MangaBlog

Patrick Macias interviews Stan Lee for The Japan Times about his foray into manga at the age of 85.

Vol. 29 of Naruto rises from number 57 to 44 on this week’s USA Today best-seller list.

The UK’s 2007 Eagle Awards have been announced, and Death Note was voted Favourite Manga. (Via ComiPress.)

Thinking about becoming a translator? Fruits Basket translators Alethea and Athena Nibley explain how to break into the biz at Manga Life.

Same Hat posts a video of a French interview with Suehiro Maruo. Yes, it’s in French, but there are glimpses of his studio and other interesting items.

Tangognat looks at the evolution of Boys Over Flowers.

The Sunny Side Up Anime Blog reports that manga prices are going up in Indonesia, but at aot $1.49 a volume, it’s still way cheaper than in the U.S.

News from Japan: ANN reports that Crimson Hero and Chocolate Underground are both ending their runs in Bessatsu Margaret. ComiPress has word of several new manga adaptations of light novels.

Reviews: Katherine Dacey hands a severe drubbing to vol. 1 of Color of Rage, on the grounds of anachronism not just in the details but in the overall concept. Lori Henderson enjoys vol. 3 of Phantom at Manga Xanadu. At Anime on DVD, Briana Lawrence reads Sugar Milk and Patricia Beard reviews vol. 7 of ES: Eternal Sabbath. Mely has eight things to say about vol. 17 of Tsubasa at coffeeandink; there may be some spoilers here for other CLAMP series as well. Tiamat’s Disciple takes a look at vol. 1 of Iono-sama Fanatics, vols. 1-3 of Sword of the Dark Ones, and vol. 1 of Rose Hip Rose. Lissa Pattillo checks out vol. 6 of Welcome to the NHK at Kuri-ousity. Julie is on the mend and ready to review vol. 7 of D. Gray-Man at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Ferdinand finds vol. 3 of Winter Demon pretty good, for a porn series, at Prospero’s Manga. Connie reads vol. 11 of The Law of Ueki at Slightly Biased Manga. New reviews up at Manga Life: Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vol. 11 of Tail of the Moon and vol. 2 of Honey and Clover, Barb Lien-Cooper on The Complete Guide to Manga, and David Rasmussen on vol. 1 of The World of Narue.

Japanese culture: It’s everywhere. Even in your superhero comics:

This is from the sketchbooks for DC’s Final Crisis, which is some really big superhero comics event that launches this month. Opinions, anyone?

It seems to be awards season in Japan; the latest are the 32nd annual Kodansha Manga Awards, which were announced yesterday. Shugo Chara! got the nod for best children’s manga; none of the others are licensed yet, but they are: Saikyō! Toritsu Aoizaka Kōkō Yakyūbu (Best Shonen Manga), Kimi ni Todoke (Best Shojo Manga), and Moyashimon (Best General Manga). Moyashimon is also known as Tales of Agriculture, and here is Wikipedia’s summary:

The series follows Tadayasu Sawaki, a first-year college student at an agricultural university, who has a unique ability to see and communicate with bacteria and other micro-organisms.

Yes, please! Del Rey, phone home. Ed has more comments at the MangaCast. (The image is, I believe, the cover of vol. 5 of Moyashimon, gently lifted from the Kodansha website.)

Here’s a find: Erica Friedman recommends Manga Gunkan, the blog of translator Anastasia Moreno, which is written in English and Japanese. Well worth a click!

Gia is going to Anime Central this week, and she’s taking questions for the panels—which will include one by the elusive ADV.

This blog post is titled “My issues with manga,” but it’s really more about issues with fandom and popular attitudes toward manga than manga itself. I look forward to part 2. (Via When Fangirls Attack.)

Tokyopop’s new direction: In his latest Flipped column, David Welsh talks to Tokyopop’s Bryce Coleman about their new line of color graphic novels from around the world.

News from Japan: ANN has the dope on three new manga serials launching in Kodansha’s Weekly Shonen Magazine, by the creators of Inugami, Suzuka, and Samurai Deeper Kyo. And sports manga creator Tetsuya Chiba has a one-shot scheduled to run in Big Comic this month.

Not manga, but a good read: Ten mistakes you probably will make in Japan. (Via Japanator.)

Reviews: Let’s start right up with Carlo Santos’ latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN, where he gives the pros and cons on Dororo, Gun Blaze West, Kannazuki no Miko, and lotsa other stuff. And there are some new reviews up at Manga Village: Charles Tan on vol. 1 of Gyo, Dan Polle on vol. 1 of Toto! The Wonderful Adventure, Sabrina on vol. 1 of Black Cat, and Lori Henderson on vol. 3 of Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation. At the Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie is under the weather but still manages to pen several micro reviews. Lissa Pattillo reads vol. 5 of Black Sun, Silver Moon at Kuri-ousity. Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 2 of Short Sunzen and vol. 15 of Sgt. Frog, and Scott Campbell checks out vol. 1 of Rose Hip Rose and vol. 13 of Kekkaishi at Active Anime. Erica Friedman takes a look at vol. 2 of Strawberry Panic at Okazu. Ferdinand has an update on vol. 4 of Kashimashi at Prospero’s Manga. Connie takes a look at vol. 1 of Fairy Tail at Slightly Biased Manga. Eva reviews vols. 1 and 2 of The Guin Saga (light novels) at MangaCast.

Let’s start off with a question for you: MangaBlog reader David Hearst recently asked me to recommend some manga. Here’s what he likes:

I’ve found that I really enjoy “slice of life” stories like Yotsubato and Azumanga Daioh. I just started reading Aria today and am enjoying it for it’s simplicity.

I suggested Emma, Tokyo Is My Garden, The Walking Man, Antique Bakery, and Cafe Kichijoji de. Readers, do you have any other ideas?

Along the same lines, The Comic Book Bin has a new reviewer, Andy Doan, who freely confesses that vol. 26 of Iron Wok Jan, the book he is reviewing, is the first manga he has ever read. He proposes to critique it as he would any other graphic novel, which I think is a legitimate approach, as it’s pretty much the one I use myself. However, after reading the review I strongly suspect he picked the wrong book to start with. So, again, can anyone recommend some starter manga that are free of the conventions that bug newcomers (i.e. characters that look the same, endless recaps of what just happened)?

OK, on to the news. Over at Comicsnob, Matt Blind looks at Japanese sales figures, with the help of Google translation, and concludes that manga sales are down to $4.5 billion, still a respectable figure, even as it gains significance as a diplomatic tool. Click for some interesting meandering. Matt also provides us with online sales numbers for last week and his manga watch list for the week to come.

Katherine Dacey presents the week’s new releases and short takes on a few likely titles in her Weekly Recon at PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog.

And at The Yaoi Review, Sakura Kiss looks at some May releases.

Lissa Pattillo is making her plans for summer reviews; she plans to review some older series and she welcomes guest reviews from fellow Canadians.

There’s a preview up at MySpace of a new Tokyopop global title, Bad Kitty!

At the MangaCast, Ed looks at the weekly manga sales rankings from Taiyosha, doujinshi rankings from Toranoana, and has a group discussion on a mysterious message from a reader.

Reviews: Over at Good Comics for Kids, Kate Dacey reviews Spy Goddess: The Chase for the Chalice. Dave White reviews vols. 1-6 of Skip Beat, with plenty of scans and some insightful comments about the art. Matthew Brady critiques vol. 7 of Monster at Warren Peace Sings the Blues. Michelle reads vol. 2 of 7SEEDS (in Japanese) at Soliloquy in Blue. Julie reviews vol. 5 of Nosatsu Junkie at the Manga Maniac Cafe. At Okazu, Erica Friedman goes for the less than profound with a look at vol. 2 of Battle Club. Julie Rosato checks out vol. 1 of Nephilim, Greg Hackmann reviews vol. 1 of The Third, and Sakura Eries takes a quick look at vol. 8 of School Rumble at Anime on DVD. Dave Ferraro reviews vol. 1 of Dororo at Comics-and-More. Tiamat’s Disciple takes a look at vols. 1-5 of Rose Hip Zero and vols. 1-7 of Enchanter. Deb Aoki reviews vol. 1 of Kieli at About.com

Toto! The Wonderful Adventure
By Yuko Osada
Rated T, ages 13+
Del Rey, $10.95

It’s a bit of a stretch to say that Toto! is based on The Wizard of Oz. It’s more like Yuko Osada tossed a copy of that venerable classic into a blender with a recent issue of Shonen Jump, then had the results interpreted by Martians. Which is to say, this is a likeable action manga that makes a lot of references to Dorothy and scarecrows and such but will never be mistaken for L. Frank Baum’s masterpiece.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Speed Racer movie causes the mainstream media to notice, once again, that Japanese culture seems to be popular over here. Look, there’s sushi in the supermarkets and manga in the bookstores and hey, that Gwen Stefani lady designed a line of clothes! This piece makes me wonder if MSNBC keeps their reporters locked up somewhere and only lets them out to do trend stories—I was buying sushi in the supermarket in South Bend, Indiana, at least six or seven years ago. Anyway, they do talk to Roland Kelts and Viz’s Seiji Horibuchi about kawaii which probably makes this one worth a click. Kelts himself looks at J-Pop in Hollywood at The Star of Malaysia.

Erica Friedman rounds up the week’s yuri news at Okazu.

Lori Henderson celebrates Mother’s Day with a look at moms in manga at Manga Xanadu, and then she weighs in on a few recent news items, including Viz’s OEL line.

At Sporadic Sequential, where John Jakala admits to mixed feelings about Alive and then assesses several other long-running series (and decides he likes most of them).

Gia has the scoop on the Japanese guests coming to Comic-Con this summer. ICv2 has more on Yoshitaka Amano’s visit.

At Comics Village, John Thomas talks about the life of a translator. Back at Mecha Mecha Media, he posts the latest Yuuyake Shimbun, which includes a story on Dark Horse’s 20th anniversary of manga.

The Digital folks have a new Speed Racer website up (spotted by sharp-eyed Deb Aoki of About.com).

Specialty titles: Erin Finnegan investigates the world of fishing manga, and a paleontologist checks out a dinosaur manga.

The Ninja Consultants post audio of the 70s Shojo Manga panel from Anime Boston.

Rumiko Takahashi will exhibit her original work in Tokyo next summer.

Manly Manga and More brings us up to date with the latest manga news from Germany, including the upcoming Comic Salon and word that Heyne has cancelled several titles.

Job board: A Manila-based artist is looking for paid assistants. This could be interesting!

News from Japan: The winners of the 12th Osamu Tezuka cultural prize have been announced; unfortunately, they probably won’t be familiar to English-speaking readers. The 37th Japan Cartoonist awards are a different matter, as Naoki Urasawa took the grand prize for 20th Century Boys and 21st Century Boys. At MangaCast, Ed continues his big list of May releases with a look at new titles from Shueisha, Shogakukan, and some mid-size publishers.

Reviews: Deb Aoki enjoys vol. 1 of Toto! at About.com. Tim and Weltall review Strawberry 100% and Fake on the latest Anime Pulse podcast. Salimbol reads vol. 2 of Suppli and compares it with the dorama. At PopCultureShock, Katherine Dacey checks out three Shojo Beat titles, vol. 1 of Fairy Cube, vol. 1 of Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time, and I.O.N. David Welsh adds his two cents on I.O.N. Danielle Van Gorder reviews two BL titles, Say Please and A Love Song for the Miserable, and Sakura Eries checks out vol. 5 of School Rumble, at Anime on DVD. Tiamat’s Disciple reads the light novel vol. 3 of Scrapped Princess. Lissa Pattillo reviews The Sky Over My Spectacles and vol. 2 of Aventura at Kuri-ousity. Michelle reads vol. 8 of Boys Over Flowers and a Japanese title, vol. 1 of 7SEEDS, at Soliloquy in Blue. Mangamaniac Julie reviews A Foreign Love Affair at the MangaCast and vol. 5 of Crimson Hero and vol. 2 of I Shall Never Return at the Manga Maniac Cafe. At The Star of Malaysia, Stephen Taylor looks at vols. 1-6 of Gatcha Gacha and Pauline Wong reviews vol. 1 of Sand Chronicles. Hazel looks at Hellgate London at Anime Infatuation. Ferdinand checks out vol. 1 of Devil’s Bride at Prospero’s Manga. At Active Anime, Davey C. Jones reads vol. 7 of Hayate the Combat Butler and vol. 1 of Heavenshield, Rachel Bentham checks out vol. 3 of Cherry Juice, and Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 1 of Foxy Lady. Cathy enjoys Kiichi and the Magic Books at It can’t all be about manga… Erica Friedman reviews chapters 3 and 6 of Gunjou, which runs in Morning 2 magazine in Japan, at Okazu. Snow Wildsmith reads Baku at Manga Jouhou. Kate Dacey gives vol. 1 of The Record of a Fallen Vampire a D at PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog. Leroy Douresseaux enjoys vols. 1 and 2 of Speed Racher: Mach Go Go Go at The Comic Book Bin.

Emma, vols. 4-7
By Kaoru Mori
Rated Teen Plus
CMX, $9.99

Emma started out slow in the first few volumes and really started getting interesting in volume 3. In the second half, the series escalates into a full-blown Victorian romance, complete with wild adventures, rapturous emotion, and the pageantry and snobbery of the English upper classes. At the same time, manga-ka Kaoru Mori has grown surer of herself and her subject matter, and her art has become more ambitious as a result.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m reading DMP’s luscious two-volume set of Speed Racer right now, so I was intrigued to find this interview with Peter Fernandez, who was heavily involved in the American adaptation of the anime and wrote the intro for the new books. Jog’s review of the box set puts it into its historical context.

ICv2 talks to Barry Levine, who is launching a new company, Radical Publishing, that plans on releasing some manga in the next year or so. Even after reading the interview, I’m a little unclear on their focus, but it looks like they are releasing a manga version of one of their titles in Asia, and they plan a Radical Manga imprint.

The Daily Yomiuri has an article on two manga that take traditional Japanese arts as part of their settings: Hana Yorimo Hana no Gotoku, which is about noh theater, and Kabukumon, which features kabuki. (Via ANN.)

At the Del Rey blog, Dallas Middaugh talks about the joy of panels.

Tiamat’s Disciple wonders if digital distribution can rescue out-of-print (or no-longer-profitable) manga.

Manga Life seems to relaunching, at least in terms of content, under the leadership of Dr. Park Cooper. He’s broadening the scope of the site and looking for new writers (no pay, but the occasional comp copy). Also: Fruits Basket translators Alethea and Athena Nibley write about their first trip to Japan.

Xavier Guilbert writes about Cat-Eyed Boy at du9. (In French.)

German blog Manly Manga and More has the new German licenses for fall and winter.

News from Japan: ANN has the Japanese comics rankings (Naruto is on top—who knew?) and reports that the latest issue of Comic Dragon AGE has a Luminous Arc 2 Will manga (based on a game) and a Karin (Chibi Vampire) one-shot by Yuna Kagesaki. And some Hokkaido University grad students are launching their own quarterly manga magazine and plan to post new manga on the web every month to encourage new creators.

Reviews: If you are looking for good yaoi reviews, go check out the Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society, where the reviewers are going through books at a feverish pace. Katherine Farmar looks at the manhwa short story collection Deja-Vu at the Forbidden Planet blog. At Anime on DVD, John Zakrzewski checks out the art book Amano: The Collected Art of Vampire Hunter D, Patricia Beard reads vol. 5 of ES: Eternal Sabbath, and Danielle Van Gorder reviews the yaoi short story collection Seduce Me After the Show. Michelle reviews vol. 33 of InuYasha and vol. 7 of Boys Over Flowers at Soliloquy in Blue. Lissa Pattillo checks out vol. 5 of The Good Witch of the West at Kuri-ousity. At Manga Life, Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane reviews vol. 14 of Monster, David Rasmussen checks out vol. 4 of My Sassy Girl, and Barb Lien-Cooper reads vol. 9 of High School Girls. Tom Baker discusses Fullmetal Alchemist at the Daily Yomiuri. Rachel Bentham reviews Loving Gaze, Happiness Recommended, and vol. 11 of Yakitate!! Japan, and Holly Ellingwood checks out vol. 8 of Chibi Vampire at Active Anime. Tiamat’s Disciple posts “thoughts and impressions” on vols. 5-10 of Tail of the Moon. Julie enjoys vol. 10 of Nana at the Manga Maniac Cafe. At Okazu, Erica Friedman veers from melodrama to comedy with reviews of vol. 4 of Confidential Confessions and vol. 1 of Pretty Face. Greg McElhatton calls vol. 1 of Le Chevalier d’Eon “a very solid horror comic” at Read About Comics. Ferdinand finds vol. 1 of Foxy Lady a turnoff and isn’t too enthusiastic about vol. 1 of White Night Melody either at Prospero’s Manga. Snow Wildsmith checks out World’s End at Manga Jouhou. Ed Chavez podcasts his thoughts on vol. 9 of High School Girls and vol. 6 of Gunslinger Girls at the MangaCast. Tom picks out the best qualities of Death Note at Freaky Trigger. Evil Omar posts brief manga reviews at About Heroes. NotHayama pans vol. 1 of Gun Blaze West at Sleep Is For the Weak. She Who Has Hope appreciates After School Nightmare, while salimbol is less enthusiastic about vols. 8-10 of Buso Renkin. (Via When Fangirls Attack.)

Gia has the hot news tip of the day: an editor from the Japanese publisher Libre says that plans are under way to release the Finder series in English. Click the link for backstory plus some speculation.

The MangaCast team and David Welsh list their picks from this week’s bountiful new manga selection.

Vol. 29 of Naruto debuts at number 54 on this week’s USA Today best-seller list, and vol. 28 rebounds to number 139.

Is there a manga equivalent of comfort food? In this week’s Manga Before Flowers column, Danielle Leigh lists the manga she doesn’t mind reading even when she has a headache.

We don’t link to Stars and Stripes too often, but this story is interesting from several angles: The U.S. Navy is creating a manga about the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which will be deployed in Okinawa beginning this summer. It’s propaganda, of course, but they hired Japanese artists and the art does look decent; they also came up with a manga-ish story, and the book is written in kanji. The initial print run is 30,000, and they estimate the book will cost $3 per copy. And if it takes off, they might even make it a series.

Reviews: Matthew J. Brady finds vol. 2 of High School Debut just a bit too girly for his tastes at Warren Peace Sings the Blues. Tangognat finds vol. 1 of Foxy Lady amusing but nothing special, but she wishes there were more than one volume of The Legend of Chun Hyang. At Comics Village, Sabrina reviews vol. 4 of Kurohime. Deb Aoki reviews vols. 1 and 2 of Honey and Clover at About.com. Julie finds some things to like about vol. 4 of I Hate You More Than Anyone at the Manga Maniac Cafe. It’s time to start some new series at Active Anime, where Holly Ellingwood reads vol. 1 of Toto! The Wonderful Adventure and vol. 1 of The Record of a Fallen Vampire, and Scott Campbell checks out vol. 1 of EV and vol. 1 of Switch. Rob Vollmar takes a look at DMP’s deluxe Speed Racer: Mach Go Go Go box set at Comics Worth Reading. At Kuri-ousity, Lissa Pattillo reads vol. 6 of Absolute Boyfriend. A.E. Sparrow enjoys vol. 1 of J-Pop Idol at IGN. Connie reads Real Love and vol. 23 of GetBackers at Slightly Biased Manga. At PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog, Ken Haley reviews vol. 1 of Dororo, which he admits is his first Tezuka manga.

Let’s lead with some news from Japan this morning: Hello Kitty will spread her message of enlightenment to the world via a new manga serial in Ribon magazine, Hello Kitty Peace!! No doubt leaders all over the world will be laying down their arms and leaving their war rooms to follow the Mouthless One. The manga will be drawn by Anzu Momoyama. (Image swiped from ANN.)

In his latest Flipped column, David Welsh starts a series on Eisner-nominated manga and manga creators with a look at Fumi Yoshinaga, Takeshi Obata, and Naoki Urasawa’s Monster.

Tiamat’s Disciple joins the discussion about whether reviewers should cover older titles and mentions a factor that had occurred to me: Many of the older volumes are out of print.

Same Hat! Same Hat! hosts a scanlation of Tokunan Seiichiro’s The Human Clock.

ICv2 has a short article on Dark Horse’s Clover omnibus.

Gia picks up on a teaser about a possible new license on the 801 forums. (Lissa spotted it as well.)

At the MangaCast, Ed lists the Japanese BL releases for May.

Reviews: New reviews up at Comics Village: Dan Polley on vol. 7 of Suzuka, Charles Tan on vol. 8 of D. Gray-Man, John Thomas on vol. 1 of Reiko, The Zombie Shop, and Lori Henderson on vol. 2 of Wild Ones. Jason Green reviews vols. 1 and 2 of Fairy Tail at PLAYBACK:stl. Stephen Taylor has an enthusiastic review of vols. 1-6 of Gatcha Gacha at the Daily Yomiuri. Faith McAdams takes a long look at vol. 2 of High School Debut and Sophie Stevens checks out vol. 1 of Honey and Clover at Animanga Nation. At the Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie is severely unimpressed by vol. 1 of I-Doll. A.E. Sparrow reads vol. 12 of Phoenix and vol. 1 of Yozakura Quartet at IGN. Lissa Pattillo reads vol. 14 of Black Cat at Kuri-ousity. Julie Rosato climbs aboard All Nippon Air Lines and Sakura Eries checks out vol. 2 of A.I. Revolution at Anime on DVD. Tiamat’s Disciple has some thoughts and impressions on vol. 1 of Moon Phase and the light novel vol. 2 of Scrapped Princess. Dan Grendell pulls on the Manga Zubon at Comic Pants, with a set of brief manga reviews. At Manga Jouhou, Snow Wildsmith reviews vols. 1 and 2 of Camera Camera Camera and D.M. Evans checks out vol. 4 of Wild Adapter. Connie checks in with her take on vol. 1 of Oyayubihime Infinity, vol. 9 of Cantarella, vol. 2 of Bride of the Water God, vol. 12 of Phoenix, vol. 17 of One Piece, and vol. 6 of Hoshin Engi at Slightly Biased Manga.