MangaBlog

Viz Media announced a slate of new kids’ manga yesterday, and interestingly, several of the titles are not Japanese but global, including a series of graphic novels based on the Mr. Men and Little Miss books. For slightly older readers, Viz also confirmed two books that have already popped up in the Amazon listings, a D.Gray-Man art book and a Naruto character guide.

Yen Press also announced a new addition, The Innocent which will run in Yen Plus magazine starting this month.

ANN’s Zac Bertschy has an interview with Kazue Kato, the creator of Blue Exorcist; Viz released the first volume last week.

Melinda Beasi, Kate Dacey, Michelle Smith, and David Welsh debate their latest pick of the week at Manga Bookshelf. David has also picked a potentially dubious manga and a boys-love title from Previews with the help of his readers.

At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao reports that Gin Tama seems to be coming to an end in the U.S. and reflects on what that says about American tastes.

Erica Friedman brings us the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Lori Henderson is hoping Viz will break out of the “walled garden” of iOS devices and expand their digital program to Android or the Web.

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber considers some reasons why Vertical is so successful at All About Manga.

At A Feminist Otaku, Caddy C looks at the lack of women behind the camera (as opposed to in front of it) in Skip Beat!

Three Steps Over Japan is re-posting some content that I’m seeing for the first time, so I thought I would link to it here. It’s all about material that is available in Japanese: Some commentary on Garo, Weekly Shonen Sunday, and Combat magazines, a review of vol. 10 of Moyashimon, and a look at Moyashimon picture books (ehon).

News from Japan: Attention penitent pirates: Ken Akamatsu is inviting people who downloaded manga and feel guilty about it to “purify” their files by giving them to him to post, with all ad revenue going to the creators—all with their consent, of course. School Rumble manga-ka Jin Kobayashi has a new series, Ichiro Heian! (Have a Safe Trip!) starting in the next issue of Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, and Yumi Unita is planning a spinoff from Bunny Drop. The Yaoi Review posts the cover of est em’s upcoming Equus, due out in August. And at Comics Alliance, Chris Sims takes a look at the new Pokemon series in which a human character actually becomes a Pokemon.

Reviews: Melinda Beasi, Kate Dacey, Michelle Smith, and David Welsh post this week’s Bookshelf Briefs at Manga Bookshelf, and Melinda also reviews something a little different, Ill-Fated Relationship, a digital manhwa. Michelle also chimes in with some short takes on recent Shonen Jump releases at Soliloquy in Blue. Ash Brown takes us through another week’s worth of manga at Experiments in Manga. Anna checks out three Harlequin manga that all have a theme of revenge, and she reads three Viz manga for short money on their iPad app, at Manga Report.

Ed Sizemore on vols. 12 and 13 of 20th Century Boys (Comics Worth Reading)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Blue Exorcist (Comics-and-More)
Oyceter on vols. 1 and 2 of Bunny Drop (Sakura of DOOM)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Butterfly (The Manga Critic)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Eensy Weensy Monster (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on vol. 6 of Fushigi Yugi (VizBig edition) (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of GUNJO (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 7 of Happy Cafe (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 17 of Hayate the Combat Butler (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Connie on vol. 1 of House of Five Leaves (Slightly Biased Manga)
Julie Opipari on vol. 28 of Kekkaishi (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Connie on vol. 26 of Knights of the Zodiac (Slightly Biased Manga)
David Welsh on Korea as Viewed by 12 Creators (The Manga Curmudgeon)
Greg McElhatton on vol. 2 of March Story (Read About Comics)
Oyceter on vols. 1-4 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (Sakura of DOOM)
Anna on vols. 1 and 2 of Oresama Teacher (Manga Report)
Anna on vol. 1 of Sakura Hime (Manga Report)
Connie on vol. 10 of Sand Chronicles (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Sakura Hime and vol. 5 of Stepping on Roses (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 5 of Seiho Boys High School (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Skyblue Shore (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Toradora! (ANN)
Connie on vol. 5 of Yurara! (Slightly Biased Manga)

This year’s Eisner Award nominees have been announced, and Kate Dacey helpfully pulls out the nominated manga for us. Let’s just say it’s a good year for Viz, although the judges did spread the love quite a bit.

Jason Thompson sings the praises of Antique Bakery in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Sean Gaffney breaks out the extra-large type to celebrate one of next week’s new releases, but you’ll have to go to his blog to see which one. Lori Henderson lists this week’s new all-ages comics and manga at Good Comics for Kids.

As we head toward the weekend, David Welsh discusses some golf manga he would love to see licensed at The Manga Curmudgeon.

Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith discuss just how much they love sleeves with big cuffs in manga in their latest Fanservice Friday post at Manga Bookshelf.

Melinda also lists three series she has stopped reading before the end, and fans chime in in the comments section with more. Wait, John Jakala stopped reading Bleach? Friends, the Manga Revolution truly is over.

Translators Alethea and Athena Nibley discuss why they sometimes work for less than the going rate.

David Welsh reaches the letter J in his Josei Alphabet.

A Borders store that’s closing posts a bitter sign of the times.

Reviews: If you only have time to read one review this week, make it David Welsh’s takedown of Tokyo Is My Garden, presented as a dialogue with a Theoretical Straight Woman Friend, at The Manga Curmudgeon. Omar posts some brief reviews of new manga at About Heroes. Caddy C. posts impressions of some manga she picked up at a discount at Borders at A Feminist Otaku.

Emily Kazanecki on vol. 6 of Cirque du Freak (Manga Life)
J. Caleb Mozzocco on vol. 1 of Butterfly and vol. 1 of Clean Freak: Fully Equipped (Blog@Newsarama)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Cross Game (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 21 of Excel Saga (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 12 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime & Manga Blog)
Sakura Eries on vol. 1 of Gunslinger Girl (omnibus collection) (Mania.com)
Snow Wildsmith on How to Pen & Ink: The Manga Start-Up Guide (Good Comics for Kids)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Itsuwaribito (The Comic Book Bin)
Kate Dacey on Kekkaishi (The Manga Critic)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 8 of Maid-Sama! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Bill Sherman on vol. 1 of Oresama Teacher (Blogcritics)
Kate Dacey on The Red Snake (The Manga Critic)
Kiki Van De Camp on vol. 5 of Rin-ne (Animanga Nation)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 23 of Skip Beat! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Julie Opipari on vol. 1 of Skyblue Shore (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Emily Kazanecki on vol. 4 of Sugarholic (Manga Life)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 26 of Yakitate!! Japan (The Comic Book Bin)

At The Hooded Utilitarian, Erica Friedman explores “Story A,” the basic story that gets told over and over again in yuri manga.

Melinda Beasi rounds up all the Korean-comics news in her latest Manhwa Monday post at Manga Bookshelf.

Melinda Beasi, Kate Dacey, Michelle Smith, and David Welsh discuss their Pick of the Week at Manga Bookshelf.

The next Manga Moveable Feast will feature the works of Rumiko Takahashi, and Rob McMonigal is hosting it at Panel Patter. Rob also continues his yearlong appreciation of Takahashi with some thoughts on One Pound Gospel.

Reviews: Ash Brown reviews a week’s worth of manga at Experiments in Manga. Melinda Beasi, Kate Dacey, Michelle Smith, and David Welsh present short takes on recent releases at Manga Bookshelf.

Julie Opipari on Desert Warrior (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Animemiz on Kamisama Kiss (Anime Diet)
Leroy Douresseaux on Love Lesson (I Reads You)
Kristin on vol. 2 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan and vol. 4 of Hyde & Closer (Comic Attack)
Tom Spurgeon on A Single Match (The Comics Reporter)
Julie Opipari on vol. 3 of Sumomomo, Momomo (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Dave Ferraro on vols. 1-3 of Totally Captivated (Comics-and-More)
Lori Henderson on the March issue of Yen Plus (Manga Xanadu)

I’m reading an advance copy of Wandering Son, the newest entry in Fantagraphics’ manga line, right now, and it’s amazing. The book won’t be out until later this year, but check out this preview at Comics Should Be Good.

Jason Thompson takes a look at the shoujo-est shoujo manga of them all, Cardcaptor Sakura, in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

David Welsh takes a look at the manga in the latest Previews at The Manga Curmudgeon, and he also asks readers to help him choose one of three dubious series. And he has a license request, which is not at all dubious: Jiro Taniguchi’s The Lonely Gourmet.

The Manga Village crowd looks over this week’s new releases, and at Good Comics for Kids, Lori Henderson lists this week’s all-ages comics and manga and picks the most interesting titles.

Erica Friedman rounds up the latest in the world of yuri in this week’s edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

As I noted at Robot 6, Tokyopop is rebooting their website, dropping the “manga lifestyle” thing in favor of promoting their books.

Elizabeth Tai lists her picks for the ten best manga of the past decade for The Star of Malaysia.

Lissa Pattillo is looking forward to a manga-friendly TCAF next month.

Stu Levy has a rather nice piece on why he loves Japan at the New Yorker. (Via The Manga Critic.)

Reviews Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith review four new boys-love manga from Digital in their latest BL Bookrack column at Manga Bookshelf.

Johanna Draper Carson on vols. 8-12 of 20th Century Boys (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 8 of Bamboo Blade (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Clive Owen on vol. 33 of Bleach (Animanga Nation)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Bunny Drop (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Butterfly (I Reads You)
Erica Friedman on vol. 3 of Choir (Okazu)
Connie on vol. 2 of Dragon Girl (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Gorgeous Carat (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rob McMonigal on vol. 2 of Karakuri Odette (Panel Patter)
Connie on vol. 8 of Kimi ni Todoke (Slightly Biased Manga)
Jennifer LeBlanc on vol. 1 of Maiden Rose (The Yaoi Review)
Shannon Fay on Not Love But Delicious Foods Makes Me So Happy! (Kuriousity)
Alexander Hoffman on vol. 1 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (Manga Village)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Rosario + Vampire Season II (The Comic Book Bin)
Lori Henderson on the April issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Xanadu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of Slam Dunk (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 11 of You’re Under Arrest (Slightly Biased Manga)

Kodansha Comics announced their fall lineup yesterday, and it includes two venerable manga that were first published by Tokyopop back in the day: Love Hina and Tokyo Mew Mew. Both will be in omnibus editions (Love Hina will be three volumes for $19.99, Tokyo Mew Mew will be two for $14.99) with new translations. Tokyo Mew Mew was a favorite in my house back in the day, although I always thought it was kinda bizarre. It will be interesting to see if it resonates with a new generation of girls. Also in the lineup are two sequels: Shugo Chara-Chan!, a 4-koma comic based on Peach-Pit’s Shugo Chara, and @Full Moon, a sequel to Sanami Matoh’s supernatural boys-love manga Until the Full Moon.

Digital Manga also gets into the game with a new title announcement: Mr. Convenience, a BL title by Nase Yamato.

Sean Gaffney takes a look at next week’s new manga, including some overdue Tokyopop titles. David Welsh invites readers to help him choose a boys-love manga from the latest Previews.

Japanese publishers have been putting a number of manga online because of disruptions to transportation and supply networks after the earthquake; at Manga Therapy, Tony Yao looks at the possible long-term effects of this stopgap measure.

Ash Brown is giving away a copy of vol. 1 of Old Boy at Experiments in Manga.

Reviews: At Comic Attack, Kristin looks at some recent Harlequin e-manga.

Sterg Botzakis on vol. 1 of 20th Century Boys (Graphic Novel Resources)
TSOTE on Gantz (Three Steps Over Japan)
Snow Wildsmith on vols. 1-4 of Library Wars: Love & War (Good Comics for Kids)
Monsieur LaMoe on My Girlfriend’s a Geek (Anime Diet)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Oresama Teacher (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 5 of Rin-ne (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kate Dacey on vols. 5 and 6 of Twin Spica (The Manga Critic)

David Welsh makes his picks from this week’s new releases at The Manga Curmudgeon, and he joins fellow bloggers Melinda Beasi and Kate Dacey in a conversation about their pick of the week at Manga Bookshelf.

David also reaches the letter I in his Josei Alphabet.

Andrew Lam of New American Media meditates on how the stories in anime and manga help people cope with disasters like the earthquake and tsunami.

Erica Friedman takes a look at the Japanese josei manga magazine Kiss at MangaCast.

Alex Hoffman reminisces about his experiences with Sailor Moon at Manga Widget.

News from Japan: Manga-ka Tomomasa Takuna is preparing to sue a blogger who claimed that he plagiarized parts of his Code Geass: Shikkoku no Renya manga from another work, Yagyū Reppūken Renya. Kekkaishi is coming to an end in the April 6 issue of Weekly Shonen Sunday, and Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas is also winding up. Finder series creator Ayano Yamane has blogged that the March 11 earthquake has caused shortages of paper and ink, because a number of paper mills were destroyed; this is delaying the release of a number of books. And ANN rounds up the latest messages of encouragement from manga creators to earthquake victims.

Reviews: David, Kate, and Melinda launch a new column of short reviews, Bookshelf Briefs, at Manga Bookshelf. Carlo Santos takes us through a stack of recent releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Ash Brown sums up a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. Other reviews of note:

Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Ai Ore (The Manga Critic)
Katherine Farmar on vol. 1 of The Beautiful Skies of Houhou High (Manga Village)
Julie Opipari on vol. 1 of Clean Freak: Fully Equipped (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 20 of Excel Saga (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 11 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime & Manga Blog)
Connie on vol. 1 of Grand Guignol Orchestra (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 17 of Hayate the Combat Butler (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on vol. 23 of Hikaru no Go (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on Ibara no Namida (Okazu)
Ken Haley on vol. 5 of Itazura Na Kiss (Sequential Ink)
David Welsh on vol. 3 of Kingyo Used Books (The Manga Curmudgeon)
Jeff Chuang on vol. 2 of K-ON! (Japanator)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (Manga Widget)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Comic Book Bin)
Erica Friedman on Sabagebu (Okazu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (The Comic Book Bin)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of The Secret Notes of Lady Kanoko (Manga Village)
Connie on vol. 13 of Slam Dunk (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kristin on vol. 15 of Slam Dunk and vol. 4 of Toriko (Comic Attack)
Diana Dang on vol. 2 of The Story of Saiunkoku (Stop, Drop, and Read!)