Thursday update

John Jakala explains why he likes Franken Fran, which alas is available only in scanlation.

Lori Henderson makes her picks from this week’s new manga at Manga Village.

At Manga Life, Fruits Basket translators Alethea and Athena Nibley share their insights on Ayame Sohma.

Alert Deb Aoki checks the Yen Press news section and finds some tidbits, including a mystery panel, Judith Park’s book signing at NYCC, and a preview of James Patterson’s Maximum Ride.

ICv2 has some details on the recent news that Viz is licensing the two-volume Legend of Zelda manga.

At Japanator, Dale North isn’t too happy to find a raised tag in the manga at Borders, but the commenters don’t seem to concerned. FWIW, I have never had a problem with them, as they aren’t very sticky.

On the USA Today best-seller list, vol. 28 of Naruto moves from number 39 to 52, and vol. 19 of Fruits Basket slips from 34 to 65. ComiPress has the Japanese manga rankings from Tohan.

News from Japan: ANN reports that a Slayers Revolution manga will start up in the next issue of Dragon Age magazine. And the Japan Times reports on the Cultural Affairs Agency’s advisory panel’s discussions on exporting Japanese culture to the rest of the world, as if some of that ground was still left unturned.

Reviews: New reviews up at Comics Village include Lissa Pattillo on vol. 2 of Nightmares for Sale, Charles Tan on vols. 1-3 of Kare Kano (omnibus edition), Dan Polley on vol. 4 of Mamotte! Lollipop, Sabrina on vol. 5 of Lunar Legend Tsukihime, and Lori Henderson on vol. 3 of The Guin Saga Manga. Ken Haley checks out vol. 1 of Zombie Fairy at PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog. Connie reviews vols. 2, 3, and 4 of The Drifting Classroom at Slightly Biased Manga. Holly Ellingwood reads vol. 5 of My Hime and vol. 2 of Psycho Busters at Active Anime. Lissa Pattillo enjoys vol. 1 of Pet Shop of Horrors Tokyo at Kuri-ousity. At the Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie is reading vol. 8 of Inubaka: Crazy for Dogs. Over at the Sunny Side Up Anime Blog, huamualan03 reviews vol. 1 of Kaichou wa Maid-sama. Deb Aoki reviews vol. 1 of Blood+ at About.com. Tangognat posts short takes on vol. 1 of Pearl Pink and vol. 1 of B.O.D.Y. There are more reviews up at Manga Life: Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vols. 1 and 2 of Gakuen Alice, Joy Kim on vol. 1 of Honey and Clover, Shannon Fay on vol. 1 of After School Nightmare, and David Rasmussen on Nancy Drew, vol. 7: The Charmed Bracelet. Nick highly recommends vol. 1 of Metro Survive at Hobotaku. Tiamat’s Disciple possts some “thoughts and impressions” on vol. 1 of Kaze no Hana. Michelle Ramonetti reads vol. 1 of Pearl Pink and Danielle Van Gorder checks out vol. 2 of Vanilla at Anime on DVD. Erica Friedman has a few thoughts on vol. 3 of Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora at Okazu. Ferdinand reviews vol. 1 of Ral Ω Grad at Prospero’s Manga.

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