This was brought up as a comment on twitter, but was also something I’d been thinking about. Books rated All Ages aren’t necessarily meant for All Ages to read. This really hit me as I was reading ChocoMimi, an all ages title in the Viz Kids line. While there is nothing objectionable, or violent in the the title, it definitely wasn’t something I would chose to read as a 40-year-old. On the flip side, Project X:...
New York Anime Festival Days 2 & 3 Days 2 & 3 of NYAF brought publishers Del Rey and Viz with more licenses and news. Del Rey remains conservative with only a few new licenses, but shows it’s still got some cred with Kodansha. Viz has a little something for everyone in each of their lines, including some interesting suprises. What isn’t surprising is the number of titles from already known mangaka. Easier to ...
Mamoru: The Shadow Protector Volume 1 – 2 By Sai Madara Publisher: DR Master Publications Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Comedy Price: $9.95 Rating: Volume 1 Summary: Mamoru Kagemori is a dull high school boy who’s not handsome, athletic or intelligent. but things aren’t always what they appear. He’s actually the eldest son of a 400-year-old Ninja clan that specializes in protecting their neighbors, the Konnyakus. ...
Back in 2008, I wrote a post about subtitles helping my younger daughter to read. While the subtitles did help her reading improve, it didn’t do anything for her desire to read. She still preferred playing video games and watching DVDs (granted she did much of this with subtitles/closed captions on, just because I guess), but getting her to read was still a chore. We got her titles she showed interest in, but they never last...
This year, 2009, has been proclaimed the International Year of Astronomy. Four hundred years ago, Galileo Galilei first put a telescope to the sky and made many discoveries, including four of the moons of Jupiter; Io Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Stars and the planets have held people’s fascination for eons, as they appear in songs, art and books. Even manga has taken notice of the heavenly bodies. Whether it’s the...
September 19 was International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Did you remember to say “Arrrr” a lot and read some pirate manga? Manga in the Classroom Patrick Macias, Japanese pop culture aficionado, has posted the audio for a lecture he gave at the California State University at Monterey Bay last week. Called Theoretical Perspectives on Manga, Anime & Otaku, it includes some older material from a speech earlier this year a...
Amazon’s been sitting pretty so far with their Kindle 2 and Kindle DX. The competition has been fairly light, with Sony’s E-Reader being recognized as it’s only real competition. But with Christmas just around the bend (3 months away as of this writing), retailers are starting to make their announcements now, just in time for holiday shopping to begin. Two big retailers are throwing their proverbial hats into the E...
Nephylym Volume 1 By Rei Kusakabe Publisher: DR Masters Age Rating: 13+ Genre: Supernatural Price: $9.95 Rating: Shun has a unique power to electrically charge metal materials. A mysterious winged being named Ale picks up on his powers and chooses him to be her partner. Shun’s classmate and school crush, Sanari, finds out and reveals her winged partner, named Blissful. She explains that the beings are called Nephylym, and th...
I’ve put up a few more titles for sale on ebay. My overflow box is now half empty, and next I’ll be working on more shelf space. Here are the auctions: Buso Renkin Vol 1-4 Buso Renkin Vol 5-8 Mamotte Lollipop Vol 1-4 Vampire Game Vol 9-15 Please check them out and Happy Bidding!...
It’s been a year since Yen Press debuted their manga anthology magazine Yen Plus. I picked up the first issue at SDCC and reviewed it in two posts, one for each side. I wasn’t thrilled with the Japanese side, and really enjoyed the Korean/OEL side. A look at the second issue re-enforced those feelings. It’s been a whole year, and at SDCC this year Yen Press had their anniversary issue, so I picked it up again....
Arrrrr. It be the news. Shelf Porn! Found via Twitter. @MagicalEmi shared a picture of her manga collection. Now just think this whole thing is squeezed into a two room apartment. Not two bedroom, two room. All these bookshelves also explains how she can keep up her website Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. I hope she’s got those bookshelves secured to the wall, or isn’t home when the Big One hits. Thanks...
I’m a loyal reader of Shonen Jump, and every once in a while I like to give my opinion of the current titles running. I don’t really care for the articles in the magazine. They are all aimed at teen boys, of which I am certainly not one. The Bleach anime, Naruto video and card games, the Yu-gi-oh card game, not my thing. But I still enjoy many of the SJ titles. So I’m going to do this for Shonen Jump like eve...