May 7 is Free Comic Book Day. Daniella Orihuela-Gruber notes the complete absence of manga among this year’s offerings and wonders if publishers are missing an opportunity to diversify. But it’s not entirely manga-free: Yen Press is giving away the first chapter of Svetlana Chmakova’s adaptation of Witch & Wizard.
At Publishers Weekly, I talked to Fred Lui of Digital about Amazon’s removal of some of their yaoi manga from the Kindle Store. And at MTV Geek, I list all the things that are wrong with the Sugoi Books app. Meanwhile, The Yaoi Review suggests some alternatives to the Kindle.
Sean Gaffney peers into his crystal ball at the manga being released next week.
At Manga Report, Anna asks if Ai Ore is clever satire or sexist trash. If you have to ask, the question has probably answered itself.
Jason Thompson looks at a classic, Reiko the Zombie Shop, in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.
Viz turns 25 this summer, and David Welsh celebrates by naming his 25 favorite Viz manga and six more he’d like to see them license. David also reaches the letter N in his josei alphabet.
Melinda Beasi marks the release of the last volume of Hikaru no Go by hosting a roundtable on the series, and she also discusses its slashability in her Fanservice Friday post. And at Soliloquy in Blue, Michelle Smith reviews vols. 21-23 of the long-running series.
Rob McMonigal reflects on the Rumiko Takahashi Manga Moveable Feast at Panel Patter.
The Contemporary Japanese Literature blog has a nice roundup of the best of Tokyopop, including Suppli, Dramacon, and Gerard & Jacques.
A Day Without Me starts out reading Baseball Heaven but ends up discussing why bad translations are bad.
News from Japan: Shueisha has announced a new manga magazine to launch this summer; they claim that it won’t cater to any particular demographic, which is a bit hard to imagine. A manga adaptation of Black Rock Shooter will begin in Young Ace in June. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings, in which One Piece and Naruto lead all the rest.
Reviews
Connie on vol. 1 of Ai Ore (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Ai Ore (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Katherine Farmar on vol. 1 of Amnesia Labyrinth (Manga Village)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of Biomega (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Genkaku Picasso (The Comic Book Bin)
TSOTE on vol. 5 of Geobreeders (Three Steps Over Japan)
Julie Opipari on vol. 6 of Goong (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Rob McMonigal on vol. 6 of Jormungand (Panel Patter)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 8 of Kimi ni Todoke (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Kurozakuro (The Comic Book Bin)
Kristin on vol. 5 of Maoh: Juvenile Remix and vol. 3 of Kingyo Used Books (Comic Attack)
Connie on Marriage Scandal, Showbiz Baby! (Slightly Biased Manga)
Danica Davidson on vols. 4-7 of Monster (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Christopher Mautner on Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (Robot 6)
Connie on vol. 2 of Peepo Choo (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 4 of Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari (Okazu)
Erica Friedman on vol. 5 of Rakuen Le Paradis (Okazu)
Danica Davidson on vols. 4-6 of Rasetsu (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lori Henderson on the May issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Xanadu)
Kyla Hunt on vol. 1 of Skip Beat (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Kate Dacey on vol. 4 of Spice and Wolf (The Manga Critic)
Todd Douglass on vol. 4 of Spice and Wolf (Anime Maki)
Connie on vol. 2 of Under Grand Hotel (Slightly Biased Manga)
The link to the your interview with Fred goes to a review of Geobreeders.
Fixed it! Thanks, Susie!