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Archive for April, 2008

Random Manga Spiffies

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, April 18, 2008

Just a few little notes today as I catch up on my manga reviews.

As various sources are stating, Yen Press has picked up the The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya manga. The novels were also licensed, by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, and will be released as a joint venture with Yen.

I was going through Tokyopop’s release list of the next couple of months. I’m happy to see their simple but suiting cover work for Nanae Chrono’s Vassalord and, after some brief mention by the artist team KOSEN, Tokyopop has finally posted the cover and plot synopsis to their upcoming series, Daemonium (pictured at the top).

And though old news, I was rereading some older mangas today and really enjoyed the long-time-coming revisit to Mitsuru Adachi’s Short Program story compilations. It’s original English run was in the now gone, Animeria Extra, and the stories were released in graphic novel form by Viz soon after. I don’t intend to write a full review on it but I’ll atleast say they’re a great collection of stories: sweet, humorous and the perfect length. If you can find yourself a copy, I recommend it.

Edit: One more thing I forgot, Tricia over at the DelRey Manga Blog has posted information regarding their upcoming X-men manga projects. They have up a written description of their rendition of the character, Kitty Pryde, and say that those who attend their New York Comic Con panel can expect to see the final character designs. They’ll also be live-blogging the events of NYCC.

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Categories: Licensing

Tweaking

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, April 17, 2008

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So it’s a tad more than a tweak layout-wise, but the old one was having too many random glitches. I’ll do some little edits here and there on this layout but I’m hoping it’ll function much smoother for people!

I’ve also added some new titles to the Anime in Canada listing, some brief information on YTV’s Anime on Demand channel and a link in the Shopping Guide to a great Canadian source for some cheap manga and anime merchandise, BigPfieffer. Give a look for lots of Tokyopop back issues for $4 and really nicely priced figurines and model kits.

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Categories: Site Updates

Domo-kun!

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, April 17, 2008

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Taking a break from some coding work, I turned on the television to see… Domo? On my television set? Works for me! So I guess the episodic Domo-kun shorts will now be used as show-inbetweens on the Canadian channel, Teletoon. News to me but a great early morning treat. Love that toothy brick.

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Categories: Misc

BeBeautiful on the Internetz

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, April 16, 2008

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During random internet surfing, I found myself on BeBeautiful‘s website, a site that’s been down for quite a while now. It still hasn’t been updated since 2006 but I can’t help but be curious that it’s suddenly appeared again after having a placeholder image for so long.

As a quick recap, BeBeautiful is the CPM-sister publisher releasing English-translated yaois including Kizuna and Embracing Love. BB was the group involved in the well-publicized ‘scandal’ regarding the illegal release of their books in light of the Biblos bankruptcy in Japan in 2006.

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Categories: Misc

Anime North Guests Update

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, April 15, 2008

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Just a quick update today about some new guests announced in recent weeks by the staff of Anime North. New guests include Studio Udon, Tara Tallen and Yamila Abraham. You can read about all the guests at AN’s guest page. Anime North is the largest anime-based convention in Canada and runs May 23-25 this year.

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Categories: Misc

Gotham Knight Trailer Finally Makes Appearance

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, April 15, 2008

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A trailer for the upcoming straight-to-DVD release, Batman: Gotham Knight, has finally been released! A feature about the movie was out a few months back but this is the first official trailer, complete with lots of sneak-peeks, hyped music and the first sound of Kevin Conroy returning to his classic role as the Dark Knight. (via ANN)

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Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Anime, Movies

Review: Satisfaction Guaranteed (Vol. 06)

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, April 13, 2008

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Manga-ka: Ryo Saenagi
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: February 2008

Synopsis: “It’s back to the amusement park for Shima and his supermodel pal, Kaori. They’ve been invited to test out a new attraction: a mystery-maze game. The dynamic duo is joined by old rivals Mai and APP, but along with them is a snooping reporter who wants to get the goods on Kaori. When Kaori collapses during the game, who will learn the secret of his other personality?”

It’s more of the same in volume 6 and unfortunately it’s finally reaching the state of getting a little old. A game put in place by Kaori’s sister creates the perfect opportunity for characters to engage in mystery solving, Indiana Jones type treasure hunting without the need for any sustaining plot behind it. Read more…

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Tokyopop

Review: Wild Adapter (Vol. 04)

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, April 10, 2008

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Manga-ka: Kazuya Minekura
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Mature (18+)
Released: Febuary 2008

Synopsis: “Pursued by rival Yakuza factions and linked to the mysterious and dangerous drug, “Wild Adapter”, the distant Kubota and prickly Tokito have formed a relationship where they trust no one but each other… When Kubota ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time, he is called in for questioning by the police, and his silence to protect himself and Tokito is left in the dark, homeless and incommunicado, and with no coice but to try to uncover what happened to his friend and companion.”

With the search for clues to the mysterious, and deadly, W.A. drug moved to the backburner, volume four of Wild Adapter sees Kubota arrested for a crime he didn’t commit and Tokito on the hunt for information about his friend’s past.

Clover Updates, Link’s Here To Stay

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, April 10, 2008

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As quoted from Peter Ahlstrom, one of Tokyopop’s Editors, who kindly took a moment to leave some comments on my post about the Clover omnibus listing:

“I can say for sure that this book is not coming from TOKYOPOP. I don’t have any knowledge of Dark Horse’s plans.”

Coupled with the “no comment” from DarkHorse that Gia recieved upon questioning, I’d say it’s a pretty safe bet that DarkHorse now holds the license for Clover. A bit of an assumption, but seems to me this could be the missing link between DarkHorse and CLAMP, as their mangaette announcement seemed a little out of no where.

Also, Viz has finally confirmed their licensing of the Zelda manga, now currently only the two volume, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. (via Gia)

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Categories: Licensing
Tags: CLAMP, Legend of Zelda

Review: Petshop of Horrors Tokyo (Vol. 01)

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, April 9, 2008

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Manga-ka: Matsuri Akino
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Released: Febuary 2008

Synopsis: “It’s been several years since the bizarre Chinese count known only as D left L.A.’s Chinatown. In that time, life has returned to normal in the world, and the nightmares associated with Count D’s pet shop of horrors have ceased. But across the Pacific, amidst the bright lights of Tokyo, a mysterious Chinese man has been spotted, and he seems to be opening a new shop…”

Three years after the final volume of Petshop of Horrors was released in English by Tokyopop, comes its sequel series, Petshop of Horrors: Tokyo. After the events of the parent series, Count D has fled around the world, settling now in Neo Chinatown, Tokyo where he’s opened the same mysterious shop that promises rare animals and fulfilled dreams.