Manga Xanadu

When looking for legal manga to read, the selections in English is pretty slim. Readers are limited to eBooks of titles already available in English, the apps Manga Box and Comic Walker which are online only and/or available for a limited time, or Crunchyroll’s all-you-can-read manga which does have several titles not available legally anywhere else, but skews heavily toward the more shonen/senien crowd. If you want more titles directed at women, you need to look elsewhere. Right now, that best elsewhere is Renta!, a Japanese eBook seller that is pushing its English website. Renta! isn’t a new site. It’s been around since the early 2000s, and has been making manga available in English since 2011. They have recently redesigned the site to attract more female readers by pushing romance, shojo, and ladies titles. At first glance, this looks like a really good site. Just a cursory glance over the site shows lots of titles that aren’t available in English, or would ever be on any publisher’s radar. The translations look well done and the lettering is clean. They even have a section on the site that shows the full translation process to reassure people who there is quality control….

Viz Media gets a huge selection of titles onto Comixology from publisher Shogakukan which includes Shonen Sunday titles as well as some shojo and josei. Comixology readers can now enjoy the likes of Case Closed and Happy Marriage?! as well as the classic Drifting Classroom. Many of these titles are also complete, so there’s no waiting for the next volume to come out.

Viz picks up more of the former publisher Tokyopop’s catalog. Two CLAMP titles join the Viz Select line, including Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders. I’ve been interested in this title, as a lover of tokusatsu shows. Also added is The Third, a series that is based on an anime that was well liked back in the day.

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.

It’s been going on for a while now. Amazon, the mega online book seller, and Hachette, the fifth largest publisher in the US, and parent company of Yen Press, got into a bit of a disagreement last May. The publisher had been in talks to renew contracts the book seller. A sticking point was that Hachette wanted to set their own e-Book prices, while Amazon wanted that power. When an impasse had been reached, Amazon did the only thing a mega book seller with 60% of the online market could do; they crippled sales of Hachette books on their site. Amazon stopped taking pre-orders, increased shipping times, dropped discounts for all Hachette titles. This included Yen Press. The batter became bitter as both sides pointed fingers at the other being the problem. Authors jumped in as well, feeling the pressure as sales of their books dropped. They didn’t pressure their publisher to back down though, they put the pressure on Amazon for being the bully in all this. They even formed a group, Authors United, to help in the fight. Amazon tried some tactics to turn the authors against their publisher, but it really didn’t work. Finally, as of last…

I wonder if Viz has a catalog of Tokyopop former releases and they just check off the books they want, or if they are going from a list from the staff, either way, they are adding even more to their Viz Select line, so they must like how the sales are doing. VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES SUBSTANTIAL NOVEMBER DIGITAL MANGA UPDATE AND SPECIAL PRICING ON SEVERAL POPULAR SERIES Catch Digital Launch Of 6 Hot New Manga Series And Updates To More Than 20 Ongoing Titles; Special November Pricing On 5 Fan-Favorite Series And Titles To Debut on ComiXology VIZ Media continues the drive into fall with the announcement of an array of digital manga updates and new series debuts for November. Fans and readers can catch today’s launch of two new series debuts including creator Aya Shouoto’s paranormal shojo drama, KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS and the final volume of NEON GENESIS EVANGELION. Other notable new digital series kicking off throughout the rest of the month include 3 titles from the VIZ Select imprint. Return to the world of CHIBI VAMPIRE with CHIBI VAMPIRE AIRMAIL on November 11th, savor the dark, demonic suspense of ZONE-00, which launches on November 18th, and…

Before Digital Manga Publishing scooped up the whole Tezuka catalog, Vertical, Inc. had been cherry picking from the library and pulled out several gems such as Black Jack, Princess Knight, and Dororo. Sadly, Vertical’s licenses for print rights of these books expired, and the books have since gone out of print. But, just this last Friday, the Vertical tumblr announced that the Comics imprint had gotten the e-Book rights to their entire catalog. This is really good news, as so many of these titles are not just classics, but great books that have something meaningful to say. I haven’t had the pleasure of reading all of them, but the majority that I have read have been exciting, disturbing and fun. And with the future of the Digital Manga Publishing Tezuka World kickstarter in doubt, it’s good news to hear we will not lose the Tezuka titles already printed for good. The titles in the Vertical Comics catalog that are going to e-Book are: Apollo’s Song Black Jack Dororo Princess Knight Ode to Kirihito MW Ayako Book of Human Insects Buddha Message to Adolf The Twin Knights The titles will be appearing on the usual platforms Kindle, iBooks, and Nook, and…

If you’ve been waiting to pick up any Takeshi Obata manga, now is the time to do it! Hikaru no Go is a title every manga fan should know and read, and Bakuman is a great inside look at many of the inner workings of the manga industry. All titles are on sale, with starting volumes at rock bottom prices! Or if you’re like me and couldn’t make it to New York Comic Con where Obata did a signing, you can still win some autographed books to stare at and treasure. Keep reading for more information. VIZ MEDIA SPOTLIGHTS TAKESHI OBATA AND DETAILS NEW DIGITAL MANGA DEBUTS AND UPDATES FOR OCTOBER Digital Premiere Of WORLD TRIGGER And Updates To More Than 20 Other Series; Celebrate Takeshi Obata’s New York Comic Con Appearance With A Sweepstakes And Special Digital Pricing VIZ Media announces a substantial digital manga update to open the Fall 2014 reading season with a host of new titles and a special promotion celebrating the work of artist Takeshi Obata for his first-ever U.S. appearance at New York Comic Con 2014. VIZ Media highlights several updates this month including the digital debut of the sci-fi action series, WORLD TRIGGER, with…

Viz Media continues to push the boundaries of digital manga and simultaneous release with their new Jump Start initiative. WSJ readers will get essentially sneak peaks at new titles the same time as Japanese readers, titles that could potentially become regular titles in the English edition. Sports, Sci-Fi crime thriller and sports medicine manga will start the program. It will be interesting to see how well the more niche titles do. VIZ MEDIA’S “JUMP START” INITIATIVE TO DELIVER ENGLISH DIGITAL PREMIERES OF BRAND NEW WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP MANGA SERIES ON THE SAME DAY OF JAPANESE DEBUT Digital Publishing Campaign Eliminates Time And Distance Barriers To Offer International Fans The Opportunity To Sample Hot New Manga Titles; New Series JUDOS Launches Today!   San Francisco, CA, September 8, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, generates additional synergy between its English language WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP digital manga magazine and the original Japanese print counterpart with the launch of the new “Jump Start” initiative. WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP is the world’s premiere manga brand and leading international weekly manga magazine. Moving forward, VIZ Media will simultaneously premiere the first three chapters…

Viz Media has plenty of digital manga ending and beginning this month, even a few surprises for their VIZ Select imprint. They are seriously mining the Tokyopop catalog, and from their weekly top tens, it’s been doing alright for them. I might even check out their newest acquisition. Find out what it is and more after the break!

It was one year ago that I first spoke about Sparkler Magazine, mentioning it as one of the stories on my podcast. It was just one of the news stories, but I used the cover of the premiere issue as my featured image and got the attention of the editors, which got me a  review copy, and the issue an in-depth look on my next podcast. I really enjoyed that first issue. Back then, the issue was broken down into 6 features; two manga, Dire Hearts and Off Beat, two prose novels Gauntlet and Tokyo Demons Book 2, an audio, Awake, and a subscriber only feature. Dire Hearts was very intriguing. Gauntlet was heart-pounding. Awake set up a great sci-fi thriller. I enjoyed the magazine and digital format so much that I dropped my subscription to Yen Plus, and picked up Sparkler, even though Sparkler cost more. But I was getting more of what I wanted and enjoyed with it. Twelve months of updates later, a lot has changed. Dire Hearts sadly has to go on hiatus due to health issue for its creator Christy Lijewski. Off Beat, then Gauntlet and Tokyo Demons Book 2 ended. Plenty of new titles have…

At Sakura-Con last week, Viz Media announced the print and digital release of World Trigger, a digital Weekly Shonen Jump only title. It looks like a fun title, so I’m glad Viz is making it available finally to those of us who don’t subscribe to WSJ. More info available after the jump.