News

New Manhwa Readers Poll at About.com!

January 7, 2010 by MJ 3 Comments

Over at About.com, Deb Aoki has been posting a series of “Best of” readers polls, where anyone can vote for their favorite new manga (in quite a number of categories) released in 2009. The latest of these has special interest for me: Best New Korean Manhwa.

I had a really rough time choosing my favorite from that group (I ended up going with Byun Byung-Jun’s collection of moody short manhwa, Mijeong, though now 13th Boy, Time and Again, and even U Don’t Know Me are looking at me as a traitor), though I’m anxious now to get my hands on a copy of Udon’s Reading Club–the only one of the bunch I don’t have in my possession. I was a bit disappointed not to see any of NETCOMICS’ new ladies’ titles on the list, such as Small-Minded Schoolgirls and Please, Please Me, though perhaps …

The Price of Love

January 5, 2010 by MJ 5 Comments

…boys’ love, that is. An item that caught my eye earlier this morning was this post (Japanator) linking to a report from The Yaoi Review regarding the upcoming price increase on Tokyopop’s BLU manga line. Whether or not BL readers will go for BLU’s higher-priced volumes is certainly a prime topic for discussion, but I admit my thoughts were elsewhere when viewing YR’s helpfully provided price chart for all BL publishers.

Though BLU has some nice titles (Junjo Romantica and Tea for Two spring immediately to mind), most of my favorite BL offerings over the past year have come from either Deux Press (Future Lovers, Red Blinds the Foolish), DMP’s various imprints (Color, Ze, Ludwig II), or (to a nearly overwhelming extent) NETCOMICS (Age Called Blue, Dining Bar Akira, U Don’t Know Me, Totally Captivated)–one of the least expensive of the bunch. …

Holiday Special Round-Up!

December 18, 2009 by MJ 2 Comments

‘Tis the season for holiday sales and manga is no exception! Since it would be a shame for anyone to miss out on the fairly fabulous deals I’ve seen floating around over the past week, I thought I’d gather some links all in one place along with a few recommendations. These are the sales I know about, featuring titles from Viz Media, Yen Press, Aurora Publishing, and Digital Manga Publishing. If there are any I’ve missed, please drop me a comment!

Viz Media: Buy 3 manga, get 1 free on all manga priced at $9.99 or less at the Viz Store. Truthfully, the selection is pretty limited, but there are good deals to be found on popular titles like selected volumes of Naruto and Vampire Knight. Here are a few recommendations from me:…

2009 Best/Worst Picks at Manga Recon!

December 16, 2009 by MJ 1 Comment

The big news in my world today (and what kept me working down to the wire last night) is Our Favorite Manga of 2009, a list of the worst/best manga of the year as perceived by those of us on the Manga Recon staff. As I reflect on my list this morning, I’m mainly struck by all the fantastic series I was unable to find room for, both continuing series like NANA, Nodame Cantabile, We Were There, Goong, and Fullmetal Alchemist, as well as new series like Children of the Sea and Detroit Metal City. If only I could have mentioned Flower of Life, which finally concluded its short run this year, charming me at every moment!

The best thing about these lists, however, is how greatly they vary. Sure, there are a few titles that appear over and over but there are more that don’t, and some on which we quite pointedly disagree. Take Yen Press’ Nabari No Ou, for example, listed by me as “Best Manga That You Thought You Would Hate” and by Michelle as “Biggest Disappointment.” Wanna watch us duke it out? Check out the list for yourself!

NANA Project 4!

December 15, 2009 by MJ 2 Comments

For those who have been following The NANA Project or those who’d like to start, please join Danielle Leigh, Michelle Smith, and me over at Comics Should Be Good for our discussion of NANA volumes 7 & 8! Due to the events in these volumes, discussion revolves heavily around Hachi, Takumi, Nobu, and Nana, with just a teeeensy rant from Danielle on the subject of Ren and Yasu. These are a couple of pretty intense volumes encompassing events that range from euphoric to absolutely devastating, so you can imagine that the three of us have quite a bit to say. Fans of Takumi will enjoy Michelle’s near-defection to their side. Anti-fans will prefer my stubborn refusal to go along with. Either way, there is plenty to dig into, so please join us in comments!

For previous discussions, see Projects one, two, and three!

DMP BL Giveaway Winners Announced!

December 14, 2009 by MJ 1 Comment

We’ve gone a couple of days past the promised date, I realize, but the results are finally here! Better late than never, I hope? In any case, the winners of my Digital Manga BL giveaway (drawn randomly from a tupperware bowl by a visiting friend) are as follows:

Iris Sipos has won a copy of Brilliant Blue, Vol. 1!
Judi Weierhauser has won a copy of Tricky Prince!
The Moon In Autumn has won a copy of Love Knot!

Winners should e-mail mj@mangabookshelf.com with their names and mailing addresses in order to receive their books.

A post listing everyone’s fantastic BL recommendations is forthcoming, sometime in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, congratulations to the winners! Also, many thanks to Digital Manga Publishing for providing books for this giveaway!

Lucky Star, Vol. 1

December 9, 2009 by MJ 3 Comments

Good morning all! My big news for the day is my debut as a guest reviewer at Deb Aoki’s manga blog! To check it out, head on over to about.com where you’ll find Deb’s introduction, followed by my review of Kagami Yoshimizu’s Lucky Star, volume one.

As a pretty enthusiastic fan of the anime series, I was excited when Bandai announced they’d licensed the manga as well. Unfortunately, their first volume turned out to be a fairly stunning lesson on the importance of effective translation. For those who still haven’t read Matt Thorn’s recent smackdown on the state of translation in the manga industry, now would be a good time. On a positive note, the third volume of Lucky Star (which I have here in my possession) displays a change in translation credit I think many will find heartening. I know I do.

Many thanks to Deb for this opportunity! Read my full review here!

Yen Press publishes Gossip Girl adaptation

December 4, 2009 by MJ 5 Comments

I’ve never read Cecily von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl series. I’ve never even seen the television adaptation. So why is this announcement so exciting to me? I’ll tell you why. Yen Press’ adaptation is being written and illustrated by manhwa-ga HyeKyung Baek, author of Bring it On! (among others), a highly enjoyable manhwa series originally brought to English-speaking readers by IceKunion and now part of Yen Press’ extensive manhwa catalogue.

Whether Baek’s adaptation can have the same impact as the original novels or the very popular TV series obviously remains to be seen, but this seems like a smart move on Yen Press’ part and I’m frankly thrilled that they continue to turn to talented Korean artists for so many of these projects. Furthermore, this license is very much in step with other recent acquisitions, particularly Lisi Harrison’s The Clique. …

Harlequin manga comes to eManga.com!

December 4, 2009 by MJ 1 Comment

Earlier this year, I took a tour of eManga.com and though my experience was overall a very positive one, the one thing I wished for was more content. Well, it looks like DMP is making that wish come true, though time will tell if this is content I’ll truly enjoy. Never having been a fan of Harlequin romances, my immediate reaction was on the negative side, but that judgement is far from fair. I’ve never read any Harlequin manga and it’s only right that I give it a shot! With eManga’s recently announced weekend promo (thanks, Michelle!) this is surely the time to start!

Regardless of my own tastes, it seems likely that this is a good move for eManga. With their primary focus being boys’ love manga, romance is clearly key and I’d expect the audiences for both types of romance to overlap quite a bit. For more insight, you may want to take a look at reviews from those who have been reading Harlequin manga, like Julie at Manga Maniac Cafe, Bamboo Dong at Anime News Network, and Craig Johnson at Manga Life. Meanwhile, check out DMP’s press release for more details:…

Season of Giving

November 23, 2009 by MJ 4 Comments

First of all, a quick link to a fantastic manhwa giveaway over at Good Comics for Kids! Five readers will each win a full set of the Kim Dong Hwa’s The Color of… trilogy from First Second Books. See this post for details!

Secondly, I’m doing a holiday giveaway here as well! Thanks to the generous folks at DMP, I have extra copies of three boys’ love volumes, Tricky Prince, Love Knot, and (my personal favorite of the three) volume one of Brilliant Blue!

To win, send an e-mail to mj@mangabookshelf.com including your name and the name of one boys’ love manga or manhwa you think I should read. You must be at least 18 years old to enter. The giveaway runs from today through December 11th, 2009. Winners will be chosen at random and announced here on December 12th. All the suggested boys’ love titles will be compiled for posting as well!

Hooray for the season of giving!

Claymore 15 & a little link-blogging

November 10, 2009 by MJ 6 Comments

To start things off, I have a review of volume fifteen of Claymore in this week’s Manga Minis column at Manga Recon. Before the eye-rolling begins over the high grades I’ve given recent volumes of Claymore, I’d like to say that I think it has really come into its own as a strong dark fantasy series and that those who dismissed it after the first few volumes are genuinely missing out. It’s true that I’m a patient reader and may enjoy a slow-burning series more than most. I love to watch multiple layers revealed over time, forcing me to continuously re-evaluate what the story is really about, and though it may seem a bit late in the game for the author to begin revealing those layers twelve or thirteen volumes in, in this case I think it’s well worth the wait. There aren’t many series from Viz’s Shonen Jump Advanced line that have endured for me as well as this one. It’s definitely worth a second look….

NANA Project #3!

October 16, 2009 by MJ Leave a Comment

Just a couple of quick links this morning as I sit in the Salt Lake City airport waiting for my flight home. First of all, the third installment of the NANA Project is up, in which Danielle Leigh, Michelle Smith and I discuss volumes five and six of NANA. In this installment, we focus heavily on the addition of Trapnest to the regular cast of characters, and particularly Hachi’s involvement with Takumi. If you’re new to the Project, check out our discussion of volumes one, two, three, & four and please, join us in comments!

In other offsite news, check out my review of Kamichama Karin Chu, volume 4 in this week’s manga minis, and look for my review of the second volume of Rasetsu soon in an upcoming On The Shojo Beat column to be posted over the next couple of days. (ETA: Rasetsu review is up!)

Homeward bound!

Welcome to Manga Bookshelf!

October 4, 2009 by MJ 12 Comments

Yes, you’ve reached the new home of MJ’s Manga Bookshelf, formerly There it is, Plain as Daylight. Nothing is changing over here except for the new matching name and URL, so please continue to join me for my manga reviews and discussion!

My new RSS feed is can be found here. Please note, too, my updated e-mail address.

You may find things here that still point to the old blog. I’m updating them as quickly as possible. Please let me know if you encounter any difficulties. The old blog will definitely remain but mainly for personal use, so please adjust your links to keep up with all things manga!

Thanks, and welcome to the newest chapter in my blogging life!

Return from NYAF & a Manga Mini!

September 29, 2009 by MJ Leave a Comment

I’m finally back from NYAF, though it’s off to work straight away! I’ll be writing up coverage over the next couple of days but in the meantime, you can check out my review of the third volume of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei in yesterday’s Manga Minis column. This is a series many people have issues with in terms of how well it translates due to frequent in-jokes and obscure cultural references that are unlikely to be understood by western readers. Though this volume is probably the most difficult so far in that sense, I still found it readable and extremely enjoyable.

I had a great time at the convention and I have a lot to say about it, so stay tuned!

Traveling again!

September 24, 2009 by MJ Leave a Comment

Things are going to get quiet here again for a few days as I’ll be boarding an early morning (very early morning) train tomorrow to head out to the New York Anime Festival. I had a great time last year and I anticipate more of the same! NYAF is my kind of con. It’s conveniently located, reasonably sized, and attracts a decent number of manga publishers (though I weep at the lack of Yen Press representation this year!) and since this is its last year alone before teaming up with New York Comic-Con, there’s no way I’d miss it. It’s also close to my old stomping grounds, so I’m usually able to catch up with a friend or two while I’m in town.

If you’re also attending, please stop and say hello to me over the course of the weekend! I’m very much looking forward to meeting up with other manga bloggers, reviewers, and readers, so please don’t be shy (and try to ignore the fact that I am).

I’ll be back next week with news and stories to tell!