Manga Xanadu

Due to Diamond Distributors shipping Viz Media titles early last week, there isn’t much of a list this week. In fact, I don’t think you can call it a list really. Only two titles are coming out this week; Knights of Sidonia from Vertical Comics and Girls Und Panzer Little Army from Seven Seas Entertainment. I’m really only familiar with Knights of Sidonia. I’ve read up to at least vol 5. Of course, the series is now up to vol 13. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve read so far. Nihei has created a fun and interesting world filled excitement and danger. I reviewed the first to volumes at Good Comics for Kids. I’ll have more coming down the pike later. Seven Seas is releasing Girls Und Panzer Little Army vol 2 this week. This is a title that’s easy to chalk up to the whole moe thing with cute girls in tanks, but I’ve heard that there is a lot more substance to the title. At least, I’ve heard enough that I would consider checking it out. Full list per Diamond Distributors: SEVEN SEAS ENTERTAINMENT Girls Und Panzer Little Army Volume 2 GN, $12.99 VERTICAL Knights Of Sidonia Volume 13 GN, $12.95

I love to do crafts and have dabbled in quite a few, including beading. I’ve made mostly earrings back when my eyes could see the tiny beads and my more nimble hands could hold them and string them on the needle and thread. Now, I am more content to read about it. Otokomae! Bead Club is a one shot volume by Kyousuke Motomi. Her name is well-known among western shojo manga fans. Two of her titles, Beast Master and Dengeki Daisy were licensed and released in the US by Viz Media. Her newest title, QQ Sweeper has also just been picked up, with the first volume out later this year. This title is an earlier series first published in 2004 in Shogakukan’s Betsucomi magazine. It ran for three chapters, and the compiled volume includes a side story and extra. The story follows Oikawa Ibuki, a high school girl who has just transferred schools so she can start over. She is very strong and versed in the martial arts, but she wants to be more gentile and feminine, and find a boy who is stronger than her. On her way to her first day, she meets Takumi Urabe, a mysterious boy…

I have been waiting for this series since is was announced in Japan. I’ve always had a fascination with the War of the Roses, and with Richard III being in the news lately, my interest in the much maligned monarch has grown. I’m really interested in seeing this mangaka’s take on the character and the time period.

I already gave my two cents on these two titles over the weekend, so check out that post. Otherwise, here’s the official announcement.

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 and Vizmanga.com calculates their own numbers. Once a month the Nielsen Bookscan posts their top twenty graphic novels of which manga is included. 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 February 28, 2015 JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures Part 1: Phantom Blood Vol 1     ∗ High School DxD Vol 4     ∗ Akame ga Kill! Vol 1     ↓ 2 Attack on Titan Vol 1     ↑ 1 Judge Vol 6     ∗ Black Butler Vol 19     ↓ 2 Deadman Wonderland Vol 7     ↓ 5 Dragonar Academy Vol 5     ↵ 2 Unofficial Hatsune Mix     ↓ 3 Assassination Classroom Vol 2     ↔ Viz’s print debut of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 1 takes over the top spot this week. Also debuting at #2 is Yen Press’ High School DxD vol 4, a title that fits with Seven Seas Entertainment’s Dragonar Academy Vol…

There has been plenty of new titles announced for Viz’s Shonen Jump line, especially with the new Jump Start for Weekly Shonen Jump, but this week Viz Media let Shojo Beat shine with the announcement of two new titles to join the drama-based line. The first title announced was Bloody Mary. This supernatural series is about 400-year-old vampire “Bloody” Mary who has tired of life and just wants to die. He has been searching for one who would inherit the “Blood of Maria”, that would give them the power to kill him. He finally finds an exorcist  who has inherited the power, but he doesn’t know how to use it. But because he possess the power, he becomes the target of lots of other vampires. Mary makes a deal with Maria. He will be his body-guard until Maria can figure out how to use his power and end Mary’s life. The series is only four volumes so far, and will be published quarterly starting in December 2015. This title has two potential strikes against it. One, it’s about vampires. I really am done with the whole vampire thing. Two, the series is a shounen ai/BL series. It’s only four volumes…

Erwin’s political enemies have hired Levi and his crew to take back some incriminating documents. Their reward: the right to live a proud life above ground, in the royal capital. But deep in titan territory, it’s going to be tough to break formation and steal from a squad leader, and Levi still insists on killing the man who humiliated him after the mission is complete. Of course, beyond the walls anything can happen, and a sudden change in Levi’s fortunes will force him to face the greatest regret in his life… Attack On Titan: No Regrets Volume 2 Written by Gun Snark (Nitroplus); Art by Hikaru Suruga Publisher: Kodansha Comics Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Horror/Drama Price: $10.99 Rating: I really enjoyed the first volume of Attack On Titan: No Regrets, and was really looking forward to this one, and again it didn’t disappoint. The series takes a darker turn from the lighter first volume, but keeps all the drama and excitement to deliver an ending you won’t regret. After their first encounter with a titan, Levi, Isabel and Furlan all start to change a little. Isabel is drawn into the Corps more, sympathizing with their cause. Furlan goes in…

Back in January, the nominees for the 8th Manga Taisho awards were announced. This year there are 14 titles, and again, there are several titles manga readers will be familiar with. Koe no Katachi, A Silent Voice has been announced for print from Kodansha Comics, and was streamed digitally on Crunchyroll. Maho Tsukai no Yome, The Ancient Magus’ Bride has been licensed by Seven Seas Entertainment, and Boku no Hero Academia, My Hero Academy has just been announced by Viz Media to run simultaneous with the Japanese releases. The rest of the nominees include Innocent, Osama-tachi no Viking, Kakukaku Shikajika, Kasane, Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun, Kodomo wa Wakatte Agenai, Dimitri Tomkins, Blue Giant, Houseki no Kuni, Ballroom e Youkoso, and Boku dake ga Inai Machi. Several of these titles look interesting, the problem with most them being they are seinen. One of the titles that isn’t and should be a no-brainer for license is Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. This comedy series follows Sakura Chiyo who tries to confess to her crush Nozaki, a shoujo manga artist, but instead he asks her to help him with his manga. The anime of this series was streamed here and was well received. It’s from Square…

It’s a big Viz week with both their shonen and shojo titles as well as plenty of Pokémon from their kid imprint Perfect Square. Everyone else is slumming it with one volume each. Dark Horse has New Lone Wolf and Cub Vol 4, while Kodansha releases the 5th omnibus of xxxHolic. Whispered Words from One Peace Books and is a yuri series about a girl who is secretly in love with her best friend, but who isn’t her type. It keeps getting good word of mouth, so it might be worth picking up even with the higher price point Viz’s avalanche of shonen and shojo is hard to escape. I recently re-read the first volume of Kamisama Kiss, and now I’m feeling the itch to binge read, but catching up will hurt the pocket-book with volume 17 coming out this week, even if it were available as an e-book! Rose lovers have two titles to choose from this week, with Kiss of the Rose Princess Vol 3 being released, but even more exciting, and a week early, is Requiem of the Rose King Vol 1. This historical shojo by Aya Kanno, the creator of Otomen, is based on Shakespeare’s play Richard III, and…

This last Wednesday, Seven Seas Entertainment announced two new licenses on their twitter feed for calendar year 2016. Both titles fall into their wheelhouse, though one doesn’t so too bad. The Testament of Sister New Devil is an adaptation of the light novel series. It is about Basara Tojo, a high school student who suddenly gets two new sisters when his father announces he has decided to remarry, and then promptly leaves for an overseas trip, leaving the trio alone. But Basara’s new step sisters, Mio and Maria are not what they seem. They are actually a novice Devil and Succubus. After trying to get Basara into a master/servant relationship with a Mio, an error occurs and Basara becomes the master, throwing him into all kinds of erotic situations. On top of all this, Mio is being hunted by both monsters and heroes. This series doesn’t interest me at all with its harem, male gaze elements, but it does fit perfectly in Seven Seas’ catalog. There are four volumes so far, and an anime adaptation is being streamed by Crunchyroll. The first will be available here in February 2016. My Monster Secret is a romantic comedy that follows Asahi Kuromine….

Ultraman has been in a bit of a revival with the many incarnations of the TV series coming to DVD and streaming on Crunchyroll. This manga is a sequel to the first TV series, and just started in 2011, effectively updating the 1960s series for a 21st century audience. I’m really looking forward to seeing it later this summer.

My Hero Academia was already announced to have joined the Weeky Shonen Jump line up, but this new announcement makes the series available to more readers beyond the WSJ base. But with the simultaneous chapter releases, fans will have to wait until August to actually read what happens in between the first chapter and chapter 24, when it starts. Recaps are okay, but just not as good as the actual chapters.