Going to Anime Expo? Why not roll up your sleeve? The American Red Cross will be there, and anyone who donates blood will get a free box of Pocky. And if you’re puzzled by the Japanese interest in blood types, it’s explained in this discussion thread.
At the MangaCast, Ed posts the Big List of manga coming out in Japan in June. This is only the first installment; the second will cover the big publishers.
Manga News has a bountiful roundup of news, including some info from Monthly Shonen Jump‘s final issue. And a year after Osaka Prefecture cracked down on “harmful literature” for youths, things are going about like you’d expect:
In a comic specialty store at a Northern area in Osaka, five volumes of sexually depicted comics were lined up together with sports and friendship theme manga.
How else would the kids find them?
ChunHyang72 has another Tokyopop Round-Up, with links to columns and reviews and a list of noteworthy manga coming out this week. In her other incarnation, Katherine Dacey-Tsuei, CH72 posted a list of upcoming manga at PopCultureShock last week and I think I missed it. Thanks to Alex Woolfson of Yaoi 911 for pointing it out!
The blog for the Tezuka: The Marvel of Manga exhibit is coming up with some interesting stuff. Here’s a link to a video of an interview with curator Phil Brophy and manga god Fred Schodt. And one of the bloggers has been inspired to create a manga about the experience.
I’m posting this up here because it’s not your normal review: a n00b reads Naruto, and likes it. Sort of. It’s an interesting peek at how manga looks to someone who doesn’t read it regularly. (Via The Beat.)
It’s hard out there for a publisher: Comicsnob’s Matt Blind explains how the retail biz works, and why it’s hard for a smaller publisher to get their books on bookstore shelves. He has lots of interesting links at the end for those who want to know more.
Reviews: Michael Aronson gives vol. 2 of Millennium Snow a big fat “meh” at Manga Life. At Anime on DVD, Connie Zhang finds vol. 1 of One Missed Call “as scary as missing a phone call.” Holly Ellingwood checks out vol. 18 of Hana-Kimi at Active Anime. Johanna Draper Carlson talks about what makes Voices of a Distant Star special in her latest Comics Unlimited column (scroll down). Julie reviews vol. 3 of Baby and Me at the Mangamaniaccafe. Kethylia reviews vol. 2 of Tuxedo Gin and Only Words. At the BasuGasuBakuhatsu Anime Blog, Hung has image-heavy reviews of vol. 1 of High School Girls and vol. 7 of Kamui.
If the red cross is interested in any more of the blood of anime fans, I have like a pool full in my basement.