MangaBlog

OK, I finally figured out how to tweet. I’ll be updating from the floor at http://twitter.com/BrigidAlverson

Yen Press has just announced that they have picked up the license for volume 6 of Yotsuba&! Volume 6 will be released in September 2009. Check back for more details later.

ETA: To be clear, Yen has picked up the license for the series going forward and will be releasing subsequent volumes every few months. I believe the series is up to vol. 9 in Japan. Yen Press honcho Kurt Hassler said that they would be looking to pick up the license for the older volumes as well.

The manga action doesn’t really start until today, with the Del Rey, Yen Press, and CMX panels, but we did make it to the Vertical panel yesterday and chatted with Steven Padnick of Tor Books, which is Seven Seas’ partner.

The news at Vertical was that they plan no new manga in the immediate future, but they will be releasing more volumes of Black Jack, along with a slew of interesting Japanese craft books, sudoku books, and cookbooks. Vertical head Ioannis Mentzas did reveal that they recently formed a relationship with a Japanese company that would provide both cash and influence in licensing negotiations while allowing them to remain independent. Gia liveblogged the panel here, if you would like more details. Oh, and full disclosure: I won the first two volumes of Black Jack in hardcover in the drawing.

Over at the Tor booth, I asked Padnick what was up with Seven Seas, which seems to have been rather quiet lately. He reassured me that they have had steady and good sales for the past year, although he allowed he was a bit worried about the Diamond minimums, which may affect some of their titles, although the bookstore channel remains robust. While the transition to the Tor partnership took Seven Seas off the market for three or four months last year, that is behind them, and the company will be announcing new licenses at San Diego Comic-Con in July. Previously announced books that are in the works include omnibus editions of Destiny’s Hand and Hollow Fields, and the second omnibus volume of Amazing Agent Luna.

Also, Tokyopop announced yesterday that it will be publishinga Domo-kun manga.

ANN has a full report up of the ICv2 graphic novel white paper.

And if you’re here and can’t figure out what to do, Deb Aoki has today’s manga and anime highlights at her blog.

Good news for Rumiko Takahashi fans: She’s working on a new series, which will debut later this year in Shonen Sunday.

Words Without Borders, which styles itself as “The Online Magazine for International Literature,” is devoting this month’s issue to graphic novels, and there are some treats here for manga fans, including a story from vol. 4 of Black Jack and a sample from Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life. And Vertical, Inc. editorial director Ioannis Mentzas is blogging there as well; check out his first post on translated fiction.

Posters at the MangaHelpers board speculate about which new licenses will be announced at NYCC.

Deb Aoki’s readers weigh in on the best yaoi manga of 2008 at About.com.

Matt Blind wonders: Where’s that new Kodansha manga publisher we were all hearing about last year?

Two new reviewers join the Manga Recon team: Grant Goodman, formerly of ANN, and Connie C., the moving force behind Slightly Biased Manga.

Jack Hsu of the Taiwan News takes a look at the evolution of Taiwan’s otaku culture. (Via Robot 6.)

Reviews: Danielle Leigh jots down her thoughts on three fantasy manga, vols. 1-3 of Berserk, vol. 5 of Gakuen Alice, and vol. 1 of Momo Tama, in her reading diary at Comics Should Be Good. Also, Michelle Smith of Manga Recon and Soliloquy in Blue fame has joined CSBG and debuts with a thoughtful review of The Quest for the Missing Girl. And at ANN, Carlo Santos treats us to another Right Turn Only!! column, which is always fun to read whether he likes the books or not. Other reviews of note:

Kris on Almost Crying (Manic About Manga)
Grant Goodman on vol. 1 of Berserk (Manga Recon)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 7 of Chocolat (Kuriousity)
Connie on vol. 20 of Fruits Basket (Slightly Biased Manga)
Charles Tan on vol. 3 of Gantz (Comics Village)
Casey Brienza on vol. 1 of Ghost Talker’s Daydream (kethylia)
Kris on Lover’s Flat (Manic About Manga)
Connie on vol. 15 of Nana (Slightly Biased Manga)
Jason on vol. 1 of Night of the Beasts (Anime Fans Online)
Julie on vol. 2 of Papillon (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Snow Wildsmith on Take Me to Heaven (Fujoshi Librarian)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 19 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (Kuriousity)

Forget spring—New York Comic Con is just around the corner, and preparations are well under way here at MangaBlog Central. If you’re only there for the manga, check out Deb Aoki’s list of the manga highlights at About.com. I’ll be there—look for a short woman wearing many different hats, except the hats are figurative, as I’ll be covering the con for MangaBlog, PWCW, Good Comics for Kids, Digital Strips, and anyone else who will pay me. If you will be there on Friday morning, be sure to stop by the panel Newsflash! Teen Girls Read Comics, which will be moderated by Robin Brenner and feature Kate Dacey, Del Rey’s Tricia Narwani, and yours truly. If you would like to meet up during the con, drop me an e-mail at the address on your left. Not going? Check this space for frequent updates.

At Precocious Curmudgeon, David Welsh goes through this week’s new releases and finds a few things to read. God Len runs through this week’s new manga and anime as well at Japanator.

Here’s an odd twist in a case that has attracted a lot of attention in the comics community: The trial of Christopher Handley, who faces up to 20 years for the “crime” of owning obscene manga, has been postponed due to “convenience of counsel,” whatever that means. ICv2 speculates that the trial may be rescheduled to late March. Here’s the backstory, in case you missed this when it first came out.

Deb posts the results of her readers’ poll for best manga magazine at About.com, and the result may surprise you.

Indefatigable manga reader and commentator Oyceter posts her sequential art list for 2008 at her LJ, Sakura of DOOM. Click for pithy commentary and a series or two you might have missed.

News from Japan: Ed Chavez posts Taiyosha’s weekly manga rankings at MangaCast. At Anime Vice, Gia reports that Hetalia creator Hidekazu Himaruya has been getting death threats on message boards because of his depiction of South Korea. And the doujinshi chain Toranoana seems to be doing pretty well despite the tough economic times. Because we all know that comics will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no comics.

Reviews: The Manga Recon team serves up a fistful of Manga Minis, including quick looks at vol. 2 of Captive Hearts, vol. 3 of Two Flowers for the Dragon, and more. At MangaCast, Jack Tse returns from a lengthy hiatus to post an appreciation of a book that’s been around for a while, Del Rey’s one-volume shoujo version of Train Man, while Ed devotes his latest podcast to vol. 2 of Translucent. And the scales fall from Alex Hoffman’s eyes as he reads vols. 3 and 4 of Rosario + Vampire at Manga Widget. Other reviews of note:

Connie on vol. 4 of Banana Fish (Slightly Biased Manga)
J. Caleb Mozzocco on Cowa!, vols. 1-2 of Dororo, and vol. 5 of Yotsuba&! (Every Day Is Like Wednesday)
Julie on vol. 1 of Happy Happy Clover (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Melinda Beasi on vols. 1-3 of Legal Drug (there it is, plain as daylight)
Connie on vol. 15 of Let Dai (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kris on vol. 2 of Loveholic (Manic About Manga)
Dan Polley on vol. 2 of Me and the Devil Blues (Comics Village)
Derik Badman on Mushishi (Madinkbeard)
Connie on vol. 6 of One Thousand and One Nights (Slightly Biased Manga)

This story at ICv2 covers ground that is familiar to the readers of this blog—the Tokyopop series listed as “cancelled” from the latest Previews were in fact postponed—but adds a bit of news that will be welcome in many quarters: vol. 5 of Aria will be released in March, and Tokyopop plans to continue the series. Bonus points to ICv2 for illustrating this with the cover of the anime of Aria. (Image is of the Japanese vol. 5, nicked from Okazu.)

The MangaCast and Comics Village writers pick the cream of this week’s new releases.

Deb Aoki talks to Digital’s Michelle Mauk about their latest acquisition, Itazura Na Kiss, at About.com. Deb also interviews Kirsten Rose, the founder of the manga trading site Mangatude. And the poll results are pouring in, as Deb reveals readers’ picks for the best one-shot, all-ages, global, classic, and josei titles.

Meanwhile, the folks at the Angouleme comics festival in France had a contest of their own, and the winner was Shigeru Mizuki, whose Operation Mort won the Angouleme Heritage Award. Mizuki’s Nonnon-ba to Ore manga won the Fauve d’Or: Prix du Meilleur Album at Angouleme in 2007.

Rocket Bomber’s latest online sales charts are up, with the top 500, new releases and pre-orders, emerging trends report, and a rankings summary, all thanks to the hard work of Matt Blind.

Tangognat has some ideas for manga for fifth-graders who prefer realistic romance to fantasy.

Erica Friedman rounds up the week’s yuri news at Okazu and introduces readers to the Japanese yuri manga Gunjou at Afterellen.com.

Colleen Doran has an interesting post on the big-eyed look, with examples from the paintings of Walter Margaret Keane, where the girls’ eyes are enormous, and early manga, where they are not. There’s some interesting commentary about perceptions of girls and girl power as well. (Via The Comics Reporter.)

Apparently Japan isn’t the only country with an otaku leader; Ma Ying-jeou, the president of Taiwan, will receive autographs from a variety of mangaka, including Go Nagai and Glass Mask creator Suzue Miuchi, when he opens the Taipei International Book Exhibition on Feb. 4. Like our own president, Ma was a big comics fan in his youth, although I’m not sure I would be reassured by a national leader who demonstrates familiarity with Crayon Shin-Chan.

Jonathan lists the German publisher Carlsen’s best-sellers for the last quarter of 2008 at Manly Manga and More.

News from Japan: Ed Chavez brings us up to date on the Japanese manga scene in his latest MangaScope column. The Daily Yomiuri covers a memorial exhibit for the late manga-ka Fujio Akatsuka. ANN reports that Bandai Visual has launched a free web magazine featuring manga, novels, and essays, all aimed at males in their 20s.

Reviews: Kate Dacey picked up Manhwa 100: The New Era for Korean Comics, with great anticipation but was disappointed with what she saw; read her review to find out why the book that could have been the manhwa answer to Manga: The Complete Guide fell so far short. At Manic About Manga, Kris reads a trio of Fumi Yoshinaga volumes, Solfege and vols. 1 and 2 of The Moon and the Sandals. Erica Friedman considers the dynamics of power and abuse in vol. 1 of Alice on Deadlines, and concludes that no, sexual abuse isn’t funny, at Okazu. Other reviews of note:

Connie on vol. 3 of Basara (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 18 of Black Cat (Kuriousity)
Holly Ellingwood on vol. 1 of Blank Slate (Active Anime)
Julie on vol. 34 of Boys Over Flowers (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Connie on vol. 2 of Captive Hearts (Slightly Biased Manga)
Deb Aoki on Dramacon—the cell phone version (About.com)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 3 of Hero Heel (Kuriousity)
Connie on vol. 14 of Let Dai (Slightly Biased Manga)
Joe McCulloch on vol. 1 of Oishinbo (The Savage Critics)
Julie on vol. 2 of Record of a Fallen Vampire (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Melinda Beasi on Red Blinds the Foolish (Manga Recon)
Sandra Scholes on vol. 2 of Romance Papa (Active Anime)
Lori Henderson on vol. 3 of Sand Chronicles (Comics Village)
Casey Brienza on vol. 1 of Song of the Hanging Sky (ANN)
Sandra Scholes on vol. 5 of Totally Captivated (Active Anime)
Julie on Tricky Prince (MangaCast)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1 and 2 of Two Flowers for the Dragon (Soliloquy in Blue)
Michelle Smith on You Will Fall in Love (Manga Recon)