Beauty is the Beast concludes in HanaLaLa 28/2008 (English School Wars will replace)

I know I sed I make no promises over the timeliness of this HanaLaLa 28 toshokan post, but after the also late HL 27 write-up, this is creeping close to a habit. Good thing the tardy punishment in these jam karet (rubber time) parts is nearly nil.

At any rate, must. Work. Harder! *ties a hachimaki 'round forehead and looks fiercely punctual*

Now let's talk about the highlights of this edition. The most important development, of course, is the conclusion to Matsumoto Tomo-sensei's Beauty is the Beast or Bijo ga Yaju—which is celebrated both in the front cover and the full-color title page.

On the subject of more rainbow borrowings, this issue has some of the purty-est color pages and spreads (see Vampire Knight Sixth Night, Alice Academy Story 49, Fruits Basket chapter 110, and Arakure chapter 7).

HanaLaLa 28/2008 table of contents

Thirteen Hana to Yume and LaLa shōjo titles are currently in serialization, their latest installments below. (Click installment links for more details.)

1. Vampire Knight by Hino Matsuri | Sixth Night: Out of the Academy (full-color title page)

Vampire Knight 「 ヴァンパイア騎士 」 by Hino Matsuri
Hakusensha LaLa - ongoing serialization
Latest tankōbon release: V7 (April 2008)
Related: Vampire Knight novel - Vampire Knight: Ice Blue no Tsumi (Vampire Knight: The Sin of Blue) by Matsuri Hino- and Fujisaki Ayuna-sensei

2. Penguin Revolution (Penguin Kakumei) by Tsukuba Sakura | Chapter 17

Penguin Kakumei 「 ペンギン革命 」 by Tsukuba Sakura
Hakusensha LaLa, seven volumes, complete (February 2008)

3. Alice Academy (Gakuen Alice) by Higuchi Tachibana | Story 49 (full-color title page)

Gakuen Alice 「 学園アリス 」 by Higuchi Tachibana
Hakusensha Hana to Yume - ongoing serialization
Latest tankōbon release: V16 (July 2008)

4. Fruits Basket by Takaya Natsuki | Chapter 110 (full-color title spread)

Fruits Basket 「 フルーツバスケット 」 by Takaya Natsuki
Hakusensha Hana to Yume, 23 volumes, complete (March 2007)

5. Arakure - The Wild Ones (Arakure) by Fujiwara Kiyo | Chapter 7 (full-color title page)

Arakure 「 アラクレ 」 by Fujiwara Kiyo
Hakusensha Hana to Yume - ongoing serialization
Latest tankōbon release: V8 (September 2008)

6. Alice Academy (Gakuen Alice) by Higuchi Tachibana | Story 50
7. Mr. ERMINE (Okojo-san) by Uno Ayumi | Chapter 56

Okojo-san 「 オコジョさん 」 by Uno Ayumi
Hakusensha LaLa, eight volumes, complete (May 2005)

8. With My Brothers (Oniichan to Issho) by Tokeino Hari | Chapter 27

Oniichan to Issho 「 お兄ちゃんと一緒 」 by Tokeino Hari
Hakusensha LaLa - ongoing serialization
Latest tankōbon release: V9 (April 2008)

9. Mr. ERMINE (Okojo-san) by Uno Ayumi | Chapter 57
10. Ouran High School Host Club (Ouran Koukou Host Club) by Hatori Bisco | Chapter 34

Ouran Koukou Host Club 「 桜蘭高校ホスト部 」 by Hatori Bisco
Hakusensha LaLa - ongoing serialization
Latest tankōbon release: V12 (April 2008)

Chapter 34 (Shinsengumi cosplay) is equivalent to anime episode 22 Mori-senpai has an apprentice wannabe (モリ先輩に弟子入り志願 - Mori-senpai ni Deshiiri Shigan), in which the wuvable Kasanoda Ritsu-kun is introduced.

11. V.B. Rose (Velvet Blue Rose) by Hidaka Banri | Chapter 28

V.B. Rose 「 Ｖ・Ｂ・ローズ 」 by Hidaka Banri
Hakusensha Hana to Yume - ongoing serialization
Latest tankōbon release: V12 (June 2008)

12. Beauty is the Beast (Bijo ga Yaju) by Matsumoto Tomo | Chapter 28 (full-color title page) [Finale]

Bijo ga Yaju 「 美女が野獣 」 by Matsumoto Tomo
Hakusensha LaLa, five volumes, complete (March 2005)

13. Skip Beat! by Nakamura Yoshiki | Act.72: Scenario Jack

Skip Beat! 「 スキップ・ビート！ 」 by Nakamura Yoshiki
Hakusensha Hana to Yume - ongoing serialization
Latest tankōbon release: V19 (July 2008)

14. La Corda D'Oro (Kin Iro no Corda) by Kure Yuki | Symphony No. 29

Kin Iro no Corda 「 金色のコルダ 」 by Kure Yuki
Hakusensha LaLa - ongoing serialization
Latest tankōbon release: V11 (September 2008)

15. Mr. ERMINE (Okojo-san) by Uno Ayumi | Chapter 58
16. Santa's Town (Santa no Iru Machi) by Tokeino Hari | One-shot
17. Mr. ERMINE Si Penguasa (Okojo-banchou) by Uno Ayumi | IX

HanaLaLa 28/2008 went on sale 15 July 2008.

HanaLaLa #28/2008 yada-yada-yada

Arakure by Fujiwara Kiyo
I continue to wub, wub, wub this series! Sure, chapter 7 pivots on the school cultural festival device and the I will protect you! (from all those fake ghosts and loneliness) trope, but Fujiwara Kiyo-sensei's genius in cranking up the sighs-and-heart throbs over the over-the-top romantic Igarashi continues to put goony, satisfied smiles on my face.

Santa's Town (Santa no Iru Machi) by Tokeino Hari
Although I've yet to read this one-shot—I seem to have issues with reading something Christmas-themed in July, despite or probably because of the marketing-exploited Holiday in July precedent—a quick leaf-through of the probably not coincidental 25-page short promises another Feel-good read. I've marked page 401 with a Post-it with the admonition: This December!

Alice Academy (Gakuen Alice) by Tachibana Higuchi
The promised double chapter (49-50) of Alice Academy is similarly set in winter. I must admit, I've been remiss in reading Alice Academy—both the serialization and tankōbon. Catching up is on my To Do list (alongside reading the entire Bijo ga Yaju series that just ended), especially as

SPOILER!

Story 50 features Natsume and Mikan sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G! (How classic tropish can you get aside, could this scene be the reason why this chapter's artwork had to be changed under the approval of the author? Just like PenKaku 16?)

UPCOMING: HanaLala 29/2008
Highlights

• [Premiere] English School Wars (Eikaiwa School Wars) by Matsumoto Tomo
• Two chapters Fruits Basket
• Vampire Knight - 47 pages
• Short story by Matsumoto Tomo

The next issue streets 19 August 2008.

Technorati tags
manga, shoujo, HanaLaLa, Hana to Yume, LaLa, Hakusensha, Elex Media, Arakure, Fujiwara Kiyo, Bijo ga Yaju, Matsumoto Tomo, La Corda D'Oro, Kure Yuki, Fruits Basket, Takaya Natsuki, Gakuen Alice, Higuchi Tachibana, Okojo-banchou, Okojo-san, Uno Ayumi, Oniichan to Issho, Santa no Iru Machi, Tokeino Hari, Ouran High School Host Club, Hatori Bisco, Penguin Revolution, Tsukuba Sakura, Skip Beat!, Nakamura Yoshiki, V.B. Rose, Hidaka Banri, Vampire Knight, Hino Matsuri

~niki DBA huamulan03 (花木蘭03)

copyright information

Bijo ga Yaju is © Matsumoto Tomo/HAKUSENSHA, INC. Indonesian translation rights in Indonesia arranged with HAKUSENSHA, INC. through TOHAN CORPORATION. Published under license from HAKUSENSHA, INC. All rights reserved. No infringement intended.

shout-out

7&Y for helping me track down latest issues.

Looking for other language versions? (Links to Amazon)

Some of these titles, like Arakure, released as Wild Ones, are available in English from Amazon.com. You might want to check them out in the search box ^^

And yes (this serves as my full disclosure), there's a little something for me to spend on more manga if you decide to order from links that look like this (that's a link to the Fruits Basket search page) ^^