MangaBlog

Robert McGuire explains GEN Manga to ICv2 and reveals that they will be publishing 9 to 12 tankoubon next year, three times as many as this year.

Viz published vol. 13 of Neon Genesis Evangelion on Friday, digitally and in print, as part of a worldwide simultaneous release. I talked to Viz VP Leyla Aker about why that’s important—and why manga publishers are working hard to eliminate the gap between Japanese and English-language publication.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses this week’s new manga releases. Lissa Pattillo goes over the past week’s rather sparse list of new manga releases in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

Digital posts a short interview with Miki Araya, creator of Secretary’s Job.

MJ looks at manga lovers who share the joy via Pinterest and Tumblr.

Starsamaria takes a look at power and gender in Kamisama Kiss at Shojo Corner.

Fantagraphics posts a first look at their edition of Heart of Thomas, translated by Matt Thorn; there’s a link to a preview as well.

News from Japan: Expect some turnover at Shonen Jump, which announced three new series this week: Yūki Tabata’s Hungry Joker, a science/action series; Masahiro Hirakata’s Shinmai Fukei Kiruko-san, a comedy; and Shun Saeki and Yūto Tsukuda’s Shokugeki no Sōma, a cooking manga.

Reviews

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of Afterschool Charisma (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vols. 14 and 15 of Bakuman (The Comic Book Bin)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Bond of Dreams, Bonds of Love (Experiments in Manga)
Phillip Anthony on vol. 2 of Codename Sailor V (Manga Bookshelf)
Ken Haley on Godzilla (Sequential Ink)
Kate Haddock on Kamisama Kiss (The Collegian)
Victoria Martin on vol. 10 of Soul Eater (Kuriousity)

At CBR I wrote a roundup of the manga scene at NYCC, which really includes a lot of more general trends, plus some cool announcements.

At Heart of Manga, Laura looks forward to the shoujo manga that will debut this month.

MJ picks her three favorite manga monsters at Manga Bookshelf. MJalso invites possible Manga Bookshelf contributors to send in their pitches for columns, and she wants to know what you think about the front page of the site.

Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo appeared at CalArts recently, his first North American appearance in 15 years; the conversation was mostly about anime and film but did touch on his manga work as well.

Here’s a fascinating look at the Mumbai Anime Club, where things are different and yet the same as over here.

Ash Brown is giving away a pretty cool prize: The first seven issues of the first translation of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, which includes a poster by Moebius.

News from Japan: Volumes 31 and 32 of Hunter x Hunter, which runs in Shonen Jump but is on hiatus, will both be out in December.

Reviews: Be sure to check out Bruce P’s review of the lesbian-free Lesbian III: Bloodsucking Women at Okazu. Other reviews of note:

Alexander Hoffman on vol. 1 of Attack on Titan (Manga Village)
Sarah Sammis on vol. 1 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Puss Reboots)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Gakuen Alice (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Jiu Jiu (The Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Kamisama Kiss (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Limit (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 7 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (The Fandom Post)
Brigid Alverson on vol. 1 of Polterguys (MTV Geek)
Matthew Warner on vol. 6 of Psyren (The Fandom Post)
Kristin on vol. 24 of Slam Dunk (Comic Attack)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Yokai Doctor (Manga Xanadu)

Hurricane Sandy messed up my week a bit, but I’m thankful that it seems to have moved on. We had some high winds that shook the house, but the worst of it seems to have passed and (knock on wood) we have emerged unscathed. So here’s what’s going on in the mangasphere tonight.

New York Comic Con was awesome on many levels, but I think the high point of the experience was getting to interview Moyoco Anno, the creator of Sakuran, Sugar Sugar Rune, and the lamentably unlicensed Hataraki Man. Be sure to read the interview all the way to the end—she threw me a curve ball just as the interview was ending. I had the privilege of interviewing Yoshitaka Amano as well, for CBR—and watch for some more manga-ka interviews in the next few weeks.

Todd Ciolek of ANN got to interview Yoshitaka Amano as well.

At Kuriousity, Lissa Pattillo rounds up the YaoiCon announcements from Digital and SuBLime.

Jason Thompson continues his tour through the manga backlist with a look at Red-Colored Elegy in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

The Manga Bookshelf team goes with a horror theme for this week’s Pick of the Week, and they also kick off a new roundtable, JManga The Week of 11/1. Plus: MJ and Michelle Smith chat about the latest BL releases in their BL Bookrack column and discuss Chika Shiomi’s vampire manga Canon at Soliloquy in Blue.

Matt Blind calculates the manga best-sellers for the week ending October 28.

Erica Friedman brings us up to date with the latest edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

JManga has added Peacemaker Kurogane and The Art of War to its lineup.

Tony Yao looks at the “emotional vampires” of Gantz at Manga Therapy.

Adam Stephanides picks up on a small but telling detail in Flowers of Evil.

News from Japan: Chiho Saito, the creator of Revolutionary Girl Utena, will launch a new series about the thief Arsène Lupin in the first issue of Shogakukan’s new magazine Zōkan Flowers. Fushigi Yûgi: Genbu Kaiden is drawing to a close, with just two more chapters left to go. Blood-C manga-ka Ranmaru Kotone is working on a manga adaptation of the Red Data Girl light novels. Chaco Abeno, the creator of sola, also has a new series in the works, Angel + Blood, running in Kadokawa Shoten’s Asuka.

Reviews: Ash Brown checks in with another week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Jocelyne Allen on Bokura no Hentai (Brain Vs. Book)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Candy (Okazu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 44 of Case Closed (The Comic Book Bin)
Lori Henderson on Chibi Vampire: Airmail and Chibi Vampire: Bites (Manga Xanadu)
Kristin on vol. 5 of Dawn of the Arcana (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 2 of The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-Chan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Laura on Dracula Everlasting (Heart of Manga)
Lori Henderson on vol. 2 of Dracula Everlasting (Manga Xanadu)
Connie on Dry Heat (Slightly Biased Manga)
Anna on vol. 2 of Jiu Jiu (Manga Report)
Connie on vol. 6 of Kobato (Slightly Biased Manga)
Erica Friedman on Koi no Kaori (Okazu)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of March Story (The Comic Book Bin)
Sakura Eries on vol. 1 of Message to Adolf (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 7 of Psyren (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vols. 34 and 35 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Anna on vols. 1-3 of Record of a Fallen Vampire (Manga Report)
Connie on vol. 8 of Sakura Hime (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of School Rumble (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Connie on vol. 1 of Short Program (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 29 of Skip Beat! (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of The Story of Saiunkoku (The Comic Book Bin)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (ANN)
Connie on vol. 10 of Toriko (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 2 of Totally Captivated: Totally Peeking Under the Sheets (Slightly Biased Manga)
Matthew Warner on vol. 7 of Ultimo (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 18 of xxxHoLiC (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s (The Comic Book Bin)

Apricotsushi posts the first roundup of the vampire-themed Manga Moveable Feast at ChicPixel.

The folks at DMP interviewed Yaoi-Con guest Uki Ogasawara, the creator of Black Sun.

When the Kindle launches today in Japan, there will be plenty for manga fans to read; the Kindle Store will contain 15,000 manga.

Tim and Kumar discuss Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream and Other Stories in the latest Deconstructing Comics podcast.

Manga is not a purely Japanese phenomenon, said manga critic Fusanosuke Natsume at a lecture a few weeks ago: “Manga and anime are global phenomena that have both provided and received influence as they developed. They cannot be understood by only following their history in Japan.”

Manga-ka Leiji Matsumoto (Galaxy Express 999, Space Pirate Captain Harlock) has received a knighthood from the French government; Matsumoto is now a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Erica Friedman takes a look at the Japanese children’s manga magazine Ne-Ne.

Reviews

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 50 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of A Bride’s Story (Blogcritics)
David Gromer on vol. 8 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Graphic Novel Reporter)
David Gromer on vol. 12 of Cirque du Freak (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Sam Kusek on Doing Time (Spandexless)
David Gromer on vol. 2 of Durarara!! (Graphic Novel Reporter)
A Day Without Me on Flutter (Gar Gar Stegosaurus)
David Gromer on vol. 6 of Highschool of the Dead (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Steve Bennett on vol. 1 of The Limit (ICv2)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1 and 2 of Moon and Blood (Good Comics for Kids)
Erica Friedman on Salomelic (Okazu)
A Day Without Me on vol. 1 of Sand Chronicles (Gar Gar Stegosaurus)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Vampire Hunter D (Experiments in Manga)

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber gives a quick rundown of the manga she got at Yaoi-Con.

Yen Press editor JuYoun Lee writes a bit about the process of acquiring and publishing Thermae Romae.

Matt Blind calculates the latest batch of manga best-sellers, for the week ending October 21.

News from Japan: A previously unpublished chapter of Cyborg 009 has been found, according to Ishimori Productions; the chapter was completed and colored 42 years ago but for some reason never made it to print. It will be included in the third volume of Fukkan.com’s edition of the series. Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa thanked her fans for their support of her series Silver Spoon by drawing them a picture on video.

Reviews: Carlo Santos has some things to say about some recent manga in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Ash Brown looks back at the past week in manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of Bakuman (The Comic Book Bin)
Shannon Fay on vol. 4 of The Betrayal Knows My Name (Kuriousity)
Matthew Warner on vols. 46 and vol. 47 of Bleach (The Fandom Post)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-3 of Blood Alone (Manga Xanadu)
Laura on vol. 1 of Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries (Heart of Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vols. 1 and 2 of Loveless (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 12 of Toriko (ANN)

This month’s Manga Moveable Feast has a vampire theme, which is appropriate to the season. Apricotsushi is hosting at Chic Pixel; here’s the opening post and the archive page.

The Manga Bookshelf team chooses their pick of the week—and it’s unanimous. (I didn’t have time to contribute to this week’s column, but if I had, I’d be in agreement with everyone else.)

Also at Manga Bookshelf, MJ and Michelle Smith discuss King of RPGs, Pride, and a handful of other manga in their Off the Shelf column and Matt Blind lists the manga best-sellers (online sales) for the week ending October 14.

Jocelyne Allen writes about the work of Machiko Kyo (Erotics f), whose work is so far available only in Japanese.

News from Japan: Fujihiko Hosono, the creator of Gallery Fake, is bringing the series back to Big Comic Spirit for a special episode set in the Tohoku region. Hosono and seven other manga-ka will draw new manga featuring their signature characters and donate the royalties toward the rebuilding effort in Tohoku, which was hit hard by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team queues up some short manga reviews in their latest Bookshelf Briefs column.

Matthew Warner on vol. 44 of Bleach (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Girl Friends: The Complete Collection (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 15 of GTO: The Early Years (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Anna on vol. 1 of Limit and vol. 1 of Paradise Kiss (Manga Report)
Kate Dacey on Mail (The Manga Critic)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 33 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Ken Haley on Skullman (Sequential Ink)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 24 of Slam Dunk (The Comic Book Bin)
Anna on vol. 1 of Summit of the Gods (Experiments in Manga)
Drew McCabe on vol. 12 of Toriko (Comic Attack)
Lori Henderson on vols. 12 and 14 of Vampire Knight (Manga Village)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Wandering Son (Blogcritics)

I’m still writing up my backlog of New York Comic Con stories—watch for some great manga posts next week—but in the meantime my Manga Bookshelf colleague (and con roommate) MJ has a great video roundup of the manga scene at NYCC, and Sean Gaffney has detailed reports for day 1, day 2, and day 3. At The Manga Critic, Kate Dacey opens a discussion on the best licensing news from NYCC. Lori Henderson posts her take on the NYCC news at Manga Xanadu. Tony Yao files a brief con report, with pictures, at Manga Therapy. And Linda from Anime Diet attended the Viz meetup at Kinokuniya and scored an interview with Nagumo, the creator of Let’s Eat Ramen (published by GEN Manga).

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

Lissa also rounds up the new titles announced at YaoiCon.

Erica Friedman brings us up to date with her latest Yuri Network News post at Okazu.

Sean Gaffney looks ahead to next week’s new manga. The Manga Village folks make their picks from last week’s new titles.

Jason Thompson looks at the work of Junko Mizuno in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Same Hat is back! After a hiatus of almost a year, Ryan is back with all sorts of interesting horror, underground, and early manga. I won’t even try to summarize it; just click and enjoy.

Matt Blind calculates the manga best-sellers (online sales) for the week ending October 7.

A Japanese doctor debunks the common manga trope that arousal causes bloody noses. Also: Aoba doesn’t throw like a girl, says Swedish researcher Ylva Sommerland, who has done a study on tomboys in manga.

The Daily Yomiuri has some bits of interesting news about anime and manga outside of Japan; one is about an Indian version of the Kyojin no Hoshi anime, and the other is about manga publication in China, where Kodansha, Kadokawa, and Tezuka Productions have all set up shop or partnered with local publishers because of restrictions on imported manga.

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

Milo on Black Joke (Blog of the North Star)
Kristin on vols. 46 and 47 of Bleach (Comic Attack)
J. Caleb Mozzocco on vols. 1-2 of Blue Exorcist, Dance in the Vampire Bund, Soul Eater, and Witch Hunter (Robot 6)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Crazy for You (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 20 of Fairy Tail (ANN)
Lori Henderson on Ju-On: Video Side (Manga Xanadu)
Kristin on vol. 4 of March Story (Comic Attack)
John Rose on vol. 58 of Naruto (The Fandom Post)
Zenestex on vol. 1 of Oreimo (Geeks of Doom)
Anna on vols. 1 and 2 of Pride (Experiments in Manga)
Erica Friedman on vol. 9 of Rakuen le Paradis (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vols. 31 and 32 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Sailor Moon (Blogcritics)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 5-7 of Sailor Moon (ANN)

Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of posting! I have been away for the past few days at New York Comic Con, and I’ll be writing up my experiences shortly. In the meantime, I recommend ANN’s writeups of the manga and anime panels, as well as Sean Gaffney’s insightful coverage at A Case Suitable for Treatment. And at Manic About Manga, Kris has a roundup of the new license announcements from Yaoi-Con, which was going on at the same time.

Here’s a bit of NYCC news that may not have made it to the major outlets: The digital comics service comiXology has struck a deal to carry all the manga of Shotaro Ishinomori. Launch titles include the first two volumes of Cyborg 009 and the first two volumes of Kikaider.

The last episode of the Manga Out Loud podcast assembles an all-star cast of Frederick Schodt, Helen McCarthy, and Ada Palmer to join Ed Sizemore and Johanna Draper Carlson in a discussion of Osamu Tezuka’s Barbara, which was recently released by Digital Manga.

Lissa Pattillo comments on the past week’s new manga releases in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney looks forward to this week’s new manga at A Case Suitable for Treatment.

Laura celebrates National Sports Day with a look at sports in shoujo manga.

Reviews: Ash Brown reflects on the past week’s reading at Experiments in Manga.

Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 21 and 22 of 20th Century Boys (Comics Worth Reading)
Connie on vol. 22 of 20th Century Boys (Slightly Biased Manga)
Anna on Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz (Manga Report)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Angelic Layer (Blogcritics)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 13 of Bakuman (Comics Worth Reading)
Connie on vol. 13 of Black Bird (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ash Brown on vol. 14 of Blade of the Immortal (Experiments in Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vols. 48 and 49 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Philip on vol. 1 of A Bride’s Story (Eeeper’s Choice Podcast)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 44 of Case Closed (The Fandom Post)
Kate Dacey on chapters 1 and 2 of Cross Manage (The Manga Critic)
Kristin on vol. 4 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Comic Attack)
Jessi Silver on vol. 2 of The Earl and the Fairy (The Fandom Post)
Connie on Five Centimeters Per Second (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on Flutter (Slightly Biased Manga)
Victoria Martin on vol. 10 of Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden (Kuriousity)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Golondrina (Okazu)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 20 of Hayate the Combat Butler (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of The House of Five Leaves (The Comic Book Bin)
Jocelyne Allen on Human Scramble (Brain Vs. Book)
Chris Beveridge on vol. 1 of The Limit (The Fandom Post)
Connie on Manga (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 11 of Nabari No Ou (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 11 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 52 of One Piece (Slightly Biased Manga)
Serdar Yegulalp on vol. 1 of Paradise Kiss (Genji Press)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 30 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 5 of Sailor Moon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Totally Captivated (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 12 of Twin Spica (Blogcritics)
Lori Henderson on Wonderful Life with the Elements (Manga Xanadu)

With New York Comic Con just around the corner, we are seeing a flurry of announcements from publishers about licenses and digital deals. JManga announced on Friday that they are adding Kodansha manga to their digital service, and so far that seems to mean the series that were previously published by Del Rey and not picked up by Kodansha Comics, the U.S. arm of Kodansha. The series up there right now include School Rumble, Code:Breaker, Pumpkin Scissors, Princess Resurrection, Pastel, and The Yagyu Ninja Scrolls. ANN went to JManga and asked the obvious question: Yes, they will be publishing the volumes that weren’t released in English as well.

And Seven Seas announced three new licenses: The Sacred Blacksmith, a sword-and-sorcery fantasy; Kanokon, a harem comedy; and Zero’s Familiar, a fantasy romantic comedy.

Here’s my roundup of the past week’s new manga releases at MTV Geek. Sean Gaffney looks ahead to this week’s new releases at A Case Suitable for Treatment.

Sean also posts a handy guide for readers who want to see more manga being licensed—he lists which publishers are most likely to publish which manga.

Jason Thompson looks at Moyoco Anno’s Flowers and Bees in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Erica Friedman has a big announcement in this week’s edition of Yuri Network News: ALC has published Rica Takashima’s Tokyo Love ~ Rica ‘tte Kanji!?, and it’s available to read for free online.

Volume 7 of Sailor Moon and vol. 58 of Naruto were the top two graphic novels in the bookstore market last month, according to BookScan. Vol. 11 of Yotsuba&! took the number six slot in the chart, and vol. 2 of Alice in the Country of Clover was number nine. That’s in the brick-and-mortar world; at Manga Bookshelf, Matt Blind calculates the top-selling manga via online sales for the week ending September 30.

Fantagraphics has posted a 23-page preview of Heart of Thomas.

News from Japan: AstroNerdBoy catches up with the latest chatter on Ken Akamatsu. GTO creator Tohru Fujisawa is one of the minds behind a webcomic adaptation of the tokusatsu show Space Sheriff Gavan, which will debut a few days before the live-action movie. The first episode of a new series by Kaiji Kawaguchi, the creator of Eagle and Zipang, will appear in the first 2013 issue of Kodansha’s Morning (available December 6). The goddess Athena will go to middle school in Chū-2-Shin Attēna, a gag manga by Kōji Ōishi that will run for three episodes in Young Jump. Champion RED magazine will run the epilogue to Shin Mazinger Zero in their January issue.

Reviews

Rebecca Silverman on vols. 5 and 6 of Ai Ore! (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz (ANN)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Angelic Layer (Blogcritics)
Dan Polley on vol. 1 of Ballad of a Shinagami (Manga Village)
Kristin on vols. 44 and 45 of Bleach (Comic Attack)
Michael Buntag on vol. 7 of Black Lagoon (NonSensical Words)
Theron Martin on vol. 20 of Claymore (ANN)
Drew McCabe on chapter 1 of Cross Manage (Comic Attack)
Jessi Silver on vol. 2 of Dr. Slumpp (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden (The Comic Book Bin)
Kate Dacey on vols. 1 and 2 of Give My Regards to Black Jack (The Manga Critic)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 17 of Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time (ANN)
Shannon Fay on vol. 7 of Highschool of the Dead (Kuriousity)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries (ANN)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Message to Adolf (Experiments in Manga)
Carlo Santos on vol. 10 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (ANN)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Oh My Goddess (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 64 of One Piece (The Comic Book Bin)
Chris Beveridge on vol. 1 of Paradise Kiss (The Fandom Post)
Clare Stewart on vol. 1 of Paradise Kiss (Forbidden Planet)
Greg McElhatton on vol. 1 of Polterguys (Read About Comics)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 29 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Philip Anthony on vol. 6 of Sailor Moon (Manga Bookshelf)
Laura on Sakuran (Heart of Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 29 of Skip Beat! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 8 of The Story of Saiunkoku (The Fandom Post)
Kate Haddock on Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun (The Collegian)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 14 of Vampire Knight (ANN)
Victoria Martin on vol. 19 of xxxHoLiC (Kuriousity)

The fine folks at GEN, the digital manga magazine, have shared a preview of Let’s Eat Ramen with us over at MTV Geek; this is a short manga about—you guessed it!—eating ramen, and the creator, the singly-named Nagumo, will be at New York Comic Con next week. It’s very charming, so go take a peek, and if you like it, there’s more in issue 8 of GEN.

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

At Heart of Manga, Laura looks at the new shoujo manga coming out in October.

Ryan Holmberg has a lengthy article up at The Comics Journal about Osamu Tezuka’s New Treasure Island.

The October Manga Moveable Feast is almost upon us, and this month’s host, Anne Whittingham of Chick Pixel, puts out the call for entries. This month’s theme: Vampires!

Meanwhile, Milo has declared October to be “Go Nagai Month” at Blog of the North Star, and he explains why in his first post.

Matt Blind posts the list of manga best-sellers for the week ending September 23.

News from Japan: Tohru Fujisawa’s GT-R, the third GTO spinoff, ended in Weekly Shonen Magazine recently, but it will be back in Kodansha’s monthly Magazine Special sometime next year.

Reviews: As part of The Hooded Utilitarian’s roundtable on the worst comics ever, MJ discusses why she hates The Color of Love trilogy.

Kristin on vol. 6 of Ai Ore! (Comic Attack)
Matthew Cycyk on vols. 1-8 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Matt Talks About Manga)
John Rose on vol. 4 of D.Gray-Man (The Fandom Post)
Sakura Eries on vol. 4 of GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Paradise Kiss (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Until Death Do Us Part (Manga Village)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 2 of Until Death Do Us Part (The Fandom Post)

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their choices for Pick of the Week.

Thomas Zoth has an account of the Arina Tanemura panel at Anime Fest.

News from Japan: Ken Akamatsu’s J-Comi website just completed a successful crowdfunding drive that offered limited-edition e-books, such as a complete set of Love Hina, plus autographed postcards, to sponsors. The e-books sold out in about 20 minutes. Kazuhiro Kumagai (Samurai Gun) will launch a new manga adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo in the October 24 issue of Shueisha’s Grand Jump Premium. Author’s Pet creator Deathco Cotorino will draw a 4-koma manga based on the Brothers Conflict novel.

Reviews: Ash Brown reports in on a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf team posts some short takes on recent releases in their Bookshelf Briefs column.

Sean Gaffney on Barbara (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Johanna Draper Carlson on The Drops of God: New World (Comics Worth Reading)
Bill Sherman on In These Words (Blogcritics)
A Day Without You on vol. 1 of The Lizzie Newton Mysteries (Gar Gar Stegosaurus)
Raymond Herrera on vol. 1 of Paradise Kiss (Examiner.com)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 28 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Kristin on vols. 4 and 5 of Saturn Apartments (Comic Attack)

With NYCC still two weeks away, Dark Horse broke some big manga news at Anime Weekend Atlanta: Two new licenses, two new editions. The new licenses are Trigun: Multiple Bullets, an anthology of stories by different creators (including one by Trigun manga-ka Yasuhiro Nightow), and Neon Genesis Evangelion: Shinji Ikari Detective Diary, a detective story with characters from the original NGA set in a different universe. The new editions are omnibus editions of the original Trigun and Lone Wolf and Cub, with the latter in a slightly larger format than the originals.

Vertical also had a new license to announce at AWA: Utsubora – A Story of a Novelist, a mystery by Asumiko Nakamura.

And last week, Seven Seas confirmed that they have licensed Milk Morinaga’s Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink, a collection of 14 short yuri stories.

The Manga Village team takes a look at the past week’s new releases and picks the best.

Erica Friedman posts an interview with Hayate x Blade manga-ka Hayashiya Shizuru that she did whom she met during Winter Comiket, and she also posts the latest Yuri Network News roundup.

Vertical marketing director Ed Chavez is the guest on the latest ANNCast, where he delivers some straight talk on Vertical’s licenses, manga sales in general, and the one that got away.

And speaking of Vertical, they just released the first volume of their new edition of Paradise Kiss, which prompts Jason Thompson to take a long look at what makes this manga so special in his House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

MJ and Michelle Smith compare the Tokyopop and Vertical editions of ParaKiss in their On the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf, and they also take a look at vol. 20 of Kaze Hikaru and vol. 1 of Limit, the new manga from Life creator Keiko Suenobu.

Attention Wandering Son fans: If you’re willing to pay your money upfront, Fantagraphics is offering a pretty good subscription deal for the next three volumes.

Chris, the Vertical intern who is now writing their blog, discusses his relationship with Great Teacher Onizuka.

Vol. 7 of Sailor Moon tops the New York Times manga best-seller list, with vol. 58 of Naruto and vol. 22 of 20th Century Boys right behind it. Matt Blind does his own calculation of the manga best-sellers for the week ending September 9 and the week ending September 16, working from online sales.

News from Japan: Kekkaishi creator Yellow Tanabe is working on a new manga, which will run in Shonen Sunday sometime in the near future. Pokemon Reburst will end in the October 10 issue of Shonen Sunday. And there are now 17 million copies of Hayate the Combat Butler in circulation.

Reviews: Ash Brown checks out some books from the library at Experiments in Reading.

Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Angelic Layer (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Sean Kleefeld on vol. 15 of Bakuman (Kleefeld on Comics)
A Library Girl on vol. 1 of Code:Breaker (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Ash Brown on Elements of Manga Style (Experiments in Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on Elements of Manga Style (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Anna on vols. 5-7 of Full Moon O Sagashite (Manga Report)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 20 of Hayate the Combat Butler (The Comic Book Bin)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Limit (The Manga Critic)
Joseph Luster on vol. 1 of Limit (Otaku USA)
Ken Haley on vols. 2 and 3 of Mega Man Megamix (Sequential Ink)
A Library Girl on Part-Time Pets (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Jocelyne Allen on vols. 6 and 7 of Song of the Wind and Trees (Kaze to Ki no Uta) (Brain Vs. Book)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 11 of Twin Spica (Blogcritics)

Lissa Pattillo looks at this week’s new releases in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney peers into his crystal ball to select the best of next week’s new releases.

Lori Henderson is pleased to note that several of her license requests have been granted.

In honor of the Shojo Beat themed Manga Moveable Feast, Ash Brown is giving away a copy of vol. 1 of Ai Ore! at Experiments in Manga.

News from Japan: The series Daily Lives of High School Boys has come to a sudden end; the last chapter was posted on Square Enix’s Gangan Online site this week, although there were none of the usual indications that it was drawing to a close. We do have warning of this: Otomen will end in the January issue of Bessatsu Hana to Yume. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews

Kate O’Neil on vol. 28 of Hunter x Hunter (The Fandom Post)
Anna on vol. 10 of Kamisama Kiss (Manga Report)
Serdar Yegulalp on vol. 1 of Limit (Genji Press)
Laura on Olympos (Heart of Manga)
Sakura Eries on vol. 10 of Oresama Teacher (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 27 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Philip Anthony on vol. 5 Sailor Moon (Manga Bookshelf)
Alexander Hoffman on vol. 1 of Soul Eater NOT! (Manga Village)
Rob Clough on Stargazing Dog, NonNonBa, and Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (High-Low)

Here’s my look at this week’s new manga releases at MTV Geek. With a new edition of Paradise Kiss, new Drops of God, new Yotsuba&!, new Ghost in the Shell, and new Fairy Tail, it’s a good week.

The Manga Village bloggers pick their favorites from last week’s new releases.

There’s a change in the lineup at Shonen Jump Alpha: Barrage ended this week, and a new sports manga, Cross Manage, starts running on October 1. Also, Viz is publishing a printed SJ Alpha Yearbook, with a one-shot manga by Akira Toriyama and Masakazu Katsura (who will be appearing at NYCC), and another story, Otter No. 11, which is a manga-within-the-manga in Bakuman. Viz will mail the yearbook out to SJ Alpha subscribers, and it will also be available at NYCC.

The Vertical blog is back! The new intern, Chris, kicks it off with posts about Moyoco Anno’s visit to NYCC and his life as an intern in the Vertical offices.

News from Japan: Watch for a new manga from Tohou Project in the December issue of Kadokawa Ace.

Reviews

Connie on Barbara (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kate O’Neil on chapter 16 of Barrage (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 2 of Dousei Ai (Slightly Biased Manga)
G.B. Smith on vol. 1 of The Drops of God (The Fandom Post)
Amy Grockl on vol. 1 of Flowers of Evil (Manga Village)
Nicola on vol. 5 of Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Back to Books)
Steve Bennett on vol. 1 of Higurashi When They Cry: Massacre Arc (ICv2)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Higurashi When They Cry: Massacre Arc (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 6 of Itsuwaribito (The Fandom Post)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Jiu Jiu (Manga Village)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Message to Adolf (Comic Attack)
Connie on vol. 9 of Rin-ne (Slightly Biased Manga)
TSOTE on vols. 28, 29, and 30 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Three Steps Over Japan)
Connie on vol. 19 of Slam Dunk (Slightly Biased Manga)
TSOTE on Susumu Pirates (Three Steps Over Japan)
Drew McCabe on vol. 7 of Tenjho Tenge (Full Contact Edition) (Comic Attack)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Yuru Yuri (Okazu)

While I was slacking off last week, the Manga Moveable Feast was going on. This month’s feast celebrates Viz’s Shojo Beat imprint; I have been posting the reviews in the usual spot, but here’s a roundup of posts on host site Manga Report:

Monday roundup
Tuesday roundup
Shojo Beat roundtable discussion
Wednesday roundup
Friday roundup
Final roundup

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Picks of the Week.

Erica Friedman brings us the latest in yuri in her Yuri Network News roundup.

Kate Dacey looks at this week’s new arrivals at JManga, including her pick of the week, Shibainuku-San.

News from Japan: After 19 years, Blade of the Immortal is coming to an end in next February’s issue of Kodansha’s Afternoon magazine. Also coming into the final stretch: GT-R (Great Transporter Ryuji), Tohru Fujisawa’s GTO spinoff.

Reviews: Carlo Santos rounds up the latest releases in his Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Ash Brown discusses another week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga. The Manga Bookshelf team files their latest set of Bookshelf Briefs. Other reviews of note:

Anna on vols. 1 and 2 of Flower in a Storm and vols. 1 and 2 of Sugar Princess: Skating to Win (Manga Report)
Anna on vols. 1-4 of Full Moon O Sagashite (Manga Report)
Anna on vol. 10 of Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden (Manga Report)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Anna on vols. 1-4 of Gentlemen’s Alliance+ (Manga Report)
Shannon Fay on vol. 9 of Nabari no Ou (Kuriousity)
Connie on vol. 11 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-5 of Otomen (Manga Xanadu)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Okazu)
Lori Henderson on Wanted (Manga Xanadu)