Last week, at Comic Book Resources, I reported on a U.S. citizen who faces criminal child pornography charges in Canada because of manga that were found on his laptop computer during a customs search. Christopher Butcher posts his reaction at Comics212.net:
I’ve been aware of this case since just before I gave my talk on comics and censorship this past February, and every aspect of it makes my blood boil. That ‘manga’ is targeted as a buzzword that encourages Customs agents to do more thorough searches, that an illustration of a person or act is the same thing as the person or act under Canadian law, that Art has no legal defense in Canada anymore. It’s all awful, and I am very, very glad that the CBLDF has stepped in to provide funding and support for this case, to ensure that at the very least this man is rigourously defended, and with any luck a precedent can be set under Canadian law.
At Okazu, Erica Friedman posts some self-defense tips for manga fans planning on international travel.
The Manga Moveable Feast wraps up with a Let’s Get Visual column at Sololoquy in Blue analyzing the art in this month’s selection, Wild Adapter, and two roundups of other people’s writing about the series at Manga Bookshelf.
Digital Manga has assigned its first three licenses to a localization team in the Digital Manga Guild: Kawaii Neko will be translating three yaoi titles, vol. 1 of Only the Flower Knows (Hana no mizo shiru), by Rihito Takarai; The Faithful Dog Waits for Flowers (Chuuken wa hana wo matsu), by Mario Yamada; and Tired of Waiting for Love (Aisotsukashi) by Saki Aida and Yugi Yamada.
Erica Friedman updates us on doings in the yuri world in the latest edition of Yuri Network News.
The Manga Village bloggers pick the best of the newest manga releases.
The Manga Bookshelf team focuses on manga written for women for their Pick of the Week.
David Brothers wraps up his weeklong analysis of Akira at 4thletter! and writes about the “perfect panels” of Akira at Comics Alliance.
Translator Tomo Kimura provides some notes on vol. 3 of Kamisama Kiss.
At Neojaponisme, Matt Alt translates, and puts into context, a 1983 essay from lolicon magazine Manga Burikko telling the otaku to grow up and move beyond their attachment to an idealized notion of puberty. Ogiue Maniax translates a recent Japanese blog post about Genshiken and otaku.
As his josei alphabet draws to a close, David Welsh asks his readers: Which alphabet would you like to see next? Sentiment seems to be leaning toward an Awful Alphabet.
News from Japan: Yoki Matsushita is resuming work on Descendants of Darkness after an eight-year hiatus. Yasuhiro Kano (Mx0) is launching a romantic comedy manga, Kagami no Kuni no Harisugawa, in Weekly Shonen Jump. Kairi Shimotsuki will illustrate a manga series based on the Makai Ishi Mephisto novel series by Hideyuki Kukichi (Vampire Hunter D) Seven manga-ka, including You Higuri (Cantarella), drew chibi personifications of Tokyo neighborhoods for the website of the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center (the home of Comiket).
Reviews: Sean Gaffney posts some short takes on recent manga at A Case Suitable for Treatment. Michelle Smith, Katherine Dacey, Melinda Beasi, and David Welsh file a fresh set of Bookshelf Briefs at Manga Bookshelf. Ash Brown looks over a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 15 of 20th Century Boys (Comics Worth Reading)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 15 of 20th Century Boys (Kuriousity)
Kimi-chan on vol. 1 of Bad Teacher’s Equation (Kimi-chan Experience)
Connie on vol. 1 of The Betrayal Knows My Name (Slightly Biased Manga)
TSOTE on vol. 3 of A Bride’s Story (Three Steps Over Japan)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Dengeki Daisy (I Reads You)
Noah Berlatsky on vol. 1 of Dinosaur King (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Kristin on Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga (Comic Attack)
Connie on vol. 2 of Gunslinger Girl (omnibus edition) (Slightly Biased Manga)
David Welsh on vol. 1 of Kekkaishi (omnibus edition) (The Manga Curmudgeon)
Connie on Little Butterfly (omnibus edition) (Slightly Biased Manga)
Casey Brienza on Lychee Light Club (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Kimi-chan on vol. 1 of Moon & Blood (Kimi-chan Experience)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 51 of Naruto (The Comic Book Bin)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 1 of Negima (omnibus edition) (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Negima (omnibus edition) (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Comic Book Bin)
Clive Owen on vol. 4 of Rosario + Vampire: Season II (Animanga Nation)
Anna on vols. 1-3 of Saiyuki (Manga Report)
Lori Henderson on the June/July issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Xanadu)
A Library Girl on vols. 1 and 2 of Wild Ones (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)