Archives for June 2009

Kate Dacey and David Welsh check out this week’s new manga at their respective blogs.

The NY Times manga best-seller list is up, and it’s getting more varied now that Naruto Nation is fading into distant memory. Viz is still pretty well represented, with 9 of the 10 titles. The sole outlier is an interesting one: The latest of Tokyopop’s Warriors books.

Matt Thorn updates us on Christopher Handley’s sentencing (scheduled for August 18) and then switches to a happier topic: Pictures of him and a bunch of other manga folks at a party celebrating Moto Hagio’s 40th anniversary as a professional manga-ka.

The Mainichi Daily News has a nice article on the history of gekiga manga, their relationship to manga rental shops, and some new reprints of classic gekiga titles.

If you’re in NYC tomorrow, join Ed Chavez and some like-minded manga readers for another Vertical Vednesday. This week’s topic is Yanki, and Ed and the gang will be getting their Yakuza on at Kinokuniya, 1073 Avenue of the Americas, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. RSVP to ed@vertical-inc.com please.

News from Japan: ANN spots some new manga in the latest round of magazines and notes that Shiawase Kissa 3-chome is winding down.

Reviews: Head on down to Manga Recon for this week’s helping of Manga Minis. Other reviews of note:

Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of Black Bird (There it is, Plain as Daylight)
Carlo Santos on vol. 1 of Children of the Sea (ANN)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 5 of Goong (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 3 of Il Gatto Sul G (Comics Should Be Good)
Julie on vol. 3 of Jyu-Oh-Sei (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Laura on Pretty Poison (Heart of Manga)
Erica Friedma on vol. 3 of Sunshine Sketch (Okazu)
Lori Henderson on Utahime the Songstress (Comics Village)
Lexie on issue 1 of Yen + (Poisoned Rationality)
Scott VonSchilling on vol. 6 of Yuri Monogatari (The Anime Almanac)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 6 of Zombie Loan (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)

First of all, big congrats to Friends of MangaBlog Erin and Noah, who celebrated their zero-gravity wedding this past weekend. There’s more info here. All our best wishes to the happy couple!

Christopher Butcher is the guest on this week’s edition of What Are You Reading at Robot 6. I’m reading Faust, vol. 5 of Black Jack, and a couple of webcomics, myself.

Erica Friedman picks up the bits and pieces of this week’s yuri news at Okazu.

Reviews

Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Angelic Runes (Comics Worth Reading)
Julie on vol. 1 of Angelic Runes (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lorena on vol. 2 of Blank Slate (i heart manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 3 of Burst Angel (Okazu)
Connie on vol. 2 of Eden (Slightly Biased Manga)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 4 of Flower of Life (Comics Worth Reading)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Jack Frost (Kuriousity)
Shannon Fay on Live for Love (Kuriousity)
Emily on Me to Te de Kanjitai! (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Lorena on vol. 1 of Monster (i heart manga)
Julie on vol. 3 of Papillon (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lorena on Sexy Voice and Robo (i heart manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of WaqWaq (Slightly Biased Manga)

In a case that turns on the question of whether possession of sexually explicit drawings of minors should be illegal, a U.S. appeals court has declined to hear the appeal of Dwight Whorley, who was convicted of possession of child pornography (including, apparently, hentai manga) and sending written e-mail messages describing sex with children. Ars Technica comments, and Simon Jones notes

the legal team for convicted pedophile Dwight Whorely is far more willing to fight for what’s right than the lawyers for Christopher Handley.

Melinda Beasi has some interesting thoughts on being a female manga fan at her own blog, and she files her Anime Boston con report at Manga Recon.

Just in time for Fathers Day, Lori Henderson takes a look at dads in manga.

David Welsh’s License Request Day feature is a license rescue this week: He would like to see Bambi and Her Pink Gun return, please.

Aurora is making Walkin’ Butterfly available for iPhone/iPod Touch, and if you don’t have one of those, their books are also available via Netcomics. (First link via Simon Jones.)

Reviews

Billy Aguiar on vol. 1 of The 9 Lives (Prospero’s Manga)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 6 of Black God (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Michelle Smith on vols. 22 and 23 of Boys Over Flowers (Soliloquy in Blue)
Deb Aoki on vol. 1 of Dinosaur Hour (About.com)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 5 of Goong (There it is, Plain as Daylight)
Connie on vol. 7 of I”s (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Mixed Vegetables (Kuriousity)
Lori Henderson on MW (Comics Village)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 17 of Nana (There it is, Plain as Daylight)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 2 of Phantom Dream (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Josh Tolentino on Sakura Taisen (Japanator)
Julie on vol. 1 of Tower of the Future (Manga Maniac Cafe)
David Welsh on Ultra Maniac (Precocious Curmudgeon)
Connie on vol. 5 of We Were There (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sesho on vol. 1 of Welcome to Wakaba-Soh (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)

Ultimo, by Stan Lee (creator of Spider-Man) and Hiroyuki Takei (creator of Shaman King) will begin its American run in the July issue of Shonen Jump.

Kate Dacey takes a look at this week’s new releases at The Manga Critic.

Emily Snodgrass of the Nichi Bei Times takes a look at shoujo manga in the U.S. (Via Animefaniac, via When Fangirls Attack.)

David Welsh ponders the reading list for a hypothetical Manga 101 course, and commenters chime in with their own suggestions.

At Manga Life, Fruits Basket translators Alethea and Athena Nibley discuss the challenge of translating spells and incantations.

Scott VonSchilling files his con report on AnimeNEXT at The Anime Almanac.

Connie of Slightly Biased Manga is coming up on her fifth anniversary, and she is asking readers what changes they would like to see on the site.

Artist Misako Rocks! will be a guest at Otakon this year.

News from Japan: the Asahi Shimbun takes a look at last month’s Bookoff deal, in which the printer Dai Nippon and the publishers Kodansha, Shueisha, and Shogakukan all bought shares in the secondhand book chain. ANN posts the latest manga rankings.

Reviews

Kate Dacey on The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need (The Manga Critic)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1 and 2 of Black Cat (Comics Should Be Good!)
Michelle Smith on vol. 21 of Boys Over Flowers (Soliloquy in Blue)
John Hogan on vol. 1 of Cirque du Freak (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Sam Kusek on vol. 1 of Detroit Metal City (Manga Recon)
David Rasmussen on vol. 1 of Detroit Metal City (Manga Life)
Brandon Soderberg on Disappearance Diary (Are you a serious comic book reader?)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Gestalt (The Manga Critic)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 8 of Gin Tama (Comics Village)
Joy Kim on vol. 5 of Goong (Manga Life)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Hanayashiki no Junin-tachi (Okazu)
April Kimm on Hey, Sensei? (The Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society)
Shannon Fay on His Arrogance (Kuriousity)
Tangognat on The History of the West Wing (Tangognat)
Grant Goodman on vol. 1 of Ichiroh! (Manga Recon)
Laura on Kare Kano (Heart of Manga)
Connie on vol. 13 of Moon Child (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 6 of Nightmare Inspector (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 6 of Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erin Jameson on vols. 1 and 2 of Papillon (PLAYBACK:stl)
Lorena on chapter 8 of Rin-ne (i heart manga)
James Fleenor on Schoolgirl Milky Crisis (Anime Sentinel)
Laura on the July issue of Shojo Beat (Shojo Flash)
Katherine Farmar on vol. 1 of Sunflower (Comics Village)
Julie on vol. 1 of Takeru: Opera Susanoh Sword of the Devil (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Courtney Kraft on vol. 1 of Venus Capriccio (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vol. 1 of Venus Capriccio (Manga Life)
Connie on vol. 4 of We Were There (Slightly Biased Manga)
John Hogan on vol. 1 of Yokai Doctor (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Ed Sizemore on Book 6 of Yuri Monogatari (Comics Worth Reading)

David Welsh devotes this week’s Flipped column to a look at the Eisner nominees, and he also takes a look at this week’s new releases. Red Z. Baylon looks over the week’s choices at Japanator as well.

At Anime Vice, Gia talks to Digital’s Michelle Mauk about their pre-order plan. Johanna Draper Carlson weighs in as well at Comics Worth Reading, and Alex Hoffman gives his take at Manga Widget.

Japanator’s Brad Rice talks to Ed Chavez of Vertical about his company’s many facets.

Erica Friedman rounds up the week in yuri and shows off some cool yuri doujinshi and other comics.

Big news! Last Gasp will be publishing Suehiro Maruo’s The Strange Tale of Panorama Island, and Same Hat’s Ryan and Evan will be handling translation, adaptation, and other chores.

Sharp-eyed Lissa Pattillo spots some new titles on Amazon.ca.

Lori Henderson thinks about some online manga formats that would fill the Shojo Beat-shaped void in her life.

Tangognat has a tip for CMX fans and some thoughts on manga that she just can’t quit.

Here are some summer reading suggestions for kids from Deb Aoki and the Good Comics for Kids team.

AstroNerdBoy isn’t happy with the quality of Tokyopop’s books lately, and he sees it as part of a bigger problem.

New blog alert: Otaku Ohana, by Jason Yadao and Wilma Jandoc, the manga and anime columnists for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Now they can write about all the cool stuff that won’t fit into the newspaper.

And here are a few non-manga articles of mine that appeared in various outlets this week: An interview with Jarrett J. Krosoczka about his Lunch Lady graphic novels, which are due out in July, at Graphic Novel Reporter; a look at comics on iPods (including Yoshitoshi ABe’s Pochiyama) at Robot 6; and an interview with Brian Leung, owner of the kids’ webcomics portal Kidjutsu, at PWCW.

News from Japan: The next episode of Nodame Cantabile will be late due to manga-ka Tomoko Ninomiya’s hospitalization for acute appendicitis. Eyeshield 21 is hanging up its cleats after 7 years and 37 volumes. Gokusen is coming back to You magazine for two episodes. Kimi no Todoke is coming back from hiatus. And ANN lists the top-selling manga in Japan from November 2008 to May 2009, broken out by series and by volume.

Reviews: I wrapped up my look at the Udon Kids manga line with reviews of vol. 1 of Ninja Baseball Kyuma and vol. 1 of Swans in Space at Graphic Novel Reporter. The ladies of Manga Recon are On the Shojo Beat with a roundup of opinions on recent releases.

Casey Brienza on vol. 1 of 13th Boy (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 1 of 13th Boy (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Danielle Leigh on vols. 2 and 3 of 20th Century Boys (Comics Should Be Good)
Sesho on vol. 1 of Animal Academy (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Snow Wildsmith on Awaken Forest (Fujoshi Librarian)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Ballad of a Shinigami (Comics Worth Reading)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 3 of B.Ichi (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Black Jack (Kuriousity)
Carlo Santos on vol. 5 of Black Jack (ANN)
Billy Aguiar on vol. 1 of Cat-Eyed Boy (Prospero’s Manga)
Julie on vol. 9 of Crimson Hero (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Casey Brienza on vol. 1 of Detroit Metal City (ANN)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of Detroit Metal City (Anime Sentinel)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 8 of Emma (Comics Worth Reading)
Casey Brienza on Future Lovers (Graphic Novel Reporter)
John Hogan on Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 3 of Gimmick (Comics Worth Reading)
Tiamat’s Disciple on The History of the West Wing (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Cynthia on Idol Pleasures (Boys Next Door)
Emily on Lapis Lazuli no Oukan (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Cynthia on Manhattan Love Story (Boys Next Door)
Julie on vol. 13 of Moon Child (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of The Name of the Flower (Comics Worth Reading)
Edward Zacharias on vol. 37 of Naruto (Animanga Nation)
Noah Berlatsky on vol. 1 of Nightmares for Sale (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 3 of Pluto (There it is, Plain as Daylight)
Julie on vol. 10 of Prince of Tennis (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Casey Brienza on vol. 1 of Rasetsu (ANN)
Julie on vol. 26 of Red River (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Casey Brienza on vol. 4 of Silver Diamond (ANN)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 1 of Sumomomo, Momomo (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Lorena on vol. 1 of Swan (i heart manga)

Here’s your standout story of the day: At Sleep Is For the Weak, Bad Jew takes a look at one of the more obscure corners of the comics world: North Korea, where the comics are blatant propaganda but interesting nonetheless. (Image from The Great General Mighty Wong, one of the comics, or gruim-chaek in question.)

ICv2 reports that sales of both periodical comics and graphic novels were down sharply in May, with the market as a whole falling by 18%. They also give Diamond’s top 300 graphic novels for May.

Danielle Leigh checks out the manga in the June Previews at Manga Over Flowers.

In case anyone is curious, I discuss the books on the top of my stack in this week’s What Are You Reading? column at Robot 6.

Manga artist Junko Mizuno will be in Toronto on Thursday to open a show of her work.

Reviews: Andrew Wheeler reviews three Chinese and Korean titles at ComicMix. Over at Manga Recon, the team turns in another handful of Manga Minis. At The Eastern Standard, Andrew Cunningham complains that Kino no Tabi is getting boring and Joe Iglesias says pretty much the same thing about vol. 10 of Battle Angel Alita: Last Order.

Connie on vol. 2 of Audition (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lorena on vol. 2 of Backstage Prince (i heart manga)
Lorena on vol. 1 of Blank Slate (i heart manga)
Michelle Smith on vol. 1 of Brilliant Blue (Manga Recon)
Connie on vol. 1 of Choco Mimi (Slightly Biased Manga)
Dave Ferraro on A Drifting Life (Comics-and-More)
Isaac Hale on vol. 4 of Flower of Life (Manga Recon)
Lorena on vol. 1 of Fullmetal Alchemist (i heart manga)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Gestalt (Comics Should Be Good!)
Connie on vol. 13 of Hoshin Engi (Slightly Biased Manga)
J. Caleb Mozzocco on Mijeong (Blog@Newsarama)
Laura on vol. 1 of NG Life (Heart of Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Orange Planet (Manga Recon)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Rasetsu (Comics Village)
Connie on vol. 12 of Reborn (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erin Finnegan on The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya and vols. 1-3 of The Melancholoy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Manga Recon)
Lorena on vol. 5 of Skip Beat (i heart manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Song of the Hanging Sky (Slightly Biased Manga)
A Library Girl on vol. 1 of Tramps Like Us (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)