MangaBlog

I looked a bit deeper into Digital Manga’s announcement to suspend print publication for six months at Robot 6, and Alex Hoffman has some thoughts at Manga Widget as well.

Here’s a treat to kick off the weekend: Shaenon Garrity counts down five badass shoujo manga as guest contributor to the House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Tony Yao has an interesting piece up this morning with data from a recent article in The Nikkei Shimbun about the gender balance of Shonen Jump readers and what that means to the contents of the magazine. Good stuff!

The Manga Bookshelf team take a critical look at next week’s new releases in print and at JManga.

The next Manga Moveable Feast is a Thanksgiving dinner, and host Matt Blind issues the call for contributions.

Reviews

Kristin on vol. 2 of Jiu Jiu (Comic Attack)
David Gromer on vols. 3 and 4 of Maximum Ride (Graphic Novel Reporter)
David Gromer on vols. 1 and 2 of Negima (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 13 of Neon Genesis Evangelion (The Comic Book Bin)
David Gromer on vol. 3 of No Longer Human (Graphic Novel Reporter)
David Gromer on vol. 7 of Omamori Himori (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of One Piece (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Rosario + Vampire, Season II (The Comic Book Bin)
David Gromer on vol. 1 of Soulless (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Kuriousity)

Here’s a startling bit of news: Digital Manga, Inc., has put all their print titles on hiatus for six months, from January through June 2013. In a message on the company blog, Digital president Hikaru Sasahara said, “Please be advised that none of our licenses are cancelled, simply postponed. We will be resuming the distribution of our print editions in June, 2013.” The move affects all Digital imprints, including June, 801, and DokiDoki, but not the two Tezuka books ; behind the scenes, the company has been revamping its emanga digital manga site.

The latest addition to the Shonen Jump Alpha lineup is the romantic comedy Nisekoi, by Naoshi Komi, who is best known for his Double Arts manga.

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

Where’s Deb Aoki? She’s in Tokyo, at the International Comics Festa, where a group of Canadians has put together their own doujinshi anthology. She’s taking pictures and chronicling her adventures on Twitter, so if you don’t follow her already, now would be a good time to start.

Reviews

Rebecca Silverman on vols. 9 and 10 of Oresama Teacher (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 44 of Case Closed (ANN)
Ken H on vol. 1 of Heroman (Comics Should Be Good)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 59 of Naruto (The Comic Book Bin)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of Pupa (Manga Widget)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Rin-ne (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 8 of Sailor Moon (Blogcritics)
Anna on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Manga Report)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Rebecca Silverman on Wolf (ANN)

If you’re curious to know what I really think about comics, manga, comics shops, and other stuff, as well as what it was like to be an Eisner judge (in a word: Awesome!), check out Carrie Shepherd’s interview with me at Girls + Comics.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week.

Noah Berlatsky looks at the role of women in ero and horror manga such as the works of Junji Ito and relates it to their role in society at the time these manga were being created.

Matt Blind looks at the top-selling manga from the past week.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team kick off the week with a new set of Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown discusses a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 14-16 of Bakuman (Comics Worth Reading)
Lori Henderson on vols. 33 and 34 of Bleach (Manga Xanadu)
Phillip on vol. 2 of A Bride’s Story (Eeeper’s Choice)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 6 and 7 of Bunny Drop (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Missions of Love (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Anna on Not for a Student and Hush A Bye Baby (Manga Report)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Comic Attack)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of We Were There (The Comic Book Bin)

I picked the best of the past week’s new releases at MTV Geek, Lissa Pattillo gives her take in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA, and the Manga Village team did the same back at their place. Meanwhile, the Manga Bookshelf bloggers look forward to this week’s new manga releases in print and at JManga.

The finalists have been chosen for the JManga Translation Battle, and now it’s up to you: Go check it out and vote for your favorites!

Also, if you have been holding off on downloading the Viz manga app on your iThing, Android device, or Kindle Fire, now’s the time to do it: Viz is giving away a free volume 1 to anyone who downloads the app for the first time before November 20.

Jason Thompson writes about one of my favorite manga, the sadly unfinished (in translation) josei series Suppli, in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

The Manga Bookshelf team discuss what they are looking forward to among next week’s new manga releases, and Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith discuss Aaron’s Absurd Armada, Stepping on Roses, and Crazy for You in their latest Off the Shelf column.

An unpublished manga story drawn by Osamu Tezuka as a teenager has surfaced in Tokyo and has been purchased by Tezuka Productions for possible future release.

Melinda Beasi believes in miracles: She looks at three sadly unfinished manga series that are coming back to life. Also: Melinda invites fans to share their fannish highlights of 2012.

Justin Stroman has an interesting guest feature on 10 things you should know about manga at Manga Bookshelf. And one more guest post at MB: An introduction to Korean webcomics.

At Heart of Manga, Laura is clearing off her shelves and giving away some manga.

News from Japan: I’m way behind, so let’s catch up on the highlights: Otomen manga-ka Aya Kanno has a new series in the works, Makoto no Kuni, starting in the April issue of Bessatsu Hana to Yume. Reborn is coming to an end. The last volume of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan will include an anime DVD, and the three-chapter sequel that is currently running in Shonen Jump Next! will eventually be made available in English. Rideback manga-ka Tetsuro Kasahara will draw a new Full Metal Panic 0 manga, and Full Metal Panic! Sigma is coming to an end. Go Nagai has drawn a one-shot manga that crosses over his Dororon Enma-Kun with Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo.

Reviews: Carlo Santos tells us what he thinks of some recent releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Manga reviews are back at About Heroes, where Melanie takes a look at some recent releases.

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (Blogcritics)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of Angelic Layer (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 14 of Bakuman (Slightly Biased Manga)
Carlo Santos on vol. 15 of Bakuman (ANN)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 16 of Bakuman (Kuriousity)
Chris Kirby on vol. 14 of Bamboo Blade (The Fandom Post)
Victoria K. Martin on vol. 14 of Bamboo Blade (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 51 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 2 of A Bride’s Story (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on the November issue of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Sean Kleefeld on Death Note (Kleefeld on Comics)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 3 and 4 of A Devil and Her Love Song (ANN)
Jocelyne Allen on Dokyusei (Brain Vs. Book)
Carlo Santos on vol. 7 of Dorohedoro (ANN)
Kylee Strutt on vols. 1 and 2 of Durarara!!! (Animanga Nation)
Matthew Warner on vol. 2 of The Flowers of Evil (The Fandom Post)
Carlo Santos on vol. 7 of House of Five Leaves (ANN)
Connie on vol. 7 of House of Five Leaves (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of In These Words (Slightly Biased Manga)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 6 of Jack Frost (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Kamisama Kiss (The Comic Book Bin)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 20 of Kaze Hikaru (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of The Limit (ANN)
Connie on vol. 5 of Lone Wolf and Cub (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 36 of Negima (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on vol. 13 of Neon Genesis Evangelion (Slightly Biased Manga)
Matthew Warner on vol. 64 of One Piece (The Fandom Post)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 7 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (ANN)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 11 of Pandora Hearts (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Pokemon: Black and White (Blogcritics)
Erica Friedman on vol. 4 of Poor, Poor Lips (Okazu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Psyren (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 1 of Punch Up! (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 10 of Rakuen Le Paradis (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 8 of Sailor Moon (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on Same Difference (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vol. 2 of Sasameke (Manga Village)
Connie on vol. 3 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 29 of Skip Beat! (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Start with a Happy Ending (ANN)
Kristin on vol. 8 of The Story of Saiunkoku (Comic Attack)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Comics-and-More)
Katherine Hanson on Tears of Thorn (Yuri no Boke)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Tegami Bachi (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of Vampire Knight (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Wandering Son (Blogcritics)
Ash Brown on Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide (Experiments in Manga)

Just a few highlights today—I worked a 14-hour day yesterday, and even though I didn’t have to stay up all night to watch the returns, I’m beat! More comprehensive coverage will be coming tomorrow. Thank you to all of you who voted. And one more public service announcement, because I talked to a lot of people in this situation yesterday: If you are not properly registered to vote—if you never have registered, or if you have moved since the last time you registered, take care of that today! Don’t wait until next election day.

Okay, I’m done. Here’s some manga news:

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week—and a pretty awesome week it is!

Laura’s latest shoujo manga license request at Heart of Manga is Suki-tte li na yo.

It’s a sad day in the manga blogosphere: Kate Dacey is shutting down The Manga Critic, mainly because of some interesting new (non-manga) opportunities that have cropped up. I’ll miss her smart reviews and commentary, but she plans to contribute occasional columns to Manga Bookshelf and she knows the doors of this blog are always open to her as well.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks at a week of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf team presents us with more short takes on recent releases in their latest Bookshelf Briefs column.

Lori Henderson on Angel Heart (Manga Xanadu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 50 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Russ Parsons on The Drops of God (The LA Times)
Anna on vol. 15 of Kimi ni Todoke, vol. 11 of Oresama Teacher, and vol. 15 of We Were There (Manga Report)

It’s Election Day. Get out and vote! Everything you need to know—polling places, hours, and a sample ballot—can be found at the excellent site Vote411.org, which is run by the nonpartisan League of Women Voters.

I have written about this before, so please forgive the repetition, but I’m a strong believer in exercising your right to vote at every possible opportunity because of my own experiences. Back in 2000, when I was a newspaper reporter for the Melrose Free Press, I covered a mayoral election that was won by a single vote. That’s right: On election night, the winner had a margin of one vote (it opened up to ten on the recount). From this I drew three lessons:

1. Vote, dammit! This election is going to be close in many districts. Your vote matters.

2. If your vote is challenged, insist on voting using a provisional ballot. In the election I covered, the provisional ballots were opened on the recount and several were counted.

3. Once the election is over, move on. That single vote that decided the election? It wasn’t mine. I didn’t vote for the winner, which is a little embarrassing to admit, now that I work for him. The fact is, he turned out to be a far better mayor than I would have guessed from watching him as an alderman and a candidate. Fortunately, people on both sides dropped their animosity fairly quickly and started working together. That’s what we all need to do on Wednesday.

That’s it. Go, vote. Regularly scheduled programming will return tomorrow.