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Archive for April, 2010

Review: Yotsuba&! (Vol. 08)

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, April 20, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Kiyohiko Azuma
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: All Ages
Release Date: April 2010

Synopsis: “The ranch wasn’t fun, huh? But maybe festivals will be less funner?! (Yotsuba’s playing opposites, ha-ha!) Yotsuba got uninvited to Fuuka’s school for a culr…a clart…a cultural festival! And she didn’t promise Yotsuba there wouldn’t be CAKE! Yotsuba doesn’t want a cake as biiiiiig as Jumbo, nope!! You wouldn’t either, now would you?! Ohhh! And then, and then! There ISN’T gonna be a great big festival for the whole town to go to! And Yotsuba isn’t gonna work hard and help out there with Ena and Fuuka, nuh-uh! Not even for candy, nooooo way!”

For whatever reason this eighth volume of Yotsuba&! didn’t quite hit the same chord as those recently before it – and believe it that in a series as consistently entertaining as this it’s difficult to find specific flaws. Volume seven though was easily one of the strongest to date so volume eight does come on the heels of some tough-to-beat material. Nevertheless, this is Yotsuba&! so the jokes are still funny and the antics still loveably quirky, even if they didn’t seem to hit those consistent laugh-out-loud levels.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Kiyohiko Azuma, Manga, Yen Press

Review: Hero Tales (Vol. 02)

By Andre Paploo on Sunday, April 18, 2010

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Reviewer: Andre

Manga-ka: Hiromu Arakawa
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: February 2010

Synopsis: “With the Imperial Army in hot pursuit, Housei leads Taitou and the others on a little detour to the home of his master. But the “mean old devil woman” he had described turns out to be nothing of the sort. Master Kouei is a veritable font of wisdom; in addition to knowing a more covert route into the capital, she is well versed in the legends of the Hokushin-Tenkun. There is much she can teach Taitou as he struggles to control the overwhelming power of his star, but will she have enough time to impart her wisdom before tragedy strikes?”

Hiromu Arakawa brings us yet more of her delightful side project, Hero Tales. She moves the story along at a brisk pace as Taitou meets more of the other destined stars, and we get to take in more of the lush surroundings of this mystical version of ancient China, along with its harsh realities of poverty and corruption. Arakawa excels at creating a fun cast and playing with readers emotions, similar to her work in Full Metal Alchemist, while also creating a compelling view of the lives and scenery of ancient China.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Manga, Yen Press

Review: Vampire Hunter D (Vol. 04)

By Andre Paploo on Friday, April 16, 2010

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Reviewer: Andre

Author: Hideyuki Kikuchi
Manga-ka: Saiko Takaki
Publisher: Digital Manga
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: December 2009

Synopsis: “The City, a tiny metropolis of a few hundred sheltered citizens floating serenely on a seemingly random course a few feet above the ground, has long been thought safe from the predation of marauding monsters. It seems like a paradise – a paradise shattered when an invasion of an apparent vampire threatens the small haven! While the Vampire Hunter known only as “D” struggles to exterminate the scourge, a former denizen of the city, the attractive Lori Knight, and the brash John M. Brasselli Pluto VIII seize control of the city, lurching it onto a new and deadly course. D’s travails are just the beginning…”

In this fourth volume of Hideyuki Kikuchi’s Vampire Hunter D, D finds himself under the employ of the mayor of a floating city, with a mystery to solve amidst the usual doomed atmosphere of his post-apocalyptic realm. Taking an approach similar to OEL projects, this is a work Digital Manga commissioned themselves, and it presents a complete adaptation of the fourth Vampire Hunter D novel without the usual chapter breaks and cliff hangers of serialized manga. Allowing for a natural yet efficient pace, the story reveals it secrets while also creating questions like a good mystery should. Takaki continues to provide a stunning interpretation of Kikuchi’s work that comes close to the ethereal nature of Yoshitaka Amano’s illustrations, while also providing her own touches to the comic.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: DMP, Manga

PR: Viz Media Transports Readers to Kingyo Used Books

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, April 15, 2010

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VIZ MEDIA TRANSPORTS READERS TO
KINGYO USED BOOKS – A FANTASTIC PLACE WHERE READERS FIND THEIR DREAMS IN MANGA

A Charming Bookshop with a Special Inventory Becomes a Place Where Lives Are Changed Through Manga

San Francisco, CA, April 15, 2010 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, transports readers to an unassuming store that stocks all the manga a fan could ever desire with the release of KINGYO USED BOOKS on April 20th. The new series, by Seimu Yoshizaki, will be published under the VIZ Signature imprint, is rated ‘T+’ for Older Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $12.99 U.S. / $16.99 CAN.

In KINGYO USED BOOKS, a businessman discovers how his childhood memories can brighten his day. An art student finds inspiration. An archer hits a surprising bull’s-eye. A housewife rediscovers romance. A teenager discovers his true self in the pages of a manga magazine. Welcome to Kingyo Used Books, a place where people find their dreams in manga…

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Viz Media

PR: Vampire Hunter D On Playstation’s Digital Comics

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, April 15, 2010

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IDW AND DIGITAL MANGA LAUNCH VAMPIRE HUNTER D
ON PLAYSTATION’S DIGITAL COMICS

Partnership brings first manga title to PSP™(PlayStation®Portable)

San Diego, CA (April 15, 2010) – IDW Publishing and Digital Manga Publishing forge ahead in the world of digital comics today by bringing the first manga title to Sony’s hot new PSP Digital Comics offering: Vampire Hunter D, as part of continued growth to become one of the best selling manga titles globally. Vampire Hunter D first gained notoriety when it landed ashore as an anime property in the late 1980’s. Its popularity has continued to grow with subsequent feature anime films, English adapted novel series and jumping boundaries over to manga form. With over 17 million copies sold in books, video, and merchandise worldwide, the Vampire Hunter D property now debuts in this new digital medium.

“We’re very excited to release the very first digital manga on the PSP and to kick off our partnership with Digital Manga,” said Jeff Webber, Director of ePublishing at IDW. “Vampire Hunter D is an excellent story to launch the PSP manga catalogue, offering this popular series for manga fans worldwide through this new platform. We’ll be rolling out the first volume of the series as a new chapter each week for the next six weeks.”

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: DMP

Manga About Manga: Learning Process Via Plot

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, April 14, 2010

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Viz Media’s recent press release about the manga series Bakuman got me thinking – there are a bunch of manga series out there about making manga. What a fun concept! I know I always love it, it’s such a neat experience – both the slight irony of it and the educational factor too.

I’ve learned a lot about making comics in general from manga – neat little so-thats-how-they-do-its – and while ideas and inspiration are always a given when reading something, having someone else’s trials, experiences and knowledge laid out for you in the very format they’re in relation to is just a good combination.

So I got to thinking about the different series that are about making manga – so I compiled a list. Have another licensed title to add? By all means let me know in the comments so I can check it out!

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Categories: Misc
Tags: 20th Century Boys, Bakuman, Drawn and Quarterly, Fumi Yoshinaga, Manga, Manhwa, Otomen, Viz Signature, Yoshihiro Tatsumi

PR: Viz Media Announces Bakuman Manga

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, April 14, 2010

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FIND OUT WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE IT TO THE TOP AS A MANGA CREATOR
IN THE NEW SHONEN JUMP SERIES BAKUMAN。

Two Students Must Have Perseverance, Innovation And An Uncompromising Will To Succeed In The New Series From The Creators Of DEATH NOTE

San Francisco, CA, April 14, 2010 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced the upcoming release of the manga series BAKUMAN。. The series, rated ‘T’ for Teens, will be released on August 3rd under VIZ Media’s popular Shonen Jump imprint and will carry a MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. Previews for the series will start to run in the May 2010 issue of VIZ Media’s popular monthly manga anthology – SHONEN JUMP magazine which is on stands now.

BAKUMAN。is written by the author of DEATH NOTE, Tsugumi Ohba, and the artwork is by Takeshi Obata, the artist known for series such as DEATH NOTE, HIKARU NO GO and RALΩGRAD. The story follows average student Moritaka Mashiro, who enjoys drawing for fun, but when his classmate and aspiring writer Akito Takagi discovers his talent, he begs Moritaka to team up with him as a manga-creating duo. But what exactly does it take to make it in the manga-publishing world?

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Bakuman, Viz Media

Review: Raiders (Vol. 02)

By Andre Paploo on Tuesday, April 13, 2010

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Reviewer: Andre

Manga-ka: JinJun Park
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: March 2010

Synopsis: “Now that the terror of their first meeting has subsided, Irel begins to wonder if his fear of Lamia is unfounded. Despite her troubling diet, she doesn’t seem to relish gnawing Irel’s flesh any more than he does. Both share a common goal: to uncover the mysteries surrounding the blood of Christ. If they work together, they might be able to find the answers they seek. But traveling as a pair might only serve to make them a bigger target for even greater terrors…”

Having found some enjoyment in the mildly controversial first volume, I quickly downed the second instalment of Park’s religious zombie action manwha. It continues to be a fairly light, fast-paced comic, but continues to insert visually striking tidbits that help it stand out from other similar fare. Slick and occasionally startling, the excellent art and mild amounts of gore bring Raiders above what you might expect.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: JinJun Park, Manhwa, Raiders, Yen Press

PR: Animate USA Releases Libre Books on Kindle

By Lissa Pattillo on Tuesday, April 13, 2010

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ANIMATE USA RELEASES ENGLISH VERSIONS OF LIBRE BOOKS ON KINDLE

TOKYO, JAPAN – APRIL 13 – Animate U.S.A., Inc. is very pleased to announce that English versions of Libre books have been released for the Kindle Store on Amazon now!

“We would like to express our thanks for our fans’ loyal patronage. We’re very, very excited about the fact that our fans all over the world will be able to enjoy our books,” said Takao Iwakoshi, President of Libre Publishing, Co., LTD.
The following 4 titles are released in April, and over 4 titles a month will be released after that. Animate U.S.A., Inc. will keep fans informed about the release schedule for each title on its website, www.animate-world.com, www.b-boy.jp.

April 2010:
You Asagiri – “Golden Cain”
Haruka Minami – “Love a La Carte!”
Nase Yamato – “Pet on Duty”
CJ Michalski – “Delivery Cupid”

About Animate U.S.A., Inc.
From North to South, it’s by far the largest chain of Anime shops in Japan! Character goods from anime, manga, game, comics, game, as well as art supplies… You name it! All anime/manga-related merchandise is available! Additionally, you can find original Animate goods, specials, etc. Furthermore, we have special events such as autograph sessions, panel discussions, campaigns, and more! Come to Animate filled with ‘Dreams’ and ‘Hope’!!
See http://www.animate.co.jp/ for more information. (Japanese site)

About Libre Publishing Co., Ltd.
The biggest BL publisher in Japan. The company name “Libre Publishing Co., Ltd.” is taken from the Latin base “Lib” which can mean “Book” or “Liberty.” Such is the aim of our company, to be able to share this love of “books” and “freedom” by the unique contents of the works that we offer, for the enjoyment of our readers. See http://www.libre-pub.co.jp/ for more information. (in Japanese)

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Deux Press

Review: Arata (Vol. 01)

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, April 11, 2010

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Reviewer: Lissa Pattillo

Manga-ka: Yuu Watase
Publisher: Viz Media
Rating: Teen (13+)
Release Date: March 2009

Synopsis: “In a world where humans and gods coexist, Arata is the unfortunate successor to the matriarchal Hime Clan–unfortunate because if he’s not cross-dressing to hide his gender one minute, he’s fleeing for his life the next! When Arata winds up in the modern world and switches places with a boy named Arata Hinohara, it’s a wonder which Arata’s actually better off… Hinohara is the spitting image of Arata, so he suddenly finds himself fighting people after his life! As he navigates through this foreign world filled with power-hungry warriors, who will come to his aid? One thing’s for sure–it’s not easy being Arata!”

Arata opens on a strong note, introducing readers to the story’s first Arata – a confident young man living within a fantasy-world where gods live in swords and a Princess governs over their twelve wielders. Unfortunately Arata finds himself next in line for the royal position, registered as a female at birth to avoid death amidst a clan where females are in low supply but high demand to fulfil tradition. Chaos ensues however when a betrayal leaves the Princess on death’s door and Arata fleeing for his own life as the suspected culprit. His only hope now may rest in the hands of another Arata, one who may share the same face but certainly not the same life.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Arata, Manga, Viz Media, Yuu Watase