MangaBlog

VIZ announced two new acquisitions: Kyousuke Motomi’s QQ Sweeper, and Arina Tanemura’s Idol Dreams. Both manga will be published under the Shojo Beat imprint, and will debut in fall 2015.

Speaking of new licenses, Crunchyroll just added Persona Q Shadow of the Labyrinth: Side P4 to its manga line-up.

Never underestimate a ninja’s powers: volume 68 of Naruto ranked fifth on the Nielsen BookScan Graphic Novel Chart for January 2015. Other manga making the top 20 included the first volume of Attack on Titan and the omnibus of All You Need Is Kill.

Johanna Draper Carlson breaks down the numbers for DMP’s latest Kickstarter campaigns.

Erica Friedman compiles the latest yuri news from around the web.

Over at Nagareboshi Reviews, Sarah compares Soul Eater with its prequel Soul Eater NOT!

Ash Brown catalogs his January manga acquisitions, then posts some brief reviews.

Manga expert Helen McCarthy offers a sneak peak at her latest publication, How to Draw Manga Made Easy, due out in April.

Don’t click on an empty stomach! Ed Chavez shares some mouth-watering photos from the official What Did You Eat Yesterday? blog. Also at the Vertical Tumblr: a candid Q&A session about licenses, sales, and beer pairings (!) for shonen, josei, gekiga, and cat manga. Click here for part one; click here for part two.

What’s it like to work for Crunchyroll? Justin Stroman interviews software engineer Evan Minto about his transition from manga blogger to industry insider.

Police in Burrell, PA are investigating a fifth grade student for posting a Death Note-inspired message inside Stewart Elementary School last week. Local media outlet WPXI reports that the school has notified the parents of the six boys listed on the so-called “death note,” and is taking additional measures to address the situation. According to Anime News Network, this incident marks the seventh time that an American student has faced disciplinary action for imitating the hero’s actions in Death Note.

News from Japan: Katsumasa Enokiya’s Hibi Rock and Satol Yuige’s Ku – Neuntöte Vampire are wrapping in February and April, respectively. The final chapter of You Higuri’s Gakuen Heaven: Double Scramble will appear in the March 7th issue of Monthly Magazine BExBOY.

To mark the release of the first volume of Tsubasa: World Chronicle, CLAMP has penned a bonus chapter for the February 17th edition of Shonen Magazine.

Shojo manga-ka Io Sakisaka is having a busy year: in addition to writing an epilogue for the now-completed Strobe Edge, she’s also at work on a new series for Bessatsu Margaret. Look for the first chapter in the July issue.

Kazuma Kamaichi’s popular Heavy Object novels are getting the manga treatment again; look for Heavy Object A (Ace) in the February 27th issue of Dengeki Maoh. Million Doll, a manga about an idol otaku, is being adapted for television by Asahi Production for a July premiere.

Reviews: Put on your scuba gear—Shaenon Garrity devotes the latest House of 1000 Manga column to Daisuke Igarashi’s atmospheric Children of the Sea. Over at Okazu, Erica Friedman reviews Whispered Words, an all-too-rare example of yuri in English.

Sheena McNeil on vol. 13 of 07-Ghost (Sequential Tart)
Nic Wilcox on vols. 1-2 of Alice in the Country of Hearts: The Mad Hatter’s Late-Night Tea Party (No Flying No Tights)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Deadman Wonderland (Comic Book Bin)
Alice Vernon on vol. 1 of Dorohedoro (Girls Like Comics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Food Wars! (Comic Book Bin)
Nick Creamer on vol. 2 of Genshinken: Second Season (ANN)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Hakugin no Gymnasium (Okazu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Happy Marriage?! (Comic Book Bin)
A Library Girl on The History of the West Wing (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Kory Cerjak on vol. 1 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Phantom Blood: Part One (The Fandom Post)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 16 of Kamisama Kiss (Sequential Tart)
ebooksgirl on vol. 1 of My Neighbor Seki (Geek Lit Etc.)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 6 of Nisekoi: False Love (Sequential Tart)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 9 of No. 6 (ANN)
Matthew Warner on vol. 73 of One Piece (The Fandom Post)
Kayleigh Hearn on Sakuran (Deadshirt)
Josh Begley on vol. 5 of Vinland Saga (The Fandom Post)
Julia Smith on vol. 1 of Witchcraft Works (The Fandom Post)

In a recent poll, Japanese retailer Honya Club asked bookstore workers, “What manga should we read in 2015?” Topping the list of recommendations was The Ancient Magus’ Bride (which has been licensed by Seven Seas) and My Hero Academia. On the strength of the cover art alone, I’d love to see Takadaike no Hitobito licensed:

Is the end in sight for Golgo 13? Creator Taiko Saito has hinted that his long-running adventure series is entering the home stretch. Golgo 13‘s first chapter debuted in 1968—47 years ago!

Otaku USA interviews Patrick Macias about Hypersonic Music Club, a joint collaboration between Macias and Japanese illustrator Hiroyuki Takahashi.

Scott Green previews Happiness, a horror manga from the creator of Flowers of Evil.

Alenka Figa lists five anime and manga with solid, nuanced queer characters.

And speaking of queer manga, the Huffington Post interviews Graham Kolbeins about Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It.

Wondering how to discover great new manga? Justin Stroman posts a comprehensive guide to the US manga market.

Heart of Manga host Laura M. lists the current serializations in YOU, a josei magazine for older female readers.

The Manga Bookshelf crew discuss next week’s new manga.

VIZ just announced two more digital license rescues from the CLAMP catalog: The One I Love, an anthology of short stories, and Wish, a four-volume series about a man who rescues an angel from a tree.

Stop the presses—Attack on Titan has been bumped from this week’s New York Times Manga Best Seller list by Akame Ga Kill!, Soul Eater, and Black Butler.

Reviews: If you haven’t subscribed to Sparkler Magazine, Melinda Beasi’s enthusiastic review of The Ring of Saturn might just persuade you to give it a try. Melinda also joined fellow MB bloggers Sean Gaffney and Anna N. in compiling this week’s Bookshelf Briefs.

Kate O’Neil on vol. 10 of Afterschool Charisma (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Assassination Classroom (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of Attack on Titan: Junior High Omnibus (Experiments in Manga)
Anna N. on vol. 3 of Black Rose Alice (Manga Report)
Megan R. on Boys Over Flowers (The Manga Test Drive)
Lori Henderson on vols. 43-44, 46-47 of Case Closed (Manga Xanadu)
Nick Smith on vol. 1 of Drug & Drop (ICv2)
James on Golgo 13 (Kotaku)
Ken H. on vol. 7 of From the New World (Sequential Ink)
Jocelyn Allen on How Are You? (Brain vs. Book)
Alex Hoffman on In Clothes Called Fat and Pink (Sequential State)
Nick Smith on Jaco the Galactic Patrolman (ICv2)
Anna N. on vol. 1 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part One: Phantom Blood (Manga Report)
Helen on vols. 1-3 of Millennium Snow (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Laura on Pearl Pink (Heart of Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 9 of Umineko: When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Katsuhiro Otomo (AKIRA, Domu: A Child’s Dream) just won the Grand Prix at the 42nd annual Festival d’Angoulême, beating out Watchman creator Alan Moore for the honor.

You spoke, they listened: DMP just announced a Kickstarter campaign to publish Osamu Tezuka’s Alabaster, a dark thriller about an invisible man on a crime spree.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss next week’s new manga releases, from Black Rose Alice to Blood Blockade Battlefront.

Ash Brown is giving away a copy of Junko Mizuno’s Cinderalla. 

The folks at Good E-Reader offer a side-by-side comparison of VIZ and Crunchyroll’s digital manga offerings.

British GQ compiled a list of ten manga that would make great movies.

Tom Pinchuk and Sam Weller announce the results of Anime Vice’s annual Best Manga Poll.

Over at Good, OK, Bad, Seth Hahne lists the 75 Best Comics of 2014, from Summit of the Gods to Stray Bullets.

Can’t get enough of Attack on Titan? Universal Studios Japan recently installed an attraction that allows visitors to pose with statues of hungry giants:

News from Japan: Good news for Takehiko Inoue fans: after a one-year hiatus, Inoue is back at work on Vagabond. Also returning from hiatus is Masayuki Kusumi and Jiro Taniguchi’s foodie favorite Kodoku no Gourmet.

To mark the tenth anniversary of Weekly Shonen Jump, Shuiesha will be unveiling four new series this month, including a new title by Psyren creator Toshiaki Iwashiro.

Reviews: Jason Thompson sings the praises of Cat Paradise, a forgotten gem from the Yen Press catalog, while Tony Yao examines the subtext of Kiss Him, Not Me, a shojo comedy about a fujoshi who ‘ships her male classmates.

Joseph Luster on vol. 1 of Assassination Classroom (Otaku USA)
Megan R. on Chobits (The Manga Test Drive)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 25 of Hayate the Combat Butler (Sequential Tart)
Leroy Douresseaux on Jaco the Galactic Patrolman (Comic Book Bin)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 1: Phantom Blood (ANN)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 5 of Judge (The Fandom Post)
Angela Silvia on vol. 16 of Kamisama Kiss (The Fandom Post)
Allen Kesinger on vol. 1 of Love in Hell (No Flying No Tights)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Meteor Prince (Comic Book Bin)
Joseph Luster on vol. 1 of My Neighbor Seki (Otaku USA)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 7 of Nisekoi: False Love (ANN)
Theron Martin on vol. 1 of Sword Art Online: Progressive (ANN)
Ken H. on vol. 5 of Vinland Saga (Sequential Ink)

Big news! Viz is publishing a new, full-color edition of Shotaro Ishinomori’s Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past manga in its Perfect Square imprint. The story was originally published in Game Power magazine in 1992, and a trade was published the following year.

More Viz news: They will be publishing Yu-Gi-Oh! in 3-in-1 omnibus format.

Also riding the omnibus: Dark Horse, which will re-release the earlier volumes of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service in as 2-in-1 omnibuses.

Crunchyroll is launching a new line of original manga, and they are starting with HYPERSONIC music club, a collaboration between Patrick Macias and Hiroyuki Takahashi. I talked to Macias about the book, and the new line, at Robot 6, and Takahashi did an interview with Crunchyroll.

Shonen Jump is offering the latest issues for free through February 15; if you haven’t been following it and are thinking of jumping in during this trial period, check out my quick guide to SJ series at Robot 6.

Shonen Jump has also added a new series to the lineup: My Hero Academia, which will run simultaneously with the Japanese releases.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week.

Erica Friedman has the latest from the world of yuri in this week’s Yuri Network News post at Okazu.

Ash Brown takes a look at the work of Mitsukazu Mihara as part of the Female Goth Mangaka Carnival.

Two cosplayers learned the hard way that it’s better to put on your costume when you get to the con, at least if you’re wearing camouflage and carrying what looks like a gun. This incident occurred in Gatineau, Quebec, which is quite near the capital of Ottawa, where last year a lone gunman attacked the national parliament. The two cosplayers were arrested but not held; they were also fined $270 and their replica weapons were taken away.

Reviews: Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith post some short takes on recent releases in the latest edition of Bookshelf Briefs at Manga Bookshelf. Ash Brown takes us through a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Akame Ga Kill! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lesey Aeschliman on vol. 8 of Attack on Titan (Lesley’s Musings on Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Citrus (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 14 of Dengeki Daisy (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 24 of D.Gray-Man (The Comic Book Bin)
Chris Kirby on vol. 3 of Durarara!! Saika Arc (The Fandom Post)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 4 of Gangsta (The Fandom Post)
Erin on Helter Skelter: Fashion Unfriendly (Gagging on Sexism)
Ken H on vol. 12 of Knights of Sidonia (Sequential Ink)
Chris Kirby on vol. 16 of Tegami Bachi (The Fandom Post)
Alice Vernon on Ubel Blatt (Girls Like Comics)
Matthew Warner on vol. 3 of World Trigger (The Fandom Post)
Jocelyne Allen on Yoru Mata Yoru No Fukai Yoru (Brain Vs. Book)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Yuri Kuma Arashi (Okazu)

Coming soon to the NHK: the first episode of Rin-ne, which will air on April 4th. Rin-ne is Rumiko Takahashi’s eighth series to be adapted for television.

French filmmakers announced plans to bring Jiro Taniguchi’s Everest drama Summit of the Gods to the big screen.

The latest installment of Finder bumps Unofficial Hatsune Mix and Attack on Titan from the top of this week’s New York Times Manga Bestseller list. Other titles posting strong numbers include Assassination Classroom, Nisekoi: False Love, and The Seven Deadly Sins.

What’s arriving in comic book stores on January 28th? The Manga Bookshelf team highlights next week’s new releases.

To celebrate Weekly Shonen Jump‘s third anniversary, Anime News Network is giving away cool swag. The deadline to enter is January 31st, so get clicking!

The Female Goth Mangaka Carnival is in full swing, with new contributions from Ash Brown, who explores the macabre world of Mitsukazu Mihara, and Michelle, who celebrates the unique artistry of Junko Mizuno.

News from Japan: Oricon reports that the Japanese manga market grew 4% in 2014, posting total sales of 282 billion yen (roughly $2.4 billion).

Reviews: J-Horror alert: Toshi Nakamura sings the praises of Kouisho Radio, a collection of short stories not yet available in English, while Shaenon Garrity looks at Kazuo Umezu’s funny-scary classic Cat-Eyed Boy.

Lori Henderson on vol. 19 of Bakuman (Manga Xanadu)
Ken H. on vols. 5-6 of Brave 10 (Sequential Ink)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 26 of Full Metal Alchemist (Lesley’s Musings on Anime & Manga)
Sakura Eries on vol. 1 of Kiss of the Rose Princess (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 27 of Naruto (Lesley’s Musings on Anime & Manga)
Megan R. on The One I Love (The Manga Test Drive)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Say I Love You (Lesley’s Musings on Anime & Manga)
Chris Kirby on vol. 3 of Sunny (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Sword Art Online: Progressive Manga (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Doresseaux on vol. 4 of Terra Formars (Comic Book Bin)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-2 of Tiger and Bunny (Good Comics for Kids)
Michelle Smith and Melinda Beasi on Yukarism, Kiss of the Rose Princess, and What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Manga Bookshelf)

Big news! Marvel will offer the Marvel/Attack on Titan crossover as part of its Free Comic Book Day comic Secret Wars #0. The crossover, which was a one-shot story in Brutus magazine, was plotted by Attack on Titan creator Hajime Isayama, with dialogue in English, and features the Avengers fighting the Female Titan, the Colossal Titan, and others.

More big news: Weekly Shonen Jump is free through February 15.

At Okazu, Erica Friedman interviews Helen McCarthy, author of The Anime Encyclopedia. Erica also updates us on some new and upcoming yuri releases in her latest Yuri Network News post at Okazu.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week, with a significant skew toward manhwa.

Laura looks at what’s running in the josei magazine Kiss—and which of those series she would like to see in English—at Heart of Manga.

The first round of nominations for the Manga Taisho awards has been announced; only one of the 14 titles, The Ancient Magus’s Bride, has been licensed in North America.

News from Japan: Writer Kazumasa Hirai, creator of Genma Taisen, 8 Man, Zombie Hunter, and Wolf Guy, and a contributor to the Spider-Man manga, has died. Nakaba Suzuki, creator of The Seven Deadly Sins, told Entermix magazine that Chapter 100 is the end of the first of three planned story arcs; the magazine also noted that sales of the series, which is up to volume 12 in Japan, have reached 10 million volumes. Linebarrels of Iron has entered its final arc. The Kuroko’s Basketball -Replace- novel series will be adapted into manga for the digital Shonen Jump+ magazine.

Reviews: At Brain Vs. Book, Jocelyne Allen reads Ever After, a book of BL-ified fairy tales by est em (only one of which is available in English). Ash Brown’s Week of Manga includes quick takes on vol. 1 of Ane-Imo, vol. 2 of Manga Dogs, and vols. 1 and 2 of Witchcraft Works, as well as links to longer reviews.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Afterschool Charisma (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 20 of Arata: The Legend (The Comic Book Bin)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 43 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 5 of Genshiken: Second Season (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Helen on Joshi Kausei (Organization Anti Social Geniuses)
Anna N on vol. 1 of Master Keaton (Manga Report)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 9 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vols. 11 and 12 of Ranma 1/2 (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ken H. on vol. 3 of The Seven Deadly Sins (Sequential Ink)
Drew McCabe on vol. 1 of Sgt. Frog (Comic Attack)
Drew McCabe on Shion of the Dead (Comic Attack)
Erica Friedman on vol. 10 of Usotsuki Lily (Okazu)
Sarah on vol. 3 of Voice Over! Seiyu Academy (nagareboshi reviews)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Whispered Words (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sakura Eries on vol. 1 of Yukarism (The Fandom Post)