MangaBlog

ICv2 talks to Tokyopop chief operating officer John Parker about his company’s overall health and what the future may bring once Fruits Basket comes to a close. Tokyopop editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl discusses Gakuen Alice and Fruits Basket on the latest Anime Today podcast. Meanwhile, John Jakala is not impressed with the higher prices and cheaper paper.

One of the nice things about being part of Robot 6 is the opportunity to check in with brief notes on what we’re reading each week; this week’s special guest is Noah Berlatsky, which makes it extra good.

Simon Jones notes that Dark Horse has put its catalog online, complete with sales estimates, which makes for some interesting reading.

The NYT Graphic Books best-seller list is up, and Naruto continues to dominate, although the field is getting more diverse.

Junko Mizuno will be one of the contributors to Marvel’s new anthology Strange Tales Max. Yes, that Marvel. It sounds like the anthology has an interesting lineup, actually.

Erica Friedman treats us to another week’s worth of yuri news at Okazu.

At The Hooded Utilitarian, Noah Berlatsky explains why Naruto is more accessible to newcomers than Spider-Man:

Naruto #40 isn’t accessible…but anyone who can count can look at the cover, and say, “oh, right…I should start reading this series….at number 1. Simple, easy, based on the Arabic numeral system which is familiar to most likely readers. That is what you call “accessible.”

On the other hand, let’s take those two examples from Marvel. The Ultimate Universe and Brand New Day, you say. And I, as a new potential reader of Spider-Man, respond, “What the fucking fuck?” Ultimate Universe? Regular Universe? New Day? Old Day? Are these Spider-Man comics? What’s the difference between these Spider-Man comics? Where’s the real Spider-Man comic…the one that’s, you know, about Spider-Man?

John Thomas has a question about the charges in the Christopher Handley case.

Skip Beat translator Tomo Kimura has an interesting note on Japanese vegetables.

News from Japan: Canned Dogs has news of the passing of ero-manga creator SABE. ANN has a bit more. Manga-ka Yoshitoshi ABe is collaborating with the director and head writer of the anime Lain on a new project, Despera. Details will be announced this week and a graphic novel will be part of the package.

Reviews: The Manga Recon crew has a yaoi-free set of Manga Minis for us this morning. Other reviews of note:

Lissa Pattillo on vol. 27 of Bleach (Kuriousity)
Kate Dacey on vols. 1-4 of Canon (The Manga Critic)
Connie on vol. 1 of Children of the Sea (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 16 of Comic Yuri Hime (part 2) (Okazu)
Chloe Ferguson on vols. 4-6 of Cynical Orange (Manga Recon)
Connie on vol. 27 of Detective Conan (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 4 of Flower of Life (Kuriousity)
Billy Aguiar on vols. 1 and 2 of Gravitation Collection (Prospero’s Manga)
Julie on vol. 4 of Hoshin Engi (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lori Henderson on vol. 6 of Lunar Legend Tsukihime (Comics Village)
Tangognat on vol. 2 of Name of the Flower (Tangognat)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 22 of Negima! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Lori Henderson on Project X Challengers: Seven Eleven (Manga Xanadu)
Casey Brienza on vols. 3-5 of Sand Chronicles (ANN)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 17 of Sgt. Frog (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Johanna Draper Carlson on So I Need to Lose 15 Pounds (Comics Worth Reading)
Julie on vol. 1 of Sumomomo, Momomo (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 21 of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (Kuriousity)

When is a vol. 2 not a vol. 2? When it’s vol. 2 of a spinoff but looks just like the original series. At Comics212, Christopher Butcher wonders what happened to the graphic designers who can’t seem to get the spines consistent—with confusing results.

This week’s license request from David Welsh: N.Y.N.Y. Publishers, start your engines.

Lori Henderson considers whether reviewers can do a fair review of a series from a handful of volumes.

The Panel Borders podcast visits the manhwa exhibit in London and interviews two British manga artists. (Via Journalista.)

Reviews: At The Hooded Utilitarian, Kinukitty discusses several bad yaoi manga. Scott VonSchilling takes a look at the Manga Guide to… series from No Starch Press at The Anime Almanac.

Lissa Pattillo on Apollo’s Song (Kuriousity)
Deb Aoki on vol. 1 of Cirque du Freak (About.com)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Cirque du Freak (Comics Should Be Good)
Erica Friedman on vol. 16 of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1 and 2 of Fire Investigator Nanase (Manga Recon)
Emily on Kodomo Datte Otona ni Naru (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Laura on vol. 4 of Mixed Vegetables (Shojo Flash)
Julie on vol. 10 of Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Billy Aguiar on vol. 1 of Orange Planet (Prospero’s Manga)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Queen of Ragtonia (The Manga Critic)
Lorena on vol. 2 of Skip Beat (i ♥ manga)
Sadie Mattox on the latest issue of Yen Plus (Extremely Graphic)
Lori Henderson on vol. 3 of Yurara (Comics Village)

ICv2 lists BookScan’s top 20 graphic novels for May. Naruto dominates, and Vampire Knight, Otomen, and Return to Labyrinth also show up on the list, suggesting a certain concordance with the New York Times Graphic Books best-seller list.

At The Eastern Edge, Gottsu-Iiyan pushes back on the Handley case and suggests that the slippery slope could go the other way:

Even free democracies have to draw lines around freedom at some point. I think children is the perfect place for society to dig their trenches and tell people who enjoy seeing children in sexual situations to stay the hell on their side of the line or suffer the consequences at the hands of the rest of us who don’t want to let society become a place where children are fair game.

He also makes some salient points about the place of lolicon and hentai in Japanese society.

Anna encounters the problem of the missing middle volumes at 2 screenshot limit.

It’s more general than just manga, but at Rocket Bomber Matt Blind treats us to a taxonomy of bookstore customers and the opportunities they present for retailers.

News from Japan: ANN has the weekly comics rankings from Oricon and Tohan.

Reviews

A Library Girl on vol. 1 of Blank Slate (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Emily on Fly High (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1 and 2 of Future Lovers (Manga Recon)
Julie on Genghis Khan: To the Ends of the Earth and Sea (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Justin Colussy-Estes on vol. 17 of Kekkaishi (Comics Village)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 3 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Kuriousity)
Tangognat on vol. 1 of Moon Child (Tangognat)
Oyceter on vol. 21 of Nana (Japanese edition) (Sakura of DOOM)
Sean Gaffney on Negima! (Okazu)
Laura on Nodame Cantabile (Heart of Manga)
Di on Oh My Goddess! Colors (Otaku Public Library)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Rasetsu (The Manga Critic)
Lorena on chapter 6 of Rin-ne (i ♥ manga)
Ed Sizemore on vols. 1-3 of St. Dragon Girl (Comics Worth Reading)
Laura on vol. 3 of St. Dragon Girl (Shojo Flash)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of Sumomomo, Momomo: The Strongest Bride on Earth (There it is, Plain as Daylight)
Deb Aoki on vol. 1 of Yokai Doctor (About.com)

OT, but hopefully interesting: I’m writing a webcomics column, Unbound, at Robot 6. This week, I outline what I learned from reading 120 Zuda comics a year.

Over at Publishers Weekly Comics Week, Calvin Reid and Heidi MacDonald report on the comics/graphic novel presence at Book Expo America.

Kate Dacey, David Welsh, and Japanator’s Red Z. Baylon take a look at this week’s new releases, while Shojo Flash looks at the new shoujo releases for the week.

At Graphic Novel Reporter, John Hogan talks to Udon’s Jim Zubkavich about the new Udon line of manga for kids.

Seven Seas posts some unfinished pages from the never-completed volume 2 of Captain Nemo, causing Lori Henderson to remember how much she liked the first volume.

Sadie Mattox lists five shoujo heroines she would like to slap in the face.

Athena and Alethea Nibley discuss the personal touches different translators bring to their work at Manga Life.

Manga Recon’s Ken Haley files his con report on Anime Boston: part 1, part 2.

Vertical marketing director and all-round manga fanatic Ed Chavez is hosting another Vertical Vednesday today, June 3, at 6:30 at Kinokuniya, 1073 Avenue of the Americas. Join him for snacks and a discussion of josei manga and the Guin Saga. If you can make it, please RSVP to ed@vertical-inc.com.

Over at Heart of Manga, Laura writes about that staple of shoujo manga, summer festivals.

Shojo Flash asks: Do you read manga magazines? Check out the poll and the questions that follow.

ANN reports that Loveless creator Yun Kouga will be a guest of honor at Anime Expo.

New blog alert! i ♥ manga is a brand-new review blog by a writer named Lorena who is particularly fond of shoujo and josei romantic comedies, mysteries, and episodic stories. She’s shooting to do a review a day, so stop by often. And she’s also a brand-new blogger at MangaCast, where she just filed her first review, a look at vol. 2 of Gankutsuou.

Reviews: Kate Dacey declares this to be Chika Shiomi Appreciation Week at The Manga Critic and kicks things off with a look at vols. 1-5 of Yurara. Greg McElhatton takes a look at chapters 1-5 of Rin-Ne at Read About Comics.

Joy Kim on vol. 1 of 13th Boy (Manga Life)
Connie on vol. 2 of Astral Project (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 6 of Black Lagoon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Julie on vol. 2 of Bride of the Water God (Manga Maniac Cafe)
John Hogan on Cirque du Freak (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Connie on vol. 1 of Detroit Metal City (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 5 of Fairy Tail (Slightly Biased Manga)
Emily on Fly High (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Connie on vol. 2 of Happy Happy Clover (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 3 of Hayate x Blade (Okazu)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 1 of Jack Frost: The Amityville (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Mixed Vegetables (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Monkey High (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vol. 1 of Nabari no Ou (2 Screenshot Limit)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 1 of Nabari no Ou (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Oyceter on vols. 18-20 of Nana (Japanese edition) (Sakura of DOOM)
J. Caleb Mozzocco on vol. 1 of Ninja Baseball Kyuma (Every Day Is Like Wednesday)
David Rasmussen on vol. 3 of Pluto (Manga Life)
Ed Sizemore on vol. 3 of Pluto (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Ral Ω Grad (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Rosario+Vampire (The Comic Book Bin)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 2 of Shinobi Life (Comics Should Be Good)
Lori Henderson on Tail of the Moon Prequel: The Other Hanzo(u) (Comics Village)
Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vol. 4 of We Were There (Manga Life)
Katherine Farmar on vol. 3 of Yakuza In Love (Comics Village)

Does Yuricon have something to teach newspaper reporters? Our favorite yuri publisher showed up on the Daily Kos yesterday as an example of how to do niche publishing right—and Erica Friedman is quoted at length. Erica posts her own reaction to the article and to the comments at her home blog, Okazu.

In his latest Flipped column, David Welsh shows us his vacation pictures—that is, pictures of the manga he picked up on his vacation. Back home at Precocious Curmudgeon, he lists his criteria for a good comics store. Could it be that “books David Welsh likes” is the next microniche? We could do worse!

What do you think of the Stan Lee/Hiroyuki Takei comic Ultimo? Tell Deb Aoki, or just view the results in her latest poll.

Del Rey is hiking their cover price by a buck, and Robert of Robert’s Anime Corner isn’t happy about it. (Via Simon Jones.)

Kodansha will be releasing The Otaku Encyclopedia next fall.

Reviews

Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Apothecarius Argentum (Comics Worth Reading)
Zac Bentz on vol. 1 of Detroit Metal City (Japanator)
Isaac Hale on vols. 17 and 18 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Manga Recon)
Michelle Smith on vol. 10 of High School Debut (Soliloquy in Blue)
Julie on vol. 2 of Higurashi When They Cry: Abducted by Demons Arc (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 1 of Ichiroh! (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Diana Dang on The Knockout Makers (Stop, Drop, and Read!)
Dave Ferraro on Metropolis (Comics-and-More)
Edward Zacharias on vol. 36 of Naruto (Animanga Nation)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 3 of Pluto (Kuriousity)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 1 of Welcome to Wakaba-soh (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)

We heard a lot of buzz over the weekend about the graphic novel presence at Book Expo America. ICv2 has a wrapup report that notes that the big manga players (Tokyopop, Viz) didn’t have booths on the floor, although I happen to know that both sent representatives to the show.

Manga seemed particularly affected, with Dark Horse, Hachette’s Yen Press, and Japanime the only manga publishers we saw on the floor. But Diamond Book Distributors’ Kuo-Yu Liang assured us that manga was still an important part of the business. “The market for manga is still there,” he said, noting that the number of titles had gotten out of hand relative to the demand, and was coming back in line.

Yen Press, of course, is based in New York, so their people didn’t have to travel, which may have been a factor.

Jonathan Clements has an interesting piece on the manga of Kenshi Hirokane, who features older characters in his stories, at The Official Schoolgirl Milky Crisis Blog.

Sean Rogers looks at a classic underground manga, Nejishiki (“Screw-Style”), at The Walrus Magazine blog.

Tom Baker writes about a common theme in manga: The hand or arm that takes on a life of its own (Parasyte) or becomes a deadly weapon (Berserk).

Lissa Pattillo finds some possible new Tokyopop titles on Amazon and speculates about some older announcements as well at Kuriousity.

Shojo Flash lists the shoujo manga coming out in August, gleaned from the latest Previews.

Erica Friedman has some excellent advice for artists and writers as well as a week’s worth of yuri news at Okazu.

At The Guardian, LaToya Peterson looks at the Marvel Divas and realizes why she likes manga better than capes-and-tights comics.

Japanator’s Brad Rice has some new license suggestions for Vertical, and his readers chime in with more.

News from Japan: Great Teacher Onizuka is returning to the pages of Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine with a new name: GTO Shonan 14 Days. And Saiyuki Reload is coming to an end, but

Reviews: I’m a bit late to this party, but Derik Badman has been reviewing Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix, one volume at a time, at his blog, Madinkbeard. His most recent review, of vol. 9, is just up, and he also discusses Lone Wolf and Cub and Akira. Over at Manga Recon, the staff turns in another sheaf of Manga Minis.

A Library Girl on vol. 3 of Antique Bakery (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Connie on vol. 1 of Audition (Slightly Biased Manga)
D.M. Evans on vol. 1 of B.Ichi (Manga Jouhou)
John Thomas on vol. 4 of Black Jack (Comics Village)
Connie on vol. 5 of Black Lagoon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Emily on Cherries Fight (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Marc Mason on The Color of Earth (Comics Waiting Room)
Tangognat on vol. 1 of Cy-Believers (Tangognat)
Julie on Dogs Prelude 0 (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Julie on Double Trouble (MangaCast)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 4 of Flower of Life (Comics Should Be Good)
Connie on vol. 1 of Gakuen Prince (Manga Recon)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of Gestalt (There it is, Plain as Daylight)
Erin on vols. 9-11 of Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga Recon)
Azizul Rahman on vol. 1 of Higurashi When They Cry: Abducted by Demons (The Star of Malaysia)
Julie on Idol Pleasures (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Kasumi (Kuriousity)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1 and 2 of Kaze Hikaru (Comics Should Be Good)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 9 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Kuriousity)
Laura on Land of the Blindfolded (Heart of Manga)
David Brothers on vol. 2 of Lone Wolf and Cub (4thletter!)
Connie on vol. 2 of Magic Touch (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Ninja Baseball Kyuma (Manga Xanadu)
Sam Kusek on vol. 21 of One Piece (Manga Recon)
Connie on vol. 6 of Parasyte (Slightly Biased Manga)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of Pig Bride (Manga Recon)
Sandy Bilus on vol. 1 of Pluto (I Love Rob Liefeld)
David Brothers on vols. 1-3 of Pluto (4thletter!)
Julie on vol. 5 of Sand Chronicles (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Brad Rice on Sundome (Japanator)
Sabrina Fritz on vol. 1 of Tsubasa: Those with Wings and vol. 1 of Fruits Basket (Good Comics for Kids)