Online manga and more

Vol. 17 of Fruits Basket moves up to number 34 on this week’s USA Today best-seller list.

At Shuchaku-East, Chloe looks at the upcoming Naruto wave and sees plenty of shoujo in its wake.

Is Viz thinking of distributing their manga online? Giapet points to a poll that seems to indicate they’re thinking about it. For a taste, check out their online preview of Pretty Face.

At One Potato Two, Satsuma is found some Kindaichi light novels. Why don’t they translate those into English? I would totally buy them!

Speaking of online manga, Netcomics started running cm0 this week. If you like josei, check it out—the first chapter is free. It’s a nice, moody story about a professor and student who have… feelings for one another, and it’s definitel worth a look. This is Netcomics’ first Japanese manga title, but there’s more to come in the near future.

Didn’t make it to Comiket this year? No problem: TheOtaku.com and Go!Comi are holding a doujinshi contest at the New York Anime Festival this December. Entries should be based on Black Sun Silver Moon; there’s a preview at the link. If that’s not your cup of tea, TheOtaku.com and Del Rey are also sponsoring a fanart contest. ComiPress has all the links for rules and submission forms.

Reviews: Carlo Santos’ latest Right Turn Only!! column is up at ANN, wherein he reviews The Last Uniform, Bombos Vs. Everything, and the Christian manga Serenity, among others. It’s a must-read. Erica Friedman reviews vol. 5 of Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~ at Okazu. This is the last volume in the series (she’s reviewing the Japanese edition) so there are big spoilers. At Active Anime, Davey C. Jones reviews vol. 1 of Aoi House In Love! and Holly Ellingwood checks out vol. 3 of Someday’s Dreamers. Michael Aronson reviews vol. 1 of To Terra at Manga Life. Ben Leary reviews a novel, vol. 1 of Witches’ Forest, for Anime on DVD. At Hobotaku, Leah doesn’t think much of vols. 1 and 2 of CLAMP School Detectives. Julie reads vol. 10 of Kekkaishi at the Manga Maniac Cafe. At Manganews, Cornerofmadness reviews The Paradise on the Hill. Over at the Comic Book Bin, Julie Gray reviews Jason Thompson’s magnum opus, Manga: The Complete Guide, and Leroy Douresseaux checks out vol. 1 of Pick of the Litter. EvilOmar reviews the first volumes of St. Lunatic High School, Fantamir, and Poison Candy at About Heroes.

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Perspectives from all over

Yesterday, PWCW published an article I wrote about Mark Crilley, the creator of Miki Falls. At one point in our interview, Crilley commented that “For this generation, comics are manga.” Over at The Engine, Svetlana Chmakova asks whether that is so, and Warren Ellis and Emma Vieceli weigh in with their thoughts. I like what Emma had to say:

What I find especially funny is watching all of the old skoooool manga ‘fans’ who used to sit there moaning about how no one recognises how awesome manga is…and now they sit there complaining because too many people are reading manga and it’s not special any more.
You really can’t please everyone. ^_~

Elsewhere, an American translator living in Japan conjures up an interesting mental picture:

I have this idea that somewhere in Japan there is a guy who thinks the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers are the greatest artistic product ever to come out of the USA and is waiting anxiously for the next fan-translated issue to hit the underground comic store.

The rest of the post is about anime, but that really tickled me, all the more so because I’m a longtime fan of Phineas, Freewheeling Franklin, Fat Freddy, and, of course, Fat Freddy’s cat.

There’s lots of manga goodness in this week’s PWCW: Ed Chavez takes a look at Comiket, the largest comics convention in the world:

As one Comiket volunteer observed, “Comiket is like a living version of Web 2.0, where interaction between creators of content and end users happens in real-time face-to-face.”

While fan-made comics are huge (there are 956 Prince of Tennis doujinshi circles!), it’s interesting to note that professional creators take part as well, and that, for instance, Fumi Yoshinaga has continued Antique Bakery as doujinshi. And now that manga is a global phenomenon, even Marvel’s Civil War gets the doujinshi treatment. At Hesei Democracy, Shingo has more, including photos. (Via Icarus.) And Giapet notes an incident with a political spin.

Also at PWCW: Kai-Ming Cha looks at Udon’s planned manhwa line and interviews Only the Ring Finger Knows creator Satoru Kannagi.

Even though it’s a lean week for new releases, David Welsh finds plenty to like about this week’s new comics.

At Completely Futile, Adam Stephanides links to some spoilery commentary about the latest volume of Fruits Basket.

Over 18 department: At Icarus, Simon Jones has the manga list from the September Adult Previews.

Reviews: At Comics Worth Reading, Rob Vollmar reviews vols. 1-3 of To Terra. Julie reads vol. 18 of Red River at the Manga Maniac Cafe. At Anime on DVD, Ron Quezon has mixed feelings about vol. 1 of Recast. Bill Sherman reviews vol. 1 of Parasyte at Blogcritics. Michael Aronson checks out Yume Kira Gift Shoppe at Manga Life. At Precocious Curmudgeon, David Welsh enjoys vol. 2 of Gin Tama. Miranda posts a short but positive review of Only Words at Prospero’s Manga. At Manganews, Kiara reviews vol. 1 of Stray Little Devil. Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 5 of Loveless at Active Anime.

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PR: Vampire Kisses

Recently, at The Beat, everyone was talking about what actual teenage girls think of the Minx line. One thing that emerged in comments is that DC isn’t marketing it enough towards readers of YA works, rather than manga readers. Working with HarperCollins, Tokyopop seems to be going after those YA readers with a fairly safe strategy—take a property that is already popular on its own and produce a graphic novel based on it—same characters, new story. That put the Warriors manga on the charts; now they are gambling that YA novelist Ellen Schreiber can do it again for them. By happy coincidence, the artist for this book, rem, just won Kodansha’s international manga competition, so the book should get an extra boost from that. Details after the cut.

Nothing ‘Dullsville’ Here as Ellen Schreiber Pens First Manga for
TOKYOPOP and HarperCollins!

VAMPIRE KISSES: BLOOD RELATIVES

All New Manga Presents Original Side Story to Best-Selling Vampire Kisses Novels

Los Angeles, CA (August 21, 2007)- TOKYOPOP, the leader of the Global Manga Revolution and Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsChildren’s Books, are pleased to announce the September 2007 release of Vampire Kisses: Blood Relatives, the first installment of a three-part manga series based on the wonderfully funny popular teen novels, Vampire Kisses. Written by critically acclaimed author Ellen Schreiber (Teenage Mermaid, Comedy Girl, Vampire Kisses) with art by rem, who was also the first winner of TOKYOPOP’s popular Rising Stars of Manga competition with her entry Devil’s Candy, Vampire Kisses: Blood Relatives expands on the endearing tales of teen angst and Goth romance in Schreiber’s best-selling novels.

According to author Ellen Schreiber, “I’m a big fan of manga and always wanted to write a graphic novel. When TOKYOPOP and HarperCollins approached me about turning Vampire Kisses into a manga, I was ecstatic. I had the best of both worlds—creating more stories with Raven and Alexander and seeing them come to life through breathtaking artwork. It was a dream come true!”

Julie Lansky, Ellen Schreiber’s HarperCollins editor, adds, “It’s been very exciting collaborating with TOKYOPOP and Ellen Schreiber to transform the world of Vampire Kisses into a fully-illustrated manga. We’re so delighted to be bringing all of the adventure, Goth romance, and one-of-a-kind characters of Ellen’s popular series—a perfect match for manga—to a new audience!”

Says TOKYOPOP editor Alexis Kirsch: “Ellen Schreiber’s story about a Goth girl living in a small town while dating a vampire is exactly the kind of tale that I figured would attract manga fans. By teaming her
with an amazing artist such as rem, this project has become the most visually beautiful book I’ve ever worked on. rem’s uncanny knack for fashion has main character Raven wearing a unique outfit in every scene and really captures the Goth style perfectly.”

The absolute last thing Goth girl Raven and her vampire boyfriend Alexander need is another hitch in their night-time only romance-but dark trouble hovers on the horizon when Raven and Alexander discover four freshly dug graves filled with empty coffins. When a crew of dodgy vampires takes up residence in Dullsville’s lonely graveyard, Alexander finds this motley bunch is led by his very own blood-sucking cousin, Claude Sterling. Claude and his creepy crew can only spell out more problems for the pair, especially when Raven finds them in daylight attending Dullsville High-shocking! What could Claude and his invaders be doing-or searching for-in Dullsville?

Just in time for Halloween, Vampire Kisses: Blood Relatives will be in stores in September, 2007.

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Top manga for July (direct market)

The July direct market sales numbers are out, reflecting Diamond’s sales to comics stores. ICv2 reports that sales of graphic novels were flat in July, but they’re not too worried about a single month.

Manga did relatively well in their graphic novel chart, with recent volumes of Kingdom Hearts, Hellsing, and Naruto making it into the top ten.

Here’s the manga list, with the ranking on the overall graphic novels chart in parentheses and the quantity sold following the title.

1. (4) Kingdom Hearts II, vol. 1 (4,817)
2. (9) Hellsing, vol. 8 (4,072)
3. (10) Naruto, vol. 15 (3,837)
4. (11) Berserk, vol. 18 (3,804)
5. (19) Megatokyo, vol. 5 (3,226)
6. (30) Gon, vol. 1 (2,748)
7. (51) xxxHoLiC, vol. 9 (2,086)
8. (61) Gunsmith Cats Burst, vol. 2 (1,885)
9. (68) My Hime, vol. 3 (1,542)
10. (69) Trinity Blood, vol. 3 (1,533)
11. (70) Samurai Deeper Kyo, vol. 23 (1,516)
12. (87) He Is My Master, vol. 1 (1,257)
13. (92) Rozen Maiden, vol. 5 (1,156)
14. (96) Rose Hip Zero, vol. 3 (1,114)
15. (97) Kashimashi, vol. 3 (1,106)
16. (100) Don’t Say Anymore Darling (1,072)

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CMX talk, Naruto, and more

Some good reading to start your day: In this week’s Flipped column, David Welsh interviews Jim Chadwick and Asako Suzuki, who are putting together a very nice and somewhat underrated line of manga at CMX.

At Comicsnob, Matt Blind posts this week’s manga watch list and looks at last week’s online sales.

Paul Gravett posts his introduction to the Naruto anime, with plenty about the manga as well. (Via Journalista.)

Translation notes: PingMag interviews manga translator Simona Stanzani. Veteran manga translator Matt Thorn comments. Meanwhile, a blogger complains about the translation of the Shakugan no Shana light novel. (Via ComiPress.) Simon Jones (NSFW) takes it to the next level.

Giapet notes that the American Library Association has more nominations up for its Young Adult Library Services Association Great Graphic Novels for Teens list, and of course many of them are manga. David Welsh is pleased and offers a few predictions for future titles. John Jakala is happy that Kekkaishi was named to the list but has some boos for the manga’s latest character designs.

In case you’re new to this stuff, Hobotaku has a dictionary of manga and anime terms.

Anime News Network is looking for an ad salesperson and assistant programmer.

Elae has more Tokyopop Germany news at Deutsche Mangaka.

The Museum of East Asian Art in Bath, England, will be exhibiting artwork submitted to Tokyopop’s Rising Stars of Manga competition. (Via ANN.)

Reviews: Julie Gray reviews vol. 1 of Shiki Tsukai for the Comic Book Bin. At Manga Life, Dan Polley reviews Miki Falls: Summer, vol. 2 of the Mark Crilley graphic novel series. Davey C. Jones checks out vol. 2 of Disgaea 2 at Active Anime. The Manga Junkie is back with another review of a Japanese book that’s unlikely to be licensed anytime soon; this one is vol. 1 of Hetare Spiral. Erica Friedman has more Japanese manga at Okazu, with reviews of parts 1 and 2 of vol. 9 of Yuri Hime. At the MangaCast, Mangamaniac Julie checks out vol. 3 of Gundam Seed Destiny, and at the Manga Maniac Cafe she posts reviews of Delivery Cupid and vol. 8 of Skip Beat! Snowcleo checks out Battle of the Bands at Manganews. At PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog, Katherine Dacey-Tsuei reviews vol. 1 of Kurohime.

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Monday quick links

The Weekly Recon, Katherine Dacey-Tsuei’s look at this week’s new manga and mini-reviews of recent releases, is up at PopCultureShock.

The Plymouth, Massachusetts, paper interviews My Cat Loki artist Bettina Kurkoski.

Adam Stephanides writes about a tricky translation issue in vol. 17 of Fruits Basket. (Warning: Spoiler!)

ComiPress posts the fourth chapter of “Why I Quit My Job as a Manga Editor” and rounds up Comiket coverage.

At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson reviews the new comics/lifestyle magazine Comics Foundry, which goes on sale this week. I wrote an article for the first issue, so anything I say is biased, but I think it looks pretty good, sort of like a comics version of Spy, with a mix of witty short pieces and a few longer interviews. Johanna also notes an upcoming Korean comics exhibit in St. Louis.

Reviews: The folks at Manganews have been busy: Kurishojo reviews the short story collections Little Cry Baby and Don’t Say Anymore, Darling, and Cornerofmadness checks out vol. 3 of Kurogane. Connie catches up with her backlog at Slightly Biased Manga, posting reviews of Metropolis, vols. 1 and 2 of Nextworld, vol. 4 of Elemental Gelade, vol. 18 of Detective Conan, vol. 2 of Innocent Bird, vol. 23 of Dragon Ball, vol. 7 of Dragon Head, and vol. 3 of Flower of Life. Whew! Leroy Douresseaux reviews vol. 1 of Missing: Kamikakushi no Monogatari for the Comic Book Bin. At Manga Life, Michael Aronson reviews vol. 8 of High School Girls, Craig Johnson checks out vol. 1 of Hanami: International Love Story, and Dan Polley looks at vol. 1 of Gon. At Mecha Mecha Media, John T reviews vol. 17 of Blade of the Immortal. Holly Ellingwood has an advance look at vol. 1 of Shiki Tsukai at Active Anime.

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