Manga Xanadu

Kanna Tezuka is a serious 15-year-old manga artist, already being published as a pro. So when she finds out her high school is starting a manga drawing course, even she gets excited. But it’s a fiasco! The teacher is useless, and the only other students-three pretty-boy artist wannabes-quickly adopt Kanna as their (unwilling) sensei. But they all have ridiculous delusions about being an artist, and if Kanna can’t bring them back down to Earth, she’ll never get any work done! Manga Dogs Volume 1 By Ema Toyama Publisher: Kodansha Comics Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Comedy Price: $10.99 Rating: Manga Dogs is a manga about being a mangaka, somewhat in the vein of Bakuman. But where Bakuman is a serious take about what it takes to be a successful mangaka, Manga Dogs takes a more satirical route, poking fun at the fans and wanna be creators. It’s only problem is that it’s just not that funny. The story revolves around Kanna Tezuka, a mangaka who has already debuted in a shojo magazine, but her title just isn’t popular. When her high school starts a manga track, she thinks it’s a way to be able to draw manga at school. Three pretty…

Digital Manga Publishing has announced the next Osamu Tezuka Kickstarter. It’s been a month since the last Kickstarter for Ludwig B ended. It’s another two volume series, and was featured as a stretch goal in the failed Tezuka World Kickstater; Alabaster. The story follows former athlete James Block, now a famous villain who is out for revenge against all things “beautiful.” While in prison, he learns of a weapon, the F-Laser, that can turn any carbon based organism invisible. When he gets out, he steals it, and tries it on himself. Instead of turning invisible, only his skin is affected. He then takes on the name Alabaster, and is joined by Ami, the granddaughter of the scientist who invented the laser, who is also completely invisible thanks to experiments her grandfather did on her mother while she was pregnant. They go on a vicious revenge spree, pulling off several heists, but Ami’s innocents could be Alabaster’s downfall. This Kickstarter is a little more than Ludwig B. Digital copies of Alabaster are $8 each. For an additional $11 you can get the digital companion. To get print copies you need to pay $36, or $18 a volume. The reason of for…

Wow, I know end of the month lists can be tough, but this one is seriously rough. There are only four different titles coming out from four different companies. The only title I would really have a lot of interest in getting is Fairy Tail vol 46 from Kodansha. I am so far behind on Fairy Tail I’m thinking just looking for the beginning of the latest arc and picking it up there and going back to read the backlog later. It worked for Attack on Titan, but then I wasn’t 41 volumes behind either. Seven Seas Entertainment has another male gaze oriented title with I Don’t Like You At All Big Brother that I am passing on guilt free, and Yen Press has just one title, Soul Eater. I know this has been a popular series for a long time, but I just couldn’t get into it. Not at the beginning, and especially not now. Vertical releases the final volume of From the New World with vol 7. I wasn’t thrilled by the first volume due to its heavy fan service, but I’d heard from friends that the story was good, so I’ll give it another try. I can power…

Earlier this month Kodansha held an event at the Kinokuniya Bookstore in New York, a popular venue for East Coast publishers, and announced 7 new titles to be published this year. There are plenty of familiar faces in this bunch, as well as at least on Attack on Titan license. I don’t think it’s possible for Kodansha to make license announcements without at least one from that series. Masamune Shirow’s Appleseed starts the batch with a series that is not written or drawn by Shirow. Appleseed α is a prequel to the original series, and follows Deunan’s and Briareos’ early days searching for the legendary city of Olympus. Iuo Kuroda, the creator of Sexy Voice and Robo, launched the series just this year in July in Kodansha’s Morning Two magazine. Just when you thought they couldn’t do anything more with Appleseed…though this title could be interesting is you liked Deunan and Briareos as a couple. And I seem to recall I did. Kodansha does not have a release date for this series yet. Maria the Virgin Witch Exhibition is the sequel to the Kodansha license Maria the Virgin Witch. It started in July of this year in Kodansha’s Good! Afternoon and just ended…

Viz Media continues its omnibus re-releases with another oldie-but-goodie. I was never impressed with the Yu-Gi-Oh anime, but when Viz started serializing it in Shonen Jump, I found I enjoyed the series. At least the first arc of the first seven volumes. As 3-in-1’s you won’t be able to get the arcs cleanly, but after reading one or two, you may decide to get them all anyway. The only obstacle for these are space!

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 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 January 17, 2015 Finder Vol 7     ∗ One Piece Vol 73     ∗ Attack on Titan No Regrets Vol 2     ↑ 5 Attack on Titan Vol 1     ↵ 82 Unofficial Hatsune Mix     ↔ The Seven Deadly Sins Vol 6     ∗ Kingdom Hearts II Vol 3     ↓ 4 Nisekoi False Love Vol 7     ∗ Assassination Classroom Vol 1     ↵ 5 Naruto Vol 68     ↓ 3 All is right again with the world, and the apocalypse has been averted; Attack on Titan vol 1 returns to the NYT Bestseller list, and in the top five. A new title takes the top spot as Finder Vol 7, a BL from Digital Manga Publishing debuts. DMP is actually running a kickstarter to reprint Finder Vol 1-6. Check it…

Shokakugan’s Monthly Cheese! is announcing in their March issue out today that mangaka Rei Toma is starting a new manga titled Suijin no Hanayome, Bride of the Water God. This new title has the same name and basic premise as the Korean manhwa being published by Dark Horse here in the US. A young girl is chosen as a sacrifice to the water god by her village to appease him. I’m intrigued by this announcement. There are often titles that follow the same basic premise, and Bride of the Water God really is pretty basic, but it’s rare that you get them also using the same name. Of course Toma’s title may be completely different, especially with the characters and plot beyond the premise. But the similarities are far too close to avoid comparison. I wonder if this series does well, if Viz will consider bringing it over. Viz just finished Toma’s other series, Dawn of the Arcana in September, and it certainly got a lot of buzz among fans and critics online. I don’t think Bride of the Water God has done well for Dark Horse, but that could be because of demographic, and not necessarily the title. I’ll give…

With their new series, Moritaka and Akito start beating Eiji Nizuma in the Shonen Jump rankings for the first time. But in the actual book sales Eiji is somehow still on top. The duo is as determined as ever to achieve their dreams, but a new scandal threatens to destroy everything! Bakuman Volume 19 Written by Tsugumi Ohba; Art by Takeshi Obata Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Drama Price: $9.99 Rating: This is it; the second to last volume of this series. When I read the first volume back in 2010, I didn’t think I would enjoy it or it would be able to hold my attention. But against all odds, it not only got past the problems I had with the first volume, it surpassed all my expectations. Ten years have passed since Moritaka, Akito and Azuki started chasing their dreams, and now those dreams appear to be in reach. The volume starts on the manga side of the story, showing further the rivalry between Ashirogi and Nizuma. I really like the rivalry between these. It’s very friendly. Both sides can not only appreciate the other’s work, but they can come out and say it, while in the…

No matter how I look at it, it’s Yen Press’s fault I’m not caught up reading manga! Look at all these omnibuses that are coming out from them this week. Goong, Ubel Blatt, Umineko When They Cry, and Until Death Do Us Part. I can’t keep up with regular releases, as it is, and with so many omnibuses, my TBR pile just looks worse! There is one non-omnibus title from Yen Press I’d like to check out; Secret Vol 1. I haven’t read Judge or Doubt, but I’m considering giving Secret a try. It looks like it will have more of a mystery element to it than just a psychological thriller. Also new this week from Yen Press is Akame Ga Kill. I know a lot of people have been looking forward to it, but I’m gonna pass on it. It screams harem, with the one country bumpkin guy surrounded by hot girl assassins. I just don’t see the appeal of these harem comedies. The other publishers aren’t helping much either. Kodansha releases three titles I do enjoy, though My Little Monster and Noragami sit a little higher on the pile than Missions of Love. Seven Seas has the third volume…

Viz Media’s Jump Start! has been busy lately. Several titles that have debuted in the Japanese Weekly Shonen Jump are getting their first three chapters published in the US digital magazine. Readers then get a chance to vote which ones they’d like to see serialized in the digital edition. One title has already gone through the process. Hi-Fi Cluster was previewed in September, and joined the magazine at the end of October, along with Food Wars. Hi-Fi Cluster is a sci-fi crime series. People can now download skills they don’t have to a patch. A black market has sprung up that deal in buying and selling of said abilities. The series follows Kosaku Kandera as he leads Special Unit Six of the Metropolitan Police Department to stop these crimes by any means necessary. The next title to jump start was éIDLIVE, by Akira Amano, the creator of Hitman Reborn. It follows Chuta Kokonose, a boy who hears a voice in his head that gets him into a lot of trouble. He’s already thought to be an oddball, but when he meets a little blue alien, things start to get really weird. This series was originally serialized on Shueshia’s digital app…

Even though it’s Weekly Shonen Jump‘s anniversary, readers get the presents! I’ve been moving away from shonen manga mostly, but I’m definitely going to check out the special they’re running for the next few weeks. I don’t know if it will be enough for me plop down the money for a subscription, but it’s definitely worth a look.

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 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 January 10, 2015 Sword Art Online Fairy Dance Vol 2     ↑ 5 Master Keaton Vol 1     ↑ 8 Kingdom Hearts II Vol 3     ↵ 3 Deadman Wonderland Vol 6     ↑ 1 Unofficial Hatsune Mix     ↓ 4 Fairy Tail Vol 45     ∗ Naruto Vol 68     ↓ 3 Attack on Titan No Regrets Vol 2     ↓ 5 He’s My Only Vampire Vol 1     ↔ Noragami Vol 1     ↓ 3 What is the world coming to? This is the second week in a row that Attack on Titan Vol 1 has not been on the list! But even without vol 1, Attack on Titan does keep the record of longest on the list with No Regrets holding at 10 weeks. Sword Art Online Fairy Dance vol…