A space of my own.
Not a review post but to mention that the popular series by Tani Mizue is finally released digitally across various Japanese ebook retailers!!
Continue reading “Hakushaku to Yousei (伯爵と妖精) light novels get a digital release!”
Being a romance reader outside the States, I don’t have a library that I can turn to so it means if I want to read it, I gotta buy it. (I hope no one takes this the wrong way ;w;) It took me a long time to get going because one, physical copies take up space. I don’t have a lot of it left. And the other reason, region restrictions.
Imagine my surprise when I found romance novels (or simply, copyrighted books!) available for digital loans at the Internet Archive!
Continue reading “Reading Romance at the Internet Archive and OpenLibrary”
Cover for Tendou-ke Monogatari vol.4 is released and will be available in physical compiled volumes on December 5, 2017! The ebook release will soon follow.
To commemorate the occasion, there will be a signing at Sanseido Bookstore, Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture on December 16, 2017. Further information about the event can be found here (in Japanese).
And thank you for the high volume of hits yesterday! You guys made it the day with the highest views on my blog! ✨✨🎉
✨Where to buy✨
Tendou-ke Monogatari vol.4
CDJapan / Amazon Japan / ebookjapan
Tendou-ke Monogatari vol.1-3 at Amazon Japan (limited stock available)
Finally got around buying the 3rd volume of Tendou-ke and I’m so glad that it came with the obi (the wrap around the book jacket). I like how the black and muted gold colour goes together. The lines used on them are also dialogues from respective volumes.
Spoilers below!
Continue reading “Tendou-ke Monogatari vol.3 by Saitou Ken (天堂家物語 3巻 – 斎藤けん) + AneLaLa one-shot”
I finished the second volume about a year ago but because there was a major renovation going on, the book got stuck in the boxes. Finally dug it out and boy, it’s a ride that I plan on staying! 😘
Spoilers ahead ^_^
Continue reading “Tendou-ke Monogatari volume 2 by Saitou Ken (天堂家物語 2巻 – 斎藤けん)”
Note: As of Feb 28, 2019 onwards, the original eBookJapan site no longer accepts new registrations and existing users can migrate their account and books to the new website.
I will go into detail about the merging of eBookJapan with Yahoo! Japan’s Bookstore (their ebook retail arm) soon.
On September 11, 2017, the eBook Initiative Japan has been incorporated into Yahoo! Group and will now require a Yahoo! Japan ID for new registrations.
Existing accounts are not affected but linking your Yahoo! Japan ID will give you an additional 1% in points when you purchase with your preferred payment method (credit card, etc). This does not apply to purchases made with points.
Since Yahoo! Japan doesn’t have an English version for their interface… I’d thought of making a guide on how to do it, step by step.
I think you should already have a basic grasp of Japanese and the different kana (hiragana, katakana), if not kanji.
I noticed Takane to Hana (Takane and Hana, in English) when it began serialising but never got around reading it until… the first volume was free to read. It was absolutely amusing but I didn’t realise how GOOD it was until I took the jump to buy the ebooks with my twin and at the urging of a friend, Eden-san ww
My twin and I sniggered through each panel and scene. Nonomura Hana (16), is a high-schooler who had to replace her elder sister, Yukari (23) in a marriage interview with the heir of Takaba Group, Saibara Takane (26). He starts off the meeting by saying he dislikes women who dress up too much to impress men. Hana usually won’t take this lying down but since she’s in Yukari’s place, she has to hold it in.
Until she snapped, of course.
Hana pulled her wig away, throwing it in Takane’s direction and said, ‘Please don’t worry. I don’t have the slightest interest in the very fiber of your being” and left. Takane, crushed from what she said actually told Hana (through her father) that he’ll be picking her up the next day.
He showed up at her home with a huge bouquet of flowers and taunting Hana with lavish gifts. Takane thought it’ll make her fall to his feet and fawn all over him but sadly for him, that won’t be happening.
She isn’t at all impressed with his wealth (which Takane continues to flaunt until later volumes – this will later be an important and interesting plot point) and Hana can see him for who he is, not what he projects to everyone else. LMAO Anyways, it was Hana who kissed him first. LOL
We later see Hana and Takane’s friends who wonder at their budding relationship of ‘marriage candidates’. They are also an amusing lot and constantly ask Hana how both of them are doing (∀｀*ゞ)ｴﾍﾍ
I very much recommend this series for the humour and bantering between the characters. If only a Western publisher can pick up the series for an English release :3
Both of us are following the series digitally on eBookJapan with the 8th volume released recently on July 20. The digital release will follow in about three months.
Support the author by buying actual releases in your country or in Japanese!
August 13, 2017: Viz Media has announced an English release for Takane to Hana (as well as another series by Tanaka Meca I’m reading, Kimi no Koto nado Zettai ni)!! Read about it here.
✨Where to buy✨
eBookJapan
Hakusensha e-net! (listing)
Hakusensha e-net! feature
Takane to Hana special website
Takane & Hana (French release!)
Official merchandise (requires proxy services)
Kinoppy is Kinokuniya’s ebook service and originally limited to those residing in Japan (I’m not sure whether it’s already news and I’m the one who’s late to the party 😂) is now available overseas.
According to the site, you can use foreign credit cards to purchase ebooks that are only made available for those outside Japan. This also reminds me of BookWalker, Kadokawa’s ebook retailer who also limits titles in the same way for their Japanese ebooks. (BookWalker now has a global store offering English ebook releases)
You can only search for the titles at a specific page and the main page meant for overseas purchase can be found here.
Kinoppy’s reading app is available on iOS, Android, Windows (desktop and Windows app) and Mac. Apparently, they also charge taxes/VAT for applicable countries.
This service is also not available for the following countries: South Korea, Mongolia, Philippines, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia, Russia, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tunisia, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia.
To be honest, I’m not sure what Kinoppy offers that would rival other ebook retailers.
Hakusensha had revamped their own ebook retail site and released an exclusive reader (they previously used Sharp’s book-in-the-box) on iOS and Android and made Shueisha’s Ribon, Margaret and Bessatsu Margaret titles available for purchase. If memory serves me right, their newsletters are interesting and also contain Q&As with manga authors. And they also accept foreign credit cards.
Guess it boils down to your preference. What device do you read on and what site is your go-to retailer for ebooks? (*‘ω‘ *)
I haven’t read anything new from Takagi-san since Film Girl so I was super excited when I caught wind of the new compiled volume.
Itsuka no Haru was serialised in Bessatsu Hana to Yume and contains the title story (4 chapters + 1 extra) and a one-shot called Irotoridori no Sekai.
(The following is written probably a year after I read and from memory. Sorry if it’s incorrect anywhere but feel free to point it out!)
The story is set in a hot spring town in Ishikawa Prefecture and Yui is a regular high school student. One morning while she’s preparing for school, there’s a bell at the door for their usual soy sauce delivery.
Yui was surprised to see someone entirely unfamiliar but the man explained himself and left. A little later, she finds that Itsuka will be attending school as well as being in the same class as herself. Itsuka is 25 years old and dropped out of school to help his family’s soy sauce business. He didn’t have the luxury of experiencing a regular high school which is why he’s back now. Yui was told to look out for him and she decided that they should both experience their youth together!
Haru doesn’t fit well among the students who finds him odd. But a few things brought better understanding between them and they warmed to him. With his towering height, he served well in the baseball team but one of the guys were jealous of him which kinda made things a little hard for Haru ^^;
Turns out there’s a link between Yui and Haru back when they’re younger but being a short volume, Yui doesn’t remember |D Instead it’s mentioned in an extra after both of them started seeing each other. Really sweet <33
Irotoridori no Sekai is a one-shot serialising in the same magazine as Itsuka no Haru. It’s about a world where people are colours and has a very black and white view of other colours (people). Marrying colours who are too different from your own (for example, black and white) will either drain you because their colour is too strong.
Certain colours live to a certain age and goes through a ceremony which I assume, they are a sacrifice for. It’s a really interesting one-shot and I hope to see more shoujo manga from Takagi >W<
Buy links
CDJapan ♢ Amazon Japan
