MangaBlog

Big news from Viz: They are marking down every volume in their digital app by 20% for the holidays. And there’s more: Viz is offering Shonen Jump Alpha for free on its Android app, with advertising support. There’s also a free SJA starter pack to help bring you up to date with the Japanese releases.

Deb Aoki continues her series on OEL manga with a look at why the Japanese model doesn’t work in North America and what can be done to make things better. The article includes a lot of resources and commentary from artists working in the manga tradition, so it’s well worth bookmarking. Evan Liu adds some interesting thoughts on the divide between OEL manga and Artists Alley.

Laura takes a look at the newest shoujo releases at Heart of Manga.

Victoria Martin starts her countdown of the top 20 manga of the year at Kuriousity.

David Brothers looks at some of Akira Toriyama’s storytelling flourishes in Dr. Slump.

Tony Yao asks readers to contribute their thoughts on creating a balanced “manga diet.”

Reviews

Justin on 5 Centimeters Per Second (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
J. Caleb Mozzocco on Animal Land (Every Day Is Like Wednesday)
Noah Berlatsky on vol. 1 of Biomega (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on Zenryaku, Yuri No Sono Yori (Okazu)

If you’re new to the CLAMP party, AstroNerdBoy gives a bit of background on xxxHOLiC and talks about why it’s surprising that they have just announced a new xxxHOLiC series.

Manga Bookshelf’s own MJ guests on Fandomspotting, where she and several other fans discuss the best manga you’re not reading.

Starsmaria takes a look at some one-hit wonders, shoujo manga creators who have hit it big just once with English-language readers, at Shojo Corner.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks back on a week of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Jessi Silver on vol. 2 of Backstage Prince (The Fandom Post)
Alex Hoffman on Barbara (Manga Widget)
Khursten Santos on Beck (Otaku Champloo)
Chris Kirby on vol. 22 of D.Gray-Man (The Fandom Post)
Erica Friedman on Himawari-San (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 13 of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1 and 2 of Late Advent (Manga Village)
Anna on Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (box set) (Manga Report)
Chris Kirby on vol. 3 of No Longer Human (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of One Piece (Blogcritics)
Chris Kirby on vol. 10 of Tegami Bachi (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on Uglies: Cutters (I Reads You)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Yotsuba&! (Blogcritics)

November was a big manga month, and I looked over the last two weeks’ worth of new releases at MTV Geek; Lissa Pattillo made her picks in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their picks of this week’s new releases in print and on JManga.

Erica Friedman queues up the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu, and she also has a gift guide for the yuri lover.

Tony Yao talks about why we blush, and specifically, why Naruto‘s Hinata Hyuga blushes, at Manga Therapy.

Matt Blind calculates the manga best-sellers for the week ending December 2.

Anna N is giving away a copy of the Street Fighter X Sanrio crossover book, plus a sticker book, at Manga Report.

News from Japan: Good news for CLAMP fans: The manga super-group is working on a new series, xxxHOLiC Rei, according to an announcement made at last weekend’s CLAMP Festival. The series will launch in Kodansha’s Young Magazine in February. Arina Tanemura also has a new series in the works, Neko to Watashi no Kinyōbi (The Cat’s and My Friday), which will debut in Margaret in February. Digimon Xros Wars manga-ka Yuuki Nakashima is drawing a manga series based on the Dragon Quest X Mezameshi Itsutsu no Shuzoku online game. And ANN has the Japanese best-seller lists for the year: Top 30 by series, top 50 by volume, and #50-100 by volume.

Reviews: Ash Brown has been getting manga at the library at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf bloggers give short takes on new releases in their latest Bookshelf Briefs.

Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of 13th Boy (Manga Xanadu)
Carlo Santos on vol. 22 of 20th Century Boys (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of Black Bird (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 52 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Kristin on vols. 5 and 6 of Blue Exorcist (Comic Attack)
Anna N on vol. 1 of Demon Love Spell (Manga Bookshelf)
Rebecca Silverman on Honey*Smile (ANN)
Jocelyne Allen on Usamaru Furuya’s Jisatsu Circle (Brain Vs. Book)
Eden Zacarias on vol. 2 of Kingyo Used Books (Animanga Nation)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Polterguys (Comics Worth Reading)
Rebecca Silverman on Sakuran (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 8 of The Story of Saiunkoku (ANN)
Carlo Santos on vol. 11 of Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee (ANN)
Shannon Fay on est em’s ULTRAS (Kuriousity)
L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Umineko: When They Cry (ICv2)

Your don’t-miss link of the day is CNN’s interview with Takehiko Inoue, creator of Real, Vagabond, and Slam Dunk.

Jason Thompson writes about five manga he found on JManga, and, more generally, about the JManga experience, in his latest House of 1,000 Manga column at ANN.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers look at next week’s new releases.

Connie C. kicks off her new manga column at Comics Should Be Good with a look at a couple of different genres.

Sean Gaffney has a license request: More Higurashi, please!

News from Japan: One Piece creator Eiichiro Oda talks about his long workday and admits he doesn’t get out much. The cooking manga Addicted to Curry is heading toward the final course and will end in three more chapters.

Reviews

L.B. Bryant on vol. 1 of Aron’s Absurd Armada (ICv2)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Case Closed (Blogcritics)
Bateszi on The Flowers of Evil (Bateszi’s Anime Blog)
Kristin on vol. 8 of Library Wars (Comic Attack)
Shaun A. Noordin on Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (The Star)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 00 of Omamori Himori (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Start with a Happy Ending (Comics Worth Reading)
Helen on Yumekui Merry (Narrative Investigations)

The nominees for the awards given at the international comics festival in Angouleme have been announced, and they include Thermae Romae, SOIL, and I am a Hero, which were all nominated for the Best Comic prize; Chi’s Sweet Home for the Youth Award; and 2001 Nights and Anjin San for the Heritage Award.

I have been extremely remiss in my blogging duties—I blame it on a crazy Thanksgiving weekend—because I haven’t covered this month’s Manga Moveable Feast, which was hosted by Matt Blind at Rocket Bomber and took thankfulness as its theme. Here are the links:
Call for entries
Matt’s introduction
Wednesday roundup (appetizers)
Matt’s list of manga people he is thankful for
Thursday roundup
Friday roundup
Closing remarks and final roundup

Great job, Matt!

At Okazu, Erica Friedman reports in on her trip to Japan, which included shopping for yuri in Tokyo and a visit to the Maidens Garden 7 doujinshi event.

JManga is giving away a package of Aoi Hana (Sweet Blue Flowers) merch, Ash Brown is giving away the first four volumes of Beck, and Alex Hoffman is giving away a copy of Osamu Tezuka’s Barbara; hit the links to see how you can enter.

News from Japan: I Kill Giants, the winner of this year’s International Manga Award, will be published in Ikki magazine. Seven manga creators, including Go Nagai, have sued seven companies that digitize manga; this is done for private individuals for their own use, but there is concern it leads to piracy. The Puella Magi Madoka Magica spinoff Puella Magi Kazuma Magica – The Innocent Malice is ending; the final volume will be the fifth. LaLa magazine has announced that the next story arc of Vampire Knight will be the last. ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews

Anna on vol. 1 of 07-Ghost (Manga Report)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of A Bride’s Story (Blogcritics)
Justin on chapter 8 of Cross Manage (Organization ASG)
Ken H on vol. 1 of The Flowers of Evil (Comics Should Be Good)
Connie on vol. 2 of Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 3 of Good Witch of the West (Okazu)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends (ANN)
Erica Friedman on Hirara Special Girls’ School Life Anthology Houkago! (Okazu)
Joe on Interview with the Vampire: Claudia’s Story (Forbidden Planet)
Erica Friedman on Itazura Choucho (Okazu)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 1 of Loveless (omnibus edition)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Neon Genesis Evangelion (3-in-1 edition) (I Reads You)
Connie on No One Loves Me (Slightly Biased Manga)
Tony Yao on Onepunch-Man (Manga Therapy)
Erica Friedman on Renai Joshi File (Okazu)
Connie on vol. 8 of Tenjho Tenge (omnibus edition) (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Umineko When They Cry (ANN)

I talked to Viz executive vice president Alvin Lu and the head of Viz Labs, Gagan Singh, at New York Comic Con, and a lot of what they said is particularly relevant this week, as the news came out that Shonen Jump Alpha will go to simultaneous releases with Japan.

Kevin Hamric, director of publishing sales and marketing for Viz, talks about what’s hot and what’s coming in 2013; the Nausicaa box set has sold out, the simultaneous release of vol. 13 of Neon Genesis Evangelion in Japan and the U.S. was a success, and more Pokemon manga are on the way. Overall, Hamric expects the distribution of manga across the different imprints to stay about the same, but they are looking at doing more omnibuses and collecting stories that are serialized in Shonen Jump Alpha, such as Barrage.

News from Japan: 2001 Nights manga-ka Yukinobu Hoshino has begun a manga adaptation of J.P. Hogan’s science fiction novel Thrice Upon a Time.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks at the past week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of 07-Ghost (I Reads You)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 16 of Bakuman (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Blogcritics)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Clair Voyance (Manga Xanadu)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 1 of The Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel (The Fandom Post)
Manjiorin on vol. 3 of Itazura Na Kiss (Organization ASG)
Svetlana Fedotov on vol. 13 of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Fangoria)
Laura on vol. 8 of Library Wars (Heart of Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Loveless (2 in 1 edition) (I Reads You)
Drew McCabe on vols. 64 and 65 of One Piece (Comic Attack)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Pokemon Black and White (Blogcritics)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Thermae Romae (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Trigun Maximum (omnibus edition) (Blogcritics)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Vampire Knight (Blogcritics)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 15 of We Were There (The Fandom Post)
Chris Beveridge on With a Dictionary and No Skirt (The Fandom Post)

The big news of the week is something we all knew would happen—Alvin Lu foreshadowed it at NYCC—but now it has come to pass: Shonen Jump Alpha will be eliminating the two-week lag and going to simultaneous release with Japan for all their weekly series, including Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece. And there’s a new series, Nisekoi, debuting this week; you can read chapter 1 for free on the Vizmanga.com site or on their apps.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it’s time for some serious shopping; check out my manga lover’s gift guide at MTV Geek and our group gift guide at Good Comics for Kids.

Jason Thompson takes a long, loving look at Moto Hagio’s Heart of Thomas in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Also at ANN, Brian Hanson takes on a couple of manga-related questions in his Hey Answerman column: The debate over honorifics and what software real manga creators use (with some help from Deb Aoki).

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Picks of the Week, and they check out some digital offerings, including the new JManga7 website, in their latest Going Digital column. And there’s more: They look at this week’s JManga releases, MJ and Michelle Smith converse about some recent releases in Off the Shelf, Travis Anderson has a license request, and Matt Blind calculates the manga best-sellers for the week ending November 25 and looks at some rising stars in his Manga Radar feature. And hey, if you want to join in the action, check out the Manga Bookshelf Forum!

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team kicks off the week with a quick set of Bookshelf Briefs. Anna checks out some romance manga from JManga at Manga Report.

John Rose on vol. 11 of Black Butler (The Fandom Post)
John Rose on vol. 3 of Blood Blockade Battlefront (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 7 of Bunny Drop (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Matthew Warner on vol. 5 of Dawn of the Arcana (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Warner on vol. 4 of A Devil and Her Love Song (The Fandom Post)
John Rose on vol. 2 of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Warner on vol. 23 of Excel Saga (The Fandom Post)
Carlo Santos on vol. 3 of The Flowers of Evil (ANN)
Anna on vols. 1-4 of Give My Regards to Black Jack (Manga Report)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 1 of Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Johanna Draper Carlson on The Heart of Thomas (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of The Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lissa Pattillo on The Innocent (Kuriousity)
Jocelyne Allen on Kuslar, by est em (Brain Vs. Book)
Matthew Warner on vol. 8 of Library Wars (The Fandom Post)
Katherine Hanson on vol. 1 of Paros no Ken (Yuri no Boke)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 8 of Sailor Moon (Kuriousity)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
John Rose on vol. 9 of Tenjho Tenge (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Thermae Romae (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Umineko When They Cry (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

The Manga Bookshelf team, myself included, discuss our picks of the week—and it’s a tough choice, because this is a very good week!

Noah Berlatsky gathers up a Twitter conversation with Jason Thompson about Junji Ito’s Tomie stories.

Good news for fans of The Dreaming creator Queenie Chan: Her newest book, Small Shen, is out, although only in Australia at the moment.

Blogging about blogging: Anna Neatrour’s Manga Report joins us here at Manga Bookshelf.

News from Japan: Tenjho Tenge creator Oh Great is collaborating with novelist Ōtarō Maijō on a new series, Biorg Trinity, to launch in the January issue of Ultra Jump. Manga-ka Mimei Sakamoto went on a well-publicized rant after being annoyed by a crying baby on a recent flight. Dengeki Daioh Genesis magazine has ceased publication.

Reviews: Carlo Santos looks at a couple of new series, and a few older ones, in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. The Manga Bookshelf team checks out Blue Exorcist, Pandora Hearts, and more in their latest Bookshelf Briefs column. Ash Brown looks back on a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Katherine Hanson on Concerto (Yuri no Boke)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 8 of Cross Game (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kristin on vols. 10 and 11 of Kamisama Kiss (Comic Attack)
Noah Berlatsky on Natsume’s Book of Friends (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Soulless (Comics Worth Reading)
Anna on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Manga Report)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Manga Xanadu)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Manga Widget)
Manjiorin on vol. 1 of Trigun Maximum (omnibus edition) (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 3-4 of Young Miss Holmes Casebook (omnibus edition) (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3-4 of Young Miss Holmes Casebook (omnibus edition) (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Yoko Tanigaki of Digital Manga answered a few of my questions about Digital’s print hiatus at Robot 6.

I looked at the most recent manga releases at MTV Geek, and the Manga Village team discussed their picks as well.

At Manga Bookshelf, Matt Blind pulls together the list of the past week’s manga best-sellers.

Sequential Tart’s Margaret O’Connell has a nice writeup of the Moyoco Anno panel at NYCC (part 1, part 2).

Check out part 2 of Nancy Thistlethwaite’s interview with Ai Ore creator Mayu Shinjo at the Shojo Beat Facebook page.

Starsamaria discusses the flow of time in shoujo manga at Shojo Corner.

MJ and Michelle Smith discuss the best of 2012 in their latest BL Bookrack column at Manga Bookshelf.

At Manga Therapy, Tony Yao discusses the significance of gold versus silver in Gin Tama.

News from Japan: A one-shot by JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga-ka Hirohiko Araki will appear in the February issue of the women’s magazine Spur. Saiyuki Ibun is back in Zero-Sum Ward after a 28-month hiatus due to creator Kazuya Minekura’s surgery. The Ishinomori Mangattan Museum, which honors Cyborg 009 creator Shotaro Ishinomori, reopened this past weekend after being closed since March 2011 due to earthquake damage.
Reviews

Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz (Kuriousity)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Angelic Layer (Blogcritics)
Matt on vol. 6 of Animal Land (Matt Talks About Manga)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 2 of Awkward Silence (Sequential Tart)
Ash Brown on vol. 15 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Sheena McNeil on vols. 1 and 2 of Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love (Sequential Tart)
Katherine Hanson on Butterfly 69 (Yuri no Boke)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 3-6 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 24 of Excel Saga (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Jocelyne Allen on Genesis (Brain Vs. Book)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Girl Friends (ANN)
J. Caleb Mozzocco on vol. 1 of Highschool of the Dead (Every Day Is Like Wednesday)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 9 of Loveless (Kuriousity)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 4 of March Story (Sequential Tart)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Missions of Love (Comics Worth Reading)
Michael Buntag on Ninja Girl Ko! Indie Special #1-2 and vol. 15 of Video Girl Ai (NonSensical Words)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 63-65 of One Piece (ANN)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 65 of One Piece (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Laura on vol. 1 of Paradise Kiss (Heart of Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Pokemon Adventures Diamond and Pearl Platinum (Blogcritics)
Angela Eastman on Pokemon The Movie: White: Victini and Zekrom (The Fandom Post)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1 and 2 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Manga Village)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 2 of Punch Up! (Sequential Tart)
Leroy Doureseaux on vol. 10 of Rin-ne (The Comic Book Bin)
Carlo Santos on vol. 10 of Rosario + Vampire, Season II (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 3 of Wandering Son (ANN)

I looked a bit deeper into Digital Manga’s announcement to suspend print publication for six months at Robot 6, and Alex Hoffman has some thoughts at Manga Widget as well.

Here’s a treat to kick off the weekend: Shaenon Garrity counts down five badass shoujo manga as guest contributor to the House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Tony Yao has an interesting piece up this morning with data from a recent article in The Nikkei Shimbun about the gender balance of Shonen Jump readers and what that means to the contents of the magazine. Good stuff!

The Manga Bookshelf team take a critical look at next week’s new releases in print and at JManga.

The next Manga Moveable Feast is a Thanksgiving dinner, and host Matt Blind issues the call for contributions.

Reviews

Kristin on vol. 2 of Jiu Jiu (Comic Attack)
David Gromer on vols. 3 and 4 of Maximum Ride (Graphic Novel Reporter)
David Gromer on vols. 1 and 2 of Negima (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 13 of Neon Genesis Evangelion (The Comic Book Bin)
David Gromer on vol. 3 of No Longer Human (Graphic Novel Reporter)
David Gromer on vol. 7 of Omamori Himori (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of One Piece (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Rosario + Vampire, Season II (The Comic Book Bin)
David Gromer on vol. 1 of Soulless (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Kuriousity)

Here’s a startling bit of news: Digital Manga, Inc., has put all their print titles on hiatus for six months, from January through June 2013. In a message on the company blog, Digital president Hikaru Sasahara said, “Please be advised that none of our licenses are cancelled, simply postponed. We will be resuming the distribution of our print editions in June, 2013.” The move affects all Digital imprints, including June, 801, and DokiDoki, but not the two Tezuka books ; behind the scenes, the company has been revamping its emanga digital manga site.

The latest addition to the Shonen Jump Alpha lineup is the romantic comedy Nisekoi, by Naoshi Komi, who is best known for his Double Arts manga.

Lissa Pattillo looks at this week’s new manga releases in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

Where’s Deb Aoki? She’s in Tokyo, at the International Comics Festa, where a group of Canadians has put together their own doujinshi anthology. She’s taking pictures and chronicling her adventures on Twitter, so if you don’t follow her already, now would be a good time to start.

Reviews

Rebecca Silverman on vols. 9 and 10 of Oresama Teacher (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 44 of Case Closed (ANN)
Ken H on vol. 1 of Heroman (Comics Should Be Good)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 59 of Naruto (The Comic Book Bin)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of Pupa (Manga Widget)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Rin-ne (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 8 of Sailor Moon (Blogcritics)
Anna on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Manga Report)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Rebecca Silverman on Wolf (ANN)

If you’re curious to know what I really think about comics, manga, comics shops, and other stuff, as well as what it was like to be an Eisner judge (in a word: Awesome!), check out Carrie Shepherd’s interview with me at Girls + Comics.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week.

Noah Berlatsky looks at the role of women in ero and horror manga such as the works of Junji Ito and relates it to their role in society at the time these manga were being created.

Matt Blind looks at the top-selling manga from the past week.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team kick off the week with a new set of Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown discusses a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 14-16 of Bakuman (Comics Worth Reading)
Lori Henderson on vols. 33 and 34 of Bleach (Manga Xanadu)
Phillip on vol. 2 of A Bride’s Story (Eeeper’s Choice)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 6 and 7 of Bunny Drop (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Missions of Love (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Anna on Not for a Student and Hush A Bye Baby (Manga Report)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Comic Attack)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of We Were There (The Comic Book Bin)

I picked the best of the past week’s new releases at MTV Geek, Lissa Pattillo gives her take in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA, and the Manga Village team did the same back at their place. Meanwhile, the Manga Bookshelf bloggers look forward to this week’s new manga releases in print and at JManga.

The finalists have been chosen for the JManga Translation Battle, and now it’s up to you: Go check it out and vote for your favorites!

Also, if you have been holding off on downloading the Viz manga app on your iThing, Android device, or Kindle Fire, now’s the time to do it: Viz is giving away a free volume 1 to anyone who downloads the app for the first time before November 20.

Jason Thompson writes about one of my favorite manga, the sadly unfinished (in translation) josei series Suppli, in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

The Manga Bookshelf team discuss what they are looking forward to among next week’s new manga releases, and MJ and Michelle Smith discuss Aaron’s Absurd Armada, Stepping on Roses, and Crazy for You in their latest Off the Shelf column.

An unpublished manga story drawn by Osamu Tezuka as a teenager has surfaced in Tokyo and has been purchased by Tezuka Productions for possible future release.

MJ believes in miracles: She looks at three sadly unfinished manga series that are coming back to life. Also: MJinvites fans to share their fannish highlights of 2012.

Justin Stroman has an interesting guest feature on 10 things you should know about manga at Manga Bookshelf. And one more guest post at MB: An introduction to Korean webcomics.

At Heart of Manga, Laura is clearing off her shelves and giving away some manga.

News from Japan: I’m way behind, so let’s catch up on the highlights: Otomen manga-ka Aya Kanno has a new series in the works, Makoto no Kuni, starting in the April issue of Bessatsu Hana to Yume. Reborn is coming to an end. The last volume of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan will include an anime DVD, and the three-chapter sequel that is currently running in Shonen Jump Next! will eventually be made available in English. Rideback manga-ka Tetsuro Kasahara will draw a new Full Metal Panic 0 manga, and Full Metal Panic! Sigma is coming to an end. Go Nagai has drawn a one-shot manga that crosses over his Dororon Enma-Kun with Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo.

Reviews: Carlo Santos tells us what he thinks of some recent releases in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Manga reviews are back at About Heroes, where Melanie takes a look at some recent releases.

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Hearts (Blogcritics)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of Angelic Layer (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 14 of Bakuman (Slightly Biased Manga)
Carlo Santos on vol. 15 of Bakuman (ANN)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 16 of Bakuman (Kuriousity)
Chris Kirby on vol. 14 of Bamboo Blade (The Fandom Post)
Victoria K. Martin on vol. 14 of Bamboo Blade (Kuriousity)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 51 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 2 of A Bride’s Story (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on the November issue of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Sean Kleefeld on Death Note (Kleefeld on Comics)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 3 and 4 of A Devil and Her Love Song (ANN)
Jocelyne Allen on Dokyusei (Brain Vs. Book)
Carlo Santos on vol. 7 of Dorohedoro (ANN)
Kylee Strutt on vols. 1 and 2 of Durarara!!! (Animanga Nation)
Matthew Warner on vol. 2 of The Flowers of Evil (The Fandom Post)
Carlo Santos on vol. 7 of House of Five Leaves (ANN)
Connie on vol. 7 of House of Five Leaves (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of In These Words (Slightly Biased Manga)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 6 of Jack Frost (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Kamisama Kiss (The Comic Book Bin)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 20 of Kaze Hikaru (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of The Limit (ANN)
Connie on vol. 5 of Lone Wolf and Cub (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 36 of Negima (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on vol. 13 of Neon Genesis Evangelion (Slightly Biased Manga)
Matthew Warner on vol. 64 of One Piece (The Fandom Post)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 7 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (ANN)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 11 of Pandora Hearts (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Pokemon: Black and White (Blogcritics)
Erica Friedman on vol. 4 of Poor, Poor Lips (Okazu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Psyren (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 1 of Punch Up! (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 10 of Rakuen Le Paradis (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 8 of Sailor Moon (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on Same Difference (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vol. 2 of Sasameke (Manga Village)
Connie on vol. 3 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 29 of Skip Beat! (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Start with a Happy Ending (ANN)
Kristin on vol. 8 of The Story of Saiunkoku (Comic Attack)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Comics-and-More)
Katherine Hanson on Tears of Thorn (Yuri no Boke)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Tegami Bachi (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of Vampire Knight (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Wandering Son (Blogcritics)
Ash Brown on Yokai Attack! The Japanese Monster Survival Guide (Experiments in Manga)

Just a few highlights today—I worked a 14-hour day yesterday, and even though I didn’t have to stay up all night to watch the returns, I’m beat! More comprehensive coverage will be coming tomorrow. Thank you to all of you who voted. And one more public service announcement, because I talked to a lot of people in this situation yesterday: If you are not properly registered to vote—if you never have registered, or if you have moved since the last time you registered, take care of that today! Don’t wait until next election day.

Okay, I’m done. Here’s some manga news:

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses their Pick of the Week—and a pretty awesome week it is!

Laura’s latest shoujo manga license request at Heart of Manga is Suki-tte li na yo.

It’s a sad day in the manga blogosphere: Kate Dacey is shutting down The Manga Critic, mainly because of some interesting new (non-manga) opportunities that have cropped up. I’ll miss her smart reviews and commentary, but she plans to contribute occasional columns to Manga Bookshelf and she knows the doors of this blog are always open to her as well.

Reviews: Ash Brown looks at a week of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf team presents us with more short takes on recent releases in their latest Bookshelf Briefs column.

Lori Henderson on Angel Heart (Manga Xanadu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 50 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Russ Parsons on The Drops of God (The LA Times)
Anna on vol. 15 of Kimi ni Todoke, vol. 11 of Oresama Teacher, and vol. 15 of We Were There (Manga Report)

It’s Election Day. Get out and vote! Everything you need to know—polling places, hours, and a sample ballot—can be found at the excellent site Vote411.org, which is run by the nonpartisan League of Women Voters.

I have written about this before, so please forgive the repetition, but I’m a strong believer in exercising your right to vote at every possible opportunity because of my own experiences. Back in 2000, when I was a newspaper reporter for the Melrose Free Press, I covered a mayoral election that was won by a single vote. That’s right: On election night, the winner had a margin of one vote (it opened up to ten on the recount). From this I drew three lessons:

1. Vote, dammit! This election is going to be close in many districts. Your vote matters.

2. If your vote is challenged, insist on voting using a provisional ballot. In the election I covered, the provisional ballots were opened on the recount and several were counted.

3. Once the election is over, move on. That single vote that decided the election? It wasn’t mine. I didn’t vote for the winner, which is a little embarrassing to admit, now that I work for him. The fact is, he turned out to be a far better mayor than I would have guessed from watching him as an alderman and a candidate. Fortunately, people on both sides dropped their animosity fairly quickly and started working together. That’s what we all need to do on Wednesday.

That’s it. Go, vote. Regularly scheduled programming will return tomorrow.