MangaBlog

At The Comics Journal, Ryan Holmberg pens a fascinating piece on the effect of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami on the manga industry. In addition to explaining how Japanese comics distribution works—and why the disaster hit it so hard—Holmberg also takes a close look at Suzuki Miso’s “The Day Japan and I Shook,” a journalistic manga about the industry and the aftermath of the disaster.

I checked out this week’s new releases at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo does the same in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Always a step ahead, Sean Gaffney looks at next week’s new manga at A Case Suitable for Treatment.

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber counts up her manga and asks readers: How many volumes do you own? I’m probably in the same neighborhood as her, although a good part of my collection now is non-manga graphic novels.

Erica Friedman notes some new yuri titles at JManga.com. Also, if you read Italian, here’s an article about the upcoming Italian edition of Rica ‘tte Kanji!?

David Welsh notes that NPR devoted a Writer’s Almanac episode to Year 24 manga-ka Yumiko Ôshima.

News from Japan: Tohru Fujisawa’s GTO: Shonan 14 Days, the sequel to Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO), is coming to an end.

Reviews: Carlo Santos hands out a fistful of Cs in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Michelle Smith and Melinda Beasi discuss three new manga from Kodansha in their Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf. Other reviews of note:

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Black Bird (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vol. 2 of Cardcaptor Sakura (omnibus edition)
Julie Opipari on vol. 2 of Highschool of the Dead (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Ai Kano on vol. 6 of Oishinbo a la Carte: The Joy of Rice (Animanga Nation)

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their picks of the week, and there’s lots of love for Kodansha. Also, David Welsh makes his picks from this week’s new releases.

Those teases at JManga added 12 new titles to the site, including Junjo Romantica and Trinity Blood, but they aren’t available to read online—hopefully that will change soon.

David Welsh, the Manga Curmudgeon, starts a new alphabet of his favorite manga.

Reviews: Ash Brown treats us to another edition of My Week in Manga at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf crew files another set of Bookshelf Briefs. Other reviews of note:

Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Bloody Monday (The Manga Critic)
Scott Spaziani on Disappearance Diary (Otaku In Review)
Michelle Smith on vol. 1 of Ekiben Hitoritabi (Soliloquy in Blue)
John Rose on vol. 4 of Ichiroh! (The Fandom Post)
Dave Ferraro on Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (Comics-and-More)
Lori Henderson on the September issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Xanadu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Tenjho Tenge (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

I rounded up the highlights of the past week’s manga news at MTV Geek, and Erica Friedman updates us with another edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

The Manga Village team checks out the latest batch of new releases.

Lissa Pattillo notes three new additions to Digital’s BL lineup.

ICv2 reports in on the Bicof manhwa festival in Bucheon, South Korea, home of the Korea Manhwa Museum and the Bucheon Media and Culture Complex.

At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie launches a series on From Eroica With Love and its spinoffs, all by Yasuko Aoike.

Dan Morrill looks at an early manga from Tokyopop, The Skull Man, which is so old it was released in comic-book format, not as a graphic novel.

News from Japan: Here’s some big news: Hetalia is moving from its online home to Gentosha’s print magazine Comic Birz; There’s some rearranging of the furniture in the magazine sector, as the magazine Chorus relaunches as Cocohanahttp://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2011-08-26/chorus-women-manga-magazine-to-relaunch-as-cocohana (branded as a “shōjo magazine for adults”), Gentosha announced plans for a new magazine, Comic Spica, and the magazine Puff, which covered the manga industry, suspended publication. In other news, Re:Birth —The Lunatic Taker— and the yuri manga Sasamekikoto, both of which run in Media Factory’s Monthly Comic Alive, will end in the next issue. Meanwhile, Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at Monthly Ikki.

Reviews: Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith critique three yaoi manga from Digital in their latest BL Bookrack column. Johanna Draper Carlson posts some “Shojo Chibis,” short reviews of shoujo manga, at Comics Worth Reading.

James Fleenor on Basic Anatomy for the Manga Artist (Anime Sentinel)
Ash Brown on vol. 6 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Anna on vol. 8 of Butterflies, Flowers (Manga Report)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of Dorohedoro (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 1 of Grand Guignol Orchestra (The Fandom Post)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 4 of Grand Guignol Orchestra (ANN)
Kristin on vol. 6 of MAOH: Juvenile Remix (Comic Attack)
Thomas Zoth on vol. 4 of Maximum Ride (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vol. 11 of Otomen (Manga Report)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 1 of Toradora! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Lori Henderson on the August 2011 issue of Yen Plus (Manga Xanadu)

At Robot 6, I reported on Digital Manga’s move to bring Harlequin manga to the Nook.

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber contemplates one of the downsides of print manga—you have to physically move them when you move.

Viz editor Nancy Thistlethwaite confirmed that Viz has licensed both Ai Ore series, Ai o Utau yori Ore ni Oborero!, which comprises the first three Viz volumes, and the follow-up series, Ai-Ore! Danshikō no Hime to Joshikō no Ōji, which Viz will release as five volumes.

At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao looks at the “vengeful woman” story Lady Snowblood.

Otaku News interviews veteran manga translator William Flanagan.

Erica Friedman writes about the josei magazine Feel Young at Manga Bookshelf.

News from Japan: Monthly Afternoon is publishing a prequel to Shohei Manabe’s Smuggler, to be released shortly before the Smuggler film opens.

Reviews

Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Anesthesiologist Hana (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on vol. 6 of Aoi Hana (Okazu)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 6 of Bakuman (Comics Worth Reading)
Kristin on vol. 1 of The Betrayal Knows My Name (Comic Attack)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Cage of Eden (The Manga Critic)
Connie on vol. 4 of Dorohedoro (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on How to Seduce a Vampire (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 3 of Karakuri Odette (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 7 of Nabari no Ou (Slightly Biased Manga)
James Fleenor on vol. 2 of Pokemon Adventures Diamond and Pearl Platinum (Anime Sentinel)
Richard Bruton on vol. 2 of Summit of the Gods (Forbidden Planet blog)
Connie on vol. 5 of Ultimo (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Wandering Son (I Reads You)

New at MTV Geek: My review of vol. 1 of Cage of Eden, one of the new series from Kodansha.

Sean Gaffney is as puzzled by the shipping lists as I am, but he takes a stab at next week’s new releases.

Jason Thompson devotes his House of 1000 Manga column this week to one of my favorite manga, the gender-bender After School Nightmare.

At The Hooded Utilitarian, Erica Friedman discusses the way manga reflects cultural aspects of Japanese society.

News from Japan: Koge Donbo* (the asterisk is part of her name) just started a manga series about her marriage, titled Yomesan wa Moe Mangaka (The Wife is a Moe Manga Creator), in the online magazine Eden. Children of the Sea is coming to an end. Future Diary creator Sakae Esuno has a new series in the works. Square Enix will launch a new magazine, Big Gangan, in October; the magazine will include a manga adaptation of the stage play that eventually became Higurashi: When They Cry. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews

Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Ai Ore! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sakura Eries on vol. 6 of Bakuman (The Fandom Post)
Danica Davidson on vol. 3 of Grand Guignol Orchestra (Graphic Novel Reporter)
George R. on vol. 2 of Kurogane Pukapuka-tai (Okazu)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 6 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (The Fandom Post)
John Rose on vols. 6-7 of Psycho Busters (omnibus edition) (The FandomPost)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 6 of Rin-ne (ANN)
Danica Davidson on vols. 1 and 2 of The Story of Saiunkoku (Graphic Novel Reporter)

It’s good news, bad news for The Yaoi Review: The bad news is that blogger Jennifer LeBlanc is shutting the site down; it was an invaluable source of yaoi news, well-written, accurate, and investigative as well as affectionate toward its subject, and it will be missed. The good news is that LeBlanc is leaving to become the yaoi manga editor at Viz, and she will not only be back online (with a different mission) soon, but she will be helping shape the industry she loves. Congratulations, Jennifer!

Making up a new-release list may seem to be easy, but this was a weird week, with publishers’ websites totally out of sync with Diamond Previews and ComicList. After double-checking with Kodansha, I based my new-releases post at MTV Geek on the six new manga series that are debuting this week, plus one from Digital. Lissa Pattillo consulted different oracles and has a somewhat different rundown in her Off the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

JManga has put up a list of new titles, both catalog listings and manga that are available digitally. Also, they have set up Facebook and Twitter accounts, so social networking is in the house. Someone at the Facebook page actually asked “When will you be updating the insane pricing and subscription model? :P” to which the JManga folks answered “Rest assured, we’re working on it. Some things take a little longer to work on than others, so we ask for your patience in this regard. Thanks!” From their responses to other comments, it looks like they are considering a couple of different models. Also high marks to them for responding to comments quickly and in a friendly, conversational tone, without sounding like a corporate bot.

The Ninjaconsultants post two more podcasts: Ed Chavez’s Seinen Up!! panel at Genericon and the Yoshiyuko Tomine Q&A from last year’s New York Anime Festival.

Manga Therapy takes a look at role reversal in Fumi Yoshinaga’s Ooku: The Inner Chambers.

Matt Blind compares his list of the top-selling manga titles, based on online sales, to that generated by ICv2 based on all channels.

Tech Talk: Lori Henderson commented recently that readers who use the Vizmanga.com website on their PC or Android device are being treated like second-class citizens compared to those who have the iOS app, because the latter can download manga onto their device and the former can’t. Alex Hoffman responds at Manga Widget, pointing out that much of the difference lies in the fact that Apple devices are harder for pirates to steal images from.

News from Japan: Tomo Kimura gives us a look at the alternate cover for vol. 12 of Black Butler. Game company Capcom is launching a new magazine, CapBom!, that will be devoted to game news and manga. In other game/manga news, Yuki Kure will start a new La Corda D’Oro manga (based on the La Corda D’Oro 3 game). Gundam Ace magazine has announced a new Gundam manga series by Tsutomu Nihei, creator of Blame and Biomega. =

Reviews: At About.com, Deb Aoki reviews five manga on JManga.com.

Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 16 of 20th Century Boys (Comics Worth Reading)
Julie Opipari on vol. 3 of Deadman Wonderland (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Anna on vol. 6 of Dengeki Daisy (Manga Report)
John Rose on Chapter 1 of Gate 7 (The Fandom Post)
Ken Haley on vol. 6 of Itazura Na Kiss (Sequential Ink)
Daniel BT on Legend of Koizumi (Sunday Comics Debt)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (The Comic Book Bin)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (Manga Xanadu)
Carl Kimlinger on vol. 12 of Vampire Knight (ANN)