Manga Xanadu

All You Need Is Kill already got a print release for those who didn’t want to wait, but this omnibus edition includes some extras that fans of the series and/or Obata won’t want to pass up. It makes a great present for the coming holidays. VIZ MEDIA PREMIERES OMNIBUS PRINT EDITION OF ALL YOU NEED IS KILL MANGA  Sci-Fi Action Manga By Takeshi Obata, Creator Of DEATH NOTE, Adapts The Award-Winning Japanese Novel That Inspired The Summer Blockbuster Film Edge Of Tomorrow  San Francisco, CA, October 22, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, announces the print launch of famed manga artist Takeshi Obata’s latest manga (graphic novel) masterpiece with the release of ALL YOU NEED IS KILL as an oversized omnibus edition on November 4th. ALL YOU NEED IS KILL collects both volumes into this complete edition and features color inserts, is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens and will be available under the Shonen Jump Advanced imprint with a print MSRP of $14.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN. Digital editions for the pair of individual volumes are also available for $6.99 each across all platforms serviced by VIZManga.com…

Every week, Viz Media and the New York Times posts the top ten bestselling books. For Viz Media, it is the bestsellers on their site, Vizmanga.com. The New York Times gets their numbers of print sales from retailers. Offered here is a listing of these books with their status this week compared with the previous week, and some way-off analysis of the activity.   Vizmanga.com for the week of October 28, 2014 All You Need Is Kill Vol 1     ↔ Future Diary Vol 7     ∗ Kyo Kara MAOH! Vol 2     ∗ All You Need Is Kill Vol 2     ↓ 2 Naruto Vol 67     ↓ 2 Hikaru no Go Vol 1     ↵ Hikaru no Go Vol 2     ↵ Death Note Vol 1     ↵ Death Note Vol 2     ↵ Trinity Blood Vol 8     ∗ With the Obata sale coming to an end, the first volumes of most of his titles surge onto the list. Hikaru no Go returns with the first two volumes as does Death Note. All You Need Is Kill vol 1 keeps the top spot while volume 2 takes a tumble-down two. Naruto just keeps a hold on the…

Resident Evil is a Video Game franchise that has been haunting gamers since CAPCOM released it for the Playstation back in 1996. The story has grown and evolved over the years, and with the latest game, it goes back to the beginning to explain where it started. This manga series goes back on step further to set it up. A preview of this manga was offered as part of Halloween Comicfest, which you may have been lucky enough to get if you had a comic shop near you that had it. For the rest of us, there’s the digital preview. VIZ MEDIA UNLEASHES THE TERRIFYING RESIDENT EVIL MANGA SERIES AND OFFERS A SPECIAL FREE PREVIEW FOR HALLOWEEN COMICFEST 2014 Discover The Source Of The Outbreak Of The Deadly C-Virus In The Gritty Manga Prequel To CAPCOM’s Popular Resident Evil® 6 Game Property San Francisco, CA, October 16, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, gives gamers and action fans a special FREE sneak preview of its forthcoming RESIDENT EVIL: THE MARHAWA DESIRE manga (graphic novel) series as part of the company’s participation in 2014 Halloween ComicFest. The terrifying…

Indulge your love of supernatural romance with this new series from Viz Media. I wasn’t too keen on the license when it was originally announced back in February, but I’ve been wrong before. Keep reading to see if you feel it’s a must get next week. VIZ MEDIA LAUNCHES NEW PARANORMAL SHOJO MANGA SERIES KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS  A Mystical Girl Brings Forth Four Magical Knights To Help Her On A Quest To Save The World From The Forces Of Evil San Francisco, CA, October 22, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, announces a thrilling new paranormal shojo manga (graphic novel) adventure with the launch of Aya Shouoto’s KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS on November 4th. The new series will be available for the first time digitally as well as in print under the Shojo Beat imprint. KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS is rated ‘T’ for Teens and will carry a print MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. A digital version of KISS OF THE ROSE PRINCESS, Vol. 1 also will debut on November 4th for $6.99 (USD/CAN) from VIZManga.com and through the VIZ MANGA…

Viz Media performs a balancing act with the two new licenses they announced at NYCC; one for the Signature line and one for the Shojo Beat line. Shojo Beat has been getting a lot of new titles lately. It’s good to see the Signature line get more. We need more of those titles. VIZ MEDIA ANNOUNCES THE ACQUISITION OF MANGA LICENSES FOR TOKYO GHOUL AND SO CUTE IT HURTS!!  North America’s Leading Manga Publisher Thrills Fans At New York Comic Con 2014 With The Announcement Of A Harrowing New Action Horror Series And A Hilarious New Shojo Manga Title  San Francisco, CA, October 9, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, announced the acquisition of a pair of exciting new manga (graphic novel) titles during panels held during the recent New York Comic Con 2014. Fans attending the East Coast’s biggest pop culture and comics event enthusiastically welcomed the announcement of the Summer 2015 launch of creator Sui Ishida’s horror action series, TOKYO GHOUL, which will be published under the VIZ Signature imprint, as well as Go Ikeyamada’s cross-dressing comedy, SO CUTE IT HURTS!!, set to be published…

Every week, Viz Media and the New York Times posts the top ten bestselling books. For Viz Media, it is the bestsellers on their site, Vizmanga.com. The New York Times gets their numbers of print sales from retailers. Offered here is a listing of these books with their status this week compared with the previous week, and some way-off analysis of the activity.   Vizmanga.com for the Week of October 7, 2014 Naruto Vol 67     ∗ World Trigger Vol 1     ∗ World Trigger Vol 2     ∗ My Love Story! Vol 2     ∗ Toriko Vol 24     ∗ Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan Vol 23     ∗ Vampire Knight Vol 19     ∗ Hikaru no Go Vol 1     ↵ All You Need Is Kill Vol 1     ↵ All You Need Is Kill Vol 2     ↵ New releases as well as a new anime has shonen titles dominating this list this week. The new Naruto volume takes the top spot. I would wonder if the news that it would end in the next month had anything to do with that, but Naruto always debuts at the top, so probably not. The World Trigger anime…

Last week, the official website for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump announced that Naruto would be ending in this year’s 50th issue of the magazine out November 10. Creator Masashi Kishimoto has been hinting that the series would be winding up soon. Back in 2012 he had stated the series was reaching its climax, and would be ending in about a year and a half. Finally, that end is in sight. Naruto follows the adventures of a boy by the same name who lives in the ninja village of Konoha. After a difficult childhood and being shunned by the people of his village, Naruto becomes a ninja and joins his fellow teammates Sakura and Sasuke to go on jobs assigned to them. Naruto is determined to earn the respect of Konoha and become the Hokage, leader of the village. Naruto started in 1999, and became wildly popular both in Japan and here in the US through fan subs of the anime and scans of manga. Viz Media licensed the manga and it joined their newly launched Shonen Jump print magazine in January of 2003. The manga was one of the first to receive an acceleration in releases as Viz released 12…

If you’ve been waiting to pick up any Takeshi Obata manga, now is the time to do it! Hikaru no Go is a title every manga fan should know and read, and Bakuman is a great inside look at many of the inner workings of the manga industry. All titles are on sale, with starting volumes at rock bottom prices! Or if you’re like me and couldn’t make it to New York Comic Con where Obata did a signing, you can still win some autographed books to stare at and treasure. Keep reading for more information. VIZ MEDIA SPOTLIGHTS TAKESHI OBATA AND DETAILS NEW DIGITAL MANGA DEBUTS AND UPDATES FOR OCTOBER Digital Premiere Of WORLD TRIGGER And Updates To More Than 20 Other Series; Celebrate Takeshi Obata’s New York Comic Con Appearance With A Sweepstakes And Special Digital Pricing VIZ Media announces a substantial digital manga update to open the Fall 2014 reading season with a host of new titles and a special promotion celebrating the work of artist Takeshi Obata for his first-ever U.S. appearance at New York Comic Con 2014. VIZ Media highlights several updates this month including the digital debut of the sci-fi action series, WORLD TRIGGER, with…

Black Bird is a series I wanted to like, but had some systemic problems that kept it from being a regular read for me, which is too bad because I loved Sakurakoji’s first series here, Backstage Prince. There were a lot of elements of the plot surrounding the Senka Maiden that I was interested in, but the icky feeling I got from the series in general made it hard to follow regularly. If you can get past, or aren’t bothered by those parts, then Viz has some great news for you! Keep reading for the details! VIZ MEDIA’S BLACK BIRD MANGA SERIES TAKES FLIGHT IN A NEW BOX SET EDITION  Catch The Entire Romantic Supernatural Adventure In This Complete Box Set; Release Also Features Exclusive Bonus Hardcover Art Book  San Francisco, CA, September 25, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, ignites the passions of readers with the release on October 21st of the manga (graphic novel) box set for creator Kanoko Sakurakoji’s hit supernatural fantasy series, BLACK BIRD. The BLACK BIRD Complete Box Set features the entire series run of 18 volumes and will be released under…

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.

This news item seems rather timely. I’ve been catching up on my backlog of Library Wars: Love and War over the last few days. Banned Books Week is next week and I wanted to try to review them for it. I have a love/hate relationship with this title. The story is well written and I love the characters, but I can’t handle the dystopian future it portrays. The censorship, hardball tactics by the Media Betterment Committee, the push to destroy books that some disagree with for the “betterment of society”  just leaves an empty pit in my stomach, and makes it a difficult series for me to enjoy all the time and re-read. It seems it won’t be a struggle for me for much longer. The November issue of Hakusensha’s LaLa Magazine announced that Library Wars: Love and War would be ending in the next three chapters. This would put the series finale in the February issue due out in December. There are currently 13 volumes out in Japan, and Viz Media, the US licensor of the title, just released volume 12 in print and digital. The series is based on a light novel series that went 4 volumes, and resulted…

Viz Media continues to push the boundaries of digital manga and simultaneous release with their new Jump Start initiative. WSJ readers will get essentially sneak peaks at new titles the same time as Japanese readers, titles that could potentially become regular titles in the English edition. Sports, Sci-Fi crime thriller and sports medicine manga will start the program. It will be interesting to see how well the more niche titles do. VIZ MEDIA’S “JUMP START” INITIATIVE TO DELIVER ENGLISH DIGITAL PREMIERES OF BRAND NEW WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP MANGA SERIES ON THE SAME DAY OF JAPANESE DEBUT Digital Publishing Campaign Eliminates Time And Distance Barriers To Offer International Fans The Opportunity To Sample Hot New Manga Titles; New Series JUDOS Launches Today!   San Francisco, CA, September 8, 2014 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, generates additional synergy between its English language WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP digital manga magazine and the original Japanese print counterpart with the launch of the new “Jump Start” initiative. WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP is the world’s premiere manga brand and leading international weekly manga magazine. Moving forward, VIZ Media will simultaneously premiere the first three chapters…