Earlier this week, ABLAZE announced that it will be publishing four manga by Osamu Tezuka. Two will debut this year: One Hundred Years, a story about an accountant who makes a pact with a demon in exchange for wealth and power, and Shakespeare Manga Theater, a collection of short stories based on Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and The Merchant of Venice. In 2024, ABLAZE will release Tomorrow the Birds, a one-shot about a world in which birds are smarter than people, and Neo Faust, one of Tezuka’s final works.
One quick programming note: to make it easier for you to find a great anime or manga podcast, I’ve created a permanent directory at the Manga Critic. Click here to view; click here to make suggestions or corrections. My goal is to update the list a few times a year.
NEWS…
The ALA’s Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table just published its list of 2022’s Best Graphic Novels for Adults. Though the list cants heavily towards Western titles, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and Talk to My Back both made the cut. [GNCRT]
The Beat has an eleven-page preview of Tokyopop’s forthcoming Guardian of Fukushima, a graphic novel documenting the bravery of Naoto Matsumura, a Japanese farmer who returned to Fukushima in the aftermath of the 2011 nuclear disaster to care for all the animals that had been left behind. [The Beat]
Star Fruit Books will be publishing Hideshi Hino’s Occult Detective Club: The Doll Cemetery this summer. [Star Fruit Books]
In April, Last Gasp will publish Keiji Nakazawa’s memoir I Can’t Forget the Bomb: Barefoot Gen and the Bombing of Hiroshima. [Last Gasp]
The first chapter of The JOJOLands, the newest installment of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, debuted yesterday in the pages of Ultra Jump. [Otaku USA]
If you’re feeling nostalgic for Death Note, InuYasha, or Sailor Moon, I have good news for you: VIZ has made the full run of all three anime available on YouTube, along with select episodes of Hunter X Hunter and Naruto. [CNET]
File under Better Late Than Never: Kakusai Han recently made his professional debut as a manga artist with the publication of 67-sai no Shinjin: Han Kakusai Tanpenshu, which, translated into English, means The 67-Year-Old Newcomer: A Collection of Short Stories by Kakusai Han. “I always thought things would work out if I drew something interesting,” he said. “I didn’t care about my age.” [The Asahi Shimbun]
… AND VIEWS
Martin de la Iglesia revisits K, an early manga from Jiro Taniguchi and Shiro Tozaki about a “Japanese climber living near the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges” whose superior skills make him the go-to guy for tricky alpine rescues. [The 650-Cent Plague]
The latest installment of Dad Needs to Talk focuses on The Savior’s Book Cafe Story in Another World. [Dad Needs to Talk]
Over at Manga in Your Ears, Kory convenes a roundtable on Shuzo Oshimi’s Inside Mari. [Taiiku Podcast]
Should you read WANDANCE? Xan weighs in on the popular series, a sports manga set in the world of hip hop dancing. [Spiraken Manga Review]
Andy and Elliott devote the latest Screentone Club to Nodame Cantabile, a slice-of-life drama about young musicians, and Burn the House Down, a twisty psychological thriller. [Screentone Club]
Jocelyne Allen offers a hilarious, blow-by-blow account of Reiko Shimizu’s Kaguyahime, which, in spite of its title, has almost nothing to do with The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter. “It’s bonkers right out of the gate,” she observes. “The first page has a quick overview of the Bamboo Cutter, presumably setting us up for what we’re about to read, but no. Next up is a hot (probably—I can never tell with nineties manga) foreigner looking at art in a gallery. There’s a pretty funny moment where the gallery staff guy is forced to try and speak English, and then next thing you know, fire! And maybe a bomb!! The gallery is evacuated, and our foreign friend is joined by someone with flamethrowers. The two proceed to torch the gallery, and we cut to a random high school.” Back in the aughts, I have no doubt CMX or Tokyopop would have licensed this, but today, I’m not so sure any US publisher would take a chance on this pure, unadulterated slice of 90s shoujo cheese. [Brain vs. Book]
REVIEWS
This week’s must-read review comes to us from Tony Yao, who’s been blogging his way through Sensei’s Pious Lie. Writing about the fourth and final volume, Yao explains why he found the story’s resolution cathartic. “The characters in Sensei’s Pious Lie aren’t beautiful, just tragically human,” he observes. “But there’s a beauty in seeing the tragic. Through loss, you slowly get to pick up pieces and discover alternative ways to figuring things out, but it takes other people to help you see that.”
Also of note: Anna N. reviews the first four volumes of Matcha Made in Heaven … the crew at Beneath the Tangles reviews A Condition Called Love, Boss Bride Days, and Unnamed Memory… and Megan D. revisits Puri Puri, a harem manga from the DrMaster vaults.
New and Noteworthy
- Barbarities, Vol. 1 (Rebecca Silverman, ANN)
- Barbarities, Vol. 1 (Sarah, Anime UK News)
- Blissful Land, Vol. 1 (Sara Smith, The Graphic Library)
- Choujin X, Vol. 1 (Lesley Aeschliman, Lesley’s Anime and Manga Corner)
- Choujin X, Vol. 1 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
- Choujin X, Vol. 1 (Steven Blackburn, Screenrant)
- The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend (Christopher Farris, ANN)
- The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend (Marie Brisou, Noisy Pixel)
- Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Vol. 1 (Rui, Anime UK News)
- Guardian of Fukushima (Adam Symchuk, Asian Movie Pulse)
- Guardian of Fukushima (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
- Honey Lemon Soda, Vol. 1 (Brett Michael Orr, Honey’s Anime)
- Honey Lemon Soda, Vol. 1 (Danica Davidson, Otaku USA)
- Insomniac After School, Vol. 1 (Harry, Honey’s Anime)
- Josee, the Tiger, and the Fish (Kevin T. Rodriguez, The Fandom Post)
- My Coworker Has a Secret!, Vol. 1 (Sarah, Anime UK News)
- Not All Girls Are Stupid (Danica Davidson, Otaku USA)
- The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices, Vol. 1 (Christopher Farris, ANN)
- Show-Ha Shoten!, Vol. 1 (Adam Symchuk, Asian Movie Pulse)
- Show-Ha Shoten!, Vol. 1 (Harry, Honey’s Anime)
- A Sign of Affection, Vol. 1 (Kate, Reverse Thieves)
- Snow Fairy (Lisa De La Cruz, The Wonder of Anime)
- SOTUS, Vol. 1 (Adam Symchuk, Asian Movie Pulse)
- The Wolf Never Sleeps, Vol. 1 (Sara Smith, The Graphic Library)
Complete and Ongoing Series
- A Galaxy Next Door, Vol. 4 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
- How De We Relationship?, Vol. 8 (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
- I’m In Love with the Villainess, Vol. 4 (Erica Friedman, Okazu)
- The King’s Beast, Vol. 9 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
- Love and Heart, Vol. 6 (Krystallina, The OASG)
- Mao, Vol. 5 (Sara Smith, The Graphic Library)
- A Polar Bear in Love, Vol. 5 (Krystallina, The OASG)
- Prince Freya, Vol. 7 (Sara Smith, The Graphic Library)
- Rent-a-Girlfriend, Vols. 13-14 (Demelza, Anime UK News)
- The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid, Vol. 4 (Demelza, Anime UK News)
- Tokyo Aliens, Vol. 2 (Grant Jones, ANN)
- Undead Unluck, Vol. 10 (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
- WANDANCE, Vol. 3 (Sarah, Anime UK News)