Paradigm Shift, new Tatsumi manga, and more!

Interviews! I interviewed Dirk Tiede about the creative process behind his manga-style webcomic Paradigm Shift, which just wound up its first act—it’s an excellent time to jump in if you’re not reading it already. The Viz folks talk to Afterschool Charisma manga-ka Kumiko Suekane at SigIKKI and Arata: The Legend creator Yuu Watase at Shonen Sunday. Meanwhile, as we reported a few weeks ago, Hiroki Otsuka (The Boys of Summer) is manga-ka-in-residence at the Japan Society of New York; now the society has posted an interview with Otsuka on their website.

Bleach tops the New York Times manga best-seller list this week; could sales have been pushed by folks curious about Nick Simmons’s “tribute”?

In case you were otherwise occupied, Lori Henderson provides a quick recap of the week’s manga news at Manga Xanadu, and Erica Friedman presents a fresh edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu. Over at Manga Bookshelf, Melinda Beasi has another comprehensive Manhwa Monday post.

This month’s Manga Moveable Feast continues with Matt Blind’s ruminations on vol. 5 of Emma, and Jason Yadao and Lissa Pattillo on Shirley.

His mind boggled by the recent announcement of Fantagraphics’ new line of manga (to be edited by Matt Thorn), David Welsh considers the many possibilities for license requests and asks for help from his readers (who cheerfully oblige). David also goes back and revisits his early reviews of One Piece.

Speaking of One Piece, Tim Rogers at Kotaku calls it “the ADHD-addled Dragon-Ball-Z-inspired One Piece, a manga for the Twitter age if there ever was one.” This comment is embedded in a lengthy discussion of everything he hates about Japan, but Japanator’s Karen Gellender helpfully pulled it out and asked the readers: Really?

Lori Henderson marks Women’s History Month with a look at influential women manga creators at Manga Xanadu.

Heidi MacDonald notes that Drawn & Quarterly is planning to publish another Yoshihiro Tatsumi manga, Black Blizzard, and this one is in color.

Alex Hoffman takes exception to a subscription reminder from Yen Plus.

A helpful commenter explains how to pronounce Love*Com and .hack// at the Manga Critic.

News from Japan: A number of manga-ka, including Tetsuya Chiba (Ashita no Joe) held a press conference to protest Tokyo’s proposed law restricting sexually provocative depictions of minors. They presented a written statement, signed by Rumiko Takahashi and Ken Akamatsu, among others, to the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. Peach Girl‘s Miwa Ueda has started a new series, Pure-Mari (Pre-Marriage) in Bessatsu Friend, and ANN chronicles several other starts and stops in the same magazine. Yubisaki Milk Tea is coming to an end. Natsume Ono, creator of not simple and House of Five Leaves, is launching a new series. Meanwhile, Canned Dogs takes a look at ITAN, a new anthology magazine in the works from Kodansha.

Reviews

Penny Kenny on vol. 2 of Black Bird (Manga Life)
Deb Aoki on vol. 1 of Bunny Drop (About.com)
David Welsh on vol. 1 of Bunny Drop (The Manga Curmudgeon)
Snow Wildsmith on vols. 1 and 2 of Clear Skies (Fujoshi Librarian)
Connie on vol. 4 of Detroit Metal City (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 15 of From Eroica With Love (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane on vol. 3 of Kimi Ni Todoke (Manga Life)
Michelle Smith on vols. 15 and 16 of Love*Com (Soliloquy in Blue)
Connie on vol. 7 of Magic Touch (Slightly Biased Manga)
Greg Burgas on MPD-Psycho (Comics Should Be Good)
Julie Opipari on vol. 15 of Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Bill Sherman on vol. 1 of My Darling! Miss Bancho (Blogcritics)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (Kuriousity)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of Red Hot Chili Samurai (Anime Sentinel)
Kate Dacey on Ristorante Paradiso (The Manga Critic)
Dave Ferraro on Ristorante Paradiso (Comics-and-More)
Ai Kano on vol. 11 of Strawberry 100% (Animanga Nation)
Michelle Smith on vol. 3 of ZE (Soliloquy in Blue)

EDIT: Bad links fixed. Thanks, everyone!