Manga Xanadu

It’s a small week for only being the second of the month. Hey, Dark Horse is still publishing manga! It’s kind of surprising considering how rarely volumes pop up. I see merchandise more often than manga, and had forgotten they were even publishing Blood Blockade Battlefront, from Yasuhiro Nightow, the creator of Trigun.  I was never interested in reading either. Volume 7 is out this week. They also have the omnibus of the re-release of Samurai Executioner Volume 4 by Kazuo Koike, who is associated with Dark Horse in the same way Naoki Urasawa is associate with Viz Media. The jewel of the releases this week comes from Vertical Comics, as can be expected. This week they have the second volume of Prophecy, the cyber crime investigation, social media vengeance title you didn’t know you should be reading. Well, you’ve now been given notice. It’s only three volumes long, and comes out of the gate punching. It’s a title that will hook you from the first chapter. In honor of Valentines Day this week, Kodansha releases the sixth volume of Say I Love You, a teen romance filled with all the uncertainty and doubt teens feel about themselves and their feelings….

All good things must come to an end, and several of the titles on this week’s list are doing just that. Viz Media has a huge catalog of titles, and most of those titles have an end. This week, we see four of them. Nura Rise of the Yokai Clan has been following third generation Yokai Yakuza Rikuo, and with volume 25, we see his story come to an end. It took a while for me to get into Nura, but I really started to enjoy the story at around volume 8. I’ll have to get back to finish it some day. High School Debut gets to end a second time, as the 3-in-1 omnibus editions roll out with Volume 5 which includes volumes 13-15. This series had its moments, but was never a favorite for me. Viz is also one of the few publishers taking a chance on josei titles, and two of them end this week as well. Honey Blood is a short-lived vampire romance series, but this volume, Tale Zero is filled with short stories that may (or may not) help the abrupt ending of the original two volumes. Happy Marriage!? finally comes to an end at…

Wow, I know end of the month lists can be tough, but this one is seriously rough. There are only four different titles coming out from four different companies. The only title I would really have a lot of interest in getting is Fairy Tail vol 46 from Kodansha. I am so far behind on Fairy Tail I’m thinking just looking for the beginning of the latest arc and picking it up there and going back to read the backlog later. It worked for Attack on Titan, but then I wasn’t 41 volumes behind either. Seven Seas Entertainment has another male gaze oriented title with I Don’t Like You At All Big Brother that I am passing on guilt free, and Yen Press has just one title, Soul Eater. I know this has been a popular series for a long time, but I just couldn’t get into it. Not at the beginning, and especially not now. Vertical releases the final volume of From the New World with vol 7. I wasn’t thrilled by the first volume due to its heavy fan service, but I’d heard from friends that the story was good, so I’ll give it another try. I can power…

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 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 January 17, 2015 Finder Vol 7     ∗ One Piece Vol 73     ∗ Attack on Titan No Regrets Vol 2     ↑ 5 Attack on Titan Vol 1     ↵ 82 Unofficial Hatsune Mix     ↔ The Seven Deadly Sins Vol 6     ∗ Kingdom Hearts II Vol 3     ↓ 4 Nisekoi False Love Vol 7     ∗ Assassination Classroom Vol 1     ↵ 5 Naruto Vol 68     ↓ 3 All is right again with the world, and the apocalypse has been averted; Attack on Titan vol 1 returns to the NYT Bestseller list, and in the top five. A new title takes the top spot as Finder Vol 7, a BL from Digital Manga Publishing debuts. DMP is actually running a kickstarter to reprint Finder Vol 1-6. Check it…

No matter how I look at it, it’s Yen Press’s fault I’m not caught up reading manga! Look at all these omnibuses that are coming out from them this week. Goong, Ubel Blatt, Umineko When They Cry, and Until Death Do Us Part. I can’t keep up with regular releases, as it is, and with so many omnibuses, my TBR pile just looks worse! There is one non-omnibus title from Yen Press I’d like to check out; Secret Vol 1. I haven’t read Judge or Doubt, but I’m considering giving Secret a try. It looks like it will have more of a mystery element to it than just a psychological thriller. Also new this week from Yen Press is Akame Ga Kill. I know a lot of people have been looking forward to it, but I’m gonna pass on it. It screams harem, with the one country bumpkin guy surrounded by hot girl assassins. I just don’t see the appeal of these harem comedies. The other publishers aren’t helping much either. Kodansha releases three titles I do enjoy, though My Little Monster and Noragami sit a little higher on the pile than Missions of Love. Seven Seas has the third volume…

Some of the smaller publishers pop up this week. BL readers will note Digital Manga Publishing has some print books coming out. Netcomics has the second volume of their new series Give to the Heart, and a one shot of the classic novel The Prince by Machiavelli. Seven Seas Entertainment pleases both the boys and girls with the new Alice in the Country of Clover: The Lizard Aide, and Strike Witches: One- Winged Witches. Kodansha only has one title this week, the sixth volume of Seven Deadly Sins, marking the half way for the current releases in Japan. After reading some older Case Closed titles, I’m back in the mood to read more. Viz Media releases volume 53, which isn’t even close to being caught up. This title has been running in serialization for 20 years, and doesn’t seem to show any signs of slowing down! At 85 volumes and counting, it may be another 20 years before we’ve caught up! Vertical Comics has the top manga of the week with their first volume of My Neighbor Seki. The description makes the title sound ridiculous, but it is so much better than that. It is so funny, I loved every…

It’s a new year with plenty of new manga to check out. There is a nice mix of titles this week in both shonen, shojo and the young reader demographics. Dark Horse releases the first volume in the sequel/continuation of the CLAMP series Legal Drug with Drug and Drop omnibus coming out. Viz’s kid imprint, Perfect Square has new Pokèmon, Adventures and Black and White. I’ve only just caught up with Vertical Comics’ What Did You Eat Yesterday Vol 4-5, and now I’ve got 6 breathing down my neck! Kodansha has the fifth volume of a shojo series I really enjoy, Say I Love You. I have vols 3-4 stacked up, so with vol 5 I can indulge in another binge read. This is always good and bad. I love getting big doses of my favorite titles, but then it’s a long wait for the new volume! This is Viz Media’s big shonen and shojo week, but it’s not as big usual. The Akira Toriyama One-shot Jaco the Galactic Patrolman finally makes it’s digital and print debut. Joining it is the new shojo title Meteor Prince Vol 1. I wasn’t wowed by the premise of Meteor Prince but those who…

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’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…

It’s a week until Christmas! Time to fill a manga lover’s stocking with their favorite titles! Only four publishers are offering new volumes this week. Kodansha has the second volume of Manga Dogs already. It feels like it just came out, and already volume 2 is out. Seven Seas Entertainment dumps the rest of their titles this week, including their first volume of their yuri series Citrus. They’ve really been pushing this one on social media. If you want Seven Seas to keep licensing yuri titles, then throw your support behind this one. The first volume of the second series of Dance In The Vampire Bund, Scarlet Order, also comes out. If you’ve been lamenting the end of the last series, lament no more! Vertical only has one volume, but it’s a big one. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin Volume 8 hits the streets, and covers on of the bloodiest battles in the series. Viz Media releases a near handful of Signature titles. I knew Dorohedoro was still coming out, albeit slowly. Currently at volume 14, it’s coming up close to the end. I was really surprised to see that Afterschool Charisma was not only still going, but had reached volume…

Several publishers have books coming out this week, just not a lot. Gen Manga Entertainment is back in the print game. Over the last couple of months they’ve been releasing books in print. This month it’s Stones of Power. The third volume of Attack on Titan Before the Fall, the manga adaptation of the second two light novels is out this week from Kodansha. I still want to see the first volume adapted. Vertical Comics has #2 volumes of Ajin and Witchcraft Works out, two titles that appear to be doing well for small publisher. Alice in Wonderland could almost be considered a genre on its own  with all the titles that have come out of Japan lately that are based, however loosely, on the original story. Seven Seas Entertainment jumped on that bandwagon with I Am Alice Body Swap In Wonderland, a gender-bending take on the story. If you like gender-bending stories, and aren’t completely burned out on Alice derivatives. In a different Wonderland, Deadman Wonderland, Viz Media finally surpasses the original Tokyopop releases and comes out with all new material with Volume 6. If you’ve been waiting for the rest of the story, it starts here.  Full list…

It’s the first Tuesday of the month, and publishers have manga to release! If you haven’t been following the weekly releases, DC finally has the first volume of Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga collected, and perfectly timed for landing under the Christmas tree. It’s mix of Batman action and 60s insanity will be a double treat for Batman/manga fans. Or just something for non-Batman fans to laugh at. For not so laughing material, Vertical Comics releases volume 12 of Knights of Sidonia, their popular sci-fi series. This series will be caught up with the Japanese release with its next volume. Fans will then have to endure a long and excruciating wait to get their next fix. Can they hold out? Viz Media has the lion’s share of titles this week with their shonen and shojo titles making landfall. Assassination Classroom, the title about an alien threatening to destroy the Earth that takes on a class of middle school misfits is finally out. I’m seriously considering this one. New in shojo is Yukarism, a gender-bending, time-traveling title by Chika Shiomi. I will pick up the first volume of any series by her. She is one of the few mangaka I have that…