I’ve been an anime and manga fan for long time, and there have been some titles that were thought to be more far off dreams than actual candidates for licensing. One of those dreams was getting anything from Leiji Matsumoto, co-creator of Space Battleship Yamato, and creator of Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999, and Queen Emeraldas among many others. At best, all we had were 5 volumes of the second Galaxy Express 999 manga ...

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A couple of tweets came across my Twitter timeline making some unfavorable comments about a panel at SDCC 2016; “Comics vs Manga: Which is Better.”  The panel was supposed to have a “panel of experts” in both comics and manga, and looked to compare things such as getting started, diversity, plot, sales, and fandom. I didn’t attend the panel, but I respect the commentor’s opinion. And the description of the pan...

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I wasn’t sold on Bleach when it was first announced, but fortunately, I had a subscription to Shonen Jump back in the day, and read the first few chapters, and was hooked. I really liked the characters and the world that Kubo had created for them.  I was a huge Bleach fan, buying the books as they came out, watching the anime, and even collecting the toys from Toynami, several sets of gashapon, and the trading cards. I loved the first arc ...

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Recently, Seven Seas Entertainment released a press release announcing their renewal with Comixology and expanding to Amazon. While I think this is great and all, what I really have to ask is, what took them so long?...

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Viz Media’s digital strategy and I have not gotten along very well. For the longest time after Viz released their Vizmanga app, I couldn’t install it because Google Play kept saying it wasn’t compatible with my Android tablet. I finally had to go through Amazon’s App Store and install it through there. I had something to say about that....

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Wondercon, for those who may not know, is a younger sibling to Comic-Con International’s San Diego Comic Con. For many years it was held up north in San Francisco, but starting in 2012 is moved down to Southern California in the LA area. It’s first four years were spent taking over the Anaheim Convention Center, but this year, the con moved up to the Los Angeles Convention Center. Since its move down to SoCal, its major manga publish...

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A few weeks ago my Twitter TL is was filled with comments about a post that went up on Vice about Tokyopop. It is a very long puff piece that espouses the virtues of the old Tokyopop, blames its fall on the economy, and then puffs it back up with all the great things they will be doing. ...

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I’ve never denied it. I’m a crazy cat lady. I’ve grown up with cats and can barely remember a time when I didn’t have a little furball as a pet. So when tweets about the Japanese game Neko Atsume, or Cat Collecting, started appearing in my time line, I had to check it out. Calling it a game might give the wrong impression. It starts out with just a typical looking back yard, and using fish as currency, you can buy toys and...

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  Recently I was tagged by Ash Brown of the Experiments in Manga blog to join in the game of Manga Tag that been making the rounds of manga blogs and vlogs. I thought it would be fun to join in and share some pictures of the manga I have stacked all over the house....

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Tokyopop, the former manga publisher that ceased publication and closed its doors in 2011 has been slowly coming back to life. In the last few years it has begun showing signs it might want to return to the stage, starting with a newsletter soon after shutting down, publishing more Hetalia in conjunction with Rightstuf, and the bringing back their website and making the OEL titles they still held rights to available as eBooks. In June, the websit...

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I have really grown to like digital manga. Considering the lack of space I currently have, and the difficulty I have in letting things go, being able to stack digital files is a lot easier than physical books. And they’re a lot easier to carry. I can carry several different titles to suit what ever my mood is in just my tablet, and it’s a lot easier to eat and read on a tablet that can stand on its own and doesn’t need one of my...

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No matter what the culture, knowledge has been equated with power. For centuries, this knowledge has been stored as words in books. Whether it’s a list of names or a wizard’s tome, books have been regarded as being magical. It’s no different in manga. There are several titles that feature books and the power of words with the ability to create, transport its readers to other worlds, and even kill. Fushigi Yugi and it’s prequel...

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Weekly Top Ten – July 16, 2016
Top Ten / July 17, 2016

Every week, the New York Times and Amazon posts the top ten bestselling books. The New York Times gets their numbers from print sales from retailers, while Amazon calculates their own numbers. Once a month the Nielsen Bookscan posts their top twenty graphic novels of which manga is included. Offered here is a listing of these books with their status this week compared with the previous week, along with some commentary on the activity....

PR: Viz Media Acquisitions at Anime Expo
Press Releases / July 11, 2016

Viz Media has some surprising (and not so surprising)  licenses at Anime Expo over the 4th of July weekend, spread over their various imprints. Dragon Ball Super was a no brainer, and the print release of Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V should be as well. There were some nice surprises though too, with a new shojo, a new Mobile Suit Gundam set in the Universal Century timeline, and to those waiting for Rose of Versailles, the box set of Revolutionary G...

Weekly Top Ten – July 9, 2016
Top Ten / July 10, 2016

Every week, the New York Times and Amazon posts the top ten bestselling books. The New York Times gets their numbers from print sales from retailers, while Amazon calculates their own numbers. Once a month the Nielsen Bookscan posts their top twenty graphic novels of which manga is included. Offered here is a listing of these books with their status this week compared with the previous week, along with some commentary on the activity....

PR: Yen Press Adds to Manga and Light Novel Catalog
Press Releases / July 5, 2016

As usual, Yen Press has an eclectic list of new licenses. Not a lot really interests me. I never got into Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, so an original title by the artist doesn’t do much for me. Neither does work from the creators of Sword Art Online and Deadman Wonderland. But there are a few that have piqued my interest. Big Order might have some potential, if the characters are interesting enough. Rokka ...

PR: Viz Media Releases New Titles Fresh From the Garden
Press Releases / July 4, 2016

Magic, Action and Demons, three things you can put into a shonen title and not go wrong. Viz had all three in spades with their two new titles out this week. I wasn’t too interested in Black Clover when it was first started in Weekly Shonen Jump. It sounds too familiar and I didn’t hear many good things at first. It’s still going, so something must have turned around. 7th Garden sounds much more my cup of tea, though I...

Weekly Top Ten – July 2, 2016
Top Ten / July 3, 2016

Every week, the New York Times and Amazon posts the top ten bestselling books. The New York Times gets their numbers from print sales from retailers, while Amazon calculates their own numbers. Once a month the Nielsen Bookscan posts their top twenty graphic novels of which manga is included. Offered here is a listing of these books with their status this week compared with the previous week, along with some commentary on the activity....

Weekly Top Ten – June 25, 2016
Top Ten / June 26, 2016

Every week, the New York Times and Amazon posts the top ten bestselling books. The New York Times gets their numbers from print sales from retailers, while Amazon calculates their own numbers. Once a month the Nielsen Bookscan posts their top twenty graphic novels of which manga is included. Offered here is a listing of these books with their status this week compared with the previous week, along with some commentary on the activity....

This Week’s Manga: Complex Fruit
This Week's Manga / June 22, 2016

I’m back and trying to get back on schedule. I hope I was missed at least a little. I don’t have my desk yet. It had to be dismantled for the move, so I’m working from a makeshift desk; a typing table and the window sill of our computer/bonus room. I don’t have any bookshelves up either, and after moving over a dozen boxes of just manga, I don’t think my husband would appreciate me buying more manga, but I can still window sho...

On the Digital Seven Seas
Articles / June 21, 2016

Recently, Seven Seas Entertainment released a press release announcing their renewal with Comixology and expanding to Amazon. While I think this is great and all, what I really have to ask is, what took them so long?...

PR: Blue Exorcist Creator Kato to Join Viz Media at Anime Expo
Press Releases / June 20, 2016

 I must confess I never got around to reading Blue Exorcist despite all the good press it got when it first came out. I’ve just never been pulled in by all the chapters I’ve read.  Obviously I’m in the minority, and the majority of fans will now be able meet the creator of their favorite manga and get some need goodies as well....

Weekly Top Ten – June 18, 2016
Top Ten / June 19, 2016

Every week, the New York Times and Amazon posts the top ten bestselling books. The New York Times gets their numbers from print sales from retailers, while Amazon calculates their own numbers. Once a month the Nielsen Bookscan posts their top twenty graphic novels of which manga is included. Offered here is a listing of these books with their status this week compared with the previous week, along with some commentary on the activity....