Big changes at Viz yesterday as Shonen Jump Alpha became Weekly Shonen Jump and starts releasing new chapters the same day they come out in Japan. Editor-in-chief Andy Nakatani has all the details at ICv2, and former Shonen Jump editor-in-chief Hisashi Sasaki also discusses the Japanese digital scene and why the editors decided to let the two magazines go in sync.
Ash Brown is hosting this month’s Manga Moveable Feast, which features the work of Moyoco Anno, at Experiments in Manga. Erica Friedman has a guest post about how she got turned on to Sakuran, and Ash’s weekly roundup includes three short reviews of Anno’s manga.
Johanna Draper Carlson is skeptical about Tokyopop’s newest incarnation, and she notes that Kodansha won’t be picking up any more of the old Del Rey series.
The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week as well as this week’s new releases in print and on JManga. Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith discuss The Heart of Thomas in their latest BL Bookrack column, and Melinda discusses what she has been reading lately in her most recent My Week in Manga video. And in the magazine department, Erica Friedman takes a look a look at Big Comic Superior and Derek Bown recaps the latest issue of Shonen Jump Alpha.
Dave Roman is serializing the next volume of Astronaut Academy online, and in a blog post on that site, he has some suggestions for manga that non-manga readers might like, based on their tastes in comics.
Jason Thompson takes a look at Japan As Viewed by 17 Creators in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.
Lissa Pattillo reflects that Digital Manga seems to be putting yaoi on the back burner. Lissa also surveyed the most recent manga releases in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.
The Manga Village team takes a look at 2012 in the rear view mirror, and Katherine Hanson lists her top 11 yuri moments of 2012 at Yuri no Boke.
News from Japan: The nominees for the Manga Taisho Awards have been announced; the only one that is licensed in the U.S. right now is A Bride’s Story.
Reviews:
Connie on vol. 10 of 13th Boy (Slightly Biased Manga)
Jocelyne Allen on 25 Ji no Vacances (Brain Vs. Book)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Afterschool Charisma (The Comic Book Bin)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Hearts: My Fanatic Rabbit (ANN)
Naru on All the Time (Organization ASG)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 17 of Bakuman (The Comic Book Bin)
Theron Martin on vol. 16 of Battle Angel Alita: Last Order (ANN)
Connie on vol. 23 of Blade of the Immortal (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Case Closed (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 45 of Case Closed (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on Cross Game, Eyeshield 21, and Real (Comics Should Be Good)
Kristin on Danza (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on vol. 1 of Don’t Blame Me (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vols. 21 and 22 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 20 of Higurashi When They Cry (ANN)
Carlo Santos on vol. 8 of House of Five Leaves (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Jormungand (The Comic Book Bin)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 36 of Negima! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Elie Byun on vol. 1 of Neon Genesis Evangelion (omnibus edition) (Anime Expo)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Oh My Goddess (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 17 of Ouran High School Host Club (Slightly Biased Manga)
Helen on vol. 1 of Please Save My Earth (Narrative Investigations)
Andre Paploo on vol. 8 of Raiders (Kuriousity)
Lori Henderson on Sakuran (Manga Xanadu)
Connie on vol. 3 of Scent of Apple Blossoms (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 2 of Soul Eater NOT! (ANN)
Richard Bruton on vol. 3 of Summit of the Gods (Forbidden Planet)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (Blogcritics)
Man, it sucks that Kodansha isn’t relicensing any more of their back-catalog.
I was really hoping they’d give Moyasimon and Code Breaker another shot (or, at the very least, continue and finish School Rumble, Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei, Suzuka and Nodame Cantabile); heck, even releasing Mushishi in omnibus form would’ve been nice. (And while JManga’s releasing the rest of School Rumble… if they ever get around to releasing more of School Rumble… it’s little more than cold comfort and a lousy parting gift for having to wait two-to-three years for Kodansha to give up on a title I really wanted completed in print.)
Once again, I stand behind my opinion that, were it not for Sailor Moon, Kodansha’s takeover of Del Rey Manga was the worst thing to happen to Random House’s manga imprint.