Archives for February 2010

The big news of the day is that Christopher Handley was sentenced to six months in prison for possession of “obscene” manga. With this, the court documents become public, and ANN does a good job of going over them and pulling out the salient items. As is often the case, these details will change perception of the case somewhat. Simon Jones puts the whole thing into context, and at The Yaoi Review, Jennifer LeBlanc has some thoughts as well and read the comments for more (some of the comments show up black-on-black, but if you select them you can read the text).

In today’s must-read review, Kate Dacey compares Sexy Voice and Robo to Harriet the Spy. Tangognat, Sadie Mattox, and Michelle Smith have additional insights as well. Also, the instigator of all this, David Welsh is asking for more; his latest license request is for SV&R creator Iou Kuroda’s Japan Tengu Party Illustrated.

Brian Hibbs analyzes the BookScan graphic novels numbers in his latest Tilting at Windmills column at CBR. It’s a long and thoughtful post, and I’ll probably have more to say about it in a day or two, when I’ve had time to digest it. (One immediate conclusion: Manga sales are down, although not necessarily for the reasons he gives.) In the meantime, Heidi Macdonald unpacks it a bit at The Beat (and be sure to check the comments), and Sean Kleefeld responds on his blog as well.

At Good Comics for Kids, Lori Henderson lists this week’s new all-ages comics and manga. And while it’s not manga, the first meeting of our Book Club is a good excuse to see what we all thought of George O’Connor’s Zeus: King of the Gods—and add your own two cents.

Lori Henderson considers e-manga pricing in the wake of the Amazon-Macmillan kerfuffle.

Comics from other countries: Deb Aoki celebrates the Year of the Tiger with a short look at seven Chinese comics (manhua) in English. Researcher Heinz Insu Fenkl updates a page of North Korean comics, some I have linked before and some that were new to me. Noah Berlatsky is unimpressed with Manhwa 100 at The Hooded Utilitarian.

Congratulations to Danielle Leigh on two years of writing her Manga Before Flowers column at Comics Should Be Good. She celebrates by telling us her origin story.

News from Japan: Shueisha puts that Twilight thing in perspective with their 3-million copy print run for the latest volume of One Piece. Manga-ka Takeshi Noguchi will revive the Babel II sci-fi manga, which was created by the late Mitsuteru Yokoyama.

Reviews: EvilOmar posts some new short manga reviews at About Heroes.Other reviews of note:

Melinda Beasi on vol. 3 of 13th Boy (Manga Bookshelf)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of 20th Century Boys (The Comic Book Bin)
Julie on 9th Sleep (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Kristin on The Apartment and Valerie (Comic Attack)
Greg McElhatton on vol. 1 of Biomega (Read About Comics)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of Butterflies, Flowers (Fujoshi Librarian)
Sophie Stevens on vol. 8 of Honey and Clover (Animanga Nation)
Cynthia on How to Capture a Martini (Boys Next Door)
Sam Kusek on vol. 1 of Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture (Manga Recon)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 2 of Selfish Mr. Mermaid (Kuriousity)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 4 of Sunshine Sketch (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Albright on Swallowing the Earth (Yen Plus Info)
Cynthia on vol. 2 of Vampire’s Portrait (Boys Next Door)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of WaqWaq (The Comic Book Bin)
Emily on Waruiko no Mikata (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Erica Friedman on vol. 4 of Yuri Hime Wildrose (Okazu)

The Sexy Voice and Robo blogathon continues with an interview with editor Eric Searleman and a review by David Welsh, both at The Manga Curmudgeon.

News from Japan: Things seem to be quiet over there, actually, but ANN has the latest comics rankings. And the PS Triple web manga will no longer be translated into English.

Reviews: Ng Suat Tong writes about the Chinese comic Dream of the Red Chamber at The Hooded Utilitarian.

Rob on vol. 2 of After School Nightmare (Panel Patter)
Johanna Draper Carlson on The Apartment and Millionaire Husband (Comics Worth Reading)
Deb Aoki on vol. 1 of Biomega (About.com)
Eric Robinson on vol. 3 of Black God (Manga Jouhou)
Connie on vol. 7 of Black Sun, Silver Moon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 30 of Bleach (Slightly Biased Manga)
L. on .hack//Alcor (The Book Bark)
Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vol. 8 of Honey and Clover (Manga Life)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 7 of Moon Boy (Kuriousity)
Noah Berlatsky on Natsume’s Book of Friends (The Comics Journal)
Danielle Leigh on vols. 24-28 of One Piece (Comics Should Be Good)
Connie on vol. 1 of Pig Bride (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ken Haley on vol. 1 of Raiders (Manga Recon)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of The Record of a Fallen Vampire (I Reads You)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Vampire Hunter D (The Comic Book Bin)

In this week’s PWCW, I talk to Viz editorial manager Leyla Aker about their Signature imprint and the SigIKKI.com website. And in my Unbound column at Robot 6, I take a look at five brand-new webcomics that are worth a click.

Gia Manry and Brad Rice check out this week’s new releases.

Gene Gustines, the New York Times comics writer, talks to Kurt Hassler about the Twilight manga.

Yoshihiro Tatsumi is among the nominees for the Eisner Hall of Fame.

Global manga publisher eigoMANGA is planning a manga based on the band Danity Kane—yeah, I never heard of them either—but Gia thinks the art is not half bad. Check out the preview site.

The Yaoi Review checks out the yaoi webcomics at SmackJeeves.

News from Japan: Gottsu-Iiyan shows off some more artwork from the latest Vagabond at The Eastern Edge. The baseball manga Cross Game is coming to an end.

Reviews: Danielle Leigh embarks upon what she warns is a “spoiler-filled” discussion of vols. 1-7 of Monster at Comics Should Be Good with a discussion of the flaws of the saintly Dr. Tenma.

Tangognat on vol. 2 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (Tangognat)
Matthew J. Brady on vol. 2 of Black Jack (Warren Peace Sings the Blues)
Lori Henderson on vol. 6 of Black Jack (Manga Xanadu)
Connie on vol. 6 of Black Sun, Silver Moon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Noah Berlatsky on vol. 1 of Dinosaur King (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Connie on vol. 1 of Happy Cafe (Manga Recon)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 4 of Love Hina (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 5 of Otomen (Kuriousity)
Richard Cook on vol. 1 of Parasyte (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of RE:Play (The Comic Book Bin)
Todd Douglass on vol. 3 of Samurai Harem (Anime Maki)
Holly von Winckel on vol. 1 of Ultimo (Sequential Tart)

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Viz is rolling out a new Shojo Beat series, Cactus’s Secret (Saboten no Himitsu), that looks like it will hit the sweet spot for the younger demographic. It’s a high school love story with wacky misunderstandings and a “prickly” female lead. Go figure! The art looks nice, and the creator is a veteran shoujo manga-ka, with a number of series under her belt, although this looks like the first one to be licensed here. Read on for all the details.

VIZ MEDIA DEBUTS THE PRICKLY YET ROMANTIC MANGA CACTUS’S SECRET

Bristling Romance Between Two High School Students In New Shojo Manga From Nana Haruta

San Francisco, CA, FEBRUARY 9, 2009 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, will debut the fun shojo manga CACTUS’S SECRET on March 2nd. The new series, by Nana Haruta, will be published under the Shojo Beat imprint, is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

Miku Yamada has a longtime crush on classmate Kyohei Fujioka. But no matter how many times she tries to show him how she feels, clueless Kyohei just doesn’t get it. Frustrated, Miku gives up on him, only to have him start calling her “Cactus” for being prickly when he’s around. In the opening volume, Miku decides to try telling Kyohei her feelings by giving him chocolates for Valentine’s Day. But Kyohei, unaware that he’s the object of her affection, offers himself up as a practice partner for her love confession. Can Miku get through to him that he’s the one she loves?

“Shojo manga fans won’t want to miss the cute artwork and funny romantic hijinks of CACTUS’S SECRET,” says Elizabeth Kawasaki, Senior Editorial Director at VIZ Media. “Creator Nana Haruta began her manga career with a debut in Ribon magazine when she was only 15, has written several popular manga series since then and we are very excited to introduce her work here in the US. Readers will smile from the very first page as the romance between Miku and Kyohei gets off to a thorny start!”

Nana Haruta debuted in 2000 with LOVE’S ♥, LOVE’S SYMBOL in Ribon Original magazine. Her other notable works include LOVE BERRISH! and CHOCOLATE COSMOS. Her latest series, STARDUST ★ WINK, is also serialized in Ribon magazine.

For more information on this title, or other shojo titles from VIZ Media, please visit www.shojobeat.com.

Cactus’s Secret:SABOTEN NO HIMITSU © 2003 by Nana Haruta/SHUEISHA Inc.

The Moveable Manga Feast gets under way with Sam Kusek, Erica Friedman, and Christopher Butcher weighing in on the book under consideration, Sexy Voice and Robo.

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

Joy Kim has some interesting thoughts on gender issues in Claymore.

Melinda Beasi has another Manhwa Monday roundup at Manga Bookshelf.

RE:Play creator Christy Lijewski has launched a new webcomic, Samurai Host Club. (Note: This is an 18+ comic.) (Hat tip: Kuriousity.)

At Anime Vice, John Martone reads Giant Robot magazine to see what all the fuss is about.

Yotsuba&! and Gotham Knights are on the agenda for the latest Fourcast, the 4thletter! podcast. And there’s a new Jouhou Cast up at Manga Jouhou.

News from Japan: ANN notes some new series launching in the next couple of weeks.

Reviews: The Manga Recon team files their weekly set of brief Manga Minis. Ed Sizemore has some short takes on recent manga from Del Rey at Comics Worth Reading.

Oyceter on vols. 16 and 17 of Claymore (Sakura of DOOM)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Crown of Love (Comics-and-More)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Crown of Love (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Jormungand (Okazu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Jormungand (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Snow Wildsmith on Merry Family Plan (Fujoshi Librarian)
Tangognat on vol. 1 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (Tangognat)
Connie on vol. 37 of One Piece (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 9 of One Thousand and One Nights (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kristin on Phantom Dream (Comic Attack)
Michael May on Talking to Strangers (Robot 6)
Connie on vol. 4 of Two Flowers for the Dragon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Nick Smith on vol. 1 of Ultimo (ICv2)
Julie on vol. 9 of Vampire Knight (Manga Maniac Cafe)

The first Manga Moveable Feast begins today: Over the next week, a number of bloggers will be reviewing and discussing the manga Sexy Voice and Robo. David Welsh, who organized the event, provides an introduction to the book at Manga Curmudgeon, and check back there for links to the reviews (including, hopefully, mine).

If you’re reading this early, tune into Tokyopop’s live chat with Benjamin, the creator of Orange and the newly released Remember. It starts at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, 1 p.m. Eastern Time.

Very good, sir! Volume 1 of Black Butler was the surprise number one manga on this week’s NY Times Graphic Books Best-Seller List. And everybody’s reading it—check below for lots of reviews. Yu-Gi-Oh tops the BookScan graphic novel chart for January, but Black Butler shows up in the number 7 slot there as well.

Yuichi Yokoyama, creator of Travel and New Engineering, is posting his latest comic, Outdoor, online. The site is in Japanese, but since Yokoyama’s comics are wordless, it doesn’t matter. And the navigation is in English. (Via Same Hat!)

Lori Henderson posts her weekly manga news digest at Manga Xanadu.

Erica Friedman rounds up the week’s yuri news and offers her opinion on a variety of manga and non-manga topics at Okazu.

David Welsh picks the most interesting books from the latest Previews, announces a winner in his Manga Moms contest, and asks publishers to please license The Life of the Genius Professor Yanagizawa at Manga Curmudgeon.

Jake Forbes offers a sneak peek of the art from vol. 4 of Return to Labyrinth: Bishi Jareth.

Tokyopop is offering replacement copies of the Blu manga Croquis to readers whose copies are partially in German due to a printing error.

Editor Patrick Macias shows off the cover of the March/April issue of Otaku USA, due on newsstands any day now.

Helen McCarthy links to Japanese in Anime and Manga, a site that uses manga to help explain subtle points like the relationship between two speakers.

News from Japan: Alive is coming to an end. The anime Time of Eve is being made into a manga.

Reviews: Yay! Manga reviews are back at About Heroes! Go check it out for short takes on the latest titles. Lori Henderson compares the manga and anime of 07-Ghost at Manga Xanadu. Japanator’s Brad Rice visits About.com to review vol. 1 of Gundam 00 and vol. 1 of Gundam 00-F. Gia doodles her review of vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Hearts at Anime Vice. Other reviews of note:

Sesho on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Heroes (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Sterg Botzakis on vol. 1 of Barefoot Gen (Graphic Novel Resources)
Rob on vol. 1 of Basara (Panel Patter)
Connie on vol. 3 of Black Bird (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Black Butler (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Black Butler (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Gia on vol. 1 of Black Butler (Anime Vice)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Black Butler and vol. 1 of Crown of Love (The Manga Critic)
Connie on vol. 9 of Black Jack (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 5 of Black Sun, Silver Moon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rob on vol. 2 of Bleach (Panel Patter)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Bloody Kiss (I Reads You)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 4 of Cirque du Freak (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Rob on vol. 3 of Flower of Life (Panel Patter)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Garden Dreams (Comics Worth Reading)
Julie on vol. 12 of High School Debut (Manga Maniac Cafe)
A Library Girl on vol. 1 of Higurashi When They Cry: Abducted by Demons Arc (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of I Hate You More Than Anyone (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit (The Comic Book Bin)
Scott Campbell on vol. 4 of Inukami (Active Anime)
Ed Chavez on vol. 1 of Kimi ni Todoke (MangaCast)
Vom Marlowe on vol. 1 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Diana Dang on vol. 1 of Night Head Genesis (Stop, Drop, and Read)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 30 of One Piece (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 36 of One Piece (Slightly Biased Manga)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 2 of Oninagi (Tiamat’s Manga Reviws)
Rachel Bentham on vol. 1 of Panic x Panic (Active Anime)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 7 of Pluto (Comics Worth Reading)
Julie on vol. 1 of Rampage (Manga Maniac Cafe)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 1 of Rin-ne (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Shaenon Garrity on vol. 1 of Rin-ne (About.com)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Ristorante Paradiso (Comics Worth Reading)
Rob on vol. 1 of Rosario + Vampire (Panel Patter)
Michelle Smith on vols. 3-7 of Slam Dunk (Soliloquy in Blue)
Kristin on The Sheikh’s Reluctant Bride and Word of a Gentleman (Comic Attack)
Edouardo Zacarias on vol. 1 of Ultimo (Animanga Nation)
Andre on vol. 2 of Sugarholic (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Vampire Kisses: Blood Relatives (The Comic Book Bin)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 1-6 of V.B. Rose (Comics Worth Reading)