Category: Manga

Manga, Reviews

Ghost Ship’s Release of To Love Ru Darkness

Posted on by oshikko

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Of all the licensed manga I’d end up having on my shelf in print I never expected it would be To Love Ru Darkness, probably the best ecchi title I have ever read. Given the tendency for overseas publishes to shy away from sexual materials, I have to commend Seven Seas for establishing a new line ‘Ghost Ship’ for this release and others.

The manga is being released very regularly, in good quality print and, most importantly is fully uncensored, well-translated and includes all the bonus art pages from the Japanese release. I’ve purchased the first 7 volumes and the 8th one is on its way. Even though I had read it before online, I find it’s well worth the re-read.

The art by Kentao Yabuki is truly on a level all of its own. Being an outright ecchi story, most of his drawings accentuate the tantalising naked bodies of the female cast. He’s unbested at drawing breasts (and doesn’t make them way too big), but perhaps more importantly, his faces, hair and expressions are all extremely beautiful and rich with luscious detail.

I am especially weak to his drawings of Momo who has become one of my all-time fabvourite waifus.

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The background plot regarding aliens, biological assassins, etc is fairly trite and inconsequential, so do not going in expecting riveting story. However, the character development and flirtatious dialogue in pursuit of a harem is pretty fun to read and can definitely keep you engaged. I get a real kick out of Momo trying to mastermind getting the other girls to join the harem plan.

Some of the many bonus illustrations in the volumes so far:

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Overall, this is a classic manga if you like ecchi and a flawless release from Ghost Ship. It’s absolutely worth the purchase.

I can’t wait to see what else Ghost Ship gets.

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Manga, Reviews

Manga Pickup: Kawaiikereba Hentai demo Suki ni Natte Kuremasu ka

Posted on by oshikko

Japanese Title: 可愛ければ変態でも好きになってくれますか？

On the prowl for new manga to check out, the volume cover artwork for this one instantly caught my eye for two reasons – cute, petite blonde girl in a state of undress and another girl with a kinky glint in her eye brandishing a pet collar and leash. Intruiged, I read on.

There are two volumes of the Kawaiikereba Hentai demo Suki ni Natte Kuremasu ka manga out so far, and both have been fan-translated into English. It’s actually a manga adaptation of a light novel series that has been ongoing for a fair while (I thought the artwork looked familiar, turns out I’ve been seeing the LN art here and there). Having caught up with it I can safely say those two reasons are still pretty much the main reason to keep reading.

The long dark-haired girl is a complete masochist who wants to be dominated as someone’s pet, while the short-haired blonde girl is the opposite – total sadist in search of someone to enslave. And of course, for whatever reason, they both have eyes for the everyday highschool boy MC. Aligning with my own tastes, I’m quite the fan of dark haired girl and her submissive advances and kind of repulsed by the other girls attitude. But blondie is good to look at so the fanservice scenes are appreciated.

There’s a few other twists to the story – MC has a secret admirer he’s trying to identify who confessed by sending him a pair of her panties – and other heroines with their own strange perversions are starting to adorn the series. Rather than a straight-up ecchi series, the perversity is more played up for laughs so it’s a fairly entertaining read with good artwork. Just don’t expect touching romance or compelling characters.

 

The manga knows its target audience – promo artwork and store bonuses really sell the girls.

I wonder if the novel would be a good read… In any case it seems to be a popular title so I wouldn’t be shocked to see it get an anime adaptation at some point.

Story: ▮▮▯▯▯
Fanservice:▮▮▯▯▯

Manga

Manga Pick-up: Oshioki X-Cute

Posted on by oshikko

Japanese Title: おしおきエクスキュート

Whenever you go to Japan and poke your head into a bookstore you’re always starkly reminded of the fact that we only get to see the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the manga that get released over there. The manga that foreign fans hear about tend to be the ones that a fan-translator just happens to pick up and stick with.

This manga is a good example of that. It’s pretty popular in Japan with 5 volumes sold so far, yet I haven’t seen it mentioned anywhere else ever. My keen-eyed girlfriend spotted the cover when we were last in Akiba and thought I’d like it. Boy was she right!

The word Oshioki means punishment and the premise is based around light S&M/bondage tones with the following premise:

Shimizu Kenta’s high school life changed when he was seduced by Aoi Riku as a joke who then proceeded to bully him mercilessly. However, a messenger from hell named Beatrice came and gave him a choker so that he can dominate sinful women as an executor.

At this point you’re probably either sold or completely uninterested, which might be why it never took off outside of Japan (although Nana to Kaoru was popular and focuses a lot more on the kinky themes). Anyway, if the premise intrigues you it’s well worth keeping your eye out for this one. You won’t be disappointed in the ecchi department, with girls being put in all kinds of compromising positions.

The artwork is really moe, the fanservice is shameless and the story/characters is easily digestible trash (in a good way).

I grabbed 3 volumes in Japan, so here’s some dodgy photos (as usual, self-censored but the real deal bares all):

The first 5 chapters have been translated, but seems to have stalled..hopefully someone will pick it back up again. In the mean time I’m going to keep trying to drum up support!

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Manga, Reviews

Manga Pickup: Nande Koko ni Sensei ga!?

Posted on by oshikko

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On a whim the other night I read through the chapters that are currently translated for the manga Nande Koko ni Sensei Ga!? (Why the hell are you here, Teacher!?). I don’t usually get into the female teacher thing but it had a high rating and is set to get an anime adaptation next year so I thought there must be something to it.

Having delved into it I can see what that something is .. ecchi. This is an honest, unapologetic lewdfest with the notions of comedy and character development carefully woven around a core of panties, tits, ass and all the other good stuff. The author also touches on some mild fetishistic stuff like bondage and peeing, but not enough to kill the fun for those not into it.

Good ecchi requires great artwork, and the quality definitely passes the test here. It’s not on the same god tier as something like To Love Ru, but the characters are beautiful and the artist draws nudity with the tender loving care that’s needed.

The plot is where it really falls down. Being largely episodic – a series of “unfortunate” and ludicrous encounters there’s little space for an overarching plot or even real romantic development. So it’s kind of hard to get into it beyond the visuals.

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(censored for this blog but the manga shows nipples)

That said, this will make a great fanservice anime and I’m now quite looking forward to it. The key visual is quite fetching; I don’t think they could have translated the manga designs to anime much better..

Story: ▮▯▯▯▯
Fanservice:▮▮▮▮▯

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