With YaoiCon only a week away, YaoiSuki's annual Awards are building up to their climatic conclusion - BL Manga of the Year! This years award will be announced next Friday (at YaoiCon... Not sure) but I do know that voting closes Thursday. Go to http://www.YaoiSuki.net for more details.

I wonder what these awards look like?

YAOI FANS UNITE TO PICK BEST BL MANGA OF THE YEAR

YaoiSuki's Annual Awards Are Under Way, And Voting Is Open for User's Choice Award!

PORTLAND, ORE.
October 19th, 2007

-Yaoi news and review site YaoiSuki has announced their second annual Yaoi Awards as the lead-in to the site's extensive coverage of Yaoi Con in late October. This year's lofty awards include the "Read On Mute" award for bad dialogue, the "Most Unpronounceable Title" award, and the "Thank God It's Over" award, among other prizes of varying sincerity.

On October 19th, the site opened voting for the biggest award of the series: the User's Choice Award for Best BL Book. With eleven main contenders from such BL creators as Fumi Yoshinaga, Toko Kawai, and Ayano Yamane, it may be the hardest decision and BL fan has to make -- but readers can submit additional nominations, so it's a wide-open game!

Voting closes at 12pm Pacific Standard Time on Thursday, October 25th, with the final awards presented on Friday, October 26th.

About YaoiSuki: Established in February of 2006, YaoiSuki is one of the premiere English-language sites for yaoi and boys love. The site, run by Jen Parker and Jordan Marks, features reviews, news, contests, convention coverage, forums, and the YaoiWiki.

Welcome to another edition of the Morning Report, I am your humble servant, Ed. Actually, this should technically be the first edition of the Morning Report, as we will be discussing the first issue of Morning I had sent to me by Morning's Editorial Dept. I apologize if this magazine is a little old now. Issue 41 went on sale back on Sept 13th for the week of Sept 27th and as you can see it features the debut of Okano Reiko's newest manga Inanna.

So a little bit about how this came about. I guess the Morning Report came out of desperation or maybe guilt. I saw this growing pile of magazines that were quickly competing for dominance with review manga on my shelves of shame. If the magazines were not of a gift and motivational tool from Kodansha I would have possibly recycled them along with the issues of BEAM, Monthly Champion, Spirits and Superior I get from Kinokuniya. Morning's motto promises readers will be energized upon reading the mag. And I have to say seeing that white Morning envelope in my mail box every Saturday makes me think twice about the magazine as well as the individual titles featured in this periodical.

Manga magazines themselves are not really collector items. While Mandarake might make you think that your old issues of Shonen Magazine and Shonen Sunday might be worth something, truth is those mags better be at least a decade old and you will best be served living near Nakano Broadway because I don't think sales on eBay will be victorious let alone competitive. Magazines are meant to be disposable. The paper is extremely cheap. Page counts for some manga magazines can rival phonebooks from large metropolitan area codes. And since doses, I mean chapters are usually pretty short, the entertainment buzz readers get from their favorite comics is relatively short. I'd say most are long enough for a commute to work and then the rest of the magazine could be enjoyed for a another day or two (for weeklies, monthlies are bigger and their enjoyment might last a full week especially if there are goodies to be won through survey contests).

Personally, I believe a manga magazine should biodegrade after 8 days no matter how cute the idol on the cover is. I occasionally rip out short stories and articles if I really find them inspirational and rare, but a manga magazines purpose is to find an audience for a series and/or its mangaka. Direct to GN manga do exist but magazines are where the magic starts.

But what happens when there are no magazines? How will you know what is available? Yes Shonen Jump, Shojo Beat and AG do a fine job sharing their properties with English readers, but that isn't enough. There are websites that cover specific genres and then there are scanlators who I feel do not do anything to really promote the artists they are stealing from.

And that is when it hit me. Share Morning with you all in a way that does not get me sued. When I was in Japan this past summer, Morning Magazine editor Shimada Eijiro let me know Morning and his Morning 2 were not really genre or demographic specific. These are manga for manga readers. At first I didn't really buy that entirely. Morning 2 looked like an alternative magazine. The stories in that mag were definitely for the manga otaku. Some series looked shojo others looked seinen; so he was definitely right on with the magazine he edited. Morning always seemed like a salaryman mag to me. If manga's iconic salaryman poster boy Shima Kosaku wasn't on the cover so much I possibly would have a different image. But then there are stories like Dragon Zakura, OL Evolution, Himawari, Hataraki Man and Haruka 17 all screaming OFFICE WORK!! Yes, office work, but some of these were office lady titles. Some were idol manga and nurse manga! This is a seinen magazine alright but in the literal sense. This is a mature manga reader's magazine - josei, seinen and almost anything in between that isn't XXX.

That is exactly what the MangaCast or at least my corner of the office wants to share with you (but we also like to share the XXX when appropriate). Shonen and shojo are doing well enough. I really want you all to look at these titles and really consider what you are missing in this "mature" manga market. The genres you knew nothing of and the artists whose work you will never experience could find their way to shelves here if you learn about them and demand them (and buy them when available). Yeah limiting this to Morning might not be fair; the occasional Side Dish doesn't really cover the manga world sufficiently. But this is my contribution. I'll start here. Where we go from here is up to you.

When I talked to Shimada-san last he was trying to convince me to become an editor. I wonder if that is what editors do in their spare time. I recall the manga King of Editors and remember how a former pro boxer became one... Maybe Shimada is right, you don't need any real skillz. Shimada-san's words hit home. I am working to improve my manga eye and be more critical. But one element of manga editorial that Shimada really emphasized was the role that editors play in the creative process. (We will talk about that in a future MR).

If I could work with a mangaka right now I'd likely start with a sports title. I am not going to lie to you, I enjoy fantasy and romance comedy but I couldn't provide any input on either right now. Sports though... Sports I know and I lived. So give me a sports manga to work on and I think I could help coach a mangaka to SAMA manga greatness.

Soccer would be an easy choice for me. I played the beautiful game from elementary school through college. I have been to every World Cup (except the last one in Germany) since 1992 and I have gone to my share of EuroCups and international tournaments/friendlies over my 30 years. Football is in my blood and luck for me it is now Japan's official national pastime.

In Giants Killing a ragtag bunch from East Tokyo are struggling in Japan's top football league. The team is going through an abysmal spell right now where they are nearing the bottom of the table and have lost 5 matches in a row. The loses haven't done much to team moral, because it was already low. Fan support, on the other hand, is looking bleak. In the world of football, once the fans turn on a team the end is near. Teams don't recover. Coaches are fired, players are sold, and teams drop to smaller divisions where profits often prevent them from ever being successful against even mediocre top division programs. East Tokyo United, ETU, can only blame their coach right now. And Coach is ready to give up this next game to prove to his team and fans, that against the biggest club in the nation he can make this team when.

Giant Killing is unique because it doesn't really focus on the players as much as it gives readers a look at the management of a premiere football team. In Europe and in Japan, the 12th man (the fans) can mean the difference between a draw and a win. They can will a team back from behind and sometimes scare an opponent into a loss. Coaches can also organize squads into formations that can confuse even the stingiest defenses. Fans don't often see that and in the world of manga, readers rarely get to even know the coaches names. Here you mainly see the coach manage his teams to victory. It changes the sports genre entirely. Instead of relying on action, this is a suspenseful manga where the drama on the sidelines dictates the pace. If you believe sports are won mentally you should be reading this manga.

34 chapters in and Giant Killing is already a polished manga. The pace is good (on and off the pitch) and the plot moving along nicely. Boxing manga Rice Shoulder from Nakaima Tsuyoshi needs a lot of help. On the surface this sounds like an intriguing title. Women's boxing isn't discussed much even by boxing fanatics. The sport is often seen as a joke or an insignificant undercard performance staged before the real matches take place. Many countries banned licensed matches (the UK didn't allow licenses until 1998) and the Olympic Committee has rejected the sport a few times. So, having an 18-year-old girl with no boxing experience from Iwate take on seasoned boxers might sound cool in a shounen battle manga type of way. Imagine the headlines... "Akino Okome, age 18, was discovered in an Iwate sumo dojo practicing with the boys. A week later her power overwhelms Japan's best light-featherweight! Could Okome be Japan's next undisputed boxing queen?!" Unfortunately, Nakaima shows very little originality in this title.

Nakaima's art is strikingly similar to Shibata Yokusaru (Air Master). When I first read this bi-weekly title, I almost thought this was Shibata because everything from his character design to his line work is imitated by Nakaima. I found Okome's demeanor to be very similar to Marunouchi Ippo's (Hajime no Ippo). In this case a big girl from the country has the perfect body to make it big in this hard world of boxing. The only thing preventing her from being a champ (outside of the needed days of training) is her timid personality. Nakaima also has a problem with composition when choreographing his action scenes. Pulling off some of the punches he draws would require a center of gravity of someone half a foot shorter than Okane (and maybe a dislocated elbow).

Baseball was my bread and butter. I know a thing or two about this sport having played it on a few levels. So when I first read Kanto Showa-Gun I thought: What a weird manga about old-timey baseball. Boy was I off! Way off! KSG looks nothing like the baseball manga Viz and Del Rey can't share with you. Shogakukan's TOUCH and H2 were known for their character designs and romance elements more than the baseball the leads were playing. Akita Shoten's Dokaben is almost too maniac to market anymore as it reads like a fantasy baseball blog obsessed with roto data instead of the drama of the game. And Kyojin no Hoshi is so old those iron muscle builders would be considered cruel and unusual punishment.

Kanto Showa-gun looks old-skool because baseball at its purest is old skool. The rules have hardly changed for 150+ years. The passion is still there. The cheating is still there. And every summer people stop what they are doing to drink a beer, eat Koshien curry/甲子園カレー and watch boys play stickball under the hot summer sun. This is a gag manga. Relying equally on visual gags and puns. Just look at the page I posted. Even the layout is a visual gag. The first panel is from the TV coverage of this West Tokyo tournament match. Commentary is on the bottom right (despite the lack of fans the announcers are acting as if the tension is thick... in the third inning of a 3-1 game?!). Stats are on the bottom left (kinda like ESPN used to do before the 24-hour sports ticker). Every field position outside of the battery is then rendered on the page with their thoughts. Some are calm. Some are cursing. Some are begging for the ball to go their way. Others are wondering if they are on TV right now! Baseball, even the high school baseball in this manga, is all the same. Its a game. An overly simple one at that. Sadly we put so much energy into the game that it is almost comical. In the States a bad ball player can earn more than a great heart surgeon. In Japan a high school tournament gets more attention than national elections do. And when those high schoolers lose they cry!! When was the last time you saw a politician cry after a failed election campaign?! Kanto Showa-gun makes the sport seem real - real funny, real pointless and really entertaining - without having to spend $8 on a beer every two innings.

So yeah, sports manga are found in almost every magazine written with men/boys in mind. And as Shimada-san noted, its strange how this genre that is so important to manga is not well received in the States. Sadly, I don't see that changing either. Editors here have had trouble with sports titles. Whistle was filled with editorial problems, from what seemed to be a total lack of research on the sport of soccer and soccer history (pro players and their team names were almost always spelled wrong; terms were not spelled right or used properply). Crimson Hero is better but like Whistle some of the sports terminology is not used properly either. SLAM DUNK from Gutsoon was okay. I hope Viz's version does a better job though. Urian!!! Sadly title like Eyeshield and PoT that aren't very deep in sports realism tend to do better. Possibly because they don't require pre-existing sports knowledge or because they are just ridiculous (I want to say the former but...)

---

In-coming!!

This week I will be reviewing Undertown and Kurohime (episode 298) and that will be followed by Disgaea 2 and Variante (episode 299). I am not sure if Jack will have episode 300 ready by the end of the week, but if not we do have that Akita Shoten Side Dish in the freezer ready to warm up. As always Julie and her Manga Maniac Cafe will give us a weekend review, as well.

On the Novel front we have a book from Vertical to review. Shinjuku Shark isn't really a light novel (neither is Welcome to the NHK for that matter) but it is good reading. I hope Eva gets her copy in time for a Sunday review.

I had a chance to go see Fredrick Schodt do a presentation on the very first manga ever printed in the States - the Four Immagrants Manga. Expect audio from that event in a Maki this week.

I am preparing for two trips: Going to LA this weekend. And then there is the YaoiCon trip to the Penninsula next week. YaoiCon countdown starts this Friday.

New books added to the review pile:
Presents #1 (CMX)
Hate to Love You (Aurora)
Picture Letters from the Commander in Chief (Viz)
E'S #4 (Broccoli)
Tower of the Future #8 (CMX)
Musashi no. 9 #12 (CMX)
Blood Relatives #1 (TOKYOPOP)
Welcome to the NHK ~the Novel~ (TOKYOPOP)

Expect another column over at PWCW in the next week or so. Otaku USA should be hitting stores this week look for that. Issue 4 will have me rambling on about yanki manga in the 80's/90's and yanki manga legend Takahashi Hiroshi. And then there is work... Expect to hear more from that in the next week or two... Oh darn expect to hear more about that tonight!! WOAH!! (please check out the Attack of the Previews Section)!

I would have thought August 1st would have been 801-chan's B-Day but apparently it is in October. And I would imagine that it would be around YaoiCon. If so, that must mean... PARTY AT 801's ROOM!!! Last year there were snacks, drinks and mangaka. This year there might be some ice to go along with the hot BL action!

Stay tuned for more 801 at 801Con (that is YaoiCon for those who cannot read number)

October 2007: Happy Birthday to Me!

Hi!
Tomo-chan and 801-chan here celebrating 801 Media Inc.'s 1st Birthday! *teehee* Time sure does fly. Just this time last year we were having our launch party at Yaoi Con. (Those were some good times.)

Anyhoo, on with the news!

27 days, 10 hours, 40 minutes and 28 seconds...

Until Yaoi Con! All the 801 Media Inc. staffers are hard at work packing and preparing for Yaoi Con. The 801 suite party returns Friday night after opening ceremonies. Tomo-chan and I are hard at work trying to get a shaved ice machine for the party. Cross your fingers we succeed in bribing DMP's production manager! (He bought a professional shaved ice machine for the summer!)

The friendly hotel staff members can't give us our suite room number until October 19. So we will let you know where to find us and when the party starts in a few weeks.

We will also be having a joint panel with June Manga like we did at Anime Expo! We have some really, really, really cool titles coming up! We should also have some cool prizes to raffle off including autographed books. Oooooooh! Ahhhhhhhhh!

Red-light Special this month!

For those of you who won't be at Yaoi Con, we will be having a red-light special! (*teehee* those of you with Kmarts in your hometown will get the inside joke.) For 4 days only, you can pick up Sensitive Pornograph, Love is Like a Hurricane Volume 3, and I'm Not Your Steppin Stone at the 801 Media Inc. store. After that, you have to wait for the official street dates!

*801-chan rustles up her best PA system voice.*

/'Attention 801 Media Shoppers. Please turn your attention to aisle 5! From Friday, October 26, 2007 - Monday, October 29, 2007 you will be able to pick up your own copy of Sensitive Pornograh, I'm Not Your Steppin' Stone and Love is Like a Hurricane Volume 3. Please note, that during this time, all the 801 Media Inc. staff members will be away at Yaoi Con. So all orders will ship out on Tuesday October 30, 2007.'/

From Gardena with love!

Thanks to everyone who orders directly from us at the 801 Media Inc. store. 801 Media Inc. turns 1 this month, so as a thank you for supporting us this year we have a gift for everyone. For the month of October (and maybe until the end of the year, depending on how generous Tomo-chan is feeling) we will be offering free shipping on all orders over $14 (that is one book) to all domestic addresses. (Sorry to all our loyal international customers. But we are working on trying to find a way to lower the shipping cost to you all.)

So to get free shipping on your order, checkout like normal, select any shipping method, and enter coupon code 'freeship' on the payment information page. Please be advised that all orders will be shipped via USPS Media Mail. So it will take your packages a few more days to arrive, but... free shipping is free.

801-chan = slacker!

The website is in need of some love and attention. And I was supposed to update it last month, but there were these t-shirts that had to get done, something about a new DS game coming out in Japan where you have to wipe the sweat off a bunch of cute guys, then books Tomo-chan and I had to steal from Kampai and... I didn't do it! But I have been significantly chastised by Kampai and Tomo-chan. So expect updates the beginning of October and maybe another "Guess 801 Media Inc.'s New Licenses Contest!"

Thanks for reading with us this month! We will see you in November!
Turkey Time!

~801-chan (^ ^) and Tomo-chan m(_ _)m

Power Surge!!

As the year starts to wind down lists and numbers are on the lips of many a manga pundit. You can already find some top ten lists floating around the nets. Some pubs are reminding their readers about the number of new licenses they have "announced" and there are others who tease by stating they are sitting on up to hundreds more. This is when the fancy encyclopedias of manga and manga makers come out. And you know those big super omnibuses, yeah they seem to always come out this time of year too. It's a time for people to share the manga love and why not when shopping season is upon us.

But who does have the power?

I think Jack and Brigid have a good hold on some part of that ring. The MangaBloggers are giving you the manga news you need to know every two weeks. Along with that they have an incoming list to give you ideas on what to look for at your local comic shop. And as usual, they give you commentary on the manga scene; occasionally even telling manga pubs, manga makers, and manga readers off! They are not afraid of the manga revolution, because they are giving it to you straight to your PC every other Thursday (or this week Friday).

If you are not listening to the MangaBlogCast you have not heard what the manga powers are saying and doing. Listen, respond and OBEY!!... Oh and come back for more.

Download the latest edition of the MangaBlogCast here: .

This program was read by Jack Tse and Brigid Alverson; written by Brigid Alverson for the MangaBlog.
Subscribe to the MangaBlog at

Email the MangaBlogCast at mangablogcast(at)gmail.com

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Wow it took us more than two weeks to get through it all but YaoiCon coverage has finally come to an end. Our last .mp3 is the Juné panel that took place on Sunday Oct 22.

Juné was my big winner at this years YaoiCon. Queens of the Party... I don't know if that works. But you don't have to look at the number of titles they announced to figure out that this pub was everywhere at all times at this con. They brought in a great guest in Kawai Touko. The mangaka had a reasonably well attended panel and was very gracious to sit down with a few members of the "press" over the weekend. June also had a huge chunk of the dealers market where they had contests, sold books and advertised Yaoi-themed tours of Japan. Many of their books were in the con library. Yaoi Manga paddles could be seen in the hands of many con-goers. And once their panel did start they had a lively crowd that were very active at 11:00a on a Sunday.

Yeah, Juné did very well this year and for good reason. Their Prez was ranked in ICv2's top ten most powerful North American manga figures. You can find many of their books in comic shops and stores like Borders. They have a large selection of titles, that grew tremendously over the last few months. And as you will hear they are continuing to work on changing the playing field with new projects.

Juné looked great in 2006 and if all their projects work out hopefully next year will be even better.

Juné

Sunday Oct 22nd
11:00~12:00
Clarion Hotel - Golden Gate Ballroom

-Named after the famous French novelist Jean Genet, whose identity is well established amongst the yaoi community, Juné was first coined from the Japanese pronunciation of his name "Jan Jooneh". Jean Genet was famous for writing several novels post World War II depicting the subtle erotica between beautiful boys. In homage to Jean Genet, a Japanese magazine was name Juné after him. Genet's famous works include Journal du Voleur (1949), The Thief's Journal, and Notre-Dame des Fleurs (1944), Our Lady of the Flowers.

DMP's success with yaoi has grown tremendously since its introduction to America in the English format. With this growth, yaoi has managed to carve out a niche clear of its own apart from other mainstream titles.

Digital Manga Inc., founded in 1996, remains committed to publishing a wide variety of manga and related art books, and we hope that our fans are as excited about this change as we are.</i>

Here you go, more than a dozen licensed titles and there is also an original title involved.

LOVE RECIPE by : 東里桐子 Love Recipe (Higashizato Kiriko) Frontier Works/Daria Comics 2 vols	胡桃の中 by: 川唯東子 In the Walnut (Kawai Touko) BiBLOS/BeBoy Comics 1 vol	ピクニック by: 山田ユギ Picnic by: Yamada Yugi Houbunsha/Hanaoto Comics 1 vol	オセロ by: 蓮見桃衣 OTHELLO by: Hasumi Toui Outou Shobo/GUST Comics 1 vol
ＷＯＲＬＤ’Ｓ　ＥＮＤ by: 影木栄貴 WORLD's END by: Eiki Eiki Shinshokan/Dears + Comics 1 vol	透明少年 by: 小田切　ほたる Invisible Shonen by: Odagiri Hotaru Tokuma Shoten/Chara Comics 1+ vol	わりとよくある男子校的恋愛事情 by : 富士山ひょうた Ordinary Crush by: Fujiyama Hyouta Frontier Works/Daria Comics 2 vols	1Ｋアパ→トの恋 by: 富士山ひょうた Lovers Flat by: Fujiyama Hyouta Frontier Works/Daria Comics 1 vol
きみには勝てない！ by: 穂波ゆきね/高口里純 Can't Win with You! by: Honami Yukine/Takaguchi Satosumi Houbunsha/Hanaoto Comics 3 vols	愛の言霊 by: 紺野けい子 Words of Devotion by: Konno Keiko Frontier Works/Daria Comics 2 vols	泣き虫なリトル by : 木下けい子 Nakimushi na Little by: Kinoshita Keiko Taiyou Pub/Million Comics 1 vol	悪態は吐息とまざりあう by: 富士山 ひょうた Sweet Whisper by: Fujiyama Hyouta BiBLOS/BeBoy Comics 1 vol

Lots of applause for the announcement of the Ai no Kusabi novels by Yoshihara Reiko when that was announced. And if 12 manga licenses were not enough, Juné is also bringing out a JOEL title... JOEL?? Okay, this is patent pending but here is what it stands for - Japanese Original English Language. @_@ Peeps are doing these now. DMP has that Vampire Hunter D title and DrMaster has Purgatory Kabuki... Oh and netcomics' Hotel California was a hybrid or sorts. Very interesting news indeed, but my question is how is that JOEL title coming out? Wouldn't it be cool to get samples or maybe even an anthology for future JOEL titles... Any who Ogami Yuno will be working on Juné's first JOEL title called Etoile.

Little bit on YaoiCon now that its all over for me this year. Outside of the so-so location, a no-car guy like me had to plan on a two-hour trip when I am only 15 miles away on public transit, the con itself was a hoot. Fine crowd. Most of the crew hung around in the activity events (the ball-jointed hangout had a nice crowd) and alley/market areas. Panels were mixed. The panels themselves were very informative and gave me lots of hope for this niche market. They also made me wonder about the manga market as a whole, and how it could diversify and sustain itself in the future (interesting how BL can announce so many titles over a summer/fall but many titles are one-shots and of course there is the seinen/ero-manga v yaoi marketability debate). At the same time many panels really were not as well attended as I hoped. None of them were as bad as the Seven Seas panel at SDCC this year but with the panels so far removed from the shopping I noticed that the cross-over was not very high. And about crossing over, I made a few trips to the alley/market. Bought my share of manga and flipped through a few books as well. For some reason, I always felt like asking if I could sample books like at ComiKet.... Got to shake hands with some of the great people behind the manga you read. They held up really well despite the long hours and jet-lag. I hope it was fun for them, even though it was a business trip. Must thank them all for making the trip and giving their readers a chance to see their wares and talk yaoi with makers/producers.

I am really going to think hard about next year. I already missed out on the Tokyo International Film Fest this year, but with the Yamagata Doc Fest calling me back at the end of Sept 07 and TIFF 07 in Mid-Oct again, I might have to send Jack instead! Either way, we will be back.

Download the audio recording of this MangaBlogCast here: .

Subscribe to the MangaCast at

Next con... FuyuComi (Winter ComiKet) Dec 29-31 Odaiba, Tokyo. Hope to see you all there! And if not, I'll take you there.... Take you to Akihabara, Nakano Broadway and Ikebukuro's Otome Road also.

Manga Curry no Maki Volume #11 - November 2nd, 2006 Kai Phenan Edition

Track (Starts):

Intro: (01:10)
MangaCon-ed - October Con recap. (04:35)
Manga CrossField - Densha Otoko (13:00)
+++Skype us (Skype ID: Mangamaki) or email us (mangacast@gmail.com) to let us know which version really is the best! CMX, Viz or Del Rey.+++
Your Neighborhood Small Pub - Vertical, Broccoli, MediaBlasters, Icarus, DramaQueen, netcomics and their value and influence in the American Manga Market. (28:46)

Curry recipe (41:41)

Kai Phenan

1 kg chicken thigh
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 clove garlic
1 can coconut milk
2 tbsp cumin
3 raw hot peppers
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup crushed peanuts
1 tbsp corriander
1 tbsp lemon juice
cilantro
shrimp paste

Salt, pepper and garlic the chicken.
Add the coconut milk only to a large pan (save the solids from the can for later).
Heat up the coconut milk on low heat and add the spiced chicken. Cook for 30 min on low heat. Once done remove the chicken from the coconut milk.
In a frying pan add the cumin, corriander, peppers and shrimp paste until the spices get aromatic.
Add the items to a mortar and grind with a pestle until mixture forms a smooth paste. Add salt and soy souse to paste and add this and the crushed peanuts to the coconut milk and cook for 3 minutes or so.
Add the rest of the coconut milk stuff and cook for 5 minutes or so before adding the chicken back to the pan. Cook everything for 15 min on simmer.
Then add the lemon juice and cilantro when serving.


48:04min // 12.4MB // 96kpbs

Or Send us Email at: MangaCast@gmail.com

This Maki features Jack Tse, Ed Chavez and a few MangaCast VoiceMailers. Created and published by the MangaCast.

Jarred Pine is on assignment in the Black Sea.

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Have been experiencing abnormal behavior from the LJ over the last day plus. So I had a chance to work on the WP site today. Don't like how things are formatting over there. Really am considering a better solution right now. Augh.

Well since things seem to be working here, most likely temporarily, I'll give you some audio from the Yaoi Press panel at YaoiCon. As I noted in the preview for this, I have not been following YP all that much of the past year or so. Many of you know its not the BL really. I don't gush over the stuff but I read my share of the stuff. It really has been the aesthetics. I have slowly warmed up to Western manga over the last year with the help of a few titles (Boys of Summer, some Seven Seas and RUSH come to mind). The art is improving and more importantly stories are really improving. So listening to Yamila Abraham talk about the developments of an OEL BL publisher really made me think about the changes in the OEL scene as a whole. Hmmm, any OEL artists in Mangaka... Maybe next time.

Oh and I don't know why this is but Yamila's audio in particular is scratchy. The audience sounded much better and I could not figure that out even with my limited AV skills. Very sorry about that. I wonder if there is a speed issue transferring from PC to Mac or something.

Yaoi Press

Sunday Oct 22nd
13:00~14:00
Clarion Hotel - Sausalito Room

-Yaoi Press Ltd is the number one publisher of original English language yaoi in North America. What separates us from other major Western publishers of yaoi is that most of our books are not reprints from Japan and Korea.

Yaoi Press Ltd seeks to publish yaoi manga graphic novels of the highest caliber.

Download the audio recording of this MangaBlogCast here: .

Subscribe to the MangaCast at

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Sunday had me running around like crazy. But it paid off well for me. I got to be introduced to a few pubs I had not met before. One them is new BL publisher Iris Print.

Iris just started releasing Boys Love books in the last 6 weeks or so and already they are getting some attention here at MangaCast central. You may have noticed the PodViews of not only "manga" but also fiction. But what really got me is how they have become another solid option for Men's Love ... I mean OEL BL.

Iris is dedicated to bringing readers BL stories from all over. And not just all over the globe but from the spectrum of tastes/flavors of BL. So you might get influences of slash, yaoi or whatever in the art or writing presented by Iris. Kellie Lynch described Iris' work as a hybrid of sorts. Having read When World's Collide I can see that. But it really is a hybrid of all this small but diverse world of BL. The anthology in a weird way reminded me of YaoiCon itself. A collection of many different perspectives and styles with influences as varied as the attendees.

Things are just getting started for Iris and with a pair of titles in the works for 2007 and a couple more announced in this podcast Iris looks like another place to feed your BL manga/novel needs. Cannot wait to see how far they have gotten this time next year.

Iris Print

Sunday Oct 22nd
12:00~13:00
Clarion Hotel - Sausalito Room

-Iris is a small publisher with a big goal: to bring quality boys' love books to readers across America, and anywhere else they might be. When a reader sees the Iris logo on a book, they'll know that whether it's tame or wild, sweet or spicy, they'll find what they're looking for inside. Whether you're a long-time boys' love fan or a romance reader looking for something fresh, we'll have a story for you.

We want to help writers and artists of original boys' love material by printing work that a traditional publisher may deem too controversial. As a small company, we're better-equipped to reach a small niche market. We know there are readers out there who want what you can offer, and we want to bring your story to them.

Shoutout to Kellie for letting me win a copy of When Worlds Collide. I was also glad she didn't tell me to stop podviewing... I thank you and I am sure the fans here thank you and Iris as well!

We will also be MangaMaki reviewing WhenWorlds soon so stay tuned for that.

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So what were the rumors about 801 Media coming into YaoiCon. I think a few of them were dropped in the comments section here. Well, even with a launch party and even with two days at YaoiCon the rumors did not end until 10:00a when 801 Media was welcomed by a good sized crowd in the Clarion Hotel.

They came out of this panel debunking all of the rumors. Did not take that long even with the power point presentation. And once they were able to go through their list, they began to talk about their titles and a bit about what their manga mission is set to be.

I haven't been to a launch panel in ages. I think the last one for me was Bandai at SDCC 2005 (with Del Rey being the one before that). I always feel real excited when I get to experience these. 801 has plenty for Yaoi fans to be excited about too as they announced 6 titles and promised to give readers the type of Ya-O-I manga readers have been asking for... The Manly Stuff!

I hope for Jarred that 801 ends up being Karl Approved! Happy BDay 801 Media, we hope for many years of success!

801 Media

Sunday Oct 22nd
10:00~11:00
Clarion Hotel - Golden Gate Ballroom

-801 Media, Inc. is a division of Digital Manga, Inc. and a sister company of Digital Manga Publishing.

801 Media threw a launch party at Yaoi Con 2006 and announced several titles, including Affair, Love is Like a Hurricane, My Paranoid Next Door Neighbor, Ichigenme, Sky Over My Spectacles, and bond(z).

We look forward to our first release in 2007!

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You might be wondering what Broccoli Books was doing at YaoiCon. Well, Dejiko's minions have been regulars at this con for a couple years now, selling raw BL and other goodies in the Dealers Room.

Their library is not really known for BL. Until the Full Moon was called BL Light by some. But at their panel for YaoiCon 6 they revealed that BL properties are coming.... Unfortunately, I was in the Watanabe Asia panel when they announced that.

So yeah another botched panel from me. But I do have 10 minutes of audio featuring translator S@ki discussing Broccoli's new partnership with PGW, the Broccoli Books Fan Club and how to get info off the BroBooks site/blog. No other BL news from this panel, but they are looking for suggestions for their imprint name at their blog

Broccoli Books

Saturday Oct 21st
15:00~16:00
Clarion Hotel - Sausalito Room

Broccoli Books specializes in Japanese comics, illustration books, graphic novels, and more. Broccoli Books is a division of Broccoli International USA, parent company of Anime Gamers USA and Synch-Point.

Heh, had fun with the BroBooks family that weekend. Talked a bit and hung out. They let me flip through their raw manga goodies for a bit... Boy I felt like Rodoyan in a Gamers shop. While I was hanging out, Sales Manager A was very nice to give me some stuff to give to MangaCast listeners. I know this isn't BL related but I have a 2007 Disgaea calendar that is waiting for a new home. Listen carefully to the podcast for details to win that along with a copy of the Disgaea manga (I tossed that in myself ^_^ ).

Send responses to mangacast@gmail.com and thank Broccoli and their extended family for treating me so well at YaoiCon.



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After BLU I had to rush out for some lunch but ended up falling asleep in the video room. Actually that was a pattern that would haunt me all weekend. When I awakened I went to the DQ panel and well you the rest of that story.

I had a little bit of time after that before the next panel started. Heh, and I just made it to the Guest of Honer event. Watanabe's panel consisted of the artist actually working on some of her projects. Some artists are busy like that and Watanabe tried very hard to take her work with her to this event. She gave it a GoH try before nerves set in but man that really opened my eyes to the amount of detail there is to working on sequential art. Watanabe-sensei then moved onto some original art. She drew a pair of character pieces for the audience but like a pro she really did not discuss technique much.

After the art segment, she took a few minutes of questions. The audience was not very big but there were a good number of questions from the audience. The following audio is from that Q&A.

Focus on Watanabe Asia
Saturday Oct 21st
14:30~16:30
Clarion Hotel - Golden Gate Ballroom

-Since her professional debut in 2002, she has been a regular feature in Hanaoto, June publications (Boy's Pierce, Comic June, It's Boys Love), and Biblos. Her color illustrations are both gorgeous and erotic, as is her manga which often has a touch of BDSM. She currently resides in the mountains of Kyushu prefecture. She is really looking forward to meeting Western yaoi fans, and sent this message:
"Hello and thank you! This is Asia! I'm partial to ropes, juban (kimono underwear), and gays! I will be attending the Con with my Super Dollfie. If any of you have one, I would love to see it!"

Interesting tidbit... Watanabe-sensei didn't even know that her book was already released by MediaBlasters at this con.

Her website is http://www.watanabe-asia.com/ (Nihongo only). Check how she posts and laughs about the Bishonen Auction in her blog. It's like she is a mangasphere regular.

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After an, um, interesting Opening Ceremonies on Friday night I was given an evening to rest. The next day had me in an early morning interview before a series of industry panels left me ravaged. Who says cons are for kids? Maybe that's why this event is 18+ (though I did see some underaged peeps around... don't tell okay).

First up was BLU Manga. I feel YaoiCon has a special place in the "heart" of BLU. It was here last year that they revealed themselves formally to the world. They admit that everyone pretty much knew who they were and this had to be the worst secret evar.

It is no secret that BLU has been a relative success for TP over this last year. A many of their titles have found themselves on sales lists. Recently Junjo Romantica and Gerard et Jacques has joined almost every other BLU title in reaching the BookScan 200 lists (Earthian, Menkui, Gorgeous Charat, Love Mode... all have been listed at one point or another). Their books are easily accessible as you can find their books shrink-wrapped in Borders as well as comic shops. Nowadays a parental guidance notice might also be on their books, but for the most part their releases are looking sharp and have a smart price (most are $9.99).

There is very little to complain about from BLU. They are a solid BL publisher. Sure they are not hardcore, but in all truth they really do not have to be. DQ and 801 can do that part of the business, while BLU can release titles from artists many more readers are familiar with. I mean how can you go wrong with Yoshinaga Fumi, Higuri You, Kouga Yun and Takashima Kazusa.

In this panel BLU editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl covers most of the last year's titles and the new releases for winter 06/07. There is a bit on the problems they (and everyone else) had with the BiBLOS bankruptcy. And then she discusses BLU's new announcements.

BLU Manga
Saturday Oct 21st
11:00~12:00
Clarion Hotel - Sausalito Room

from their site
BLU is a company centered in Southern California that publishes translated Boys Love manga. You can contact us via email at blu@blumanga.com.

We wanted a name for the line that was simple, memorable, and didn't beat you over the head with what the books were about. Taking inspiration from the names of various boys' love magazines in Japan, we came up with this one. The kanji character is the one typically used for the color "blue," but it also has implications of youth and virility, which, of course, fit many of these books quite nicely!

During the panel Lillian revealed that a pair of TP crew were cosplaying Shinobu Kokoro. Personally, I am kinda afraid of cosplay, so I didn't take pictures. To make up for that here is some cover art in new title information.

名も無き鳥の飛ぶ夜明け　 by: 如月弘鷹 Innocent Bird (Kisaragi Hirotaka) Kadokawa/Asuka CL-DX Comics 3 vols

ぼくらの運勢 by: 松本テマリ Bokura no Unsei (Matsumoto Temari) Kadokawa/Asuka CL-DX Comics 1 vol

タクミくんシリーズ June Pride by: ごとうしのぶ/おおや和美 JUNE PRIDE (Gotou Shinobu/Ooya Kazumi) Kadokawa/Asuka CL Comics vol 2 of a 6 volume collection series

Oh and not announced here but Gravitation EX was announced in the latest Diamond Previews. Not from BL but this title was discussed in the Q&A segment.

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While I was goofing around looking way too overdressed for a con - lightly greased hair, sweater vest, silk-tique shirt and dress pants (I was wearing my Pyumas) - there were reps and artists running around selling their wares and getting so much love from their readers. I had my chances to talk mangashop with a decent number of them (even if the conversation was brief). And I was very lucky to get to sit down with a few of them.

DramaQueen was one of the groups I got to see a bit of over the weekend. A fun informative panel covered their current line-up, touched their new licenses and they gave a nice amount of time to discussing their anthology project RUSH. 2000 volumes of Issue 00 were available and I possibly ended up with a pair of collectors items. And I will be giving one of them away to one of you lucky listeners!

After their panel and after a few other panels I was very fortunate to be able to chill in the Westin where YaoiCon had their FanMarket, Library and Dealers Room. Did some shopping, relaxed with some manga and got to say hola to some VIPs. One of the VIPs was DQ's guest Lara Yokoshima. Lara's work is featured in RUSH and her title Master! just happened to be on the cover of the special 00 issue that went on sale this past weekend. Hanging out at the end of the FanMarket, we got to talk a bit about her inspirations, Big Ben, some of her projects and of course Master!

Interview with Lara Yokoshima
(Sponsored by DramaQueen)

Saturday Oct 21th 16:45~17:00
Westin Hotel
-Born and raised in Mexico, Lara Yokoshima dreams of becoming a professional western yaoi mangaka. Previously she published a few one shots here and there, but in RUSH she will serialize her first full manga story for her fans and yaoi lovers everywhere.

Lara loves to draw, play videogames and of course, read yaoi in her free time. Some of her hobbies are collecting figurines, art books, yaoi manga and tuning her car when she's got the chance (and money!). </i>

Muchisimas gracias ha Lara Yokoshima for sitting down with someone relatively new to her work like myself. It was a pleasure to meet this shy but talented artist. After talking to her for a while and checking out her work, I think she has at least one fan in my office and we wish her success with Master! and her future projects.

Much love to the peeps who worked on RUSH. The "first" volume was looking good and I get this feeling this only the start of something special. Thanks to Tran too for allowing one of her precious artists to hang out with a weirdo holding a microphone.... Very brave people over at DQ!


Okay its contest time!! First person to give me the answer wins a copy of RUSH 00 signed by Lara Yokoshima on the cover!! This will be worth at least $1,000,000 in a few years when DQ's RUSH turns into Shueisha's Shonen Jump.
Listen carefully for this one because the question is random.... When did Lara arrive in San Francisco for YaoiCon 6.
Send your response to our email at mangacast@gmail.com.
Contest OVER!! Thanks!!

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