Friday, March 12, 2010

My Thoughts on the News About Hourou Musuko, Conbust Panel Date, and More Mainstream Recognition of A Yuri Manga

Oooh, I can see the clouds below.

Yup, I'm writing this post on a plane to Fort Lauderdale. ^^ (Although it's not the city where I'm staying for spring break.)

I'm quite excited about a new anime series being green-lit for Shimura Takako's Hourou Musuko manga,

which is running monthly in Comic Beam, the same seinen magazine that serialized Mori Kaoru's Emma. It's a very good series (what I've read of it so far, at least), and I'm looking forward to seeing it when it airs. Hopefully whichever studio is producing it will put as much care into it as J.C. Staff put into my beloved Aoi Hana. (Maybe it'll be J.C. Staff? I wonder if Kasai Kenicihi will sign up for it...this seems like his type of series, also. Of course, it's pointless speculating now.) Hourou Musuko is a slice-of-life series about a feminine "boy" (really a closeted transgendered girl) named Nitori Shuuichi, who is starting 5th grade at a new school. She makes friends with Takatsuki Yoshino, a transgendered boy who most people assume is a tomboyish girl. In true Shimura fashion, there is a large, generally likeable supporting cast. (Although Shuuichi's big sister Maho makes me glad that I'm an only child... >___>; Aside from her, pretty much everyone is likeable.)

Also- my yuri panel at Conbust is going to be at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 27. Directions to the con can be found here, and the schedule for all of the con events can be seen here. I hope to see plenty of people there! ^^

Plus, Takashima Rica's Rica'tte Kanji!? made a certain mainstream comic site's top gay comics list. ^_^ (I love seeing yuri- and anime and manga in general- receive press from outlets that don't normally report or focus on yuri/anime/manga- hence my giddiness over Afterellen streaming yuri this past summer and autumn.) See Okazu's Yuri Network News tomorrow for more.

Ack...battery running low. Anyway, major kudos to Takashima for getting more recognition and to Shimura for getting her second manga-to-anime adaptation! ^^

2 comments:

Kori Michele said...

T_T This is so exciting...Horo Musuko is one of my favorite favorite manga, I never thought something with the subject matter of children and transexualism would get a stateside release! I'm so happy, this manga has a gentle way of speaking to the issue of children dealing with gender issues.

I'm excited to follow your blog!

Katherine Hanson said...

@ Kori Michele- Thanks!! ^^ I'm excited about seeing this manga released stateside also- it's a very good story with (yes!!) no pandering. Hopefully it will sell well. *crosses fingers*