S. Mizushiro's "Cornered Mouse" - a good fit for June?

[sun22]

Taking into account ChibiKami's (very rightful) criticism of the manga-ka's poll going off-topic (and many posts there related to this particular series - Setona Mizushiro's "Cornered Mouse.."), I'm starting this thread for all those who want to discuss whether Setona Mizushiro's series is a good fit for June or not (i.e., how it compares to other, existing June titles), and overall, any thoughts on this series. I'm a huge fan of this series, I'd gladly participate in any discussions about it, or if anyone has any questions about the series - I'd be happy to answer.

P.S. This is a potential June title, not the actual one, so I can see my thread belonging to Yaoi Talk instead of June Titles as well. I will leave it to the mods to decide. However, as we're talking about a potential June title (as per June manga-ka poll), I think it belongs here.

[ChibiKami]

One thing about this title-it is a Shogakukan title-which almost never publishes outside of VIZ. So it's fine to make a topic here about it, but it's also good to think about where licenses come from. We put the artist on the poll just to see what response would be.

[sun22]

Thanks, Chibi-Kami, I didn't realize that this publisher is so exclusive with VIZ. I guess that means we won't be seeing this title at all, or ever. (As I don't think VIZ ever published explicit yaoi...) Quite a shame, considering it's been published in a number of large European countries, and has been quite popular there. Hopefully, Shogakukan will re-consider their licensing policies.

Well, I'd be eager to get ANY Setona Mizushiro's title, and though I don't know that much about her other yaoi works, my impression is that indeed many of them are not explicit at all, so they could be a good fit for June.

[lore]

May I suggest that the real topic that might need airing is "801 vs. June": Speculation on why titles might appear on one or the other imprint. It could cover many of the recent discussions on sales, shrink-wrapping and content, and it should probably go on Yaoi Talk. I would start it myself, but I don't want to "steal" the topic you've been trying to get at.

And just to stay on-topic, I could use a good synopsis of this series. Thanks!

[sun22]

Starting "801 Media vs June" sounds like a good idea, I think especially if we can all keep it focused on more general themes and esp. the future releases, as those are not really covered elsewhere. Feel free to open it.

Re: "synopsis" of this series (spoiler-free) - it's certainly a josei (IMO) title, with deep, psychological development of characters and their interactions. It's probably one of the two-or three manga series with most developed characters I ever read. It even beats another (highly recommended) series by this manga-ka, After School Nightmare (ASN) (the latter is often classified shojo/gender-bender with some shojo-ai / shounen-ai elements).

Cornered Mouse depicts the relationship between two men in a plausible (to me), realistic fashion. It's not tragic, but we witness all the ups and downs of real life / relationship, you won't find "sugar coating" (or another extreme, dramatic uncalled-for suicides or such) in this manga. It was really hard for me to stop reading once I started it, the manga was one of the most addictive, emotional and enjoyable reads for me as of recent, alongside with ASN by the same author.

Art in Cornered Mouse is also fantastic, more refined than in ASN or X-Kai / other works of this manga-ka I'm familiar with. (Or maybe because highly eroticly charged explicit sex scenes made such an impression on me? Well, even well beyond sex scenes, the artwork, IMO, is gorgeous).

Seeing that it's unlikely our shores will see Cornered Mouse any time soon, I suggest reading After School Nightmare (sorry, it's not really a June title, but once we're on the topic..), which is translated / published in the US - ASN though being not directly comparable to Cornered Mouse can give you some idea of the depth and strength of character development / plot this manga-ka is so famous for.

P.S. / As a disclosure, I own and read German and French editions of this manga, and no, my review/opinion above has nothing to do with perusal of scans and such.

[JRBrown]

One thing about this title-it is a Shogakukan title-which almost never publishes outside of VIZ. So it's fine to make a topic here about it, but it's also good to think about where licenses come from. We put the artist on the poll just to see what response would be.

Perhaps the French license reflects the fact that the French publisher, Asuka, is currently co-owned by Shogakukan and Shueisha, as is Viz? But as Viz doesn't do yaoi, they might be persuadable... we can hope, at least.

Arrgh! Looking up Carlsen Verlag, I see that Hinako Takanaga's Turning Point is out in German as Punkt der Umkehr (from Tokyopop). [Weeps] Time to spend more money on international shipping...

[2old4yaoi]

One thing about this title-it is a Shogakukan title-which almost never publishes outside of VIZ. So it's fine to make a topic here about it, but it's also good to think about where licenses come from. We put the artist on the poll just to see what response would be.

Aaarrrgghhhh......! Seriously? I am so heart broken to hear this I will check VIZ forum to see if there is anyway to harrass them to into considering publishing this. I was about to trade in my complete volume of ASN if I ever get to see Cornered Mouse & Jumping carp published in US. Uhmmm... maybe DMP will be interested in sellin 5% stake of the co to Shogakukan? At fair market value of course I am in Corp Fin Treasury - I can help w/ the valuation

[ChibiKami]

LOL. Well, we'll see what we can do. We just kind of wanted to give you all a heads up. Licensing is an intricate process, and there are relationships between different Japanese publishers and American publishers. It's something that many fans aren't aware of.

But no, we won't be selling any stake of our company to Shogakukan, at least not for two titles.

[mo2468]

Tateno's Gerbera is on Shueisha, which also licenses mostly to Viz. That makes me more sad...

If Viz isn't going to get on the BL train, they need to give up their stake on the BL titles from these publishers!

[Shroud]

Would sending them souvenir munchies help? I am, of course kidding. Though I did recently send food to Japan during a recent bout of gift and thanks merry go round obligation-y type series of events. The favourite item I sent was Hellman's mayo in a squeezy bottle. Never underestimate the value of good mayo!