Awash in Naruto again?

I’m puzzled about this because it could just be a glitch, but everyone’s linking to it, so here you go: According to ANN, both Amazon and Simon & Schuster (the distributor for Viz manga) are listing 11 volumes of Naruto to be released in February, March, and April 2009. Does this mean a new Naruto blitz? Maybe. It might also mean default dates were left in the computer too long. I’m looking into it, but in the meantime, Lori Henderson expresses dismay at Manga Xanadu, noting that two much-anticipated Naoki Urasawa series, 20th Century Boys and Pluto, are slated to launch in February, and this could depress their sales.

Sakurapassion looks at some upcoming yaoi releases at The Yaoi Review.

Something old: This was posted a few weeks ago, but I’m cleaning out my in-box and it’s too good to resist: A Dream to Have in Heaven, by Maki Sasaki, a short manga from the 1967 issue of the alternative magazine Garo. It’s a series of dreamlike, only vaguely connected images and it’s almost wordless so the lack of translation won’t bother you much.

Another thing I missed when it first went up: Vertical hosts a roundtable on The Guin Saga. This discussion begins with Vertical’s editorial director, Yani Mentzas, admitting they didn’t do a good job with the format and marketing of the first Guin Saga novels, which is an unusual opening gambit, and continues with an interesting and frank discussion.

Who is the actual creator of Bat-Manga? It’s Jiro Kuwata, not Chip Kidd, but as Laura Hudson and others note, it’s Kidd’s name that is placed prominently on the cover.

John Thomas posts more on the challenges of translation at Mecha Mecha Media.

PictureBox posts some original art by New Engineering and Travel creator Yuichi Yokoyama. (Via Same Hat! Same Hat!)

James Fleenor posts a preview of Dog Eaters at Anime Sentinel.

At Comics Should Be Good, Brian Cronin goes all Snopes on the story about Death Note inspiring actual murders in Belgium. And he gives it the green light!

Manga Recon writer Ken Haley introduces himself.

It’s a little early yet, but to get you into the holiday spirit, Manga Punk is having a Fat & Jolly Holiday Contest in which readers are asked to create a comic in which Santa slips in for a cameo appearance. I’m looking forward to seeing what people come up with.

Tokyopop UK won the NEO award for best manga publisher/distributor, and their title Welcome to the NHK also won the award for best manga.

Dark Horse has recalled vol. 4 of Blood Plus due to a misprint.

This is not specific to manga, but it’s an opportunity for creators: Megan Rose Gedris is accepting submissions for Rosalarian Publishing.

News from Germany: Jonathan posts the November manga releases.

News from Japan: Artists pay tribute to Osamu Tezuka by re-drawing his characters in different styles in a show at a department store in Shibuya. Upcoming issues of Morning magazine will feature two new manga series: Tokyo Kaido, by Dragon Head creator Minetaro Mochizuki, and Rakia: Shin Mokushiroku (Rakia: The New Book of Revelation), by Masao Yajima and Boichi. The movie Crows Zero is going to be made into a manga. And while it’s not manga, the fact that a Japanese designer has created a bra to raise awareness of the lay jury system does indeed say something about their culture, although I’m sure there’s someone in the U.S. right now going “Damn! I wish I had thought of that!”

Reviews: Casey Brienza reviews vol. 1 of Papillon at ANN. Ed Sizemore enjoys vols. 1 and 2 of Rosario + Vampire but is dissatisfied with vol. 3 of Manga Sutra, while Johanna Draper Carlson recommends vol. 11 of Nana, at Comics Worth Reading. At The Star of Malaysia, Pauline Wong reads vol. 1 of Kasumi. Kat reviews vol. 18 of X1999 for the Cornell Japanese American Society. Danielle Leigh recommends vols. 1 and 2 of Kieli and has a more nuanced reaction to vol. 1 of Wild Animals at Comics Should Be Good! Leroy Douresseauz reads vol. 1 of Speed Grapher at The Comic Book Bin. Ken Haley reviews Bat-Man: Death Mask at Manga Recon. Sakurapassion checks out vol. 2 of Mister Mistress at The Yaoi Review. Oyceter has lots to say about vols. 1-8 of Claymore, and so do her readers at Sakura of DOOM. Cyn reads vol. 2 of Pathos, Falling Into Love, and You Make My Head Spin at Boys Next Door. Sesho has an audio review up of vol. 1 of Ghost Slayers. Erica Friedman checks out vol. 1 of Maka-Maka at Okazu. Lissa Pattillo judges The Judged and finds it wanting at Kuriousity.

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Comments

  1. I noticed the Naruto thing myself a few days ago and started a thread about it on AnimeonDVD’s forums. I’m not positive it’s true, either, since I’ve seen a few errors on SimonSays in the past, but one of the respondents on the thread claims “Naruto Nation 2 is official.” Grain of salt and all that, but it wouldn’t surprise me all that much, really.

  2. Triumph always makes these crazy bras that never really get worn by most ordinary people. I guess they do it to boost publicity (argh, doinky pun).

  3. I’ll check into the Naruto bit when I head into work tomorrow, but I have a feeling the inventory system is just going to echo what’s at SimonSays at the moment.

    Pulling the info from my spreadsheet (orig. entered like, 3 months ago)
    (gimme’sec… Naruto 34 & 35 first ranked week ending 7 September, so my publishing info dates to what I saw online that week) and I find: Naruto 34 for Mar ’09, vol. 35 for May.

    —but that was then. The February dates are online now.

    (And now I have to update the damn spreadsheet. —Ya know, Viz: it’s hard enough to keep up with this crap as is, why are you doing this to me?)

    Viz is keeping this close to the chest, no PR, no megaphones. Yet. I’m sure it’s going to happen (if it’s on the S&S website then the order is already at the printers) but I have to wonder why the stealth implementation. And three months ago — if my historical data is worth a damn — Viz still had N. on a bimonthly release into 2009, so why the new Flood?

  4. You ask good questions, Matt. Naruto is going to sell regardless, but there is such thing as flooding the market, especially when people don’t have as much manga money as they did a year ago. If they said “We are going quarterly” I would say that makes sense, but the opposite?

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