NEW YAOI LICENSE: Black Sun Volume 2

Since this is now listed on Amazon, I can finally tell you that DMP has finalized their licensing on Black Sun Volume 2! Amazon has it listed for release on December 6th. Here is the synopsis given for volume 2:

"As the former Crusader commander Lord Francis and the king continue their manipulations of both Leonard and General Jan, it is quite apparent that they intend to drive the two lovers apart. But why is that? Is Leonard really just a plaything for General Jan as the spoils of war? Or will General Jan continue to defy convention and risk everything by disobeying his king in order to claim the heart and body of the knight he conquered in battle?"

This is one of my all time favorites so I am very excited that Uki Ogasawara have finally released volume two in Japan. I'm also very happy that we will only be waiting a little over five months to see it in English! Thank you DMP! If you are unfamiliar with this title, here is my review of volume one way back in January of 2009.

~Jennifer LeBlanc

YAOI NEWS: DMP Continues The Digital Revolution!

Digital Manga Publishing has been continuing their push into digital publishing and I have a few updates to share with you. First let's start with their digital site eManga.com. You can now purchase and own your digital books instead of merely renting them like before. Now when you make a purchase it will stay in your reading list forever (or at least until the Rapture)!

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RELEASE DATES: 2011/12 Release List

The 2011 Release List documenting all yaoi manga and novels being released this year has been updated and can be found here or in its usual spot in the top bar titled "Release List". I have removed all unreleased titles by TOKYOPOP and BLUMANGA as they have now been removed from retailers or made unavailable. 

The only change was Dog X Cat V2 now has a release date of 6/1/11. 

The following titles have been added: Kizuna V4 Deluxe Edition; Rabbit Man, Tiger Man V2; Yakuza Café; Bad Teacher's Equation V3; Border V3; Bad Teacher's Equation V4 & Bad Teacher's Equation V5.

The following licenses were added to the end of the list as they do not currently show a release date: Great Place High School Student Council V4; Koi ni Tsuite; Yellow 2 Episode 3; Mr. Convenience; Only Serious About You V2; The Tyrant Falls in Love V5 & V6.

~Jennifer LeBlanc

CALL TO ACTION: KINDLE Alternatives for Yaoi!

To further show Amazon that we mean business, I thought I would post alternatives for digital reading that doesn't require a KINDLE or even an eReader to enjoy.

Barnes & Noble has the NOOK and currently boasts of approximately 149 yaoi titles based on a search for the word "yaoi" on their NOOK site. The best thing is that you do not need to own a NOOK in order to read these titles. B&N offers free apps for your PC desktop, your Mac desktop, your iPad, your iPhone, your Blackberry and for Android. 

Digital Manga also has their site eManga with all of their titles listed as well as fan favorites like Starfighter and Teahouse. It also currently has BLUMANGA titles but only until May 20th. If you have an eReader that supports ePub, Mobi or PDF files, you can find a growing selection of Digital Manga's titles over at tlagay.com as well. Borders sells their eReader, the Kobo, for as low as $99 and it supports both ePub and PDF files. They also provide free apps for your PC desktop, Mac desktop, iPad, iPhone, Blackberry and Android. A Google search of eReaders shows a wide range of devices as well as low prices. Just make sure to pay attention to what file types they support! 

As you can see, there are PLENTY of other ways to enjoy your digital content without having to resort to supporting the KINDLE and Amazon's restrictive content guidelines and censorship. Let's show Amazon and KINDLE we mean business!

~Jennifer LeBlanc

CALL TO ACTION: Tell Amazon NO to KINDLE Censorship

I think we need to band together as yaoi fans and tell Amazon we are not happy with the censorship of our beloved yaoi titles, whatever their reasoning may be. I myself am a KINDLE user and at no point in time would I have purchased a KINDLE had I realized they would start censoring titles and CONTINUE to censor titles depending on their current whims. Please do your part by going to this link for KINDLE customer service, select "Questions about KINDLE books, subscription, or other content" as your issue (not "Problems with…" as that may go to an I.T. type person) and state your displeasure with their ever changing policies about acceptable content. You can also send a direct email to kindle-feedback@amazon.com.

Please spread the word! (Twitter, Facebook, forums…) If you do get a response, please post it in comments for all to see so we can prove whether or not they are taking us seriously. Thank you!

EDIT: Here is a post that was started by someone else on the KINDLE forums. As you can see, they are already misunderstanding what yaoi really is. Feel free to add your 2 cents worth so other KINDLE users understand what the real issue is.

~Jennifer LeBlanc

YAOI NEWS: KINDLE Bans Some Yaoi Titles

It appears the Amazon KINDLE has changed its Terms and Conditions to ban explicit images from being published on the KINDLE (See EDIT below for exact terminology). This issue started last month when Yaoi Press had a few of their titles, both manga and prose, pulled from the KINDLE with no explanation other than they were in direct violation of their Terms and Conditions. Yaoi Press's founder Yamila Abraham has stated they will now have to change their explicit images on their prose titles to more 'romantic' images that will be acceptable to KINDLE. 

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YAOI NEWS: 3 New Licenses for Digital Manga

Japanese title: Koi ni Tsuite

Title: Yellow 2 Episode 3

Title: Great Place High School – Student Council Vol.4

YAOI NEWS: Digital Manga Guild Acquires 487 titles

YAOI INTERVIEW: Hinako Takanaga, Part 3 of 3

Part 1 can be found here…

Part 2 can be found here…

Here it is… the last part to the YaoiCon interview I did with Hinako Takanaga. Lots of good stuff so hopefully this makes up for the long wait.

YAOI INTERVIEW: Hinako Takanaga, Part 2 of 3