Archives for October 2007

The manga edition of Wired is up on the web, including the ten-page manga, written by Jason Thompson and illustrated by Atsuhisa Okura, and Daniel Pink’s look at the “Manga Industrial Complex.” I wrote a short review of the manga, and Wired’s unfortunate web presentation, at Digital Strips. At Comicsnob, Matt Blind points out some not-so-obvious extras, and ICv2 has their own review.

Reviews: About Heroes posts some concise reviews of recent volumes; I really like this site because they tackle a huge range of manga with the same enthusiasm as other genres. Danielle Van Gorder checks out Waru for Anime on DVD. Dave Ferraro enjoys Alien Nine: Emulators at Comics-and-more.

Shameless self-promotion: Don’t miss this month’s Shojo Beat, which has (in addition to the usual bouquet of goodies) a brief article by yours truly about The Rose of Versailles and the Japanese love of all things French and frilly.

Speaking of manga in magazines, Matt Blind has more on the manga issue of Wired, including the cover, at Comicsnob.

At the Weekly Recon, Katherine Dacey-Tsuei prepares us for the week ahead with a list of this week’s new manga and a solid recommendation: Just buy Bride of the Water God.

Shaenon Garrity devotes the Overlooked Manga Festival to Aria, which was overlooked by ADV (they dropped the license after the third volume) but has been picked up by Tokyopop, along with its sequel, Aqua.

Aurora is launching a new josei line, LuvLuv, in January.

USA Today looks at declining manga sales in Japan and cites several reasons, including the popularity of cell phones, the aging of the population, and a lack of originality, a reason that was endorsed by several commenters at ANN. But Simon Jones points out that the slump is in magazines, not manga; people are still reading manga, just in a different form. Over at Blog@Newsarama, commenter Preston Do has an interesting take:

I guess that’s what happens in a business where teh majority of its comics are drawn AND written by one person instead of having skilled people specialize in one or the department. Very few people are talented enough to pull such a task off and I suspect that’s why characters and stories are getting boring or drawing quality isn’t top notch.

Actually, I think that one-creator thing is one of the things people find appealing about manga.

Meanwhile, back in the U.S., things are going just fine, thank you. At Comicsnob, Matt Blind posts this week’s winners and losers, sales-wise, as well as the top 100 volumes and top 25 series.

At the MangaCast, Ed Chavez posts news about printing delays that will affect Ninin Ga Shinobuden and other Infinity titles; rumors of a new title from Broccoli; and more possible new titles from Icarus (post is NSFW).

Tina Anderson is looking forward to some new gay manga from Japan.

Canned Dogs takes a look at Shinryaku! Ikamusume, a manga with tentacles but no sex (it’s about a squid-girl). He has scans, so pop in just to look at the art.

ComiPress continues its online run of Manga Zombie with a look at Fukushima Masami: King of Fleshbomb.

Chris Mautner went to SPX and came back with a boatload of comics, including an intriguing manga, New Engineering, by Yuichi Yokoyama.

Tiamat’s Disciple posts an overview of Ah! My Goddess.

The Star of Malaysia has a nice profile of Captain Tsubasa creator Yoichi Takahashi, who says his characters have developed minds of their own.

Uber-otaku Jason Thompson will be signing his book and talking manga in Torrance, CA, on Oct. 27.

Going to NYAF? ICv2 will be hosting an anime and manga conference.

Tokyopop is looking for an online business development director. (Via Icarus.)

Shutterbox creators Rikki Simons and Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons have revamped their Tavicat Studios website and put some comics online. Check it out! (Via Comics212.)

Reviews: At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie checks out vol. 1 of With the Light, vol. 10 of From Eroica With Love, vol. 10 of XXXholic, vol. 11 of Swan, and vol. 8 of Law of Ueki. Tscheese reviews Tail of the Moon at Manga Punk. At Active Anime, Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 1 of Kedamono Damono, vol. 1 of Psycho Busters, vol. 1 of The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls: Revenge of the Hori Clans, and vol. 7 of Pichi Pichi Pitch; Rachel Bentham checks out vol. 1 of Fall in Love Like a Comic, Katie Gallant reads vol. 3 of the Chibi Vampire novel, and Scott Campbell picks up vol. 5 of ES: Eternal Sabbath. Julie stayed busy over the weekend, posting reviews of vol. 3 of Vampire Knight, vols. 21 and 22 of Boys Over Flowers, vol. 7 of Tail of the Moon, and vol. 1 of Psycho Busters at the Manga Maniac Cafe and vol. 1 of The Crimson Spell at MangaCast. Also up at MangaCast: Readilbert looks at vol. 4 of Babysitter Gin, and Ed Chavez podcasts his thoughts on vol. 1 of Kurohime and vol. 1 of Undertown. Greg McElhatton enjoys vol. 1 of Translucent at Read About Comics. Kethylia posts brief reviews of vol. 1 of Welcome to the N.H.K. (light novel), vol. 1 of MPD-Psycho, and vol. 1 of Walkin’ Butterfly. At Manga Life, Robert Murray reviews vol. 1 of Venus in Love, Ryan Lewis checks out vol. 11 of Kekkaishi, Lori Henderson reads vol. 5 of O-Parts Hunter, and Dan Polley gives his take on vol. 5 of Air Gear, vol.4 of Gacha Gacha The Next Revolution, and vol. 1 of @ Large. Michelle looks at vol. 17 of Hana-Kimi at Soliloquy in Blue. At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna enjoys the anthology Mangaka America. At the Star of Malaysia, Kurogane reviews vol. 1 of Shiki Tsukai and Kadzuki finds lots of reasons to like vol. 2 of Mushishi.

BL readers take note: Yaoi Suki is running its annual BL awards again, and voting is now under way for the User’s Choice award. Jordan Marks and Jen Parker, the dedicated pair behind YS, are approaching their topic with cheery irreverence, so this should be fun.

YAOI FANS UNITE TO PICK BEST BL MANGA OF THE YEAR
YaoiSuki’s Annual Awards Are Under Way, And Voting Is Open for User’s Choice Award!

PORTLAND, ORE. – October 19th, 2007 — Yaoi news and review site YaoiSuki has announced their second annual Yaoi Awards as the lead-in to the site’s extensive coverage of Yaoi Con in late October. This year’s lofty awards include the “Read On Mute” award for bad dialogue, the “Most Unpronounceable Title” award, and the “Thank God It’s Over” award, among other prizes of varying sincerity.

On October 19th, the site opened voting for the biggest award of the series: the User’s Choice Award for Best BL Book. With eleven main contenders from such BL creators as Fumi Yoshinaga, Toko Kawai, and Ayano
Yamane, it may be the hardest decision and BL fan has to make— but readers can submit additional nominations, so it’s a wide-open game!

Voting closes at 12pm Pacific Standard Time on Thursday, October 25th, with the final awards presented on Friday, October 26th.

Wired magazine hops onto the manga bandwagon with a ten-page, right-to-left manga about the history of our favorite medium, written by Jason Thompson and illustrated by Atsuhisa Okura, that should render all those Manga 101 articles obsolete. (I’m including the link, but the manga content isn’t on the web yet.) Also in this issue is an article by Daniel Pink, who lived in Japan and has written a manga entitled The Adventure of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You Will Ever Need. I mentioned this the other day, and today ICv2 has more.

The MangaCast crew post their picks from this week’s new comics.

ICv2 talks to Philip Simon of Dark Horse about transitioning Blade of the Immortal from floppies to trades.

Yaoi Suki notes, among other news, that Blu is raising the price of its manga from $9.99 to $12.99.

David Welsh correctly predicted that Translucent would be nominated for the YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens list, which puts it in some pretty good company.

Reviews: Greg Hackmann pans Baku at Anime on DVD. At Prospero’s Manga, Ferdinand reviews vol. 1 of The Hardy Boys and vol. 1 of Sharknife. Kethylia is not impressed by R.I.P. Requiem in Phonybrian. At Active Anime, Holly Ellingwood checks out The Art of Angel Sanctuary and vol. 2 of Murder Princess, Sandra Scholes takes an advance look at vol. 2 of 10, 20, and 30, and Scott Campbell reviews vol. 1 of Coyote Ragtime Show. Connie’s back at Slightly Biased Manga, and she gives her take on vol. 2 of 3×3 Eyes, vol. 21 of Bleach, vols. 1, 2, and 3 of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, and vol. 3 of Click. At Manganews, Jiji reviews vol. 1 of Free Collars Kingdom. Julie checks out the novel Fullmetal Alchemist: Under the Faraway Sky at the Manga Maniac Cafe.

Apparently this Naruto thing is going pretty well: All three of the October volumes are on the USA Today bestseller list once again, with vol. 21 at number 39 (up from 69 last week), vol. 20 at number 54 (up from 77), and vol. 19 at number 77 (up from 82).

Also, ICv2 just released a new Anime/Manga Guide, and that means it’s list time. After the cut, their top ten manga properties for the third quarter of 2007.

1. Naruto
2. Fruits Basket
3. Bleach
4. Kingdom Hearts
5. Death Note
6. Pokemon
7. Vampire Knight
8. Tsubasa
9. Full Metal Alchemist
10. Millennium Snow

Surprised? I’m not, at least with the top half of the list. I have to admit the Pokemon manga phenomenon has been flying below my radar, probably because my kids are too old for it. As always, the list shows a nice mix of genres, with Death Note perched comfortably next to Kingdom Hearts.

The ICv2 folks are definitely on board the Naruto bus: According to the guide, the three volumes released in September took the top three slots on the Bookscan graphic novels list for four weeks straight. The guide also notes the popularity of manga for older readers and has an article about josei manga.