A military test accidentally sends a unit from Japan’s Self-Defense Forces back in time to their country’s feudal past. When their actions begin to alter the present, a second unit is dispatched to retrieve them. But Colonel Matoba, commander of the lost battalion, is determined to use his advanced technology to conquer Japan and change his country’s destiny. It’s up to Kashima, Matoba’s former protégé, to stop him. But he only has a narrow window of time, and it is rapidly closing. Samurai Commando: Mission 1549 Creators: Ark Performance & Harutoshi Fukui Publisher: CMX Genre: Action/Sci-Fi Age Rating: Teen+ Price: $9.99 Rating: Buy This Book I love historical/time travel plots like The Final Countdown, and Zipang. So, when I heard about this manga, I was definitely interested. Based on a novel, for once we aren’t traveling back to WWII to try to not change the outcome. No, this time, we’re going back to the Warring States Era of Japan, to just before the country was unified. The volume opens with Matoba killing Nobunaga Oda, the man who was to conquer all of Japan. Oops. Well, not really. Apparently Matoba’s got some sort of plan. Hell if we know what it…
Do you “Size” Up? Inspired by a conversation on Twitter about what it means to be a fan, Ed Sizemore of the Manga Worth Reading blog tries to clarify his position. I bring this up because there has been a lot of talk about digital piracy and it’s effects on manga publishers. Ed’s view is basically that you can only call yourself a fan if you invest yourself, time and money, in the thing that you love. While I can see where he’s coming from, I can’t say I completely agree with his position. I don’t think there should be parameters put on what makes someone a fan of something. Being a fan of something, whether it’s TV, movies, or manga, shouldn’t be contingent on how much time you spend talking up a show or buying everything sight that branded with it. I’m a fan of Castle, but I don’t feel a burning need to buy the book or DVDs. I’m fine with watching the show every week. Does that make me less of a fan than someone who makes Lego Castle and Beckett figures? I don’t think so. By the same token, people or borrow manga from a friend…
65 million years ago, dinosaurs experienced a catastrophic extinction that ended their dominance on Earth except for ONE! Now Gon marches across the wilderness, defending the friendly and furry from the mean and hungry. Follow the journey as he encounters creatures big and small along the way and learns new things about himself from each of them. By Masashi Tanaka Publisher: CMX Genre: Action/Adventure Age Rating: Teen Price: $5.99 Rating: Buy This Book Gon is a unique series, as it is told complete without words. But the wordlessness gives the mangaka an opportunity to write to a wide audience with multiple levels of meaning. Originally published by DC Comics in the 1990s, Gon is being given another chance, printed this time in its original, unflipped format. Gon is a small orange dinosaur that looks like a t-rex and lives in the post dinosaur-pre human world, interacting with other animals. The opening pages show how tough Gon as, as first a leopard breaks his teeth on Gon’s head, and then he’s rammed by a Rhinoceros, sent flying, hits a tree and then a rock, before landing on his back. And he sleeps through the whole thing, until a leaf floats down…
Being a “Projectionist” can bring lots of money and fame, but only if you are good at it. If you want o become one, first you need to have the power to cast a four-dimensional image. The it is really important to be able to hone and perfect you projecting abilities. The best place to do that, of course, is at a high school filled with other aspiring projectionists. Step into this multi-dimensional world with a very special student body and see how each student deals with his or her special gifts! By Ayami Kazama Publisher: CMX Age Rating: Everyone Genre: Romance/Fantasy Price: $9.99 Rating: Buy This Book It’s an interesting world that is created in The World I Create, where completely realistic “projections” are created for entertainment. It’s a lot of hard work, and can be very rewarding. In this volume, we are introduced to 8 students, all attending school to learn to perfect their abilities. The all have different reasons for wanting to be a projectionist, but in the end this title just doesn’t distinguish itself well enough from other rom-com titles. The first volume is comprised of 4 stories that feature two characters each it. It’s usually…
Everyone’s afraid of Koguma– the biggest, most intimidating guy at school. So when Shinobu accidentally spills milk on his bag, you can bet she’s pretty scared about what’s going to happen next. Turns out the bag contains an antique kimono, of all things. It belongs to Koguma’s grandmother, who runs a kimono shop. To make up for ruining the outfit, Shinobu’s going to have to start modeling kimonos as part of grandma’s big plan to market her products to younger customers. Big, scary Koguma’s into kimonos? Turns out there’s a lot no one knew about this tall, quiet boy, and now Shinobu’s out ot change that. But in doin so, will she also end up with a new boyfriend? By Miku Sakamoto Publisher: CMX Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance/Comedy Price: $9.99 Rating: Buy This Book I’ve never been interested in fashion much, not as a teenage, and certainly not now, so I was wary about Stolen Hearts. The novelty of being set in a kimono shop did spark my curiosity, but I really wasn’t expecting much. I was pleasantly surprised then by the very sweet romance and great characters that I found in it’s pages. The title starts out like…
One Piece Exceeds 3 Million The print run for the newest volume of One Piece has been reported to be 3 MILLION copies. That’s right, 3 million. As the post points out, that’s even more copies than the Japanese edition of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which previous held the record for largest print run of a first edition. That’s quite an accomplishment, especially for a comic. American publishers can only dream of print runs like this. What’s really sad though, is how under appreciated One Piece is in the US. It should on the NYT list ever week with Naruto and Bleach! Viz is doing a good job of making the manga available with their 3-in-1 for the early volumes and the catch-up to the Japanese releases.
Many of my manga wish list titles come from anime. Since so many anime are based on a manga, this can be a quick and easy way to find the good titles, assuming the anime stays close to the manga. And that’s exactly what I hope for this title.
This week begins the Chinese New Year. This traditional Chinese holiday is based on a lunar calendar and is associated with an animal in the Chinese Zodiac. This year’s animal is the Tiger. So, I went looking for manga with tigers in them. Surprisingly, I couldn’t find a lot. I extended it to any of the big cats, and that make the list grow some, but it’s really surprising how few manga have tigers in them.
The Lizard Prince Volume 1 By Asuka Izumi Publisher: CMX Age Rating: Everyone Genre: Romance/Fantasy/Comedy Price: $9.99 Rating: Canary is the princess of the kingdom of Linaria. Her father, the king has promised her hand in marriage to Heath, the handsome prince of the kingdom of Gazania. Canary isn’t crazy about this, because Heath has a bad reputation. The Prince has his own reservations, and gets his brother Sienna to pose as him on their first date, convinced he’ll drive her away. But the plan backfires when chemistry ignites between the two. The only problem is, Sienna’s been under a spell, which turned him into a lizard. And once he’s done posing as his brother, he reverts back to that form! Will love really conquer all in this mixed up triangle? The Lizard Prince is a fairy tale turned quirky romance. It starts out much like the Frog Prince, but is able to transform itself into a funny and charming romance with wide spread appeal.
Deka Kyoshi Volume 1 By Tamio Baba Publisher: CMX Age Rating: Teen Plus Genre: Drama/Suspense Price: $9.99 Rating: Toyama, a tall and beefy detective, goes undercover as a fifth-grade teacher. The previous teacher was discovered on the ground outside of her condo and rumors say she jumped…or was she pushed? Toyama is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, but it seems like he has a more pressing task at hand: his rowdy students. One student, Makoto is a little strange and his eccentricities make him a prime target for bullies. Makoto can actually see the demons inside people, which manifest themselves as visions of horrible monsters. Will this strange student be able to help Toyama? Sounding more like a take off of Kindergarten Cop, Deka Kyoshi is actually a title that looks at serious issues that kids are facing everyday. It presents them in an interesting and unusual way, but CMX’s overly-conservative age rating of the book may keep it from reaching the audience it is meant and most appropriate for.
Broken Blade Volume 1 By Yunosuke Yoshinaga Publisher: CMX/Flex Comics Rating: T+ (Older Teens) Price: $9.99 ISBN: 978-1-4012-1882-9 Rating: Rygart Arrow is a man with a problem. He’s one of the tiny minority, perhaps one in a million, who cannot charge the quartz crystals that power all of the machines in his world. He cannot drive vehicles, he cannot use machinery, he’s what is known as an “unsorcerer”. However, he is well educated and old college friends with the King and Queen of Krisna, who are facing an incursion from their neighboring nation of Athens. When they learn that the Athen army is led by Zess, the final part of their college foursome and he’s marching on their borders, they call on Rygart in their time of need. Can he figure out how to operate the Under-Golem, an ancient magic-less machine in time to save his friends?
I’m gonna try and make this a weekly feature, rounding up the stories from the week I found most interesting from the web and twitter. Of course, I’ll be adding my own two cents with some commentary on the news items. Anime Expo – 7/2-7/5/09 Normally associated with anime (obviously), manga pubs usually have a presence at AX, as a booth and/or panel. Though, with the tough economy, smaller pubs seem to be fleeing the crowds and expense of SDCC, in favor of a more targeted audience. Here ae some items I want to highlight.