Archives for June 2006

The latest Manga Curry No Maki is up from MangaCast, and it features a look at June titles, how Jarred would fix some manga faux pas, and comments on Whistle! and the World Cup.

In Flipped, David Welsh takes a look at Megatokyo, the first OEL manga from CMX, and Boogiepop Doesn’t Laugh, the first Japanese manga from Seven Seas.

ComiPress draws our attention to a blog by a someone who has been a manga assistant for 30 years. The introduction is by Kentaro Takekuma, author of Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga. Both the blog and the intro are in Japanese, but ComiPress provids summary and commentary.

Looking for something to read? Mely has some suggestions (warning—spoilers). And Kirkus Reviews takes a look at what’s new this summer, including a whole page of manga. KR also gives their list of top sellers in the graphic novels category, and manga—specifically, Fullmetal Alchemist, Naruto, and Fruits Basket—dominate.

Going to AnimeExpo? Pata has the rundown on what’s happening when.

On the ANN Forums, people are discussing the ethics of posting doujinshi scans online. And for those who just like to read the words, here’s a list of Naruto fanfiction.

Dark Horse has posted previews of a number of new titles, including one I’m looking forward to, Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service.

Seven Seas has an interview with Shiei, the artist for two of their OEL titles, Aoi House and Amazing Agent Luna.

At MangaCast, Ed Chavez gives his take on the new titles announced in Previews.

From ComiPress, two brief articles, one on an anime and manga research center starting up in Beijing and the other about Comic Valkyrie, a new bishoujo battle magazine (!) starting up in Japan.

Heading to Anime Expo? Go!Comi has a heap of freebies and they’re blogging about it just to torture the rest of us.

More signs of manga creep: the Los Angeles Times is publishing a guide to Anime Expo, the first time that august paper has published an advertising supplement focused on anime and manga.

In its farewell issue, Ninth Art, hands out The Ninth Art Lighthouse Awards: The Best Of The Best, and one of them goes to Tokyopop. I’m quoting the first graf for the sheer joy of the writing, and the second for the substance:

Mainstream comic publishers are like dinosaurs blinking at a meteorite crackling through the sky. Its smoke trails are spelling out the letters M-A-N-G-A, and it’s the last thing they’ll see before they’re obliterated.

A new breed of comics publisher has emerged, and Tokyopop has led the way. The new breed won’t necessarily all publish manga, but they’ll be using the same tactics. They’re going to sidestep the direct market ghetto and go straight to the bookstores; they’re going to publish in black and white, and offer comics at a low price point; and they’ll vie for the attentions of a broader audience beyond fanboys and schoolgirls. In short, the new publishers are going to be everything that the current publishers are not.

David “Love Manga” Taylor, that is!

And he’s jumping right in with a discussion of the yaoi manga issue that we’ve been muttering about all week. As always, he has a cogent take on the matter.

Welcome back, David! We missed you.

MangaBlogCast #2 is up at the MangaCast site, with a special exclusive report on AnimeNEXT by our own Jack Tse. ComiPress follows up with interviews with Jack, Ed Chavez, and me.

Here are the links for the stories in this week’s podcast:

What’s up with ADV?

This week, the blogosphere had a group vent about ADV. Fans are frustrated because the company has licensed a number of popular series (Yotsuba&!, Aria, Gunslinger Girl) but only released a handful of volumes of each. Manga doesn’t seem to be a big priority with ADV these days.

Honolulu Star-Bulletin story on ADV
ADV’s manga website
ADV’s press release on Anime Expo

Kenshin calls it a life

The long-running series Rurouni Kenshin wraps up next month with volume 28, but the franchise continues with a Kenshin novel and a rare extra story in the September Shonen Jump. And to avoid Viz taking a sudden tumble into red ink, the publisher is starting a new series, Buso Renkin, by the same author.

Rurouni Kenshin comes to an end (press release)
Rurouni Kenshin info on the Viz website

Death Note rules

The Death Note movie opened in Japan on June 17, which inspired this excellent article on the Death Note phenomenon.

Mainichi story on Death Note
Japanese blogger reviews the Death Note movie

Milestones

Three manga reach 30-year mark
Viz turns 20
Shoujo Beat’s first anniversary: David Welsh interviews Yumi Hoashi

People are talking about…

Barb Lien-Cooper’s article, “12 Reasons Why Manga Is Not a Gateway Drug to Western Comics”
Lyle Misaki’s five reasons why it could be

Manga sales for May

New titles watch

Sequels to Kingdom Hearts and Gunsmith Cats
“Shoujo” version of Densha Otoko
Harlequin relaunches its manga line

Naruto drops to number 79 on the USA Today booklist, down from 42 last week.

Two from PW Comics Week: Shakespeare gets the manga treatment, from John Wiley, a publisher better known for calculus textbooks than sequential art. Still, the sample pages show some promise. Also, yaoi manga-ka Makoto Teteno will be doing a book signing at Borders stores in LA and DC this summer, marking (they say) the first time a yaoi author has appeared in bookstores. Teteno is the author of DMP’s Yellow.

From the Newsarama blog: the Death Note movie drew over 306,000 viewers in Japan this week, toppling The Da Vinci Code from the number one box office slot. David Welsh is still waiting for the tribute album.

If you’re tired of summer vacation already, take a gander at this academic article about fan art. (Found via the Pseudome forums.)

Tokyopop is sponsoring a summer reading program with a difference at the Los Angeles public libraries.

Teens, ages 11 to 18, who join the “Manga Madness Summer Reading Club” at their local branch library will receive a free folder, book bag, reading log, and bookmarks. Every branch will have special scheduled teen programs as part of the reading club.

This is nice because around here anyway, the programs for younger kids seem to get all the attention. Our library has a teen summer reading program but it’s pretty low-key.

At the Los Angeles Public Library’s Central Library and its 71 branches, librarians have doubled and in some cases tripled the number of manga series ordered for their young adult collections because of high demand from teen readers.

Hey, it’s reading. And all reading is good. Here is an interview with the YA librarian (via The Comics Reporter.)

At The Beat, Heidi passes along a report from a Southern correspondent of a Books-a-Million shelving yaoi in the erotica section. I know we’re supposed to be outraged, but I’m still trying to wrap my brain around the concept of Books-a-Million having yaoi at all.

There’s not much information yet, but here’s the website for MangaNEXT, which bills itself as the first manga con.

ANN has details on CLAMP’s autograph sessions at AnimeNEXT.

Only slightly off topic: too many maids in Akibahara.