MangaBlog

I’m trying to finish up my review of Ode to Kirihito, but the internet keeps getting in the way.

Critiquing the critics: At Comics212, Christopher Butcher has some harsh things to say about Fools Gold. At her LJ, Rivkah responds, and the comments wander off into an interesting some-call-it-manga direction. Meanwhile, creator Amy Hadley posts a sample page from volume 2.

If you’re looking for something more cerebral, Samurai Champloo has a post on Armageddon and Utopia in Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys.

The Manga Junkie has found a new title.

After School Nightmare, one of the new Go!Comi titles, is on the menu at Manga Maniac Cafe.

Off topic, but worth a click: These two flow charts, comparing management’s view of a newsroom with reality, are funny because they’re true!

Yes, it’s time for another edition of MangaBlogCast. Here are the links:

Yaoi on Top

Yaoi article by Eliza Strickland
Simon Jones defends individual tastes

CPM Rebounds

CPM story at PWCW
Flashback to CPM’s financial troubles

Kurt Hassler’s new job

Coverage on The Beat
News story at PWCW
Sokora Refugees creator page

DC and Marvel make Bookscan top ten

The Bleach bounce

Sales figures from ICv2
More analysis from Precocious Curmudgeon

Book sales up, magazines down in Japan

Seven Seas announces yuri line
Erica politely points out that ALC was there first

Tokyopop resets online manga

Tezuka show opens in Australia
Review of Tezuka art book

Mangaka America debuts
Newsarama interviews Tania Del Rio

Incoming…

Death Note, vol. 8
Hikaru no Go, vol. 8
Prince of Tennis, vol. 16
Ranma 1/2, vol. 36(!)
Red River, vol. 15
W-Juliet, vol. 13
Kamikaze Kaito Jeanne, vol. 6
Gakuen Heaven, vol. 1
Densha Otoko
Omukae Desu, vol. 2
Yakitate!! JaPan, vol. 2

The Australian paper The Age has a nice article on Osamu Tezuka, covering his life and major works. (Via the Newsarama blog, which also points us to this article about Tezuka from Hanabatake.)

Over at MangaCast, they ask readers if they want more Disgaea, get some answers out of CMX, and post the latest MangaBlogCast.

Shaenon Garrity celebrates the yaoi manga Shout Out Loud in her Overlooked Manga Festival. Worth a read even if you don’t like yaoi.

The Daily Yomiuru reports on a cafe with a Nodame Cantabile theme, opened to tie in with the live-action movie. I love that they replicate Nodame’s messy room. Maybe there’s a career for me in Japan.

Reviews: At Anime on DVD, Jarred Pine gives us a threefer: he reviews the first three volumes of Rebirth. Blogcritics reviews PhD: Phantasy Degree.

And this is a bit meta: Johanna Draper Carlson panned Mail Order Ninja earlier this week. The creator read the review and took it to The Engine. Interesting discussion follows. And later Johanna defends her review.

Earlier this week, Publisher’s Weekly listed their picks for the 10 best graphic novels of the year, and the only manga on the list was Dragon Head.

Tokyopop is celebrating with a 2-for-1 deal on the series, but it only lasts until Sunday night. Here’s part of the e-mail they sent out:

When you publish sequential art, any time you are mentioned in the same breath as people like Jaime Hernandez, Rick Veitch, and Alan Moore you know you are doing something right. We have always LOVED Dragon Head — it’s been one of our favorite series here since we first licensed it from our good friends at Kodansha – and we are absolutely thrilled that we have now played a small part in securing some worldwide acclaim for Mochizuki-sensei’s incredible work.

To celebrate this fantastic manga TOKYOPOP invites you to take advantage of a limited 2 for 1 offer. Just put any three volumes of the Dragon Head into your shopping cart and we’ll only charge you for two! (Pardon the re-statement of the obvious: this means that you get one volume of the best manga of the year for FREE!!!) But don’t wait to get yours because this offer is only good until midnight PST on Sunday, November 12! Enter promo code: survivalDH when ordering.

ChunHyang72 has a thorough roundup of manga news at her blog, including several things I missed in the Election Day rush. If you’re an aspiring manga-ka, check out Tina Anderson’s discussion of pay rates.

At MangaCast, Ed wraps up his Yaoi-Con coverage with audio of the June panel and looks forward to the newest volume of Kamui.

ComiPress translates an excerpt from a curious interview with Takehiko Inoue about the necessity of manga being on paper, not digital. They also have Mainichi Shimbun’s interview with American manga-ka Austell Callwood, who was in Japan promoting his manga.

“Archie is part of the manga comic experience. Who knew?

Deutsche Welle looks at German manga artists.

Blogcritics has been reviewing a lot of manga lately, and reviewer Bill Sherman reflects on the enthusiasm of the fans in a refreshing little essay. I particularly liked this:

My own admittedly half-baked theory is that reading manga like this re-stimulates brain cells in a way that’s healthy for one’s long-term mental acuity. (I eagerly await the first published neuro-psych study supporting this theory.) Just think of it: a study which actually proved that reading monthly Shonen Jump magazine was healthy! The mind truly boggles.

OK, I’m starting to get back to normal. Yesterday was awesome. We had 926 people vote in my precinct, which is about a 75 percent turnout, and no major hassles. Everyone was in a good mood, and I got to see all my neighbors. Democracy is sweet!

OK, back to manga blogging. This week’s PWCW is chock full o’ manga news, and Davids Welsh and Taylor have already given their analysis, so I won’t have much to add. The was about Hachette’s new imprint and Diamond’s new kids’ division. David Welsh correctly predicted that I would be irked by the anonymous sources sniping at Kurt Hassler. Again, I repeat: This is not good journalism, and I expect better from Publisher’s Weekly. Much better is the article on MPD Psycho, a new seinen title from Dark Horse, which elicited cheers from the MangaCasters. PW’s top ten graphic novels list seems a bit premature, as it’s only the beginning of November, and a bit incomplete, as the only manga on it is Dragon Head. But everyone liked Johanna Draper Carlson’s interview with manga adaptor Kelly Sue DeConnick, who talks about the difficulty of adapting Japanese in to English and cites the editor’s mantra: “It boils down to this: if I’m doing my job well, my hand is invisible.”

Global manga roll call: At The Engine, global manga creators check in with their latest activities. Mostly they feel pretty good about their volume 2’s, but they’re already starting to think about moving on.

Lillian DP is asking readers to suggest questions for her Japanese counterpart. If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to be a Japanese manga editor, here’s your big chance.

After 14 years, Ranma 1/2 is coming to an end. Johanna parses the press release, and folks at the ANN boards say goodbye.

Amazon picks the top 10 graphic novels of 2006. I’m not sure what qualifies them to make this judgment, but it’s a decent list, with two manga, Abandon the Old in Tokyo and Ohikkoshi. Strange pair, that. (Via The Beat.)

Usually I don’t find the “Shouts and Murmurs” feature in the New Yorker very funny, but this one had me laughing out loud. Maybe it hit a bit too close to home.