{"id":1344,"date":"2013-01-16T14:32:32","date_gmt":"2013-01-16T06:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/?p=1344"},"modified":"2013-01-16T14:32:32","modified_gmt":"2013-01-16T06:32:32","slug":"sneak-peak-nakamura-asumikos-utsubora","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2013\/01\/16\/sneak-peak-nakamura-asumikos-utsubora\/","title":{"rendered":"Sneak Peak: Nakamura Asumiko’s Utsubora"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I first read Utsubora, it was in Kansai airport, waiting for my trip back home. The somber cover was telling that this wasn’t a cheery Asumiko title, but as soon as I inspected past the cover flap, I wondered what I was just reading into.<\/p>\n

It was mysterious, seductive, and beautifully desperate.<\/p>\n

As a celebration of Vertical’s licensing of Utsubora, here’s a visual sneak peek on what you might expect (and not expect). Some Utusbora images featured here are from the inside cover design and a special postcard from the Japanese edition. Still, pretty little things to lure you in.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"
From Utsubora Vol 1. – Inspecting Aki’s fall.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
Thank you post card from Utsubora Vol. 1<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"
If you’re ‘here’, you’re not ‘there’. – Utsubora vol. 1<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’d give more images but I’m going to spoil everything for everyone. Also, I’m going to run out of things to post for my review! But goddamn, buy the book. These images do not justify the impact of how well Asumiko uses her white and negative space to lure us further into the mystery of Utsubora.<\/p>\n

If you’re curious, you’re better off pre-ordering the book in Amazon <\/a>and Book Depository<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Note: This is a pimp post that is no way endorsed or encouraged by Vertical. I really love this book and I’ve been singing to Vertical to license this book since I read it in Osaka and thankfully they heard my plea and it’s finally here. I really want the English release of the book to be a success. Hopefully, if Utsubora’s successful, other English publishers will bring in more of Nakamura Asumiko’s works.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I first read Utsubora, it was in Kansai airport, waiting for my trip back home. The somber cover was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[33],"tags":[288,197,290,80],"class_list":["post-1344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-manga-erotics-f","tag-nakamura-asumiko","tag-utsubora","tag-vertical"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p26e5y-lG","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1422,"url":"https:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2013\/05\/21\/26-utsubora-by-nakamura-asumiko\/","url_meta":{"origin":1344,"position":0},"title":"#25: Utsubora by Nakamura Asumiko","author":"khursten","date":"May 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Shun Mizorogi is an acclaimed novelist who seems to have passed his prime. He hasn't written a thing in years yet at his publisher's party, he becomes infatuated with a young girl who calls herself Aki Fujino. After the debut his new work, the police calls him in to identify\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fujoshi Reads"","block_context":{"text":"Fujoshi Reads","link":"https:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm9.staticflickr.com\/8089\/8386077820_05fe0a9b88_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":570,"url":"https:\/\/www.punkednoodle.com\/champloo\/2011\/03\/30\/spotlight-nakamura-asumiko\/","url_meta":{"origin":1344,"position":1},"title":"Spotlight: Nakamura Asumiko","author":"khursten","date":"March 30, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I believe I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been told by one of my advisers that I shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t write something that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m obsessed about. Bias, after all, is one of the greatest sins in historical writing. 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