s Twitter
(publisher)

When it was first announced at our weekly company-wide meeting that our content development team was working on a Renta! Original BL VertiComix, I was ecstatic. Of course, I’m always grateful to get to work with BL regardless of the publisher, and whether or not I personally have a hand in the localization process. But, there’s something especially exciting about being so closely associated (albeit with limited direct involvement) with an original creative work. Renta! already releases some original BL manga through our DeNIMO line, but this would be the very first BL series we’ve made in the form of a vertical-scrolling, full-color comic — which are generally quite different from traditional black and white manga — so I was excited to see what kind of vibe Renta! would bring to the world of BL color comics. After a few weeks of curious anticipation, bada-bing, “Redoing My Youth In Another World” was born, and soon after, the English version was already in the works.

So, what kind of story did we end up making? Initially given very little information besides the key visual, I wasn’t sure what to expect myself, but “RMYIAW” was quite the surprise nonetheless.

What this manga has to offer includes, but is not limited to, a guy in his mid-twenties rocking a school uniform (🥵)(←Ames and Yomogi have already kinkshamed me, so don’t come for me), a God of Death who’s more like the God of Gap Moe, and a plethora of demons and monsters — all of whom want a piece of our dear protagonist. “Literally,” you ask? Well, not exactly…

I don’t want to spoil too much of the story because it’s kind of a wild ride — so instead, I’ll lay out the top 5 reasons this fresh addition to the BL genre won me over, and why I think it’s worth giving it a read!

Continue reading “5 Reasons You Should Check Out “Redoing My Youth In Another World -The God Of Death Is My Fanboy-“”