The past month’s chapter of The Five Star Stories is apparently so full of information that it’s ridiculous. Also the character Concord makes an “erotic expression.”
Kio will be going analog (physical media + projector!) for his live drawing session this month with Minoda Kaidou. He plans to draw a Spotted Flower character.
Because Kio has felt his concentration decline recently, he decided to draw outside. He’s not sure how well it worked, despite being more productive overall.
Having decided to write out the plot in the morning for something in Spotted Flower, Kio went and finished the written storyboard. He had thought about how it should go for a while, so the drawing went pretty smoothly.
Additional advertisement for the live drawing event. Kio mentions you can get a photo copy of the drawings! He also reconfirms that it’ll be streamed using a projector.
When asked about what they’re hoping for at the live drawing event, Minoda said her answer was a difficult one—she wants to see people to react to their drawings by going, “What the heck is this?!” This makes Kio look forward to being there.
Kio thanks Minoda for her congratulatory message on 50 chapters of Spotted Flower. Minoda also drew characters from Kio’s previous manga Jigopuri. Minoda also mentions the live drawings will be bunny girls.
Kio Shimoku, author of Genshiken and Spotted Flower, is having a live drawing session in Tokyo! The event will also include another manga artist, Minoda Kaidou; both have had series in Rakuen: Le Paradis.
I linked to this previously in my January Twitter roundup, but thought it was important enough to dedicate a separate post.
The live drawing will take place at Tonarimachi Cafe in Shinagawa, Tokyo on Saturday February 21 from 6pm to 8pm JST. Both in-person tickets and streaming tickets are available (either one is 3,000 yen), and can be found after the “get tickets” button on the website.
Kio responding to a person who considers Haraguchi from Genshiken their “#1 oshi,” and asks whether the character has a full name. Kio’s answer: He never came up with one.
The print edition of Spotted Flower Chapter 50 is out [and so is the digital edition now!]. There will be one more print chapter and then two digital ones after this, due to Rakuen: Le Paradisending.
Rakuen: Le Paradis, the manga magazine that runs Spotted Flower by Kio Shimoku, announced that it will be ending in February with its 50th issue, with its web supplements going to March. While nothing is definite forSpotted Flower, the chances of it allso ending then are pretty high.
Rakuen has been a truly unorthodox publication. Rather than running weekly or even monthly, issues are released every quarter. The content is intended for mature readers, but that idea really runs the gamut. It’s been home to sexually charged adult dramas such as Spotted Flower, but also visually experimental works from panpanya (Guyabano Holiday), fetish territory like that of Kurosaki Rendou, and even gentle high school romances. In terms of different demographics as genres, Rakuen really defies easy categorization.
I hope that a spiritual successor emerges in some form. Just having something that takes the idea of “adult manga” and embraces all possible definitions of the idea was a real breath of fresh air.
Kio drew a short comic about one of the model kits from the 1/00 scale Volks Super Modeling Series: Daccas the Black Knight from The Five Star Stories.
At first, Kio talked about how it feels like he was doing nothing, and all of a sudden the release date of the adult video adaptation of Zenbu Sensei no Sei. 2. is almost out. But then he realized that he was definitely not “doing nothing,” and was drawing a manuscript, doing research for it, revising it, and even scrapping the whole thing sometimes. (NSFW)
He also made a drawing of his own replicating the ad for Zenbu Sensei no Sei. 2. There’s currently a sale going for both the prequel and the new stuff until November 23. It’s also available on DVD.
I need to say it: I’ve been worried about the world. We’re seeing government silencing of creative expression, bullying and pressure to silence video games and other artistic projects by credit card companies and payment processors, and a media engine that seems obsessed with trying to convince everyone that red is blue and up is down. It reminds me of every time an overblown hype machine tries to convince us that NFTs or generative AI are the future, except it’s targeting big organizations and regular people who haven’t been paying attention for the past 15 years to a fascist propaganda machine.
I feel some relief that people managed to push back against the attempts to censorship, but also some disgust over the way organizations and companies with real money and power are so ready to capitulate. Having so much influence should make you geared to fight back, not bend the knee.
A new anime season is starting this month, and I hope I can enjoy it.
As for the Patreon, here are my sponsors for the month. Many thanks to them all.
This month, I’m going to be doing a lot of fun things not necessarily related to anime and manga. I’m thinking about whether to write about them for the blog, but leaning heavily towards “yes.”
Sounds like Chapter 50 of Spotted Flower will have a hell of a finale. It’s not clear whether this means the end of the series, or it’s just the final scene of the chapter that’s a big deal.
Different stores in Japan have different purchase bonuses for Volume 8 of Spotted Flower! Almost all of them are basically different girls in skimpy swimsuits.
It also seems like Kio will be including something like a doujinshi with Volume 8.
There will be a live action adaptation of Kio’s erotic doujinshi sequel, It’s All Your Fault, Sensei.2. Here’s an NSFW tweet with a barely censored picture of the actors.
While visiting Obata Castle in Ibaraki Prefecture, Kio heard a loud roar coming from the south. Then he remembered that the JSDF’s Hyakuri Base is there.
OGIUE MANIAX 