The news from Japan continues to be bleak, but a number of manga creators have posted messages of hope and images of smiling people, and at About.com, Deb Aoki has more of these as well as relief efforts by artists and creators. At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao looks at the best and the worst of the reactions to the disaster. Also, don’t believe everything you see on Twitter; there were a number of unconfirmed reports of creator deaths, but at least one of them has been debunked: Pokemon creator Satoshi Taiji is alive.
If you’re in the LA area, We Heart Japan is holding an art auction at Meltdown Comics on Thursday, with support from a number of anime companies and actors. And at All About Manga, Daniella Orihuela-Gruber is encouraging anime and manga bloggers to donate to two worthy causes.
There was some other news. At About.com, Deb Aoki unveils the winners of her Manga Readers Choice Awards.
Viz has announced it will release vol. 4 of Bakuman digitally (via its iPad app) a week before the print edition comes out. As a special promotion, they are offering the first volume for free until noon (PST) today. And don’t forget, all first volumes on the app are 99 cents throughout the month of March.
At the Otaku USA site, Jason Thompson Mikikazu Kometsu talks to Akira Himekawa and Qais Sedki, the creators of the first-ever Original Arabic-Language manga.
Lissa Pattillo takes us through her latest purchases, with quick first impressions of the manga, at Kuriousity.
Reviews
Snow Wildsmith on vols. 1-3 of Bakuman (Good Comics for Kids)
Bill Sherman on vol. 1 of Clean Freak: Fully Equipped (Blogcritics)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Fairy Navigator Runa (Good Comics for Kids)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 6 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Connie on vol. 6 of InuYasha (VizBig edition) (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 3 of Itazura na Kiss (Slightly Biased Manga)
Diana Dang on vol. 2 of Kamisama Kiss (Stop, Drop, and Read!)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of Library Wars: Love and War (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on Pokemon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life (Slightly Biased Manga)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1-6 of Rurouni Kenshin (Soliloquy in Blue)
Connie on White Guardian (Slightly Biased Manga)
Brigid – I didn’t write that article. The interview with Qais Sedki was done by Jason Thompson and the interview with Himekawa Akira was done by Mikikazu Komatsu. Can you fix the attribution? Thanks!
Ack! Sorry, it’s fixed!
Brigid – I hate to be a pain, but the Himekawa interview was conducted and translated by Mikikazu Komatsu, not Jason Thompson. Jason Interviewed Qais Sedki.