MangaBlog

Manga makes a respectable showing on BookScan’s top 20 graphic novels list for September, brought to us courtesy of ICv2.

At the MangaCast, Ed Chavez lists the manga in the October Diamond Previews (shipping in January).

Scott VonSchilling posts his NYAF con report at Anime Almanac.

Lissa Pattillo puts together a nice overview of Yaoi-Con at Kuriousity, and Yamila Abraham checks in with a brief report at the Yaoi Press site.

Matt Thorn has some vintage Japanese animation to share.

I missed this earlier, but it’s a cool thing: Dark Horse has donated a copy of every book it has published to the Portland State University library.

Adults fret that manga are corrupting youth in Viet Nam.

News from Japan: Kouta Hirano is winding up Hellsing and planning to launch a new manga next year, according to ANN, and Fumino Hayashi, the artist for Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days, also has a new series in the works. And Melody magazine has announced that Mizu Sahara, the artist of Voices of a Different Star, will draw a series of short manga based on the songs of the jazz/pop duo Sukima Switch.

Reviews: Ferdinand enoys vol. 1 of Real at Prospero’s Manga. Erica Friedman checks out vol. 1 of Burst Angel at Okazu. Ken Haley takes a look at Tokyo Zombie at Manga Recon. Tiamat’s Disciple reviews vol. 2 of Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro and vols. 1 and 2 of Blood+ Lissa Pattillo reviews vol. 3 of Sundome at Kuriousity. Connie reads vol. 1 of Cipher and vol. 24 of Bleach at Slightly Biased Manga. At Comics Village, Sabrina reviews vol. 1 of Rave Master and Katherine Farmar checks out Wild Rock. Cyn checks out One Night Lesson, Heavenly Body, and vol. 7 of Junjo Romantica at Boys Next Door. Julie reads vol. 23 of Boys Over Flowers at the Manga Maniac Cafe. At Active Anime, Sandra Scholes reviews vol. 1 of Trinity Blood: Reborn on the Mars, Davey C. Jones reads vol. 3 of Hell Girl, and Holly Ellingwood checks out vol. 8 of Beauty Pop. The Manga Pulse folks fight a cold to bring you audio reviews of Reborn! and Real.

Gia reports that Aurora’s LuvLuv comics will be running on the Netcomics site. (Image is of Love for Dessert, a fairly typical LuvLuv offering.)

Yaoi-Con seems to have gotten a lot less coverage than NYAF, but Broccoli’s Shizuki Yamashita has a two-part con report at Industry Babble (day 1, day 2) and Satsuki has more at One Potato Two (day 1, day 2, day 3).

Matt Thorn looks at manga readership in Japan and follows up with pie charts. Mmm, pie charts.

Casey, Bamboo, and Robin chat with longtime fan Natalie Baan about the way cons used to be at ANN.

At The Comics Reporter, David Welsh points out that manga girls can be as realistic as anyone in Minx, although the fact that he includes Ichigo, the gender-bender hero/heroine of After School Nightmare, shows manga’s greater flexibility in the definition of “girl.”

LJ’er Octopedingenue asks which manga pass the Bechdel test:

1. It has to have at least two women in it,

2. Who talk to each other,

3. About something other than a man.

… and invites the rest of the world to make suggetsions and comments. A blog has blossomed from this, although it’s really just a list of titles at the moment, waiting for comments from readers. Your duty is clear.

Of course, all yuri passes the Bechdel test. At Okazu, Erica Friedman catches us upon the yuri news of the week.

LJ’er sei_kun outlines the shoujo manga formula.

The MangaCasters have some catching up to do; they list their preferred manga from the weeks of Sept. 9, Sept. 16, and Sept. 23. Japanator posts the Sept. 29 list, and Manga Recon has the Oct. 1 releases but no recs yet.

Speaking of Manga Recon, reviewer Sam Kusek introduces himself with a nice essay on his life as an otaku so far. But there’s hope for him yet—he just moved out of his parents’ house.

Translator John Thomas examines the challenges of his trade at Mecha Mecha Media. And congratulations to John on his 200th post!

ANN notes that not a single manga won a Harvey award. Given that only two were nominated, that’s not surprising, and imagine the outrage that would have ensued if the Witchblade manga had won.

Lori Henderson has thoughts on digital distribution, in reaction to the NYAF State of the Industry Panel, at Manga Xanadu.

New blog alert: Let’s Fall Asleep, which supports a “virtual seminar” on josei manga. It’s brand new but already full of interesting discussions about josei manga and its possible place in libraries. It’s also well written and features lots of illustrations so go, check it out.

John Jakala muses about which manga bear up best under repeated readings at Sporadic Sequential.

At the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, Jason Yadao looks at two manga for dog lovers, Guru Guru Pon-Chan and Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs.

Brandon Graham is looking at some older manga and drawing some comics of his own, and he shares it all on his LJ. (May be NSFW.)

Rica Takashima, creator of the cheerful yuri manga Rica ‘tte Kanji!? will be a guest at MangaNEXT.

News from Germany: Jonathan has the October manga releases at Manly Manga and More.

News from Japan: Emma creator Kaoru Mori has a new manga in the works. It’s a historical manga (surprise!) set on the Silk Road and will debut in the first issue of Enterbrain’s new Fellows! magazine. Mainichi reports that manga-ka Kenshi Hirokane will rename a firm in his manga President Kosaku Shima after the real-life counterpart, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., did the same. And Oricon has done another survey, this one asking readers aged 14-19 which manga they think are most interesting. The winners are One Piece and Slam Dunk, with Dragonball and Death Note tied for third place.

Also, this Times article about a fire in a video store is not only quite dramatic, it brings in some social commentary on the tendency to use manga cafes as flophouses.

Reviews: Carlo Santos kicks things off with his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. And there are some new reviews up, too: Casey Brienza on vols. 1 and 2 of Ichigenme… The First Class is Civil Law, and Carlo again on vol. 12 of xxxHOLiC and vol. 3 of Gun Blaze West. Dave Ferraro takes a look at vol. 1 of S.S. Astro at Comics-and-More. Warning to reviewers: It is impossible not to compare this to Azumanga Daioh. Ferdinand really enjoys vol. 1 of Astral Project at Prospero’s Manga. Mangamaniac Julie reviews vol. 1 of A Gentleman’s Kiss at the MangaCast and at the Manga Maniac Cafe, she checks out vol. 1 of Bound Beauty, vol. 3 of The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls: Revenge of the Hori Clan, and vol. 1 of Rosario + Vampire. Lissa Pattillo reads Wanted, vol. 2 of Forest of Gray City, and Manic Love at Kuriousity. Lori Henderson reviews vol. 2 of Metro Survive and Charles Tan weighs in on vol. 2 of Cat-Eyed Boy at Comics Village. At Manga Recon, Michelle Smith reviews vols. 1-2 of DVD and the staff pitches in on the weekly Manga Minis. Tiamat’s Disciple has posts on vol. 2 of You’re So Cool, vol. 6 of Chocolat, vol. 3 of Sundome, vol. 5 of One Thousand and One Nights, vol. 4 of Moon Boy, and vol. 2 of Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro. Emily takes a peek at Konya, Kimi ni Ai ni Iku at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. Sesho posts an audio review of Vampire Knight at Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews. At Animanga Nation, Faith McAdams reads vol. 5 of High School Debut, Edward Zacharias looks at vol. 1 of Death Note (Collector’s Edition), and Sophie Stevens weighs in on vol. 3 of Honey and Clover. Watch out for spoilers in Oyceter’s review of vols. 4-10 of Ouran High School Host Club at Sakura of DOOM. Lori Henderson looks at vol. 2 of King of Cards at Manga Xanadu. Ed Sizemore critiques vols. 1 and 2 of Time Stranger Kyoko at Comics Worth Reading. Fresh reviews at Manga Life: David Rasmussen on vol. 9 of Reborn!, Park Cooper on vol. 7 of Muhyo and Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation and vol. 2 of The Record of a Fallen Vampire, and Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vol. 4 of Wild Ones. Tangognat checks out vol. 1 of S.A. (Special A). James Fleenor posts his impression of vol. 1 of Black Lagoon at Anime Sentinel. Connie reviews Seduce Me After the Show, vol. 2 of Kiichi and the Magic Books, vol. 24 of Case Closed, Cowa!, and vol. 5 of Le Chevalier d’Eon at Slightly Biased Manga. Snow Wildsmith reads Love Bus Stop and D.M. Evans checks out vol. 2 of Zombie Loan at Manga Jouhou.

The crack PWCW team was all over NYAF, and Kai-Ming Cha, Erin Finnegan, and Calvin Reid hit all the high points in their overview of the con, while Laura Hudson covers the appearance of Vampire Hunter D creators Hideyuki Kikuchi and Yoshitaka Amano. Check their Panel Mania section for photos of guests (including Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto) and cosplayers.

At About.com, Deb Aoki concludes her two-part report on the State of the Manga Industry (part one is here). It’s a pretty stellar panel, with Mike Gombos of Dark Horse, Kurt Hassler of Yen Press (and formerly of Borders), and Ali Kokmen of Del Rey, moderated by ANN’s Christopher McDonald. Having covered similar panels myself, I really admire the way Deb boils down an hour of back-and-forth into a handful of pithy quotes. It’s very readable, and you do get the feeling of being there. Deb has a photo gallery up as well.

Casey Brienza (a.k.a. Kethylia) seems to have had a good time, and she has a perceptive report on the goings-on. She has this interesting comment about the Del Rey panel and Kodansha’s previously announced move into the American market:

Although they were for the most part mum on a subject that is undoubtedly terrifying to them, Ali Kokmen revealed perhaps more than he intended when he noted that there is a steep learning curve that comes with entry into the American market. This is a valid point to be making; the Japanese media industries from Sony to Coamix have a long history of costly missteps in American markets due to their failure to fully understand the field. Does Kodansha understand the US manga field? I’m not yet convinced that they do, but pay very close attention to whom they hire to spearhead efforts here.

Indeed, Kodansha was supposed to set up shop in September. Well, there are still a few hours left…

Melinda Beasi was at the Javits as well.

Japanator’s Dick McVengeance posts a report on the Yen Press panel and a final wrapup, and promises an interview with the Vampire Hunter D creators sometime soon.

Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane files a con report at Manga Life.

ANN reports that the attendance at NYAF was 18,399, up considerably from last year’s total of 14,000 or so.

Did I miss anything? ComiPress has an exhaustive roundup of NYAF posts from all over.

Sorry, everyone, the news post will be late this morning. I have a review almost ready to go, too, but I had to stop and learn some new software so I can post here.

(Click for extremely cute chibis as well as profound content)

Yes, it’s official: After months of high-level negotiations, Good Comics For Kids has moved onto the website of School Library Journal. We’re not changing the focus—it will still be ten bloggers writing and arguing about any comic designed for readers under 18—but we think this will bring comics to a wider audience. Plus the SLJ folks are super-nice and we’re in company with a host of interesting bloggers. So reset your RSS feeds and hold on to your hats!

Well, as predicted, NYAF got along just fine without me. Here are the highlights from the bloggers who were there:

First of all, mad props to Deb Aoki of About.com, who got up early on Sunday to cover the State of the Manga Industry panel. And her extensive writeup is only part I—there’s more to come.

Bandai Entertainment: This company mostly publishes anime, but they noted at NYAF that they had picked up the license for the manga version of Gurren Lagann, which seems to be a big hit with the folks who like their pictures to move. (ANN, Gia, Japanator)

Del Rey: Moyasimon was the big news, and as noted below, you can also look forward to Amefurashi, Maid War Chronicles, a Tsubasa character guide, and some Cartoon Networ tie-ins. Deb Aoki has more info on all these titles. (ANN, Gia, ICv2, Japanator) (Amefurashi cover swiped from Deb’s blog.)

Kitty Media: This 18+ publisher had no new licenses to announce but Gia’s account of their panel includes an interesting discussion of marketing mature manga. It looks like BL is still doing well for Kitty.

Vertical: They had no new announcements, but the Vertical folks made everyone’s mouth water by waving around copies of their deluxe hardback edition of Black Jack. Unfortunately, it sounds like the classic manga they have been publishing, like To Terra, isn’t selling that well; in fact, according to ANN,

Vertical’s Ioannis Mentzis, one of the two presenters, noted that even if a manga like Tezuka’s 1947 New Treasure Island were available in English, sales would be extremely small. Fans who want to read this would be better and faster served by finding scanlations, he noted.

Meanwhile, their previously announced line of more mainstream manga has been held up because they are having trouble getting licenses, having been aced out of Square Enix by Yen Press. But watch for some interesting books on Japanese culture, including more Aranzi Aranzo craft books and a new line of cookbooks, coming soon. (ANN, Gia, Japanator) (Image is the cover of vol. 1 of Black Jack; click on it to go see a preview.)

Yen Press: The headline license is Hero Tales, by Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromo Arakawa; it will be serialized in Yen+ magazine before being collected. Other new licenses: Welcome to Wakaba-soh, by sola creator Chako Abeno; two manhwa, 13th Boy and Sugarholic; and the Spice and Wolf (Ōkami to Koshinryo) novels. (ANN, Deb Aoki, Gia)

Deb Aoki has quick impressions of the first two days, noting that many publishers stayed away and that the special “Top Secret” panel scheduled for Saturday was canceled. Kai-Ming Cha has some notes from the floor as well. Erica Friedman filed her con report, even though she was only there for a few hours, and Kethylia tweeted her impressions via Twitter. Active Anime and The Haisho teamed up on a very nice blog with lots of pictures and news. Lissa Pattillo recaps the news with a list of new licenses at Kuriousity.

Back in May, when Moyashimon won a Kodansha Manga Award, I opined that it sounded pretty interesting and that Del Rey should publish it. Ahem. Apparently great minds think alike, because they have indeed licensed it (dropping the h to make it Moyasimon in English). Because a manga about bacteria is a guaranteed winner. There’s an anime too. (Warning: Extreme cuteness.)

Oh, Del Rey announced three other books as well: Tsubasa Character Guide 2, Amefurashi, and Maid War Chronicle. Details after the cut.

DEL REY MANGA ANNOUNCES NEW MANGA SERIES, GUIDE FOR 2009

NEW YORK, NY – September 27, 2008 – Del Rey Manga, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group, today announced an eclectic range of new manga titles to be published in Summer and Fall of 2009.  The new series acquisitions feature some of the best characters that the manga world has to offer, including fighting maids, a temperamental rain goddess, and—in a unique twist—cute, talking bacteria.

Take a look at the world of bacteria through the lens of manga! MOYASIMON: TALES OF AGRICULTURE, by Masayuki Ishikawa, follows Tadayasu Souemon Sawaki, a first-year college student at an agricultural university in Tokyo. Tadayasu has a one-of-a-kind talent that may just come in handy at school: the ability to see and communicate with adorable bacteria and microorganisms! While this series showcases the author’s zany sense of humor, the series is so scientifically accurate it’s legitimately educational, too! The cute creatures have been a merchandising hit in Japan. A hilarious comedy and fantastical drama, MOYASIMON: TALES OF AGRICULTURE is otaku-friendly and filled with scientific facts, making for a unique manga experience. Del Rey Manga editor Tricia Narwani says, “Del Rey Manga has always ventured into new territory with our list, but this time, we’ve licensed something that has a true claim to total originality: the wholly unique and irresistibly charming Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture.” The manga will make its North American debut in Fall 2009.

Learn more about the rich, complex world of CLAMP’s Tsubasa with the TSUBASA CHARACTER GUIDE 2, set for publication in Summer of 2009. This second guide picks up where the first guide left off, and covers volumes 8-14 in the bestselling series. Fans can learn more about beloved characters such as Sakura and Syaoran, and discover details on “crossover” characters from other CLAMP series, including Cardcaptor Sakura and xxxHOLiC. Also featuring brand new full-color art and a fold-out poster, this fully-illustrated companion to Tsubasa is a must-have for CLAMP fans looking to broaden their reading experience.

Atsushi Suzumi brings her talent to the Del Rey Manga lineup again with AMEFURASHI, a new shôjo manga. A small Japanese village’s fortune is dependent on the whims of the Amefurashi, the rain goddess. Gimey, a village resident, ends up meeting Amefurashi on his own and discovers that she’s actually a cute little girl! Gimey must now try to persuade her to save his village—by keeping this somewhat temperamental, demanding goddess happy. Suzumi is a co-creator of Haridama: Magic Cram School, published this summer by Del Rey Manga, and is also known as the creator of the popular series Venus vs. Virus. AMEFURASHI will be published in July 2009.

RAN is a rising talent in the manga world, having worked with superstar Ken Akamatsu on Mao-chan, which goes on sale from Del Rey Manga in November. Del Rey will publish MAID WAR CHRONICLE, written and illustrated by RAN, in May 2009. Playing into “Maid culture” with a sense of zany, non-stop action and humor, MAID WAR CHRONICLE starts by following Cacao, who has landed her dream job as a live-in maid for the Prince of the Urbansberg Kingdom. However, the kingdom finds itself under siege and the Prince and his five maids make their escape. In order to win back his kingdom, the super-cute maids need to be the warriors that the Prince needs—and be ready to save the day!