As the hubbub of this week starts to die down, people are sorting themselves out a bit. Tokyopop publisher Mike Kiley sent a letter to creators, reassuring them that they will be paid and they should continue working on their projects. That’s at The Beat, where Heidi also rounds up the creators’ reactions to everything that has been going on. Kethylia takes a look at the bigger picture and possible fallout. At Bags and Boards, one former employee condemns Tokyopop for the way they went about letting people go. David Welsh reaches out to those who were laid off, looking to talk to them about their work and their hopes for the future. (Image from a headier time pulled from the archives of Kevin Melrose’s Thought Balloons blog; in the post he points out the typo in the bottom line, which in retrospect could have been a harbinger of things to come: Good ideas, sloppy follow-through.)
And is Kodansha really going to set up an American arm and cut out its U.S. licensees? Despite a flurry of speculation and inquiry yesterday, no definitive answer emerged, although Cthulhu, the anonymous commenter who started the whole thing, clarified that the news came not in a public announcement but in an overheard conversation. I checked in with a couple of people, as did numerous other bloggers, but so far there is nothing to report.
At the MangaCast, Ed Chavez has a podcast interview with Netsu Maika, the creator of the fanservice-friendly My Dearest Devil Princess.
Eisner-nominated writer, blogger, and librarian Robin Brenner is surveying GLBTQ readers about their tastes in yaoi and yuri manga.
John Jakala takes everyone’s advice and reads Firefighter! Daigo of Fire Company M. He likes what he sees, but the series is hard to find and may be out of print.
The Manga Villagers pick the best of this week’s new releases.
Manga is the new rock and roll: Looking forward to next month’s Japan Expo (in Paris), Xavier Guilbert meditates on manga as a medium of youthful rebellion. It’s in French, but even if you can’t read it, it’s worth a click for the lovely header art.
At Manga Life, Park Cooper mixes press releases and snark in his latest Manga Bulletin, Barb Lien-Cooper is looking for good manga ghost stories, and translators Alethea and Athena Nibley write about thinking in Japanese and English.
Josef Stalin kicks ass in the latest installment of Dance! Kremlin Palace! linked at Same Hat! Same Hat!
ComiPress has the info on the First UK International Manga Art Show, coming up in July.
News from Japan: Raiko Makoto, creator of Konjiki no Gash!!, is suing publisher Shogakukan for losing some of his original art, according to Canned Dogs.
Reviews: At Okazu, Erica Friedman reviews the light novel Maria-sama ga Miteru: Margaret ni Ribon. Ferdinand enjoys vol. 1 of Hotel Africa at Prospero’s Manga. Connie checks out vol. 12 of Hikaru no Go and ION at Slightly Biased Maga. Matthew J. Brady goes on a manga binge at Warren Peace Sings the Blues, with reviews of vol. 10 of Nana, vol. 3 of Parasyte, and vol. 8 of The Drifting Classroom. The Boys Next Door blog posts reviews of vol. 1 of Steal Moon, The Devil’s Secret, and vol. 9 of Love Mode. Deb Aoki reads vol. 1 of Rosario+Vampire at About.com. Emily takes a look at another untranslated shoujo title, Koi Beta!?, at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. Tangognat finds Demon Diary to be vastly inferior to Vampire Game. Orangedew has brief reviews of a lot of different manga, some still unlicensed. (Via When Fangirls Attack.) Greg McElhatton reviews vol. 2 of Aria at Comic Book Resources. ComiPress translates a review of Kara no Kyoukai. At Anime on DVD, Danielle Van Gorder reviews Red, Matthew Alexander takes a look at vol. 6 of Gacha Gacha: The Next Revolution, and Ben Leary reads the possibly doomed Tokopop manhwa vol. 1 of I Wish… David Rasmussen reviews vol. 11 of the Hardy Boys manga and Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlaine checks out vol. 1 of Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro at Manga Life. Ed Sizemore reads vol. 3 of Wild Ones at Comics Worth Reading. Lissa Pattillo is both intrigued and appalled by vol. 2 of Sundome. Isaac Hale gives a B+ to vol. 13 of Kekkaishi at PopCultureShock. Casey Brienza gives Disappearance Diary a thumbs-up at Anime News Network. LJ’er Leaf Diaries reads the “really weird” unlicensed manga ME-TERU no KIMOCHI. The Anime Pulse guys do an audio review of Basilisk and Black Cat.