MangaBlog

Sharp-eyed Rachel S. has spotted Amazon listings for two new BL manga from Digital and a Megatokyo omnibus.

Meanwhile, Kate Dacey notes that Dark Horse will be publishing Bride of the Water God digitally.

Sean Gaffney checks out next week’s new releases, and Lori Henderson checks out this week’s all-ages comics and manga.

Kristin pulls the most interesting manga out of the latest Previews at Comic Attack. David Welsh does the same at The Manga Curmudgeon.

Jason Thompson delves deep into manga history in this week’s House of 1000 Manga column with a look at Wild 7, a manga about rogue motorcycle cops.

Molly McIsaac presents a short course in the history of magical girl manga at iFanboy.

David Welsh’s latest license request is Crest of the Royal Family, which started its run in 1976. And David reaches the letter W in his Josei Alphabet.

Three Steps Over Japan translates an interview with Geobreeders creator Akihiro Itou.

Tony Yao discusses a recent jab at the Tokyo Youth Ordinance in the Gintama manga and anime.

Matt Blind posts a cumulative winter best-seller chart (tracking online sales of manga) at Rocket Bomber, and he also provides a handly list of links to the individual weekly charts.

Faith Erin Hicks had a great time at Animaritime, and she has the photos to prove it.

News from Japan: Moyoco Anno has drawn a one-shot, her first story manga since 2008, for Feel Young magazine’s 20th anniversary issue. Big changes at Shueisha, which will merge Business Jump and Super Jump into a new biweekly magazine, launch a new monthly, and relaunch Jump Kai on a regular schedule. In celebration of its 35th anniversary in weekly Shonen Jump, the police comedy manga Kochira Katsushika-ku Kamearikouen-mae Hashutsujo, a.k.a. Kochikame, will run in 13 different magazines between August and October. The gambling manga Tobaku Haōden will resume after a hiatus of over two years. Tona-Gura! is coming to an end. A Tokyo man has been arrested for uploading anime and manga via the Share program. And two manga-ka will move into an apartment across the street from Osamu Tezuka’s former residence; the artists were the winners of a contest sponsored by neighborhood businesses to keep manga creators on their street.

Reviews: Carlo Santos delivers the verdict on a whole stack of recent manga in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Michelle Smith and Melinda Beasi dialogue about some new releases in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Lissa Pattillo on vol. 3 of Afterschool Charisma (Kuriousity)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 9 of Bamboo Blade (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Queenie Chan on Berserk (Queenie Chan)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of Black Bird (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 5 of Black Butler (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kristin on vol. 2 of Blue Exorcist (Comic Attack)
Connie on vol. 35 of Case Closed (Slightly Biased Manga)
kelakagandy on The Demon Ororon: The Complete Collection (kelakagandy’s ramblings)
Jocelyne Allen on vol. 1 of Kaze to Ki no Uta (Song of the Wind and Trees) (Brain vs. Book)
Ai Kano on vol. 4 of Seiho Boys’ High School (Animanga Nation)
Connie on vol. 16 of Sensual Phrase (Slightly Biased Manga)
Anna on vols. 3 and 4 of The Story of Saiunkoku (Manga Report)
Anna on vol. 1 of Toradora! (Manga Report)

I picked my favorites from this week’s new manga at MTV Geek, and David Welsh does the same at The Manga Curmudgeon.

More on Anime Expo: At 2chan.us, shii compiles some Tweets from Japanese attendees at AX, especially the Hatsune Miku concert.

Lissa Pattillo shows off her Animaritime purchases at Kuriousity.

News from Japan: Manga creator Shinji Wada (Sukeban Deka, Crown) has died at the age of 61.

Reviews

Dave Ferraro on Black Sun (Comics-and-More)
A Library Girl on vol. 3 of Kimi ni Todoke (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Anna on vol. 5 of Library Wars and vol. 19 of Kaze Hikaru (Manga Report)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 6 of Soul Eater (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Michelle Smith on vol. 6 of Time and Again (Soliloquy in Blue)
Michael Arthur on vol. 1 of Wandering Son (The Hooded Utilitarian)

Anime Expo was really all about the anime this year, with only three manga publishers in attendance; I rounded up the new manga announcements at MTV Geek. Anime News Network has an amazingly comprehensive set of panel reports, along with image galleries and stories on the breaking news, and Animanga Nation has some good, concise coverage as well. Daniella Orihuela-Gruber’s con reports (day one, day two) give a good overall sense of the event. And don’t miss Erica Friedman’s excellent advice on how to network at cons.

Meanwhile, Deb Aoki looks ahead to San Diego Comic-Con later this month, when a group of Japanese publishers are set to unveil their manga portal.

The Manga Village team looks over the most recent manga releases and makes their picks.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their pick of the week, and no one can resist Wandering Son. Also, Sean Gaffney has joined the Manga Bookshelf family, and his blog, A Case Suitable for Treatment, has a new URL.

Erica Friedman has the latest Yuri Network News update at Okazu.

Tom Gill responds to readers’ comments about Yoshihiro Tatsumi and Yoshiharu Tsuge at The Hooded Utilitarian.

David Welsh asks his readers to name their favorite manga that defy categorization, and as always, they come up with some great answers.

Julie is giving away one copy of the first volume of A Bride’s Story, by Emma creator Kaoru Mori, at Manga Maniac Cafe.

News from Japan: Excel Saga is one chapter away from completion, according to manga-ka Koushi Rikudo

Reviews: Ash Brown takes us through a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf bloggers file a new set of Bookshelf Briefs.

Erica Friedman on Aido (Okazu)
Erica Friedman on A Certain Scientific Railgun (Okazu)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 13 of Fairy Tail (ANN)
Connie on issue 1 of Gen (Slightly Biased Manga)
Michelle Smith on vol. 8 of Happy Cafe and vol. 3 of The Stellar Six of Gingacho (Soliloquy in Blue)
Jocelyne Allen on Kino Nani Tabeta? (Brain Vs. Book)
Carlo Santos on vol. 5 of Library Wars: Love & War (ANN)
David Welsh on vol. 1 of Maid Shokun (The Manga Curmudgeon)
TSOTE on March Devil (Three Steps Over Japan)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Monster Hunter Orage (The Manga Critic)
Connie on La Quinta Camera (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on Ristorante Paradiso (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of Rosario + Vampire: Season II (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 15 of Sensual Phrase (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on Shonen Jump Online (Manga Xanadu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of Stepping on Roses (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Tenjho Tenge (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Tenjho Tenge (Comic Attack)

Anime Expo is upon us! Viz, Digital Manga, and Bandai will all have panels, and the Sugoi Books folks will have a demo as well. I’ll update with news as it breaks, so stay tuned!

At School Library Journal, the Good Comics for Kids bloggers (including yours truly and The Manga Critic, a.k.a. Kate Dacey) offer our summer reading suggestions for young readers (preschool to teens). And back at the home base, Lori Henderson has this week’s all-ages comics and manga releases.

I took a look at Mameshiba, the super-cute bean-dog hybrids that started out in short cartoons in Japan and are now starring in two graphic novels from Viz, at MTV Geek.

Everybody’s talking about josei manga this week, and David Welsh has two license suggestions, both from Kiss magazine.

Sean Gaffney also has a license request: Ema Toyama’s Watashi Ni xx Shinasai!

At the Dark Horse website, editor Carl Horn discusses the significance of CLAMP’s Magic Night Rayearth (via The Manga Critic, who has more to say on the topic).

Melinda Beasi discusses characterization and emotional truth at Manga Bookshelf.

With convention season now upon us, Erica Friedman offers some tips for networking at cons.

Here’s something different: Ill-fated Relationship, a manhwa for the iPhone. Daniella Orihuela-Gruber, who worked on the book, has the scoop at All About Manga.

Julie is giving away a bundle of shoujo manga at Manga Maniac Cafe; go to the link to see how to enter.

News from Paris: Bakuman, Maid Sama!, Drops of God, and A Distant Neighborhood were all winners of this year’s Japan Expo awads.

Reviews

Kristin on vols. 2 and 3 of Afterschool Charisma (Comic Attack)
Connie on vol. 1 of A Bride’s Story (Slightly Biased Manga)
TSOTE on vol. 12 of Geobreeders (Three Steps Over Japan)
Zack Davisson on vol. 3 of Hanako and the Terror of Allegory (Japan Reviewed)
A Library Girl on vol. 2 of Kimi ni Todoke (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Carlo Santos on vol. 3 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (ANN)
Sean Michael Robinson on Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (The Comics Journal)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1 and 2 of Oresama Teacher (Soliloquy in Blue)
Connie on vol. 7 of Seiho Boys’ High School (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 1-3 of The Story of Saiunkoku (ANN)
A Library Girl on vol. 3 of Wild Ones (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)