Manga Xanadu

On Wednesday, Seven Seas Entertainment announced on their Twitter feed several new licenses set to be released in October and November of this year. Four titles were announced, all either having an anime adaptation, or are an adaptation of a light novel series, a trend that is continuing from last year.  Akuma no Riddle: Riddle Story of Devil follows Haru Ichinose, an ordinary student at an all female boarding school filled with assassins. She is the target of the other students; “The Hare.” Tokaku Azuma, an assassin who transfers into the school to join the hunt, but after meeting Haru, is drawn to her, and begins to protect her. The series is published in Kadokawa Shoten’s Newtype and is currently 3 volumes. It has a 12 episode anime adaptation that has been licensed by Funimation. This description doesn’t move me, but it doesn’t sound bad either. It was written by Yun Kouga, the creator of Loveless and Gestalt, neither series that I had much interest in, but a lot of other people have. It also has a lot of elements that make it fit the Seven Seas library. Golden Time is a light novel series by Yuyuko Takemiya, the creator…

At the beginning of October, Seven Seas Entertainment touted that they would announce seven new licences over the next seven days. Starting on October 1st, Seven Seas posted the announcements to Twitter first, stirring up fans with some surprising and not so surprising titles.      The first title announced was Non Non Biyori. This rural slice of life comedy follows Hotaru Ichijo, who has just moved from Tokyo to the countryside, where the nearest bookstore is 20 minutes away by bike, a certain popular manga magazine comes out Wednesdays instead of Mondays, and the video store is 10 stations away. Helping Hotaru adjust to the slower life in the country are her new classmates Natsumi, Komari, Renge, and Komari’s older brother Suguru. There are currently seven volumes available in Japan. It had an anime which was shown last October and a second season is in the works. Crunchyroll streamed the first season, and Sentai Filmworks will be releasing it on DVD. The first volume will be available here at the end of June 2015. I might be interested in checking out this series, though I haven’t had much luck with slow titles that feature cute girls. I’ll wait and see. The…

It’s another slow manga release this week. While Kodansha and Viz Media do have titles coming out, only Veritical and Seven Seas Entertainment has anything I’m actually interested in. Seven Seas continues to be a hit or miss publisher with me. Their licenses lately have tended to rely too much on the male gaze fan service, but it’s hard to fault them that since those are the titles that make it onto the New York Times Bestseller List. Hopefully, the more skeevy titles will continue to fund manga like Arpeggio of Blue Steel. Volume 2 comes out this week, and I’m still looking forward to it even through volume 1 is still sitting in my Amazon shopping cart. Witchcraft Works is the first manga to come out under the Vertical Comics imprint, which was just announced at New York Comic Con earlier this month. It’s a romantic comedy, but I still am interested in checking out volume 1. Vertical has steered me wrong yet, so I’ll trust if they say it’s good and funny. An anime of the manga has already been streamed by Crunchyroll earlier this year, so it’s got a built-in audience, and it seems to be selling…

This week is a good week for shojo readers. Kodansha releases the 4th volume of Say I Love You, their new shojo title that I was surprised I not only liked but also managed to distinguish itself from other titles by taking a more direct approach to teens, their relationships and feelings. Viz Media has a lot of shojo titles I like, and this week releases three that are high on my list. My Love Story is a new series that I’m hoping will end my bad luck with romantic comedies. Volume 2 is out this week. Natsume’s Book of Friends is a title I would call a comfort manga. It’s relaxing story and engaging characters is perfect to relax to after a rough day. Volume 17 is out this week. Happy Marriage?! is a shojo for a more mature crowd. I’ve enjoyed watching Chiwa’s and Hokuto’s relationship get over the bumpy spots and grow. It’s sad that the series is almost done with Volume 8 now out, but I’m looking forward to a Happy Ending. It’s not all shojo this week, as the title of this post says. Seven Seas Entertainment releases a title that has me curious but…

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…

This week I check out some new releases, some stories In the News, the Top Ten Department, and some in-between license announcements from Seven Seas Entertainment. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpiosde69/MangaDomeEpiosde69.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

In the continent of Consume, an endless war rages between bitter rivals: the Segua Kingdom vs. the Ninteldo Empire. Upon his dinosaur steed, the stern Emperor Marcus has led the Ninteldo Empire to near victory. Now, with the majority of Consume under its control, Ninteldo has Segua up against the ropes. Enter a fleet-footed lad named Gear, who seeks vengeance against Ninteldo for his brother’s death. After joining Segua’s Army, Gear is enlisted in the Special Forces to put his preternatural speed to good use. But will the inexperienced, impulsive youth be ready to face the realities of war? World War Blue Volume 1 Story by Anastasia Shestakova; Art by Crimson Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment Age Rating: Teen Genre: Action/Game Price: $11.99 Rating: When I first heard the premise of World War Blue, I was intrigued. I’ve always been interested in the console wars, and seeing them brought to life sounded like a fun idea. In practice, I found the execution problematic, though the story isn’t without it’s merits. World War Blue starts by introducing three characters; the fleet-footed Gear and his friends Tial and Nel. They are the only survivors of a Ninteldo attack five years previous, on their…

This week I check out the Weekly Wish List, several stories In The News, the Top Ten Department, and the new licenses from Seven Seas Entertainment. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode62/MangaDomeEpisode62.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week I check out some new stories, regular departments Weekly Wish List and top 10 at Vizmanga.com and the New York Times, and for Valentines Day I features some titles with couples that aren’t so lovey-dovey. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode45/MangaDomeEpisode45.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week I check out new licenses from Crunchyroll and Seven Seas, regular features Vizmanga.com, New York Times Bestsellers List, and Nielson’s Bookscan for January. Then I look at some manga about several Winter Olympic sports. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode44/MangaDomeEpisode44.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

    This week I take a look back at 2013 and some of the trends in manga that were seen over the year; What became popular, who started and who stopped publishing and comment on what I’d like see more of in 2014. I also have regular features the Weekly Wish List, Vizmanga.com update and the New York Times Bestseller List. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode39/MangaDomeEpisode39.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week I comment out some new stories, the Vizmanga updates the NYT Best Seller List, the Bookscan top 20 for November and check out the new manga app Manga Box from Japanese publisher DeNA. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode35/MangaDomeEpisode35.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download