Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

NYCC

The Manga Review, 10/14/22

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Historically, New York Comic Con was the event for big licensing announcements, but in recent years manga publishers have focused more on promoting their best-selling series than on unveiling new acquisitions. While this year’s event yielded some licensing news–VIZ, for example, revealed that it would be publishing a new Spiderman manga–the bigger story is that many companies are casting their nets widely for new content. “One notable trend,” Deb Aoki observes, “is the growth of webtoons, including comics content originally from Korea and China, and original comics created by a wave of international creators featured on such mobile comics platforms such as Webtoon, Tapas Media, Manta, Lezhin, and Tappytoon.” Yen Press, in particular, was enthusiastically promoting its new Korean comics imprint Ize Press, which will release its first titles this fall. Will readers embrace Korean comics this time around? Hard to say, but given the current wave of teen interest in Korean music, television, and movies, it’s not a stretch to imagine that Yen Press will find a more receptive audience for manhwa than it did ten or fifteen years ago. Stay tuned…

NEWS AND VIEWS

For the second year in a row, Chainsaw Man won the Harvey Award for Best Manga, beating out Blood on the Tracks, Blue Lock, Cat + Gamer, Red Flowers, and Spy x Family. [The Beat]

Seven Seas announced three new additions to its spring 2023 schedule: Last Game, The Great Snake’s Bride, and A Story of Seven Lives. [Seven Seas]

Erica Friedman files a report from New York Comic Con. [Okazu]

Whether you’re new to manga or just want to refresh your library’s collection, Sara Smith has you covered. Join her for Manga 101 at this year’s SLJ Summit. [SLJ Summit 2022]

If you listen to only one podcast this week, make it the latest episode of Mangasplaining, which focuses on Jun Mayuzuki’s Kowloon Generic Romance. Come for the thoughtful commentary, stay for the fascinating history lesson on the neighborhood that inspired the story. [Mangasplaining]

Ashley and Asher jump in the WABAC machine for a look at Yuu Watase’s Absolute Boyfriend. [Shojo & Tell]

The latest Taiiku Podcast focuses on When a Cat Faces West and Reincarnated as a Sword. [Manga in Your Ears]

Ryosuke Arakane interviews Kazuo Umezu about his creative process as both as a painter and a manga artist. “Having a childlike spirit is a profound thing,” he notes. “It’s a great thing I picked up. My stories feature children, so there’s a connection… The difference between adults and children is that adults might think something is childish, but children might think the opposite.” [Tokion]

REVIEWS

Krystallina reviews Risky Business, a digital-only offering from Media Do. “Risky Business sounds like a gambling manga, but the only gamble is the one you take on this series,” she notes. “On one hand, the manga is very intriguing with all the manipulation and underhanded tricks going on. On the other hand, man, this manga has a high amount of unlikable characters.” Over at Okazu, Erica Friedman explains why she’s looking forward to more installments of She Loves to Eat, She Loves to Cook.

New and Noteworthy

Ongoing and Complete Series

The Manga Review, 10/7/22

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Bust out that Sailor Moon costume–New York Comic Con is in full swing! If you’re looking for a good manga panel, I highly recommend This Manga Is Awesome! Manga Must-Reads and Underrated Gems, which is happening today at 3:30 pm. Deb Aoki leads an all-star crew of librarians, industry professionals, podcasters, and critics in a lively discussion about their favorite series. Also of note is Comics in the Post Pandemic World, which is scheduled for Saturday at 12:30 pm. Publishers Weekly is the sponsor; the conversation will focus on the explosive growth of the comics industry during lockdown, and will consider some of the challenges facing publishers as supply chain issues increase and inflation rises.

NEWS AND VIEWS

Jamila Rowser, founder of Black Josei Press, posted an update on the forthcoming Gladiolus Magazine, which “will feature comics, essays, short stories, and more created by people of color from marginalized genders and sexualities.” Rowser shared a list of contributors whose work will appear in the inaugural issue, as well as the magazine’s expected publication date: spring 2023. [Black Josei Press]

Bill Curtis compiles a list of October’s new manga and light novel releases. [Yatta-Tachi]

To kick off LGBTQ History Month, the librarians at No Flying No Tights recommend nine queer-friendly comics for teen readers, including The Bride Was a Boy and Be Gay, Do Comics. [No Flying No Tights]

Yuu Watase is resuming work on Fushigi Yugi Byakko Senki. [Otaku USA]

It’s a hit: Chainsaw Man now has 16 million volumes in print. [Otaku USA]

Dog lovers rejoice: Seven Seas has licensed Shibanban: Super Cute Doggies which is pretty much what it sounds like: a parade of adorable Shiba Inus doing adorable things. Volume one is slated for a May 2023 release. [Seven Seas]

If you’ve been on the fence about Taiyo Matsumoto‘s work, let Jocelyne Allen’s generously illustrated review of Tokyo Higoro persuade you to give him a second chance. “Pretty much every page is filled with such thoughtful detail to make even minor characters seem fully fleshed out,” she notes. “It’s one of those books that I kept flipping back and forth in, just to drink in the details, the art, and the many, many perfect pages.” [Brain vs. Book]

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

I’m not a big MangaTuber, but I make an exception for BakaBoysClub, a new-ish YouTube channel featuring lively, thoughtful reviews of manga, old and new. In particular, I thought that host GrunWho did an exceptional job of explaining why The Girl from the Other Side: Siúl, A Rún is such an engrossing story, making great use of the video format to highlight Nagabe’s beautiful artwork:

Check out the BakaBoys’ other videos here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnmtMpN3E2LGnz_Mef4zCCw.

REVIEWS

Thinking about starting your own manga blog or podcast? One great way to build an audience for your work is to contribute to an established site like The Fandom Post, which is currently looking for reviewers. Site founder Chris Beveridge notes that “we get a good range of books from publishers and have a bit of a backlog we’re looking to clear out… There’s a good mix of one-offs and ongoing series that we’re looking for people to take on and new series starting up all the time.” For information on how to apply, click here.

New and Noteworthy

Complete and Ongoing Series

The Manga Review, 9/16/22

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In an essay for The Nation, author Viken Berberian explains how manga became one of the world’s favorite forms of entertainment. He notes that in 2021, “manga made up 76.1 percent of overall graphic novel sales in the adult fiction category in the United States,” and almost a quarter of the overall French book market. And while I might quibble with some of his historical points–Moto Hagio is clearly a pioneer, but not “the mother of shojo manga”–my bigger concern about the article is tone. There’s a strong undercurrent of condescension in his prose, as he bemoans the fact his tweenage sons would rather read Jujutsu Kaisen than The Metamorphosis, and reassures the reader that “the hegemony of manga” has not “come at the expense of highbrow comics that wrestle with thorny autobiographical and political issues.” Though he ultimately acknowledges the power of manga to tell compelling stories, his praise for Shigeru Mizuki’s Onwards Toward Our Noble Deaths feels tepid at best. Caveat lector!

NEWS

Conceptual artist Ilan Manouach just unveiled his latest project: a limited edition “book” that collects all 21,450 pages of One Piece. The press release for ONEPIECE suggests the work will encourage “artists to think [about] comics in different scales and temporalities,” though they’ll need a cool $2,000 to acquire their own copy. [The Beat]

In licensing news, Yen Press will be releasing Mokumokuren’s horror series The Summer Hikaru Died. No release date has been announced. [Anime News Network]

Also making licensing news is Seven Seas, which added My New Life as a Cat, Cinderella Closet, and Soloist in a Cage to its spring 2023 line-up. [Seven Seas]

If you’re planning to attend NYCC this year, bring a mask. [ICv2]

Brigid Alverson sifts through the August 2022 NPD Bookscan numbers, and observes that “the manga chart is very driven by new releases, much more so than the others, and you can see it here with the newest volume of Jujutsu Kaisen at the top. Altogether there are eight August 2022 releases on the chart, all new volumes in ongoing series, plus a handful of first and second volumes.” [ICv2]

FEATURES, PODCASTS, AND INTERVIEWS

Scholar Eike Exner, author of Comics and the Origins of Manga: A Revisionist History, offers a thoughtful re-appraisal of the Euro-American influence on manga. “Comics historiography is plagued by two fundamental misunderstandings regarding the history and nature of the medium,” he argues. “The first is the notion that comics in different countries are best understood through the lens of the nation, as the offspring of individual national traditions. The second is the idea that comics are the result of a gradual ‘integration of text and image’ culminating in the combination of both in a single image space (the panel).” [The Comics Journal]

Cami traces the development of Italy’s small but dedicated BL fandom. [Anime Herald]

Here’s something with licensing potential: EVOL, “an anti-superhero book that is definitely reminiscent of The Boys,” with “fast and bold” pacing “like an action-packed capes comic, but coming from the other side of the equation.” [Brain vs. Book]

In the latest episode of Shojo & Tell, Ashley and Asher tackle one of CLAMP’s most controversial series: Chobits. [Shojo & Tell]

One of the most talked-about pieces of the week was Colleen’s “Misogyny in the Manga Community,” which delves into the long history of sexism in manga fandom:

Yui Kashima interviews Fumi Yoshinaga about how she got started in comics. “I think it was when I was in my third year of college,” Yoshinaga recalls. “A friend recommended me to read SLAM DUNK, and when I saw Kogure and Mitsui, I just came up with the idea of making their story (laugh). I couldn’t stay away from that idea and decided to publish a doujinshi.” And the rest, as they say, is history. [Tokion]

REVIEWS

In this week’s must-read reviews, Erica Friedman and Johanna Draper Carlson explain why you should be reading Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. “The dialogue is simple, the scenarios are wholly about experiencing and feeling,” Friedman notes. “There is no plot here. Just have a seat and a cup of coffee and watch the grass. At the end of the world, that’s all that’s left, anyway.” Draper Carlson expresses similar sentiments: “The appeal of this series is twofold: lovely art and an acceptance of the joy of existence… It’s very Japanese in tone, but it also evokes Walden: the idea that a return to nature is soul-cleansing, and that small, everyday events are worth capturing.”

You’ll also find brief reviews at Women Write About Comics, where Masha Zhdanova critiques three new releases from VIZ, and at Beneath the Tangles, where the gang reviews a mixture of new and ongoing titles.

New and Noteworthy

Ongoing and Complete Series

The Manga Lover’s Guide to NYCC 2014

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Whether you’re planning to attend New York Comic-Con or just want to stay abreast of licensing news, we’ve got you covered! We’ve compiled a master list of panels and exhibitors for those of you who are NYC-bound. Not headed to the Big Apple? We’ll be filing periodic updates throughout the show to let you know what new titles, products, and initiatives your favorite publishers have announced.

Here’s a quick look at the publisher’s panels:

  • Thursday @ 3:00 PM: Viz Media (1A14)
  • Thursday @ 6:00 PM: The Future of Shonen Jump (1A10)
  • Friday @ 11:00 AM: Crunchyroll Industry Panel (1A21)
  • Friday @ 1:15 PM. Yen Press (1A14)
  • Friday @ 5:00 PM: Takeshi Obata (1A10)
  • Saturday @ 5:15 PM: Vertical, Inc. (1A14)
  • Sunday @ 2:00 PM: Kodansha Comics (1A18)
  • Sunday @ 3:00 PM: Crunchyroll Manga (1A18)

Here’s a list of the major manga publishers who will be exhibiting at the show:

  • Dark Horse Comics (1636)
  • GEN Manga Entertainment (2058)
  • Hachette Book Group USA (2218)
  • Kodansha US Publishing (2109)
  • One Peace Books (1060)
  • Vertical, Inc. (2020)
  • VIZ Media (1944)

And here are some helpful links to help you plan your visit:

Sean Gaffney shares his top picks for most interesting panels.

Heidi MacDonald posts a complete list of all the panels at this year’s show. Click here for Thursday’s panels; click here for Friday’s; click here for Saturday’s; click here for Sunday’s.

VIZ Media has posted a complete schedule of events on its website. Highlights include a Sailor Moon anime panel and a special appearance by Death Note artist Takeshi Obata. Bring your dog-eared copy of Hikaru no Go: Obata will be at the VIZ booth on Thursday, October 9th from 7:30 to 8:30 pm for a manga signing.

Wondering what kind of goodies you’ll find at publishers’ booths? Many are offering sneak peeks on social media. Vertical, Inc., for example, will have advance copies of new series Witch Craft Works, while Kodansha will have the much-anticipated volume 14 of Attack on Titan.

Yen Press NYCC 2013

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hasslerIn typical Yen Press fashion, Publishing Director Kurt Hassler & Co. skipped straight to the good stuff in yesterday’s panel, with a string of license announcements, peppered with pleasantly snarky humor.

First off in new licenses, to Manga Bookshelf’s delight, is Void’s Enigmatic Mansion, a new manhwa series with artwork by HeeEun Kim and story by JiEun Ha. This series will be serialized digitally, chapter-to-chapter on a simultaneous schedule with Korea, with eventual print releases as well.

Next, Yen will be offering Ani-Imo by Haruko Kurumatani, which promises body-swapping and inappropriate sibling affection, so be sure to check it out if that’s your thing. And if that’s not quite my thing, paranormal shoujo romance absolutely is, which brings us to He’s My Only Vampire by Aya Shouoto. I’ll admit I’m somewhat iffy on vampires these days, but I suspect I’ll risk it.

In the interest of saving the best for last, I’ll skip now to Alice in the Country of Diamonds ~ Wonderful Wonder World ~ Official Visual Fan Book, created by QuinRose, which is sure to please fans of the Alice series. And moving then to High School DxD (story by Ichiei Ishibumi, art by Hiroji Mishima), which Hassler introduced by asking “Who likes boobs?” (I sadly heard “Who likes booze?,” so I couldn’t help but be a disappointed by the result.)

yuki2Did I mention I was saving the best for last? How about Kaori Yuki’s Demon from a Foreign Land? This, unsurprisingly, looks to be a dark supernatural romance, enhanced by Yuki’s always-delicious artwork. Yen is “super-excited about this one!” and they’re proving that by giving the series hardcover treatment. I’m feeling pretty excited as well.

After speeding through their license announcements, the Yen crew answered questions from the crowd.

When asked about the importance of digital releases, Hassler responded, “Digital is doing fine—digital is growing,” but qualified that by adding that, “it is still a very small part of our business, as it is with everyone … the reality is for pretty much every publisher here, print is still 90% of our business.” He punctuated this point by claiming that the Yen staff spends time burying their faces in new print books and getting “high on glue.”

giveawayFans of digital have good news on the horizon, however, as Hassler confirmed that they “absolutely” are going to be acquiring digital rights for their Square Enix titles, now that the Japanese publisher’s online reader is finally being pulled down. “We’re just finalizing the details,” he said.”Keep your ears open, we’ll have announcements for you soon.” Even better, these titles will be available worldwide.

Hassler also reinforced the company’s dedication to their light novel releases, dismissing industry claims that light novels “don’t work” in North America. “I am hugely enthusiastic about the light novel business, they have been very successful for us.”

Yen’s panel closed with a book giveaway for all the attendees, passing on the panelists’ jovial mood to the entire room.

We’ll be covering New York Comic Con all weekend, so stay tuned!

Kodansha Comics NYCC 2013

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kodansha-panel2Unsurprisingly, today’s panel was very much about Kodansha Comics’ huge hit, Attack on Titan, though that’s far from all. Editor Ben Applegate reported that they have over 500,000 copies in print to date. They are releasing a companion Guidebook: Inside & Outside, as well as a comedy spinoff, Titan Junior High. … that’s right, Titan Junior High.

Other new Titan-related announcements today include the license for two spin-off manga, the shoujo series Attack on Titan: No Regrets and Attack on Titan: Before the Fall—the manga version of the light novel series announced this morning by Vertical.

All the Titan talk led to some interesting conversation towards the end of the panel’s Q&A section, too, as Director of Publishing Services Dallas Middaugh told stories about the series’ initial slow sales, including some flak he took over printing 45,000 copies of the first volume, which he was told he’d be “sitting on for two years.” It obviously gave him great pleasure to report that they’ll be out in a couple of weeks.

sinsBut though Attack on Titan was clearly the main theme of this year’s panel, its various spinoffs were not the only announcements by far.

Kodansha also announced two new licenses for 2014—first, Nakaba Suzuki’s Seven Deadly Sins, an ongoing series from the pages of Weekly Shōnen Magazine (Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and Fairy Tail, among others), set in the middle ages, and described by Middaugh as “very much in the vein of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z.”

Then, also from Weekly Shōnen Magazine, we’ll see Ken Akamatsu’s UQ Holder!, set in the world of Negima!

Digital news was a major topic for today’s panel as well, with a large number of titles ready to join Kodansha Comics’ new wealth of manga on the Kindle, Nook, and iBook stores. New digital titles include Shugo Chara!, Shugo Chara!-chan, Tokyo Mew Mew, Tokyo Mew Mew a la Mode, Sherlock Bones, Negima!, and upcoming titles My Little Monster, and Say I Love You. The company’s digital releases have moved entirely to the ebook model and away from their app, which is no longer being updated. Though print manga is clearly still a huge priority for Kodansha, editor David Yoo revealed his personal preferences by, at one point, stating that “Digital is always better!” Those of us with small apartments can’t help but agree.

We’ll be covering New York Comic Con all weekend, so stay tuned!

Vertical Manga NYCC 2013

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imageOne of our favorite manga publishers, Vertical, Inc., had some announcements to make at New York Comic Con today, but Marketing Director Ed Chavez began by going through a number of their recent titles and talking about the company in general.

Quite a number of publishers have fallen over the past few years, and though some may have been skeptical about Vertical’s long-term prospects, Chavez pointed out that this is Vertical’s 10th year in publication, and that, far from struggling, they are “stronger, I think, than ever.” And this strength is certainly apparent when looking over their list of current releases.

A few highlights include Satoshi Kon’s Tropic of the Sea, which is doing very well for the company, Chavez reported, and they are “definitely looking into some more Kon.” He mentioned that Kon’s comic backlist is limited, and that they’d specifically be looking to “focus on just Kon being Kon,” rather than his collaborative work with other creators.

The hardcover Gundam: The Origin has also been a best-seller for the company. “We kind of wanted to build the ultimate manga machine, and thankfully, it’s been selling like hotcakes.” They’ll be publishing the series in its entirety, and they’re “definitely thinking about doing some more with Gundam,” said Chavez, though he had no announcements to make on that front at this time.

Shuzo Ashimi’s Flowers of Evil has been “a surprise hit for Vertical,” according to Chavez. “I keep on saying it’s a rom-com,” he said of the notoriously dark series, which elicited some laughs from the crowd. “A lot of their situations make me laugh.”

Humor aside, Chavez spoke admiringly of the series’ artistic progression. “It seriously gets better with age,” he said. “You will be shocked by this work, and it will be so satisfying.” Vertical has early copies of volume seven here at the convention, and is passing out postcards featuring the cover in their booth.

Another surprise success for the company has been Takahiro Seguchi’s Sickness Unto Death, which they partly licensed as a complement to Flowers of Evil. Early copies of volume two are moving quickly here at NYCC, and Chavez estimated that they might not have enough to last the weekend.

Some upcoming Vertical titles that we’re particularly excited about came up in today’s panel, including classic josei manga Pink from creator Kyoko Okazaki, Moyoco and Hideaki Anno’s autobiographical comedy Insufficient Direction, and Fumi Yoshinaga’s foodie drama What Did You Eat Yesterday?, which Chavez said he’s “stoked” about. We are, of course, “stoked” x 100 here at Manga Bookshelf.

imageNow on to the license announcements! Vertical saved these for the end of their panel, and they were well worth waiting for.

First, again from Moyoco Anno, the award-winning In Clothes Named Fat, a josei one-shot originally published by Shodensha, is due out here in summer, 2014. “The characters in this tale are gross,” said Chavez, “they are horrible people.” But I suspect that, once we’ve started, we’ll be unable to put this book down.

And on the light novel front, summer will also bring Attack on Titan: Before the Fall, which details the events leading up to the hugely popular manga series. This is an extremely fresh acquisition, and Chavez was not even sure of the author when questioned at the panel. Chavez mentioned that the company has been consciously licensing more manga with other media tie-ins (see last year’s 5 Centimeters Per Second and the recent Summer Wars). Given the enormous popularity of this franchise, it certainly seems like smart strategy. More details will be soon to come.

We’ll be covering New York Comic Con all weekend, so stay tuned!

Moyoco Anno interview at The Beat!

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As you know, back in October I attended New York Comic Con. On the second day of the convention, the inimitable Heidi MacDonald was called away for a family emergency, and asked me to fill in for her on a couple of manga-related interviews. The first of these was with Moyoco Anno, author of Flowers and Bees, Happy Mania, Sugar, Sugar Rune, and Sakuran. It was an incredible opportunity for me, especially as my first-ever live interview. And though I am regretful that Heidi was not able to conduct it herself—she’d expressed just the day before how much she was looking forward to it—I’m grateful to have had the chance to speak with Anno-sensei about her extraordinary work. I only wish we could have talked longer.

Though NYCC is long past, Heidi’s post is fortuitously timed to coincide with this month’s Manga Moveable Feast! I’ll be talking more about Moyoco Anno in this week’s installment of My Week in Manga. In the meantime, read the interview here!

Manhwa Monday: Post-Con Blues

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Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

The past week was all about New York Comic Con for us here at Manhwa Bookshelf, and manhwa certainly made itself known at this year’s con.

Booth 2265 was the place to be for manhwa fans, where the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA) set up shop, promoting manhwa in big, blue letters and offering up comics in both Korean and English for sale at 4-for-3 prices.

As I predicted last week, KOCCA’s English-translated manhwa was provided via NETCOMICS, whose Vice President, Soyoung Jung, was onsite throughout the con. Though I was only able to chat with her briefly, the state of the booth’s inventory by Sunday afternoon spoke for itself, indicating that first volumes (at least) of most series were snatched up early on.

My personal manhwa score included a few middle volumes of BL favorite Totally Captivated to round out my collection, and volume two of historical fantasy Kingdom of the Winds.

KOCCA’s booth was both recognizable and easily visible at a distance, making it one of the most effective of its kind at the con.

Though none of the convention’s attending publishers had new manhwa licenses to announce, the most promising news came from Yen Press, whose newly announced iPad app (launching at the end of this month) will include some of its Korean titles to be downloaded as complete volumes for roughly $8.99 apiece.

In other news, allkipop.com releases photos of actress Moon Geun Young’s transformation into her character, Wi Mae Ri, for the upcoming mini-series Mary Skipped the Curfew, based on a Korean webtoon. Based on what I’ve seen so far, this can be added to my list of “manhwa I wish were available in English.”

And in the manhwa blogosphere, Lori Henderson updates her list of Halloween manga to include two recent manhwa series, girls’ horror manhwa Reading Club from Udon Enterainment and ghost-story manhwa Time and Again from Yen Press.

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Manhwa Monday: NYCC Edition

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Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

With the new, joint New York Comic Con/New York Anime Festival swiftly approaching, let’s take a look at this year’s most promising manhwa destinations at the con(s).

First, to the exhibit hall! Manhwa publisher NETCOMICS has implied via Twitter that they will have a presence at the show. Though they have no booth listed with the con (and a request for details has remained unanswered as of this posting), my guess is that we’ll find them in the vicinity of KOCCA, the Korea Creative Content Agency, at booth number 2265 (ETA: this is confirmed!). Similarly, manhwa-friendly Yen Press should be represented at the booth of parent company Hachette Book Group, booth 2315.

Other manhwa publishers in attendance include Dark Horse Comics (booth 2023), NBM (booth 2304), First Second (booth 2314), and Fanfare/Ponent Mon (booth 2426).

Moving on to events, get all the news from Yen Press at their panel on Saturday from 3:45-4:45 in the afternoon, and check in with Dark Horse on Friday evening from 5:45-6:45. Also of interest to manhwa fans, K-drama website DramaFever is hosting a panel on “Asian Entertainment Trends in American Pop Culture” on Friday evening from 8:30-9:30, moderated by DramaFever’s David Hou and featuring such panelists as San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jeff Yang and Dramabeans.com writers Javabeans and GirlFriday. Check out the full list of panelists at DramaFever.com.

I’ll be at the cons all weekend, so please look for me and be sure to say hello!

This week in reviews, Charles Montgomery at 10 Magazine takes a look at three titles, Forest of Gray City (Yen Press), Manhwa 100 (KOCCA), and Let Dai (NETCOMICS). In the latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf I talk about an upcoming volume of 13th Boy (Yen Press). Connie checks out the second volume of Laon (Yen Press) at Slightly Biased Manga. And at Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson reviews volumes 1-3 of Pig Bride (Yen Press).

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!