katikat | Entries tagged with manga: k

Yuuta was so sweet when the girl asked him out and he realized what her friends were up to. Aww... And when then Yuuki jumped onto his back and demanded a date too, LOL! But the funniest thing was...

... when they talked about girls and having a girl or three or four - "if that's your preference" - and Shun's reaction. You had to wonder: Was his reaction "three or four" or "girls" related?

And the manga episode, it was hilarious! When Shun said he wanted to draw a fantasy manga and Yuuta replied...

Or when the boy from Yuuki's club always saw Shun as the "girl" - the damsel in distress or Pink Ranger! I think it's really sweet that the boys accept Shun's... otherness.

And an obligatory cat!

Current Mood: amused

I finally finished Kizuna, all 11 volumes *pats herself on the back*

The first six or so volumes of this series were amazing. They focused mostly on Ranmaru and Kei with Kei's Yakuza family lurking around. There were murder attempts, kidnappings, crippling injuries and the slow road to recovery, revenge... And it was fantastic because it was about Ran-chan and Kei. Around volume 6 though, it felt like Kazuma Kodaka ran out of ideas...

... And so she pushed Ranmaru and Kei into the background and focused on Masa and Kai. As you know, I'm not a fan of an age-difference!kink or a daddy!kink. And in this case, it was pretty extreme. Masa was there when Kai was born, he basically played the part of Kai's father/big brother/guardian. Also, Kai was a brat, awful, annoying, childish, very unlikable brat. I didn't get this pairing at all. And they became the focus of the rest of the series.

... And then two other pairings were introduced, the assassins JB and Tashiro plus Tachibana from a rival Yakuza gang and his lover. I so did not care about either couple. Unfortunately, especially JB and Tashiro got a lot of space, a half of a volume twice. Why?

... And the plots moved away from murder and mayhem and towards mundane, everyday problems. How do I tell my father/grandfather/friends that I'm gay? What do I do after I'm finished with school? I have a responsibility to take care of my grandfather. Etc. and so on. It didn't really fit this series. In Kazuma Kodaka's other series, Kiss Me, Teacher (or Bad Teacher's Equation in the English edition), it was a part of the package. In Kizuna, it made the story slow and tedious.

So, to sum it up: The first half of Kizuna is fantastic, the second half rather boring. Between Kizuna and Kiss Me, Teacher, KMT is definitely better, hands down!

Current Mood: blah

I've been re-reading "Kizuna" by Kazuma Kodaka, one of the most famous yaoi manga ever published, a real legend. I almost forgot just how good this manga is. Some manga you pick for their fame but you're disappointed in the end, "Kizuna" is simply rocking awesome!

Out of all the pairings in this series - Enjoji/Ranmaru, Masa/Kai, JB/Tashiro - my favorite one is...

Ran-chan and Enjoji!

They are the sweetest thing ever. From their adorkable first kiss over their hilarious fights - chibified drawings are a hoot! - to their undying devotion to each other. They are simply precious.

Masa and Kai never really did it for me, their age difference is simply too great, Masa is too cool and Kai too much of a brat. And JB and Tashiro were introduced way too late in the series for me to create a real attachment to them. It's just too bad that these couples take over most of the "action" in later volumes.

Kazuma Kodaka is one of the mangakas who never disappointed me. "Kizuna", "Kiss Me, Teacher" or "Border", she really knows how to create engaging characters, how to develop them and show the readers who they are. Wonderful. Simply wonderful!

Current Mood: relaxed

I'm so sad to see the series end. This must be, hands down, Kazuma Kodaka's best manga. The art is beautiful and the characters feel so real, they grow, they mature, they change, they marry and have kids, they move in together and they have sex, sometimes oh so hot, sometimes awkward and messy... All of the characters are three-dimensional, all of them have their own little story to tell. It's amazing. I laughed out loud and I teared up reading this manga. Is there anything better?

Current Mood: nostalgic

Review: I love this manga so much. The characters are always evolving and moving forward, changing and maturing. Masami and Toru become a couple and move in together, Masayoshi finds a flat for himself and admits to Arisawa that maybe, just maybe he does have some feelings for him and we also find out more about Catherine-san and her friendship with Yoshiyuki, Masami and Masayoshi's father. I also love how accepting everybody is of Catherine-san, a transgendered person. It's such a warm-hearted manga...

Current Mood: content

I simply love this series. Because of its length, the characters have the time to grow, to become three-dimensional. They deal with stuff like co-dependency, homophobia, betrayal, the mechanics of gay sex... but always with humor. It's simply amazing. And the art is breathtaking. This volume is little more angsty than the previous ones, what with the misunderstanding between Masami and Toru and with Toru's refusal to talk about his relationship with Masami with his friends and family, but because of that, it's also really sweet. I especially loved the scene where Atsushi was comforting Masayoshi, that was cute.

Current Mood: peaceful

Masayoshi promised Atsushi to wait for him, to wait till Atsushi grows up and becomes a man - I'm glad that this manga avoided the cliché teacher/student relationship, that the mangaka made the characters wait with sex till they were both grown-ups. Also, I loved the story about how Masami and Toru fell in love, that was sweet. All the characters in this series are so fleshed-up, so three-dimensional!

Current Mood: listless

My 100th book this year! *cheers*

I love Kazuma Kodaka's female characters. Yuriko is simply awesome, being so sneaky and a real "fag hag," cheering both for Masami&Toru and Atsushi&Masayoshi while trying to get Inagaki to fall in love with her. And now there's Mizuha, a real tomboy of a woman, and I just love how growly she is, not shying away from throwing a punch. Who would've thought that a BL manga would have such amazing female characters?

Current Mood: lazy

So, I was reading Kazuma Kodaka's "Kiss Me, Teacher" manga, vol. 6. And there was a scene where Atsushi, the high school student who's in love with his teacher, was having a wet dream from which he was woken by his alarm clock ringing. And the scene ended with this chibi pic:

OMG, I LOL'd so hard seeing that! Poor, poor horny Atsushi :P

Current Mood: giggly

Not as good as the previous volumes. I guess because it covered only two self-contained stories and they seemed a bit too long. Though I loved how obsessed Satsuki was with Masayoshi. It was so funny that where ever he went, he stumbled across either Masayoshi or Toru - and that everybody called him "Sunshine," to his eternal irritation, of course. His reactions were priceless.

Current Mood: lazy

That was hilarious. I loved the part where Inagaki, Arisawa and Yuriko were discussing anal sex, not something you see often in a manga, and their reaction was, "It goes WHERE?!" And then, later on, when Arisawa ran to Masayoshi and apologized for being so inconsiderate because he didn't know he would have to stick his ***** - yes, the stars were a part of the bubble :P - into Masayoshi's bottom! Masayoshi's reaction! Hilarious, let me tell you!

On the other hand, the story of Kyohei and Kenya's friendship was so touching, proving that a straight guy and a gay guy can be best friends...

Current Mood: amused

First thing first: The art is beautiful, truly amazing. Much better and much more consistent than in Kazuma Kodaka's other masterpiece, "Kizuna". I'm smitten.

Second, the story is simply sweet. I loved the background story about Masami and Masayoshi's past, about their mother and father - it made the characters much more three-dimensional. And the trip to Norway was quite funny too, but surprisingly touching what with their father and his "problem" with Masami falling for a man.

This series is definitely a keeper.

Current Mood: drained

I haven't laughed so much reading a book since... forever. Masami and Toru's futile pursuit of a night alone. Atsushi asking Masayoshi what a blow-up doll was and if Masayoshi wanted one for Christmas. Just hilarious! The only thing I didn't like much was the over the top crazy table tennis tournament at the very end, it reminded me too much of "Gravitation". But the rest was awesome!

Current Mood: energetic

You could call it "The Comedy of Errors" what with the way Atsushi mistakes Masayoshi for Masami and then the things just get going. Atsushi and Masami are a bit too uke-ish for my liking, especially Atsushi who's a real crybaby, but overall, I really like the manga. It's funny, but there's a real story there. And the art is beautiful and very distinct, if slightly inconsistent. I'm definitely interested in reading volume 2.

Current Mood: calm

The final volume of "Kizuna" is out, vol. 11, but when I picked it up, I realized that I had no idea what happened in the previous ten books anymore. Thus a re-read was in order. I admit that I've always been a bigger fan of the Enjoji/Ranmaru pairing than of Masa/Sagano. But I love the way Enjoji and Sagano bicker, they really are brothers!

Current Mood: exanimate

I was such a good, good girl yesterday. Despite the awful heat, I finished my workload before 4pm - so I rewarded myself with Star Trek: Enterprise's S2. Amazon UK had it for 12.88 pounds only!

And I realized that if I wanted to read the last part of Kazuma Kodaka's "Kizuna", I would have to re-read the whole series first. I remember zip of what happened in the previous 10 volumes. It's been years since I read them. And this being the final part...

But first I need to finish John Meaney's "Bone Song", book 1 of the Tristopolis series, that I need to R&R for my boss. I just can't get into the story. 50 pages in and it's all monotone droning, all described, nothing really felt. Though the setting is quite interesting.

And now, work!

Current Mood: lethargic

The "Kiss Me, Teacher" manga by Kodaka Kazuma is unfortunately available in Germany only so far. The US manga publishing houses obviously really don't like Kodaka-sensei. The whole series has been scanlated though and you probably know it better under the title "Kusatta Kyoushi no Houteishiki". There had also been an OVA done in the past. It's still available on the net somewhere but it's not really good. The manga is way better!

It tells the story of the brothers Masami and Masayoshi Shibata. Masami - also known as Maa-chan - illustrates books and since his school days, he is in love with Toru-kun, Masayoshi's classmate. Masayoshi is a school nurse and a part-time teacher at the same school as Toru. Masayoshi is just the opposite of Masami - he is a true womanizer... totally in love with his brother. But then, Atsushi enters the scene - a young student who is at first totally in love with Maa-chan... but then, he discovers the hotness that's Masayoshi. And to Masayoshi's frustration nothing and nobody can stop him from getting what he wants!

This manga is 99% comedy pure. There are no sex scenes, so it's not as hot as "Kizuna". It concentrates on the shy and awkward love between Masami and Toru and on Masayoshi running away from Atsushi's determined attention. Though later in the series, serious themes are introduced: The death of Maa-chan's and Masayoshi's mother and their relationship with their father, Masayoshi's fear of falling in love with the wrong person again or the awkwardness of first sex - especially between homosexual partners. And it's rather cute to watch how Masayoshi slowly starts falling for A-kun too...

But what Kodaka-sensei excels most at are her chibi scenes. I'm totally smitten with her chibis. Wah, they are so cute!

So, if you can get your hands either on the scanlation, or on the paperbacks, do so. In Japan, the series is finished, but Kodaka-sensei is working on a sequel with the younger generation of characters. In Germany, it's still ongoing and I will definitely buy the rest! 4 stars out of 5! :)

Current Mood: nerdy

I've started re-reading the wonderful manga "Kizuna" by Kazuma Kodaka and it really pains me to see how little attention the US manga publishing companies pay to this wonderful mangaka in general and to "Kizuna" in particular. In Germany, there are already all the volumes that have been published in Japan out. So far, that makes 10 books. And I can proudly say that I own every one of them.

"Kizuna" is one of the most famous manga out there. I think that every yaoi-lover knows who Ran-chan and Enjoji or Kai and Masa are. It's really surprising that the publishing companies are not interested in sharing this wonderful series with their US readers. From what I've found, there are only three or four books out which is a terrible shame, really :( This is a legend and I think it deserves more attention and advertisement.

And so I want to know...

[Poll #799682]

Current Mood: pensive

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Entries tagged with manga: k

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Kimi to Boku 7+8

Kizuna, all done

Kizuna

Kazuma Kodaka's "Kiss Me, Teacher #10" (manga), #114

Kazuma Kodaka's "Kiss Me, Teacher #9" (manga), #113

Kazuma Kodaka's "Kiss Me, Teacher #8" (manga), #105

Kazuma Kodaka's "Kiss Me, Teacher #7" (manga), #101

Kazuma Kodaka's "Kiss Me, Teacher #6" (manga), #100

LOL!

Kazuma Kodaka's "Kiss Me, Teacher #5" (manga), #98

Kazuma Kodaka's "Kiss Me, Teacher #4" (manga), #97

Kazuma Kodaka's "Kiss Me, Teacher #3" (manga), #96

Kazuma Kodaka's "Kiss Me, Teacher #2" (manga), #95

Kazuma Kodaka's "Kiss Me, Teacher Vol. 1" (manga), #91

Kazuma Kodaka's "Kizuna 1" (manga), #99

Good girl

Manga: "Kiss Me, Teacher 1 - 7" by Kodaka Kazuma

Manga: Kizuna

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March 2019

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