Brigid Alverson

Yen Press announced it has licensed yet another Durarara!! arc, Durarara!! Re;Dollars Arc, by Aogiri; the series has been running in Square Enix’s G Fantasy magazine since last year. [Anime News Network]

It’s a very Viz best-seller list this week, with the final volume of Naruto topping the list, and Deadman Wonderland, Tokyo Ghoul, and assorted other titles taking up nine of the ten slots; the sole exception is vol. 7 of Noragami, in the number 8 spot. [New York Times]

There are now 52 million volumes of Attack on Titan in print worldwide. [Anime News Network]

With 31 titles shipping this week, the Manga Bookshelf gang discusses what they will and won’t be buying. [Manga Bookshelf]

Ash Brown discusses a scene in Gangsta. [Experiments in Manga]

Erica Friedman reports in on Nijicon. [Okazu]

Princess Jellyfish creator Akiko Higashimura has put her latest series, Himozairu, on hiatus after getting heavy criticism over the first two chapters. The series is about training unemployed men (“himo”) to do housework in order to make them more attractive to women with high-paying jobs, and Higashimura said she really wanted to show “what actually occur to them after getting such training,” but critics said she was belittling the men. [Asahi Shimbun]

Reviews

Connie on vol. 7 of Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Chihayafuru (Slightly Biased Manga)
Marissa Lieberman on vol. 1 of The Demon Prince of Momochi House (No Flying, No Tights)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 8 of Food Wars (WatchPlayRead)
Connie on vol. 8 of Junjo Romantica (Slightly Biased Manga)
Alice Vernon on Kagerou Daze (Girls Like Comics)
Connie on vol. 16 of Kamisama Kiss (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Kill La Kill (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on vol. 5 of Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru (Okazu)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Kiss Him, Not Me (Anime News Network)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of L♥DK (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of My Love Story (WatchPlayRead)
Anna N on vol. 6 of My Love Story (Manga Report)
Connie on vol. 5 of No. 6 (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 45 of Oh My Goddess (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of One Punch Man (The Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Warner on vol. 2 of One Punch Man (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of Seraph of the End (The Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Warner on vol. 2 of So Cute It Hurts (The Fandom Post)
Richard Gutierrez on vol. 1 of Strike the Blood (The Fandom Post)
Thomas Maluck on Time Killers (No Flying, No Tights)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of World Trigger (WatchPlayRead)
Kory Cerjak on vol. 4 of Yamada-Kun and the Seven Witches (The Fandom Post)

Lots of big manga news this week!

First of all, my interview with Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto is up. He was a real delight to talk to, and I particularly liked his description of the very first manga he ever created, when he was in middle school. He was very relaxed in the interview, and we had a good time. Please check it out! [Publishers Weekly]

Stone Bridge Press has a big announcement about a big book: They have licensed The Osamu Tezuka Story, a 900-page graphic biography of the Godfather of Manga, by Toshio Ban and Tezuka Productions.

Not only will readers get to see how Tezuka got his start and first successes, but they will follow him all the way through his amazing career, and in so doing will see how manga and anime developed from almost nothing in a devastated postwar Japan to the enormous commercial juggernauts they have become today. The story of Tezuka is truly the story of comics and animation media in Japan.

Frederick Schodt, who translated many Tezuka works and knew him personally, will be the translator. The book is due out in July. [Stone Bridge Press]

If you want to get a jump on the bio, Ryan Holmberg has presented a defense of his argument that Tezuka’s early work was inspired by Disney, and the article includes links to his earlier work on the topic. [The Comics Journal]

Meanwhile, NBM has announced its spring 2016 list, and it includes Jiro Taniguchi’s Guardians of the Louvre. This is part of their ongoing translation of The Louvre Collection, which also includes Rohan at the Louvre by JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures creator Hirohiko Araki. [NBM Publishing]

As of this week, Yen Press is publishing new chapters of Black Butler on the same day they are released in Japan. They are available in a variety of e-book formats for $1.99 each. [Yen Press]

Erica Friedman talks to the brass at BookWalker and then takes it out for a test drive herself. [Okazu]

The Manga Bookshelf team seem a bit dubious about their latest Pick of the Week. [Manga Bookshelf]

With sports manga making a comeback (Yowamushi Pedal, Haikyu!!, and Kuroko’s Basketball have all been licensed recently) Vernieda Vergara takes a look at five currently licensed titles worth checking out. [Panels]

Pandora Hearts creator Jun Mochizuki is at work on a new series, Vanitas no Carte (Memoir of Vanitas), a steampunk/vampire tale set in Paris in the 1800s. [Anime News Network]

Also in the works: A new Lupin III manga, based on the anime. [Anime News Network]

Gone but not forgotten: Laura lists her top ten out-of-print shoujo manga. [Heart of Manga]

Time to buy more manga? Check out the big Yen Press sale at RightStuf. [Yen Press]

Reviews: Ash Brown takes us through a week’s worth of manga reading and reviews at Experiments in Manga. There’s plenty of romance and a bit of magic in this week’s edition of Bookshelf Briefs at Manga Bookshelf.

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Assassination Classroom (WatchPlayRead)
Connie on vol. 18 of Bakuman (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 3 of Black Rose Alice (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of The Demon Prince of Momochi House (WatchPlayRead)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 3 of Gou-Dere (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 10 of Gravitation (Slightly Biased Manga)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Kiss Him, Not Me! (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Kiss Him, Not Me! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
James Ristig on vol. 1 of Ninja Slayer Kills! (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Nisekoi: False Love (The Comic Book Bin)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Puella Magi Suzune Magica (ICv2)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of QQ Sweeper (Anime News Network)
Erica Friedman on vol. 18 of Rakuen Le Paradis (Okazu)
Matthew Warner on vol. 29 of Toriko (The Fandom Post)

This was the most manga-heavy New York Comic Con I’ve been to in years; the presence of Masashi Kishimoto and the announcement of the Attack on Titan anthology were both huge, but there was a lot of other stuff going on as well, some of it behind the scenes.

I was fortunate enough to be one of the 2,200 or so people at the Masashi Kishimoto panel, which was amazing. The crowd was totally amped up, but Kishimoto was totally relaxed and looked like he was having a good time. [Comic Book Resources]

Here’s my writeup of the Kodansha Comics panel, where Noragami editor Yohei Takami did a great show and tell about how a manga goes from thumbnails (name) to inks. This was the panel where Kodansha announced two new licenses, I Am Space Dandy and Spoof on Titan, as well as the news that Faith Erin Hicks will do a gag manga for volume 7 of Vinland Saga. [Comic Book Resources]

Attack on Titan manga-ka Hajime Isayama talks about his influences and his struggle to find a publisher in a video interview. [BBC News]

A student in a Nashua, New Hampshire, high school is in trouble after officials found a “Death Note” notebook. [Anime News Network]

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week. [Manga Bookshelf]

Erica Friedman posts the latest edition of Yuri Network News. [Okazu]

If you read French, here’s a treat: An interview with Blood Lad creator Yuki Kodama. [Manganews]

I can’t say I agree with this article, but I’m posting it anyway so you can read his arguments for yourself: Justin discusses when and why he reads scanlations. [Organization Anti-Social Geniuses]

In the opposite corner is Zach Logan of the One Piece Podcast, explaining how scanlations actually can ruin your manga reading experience. [The One Piece Podcast]

Reviews

Ash Brown on vol. 6 of After School Nightmare (Experiments in Manga)
Connie on vol. 3 of Alice in the Country of Joker: Nightmare Trilogy (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 3 of The Betrayal Knows My Name (Slightly Biased Manga)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Emma (Comics Worth Reading)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-4 of Fire Inspector Nanase (Manga Xanadu)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 2 of Gou-Dere Sora Nagihara (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 5 of High School Debut (3-in-1 edition) (Comics Worth Reading)
Connie on vol. 7 of Junjo Romantica (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vols. 14 and 15 of Kamisama Kiss (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kory Cerjak on vol. 1 of Komomo Confiserie (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 3 of Maria the Virgin Witch (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 3 and 4 of My Neighbor Seki (Comics Worth Reading)
Connie on Olympos (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Rose Guns Days (Comic Attack)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Secret (Comics Worth Reading)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Showa 1926-1939: A History of Japan (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Tiger and Bunny (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Tokyo ESP (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 2 and 3 of Yukarism (Comics Worth Reading)

This is a big week for Naruto fans, as the 72nd and final volume of the series comes out in print, the the one-volume sequel Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring is released in digital, and creator Masashi Kishimoto appears as a special guest at New York Comic Con, where the film Boruto: Naruto the Movie also gets its North American premiere.

Viz is also launching a dedicated Naruto app for iOS and Android devices that will feature a new chapter of the manga every day for free (each chapter stays up for seven days). The app syncs with their VizManga digital service, and for the month of October, Viz is offering discounts on Naruto volumes, with the first five volumes going for just $1.99 each. They also have some sweet bundles, and any purchase will get you an e-book of digital extras, including Kishimoto’s original pilot that ultimately turned into Naruto.

Here’s Kishimoto-sensei’s New York Comic Con schedule—and stay tuned for update and reports from the show:

Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba, the creators of Death Note and Bakuman, have a new series in the works, Platinum End, which they describe as the story of “a human and an angel,” with a central character who “does not seek out hope in order to live.” No word yet on any licenses, but it’s hard to believe Viz wouldn’t pick this up.

Some big digital news: Kadokawa is going to relaunch its BookWalker e-book service next week with a broader line of manga and light novels, including works from other publishers. No word on any changes to their ComicWalker app, which offers first and most recent chapters of a lot of different manga for free.

Dark Horse has licensed Kengo Hanazawa’s zombie series I Am a Hero.

Manga journalist par excellence Deb Aoki posted three major stories recently: She talks to editors of Kodansha Comics and Alvin Lu of the new digital publisher Kodansha Advanced Media about the success of Attack on Titan and Kodansha’s digital publishing plans; she interviews Tokyopop CEO Stu Levy about his return to publishing, with both new books and a new app; and she has a lively interview with Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi, creators of the latest Ultraman manga.

At Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, Justin talks to three manga editors about their jobs—breaking in, what they do, and what the challenges are.

Erica Friedman has some updates on yuri manga in Japan in the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their picks of the week, including the long-awaited new volume of Vinland Saga.

News from Japan: The city of Kushiro, in Hokkaido, is bankrolling the creation of a shoujo manga set there in hopes of attracting tourists. 9: Kimi Ga Iru Machi De Koi O Shita (9: I Fell in Love in the Town Where You Live) will include many local sites of interest in its story. Kizuku Watanabe and Jō Aoto have created an Assassination Classroom spinoff, Koro-sensei Q!, which will launch in Friday’s issue of Saikyō Jump. And Ema Toyama has a new series in the works.

Reviews: Ash Brown sums up a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith dive into a big pile of recent releases in the Bookshelf Briefs column at Manga Bookshelf.

Naru on Emma (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sakura Eries on vol. 6 of Kiss of the Rose Princess (The Fandom Post)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Komomo Confiserie (ICv2)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of RoseGunsDays Season 1 (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kanta Ishida on Terra Formars (The Japan News)
Kory Cerjak on vol. 1 of Tokyo ESP (The Fandom Post)
Lori Henderson on vols. 6-9 of What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Manga Xanadu)
Ken H. on vol. 3 of Yamada-Kun and the Seven Witches (Sequential Ink)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Your Lie in April (ANN)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Yuri Kuma Arashi (Okazu)

Yen Press had two announcements this week: The Akame ga KILL! prequel manga Akame ga KILL! Zero, and a print edition of the four-panel gag manga Servant x Service

The first two volumes of One-Punch Man and the first two volumes of Tokyo Ghoul top the latest New York Times manga best-seller list.

The Manga Bookshelf team discuss this week’s new releases.

Erica Friedman posts a new edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

At Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, Justin talks to a fan about the anime and manga scene in Bulgaria.

Lynzee Lamb counts down seven dessert-obsessed manga.

News from Japan: Two prequel chapters of Bakuman, telling the stories of the two protagonists before they met, will run in Weekly Shonen Jump, starting with the issue that’s out on September 21. New series by Inio Asano (Solanin), Daisuke Igarashi (Children of the Sea), and Kumiko Suekane (Afterschool Charisma), among others, will debut soon in Shogakukan’s Hibana magazine.

Reviews: At Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, Justin stumbles across Itihasa, a josei manga by Wakako Mizuki, a member of the Post Year 24 Group. Jocelyne Allen writes about an untranslated manga anthology, Shitashigema Akuna, a collection of adaptations by various artists of short stories by Shinichi Hoshi. The Manga Bookshelf team give us some short takes on new releases in their latest Bookshelf Briefs column.

Matt Brady on vol. 1 of Assassination Classroom (Warren Peace Sings the Blues)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of Assassination Classroom (The Comic Book Bin)
Gabriella Ekens on vols. 5-7 of Blood Blockade Battlefront (ANN)
Nick Creamer on vol. 5 of A Bride’s Story (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 55 of Case Closed (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Emma (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Laura on vol. 1 of First Love Monster (Heart of Manga)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 1 of Gou-Dere Sora Nagihara (The Fandom Post)
Justin on Haven’t You Heard? My Name Is Sakamoto (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 26 of Hayate the Combat Butler (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Alice Vernon on vol. 1 of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (Girls Like Comics)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 1: Phantom Blood (Experiments in Manga)
Kory Cerjak on vol. 3 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 1: Phantom Blood (The Fandom Post)
Saeyong Kim on K-ON! High School (No Flying, No Tights)
Sean Gaffney on vols. 7 and 8 of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of My Hero Academia (ICv2)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of One-Punch Man (Comics-and-More)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-5 of Puella Magi Kazuma Magica: The Innocent Malice (Manga Xanadu)
Nick Creamer on vol. 2 of A Silent Voice (ANN)
Erica Friedman on vol. 7 of Torikaebaya (Okazu)
Steve Bennett on vol. 1 of Ultraman (ICv2)
Michael Buntag on vol. 1 of Ultraman (NonSensical Words)
Matthew Warner on vol. 1 of Ultraman (The Fandom Post)

Seven Seas inexplicably chose the Friday before Labor Day to announce three new licenses: I Was Abducted by an Elite All-Girls School as a Sample Commoner, the title of which pretty much gives away the plot; Battle Rabbits, by 07-Ghost creators Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara; and the high school romantic comedy Masamune-kun’s Revenge.

More big manga news: Kodansha Comics manga is now available on comiXology, and so is Shonen Jump. This makes comiXology a handy one-stop shop for manga, as Dark Horse, Viz, Seven Seas, DMP, Gen Manga, Udon, and even Tokyopop are all on there. Only Vertical and Yen Press are missing.

And speaking of Shonen Jump, Viz has just announced that the first chapter of Mononofu, by Kurogane creator Haruto Ikezawa, will run in the next issue.

Viz has been bringing back a lot of manga originally licensed by Tokyopop in its Viz Select digital line; the new series debuting in September include CLAMP School Detectives, Rizelmine, Guardian Hearts, Chocolate Cosmos, and Saber Marionette J.

It’s Hayate the Combat Butler vs. Richard II as the Manga Bookshelf team discuss their Pick of the Week.

Helen McCarthy hooks us up with a 1994 documentary on manga, first broadcast by the BBC as an intro to their broadcast of Akira. The half-hour film includes appearances by Katsuhiro Otomo and Hayao Miyazaki.

At Heart of Manga, Laura looks at this month’s new shoujo and josei manga releases.

And Erica Friedman posts the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Reviews: The Anti-Social Geniuses review the first chapter of 43 Viz Select manga, most if not all of which were originally published by Tokyopop. Ash Brown updates us with My Week in Manga at Experiments in Manga.

Sean Gaffney on vol. 16 of Attack on Titan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan Junior High (Manga Xanadu)
Chris Beveridge on chapter 641 of Bleach (The Fandom Post)
Jocelyne Allen on Cocoon (Brain Vs. Book)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 16 of Dorohedoro (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 6 of Genshiken: Second Season (Comics Worth Reading)
Helen on Inari Konkon (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Komomo Confiserie (I Reads You)
Anna N on vol. 1 of Komomo Confiserie (Manga Report)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Komomo Confiserie (ANN)
AstroNerdBoy on K-ON! High School (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Nick Creamer on vol. 1 of My Hero Academia (ANN)
Sakura Eries on vol. 9 of My Little Monster (The Fandom Post)
Ken H on vol. 5 of Noragami (Sequential Ink)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of One-Punch Man (I Reads You)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Terra Formars (The Comic Book Bin)
Sarah on Yotsuba&! (nagareboshi reviews)

The first volume of Tokyo Ghoul tops the New York Times manga best-seller list. Want to check it out? Viz is offering an extended preview on its digital service.

The Attack on Titan: Before the Fall manga is two degrees of separation from the original series—it’s an adaptation of a light novel spinoff—but even so, it’s doing well, with 1.4 million copies in print in Japan, according to Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shōnen magazine, where the series runs. Kodansha Comics publishes the manga in North America, where the fifth volume is due out on August 25, and Vertical publishes the light novels.

Deb Aoki’s advice to journalists who want to interview manga-ka has lots of interesting tidbits about the industry and cultural differences that make it a good read for any manga fan.

Zainab Akhtar has a quick introduction to the two Inio Asano titles that will be published next year, A Girl on the Shore and Goodnight PunPun.

Erica Friedman brings us the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

The venerable shoujo manga magazine Margaret has launched a digital edition.

Reviews

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Black Rose Alice (Lesley’s Musings on Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 13 of Blue Exorcist (The Comic Book Bin)
Zainab Akhtar on Fragments of Horror (Comics & Cola)
Lori Henderson on vols. 2 and 3 of Genkaku Picasso (Manga Xanadu)
Richard Gutierrez on vol. 1 of Log Horizon (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 75 of One Piece (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Matthew Warner on vol. 28 of Toriko (The Fandom Post)

I rounded up the August manga releases at the Barnes and Noble blog; with new volumes of Naruto and Attack on Titan coming out, it’s a big month.

Speaking of Attack on Titan, there has been a flurry of news lately about how big a deal it is, but this sums it all up: There are currently 50 million copies in print of the different volumes of the series; volume 16 is out in Japan and will be out in the U.S. this month.

Last Gasp, the publisher of Barefoot Gen, has launched a Kickstarter to fund the publication of 4,000 hardcover volumes (1,000 each of the first four volumes) and distribution to schools and libraries.

Lori Henderson rounds up the Otakon news, with her own commentary on the new license announcements.

At Heart of Manga, Laura takes a look at this month’s new shoujo manga releases.

Zainab Akhtar writes about Jiro Taniguchi’s The Walking Man and the Japanese concept of ma, or emptiness.

Stop! You’re reading the wrong way! Most MangaBlog readers probably don’t even notice those guides on the last page of each volume that explain how to read manga right to left, but Verneida Vergara does, and she posts a quick survey of which publishers do and don’t include that helpful-to-newcomers information.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team have plenty to say about an eclectic selection of new volumes in their latest Bookshelf Briefs column.

Erica Friedman on Ai Rabu Yuu Yori Aishiteru (Okazu)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Akame Ga Kill and vol. 2 of Let’s Dance a Waltz (Experiments in Manga)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Captain Ken (Comics-and-More)
Amanda Vail on Legal Drug and Drug & Drop (Women Write About Comics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 12 of Magi (The Comic Book Bin)
Kanta Ishida on My Love Story!! (The Japan News)
Kristin on vol. 5 of My Love Story!! (Comic Attack)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Orange Junk (Experiments in Manga)
Sarah on vol. 9 of Ranma 1/2 (2-in-1 edition) (nagareboshi reviews)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of A Silent Voice (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Matthew Warner on vol. 1 of So Cute It Hurts! (The Fandom Post)
Lindsey Tomsu on vols. 1-3 of Zero’s Familiar (No Flying, No Tights)

It’s been a busy couple of weeks! I rounded up most of the new manga license announcements from Anime Expo and Comic-Con International at the Barnes and Noble blog; here’s the latest from Otakon:

Kodansha Comics

• Queen Emeraldas, by Leiji Matsumoto
• Complex Age, by Yui Sakuma
• Forget Me Not, by Nao Emoto

Viz

• Goodnight PunPun, by Inio Asano (Solanin, Nijigahara Holograph)
• The Heiress and the Chauffeur, by Keiko Ishihara
• Blanc et Noir, an art book by Takeshi Obata (Death Note, Bakuman)

Vertical

• Mysterious Girlfriend X, by Riichi Ueshiba
• The Gods Lie, by Kaori Ozaki (Immortal Rain)
• Devil’s Line, by Ryo Hanada

And somewhere in there, Seven Seas announced it has acquired the license to The Other Side of Secret, by Hideaki Yoshikawa.

Sean Gaffney always has interesting things to say about new licenses, so be sure to check out his SDCC/Otakon roundup as well.

On the other side of the coin, Lori Henderson takes a look at all the manga series that are ending in Japan this month.

There has been a flurry of commentary about the importance of manga in reshaping the comics and graphic novel market lately, and the best starting point is probably Heidi MacDonald’s post at The Beat, where she links to it all and provides her own perspective.

Looking for something to read? I did a spring and summer teen manga roundup at SLJTeen.

Justin Stroman caught up with Yen Press publisher Kurt Hassler at Anime Expo and talked to him about a bunch of things, including whether their digital-first licenses will go to print (maybe) and the decision to license Yowamushi Pedal:

Oh you know, there’s a lot of common wisdom in the industry that sports manga doesn’t work, but it’s very short-sighted not to challenge preconceptions, there’s obviously a huge Yowamushi fan base, I’ve seen any number of cosplayers, the anime has been a massive success…it’s one of those properties that we’ve had our eye on for a long time. We think the timing was right, we want to challenge the preconceived boundaries of what the market thinks it can do, and we think it has an excellent chance of being a highly successful title.

Justin also interviewed Viz editor Marlene First.

Ryan Holmberg writes about avant-garde manga artist Sasaki Maki; Holmberg has translated a collection of 15 Maki stories into English, and the book has just been published by Breakdown Press under the title Sasaki Maki’s Ding Dong Circus and Other Stories, 1967-1974.

ICv2 lists the top ten manga franchises.

The Manga Bookshelf team discuss their Pick of the Week.

Reviews: Ash Brown accounts for a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. Michelle Smith and Sean Gaffney provide short takes on recent releases in the latest Bookshelf Briefs from Manga Bookshelf.

Connie on vol. 6 of Ai no Kusabi (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 5 of Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz (Slightly Biased Manga)
Confusedmuse on Alice in the Country of Hearts (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 30 of Blade of the Immortal (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 55 of Case Closed (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 5 of Cross Game (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 5 of Demon Love Spell (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 1 of The Demon Prince of Momochi House (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 12 of Dengeki Daisy (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ren on vol. 1 of The Devils and the Realist (Fearless Facade)
Josh Begley on vol. 1 of Emma (omnibus edition) (The Fandom Post)
Kristin on Fragments of Horror (Comic Attack)
Tessa Barber on Gyo (No Flying, No Tights)
Lori Henderson on Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories (Good Comics for Kids)
Erica Friedman on Love Desu (Okazu)
Connie on vol. 8 of Love Pistols (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 3 of No. 6 (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 1 of Non Non Biyori (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Connie on vol. 4 of Phantom Thief Jeanne (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sarah on vol. 25 of Soul Eater (nagareboshi reviews)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 2 of Tokyo Ghoul (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Ultraman (ANN)

What is Attack on Titan really about? Vernieda Vergara puts it in context and discusses the social and political issues that Japanese readers might pick up on.

The folks at Sparkler Monthly are launching a Kickstarter to fund their third year. They have a lot of great premiums, and if you don’t want to be part of the Kickstarter, you can just get a plain ol’ membership instead. If you want to support global manga, this is the way to do it!

Taiyo Matsumoto will bring Sunny to an end in the July 27 issue of Monthly Spirits magazine; the fifth volume is due out on July 7 in North America.

The first volume of Tokyo Ghoul tops this week’s New York Times manga best-seller list, with vol. 70 of Naruto and vol. 5 of Seraph of the End in the number two and three spots. It’s worth noting that the first volume of Seraph is also on the list, which means new readers are still discovering it.

Erica Friedman has a special rainbows-and-weddings-infused edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Reviews

Sakura Eries on vol. 8 of Are You Alice? (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 13 of Blue Exorcist (WatchPlayRead)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 15 of Dorohedoro (The Fandom Post)
Marissa Lieberman on vol. 1 of Dragon Ball (3-in-1 edition) (No Flying, No Tights)
Kory Cerjak on vol. 45 of Fairy Tail (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Food Wars (WatchPlayRead)
Manjiorin on Gyo (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Richard Gutierrez on vol. 1 of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 6 of Judge (Comics Worth Reading)
Sarah on vol. 18 of Kamisama Kiss (nagareboshi reviews)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 14 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of LBX (The Comic Book Bin)
Kristin on vol. 2 of Master Keaton (Comic Attack)
Trisha on My Neighbor Seki (Guys Lit Wire)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Secret (Comics Worth Reading)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Seraph of the End (WatchPlayRead)
Erica Friedman on Strawberry Shake (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschiliman on vol. 11 of Voice Over: Seiyu Academy (WatchPlayRead)
Helen on Wish (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)

The next volume of Attack on Titan isn’t out till August—what do you read in the meantime? At the Barnes & Noble blog I suggest some manga that offer many of the same pleasures as Attack on Titan as well as a roundup of June releases.

Tokyopop is “evolving,” although it’s not clear what that means. In a blog post on the Tokyopop site, CEO Stu Levy writes cryptically about “rebuilding” Tokyopop in a different form; more concretely, they will have panels at Anime Expo and San Diego, so something may be afoot.

Udon has licensed the manga adaptation of the Persona4 game.

Shonen Jump will publish a short story by American creators Bikkuri and rem in this week’s issue; the story, “Folie À Deux,” was published on the Shonen Jump + app in Japan. Bikkuri and rem were the winners of the 2007 Morning International Manga Competition, and rem is the illustrator of Yen Press’s adaptation of Gail Carriger’s Soulless.

Vol. 70 of Naruto tops the New York Times manga best-seller list, with the latest volume of Deadman Wonderland coming in at number two.

The Seven Seas folks explain why it’s not a good idea to wait till the end of a series to buy all the volumes:

Due to reader attrition, sales drop off after each volume is released–this is a natural thing for almost any series. Unfortunately, due to smaller sales with each passing volume, vendors/retailers order less. When they order less, we print less. It’s a classic case of supply-and-demand.

At Contemporary Japanese Literature, Kathryn Hemmann writes about how shoujo manga has changed the American comics scene, in terms of both the comics we read and the way we read them.

Tony Yao writes about fandom and shipping in the context of Kiss Him, Not Me.

Scott Green rounds up some artists’ tributes to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Memories, including a CLAMP doujinshi.

News from Japan: Kodasha’s Shonen Magazine will run a one-shot prequel to the Avengers: Age of Ultron movie in its 31st issue. Moviegoers who see Boruto: Naruto the Movie in theaters in August will get a special booklet with a new one-shot story by Masashi Kishimoto, as well as the final chapter of Naruto in full color. Inio Asano is taking a break from his current series, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededededestruction, which runs in Big Comic Spirits; it will be back at the end of August. Shueisha has posted an entire issue of Shonen Jump for free on its app: Issue #34 from 1997, which launched One Piece. Unfortunately, it seems to be only available in Japan. It looks like Hiromu Arakawa’s Silver Spoon will be coming to an end shortly.

Reviews: Ash Brown recounts a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Black Rose Alice (The Comic Book Bin)
A Library Girl on Cold Sleep (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 46 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Ken H on Fragments of Horror (Sequential Ink)
Sakura Eries on vol. 18 of Goong (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Warner on vol. 7 of Inu x Boku SS (The Fandom Post)
Sakura Eries on vol. 3 of My Love Story!! (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of Nisekoi: False Love (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Tokyo Ghoul (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 9 of Until Death Do Us Part (The Fandom Post)

One Piece makes the Guinness Book of World Records, setting the record for the most copies printed of a single title by a single author—the number of copies of the different volumes of One Piece stands at over 320 million. In a written statement, manga-ka Eiichiro Oda said, “Manga is an amusing way to pass time, but when I receive reports that say ‘through One Piece I made friends,’ or ‘through One Piece I found my sweetheart,’ I am really happy. I feel like this record number has the possibility to bring the same number of people together. I will not forget my predecessors in the manga world, the colleagues whom I work with, and my readers, and from now on I want to continue to draw a work that will not shame this record.”

At Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, Justin talks to four manga designers about their work.

The latest volumes of Naruto, Assassination Classroom, and Fairy Tail top this week’s New York Times manga best-seller list.

Also, in case you’re wondering, the Naruto spinoff is only going to be one volume long.

Lori Henderson has a license request: Mythical Detective Loki, please!

Kadokawa is publishing a bilingual English-Japanese edition of Sherlock: Pink-iro no Kenkyū, which is based on the BBC’s Sherlock series featuring Benedict Cumberbatch.

News from Japan: Bloody Cross will come to an end next month.

Reviews: Jocelyne Allen writes about Tsukuroitatsu Hito, a manga about sewing, at Brain Vs Book. Ash Brown looks back at the week in manga at Experiments in Manga.

Matthew Warner on vol. 6 of Bloody Cross (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Black Lagoon (The Comic Book Bin)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 3 of The Heroic Legend of Arslan (The Fandom Post)
Kristin on vols. 2-4 of Kiss of the Rose Princess (Comic Attack)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of My Love Story!! (The Comic Book Bin)
John Rose on vol. 4 of Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro (The Fandom Post)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Spell of Desire (Comics-and-More)
Matthew Warner on vol. 1 of Sword Art Online: Girls Ops (The Fandom Post)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Tokyo Ghoul (Comic Attack)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 37 of Vagabond (The Comic Book Bin)
Erica Friedman on Watashi no Kiraina Otomodachi: Fatal Lies (Okazu)

Crunchyroll is adding Unlimited Fafnir to its digital manga lineup.

Viz announced last week that they will publish a print edition of One Punch Man, and Zainab Akhtar explains why she’s pysched. this series is nominated for an Eisner Award, and as far as I can tell it’s the first digital-first manga to get the nomination.

The Manga Bookshelf team takes a look at this week’s new manga.

One Piece is taking a week off.

One volume or another (usually more than one volume, actually) of Attack on Titan has been on the New York Times manga best-seller list for 100 weeks now.

If you missed the Avengers/Attack on Titan crossover comic that came out on Free Comic Book Day, you can now download it for free.

Erica Friedman posts the latest Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Matthew Meylikhov counts down ten manga everyone should have on their shelves. Of course, the main purpose of a list like this, I always say, is to give people something to argue about, and the readers deliver in the comments.

Sean Kleefeld posts an interesting video about the history of manhwa and North Korean comics.

13th Dimension has an exclusive preview up of Batmanga #49.

News from Japan: ANN has a list of the biggest print runs from three of the biggest manga publishers in Japan. Tohru Fujisawa is taking a break from his latest GTO spinoff GTO: Paradise Lost, until this winter. The 13th volume of Five Star Stories will be out in July, the first volume in nine years.

Reviews

G.B. Smith on vol. 2 of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan (The Fandom Post)
Ken H on Dream Fossil (Sequential Ink)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 14 of Itsuwaribito (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 21 of Kimi ni Todoke (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Steve Bennett on The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (ICv2)
Laura on vols. 1 and 2 of Love at Fourteen (Heart of Manga)
A Library Girl on Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Matthew Warner on vol. 6 of Say I Love You (The Fandom Post)
Julia Smith on vol. 2 of Spell of Desire (The Fandom Post)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 6 of Wolfsmund (ANN)

Drawn and Quarterly announced seven new volumes of Shigeru Mizuki’s Kitaro manga today. All will be in a “kid-friendly” format—standard manga trim size, 150 pages, black and white, $12.95 per volume—and each will collect new (to us) short stories from Mizuki’s extensive back catalog, translated by Zack Davisson, who will also contribute an essay to each volume. The first one, Birth of Kitaro, a collection of early stories, will be out in March 2016, and D+Q will issue a new one each season after that.

Also, more digital license rescues from Viz, which has picked up three former Tokyopop titles: Welcome to the NHK, Metamo Kiss, and AiON.

Justin Stroman talks to MangaBlog’s own Kate Dacey at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses. Learn how Kate got her start as a manga blogger, why she took a break, and what she’s doing now that she has jumped back in!

Also at OASG, Justin talks to translator Dan Luffey, who worked on Manga Reborn for a while and has translated over 1,000 chapters of manga.

The Manga Bookshelf team discuss their Picks of the Week. Lori Henderson gives her take on this week’s new releases—just call it shoujo-riffic!—at Manga Xanadu. Lori also says farewell to three series that are drawing to a close.

Laura looks at the new shoujo titles debuting in June at Heart of Manga.

Caitlin McGurk of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University interviews Maureen Donovan, OSU’s Japanese Studies librarian, who is retiring after 37 years on the job, part of which involved establishing one of the premier manga collections in the U.S.

News from Japan: Apparently there’s no such thing as too much Naruto: Saikyo Jump magazine has announced that Kenji Taira, creator of the Naruto spinoffs Rock Lee no Seishun Full-Power Ninden and Uchiha Sasuke no Sharingan Den, will create a manga based on the new movie Boruto -Naruto the Movie- for the September issue. Detective Conan (Case Closed) is going on hiatus for a few weeks. ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings as well as the top selling manga for the first half of the year by volume and by series.

Reviews: At Brain Vs. Book, Jocelyne Allen takes a peek inside the massive tome that is vol. 1 of Comitia 30th Chronicle, a collection of comics honoring the 30th anniversary of this massive doujinshi festival. Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith go over some recent releases in the latest Bookshelf Briefs column at Manga Bookshelf. Ash Brown looks back at a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Matthew Warner on vols. 2 and 3 of Ani-Imo (The Fandom Post)
Kory Cerjak on vol. 1 of The Devil Is a Part-Timer (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of Food Wars (The Comic Book Bin)
Ken H on vols. 43-48 of Fairy Tail (Sequential Ink)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 6 of Food Wars (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Magi (The Comic Book Bin)
Sakura Eries on vol. 2 of Milkyway Hitchhiking (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 3 of Prophecy (Comics Worth Reading)
Julia Smith on vol. 2 of Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire (The Fandom Post)
John Rose on vol. 3 of Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro (The Fandom Post)
Anna N on vol. 1 of So Cute It Hurts! (Manga Report)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Terra Formars (Lesley’s Musings… on Manga)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 1 of Trinity Seven (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 10 of Umineko When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on vol. 3 of What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Okazu)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 7 and 8 of What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Comics Worth Reading)