More Moto Hagio! And Ben 10! Life is good!

March 10th, 2010

257399-Ben10doom1At PWCW, I talked to Dan Hipp and Peter David, the team behind the new Ben 10 graphic novel, as well as Del Rey editor Tricia Pasternak, about the new book and their stragegy for Cartoon Network properties. Also at PWCW, Kai-Ming Cha talks to Vertical’s Ed Chavez about Twin Spica, their sci-fi series that will launch in May.

The Comics Journal is publishing Matt Thorn’s interview with Moto Hagio (part 1, part 2), which first appeared in the shoujo manga issue of The Comics Journal. Also, Dirk Deppey answers some questions about Fantagraphics’ newly announced manga line, which is edited by Thorn and is launching with a volume of Hagio’s short manga.

David Welsh looks over this week’s new releases at The Manga Curmudgeon.

Today’s course of the Moveable Manga Feast includes Kate Dacey’s review of Shirley and Matt Blind’s commentary on a seeminly anachronistic biplane in Emma.

David Brothers explores Viz’s SigIKKI.com website at Comics Alliance.

Danielle Orihuela-Gruber has some Tezuka license requests at All About Manga.

At Manic About Manga, Kris gets a detailed explanation of why vol. 5 of breath has been delayed.

Lori Henderson’s suggestion for avoiding scanlations: Learn Japanese.

News from Japan: Ryukishi07, the creator of Higurashi When They Cry, has a new horror series in the works.

Reviews: Pop over to Okazu this morning for Erica Friedman’s explanation of vol. 3 of Lucky Star and why she likes it better than the other volumes. Good stuff.

Connie on vol. 18 of Hikaru no Go (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of I Hate You More Than Anyone (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean T. Collins on vols. 6-18 of Monster (Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat)
Connie on vol. 15 of Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation (Slightly Biased Manga)
Billy Aguiar on vol. 1 of My Darling! Miss Bancho (Prospero’s Manga)
Emily on vol. 1 of My Darling! Miss Bancho (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Eduardo Zacarias on vol. 47 of Naruto (Animanga Nation)
Greg McElhatton on >One Piece: East Blue 1-2-3 (omnibus edition) (Read About Comics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of Pluto (I Reads You)
Deb Aoki on Ristorante Paradiso (About.com)
Leroy Douresseaux on Ristorante Paradiso (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on Ristorante Paradiso (Kuriousity)
Nicola on vol. 1 of Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee (Back to Books)
Jennifer Dunbar on vol. 1 of Time and Again (Manga Recon)
D.M. Evans on Utahime (Manga Jouhou)
Connie on vol. 10 of Wild Act (Slightly Biased Manga)

Let the world rejoice

March 9th, 2010

wandering-son-1-226x300Fantagraphics has signed a deal with Shogakukan to publish a line of manga edited by Matt Thorn. First on the list is a volume of Moto Hagio short stories, A Drunken Dream. At his own blog, Matt lists the stories he has chosen for that volume, reveals that Takako Shimura’s Wandering Son will also be in the series, and shows us the covers. Simon Jones speculates a bit as to what the new line may be like at the Icarus blog, and Christopher Butcher puts it into context and provides more details at Comics212. And ANN piles on with the news that Hagio will be a guest at this year’s Comic-Con.

Lori Henderson rounds up the past week’s manga news at Manga Xanadu. Erica Friedman presents another edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu. And Melinda Beasi looks over the March reviews in her Manhwa Monday roundup.

The Manga Moveable Feast continues with reviews and commentary on Emma from David Welsh, Khursten Santos, Rob McMonigal, and our gracious host, Matt Blind.

The Manga Curmudgeon, David Welsh, explains why he doesn’t read scanlations and adds some legitimate online initiatives he’d like to see.

Tangognat reads the March Previews and looks forward to Library Wars. Kate Dacey takes the shorter view with a look at this week’s new manga.

Akemi discusses learning about wine and Go from manga at Myth and Manga.

License requests: Lori Henderson would like to see the Square Enix title Tentai Seshi Sunred brought over here, please. David Welsh suggests some Tezuka volumes he’d like to see.

News from Japan: Kannagi creator Eri Takenashi is unable to continue the series at the moment, due to serious health problems, but her brother Shinichi Yuhki is starting up a spinoff titled Kanpachi, which will run in Monthly Comic Rex. Canned Dogs is pleased. And both Zipang creator Kaiji Kawaguchi and Suppli manga-ka Mari Okazaki are working on new series.

Reviews: The Manga Recon team checks out a varied array of manga in their latest Manga Minis column.

Kristin on 9th Sleep (Comic Attack)
Noah Berlatsky on All My Darling Daughters (The Comics Journal)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Arata the Legend (Comics Should Be Good)
David Welsh on vol. 1 of Arata: The Legend (The Manga Curmudgeon)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 30 of Bleach (Kuriousity)
Julie on Blood Honey (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Julie on vol. 5 of Bride of the Water God (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 1 of Bunny Drop (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Erica Friedman on ChinMan (Okazu)
Snow Wildsmith on Croquis (Fujoshi Librarian)
Tangognat on vol. 1 of Crown of Love (Tangognat)
Jaime Samms on Desire – Dangerous Feelings (Kuriousity)
Shannon Fay on Dog x Cat (Kuriousity)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 18 of Hikaru no Go (Comics-and-More)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 8 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Comics Worth Reading)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 17 of Love*Com (Comics Worth Reading)
Tiamat’s Disciple on A Most Suitable Wife (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Julie on vol. 1 of My Darling! Miss Bancho (Manga Maniac Cafe)
M. on not simple (coffeeandink)
Michelle Smith on vols. 16-18 of One Piece (Soliloquy in Blue)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 35 of One Piece (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Michelle Smith on vol. 4 of Phantom Dream (Soliloquy in Blue)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Stepping on Roses (Kuriousity)
Jennifer Dunbar on vols. 1 and 2 of Sugar Princess (A word is a unit of language)
Erica Freidman on vol. 5 of Tsubomi (Okazu)

Reconsidering Emma

March 8th, 2010

Matt Blind is hosting the latest Manga Moveable Feast, and he is taking his duties seriously. The book this time is Emma, and he has posted his thoughts on vol. 1 and vol. 2 at Rocket Bomber. posting his thoughts at his blog, Rocket Bomber. Checking in with their reviews are Garrett Albright, Johanna Draper Carlson, and Wilma Jandoc. Stay tuned!

Melinda Beasi has the scoop on Yuu Watase’s Arata: The Legend, coming soon from Viz. And David Welsh reviews it!

Gia picks up on some new manga licenses of note, including Wandering Son (Hourou Musuko), by Aoi Hana creator Takako Shimura, which was one of David Welsh’s license requests.

Your philosophical discussion of the day: Scott VonSchilling argues that women draw the best sexy manga; Gia answers that there’s a bit of sample bias going on, and then takes on the question of why women would want to draw smutty manga in the first place.

The latest volume of Negima tops this week’s New York Times manga best-seller list, which seems a bit more diverse than usual this week.

Pirates beware: Daniella Orihuela-Gruber lists ten ways you can legally read manga without breaking the bank.

The Yaoi Review gets an update on vol. 5 of Breath: It’s in the works but running late because of problems with the printer.

Is Sailor Moon poised for a comeback? ICv2 considers the possibilities for the manga and the anime.

Off topic, but interesting: I interviewed Amir, the writer of the webcomic Zahra’s Paradise, and Mark Siegel, the editorial director of First Second (which is publishing the comic) for this week’s Unbound column at Robot 6.

Reviews

Todd Douglass on vol. 2 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (Anime Maki)
Susan S. on vol. 7 of The Antique Gift Shop (Manga Jouhou)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Black Bird (The Comic Book Bin)
Snow Wildsmith on Black-Winged Love (Fujoshi Librarian)
Todd Douglass on Blood Honey (Anime Maki)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Cactus’s Secret (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on vol. 32 of Case Closed (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Detroit Metal City (The Comic Book Bin)
Rob on vol. 1 of Dororo (Panel Patter)
Matthew J. Brady on vol. 10 of The Drifting Classroom (Warren Peace Sings the Blues)
A Library Girl on vol. 8 of Emma (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Excel Saga (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Rob on vol. 4 of Flower of Life (Panel Patter)
Greg Burgas on vol. 1 of Gantz (Comics Should Be Good)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Hanako and the Terror of Allegory (I Reads You)
Laura on vol. 13 of High School Debut (Heart of Manga)
Connie on vols. 1-3 of Jihai (Manga Recon)
Susan S. on vol. 1 of Kiichi and the Magic Books (Manga Jouhou)
Connie on vol. 7 of Mixed Vegetables (Slightly Biased Manga)
Brenda Gregson on vol. 1 of My Darling! Miss Bancho (Animanga Nation)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 5 of Otomen (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Diana Dang on vol. 1 of Panic x Panic (Stop, Drop, and Read!)
Connie on vol. 8 of Pluto (Slightly Biased Manga)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of Reading Club (Manga Bookshelf)
Todd Douglass on Remember (Anime Maki)
Danielle Leigh on vols. 1 and 2 of Vampire Hunter D (Comics Should Be Good)
Connie on vol. 9 of Wild Act (Slightly Biased Manga)
Grant Goodman on The World I Create (Manga Recon)

Review: Deadman Wonderland, vol. 1

March 6th, 2010

DeadmanWonderland1

Deadman Wonderland, vol. 1
By Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Kondou
Rated OT, for Older Teens
Tokyopop, $10.99

This tale of an innocent young man trapped in a prison that doubles as an amusement park isn’t exactly blazing a new literary trail, but the strands are twisted together very nicely, with clear art, good storytelling, and a bit of foreshadowing to tie it all together.

It starts with the first few pages, a hazy view of a boy and a girl playing together while a woman plays piano. The action is accompanied by a song lyric about a woodpecker who is poisoned by the gods and cannot touch his friends for fear he will poison them. Then a mysterious red man appears, armed guards storm him, and the apartment blows up. After which, Tokyo is destroyed by an earthquake.

(Spoilers after the jump)

Read the rest of this entry »

Our secret is out!

March 5th, 2010

Looks like Tokyopop is back in the game, according to All About Manga; they are planning a summer tour and looking for interns.

Yen Press director Kurt Hassler is the guest on the latest ANNCast podcast.

At 4thletter!, David Brothers has a fairly nuanced response to the defense of piracy posted on Anime Vice yesterday. Alex Hoffman links it back to the Nick Simmons affair at Manga Widget.

Meanwhile, Gia lays bare the horrible truth behind the manga blogger conspiracy at Anime Vice.

At Myth and Manga, part 2 of Beth Wagner’s history of manga and western comics looks at kusazōshi and chapbooks.

Lori Henderson posts this week’s all-ages comics and manga at School Library Journal.

ANN spots two possible new Digital Manga books on Amazon, Fafner and Desire Sensibility.

Lori Henderson is looking forward to the new digital manga magazines coming from Japan.

The United Arab Emirates gets their first home-grown manga.

Hiroki Otsuka, illustrator of The Boys of Summer, will be the artist-in-residence for the Japan Society in New York this spring and summer; he will draw a full-length manga during that time.

Mark your calendar: Casey Brienza will be speaking on Manga in America at Mount Holyoke College on March 23.

No-Sword translates a bit from Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei, just for fun.

Reviews

Deb Aoki on vols. 1 and 2 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (About.com)
Todd on vol. 2 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (Anime Maki)
Kate Dacey on The Apartment, How to Seduce a Vampire, and Otodama: Voice from the Dead (The Manga Critic)
Chris Zimmerman on vol. 1 of Deadman Wonderland and vol. 2 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (cbs4.com)
Leroy Douresseaux on How to Capture a Martini (The Comic Book Bin)
Sarah Boslaugh on vol. 1 of Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculturemanga (PLAYBACK:stl)
Erica Friedman on vol. 4 of Octave (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 34 of One Piece (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Andre on vol. 1 of Pandora Hearts (Kuriousity)
Salimbol on vols. 1-11 of Please Save My Earth (The Chocolate Mud Wyvern Presents)
Connie on vol. 3 of Venus in Love (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 9 of We Were There (Slightly Biased Manga)
Vom Marlowe on vol. 1 of A Wise Man Sleeps (The Hooded Utilitarian)

Five years and counting

March 4th, 2010

Five years ago today, I put up my first post on MangaBlog. I had only a hazy idea of what I was going to write about, and how I was going to do it. Everything I know today, I learned from watching and reading other bloggers and listening to my readers—oh and reading a ton of manga. So thank you everyone, for helping me figure it out, and keeping me writing all this time.

And special thanks to my husband, whose lattes fuel my writing and pretty much everything else in my life, and my two daughters, whose love of manga got me interested in the first place.

OK, on to year six!

Shaenon Garrity gets us off to a good start with her take on Nick Simmons’s “homage” to Bleach, at The Comics Journal. Simon Jones rounds up some more posts on the topic and adds his own commentary at the Icarus blog.

Jeff Trexler comments on the Christopher Handley case at Blog@Newsarama, noting that Handley’s relatively light sentence (relative to the initial recommendation, that is) may reflect a change in priorities at the Justice Department.

I’m a little late to the party with this one, but apparently Tokyopop is speeding up the release of Gakuen Alice, in part because it’s one of the top series on a certain scanlation site. At Manga Widget, Alex Hoffman argues that that’s not going to work.

Meanwhile, at Anime Vice, a guest author offers a defense of scanlations. Many, many comments follow.

Kristin sorts through the latest Previews and pulls out the good stuff at Comic Attack.

Joy Kim writes about scene stealers, second bananas who run away with the show, at her blog.

Translators Alethea and Athena Nibley discuss the question of keeping Japanese terms, with specific reference to their recent work on Negima.

Kris discusses why she likes Momoko Tenzen’s work, and then reviews Tenzen’s Suggestive Eyes, at Manic About Manga.

Manga Views profiles Dave Ferraro, the blogger behind Comics-and-More.

News from Japan: ANN has more details on the five manga to be based on the “virtual girlfriend” game Loveplus, plus the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews: Tangognat takes a look at manga for twentysomethings at The Bureau Chiefs. Ed Sizemore posts some short reviews of Del Rey manga at Comics Worth Reading.

Lissa Pattillo on vol. 3 of 13th Boy (Kuriousity)
Michelle Smith on Adolf 2: An Exile in Japan (Soliloquy in Blue)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (I Reads You)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (Anime Sentinel)
Snow Wildsmith on All My Darling Daughters (Fujoshi Librarian)
r2moo2 on Aoi House (Digital Strips)
Eric Robinson on vol. 2 of Bamboo Blade (Manga Jouhou)
Rob on vol. 2 of Basara (Panel Patter)
Connie on vol. 4 of Blade of the Immortal (Slightly Biased Manga)
Todd on vol. 1 of Biomega (Anime Maki)
Nicola on vol. 2 of Children of the Sea (Back to Books)
Erica Friedman on vol. 19 of Comic Yuri Hime (part 2) (Okazu)
Connie on vol. 1 of Dokkoida?! (Slightly Biased Manga)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of Itazura Na Kiss (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vol. 16 of Kaze Hikaru (Manga Life)
David Welsh on vol. 1 of My Darling! Miss Bancho and vol. 1 of Panic x Panic (The Manga Curmudgeon)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (Anime Sentinel)
Connie on vol. 2 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (Slightly Biased Manga)
Danica Davidson on vol. 1 of One Fine Day (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 20 of Skip Beat! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Danica Davidson on vol. 1 of Taimashin: The Red Spider Exorcist (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Danica Davidson on vol. 1 of Ultimo (Graphic Novel Reporter)

New comics day

March 3rd, 2010

Kate Dacey, David Welsh, Brad Rice, and Gia Manry look at this week’s new manga.

After showing similarities between the work of Frank Miller and Yukito Kishoro (Battle Angel Alita), Gottsu-Iiyan talks a bit more about the double standard and why it matters.

Kai Ming Cha takes a look at Bandai’s new Code Geass manga at Publishers Weekly Comics Week.

ICv2 has the scoop on Osamu Tezuka’s Ayako, due out in October from Vertical.

Kuriousity has the latest YaoiCon news: A new venue and a newly announced guest of honor, Ayano Yamane, creator of Finder and Crimson Spell.

David Welsh has reached the letter T in the Shoujo-Sunjeong alphabet at The Manga Curmudgeon.

News from Japan: Coca-Cola is posting an Air Gear side story at their website, but only teenagers who are registered at the site can read it. Apparently it hasn’t occurred to anyone in Japan to lie about their age on the internet. Meanwhile, Kodansha lost 5.7 billion yen last year, and Brad Rice blames that partially on poor sales in the U.S.

Reviews: Carlo Santos unwraps some new manga in his latest Right Turn Only!! column.

Rob on vols. 1 and 2 of Black Jack (Panel Patter)
Eduardo Zacarias on vol. 29 of Bleach (Animanga Nation)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Cactus’s Secret (Comics Worth Reading)
Michelle Smith on vols. 11-13 of Cheeky Angel (Soliloquy in Blue)
Megan M. on vols. 4 and 5 of Higurashi When They Cry (Manga Bookshelf)
Christopher Butcher on Little Butterfly (omnibus edition) (About.com)
Julie on vol. 16 of Love*Com (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Nightschool (Manga Xanadu)
Billy Aguiar on vol. 1 of Panic x Panic (Prospero’s Manga)
Cynthia on vol. 2 of Selfish Mr. Mermaid (Boys Next Door)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Soul Eater (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 2 of Soul Eater and vol. 8 of Slam Dunk (Comics Should Be Good)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee (The Comic Book Bin)

Christopher Handley’s attorney speaks…

March 2nd, 2010

over at TCJ. He answers a lot of questions about what happened, why Handley was wrong to think his comics were legal, the problems with current obscenity law, and why Handley chose to plead guilty. This is a must-read for anyone who has been following the case—it clears up a lot of misconceptions. So go, read.

One of these things is just like the other

March 2nd, 2010

elaba1In the wake of the Affaire Nick Simmons, Gottsu-Iiyan posts some suspiciously similar pages from Frank Miller’s Elektra Lives Again and Yukito Kishiro’s Battle Angel Alita—but this time, it’s Kishiro who is doing the borrowing.

Meanwhile, Simmons has made a statement, saying that he only intended to pay “homage” to Bleach, not to copy it. This did not go over well with commenters, to say the least. Ditto at Anime Vice. The New York Times picks up the story but fails to credit the message board and fansite that originally broke the story. Not good journalism, NYT!

Tokyopop held one of their periodic webinars yesterday, and the big news to come out of it is that they are licensing Neko Ramen. At Panel Patter, Rob runs through some of the other highlights, including news of future licensing plans, the sorts of books they are looking to publish, etc. Interesting stuff.

Melinda Beasi announces an upcoming Banana Fish Roundtable at Manga Bookshelf and suggests that readers check out the books now so they can follow along at home.

Attention Tezuka fans: Kate Dacy is giving away four copies of MW at The Manga Critic. Click here for instructions on how to enter.

Not entirely manga, but fun to check out: In this week’s Unbound column, I read some webcomics in print, and at Good Comics for Kids, we discuss good reads for a snow day.

Reviews: The Manga Recon team posts their weekly Manga Minis, featuring some Shonen Sunday series and a bit of shoujo.

Leroy Douresseaux on 9th Sleep (The Comic Book Bin)
Julie on vol. 2 of The Big Adventures of Majoko (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Biomega (Comics-and-More)
Erica Friedman on vol. 19 of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Connie on vol. 6 of Gestalt (Slightly Biased Manga)
Todd on Haru Hana Complete Collection (Anime Maki)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of I Hate You More Than Anyone! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kristin on vols. 1 and 2 of Millennium Prime Minister (Bento Bako Weekly)
Kate Dacey on MW (The Manga Critic)
Jennifer Dunbar on vol. 1 of Selfish Mr. Mermaid (A word is a unit of language)
Tangognat on vol. 1 of Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee (Tangognat)
Tiamat’s Disciple on Tricky Prince (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Snow Wildsmith on U Don’t Know Me (Fujoshi Librarian)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 1 of Yaoi Hentai (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)
Tiamat’s Disciple on vol. 1 of Yellow 2 (Tiamat’s Manga Reviews)

Simmons roundup, new releases, and a bit of history

March 1st, 2010
New out this month

New this month

Lori Henderson rounds up the week’s manga news at Manga Xanadu, and Erica Friedman posts an updated edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu. Melinda Beasi looks at March releases in the latest edition of Manga Bookshelf.

David Welsh looks at some new and re-offered manga from the March Previews at The Manga Curmudgeon.

The Nick Simmons plagiarism scandal continued to roil the blogosphere last week, after astute readers posted images of Simmons’s new comic Incarnate side by side with pages from Bleach and noted the similarity. Deb Aoki has a comprehensive roundup of blog posts and tweets, incuding reactions from Bleach publisher Viz and creator Tite Kubo, as well as a discussion on Twitter about plagiarism versus piracy. Elsewhere, Melinda Beasi confesses her sordid past as scanlation junkie. At Anime Diet, Moritheil makes the distinction between copying and stealing and argues that Simmons did the former but not the latter. Matt Blind links to some articles about fansubbing at Rocket Bomber, and Scott VonSchilling wraps it up with some misheard “magma” titles at The Anime Almanac.

At Myth and Manga, Beth Wagner launches what looks like an ambitious history of manga and western comics with a look at Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga and the Bayeux Tapestry.

Patti Martinson talks to Amanda Ahlstrom, creator of the webcomic Pilgrim, at Sequential Tart.

Kris writes about one of her favorite artists, Momoko Tenzen, at Manic About Manga.

Sean Gaffey makes the argument for licensing Tokyo Crazy Paradise, by the creator of Skip Beat! Can’t wait for the license? Lori Henderson posts a helpful resource for those who want to learn Japanese.

Alex Woolfson is posting the first 16 pages of his yaoi comic Tough online, and you can download the whole first chapter for free as well.

Erica Friedman is so fed up with Yuri Hime Wildrose that she is giving away all five volumes to the commenter who comes up with the best plot.

Ed Sizemore guests on the Otaku in Review podcast, discussing the Christopher Handley case. And the latest episode of the Manga Jouhou podcast, Jouhou Cast, is up.

Con highlights: Junko Mizuno will be a guest at Wondercon. Also, Manga University is going on tour, with stops at six U.S. events including Sakuracon and C2E2.

News from Japan: Gia brings us news of a massive Tezuka erotica compilation, although it seems to be the naughty bits cherry-picked from his mainstream manga, not a newly discovered private collection. Three manga magazines for mobile phones will be debuting soon, and their publishers plan to extend their reach to North America as well. Also, the nominees for the 14th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize have been announced. Yasuhiro Nightow is working on a new two-part Trigun story, just in time for the opening of the movie Trigun: Badlands Rumble. And Canned Dogs brings us a few news tidbits, including proposed legislation that would ban any fictional character who appears to be under 18 and “has a possibility of causing youths to lust for or possibility of bringing this fantasy to real life.”

Reviews: David Welsh writes brief reviews of his weekend reading at The Manga Curmudgeon. Gia Manry posts both written and video reviews of vol. 1 of My Darling! Miss Bancho at Anime Vice.

Zoey on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (Manga Jouhou)
Michael May on vol. 4 of Anne Freaks (Robot 6)
Connie on vol. 1 of Arata: The Legend (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Aya Takeo (The Comic Book Bin)
Rob on vol. 4 of Barefoot Gen (Panel Patter)
Michelle Smith on vol. 1 of Black Butler (Manga Recon)
Carl Kimlinger on vol. 22 of Blade of the Immortal (ANN)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Excel Saga (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Julie on vol. 1 of Fairy Idol Kanon (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Leroy Douresseaux on GoGo Monster (The Comic Book Bin)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of Hanako and the Terror of Allegory (Anime Sentinel)
Sesho on vol. 3 of Happy Mania (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Erica Friedman on vol. 11 of Hayate x Blade (Okazu)
Michelle Smith on vols. 42-44 of InuYasha (Soliloquy in Blue)
Connie on vol. 25 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 10 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 10 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 17 of Love*Com (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean T. Collins on vols. 1-3 of Monster (Attentiondeficitdisorderly Too Flat)
Rod McKie on MW (Rod McKie Illustrations and Cartoons) (Via Journalista.)
Connie on vol. 1 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 25 of Negima (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 33 of One Piece (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 33 of One Piece (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lissa Pattillo on Prisoner of the Tower (Kuriousity)
Mike Rhode on Shutter Island (Washington City Paper)
Snow Wildsmith on vols. 1 and 2 of Vampire’s Portrait (Fujoshi Librarian)
Connie on vol. 8 of Wild Act (Slightly Biased Manga)
Faith McAdams on vol. 2 of What a Wonderful World (Animanga Nation)
Susan S. on vol. 4 of With the Light (Manga Jouhou)
Michelle Smith on vol. 1 of X-Men: Misfits (Manga Recon)