More mystery than romance, this BL series features some unremarkable "cases" but a pair of interesting leads who are already an established couple when the story begins! Shocking! You can find my review for Manga Bookshelf here. In the Walnut is published in English by Digital Manga Publishing. The series is still ongoing in Japan; the third volume was just released there on … [Read more...] about In the Walnut 1-2 by Toko Kawai: B+
Boys' Love
Café Latte Rhapsody by Toko Kawai: A-
I reviewed this cute yet complicated love story for this month's BL Bookrack column at Manga Bookshelf. I really, really enjoyed the romance between a somewhat relationship-scarred bookstore employee and his huge younger lover, and it made me realize I haven't read anything by Toko Kawai that I didn't like! You can find that review here. Review copy provided by the … [Read more...] about Café Latte Rhapsody by Toko Kawai: A-
Garden Sky by Yuko Kuwabara: C+
I reviewed this quasi-BL collection for this week's BL Bookrack column at Manga Bookshelf. The book is divided into two sets of stories that are boring while underway, feature extremely similar characters, and go nowhere in the end. This makes for quite a dull read. You can find that review here. Review copy provided by the publisher. … [Read more...] about Garden Sky by Yuko Kuwabara: C+
Tidbits: Three from DMP
Welcome to the first installment of Tidbits, a periodic column featuring short reviews of multiple titles. In this post, I check out the latest volumes of three continuing series in the Digital Manga Publishing catalog. First up is volume two of Alice the 101st, followed by the third volume of the shoujo classic Itazura Na Kiss, and the second volume of Maiden Rose. Alice the … [Read more...] about Tidbits: Three from DMP
Silver Diamond 5-7 by Shiho Sugiura: B+
My darling Silver Diamond! How I have missed you! There was almost a year between the releases of volumes four and five, but TOKYOPOP is on the road to recovery (yay!) and the series is now on a quicker release schedule. In volume four, Rakan traveled to the other world in the company of Chigusa, Narushige (and Koh!), and Tohji. Pretty quickly they encountered a group of … [Read more...] about Silver Diamond 5-7 by Shiho Sugiura: B+