Manga Xanadu

Vertical Comics, the comics imprint of Vertical, Inc., announced through their Tumblr that they had acquired a new manga license, Tokyo ESP.  Vertical had the title confirmed since just after New York Comic Con, but retailers were starting to put solicitations out for the first volume, so there was little reason to sit on it any longer. The story follows Rinka Urushiba, a high school student who works a part-time job to help her father make ends meet. One day she sees a penguin chasing some glowing fish flying through the sky. She is touched by one of the fish and loses conscious. When she wakes up, she has a supernatural power; she can walk through inanimate objects. She is not the only one to gain powers, and she joins up with another high school student, Kyotaro Azuma who can teleport. They take on other powered people who have decided to use their powers for evil. The series is published by Kadokawa Shoten in their magazine Shonen Ace and is currently 11 volumes. There is an anime adaptation that ran last summer that Crunchyroll streamed and Funimation licensed. This title was also one of the debut titles in Kadokawa Shoten’s Comic…

Shiro turns down an offer to become a celebrity and Kenji’s culinary adventures are reprised. Accomplished home chef though he may be, Shiro proceeds on the assumption that no two of his curries will ever taste the same in a manga about a gay couple for mature–in the true sense–readers. What Did You Eat Yesterday? Volume 4-5 By Fumi Yoshinaga Publisher: Vertical Comics Age Rating: Older Teen Genre: Cooking/Slice of Life Price: $12.95 Rating: What Did You Eat Yesterday? continues to follow the lives and menus of two gay men, Shiro and Kenji. These volumes expand more on their personal lives served up with a staggering menu of dishes such as bean rice, horse mackerel tataki, hamburgers in mushroom sauce and caramel-simmered apples on toast. Shiro, the cook and penny-pincher of the pair gets pulled into personal problems with his co-workers and friends with the temptation of free food. It seems like a good deal at the start, but there is always a catch, and seeing Shiro’s reaction, usually internal is always funny. But even though he has to listen to his boss complain about her daughter-in-law, or his female friend Kayoko’s husband butt into their daughter’s life. Shiro also…

Before Digital Manga Publishing scooped up the whole Tezuka catalog, Vertical, Inc. had been cherry picking from the library and pulled out several gems such as Black Jack, Princess Knight, and Dororo. Sadly, Vertical’s licenses for print rights of these books expired, and the books have since gone out of print. But, just this last Friday, the Vertical tumblr announced that the Comics imprint had gotten the e-Book rights to their entire catalog. This is really good news, as so many of these titles are not just classics, but great books that have something meaningful to say. I haven’t had the pleasure of reading all of them, but the majority that I have read have been exciting, disturbing and fun. And with the future of the Digital Manga Publishing Tezuka World kickstarter in doubt, it’s good news to hear we will not lose the Tezuka titles already printed for good. The titles in the Vertical Comics catalog that are going to e-Book are: Apollo’s Song Black Jack Dororo Princess Knight Ode to Kirihito MW Ayako Book of Human Insects Buddha Message to Adolf The Twin Knights The titles will be appearing on the usual platforms Kindle, iBooks, and Nook, and…

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…

At New York Comic Con which occurred recently, Vertical, Inc. announced some new licenses, as well as a new imprint. Continuing with the roots of the company they announced two light novels, based on the wildly popular Attack on Titan property; Attack on Titan Before the Fall: Kyklo Arc and Attack on Titan: Harsh Mistress of the City. Attack on Titan Before the Fall: Kyklo Arc makes up the last two light novels of the Before the Fall series. Vertical has already published the first novel, which follows talented smith Angel Aaltonen as he develops the maneuvering gear for the Survey Corps. The new license is for story that follows Kyklo, the “son of a Titan.” This second part takes place at around the same time as the first volume and follows Kyklo, a boy who was in the womb when his mother eaten by a Titan and survived, and became dubbed “Son of a Titan.” Kodansha Comics is releasing the manga based on the novel. Vertical will release the Kyklo Arc as one 2-in-1 omnibus. It will be available next summer. I’m currently reading the first volume and have liked it so far. Even with Kodansha releasing the manga, I…