MangaBlog

I’m a bit behind with my e-mail, but I wanted to post this and see what people think of it—I have seen several reviews already, and I’m looking forward to reading it myself.

NATSUME’S BOOK OF FRIENDS
A LIST THAT NO DEMON OR SPIRIT WANTS TO BE ON AND THE BOY WHO IS ITS UNLIKELY KEEPER
IN NEW MANGA FROM VIZ MEDIA

San Francisco, CA, January 4, 2010 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the January 5th release of NATSUME’S BOOK OF FRIENDS, a standalone manga story by Yuki Midorikawa. NATSUME’S BOOK OF FRIENDS debuts under the Shojo Beat imprint, is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

Takashi Natsume can see spirits and demons that hide from the rest of humanity. He has always been set apart from other people because of his gift, drifting from relative to relative, never fitting in. Now he’s a troubled high school student who has come to live in a small town where his grandmother, Reiko, grew up. And there he discovers that he has inherited more than just the power of Sight from the mysterious Reiko. When Reiko was Takashi’s age, she bound the names of demons and spirits in her Book of Friends, enslaving them to her every capricious whim. Now Takashi is the owner of the book, and the creatures will do anything to get their names back.

“NATSUME’S BOOK OF FRIENDS is a great series for readers who are looking for something different than the typical shojo manga. Yuki Midorikawa skillfully deploys her delicate and almost serene artwork to tell a story that balances dark adventure with light comedy, the supernatural with real life. This remarkably beautiful work is truly unlike any other shojo series out there,” says Leyla Aker, Editorial Manager, VIZ Media.

Yuki Midorikawa’s other published titles in Japan include Into the Forest of Fireflies, The Scarlet Chair and The Voice That Blooms Red. NATSUME’S BOOK OF FRIENDS (Natsume Yujincho) was originally published in the manga magazine LaLa DX and was a finalist for the first Manga Taisho awards in 2008.

For more information on this title, or others from VIZ Media, please visit www.viz.com.

Kai-Ming Cha looks at the year in manga, and she counts down her picks for the top ten books of 2009. And 2009 was the year Faith Erin Hicks cut way back on movies so she could afford all that Naoki Urasawa manga. Seems like a good tradeoff to me.

Why did Christopher Butcher chose Shonen Jump #1 and vol. 13 of InuYasha as two of the 10 manga that changed comics? Read it and see! Then check out his column on Tezuka’s Buddha. Meanwhile, David Welsh reflects on some other manga milestones at Precocious Curmudgeon)

Want to get in on the retrospective game? Head on down to Deb’s manga blog and vote for the best new comedy and action/drama series of the past year.

Gia Manry presents her license requests for 2010 at Anime Vice, and Kate Dacey has her 2010 wish list up at The Manga Critic. Brad Rice takes a different tack, looking back at Japanator’s 2009 wish list.

In the nearer future, David Welsh and Brad Rice look at this week’s new comics.

Joe McCulloch and Tom Spurgeon dissect Death Note at The Comics Reporter. Joe also links to a 2006 interview with Yotsuba&! creator Kiyohiko Azuma.

At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson takes exception to a decade-in-review article at CBR that devotes just one section to “The rise and fall of manga.” Michael Pinto has a pretty good response at Fanboy.com that gives a much more accurate picture of the trajectory of manga in the 00s and its place in the overall comics market.

Gottsu-Iiyan argues that the weekly manga serial has got to go in order to save Japanese manga, and he explains why Ultimo is important, at The Eastern Edge.

Comparison shopping: Johanna Draper Carlson explains how a $10.99 book can be cheaper than a $9.99 book, and why it pays to buy early. Commenters chime in with buying tips of their own. This will be useful very soon for fans of Blu manga, as Tokyopop confirmed their price increase to $14.99 per volume. Lissa Pattillo has more at Kuriousity.

Sadie Mattox lists five manga workout routines she would like to try, plus a bonus diet and exercise plan!

Kate Dacey is giving away free manga at The Manga Critic; she kicks things off by offering vols. 1 and 2 of What a Wonderful World; to enter, tell her your favorite manga anthology.

The Taiwanese justice ministry is distributing copies of the manga Love to its prosecutors to teach them to be more compassionate and promote understanding between the two sides in a criminal case. The manga, which was made into a TV drama, tells the story of a woman who reconciled with the family of her son’s murderer.

News from Japan: Takehiko Inoue is starting to wrap up Vagabond, but he still has a year or so to go.

Reviews: Carlo Santos deals briskly with a stack of new manga in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

D.M. Evans on vol. 4 of B.Ichi (Manga Jouhou)
Lori Henderson on vol. 2 of Black God (Manga Xanadu)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Butterflies, Flowers (Comics Should Be Good)
Julie on vol. 2 of Captive Hearts (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Connie on vol. 3 of Choco Mimi (Slightly Biased Manga)
Snow Wildsmith on Ciao Ciao Bambino and La Satana (Fujoshi Librarian)
Tiamat’s Disciple on Destiny’s Hand (omnibus edition) (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Jennifer Dunbar on vols. 1 and 2 of Emma (A word is a unit of language)
Lori Henderson on vol. 3 of <em Happy Happy Clover (Good Comics for Kids)
Alexander Hoffman on vol. 1 of Kimi ni Todoke: From Me To You (Comics Village)
Tangognat on vols. 1-3 of Let Dai (Tangognat)
Julie on vol. 5 of Moon Boy (Mania.com)
Julie on vol. 6 of Moon Boy (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Faith McAdams on vol. 1 of Oh! My Brother (Animanga Nation)
Joy Kim on vols. 1-6 of Oyayubihime Infinity (Joy Kim)
Connie on vol. 6 of Pluto (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 4 of Rakka Ryuusui (Okazu)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 7 of Sand Chronicles (Comics Worth Reading)
Julie on vol. 7 of Sand Chronicles (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Marsha Reid on vol. 1 of Time and Again (Kuriousity)
Kate Dacey on Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (The Manga Critic)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (i heart manga)
Connie on vol. 24 of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 21 of Yakitate!! Japan (The Comic Book Bin)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 3 of Yotsuba&! (i heart manga)
Joy Kim on vol. 7 of Yotsuba&! (Manga Life)
Sam Kusek on vol. 1 of Yu-Gi-Oh! R (Manga Recon)

The retrospectives just keep coming! Christopher Butcher kicks off what looks to be an awesome series on the 10 manga that changed the comics world with a look at Dragonball and Card Captor Sakura. (Warning: Chris includes an unedited Dragonball sequence, which may raise eyebrows if you’re at work.) Deb Aoki also lists her 25 major manga milestones of the 00s at About.com; Deb and Chris discussed this on Twitter, and then other folks chimed in as well. Deb is also asking readers to vote for the best new shojo and shonen manga of the year. Danielle Leigh sums up her year in manga in her latest Manga Before Flowers column at Comics Should Be Good! And Jog only has two manga on his best-of-2009 list, but his comments on both are well worth a read.

Melinda Beasi collects the latest manhwa news and reviews at Manga Bookshelf, and she’s giving away a copy of one of the most popular titles in her year-end roundup, vol. 1 of Goong.

Dan Hipp will post the first two volumes of Gyakushu!, along with the first 75 pages of volume 3, online starting next week.

The Yaoi Review spots an increase in cover price for Blu manga. Check the comments for some interesting reactions.

Erica Friedman has a handy guide for those who can’t tell sexiness from fanservice, among other perplexities.

Say it ain’t so! John Jakala, whose good humor and total Bleach nerdiness made him one of of the most entertaining manga bloggers, has decided to put an end to Sporadic Sequential.

Eric Robinson has started a podcast at Manga Jouhou, appropriately titled Jouhou Cast.

Reviews: Johanna Draper Carlson looks at some new Shojo Beat releases at Comics Worth Reading. The Manga Recon team has a new set of Manga Minis to start the new year. Also, I want to highlight Sheena McNeil’s review of vol. 2 of Samurai Harem, at Sequential Tart, for its great headline. Other reviews of note:

Rob on vol. 1 of After School Nightmare (Panel Patter)
Laura on vol. 2 of Black Bird (Heart of Manga)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 2 of Black Bird (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on Boys Love (The Comic Book Bin)
Tangognat on vol. 1 of Butterflies, Flowers (Tangognat)
Connie on vol. 1 of Crown of Love (Slightly Biased Manga)
Patti Martinson on vol. 22 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Sequential Tart)
Connie on vol. 4 of Gestalt (Slightly Biased Manga)
Julie on vol. 1 of Happy Cafe (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Sesho on vol. 2 of Happy Mania (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Karen Maeda on vol. 8 of Honey and Clover (Sequential Tart)
Sheena McNeil on vols. 4 and 5 of I.N.V.U. (Sequential Tart)
Todd Douglass on Love Hurts (Anime Maki)
Marissa Sammy on vol. 6 of Mixed Vegetables (Sequential Tart)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 1 of Moon Boy (i heart manga)
Marissa Sammy on Oishinbo: Izakawa (Pub Food) (Sequential Tart)
Lori Henderson on vol. 22 of One Piece (Comics Village)
Karen Maeda on vol. 23 of One Piece (Sequential Tart)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 26 of One Piece (The Comic Book Bin)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 3 of Otomen (Sequential Tart)
Jennifer Dunbar on vol. 1 of Pandora Hearts (Manga Recon)
Eric Robinson on vol. 1 of Pandora Hearts (Manga Jouhou)
Joamette Gil on vol. 3 of Peach Fuzz (Sequential Tart)
Patti Martinson on vol. 8 of Record of a Fallen Vampire (Sequential Tart)
Karen Maeda on vol. 28 of Red River (Sequential Tart)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of Starcraft: Ghost Academy (Anime Sentinel)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 8 of Tactics (Sequential Tart)
Connie on vols. 22 and 23 of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (Slightly Biased Manga)

I took New Year’s Day off so I figured I had better catch up with the news this weekend, or I’ll be swamped on Monday. Lots of good stuff below, but in addition, you should really check out Robot 6, because today is their one-year anniversary of blogging at Comic Book Resources and they are celebrating with a ton of great material—exclusive previews, congratulatory art by famous creators and some fun essays, including their countdown of the 30 most important comics of the decade, which I helped compile. Part 1 is up now, and watch for part 2 tomorrow. One of the great things about the Robot 6’ers is that they are so eclectic—they read everything, from superheroes to manga to weird little comics produced in editions of ten and hand-stapled by the creator. So if you’re not checking in regularly, give it a try, and at least drop by for my Unbound columns every Tuesday.

In other news…

At Good Comics for Kids, Lori Henderson’s 10-year-old daughter Krissy lists her picks for the best kids’ manga of 2009. And in case you missed something, Kate Dacey posts our review index for the past three months.

Deb Aoki looks forward to 2010 with a post of the 25 manga she’s most looking forward to. David Welsh would very much like to see an American edition of the yaoi manga that Natsumi Ono publishes under the pseudonym Basso. And LJ’er iluvintulips has ten license requests for 2010.

Laura lists the best new shoujo manga of 2009 at Heart of Manga. Derik Badman includes Oishinbo in his favorite comics of the year at Madinkbeard. Erica Friedman counts down the 2009 yuri top ten at Okazu. Lorena Nava Ruggero has an interesting twist on the end-of-the-year post: She blogs about what she should have read last year.

Lori Henderson has a quick digest of the week’s manga news at Manga Xanadu and Erica Friedman posts the week in yuri at Okazu.

Lets Fall Asleep has an interesting essay on Death Note and Japanese mystery fiction.

Canned Dogs posts some photos of manga-ka studios.

The Yaoi Review kicks off the new year with a brand new website.

Reviews

Connie on vols. 1-5 of Adolf (Manga Recon)
Rob on vol. 1 of Bleach (Panel Patter)
Jen Dunbar on vol. 1 of Butterflies, Flowers (A word is a unit of language)
Diana Dang on vol. 1 of Cat Paradise (Stop, Drop, and Read!)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Children of the Sea (Comics Worth Reading)
Snow Wildsmith on Cigarette Kisses (Fujoshi Librarian)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Comic Lily (Okazu)
Snow Wildsmith on The Devil Inside (Fujoshi Librarian)
Russell on vol. 1 of Emma (Manga Jouhou)
Julie on vol. 8 of Gantz (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Tiamat’s Disciple on Hollow Fields (omnibus edition) (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Ed Sizemore on An Ideal World (Comics Worth Reading)
Tangognat on vol. 1 of Itazura Na Kiss (Tangognat)
Jennifer Dunbar on vol. 1 of The Lizard Prince (Manga Recon)
Deanna Gauthier on vol. 14 of Love*Com (Manga Bookshelf)
Shannon Fay on vol. 2 of Love Control (Kuriousity)
Melinda Beasi on vols. 1 and 2 of Ludwig II (Manga Recon)
Richard Auffrey on The Manga Cookbook (The Passionate Foodie)
Julie Opipari on vol. 4 of Moon Boy (Mania.com)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Oishinbo a la Carte 7: Izakaya: Pub Food (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 25 of One Piece (The Comic Book Bin)
Julie on Only One Wish (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Susan S. on vol. 1 of Raiders (Manga Jouhou)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 18 of Sgt. Frog (Comics Worth Reading)
Julie on vol. 6 of Shaman Warrior (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Connie on vol. 21 of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (Slightly Biased Manga)
Tangognat on vol. 4 of Vagabond (VizBig Edition) (Tangognat)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 29 of Vagabond (I Reads You)
Connie on vol. 1 of Yellow (omnibus edition) (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 2 of Yotsuba&! (i heart manga)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 2 of Yurara (i heart manga)

Lorena Nava Ruggero lists her picks for the best new series of 2009 at i heart manga. Kris lists her favorite manga of the year—and it’s a very different list—at Manic About Manga. And Casey Brienza picks her top ten at her LJ. David Welsh lists some books he enjoyed in the past year, manga and otherwise. Also, Comic Book Resources presents their next installment of the Best Comics of 2009, in which I participated, and there’s some good reading there.

Here’s some good reading for your holiday weekend: Jason Thompson answers the vexing question of why there are so many maids in manga at comiXology. Actually, the answer is pretty simple, but Jason also discusses the variety of ways in which maids show up. Akemi looks at the roots of Sailor Moon at Myth and Manga. Bill Randall writes about the proliferation of manga in the U.S. at The Comics Journal. And Christopher Mautner’s review of Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto, also at The Comics Journal, is more than just a review, it’s a look at common themes in Urasawa’s work and how they play out in his different series.

The latest episode of David Welsh’s shoujo-sunjeong alphabet is brought to you by the letter L.

News from Japan: ANN has the latest Japanese comic rankings. Otaku News takes a look at Comiket.

Reviews

Edward Zacharias on vol. 7 of Black Lagoon (Animanga Nation)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 8 of Honey and Clover (Manga Bookshelf)
Michael C. Lorah on vol. 1 of King of RPGs (Blog@Newsarama)
Jennifer Dunbar on vol. 1 of The Lizard Prince (Manga Recon)
Emily on Make Sweet (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 20 of Nana (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 30 of One PIece (Slightly Biased Manga)
Todd Douglass on Only One Wish (Blogcritics)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 2 of Ouran High School Host Club (i heart manga)
Connie on vol. 3 of Papillon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 3 of Pokemon Adventures (Kuriousity)
Connie on vol. 1 of Princess Knight (Slightly Biased Manga)
Gavin Lees on Red Snow (The Comics Journal)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Silent Mobius (Okazu)
Jennifer Dunbar on vols. 5-8 of Vampire Knight (A word is a unit of language)
Megan M. on vol. 8 of Vampire Knight (Manga Bookshelf)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 7 of V.B. Rose (Comics Worth Reading)

I hope you found time to drop by and check out my year in review post at Robot 6. I also contributed to Comic Book Resources’ top 100 comics of 2009 discussion; the first round is up now, and I see a couple of my picks made the final cut. Lots of good reading there, so do check it out.

David Brothers looks back at his year in comics, which included shifting away from superheroes and toward more manga and a variety of other types of comics, at 4thletter! Welcome to the fold, David.

Alex Hoffman is looking at the big picture as well, and he has some thoughts on Viz’s online initiatives at Manga Widget. Stop by, read, leave your comments, and then congratulate Alex on getting engaged!

Dave Ferraro includes quite a few manga in his top 20 comics of 2009 at Comics-and-More.

Jason Thompson picks his top ten manga of 2009 at Suvudu.

Sean Gaffney has his own blog! And he kicks things off with a review of vol. 2 of Dogs.

Kate Dacey and Brad Rice look at this week’s new releases.

News from Japan: Elemental Gelade has come to an end, and Harlem Beat creator Yuku Nishiyama has started a new series, promisingly titled Queen’s Butler Karin.

Reviews: The Manga Recon team has another round of Manga Minis for your entertainment and edification. And at Manga Life, Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane posts short takes on manga she has been reading lately.

Rob on vol. 3 of Antique Bakery (Panel Patter)
Ken Haley on Battle Royale (novel) (Manga Recon)
Jaime Samms on Caged Slave (Kuriousity)
Julie on Dog X Cat (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Chris Zimmerman on The Ghost in the Shell and Akira (CBS 4)
Oyceter on vol. 2 of Grand Guignol Orchestra (Chinese edition) (Sakura of DOOM)
Lori Henderson on Heaven’s Will (Manga Xanadu)
Snow Wildsmith on InVisible (Fujoshi Librarian)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of King of RPGs (Comics Worth Reading)
Penny Kenny on vol. 4 of Leave it to PET (Manga Life)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Madness (The Comic Book Bin)
Emily on Make Sweet (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Todd Douglas on vol. 1 of Moyasimon (Blogcritics)
Rob on vol. 2 of Nana (Panel Patter)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Night Head Genesis (Kuriousity)
Thomas Zoth on vol. 1 of Nightschool (Mania.com)
David Welsh on vol. 2 of Nightschool (Precocious Curmudgeon)
Scott VonSchilling on Only One Wish (The Anime Almanac)
Deb Aoki on vol. 1 of Raiders (About.com)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 4 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Manga Bookshelf)
Erin Jones on vol. 3 of Shinobi Life (Mania.com)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Swans in Space (Comics-and-More)
Alexander Hoffman on vol. 1 of We Were There (Comics Village)
David Welsh on vol. 2 of Yokaiden (Precocious Curmudgeon)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Yuri Shoujo (Okazu)