MangaBlog

Jason Thompson has a new column starting at ANN on his favorite manga, and he kicks things off with a look at the classic The Rose of Versailles.

Sean Gaffney looks at this week’s new releases, and Lori Henderson alerts us to the latest kid-friendly comics and manga.

It’s License Request Day at The Manga Curmudgeon, and David Welsh would like something by Noriyuki Yamahana, please.

Simon Jones has some advice for scanlators on how to avoid the fate of HTMLcomics.com. (Basically: Don’t be this guy.)

The iTunes store presents a big headache for manga publishers: They won’t necessarily approve every volume.

The Bangkok Post profiles Jakraphan Huaypetch, whose Super Dunker won the Japanese Foreign Ministry’s International Manga Award.

News from Japan: The 39th Japan Cartoonist Awards have been announced.

Reviews: Kate Dacey looks at two manga for kids, Dinosaur King and The Lizard Prince, at Good Comics for Kids.

Michelle Smith on vol. 4 of Adolf: Days of Infamy (Soliloquy in Blue)
Ryo Takagi on Bran Doll (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Julie Opipari on Cartoon Cute Animals (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Kate Dacey on vols. 2-4 of Cat Paradise and vols. 2-4 of Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit (The Manga Critic)
Jason Dyer on Crimson-Shell (Manga Life)
Sophie Stevens on vol. 1 of Flower in a Storm (Animanga Nation)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Fruits Basket Banquet and Songs to Make You Smile (Comics Worth Reading)
Billy Aguiar on vol. 1 of King of RPGs (Prospero’s Manga)
Erica Friedman on Ohana Hololo (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 44 of One Piece (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Susan S. on vol. 2 of Oninagi (Manga Jouhou)
Bill Young on Pluto (Extremely Graphic)
Anna on vol. 1 of Spy Goddess (2 screenshot limit)
Susan S. on Remember (Manga Jouhou)
Andre on vol. 3 of Sugarholic (Kuriousity)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 8 of Tactics (Mania.com)
Connie on vol. 5 of With the Light (Slightly Biased Manga)

Anna looks at online manga at The Bureau Chiefs.

Kristin reads the May Previews through manga-tinted glasses at Comic Attack.

Simon Jones catches the next four manga that Animate will put on Kindle, and all are former Deux releases.

Julie Opipari writes about some bad-boy romances at Blog@Newsarama.

Melinda Beasi publishes a list of Boston-area manga bloggers—including yours truly!

David Welsh is giving away a copy of Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators to one lucky reader.

This is slightly off topic, but useful for those who are contemplating making their own comics: Shaenon Garrity talks about publishing your first comic.

News from Japan: The historical advisor to Strike Witches is the co-creator of a doujinshi based on the series. A manga adaptation of the dating sim game Tokimeki Memorial 4 will launch in the July issue of Monthly Dengeki Maoh. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews:

Connie on vol. 33 of Berserk (Slightly Biased Manga)
Michael C. Lorah on Black Blizzard (Blog@Newsarama)
Michelle Smith on vol. 30 of Bleach (Soliloquy in Blue)
Connie on vol. 2 of Breath (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 5 of Click (Okazu)
Katherine Farmar on Dry Heat (Comics Village)
Connie on vols. 30 and 31 of Eyeshield 21 (Slightly Biased Manga)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 19 of Hikaru no Go (Manga Bookshelf)
Tiamat’s Disciple on How to Capture a Martini (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 4 of Kimi ni Todoke and vol. 2 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (Comics Should Be Good)
Alexander Hoffman on vol. 1 of Monkey High (Comics Village)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of My Girlfriend’s a Geek (The Manga Critic)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Neon Genesis Evangelion Shinji Raising Project (Kuriousity)
Becky Fullan on On Bended Knee (Manga Jouhou)
Michelle Smith on vols. 19-21 of One Piece (Soliloquy in Blue)
Connie on vol. 48 of One Piece (Slightly Biased Manga)
Noah Berlatsky on vol. 3 of Ooku (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on vol. 1 of Planetes (All About Manga)
Matthew J. Brady on vol. 8 of Pluto (Warren Peace Sings the Blues)
Zack Davisson on vol. 1 of Red Hot Chili Samurai (Manga Life)
Connie on vol. 3 of Seimaden (Slightly Biased Manga)
Anna on vol. 5 of Silver Diamond (Tangognat)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Twin Spica (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vol. 9 of Wild Ones (Manga Life)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 8 of Yotsuba&! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)

New blog alert! Gia Manry has been liberated from the black-and-neon confines of Anime Vice and has started a new blog of her own, Anime Briefs. Gia is a great writer, and one of the few people in the MangaBlogoSphere who will pick up a phone and call the source when news is breaking, so her blog should be on your RSS feed. She’s splitting it into news and features, and you can subscribe to one or the other or both, as your fancy strikes. Check out her picks of the week for starters!

And as long as we’re blogging about blogging, congratulations to Lissa Pattillo, who will be writing regular reviews for ANN, and Melinda Beasi, who will be writing regularly at Examiner.com. Melinda kicks it off with a look at the May manga releases.

The NANA project (Melinda Beasi, Danielle Leigh, and Michelle Smith) takes on a special topic in their latest discussion: The four pages that were removed from volume 4, and the other edits to the series.

Ed Sizermore wraps up the Manga Moveable Feast at Comics Worth Reading. At Panel Patter, Rob McMonigal reviews vols. 2 and 3 of Mushishi.

David Welsh counts all the seinen manga beginning with the letter B at The Manga Curmudgeon. David also posts his take on this week’s new releases, and at Flashlight Worthy, he compiles a list of the best one-volume manga.

Josh Tolentino looks at this week’s new anime and manga at Japanator.

Jason Thompson’s Manga: The Complete Guide will be available for Kindle in November.

News from Japan: InuBaka: Crazy for Dogs is coming to an end. Young Ace magazine will launch four new series in the June 4 issue, including Sugar Dark: Umerareta Yami to Shōjo (Sugar Dark: The Buried Darkness and the Girl), based on the light novel by Enji Arai and adapted by Kendi Oiwa, who worked on the Welcome to the NHK and Goth adaptations.

Reviews

Julie Opipari on vol. 4 of Animal Academy (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Rob McMonigal on vol. 4 of Bleach (Panel Patter)
Rob McMonigal on vols. 6 and 7 of Cantarella (Panel Patter)
Becky Fullan on vol. 1 of Clear Skies! (Manga Jouhou)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Gatcha Gacha (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
James Fleenor on .hack//Alcor (Anime Sentinel)
Gia Manry on vol. 1 of Portrait of M&N (Anime Briefs)
Lori Henderson on vol. 4 of Rin-ne (digital edition) (Manga Xanadu)
Rob McMonigal on vol. 2 of Re:Play (Panel Patter)
Rob McMonigal on vol. 3 of Rosario+Vampire (Panel Patter)
Emily on Usotsuki Lily (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of We Were There (The Comic Book Bin)

Melinda Beasi takes a look at the month to come in this week’s Manhwa Monday column at Manga Bookshelf.

Kate Dacey checks out this week’s shoujo-heavy new comics list.

Michelle Smith checks in with a late entry to the Manga Moveable Feast, her review of vol. 1 of Mushishi, at Soliloquy in Blue, and host Ed Sizemore gathers a number of the participants to the table for a podcast to wind up the festivities.

Erica Friedman joins The Hooded Utilitarian and starts things off by introducing herself; because it’s Erica, and The Hooded Utilitarian, a lengthy comments thread follows.

The Toronto Comics Art Festival happens this weekend, and Deb Aoki rounds up all the manga-friendly panels and publishers at About.com.

Same Hat has some photos of the Garo exhibit in NYC.

News from Japan: Elemental Gelade creator Mayumi Azuma has a new series in the works, Toraneko Folklore. And Comic Yuri Hime is speeding up its release schedule, going from quarterly to bi-monthly.

Reviews: The Manga Recon team kicks off the week with a new set of Manga Minis.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Animal Academy (I Reads You)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 4 of Bamboo Blade (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Julie Opipari on vol. 2 of Beast Master (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Oliver Ho on Black Blizzard (PopMatters)
Connie on vol. 6 of Cipher (Slightly Biased Manga)
Todd Douglass on vol. 1 of Dorohedoro (Anime Maki)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 10 of Excel Saga (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Dave Ferraro on Flower in a Storm (Comics-and-More)
Sean Gaffney on Fruits Basket: Banquet (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on vol. 5 of The Gentlemen’s Alliance+ (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 4 of Gestalt (Mania.com)
Billy Aguiar on .hack//4Koma (Prospero’s Manga)
Becky Fullan on The History of the West Wing (Manga Jouhou)
Lori Henderson on vol. 4 of Honey Hunt (Manga Xanadu)
Tangognat on vol. 2 of Itazura na Kiss (Tangognat)
Snow Wildsmith on vols. 1 and 2 of Kabuki (Fujoshi Librarian)
Carlo Santos on vol. 3 of Karakuri Odette (ANN)
Tangognat on vols. 4-6 of Key to the Kingdom (Tangognat)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 1 of Kitchen Princess (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Connie on Love Full of Scars (Slightly Biased Manga)
Richard Bruton on Manga Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice (fictions)
Connie on vol. 13 of Oh My Goddess (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rob Vollmar on Oishinbo (Trouble With Comics)
Connie on vol. 47 of One Piece (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Rampage (Kuriousity)
David Welsh on vol. 1 of Satsuma Gishiden (The Manga Curmudgeon)
Diana Dang on vol. 1 of Stepping on Roses (Stop, Drop, and Read)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Twin Spica (The Manga Critic)
Kristin on vols. 1 and 2 of Vampire Hunter D (Comic Attack)

The latest NY Times graphic books best-seller list is up, and Yen Press owns it, with five of the top ten titles.

Lori Henderson lists this week’s new comics and manga at Good Comics for Kids, and she rounds up the latest news at Manga Xanadu.

Erica Friedman posts the latest Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Sean Gaffney has short takes on the latest new manga at A Case Suitable for Treatment.

David Welsh looks at the most likely new titles from the upcoming Previews.

Lissa Pattillo is not sold on the digital edition of Yen Plus, and she doesn’t see a lot of fans who are willing to pay for it.

A search for a hard-to-find volume of Futari Ecchi causes Anna to reflect on why some series seem to peter out, at 2 screenshot limit.

At Myth and Manga, Akemi looks at an ancient folk tale that pops up in Naruto.

Deb Aoki talks to the folks behind a new comics and art anthology, F*X*T, which is raising startup funds through Kickstarter.

The Manga Moveable Feast continues with reviews and opinions on Mushishi by Daniella Orihuela-Gruber, Derik Badman, Rob McMonigal, Matt Blind, Justin Colussy-Estes, Dan Polley, John Thomas, Michelle Smith, Reverse Thieves, and host Ed Sizemore, who has some thoughts on Mushi and Cthulhu. Also, David Welsh picks another work by Mushishi creator Yuki Urushibara for his latest license request.

Congratulations to Kate Dacey of The Manga Critic, who celebrated her first year of blogging last week. If you’re not already familiar with Kate’s blog, go check it out now—I’ll wait. Be sure to congratulate her, and then tell her what book to review next.

News from Japan: The Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly may pass that bill banning sexualized depictions of “nonexistent youths” after all. The first chapter of Higurashi: When They Cry is now available for cell phones.

Reviews: EvilOmar posts some short manga reviews at About Heroes.

Andre on vol. 4 of Bamboo Blade (Kuriousity)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Bokurano: Ours (The Manga Critic)
Julie Opipari on vol. 16 of D.Gray-Man (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Dorohedoro (Comics Should Be Good)
Erica Friedman on El Cazador (Okazu)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 9 of Gakuen Alice (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Gon (Kuriousity)
Julie Opipari on vol. 19 of Hikaru no Go (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Carlo Santos on vol. 4 of Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit (ANN)
Zoey on vol. 2 of Karakuri Odette (Manga Jouhou)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of Kimi ni Todoke (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Jaime Samms on The Lonely Egotist (Kuriousity)
Erica Friedman on Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Force and Vivid (Okazu)
Becky Fullan on vol. 2 of Me and the Devil Blues (Manga Jouhou)
Jason Dyer on vol. 47 of Naruto (Manga Life)
Julie Opipari on vol. 1 of Ninja Baseball Kyuma (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Billy Aguiar on vol. 1 of Ratman (Prospero’s Manga)
Ken Haley on Remember (Manga Recon)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of Spice and Wolf (Fujoshi Librarian)
Ai Kano on vol. 12 of Strawberry 100% (Animanga Nation)
Julie Opipari on vol. 2 of Time and Again (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 8 of V.B. Rose (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Ed Sizemore rounds up the latest additions to the Manga Moveable Feast at Comics Worth Reading, while David Welsh suggests some alternatives that fans of Mushishi might enjoy.

At the librarian site EarlyWord, Robin Brenner explains why there were five volumes of One Piece on last week’s NYT best-seller list and none this week, and how publishers are trying to deal with scanlations.

Helen McCarthy takes a look at the life and work of manga artist Ryohei Saigan, who received an award from the Japanese government this year, and who is almost unheard of in the U.S.—except by one lucky group of schoolchildren in Illinois in the 1980s.

Julie Opipari, proprietress of the Manga Maniac Cafe, has a new column at Blog@Newsarama, titled Your Manga Minute. In her first column, she discusses what anime cons and horse shows have in common.

David Welsh starts a new round of the alphabet with a look at seinen manga that begin with the letter A at The Manga Curmudgeon.

Translators Alethea and Athena Nibley discuss the art and science of translating comedy at Manga Life.

News from Japan: ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews: Carlo Santos takes on a new crop of manga in his latest Right Turn Only!! column. Kristin takes a look at more of Digital’s Harlequin manga at Comic Attack.

Danica Davidson on vols. 1-3 of Absolute Boyfriend (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Snow Wildsmith on vols. 1-10 of Angel Diary (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Snow Wildsmith on Blood+ Kowloon Nights (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of B.O.D.Y. (The Comic Book Bin)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of Bokurano: Ours (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 2 of Crown of Love (Manga Bookshelf)
Chloe Ferguson on vols. 1 and 2 of Eureka Seven Manga Collection (Manga Recon)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Jormungand (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vols. 1 and 2 of Karakuri Odette (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
D.M. Evans on vol. 1 of Laon (Manga Jouhou)
Andre on vol. 2 of Oninagi (Kuriousity)