The team picks the best of this week’s new releases, with commentary, at MangaCast, and Kate Dacey offers up her own take at The Manga Critic.
The New York Times Graphic Books best-seller list is up; Naruto only takes up half the slots this week.
Free manga on the web: Bizenghast, by M. Alice LeGrow, was one of the better-regarded books in Tokyopop’s first wave of global manga. Vol. 6 is coming out soon, and to bring new readers in, Tokyopop is putting vols. 1-5 online, one volume per week, for free. Vol. 1 is up right now, and vol. 2 goes up on May 22. (Via Comics Worth Reading.)
A reader asks Lori Henderson about sources for research on the literary value of manga. Suggestions, anyone? Lori also looks at manga blogs on the Kindle—and why you would want to pay for them.
Erica Friedman rounds up the week in yuri at Okazu.
Congratulations to David Ury, who received a Glyph Award this weekend for his work as translator/adapter of vol. 1 of Me and the Devil Blues.
The Ninja Consultants, Erin and Noah, will be at Anime Boston this weekend. Click the link for their panels.
I reviewed Future Diary two weeks ago, and now Tokyopop has posted a preview so you can check it out for yourself.
News from Japan: Exciting news from Same Hat! Same Hat!: Suehiro Maruo’s newest mangatw will launch in Comic Beam in June. Shonen Sunday is posting the prototype for Yellow Tanabe’s Kekkaishi online.
Reviews: The Manga Recon team posts some short reviews of shoujo manga in their latest On the Shojo Beat column and more brief reviews in the Manga Minis section. Melinda also reviews Age Called Blue at Manga Recon and has some further thoughts at her own blog, There it is, Plain as Daylight. At Eastern Standard, Andrew Cunningham salutes Birdy the Mighty, a Japanese title that ran in Young Sunday and was relaunched in Big Comic Spirits after Young Sunday folded. Gia does a video review of 20th Century Boys and Pluto at Anime Vice. And Andrew Wheeler reviews a trio of manga about meeting new people at ComicMix.
Marsha Reid on vol. 4 of Alice on Deadlines (Kuriousity)
Connie on vols. 14 and 15 of Banana Fish (Slightly Biased Manga)
Michelle Smith on vols. 9 and 10 of Beauty Pop (Soliloquy in Blue)
Esther Keller on vol. 1 of The Big Adventures of Majoko (Good Comics for Kids)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of Detroit Metal City (There it is, Plain as Daylight)
Kai-Ming Cha on A Drifting Life (The National Newspaper)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of Dusk (Anime Sentinel)
David Welsh on Future Lovers (Precocious Curmudgeon)
A Library Girl on vol. 4 of High School Debut (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Connie on vol. 2 of Kingdom of the Winds (Slightly Biased Manga)
Julie on vol. 8 of Kurohime (Manga Maniac Cafe)
David Brothers on vol. 1 of Lone Wolf and Cub: The Assassin’s Road (4thletter)
Lissa Pattillo on Manhattan Love Story (Kuriousity)
Connie on Manic Love (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 6 of Monkey High (Slightly Biased Manga)
Dan Polley on vol. 1 of Negima!? Neo (Comics Village)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 7 of Nightmare Inspector (Kuriousity)
Michelle Smith on vol. 2 of Otomen (Soliloquy in Blue)
Danielle Leigh on vols. 1-3 of Pluto (Comics Should Be Good)
Julie on vols. 8 and 9 of The Prince of Tennis (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Connie on Princess Princess Plus (Manga Recon)
Ikuko Katagawa on The Quest for the Missing Girl (Daily Yomiuri)
Julie on vol. 1 of Rasetsu (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Connie on vol. 5 of Sand Chronicles (Slightly Biased Manga)
Matthew J. Brady on the June issue of Shojo Beat (Warren Peace Sings the Blues)
Connie on vol. 12 of Sgt. Frog (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on Spring Fever (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on Tail of the Moon Prequel (Slightly Biased Manga)
I don’t know whether you’ve realised this, but the link on the review for Alice on Deadlines somehow lead to the review of Manhattan Love Story. Just a heads-up. ^^