Spotlight: Kumota Haruko
For #BLush801, I focus my spotlight on Kumota Haruko’s works and the different reasons why her adorable works are worth the journey.
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Spotlight (801 Special): Est Em
I have this horrible habit of figuring out the lives of people I see when I’m traveling. I love to do this in airports since people hold many stories in such a small space. A woman walks by, clutching her Berkin bag. Probably a trophy wife of some Asian business magnate and she just arrived…
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Spotlight: CLAMP
When I think of April, I think of spring. When I imagine spring ((we only have summer, rains, and cold drafts in Manila)), I think of sakura trees. And when I think of sakura trees, I dream of walking under rows of sakura trees, while a blossom gently falls on my forehead. And then I…
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Spotlight: Yamashita Tomoko
Just where did January and February go?! I promised myself in my last spotlight that I will make a point in writing 12 spotlights for this year, but here I am in March writing my first spotlight! Que horror! That said, starting the spotlight again is a lot better than not ever continuing it at…
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Spotlight: Kaoru Mori
Whenever I think of maids in terms of manga, I first think of Kaoru Mori’s Emma. It is unavoidable to associate Kaoru Mori with the maid fetish. Shirley and Emma were created at a time when maid cafes were emerging in Japan. Her popularity was at its peak when the maid phenomenon hit its boom….
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Spotlight: Iou Kuroda
I wish I had a reason for my delinquency, but work and research is no excuse for my great delay in terms of handling my spotlight. While I promised to do this every month, sickness and sudden workload kept me from opening my manga for months. Then again, I tasked myself in putting down gargantuan…
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Spotlight: Natsume Ono/basso
With the Toronto Comic Arts Festival coming up, I felt it best to tell the world more about Natsume Ono. She’s been getting much acclaim among manga critics however, the truth of the matter is — the English-speaking world has only grazed half of her works. Natsume Ono still has lots to offer. There’s more…
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Spotlight: Nakamura Asumiko
I believe I’ve been told by one of my advisers that I shouldn’t write something that I’m obsessed about. Bias, after all, is one of the greatest sins in historical writing. It’s like a painted picture where everything is all right or all wrong and it’s hard to tell whether it’s the truth or not…
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Spotlight: Yoshinaga Fumi
I write this spotlight today with a mildly sore leg as March started with a big bump… in more ways than one. I wonder if living life past a quarter of a century meant seeing your life in still panels with soft lines and endearing faces. Surely, my face was far from endearing, nor was…
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Spotlight: Naoki Urasawa
Having consumed manga for years, I’ve grown to like some authors a little more than the others. When this happens I go into a mad frenzy, reading as much as I could about the author and try to see  if he has grown as an author, if he has stagnated, or if my relationship with…
