Autumn went past in a whoosh, and I have very little update to give except “yes we are working on the next release”. Delays have been caused by busy real life situations, personally I am currently in Japan, since September and will be returning home and regular procrastination for New Year.

Hope you all are having a good December and enjoy whichever holidays you are celebrating, in the mean time, have some Christmas lighting from rainy Akihabara:

- Idra

MAGNOLIA (Lamento) – release date: June 11th, 2009
CIRCLE: Clawserio
AUTHOR: Kousaka Akiho
PUBLISHED: N/A
PAIRING: Rai x Konoe
RATING: NC-17
DOWNLOAD: SS | MF | SF | MU

The usual happened, so we’re a bit late with this… However, I think this book is worth a little wait. Another gorgeous Lamento story by Clawserio. I hope you all will enjoy this as much as we enjoyed working on it! Visit the Releases page for our previously completed projects.

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A word about our future plans. We hope to be able to finish two more projects during 2009, but since Idra will be abroad for 4 months this Autumn/Winter, this might not go as we have planned. We’re not going to drop any of our projects, but a few delays might occur. Next book will be a surprise, but it’ll be good! We promise!

SCRAPS (Lamento) – release date: March 13th, 2009
CIRCLE: Clawserio
AUTHOR: Kousaka Akiho
PUBLISHED: May 2007
PAIRING: Rai x Konoe
RATING: PG
DOWNLOAD: SS | MF | SF | MU

Visit the Releases page for our previously completed projects.

A new release, just in time for the onset of spring!

And fitting spring perfectly, it’s a very warm and sweet Lamento book. Kousaka-sensei once again gives us a wonderfully insightful story about Rai and Konoe, set after the ending on Rai’s route, about the power of memories and the events that unfold through an old picture.

We hope you’ll enjoy this book as much as we did. Don’t hesitate to let us know what you think. Next time, look forward to a very sexy Rai/Konoe book. Definitely a promise!

No big news, except the fact that Broken Promise was officially launched two years ago to this date. The team has seen some changes, and the last two years haven’t always been easy for us. We would like to thank all of you who have visited our site over the years, and we hope you’ll continue to enjoy our coming releases during 2009!

Thank you! ♥

- Idra

This feels almost unreal, to finally bring You one of the original raws we’ve been holding on to since practically the time Broken Promise started. It’s been so long I can hardly remember the reason this book was chosen on the list, but I believe it had something to do with Akira’s outfit.

LOVE THICK HONEY (Togainu no Chi) – release date: December 28th, 2008
CIRCLE: Lazy Child
AUTHOR: Shiina Akino
PUBLISHED: N/A
PAIRING: Shiki x Akira
RATING: NC-17
DOWNLOAD: SS | MF | SF | MU

Next month, on January 22nd, is Broken Promise’s two year birthday. We wish to thank You for all your support so far, and hope You’ve enjoyed our releases. We’ll continue to do our best in 2009. That’s our New Year’s resolution and we promise to keep it! Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year, from the Broken Promise team!

The big boss wanted me to talk about the reason we’re often doing Clawserio books, so here I am. XD

Of course, the pragmatic reason why we’re scanlating Clawserio is because I’m the raw provider, and I have nearly all of her books. *laughs* But that’s because Kousaka Akiho, the person behind Clawserio, is an amazing artist.

Lamento (and to a lesser extent, Togainu no Chi) are fairly unique fandoms in that they have a number of highly talented and ingenious doujinshika drawing for them, which is surprising since they are a) BL games and b) tiny fandoms.

Clawserio is special in a number of ways, since she manages to put out serious, humorous and erotic books, sometimes wrapped all in one. A lot of doujinshika usually choose to stick to one type, either drawing gag or PWP books. Serious doujinshi are much rarer, and are very often used to lay on the angst. Not that there is anything wrong with angst, I simply see it done as a “sinking into the depths of despair” type of production for many characters.

However, Clawserio does neither. I admit I purchased her books at first because the art looked beautiful, but when I actually had them in my hands, I knew I was looking at something more even though I couldn’t understand the words (I’m horrible at Japanese, let alone kanji XD). I suppose it’s the way she draws expressions and reactions that captivates me so—they are often very subtle and heartfelt, perfectly in tune with the spirit of Lamento, a game in which grand feelings, no matter if they are sadness, joy, anger or love, are conveyed in a very subtle manner. For example, none of the characters in the game burst out with “I love you”, but it is clear that they love each other deeply. Similarly, when Konoe holds out his arm to Rai in Overflow (up on the release page), telling him, “Groom me,” it’s his way of showing his trust and his wish to be together.

That ties in with the way Clawserio handles character dynamics—her books very often feel like extensions to the game rather than typical doujinshi productions, capturing the relationships in all their nuances. Her specialty is Rai/Konoe, but she has also done Asato/Konoe stories and draws other characters into them, giving Bardo or Kagari a chance to shine. That is also something that doesn’t happen very often in doujinshi, that characters are allowed to play larger roles despite not being part of a pairing. For example, in Flawed (also up on the release page), Bardo features very prominently in a book with a Rai/Konoe pairing. I don’t say “Rai/Konoe book”, because Bardo is just as much involved in the story, and his relationship to both Rai and Konoe is just as important as the actual Rai/Konoe pairing.

Which brings me to the next point: Story is a very big aspect of Akiho-san’s books, even if a book centers on sex (like the upcoming Magnolia). She never forgets characterization and authenticity, no matter if it’s a continuation of the game’s story, or a “slice of life” type snippet. Indeed, I’d go so far as to argue that even her NC-17 books are “slice of life” stories, because they’re as far from typical PWP as you can get. The characters appear so natural and real that the entire setup just feels like something that is part of their lives.

Of course, this is also the reason why I like her sex scenes so much: They seem natural. They seem real, comfortable and fitting to Rai and Konoe’s relationship, conveying affection and sexuality through true-to-character expression rather than trite tropes of “seme and uke” or “dominance and submission.” The Rai/Konoe pairing as well as the Bardo/Konoe pairing, especially, are often hit with these clichés in fanart and doujinshi, with Rai or Bardo as the menacing sex fiend seme and Konoe as the blushing, struggling and (more often than not) looking-much-younger-than-he-is uke. But that’s not the case here. Clawserio’s Rai/Konoe books also show Rai’s surprise at being treated with gentleness, his baffled and somewhat helpless responses to Konoe’s words and reactions, as well as his deadpan humor and sarcasm. In a similar manner, Konoe’s sensitivity and maturity are allowed to shine just like his youthfulness, and all these things come into play during sex scenes.

A lot of doujinshi in general bring in the (borderline) rape tropes, where the bottom cries and tries to resist as the top molests him in whichever kinky way he pleases, disregarding characterization and pairing dynamics completely. However, Clawserio does neither, which makes me an immensely happy reader. ^^

So yes, that’s the longwinded answer as to why we’re doing so many Clawserio books. Thank you, Kousaka-sensei, for giving us such wonderful stories.

- Aphelion

New season, new layout! Thanks to everyone who have so far voted in the poll, it’s still open if you want to give your opinion!

I’d also like to remind you to update your bookmarks if you haven’t yet. Our old domain broken-promise.nu will expire in January and we won’t renew it, after that we’ll be found here at http://brokenpromisescans.wordpress.com/.

We’ve all been quite busy over the Autumn, but hopefully we’ll be able to bring you a new release in December. It’s a… promise?

As an editor, this is something that interests me. People have different preferences on sound effects, and so far I’ve changed my style of editing them a bit from book to book, depending on the art style of the book. But if You readers had your choice, which method of SFX editing would you rather see?

The results of this poll may or may not have an effect on how our releases look like in the future, but they will not affect the the speed (or lack thereof) we release in.

Thanks for voting!

OVERFLOW (Lamento) – release date: September 16th, 2008
CIRCLE: Clawserio
AUTHOR: Kousaka Akiho
PUBLISHED: N/A
PAIRING: Rai x Konoe
RATING: PG-13
DOWNLOAD: SS | MF | SF | MU

Visit the Releases page for our previously completed projects!

We’re back after the summer months with a new Clawserio book, with her pairing specialty – RaiKonoe. Overflow is set after the ending on Rai’s route, giving us very moving insights into his past, and Konoe’s feelings towards what happened to his own father.

The artwork is stunning as always, but I consider this one of her most touching works, because it presents the utter brokenness of Rai’s character in such a real and non-melodramatic way, and shows Konoe’s healing effect so beautifully. I admit I found myself close to sniffling more than once, not because Clawserio is laying on the angst, but because her style and presentation is so poignant. And of course, very sweet.

We’d love to hear what you think about it, too, so don’t hesitate to tell us.

Of course, we’re already hard at work on the next project – you can expect a hot Shiki/Akira book. Definitely a promise!

FLAWED (Lamento) – release date: July 30th, 2008
CIRCLE: Clawserio
AUTHOR: Kousaka Akiho
PUBLISHED: N/A
PAIRING: Rai x Konoe
RATING: PG
DOWNLOAD: SS | MF | SF | MU

Visit the Releases page for our previously completed projects!

It took us a bit, but now we’re proud to present the first release after moving house – another beautiful book by Clawserio. This one is a very sweet, moving story set after Rai’s ending, which deals with his complicated past.

Flawed was one of the first doujinshi I purchased, and also my first taste of Clawserio’s work, and I have to say I never regretted it. Apart from her awesome artwork, her characterization is so spot-on the doujinshi might as well be an extension of the game. But don’t hesitate to tell us what you think – we love to hear your opinions.

Our next project is already in the works – expect more RaiKonoe goodness. It’s a promise!