It’s the end of the month which means it’s time for another manga giveaway! Because the Female Goth Mangaka Carnival is currently underway (featuring the work of Kaoru Fujiwara, Maki Kusumoto, Mitsukazu Mihara, Junko Mizuno, Asumiko Nakamura) I decided to do a tie-in giveaway. This month you all have a chance to win a copy of Junko Mizuno’s Cinderalla as published by Viz Media. And as always, the giveaway is open worldwide! (However, you must be at least eighteen years old to enter.)
Way back in 2010, I had the opportunity to attend the Best Manga You’re Not Reading panel at the American Library Association’s annual conference. It was there that I was introduced to the work of Junko Mizuno, and specifically to her manga Cinderalla—a psychedelic retelling of the classic tale of Cinderella with zombies, yakitori, and pop idols added in for good measure. I had never seen anything like it before and I loved it. Mizuno’s brightly colored artwork in Cinderalla shows her mastery of a very distinctive and even beautifully stunning creepy-cute aesthetic. Quite a few of Mizuno’s manga have been released in English—and I’ve enjoyed many of them—but I will always remember Cinderalla as being my first.
So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of Cinderalla?
1) Have you ever read anything by Kaoru Fujiwara, Maki Kusumoto, Mitsukazu Mihara, Junko Mizuno, or Asumiko Nakamura? If so, tell me what you thought in the comments below. (And if you haven’t, you can simply mention that.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).
And there you have it. For this giveaway, each person can earn up to two entries and has one week to submit them. If needed or preferred, comments can also be sent directly to me via e-mail at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. I will then post them here in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on February 4, 2015. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy the Carnival!
VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address in the comment form, a 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: Cinderalla Giveaway Winner
1) I’ve read a little of Mitsukazu Mihara—her “Doll” series, and a few of the shorts she did for te old Gothic & Lolita Bible mooks. I’ve also read a handful of Junko Mizuno. I love Mizuno’s creative style and use of color. I’m a fan of horror & cute stuff, so of course I like her work! Mihara’s style looks like it was very much inspired by classic manga, which I like, and again I love her work that’s more horror-inspired. Really cool stuff.
2) RTing your tweet about the giveaway! :D
I’ve read all the Mitsukazu Mihara manga released in English. I made a lengthy comment over on that post you made last week, so I’m not going to repeat myself here, but yes, I really do enjoy her work despite not liking gothic stuff in general.
Oh and for Junko Mizuno, I’ve read Princess Mermaid and some of Little Fluffy Gigolo Pelu. It’s weird. Weird but enjoyable.
1) I have read EVERYTHING by Mihara! All the Tokyopop releases, the GosuLoli Bible one-shots and fan-translated everything else (Poison Princess and more one-shots)
Her art is what got me into the egl fashion, her stories got me away from shoujo fluff and into more ‘adult’ themes
From Fujiwara have only read Fetish, and didn’t particularly care for it. The stories ended before the characters had time to get any development…
2) RTed on twitter (persoconChii)
Asumiko Nakamura is my favorite mangaka, so I’ve read everything by her that I can get ahold of. The little I’ve read from Junko Mizuno (Pure Trance, Little Fluffy Gigolo, and I think a short story in some anthology?) were great, but I’d probably like her work way better in color. I’ve read a couple things by Fujiwara and Mihara- I love their style, but the stories have yet to wow me.
I never really considered myself a fan of gothic josei manga specifically, but I’ve actually read tons of stories by every artist listed except Junko Mizuno. I was pleasantly surprised to see you guys writing on Kaoru Fujiwara, since she’s one of those artists I adore but haven’t been able to convince anyone else to like. I find it’s best to read her short stories in collections, since it’s more about the atmosphere they give off than the plot. I could spend *paragraphs* talking about how subtly she hints at ideas while using the least amount of words necessary.
I like Mistukazu Mihara, too. She’s a lot more accessible than Fujiwara. I do find her predictably gruesome, so my favourite stories are often the ones where she surprises me by having a happy(ish) ending. I’m not sure she’ll ever top Keep Those Condoms Away from Our Kids. As someone who’s asexual, seeing kids rebel against authority by questioning whether sex is *really* a necessity was bizarrely touching.
And finally Asumiko Nakamura, of the spindle-fingered boys and piercing eyes. I have a love-hate relationship with her work. I find half her stories beautifully compelling while the other half either cross too far over the kink line for me or just don’t seem to have a point. (Chicken Club was *terrible*.) My favourite series of hers is J no Subete, about a trans woman going through boys’ boarding school. It’s a shame it’s never been brought over, because I would love to own it.
I haven’t read any manga from these mangaka yet, but their stories seem interesting and unique, and I’d love to read them.
I posted a tweet about the giveaway as @Bamboopanda27.
I don’t think I’ve read any manga by these authors, but they certainly sound interesting.
I have not read anything by them, but I’d love to.
Tweeted> http://twitter.com/kitsuneninko/status/562131922600886272