No Manga Love from the New York Times…Again This week the New York Times released their holiday gift guide for graphic novels, and it should come as no surprise to anything that follows the NYT’s blog that manga doesn’t get any love from the writers in charge. This list was no different. David Welsh of the Precious Curmudgeon blog decided to take matters into his own hands. He announced on Twitter that he would be doing his own holiday gift guide for manga, and invited other manga bloggers to join him. Watch for David’s list on Thanksgiving, and other lists from Kuriostiy, Okazu and Manga Bookshelf blogs next week just to name a few.
Rin-ne Volume 2 By Rumiko Takahashi Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Supernatural/Comedy Price: $9.99/Free online Rating: It’s more ghostly hijinks with Rin-ne and Sakura, as Rin-ne works to pay off his grandmother’s debt to the spirit world. The stories get longer in this volume, with more multi-chapter stories, but that doesn’t mean they get any better. More of Takahashi’s formula kicks in as a new character are introduced with some petty motivations.
While bouncing around Google, I stumbled on Anime Stitching, a site for cross stitch patterns for anime characters. This site is dedicated to patterns of sprites, SD-like characterizations of anime characters that can be animated or static. And they’re really cute! If you’ve wanted to cross stitch actual, licensed manga characters, these fan created patterns are as close as you are going to get. This site also has links to other sites that include patterns for other geeky interests such as video games and comics, and one site, by Littlemojo, has some great pokemon patterns and another site with some really nice Fullmetal Alchemist patterns. I really liked the Hohenheim of the Light pattern. The 1337xstitch site also has a forum for talking about works in progress and completed, as well as patterns you’re looking for. These sites are some great resouces. Check them out!
This issue of Shonen Jump is the preparation issue for the One Piece speed up. Just like with the Naruto jumps, there is a dedicated section the gives short descriptions of the arcs to be covered in the volume releases. That’s right. I said arcs. Unlike with Naruto, which could give summary of each of the volumes, One Piece has too many volumes coming out to cover them all, so they just described the arcs, what volumes they cover and what villains the Straw Hat Pirates would be facing. There are 4 arcs to be covered, with the next arc, “Skypieda”, being 10 volumes long! This is a whole lot to take in. I really hope Viz knows what they’re doing and aren’t dooming One Piece. This property, which should have been as big or even bigger than Naruto has been mishandled by so many, I really don’t want to see it happen any more.
Do Comics Need Age Ratings? I’ve already ranted and raved about the Kentucky library workers and their attempts at censorship. But the comments on this article at The Beat goes into an interesting debate over a universal age rating for comics. While it’s brought up that no one is calling for age ratings for prose books (which I wouldn’t mind as a parent), comics and manga are a visual medium like movies, TV and video games. Those all have rating systems, so why not comics? I certainly wouldn’t mind one. Even among manga, where there are age ratings, it’s far from universal, and could certainly do to be refined. And as a parent, it would help to at least have an idea what the suggested age for books should be. There have been times when I’ve looked at a title, and just couldn’t be sure if it was at appropriate for ages under 13 or not. It wouldn’t hurt publishers to help out parents, since it’s their kids that will be their future audience.
Not sure you want a dedicated e-reader? Can’t wait for the Asus E-reader? Want more options in your e-book selection? Like to tinker with computers and install your own software? Well, there may be a way to do all these things and more! Amazon, proving they’re in the e-book reader game more for the books that the hardware, has released the beta version of software Kindle for PC. Reviews have been mixed about it’s usefulness, and granted, it is still in beta, so there may be more changes in store for it. But, for now, it allows you to sync with your kindle, view your kindle library (only the books you’ve bought though), and buy and read e-books from the Kindle store. So, what’s the big deal? The whole point of the Kindle and other e-readers is to NOT be tied to a computer. It’s to be light and portable. But the Kindle device is very limited beyond reading the books they offer. What if I want to surf the web, read RSS feeds and blogs for free, and have access to more than just what Amazon offers? That’s where this article comes in! Make your own E-reader. You’re not…
07-Ghost Volume 1 By Yuki Amemiya & Yukino Ichihara Publisher: Go! Comi Age Rating: 16+ Genre: Action Price: $10.99 Rating: Teased unmercifully for his past as an orphan and a slave, Teito has only his best friend Mikage to ease his days to the elite Barsburg Academy – and his mastery of the magical art of zaiphon! But even that will not be enough to save him when he discovers a horrifying secret behind the ruling empire. Trapped in an ancient battle between a wicked god and Seven Ghost, guided by three mysterious priests, Teito discovers a power that could save the world…and shed light on his own mysterious past. A first read through 07-Ghost can leave you feeling confused. A lot of information and characters get thrown at you with little explanation of what’s going on, who anyone is, or why they are important. This can leave a bad taste in your mouth if you’re not willing to let it sink in or give the book another read. Of course, you shouldn’t have to for a book that isn’t heavy on plot. But, if you give this title another chance, you’ll find and intriguing story and some really fun…
Tokyopop Webinar staring Domo! (‘s creator) Tokyopop’s Webinar was actually on 10/29/09, but posts about it didn’t go up until after 11/1/09. Lissa at Kuri-osity has a quick rundown of the webinar and questions for Tsuneo Goda. Deb Aoki of the About.Manga Blog has a full transcript. If you want to know more about Domo, this is a must read. I’m kind of disappointed that Domo isn’t interested in Global Domination. He certainly couldn’t do worse than the leaders we’ve had lately. And as my daughter would say, “He’s Domo!”
Yokai…Japanese spirits. Most people fear them, and a few people even hunt them, thinking they are horrible monsters to be destroyed at all costs. But young Hamachi wants to be friends with them! He sees them as mischievous creatures that could co-exist peacefully with humans if only given a chance. When his grandmother dies under mysterious circumstances, Hamachi journeys into the Yokai realm. Along the way, he encounters an ogre who punishes truant children, and angry water spirit, and a talking lantern. Will Hamachi be able to find his grandmother’s killer, or will he be lost forever in another world? Yokaiden Volume 1 By Nina Matsumoto Publisher: Del Rey Manga Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Supernatural/Humor Price: $10.95 Rating: The plot of Yokaiden sounds very generic. Orphaned hero goes off to another realm filled with monsters to avenge his grandmother’s death. But Yokaiden turns out to be much more than it’s basic plot. It’s a showcase for many of the strange and sometimes playful, sometimes dangerous creatures that make up Japanese folklore. The interplay with these beings often overshadows the plot, and its clueless main character. Hamachi is your typical happy, often oblivious protagonist. Despite losing his parents at young age,…
I’m a very crafty person. Starting when I was young, my mother taught me to embroider in order to keep me busy when I had to go with her to help by Great, Great Aunt who was blind and lived in a retirement home. From there, I moved to knitting, crocheting, needlepoint, sewing and finally cross stitch. I also love to cross my interests, so when Katherine Farmar asked on Twitter if anyone knew of a manga about knitting, it got me thinking. Were there any crafty manga out there?
Last year, I talked about a bunch of the manga that was out that I thought was most appropriate to read on a dark and spooky nights of Halloween. This year, I want to narrow my focus some, and look at some manga that isn’t particularly spooky, but features some traditional monsters, both eastern and western.
I learned about this title from a review on a podcast of the live action j-drama tv series. My husband and I watched the j-drama and enjoyed it a lot. It’s 11 episodes and was filled with great action and dramatic scenes, and lots of unexpected twists to keep the story moving. Having enjoyed the j-drama, I had to find out about the manga. The manga, complete at 11 volumes, is about Fujimaru Takagi, a second year high school student and member of the Newspaper Club. Unknown to everyone but his father, the PSIA (Public Security Intelligence Agency) and the newspaper club, Fujimaru is also known as Falcon, a prodigy hacker who exposes corrupt people’s crimes to make them pay. The series starts with Fujimaru being recruited by the PSIA to help them decode a memory stick that may have information on an incident in Russia where a segment of the population was killed off by a possible poison gas. And that gas may be now in Japan. The story follows Fujimaru as he gets pulled further into the investigation and conspiracy. His father is accused of murdering his superior. A teacher at his school is trying to stop him…