Sometimes it feelings like time has just flown by, and sometimes it feels like I’ve been doing this forever, but today marks the 3rd anniversary for Manga Xanadu. Yeah, three years of reviews, ranting and maybe just a little real information imparted. I started this blog to share my love of manga and technology and point out the places where they can/should intersect, and it’s been a lot of fun. There have been some bunpy spots along the way, but I’m happy to say I’ve weathered them, blog and me intact. As Manga Xanadu goes into its fourth year, I’ll be keeping to the routine I’ve been going with, as it’s comfortable and works well for me. I’ll try to keep the mix of reviews and articles up, as inspiration hits. I’ve also discontinued posting about other fandom on this blog. Manga Xanadu will remain for manga and e-reading technology only. I’ve created a new blog, Fangirl Xanadu, where I will occasionally post my thoughts and reviews of books, movies, TV and comics. It won’t be updated as regularly as here, as this is my main blog. But I wanted someplace to post my other fandom musing without alienating the…
Some changes in RL has forced me to re-evaluate my Japanese studies. In other words, I have too many other things to keep up the pace I started last month. It hit me that had to come up with another plan when it was almost half way through the month and I hadn’t done anything to complete my kana studies. So, I did what any other sane person would do. I went online to find something more structured, and joined Smart.fm. I’ve head about this site for while, but my lack of progress convinced me that it might not be a bad idea to check them out. And, they’re actually not too bad. I’ve started my first goal, which is of course, Mastering Hiragana. This goal is a better way to learn the kana, because it not only takes you through the hiragana, it has audio, shows you the proper strokes for writing it, and has a typing of the romanji on the keyboard. And it doesn’t go in order, like I was doing with my memorizing. This has been really helpful in teaching me to identify characters faster. It quizzes with multiple choice and by having you type the…
It’s hard to believe, but this week marks Manga Xanadu’s second anniversary. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading my posts from the last year. I set myself a schedule of 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday & Friday, and with the addition of the This Week In Manga, one on the weekends, and have actually kept with it! I’m rather proud of that. It can be hard to be consistent, especially with RL and other commitments. But, I’ve done my best and I hope you’ve been able to take away something from all my random ranting. Over the past year, I think I’ve fallen behind on reviews for this site, concentrating on more commentary. E-books and related technology have gotten a lot of coverage and remain among my most popular hits from search engines. I will continue to cover this ever-evolving topic. There is a definite future in e-books, one we shouldn’t ignore. Searches for All Ages books have also remained high on the list. Hopefully more teachers, librarians and parents are looking at manga as another avenue to get kids reading. Manga is still misunderstood, and people still need to be educated about it. Libraries have been under fire,…
Here are some older titles at a new price! Those Who Hunt Elves v1-7 Buso Renkin v5-8 I’m still looking to clear out these titles. Next week I may try some shojo again. As always, feel free to contact me about what I have available. I’m happy to make a deal.
It’s that time of year, when you get the itch to clean out closets, move furniture and change up your wordpress website. Well, the last wasn’t exactly on my list, but thanks to Kate Dacey’s new site Tha Manga Critic, I got the itch to change mine around. Half of my weekend gone later, and I have a new theme up as you can see. I’ve simplified things as much as possible, hopefully making navigation easier and cleaner. The All Ages Manga page has been updated with the new titles, though Previews has shown me more, so expect more updates on that page soon. I debated this for a long time, but a look around the mangasphere has convinced me that I should put links for all my reviews for other sites, so the Reviews Archive will be getting a major update as well.
It’s hard for me to believe, but it’s been a year since I started this blog. I took baby steps before starting this blog. I’ve never been someone to give my opinion. I’ve always been a lurker on the internet, even in the days of bulletin boards, I just read more than posted. I joined Tokyopop.com in 2005, but didn’t do anything with it until last year, just before they screwed everything up. I started reading and commenting on other blogs before starting to post things of my own. After testing the waters there, I tried out Livejournal. Both were okay, but after listening to my tech shows for a while, I decided wordpress was a better way to go. I really liked control and customization. This became my Manga Xanadu, and livejournal became my general ranting about all fandom except manga.
I’ve added a new page to help parents (or anyone else interested) in finding all ages manga from all the manga publishers available. Publishers don’t make it very obvious which of their books are for everyone. Sometimes I had to dig two or three pages deep to find it. So, I decided to make this page so that there’s all in one place. Keep checking the page, as I will update it as I find more new manga. I’ll also let you know of any updates here. So click the link above, or check the Pages in the sidebar or on top the site. Viz will have a lot coming out in 2009, which is nice to here. It would be nice to see publishers like Del Rey and Yen Press, get some more books out. Broccoli Books and Netcomics surprised me with their selection. Netcomics even has some BL they rate as for all ages. I don’t know if I want to start the kids on that… Go Comi was another surprise, as they had no All Ages books at all.
You’ll notice a few changes to the site. The most obvious is the theme. While I liked the old one, it was old and wouldn’t let me use widgets. This new one is more up to date, has a second side bar, and I just like it. 🙂 I can now add things like the Upcoming Reviews widget. I’ve also added a few new pages. There’s now a reviews archive, with all the reviews on this site listed by title, company and age rating, all linked to the reviews. I’ve also added a page for the manga I’ve got to trade. There’s a list of manga that I’ll trade for, but I’m always interested in new titles, so make me an offer.