Manga Xanadu

Last week, the official website for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump announced that Naruto would be ending in this year’s 50th issue of the magazine out November 10. Creator Masashi Kishimoto has been hinting that the series would be winding up soon. Back in 2012 he had stated the series was reaching its climax, and would be ending in about a year and a half. Finally, that end is in sight. Naruto follows the adventures of a boy by the same name who lives in the ninja village of Konoha. After a difficult childhood and being shunned by the people of his village, Naruto becomes a ninja and joins his fellow teammates Sakura and Sasuke to go on jobs assigned to them. Naruto is determined to earn the respect of Konoha and become the Hokage, leader of the village. Naruto started in 1999, and became wildly popular both in Japan and here in the US through fan subs of the anime and scans of manga. Viz Media licensed the manga and it joined their newly launched Shonen Jump print magazine in January of 2003. The manga was one of the first to receive an acceleration in releases as Viz released 12…

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 September 30, 2014 Chibi Vampire Vol 14     ∗ Kyo Kara MAOH! Vol 1     ∗ Fate/Stay Night Vol 10     ∗ Nisekoi Vol 9     ↓ 3 Lucky★Star Vol 3     ∗ Trinity Blood Vol 6     ∗ St. Lunatic High School Vol 2     ∗ Miyuki-chan in Wonderland Vol 1     ↓ 4 D • N • Angel Vol 13     ∗ Library Wars Vol 12     ∗ New digital Select titles means a nearly brand new list this week. The final volume of Chibi Vampire debuts at #1, which isn’t really a surprise if you’ve been watching it on the list. New license rescue, Kyo Kara MAOH! debuts at #2. This was another former Tokyopop title that did well in the day, and I suspect will do well in digital…

Sona-G is one of the most popular bands on the scene with a strapping vocalist and a hunky guitarist! Masumi, on the other hand, has all the trust in the world with her technical skills on the guitar, but she’s just been dumped and the world looks grey indeed. Then one day, Masumi finds herself playing second guitar for Sona-G! What’s going to happen to her decision not to fall in love…? This volume also features another two wonderful stories! Sona-G Series Volume 1: Heaven is Not Needed By Yuriko Matsukawa Publisher: Digital Manga Guild Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance Price: $7.95/eBook only Rating: Sona-G Series is a one volume anthology featuring three stories by creator Yuriko Matsukawa. The stories are all romances featuring girls finding love when they aren’t looking for it. While all three stories are entertaining and even fun reads, none are really compelling. “Heaven is Not Needed” is the main story of this anthology as well as giving it its name. It is about high school girl Masumi Murakami who is asked by the wildly popular duo Sona G to play acoustic for them on a big gig coming up. But because her crush left her…

Black Bird is a series I wanted to like, but had some systemic problems that kept it from being a regular read for me, which is too bad because I loved Sakurakoji’s first series here, Backstage Prince. There were a lot of elements of the plot surrounding the Senka Maiden that I was interested in, but the icky feeling I got from the series in general made it hard to follow regularly. If you can get past, or aren’t bothered by those parts, then Viz has some great news for you! Keep reading for the details! VIZ MEDIA’S BLACK BIRD MANGA SERIES TAKES FLIGHT IN A NEW BOX SET EDITION  Catch The Entire Romantic Supernatural Adventure In This Complete Box Set; Release Also Features Exclusive Bonus Hardcover Art Book  San Francisco, CA, September 25, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, ignites the passions of readers with the release on October 21st of the manga (graphic novel) box set for creator Kanoko Sakurakoji’s hit supernatural fantasy series, BLACK BIRD. The BLACK BIRD Complete Box Set features the entire series run of 18 volumes and will be released under…

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 September 23, 2014 Nisekoi Vol 9     ∗ Future Diary Vol 6     ∗ Chibi Vampire Vol 13     ↓ 2 Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland Vol 1     ∗ One Piece Vol 72     ↔ Suki Vol 1     ∗ Food Wars! Vol 3     ↓ 1 One-Punch Man Vol 4     ↵ Seraph of the End Vol 2     ↵ It’s another strong week for digital only/digital first titles. The newest Nisekoi volume takes over the top spot and is followed by the new volume of Future Diary. CLAMP shows its older works still have pull as new rescues for the Select line, Miyuki-Chan in Wonderland and Suki debut on the list. One Punch Man and Seraph of the End made conspicuous returns as well.   New York Times Bestseller List…

Since it is now officially October, it’s time to start breaking out the spooktacular stories! I have long proclaimed by love of Yokai, so I couldn’t pass up this story about a poll asking Japanese women to vote for their favorite anime and manga yokai. There are a lot of familiar names on the list. All but one title were manga before becoming anime. What’s really cool about the list, is that of those manga titles, we have access to all but three! Jigoku Sensei Nube, which placed 4th in the poll, is a Shonen Jump title from the 1990s, the same era as Yu Yu Hakusho, Slam Dunk, and Ruroni Kenshin. Jigoku Sensi Nube follows elementary school teacher Meisuke Nueno, aka Nube, who not only teaches his students, he also is a skilled exorcist. He protects the town of Domori from supernatural threats with the help of a powerful demon sealed in his left hand, a technique he calls the Demon’s Hand. This horror comedy ran for 31 volumes and had an anime made of it. It’s returned to the limelight recently with a live action drama set to debut this month. I would live to read this title, but it has…

Gen Tsukiomi appears to be a normal high school student but there is more to him than meets the eye. So when his old caretaker asks him for help in protecting his current charge, Hikari Kuze, Gen wonders what is going on. Besides being a ditzy junior high school student, is Hikari like Gen, with a secret of her own? In what often feels like a comedy of errors, Gen tries to figure out who is after them while struggling to maintain his quickly dwindling control over the situation. As if that wasn’t enough, a new romantic rival appears! But which one of them is he actually after? Moonlight Kreuz Volume 1 By Yasumi Hazaki Publisher: Digital Manga Guild Age Rating: Teen Genre: Fantasy Price: $7.95/eBook only Rating: Moonlight Kreuz had an interesting sounding premise with romance, comedy and werewolves. But the first warning was there, with the female leading being described as  “ditzy.” And though I keep trying romantic comedies, I’ve yet to find one I really enjoy. This volume wasn’t a bad read, but neither was there anything that made want to pick up more. The lead characters, Gen and Hikari, needed first and foremost to be interesting to me….

Crunchyroll has been really been working hard to become the legal streaming site for manga. Their “all you can read” plan puts a lot of titles at readers fingertips for one monthly price, and they are adding new titles all the time. Recently, they added two new titles, The Lucifer and Biscuit Hammer and Kippo. Kippo is a new title to western readers. It is by Hiroshi Tanaka and runs in Shonengahosha’s Young King magazine. The story is about some boys whose family life is anything but happy, and the people they meet in their “spot”, who become more family than their own. When disaster strikes, it’s these people who come together to protect what is important to them. The first chapter is available for anyone to read, while the rest of the first and only volume published so far is behind the subscription wall. It’s violent and disturbing at times, but does appear to have potential for some real drama. The Lucifier and Biscuit Hammer is not a new title to western readers. Jmanga started releasing it and got out 5 volumes before they closed up. Crunchyroll has been rescuing a lot of Jmanga’s titles, and hope they continue…

With September having five Tuesdays, most of the big releases will hit next week. That leaves this week open for some of the smaller titles to get the attention. Kodansha’s My Little Monster is a series I’m continuing to enjoy. The unusual relationship between Shizuku and Haru is a lot of fun to watch, and the uncertainty of where it will be at the end of each volume makes it stand out from many of the other shojo titles out there. Volume 4 comes out this week. Vertical’s Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin has proven there is not only a market for Gundam manga, but that premium hardcovers will be coveted too. The series passes the half way point with Volume 7‘s release. This week welcomes back an old publisher to print. Netcomics has been missing from the print releases for a while. They were one of the first publishers to rent chapters online and to put other publisher’s titles online digitally. Finally they release a new print volume of a new series, Give to the Heart. The premise has a bit of a Bride of the Water God feel, with a Water God trying to win a human woman’s…

Just this week, Yen Press released the first volume of Durarara!! The Yellow Scarves Arc. This is an adaptation of the third light novel and continues the outrageous story of Mikado, Shizuo, Izaya, Celty, Anri, Kida and more. However, in the October issue of Square Enix’s Monthy G Fantasy magazin that came out in September, it was announced that the manga will end in the November issue out next month. The final chapter will feature a color page, and it looks like the series will be three volumes total. Seems Yen Press picked the perfect time to pick up this series, as it’s just started. But with their first two volumes coming out in quick succession, there’s no tell when the last volume will be out. I hope it won’t be long. I hope even more that Yen Press will license the Durarara!! light novels soon. This is the last manga adaptation. How will I get my Shizuo fix after this?!  

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 September 16, 2014 Chibi Vampire Vol 13     ∗ Lucky☆Star Vol 2     ∗      Trinity Blood Vol 5     ∗ Fate/stay Night Vol 9     ∗ One Piece Vol 72     ↓ 4 Food Wars! Vol 3     ↑ 2 Bokurano Ours Vol 11     ∗ Bleach Vol 61     ↵ Skip•Beat Vol 33     ↓ 4 Time Killers     ↓ 6 New VizSelect titles knock down some of the new releases from last week. Chibi Vampire debuts again at the top with its penultimate volume. Newcomer Lucky Star is right behind with its second volume. In fact, the top 4 spots are taken by VizSelect titles, pushing the big Shonen Jump titles back down. Bleach rejoins his fellow SJ titles One Piece and Food Wars! while Bokurano Ours…

This week was Banned Books Week, a yearly reminder of the importance of protecting our right to read what we want. This year focused on comics, graphic novels and yes, manga. You might think with manga not being so well know it would fly under people’s radars, but as manga has grown in popularity over the last decade or so, it has come increasingly under fire. Some of the titles challenged are also among the most popular. Dragon Ball, the first series, wasn’t just challenged, it was straight out removed from Wicomico County Public School libraries in Maryland in October of 2009. Based on a complaint by the mother of a 9-year-old, the series was removed from elementary, middle-school and high school libraries for depicting “nudity, sexual contact between children, and sexual innuendo between adults and children.” If you just looked at some of the panels in Dragon Ball with no context, you might agree. But in context, most of the claims made against the series are for comedic purposes and are closer to what you would see on “America’s Funniest Videos” than you would the Playboy Channel. In May of 2010, Death Note was challenged by the mother a…