Manga Bookshelf

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Last week at Manga Bookshelf

Holiday Happenings at Manga Bookshelf

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snowflakes2Happy New Year, Manga Bookshelf readers and friends! Thank you so much for being here with us and giving us so much encouragement and support over the past year. Since many of us are just returning to our regular daily lives after the holidays, here’s a quick rundown of everything that happened here at Manga Bookshelf over the last week!

The “Best of” lists have begun! Sean, Michelle, Anna, and I each made a Pick of the Year and I posted the first two installments of my three-part series here at Manga Bookshelf:

MJ’s Best Manga of 2012, Part 1 (“Best New Print Manga” & “Best New Digital-Only Manga”)
MJ’s Best Manga of 2012, Part 2 (“Best Continuing Manga” & “Best Concluding Manga”)

Look for Part 3 sometime over the next week!

I also posted a holiday edition of My Week in Manga, featuring all the manga I found under the tree this year.

At the Manga Bookshelf forums, reader Gerichan and I discussed all four current volumes of Odagiri Hotaru’s The Betrayal Knows My Name. Our holiday book club schedule ran through the week, but please feel free to chime in anytime and continue the discussion! Also in the forums, I asked “What’s your most anticipated manga of 2013?” and Matt Blind wants to know about your 2013 Manga Resolutions!

Sean posted a slew of reviews last week, including: Kaoru Mori: Anything and Something, Blood Lad, Vol. 1, Higurashi When They Cry, Vol. 20, and Nisekoi, Vol. 1. Meanwhile, the Battle Robot collaborated on two new batches of Bookshelf Briefs (12/24/12 & 12/31/12). We also checked out this week’s new print manga and the next two weeks’ worth of offerings from JManga.

And finally, writing from Taiwan, Sara K. shared two new installments of her column “It Came from the Sinosphere,” first on Lai An’s manhua series Angel Hair and then on the Taiwanese idol drama Full Count.

More to come as we dig into the New Year! I hope you’ll join us!

Last week at Manga Bookshelf, 7/29-8/04

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Here’s what you may have missed at Manga Bookshelf last week, July 29th-August 4th!

After the previous week’s outpouring of CLAMP, last week belonged to Manga Bookshelf’s regular contributors and their diverse collection of topics.

From the main blog:

The Battle Robot shared our Pick of the Week and filed a new installment of Bookshelf Briefs.

On August 1st (aka “Yaoi Day”), I blogged about BL manga and privilege.

Matt Blind checked out online manga bestsellers from the weeks ending July 8th, July 15th, and July 22nd.

This month in “Magazine no Mori,” Erica Friedman talked about the “slightly eccentric” Young King Ours.

In the latest installment of “It Came from the Sinosphere,” Sara K. shared her thoughts on Jin Yong’s wuxia novel The Fox Volant of Snow Mountain.

Anna, Emily, Eva, and Nancy take on the K-drama Big in their latest edition of “Bringing the Drama.”

In last week’s “Combat Commentary,” Derek Bown gave us an overview of the fighting in One Piece.

Angela Eastman compared the novel and graphic novel versions of Darren Shan’s Cirque Du Freak in her latest “Comic Conversion” column.

And guest contributor Justin Stroman talks about Olympic gymnast Kouhei Uchimura in Manga, and the Olympic Inspiration.

From The Manga Critic:

Kate reported on Vertical’s license announcements from Otakon and VIZ’s summer manga sale, and reviewed volumes 3-5 of Dawn of the Arcana.

From A Case Suitable for Treatment:

Sean reviewed Soul Eater Not!, Vol. 1 and Jiu Jiu, Vol. 1. He also took a look at Manga the Week of 8/8, and shared some news about the upcoming Looney Tunes Platinum Collection 2.

From MangaBlog:

Brigid’s linkblogging last week included Looking back at Kodansha’s first year and Happy Yaoi Day!

Last week at Manga Bookshelf, July 22nd-28th

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Here’s what you may have missed at Manga Bookshelf last week, July 22nd-28th!

CLAMP was the keyword of the week, as we hosted July’s Manga Moveable Feast focusing on their work. These were the contributions from Manga Bookshelf bloggers:

You can find the full archive of posts here.

In other news….

From the main blog:

Matt Blind checked out online manga bestsellers from the weeks ending June 17th and June 24th.

In the latest installment of “It Came from the Sinosphere,” Sara K. looked at the idol drama Autumn’s Concerto.

From The Manga Critic:

Kate asked, Who’s Your Favorite Female Shonen Artist?

From A Case Suitable for Treatment:

Sean reviewed Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Vol. 6, The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, Vol. 1, and Angel Para Bellum, Vol. 1. He also took a look at Manga the Week of 8/1.

From MangaBlog:

Back from SDCC, Brigid did some linking with San Diego recap & some things to look forward to, Viz speaks!, and News from JManga, new manga on the shelves.

Last week at Manga Bookshelf, July 15th-21st

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Here’s what you may have missed at Manga Bookshelf last week, July 15th-21st!

From the main blog:

The Battle Robot files another installment of Bookshelf Briefs. We also make our Pick of the Week.

Matt Blind looks at online manga bestsellers from the week ending June 10th, 2012.

Derek Bown continues his Comment Commentary column with some strong words about Naruto.

In last week’s “It Came From the Sinosphere,” Sara K. introduces us to the Taiwanese comics anthology Creative Comics Collection.

From The Manga Critic:

Kate reports on new Yen Press licenses. She also takes a look at Laurianne Uy’s new comic Polterguys.

From A Case Suitable for Treatment:

Sean rounds up manga news from San Diego Comic Con. He also reviews Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz, Vol. 1, One Piece, Vol. 63, Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Vol. 35, and Wonder!, Vol. 2 He also takes a look at Manga the Week of 7/25.

From MangaBlog:

Still holding down the fort, Kate provides us with some Monday morning manga links, as well as a batch for Wednesday.

Last week at Manga Bookshelf, July 8th-14th

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With so much going on here these days, it seemed time to establish a weekly roundup. Here’s what you may have missed at Manga Bookshelf last week, July 8th-14th!

From the main blog:

The Battle Robot each chose a Pick of the Week and filed a new installment of Bookshelf Briefs.

Megan checked out The Comic Book History of Comics and Chicks Dig Comics, while Sean continued his Kliban excavation in Not By Manga Alone: Supreme and other drawings.

Sara K. continued her exploration of Chinese-language pop culture with a look at the Taiwanese feature film Cheerful Wind in last week’s installment of It Came From the Sinosphere.

Matt Blind caught up on two more manga bestseller lists, covering the weeks ending May 27th and June 3rd.

Finally, Michelle and I discussed three supernatural shoujo series—Natsume’s Book of Friends, La Corda d’Oro, and Jiu Jiu in last week’s Off the Shelf: Communicable Crankiness.

From The Manga Critic:

Kate reviewed two Vertical titles this week—volume two of The Flowers of Evil and the single volume josei manga Sakuran. She also shared details on VIZ’s new android app.

From A Case Suitable for Treatment:

Sean checked out volume three of Hetalia Axis Powers from the semi-revived Tokyopop and Olympos from Yen Press, and shared his thoughts on this week’s upcoming manga.

From MangaBlog:

Brigid shared some links, including news about the upcoming Sailor Moon anime, before heading off to San Diego. Kate tends the store in Brigid’s absence.

Offsite:

Brigid talked about manga with a reporter at The Boston Globe, and Sara K. shared some insights on learning to read Chinese (recommendation: comics!) at Hacking Chinese.