Wednesday news update

Posted on November 14, 2007 by Brigid Alverson

Happy blogiversary to to Matthew Brady, who has been blogging for a year at Warren Peace Sings the Blues. Matt covers a lot of manga, and I really enjoy his reviews of individual issues of Shojo Beat. I’m looking forward to the day when people refer to Matt Brady of Newsarama as “not the Warren Peace Matt Brady”—it’s coming, I’m sure!

This week’s issue of Publishers Weekly Comics Week brings the news that IDW will be publishing Kazuo Umezu’s horror manga Reptilia. Also of interest: Ed Chavez sheds some light on the new online enterprise Manganovel. I was eagerly looking forward to taking this for a test ride until I realized that it’s Windows only. Boo!

David Welsh heads for the kitchen in this week’s Flipped column, which is all about cooking manga.

Matt Blind takes stock of the top 100 graphic novels for mid-November at Comicsnob.

ComiPress has the 411 on the Naruto Box Set, the last volume of Stray Little Devil and a new online comics community.

At Shuchaku East, Chloe points to an article on German manga (so far available only in German).

Language Bookworld finds a source for manga in French.

Reviews: Speaking of Matthew Brady, he has a nice review up, with scans, of Monster. EvilOmar has some pithy reviews up at About Heroes. At Manga Recon, Katherine Dacey-Tsuei reviews three titles from the Shojo Beat imprint, vol. 7 of Godchild, vol. 7 of Nana, and vol. 1 of S.A., and Erin F. checks out the novel Full Metal Panic: Fighting Boy Meets Girl. Julie reviews vol. 1 of Zig Zag at the Manga Maniac Cafe. At Okazu, Erica Friedman flips through vol. 2 of Yuri Hime S. At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna reviews vol. 9 of Genshiken and vol. 13 of The Wallflower and updates her review pages on The Kindaichi Case Files and ES: Eternal Sabbath to include the latest volumes. Ryan Lewis takes a long look at vol. 7 of Kaze Hikaru at Manga Life. Sakura Eries reviews the zany action manga vol. 1 of Hikkatsu at Anime on DVD. At Active Anime, Scott Campbell checks out vol. 8 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Holly Ellingwood reads vol. 7 of Loveless, and Christopher Seaman takes a look at vol. 1 of Psychic Power Nanaki. At Way of the Geek, Caldi checks out xxxHolic and Tsubasa.

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Short stack

Posted on November 13, 2007 by Brigid Alverson

The Ninja Consultant has posted a podcast of Jason Thompson’s MangaNext panel.

David Welsh checks out this week’s new comics.

I’m a bit late with this, I guess, but Publishers Weekly listed their best books of 2007 last week, and several manga made the cut: Tekkonkinkreet, MW, and MPD-Psycho. (Via Flog!)

Yaoi Suki asks Seven Seas what’s up with their yaoi line. The response: “still in the planning stages.”

Dave Ferraro finds vol. 1 of Yotsuba&! irresistible at Comics-and-More. At Precocious Curmudgeon, David Welsh reviews Muhyo and Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation. Dan Polley checks out vol. 1 of Earthlight at Manga Life. Nick enjoys vol. 1 of Kitchen Princess at Hobotaku. At the Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie takes a look at vol. 1 of Psychic Power Nanaki. Erica Friedman takes on vol. 10 of Yuri Hime (400 pages, in Japanese no less) at Okazu. LJ’er ruxi reviews Goth, a title available only as scanlation, apparently. (Via When Fangirls Attack.) At Active Anime, Christopher Seaman looks at vol. 2 of Million Tears, Scott Campbell scopes out Asian Beat, and Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 1 of Legends of the Dark Crystal and vol. 1 of Zig*Zag. Dick Hyacinth reviews a stack of comics, including MW, which he doesn’t like much.

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Kid lit plus a big stack o’reviews

Posted on November 12, 2007 by Brigid Alverson

A number of universal themes crop up in this article about kids and reading from the Shanghai Daily News, including this anecdote, which gave me a chuckle:

“I do a lot of reading outside school and my favorites include classics like ‘The Little Prince’ and useful books like ‘Selection of Students’ Essays’ because they are very significant,” says fourth-grader Zhu Wen.

…

Zhu’s mom is obviously proud of his perfect standard answer. “We bought a lot of informative books for him, which will expand his knowledge and improve his IQ,” she says.

After his mom went to the nearby aisle to get educational materials for him, Zhu says something completely different. “Actually, I prefer the ‘Harry Potter’ series and the Japanese manga ‘Slam-Dunk,’ but my mom would be upset if she heard this.”

Continuing his quest to corrupt all the little Zhus of the world, Jason Thompson discusses manga for pre-teens.

In her Weekly Recon roundup at PopCultureShock, Katherine Dacey-Tsuei takes a look at this week’s new manga and reviews some new volumes.

At Comicsnob, Matt Blind posts his weekly roundup of online manga ratings, The Pulse, then takes a closer look at all the volume 1’s on the list. It’s an interesting roundup. Also up: The top 100 volumes and the top 25 series.

The Daily Yomiuri chats with Lupin III creator Monkey Punch.

At the Mangacast, Ed Chavez posts more of the Big List of Japanese releases, audio of the Yaoi Press panel at Yaoicon, and cover shots of the newly announced June titles.

Here’s something to look for in the spring: One Thousand Years of Manga, by University of Tokyo professor Brigitte Koyama-Richard.

Oh look, another article about that wine manga.

At Comics Should Be Good, MarkAndrew is wondering which manga to read next. Go there and help him choose!

Comics journalist Cheryl Lynn will be moderating a panel on Women of Color in Comics and Manga at the Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art in New York on Nov. 12. And Jason Thompson (him again!) will be signing his tome Manga: The Complete Guide in Petaluma, California, on Nov. 15.

Reviews: Manga Recon has reviews of three books of interest to manga fans: Dragon Sword and Wind Child, J-Horror: The Definitive Guide to The Ring, The Grudge, and Beyond, and Parasite Eve. Melanie has some short manga reviews up at About Heroes. Julie reviews vol. 1 of Love Recipe at Mangacast, and back at the Manga Maniac Cafe she takes a peek at Asian Beat and vol. 2 of Muhyo and Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation. Jen Parker has good things to say about Pet on Duty at Yaoi Suki. At Manganews, Jiji is not impressed by vol. 1 of Bombos vs. Everything, but Snow is captivated by vol. 1 of Demon Flowers. Andrew Zimmerman, the Physics guide at About.com, reviews Edu-Manga: Albert Einstein. At Manga Life, Dan Polley reviews vol. 3 of Miki Falls, vol. 4 of Kitchen Princess, vol. 9 of Ghost Princess, vol. 16 of One Piece, and vol. 2 of Dragon Eye. Johanna Draper Carlson checks out vol. 4 of Kitchen Princess and vol. 3 of Love*Com. Michelle reviews vol. 18 of Hana-Kimi at Soliloquy in Blue. Kethylia gives her take on vol. 1 of Psycho Busters. David Welsh takes a look at two new series, vol. 1 of Hikkatsu and vol. 1 of Aventura. Billy Aguiar reviews vol. 1 of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX for CBGXtra, then dons his Ferdinand guise to discuss Welcome to the NHK (the novel) at Prospero’s Manga. At Active Anime, Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 18 of Fruits Basket and the yaoi anthology Sensitive Pornograph, while Davey C. Jones checks out vol. 15 of One Piece. Nick gives vol. 1 of Ouran High School Host Club an A at Hobotaku. Tiamat’s Disciple posts an overview of Fruits Basket. Robert Harris gives mediocre grades to vol. 1 of Mamotte!! Lollipop at Anime on DVD. Over at Blogcritics, Katie McNeill reviews vol. 1 of The Tarot Cafe and Jim Henson’s Return to Labyrinth. Manly Manga, a blog covering German releases, reviews vol. 1 of Kyoko Karasuma. At The Star of Malaysia, Kevin Tan reviews vol. 1 of Samurai Commando: Mission 1549 and Kitty Sensei goes into sugar shock from vol. 1 of Pick of the Litter but enjoys vol. 1 of Love as a Foreign Language. Avid Reader gives thumbs up to vol. 3 of Vampire Knight. Joshua Habel critiques vol. 1 of Fullmetal Alchemist at The Stute. At Dear Author, where apparently reviews are presented as letters to the authors, Jan pens a missive to Jason Thompson about Manga: The Complete Guide. Andrew Wheeler posts an ecletic review of The Manga Bible, vol. 1 of Naruto, and vol. 1 of Death Note at ComicMix. Tom Baker reviews vols. 17-19 of Case Closed for the Daily Yomiuri.

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Quick Reviews: Gyakushu and Recast

Posted on November 11, 2007 by Brigid Alverson

I have been doing some home improvement projects lately that require me to shift all my manga from one shelf to another. It’s a slow process because I keep getting distracted by … the manga. Anyway, here are brief reviews of two older titles from Tokopop, Gyakushu and Recast.

Gyakushu, vol. 1, by Dan Hipp: Boy, is this a depressing book. The plot is straightforward and not particularly original: A guy messes with the wrong people, and they kill his wife, kidnap his son, and beat him to the point of death. Years later, the guy—still swathed in bandages—comes back to seek revenge. This is a fairly grim and bloody example of the genre, with lots of cleavers and hooks and people getting their arms chopped off, plus a cannibal villain. It’s all made worse by the narrator, a little old man with a wooden nose, who keeps popping up and telling you it’s a grim story and it will not end well. Yes, thanks, that was obvious from about page five. With his mannered speech and constant repetition, this little man is more irritating than helpful. Hipp’s art is the strong point of this book; he works with strong lines and jagged swaths of black and white, with a single gray tone but little modulation. Flashbacks are the same only grayed out. The dramatic style serves the story well, but the story itself is so brutal and violent, and so lacking in any subtlety or redeeming features, that I ultimately found this book unsatisfying.

Recast, vol. 1, by Seung-Hui Kye: This is a solid battle/fantasy story propelled forward by lots of action. The hero, JD, is pretty much your standard shonen hero—he’s the son of a powerful magician, he has powers and skills beyond those of normal people, but he’s also something of a slacker who sneaks out of magic lessons to play soccer. Almost from the start of the book, though, he has to put his skills to use against increasingly serious foes. Kye creates a complicated universe but explains it well, so the story is easy to follow. The art is clear, although as in all manga like this, a lot of the fighting is indicated by speed lines alone, which I sometimes find hard to decipher. There are some nice stand-alone pieces of fantasy art in here, and the story is quite readable. Recast isn’t the greatest story ever told, but it’s a solid ten bucks of fast-moving fantasy action.

It’s strange that I would enjoy Recast, which is a pretty derivative title, more than the obviously literary Gyakushu. Hipp has good intentions, and you can’t argue with the quality of his art, but his story is too stark. There’s nothing there but violence. Recast, on the other hand, doesn’t try to be anything other than light-hearted fun. The art is standard issue, but the story is enjoyable, just the thing for relaxing after a day of moving furniture.

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Friday roundup

Posted on November 9, 2007 by Brigid Alverson

Shaenon Garrity takes a look at the formerly overlooked, but soon to be reissued, Slam Dunk.

ComiPress translates an article on the science of One Piece. Also: Japanese manga magazine updates.

The internet giveth and the internet taketh away: The Boysenberry Books website is live, but BeBeautiful has been “down for maintenance” for a while. (Via Yaoi Suki.)

The Yaoi Review lists some new releases to watch for in November.

Ryan shows off his real toys inspired by horror manga at Same Hat! Same Hat!!

The NYAF schedule is up. (Warning: PDF.)

Reviews: Dan Polley takes a look at vol. 1 of Sgt. Frog at Manga Life. Danielle Van Gorder checks out June Pride at Anime on DVD. Erica Friedman critiques vol. 1 of Aqua at Okazu. Julie reviews vol. 14 of Fullmetal Alchemist at the Manga Maniac Cafe. At Prospero’s Manga, Ferdinand vows to shun the rest of the Hot Gimmick franchise after reading Hot Gimmick S. Ed Chavez has a podcast review of vol. 5 of Yotsuba&! and vol. 1 of Love*Com up at MangaCast.

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Naruto with a bullet

Posted on November 8, 2007 by Brigid Alverson

Remember when it was a big deal to see three manga on the USA Today Top 150 bestseller list? This week there are four, and they are all Naruto: vol. 24 at number 112, vol. 21 at number 119, vol. 22 at number 126, and vol. 23 at number 127. The PWCW bestseller list has a similar look: Naruto, Naruto, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Naruto, Bleach, Naruto, some Marvel thing, Naruto, Naruto, Get Fuzzy. Interestingly, the number 11 slot is taken by a newcomer to manga but not to publishing: Dark Hunger, Christine Feehan’s manga spinoff of her popular fantasy romance novels.

Also in this week’s PWCW: Kai-Ming Cha on Digital’s first original manga, an adaptation of the novel Vampire Hunter D; a preview of Go!Comi’s first global manga, Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan; and a review (no permalink) of the Azumanga Daioh omnibus.

At MangaCast, Ed Chavez continues his big list of new Japanese releases and the whole gang discusses this week’s new American releases. Also, Ed has audio of mangaka Takanaga Hinako at Yaoicon.

You could read this thread at the Comics Journal message board from a guy who doesn’t get why manga is so popular. Or you could just hit yourself in the head with a hammer. Either way, head over to Noah Berlatsky’s blog afterward and take the cure. Perhaps there’s a bot somewhere that could automatically send out a copy of this every time some cranky fanboy posts that he doesn’t get this manga thing. (Via Dirk, who got it long before most of the rest of us.)

David Welsh is looking forward to a few new releases, and he is disappointed with a few recent purchases. Comicsnob Matt Blind posts his watch list as well, along with a philippic on Flash.

MarkAndrew deconstructs Death Note at Comics Should Be Good, and he thoughtfully hides the spoilers so anyone can read it.

Erica Friedman posts some recent yuri news at Okazu.

ICv2 has the info on all three Speed Racer comics that are coming out soon, including Digital’s slipcased reprints of the originals.

It’s the otaku’s dream job: Minnesota professor Frenchy Lunning has been awarded a Fulbright fellowship to study manga in Japan. (Via ANN.)

Del Rey has a new blog—at Active Anime. (Why do I feel like I posted this before?)

Have you had a terrible experience with shopping online? Perhaps some good can come of your suffering: Tell it to John Jakala and maybe he will send you some manga.

Yen Press is looking for an intern. Apply here.

Reviews: At Mecha Mecha Media, John T enjoys vol. 1 of Bride of the Water God, which looks absolutely gorgeous. About Heroes posts some brief reviews of recent titles. At MangaCast, Jack Tse podcasts his thoughts on vol. 4 of Emma, vol. 1 of The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls, and vol. 1 of The Last Uniform, and Ed has an audio review of vol. 1 of Presents and vol. 1 of Coyote Ragtime Show. Jordan Marks gives middling grades to Hate to Love You at Yaoi Suki. At Active Anime, Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 30 of InuYasha and vol. 1 of Aventura, and Rachel Bentham reads I’m Not Your Steppin’ Stone. Nick likes vol. 1 of Yakitate!! Japan at Hobotaku. Manga Life’s Dan Polley is not impressed with vol. 8 of Pastel. Danielle Van Gorder peers through the curtains at My Paranoid Next Door Neighbor at Anime on DVD. Julie takes an early look at vol. 1 of Suppli at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Sakura Kiss reviews vol. 1 of Nightmares for Sale at The Yaoi Review. At the BasuGasuBakuhatsu Anime Blog, Hung reads vol. 2 of Murder Princess and vols. 2 and 3 of Ouran High School Host Club. Matt Brady has a thoughtful review of Tekkonkinkreet at Warren Peace Sings the Blues. Blogger Caldi-Chan starts a new column at Way of the Geek with a review of vol. 1 of Return to Labyrinth. If you want to get ahead of the curve, here are some reviews of untranslated manga: Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, at Okazu, and the Manga Junkie on vol. 6 of Cat Street and vol. 11 of Kisekae Yuka-chan.

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