Viz hangover

Melinda Beasi, Johanna Draper Carlson, Kai-Ming Cha, Simon Jones, Julie Opipari, Lissa Pattillo, and Brad Rice react to the news that Viz laid off up to 60 staffers this week. Viz has also put up a short post on its own blog, telling fans what they want to hear: The restructuring was mainly internal and won’t affect existing series:

We have no plans at this time for drastic measures such as product cancellations or business line closures. Your favorite series are not going away.

Lori Henderson celebrates National Pet Month with a look at manga about pets and their owners at Manga Xanadu.

David Welsh looks at Japanese magazines as well as licensed manga in the latest installment of The Seinen Alphabet, which is devoted to the letter C.

MTV’s Splash Page has a preview of Del Rey’s The Last Airbender: Prequel: Zuko’s Story, written by Dave Roman and Alison Wilgus and illustrated by Nina Matsumoto (of Yokaiden fame).

News from Japan: The Asahi Shimbun has more info on this year’s winners of the 14th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. Yoshiyuki “Buronson” Okamura, creator of Fist of the North Star, has started a new series, Full Swing, in Shonen Sunday magazine. Oricon reports that 2.282 million copiies of vol. 57 of One Piece have been sold, making it the best-selling manga in their two-year history of recording manga sales. ANN also has the latest comics rankings from Oricon.

Reviews: Kate Dacey posts short takes on Crown of Love, Itazura na Kiss, and Natsume’s Book of Friends at The Manga Critic.

Erica Friedman on vol. 5 of Aria (Okazu)
Rob McMonigal on vol. 7 of Barefoot Gen (Panel Patter)
Michelle Smith on vol. 2 of Beast Master (Soliloquy in Blue)
Michelle Smith on Black Blizzard (Comics Should Be Good)
Leroy Douresseaux on Cute Devil (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Flower in a Storm (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Tangognat on vol. 4 of Honey Hunt (Tangognat)
Cathy on vols. 1 and 2 of Kobato (it can’t all be about manga…)
Todd Douglass on vol. 1 of Maoh: Juvenile Remix (Anime Maki)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 5 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Melinda Beasi on Part One of Ode to Kirihito (Manga Bookshelf)
Clive Owen on vol. 9 of Rosario + Vampire (Animanga Nation)
Jason S. Yadao on vol. 1 of Twin Spica (Otaku Ohana)

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Comments

  1. I don’t see how laying off 40% of your work staff isn’t considered “drastic measures” :(