| This topic will be used for manga only spotlights. Other spotlight topic is used when the spotlight series has both anime and manga series attached to them. Spoiler tags in this post....if they are not spoilers...will have a note besides them explaining why they're hidden. If no note is beside the spoiler button then it is an actual spoiler. December 2024    Lo and Behold it's DECEMBER! Already! So quickly the year has flown by and thankfully full of new shoujo announcements and celebrations. 2024 definitely has been a year of upcoming shoujo announced. In order to kick off the upcoming winter season as well as keep up the 'streak' of 2024......for December it's been decided to focus on something fitting for most of us currently. Winter! Love or Hate it, upon preparing this 'special' Snowy Spotlight.....one thing came to be noticed......Ice Skating. A sport and pastime for many during the winter season.....for some odd reason in the Shoujo anime and manga world....there are few titles focusing on Ice Skating (excluding manga made in the 70s-90s), not even figure skating despite it being a sport/art that is at least appreciated by many girls and young women (and men) all over the world.....Japan included? Due to this odd and ironic/uncanny revealtion.....for this December 2024 'Winter' Spotlight Ice Skating manga is to be highlighted/discussed. Primarily Hana to Yume's very own Sugar Princess. Title: Sugar Princess Story by: Nakajo, Hisaya Publishing Dates: Feb 5, 2005 to Dec 19, 2006 English Release: August 5, 2008 - November 4 2008 Serialized by: Mystery Bonita English Release: Viz Media 'Shojo Beat' Fun Facts: The same mangaka that wrote Hana Kimi who sadly, passed away Oct 2023. Synopsis: Maaya Kurinoki's ordinary life is turned upside down when she fails to convince her younger brother to give ice skating a try and be her partner in the sport. However impressed by the display of skill from a complete amateur, figure skating coach Eishi Todou recruits Maaya to become the skating partner of Shun Kanou—one of his pupils and a decorated figure skater.  Title: Ginban Kaleidescope English: Rink of Glory Story by: Hasegawa, Jun (Art), Kaibara, Rei (Story) Publishing Dates: Aug 20, 2005 to 2006 Anime Aired: October, 9 2005 to December 25, 2005 Serialized by: Margaret Anime Studio: Karaku - Animax Fun Facts: This was an anime that was initially a 'light novel' before it got it's manga release by Margaret Synopsis: Figure skater Tazusa Sakurano is on the fast track to the Olympics set to perform in Canada. Pete Pumps is a Canadian stunt pilot.......through a unexpected event.....the two would have a 'deep' bond for 100 days.....both mind and body.  Title: Ice no Oto - The Sound of Ice Story by: Mizuki, Mio Publishing Dates: Feb 10, 2012 to Apr 10, 2013 Serialized by: The Dessert Fun Facts: Despite Ice Skating not being a common thing found in shoujo manga, this mangaka happened to write not only 1 but 2 mangas about Figure Skating....the other being Josei Synopsis: Satsuki met Kazuya once at local rink and he taught her jumping. Knowing what school Kazuya attends she aims to get there to meet him again.   Title: Cherry Project Story by: Naoko Takeuchi Publishing Dates: 1991 to 1992 Serialized by:Nakayoshi Fun Facts: One of the mangas of Naoko Takeuchi done nearly simultaneously during her high popularity years yet, despite her popularity worldwide, it never got licensed. Synopsis: A girl named Chieri who began ice skating ever since she saw the handsome ice skating champion, Tsuzuki Masanori, skate. She pursues her dream of being Tsuzki's partner, all the while facing her rival, 'Princess' Canty.  Title: Koori no Joou English Title:The Ice Queen Story by: Rikachi Publishing Dates: Jan 12, 2013 to Aug 11, 2014 Serialized by: Bessatsu Friend Fun Facts: One of the mangaka's few shoujos due to being known more for her Josei. Synopsis: The very shy Nika uncovers the hidden life of her average-looking classmate Nanao when she follows him to a skating rink. After seeing him skate, Nika tries her hand at skating and discovers two new loves; skating and.....     As a added coincidental bonus; there's even a stack featuring ice skating that features many of the 'shoujo' titles.....together of course with other genres. https://myanimelist.net/stacks/5531 It was very helpful in making this spotlight along with the users ooReiko, @willowtry and Klefki_of_Awsome (inspiration) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ September 2023  Boku wo Kimi no Hatsukoi ni Sasagu Title: Boku wo Kimi no Hatsukoi ni Sasagu English Title : I Give My First Love to You Story by: Kotomi Aoki Publishing Dates: August 5 2005 - July 5 2008 Serialized by: Flower Comics Fun Facts: While this series was very popular in Japan to win the Shokakukan Manga Award and highest grossing live action movie....it never got a anime, neither got liscensed in English. Yet its spinoff did get both an OVA and live action....both mangas also happen to share famed casting choices with the Shoujo hit Sensation Hana Yori Dango....causing instant sucess in Japan. Synopsis: Takuma and Mayu are childhood friends since the age of 8; with Mayu being the daughter of Takuma's doctor. Despite having a weak heart, Takuma is soon released and tranferred to a boarding school, with Mayu promising to be his ally and look out for him no matter what. CLUB MEMBERS! - Feel free to participate in the following manga spotlight by discussing, ranting, sharing thoughts and memories among other things about this series, critique, joke around, give recommendations, or discover this spotlight by giving it a chance! ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Previous Spotlights: click button below __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SPOTLIGHT THREAD RULES: 1.Whenever future spotlights start coming in, try to remember to edit your previous first comment in this thread and add onto it your thoughts on the new spotlight, same applies to when you have an update of the current spotlight series (like for example you having gone from not watching it to having completed it) this way the replies will be less for all members to look through once future spotlights start coming in. If you don't get what I mean by this, then feel free to ask me in the comments board. I'm still trying to sort out this problem myself in order to try to make this thread easy to read. 2. Always remember to mention in your response (even better if titles are bold) which series are you speaking of, that way members know which spotlight are you discussing. 3.Try to keep this clean and civil, pure hate and arguments will not be tolerated and will not only be deleted but it may result in loss of club membership. 4. The club may have the app feature, but please remember to use this thread to discuss spotlight opinions. 5. Spotlights may have a month mentioned in order to label them, however they will not exactly be monthly, nor are you restricted to discuss only the most recent spotlight. Feel free to bring up any spotlight in club's history....just always remember to mention which series you're referring to. 6. Alot of time goes into the spotlight (I should seriously consider working as this site's article writer haha) so please don't go about reusing our hard work elsewhere. Obviously, some of these are more reminders then actual rules ;) _____________________________________________________________________________________________ RICEA42991's comment: Ice Skating Mangas- December 2024: I haven't read any of these featured, but I have been wanting to read Cherry Project for years, as well as finish up Sugar Princess (only read chapter 1), however Ginban Kaleidescope I did watch years ago, and it made me cry. It's funny but also a bittersweet sad story. It's also a shame that vintage Iceskating manga is either not translated or even on the database here :( Majo no Hakoniwa: When I saw this manga series being announced...it surprised me and caught my interest with it's artstyle. It's a shame it's not easier to find translated because it's classic art style is a nice throwback to shoujo art I miss seeing these days. I figured it was worth to spotlight because even though I'm not able to read it, it's something that should be given some praise especially considering the mangaka has been active on/off since the late 80s. Boku Kimi Hatsukoi: I started reading this along with Skip as my first longer manga series that had no animes....so much memories of those exciting times when it was popular and discussed alot on here throughout is publication. What I'm more shocked about is after all these years of me being interested and aware of it....I still haven't read past 17 chapters!!! And I even remember the live action being announced and being involved in manga discussions on here and yet still somehow I never have gotten around to finishing it even after I was told the manga had a nice ending??? I blame the fact it never getting licensed and me getting more into reading liscensed volumes (Skip and Hana Yori Dango at the time) that I quit reading unlicensed series unintentionally as a result. This spotlights fun facts reminded me to continue reading it again hopefully soon. I remember the art style being pretty with eyes reminding me of other shoujo back then like Nana Haruta and Mayu Sakai's works. Miss those shoujo times today. Seiyuu Ka: I remember reading this series back when it was first released in English by Viz. It seems like so long ago when it hasn't even been more then 6 years since. I remember really enjoying it back then, and it used to be popular at the time. Somehow it got ignored shortly after it got completed, which is a shame because to this day I think this manga would make a great shoujo anime series. I was/still am shocked it hasn't gotten one. I would've loved to have heard Sakura's voice and see such a cute story animated. It has romance but it actually is more about showbiz in the seiyu world, and family/friendship relationships. I can't decide if I enjoyed this story or Ore Monogatari better. Both were sweet in different ways but I'll go ahead and say Seiyu ka was the one I preferred most out of the two, especially since it made me appreciate Minami Maki as a manga creator. Both are sweet stories though. QQ Sweeper: I'll be honest when I first saw this series getting announced and read the plot on the database, I passed on it. It seemed too bizarre. Last year though it came back to my mind, and I saw it on my local bookshelf so I decided to give it a go. Wow yes it was very different and odd, but I did think the whole emotions and mind exploration thing was something very interesting, and I guess these days plots like that appeal to me alot more then years ago where such complex ideas didn't. I'm so glad I finally got ahold of Queen's Quality's Volume 1 only a year after finishing QQ Sweeper because the long wait would've been disappointing. The artstyle is a little to sharp for my usual preference, but the mystery in this story has me interested. I wasn't disappointed with QQ Sweeper, and I guess we'll only hold onto hope that Queen's Quality will only answer all the questions we had left unanswered from QQ Sweeper. Too early to for me to really say much else about how I feel about it. Momohime's comment in 2008 for Boku wo Kimi no Hatsukoi ni Sasagu: Well, I've seen a few chapters of this and....I have to say it's very good. So, what do you think? |
RICEA42991Dec 12, 2024 2:24 PM
 Current Avatar: Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke |
| Boku wo Kimi no Hatsukoi ni Sasagu : i was reluctant to read it at first but when i started to read it, it hit me hard! currently addicted! XD ~waiting for chapter 18 release...=) |
RICEA42991Aug 27, 2023 5:54 AM
enya's life spent on MAL: September 21, 2008 to August 23, 2012 |
| Boku wo Kimi no Hatsukoi ni Sasagu : A masterpiece. No wonder it got an award. What a strong-headed female protagonist Mayu is for putting up with Takuma. The romance is handelled in a rather mature way. That's one of the best mangas I have ever read. |
RICEA42991Aug 27, 2023 5:54 AM
| Boku wo Kimi no Hatsukoi ni Sasagu : I just read the first 8 chapters and iit really got to me, really good to say the least. Thanks for the recommendation :) |
RICEA42991Aug 27, 2023 5:53 AM
| [fancy signature here] |
| Boku wo Kimi no Hatsukoi ni Sasagu: I've only read a few chapters and it's really good and draws you in. |
RICEA42991Aug 27, 2023 5:54 AM
RICEA42991 said: Majo no Hakoniwa: When I saw this manga series being announced...it surprised me and caught my interest with it's artstyle. It's a shame it's not easier to find translated because it's classic art style is a nice throwback to shoujo art I miss seeing these days. I figured it was worth to spotlight because even though I'm not able to read it. It's something that should be given some praise especially considering the mangaka has been active on/off since the late 80s. Yeah I agree about the style of art and I think it was interesting as a mysterious start for the story. Though I dont know hoow high the popularity of the series is currently but i think they released the 2nd volume this month which i think is good. Though I guess the popularity of the series was even lower outside of Japan since im not sure if its translated. Though if it gained more popularity maybe the classic style of shoujo art could make comeback. Actually i just looked into the new volume that came out this month and i think it maybe ends in that volume though i didnt look deeper into it but if it ended already maybe the popularity wasnt high, or then they just qanted to post short series to look if people still interested in the mkre classic styled art of shoujo in shoujo series. |
ooReikoJan 23, 2024 10:31 AM
MomoHime125 said: Bonus December/January Spotlight 2024 Title: Majo no Hakoniwa Story by: Shitou, Kyouko Publishing Dates: Mar 6, 2023- Still Publishing Serialized by: Mystery Bonita Fun Facts: This manga is the club's first spotlight to feature a manga series that's still publishing and only available in Japanese. Selected in honor of it being a new publishing shoujo manga created by a not widely known mangaka who has been in the biz since the 80's with award winning Grant Leauvas Monogatari which ironically was a shounen. Orris Root no Gin no Koeda was her first venture into shoujo in the 90s. Synopsis: A young girl named Leila lives in a beautiful village, and has never known the world outside of her village, but this village has a big secret......... Thanks to club member ooReiko apparently this mystery shoujo deals with time travel/loop so far.....not much else is known about it's mysterious plot. Wow, this is so cool!! I'm so excited to go to Japan this summer and find some lesser-known manga like this. Such a treat to find hidden gems. Also SO excited to get some shojo magazines-bonuses and the overall design (Not to mention the stories inside!) look amazing!!!! |
~A-Zone~ Enjoy everything! |
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