Netcomics goes yaoi with new est em, four others

Netcomics started out with some light manhwa titles, including some BL, and has gotten more diverse as time goes on. They are currently carrying global manga from Yaoi Press as well as Japanese teen-love manga from LuvLuv and some American comics as well. Their latest press release, below the cut, notes the addition of five new Japanese yaoi series to their lineup, including Age Called Blue by est em, the creator of Seduce Me After the Show and Red Blinds the Foolish. RightStuf lists the print volume as available in July. Also on tap are two titles by Tomoko Yamashita, who sounds kind of interesting—this blog post has some background and sample covers. (Japanese cover of Age Called Blue swiped from Baka-Updates.)

NETCOMICS, the graphic novel publisher that specializes in the online pay-per-view service of manhwa and manga series, is excited to announce the release of five new, fresh from Japan, yaoi titles to be published in the coming months. Age Called Blue and Dining Bar Akira will hit the shelves in August 2009. Black-Winged Love, Love Full of Scars, and Merry Family Plan will be available in October 2009. For those ever-eager fans who can’t possibly wait that long, the publisher will be debuting these titles at NETCOMICS.com months ahead of their release dates—beginning as early as March 2009.

Dining Bar Akira by Tomoko Yamashita centers on the happenings in a bar Kuimonodokoro Akira runs. Although the 32-year-old has never given thought to being in a relationship with a man, Akira seriously considers the proposition when he receives a sudden love confession from his male colleague, 26 year-old Torihara. It’s no secret that new relationships can bring about their fair share of stress, but one with another man? And, with a colleague to boot? Finding himself in quite a conundrum, Akira struggles with his pride as an older man facing a younger and male pursuer, never mind that busy bar he’s responsible for managing.

Age Called Blue by Est Em follows two friends, Billy and Nick. These boys have been living as roommates while doing everything they can to promote their band, “The Rebels.” Billy has been harboring feelings for Nick for some time, but hasn’t yet found the nerve to try and move their relationship beyond the boundaries of normal friendship. In the world of struggling artists, trouble is always on the horizon, and is soon to rear its head as the other members of the band grow tired of Nick’s free-thinking and easy-going ways. They want the “hippy” out of the band, leaving Billy with a heart-wrenching choice: Should he follow his life-long desire to make music, a career he’s thrown countless hours of time into? Or, should he side with the boy who stole his heart long ago, his true best friend, Nick?

Black-winged Love by Tomoko Yamashita focuses on the predicaments gay characters face because of their sexuality. In a tale of schoolboy crushes, a protective sister tries to stop a group of homophobes from harassing her brother. Worse yet, she discovers it’s the object of her brother’s affections leading the harassment. Another young student, Kanome, finds himself alone in the library with a classmate he has the hots for. By sexually charging the conversation, Kanome’s clever tongue may score him a bit of action. A more serious sketch follows Minori, a boy who is debating about coming out to his family. Shortly after he decides that neither he nor his family is ready, his sister jumps the gun and outs him at the dinner table. Once the shock fades and the dust settles, will this family be able to come together in acceptance, or has Minori forever torn his family apart? Other stories introduce the heartbreak of unreciprocated life-long devotion, a glimpse into the nightlife of a sultry hustler, and the hilarious antics caused by sexual tension between friends. Black-winged Love touches on some of the more serious struggles that can arise from one’s sexuality, without forgetting the lighter side of love.

Love Full of Scars by Delico Psyche follows some of the rougher, odder, and even taboo relationships known to the yaoi genre. Youkou is a heartthrob who is reputed to have quite the technique in the bedroom. His friend, Yukio, well aware of his reputation, begins to worry when Youkou starts coming home with cuts and bruises. In another atypical story, Ishimoto discovers he and his driver’s ed. instructor share the same passion for action-hero figurines. While bonding over their miniature, plastic heroes, the two get hopelessly drunk, and Ishimoto finds himself butt-naked in his instructor’s bed the next morning. In an odd tale of forbidden love, Fumi is quite taken with the handsome man his brother has become while studying abroad, perhaps even a little too taken. Conflicted by desires to both embrace and push each other away, these siblings struggle to regain a normal, brotherly bond in the face a tempting, tabooed path. The stories in Love Full of Scars tell of both the physical and emotional marks that tough love can leave on a person.

Merry Family Plan—Sumitomo Morozumi’s debut work—compiles her light-but-lively stories that have just the right mixture of comedy and boyhood angst, filled with plenty of adorable moments. Typical school boy Shibutani has always had trouble staying interested in his girlfriends, but when mild-mannered Yoshizumi transfers to his class, his interest is strangely piqued. As Shibutani tries to get to know his new classmate, he finds Yoshizumi to be awkward and even hostile. Other delightfully-crafted stories include a high school boy with a bizarre mask fetish deeply in lust with his dentist; a boyfriend’s jealously over the close relationship between his lover and a best friend; and a couple who are overtly pouting over who should be on top in the bedroom. The stories of Merry Family Plan rest humorously on the lighter side. Coupled with Morozumi’s unique art style, this wacky romp down yaoi lane is sure to leave readers feeling warm and fuzzy inside.

All of these highly-anticipated titles are hot-off-the-press in Japan and are expected to leave NETCOMICS’ yaoi fans giggling, squealing, and craving more of that sweet boys’ love action. Aside from these five steamy new titles, NETCOMICS remains the leading publisher for online yaoi reading pleasures. Over 30 boys love and yaoi titles are currently available with just the click of a mouse.