Manga Xanadu

One Peace is a boutique publisher that has been bringing over an eclectic selection of books from Japan, from novels, to craft books to manga. Among their manga selections are Manga Classics (no relation to the Udon Entertainment series), Crayon Shin-Chan, and this year, Whispered Words and Raqiya. Last month they announced two more titles to expand their manga catalog. Aquarion-Evol is an adaptation of the anime of the same name, which is itself a sequel to the anime Sousei no Aquarion. 12,000 years have passed since the events of Sousei no Aquarion, and a new enemy, the “Abductors” have to Vega to steal its people away. The organization known as Neo-DEAVA is there to stop them. Young men and women, know as elements, pilot massive robots in separate teams, stop the Abductors. Amata Sora and Mikono Suzushiro are both members of Neo-DEAVA. To save his friend and his planet, Amata must use a power he has kept secret all his life to being the men and women together to bring the legendary giant robot Aquarion back. I wasn’t too sure about this title when it was announced. I found the first anime rather…problematic in its transformation, and skipped the second…

Yen Press has the lion share of releases this Halloween week, but they don’t have the one title that will make me squee with joy. It’s Kodansha and their release of the second and final volume of Attack On Titan: No Regrets that has me ready to whip open my wallet. I REALLY loved the first volume, and can’t wait to see what is in store for Levi and his friends and see how Levi becomes so loyal to a man he is determined to kill. As I said previously, this is the big Yen Press release week, and there are a few titles from them I look forward to reading. A Bride’s Story vol 6, Inu X Boku SS Vol 5, Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Different Story Vol 3, and Umineko When They Cry Episode 4 Vol 2: Alliance of the Golden Witch are all regular reads for me. New this week is Barakamon, a title Yen pushed heavily at NYCC. The story combines the “fish out of water” story element with a Yotsuba&! as it tells of a young calligrapher from the city who moves to a rural island and learns the ways of the island from…

At New York Comic Con earlier this month, publisher Kodansha Comics held a panel where they announced four new titles to join their already extensive catalog of titles. Two of the titles are related to existing titles they are currently publishing and two are brand new. The first new title is a shojo. L DK follow high school students Shusei and Aoi. Shusei is his school’s “Prince” with a reputation for coldly turning down girls who want to go out with him. Aoi’s best friend becomes one of these girls, earn Shusei her disdain. When disaster strikes Shusei, and his apartment burns to the ground, he ends up being Aoi’s roommate. I’m not sure how I feel about this title. I really don’t care for stories that throw the characters into improbably situations like this. The series is currently 14 volumes and has had a live action movie. There was no word on when Kodansha would release the first volume, but I would guess late 2015. Inuyashiki is a sci-fi series by Hiroya Oku, the creator of the violent and gory Gantz. It is about Inyushiki, a salaryman with a wife and two children who don’t care about him. He learns…

Indulge your love of supernatural romance with this new series from Viz Media. I wasn’t too keen on the license when it was originally announced back in February, but I’ve been wrong before. Keep reading to see if you feel it’s a must get next week. VIZ MEDIA LAUNCHES NEW PARANORMAL SHOJO MANGA SERIES KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS  A Mystical Girl Brings Forth Four Magical Knights To Help Her On A Quest To Save The World From The Forces Of Evil San Francisco, CA, October 22, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, announces a thrilling new paranormal shojo manga (graphic novel) adventure with the launch of Aya Shouoto’s KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS on November 4th. The new series will be available for the first time digitally as well as in print under the Shojo Beat imprint. KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS is rated ‘T’ for Teens and will carry a print MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. A digital version of KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS, Vol. 1 also will debut on November 4th for $6.99 (USD/CAN) from VIZManga.com and through the VIZ MANGA…

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 October 14, 2014 Deadman Wonderland Vol 5     ∗ Naruto Vol 67     ↓ 1 Magi Vol 8     ∗ Case Closed Vol 52     ∗ All You Need is Kill Vol 1    ↑ 4 Bakuman Vol 1     ↵ All You Need is Kill Vol 2     ↑ 3 Bakuman Vol 2     ↵ World Trigger Vol 1     ↓ 7 Toriko Vol 24     ↓ 5 For the first time in quite a while, shojo has been completely pushed off the list, leaving this week all to shonen. Deadman Wonderland Vol 5‘s debut has pushed last week’s top title, Naruto Vol 67 down a slot. World Trigger took the biggest fall though, with Vol 1 tumbling down 7 spots to #9. Obata manga continues to do well. All…

In Edo, there is a woman with incredible supernatural powers known as Oyou, the Urameshiya. She is able to banish spirits haunting humans. But her power is a double-edged sword as she is feared by the same people who ask for her help, except for the outcast pickpocket, Saji. After a chance meeting, Saji is attracted to both her beauty and ability, and together they take on the supernatural in Edo. Urameshiya Volume 1-3 By Makiko Publisher: Jmanga.com/Futabasha Publishers Age Rating: Mature Genre: Supernatural/Mystery Price: $4.99/OOP Rating: Urameshiya was among the first selections available when Jmanga went live. I had seen it recommended by fellow bloggers, but its mature rating left me with some trepidation. I put off reading it until Jmanga released their Android reader app. My misgivings were completely unfounded, as I started reading the first volume, and worked obsessively through to the third, with little desire to put my tablet down. This title combines complex characters in realistic relationships with well told tales of the supernatural to create a very entertaining manga. Oyou, the protagonist of this title, is an outcast from society. Her strong powers make her someone people fear to anger, but at the same…

It’s another slow manga release this week. While Kodansha and Viz Media do have titles coming out, only Veritical and Seven Seas Entertainment has anything I’m actually interested in. Seven Seas continues to be a hit or miss publisher with me. Their licenses lately have tended to rely too much on the male gaze fan service, but it’s hard to fault them that since those are the titles that make it onto the New York Times Bestseller List. Hopefully, the more skeevy titles will continue to fund manga like Arpeggio of Blue Steel. Volume 2 comes out this week, and I’m still looking forward to it even through volume 1 is still sitting in my Amazon shopping cart. Witchcraft Works is the first manga to come out under the Vertical Comics imprint, which was just announced at New York Comic Con earlier this month. It’s a romantic comedy, but I still am interested in checking out volume 1. Vertical has steered me wrong yet, so I’ll trust if they say it’s good and funny. An anime of the manga has already been streamed by Crunchyroll earlier this year, so it’s got a built-in audience, and it seems to be selling…

I asked for it and I got it! With the end of the “Yellow Scarves Arc” manga in Japan, I recently lamented that with no new announcement, there weren’t any more DRR manga to look forward to. Square Enix fixed that as they announced a new DRR title would be starting in the December issue of GFantasy Magazine. The series will get a new artist Aogiri. It will continue to chronicle the adventures of our favorite characters in our favorite area of Tokyo, Ikebukuro. The ward is thrown into chaos again with authority from shady places, assassins from overseas, delinquents from Saitama and a underclassman who knows Mikado’s secret. All the while Izaya Orihara watches over the chaos, laughing. I really hope this is an adaptation of the 4th light novel. I can’t tell, but if Square Enix continues to follow suit, then it should be. I’m also not so sure about the change in artists. I really like Akiyo Satorigi’s work in the last three series’. But, at least he gets on last hurrah, as GFantasy as also announced that Satorigi will be doing a special chapter also in the December issue. This one shot is tentatively titled “Durarara!!…

West Coast publisher Viz Media was the only publisher from this coast to attend NYCC and hold a panel. While their panels this late in the year usually consist of reiterating want was licensed at the beginning, this year they had two new licenses to announce. Tokyo Ghoul will be a Viz Signature title and So Cute It Hurts will be a Shojo Beat title. Tokyo Ghoul comes from Shueisha’s Weekly Young Jump magazine. There are currently 14 volumes out in Japan. The series follows Ken Kaneki, an ordinary college student. Tokyo is being haunted by “ghouls,” who devour humans and whose identities are shrouded in mystery, leaving people in the grip of panic. While at a coffee shop he likes to frequent, Kaneki meets Rize, an avid reader just like him. But his life is changed forever when he becomes the first half-human, half-ghoul hybrid. Straddling both worlds, he must survive Ghoul turf wars, learn about Ghoul society and master his new powers. Tokyo Ghoul recently had an anime that was streamed by Funimation, and has been on fans radars for a while. For me to enjoy a good action/horror title, it really has to be something really good….

Viz Media performs a balancing act with the two new licenses they announced at NYCC; one for the Signature line and one for the Shojo Beat line. Shojo Beat has been getting a lot of new titles lately. It’s good to see the Signature line get more. We need more of those titles. VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES THE ACQUISITION OF MANGA LICENSES FOR TOKYO GHOUL AND SO CUTE IT HURTS!!  North America’s Leading Manga Publisher Thrills Fans At New York Comic Con 2014 With The Announcement Of A Harrowing New Action Horror Series And A Hilarious New Shojo Manga Title  San Francisco, CA, October 9, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, announced the acquisition of a pair of exciting new manga (graphic novel) titles during panels held during the recent New York Comic Con 2014. Fans attending the East Coast’s biggest pop culture and comics event enthusiastically welcomed the announcement of the Summer 2015 launch of creator Sui Ishida’s horror action series, TOKYO GHOUL, which will be published under the VIZ Signature imprint, as well as Go Ikeyamada’s cross-dressing comedy, SO CUTE IT HURTS!!, set to be published…

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 October 7, 2014 Naruto Vol 67     ∗ World Trigger Vol 1     ∗ World Trigger Vol 2     ∗ My Love Story! Vol 2     ∗ Toriko Vol 24     ∗ Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan Vol 23     ∗ Vampire Knight Vol 19     ∗ Hikaru no Go Vol 1     ↵ All You Need Is Kill Vol 1     ↵ All You Need Is Kill Vol 2     ↵ New releases as well as a new anime has shonen titles dominating this list this week. The new Naruto volume takes the top spot. I would wonder if the news that it would end in the next month had anything to do with that, but Naruto always debuts at the top, so probably not. The World Trigger anime…

At New York Comic Con which occurred recently, Vertical, Inc. announced some new licenses, as well as a new imprint. Continuing with the roots of the company they announced two light novels, based on the wildly popular Attack on Titan property; Attack on Titan Before the Fall: Kyklo Arc and Attack on Titan: Harsh Mistress of the City. Attack on Titan Before the Fall: Kyklo Arc makes up the last two light novels of the Before the Fall series. Vertical has already published the first novel, which follows talented smith Angel Aaltonen as he develops the maneuvering gear for the Survey Corps. The new license is for story that follows Kyklo, the “son of a Titan.” This second part takes place at around the same time as the first volume and follows Kyklo, a boy who was in the womb when his mother eaten by a Titan and survived, and became dubbed “Son of a Titan.” Kodansha Comics is releasing the manga based on the novel. Vertical will release the Kyklo Arc as one 2-in-1 omnibus. It will be available next summer. I’m currently reading the first volume and have liked it so far. Even with Kodansha releasing the manga, I…