From Eroica with Love (Japanese: エロイカより愛をこめて, Hepburn: Eroica Yori Ai o Komete) is a shōjo manga by Yasuko Aoike which originally began publication in 1976 by Akita Shoten. The series ran irregularly in the Japanese anthology magazine Viva Princess from December 1976 to April 1979, then moved to the sister publication Princess beginning in September 1979.[1] It was featured regularly in Princess, with several later side stories appearing in Viva Princess, until August 1989. It went on hiatus for several years, then reappeared in Princess in May 1995 and ran irregularly through December 2007. As of January 2009, it is once again regularly featured in Princess Gold. The English translation by CMX began publication in 2004. It has also been translated to Chinese, as Romantic Hero, with 21 volumes, as well as to Thai, with 20 volumes.

From Eroica with Love
Cover of Japanese volume 34
エロイカより愛をこめて
(Eroica Yori Ai o Komete)
GenreComedy, Boys Love
Manga
Written byYasuko Aoike
Published byAkita Shoten
English publisher
MagazinePrincess
DemographicShōjo
Original run19762012
Volumes39

The series revolves around the adventures of Dorian Red Gloria, Earl of Gloria, an openly gay English lord who is an art thief known as "Eroica", and Major Klaus Heinz von dem Eberbach, an uptight West German NATO major.

The series is driven by frequent inadvertent encounters between Dorian and Klaus, with Dorian often disrupting Klaus's missions. Dorian has developed a fondness for and flirts incessantly with Klaus, who typically reacts with extreme disgust. Other reoccurring characters include Dorian and Klaus's respective subordinates and Klaus's enemies from the Russian KGB.

The series is generally comedic, although it involves violence, theft, and bizarre international incidents. Much of the series spoofs spy stories, as indicated by the title, a play on the James Bond novel From Russia, with Love.

Plot

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Release

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No. Original release date Original ISBN English release date English ISBN
1 19784-253-07109-0November 28, 20041-4012-0519-4
A Thousand Kisses, Iron Klaus and Achillies' Last Stand
2 19804-253-07110-4January 12, 20051-4012-0520-8
Love in Greece and Dramatic Spring, also a non-Eroica-story I.V.Y. Navy
3 19814-253-07111-2April 13, 20051-4012-0521-6
In'shallah and Hallelujah Express
4 19814-253-07112-0July 13, 20051-4012-0523-2
Veni, Vidi, Vici and Alaskan Front (part 1)
5 19814-253-07113-9October 12, 20051-4012-0522-4
Alaskan Front (part 2)
6 19824-253-07114-7February 8, 20061-4012-0875-4
Special Vacation Orders and Glass Target (part 1)
7 19824-253-07115-5September 30, 20061-4012-0876-2
Glass Target (part 2) and Midnight Collector
8 19824-253-07116-3January 31, 20071-4012-0877-0
Seven Days in September (part 1)
9 19834-253-07117-1May 2, 20071-4012-0878-9
Seven Days in September (part 2)
10 19834-253-07118-XSeptember 30, 20071-4012-0879-7
Seven Days in September (part 3), Party and The Laughing Cardinals (part 1)
11 19834-253-07119-8December 31, 20071-4012-0880-0
The Laughing Cardinals (part 2)
12 19844-253-07120-1March 31, 20089781401208813
The Laughing Cardinals (part 3), A Tale of Alaska, From Lawrence with Love and The Seventh Seal (part 1)
13 19854-253-07121-XJuly 9, 20089781401208820
The Seventh Seal (part 2)
14 19854-253-07122-8July 21, 20099781401208837
The Seventh Seal (part 3)
15 19864-253-07123-6March 16, 2010[2]978-1401208844
The Seventh Seal (part 4), Mr Lawrence Writes A Letter, Intermission and Eau de Cologne
No. Release date ISBN
16 19874-253-07124-4
17 19874-253-07125-2
18 19884-253-07126-0
19 19884-253-07127-9
20 19964-253-07128-7
21 19974-253-07129-5
22 19974-253-07130-9
23 19984-253-07131-7
24 19994-253-07132-5
25 19994-253-07460-X
26 20004-253-07461-8
27 20024-253-07462-6
28 2003978-4-253-07477-3
29 20034-253-07480-4
30 20044-253-07481-2
31 20054-253-19451-6
32 2005978-4-253-19452-5
33 20064-253-19453-2
34 2006/12/15[3]978-4253194549
35 2009/6/16[4]978-4253194556
36 2010/2/16[5]978-4253194563
37 2010/12/16[6]978-4253194570
38 2011/08/12978-4253194587
39 2012/08/16978-4253194594

Reception

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As of the mid-1980s, fan translations of From Eroica with Love began to circulate through the slash fiction community,[7] creating a "tenuous link" between slash and shōnen-ai.[8] From Eroica with Love is more popular with slash fans than it has been with dōjinshi artists.[7] The series has been described as an example of a movement in shōnen-ai and yaoi to depict more masculine men, as part of the audience's increasing comfort with objectifying males.[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Aoike Yasuko Official Website". Archived from the original on 2009-07-12. Retrieved 2010-05-09.
  2. ^ Aoike, Yasuko (16 March 2010). From Eroica with Love. WildStorm. ISBN 978-1401208844.
  3. ^ Amazon.co.jp: エロイカより愛をこめて 34 (プリンセスコミックス): 青池 保子: Japanese Books. ASIN 4253194540.
  4. ^ Amazon.co.jp: エロイカより愛をこめて 35 (プリンセスコミックス): 青池 保子: Japanese Books. ASIN 4253194559.
  5. ^ Amazon.co.jp: エロイカより愛をこめて 36 (プリンセスコミックス): 青池 保子: Japanese Books. ASIN 4253194567.
  6. ^ Amazon.co.jp: エロイカより愛をこめて 37 (プリンセスコミックス): 青池 保子: Japanese Books. ASIN 4253194575.
  7. ^ a b Thorn, Rachel (2004). "Girls And Women Getting Out Of Hand: The Pleasure And Politics Of Japan's Amateur Comics Community". Fanning the Flames: Fans and Consumer Culture in Contemporary Japan William W. Kelly, ed. State University of New York Press. Archived from the original on 2016-12-14.
  8. ^ "Girls' Stuff, May (?) '94". Archived from the original on 2008-08-28.
  9. ^ Suzuki, Kazuko. (1999) "Pornography or Therapy? Japanese Girls Creating the Yaoi Phenomenon". In Sherrie Inness, ed., Millennium Girls: Today's Girls Around the World. London: Rowman & Littlefield, p.251 ISBN 0-8476-9136-5, ISBN 0-8476-9137-3.
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