Manga Xanadu

At their panel at Katsucon over Valentine’s Day weekend, Vertical Comics showed readers the manga love with three new licenses; 1 manga and 2 light novel series.  Kizumonogatari is part of the Monogatari light novel series by writer NisiOisin. While Kizu is the third novel in the series, it is a prequel to the first, Bakemonogatari. It tells the story of how protagonist Koyomi was turned into a vampire by the female vampire Shinobu, and his journey to return to being human. I’ve heard about the Monogatari series, but never knew what they were about. With the description of mystery and supernatural, I’m now interested. So far, only this volume of the 18 available so far has been licensed. More will depend on how well this one does. It will ship in November of this year. Seraph of the End is a series already familiar to manga fans. Viz Media has been releases the manga and running concurrent chapters with Japan in Weekly Shonen Jump. This license from Vertical, Guren Ichinose, Catastrophe at 16, is another prequel to the main story. It follows Guren Ichinose in his early days, before he became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Japanese Imperial Demon Army….

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has had a difficult time in the west. The first print run of Part 3 didn’t do so well back in the aughts. The release of the series in digital along with an anime simulcast on Crunchyroll propelled the series into the fan spotlight. While Part 1 has been available in digital for a while, anticipation for this deluxe hardcover has been stewing for a while, as a check of Amazon.com’s top ten list will show.

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 14, 2015 Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol 14     ∗ Assassination Classroom Vol 2     ↓ 1 Unofficial Hatsune Mix     ↑ 3 Attack on Titan Vol 1     ↑ 6 Sword Art Online: Progressive Vol 1     ↑ 2 Dragonar Academy Vol 5     ∗ Say I Love You Vol 6     ∗ Akame ga Kill Vol 1     ↓ 5 Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liars Game Vol 7     ∗ Black Butler Vol 19     ↓ 1 The final Neon Genesis Evangelion, a series over a decade old, takes the list, debuting in the top spot, forcing Assassination Classroom Vol 2 down one to #2. Attack on Titan Vol 1 makes an aggressive move back up the list to reach the top five. Seven Seas…

Lawrence Kraft is a traveling merchant, going to towns and villages, making deals for items to barter and sell. While passing through the village of Pasloe on day, he picks up a stowaway on his chart; Holo the Wisewolf, the Harvest Goddess of the village. The villagers no longer need Holo, and she wishes to go home, in the north. She and Lawrence strike a deal, and they begin their adventures together on the trip north. Spice and Wolf Volume 1-6 By Keito Koume Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Mature Genre: Fantasy Price: $12.99/ea Rating: Spice and Wolf is a series that started out as a light novel and was adapted into both an anime and a manga. After the anime was favorably received by fans, Yen Press licensed both the light novel series and manga. There was a bit of an uproar when the first light novel came out, because Yen Press had chosen to use a cover that would appeal to Young Adult readers more than to anime fans. To appease the fans, Yen Press offered a book cover with the original cover art on it. I’d heard reviews of the first light novel, and while the idea of…

Chinese New Year moves back up to middle February after starting at the beginning of the month last year. And with a new year comes a new zodiac animal. This year, it is the sheep/ram or goat, depending on where you look. The majority of posts I’ve seen about it seem to use sheep, so I’m going with that. Fruits Basket – Since this series is about the Chinese Zodiac, it always has an animal to contribute. Hiro Sohma is a 12-year-old boy who rarely smiles except when he is being sarcastic or mischievous. He is the youngest of the cursed family members. He has a crush on Kisa Sohma and can be over protective of her. He is initially jealous of Tohru’s friendship with Kisa, but eventually comes to like her. He is also about the only Zodiac member to have a normal, loving parent in his mother, who loves hugging him in his sheep form. It is out of print but was previously published by Tokyopop. Spice and Wolf – In as series where on of the characters is a giant, ancient wolf, it should come as no surprise that there is sheep as well. When Holo and…

It’s super light in manga this week. Kodansha has nothing that interests me. I finally read the first volume of Manga Dogs and was sadly disappointed by it. The manga references were cute, but the volume as a whole just wasn’t funny, so I’ll pass on volume 3’s release. While I like the Pokemon Adventures manga series more than the TV series, the manga adaptations of the movies have been decent. The adaptation of the last movie to be released, Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction, comes out from Perfect Square, Viz Media’s kid imprint. Vertical Comics gets the thumb’s up this week with their all ages and comedy releases. I really enjoyed Cardfight! Vanguard. It’s a great combination of fun characters and collectible card games. Even if you can’t get the volumes with the limited edition game cards, pick up this series anyway. It’s just as fun to read as to play. Witchcraft Works has the kind of comedy I really enjoy; the deadpan protagonist. Takamiya keeps the same straight expression, no matter what is going on around her, whether she’s being attacked by witches or their giant bunny minions. It looks to be a great series and will be…

Carnival is the big celebration before the beginning of the religious even known as lent. It is often marked by parties and parades with people dressing up and wearing masks. A mask hides who you are or lets you be someone else. In manga, there are a few titles that use masks to transform the characters who use them. Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask – Based on the video game of the same name, the single volume features Link trying to save the world from being destroyed in three days. To do so, he must collect a series of masks that allow him to transform into different creatures that give him the abilities he needs to complete his quest. While the game it is based on is considered darker, Akira Himekawa does a good job of keeping the story intact while making it appropriate for younger readers. It’s rated All Ages and published by Viz Media. Kamisama Kiss – In this series, a girl, Nanami Momozono becomes homeless when her father skips out to escape his debts. She saves a mysterious man from a dog, and in gratitude, he gives her his home. The man just happens to be a…

Viz Media gets a huge selection of titles onto Comixology from publisher Shogakukan which includes Shonen Sunday titles as well as some shojo and josei. Comixology readers can now enjoy the likes of Case Closed and Happy Marriage?! as well as the classic Drifting Classroom. Many of these titles are also complete, so there’s no waiting for the next volume to come out.

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 7, 2015 Assassination Classroom Vol 2     ∗ Food Wars Vol 4     ∗ Akame ga Kill Vol 1     ↓ 2 Noragami Vol 3     ↑ 2 Soul Eater Vol 24     ↓ 3 Unofficial Hatsune Mix     ↑ 1 Sword Art Online: Progressive Vol 1     ↓ 2 Fairy Tail Vol 46     ↓ 4 Black Butler Vol 19     ↓ 6 Attack on Titan Vol 1     ↵ 84 Viz Media’s shonen releases have an impact of the list as the new series Assassination Classroom Vol 2 takes the top spot and is followed by the print version of Food Wars! Vol 4. Proving you can’t keep a Titan down, Attack on Titan vol 1 returns  again as it yo-yos on and off the list. Yen Press…

If you’re like me and have never read the first series, then you should check out the specially priced bundle Viz is running for the first 10 volumes of Boys Over Flowers. I’m interested in reading this new series. I was intrigued by the first chapter of the original, so hopefully this second series will be just as enticing.

Sachie Wakamura just lost her mother, and her estranged grandfather has shown up to take care of her. The only problem is that Grandpa is the head of a yakuza gang! Sachie tries to continue living her normal life, but she can’t run far since Rakuto, one of the most popular guys in school, is part of her grandfather’s gang and her new protector. Soon, Sachie finds herself falling for her bodyguard. But she’s the granddaughter of Rakuto’s boss, so he can never show his feelings for her. Can Sachie find a way to fit into her new family and seize her chance at romance? Wild Ones Volume 1-10 By Kiyo Fujiwara Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance/Comedy Price: $8.99-9.99 USD Rating: When I first read the first two volumes of Wild Ones, I liked it. It wasn’t amazing or groundbreaking in any way, but it seemed fun and the characters interesting. Then I binge-read the entire series. It unfortunately lost its charm pretty quickly as it fell into a rut of the same romance clichés and no character building. Wild Ones follows Sachie Wakamura, the unknowing granddaughter of a Yazuka gang. After her mother dies suddenly, Sachie…

Shogakukan’s Monthly Flowers magazine announced in its March issue that Yuu Watase will be launching a new manga in the Fushigi Yugi universe. Fushigi Yugi: Byakko Ibun, or Fushigi Yugi: The Curious Tales of Byakko, will start in the next issue due out at the end of February. It will have a color first page and will be featured on the cover. Little is known about the story, other than it is about the Priestess of Byakko, the White Tiger of the West, and the only Priestess whose story hasn’t been told. While the announcement said the chapter in February would “begin” a new series, Yuu Watase said on her blog that the manga wasn’t going to be a full story. This implies that it will either be a one-shot or a short story containing several chapters. I hope it’s the latter, for two reasons; 1) A one shot will only tell a sliver of the Priestess of Byakko’s story, and 2) several chapters can become a volume and more likely to get licensed and released. I don’t want to see a one-shot end up in a volume of Arata, assuming it starts up again. I don’t need one volume of…