Hey, everyone! I want to apologize for posting being a bit spotty over the past week or so. Two things are going on. One is that the touch pad on my computer is dying a slow and ugly death, so everything is taking longer. The other is that I’m busier than usual at work, and one reason for that is that I am organizing this really cool magic show. It’s a benefit for our city’s Emergency Fund, which I administer. It’s been a tough year; basically, everything you read about in the papers about the economy, I have been seeing in real life. So if you’re going to be anywhere near the North Shore of Boston on Saturday evening, come on down and enjoy the show; tickets are cheap, and a good time is guaranteed. And if you’re unfortunate enough to be somewhere else, well, just bear with me a few more days, because things will be back to normal (?) soon enough.
In the meantime…
Kate Dacey and Deb Aoki check out this week’s new manga releases.
Matthew Alexander has a comprehensive interview with Kurt Hassler at Mania.com, covering the company’s Japanese, Korean, and Chinese releases, Yen Plus magazine, their upcoming Azumanga Daioh omnibus, and much more.
My latest Unbound column at Robot 6 is a look at the way scanlators helped fuel the manga boom.
Comics Comics has some choice quotes from the new book of Hayao Miyazaki interviews, Starting Point: 1979-1996, in which he discusses manga in general and gekiga manga in particular.
In this week’s Flipped column, David Welsh meditates a bit on the many dimensions of Jiro Taniguchi. Back at Precocious Curmudgeon, he’s giving away a copy of Taniguchi’s A Distant Neighborhood Details are here.
Lori Henderson has her usual thorough summary of the past week’s manga news at Manga Xanadu, and she is looking forward to Natsume’s Book of Friends, due out soon from Viz.
Erica Friedman brings us up to date on all things Yuri with the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.
Going to APE this weekend? Deb Aoki calls out the manga highlights for your convenience.
The Comics Village reviewers introduce themselves.
Job Board: Tokyopop is looking for an assistant to the CEO; what struck me is that their version of a full-time job is 55-60 hours a week. At least they are up front about it. (Via Comics 411.)
News from Japan: Sundome and She is Mine are both coming to an end, and Kiss is going to run a Nodame Cantabile side story. Sesho looks at the Japanese comics in the December 2008 edition of Yen Plus. Other reviews of note:
Reviews: Carlo Santos peels back the layers of a stack of new books, including the much-discussed Karakuri Odette, in his latest Right Turn Only!! column. Dave Ferraro sees for himself what’s so controversial about vol. 1 of Dragon Ball at Comics-and-More. Andrew Wheeler takes a look at some recent Yen Press releases. Other reviews of note:
Tangognat on The Color of Heaven (Tangognat)
Connie on vols. 21-26 of Eyeshield 21 (Slightly Biased Manga)
Tangognat on vols. 1 and 2 of Flat Earth Exchange (Tangognat)
Connie on vol. 1 of Forget About Love (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Hanjuku Joshi (Okazu)
Ed Chavez on vol. 1 of Higurashi When They Cry: Cotton Drifting Arc (MangaCast)
Sophie Stevens on vol. 7 of Honey and Clover (Animanga Nation)
Katherine Farmar on vol. 1 of Ichiroh! (Comics Village)
Michelle Smith on vols. 38-40 of InuYasha (Soliloquy in Blue)
Connie on vol. 5 of I”s (Slightly Biased Manga)
Michelle Smith on vols. 3-5 of Kaze Hikaru (Soliloquy in Blue)
Emily on Kimo wo Omou Toki (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
David Welsh on Mail (Precocious Curmudgeon)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Ninja Girls (Comics Should Be Good)
Deb Aoki on vol. 1 of Oh My Brother (About.com)
Kinukitty on Prince Charming (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Rin-ne (Comics Should Be Good)
Justin Colussy-Estes on vol. 4 of Slam Dunk (Comics Village)
Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Soul Eater (Comics Should Be Good)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Summit of the Gods (The Manga Critic)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of Takeru: Opera Susanoh Sword of the Devil (Anime Sentinel)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Watashi no Taisetsuna Tomodachi (Okazu)
David Brothers on vol. 1 of What a Wonderful World (4thletter!)
Connie on vols. 1 and 2 of What a Wonderful World (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vols. 2 and 3 of Yotsuba&! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)