No Game, No Life

Seven Seas has licensed No Game, No Life, a story about a brother and sister who are legendary gamers and are called to save humanity in an alternate world where games substitute for war. The first volume will be out in October.

More new licenses: Digital has announced it will add three digital titles to its lineup: The classic Kimagure Orange Road; Sweet Blue Flowers (Aoi Hana) by Wandering Son manga-ka Takako Shimura; and the ecchi sci-fi series Let’s Go Play! (Asobi ni Ikuyo!/Cat Planet Cuties). That was their second announcement of the week; they announced earlier that they have licensed Kotoura-san and Aria the Scarlet Ammo.

And here’s one more: One Peace Books has licensed Raqiya, by Masao Yajima and Boichi. The series, which first ran in Kodansha’s Morning magazine, is about a girl whose family is killed in an accident; she makes a deal with the devil to bring them back, but her actions have grave consequences.

The Manga Bookshelf team discuss this week’s new releases.

Erica Friedman chronicles new releases, new licenses, and more in the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Over at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, Justin Stroman is on a roll; he has posted a ton of interesting articles lately. Check these out: A list of legal manga reading apps, with basic information about each one; a discussion of why publishers will license some manga and not others; and a roundtable discussion with a number of experienced manga editors. Also, Justin is curious about manga that U.S. publishers seem to have given up on mid-series, so he’ll be looking into that. Stay tuned!

Tokyopop founder and CEO Stu Levy took part in an AMA (Ask Me Anything) session on Reddit the other day. He talks about the early days of Tokyopop, why the company stopped publishing, and what they are doing now, and he tosses in a story about getting stuck in Mexico with GTO creator Tohru Fujisawa.

ABC News profiles Kazuto Tatsuta, the creator of the manga 1F, which recounts his days as a worker in the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Ironically, Tatsuta (not his real name) took the job because being a manga creator wasn’t paying enough; the story has been his biggest success to date.

At long last, Doraemon is available in English, in digital form. Translator Matt Alt gives the details and explains why Doraemon is so important.

Sarah Horrocks posts the second part of her thoughtful analysis of Nijigahara Holograph.

In her latest Manga Dome podcast, Lori Henderson looks to the past and the future with a discussion of the latest new license announcements and a look back at what was going on in the manga world ten years ago.

Ken H files a detailed con report on Anime Boston.

In case you’re curious, here’s a look at the manga scene in the United Arab Emirates.

March Comes In Like a Lion

News from Japan: The winners of the 18th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prizes have been announced; the grand prize went to Chica Umino’s March Comes In Like a Lion. Space Brothers, which is available on Crunchyroll, won the Readers Prize. Meanwhile, Kaoru Mori’s A Bride’s Story is the winner of the Manga Taisho Award. Fairy Tail is getting its own magazine, which will feature a new Fairy Tail Zero series by Hiro Mashima and other spin-offs; the main Fairy Tail manga will continue to run in Weekly Shōnen Magazine. The magazine will cost 2,980 yen per issue, which is a lot, but each issue will come with four DVDs of the television anime. Children of the Sea manga-ka Daisuke Igarashi will publish a one-shot story in the April 24 issue of Afternoon magazine. Shogakukan has published a special commemorative magazine celebrating the 80th birthday of the late Fujiko F. Fujio, the co-creator of Doraemon. The Rozen Maiden spin-off Rozen Maiden dolls talk is coming to an end.

Reviews

Kate O’Neil on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan: Before the Fall (The Fandom Post)
Justin Stroman on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan: Junior High (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Lori Henderson on vol. 15 of Bakuman (Manga Xanadu)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-4 of The Earl and the Fairy (Manga Xanadu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Food Wars! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ash Brown on Insufficient Direction (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of March Story (The Comic Book Bin)
Justin Stroman on vols. 1 and 2 of No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 70 of One Piece (The Comic Book Bin)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Phantom Thief Jeanne (Comic Attack)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 21 of Pokemon Adventures (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of Psyren (The Comic Book Bin)
Ash Brown on vol. 5 of Real (Experiments in Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on the March 24 issue of Shonen Jump (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 19 of Soul Eater (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
G.B. Smith on vol. 7 of Sunshine Sketch (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on Sword Art Online: Aincrad (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sarah on vol. 2 of Time Stranger Kyoko (nagareboshi reviews)
Darius Washington on Unico (The Fandom Post)
Kimi on Until the Full Moon (The Kimi-Chan Experience)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 35 of Vagabond (The Comic Book Bin)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Comics Worth Reading)
Anna N on vol. 1 of What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Manga Report)

Ben Applegate of Kodansha Comics had some announcements to make at Anime Boston this week: They will publish The Heroic Legend of Arslan, by Fullmetal Alchemist manga-ka Hiromu Arakawa, and they also announced a digital re-release of Mushishi. And that Attack on Titan: Colossal Edition will include 15 color pages that have never been collected in book form before; they only appeared in the magazine serialization.

License rescues! Well, sort of: Viz will be republishing Chibi Vampire and DN Angel in digital-only editions, available via their own digital service and e-book platforms. These two series were originally published by Tokyopop and Viz is using the Tokyopop translations. At the moment there are no plans to complete either series; there are two volumes of Chibi Vampire that were published in Japan but not in the U.S., and Viz has no plans to translate those. As for DN Angel, the creator left that series unfinished.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses this week’s new releases.

Sean Gaffney takes a look at the new digital manga service Comic Walker.

Erica Friedman keeps us up to date with the latest edition of Yuri Network News.

A school board in Osaka Prefecture has removed Barefoot Gen from school libraries, at the behest of the mayor and over the protest of the school principals.

Jason Thompson devotes his latest House of 1000 Manga column to the works of Usamaru Furuya.

David Brothers writes about Shotaro Ishinomori and Cyborg 009 in the afterword to Archaia’s adaptation; this is a nice essay and a good introduction to the original.

Matt Emery at Sequential has a great interview with manga translator Kumar Sivasubramanian (Knights of Sidonia, Message to Adolf, Blade of the Immortal), who talks about how he got his first gig, how he approaches his work, and how page rates and demand have changed over the years. It’s an interesting insider’s take on the industry, sprinkled with fun anecdotes.

The first volume of Attack on Titan: Before the Fall tops the New York Times manga best-seller list.

It’s Manga Month at Diamond Previews, so Drawn and Quarterly pulls together a checklist of all their manga series.

News from Japan: Lots of farewells here: The long-running series Oh My Goddess is coming to an end. The 26th volume of The World God Only Knows will be the last. Btooom! is going into its final story arc. Feel Young has a new series by Yamaji Ebine. ANN has the latest Japanese comic rankings.

Reviews

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of 07-Ghost (The Comic Book Bin)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan: Junior High (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Blue Exorcist (The Comic Book Bin)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 23 of Hayate the Combat Butler (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 23 of Hayate the Combat Butler (I Reads You)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 2 of Judge (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Midnight Secretary (The Comic Book Bin)
David Brothers on My Grandpa’s Stories Can’t Be This Weird (4thletter!)
Anna N on vol. 1 of One-Punch Man (Manga Report)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 16 of Oresama Teacher (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Phantom Thief Jeanne (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Erica Friedman on vols. 3 and 4 of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Perfect Edition) (Okazu)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Ranma 1/2 (2-in-1 edition) (ANN)
Ash Brown on vol. 4 of Real (Experiments in Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on the March 17 issue of Shonen Jump (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 8 of Strobe Edge (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Ken H on vol. 1 of Takasugi-San’s Obento (Comics Should Be Good)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Umineko When They Cry, Episode 3: Banquet of the Golden Witch (ANN)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of UQ Holder (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
David Brothers on World Trigger (4thletter!)

Hirofumi Watanabe, the suspect in the Kuroko’s Basketball case, admitted in court yesterday that he was the one who sent hundreds of threat letters to stores and convention centers and says the motive was jealousy of manga-ka Tadatoshi Fujimaki’s success. Watanabe said he was suicidal before he sent the letters and would attempt to kill himself once he was out of prison; “That way, society can rest assured that I won’t do anything stupid again.”

Crunchyroll has been adding a lot of new series to their digital manga service lately, including, most recently, Ajin Koe no Katachi, and Hiromu Arakawa’s adaptation of The Heroic Legend of Arslan.

Sean Gaffney rounds up the latest license announcements, with commentary.

Justin Stroman asks seven manga translators to talk about the joys and challenges of their jobs.

The Manga Bookshelf team chat about this week’s new releases and discuss their Pick of the Week.

Erica Friedman updates us on the world of yuri in her latest Yuri Network News post at Okazu.

At Gagging on Sexism, Erin discusses some shonen manga written by women.

Lori Henderson looks at manga that feature fairies in her latest Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu.

Moyoco Anno is coming to TCAF!

Reviews: Ash Brown chronicles another week of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf team posts their short takes on new releases in the latest Bookshelf Briefs column.

Ken H on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan: Before the Fall (Comics Should Be Good)
Ash Brown on vol. 28 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Erica Friedman on Dare mo Korinai (Okazu)
Maggie on vol. 1 of Hitohira (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Joan Li on Honey and Clover (The Harvard Independent)
Matt Cycyk on Insufficient Direction (Matt Talks About Manga)
Matthew Warner on vol. 7 of Is This a Zombie? (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 10 of Itsuwaribito (The Fandom Post)
Ash Brown on Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink (Experiments in Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 70 of One Piece (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Phantom Thief Jeanne (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lori Henderson on Phantom Thief Jeanne (Good Comics for Kids)
Anna N on vol. 1 of Phantom Thief Jeanne (Manga Report)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Ranma 1/2 (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vols. 1 and 2 of Ranma 1/2 (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ash Brown on vol. 3 of Real (Experiments in Manga)
Derek Bown on the March 10 issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1 and 2 of Sickness Unto Death (Manga Xanadu)
Matt Cycyk on vol. 3 of Thermae Romae (Matt Talks About Manga)
Lori Henderson on vol. 2 of Until Death Do Us Part (Manga Xanadu)

Master Keaton

Here’s a big announcement from Viz: They have licensed Naoki Urasawa’s Master Keaton. Zainab Akhtar explains why that’s awesome. And there’s more: They also announced Assassination Classroom (“A humorous and action-packed story about a class of misfits who are trying to kill their new teacher – an alien octopus with bizarre powers and super strength!”) and Naoki Serizawa’s Resident Evil, as well as a print edition of Akira Toriyama’s Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, which has been running in Shonen Jump. Lori Henderson talks about all the recent license announcements in her latest Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu.

ICv2 has an in-depth interview with Dark Horse manga editor Carl Horn (part 1, part 2), in which they cover the health of the manga market, which Dark Horse titles have done well, the difficulties of selling manga that don’t have an anime associated with them, and much, much more.

Volumes 1 and 11 of Attack on Titan top the New York Times manga best-seller list, with the first volume of Deadman Wonderland coming in third.

At Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, manjiorin tackles the question of different trim sizes in manga. Also: Justin Stroman interviews a number of manga letterers all at once and then one more for good measure.

Khursten Santos files her con report on the fujoshi event Room 801.

News from Japan: The nominees for the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize have been announced; they include Attack on Titan, Animal Land, and Hiromu Arakawa’s Silver Spoon.

Reviews: The folks at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses don’t just review vol. 1 of Deadman Wonderland, they devote an entire roundtable to it.

Ken H on vol. 28 of Blade of the Immortal (Comics Should Be Good)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 11 of Bleach (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Ken H on vol. 1 of Brave 10 (Comics Worth Reading)
Naru on vol. 1 of Brave 10 (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
TSOTE on vol. 24 of C.M.B. (Three Steps Over Japan)
Alice Vernon on Durarara!! Saika Arc (Girls Like Comics)
Kristin on vols. 3 and 4 of Happy Marriage?! (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on Insufficient Direction (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 18 of Naruto (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Matthew Warner on vol. 1 of Nisekoi (The Fandom Post)
Ken H on vols. 3 and 4 of No. 6 (Comics Should Be Good)
Angela Sylvia on vol. 17 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on vol. 12 of Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari (Okazu)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 20 of Pandora Hearts (The Fandom Post)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of Real (Experiments in Manga)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 4 of Sherlock Bones (Comics Worth Reading)
Sarah on vol. 16 of Soul Eater (nagareboshi reviews)
Justin on chapter 2 of Stealth Symphony (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 9 of Strobe Edge (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 16 of Tegami Bachi (The Comic Book Bin)
Matt Cycyk on vol. 3 of Thermae Romae (Matt Talks About Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 6 of Toradora (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ken H on vol. 2 of Vinland Saga (Comics Should Be Good)

Nine years ago today, I hit “publish” on the first post here at MangaBlog. Had I but known what that fateful act would lead to…

Seriously, MangaBlog was founded on a whim and almost died after a few months, when I was overwhelmed with family responsibilities. It has only survived this long—and I hope, will survive even longer—thanks to the support of so many people: Readers, my fellow bloggers, the publishers, creators, and of course, my husband, who set up a website for me and then added on a WordPress blog, which was a novelty to me at the time. And I also have to thank Melinda Beasi, who keeps things running smoothly behind the scenes as my webmistress at Manga Bookshelf.

Thank you for reading, thank you for linking, thank you for sharing your books with me. I’m looking forward to bringing the ongoing conversation about manga into its tenth year.

On with the news!

Viz announced two new titles in its Shojo Beat line yesterday: Aya Shouoto’s Kiss of the Rose Princess (Barajou no Kiss) and Miko Mitsuki’s Honey Blood (Mitsu Aji Blood). As you might guess from the title, Honey Blood is a vampire tale, while Kiss of the Rose Princess is about a princess on a quest to retrieve a lost piece of jewelry—with the aid of four hot guys. Lissa Pattillo has some initial thoughts on both series at Kuriousity.

Kadokawa will launch a new web manga service, Comic Walker, on March 22 with a selection of manga in English, Japanese, and Chinese. The service will start out with 150 titles, 40 of them available in English, and there will be some familiar titles, including Tonari no Sekki-kun, Neon Genesis Evangelion, and Sgt. Frog, although it’s not clear that they will be available in English. And this is cool: Users can select which manga they want to follow and put together their own manga magazine.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week.

Sarah Horrocks analyzes Nijigahara Holograph in the first of a three-part series.

Xavier Guilbert talks to Gengoroh Tagame, creator of gay erotic manga (may be NSFW).

Dark Horse has announced a launch date for New Lone Wolf and Cub: The first volume will be released on June 4. They are also releasing the older, classic manga in omnibus editions (and you can get it on their digital service as well).

News from Japan: A new Neon Genesis Evangelion spinoff will launch next June in Young Ace magazine.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf writers team up to bring us a new set of Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown takes a look at another week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Johanna Draper Carlson on Another (Comics Worth Reading)
A Library Girl on vol. 2 of Attack on Titan (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of Blood Lad (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Matt Cycyk on vol. 2 of A Centaur’s Life (Matt Talks About Manga)
Sakura Eries on vol. 14 of Goong
Johanna Draper Carlson on Helter Skelter: Fashion Unfriendly (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Magi (The Comic Book Bin)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 4 of Midnight Secretary (Comics Worth Reading)
A Library Girl on vol. 2 of Mixed Vegetables (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Pink (Comics Worth Reading)
Ben Leary on vol. 25 of Slam Dunk (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 20 of Toriko (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Voice Over: Seiyu Academy (The Comic Book Bin)

ICv2 talks to Kevin Hamric, Viz’s media director for sales and marketing, about the synergy between manga sales and streaming anime. Back in the boom years, sales of a manga series often jumped when the anime started running on Cartoon Network and other channels; now a similar effect is showing up when the anime becomes available on streaming sites such as Crunchyroll or Viz’s own Neon Alley.

The Manga Bookshelf team discuss this week’s new releases.

Justin Stroman takes a good look at the new digital manga service Manga Box and finds a lot to like, although oddly, one of the translators tells him the Android Market is forcing them to tone down the “raunchy” jokes. And in case you don’t know where to start, he includes a list of the ten best manga on the service.

Why is nobody talking about josei manga? Khursten Santos tackles the question at Otaku Champloo.

Sarah has all the fujoshi news in her Fujoshi O’Clock feature at Nagareboshi, and Erica Friedman catches us up on the world of yuri in her Yuri Network News column at Okazu.

Dark Horse editor Carl Horn talks about two upcoming books of interest to manga fans, Hatsune Miku: Unofficial Hatsune Mix and Dragon Girl and Monkey King: The Art of Katsuya Terada, both due out in May.

Lori Henderson discusses four manga she was surprised she liked in her latest Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu.

A veteran of the Japanese manga industry and of American comics suggests five manga that should be published in America.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team take a look at some recent releases in their Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown looks back at a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan: Before the Fall (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan: Junior High (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sarah on vol. 59 of Bleach (Nagareboshi Reviews)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Bokurano: Ours (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 13 of Case Closed (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
TSOTE on vol. 22 of C.M.B. (Three Steps Over Japan)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 5 of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
John Rose on vol. 30 of Fairy Tail (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Gangsta (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lori Hendreson on vols. 1 and 2 of Midnight Secretary (Manga Xanadu)
Ash Brown on vol. 4 of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (Experiments in Manga)
Ash Brown on vol. 5 of No. 6 (Experiments in Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 15 of One Piece (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Lori Henderson on vol. 13 of Oresama Teacher (Manga Xanadu)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Perfect Edition) (Okazu)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Real (Experiments in Manga)
Matthew Warner on vol. 2 of Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration (The Fandom Post)
Derek Bown on the February 10 issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Ben Leary on vol. 24 of Slam Dunk (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 3 of Thermae Romae (Comics Worth Reading)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Wandering Son (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)