Archives for January 2012

Lori Henderson has the list of this week’s new all-ages comics and manga at Good Comics for Kids.

Good news for yuri lovers: JManga and ALC Publishing have formed a partnership to publish the yuri manga Poor Poor Lips on the JManga site.

Comics Alliance has an exclusive 20-page preview of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan, due out soon from Vertical.

At Graphic Novel Reporter, John Hogan talks to producer Avi Arad about his new manga, The Innocent (published by Yen Press)

Deb Aoki has thrown open the floor to nominations for her 2012 About.com Manga Readers’ Choice Awards.

Jason Thompson takes a look at the autobiographical manga Doing Time in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

At The Manga Critic, Kate Dacey takes a peek at DJ Benny B’s manga library and also looks at some new manhwa available via Dark Horse Digital.

Manga Bookshelf has a new columnist: Philip of Eeper’s Choice, who will cross the gender divide to write a column titled Shoujo I’m Scared Of. And he jumps right in with a look at Sailor Moon in the very first column.

Erica Friedman takes a peek inside the pink-and-bubbly covers of the shoujo magazine Ribon.

Three Steps Over Japan, meanwhile, takes the boys’ side with a look at Weekly Shonen Jump.

Reviews: The review team catches up with some ongoing series at About Heroes.

Chris Kirby on vol. 1 of The Betrayal Knows My Name (The Fandom Post)
Danica Davidson on vol. 2 of The Betrayal Knows My Name (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Kristin on Crimson Cross (Comic Attack)
TSOTE on Gamble Fish (Three Steps Over Japan)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 10 of Genshiken (Japanese edition) (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Anna on vol. 7 of Kamisama Kiss (Manga Report)
Connie on vol. 2 of Mister Mistress (Slightly Biased Manga)
Danica Davidson on vol. 4 of My Girlfriend’s a Geek (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Sweetpea616 on Revolutionary Girl Utena (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 5 of Sakura Hime (Slightly Biased Manga)
Chris Kirby on Tesoro (The Fandom Post)
Connie on Tonight’s Take-Out Night (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kayden L on vol. 2 of Wandering Son (Okazu)
Connie on vol. 4 of Wild Adapter (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 17 of xxxHoLiC (Slightly Biased Manga)

I’m back from my adventure-filled trip to Ireland (if you define “adventure” as drinking a lot of tea and getting lost on the one-way streets). If you’re curious, I posted a more-or-less real-time account at Twitter and I’ll be writing more at my personal blog, once I recover from jet lag.

Thanks to Kate Dacey for doing such a great job keeping the blog going while I was away!

Over at MTV Geek, I took a look at ten manga to look forward to in 2012, and I took a look at this week’s new manga.

Lissa Pattillo discusses her picks from this week’s new releases in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

Sean Gaffney looks at next week’s new manga at A Case Suitable for Treatment.

Viz has licensed the latest Yu-Gi-Oh! series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexa!

Speaking of Viz, if you haven’t downloaded their app onto your iThing yet, now is the time to do it: New users who download the Viz iOS app and create a new account between now and January 30 can get a free volume of any of their digital manga.

DMP’s Kickstarter campaign to fund the publication of Osamu Tezuka’s Barbara was big news while I was away, and Ed Sizemore, Johanna Draper Carlson, Alex Hoffman, Lissa Pattillo, and DMP’s Ben Applegate discuss the pros and cons in a special Manga Out Loud podcast.

JManga has added vol. 1 of Hyakusho Kizoku, an autobiographical manga by Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa, to its lineup. FMA fans be warned: It’s a gag manga with a definitely different tone!

Eiji Ohtsuka, the writer of MPD-Psycho and Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, will give the keynote address at an event titled “Experiencing the Media Mix: Anime, Manga, Video Games,” part of Concordia University’s President’s Conference Series, on Feb. 4. His talk will be titled “The Unholy Alliance of Disney and Eisenstein: The Wartime Origins of Manga, Animation and Otaku Culture.”

News from Japan: Jormungand creator Keitarō Takahashi has a new series in the works, and it will launch in the May issue of Monthly Sunday GX.

Reviews

Chris Kirby on vol. 17 of 20th Century Boys (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of Afterschool Charisma (The Comic Book Bin)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 5 of Afterschool Charisma (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Bakegyamon (Blogcritics)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 14 of Black God (The Fandom Post)
Chris Kirby on vol. 5 of Cross Game (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 5 of Dogs (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ken Haley on vol. 4 of Dorohedoro (Sequential Ink)
Justin on vols. 1 and 2 of The Drops of God (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 1 of Gate 7 (Slightly Biased Manga)
Justin on GoGo Monster (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 7 of Kamisama Kiss (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 5 of Kobato (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Matthew Warner on vols. 3 and 4 of K-ON! (The Fandom Post)
Connie on The Reason Why He Loves Him So Much (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Tears of a Lamb (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 3 of Wild Adapter (Slightly Biased Manga)

The nominees for this year’s Manga Taisho Award were just unveiled. Of the fifteen titles on the list, two — Flowers of Evil and Drifters — have been licensed in English. The nominees also include Hiromu Arakawa’s latest series Silver Spoon, Kengo Hanazawa’s previously nominated I Am a Hero, and Katsumasa Enokiya’s Hibi Rock.

Mark your calendars: the next Manga Movable Feast begins on January 22nd, and focuses on Usamaru Furuya. Ash Brown will host.

Deb Aoki updates her list of 15 Ways to Enjoy Manga (Without Going Broke).

The internet is still abuzz over DMP’s recent Kickstarter campaign, which raised over $8,700 towards the licensing and publication of Osamu Tezuka’s Barbara. Alex Hoffman and Lissa Patillo offer their thoughts, pro- and contra-, about DMP’s use of Kickstarter. Over at Manga Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson adds her two cents to the conversation.

And speaking of Tezuka, what classic manga would you like to see licensed next? Inquiring manga critics want to know!

Reviews: Ash Brown posts an assortment of brief manga, movie, and book reviews at Experiments in Manga. Here at Manga Bookshelf, the Battle Robot assembles to review a variety of titles, including the latest volumes of 13th Boy, Bamboo Blade, Dawn of the Arcana, and Toriko.

Kristin Bomba on vol. 3 of Ai Ore! Love Me (Comic Attack)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 2-3 of Animal Land (Anime News Network)
Connie on The Art of Hideshi Hino (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kristin Bomba on vols. 7-9 of Bakuman (Comic Attack!)
Jenny on vols. 2-6 of Dengeki Daisy (No Flying No Tights)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 7 of Dengeki Daisy (Anime News Network)
Katherine Dacey on vol. 1 of A Devil and Her Love Song (The Manga Critic)
Erica Friedman on vol. 4 of Girly (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Love Hina Omnibus (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lori Henderson on vol. 3 of Oresama Teacher (Manga Xanadu)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 6 of Oresama Teacher (Anime News Network)
Nic on vols. 1-2 of Pokemon: Black and White (No Flying No Tights)

The big news this weekend: DMP is using Kickstarter to raise funds for an English-language edition of Osamu Tezuka’s Barbara (1973-74). With 28 days to go, DMP has raised nearly $5,000 of the $6,500 it needs to bring the project to fruition. Readers curious about Barbara will find a lengthy summary and critical assessment at Tezuka in English. UPDATE: DMP has just exceeded the amount of money needed to publish Barbara.

Deb Aoki and Ed Sizemore join Zac Bertschy for a discussion of 2011’s best manga.

Over at Okazu, Erica Friedman posts her weekly Yuri News Network update.

News from Japan: Motoro Mase will be bringing Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit to an end this year with one final story arc. Mitsuba Takanashi, author of Crimson Hero and The Devil Does Exist, will be launching a new series in February. Called Kujaku no Kyōshitsu (Classroom of Peacocks), the story will focus on a school for children of the rich and famous, and will run in Bessatsu Margaret.

Reviews: Michelle Smith posts an early review of the much-anticipated Durarara!! manga. Her verdict? “Weird but intriguing.”

Rebecca Silverman on vols. 1-3 of Bunny Drop (Anime News Network)
Carlo Santos on vol. 7 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Anime News Network)
Anna on vol. 2 of Dawn of the Arcana (Manga Report)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 4 of Dorohedoro (The Fandom Post)
Julie Opipari on vol. 26 of Kekkaishi (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Sakura Eries on vol. 5 of My Girlfriend’s a Geek (The Fandom Post)
Sean Michael Robinson on Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 10 of Real (The Fandom Post)

“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)

Hey folks: Just a few quick links for today, because as you may have read on Twitter, I am in Ireland at the moment for a family wedding and have limited internet. Kate Dacey will be taking over for the next few days, so please make her feel welcome! I’ll be back at the end of next week. In the meantime…

I looked over this week’s new manga releases at MTV Geek, and I also took a look at the free digital issue of Shonen Jump Alpha that Viz has put up as a teaser for the new magazine, which debuts on Jan. 30.

At ANN, Jason Thompson takes a look at one of my favorite older series, ES: Eternal Sabbath, in his latest House of 1000 Manga column.

David Brothers spends a bit of time exploring a gag he really enjoys from One Piece at 4thletter!

Reviews

Rebecca Silverman on vol. 12 of Black Bird (ANN)
Matthew Warner on vol. 1 of Dawn of the Arcana (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Himawari-san (Okazu)
John Rose on vol. 54 of Naruto (The Fandom Post)
Anna on vol. 26 of Skip Beat! (Manga Report)
Rob McMonigal on vol. 1 of Wandering Son (Panel Patter)