Manga Xanadu

February is the month to celebrate your relationship or singleness, which ever you embrace. Viz Media is sharing in that celebration with lot of new titles and offers from their Vizmanga digital site. What is especially enticing are the Shojo bundles. Three titles of 10 volumes each for $40.00. And they are really good titles too. Honey & Clover, Sand Chronicles and Strobe Edge. All three are amazing titles in their own way. If you haven’t read any of them, this is the perfect opportunity to get them all at a great price.

I’ve been looking forward to Yukarism ever since it was announced back in February. But then, I’m always looking forward to a new Chka Shiomi title. I love her works Yurara and Rasetsu from Viz, and Canon from CMX. While the premise of gender-bending and past lives doesn’t thrill me, I’ll trust Shiomi to provide a title I’ll enjoy. TRAVEL BACK TO EDO-ERA JAPAN WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE SEXY NEW SHOJO MANGA SERIES YUKARISM FROM VIZ MEDIA  Dreamy Historical Romance Depicts A Teenage Writer’s Extraordinary Past Life As A Courtesan In Edo-era Japan; New Series From The Creator Of YURARA And RASETSU Debuts In Print And Digitally!!  San Francisco, CA, November 19, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, entices shojo manga (graphic novel) readers with the print and digital launch of the new series – YUKARISM – on December 2nd. The nostalgia-tinted historical romance comes from creator Chika Shiomi, who is widely known among manga fans for her series YURARA and RASETSU (both available from VIZ Media). YUKARISM will be published under the Shojo Beat imprint and is rated ‘T’ for Teens. Print MSRP will be $9.99…

West Coast publisher Viz Media was the only publisher from this coast to attend NYCC and hold a panel. While their panels this late in the year usually consist of reiterating want was licensed at the beginning, this year they had two new licenses to announce. Tokyo Ghoul will be a Viz Signature title and So Cute It Hurts will be a Shojo Beat title. Tokyo Ghoul comes from Shueisha’s Weekly Young Jump magazine. There are currently 14 volumes out in Japan. The series follows Ken Kaneki, an ordinary college student. Tokyo is being haunted by “ghouls,” who devour humans and whose identities are shrouded in mystery, leaving people in the grip of panic. While at a coffee shop he likes to frequent, Kaneki meets Rize, an avid reader just like him. But his life is changed forever when he becomes the first half-human, half-ghoul hybrid. Straddling both worlds, he must survive Ghoul turf wars, learn about Ghoul society and master his new powers. Tokyo Ghoul recently had an anime that was streamed by Funimation, and has been on fans radars for a while. For me to enjoy a good action/horror title, it really has to be something really good….

Viz Media must have found an audience for its racier shojo titles since they keep coming out. Of course it has to feature vampires/bloodsucking of some sort. That seems to be where all the action is. I guess it’s appropriate considering the season, but I would like to see more non-supernatural romances, even though I do enjoy them. But there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Shojo Beat, Viz Media’s romance and drama imprint has a fun surprise for fans of Arina Tanemura. They have available quick flash games based on the manga Mistress Fortune and The Legend of Princess Sakura. The Mistress Fortune game is a Whack-a-mole style game where you have to hit the EBE’s popping out of holes, but you don’t want to hit the bunnies! There is also a special attack when you fill up a status bar which can be used to hit all the EBEs on the screen. You get a rank at the end. I made Standard Angel on my first try. The Princess Sakura game is a basic platformer. You control Princess Sakura with the left and right arrows, up to jump and space bar to strike the enemy monsters that inhabit the level. There is a spell, Thunder Strike that will freeze the monsters for a few minutes and a piece to pick up. I generally suck at platformers so after a few tries I could only get to level two. But it’s simple enough for any one to play and if you have more skill or patience, you can see how high the levels go. I…

Going digital can be a big decision, especially if you are like me, and still like to hold paper in your hands. But there are times when buying digital is an advantage, as is when a publisher, like Viz, has a big backlist of titles that are lengthy or difficult to find. One thing you can say about Viz, they have been working hard to make their backlist titles available again in digital. With Viz having their 20% off holiday sale, now is a good time to catch up on some older titles you may have missed out on. Viz really made a name for itself with Shonen Jump and bringing over many of the well-known and loved titles from that magazine. Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z is probably the most beloved series to come out of Weekly Shonen Jump. The first half is action and comedy, while the second half all action that set the standard for fighting shonen manga for years to come. It is 42 volumes, but if you haven’t checked it out yet, what are you waiting? Rurouni Kenshin was another series that helped establish shonen manga in the US. This title brought both men…

This week I check out some news stories, see what’s new at Vizmanga.com and review the first 11 volumes of Skip Beat for this month’s Manga Movable Feast! http://archive.org/download/MangaDomeEpisode11/MangaDomeEpisode11.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The Public Morals Club has been infiltrated by the Student Council as ninja Yui joins the club to spy on them. But with his reasons for switching being done in secret, not everyone on the Student Council is as understanding. It could be the end of Public Morals Club if the club can’t get a stamp of approval from the Student Council Auditor. Then a member of the Student Council, Ayabe challenges Mafuyu to a one-on-one battle, where the unthinkable happens. Mafuyu loses. By Izumi Tsubaki Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen Genre: Comedy/Romance Price: $9.99 Rating: It’s been 5 volumes since I last read Oresama Teacher. I’ve enjoyed the series for the most part, but I’ve never been so enamored that I wanted to do anything more than just read it. These two volumes fall into the same category. A lack of Takaomi and more emphasis on Mafuyu, Hayasaka, and new club member Yui did make for some fun reading, but not enough to bring the series up that extra notch. Yui has been having trouble gaining the trust of Mafuyu and Hayasaka, and with the club needed the stamp of approval from the auditor, this…

What is love, anyway? Ninako Kinoshita’s friends tell her it’s one thing, but Ninako wonders what this mysterious feeling is. When she meets Ren Ichinose, the handsome, enigmatic guy that all the girls worship, her life takes an unexpected turn. With just a few words and a smile, he changes her world. Ninako’s friend Daiki throws her for a loop when he expresses romantic interest in her. She cares for him, but can she return his feeling? As she tries to short out her confusion, Ninako realizes that there are many different facets of love–strange and wonderful sides… By Io Sakisaka Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance Price: $9.99 Rating: Falling in love for the first time is a strange, wonderful and sad feeling all at the same time. Watching Ninako slowly realize that the feelings she’s starting to experience are those of first love was a fun and delightful experience. Strobe Edge starts out seeming like the typical love triangle. Ninako is a first year in high school, and a little gullible. She is also completely clueless about the feeling of her best friend since elementary school, Daiki. Her chance encounter with the school’s “idol prince”, Ren,…

Asuka Masamune enjoys the girly things in life, such as sewing and cooking. But due to a traumatic event that happened with his father when he was young, he can’t ever let his mother know about this side of himself. In fact, he thinks he can’t let anyone know, and so he plays the part of a stoic manly man, excelling in kendo and reading Bushido. But there is one person in his class who does know about the real Asuka; Juta Tachibana. He is a mangaka, and has created a popular series using Asuka as the model for his female lead. In order to further his manga, he encourages Asuka get closer to Ryo, a new girl at their school that Asuka has fallen for. As his relationship with Ryo slowly develops, Asuka meets other otomen and learns he isn’t alone. By Aya Kanno Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romantic Comedy Price: $9.99 Rating: When Otomen first came out, I wasn’t impressed by the premise or the preview that ran in Shojo Beat at the time. I also didn’t care for Kanno’s previous title Blank Slate, so I didn’t have a lot of hope…

Arr, it be that time o’ year again. Aye matey, it be Talk Like o’ Pirate Day! To shiver yer timbers, I be reviewin’ a pirate manga that also be fittin’ in ta da Movable Manga Feast this month. So grab yerself a bottle o’ rum ‘n find out about Wanted Arrrr… In the Mediterranean at the end of the 17th century, former songstress Armeria disguises herself as a boy and boards the ship of the pirate Skulls–the man who kidnapped Luce, her first love. Captain Skulls is arrogant, violent, and a skirt chaser! And unfortunately for Armeria, he discovers she’s a woman… By Matsuri Hino Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Romance Price: $8.99 Rating: My introduction to Hino’s work was through the serialization of her most current title Vampire Knight in Shojo Beat. I really didn’t care for it, so when this volume came out, I had little interest in it. But, curiosity got the better of me, and I picked it up. I am slightly surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did, but it is about as different from Vampire Knight as night is to day. The thing I…

Momoka Sendou (nicknamed “Dragon Girl”) and Ryuga Kou are childhood friends. Momoka is a martial artist, and Ryuga is a Chinese magic master who banishes demons. In order to increase his power, Ryuga calls on the spirit of a dragon to possess him, but the spirit enters Momoka instead. Now the two must unite forces and fight demons together! By Natsumi Matsumoto Publisher: Viz Media – Shojo Beat Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance Price: $9.99 Rating: St. Dragon Girl is a title that has two things going for it. Dragons and a couple that denies their feelings for each other. While the second thing is a bit of a trope for shojo titles, I can’t help having a soft spot for their kind of relationship; the childhood friends who tease, bait and strike back. The female lead of this story, Momoka, has a lot of tomboy traits. Her father is the head of a kenpo dojo, so she is constantly practicing, and is even an instructor. She will take on anyone who threatens her friends, spirits and demons, and even teachers! But she has one weakness; pandas. Ever since she received a stuffed panda as gift from Ryuga, she has…