Manga Xanadu

As I looked through my piles of manga, I realized I had more unread Viz Signature titles than I thought. I actually have more, but these were single volumes and made for quick enough reads that I could get them in. While they are two different titles in tone, they do not differ very much when it comes to my reactions to them. I am a sci-fi fan, but can I be a fan of these two titles? Read on to find out.

In a city so dismal it’s known only as “the Hole,” a clan of Sorcerers have been plucking people off the streets to use as guinea pigs for atrocious ‘experiments” in the black arts. In a dark alley, Nikaido found Caiman, a man with a reptile head and a bad case of amnesia. To undo the spell, they’re hunting and killing the Sorcerers in the Hole, hoping that eventually they’ll kill the right one. But when En, the head Sorcerer, gets word of a lizard-man slaughtering his people, he sends a crew of “cleaners” into the Hole, igniting a war between the two worlds. By Q Hayashida Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Mature Genre: Fantasy/Horror Price: $12.99 Rating: I discovered Dorohedoro through the Sigikki.com site. I’m so glad it was put up there, because, based on the volume description, I would have completely bypassed this series, and that would have been a serious crime. While this volume does have violence and some gore, it also introduces some of the best characters I’ve read about in a long time. The volume description makes Dorohedoro sound like a serious battle title, with Caiman and Nikaido hunting down and killing sorcerers and En…

Moveable Manga Feast Moves Out In a massive collaboration, several blogs have gotten together to review the same book on the same week, as suggested by David Welsh of the Manga Curmudgeon blog.  It kicked off this week, with Sexy Voice and Robo, with new reviews going up every day.  You can find an introduction to the book and all the reviews posted here.  From the long list of reviews, this turned out to be a big success with such a wide breadth of reviews, both good and bad.  This is a shining example of the power of social media.  An idea on Twitter became a week long celebration (or panning) of a title, bringing together the mangasphere.  I just think that’s cool.

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 a good idea for a small market as these Ikki titles will attract, that also means that your favorite title manga get a print edition unless YOU do something. Just like pre-ordering, this is putting your money were your mouth is, just without so much of the risk.  Going to the site and reading chapters is easy, but if you really love a title, so much so that you…

Manga Publishers Go APE! Even though APE, the Alternate Press Expo, is mostly for comics and graphic novels, a couple of manga publishers showed up to pawn some of their less mainstream wares.  Vertical, Inc. had a table there, with Ed Chavez hocking their books, and selling out titles left and right.  By the end of Sunday, the last report from him was Guin Saga manga and Black Jack v2-7 were all that was left.  Not bad!  Viz was there too, with titles from their Signature line, and reports from the floor sounded favorable to them.  They also had a panel on Sunday for their Ikki line.  Deb Aoki was on the floor both days reporting, so check out her twitter page if you don’t follow her already.

I know this is late, but SDCC threw everything off schedule.  Everything will back by this week.  I hope. Between a Rock and a Hard Place Otakon ran this weekend.  Did you notice?  There were no announcements from manga publishers, and really not a lot of announcements in general.  Whoever planned for this years Otakon really blew it.  Placing it between the biggest industry cons was a serious mistake.  Attendance was barely changed from last years numbers.  Even with this economy, AX showed a reasonable rise, and SDCC sold out at least two months sooner than last year.  So it’s not that people aren’t going to the cons, they just need more time in between to replenish cash reserves.  Otakon, stay in August.