Manga Xanadu

Every week, Viz Media and the New York Times posts the top ten bestselling books. For Viz Media, it is the bestsellers on their site, Vizmanga.com. The New York Times gets their numbers of print sales from retailers. 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.   Vizmanga for the week of November 18, 2014 Food Wars Vol 4     ∗ One-Punch Man Vol 5     ∗ Naruto Vol 2     ↑ 2 Naruto Vol 1     ↔ Naruto Vol 67     ↓ 2 Bleach Vol 62     ↓ 5 Blue Exorcist Vol 12     ↓ 1 Mad Love Chase Vol 2     ∗ Zone-00 Vol 1     ∗ Dengeki Daisy Vol 15     ↵ Bleach Vol 62 gets kicked from the top spot by digital first debut Food Wars Vol 4. One-Punch Man Vol 5‘s debut takes the second spot, while the Narutos switch around a few spots but still take the rest of the top five. Two new Viz Selects debut this week as well. Zone-00 is another Tokyopop license rescue, that only got 4 volumes here, while Mad Love Chase‘s…

It’s been less than a week since Digital Manga Publishing’s Tezuka’s World Release kickstarter ended, failing to meet its $380K minimum funding goal. But, like the proverbial good man, DMP is not staying down. Six days later they are back with a smaller, more modest kickstarter, and a completely different series. Ludwig B is a two-volume series, and one of the last three series’ Tezuka worked on before his death. It is about the famous composer, Ludwig Beethoven. It looks at his younger years, as he struggles with being used and abused by aristocrats and his pushy alcoholic father. Charged with watching his younger brothers during a French war, Ludwig deals with his conflicted thoughts the only way he knows how; through his music. The goal for this kickstarter is back in line with previous DMP Tezuka kickstarters, at $21,600. The reward tiers are also more like previous kickstarters, with digital only copies of the books starting at $15, and print copies at $32. They are also offering tiers what allow backers to get two copies of the first volume to share. There are only 20 tiers, so multiple spreadsheet are not needed to track them this time. Also included…

It’s the last Wednesday of the month and just before a holiday, usually not a big week for manga releases. But considering that holiday leads into the biggest shopping weekend of the year, you’d think publishers would have a little more to try to entice readers out. Dark Horse Comics seems to be thinking that way a little with their only manga release; Satoshi Kon’s OPUS. Fans of the anime director have been waiting for this title not so patiently. Younger readers will want to pick up the fourth volume of Cardfight! Vanguard. I really enjoyed the first two volumes, and they do seem to be doing well for Vertical. I hope they can find more all ages gems like this one. Kodansha has been doing well by me lately, but not so much this week. I have the first volume of Attack on Titan Junior High, but I just haven’t been able to make myself read it. The preview chapter I read left me very underwhelmed, but I hadn’t read the beginning volumes at that time. Maybe the humor will improve now that I have a context and will find volume 2 more appealing. I’ll just have to try…

Amazon once again takes the wind out publisher’s sails with some solicitations outing unannounced licenses. This time, Yen Press, who has just recently resolved its issued with the online retailer, had some pre-orders go up for two new manga titles and one light novel. All three new titles are related to existing licenses and just expand on their libraries. Sword Art Online: Girl Ops just started last year in Dengeki Bunko Magazine and only has one volume out so far. It follows the girls of Sword Art Online: Aincrad in their real life adventures at the SAO Survivor School and their online adventures in ALFheim. This series looks cute, if the cover art is any indication. I liked the manga adaptation of the novel, though I wasn’t enthralled with it. I haven’t checked out the other spin-off, Fairy Dance, but it’s in my to-be-read pile. Sword Art Online has been doing well for Yen Press, so this is a good, if obvious pick up for them. Amazon has it scheduled to be released in May 2015. Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Rebellion Story is an adaptation of the movie by the same name and is three volumes. After the end…

I’ve been looking forward to Yukarism ever since it was announced back in February. But then, I’m always looking forward to a new Chka Shiomi title. I love her works Yurara and Rasetsu from Viz, and Canon from CMX. While the premise of gender-bending and past lives doesn’t thrill me, I’ll trust Shiomi to provide a title I’ll enjoy. TRAVEL BACK TO EDO-ERA JAPAN WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE SEXY NEW SHOJO MANGA SERIES YUKARISM FROM VIZ MEDIA  Dreamy Historical Romance Depicts A Teenage Writer’s Extraordinary Past Life As A Courtesan In Edo-era Japan; New Series From The Creator Of YURARA And RASETSU Debuts In Print And Digitally!!  San Francisco, CA, November 19, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, entices shojo manga (graphic novel) readers with the print and digital launch of the new series – YUKARISM – on December 2nd. The nostalgia-tinted historical romance comes from creator Chika Shiomi, who is widely known among manga fans for her series YURARA and RASETSU (both available from VIZ Media). YUKARISM will be published under the Shojo Beat imprint and is rated ‘T’ for Teens. Print MSRP will be $9.99…

Every week, Viz Media and the New York Times posts the top ten bestselling books. For Viz Media, it is the bestsellers on their site, Vizmanga.com. The New York Times gets their numbers of print sales from retailers. 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.   Vizmanga.com for the week of November 11, 2014 Bleach Vol 62     ↔ Chibi Vampire: Airmail     ∗ Naruto Vol 67     ↵ Naruto Vol 1     ↓ 1 Naruto Vol 2     ↓ 1 Blue Exorcist Vol 12     ↓ 4 Trinity Blood Vol 9     ∗ Lucky★Star Vol 5     ∗ Nisekoi Vol 5     ↵ Vampire Knight Vol 19     ∗ Bleach keeps its hold on the top spot for a second week in a row. It’s followed by the anthology Chibi Vampire: Airmail and a trio of Naruto volumes. The newest, vol 67 returns, pushing vol 1-2 back one place each. Select titles Trinity Blood and Lucky Star debut with their newest volumes, and surprisingly, Nisekoi vol 5 returns with vol 6’s print release. Vampire Knight Vol 19 debuting isn’t a surprise,…

It seems like the impossible, but it happened. The Digital Manga Kickstarter campaign, Tezuka’s World Release failed to meet its goal of $380,000 in 30 days. It was an ambition project. The entire kickstarter consisted of 6 series’ totaling 31 volumes to be published all at once. But it was a little too ambitious. The $380,000 as the initial goal only covered 2 titles totaling 20 volumes. Two more titles totaling an additional 5 volumes would become available at $475,000 and the final two titles totaling the last 6 volumes would become available at $589,000. That’s a lot of money, over half a million dollars for fans to pony up for just six titles. Controversy surrounded this project right from the start. The cost and the levels needed to pledge just to get print copies of books was the first and foremost concern of many supporters. At the beginning, backers had to pledge at the $750 level to get copies of the books. That’s a lot of money for 31 books. There was a lot of questions about the tiers, mostly filled with promotional items and why getting books, the reason most people were looking to support the project, were at…

In the spring of 1998, Koichi Sakakibara transfers into third-year class 3 at Yomiyama North Middle School. But little does he know…his new class has a horrible secret. When he takes his seat in class for the first day of school. Koichi is unsettled by his fearful classmates. Despite this atmosphere and warnings from fellow students, Koichi is drawn to the beautiful, distant Mei Misaki, another classmate. But the closer he tries to get to her, the more mysterious she and their class become. And when a fellow student dies a disturbing death–the first of a long chain of deaths–Koichi seeks to learn the truth behind the curse of third-year class 3. But can he get answers before the curse kills him? Another (Amazon / Barnes & Noble) Original Story: Yukito Ayatsuji; Art: Hiro Kiyohara Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Mystery/Horror Price: $29.99 USD Rating: I put off reading Another because of the horror descriptor associated with it. I’m particular about my horror titles, and with this being based on a novel, I was afraid it might get more graphic than I like. Fortunately, the horror in this story isn’t the gory type. It’s more of the psychological horror…

It takes all kinds to make a fandom, and manga is no exception. In fact, that is one of the things that makes manga so great. You can find something to suit just about any taste. The unfortunate part is that it means a lot of things will come out that you don’t care for. This week’s new releases is sadly filled with titles I really don’t care for. Seven Seas Entertainment has itself a niche in one such area I really like to avoid. It’s titles Dragonar Academy and surprise hit Monster Musume are the kind of male gaze I can do with out. Yen Press is Seven Seas’ sempai in this with High School DxD, and new titles Ani-Imo and Gou Dere Sora Nagihara. I try to walk past these titles quickly, trying not to look. Fortunately, these are just as many titles I love or would love to pick up. Kodansha prepares for the holidays with two Attack on Titan Box Sets for easy catch up. I enjoyed the first volume of Noragami, despite my initial feelings, so I’m looking forward to picking up volume 2. I am tempted by Seven Seas’ Devils and Realist. I just wish…

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…

Every week, Viz Media and the New York Times posts the top ten bestselling books. For Viz Media, it is the bestsellers on their site, Vizmanga.com. The New York Times gets their numbers of print sales from retailers. 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.   Vizmanga.com for the week of November 4, 2014 Bleach Vol 62     ∗ Blue Exorcist Vol 12     ∗ Naruto Vol 1     ↵ Naruto Vol 2     ↵ Claymore Vol 25     ∗ Dengeki Daisy Vol 15     ∗ Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures Part 1: Vol 2     ∗ Kiss of the Rose Prince Vol 1     ∗ Food Wars Vol 3     ∗ Naruto Vol 3     ↵ Just as the Obata sale ends, Viz starts a Naruto sale, in honor of the series ending this month, and as expected, early titles hit this week’s list. The first three volumes make a respectable showing with volumes 1 and 2 breaking the top 5. New shonen titles take up the majority of the list with the newest Bleach taking the top spot. The second volume of…