MangaBlog

The Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) has posted the nominations for its Great Graphic Novels for Teens list, and as always, manga is well represented.

Laura lists her favorite supernatural shoujo manga at Heart of Manga. And David Welsh is up to the letter C in his shojo-sunjeong alphabet.

Just in time for Halloween, Manga University is starting a new webcomic, Net Auction, by Atsuhisa Okura, the Japanese artist who illustrated the Wired article on manga.

Deb Aoki goes for the classics with her list of 15 essential manga by Osamu Tezuka at About.com. Deb also has the scoop on two manga events: Haruka Minami has cancelled her planned appearance at Yaoi-Con, but Domo-kun creator Tsuneo Goda will be in LA today and will be a guest on Tokyopop’s webcast this evening.

Hey, this is cool: The Ohio State University Libraries have a manga blog, written by Japanese Studies Librarian and Associate Professor Maureen Donovan. From there I found Catholic University of Leuven’s blog, Let’s Manga, which isn’t updated much but has a lot of interesting links to academics and research (such as this essay on manga depictions of the World War II German army).

News from Japan: A new manga, Calendar Boy, turns the Japanese national holidays into manga characters. Sounds kind of interesting. Close the Last Door creator Yugi Yamada is restarting her BL manga based on the novel Mahoro Ekimae Tada Benrikan.

Reviews: David Welsh takes a look at some volume 2s at Precocious Curmudgeon.

Brad Rice on Afterschool Charisma (Japanator)
Michael May on vol. 1 of Bizenghast (Robot 6)
Julie on vol. 1 of Cirque du Freak (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 1 of Crimson Shell (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Michelle Smith on Cowa! (Soliloquy in Blue)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 2 of The Embalmer (i heart manga)
Tangognat on vol. 11 of High School Debut and vol. 18 of Nana (Tangognat)
Connie on vol. 15 of Lovely Complex (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vols. 17 and 18 of Monster (Slightly Biased Manga)
Tangognat on vol. 2 of Rasetsu (Tangognat)
Connie on vol. 19 of Skip Beat (Slightly Biased Manga)
Matthew Rozier on vol. 1 of The Summit of the Gods (Comics Village)

Although you wouldn’t guess it from the name, Beast Master is a shoujo manga, and in fact, it’s the latest entry in Viz’s Shojo Beat imprint. Read on for the details!

VIZ MEDIA INVITES READERS TO A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE WITH THE NEW BEAST MASTER MANGA SERIES

It’s Animal Attraction When A High School Girl Meets A Cute Boy Who Is Not All He Appears To Be

San Francisco, CA, October 28, 2009 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, expands its popular SHOJO BEAT imprint with the release of Kyousuke Motomi’s BEAST MASTER manga on November 3rd. The new series is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 US / $12.99 CAN.

Leo Aoi looks like a crazy animal with wild eyes – and no one at his new high school will go near him! He does seem to have a special connection with animals, which intrigues overzealous animal lover Yukio Kubozuka. In reality, Leo isn’t nearly as frightening as he appears, but Yukio finds out that he goes berserk whenever he sees blood! Will Yukio be able to get through to Leo during one of these violent fits? Or will his ferocious side eventually devour her? The debut volume also includes a special bonus short story called FLY.

Manga artist Kyousuke Motomi debuted in Japan’s popular shojo manga magazine Betsucomi with No Good Cupid in 2002, and she is also the creator of Handsome! Beads Club. Her latest work, Electric Daisy, is also currently being serialized in Betsucomi.

“BEAST MASTER is part comedy, part romance, part drama and all fun as it adds a new twist to the idea of animal attraction,” says Gonzalo Ferreyra, Vice President, Sales & Marketing, VIZ Media. “Readers will empathize with Leo and his terrible secret and root for the tender relationship he forms with Yukio. Will she be able to tame Leo’s wild side? Will the pair find true love or will his secret destroy them both? Find out in this truly wild new series from VIZ Media!”

It’s not manga, but an issue that affects a lot of manga readers: Two circulation desk employees (not librarians) in a Kentucky library were fired for stopping an 11-year-old child from checking out a volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen because they regarded it as “porn.” We had a roundtable discussion of this at Good Comics for Kids, with both librarians and parents well represented.

Kate Dacey, Brad Rice, and David Welsh make their picks from this week’s new manga.

At PWCW, Kai-Ming Cha talks to Patrick Galbraith, the author of The Otaku Encyclopedia, and Steve Bunche interviews Eric P. Nash, the writer of Manga Kamishibai, a book about manga’s ancestor, “paper theater.”

Lorena Nava Ruggero suggests some manga for Halloween reading. Matthew Alexander and Chris Beveridge post their Halloween manga and anime recommendations at Mania.com. And while it’s not about manga, check out my latest Unbound column at Robot 6 for some webcomics that don’t need zombies to creep you out.

Evan Miller has a nice, meaty interview with manga scholar Fred Schodt at ANN.

Translators Alethea and Athena Nibley ponder the problem of matching characters with dialogue at Manga Life.

Simon Jones is not impressed with Kodansha’s new editions of Akira and Ghost in the Shell, which are a lot like Dark Horse’s old editions.

Lori Henderson puts Bloody Monday on her license wish list.

News from Japan: A manga based on the anime So-Ra-No-Wo-To is in the works; it will run in Dengeki Daioh.

Reviews: PWCW reviews a number of recent graphic novels, including vol. 1 of What a Wonderful World. Park Cooper and Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane discuss what they have been reading lately at Manga Life. Erica Friedman has serious problems with vol. 1 of Maria Holic at Okazu.

Ed Sizemore on vol. 2 of The Big Adventures of Majoko (Comics Worth Reading)
Connie on vol. 29 of Bleach (Slightly Biased Manga)
Steven M. Bari on vol. 31 of Case Closed (Manga Life)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 3 of Cirque du Freak (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Billy Aguiar on vol. 1 of Deka Kyoshi (Prospero’s Manga)
Phil Guie on vol. 1 of Dream Gold: Knights in the Dark City (Manga Recon)
Katherine Farmar on Endless Rain (Comics Village)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of Full House (Manga Bookshelf)
Emily on Honey Darling! (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Charles Webb on vol. 2 of Jack Frost (Manga Life)
Andre on vol. 1 of Karakuri Odette (Kuriousity)
Eva Volin on vol. 1 of Mad Love Chase (ICv2)
Julie on vol. 13 of Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation and vol. 3 of Rosario + Vampire (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 2 of The Name of the Flower (MangaCast)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 33 of Oh My Goddess! (Mania.com)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 4 of Papillon (Comics Worth Reading)
Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vol. 1 of Rin-ne (Manga Life)
Kiki Van De Camp on vol. 6 of Sand Chronicles (Animanga Nation)
Penny Kenny on vol. 1 of Soul Eater (Manga Life)
Connie on Too Long (Slightly Biased Manga)

Just in time for Halloween, Deb Aoki talks to Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda about their book Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide.

Derik Badman will be cooking dishes from Viz’s foodie series Oishinbo all week at Graphic Novel Review. Here’s his first post.

Queenie Chan posts the trailer for her latest book: She did a number of short comics for The Boy’s Book of Positive Quotations.

At The Eastern Edge, gottsu-iiyan shares another glimpse of Hayao Miyazaki’s comic Kaze Tachinu.

News from Japan: Honey Bitter, by Kodocha creator Miho Obana, is back after a one-year hiatus.

Reviews: David Welsh rounds up manga bloggers’ favorite horror manga for his latest Flipped column. Carlo Santos casts a critical eye on some new releases in his Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Other reviews of note:

Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of 10 Beautiful Assassins (Comics-and-More)
Michael Buntag on vol. 3 of 20th Century Boys (NonSensical Words)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 5 of 20th Century Boys (Kuriousity)
Casey Briena on vols. 1-3 of Andromeda Stories (ANN)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 6 of Croquis Pop (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Julie on vol. 1 of Deka Kyoshi (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Scott VonSchilling on vol. 1 of Deka Kyoshi (The Anime Almanac)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 1 of Fire Investigator Nanase (i heart manga)
John Thomas on vol. 1 of Four-Eyed Prince (Comics Village)
Connie on vol. 16 of Monster (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kate Holden on Much Ado About Nothing (Comic Mole)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of NG Life (Good Comics for Kids)
Matthew J. Brady on vol. 5 of Pluto (Warren Peace Sings the Blues)
Michael C. Lorah on Red Snow (Blog@Newsarama)
Connie on Sake Jock (Slightly Biased Manga)
Snow Wildsmith on Sense and Sexuality (Fujoshi Librarian)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 2 of Sugarholic (Manga Bookshelf)
Michelle Smith on Tokyo Zombie (Soliloquy in Blue)
Kris on Utahime – The Songstress (Manic About Manga)
Danielle Leigh on vols. 1 and 2 of What a Wonderful World (Comics Should Be Good)

Lori Henderson posts another excellent manga news roundup at Manga Xanadu, covering the Dragon Ball incident, a fascinating Twitter conversation, and more. She also reminds readers to comment on their favorite titles at Sigikki if they want them to see print someday. Speaking of Sigikki, David Welsh brings us up to date on the lineup and asks his readers how much they are using the site.

ANN’s Evan Miller interviews Shatia Hamilton, winner of the Rising Stars of Manga competition and creator of the webcomic Fungus Grotto.

Christopher Butcher critiques the Shojoberry business model at Comic212, and he critiques it pretty hard. Read the comments for some interesting insights into licensing and other issues.

Erica Friedman talks to yuri manga artist Morishima Akiko and rounds up the week’s yuri news at Okazu.

Ed Sizemore contributes the latest license request at Precocious Curmudgeon, and it’s a classic: Doraemon.

Writer Jesse McCann, who worked on some Dragon Ball activity books, has some thoughts on the cultural differences that got Dragon Ball banned from all school libraries (including high school, the intended audience) in Wicomico County, MD.

The Manga Village crew has a roundtable discussing the FTC’s recent guidelines for bloggers who receive free review copies.

John Thomas discusses horror manga for Halloween in the latest Sci-Guys podcast.

At Rocket Bomber, Matt Blind is catching up on the online graphic novel sales rankings; he’s up to the week of August 2.

Are Japanese emoticons only comprehensible to those who read manga? I would say no, but that “anguished face” looks more like a “sleepy face” to me, so who knows?

News from Japan: Simon Jones reports that Shogakukan is folding three children’s magazines, although he links to a news article that says two of them will be replaced by a different magazine. Tatsuya Egawa, creator of Golden Boy, is creating an iPhone manga that will be a prequel to the live-action movie If Blessed. Mushishi creator Yuki Urushibara also has a new manga in the works, this one in more traditional format (it will run in Kodansha’s Monthly Afternoon.)

Reviews: The Manga Recon team posts a fresh batch of Manga Minis to start the week right. EvilOmar posts some brief reviews at About Heroes.

Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 3 of Apothecarius Argentum (i heart manga)
Alain Mendez on vols. 1 and 2 of Aqua (Comics Village)
Shannon Fay on vol. 2 of Cat-Eyed Boy (Kuriousity)
James Fleenor on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Anime Sentinel)
Kate Dacey on Domu: A Child’s Dream (The Manga Critic)
Jen Dunbar on vols. 1 and 2 of Fairy Tail (A word is a unit of language)
Billy Aguiar on vol. 1 of Four-Eyed Prince (Prospero’s Manga)
Jen Dunbar on vols. 1 and 2 of Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden (A word is a unit of language)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of High School Debut (Comics Village)
Greg McElhatton on Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators (Read About Comics)
Michelle Smith on vol. 1 of Karakuri Odette (Manga Recon)
Julie on Liberty Liberty! (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Julie on vol. 15 of Love*Com (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 1 of The Name of the Flower (i heart manga)
Michelle Smith on vol. 1 of Nightschool (Soliloquy in Blue)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Rin-ne (Kuriousity)
Ken Haley on vol. 1 of Silent Möbius, Complete Edition (Manga Recon)
Tangognat on vols. 3 and 4 of Swan (Tangognat)
Tangognat on vol. 1 of A Tale of an Unknown Country (Tangognat)
Snow Wildsmith on Where Has Love Gone (Fujoshi Librarian)

The Viz folks have a Q&A with Rumiko Takahashi on The Rumic World, the site that hosts her manga Rin-ne. It’s about as informative as every other interview with a manga creator, which is to say, not very.

All the school libraries—elementary, middle, and high school—in Wicomico County, Maryland, have removed all the volumes of Dragon Ball from their shelves because of some nudity and sexual innuendo in the first volume, which was erroneously placed in an elementary-school library, ICv2 reports:

The district did become aware that the books were intended for young adults during the review process, according to the report, but still decided to remove the books from high school shelves as well for reasons that were not explained. Superintendent Frederickson did defend the use of graphic novels as an educational tool, according to the report.

Here’s a little treat to start the weekend off right: Kurutta posts a few pages of Osamu Tezuka’s Crime and Punishment (translated by Fred Schodt). (Via Robot 6.)

And at Same Hat!, Ryan shows off some of Steve Oliff’s original coloring guides for Akira.

The latest ANNCast is up, and the special guest is Gia Manry of Anime Vice.

News from Japan: Meiji University announced that it will establish an international manga library in 2014.

Reviews

Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Akira (The Manga Critic)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 9 of The Antique Gift Shop (Kuriousity)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 2 of Apothecarius Argentum (i heart manga)
Connie on vol. 28 of Bleach (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 4 of Hayate x Blade (Okazu)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 2 of Nightschool (Comics Should Be Good!)
Michelle Smith on vol. 1 of Oh! My Brother (Manga Recon)
Julie on vol. 27 of Red River (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Rin-ne (The Manga Critic)
Sesho on vol. 8 of Sorcerer Hunters (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
D.M. Evans on vols. 4-6 of Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning (Manga Jouhou)
Diana Dang on vols. 1-14 of Tramps Like Us (Stop, Drop, and Read!)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 5 of With the Light (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)