MangaBlog

Don’t know what to read? Check out the Manga Bookshelf bloggers’ Pick of the Week discussion.

At Heart of Manga, Laura looks at the new shoujo manga releases we can expect in June.

The Manga Out Loud podcast returns for a one-shot appearance, with hosts Ed Sizemore and Johanna Draper Carlson discussing the latest manga news and guest Tim Maughan talking about the Time of Eve anime.

Lori Henderson devotes her latest Manga Dome podcast to vol. 1 of Mobile Suit Gundam.

News from Japan: Good news for One Piece fans: It’s back in Shonen Jump this week, after creator Eiichiro Oda took a two-week hiatus for health reasons.

Reviews: Ash Brown checks in with the weekly report at Experiments in Manga. And the Manga Bookshelf team files their weekly set of Bookshelf Briefs.

Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 3 of Demon Love Spell (Comics Worth Reading)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 8 and 9 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Comics Worth Reading)
Justin on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood (Organization ASG)
Nick Smith on vols. 1 and 2 of Kingdom Hearts (ICv2)
Alex Hoffman on Monokuro Kinderbook (Manga Widget)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of No. 6 (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 9 of Pokemon Black and White (Blogcritics)
Mark Thomas on vol. 30 of Skip Beat! (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal (The Comic Book Bin)

Seven Seas has announced yet another new license: Zero’s Familiar Chevalier, a sequel to Zero’s Familiar.

Erica Friedman brings us the latest Yuri Network News at Okazu.

I looked at the past week’s new releases, plus the digital Astro Boy magazine, in my latest Manga Tipsheet column for MTV Geek.

The Manga Bookshelf team looks forward to this week’s new manga.

ICv2 has the May BookScan numbers and Naruto topped the chart; altogether there were eight manga in the top 20, which is not too shabby!

Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith take on two very different manga, Milk Morinaga’s yuri manga Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink and the Shonen Jump title Cross Manage, in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

The centerpiece of this month’s Manga Moveable Feast will be Skip Beat, and our hostess, Laura, posts the call for participants at Heart of Manga.

Jocelyne Allen writes about Twinkle, which was given to to her as a gift by Taiyo Matsumoto during TCAF, and which is by his wife.

Tony Yao has more Paradise Kiss quotes for us at Manga Therapy.

Reviews

Lissa Pattillo on vols. 1 and 2 of Alice in the Country of Hearts: My Fantastic Rabbit (Kuriousity)
Sakura Eries on vol. 1 of Are You Alice? (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 5 of Attack on Titan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Blue Morning (I Reads You)
Connie C. on Chicago, Japan, and Mars (Comics Should Be Good)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 10 of Dawn of the Arcana (Kuriousity)
Marlan Moore on vol. 1 of Flowers of Evil (Inside AX)
Chris Beveridge on vols. 1, 3, and 4 of Heroman (The Fandom Post)
Katherine Hanson on Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink (Yuri no Boke)
Matt Cycyk on vol. 3 of Knights of Sidonia (Matt Talks About Manga)
Kate O’Neil on vols. 5 and 6 of Loveless (omnibus edition) (The Fandom Post)
TSOTE on vol. 3 of Monju (Three Steps Over Japan)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of No. 6 (Experiments in Manga)
TSOTE on vol. 36 of Q.E.D. (Three Steps Over Japan)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 28 of Slam Dunk (The Comic Book Bin)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 14 of Soul Eater (The Fandom Post)
Mark Thomas on vol. 12 of Sumomomo Momomo (The Fandom Post)
Marlan Moore on vol. 1 of Sunny (Inside AX)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 8 of Tsubasa (Blogcritics)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Umineko When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Justin on The V Sign (Organization ASG)

I was totally fascinated that the upstart publisher Kansai Club (which is basically two people) was able to license an Osamu Tezuka manga, The Crater, for their first publication, so I was happy that KC’s Andrew Nevo was able to talk to me about it for my Kickstand column at CBR.

Paul Gravett interviews Junko Mizuno and posts a new two-page comic as well.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week, and Lissa Pattillo picks the best of this week’s new releases in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

Jeffrey Gustafson has been writing a series of essays about different themes in Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto at his blog, The Comic Pusher.

Tony Yao shares some of his favorite quotes from Paradise Kiss at Manga Therapy.

News from Japan: Ryoko Ikeda is bringing back the classic shoujo manga Rose of Versailles for a one-shot story in Margaret next October.

Reviews: Justin did one final roundup of JManga series, just before their servers shut down, at Organization ASG. Ash Brown takes us through a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf team has a new set of Bookshelf Briefs.

Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Are You Alice? (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sakura Eries on vol. 19 of Bakuman (The Fandom Post)
Justin on vol. 19 of Bakuman (Organization ASG)
Erica Friedman on the May issue of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Alex Hoffman on Doubt (Manga Widget)
Ken H on vols. 10 and 11 of Erementar Gerade (Comics Should Be Good)
Lori Henderson on Hanagatari Tenshion Atsuhime (Manga Xanadu)
Shannon Fay on vol. 2 of Higurashi When They Cry: Massacre Arc (Kuriousity)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Koetama (Manga Xanadu)
Chris Beveridge on vols. 3, 4, and 5 of Limit (The Fandom Post)
Victoria K. Martin on Punishment (Kuriousity)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of The Sacred Blacksmith (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration (I Reads You)
Naru on Silent Voice (Organization ASG)
Anna N. on vol. 1 of Sunny (Manga Report)
Kristin on vol. 10 of Tenjho Tenge: Full Contact Edition (Comic Attack)

Lissa Pattillo looks over the past week’s new releases in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

The Manga Bookshelf team discuss their Pick of the Week.

Here’s a bit of news I missed last week: Seven Seas has announced three new licenses, Devils and Realist, by Madoka Takadono and Utako Yukihiro; Dragonar Academy, by Shiki Mizuchi and Ran; and Strike Witches: Maidens in the Sky, by Yuuki Tanaka. As Lissa notes in the linked article, Seven Seas plans to publish more of the Strike Witches manga after this.

Lori Henderson rounds up the latest convention news and says farewell to JManga in her latest Manga Dome podcast at Manga Xanadu.

Erica Friedman brings us up to date in the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu. Erica also has a nice interview with yuri artist Takemiya Jin.

Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith discuss Sunny and Lone Wolf and Cub in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Meanwhile, Mely (coffeeandink) and Oyceter are discussing Heart of Thomas on Story Talk.

Jocelyne Allen explains why Maison Ikkoku is so wonderful at Brain Vs. Book.

Yaoi-Con is coming back!

Manga Bookshelf is doing a reader survey. Drop in and tell ’em what you think!

News from Japan: The Asahi Shimbun profiles newcomer Hiroaki Komura, who quit his job as a truck mechanic and holed up for an entire year to pursue his dream of becoming a manga-ka. Yet another Kuroko’s Basketball doujinshi event has been canceled. Although the organizers did not say they had received any threats, they did refer to the string of threatening letters that has plagued venues who planned to hold Kuroko’s Basketball themed events.

Reviews

Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Btooom! (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Cross Game (The Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Warner on vol. 8 of Dawn of the Arcana (The Fandom Post)
Anna N. on vol. 3 of Demon Love Spell (Manga Report)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Blogcritics)
Matthew Warner on vol. 7 of A Devil and Her Love Song (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on Kira Kira no Natsu (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Lone Wolf and Cub (omnibus edition) (Blogcritics)
Helen on Olympos (Narrative Investigations)
Victoria Erica on vol. 11 of Sailor Moon (Inside AX)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 11 of Sailor Moon (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Sankarea: Undying Love (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Derek Bown on this week’s issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Erica Friedman on Space Pirates of the Minusuka (Okazu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 13 of Tegami Bachi (The Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Cycyk on vol. 2 of Thermae Romae (Matt Talks About Manga)
Josh Begley on vol. 1 of Tokyo Babylon (omnibus edition) (The Fandom Post)
Lori Henderson on Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms (Manga Xanadu)
Alex Hoffman on Unico (Manga Widget)

Here’s my con report on last week’s Anime Boston.

Digital Manga announced three new BL titles in its Fanime panel this past weekend: Apple and Honey (Ringo ni Hachimitsu) and Apple and Honey: His Rose Colored Life (Kare no Barairo no Jinsei) manga, by Hideyoshico, and Natsuki Zippo’s Wolf Magic (Ōkami wa Mahō o). All three titles will be released in print; Digital has resumed print publication, and in fact some of their books are ahead of schedule.

Connie C. looks at the Viz Spectrum editions, an early manga format from the early 90s.

News from Japan: Nobuhiro Watsuki is bringing Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration to a close on Tuesday. The Jump Square series Binbō-gami ga! will be winding up in July.

Reviews: Ash Brown posts another episode of My Week in Manga at Experiments in Manga.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of 07-Ghost (The Comic Book Bin)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Are You Alice? (Comics Worth Reading)
Anna N. on vols. 13-16 of Basara (Manga Report)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 8 of Bunny Drop (Comics Worth Reading)
Ash Brown on Chicago, vol. 2: The Book of Justice (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Jormungand (The Comic Book Bin)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 4 and 5 of Limit (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Saturn Apartments (The Comic Book Bin)
Johanna Draper Carlson on The Strange Tale of Panorama Island (Comics Worth Reading)
Matthew Cycyk on vol. 1 of Sunny (Matt Talks About Manga)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Sunny (Comic Attack)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Thermae Romae (Comics Worth Reading)

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week.

Lissa Pattillo files her con report on TCAF:

The event had two manga guests – Taiyo Matsumoto and Gengoroh Tagame. I didn’t have much personal interest in Taiyo Matsumoto’s work, but I was thrilled that Tagame Gengoroh – a pioneer in the bara genre – was being flown in to help promote his new book, The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame. I attended his panel and signings and enjoyed what a friendly and out-going individual he was, and how much fun he seemed to have talking about his work.

On the floor, it was exciting to see Chromatic Press‘s booth set-up with lots of goodies promoting their current and upcoming projects. Plus the staff are all completely charming and hard-working individuals who I have nothing less than well wishes for! I was sad that both rem and Jen Lee Quick – who work with the new publisher, and happen to be two artists whose work I adore – were unable to attend the event despite initial plans. Maybe next year?

And Scott Green takes a look at a new book I first saw in the wild at TCAF: Suehiro Maruo’s The Strange Tale of Panorama Island, which was announced four years ago and is finally being published by Last Gasp.

With the Yumi Tamura Manga Moveable Feast in the offing, Anna N. rounds up her reviews of Tamura’s work, Chicago and Basara.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks back on a week in manga at Experiments in Manga.

Sakura Eries on vol. 12 of Dengeki Daisy (The Fandom Post)
Lori Henderson on King’s Moon: The Life of Akechi Mitsuhide (Manga Xanadu)
Erin on vols. 4-6 of Otomen (Gagging on Sexism)
Erica Friedman on vol. 10 of Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari (Okazu)