MangaBlog

Seven Seas announced a new license this week: Venus Versus Virus, a horror/fantasy series about a girl who can see ghosts. Evil ghosts. And there are “yuri undertones.” Ed has some comments at MangaCast.

Deutsche Mangaka crosses the border to translate a Swiss article about Lime, the studio that produces Evergrey.

ChunHyang72 has an excellent roundup of recent manga news on and off the Tokyopop site. Speaking of which, Floating Sakura reviews the latest version of the site at Manga Jouhou.

For the discerning but impecunious reader, global manga creator Pop Mhan is giving away autographed copies of his new book, Blank.

Simon Jones issues a clarification:

Lolicon refers almost exclusively to pornographic manga, and its readers. Gothic Lolita is a neo-victorian fashion movement. So please, please stop refering to Nymphet as lolicon; it’s not pornographic and it’s a disservice to Seven Seas and its creator.

I got the difference between lolicon and Goth Loli all along, but I didn’t realize the definition of lolicon was so restrictive. Of course, much depends on your definition of “pornographic.”

Yaoi and yuri readers, vote now for your favorites at Anime Nation. (Via Yaoi Suki.

Same Hat! scanlates a 16-panel comic by Yoshida Sensa.

At Yaoi Suki, Jordan Marks reviews Let Dai, from Netcomics. At Okazu, Erica gives her take on Gunsmith Cats Burst, which isn’t out in English yet. And Active Anime has been buzzing with activity, with reviews of vol. 15 of Hana-Kimi, vol. 8 of From Eroica with Love, vol. 4 of Sugar Sugar Rune, vol. 6 of Girls Bravo, and vol. 2 of the light novel Boogiepop Returns: VS Imaginator.

Check it out at the MangaCast. Jack and I will be taking a short break after this but we’ll be back after the holidays with more podcast goodness. In the meantime, here are the liner notes for this week’s podcast:

Two million Furubas

A touch of Minx

Newsarama interview with Karen Berger
David Welsh on reinventing the wheel
Lengthy post at The Beat, with awesome comment thread

Rethinking Wonder Woman

John Jakala discovers Tintin Pantoja’s manga-ized Wonder Woman
Pantoja’s full pitch
Pantoja’s LJ post
Jakala’s followup post

Manga in the news

NYT article on CLAMP
Kethylia complains
Katherine Dacey-Tsuei weighs in
Jakala on Chast
Sarah White’s Deviant Art site

Holy Loli

Pata is not worried about Nymphet backlash
Dirk Deppey is not so sure
Floating Sakura posts some scans
Simon Jones: “Seven Seas isn’t publishing porn. We are.”
Dirk points out that panty shots of young girls are still in bad form around here

Witchblade: Reverse flip

Witchblade manga in two formats
Simon Jones comments

Incoming

Train Man (Viz), vol. 2
Because I’m The Goddess, vol. 2
Emma, vol. 2
Fruits Basket, vol. 15
Life, vol. 3
Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~, vol. 1
O-Parts Hunter, vol. 1

MangaCast runs down the week’s comics and checks out Previews for the March/April titles. Also: Trawling through the book sites they found two possible new Blu titles by Antique Bakery manga-ka Fumi Yoshinaga. And they’re accepting guesses about Broccoli’s latest set of veiled hints.

At Tokyopop, Andre has more on the Previews titles.

Interesting news for Nodame Cantabile fans: Apparently the book was inspired by a real Megumi Noda—and the manga-ka didn’t even change her name!

ICv2 has a look at You Higouri’s poster for the American Library Association.

Vol. 12 of Naruto climbs to number 67 on the USA Today Booklist, up from 147 last week. Meanwhile, ComiPress has the weekly top ten from Tohan.

New blog alert: Well, it’s not really new, but Prospero’s Manga just started alerting us to its presence. Very nice short manga reviews, updated Tuesday and Thursday—check it out.

Reviews: At AoD, Jarred Pine takes an early look at Kitchen Princess, due out next month from Del Rey. And check out AoD’s Small Bodied Manga Reviews, which are longer than most people’s full-size reviews. Active Anime’s Christopher Seaman reviews vol. 5 of Eden: It’s an Endless World. Mangamaniaccafe finds Baby & Me sappy but entertaining. At ANN, Liann Cooper turns in a lengthy review of Hot Gimmick, Bamboo Dong finds Joan beautiful but tedious, and Mikhail Koulikov has mixed feelings about The One I Love.

There’s much for manga lovers to like in this week’s PWCW, including an interview with DMP president Hikaru Sasahara, a profile of Dark Horse, an interview with Dramacon creator Svetlana Chmakova, and an article about PSB, which publishes manga in Spanish. On their blogs, Simon Jones gives his take on the Sasahara interview and David Welsh has some comments as well.

Floating Sakura translates the Japanese top 10 manga list and is surprised by what she sees.

Cantarella manga-ka You Higuri has created a poster for the American Library Association.

Someone asked Mitch at Blogfonte for some manga recommendations, and he responds with five suggestions. Even if you have read the series, his reviews are worth reading.

Today’s debate of note is over at Icarus Comics, where Simon Jones, John Jakala, and Tina Anderson discuss sexism and choice vis-a-vis Tintin Pantoja’s re-imagining of Wonder Woman.

Manganews translates an article about two Japanese books of recommended manga for boys and for girls.

The June blog has some info up about the Cold Sleep series. (Via Yaoi Suki.)

Dudley Jahnke has left Viz.

In case you’re wondering what’s up with your favorite Broccoli series, the Broccoli blog runs down all the titles in progress.

The manga creep continues: Elae has a list of German-created global manga that have been licensed in other countries.

Fresh, hot previews up at the MangaCast. Lots of variety today!

At Anime on DVD, Sakura likes the art, hates the story of vol. 1 of La Corda D’Oro. Mangamaniacccafe reviews Trinity Blood. Active Anime’s Holly Ellingwood takes a look at vol. 2 of Beauty Pop, and Christopher Seaman checks out vol. 3 of School Zone. Manga Recon’s Katherine Dacey-Tsuei enjoys Hayate the Combat Butler, a new series from Viz. At Okazu, Erica Friedman writes thoroughly enjoyable reviews of Simoun and Silent Mobius. Greg McElhatton reviews volume 8 of XXXholic.

Kurt Hassler just dropped me a line to say he’s settling in at Yen Press, Hachette’s new manga imprint, and he’s looking for an editorial assistant. So if you’re looking for a way to break into the industry, this might be your opportunity. Full job posting after the cut.

Editorial Assistant -Japanese Translation Required

Hachette Book Group USA (HBG), a division of Hachette Livre, the third largest book publisher in the world, seeks to fill the position of Editorial Assistant.

HBG’s product lines include adult, illustrated, religious, children’s and audio books under the Warner Books, Little, Brown & Company, Little Brown Books for Young Readers, FaithWords, Center Street and Hachette Book Group Digital Media imprints. HBG USA’s bestselling authors include David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, Malcolm Gladwell, Ansel Adams, Robert Kiyosaki, David Sedaris, Walter Mosley, Nelson DeMille, Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, James Patterson, Nicholas Sparks and Cecily von Ziegesar. HBG classics include: The Catcher in the Rye, The Bridges of Madison County, Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, To Kill A Mockingbird, the Arthur children’s books, and works by photographer Ansel Adams. HBG USA also sells and distributes books for other publishers and has a warehousing operation in Indiana and customer services and other support services in Boston.

The Editorial Assistant will be responsible for providing administrative and editorial support to the Publishing Director. Responsibilities include:

• Work with translators and adaptors on Japanese licenses, must be fluent in speaking and writing Japanese. Some translation work may be required.
• Write catalog, cover and promotional copy and preparing fact sheets
• Prepare contract requests and process payments
• Communicate with authors and agents about queries, payments, etc.
• Traffic editorial projects through Production, Copyediting, and Marketing, and secure appropriate approvals
• Enter title data into proprietary databases system and track data throughout publishing process
• Prepare cost specifications
• Read and report on manuscripts, proposals and books submitted for publication
• Coordinate meetings and events, including Sales Conference and Trade Shows
• Perform administrative duties, including: photocopying, sorting mail, filing, directing/responding to phone calls, etc.
• Expertise and experience with manga required
Requirements: Excellent interpersonal, organizational, and administrative skills; Bachelor’s degree in English preferred; Minimum of 1 year of publishing experience preferred (internships ok); an ability to work independently, adhere to deadlines, attend to details, and juggle multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment; solid computer skills, including MS Word, Excel, and Powerpoint; polished communication skills; demonstrated interest in graphic novels and knowledge of the genre.

Anyone interested in applying should submit their resume and cover letter to: jobs@hbgusa.com referencing “NMED/Editorial Assistant/Japanese Translation Required” on the subject line.

ICv2 has a little more about Vertical’s upcoming edition of Tezuka’s Apollo’s Song, including a cover shot.

Pata has another edition of Right Turn Only!! up at ANN, and he’s looking at a new Tokyopop series, Kamiyadori, and one from DrMaster, Key Princess Story: Eternal Alice Rondo, among others.

I linked to this yesterday, but check back for the comments: At coffeeandink, Mely has her taste questioned by a bookstore cashier for buying modern manga (as opposed to Akira).

Why do girls prefer manga? Look here. This lengthy post includes some good commentary on Minx and other marketing efforts. (Via When Fangirls Attack.)

At MangaCast, Ed is looking for suggestions for improvement in the new year.

ChunHyang72 rounds up the best posts on the revamped Tokyopop site. One item of particular note: It’s time to vote for the People’s Choice award for the Rising Stars of Manga, UK and Ireland edition.

I don’t usually link to scanlations, but so little Moto Hagio is available in English that I just couldn’t pass this up. (Via Journalista.)

Job posting: Fifth Dimension is looking for an inking artist.

Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 3 of Passion.