It’s getting close to the end of the month, and you know what that means, right? It’s time for another manga giveaway! This time around I have a brand new copy of the first volume of Natsume Ono’s Gente: The People of Ristorante Paradiso from Viz Media for one lucky winner. The giveaway is open world-wide, so I hope you’ll enter!
I first heard about Natsume Ono at a panel called “The Best Manga You’re Not Reading” at the American Library Association’s 2010 Annual Conference. It was a marvelous panel and among the manga mentioned was Ono’s Ristorante Paradiso. Gente is a related series which saw its third and final volume released in English earlier this month. But what made me fall in love with Ono and her work was House of Five Leaves. I first saw and adored the anime adaptation. (I really hope it will see a DVD release in the States. I’d even be perfectly happy with a sub-only set; I just want to own the series!) And now that the House of Five Leaves manga is being published in English, I’m buying the each volume as soon as it is released. Recently, Ono was one of the featured guests at the 2011 Toronto Comic Arts Festival and she also made an appearance at New York City’s Kinokuniya Bookstore, meaning even more people are beginning to recognize her name. Many of Ono’s works are already available in English, but I would love to see some of her boys’ love manga, written under the name basso, licensed as well.
So, you may be wondering, how can you win the first volume of Gente?
1) In the comments below, tell me about how, when, or where you first learned about Natsume Ono or any of her works.
2) Also in the comment tell me which, if any, of Ono’s manga you have read and if you have a personal favorite. (If you haven’t read any, just mention that.)
3) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).
And there you have it. One person may earn up to three entries for this manga giveaway. The winner will be randomly selected on June 1, 2011; you only have one week to get your comments in.
VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.
Please note, Blogger is having an issue right now dealing with comment submission. If you try to leave a comment and it doesn’t immediately appear, please send your entry to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com and I will make sure your comment is posted and you are entered in the giveaway. My sincere apologies for the inconvenience.
Contest winner announced—Manga Giveaway: Oh, Ono! Winner
I first heard about Ono when I saw “Not Simple” in a bookstore. Something about it got to me, and I bought it without knowing anything about the manga or mangaka. I thought it was great, even though the story was so tragic. I loved the artwork’s blend of eastern and western styles.
You can find me on twitter at @Ben_the_bear
Some people have been having trouble posting comments. If your comment doesn’t appear, e-mail it to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com and I’ll post it for you. Here’s one from tungwene:
I first learned of Ono when the Ristorante Paradiso anime was airing. The first time I read her manga was House of Five Leaves when Viz launched their Sig Ikki website and it was far and away my favorite out of all the debut titles.
I have since read the Ristorante Paradiso manga, not simple and seen the House of Five Leaves anime on Hulu. House of Five Leaves is my favorite. Even though it’s set in a different place and time I feel Ono tells a very modern story, or at least one I find instantly relatable. She writes such a likable cast and many of the troubles faced by Masa remind me of my own which I find very comforting.
Sorry everyone for the trouble encountered posting comments. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’m trying to figure out what’s what. In the meantime, here’s an entry from Steph:
I was first introduced to Natsume Ono after the unique art style of “Not Simple” caught my eye at my local Borders. I have also heard many good things about “House of Five Leaves” from manga reviews in the past, but never got around to reading the series.
Although I have never read one of Ono’s books, her style of art has really made me interested in seeing what her story telling is like. My boyfriend has read “Not Simple” and told me it would be right up my ally, so I really should get around to searching out her titles one day.
Blogger knows there’s a problem with commenting and is supposedly working on fixing it. In the meantime, please keep the entries coming! Here’s one from Kimberly Pham:
I first heard about Ono when House of Five Leaves was adapted as an anime and I watched the first couple of episodes. From then on, I was hooked! I went to my local bookstore and found the books released by SigIkki~ And there were great reviews from the blogs that I follow too.
My favorite work of hers so far is Ristorante Paradiso~
Thank you again to everyone making the extra effort to e-mail me your entries! Here’s a comment from bakatanuki:
I learned about Ono first through anime adaptations of her work. Ristorante Paradiso and House of Five Leaves were streamed online via Crunchyroll and FUNimation. I enjoyed both series a ton, and then lead to looking into her original manga. I’ve been reading House of Five Leaves, but have yet to begin collecting Ristorante + Gente. I definitely enjoy her writing and characterization, but the unique art style really gives her manga a distinct touch. I’m always looking for new and interesting experiences in manga and I readily embraced Ono’s manga. I still need to read Not Simple, but hopefully will soon.
The first work of Natsume Ono which I had heard of was the anime Ristorante Paradiso, although I had not really know of her then.
However, the first of her works which I had seen was the anime adaption of House of Five Leaves, which I really enjoyed. It also got me
into wanting to find out about Natsume Ono, which lead me to reading her manga.
Although I’ve only read a few of Ono’s manga, the one I have enjoyed the most was probably Amato Amaro.
My twitter is: ochaako
The first time I learned about Natsume Ono was after I watched few episodes of the anime adaption of her manga – Ristorante Paradiso. I have yet to read any of her manga work done by her. But I guess now I have someone to google and support. Thanks.
Twitter – kumako08
Let me try this again… I first learned about Natsume Ono reading Ristorante Paradiso, which my fiancee had obtained. I’ve read Gente and Ristorante Paradiso, and Gente is my favorite, probably volume two. I’m hoping to read and watch House of Five Leaves in the near future.
My twitter is @fugu13 (and I have tweeted about this contest), and that’s a good way to contact me.
I believe I first heard about Ono from Viz’s SigIKKI website for House of Five Leaves. I was initially drawn to her art style, and that’s the thing I really like and dislike about her at the same time. Sometimes her art is really distracting to me, but other times the eyes of characters seem to convey this sadness that’s really unsettling but relatable to.
I’ve only read House of Five Leaves so that has to be the favorite, but I’m especially interested in Not Simple.