Bandai cancels new anime and manga releases

Today’s big story is the loss of another manga publisher: Bandai Entertainment, which is chiefly known for its anime but also put out a small but solid line of manga, will stop releasing new material as of February. Check ANN later today for an interview with Bandai president Ken Iyadomi; in the meantime, they have already posted the list of manga that have been cancelled:

Code Geass: Renya (Code Geass: Shikkoku no Renya)
Gurren Lagann volume 7
Kannagi volumes 4-6
Lucky Star Boo Boo Kagaboo (spinoff by Eretto)
Mobile Suit Gundam 00I
Tales of the Abyss: Jade’s Secret Memories volumes 1 and 2

Manga was clearly a sideline for Bandai—most of their titles were tie-ins to their anime—but aside from the early translations of Lucky Star, they did a nice job with it and their marketing director, Robert Napton, made it a point to reach out to the manga community and make their manga accessible to us. Obviously this will have a bigger impact on anime fans than manga readers, but Bandai put out some nice books—I’m particularly fond of their version of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time—and they will be missed.

At MTV Geek, I took a look back at the big manga events of 2011. Lissa Pattillo has a year in review post at Kuriousity as well.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week—I haven’t joined this discussion yet, but hopefully I’ll be there next week.

Deb Aoki updates her list of the 10 must-read shoujo manga to reflect the latest releases.

Jason Yadao checks in at the end of the Sailor Moon Manga Moveable Feast with a post on how his view of Sailor Moon has evolved over the years.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at a Shigeru Mizuki manga that hasn’t been licensed over here yet, GeGeGe no Kakeibo.

Alex Hoffman starts the new year with a new URL for Manga Widget.

Tech talk: CNET’s Eric Mack picks up on the manga Sweet Android High School, in which different brands of smartphones are anthropomorphized as Japanese schoolgirls. Oddly, there’s no iPhone version yet, but check out this Steve Jobs tribute doujinshi that portrays the late co-CEO of Apple as a woman.

News from Japan: Manga-ka Hisao Maki, who wrote WARU and worked on a number of anime adaptations, has died. Ran Igarashi (Hōzuki-san Chi no Aneki) will launch a new coming-of-age manga in Young Ace magazine. Kodansha’s Young Magazine has six new series lined up to launch in the next few weeks, including yet another GTO spinoff.

Reviews: Carlo Santos takes an unsparing look at a stack of new manga in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Ash Brown posts the first weekly manga roundup of the new year at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf team files this week’s set of Bookshelf Briefs.

Justin on vols. 1 and 2 of A Bride’s Story (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Rob McMonigal on vols. 1 and 2 of A Bride’s Story (Panel Patter)
Connie on vol. 10 of Cipher (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on D.Gray-Man Illustrations Artbook (ANN)
Connie on vol. 1 of Fluffy Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Slightly Biased Manga)
Joanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Fluffy Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Comics Worth Reading)
Connie on vol. 25 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on Haru Hana (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 16 of Higurashi: When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 6 of Kamisama Kiss (ANN)
Connie on vol. 3 of Kingyo Used Books (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 5 and 6 of Pandora Hearts (Manga Village)
Connie on vol. 16 of Reborn (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 12 of We Were There (Slightly Biased Manga)

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Comments

  1. Aw, I really like Kannagi. I hope it gets rescued.

    • I totally agree. TBH, I bought Kannagi expecting it to suck (who knows why I bought it then), but really liked the first volume. Even knowing it won’t be finished I’m definitely buying the next two.

      Gurren Lagann was one of my favorite anime (and english dubs) and I was hoping to see them release the second season of K-On!, so this is sad news indeed :(

      • Brigid Alverson says

        I hardly watch any anime at all, so I was surprised at how much I liked Bandai’s manga. I could pick up the stories right away, even though I was a newcomer, and overall they were pretty good. I’ll miss them.