Manga Xanadu

It’s a new year with plenty of new manga to check out. There is a nice mix of titles this week in both shonen, shojo and the young reader demographics. Dark Horse releases the first volume in the sequel/continuation of the CLAMP series Legal Drug with Drug and Drop omnibus coming out. Viz’s kid imprint, Perfect Square has new Pokèmon, Adventures and Black and White. I’ve only just caught up with Vertical Comics’ What Did You Eat Yesterday Vol 4-5, and now I’ve got 6 breathing down my neck! Kodansha has the fifth volume of a shojo series I really enjoy, Say I Love You. I have vols 3-4 stacked up, so with vol 5 I can indulge in another binge read. This is always good and bad. I love getting big doses of my favorite titles, but then it’s a long wait for the new volume! This is Viz Media’s big shonen and shojo week, but it’s not as big usual. The Akira Toriyama One-shot Jaco the Galactic Patrolman finally makes it’s digital and print debut. Joining it is the new shojo title Meteor Prince Vol 1. I wasn’t wowed by the premise of Meteor Prince but those who…

The week between Christmas and New Year’s is always very new-release light, so this year I’ve decided to look back at some of my favorite new manga that came out in 2014. I say favorite because I don’t like saying best. There are still so many titles waiting for me to read them, I don’t feel qualified to claim these were the best of 2014, but they are the ones that I enjoyed the most. 2014 is the year I discovered Attack on Titan. Yeah, I know. I’m waaayyyy behind the times, but I seemed to have joined the fold at just the right time. Several spin-off titles were released this year, and my favorite among them was Attack on Titan: No Regrets from Kodansha Comics. I had no idea who Levi and Erwin were beyond being leaders of the Survey Corps in the main series when I picked up this two-volume series. Levi quickly became my favorite. I loved his brooding, angry attitude combined with his concern for his friends and clean-freak-ness. The art was great too, making it a bit of a shock when I finally did see him in the main series. Spin-offs have been doing well…

It’s the day before Christmas and Yen Press decides to flood the bookstores with their new releases! Don’t they realize most of the money is gone by the 24th? How am I suppose to not only keep up with my favorite regular releases, but also pick up the new ones?! Spice and Wolf Volume 10 comes out this week, and as soon as I get volume 7 I will binge read to catch up. That’s how I got hooked in the first place, binge reading volume 1-6, so another binge can only be a good thing. While not a regular release, it is one that is good to see return. Tena on S-String hasn’t had a volume released since 2010, where the first arc ended, but nothing was resolved just yet. It returns this week in an omnibus 2-in-1, starting up a new arc. I wasn’t enamored by the series, but I grew to like the characters well enough that I wouldn’t mind seeing how the next arc starts. Of the new releases, I do have some interest in the new light novel series A Certain Magical Index, and I wouldn’t mind seeing if Milkyway Hitchhiking read better as a…

It’s a week until Christmas! Time to fill a manga lover’s stocking with their favorite titles! Only four publishers are offering new volumes this week. Kodansha has the second volume of Manga Dogs already. It feels like it just came out, and already volume 2 is out. Seven Seas Entertainment dumps the rest of their titles this week, including their first volume of their yuri series Citrus. They’ve really been pushing this one on social media. If you want Seven Seas to keep licensing yuri titles, then throw your support behind this one. The first volume of the second series of Dance In The Vampire Bund, Scarlet Order, also comes out. If you’ve been lamenting the end of the last series, lament no more! Vertical only has one volume, but it’s a big one. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin Volume 8 hits the streets, and covers on of the bloodiest battles in the series. Viz Media releases a near handful of Signature titles. I knew Dorohedoro was still coming out, albeit slowly. Currently at volume 14, it’s coming up close to the end. I was really surprised to see that Afterschool Charisma was not only still going, but had reached volume…

Several publishers have books coming out this week, just not a lot. Gen Manga Entertainment is back in the print game. Over the last couple of months they’ve been releasing books in print. This month it’s Stones of Power. The third volume of Attack on Titan Before the Fall, the manga adaptation of the second two light novels is out this week from Kodansha. I still want to see the first volume adapted. Vertical Comics has #2 volumes of Ajin and Witchcraft Works out, two titles that appear to be doing well for small publisher. Alice in Wonderland could almost be considered a genre on its own  with all the titles that have come out of Japan lately that are based, however loosely, on the original story. Seven Seas Entertainment jumped on that bandwagon with I Am Alice Body Swap In Wonderland, a gender-bending take on the story. If you like gender-bending stories, and aren’t completely burned out on Alice derivatives. In a different Wonderland, Deadman Wonderland, Viz Media finally surpasses the original Tokyopop releases and comes out with all new material with Volume 6. If you’ve been waiting for the rest of the story, it starts here.  Full list…

It’s the first Tuesday of the month, and publishers have manga to release! If you haven’t been following the weekly releases, DC finally has the first volume of Batman: The Jiro Kuwata Batmanga collected, and perfectly timed for landing under the Christmas tree. It’s mix of Batman action and 60s insanity will be a double treat for Batman/manga fans. Or just something for non-Batman fans to laugh at. For not so laughing material, Vertical Comics releases volume 12 of Knights of Sidonia, their popular sci-fi series. This series will be caught up with the Japanese release with its next volume. Fans will then have to endure a long and excruciating wait to get their next fix. Can they hold out? Viz Media has the lion’s share of titles this week with their shonen and shojo titles making landfall. Assassination Classroom, the title about an alien threatening to destroy the Earth that takes on a class of middle school misfits is finally out. I’m seriously considering this one. New in shojo is Yukarism, a gender-bending, time-traveling title by Chika Shiomi. I will pick up the first volume of any series by her. She is one of the few mangaka I have that…

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…

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…

Kodansha pleases male gaze fans this week with new releases of Air Gear, Cage of Eden and UQ Holder. I wish there were more female gaze, non-YAOI titles available, but few to no publishers seem to appreciate us female gaze, non-YAOI inclined readers. Viz Media releases new volumes 07-Ghost and Rin-Ne. Remember Rin-Ne, the Shonen Sunday series that started as a simultaneous release, that just faded away without a word? It’s up to volume 16! What on earth keeps this series going? It’s not really that funny, and is only mildly entertaining at best, and what irks me most; no digital releases available. People are actually paying full price for this series. Amazing! Omnibuses have really taken off with manga publishers, as is evident on this week’s list. All three publishers with releases this week have at least one omnibus of an older series coming out. Dark Horse’s only release is an omnibus of Samurai Executioner. Kodansha has two with Air Gear and  Tsubasa, and Viz Media has Fullmetal Alchemist and Ranma 1/2. I think omnibuses are a great idea, especially for older titles with a lot of volumes. What would make them better is if they were also available…

It’s the beginning of the month, and that means Viz releases its torrent of shonen and shojo titles. Among the new releases are the debut of the shojo Kiss of the Rose Prince and the 2-in-1 omnibus of All You Need I Kill. For those who don’t want to pick up volumes one at a time, a prefer getting a bundle at a time, Viz has box sets just in time for the holiday season. The One Piece box set covers the “Skypeia” and “Waters Seven” arcs. This is worth looking at just for the “Waters Seven” arc, possibly the best one in the series. Vampire Knight is done, so now you can get rest of the series with the second box set. Seven Seas Entertainment releases several volumes, including the first print release of Lucifer and The Biscuit Hammer, a title originally only available in digital from Jmanga. Also out are new volumes of Sacred Blacksmith and Zero’s Familiar Chevalier, but its the new Alice in the Country of Clover Knight’s Knowledge vol 3 that’s gonna get the attention. I’m personally looking forward to  Attack on Titan vol 14 from Kodansha, Pokemon Adventures Volume 25 from Viz/Perfect Square, 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 October 21, 2014: All You Need is Kill Vol 1     ↑ 4 All You Need is Kill Vol 2     ↑ 6 Naruto Vol 67     ↓ 1 Bakuman Vol 2     ↵ Mad Love Chase Vol 1     ∗ Suki Vol 2     ∗ Trinity Blood Vol 7     ∗ World Trigger Vol 1     ↑ 1 World Trigger Vol 2     ↵ Deadman Wonderland Vol 5     ↓ 9 Well, that’s quite a reversal of fortune for Deadman Wonderland vol 5. From #1 to #10 in one week. The continuing Obata sale has again made itself felt on the list with All You Need is Kill taking over the top two spots, and Bakuman switching out vol 1 for vol 2. Naruto keeps swimming around these titles, just…

Yen Press has the lion share of releases this Halloween week, but they don’t have the one title that will make me squee with joy. It’s Kodansha and their release of the second and final volume of Attack On Titan: No Regrets that has me ready to whip open my wallet. I REALLY loved the first volume, and can’t wait to see what is in store for Levi and his friends and see how Levi becomes so loyal to a man he is determined to kill. As I said previously, this is the big Yen Press release week, and there are a few titles from them I look forward to reading. A Bride’s Story vol 6, Inu X Boku SS Vol 5, Puella Magi Madoka Magica The Different Story Vol 3, and Umineko When They Cry Episode 4 Vol 2: Alliance of the Golden Witch are all regular reads for me. New this week is Barakamon, a title Yen pushed heavily at NYCC. The story combines the “fish out of water” story element with a Yotsuba&! as it tells of a young calligrapher from the city who moves to a rural island and learns the ways of the island from…