Features

Manga Giveaway: Yumi Tamura Giveaway

August 26, 2015 by Ash Brown

It’s almost the end of the month which means it’s yet again time for another giveaway at Experiments in Manga. This month I’m offering up an entire series: Yumi Tamura’s two-volume shoujo action thriller Chicago! The series was released in English by Viz Media a decade or so ago, but is now out of print. This month’s giveaway will give you a chance to snag a complete set of the manga. And, as always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

Chicago probably wouldn’t have come across my radar if it wasn’t for the fact that it was created by Yumi Tamura. Tamura is also the mangaka of Basara, a series that I absolutely love. Back when I was trying to track down some of the harder-to-find print volumes of Basara (the print edition is going out of print, but a digital version is now available), I discovered that Tamura’s Chicago and Wild Com. had also been translated. And so, simply because I enjoyed Tamura’s work so much on Basara, I picked them up. There are other mangaka whose work I will read no matter what it is, too, including but certainly not limited to Moyoco Anno, Usamaru Furuya, Fumi Yoshinaga, and Takeshi Obata. It can be interesting to see both the similarities and differences among the manga created by the same person; some mangaka have an incredible range.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win Yumi Tamura’s Chicago?

1) Are there any mangaka whose work you enjoy so much that you make a point to read anything they create? If so, tell me a little about them and what you like about their manga in the comments below. (If not, you can simply mention that.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

There you go! It’s as easy as that. You all have one week to submit comments and each person can earn up to two entries for this giveaway. If you have trouble with the comment form, or if you would prefer, entries can also be sent directly to me at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. I will then post the comments here in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on September 2, 2015. Good luck to you all!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address in the comment form, a link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced–Manga Giveaway: Yumi Tamura Giveaway Winner

Why Sekai Project Is Entering The Manga Industry

August 25, 2015 by Justin Stroman Leave a Comment

A lot of announcements happened at Anime Expo, San Diego Comic Con, and Otakon. Arguably the biggest announcement (not to actually shortchange what WAS announced) was the revelation of a new player in the manga industry. If you’ve heard of Sekai Project, you may be a bit more familiar with them bringing over visual novels, but at Otakon, they announced they will be dipping their toes into the market by licensing GATE, which just so happens to be streaming on Crunchyroll.

So…why is Sekai Project entering the manga industry? What is GATE all about? And when’s it going to come out? Well, I got in touch through email with publishing director Evan Mapoy, and the former Digital Manga marketing manager answers these questions and a few more.

…

My Week in Manga: August 17-August 23, 2015

August 24, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week Experiments in Manga reached its fifth anniversary, so I wrote a somewhat lengthy post about what I’ve been up to online and offline over the last year. Thank you again to everyone who has shown support and encouragement for Experiments in Manga over the years. Apparently, people actually want to see another five years, so I guess I better get to work on that. With that in mind, have two more in-depth reviews! Last week I took a look at Rikao Yanagita’s surprisingly entertaining The Science of Attack on Titan, one of the two non-manga books that Kodansha Comics has released so far. (The other one was related to Attack on Titan, as well.) I also reviewed Baku Yumemakura and Jiro Taniguchi’s The Summit of the Gods, Volume 5, which is the final volume in one of my favorite series. The writing and artwork in The Summit of the Gods is superb; I’m so glad that the entire manga is now available in English.

A few other things caught my eye online last week. Mangabrog has translated an article from 2013 that provides a tour through Inio Asano’s workspace. More information has been revealed about Kodansha’s digital efforts and the publisher is aiming high: digital editions of two thousand volumes translated into English by the end of 2017. Occasionally manga makes its way to NPR (which I believe is how I actually first learned about and became interested in Death Note). Most recently, one of NPR’s contributors featured a few great romantic manga: Kaoru Mori’s Emma, Ichigo Takano’s Orange, and Ai Yazawa’s Nana. I haven’t had a chance to read Orange yet, but considering the quality of Emma and Nana, I’m now looking forward to Seven Sea’s upcoming print release of the series even more. The game of manga tag continues to make it rounds, this time Narrative Investigations’ Helen tackles the questions.

Quick Takes

Castle Mango, Volume 2 written by Narise Konohara and illustrated by Muku Ogura. While I liked the first volume of Castle Mango, I really enjoyed the second and final volume of the series. Castle Mango is an unusual boys’ love manga; most of it doesn’t have anything to do with romance. The close relationship between Yorozu and Togame begins with a terribly manipulative lie, but it eventually develops into something real for both of them. In the first volume, the two men frequently seemed to have an almost father-son sort of vibe, but by the end of the series I was slightly more convinced by their intimacy as boyfriends. It does take a little while to get there though; they spend a large portion of the second volume apart. Togame is trying to give Yorozu space, feeling that it’s in the younger man’s best interest, but he doesn’t really go about it in the best way. Unfortunately, this is happening at the same time that Yorozu is struggling to take care of his little brother and his family’s business (a love hotel) when his mother is hospitalized. Yorozu is in the process of shedding the last of his immaturity and makes some terrible decisions in the process. In many ways, Castle Mango is more about Yorozu’s growth as a person than anything else.

Give to the Heart, Volumes 1-4 by Wann. After a long period of silence, about a year ago Netcomics quietly began publishing books in print again. Give to the Heart was the first manhwa to be released after the publisher’s hiatus. I was interested in reading the series because I wanted to support Netcomics, but also because it was created by Wann. (I had previously read and thoroughly enjoyed Wann’s collection of short manhwa 9 Faces of Love.) At first Give to the Heart seemed like it was going to largely be fantasy fiction, but as the series progresses, more and more science fictional elements are introduced. The ongoing story is about Sooyi, a young woman who became the wife of Ganok, the demon king who controls all water, but who is now attempting to escape him. Not only that, she is trying to find a way to kill him as well, or at least cause him as much pain as possible even if that means sacrificing her own life in the process. Though it is implied that Sooyi and Ganok were at one point content and happy as a pair, their current relationship obviously has its problems. Actually, considering the extreme imbalance of power between them—Ganok being a cruel god and Sooyi being a human with a strong will—that’s been true from the very beginning.

My Little Monster, Volume 9 by Robico. So, Haru and Shizuku are now officially a couple, although not much has actually changed in their relationship. But now that that has been settled, the other romantically interested parties are more or less able to move on with their lives. As a result, the plot of My Little Monster is now able to move along as well. This particular volume includes summer vacations and festivals, which is fairly standard for a high school romance, but Haru’s family drama is starting to come to the forefront of the story again. Underneath the humor of My Little Monster there seems to have been something ominous lurking waiting to be revealed. Haru’s brother Yuzan isn’t as terrifying as he once was, but there is definitely something going on between him and Haru and with Haru’s reluctance to interact with the rest of his family. Haru is trying to keep Shizuku from finding out the details, though eventually he’s really going to need to come clean with her and explain his situation. But, while Shizuku is still in the dark, at least readers get to learn a bit more. I continue to enjoy My Little Monster, especially the series’ quirky characters, and I’m happy to see the manga continue to gain some forward momentum.

Manga the Week of 8/26

August 21, 2015 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Anna N and Michelle Smith 1 Comment

SEAN: For a last week of the month, there’s a lot of stuff due out, particularly from Kodansha Comics.

The 16th Attack on Titan comes in a regular edition, and also a Special Edition with a set of AoT-themed playing cards.

ASH: It’ll be interesting to see how the special edition does for Kodansha.

SEAN: And there’s a 5th volume of the prequel Attack on Titan: Before the Fall.

Fairy Tail also has a spinoff, with the first volume of Blue Mistral, which I believe focuses on Wendy.

Inuyashiki is the new series running in Evening magazine from the author of Gantz. Its protagonist being an old man is unusual, its science fiction with horror/gore plot is not, at least not for this author.

ASH: Although I didn’t follow Gantz to the end, I am rather curious about Inuyashiki.

ANNA: Huh, I’m cautiously curious about this. Will wait for Ash’s review though!

SEAN: Let’s Dance a Waltz comes to an end with the third and final volume. Less fat-shaming in your next series, please.

MICHELLE: I second that request.

ASH: Yup. Also, I didn’t realize the series was so short!

ANNA: So glad I didn’t read this.

SEAN: Maria the Virgin Witch has an epilogue with Exhibition.

ASH: Maria the Virgin witch was such a quirky little series.

SEAN: Say “I Love You” has volume 9 coming out, and it’s become one of my favorite “shosei” series.

MICHELLE: Mine, too! Looking forward to this one.

ANNA: I need to get caught up! It is very good.

SEAN: And Your Lie in April has a 3rd volume. Lies indeed; it’s August, not April. You can’t trick me, manga!

ASH: Wait, it’s not April?

SEAN: There are a few titles coming out that are not Kodansha. Seven Seas has an Alice book, with White Rabbit and Some Afternoon Tea. After being an antagonist for so long in these books, Peter White finally gets his chance to be the love interest.

ANNA: Is it extra traumatic?

SEAN: I realize the title might put some people off, but Bodacious Space Pirates was a fantastic novel/anime series, and Bodacious Space Pirates: Abyss of Hyperspace is a manga adaptation of the feature film they made. I’m greatly looking forward to it.

ASH: Should hopefully be fun!

ANNA: If nothing else, that title is fabulous.

SEAN: Also greatly looking forward to the 4th omnibus of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer. Buy this please. Make Sean proud of you.

ASH: I will make you proud, Sean!

SEAN: Vertical has a 6th volume of Supernatural thriller Ajin. Be warned, it’s caught up with Japan.

And Vertical also has a novel spinoff of Attack on Titan. Harsh Mistress of the City is another one that takes place before the main manga, I believe.

ASH: It’s also illustrated by Range Murata which will be of particular interest to a few people I know.

ANNA: I didn’t know that! Interesting!

SEAN: So what are you getting next week?

My Week in Manga: August 10-August 16, 2015

August 17, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week was a two-review week at Experiments in Manga. Both reviews were of manga and, more specifically, both reviews were of shoujo manga. First up was the first omnibus of Hiro Fujiwara’s Maid-sama!. The series was originally licensed by Tokyopop, which released the first eight volumes, but the manga was more recently rescued by Viz Media’s Shojo Beat imprint. Though he has his moments, I’m not particularly fond of the male lead Takumi at this point, but I absolutely adore the female protagonist Misaki. If for no other reason, I’ll be reading more of Maid-sama! for her sake. The second in-depth review from last week was of Setona Mizushiro’s After School Nightmare, Volume 5. I continue to find After School Nightmare to be both compelling and highly distressing. The review is part of my ongoing monthly horror manga review project; September’s review will focus on the fifth volume of Yuki Urushibara’s Mushishi.

As for a few other interesting manga-related posts found online last week, Comic Attack has a nice interview with Stacy King, the editor of Udon Entertainment’s Manga Classics line. (I’ve written a little bit about Udon’s Manga Classics in the past.) Also, Mangabrog has posted a translation of an interview of Kiyohiko Azuma, the creator of Yotsuba&!, from 2014. A few weeks ago I posted some random musings about my manga collection as part of a game of manga tag. One of the people who I specifically tagged to participate was Manga Xanadu’s Lori Henderson. She recently posted her own responses to the manga tag questions and Justin at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses took time to provide some answers, too. I really enjoy reading about other manga enthusiast’s collections. If you’re interested, be sure to check the posts out!

Quick Takes

Clan of the Nakagamis, Volumes 1-2 by Homerun Ken. Although only two volumes of Clan of the Nakagamis have been released in English, it’s actually a three-volume boys’ love series. It’s unlikely that the third volume will be officially translated, but the manga tends to be fairly episodic. The final volume may be “missing,” but at least the series’ story doesn’t depend on it. Clan of the Nakagamis was brought to my attention due to the fact that Norikazu Akira, whose manga I’ve enjoyed, is somehow related to Homerun Ken. (She’s either one of the members of the two-person creative team or their older sister; I’m not entirely sure which.) Clan of the Nakagamis is intentionally ridiculous, a mashup of all sorts of unrelated tropes that the mangaka found amusing or were particularly fond of, everything from student-teacher relationships, to family conglomerates, to crossdressers. I actually wasn’t particularly impressed by the first volume of Clan of the Nakagamis, finding it to be too chaotic and lacking in cohesiveness, but I did legitimately enjoy the second. I even laughed out loud. It probably helped that it had a more coherent story and improved artwork.

Ninja Slayer Kills!, Volume 1 by Koutarou Sekine. Ninja Slayer started as a series of novels, supposedly written by a couple of Americans, that inspired a recent anime adaptation as well as at least three different manga series (two of which have been licensed for English-language release). Sekine’s Ninja Slayer Kills! is the franchise’s shounen manga offering. It’s intended to be approachable and understandable even for readers who aren’t familiar with Ninja Slayer. I’m not sure it’s successful in accomplishing that, though. Very little of the story, characters, or setting is explained beyond broadly establishing a tale of super-powered revenge in a gritty near future. The first volume is mostly battle after battle and not much more. The fight scenes and their setups are marvelously epic, but unfortunately the action itself is difficult to follow so they lose their impact. That’s a significant flaw since so much of the manga is focused on these martial conflicts. On their own, the character designs of the cybernetic ninja are great, but they tend to blend together in the actual manga, which also makes determining what exactly is going on a challenge.

A Silent Voice, Volume 2 by Yoshitoki Oima. I was greatly impressed by the first volume of A Silent Voice. It was a hard read due to its subject matter, specifically its realistic portrayal of bullying—how utterly cruel kids can be to each other and how adults, whether intentionally or not, can often encourage such behavior. While there is still some tragedy and darkness in the second volume, overall it’s a much lighter read; where the first is heartbreaking, the second makes it seem as though forgiveness and change is possible. Shoya, feeling that it is impossible to redeem himself for his past cruelty, plans to take his own life after apologizing to Shoko for adding so much misery to hers. But when he meets her again they end up forming an unexpected friendship instead. Even more surprisingly, Shoya eventually becomes friends with her younger sibling as well (though he doesn’t known that’s who the kid is at the time). Shoya recognizes that he can’t undo the harm that he’s already caused to Shoko and her family, but he’s slowly doing what he can to make up for it. I still think that A Silent Voice is one of the very best manga to debut this year.

Manga the Week of 8/19

August 13, 2015 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Michelle Smith and Anna N 5 Comments

SEAN: (flat stare) OK, I have not seen this much manga coming out in one week in about 7-8 years. This is getting completely ridiculous.

If you somehow have missed bloggers banging the drum for the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service over the last several years, there is a good chance to catch up now, as an omnibus of the first 3 volumes is out next week from Dark Horse. Seriously, this series is ridiculously good, y’all. (note: this may not be out everywhere next week, check your Diamond listings)

ASH: I’m glad to see this series getting some more love from Dark Horse again.

SEAN: Kodansha has an 18th volume of Cage of Eden, coming ever closer to the end of the series, where surely it will answer all the questions we have so far! (cough)

And there’s a 6th volume of the increasingly popular series Noragami.

ASH: There was quite a cliffhanger at the end of the fifth volume, so the sixth is on my reading list.

SEAN: Lastly, the penultimate 35th volume of The Wallflower, a series that many thought would never end! Will it romantically resolve anything? Don’t hold your breath. I wouldn’t hold your breath in Vol. 36 either.

MICHELLE: I certainly thought it would never end!

ANNA: I am amazed.

SEAN: One Peace Books has a 3rd volume of Aquarion Evol.

And also a light novel, which I think might have an associated manga later, though I’m unsure. It’s called The Rising of the Shield Hero, and as you can guess, is fantasy-based.

ASH: Yup. One Peace Books is planning to release the manga as well.

SEAN: Seven Seas gives us a 3rd volume of yuri potboiler Citrus.

And a 2nd of Clay Lord: Master of Golems, which I found more interesting than I’d expected.

Vertical has a 6th volume of popular fantasy series Witchcraft Works.

Viz gives us new Dorohedoro, which always makes me happy, and always makes me want to do a giant reread. This is the 16th volume, meaning it easily wins the SigIkki wars for supremacy.

ASH: Dorohedoro! I’m long overdue for another binge read.

SEAN: And if you prefer zombies to… well, I guess Dorohedoro has zombies as well, sort of, but if you prefer more traditional zombies, there’s a second Tokyo Ghoul.

ASH: I haven’t read any of Tokyo Ghoul yet, but the series seems to be doing quite well for Viz.

SEAN: The new manga reboot of Ultraman is so amazing that it actually runs in a magazine called “Monthly Hero’s”. You may expect… Tokusatsu shenanigans, I would expect.

MICHELLE: Ugh, that apostrophe bugs me.

SEAN: Yen On has a whopping six new titles for us, including the debut of Black Bullet, a future dystopia series. If you enjoyed the ‘young man with loli not-quite-sister’ aspect of No Game No Life but wished it were more depressing, this may be for you.

The fourth volume of A Certain Magical Index reintroduces us to Kaori Kanzaki, the girl with huge sword from the first volume, and also shows us Touma’s parents for the first time… sort of.

The Devil Is A Part-Timer! has Volume 2, as we start to see where we go now that the forces of good and evil are pretty much settled on Earth and dedicated to minor squabbles.

ASH: This series amuses me greatly.

SEAN: Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? has a 3rd volume, and the anime has now passed it, so we get to see what was left out of the adaptation.

Spice & Wolf has ended in Japan, I think, apart from side stories. But it’s still chugging away here in North America with its 15th volume.

And Sword Art Online has a 5th volume. Now that everyone is finally free from the game of death and their lives are back to normal, surely they’ll never play another MMORPG again, right? Hah.

Yen Press has several digital-only releases coming out as well. The 3rd Handa-kun continues to elaborate on the high school years of the Barakamon protagonist.

We get the first two volumes of Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler, a Gangan Joker series about a school whose student council base everything around, well, gambling. I know next to nothing about it, so am intrigued.

And the first two volumes of The Royal Tutor, a GFantasy series that has, well, royalty and a tutor for same. It seems to be more lighthearted than serious, and may have BL overtones, given the magazine it’s in and the author’s prior works.

ANNA: Hmmmmmm….

SEAN: And Today’s Cerberus has volumes 3 and 4. Despite having dog girls, cat girls, and wolf girls, I found it more enjoyable than you’d expect.

So, that’s Yen On and Yen Digital sorted out, now for Yen Press proper. We’re about halfway through Ani-Imo with the 4th volume. Is it any less creepy?

Despite Handa returning to the city at the end of the last Barakamon, the series continues on with its 6th volume.

It’s been 11 volumes of BTOOOM!. Can you believe it? 11 volumes.

MICHELLE: Siiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.

SEAN: The Devil Is A Part-Timer! High School!! is an alternate universe spinoff of the main series which… well, I’m sure you can guess.

Emma has a 2nd omnibus. What will happen to our heroine now that she’s left to go north? And can William ever find her? And can everyone continue to be repressed?

ANNA: Cheers to Emma being back in print, it is such a special series.

ASH: Cheers, indeed!

SEAN: Our long national nightmare is over with the 4th and final volume of Gou-dere Sora Nagihara.

High School DxD shows us we must stay ever vigilant, however, with a 6th volume and no end in sight.

The 2nd Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? manga volume continues to confuse Amazon’s systems and these lists.

Has Madoka Magica been getting you down? Does your favorite girl keep dying? Try Puella Magi Homura Tamura, a wacky 4-koma version of the series that will probably not remind you of Sunshine Sketch too much.

RustBlaster (no space) is a one-volume manga from the creator of Black Butler, featuring vampires. It may therefore take the new crown of ‘most obvious license ever’.

Lastly, a second volume of Trinity Seven, with slightly less “look, breasts!” on the cover than the first.

I… wow. If you’re not getting SOMETHING next week, we may have to check your pulse.

MICHELLE: I think I may not be getting anything! But mostly ‘cos I already own Emma and Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service.

ANNA: I’m not getting anything either! I need to whittle down all the stacks of unread manga I already have.

ASH: I… most definitely have a pulse. (And soon to be even more overloaded bookshelves.)

My Week in Manga: August 3-August 9, 2015

August 10, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Okay! In addition to the usual My Week in Manga feature, I managed to post three other things last week. First up was the announcement of the Sparkler Monthly Giveaway Winner, which also includes a list of the current, ongoing series being released in Sparkler Monthly (which is only a fraction of the total content). The other two posts were in-depth manga reviews; I took a look at a couple of Kodansha Comics’ recent releases. The first in-depth review of the month went to Naoshi Arakawa’s Your Lie in April, Volume 2, which I enjoyed. But then again, it’s a music manga, so it’s not too surprising that I like it. I also reviewed Masayuki Ishikawa’s Maria the Virgin Witch, Volume 3. It’s the last volume of the series, although the seque Exhibition is scheduled to be released in English later this year. Maria the Virgin Witch is somewhat uneven, but I still found it to be both intriguing and engaging.

As seems to always be the case nowadays, life was keeping me very busy last week, but I still came across some interesting things elsewhere online. A translation of an interview of Daisuke Igarashi, for example. Last week also marked the seventieth anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. It’s quite timely then that Last Gasp launched a Kickstarter project to create a hardcover edition of Keiji Nakazawa’s Barefoot Gen with schools and libraries specifically in mind. To coincide with this, Paul Gravett reposted his article “Keiji Nakazawa: Barefoot in Hiroshima”. Barefoot Gen is a tremendous work. One of the Manga Moveable Feasts was even devoted to it back in the day. If anyone is interested in learning more about Nakazawa himself as well as some of the historical context surrounding Barefoot Gen, his autobiography was translated into English several years ago.

Quick Takes

Prophecy, Volume 3 by Tetsuya Tsutsui. The first volume of Prophecy is the one that left the greatest impression on me, but in general it’s a very strong series. I didn’t find the second volume to be quite as compelling as the first, but the third provides a mostly satisfying conclusion to the series even though in some ways it felt a little anticlimactic. One of the members of Paperboy tips off the police and soon the Cyber Crimes Division has been able to identify the four terrorists. As the investigators draw closer and closer to capturing the men, they begin to notice what at first seem to be mistakes, slip ups, and inconsistencies in the group’s behavior. However, everything falls into place once Paperboy’s true motivations for committing all of the crimes are revealed. Prophecy is a realistic, smart, and engaging series with the added bite of social commentary. There’s apparently also a Prophecy spin-off series. I don’t think that it has been licensed, or that there are any current plans to do so, but I’d certainly be interested in reading it.

xxxHolic, Omnibus 6 (equivalent to Volumes 16-17) by CLAMP. For the most part I have been enjoying xxxHolic since the beginning of the series, but I think this omnibus has been my favorite so far. I really liked its brooding, ominous atmosphere. The humor that was so prevalent earlier in the series is actually almost entirely gone. The comedy in xxxHolic could be fun, but I have a particular penchant for the series’ supernatural angst, and that’s definitely taken the forefront in the last few volumes. I also initially found the crossover between Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle and xxxHolic to be intriguing, but I’ll admit that I was happy to see that the other series didn’t intrude too much in this omnibus. Instead, xxxHolic is focusing on how Watanuki and the others are coping now that Yuko is gone. Watanuki takes it especially hard and his tendency to slip in and out of dreams is becoming increasingly dangerous. There’s not much that the people who care about him can actually do except to watch over and support him as best as they can.

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Volume 3 by Miki Yoshikawa. There really are witches in this series! With its good-natured comedy and gender play, I’ve liked Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches a great deal from the very start. But with the third volume, Yoshikawa has started to really develop the series’ worldbuilding and is diving even further into the details of how the magic works. The relationships between the characters are also becoming more fleshed-out and complicated, which I’m enjoying as well. One of the things that I particularly appreciate about the series is that it seems perfectly okay for a guy to be crushing on another guy. Yes, it’s because there are some strange supernatural powers at work, but it’s also not treated like something gross. The setup also allows kissing to freely occur regardless of gender, which is fun. There’s still plenty of fanservice in Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, as one would probably expect from a shounen series full of gender- and body-swapping, but I generally find it to be tastefully done.

Manga the Week of 8/12

August 6, 2015 by Sean Gaffney, Anna N, Ash Brown, Michelle Smith and MJ Leave a Comment

SEAN: If you want a quiet week with not much manga, next week is pretty much the only week in August you’ll get it, so enjoy.

Kodansha has its 5th Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle omnibus, which I think is busying itself by walking around the X continuity.

ANNA: You know what would be nice? If X/1999 walked around its own continuity and actually had an end to the series. That would be nice!!!!!

ASH: YES.

SEAN: X Vol. 19: everyone mysteriously vanishes into a hole in the plot except Nokoru, Suoh and Akira, and the series reboots itself as CLAMP Detectives: The Adult Years. With plenty of Utako as well. …OK, perhaps that’s only *my* version of X.

MICHELLE: I fully support this version. My life needs more grown-up Suoh in it.

MJ: I am probably a rare CLAMP fan in that I’m not super-anxious for them to finish X, but I’m not opposed to Sean’s ending here. :D

SEAN: Seven Seas gives us a 2nd volume of angsty coming-of-age story Evergreen, from the Toradora! author.

And a 7th volume of bestselling, anime-producing monster fetish manga Monster Musume. Watch out for snakes.

Sublime hopes you are still embracing the 3rd omnibus of Embracing Love.

ASH: I certainly am! This omnibus includes part of the series that wasn’t previously released in English.

SEAN: Viz gives us the 10th volume of Deadman Wonderland – are they out of prison yet?

And a 15th Itsuwaribito, which is part of the Shonen Sunday imprint! As is…

Magi, which has its lucky 13th volume. Shonen Sunday! It’s an imprint too! You can see it, next to the Jump and Beat titles. Well, sort of next to them. Down the hall. And a stairway. Next to the boiler room. (Buy Sunday titles.)

ANNA: I need to fill in my collection and read more of this series!

MICHELLE: Yay, Magi! And I concur; the Shonen Sunday imprint has a lot of good stuff, like Kekkaishi, Cross Game, and all of the Rumiko Takahashi!

SEAN: Does anything here tickle your fancy?

My Week in Manga: July 27-August 2, 2015

August 3, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

The Sparkler Monthly Year 3 Kickstarter campaign ends tonight, so this is one of my last opportunities to give it a shout-out! I actually spent a lot of last week trying to draw attention to the project and the spectacular work being done by the staff and creators of Sparkler Monthly. For example, my most recent giveaway, which is currently underway, is for the second book in Tokyo Demons (one of my favorite series ever, not just one of my favorite Sparkler series) as well as one additional Sparkler goody of the winner’s choice. And for my final in-depth review for the month of July, I featured Heldrad’s delightful Orange Junk, Volume 1, a romantic comedy strongly influenced by shoujo manga. I also posted July’s Bookshelf Overload over the weekend, which I also managed to briefly tie into Sparkler Monthly.

In publishing news, Bruno Gmünder is adding two more volumes of gay manga to its catalog for the 2015 Fall/Winter season—Takeshi Matsu’s Dr. Makumakuran and Other Stories and Gengoroh Tagame’s The Contracts of the Fall—and Breakdown Press will be releasing Ding Dong Circus and Other Stories, 1967-1974 by alt-mangaka Sasaki Maki. Ryan Holmberg, the collection’s translator and editor, recently wrote about Sasaki Maki for The Comics Journal. Also of note, Kodansha has plans to expand its digital distribution. There were also a couple of interesting interviews posted last week: over at Anime News Network Deb Aoki talked with mangaka Miki Yoshikawa in addition to one of Yoshikawa’s editors, and Organization Anti-Social Geniuses spoke with Marlene First, one of the manga editors at Viz.

Quick Takes

Akame ga Kill!, Volume 1 written by Takahiro and illustrated by Tetsuya Tashiro. It seems as though every dark fantasy manga that has been released in English recently has a similar plot—the current ruling government and upper classes of society are staggeringly corrupt and a small group of exceptionally skilled fighters are battling against them. In many of the stories, the twist is that the “bad guys” are really the “good guys,” though it’s not much of a twist anymore since it’s becoming increasingly common. In Akame ga Kill!, that group is a team of assassins who target high-profile nobles and government officials. It’s a decent premise, but I’m not entirely convinced by Akame ga Kill!. Plot developments seem to occur more out of convenience than anything else, and despite delving into their various backstories the characters don’t yet have much depth to them. Takahiro mentions in the postscript that he finds Tashiro’s action scenes particularly eye-catching. I’m not familiar with Tashiro’s other manga, but when comes to Akame ga Kill! I was actually a little disappointed with the fight sequences. Battles happen so quickly that it appears as though nothing happens at all, and on occasion the action is skipped over completely. This conveys impressive speed, but I’d like to actually see the fights.

Let’s Dance a Waltz, Volume 2 by Natsumi Ando. If it wasn’t for the series’ unfortunate focus on Himé’s weight loss, I would be really enjoying Let’s Dance a Waltz. The first volume ends with her losing more than forty pounds after two weeks of intensive dance study. I would be willing to begrudgingly move on from this, except that the second volume never lets the reader forget about it. The manga seems to constantly emphasize that someone has to be slim to be of worth. It really is a shame, because I like so many of the other elements of Let’s Dance a Waltz. I love the dancing in the series and Himé’s developing passion for it as a sport. The second volume includes her first contest, which is partly an effort to compel Tango to compete once again. And I love the delicious melodrama surrounding the competitors and the dynamics of their tangled personal relationships. Yūsei cares tremendously for his dance partner Sumiré, but she seems to have feelings for Tango. They both want to see Tango return dance, but that also means that he will become their opponent in the ballroom. Himé is in love with Tango, too, which introduces tension into her friendships with all three of them. There’s so much to like about Let’s Dance a Waltz, but the handling of the weight issues in the series honestly bothers me.

Manga the Week of 8/5

July 30, 2015 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Michelle Smith and Anna N 2 Comments

SEAN: As the thermometer creeps towards triple digits, we can turn only to manga for comfort. Luckily, there’s a pile of it next week.

I think I mentioned this title before, as it’s gotten moved back a few times, but Bruno Gmuender has a new gay manga volume coming out, Dr. Makumakuran and Other Stories.

ASH: You have mentioned it before, but I think it’s really coming out this time!

SEAN: Dark Horse has an artbook, which I normally don’t cover, but this is The Art of Satoshi Kon, so yeah, let’s mention that.

Drawn and Quarterly’s amazing series Showa by Shigeru Mizuki comes to a close with the final omnibus, covering the years 1953-1989. This series has just been jaw-dropping, and everyone who loves manga at all – or even wants to know Japanese history – should be reading it.

MICHELLE: I has a shame.

ANNA: Me too.

SEAN: Kodansha gives us a 9th volume of The Seven Deadly Sins.

Seven Seas has a new Devils and Realist, the 6th volume. It also has a 7th volume of Dragonar Academy.

But I don’t care about either of those, because YAY! I always love it when a license request of mine is picked out, and this one is particularly awesome. Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto is a trippy comedy that fans of My Neighbor Seki will thoroughly understand, about a high school student who is super cool in everything he does – preternaturally so. I will be hammering on folks to read this.

ASH: I’m really looking forward to giving this one a read!

ANNA: This does sound funny.

SEAN: Viz has its usual giant pile of Jump and Beat stuff. Assassination Classroom has hit five volumes, and he’s not dead yet. Thank goodness.

ANNA: I can’t believe I am so far behind on this series. It needs to stop coming out so fast.

SEAN: Black Rose Alice also has its fifth volume, though be warned, we’re coming up on the series’ hiatus in Japan. Perhaps the author ran out of spiders?

MICHELLE: This is one of those cases where I’m both happy and sad to see a new volume.

ASH: Same.

ANNA: This is such a great, surreal series. Totally worth reading even if it is on hiatus.

SEAN: Bleach is in no danger of running out of volumes with its twelfth 3-in-1.

Food Wars! has a 7th volume. Will the demand for amazing curry take out half the class? I’m hoping at least Soma and Megumi make it past the first round.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure brings its first arc to a close with the 3rd omnibus of Phantom Blood. Happy ending? Sad ending? I can’t say, but I can guarantee it will be over the top.

ASH: Guaranteed.

ANNA: This series is so weirdly wonderful.

SEAN: It’s August, and you know what that means! It’s time for our yearly release of Kaze Hikaru, with Vol. 23. I am delighted that Viz has not given up on this shoujo title.

ANNA: If there was justice in the world, this would rocket up the manga best seller lists. Just a great, thoroughly researched gender bending romance series.

SEAN: Maid-sama! was a very popular series with Tokyopop back in the day – popular enough to get a license rescue, as the first two volumes come out (with brand new translation) as an omnibus from Viz. I do have vague worry, though – I suspect Usui’s behavior will go over a lot less well than it did in 2009.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I wonder how I’ll react to Maid-sama! this time around. It took a few volumes for me to warm up to it before, and even that was fairly begrudging, since it’s one of those shoujo that features random beach volleyball tournament chapters. Now I am even older and more crotchety.

ASH: I never read it the first time around, but I know quite a few people who were happy about its rescue.

ANNA: I read the first several volumes of the old release and it’ll be interesting to revisit it.

SEAN: The big Shonen Jump debut this week is My Hero Academia. In a world where the majority of people have superpowers, how does someone who doesn’t have any fit in? If your answer is ‘bullied’, congrats, you know your manga.

Naruto is almost over! Except for the sequel manga and the countless spinoff novels. But here’s Vol. 71, which is just straight-up Naruto.

One Piece is at Vol. 75, but is not even close to being over.

MICHELLE: Thank goodness!

SEAN: So Cute It Hurts!! has a second volume. Will her story become as exciting as his story? Or is it the other way around?

ANNA: I just read this and it does focus more on her story, which is what I was hoping after reading the first volume. Also, wacky hijinks.

SEAN: Spell of Desire comes to an end with its fifth volume. I admit I didn’t find this as compelling as Midnight Secretary, but I know Anna liked it.

ANNA: I did like it! But I think I will generally like any josei disguised as shoujo, because that’s how I roll.

SEAN: Toriko’s 29th volume will I suspect bring an end to this particular round of fights, but likely not an end to the current battle.

Voice Over! Seiyu Academy comes to an end with its 12th volume, but fear not, a new Maki Minami series debuts next month.

MICHELLE: I have been hoarding volume 11 of Voice Over! so I could read it and the final volume back-to-back. I hope there are kitties and a happy ending, and suspect that isn’t too far off-base.

SEAN: And there’s a 3rd omnibus of the original Yu-Gi-Oh!.

There has to be something here for everyone. What about you?

Giveaway: Sparkler Monthly Giveaway

July 29, 2015 by Ash Brown

The end of July quickly approaches, as does the end of the Sparkler Monthly: Year 3 Kickstarter. The campaign hasn’t quite reached its goal yet, but I desperately want it to succeed. With that in mind, hoping to draw more attention to the project, this month’s giveaway will be a little different than usual. I happen to have an extra copy of Tokyo Demons, Book 2 to give away, but that’s not all I’m offering. The winner of the contest will also be able to choose one item (physical/print or digital) from the Sparkler Online Shop! (Yes, a Year+ gift subscription to the magazine, which also includes a free ebook, is a completely valid option.) As always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of Sparkler Monthly and Chromatic Press. I’m fairly obsessed with Tokyo Demons and I adore Off*Beat, and so when those two series became the flagship titles for the newly established publisher in 2013, I knew it was time to pay attention. It was the right decision. I honestly haven’t been disappointed by a single thing that I’ve read (or listened to) that has been released in Sparkler Monthly. (Just take a look at the Chromatic Press tag for my in-depth reviews and features of a small selection of the content.) Sparkler Monthly is a multimedia magazine that includes prose, comics, and audio, and I devour it all. I love the range of formats and genres, the diverse stories and characters; the variety found in Sparkler Monthly is one of its greatest strengths, and more is constantly being added.

The work the creators and staff are doing through Sparkler Monthly is phenomenal. It would be tragic if they can’t garner the support to continue. So please, if you haven’t already, give the fantastic stories of Sparkler Monthly a try. Almost everything is available online for free, so there’s no excuse! And if you like what you see and/or hear, please consider donating to the Kickstarter campaign, too.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of Tokyo Demons, Book 2 AND one other Sparkler goody of your choice?

1) In the comments below, name one of your favorite Sparkler Monthly stories and write a little about why you like it. (Never experienced Sparkler? Now’s the time to check it out!)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

That’s all there is to it! Each person can earn up to two entries for this giveaway and has one week to submit comments. Entries can also be sent to me via email at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com if you have trouble with the comment form or if you would prefer. I will then post the comments here in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on August 5, 2015. Good luck and happy reading!

Contest winner announced–Giveaway: Sparkler Monthly Giveaway Winner

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My Week in Manga: July 20-July 26, 2015

July 27, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

I posted one in-depth manga review last week, Sengoku Basara: Samurai Legends, Omnibus 2 by Yak Haibara. It’s the final omnibus in the series, collecting the third and fourth volume of Haibara’s Sengoku Basara 2 manga adaptation. I get a huge kick out of Sengoku Basara. It’s incredibly over-the-top but actually does manage to incorporate some legitimate history. Samurai Legends stands fairly well on its own, too, so no previous knowledge of the franchise is necessary. The other post last week (other than the usual My Week in Manga feature, of course) was something a little different: I was tagged in a game of manga tag, so I had an excuse to talk a bit about my collection. It was fun, so I hope others found it interesting.

Otakon was last week and there were some pretty great licenses announced. Viz Media picked up Inio Asano’s Goodnight Pun Pun as well as Takeshi Obata’s artbook Blanc et Noir and Keiko Ishihara’s The Heiress and the Chauffeur. Vertical will be releasing Riichi Ueshiba’s Mysterious Girlfriend X, Ryo Hanada’s Devil’s Line, and Kaori Ozaki’s The Gods Lie. (Ozaki is also the creator of Immortal Rain, which I love, so I’m especially excited for this one.) Kodansha Comics has plans to publish Yui Sakum’s Complex Age, Nao Emoto’s Forget Me Not, and most notably Leiji Matsumoto’s classic manga Queen Emeraldas! Also of note, Sekai Project, which primarily releases visual novels, has a new manga publishing initiative, starting with Satoru Sao, Takumi Yanai, and Daisuke Izuka’s GATE.

Elswhere online, Viz posted an interview with Canadian comics creator Faith Erin Hicks talking about many things, including her love of manga. (Also, her comics are great and well-worth checking out.) Organization Anti-Social Geniuses interviewed Kurt Hassler from Yen Press’ at Anime Expo. (All those manga recently licensed for digital release? There is a possibility we’ll be seeing them in print!) Graham Kolbeins of MASSIVE posted an impassioned but thoughtful explanation of how online piracy negatively impacts creators of gay manga. Deb Aoki has posted the audio and transcript of the gay manga panel from TCAF earlier this year. (It’s was a great panel that I only touched upon briefly in my TCAF roundup, so I’m glad it’s now available for anyone to read/listen to!) Finally, I’d like to draw everyone’s attention to an excellent post by Christopher Butcher about “othering” in the comics industry: Shifts and Living History

Quick Takes

The Incredible Kintaro by Naomi Guren. In Japanese folktales, Kintaro is a young boy with incredible strength who, among other things, runs around in the mountains with his trusty axe wearing nothing but a bib and wrestling bears. Those legends partly inspire The Inncredible Kinato, except that the youth is now a virile bishōnen. He does still spend a lot of time with very little clothing on and his junk hanging out, though. Currently, Kintaro is working as a janitor in order to protect his childhood love and friend Makoto. After his grandfather dies, Makoto is serving as the acting principal at the private high school where he is also a student, becoming a target of all the other men who would like to take control of the institute. And since the school’s motto is “Heart, Lust, Body,” that means it’s his virginity that’s at stake. The Incredible Kintaro is an intentionally ludicrous boys’ love manga. Makoto finds himself in all sorts of dubious situations, the teachers coming up with some rather creative scenarios to win his body if not his heart. The characters are shallow, so The Incredible Kintaro must rely on its bizarre premise and sense of humor to carry the story. Readers will need a high tolerance for the absurd to really enjoy the volume.

Johnny Wander, Volume 1-3 written by Ananth Panagariya and illustrated by Yuko Ota. I was first introduced to the online comic Johnny Wander through several of the strips devoted to the cats in the character’s lives. They were hilarious and I was hooked. Johnny Wander isn’t always about cats, though. Actually, it really isn’t about anything. Johnny Wander is a sequence of short, one-page, autobiographically-inspired comics. Although there are recurring characters, scenarios, and even the occasional running joke, most of the individual comics stand completely on their own merits. They’re brief glimpses into somewhat nerdy, after-college, daily life and they’re very funny. The cast consists of family, friends, and roommates (and cats). The setting is made up of the various cities and apartments (some of which are kind of sketchy even if they’re fondly remembered) in which they’ve lived. It’s incredibly ordinary and wonderful at the same time. Johnny Wander is entertaining, delightful, and charming, made up of the types of stories and jokes that people who know each other well will reminisce about, and tell and retell over the years. I really do love this series, and it just recently began updating again!

Noragami: Stray God, Volume 5 by Adachitoka. Although it hasn’t completely disappeared, at times I miss the quirky humor that was fairly prevalent in the early volumes of Noragami. But I must say, the drama in recent installments has been increasingly intense and engaging. The fifth volume in particular is an especially excellent addition to the series, and it ends on one heck of a cliffhanger. Although not everything has yet been revealed, the fifth volume delves into the unfortunate history between Yato and Bishamonten, which turns out to be much more complicated than many realize. Importantly, with Bishamonten finding it difficult to control her numerous shinki, it seems as though the two of them are now facing a very similar situation. It didn’t end well the first time, which ignited their current feud and Bishamonten’s desire for vengeance, and it looks like they are now on the brink of another tragedy. Kugaha is manipulating the entire situation, successfully igniting a confrontation between Yato and Bishamonten in the hopes that she will die in the process. The intrigue in Noragami has reached new heights and the battles between gods has become even more perilous; I need to know what happens next.

Random Musings: Manga Tag

July 24, 2015 by Ash Brown

Earlier this month, Megan of The Manga Test Drive (which is one of my favorite manga review blogs and worth checking out if you haven’t already) gave a tour of her manga shelves and answered some questions about her collection as part of a game of manga tag. And wouldn’t you know it, I was tagged at the end! I thought it would be fun to participate, and it gives me a chance to talk a bit about my own manga collection, so here goes!

1. What was your first manga?
The first manga that I ever read was Osamu Tezuka’s Adolf as published by Viz way back in the day. I came across it while helping a friend locate materials for his thesis about the Jewish population in Japan during World War II. I’m fairly certain that the first manga I purchased for myself was Blade of the Immortal by Hiroaki Samura at the recommendation of my fantastic local comic book shop.

2. What is your most expensive manga?
Considering the amount of manga that I accumulate, I try very hard to keep my habit as inexpensive as possible. But sometimes it just can’t be helped and exceptions must be made. I discovered and fell in love with Basara after most of the series went out of print and ended up spending more than I really wanted to find a complete set. But I did get a couple of Basara artbooks out of the deal, too, which was cool.

3. What was your least expensive manga?
Relatively recently, my good friend Traci (who did a guest video review for me a couple of years ago) gifted me with her collection of Yu Aida’s Gunslinger Girl. She was moving out of the state and had to be very selective with the books she could take with her. As a result, I inherited a bunch of comics, most of which I still need to actually read. (I dread my next move; my collection is huge.)

4. What is the most boring manga you own?
This was probably the question that I found the most difficult to answer. I’m going to guess that Project X: Cup Noodle by Tadashi Katoh might be the most boring manga that I own, but it doesn’t seem entirely fair to say that since I haven’t actually read it yet. However, I don’t expect that the manga will be terribly exciting, even though it may be interesting and at the very least educational. I could be wrong, though!

5. What is your favorite manga series?
I have way too many favorites to narrow it down to one, so instead I’ll just highlight the series that has been the most personally meaningful—Takako Shimura’s Wandering Son. As someone who is all sorts of queer, the manga’s earnest and sensitive exploration of personal identity, including gender identity, made a huge impact on me; it’s not an exaggeration when I call Wandering Son life-changing.

6. What is the most relatable manga series you own?
This took some thought, but in the end I’m going to go with Takehiko Inoue’s Real. It might seem like an odd choice for me seeing as I’m not really a basketball enthusiast and am currently fortunate enough not to need a wheelchair, but Inoue’s characterization in Real is phenomenal. He has created incredibly complex individuals with whom I can strongly identify with even though they’re unlike me in many ways.

7. What is one manga you own that is based off an anime?
It’s certainly not always the case, but many manga based on anime often leave something to be desired. I’ve still collected a few, though. Samurai Champloo was one of the first anime series I ever watched and it remains a favorite. Sadly, the Samurai Champloo manga by Masaru Gotsubo didn’t overly impress me. But, it has its moments, and I’m enough of a completist that I’ve held onto it.

8. What is your rarest manga?
I’m not certain it’s necessarily the rarest manga that I own, but let’s just say I hope I never need to purchase the colorized master edition of Buronson and Tetsuo Hara’s Fist of the North Star ever again. The sixth volume alone, even used, would cost several hundred dollars to replace. But I’ve actually got all sorts of interesting, uncommon, and unusual things kicking around.

9. What is the most reprinted manga you own?
Well, assuming we’re talking about the different releases of a manga rather than the number of printings, that would be Hitoshi Iwaaki’s Parasyte. In English, the manga started out in Tokyopop’s MixxZine before being collected as individual volumes. Tokyopop eventually lost the license and Del Rey Manga picked it up. Kodansha Comics rescued the series after that. (I have the Del Rey version, though.)

10. What is the most popular manga you own?
At the moment, that would probably be Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan along with its numerous spinoffs. The immense popularity of Attack on Titan fascinates me, so I like to keep up with the series. (In some ways, I’m almost more interested in the fandom than I am in the franchise itself.) Even though I do find parts of the manga to be extremely frustrating, other parts can be very engaging.

11. What is the most damaged manga you own?
I try to take very good care of my collection and am largely successful, but thanks to my cat Lysander (affectionately and sometimes not-so-affectionately known as Stupid), I have a few volumes of Kentaro Miura’s Berserk that I need to get around to replacing. Lysander used a box of full of manga as a scratching post, so some of them look like they were mauled by a tiger. I’ve still not forgiven him for that.

12. Which manga has the most amazing art?
I’m with Megan on this one. Kaoru Mori’s work in A Bride’s Story is absolutely stunning. It’s incredibly detailed, beautifully drawn, and thoroughly researched. There are a lot of mangaka whose artwork that I love and appreciate, but the illustrations in A Bride’s Story really do amaze me. In addition to the frequently breathtaking artwork, I also enjoy the series’ story, characters, and setting immensely.

13. What is the oldest published manga that you own?
I’m pretty sure the oldest manga that I have in translation is The Four Immigrants Manga by Henry (Yoshitaka) Kiyama. The Japanese compilation was published in 1931. I’ve also collected the work by Masaichi Mukaide released in North America the 1970s, some of the earliest manga to be published in English. Granted, depending on the definition of “manga” being used, those may or may not count.

14. What is the newest published manga you own?
Let’s see… what came out this week? I actually picked up the first omnibus of Akira Hiramoto’s Prison School. I’m intensely curious about this manga since it’s such an extreme shift in tone from Hiramoto’s earlier series, Me and the Devil Blues. I have a feeling Prison School will be a very divisive series. If for no other reason, it’s something that I want to read myself in order to have an informed opinion.

15. What are some of the most recent manga you have purchased?
Not counting all of the preorders that I’ve recently placed (and there have been many) the most recent manga that I purchased was a complete set of Cross Game by Mitsuru Adachi. I’ve actually been meaning to do this for a while now. (Sorry, Viz, for taking so long!) And as for my most recent out-of-print find, I was very happy to finally get my hands on Akimi Yoshida’s Banana Fish!

So there you have it! A very brief look at a very small selection of my manga collection. (Where is all the shoujo and josei?! The alt manga?! And everything else!?) Like Megan, I’m next going declare a free-for-all. If you’d like to answer some manga tag questions about your collection, either in the comments below or elsewhere, go for it! I’d love to keep talking about manga with you all. I’m also specifically going to tag my fellow bloggers manjiorin at Manga Connection and Lori Henderson at Manga Xanadu in case they’d like to participate, too. It’s been fun; hopefully you’ve found this diversion interesting!

Manga the Week of 7/29

July 23, 2015 by Sean Gaffney, Anna N, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and MJ Leave a Comment

SEAN: It’s become almost musical, the way manga comes out. Huge week… quiet week. Huge week… quiet week. The occasional 5th week trips up the manga dancer with the brief shift into 5/4 time. How is our quick-quick-slow week?

Dark Horse is doing it again, folks. Here is the first omnibus volume of a seinen manga series called Oh My Goddess!, about a young man who calls the wrong number and gets a goddess as his girlfriend. Perhaps you’ve heard of it when it was released by Dark Horse before. And before that. And before that. And before that. This will have the first three volumes, for those who have been curious but never tried it before. All three of you.

Kodansha has a 49th volume of Fairy Tail, which I’m surprised isn’t getting omnibus volumes as well, frankly.

ANNA: Fairy Tail is not on my radar, but I am stunned it is up to 49 volumes. Wow.

SEAN: There’s also a 2nd volume of A Silent Voice. Volume 1 was excellent writing but very hard to actually read, being filled with realistically flawed and terrible kids (and teachers). Will the second volume give us some glimpses of light amongst the darkness?

ANNA: This sounded a bit too grim for my tastes, which is why I haven’t read the first volume yet.

MICHELLE: Yeah. I am glad something like that exists but I still am in the “I read manga ‘cos it’s fun” camp.

ASH: The first volume was incredibly well done and one of the best things that I’ve read this year, but yeah, not the happiest of stories.

MJ: I suspect I would like this.

SEAN: And a third volume of Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches. Will we actually get witches this time?

ASH: We shall see!

SEAN: Seven Seas has a fourth volume of Magical Girl Apocalypse, for those who thought Madoka Magica wasn’t violent or cynical enough.

Lastly, Vertical is giving readers who missed earlier Chi’s Sweet Home volumes a chance to catch up with an omnibus of the first 3 volumes. As they’ve only released this once before, I’ll give them a pass here.

ANNA: Actually, I have not read Chi’s Sweet Home before, and I know it is both very good and popular, so I might finally check out this series!

MICHELLE: You should!

ASH: You really should! Plus, the omnibus has a larger trim size and some additional content, too.

MJ: Yes, yes!!

SEAN: I can’t tell a waltz from a tango, but can you tell what you’re buying this week?

My Week in Manga: July 13-July 19, 2015

July 20, 2015 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Two in-depth reviews were posted at Experiments in Manga last week. The first took a look at Mushishi, Volume 4 by Yuki Urushibara. The review is part of my monthly horror manga review project; next month I’ll be bouncing back to Setona Mizushiro’s After School Nightmare. Mushishi continues to be one of my favorite manga series. The second review was of A Sky Longing for Memories: The Art of Makoto Shinkai, the most recent artbook to be released by Vertical. It’s a gorgeous volume to simply look at, but I also learned a little about art design and digital illustration while reading it, too. Also of note, over at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, I and six other manga and anime enthusiasts weighed in on the question “What Was the Biggest Announcement at Anime Expo/SDCC?”

There were a few other manga-related posts at OASG last week, too, including some great tips on getting manga for cheap, advice from manga letterers, and an interview with Kodansha’s Ben Applegate from San Diego Comic-Con. A couple of other convention-related articles that I came across: Brigid Alverson talked to Tokyopop’s Stu Levy and Deb Aoki summarizes some of the recent manga news. Also, the audio recordings of some of the SDCC panels, including the Best and Worst Manga panel, have been posted.

In licensing news, Seven Seas announced The Other Side of Secret manga series by Hideaki Yoshikawa. Seven Seas will also be releasing a newly-illustrated omnibus of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz & The Marvelous Land of Oz. (This will be similar to Seven Seas’ edition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass which was quite charming.) Finally, a couple of interesting reads I happened upon: Léopold Dahan wrote about studying the magazine Garo and Kevin Frane discussed gender in Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner. (Frane is the translator of the series in English, and I really enjoyed the first volume, but I’m looking forward to the following volumes even more now.)

Quick Takes

After I Win by Kaname Itsuki. Out of all the boys’ love manga that I’ve so far read, I think After I Win is the one that is the quickest to reach the all-important love confession. Only three pages into the manga and the leads—the beautiful Hiyori and his underclassman and roommate Kasumi—have admitted their feelings for each other. Granted, it takes most of the rest of the volume for them each to realize that the other young man actually meant what he said. After I Win is probably also the boys’ love manga with the most masturbation scenes that I’ve come across. (In the afterword, Itsuki mentions that it was her intention to feature at least one such scene in every chapter.) Hiyori and Kasumi spend so much time getting it on on their own rather than getting it on together for two main reasons: the aforementioned confusion regarding how seriously they should take each other’s confession, and the fact that Hiyori gets so nervous with anticipation and excitement that he tends to get nauseous. But even considering this, and despite his angelic appearance, Hiyori is very dirty-minded and looks forward to the opportunity to cement his relationship with Kasumi physically. After I Win, perhaps surprisingly, is actually pretty cute.

Alice in the Country of Hearts: My Fanatic Rabbit, Volumes 1-2 by Psyche Delico. After reading and enjoying the first Alice in the Country of Hearts manga series, I asked fellow enthusiasts to recommend which among the multitude of Alice manga I should follow-up with. My Fanatic Rabbit wasn’t mentioned a single time. So why did I tackle it next? Mostly because Psyche Delico was involved. (I loved her other manga released in English, Love Full of Scars.) My Fanatic Rabbit is more or less a retelling of Alice in the Country of Hearts, except that Alice has decided to stay with the Hatter mafia rather than Julius, ultimately falling in love with the March Hare. There are some cute romantic parts scattered throughout the series, especially towards the end, as well as some genuinely funny moments, but overall the manga really isn’t especially strong. It doesn’t stand well on its own and those who have read the first series won’t find much new, either. Maybe in part because it’s a shorter series, neither the characters nor the world have much of chance to develop and simply must be taken as is. My Fanatic Rabbit will likely appeal most to those who want to see Elliot and Alice together.

Aquarion Evol, Volumes 1-3 written by Shoji Kawamori, illustrated by Aogiri. Despite taking place twelve thousand years after Genesis of Aquarion, its sequel Aquarion Evol doesn’t make much sense at all to those who aren’t already familiar with the franchise. At least that’s the case for the ongoing manga series; perhaps the anime does a better job of initiating newcomers. Having seen neither of the anime series, I can only say that the story of the Aquarion Evol is a mess and nearly impenetrable at first. By the third volume things begin to be explained a little more coherently, but the manga seems to be taking a lot of shortcuts with the plot and character development. Probably because of my confusion, I generally wasn’t overly impressed with the Aquarion Evol, but there were still some things that I liked about it. The various supernatural powers are interesting (there’s even a music-based one!) as are the somewhat bizarre gender dynamics and curious sexual overtones. The artwork is attractive, too, with exciting action sequences and nice character designs. The mecha are difficult to tell apart at first glance, though. I wonder if I might actually enjoy the Aquarion Evol anime, but I find the manga to be frustrating.

Fantasy Sports, Volume 1 by Sam Bosma. Before stumbling upon Fantasy Sports, I hadn’t previously read any of Bosma’s work. I definitely want to read more now because Fantasy Sports was fantastic. It apparently started out as a self-published, black-and-white comic called Fantasy Basketball, but it was later expanded and colored for release by Nobrow and made the first installment in an ongoing series. I absolutely loved the comic and can’t wait to read future volumes of Fantasy Sports. The story follows Wiz, a young magic user and intern at The United and Ancient Order of Mages. Her mentor in the guild is Mug, a hulk of a man who usually solves his problems through brute strength and who doesn’t know a thing about magic. They don’t really get along very well, making their job raiding and searching for treasure even more difficult. During their most recent expedition, they encounter an ancient mummy who they must defeat in a game of basketball if they hope to escape with the fortune and their lives intact. It’s a slim volume, but with great art, great colors, and great characters, not to mention just enough silliness and adventure, the first volume of Fantasy Sports is a tremendous amount of fun.