MangaBlog

Whether you’re an expert or a beginner in Japanese, you should check out JManga’s translation contest. Translate the 4-koma manga at the link and you could win a copy of the (digital) book. Today is the last day, so if you’ve been planning to do it, don’t put it off! JManga is offering multiple prizes, so your chances may be better than you think.

And while you’re translating thought into action, drop in to Manga Bookshelf and enter their Valentines Day giveaway—you could be the lucky winner of vol. 1 of 13th Boy.

With Shonen Jump Alpha up and running, and most of the bugs shaken out, Viz is adding a stick to their carrots: Yesterday the scanlation group Mangastream announced it was dropping Viz titles under pressure from the publisher. AstroNerdBoy adds more commentary on the Mangastream affair, including his opinion on what they—and Viz—are doing wrong. Deb Aoki has a clear-eyed editorial at About.com, pointing out that as aggrieved as the Mangastream folks may be, in the end, they don’t own the content.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week.

Reviews: It’s a new week and time for a new set of Bookshelf Briefs at Manga Bookshelf. Ash Brown recounts a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Amy Grockl on An Arranged Marriage (Manga Village)
Johanna Draper Carlson on The Bed of My Dear King (Comics Worth Reading)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 2 of Dawn of the Arcana (Kuriousity)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of A Devil and Her Love Song (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Jia Li on Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Manga Bookshelf)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Anna on vol. 3 of Sailor Moon (Manga Report)
Erica Friedman on Seasons (Okazu)

Kristin Bomba picks the most interesting manga in the latest Previews at Comic Attack.

Erica Friedman rounds up the latest yuri news at Okazu.

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber has a question for her readers: What is your favorite Tezuka manga?

Do you read Bleach for the poetry? Tony Yao enjoys it, and he posts a few of his favorite Tite Kubo poems at Manga Therapy.

A Scottish fan shows off her manga collection to The Manga Critic, Kate Dacey.

Wandering Son is the first manga to make it on to the American Library Association’s Rainbow List of GLBT-friendly books.

Kimagure Orange Road creator Izumi Matsumoto will be a guest at Katsucon this weekend.

News from Japan: Ken Akamatsu is winding up Negima, and AstroNerdBoy has his Facebook post saying that the series is not being truncated, and that this will be a “good ending.”

Reviews: Jocelyne Allen takes a look at Hakoniwa Mushi, a book of short manga by Akino Kondoh, and she shows off some of the striking art at Brain Vs. Book. This manga hasn’t been translated into English yet, but I’d love to see it.

Connie on vol. 8 of Arata: The Legend (Slightly Biased Manga)
Justin on vol. 9 of Bakuman (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 15 of Black Jack (Slightly Biased Manga)
Serdar Yegulalp on vol. 17 of Black Jack (Genji Press)
Connie on vols. 1 and 2 of Blue Exorcist (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 2 and 3 of Cage of Eden (ANN)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Chobits (Blogcritics)
Connie on Dost Thou Know? (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 9 of Future Diary (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on Gorgeous Carat Galaxy (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lori Henderson and Alex Hoffman on High School of the Dead (Manga Village)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 2 of Love Hina (omnibus edition)
Connie on vol. 1 of Love Pistols (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 9 of Mars (Slightly Biased Manga)
Justin on The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on Men of Tattoos (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vols. 4 and 5 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (Slightly Biased Manga)
Serdar Yegulalp on vol. 3 of No Longer Human (Genji Press)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 2 of Only Serious About You (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 17 of Ouran High School Host Club (ANN)
Connie on Poison (You Higuri artbook) (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 3 of Ratman (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 5 of Recipe for Gertrude (Slightly Biased Manga)
Carlo Santos on vol. 4 of Tenjho Tenge (omnibus edition) (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s (The Comic Book Bin)
Justin on A Zoo in Winter (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)

Here’s a surprise license rescue: Digital Manga announced via Twitter yesterday that they have licensed Erementar Gerad, which was known as Elemental Gelade when Tokyopop was publishing it.

Shaenon Garrity is the guest writer for this week’s House of 1000 Manga column at ANN, and she picks a good one: Mars, by Fuyumi Soryo, who went on to make one of my favorite manga, ES: Eternal Sabbath.

AstroNerdBoy notes a new translation team for Kodansha’s Love Hina omnibuses: Alethea and Athena Nibley (whose other credits include Fruits Basket) will be taking over.

Reviews: Wolfen Moondaughter discusses four yaoi manga at Sequential Tart. At The Manga Critic, Kate Dacey goes on two second dates with vol. 2 of Dawn of the Arcana and vol. 2 of Gate 7, but only one is a keeper.

Wolfen Moondaughter on The Bed of My Dear King (Sequential Tart)
Chris Beveridge on vol. 8 of Chi’s Sweet Home (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 16 of Higurashi: When They Cry (The Fandom Post)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 1 of Husband, Honeymoon (Sequential Tart)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 2 of Love Hina (omnibus edition) (Sequential Tart)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 1 of Love Pistols (Sequential Tart)
Angela Eastman on vol. 6 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Fandom Post)
Wolfen Moondaughter on Oku-San’s Daily Fantasies (Sequential Tart)
Sakura Eries on vol. 6 of Oresama Teacher (The Fandom Post)
Paige McKee on vol. 3 of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Sequential Tart)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 2 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s (Sequential Tart)
Erica Friedman on Yurikan Miel (Okazu)

Over at MTV Geek, I talked to Kurt Hassler about Soul Eater NOT, which Yen Plus magazine will be running as a worldwide release at the same time it is released in Japan. I also got an exclusive reveal of the cover of the Anne Rice graphic novel, Interview with the Vampire: Claudia’s Story.

I picked over this week’s new manga at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo does the same in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney takes a look at next week’s new manga.

At ANN, Carlo Santos does a side-by-side comparison of Viz’s digital manga on the Nook and the iPad. One caveat: Some of his criticisms of the way page turns work on the Nook are based on a pre-release version of the software that has since been corrected. However, he has plenty of other things to say regarding screen size, interface, and the reading experience, so just keep his introductory note in mind as you read the article.

Matt Blind has a new set of manga best-sellers (drawn from online sales) and a new edition of Manga Radar with some old and new manga for him to add to his 10,000-title database.

Derik Bown pits Alucard agaisnt Alexander Anderson in his latest Combat Commentary post at Manga Bookshelf.

If you can read French, check out this interview with Atsushi Kaneko, creator of Bambi and Her Pink Gun and SOIL, who passed through Paris on his way to Angouleme.

News from Japan: Black Jack is back! Akita Shoten will revive the classic Tezuka comic with new stories based on real medical experiences sent in by readers. There’s no word on who will write or draw it, but really—what could possibly go wrong? The French site Manga news has word of two series that are ending soon, Boku ha Beatles and Aishiterutte Itte mo ii yo. The 13th volume of Evangelion—the first in two years—is on the way. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews

Danica Davidson on vol. 3 of Ai Ore (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 38 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Danica Davidson on Manga Shakespeare: Othello (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Danica Davidson on vol. 5 of My Girlfriend’s a Geek (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 12 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Ed Sizemore and Johanna Draper Carlson discuss Bakuman, and then Erica Friedman joins in for a conversation about fan entitlement, in the latest Manga Out Loud podcast.

Poor Poor Lips

JManga has three new titles up this week: Vol. 1 of Japan Sinks, by Golgo 13 creator Takao Saito; I Love You, Chief Clerk, a yaoi manga; and the yuri title Poor Poor Lips, which was localized in partnership with ALC Publishing. At her blog, Okazu, ALC principal Erica Friedman asks readers to e-mail JManga and urge them to set up a global yuri portal—right now the manga is restricted to North American readers, and that’s just bogus.

AstroNerdBoy outlines his vision for Kodansha’s upcoming edition of Genshiken Nidaime.

Have you fallen behind on a series or two? Do you just feel like a manga binge? Either way, check out Barnes & Noble’s three-for-two manga sale, which runs through tomorrow. The deal is for online purchases only, and it can’t be combined with other discounts, but still… three for the price of two!

News from Japan: Details are still sketchy, but Bunny Drop creator Yumi Unita will launch a new series, tentatively titled Itohen, in the April issue of Feel Young. Meanwhile, the 10th and final volume of Bunny Drop will be out in March. Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond will resume serialization in Kodansha’s Morning magazine next month, after a long hiatus due first to Inoue’s health problem and then to his loss of enthusiasm for the series.

Reviews

Kristin on vol. 3 of Blue Exorcist and vol. 12 of Black Bird (Comic Attack)
Brad Rice on vol. 1 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Japanator)
Lori Henderson on The Innocent (Manga Xanadu)
Animemiz on Wandering Son (Anime Diet)

Legendary Dark Horse editor Carl Horn guests on the ANNCast this week. I haven’t had time to listen to the podcast yet, but I have heard Carl speak, and I would say this is well worth a listen.

Kodansha Comics will publish the Genshiken sequel Genshiken: Second Season beginning in September, and they will start publishing the first Genshiken in omnibus editions in May.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at Weekly Shonen Magazine.

News from Japan: Shinobi Life will come to an end in the April issue of Gekkan Princess, with a spinoff chapter appearing in the May issue. The 13th and final volume of the series will be out this summer.

Reviews: Ash Brown covers the past week’s manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Connie on vol. 8 of Black Butler (Slightly Biased Manga)
Zack Davisson on vol. 3 of Cardcaptor Sakura (Japan Reviewed)
Erica Friedman on the January issue of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 6 of Cross Game (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Nicola on vol. 1 of Fluffy Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Back to Books)
Caleb Dunaway on Pluto (Guys Lit Wire)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of Psyren (Manga Widget)
Connie on vol. 8 of Rin-ne (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Sailor Moon (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 5 of Tyrant Falls in Love (Slightly Biased Manga)