Among the missing

Simon Jones compares the July Previews, which lists comics that can be ordered for September, with the order forms sent to retailers and notices a slew of cancelled Tokyopop titles, including vol. 5 of Atelier Marie And Elie Zarlburg Alchemist, Gakuen Heaven Nakajima, vol. 4 of Kat and Mouse, and vol. 4 of Suppli (a MangaBlog favorite). This doesn’t mean these titles are cancelled outright—they may simply be postponed—but it does raise some possibilities. The full list is at the informative but NSFW Icarus blog.

Christopher Butcher notes that Dark Horse has cancelled its planned Akira reprint and wonders if that bolsters the rumor that Kodansha is going to set up shop in the U.S.

At Sleep Is For the Week, Lianne Sentar, a longtime Tokyopop freelancer, puts in a few good words for Stu and his crew.

Ed Chavez has an interview with Japanese literary agent Yukari Shiina at Publishers Weekly Comics Week. Her company, World Manga, is reversing the usual flow of things by bringing global manga creators to Japanese audiences.

And at the MangaCast, Ed has audio of the Broccoli Books panel from Fanime. I always enjoy hearing what the Broccoli folks have to say, so I’m looking forward to putting this on my iPod.

John Jakala relays a plea from Firefighter Daigo of Fire Company M.

Micole includes some opinions on manga in a post of random thoughts.

Reviews: Phil Guie reviews vol. 1 of Aria at PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog. Deb Aoki takes a look at the one-shot Seduce Me After the Show. Lissa Pattillo looks at vol. 17 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles at Kuri-ousity. Micole has a few words about vol. 8 of Saiyuki Reload at coffeeandink. Oyceter writes about the manhua (Chinese comic) Angel Hair. Omari’s Sister has some issues with 100% Perfect Girl, and the Yukan Blog looks at manga to mend a broken heart (both via When Fangirls Attack). Ferdinand reviews vol. 1 of Rosario + Vampire at Prospero’s Manga. At Active Anime, Sandra Scholes reviews vol. 1 of The Gothic and Lolita Bible, Margaret Viera checks out vol. 18 of One Piece, Scott Campbell weighs in on vol. 3 of Alive, and Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 4 of Le Chevalier d’Eon. Tiamat’s Disciple posts about vol. 2 of Aria. Julie looks at an offbeat title, vol. 1 of Dance in the Vampire Bund, at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Erica Friedman checks out vol. 1 of Stray Little Devil at Okazu. Emily looks at the untranslated title Lemon Planet at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. At Anime on DVD, Matthew Alexander reviews the adult title vol. 1 of Blue Eyes and Gary Thompson reads vol. 6 of After School Nightmare. Andrew checks out vol. 7 of GTO: The Early Years at andrew reads comics.