Monday night links

Publisher’s Weekly has a nice piece on Del Rey Manga that tracks the company’s growth:

“We were criticized for starting so slowly,” said Del Rey manga director Dallas Middaugh, “but it’s worked well for us. We launched with books by [bestselling Japanese manga collective] CLAMP, so people took us seriously.”

Well, that would do it.

Because of the Internet, American manga fans demand what’s currently popular in Japan and the time between Japanese publication and U.S. licensing is shrinking. Middaugh said the house pays attention to fans, but works closely with Kodansha on titles to consider. He credits [licensing director Mutsumi] Miyazaki, who speaks Japanese and spends time in Japan, for the string of hits. “She’s passionate about manga and knows what will sell or not sell,” he said.

It sounds like direct market sales are becoming more significant for Del Rey, which is interesting, as is the fact that Ballantine is including manga in its book club offerings.

David Welsh goes toward the fluff in his latest Flipped column but stays hard-core at Precocious Curmudgeon, where he reviews vol. 2 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service.

At Anime on DVD, Ed Chavez turns in his publisher’s report cards for Dark Horse and Del Rey.

I missed it, but ANN caught it: Vol. 17 of Bleach debuted at number 123 on last week’s USA Today Booklist.

There’s a flurry of activity at MangaCast, with PR and commentary on vol. 2 of E’S, Gravitation EX, Vertical’s spring lineup, and new titles from DramaQueen, as well as some previews and, rounding it out, a podcast on the Japanese manga magazine Comptiq Ace. Something for everyone!

Manga on film: The guys at Same Hat! Same Hat!! are having a good time digging up links about the Drifting Classroom movie, while Jog links to some NSFW snippets of films from Osamu Tezuka’s Mushi Productions.

How many hiatuses has Hunter X Hunter taken? ComiPress has a timeline and analysis.

Kevin Melrose has a new blog, Comics Covered, which will focus on the art and design of comics covers, plus, it seems, some of the insides as well. I’ve been enjoying Kevin’s writings since his Thought Balloons days, so it’s nice to see him in this clean, well-lit space. And he’s already writing about manga.

Also, comics news site ComicMix makes its slightly belated debut. Not a lot of manga content so far, though.

At PopCultureShock, Katherine Dacey-Tsuei offers an otaku’s guide to NYCC. And her alter ego, ChunHyang72, offers her weekly otaku’s guide to Tokyopop.

Job board: Del Rey must be doing well, because they’re looking for an associate publicist to help promote their manga titles. And Viz has an opening for an ad sales/marketing manager. (Via ANN.)

Reviews: At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie reviews vols. 7 and 8 of From Eroica With Love. The BasuGasuBakuhatsu Anime Blog checks out vol. 3 of Tezuka’s Buddha. Erica Friedman critiques vol. 2 of Steady Beat and is going to add author feedback, once her readers vote on whether they want it with or without spoilers. At Anime on DVD, Jarred Pine has mostly praise for vol. 1 of Mushishi. Julie at Mangamaniaccafe enjoyed vol. 6 of Claymore.

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Comments

  1. Anyone want to recommend any Del Ray titles? I’m kinda new to manga, and open to anything.

  2. Thanks, Brigid.

  3. xxxHolic offers some mild horror, with a nice Twilight Zone-ish atmosphere, but with a recurring cast and their plotlines, in addition to the fascinating short stories. It also features CLAMP using a different artstyle then what their known for, with long, lanky figures, and a strong focus on tight layouts and negative spaces. Their use of black and white really adds to the story.

    Also, they just released the first volume of Mushishi, in a great deluxe edition with french flaps.

  4. Genshiken is a very, very funny look at nerd culture that manages to be satirical and affectionate at the same time. It’s got great characters and amazingly detailed art.

    It’s run is already completed, but I liked Othello a lot. It’s about a painfully shy girl and her hard-rocking alternate personality. It’s got some surprising psychological and emotional nuances to it.

  5. Or “Its”, as the case may be. I hate when I do that.

  6. Well, I’m hardly unbiased, but if In addition to xxxHOLIC, MUSHISHI, OTHELLO, and GENSHIKEN mentioned above, I’m a big fan of LOVE ROMA, a 5-volume high-school romance manga that’s sweet and realistic in a way that many other manga are not. It’s the “Say Anything” of teenage romance manga.

    And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention another of our bestsellers, Ken Akamatsu’s NEGIMA!, about a wizarding prodigy who becomes a teacher in a girls’ school.

    But, again, I’m hardly unbiased, so take what I say with appropriate grains of salt.

    —Ali Kokmen
    Del Rey Manga

  7. In addition to those already mentioned, ES (Eternal Sabbath) is excellent. Truly excellent. A sort of sci-fi thriller, but with some beautiful imagery. I second Genshiken; it’s a surprisingly gentle look at fan culture. Nodame Cantabile is also good, with broad humor. The last two are also set in a school environment, but the characters graduate and go on! Lastly, I have an attachment to Wallflower because I’m living with someone who decorates with skulls and skeletons and watches horror movies (and reads all the horror manga I get him). Wallflower isn’t great lit, but I find it a fun read.

    I didn’t get into Othello; I found the main character grating and everything repetitious… I suppose that’s the same reaction some people have to Wallflower. :)

  8. Love Roma: The “Say Anything” of Teenage Romance Manga

    I’m expecting to see that tagline on the next book ATK! :D Seriously, I love that, and I’m probably going to steal it when I get the last book. Oh man, that is going to be a bittersweet day.

  9. Thanks everybody. Will check out Genshiken, Love Roma, Mushishi, and ES. The others sound good too, but I think I will start with these.

  10. ChunHyang72 says

    I’d also recommend Kuro Gane by Kei Toume. Lovely artwork, great premise. (Think Frankenstein meets Lone Wolf and Cub.) It doesn’t get as much love as some of the other Del Rey titles listed above, but I think it’s one of their better properties.

  11. Ali T. Kokmen says

    > Love Roma: The “Say Anything” of Teenage Romance Manga
    >
    > I’m expecting to see that tagline on the next book ATK! Seriously, I
    > love that, and I’m probably going to steal it when I get the last book.

    To be totally fair, I’m almost certain I didn’t come up with that line (I’m good, but not *that* good…) and probably picked it up from some review out there somewhere

    But LOVE ROMA is one of those great, underappreciated series, so any excuse to talk about it…