Kodansha’s big reveal

The big news of the week happened yesterday, when Kodansha USA announced its summer lineup. Del Rey fans can rest assured that a number of titles will continue serialization under the new regime, including Air Gear, Fairy Tail, Negima, Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei, and The Wallflower. (Complete list is at the link.) Kodansha is also reviving a couple of older series, the wordless dinosaur tale Gon (last published by CMX) and Until the Full Moon (once licensed by Broccoli), by Fake creator Sanami Matoh.

New titles include

• Monster Hunter Orage, by Fairy Tail manga-ka Hiro Mashima
• Deltora Quest
• The Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
• The sci-fi mangaMardock Scramble
• Animal Land by Zatch Bell creator Makoto Raiku
• Bloody Monday, a thriller
• Cage of Eden: “Battle Royale meets Lost by way of Negima!”
• A new Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney manga series

According to Scott VonSchilling, who live-tweeted the event, Del Rey will continue to publish Tsubasa and xxxHolic under its own imprint, and other books that weren’t mentioned aren’t necessarily canceled—just not scheduled yet.

Responses from the commentariat: Lissa Pattillo has a good summary and commentary at Kuriousity, and Daniella Orihuela-Gruber dubs Kodansha “more than a deadbeat publisher,” although she cautions them that more is needed—more announcements, a big license, and fix up that website already. Sean Gaffney has observations on a number of the books and notes that the lineup “looks a lot like Del Rey with the name crossed out,” which is probably a wise choice. Johanna Draper Carlson counts the releases per month and notes a few Del Rey titles that are not on the list. Kate Dacey also weighs in and notes the need for a new website.

There was some other manga news this week, and Lori Henderson sums it up in her weekly news digest at Manga Xanadu. Erica Friedman brings us another edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Sean Gaffney and David Welsh check out this week’s new manga.

At The Comics Journal, Roland Kelts talks to Peepo Choo creator Felipe Smith about manga and comics.

Linda Thai continues her interview with Tokyopop CEO Stu Levy at Something Deeper.

Kate Dacey asked readers of The Manga Critic to name their favorite food manga, and she comes up with a solid list of recommendations.

Ed Sizemore wraps up the Manga Moveable Feast with a podcast in which he, David Welsh, Sean Gaffney, and Erica Friedman discuss the main dish, One Piece.

You Higashino’s yaoi manga Hyper Loving a Maniac is being released on the Kindle in the U.S. at about the same time it is being published in print and digital form in Japan.

News from Japan: Details of the latest Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and anime, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexa, will be revealed in the February issue of V Jump magazine, due out on Saturday.

Reviews

Charles Webb on vol. 1 of 7 Billion Needles (Manga Life)
Connie on vol. 5 of Breath (Slightly Biased Manga)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 5 of Butterflies, Flowers (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Detroit Metal City (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on Gaba Kawa! (Kuriousity)
Zack Davisson on Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators (Japan Reviewed)
Kate Dacey on Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy! (The Manga Critic)
Connie on vol. 10 of Pet Shop of Horrors (Slightly Biased Manga)
Diana Dang on vol. 1 of The Story of Saiunkoku (Stop, Drop, and Read!)
Kristin on Sugar Milk and The Day I Became a Butterfly (Comic Attack)