Manga Xanadu

Well, I have to say it’s about time Yen Press and Square Enix finally got on the digital bandwagon. Yen Press announced back in October at New York Comic Con that it would be announcing a digital strategy for the company, and nearly six months later, they finally have! I glad to see them moving away from proprietary apps and awful websites. Find out more after the jump.

This week I check out the Weekly Wish List, New manga app news, new titles on Crunchyroll and the Top 10 Department. Then I throw Viz some beads for their new license announcements. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode48/MangaDomeEpisode48.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I very rarely talk about amine here, since this is a manga blog, but there are times when I’ll make exceptions. Just recently, the return of an anime I love has been announced. Viz Media has rescued Moribito: Guardian of the Sacred Spirit. This 26 episode series first aired in 2007, and had a difficult time in licensing here. Geneon first licensed it, but then halted their US distribution, and the license went to Media Blasters. It showed on Cartoon Network during their late night Adult Swim block, but it took a while for a full run to show there. Now Viz Media is running it as part of their Neon Alley network. Moribito: Guardian of the Sacred Spirit is based on the first volume from a fantasy novel series published in Japan in 1996. It is about a woman named Balsa, who, after saving the second prince to the Emperor, Chagum, is charged by the Queen to protect him. Chagum carries the egg of the water god. The Emperor sees him possessed by a spirit, and other spirit chase him to eat the egg he carries. Balsa takes the assignment. With her mad spear-wielding skills, and help from friends…

This week I check out some news and regular features Weekly Wish List, Vizmanga.com update and the New York Times Bestseller List. I then rant about a reviewer’s comments about Wedding Peach. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode41/MangaDomeEpisode41.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

  This week I examine several news stories that piled up at the end of the year, the Nielson Bookscan for December, and regular features, the Weekly Wish List, the Vizmanga.com update and the New York Times Bestseller list. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomePodcast40/MangaDomePodcast40.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week I look at some news from Japan, what’s new at the Vizmanga.com site, and I check out 9 volumes of Bleach that cover 3 story arc, and how it’s affected by missing volumes. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode15/MangaDomeEpisode15.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week I take a look some news items; Square Enix shutting down their manga service site, New licenses from Yen Press and Seven Seas Entertainment, some new digital manga coming to the Vizmanga site, and the top-selling manga in March and April according to Nielson’s Bookscan service. Shownotes: Square Enix E-manga Service Shutdown Yen Press License: Bloody Cross Thermae Romae on Barnes & Noble Nook and Amazon Kindle New Manga on Vizmanga.com Seven Seas Entertainment Licenses: Mad Hatter’s Late Night Tea Party & Alice Love Fables Nielson Bookscan Top Selling manga for March and April Music courtesy of Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode04/MangaDomeEpisode04.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

I’ve finally done it. I’ve thrown the idea around for several years, but with help and encouragement from my husband, I have recorded my first podcast. In this first episode I talk about several recent news stories as well as a few manga I’ve read recently. In the future I will have more extensive reviews, and maybe even a guest or two! Have a listen. Comments and suggestions are strongly encouraged. The First Episode! Show Notes: Vertical Digital Manga Interview with Ed Chavez at Good E-Reader Asahi Shimbun Article on Jmanga Wondercon Anaheim Yen Press and Dark Horse at Sakuracon Viz Media manga app on 10″ Android devices Manga I’m Reading: Until Death Due Us Part Volume 2 Umineko: When They Cry Volume 1 Knights of Sidonia volume 1 Paradise Kiss Volume 3 Music courtesy of Kevin MacLeod of Incompetech http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode01/MangaDomeEpisode01.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Here’s some really good news. Millennium Snow, a manga series by Bisco Hatori of Ouran High School Host Club fame, is returning to the pages of Hakusensha’s LaLa magazine. Hatori last worked on this series back in 2002, and the 9 existing chapters were collected into two volumes. Viz Media was smart enough to bring it over back in 2007. I really enjoyed those two volumes with the only problem being that it was too short! I had hoped that there would be more chapters. I felt there was so much more to learn about these characters. And now it looks like my wish might be coming true! I sure hope Viz Media still has the license to this so we can get these new volumes when they come out collected. Of course, getting them digitally would be just as good.  

Honey Hunt goes on Hiatus Honey Hunt, one of the last manga to be added to Shojo Beat before Viz canceled it, is going on hiatus in Japan.  Mangaka Aihara has decided to take a break from Honey Hunt and is debuting a new manga in the same magazine.  This is both good and bad for fans of Honey Hunt.  It’s good, because it will make catching up with the manga easier.  The 6th volume just came out in Japan, and the 4th volume won’t come out in the US until March.  Viz apparently is keeping the long time between release days which means it may be another year before we get to the 6th volume.  But it’s bad since there no indication as how long the hiatus will be.  It could be a long stretch before Aihara picks it up again, and then a while after that before another volume comes out.  Ask Hunter x Hunter and D.N. Angel fans about that.

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.

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!”