“I’ll do my best!” — it’s the rallying cry of shonen manga characters, and my mantra for the next six days, as I fill in for Brigid while she takes a much-deserved vacation. If you spot any link-worthy news stories or reviews, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email.
The latest issue of GEN features a new story, Let’s Eat Ramen. From the description, Ramen sounds a bit like the Soup Nazi episode of Seinfeld, with a cute Japanese girl standing in for George Costanza.
Deb Aoki revises her list of ten essential shojo manga.
In the latest edition of Show Us Your Stuff, French comics enthusiast Gemini shares pictures of his extensive manga collection. His advice to frustrated otaku? “You should learn French,” he explains. “It’s easier than Japanese and we have a lot of different manga!”
Over at Manga Widget, Alex Hoffman has a license request: Kita Konno’s Tzusuki wa Mata Ashita (To Be Continued Tomorrow), a josei title about a family coping with loss.
Daniela Orihuela-Gruber just launched a new Tumblr blog, Ladies in Comic Book Stores. Her goal: to increase the visibility of female comic fans, and remind publishers that women are comics consumers, too.
Reviews
Connie on vol. 1 of Boys With Tomorrow to Conquer (Slightly Biased Manga)
Alex Hoffman on vols. 1-5 of Blue Exorcist (Manga Widget)
Matthew on Cafe Latte Rhapsody (No Flying No Tights)
Kate O’Neill on vol. 41 of Case Closed (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 8 of Future Diary (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kristin on vol. 5 of House of Five Leaves (Comic Attack!)
John Rose on vol. 5 of Kobato (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 8 of Otomen (Slightly Biased Manga)
Nic on Pokemon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions (No Flying No Tights)
Connie on vol. 2 of Wild Adapter (Slightly Biased Manga)
Katherine Dacey on Yakuza Moon: The True Story of a Gangster’s Daughter (The Manga Critic)
Gambatte, Kate!