Manga Xanadu

Every week, the New York Times and Amazon posts the top ten bestselling books. The New York Times gets their numbers from print sales from retailers, while Amazon and Vizmanga.com calculates their own numbers. Once a month the Nielsen Bookscan posts their top twenty graphic novels of which manga is included. Offered here is a listing of these books with their status this week compared with the previous week, and some way-off analysis of the activity.

Well, this is rather like the proverbial wasteland for me. There is almost nothing I’m excited about getting, not that there is much to choose from. Only three publishers have titles releasing through Diamond Distributors this week. Seven Seas Entertainment’s selection isn’t too bad. I hope Citrus has been doing well for them. I’m still curious about Clay Lord Masters of Golems. I don’t think volume 1 got any poor reviews. I should give it a try.

  Recently I was tagged by Ash Brown of the Experiments in Manga blog to join in the game of Manga Tag that been making the rounds of manga blogs and vlogs. I thought it would be fun to join in and share some pictures of the manga I have stacked all over the house.

If you’ve been following my Top Ten posts every week, you will have seen that Tokyo Ghoul has been popular even before the print volumes came out. Part of this is probably because of the anime series which streamed earlier last year. If you’ve been curious about the series, but want to try before you buy, Viz Media has a deal for you. You can read an extended except of the first volume online for free. You can get almost half of the first volume to try, but only for a limited time. Check it out while you can!

Every week, the New York Times and Amazon posts the top ten bestselling books. The New York Times gets their numbers from print sales from retailers, while Amazon and Vizmanga.com calculates their own numbers. Once a month the Nielsen Bookscan posts their top twenty graphic novels of which manga is included. Offered here is a listing of these books with their status this week compared with the previous week, and some way-off analysis of the activity.

Once a loner, Hikari “Picasso” Hamura has helped so many people that he finds himself surrounded by friends! Picasso’s going to need them as he faces his most difficult “portrait” yet. It’s easy to deal with other people’s problems. But it’s another story when you have to face your own… Genkaku Picasso Volume 2-3 By Usamaru Furuya Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Supernatural/Mystery Price: $9.99 Rating: Back when I read volume 1 of Genkaku Picasso for the Usamaru Furuya Movable Manga Feast, I said I was definitely going to be picking up the last two volumes, which I did, but didn’t get around to reading. Have I mentioned I can be a bit of hoarder when it comes to books? Anyway, I finally decided to read the final volumes, and I am really glad I did. The classmates they help and the problems they deal with are both timely and poignant. The final volume has one of the best twists I’ve ever read in a book, and just elevates this series to a whole ‘nother level.

It’s Viz’s big week, and a couple of titles people have been waiting for are being released. Maid-Sama is a former Tokyopop title where only 8 of the 18 volumes were released. This series in one of the rare pick ups from Viz that is getting a print release as well as digital, and is under the Shojo Beat imprint instead of Viz Select. The series fits perfectly in the Shojo Beat imprint with its story of a girl who appears to be tough-as-nails and a boy hater, but also works part-time at a maid cafe where she is found out by the popular boy at school. They are coming out as 2-in-1, so it will be no time before the series is caught up with the previous release, and fans will be getting new material. Also new this week is the first volume of My Hero Academia. This series by the creator of Barrage has seriously caught on with fans on both sides of the Pacific. Here, only the first chapter was released in Weekly Shonen Jump before the title jumped to current serialization, so this is the first chance for readers to see (legally) what happened in the…

Otakon is the last big convention for manga publishers before New York Comic Con in October. It’s not usually a place frequented by publishers, especially not from the west coast, but this year saw some exciting license announcements, and appearances by west coast publishers Dark Horse Manga and Viz Media with Shojo Beat.

Kodansha Advanced Media, or KAM, is going to be a big deal to those of us who want more of our manga in digital, as they have taken over managing Kodansha Comics’ digital media. This exhibit features several prominent Kodansha manga artists, and is not only free for visitors who are in San Francisco, but online as well for those of us not so fortunate.

Viz Media does a pretty decent job of spreading out its license announcements. They aren’t always big or mind-blowing, but at all three conventions in July they made sure they had something to for fans to look forward to, and I think that in itself is pretty cool.

Every week, the New York Times and Amazon posts the top ten bestselling books. The New York Times gets their numbers from print sales from retailers, while Amazon and Vizmanga.com calculates their own numbers. Once a month the Nielsen Bookscan posts their top twenty graphic novels of which manga is included. Offered here is a listing of these books with their status this week compared with the previous week, and some way-off analysis of the activity.

Haruka and Mamoru finish off the invisible enemy and its operator, the hit man Fang. Sierra is injured and is off the case for a while, leading to the introduction to the abrasive Juliet, who Haruka doesn’t get along with. Turus ups the ante by offering a bounty on Haruka and Mamoru that draws in killers from around the world. Mamoru becomes the bait for them while Haruka has an adventure of her own with some friends from school. Meanwhile, Wiseman, one of those attracted by the bounty makes his move, finding Mamoru’s weak spot, setting up a trap meant to take care of the blind swordsman for good. Until Death Do Us Part Volume 3-4 Story by Hiroshi Takashige; Illustrated by DOUBLE-S Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Action Price: $18.99 Rating: Once again, there is a lot going on in these two volumes of Until Death Do Us Part, but not much happens. Mamoru and his sword still dominate the action, but there are a few shining moments here and there that keep me just interested enough to keep reading.