MangaBlog

It’s nice to hear about publishers doing something other than laying people off these days. Viz is expanding its brand a bit with a new line of Japanese sci-fi prose novels under the imprint Haikasoru. Plans are to publish 12 books a year, starting this summer, and the opening lineup includes ZOO, by Otsuichi, which means that Del Rey has unknowingly done a bit of PR for them already.

There’s lots more detail after the cut, including titles and synopses.

VIZ MEDIA LAUNCHES LANDMARK IMPRINT ‘HAIKASORU’ TO PUBLISH ACCLAIMED JAPANESE SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS

First-Of-Its-Kind Imprint Launches This Summer To Publish The Best In Contemporary Japanese Science Fiction Novels

San Francisco, CA, January 27, 2009 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the launch of a brand-new imprint called Haikasoru, which will publish an array of contemporary Japanese science fiction (SF) and fantasy stories for English-speaking audiences. This is the first time an imprint with a dedicated focus on Japanese SF has launched in North America.

Haikasoru is scheduled to publish twelve books a year and launches in the summer of 2009 with four titles: The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa, All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka, ZOO by Otsuichi, and Usurper of the Sun by Housuke Nojiri.

Haikasoru will be helmed by Nick Mamatas, a respected author of science fiction as well as an editor at VIZ Media. Mamatas is the author of two novels, which have been nominated for the Bram Stoker Award and Germany’s Kurd Lasswitz Prize.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of this new imprint,” says Mamatas. “Haikasoru is making history with the future. Finally, SF is going global.”

The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa – Price: $13.99 U.S./CAN $16.00
Sixty-two years after human life on earth was annihilated by rampaging aliens, the enigmatic cyborg Messenger O is sent back in time with the mission to unite the humanity of past eras—during World War II and in ancient Japan, even back at the dawn of humanity—in order to defeat the alien invasion before it begins. But amidst a future shredded by war, love also waits for O. Will O save humanity only to doom himself? The Lord of the Sands of Time was nominated for the prestigious Seiun Award, the leading award for Japanese science fiction, the winners of which are selected each year by members of the Japanese National Science Fiction Convention. Available in July 2009.

ALL YOU NEED IS KILL by Hiroshi Sakurazaka – Price: $13.99 U.S./CAN $16.00
When the alien Gitai invade, Keiji Kiriya is just one of many recruits shoved into a suit of battle armor called a Jacket and sent out to kill. Keiji dies on the battlefield, only to be reborn each morning to fight and die again and again. On his 158th iteration, he finally sees something different, something out of place—a female soldier known as the Full Metal Bitch. Is she the key to Keiji’s escape or his final death? Available in July 2009.

ZOO by Otsuichi – Price: $13.99 U.S./CAN $16.00
ZOO presents eleven stories of dark fantasy and science fiction by one of Japan’s hottest authors. “The White Hut In The Forest” is the story of a man with a hole in his head and a charming home made from some strange materials. “Song of the Sunny Spot” is a rendition of the classic story of the Earth’s last man…and his charming companion. And in the book’s eponymous tale, a man sees his dead girlfriend’s corpse decompose, one gristly Polaroid snapshot at a time. ZOO sold over 740,000 copies in Japan and was also turned into a successful Japanese film. Available in September 2009.
USURPER OF THE SUN by Housuke Nojiri – Price: $15.99 U.S./CAN $18.99
When a ring appears around the sun, humanity seems doomed. One woman, a brave scientist named Aki Shiraishi, travels to the core of the solar system in a last-ditch attempt to save the world. A compelling new hard SF novel, Usurper of the Sun won a coveted Seiun Award in 2002 for Best Science Fiction Novel of the Year. Available in September 2009.

“Japan has long had a love affair with science fiction. In the wake of the massive international popularity of manga and anime, this is an ideal time to offer some of the best in contemporary Japanese science fiction to a sizeable domestic audience,” says Masumi Washington, Editor-In-Chief, Haikasoru Imprint, VIZ Media. “VIZ Media has been publishing fiction for a while, and now with the formation of Haikasoru it’s like finding a missing piece in a jigsaw puzzle. We are pleased to introduce this unique imprint and look forward to VIZ Media fans and science fiction readers in general enjoying these books.”

Here’s a nice coup: DMP has licensed Itazura na Kiss, a classic 1990s shoujo manga that has quite a following; both Lianne Sentar and Danielle Leigh have sung the praises of the anime. The first volume will be out in November, the second in March 2010. More details, including pricing and the EXACT trim size, to the thousandth of an inch, after the cut.

Gardena, CA – (January 26, 2009)- Digital Manga Publishing, Inc., one of the industry’s most unconventional and innovative companies is proud to announce its acquisition of the classic and timeless shojo manga: ITAZURA NA KISS. Never before released in translated form in the U.S., ITAZURA NA KISS has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, inspired live action dramas, and has recently been released in a newly created anime by the same name.

Published under the DMP imprint, ITAZURA NA KISS was released as 12 omnibus volumes in Japan, and plans for the first two volumes in a 5.125″ x 7.1875″ format at a cost of $14.95 per volume, will begin with volume one in November, 2009, and volume two following in March, 2010. ITAZURA NA KISS has inspired countless shojo manga artists, and with its unconventional narrative in following the lives and relationships of its main characters from high school to beyond, it created the groundwork for many contemporary shojo manga stories. This timeless manga will enchant and inspire new readers while reminding seasoned readers why shojo is as popular as it is. It is a “must-have” for any manga enthusiast, or anyone who loves a romantic, comedic story of why people fall in love, and the sacrifices and growth each must go through for the other.

ITAZURA NA KISS VOL. 1- RATED T+ (for ages 13+), MSRP: $14.95 US, Available: November 4, 2009

ITAZURA NA KISS is the beloved and classic shojo manga following two high school students, the air-headed Kotoko and the brilliant cold genius Naoki. When Kotoko finally musters the courage to confess to the haughty Naoki, his instant rejection shocks her and she decides to forget him forever. But when circumstances force her and her father to move in with her father’s close friend, she encounters an even bigger shock when she realizes her father’s friend is Naoki’s father, and they’ll be living together from now on! Is it fate? A sign from heaven? Whatever it is, Kotoko’s every attempt to impress the aloof Naoki seems to create chaos in Naoki’s life, and the cracks in his cool, robot-like facade begin to show. Follow the journey of these two through life, love, and every chaotic, crazy moment in Kotoko’s mission to make Naoki hers!

KAORU TADA was born in 1960, and is the creator of AI SHITE KNIGHT and ITAZURA NA KISS. ITAZURA NA KISS was her most popular work in Japan, and has spawned live action dramas, been adapted for the theatrical stage, and released as an animated series. KAORU TADA died tragically at the age of 38 in 1999.

At Rocket Bomber, Matt Blind takes a look at 2008 online manga sales with charts of the top releases of the year, the sales numbers for Naruto, a publishers’ scorecard, nonfiction sales, and a look at manga-related novels.

ANN reports that after being pulled because a panel showing a character reading a verse from the Koran proved offensive to some readers, part 3 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is back in a revised edition.

Erica Friedman catches up on the week’s yuri news at Okazu.

Jonathan posts the German publisher Carlsen’s top sellers for 2008 at Manly Manga and More.

News from Japan: Ed Chavez has the weekly manga rankings from Taiyosha at MangaCast. Good news for Junko Mizuno fans: Now you can buy Junko Mizuno condoms, each featuring a cute character with a distinct personality. (Hat tip: Simon from Condomunity, a blog about condoms—yes, it is a big internet.) ANN has lots of comings and goings for us: The magazine Pianissimo is folding; the webcomic Hetalia Axis Powers will go to print in Comic Birz; a new Tomo Matsumoto manga, Bozu Love, is launching in LaLa magazine; and five series from the ill-fated Magazine Z will continue in other Kodansha magazines.

Reviews: Two of my favorite manga reviewers go meta: Ed Sizemore reflects on what he has learned after a year of reviewing manga at Comics Worth Reading, and Erica Friedman discusses objectivity (or, more accurately, the lack thereof) in reviews at Okazu. Both posts are great reading for reviewers, would-be reviewers, and readers of reviewers, which I think covers just about everybody. I somehow missed this when it went up, but Ed reviewed vol. 1 of 20th Century Boys last week. Erica also recently posted her take on the yuri light novel vol. 2 of Wild Bouquet. Over at The Comics Reporter, David Welsh sings the praises of Parasyte. At Manga Recon, Erin Finnegan reads vols. 1 and 32 (but not 2-31) of Boys Over Flowers, the best-selling shoujo manga of all time (in Japan), and the staff pitches in on some Manga Minis as well as The Blade of the Courtesans and vol. 1 of Faust. Justin Colussy-Estes gives Kiriko Nananan’s Blue a perfect 10 but Alex Hoffman is less sold on vol. 1 of Air Gear at Comics Village. Julie reads vol. 1 of Otomen at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Michelle Smith posts her thoughs on vols. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of Her Majesty’s Dog at Soliloquy in Blue but saves vols. 10 and 11 for Manga Recon. (Yes, I did link that twice.) Lissa Pattillo reads vol. 4 of Legend at Kuriousity. Emily clues us in on Binkan Ryouiki and Hatsukoi Shinan at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. Greg McElhatton reviews Solanin at Read About Comics. Ed Chavez’s latest podcast is his take on vol. 2 of Venus Versus Virus at MangaCast. Connie reads vol. 6 of Human Club and vol. 1 of Basara at Slightly Biased Manga. Diana Dang checks out Heaven’s Will at Stop, Drop, and Read! Be prepared for spoilers if you read Oyceter’s review of vols. 8 and 9 of Saiyuki Reload at Sakura of DOOM. Casey Brienza has lots to say about vol. 1 of Black Jack at her kethylia LJ. Tangognat reviews vols. 1 and 2 of Happy Hustle High.

Bookscan, which tracks sales of books and graphic novels in bookstores, released the top 20 graphic novels of 2008, and while that Watchman thing topped the list, there were 9 volumes of Naruto in the top 20. Also on the list were three volumes of Death Note, two of Vampire Knight, two of Fruits Basket (the sole Tokyopop title on the list), and one of Bleach. And the first volumes of Naruto, Death Note, and Vampire Knight all made the list, which indicates that people are still jumping into the series (and also that buyers can still find those first volumes in the bookstores).

Ed Chavez posts his 2008 report card for Dark Horse, and this year they made the honor roll!

The MangaCast crew pick their favorites from this week’s new releases.

Lissa Pattillo posts some tidbits of yaoi news at Kuriousity, including the possiblity of more Yaoi Generation licenses.

At Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson notes that some Tokyopop global manga are available on the Sony e-Reader, and she has some ideas as to how Tokyopop could do this a bit better.

News from Japan: Ed Chavez updates us on the Japanese manga scene in his most recent MangaScope column, and he also puts in the good word for his columns on unlicensed manga at the Otaku USA website.

Reviews: David Welsh devotes his most recent Flipped column to the new cooking manga Oishinbo. Connie has quite a mix going at Slightly Biased Manga, with reviews of vol. 1 of Banana Fish, vol. 1 of 20th Century Boys, vol. 11 of Monster, and vols. 9 and 10 of After School Nightmare. Mangamaniac Julie checks out Where Has Love Gone? at MangaCast and takes a look at vol. 2 of Rosario + Vampire and vol. 2 of Tea for Two at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Lissa Pattillo reads vol. 2 of Red Angel, vol. 2 of Croquis Pop, vol. 2 of Loveholic, and vol. 4 of Sundome at Kuriousity.

New on the menu this month: Viz launches Oishinbo, a cooking manga about a food journalist who sets out to choose the ultimate Japanese menu. This involves lots of tasting, of course, as well as lots of side trips into traditional Japanese cuisine. This one sounds like a real treat! Read on for details.

VIZ MEDIA SATISFIES HUNGRY MANGA FANS WITH THE RELEASE OF OISHINBO

The Fascinating World Of Japanese Cuisine Is Explored In Best-Selling Manga That Has Sold More Than 100 Million Copies And Helped Define The Popular Food Genre

San Francisco, CA, January 23, 2009 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, will delight fans of Japanese cuisine and culture with the debut of the critically acclaimed OISHINBO available now, under the VIZ Signature imprint, the company’s dynamic outlet for classic and literary manga titles aimed at more mature and sophisticated readers.

Written by Tetsu Kariya and illustrated by Akira Hanasaki, OISHINBO is considered to be the epitome of food manga and defined the genre while selling more than 100 million copies in Japan since its debut in 1983. OISHINBO is rated “T” for teens and carries an SRP of $12.99 U.S./$15.00 CDN.

OISHINBO (or “The Gourmet”) depicts the adventures of journalist Shiro Yamaoka, who writes for the fictional newspaper Tozai News. When the paper’s top executives decide to create “The Ultimate Menu” to celebrate the paper’s 100th anniversary, Yamaoka, known for his reputation as a foodie with culinary skills to match, is given the daunting assignment. With the help of his coworker Kurita, Yamaoka begins an epic saga to find unique and tasty dishes that will compose this ultimate bill of fare. The subject of the debut volume is classical Japanese cuisine, and features delicious stories on subjects like how to prepare a proper dashi (the broth that is one of the building blocks of Japanese cooking), green tea, and red snapper sashimi. Each subsequent volume of OISHINBO focuses on specific foods and culinary trends such as sake, sushi, vegetables, rice dishes, ramen, and izakaya (pub) food.

“OISHINBO is a series where cuisine is put front and center and food is the star,” says Gonzalo Ferreyra, Vice President Sales & Product Marketing, VIZ Media. “Each volume introduces readers to the proper preparation and presentation of a variety of Japanese dishes, while also detailing their history and cultural significance. We’re serving up selected highlights from this epic 100+ volume series and compiled them into seven a la carte editions that can be enjoyed individually or as a series. Each volume also features full-color instructions on how to prepare the unique dishes presented. It might even inspire some to begin culinary adventures of their own!”

Thursday was Kitchen Ceiling Demolition Day, so I didn’t get to post—sorry!—but as I trot ’round the blogosphere this morning, there seem to be more than the usual number of philosophical and aesthetic discussions. Put on your thinking caps, kids!

Bill Randall continues the manga discussion at The Hooded Utilitarian with a rather idiosyncratic take on the whole medium, and Noah Berlatsky points to some examples of sophisticated use of word and pictures in Let Dai. Meanwhile, over at Whereof One Can Speak, Katherine Farmar is irritated by the whole question and points out that manga and Western comics do different things in different ways, and not everyone has to like everything.

Melinda Beasi muses on various things, including the Hooded Utilitarian discussion, at her blog, and Ed Sizemore has some good advice on writing difficult reviews in the comments section.

Casey Brienza has a thought-provoking post about how the actions of others in the field affect her manga writing, both consciously and subconsciously. I’m still mulling this one over and may post some thoughts of my own.

The ANN anime roundtable takes up the question of Net etiquette.

The Manga Recon crew discuss movie adaptations of manga in their latest roundtable.

Here’s an interesting post on Manga Messiah, in which an expert from Notre Dame (my alma mater!) critiques some of the character designs as anti-Semitic, and Jason Thompson responds. The blogger points out, though, that there is a difference between what the Japanese author intended and what the American audience sees. This is, of course, not the first time that has happened.

There has been a lot of buzz about the changes made by Diamond, the sole distributor for comics stores, to its ordering policies. Basically, if a book can’t make a specified minimum, Diamond won’t put it in their Previews catalog, which is a big deal to people who buy their comics that way. Simon Jones explains it pretty well here. There are two predictable effects: Smaller publishers will lose out, because they can’t ship enough books to make the benchmark, and larger publishers may raise their prices to make sure they reach the dollar threshold. This has less of an impact on manga readers, who tend to go to bookstores and buy what’s on the shelves, but there is a significant subset of manga that is easier to find in comics stores. David Welsh talks to Stephen Robson of Fanfare/Ponent Mon, which is one such publisher, about what he expects to see in the coming months.

Matt Blind posts the top 500 manga in online sales for the past week at Rocket Bomber.

Lori Henderson has a bad experience with Mangatude, a manga trading community. For the record, I have had good luck with Paperback Swap, which I think has a better method of ensuring the swaps are fair.

Mark your calendars: Jason Thompson posts his schedule of appearances for the coming year. No NYCC? I have to figure out a way to get to Toronto.

Meanwhile, Deb Aoki goes over the manga highlights for Phoenix Comicon, which takes place this weekend, at About.com.

Jonathan posts the remainder of Tokyopop’s German Top 20 for the end of 2008 at Manly Manga and More.

News from Japan: ANN has the Japanese comic rankings for the past week and the news that Kodansha’s Magazine Special will run a GetBackers one-shot side story.

Reviews: At Manga Recon, Michelle Smith takes a look at a classic manga by Moto Hagio, A, A’. Danielle Leigh devotes her latest Manga Before Flowers column to the conclusions of two series, After School Nightmare and Her Majesty’s Dog. J. Rentilly reviews Ral Grad and Honey and Clover at Graphic Novel Reporter. Billy Aguiar sees more indy than manga in Rica ‘tte Kanji!? at Prospero’s Manga. Casey Brienza turns two thumbs down on Disgaea at her kethylia LJ. Tangognat has quick takes on recent titles from Tokyopop and Viz. Cynthia checks out His Arrogance and Hanky Panky at Boys Next Door. Sesho podcasts his thoughts on vol. 1 of Akihabara@Deep. Connie reads vol. 4 of I Shall Never Return, vol. 1 of Pluto, and vol. 6 of Le Chevalier d’Eon at Slightly Biased Manga. Deanna Gauthier discusses Canon, Life, and Seimaden in a guest post at there it is, plain as daylight. Snow Wildsmith reviews Candy at Fujoshi Librarian. Mieko Sasaki writes about Swan for The Daily Yomiuri. Alex Hoffman has a brief look at vol. 1 of Pretty Face and Charles Tan goes into more depth on vol. 8 of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service at Comics Village. Ed Sizemore reads vols. 3 and 4 of Sundome, against his better judgement, at Comics Worth Reading. Julie checks out vol. 2 of Mixed Vegetables and vol. 15 of Tail of the Moon at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Michelle Smith reviews vol. 2 of Her Majesty’s Dog at soliloquy in blue. Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane reads vols. 13 and 14 of Nana at Manga Life.