Barely a few months after the announcement at Anime Expo, Miki Aihara's latest shojo manga series Honey Hunt makes its debut in the September 2008 issue of Shojo Beat magazine. Aihara, the creator behind the addictively trashy (and I mean that in a good way) Hot Gimmick returns with more of the twisted plot twists you love and tosses in some tabloid-quality sizzle into the mix just for good measure.
Yura is a shy school girl who can't sing and is nervous around crowds -- which would be perfectly normal except for the fact that her mother is a famous actress and her father is an award-winning composer. When her parents' relationship is broken beyond repair and their divorce is the subject of tabloid titillation, poor Yura finds herself in the spotlight. Then an unexpected betrayal pushes her on a path toward making headlines of her own.
Check out an online manga preview of Honey Hunt for a taste of this new tale that will now be part of the Shojo Beat monthly line-up. The sauciest bits aren't included in this online preview, so be sure to pick up this month's issue to get the full effect of the romantic curveballs that Aihara-sensei has in store.
Also included in this month's issue is a 30-page preview of Blank Slate, a bishonen-filled drama / suspense story about an attractive assassin who has lost his memory, but has lost none of his killer instincts. Interestingly, Blank Slate is by Aya Kanno, the same artist behind Otomen, a story about a hunky hunk who has a secret weakness for cutesy-pie stuff that's due out from VIZ / Shojo Beat in early 2009.
Other special features in this month's issue is a back to school focus on fashion, with a profile of Japanese design house Black Peace Now, a guide to shopping in Tokyo from Aimee Major Steinberger (author of Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan), and a contest to win a $250 prize pack of fashion goodies from Black Peace Now.
And of course, the Shojo Beat regulars, Honey and Clover, Vampire Knight, Crimson Hero, Sand Chronicles and Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time are there too.
With crazed genius Morita away in America, the Honey and Clover love triangle between Morita, Takemoto and Hagu is on hold this month. Instead, we get more about the other H&C triangle between the cerebral yet confused Mayama, the tough but hopelessly lovesick Ayu and the distant and fragile Rika.
Long-withheld family secrets are uncovered in Sand Chronicles. As a result, the repercussions of these confessions seem to be pushing childhood sweethearts Daigo and Ann apart and nudging each toward Shika and Fuji instead.
Not much sports action happens in this month's installment of Crimson Hero, which gives the girls plenty of time to consider their friendships and their simmering love interests, while preparing for the big tournament ahead.
In Vampire Knight, Yuki continues to be haunted by the elusive memories of her past and finally delves into the library to look for the answers that she craves. Meanwhile, Zero continues to suffer from the hunger that threatens to overtake his soul.
And in Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time, Akane becomes the recipient of a curse sent by an unlikely enemy: a girl who claims to be the true Priestess of the Dragon God who just happens to look like Tenma's long-lost sister Ran.
Image credit: © Miki Aihara, © VIZ Media LLC
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