Manga Xanadu

I got this through the comments on a previous post of mine about reading manga on the Kindle.  Of course, this isn’t for legally downloaded manga, becasue…..there isn’t any!  But if you read and enjoy scanalations, which manga publishers obviously don’t consider a threat or care do anything about, here’s a new solution for reading them on the Kindle. Mangle is open source software that makes organizing and reading manga on the Kindle easier.  It was created by Alex Yatskov, a manga reader with one of those imaginary Kindles Michael Gambos keeps asking to see.  He did what I couldn’t do; play around with the Kindle and it’s “undocumented features” and got scanalations working on his.  Of course because these are not official features, there were problems.  See the link for details.  But, being an enterprising gentleman, he set to work to create software to fix them.  The site includes download links, instructions and screenshots. It’s really sad that we have to rely open source and borderline pirates to get manga in a digital format.  But as long as publishers refuse to do anything about it, I’m glad there are people like Alex and the other sites that make online…

“On the Fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, Four Friends in Winter,” Ann Uekusa and her mother move back to her mother’s home town Shimane from Tokyo.  Her parents have divorced, and they have returned to live with Ann’s grandparents.  They arrive in the winter, before Christmas.  Ann becomes close friends with 3 kids; Daigo, Fuji, and Shiika.  Not long after returning, Ann’s mother commits suicide, leaving Ann with her grandparents.  Ann makes a life for herself in Shimane, and she and Daigo become a couple.  Then her father comes back from Tokyo offering to take Ann back to Tokyo. Sand Chronicles is another series I started reading through Shojo Beat.  I don’t think I was hooked instantly, but it certainly didn’t take long for it grow on me.  Sand Chronicles also holds the special honor for making me cry not once, not twice, but three times over the same scene!  It’s rare that a title can do that to me.  Once maybe, but hardly ever twice.  So much care is put into the characters that the dramatic scenes with them hit that much harder.  Most of the story so far has been following Ann’s teen…

It’s a new week, and a new round of reviews from the Manga Village.  Charles Tan starts things with a big dose of reality with Real Volume 1 from Viz.  Alex Hoffman balances the reality with some fantasy with Stray Little Devil Volume 1 from DR Masters.  John Thomas brings a Samurai Classic back with Lone Wolf and Cub Volume 1 from Dark Horse.  Katherine Farmar wants to Close the Last Door Volume 1from DMP/June.  I check out Record of a Fallen Vampire Volume 2 from Viz. We’ve got our weekly picks up for last minute shopping (only a week and a half left until Christmas…) and our Manga of the Month for November.  Over at Good Comics for Kids, I have my weekly All ages comics and manga list, and Esther Keller has a review of Yen Press’ only all ages title, World of Quest. <A HREF=”http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fmangxana-20%2F8003%2F8f773d56-bcc8-46d0-a5a1-f3b32c89a600&Operation=NoScript” mce_HREF=”http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Fmangxana-20%2F8003%2F8f773d56-bcc8-46d0-a5a1-f3b32c89a600&Operation=NoScript”>Amazon.com Widgets</A>

“On the Third Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, Three Sibling Cards,” Manami Minami decides to learn to play Chaos, a popular TCG.  Her cousin Tamotsu, who also plays, takes her to the hobby store to by a starter pack.  By a strange twist of fate, the pack she buys has an ultra-rare card in it, Sahgan, the Mighty Sorceror.  Manami quickly becomes the target of other Chaos players who want to challenge her for Sahgan.  With Tamotsu, her new friends from the card club, and Sahgan himself, who comes to Manami in her dreams to give her hints, she faces these challenges and grows as a player, while trying to balance her regular life. I got King of Cards because of the art and the premise sounded intriguing.  I like a lot of game manga, such as Yu Gi Oh! Shadow Games, Legendz, and Hikaru no Go, so decided to give this one a chance.  And am I glad I did!  I have really enjoyed the shojo take on gaming manga.  Manami is more interested in enjoying the game than just winning.  Over the first couple of volumes, she gets a reason to get better, but…

“On the Second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, Two girls named Nana.” Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu are two girls going to Tokyo to realize their dreams.  Nana O. is looking to put together a new band and make it big, with Nana K. is going to join her boyfriend with whom she hopes to find love and happiness.  From a chance meeting on the train to sharing an apartment, the lives of these two girls become entwinded as they strive to make their dreams come true. I didn’t think I’d like Nana when I received my first volume of Shojo Beat.  I didn’t think I’d even like Shojo Beat, with all the emphasis Viz was putting on it being a “girls” magazine about romance and fashion.  But, when I got to those first chapters, which actually told all of Nana K.’s story in that volume, I was hooked.  I hadn’t read much shojo before SB, so I didn’t know what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t what Nana turned out to be.  The characters were realistic, with real flaws and real problems.  Ai Yazawa’s art is mostly realistic with a touch of manga comedy makes…

It’s the holiday season, so that means, shopping, Santa Claus and christmas carols.  For me, it means combining manga with christmas carols!  This year, I’m doing the most obvious of carols, The Twelve Days of Christmas.  From now until Christmas, I will post one line, featuring a manga that I hope goes with the song.  So, here goes! “On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, A One Piece for the Pirate King.” Monkey D. Luffy has the lifelong dream of finding the One Piece, the treasure of the Gold Roger, the former Pirate King, and claim the title for himself.  As a child, he ate the Gum-Gum Devil Fruit, and gained the power of elasticity, but lost the ability to swim.  Undaunted, he set out on his journey, gathering a crew who have come to believe in Luffy’s dream because of his determination and friendship, as well as believing in their own dreams, and Luffy’s abiltiy to make them all come true. One Piece is one of those titles I discovered by reading Shonen Jump.  I was familiar with the name from the interwebs, but once I started reading it, I really enjoyed it!  It’s…

I’m glad Yen Press chose to go the anthology route and put out a magazine. Anthologies are probably the best way to get manga titles seen by the general public. But, some issues are starting to come up that make me wonder about their intentions for it. Since I wrote my less than stellar review of issue 2, I’ve been getting requests to sell it (which I did, sorry everyone else). I found out why by from one hopeful buyer. Yen Press doesn’t offer back issues for sale. This is confirmed on their website in the comment of their blog for Yen Plus here, in the second to last comment by Abby.  She claims there is no way to order them through their distributor.  And that struck me as kinda weird.  I’ve personally never run into a situation where I couldn’t order a back issue of a magazine.  Even with my small, more obscure publications such as Cross Stitching or Godzilla.  Even if it’s for a limited time, back issues can be purchased from the magazine.

Had enough of turkey leftovers and Black Friday news?  Need to shop for that manga fan in your live?  Let the Manga Villagers help you make that shopping list!  The first week features the reviews debut of our newest reviews Justin Colussy-Estes and Alex Hoffman.  But Dan Polley starts the week with Pastel Volume 12 from Del Rey Manga.  Charles Tan shows off Puri Puri Volume 6 from DR Masters.  John Thomas cuts into Black Jack Volume 2 from Vertical.  Justin Colussy-Estes isn’t bugged by Mushishi Volume 3 from Del Rey Manga.  Alex Hoffman starts the holiday weekend with Ral Ω Grad Volume 1 from Viz Media. December starts with my review of Nightmares For Sale Volume 1 from Aurora.  Dan Polley reviews a rare science fiction title Gankutsuou: The Count of Monty Cristo Volume 1 from Del Rey Manga.  Alex Hoffman brings us a Yen Press title, Kieli Volume 1.  Katherine Farmar makes a Manga Village first with the lowest score for the BL title World’s End from DMP/June.  Justin Colussy-Estes has a different kind of horror with Hansel & Gretel from Viz Media. We make our weekly picks for 11/26/08 and 12/04/08.  Over at Good Comics for Kids…

King of Cards Volume 3 By Makoto Tateno Publisher: CMX Age Rating: Teen Genre: Fantasy/Romance Price: $9.99 Rating: Are Manami’s grades slipping because of her dedication to her favorite card game?  Her math teacher thinks so and threatens to tell her mother — unless she can beat him in a Chaos match!  Also, a seemingly unbeatable player who actually hates Chaos is gunning for Manami.  What’s this girl’s connection to Manami’s card-playing cousin Tamotsu? In this volume, there is plot development in two different directions.  The first half of the volume continues the love triange between Manami, Tamotsu and Misa, with a revelation relating back to the last volume that makes this a true triangle.  The second half returns to a plot point not seen since the first volume revolving around the Sahgan card.