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I already gave my two cents on these two titles over the weekend, so check out that post. Otherwise, here’s the official announcement.
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. New York Times Bestseller List for the week ending February 28, 2015 JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures Part 1: Phantom Blood Vol 1 ∗ High School DxD Vol 4 ∗ Akame ga Kill! Vol 1 ↓ 2 Attack on Titan Vol 1 ↑ 1 Judge Vol 6 ∗ Black Butler Vol 19 ↓ 2 Deadman Wonderland Vol 7 ↓ 5 Dragonar Academy Vol 5 ↵ 2 Unofficial Hatsune Mix ↓ 3 Assassination Classroom Vol 2 ↔ Viz’s print debut of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 1 takes over the top spot this week. Also debuting at #2 is Yen Press’ High School DxD vol 4, a title that fits with Seven Seas Entertainment’s Dragonar Academy Vol…
There has been plenty of new titles announced for Viz’s Shonen Jump line, especially with the new Jump Start for Weekly Shonen Jump, but this week Viz Media let Shojo Beat shine with the announcement of two new titles to join the drama-based line. The first title announced was Bloody Mary. This supernatural series is about 400-year-old vampire “Bloody” Mary who has tired of life and just wants to die. He has been searching for one who would inherit the “Blood of Maria”, that would give them the power to kill him. He finally finds an exorcist who has inherited the power, but he doesn’t know how to use it. But because he possess the power, he becomes the target of lots of other vampires. Mary makes a deal with Maria. He will be his body-guard until Maria can figure out how to use his power and end Mary’s life. The series is only four volumes so far, and will be published quarterly starting in December 2015. This title has two potential strikes against it. One, it’s about vampires. I really am done with the whole vampire thing. Two, the series is a shounen ai/BL series. It’s only four volumes…
Erwin’s political enemies have hired Levi and his crew to take back some incriminating documents. Their reward: the right to live a proud life above ground, in the royal capital. But deep in titan territory, it’s going to be tough to break formation and steal from a squad leader, and Levi still insists on killing the man who humiliated him after the mission is complete. Of course, beyond the walls anything can happen, and a sudden change in Levi’s fortunes will force him to face the greatest regret in his life… Attack On Titan: No Regrets Volume 2 Written by Gun Snark (Nitroplus); Art by Hikaru Suruga Publisher: Kodansha Comics Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Horror/Drama Price: $10.99 Rating: I really enjoyed the first volume of Attack On Titan: No Regrets, and was really looking forward to this one, and again it didn’t disappoint. The series takes a darker turn from the lighter first volume, but keeps all the drama and excitement to deliver an ending you won’t regret. After their first encounter with a titan, Levi, Isabel and Furlan all start to change a little. Isabel is drawn into the Corps more, sympathizing with their cause. Furlan goes in…
Back in January, the nominees for the 8th Manga Taisho awards were announced. This year there are 14 titles, and again, there are several titles manga readers will be familiar with. Koe no Katachi, A Silent Voice has been announced for print from Kodansha Comics, and was streamed digitally on Crunchyroll. Maho Tsukai no Yome, The Ancient Magus’ Bride has been licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment, and Boku no Hero Academia, My Hero Academy has just been announced by Viz Media to run simultaneous with the Japanese releases. The rest of the nominees include Innocent, Osama-tachi no Viking, Kakukaku Shikajika, Kasane, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, Kodomo wa Wakatte Agenai, Dimitri Tomkins, Blue Giant, Houseki no Kuni, Ballroom e Youkoso, and Boku dake ga Inai Machi. Several of these titles look interesting, the problem with most them being they are seinen. One of the titles that isn’t and should be a no-brainer for license is Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. This comedy series follows Sakura Chiyo who tries to confess to her crush Nozaki, a shoujo manga artist, but instead he asks her to help him with his manga. The anime of this series was streamed here and was well received. It’s from Square…
It’s a big Viz week with both their shonen and shojo titles as well as plenty of Pokémon from their kid imprint Perfect Square. Everyone else is slumming it with one volume each. Dark Horse has New Lone Wolf and Cub Vol 4, while Kodansha releases the 5th omnibus of xxxHolic. Whispered Words from One Peace Books and is a yuri series about a girl who is secretly in love with her best friend, but who isn’t her type. It keeps getting good word of mouth, so it might be worth picking up even with the higher price point Viz’s avalanche of shonen and shojo is hard to escape. I recently re-read the first volume of Kamisama Kiss, and now I’m feeling the itch to binge read, but catching up will hurt the pocket-book with volume 17 coming out this week, even if it were available as an e-book! Rose lovers have two titles to choose from this week, with Kiss of the Rose Princess Vol 3 being released, but even more exciting, and a week early, is Requiem of the Rose King Vol 1. This historical shojo by Aya Kanno, the creator of Otomen, is based on Shakespeare’s play Richard III, and…
This last Wednesday, Seven Seas Entertainment announced two new licenses on their twitter feed for calendar year 2016. Both titles fall into their wheelhouse, though one doesn’t so too bad. The Testament of Sister New Devil is an adaptation of the light novel series. It is about Basara Tojo, a high school student who suddenly gets two new sisters when his father announces he has decided to remarry, and then promptly leaves for an overseas trip, leaving the trio alone. But Basara’s new step sisters, Mio and Maria are not what they seem. They are actually a novice Devil and Succubus. After trying to get Basara into a master/servant relationship with a Mio, an error occurs and Basara becomes the master, throwing him into all kinds of erotic situations. On top of all this, Mio is being hunted by both monsters and heroes. This series doesn’t interest me at all with its harem, male gaze elements, but it does fit perfectly in Seven Seas’ catalog. There are four volumes so far, and an anime adaptation is being streamed by Crunchyroll. The first will be available here in February 2016. My Monster Secret is a romantic comedy that follows Asahi Kuromine….
Ultraman has been in a bit of a revival with the many incarnations of the TV series coming to DVD and streaming on Crunchyroll. This manga is a sequel to the first TV series, and just started in 2011, effectively updating the 1960s series for a 21st century audience. I’m really looking forward to seeing it later this summer.
My Hero Academia was already announced to have joined the Weeky Shonen Jump line up, but this new announcement makes the series available to more readers beyond the WSJ base. But with the simultaneous chapter releases, fans will have to wait until August to actually read what happens in between the first chapter and chapter 24, when it starts. Recaps are okay, but just not as good as the actual chapters.
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. 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. New York Times Bestseller List for the week ending February 21, 2015 Akame ga Kill Vol 1 ↑ 7 Deadman Wonderland Vol 7 ∗ Gansta Vol 5 ∗ Black Butler Vol 19 ↑ 6 Attack on Titan Vol 1 ↓ 1 Unofficial Hatsune Mix ↓ 3 Black Butler Vol 1 ↵ 44 World Trigger Vol 4 ∗ Death Note Black Vol 1 ↵ 5 Assassination Classroom Vol 2 ↓ 8 There are some dramatic movers and shakers on the list this week. Two Yen Press titles, Akame ga Kill Vol 1 and Black Butler Vol 19 make some big jumps to return to the top 5. Also of interest is the return of Black Butler Vol 1. This used to be the Volume 1 power mover until Attack on…
A newspaper-masked vigilante who broadcasts his acts of vengeance before committing them. A newly formed police division tackling the new frontier of internet-based crime. As the sun rises on the Era of Information, can a group of people who found themselves at the bottom of the food chain rattle society through the web and avenge a fallen friend? Prophecy Volume 1 By Tetsuya Tsutsui Publisher: Vertical Comics Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Thriller Price: $12.95 Rating: For anyone who has spent any time on social media, Prophecy will feel like a story ripped from the headlines. Anonymous threats coming from websites that have the police stumped and running in circles trying to find the perpetrators. This first volume sets up the cat and mouse game between Paperboy, an online presence that makes threats and carries them out and the newly formed Anti-Cyber Crimes Division, a unit of the Tokyo Metro Police Department who are trying to stop him. The story starts like a police procedural with the crimes being discovered and the ACCD starting to investigate. The ACCD is a three person unit led by Lieutenant Erika Yoshino. She is hard-nosed, no-nonsense, and borderline vindictive toward the accused, almost as…
Some interesting titles debut this week. Dark Horse releases the second of their two manga by Satoshi Kon, Seraphim 266613336 Wings. Kon does the art while the writing was done by Mamoru Oshii, another anime director. It’s been highly anticipated by fans of both creators. Kodansha Comics’ new title is Maria the Virgin Witch. It’s by Masayuki Ishikawa, the creator of the short-lived release Moyashimon by earlier publisher Del Rey. The subject of this series, a witch who must remain a virgin to keep her powers is more up the alley of western readers than germs were. Seven Seas Entertainment releases the first volume of Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary. I wasn’t too sure about the series, but a fair-to-middling’ review has me curious enough to flip through it. Yen Press has a whole lot of nope in their releases this week. Ani-Imo, Gou-Dere Sora Nagihara and BTOOOM! are all titles I pass by on guilt free. I keep wondering if I would be curious enough to check out High School DxD, but fortunately, I’ve got a lot of other titles to keep distracting me. I do still need to dig into Barakamon. I have the first two volumes sitting in…