One-Shot: "Twelve o'Clock Bell Rings"

We had originally planned to release this one-shot a little over the week ago, but there was a duplication with Turtle Paradise so I cancelled it even though it was almost ready.  But we talked it over within the group and received some encouragement from Turtle Paradise and, as a result, I decided to go ahead and finish it and release it.  Suzume, Ichigo Stars, and I spent too much time cleaning and redrawing the images to let the work go to waste.

This one-shot is more about the artist style than the story for me, although the end is pretty funny, even though it's gruesome.  The English adaptation is somewhat different than Turtle Paradise's so our version may have somewhat of a different feel.  This version is benign in comparison in my humble opinion.  I. personally, enjoyed the "bite" of the Turtle Paradise version.   Regardless, it's always interesting to see how different people choose to adapt the same work.  There are many ways to say the same thing :).  And now onto the links!


"Twelve o'Clock Bell Rings": (Zip) (PDF -- mobiles and tablets)

Up next is Magnolia Chp 11!

The Scarecrow of Oz Chapter 2

Here's the second "The Scarecrow of Oz" one-shot.  It truly is a follow-up to the first one-shot and ties up the lose end with the Tin Man.  In March we will release "The Scarecrow of Oz" serialization.  The serialization will only be three chapters long and is currently running in "Hana to Yume" magazine.  The serialization covers the third witch who chose the beast.  (The little lion beasty is adorable!).

Links to "The Scarecrow of Oz II": (Zip) (PDF)

As of now, I don't know what's up next.  We have a few projects that are well on their way to completion, but I don't know which one is going to be completed first.  Also, I start jury duty tomorrow, so unless I get dismissed tomorrow, I'll be busy with real life for the next two weeks and we will probably only be able to put out one release over that time.

"Ozu no Kakashi Tsukai" ("The Scarecrow of Oz") Chapter 1

 

Here it is!  "Ozu no Kakashi Tsukai" or "The Scarecrow of Oz"
Link to "Ozu no Kakashi Tsukai"

This is one of those stories that kinda sneaks up on you when you start to think of its deeper meanings.  I think the key themes in this story are what is merit and what does it mean to have merit.  Also, this story is rife with references to the "Wizard of Oz" and the themes within that story.  See how many of them you can catch :).

I had a very interesting e-mail conversation with one of my proofreaders, Corgi, about this story.  I will post this exchange in a day or two after enough people have had the chance to read the story.  I don't want to spoil the story or color your opinions of the story before you read it.  Anyhow, check back in a couple of days and give your own opinions if you want.

One-Shot: "Nemurenu Kishi ni Hanataba wo" ("Bouquets of Flowers for the Sleepless Knight")

Here is the one-shot "Nemurenu Kishi ni Hanataba wo" ("Bouquets of Flowers for the Sleepless Knight").  This story and the characters seem very inline with Yumi Kiiro's current series "Library Wars: Love and War." Both characters are strong and likable and the story is a good mix of humor, romance and adventure.  I hope you enjoy this short story as much as I did.  Oh! and a big thank to our new cleaner, Sae, who helped get this out sooner than I expected.

Links to "Nemurenu Kishi ni Hanataba wo":  (Zip) (PDF -- Mobile and Tablets)


If you enjoyed this one-shot then I highly recommend "Library Wars: Love and War" to you.  It just began its English release from Viz and is still currently running in Japanese language magazines Lala and Lala DX (this series has LOTS of wonderful extra stories).

Next up is another one-shot called "The Useless Scarecrow Familiar."  After that, we will release the next installment of "Orange Chocolate."