Koimoku
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese-Korean manga
series written by Dall-Young Lim
and illustrated by Hae-Won Lee, the former who is known for scripting the Korean manhwa
Unbalance Unbalance and Japanese manga Black God
and Freezing. The manga started serialization in Kill Time Communications' seinen manga magazine Comic Valkyrie
in its March 2011 issue, published on January 27, 2011. The first volume was released on July 27, 2011, with two volumes currently available as of October 27, 2011. The series revolves around Kouta Inamine, a young manga artist
whose streak of failiure takes a drastic turn when he is hired by a famous B-rated editor. The tagline for the series is "Story of Cartoonist and True Love".
, but his constant mistakes has caused him to be fired from almost every manga magazine in Tokyo. After being fired from another manga magazine, he believes his life to be over. However, his life takes a drastic turn when he finds out that his next door neighbor, Hinata Sawanoguchi, is revealed to be a famous editor for a B-rated manga magazine, and Hinata recruits him for her manga magazine. The story focuses on the process of making and serializing manga, and the ongoing romantic relationship between Hinata and Kouta.
author Dall-Young Lim
and illustrated by Hae-Won Lee, Koimoku began serialization in Kill Time Communications' seinen manga magazine Comic Valkyrie
in its March 2011 issue, published on January 27, 2011. In South Korea, it is published by Artlim Media, and it is serialized in Comic GT. The first volume was released by KTC on July 27, 2011, with a total of two volumes available as October 27, 2011 under its Valkyrie Comics imprint..
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Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series written by Dall-Young Lim
Dall-Young Lim
Lim Dall-Young is a South Korean author known for scripting the manhwa Unbalance Unbalance and the Japanese manga Black God and Freezing. He is the founder of Artlim Media, which was established in 1999...
and illustrated by Hae-Won Lee, the former who is known for scripting the Korean manhwa
Manhwa
Manhwa is the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons . Outside of Korea, the term usually refers specifically to South Korean comics. The term, along with manga, is a cognate of the Chinese manhua...
Unbalance Unbalance and Japanese manga Black God
Black God (manga)
is a Japanese-Korean manga series written by Dall-Young Lim and illustrated by Sung-Woo Park. Square Enix publishes the manga in Japan's bi-monthly seinen magazine Young Gangan. The story is initially set in modern day Tokyo, then changes to the island of Okinawa in the middle of the story. The...
and Freezing. The manga started serialization in Kill Time Communications' seinen manga magazine Comic Valkyrie
Comic Valkyrie
is a Japanese science fiction and fantasy seinen manga magazine published by Kill Time Communication. Its target readership is males between their teens and thirties. The first volume was released on July 25, 2006, and ran in bimonthly volumes until it switched to monthly publication, starting with...
in its March 2011 issue, published on January 27, 2011. The first volume was released on July 27, 2011, with two volumes currently available as of October 27, 2011. The series revolves around Kouta Inamine, a young manga artist
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
whose streak of failiure takes a drastic turn when he is hired by a famous B-rated editor. The tagline for the series is "Story of Cartoonist and True Love".
Plot
Kouta Inamine is a young man with dreams of becoming a professional manga artistMangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
, but his constant mistakes has caused him to be fired from almost every manga magazine in Tokyo. After being fired from another manga magazine, he believes his life to be over. However, his life takes a drastic turn when he finds out that his next door neighbor, Hinata Sawanoguchi, is revealed to be a famous editor for a B-rated manga magazine, and Hinata recruits him for her manga magazine. The story focuses on the process of making and serializing manga, and the ongoing romantic relationship between Hinata and Kouta.
Main characters
- A 20 year-old man and a manga artistMangakais the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
who moved to Tokyo two years prior to the series to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a manga author, but is occasionally fired from each manga magazine. He is then recruited to Comic Splash by his next door neighbor Hinata after he was fired from Comic Heat. He is revealed to be a virgin, and as a result has poor experience with women. It is revealed by Hinata in chapter 5 that Kouta is a "trigger-type" artist, an artist who can produce amazing results if something stimulates them (sexual or otherwise). This ability was first shown after Kouta saw Mika Fujiwara's breasts once, which allowed him to draw more buxom women for his manga.
- Kouta's busty next door neighbor and the editor-in-chief of , a B-rated seinen manga magazine. She shows two sides to herself: a ditzy woman outside of work and a serious editor at work. She is also known for recruiting novice artists and pushing them to their full potential, though there is a darker side to this through spread of rumors. According to Jiro Mineryu, a critically acclaimed author and a former student of Hinata, she tends to become attached to the author and his talents, leading to these misunderstandings. The rumor is further explained by Sayaka Jumonji, a former colleague of hers, claiming she has also "ruined" a few artists with her methods, earning her the nickname "The Novice Killer". She is the first to discover Kouta's full potential as a trigger-type artist. She drives a Ferrari 599 GTB FioranoFerrari 599 GTB FioranoThe 599 GTB Fiorano is an Italian gran turismo produced by Ferrari. It is the brand's two-seat flagship, replacing the 575 M Maranello in 2006 as a 2007 model....
as her personal vehicle.
- A bespectacled girl who works at a dating club, where she assumes a kogalKogalThe kogal fashion involves wearing an outfit based on a Japanese school uniform, but with a shortened skirt, loose socks, and often dyed hair and a scarf as well. The phenomenon was prominent in the 1990s, but has since declined. The word "kogal" is anglicized from kogyaru, a contraction of kôkôsei...
/ganguroGanguroGanguro is an alternative fashion trend of blonde or orange hair and tanned skin among young Japanese women that peaked in popularity around the year 2000. The Shibuya and Ikebukuro districts of Tokyo were the centers of ganguro fashion...
appearance. Originally called by Kouta to improve his experience with women, she takes an interest in Kouta's manga upon seeing his manuscript, even proclaiming herself to be his "number-one fan".
Comic Heat staff
- The editorial staff member of the shōnen manga magazine and Kouta's former colleague.
- The editor-in-chief of Comic Heat and Tohru's superior. She is Hinata's rival who disapproves of her methods of molding manga artists, believing that they should be successful in their own right and that there were a number of artists under her wing that failed to be successful, which is negatively affecting the manga industry. It is revealed that she once worked with Hinata in the past for a manga magazine, though the main reason for her breaking up with Hinata remains unknown. Despite her rivalry, she still has some degree of respect for Hinata, as she refers to her by the senpai honorific. She can also be quite intimidating, especially towards Tohru.
- Nicknamed "Mine", he is a critically acclaimed author who can sell ten million copies of his manga once it hits print, earning him a spot in the . He briefly hired Kouta as an assistant, but quickly fired him following an ink spill which ruined one of his pages, claiming he does not have what it takes to be a manga author (he admits later on that he is a bit hotheaded when it comes to manga). It is revealed by Izumi that he was a former employee of Comic Splash, and was Hinata's disciple. Hinata gave Mine his big break on his debut manga "Farewell, Tokyo" which sold 30 million copies, which in turn led to the spread of numerous rumors by her competitors.
Comic Splash staff
- A member of Comic Splash's editing apartment.
Other characters
- Ozma is the pen namePen nameA pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
of a famous manga artist who draws a variety of manga in various genres and copious amounts. Initially, Asahina believes Ozma to be a pen name of a group of artists due to the diversity and amount of manga produced. However, Sayaka Jumonji knows Ozma to be a single manga artist. Ozma's works and common elements inspired Kouta Inamine to be a manga artist himself.
Volumes
Written by Korean manhwaManhwa
Manhwa is the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons . Outside of Korea, the term usually refers specifically to South Korean comics. The term, along with manga, is a cognate of the Chinese manhua...
author Dall-Young Lim
Dall-Young Lim
Lim Dall-Young is a South Korean author known for scripting the manhwa Unbalance Unbalance and the Japanese manga Black God and Freezing. He is the founder of Artlim Media, which was established in 1999...
and illustrated by Hae-Won Lee, Koimoku began serialization in Kill Time Communications' seinen manga magazine Comic Valkyrie
Comic Valkyrie
is a Japanese science fiction and fantasy seinen manga magazine published by Kill Time Communication. Its target readership is males between their teens and thirties. The first volume was released on July 25, 2006, and ran in bimonthly volumes until it switched to monthly publication, starting with...
in its March 2011 issue, published on January 27, 2011. In South Korea, it is published by Artlim Media, and it is serialized in Comic GT. The first volume was released by KTC on July 27, 2011, with a total of two volumes available as October 27, 2011 under its Valkyrie Comics imprint..
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External links
- Koimoku at Comic ValkyrieComic Valkyrieis a Japanese science fiction and fantasy seinen manga magazine published by Kill Time Communication. Its target readership is males between their teens and thirties. The first volume was released on July 25, 2006, and ran in bimonthly volumes until it switched to monthly publication, starting with...