Shogun Yoshizumi

Here's a bit of trivia for my fellow Youka Nitta fans:

I was watching the Japanese historical drama Tsukahara Bokuden, in which the title character (based on a real-life famous swordsman) travels around Japan, fighting duels in order to improve his swordsmanship during the early 1500s. In the third episode, an attempt is made on the life of the Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshitane, and it turns out that the assassination was ordered by the previous Shogun, Ashikaga Yoshizumi, who wants to return to power. (Tsukahara is given the task of finding and killing the assassin.)

I nearly burst out laughing when I heard the name "Yoshizumi," because of course it reminded me of our beloved Yoshizumi Naotaka from Haru wo Daiteita (Embracing Love)! Adding to the humorous irony is the fact that Yoshizumi usually acts in historical dramas, so theoretically it could be possible for Yoshizumi to play the Shogun Yoshizumi in a drama one day!

Incidentally, the first 2-in-1 volume of Embracing Love is officially due out from SuBLime on August 13th, but some readers who pre-ordered it from online vendors have already received it. I'm planning to pick up my copy at the local comic book shop where I buy most of my manga, and I'm really excited about it! I already own the BeBeautiful volumes, but I'm looking forward to comparing the translations, and of course I want to support SuBLime so that I can get the complete collection, not mention help Haru reach a wider audience. I'm also hoping that a renewed interest in the series might result in more Haru fanfic and fanart--not sure if it will, but I can dream, right? ~_^