Brigid Alverson

The Manga Bookshelf reviewers make their picks from an unusually slim week of new manga releases.

Meanwhile, Sean Gaffney looks forward to a more bountiful selection next week.

Deb Aoki talks to Adam Warren, creator of Empowered, on how anime and manga have shaped his sensibility.

Tom Langston posts the slides from his sports manga panel at Fanime.

At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao notes the birthday of Bleach sociopath Sosuke Aizen.

David Brothers files his con report on Fanime, including the Shonen Jump panel.

Matt Blind posts the big list of manga best-sellers (online sales) from the week ending March 18.

Ash Brown is giving away the first volume of R.O.D.: Read or Die. Hit the link to find out how to enter.

News from Japan: Neko Ramen creator Kenji Sonshi has started a new series, Neko Tantei, about a cat who is a detective. Aloha Higa has put Shirokuma Cafe on hiatus, apparently to protest the way the anime adaptation was handled; it seems to have worked. Toriko Chiya is launching Clover trèfle, a sequel to her Clover office romance manga, in Cocohana. Minoru Furuya, creator of Himuzu and Ping Pong Club, just debuted a new series, Saruchinesu, in Kodansha’s Young. The French site Manga News has a list of the manga that ended in May, including Negima; only series licensed in France are included. ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings. And CLAMP will illustrate the cover of the novelization of the movie Blood-C: The Last Dark. (Click image twice to enlarge.)

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf ace reviewer team greets the week with a new set of Bookshelf Briefs. A Day Without Me reviews 12 Days, a Tokyopop OEL title that isn’t quite what you’d think, at Gar Gar Stegosaurus.

Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of A Certain Scientific Railgun (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Manjiorin on vols. 1 and 2 of Eternal Sabbath (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-3 of Free Collars Kingdom (Manga Xanadu)
Rob McMonigal on issue 3 of GEN (Panel Patter)
Zack Davisson on vol. 4 of I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow (Japan Reviewed)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of One Piece (Blogcritics)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (The Manga Critic)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 22 of Slam Dunk (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vol. 14 of We Were There (Manga Report)

The newest addition to Viz’s Shonen Jump Alpha lineup is Kōhei Horikoshi’s sci-fi manga Sensei no Baruji (Barrage).

This really shouldn’t be news, but somehow it is: ICv2 reports that Bizenghast creator M. Alice LeGrow will be paid for the eighth and final volume of the series, which is being co-published by Tokyopop and RightStuf.

Sean Gaffney looks at the coming week’s new manga releases.

The Digital Manga Guild will expand its reach to light novels and doujinshi, Digital Manga, Inc., representatives announced at Fanime this past weekend.

Deb Aoki continues her series on Making a Living in Manga with a look at publishers vs. self-publishing and webcomics—and whether you should just move to Japan.

And here’s an interview with a working manga artist: Laur Uy posts parts 3 and 4 of her interview with Cassandra Jean, the illustrator of Beautiful Creatures, published by Yen Press.

The Manga Moveable Feast, which focused on Oishinbo and food manga, is over, but you can read all the posts and check the links at host blog Otaku Champloo. A few late entries: Ed Sizemore has some things to say about food manga at Comics Worth Reading, and he and Johanna Draper Carlson discuss the topic with Deb Aoki and Michelle Smith in the latest Manga Out Loud podcast. Meanwhile, Ash Brown muses on Oishinbo and the Romance of Food at Experiments in Manga. And Kate Dacey looks at seven mouth-watering food manga at The Manga Critic.

And Michelle Smith and Anna Neatrour will co-host the next MMF at their blogs, Soliloquy in Blue and Manga Report, respectively. The topic: The works of Takehiko Inoue.

Erica Friedman rounds up the latest yuri news at Okazu. She also points to the English translation of Kimino Tamenara Shineru, a gag manga set in the Heian era, which is now available on JManga, along with an essay on the Heian Period that she co-wrote with translator Erin Subramanian.

Patrick Markfort takes to video to discuss the work of Naoki Urasawa.

Comics Alliance has an excerpt from the manga section of The Comic Book History of Comics, by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey. Check it out for a snippet of the history of manga told in comic-book form.

Connie continues her commentary on the Eroicaverse with a look at the art book Plus Ultra.

Black Sun manga-ka Uki Ogasawara will be a guest at this year’s Yaoi-Con.

Megan Purdy reports on the scene at TCAF at Manga Bookshelf.

Matt Blind has the manga best-sellers (online sales) for the week ending March 11.

News from Japan: Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at the newish manga magazine Miracle Jump. W-Juliet creator Emura will launch a new shoujo manga, Idea no Hana, in the August issue of Bessatsu Hana to Yume, and D.N. Angel manga-ka Yukiru Sugisaki’s 1001 (Knights) debuts in the next issue of Asuka. Galaxy Angel creator Yūko Ōtsuki (a.k.a. Kanan) has a new series, Shōjo Ren-ai Hen-i (Girl Love Variation), in Shogakukan’s Club Sunday magazine. Manga adaptations of the anime ‘K’, the Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor game, and the Mini-Skirt Uchū Kaizoku light novels are in the works. Berserk is back for a three-chapter run in Hakusensha’s Young Animal. The high school version of K-ON will end in the June issue of Manga Time Kirara Carat.

Reviews: MJ and Michelle Smith discuss some recent yaoi titles in their latest BL Bookrack column at Manga Bookshelf. Ash Brown wraps up a week’s worth of manga at Experiments in Manga.

Matthew Warner on vol. 6 of Arisa (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 14 of Black Bird (The Comic Book Bin)
Sesho on vol. 1 of Bloody Monday (podcast review) (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
TSOTE on vol. 3 of Case Records of Professor Munakata (Three Steps Over Japan)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 3 of Dawn of the Arcana (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Dawn of the Arcana (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vol. 3 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Manga Report)
Carlo Santos on Dororo (omnibus editions) (ANN)
Connie on vol. 1 of Doukyusei (Slightly Biased Manga)
Manjiyorin on vol. 1 of Drifters (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 2 of Fist of the North Star (Slightly Biased Manga)
Alexander Bustos on issue 11 of GEN magazine (Comic attack)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 18 of Higurashi: When They Cry (ANN)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Hoshin Engi (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 9 of Kamisama Kiss (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kristin on vol. 9 of Kamisama Kiss (Comic Attack)
Sweetpea616 on Kitchen Princess (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
John Rose on vol. 5 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya-Chan (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 7 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Neko Ramen (Manga Xanadu)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Oishinbo A La Carte (Manga Xanadu)
Ash Brown on Oishinbo A La Carte: Ramen and Gyoza (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 62 of One Piece (The Comic Book Bin)
Chris Beveridge on chapter 1 of Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration (The Fandom Post)
Drew McCabe on chapter 1 of Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration (Comic Attack)
Carlo Santos on vol. 5 of Saturn Apartments (ANN)
Kristin on vol. 7 of The Story of Saiunkoku (Comic Attack)
Connie on vol. 6 of Tyrant Falls in Love (Slightly Biased Manga)
Snow Wildsmith on Young Miss Holmes Casebook 1-2 (Good Comics for Kids)

I’m still in transit, blogging from the Metropolitan Lounge in Union Station, Chicago, waiting to take the Lake Shore Limited to Boston. Traveling by train gave me some time to write up my review of vols. 1-6 of The Story of Saiunkoku at MTV Geek. In other news:

Khursten Santos rounds up the second day’s worth of links for the Manga Moveable Feast, which celebrates Oishinbo and food manga this month.

Digital announced a new BL license via its Twitter yesterday: Junko’s Konbini-Kun, which will be retitled Mr. Mini-Mart for the English-speaking audience.

Daniel BT takes a look at Nobuyuki Fukumoto’s gambling manga.

At Kuriousity, Lissa Pattillo opens up her swag bag and chats about her recent acquisitions.

Reviews: Carlo Santos gives his take on a batch of new releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

Ken Haley on The Bible: A Japanese Manga Rendition (Sequential Ink)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Blogcritics)
Sweetpea616 on Lady Snowblood (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Oishinbo a la Carte (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on vol. 8 of Rakuen Le Paradis (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Twin Spica (Blogcritics)

I’m posting a little late today because I’m traveling from San Francisco to Boston by train this week; I’m writing this in the Denver station, aboard the California Zephyr, and I’ll switch to the Lake Shore Limited tomorrow in Chicago. I’m live-Tweeting the trip, if you’re interested.

If not, well, here’s the latest news:

I forgot why I liked Cromartie High School so much, but Jason Thompson reminded me in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

This month’s Manga Moveable Feast is a feast indeed—it celebrates Oishinbo and other food manga. Khursten Santos is hosting it at Otaku Champloo, and she kicks things off with an introduction to food manga, some interesting links, a spotlight piece on Oishinbo, and the recipe for a dish featured in Oishinbo.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week.

Erica Friedman has the latest Yuri Network News at Okazu.

DMP has released the cover t-shirt and poster design for their new edition of Osamu Tezuka’s Barbara, which was funded on Kickstarter.

Yen Press will adapt the Gaia Online game Monster Galaxy into a graphic novel.

The JManga folks announced via Twitter that they are working on an app for Android and iOS that will allow readers to download manga and read them offline. (Hat tip: ANN.)

Reviews: Johanna Draper Carlson posts some short reviews of recent shoujo manga at Comics Worth Reading. Ash Brown reflects on a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. It’s time for a new round of Bookshelf Briefs at Manga Bookshelf.

Anna on vol. 4 of Dawn of the Arcana (Manga Report)
Lori Henderson on vol. 3 of Drops of God (Manga Xanadu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 56 of Naruto (The Comic Book Bin)
Greg McElhatton on Rohan at the Louvre (Read About Comics)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 4 of Sailor Moon (ANN)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Until Death Do Us Part (The Manga Critic)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of X (3-in-1 edition) (I Reads You)
Dave Ferraro on Young Miss Holmes Casebook 1-2 (Comics-and-More)

I have the latest picks from this week’s new manga releases at MTV Geek; new Saturn Apartments makes me so happy! Lissa Pattillo gives her take in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney has the scoop on next week’s new manga.

At The Comics Journal, Ryan Holmberg has a fascinating essay about Osamu Tezuka, Mickey Mouse, and kakihan, a method of reproduction used by low-quality publishers in the 1940s, and how that played into issues of appropriation and authenticity.

In digital news, ANN has the scoop on the nine new volumes going up on JManga next week.

Laur Uy has an interview up with Cassandra Jean, the artist of the Yen Press adaptation Beautiful Creatures.

Tony Yao discusses the importance of good storytelling in manga at Manga Therapy.

Derek Bown considers the entire run of Bleach in his latest Combat Commentary at Manga Bookshelf.

The Japanese publisher Enterbrain has put out a trailer promoting the upcoming volume of A Bride’s Story; it’s in Japanese, but the art looks good in any language.

News from Japan: The social-media project “Social Kingdom” invites the public to redraw a panel of the manga Kingdom; anyone with a Twitter or Facebook account can participate, and the organizers hope to set the world record for the largest number of collaborators on a single manga. Add Black God to the list of manga series that are winding up in the next few weeks. The 4-koma manga The Comic Artist and His Assistants, by Doujin Work creator Hiroyuki, is also coming to an end. Salaryman Kintaro manga-ka Hiroshi Motomiya is launching a new series in the same spirit, featuring the son of Kintaro. The organizers of Comitia are planning a foreign comics festival to be held jointly with Comitia in November. Gato Asou, the character designer for the upcoming film 009 Re:Cyborg, will draw a three-volume manga adaptation as well. The film is loosely based on the classic Cyborg 009 manga. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews: MJ and Michelle Smith discuss some old and new releases in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Ash Brown on vol. 9 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
LCMoran on vols. 1-6 of Can’t Lose You (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 1 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Durarara!! (Manga Xanadu)
Chris Beveridge on Honey Darling (The Fandom Post)
TSOTE on vol. 11 of Moyashimon (Three Steps Over Japan)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 62 of One Piece (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Anna on vol. 9 of Oresama Teacher (Manga Report)
Bill Sherman on Rohan at the Louvre (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of Saturn Apartments (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 18 of Slam Dunk (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sakura Eries on vol. 6 of Spice & Wolf (The Fandom Post)
Patricia Beard on vol. 1 of Tenka Ichi!! (The Fandom Post)

This edition of MangaBlog is comes to you from 36,000 feet above Wyoming—I’m on my way to San Francisco for a few days, so I took advantage of the in-flight WiFi. Please enjoy a complimentary beverage while you read today’s manga news.

Deb Aoki is blogging up a storm at About.com, where she is discussing the difficulties that face non-Japanese manga creators. In parts 2 and 3 of her series, she considers whether OEL manga is really manga and whether art school prepares would-be creators for the practical aspects of making a living in the biz.

Lissa Pattillo shows off her swag bag from TCAF at Kuriousity.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers (myself included) discuss our picks of the week.

At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie looks at the theme of thieves in manga.

Lori Henderson celebrates National Pet Month with a look at manga that feature pets.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a peek between the covers of Monthly Shonen Sirius.

Justin and Kuuki discuss how they got into manga at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses.

At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao puts out the call for anime and manga fans to answer a survey for a fellow fan who is doing her masters’ thesis on online anime and manga fandom.

Naoki Urasawa will be the featured creator at the French anime and manga fest Japan Expo 2012, and he will be doing a concert as well, backed by the J-rock group Hemenway.

You don’t see too many manga Kickstarters, but here’s one: Bento Books wants to bring the Math Girls manga to English-speaking audiences, and the author is working with them, too. (Via Nigorimasen.)

News from Japan: Basilisk manga-ka Masaki Segawa will launch his own remake of Go Nagai’s Cutie Honey, to be titled Honey VS, in Grand Jump. ANN has the latest Japanese Comics Rankings.

Reviews: Ash Brown has another week of manga reading for us at Experiments in Manga. MJ and Michelle Smith discuss some recent releases in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Cardcaptor Sakura (omnibus edition) (Blogcritics)
Sweetpea616 on Codename Sailor V (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sean Gaffney on FLCL (omnibus edition) (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Justin on FLCL (omnibus edition) (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of The Flowers of Evil (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Anna on vol. 2 of Hana-Kimi (omnibus edition) (Manga Report)
Kate Dacey on Honey Darling (The Manga Critic)
Erica Friedman on Kurai Mori, Shiroi Michi (Okazu)
Robert A. Howard on Megatokyo (Tangents Reviews)
Kate Dacey on Rohan at the Louvre (The Manga Critic)
Kristin on vols. 6 and 8 of Rosario + Vampire: Season II (Comic Attack)
Philip Anthony on vol. 4 of Sailor Moon (Manga Bookshelf)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 5 of Sailor Moon (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Murasaki Lynna on Someday’s Dreamers (Beneath the Tangles)
TSOTE on vol. 27 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Three Steps Over Japan)
Kristin on vol. 22 of Slam Dunk (Comic Attack)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Twin Spica (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 14 of We Were There (The Comic Book Bin)

Last week saw some interesting new manga releases, with vol. 5 of Sailor Moon and two intriguing new manga, Shigeru Mizuki’s NonNonBa and the first volume of Flowers of Evil. I took a look at the list at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo does likewise in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

Deb Aoki talks to Shonen Jump editor-in-chief Andy Nakatani about the reboot of Rurouni Kenshin, which will appear in Shonen Jump Alpha.

Deb is also kicking off a series of posts about the homegrown manga scene in North America and why it is so hard for creators to make a living. She starts off with an overview of the problem.

The Digital Manga blog has a brief interview with manga-ka Rizu Natsumizu, creator of Good Morning.

Jason Thompson discusses Dragon Head in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao puts Dragonball Z‘s Son Gohan on the couch.

Adam Stephanides has just noticed something interesting about Kinecomica.

News from Japan: The winners of the 36th Kodansha Manga Awards have been announced; the only one that is licensed in the U.S. is Ema Toyama’s Watashi ni xx Shinasai! (Missions of Love), which will be published by Kodansha later this year. Kuragehime (Princess Jellyfish) and Omo ni Naitemasu will go on hold while manga-ka Akiko Higashimura recovers from a finger injury. The good news is that she is on the mend and will be back to work soon.

Reviews

Connie on vol. 20 of 20th Century Boys (Slightly Biased Manga)
Justin on vol. 2 of Anesthesiologist Hana (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 10 of Bakuman (Slightly Biased Manga)
Drew McCabe on the end of Bakuman (Comic Attack)
John Rose on vol. 8 of Black Butler (The Fandom Post)
Serdar Yegulalp on vol. 1 of The Flowers of Evil (Genji Press)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Fullmetal Alchemist (omnibus edition) (Experiments in Manga)
Jocelyne Allen on Kaze no Ki to Uta (Song of the Wind and the Trees) (Brain Vs. Book)
Patricia Beard on King’s Moon: The Life of Akechi Mitsuhide (The Fandom Post)
Kimi-chan on Love Is Also for the Imperfect (The Kimi-chan Experience)
Connie on A Lovely Day with Yuri-Sensei (Slightly Biased Manga)
John Rose on vol. 3 of Negima (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 2 of Our Everlasting (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 6-10 of Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning (Manga Xanadu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 14 of We Were There (Slightly Biased Manga)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 1 and 2 of Young Miss Holmes Casebook (Comics Worth Reading)

Sean Gaffney looks ahead to next week’s new manga releases.

Khursten Santos is putting out the call for the next Manga Moveable Feast, which will feature Oishinbo.

News from Japan: Mardock Scramble is coming to an end.

Reviews: Carlo Santos runs through a big stack of recent releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

Connie on vol. 19 of 20th Century Boys (Slightly Biased Manga)
Matt Brady on vol. 2 of A Bride’s Story (Warren Peace Sings the Blues)
Ken Haley on vol. 7 of Erementar Gerade (Sequential Ink)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of The Flowers of Evil (The Manga Critic)
Erica Friedman on Girls Jump 2012 (Okazu)
Connie on La Vie en Rose (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 3 of Sailor Moon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Sgt. Frog (Blogcritics)
Kristin on vol. 5 of Tenjho Tenge (full contact edition) (Comic Attack)
Connie on vol. 1 of Yebisu Celebrities (Slightly Biased Manga)

Viz is staying current with developments in Japan in their Shonen Jump Alpha digital magazine; this week’s issue includes the final chapter of Bakuman, and in two weeks they will start carrying the new Rurouni Kenshin series, Rurouni Kenshin Reboot.

Erin and Noah talk to Felipe Smith, the creator of Peepo Choo, about his life as an American manga-ka in Japan in the latest Ninjaconsultant podcast.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their picks of the week.

Lissa Pattillo takes a look at Digital’s latest batch of new licenses.

Richard Bruton posts a preview of vol. 3 of Summit of the Gods, illustrated by Jiro Taniguchi, at the Forbidden Planet blog.

Khursten Santos has a quick look at some of Mitsuru Adachi’s art for his new series, Mix.

Three Steps Over Japan peeks inside the covers of Jump SQ.

Happy blogiversary to Kate Dacey, The Manga Critic, who is celebrating her third anniversary by giving away some omnibuses.

News from Japan: Saturn Apartments manga-ka Hirae Iraoka is working on a new series, Narihirabashi Denki Shoten (Narihirabashi Electric Appliance Store), which will run in Kodansha’s Evening magazine. The relaunch of K-ON! will come to an end in June, and Claymore will reach its last chapter in the June issue of Jump Square.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team starts the week with a new set of Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown queues up a week’s worth of brief manga reviews at Experiments in Manga.

David Gromer on vol. 2 of Cage of Eden (Graphic Novel Resources)
Khursten Santos on vol. 1 of Flowers of Evil (Otaku Champloo)
Kristin on vol. 13 of Black Bird and vol. 14 of Kimi ni Todoke (Comic Attack)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Skip Beat! (omnibus edition) (ANN)
Anna on vol. 7 of The Story of Saiunkoku (Manga Report)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of The Story of Saiunkoku (The Comic Book Bin)
Lori Henderson on vols. 11-15 of The Wallflower (Manga Xanadu)

I took a look at this past week’s new manga releases at MTV Geek.

Jason Thompson pens an appreciation of Shigeru Mizuki, the creator of NonNonBa, for his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

RightStuf’s rescue of the first three volumes of Hetalia has Kate Dacey asking her readers: How much would you pay for out-of-print manga? The readers respond with plenty of opinions.

Erica Friedman has all the latest from the world of yuri in this week’s edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Vol. 8 of Rosario + Vampire: Season II was the top-selling manga in U.S. bookstores in April, taking the fifth slot overall (after four volumes of The Walking Dead).

Manga-ka Kia Asamiya will be a guest at this year’s Fanime.

Reviews: Ash Brown posts some brief reviews of manga from the library at Experiments in Manga.

Justin on vol. 2 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Sweetpea616 on High School Debut (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
David Gromer on vol. 2 of No Longer Human (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Connie on Nostalgia (artbook) (Slightly Biased Manga)
David Gromer on vol. 6 of Omamori Himari (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Psyren (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 10 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
David Gromer on vol. 11 of Sumomomo Momomo (Graphic Novel Reporter)

The latest Tokyopop license rescue is by… Tokyopop. Well, sort of: The online retailer RightStuf announced yesterday that it will be co-publishing the first three volumes of Hetalia: Axis Powers with Tokyopop, mostly as print-on-demand. The first two volumes, which were released in English but are now hard to find, are available now for $15.99 each; RightStuf is currently taking orders for volume 3, and the pre-ordered volumes will include all color pages. The next run will be all black and white. I have the details at MTV Geek, and I talked to Alison Roberts of RightStuf about the thinking that went into this deal—and where things might go from here. And RightStuf has put up a video as well!

Lissa Pattillo checks this week’s new-release list in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney looks farther ahead with his list of the best of next week’s manga. And Kristin checks out the manga highlights in this month’s Previews at Comic Attack.

Lissa also has a handy list of manga events at this weekend’s Toronto Comic Arts Festival, which will feature Chi’s Sweet Home creator Konami Kanata.

Why are manga titles so long? Kotaku talks to the author of That’s Why I Can’t Have Ecchi to find out.

I mentioned MTV Geek’s Battle Arena Otaku Fight! Fight! a little while ago; well, now they are down to the final four: Luffy D. Monkey vs. Rick Hunter and Ultraman vs. Voltron. Go check it out, join the fun, and cast your votes!

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now accepting entries for the Sixth International Manga Awards.

Reviews

John Rose on vol. 10 of 13th Boy (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 9 of Arata the Legend (Slightly Biased Manga)
John Rose on vol. 6 of Black Butler (The Fandom Post)
Kate Dacey on vols. 1 and 2 of Durarara!! and vol. 1 of Kamen (The Manga Critic)
Sean Gaffney on Fallen Words (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on Golgo 13: Into the Wolves’ Lair (Slightly Biased Manga)
Matt Brady on vol. 2 of King of RPGs (Warren Peace Sings the Blues)
Connie on vol. 13 of Kimi ni Todoke (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 9 of Pandora Hearts (The Fandom Post)
Matt Brady on Rohan at the Louvre (Warren Peace Sings the Blues)
TSOTE on vol. 26 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Three Steps Over Japan)
Kristin on vol. 9 of Toriko (Comic Attack)
Michael Buntag on Velveteen and Mandala (NonSensical Words)
Connie on Yuri Sensei Is in a Good Mood Today As Well (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 6 of Ze (Slightly Biased Manga)

Why is Ed Chavez smiling? Probably because Vertical books were selling like gangbusters at this past weekend’s MoCCA Fest. Ed is the marketing director at Vertical, Inc., home of Chi’s Sweet Home, Twin Spica, and all those Tezuka manga, and he looked like he was having a big day. He wasn’t the only manga peddler there; Stephen Robson of Fanfare/Ponent Mon, the company that publishes those beautiful Jiro Taniguchi manga, hopped over as well, and Drawn & Quarterly had a nice selection of paperback Yoshihiro Tatsumi books as well as their newest Shigeru Mizuki title, NonNonBa.

TCAF is coming up this weekend, and Deb Aoki has rounds up everything you won’t want to miss.

The new books just keep on coming: Digital Manga announced that it has licensed three new BL manga, Kairi Shimotsuki’s A Century of Temptation (Izanai Hyakunen no Koi), Ayan Sakuragi’s Deflowering the Boss (Uchi no Shachō wa Cherry Desu), and Naomi Guren’s The Incredible Kintaro (Masaka no Kintarō), for print release. Lissa Pattillo spots Amazon listings for 21st Century Boys, Naoki Urasawa’s sequel to 20th Century Boys, as well as for a boxed set of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

The Manga Bookshelf team debates their Pick of the Week.

Kate Dacey wraps up this month’s Manga Moveable Feast with a final wrap-up of posts about the Viz Signature imprint.

Erica Freidman has all the yuri news from Japan and North America in her latest Yuri Network News roundup.

MJ and Michelle Smith change their column to GL Bookrack and check out some yuri titles at Manga Bookshelf.

Khursten puts the spotlight on CLAMP and their work at Otaku Champloo.

Tony Yao asks: What are your favorite epic plot twists in manga?

Blogging about Prevention of Cruelty to Animals month, Lori Henderson rounds up some manga where cats meet unfortunate ends.

Job Board: Looking for a job in manga? Viz has some openings.

News from Japan: Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at a newish cousin of Shonen Jump, Jump X. Seiki Tsuchida, the creator of Under the Same Moon, has died at the age of 43. The outspoken manga-ka Shuho Sato has abruptly ended his contract with Kodansha for Say Hello to Black Jack and is insisting the publisher destroy any unsold copies of the manga; his new series, New Say Hello to Black Jack, is being published by Shogakukan.

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

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Cardcaptor Sakura (omnibus edition) (Blogcritics)
Adam Stephanides on vol. 1 of Doll (Completely Futile)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 12 of GTO: The Early Years (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on Hana to Hoshi/Flower and Star (Okazu)
Leroy Douresseaux on Naruto: The Official Character Book (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 34 of Negima (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 9 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Kristi on vols. 4 and 5 of Rosario + Vampire, Season 2 (Comic Attack)
Anna on Tesoro (Manga Report)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of Twin Spica (Blogcritics)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-10 of The Wallflower (Manga Xanadu)

The manga scene has been busy lately, and over at MTV Geek I posted about Viz’s new shoujo licenses and Kodansha’s announcements as well as this week’s new manga releases. What’s more, Animate USA has added three new titles to its lineup for the Kindle, including NightS, a one-shot by Kou Yoneda; vol. 9 of Kiss Ariki, by Youka Nitta; and a special Finder episode, “Viewfinder: Hard-Working Cameraman Akihito Takaba’s Romantic Life as an Indentured Servant.”

Lissa Pattillo gives her take on the latest batch of manga in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA, and at Kuriousity she has some notes on another new license, One Peace Books’ edition of Crayon Shin-chan.

Sean Gaffney looks ahead to the manga that will be coming out next week.

Kate Dacey continues the Manga Moveable Feast at The Manga Critic, with roundups of links from days three, four, and five, all discussing Viz’s Signature manga, and she rounds it out with her own post on seven essential Signature manga. And at Slightly Biased Manga, Connie’s latest license request is a yuri romance that runs in Ikki, Gunjo.

Hunter x Hunter gets the Jason Thompson treatment in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber thinks Viz should pep up its Signature line by marketing more aggressively to comics shops, which seems about right—Dark Horse has had a lot of success with this tactic.

News from Japan: Deb Aoki notes that Moto Hagio has been awarded the Japan Medal of Honor; she is the first female manga-ka to be so recognized. Tomo Kimura shows off some of Koge-Donbo’s omake about how she met her husband. GTO creator Tohru Fujisawa has a food manga in the works. Paging Ed Chavez! Ghost Talker’s Daydream creator Saki Okuse is launching a new series in the next issue of Comic Gum, and Xenon manga-ka Masaomi Kanazaki also has a new series, this one in Akita Shoten’s Play Comic.

Reviews

Kristin on vol. 20 of 20th Century Boys (Comic Attack)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Bokurano: Ours and vol. 5 of Biomega (Manga Xanadu)
Connie on Boyfriend Next Door (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 3 of A Bride’s Story (ANN)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Dorohedoro (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 23 of Excel Saga (The Comic Book Bin)
Kristin on vol. 6 of House of Five Leaves (Comic Attack)
Kate Dacey on I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow (The Manga Critic)
Connie on vol. 9 of InuYasha (VizBig edition) (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 5 of Itsuwaribito (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 12 of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Our Everlasting (Slightly Biased Manga)
TSOTE on vol. 25 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Three Steps Over Japan)
Connie on vol. 27 of Skip Beat! (Slightly Biased Manga)

Kodansha made news this week with their announcement of three new licenses: Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, Ema Toyama’s Missions of Love (Watashi ni xx Shinasai!), and Natsume Ono’s Danza. Natsume Ono!

Meanwhile, in her Yuri Network News column, Erica Friedman lets slip that ALC Publishing is finishing work on Kimi no Tame nara Shineru, a yuri 4-koma comic that breaks new ground—it’s actually funny.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers debate their Pick of the Week. Also at Manga Bookshelf: MJ, Sean Gaffney, and Michelle Smith look over some paper-free manga in their latest Going Digital column and Erica Friedman takes a look at the manga magazine IKKI.

In the same vein, Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at Comic Beam.

Kate Dacey is hosting this month’s Manga Moveable Feast, which features Viz Signature manga, at The Manga Critic, and she already has an introduction link roundups for day one and day two.

Issue 10 of the online manga magazine GEN is up!

MJ brings back her Manhwa Monday feature, because suddenly there’s news!

Matt Blind lists the manga best-sellers from early March as well as a new Manga Radar post.

Khursten Santos takes a look at the Filipino-language manga scene at Otaku Champloo.

Lissa Pattillo opens up the Swag Bag after a bit of a hiatus and chats about her recent purchases.

News from Japan: Shonen Jump will publish a “chapter 0” of Rurouni Kenshin, and there’s going to be a Kenshin smartphone app as well. Manga-ka Leiji Matsumoto and Tetsuya Chiba have joined a study group formed by the Democratic Party of Japan to promote the popularity of manga overseas. Girls High has moved from Comic Sumomo to Comic High! One-shots are in the works from Bokurano creator Mohiro Kitoh and Samurai Gun manga-ka Kazuhiro Kumagai.

Reviews: Carlo Santos rounds up his take on some recent releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Ash Brown has the weekly report at Manga Worth Reading. The Manga Bookshelf team starts the week with a new round of Bookshelf Briefs.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 20 of 20th Century Boys (The Comic Book Bin)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 1 and 2 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Comics Worth Reading)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Dorohedoro (Manga Xanadu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 6 of Dorohedoro (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of Durarara!! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ken Haley on vols. 5 and 6 of Erementar Gerad (Sequential Ink)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 18 of Higurashi: When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kate Dacey on Love Song (The Manga Critic)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of One Piece (Blogcritics)
Erica Friedman on Pie wo Agemassho, Anata ni Pie wo ne (Okazu)
Jason Wilkins on Rohan at the Louvre (Broken Frontier)
Philip Anthony on vol. 3 of Sailor Moon (Manga Bookshelf)
L.C. Moran on vols. 1-3.5 of I Married an Anti-Fan (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 8 of Toriko (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Twin Spica (Blogcritics)
Connie on Working Kentauros (Slightly Biased Manga)