Junjou Romantica

The release of the first episode of the anime made me realize I'd actually read very little of the manga, so after watching the opening of the anime (it's very...bright. and flowery. but otherwise kind of nice.) I decided I to read all of the manga (plus Junjou Minimum). There are nine volumes! I had no idea there were so many (doesn't it tell you how behind I am? XD;). In any case, it took days to read them all because of work and study (I'm attempting to study for an accreditation exam, unfortunately it's full of memorization. ;_;). Ahhh, so conventional in many ways but so cute and retarded. Overall, very enjoyable.

( more babbling )

I'd write more, but I gotta get back to studying. Eventually I will actually watch the anime. May it not suck.

Nakamura Shungiku Interview in the January 2008 Pafu

I happened to notice the cover of this issue (it was on top of a pile of books in the hallway) and quickly skimmed the interview because I couldn't do either of the two things I'd like to be doing right now (sleep or study-I don't have the thing I was going to study with me). XD; I decided to do a quick summary of the parts of the interview re: Junjou Romantica rather than toss and turn in bed...

-The fact that her manga was becoming an anime didn't feel real to Nakamura-sensei (hereafter shortened to "N") until recently. She's happy that her work, out of the many out there, was chosen, but she wonders how they'll handle certain aspects as it is BL.

-When asked what she was looking forward to in the anime, N responds that as the manga is in black and white and the anime will be in color and will have motion and sound, she has no idea what it'll be like. She feels like one of the general public.

-When asked about the scene in volume 8 where Misaki is finally able to tell Usami that he loves him, N replies that she wanted to link the scene with an earlier scene in a ferris wheel (she can't remember the volume). She recalls the scene being rather easy to draw because the image she had in mind was solid.

-N doesn't feel like the images of the main characters have changed for her throughout the series because she created them in the first place to change and grow as things happened to them.

-N doesn't think Misaki will ever "win" against Usami, even if he ever gets to the point of being able to pounce on Usami. After all, he'd only be responding to Usami's provocation anyway.

-This series, though her longest ever, doesn't feel like long-running to N because she doesn't actually publish that many chapters of it in a year.

-When asked how she brings out the "BL-ness" of the series (she's apparently said before that she's consciously making this series more "BL-ish"), N responds that she tries to keep in mind that she's drawing a romance. She adds that at times she forgets....

-N loves to draw manga in general, but she particularly enjoys herself when she works hard to draw pointless chatchkis like chicks and pandas. What she finds tough are the deadlines...

-N imagines that it'd be easy for Misaki to become a housekeeper after he graduates college, but she refuses to reveal at this time what his actual job will be.

-N would like to have Misaki and Usami make a cake castle or a bread castle...In any case, some kind of castle.

-When asked if she plans on writing another series, possibly Junjou Terrorist or Egoist on their own or something new with other characters such as Haruhiko and his childhood friend (the one that works for the publisher) or some other adult couple, N replies that she's actually writing about Haruhiko's childhood friend right now. She couldn't give any details.

The rest of the interview was about another work, Sekaiichi Hatsukoi, which I haven't even heard of, as well as more personal stuff about N. Is Sekaiichi Hatsukoi any good? I guess I should go check it out...

But first I need to get volume 10 of Junjou Romantica. *sighs*