MangaBlog

Kate Dacey takes a long look at this week’s new comics, and she even includes some snippets of reviews.

ICv2 talks to Asako Suzuki, who recently returned to the manga world as a line editor at Tokyopop, about her work there, and they also talk to senior editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl about the possibility of rescuing some of the licenses dropped by Suzuki’s former employer, CMX.

Attention scanlators: Looking to go legit? Shouho Sato is looking for volunteer translators for his online manga. If you want to try out, check out his Twitpic account, where you can submit your translations.

Gottsu-Iiyan is unimpressed with the new ComiPo comics software, and he is concerned it will lead to an influx of hack work in an industry already dominated by hacks.

Melinda Beasi and Michele Smith discuss creepy comics in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf, and Shannon Fay continues her Halloween series with a look at Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service.

This week’s edition of The Manga Curmudgeon’s Seinen Alphabet is brought to you by the letter N.

News from Japan: Kimi ni Todoke is selling like hotcakes! Also, ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings in case you’re curious how the other books did. Sankaku Complex (NSFW) reports that Kodansha is offering its authors a 25% royalty on digital manga, much lower than the rates offered by Apple and Amazon, although the evidence for this seems to be a set of Tweets by a fairly obscure manga-ka. Perhaps better-known creators can negotiate a better deal?

Reviews: Carlo Santos casts a cold eye on another round of new releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Noah Berlatsky continues his story-by-story look at Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream and Other Stories with a lengthy review of Iguana Girl. Other reviews of note:

Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Cross Game (ANN)
Kristin on Gorgeous Carat Galaxy and vol. 1 of Our Kingdom (Comic Attack)
Julie Opipari on Higurashi When They Cry: Beyond Midnight Arc, vol. 1 (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Deb Aoki on vol. 1 of House of Five Leaves (About.com)
Julie Opipari on vol. 1 of March Story (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lori Henderson on vols. 2 and 3 of Time and Again (Comics Village)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 33 of Vagabond (The Comic Book Bin)
Lori Henderson on Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide (Manga Xanadu)

David Welsh and Brad Rice check out this week’s new manga.

Melinda Beasi rounds up the week’s manhwa news, much of which occurred on Twitter, at Manga Bookshelf, and she also makes xxxHolic her pick of the week.

Deb Aoki posts a guide to Yaoi-Con, which happens this weekend. And Jennifer LeBlanc of The Yaoi Review will be interviewing manga creator Hinako Takanaga (Tyrant, Little Butterfly) at Yaoi-Con, so if you have questions for her, send them along by Friday.

Reviews: Ash Brown posts short takes on the week’s reading in Experiments in Manga. Kate Dacey has brief reviews of a handful of recent releases at The Manga Critic.

Diana Dang on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (Stop, Drop, and Read!)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Arisa (The Comic Book Bin)
Dave Ferraro on AX (Comics-and-More)
Lori Henderson on vol. 2 of Black Butler (Manga Xanadu)
Jaime Samms on Cold Light (Kuriousity)
Connie C. on Dawn of Love (Comics Village)
Anna on vols. 1 and 2 of Dengeki Daisy (Manga Report)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Dragon Girl (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1 and 2 of Gyo (Soliloquy in Blue)
Anna on vols. 8 and 9 of Kekkaishi (Manga Report)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Kingyo Used Booksco (Comics Worth Reading)
Zack Davisson on vol. 2 of Kingyo Used Books (Japan Reviewed)
Katherine Farmar on vol. 2 of Maiden Rose (Comics Village)
Oyceter on vols. 8-10 of Mushishi (Sakura of DOOM)
Connie on vol. 8 of Pet Shop of Horrors (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 4 of Rin-ne (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 7 of Sasamekikoto (Okazu)
Kristin on vol. 1 of The Story of Saiunkoku (Comic Attack)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of The Story of Saiunkoku (ICv2)

As I noted at Robot 6, it looks like Manga Fox is back to its old tricks, posting scanlations of Naruto, Bleach, and other licensed manga after publicly proclaiming it would no longer do so last summer.

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

The Comics Village team picks the best of the past week’s new manga.

Kate Dacey gets into the Halloween spirit with a look at her favorite spooky manga at The Manga Critic.

In his latest short video, Masters of Manga blogger Marc Bernabe talks to Kimagure Orange Road creator Izumi Matsumoto about his early experiment with digital manga.

Tina Anderson shows off two new global BL anthologies that will be available at Yaoicon. (Via The Yaoi Review, which is celebrating its second blogiversary—congratulations!)

David Welsh has two license requests this week, and he also asks his readers to name their favorite manga featuring motherless characters.

Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith discuss wordless communication in manga, with plenty of examples, in their latest Let’s Get Visual column at Soliloquy in Blue.

Ed Sizemore, Sean Gaffney, Ron Lopes, and Johanna Draper Carlson discuss New York Anime Fest in the latest Manga Out Loud podcast. Ash Brown has some thoughts on the NYAF panel Gay for You: Yaoi and Yuri Manga for GLBTQ Readers at Experiments in Manga.

Job Board: Viz is hiring in their anime and magazine divisions.

Reviews: Ash Brown posts short takes on recent manga at Experiments in Manga.

Julie Opipari on vol. 1 of Arisa (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Cardcaptor Sakura (omnibus edition) (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Code:Breaker (The Comic Book Bin)
Alexander Hoffman on Darker Than Black (Manga Widget)
Danica Davidson on The Dreaming: The Collection (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Greg McElhatton on A Drunken Dream and Other Stories (Read About Comics)
Kelakagandy on vols. 1-3 of Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden (kelakagandy’s ramblings)
Danica Davidson on Himeyuka & Rozione’s Story (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Hirari (Okazu)
Sophie Stevens on vol. 5 of Kimi ni Todoke (Animanga Nation)
Erica Friedman on Nobara no Mori no Otome-tachi (Okazu)
Sesho on vol. 1 of Omamori Himari (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Connie on vols. 6 and 7 of Pet Shop of Horrors (Slightly Biased Manga)
Shannon Fay on Pet Shop of Horrors (Kuriousity)
animemiz on Project X: Challengers: 7-11 (Anime Diet)
Connie on vol. 1 of Rampage (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of Rasetsu (I Reads You)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 4 of Rin-ne (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Oyceter on vols. 6-9 of Sand Chronicles (Sakura of DOOM)
Carlo Santos on vol. 27 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (ANN)
Kristin on The Vampire Knight Official Fanbook (Comic Attack)
Connie on vol. 6 of With the Light (Slightly Biased Manga)
Snow Wildsmith on Works (Graphic Novel Reporter)

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

Apparently the Viz folks were dropping some hints on Twitter that big changes are afoot, and Lissa Pattillo sums up the frenzy of speculation that followed; digital distribution seems to be looming large on everyone’s minds.

Jason Thompson takes a look at the gender-bender manga Futaba-kun Change!, from the old Studio Ironcat, in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Sean Gaffney takes a look at next week’s new manga at A Case Suitable for Treatment.

Melinda Beasi writes about three same-sex stories she wishes were love stories, and she picks up on some clever commentary in her I Wish I Wrote That! column.

Caddy C discusses feminism in Fumi Yoshinaga’s Antique Bakery at A Feminist Otaku.

All About Manga has an interesting post from Mexian otaku Angel Garcia, who enjoys anime, manga, and the company of fellow fans despite living in a place with a dearth of licensed material and a phenomenally high murder rate.

MangaNEXT is happening Halloween weekend, and Erica Friedman reveals her con schedule at Okazu.

News from Japan: Golden Boy manga-ka Tatsuya Egawa will draw a manga booklet to accompany the PSP game God of War.

Reviews: Deb Aoki hits the express line with seven short reviews of recent manga at About.com.

Zack Davisson on vols. 1-3 of Black Gate (Japan Reviewed)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Fairy Navigator Runa (The Comic Book Bin)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1 and 2 of Ghost Hunt (Manga Xanadu)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of Kizuna Deluxe Edition (ICv2)
David Welsh on vol. 1 of March Story (The Manga Curmudgeon)
Kris on La Satanica (Manic About Manga)
Lori Henderson on vol. 4 of Vampire Hunter D (Comics Village)

Deb Aoki posts a transcript of the Gay for You: Yuri & Yaoi Manga for GLBT Readers panel, which was definitely one of the best at NYCC. Moderated by Robin Brenner, and starring Chris Butcher, Scott Robins, Alex Woolfson, Leyla Aker, and Erica Friedman, it was both entertaining and informative. Deb posts the panel’s recommended reading list as well. Check it out!

Lissa Pattillo shows off this week’s manga haul at Kuriousity, and Brad Rice has this week’s new releases at Japanator.

Chris Sims finds a gallery of classic covers from the manga Tetsujin 28 (which inspired Gigantor) and has some fun with them.

Job board: Tokyopop is looking for a Director of Digital Business. (Via Comics 411.)

News from Japan: ANN has the Japanese comics rankings for the past week. Enterbrain has taken the first two volumes of the manga Kai Yorihito Kaiyori Shiki out of print after confirming allegations that the creator, Kazuaki, had used copyrighted photographs without permission.

Reviews: Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith look over some October Boys Love titles at Manga Bookshelf. Noah Berlatsky continues his story-by-story look at Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream and Other Stories with a review of the story Angel Mimic.

Lissa Pattillo on vol. 3 of Deadman Wonderland (ANN)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-Chan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ken Haley on Tale of a White Knight (Sequential Ink)

Simon & Schuster, which distributes Viz manga, is listing Kazue Katō’s manga Blue Exorcist (Ao no Exorcist) with an April release date.

Johanna Draper Carlson takes an advance look at the manga that are due out in December. And Melinda Beasi makes her pick of the week at Manga Bookshelf.

Melinda Beasi posts the latest in the world of Korean comics in her latest Manhwa Monday post.

Speaking of Korean comics, the military news website Strategy Page has an interesting article on how South Korean manhwa are filtering into North Korea, via pirated CDs. Apparently entertainment media in North Korea is basically all government propaganda, and the kids are looking for something a little different.

Kristin Bomba drops in at All About Manga to do a guest post on strong women in manga.

Anna, who blogs as the palindromic Tangognat, has set up a new blog just for her manga reviews, Manga Report. Bookmark it now, and check out her most recent reviews, of The Cinderella Inheritance and The Cinderella Solution, The Dreaming Complete Collection, and vol. 1 of The Story of Saiunkoku.

At Mania.com, Thomas Zoth counts down “The Top 10 Scariest Manga You Haven’t Read,” although if you’re reading this you have probably read at least one of them (I have).

David Welsh is up to the letter M in his seinen alphabet at The Manga Curmudgeon.

Christopher Butcher posts his thoughts on NYCC, which boil down to: Lots of great people, not well organized, too crowded. But of course Chris’s take is much more entertaining than that, and he posts lots of pictures, one of which includes yours truly.

News from Japan: A new shonen magazine is in the works: Sakura Hearts, due out from Nihonbungeisha on December 9.

Reviews: Kate Dacey posts short takes on recent volumes of Chi’s Sweet Home, Kingyo Used Books, and 13th Boy at The Manga Critic.

Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of 7 Billion Needles (Comics-and-More)
Sesho on vol. 2 of Andromeda Stories (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Julie Opipari on A Bed of Sand (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Nicola on vols. 1-3 of Black Gate (Back to Books)
Kris on vol. 2 of Brilliant Blue (Manic About Manga)
Carlo Santos on vol. 3 of Chi’s Sweet Home (ANN)
Erica Friedman on vol. 6 of Click (Okazu)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Cross Game (Comic Attack)
Michelle Smith on vol. 1 of Cross Game (Comics Should Be Good)
Michael C. Lorah on A Drunken Dream and Other Stories (Blog@Newsarama)
David Welsh on Grand Guignol Orchestra (The Manga Curmudgeon)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Hanako and the Terror of Allegory (Manga Xanadu)
Katherine Farmar on vols. 1-3 of Hero Heel (Comics Village)
Zack Davisson on vol. 1 of Hetalia: Axis Powers (Manga Life)
Bill Sherman on vol. 1 of Hetalia: Axis Powers (Blogcritics)
Todd on vol. 1 of House of Five Leaves (Anime Maki)
Kinukitty on How to Seduce a Vampire (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Kingyo Used Books (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 3 of Kobato (Kuriousity)
Kris on vol. 5 of Kyo Kara MAOH! (Manic About Manga)
Kris on Live for Love (Manic About Manga)
Kristin on vol. 1 of March Story (Comic Attack)
Shannon Fay on vol. 1 of Octopus Girl (Kuriousity)
Edouardo Zacarias on vol. 28 of One Piece (Animanga Nation)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Seiho Boys High School! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Stepping on Roses (A Case Suitable for Treatment)