MangaBlog

Hey guys, sorry I sorta disappeared last week. A late-night trip to the Emergency Room ripped a hole in what was already a busy week. No worries, everyone’s fine, but it took me a few days to catch up on sleep and missed work. I’ll be rounding up all the past week’s manga news today and tomorrow to bring everyone up to date.

I took a look at the past week’s new manga releases at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo made her recommendations in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney looks over the new titles for this coming Wednesday at A Case Suitable for Treatment.

This year’s New York Comic-Con will have a significant manga presence, with guest appearances by Yoshitaka Amano (Vampire Hunter D), Moyoco Anno, Masakazu Ishiguro (Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru) and Toshio Maeda (Urotsukidoji, La Blue Girl). Sean Gaffney posts his schedule for the con, and it’s probably pretty close to what I will be doing too.

Manga-ka Shuho Sato has been messing with the publishing paradigm in Japan for a few years, and now he is bringing it to English-language readers, allowing Give My Regards to Black Jack (a.k.a. Say Hello to Black Jack) to be serialized on Facebook (for free) and Kindle (for $2.99 per volume).

Jason Thompson reads all 23 volumes of Fruits Basket in one go, and liveblogs his reactions, in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN. Warning: SPOILERS, although not too many.

Shuho Sato’s Give My Regards to Black Jack (known in some circles as Say Hello to Black Jack) is now available via the Amimaru Facebook app and on the Kindle. I’ll admit I sprung for the Kindle version because it’s easier to use and at $2.99 per volume, very reasonably priced.

Writer Sean Michael Wilson (the editor of the English edition of the AX anthology) and artist Chie Kuwada are working on a graphic adaptation of the martial arts novel The Book of Five Rings. Wilson and Kuwada previously teamed up on another adaptation, Hagakure: The Code of the Samurai.

Kelakagandy posts a license wish list for Shojo Beat.

Erica Friedman takes a look at the Kadokawa Shoten magazine Monthly Comp Ace.

Tomo Kimura has a peek at the Black Butler bathroom poster that came as an extra in the last two issues of GFantasy magazine. There’s even a pun!

Matt Blind has the list of manga best-sellers from the week ending September 2.

News from Japan: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure creator Hirohiko Araki will contribute a one-shot story, purportedly written by his character Rohan Kishibe, to the October 6 issue of Shonen Jump. Manga-ka Takeshi Nogami (known for his Strike Witches doujinshi) has launched a new online manga, Marine Corps Yumi,

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

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Arata: The Legend (The Comic Book Bin)
Sakura Eries on vol. 13 of Bakuman (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of Case Closed (Blogcritics)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Good Comics for Kids)
Kate Dacey on vol. 4 of A Devil and Her Love Song (The Manga Critic)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 4 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Kuriousity)
Kelakagandy on vol. 10 of Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden (kelakagandy’s ramblings)
Carlo Santos on vol. 4 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (ANN)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 14 of GTO: The Early Years (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 7-9 of Hana-Kimi (omnibus edition) (ANN)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 20 of Hayate the Combat Butler (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 58 of Naruto (The Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 8 of Omamori Himamori (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Punch Up! (I Reads You)
Jocelyne Allen on Rokunomiya Himeko no Higeki (Brain Vs. Book)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Sand Chronicles (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Tenjho Tenge (Full Contact Edition) (The Comic Book Bin)
Shannon Fay on Tesoro (Kuriousity)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Wandering Son (Blogcritics)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 1 and 2 of Young Miss Holmes (omnibus edition)
Ash Brown on Yurei Attack: The Japanese Ghost Survival Guide (Experiments in Manga)

Sean Gaffney looks ahead to this week’s new releases.

This month’s Manga Moveable Feast is hosted by Anna Neatrour at Manga Report and features Shojo Beat manga. To get us in the mood, Anna shows off her collection of Shojo Beat magazines.

At Heart of Manga, Laura posts the transcript of what sounds like a very lively panel featuring Arina Tanemura at Animefest 2012.

Erica Friedman has the latest Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Kate Dacey looks at an historical oddity, an unauthorized Astro Boy comic published by Gold Key that bears very little resemblance to Tezuka’s creation.

Speaking of Tezuka, Kate is giving away a copy of Message to Adolf at The Manga Critic; drop by and tell her your favorite Tezuka manga for a chance to win.

Reviews

John Rose on vol. 12 of 13th Boy (The Fandom Post)
Ash Brown on vol. 13 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Lissa Pattillo on vols. 46 and 47 of Bleach (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 47 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Erica Friedman on the September issue of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 6 of Cross Game (Comics Worth Reading)
TSOTE on Disappearance Diary (Three Steps Over Japan)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 7 of Dorohedoro (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 7 of Dorohedoro (The Fandom Post)
Alexander Hoffman on vol. 4 of House of Five Leaves (Manga Village)
Ken Haley on Hush a Bye Baby (Sequential Ink)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Library Wars: Love and War (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 64 of One Piece (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Oresama Teacher (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 13 of Otomen (Kuriousity)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 6 of Sailor Moon (Kuriousity)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 7 of Sailor Moon (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-5 of St. Dragon Girl (Manga Xanadu)
John Rose on vol. 1 of Soul Eater NOT! (The Fandom Post)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Young Miss Holmes (Manga Xanadu)

Lissa Pattillo looks at this week’s new releases in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

Good news for fans of Viz’s more mature series: They have put nine mature-rated series, including Nana, Tenjho Tenge, and Dorohedoro, on their Vizmanga.com website at the standard price of $4.99 per volume.

At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao has resolved to read more shoujo manga, and the readers offer some suggestions.

Three Steps Over Japan hits the magazine rack to check out Dragon Age, Comic Blade, Monthly Rival, and Newtype and Dragon.

Reviews: Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at A Fish Crawls on Land, by Hideo Azuma, the creator of Disappearance Diary.

Anna on Apartments of Calle Feliz (Manga Report)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan (Manga Widget)
Connie on vol. 7 of Dorohedoro (Slightly Biased Manga)
Drew McCabe on vol. 1 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Comic Attack)
John Rose on vol. 20 of Hayate the Combat Butler (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 7 of Itazura Na Kiss (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 41 of Oh My Goddess (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschilman on vol. 24 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Michael Buntag on vol. 4 of Sailor Moon (NonSensical Words)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 10 of Soul Eater (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 7 of Tenjho Tenge (omnibus edition) (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 2 of X (omnibus edition) (Slightly Biased Manga)

Lissa Pattillo picks the best of the latest manga releases in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. The Manga Village team reviews their picks as well.

And the Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their pick of this week’s new titles at Midtown Comics.

Check out the trailer for Yen Press’s Interview with the Vampire: Claudia’s Story.

Kate Dacey has a nice little Q&A on the history of modern manga at The Bubblegum Post. Over at The Hooded Utilitarian, Kate Dacey joins their roundtable on the worst comics ever with her take on Gandhi: A Manga Biography.

Jason Thompson devotes this week’s House of 1000 Manga column to the totally awesome Genju no Seiza.

Erica Friedman posts the latest Yuri Network News update at Okazu.

Reviews: It’s time for Bookshelf Briefs at Manga Bookshelf. Ash Browh has the weekly manga report at Experiments in Manga. Other reviews of note:

John Rose on vol. 10 of Black Butler (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 46 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Dorohedoro (I Reads You)
Milo on vols. 1-4 of Fist of the Blue Sky (Blog of the North Star)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (The Comic Book Bin)
Adam Stephanides on vols. 1 and 2 of I Am the Beatles (Boku Wa Biitoruzu) (Completely Futile)
Brigid Alverson on vol. 1 of Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries (MTV Geek)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 13 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 63 of One Piece (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Oreimo (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 13 of Otomen (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Manga Xanadu)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 4 of Toradora (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Anna on vols. 1 and 2 of Twelve Hour Ruler (Manga Report)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 10 of Twin Spica (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 7 of Tyrant Falls in Love (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ash Brown on Wolf (Experiments in Manga)

Yen Press has licensed Yoshiki Tonogai’s horror manga Doubt, which it will publish in omnibus form; the series is up to volume 5 in Japan.

The next chapter of Barrage to run in Weekly Shonen Jump will be the last, which means that the series will wind up for North American readers of Shonen Jump Alpha two weeks later.

Sean Gaffney takes a look at next week’s new manga releases.

Laura takes a look at the newest shoujo series heading our way in September at Heart of Manga.

Three Steps Over Japan continues its barrage of magazine posts with commentary on Weekly Young Jump and G-Fantasy.

News from Japan: Tachibana Higuchi is wrapping up Gakuen Alice, which has been running for ten years now; the final chapter will appear in an upcoming issue of Hana to Yume.

Reviews

Sean Gaffney on vol. 6 of Bunny Drop (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo (Okazu)
Anna on vol. 1 of Lady Lady (Manga Report)
Drew McCabe on vol. 5 of Psyren (Comic Attack)
Ken Haley on vol. 6 of Rurouni Kenshin (VizBig edition) (Sequential Ink)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of Soul Eater NOT (Manga Widget)

ICv2 reports that Hasbro will not be releasing the Duel Masters manga in the U.S. in conjunction with its Kaijudo trading card game (which is a reboot of the original Duel Masters) because they want people to follow the new version, not the older one.

Bandai Entertainment, which announced it would stop publishing new manga and anime last January, has announced it will discontinue sales of manga and anime as of this fall.

Dave Ferraro and Patrick Markfort discuss two Shigeru Mizuki manga, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths and NonNonBa, in their latest podcast at Comics-and-More.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at Comic Ryuu.

News from Japan: Dance in the Vampire Bund is returning to Comic Flapper for a new mini-series, to be followed by a new second story arc. The series Dolls, by manga-ka duo naked ape (Switch) will end in the November issue of Monthly Comic Zero-Sum.

Reviews

Kate O’Neil on chapters 12 and 13 of Barrage (The Fandom Post)
Kate Haddock on Blue Exorcist (The Collegian)
John Rose on vol. 1 of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Kuchibiru Tameiki Sakurairo (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 23 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)

At the Eeeper’s Choice Podcast site, Phillip wraps up the Kurosagi Corpse Deliver Service edition of the Manga Moveable Feast with an overview of vols. 9-12 and a final roundup of posts.

And now on to the next one: Anna will host the next MMF, which will focus on Shojo Beat manga, at her site, Manga Report. And she’s kicking it off with a manga giveaway!

Erica Friedman brings us the latest Yuri Network News update and post what looks like the beginning of a series on the history of Yuri.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Picks of the Week, and Matt Blind counts down the latest Manga Bestsellers (online sales).

The Manga Villagers make the best of last week’s slim pickings.

With Japanese anti-piracy laws possibly threatening posts that include manga images, Three Steps Over Japan kicks into overdrive with inside looks at three manga magazines: Monthly Zenon, Monthly Comic Alive, and Comic Heaven.

News from Japan: Good news for fans of Sherlock: Young Ace will launch a manga series based on the BBC show.

Reviews: It’s Monday, time for a new set of Bookshelf Briefs at Manga Bookshelf! Ash Brown shares a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Angelic Layer (Blogcritics)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 14 of Bamboo Blade (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Carlo Santos on vols. 44 and 45 of Bleach (ANN)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 20 of Claymore (The Fandom Post)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 6 of Durarara!! (Kuriousity)
Nicola on vol. 4 of Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Back to Books)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of Itsuwaribito (The Comic Book Bin)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 3 of Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Drew McCabe on vols. 56 and 57 of Naruto (Comic Attack)
Lori Henderson on Olympos (Manga Xanadu)
TSOTE on vol. 7 of Saibara-Dake (Three Steps Over Japan)
John Rose on vol. 8 of Tenjho Tenge (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Toriko (The Comic Book Bin)

It may be the last week of summer vacation, but there are plenty of new manga to get you through the long weekend, as I observed on MTV Geek. Sean Gaffney checks out a bountiful list of next week’s new manga.

Shaenon Garrity fills in for Jason Thompson on this week’s House of 1000 Manga column at ANN, with a discussion of Tokyopop’s short-lived josei manga imprint Passion Fruit.

Philip wraps up this month’s Manga Moveable Feast with roundups of days 5 and 6 of posts about The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service.

Ash Brown is giving away a copy of vol. 1 of Read or Dream at Experiments in Manga.

Reviews

Lissa Pattillo on vol. 12 of 13th Boy (Kuriousity)
Lori Henderson on vol. 5 of Ai Ore (Manga Village)
Erica Friedman on vol. 7 of Aoi Hana (Okazu)
John Rose on vol. 3 of Gate 7 (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit (The Comic Book Bin)
John Rose on vol. 1 of Oreimo (The Fandom Post)
Michelle Smith and MJ on Sakuran (Manga Bookshelf)

At Eeeper’s Choice, Philip rounds up the links for Day 4 of the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service edition of the Manga Moveable Feast.

Erica Friedman discusses how yuri, unlike all other manga genres, has broken free of the standard manga demographics.

News from Japan: Duel Masters Rev., a manga adaptation of the Duel Masters game, launches this week in Shonen Sunday. GTO creator Tohru Fujisawa and his collaborators have ended their manga Hachikō-Mae -another side-, which ran in the digital magazine Dengeki Comic Japan.

Reviews: Carlo Santos delivers the verdict on a stack of recent releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

Connie on vol. 21 of 20th Century Boys (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 4 of The Betrayal Knows My Name (The Fandom Post)
Sheena McNeil on vols. 46 and 47 of Bleach (Sequential Tart)
Connie on vol. 1 of Castle Mango (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 20 of Claymore (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of The Earl and the Fairy (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 3 of Gate 7 (Kuriousity)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 20 of Hayate the Combat Butler (Sequential Tart)
Connie on Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 7 of Ooku (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 9 of Rin-ne (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Sailor Moon (Blogcritics)

Philip brings us a roundup of links from Day 3 of the Manga Moveable Feast, which this month features The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service.

Erica Friedman has news of three more yuri titles coming to JManga.

At Fist of the North Star, Milo takes a look at a side of Jiro Taniguchi that is unfamiliar to those of us who read his work in English: The side that delights in drawing men punching other men.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at Bessatsu Shonen Magajin, the magazine home of Attack on Titan, Animal Land, and The Flowers of Evil.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks back on a week of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 13 of Bakuman (I Reads You)
Kristin on vols. 42 and 43 of Bleach (Comic Attack)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 6 of Dorohedoro (The Fandom Post)
Ken Haley on vol. 12 of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Sequential Ink)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 22 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Alex Hoffman on Wolf (Manga Widget)
Lori Henderson on vols. 6 and 7 of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (Good Comics for Kids)

This month’s Manga Moveable Feast is being hosted by Philip of the Eeeper’s Choice Podcast, and he has jumped right in with an overview of the series as a whole, individual overviews of vols. 1-4 and vols. 5-8, and link roundups for Day 1 and Day 2.

The Manga Village team picks the best of the past week’s new releases.

Jason Thompson is going with a Seven Deadly Sins theme in his House of 1000 Manga column at ANN, and this week he goes with “Lust,” counting down seven sexy manga that are more perversion than porn.

Erica Friedman presents a new episode of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

MJ and Michelle Smith discuss their favorite yaoi in their latest BL Bookrack column at Manga Bookshelf.

Also at Manga Bookshelf, Matt Blind looks at some up-and-coming manga in his latest Manga Radar feature.

And finally, Manga Bookshelf is polling its readers to see if they want a forum. Vote now or forever hold your peace.

News from Japan: According to the retailer Mangaoh, vol. 15 of Gunslinger Girl will be the last one. Manga-ka Yoshinori Kobayashi, best known for his manga defending Japan’s role in World War II, has called for Japan to abandon nuclear power, aligning himself with a movement that mostly occupies the opposite end of the political spectrum from his usual roost.

Reviews

Lori Henderson on vols. 12 and 13 of Bakuman (Manga Xanadu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of A Devil and Her Love Song (I Reads You)
John Rose on vol. 3 of D.Gray-Man (The Fandom Post)
John on issue 14 of GEN (AnimeNation Anime News)
Laura on vol. 1 of Jiu Jiu (Heart of Manga)
Diana Dang on vol. 1 of Kamisama Kazoku (Stop, Drop, and Read)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 20 of Kaze Hikaru (The Comic Book Bin)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Experiments in Manga)
Anna on vol. 8 of Library Wars: Love and War (Manga Report)
AstroNerdBoy on vols. 7 and 8 of Rin-ne (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Sailor Moon (Blogcritics)
TSOTE on The Three-Eyed One (Three Steps Over Japan)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 11 of Toriko (Kuriousity)
Jocelyne Allen on vol. 1 of Wet Moon (Brain Vs Book)
Linda on Wolf (Anime Diet)

New manga time! I check out the latest releases at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo gives her picks in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney looks forward to next week’s new release—yeah, that’s not a typo. Midtown Comics has just one new manga title next week.

It’s not manga, but definitely of interest to manga readers: Matt Alt and Hiroko Yoda, the husband-and-wife team behind Yokai Attack, talk up their new book, Yurei Attack! The Japanese Ghost Survival Guide, at Crunchyroll.

Ash Brown talks about buying manga at RightStuf.

Shuho Sato, who has experimented with a number of different publication strategies for his Say Hello to Black Jack, is going to stop enforcing his copyright on the series after September 15, allowing people to copy, remix, and reuse the manga. He is even going so far as to allow a copier at an upcoming exhibit of his work, so people can copy the pages.

News from Japan: A woman who submitted manga to Shonen Jump claims that an editor touched her and made suggestive comments to her on two different occasions. The Sept. 5 issue of Margaret will feature Jitsuroku! Fudanjuku Monogatari, a 12-page, full-color manga by Arina Tanemura. Umineko When They Cry artist Sōichirō will draw a new manga based on the game Rose Guns Days for Square Enix’s Gangan Joker magazine.

Reviews

Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 11 of Arata: The Legend (Sequential Tart)
Karen Maeda on vol. 10 of Dengeki Daisy (Sequential Tart)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Soul Eater Not! (ANN)

Rebecca Silverman gets the interview we all dream of, a sit-down with Naoki Urasawa (Monster, Pluto, 20th Century Boys).

The latest Manga Out Loud podcast features guests MJ, Kate Dacey, William Flanagan, and Shaenon Garrity discussing CLAMP with host Ed Sizemore.

Matt Blind compiles the big list of manga best-sellers for the past week, and he looks forward to some new manga releases in the next six months in his Manga Radar column.

At Blog of the North Star, Milo kicks off a multi-part appreciation of Ken Ishikawa, who started his career as Go Nagai’s assistant.

Jeff Blagdon reports in from Comiket, in a story that makes me sorta glad I didn’t go but happy that he did.

The Asahi Shimbun reports on JManga’s translation contest—and quotes Deb Aoki.

News from Japan: Robotics;Notes – Rival Legacy, the fourth spin-off the visual Robotics;Notes visual novel, has launched in Ultra Jump. Manga-ka Azure Konno (Koe de Oshigoto) and Ayami Kazama (The World I Create) announced their marriage via Twitter yesterday.

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

Lori Henderson on vol. 13 of Black Bird (Manga Village)
Kristin on vols. 38 and 39 of Bleach (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 5 of A Certain Scientific Railgun (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Milo on Doll the Hotel Detective (Blog of the North Star)
Ken Haley on Dolls Don’t Cry (Sequential Ink)
John Rose on vol. 6 of Kobato (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on Metersarete Kya (Okazu)
Alex Hoffman on MW (Manga Widget)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Warner on vol. 5 of Psyren (The Fandom Post)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Soul Eater NOT (Kuriousity)
Kristin on vol. 11 of Toriko (Comic Attack)

The Manga Village team gives their thoughts on the past week’s new releases, and the Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss the relative merits of this week’s new manga.

MJ and Michelle Smith discuss the end of 13th Boy in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Erica Friedman rounds up the latest yuri happenings in this week’s episode of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Tony Yao looks at the laziness of Nara Shikamaru (of Naruto) and how that can be a good thing.

Johanna Draper Carlson has a shopping tip that could save you money if you’re looking for vol. 1 of Wandering Son.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at the monthly magazine Dengeki Bunko.

Congratulations to Ash Brown on two years of Experiments in Manga!

Reviews: New volumes of Ai Ore, Bunny Drop, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica are among the short reviews in this week’s Bookshelf Briefs column at Manga Bookshelf.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 45 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 6 of Bunny Drop (Kuriousity)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Dragon Knights (Blogcritics)
Jocelyne Allen on Hon no Sukoshi no Mizu (Brain Vs. Book)
Anna on vols. 1 and 2 of Late Advent (Manga Report)
Anna on vol. 10 of Oresama Teacher and vol. 4 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Manga Report)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 21 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Starting with a Kiss (I Reads You)

JManga celebrates its first birthday today by launching a new site, JManga7, that will carry a wide variety of manga by the chapter. The site will be updated daily, and as volumes are completed they will be taken off the site and made available for purchase on JManga. There’s no content up yet—that will be along in October—but you can pre-register now, which will enter you in a contest for a Nexus 7 tablet or a free subscription. I talked JManga business manager Robert Newman about the new site at Comic-Con, so check that interview for more details.

Also, if you sign up with JManga today, they will give you 600 points for free–sort of a reverse birthday present.

Volume 14 of Neon Genesis Evangelion will apparently be the last, according to the French publisher.

Jason Thompson takes a look at the classic manga Trigun in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Helen McCarthy takes a look at Charles Wirgman, who published the satirical magazine Japan Punch in the 19th century and helped shape Japanese cartooning forever.

I know we’re preaching to the converted here, but in case you need more reinforcement, Molly McIsaac explains why you should read manga.

News from Japan: Sakuran creator Moyoco Anno is working on a new series, set in France, and she will discuss the details in a lecture at Ikebukuro Community College in December. Kazuya Minekura will go back to work on Wild Adapter next spring, after a two-year break due to health reasons.

Reviews: Carlo Santos takes a quick look at the newest releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

Lissa Pattillo on vol. 13 of Bakuman (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 44 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Anonymous on vols. 1 and 2 of The Flowers of Evil (Stumptown Trade Review)
Steve Bennett on vol. 1 of Genshiken: Second Season (ICv2)
Kristin on vol. 14 of Vampire Knight (Comic Attack)