MangaBlog

We mentioned earlier that the manga magazine Morning Two will be offering three issues online for free. It’s only in Japanese, but it gives overseas readers the opportunity to take a look at some ground-breaking manga for free. Yukari Shiina has been kind enough to translate the page linked to below, which includes information on the schedule and why they are doing this, so read on and enjoy!

Why do we give you an opportunity to read Morning Two for free?
http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/SEP/22226/01/free/index.html
Dear everyone,

It’s been two years since we launched Morning Two. It’s still just two years old, but it has been very well received more than we had imagined before we launched. We, however, have heard people’s complaints that it is difficult to find the magazine in bookstores or convenience stores where you can easily find many manga magazines here in Japan. In the meantime, the sales of the paperbacks (tankoubon) into which the series of Morning Two are compiled are dozens of times bigger than the circulation of the magazine itself.

We are proud of our manga in Morning Two and think that the magazine has a potential to reach people who haven’t read it. Therefore, we would like to give you an opportunity to read our magazine and enjoy it! We are afraid that the magazine is only in Japanese, but we hope that you enjoy it!

We also hope you read Morning Two for free and then use the money for other manga works. We think that there are tons of interesting manga out there. If you find good manga, enjoy it, and love it, we, the department of Morning Two, would be very happy!!

In the next three months, we will keep uploading Morning Two magazines for free.
Here is the schedule:

October 22nd, Morning Two #14
November 21st, Morning Two #15 (The issue #14 is taken away from our website.)
December 22nd, Morning Two #16 (The issue #15 is taken away from our website.)

Issues #14 and #16 include Peepo Choo, the manga created by an American artist, Felipe Smith!

In order for you to read our free magazine, you have first to install software (Crochet) on your computer. You can install it for free. To install the software, you click the word “Crochet” next to the orange square button.

Now that you are ready to enjoy our magazine, please click the orange button and read it!!

The big news of the day for Serious Manga Readers is that Top Shelf will be publishing AX, the alternative manga anthology. Same Hat has the details, along with a cover of the sampler they will be handing out at SPX. It sounds like lovers of gekiga are in for a treat!

ComicMix has more on the Yen/Orbit consolidation, pointing out that Yen hit the market with an ambitious publishing schedule right around the time that retailers started getting a bit more conservative, at least in terms of numbers. At Manga Widget, Alex Hoffman says that the consolidation may be a good sign for Yen fans. Tiamat’s Disciple will be happy as long as nothing changes.

Manga Recon has a cover gallery of this week’s new releases, and the MangaCast team posts the new release list and their recommendations.

Even if you don’t read Japanese, the news that Kodansha will post three entire issues of Morning2 magazine online is good news, because you will get to see the cool art, including Saint Young Men and Felipe Smith’s Peepo Choo. You have to download Crochet, a free comics reader, but the good news is that for once, it works for Macs as well as those other things, so I’ll actually be able to use it.

Adam Stephanides is excited about a new art book, Usamaru Furuya’s Flowers.

Graphic designers critique Peter Mendelsund’s cover designs for Dororo at Book Covers. (Via Journalista.) Bonus link: Mendelsund talks about working for Vertical:

Whereas the Knopf list is all literary gravitas (which is of course, fantastic in it’s own right), the Vertical list is all aliens, manga, j-horror, sex and derangement. It’s the perfect foil to the Knopf work. The two jobs complement each other perfectly.

Dororo was the first job I did for Vertical—it’s three books actually, all by manga granddaddy Osamu Tezuka. And, well, being able to use Tezuka’s artwork was the biggest plus for me. That and the fact that the Vertical people weren’t squeamish at all about covering the book in internal organs and viscera.

Former Vertical cover designer Chip Kidd talks about Bat-Manga.

Here’s an art break: Sho Murase posts some pages from the upcoming vol. 16 of Nancy Drew.

Manga makes it into the New York Times yet again, in this story about a librarian who gets maybe a bit too enthusiastic about promoting his daughter’s book, one of Wiley’s Shakespeare manga titles.

Mark your calendar: Kensuke Okabayashi, author of Manga for Dummies, will be at the Kinokuniya bookstore at 1073 6th Ave. in New York at 3 p.m. tomorrow.

News from Japan: Switch is coming to an end. And Berserk creator Kentarou Miura will draw an alternate cover for an upcoming volume of March Comes in Like a Lion, by Honey and Clover creator Chika Umino. Umino recently drew a cover for Berserk.

Reviews: Alex Hoffman takes a look at vol. 1 of Zombie Powder at Manga Widget. Carlo Santos checks out vols. 7-8 of Love*Com at ANN. Julie gets a bit ahead in that series with a look at vol. 9 of Love*Com at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Lissa Pattillo enjoys vol. 3 of Tokyo Pet Shop of Horrors at Kuriousity. At Comics Worth Reading, Ed Sizemore is not as enthusiastic as I was about vol. 1 of Astral Project. Don MacPherson reviews vol. 1 of XS Hybrid at Eye on Comics (via Journalista). Ken Haley reads Blood: The Last Vampire 2002 at Manga Recon. Midori Matsuzawa writes about the series Kaze Hikaru at the Daily Yomiuri. John Thomas takes a look at vols. 1 and 2 of Astro Boy at Comics Village. Win Wiacek says the starter pack of vols. 1-6 of Dark Edge is a good deal at British blog Now Read This! Michelle Smith has some good things to say about vol. 1 of Ghost Hunt at Soliloquy In Blue. Erica Friedman checks out vol. 2 of Lady Snowblood at Okazu. Emily’s latest find is Joousama no Tamago at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. Deb Aoki reads vol. 1 of Hitohira and vol. 1 of Papillon at About.com. Dick McVengeance reviews vol. 1 of Black Lagoon at Japanator. Kris checks out Alley of First Love, vol. 1 of Passion, and Play Boy Blues at Manic About Manga. Snow Wildsmith reviews Ruff Love at Fujoshi Librarian.

It looks like there is some consolidation going on down at Hachette Book Group, where two newish imprints, Yen Press and the sci-fi/fantasy line Orbit, are being combined into a single division, to be known as Orbit. I don’t understand the thinking here, given that Yen has an entire magazine named after their imprint, but times are tough all over. At the same time, it was announced that Yen co-publisher Rich Johnson will be departing at the end of the month, leaving Kurt Hassler to run things on his own. Read on for more.

Hachette Book Group Creates New Publishing Division

Hachette Book Group is to create a new publishing division, comprising two new imprints it launched last year: Orbit, its Science Fiction and Fantasy imprint; and Yen Press, its Manga and Graphic Novel imprint. The new division will take the Orbit name, and will strategically strengthen HBG’s presence in these increasingly vital segments of the book buying market.

Tim Holman, who relocated from London to New York in 2006 to help set up Orbit, has been appointed VP and Publisher of the new division, reporting to CEO and Chairman David Young. Reporting to Tim Holman will be Kurt Hassler, Publishing Director of Yen Press. Kurt will be assuming responsibilities previously shared with co-Publishing Director Rich Johnson, who will be leaving the company at the end of October. Alex Lencicki has been appointed Marketing and Publicity Director for the new division.

David Young commented: “This new publishing division gives us the perfect platform for building our business in two genres that have significant potential for future growth. Tim has grown Orbit to be the market-leading imprint in the UK, and his publishing experience is perfectly suited to the opportunities presented by both Orbit and Yen Press in the US market. We are of course sorry that Rich Johnson will be leaving the company, however as the Yen business has evolved it has become clear that a single Publishing Director for the imprint is most appropriate. The establishment of this new division reflects not only our belief that it makes publishing sense for Orbit and Yen Press to be more closely connected within the company, but also our commitment to the genres in which they publish.”

Tim Holman commented: “Orbit and Yen Press will continue to develop independently. However, as a single division, we’ll be able to combine our efforts in a number of key areas to great effect. Both Orbit and Yen Press are publishing in genres that can no longer be considered marginal. It is almost impossible to imagine popular culture today without them. Our challenge is to embrace this change, to be creative and forward-thinking, and to engage with the new audiences that we know are out there. I believe that we have the right publishing vision and the right publishing team, and I’m greatly looking forward to working with Kurt, Alex, and colleagues throughout the company to make the new Orbit division a great success.”

About Hachette Book Group:
Hachette Book Group is a leading trade publisher based in New York and a division of Hachette Livre, the second-largest publisher in the world. Hachette Book Group’s product lines include adult, illustrated, religious, children’s, and audio books under the imprints Little, Brown and Company, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, Grand Central Publishing, FaithWords, Center Street, Orbit, and Hachette Audio. Its bestselling authors include Ansel Adams, Sherman Alexie, James Bradley, Marc Brown, David Baldacci, Jimmy Buffett, Stephen Colbert, Michael Connelly, Ted Dekker, Nelson DeMille, Emily Dickinson, Malcolm Gladwell, Lisi Harrison, Mary Ann Hoberman, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kiyosaki, Nelson Mandela, Patrick McDonnell, Brad Meltzer, Joyce Meyer, Stephenie Meyer, Todd Parr, James Patterson, David Sedaris, Anita Shreve, Anne Rivers Siddons, Nicholas Sparks, Jon Stewart, Trenton Lee Stewart, and Cecily von Ziegesar.

David Welsh fights deja vu while looking over this week’s new manga, but he manages to come up with a recommendation: Solanin, which sounds like a strong pick. And at Sporadic Sequential, John Jakala is pleased to discover another firefighter manga.

Erin Finnegan looks at the Goth novel and manga at PWCW.

Jake Forbes reports that vol. 3 of Return to Labyrinth has been delayed until May 2009. On the bright side, he says that Tokyopop is committed to completing the four-volume series.

Gia talks to Yaoi Generation president Thuy Duong, following up on her first interview.

At the Forbidden Planet blog, Rod McKie compares Japanese manga magazines to the British comics of bygone days and finds that the business model impacts the content quite a bit. Interesting reading (even more so for me, as I’m a longtime fan of British comics).

For those who are new to manga, Liviana offers some starter titles at In Bed With Books.

Gottsu-Iiyan gets the second chapter of Naoki Urasawa’s Billy Bat and shares some pictures and commentary.

Lori Henderson dreams of opening a manga lounge in her hometown.

Reviews: At The Comic Book Bin, Leroy Douresseaux takes a look at vol. 1 of The 9 Lives, a new title from Tokyopop, and states

The 9 Lives is probably the most teen-safe boys’ love title currently in print.

Actually, Zesty is even tamer, but I’m pretty certain that The 9 Lives is the most teen-safe furry title currently in print.

At Comics Should Be Good, Danielle Leigh reads vols. 1 and 2 of Three In Love, the first manga by Crossroad creator Shioko Mizuki, and enjoys it despite the fact that it’s obviously a first manga. Snow Wildsmith reads The President’s Time at Manga Jouhou. Lovelyduckie discovers Yen Plus, and she’s glad she did. Win Wiacek checks out vol. 1 of Chibi Vampire at Now Read This! Dan Polley enjoys vol. 1 of Papillon at Comics Village. Christopher Mautner reviews vol. 1 of Papillon and vol. 1 of Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney at Blog@Newsarama. Sakurapassion has a brief writeup of vol. 4 of I Shall Never Return at The Yaoi Review. Oyceter checks out vol. 1 of Love*Com at Sakura of DOOM. Dick McVengeance reads vol. 1 of S.S. Astro at Japanator. At Prospero’s Manga, Ferdinand has no trouble containing his enthusiasm about vol. 1 of Gun Blaze West. Lissa Pattillo reviews vol. 3 of Incubus at Kuriousity.

Over at Publisher’s Weekly Comics Week, I talked to Kurt Hassler of Yen Press and Joe Monti of Little, Brown Books for Young People about their plans for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, both the manga and the novels. The interesting part is that they are marketing the novels to the mainstream, not just the otaku crowd, in hopes that Haruhiism will catch on.

Manga makes the New York Times, with a mention of the unlicensed title Drops of the Gods in a piece on wine in today’s paper. This follows on an article that ran a couple of weeks ago that mentioned an anime in which the character made bread in a rice machine. Yakitate Japan, anyone?

Also, at Good Comics for Kids, which I edit, manga maven Robin Brenner lists the top-circulating manga and graphic novels in her library system and hosts a group discussion with other librarians of why some titles are more popular than others. The results may surprise you: The Wallflower is the top pick in Robin’s public library system. Also at SLJ: Lori Henderson lists last week’s new all-ages comics and manga.

Pink Kryptonite posts this week’s new manga.

The Taiwan News interviews manga-ka Naoki Urasawa and director Yukihiko Tsutsumi, who will be bringing Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys to the big screen. Urasawa is better known here for Monster, but Viz will be publishing 20th Century Boys starting in January. (Via Deb Aoki’s blog.)

So’s your face! Translators Athena and Alethea Nibley argue about literal versus idiomatic translations at Manga Life.

Matt Blind continues his analysis of last summer’s manga sales with a look at Viz manga and individual publishers’ rankings.

Icarus Comics (NSFW) is going to give Google Reader a try.

Yet another prosecutor tries to link manga and murder, this one in Perugia, Italy:

The prosecutor also made specific references in court to rocker Marilyn Manson and the violent, sexually charged Japanese “Manga” comics Sollecito was fond of, Biscotti said.

The lawyer pointed out that an issue of the comics taken from Sollecito’s apartment tells a tale of killing female vampires on Halloween night and includes gruesome details that were similar to the scene police discovered.

German blogger Jonathan posts his October shopping list at Manly Manga and More.

News from Japan: Oh My Goddess creator Kousuke Fujishima will launch a new manga, Paradise Residence, in the premiere issue of good! Afternoon magazine, due out on November 7. Kenji Tsuruta, creator of Spirit of Wonder, is drawing a manga adaptation of the Sasurai Emanon novels. And Osamu Tezuka’s old school unveiled a giant Astro Boy statue in his honor.

Reviews: Lori Henderson reviews the kid-friendly title Cowa! at Good Comics for Kids. Sam Kusek reads vol. 1 of The Mysterians, his first global manga, at Manga Recon. Let’s Fall Asleep takes a look at one of my favorite titles, vol. 1 of After School Nightmare. Katherine Farmar reads Future Lovers at Comics Village. Kristin, the teen librarian at the Glendale Public Library, gives her take on Crescent Moon and Fruits Basket, and a couple of teens chime in as well. Connie checks out vol. 1 of Faust and vol. 10 of Hino Horror at Slightly Biased Manga. At Boys Next Door, Cynthia reviews vol. 11 of Love Mode, Romantic Illusions, and Lover’s Pledge. James Fleenor checks out vol. 1 of Afro Samurai at Anime Sentinel. New at Active Anime: Sandra Scholes on vol. 1 of Saihoshi the Guardian, Rachel Bentham on Falling Into Love, and Scott Campbell on vol. 2 of Gantz. And at Manga Life, Joy Kim reviews vol. 3 of Two Flowers for the Dragon, Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane checks out vol. 11 of Kaze Hikaru, and David Rasmussen dives into vol. 1 of the special collectors edition of Neon Genesis Evangelion and finds it most excellent. Johanna Draper Carlson recommends vol. 6 of High School Debut at Comics Worth Reading. Lissa Pattillo enjoys vol. 7 of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service at Kuriousity. Julie reviews vol. 1 of Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Emily checks out the untranslated title Holiday at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. Michelle Smith reads vol. 1 of Banana Fish at Soliloquy in Blue. Dave Ferraro has good things to say about Solanin! at Comics-and-More. And at Manic About Manga, blogger Kris lives up to her title with reviews of Flamboyant, vol. 3 of Kiss All the Boys, Sweet Regard, Today’s Ulterior Motives, Golden Prince and Argent King, Millennium Darling 2006, A Gentleman’s Kiss, vol. 1 of Clear Skies, One Night Lesson, Shy Intentions, vols. 1 and 2 of Roureville, vol. 1 of Hitohira, vol. 2 of Red Angel, vol. 1 of Sunflower, Total Surrender, and Love for Dessert.

The latest Comic Foundry is out, with the usual fanfare (parties, etc.), and there are many excellent reasons to check it out, not the least of which is the cover story “Why manga is totally f#%ked,” by my PWCW colleague Kai-Ming Cha. (I haven’t read it yet but expect some opinions when I do.) I’m in there too, in the fine print in the back, with reviews of Disappearance Diary and vol. 1 of Black Jack.

Danielle Leigh looks on the bright side with a list of ten manga and anime things that make her happy in her Manga Before Flowers column at Comics Should be Good.

Japanator lists this week’s new releases.

What does the future hold? Lissa Pattillo posts a cease-and-desist list that Tokyopop sent to scanlators a while ago. Tokyopop subsequently licensed many of the titles on the list, which leaves the possibility that some of the others may turn up here as well.

John Thomas talks to Tokyo Zombie editors Ryan Sands and Colin Turner at Mecha Mecha Media.

ICv2 has the September comics sales numbers from the direct market, including their chart of the top 100 graphic novels.

Matt Blind continues his analysis of summer online manga sales with a second look at publishers’ market shares and a closer look at sales of novels that are linked to manga, non-fiction titles, and Shakespeare manga.

Christmas is just around the corner, and Lori Henderson has a suggestion…

Naoki Urasawa’s new manga, Billy Bat, seems to be breaking new ground.

Reviews: David Welsh reviews the latest Fanfare/Ponent Mon offering, The Quest for the Missing Girl, at The Comics Reporter. Isaac Hale reviews vol. 1 of Black Lagoon, Chloe Ferguson reads Tonoharu, and the gang pitches in with some Manga Minis at Manga Recon. Theron Martin checks out vol. 10 of Chibi Vampire at ANN. Salimbol posts a really detailed review of vols. 29-30 of Boys Over Flowers at The Chocolate Mud Wyvern Presents. Sabrina checks out three Shojo Beat titles and Charles Tan looks at vol. 21 of Eyeshield 21 at Comics Village. Connie reads vol. 1 of Time Stranger Kyoko, vol. 1 of Fate/Stay Night, vol. 1 of Barefoot Gen, vol. 3 of Takumi-kun: Takes Out of Season, and vol. 6 of Monster at Slightly Biased Manga. Alex Hoffman reviews vol. 2 of Rosario + Vampire at Manga Widget. Deb Aoki looks at the pros and cons of vol. 1 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya at About.com. Ferdinand is not too impressed with vol. 1 of Blank Slate at Prospero’s Manga. Julie enjoys Future Lovers at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Guest reviewer Gizmo takes a look at vol. 1 of Shoulder-A-Coffin-Kuro at Kuriousity. Tiamat’s Disciple reviews vols. 4 and 5 of Le Chevalier d’Eon.