Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Brigid Alverson

Tokyopop is back!

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Big news from Anime Expo: Tokyopop had a panel, and they announced they will be publishing that vols. 4 and 5 of Hetalia will be published in North America; Levy said the details are unclear but he is talking to Gentosha about it. Tokyopop will also publish the third volume of the OEL manga Psy-Comm, as print-on-demand books via the anime retail site RightStuf. More on this as it develops…

At MTV Geek I reviewed Viz’s newest shoujo manga, Jiu Jiu.

Erica Friedman rounds up the latest yuri news in her Yuri News Network post at Okazu.

The Yen Press staff blogs about their work on the new (finally complete!) edition of Alice in the Country of Hearts.

The Takehiko Inoue-focused Manga Moveable Feast continues at two sites; at Manga Report, Anna pulls out some of the highlights from the archive of older posts, and at Soliloquy in Blue, Michelle Smith posts the link roundups for days two, three, and four, as well as a special Inoue-themed edition of Let’s Get Visual, with MJ.

Kimi-Chan posts a 2010 interview with Incubus creator Yayoi Neko.

Manga Bookshelf editor MJ talks about manga, blogging, fandom, and girl-friendly comics, among other things, in a wide-ranging interview at women write about comics.

Reviews

Rob Clough on Black Blizzard (High-Low)
Erica Friedman on Black Yagi to Gekiyaku Madeline (Okazu)
Connie on vol. 1 of The Devil Does Exist (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 3 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rob Clough on A Drifting Life (High-Low)
Connie on Good Morning (Slightly Biased Manga)
Manjiorin on vols. 2 and 3 of Hikaru No Go (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of House of Five Leaves (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 10 of Kamisama Kiss (Slightly Biased Manga)
Emily on Kyou Otoko to Isourou (Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of La Corda d’Oro (Blogcritics)
Tom Spurgeon on Mai, The Psychic Girl (The Comics Reporter)
J. Caleb Mozzocco on NonNonBa (Comics Alliance)
Kristin on vol. 4 of Psyren (Comic Attack)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of Psyren (The Comic book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vols. 1-6 of Slam Dunk (Manga Report)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Vagabond (Manga Xanadu)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1-3 of Vagabond (Soliloquy in Blue)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of Vagabond (omnibus edition)
Anna on vols. 9 and 10 of Vagabond (omnibus edition) (Manga Report)

Pick of the Week: Jiu Jiu, 5 Centimeters & more

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SEAN: Given that there’s about 40 gazillion titles coming out this Wednesday at Midtown Comics, narrowing down a pick of the week is hard. I am therefore going to do what I usually do in these cases, which is assume my colleagues will pick the more ‘upscale’ titles and go for my own personal biases. Jiu Jiu is Viz’s latest Shojo Beat series, and it’s from Hana to Yume (and its spinoff), a magazine I adore. It combines shoujo romance with fantasy, as most of the currently licensed crop do (hey, you go with what sells), and features a heroine who is cool and can kick ass when required. Who could ask for anything more?

MICHELLE: Actually, even though I know I should pick the third volume of Wandering Son because it’s bound to be awesome, my heart is drawn unerringly—over other greats like One Piece and Ooku—to the 28th volume of Skip Beat!. I think it says a lot about the series that it inspires such loyalty and genuine expectation so long into its run. Also, I have successfully gotten a coworker addicted. Muahaha!

MJ: I think we can all agree that Wandering Son is a must-buy. But since there will be much more of it to come, I’ll give my vote this week to a single volume release—the manga adaptation of Makoto Shinkai’s 5 Centimeters Per Second. I’m a fairly devoted fan of Shinkai’s work and vision, and as this adaptation is based on my very favorite of his films, it’s not a release I’m willing to miss. There are images from this melancholy film that are among my favorites in any medium—moments I carry with me day-to-day, even now. And while I expect I’ll find the manga’s strengths to be different than the film’s, it’s hard for me to imagine Vertical licensing this if it had no strengths at all. So, despite my usual skepticism over adaptations of this kind, I approach this manga optimistically.

BRIGID: Wow, so many good books to choose from! I’m loving Drops of God, so I’ll want vol. 4 of that, and I’ll be going for 5 cm too. But in the dog days of summer, I go for the simple pleasures, so my first choice this week will be vol. 1 of the Kitchen Princess omnibus. I’m ready for some sweet, sweet shoujo, and Kitchen Princess delivers, treading very familiar ground with the story of a cheerful orphan at an elite boarding school who solves everyone’s problems by cooking for them. It’s charming, funny, and broken up into short story arcs so I can pick it up and put it down whenever I like. Yeah, I’ve read it before, but summer is a good time for reruns, so bring it on!

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Digital unlocks second Tezuka license, Utena manga-ka starts new series

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It’s that time of the week again: I checked out the list of this week’s new manga releases at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo gave her take in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney has a look at next week’s new manga, which look absolutely stellar, with new volumes of Wandering Son and Drops of God, as well as the manga adaptation of Makoto Shinkai’s 5 Centimeters per Second.

Digital Manga’s Kickstarter drive reached its goal of $20,000 to publish Osamu Tezuka’s Unico, so the second new license has been unlocked: Tezuka’s Atomcat, a feline spinoff of Astro Boy. And if they reach $26,000, which looks likely, they will have yet another license to announce. Christopher Butcher and Johanna Draper Carlson voice some concerns about Digital using Kickstarter this way, but at the newly revived Manga Widget, Alex Hoffman argues that it’s an appropriate way to market a book, although not really necessary with a Tezuka property.

With the year half over (that was fast!), Kate Dacey asks her readers: What are the best new manga of 2012… so far? You can vote for up to five in her poll.

At Soliloquy in Blue, Michelle Smith presents the first roundup of posts in the Takehiko Inoue Manga Moveable Feast, and at Manga Bookshelf, Michelle and MJ devote this week’s Off the Shelf column to Inoue’s Real.

Jason Thompson devotes this week’s House of 1000 Manga column to the samurai manga Satsuma Gishiden.

Matt Blind has another list of manga best-sellers, this one for the week of April 29. Sailor Moon is still going strong, but it has a bit of competition.

Hey, all of a sudden it’s summer con season! Anime Expo is this weekend, and Deb Aoki has the manga highlights for you. And plan ahead, because Arina Tanemura is going to be the guest at AnimeFest in Dallas at the end of August.

Manga Therapy posts a video of author Helen McCarthy giving the history of manga in just nine minutes.

Ash Brown is giving away a copy of vol. 1 of From Eroica With Love to one lucky reader.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at Monthly Gessan, the monthly cousin of the weekly Shonen Sunday.

BIG news from Japan today: Chiho Saito, the creator of Revolutionary Girl Utena, will launch a new series, Torikae Baya, in the next issue of Shogakukan’s Monthly Flowers.

Reviews

Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (omnibus edition) (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sesho on vol. 1 of Flowers of Evil (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
TSOTE on vol. 1 of Kitaro Collection (Three Steps Over Japan)
A Day Without Me on vol. 1 of Kitchen Princess (omnibus edition) (GAR GAR Stegosaurus)
Anna on vols. 1-5 of Real (Manga Report)
Erica Friedman on Yume Yori Sutekina (Okazu)
Erica Friedman on Yuri Anthology Dolce (Okazu)

Tokyopop goes to AX; Digital Kickstarts Tezuka’s Unico

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I took a look at this week’s new manga releases at MTV Geek. I also reported on JManga’s new a la carte system, along with some suggestions for manga you can buy with those freely acquired points.

Now this is interesting: Tokyopop will have a panel at Anime Expo. Daniella Orihuela-Gruber will be on the panel, and she clues us in as to what to expect:

I’ll be helping Stu Levy explain what happened to TOKYOPOP in 2011, what we’re doing now and what the future holds. It will be my first time on an official industry panel, so I’m a bit nervous!

We’ll have news, trivia, giveaways and a few surprises! It will be a great panel, especially for Hetalia and Bizenghast fans, so I’ll hope you’ll join us, even if you weren’t originally planning to. Hope to see you there!

It’s time for the Manga Moveable Feast again! This month the focus is on the works of Takehiko Inoue, and it’s being co-hosted by Anna Neatrour (who will archive older links at Manga Report) and Michelle Smith (who is collecting current links at Soliloquy in Blue). Anna and Michelle explain a bit more at Manga Report.

Comics Alliance has a generous preview of Moyoco Anno’s Sakuran up right now; it’s mature content and they say it’s SFW but it wouldn’t fly in my workplace, so your mileage may vary.

Digital Manga wants to bring back Osamu Tezuka’s Unico, an all-ages tale of a cuddly unicorn, and they are running a Kickstarter campaign to fund it. As of this writing, it is almost funded, and if they hit their goal with time to spare, they will announce a second license.

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan will end in this week’s Shonen Jump in Japan (and thus in a couple of weeks in Viz’s Shonen Jump Alpha), but Japanese SJ editor Hisashi Sasaki says the sequel, which will run in Jump Next! in August, will be available in English as well.

ALC and JManga are collaborating to publish three yuri manga series from Comic Yuri Hime: Sorairo Girl Friend, Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu, and Yuru Yuri.

The Sugoi Books Android app is terminating as of August 7. The bad news is that after that date, any book not downloaded onto the user’s device is gone forever. The good news is that the app is so bad that I doubt many people will have anything to lose.

Jason Thompson talks about Kentarou Miura’s Berserk, “one of the greatest, darkest and longest fantasy manga ever made,” in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Nenena discusses the gender aspect of Attack on Titan.

How do you know when a series is going to end soon? Japanese readers suggested some warning signs in a recent survey.

News from Japan: Naruto creator Masashi Kishimoto says he knows the end of the series and that the manga is currently heading toward its climax. The next story arc of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan will be in Jump Next!, not its usual home, Shonen Jump. TPeach-Pit (creators of Shugo Chara! and Rozen Maiden) has announced a new series is in the works, to run in Kodansha’s Dessert magazine. Nyankoi! creator Sato Fujiwara has started a free web manga, Ore to Moyashi to Ohanaya-san, in the web magazine Comic Meteor. The Idolm@ster game franchise is inspiring not one but eight manga spinoffs.

Reviews: MJ and Michelle Smith discuss some new yaoi releases in their latest BL Bookrack column at Manga Bookshelf. Kate Dacey has some short takes at The Manga Critic. Ash Brown rounds up a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Kristin on vol. 5 of Ai Ore (Comic Attack)
Connie on vol. 12 of Bakuman (Slightly Biased Manga)
Justin on chapter 4 of Barrage (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 4 of Dawn of the Arcana (Kuriousity)
Connie on vol. 1 of Excel Saga (Slightly Biased Manga)
Greg McElhatton on Fallen Words (Read About Comics)
Connie on Finder Series 6: Passion in the Viewfinder (Slightly Biased Manga)
Alexander on issue 12 of GEN (Comic Attack)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-3 of Hana-Kimi (Manga Xanadu)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 23 of Hayate the Combat Butler (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Connie on Honey Darling (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sweetpea616 on vols. 1-6 of Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of Jormungand (The Comic Book Bin)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Kanojo to Camera to Kanojo no Kisetsu (Okazu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 32 of Kekkaishi (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Love Hina (omnibus edition) (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Anna on vol. 18 of Ouran High School Host Club (Manga Report)
Sesho on vol. 2 of Sailor Moon (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Connie on vol. 28 of Skip Beat! (Slightly Biased Manga)
Victoria Martin on vol. 8 of Soul Eater (Kuriousity)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 6 of Sunshine Sketch (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kristin on vol. 6 of Tenjho Tenge (Full Contact Edition) (Comic Attack)

New licenses, new releases

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Deb Aoki takes a closer look at two recently announced manga: Knights of Sidonia, from Vertical, and Kitaro, from Drawn and Quarterly.

Digital Manga has confirmed some new yaoi and hentai licenses.

Lissa Pattillo looks at this week’s new manga releases in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Lissa also has the PR on Viz’s newest shoujo manga, Jiu Jiu.

At Blog of the North Star, Milo continues his look at wrestling manga with a peek at the historical series Cestvs.

News from Japan: Kotaku reports the results of a recent poll asking people what their favorite manga was. Ultimate Venus manga-ka Takako Shigematsu is launching a new series, Nekozuka-san’chi no Gokyōdai, in the July issue of Gekkan Princess. ANN has word of two new Shonen Jump series: Ansatsu Kyōshitsu (Assassination Classroom) by Yusei Matsui (Neuro – Supernatural Detective) and Takamagahara by Jūzō Kawai.

Reviews: Carlo Santos rounds up the best, the worst, and the meh in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Other reviews of note:

Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Drifting Net Cafe (The Manga Critic)
Ken Haley on vols. 8 and 9 of Erementar Gerade (Sequential Ink)
Ed Sizemore on NonNonBa (Comics Worth Reading)
Anna on vol. 28 of Skip Beat! (Manga Report)
Sesho on Tekkonkinkreet (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Lissa Pattillo on Three Wolves Mountain (Kuriousity)

Barrage, wrestling, Cyborg 009

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I reviewed the first two chapters of Barrage, the new Shonen Jump series, at MTV Geek, and Justin at OASG is way ahead of me with his look at chapter 3, which just came out yesterday in the newly weekly Shonen Jump Alpha.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers (myself included) discuss our Pick of the Week.

David Brothers talks about why he likes the classic Cyborg 009.

At Blog of the North Star, Milo discusses wrestling manga.

Matt Blind calculates the manga best-sellers for the week ending April 22. It’s always Sailor Moon, isn’t it?

News from Japan: It looks like the magazine to pick up is Asahi Shimbun’s Nemuki; the latest issue features new stories by Gekidan Inu Curry (one of the production designers on the Puella Magi Magica Madoka TV anime), Reraku and Kiriko Yumeji (Le Chevalier d’Eon), and Junji Ito (Uzumaki). Manga-ka Tohru Fujisawa is working on a new GTO spinoff that will focus on Onizuka’s pal Ryūji Danma. The series, titled GT-R, will run in Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine. Hideki Ohwada, creator of The Legend of Koizumi, just started another new series, Fūhyō Hakai Tenshi Lovekyuri, in Akita Shoten’s Champion RED.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf bloggers post some short takes in their latest Manga Bookshelf column. Ash Brown looks at another week of manga at Experiments in Manga.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Arata: The Legend (The Comic Book Bin)
Danica Davidson on vol. 1 of AX (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-3 of Black Gate (Manga Xanadu)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 4 and 5 of Cage of Eden (ANN)
Kristin on vol. 6 of Dorohedoro (Comic Attack)
AstroNerdBoy on vols. 21 and 22 of Hayate the Combat Butler (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Rebecca Silverman on Honey Darling (ANN)
Danica Davidson on vols. 1-4 of Library Wars: Love and War (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Magic Knight Rayearth (Okazu)
Manjiorin on vols. 1-4 of Please, Please Me (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 8 of Rin-Ne (ANN)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Sailor Moon (Blogcritics)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Starry Sky (ANN)

Pick of the Week: Abundance

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MJ: There’s quite a bit manga on its way to Midtown Comics this week, but despite the wide range of tasty-looking titles, making my pick is astonishingly easy. Natsume Ono’s House of Five Leaves is one of my very favorite titles currently running, and a new volume of that trumps nearly anything else the industry could put before me. I love this series’ idiosyncratic artwork, its passive protagonist, its ambiguous morality, and its meandering style. For me, this series is always a must-buy.

KATE: I second MJ’s recommendation; House of Five Leaves is my favorite Natsume Ono manga (it beats out Ristorante Paradiso by a whisker), and I never miss an opportunity to sing its praises. The other series on my mind this week is Alice in the Country of Hearts, which Yen Press rescued from licensing purgatory. I missed out on Alice when Tokyopop was publishing it, so I’m grateful for the opportunity to read it without bankrupting myself or resorting to scans. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this title’s shojolicious riff on Alice in Wonderland, so I go into the new two-in-one editions with high hopes.


MICHELLE: I’ll cast my vote for Yen Press’s license rescue of Alice in the Country of Hearts, which is hitting stores complete in three omnibus editions. Yes, I’ve read it already, but I had to rely on a somewhat dodgy translation for the final volume, so I’m looking forward to checking it out and seeing whether it makes any more sense (hopefully!) when handled by professionals!

SEAN: I know very little about Olympos other than that it’s a josei manga from Ichijinsha, and is apparently about Apollo and Ganymede. It’s always fascinating to see how Japan handles Western mythology, and the art for this series looks absolutely gorgeous. (The author also did Utahime, which DMP has.) It’s also nice to get a manga that’s complete in one, which this is, by virtue of it being an omnibus collecting both Japanese volumes. But I have to say, in a week which already features a lot of high-minded and worthy manga, Olympos simply looks *classy*. Looking forward to it.

BRIGID: Well, you guys grabbed the obvious choices, so let me chime in with a recommendation for a manga that is near the end of its run: Vol. 32 of Kekkaishi. I have only started reading this series, but what I have read I have liked a lot—it’s a shonen battle manga with a lot of personality. It has the usual ingredients—teenage boy with special powers, girl who is a childhood friend—but it also has some nice quirks (the main character longs to be a pastry chef) and the art is clear and easy to follow—even the fight scenes, which often lose me in shonen manga. It’s hard to jump in over 30 volumes into a series, but Viz has started issuing the earlier volumes as 3-in-1 omnibus editions, and the first 27 volumes are also available digitally. It’s a nice alternative if you’re just in the mood for some straight-up shonen manga.

Readers, what looks good to you this week?

Attack on Titan creator speaks!

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Over at MTV Geek, the Kodansha folks allowed us to post an interview with Attack on Titan creator Hajime Isayama that first appeared in Bessatsu Shonen magazine, along with a preview of the book, which is due out this week.

Shaenon Garrity introduces us to the goofy 1980s wrestling manga Ultimate Muscle (and its sequel, which was published by Viz) in the latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

MJ and Michelle Smith discuss Attack on Titan, Until Death Do Us Part, and other new releases in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Erica Friedman interviews Girl Friends manga-ka Milk Morinaga at Okazu, and she also has the latest Yuri Network News for us.

Lissa Pattillo looks at the best of the past week’s new releases in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA, and back at her own site, Kuriousity, she shows off the latest additions to her Swag Bag.

Three Steps Over Japan checks out the manga magazine Comic @Bunch.

News from Japan: Katsuya Takahashi, the last fugitive from the Aum Shinrikyo cult, surrendered to authorities after being spotted in a manga cafe in Tokyo. Apparently police were aware that Takahashi was a manga reader and had been keeping an eye on manga cafes.

Reviews:

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Bakuman (The Comic Book Bin)
Ash Brown on vol. 10 Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of Bokurano: Ours (The Comic Book Bin)
Danica Davidson on vols. 4-6 of The Drifting Classroom (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Sweetpea616 on vols. 3-5 of Eternal Sabbath (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Kristin on Honey Darling (Comic Attack)
Leroy Douresseaux on Honey Darling (I Reads You)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Kamen (Comic Attack)
Anna on vol. 14 of Kimi ni Todoke (Manga Report)
TSOTE on Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (Three Steps Over Japan)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 12 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Milo on Tough (Blog of the North Star)

Otaku USA goes mass market

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Sean Gaffney looks ahead to a bumper crop of new manga releases next week.

Matt Blind has posted another list of manga best-sellers, this one for the week ending April 15.

Tony Yao posts some results of a survey that show that Japanese readers still prefer print to pixels.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at Monthly Comic Birz.

Wal-Mart will carry Otaku USA in the slot formerly occupied by Shonen Jump, which is no longer published in print form.

News from Japan: Translator Tomo Kimura shows off the variant cover for vol. 14 of Black Butler. Hajime no Ippo creator George Morikawa has is launching a new series, Ai ni Iku yo, which was inspired by Nobumi’s book about the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, Ue wo Muite Arukō! (I look up when I walk down). Yellow Tanabe (Kekkaishi) will draw a one-shot titled “Mori no Naka” for Shogakukan’s Gessan magazine. Gaku – Minna no Yama has come to an end, but creator Shinich Ishizuka already has another series in the works. Shueisha’s Young Jump magazine has launched a free spinoff website, for which Eyeshield 21 manga-ka Yuusuke Murata and web manga creator ONE are collaborating on a remake of ONE’s Onepunch-man. Manga creator Jun Hatanaka has died at the age of 62. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews

Sean Gaffney on Alice in the Country of Clover: Bloody Twins (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 41 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vol. 10 of Dengeki Daisy (Manga Report)
Rob McMonigal on issue 4 of Gen Manga (Panel Patter)
Manjiorin on vol. 1 of Hikaru no Go (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Michael Buntag on vol. 1 of Sailor Moon (NonSensical Words)

Baki talk

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The newest series from Kodansha Comics, Attack on Titan, is due out next week, and we have an exclusive preview at MTV Geek.

Also, I talked to Robert Newman of JManga about how that digital manga service has evolved over its first year—and the changes yet to come.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week.

Seven Seas confirmed two new licenses this week: Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game, a spinoff of Alice in the Country of Hearts, and Crimson Empire: Circumstances to Serve a Noble, a manga adaptation of another game by Alice creator Quinrose.

Kate Dacey is looking forward to the next Shigeru Mizuki manga, GeGeGe no Kitaro, so she asks her readers: What is your favorite yokai manga?

Matt Blind posts his list of the manga bestsellers (online sales) for the week ending April 8.

News from Japan: There was lots of Baki talk at the launch of Akita Shoten’s Bessatsu Shonen Champion magazine: Keisuke Itagaki announced that he was ending Hanma Baki, which features his character Baki the Grappler, although he may return to the series after a break. Meanwhile, Yukinao Yamauchi announced his new Baki spinoff, Baki Gaiden: Kizuzura, which will run in Bessatsu Shonen Champion. Peach Girl creator Miwa Ueda will wrap up her current manga, Rokomoko, in July.

Reviews: This week’s roundup of Bookshelf Briefs from the Manga Bookshelf team includes quick looks at new volumes of Bakuman, A Devil and Her Love Song, and Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll, among others.

Connie on vol. 11 of Bakuman (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kate Dacey on chapter 1 of Barrage (The Manga Critic)
Justin on chapter 2 of Barrage (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 12 of Black Bird (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on the May issue of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Karen Maeda on vol. 9 of Dengeki Daisy (Sequential Tart)
Matthew Warner on vol. 1 of Is This a Zombie? (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 2 of Lizard Prince (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 7 of Maoh: Juvenile Remix (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 18 of Ouran High School Host Club (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 9 of Soul Eater (The Fandom Post)

Vertical licenses Knights of Sidonia

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Vertical has a new license for next spring: The sci-fi manga Knights of Sidonia, by Tsutomu Nihei, creator of Blame and Biomega.

Houbunsha has just put six previews of their manga on JManga; Deb Aoki has a roundup and some short reviews.

Manga-loving librarian Robin Brenner explains why reading manga on a scan site is not the same as checking it out of the library.

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

Ryan Holmberg has a fascinating post on the 1920s-1930s magazine Shin Seinen and its influence on manga-ka Shigeru Sugiura. I don’t believe any of Sugiura’s work has been translated into English, but Holmberg’s “visual essay,” done for a Japanese zine on Sugiura, has some interesting juxtapositions of cartoons that appeared in the magazine and Sugiura’s later works, which may have been inspired by them. Be warned that the selection includes some caricatures of Africans that will strike modern eyes as racist, but there is also an interesting full-page cartoon by Dr. Seuss.

Molly McIsaac lists ten manga that are great for children at iFanboy.

News from Japan: Bunny Drop creator Yumi Unita previews her new series, Yokke Kazoku, in the July issue of Manga Life Original. Risa Itou, who won the Kodansha Award for her series Hey Pitan!, has launched a comedy manga about her efforts to lose weight. Hanaukyo Maid Team manga-ka Moreshige has a new series, Sakura Sakura, starting in the premiere edition of Bessatsu Shonen Champion, Akita Shoten’s new shonen magazine. Renjuro Kindaichi’s new series, Arumi-chan no Gakushūchō (Arumi’s Study Guide) is about a robot who passes as a girl—go figure! The Shonen Jump series Inumarudashi has come to an end. And the final volumes of K-ON! will be out in September and October.

Reviews: Ash Brown shares her latest week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 40 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on vols. 40 and 41 of Bleach (Kuriousity)
Lori Henderson on vol. 2 of Durarara!! (Manga Xanadu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of La Corda D’Oro (Blogcritics)
Kristin on vol. 9 of Oresama Teacher and vol. 18 of Ouran High School Host Club (Comic Attack)
Matt Brady on vols. 1 and 2 of Princess Knight (Warren Peace Sings the Blues)
Greg Burgas on Rohan at the Louvre (Comics Should Be Good!)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of xxxHoLic (Blogcritics)

Looking back at BEA

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I was at Book Expo America this past Wednesday, taking part in the Hot Graphic Novels panel (in which I recommended several manga, including Sakuran and Jiu Jiu). Linda Yau has a concise writeup of the panel for the Lincoln Heights Literary Society, and Torsten Adair has posted covers, sample spreads, and other info for all the books at The Beat. This was my first time at BEA, and I wasn’t sure what to expect; although it’s not about manga, I enjoyed Emily Gould’s writeup at The Awl, Four Hours in the Totebag Capital of the World. It’s worth the click just for her description of walking to the Javits Center (“conveniently located at the intersection of 34th Street and the Hudson River”).

I went over this week’s new releases at MTV Geek, and Sean Gaffney looks at the week ahead at his blog.

MJ and Michelle Smith discuss some recent releases and even take a request in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Matt Blind has the list of manga best-sellers (online sales) from the week ending April 1.

Shaenon Garrity sings the praises of CLAMP’s X/1999 (now being re-released by Viz simply as X) in her latest stint as guest writer for ANN’s House of 1000 Manga column,

Derek Bown’s latest Combat Commentary is Armstrongs vs. Sloth in Fullmetal Alchemist.

And at Manga Therapy, Tony Yao looks at a key battle in Air Gear.

News from Japan: Puella Magi Madoka Magica illustrator Hanokage is launching a spinoff in October, to coincide with the release of two Madoka Magica movies. Yuna Kagesaki is bringing AiON to an end in the next issue of Monthly Dragon Age. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews

Kate O’Neil on chapter 1 of Barrage (The Fandom Post)
Ash Brown on The Bible: A Japanese Manga Rendition (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Cross Game (The Comic Book Bin)
John Rose on vol. 1 of D.Gray-Man (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 2 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Slightly Biased Manga)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 5 of Istuwaribito (The Fandom Post)
Connie on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 2 (Slightly Biased Manga)
TSOTE on vol. 2 of Konjaku Monogatari (Three Steps Over Japan)
John Rose on vol. 55 of Naruto (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on NonNonBa (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 34 of Negima! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Comic Book Bin)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Kuriousity)
Connie on Rohan at the Louvre (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sweetpea616 on Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 3 of Shadow Lady (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on Tank Tankuro (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Until Death Do Us Part (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kristin on vol. 2 of X (omnibus edition) (Comic Attack)

New Mizuki manga, Tezuka Kickstarter in the works

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Drawn & Quarterly announced yesterday that it has acquired the license to Shigeru Mizuki’s GeGeGe no Kitaro, which they seem to be titling simply Kitaro for their release, and will publish it in 2013. They have also published Mizuki’s Onward Toward Our Noble Deaths and NonNonBa.

Lissa Pattillo rounds up the Digital Manga news from Fanime, including the fact that they have plans for another Kickstarter to fund an Osamu Tezuka work, since the last two did so well.

Lissa also checks out this week’s new manga releases in her On the Shelf column for Otaku USA.

Lori Henderson’s latest license request: Gekkou no Aria (Garnet Cradle), which is based on a reverse harem game for girls.

News from Japan: Shinobi Life creator Shôko Conami has just launched a new series, Shikabane Cherry, in Gekkan Princess magazine.

Reviews

Kristin on chapter 1 of Barrage (Comic Attack)
Ken Haley on vol. 2 of Blood Blockade Battlefront (Sequential Ink)
David Brothers on Dr. Slump (4thletter!)
Manjiorin on vol. 1 of Maison Ikkoku (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Philip Shropshire on Rohan at the Louvre (Comics Forge)

Hatsune Miku drops in on Shonen Jump

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The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week.

Viz will be releasing vol. 13 of Neon Genesis Evangelion in the U.S. on November 2, the same day it comes out in Japan.

Deb Aoki has a heads-up for aspiring creators: The deadline for the 6th International Manga Award competition, sponsored by the Japanese government, is June 15.

News from Japan: DN Angel manga-ka Yukiru Sugisaki and Boys Be… creator Hiroyuki Tamakoshi are both launching new series in Comic Birz in the near future. Hatsune Miku and her Vocaloid pals are making a guest appearance in the Weekly Shonen Jump series Kochikame.

Reviews: Carlo Santos checks out the latest releases in his Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. It’s time for a new set of Bookshelf Briefs at Manga Bookshelf. Ash Brown reviews a week’s worth of manga at Experiments in Manga.

Anna on vols. 4 and 5 of Ai Ore (Manga Report)
Justin on chapter 1 of Barrage (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Erica Friedman on vol. 3 of Blue Friend (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kristin on vols. 61 and 62 of One Piece (Comic Attack)

There’s an app for that

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Pickings were slim last week in terms of new releases, but I made my picks at MTV Geek and Lissa Pattillo gave her take in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

And speaking of Otaku USA, it is now available digitally via the iTunes Store and the British site PocketMags. The iTunes app is free, and individual issues are available for $5.99 or a six-month subscription for $19.99.

Deb Aoki and Ed Sizemore are the guests on the Super Manga Pals edition of ANN’s ANNCast podcast.

Erica Friedman has a new Yuri Network News post for us at Okazu.

Chris Sims likes Gunsmith Cats, but the series is, as he puts it, “problematic.” He discusses the joys and problems at length at Comics Alliance.

Business Week profiles Mihoko Ishizawa, who created Field of Cole, a collection of short stories about the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Three Steps Over Japan peeks inside the covers of Comp Ace.

Organization Anti-Social Geniuses gets all self-referential with an accounting of anti-social geniuses in anime and manga, and contributor Manjiorin reminisces about getting involved with manga.

Tom Langston posts a con report on Fanime at Nigorimasen!

News from Japan: Good news for Claymore fans: That series will continue, according to the editors of Jump Square magazine, despite the author’s hints that it is coming to an end. The Cultural Affairs Agency is setting up a database of manga and anime as part of its “cool Japan” strategy. The 100th volume of Hajime no Ippo is due out in July. Tokyo’s Youth Healthy Development Council, which is tasked with leafing through sexy manga to determine if they are deleterious to the morals of the local youth, has given the green light to To Love-Ru Darkness despite some full frontal nudity. Kadokawa Shoten is launching a new magazine, Samurai Ace, with samurai stories by a number of creators, including Lone Wolf and Cub manga-ka Kazuo Koike. The yuri series Prism is on hiatus while editors investigate accusations that creator Show Higashiyama copied some images from photos. Yamato Yamamoto is wrapping up Kure-nai but is launching a new dark fantasy series, Owari no Seraph (The Final Seraph) with writer Takaya Kagami (A Dark Rabbit Has Seven Lives). And ANN has the top-selling series for the first half of the year, by volume and by series.

Reviews: Adam Stephanides posts short reviews of a number of untranslated manga, including Naoki Urasawa’s Billy Bat, at Completely Futile. Jocelyne Allen looks at Bokura no Manga, an anthology inspired by last year’s earthquake and nuclear disaster, at Brain vs. Book.

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Case Closed (Blogcritics)
Lori Henderson on vols. 5-8 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Manga Xanadu)
Bill Sherman on vol. 1 of InuYasha (VizBig edition) (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of Kamisama Kiss (The Comic Book Bin)
TSOTE on vol. 1 of Konjaku Monogatari (Three Steps Over Japan)
Connie on vol. 2 of Love Pistols (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 11-15 of Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning (Manga Xanadu)
Connie on vol. 9 of Toriko (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Toriko (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Twin Spica (Blogcritics)
A Library Girl on Wild Rock (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)