Brigid Alverson

Sean Gaffney looks over next week’s bumper crop of new manga.

Also, ANN has the list of new additions to JManga for the next week or so, including some more one-volume romance manga.

Jason Thompson calls Path of the Assassin “the anti-bishonen manga.” Actually, he calls it “THE ANTI-BISHONEN MANGA.” Find out why in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Molly McIsaac counts down the top ten gay manga at iFanboy. Whatever you may think of her list, it seems odd that so many people bothered to comment that they don’t like manga. Guys, that’s so 2004!

At Blog of the North Star, Milo is really enjoying Toriko, all the more so because he’s getting it for $3.99 a volume during Viz’s digital sale.

Reviews

Laura on Alice in the Country of Hearts (Heart of Manga)
Anna on vol. 5 of Dawn of the Arcana (Manga Report)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 3 of Love Hina (omnibus edition)
TSOTE on Noble Farmer (Three Steps Over Japan)
Lexie on vol. 1 of Polterguys (Poisoned Rationality)
Kristin on vol. 3 of Wandering Son (Comic Attack)

Lissa Pattillo gives her take on this week’s new manga in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

At The Hooded Utilitarian, subdee has a thoughtful analysis of Rohan at the Louvre (part 1, part 2). Also at HU: MJ on the Bechdel Test and Nana.

The Otakon reports are rolling in. At the Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society, I-hsiu Lin reports on the Viz Media panel, the Kodansha Comics panel, and the con as a whole. Vicky Kariolic checks in with Graphic Novel Reporter. The Ninja Consultants, meanwhile, put their reflections in a podcast, and Linda sums up all the manga panels, including the translation one, in a single post at Anime Diet.

Three Steps Over Japan checks out another manga magazine, Weekly Manga Sunday.

Reviews

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of Ai Ore! (The Comic Book Bin)
Kristin on vols. 9 and 10 of Black Butler (Comic Attack)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Oreimo (Blogcritics)
Michael Buntag on vol. 3 of Sailor Moon (NonSensical Words)
TSOTE on Sengoku Youko (Three Steps Over Japan)
Ash Brown on vol. 3 of Wandering Son (Experiments in Manga)

Here’s my roundup of this week’s new manga: Plenty of shojo and shonen favorites, and two new series from Seven Seas.

Big news from Viz: They are releasing some of their line in digital the same day as print. Now would be a good time to check this out, as they are having a 20% off sale on their digital manga through August 20, meaning most volumes are $3.99.

Deb Aoki talks to F.J. DeSanto, who is scripting Archaia’s graphic-novel adaptation of Cyborg 009.

At Manga Widget, Alex Hoffman takes a closer look at Wolfsmund, which was recently licensed by Vertical.

Viz editor Nancy Thistlethwaite interviews Mayu Shinjo, the creator of Ai Ore.

License requests: Connie would like to see more Setona Mizushiro manga please! Misuzhiro is the creator of Afterschool Nightmare, and Connie wants to read some of her more straighforwardly BL manga. Meanwhile, Daniel BT sees some obvious parallels between The Hunger Games and National Quiz, a sadistic-game-show manga that has yet to be translated into English.

News from Japan: Kanoko Sakurakoji is winding up Black Bird in the near future. Go Nagai is starting Sirene-Chan, a Devilman spinoff, and Silent Mobius creator Kia Asamiya has launched a new sports car manga, Aika ga Hashiru!

Reviews

Rebecca Silverman on Alice in the Country of Clover: Bloody Twins (ANN)
Carlo Santos on vol. 11 of Bakuman (ANN)
Ken Haley on vol. 25 of Blade of the Immortal (Sequential Ink)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 4 of Dawn of the Arcana (ANN)
Kristin on vol. 10 of Dengeki Daisy (Comic Attack)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 20 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 8 of Itazura Na Kiss (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Jiu Jiu (ANN)
Drew McCabe on vol. 32 of Kekkaishi (Comic Attack)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 12 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (ANN)
Kristin on vol. 23 of Slam Dunk (Comic Attack)
Anna on vol. 23 of Slam Dunk and vol. 6 of Ai Ore (Manga Report)
Carlo Santos on vol. 9 of Toriko (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Until Death Do Us Part (ANN)

It’s Manga Moveable Feast time again. (Again!) This time the main dish is Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, and the host is Philip, of Eeeper’s Choice Podcast. His Call for Participation is up now, so get your keyboards ready!

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their picks of the week.

Deb Aoki has all the details on JManga’s translation contest at About.com, and she should know—she’s one of the judges.

Erica Friedman takes a look at Young King Ours, which styles itself “The Most Eccentric Manga Magazine,” at Manga Bookshelf.

You knew there had to be a manga tie-in to the Olympics, right? Here you go.

Also at Manga Bookshelf: Matt Blind breaks out the spreadsheet once more to compile the list of manga best-sellers for the week ending July 22.

News from Japan: Tite Kubo is putting Bleach on hiatus for a few weeks due to illness; the series, which is in its final arc, is expected to return on August 20. Natsume Ando’s Arisa, a MangaBlog favorite, ended last week. Dance in the Vampire Bund and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days are also drawing to a close. And One Piece continues to shatter records, with vol. 67 getting a print run of 4.05 million copies.

Reviews: What has Ash Brown been reading this past week? Check out Experiments in Manga to find out! Angela Eastman compares the novel and manga versions of Cirque du Freak at Manga Bookshelf.

Ash Brown on The Astro Boy Essays (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 45 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 19 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Tom Spurgeon on Sakuran (The Comics Reporter)
Robert Stanley Martin on vols. 1-3 of Wandering Son (Pol Culture)

I took a look at the past week’s new releases at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo covered them in her On the Shelf column for Otaku USA as well. Meanwhile, Sean Gaffney looks forward to this week’s new manga.

Erica Friedman has another installment of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Jocelyne Allen celebrated yaoi day (8/01) by running a 2010 interview with est em, the creator of Seduce Me After the Show and Red Blinds the Foolish. And she follows that up with a review of Gad Sfortunato, a yaoi title by Natsume Ono (writing under her pen name, basso) that has yet to make it into English.

And as a service to her fujoshi readers, Kimi-Chan posts a list of free BL manga and webcomics. Khursten Santos also runs a list of recommended yaoi webcomics, and she shines the spotlight on est em as well.

At Heart of Manga, Laura posts the list of new shoujo titles for August.

Matt Blind’s best-seller lists are gaining on us: His latest is the best-selling manga (online sales) for the week ending July 15.

Takamasa Sakurai noticed more Japanese people than ever at the most recent Japan Expo in Paris, which is a good thing:

Meanwhile, overseas events provide Japanese guests with an opportunity to communicate with each other. In Japan, they part as soon as they finish work. But overseas, they have plenty of time to speak to each other. They can meet for dinner or go out together after events. It’s rare in Japan for artists and staff from various genres to get together, but outside Japan, they’re “Team Japan.” By sharing similar experiences, they can build friendships.

News from Japan: Crunchyroll has some photos of the National High School Manga Championship. You knew there had to be one.

Reviews

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Awkward Silence (I Reads You)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 11 and 12 of Bakuman (Comics Worth Reading)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Cactus’s Secret (Blogcritics)
Connie on Cigarette Kisses (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kate Dacey on vols. 3-5 of Dawn of the Arcana (The Manga Critic)
Connie on vol. 1 of Dousei Ai (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 19 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Jiu Jiu (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on est em’s Kine In! (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kimi-Chan on Love Soul (The Kimi-Chan Experience)
Erica Friedman on vol. 8 of Lucky Star (Okazu)
Connie on vol. 2 of Scent of Apple Blossoms (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 23 of Slam Dunk (I Reads You)

It’s the busy season! I rounded up the manga news from Otakon (new Vertical series, Kodansha’s iPhone app and sale) at MTV Geek. Deb Aoki explains what’s going on at Shonen Jump Alpha—new additions to the lineup and the speedup of Blue Exorcist—as announced at San Diego Comic-Con, and Tony Yao takes a quick look at one new series, Takama-ga-Hara.

It’s 8/01—you know, Yaoi Day—and Khursten Santos explains how she has come to embrace, rather than shy away from, her fujoshi side. Khursten has also written a nice piece about her manga life.

The Manga Village team discusses their picks of the week.

I’m a bit late with this (sorry!) but Erica Friedman has this week’s yuri updates in the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Derek Bown’s latest Combat Commentary takes a look at the battles of One Piece.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look inside Monthly Champion Red.

Matt Blind counts down the manga best-sellers for the week ending July 8.

News from Japan: Translator Tomo Kimura gives us a peek at the special silver spoons that come with different editions of vol. 4 of Silver Spoon. The Japan Times takes a look at the Kyoto Manga Museum. D.N. Angel creator Yurikiru Sugisaki and Dragon Head manga-ka Minetaro Mochizuki both have a new series in the works. Aloha Higa has announced that her Shirokuma Cafe is coming back after a hiatus announced in May. Infinite Stratos and its 4-koma spinoff are both coming to an end shortly. The final volume of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (vol. 30, for those who are keeping track) will include 15 extra pages that weren’t in the magazine serialization.

Reviews: Carlo Santos turns a critical eye on a fresh batch of new manga in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

AstroNerdBoy on vol. 4 of A Certain Scientific Railgun (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Erica Friedman on the July issue of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Sara K. on The Fox Volant of Snow Mountain (Manga Bookshelf)
Erica Friedman on Hadashi no Chimera (Okazu)
Julie on vol. 1 of Polterguys (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 18 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Kristin on Sakuran (Comic Attack)

ICv2 talks to Dallas Middaugh of Random House and Kumi Shimizu of Kodansha Comics about Kodansha’s first year of publishing manga in the U.S. (Here’s a quick summary of the relationship between Kodansha Comics, Random House, and Del Rey.)

Vom Marlowe checks out Digital’s eManga site and reports back at The Hooded Utilitarian.

The Manga Moveable Feast winds up with a flurry of posts at Manga Bookshelf: MJ rounds up the posts for days 4, 5, and 6 and writes about The Shoujo Beauty of X and the fujoshi aspects of CLAMP. Other posts: Brett Stockmeier discusses The Greatest Conversation CLAMP has ever written and Chobits: Deconstructing the Love Story; Sean Gaffney has Some Thoughts on CLAMP, and MJand Michelle Smith devote their Let’s Get Visual column at Soliloquy in Blue to Legal Drug and xxxHoLiC. Michelle and Kate Peck are Chatting About CLAMP as well.

There’s a whole lot of Sakuran goin’ on when the Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week.

Kate Dacey asks the readers: Who’s your favorite female shonen manga artist?

Matt Blind posts the manga best-sellers for the week ending July 1.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf bloggers keep it short and sweet in their latest set of Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown recaps the past week’s reading at Experiments in Manga.

Anna on vol. 3 of Cardcaptor Sakura (omnibus edition) (Manga Report)
Ash Brown on Clover (Experiments in Manga)
Alex Hoffman on vols. 1-5 of Crying Freeman (Manga Widget)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 18 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Danielle Hoar on The One I Love (Kuriousity)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-10 of RG Veda (Manga Xanadu)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Sakuran (Comics Worth Reading)
Joseph Luster on Sakuran (Otaku USA)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Soul Eater NOT (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Joseph Luster on chapter 1 of Takama-ga-hara (Otaku USA)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Tenjho Tenge (Full Contact Edition) (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vols. 1-4 of Wish (Manga Report)

Lissa Pattillo takes a look at this week’s new manga releases in her latest On the Shelf column for Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney looks ahead to the best of next week at A Case Suitable for Treatment.

I reported on all the Viz manga news from San Diego at CBR, including the two new series in Shonen Jump Alpha, and the interrogation of the Japanese Shonen Jump editors.

Also at CBR: Kiel Phegley talks to F.J. DeSanto, who is co-writing the new adaptation of Cyborg 009.

Big doings at JManga this week: They have launched a blog, JManga Poi Poi, and they have also announced the judges and the manga for the Manga Translation Battle.

The Manga Moveable Feast continues with its focus on CLAMP; your hostess MJ rounds up the links for days 1, 2, and 3 at Manga Bookshelf and picks her three favorite CLAMP women as well. MJ, Michelle Smith, and Danielle Leigh devote their On the Shelf roundtable to Tokyo Babylon, and Kate Dacey picks Suki: A Like Story as The Best Manga You’re Not Reading at The Manga Critic. Check the Reviews section below for reviews of individual books.

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

At Manga Report, Anna lists the series she is looking forward to reading on JManga.

Kawaii Countdown: Molly McIsaac lists her picks for the the ten cutest comics and manga at iFanboy.com.

Tony Yao puts Shinji and Misato (of Neon Genesis Evangelion) on the couch at Manga Therapy.

Laura (from Heart of Manga) discusses how Maria Kawai, the Christian heroine of A Devil and Her Love Song, lives her faith.

Digital Manga has expanded into two new channels, DriveThru Comics and Graphicly, which will allow readers to buy and read manga via Facebook.

Matt Blind compiles his list of manga best-sellers for the week ending June 24.

Ash Brown is giving away a copy of the first Love Hina omnibus; hit the link for details.

News from Japan: Maoh: Juvenile Remix artist Megumi Osuga has a new series in the works, Vanilla Fiction, for Gessan (Monthly Shonen Sunday). Yuuki Obata (We Were There) is launching a new series, Forget Me Not, in Cookie magazine. Translator Tomo Kimura shows off the Japanese alternative cover for vol. 18 of Pandora Hearts. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews

Connie on vol. 2 of Adekan (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Angel Para Bellum (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 12 of Bakuman (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 10 of Dengeki Daisy (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on Hatsukoi Kouzoushiki (Okazu)
Connie on Honey Colored Pancakes (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 6 of House of Five Leaves (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Jiu Jiu (Comic Attack)
Laura on vols. 1-6 of Kobato (Heart of Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 5 and 6 of Kobato (Manga Village)
Anna on Legal Drug (Manga Report)
Ken Haley on vol. 1 of Mega Man Megamix (Sequential Ink)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 12 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (The Fandom Post)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 35 of Negima! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Connie on vol. 4 of Sailor Moon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 5 of Sunshine Sketch (Okazu)
Drew McCabe on the first chapter of Takara-Ga-Hama (Comic Attack)
Phillip Anthony on vol. 1 of X (Manga Bookshelf)

Start your reading today at ICv2, where their two-part interview with Viz brass touches on the state of the manga market (better than last year), the problem of kids’ manga, the renewed popularity of shoujo, their “aggressive” push to digital, and some books to look forward to in the fall, including the old and new volumes of Loveless. And here’s VP of publishing Leyla Aker on why Viz is going beyond parent companies Shueisha and Shogakukan for licenses:

When Tokyopop was a major force in licensing and Go! Comi, Bandai, and the smaller publishers were around, we really didn’t go to a lot of publishers because it was more of an effort to secure those licenses in competition with the other publishers, and we didn’t really need to. Our parent companies’ catalogs were so deep there wasn’t a huge impetus to go out to try to find other stuff. But now the publishing landscape here has changed so much, where there’s essentially only a handful of players left, the field is more open so when we are looking to acquire material, the editors know that they should be looking everywhere. It’s kind of an organic process of just going further afield.

This month’s Manga Moveable Feast focuses on CLAMP, and MJ kicks it off with an introduction to the team and their works, both major and minor, as well as an argument in favor of Cardcaptor Sakura. The Manga Bookshelf bloggers devote their Pick of the Week to their favorite CLAMP manga as well. The full archive for the feast is here.

The Manga Village team makes their picks from this week’s new manga.

Lori Henderson has a concise roundup of the manga news from San Diego at Manga Xanadu, and the Manga Village team has a roundtable discussion as well.

Digital Manga’s Tezuka Kickstarter campaign raised over $49,000, enough to fund print editions of Unico, Triton, and Atomcat, and perhaps setting a record for manga-based Kickstarters, says Deb Aoki.

Johanna Draper Carlson and Ed Sizemore host an epic edition of the Manga Out Loud podcast, discussing Kickstarter with special guests Matt Blind, Erica Friedman, Jason Yadao, and Ben Applegate

Erica Friedman explains why it is important for yuri manga to be commercially successful—and that means paying the licensors, translators, and publishers.

Alex Hoffman has a license request: The josei manga 3 A.M. Dangerous Zone, a workplace story about a girl who designs pachinko machines.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a peek between the covers of Monthly Comic Rex.

Matt Blind lists the manga best-sellers (online sales) for the week ending June 17.

News from Japan: A local group has asked the Hiroshima Board of Education not to use Keiji Nakasawa’s Barefoot Gen in its peace studies program, calling the semi-autobiographical tale of a boy who survived the Hiroshima bombing “one-sided.” Eikichi Onizuka, the title character in GTO, will make an appearance in a one-shot spinoff of Inohead Gargoyle, the latest series by GTO creator Tohru Fujisawa, in Young magazine. The manga team Peach-Pit (Shugo Chara!, Rozen Maiden) has a new manga in the works that will run in Kodansha’s Dessert. Happy Hustle High creator Rie Takada will launch a new series, Boku no Kanojo wa Yōjinbō (My Girlfriend is a Yojimbo/Bodyguard), in the September 3 issue of Silky. ANN has the Japanese publisher rankings for the first half of 2012, plus a bit of analysis.

Reviews: Deb Aoki takes a look at the first chapter of Takama-Ga-Hara, the newest series to join the Shonen Jump Alpha lineup. Adam Stephanides takes a brief look at three untranslated manga by Shintaro Kago at Completely Futile. Ash Brown reports in on the latest week of manga at Experiments in Manga.

Lissa Pattillo on vols. 1-3 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (Kuriousity)
Kristin on vols. 11 and 12 of Bakuman (Comic Attack)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 44 of Bleach (Sequential Tart)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 22 of D.Gray-Man (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuko-Chan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
J. Caleb Mozzocco on vol. 1 of The Flowers of Evil (Every Day Is Like Wednesday)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Gate 7 (Manga Xanadu)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 23 of Hayate the Combat Butler (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Jiu Jiu (ICv2)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of Pokemon Adventures: Diamond and Pearl Platinum (Blogcritics)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 17 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of Rosario + Vampire: Season II (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 6 of Sailor Moon (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Dave Ferraro on Sakuran (Comics-and-More)
Jia on vol. 1 of Walkin’ Butterfly (Dear Author)

I’m back from San Diego, bags filled with books, head filled with stories to be written. Thanks to Kate Dacey for filling in so admirably while I was away, and to Deb Aoki for being the best Comic-Con roommate ever!

I was covering the con for CBR, so I wrote my big manga story for them: JManga plans to launch an “all you can eat” website that will post a chapter a week of both new and older manga; the site will be free but a paid subscription will get you the manga faster–and may get you more titles as well.

Speaking of Deb Aoki, she has been more industrious than me and has already written up two of the major stories from Comic-Con, the Kodansha panel and the news that Picturebox will be publishing bara manga (gay erotic manga).

And Lissa Pattillo has a handy roundup of all the SDCC news at Kuriousity.

Jason Thompson takes a look at the exceptionally talented manga-ka est em in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Sean Gaffney looks at this week’s rather sparse new-manga lineup at A Case Suitable for Treatment.

News from Japan: Stepping on Roses manga-ka Rinko Ueda has a new series in the works, Sakura Jūyūshi, which will debut in the August 4 issue of Margaret. Sora Inoue, the artist for Real Bout High School, has started a new manga, My Ball, about a school soccer club. Fist of the North Star creator Buronson is writing a new manga to be illustrated by Yuka Nagate, who did the art for the Toki side story.

Reviews: Ash Brown reports in on another week of manga at Experiments in Manga.

Ken Haley on Barbara (Sequential Ink)
Connie on vol. 16 of Black Jack (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ash Brown on vol. 11 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Connie on vol. 4 of Claymore (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vols. 29 and 30 of Hayate the Combat Butler (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Anna on vol. 1 of Jiu Jiu (Manga Report)
Erica Friedman on vol. 9 of Jormungand (Okazu)
Anna on vol. 20 of Kaze Hikaru (Manga Report)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 12 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (I Reads You)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 35 of Negima! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of Oresama Teacher (The Comic Book Bin)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Polterguys (The Manga Critic)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Wonder! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

San Diego Comic-Con is just around the corner, and you can expect plenty of manga action. I’m going this year, for the first time, so I’ll be handing over the keys to MangaBlog to The Manga Critic, Kate Dacey, for the second half of the week. I’ll have a lineup of manga-related programming later in the week, but a few things are jumping out now. One is that three editors from Japanese Shonen Jump will be guests at Viz’s Shonen Jump Alpha panel on Saturday at noon. Interestingly, the Japanese Shonen Jump has a teaser website up with a countdown that ends on Saturday. Could these two things be related?

The big news broke Friday, at a video event celebrating the 20th anniversary of Sailor Moon: Kodansha and Toei will be producing a new Sailor Moon anime. We don’t know too much more than that it exists, but it will be released simultaneously worldwide. Lissa Pattillo has a bit more at Kuriousity.

Lissa Pattillo has the scoop on the new licenses announced by Digital at Anime Expo.

I looked over the past week’s new manga at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo has her selections in her latest On the Shelf column for Otaku USA. Meanwhile, Sean Gaffney takes a peek at what to expect this week, and at Manga Bookshelf, the team discusses their Pick of the Week.

Erica Friedman has the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

For the second year in a row, Yen Press concluded their talent search without announcing a winner. Deb Aoki talks to Yen editor JuYoun Lee about why this is, how Yen Press finds artists, and what they are really looking for.

Jason Thompson takes a look at the classic sci-fi manga Parasyte in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Tony Yao meditates on the true meaning of strength as expressed in Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond.

Matt Blind looks at the manga best-sellers for the weeks of May 20 and May 27.

This month’s Manga Moveable Feast will focus on CLAMP, and it will be hosted at Manga Bookshelf, where MJ posts the Call for Entries.

The Ninja Consultants present their 2012 Anime Boston con report.

Cool things you can only get in Japan at the moment: The omake from vol. 7 of Inoboku and the latest cover of Morning, featuring art from Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at the manga magazine Young Ace.

News from Japan: The Japanese Association for Gender, Fantasy, and Science Fiction gave the top prize in its Sense of Gender Awards to Naname no Ongaku (Schräge Musik), by Dolls creator Yumiko Kawahara. Shaman King manga-ka Hiroyuki Takei is creating a one-shot manga for the September issue of Jump Square. Wataru Yoshizumi (Marmalade Boy) is has ended the series Chitose Etc., which ran in Margaret. Also coming to an end: Shigeru Tschushiyama’s Gokudō Meshi, a gourmet manga in which prisoners reminisce about their most memorable meals. JManga has published the first two volumes in English.

Reviews: J. Caleb Mozzocco truly appreciates vol. 1 of Pretty Face, a manga that I have had nothing but mockery for, so go, check out his review at Every Day Is Like Wednesday. At The Hooded Utilitarian, Erica Friedman sings the praises of Sukeban Deka, which has yet to be translated into English. MJ and Michelle Smith discuss some recent releases in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf. Also at Manga Bookshelf: This week’s Bookshelf Briefs.

Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Alex Hoffman on Barrage (Manga Widget)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 42 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Khursten Santos on Breathe Deeply (Otaku Champloo)
Kristin on vol. 43 of Case Closed (Comic Attack)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 20 of Claymore (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Cowboy Bebop (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 1 of Dog x Cat (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Dragon Ball (omnibus edition) (Blogcritics)
Sesho on vol. 1 of Gakuen Prince (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Connie on issue 5 of GEN (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Genshiken: Second Season (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lexie on vol. 2 of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (Poisoned Rationality)
Sesho on vol. 1 of Harukaze Bitter Bop (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Hetalia: Axis Powers (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sesho on vol. 22 of InuYasha (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Jiu Jiu (The Manga Critic)
Kristin on vol. 9 of Jormungand (Comic Attack)
Connie on vol. 6 of Kizuna (Slightly Biased Manga)
Anna on Knight Princess of Orelian and Serilia of Silver (Manga Report)
Sesho on vol. 28 of Naruto (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Anna on Queen’s Stairs and Love Spice (Manga Report)
Lesley Aeschliman on vols. 14 and 15 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Queenie Chan on Skip Beat! (Queenie Chan)
Manjiorin on vols. 1 and 2 of Slam Dunk (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sean Kleefeld on vol. 3 of Summit of the Gods (Kleefeld on Comics)
TSOTE on Tabibito no Ke (Three Steps Over Japan)
Connie on vol. 6 of Tenjho Tenge (omnibus edition)
Erica Friedman on vol. 17 of Tsubomi (Okazu)
Lexie on vol. 1 of Until Death Do Us Part (Poisoned Rationality)
Jocelyne Allen on Yagate, Ai ni Naru (by est em) (Brain Vs. Book)
Shannon Fay on Your Story I’ve Known (Kuriousity)

At their Anime Expo panel, Viz highlighted some upcoming titles and announced that Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal will join the lineup of Shonen Jump Alpha.

If you’re mourning the end of Ouran High School Host Club, check out Viz’s new Shojo Beat Facebook page for info about a live Tweetchat with the editor tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, Nico Nico is hosting a live event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Sailor Moon, and the press release promises “an exciting new announcement” that will “surprise the fans.” The editor of the manga and several members of the voice cast of the anime will be there for some behind-the-scenes chat.

Reviews

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Cowboy Bebop (Blogcritics)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Genshiken: Second Season (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Jiu Jiu (The Manga Critic)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of Rin-ne (The Comic Book Bin)

I wrote up a quick summary of Tokyopop’s Anime Expo panel at MTV Geek (based on the transcript—alas, I wasn’t there), and Deb Aoki has a thorough analysis at her blog as well. At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson looks at the mixed signals Tokyopop CEO Stu Levy is sending out regarding their original graphic novels.

And Viz had a few things to say at Anime Expo as well: They will be rolling out an Android version of their manga app, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal will join the Shonen Jump Alpha lineup in July.

At Manga Bookshelf, we discuss our Picks of the Week. I’m ready for some summer reading!

Matt Blind compiles his latest list of manga best-sellers (online sales), this one for the week ending May 13.

Reviews: Ash Brown takes a look at a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan (Comics-and-More)
Justin and Manjiorin on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Justin on chapter 5 of Barrage (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Kristin on vol. 3 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Comic Attack)
Kristin on vol. 4 of Gunslinger Girl (omnibus edition) (Comic Attack)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Jiu Jiu (I Reads You)
TSOTE on Manga Jung (Three Steps Over Japan)
Philip Anthony on vol. 2 of Sakura Hime (Manga Bookshelf)