Real/Fake Princess, Volume 5

Title: Real/Fake Princess

Volume:  5 of 5

Author: I-Huan
Type: Manhua

Publisher: DrMaster

Genres: Romance, Drama, Historical Fiction, Shojo

Age Rating: All Ages

Public Libraries - Location Suggestion

YA section

School Libraries - Location Suggestion

Elementary - Not recommended

Jr. High/Middle School - Possibly (See Parental Eyebrow Raisers below)

High School - Yes

According to the Publisher - What the Age Rating Means

DrMaster doesn't appear to have a more advanced age rating system.

Parental Eyebrow Raisers 

(To be honest, I really feel that this book should have been rated for 13+)

Violence/Gore
 - Character torture with visible blood, but nothing overly graphic.
 - A minor character is beheaded 

Sexuality/Sexual Themes 

 - There is a sex scene in this volume.  Nothing is shown, mostly it's just close-ups of the characters' faces, but it's obvious what they're doing.

Reviews

Advanced Media Network 
Manga Life 
Manga Maniac Cafe
Mania

Real/Fake Princess, Volume 4

Title: Real/Fake Princess

Volume:  4 of 5

Author: I-Huan
Type: Manhua

Publisher: DrMaster

Genres: Romance, Drama, Historical Fiction, Shojo

Age Rating: All Ages

Public Libraries - Location Suggestion

YA section

School Libraries - Location Suggestion

Elementary - Not recommended

Jr. High/Middle School - Yes

High School - Yes

According to the Publisher - What the Age Rating Means

DrMaster doesn't appear to have a more advanced age rating system.

Parental Eyebrow Raisers 

(To be honest, I really feel that this book should have been rated for 13+)

Violence/Gore
 - Knife stabbing and sword slashing in this one; it's not overly gory, but blood is involved
 - Character death due to sword wound 

Sexuality/Sexual Themes 

 - Very mild suggestive language
 - Concubines are mentioned

Reviews

Manga Jouhou
Manga Maniac Cafe
Mania

Real/Fake Princess, Volume 3

Title: Real/Fake Princess

Volume:  3 of 5

Author: I-Huan
Type: Manhua

Publisher: DrMaster

Genres: Romance, Drama, Historical Fiction, Shojo

Age Rating: All Ages

Public Libraries - Location Suggestion

YA section

School Libraries - Location Suggestion

Elementary - Not recommended

Jr. High/Middle School - Yes

High School - Yes

According to the Publisher - What the Age Rating Means

DrMaster doesn't appear to have a more advanced age rating system.

Parental Eyebrow Raisers 

(To be honest, I really feel that this book should have been rated for 13+)

Violence/Gore
 - One of the characters attempts to kill another with a knife.  There is a fight and blood is shown in several panels, but nothing overly graphic.

Sexuality/Sexual Themes 

 - Very mild suggestive language
 - Brothels and concubines are mentioned

Reviews

Manga Jouhou
Manga Maniac Cafe
Mania

Real/Fake Princess, Volume 2

Title: Real/Fake Princess

Volume:  2 of 5

Author: I-Huan
Type: Manhua

Publisher: DrMaster

Genres:  Romance, Drama, Historical Fiction, Shojo

Age Rating: All Ages

Public Libraries - Location Suggestion

YA section

School Libraries - Location Suggestion

Elementary - Not recommended

Jr. High/Middle School - Yes

High School - Yes

According to the Publisher - What the Age Rating Means

DrMaster doesn't appear to have a more advanced age rating system.

Parental Eyebrow Raisers 

(To be honest, I really feel that this book should have been rated for 13+)

Language

 - One or two words here and there (Ex. bastard) 

Violence/Gore
 - There's a sword duel where two of the characters receive minor injuries; blood is shown. 

Sexuality/Sexual Themes 

 - Very mild suggestive language
 - Brothels and courtesans are mentioned

Reviews

IGN
Manga Jouhou
Manga Maniac Cafe
Mania

Real/Fake Princess, Volume 1

Title: Real/Fake Princess

Volume: 1 of 5

Author: I-Huan
Type: Manhua

Publisher: DrMaster

Genres: Romance, Drama, Historical Fiction, Shojo

Age Rating: All Ages

Public Libraries - Location Suggestion

YA section

School Libraries - Location Suggestion

Elementary - Not recommended

Jr. High/Middle School - Yes

High School - Yes

According to the Publisher - What the Age Rating Means

DrMaster doesn't appear to have a more advanced age rating system.

Parental Eyebrow Raisers 
(To be honest, I really feel that this book should have been rated for 13+)

Language

 - One or two words here and there (Ex. bastard) 

Violence/Gore
 - One of the characters has flashbacks in which someone is attacking her with a pair of scissors.

Sexuality/Sexual Themes 

 - Concubines are mentioned, but not explained.
 - One of the main characters occasionally visits a high-end prostitute, but nothing is ever seen, only very vaguely suggested.

Reviews

IGN
Manga Jouhou 
Manga Life
Manga Maniac Cafe
Mania

Dramacon, Volume 3

 

Title:  Dramacon

Volume:  3 of 3

Author: Svetlana Chmakova
Type: OEL, Ameri-manga

Publisher: Tokyopop

Genres:  Romance, Drama, Humor, Shojo

Age Rating: Teen, Age 13+ 

Public Libraries - Location Suggestion

YA section 

School Libraries - Location Suggestion

Elementary - No

Jr. High/Middle School - At your own discression

High School - Best choice 

According to the Publisher - What the Age Rating Means

All of the following are possible within the book's pages:  Moderate Language, Aggression, Mild Violence, Mild Gore, Crude Humor, Sexual Innuendo, Mild Sexual language, Non-sexual Nondescript Nudity, Mild Sexuality/Sexual Themes, Mild Fanservice, Tobacco Use/Reference, Alcohol Reference, Illegal Drug Reference, Occultism 

Parental Eyebrow Raisers 
Language

 - Less than the first volume (Ex. ass, hell) 

Violence/Gore
 - One of the characters gets into a car accident; some mild blood spattering is involved 

Sexuality/Sexual Themes 

 - Sex is briefly mentioned or eluded to, but that's about it.
 - There's one scene between the main characters that gets kind of heavy, but all their clothes stay on.

 - Yaoi is briefly mentioned or eluded to several times, but that's about it.

Alcohol/Drug References

 - Drinking and getting drunk is briefly mentioned or eluded to, but that's about it.

Reviews

Homemade Mech

Library Journal (via Diamond Bookshelf)

Manga Maniac Cafe

Manga Worth Reading

Pop Syndicate

Dramacon, Volume 2

Title:  Dramacon

Volume:  2 of 3

Author: Svetlana Chmakova
Type: OEL, Ameri-manga

Publisher: Tokyopop

Genres:  Romance, Drama, Humor, Shojo

Age Rating: Teen, Age 13+ 

Public Libraries - Location Suggestion

YA section 

School Libraries - Location Suggestion

Elementary - No

Jr. High/Middle School - At your own discression

High School - Best choice 

According to the Publisher - What the Age Rating Means

All of the following are possible within the book's pages:  Moderate Language, Aggression, Mild Violence, Mild Gore, Crude Humor, Sexual Innuendo, Mild Sexual language, Non-sexual Nondescript Nudity, Mild Sexuality/Sexual Themes, Mild Fanservice, Tobacco Use/Reference, Alcohol Reference, Illegal Drug Reference, Occultism 

Parental Eyebrow Raisers 

Language

 - Less than the first volume, a lot of it has been replaced with symbols (Ex. ass, bitch) 

Sexuality/Sexual Themes 

 - Sex is briefly mentioned or eluded to several times, but that's about it

 - Yaoi is briefly mentioned or eluded to several times, but that's about it

Alcohol/Drug References

 - Drinking and getting drunk is briefly mentioned or eluded to several times, but that's about it 

Reviews

Books and Other Thoughts 

A Chair, a Fireplace & a Tea Cozy 

Manga Worth Reading

Pop Culture Shock 

Pop Syndicate

Dramacon, Volume 1

Title:  Dramacon 

Volume:  1 of 3

Author: Svetlana Chmakova
Type: OEL, Ameri-manga

Publisher: Tokyopop

Genres:  Romance, Drama, Humor, Shojo

Age Rating: Teen, Age 13+ 

Public Libraries - Location Suggestion

YA section 

School Libraries - Location Suggestion

Elementary - No

Jr. High/Middle School - At your own discretion

High School - Best choice 

According to the Publisher - What the Age Rating Means

All of the following are possible within the book's pages:  Moderate Language, Aggression, Mild Violence, Mild Gore, Crude Humor, Sexual Innuendo, Mild Sexual language, Non-sexual Nondescript Nudity, Mild Sexuality/Sexual Themes, Mild Fanservice, Tobacco Use/Reference, Alcohol Reference, Illegal Drug Reference, Occultism 

Parental Eyebrow Raisers 

Language

 - It's not on every page, but it does exist.  (Ex. Ass, Asshole, Bitch) 

Non-sexual Nudity

 - Female character in the shower, but nothing graphic is seen


Sexuality/Sexual Themes 

 - Female character gets asked if her current  boyfriend was "her first".

 - Characters discuss adding some sex into the story one of them is writing.

 - Characters discuss watching Hentai.

 - Characters caught in bed together by other characters; nothing seen, but it's obvious what was going on.

 - Attempted rape, but it doesn't get very far.

Reviews

Anime Jump!  
Homemade Mech 
IGN 
Manga Maniac Cafe 
New York Public Library

The Beginning

Okay, I haven't worked out all the mechanics of how I'm going to go about this yet, but here's a basic break down of the information you can eventually expect from this blog:

1)  Publisher ratings for manga & what they mean

2)  My opinion on the optimum location for the manga in your library (whether you're a school or public librarian)

3)  My opinion on what's going on in the manga that might cause a parent to (at the VERY least) raise their eyebrows

4)  Online review resources for each volume (when I can find them)

5)  Links to the specific volume on the publisher's web site

Also, just for clarification purposes, I'll be covering not only manga, but also manhwa, manhua and OELs.

And finally, since I AM just getting started on this project, I'm perfectly willing to take requests.  Which titles are you most interested in seeing here?  And what kinds of information would you most like to see offered?