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Jason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - Flower of Life


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darkhappy1



Joined: 26 Jan 2009
Posts: 495
Location: PA
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:07 pm Reply with quote
Oh, I've heard of this one before. I'm glad to have found out what it's about; it seems really good. Now I just need to buy all of it!

*checks Amazon*

Volume 4 is a bit expensive I see...
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lys
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 24 Jun 2004
Posts: 1017
Location: mitten-state
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:51 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, I haven't found v4 for a decent price yet either. But I picked up the first three volumes a little while back and really enjoyed them even so :)
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geishageek



Joined: 28 Nov 2005
Posts: 571
Location: Pleasant Valley, NY
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 3:16 pm Reply with quote
I've had volumes 1-3 since they came out but since 4 came out a long while after the first 3, I didn't get a chance to pick it up. I have been appalled at the prices people want for it on Amazon and Ebay. I know DMP only did a very small print run but come on... price gouging at its best. I did finally get to read the last volume as a friend had purchased it and it was indeed as good as the first 3. I just love Majima to death! Someday I shall own the last volume. But not for the prices it is going for now. It is a shame too as the series is a really good one.
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Fronzel



Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1906
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 4:00 pm Reply with quote
Another fine ANN feature on a series that's nearly impossible to get a hold of.
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poonk



Joined: 05 Jun 2008
Posts: 1490
Location: In the Library with Philip
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 4:27 pm Reply with quote
Yep, count me in with those who found out too late that this series is incredible and yet can't quite bring themselves to pay like $50 for a used copy of vol.4. (Wait, does the fact that it's featured here mean the prices will go up even further?)

For me the worst part is I knew I loved Fumi Yoshinaga's BL titles (and the not-really-BL Antique Bakery) as soon as they started coming out over here and yet I didn't bother to pick up Flower of Life simply because it wasn't BL. I'm kicking myself now of course. I got vol. 1-3 pretty cheap last year and loved them, and now that elusive vol.4 is the only English-language Fumi Yoshinaga book that I don't own. I'm dying to see how "Maijima's tainted love" (great way of putting it without spoiling that totally unexpected twist) turns out.

(As an aside, Flower of Life vol.4 is one of the books I personally had in mind when RightStuf started their print on demand efforts and the suggestion of possibly reviving OOP titles was raised.)
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Julia-the-Great



Joined: 14 May 2005
Posts: 328
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 4:39 pm Reply with quote
Another House of 1000 Manga article that makes the manga sound absolutely amazing! And it's only four volumes? Even better!
....
oh, it's out of print?
...
They want HOW much for the last volume?!
...
Sad
Well, maybe sometime when I have more money...? Crying or Very sad
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zawa113



Joined: 19 Jan 2008
Posts: 7358
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 5:09 pm Reply with quote
Let's just make everyone jealous right now and say I was very fortunate to buy vole 1-3 at a used store and quickly get volume 4 mere months before it went OOP. So yeah, I have a copy of 4, I can say for sure that they do exist! That's kinda all I can say though, the first copy I find goes to my friend (though I did lend her my vol 4 so she could at least finish the series). But even then, I do highly suggest getting 1-3 even if that's all you can get. There's a lot of Yoshinaga magic there to love as is!

But yeah, so glad this got covered! As someone who has a Fumi Yoshinaga shrine, I can easily call this my favorite of her series (and I own all of the series that were released in English). The characters are just sooo good, and the whole cast just feels like you're going to high school with them. Sometimes I will write that I have attended fictional schools on like Facebook or something (like Bullworth Academy), this is one I'd like to put on that list.
And man, Shigeru-sensei's reveal was so hilarious I had to put down the book I was laughing so hard! And Majima, despite being the biggest jerk possible, is still somehow the most likable jerk I've yet encountered in a manga. Maybe it's how everyone else realizes he's a jerk where in a normal high school shojo they would be trying to get into his pants.
Really, Yoshinaga is a genius, , and I feel like this series best exemplifies that. She can switch from comedy one panel to hard drama the next and it doesn't seem like strange pacing when it comes from her, she's just that amazing!

With this, half of my top 6 series have been covered (Flower of Life, Maison Ikkoku, and Firefighter Daigo have all gotten covered, Twin Spica, Hikaru no Go, and Banana Fish have yet to be, but someday I'm sure!). I say top 6 cus these are the 6 series I have rated a perfect score for and they are my top 6 favorite series.
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Sewingrose



Joined: 11 Jan 2011
Posts: 579
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 5:13 pm Reply with quote
Picked up a whole bunch of Yoshinaga at AX this year, including the first three volumes of Flower of Life. I also talked to the DMP people about maybe getting a reprint of volume 4, horrendously unlikely considering how much of the earlier volumes they still have in stock.

But there might be a possibility of them renegotiating for a digital release for that volume, especially if the company sees enough demand for it.
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ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster


Joined: 07 May 2005
Posts: 357
Location: San Francisco
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 5:42 pm Reply with quote
My only gripe about the English edition is that with volume 4, DMP stopped using their beautiful slipcovers, and went to a plain graphic novel cover.

DMP has their own digital comics site, emanga.com -- they really should just put Flower of Life up for sale on that site! I can't believe it's not there.
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irishninja



Joined: 15 Jun 2005
Posts: 344
Location: Seattle-ish
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 6:39 pm Reply with quote
ptolemy18 wrote:
DMP has their own digital comics site, emanga.com -- they really should just put Flower of Life up for sale on that site! I can't believe it's not there.


I'm sure they would put it up if they could, but if they haven't yet they almost certainly don't have the rights to a digital release. Unfortunate, too, because this sounds like a great manga that is nigh impossible to get. :/
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wandering-dreamer



Joined: 21 Jan 2008
Posts: 1733
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 7:43 pm Reply with quote
*scribbles down title on growing "to-read" list*
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Keichitsu0305





PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 8:12 pm Reply with quote
Even though this might not have been Yoshinaga complete intent, Flower of Life seems to have great potential at being a BL manga parody while still having enjoyable characters and an simple yet well-written plot. From what I've read, I might actually like Majima.

But why are some of the manga Jason reviews are so hard to find? Darn myself for getting into manga collecting a few years ago.... Anime cry
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ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster


Joined: 07 May 2005
Posts: 357
Location: San Francisco
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 9:01 pm Reply with quote
Keichitsu0305 wrote:
Even though this might not have been Yoshinaga complete intent, Flower of Life seems to have great potential at being a BL manga parody while still having enjoyable characters and an simple yet well-written plot. From what I've read, I might actually like Majima.


It's TOTALLY dojinshi-able! I can see several possible BL character pairings (well, actually not that many, but at least a few)... I'm sure someone, if not Yoshinaga, has written them.
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fuuma_monou



Joined: 26 Dec 2005
Posts: 1854
Location: Quezon City, Philippines
PostPosted: Thu Aug 02, 2012 10:17 pm Reply with quote
Great overview of the series.

Managed to get all four volumes while they were still in print at Comic Quest. Last year I found a sealed copy of volume 4 at Fully Booked. Sold it on eBay to someone in the UK for a little over cover price, but I actually lost money since I threw in free shipping and a 25% donation to the Japanese earthquake/tsunami relief fund. In hindsight I should've set a higher starting price (with three bidders I thought for sure the selling price would be higher), but I figured it was better to let someone read it.
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Merida



Joined: 21 Feb 2012
Posts: 1946
PostPosted: Fri Aug 03, 2012 1:12 am Reply with quote
I'm also one of those unfortunate souls who hesitated too long to buy this series...and i actually prefer her non-BL works. Oh well...

On a slightly (un)related note: i hope someone's gonna license What did you eat yesterday? soon!
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