Weekend manga wrapup

Lori Henderson has the list of this week’s kid-friendly comics and manga at Good Comics for Kids.

Twilight: The Graphic Novel tops the NY Times graphic books best-seller list—the hardcover section, not the manga list, which is dominated by Naruto and Bleach. Interestingly, both volumes of Tokyopop’s Alice in the Country of Hearts make the manga top ten this week.

ICv2 has a lengthy interview with Tokyopop CEO Stu Levy, covering the state of the manga market here and abroad as well as Tokyopop’s digital and movie projects (part 1, part 2, part 3). I added some comments of my own at Robot 6.

A further sign of Tokyopop’s improving health, and good news for new fans of series that have been running for a while, is the fact that they are reprinting a bunch of older volumes—and a few new ones. (Maid-Sama and Maria Holic are doing that well?) (Via Kuriousity.)

The scanlation discussion continues; Simon Jones asks why publishers should pay for digital rights, and a lengthy comments thread ensues, while David Welsh asks readers what argument they would make to web-shy manga-kas. At Japanator, Karen Gellender questions one of Jake Forbes’s points, asking whether manga consumers are totally separate from the industry. Japanator readers are pretty diverse, so a good conversation springs up in the comments section here, too.

Melinda Beasi provides a handy index to the female manga blogosophere at Manga Bookshelf. But Lori Henderson asks: Where are the women manga podcasters?

David Welsh wraps up his list of Manga Taisho Award nominees that he would like to see licensed.

The Yaoi Review shares the news: Preorders for vol. 5 of Breath will start on April 15.

Happy blogiversary to Tangognat, who is celebrating seven years of blogging about manga and an eclectic range of other topics.

Manga Views profiles Garrett Albright, the blogger behind Yen Plus Info.

News from Japan: Detroit Metal City is rolling to a halt in Japan.

Reviews: Guest reviewer Danielle Leigh joins Michelle Smith, Chloe Ferguson, and Melinda Beasi for a two-part roundup of Digital’s Harlequin manga at Manga Recon (part 1, part 2). EvilOmar has a new set of reviews of old and new manga at About Heroes. Graeme Flory posts brief reviews of a handful of manga at Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review.

Carlo Santos on vol. 2 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (ANN)
Julie Opipari on vol. 1 of Arata: The Legend (Manga Maniac Cafe)
D.M. Evans on vol. 1 of Angelic Runes (Manga Jouhou)
Sean Gaffney on Chobits (omnibus edition) (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Carlo Santos on vol. 4 of Detroit Metal City (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Happy Cafe (I Reads You)
Michelle Smith on vol. 2 of Happy Cafe (Soliloquy in Blue)
Tiamat’s Disciple on Honor’s Promise (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
John Martone on vol. 1 of Mega Man Megamix (Anime Vice)
Zoey on Love Code (Manga Jouhou)
Connie on Mr. Flower Bride (Manga Recon)
Todd Douglass on Mugen Spiral (complete series) (Anime Maki)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on Ode to Kirihito (All About Manga)
Ai Kano on Ristorante Paradiso (Animanga Nation)
Tiamat’s Disciple on A Royal Proposition (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Shannon Fay on La Satanica (Kuriousity)
Deb Aoki on vol. 1 of Stepping on Roses (About.com)
Esther Keller on vol. 1 of Twilight: The Graphic Novel (Good Comics for Kids)