Manga Xanadu

  Manga for older readers has been few and far between, as teen manga dominates bookstores and sales.  But as manga readers grow up, there needs to be something to appeal to them and keep them interested in the medium.  Viz Media has been working in that direction with their Signature line, and now with a website that provides manga to read for free.  Working with Ikki Monthy magazine, they have brought out a diverse line of titles, many of which I liked, but not all will appeal to everyone.  But the beauty of doing this online, it doesn’t have to.

Next Tokyopop Webinar Announced Tokyopop has announced it’s next webinar, and this time far enough ahead of time for people to plan for it!  It’s in the evening this time, 7PM PST/10PM EST, on Tuesday, September 1 5PM PST/8PM EST on Wednesday September 2.  It’s a better time though I’m going to miss the beginning.  5:15 is the best I can do getting home.  East Coasters will have a better time of it.  There’s nothing on worth watching at 8PM on Wed is there?  Tivo it if you must!  Otherwise, there will hopefully be some more good recaps around the mangasphere.

When Ruka was younger, she saw a ghost in the water at the aquarium where her dad works. Now she feels drawn toward the aquarium and the two mysterious boys she meets there, Umi and Sora. They were raised by dugongs and hear the same strange calls from the sea as she does. Sora begins investigating their strange connection to the sea. But the current research is too slow for Sora, who is lured away by with the promise of answers. This leaves Umi severely depressed, and it is up to Ruka to help her new friend find his brother. But time is quickly running out… Children of the Sea Volume 1 By Daisuke Igarashi Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen+ Genre: Mystery Price: $14.95 Rating:   In an attempt to draw in more adult readers, Viz has been expanding their Signature imprint.  The titles in this imprint are meant for a more mature audience that have out grown or aren’t interested in the eternal power ups of shonen or the angsty drama of shojo.  Children of the Sea, the first title from the online manga magazine Ikki, is the perfect debut title.  With none of the usual manga conventions,…

We knew it was in the works, and now Sony has unveiled it.  The third e-Reader in their hardware line, the Reader Daily Edition.  Sony announced the new device on Tuesday at a press conference.  The Daily Edition is different from it’s older brothers in 2 important ways.  One, it has a larger touch screen, coming in at 7 in.  And two, it has built-in wireless capabilities, provided by AT&T.  Finally, Sony has a device that can truly compete with the Kindle!  ….Maybe.

A few weeks ago on Twitter, there was a discussion about Osamu Tezuka’s manga and whether he deserves the title “God of Manga”, and it got me thinking.  I have to admit, back before I started writing about manga, I was kind of in agreement with animealmanac.  I’d never read any of Tezuka’s manga before.  I was familiar with Osamu Tezuka, mostly by reputation, and by the cartoon Kimba the White Lion.  I have very found memories of Kimba, but never took Tezuka too seriously because of that.  I knew he was called the “God of Manga”, but never understood why.  And then I started writing reviews and receiving review copies.

I sold most of my manga from the first batch I put up on eBay.  Thanks so much if you bid!  But I’ve still got more I have to move out.  The next batch has gone up.  Please look and bid if you’re interested: Inuyasha Volumes 6-10 Inuyasha Volumes 11-15 Hunter x Hunter Volumes 1-5 Hunter x Hunter Volumes 6-10 Hunter x Hunter Volumes 11-14 Tsukoyomi Moon Phase Volumes 1-5 Tsukoyomi Moon Phase Volumes 6-9 Starting bids are the price of one manga, so you’re essentially getting 5 (sometimes 4) for the price of one.  I will combine shipping for multiple wins.  Thanks for looking!

New People Grand Opening Saturday marked the grand opening New People in San Francisco, CA.  Located in Japantown, it’s a three story shopping center that features Japanese cinema, retail and art all in one place.  Several SF peeps/tweets when there.  You can find most of the coverage under the topic #newpeople on Twitter.  Deb Aoki of About.com: Manga has a photo gallery of the event. AX Flashback AX Backstage has posted the Keynote from Anime Expo 2009, including the “Can Manga From the US Be Commercially Successful?”  panel (aka the OEL panel).  The actual video of the panel begins on Day 2, Part 2 at about 6:00 in. (link via @debaoki)

A few days ago on Twitter, @debaoki mentioned she liked Animal Academy, an all ages title from Tokyopop, and thought that kids would like it.  She mentioned she thought the books based on properties, like Disney were boring, but ended by saying, she didn’t know, since she wasn’t the target audience.  Well, I have a daughter that’s in the target audience range, and both Animal Academy and Disney’s Kilala Princess.  So, I gave both books to my youngest daughter Krissy and asked her to read them.  When she finished, I asked her questions about the books.

Broken Blade Volume 1 By Yunosuke Yoshinaga Publisher: CMX/Flex Comics Rating: T+ (Older Teens) Price: $9.99 ISBN: 978-1-4012-1882-9 Rating: Rygart Arrow is a man with a problem.  He’s one of the tiny minority, perhaps one in a million, who cannot charge the quartz crystals that power all of the machines in his world.  He cannot drive vehicles, he cannot use machinery, he’s what is known as an “unsorcerer”.  However, he is well educated and old college friends with the King and Queen of Krisna, who are facing an incursion from their neighboring nation of Athens.  When they learn that the Athen army is led by Zess, the final part of their college foursome and he’s marching on their borders, they call on Rygart in their time of need.  Can he figure out how to operate the Under-Golem, an ancient magic-less machine in time to save his friends?

I’ve put my Inuyasha manga collection up on Ebay.  I need to make some space, and little extra money never hurt.  Here are the auctions, please check them out. Inuyasha Volumes 1-5 Inuyasha Volumes 6-10 Inuyasha Volumes 11-15 Inuyasha Volumes 16-20 Inuyasha Volumes 21-25 Inuyasha Volumes 26-31 Or you can check out my Manga for Sale or Trade page.  I’m willing to deal on multiple volumes and shipping.

Viz Media’s solicitations for October and November seemed outrageous as I went through the latest Previews.  They solicited 46 volumes of manga and novels!  My jaw dropped at how much they were putting out!  So, I decided to break down the releases, looking at them by imprint and how much of a difference the price increase would make, if any.

It’s another slow week for news in general, though there were some cool announcements and interesting discussions.  There’s still some SDCC fallout too.  That should start petering out though as NYAF starts to loom ahead. Video Recap of Ikki Panel at SDCC Over at the Ikki Blog, Viz has put together a nearly 4 minute recap of the Ikki panel at SDCC.  It’s no the same as being there, but it’ll give you an idea of what went on.  A full recording of the panel would have been much cooler though.