In the Emerald City

It looks like Blu's mysterious pirate-themed novel is indeed Flesh & Blood! I'm a bit surprised they'd choose such a long series for their first novel release, but it's supposed to be a good series. They're also releasing an OEL book by Studio Kosen, who I like best of the OEL 'yaoi' creators.

Yaoisuki has the list here. I'm happy to see that June has licensed Loving Gaze ("Otonarino Birunikoino Shisen") by Akira Kanbe. I'm not familiar with that particular title, but I have been reading and enjoying a lot by Ms Kanbe. It's true that she's not particularly groundbreaking, and she sticks very much to seme/uke types. Her art is lovely, but she has a tendency to make a lot of characters look alike. What she is, though, is sweet. Her couple are all adorably loving, and she mostly sticks with clearly consensual sex too. And, for the most part, the couples talk to each other about their feelings, so there aren't too many of those frustrating misunderstandings. I'm looking forward to reading it.

They've also licensed a bunch of novels that aren't by Narise Konohara. I don't recognise any of them, but hopefully I'll be able to find something I like.

A Ja-Dou dojinshi in English? DO WANT!

I don't know if this indicated the series has been licensed, but I certainly hope so. I wonder if they'll be selling the English versions at Winter Comiket?

Meanwhile, Disney's Robin Hood is on TV. I haven't seen it in years, but I've realised it's an awesome movie. I was giggling my head off at the fortune-teller bit.

The first volume of Ai no Kusabi is going to come out soon in English. I had originally planned on buying it, but I'm a lot more aware of my tastes in BL now, and I'm just not going to enjoy a tale of bondage, however much of a classic it's supposed to be. However, this book came up on my recommendations recently.

Naturally, the wings on the cover caught my attention. However, I didn't like the expressions on the guys' faces, and I assumed it was a manga. So I thought I'd wait and see if I could find a review after it came out, and decide whether or not I wanted it then. But then I took a closer look at the cover, and saw 'I's Novels'. A BL novel about white- and black-winged angels? HELL YES!

I only hope DMP's editing/adapting skills have improved.

I got up early again, met up with Mizukiaya and headed off to Big Sight. It was hotter than Saturday, but still not as bad as Friday. We got in at about 10:45 and went directly to the corporate booths. Mizukiaya got her ticket with no problem, but alas, without pre-ordering the CD on my phone I couldn't get one. So the Friday people didn't know what they were talking about. The next couple of hours saw me dashing madly around trying to find a phone that would let me buy it. Thanks again, Reppu!

I did get a bit of shopping done, though not quite as much as I'd planned (though that's probably for the best!). I got a Ja-Dou parody story from Mamiya Oki's table, and a couple of books from Kano Miyamoto's.

Then Mizukiaya and I went back up to the corporate booths to hang around the Hanayoi Romanesque table. We weren't sure of exactly where we were meant to wait, but finally a staff guy took us to the waiting area, which turned out to be outside the corporate booth area, in the sun. We waited in line for a bit, and then another staff guy came to take us in (or at least half of us; the other half waited outside, presumably to reduce the crowd). I happened to be sitting next to a Japanese woman, and the staff member asked her if I was with her, and she said no. Then he said, 'She looks like Heidi, doesn't she?' At least I think that's what he said; I could have totally misunderstood. The odd thing was he was talking past me like he thought I wouldn't understand him at all; I was surprised because there's usually at least an attempt to speak to me. So I said to him, 'I thought I was Alice' (and really, I get the Alice comment a lot, but Heidi was a new one). Then there was a bit of chatter from the Japanese fans about how Kakihara, being from Germany, has an international appeal.

So my group went back into the hall and lined up by the booth. We waited around for a couple of minutes, and then I heard some applause. At last, Kakihara had appeared! He gave a short welcoming speech, and then it was time for the handshaking.

Some people gave him little gifts, and I think the one that was most appreciated was one of those cold packs. That gift was quite amusing, actually - it seems you have to hit it to make it cold, and Kakihara didn't seem to be getting it, so the fan set it on the table and went WHAM! with her fist. He seemed to appreciate it a lot, and goodness knows it would have been a nice thing to have on such a hot day!

I regretted that I hadn't thought very hard about conversation topics. He commented on my dress, so we talked about Lolita for a bit, and he told me I was getting better at Japanese (No I'm totally not! I said, but it was flattering). Naturally I thought of things I could have said afterwards. I really wish I'd asked him about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, at least. Well, I definitely will next time. I might try to think of a nice gift, as well.

I left with Reppu and Cienna shortly after that. We had pizza, and then EPIC KARAOKE. It was seriously awesome. So I got home tired, but very happy.