MangaBlog had its seventh birthday yesterday, and as we launch our eighth year as (I hope) the morning paper of the manga world, I just want to thank all of you for your support over the years. Writing without readers is like shouting into an empty room, so I really appreciate all of you who have commented, e-mailed me, or just said hi at a convention—and especially all of you who have become friends over the years.
I want to start off the week with a shout-out to James Perry II, the creator of the Tokyopop OEL manga Orange Crows. Like many Tokyopop creators, James found himself with an incomplete series when Tokyopop went through one of its periodic reorganizations; unlike most of his colleagues, though, James managed to come to some sort of agreement and is going to self-publish the rest of the series. Check out his Kickstarter page for a summary of his plans and a link to an online version of the first volume; at this point he has made his goal, but he promises to put any additional funds into the next volume.
Vol. 19 of 20th Century Boys tops the New York Times manga best-seller list, followed by the final volume of xxxHOLiC, vol. 5 of Tenjho Tenge, and vol. 5 of Pokemon Black and White. We are nothing if not eclectic!
Meanwhile, the Sequential Tart staff takes on the question of Is Manga Dying? and comes up with some interesting perspectives on the industry and how it should evolve.
Erica Friedman brings home the yuri with the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.
Jason Thompson looks at the action-packed manga Golgo 13 in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.
At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie writes about the October 1978 issue of Comic Jun, an early precursor to the BL magazine June.
Manga Worth Reading will host the next Manga Moveable Feast, which will focus on the works of Jiro Taniguchi.
LC Moran posts the latest con report on MangaNEXT. Animemiz rounds up her tweets from the Tomo Maeda and Makoto Tateno Q&As.
Three Steps Over Japan peeks inside the covers of Manga Action magazine.
Ash Brown is giving away a copy of vol. 1 of King of Thorn at Experiments in Manga. Hit the link for all the details!
News from Japan: The Tokyo Shimbun takes on the question of whether manga rots your brain, and Crunchyroll translates the results. Meanwhile, the Daily Yomiuri celebrates the memory of Junzo Ishiko, an art critic who took manga seriously when no one else did. AstroNerdBoy has some clarifications on recent news and rumors about the end of Negima. Young Ace magazine will run a manga adaptation of Mamoru Hosoda’s anime Ōkami Kodomo no Ame to Yuki (The Wolf Children Ame and Yuki). Eiko Kera is bringing her long-running comedy manga ATASHI’nCHI to a close.
Reviews: Drew McCabe reviews Viz’s Shonen Jump Alpha digital magazine at Comic Attack.
Lori Henderson on vols. 6-10 of Dazzle (Manga Xanadu)
Joy Kim on vol. 1 of Durarara!! (Joy Kim)
Sweetpea616 on vol. 2 of Gate 7 (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Serdar Yegulalp on vol. 11 of GTO: The Early Years (Genji Press)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Hana-Kimi (omnibus)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 61 of One Piece (The Comic Book Bin)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1 and 2 of Princess Knight (Manga Xanadu)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Recorder and Randsell (The Manga Critic)
Empress Eve on vol. 1 of Soulless (Geeks of Doom)
Your blog is a wonderful resource and I find myself looking through your digest almost daily. Thank you and congratulations!
Otanjoubi omedetou!