Naruto with a bullet

Remember when it was a big deal to see three manga on the USA Today Top 150 bestseller list? This week there are four, and they are all Naruto: vol. 24 at number 112, vol. 21 at number 119, vol. 22 at number 126, and vol. 23 at number 127. The PWCW bestseller list has a similar look: Naruto, Naruto, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Naruto, Bleach, Naruto, some Marvel thing, Naruto, Naruto, Get Fuzzy. Interestingly, the number 11 slot is taken by a newcomer to manga but not to publishing: Dark Hunger, Christine Feehan’s manga spinoff of her popular fantasy romance novels.

Also in this week’s PWCW: Kai-Ming Cha on Digital’s first original manga, an adaptation of the novel Vampire Hunter D; a preview of Go!Comi’s first global manga, Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan; and a review (no permalink) of the Azumanga Daioh omnibus.

At MangaCast, Ed Chavez continues his big list of new Japanese releases and the whole gang discusses this week’s new American releases. Also, Ed has audio of mangaka Takanaga Hinako at Yaoicon.

You could read this thread at the Comics Journal message board from a guy who doesn’t get why manga is so popular. Or you could just hit yourself in the head with a hammer. Either way, head over to Noah Berlatsky’s blog afterward and take the cure. Perhaps there’s a bot somewhere that could automatically send out a copy of this every time some cranky fanboy posts that he doesn’t get this manga thing. (Via Dirk, who got it long before most of the rest of us.)

David Welsh is looking forward to a few new releases, and he is disappointed with a few recent purchases. Comicsnob Matt Blind posts his watch list as well, along with a philippic on Flash.

MarkAndrew deconstructs Death Note at Comics Should Be Good, and he thoughtfully hides the spoilers so anyone can read it.

Erica Friedman posts some recent yuri news at Okazu.

ICv2 has the info on all three Speed Racer comics that are coming out soon, including Digital’s slipcased reprints of the originals.

It’s the otaku’s dream job: Minnesota professor Frenchy Lunning has been awarded a Fulbright fellowship to study manga in Japan. (Via ANN.)

Del Rey has a new blog—at Active Anime. (Why do I feel like I posted this before?)

Have you had a terrible experience with shopping online? Perhaps some good can come of your suffering: Tell it to John Jakala and maybe he will send you some manga.

Yen Press is looking for an intern. Apply here.

Reviews: At Mecha Mecha Media, John T enjoys vol. 1 of Bride of the Water God, which looks absolutely gorgeous. About Heroes posts some brief reviews of recent titles. At MangaCast, Jack Tse podcasts his thoughts on vol. 4 of Emma, vol. 1 of The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls, and vol. 1 of The Last Uniform, and Ed has an audio review of vol. 1 of Presents and vol. 1 of Coyote Ragtime Show. Jordan Marks gives middling grades to Hate to Love You at Yaoi Suki. At Active Anime, Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 30 of InuYasha and vol. 1 of Aventura, and Rachel Bentham reads I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone. Nick likes vol. 1 of Yakitate!! Japan at Hobotaku. Manga Life’s Dan Polley is not impressed with vol. 8 of Pastel. Danielle Van Gorder peers through the curtains at My Paranoid Next Door Neighbor at Anime on DVD. Julie takes an early look at vol. 1 of Suppli at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Sakura Kiss reviews vol. 1 of Nightmares for Sale at The Yaoi Review. At the BasuGasuBakuhatsu Anime Blog, Hung reads vol. 2 of Murder Princess and vols. 2 and 3 of Ouran High School Host Club. Matt Brady has a thoughtful review of Tekkonkinkreet at Warren Peace Sings the Blues. Blogger Caldi-Chan starts a new column at Way of the Geek with a review of vol. 1 of Return to Labyrinth. If you want to get ahead of the curve, here are some reviews of untranslated manga: Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, at Okazu, and the Manga Junkie on vol. 6 of Cat Street and vol. 11 of Kisekae Yuka-chan.