Archives for December 2006

With the year almost over, retrospectives and lists are coming thick and fast. Mely liked so many manga that she’s splitting them across several lists; the first installment is the best unlicensed manga of 2006.

At Tokyopop, ChunHyang72 has a tongue-twister title: the Top Ten Tokyopop Titles of 2006. She also lists a few duds and a couple of series she wants to get into next year.

At Postmodern Barney, Dorian includes several manga events in his wrapup of 2006.

At Comics212.net, Christopher Butcher looks back at 2006 and how it foreshadows 2007. This lengthy post makes for very entertaining reading, but it’s mostly about superhero comics. I’ll pull out one of his relevant paragraphs about manga:

2006: What a great, great year for manga. Seriously. All the Tezuka (so much Tezuka!), all of the Viz Signature books are great. 3 releases from Fanfare/Ponent-Mon, a new Tatsumi from D&Q, Tokyopop is putting out some great books, and Dark Horse’s ‘horror’ line skirts the edge of J-Horror to bring some really solid, off-the-wall stuff. Great year for manga. Omen for 2007: None of it sells, and all you fuckers get the umpteenth variation on LONELY NERD FUCK-UP MUST TAKE CARE OF 40 SEXY LITTLE GIRLS; HIJINKS ENSUE. Serves you right.

I think he summed up 2006 nicely, but let’s hope his 2007 prediction doesn’t come true.

The manga fans at The Star of Malaysia are looking forward to 2007.

The Go!Comi people have just opened their online store. Which is great, but makes me wonder: In the past, many of their titles have been Borders exclusives for the first three months or so. Are they dropping the exclusives, or will they forbear selling their own books during the exclusive period? I guess we’ll have to wait and see. UPDATE: No we won’t: Go!Comi CEO David Wise explains how it will work in the comments.

Erica has some observations from Comiket.

Yet another article about Japanese nationalism cites hate manga as part of the problem.

Here’s a cute article about a teenager who got hoooked on Go after reading Shonen Jump.

Reviews: David Welsh has review, with spoilers, of vol. 5 of Dragon Head. Connie at Slightly Biased Manga reviews vol. 7 of Sorcerer Hunters, vol. 1 of Revolutionary Girl Utena, vol. 13 of Fruits Basket, vol. 3 of School Zone, vol. 3 of The World of Narue, and vol. 14 of Dragon Ball. And someone at The Star of Malaysia—why are the reviewers there suddenly anonymous?—just loves vol. 1 of Emma.

Anime Boredom has a nice, lengthy interview with Seven Seas editor and Aoi House writer Adam Arnold.

At the newly renamed Anime Infatuation blog, Hazel has a comprehensive look at some of the new series debuting in January, including cover images, inside images, and links to previews. Bravo!

Do you cosplay as Di Gi Charat? No, that’s not a trick question: Broccoli Books is looking for cosplay pix for the Di Gi Charat DVD box set. But hurry: The deadline is Jan. 3.

Erin is blogging from Comiket. Also at Comiket, Ed gives us his audio version of The Walking Man. And he devotes a maki side dish to Young Animal.

Insider baseball: This won’t affect most of us directly, but Advanced Marketing Services, the parent company of the distributor PGW, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. At The Engine, Heidi asks for comments from people who think they will be affected. In a post that includes some extremely NSFW images, Simon notes that AMS/PGW clients include Broccoli, Go!Comi, and Dark Horse. CORRECTION: Simon says Go!Comi is not an active client. Check the link for more.

Newsarama chats with Witchblade Takeru manga-ka Kazasa Sumita about the upcoming U.S. edition of his work, which will be flipped, colorized, and chopped up into floppies for American readers. Sumita is, of course, nice about the whole thing (what else is he going to say?); here is his comment on the colorization:

I believe this process will further heighten the sexiness and the anarchic worldview that is distinct of Witchblade Takeru and look forward to seeing that myself.

Not what I would think, but, OK. Comic Book Resources has an article about the colorization that includes examples of the black-and-white and colored artwork. Someone at Newsarama commented that they colored right over the screentone, which makes it look dirty, and looking at the upper right panel, I’d agree.

Lyle wonders if Shojo Beat is taking down the “boys welcome” sign.

At Anime on DVD, Josephine Fortune really likes The Drifting Classroom. Connie at Slightly Biased Manga likes vol. 2 of Enchanter despite its many flaws but advises: If you’re going to read it, read the omake first. Kethylia reviews vol. 14 of Berserk. Mangamaniaccafe reviews two vol. 1’s, O-Parts Hunter and VS Versus.

Between extra hours at work and out-of-town guests, I’m falling a bit behind on my blogging. Here’s a late roundup of what’s going on:

It’s school vacation time, so apparently Wired is letting third-graders write their blog. At least, that’s the only explanation I can think of for today’s display of spleen towards manga readers.

Newsarama talks to Divalicious creators T Campbell and Amy Mebberson. The snotty kids show up in the first comment on this story but are quickly smacked down by the grownups. (Via Comics Worth Reading.)

MangaCast runs through this week’s comics, but with both Ed and Erin in Japan, it’s rather terse. Jarred is minding the store, and he’s linking to lots of previews.

Retrospective watch: At Comics-and-more, Dave lists his top ten comics of 2006, and quite a few manga make the list. At the MangaCast, you can check out the audio version of the first batch of 2006 publishers’ report cards. At Okazu, Erica puts up her Top Ten Yuri Countdown for 2006.

Dark Horse interviews Yoshitaka Amano.

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has reviews of two new Tokyopop titles, Kamiyadori and Utopia’s Avenger, both vol. 1s. Active Anime’s Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 14 of W Juliet vol. 1 of Vampire Knight, and the anthology Because I’m a Boy. Mangamaniaccafe likes vol. 2 of The Day of Revolution. At Anime on DVD, Megan Meinhard takes a look at vol. 1 of Our Everlasting, a 2005 18+ title from DMP. Kethylia has mixed feelings about # 00 of Rush. At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie takes on vol. 8 of Hikaru no Go, vol. 8 of xxxHolic, vol. 13 of Dragon Ball, and vol. of Bird Kiss. And Pata has a new Right Turn Only!! column up at ANN, with reviews of recent volumes of xxxHolic, ES: Eternal Sabbath, and Eden, among others.

ICv2 has a brief primer on La Nouvelle Manga, for those who are feeling bewildered by all this talk of Fanfare/Ponent Mon titles. Here’s their advice for retailers:

Retailers in urban areas, college towns, specifically those who do well with alternative comics should definitely consider carrying the Fanfare/Ponent Man line of Nouvelle Manga as well as the thematically related gekiga titles of Yoshihiro Tatsumi (The Push Man and Other Stories, Abandon the Old in Tokyo) published by Drawn & Quarterly.

I’d like to see some of them in my local chain bookstore as well! David Welsh adds

And while you’re at it, order a few copies of Sexy Voice and Robo (Viz). I swear you won’t regret it.

Also at ICv2: vol. 15 of Fruits Basket topped the graphic novel charts over the holidays, selling over 12,000 copies in the week ending December 17. Volume 12 of Naruto came in second, with three other volumes also making the top ten. Good analysis, as always, at the link.

The IMAF Awards winners are up, and the winner of the award for outstanding contribution to anime and manga is Helen McCarthy, author of The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised and Expanded Edition.

In other literary news, the Boston Globe has a review of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S.

At Anime on DVD, Ed Chavez issues his report card for Broccoli Books.

At Comics-and-more, Dave Ferraro lists the first half of his Top 25 Comics of 2006, which includes, not surprisingly, quite a few manga.

The anthology Yuri Monogatari 4 will be premiering at Winter Comiket, and Erica will be there!

A panel in Japan is concerned about kids reading adult comics on their cellphones.

Reviews: Lots of good ones today. At Anime on DVD, Sakura Eries reviews Project X: Seven Eleven (7-11). Tangognat looks at the first two volumes of Night of the Beasts. Mangamaniaccafe reads Time Lag. David Welsh finds a new obsession: ES: Eternal Sabbath. Kethylia, on the other hand, finds little to like about vol. 3 of Old Boy.

I was making rather merry last night, but I actually have to go to work this morning. I expect a quiet day—who calls the mayor the day after Christmas?—but I can’t blog from work. So here’s a quick roundup of recent posts.

ComiPress translates two tantalizing articles; one is titled “The Reason I Quit as a Manga Editor,” and the other is an overview of the Chinese manga industry.

At the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Jason Yadao looks over the year in anime and manga.

Ed Chavez, who is en route to Comiket as I write this, continues his end-of-the-year report cards with a look at Blu and relays a rumor that Vertical has licensed Andromeda Stories.

Pata lists possible manga gifts for well-known Christmas figures.

David Welsh reviews Line, by the author of Anne Freaks. Dave Ferraro loves Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, as does everyone who has reviewed it so far. Mangamaniaccafe checks out vol. 1 of Sweety. And Slightly Biased Manga has reviews of Hanakimi 14 and 15, vol. 16 of Bleach, and the Harlequin Violet title Blind Date.