MangaBlog

Lissa Pattillo takes a closer look at some new license announcements at Kuriousity.

Tom Langston looks at the popularity of yon-koma (four-panel) gag manga in the U.S. in recent years.

Chris Beveridge asks “Is ‘Alice in the Country of…’ the best manga series you’re not reading?” My own answer would be “nope,” but Chris points out that there are a lot of new volumes coming out.

News from Japan: Demon Ororon manga-ka Hakase Mizuki is launching a new series, Dracul, which will run in Ichijinsa’s Zero Sum Ward magazine starting in the September 14 issue. Gokusai will come to an end this week. Sarakiel, by Excel Saga creator Koushi Rikudou, is also winding up soon.

Reviews: Carlo Santos checks out K-ON! College, Twin Knights, and some other recent manga in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Ash Brown takes us through a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Matthew Alexander on vol. 3 of Black God (The Fandom Post)
Justin on Cross Manage (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Justin on Give My Regards to Black Jack (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Anna N. on vols. 1 and 2 of Goong: The Royal Palace (Manga Report)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 5 of I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow (Comics Worth Reading)
Helen on Kitchen Princess (Narrative Investigations)
Erica Friedman on vol. 5 of Ohana Holoholo (Okazu)
Manjiorin on vol. 3 of Oreimo (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Justin on Shamrock (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)

I’m back from a long Comic-Con induced hiatus—first I went to the show, then I had to write up all my experiences for people who, you know, pay me to do that. Here’s my roundup of manga news at MTV Geek.

My roommate at Comic-Con was Deb Aoki, formerly of About.com, who has struck out on her own with a much more user-friendly blog, mangacomicsmanga.com. As the name suggests, it’s about one-third comics and two-thirds manga. I got to watch Deb in action all through the long weekend, so I can tell you from an insider’s perspective that she has a lot of great content planned. Two stories to check out right now: Doraemon is finally going to be licensed in English—as a digital comic—and her writeup of the Best and Worst Manga panel at San Diego (audio here).

Lori Henderson rounds up all the manga news from SDCC in her latest Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu. Sean Gaffney rounds up the new license announcements, with commentary.

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber spells out five reasons why this year’s Anime Expo was good for manga, starting with the fact that there was so much manga there.

Seven Seas has announced four more Alice in the Country of… licenses; it will now be releasing one Alice book a month.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week. Also at Manga Bookshelf, Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith discuss Off*Beat, soon to be serialized in Chromatic Press’s Sparkler Monthly, and the other things they have been reading lately in their Off the Shelf column.

Johanna Draper Carlson takes a closer look at Kodansha’s new digital program.

Erica Friedman brings us up to date on the world of yuri with the latest edition of Yuri Network News.

Having just read Jiro Matsumoto’s Velveteen and Mandala, Sarah Horrocks decides to write about another book of his, Jyoshikohei.

At Comics Should Be Good, Connie C. looks at three manga by Suehiro Maruo.

News from Japan: Naoki Urasawa has drawn his first monster manga, a one-shot titled Kaijū Ōkoku, for Big Comic; the issue will be out on August 10. 07-Ghost will come to an end in the October issue of Comic Zero Sum. Also in the pages of Comic Zero Sum, Kazuya Minekura will slow down the schedule for Saiyuki Reload Blast and Wild Adapter due to health problems. Attack on Titan continues to be a runaway success: Kodansha’s first printing for the 11th volume was 1.85 million; there are 20 million copies of the first ten volumes in print. The artist for the My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic manga has been announced: It’s Akira Himegawa, a two-person team best known for drawing Legend of Zelda manga. The final volume of Gantz will be released in January 2014.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team kicks off the week with a new set of Bookshelf Briefs.

Shannon Fay on Beautiful Creatures (Kuriousity)
Matthew Alexander on vols. 1 and 2 of Black God (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of BTOOOM! (Comics Worth Reading)
Justin on chapter 40 of Cross Manage (Organization ASG)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of A Devil and Her Love Song (The Comic Book Bin)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Doubt (Comics Worth Reading)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 5 of GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class (Comics Worth Reading)
Josh Begley on vol. 4 of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (The Fandom Post)
Tony Yao on Gin Tama (Manga Therapy)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Happy Marriage?! (Comics Worth Reading)
Anna N. on vol. 1 of Happy Marriage?! (Manga Report)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 17 of La Corda D’Oro (ANN)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 9 of Naruto (Blogcritics)
TSOTE on vol. 10 of Q.E.D. (Three Steps Over Japan)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Sleeping Moon (ANN)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 15 of Soul Eater (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of Strobe Edge (The Comic Book Bin)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 16 of Toriko (ANN)
Ken H. on vol. 7 of Vampire Hunter D (Comics Should Be Good)

Here’s a quick roundup of Anime Expo news:

Item: Digital Manga announced that they are joining up with Tezuka Productions to publish all of Osamu Tezuka’s works in North America. They may do some print editions as well.

Item: Viz is bringing back Deadman Wonderland, which was originally licensed by Tokyopop; they will finish the series, which is up to 12 volumes and about to end in Japan. This is an awesome manga and deserving of a license rescue; my review of vol. 1 is here. And they had another new license, Kohske’s Gangsta, as well as an unflipped edition of Ranma 1/2, a print edition of Nisekoi, and what sounds like a very nice oversized edition of Dragon Ball Full Color.

Item: Vertical has licensed Insufficient Direction, Moyoco Anno’s gag manga about life with her husband (and collaborator on this book), Neon Genesis Evangelion director Hideaki Anno.

Item: Tokyopop, Gentosha, and RightStuf are teaming up to publish volumes 4 and 5 of Hetalia: Axis Powers this winter; after the initial print run sells out, it will go to Print on Demand. No word on digital rights.

Item: Kodansha announced that Attack on Titan will go to a volume a month, with simultaneous print and digital release, and Kodansha manga will now be available digitally on Kindle, Nook, Google Play, and iBooks.

Item: Shonen Jump will now be available outside North America, specifically in the UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand, via the iOS app, with Android coming “soon,” according to panelists. Here’s a longer account of their panel, which was an informative history of the magazine, both in Japan and the U.S., with the editors of both editions talking about their experiences. Also, SJ has a special deal running through July 14: A one-year subscription is $19.99, down from the standard price of $25.99, with the promo code on this page.

I rounded up Friday’s anime and manga news with some commentary at MTV Geek. Sean Gaffney adds a bit of commentary on the new license announcements at his blog.

Lissa Pattillo brings us up to date on the past week’s new releases at Kuriousity, and she also files her con report on Animaritime.

Meanwhile, the Manga Bookshelf team looks ahead to this week’s new manga.

At Heart of Manga, Laura looks at the new shoujo manga due out this month, including what I believe are the final volumes of Jiu Jiu and Sailor Moon.

This month’s Manga Moveable Feast will focus on the work of Yun Kouga (Loveless) and will be hosted at Manga Bookshelf; here’s the call for entries.

In her latest Manga Dome podcast, Lori Henderson helps you sort out three manga based on Alice in Wonderland: Are You Alice?, Alice in the Country of Hearts, and Pandora Hearts.

News from Japan: Takehiko Inoue, creator of Slam Dunk, Vagabond, and Real, has donated 1 million yen worth of manga to schools in his hometown of Isa-city.

Reviews

Anna N. on vol. 1 of 7 Billion Needles (Manga Report)
Ken H. on vol. 4 of Attack on Titan (Comics should Be Good)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 19 of Bakuman (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 57 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of Jiu Jiu (I Reads You)
Josh Begley on vol. 2 of Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix (The Fandom Post)
Connie C. on Magic Knight Rayearth, Neon Genesis Evangalion, and Bokurano: Ours (Comics Should Be Good)
Matt Cycyk on vol. 2 of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (Matt Talks About Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Alex Hoffman on Monokuro Kinderbook (Manga Widget)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 10 of Oh My Goddess (Blogcritics)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice (ICv2)
TSOTE on vols. 2, 3, and 4 of Q.E.D. (Three Steps Over Japan)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Sankarea: Undying Love (Experiments in Manga)
Jocelyne Allen on vols. 9 and 10 of Song of the Wind and Trees (Kaze to Ki no Uta) (Brain Vs. Book)
Drew McCabe on vol. 11 of Tenjho Tenge: Full Contact Edition (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Matt Cycyk on vol. 1 of Wolfsmund (Matt Talks About Manga)

Here’s the big news of the week: Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama will launch a new series in two weeks, Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, and Shonen Jump will be carrying it in English the same week it comes out in Japan.

I rounded up some new manga releases, the Megatokyo Kickstarter, and other manga news in my latest Manga Tipsheet at MTV Geek.

Among those news bits: Viz confirmed it has licensed Tiger & Bunny: The Beginning. Lissa Pattillo has more.

SuBLime announced a new license as well: Kou Yoneda’s NightS.

The Digital Manga folks post an update on their plans for Anime Expo, new digital releases, delays in print volumes, and more.

Erica Friedman brings us the latest edition of Yuri Network News.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their latest Pick of the Week, and they take a look at this week’s new releases as well.

Laura rounds up the Skip Beat! Manga Moveable Feast posts at Heart of Manga.

Jason Thompson takes a fond look at one of my favorite manga, Twin Spica, in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Lissa Pattillo opens up the Swag Bag and shows off her latest purchases.

Lori Henderson talks about Skip Beat! and Umineko When They Cry in the latest two episodes of the Manga Dome podcast.

Erin discusses relationships in Otomen, where the nice guy gets the girl for a change, at Gagging on Sexism.

Jocelyne Allen reads two volumes of collected works from the alt-manga magazines Garo and Com (the latter was started by Osamu Tezuka), and finds some great reading by Shigeru Mizuki, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, and Leiji Matsumoto.

Who reads Manga Bookshelf, and what manga do they like? Melinda Beasi presents the results of their recent survey.

News from Japan: The big news out of Japan this past week Sad news: Comic LO Magazine artist Yasuda, who was active in doujinshi circles, has died after a brief illness; he was only 24. Deadman Wonderland, which returned from hiatus in January, will end in the July 26 issue of Kadokawa Shoten’s Monthly Shōnen Ace. Maid Sama! is also drawing to a close. On the upside, though, Mari Yamazaki plans to launch a Thermae Romae spinoff in Comic Beam in September.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team keep it short and sweet in their latest Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown takes us through a week’s manga reading in Experiments in Manga.

Victoria Erica on vol. 2 of Attack on Titan (Inside AX)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Bleach (Blogcritics)
Manjiorin on vol. 2 of Blood-C (Organization ASG)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Blood Lad (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of Children of the Sea (The Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 22 of Claymore (The Fandom Post)
Anna N. on vols. 7 and 8 of Cross Game (Manga Report)
Justin on chapter 38 of Cross Manage (Organization ASG)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Demon Love Spell (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 8 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Blogcritics)
Matthew Warner on vol. 8 of A Devil and Her Love Song (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Warner on vol. 1 of Doubt (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on Futari (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 5 of GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Matthew Warner on vol. 4 of Is This a Zombie? (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Lone Wolf and Cub (omnibus edition) (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 22 of Higurashi: When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lissa Pattillo on vols. 1 and 2 of Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix (Kuriousity)
Helen on vols. 1-3 of Mars (Narrative Investigations)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 67 of One Piece (The Comic Book Bin)
Greg McElhatton on The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame (Read About Comics)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 16 of Pokemon Adventures (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Matthew Warner on vol. 10 of Psyren (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Psyren (The Comic Book Bin)
Erica Friedman on vol. 11 of Rakuen Le Paradis (Okazu)
Philip Anthony on vol. 8 of Sailor Moon (Manga Bookshelf)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 11 of Sailor Moon (Blogcritics)
Justin on vol. 1 of Sankarea (Organization ASG)
Erica Friedman on Shishunki Seimeitai Vega (Okazu)
Derek Bown on the latest issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Skip Beat! (omnibus edition) (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Sleeping Moon (I Reads You)
Matthew Warner on vol. 3 of Strobe Edge (The Fandom Post)
John Rose on vol. 1 of Umineko: When They Cry – Legend of the Golden Witch (The Fandom Post)
Connie C. on Utsubora (Comics Should Be Good)
Ash Brown on vol. 4 of Wandering Son (Experiments in Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of Wandering Son (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Lissa Pattillo looks at this week’s new releases in her On the Shelf column at Kuriousity.

Laura posts the Monday and Tuesday roundup of posts for the Skip Beat Manga Moveable Feast at Heart of Manga.

Erica Friedman takes a look at the josei magazine Flowers, home of Moto Hagio’s latest series, and she also posts the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Lori Henderson rounds up the latest manga news and checks out a couple of new releases in this week’s Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu.

Chinese fans are not happy that scanlations of Shueisha properties such as Naruto and Gin Tama are disappearing from the web, after internet giant Tencent signed a licensing deal with Shueisha earlier this year.

News from Japan: Hayate x Blade has ended in the most recent issue of Ultra Jump.

Reviews: Carlo Santos deconstructs the latest releases in his Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

Kate O’Neil on vol. 5 of Attack on Titan (The Fandom Post)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 5 of Children of the Sea (The Fandom Post)
Kristin on vol. 8 of Cross Game (Comic Attack)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Dawn of the Arcana (The Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Warner on vol. 5 of Flowers of Evil (The Fandom Post)
Melissa M. on Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink (Okazu)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 37 of Negima (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Warner on vol. 38 of Negima (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on Onna no Ko no Sekkeizu (Okazu)
Ken H on vol. 8 of Rurouni Kenshin (Comics Should Be Good)
Ken H on vol. 4 of Sailor Moon (Comics Should Be Good)
Bruce Pregger on YuriTetsu ~ Shiritsu Yurigasaki Joshikou Tetsudobu (Okazu)
Derek Bown on this week’s issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Anna N. on vol. 1 of Weekly Astro Boy Magazine (Manga Report)
Connie C on xxxHoLiC, Pet Shop of Horrors, and Nightmare Inspector (Comics Should Be Good)

Here’s my look at the latest manga releases at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo’s take in her last-ever On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. The Manga Bookshelf team takes a look at the new manga due out this week, and discusses their Pick of the Week.

Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith discuss some new releases from SuBLime and Digital in the latest installment of BL Bookrack.

Skip Beat will be the main dish at this month’s Manga Moveable Feast, and Laura puts out the call for entries at Heart of Manga.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks at a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf team post their latest Bookshelf Briefs.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 14 of Arata: The Legend (The Comic Book Bin)
Adam Stephanides on vols. 1-11 of Billy Bat (Completely Futile)
Ash Brown on vol. 22 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 11 of Dengeki Daisy (ANN)
Helen on Full House (Narrative Investigations)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 2 of Girl Friends (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of His Favorite (I Reads You)
Carlo Santos on vol. 11 of Jormungand (ANN)
Sean Gaffney on Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Anna N. on vol. 2 of Knights of Sidonia (Manga Report)
Carlo Santos on vol. 4 of Limit (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Loveless (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on The Misfortune of Kyon and Kazumi (Kuriousity)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 2 of Missions of Love (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 67 of One Piece (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Puella Magi Kazuma Magica: The Innocent Malice (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (The Comic Book Bin)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 2 and 3 of Strobe Edge (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Sunny (ANN)
Chris Kirby on vol. 15 of Toriko (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 16 of Toriko (The Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Warner on vol. 4 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s (The Fandom Post)