MangaBlog

Hey, everyone! I want to apologize for posting being a bit spotty over the past week or so. Two things are going on. One is that the touch pad on my computer is dying a slow and ugly death, so everything is taking longer. The other is that I’m busier than usual at work, and one reason for that is that I am organizing this really cool magic show. It’s a benefit for our city’s Emergency Fund, which I administer. It’s been a tough year; basically, everything you read about in the papers about the economy, I have been seeing in real life. So if you’re going to be anywhere near the North Shore of Boston on Saturday evening, come on down and enjoy the show; tickets are cheap, and a good time is guaranteed. And if you’re unfortunate enough to be somewhere else, well, just bear with me a few more days, because things will be back to normal (?) soon enough.

In the meantime…

Kate Dacey and Deb Aoki check out this week’s new manga releases.

Matthew Alexander has a comprehensive interview with Kurt Hassler at Mania.com, covering the company’s Japanese, Korean, and Chinese releases, Yen Plus magazine, their upcoming Azumanga Daioh omnibus, and much more.

My latest Unbound column at Robot 6 is a look at the way scanlators helped fuel the manga boom.

Comics Comics has some choice quotes from the new book of Hayao Miyazaki interviews, Starting Point: 1979-1996, in which he discusses manga in general and gekiga manga in particular.

In this week’s Flipped column, David Welsh meditates a bit on the many dimensions of Jiro Taniguchi. Back at Precocious Curmudgeon, he’s giving away a copy of Taniguchi’s A Distant Neighborhood Details are here.

Lori Henderson has her usual thorough summary of the past week’s manga news at Manga Xanadu, and she is looking forward to Natsume’s Book of Friends, due out soon from Viz.

Erica Friedman brings us up to date on all things Yuri with the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Going to APE this weekend? Deb Aoki calls out the manga highlights for your convenience.

The Comics Village reviewers introduce themselves.

Job Board: Tokyopop is looking for an assistant to the CEO; what struck me is that their version of a full-time job is 55-60 hours a week. At least they are up front about it. (Via Comics 411.)

News from Japan: Sundome and She is Mine are both coming to an end, and Kiss is going to run a Nodame Cantabile side story. Sesho looks at the Japanese comics in the December 2008 edition of Yen Plus. Other reviews of note:

Reviews: Carlo Santos peels back the layers of a stack of new books, including the much-discussed Karakuri Odette, in his latest Right Turn Only!! column. Dave Ferraro sees for himself what’s so controversial about vol. 1 of Dragon Ball at Comics-and-More. Andrew Wheeler takes a look at some recent Yen Press releases. Other reviews of note:

Tangognat on The Color of Heaven (Tangognat)
Connie on vols. 21-26 of Eyeshield 21 (Slightly Biased Manga)
Tangognat on vols. 1 and 2 of Flat Earth Exchange (Tangognat)
Connie on vol. 1 of Forget About Love (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Hanjuku Joshi (Okazu)
Ed Chavez on vol. 1 of Higurashi When They Cry: Cotton Drifting Arc (MangaCast)
Sophie Stevens on vol. 7 of Honey and Clover (Animanga Nation)
Katherine Farmar on vol. 1 of Ichiroh! (Comics Village)
Michelle Smith on vols. 38-40 of InuYasha (Soliloquy in Blue)
Connie on vol. 5 of I”s (Slightly Biased Manga)
Michelle Smith on vols. 3-5 of Kaze Hikaru (Soliloquy in Blue)
Emily on Kimo wo Omou Toki (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
David Welsh on Mail (Precocious Curmudgeon)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Ninja Girls (Comics Should Be Good)
Deb Aoki on vol. 1 of Oh My Brother (About.com)
Kinukitty on Prince Charming (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Rin-ne (Comics Should Be Good)
Justin Colussy-Estes on vol. 4 of Slam Dunk (Comics Village)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Soul Eater (Comics Should Be Good)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Summit of the Gods (The Manga Critic)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of Takeru: Opera Susanoh Sword of the Devil (Anime Sentinel)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Watashi no Taisetsuna Tomodachi (Okazu)
David Brothers on vol. 1 of What a Wonderful World (4thletter!)
Connie on vols. 1 and 2 of What a Wonderful World (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vols. 2 and 3 of Yotsuba&! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)

This is a fairly short post, as a rogue bit of Javascript thoroughly hosed my computer today. However, I’m linking to some nice, meaty posts, so savor them at your leisure and we’ll be back up to speed tomorrow.

The ComiPress folks have just unveiled a massive, ambitious project: Inside Scanlation, a comprehensive look at the world of scanlation, featuring interviews with scanlators and industry folks, a timeline, and all sorts of interesting information.

Meanwhile, over at Good Comics for Kids, we had a lively roundtable on the recent controversy over a copy of Dragon Ball in a school library. As several of our panelists are school and public librarians, they had a variety of different perspectives to add. Meanwhile, the Wicomico Public Library has pulled 24 volumes of the series off the shelves, due to concerns over the first volume (the series was toned down in later volumes), and library officials are trying to figure out where to shelve them. This is disconcerting. The initial concerns about the first volume came up because it was in an elementary school library—the book in question is rated 13+, so you can reasonably argue that it doesn’t belong there. A public library is a different matter. Furthermore, as J. Caleb Mozzocco points out, the Wicomico Public Library has a teen graphic novels section. That’s where the book should go, and it’s hard to believe the librarians don’t know that. It just goes to show, as librarian Robin Brenner says in the roundtable, that “Involving politicians in challenges never seems to make matters clearer, only more visible.”

On a more pleasant note, here’s a treat for Rumiko Takahashi fans: Viz has just put the first chapter of Mermaid Saga up on its Shonen Sunday website. (Via The Manga Critic.)

The denizens of Comics Village pick the best of the most recent crop of manga.

Reviews: The Manga Recon crowd make it look easy with their latest batch of Manga Minis.

Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of The Battle of Genryu: Origin (Manga Bookshelf)
Snow Wildsmith on Black Sun (Manga Jouhou)
Laura on Boys Over Flowers (Heart of Manga)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of Children of the Sea (Comics Village)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of Fairy Idol Kanon (Manga Jouhou)
Connie on vol. 1 of Four-Eyed Prince (Manga Recon)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 18 of Nana (Manga Bookshelf)
Bill Sherman on vol. 1 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (Blogcritics)
Sam on vol. 7 of Rozen Maiden (The Otaku’s Study)

Deb Aoki gets the 411 on Viz’s new original comics program with an interview with senior editor Eric Searleman, although it seems like things are still rather vague at this point.

I really like J. Caleb Mozzocco’s take on the Maryland Dragon Ball controversy. Lori Henderson takes exception to the way things happened as well.

The latest New York Times graphic books best-seller list is up, and it’s bookended by vampires, with vol. 14 of Chibi-Vampire and vol. 3 of Vampire Kisses in the number 1 and 2 spots and vol. 7 of Vampire Knight, which has been on the list for a couple of weeks now, at number 10.

Comics Comics interviews Yoshihiro Tatsumi, creator of The Push Man and A Drifting Life. (Via Comics212.)

Melinda Beasi posts two NYAF con reports, one on the manga panels at Comics Worth Reading and a more personal take at her own new site, Manga Bookshelf.

David Welsh’s latest license request is Vinland Saga, from the creator of Planetes. Read all about it at Precocious Curmudgeon.

It says here that there’s a new shoujo manga magazine in development, but not much is provided in the way of details.

News from Japan: This article about the success of Square Enix has some interesting facts about the Japanese market, including that Fullmetal Alchemist and Naruto sold only 1/10 to 1/20 as many copies in the U.S. as in Japan. Gia boils it down at Anime Vice for those who are pressed for time. Kodansha is posting some of the manga from Bessatsu Shonen magazine online for free. Canned Dogs has the cover of the Toki wo kakeru shoujo manga, an adaptation of the movie that is due out next year. And it’s not too early to start preparing for the 2012 manga summit.

Reviews: Julie posts some short manga reviews at Manga Maniac Cafe.

Melinda Beasi on vol. 17 of Hikaru no Go (Manga Bookshelf)
Emily on Kiniro no Yami (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Casey Brienza on vols. 16-18 of Nana (ANN)
Dan Polley on vol. 1 of Ninja Girls (Comics Village)

ICv2 posts Bookscan’s top 20 graphic novels for September. Lots of manga, as always.

The Wicomico, Maryland, superintendent of schools has pledged to remove the first volume of Dragon Ball from an elementary school library after the mother of a fourth-grader complained that the book contained “nudity, sexual contact between children and sexual innuendo among adults and children.”

This is good news for aspiring creators, and it also signals an interesting new direction: Viz is accepting submissions for original comics.

David Welsh takes a good look at this month’s Previews at Precocious Curmudgeon.

Sesho is not happy with Dark Horse’s slow release schedule for Eden, and he has an idea for a more worthy home for it…

Lissa Pattillo finds some possible Digital Manga licenses on Amazon.ca.

Blogging about blogging: The Manga Recon team welcomes new reviewer Jennifer Dunbar.

News from Japan: The publishers Kodansha and Akita Shoten have struck a deal under which Kodansha will publish some of Akita Shoten’s works, if I’m reading this report from ANN correctly. ANN also postst the latest comics rankings from Oricon and Tohan.

Reviews: Kate Holden, who has a degree in English literature, analyzes Emma Vieceli’s manga adaptation of Hamlet at Comic Mole Investigates. EvilOmar posts a handful of short manga reviews at About Heroes. At Precocious Curmudgeon, David Welsh takes a look at King City in pamphlet form. Park Cooper and wife Barb chat about various manga at Manga Life. Other reviews of note:

Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 8 of The Antique Gift Shop (Manga Bookshelf)
Casey Brienza on The Color of Heaven (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Alain Mendez on vol. 1 of Flame of Recca (Comics Village)
Connie on vol. 21 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Slightly Biased Manga)
Danica Davidson on vol. 3 of Il Gatto Sul G (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Diana Dang on Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea (Stop, Drop, and Read)
Sam on Hollow Fields (omnibus edition) (The Otaku’s Study)
Connie on vol. 14 of I”s (Slightly Biased Manga)
Billy Aguiar on vol. 1 of Karakuri Odette (Prospero’s Manga)
Deb Aoki on vol. 1 of Karakuri Odette (About.com)
Cathy on vol. 2 of Kimi ni Todoke (t can’t all be about manga…)
Lissa Pattillo on Mr. Flower Groom (Kuriousity)
Barb Lien-Cooper on vol. 46 of Naruto (Manga Life)
Julie on vol. 2 of Nightschool (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Billy Aguiar on vol. 1 of Ninja Girls (Prospero’s Manga)
Michelle Smith on vols. 13-15 of One Piece (Soliloquy in Blue)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of Ooku (Fujoshi Librarian)
Julie on vol. 1 of Rin-ne (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Erica Friedman on vol. 5 of Sasamekikoto (Okazu)
David Brothers on Solanin (4thletter!)
Casey Brienza on vols. 1 and 2 of Takeru: Opera Susanoh: Sword of the Devil (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Emily on Tonari no Koigatari (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Erica Friedman on vol. 3 of Tsubomi (Okazu)
Julie on vol. 7 of Venus in Love (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vol. 6 of We Were There (Manga Life)
Tangognat on vols. 1-5 of Wild Act (Tangognat)

Friends of Lulu nominations are up, and now you, the general public, can vote for your favorites. I was honored to be asked to be a judge this year, so I supplied a nomination in each category. However, so many of the other nominees were on my short list that I actually had to go back and check my e-mail to see which came from me. I may be biased, but I do think we came up with a very good list.

Kate Dacey and David Welsh paw through this week’s new releases.

In his latest comiXology column, Jason Thompson explains what Felipe Smith is up to in Peepo Choo.

Kate Dacey summarizes the controversy over the cover for the American edition of the Spice and Wolf light novel.

Joy Fleishhacker writes about the many incarnations of Astro Boy at School Library Journal.

Reviews: John Thomas includes a short review of MPD-Psycho in the latest Sci-Guys podcast.

Brad Rice on Apollo’s Song (Japanator)
Connie on vol. 1 of Beast Master (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lorena Nava Ruggero on vol. 1 of Broken Blade (MangaCast)
Sam Kusek on A Drifting Life (Manga Recon)
Lori Henderson on History of the West Wing (Manga Xanadu)
A Library Girl on In Odd We Trust (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Connie on vol. 3 of I”s (Slightly Biased Manga)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 2 of Kimi ni Todoke and vol. 2 of Black Bird (Comics Should Be Good)
Erin Jones on vol. 13 of Love*Com (Mania.com)
Matthew Rozier on vol. 5 of Pluto (Comics Village)
Katherine Farmar on vol. 1 of Sugarholic (Comics Village)

The FTC has just released new guidelines for bloggers that require reviewers to reveal any compensation they get from the maker of the product being reviewed. This has been interpreted to include review copies themselves. Although talk of $11,000 fines is being batted about, I don’t think the FTC is going to be swooping in on manga bloggers anytime soon. I suspect this is really aimed at those fake weight-loss blogs, shopping blogs, etc.

However, it seems like as good a time as any to make clear the guidelines under which MangaBlog operates. It’s basic journalistic ethics: I write honest reviews, and I avoid conflicts of interest and disclose those that can’t be avoided, no matter how small.

I cheerfully accept review copies, and if a review is based on a complimentary copy, I always note that at the end of the review (except sometimes I forget). I always do an honest review, no matter where a book comes from. I believe that publishers are grownups and can handle a bad review, and if I pull my punches, all my reviews lose credibility.

(Incidentally, since manga retails for $10 to $12, and it takes me 3-4 hours to read and review a book, the hourly wage on this thing is pretty low. Certainly not worth selling out my integrity for.)

The only obligation that a free book creates in my mind is the obligation to write about it. I am more likely to write about a review copy than a book I bought myself because I do feel that I owe the publisher some sort of review.

I read as many review copies as possible, and I mention a few every week at Robot 6 in my weekly contributions to their What Are You Reading? column. In addition to MangaBlog, I write for PWCW and Graphic Novel Reporter, and I often base my articles for those venues on review copies. And since I’m the editor of Good Comics for Kids, I may review a kid- or teen-friendly book and then pass it along to one of the writers there, so some publishers get double duty for their review copies.

If I have any connection at all with a book, I will disclose that in the review. If I feel that I’m too friendly with a creator to write an objective review of their book, I won’t review it, but I might look for a guest reviewer (I have a few of these in the works).

I keep a lot of my review copies, but space is finite, so I donate some of them to the excellent Reader to Reader program and to my local library. I also have been bringing kids’ comics into the office because I deal with a lot of families with kids, especially during the holiday season. Occasionally I put some books up on Paperback Swap, which is also a great place to find that missing volume of an older series. I do sell books on eBay, but not very often, as it’s really not worth the trouble (except for yaoi, which can’t really be donated to my usual venues).