Nouvelle news

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.

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Comments

  1. Peter Ahlstrom says

    Fruits Basket 15 selling 12,132 copies that week is the best Bookscan performance ever for a manga volume—passing up the 10,901 previous record…set last week by Naruto 12.

    The same weekend last year (Dec 18, 2005) Fruits Basket 12 sold a (I’m pretty sure) then-record 7771 copies to Naruto 8’s 5556 copies (Naruto 8 sold 6312 the previous week) and repeated that on Dec 25’s chart selling 7867 to Naruto 8’s 6154. So basically for the top 2 hit series we’re seeing a 50-70% increase year over year.

  2. ChunHyang72 says

    While I was in the Boston area visiting my folks I saw the Globe review of “Japanamerica.” It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t filled with screamers, either. I do hope, however, that someone retires the obligatory “tits and tentacles” comment that graces the opening paragraphs of manga-related articles. Journalism profs, are you reading this?!

    I also noticed that Tokyo Kid, a manga-anime themed store, had opened in Harvard Square. Most of the floor space was devoted to action figures, cosplay accessories, and Pocky, but their small manga selection was carefully picked to appeal to the full spectrum of otaku, from “Kilala Princess” fans to manwha maniacs.

  3. Wow who knew the Boston Globe had Japan zealots on board. Praising Gwen Stephani, calling Speed Racer sophisticated, considering anime and manga “underground”, seriously wtf. This is what I call “wapanese”.