Yesterday, just in time for 2005, my Koicha no Osahou calendar arrived courtesy of Amazon Japan. Based on Yaya Sakuragi's 2-volume BL manga published by Kadokawa, the calendar is filled with richly colored images. I love Sakuragi's color palette and character designs. Plenty of a/u images: my favorite features Kazuma in a cheongsam, serving tea to Madoka, who is dressed like a Maoist soldier. One page per month, with raw sketches and commentary from the artist on the back of each page. The only drawback is the binding, designed for the user to tear off a page as each month passes.

If you haven't already picked up your wall calendar for this year, these BL/yaoi calendars are now on sale (15% off) at Amazon Japan:

Koicha no Osahou by Yaya Sakuragi	Junjou Romantica by Shungiku Nakamura