Brigid Alverson

Here’s my look at this week’s new manga at MTV Geek; now that I have read Emerald, I highly endorse it.

The Scotsman profiles Anime Republic, Edinburgh’s first anime and manga specialty shop.

Ed Chavez, marketing director for Vertical, Inc., is at India Comic Con this week, and he brought Chi to his panel; Ed says that manga will be coming to India very soon.

Tony Yao looks at Viz’s planned Hello Kitty graphic novels and asks: Will Minimalism Save Comics?

The first-ever Manga Festival In Singapore happens this weekend.

News from Japan: Despite the weird series of threats associated with it, the latest volume of Kuroko’s Basketball topped the sales charts this week. ANN has the full Japanese comics rankings. Futabasha has pulled the plug on Comic Sumomo. And Silver Diamond creator Shiho Sugiura is launching a new series, Shūten unknown (Last Stop Unknown), in the May issue of Comic Avarus.

Reviews

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Blogcritics)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of High School Debut (Blogcritics)
Brian Gardes on Hiroaki Samura’s Emerald and Other Stories (Stumptown Trade Review)
Matthew Cycyk on vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia (Matt Talks About Manga)
Ken Haley on vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia (Comics Should Be Good)
Anna N. on vol. 12 of Kamisama Kiss (Manga Report)
Angela Eastman on vol. 11 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Fandom Post)

Lissa Pattillo takes a quick advance look at a new Seven Seas license, Dictatorial Grimoire, and Alex Hoffman looks forward to Nijigahara Holograph, the new Inio Asano manga to be published by Fantagraphics later this year.

The Canadian publisher CloneManga has launched a Kickstarter to fund a print edition of Canadian author Dan Kim’s NNN, which won the Bronze Award in the Japanese foreign ministry’s international manga competition last year.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week.

The Manga Moveable Feast kicks off next week, and Justin, your host at Organization ASG, issues the first call for participation. This month’s featured creator is Naoki Urasawa.

At Sequential Tart, Wolfen Moondaughter looks back at a year’s worth of yaoi reading (part one, part two).

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Molly McIsaac counts down five iconic manga couples.

At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao turns the microscope on Durarara!!’s resident psychopath, Izaya Orihara.

And at Organization ASG, Justin talks to Tony about Manga Therapy and what he has learned from writing it.

Anna N. is giving away a bundle of Blu manga at Manga Report; hit the link to find out how to enter.

News from Japan: Doraemon co-creator Fujiko Fujio A will wind up his autobiographical series Ai…Shirisomeshi Kei ni in the May issue of Big Comic Original. Manga-ka Ritz Kobayashi is taking some time off from the high school mahjong series Saki due to health problems. The main story arc of Zetsuen no Tempest will end next month.

Reviews: Lots of quick reads this week! Carlo Santos looks at vol. 1 of Knights of Sidonia, vol. 13 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, and a handful of other recent releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. The Manga Bookshelf bloggers file their Bookshelf Briefs. At Comics Should Be Good, Connie takes a look at three manga by Taiyo Matsumoto, who will be coming to the Toronto Comic Arts Festival in May. Ash Brown briefs us on this week’s manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Kristin on vol. 1 of 21st Century Boys (Comic Attack)
Khursten Santos on 87Clockers (Otaku Champloo)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 6 of Afterschool Charisma (The Fandom Post)
Helen on Akaku Saku Koe (Narrative Investigations)
Mark Thomas on vol. 16 of Battle Angel Alita: The Last Order (The Fandom Post)
Lexie on vol. 1 of Blood-C (Poisoned Rationality)
Sakura Eries on vol. 4 of A Bride’s Story (The Fandom Post)
Justin on chapter 19 of Cross Manage (Organization ASG)
Erica Friedman on Destro 246 (Okazu)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 7 of Dogs: Bullets and Carnage (The Fandom Post)
Drew McCabe on vol. 7 of Dogs: Bullets and Carnage (Comic Attack)
Connie on God of Dogs (Slightly Biased Manga)
John Rose on vol. 21 of Hayate the Combat Butler (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 7 of Itsuwaribito (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 15 of Kimi ni Todoke (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 8 and 9 of Raiders (Manga Village)
Connie on vol. 30 of Skip Beat! (Slightly Biased Manga)
Anna N. on vol. 26 of Slam Dunk! (Manga Report)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 12 of Soul Eater (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 1 of sweet pool (Slightly Biased Manga)
Justin on vol. 1 of Thermae Romae (Organization ASG)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Wonder! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Drew McCabe on World Trigger (Comic Attack)

Yen Press is publishing a graphic novel adaptation of Beautiful Creatures, just a week before the movie is released; check out our exclusive preview at MTV Geek.

Noah Berlatsky quotes both me and Erica Friedman in an interesting essay on the ethics of scanlation.

There were lots of new Shonen Jump and Shojo Beat titles out last week; I looked over the latest crop of new releases at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo checked them out as well in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. At Heart of Manga, Laura looks at the new shoujo releases for February.

Meanwhile, the Manga Bookshelf bloggers look forward to this week’s new manga releases, in print and on JManga.

Erica Friedman updates us on the world of yuri in this week’s edition of Yuri Network News.

The Japanese publisher Otome’s Way will bring BL manga to international readers (the U.S. and other countries) via the web beginning in April; the manga will be online, and you can buy it with PayPal.

MJ talks about her recent reading in her latest My Week in Manga video.

Lissa Pattillo opens up the swag bag and shows off her latest purchases.

Justin Stroman asks Manga Bookshelf readers: What manga got you to read more?

News from Japan: Tokyo Big Sight has banned Kuroko’s Basketball doujinshi from an upcoming event. Some new projects in the works: Horror manga-ka Junji Ito (Gyu) is launching a new series, Ma no Kakera (The Shard of Evil), in the newly revived Nemuki magazine in April. Go Nagai’s Dororo and Enma-Kun, which started as a one-shot, will become an ongoing series. Examurai Sengoku creator Yoshiji Yamaguchi will begin a Fist of the North Star spinoff, Kinyoku no Garuda ~Nanto Goshasei Zenshi~ (The Gold Wings of Garuda ~The Prehistory of the Nanto Goshasei~) in the April issue of Comic Zenon. Kodansha is planning a complete collection of Shigeru Mizuki’s manga. The josei magazine Kiss is reducing its frequency from biweekly to monthly. Thermae Romae, serialized in English by Yen Press, is coming to an end in Japan. Highschool of the Dead will return to the pages of Dragon Age later this spring.

Reviews: MJ and Michelle Smith discuss several new volumes in their Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ken Haley on vols. 2 and 3 of Attack on Titan (Comics Should Be Good)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 55 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love (Experiments in Manga)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 45 of Case Closed (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Blogcritics)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 3 of Gate 7 (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Golondrina (Okazu)
Shannon Fay on vol. 1 of Higurashi When They Cry – Massacre Arc (Kuriousity)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Kamisama Kiss (Blogcritics)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 14 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 13 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Oh My Goddess (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Punch Up! (I Reads You)
Derek Bown on this week’s issue of Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 26 of Slam Dunk (The Comic Book Bin)
Erica Friedman on Watashi no Sekai o Kousei Suru Chiri no You na Nanika (Okazu)

Lillian Diaz-Przybyl and Lianne Sentar have formed Chromatic Press, a digital publisher that will focus on original English language (OEL) light novels, manga, and audio dramas. And they are kicking off their line by bringing back Jen Lee Quick’s Off*Beat—they will republish the existing volumes and then she will finish the series with volume 3—and Sentar’s Tokyo Demons. I talked to Diaz-Przybyl and Sentar at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo interviewed Quick at Kuriousity.

Drawn and Quarterly, which published Shigeru Mizuki’s Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, has confirmed that they will publish Mizuki’s eight-volume Showa: A History of Showa Japan.

News from Japan: It’s a sick day at Shonen Jump: Tite Kubo and Hideaki Sorachi both got the flu and were unable to turn in their chapters of Bleach and Gin Tama, respectively. The editors apologized and say they will both be back next week. Saki Achiga-hen episode of side-A will come to an end in the next issue of Monthly Shonen Gangan.

Reviews: Ash Brown takes us through another week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

J. Caleb Mozzocco on vol. 5 of Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Good Comics for Kids)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 7 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Rebecca Silverman on The Heart of Thomas (ANN)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-23 of Hikaru no Go (Good Comics for Kids)
Helen on vol. 1 of Sailor Moon (Narrative Investigations)
Phillip Anthony on vol. 1 of Skip Beat (omnibus edition) (Manga Bookshelf)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 12 of Tegami Bachi (The Comic Book Bin)

Kodansha Comics has licensed a new title: Sherlock Bones (Tanteiken Sherdock), the story of a crime-solving boy and dog team. First volume is due out in September. The creators are Yuma Ando (the pen name of Shin Kobayishi, whose other credits include Kindaichi Case Files and Drops of God) and Yuki Sato (Yokai Doctor).

Viz’s yaoi imprint SuBLime also has some new licenses to announce, two print and four digital-only, to celebrate their first anniversary. But the first volume of Youka Nitta’s Embracing Love is delayed from April to August due to production issues.

Big changes are afoot at GEN Manga: They will suspend publication of their manga magazine for a year, but they plan to continue to release single volumes of manga and they are launching a manhwa magazine later this month. I talked to editor-in-chief Robert McGuire about what he has planned. And the first four issues of GEN are available free on Kindle, iBooks, and Comics Plus—but they read differently on each platform. I did a little compare-and-contrast.

I looked over last week’s new manga at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo makes her recommendations in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. And the Manga Bookshelf bloggers take a look at this week’s new releases in print and on JManga and discuss their Pick of the Week. Lori Henderson checks out all the January releases and figures out what to read now and what to hold off on till later.

Erica Friedman has the latest Yuri Network News roundup at Okazu, including the news that a yuri title is the number one seller on JManga at the moment.

Jason Thompson’s House of 1000 Manga column at ANN takes up part two of his history of Shonen Jump.

MJ and Michelle Smith discuss three JManga titles in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Ash Brown is giving away a copy of Blue Exorcist at Experiments in Manga; hit the link to find out how you could win.

News from Japan: MangaNews reports (in French) that Go Nagai is about to launch a new series, Dororo to Enma-kun, that will be a crossover between Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo and Nagai’s Dororonen Mahô-kun; it will run in Manga Goraku magazine. Oricon says manga sales were down 1.5% last year. Gumi, one of the Vocaloid mascots, is getting her own manga. “The Gumi from Vocaloid manga will follow Gumi as she makes a boy’s dream come true,” says ANN, and I don’t doubt that for a minute. One-shots are in the works from Lily Hoshino (Otome Yōkai Zakuro) and Akira Amano (Reborn).

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf bloggers keep it terse in their latest set of Bookshelf Briefs.

Anna N. on Angus’s Lost Lady and The Seduction Bid (Manga Report)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 3 of Awkward Silence (Sequential Tart)
Lori Henderson on vol. 14 of Bamboo Blade (Manga Village)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Dawn of the Arcana (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna N. on vol. 8 of Dawn of the Arcana (Manga Report)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Girl Friends (Okazu)
Ken H. on vol. 2 of Heroman (Comics Should Be Good)
Mark Thomas on vol. 8 of Ikigami (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Warner on vol. 32 of Kekkaishi (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of The Key to the Kingdom (Blogcritics)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 10 of Loveless (Sequential Tart)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of Message to Adolf (Experiments in Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 37 of Negima (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on vol. 4 of Ohana Holoholo (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 8 of One Piece (Blogcritics)
Jocelyne Allen on Taiyo Matsumoto’s Ping Pong (Brain Vs. Book)
Connie C. on Please Save My Earth, Basara, and Red River (Comics Should Be Good)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 9 of Sailor Moon (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Derek Bown on this week’s Shonen Jump (Manga Bookshelf)
Matthew Warner on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (Blogcritics)
Matthew Warner on vol. 15 of Vampire Knight (The Fandom Post)

Big change at Viz: Executive vice president Alvin Lu has moved on.

At The Comics Journal, Joe McCulloch has sort of a beginner’s guide to Shonen Jump, explaining how it differs from the Japanese magazine of the same name and offering some entry points for new readers. More SJ news: Viz will add the weekly Dragon Ball series, in color, to the lineup, starting next week, and SJ editor-in-chief Andy Nakitani guests on the most recent ANNCast podcast.

Meanwhile, Viz has confirmed reports that it will publish the Pokemon HeartGold SoulSilver manga. Viz also announced yesterday that it is releasing the classic shoujo series Please Save My Earth in digital form.

And Vertical announced its license of Iqura Sugimoto’s Summer Wars, based on Mamoru Hosoda’s film of the same name.

Lissa Pattillo talks to Yoko Tanigaki about Digital Manga’s Project H hentai imprint.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week.

Khursten Santos takes a look at this year’s Manga Taishou award nominees at Otaku Champloo.

Reviews: Carlo Santos reads the new releases so you don’t have to for his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Ash Brown sums up a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 8 of Case Closed (Blogcritics)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 6 of A Certain Scientific Railgun (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Blogcritics)
Jocelyne Allen on Coppers (by Natsume Ono) (Brain Vs. Book)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Demon Love Spell (ANN)
Carlo Santos on vol. 7 of Dogs: Bullets and Carnage (ANN)
Lori Henderson on The Drops of God: New World (Manga Xanadu)
Matthew Warner on vol. 3 of The Flowers of Evil (The Fandom Post)
J. Caleb Mozzocco on vol. 2 of Highschool of the Dead (Every Day Is Like Wednesday)
Erica Friedman on Kanojo to Camera to Kanojo no Kisetsu (Okazu)
Emily on Kimi ga Suki to ka Arienai! (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Limit (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of Love Hina (omnibus edition) (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on vol. 6 of Manga no Tsukurikata (Okazu)
TSOTE on vol. 4 of Mardock Scramble (Three Steps Over Japan)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Missions of Love (Comics Worth Reading)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 12 of Nabari No Ou (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Pretty Face (Blogcritics)
Lori Henderson on vol. 3 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Manga Village)
Drew McCabe on vol. 7 of Omamori Himari (Comic Attack)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 10 of Rin-ne (ANN)
Khursten Santos on Sukitte Ii Na Yo (Otaku Champloo)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Ultimo (The Comic Book Bin)

I took a peek at last week’s new releases, including Yoshitaka Amano’s novel Deva Zan, at MTV Geek.

The Manga Bookshelf team looks at this week’s new titles on JManga.

Lissa Pattillo highlights a new Digital license and notes that Viz has licensed the Pokemon Adventures: Heart Gold & Soul Silver manga as well.

Ash Brown wraps up the Moyoco Anno Manga Moveable Feast with the day three roundup and a final farewell. MJ post a Moyoco Anno-centric episode of My Week in Manga at Manga Bookshelf, and at All About Manga, Daniella Orihuela-Gruber looks at how Anno portrays feisty women.

Erica Friedman posts a fresh episode of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Michelle Smith and Karen Peck kick off their new column, The CMX Project, with a discussion Land of the Blindfolded at Soliloquy in Blue.

Matt Blind posts the 2012 quarterly best-seller lists, with considerable explanation and commentary.

Robot 6’s regular Shelf Porn feature highlights the collection of a 17-year-old manga fan.

Reviews

Marsha Reid on vol. 1 of Aron’s Absurd Armada (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Dengeki Daisy (I Reads You)
Sean Gaffney on Don’t Disturb Me and Him, Please (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Anna N on vols. 1-5 of Happy Mania (Manga Report)
Katherine Hanson on Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu (Yuri no Boke)
Helen on vol. 1 of Heroman (Narrative Investigations)
Ash Brown on Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators (Experiments in Manga)
Sakura Eries on vol. 9 of Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (The Fandom Post)
A Library Girl on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Sugar Sugar Rune (Experiments in Manga)

Jason Thompson devotes this week’s House of 1000 Manga column to the first part of a look at the evolution of Shonen Jump in America—and as Jason was the magazine’s first editor, he has a unique perspective.

Lissa Pattillo looks over this week’s new releases for her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Meanwhile, the Manga Bookshelf bloggers look forward to next week’s new releases.

Ash Brown posts the second roundup of posts for this week’s Manga Moveable Feast, featuring Moyoco Anno. And MJ interviews Anno for The Beat.

The winners of the Shogakukan Manga Awards have been announced, and the winner in the General Category is Kengo Hanazawa’s I Am a Hero. Silver Spoon, by Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa, took the prize in the Boys Category.

Geoff Pevere reviews the film Tatsumi for the Toronto Globe and Mail

License requests: Marian Moore has a list of five manga she’d love to see licensed in English at the Inside AX blog.

Reviews

Connie on Case Closed, Lupin III, and The Kindaichi Case Files (Comics Should Be Good)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 5 of A Certain Scientific Railgun (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Anna N. on vol. 1 of Clair Voyance (Manga Report)
Erica Friedman on the January issue of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Justin on chapters 15, 16, and 17 of Cross Manage (Organization ASG)
Ng Suat Tong on The Heart of Thomas (The Hooded Utilitarian)
David Gromer on vol. 3 of Higurashi When They Cry: The Atonement Arc (Graphic Novel Reporter)
David Gromer on vol. 1 of Is This a Zombie? (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Kamisama Kiss (Blogcritics)
TSOTE on vol. 3 of Mardock Scramble (Three Steps Over Japan)
Angela Eastman on vol. 10 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Fandom Post)
Ash Brown on Sakuran (Experiments in Manga)
David Gromer on vol. 1 of Sengoku Basara: Samurai Legends (Graphic Novel Reporter)

I interviewed Shonen Jump editor Andy Nakatani at MTV Geek, and there’s a preview of One Punch Man there as well. Deb Aoki also had a Q&A with Andy at About.com. And the January 28 issue of Shonen Jump will include Akira Toriyama’s one-shot Kintoki. Derek Bown takes us through the contents of the January 21 issue at Manga Bookshelf, and Drew McCabe has some thoughts as well.

PictureBox, which published Yoichi Yokoyama’s Travel, has some big news this week: They are launching a line of vintage manga, called Ten Cent Manga, edited by manga scholar Ryan Holmberg and featuring manga that shows outside influences; they are kicking it off with Shigeru Sugiura’s Last of the Mohicans.

Ash Brown posts the first roundup of Moyoco Anno MMF links at Experiments in Manga.

At Okazu, Erica Friedman has some thoughts on digital manga that are well worth reading, including an important point about the decoupling of ownership from possession. And she has the latest episode of Yuri Network News.

Lissa Pattillo discusses some recent acquisitions in her latest Swag Bag feature at Kuriousity.

Bruce DeMara reviews the movie Tatsumi, about manga-ka Yoshihiro Tatsumi (The Push Man), for The Star.

Reviews

Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of A Bride’s Story (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Flowers and Bees (Experiments in Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Hana to Hoshi (Okazu)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Happy Mania (Experiments in Manga)
Brian Gardes on vol. 1 of Heroman (Stumptown Trade Review)
Anna N. on vols. 10-15 of Kekkaishi (Manga Report)
TSOTE on vol. 2 of Mardock Scramble (Three Steps Over Japan)
Ken H on vol. 2 of Planet Ladder (Comics Should Be Good)
Erica Friedman on Prism (Okazu)
Shannon Fay on Sky Link (Kuriousity)

Big changes at Viz yesterday as Shonen Jump Alpha became Weekly Shonen Jump and starts releasing new chapters the same day they come out in Japan. Editor-in-chief Andy Nakatani has all the details at ICv2, and former Shonen Jump editor-in-chief Hisashi Sasaki also discusses the Japanese digital scene and why the editors decided to let the two magazines go in sync.

Ash Brown is hosting this month’s Manga Moveable Feast, which features the work of Moyoco Anno, at Experiments in Manga. Erica Friedman has a guest post about how she got turned on to Sakuran, and Ash’s weekly roundup includes three short reviews of Anno’s manga.

Johanna Draper Carlson is skeptical about Tokyopop’s newest incarnation, and she notes that Kodansha won’t be picking up any more of the old Del Rey series.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week as well as this week’s new releases in print and on JManga. MJ and Michelle Smith discuss The Heart of Thomas in their latest BL Bookrack column, and MJ discusses what she has been reading lately in her most recent My Week in Manga video. And in the magazine department, Erica Friedman takes a look a look at Big Comic Superior and Derek Bown recaps the latest issue of Shonen Jump Alpha.

Dave Roman is serializing the next volume of Astronaut Academy online, and in a blog post on that site, he has some suggestions for manga that non-manga readers might like, based on their tastes in comics.

Jason Thompson takes a look at Japan As Viewed by 17 Creators in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Lissa Pattillo reflects that Digital Manga seems to be putting yaoi on the back burner. Lissa also surveyed the most recent manga releases in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

The Manga Village team takes a look at 2012 in the rear view mirror, and Katherine Hanson lists her top 11 yuri moments of 2012 at Yuri no Boke.

News from Japan: The nominees for the Manga Taisho Awards have been announced; the only one that is licensed in the U.S. right now is A Bride’s Story.

Reviews:

Connie on vol. 10 of 13th Boy (Slightly Biased Manga)
Jocelyne Allen on 25 Ji no Vacances (Brain Vs. Book)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Afterschool Charisma (The Comic Book Bin)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Hearts: My Fanatic Rabbit (ANN)
Naru on All the Time (Organization ASG)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 17 of Bakuman (The Comic Book Bin)
Theron Martin on vol. 16 of Battle Angel Alita: Last Order (ANN)
Connie on vol. 23 of Blade of the Immortal (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Case Closed (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 45 of Case Closed (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on Cross Game, Eyeshield 21, and Real (Comics Should Be Good)
Kristin on Danza (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on vol. 1 of Don’t Blame Me (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vols. 21 and 22 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 20 of Higurashi When They Cry (ANN)
Carlo Santos on vol. 8 of House of Five Leaves (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Jormungand (The Comic Book Bin)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 36 of Negima! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Elie Byun on vol. 1 of Neon Genesis Evangelion (omnibus edition) (Anime Expo)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Oh My Goddess (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 17 of Ouran High School Host Club (Slightly Biased Manga)
Helen on vol. 1 of Please Save My Earth (Narrative Investigations)
Andre Paploo on vol. 8 of Raiders (Kuriousity)
Lori Henderson on Sakuran (Manga Xanadu)
Connie on vol. 3 of Scent of Apple Blossoms (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 2 of Soul Eater NOT! (ANN)
Richard Bruton on vol. 3 of Summit of the Gods (Forbidden Planet)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (Blogcritics)

The organizers of the Toronto Comic Arts Fest, a.k.a. TCAF, announced their first round of guests this week, and it includes Taiyo Matsumoto (Tekkonkinkreet, GoGo Monster) and Gengoroh Tagame. Both will be debuting new books at the show: Matsumoto will have the first volume of Sunny and Tagame will premiere The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame.

Good news for fans of Jen Lee Quick’s Off*Beat, originally published by Tokyopop: She will be reprinting the first two volumes, with some extras, and she’s working on volume 3.

Both Viz and Tokyopop redesigned their websites lately, and Lissa Pattillo critiques the new designs.

News from Japan: Yu Yagami returns to his classic story with Those Who Hunt Elves 2, which will run on the Comic Meteor website starting January 30. Kiichi Toyoda, the first editor-in-chief of Shonen Sunday, has died at the age of 87.

Reviews: Carlo Santos has some strong opinions on recent releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. The Manga Bookshelf team gets their two cents in with a new set of Bookshelf Briefs.

Ash Brown on vol. 17 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Anna on vol. 3 of Jiu Jiu (Manga Report)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Loveless (The Comic Book Bin)
Ken H. on vol. 1 of Trigun (Comics Should Be Good)

I talked to the editor of IKKI’s webcomics site, Yumetaro Toyoda, and translator Simona Stanzani about the new site, which carries a House of Five Leaves spinoff (in Japanese only, alas) and a very interesting new comic, Pandemonium, by Sho Shibamoto, which is in both English and Japanese.

And I got a little cranky about how-to-draw-manga books at Robot 6.

As the countdown continues to simultaneous release with Japan, Shonen Jump Alpha adds a new series, One Punch Man, by Eyeshield 21 manga-ka Yusuke Murata and the pseudonymous ONE. Sean Gaffney has more on One Punch Man.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their pick of the week.

Matt Thorn notes a few lines of missing text in Heart of Thomas. ‘Fess up, now—how many of you even noticed?

Daniel BT isn’t that excited about the return of Tokyopop; he’d rather see a revival of CMX, DC’s sometimes excellent but sadly neglected manga imprint. But he can’t resist highlighting a few bloopers.

News from Japan: Keiko Suenobu, creator of The Limit (licensed by Vertical) and Life (formerly licensed by Tokyopop) will launch a new series, Hope, in the Feb. 13 issue of Bessatsu Friend. Nanae Chrono is winding up Vassalord in the Feb. 15 issue of Comic Avarus. Buronson and Ryoichi Ikegami are also bringing their series Soul Lord 2 to an end. Gokusen manga-ka Kozueko Morimoto has a new rom-com series in the works for for Monthly You.

Reviews: Ash Brown shares some thoughts on a week of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Kristin on vol. 22 of 20th Century Boys (Comic Attack)
Ken H on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan (Comics Should Be Good)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Jiu Jiu (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of One Piece (Blogcritics)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1 and 2 of Paradise Kiss (Manga Xanadu)

The slow return of Tokyopop continues with the relaunch of their website. A much calmer version than the previous iterations, it puts the books front and center, with a selection of print manga (Hetalia and OEL titles) that are available via RightStuf, some e-books from Graphicly, and some merch from CafePress. I took a look at what’s going on at MTV Geek, and Mike liveblogged their Anime LA panel, at which they discussed what’s going on, at Anime Diet. And at Robot 6, I picked six of their OEL manga that rate a second look.

Diamond lists the top-selling manga in comics shops. Spoiler alert: Sailor Moon and Naruto dominate.

The Manga Bookshelf team takes a look at this week’s new manga, both in print and coming up from JManga. Lissa Pattillo looks at the past week’s new releases in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

Back at Kuriousity, Lissa opens up the swag bag and discusses her latest purchases, and Victoria Martin concludes her countdown of her favorite manga of 2012 with parts 3 and 4.

Justin lists his top ten manga of 2012 at Organization ASG.

Derek Bown kicks off a new column at Manga Bookshelf: A weekly Shonen Jump Alpha recap.

Erica Friedman posts a new episode of Yuri Network News at Okazu, and she also announced a new yuri manga from ALC and JManga, Ameiro Kouchakan Kandan, by Fujieda Miyabi.

In his latest House of 1000 Manga column, Jason Thompson takes a long, thoughtful look at Barefoot Gen, whose creator, Keiji Nakazawa, passed away last month.

Molly McIsaac lists the ten manga she is most looking forward to in 2013.

Justin and Manjiorin discuss Attack on Titan at Organization ASG.

Khursten Santos introduces Blush, a BL fan anthology, which is up on the web for free, although you’ll have to log in to Issuu to read it.

Starsamaria discusses beta couples—second bananas—in shoujo manga at Shoujo Corner.

Anna is giving away a copy of vol. 1 of 07-Ghost at Manga Report; hit the link to find out what you have to do to enter.

News from Japan: Two manga magazines, Manga Sunday and Comic Cawaii, have ceased publication. A Touhou Project doujinshi event scheduled for late February has been cancelled after the management of the Sapporo Teisen Hall, where the event was to take place, received a threatening letter. The incident follows a string of threats to people and venues involved with Kuroko’s Basketball, but there doesn’t appear to be any connection between the two other than the venue—a Kuroko’s Basketball event was scheduled to take place in the same hall on February 10. A manga series based on the film A Certain Magical Index will begin running in Shonen Gangan in March. Btoom manga-ka Junya Inoue is working on a new series, La Vie en Doll, which will begin running in Monthly Jump X this spring. The March issue will also include a one-shot by Saturn Apartments creator Hisae Iwaoka. And Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun is coming to an end.

Reviews

Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of 07-Ghost (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of 21st Century Boys (I Reads You)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Angel Heart (Comics Worth Reading)
Sakura Eries on vol. 17 of Bakuman (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 54 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Sweetpea on Bride of the Water God (Organization ASG)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 7 of Bunny Drop (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Angela Eastman on Danza (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on Emerald and Other Stories (Blogcritics)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 24 of Excel Saga (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Girl Friends (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Helen on vol. 1 of The Good Witch of the West (Narrative Investigations)
Victoria Erica on vol. 1 of Gossip Girl (Inside AX)
Connie C. on Jyu-Oh-Sei, Paradise Kiss, and X (Comics Should Be Good)
Lori Henderson on Kaoru Mori: Anything and Something (Manga Village)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 1 of Mayo Chiki! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of Oh My Goddess (Blogcritics)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Paradise Kiss (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Psyren (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle (Blogcritics)
Erica Friedman on Wagamama Millefeuille (Okazu)

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their picks of the week.

MJ and Michelle Smith discuss the end of Chocolat in their latest Off the Shelf column.

Johanna Draper Carlson takes a detailed look at Digital Manga’s revamped eManga site.

Alex Hoffman muses about whether we need more manga micropublishers at Manga Widget.

News from Japan: Ikki magazine debuted its webcomics site this week with two new comics, one a House of Five Leaves spinoff by Natsume Ono. Recorder and Randsell creator Meme Higashiya and Shiba Inuko-san manga-ka Uzu both launched new series in the latest issue of Manga Town. The Shonen Jump series Nisekoi (which is published here by Viz) and Haikyū (which is not) will cross over. And there are 10 million copies of Blue Exorcist in print in Japan.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team kicks off the new year with a fresh set of Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown takes a look at a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Carlo Santos on vol. 45 of Case Closed (ANN)
Infinite Speech on vol. 7 of Dorohedoro (Comic Attack)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Heroman (Manga Xanadu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 25 of Hunter x Hunter (I Reads You)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 13 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 8 of Psyren (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Rosario + Vampire (Blogcritics)
Anna on vol. 2 of Strobe Edge (Manga Report)

Jason Thompson looks at censorship of manga (usually done internally by the publisher) and the greatest censorship fails of all time in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers look forward to next week’s new manga.

Moto Hagio’s Heart of Thomas is out, finally, and Comics Alliance has a preview.

Erica Friedman has a new installment of Yuri Network News for us.

Lissa Patillo looks back at the year 2012 and she looks over the past week’s new releases in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Khursten Santos looks back at 2012 and picks 12 favorites at Otaku Champloo. Dave Ferraro names his top ten manga of 2012 at Comics-and-More.

At Organization ASG, Justin takes a look at the state of the manga world in 2012.

Matt Blind has the manga best-sellers for the past week.

Reviews:

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of 07-Ghost (The Comic Book Bin)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of 21st Century Boys (Comics Worth Reading)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 17 of Black God (The Fandom Post)
Connie on Blade of the Immortal, Bride of the Water God, and Oh My Goddess (Comics Should Be Good)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Blood Lad (Comics Worth Reading)
Sweetpea on Cantarella and Brave Story (Organization ASG)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Blogcritics)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 21 of Claymore (The Fandom Post)
Justin on chapters 13 and 14 of Cross Manage (Organization ASG)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Demon Love Spell (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 11 of Dengeki Daisy (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
John on issue 16 of GEN (Anime Nation News Blog)
Erica Friedman on Girls’ Ride (Okazu)
Ash Brown on Good-Bye Geist (Experiments in Manga)
John Rose on vol. 14 of GTO: The Early Years (The Fandom Post)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 29 of Hunter x Hunter (The Fandom Post)
Chris Beveridge on vol. 2 of The Limit (The Fandom Post)
Helen on vol. 1 of Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries (Narrative Investigations)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Message to Adolf (Manga Village)
Jocelyne Allen on Mushi to Uta (Brain Vs. Book)
Chris Beveridge on vol. 2 of Paradise Kiss (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on R.O.D. Rehabilitation (Okazu)
Katherine Hanson on vol. 6 of Sailor Moon (Yuri no Boke)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 11 of Soul Eater (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Strobe Edge (I Reads You)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Tenjho Tenge (The Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Cycyk on vol. 1 of Thermae Romae (Matt Talks About Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of W Juliet (Blogcritics)