Juné's Psyche Delico Kickstarter has officially ended and for those following along and picking up the clues have already come to realize the news: Psyche Delico will be at YaoiCon 2017!! 

Psyche Delico is a Japanese boys’ love/yaoi author. Her stories range from light hearted romance to heated passionate affairs. She first started publishing her own yaoi manga in 2008 with “The Rest is a Love Thing?!” and now has over 15 published works.

This year, YaoiCon will have two guest of honor with both Psyche Delico and Sakira sharing the spotlight. Both artists will have autograph sessions throughout the weekend, as well as Q&A panels.

YaoiCon is October 6-8 in Santa Clara, California. Get reduced presale tickets before they sell out and come meet some wonderful BL mangakas!

You’ve been asking and Juné has been listening; our first ever digital-to-print yaoi Kickstarter is here! We could not think of a better author to launch this brand-new project with other than our best-selling digital author: Psyche Delico! From one of our very first DMG digital titles, Pure Love’s Sexy Time Volume 1, to brand new releases like Eroman, four titles will be made from being digital exclusives to print. Psyche Delico’s work has been gaining popularity in Japan due to its steamy nature and its unique southern dialects.

The four books that can be pledged for individual or all together are Pure Love’s Sexy Time Volume 1 and 2, The Rest is a Love Thing?!, and Eroman: Paper, Pen, Sex.

In addition to pledging to these books, Psyche Delico has provided Juné with some unique original art based off her beloved characters. Chibi acrylic keychains, postcards, and even a two sided dakimakura body pillow case will be available exclusively for backers!

Juné will also be providing its usual round of add-ons including discounted print titles and Juné merch.

Been itching for restocks? The HIGHLY requested, critically acclaimed novel series Ai no Kusabi volumes 1 through 8 will be available for additional add-ons (or even its very own tier if Psyche isn’t your thing).

Interested in attending YaoiCon 2017 with some extra perks? Our Kickstarter will have three available tiers for backers. In addition to getting all four Psyche Delico books and tickets to the con, YaoiCon backers will receive customized YaoiCon shirts and a Little Tokyo snack and care package for added comfort to their YaoiCon weekend.

~Kickstarter launches April 17, 2017~

Shiuko Kano’s loveable roughnecks are at it again this solid spinoff of I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone.  The central stories in this book follow Kousei Mogi, a blue collar single dad.  Mogi’s dirty coveralls hold a heart of pure honey, and he’s a perfect pivot for the other characters. 

The overarching theme of all four parts of the central story and the side story is love of dubious origin.  Be it blackmail, drunken hate sex, or just plain hijinks, the first time any of these couples falls into bed together is hardly romantic in a traditional sense, and the reader spends significant portion of the story unsure, but not too worried, whether these are healthy relationships at all.  In the end however, it really is a sweet book, full of sweet stories as only Kano Sensei can deliver them.

The scope of the relationships in this book are quite broad and interesting.  We do not focus myopically on the interactions within the couples, but are privy to witness the greater social context in which they occur.  There are graphic accounts of abuse and trauma, and real depictions of sadness. There are women and children in somewhat real development, beyond their usual roles in Yaoi as foils, and the characters’ stories intertwine in natural and interesting ways. Overall the pacing is excellent.

Kano’s art style is very unique and Maybe I’m Your Steppin’ Stone is no exception.  Her characters have an interesting elongated morphology and an unusual facial frame, which it is easy to either love or hate.  To be sure there are some jarring examples of Yaoi Anatomy Syndrome to be seen here, but overall the composition and rendering are good. 

The aforementioned women and children also display exaggerated physicality, and are just as well drawn as the men. Unfortunately it can be a little hard to differentiate characters at times because their faces are so similar, which muddies the story.

During the plentiful, hot, and creative spicy scenes, anatomical missteps are nowhere to be found. The action is uncensored and juicy, including foot worship, toys, femoral penetration, and more.  Run-of-the-mill this is not, I enjoyed the sexiness of this book the most of just about anything I’ve read recently.

I definitely recommend Maybe I’m Your Stepping Stone for its engaging characters, interesting plots, and delicious sexiness.  It is not necessary to have read I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone for this high quality to serve as a great addition to anyone’s collection.

Review by Dot Ringo

“'I’ve killed a woman.' The overbearing voice on the phone was that of a high school classmate named mitsuo ichikawa. Buried memories from the past resurface within the heart of a man who carries the same name, Mitsuo Ichikawa. Events drag him right back into the passions of the past. The two reunite as accomplices, yet their relationship as master and servant slowly changes into something different…"

Last fall Anime News Network revealed it was going to be taking Asumiko Nakamura's dark BL drama "Double Mints" to the live action silver screen. They have now since released movies stills and teasers of their cast. The characters have really started to take shape from their uniquely stylized 2D forms into the ruggedly handsome Mitsuo Ichikawas portrayed by Shunsuke Tanaka and Yasushi Fuchigami.

Asumiko Nakamura was interviewed about her now second work being made into the film and was quoted:
     "When they first approached me about the movie deal, I tried not to get my hopes up too high because I knew deals like this fall through all the time. However, thanks to the hard work of the the cast, crew, and staff, it became a reality. I also thought it would be difficult to get serious actors to be a part of the film, but we were able to acquire such a talented, passionate cast; we were so fortunate and privileged. And our great director--I sent over so many nitpicky corrections to the script, and the director never got sick of me, and always responded to me with such strong conviction. I think my readers will be very pleased with this movie. I really hope they enjoy it."

Director Yasushi Okifumi has truly embraced this emotional tale of murder, passion, and psychological disarray into what may be the BL world's darkest live action yet. 

source: http://natalie.mu/comic/news/218766

Desirable Swimming Boys does what it does very successfully.  And what it does is boys doing boys.  This is a lovely, smutty little romp that fails in its cursory attempt at psychological tension, but delivers in spades elsewhere. The story follows swim team members addressing their sexual obsessions in all sorts of complicated and counterproductive ways. Finally, a tall and dark deus ex machina turns this “love” triangle into a rectangle and brings our group to its symmetrical and rather moist climax. It is all highly enjoyable.

Here we find a very nice array of fetishes and tags, from rape to incest to group sex.  While there is censorship, the filth level is still plenty above average.   The art is good.  The toning is blocky and very liberally applied, and there are some noticeable instances of Yaoi Anatomy Syndrome, but really nothing distracting.  I was very impressed with the expressiveness of the faces, which are really beautifully and effectively rendered, and of course the aforementioned anatomical shortcomings are nowhere to be found in the sex scenes. Panel layout is frenetic but flows very intuitively, creating a complimentary feeling to the emotional tone of the story.  Composition in general is tightly pulled in, so there is very little background to speak of.   

What elevated this volume from one I was glad I had been able to enjoy one afternoon to one I was glad I own is the bonus story, Untitled.  This one shot is really beautiful and I look forward to revisiting it.  Untitled takes place in a single room in a vaguely dystopian context, where we watch as the routine of the lone character, a sex worker whose entire world is the plain room with the two-way mirror in which he lives and works, is interrupted.  Each page floats on an offset border of lace screentone,  deepening the effect of the decadence we feel from the world outside the room, and contrasting garishly with the stark  minimalism of the panels.  The common thread between Desirable Swimming Boys and Untitled is definitely their considerable explicitness, and I’m glad they’re in the same volume.

Overall, as long as what you’re looking for is a very high smut-to-story ratio, this book is a winner and I definitely recommend it! 

Review By: Dot Ringo