The big news this week is the launch of Shonen Jump Alpha, Viz’s weekly digital edition of Shonen Jump, which will replace their monthly print magazine. Crunchyroll has a wide-ranging interview with Viz VP and general manager Alvin Lu, and John Jakala kicks the tires on the new magazine and finds a few glitches. The biggest problem: Despite Viz’s push to speed up releases of the English-language series, they still lag the Japanese releases by quite a few chapters—and since SJ Alpha runs each chapter two weeks after it runs in Japan, readers are left with a gap in the stories.
The Usamaru Furuya Manga Moveable Feast has wound up, and Ash Brown posts roundup posts for day two and day three, as well as a final roundup, at Experiments in Manga. Over at Manga Bookshelf, Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith devote their latest Off the Shelf column to Furuya’s No Longer Human, and at Slightly Biased Manga, Connie explains why Palepoli should be translated into English.
The Manga Bookshelf team (myself included) discusses their Pick of the Week. What’s yours? Also at Manga Bookshelf, Matt Blind posts a new set of recent manga bestsellers and a Manga Radar column about up-and-coming future releases.
Erica Friedman rounds up the latest yuri news at Okazu.
Three Steps Over Japan looks at a seasonal Japanese magazine, Jump Next.
Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo will be a guest at this year’s San Diego Comic Con.
Makoto Tateno (Yellow) and Tomo Maeda (Beyond My Touch) will be guests at MangaNEXT later this month.
If you’re reading this in the Philippines, take a minute to take Khursten Santos’s survey on Philippine anime fandom at Otaku Champloo.
News from Japan: A Japanese manga called It’s Not My Fault I’m Not Popular has apparently become a hit on 4chan (Anonymous is scanting it, although the scanlations seem to be hosted elsewhere), and the latest volume bears a cover line celebrating that: “A smash hit on the overseas version of 2chan!!” Princess Resurrection manga-ka Yasunori Mitsunaga has a new series in the works that will launch in the April issue of Kodansha’s Monthly Shonen Sirius magazine. Yūki Kodama’s spinoff of Sakamichi no Apollon will start in the May issue of Shogakukan’s Monthly Flowers.
Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf gang posts a new set of Bookshelf Briefs to greet the new week. Ash Brown post an unusually varied weekly roundup at Experiments in Manga.
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Ame-iro Kouchakan Kandan (Okazu)
Kate Dacey on The Art of the Secret World of Arrietty (The Manga Critic)
Anna on vols. 9 and 10 of Basara (Manga Report)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1 and 2 of Dawn of the Arcana (Soliloquy in Blue)
Kristin on vol. 1 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Durarara!!! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Genkaku Picasso (Experiments in Manga)
Shannon Fay on vol. 5 of Highschool of the Dead (Kuriousity)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 15 of Higurashi: When They Cry (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on Houkago Kanon (Okazu)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of Mardock Scramble (Manga Widget)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of No Longer Human (Experiments in Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Sailor Moon (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (The Comic Book Bin)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Short Cuts (Experiments in Manga)
Ben Leary on vol. 16 of Slam Dunk (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Tears of a Lamb (Blogcritics)
Ken Haley on vol. 6 of Vampire Hunter D (Sequential Ink)
Kate Dacey on Yakuza Cafe(The Manga Critic)