Yen Press has confirmed that it will publish the Blood Lad four-panel spinoff BuraBuratto Buradora, by Yūki Kodama and Kanata Yoshino, as the second volume of Bloody Brat.

The Manga Bookshelf team looks at this week’s new manga.

Jason Thompson devotes his latest House of 1000 Manga column to a primer on porn manga.

Ryan Holmberg profiles “action cartoonist” Shinohara Ushio at The Comics Journal.

Why are the pages of some of your manga turning yellow, while others stay white? Ed Chavez explains at ANN.

News from Japan: Hiro Mashima will publish four different Fairy Tail one-shots in four different magazines this spring. Ichijinsa’s WAaI! boys in skirts magazine has suspended publication “for now”; readers are instructed to follow their Twitter and Facebook for updates.

Reviews

A Library Girl on vol. 2 of Attack on Titan (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 17 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Gangsta (ANN)
Maggie on vol. 1 of Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Alice Vernon on vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia (Girls Like Comics)
Kristin on vol. 2 of Midnight Secretary (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of My Little Monster (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Alice Vernon on vol. 1 of Toradora! (Girls Like Comics)

Noragami

Kodansha announced on Wednesday that it will be publishing Noragami: Stray God, which has been running in Monthly Shonen Magazine since 2011. Here’s the blurb:

Yato is a stray god. He doesn’t even have a shrine, not to mention worshipers! Hoping he’ll eventually raise enough money to build himself the lavish temple of his dreams, Yato accepts all kinds of jobs. Of course, he can’t afford to be picky; from finding lost kittens to helping a student overcome bullies, no job is too small for Yato, the god-for-hire! An eccentric story with a charming cast of characters!

And another new title: Ema Toyama’s GDGD-Dogs, which they will retitle Manga Dogs. Here’s that blurb:

Kanna Tezuka is a serious 15-year-old manga artist, already being published as a pro. So when she finds out her high school is starting a manga drawing course, even she gets excited. But it’s a fiasco! The teacher is useless, and the only other students — three pretty-boy artist wannabes — quickly adopt Kanna as their (unwilling) sensei. But they all have ridiculous delusions about being an artist, and if Kanna can’t bring them back down to Earth, she’ll never get any work done!

And one more: Kodansha will publish an oversized omnibus edition of Attack on Titan.

Sean Gaffney has last week’s new license announcements—and those that were announced this week as well. Lissa Pattillo has some thoughts on the omnibus edition of Attack on Titan.

Digital Manga, Inc., announced last week that they will be digitally publishing all of Osamu Tezuka’s works that haven’t already been licensed in English, and I talked to DMI president Hikaru Sasahara about the details of the deal and how it will work going forward.

The digital manga distributor Amimaru announced a new title, which is already available on its iPad and Facebook apps: A Second Love is Full of Tears (Nidome no Koi wa Namida-iro), by Hazuki, which is complete in one volume.

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

Reviews

Matthew Warner on vol. 12 of Arisa (The Fandom Post)
Chris Kirby on vol. 2 of Battle Angel Alita: The Last Order (omnibus edition) (The Fandom Post)
Sarah on vol. 16 of Black Butler (nagareboshi reviews)
Matthew Warner on vol. 1 of Bloody Cross (The Fandom Post)
Anna N on vols. 11 and 12 of Dawn of the Arcana (Manga Report)
Matthew Warner on vol. 1 of Dragon Ball Full Color Saiyan Arc (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Gangsta (I Reads You)
Erica Friedman on Himawari-san (Okazu)
Alice Vernon on vol. 1 of Doubt (Girls Like Comics)
Lori Henderson on vols. 7-9 of Jack Frost (Manga Xanadu)
Sarah on vol. 1 of Kamisama Kiss (nagareboshi reviews)
Johanna Draper Carlson on The Man of Tango (Comics Worth Reading)
Lori Henderson on vols. 5 and 6 of Missions of Love (Manga Xanadu)
Sarah on vol. 64 of Naruto (nagareboshi reviews)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 1 and 2 of No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular (Comics Worth Reading)
Sarah on The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame (nagareboshi reviews)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 1 of Sherlock Bones (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on Shuden Niwa Kaeshimasu (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 18 of Soul Eater (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 15 of Tsubasa (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)

The Japanese cover of The Garden of Words

Let’s kick off the week with some new-license news: Vertical announced three new series at Katsucon this past weekend: Ajin, by Gamon Sakurai; Witch Craft Works, by Ryū Mizunagi; and The Garden of Words, the manga adaptation of Makoto Shinkai’s anime.

Yen Press also announced three new titles on Friday: Accel World, based on the light novels by Reki Kawahara; Übel Blatt; and Barakamon.

The latest addition to the Shonen Jump lineup is Stealth Symphony, by Durarara!! writer Ryohgo Narita and Yoichi Amano, who was once an assistant to Gintama artist Hideaki Sorachi.

Lissa Pattillo has some info on Seven Seas’ new yuri title, Citrus.

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

Queenie Chan (The Dreaming, Odd Thomas) is writing a series of articles on her blog about being a professional manga artist. You can jump right in with today’s post on how she started drawing manga and first connected with Tokyopop, or you can go right back to the beginning, with her introduction and the first part of Part 1.

Here’s another insider view: Justin at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses talks to manga translator Amanda Haley, who got her start in the JManga Translation Battle and now translates Coppelion for Crunchyroll, as well as being part of the Digital Manga Guild.

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber has some thoughts on Hetalia and history.

Shisei

Jocelyne Allen gives us a peek at a lovely manga that hasn’t been translated (yet!), Shizuka Nakano’s Shisei, which has an interesting retro art style.

Lori Henderson looks at some new series and some complicated couples in her latest Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu.

News from Japan: Takehiko Inoue is putting Vagabond on hiatus until June. Boys Over Flowers creator Yoko Kamio has ended her Ibara no Kanmuri manga. Love Roma creator Minoru Toyoda is starting a new series, Obake no Sally (Sally the Ghost), a children’s manga that will launch in the May issue of Shogakukan’s Shōgaku Ichinensei magazine. Hisae Iwaoka, creator of Saturn Apartments, is starting the final arc of her latest manga, Hoshi ga Hara Ao Manjū no Mori.

Congratulations to Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa on the birth of her third child.

Reviews: Ash Brown brings us through a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Kate on Basara (Reverse Thieves)
Ash Brown on Blue (Experiments in Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 12 of Case Closed (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of A Centaur’s Life (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Deadman Wonderland (I Reads You)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 13 of A Devil and Her Love Song (The Comic Book Bin)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 1 and 2 of From the New World (ANN)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Gangsta (Comic Attack)
Maggie on Good-Bye Geist (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 4 of Happy Marriage?! (Comics Worth Reading)
Ben Leary on vol. 4 of Hetalia (The Fandom Post)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 38 of Negima! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Drew McCabe on vol. 1 of Nisekoi (Comic Attack)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 17 of Otomen (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 20 of Pokemon Adventures (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Sarah on vol. 12 of Sakura Hime (nagareboshi)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 1 and 2 of Sherlock Bones (Comics Worth Reading)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Sweet Rein (Comics Worth Reading)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Takasugi-san’s Obento (ANN)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 13 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)

Here are some photos of Inio Asano’s Nijigahara Holograph, which is due out from Fantagraphics any day now.

Posting has been spotty because I’m busy writing up my Angouleme reports; here’s my look at the French manga market, which is very different from the North American scene.

The Manga Bookshelf team looks at this week’s new releases and discusses their Pick of the Week.

Erica Friedman takes a walk on the seinen side with a look at Futabasha’s Manga Action magazine.

Matthew Kirshenblatt has written a two-part essay on the suffering-artist figure in Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix: Karma (part 1, part 2).

Competition update: George Alexopoulos, whose Go With Grace was one of the original Tokyopop OEL manga, has taken one of the Silver Awards in the Japanese foreign ministry’s international manga competition for his comic Paris. Meanwhile, on the Vertical Tumblr, Ed Chavez (I assume) explains why the Morning international manga contest is no more; basically, those interested in entering leaned toward shoujo and shonen genre manga while Morning is more varied and experimental.

I picked up that last fact from Justin’s roundup of manga and anime Tumblrs, which is very interesting and includes some news bites as well as a list of industry Tumblrs for those who want to start following them. Justin also has a helpful list of places where you can buy manga and anime.

News from Japan: Wandering Son creator Takako Shimura is working on a new series, tentatively titled Wagamama Chie-chan (Selfish Chie-chan), which will run in Comic Beam magazine. A new Saint Seiya manga, Saint Seiya Episode.G, will launch in the April 5 issue of Champion RED Ichigo magazine. Dengeki Daisy manga-ka Kyousuke Motomi has a new series, QQ Sweeper, which will begin in the April issue of Betsucomi. The Wallflower creator Tomoko Hakayawa is bringing her current series, Real Face, to an end. There are 1 million copies of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal in circulation.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team lines up a new set of Bookshelf Briefs to keep us up to date on recent releases. Ash Brown looks back in manga with a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Anna N. on vol. 2 of Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game (Manga Report)
Anna N. on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan (Manga Report)
Joe Iglesias on vols. 1 and 2 and vols. 3 and 4 of Battle Angel Alita (Eastern Standard)
Ogiue on Busou Renkin (Ogiue Maniax)
Justin on vol. 1 of A Centaur’s Life (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
TSOTE on vol. 16 of C.M.B. (Three Steps Over Japan)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Deadman Wonderland (ICv2)
Maggie on vols. 1 and 2 of Don’t Tell My Husband (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 27 of Excel Saga (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Derek Bown on vol. 32 of Fairy Tail (Manga Bookshelf)
Ash Brown on vols. 2 and 3 of Genkaku Picasso (Experiments in Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 23 of Hayate the Combat Butler (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Naru on Her Sheikh Boss (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of High School Debut (3-in-1 edition) (ICv2)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 24 of Higurashi: When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Joe Iglesias on vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia (Eastern Standard)
A Library Girl on vols. 1 and 2 of Legal Drug (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
A Library Girl on vol. 1 of Mixed Vegetables (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
A Library Girl on My Only King (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Ash Brown on vols. 2 and 3 of No Longer Human (Experiments in Manga)
Philip Anthony on vol. 1 of Princess Knight (Manga Bookshelf)
Naru on vol. 1 of Raintree: Haunted (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Derek Bown on the January 27 issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of Short Cuts (Experiments in Manga)
Jocilyn Wagner on vol. 1 of Shrine of the Morning Mist (Manga Bookshelf)
Maggie on Start with a Happy Ending (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Justin on part 2 of Summer Wars (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of Vinland Saga (Experiments in Manga)
Ash Brown on vol. 6 of Wandering Son (Experiments in Manga)
A Library Girl on vol. 1 of Yggdrasil (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)

Hey everyone, sorry about the radio silence. I’ve been away at the International Comics Festival in Angouleme, France, where manga is still a big deal and the guests included Suehiro Maruo. I’m still recovering from jet lag (not to mention re-entry into normal life after six days in an 18th-century chateau), so this is just a quick roundup, but I will have a lot to say in the next few days, so stay tuned.

There has been a rumor making the rounds, based on an interview that Inio Asano did with a Japanese magazine, that the manga-ka wants to have a sex-change. Matt Thorn looks into it but doesn’t get much clarification from Asano’s publisher; he then turns to the original interview, which sheds a bit more light on Asano’s feelings.

Over on the other side of the channel, The Guardian has discovered manga and has a beginner’s guide with a good slate of recommended titles. Even if you’re not a beginner, it’s always interesting to see what sort of take the mass media has on the topic.

At Good Comics for Kids, we have a preview of the fourth volume of Tania del Rio’s manga-style Sabrina: The Magic Within graphic novels.

The Manga Bookshelf team looks at this week’s new manga and discusses the Pick of the Week.

News from Japan: Shin Kibayashi, creator of The Drops of God and Kindaichi Case Files, has started a new manga, Shinjuku DxD, which will be carried by the Manga Box app.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team looks at this week’s new releases in their Bookshelf Briefs feature. Ash Brown looks back at a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Kristin on vols. 3 and 4 of The Earl and the Fairy (Comic Attack)
Anna N. on vol. 12 of Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden (Manga Report)
Kristin on Helter Skelter (Comic Attack)
Drew McCabe on Pokemon: Genesect and the Legend Awakened (Comic Attack)
Chris Kirby on vol. 17 of Toriko (The Fandom Post)
Anna N. on The Tycoon’s Pregnant Mistress and Her Sheikh Boss (Manga Report)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 5 of Umineko: When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Information is finally starting to come out about the new Sailor Moon anime; it will begin airing in July and will be streamed worldwide by NicoNico and subtitled in 10 languages. The anime is not a remake of the original anime but will be a new adaptation of the manga, according to the producer. Erica Friedman has some thoughts on all this.

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

Erica Friedman updates us on all the latest yuri news in her latest Yuri Network New post at Okazu.

Lori Henderson rounds up some end-of-the-year manga news in her latest Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu.

Erica Friedman looks at Ciao, the top-selling shoujo manga magazine in Japan.

Jason Thompson looks at ten zombie-themed manga in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Five volumes of Attack on Titan made this week’s New York Times best-seller list, including volume 10, which tops the list.

News from Japan: Wandering Son manga-ka Takako Shimura is working on a new series, a sequel to the 2012 one-shot “Musume no Iede.”

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team files their latest set of Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown looks back at a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Harry Edmundson-Cornell on vol. 3 of 20th Century Boys (Sequart)
Alex Hoffman on vols. 1-4 of 7 Billion Needles (Manga Widget)
Justin on vol. 1 of All Purpose Chemistry Club (Organization Anti Social Geniuses)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 11 of Attack on Titan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Carlo Santos on vol. 9 of Bokurano: Ours (ANN)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Fate/Zero (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 12 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Steve Bennett on vol. 1 of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 (ICv2)
Anna N on vol. 1 of Nisekoi: False Love (Manga Report)
Ash Brown on Oishinbo A La Carte: Fish, Sushi, and Sashimi (Experiments in Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 8-10 of Pandora Hearts (Manga Xanadu)
Michael Buntag on vol. 5 of Sailor Moon (NonSensical Words)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 12 of Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (ANN)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 17 of Soul Eater (The Fandom Post)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of SS Astro (Experiments in Manga)
Sakura Eries on vol. 1 of Summer Wars (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Takasugi-san’s Obento (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kristin on Tropic of the Sea (Comic Attack)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Voice Over! Seiyu Academy (Manga Xanadu)