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Manga the Week of 5/2

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It’s a first week of the month, which means manga, manga, manga at the list we get from Midtown Comics and not from Amazon, as I’ve mentioned a few times. (Unless you shop at my store, which Diamond is not shipping anything to next week. I’m not sure why. To spite me?) So what have we got?

DMP has a new yaoi manga called Good Morning, which seems to deal with drunken office couplings and their aftermath. At least the cover doesn’t feature one guy with his arm possessively around the other. It’s a start?

Gen manga has another collection of an indie manga story that’s been serialized in their magazine. This one, Kamen, deals with… a masked man! I know, the title really threw you off.

Kodansha has the third and (I believe) final Tokyo Mew Mew omnibus, as well as the third and not final Love Hina omnibus. And to make this week re-releases week at Koda nsha, they also have the 5th volume of dinosaur seinen masterpiece Gon.

And of course there’s Viz. As you can see, I’m dedicated to spotlighting the most exciting, dynamic covers every week. So have another week of someone gazing blankly at the reader, this time from shoujo weepie We Were There. Also hitting the shoujo shelves are new volumes of Oresama Teacher and Haruka: Beyond The Stream of Reader Comprehension… um, Time. There’s also Ai Ore 5. Can the hero stay vaguely likeable, or will he remember he’s in a Mayu Shinjo manga? There’s also new omnibuses for Hana Kimi and Skip Beat, highlighting Vols. 4-6 of both series.

On the shonen side, there’s more Jump. Tegami Bachi Letter Bee 9 (I always forget if there’s a colon somewhere in that mess). Psyren 4. One Piece 62, where the Fishman Island arc makes readers forgive Skypeia and Thriller Bark everything. (I kid. But only some.) And lastly, for the kids there’s new Fluffy Fluffy Cinnamonroll, as well as a new Pokemon Black & White.

So what appeals to you this week?

The Best Manga You’re Not Reading: I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow

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I’m not a big fan of squirm-inducing comedies like The Office; it’s hard to root for a loser who makes everyone uncomfortable with his general lack of self-awareness and humility. Yet The Office was undeniably compelling, even if it was sometimes hard to watch. The genius was in Ricky Gervais’ performance: he embodied a type that we’ve all encountered in our working lives, someone who felt small but used his job to make himself seem bigger or more important than he really was. Gervais never tried to make his character appealing in his vulnerability, and in so doing, forced the audience to confront the fundamental falseness of the lovable loser stereotype; we may feel better about ourselves for identifying with a decent underdog, but we probably have more in common with David Brent than we’d care to admit.

I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow, an unsparing farce about a forty-year-old father who quits his job to become a manga artist, inspires a similar mixture of love and squick. Shunjo Aono makes no effort to endear his protagonist to readers; Shizuo is a loser with big dreams but terrible follow-through. Like many daydreamers, Shizuo failed to realize that his fantasy job would be just as grueling as the one he quit, a revelation that sends him into a tailspin of binge drinking, prostitution, and video gaming. The first volume’s blunt, unsparing tone yields some squirm-inducing moments that are just a little too truthful to be funny, such as when Shizuo bumps into his eighteen-year-old daughter at a love hotel or parties with younger colleagues.

As the story progress, however, Shizuo spends less time pretending to be twenty and more time writing stories. Volume two opens with a scene of Shizuo pitching an ill-advised story Murakami, the one editor at EKKE magazine who can tolerate Shizuo. Following the dictum of “write what you know,” Shizuo has penned “The History of Me,” an autobiographical comic depicting Shizuo’s ongoing struggle to find his true gift, the thing that, in his own words, makes him “different from other people.” It’s an exquisitely uncomfortable scene, as Murakami must endure Shizuo’s pompous editorializing, making it almost inevitable that Shizuo’s work will be rejected swiftly. Worse still, Shizuo’s journey of self-discovery is anything but; he’s failed at everything he’s tried — street tough, folk singer, salary man — yet hasn’t abandoned the delusion that he’s “too big” for the “little” opportunities he’s been given thus far.

In subsequent volumes, Shizuo’s progress remains fitful, impeded by his ego and his inexperience. When he does have an epiphany, it’s usually because he’s failed spectacularly and must rationalize the choices he’s made. In volume four, for example, Shizuo is assigned to a new editor, Aya Unami. After reading his latest excruciatingly autobiographical manuscript, “Live to 300,” she promptly tells him, “I think you need to know when to give up.” Oguro is initially stunned, but soon realizes that Aya might be the only person with the vision and honesty to help him improve. Whether she’s willing to coach him, and whether he can accept her guidance, however, are a different story; it’s hard to imagine Aono treating this moment as a major breakthrough in Shizuo’s journey from amateur to professional, the first meeting between a gifted natural and the coach who will lead him to stardom.

The artwork mirrors Shizuo’s skill level and emotional maturity: the lines are thick and imperfect, the shapes are basic, and the characters’ bodies are awkwardly proportioned. Shizuo has an enormous, round head that seems ill-suited for his body, and tiny eyes that remind us just how myopic he is in every aspect of his life. (See “bumping into teenage daughter at a love motel,” above.) In a particularly skillful touch, Shizuo’s own drawing mirrors that of Aono’s, only executed with less command of line and form — a subtle reminder that the prevailing aesthetic of both stories is meant to reflect how Shizuo sees the world, not an artistic failing on Aono’s part.

I’m probably making I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow sound like a colossal downer; after all, it’s hard to laugh at a character who seems so pitiful. Yet for all Shizuo’s self-aggrandizement, there’s something honest about his efforts, and that’s what makes this squirm-inducing comedy readable. We may do our best to be responsible — to hold good-paying jobs, pay our mortgages, and raise our children to be good students and citizens — but for many of us, a soft, nagging voice asks, “Is that all there is?” Shizuo’s decision to act on that doubt isn’t wise or noble, but it’s testament to a deeply human need: to create meaning out of our experiences, and to find proof that our lives are intrinsically interesting to other people. Recommended, though you may want a stiff drink afterwards.

This is an expanded version of reviews that previously appeared at The Manga Critic on 8/20/09, 11/08/10, and 11/28/11.

The Best Manga You’re Not Reading: I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow

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I’m not a big fan of squirm-inducing comedies like The Office; it’s hard to root for a loser who makes everyone uncomfortable with his general lack of self-awareness and humility. Yet The Office was undeniably compelling, even if it was sometimes hard to watch. The genius was in Ricky Gervais’ performance: he embodied a type that we’ve all encountered in our working lives, someone who felt small but used his job to make himself seem bigger or more important than he really was. Gervais never tried to make his character appealing in his vulnerability, and in so doing, forced the audience to confront the fundamental falseness of the lovable loser stereotype; we may feel better about ourselves for identifying with a decent underdog, but we probably have more in common with David Brent than we’d care to admit.

I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow, an unsparing farce about a forty-year-old father who quits his job to become a manga artist, inspires a similar mixture of love and squick. Shunjo Aono makes no effort to endear his protagonist to readers; Shizuo is a loser with big dreams but terrible follow-through. Like many daydreamers, Shizuo failed to realize that his fantasy job would be just as grueling as the one he quit, a revelation that sends him into a tailspin of binge drinking, prostitution, and video gaming. The first volume’s blunt, unsparing tone yields some squirm-inducing moments that are just a little too truthful to be funny, such as when Shizuo bumps into his eighteen-year-old daughter at a love hotel or parties with younger colleagues.

As the story progress, however, Shizuo spends less time pretending to be twenty and more time writing stories. Volume two opens with a scene of Shizuo pitching an ill-advised story Murakami, the one editor at EKKE magazine who can tolerate Shizuo. Following the dictum of “write what you know,” Shizuo has penned “The History of Me,” an autobiographical comic depicting Shizuo’s ongoing struggle to find his true gift, the thing that, in his own words, makes him “different from other people.” It’s an exquisitely uncomfortable scene, as Murakami must endure Shizuo’s pompous editorializing, making it almost inevitable that Shizuo’s work will be rejected swiftly. Worse still, Shizuo’s journey of self-discovery is anything but; he’s failed at everything he’s tried — street tough, folk singer, salary man — yet hasn’t abandoned the delusion that he’s “too big” for the “little” opportunities he’s been given thus far.

In subsequent volumes, Shizuo’s progress remains fitful, impeded by his ego and his inexperience. When he does have an epiphany, it’s usually because he’s failed spectacularly and must rationalize the choices he’s made. In volume four, for example, Shizuo is assigned to a new editor, Aya Unami. After reading his latest excruciatingly autobiographical manuscript, “Live to 300,” she promptly tells him, “I think you need to know when to give up.” Oguro is initially stunned, but soon realizes that Aya might be the only person with the vision and honesty to help him improve. Whether she’s willing to coach him, and whether he can accept her guidance, however, are a different story; it’s hard to imagine Aono treating this moment as a major breakthrough in Shizuo’s journey from amateur to professional, the first meeting between a gifted natural and the coach who will lead him to stardom.

The artwork mirrors Shizuo’s skill level and emotional maturity: the lines are thick and imperfect, the shapes are basic, and the characters’ bodies are awkwardly proportioned. Shizuo has an enormous, round head that seems ill-suited for his body, and tiny eyes that remind us just how myopic he is in every aspect of his life. (See “bumping into teenage daughter at a love motel,” above.) In a particularly skillful touch, Shizuo’s own drawing mirrors that of Aono’s, only executed with less command of line and form — a subtle reminder that the prevailing aesthetic of both stories is meant to reflect how Shizuo sees the world, not an artistic failing on Aono’s part.

I’m probably making I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow sound like a colossal downer; after all, it’s hard to laugh at a character who seems so pitiful. Yet for all Shizuo’s self-aggrandizement, there’s something honest about his efforts, and that’s what makes this squirm-inducing comedy readable. We may do our best to be responsible — to hold good-paying jobs, pay our mortgages, and raise our children to be good students and citizens — but for many of us, a soft, nagging voice asks, “Is that all there is?” Shizuo’s decision to act on that doubt isn’t wise or noble, but it’s testament to a deeply human need: to create meaning out of our experiences, and to find proof that our lives are intrinsically interesting to other people. Recommended, though you may want a stiff drink afterwards.

This is an expanded version of reviews that previously appeared at The Manga Critic on 8/20/09, 11/08/10, and 11/28/11.

New Kodansha, new Kenshin

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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)

Dorohedoro, Vol. 6

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By Q Hayashida. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Ikki. Released in North America by Viz.

No thrilling escapes for Nikaido after last volume’s cliffhanger ending – she’s captured, and En is determined to make her his new partner. That said, the most fascinating thing about this volume, and indeed Dorohedoro as a whole, is the motivations of the so-called ‘villainous’ characters. In a world where everyone’s a bit of a sadistic murderer, how do you judge who’s really a good person or not? Well, one way might be that they don’t chain you in a dungeon and mind-control you into being a zombie. But on the other hand…

En is on this volume’s cover, and En gets the most attention, as we get a flashback to his own origins. Of course, this particular flashback is a movie directed by En, so there’s a slight question of veracity. But even if it is propaganda, it *sounds* right – we even see him without his mask! (He has thins tiny pencil mustache – I bet he thinks it makes him look cooler, but I was thinking more cute.) The big thing about this flashback, though, is it continues to show that En’s past is tied with the past that Caimahn is trying to discover – and that the current happy-go-lucky lizard head Caiman was probably a very different person when he was a Cross-Eyed.

However, as sympathetic as En seems in the final chapters, it’s balanced by his treatment of Nikaido, which I already alluded to. Forced to sign a partner contract – which in this universe involves literally opening up your chest and sticking it inside your body – Nikaido is then imprisoned for the majority of this volume, and it’s very much the chains and bread and water type of prison. When she’s finally freed, it’s only because the contract – which is shown to be magical in nature, as if opening people’s chests like doors wasn’t a clue enough – is making her passive and accepting. Indeed, at one point she has a bowling ball dropped on her head by a jealous Chota, her reaction is basically “oh”. It’s sad to see, and does not endear En to you, no matter what grand plans he has. (The ‘extra chapter’ is a side story showing us how Nikaido got her restaurant, in case we missed the old chirpy version.

And as always, there’s the world building. This month the Manga Moveable Feast is discussing Viz’s Signature titles, and this is certainly one of them. Indeed, I have trouble imagining this series anywhere but in Ikki, Shogakukan’s experimental seinen line. Hayashida clearly has an ongoing plot, but the series works because she’s given so much time to play everything out – even the action scenes don’t feel rushed. Dorohedoro’s been running since 2000, and Japan is up to Volume 16. While this means it must be selling something, I think it also shows the trust the editors place in her to deliver these sorts of goods. Of course there is *some* pandering to the reader – each volume is filled with gory violence, and one scene showing Noi and Ebisu bathing a struggling Nikaido has our standard gratuitous nudity – but it’s not done in the usual “look, boobs!” way we see in, say, Cage of Eden.

Lastly, what struck me about this volume was the unashamed sentiment it still has in its crapsack world filled with morally ambiguous characters. The ongoing funny-yet-heartwarming relationship between Fujita and Ebisu. The way that Caiman has quickly won Tanba over and is now prepared to reveal things that he really only told Nikaido before. And Johnson and his compatriots escaping En’s prison, not because of a clever and daring escape, but because Johnson saved Shin’s life back in the day and Shin owes him. In a world where hell is literal (and not always filled with the dead, as En can attest) but we’re not so sure about heaven, these little moments are precious. It’s the difference between having a world of villains and having a world full of unlikeable villains. All of Dorohedoro’s cast makes you want to read more of them. Even En. Though I wish he didn’t have to resort to brainwashing.

Manga Radar: 4 March 2012

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First up, as usual, are the Database Additions — older titles I somehow previously missed.

Sweet Revolution – DMP Juné, Mar 2006 ::
Laugh Under the Sun – DMP Juné, Dec 2007 ::

Kino no Tabi (novel) 1 – Tokyopop, Oct 2006 ::
Kino no Tabi (novel) 2 – Tokyopop, TBA ::

Someone (or rather, likely several someones) was ordering yaoi from buy.com – I saw *a lot* of titles and actually expected more of them to be new to my charts. As it was, we only had two pickups – both older Juné titles.

More interesting (to me) are the Kino no Tabi books – these are from the much-neglected TokyoPop Fiction line, which also included The Twelve Kingdoms and a few other books no one remembers, sadly. Kino no Tabi vol 1 is selling for $50 on Amazon, used; vol 2 can not be had for love or money.

Most of the New Releases for the week are ebooks — a trend which will continue for the foreseeable future. I don’t know if it’s because ebooks are “impulse” purchases or merely a side effect of e- — there’s not much lead time on ebooks, as they are either ready to go (and to purchase) or, well, they’re not.

Oh, & A Bowl of Moxa Is Coming (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
The Boyfriend Next Door (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Clumsy Child (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Tweeting Love Birds (ebook) 2 – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Renji Jumonji’s Hardship (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Again Tomorrow (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
The Conqueror’s Chalice (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Cheap Chase (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Mar 2012 ::

Cage of Eden 4 – Kodansha Comics, Feb 2012 ::
Itazura na Kiss 7 – DMP, Mar 2012 ::

I don’t attempt an exhaustive listing of DMG titles, only tracking those that sell; part of that is because I have no clue, really, just how many volumes these teams are putting out, mostly though it’s because tracking _all_ of them would require as much effort as the whole rest of the chart. I add more than a few to the database each week, though.

Cage of Eden and Itazura na Kiss are midlist? properties that didn’t really blow the doors off when they first came out, but have a few fans at least. These two most recent volumes didn’t make a mark as preorders but are selling now that they are out. Itazura na Kiss vol 7 ranks in the top 500, at #347 for the week – that puts the book in the rough neighborhood of Naruto 33, Wallflower 27, and Three P [from DMP’s Project H]

Also new to the charts this week are a real mixed bag of Preorders:

Kizuna Deluxe Edition 6 – DMP Juné, Jun 2012 ::
Dawn of the Arcana 4 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jun 2012 ::
Dog x Cat 3 – 801 Media, Jun 2012 ::
In These Words – 801 Media, Jun 2012 ::
Bad Teacher’s Equation 4 – DMP Juné, Jun 2012 ::
Same Difference – DMP Juné, Jun 2012 ::
Witch & Wizard 2 – Yen Press, Jun 2012 ::

Rin-Ne 9 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Jul 2012 ::
Flutter – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 ::
Secretary’s Job – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 ::

Yotsuba&! 11 – Yen Press, Sep 2012 ::

DMP has a very strong showing here (likely due to their very dedicated fans) but there are also books in just about every genre/flavour to be had – from shojo to shonen to Yotsuba&!.

Yotsuba&! fans are ordering six months in advance, likely just as soon as they could find a listing for the book. That says something.

##

My posted results (the top ten lists, category breakouts like the ebooks list, the Manga 500) are too much for most folks to wade through, but still only the tip of the data iceberg. A ranking isn’t as important as the vector — whether a title is moving up or down the rankings, and how fast. Already, in each report, you can see if a title is moving up or down compared to the previous week, but that’s just a single blip. Unless you work with the source websites & all the numbers as intimately as I do, you miss the bigger picture — and even then, often I just have a feeling or a hunch about a title. I thought I might put in the extra effort, though, and bring at least some of that perspective to you, as well as generating concrete proof to prove (& especially disprove) my guesses. Since we’ll be looking at weeks of data, unfortunately that means graphics.

I say ‘unfortunately’ — as I am good with maths but not necessarily as adept at visualizations. I lean heavily on the built-in functionality of the spreadsheet whenever I do post a graph. Still, if you know what question you’re asking, you can set up the spreadsheet to do a lot of heavy data lifting for you, and the results don’t look that bad.

Here’s the newest part of the “Manga Radar” : a manga radar scope.

I’ll start by giving you the top 10 preorders for the week of 4 March, 2012:

19. ↓-1 (18) : Sailor Moon 5 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [283.3] ::
21. ↔0 (21) : Sailor Moon 7 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2012 [260.5] ::
22. ↑1 (23) : Sailor Moon 6 – Kodansha Comics, Jun 2012 [260.1] ::
63. ↓-1 (62) : Negima! 34 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [148.7] ::
80. ↑17 (97) : Black Butler 9 – Yen Press, Jul 2012 [119.8] ::
83. ↑374 (457) : Sailor Moon 8 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [119.1] ::
88. ↑1 (89) : Dance in the Vampire Bund 12 – Seven Seas, Jun 2012 [110.3] ::
104. ↑7 (111) : The Betrayal Knows My Name 3 – Yen Press, Apr 2012 [94.4] ::
107. ↑736 (843) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [92.4] ::
109. ↑75 (184) : Private Teacher 3 – DMP Juné, May 2012 [91.4] ::

And here is the same list with 16 weeks of historical data attached:

Top 10 Manga Preorder 4 March 2012

Sailor Moon vol. 5, available for preorder the longest (perhaps) and certainly benefiting from the enthusiasm for the series, has some ups and downs but has been consistently outselling the other 9 for all 16 weeks… but check out the strong surges of volume 7 (from two months ago) and of volume 8, available for preorder for just the past two weeks. The only thing quite like it on this list is the 6th (and last?) volume in the “View Finder” series, Passion within the View Finder — though looking back, Dance in the Vampire Bund vol 12 and Sailor Moon vol 7 also had similar spikes in their 2nd week. Other titles in this [limited] list are showing relatively-flat-but-slowing-growing demand.

At some future point, I might post a similar chart showing how manga volumes with strong preorders still exhibit a significant spike in sales once they are actually released and available. There are a lot of fun things I can do with this data now that I have it all in one place and not spread out across 16 files. I suppose I can experiment with quite a few different ways to present the data. I know the graph above is basic (and maybe not as clear as I think it is) but it’s been a long haul just to get to this one simple graph — and to put into place the procedures to continue to track all the rankings on an ongoing, rolling 16-week basis.

Feedback, as always, is appreciated; drop your questions into the comments. [and really good questions will likely also find their way onto the about the charts page].

Manga Bestsellers: 2012, Week Ending 4 March

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Comparative Rankings Based on Consolidated Online Sales

last week’s charts
about the charts

##

Manga Bestsellers

1. ↔0 (1) : Sailor Moon 3 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2012 [464.5] ::
2. ↔0 (2) : Sailor Moon 4 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [460.5] ::
3. ↔0 (3) : Sailor Moon 1 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [431.8] ::
4. ↔0 (4) : Sailor Moon 2 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [421.5] ::
5. ↑2 (7) : Naruto 55 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [404.5] ::
6. ↑4 (10) : Maximum Ride 5 – Yen Press, Dec 2011 [380.0] ::
7. ↓-1 (6) : Black Butler 8 – Yen Press, Jan 2012 [367.5] ::
8. ↑1 (9) : Sailor Moon Codename: Sailor V 2 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [359.9] ::
9. ↓-1 (8) : xxxHolic 19 – Kodansha Comics, Feb 2012 [343.3] ::
10. ↑1 (11) : Sailor Moon Codename: Sailor V 1 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [328.6] ::

[more]

Top Imprints
Number of volumes ranking in the Top 500:

Viz Shonen Jump 77
Yen Press 69
Viz Shojo Beat 59
Tokyopop 55
Kodansha Comics 41
Viz Shonen Jump Advanced 30
Seven Seas 19
DMP Juné 18
Vizkids 17
Dark Horse 11

[more]

Series/Property

1. ↔0 (1) : Sailor Moon – Kodansha Comics [1,171.5] ::
2. ↔0 (2) : Naruto – Viz Shonen Jump [906.2] ::
3. ↔0 (3) : Black Butler – Yen Press [769.8] ::
4. ↔0 (4) : Maximum Ride – Yen Press [740.6] ::
5. ↔0 (5) : Bleach – Viz Shonen Jump [594.8] ::
6. ↑4 (10) : Black Bird – Viz Shojo Beat [559.2] ::
7. ↓-1 (6) : Negima! – Del Rey/Kodansha Comics [507.3] ::
8. ↓-1 (7) : xxxHolic – Del Rey/Kodansha Comics [483.7] ::
9. ↓-1 (8) : Fullmetal Alchemist – Viz [478.8] ::
10. ↓-1 (9) : Pokemon – Vizkids [440.3] ::

[more]

New Releases
(Titles releasing/released This Month & Last)

2. ↔0 (2) : Sailor Moon 4 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [460.5] ::
5. ↑2 (7) : Naruto 55 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [404.5] ::
9. ↓-1 (8) : xxxHolic 19 – Kodansha Comics, Feb 2012 [343.3] ::
12. ↑5 (17) : Omamori Himari 6 – Yen Press, Feb 2012 [318.4] ::
13. ↑6 (19) : Naruto 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [302.8] ::
14. ↑24 (38) : Black Bird 13 – Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2012 [300.6] ::
17. ↓-5 (12) : Bleach 38 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [296.0] ::
23. ↑35 (58) : Soul Eater 8 – Yen Press, Feb 2012 [239.4] ::
26. ↓-2 (24) : Blue Exorcist 6 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Feb 2012 [230.5] ::
29. ↓-9 (20) : Bakuman 9 – Viz Shonen Jump, Feb 2012 [215.9] ::

[more]

Preorders

19. ↓-1 (18) : Sailor Moon 5 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [283.3] ::
21. ↔0 (21) : Sailor Moon 7 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2012 [260.5] ::
22. ↑1 (23) : Sailor Moon 6 – Kodansha Comics, Jun 2012 [260.1] ::
63. ↓-1 (62) : Negima! 34 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [148.7] ::
80. ↑17 (97) : Black Butler 9 – Yen Press, Jul 2012 [119.8] ::
83. ↑374 (457) : Sailor Moon 8 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [119.1] ::
88. ↑1 (89) : Dance in the Vampire Bund 12 – Seven Seas, Jun 2012 [110.3] ::
104. ↑7 (111) : The Betrayal Knows My Name 3 – Yen Press, Apr 2012 [94.4] ::
107. ↑736 (843) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [92.4] ::
109. ↑75 (184) : Private Teacher 3 – DMP Juné, May 2012 [91.4] ::

[more]

Manhwa

254. ↑40 (294) : Bride of the Water God 10 – Dark Horse, Jan 2012 [44.0] ::
308. ↑109 (417) : Bride of the Water God 9 – Dark Horse, Oct 2011 [35.4] ::
605. ↓-226 (379) : JTF-3 Counter Ops (ebook) – RealinterfaceStudios.com, Mar 2011 [15.5] ::
620. ↓-174 (446) : March Story 3 – Viz Signature, Oct 2011 [15.0] ::
694. ↓-64 (630) : Ragnarok 1 – Tokyopop, May 2002 [12.2] ::
751. ↑122 (873) : Jack Frost 2 – Yen Press, Nov 2009 [10.6] ::
851. ↓-225 (626) : Black God 15 – Yen Press, Jan 2012 [7.8] ::
855. ↓-20 (835) : Toxic (anthology) 1 – Udon, Jul 2012 [7.8] ::
899. ↑116 (1015) : Arcana 4 – Tokyopop, Mar 2006 [6.8] ::
935. ↓-257 (678) : Jack Frost 1 – Yen Press, May 2009 [6.2] ::

[more]

BL/Yaoi

54. ↓-12 (42) : Finder Series 5 Truth in the View Finder – DMP Juné, Dec 2011 [158.4] ::
76. ↑130 (206) : Seven Days Friday-Sunday – DMP Juné, Sep 2011 [131.8] ::
81. ↓-1 (80) : Ambiguous Relationship – DMP Juné, Mar 2012 [119.7] ::
101. ↓-46 (55) : Ice Cage (ebook) – Yaoi Press, Feb 2012 [98.3] ::
102. ↓-43 (59) : Maelstrom (ebook) 1 – Yaoi Press, Jun 2011 [96.5] ::
107. ↑736 (843) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [92.4] ::
109. ↑75 (184) : Private Teacher 3 – DMP Juné, May 2012 [91.4] ::
123. ↓-36 (87) : Private Teacher 2 – DMP Juné, Jan 2012 [83.9] ::
144. ↑43 (187) : Black Sun 2 – 801 Media, Dec 2011 [73.5] ::
157. ↑9 (166) : Depression of the Anti-Romanticist – DMP Juné, Mar 2012 [69.7] ::

[more]

Ebooks

5. ↑2 (7) : Naruto 55 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [404.5] ::
6. ↑4 (10) : Maximum Ride 5 – Yen Press, Dec 2011 [380.0] ::
13. ↑6 (19) : Naruto 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [302.8] ::
15. ↓-1 (14) : Maximum Ride 1 – Yen Press, Jan 2009 [299.5] ::
16. ↓-3 (13) : Naruto 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2011 [296.8] ::
26. ↓-2 (24) : Blue Exorcist 6 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Feb 2012 [230.5] ::
32. ↓-10 (22) : Maximum Ride 4 – Yen Press, Apr 2011 [201.4] ::
33. ↑10 (43) : Haruhi Suzumiya Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 11 – Yen Press, Feb 2012 [196.9] ::
35. ↑4 (39) : Maximum Ride 2 – Yen Press, Oct 2009 [192.5] ::
36. ↑16 (52) : Maximum Ride 3 – Yen Press, Aug 2010 [191.3] ::

[more]

Manhwa Monday: Resurrection?

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Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

It’s been a long time since there was enough going on in the world of English-translated manhwa for me to actually type that phrase, and nobody could be happier about it than I am.

The biggest manhwa news this week comes from digital publisher iSeeToon, who, after a break with their former parent company iSeeYou, has reemerged in the iOS market with a new title, Murder DIEary from webtoon artist NOMABI. The comic, described by its publisher as “Dexter meets four-panel comics,” was given a special award from the Korean Creative Content Agency in 2011.

Currently available only for iOS, the app has 13 chapters, available for $4.99, though the first four chapters are free as a preview. Two more volumes are scheduled for release later this year.

You can read a full press release at iSeeToon’s website, or download the app from the iTunes store.

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I’m a bit tardy with the next piece of news, which was delivered to the manga blogosphere a couple of months ago by web publisher NETCOMICS.

The Seoul Animation Center, a part of the South Korean government that supports the comics, animation, and gaming industries, has hand-picked 49 manhwa titles for the new Manhwa Creator Bank. The catalogue is mainly intended to serve as a resource for non-Korean publishers who may be interested in licensing manhwa titles, but it also gives readers an idea of what kind of properties are out there, so that we might encourage publishers to pick up titles we’re enthusiastic about.

The Manwha Creator Bank also has its own Facebook page.

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By way of this blog Future Lights Productions, check out this recent discovery: COMICS,CINEMA shorts on the go a “short documentary project portraying comics artists in Korea,” available now via Vimeo.com. The project’s most recent subject is manhwa artist Kyung-suk Lee, author of Zombie Time, one of the titles listed in the Manhwa Creator Bank catalogue.

All videos include English subtitles.

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From the ICv2 blog, The Office of Intellectual Freedom reports that Kim Dong Hwa’s coming-of-age manhwa The Color of Earth was the second most challenged book in 2011. coming in ahead of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.

For more on The Color of Earth and the rest of Kim Dong Hwa’s manhwa trilogy, check out the Color of… Manga Moveable Feast hosted by me at the now-defunct Manhwa Bookshelf.

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That’s all for this installment! Let’s hope it isn’t the last.

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Bookshelf Briefs 4/23/12

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This week, Sean, Kate, & Michelle look at recent releases from Viz Media, Kodansha Comics, Dark Horse, and JManga.

Blue Exorcist, Vol. 7 | By Kazue Kato | VIZ Media – With this volume, we catch up with Japan, so it will be a while before we get 8. Which is a shame, as there’s once again lots to love here.Blue Exorcist being in Jump Square means it gets 35-40 pages per chapter rather than 20, which I think really helps its pacing. The bad guy is definitely on the rise now, as the true moles have been ferreted out (though the sympathetic one is already regretting her actions). Meanwhile, it seems only Rin can save them – but Rin doesn’t trust his self-control, so is useless. Luckily, Shiemi, in her best scene to date, helps him realize that he’s more than just ‘Satan’s kid with fire that kills’. There’s nothing really original here (this is Jump, let me remind you), but the pieces combine very well, and the action and infodumps do as well (though a few too many flashbacks). This is a solid series that rewards the reader. Now to wait for Vol. 8. –Sean Gaffney

Bono Bono, Vol. 1 | By Mikio Igarashi | JManga – I’m on record as being an animal sap, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that I snapped up volume one of Bono Bono, an award-winning manga about a sea otter and his woodland pals. (No, that’s not a typo. More on the squirrels in a minute.) Much as I like the *idea* of a cute animal comic, however, I didn’t like the comic itself; I felt as if the jokes and philosophical musings were tepid at best. The characters, too, were a disappointment. I don’t mind an artist taking creative liberties with his talking animals, but the juxtaposition of forest- and ocean-dwellers is never rationalized; you’d be forgiven for thinking that Mikio Igarashi settled on bears and chipmunks because he couldn’t muster a decent sea lion. About the best I can say for Bono Bono is that Igarashi’s primitive-cute style has genuine charm; he draws his characters as outlines, rather than fully realized, three-dimensional objects, imbuing the stories with a child-like quality. -Katherine Dacey

Cage of Eden, Vol. 5 | By Yoshinobu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – Perhaps I’ve just gotten used to it, but it felt like there was less blatant fanservice this volume. Of course, it could be that there was simply no time for that sort of thing – half the volume is spent trying to escape a cave filled with murderous teens, and the other half showing that pretending that everything’s the same as always isn’t going to work. More to the point, however, the three focus characters here are all male. Seeing Akira’s bond with Kohei makes the reality that much more tragic (and I appreciated that they noted Kohei could not be forgiven for the murders he’d committed, just understood), and Yarai shows off his utter badass nature while finally being impressed with what Akira can do. His suggestion is a good one – they need a home base, a “country” – and I wonder if it will be taken up in the future. Still good adventure manga writing, if overly focused on the busty female form. –Sean Gaffney

Oh My Goddess!, Vol. 41 | By Kosuke Fujishima | Dark Horse Comics – This volume is back up to a normal page count, but still feels like it’s over too quickly. Of course, that’s because we’re in the middle of a Journey to the Center of Hell – there’s no time for stopping to take in the sights. Keiichi continues to be the brains behind the three goddesses’ brawn, and while I could have done without Belldandy’s “apologize for now saying how awesome Keiichi is” near the end, he has shown himself to be more than just Bell’s morality chain. I also very much liked Thrym, who is a huge powerful bodybuilder girl, and her strength is shown in loving detail. Fujishima’s love of powerful machines extends at times to powerful goddesses/demons, and you can see he had fun drawing Thrym – who, like most of the ‘evil’ cast, is not *really* evil. Recommended for Oh My Goddess readers only, of course. –Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 27 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media – What a gold mine Yoshiki Nakamura hit when she created the character of Lory Takarada, the eccentric (and that’s putting it mildly) president of the talent agency to which Kyoko and Ren belong. With his quirks well established, it’s perfectly in character for him to dream up kooky schemes to pair up the two leads, and with his position of authority, they can’t exactly refuse. His latest idea is for them to masquerade as a pair of punk rock siblings (in preparation for Ren’s latest role), which involves them living together in a hotel room so that Kyoko can make sure Ren remembers to eat. Ren, predictably, soon starts coming undone with all this close proximity, and in some unexpected ways that offer hints about his past. Kyoko is oblivious as usual, but perhaps not quite as much as she lets on to Ren. It’s good stuff! – Michelle Smith

New shoujo from Viz, license rescues at JManga

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Kate Dacey has some good news: JManga has rescued some former Tokyopop titles, including Your and My Secret and Tactics (both originally licensed by ADV), Animal Academy: Hakabune Hakusho, The Good Witch of the West, and Monochrome Factor.

And Deb Aoki has some background on Viz’s new shoujo titles, Strobe Edge and Demon Love Spell.

At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie continues her look at the Eroicaverse with a discussion of the character known as Z.

Justin reports on the industry panels at Anime Boston at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses.

Tom Good files his con report on Sakura-Con at the Journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society.

News from Japan: The winners of the Osamu Tezuka Awards have been announced; the grand prize went to Hitoshi Iwaaki’s Historie, and the judges awarded a special prize to a single copy of Shonen Jump that was shared by over 100 children after the March 11 earthquake. After Silver Spoon, by Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa, won the Manga Taisho award, the publisher went back to press and printed an additional 1 million copies.

Reviews:

Ash Brown on vol. 8 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Connie on vol. 37 of Bleach (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Blood Blockade Battlefront (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 3 of Claymore (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kristin on vol. 7 of Cross Game (Comic Attack)
Kristin on vol. 3 of Dawn of the Arcana (Comic Attack)
Lesley Aeschliman on FLCL Omnibus (Blogcritics)
Connie on Golgo 13: Hopper the Border (Slightly Biased Manga)
Shannon Fay on vol. 3 of Higurashi When They Cry: Atonement Arc (Kuriousity)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 17 of Higurashi When They Cry (ANN)
Jocelyne Allen on Hyouge Mono (Brain Vs. Book)
Michelle Smith on vols. 5 and 6 of Kamisama Kiss, vols. 5 and 6 of Oresama Teacher, and vols. 25 and 26 of Skip Beat! (Soliloquy in Blue)
Justin on vol. 3 of No Longer Human (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
J. Caleb Mozzocco on vol. 1 of Princess Knight (Every Day Is Like Wednesday)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Sweetpea616 on vols. 1-3 of Sailor Moon (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
TSOTE on vol. 24 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Three Steps Over Japan)
Connie on vol. 17 of Slam Dunk (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kristin on vol. 9 of Tegami Bachi (Comic Attack)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of Tenjho Tenge (omnibus edition) (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschilman on vol. 2 of Twin Spica (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Voltron Force: Shelter from the Storm (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on Working Kentauros (Manga Report)
Connie on vol. 5 of Ze (Slightly Biased Manga)