Manga Xanadu

A couple of long-awaited titles from Viz Media finally debut this week. Tokyo Ghoul has been on reader’s radars since it was announced, and even with the first volume being released digitally early, it doesn’t seem to have stifled reader’s desire for the print edition. I expect it to debut pretty high on the NYT bestseller list next week. Also out from Viz is the short story collection Fragments of Horror by Junji Ito, the master of Japanese horror manga. You have to really love horror and be able to stand disturbing or gory images to get through some of his titles, but for the true horror connoisseur, it is a must have. My must have this week is Master Keaton Vol 3. I still have read Vol 2, but that not because I don’t want to, it more like I’m saving it to savor it, like saving dessert for last, so you can enjoy every last bite. Seven Seas has quite the collection of releases this week. The first volume of Freezing Omnibus collects the first two volumes of the series and is very male gaze heavy. It’s that not your thing, you’ve been warned. Also coming out are…

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…