MangaBlog

I’m still processing everything that happened at MangaNEXT. Check out my con report at PWCW and my interview with Tomo Maeda, the creator of Black Sun, Silver Moon and Beyond My Touch, at MTV Geek, and don’t miss Erica Friedman’s very thorough con report at Okazu–she was on the industry panel, which I missed, but reading her account makes me feel like I was there.

Kate Dacey wraps up the Manga Moveable Feast with part 2 of her essay on Tezuka, Sex, and Gender and a final day’s worth of links. Khursten Santos takes a look at three of Tezuka’s female characters at Otaku Champloo.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses our Picks of the Week.

Corinna Lawson of Wired’s GeekDad blog takes the Viz iPad app for a spin and likes it better than paper.

The Calcutta Telegraph profiles manga artist Yukichi Yamamatsu, whose Stupid Man Goes to India chronicles his stay in that county.

News from Japan: Kare Kano creator Masami Tsuda will launch a new fantasy series, Hinoko, in the May issue of Hakusensha’s LaLa magazine. That’s the issue to get, apparently, as it will also feature a one-shot by Bisco Hatori (of Ouran High School Host Club fame). The Dengeki Online website is running Oshiete! Mordin-sensei! (Teach me! Professor Mordin!), a webcomic that explains the setting of the Mass Effect 3 game and introduces some of the characters. And Puyo, the artist behind The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan, is working on an Itsuki Koizumi spinoff to run in Altima Ace.

Reviews: For those in a hurry, the Manga Bookshelf team has a brand-new set of Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown lays out a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 2 of Honey Hunt (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 8 of Rin-ne (The Comic Book Bin)
Dave Ferraro on vol. 1 of Soulless (Comics-and-More)

I’m back from an incredible weekend at MangaNEXT; watch for news, interviews, and all sorts of interesting features in the next couple of days. I posted the big license news at Robot 6 already: Vertical announced two new licenses, The Limit, by Life creator Keiko Suenobu, and Heroman, which is based on a plot by Stan Lee.

Also: I reviewed Viz manga on the Nook at MTV Geek.

Lissa Pattillo takes a look at the past week’s new manga in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

Kate Dacey rounds up the Day 5 links for the Tezuka-flavored Manga Moveable Feast at The Manga Critic, and she also posts a transcript of a fascinating discussion about sex and gender in Tezuka’s manga. Connie posts her own Tezuka Index at Slightly Biased Manga. Vertical marketing director Ed Chavez joins Ed Sizemore and Johanna Draper Carlson for a discussion of “Tezuka for adults” on the latest Manga Out Loud podcast. At All About Manga, Daniella Orihuela-Gruber talks about her dream of someday publishing Tezuka’s Rainbow Parakeet, and at PLAYBACK:stl, Jason Green channels his Tezuka-lovin’ 18-year-old self.

MJ and Michelle Smith discuss Princess Knight in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Cast your vote for the best new manga, shoujo manga, and shonen manga in Deb Aoki’s Readers Choice Awards at About.com.

Daniel BT looks at Encounter, a series that was advertised in the pages of Raijin magazine but never ran there.

Digital Manga rounds up the past week’s new digital releases.

Translator Tomo Kimura has some notes on vol. 7 of Kamisama Kiss.

News from Japan: The French site Manganews reports that Kaiji Kawaguchi and journalist Osamu Eya will collaborate on Ore Shika Inai – Kuroi Nami wo Norikoete, about last year’s earthquake in Japan. It will run in Big Comic. Mashashi Tanaka will start drawing Gon again after ten years away from it. Three Steps Over Japan looks at a fairly new magazine AltimaA. And this could be big news: The president of Kodansha announced that the company would begin some same-day print/digital releases, although it is not clear from any of the news reports I saw that he was talking specifically about manga. Perhaps someone who can read Japanese could add some clarity to this?

Reviews

Lori Henderson on Apollo’s Song (Manga Xanadu)
Matthew Warner on vol. 38 of Bleach (The Fandom Post)
Connie on vol. 4 of Blue Exorcist (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 5 of Bokurano: Ours (Slightly Biased Manga)
Justin on The Book of Human Insects (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 11 of Cipher (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 2 of Close the Last Door (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on Cold Trilogy 01: Cold Sleep (Slightly Biased Manga)
Carlo Santos on vol. 6 of Cross Game (ANN)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-5 of Dazzle (Manga Xanadu)
Connie on vol. 8 of Dengeki Daisy (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Dororo (Experiments in Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 17 of Fairy Tail (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Connie on vol. 2 of Gravitation (Slightly Biased Manga)
Kristin on vol. 8 of Jormungand and vol. 19 of 20th Century Boys (Comic Attack)
Voitachewski on Junji Ito’s La Maison de Poupées (in French) (du9)
Connie on vol. 11 of Mars (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sweetpea616 on MW (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 7 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (Slightly Biased Manga)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 33 of Negima! (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Kristin on vol. 3 of No Longer Human (Comic Attack)
Joy Kim on vols. 56-60 of One Piece (Joy Kim)
Danica Davidson on vol. 1 of Only Serious About You (Otaku USA)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1 and 2 of Princess Knight (Manga Xanadu)
Anna on vol. 2 of Princess Knight
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Psyren (The Comic Book Bin)
Erica Friedman on vol. 6 of Pure Yuri Anthology Hirari (Okazu)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 12 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Sugar Sugar Rune (Blogcritics)
Matthew Warner on vol. 11 of Twin Spica (The Fandom Post)
Connie on Want to Depend on You (Slightly Biased Manga)

I’m heading out to New Jersey today for MangaNEXT—if you’re going to be there, be sure to say hi! In the meantime, check out my review of Viz manga on the Nook at MTV Geek. And I hope you saw my interview with Robert Newman of JManga right here at MangaBlog.

Jason Thompson writes about foodie manga, including Jiro Taniguchi’s Kodoku no Gourmet, Fumi Yoshinaga’s Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy!, and the train station bento-box manga Ekiben Hitoritabi, in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

The Tezuka-based Manga Moveable Feast continues with host Kate Dacey rounding up the Day Three and Day Four links, as well as a review of Tezuka’s Lost World, at The Manga Critic. MJ and Michelle Smith discuss Princess Knight in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Sean Gaffney takes a look at next week’s new manga releases.

Congratulations to Tony Yao on two years of blogging at Manga Therapy.

News from Japan: Details are emerging of the “darker” R.O.D. Rehabilitation, a R.O.D. side story that will start running in Shueisha’s Super Dash & Go! magazine this weekend. Manga Therapy features a manga that is hot in Japan right now, Crimsons, which is about… salmon.

Reviews: Omar reviews a handful of recent releases at About Heroes.

Ash Brown on The Art of Osamu Tezuka: The God of Manga (Experiments in Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 16 and 17 of Black Jack (Manga Village)
Connie on vol. 1 of Buddha (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Claymore (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Close the Last Door (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of La Corda D’Oro (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on Faraway Places (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Gravitation (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 10 of Mars (Slightly Biased Manga)
David Gromer on vol. 1 of Ninja Girls (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Anna on vol. 1 of Princess Knight (Manga Report)
David Gromer on vol. 3 of Sailor Moon (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Connie on Stargazing Dog (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 6 of Tegami Bachi (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on Uglies: Shay’s Story (I Reads You)

First, an important public service announcement: Do you think that the JManga digital manga site should be available to the entire world, not just the U.S. and Canada? Then let them know, via Twitter or by “liking” their globalization post on Facebook, because this is apparently being debated right now in the JManga Secret Headquarters, and your opinion could make a difference.

Here’s my look at this week’s new manga releases at MTV Geek.

It’s a good time to be a yaoi fan, as the new releases, digital and print, just keep on coming. Animate USA announced several new titles, including Kou Yoneda’s one-shot Kanjou Spectrum, and Viz’s brand-new imprint SuBLime Manga announced two more, Youka Nitta’s Kiss Ariki and Hinako Takanaga’s Awkward Silence. Digital Manga announced more new titles, both print and digital, via Twitter.

If that’s not your cup of tea, head over to JManga, which announced five new digital releases this week (including the foodie manga Kodoku no Gourmet) and will have ten more for us next week.

The Manga Moveable Feast continues its focus on Osamu Tezuka this week, and Kate Dacey rounds up all the Day Two commentary at The Manga Critic.

News from Japan: Hikaru Nakamura, who is back from maternity leave, will resume work on Saint Young Men in issue 56 of Morning 2, which is out next month.

Reviews

Carlo Santos on vol. 9 of Bakuman (ANN)
Sean T. Collins on Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (Attentiondeficitdisorderly)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of Princess Knight (Okazu)
Anna on vol. 6 of The Story of Saiunkoku (Manga Report)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 8 of Toriko (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Joy Kim on Twin Spica (Joy Kim)

Good news for fans of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service: Dark Horse will have a new volume next month, the first since September 2010. Crunchyroll has the details and an exclusive preview.

On the other hand, John Jakala is wondering why Viz has released so few digital volumes of non-Shonen Jump manga lately.

Sakura Con is looking amazingly good this year; ANN has the guest lineup, which includes Kodansha editor Katsushi Ota, Toradora! artist Zekkyō, and Full Metal Panic artist Retsu Tateo.

These things are never guaranteed, but ANN has spotted a listing for a graphic adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s New Moon, presumably a followup to the Twilight graphic novels published by Yen Press.

Reviews

Lori Henderson on vols. 14 and 15 of Black Jack (Manga Village)
Connie on vol. 3 of Blue Exorcist (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lori Henderson on The Book of Human Insects (Manga Xanadu)
Connie on Chayamachi’s Collection: BLANC (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 7 of Chobits (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 3 of Cross Game (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 12 of Kimi ni Todoke (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 6 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 5 of Tenjho Tenge (The Comic Book Bin)

It’s only February, but it already looks like this year’s trend will be digital licensing of niche properties. The latest announcement came at Katsucon over the weekend, when creator Izumi Matsumoto announced that his Kimagure Orange Road will be published in English viz NTT Solmare’s ComicFriends Facebook app as well as on Kindle and iBooks.

Meanwhile, at Kuriousity, Lissa Pattillo spots some new yaoi titles in digital and in print from Digital Manga, Yaoi Press, and SuBLime.

Returning to the present, the Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week.

This month’s Manga Moveable Feast celebrates the work of Osamu Tezuka, and your host Kate Dacey kicks it off with an introduction to Tezuka at The Manga Critic. Connie adds a Guide to English Language Editions of Tezuka’s Work at Slightly Biased Manga. Rob McMonigal adds his appreciation of Tezuka at Panel Patter. Lori Henderson focuses on Tezuka in her Manga Wrap-Up post, and Kate rounds up all the MMF links in her Day One post, and here’s an odd bit of Tezuka news: The Brazilian cartoonist Mauricio de Sousa is about to publish an original comic that uses Tezuka’s characters, an arrangement that sprang from the friendship between the two creators and has been blessed by Tezuka’s editor.

Michelle Smith discusses reading Viz manga on the Nook, and MJ and Sean Gaffney review some new JManga selections, in the latest Going Digital column at Manga Bookshelf.

Erica Friedman has the latest yuri anime and manga news in this week’s edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

ANN’s Brian Hanson sums up the problem with Mangastream, and all of scanlation: “Essentially, our little niche fandom has done a great job of supporting itself, but a terrible job of supporting anything resembling an actual industry.” And if you haven’t read Deb Aoki’s editorial, go check it out now, and don’t miss the lively discussion in the comments section.

Helen McCarthy has some thoughts on Eric Khoo’s film Tatsumi.

News from Japan: The nominees for the 16th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize have been announced, and they include Chica Umino’s March Comes In Like a Lion and Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan, which Kodansha Comics will be publishing in English later this year. Crunchyroll’s Mikikazu Komatsu takes a look at Kochi Indies Magazine, which is aimed at aspiring manga-ka. Also: Here are some scans of a K-ON! x One Piece doujinshi to start your week off right. Shun Matsuena is drawing a Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple spinoff for Shonen Sunday to celebrate the release of the OVA.

Reviews: MJ and Michelle Smith turn in some short reviews of recent yaoi manga in their latest BL Bookrack column at Manga Bookshelf. Ash Brown discusses this week’s manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Justin on Ayako (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Erica Friedman on vol. 2 of A Certain Scientific Railgun (Okazu)
Kristin on vol. 2 of Dawn of the Arcana and vol. 18 of Hayate the Combat Butler (Comic Attack)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 1 of Honey Hunt (Blogcritics)
Carlo Santos on vol. 55 of Naruto (Anime News Network)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Soulless (The Manga Critic)

At MTV Geek this week, I talked to the Digital Manga crew about their license rescue of Erementar Gerad. And—exciting news for all you folks who are always posting license requests—they want to do more manga this way and are looking for your suggestions. Also at MTV Geek: My look at this week’s manga pickings, which were slim, so I went off on a tangent about Kekkaishi. Enjoy!

Jason Thompson discusses one of my favorite manga, Disappearance Diary, in his House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Tony Yao wonders what Viz will do once Naruto and Bleach have ended.

At Okazu Erica Friedman compiles a handy list of yuri manga available outside of Japan and picks up on some new yuri titles at JManga.

Derek Bown’s latest Combat Commentary focuses on a battle of wills, not fists in Bakuman.

Matt Blind is catching up with another post on manga best-sellers (online sales) for the week ending February 5 and another Manga Radar post to go with it.

Khursten Santos spots a Kaoru Mori collection she would like to see licensed.

Manga/anime/figurine collector Safetygirl shows off her dedicated Otaku Room at The Manga Critic.

If you read French, check out this 31-page preview of the Square Enix manga Lost Paradise at Manga news.

News from Japan: Manga-ka Hikaru Nakamura is returning from maternity leave and will resume work on Arakawa Under the Bridge; no word on her other manga, Saint Young Men. Three Steps Over Japan takes a peek inside the covers of Monthly Shonen Magazine.

Reviews: Omar posts some short reviews of recent manga at About Heroes.

Leroy Douresseaux on The Art of The Secret World of Arrietty (I Reads You)
Erica Friedman on vol. 3 of Cardcaptor Sakura (Okazu)
Erica Friedman on Chou no you ni, Hana no you ni (Okazu)
Kristin on vols. 10-12 of Kimi ni Todoke (Comic Attack)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1 and 2 of One Missed Call (Manga Xanadu)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 3 of Sailor Moon (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
TSOTE on Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Three Steps Over Japan)
Sweetpea616 on part 2 of Tramps Like Us (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of Wandering Son (Experiments in Manga)
Kinukitty on Yakuza Cafe (The Hooded Utilitarian)
Jocelyne Allen on Yume no Q-SAKU (untranslated manga by Suehiro Maruo) (Brain Vs. Blog)

Lissa Pattillo discusses this week’s new manga releases in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney picks the best of next week’s new manga at his blog.

Kate Dacey has the 411 on Kodoku no Gourmet, a foodie manga coming soon to JManga.

Ed Sizemore talks to Helen McCarthy, Ada Palmer, and Kate Dacey about gender roles in Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight in the latest Manga Out Loud podcast.

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber asks the readers: Should she make the switch to digital in the middle of a series?

Matt Blind has the latest manga best-sellers and a new Manga Radar post as well at Manga Bookshelf.

Erica Friedman looks at Shueisha’s brand new magazine Cocohana, billed as a shoujo magazine for adults.

The American miniseries I Kill Giants has won the Japanese government’s International Manga Award.

News from Japan: AstroNerdBoy has been following Ken Akamatsu’s Tweets, which contain some interesting news: Akamatsu is no longer exclusive to Kodansha (the end of his contract coincides neatly with the end of Negima!), and he has gotten his original art back for a number of series. AstroNerdBoy speculates that Akamatsu may do his next manga on his free manga site J-Comi, possibly following up with print tankoubons. In other news, the Space Battleship Yamato 2199 manga will begin serialization in Newtype Ace with a 63-page opening chapter. Futabasha is suing three Chinese companies who are using Crayon Shin-Chan on their products without authorization. The manga museum in Ishinomaki, which was severely damaged in the earthquake and tsunami last year, has put up a display of manga art in 35 local stores. The Mainichi Daily News looks at the popularity of One Piece, suggesting that its message of hope and loyalty resonates in these uncertain times. And ANN has the most recent Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews: It’s time for another round of rapid-fire reviews from Carlo Santos in his latest Right Turn Only!! column at ANN.

Kristin on vol. 18 of 20th Century Boys and vol. 4 of Kingyo Used Books (Comic Attack)
Alexander Hoffman on Breathe Deeply (Manga Village)
Anna on vol. 1 of A Devil and Her Love Song (Manga Report)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Drifters (The Manga Critic)
Justin S. on vol. 1 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Ken Haley on vols. 1 and 2 of Gunsmith Cats: Burst (Sequential Ink)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 19 of Hayate the Combat Butler (The Comic Book Bin)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 19 of Hayate the Combat Butler (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kate Dacey on How to Draw Shoujo Manga (The Manga Critic)
Joseph Luster on vol. 3 of No Longer Human (Otaku USA)
Kristin on One Piece Color Walk 2 and vol. 7 of Toriko (Comic Attack)
Kelakagandy on vol. 1 of Soulless (kelakagandy’s ramblings)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 4 of The Tyrant Falls in Love (Kuriousity)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Uglies: Shay’s Story (Comics Worth Reading)

Whether you’re an expert or a beginner in Japanese, you should check out JManga’s translation contest. Translate the 4-koma manga at the link and you could win a copy of the (digital) book. Today is the last day, so if you’ve been planning to do it, don’t put it off! JManga is offering multiple prizes, so your chances may be better than you think.

And while you’re translating thought into action, drop in to Manga Bookshelf and enter their Valentines Day giveaway–you could be the lucky winner of vol. 1 of 13th Boy.

With Shonen Jump Alpha up and running, and most of the bugs shaken out, Viz is adding a stick to their carrots: Yesterday the scanlation group Mangastream announced it was dropping Viz titles under pressure from the publisher. AstroNerdBoy adds more commentary on the Mangastream affair, including his opinion on what they—and Viz—are doing wrong. Deb Aoki has a clear-eyed editorial at About.com, pointing out that as aggrieved as the Mangastream folks may be, in the end, they don’t own the content.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week.

Reviews: It’s a new week and time for a new set of Bookshelf Briefs at Manga Bookshelf. Ash Brown recounts a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Amy Grockl on An Arranged Marriage (Manga Village)
Johanna Draper Carlson on The Bed of My Dear King (Comics Worth Reading)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 2 of Dawn of the Arcana (Kuriousity)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of A Devil and Her Love Song (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Jia Li on Fluffy, Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Manga Bookshelf)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Ranma 1/2 (Blogcritics)
Anna on vol. 3 of Sailor Moon (Manga Report)
Erica Friedman on Seasons (Okazu)

Kristin Bomba picks the most interesting manga in the latest Previews at Comic Attack.

Erica Friedman rounds up the latest yuri news at Okazu.

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber has a question for her readers: What is your favorite Tezuka manga?

Do you read Bleach for the poetry? Tony Yao enjoys it, and he posts a few of his favorite Tite Kubo poems at Manga Therapy.

A Scottish fan shows off her manga collection to The Manga Critic, Kate Dacey.

Wandering Son is the first manga to make it on to the American Library Association’s Rainbow List of GLBT-friendly books.

Kimagure Orange Road creator Izumi Matsumoto will be a guest at Katsucon this weekend.

News from Japan: Ken Akamatsu is winding up Negima, and AstroNerdBoy has his Facebook post saying that the series is not being truncated, and that this will be a “good ending.”

Reviews: Jocelyne Allen takes a look at Hakoniwa Mushi, a book of short manga by Akino Kondoh, and she shows off some of the striking art at Brain Vs. Book. This manga hasn’t been translated into English yet, but I’d love to see it.

Connie on vol. 8 of Arata: The Legend (Slightly Biased Manga)
Justin on vol. 9 of Bakuman (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on vol. 15 of Black Jack (Slightly Biased Manga)
Serdar Yegulalp on vol. 17 of Black Jack (Genji Press)
Connie on vols. 1 and 2 of Blue Exorcist (Slightly Biased Manga)
Rebecca Silverman on vols. 2 and 3 of Cage of Eden (ANN)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Chobits (Blogcritics)
Connie on Dost Thou Know? (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 9 of Future Diary (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on Gorgeous Carat Galaxy (Slightly Biased Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Lori Henderson and Alex Hoffman on High School of the Dead (Manga Village)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 2 of Love Hina (omnibus edition)
Connie on vol. 1 of Love Pistols (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 9 of Mars (Slightly Biased Manga)
Justin on The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Connie on Men of Tattoos (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vols. 4 and 5 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (Slightly Biased Manga)
Serdar Yegulalp on vol. 3 of No Longer Human (Genji Press)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 2 of Only Serious About You (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 17 of Ouran High School Host Club (ANN)
Connie on Poison (You Higuri artbook) (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 3 of Ratman (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 5 of Recipe for Gertrude (Slightly Biased Manga)
Carlo Santos on vol. 4 of Tenjho Tenge (omnibus edition) (ANN)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 2 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s (The Comic Book Bin)
Justin on A Zoo in Winter (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)

Here’s a surprise license rescue: Digital Manga announced via Twitter yesterday that they have licensed Erementar Gerad, which was known as Elemental Gelade when Tokyopop was publishing it.

Shaenon Garrity is the guest writer for this week’s House of 1000 Manga column at ANN, and she picks a good one: Mars, by Fuyumi Soryo, who went on to make one of my favorite manga, ES: Eternal Sabbath.

AstroNerdBoy notes a new translation team for Kodansha’s Love Hina omnibuses: Alethea and Athena Nibley (whose other credits include Fruits Basket) will be taking over.

Reviews: Wolfen Moondaughter discusses four yaoi manga at Sequential Tart. At The Manga Critic, Kate Dacey goes on two second dates with vol. 2 of Dawn of the Arcana and vol. 2 of Gate 7, but only one is a keeper.

Wolfen Moondaughter on The Bed of My Dear King (Sequential Tart)
Chris Beveridge on vol. 8 of Chi’s Sweet Home (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 16 of Higurashi: When They Cry (The Fandom Post)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 1 of Husband, Honeymoon (Sequential Tart)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 2 of Love Hina (omnibus edition) (Sequential Tart)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 1 of Love Pistols (Sequential Tart)
Angela Eastman on vol. 6 of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (The Fandom Post)
Wolfen Moondaughter on Oku-San’s Daily Fantasies (Sequential Tart)
Sakura Eries on vol. 6 of Oresama Teacher (The Fandom Post)
Paige McKee on vol. 3 of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Sequential Tart)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 2 of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s (Sequential Tart)
Erica Friedman on Yurikan Miel (Okazu)

Over at MTV Geek, I talked to Kurt Hassler about Soul Eater NOT, which Yen Plus magazine will be running as a worldwide release at the same time it is released in Japan. I also got an exclusive reveal of the cover of the Anne Rice graphic novel, Interview with the Vampire: Claudia’s Story.

I picked over this week’s new manga at MTV Geek, and Lissa Pattillo does the same in her On the Shelf column at Otaku USA. Sean Gaffney takes a look at next week’s new manga.

At ANN, Carlo Santos does a side-by-side comparison of Viz’s digital manga on the Nook and the iPad. One caveat: Some of his criticisms of the way page turns work on the Nook are based on a pre-release version of the software that has since been corrected. However, he has plenty of other things to say regarding screen size, interface, and the reading experience, so just keep his introductory note in mind as you read the article.

Matt Blind has a new set of manga best-sellers (drawn from online sales) and a new edition of Manga Radar with some old and new manga for him to add to his 10,000-title database.

Derik Bown pits Alucard agaisnt Alexander Anderson in his latest Combat Commentary post at Manga Bookshelf.

If you can read French, check out this interview with Atsushi Kaneko, creator of Bambi and Her Pink Gun and SOIL, who passed through Paris on his way to Angouleme.

News from Japan: Black Jack is back! Akita Shoten will revive the classic Tezuka comic with new stories based on real medical experiences sent in by readers. There’s no word on who will write or draw it, but really—what could possibly go wrong? The French site Manga news has word of two series that are ending soon, Boku ha Beatles and Aishiterutte Itte mo ii yo. The 13th volume of Evangelion—the first in two years—is on the way. And ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews

Danica Davidson on vol. 3 of Ai Ore (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 38 of Bleach (The Comic Book Bin)
Danica Davidson on Manga Shakespeare: Othello (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Danica Davidson on vol. 5 of My Girlfriend’s a Geek (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 12 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (A Case Suitable for Treatment)

Ed Sizemore and Johanna Draper Carlson discuss Bakuman, and then Erica Friedman joins in for a conversation about fan entitlement, in the latest Manga Out Loud podcast.

Poor Poor Lips

JManga has three new titles up this week: Vol. 1 of Japan Sinks, by Golgo 13 creator Takao Saito; I Love You, Chief Clerk, a yaoi manga; and the yuri title Poor Poor Lips, which was localized in partnership with ALC Publishing. At her blog, Okazu, ALC principal Erica Friedman asks readers to e-mail JManga and urge them to set up a global yuri portal—right now the manga is restricted to North American readers, and that’s just bogus.

AstroNerdBoy outlines his vision for Kodansha’s upcoming edition of Genshiken Nidaime.

Have you fallen behind on a series or two? Do you just feel like a manga binge? Either way, check out Barnes & Noble’s three-for-two manga sale, which runs through tomorrow. The deal is for online purchases only, and it can’t be combined with other discounts, but still… three for the price of two!

News from Japan: Details are still sketchy, but Bunny Drop creator Yumi Unita will launch a new series, tentatively titled Itohen, in the April issue of Feel Young. Meanwhile, the 10th and final volume of Bunny Drop will be out in March. Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond will resume serialization in Kodansha’s Morning magazine next month, after a long hiatus due first to Inoue’s health problem and then to his loss of enthusiasm for the series.

Reviews

Kristin on vol. 3 of Blue Exorcist and vol. 12 of Black Bird (Comic Attack)
Brad Rice on vol. 1 of GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (Japanator)
Lori Henderson on The Innocent (Manga Xanadu)
Animemiz on Wandering Son (Anime Diet)

Legendary Dark Horse editor Carl Horn guests on the ANNCast this week. I haven’t had time to listen to the podcast yet, but I have heard Carl speak, and I would say this is well worth a listen.

Kodansha Comics will publish the Genshiken sequel Genshiken: Second Season beginning in September, and they will start publishing the first Genshiken in omnibus editions in May.

Three Steps Over Japan takes a look at Weekly Shonen Magazine.

News from Japan: Shinobi Life will come to an end in the April issue of Gekkan Princess, with a spinoff chapter appearing in the May issue. The 13th and final volume of the series will be out this summer.

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

Connie on vol. 8 of Black Butler (Slightly Biased Manga)
Zack Davisson on vol. 3 of Cardcaptor Sakura (Japan Reviewed)
Erica Friedman on the January issue of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 6 of Cross Game (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Nicola on vol. 1 of Fluffy Fluffy Cinnamoroll (Back to Books)
Caleb Dunaway on Pluto (Guys Lit Wire)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of Psyren (Manga Widget)
Connie on vol. 8 of Rin-ne (Slightly Biased Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Sailor Moon (Blogcritics)
Connie on vol. 5 of Tyrant Falls in Love (Slightly Biased Manga)