I looked at this week’s new manga at MTV Geek—it’s sort of a mixed bag, but there are some interesting titles in the mix.

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber presents her shoujo manga gift guide for this holiday season at All About Manga.

Johanna Draper Carlson posts her picks for the best manga of 2011—plus a few noble failures—at Comics Worth Reading.

Reviews

Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of Bloody Monday (Good Comics for Kids)
Faith McAdams on vol. 2 of Monster Hunter Orage (Animanga Nation)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Wandering Son (Comics Worth Reading)

What manga is Deb Aoki looking forward to next year? Head on down to Deb’s blog to see her top 25 for 2012.

Kristin presents her Mostly Manga Gift Guide at Comic Attack.

In case you needed an excuse to go to Paris: Mari Yamazaki, creator of the critically acclaimed manga Thermae Romae (which, mysteriously, has not been licensed in English) will be a guest at this year’s Salon du Livre in March.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at the giant-robot magazine Newtype Ace.

News from Japan: I highlighted some recent news about creators in Japan at MTV Geek yesterday. George Asakura returns to the pages of Bessatsu Friend next month after a 10-month absence due to the birth of her child. She had put two series, Oboreru Knife (The Drowning Knife) and Teke Teke Rendez-Vous, on hiatus just before leaving, and she won’t pick up either one of them right away but will

Reviews: Ash Brown updates us on another week of manga at Experiments in Manga.

Connie on vol. 9 of 13th Boy (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 21 of Blade of the Immortal (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Dawn of the Arcana (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 5 of Dorohedoro (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on Finder Series 3: One Wing in the Finder (Slightly Biased Manga)
Jessie Bi on Shigeru Mizuki’s Gekiga Hitler (in French) (du9)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Itsuwaribito (The Comic Book Bin)
Diana Dang on vols. 3 and 4 of Kamisama Kiss (Stop, Drop, and Read!)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 6 of Mars (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vol. 5 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (Manga Xanadu)
Connie on vol. 21 of Please Save My Earth (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Princess Knight (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Sailor Moon (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 16 of Slam Dunk (Slightly Biased Manga)

Manga-ka Ken Akamatsu has pioneered online manga in Japan with his J-Comi site, and on Friday he announced a beta version for foreign languages, including English, as well as a Japanese and English iOS app, JReader.

Most people think of the late Jerry Robinson, who passed away this week, as the early Batman creator who helped come up with The Joker; thanks to Anime News Network for reminding us that he was also one of the creators of the sci-fi comedy manga Astra.

Lori Henderson has the list of this week’s all-ages comics and manga at Good Comics for Kids.

Lissa Pattillo notes that Digital Manga has shifted Starry☆Sky from their yaoi imprint June to their DMP line, which makes sense as the series is not a BL title.

Red River is the featured series in the latest of Jason Thompson’s House of 1000 Manga columns at ANN.

SLJ’s Rocco Staino interviewed Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima at NYCC.

Scott Green has a lengthy piece with lots of background information on Princess Knight, Sailor Moon, Codename Sailor V, and Gon, as well as critiques of all four, at Ain’t It Cool News.

Manga Bookshelf welcomes two new columnists: Angela Eastman, who will write a column titled Comic Conversion about graphic novel adaptations—she kicks it off with a look at Witch & Wizard—and Paul Beasi, who will write about Japanese games.

Also at Manga Bookshelf, Matt Blind takes a look at the best-selling manga via online bookstores for the week ending November 20.

JManga is offering a free gift to anyone who signs up for a monthly subscription between now and December 27: Volume 1 of Sherlock Holmes.

Vampire Hunter D artist Yoshitaka Amano will be a guest at Kawaii Kon in Honolulu next March.

If you can read French, Manganews has a nice interview with the late manga creator Shingo Araki.

News from Japan: Japan Airlines is partnering with Shogakukan to offer manga via seatback e-readers in its 787 Dreamliner flights, starting next year. The cooking manga Dashi Master has been put on indefinite hiatus following allegations that manga-ka Naotsugu Matsueda traced photos taken by others to depict foods, backgrounds, and other visual elements. Keisuke Itagaki, creator of the martial arts manga Baki the Grappler, has a new series, Shaman, launching in Weekly Manga Goraku magazine this week. Toko Kawai’s Shinzuku Hanabira Ringo no Kaori BL manga, which has been licensed by Viz, is coming to an end. Cross Game creator Mitsuru Adachi Professionals ranked their top manga choices for the Kono Manga ga Sugoi 2012 guidebook, and ANN has the results.

Reviews: Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith discuss a diverse quartet of recent manga in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf. Connie looks at the Mitsukazu Mihara artbook Alice Addict at Slightly Biased Manga. Other reviews of note:

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 16 of 20th Century Boys (I Reads You)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 17 of 20th Century Boys (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 7 of Arata: The Legend (Slightly Biased Manga)
Carlo Santos on vol. 5 of Blue Exorcist (ANN)
Ash Brown on Breathe Deeply (Experiments in Manga)
Jocelyne Allen on vols. 1 and 2 of A Bride’s Story (Otoyomegatari) (Brain Vs. Book)
Connie on Finder Series 2: Cage in the Finder (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Fist of the North Star (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sweetpea616 on The Hour of the Mice (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 2 of In the Walnut (Slightly Biased Manga)
Greg Laden on The Manga Guide to Relativity (Greg Laden’s Blog)
Chad Orzel on The Manga Guide to the Universe (Uncertain Principles)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Maoh: Juvenile Remix (The Comic Book Bin)
Erica Friedman on Megame Lily magazine (Okazu)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 2 of Monster Hunter Orage (ANN)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 1 of Natsu no Arashi (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Connie on vol. 20 of Please Save My Earth (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Renai Joshika (Okazu)
Connie on vol. 4 of Sakura Hime (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 7 of Soul Eater (The Fandom Post)
Kristin on vol. 13 of Vampire Knight (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Wonder (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kris on Yakuza Cafe (Manic About Manga)

Lots of manga made the list of the nominations for best comics of the year at next month’s Angoulême International Comics Festival, and lots of them are familiar names—but a few aren’t. In addition to Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life, Kaoru Mori’s A Bride’s Story, and Kanata Konami’s Chi’s Sweet Home, there are a number of tempting titles that haven’t been translated into English yet: Saint Young Men, Osamu Tezuka’s Boku no Manga Jinsei (My Manga Life), and Issei Eifuku and Taiyo Matsumoto’s Takemitsuzamurai. Check the full list (in French), but be warned that the titles and covers will be different from what you are used to!

Lissa Pattillo has lots to say about this week’s new releases in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney is already looking at next week’s new manga.

Reviews Sara K. introduces us to a manhwa title that hasn’t been licensed for U.S. readers yet, Mary Stayed Out All Night. Other reviews of note:

Sakura Eries on vol. 7 of Dengeki Daisy (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 5 of Mars (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 53 of Naruto (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vol. 6 of Oresama Teacher (Manga Report)

I looked over this week’s new manga at MTV Geek, and I also reviewed vols. 1-4 of Saturn Apartments and rounded up some recent news from Viz.

Kristin checks out the manga in the December Previews at Comic Attack.

Three Steps Over Japan checks out the gag manga magazine Manga Time Special.

Reviews: Carlo Santos looks over the latest releases in his new Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Johanna Draper Carlson posts short reviews of some recent SigIKKI releases at Comics Worth Reading.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 37 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Chobits (Blogcritics)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-3 of Gen magazine (Manga Village)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Hot Gimmick (Blogcritics)
Erica Friedman on Kaname no Etoile (Okazu)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 6 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (Comics Worth Reading)
Sweetpea616 on Swan (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 27 of The Wallflower (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Deb Aoki turns in her list of the best new manga of 2011.

A lot of series seem to be winding up, either now or in the near future, and the Manga Bookshelf bloggers include several final or penultimate volumes in their latest Pick of the Week discussion.

News from Japan: GTO creator Tohru Fujisawa has a new series in the works, to run in Kodansha’s Young Magazine, and he is also contributing to several other projects. Two Comic Gangan series, Fudanshi Full! and Star Driver Kagayaki no Takuto, both ended in last Friday’s issue, and Comic Ace had three series come to a close.

Reviews: Ash Brown chronicles another week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf team gets the week started with a new round of Bookshelf Briefs.

Kristin on vol. 4 of Afterschool Charisma and vol. 36 of Bleach (Comic Attack)
Kristin on vol. 2 of Ai Ore! (Comic Attack)
Chris Beveridge on vol. 8 of Bakuman (The Fandom Post)
Chris Beveridge on vol. 16 of Black Jack (The Fandom Post)
Anne on vol. 2 of Codename Sailor V (Manga Report)
Lori Henderson on Dark Water (Manga Xanadu)
Chris Kirby on vol. 10 of Detroit Metal City (The Fandom Post)
Matthew J. Brady on vol. 1 of The Drops of God (Warren Peace Sings the Blues)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow (The Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 2 of Itsuwaribito (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 32 of Negima (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Angela Eastman on vol. 5 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Fandom Post)
Kristin on This Night’s Everything and An Even More Beautiful Lie (Comic Attack)
Matthew Warner on vol. 13 of Vampire Knight (The Fandom Post)