It’s that time of month again when I have to place my Previews order. But now, besides my usual problems of deciding what to buy, I have to wonder if the books I order will be canceled. Diamond Distributing has had their red pen going at break-neck speed, what with canceling the entire Yen Press solicitation from last month’s order. They’re back again and while not the only publisher to get red-lined, they just t...
July 20, 1969: The day mankind first walked on the moon. Just as with the assassination of JFK, and 9-11, you can ask someone (old enough to remember) what they were doing when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, and they could tell you. With the 40th Anniversary of this event coming up, I thought I would look at some manga that takes a more realistic approach to mankind’s reach into space....
Manga’s version of the “Sub vs Dub” debate Found this on Twitter via aicnanime: Helen McCarthy weighs in on the OEL manga label debate, and she puts into words something I’ve always thought but don’t think I’ve ever expressed properly: And that’s the reason. Semantics is the study of meanings, and to writers and historians, meanings matter. Fans and businesses exploiting the power of the word ‘man...
Naruto Volume 28-29 By Masashi Kishimoto Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Action Price: $7.95 Rating: Volume 28 marks the start of Part Two of the Naruto saga. Two years have passed since the end of volume 27. Naruto returns to the Hidden Leaf Village after training with Jiraiya. No soon does he get back that he, Sakura and Kakashi are sent off on a mission. The Akatsuki have attacked the Sand Village and kidnapped G...
As Amazon ships its Kindle 2.0, bloggers and tech sites, just to be contradictory, have been talking a lot about the alternatives to the Kindle. And it’s usually the iPhone that gets the spotlight. Sorry, the iPhone is not Job’s gift to man. There are plenty of other small screen devices that can do the job without the stranglehold....
I’m gonna try and make this a weekly feature, rounding up the stories from the week I found most interesting from the web and twitter. Of course, I’ll be adding my own two cents with some commentary on the news items. Anime Expo – 7/2-7/5/09 Normally associated with anime (obviously), manga pubs usually have a presence at AX, as a booth and/or panel. Though, with the tough economy, smaller pubs seem to be fleeing t...
Gimmick! Volume 3 By: Youzaburou Kanari & Kuroko Yabuguchi Publisher: Viz Media Genre: Action Age Rating: T+ (Older Teens) Price: $9.99 ISBN: 1-4215-1780-9 Rating: Gimmick! is the story of Kohei Nagase, an up-and-coming young makeup and special effects artist who loves his work and is capable of amazingly intricate work. If you ever saw the movie F/X, starring Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy, you get the idea. If you didn’t ...
I’m sure everyone’s heard by now about Viz’s insane idea to catch up One Piece with the Japanese releases. They announced at Anime Expo that they will release 30 volumes in six months starting in January 2010. That’s 5 volumes a month! Back in May, when it was first announced that current One Piece chapters would start showing up in Shonen Jump, I wrote what I thought of that decision. Viz was nuts. I t...
Eagle: The Making of an Asian American President Volume 4 By: Kaiji Kawaguchi Publisher: Viz Media Genre: Drama/Politics Age Rating: Teen+ (16+) Price: $22.95 Rating: I know it’s been a while, but I’ve only go 2 volumes left of this series, and I’m determined to finish it! Okay, so this volume ends the cliffhanger from the last about Yamaoka possibly having an affair, and that Rachel was the result. Takashi helps c...
It is a sad day in Xanadu. Having only just discovered the over-the-top manli-goodness that is Sengoku Barasra, aka Basara Devil Kings, the anime, I had to search to see if there was a manga for it. And, joy of joys, there was! It was licensed too! Udon Entertainment, the purveyor of Video Game and Capcom comics has licensed it. At least, that’s what everyone thought. I thought it was odd at first, that a google search f...
June and July 2009 mark the end of a four year run of Shojo Beat magazine. Not that you could tell by reading them. These last two issues feature more great previews, features and of course, chapters of manga. Though nothing is said explicitly, there does appear to be some indication that the magazine was ending, but you wouldn’t know it if you weren’t really paying attention....
Gimmick! Volume 2 ByYouzaburou Kanari & Kuroko Yabuguchi Publsiher: Viz Media Genre: Action Rating: T+ (Older Teens) RRP: $9.99 ISBN: 1-4215-1779-5 Rating: Volume 2 opens with the continuation of the Alien Panic storyline, Kohei and his partner Kannazuki are hot on the trail of the criminals who tricked him into constructing a complex alien animatronic creature in the last issue. Now they’re using the prop as a diversion whi...