Manga Xanadu

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. 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 21, 2015 Akame ga Kill Vol 1     ↑ 7 Deadman Wonderland Vol 7     ∗ Gansta Vol 5     ∗ Black Butler Vol 19     ↑ 6 Attack on Titan Vol 1     ↓ 1 Unofficial Hatsune Mix     ↓ 3 Black Butler Vol 1     ↵ 44 World Trigger Vol 4     ∗ Death Note Black Vol 1     ↵ 5 Assassination Classroom Vol 2     ↓ 8 There are some dramatic movers and shakers on the list this week. Two Yen Press titles, Akame ga Kill Vol 1 and Black Butler Vol 19 make some big jumps to return to the top 5. Also of interest is the return of Black Butler Vol 1. This used to be the Volume 1 power mover until Attack on…

A newspaper-masked vigilante who broadcasts his acts of vengeance before committing them. A newly formed police division tackling the new frontier of internet-based crime. As the sun rises on the Era of Information, can a group of people who found themselves at the bottom of the food chain rattle society through the web and avenge a fallen friend? Prophecy Volume 1 By Tetsuya Tsutsui Publisher: Vertical Comics Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Thriller Price: $12.95 Rating: For anyone who has spent any time on social media, Prophecy will feel like a story ripped from the headlines. Anonymous threats coming from websites that have the police stumped and running in circles trying to find the perpetrators. This first volume sets up the cat and mouse game between Paperboy, an online presence that makes threats and carries them out and the newly formed Anti-Cyber Crimes Division, a unit of the Tokyo Metro Police Department who are trying to stop him. The story starts like a police procedural with the crimes being discovered and the ACCD starting to investigate. The ACCD is a three person unit led by Lieutenant Erika Yoshino. She is hard-nosed, no-nonsense, and borderline vindictive toward the accused, almost as…

Some interesting titles debut this week. Dark Horse releases the second of their two manga by Satoshi Kon, Seraphim 266613336 Wings. Kon does the art while the writing was done by Mamoru Oshii, another anime director. It’s been highly anticipated by fans of both creators. Kodansha Comics’ new title is Maria the Virgin Witch. It’s by Masayuki Ishikawa, the creator of the short-lived release Moyashimon by earlier publisher Del Rey. The subject of this series, a witch who must remain a virgin to keep her powers is more up the alley of western readers than germs were. Seven Seas Entertainment releases the first volume of Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary. I wasn’t too sure about the series, but a fair-to-middling’ review has me curious enough to flip through it. Yen Press has a whole lot of nope in their releases this week. Ani-Imo, Gou-Dere Sora Nagihara and BTOOOM! are all titles I pass by on guilt free. I keep wondering if I would be curious enough to check out High School DxD, but fortunately, I’ve got a lot of other titles to keep distracting me. I do still need to dig into Barakamon. I have the first two volumes sitting in…

At their panel at Katsucon over Valentine’s Day weekend, Vertical Comics showed readers the manga love with three new licenses; 1 manga and 2 light novel series.  Kizumonogatari is part of the Monogatari light novel series by writer NisiOisin. While Kizu is the third novel in the series, it is a prequel to the first, Bakemonogatari. It tells the story of how protagonist Koyomi was turned into a vampire by the female vampire Shinobu, and his journey to return to being human. I’ve heard about the Monogatari series, but never knew what they were about. With the description of mystery and supernatural, I’m now interested. So far, only this volume of the 18 available so far has been licensed. More will depend on how well this one does. It will ship in November of this year. Seraph of the End is a series already familiar to manga fans. Viz Media has been releases the manga and running concurrent chapters with Japan in Weekly Shonen Jump. This license from Vertical, Guren Ichinose, Catastrophe at 16, is another prequel to the main story. It follows Guren Ichinose in his early days, before he became a Lieutenant Colonel in the Japanese Imperial Demon Army….

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has had a difficult time in the west. The first print run of Part 3 didn’t do so well back in the aughts. The release of the series in digital along with an anime simulcast on Crunchyroll propelled the series into the fan spotlight. While Part 1 has been available in digital for a while, anticipation for this deluxe hardcover has been stewing for a while, as a check of Amazon.com’s top ten list will show.

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. 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 14, 2015 Neon Genesis Evangelion Vol 14     ∗ Assassination Classroom Vol 2     ↓ 1 Unofficial Hatsune Mix     ↑ 3 Attack on Titan Vol 1     ↑ 6 Sword Art Online: Progressive Vol 1     ↑ 2 Dragonar Academy Vol 5     ∗ Say I Love You Vol 6     ∗ Akame ga Kill Vol 1     ↓ 5 Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liars Game Vol 7     ∗ Black Butler Vol 19     ↓ 1 The final Neon Genesis Evangelion, a series over a decade old, takes the list, debuting in the top spot, forcing Assassination Classroom Vol 2 down one to #2. Attack on Titan Vol 1 makes an aggressive move back up the list to reach the top five. Seven Seas…

Lawrence Kraft is a traveling merchant, going to towns and villages, making deals for items to barter and sell. While passing through the village of Pasloe on day, he picks up a stowaway on his chart; Holo the Wisewolf, the Harvest Goddess of the village. The villagers no longer need Holo, and she wishes to go home, in the north. She and Lawrence strike a deal, and they begin their adventures together on the trip north. Spice and Wolf Volume 1-6 By Keito Koume Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Mature Genre: Fantasy Price: $12.99/ea Rating: Spice and Wolf is a series that started out as a light novel and was adapted into both an anime and a manga. After the anime was favorably received by fans, Yen Press licensed both the light novel series and manga. There was a bit of an uproar when the first light novel came out, because Yen Press had chosen to use a cover that would appeal to Young Adult readers more than to anime fans. To appease the fans, Yen Press offered a book cover with the original cover art on it. I’d heard reviews of the first light novel, and while the idea of…

It’s super light in manga this week. Kodansha has nothing that interests me. I finally read the first volume of Manga Dogs and was sadly disappointed by it. The manga references were cute, but the volume as a whole just wasn’t funny, so I’ll pass on volume 3’s release. While I like the Pokemon Adventures manga series more than the TV series, the manga adaptations of the movies have been decent. The adaptation of the last movie to be released, Diancie and the Cocoon of Destruction, comes out from Perfect Square, Viz Media’s kid imprint. Vertical Comics gets the thumb’s up this week with their all ages and comedy releases. I really enjoyed Cardfight! Vanguard. It’s a great combination of fun characters and collectible card games. Even if you can’t get the volumes with the limited edition game cards, pick up this series anyway. It’s just as fun to read as to play. Witchcraft Works has the kind of comedy I really enjoy; the deadpan protagonist. Takamiya keeps the same straight expression, no matter what is going on around her, whether she’s being attacked by witches or their giant bunny minions. It looks to be a great series and will be…

Carnival is the big celebration before the beginning of the religious even known as lent. It is often marked by parties and parades with people dressing up and wearing masks. A mask hides who you are or lets you be someone else. In manga, there are a few titles that use masks to transform the characters who use them. Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask – Based on the video game of the same name, the single volume features Link trying to save the world from being destroyed in three days. To do so, he must collect a series of masks that allow him to transform into different creatures that give him the abilities he needs to complete his quest. While the game it is based on is considered darker, Akira Himekawa does a good job of keeping the story intact while making it appropriate for younger readers. It’s rated All Ages and published by Viz Media. Kamisama Kiss – In this series, a girl, Nanami Momozono becomes homeless when her father skips out to escape his debts. She saves a mysterious man from a dog, and in gratitude, he gives her his home. The man just happens to be a…

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.

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. 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 7, 2015 Assassination Classroom Vol 2     ∗ Food Wars Vol 4     ∗ Akame ga Kill Vol 1     ↓ 2 Noragami Vol 3     ↑ 2 Soul Eater Vol 24     ↓ 3 Unofficial Hatsune Mix     ↑ 1 Sword Art Online: Progressive Vol 1     ↓ 2 Fairy Tail Vol 46     ↓ 4 Black Butler Vol 19     ↓ 6 Attack on Titan Vol 1     ↵ 84 Viz Media’s shonen releases have an impact of the list as the new series Assassination Classroom Vol 2 takes the top spot and is followed by the print version of Food Wars! Vol 4. Proving you can’t keep a Titan down, Attack on Titan vol 1 returns  again as it yo-yos on and off the list. Yen Press…

If you’re like me and have never read the first series, then you should check out the specially priced bundle Viz is running for the first 10 volumes of Boys Over Flowers. I’m interested in reading this new series. I was intrigued by the first chapter of the original, so hopefully this second series will be just as enticing.