MangaBlog

Sean Gaffney has some commentary on the new licenses announced over the past week by Seven Seas and Vertical, and I had a few things to say at MTV Geek as well.

The Manga Moveable Feast featuring Naoki Urasawa continues, with host blog Organization ASG posting on Music in 20th Century Boys and Hatred in Pluto as well as a roundup of the first two days’ worth of posts.

Tony Yao writes about the child prodigy Orochimaru (from Naruto) and the power of sorrow in Gintama at Manga Therapy.

No Starch Press is listing The Manga Guide to Regression Analysis among its books for next year. It may sound incongruous, but the books in this series that I have looked at have been pretty good.

Well, here’s an innovation: Something called “Manga 2.5,” which is a motion comic version of manga, with voices. ANN has the deets; it launches with The Mythical Detective LOKI (available in its original form on JManga) and Ouji Hiroi and Yuusuke Kozaki’s Karasuma Kyōko no Jikenbo.

The staff at the Embassy of Japan in London have announced the winners of this year’s Manga Jiman awards.

Reviews: Anna N. reviews a handful of Harlequin manga at Manga Report.

Lori Henderson on vols. 1-22 of 20th Century Boys (Manga Xanadu)
Chris Kirby on vol. 22 of 20th Century Boys (The Fandom Post)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Barrage (ANN)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Blogcritics)
Anna N. on vol. 11 of Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden (Manga Report)
David Gromer on vol. 1 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Kristin on vol. 10 of Jormungand (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Katherine Hanson on Love Flag Girls!! (Yuri no Boke)
David Gromer on vol. 5 of Maximum Ride: The Manga (Graphic Novel Reporter)
David Gromer on vol. 5 of Negima (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (Blogcritics)

There has been a flurry of activity on the licensing front: Viz announced five new Shojo Beat and Shonen Sunday licenses: Happy Marriage?!, Midnight Secretary, Voice Over!: Seiyuu Academy, Sweet Rein, and Magi. I dug up a bit more info on the last three at MTV Geek. Vertical announced Satoshi Kon’s Tropic of the Sea and Takahiro Seguchi’s Sickness Unto Death. And Seven Seas has three new licenses, all supernatural stories involving girls who aren’t human: A Centaur’s Life, Love in Hell, and Monster Musume. Sean Gaffney, who knows the Japanese side of things a lot better than I do, has more on the Viz and Seven Seas announcements at his blog.

Lissa Pattillo looks over the past week’s new manga in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA, and Sean Gaffney, Melinda Beasi, and Michelle Smith discuss this week’s new manga at Manga Bookshelf.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week.

Erica Friedman has a fresh episode of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

This month’s Manga Moveable Feast is hosted by Organization ASG, and Justin gets things rolling with an introductory post on this month’s creator, Naoki Urasawa and a discussion among the bloggers about how they first got into Urasawa.

Brian Hibbs looks at the BookScan numbers for 2012 and sees a grim picture for manga, as sales continue to decline.

Jason Thompson pays his respects to the uber-80s manga Cipher in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

News from Japan: Kaoru Mori brings back Shirley for a two-part story in Enterbrain’s Harta (formerly Fellows!) magazine.

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

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Awkward Silence (I Reads You)
Connie on vol. 14 of Black Bird (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ash Brown on vol. 18 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Collectors (Okazu)
Jocelyne Allen on Dame BL (Brain Vs. Book)
Connie on vol. 8 of Dorohedoro (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 23 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Sweetpea on Her Majesty’s Dog, Slam Dunk, and Papillon (Organization ASG)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 12 of Kamisama Kiss (The Comic Book Bin)
Angela Eastman on vol. 12 of Kamisama Kiss (The Fandom Post)
Sakura Eries on vol. 2 of Message to Adolf (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 60 of Naruto (I Reads You)
Angela Eastman on vol. 12 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Fandom Post)
Connie on Ohikkoshi, 5 Centimeters Per Second, and A Drunken Dream (Comics Should Be Good)
Connie on vol. 18 of Ouran High School Host Club (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-8 of Pluto (Manga Xanadu)
Chris Kirby on vol. 2 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (The Fandom Post)
Derek Bown on last week’s issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Connie on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lexie on vol. 1 of Tokyo Babylon (omnibus edition) (Poisoned Rationality)
Justin on vol. 11 of Yotsuba&! (Organization ASG)

Here’s my look at this week’s new manga at MTV Geek; now that I have read Emerald, I highly endorse it.

The Scotsman profiles Anime Republic, Edinburgh’s first anime and manga specialty shop.

Ed Chavez, marketing director for Vertical, Inc., is at India Comic Con this week, and he brought Chi to his panel; Ed says that manga will be coming to India very soon.

Tony Yao looks at Viz’s planned Hello Kitty graphic novels and asks: Will Minimalism Save Comics?

The first-ever Manga Festival In Singapore happens this weekend.

News from Japan: Despite the weird series of threats associated with it, the latest volume of Kuroko’s Basketball topped the sales charts this week. ANN has the full Japanese comics rankings. Futabasha has pulled the plug on Comic Sumomo. And Silver Diamond creator Shiho Sugiura is launching a new series, Shūten unknown (Last Stop Unknown), in the May issue of Comic Avarus.

Reviews

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Blogcritics)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of High School Debut (Blogcritics)
Brian Gardes on Hiroaki Samura’s Emerald and Other Stories (Stumptown Trade Review)
Matthew Cycyk on vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia (Matt Talks About Manga)
Ken Haley on vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia (Comics Should Be Good)
Anna N. on vol. 12 of Kamisama Kiss (Manga Report)
Angela Eastman on vol. 11 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Fandom Post)

Lissa Pattillo takes a quick advance look at a new Seven Seas license, Dictatorial Grimoire, and Alex Hoffman looks forward to Nijigahara Holograph, the new Inio Asano manga to be published by Fantagraphics later this year.

The Canadian publisher CloneManga has launched a Kickstarter to fund a print edition of Canadian author Dan Kim’s NNN, which won the Bronze Award in the Japanese foreign ministry’s international manga competition last year.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week.

The Manga Moveable Feast kicks off next week, and Justin, your host at Organization ASG, issues the first call for participation. This month’s featured creator is Naoki Urasawa.

At Sequential Tart, Wolfen Moondaughter looks back at a year’s worth of yaoi reading (part one, part two).

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Molly McIsaac counts down five iconic manga couples.

At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao turns the microscope on Durarara!!’s resident psychopath, Izaya Orihara.

And at Organization ASG, Justin talks to Tony about Manga Therapy and what he has learned from writing it.

Anna N. is giving away a bundle of Blu manga at Manga Report; hit the link to find out how to enter.

News from Japan: Doraemon co-creator Fujiko Fujio A will wind up his autobiographical series Ai…Shirisomeshi Kei ni in the May issue of Big Comic Original. Manga-ka Ritz Kobayashi is taking some time off from the high school mahjong series Saki due to health problems. The main story arc of Zetsuen no Tempest will end next month.

Reviews: Lots of quick reads this week! Carlo Santos looks at vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia, vol. 13 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, and a handful of other recent releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. The Manga Bookshelf bloggers file their Bookshelf Briefs. At Comics Should Be Good, Connie takes a look at three manga by Taiyo Matsumoto, who will be coming to the Toronto Comic Arts Festival in May. Ash Brown briefs us on this week’s manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Kristin on vol. 1 of 21st Century Boys (Comic Attack)
Khursten Santos on 87Clockers (Otaku Champloo)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 6 of Afterschool Charisma (The Fandom Post)
Helen on Akaku Saku Koe (Narrative Investigations)
Mark Thomas on vol. 16 of Battle Angel Alita: The Last Order (The Fandom Post)
Lexie on vol. 1 of Blood-C (Poisoned Rationality)
Sakura Eries on vol. 4 of A Bride’s Story (The Fandom Post)
Justin on chapter 19 of Cross Manage (Organization ASG)
Erica Friedman on Destro 246 (Okazu)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 7 of Dogs: Bullets and Carnage (The Fandom Post)
Drew McCabe on vol. 7 of Dogs: Bullets and Carnage (Comic Attack)
Connie on God of Dogs (Slightly Biased Manga)
John Rose on vol. 21 of Hayate the Combat Butler (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 7 of Itsuwaribito (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 15 of Kimi ni Todoke (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 8 and 9 of Raiders (Manga Village)
Connie on vol. 30 of Skip Beat! (Slightly Biased Manga)
Anna N. on vol. 26 of Slam Dunk! (Manga Report)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 12 of Soul Eater (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 1 of sweet pool (Slightly Biased Manga)
Justin on vol. 1 of Thermae Romae (Organization ASG)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Wonder! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Drew McCabe on World Trigger (Comic Attack)

Yen Press is publishing a graphic novel adaptation of Beautiful Creatures, just a week before the movie is released; check out our exclusive preview at MTV Geek.

Noah Berlatsky quotes both me and Erica Friedman in an interesting essay on the ethics of scanlation.

There were lots of new Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat titles out last week; I looked over the latest crop of new releases at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo checked them out as well in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. At Heart of Manga, Laura looks at the new shoujo releases for February.

Meanwhile, the Manga Bookshelf bloggers look forward to this week’s new manga releases, in print and on JManga.

Erica Friedman updates us on the world of yuri in this week’s edition of Yuri Network News.

The Japanese publisher Otome’s Way will bring BL manga to international readers (the U.S. and other countries) via the web beginning in April; the manga will be online, and you can buy it with PayPal.

Melinda Beasi talks about her recent reading in her latest My Week in Manga video.

Lissa Pattillo opens up the swag bag and shows off her latest purchases.

Justin Stroman asks Manga Bookshelf readers: What manga got you to read more?

News from Japan: Tokyo Big Sight has banned Kuroko’s Basketball doujinshi from an upcoming event. Some new projects in the works: Horror manga-ka Junji Ito (Gyu) is launching a new series, Ma no Kakera (The Shard of Evil), in the newly revived Nemuki magazine in April. Go Nagai’s Dororo and Enma-Kun, which started as a one-shot, will become an ongoing series. Examurai Sengoku creator Yoshiji Yamaguchi will begin a Fist of the North Star spinoff, Kinyoku no Garuda ~Nanto Goshasei Zenshi~ (The Gold Wings of Garuda ~The Prehistory of the Nanto Goshasei~) in the April issue of Comic Zenon. Kodansha is planning a complete collection of Shigeru Mizuki’s manga. The josei magazine Kiss is reducing its frequency from biweekly to monthly. Thermae Romae, serialized in English by Yen Press, is coming to an end in Japan. Highschool of the Dead will return to the pages of Dragon Age later this spring.

Reviews: Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith discuss several new volumes in their Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ken Haley on vols. 2 and 3 of Attack on Titan (Comics Should Be Good)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 55 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love (Experiments in Manga)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 45 of Case Closed (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Blogcritics)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 3 of Gate 7 (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Golondrina (Okazu)
Shannon Fay on vol. 1 of Higurashi When They Cry – Massacre Arc (Kuriousity)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Kamisama Kiss (Blogcritics)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 14 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 13 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Oh My Goddess (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Punch Up! (I Reads You)
Derek Bown on this week’s issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 26 of Slam Dunk (The Comic Book Bin)
Erica Friedman on Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na Nanika (Okazu)

Lillian Diaz-Przybyl and Lianne Sentar have formed Chromatic Press, a digital publisher that will focus on original English language (OEL) light novels, manga, and audio dramas. And they are kicking off their line by bringing back Jen Lee Quick’s Off*Beat—they will republish the existing volumes and then she will finish the series with volume 3—and Sentar’s Tokyo Demons. I talked to Diaz-Przybyl and Sentar at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo interviewed Quick at Kuriousity.

Drawn and Quarterly, which published Shigeru Mizuki’s Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, has confirmed that they will publish Mizuki’s eight-volume Showa: A History of Showa Japan.

News from Japan: It’s a sick day at Shonen Jump: Tite Kubo and Hideaki Sorachi both got the flu and were unable to turn in their chapters of Bleach and Gin Tama, respectively. The editors apologized and say they will both be back next week. Saki Achiga-hen episode of side-A will come to an end in the next issue of Monthly Shonen Gangan.

Reviews: Ash Brown takes us through another week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

J. Caleb Mozzocco on vol. 5 of Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Good Comics for Kids)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 7 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Rebecca Silverman on The Heart of Thomas (ANN)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-23 of Hikaru no Go (Good Comics for Kids)
Helen on vol. 1 of Sailor Moon (Narrative Investigations)
Phillip Anthony on vol. 1 of Skip Beat (omnibus edition) (Manga Bookshelf)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 12 of Tegami Bachi (The Comic Book Bin)