Archives for December 2009

Simon Jones leads a discussion of what Tokyopop might be up to at the Icarus blog. Everything is very speculative at the moment, since the Tokyopop folks have been quite vague about the notion of using “fan translations,” but this comment from Simon was rather arresting:

Technically, TP doesn’t even need the permission of the scanlators to use their translations. Since all translations are derivative works, Tokyopop as the designated rights holder already owns them. @_@

Now that’s what you call… ironic. Not that Tokyopop would actually do that, but it would certainly put an interesting spin on the whole scanlation debate.

Danielle Orihuela-Gruber posts a brief audio interview with Tokyopop Senior Editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl at all about comics.

Derek Halliday is pretty excited about Udon’s Mega Man manga, and he posts some images to show why. (Via Comics212.)

Librarian and reviewer Joy Kim lists the manga she spent her own money on this year.

Lori Henderson posts some resources for a librarian looking for suitable manga for a 10-year-old reader. Lori also posts this week’s all-ages comics and manga at Good Comics for Kids.

Ryan shows off his original Shintaro Kago art at Same Hat!

Reviews

Kinukitty on Crossdress Paradise (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Gia on Gurren Lagann (Anime Vice)
Emily on Konna Koto ya Anna Koto (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Blog)
Julie on vol. 1 of Kurashina Sensei’s Passion (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Connie on vol. 25 of One Piece (Slightly Biased Manga)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Pandora Hearts (Comics Should Be Good)
Travers C on vol. 6 of Sundome (TaCK’s Pop Culture)
Julie on vol. 1 of Time and Again (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Erica Friedman on vol. 7 of Zombie-Loan (Okazu)

It seems like things have been quiet at Blu, Tokyopop’s yaoi imprint, for a while, but now they are roaring back with a lineup of new titles for spring and beyond, including continuations of popular series like Junjo Romantica and new books from familiar creators like Hinako Takanaga. Read on for more, and also check out their website, Blumanga.com, which is not only lovely to look at but organized in a simple, straightforward way that I wish more manga publishers (including the parent company) would emulate.

BLU Presents:
The Spring 2010 Publishing Lineup

Forget February – Romance Is in the Air All Year with BLU in 2010

Los Angeles, CA (December 3, 2009) – Romance blooms all year long with the latest releases from BLU. Fans will swoon over the latest JUNJO ROMANTICA, laugh through several unique short story collections, and fall in love with all new yaoi manga from Japan.

The year starts out with LOVE HURTS by Suzuki Tanaka (MENKUI!) in January – a truly unique collection of supernatural stories that are sometimes gruesome and unsettling, and often hilarious. From mysterious corpses to mystical crime lords, this manga will keep you on your toes and your thoughts spinning.

In February, the month of love, world-renowned manga-ka Hinako Takanaga (YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE and LITTLE BUTTERFLY) brings us CROQUIS. Follow Nagi’s path to love and acceptance as a fledgling drag queen saving up for some big changes! When his secret is revealed, will his dreams of love be dashed?

In March, BLOOD HONEY by Sakyou Yozakura introduces us to Yuki Akabane, a vampire’s descendant who also happens to be a popular nurse—at a blood donation clinic! He enjoys drinking the blood of the pretty women who come through, but when he tastes the blood of donation-obsessed Osamu Mayuzumi, will he be able to drink another’s blood again?

Lovers come together in many different ways in LOVE KNOT, a new collection of short stories by Lemon Ichijo. A series of chapters explores the relationship of twins and their respective lovers as they struggle to get along, while, others find love where they least expect it, whether that’s with a childhood friend, at the school nurse’s office, or even in the kitchen!

Blossoming in May is CUTE DEVIL by Hiro Madarame. The story follows Akiyoshi Tohru, a picture of the ideal student. Not only does he have perfect attendance and top grades, he’s also the student council president of his all-boys school. The school “princess,” Naruse Futa, takes a shining to Akiyoshi – and a princess ALWAYS gets what he wants. Will Akiyoshi be able to escape Naruse’s sadistic clutches?

The hot summer sun of June brings ISLE OF FORBIDDEN LOVE by Duo Brand, the creators of CRIMSON WIND and CROSS X BREAK. Aki, a detective, meets the handsome and mysterious Kuga while investigating a string of murders in ancient Edo. Will Kuga help him to solve the crime, or will he turn out to be a much different man than Aki believes him to be?

From Miu Ootsuki, the popular creator of a number of series, including EIEN NO SHICHIGATSU, STAY GOLD, UKKARI CHERRY and YURI HIME WILDROSE, comes the BLU release of CALLING in July. Kazuaki’s life is so ordinary and dull, he can’t tell the difference between one day and the next. But one night he witnesses a rather embarrassing rendezvous, which unexpectedly turns his life upside down…

SCARLET, another title from Hiro Madarame, releases in August. College student Akio is dating Ryo, a gorgeous and seemingly innocent philanderer, unable to withstand the slightest loneliness. Every time a girl approaches him, he just can’t say no! What’s Akio to do with his wandering-eye of a boyfriend?!

And mark your calendars for these new releases of ongoing series:

In April, volume 4 of TEA FOR TWO by Yaya Sakuragi hits the yaoi shelves. In this volume, Christmas is right around the corner for Tokumaru and Hasune, but a romantic night out and a sweet gift exchange is out of the question for this eccentric couple…or is it?

May brings volume 2 of YOU WILL DROWN IN LOVE, another great yaoi title by Hinako Takanaga. Reiichiro and Jinnai’s relationship may have started in volume 1, but it hasn’t stopped rocking! An old acquaintance shows up and creates waves, triggering doubts for both parties. Will this awkward couple ever understand each other?

August offers us Yamimaru Enjin’s VOICE OR NOISE volume 3. Shinichiro and Narusawa continue to explore the question: Can the ability to talk to the animals translate into the language of love? Back after his three years abroad Narusawa is ready to pick up his relationship with Shinichiro right where they left off-but how has the passage of time changed his young lover?

And lastly – September ushers in a Fall of boys’ love with the much-anticipated New York Times bestseller JUNJO ROMANTICA volume 12 by Shungiku Nakamura. The ever-lovable Misaki faces all new challenges and obstacles in life and love. Will his relationship with Akihiko be able to survive his 4th year of college and Akihiko’s pushy, jealous cousin moving in?

Harlequin manga are an interesting hybrid, Japanese manga adaptations of American romance novels, drawn by shoujo manga artists. Dark Horse tried to import them a few years ago, printing the tamer ones in pink ink and the more, ahem, adult ones in purple. Whether it was the colored ink or the lack of an audience, they just didn’t take off. Now Digital is putting them online at their emanga site, alongside their regular library of yaoi.

To be honest, Digital seems like a better fit for this line than the seinen-oriented Dark Horse; their primary product, yaoi manga, has been described as Harlequin romances with two males in the lead. And for those who can get used to reading on screens, web distribution is a logical way to buy romance novels, which fans like to read quickly and in quantity—but generally only once.

Anyway, here’s the PR on the launch as well as info, at the bottom, about a special offer that Digital is running for the next few days in which you get extra points every time you rent or buy a story.

Gardena, CA (December 3, 2009) – Digital Manga Publishing, one of the manga industry’s most unique and creative publishers,is proud to announce their online collaboration in making Harlequin romance manga available online at eManga.com! Harlequin Enterprises Limited (www.eHarlequin.com ) is a global leader in series romance and one of the world’s leading publishers of women’s fiction. Harlequin manga are comic adaptations of Harlequin’s romance novels and are currently digitally distributed by Harlequin and SOFTBANK Creative internationally. Harlequin manga will now be available for rental through eManga’s online manga service, bringing the manga versions of the popular Harlequin romance novels to the US for english readers to enjoy!

Beloved by readers the world over, Harlequin has shipped 5.8 billion novels worldwide since its inception. In 1998, Harlequin Enterprises Limited began licensing their novels to Japanese publishers, culminating in the creation of Harlequin manga, which are drawn by various shojo mangaka, and geared towards teenage and adult women. Now, twenty of these titles will be available through eManga.com for rental alongside Digital Manga’s own rental library. These twenty titles have never before been available in their print manga form in the US, until now.

The first of the Harlequin manga titles available for rental will be: Millionaire Husband written by Leanne Banks and illustrated by Kanako Uesugi, Prisoner Of The Tower written by Gayle Wilson and illustrated by Karin Miyamoto, The Sheikh’s Reluctant Bride written by Teresa Southwick and illustrated by Ayumu Asou, Word Of A Gentleman written by Lyn Stone and illustrated by Tsukiko Kurebayashi, Married Under The Italian Sun by Lucy Gordon and illustrated by Mayu Takayama and Sale Or Return Bride written by Sarah Morgan and illustrated by Kazuto Fujita.

eManga.com streams content through an Adobe Flash player, which allows readers to access their library wherever they have an internet connection. The reader has custom features that include two-page, one-page, panel-by-panel reading, three custom zoom options, a bookmark bad and auto play. The reader is also made to work with different screen sizes to maintain great image quality at any screen size. The standard eManga rental package is $10 for 1000 points, with entire books averaging between 200-300 points. Higher packages come with free bonus points. Points are kept in user’s accounts, allowing for quick and easy rental of titles at anytime, anywhere. For most of the titles on eManga, you also have the option to read the entire book by spending eManga points to “rent” the title for a limited amount of time (currently 72 hours). If you later decide to rent the same title again, it will be automatically upgraded to an “unlimited” rental, which does not have time restrictions.

For more information and to begin reading right away, visit www.emanga.com and click on the Harlequin tab under “publishers”.

Harlequin Weekend Promo

Harlequin titles are now available on eManga! And for a limited time only, we’re running a special offer for these Harlequin titles.

When you rent any Harlequin book for 200 points, you will automatically receive a promo code for 50 points. And, when you rent the book again to keep it, you will receive another promo code for 25 points!
These codes will be sent to your email. To use your points, just redeem the code on the eManga website. This code is one-time use, has no expiration date, and is transferable. The points are just like any other points purchased on eManga and are good towards any rental.
This promotion begins at noon (12:00pm PST) on Friday, December 4th, and ends at noon (12:00pm PST) on Wednesday, December 9th.
Enjoy reading the Harlequin books!

I didn’t get to listen in on the latest Tokyopop webinar, which featured CEO Stu Lefy and senior editor Lillian Diaz-Pryzybl but Daniella Orihuela-Gruber liveblogged it and then offered some additional thoughts, and ANN summarized the high points. Apparently Tokyopop is considering using “fan translators” to finish up series that are on hiatus due to low sales. It’s hard to know what this means—is “fan translators” a synonym for “unpaid labor”? Because from what I hear, professional translators aren’t paid that well to begin with. Anyway, they are in negotiation with a scanlation site, and they mentioned Crunchyroll, a fansub anime site that went legit. It’s hard to see the Japanese licensors going for that, though. Stu and Lillian also said that fans should not give up on their manhwa series, as some may be coming back from hiatus, and they hinted at big things to come in the near future.

Manga Critic Kate Dacey looks at this week’s new releases.

Lorena Nava Ruggero posts her manga gift guide at i heart manga.

Myth and Manga has a chilling array of manga villains for your enjoyment.

This week’s edition of the shoujo/sunjeong alphabet at Precocious Curmudgeon features books with titles beginning with H.

Erica Friedman, the editor of the Yuri Monogatari anthology, discusses some reasons why a writer might get a rejection letter. It’s good reading for any aspiring writer.

The latest shelf porn post at Robot 6 is all about manga: It’s the collection of Cathy Pajunen, who writes about her manga-reading life, and occasionally about other things, at it can’t all be about manga…

Viz is looking for interns for next spring. (Hat tip: Japanator.) And Kuriousity highlights two new contests for aspiring artists.

News from Japan: The Media Arts Awards have been announced, and Vinland Saga took the grand prize in the manga division, with Imuri, Children of the Sea, Kono Sekai no Katasumi ni, and Hyouge Mono – Tea for Universe, Tea for Life garnering awards for excellence. Kindaichi Case Files creator Yōzaburō Kanari is writing a new manga, to be illustrated by Tetsu Adachi. New shoujo series in the works include a manga spinoff of the anime and toy line Jewelpet, and Happy Cafe manga-ka Kou Matsuzuki is launching a new series in Hana to Yume. And here are the latest comics rankings, in which Nodame Cantabile, Real!, and Yotsuba&! totally kick ass.

Reviews: Cathy shows off her weekend manga purchases at it can’t all be about manga…

Connie on vol. 6 of 20th Century Boys (Slightly Biased Manga)
Joy Kim on vol. 9 of Antique Gift Shop (Manga Life)
Connie on vol. 7 of Arm of Kannon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Tiamat’s Disciple on Azumanga Daioh (omnibus) (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Butterflies, Flowers (Comics Worth Reading)
Julie on Ciao Ciao Bambino (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Johanna Draper Carlson on The Color of Earth, The Color of Water, and The Color of Heaven (Comics Worth Reading)
D.M. Evans on vol. 3 of Fairy Tail (Manga Jouhou)
Connie on vol. 9 of Gimmick (Slightly Biased Manga)
Snow Wildsmith on GoGo Monster (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Julie on vol. 1 of Itazura na Kiss (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Danica Davidson on vols. 1-4 of Kyo Kara Maoh (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Noah Berlatsky on Little Fluffy Gigolo Pelu (The Comics Journal)
Kris on Manhattan Love Story (Manic About Manga)
Connie on vol. 23 of One Piece (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vol. 2 of Rasetsu (Manga Life)
Bill Sherman on vol. 1 of This Ugly Yet Beautiful World (Blogcritics)
Courtney Kraft on vol. 1 of Vermonia (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 5 of With the Light (Manga Bookshelf)
Barb Lien-Cooper on vols. 3 and 4 of Yotsuba&! (Manga Life)

Brad Rice and David Welsh check out this week’s new manga releases.

Sadie Mattox posts a brief gift guide to manga erotica at Extremely Graphic.

If you liked ES: Eternal Sabbath (I did!) then David Welsh thinks you may like Night Head Genesis as well.

Vol. 1 of Mega Man Megamix isn’t due out until January, but Udon has kindly put a preview up now.

Danielle Leigh has more recommendations in her Manga Before Flowers column.

It looks like D&Q has another Yoshihiro Tatsumi manga, Black Blizzard, in the works.

Bummer! Laura got a dud copy of vol. 8 of Vampire Knight.

News from Japan: Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama has a new series in the works. Thai creator Jakraphan Huaypetch won the first place award in the third international manga awards sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Reviews

Lori Henderson on vols. 1-5 of 20th Century Boys (Manga Xanadu)
Julie on vol. 3 of B.O.D.Y. (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 1 of Cat Paradise (Mania.com)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 2 of Detroit Metal City (Sequential Tart)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 2 of Dogs: Bullets and Carnage and vol. 3 of Ikigami (Comics Should Be Good)
Sheena McNeil on .hack//Legend of the Twilight – The Complete Edition (Sequential Tart)
Lissa Pattillo on Love Skit (Kuriousity)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 2 of My Heavenly Hockey Club (i heart manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1 and 2 of Sarasah (Comics Village)
Clive Owen on vol. 8 of Shaman Warrior (Animanga Nation)
Holly von Winckel on vol. 5 of St. Dragon Girl (Sequential Tart)
Tangognat on vols. 10 and 11 of Swan (Tangognat)
Sakura Eries on vol. 2 of Tsubasa Character Guide (Mania.com)

Kate Dacey puts an interesting spin on the gift guide idea with a half-dozen items that a manga lover would enjoy at The Manga Critic. Sadie Mattox doesn’t like to give books as gifts, but she recommends some one-shots anyway at Extremely Graphic. Deb Aoki files her gift guide for shoujo, shonen, and otaku and another one for the rest of us. And Alex Hoffman hands out some lumps of coal at Manga Widget.

Melinda Beasi rounds up a whole heap of manhwa links, both reviews and discussions, in this week’s Manhwa Monday post at Manga Bookshelf.

Spurred on by manga scholar Matt Thorn, David Welsh adds to his manga license requests for this year. And at Good Comics for Kids, Eva Volin hosts a roundtable on comics we wish existed, including some manga.

Jog compares manga to American print comics and looks at the 80s anthology Manga, and how things have changed since then, at The Savage Critics.

News from Japan: Despite the untimely death of creator Yoshito Usui, there is a sequel to Crayon Shin-Chan in the works. And publisher Hakusensha is putting all the manga content from its new magazine Le Paradis online. ANN explains how to access it for non-Japanese speakers.

Reviews

Connie on vol. 6 of Arm of Kannon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 2 of Bamboo Blade (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Snow Wildsmith on Exotic and Delicious Fate (Fujoshi Librarian)
Julie Opipari on vol. 2 of Forest of Gray City (Mania.com)
Connie on vol. 3 of Future Diary (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 6 of Legend (Kuriousity)
Alexander Hoffman on vol. 3 of Magic Touch (Comics Village)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Mikarun Cross (Okazu)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 1 of Momogumi Plus Senki (Sequential Tart)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Oishinbo a la Carte 6: The Joy of Rice (Comics Worth Reading)
Kris on Princess Princess Plus (Manic About Manga)
Julie Opipari on vol. 4 of Shaman Warrior (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Kris on A Strange and Mystifying Story (Manic About Manga)
David Welsh on Swallowing the Earth (The Comics Reporter)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee (Comics-and-More)
Martin on Voices of a Distant Star (Mono no Aware)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 1 and 2 of What a Wonderful World (Comics Worth Reading)