Vampire Hunter D comes to American comics

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Brigid Alverson

Devil’s Due Publishing has made a deal with Digital Manga to publish a new Vampire Hunter D story in a monthly American-style comics format, according to ICv2. The Devils Due folks say the series, titled Vampire Hunter D: American Wasteland, will have “a noticeably North American feel never before seen in the Vampire Hunter D mythos, while closely paying respect to the history of D.” This struck me as curious:

Dark Horse publishes the Vampire Hunter D novels in the U.S. (Volume 11 is due out in October), and they continue to sell better than the vast majority of manga titles released here in the States.

Can that be? Of course, one could argue that the market is flooded right now with manga that aren’t selling, but I’d love to see hard numbers to back that statement up. (Image of the first Vampire Hunter D novel from the Dark Horse website.)

Rumors of Tokyopop returning rights to creators may have been greatly exaggerated. Rich Johnston puts a yellow light next to this item in his Lying in the Gutters column:

LITG had previous reported that TOKYOPOP would be negotiating the return of rights to its creators of properties, after the current reduction of publishing plans.

Well, it seems to have been all mouth and no trousers. Those who have made approaches buoyed by the news and with prominent publishers lined up have suddenly been rebuffed.

Johanna Draper Carlson lists some useful manga reference books at Comics Worth Reading.

Khursten takes a look at monsters in manga at Otaku Champloo.

Ed has good news at the MangaCast: Dark Horse will be publishing vol. 11 of Eden: It’s an Endless World, a series whose future has been in doubt for some time.

The Anime Expo drumbeat continues. Deb Aoki has a handy summary of the AX manga highlights at About.com,

News from Japan: This ran last week, but somehow I missed it: Suzue Miuchi will relaunch her classic manga Glass no Kamen (Glass Mask), one of the best selling shoujo manga of all time, in Bessatsu Hana to Yume magazine.

Reviews: Kiki Van De Kamp sings the praises of vol. 1 of Fairy Cube at Animanga Nation. Dan Grendell rounds up some brief manga reviews in his Manga Zubon column at Comic Pants. John Zakrzewski checks out vol. 1 of Rosario + Vampire and Matthew Alexander takes a peek at vol. 8 of Oh My Goddess at Anime on DVD. Dave Ferraro reads vol. 1 of Rin! at Comics-and-More. Lissa Pattillo takes a look at vol. 1 of Dark Prince at Kuriousity. Katie McNeill reviews vol. 1 of Vassalord at Blogcritics. Deb Aoki also reviews vol. 1 of Vassalord at About.com. Julie reads vol. 11 of Nana at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Johanna Draper Carlson reviews vol. 3 of Walkin’ Butterfly and vol. 1 of Kujibiki Unbalance at Comics Worth Reading.

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PR: Vampire Hunter D creators at AX

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Brigid Alverson

There’s lots of excitement over the Vampire Hunter D franchise this week, what with Devils Due announcing that they will be publishing a VHD series in American comics format. Now the Digital Manga folks, who have the license for the VHD manga, are bringing the creators, Hideyuki Kikuchi and Saiko Takaki, to Anime Expo. Details, including the schedule for their panel and autograph sessions, are below the cut.

DMP Presents Hideyuki Kikuchi and Saiko Takaki at Anime Expo 2008

Gardena, CA, June 30, 2008 – The year is 12,090 A.D., and what little is left of humanity has finally crawled out from the ashes of war and destruction. From the darkness of fallout, mutants and a race of vampires known as the Nobility have spawned. They rule the weak with no remorse. Once bitten by a Nobility, one is cursed to become a member of the undead. Villagers cower in fear, hoping and praying for a savior to rid them of their undying nightmare. All they have to battle this danger is a different kind danger — a Vampire Hunter.

Digital Manga Publishing, one of the most innovative manga publishers is proud to present Hideyuki Kikuchi and Saiko Takaki as our industry guests for Anime Expo. Kikuchi-sensei’s credits are long and wide including: A Wind Named Amnesia, Wicked City and Demon Beast Shinjuku. Saiko Takaki, illustrator, was hand picked by Kikuchi himself to bring his most famous character to life in DMP’s manga adaptation.

Swing by the Vampire Hunter D focus panel to have all your questions answered, hear some insider information on future volumes and be entered in our raffle. Panel prizes include Takaki’s ink sketches of D, exclusive Vampire Hunter D merchandise and the grand prize of a dinner date for you and a friend with both creators!

For more information stop by the DMP booth (#510) before the panel!

DMP Presents: Hideyuki Kikuchi and Saiko Takaki!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
2:00-3:00pm
WS1

Hideyuki Kikuchi and Saiko Takaki Autograph Sessions
Saturday, July 5, 2008 – 1:00-2:00pm
Sunday, July 6, 2008 – 1:00-2:00pm
Booth #510

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Review: Kiichi and the Magic Books

Posted on June 30, 2008 by Brigid Alverson

Kiichi and the Magic Books, vols. 1 and 2
By Taka Amano
Rated T, for Teen
CMX, $9.99

The title of this series suggests one of those earnest reading-is-fun kids’ books written by well-meaning adults, which is a shame, because it’s actually much better than that. This is manga, after all, so the books don’t open up new wonderlands; they release demons and wild animals, which wreak havoc in various satisfying ways. The story doesn’t break any new ground, but it’s a pleasant read and the art is unusual and quite graceful in places.

Kiichi is a little boy who is on his own. After his mother’s death, the people in his village noticed a horn sprouting from his forehead, which betrayed his oni [demon] blood, and they shunned him. His overriding emotion is not sadness or resentment but curiosity—he wants to know about oni, and he wants to find someone like him.

Mototaro is a traveling librarian. In a land where individuals are forbidden to own books, he travels around with a portable rental library; when he arrives in a town, he sets up his lantern and spreads out his books. Kiichi sees Mototaro and his traveling companion, a young girl named Hana, summon tiny dancing oni from the pages of a book. Intrigued, he follows them, swipes a book, and in the way these things always go, ends up traveling with them to the Book Depository, where he hopes to learn more about oni and about himself.

So off they go on their journey, which is punctuated by adventures in the various places where they stop. Along the way, we learn the rules: people and animals often pop out of the pages of books, particularly older ones; these materialized figures are imperfect copies whose ink dissolves when it touches water (or tears); and only a librarian can get the living creatures back into the books. It’s an interestingly self-referential concept, when you think about it: The creatures that spring from the books only look realistic on the drawn page, where all the people and surroundings are made of ink on paper as well.

After a few episodes that demonstrate the power of books, including one in which a woman tries to use them to bring her dead son back to life, Kiichi and his companions arrive at the book depository, where the books are kept and defective books are destroyed. Here the story takes a different turn. New characters emerge, and the characters we thought we now start to develop and show new sides of themselves. Having spent the better part of two volumes getting us used to their invented world, the authors throw in a whole new cosmological angle to the story, one that begins to explain the plot and also puts Kiichi in jeopardy.

The characters in Kiichi manage to be likeable without being boring. Mototaro is sort of a stock character, on the one hand a grudging parent figure to Kiichi and Hana, on the other hand, a powerful magician who hides his talent under an unassuming exterior. Kiichi is plucky, if not particularly gifted; he can run fast and jump high, but unlike a lot of other manga heroes, he doesn’t have any extraordinary talents. Hana is a needy little girl, adrift in the world. Traveling with the trio is Mori, a gentle giant from a race called the Amamori, who have a particular affinity for birds. Mori dispenses wisdom and protects the travelers, but there’s something ambiguous about him that brings a bit of tension into the book.

Kiichi is drawn in a standard manga style, but the artist uses very little toning, instead relying on clear lines, masses of pure black and white, and hatching, as well as areas of great detail that function as grays on the page. It’s an interesting technique that usually looks good, although in a few of the larger landscape scenes, the dark masses of foliage just read as disembodied blobs. The animals that spring to life from the books are believable but not very accurate; they really look like old drawings of animals, even as they terrorize the villagers.

Kiichi and the Magic Books is attractive and very readable. The story is interesting and avoids the trap of being too episodic; by the end of volume 2, the characters are well defined and beginning to develop some depth. Younger readers will probably enjoy this story the most, but there’s enough there to hold the interest of an adult who isn’t looking for standard battle or romance manga as well.

(This review is based on a complimentary copy and galley provided by the publisher.)

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Free Bizenghast for all

Posted on June 30, 2008 by Brigid Alverson

BizenghastBizenghast is one of Tokyopop’s global manga that is showing some staying power—vol. 5 just came out, creator M. Alice LeGrow is working on vol. 6, and Tokyopop has extended the contract to an unprecedented vol. 7. You can check out what the fuss is all about this week, when Tokyopop is putting vol. 1 online for free. (Hat tip: Manga Xanadu.)

I missed this when it first came out, but it’s still pretty fresh: Ramsey Isler writes about Tokyopop’s troubles and the manga industry as a whole at IGN.com. I must say that I think the significance of people who read the manga in the bookstores and don’t buy it is overstated, but he makes some good points.

Planning ahead: Ed Chavez posts all the manga from the July Previews at MangaCast.

Looking for some light summer reading? Here’s a nice overview of sci-fi manga.

At Kuriousity, part three of Lissa Pattillo’s series on manga publishers focuses on boys love: Digital, 801, Blu, and Yaoi Press.

Anime Expo is coming, and Ed Chavez is ahead of the pack as usual with a rundown of all the manga programming at the MangaCast. Yamila Abraham invites everyone to the Yaoi Press booth, and Jason Thompson will be participating in the Otaku USA panel on Sunday.

Also, the latest Japanator podcast, Podtoid-San, is up, and it’s all about AnimeNEXT.

OT, but an interesting read: A longtime comics reader reflects one of the chief barriers to new comics readers: the retail comics system.

News from Japan: Koge-Donbo has a new manga in the works, titled Tame no Pavane (Pavane for a Dead Girl), to run in Comic Blade. This one is set in a Meiji-era music school. Singaporean blogger Vong Yonghow made it in to The LAST Manga Exhbition, an exhibit of Takehiko Inoue’s works, and he has the photos to prove it.

Reviews: Head over to PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog first, where Kate Dacey posts a host of mini-reviews. Lianne Sentar reviews Teru Teru x Shonen at Sleep Is for the Weak; check out this page for recent series updates as well. Mangamaniac checks out Feverish and Ed Chavez has a podcast review of vol. 2 of He Is My Master and vol. 1 of Kaze no Hana at the MangaCast. At Prospero’s Manga, Ferdinand reviews the how-to manual Professional Manga. Sophie Stevens has high praise for vol. 2 of Honey and Clover at Animanga Nation. James Fleenor enjoys vol. 1 of Cowa! at Anime Sentinel. New reviews are up at the Boys Next Door blog: vol. 13 of Let Dai, vol. 6 of Junjo Romantica, and Gentle Cage. Lissa Pattillo reviews vol. 1 of Honey and Clover at Kuriousity. Tiamat’s Disciple posts reviews of vol. 1 of Sunshine Sketch, vol. 1 of Very Very Sweet, and vol. 1 of You’re So Cool. Michelle reads vol. 3 of Venus in Love at Soliloquy in Blue. Katie McNeill reviews vol. 1 of Devil’s Bride at Blogcritics. Leroy Douresseaux takes a look at vol. 1 of Time Stranger Kyoko at The Comic Book Bin.

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Bonus Jumbo Sunday post

Posted on June 29, 2008 by Brigid Alverson

C.B. Cebulski plays with our heads by posting some samples of a Junko Mizuno Spider-man project. Can this be for real? I guess we’ll find out. (Image swiped from C.B.’s blog—hey, everyone else is doing it!)

Danielle Leigh is getting ready to head off to the summer cons at Manga Before Flowers.

I don’t think I ever linked to this, so here it is: The winners of the 2nd Morning International Manga Competition, with links to the top-placing works as well as the judges’ comments. (Via Shari.)

Erica Friedman presents a week’s worth of yuri news at Okazu. And she looks at chapter 7 of Gunjou, which is running in the same Morning 2 magazine that features Felipe Smith’s Peepo Choo manga.

Here’s evidence that Tokyopop is still alive: They have posted a lengthy preview of Vassalord on MySpace.

At the MangaCast, Ed Chavez takes a look at DMP’s new imprint, Doki Doki, which is strictly for books from the Japanese publisher Shinshokan, and ponders why Shinshokan chose to go that route rather than setting up their own brand here. He elaborates in comments at the Icarus blog (NSFW):

At a time when people are spreading rumors about Japanese pubs coming to this market, seeing Shinshokan further entrench themselves with DMP is actually refreshing. To me it shows confidence that DMP has a good grip on the BL market and that their Japanese partners see that also.

Also, Ed doesn’t think the BL wave has peaked. (Image of one of the new titles lifted from MangaCast.)

The ADV Death Watch crowd had a frisson of excitement on Friday when Anime on DVD reported on an auction of office furniture, etc. that had suspiciously familiar labels on it. ADV’s Chris Oarr confirmed that ADV was indeed auctioning off furniture but added that it was surplus stuff made unnecessary by already announced cutbacks, winding up his message with “P.S. Mention you heard about it on AoD and receive a free stapler with every purchase.” (Image swiped from here.)

Lissa Pattillo gives her impressions of several manga publishers at Kuriousity.

Tanoshimi is Del Rey’s British sister company, and blogger Alex of Nakama Brittanica has an appreciation of their books that will seem quite familiar to American fans of Del Rey.

Susie Lee of Studio QT explains how she retouched the sound effects on just one page of Gantz. John Jakala is impressed.

Visual Linguist Neil Cohn discusses some reasons why manga storytelling is so decompressed.

Alex Woolfson posts the pencils (rated 18+) for the second volume of his yaoi comic Artifice at Yaoi 911.

Friend of MangaBlog Matt Lehman wrote in to say that Comic Geek Speak interviewed Shannon and ?Angela, two staffers from his comics store, Comicopia.

The Manga Life writers heap scorn on a press release and reveal what they’re reading at the moment in the latest Manga Bulletin, and the staff also confess their guilty pleasures in a manga and anime roundtable.

The latest Japanator podcast, Podtoid-san, is up, featuring a discussion of ADV’s office furniture auction, Haridama Magic Cram School, and Maid Machinegun.

Nenena and Electric Goldfish express their opinions about the Harvey nomination for Witchblade. (Via When Fangirls Attack.)

Also via WFA: Ririka likes Claymore despite some WTF?s; Nenena adds some perspective in comments.

Queenie Chan posts the winners of the The Dreaming fanfic contest.

A Thai publisher has translated a 1984-vintage manga about Burmese human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, and it’s available for download for $3.

News from Japan: Yuu Watase is closing down Yuu Watase Perfect World Fushigi Yuugi magazine so she can start a new work, according to ANN. ANN also reports that a new series, Mobile Suit Gundam 00: Aoi Kioku (Blue Memories) just started up in Kadokawa Shoten’s Gundam Ace magazine. A new Macross manga and novel are on the way as well. Akio Tanaka, the artist for the manga Shamo, is suing Izo Hashimoto, who is credited as the creator of the manga. Tanaka claims that he was the one who came up with the plot and characters. Gia has more.

Reviews: Casey Brienza reviews vol. 1 of Walkin’ Butterfly and Carlo Santos takes on vols. 14 and 15 of Monster at ANN. David Welsh takes a look at two new series from Go! Comi, vol. 1 of Kamisama Kazoku and vol. 1 of Ultimate Venus, at Precocious Curmudgeon. Michelle gets her hands on a copy of the hard-to-find Four Shojo Stories and reviews it at Soliloquy in Blue. She also checks out vol. 8 of Maison Ikkoku, vol. 2 of Sand Chronicles, and vol. 12 of xxxHolic. At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie likes vol. 2 of Suppli better than vol. 1, and she’s disappointed that it may be cancelled. She gives thumbs up to vol. 13 of From Eroica With Love as well. John Thomas is pleased with vol. 1 of Gantz at Mecha Mecha Media. Kethylia enjoys vol. 28 of Naruto. At PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog, Ken Haley reviews vol. 1 of Real and Phil Guie checks out vols. 5-8 of Enchanter. Edward Zacharias has a detailed review of vol. 29 of Naruto and Faith McAdams takes a look at vol. 3 of High School Debut at Animanga Nation. These reviews focus heavily on plot, so there may be spoilers. Deb Aoki catches up with vols. 1-3 of Black God at About.com. Sesho posts an audio review of vol. 1 of Negima at Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews. Brian P reads Two Flowers for the Dragon at MangaCast. At Manga Life, Park Cooper snags an advance copy of vol. 30 of Naruto and Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane reads vol. 1 of Time Stranger Kyoko and vol. 8 of La Corda d’Oro. Katie McNeill reviews vol. 1 of Hotel Africa and vol. 1 of Hellgate at Blogcritics. The Star of Malaysia picks up a Daily Yomiuri story about vols. 1-11 of Neon Genesis Evangelion, and reviewer Holy Cow checks out vol. 1 of Fairy Cube. Julie checks out vol. 2 of Hero Heel and vol. 2 of Yakuza in Love at the Manga Maniac Cafe. At Kuriousity, Lissa Pattillo posts on vol. 5 of Wild Adapter, vol. 3 of Winter Demon, and vol. 1 of +Anima. Erin Jones reads vol. 1 of B.O.D.Y. and Gary Thompson enjoys vol. 2 of Pumpkin Scissors at Anime on DVD. It’s Dragonball weekend at Prospero’s Manga, where Ferdinand reviews the two new Viz omnibuses (omnibi?), Dragonball, Big Volume 1 and Dragon Ball Z, Big Volume 1. Emily reviews two untranslated series, Shinai Virus and Flower, at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. Sakura Kiss looks at vol. 1 of Tomcats, which is actually not yaoi, at The Yaoi Review. James Fleenor gives his impression of vol. 2 of Blood+ at Anime Sentinel. Brian Henderson reviews vol. 4 of Phantom at Manga Xanadu. Leroy Douresseaux reads vol. 1 of Battle Royale Ultimate Edition at The Comic Book Bin.

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Tokyopop, light novels, and more

Posted on June 26, 2008 by Brigid Alverson

Benjamin Ong Pang Kean presents part two of his article on Tokyopop’s global manga creators at Newsarama. This one focuses on the fate of the series—some will continue as planned, some will go online, and some will be canceled outright. Some are in limbo, as the creators haven’t heard yet. Stay tuned.

Translator John Thomas sings the praises of light novels and addresses some of the issues around them, including the fact that bookstores aren’t sure where to shelve them.

The Japanese magazine Morning 2 posted the winners of its second international manga competition a little while ago. Now Ed Chavez posts his conversations with Morning 2 editor Eijiro Shimada; anyone interested in entering this year’s competition should take an especial interest in this.

Erin F. files a con report on Anime Next at the Manga Recon blog. And Anime Almanac’s Scott VonSchilling attended Anime Next with his first press badge ever, although he has been blogging along with the rest of us for several years. Welcome to the club, Scott. There’s a bottle of bourbon in the lower right drawer.

Hey, CLAMP fans: Shaenon Garrity wants to talk to you.

Kai-Ming Cha has more on the Shueisha/Shogakukan/ShoPro restructuring at Publishers Weekly. What does it mean to us?

In an e-mail exchange from Japan, Viz Media CEO Hidemi Fukuhara explained that the new partnership will impact “the process for animation and merchandising. Viz Media will be able to take more control of the properties because Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions will provide the various rights in a unified form.”

Sounds like they’re putting the final touches on their plans for world domination.

Reviews: The denizens of Manga Village have a new set of reviews up: Dan Polley on vol. 1 of The Reformed, John Thomas on Ohikkoshi, Sabrina on vol. 1 of Duck Prince, Charles Tan on vol. 3 of Eyeshield 21, and Lori Henderson on vol. 2 of Yumekui Kenbun: Nightmare Inspector. Connie reviews vol. 10 of Nana, vol. 3 of Andromeda Stories, and vol. 7 of After School Nightmare at Slightly Biased Manga. At Boys Next Door, Cynthia posts brief reviews of Weekend Lovers, vol. 3 of Totally Captivated, and vol. 1 of S. Chris Serani checks out Haridama Magic Cram School and Dick McVengeance critiques Maid Machinegun at Japanator. Julie reads vol. 2 of Honey and Clover at the Manga Maniac Cafe. David Welsh checks out two new titles from Go!Comi, vol. 1 of Kamisama Kazoku and vol. 1 of Ultimate Venus, at Precocious Curmudgeon. Erica Friedman reviews vol. 1 of Kannazuki no Miko at Okazu. Tangognat reads vol. 3 of Venus in Love.

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