Manga Xanadu

The week between Christmas and New Year’s is always very new-release light, so this year I’ve decided to look back at some of my favorite new manga that came out in 2014. I say favorite because I don’t like saying best. There are still so many titles waiting for me to read them, I don’t feel qualified to claim these were the best of 2014, but they are the ones that I enjoyed the most. 2014 is the year I discovered Attack on Titan. Yeah, I know. I’m waaayyyy behind the times, but I seemed to have joined the fold at just the right time. Several spin-off titles were released this year, and my favorite among them was Attack on Titan: No Regrets from Kodansha Comics. I had no idea who Levi and Erwin were beyond being leaders of the Survey Corps in the main series when I picked up this two-volume series. Levi quickly became my favorite. I loved his brooding, angry attitude combined with his concern for his friends and clean-freak-ness. The art was great too, making it a bit of a shock when I finally did see him in the main series. Spin-offs have been doing well…

It came down to the wire again. Digital Manga Publishing, after the failure of their ambitious Kickstarter to publish 31 volumes of Osamu Tezuka’s manga, tried again with a more traditional model of a complete two-volume series. It began at the end of November, just before Black Friday, and ended the day after Christmas. A difficult time to be asking for money to be sure, as people are out preparing for the holidays and buying gifts. It started out well, hitting 20% of their goal after only a few days. They kept the pricing in line with what fans expected to pay for books, and had several digital and print options to satisfy most desires. To keep the campaign alive, they would add new tiers, and in the last week offered a special high-end tier that included a trip to Japan for $4000. This seemed to be the spur it needed to get over the lull it had fallen into that made some declare it would fail. As is usual for most Kickstarters, it came down to the wire on the last day, but it did make its goal with $1000 to spare. When you look at how the pledges broke…

While other may be excited to get the new Dragon Ball Z content, I’m just glad to get new Akira Toriyama that isn’t Dragon Ball Z. There is more to Toriyama than Dragon Ball and I’m always happy when we get it.

Every week, Viz Media and the New York Times posts the top ten bestselling books. For Viz Media, it is the bestsellers on their site, Vizmanga.com. The New York Times gets their numbers of print sales from retailers. 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.   Vizmanga.com for the week of December 16, 2014 Vizmanga didn’t send out a top ten for the third week in a row.   New York Times Bestseller List for the week ending December 20, 2014 Attack on Titan Vol 1     ↑ 1 Naruto Vol 68     ↓ 1 Assassination Classroom Vol 1     ↑ 4 Sword Art Online Fairy Dance Vol 2     ∗ Unofficial Hatsune Mix     ↵ 2 Attack on Titan No Regrets Vol 1     ↵ 16 Attack on Titan No Regrets Vol 2     ↑ 2 Attack on Titan Vol 2     ↵ 42 Spice and Wolf Vol 10     ∗ Kingdom Hearts II Vol 3     ∗ Christmas can make a top ten list seem quite fickle. Some of the returnees from last week have already moved on, and were…

It was recently noticed by readers that online retailers were either pulling or dates were set back for the sixth volume of Kodansha’s deluxe hardback title Vinland Saga. On Monday, Kodansha confirmed the title was on “temporary suspension.” No reason was given for the suspension, but many people jumped straight to poor sales. Vinland Saga is a seinen title, with a higher price point due to it being a premium edition. This isn’t necessarily the reason, but it isn’t too far-fetched to believe either. It is more expensive than most manga, and a genre that has been typically a hard sell, even though there have been nothing by rave reviews about it. While the H-Word (hiatus) hasn’t been uttered yet, it seems readers are ready to assume the worse. On at least one forum, one poster was ready to dive by into scanlations, assuming the series was already gone for good. Of course, if poor sales is the issue, this kind of thinking just exasperates the problem and creates a vicious circle of people reading scans, not buying a series, and justifying their reading of scans because no one is buying the series. I don’t know that I can completely take fault…

It was hate at first sight… rather a knee-to-the-head at first sight when Raku Ichijo meets Chitoge Kirisaki! Unfortunately, Raku’s gangster father arranges a false love match with their rival’s daughter, who just so happens to be Chitoge! However, Raku’s searching for his childhood sweetheart from ten years ago, with a pendant around his neck as a memento, and he can’t even remember her name or face! Nisekoi: False Love Volume 1 By Naoshi Komi Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Rom-Com Price: $9.99 Rating: Nisekoi started out as a digital only series that did well enough to move up to a print release. I’d heard others raving about it before it was officially licensed, so despite my poor luck with rom-coms, I decided to give this series a try. So far, it’s not too bad. The basic premise of the series is far from original. Boy who doesn’t want to be a gangster like his father gets thrown into relationship with rival gangster boss’ daughter to keep the peace between the two gangs. And of course, they have to hate each other, so there is plenty of conflict as they pretend to like each other for the benefit…

It’s the day before Christmas and Yen Press decides to flood the bookstores with their new releases! Don’t they realize most of the money is gone by the 24th? How am I suppose to not only keep up with my favorite regular releases, but also pick up the new ones?! Spice and Wolf Volume 10 comes out this week, and as soon as I get volume 7 I will binge read to catch up. That’s how I got hooked in the first place, binge reading volume 1-6, so another binge can only be a good thing. While not a regular release, it is one that is good to see return. Tena on S-String hasn’t had a volume released since 2010, where the first arc ended, but nothing was resolved just yet. It returns this week in an omnibus 2-in-1, starting up a new arc. I wasn’t enamored by the series, but I grew to like the characters well enough that I wouldn’t mind seeing how the next arc starts. Of the new releases, I do have some interest in the new light novel series A Certain Magical Index, and I wouldn’t mind seeing if Milkyway Hitchhiking read better as a…

Just in time for year-end, Kodansha announced one last title on its Tumblr account. Your Lie In April is by Naoshi Arakawa, a relative unknown to Western readers, and currently has an anime airing in Japan that is also streaming on Aniplex Channel, Hulu, and Crunchyroll. Your Lie in April is about Kosei Arima, a piano prodigy until his cruel taskmaster of a mother dies suddenly. His life forever changed, he abandons piano, and resigns to live in a colorless, monotonous world. His bland world is shaken when he meets Kaori Miyazono, a violinist with an unorthodox style, and possibly the only one who can teach him not only to play, but to live again. This series is currently at 10 volumes, with the 11th due out in May 2015. Kodansha plans to publish the first volume here in Spring 2015. This series looks really cute, and it features music, so it’s got my attention. It also won the Best Shonen Category at Kodansha’s 37th Annual Manga Awards last year. With the anime preceding it, it will at least have some name recognition when it comes out to draw people in and good writing to keep them. I’m looking forward…

Viz Media has been bringing back a lot of older titles that have gone out of print. Most of the titles have been from former English publisher Tokyopop through Japanese publisher Kadokawa Shoten. Last week Viz announced another three titles from the Toykopop/Kadokawa Shoten licenses. Mikansei No. 1 is a two-volume series by creator Majiko, whose other titles include St. Lunatic High, which was also published under Viz Select, and Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion originally published here by Bandai. I really wouldn’t surprise me to see that one show up at some point. Mikansei No. 1 is about a girl named Neo who was born into the wrong century. She loves to sing and wear short skirts despite the more modest fashion of the 23rd century. Accidentally transported back in time to the 21st century, she teams up with the handsome Saya, and becomes half of singing duo. But to make it big, they need to put on a concert. It’s up to Neo to keep time on their side. At two volumes it might be interested in checking it out. I didn’t care for St. Lunatic High, her only other original title I’ve read, but this one sounds…

Viz Media ends 2014 for their expected end of the year sale of their digital titles and some unexpected new Viz Select titles. The sale is their typical $2-off-to-bring-pricing-back-down-where-it-should-be promotion and lasts through January. You know what to do with that Christmas money, and even Amazon gift cards as they seem to have extended the promotion to their site. Read on for all the details.

Every week, Viz Media and the New York Times posts the top ten bestselling books. For Viz Media, it is the bestsellers on their site, Vizmanga.com. The New York Times gets their numbers of print sales from retailers. 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.   Vizmanga.com for the week of December 9, 2014 Vizmanga didn’t send out a top ten for the second week in a row.   New York Times Bestseller List for the week ending December 13, 2014 Naruto Vol 68     ↔ Attack on Titan Vol 1     ↔ Black Butler Vol 1     ↑ 2 Attack on Titan Before the Fall Vol 3     ∗ Food Wars Vol 3     ↑ 1 No Game No Life Vol 1     ↵ 5 Assassination Classroom Vol 1     ∗ Attack on Titan Vol 14     ↔ Attack on Titan No Regrets Vol 2     ↔ Millennium Snow Vol 4     ↓ 6 There was not a lot of movement on the list this week.  Four titles, including the top two remained in the same spots. Seven Seas lost their…

Yato is a homeless god. He doesn’t even have a shrine, not to mention worshippers! So to achieve his ambitious goals, he’s set up a service to help those in need (for a small fee), hoping he’ll eventually raise enough money to build himself the lavish temple of his dreams. Or course, he can’t afford to be picky, so Yato accepts all kinds of jobs, from finding lost kittens to helping a student overcome bullies at school. Noragami Stray God Volume 1 By Adachitoka Publisher: Kodansha Comics Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Fantasy Price: $10.99 Rating: Noragami is about Yato, a god who is at the bottom of the bottom of the deity hierarchy. He has dreams of gaining thousands of followers and building lavish shrine where he will be worshipped. In order to do this, he needs to be known and collect offerings. To this end, he puts up his number all around town, advertising his services, and only those who truly need it will see it. Yato’s big problem; he is unmarketable. He is egotistical, and can be a real jerk, but he does have good intentions, and truly wants to help people. It’s getting that last part across…