MangaBlog

The big news of the week is that Crunchyroll has launched a digital manga service that kicks off with 12 Kodansha series. New chapters will be available for free the same day they come out in Japan, and there’s an all-you-can-read service for $4.99 a month. The starting lineup includes Attack on Titan, Fairy Tail, and Ken Akamatsu’s UQ Holder, and Crunchyroll promises there is more on the way. Deb Aoki has all the details, the Japan Times talks to some of the Japanese players, Sean Gaffney takes a look at the manga themselves, and I commented on what they are doing right.

Chris Beveridge notes that volumes 4 and 5 of Hetalia are now available for pre-order at RightStuf. The first run of the book (including pre-orders) will have eight color pages. After that it will be print-on-demand. Both books have a Tokyopop logo on the cover and at the moment they are marked down from $15.99 to $10.99. No sign of a digital option, though.

The Manga Bookshelf team looks at this week’s new releases and discusses their Pick of the Week. Michelle Smith and Melinda Beasi have a dialogue about two Vertical titles, Tropic of the Sea and Fashion Unfriendly, in their Off the Shelf column.

Viz Manga is now available on iBooks.

Ash Brown is giving away a copy of vol. 1 of Sankarea. Ash also rounds up some manga podcasts, with updates on those that seem to be defunct.

News from Japan: I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow manga-ka Shunjo Aono has a new series in the works, titled Slapstick. Ichijinsa is launching a new boys love magazine, gateau.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team keep it short in their latest Bookshelf Briefs column. Ash Brown takes us through another week of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Kristin on vols. 2 and 3 of Demon Love Spell (Comic Attack)
Ken H. on vols. 2 and 3 of Flowers of Evil (Comics Should Be Good)
Ken H. on Kitaro (Comics Should Be Good)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Love in Hell (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Bruce P. on R+ Princess (Okazu)
Sakura Eries on vol. 11 of Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (The Fandom Post)
Ken H. on vol. 3 of Sankarea (Comics Should Be Good)
Derek Bown on the October 7 issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Anna N. on vol. 1 of Sweet Rein (Manga Report)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Vinland Saga (ICv2}

Lissa Pattillo looks at Viz’s new license announcements from NYCC, which include Black Rose Alice, by Afterschool Nightmare creator Setona Mizushiro, and Time Killers, a collection of short stories by Blue Exorcist manga-ka Kazue Kato.

ICv2 talks at length with Viz chief technology officer Gagan Singh about their digital program, their app vs. e-books, piracy, and growing the manga audience.

Erica Friedman rounds up all things yuri in Yuri Network News.

Jocelyne Allen takes a look at Machiko Kyo’s U, a manga that is not licensed over here but has some pretty interesting artwork.

Taking a page from Bakuman, 14-year-old Sato Ito is the author of a story to be published in the December issue of Nakayoshi. Despite her youth, Ito is no overnight success; she won the Niigata Manga Competition three times in a row, starting in 2009.

I’m late in linking to this, and there’s only a week left, but if you want to try your hand at translating some real manga, check out the Digital Manga Association’s Manga Translation Battle. There are prizes to be won, plus it’s good experience for would-be translators.

Reviews: Carlo Santos takes a quick look at some recent releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Afterschool Charisma (The Comic Book Bin)
Ash Brown on vol. 26 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 8 of Bleach (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 9 of Bunny Drop (ANN)
Anna N on vols. 1 and 2 of A Dark Fable of the Forest (Manga Report)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 12 of Dengeki Daisy (ANN)
Matthew Warner on vol. 10 of A Devil and Her Love Song (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Warner on vol. 2 of Doubt (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of From the New World (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 9 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Matthew Warner on K-On! College (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 13 of Kamisama Kiss (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of No Matter How You Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 17 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 12 of One Piece (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Matthew Warner on vol. 12 of Psyren (The Fandom Post)
Derek Bown on the September 30 issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 30 of Slam Dunk (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Tiger & Bunny (The Comic Book Bin)
Carlo Santos on vol. 3 of Tiger & Bunny (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on Sides A and B of Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning (I Reads You)
Erica Friedman on Tsuki to Sekai to Etoile (Okazu)
Josh Begley on vol. 1 of Vinland Saga (The Fandom Post)
Ash Brown on vol. 5 of Wandering Son (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of X (The Comic Book Bin)

Sorry for the radio silence—I went to NYCC, and the two weeks after a con always seem to turn into a black hole as I write up a ton of different articles. It will take me a few days to catch up on all the news, but here’s the highlights:

Deb Aoki has written a comprehensive roundup of all the NYCC manga news, including appearances by Lone Wolf and Cub manga-ka Kazuo Koike and announcements by Kodansha Comics, Yen Press, and Vertical.

Tierney Sneed did a super article on women in comics, and the fact that a big portion of the fandom is female but publishers and con organizers do little to acknowledge that, for U.S. News & World Report. The story includes a short interview with me about the changes wrought by manga.

Erica Friedman of Okazu, who arrived home from Japan on the first day of NYCC, nonetheless managed to make it to the con and talked to Robert McGuire of GEN Manga and One Peace Books about One Peace’s new yuri acquisition, Whispered Words.

Lori Henderson discusses the NYCC news in her latest Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu.

Business Insider took a look at Attack on Titan cosplay at NYCC.

In non-NYCC news…

The Manga Bookshelf team looks over this week’s new releases and discusses their Pick of the Week.

Erica Friedman explains why publishers sometimes can’t license a series, no matter how much the fans want them to. This is a great explanation of the two sides of manga licensing and should be required reading for anyone who posts on manga forums about what they want to see.

Connie C. takes a look at Junji Ito’s horror manga.

News from Japan: Yuki Urushibara will return to Mushishi with a two-chapter special in the January and February issues of Afternoon. Flame of Recca creator Nobuyuki Anzai and Lone Wolf and Cub manga-ka Kazuo Koike are both launching new series.

Reviews: Tom Gill writes about Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s Midnight Fishermen, which has not been published in the U.S., at The Hooded Utilitarian. Ash Brown looks back on a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. And the Manga Bookshelf team files this week’s Bookshelf Briefs.

Alice Vernon on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan (Girls Like Comics)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 8 of Attack on Titan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 6 of The Betrayal Knows My Name (The Fandom Post)
John Rose on vol. 14 of Black Butler (The Fandom Post)
Ken H on vols. 2 and 3 of The Flowers of Evil (Comics Should Be Good)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 2 of Sankarea (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Sherlock Bones (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kristin on vol. 16 of Toriko (Comic Attack)

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers look forward to next week’s new releases.

The third volume of Mobile Suit Gundam tops the New York Times manga best-seller list; four volumes of Attack on Titan make the list, which is not surprising as that series dominated last month’s BookScan chart as well.

Ash Brown’s Bookshelf Overload column at Experiments in Manga looks at September releases and purchases.

Sean Gaffney takes a closer look at two recently announced licenses: Prophecy, a thriller licensed by Vertical, and Whispered Words, a yuri series from the small independent publisher One Peace Books.

Lori Henderson also looks at the new licenses, as well as vols. 4-7 of Highschool of the Dead, in her latest Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu.

Erica Friedman is in Japan right now, and she paid a visit to the Yoshiya Nobuko Memorial Museum, dedicated to one of the pioneers of yuri manga.

At Comics Should Be Good, Connie C. is going to spotlight the lesser-known works of horror master Kazuo Umezu for the next week, and she kicks it off with a look at Cat-Eyed Boy, Orochi: Blood, and Scary Book.

Meanwhile, at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, Justin and Manjiorin discuss vols. 5 and 6 of Attack on Titan.

News From Japan: Dengeki Daisy is coming to an end. Welcome to the NHK manga-ka Kenji Oiwa is drawing an Assassin’s Creed IV manga for Jump X magazine. Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine says that 25 million copies of the 11 volumes of Attack on Titan have been sold in Japan.

Reviews

Daniel Briscoe on vol. 2 of Berserk (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Bleach (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 58 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Sakura Eries on vol. 5 of A Bride’s Story (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Happy Marriage?! (I Reads You)
Kristin on vols. 1 and 2 of Magi (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
A Library Girl on vol. 2 of Nightschool (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Ash Brown on Tropic of the Sea (Experiments in Manga)
Erica Friedman on Tsuki to Suppan (Okazu)

Scott Green speculates about what series will replace Akira Toriyama’s Jaco the Galactic Patrolman in Viz’s Shonen Jump magazine.

When my mom was getting a room painted or papered, she used to let my kids come in and draw on the walls first. Shogakukan did that on a larger scale in August, letting their manga artists come in and draw on the walls of their building, which was demolished a few days later. Now ANN has a photo set of the drawings, which include work by Naoki Urasawa and Fujiko Fujio A.

Tony Yao compares the anime adaptation of Attack on Titan with the original manga.

Job hunting? Kodansha Comics is looking for a manga editor. Ability to read Japanese is a must!

Erica Friedman writes about that shoujo-est of shoujo manga magazines, Nakayoshi, home of Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura.

News from Japan: Suzuhito Yasuda is the artist of Durarara!! and the writer of Yozakura Quartet, so it’s little wonder the two are crossing over—again—this time in a 100-page manga that will come with a limited edition of the Yozakura Quartet: Hana no Uta home video. The spinoff manga K -Days of Blue- will launch next month in Kodansha’s Aria magazine. Speaking of Aria, here’s a sneak peek at Kuinaki Sentaku (A Choice With No Regrets), the Attack on Titan prequel (it’s about Levi) that will launch in the January issue. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews

Ken H. on vols. 17 and 18 of Eremetar Gerade (Comics Should Be Good)
Erica Friedman on vol. 17 of Hayate x Blade (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 11 of Naruto (Lesley’s Musings on Manga)
Sakura Eries on vol. 16 of Otomen (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Sickness Unto Death (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
John Rose on vol. 1 of Umineko: When They Cry 3 – Turn of the Golden Witch (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Voice Over: Seiyuu Academy (I Reads You)

Digital Manga’s September Switch promotion is still going on for a bit longer; at Panel Patter, Rob McMonigal takes a closer look at what it entails—basically, sign up with eManga and show you have bought an e-book somewhere else, and they will give you a free volume of manga. As eManga now offers DRM-free downloads, this may be something for yaoi fans in particular to explore.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week.

News from Japan: Writer Tow Ubukata (Fafner, Mardock Scramble, Le Chevalier d’Eon) is teaming up with artist Rururu Kondoh to launch a new series, Gargoyle, in the November issue of Young King Ours. The series is set at the end of the shogunate and Ubukata describes it as “Shinsengumi in the style of X-Men.”

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team look over some recent releases in their latest set of Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown looks at My Week in Manga at Experiments in Manga.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 23 of Claymore (The Comic Book Bin)
Erica Friedman on the September issue of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 4 of Missions of Love (Comics Worth Reading)
Matthew Warner on vol. 11 of Sailor Moon (The Fandom Post)
Derek Bown on the September 23 issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Strobe Edge (Blogcritics)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Voice Over: Seiyuu Academy (ANN)