Archives for December 2008

ICv2 lists the top 20 graphic novels for November. This list comes from Bookscan, so it reflects sales in bookstores, not comics shops, so it’s surprising to see that only 12 of the slots are filled by manga. On the other hand, the titles are no surprise: Fruits Basket, Naruto (twice), Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

And what does the best-seller list look like in Japan? Amazon.co.jp posts the top manga and light novels for 2008, and the top title is Nodame Cantabile, followed by Yotsuba&! The list is populated by plenty of other familiar titles, including Saint Young Men, which isn’t licensed here but seems to have built a following anyway.

Simon Jones (SFW today, for some reason) wonders what will happen when Naruto comes to an end—will the market have a lull and then rebound with the next superhit, as it does in Japan, or will the industry crash?

It’s an odd position to be in, to be simultaneously not big enough, and not lean enough to survive a long dry spell. But that might be a place where a few manga pubs are headed right now.

At Manga Life, translators Alethea and Athena Nibley present their Christmas wish list of manga they would love to translate.

Manga Recon senior editor Kate Dacey updates us on changes at the site, including naming Michelle Smith as manga editor.

One piece of sad news making the rounds is the demise of Comics Foundry magazine, after only its fifth issue. I’m one of those lucky people who contributed to it, so I’m extra sad; it struck me as having the potential to be the Spy magazine of comics, and that would have been a very good thing.

In other magazine news, Hazel picks the highlights from this month’s Otaku USA.

News from Japan: The manga Gakkou no Ojikan ends, and Stardust Wink, by Nana Haruta, begins.

Reviews: Deb Aoki has an advance look at the shoujo one-shot Heaven’s Will at About.com. Casey Brienza reviews vols. 3 and 4 of The Good Witch of the West and Carlo Santos takes a look at vol. 2 of Ghost Talker’s Daydream at ANN. Lissa Pattillo checks out Tomorrow’s Ulterior Motive at Kuriousity. At Prospero’s Manga, Ferdinand thinks younger readers will enjoy vol. 1 of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time more than he did. Sandy Bilus reads vols. 1 and 2 of Black Jack at I Love Rob Liefeld (via Journalista.) Connie reads vol. 1 of St. Dragon Girl at Slightly Biased Manga. Ed Chavez has an audio review of vol. 1 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya at MangaCast. Nadia Oxford gives vol. 1 of Just Around the Corner a gentleman’s C+ at Mania.com. Shaun A. Noording checks out vol. 1 of Kyo Kara Maoh! at The Star of Malaysia.

At last, some answers: Manga Recon posts Tokyopop’s 2009 shipping list, which provides reassurance that many series are in fact going to live on, along with a handful of new ones. But over at The Beat, Heidi has vague news about layoffs at Tokyopop.

Kai-Ming Cha has more thoughts on the manga industry from Viz veep Alvin Lu. Alex Hoffman takes a look at the U.S. manga industry and sees it divided into haves and have-nots—but he notes that publishers can change their own fates.

For those who are thinking more about next week than next year, Deb Aoki has some gift ideas for shoujo manga fans at About.com, and Hazel takes a look at this month’s new manga at Anime Infatuation.

Park Cooper interviews manga adaptor Gerard Jones at Manga Life.

School Library Journal (which hosts another blog I edit, Good Comics for Kids) has named vol. 1 of Me and the Devil Blues as one of its Best Adult Books for High School Students 2008—the only manga to make their graphic novel list. Also, the ALA’s YALSA has published their nominations for their Great Graphic Novels for Teens list. (Via David Welsh.)

Manga goes mainstream watch: Naruto made the list of Yahoo’s top ten search terms this year. Can world domination be far behind?

Happy blogiversary to Lori Henderson, who has been delivering news, opinion, and reviews at Manga Xanadu for a year now. Well done!

There’s a manga show on right now at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

ComiPress translates a Chinese article on the French and Chinese comics markets.

News from Japan: Ed Chavez posts the weekly manga rankings from Taiyosha at MangaCast. The boy band Hey! Say! JUMP is getting its own manga in Ciao magazine. Kitchen Princess creator Natsumi Ando is launching a new series, Arisa, about twin sisters with very different personalities, in Nakayoshi magazine. Also in Nakayoshi, Haruka Fukushima has drawn a five-page spinoff of her popular Instant Teen – Just Add Nuts manga.

Reviews: Danielle Leigh reviews vol. 1 of Bound Beauty, a new manga from Her Majesty’s Dog creator Mick Takeuchi, at Comics Should Be Good. John Jakala scratches the James Bond itch with a review of vol. 5 of Golgo 13 at Sporadic Sequential. At Comics Worth Reading, Ed Sizemore recommends vol. 14 of Tail of the Moon Johanna Draper Carlson is pleased to discover You Will Fall in Love. Johanna also posts some brief reviews of new Viz titles. While everyone else was arguing about Bat-Manga, Deb Aoki actually read it, and she posts her thoughts at About.com. At Comics Village, Dan Polley reviews vol. 1 of Gankutsuou and Alex Hoffman reads vol. 1 of Kieli. Connie checks out vol. 3 of Sand Chronicles, vol. 3 of Kedamono Damono, vol. 8 of Loveless, and vol. 6 of MPD-Psycho at Slightly Biased Manga. James Fleenor gives his impression of vol. 1 of Inukami! at Anime Sentinel. Ben Leary enjoys vol. 2 of Coyote Ragtime Show at Mania.com. Dave Ferraro has a quick take on vol. 1 of Papillon at Comics-and-More. Michelle Smith reads vol. 1 of One Piece and vol. 1 of Case Closed at Soliloquy in Blue. At Manga Life, Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane reviews vol. 4 of Honey and Clover and Park Cooper checks out vol. 3 of Dororo and vol. 20 of Whistle! Tiamat’s Disciple posts his thoughts and impressions on vol. 1 of Hoshin Engi. Julie reads vol. 1 of St. Dragon Girl at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Emily’s latest find is Half and Half at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. Lissa Pattillo reviews vol. 1 of Vampire’s Portrait and vol. 4 of Winter Demon, guest reviewer Marsha Reid reads vol. 2 of Goong, and guest reviewer Gizmo checks out vol. 4 of Zombie Loan at Kuriousity. Sakurapassion posts a brief take on FreshMen at The Yaoi Review. Kris, who seems to be on a quest to review every yaoi manga ever published, posts reviews of Just Around the Corner, vol. 3 of Magical JxR, and Say Please at Manic About Manga.

God Len lists this week’s new releases at Japanator.

There’s a new volume of Fullmetal Alchemist in the works, and Jake Forbes, who edits the translation, explains what there is to like about the series, how the manga has more to offer than the anime, and what to expect in the next few volumes.

Michelle Smith has some advice for those who hunt unannounced manga licenses at Manga Recon.

Reviews: David Welsh has a perceptive review of two Takehiko Inoue basketball manga, Real and Slam Dunk, at The Comics Reporter. Over at Fujoshi Librarian, Snow Wildsmith takes a look at two yaoi titles by Hinako Takanaga, A Capable Man and You Will Fall in Love. Kris checks out vol. 2 of Ichigenme… The First Class is Civil Law at Manic About Manga. Lori Henderson finds vol. 1 of Nightmares for Sale to be adequately entertaining at Comics Village. Ed Chavez has an audio review of vol. 2 of Sunshine Sketch at MangaCast. Connie reads vols. 4 and 5 of Hellsing and vol. 23 of Astro Boy at Slightly Biased Manga. Tangognat reviews a You Higuri one-shot, Angel’s Coffin.

Here’s a treat from Tokyopop to ease the transition back from the long weekend: A 21-page preview of Orange, the first of a planned series of full-color graphic novels from around the world. Orange was originally published in China, and the creator is Benjamin, a Chinese artist who makes digital media look amazingly like real paint.

Click here for the Orange preview (PDF)

You can read more about Benjamin here, on Paul Gravett’s site, and get more information on Orange from Tokyopop’s catalog page.