Manga Xanadu

  This week I look at the new licenses from Seven Seas Entertainment, the Vizmanga.com update, the NYT Best Seller List, and a new gift guide of manga for 2013. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode34/MangaDomeEpisode34.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Manga at Otakon! This week I check out some news stories from Japan, the goings-ons at Vizmanga, the latest Bookscan numbers and finally the manga license announcements from Otakon. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode19/MangaDomeEpisode19.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

  This weeks I check out the Vizmanga top 10 for the last two weeks, and various news stories about titles ending and new titles beginning in the US and Japan, as well as more new licenses from Seven Seas Entertainment. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode17/MangaDomeEpisode17.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

  This week I look at all the manga announcements (or lack there of) from San Diego Comic Con 2013. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode16/MangaDomeEpisode16.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week I check out some licensing news, the Vizmanga top 10 digital manga, and review the Vertical title Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin Volume 1: Activation. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode09/MangaDomeEpisode09.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

This week I look at the news from Anime Boston and Fanime, some new license announcements from Seven Seas Entertainment, the Vizmanga.com top 10, and bid a final farewell to Jmanga. http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode08/MangaDomeEpisode08.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

It started with Kodansha announcing they licensed Sherdock, and then the unconfirmed (but hopefully true) license by Seven Seas of Dictatorial Grimoire. But starting on Valentines Day, February 14, it started to rain manga licenses from Viz Media and Seven Seas Entertainment (officially). Viz announced at total of 5 titles, 4 shojo/josei and one shonen. The two shojo titles are by creators who have already been published in the US. Yoroshiku Master, or Sweet Rein as Viz is calling it, is by Sakura Tsukuba. Two of her titles, Land of the Blindfolded and Penguin Revolution were originally published by CMX. It’s a 3 volume title about a girl and boy who bump into each other and become bound together, and the boy tells the girl, Kurumi, that is a Santa Claus and his master. This one looks a little shaky for my taste. I don’t quite get the obsession the Japanese seem to have to make Santa Claus a cute girl, so this one will have to get a “wait and see.”  This title will be available in November. Seems appropriate to come out right before Christmas. Voice Over! Seiyuu Academy has a little more appeal to me. This 11…

September is shaping up to a good month for new releases. All-Fiction.net dug up a new solicitation on Amazon for a new series from Seven Seas. Dokusai Grimoire, or Dictatorial Grimoire as Seven Seas is calling it is a three-volume manga series. It follows Grimm Otogi, a far-flung descendant of the original Brothers Grimm, has inherited a mansion from the deceased father he never knew. Along with that inheritance comes a curse; his ancestors made a deal with the mystical beings known as Marchen Demons who now have a claim on his soul. Otogi, with the help of a male Cinderella, must find a way to free himself by unlocking the power of a manuscript and stop the demons before they get him. I had found a love for fairy tales back in college, when for a paper, I had to write about Andrew Lang, an inspiration for Joseph Campbell, the well-known mythologist. Since then, I grab up titles that have something to do with fairy tales, which makes this title a must have for me. Over the course of the volumes Otogi will have to deal with tales featuring Cinderella, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood. While this…

There’s a lot of manga out there to read, and not a lot of time or shelf space for it all. But just because I can’t have it all doesn’t mean I can’t dream! Every month I’ll go through the new releases and pick one or two titles that best fit in three categories: What I’m Going to Read is for those titles I collect, or already know I want. What I Want to Read are for those that I’ve read at least one other volume of and am curious for more, and What I’m Interested In is for those that I’m become curious about, either through word of mouth or description. What I’m Going to Read: 07-Ghost is a license Viz rescued from GoComi! Even though I already have the first two volumes, I had to have the new Viz editions because 1) I want to read the new translation and see if the story makes any more sense, and 2) so I have a nice, consistent look on my bookshelf. I loved 07-Ghost even with its confusing story, mostly for the bishi, and for its similar look to Saiyuki, another favorite of mine. Volume 2 is out this…

Nicholas Harker discovered he is heir to the legacy of an ancestor he never knew he had: Dracula. Under his progenitor’s evil influence, Nicholas has begun, with a vast fortune at his disposal, to rebuild Castle Dracula in the outskirts of Boston, leaving behind a wake of corpses. While the love of Jill Hawthorne seems to be the only thing that weakens Dracula’s hold over Nicholas, Mason Renfield realizes he must remove her from the picture, in order to usher in the full reemergence of his dark lord. But Jill’s new friend, the fiery wiccan Cate, has plans of her own—to destroy Nicholas and avenge her mother’s death. Story by Nunzio De Filippis & Christina Weir; Art by Rhea Silvan Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment Age Rating: Teen Genre: Supernatural Price: $10.99 Rating: After reading volume 1 of Dracula Everlasting, I had some doubts about the series. I was under the impression that Nick was to be the protagonist, but this volume proves that isn’t the case. Cate and to some extent Jill are the ones to really move the story. While I do like good, strong female characters, as Cate and Jill are portrayed, I imagined a different story in…

For recently turned vampire Minato Misaki, vampirism and the beastly powers that come with it are something that she wouldn’t wish upon her worst enemy, let alone her beloved Kuroe. But Kuroe’s supernatural investigations make him a regular target of not only vampires but of all sorts of undead creatures of the night. The only way to save him from these deadly threats may be to do the one thing that Misaki fears the most: to turn Kuroe into a vampire for his own protection. By Masayuki Takano Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Supernatural/Vampires/Horror Price: $15.99 Rating: I’ve had this volume in my review pile for a while, and kept meaning to read it. I’d heard a lot of good things about it, and after reading a review of it for the Manga Movable Feast I hosted last year, I was really interested, but I am easily distracted, and it was soon buried by the growing review pile. With this month’s MMF being about vampires, it seemed the perfect time to dig it out. And I’m really glad I did. Blood Alone isn’t the typical vampire series with a lot of angst and melodrama. Instead, it…