It’s hard for me to believe, but it’s been a year since I started this blog. I took baby steps before starting this blog. I’ve never been someone to give my opinion. I’ve always been a lurker on the internet, even in the days of bulletin boards, I just read more than posted. I joined Tokyopop.com in 2005, but didn’t do anything with it until last year, just before they screwed everything up. I started reading and commenting on other blogs before starting to post things of my own. After testing the waters there, I tried out Livejournal. Both were okay, but after listening to my tech shows for a while, I decided wordpress was a better way to go. I really liked control and customization. This became my Manga Xanadu, and livejournal became my general ranting about all fandom except manga.
Well, it’s been quite a week at Manga Village. You might see some new faces as you look around, but I’ll get to that in a little bit. Let’s start with our reviews for this week. Charles Tan starts things off with another season-appropriate sports title, Eyeshield 21 Volume 22 from Viz. Dan Polley has quite a tale with Fairy Tail Volume 4 from Del Rey. Katherine Famar gets aquainted with You and Harujion from Deux. I take a new Viz title for a walk with Nora: The Last Chonicle of Devildom Volume 1. John Thomas gets his learn on with Style School Volume 3 from Dark Horse. We make our weekly picks this week as usual, with just one minor change. We have a new villager! Yes, Alex Hoffman from the blog Manga Widget has joined the crew and starts out with giving a pick with the rest of us. Hopefully we’ll have reviews going up from him real soon! Good Comics for Kids has been pretty busy this week too. Not only do I have my weekly all ages list up, but I also have a review of the first new Naruto Chapter book, Naruto, The Boy Ninja…
I want to cut down on the manga I buy, I really do. But Viz just keeps making it harder! Six new licenses have been found for the publisher, 2 of which I’m going to have to get. While all the attention seems to be going to Detroit Metal City and Ooku, Rasetsu no Hana and Black Bird are the ones that are taking mine. Rasetsu no Hana is a kind of sequel to the Viz Shojo Beat title, Yurara (Yurara no Tsuki). It features Yako, the water using medium that was attracted to Yurara’s spirit guardian. He joins a “ghostbusting” company and meets their medium, Rasetsu, who is said to be cursed by an evil spirit, and just happens to be the spitting image of Yurara’s spirit guardian. I really enjoyed Yurara, and had hoped that Viz would get this one too. It’s already at 5 volumes and is still ongoing, already surpassing the series that spawned it. It looks like it’s going to take a while for Yako to get this girl. Black Bird is a supernatural high school series by the creator of Backstage Prince. Misao has a special power that lets her see the “mysterious things”…
It’s another round of reviews from the Villagers, with this week leading off in a gentile way with A Gentleman’s Kiss from Deux by Katherine Famar. A true Gentleman needs a butler, so Charles Tan serves us a new Hayate Combat Butler Volume 8 from Viz. And since butlers always need some little kid to look after, Dan Polley brings the cute Mao-Chan Volume 1 from Del Rey. But where will they all live? How about the Magic Lover’s Tower Volume 1-2 from DR Masters reviewed by me? And who will guard the tower? Inukami! Volume 1 of course from Seven Seas Entertainment reviewed by John Thomas. Over in our columns, we’ve got our picks for the week, as well as our top manga for the month of October. It was another close run again this week. Check out what we liked. And then over at Good Comics for Kids, I’ve have the latest All Ages list, and check out the review of Avalon: Web of Magic by Ester Keller.
Mythbusters is a totally awesome show on Discovery Channel. Two guys and their three assistants take on myths from real life, the movies, and the internet and try to if they can confirm, bust or find plausible the myths they take on. The show has been running for 6 seasons now, and is not only entertaining, but educational, as it takes on things like physics, robotics and other science content to prove the myths. Last week, on the episode Coffin Punch, the assistants, Tori, Grant, and Kari took on a scene from Kill Bill, where the Bride punches her way out of a coffin she’s been buried in. Now, on Mythbusters, they like to use animation to illustrate the myth they will be trying to prove, often using the team members in appropriate parts. For this episode, the animation had a distinctly manga look to it. The whole Kill Bill scene is reenacted in comic book style, with the camera panning from panel to panel. The art is very cute, in that wants-to-look-like-manga sort of way. Kari’s constant clueless look is classic for so many shojo heroines that it’s impossible to count. And of course there’s the use speed lines…
This just in from BookCloseouts.com! They have a promotion from now until December 31st. Place an order of $35 or more, and get your shipping free! That is an awesome deal! Now you can get Manga Claus, and $30 more of books! Here are some searches to try: Del Rey Manga Tokyopop Viz Seven Seas Entertainment Now go buy some manga! Save the economy!
I knew I shouldn’t have done it. I saw the con report for the State of the Manga Industy panel from NYAF at Manga Recon, and knew I should skip it. But, being a masochist, I didn’t. So now I have to write another rant about the ignorance of Michael Gambos. Now, I don’t know if it’s just that no one else cares, but the panel was happy to let Gambos speak for them on digital distribution and make his silly little comment about the Kindle.
We’ve had some changes come up at Manga Village. Last week we had to say good-bye one of our launch reviewers, as she left to pursue other projects. We wish her well, but that leaves us with a gap to be filled in our reviewer line up. We’d also like to get some regular columns going, so if you have an interest in writing, and a strong grasp of the English language, email me at mangavillage at gmail dot com with the title Reviewer/Columnist Wanted and a sample of your work. Or you can email me here. On to the reviews! We started the week off with a sweet treat from Dan Polley with Kitchen Princess Volume 8 from Del Rey. Charles Tan then reviews the Korean manhwa Old Boy Volume 1 from Dark Horse. Katherin Farmar continues her review of Voice or Noise with Volume 2 from BLU. John Thomas grabs his cape and utility belt to bring you Bat-Manga! The Secret History of Batman in Japan from Pantheon. Lissa Patillo graces our review column one more time with another guest review of Future Lovers Volume 1 from Deux Press. Thanks Lissa! We make our new picks for the…
Case Closed Volume 1 By Gosho Aoyama Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen+ Genre: Mystery Price: $9.99 Rating: Parental Note: Yes, this title is rated for older teens, and yes, it has a lot of death and blood. However, this title is written for a younger audience in Japan, and is closer to an all ages in terms of characters and plot. That’s why I let my younger daughter read this when she asked if she could. I don’t have a problem with the blood and death if she doesn’t. What is the story about? It’s about a teenage detective that is turnded into a kid, and names himself after famous detective authors. He solves all the cases the adults can’t. What did you like about the story? I like it when Rachel does Kung Fu. I also like when the dad, Richard Moore would get drunk. The dog in the girl kidnapping story was cute but also ugly. What did you dislike about the book? Nothing. Would you recommend the story to kids your age? Why? No, because of the blood and deaths.
This just occurred to me after I read Mang Blog Brigid’s commentary on the possibly new “Naruto Nation” and then coming to blog to post about something else. Apparently there are doubts about the dates for the Naruto releases, since errors have happened before. But, when I came to my home page, my last post before this was about the changes to Shonen Jump. The new title, Tegumi Bachi, is debuting at the same time as this “Naruto Nation 2” would be starting. To do the 11 volume release, Naruto would be taken out of the magazine again, and something else would have to fill the void. The start of a new series would fill that void perfectly. Viz did the same thing last time with the start of Bleach in SJ at the same time Naruto was taken out. Coincidence? I think not.
Viz is at it again it seems, trying to decimate our pocketbooks mercilessly, especially in this difficult economy. ANN has reported that Viz has listed 11 more volumes of Naruto for release in February, March and April. This second wave will essentially catch Naruto up with the releases in Japan, at what price? The last time Viz did this, the sales of their other titles suffered. It proved that there is a limit to what readers will buy, and that was back when the economy was still doing well. What’s going to happen this time? Did Viz plan for this with fewer releases scheduled for their other titles? And what’s the point of doing this again? The time jump in the manga made some sense the first time. But this time seems much more arbitrary. The only reason I can think of for this is to fight against the scanalators. Viz has been criticized for not doing anything about the illegal scans that keep coming out, and as anime companies have been learning, the best way to fight fansubs is to bring out the episodes at the same time they come out in Japan. Catching up the Naruto manga will…
In the December issue of Shonen Jump, there is a short announcement. Another manga will be joining the pages of the magazine. Tegumi Bachi, a title announced at SDCC, will start running in SJ starting in the March 2009 issue (out in February 2009). It comes from the pages of Jump SQ, and appears to be another soon-to-be big property in Japan. An anime special has already been created for it for the Jump Super Anime Tour event. Usually at these events, only popular titles from the Jump magazines are spotlighted. Dragon Ball/Z, Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece have all had specials created for these tours.