MangaBlog

Iris Print recently canceled their planned boys love magazine BL Twist, and they have also been rather quiet lately. Now Yaoi Suki posts a letter from the publisher and the news that if you want more of that sweet, sweet BL, you should pre-order their next two books. Here’s a quote from the letter Iris editor Kellie Lynch sent out today:

The short story is, Iris Print ran out of funding. Orders for in-stock books are still shipping, and refunds for BL Twist are being issued, slowly but surely. But there hasn’t been enough money coming in to support this venture for a long time, and to be honest, the plug was pulled a lot later than it should have been.

As Lynch is the sole employee, and she has to go back to her day job to keep the company going, she is also looking for volunteers to help with editing, typesetting, web stuff, etc. Watch her blog for future updates.

In yesterday’s year-in-review piece, Christopher Butcher commented that Yen Press had a “notoriously difficult time” getting licenses and wondered whether With the Light, their manga about autism, had sold well. Yen Press co-publisher Kurt Hassler, no stranger to the internets, popped up in the comments section to assert that With the Light surpassed all expectations and the company has no problem getting licenses; he threw in an interesting anecdote about how they came to acquire ICE Kunion as well.

Kurt also commented on Tiamat’s Disciple’s post about the gray market in the UK, noting that YP acquires UK rights for all its books and markets them through its UK sister company, Orbit. TD is impressed.

And here’s a treat: The Daily Yomiuri interviews With the Light creator Keiko Tobe.

Shaenon Garrity is finally folding the tent on her Overlooked Manga Festival, having run out of obscure manga to celebrate. She wraps up her segment on out-of-print Viz manga this week, and for the final installment, she’s asking readers to recommend their own favorites.

This Forbes article on the Romanian manga scene has a slightly manic tone that makes it that much more fun to read. And hey, Asterix doujinshi!

Now this is meta: Del Rey will publish Kujibiki Unbalance, the favorite fictional manga of our favorite fictional otaku, the characters in Genshiken.

David Welsh has a few random nuggets of wisdom to share, and Carlo Santos posts another Right Turn Only!! column up at ANN, in which he ruminates on Dramacon, Secret Comics Japan, and more. Ryan at Same Hat! Same Hat!! lists what he has been reading lately.

Giapet writes about another underappreciated manga at Fanboy.com: Bokurano, which is so underappreciated that it hasn’t even been licensed yet.

Talk about underappreciated! The publisher of Comic Gumbo, the first free manga magazine, has filed for bankruptcy.

Are comics part of a well-balanced adult lifestyle? Tom Baker of the Daily Yomiuri asks the experts. Also, Roland Kelts looks at how U.S. politics may affect anime and manga.

Have you always dreamed of building your own gundam? It’ll cost ya.

Historical curiosity: Steve Bunche takes a look at Takao Saito’s James Bond, the beta version of Golgo 13. (Via The Beat.)

Here are some free manga previews for you, but they’re in Japanese: Media Works has set up a website for its Dengeki comics, and they have put some chapters online (click on the gray buttons in the three boxes in the center, the ones with the open-book icons). And one of them is Inukami, which was recently licensed by Seven Seas; apparently fanservice is a universal language.

ICv2 has more on the demise of Newtype USA.

ComiPress is looking for new contributors.

Reviews: Stephen Taylor reviews Megatokyo for the Daily Yomiuri. Kethylia is the rare dissenter from the general praise of Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms. Julie enjoys vol. 9 of Yakitate!! Japan at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Sandra Scholes checks out vol. 1 of Poison Candy and Holly Ellingwood reads Trinity Blood: Rage Against the Moons Novel 2: Silent Noise at Active Anime. Billy Aguiar reviews vol. 1 of V.B. Rose at Prospero’s Manga and The Manga Bible at CBGXtra. Ishaan reviews vols. 3 and 4 of Junk at Manga Jouhou. Tiamat’s Disciple posts an overview of Tail of the Moon. Connie reviews vol. 1 of Kedamono Damono and vol. 10 of Lupin III at Slightly Biased Manga.

This just came in as a comment to the last post:

Here’s a scoop for you. ADV is telling potential advertisers that their new magazine will be called PIQ (as in “sneak peak” or “pique your interest”). The fact that it’s not being called “Anime USA” makes me think that something very different from Newtype will emerge from the rubble. There’s no media kit currently available, so it’s not like PIQ will be hitting the stands next month or anything. But anything can happen and it usually does!

Sounds interesting! I wonder if they are positioning themselves to compete more directly with Otaku USA?

UPDATE: Confirmed! The e-mail Newtype USA is sending to subscribers says PiQ will be out in March, which seems like very tight timing, and will cover “anime, manga, video games and other aspects of pop culture of keen interests to you.”

Also, Topless Robot has some interesting commentary. (Via Giapet.)

Christopher Butcher has an extended commentary on David Welsh’s roundup of the year in manga at Comics 212. Well worth a read. Tiamat’s Disciple looks at how various publishers fared in 2007 from a UK perspective. Anime on DVD has a special Bring Out Your Dead roundup that is mostly anime but also mentions BeBeautiful and CPM.

Lyle Masaki writes about the appeal of yaoi for After Elton. (Via The Yaoi Review.) Lyle has a few more comments at his own blog, Crocodile Caucus.

At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson comments on a number of recent manga developments, including the Viz omnibuses and Mike Richardson’s revelation that Dark Horse publishes shoujo manga.

Tiamat’s Disciple has an interesting article on gray-market manga in the UK and the problems fans have finding books (TD was able to get vols. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 of Magical x Miracle, for instance, but not vol. 5).

Jason DeAngelis of Seven Seas talks to ICv2 about adding juvenile fiction to the mix.

Charts! Three volumes of Naruto make the USA Today top 150, all down a bit from last week: vol. 27 at number 87, vol. 26 at number 93, and vol. 25 at number 115. Meanwhile, Matt Blind lists the top 150 manga (online sales) at Comicsnob.

David Welsh looks at this week’s new comics, a lean selection aside from Tokyopop’s Manga Sutra. The MangaCast team pick the best of the lot as well.

Underrated manga watch: John Jakala discovers Gin Tama at Sporadic Sequential. And at Fanboy.com, Gia sings the praises of Hajime no Ippo and Antique Bakery.

News from Japan: ANN has the results of the 2007 Otaku Awards. I like it that “The UFO debate in the Japanese Parliament” won an award. Meanwhile, ComiPress has some comings and goings: Kodansha’s josei magazine Beth is folding, and new manga are coming out from Ryuta Amazume, creator of Toshiue no Hito, and Kouji Koumeta, creator of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Comic Yurihime will become a stand-alone magazine, and “special interest” manga, stories about wine and classical music, are starting to catch on in Taiwan.

Newtype USA will cease publication in February and will be replaced by another magazine. Lots of discussion in the comments about the loss of advertising from Geneon, but cost and cover price also come up. Manga Xanadu says she won’t miss it because she has already moved on to Otaku USA, which has better writers and a lower cover price.

Here’s an interesting tidbit from Manga Jouhou: Takehiko Inoue is hosting a manga exhibit titled “Final Exhibition” at the Ueno no Mori Art Museum. Why “final”? That’s what MJ wants to know. There’s an enigmatic promotional site, in English, here. Also up at MJ: Are Japanese police picking on otaku?

The blogger who goes by huamulan03 is doing some interesting writing about Indonesian releases of Japanese manga at the Sunny Side Up Anime Blog. S/he compares Shi to Kanojo to Boku (released in Indonesia as From the Other World, although ANN gives the alternate title as Death, the Girl and Me) to Ghost Hunt and displays the covers to show how different the Indonesian release is from the Japanese editions (published by Kodansha).

Job Board: Viz is looking for a senior editor for their magazine line.

Manly Manga and More posts the January release list for Germany.

Reviews: Tangognat enjoys vol. 1 of Zig Zag. Kethylia reviews vol. 1 of Good Luck. At Manga Jouhou, Kurishojo reviews Freefall Romance and Hate to Love You. Erin Finnegan reviews vol. 1 of Aventura, vols. 2 and 3 of My Heavenly Hockey Club, and vols. 1 and 2 of Mamotte! Lollipop, and Ken Haley checks out vol. 1 of Bombos Vs. Everything, at Manga Recon. Erica Friedman reviews vol. 2 of The Last Uniform at Okazu. Lissa Patillo reviews vol. 1 of Aventura at Kuriosity. At Prospero’s Manga, Ferdinand reads vol. 1 of Harukaze Bitter Bop and vol. 1 of The Knockout Makers, and Miranda updates us on vols. 3 and 4 of The Demon Ororon. Sandra Scholes checks out vol. 1 of Junjo Romantica and Holly Ellingwood reviews Ka Shin Fu at Active Anime. Danielle Van Gorder reviews vol. 1 of Voice or Noise at AoD, and everyone contributes to the Small Bodied Manga Reviews. At the Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie reviews vol. 3 of My Heavenly Hockey Club, vol. 1 of I, Otaku: Struggle in Akibahara, vol. 3 of Yurara, and vol. 2 of Reborn! Nick hates vol. 1 of Fall in Love Like a Comic at Hobotaku.

At PWCW, Calvin Reid has the details on the Seven Seas-Tor Books deal, including two new titles coming from Seven Seas: Inukami, a manga, and Kuro Majo-san ga Touru (roughly, Here Comes the Black Witch), a light novel aimed at girls 8 to 12. Also: Kai-Ming Cha and Ed Chavez interview Genshiken creator Kio Shimoku.

PWCW’s best-seller list includes five volumes of Naruto and vol. 18 of Fruits Basket, plus some other stuff that’s not manga.

Katherine Dacey-Tsuei has a nice article on manga that make the transition to newspaper strips (the latest is Undertown) at the Manga Recon blog on PopCultureShock.

Tongue firmly planted in cheek, Simon Jones presents the Icarus Comics year-end report.

Mely of Coffeeandink, whose opinions are always worth reading, lists what she’s reading this year; readers chime in in comments.

Ed Chavez looks at the seinen magazine Comic Marble at MangaCast.

Tokyopop is offering manga videos via V CAST, a Verizon service. It’s their imanga videos, which I believe are the same ones they are showing on their MySpace page.

Today’s Manga 101 article hails from Shawnee Mission, Kansas, where the teen manga club is going strong. I liked this:

One of the group’s favorite topics is to compare the manga in Japan to the watered-down version sold in the United States. Some of the themes — such as sexuality, nudity, violence and smoking — are often edited out for American readers. The teens have a blast pointing out all the differences to each other. For instance, in one graphic novel, lesbians were turned into cousins for American readers. Sometimes, cigarettes were erased from books, leaving a trail of smoke coming out of a toothpick.

The Living Hero podcast will be interviewing Daniel Pink, and you’re invited to send in your questions. Pink is the author of the recent Wired piece on Japan, Ink., as well as the upcoming business manga The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You’ll Ever Need. (Via ComiPress.)

Reviews: There’s a handful of new manga reviews up at Comics Village, most by bloggers whose names are familiar if you click the links around here: Charles Tan on MW, John Thomas on vol. 1 of Gyo, Sabrina on vol. 1 of Dramacon, Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Wild Ones, and Lissa Patillo on vol. 1 of Voice or Noise. Sesho gives vol. 1 of Orfina a C in a podcast review. John Zakzrewski checks out the fanservice-fest vol. 1 of My Dearest Devil Princess at Anime on DVD. Michelle has a positive review of vol. 11 of Hikaru no Go at Soliloquy in Blue. At Comics Worth Reading Ed Sizemore has mixed feelings about vol. 1 of Sundome: he’s both frustrated and intrigued, and he does a good job of articulating exactly why. At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie looks at vol. 4 of Ouran High School Host Club, vol. 8 of Pastel, vols. 3, 4, and 5 of Real/Fake Princess, vol. 6 of Oh My Goddess, vols. 8 and 9 of Boy Princess, and vol. 3 of Le Chevalier d’Eon.

Here’s today’s must-read article: Jeff Vandermeer interviews librarian and uber-manga fan Robin Brenner at Bookslut, then gives her space to list the top manga, not of 2007, but of all time.

At the Del Rey blog, Dallas Middaugh lists his top ten manga of 2007, along with some commentary about the PW list.

Yaoi Press publisher Yamila Abraham (at least, I assume she writes the blog) wraps up 2007 with a review of YP’s accomplishments and failures. This is interesting:

Our greatest failure was the comic books. Without book store sales the comic book line was unsustainable.

I had forgotten they were doing those. Yamila also discusses plans for the year ahead, which include releasing fewer new titles, devoting more time to promotion of both new titles and backlist, and diversifying into different types of merch, including figures. Plus Yaoi Jamboree!

In this week’s Flipped column, David Welsh is stranded on the Island of Misfit Manga, with reviews of three series about folks who just don’t fit in. (Although, when you think about it, a book about someone who does fit in would be pretty boring. Problems=plots!)

Christopher Butcher’s account of his visit to the Osamu Tezuka museum continues with photos of Tezuka’s how-to-draw illustrations, embedded in the museum’s floor.

LJ’er Strangeratu is compiling a guide to Weekly Jump series that have been adapted as anime, with links to clips on YouTube. (Via ComiPress.)

The nominations are out for the Cybils, the bloggers’ awards for YA and children’s books. Tangognat has the Graphic Novel nominations, and only one manga made the cut: Yotsuba&!, in the Elementary/Middle Grade category.

Viz relentlessly promotes their new series for the first quarter of 2008. Lots of good info here. Plus: Library bindings!

Active Anime is reviving the Top 25 Anime/Manga Website poll. Note: Scanlators need not apply.

Happy blogiversary to Chloe of Shuchaku East, who is celebrating her first year on the internets by giving away a copy of everyone’s favorite manga, Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms. And if you’re not reading this blog already, bookmark it; Chloe has a special talent for finding a new take on whatever everyone else is talking about.

Gia is writing about underrated manga at Fanboy.com; check out her writeup of Gintama.

Reviews: Monday Manga Reviews are up at About Heroes. Kurishojo checks out vol. 4 of Princess Princess at Manga Jouhou. At ComicMix, Andrew Wheeler looks at a classic, Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga. Patricia Beard reviews Saihoshi and Greg Hackmann takes on vol. 1 of MPD-Psycho at Anime on DVD. Daniel P. reviews vol. 2 of The Last Uniform at Okazu. Lissa reviews vol. 1 of Psychic Power Nanaki at her blog, Kuriosity.