ICv2 has a three-part interview with Del Rey editor Dallas Middaugh, in which he discusses the state of the manga market, Del Rey’s forays into global manga, and digital distribution, among other topics. Industry watchers know that the lion’s share of Del Rey titles are licensed from the Japanese publisher Kodansha, so the recent news that Kodansha is setting up its own manga branch in the U.S. naturally came up; Middaugh doesn’t seem to be worried, but he did say Del Rey has some deals in the works with other Japanese publishers. Part one deals with the overall market and the challenges of the book chains, including the shelf space squeeze; part two covers Del Rey’s global manga, digital distribution, and the effects of Kodansha’s move; and part three includes the Marvel titles and more discussion of global manga. (Image is of Kasumi, Del Rey’s newest global title.)
Erica Friedman rounds up the week in yuri and has the definitive last word on the kid who scandalized Multnomah County (or at least their Fox affiliate) by finding a copy of Battle Vixens in the library:
The father’s wrath completely ignores the fact that his kid is the *perfect* audience for that trash, since he hasn’t ever seen a woman’s crotch and this would all be very exciting and new to him.
Matt Blind presents the top 500 manga (online sales) and a summary of manga rankings at Rocket Bomber.
About.com’s Deb Aoki is in Japan as part of the Pop Japan Travel tours, and you can read about her adventures on day 1 and day 2 at her blog.
Math class is hard: Melinda Beasi is reading Bakuman, the new manga serial by Death Note creators Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba that just debuted in Japan, and she’s dismayed (but not terribly surprised) by some sexist comments.
At Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson explains why the anime industry should be thinking about audio manga dramas.
News from Japan: Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys won a Seiun award, the Japanese analog of a Hugo. Afternoon magazine is launching a spinoff, perkily titled good! Afternoon, and ANN has the dope on some new and relaunched series, including Ice Blade.
Reviews: Erica Friedman gives her take on the first issue of Yen+, and her opinions are mostly the opposite of everyone else’s, so go, read! She also reviews the one-shot yuri manga Angel/Dust. Tangognat enjoys the first chapter of Honey Hunt, by Hot Gimmick creator Miki Ahara, which she found in the latest Shojo Beat. Kethylia posts a brief appreciation of Kusama Sakae’s Sakuranbo, from the September issue of BexBoy, as well as reviews of vols. 2 and 3 of Ai no Kusabi. Elizabeth Schweitzer reviews vol. 18 of Negima at PLAYBACK:stl, and it’s impressive that she finds so much to say about a series that’s up to volume 18. I am really enjoying Andrew Wheeler’s manga reviews, posted every Friday at ComicMix; this week he takes a look at vol. 1 of Koi Cupid, vol. 1 of Flock of Angels, and vol. 2 of Two Flowers for the Dragon. Australian anime blogger Sam has some reviews worth checking out: vol. 1 of Kon Kon Kokon, vols. 1, 3, and 4 of Rozen Maiden, and vol. 1 of the Pita-Ten light novel. (Via the Broccoli blog.) James Fleenor posts his impressions of vol. 1 of Switch, vol. 16 of Shaman King, and various Disgaea manga at Anime Sentinel. At Boys Next Door, Cynthia posts reviews of Wild Butterfly and vol. 2 of Dog Style. Connie has quite a stack of reviews at Slightly Biased Manga: vols. 40, 41, and 42 of Dragon Ball, vol. 8 of +Anima, vols. 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 of Angel Sanctuary, and vol. 3 of Battle Royale (Ultimate Edition). Julie reads vol. 8 of After School Nightmare, vol. 2 of Monkey High!, and vol. 1 of One-Pound Gospel at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Lissa Pattillo reviews vols. 1-23 of Hana-Kimi, the full run, at Manga Jouhou. Eva checks out an unusual light novel, nonfiction book, Picture Letters from the Commander in Chief, at the MangaCast. Charles Tan reviews vol. 1 of Gantz at Comics Village. Jason Van Horn takes a look at vol. 28 of Naruto at The Hachiko. At Animanga Nation, one of the best review sites around, Faith McAdams reviews vol. 1 of Bleach (Collectors Edition), Edward Zacharias takes on Tekkonkinkreet, and Ai Kano reads vol. 2 of One-Pound Gospel. Sesho reviews vol. 3 of Tetragrammaton Labyrinth.
Just to let you know, PICTURE LETTERS FROM THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF is not a light novel. In fact, it’s not even a novel.
Thanks, Eric! I guess I misinterpreted the introduction to the review.
” […] and he asked what makes a good manga? And I started to immediately answer him with all of the things that I look for if somebody’s bringing me an original project, whether the layout of the page is good, whether the art is dynamic, and he stopped me and said, no, the most important thing is whether it has heart. […]” (Interview with Dallas Middaugh, Part Three)
Sounds more like too much Yu-Gi-Oh to me.