Manga Xanadu » Entries tagged with "Reviews"
14th Dalai Lama and Che Guevara
In Japan, manga covers all sorts of subjects. It isn’t all boys fighting to protect the planet or girls looking for love. There are manga for just about every subject. Penguin Books has tapped into one of those other subjects: Biography. They debut their manga line with the lives of two very influential people of the 20th century with mixed results. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mini Musings, Reviews
Dr. Slump vol 12 and O-Parts Hunter vol 5
Dr. Slump Volume 12 By Akira Toriyama ♦ Viz Media ♦ Teen ♦ Action/Comedy ♦ $7.99 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars In an especially tearful episode, Senbei fixes the anti-gravity device on the Tsun family’s rocket, and they leave Penguin Village forever…or at least, for a few pages. And in a slightly less tearful episode, Senbei fixes the anti-gravity device (again!), this time so that King Nikochan can return home—with some unwanted stowaways: Arale and the Gatchans! The only tears that usually come from a Dr. Slump volume are from laughter. This series is all about the slapstick, and this volume doesn’t disappoint. From Arale having a greeting battle with a space monster that threatens Nikochan’s home planet, to a thief that uses books to distract her victims as she robs them, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Mini Musings, Reviews, Stuck in the Middle
This Week in Manga: 7/9-7/16/10
Manga Factory Direct Anime News Network was able to talk to company representative Mika Ogata and get some more details about Manga Factory and their prior relationship with Aurora. Despite having been former employees and having volumes of the defunct publishers books for sale, there is no connection between Manga Factory and Aurora. They are completely new company. The books are just a way to get some funds in. They won’t be making any announcements for licenses for the summer, but considering they’ve just started, that’s understandable. And I think it makes total sense for former employees to band together like this and create their own company. They no doubt have the contacts and the knowledge of the US manga market, that executives back in Japan that were calling the shots … Read entire article »
Filed under: News
After the Party is Over
It’s been a few weeks since DC announced the end of CMX Manga, and the mangasphere has had something to say about it, including me. And then there’s been the inevitable analysis of why CMX failed. Some have said it was because they didn’t have a recognizable brand or specific line. Others have said it was because one person was choosing the licenses. Hindsight is 20/20, so it’s easy to try to come up with different reason but were they really the cause? It’s been suggested that one of the reasons CMX failed was because they couldn’t find an audience. Their licenses were all over the place, from 70′s shojo to senien to horror. There was no focus to titles chosen, and therefore no audience to focus on. Is this really … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles
Manga Movable Feast: Mushishi Volume 1
Some live in the deep darkness behind your eyelids. Some eat silence. Some thoughtlessly kill. Some simply drive men mad. Shortly after life emerged from the primordial ooze, these deadly creatures, mushi, came into terrifying being. And they still exist and wreak havoc in the world today. Ginko, a young man with a sardonic smile, has the knowledge and skill to save those plagued by mushi…perhaps. By Yuki Urushibara Publsiher: Del Rey Manga Age Rating: 16+ Genre: Drama Price: $12.95 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars Buy This Book The back cover text make this book sound more sinister than it actually is. This first volume introduces the concept of the mushi, and the man we will follow who has the arcane knowledge to deal with them, Ginko, the Mushishi. Through a series of episodic stories, we … Read entire article »
Filed under: Manga Movable Feast, Reviews
Review: Pichi Pichi Pitch Mermaid Melody Volume 1-7
Lucia is the new girl at school. She and her sister run a public bath that’s all the rage. When Lucia meets a terrific-looking surfer boy, there’s just one little problem: Lucia is a mermaid–not just any mermaid, but a princess on an important mission to save the seven seas from an evil force bent on taking control of the marine world. Such a responsibility doesn’t leave much time for romance. But Lucia vows to protect her world and win the heart of handsome Kaito. By Pink Hanamori Publisher: Del Rey Age Rating: Teen Genre: Fantasy/Romance Price: $10.95 Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars Buy This Book This series is a a magical girl-fantasy-romance. Mermaids exist and live in the seven seas. Each sea has a princess with a pearl that gives them special powers. For not only … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
Manga Drive By: Harlequin Manga @ eManga.com
I’ve never been much of a romance fan, and have never read a Harlequin romance novel in my life. So, when I was given the opportunity to read some of the Harlequin manga released by DMP on their online manga site eManga, I decided to check some of the titles out. I read 7 titles in total, that seemed to run the gambit from historical to modern settings, and from chaste fade-to-black love scenes to those slightly more explicit, but not enough to rate a M rating. Some general observations first. DMP’s eManga site is very well done. The navigation is clean and concise, and easy to get around. The reading list displays all of your titles, including how long your rental will last. The manga reader is also easy to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
Read It If You Want It
Viz’s SigIkki website isn’t just an experiment in manga for mature readers. Going to the site does more than let you read some great manga. You, the reader, can make a difference in which manga will get published. Your clicks and reviews can make all the difference in the world for a title seeing print. In Japan, the fate of a manga is decided not just by circulation, but also by what the readers say. Survey cards are checked and titles can live or die by what readers say in these. Viz has taken this idea and applied it to the web. The titles at SigIkki are not guaranteed to see a print edition unless enough people show interest through page views and reviews that readers can leave. While this is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles
Viz Signature Ikki
Manga for older readers has been few and far between, as teen manga dominates bookstores and sales. But as manga readers grow up, there needs to be something to appeal to them and keep them interested in the medium. Viz Media has been working in that direction with their Signature line, and now with a website that provides manga to read for free. Working with Ikki Monthy magazine, they have brought out a diverse line … Read entire article »
Filed under: Manga Drive-By, Reviews
Shojo Beat – The Final 2
June and July 2009 mark the end of a four year run of Shojo Beat magazine. Not that you could tell by reading them. These last two issues feature more great previews, features and of course, chapters of manga. Though nothing is said explicitly, there does appear to be some indication that the magazine was ending, but you wouldn’t know it if you weren’t really paying attention. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Manga Drive-By, Shojo Beat
Fair and Square
As a reviewer, I get a lot of titles that are either in the middle of the series, or sometimes I get just the last volume. This came up over on twitter, and the with a comment that a series couldn’t be judged by reading some random volumes. This got me thinking. It’s an issue that reviewers would frequently have to deal with. You can choose not to read any titles that you don’t start from the beginning, or take on all comers. I’m one that chose to take on all comers. I’d rather be able to get a taste of a title, than never know at all what it’s like. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Articles
Weekend Rerun Review: St. Lunatic High School Volume 1
St. Lunatic High School Volume 1 By Majiko! Publisher: Tokyopop Rating: Teen Genre: Horror/Comedy Price: $9.99 Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars ISBN: 1-59816-944-7 Forced to attend the prestigious St. Lunatic High School, Niko Kanzaki discovers a haunting secret in her demon-filled night-classes! She applies higher learning to find out the differences between humans and demons, but the handsome and mysterious Ren shows her that the races also share some things in common… When I read in Previews that the mangaka of this series also wrote the manga adaptation of Code Geass, I was excited to read this series. Code Geass is an awesome story. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it sure wasn’t this… Tokyopop once again uses the genre horror for this series, very inappropriately. There is nothing horrific about this series. It might have helped … Read entire article »
Filed under: Reviews
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