During last month’s manga giveaway, I mentioned that I was considering moving away from a monthly contest to holding a contest every other month. Fortunately for you all, someone encouraged me to continue with the monthly giveaways. And so here we are! This month’s manga giveaway is for a brand new copy of the first volume of Yumi Unita’s Bunny Drop as published by Yen Press. The contest is open world-wide!
Josei manga—manga that is created with an adult female audience in mind although it appeals to a broader readership—is probably some of the most under-appreciated manga in the United States market. Very few josei manga are actually marketed as such in the States. A (relatively) recent Manga Out Loud podcast focused on this issue: The Plight of Josei. Some of my favorite manga, such as Fumi Yoshinaga’s Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, happen to be josei. Bunny Drop is another josei series that I am quite fond of so far. The series was nominated for a 2011 Eisner Award, had a live action adaptation released in Japan this month, and the anime version is currently streaming on Crunchyroll. The first few volumes of the manga are utterly delightful; Bunny Drop was one of my favorite series to be released in English last year and I almost didn’t pick it up.
So, you may be wondering, how can you win Bunny Drop, Volume 1?
1) In the comments below, tell me about your favorite josei manga (however you want to define the term, I’m not going to be picky or get caught up in technicalities), or if you’ve never read josei before just mention that.
2) In addition, you can simply mention a josei title that hasn’t been mentioned yet by me or by someone else on this post.
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).
Each person is eligible to earn up to three entries for this giveaway. As usual, you’ll have one week to get your comments in. If you have any trouble leaving comments, or if you would prefer, feel free to e-mail me your entry at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com and I’ll make sure they get posted. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on September 6, 2011.
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.
Contest winner announced—Manga Giveaway: Joy of Josei Winner
I’ve seen some of the trailers on TV for the new movie of Bunny Drop and it looks so cute, so I’d love to start reading this series.
Does Emma by Kaoru Mori count as Josei manga? I loved that series! Am looking forward to reading her more recent one, Bride’s Story. I also have Vol. 1 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers to try soon so am glad to hear that you like it.
BTW, also tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/inspringthedawn/status/108888567836704768
MangaUpdates calls Mori’s stuff seinen. Not enough romance, I guess? O_o;;
I think the only actual josei MANGA I’ve read WAS Bunny Drop. If you care to include anime, Ristorante Paradiso was SO GOOD. I have not had a chance to read the manga of it, so I’m not sure how good IT is. :/
You’re following me on twitter @ my nick above. ^^
My favorite josei continues to be Tramps Like Us: it’s funny, a fun read, and a cute romance with a sensible, likable and has-it-together female lead. I’m very sad that it’s out of print; I have my copies but it makes it hard to recommend it to other people.
Bunny Drop gets second place; I’m just going to pretend the last couple of volumes don’t exist. After that, my list falls off pretty quickly… All My Darling Daughters, maybe? If we can have favorites not in English, Setona Mizushiro’s Heartbroken Chocolatier ranks up there. (Ooku would be a contender except Hakusensha seems to think it’s shoujo.)
I would add 2 others by Fumi Yoshinga. One is Antique Bakery. It sort of overlaps into BL at certain places, but I think ost of it is josei. The other is Not Love but Delicious Food, which is a single volume and will make your mouth water!
From matt cycyk:
I don’t read any Josei. I’m quite a picky reader, so I would like it if more of a variety could get licensed in the U.S. so I can find that Josei manga that is right for me. Maybe if I win this contest, Bunny Drop will be my first.
I haven’t read much josei (even though what I’ve read I’ve loved) but I’m really enjoying the Kuragehime/Princess Jellyfish manga. I started reading it after the anime finished, which had a bit of a rushed ending, and I was thrilled to discover that the manga pacing is much better and some of the side characters are even getting character development, wohoo!
And I tweeted about the contest over here: https://twitter.com/#!/WanderinDreamr/status/109006653113905152
I’m actually a pretty big fan of josei, so thanks for holding this giveaway! My favorite is probably Tramps like Us (Kimi wa Petto), but since that’s already been mentioned a number of times, I’ll chime in and add my second favorite, Suppli! I just love Okazaki Mari’s art, and it certainly doesn’t hurt its cause to also have a TV drama starring Kamenashi Kazuya and Eita.
I also tweeted about the contest: http://twitter.com/#!/apricotsushi/status/109073263581347841
This manga and anime make me cry. (T-T) It’s the best novel.
My favorite Josei manga so far is “With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child”, aka. “Hikari to Tomo ni… “, by the deceased Keiko Tobe. It was also published by Yen Press. I have only finished 4 volumes so far, but I can’t wait till I get some time to continue. The story is really good and the characters are very realistic. The drama is authentic and very emotional. The author did a great job researching about autism. She even included some extra information and interviews with families in the end of the books. Highly recommended.
Another manga that I would like to mention is “Baby and me”, aka “Aka-chan to Boku”, by Marimo Ragawa. It’s another great manga and my second favorite after WIth the Light, but I am not sure if it really qualifies as a Josei manga.
Link to tweet here
https://twitter.com/#!/ahmedhamed88/status/109197236335947776
Goodness, my favourite Josei manga is probably “Blue” by Nananan Kiriko. It’s one of those Josei series I hold up as representative of the greater tropes. Adult realism to romance, a real sense of awkward social skills, and dealing with unpleasant concepts like abortion, if only in passing, without it being like OH MY GOD LOOK WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT.
Link to tweet here!
http://twitter.com/#!/Max_Barnard/status/109719913609957376
(e-mail is Maxy.Barnard AT Gmail DOT com)
I don’t tend to think in genres, and I hadn’t paid special attention to josei, until I read Suppli. I was really hit by how realistic and appropriate to my age and way of thinking, that I dropped all thoughts of getting the shojo VB Rose, and instead got more Suppli!
And here’s a link to my tweet!
http://twitter.com/MangaXanadu/statuses/109901635039408128
xanadu@jadedragononline.com
I also don’t think in genres, and am surprised that so many of my favorite titles are josei! I absolutely love Fumi Yoshinaga’s work, especially Antique Bakery and Ooku. Bride’s Story is still in cataloging, but I plan to read it this week. I also really enjoyed With the Light and recommended it to a parent with an autistic child. Guess I’m a bigger fan than I realized!
https://twitter.com/#!/librarianbloom/status/108911769115820033
My favorite Josei manga has to be Inubaka!!! It just has that feeling that you can easily relate to it. Too bad its on hiatus for vol. 18 T__T
I think im starting to get the hang of actually entering these comments. xD I heard of bunny drop, and it sounds sooooo cute. ^__^
Email: Bugsbunnyfan@roadrunner.com