Level babbled a lot, too; I'm just following the standard. *straight face*
Otoyome-Gatari © Mori Kaoru/Enterbrain
[Serialized in Fellows!]
Published in Indonesia as The Bride's Stories by Elex Media
Bambino!, you already won an award, so give way to The Bride's Stories, nominated for the fourth Manga Taisho awards. The series (which lost to Umino Chika's March comes in like a lion by 20 points) premieres 11 May.
Married couple Karluk Ayhan and Amira Hargal are separated in age by eight years: Amira is 20 years old and Karluk, 12. They live together with Karluk's family. Their harmonious relationship is disturbed by Amira's brother and cousin who descend upon the couple, intending to take Amira home.
What's behind their decision?
Not that Mori Kaoru-sensei needs any more hyping (*cough*Emma*cough*), but if name-dropping alone doesn't convince, editor Lenny-san rapturizes over this tribal historical romance, her favorite comic right now >.<
for the Amira × Karluk thweetness she claims induces melting, gripping inter-clan conflict and Awesome! super-detailed art. (See the preview on the right. Don't you agree that that such ornateness, also evident on the cover, is delish? There's more 19th century Silk Road/Central Eurasian/Persian pretties, but you will have to visit Level's fesbuk for further droolage.)
And moar more: the hero(ine) or the eponymous Bride is a consummate archer and rider. Aside from Age Gap, Arranged Marriage, Older Female Younger Male,
Baka-Updates Manga associates the seinen manga with Mono no Aware
—what Wiki describes as the awareness of the transience of things, and wistfulness at their passing
—the term first applied to the literary classic Genji Monogatari. I personally think The Bride's Stories radiates the same vibes as Red River, and I'm not the only one to think so.
☆ I preview the other debut—Karakuri Circus by Fujita Kazuhiro—an equally intriguing new series (how would you like it if death awaits should you fail to make people laugh?) After The Cut. Why? Because Bene!
tied with The Bride's Stories as #1 GET!
Bambino! 11 of 15 by Sekiya Tetsuji
Ban is promoted pasta chief of a Trattoria Baccanale branch. Before he can take up his new post, however, he and Asuka first have to train at a restaurant owned by Chef Tekkan's buddy in New York. They get to the Big Apple safely, but minutes from landing are cheated out of hundreds of dollars. Furthermore, largely monolingual Ban becomes the butt of jokes and pranks by the other staff.
Editor Sina-san highlights the b(^o^)d
charm point of this here Bambino! tank: non-English fluent, first-timer Ban's “interesting times” in New York and how he deals.
Level Comics manga (2011.05.11)
- Bambino! 11 of 15 by Sekiya Tetsuji
- [Series Premiere] The Bride's Stories (Otoyome-Gatari) 1 of 2+ by Mori Kaoru
- Giant Killing 3 of 19+ by Tsunamoto Masaya & Tsujitomo
- Half an Apple (1/2 no Ringo) 10 of 14 by Koyama Yukari
- Homunculus 10 of 15 by Yamamoto Hideo
- Ice Forest 6 of 9+ by Saito Chiho
- Jio 15 of 19 by Kishimoto Seishi
- [Series Premiere] Karakuri Circus 1 of 43 by Fujita Kazuhiro
- Psychometrist Eiji (Psychometrer Eiji) 20 of 25 by Ando Yuma & Asaki Masashi
- Shadow Skill 3 of 7+ by Okada Megumu
 | Otoyome-Gatari 「乙嫁語り」 by Mori Kaoru |
Awards
Nominee, 4th Manga Taisho awards (2011), along with I am a Hero by Hanazawa Kengo; March comes in like a lion by Umino Chika (award winner); Hana no Zubora-Meshi by Kusumi Masayuki, Mizusawa Etsuko; Un chocolatier de l'amour perdu by Mizushiro Setona and eight other manga
Other languages
English A Bride's Story (Yen Press: volume 1 per 2011.05.31 • volume 2 street date: 2011.10.25) and traditional Chinese (Kadokawa Media Taiwan: 姊嫁物語 2 per 2010.10)
 | Giant Killing 「ＧＩＡＮＴ ＫＩＬＬＩＮＧ」 |
Awards
34th Kodansha Manga Award for General Manga
Adaptations
Studio DEEN's 26-episode anime adaptation, starring seiyuu Seki Tomokazu (Tatsumi Takeshi), Okiayu Ryotaro (Murakoshi Shigeyuki), Mizushima Takahiro (Tsubaki Daisuke) and Ono Daisuke (Yoshida Luigi) aired between April and September 2010 on NHK.
 | 1/2 no Ringo 「１／２の林檎」 by Koyama Yukari |
 | Homunculus 「 ホムンクルス 」 by Yamamoto Hideo |
 | Ice Forest 「 アイスフォレスト 」 by Saito Chiho |
 | Jio 「６６６～サタン～」 by Kishimoto Seishi |
Volume 15 chapters:
57. Break In!
58. Everyone's Fight
59. Magic Trick
60. Miko's Truth
*NOT Level Comics' titles
Other languages
English O-Parts Hunter (VIZ Media: 19 volumes), French (Kurokawa: 19 volumes) and Italian (JPOP)
 | Karakuri Circus 「からくりサーカス」 |
 | Psychometrer Eiji 「サイコメトラーＥＩＪＩ」 |
Other languages
French Psychometrer Eiji (Kana/Dargaud: 25 volumes), simplified Chinese (Chuang Yi Singapore 感应少年 Eiji: 25 volumes), traditional Chinese (Tong Li Taiwan)
Reissues
Re-released in 12 bunko volumes (2003.06 to 2003.11)
Adaptations
The live-action renzoku alternatively known as Simply Psychic ran for two seasons on NTV (January to March 1997 and October to December 1999). A one-episode, 45-minute anime OAV Eiji was released in August 1990.
 | Shadow Skill 「ＳＨＡＤＯＷ ＳＫＩＬＬ」 |
Adaptations
Studio DEEN's 26-episode anime adaptation, starring seiyuu Matsuoka Akio (Gau Ban) and Hayashibara Megumi (Elle Lagu), aired in Japan from July to December 1998. Four OAVs preceded the series (four episodes released between 1995 and 1996).
[Release links are hide/unhide. Click for more details.]
European comics/ROMICs (2011.05.11)
- Boule & Bill - Kau Ingat, Bill? by Roba
- Jojo - Louis Gendut Operasi by André Geerts
- [New] Tanguy & Laverdure - Demi Kehormatan by Charlier, Uderzo
- [Series Premiere] Tanguy & Laverdure - Pendidikan Para Elang by Charlier, Uderzo
- Yakari - Yakari dan Pagar Api by Derib & Job
Bambino! 「バンビ～ノ！」 by Sekiya Tetsuji
Shogakukan Big Comic Spirits, seinen
Volume 11 (chapters 110-120) first published in Japan 2008.02
Awards
Best Seinen/General Manga, 53rd Shogakukan Manga Awards (tied with Kuromaru- & Natsuhara Takeshi's The Black Swindler/Kurosagi)
Related series
Bambino! Secondo (sequel; six volumes per 2011.02.26)
Adaptations
An 11-episode live-action adaptation starring Matsumoto Jun (Shogo Ban) and Kitamura Kazuki (Yonamine Tsukasa/Yona-san) aired on NTV from April to June 2007. The TV series reaped four awards at the 53rd Television Drama Academy Awards: Best Actor (Matsumoto Jun), Supporting Actor (Kazuki Kitamura), Best Director and a Special Award.