Seven Seas has announced a slew of new licenses in the past few weeks: two Haganai spinoffs Haganai: Club Minutes and Haganai: Now with 50% More Fail, both collections of short stories; two new Strike Witches licenses, Strike Witches: 1937 Fuso Sea Incident and Strike Witches: The Sky That Connects Us; and I Am Alice: Bodyswap in Wonderland, a gender-bender take on the original Alice in Wonderland story.

Conner Crooks, the new social media maven for Seven Seas, talks to Justin at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses about his job and what he has learned so far; since all the above licenses were announced on Twitter, Conner has been busy lately.

It’s the end of an era: The December issue of Yen Plus will be the last. The manga anthology started as a print magazine in 2008 and went digital-only in 2010.

The mobile game publisher DeNA has launched a new manga app, MangaBox; it’s free, at least for now, and has a diverse selection of previously unpublished manga from Kodansha and Shogakukan. I’ll be kicking the tires over the weekend. The Japan Times has more.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusse their Pick of the Week and take a look at next week’s new manga.

Digital Manga is releasing 30 new Harlequin titles during the holiday season, ten a week starting… yesterday. They can be found on eManga and are priced at a wallet-friendly $4.99 each.

AstroNerdBoy reviews Crunchyroll’s digital manga service—and discusses how it could be improved.

The folks at Japanator present their holiday manga gift guide. Anna N posts her own manga gift guide at Manga Report, and Lori Henderson devotes her Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu to manga-themed gift suggestions.

News from Japan: Gundam creator Yoshiyuki Tomino has some harsh words for Attack on Titan, saying it is poorly drawn and too violent. Director Hayao Miyazaki’s samurai manga will appear in Model Graphix magazine, but don’t hold your breath; the retired director wants to have eight pages done for publication, but so far he has completed only three.

Reviews: Derek Bown catches up on a couple of weeks’ worth of Shonen Jump at Manga Bookshelf, and the Bookshelf bloggers file this week’s set of Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown rounds up a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Sean Gaffney on vol. 7 of Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 9 of Attack on Titan (The Fandom Post)
Ash Brown on Black Bard (Experiments in Manga)
Ash Brown on vol. 27 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Ash Brown on Blade of the Immortal: Legend of the Sword Demon (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of Bokurano: Ours (The Comic Book Bin)
A Library Girl on vols. 2-8 of Chi’s Sweet Home (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 13 of Dengeki Daisy (The Comic Book Bin)
AstroNerdBoy on vols. 29 and 30 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Derek Bown on vol. 31 of Fairy Tail (Manga Bookshelf)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of From the New World (Manga Widget)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 2 and 3 of Genshiken: Second Season (Comics Worth Reading)
Anna N on vol. 3 of Happy Marriage?! and vol. 5 of Demon Love Spell (Manga Report)
Justin on vol. 1 of Heretic Monk (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Nisekoi (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 31 of Slam Dunk (I Reads You)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 17 of Soul Eater (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 6 and 7 of Strobe Edge (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Sweet Rein (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of Tegami Bachi (The Comic Book Bin)
Alex Hoffman on vols. 1 and 2 of Wolfsmund (Manga Widget)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 12 of Yotsuba&! (Comics Worth Reading)

RightStuf will publish volume 6 of Hetalia: Axis Powers next spring, with six color pages in the first print run; after those books are gone, the volume, like the other volumes published by RightStuf, will be print-on-demand and black an white only.

Seven Seas has licensed The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer; if that title sounds familiar, it’s because it was previously published in English by JManga.

And Vertical has licensed Cardfight!! Vanguard, which as far as I know has never (legally) been published in English.

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

Erica Friedman brings us all the latest in this week’s edition of Yuri Network News.

Say Hello to Black Jack creator Shuho Sato had a stroke last week, but he assured his fans via his blog that he is fine. Sato had been having warning symptoms for several days but ignored them; he finally took a cab to the hospital. He seems to be feeling well enough to goof around, as you can see from the photo at left, which he sent to a Japanese news service.

Connie C. looks at some underground manga anthologies in English.

Ash Brown is musing about which manga series to write about next.

Here’s a video of Japanamerica author Roland Kelts talking about Osamu Tezuka at the Japan Society in New York.

News from Japan: A Lucky Star spinoff is in the works. Weekly Shonen Jump is wrapping up two series, Atsushi Nakamura’s Kuro Kuroku and Kazuro Kyō’s Himedol!!!, and launching another, Tomohiro Yagi’s Iron Knight. Nanae Chrono is returning to Peacemaker Kurogane for a one-shot that will be bundled into a mook with several special chapters of Countdown 7 Days. Peach-Pit will bring Rozen Maiden to a close in three chapters.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team keeps it short and sweet in their latest round of Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown looks at a week of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

A Library Girl on vol. 1 of Arata: The Legend (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 8 of Attack on Titan (The Fandom Post)
A Library Girl on vols. 6-14 of Black Butler (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Matthew Cycyk on vol. 1 of A Centaur’s Life (Matt Talks About Manga)
Katherine Hanson on vol. 1 of A Centaur’s Life (Yuri no Boke)
A Library Girl on vol. 1 of The Guin Saga Manga: The Seven Magi (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
TSOTE on vol. 1 of Juu (Three Steps Over Japan)
Justin on vol. 1 of Marin (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sean Gaffney on The Mysterious Underground Men (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ash Brown on vol. 3 of No. 6 (Experiments in Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 45 of Oh! My Goddess (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ken H on vol. 2 of Sailor Moon Short Stories (Comics Should Be Good)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Senran Kagura: Skirting Shadows (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
A Library Girl on vols. 1-6 of The Story of Saiunkoku (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Matthew Cycyk on vol. 2 of Wolfsmund (Matt Talks About Manga)
Justin on vol. 2 of Wolfsmund (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)

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

Dallas Middaugh and Ben Applegate of Kodansha Comics did an Ask Me Anything on Reddit—check it out for some interesting responses. Related: Tony Yao explains Billy Bat, which is on Middaugh’s shortlist of manga he’d like to see translated.

Jason Thompson kicks the tires on Crunchyroll’s new digital manga service, comparing it with its predecessors and taking a look at all 12 of the launch series.

Erica Friedman brings us the latest update of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

News from Japan: Hayao Miyazake may have retired from filmmaking, but he’s not sitting around watching Wheel of Fortune—he’s writing a samurai manga. Kodansha’s Morning and its digital sister publication D Morning are publishing a manga by Kazuto Tatsuta, a former worker at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, describing his experiences when the plant was damaged in the March 2011 earthquake.

Reviews: Ash Brown has reviewed every volume of Blade of the Immortal; here’s a link to a roundup of all the reviews.

Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Hearts: The Mad Hatter’s Late Night Tea Party (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of A Centaur’s Life (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Codename: Sailor V (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Kristin on vols. 14 and 15 of La Corda d’Oro (Comic Attack)
Kristin on vols. 8 and 9 of Dawn of the Arcana (Comic Attack)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 8 of Dogs: Bullets and Carnage (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Dogs: Bullets and Carnage (The Comic Book Bin)
Ken H on vols. 31 and 32 of Fairy Tail (Comics Should Be Good)
Anna N. on Helter Skelter and Utsubora (Manga Report)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Inu x Boku SS (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Alice Vernon on Lychee Light Club (Girls Like Comics)
Sakura Eries on Manga Melech (The Fandom Post)
A Library Girl on vol. 4 of Nightschool (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
A Library Girl on vol. 1 of Shinobi Life (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Sean Gaffney on Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
A Library Girl on vols. 16, 19, and 24-30 of Skip Beat! (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Anna N on vol. 1 of Vinland Saga (Manga Report)

As folks start to sample Crunchyroll’s manga service, Deb Aoki talks to the folks behind it about their plans for the future (including more series from more publishers) and the bloggers at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses discuss their thoughts and hopes for the service.

Over at Robot 6, I took a look at the Kuroko’s Basketball story; because of an ongoing series of threat letters, a number of doujinshi events have been cancelled, and now the letter writer is targeting retail stores, resulting in some stores removing the manga from the shelves and 7 Eleven pulling their Kuroko’s Basketball themed snacks.

Despite some initial doubts, the Digital Manga Guild seems to be going strong; Justin interviews editor Lindley Warmington about her work at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses.

Ben Huber has some fun with a make-your-own-manga book.

Reviews

Alice Vernon on vol. 1 of Durarara!! (Girls Like Comics)
Justin on vol. 1 of Eat for Your Life! (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
L.B. Bryant on K-ON! High School (ICv2)
Sakura Eries on vol. 1 of Manga Mutiny (The Fandom Post)
Connie C. on Mantis Woman, Bride of Deimos, and Presents (Comics Should Be Good)
A Library Girl on vols. 44-50 of Naruto (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 18 of Pandora Hearts (The Fandom Post)
Justin on vol. 1 of Sherlock Bones (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Ken H. on The Strange Tale of the Twilight Demon (Comics Should Be Good)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 11 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Voice Over: Seiyuu Academy (Comic Attack)
Sarah Hayes on vol. 1 of Voice Over: Seiyuu Academy (Nagareboshi Reviews)

The big news of the week is that Crunchyroll has launched a digital manga service that kicks off with 12 Kodansha series. New chapters will be available for free the same day they come out in Japan, and there’s an all-you-can-read service for $4.99 a month. The starting lineup includes Attack on Titan, Fairy Tail, and Ken Akamatsu’s UQ Holder, and Crunchyroll promises there is more on the way. Deb Aoki has all the details, the Japan Times talks to some of the Japanese players, Sean Gaffney takes a look at the manga themselves, and I commented on what they are doing right.

Chris Beveridge notes that volumes 4 and 5 of Hetalia are now available for pre-order at RightStuf. The first run of the book (including pre-orders) will have eight color pages. After that it will be print-on-demand. Both books have a Tokyopop logo on the cover and at the moment they are marked down from $15.99 to $10.99. No sign of a digital option, though.

The Manga Bookshelf team looks at this week’s new releases and discusses their Pick of the Week. Michelle Smith and Melinda Beasi have a dialogue about two Vertical titles, Tropic of the Sea and Fashion Unfriendly, in their Off the Shelf column.

Viz Manga is now available on iBooks.

Ash Brown is giving away a copy of vol. 1 of Sankarea. Ash also rounds up some manga podcasts, with updates on those that seem to be defunct.

News from Japan: I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow manga-ka Shunjo Aono has a new series in the works, titled Slapstick. Ichijinsa is launching a new boys love magazine, gateau.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team keep it short in their latest Bookshelf Briefs column. Ash Brown takes us through another week of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Kristin on vols. 2 and 3 of Demon Love Spell (Comic Attack)
Ken H. on vols. 2 and 3 of Flowers of Evil (Comics Should Be Good)
Ken H. on Kitaro (Comics Should Be Good)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Love in Hell (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Bruce P. on R+ Princess (Okazu)
Sakura Eries on vol. 11 of Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (The Fandom Post)
Ken H. on vol. 3 of Sankarea (Comics Should Be Good)
Derek Bown on the October 7 issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Anna N. on vol. 1 of Sweet Rein (Manga Report)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Vinland Saga (ICv2}

Lissa Pattillo looks at Viz’s new license announcements from NYCC, which include Black Rose Alice, by Afterschool Nightmare creator Setona Mizushiro, and Time Killers, a collection of short stories by Blue Exorcist manga-ka Kazue Kato.

ICv2 talks at length with Viz chief technology officer Gagan Singh about their digital program, their app vs. e-books, piracy, and growing the manga audience.

Erica Friedman rounds up all things yuri in Yuri Network News.

Jocelyne Allen takes a look at Machiko Kyo’s U, a manga that is not licensed over here but has some pretty interesting artwork.

Taking a page from Bakuman, 14-year-old Sato Ito is the author of a story to be published in the December issue of Nakayoshi. Despite her youth, Ito is no overnight success; she won the Niigata Manga Competition three times in a row, starting in 2009.

I’m late in linking to this, and there’s only a week left, but if you want to try your hand at translating some real manga, check out the Digital Manga Association’s Manga Translation Battle. There are prizes to be won, plus it’s good experience for would-be translators.

Reviews: Carlo Santos takes a quick look at some recent releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Afterschool Charisma (The Comic Book Bin)
Ash Brown on vol. 26 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 8 of Bleach (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 9 of Bunny Drop (ANN)
Anna N on vols. 1 and 2 of A Dark Fable of the Forest (Manga Report)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 12 of Dengeki Daisy (ANN)
Matthew Warner on vol. 10 of A Devil and Her Love Song (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Warner on vol. 2 of Doubt (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of From the New World (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 9 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Matthew Warner on K-On! College (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 13 of Kamisama Kiss (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of No Matter How You Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 17 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 12 of One Piece (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Matthew Warner on vol. 12 of Psyren (The Fandom Post)
Derek Bown on the September 30 issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 30 of Slam Dunk (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Tiger & Bunny (The Comic Book Bin)
Carlo Santos on vol. 3 of Tiger & Bunny (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on Sides A and B of Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning (I Reads You)
Erica Friedman on Tsuki to Sekai to Etoile (Okazu)
Josh Begley on vol. 1 of Vinland Saga (The Fandom Post)
Ash Brown on vol. 5 of Wandering Son (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of X (The Comic Book Bin)