At MTV Geek, I look at some good reads for under a dollar, and I also have a heads-up about the manga contest run by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (a.k.a. MOFA, which sounds pretty badass).
Lori Henderson has the rundown on this week’s all-ages comics and manga at Good Comics for Kids, and Sean Gaffney looks ahead to next week’s new manga at A Case Suitable for Treatment.
David Welsh rounds up the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday links for this month’s Manga Moveable Feast, which features Fruits Basket. And Kate Dacey posts the Manga Moveable Feast schedule for the upcoming year.
Otaku no Podcast interviewed Megatokyo creator Fred Gallagher at Anime Expo.
Jason Thompson writes about the weird and horrible Apocalypse Zero for his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.
Ed Sizemore and Evan Krell discuss 7 Billion Needles in the latest Manga Out Loud podcast.
New to the blogroll: Gagging on Sexism, in which Erin Joyce writes from a feminist point of view about novels, anime, and manga. To start us off, here’s her post about two strong female characters in Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.
Ash Brown is giving away a copy of vol. 1 of Ghost Talker’s Daydream at Experiments in Manga.
Convention news: Otakon is going on this weekend, and ANN has pretty comprehensive coverage. Looking forward to the fall, Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima will be a guest at New York Anime Fest.
News from Japan: Remember when Fractale manga artist Mustumi Akazaki complained that the manga was “uninteresting”? Well, she has apologized. The Gokicha (Cockroach Girls) manga, which began as a doujinshi, will now run regularly in Houbunsha’s Manga Time Kirara Carat magazine. Yumi Nakata (Chu-Bra) has a new manga in the works, Oku-sama ga Seitokai-chō! (My Wife Is the Student Council President!), which will start running in Monthly Comic Rex in August. Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok is coming back, after a seven-year hiatus, and this time it will be carried by Mag Garden’s online magazine Beat’s. Wild Adapter is moving to Ichijinsha, which will re-release the already published tankoubon with new covers and eventually resume serialization of the manga, which has been on hiatus for seven years. Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at Young Gangan. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.
Reviews: Lori Henderson and Alex Hoffman discuss Dengeki Daisy in their He Said, She Said column at Manga Village.
Diana Dang on vol. 1 of Ai Ore! (Stop, Drop, and Read!)
Kristin on A Bloody Kiss Tonight (Comic Attack)
Connie on vol. 2 of Challengers (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 5 of Itazura na Kiss (ANN)
Kristin on vol. 4 of Kamisama Kiss (Comic Attack)
Joe Iglesias on vol. 2 of King of RPGs (Eastern Standard)
John Rose on vol. 4 of Kobato (The Fandom Post)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 6 of Laon (The Fandom Post)
Ash Brown on Lychee Light Club (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (The Comic Book Bin)
Angela Eastman on vol. 2 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Fandom Post)
Rob McMonigal on vol. 4 of Karakuri Odette (Panel Patter)
Julie Opipari on vol. 4 of Stepping on Roses (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Erica Friedman on Twin Cake (Okazu)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of Wandering Son (Good Comics for Kids)