Still struggling to dig myself out of the deep deep hole called work. Thank God there’s Twitter. Now I can both crunch numbers on spreadsheets and type down random, senseless thoughts at the same time.

P.S. The first anime episode of Aoi Hana is out and it’s excellent. Go watch it, people!

Looks like I just got back in time to catch this cool announcement: Everyone’s favorite Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers) will be adapted as an anime series by JC Staff and directed by the same director of Honey and Clovers. The series is scheduled to air in July and the official website just went online with a little teaser video (click on the “Play” button to see it). If the series becomes a success (Who am I kidding? This one’s got hot lesbian school girls in it!) we might get to see Hourou Musuko on the little screen as well. How awesome would that be?

P.S. The 4th volume of Aoi Hana will go on sale in April. Kotonoha and Lililicious are, of course, committed to continue this series. Expect to see more Hourou Musuko and Happy-Go-Lucky Days from us as well.

Well, not quite just yet. However, you’re right to be doubtful, as Kotonoha sure looks a hell lot more dead than alive right now. It has nothing to do with our staff losing motivation and everything to do with the fact that I spent the last few months traveling, visiting friends and relatives abroad and working some shit out with my life. Things will stay busy for a while, but I don’t intend to abandon scanlating just yet. To those people who emailed me and got no response, I owe you my heartfelt apology and ask you for a bit more patience.

When Kotonoha returns, which I hope to be soon, some “restructering” will need to be done. We will have to drop a few projects and concentrate on those that still have some following. Don’t worry though, I have no intention to stray from the group’s original purpose, which is to bring you, dear readers, interesting and original mangas that are simply a bit less ordinary. We owe you no less.

P.S. Due to some spam influx, I had to deactivate the forum’s register function. It will go back up as soon as I manage to update our forum software to fix the problem.

And he brought some old friends with him.

• Kiichi!! Volume 1 Chapter 4-8
  Now that Historie is on a temporary hiatus, we need another strong seinen title to fill the gap. It’s still difficult to judge Kiichi’s potential, that’s why we’re planning to pepper you with releases to win you over in the shortest time. You better be ready for it!
  

• The Hour of the Mice Volume 2 Chapter 16-18
  These 3 chapters bring the second volume to a thrilling close and introduce another important twist to the story.
• Shigurui Volume 2 Chapter 7
  We are lucky to have a new translator, Nicolas, joining us to help get this project moving faster. Rest assured that we’re doing our best to bring you more chapters of this excellent series.

More miraculous resurrections to be followed soon.

Update: Released the final two chapters of Bradherley’s Coach. Two more heartbreaking stories and an ending that, while it doesn’t provide the catharsis many of us might have hoped for, still brings the story to a somewhat satisfying close. I’d like to thank zzled and Jinchi for their, as always, excellent translation and lettering work respectively.

Over the last few years, it has become something of an annual tradition for Kotonoha to do a joint with Omanga. Last year, we gave you A Revolutionist in the Afternoon. The year before that, it was Keep on Vibrating and then Kilico. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we are back together this year to bring you another great manga. Having said that, I have to warn you that this year’s book is not something you’ll want to read unprepared.

Bradherley’s Coach is Hiroaki Samura’s latest outing as a short story teller. Those of you who read his entertaining rom-com soap Ohikkoshi (published in the US by Dark Horse) already know that Samura is capable of drawing more than just samurai and kimono. But stop! Don’t even think of going into his latest book expecting the same reading experience. Bradherley’s Coach is, frankly, the polar opposite of Ohikkoshi. It’s dark, disturbing, shocking, and totally humorless. And that’s exactly why it’s so, so much more compelling.

Reading the synopsis, you probably have a vague idea of what to expect. But believe me, nothing could prepare you for what Samura has conjured up. There are a few scenes in the manga that even I found hard to stomach, and I’m sure many of you will be repulsed by them as well. Fortunately, the author never dwells on those extreme scenes (which are in no way gratuitous). Instead, he focuses on the characters, giving us time to know them, showing us their hopes and dreams. Therein lies the manga’s emotional power. To know who those girls are, what they think and what they care about is all the more devastating as you are exactly aware of the horrible fate that awaits them at the end of each chapter.

It’s safe to say that Bradherley’s Coach is not a manga for everyone. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’ll polarize our readers as much as it did the Japanese. But whether you end up loving or hating it, this is a story that none of you will likely forget very soon.

Jumping from one serious manga to another, I’m proud to present you the “little surprise” for all Hitoshi Iwaaki fans that I was talking about a while ago. Look Me in the Eyes When You Talk is an intense horror short story about an apathetic man who’s afraid of looking other people in the eyes. After getting severely beaten up by a bunch of thugs, he wakes up in the hospital, only to discover that he literally can’t see other people’s eyes. Iwaaki threw some super scary pictures in there, so you’re advised to read this one in a well-lit room. Big thanks to Arkard for his superb translation. Hopefully, he’ll provide us with more scripts in the future.