Archives for 2012

The Manga Bookshelf team of Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, and Melinda Beasi looks forward to this week’s new manga and this week’s new releases from JManga.

Lissa Pattillo checks out the list of the past week’s new manga releases in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. The Manga Village team checks out the new releases as well.

Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith discuss Sweet Blue Flowers, Bunny Drop, and Thermae Romae in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Erica Friedman brings us up to date on all things yuri in her latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Fist of the North Star manga-ka Buronson talked a bit about his creative process at a library in Tottori, Japan, recently.

Matt Blind calculates the past week’s manga best-sellers (online sales).

Derek Bown’s latest Combat Commentary comes from chapters 91 and 92 of Fullmetal Alchemist.

News from Japan: The Four Immigrants manga, first published in the U.S. and Japan in 1931 and arguably the first ever OEL manga, is back in print—in Japan. Kôji Kumeta, creator of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei, is working on a one-shot manga to appear in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen magazine, out December 26.

Reviews: Angela Eastman contrasts the novel and manga versions of Clockwork Angel at Manga Bookshelf.

Lexie on Anything and Something (Poisoned Rationality)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 3 of Attack on Titan (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 17 of Bakuman (Comics Worth Reading)
Carlo Santos on vols. 50 and 51 of Bleach (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 53 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 6 of A Devil and Her Love Song (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 6 of Cage of Eden (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Demon Love Spell (I Reads You)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 10 of Dengeki Daisy (ANN)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of Dororo (Experiments in Manga)
Erica Friedman on Fujiyuu Sekai (Okazu)
Jessi Silver on vol. 1 of Hot Gimmick (omnibus edition)
Erica Friedman on Lemonade (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Pokemon Black and White (Blogcritics)
Jocelyne Allen on vol. 1 of Shirokuma Cafe (Brain Vs. Book)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro (Blogcritics)
Leroy Doouresseaux on vol. 25 of Slam Dunk (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of The Story of Saiunkoku (Blogcritics)
Chris Beveridge on vol. 1 of Thermae Romae (The Fandom Post)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 5 of Toradora! (AstroNerdboy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 13 of Toriko (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Victoria Martin on vol. 15 of Vampire Knight (Kuriousity)

I wrote up my picks from this week’s new releases, including a new Natsume Ono short story collection, at MTV Geek.

Jason Thompson takes a look at some digital manga available via ComicLoud in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Melinda Beasi debuts a new feature at Manga Bookshelf: My Week in Manga, a video roundup of what she has been reading and what she plans to read.

Julie Opipari takes a good look at the latest issue of Shonen Jump Alpha.

Erica Friedman has found some bargains on yuri bundles at RightStuf.com

Reviews: Carlo Santos looks over a handful of new releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

Kate O’Neil on vol. 2 of Attack on Titan (The Fandom Post)
Connie on A Bride’s Story, A Devil and Her Love Song, and MAOH: Juvenile Remix (Comics Should Be Good)
Justin on vols. 9 and 10 of Cross Manage (Organization ASG)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of A Devil and Her Love Song (The Comic Book Bin)
Paige McKee on vol. 2 of Jiu Jiu (Sequential Tart)
Ken H on vol. 13 of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Comics Should Be Good)
Omar, Melanie, and Tommy on Message to Adolf, vol. 20 of Claymore, and vol. 1 of Heroman (About Heroes)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Oh My Goddess! (Blogcritics)
Katherine Hanson on vol. 2 of Paros no Ken (Yuri no Boke)
Patti Martinson on Three Wolves Mountain (Sequential Tart)
Ashley on Wandering Son (Rabbit Library)

Big news from Viz: They are marking down every volume in their digital app by 20% for the holidays. And there’s more: Viz is offering Shonen Jump Alpha for free on its Android app, with advertising support. There’s also a free SJA starter pack to help bring you up to date with the Japanese releases.

Deb Aoki continues her series on OEL manga with a look at why the Japanese model doesn’t work in North America and what can be done to make things better. The article includes a lot of resources and commentary from artists working in the manga tradition, so it’s well worth bookmarking. Evan Liu adds some interesting thoughts on the divide between OEL manga and Artists Alley.

Laura takes a look at the newest shoujo releases at Heart of Manga.

Victoria Martin starts her countdown of the top 20 manga of the year at Kuriousity.

David Brothers looks at some of Akira Toriyama’s storytelling flourishes in Dr. Slump.

Tony Yao asks readers to contribute their thoughts on creating a balanced “manga diet.”

Reviews

Justin on 5 Centimeters Per Second (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
J. Caleb Mozzocco on Animal Land (Every Day Is Like Wednesday)
Noah Berlatsky on vol. 1 of Biomega (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on Zenryaku, Yuri No Sono Yori (Okazu)

If you’re new to the CLAMP party, AstroNerdBoy gives a bit of background on xxxHOLiC and talks about why it’s surprising that they have just announced a new xxxHOLiC series.

Manga Bookshelf’s own Melinda Beasi guests on Fandomspotting, where she and several other fans discuss the best manga you’re not reading.

Starsmaria takes a look at some one-hit wonders, shoujo manga creators who have hit it big just once with English-language readers, at Shojo Corner.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks back on a week of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Jessi Silver on vol. 2 of Backstage Prince (The Fandom Post)
Alex Hoffman on Barbara (Manga Widget)
Khursten Santos on Beck (Otaku Champloo)
Chris Kirby on vol. 22 of D.Gray-Man (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on Himawari-San (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 13 of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1 and 2 of Late Advent (Manga Village)
Anna on Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (box set) (Manga Report)
Chris Kirby on vol. 3 of No Longer Human (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of One Piece (Blogcritics)
Chris Kirby on vol. 10 of Tegami Bachi (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on Uglies: Cutters (I Reads You)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Yotsuba&! (Blogcritics)

November was a big manga month, and I looked over the last two weeks’ worth of new releases at MTV Geek; Lissa Pattillo made her picks in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their picks of this week’s new releases in print and on JManga.

Erica Friedman queues up the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu, and she also has a gift guide for the yuri lover.

Tony Yao talks about why we blush, and specifically, why Naruto‘s Hinata Hyuga blushes, at Manga Therapy.

Matt Blind calculates the manga best-sellers for the week ending December 2.

Anna N is giving away a copy of the Street Fighter X Sanrio crossover book, plus a sticker book, at Manga Report.

News from Japan: Good news for CLAMP fans: The manga super-group is working on a new series, xxxHOLiC Rei, according to an announcement made at last weekend’s CLAMP Festival. The series will launch in Kodansha’s Young Magazine in February. Arina Tanemura also has a new series in the works, Neko to Watashi no Kinyōbi (The Cat’s and My Friday), which will debut in Margaret in February. Digimon Xros Wars manga-ka Yuuki Nakashima is drawing a manga series based on the Dragon Quest X Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku online game. And ANN has the Japanese best-seller lists for the year: Top 30 by series, top 50 by volume, and #50-100 by volume.

Reviews: Ash Brown has been getting manga at the library at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf bloggers give short takes on new releases in their latest Bookshelf Briefs.

Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of 13th Boy (Manga Xanadu)
Carlo Santos on vol. 22 of 20th Century Boys (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of Black Bird (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 52 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Kristin on vols. 5 and 6 of Blue Exorcist (Comic Attack)
Anna N on vol. 1 of Demon Love Spell (Manga Bookshelf)
Rebecca Silverman on Honey*Smile (ANN)
Jocelyne Allen on Usamaru Furuya’s Jisatsu Circle (Brain Vs. Book)
Eden Zacarias on vol. 2 of Kingyo Used Books (Animanga Nation)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Polterguys (Comics Worth Reading)
Rebecca Silverman on Sakuran (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 8 of The Story of Saiunkoku (ANN)
Carlo Santos on vol. 11 of Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee (ANN)
Shannon Fay on est em’s ULTRAS (Kuriousity)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Umineko: When They Cry (ICv2)

Your don’t-miss link of the day is CNN’s interview with Takehiko Inoue, creator of Real, Vagabond, and Slam Dunk.

Jason Thompson writes about five manga he found on JManga, and, more generally, about the JManga experience, in his latest House of 1,000 Manga column at ANN.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers look at next week’s new releases.

Connie C. kicks off her new manga column at Comics Should Be Good with a look at a couple of different genres.

Sean Gaffney has a license request: More Higurashi, please!

News from Japan: One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda talks about his long workday and admits he doesn’t get out much. The cooking manga Addicted to Curry is heading toward the final course and will end in three more chapters.

Reviews

L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Aron’s Absurd Armada (ICv2)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Case Closed (Blogcritics)
Bateszi on The Flowers of Evil (Bateszi’s Anime Blog)
Kristin on vol. 8 of Library Wars (Comic Attack)
Shaun A. Noordin on Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (The Star)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 00 of Omamori Himori (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Start with a Happy Ending (Comics Worth Reading)
Helen on Yumekui Merry (Narrative Investigations)