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NEWS: Youka Nitta to Print Last Embracing Love Book in Fall




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geishageek



Joined: 28 Nov 2005
Posts: 571
Location: Pleasant Valley, NY
PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 1:55 pm Reply with quote
I am sad to know she ended it. I just wish someone would slap Libre and let them let someone else rescue the license and finish the series here in the US.

Does anyone know if she planned this to be the end, or did she just end it because of what happened? I have not read anything past volume 5, so I do not know where the story was moving to.
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Cait



Joined: 29 May 2008
Posts: 503
PostPosted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 2:28 pm Reply with quote
From what I had gathered from the fan communities and Nitta's own words on the subject, volume 14 was always meant to be the end of the series. I also have an inkling that whatever the last chapter(s) would have been were already at least begun before the scandal broke (the story was probably already decided upon, anyway). In any event, 14 volumes is a massively long time for a BL series to run and the series was essentially out of ideas at that point anyway. Basically, what had already been released in English constituted what, in my opinion, was the best of the series, anyway. I'd love to see a license rescue of the title by an American company, but the issue of all the traced images would have to be addressed (omitting or getting rights to use them). It might be more hassle than it's worth. I don't think CPM's claims to the license, given their bankruptsy, is any kind of issue anymore.

It does surprise me that Libre is going ahead to let Nitta finish this one series, but I think they were under a tremendous amout of fan pressure to allow it to happen and they're basically caving. I'll be curious to know how they treat the questionable images that she traced in the last volume. Will they be removed? Will they be kept with permissions from the rights holders? The most recently traced Deisel ad didn't seem to be a big issue for the company involved, but the photographer of the original image wasn't a part of the dialogue at any point.

I'll be sure to import the tankoban and find out when it's released. I want to complete my collection.
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sunflower



Joined: 04 Sep 2005
Posts: 1080
PostPosted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 12:52 am Reply with quote
Since when has it become Libre's fault that a) she plagiarized images, and b) no one can is going to want to reprint the material she stole? I'll bet the new volume is redrawn and sanitized, and then that she never wants to draw it again so she can put it all behind her.

I personally liked the series up to and including the material on the movie, but it should have ended right after that triumph of theirs.
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poonk



Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 1490
Location: In the Library with Philip
PostPosted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 7:23 pm Reply with quote
Embracing Love was third on my list of BeBeautiful titles I want to be rescured (Finder and Kizuna come first & second for me) but I'd still like to see if it can keep my interest for 9 more volumes. As Cait said, 14 volumes is a pretty long run for a story that mainly focuses on one couple and (lets face it) their fabulously acrobatic sex life (some might say the same about Finder, but at least that's got Yakuza too Razz ). Love Mode hit 11 volumes, but it had the benefit of many different couples to introduce, develop, and later "catch-up" with. And as much as I like Junjou Romantica, I'm admittedly not nearly as thrilled as I used to be at each new volume (10 is out soon, I think) as I was with the first handful of volumes. The only long-running BL manga I've enjoyed from beginning to finish, that didn't seem (to me) to run out of steam, was 10 volumes of Kusatta Kyoushi no Houteishiki (Bad Teacher's Equation) by Kazuma Kodaka of Kizuna fame (I've only ever read it in scanalation form, but if it ever gets licensed here I'll buy it in a heartbeat). Sometimes part of what makes a story good is the author knowing when to quit and giving readers some sort of closure. Sounds like this was just the right time for Nitta to do that, whether planned or not. Though I do hope she's still going to be doing manga, even if it's not this one.
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Cait



Joined: 29 May 2008
Posts: 503
PostPosted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 7:56 pm Reply with quote
poonk, honestly I would have preferred to hear this news about Minister (in my opinion, a far better work all around) and not HwD, but we have to take what we can get, right? And I'll second you on Kusatta, but then again, Kodaka is a veteran mangaka who knows how to weave a story from start to finish. Even Kizuna, which dragged on a bit, clearly had a story arc that was given its due time after 11(?) volumes. It felt like HwD just kept getting continued on because it was popular and not necessarily because Nitta had a plan. I'm hoping recent other BL news coming out of AX this weekend (JR anime licensed with Nozomi!) will extend to some news about some of the CPM licensed BL getting rescued. If not Kizuna or HwD, at least VF (not that I'm saying I don't love and want to see it relicensed, but it's really the only one I can believe with confidence will get rescued).
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poonk



Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 1490
Location: In the Library with Philip
PostPosted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:32 pm Reply with quote
Cait wrote:
poonk, honestly I would have preferred to hear this news about Minister (in my opinion, a far better work all around) and not HwD, but we have to take what we can get, right?
Oh, that-- I bought that (Prime Minister's Secret Diplomacy) expecting a complete, single-volume story (it doesn't indicate "Vol.1") and when it ended so abruptly, mid-story, I was completely confused and a little p*ssed off. So there is more in tankoubon form ready to be brought over, eh?
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Even Kizuna, which dragged on a bit, clearly had a story arc that was given its due time after 11(?) volumes.
I'd just really, really like to see Kai & Masa finally (!) get together, that's all. They had the build-up that I thought the main couple lacked, since Ranmaru & Enjoji were already established as a couple when the story began. I've muddled through untranslated scans of later volumes, but it really loses a lot of emotional impact when you don't understand most of what's being said.
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Cait



Joined: 29 May 2008
Posts: 503
PostPosted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 8:42 pm Reply with quote
poonk wrote:
Oh, that-- I bought that (Prime Minister's Secret Diplomacy) expecting a complete, single-volume story (it doesn't indicate "Vol.1") and when it ended so abruptly, mid-story, I was completely confused and a little p*ssed off. So there is more in tankoubon form ready to be brought over, eh?


Yes, there were a number of chapters more that were serialized in Japan. I don't remember off-hand if they were enough to constitute a full tankoban, but the story did delve much deeper before the scandal broke. Trust me, where the series cuts off after volume 1 is nothing compared to the cliffhanger that cut it off because of the tracing scandal...
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