Anime On DVD reported a few days ago on something that caught my eye – eBook manga. It seems are though some English Tokyopop titles are going to be offered in a format compatible with Sony’s eBook Reader. In fact, there’s a whole section of manga/graphic novel titles, many of which seem to have been product of the Rising Stars of Manga contests, along with Princess Ai and some of the Harlequin Pink series. The prices are good, too – worth checking out if you’ve got the hardware to read them!
Now here’s something interesting!
Japan’s NHK-BS2 will begin airing what is believed to be the first ever [regularly aired] manga review TV show, Manga no Genba, on April 4 at 11:30pm. The show will follow the hottest manga titles and authors and discuss manga’s popularity.
1st Episode: Takehiko Inoue – Vagabond
Kusaka Satoki – Helpman
2nd Episode: Misono Suzuki - Zeni
Akimoto Osamu – Kochi Kame
3rd Episode: Hiroshi Kawasumi -Taishi Kakka no Ryouri-nin
Keisuke Itagaki – Baki.
Each episode is scheduled to re-air the following Friday at 6pm.
Source: Anime News Network
The final volume of the three-tankubon series Princess Ai hit store shelves yesterday, after a 7-month gap since the second book. Fans will be glad to see the long-awaited conclusion of this great little series, which was co-created by American rocker Courtney Love and mangaka Misaho Kujiradou, with character designs by Paradise Kiss’ Yazawa Ai. If you like gothic shoujo (as Tokyopop phrases it!) or even if you’re just looking for something different, Princess Ai delivers without being too drawn-out.
Hm, I should review it sometime, I’d better reread it…
Source: Tokyopop
Well, since the DN Angel post seems to be so full of interest, I’ll post an update. Some of you have been asking about the Japanese releases – volume 11 came out on August 10th, 2005, after a long hiatus.
Volume 10 did indeed come out in English on December 13th, and while volume 11 is not yet listed on Tokyopop’s website, up until this point the releases have been on the 12th of the month, either 2 or 3 months apart. Hopefully this means we can anticipate a release on the 12th of either February or March. I’ll post if I can find out for sure when to expect this final volume. Look forward to it!
The following new Tokyopop English manga titles have been confirmed by Anime News Network for July release:
Elemental Gelade (Erementar Gerad)
Kuro no Kishi
Redrum 327
Yorozuya Tokaido Honpo
Zapt!
Le Potrait de Petit Cossette
Strawberry Marshmallow (Ichigo Mashimaro)
Trash
Peppermint
Otogi Zoshi
I suppose this is a companion piece of sorts to my Anime post today. Oricon Style undertook a survey of its readers in order to determine the top five manga of the year; since I haven’t reviewed some of these great titles, I’ll tell you now that I expect they’re worth checking out!
1. NANA
2. Hana Yori Dango
3. DEATH NOTE
4. Dragon Zakura
5. Honey And Clover
The list is of course pretty subjective, because of the sheer number of titles released this year, and most of these seem to be releatively recent releases, though they do correspond with the Top 10 Tankubon sellers I was blogging about until recently. If you’re looking for more recommendations, I’d advise checking out Bleach, D.Gray-man, BERSERK, Ichigo 100%, Yotsubato!, Mahou Sensei Negima!, Tsubasa-RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE or some of the other titles that appeared in the Weekly Top Ten throughout the year.
Source: Oricon
Del Rey will be launching a mature line for a couple of their upcoming manga releases, including Basilisk and Suzuka.
While the manga will not be labelled with a different imprint, they will be presented with different packaging than Del Rey’s other manga. They will be shrink wrapped, rated M for mature and will have a larger, 5.5″ x 8.25″ trim (compared to the 5″ x 7.5″ standard). They will also have a higher $13.95 price point.
Del Rey informed us that they will not be censoring the mature manga and that publishing it in this manner is a way for them to responsibly publish it in its entirety.
Basilisk volume 1 is due in May 2006 while Suzuka volume 1 will be released in September 2006.
Source: Anime News Network
According to this announcement, Makoto Raiku, the manga-ka for Zatch Bell has hurt his hand and will be taking some time off from the manga to heal and plan future chapters of the manga. The article states that, due to the injury, he can not play games, sign documents, eat properly, etc…
Goodness. An injured hand or wrist is big trouble for a full time mangaka…let’s hope that for the sake of the Gash Bell fans that he recovers soon!
Source: Anime News Network
In an effort to draw the attention of more young readers, starting in 2006 several major North American newspapers will be running manga-style comics (both by American artists and previously published by Tokyopop).
The U.S. newspaper debut is a bit of a landmark for manga – a product of Japanese pop culture that has never been quite mainstream in the United States, although it’s long been a hit with the younger generation that grew up on Pokemon, Hello Kitty and Japanese animation movies – or “anime” for short.
The two strips debuting are Van Von Hunter and Peach Fuzz. Both gained much fame through Tokyopop’s Rising Stars of Manga contest in recent years and are available for preview on Tokyopop’s site.
Read more here!
1.
BLEACH (volume #19)
Publisher: Shueisha
Author: 久保 帯人 (Kubo Tite)
2.
D.Gray－man (volume #6)
Publisher: Shueisha
Author: 星野 桂 (Yoshino Katsura)
3.
元祖!浦安鉄筋家族 (volume #11)
Ganzo! Urayasutekkin Kazoku
Publisher: Akita Shoten
Author: 浜岡 賢次 (Hamaoka Kenji)
4.
銀魂－ぎんたま－ (volume #9)
Gintama
Publisher: Shueisha
Author: 空知 英秋 (Sorachi Hideaki)
5.
花右京メイド隊 (volume #12)
Hanakuyo Maid Team
Publisher: Akita Shoten
Author: もりしげ (Morishige)
6.
ベルセルク (volume #29)
BERSERK
Publisher: Shinchousha
Author: 三浦 建太郎 (Miura Kentaro)
7.
冒険王ビィト (volume #10)
Houkenou BITE
Publisher: Shueisha
Author: 稲田 浩司 (Inada Kouji)
8.
いちご100% (volume #18)
Ichigo 100%
Publisher: Shueisha
Author: 河下 水希 (Kawashita Mizuki)
9.
シュガシュガルーン
Shuga Shugaruun (volume #4)
Publisher: Kodansha
Author: 安野 モヨコ (Yasuno Moyoko)
10.
ドカベン スーパースターズ編 (volume #9)
Dokaben Superstars Book
Publisher: Akita Shoten
Author: 水島 新司 (Mizushima Shinji)
Looks like Bleach is at the top of the heap yet again. By the way, feel free to correct any romanization errors. I have some trouble transliterating kanji, particularly names!
Source: Taiyosha
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