ComiPress translates the second half of a lecture by manga-ka Hirohiko Araki (they posted the first half earlier). Even if you don’t know Araki’s work, it’s worth a look for his explanation of how he thinks about manga.
More food for thought: Bento Physics does some linkblogging, which is a little different there than anywhere else, as they always find interesting essays on Japanese culture—and quote the good parts at length.
ICv2 has a sneak peek at CMP’s new magazine-book (mook), Megami, which they describe as “a bishoujo (“beautiful girl”) pinup magazine.”
I don’t usually read TrekWeb, but they have a brief bit today on the Star Trek manga that Tokyopop is cooking up. Apparently the fans have editor Luis Reyes a tad intimidated, and CBS, the licensor, backed them on at least one thing: No sweatdrops on Captain Kirk. Quoth the CBS exec: “It’s okay with Scotty, but Kirk wouldn’t have freaked out like that.”
Love Manga has the USA Today Top 150 list and vol. 10 of Naruto is still on it, hanging in at #123. This makes 9 weeks on the chart for the plucky lad, which I believe is a record. Kingdom Hearts is also on the chart at #104.
Chris Butcher finally gets around to posting his picks for the best comics of 2005. His list includes a handful of manga, all worth checking out.
Yes Naruto vol.10 is the longest consecutive manga for 2 weeks now, Naruto vol.09 was the previous longest at 7 weeks.
Thanks for the link, much appreciated!
I think next year it’s going to be even tougher to choose manga for next year though, there seem to be a number of really great releases on the horizon and the year to date has been pretty spectacular. It’s a good time to like comics.
Yes—what a great problem to have!