Welcome readers to another installment of Manga Hermit! In an attempt to counterbalance the sheer amount of testosterone radiating from the flick about one of the most dysfunctional superhero teams to ever exist, this week’s issue is going to be sweet - Soap drama sweet. Passion, lust, desire; all of that and more will parade in front of your eyeballs till you’re itching for another marathon of Tenga Toppa Gurren Lagann. This issue’s drama fest centerpiece – Suna no Shiro, also known as The Sandcastle!

Sekai-Ichi Hatsukoi is a romance anime (airing originally on April 8, 2011) between two individuals working in the exciting world of shoujo manga publishing. The anime centers on characters Onodera Ritsu and Masamune Takano.

Onodera Ritsu resigns from his father’s publishing company due to snide comments from his coworkers, who attribute his success due to nepotism rather than Ritsu’s own hard work. Ritsu leaves his father’s company to create his own success. He applies to work as a literature publisher, but winds up being stuck as a Shoujo manga publisher. As he copes with the difficulties of his new job, Ritsu encounters Masamune Takano who is the head of the Shoujo Manga Publishing group known as the Emerald Department.

Apparently all of the Shoujo Manga Publishers are male. Go figure! Takano convinces Ritsu to stay in Shoujo publishing by calling him “useless,” effectively manipulating his pride. However, Takano has ulterior motives. Takano was Ritsu’s childhood crush and they had a love affair. Due to a misunderstanding, they broke it off and never spoke to each other again. Since then Ritsu has become embittered and forces himself to never accept love into his heart. Takano vows to Ritsu that he will get Ritsu to fall in love with him again. The anime focuses around the Shoujo Manga editor's department and their own individual love problem. There are several arcs containing various characters that are uniquely different from Ritsu and Takano.

Plot: The plot is deep, considering it is a shonen ai. It is interesting and the characters are distinctive and easy to connect with, but it’s also straightforward and doesn’t hide many things. Ritsu fits the stereotypical anime female archtype, always suspecting an ulterior motive and gets into hilarious hijinks as well as coming up with delusional fantasies that are quite entertaining.

Music/Voice acting: Both are aptly chosen and are well done and well represented. Although I do not know the voice actors individually, they represent their characters well. Ritsu’s voice actor is a bit whiny and nasally, fitting his immature personality, while deeper voice acting for Takano, which works for his cool, aloof personality. The opening and endings are both great songs and nice to listen to over and over again.

Graphically everything is clean and smooth. Characters have distinctive appearances and change their clothing. The graphics for the anime have a high production value, and were produced by Studio Deen. It’s how an anime ought to be.

The anime is vastly different from the manga. This anime is surprising, because it has a very strong plot like one you’d find in most shoujo romance. It isn’t a yaoi smut anime, with the dainty feminine men; like shoujo-esque interpretations of yaoi. There are conflicts, well fleshed out characters, and great voice acting. This original series is created by Shungiku Nakamura who is also accredited with creating famous Junjo Romantica Series.

It’s got great depth and is probably one of the better yaoi animes out there with a deeper plot than most in the genre. It really does fit the genre well and redefines it, giving it greater depth. The only critique I have about it are the really blatant shoujo style scenes that occur rarely in the anime.

I give this yaoi anime 4.8 out of 5. I recommend this series to individuals who like the romance genre, to fans of yaoi, and finally to individuals who just like a nice story with great animation.

Disclaimer: The anime is great to watch, however the Manga has really EXPLICIT images. Just a warning.

Fellow leetNEET readers, several days ago, yours truly went to see a Broadway show. Chicago was its name. It had pizazz, moxy, dancing and large musical numbers. The production was staged well and the acting was spot on... for the most part. Personally, I though the lead wasn’t playing her part to the fullest level. I couldn’t feel the character’s emotions, didn’t feel moved by her goals and desires, etc… I believed that production had done a complete miscast. There was only one actress that could convey that character, the one actress that could move me, the Manga Hermit! Maya Kitajima!

Wait, who now?

Maya Kitajima is the heroine of the long-running shoujo manga “Glass on Kamen”, also known now as Glass Mask. Going thirty years strong, it is mangaka Suzue Miuchi's claim to fame. It is a tale of life, love, despair and any other big action words you would hear an announcer rattle off. The story follows the life and times of Maya Kitajima as she achieves her dream of becoming an actress. She’s got the makings of an actress: living in poverty, no-show father, sick mother, clumsy and not beautiful, lacking any acting experience whatsoever… should I go on?

What every Sailor Moon fan has been waiting for now has come true. Starting in September, Kodansha USA Publishing via Kodansha Comics will release the condensed version of the Sailor Moon manga that tied with its live-action counterpart in 2003. The "deluxe-edition" volumes are based on the Japanese re-print so it will include things like new cover art, retouched dialogue, as well as bonus material. It also will include two graphic novels based on Sailor V, which is known as the prequel to Sailor Moon, called "Codename: Sailor V", which has never been translated stateside before and will finally (and I emphasize, finally) be available stateside.

The original 18-volume edition was translated by Mixx Entertainment (now Tokyopop) but the manga had been out of print for six years, following disputes over rights and distribution.

All I can say is...it's already a great day, leetNEET. Now I'm crossing my fingers for the anime.

Source: ANN