This week’s license request comes courtesy of Michelle (Soliloquy in Blue) Smith, frequent and always welcome Manga Bookshelf contributor.
Whenever I ponder license requests, in addition to a few classics that always make the list, I’m often drawing upon creators whose current work I enjoy. Sometimes this strategy backfires—neither Portrait of M & N nor Tsubasa: Those with Wings was as good as their creators’ more famous series—but still I persist. And that is why I would love to see Crazy for You (an earlier series by Karuho Shiina, the mangaka behind Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You) licensed for US release.
I first read about Crazy for You (complete in six volumes) on Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page, which is rich with license request fodder. Here’s some of what she had to say about it:
This story revolves around the tangled relationships between a group of five friends. The focus is on a a cute, naive girl named Sachi (or “Sa-chan”). Sachi is silly and innocent and friendly. She had a very “genuine” personality. What you see is what you get. Sachi doesn’t have a boyfriend, but would like one (going to an all-girls school makes finding a boyfriend difficult), so when she is asked if she would like to go to a “goukon” (a group date) she jumps at the chance. At the goukon, Sachi meets a lively and cute boy named Yuki. Sachi falls for Yuki at first sight, and they get along very well. They both have energetic personalities. Yuki thinks Sachi is cute, and seems to really like her.
Every day, Sachi finds herself falling more and more for Yuki, and her affection is very obvious to everyone around her, including Yuki. However, while Yuki does like her, there is some sort of barrier between them. Yuki is holds himself back and will only see Sachi as a friend. When a secret from Yuki’s past comes to light, and a relationship is revealed, the group of friends is thrown into turmoil. Bonds are strained or broken, betrayal is felt, and everyone must re-evaluate how they feel about each other.
Cute romance is all well and good, but cute romance coupled with secrets and turmoil? Sign me up!
Surprisingly, this appears to be one series the French don’t have yet, but the Germans do. In fact, their editions have a very familiar logo on the spine! Within about three hours of making this discovery, a German set of these books was on their way to me (Google Translate, here I come!) but I’d still much rather have a set in English.
So, how about it, VIZ?
(Guest license requests are always welcome.)
I haven’t read Crazy for You (though it’s on my list to read), but I did read one of her one-shots and found it adorable, if not quite as wonderful as Kimi ni Todoke.
Yeah, I don’t expect it to be as wonderful as Kimi ni Todoke, but it certainly sounds intriguing.
Ha! If it’s in German, that means I can read it. Well, with the help of a dictionary, but still. I’ve got a few series that are hard to get in English, or impossible, so I might add this one and try it out sometime. Plus, it’d give me a reason to practice my German so that I’m not quite so awful the next time my Opa calls out of the blue.
I envy your German skills!
I am a big fan of Karuho Shiina’s Kimi ni Todoke and Crazy for You looks interesting that I would love to check it out.
I totally agree with David that some of the earlier works of mangakas with famous series are not as good but Crazy for You sounds interesting enough.