BL manga-ka Ozaki Minami will be releasing a special side story of her best-selling series Bronze, in spite of her ongoing hiatus. Entitled Zetsuai Gaidan Kaendan-Shou-Tenshi Koutan, the 80-page two-part side story will be included in the spring issue of Shueisha’s Chorus magazine, out in January 2011.

Ozaki is widely considered one of the cornerstones of modern BL manga, with her works from the 1980s all the way to the 2000s establishing many of the familiar conventions in the genre.

Ozaki first came to fore with the release of the five-volume Zetsuai, which was followed by its even bigger sequel Bronze. Both titles were published by shoujo manga magazine Margaret, one of publishing company Shueisha’s best-selling imprints.

Ozaki got her start in making manga by writing and producing BL doujinshi based on Captain Tsubasa, the seminal football manga published by Shounen Jump. The football theme carried over to Zetsuai and Bronze, where one of the major characters in the series — Izumi Takuto, is a football player. Her musical tastes also played a key influence in her manga, with the other major character Nanjo Kouji fashioned after Buck Tick frontman Sakurai Atsushi.

Ozaki-sensei went on an indefinite hiatus with the release of the fourteenth volume of Bronze back in 2006.