I check out this week’s new manga at MTV Geek, and Lissa Patillo looks gives her take her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney looks forward to next week’s new releases, which include several final volumes.
Tony Yao discusses the popularity of Blue Exorcist, which, as noted below, was the top selling manga in Japan last week.
David Brothers explains the power of Dragon Ball at Comics Alliance.
David Welsh looks at his favorite manga that start with the letter B.
Matt Blind catches us up with his manga rankings for the week ending August 28.
(NSFW and also disturbing) Ng Suat Tong looks at some seriously nasty and violent manga by Kazuo Umezu at The Hooded Utilitarian.
News from Japan: October 20 is the launch date for Kodansha’s newest magazine, Monthly Shonen +—everything you need to know is in the title. Jiro Taniguchi is working on a new manga set during the Meiji era. A group of seven publishers and 122 manga-ka have sent letters to a number of Japanese stores that scan manga for customers for a fee. Because this is done for customers’ personal use, it’s not clear that it is illegal, but the creators and publishers want it to stop. Former prime minister Tarō Asō cops to reading Rozen Maiden in the Tokyo airport but insists he doesn’t read it regularly—he only picked it up in the airport because he heard girls read it, which is an odder explanation than just admitting he’s a roaring otaku. Usumaru Furuya is bringing the series Innosan Shōnen Jūji-gun (Innocent Children’s Crusade) to an end. The latest volume of the Blue Exorcist novel and manga topped their respective Oricon charts, and ANN has the rest of the Japanese comics rankings as well.
Reviews: Michelle Smith and Melinda Beasi discuss some new releases in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.
Carlo Santos on vol. 16 of 20th Century Boys (ANN)
Danica Davidson on vol. 1 of Antique Bakery (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Connie on vol. 10 of Bamboo Blade (Slightly Biased Manga)
Anna on vols. 9 and 10 of Black Bird (Manga Report)
Matthew Warner on vol. 36 of Bleach (The Fandom Post)
Danica Davidson on vols. 1 and 2 of Choco Mimi (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Drifters (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on Faeries’ Landing (Slightly Biased Manga)
Queenie Chan on Hikaru no Go (Queenie Chan)
Connie on Korea as Viewed by 12 Creators (Slightly Biased Manga)
Danica Davidson on vols. 8-10 of Monster (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 52 of Naruto (The Comic Book Bin)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 30 of Negima! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Matthew Warner on vol. 58 of One Piece (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 16 of Ouran High School Host Club (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 6 of Rin-ne (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Kinukitty on Tonight’s Take-Out Night (The Hooded Utilitarian)