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New Manga Licenses from Sakura Con and Anime Boston

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Been a while since I did a licenses post, but this weekend had two conventions bringing us three publishers announcing a whole bunch of titles. So what exactly is coming soon?

First off, from Vertical, a redone, re-translated, deluxe omnibus version of Ai Yazawa’s fashion romance Paradise Kiss, which first came out, not in Shodensha’s josei magazine Feel Young, but in a fashion magazine for young women, Zipper. I’ve reviewed it before for the Manga Moveable Feast, and it’s a great pick up. Yazawa went on to the even more popular Nana, of course, and fans of that series should like this as well.

Dark Horse announced several licenses that seemed obvious for them, but the one that stood out was the one that didn’t. Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai (better known as OreImo, and translated as My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute) started life as a light novel, then (as with most moe light novels) quickly became a franchise, spawning two manga series, two anime series, a web animation series, two games… In any case, Dark Horse has licensed the first manga series, which is four volumes and ran in ASCII Mediaworks’s Dengeki G’s magazine. The series is best described as ‘not quite incest’, and is staggeringly popular among fans of ‘moe’ and ‘little sister’ type anime/games.

The rest of Dark Horse’s announcements look more like something we’d expect from them. Blood-C is a manga adaptation of the anime of the same name, from the Blood the Last Vampire/Blood+ series also licensed by Dark Horse. This current incarnation runs in Kadokawa Shoten’s Shonen Ace. Evangelion: Comic Tribute is a one-volume doujinshi collection featuring popular mangaka doing takes on Evangelion (I imagine it’s similar to Bandai’s Code Geass Knight and Queen anthologies). Emerald and Other Stories is a collection of several short stories written by Blade of the Immortal author Hiroaki Samura, most of which I believe ran in Kodansha’s Afternoon magazine, home of BotI. Lastly, Yoshitaka Amano is doing a new illustrated novel, Deva Zan, which like much of Amano’s recent work seems to be written for the Western market, i.e. Dark Horse will publish it first.

Then there’s Yen Press, who made several announcements as well, and like Dark Horse it was a mix of surprising and obvious. The surprise was the announcement of Thermae Romae, an award-winning manga from Enterbrain’s Comic Beam about a Roman bath designer who time-travels to various places to see what modern bathing is like. The very definition of ‘better than it sounds’, it will be coming out in omnibus hardcover editions.

Kaoru Mori’s A Bride’s Story has done pretty well for Yen, so they’ve decided to license Anything and Something, a collection of short stories that only just came out in Japan a couple of months ago from Enterbrain. Again, hardcover.

Also in an oversized omnibus is a license that many fans had been begging for. Umineko no Naku Koro ni is not so much a direct sequel to Higurashi as it is a thematic one. A group of people gather on a secluded island, and bad things start to happen. Generally thought to be deeper than Higurashi, it’s also more cynical and bittersweet. (For those who missed it, the final two ‘arcs’ of the main Higurashi series, which were 6 and 8 volumes in Japan, will be coming out in omnibus format here as well, starting in September with the Massacre Arc.)

Blood Lad comes from Kadokawa’s Young Ace, and is 5+ volumes. It’s a comedic take on vampires, demons and werewolves, which makes it an obvious choice for licensing over here in the West, where the mere word vampire grants a certain number of sales.

Yen is re-releasing Alice In The Country Of Hearts this June, and they’re picking up the sequels that Tokyopop originally had before they went under. My Fanatic Rabbit ran in Mag Garden’s shoujo magazine Comic Blade Avarus, and seems to focus on Elliot, the “March Hare” of the series.

Another Haruhi spinoff, The Misfortune of Kyon and Koizumi, seems to be another ‘doujinshi anthology’ similar to Dark Horse’s Evangelion one. Needless to say, Kyon and Koizumi will feature. It also seems to be another ‘alternate universe’, similar to that of the also licensed Disappearance of Nagato Yuki.

Lastly, the author of High School of the Dead also has another title, Triage X. It runs in Fujimi Shobo’s Dragon Age (meaning it’s another Kadokawa title), and is filled with high school assassins, violence, and fanservice. But fewer zombies.

So, what has you the most excited? (Also, anyone else noticing that 2-volume omnibuses are the new 1-volume paperback?)

Inside the DMG: Getting to work!

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It’s been quite a while since my last installment of this feature, largely due to the fact that my DMG work itself has required a great deal of my time. Now that I’ve completed a number of my current assignments, I’d like to take the next few weeks to break down my experience, and also to look into how the Digital Manga Guild is being received so far by the online community, both members and fans.

Readers may recall that Guild members finally received contracts back in June of last year. Then in late July, after great deal of angst and discussion, the group I’d joined finally fell apart, due to the others’ reluctance to sign their DMG contracts.

Though I’m not able to get into the details of my former group’s dissolution, I can tell you that the other members’ decisions were less driven by issues with the contract itself (though these certainly were a factor) and more by an ongoing dispute with DMG management about some of the group’s qualification tests, about which they’d been given conflicting information from the start. Overall, lack of effective and accurate communication between DMG’s caretakers and its members is what killed my original group, something which continues to be an issue for the Guild (I’ll talk about that more later).

In September, I put my name back into the pool of editors without a group, though I wasn’t especially hopeful about snagging one.

Given the overwhelming number of groupless editors in the mix, I thought it likely that my own reporting was pretty much done, and with that in mind, asked the active group BLBangBang if they’d be willing to write up a report on their own experiences, since I had failed to get far enough to actually begin work. They submitted their report in early October, just a few days after I was contacted by Morgan, leader of the group Purple Prose Killers, who thankfully invited me to join her team.

Though I’d finally found a group (again), it would be a while before I’d have real work—at least that’s how things originally stood. The PPK had already received their first batch of assignments, and the work had been distributed and signed off on with the DMG. I’d get my own stuff to work on the next time around, Morgan said, and in the meantime, I offered myself up for final proofreading or anything else the group might need.

A few weeks later, it became clear that the group’s existing editor was going to have difficulty making deadlines for all three of her titles, due to some unexpected personal conflicts. I agreed to take over two of these titles (Keiko Kinoshita’s Yuri Sensei is in a Good Mood Today as Well and A Lovely Day with Yuri Sensei) to help out, though we were told by DMG that I wouldn’t be able to receive credit (or payment) for them, as the paperwork had already been signed. Since I wasn’t accepting payment anyway, I did not see this as a problem. My priority was getting some real working experience so that I could continue my report. (Also, as a big fan of Kinoshita, I’ll admit I was pretty psyched.) In the meantime, DMG assigned us an additional title “for MJto work on,” so I’d have something official to show for myself.

By the end of November, the group’s original editor was entirely MIA. In early December, she was formally removed from the group, at which point DMG agreed to redo the original paperwork so that I would officially be named as editor on all three titles.

Though I’d been working on the two titles I’d taken over, suddenly I had four books on my docket, and the first deadline (for the title I hadn’t been working on) was approaching fast! I was officially named editor on Syuko Nishimura’s Career Gate on December 6th, with a final submission deadline of January 15th. Though the original editor had completed the first chapter, I decided it would be more consistent for me to start from scratch.

Much panic ensued.

Check in next week for the next article in this series, “Process, process, process”!

Recalibrating the Manga Radar

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Sorry for the recent radio silence, but in addition to non-internet demands on my time (and there are a few) I was also a tad hesitant: I posted the Manga Radar report each week (with each new set of Manga Bestsellers) but wondered if any of them [and there have been 10 so far] were accessable to readers and were of value.

I think I’m presenting some valuable information about the manga market from a unique viewpoint, but as has been pointed out to me, it is also merely another long list of manga titles without much context. *I* get the context because I spend a lot of time wading through the data to compile & post the manga bestsellers but my understanding and intuitive grasp of the market is, well, far from intuitive.

In seeking out feedback from manga mavens on twitter, the primary complaint was that long lists of manga titles tend to be eye-numbingly dull. I recognize the complaint, and the rationale behind the complaint, but long lists of manga (properly sorted) are kind of my thing. It’s what I do.

I do, however, take reader feedback to heart (especially when I specifically asked for feedback and all but cornered a few folks until they gave it up) and so I will endeavor to not only provide context for the long lists, but also to break down the lists into more manageable, digestible chunks.

There is a lot of value in the data I have. Perhaps you missed it, but these are books that fans want so much they have preordered them online—I don’t actually add a book to my database until it sells, somewhere, online. In looking at how new titles are preforming as preorders—how many volumes are preordered, how far in advance, and how strongly in relation to other available manga—publishers may get clues to the performance of titles not available from other sources, fans might get clued in on new titles that weren’t previously [cough] “on their radar”, and perhaps most valuably: retailers with limited resources have an objective source—recommendations backed by actual data—for items that they should perhaps order into their store. This was one of the points I wanted to make in the recent sales analysis post and now I’m making it explicitly: My bestsellers track online sales—following the pulse of fan demand—so if I see preorders for new volumes 6 to 9 months out it might be something worth stocking on shelves.

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All of the titles I include (and have blogged in the past) in these “Manga Radar” posts are notable because they did not previously show up in sources, to the limits of my methods. [I’ll point out here that ‘to the limits of my methods’ includes not only 7 different web sites but also the top 1000+ manga listings from Amazon, weekly.]

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Manga Radar: 11-26 February 2012

We have 3 weeks of data to cover so the lists only get longer – I’ll walk you through it all, though; it’s not so bad, stick with me.

Part of the new format is breaking the list up by date: first up are the Database Additions, older titles that somehow I missed [amazing considering I’ve been at this for close to 5 years and have more than 10,000 manga titles already in the database, but it would seem there are always new odd corners of manga publication history that continually come to light].

Candidate for Goddess 1 – Tokyopop, Apr 2004 ::
Candidate for Goddess 2 – Tokyopop, Jun 2004 ::
Candidate for Goddess 3 – Tokyopop, Aug 2004 ::
Candidate for Goddess 4 – Tokyopop, Oct 2004 ::
Candidate for Goddess 5 – Tokyopop, Dec 2004 ::
Princess Ninja Scroll: Tenka Muso 1 – DMP, Nov 2005 ::
Princess Ninja Scroll: Tenka Muso 2 – DMP, Feb 2006 ::
Shinobu Kokoro – Tokyopop Blu, Nov 2005 ::
Our Everlasting 1 – DMP Juné, Dec 2005 ::
My Only King – DMP Juné, Mar 2006 ::
Solfege – DMP Juné, Apr 2007 ::
Ichigenme: The First Class Is Civil Law 2 – 801 Media, Jun 2007 ::
Momo Tama 3 – Tokyopop, Sep 2009 ::
Momo Tama 4 – Tokyopop, Mar 2010 ::
Navigating the World of a Purple Shoe – Sodansha CoLtd, Dec 2010 ::

Candidate for Goddess was an anime actually shown on Cartoon Network back in the day; I had no idea there was a manga. Similarly old-school are the DMP titles—quite a few of which pre-date DMP’s Juné imprint and have “DMP Yaoi Manga” on the cover dress as opposed to Juné’s familiar white rose.

I had previously logged Ichigenme: The First Class Is Civil Law but wasn’t aware there was a second volume; similarly the last 2 volumes of Momo Tama aren’t new, per se, but are new to the database.

That last one, though: Navigating the World of a Purple Shoe [isbn 9781456441074] is a real enigma: it’s only 52 pages but it seems that there was an actual book, not just an e-manga edition. It’s not a self-published title so far as I know, but the publisher is listed on some sources as “Sodansha” and on others as “CreateSpace,” an Amazon division [purchased in 2005] that was previously known primarily for press-on-demand DVDs. It’s credited to “Shu-hey Fujisawa” (possibly author Shuhei Fujisawa) but that doesn’t tell us anything about the art. So: a mystery presented to us by the byzantine ways Amazon reports “manga” in search results, compounded by the new illogical inconsistencies in the way Amazon reports items as “books.”

Here’s a second batch of Database Additions, not from the distant past—merely from last year

Red Hot Chili Samurai 4 – Tokyopop, Mar 2011 ::
Countdown 7 Days 1 – DMP, May 2011 ::
Sonic the Hedgehog 15 – Archie Comics, Jun 2011 ::
Fate/Stay Night 11 – Tokyopop, Jun 2011 ::
Ghostface 1 – Tokyopop, Jun 2011 ::
Hanako & The Terror of Allegory 4 – Tokyopop, Jun 2011 ::
Sonic the Hedgehog 16 – Archie Comics, Oct 2011 ::
Yuichi Yokoyama: Color Engineering – PictureBox, Oct 2011 ::

The Tokyopop titles came up recently at buy.com: it seems they located a cache of late-publishing Tokyopop titles from around the time of that publisher’s closing announcement last May. There are additional T’Pop titles that I was able to change from “cancelled” to “published”—but these are still dear and exceptionally hard to come by. (I won’t post a full listing of Tokyopop’s final hurrah unless asked.)

Additionally, I’d previously been tracking the Sonic licensed comics from Archie, and while these trade paperbacks aren’t brand new, this is the first time these particular volumes showed up in sources

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In this and future posts, following the database additions will be two new categories: the new releases, and then the preorders by month.

Here are the New Releases — which like the top 50 listed in the Manga 500 reports are the new manga titles released this month & last:

Kanjou Spectrum (ebook) – Animate/Libre, Feb 2012 ::
Kiss Ariki (ebook) 7 – Animate/Libre, Feb 2012 ::
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Sonic the Hedgehog 17 – Archie Comics, Feb 2012 ::
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Betting My Life with You (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Blooming Darling (ebook) 2 – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Chayamachi’s Collection: Noir (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Classmate (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Indefinite Sociogram (ebook) 1 – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Long Version (ebook) 1 – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Jan 2012 ::
Long Version (ebook) 2 – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Mad Cinderella (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Neck-Tie (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Reset (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Sadistic Boy (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Sunday’s Child (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
That Cute Kid Is Mine & Mine (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
The World Is Full of Cheating Boyfriends (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
Want to Depend on You (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
You & Tonight (ebook) 1 – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Jan 2012 ::
You Get an Angel (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Feb 2012 ::
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Three P – DMP Project-H, Feb 2012 ::
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The Secret World of Arrietty 1 – Viz Ghibli Library, Feb 2012 ::
The Secret World of Arrietty 2 – Viz Ghibli Library, Feb 2012 ::
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Toriko 8 – Viz Shonen Jump, Feb 2012 ::
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Ice Cage (ebook) – Yaoi Press, Feb 2012 ::

The DMG doesn’t usually dominate the list in quite this way, but since I’m playing catch-up, we have 3-weeks-worth of releases to consider—that qualifier in place: Damn, but the DMG is really pushing out manga. These are only the titles I’m tracking because they show up in sources [primarily Amazon, but some are also coming out for Nook] and likely doesn’t include every title that is made available through the program.

The Digital Manga Guild isn’t the only publisher releasing yaoi ebooks; we also have two new titles from Animate/Libre this month, and while Yaoi Press might be slower with their release schedule, each release typically ranks higher; Ice Cage is the most recent addition but there were two other releases—Zolabarth Bi and Trapped Wizard—that had stronger preorders and so aren’t “new” to the database this week (but are still new).

Past the merely new, though, are the titles now showing up as Pre-orders:

Stepping on Roses 7 – Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2012 ::
The Earl & The Fairy 1 – Viz Shojo Beat, Mar 2012 ::
Reaper Zone (ebook) 1 – [self published, Rewat Immak], Mar 2012 ::
Blue Sheep Reverie 5 – DMP Juné, Mar 2012 ::
Is This a Zombie? 1 – Yen Press, Mar 2012 ::
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Countdown 7 Days 2 – DMP, Apr 2012 ::
Replica 2 – DMP, Apr 2012 ::
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Castle Mango 1 – DMP Juné, May 2012 ::
Good Morning – DMP Juné, May 2012 ::
Private Teacher 3 – DMP Juné, May 2012 ::
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Kamisama Kiss 9 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jun 2012 ::
Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan 9 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2012 ::
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Sonic the Hedgehog 18 – Archie Comics, Jul 2012 ::
Gate 7 vol 3 – Dark Horse, Jul 2012 ::
Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 ::
Toxic (anthology) 1 – Udon, Jul 2012 ::
Book Girl and the Wayfarer’s Lamentation (novel) – Yen Press, Jul 2012 ::
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Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee 10 – Viz Shonen Jump, Aug 2012 ::
Inuyasha VizBig Edition 12 – Viz Shonen Sunday, Aug 2012 ::
Tenjo Tenge vols 15-16 collection – Viz Signature, Aug 2012 ::
Heart of Thomas – Fantagraphics, Aug 2012 ::
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Gunslinger Girl Omnibus 5 – Seven Seas, Sep 2012 ::
Fushigi Yugi Genbu Kaiden 10 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2012 ::
Otomen 13 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2012 ::
Bakuman 14 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2012 ::
Loveless 9 – Viz, Sep 2012 ::
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Negima! 36 – Kodansha Comics, Oct 2012 ::
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Sailor Moon 8 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 ::

One reason I first pitched “Manga Radar” as a column was the information above: something like Sailor Moon vol 8 won’t really show up in other reports for another 6 months at least, but how interesting to note that fans are pre-ordering it online nine months in advance—it’s a stronger indicator of fan interest than anything else I can note, especially considering each preorder is backed by a valid credit card. There are some properties here that never show up in top 10 lists: Kamisama Kiss, Book Girl, Tegami Bachi, Gunslinger Girl, Fushigi Yugi, Otomen—and yet each of these has a fan base that is not only following the title but is hungry for the new releases.

This is the kind of information that I wanted to present—the insight into the market that I hoped to share. In future Manga Radar posts, I’ll take the extra time needed to give you the context and to provide these manga properties with the spotlight they deserve. And of course, I’d like to remind you that I not only find new releases each week, I rank them. My manga bestsellers are not just mildly entertaining and of interest to the fans, I’m also providing tools that retailers can use to stock their shelves, and inform their ordering process.

I hope this “new-style” Manga Radar report is an improvement over the original; please give me additional feedback if you feel there are other areas where it could be improved.

Claiming our BL biases

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Last week, a reader commented to express concern that my work with DMP’s Digital Manga Guild for Inside the DMG might result in a bias towards their releases when reviewing for BL Bookrack. Whereas I feel that I’ve taken steps to avoid bias or misrepresentation (all earnings are going to the CBLDF as stated since the beginning, and I’ve been completely up front about my participation), it’s certainly up to each reader to choose how she (or he) wants to interpret my reviews, based on that disclosure.

But even if I feel absolutely comfortable that I’m critiquing DMP and/or DMG releases with a fair mind (and I do) it would be incorrect to say that I have no biases when it comes to BL. I most certainly do have biases, and they’re pretty freaking obvious in all of my reviews. It’s just that they’re more about content than whose logo is on the spine.

Like most fans of romance (BL or otherwise) I have very specific tastes, some of which may make or break a title with me. I’ve outlined my deal breakers pretty thoroughly in the past, so I won’t repeat it all now. In a way, it’s these biases/tastes that, in part, make my reviews (or anyone’s) valuable. Since there is no truly objective way to evaluate or talk about fiction, it’s our individual backgrounds and tastes that make multiple reviews of the same book worthwhile. Readers who share my general tastes (for instance), especially my most specific peculiarities, will have that in mind as they read my reviews—and this goes for readers who don’t share them as well. Both our similarities and differences with other people help to guide us to what we’ll most identify with or enjoy.

So, to take this conversation in a positive direction, I thought I’d take a moment to list the BL titles I’ve read over the past few years that have best conformed to my specific tastes since I began reviewing BL manga and manhwa. These are titles that have my biases written all over them. They are, quite simply, my favorites. Take that as you will!

Wild Adapter (Kazuya Minekura, Tokyopop)
Ichigenme… The The First Class is Civil Law (Fumi Yoshinaga, 801 Media)
The Moon and the Sandals (Fumi Yoshinaga, Juné)
Future Lovers (Saika Kunieda, Deux Press)
U Don’t Know Me (Rakun, Netcomics)
Red Blinds the Foolish (est em, Deux Press)
Age Called Blue (est em, Netcomics)
One Thousand and One Nights (Jeon JinSeok & Han SeungHee, Yen Press)
Totally Captivated (Hajin Yoo, Netcomics)
Roureville (E. Hae, Netcomics)
Color (Eiki Eiki & Taishi Zaou, DokiDoki)
Kiss Blue (Keiko Kinoshita, Juné)
Seven Days (Rihito Takarai & Venio Tachiban, Juné)
A Liar in Love (Kiyo Ueda, Juné)
Only Serious About You (Kai Asou, Juné)
You & Tonight (Keiko Kinoshita, Digital Manga Guild)
About Love (Narise Konohara, Juné)
My Darling Kitten Hair (Haruko Kumota, JManga/Libre Publishing)

Looking at this list, I’d identify my tastes as these: I like long, plotty series or quiet/ideosyncratic character studies much more than anything that falls in-between. I like Fumi Yoshinaga, Keiko Kinoshita, and est em. I like Korean BL (man do I like Korean BL—somebody please license more!). I don’t really care if the stories have sex, but I definitely want romance and/or intense emotional intimacy. I like emotional messiness and complication. I care more about the development of a relationship than I do its consummation. I don’t require realism, except when it comes to emotional truth (The Way to Heaven really almost made this list). I like (though can’t always get) stories where at least one character actually identifies as gay. Other books that (inexplicably) came very close to making this list include Deeply Loving a Maniac (801 Media) and Oku-san’s Daily Fantasies (SuBLime).

If you share my biases, I recommend you check out these titles. And I promise you let you know when I find more, no matter who has published them.

And now I put it to you: Readers, what are your BL biases? What makes a story work (or not) for you and what titles have most closely fit the bill?

Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Juné, 801 Media, DokiDoki and Digital Manga Guild are all imprints produced by Digital Manga Publishing.

Wild Adapter OVA announced

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Fans of Kazuya Minekura’s unfinished BL action series Wild Adapter have been holding out hope for years that the series might one day be continued. News last year of its move to Ichijinsha provided a glimmer of real positivity, as it seemed that artistic differences may have been at least partially responsible for the series’ discontinuation, though of course a change in publisher can’t magically resolve the author’s persistent health problems, which have been ongoing since 2004.

Still, we may soon have something to hold us over as we continue to wait and hope. Earlier this week, ANN reported that a video anime has been green-lit, along with a new “vocal CD, a ‘Kubo-Toki’ live concert event, and a new art collection book titled sugar coat excess.”

Several of us here at Manga Bookshelf (specifically Michelle, David, & I) have been vocal fans of this series for some time, and I find myself receiving this news with both excitement and trepidation. On one hand, I would be very, very happy if a new OVA helped to generate new interest in the series, especially from fans who might not have considered checking it out before. I also hope very much that the animated adaptation remains true to the best elements of the manga, and I feel some nervousness on that front.

What say you, readers?

For more information on Wild Adapter, see last year’s Manga Moveable Feast, including our Introduction to Wild Adapter, BL Bookrack: Wild Adapter Roundtable (with special guest David Welsh), 3 Things Thursday: Wild Adapter, and Fanservice Friday: The Human Touch.

What the fans want, what the fans buy: Online Sales Analysis year-end 2011

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Brigid asked:
What manga would draw you to a comic shop?

“That actually raises an interesting question: You can buy Naruto anywhere, but Twin Spica is hard to find in a bookstore—I would make a special trip for that, but I can see the opposite point of view as well—retailers want to stock what sells. So let me throw this question to the readers: Which manga would entice you to do your shopping in a comic shop?”

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Not every reader has access to the kind of numbers I have (though I certainly share quite a bit) and everyone has their own favorites — but I recently compiled the 15-week chart for the end of 2011 [18 Sep 2011 through 1 Jan 2012] so I can maybe answer Brigid’s question with a bit more, rigor than most.

Let’s start with the top selling series. ICv2 has already released their top 25 Manga Properties for 2011 and their list is going to look a lot like mine — though theirs is “based on interviews with retailers, distributors, and manufacturers” and I compile online sales data instead.

Here’s ICv2’s Top 10

1. Naruto, Viz Media
2. Bleach, Viz Media
3. Vampire Knight, Viz Media
4. Sailor Moon, Kodansha Comics
5. Black Butler, Yen Press
6. Blackbird, Viz Media
7. Fullmetal Alchemist, Viz Media
8. Rosario + Vampire, Viz Media
9. Soul Eater, Yen Press
10. One Piece, Viz Media

And here’s my top 15 from Q4 2011:

1. ↑4 (5) : Sailor Moon – Kodansha Comics [16,019.7] ::
2. ↔0 (2) : Naruto – Viz Shonen Jump [11,156.0] ::
3. ↔0 (3) : Maximum Ride – Yen Press [10,796.1] ::
4. ↓-3 (1) : Black Butler – Yen Press [10,697.3] ::
5. ↓-1 (4) : Vampire Knight – Viz Shojo Beat [10,208.8] ::
6. ↑4 (10) : Pokemon – Vizkids [8,073.2] ::
7. ↔0 (7) : Negima! – Del Rey [7,508.1] ::
8. ↑4 (12) : Warriors – HC/Tokyopop [7,375.6] ::
9. ↑5 (14) : Fullmetal Alchemist – Viz [6,987.1] ::
10. ↓-2 (8) : Black Bird – Viz Shojo Beat [6,748.6] ::
11. ↓-2 (9) : Bleach – Viz Shonen Jump [6,537.1] ::
12. ↑6 (18) : Blue Exorcist – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced [5,676.4] ::
13. ↑29 (42) : xxxHolic – Del Rey [5,663.0] ::
14. ↓-8 (6) : Ouran High School Host Club – Viz Shojo Beat [5,636.1] ::
15. ↑12 (27) : Death Note – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced [5,565.9] ::

[see more]

First, I report things a little differently: You can see that from August to December, Sailor Moon went from 5th place to 1st, Fullmetal Alchemist and xxxHolic [both nearing final volumes] were also on the rise, as was Death Note [thanks to the omnibus-style ‘black editions’]

There is also that pesky number at the end, which is my Score. Since Amazon doesn’t report volumes sold, neither can I, but my score might be considered very roughly equivalent: Sailor Moon likely outsold Death Note 3-to-1, for example — or at the very least, Sailor Moon was in my top 10 three times as often.

The goal of my process is not only to rank the top 10, or 25, or 2500 manga for any given timeframe but also to determine vectors: motion up and down the charts, which titles are strong new releases, which are even stronger in pre-orders.

Speaking of preorders: I run that chart as well; here’s a top 10

8. ↑73 (81) : Sailor Moon 3 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2012 [4,744.6] ::
18. ↑53 (71) : Sailor Moon 4 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [3,804.1] ::
19. ↑698 (717) : Sailor Moon 5 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [3,646.3] ::
84. ↑3143 (3227) : Sailor Moon 6 – Kodansha Comics, Jun 2012 [1,711.9] ::
93. ↑355 (448) : Negima! 33 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2012 [1,593.5] ::
117. ↑1056 (1173) : Negima! 34 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [1,330.1] ::
121. ↑475 (596) : Dance in the Vampire Bund 11 – Seven Seas, Jan 2012 [1,319.7] ::
128. ↑531 (659) : Black Butler 8 – Yen Press, Jan 2012 [1,217.8] ::
136. ↑1025 (1161) : Naruto 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [1,135.5] ::
145. ↑731 (876) : Private Teacher 2 – DMP Juné, Jan 2012 [1,066.0] ::

[see more]

We’re still looking at the same timeframe, the last 15 weeks of 2011. The top 4 pre-orders over the fall were the next four volumes of Sailor Moon — in the case of vol. 6, folks were ordering it 6 months or more before it would even come out, likely as soon as they caught wind of a link or found it themselves online.

I hate to characterize ICv2 as the ‘direct market’ — but in some ways that is their target audience. I think this also explains why they have Sailor Moon as only the #4 manga property, while for me it was solidly #1 and has been for over 6 months.

…Sailor Moon was obviously performing better online. This raises an obvious question, though: If I’m a LCS or small bookstore owner, why would I stock titles that are already selling online? Haven’t any prospective customers already bought their books?

Yes, and no. Amazon only does about 20-30% of trade book sales [varies by quarter, and yes, expanding: source], and please note the barriers to entry: to shop from Amazon you need either large stacks of gift cards (not so common) or a valid credit card. If you still feel the manga market is primarily tweens and teens from 12 to (say) 22, then you’ve identified a market that is desperate for the books but can’t (always) buy online.

If you compare my list to ICv2, you might also notice I’m heavier in Kodansha & Yen, and not as deep in Viz — though the Shonen Jump marquee titles are all there. I think this is reflective of book store (and Wal-Mart) stocking patterns — you can buy Naruto anywhere, as noted. Outside of Shonen Jump, though, things get dicier.

##

One way I used to cut through the haze (back in 2008) was to post a ‘Midlist’ Chart, noted at least once as “denarutofied for your convenience and my sanity”: the concept was to exclude the top 5 (or 10, or 15) series (that even back in 2008 were already running into dozens of volumes) so we could see what else was selling.

Still playing with the same data set [last 15 weeks of 2011] here’s a new top 10 minus the top 5 properties:

1. ↑8 (9) : Yotsuba&! 10 – Yen Press, Oct 2011 [4,613.5] ::
2. ↑18 (20) : Fullmetal Alchemist 26 – Viz, Sep 2011 [3,550.8] ::
3. ↑18 (21) : Rosario+Vampire Season II 6 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2011 [3,541.3] ::
4. ↑19 (23) : Negima! 31 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [3,454.8] ::
5. ↑20 (25) : Warriors SkyClan & The Stranger 1 – HC/Tokyopop, Jul 2011 [3,222.1] ::
6. ↑20 (26) : xxxHolic 17 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [3,187.9] ::
7. ↑20 (27) : Pokemon Black & White 2 – Vizkids, Jul 2011 [3,176.6] ::
8. ↑ (28) : Negima! 32 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [3,110.0] ::
9. ↑20 (29) : Pokemon Black & White 3 – Vizkids, Sep 2011 [3,054.1] ::
10. ↑20 (30) : Black Bird 10 – Viz Shojo Beat, Sep 2011 [3,048.2] ::

[in the list above and the following Midlist rankings, the number in parentheses is the actual ranking, Autumn 2011, and I renumbered this top 10 to show how many ranks each title ‘jumps’]

Next, Let’s eliminate the top 10 series.

1. ↑8 (9) : Yotsuba&! 10 – Yen Press, Oct 2011 [4,613.5] ::
2. ↑19 (21) : Rosario+Vampire Season II 6 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2011 [3,541.3] ::
3. ↑23 (26) : xxxHolic 17 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [3,187.9] ::
4. ↑29 (33) : Bleach 36 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2011 [2,968.2] ::
5. ↑29 (34) : Skip Beat! 25 – Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2011 [2,942.3] ::
6. ↑30 (36) : Pandora Hearts 7 – Yen Press, Oct 2011 [2,898.6] ::
7. ↑32 (39) : Blue Exorcist 4 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2011 [2,800.4] ::
8. ↑32 (40) : Death Note vols 1-13 box set – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2008 [2,793.2] ::
9. ↑34 (43) : Ouran High School Host Club 17 – Viz Shojo Beat, Dec 2011 [2,633.7] ::
10. ↑34 (44) : Berserk 35 – Dark Horse, Oct 2011 [2,632.7] ::

And now the top 15.

1. ↑8 (9) : Yotsuba&! 10 – Yen Press, Oct 2011 [4,613.5] ::
2. ↑19 (21) : Rosario+Vampire Season II 6 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2011 [3,541.3] ::
3. ↑31 (34) : Skip Beat! 25 – Viz Shojo Beat, Oct 2011 [2,942.3] ::
4. ↑32 (36) : Pandora Hearts 7 – Yen Press, Oct 2011 [2,898.6] ::
5. ↑39 (44) : Berserk 35 – Dark Horse, Oct 2011 [2,632.7] ::
6. ↑39 (45) : Highschool of the Dead 4 – Yen Press, Oct 2011 [2,626.4] ::
7. ↑39 (46) : One Piece 58 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2011 [2,582.2] ::
8. ↑40 (48) : Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus 2 – Dark Horse, Dec 2010 [2,566.2] ::
9. ↑41 (50) : Finder Series 4 Prisoner in the View Finder – DMP Juné, Aug 2011 [2,511.1] ::
10. ↑43 (53) : Soul Eater 7 – Yen Press, Oct 2011 [2,357.2] ::

And now a top 25: in addition to the exclusions above, now we’re skipping Highschool of the Dead (Yen Press), Yotsuba&! (Yen), One Piece (Shonen Jump), Pandora Hearts (Yen), Legend of Zelda (Vizkids), Soul Eater (Yen), Rosario+Vampire (Shonen Jump Advanced), Dengeki Daisy (Shojo Beat), Skip Beat! (Shojo Beat), & the View Finder series (DMP Juné) — note the top ranking volumes of each of the series are still in the top 40 overall — and we’re still left with

1. ↑43 (44) : Berserk 35 – Dark Horse, Oct 2011 [2,632.7] ::
2. ↑46 (48) : Cardcaptor Sakura Omnibus 2 – Dark Horse, Dec 2010 [2,566.2] ::
3. ↑56 (59) : Spice & Wolf (manga) 5 – Yen Press, Oct 2011 [2,253.4] ::
4. ↑57 (61) : Battle Royale (novel) – Viz Haikasoru, Mar 2003 [2,177.7] ::
5. ↑59 (64) : D. Gray-Man 21 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Nov 2011 [2,141.4] ::
6. ↑62 (68) : Witch & Wizard 1 – Yen Press, Sep 2011 [2,000.3] ::
7. ↑63 (70) : Drops of God 1 – Vertical, Oct 2011 [1,894.6] ::
8. ↑65 (73) : Shugo Chara! 12 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [1,867.5] ::
9. ↑66 (75) : Bakuman 7 – Viz Shonen Jump, Oct 2011 [1,844.5] ::
10. ↑67 (77) : Vampire Kisses Graveyard Games 1 – HC/Tokyopop, Sep 2011 [1,811.5] ::

…a short list: even (and especially?) after eliminating so many worthy books all of these manga volumes are still Top 100 titles. (and if these aren’t series you’re already familiar with, if I were a shop owner I’d endeavor to learn a few.)

If all you have room for is a single run of bookcases along a medium sized wall [say 10-15 ft.] that is still space for 800-1500 manga volumes [do the math] : Enough for every extant volume in the Top 20 manga series [yes, including One Piece & Naruto] and some others besides.

Introducing Fanbatte!

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As many of you know, I came into the manga blogosphere by way of fandom. And when I say “fandom” I mean Fandom, with a capital F(anfiction). I’ve talked about this here a bit, most recently in Manga Bookshelf’s fanfiction roundtable with Sean and Michelle, where I mentioned that my fandom experience happened pretty much entirely on Livejournal, which is where I learned to blog as well.

There are some things I don’t miss about Livejournal fandom, and some things I really do (though that fandom has largely moved away from LJ these days, and on to new blogging communities). I miss the passionate creativity, the female-dominated discourse, and the inevitable fandom meta inextricably linked to the discussions of the stories we were so passionate about.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been struggling with ways to bring some of my old fandom into the new, including bringing on quite a number of my favorite writers from those days to write at Manga Bookshelf. Now I’ve taken an even bigger step in that direction by inviting my good friend Aja Romano to act as a sort of fandom correspondent, in her new column Fanbatte! (A Beginner’s Guide to Cross-Cultural Fangirling).

She begins her column with an introduction to her and to fanfic, with the smart, joyful vibe I valued the most during my years in fandom.

So please, welcome Aja, take a look at her, inaugural post, and look for more as the week goes on!

PR: JManga launches “ABC of BL / Yaoi”

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If you’ve ever wondered what terms like “BL” and “yaoi” actually mean, or what the appeal is of the genre anyway, Japanese web portal JManga is offering up the basics, along with a few special gifts for readers who take a chance on some of their titles.

Readers who purchase BL titles 70% of First Love is… (Hiko Yamanaka), My Darling Kitten Hair (Haruko Kumota), 100 Blossoms to Love (Gido Amagakure), Pet on Duty (Nase Yamato), or Cigarette Kisses (Nase Yamato) between the dates of March 13th – March 26th will receive special gifts of either illustrated messages from the authors or special wallpaper featuring the books’ characters.

See this page for details, or read the official press release below.

PR: Special feature; “ABC of BL / Yaoi” – Exclusive illustrated messages straight from the artists!

News Release: March 13th, 2012 JManga.com, the first official and legal manga portal website, will be holding a special gift campaign from March 13th to 26th (PST) for BL/Yaoi Feature “ABC of BL/Yaoi”. Subscribers who purchase one of the corresponding BL/Yaoi titles during the campaign will receive a special gift from JManga!

Just in time for the campaign, JManga will be adding the adorably drawn and ever so sweet love story, “My Darling Kitten Hair” by Haruko Kumota. Purchase “My Darling Kitten Hair” Vol. 1 during the campaign and receive a special illustrated message from the artist, Haruko Kumota!

JManga will be also adding “70% of First Love is…” by Hiko Yamanaka and “100 Blossoms To Love” by Gido Amagakure on March 13th and will be giving away special wallpaper for both titles as well as special illustrated messages from Nase Yamato to those who purchase “Pet on Duty” or “Cigarette Kisses” during the campaign.

JManga.com continuously strives to offer the widest selection of legal online manga available, from major to niche, shonen to shojo and yuri to BL/Yaoi!

Summary: ”ABC of BL/Yaoi” Feature Release Campaign
Date: March 13th through 26th in 2012 (PST)
URL: http://www.jmanga.com/features/abc-of-bl-yaoi
Details: Purchase any of the following 5 BL titles and get a special gift!!
Title / Gift:
“My Darling Kitten Hair” (Released 3/13) / Illustrated message from Kumota Haruko-sensei
“Pet on Duty” / Illustrated message from Yamato Nase-sensei
“Cigarette Kisses” / Illustrated message from Yamato Nase-sensei
“70% of First Love is…” (Released 3/13) / Special wallpaper
“100 Blossoms To Love” (Released 3/13) / Special wallpaper

*Promotion times are based on US Pacific Standard Time.
*The availability of titles may differ from country to country.


Apple censors still targeting LGBTQ content?

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In June of 2010, Apple’s policies for adult content in the iOS App Store received a lot of attention in the comics press after Tom Bouden’s all-male graphic novel adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest was rejected from the store for its very mild sexual content, while similarly non-explicit heterosexual content seemed to be flying through just fine. Though Apple eventually agreed to accept a censored version of Bouden’s comic, Prism Comics founder Charles “Zan” Christensen gave voice to the thought on everyone’s mind at the time in his article, “iPad Publishing No Savior for Small Press, LGBT Comics Creators” at the company’s website. And though, just a year later, Apple seemed to throw its arms open wide to Christensen’s LGBT imprint Northwest Press by accepting several of Northwest’s comics into its iBooks store, publishers and fans have remained skeptical.

American manga publishers learned their lessons early on. In 2008, Yaoi Press founder Yamila Abraham—an early proponent of digital distribution—worked with a company called Fika Publishing to create apps for their comics, which feature male-male relationships. “They knew Apple had tight policies so we first attempted to get our tamest title accepted, Zesty,” Abraham told me in an e-mail this week. “There is no gay sex in Zesty. The gayest thing is two guys kissing. The School Library Journal even rated it grades 10 and up,” she said. “Apple flat out rejected it and refused to tell us why so we could modify it for a resubmission. To me it said they aren’t anti-porn, they’re anti-gay. I was extremely bitter over this.”

Given Apple’s track record, most manga publishers haven’t even tried. Of yuri publisher ALC Publishing, founder Erica Friedman says, “… we have not ever considered releasing any ALC Publishing books by iTunes. When we last published a book, Apple wasn’t the monster distributor it is now—print was still the favored distribution. Right now, I am so enraged and disgusted by Apple’s censorship—especially of LGBTQ material—that I do not consider them a viable distributor of our material.”

Jennifer LeBlanc, editor of VIZ Media‘s new BL imprint SuBLime Manga (whose titles are largely digital-only), when asked why they had not followed their parent company to the iOS platform replied simply, “Because of Apple’s strict content policy, we have no plans for developing an iOS app at this time.”

Then came Digital Manga Publishing. Most well-known for their extensive line of BL manga—ranging anywhere from sweet, chaste romances to racy adult fare—DMP announced their launch on the iPad just last November. When I reviewed their app in January, DMP’s iPad catalogue was fairly robust, populated mostly by titles from their various BL imprints, DokiDoki, Juné, 801 Media, and the fan-localized Digital Manga Guild.

On February 2nd, DMP broadcast the following message to their followers on Twitter, “Sad day, yaoi fans. Unfortunately we’ve been asked to remove our yaoi titles from our iPad app soon. Get them while you still can!”

Further inquiry revealed that the removal was, indeed, for mature content, though whether the mandate applies to all of DMP’s BL titles (and if not, which ones?) remains vague. DMP representative Kelly Orita told me that she hasn’t “been given the OK to mention which specific titles caused problems.” She said that they’d been contacted previously about removing certain pages from their titles, “… but I don’t know how far along we were in that process before they asked us to remove entire books. Internally we’ve been working in batches to take down books with explicit content—we have to take down the content, get Apple to OK the removal, then hear back from them in regards to further developments.”

When asked about the app’s rating, Orita replied, “We did provide a 17+ rating for the app, and while I can’t double check to confirm at the moment I am fairly positive all explicit books had warnings as well.”

Though at the time of this writing, BL titles still remain in DMP’s iPad store, it is unclear how many may be removed before this process is over, when the removal will be complete, or what which titles may still be available by the end. Without that information, of course, it’s difficult to determine whether Apple’s policies are being applied unfairly towards DMP’s same-sex content. Still, I did a little poking around in some popular comics apps to see what kind of content Apple apparently deems appropriate.

My first stop was DC Comics, whose mainstream, non-adult-rated app offered me volume one of Catwoman from their New 52 lineup. Here are a few screencaps taken on my iPad of the final scene in issue #1, where Catwoman meets up with Batman for a passionate sexual encounter.

(click images to enlarge – read left-to-right)

Here’s the most explicit scene from Rihito Takarai and Venio Tachibana’s two-volume Seven Days (Monday-Thursday & Friday-Sunday) series, currently available from the DMP app.

(click images to enlarge – read right-to-left)

Certainly, many of DMP’s BL titles do contain more explicit scenes, including various stages of nudity. To see if this kind of content was being censored in comics with heterosexual couples, I popped over to the 17+ Comixology app, where I was able to download issue #57 of Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra, published by DC’s grown-up imprint, Vertigo. Here are a few iPad screencaps from an early scene in that issue:

(click images to enlarge – warning: full nudity)

Given the content allowed here, it’s difficult to imagine where DMP has gone wrong, or what kind of content they could be offering that would be inappropriate in a 17+ app.

Meanwhile, fans of DMP’s BL comics looking to read them on their iPads have at an alternative in Amazon’s Kindle app, though the difference in quality is fairly brutal.

The downsides of reading DMP manga on the Kindle app are, as I understand it, pretty much the same as reading on the Kindle itself. First, though Japanese comics read from right-to-left, the Kindle app only allows page-turning from left-to-right, making for a somewhat unintuitive experience for manga readers, who must still read pages and panels in the Japanese configuration. This issue is minor, however, compared to the disparity in image quality.

Here is a page from Keiko Kinoshita’s Kiss Blue, as viewed in DMP’s iPad app (full size):

Here is the same page from the Kindle version (full size):

The iPad version is crisp, clear, and easy to read, while smaller (and especially hand-written) text requires a lot of squinting when reading from the Kindle app. This issue becomes even more pronounced when taking advantage of the apps’ two-page spreads. Two page spreads accentuate the issue with page-order as well, as you’ll note that the Kindle’s two-page spread requires that the pages be followed from left-to-right, while the content still reads right-to-left.

DMP App version (click image to enlarge to full-size):

Kindle App version (click image to enlarge to full-size):

Both apps offer the ability to zoom in on any portion of the page, but not only is the DMP app’s interface far more intuitive (zooming in and out on the DMP app is accomplished with a double-click, while the Kindle app requires the two-finger pinch-and-spread, after which the reader must tap an “X” to close out of the enlarged section), its image quality blows the Kindle app out of the water.

DMP App version (click image to enlarge to full-size):

Kindle App version (click image to enlarge to full-size):

As you can see, while the Kindle app serves as a semi-tolerable stop-gap for iPad users, the prospect of losing access to these comics in the DMP app’s superior format is a significant blow for the publisher’s fans.

Manga Bookshelf will report further information as it’s available, including names of specific titles that have been targeted for removal, and any response from Apple who, at the time of this writing, have yet to respond to a request for comment.

Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with DMP’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. All compensation earned by MJin her capacity as subcontractor will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. MJ is also a long-time Apple customer.

Seven Days: Friday-Sunday © Venio Tachibana/Rihito Takari. All rights reserved. English translation © 2011 by DIGITAL MANGA, Inc./TAIYO TOSHO CO., LTD. KISS BLUE © KEIKO KINOSHITA. All rights reserved. English translation © 2008 by DIGITAL MANGA, Inc./TAIYO TOSHO CO., LTD.

Manga Bookshelf looks to the screen

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You may have noticed that we’re branching out here at Manga Bookshelf, including new columns about East Asian television dramas and (as of yesterday) film!

First, a belated introduction to Bringing the Drama, a new, ongoing roundtable featuring bloggers Anna Neatrour and Emily Snodgrass, super-librarian/writer Eva Volin, and manga editor Nancy Thistlethwaite. They started off strong last week, with a discussion of Korean drama You’re Beautiful (one of my personal faves). Though I expect Korean drama will dominate the roundtable overall, discussion is open to Japanese and Taiwanese dramas legally available in English as well. They’ve already got their next topic lined up, and I can’t wait to see what they have to say!

And yesterday evening saw the debut of our new East Asian film column, Subtitles & Sensibility from my favorite film blogger, Jaci Dahlvang. When I asked Jaci if she’d be interested in writing for Manga Bookshelf, I did not believe she’d actually say “yes,” and I’m so thrilled to be able to introduce her to all of you. Her first column, Three with Ken’ichi Matsuyama should please film buffs and manga fans alike. Jaci blogs regularly at My Sock Are On Fire, and she can be found on Twitter as letterboxed.

Please take a moment to check out our new columns, and join me in welcoming all these brilliant ladies to the Manga Bookshelf family!

Manga Radar: 5 February 2012

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Database Additions for 05 February

A Devil & Her Love Song 1 – Viz Shojo Beat, Feb 2012 ::
A Devil & Her Love Song 2 – Viz Shojo Beat, Apr 2012 ::
Chayamachi’s Collection: BLANC (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Jan 2012 ::
Flower Shadow’s Memory (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Jan 2012 ::
Gantz 22 – Dark Horse, May 2012 ::
Interval (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Jan 2012 ::
Kids Are Doing Fine Today! (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Jan 2012 ::
Novus Karma (ebook) 1 – MangaMagazine, Aug 2012 ::
Ooku: The Inner Chambers 7 – Viz Signature, Jul 2012 ::
Puella Magi Madoka Magica 1 – Yen Press, May 2012 ::
Puella Magi Madoka Magica 2 – Yen Press, Aug 2012 ::
Samejima-Kun & Sasahara-Kun – DMP Juné, May 2012 ::
Soul Eater 10 – Yen Press, Aug 2012 ::
The Secret World of Arrietty Picture Book – Viz Ghibli Library, Feb 2012 ::
The Tyrant Falls in Love 6 – DMP Juné, May 2012 ::
Trapped Wizard (ebook) – Yaoi Press, Feb 2012 ::
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX 9 – Viz Shonen Jump, Aug 2012 ::

Black Eyed Susan (ebook) chapters 1-10 – MangaMagazine, Jul 2011 ::
Hot Tails 1 – Fantagraphics Eros Comix, Dec 1998 ::
Midnight Hunters (ebook) chapters 1-10 – MangaMagazine, Aug 2011 ::
Silky Whip 1 – Fantagraphics Eros Comix, Feb 2002 ::
Super Taboo 1 – Fantagraphics Eros Comix, Oct 1998 ::
Super Taboo 2 – Fantagraphics Eros Comix, Apr 1999 ::
The Soul Chaser (ebook) 1 – MangaMagazine, Aug 2011 ::
Two Keys (ebook) 1 – MangaMagazine, Oct 2011 ::

##

A few notes: The Secret World of Arriety Picture Book, a simplified retelling of the movie’s story using filmcaps instead of new illustrations, is not the same as The Art of The Secret World of Arriety, which is a behind-the-scenes peek into process & production. Both are from Viz’s Ghibli Library imprint – if you like Miyazaki’s movies, its worth investing in those “Art of” books.

A Devil & Her Love Song has a listed publication date of 7 February on most sites, but has been in bookstores for about 2 weeks now; at least, I bought my copy a couple weeks ago.

I’m not sure what MangaMagazine.net‘s business model is, or how well they’re treating their artists, but I can tell you quite a few books are showing up in the Kindle store — or at least the chapters are, for 99¢ a pop. At that price, quite a few 1st chapters are selling well. (Well enough to start clogging up my bestseller chart, at any rate.) As you can see above, I’m going to list these chapters by respective volume (when known) or in a condensed listing (i.e. chapters 1-10 as seen above) just to keep thing neat.

The blast from the past this week is a quartet of books from Fantagraphics’s Eros imprint (I thought I had found all those but I guess I need to revisit the topic every now and then.) With a name like Eros, to say nothing of the titles, you can guess exactly what is in these books; Silky Whip is from Air Gear and Tenjo Tenge artist Oh!Great and so might be of (additional) interest.

##

Top Preorders

7. ↓-1 (6) : Naruto 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [383.5] ::
10. ↑2 (12) : Sailor Moon 4 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [352.0] ::
19. ↓-3 (16) : Sailor Moon 5 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [297.6] ::
26. ↓-2 (24) : Sailor Moon 6 – Kodansha Comics, Jun 2012 [236.5] ::
41. ↑109 (150) : Bleach 38 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [180.7] ::
60. ↑10 (70) : Sailor Moon 7 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2012 [147.7] ::
61. ↑4 (65) : Naruto 55 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [146.2] ::
69. ↑15 (84) : Negima! 34 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [133.7] ::
104. ↑19 (123) : Ambiguous Relationship – DMP Juné, Mar 2012 [93.7] ::
123. ↓-21 (102) : Dance in the Vampire Bund 12 – Seven Seas, Jun 2012 [85.2] ::

[more]

Manga Radar: 29 January 2012

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Database Additions for 29 January

Border Control: Fate (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Jan 2012 ::
Career Gate (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Jan 2012 ::
Gentlemen’s Agreement Between A Rabbit & A Wolf (ebook) – DMP Juné, Jan 2012 ::
I’m the Big Brother (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Jan 2012 ::
Silly Gossip (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Jan 2012 ::
Welcome to the SMC (ebook) – DMP Digital Manga Guild, Jan 2012 ::
You’re Mine (ebook) 1 – Publingual Inc., Jan 2012 ::

Dirty Pair A Plague of Angels – Dark Horse, Jul 1994 ::
Dirty Pair Biohazards – Dark Horse, Sep 1998 ::
Dirty Pair Dangerous Acquaintances – Dark Horse, Jun 1997 ::
Dirty Pair Fatal but not Serious – Dark Horse, Aug 1996 ::
Dirty Pair Run from the Future – Dark Horse, Mar 2002 ::
Dirty Pair Sim Hell – Dark Horse, Dec 1994 ::
Dirty Pair Sim Hell: Remastered – Dark Horse, Oct 2002 ::
Dirty Pair The Dirty Pair Strike Again (novel) – Dark Horse, Mar 2008 ::
Dirty Pair The Great Adventure of the Dirty Pair (novel) – Dark Horse, Sep 2007 ::
Lullabies from Hell – Dark Horse, May 2006 ::
Onegai Teacher 1 – ComicsOne, Apr 2005 ::
Onegai Teacher 2 – ComicsOne, Apr 2005 ::
Onegai Teacher (novel) – ComicsOne, Apr 2005 ::
Onegai Teacher Official Fanbook – ComicsOne, Apr 2005 ::
Secret Comics Japan – Viz, Jun 2000 ::
Sin (ebook) chapters 1-10 – MangaMagazine, Sep 2011 ::
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (novel) – Bandai, Jul 2009 ::

##

I’ll start with two reminders: First, the ‘radar’ picks up new titles as soon as they show up in sources – for physical books, that’s a few months out; for e- it’s often just the week of release. And that’s what we see above: a short slate of ebooks coming out for Kindle. The DMP Juné book, A Gentlemen’s Agreement Between A Rabbit & A Wolf should also be out in paperback soon, if not by the time you read this.

My second reminder is that the radar sweeps in both directions, and also scoops up titles from the dim and dusty past of licenced manga – you know, like 7 & 8 years ago. [ancient texts.]

Fixing an obvious oversight on my part: Dirty Pair! Oh wow. Now, some might object to the inclusion of these books in a ‘manga’ chart, as only the characters were licensed: Dirty Pair was an anime based on a novel, *not* originally a manga series, and the Dark Horse books are by western writers & artists. Whatevs. I like it. (Dark Horse helpfully published two of the original novels as well, in 2007-8)

Also on the based-on-an-anime track, ComicsOne published 4 books to tie-in to the Please Teacher series, but translated the title as Onegai Teacher, just to be sure at least some fans would never find them.

Finally, two worthy of note: Hideshi Hino’s Lullabies from Hell for you horror manga fans (Dark Horse also licensed Living Corpse from the same author) and Secret Comics Japan from Viz, which promises at least a few grotesqueries among its selections of ‘underground’ manga.

##

Top Preorders

6. ↓-1 (5) : Naruto 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [385.3] ::
12. ↑2 (14) : Sailor Moon 4 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [353.5] ::
16. ↓-1 (15) : Sailor Moon 5 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [298.7] ::
24. ↓-1 (23) : Sailor Moon 6 – Kodansha Comics, Jun 2012 [245.1] ::
59. ↓-3 (56) : xxxHolic 19 – Kodansha Comics, Feb 2012 [148.3] ::
65. ↑26 (91) : Naruto 55 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [135.5] ::
70. ↑26 (96) : Sailor Moon 7 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2012 [132.5] ::
84. ↑9 (93) : Negima! 34 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [114.5] ::
102. ↓-19 (83) : Dance in the Vampire Bund 12 – Seven Seas, Jun 2012 [95.8] ::
123. ↑13 (136) : Ambiguous Relationship – DMP Juné, Mar 2012 [86.3] ::

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13th Boy Valentine’s Day Giveaway!

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There’s nothing like a good romance comic for Valentine’s Day, and as you may have gleaned, there are only a handful I love as well as SangEun Lee’s whimsical sunjeong manhwa 13th Boy. Michelle is also a fan, and we’ve decided we absolutely must do something share the love for our favorite sentient cactus (and friends) this Valentine’s Day. With that in mind, we’re pleased to announce…

Manga Bookshelf’s 13th Boy Valentine’s Day Giveaway, starting today on February 13th! As our Valentine’s Day gift to you, two readers will each receive a copy of volume one of 13th Boy. This is a whirlwind 24-hour giveaway, so be sure to enter now!

TO ENTER:

Please submit your entry by leaving a comment here in this post within the next 24 hours. You must be 16 or older to enter.

Two winners will be chosen at random tomorrow, February 14th, and announced here at Manga Bookshelf.

Good luck!

Manga Radar: 22 January 2012

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Database Additions for 22 January

Bakuman 12 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2012 ::
Bakuman 13 – Viz Shonen Jump, Aug 2012 ::
Bride of the Water God 11 – Dark Horse, May 2012 ::
Code Geass Knight 5 – Bandai, Cancelled ::
D. Gray-Man 22 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Jul 2012 ::
Dengeki Daisy 10 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jul 2012 ::
Gandhi: A Manga Biography – Penguin, Sep 2011 ::
House of Five Leaves 6 – Viz Sig Ikki, Mar 2012 ::
MM9 (novel) – Viz Haikasoru, Jan 2012 ::
Oh My Goddess! 41 – Dark Horse, May 2012 ::
Sakura Hime 8 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jun 2012 ::
Sakura Hime 9 – Viz Shojo Beat, Aug 2012 ::
Slam Dunk 21 – Viz Shonen Jump, Apr 2012 ::
Story of Saiunkoku 7 – Viz Shojo Beat, May 2012 ::
Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds 3 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jun 2012 ::
Zolabarth Bi (ebook) – Yaoi Press, Jan 2012 ::
Zombie Loan 13 – Yen Press, Jan 2012 ::

Bio Booster Armor Guyver: Armageddon – Viz, Feb 1998 ::
Black Leopard 1 – ComicsOne, Apr 2005 ::
Black Leopard 2 – ComicsOne, Apr 2005 ::
Black Leopard 3 – ComicsOne, Apr 2005 ::
Black Leopard 4 – ComicsOne, Apr 2005 ::
Call Me Princess – CPM, Apr 2008 ::
Chicago 1 – Viz, Oct 2002 ::
Chicago 2 – Viz, Apr 2003 ::
Dead End 3 – Tokyopop, Sep 2005 ::
Dead End 4 – Tokyopop, May 2006 ::
Exotic & Delicious Fate – DMP Juné, Sep 2009 ::
Love Skit – 801 Media, Nov 2009 ::
Suggestive Eyes – DMP Juné, May 2009 ::
Works – Tadano – ALC Publishing, Jul 2008 ::
Worst 1 – DMP, Sep 2004 ::
Worst 2 – DMP, Dec 2004 ::
Worst 3 – DMP, May 2005 ::

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From my standpoint as an archivist, this last batch of data was fantastic: Not just the Old Skool Viz[tm] but some lovely yaoi I wasn’t previously tracking, some original DMP [pre yoai], and what I think is the first ALC title added to the database because it showed up in sources. [I’d previously added Yuri Monogatari volumes as I actually own a few, and was tracking them before I started the charts]

AND (as if this week needed an “and”) Black Leopard is yet another Manhua (Chinese/Hong Kong comics) that I get to add to the database.

Good week all around. For those playing along with the home game, my database now contains 10,837 volumes.

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Top Preorders

5. ↔0 (5) : Naruto 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [405.8] ::
14. ↔0 (14) : Sailor Moon 4 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [343.1] ::
15. ↑5 (20) : Sailor Moon 5 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [307.4] ::
23. ↑6 (29) : Sailor Moon 6 – Kodansha Comics, Jun 2012 [258.7] ::
56. ↑22 (78) : xxxHolic 19 – Kodansha Comics, Feb 2012 [157.4] ::
83. ↑37 (120) : Dance in the Vampire Bund 12 – Seven Seas, Jun 2012 [112.9] ::
91. ↑33 (124) : Naruto 55 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [105.2] ::
93. ↑1 (94) : Negima! 34 – Kodansha Comics, Apr 2012 [104.6] ::
96. ↑387 (483) : Sailor Moon 7 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2012 [99.7] ::
136. ↑55 (191) : Ambiguous Relationship – DMP Juné, Mar 2012 [76.5] ::

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