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Archive for April, 2011

PR: VIZ Media Welcomes Natsume Ono At Kinokuniya NY

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, April 18, 2011

VIZ MEDIA AND KINOKUNIYA BOOKSTORE PRESENT MANGA ARTIST NATSUME ONO FOR A RARE LIVE APPEARANCE IN NEW YORK CITY

Special Event Celebrates The Creator Of RISTORANTE PARADISO And HOUSE OF FIVE LEAVES; Raffle Contest To Award Grand Prize Original Artwork

San Francisco, CA, April 18, 2011– VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, together with Japanese licensor Ohta Shuppan, welcomes renowned manga (graphic novel) artist Natsume Ono for a personal appearance and special event celebrating her work, hosted by the Kinokuniya Bookstores of America Company (Kinokuniya Bookstore) in New York City on Tuesday, May 10th starting at 7:00pm.

Kinokuniya Bookstore is located at 1073 Avenue of the Americas, between 40th St. & 41st St., New York City.

The event will feature commentary from Ono on her past and present works and her continued evolution as one of the foremost manga artists and graphic novel storytellers, hosted by Megumi Sato of Samurai Beat Radio. An audience Q&A session will follow. A raffle contest (open to all attendees, one raffle ticket per person) also will award one lucky Grand Prize winner an original Natsume Ono artwork, signed in-person by the artist; 2 additional runner-up winners will get a Natsume Ono print. Each winner will also have the opportunity to have Ono sign one personal item at the event.

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Farewell Tokyopop – Publishing Division to Close End of May

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, April 17, 2011

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No question the big news of this week (and likely of the year) is that Tokyopop’s CEO Stu Levy announced that as of May 31st, the company would be closing down shop in the publishing industry.

This comes as a huge blow to many manga readers. While the company may not be releasing as much now as they have in the past, they’ve still got numerous series on the go that’re now in limbo including several recently premiered (such as Clean Freak, Little Butterfly and Lady Konoko). Most poignant though is the rattling of faith seeing that what was likely the biggest and most-influential English manga publisher go down. Love them or hate them, this is the end of an era.

There hasn’t been a lot of details regarding the shutdown for things such as the fate of licenses and any potentially returning story rights to OEL artists. More information on things such as liquidation of any remaining stock will likely come in the near future. The Yaoi Review has confirmed with Tokyopop that their boys’ love imprint BLU will also be shutdown, and the Tokyopop German division seems to be going strong still.

If you’re looking for more information and reactions about the news, I recommend Katherine Dacey’s round up over at Manga Critic.

I could go on for pages upon pages about my thoughts on Tokyopop and what they mean to me as a company. I’m not going to now though (at least not yet) but I will say this: I’ll miss them terribly. I love Tokyopop. Yes they’ve made mistakes (that website, gah!), but at the end of the day I own hundreds (if not thousands) of Tokyopop books for a reason. I’m really sad that several series I’m collecting may never see completion now such as Pet Shop of Horrors and Shinobi Life, but I also know I’m one of few people saying the same so whose to say they even could’ve been finished regardless of TP shutting down. But they gave the titles the longest run they could (Genju no Seiza for pete’s sake!), they released tons of series with a little for everyone and they were there with something new and shiny every time I went to the comic or book store over the past decade.

Tokyopop was manga for me and will always be a big part of manga for me now, from the piles of books surrounding my room to the many Tokyopop books I’m bound to buy even in the years to come. Goodbye Tokyopop – it really was a good ride and even though you’ve chosen to stop it, I’m not quite ready to get off yet.

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Categories: News
Tags: BLU, Boys' Love/Yaoi, Manga, Tokyopop

Seven Seas Adds Vampire Manhwa for October Release

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, April 14, 2011

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Seven Seas announced a new license late March (yes, I’m quite late on this among many other neat bits of news!) as the company continues to deliver to the vampire-fandom out there with My Boyfriend Is A Vampire. It’s also their first license of a manhwa title (Korean comic).

“Being beautiful is never easy, especially if you’re an eighteen year old boy like Ryu who is constantly mistaken for a girl because of his delicate good looks. When Ryu stumbles upon strange happenings in the forest, he gets sucked into a world of vampire intrigue and sinister romance that he never knew existed. And he learns that there are worse things than being turned into a vampire: being turned into a girl?!”

The books are being released in 2-in-1 formats which works well considering the series is 14 volumes long according to AnimeNewsNetwork. The first volume is due out this coming October.

So a gender-bender vampire manhwa – it’s got my attention! Out of curiousity it’s on my list of must-reads for Halloween this year.

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Categories: Licensing, News
Tags: Manhwa, Seven Seas

ANN Review: Toradora! (Vol. 01)

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, April 11, 2011

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AnimeNewsNetwork has posted another of my reviews, this time for the first volume of Toradora!. It’s recently been released by Seven Seas.

Overall I thought the book was fun, though also a little dull. This was because it felt predictable and rather cliche as far as otaku-targeted material goes. I don’t tend to read works like this so it was an interesting change of pace; plus I felt like on a site like ANN of all places, someone who has never seen an episode of the anime series (and very likely never will) was a fairly worthwhile angle. I’ve got friends who rave about the series though so I’m curious to see if volume two offers up a little more entertaining substance. A notably plus was I really liked Seven Seas work on it. It had a very complimenting adaptation which is something that stands out more often than not to me from the publisher.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: ANN Reviews, Manga, Seven Seas

PR: Viz Media Expands Viz Kids With Full Slate of New Acquisitions

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, April 11, 2011

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VIZ MEDIA EXPANDS VIZ KIDS IMPRINTWITH A FULL SLATE OF NEW ACQUISITIONS

New Titles Include Global Blockbuster Franchises MR. MEN AND LITTLE MISS, POKÉMON And VOLTRON FORCE, And Rising Stars MAMESHIBA and HERO 108

San Francisco, CA, April 11, 2011 – VIZ Media, the largest distributor of anime and manga in the United States, announced a full slate of acquisitions for its kids imprint, VIZ Kids. The acquisitions include DVD, Download-To-Own, and graphic novel licenses for a wide range of well-established global franchises.

“VIZ Media is excited to expand our kids imprint to include a variety of fun new properties,” said Elizabeth Kawasaki, Senior Editorial Director of VIZ Media. “These new titles use strong storytelling, eye-popping graphics and empowering themes to engage a younger generation of fans.”

· HERO 108 – VIZ Kids will be distributing DVDs of this popular series which airs on Cartoon Network. HERO 108 chronicles the battle for peace in the Hidden Kingdom. In addition, VIZ Kids will make the episodes available for download through iTunes. DVDs will be available in May 2011 while downloadable episodes will launch in June 2011.

· MAMESHIBA – The irresistibly cute and irrepressibly curious Mameshiba are not quite beans, not quite dogs–they’re a hybrid of both! VIZ Kids will release a graphic novel, MAMESHIBA: ON THE LOOSE!, and a character guide, MEET MAMESHIBA, in July 2011.

· POKÉMON BLACK AND WHITE: VIZ Kids will release manga, a travel activity kit, and other select merchandise based on the most recent incarnation of the juggernaut POKÉMON™ video game franchise, Pokémon Black Version and Pokémon White Version. Meet all-new Pokémon from the fastest-selling Pokémon video games in history. The travel activity kit will be available in May 2011; Volumes 1 and 2 of the manga will be available in July 2011.

· MR. MEN AND LITTLE MISS – Mr. Happy, Little Miss Sunshine and all their Dillydale friends are about to take the graphic novel world by storm! Under the VIZ Kids imprint, VIZ Media will create and distribute original graphic novels starring the lovable MR. MEN and LITTLE MISSES. Little Miss Sunshine, Mr. Bump, Mr. Strong and Little Miss Daredevil books will be available in Spring 2012.

· VOLTRON FORCE – Voltron®, the ultimate space adventure from the 1980s, is ready to take the world by storm again! VIZ Kids will produce and distribute original graphic novels based on the all-new animated series VOLTRON FORCEÔ, set to debut on Nicktoons this summer. VOLTRON FORCE reignites the story of five brave space explorers who pilot mighty robot lions that combine to form Voltron, Defender of the Universe. Joining the team are three new cadets, who have the opportunity of a lifetime to fight alongside their heroes and unlock incredible new powers. Let’s Voltron! The books will be available in Spring 2012.

HERO 108, MAMESHIBA, MR. MEN, and VOLTRON FORCE are unique acquisitions because they are properties not owned by any of VIZ Media’s parent companies, Shueisha, Shogakukan and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions. These acquisitions join an already robust manga and anime VIZ Kids library, which includes THE LEGEND OF ZELDA, PANDA MAN, TARO, BEYBLADE and DINOSAUR KING.

For more information on VIZ Kids, visit www.VIZKids.com.

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: Legend of Zelda, Viz Media

Swag Bag: Squeaky Clean Exorcists and Pocket Monsters

By Lissa Pattillo on Sunday, April 10, 2011

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It was so nice outside today! It’s great to be able to shed off the winter coat and boats and head downtown for some new comics wearing a light hoodie and a comfy pair of sneakers. I didn’t come home with a huge pile of stuff but that makes them all no less awesome.

I bought three books from Viz Media this week – Pokemon Adventures (Vol. 12), Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan (Vol. 02) and Blue Exorcist (Vol. 01). Upon flipping through Pokemon Adventures, I’m most excited to read this volume – there’s a whole bunch of previous characters returning such as Misty, Brock and Sabrina so I’m really to see why and under what circumstances. Blue Exorcist (Vol. 01) caught my eye with its shiny cover and I’ve heard a lot about it lately because of its upcoming anime release. It’ll almost be like I’m up to date on anime playing these days!

One title from Tokyopop this week as I start up another new manga series – Clean Freak: Fully Equipped (Vol. 01). My first impression is that the art is really rough and rather unappealing but hopefully the rather quirky sounding plot can overcome that. We shall see! It’s about a boy with a huge germophobe problem and the friends he makes who help him overcome it.

Topping off my purchases with a trip to the discount bin, I purchased From Erocia With Love (Vol. 14). I only own the first three volumes and honestly didn’t like them very much. But I’ve heard lots of good things about the series so we’ll see how a random dip in the middle fares!

Lastly, and though not manga, I’m also going to mention my purchase of Bone (One Volume Edition). For a mere $20, I was able to buy the entire Bone graphic novel series in a single book! I’ve never had an opportunity to read the entire series before so I was really happy to find this book for sale.

Now I’m off to read! What did you purchase this week?

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Categories: Features, Swag Bag
Tags: CMX, Manga, Tokyopop, Viz Media

PR: VIZ Media Receives 4 Eisner Nominations!

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, April 8, 2011

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VIZ MEDIA NOMINATED IN MULTIPLE CATEGORIES FOR THE 2011 WILL EISNER COMIC INDUSTRY AWARDS

Naoki Urasawa, NAOKI URASAWA’S 20TH CENTURY BOYS and HOUSE OF FIVE LEAVES Nominated

San Francisco, CA, April 8, 2011 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, announced today that two of its manga titles and one creator have been nominated in several categories for the 2011 Will Eisner Comics Industry Awards for a total of 4 nominations, as announced by Comic-Con International on April 7, 2011.

Named for pioneering writer and comic artist Will Eisner, the awards recognize exemplary comics, graphic novels and other pop writings, and are given each year as part of the annual Comic-Con International convention. Winners will be announced at a gala ceremony on the evening of Friday, July 22nd during Comic-Con, at which VIZ Media will be a major exhibitor and participant in the programs offered. VIZ Media titles are consistently nominated for the Eisner Awards, and in 2008, took home the Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material – Japan for TEKKONKINKREET: BLACK & WHITE, by acclaimed creator Taiyo Matsumoto.

The nominated titles from VIZ Media are:

HOUSE OF FIVE LEAVES, by Natsume Ono
Best U.S. Edition of International Material–Asia

NAOKI URASAWA’S 20TH CENTURY BOYS, by Naoki Urasawa
Best Continuing Series
Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

In addition, Naoki Urasawa is nominated for Best Writer/Artist, for his work on NAOKI URASAWA’S 20TH CENTURY BOYS.

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Categories: Press Releases
Tags: 20th Century Boys, Viz Media, Viz Signature

PR: Animate USA Adds New BL Releases for Amazon Kindle

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, April 8, 2011

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ANIMATE USA – NEW RELEASES IN AMAZON KINDLE STORE

TOKYO, JAPAN – April 6 – Animate U.S.A., Inc. proudly announces the release of our March titles for the Amazon Kindle Store!

New this month, we bring you four chapters of our very popular series. First up are two titles by Youka Nitta, “Kiss Ariki” and “Sound of My Voice.” We also bring you a new chapter of Shiuko Kano’s “Play Boy Blues” and You Higashino’s “Hyper Loving a Maniac.” All four of these series are exclusive to the Kindle, so download your copy today! All four of these series are a must for any yaoi fan!

For more information, please visit www.animate-world.com and www.libre-pub.co.jp. Youka Nitta’s website, nittayouka.com, is your source for all things Youka Nitta, and Animate USA is happy to announce that there is now a Japanese version of her website. Ayano Yamane’s site, yamaneayano.com, is now up and running again. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience. Both websites have new wallpapers available as well as comments from the mangaka and much, much more! Be sure to check them out!!

March 2011:

Youka Nitta – ” Kiss Ariki – Episode 3” KINDLE EXCLUSIVE!!!

Youka Nitta – “Sound of My Voice – Boku No Koe – Part 9” KINDLE EXCLUSIVE!!!

You Higashino – “Hyper Loving A Maniac Part 4 – Study Version” KINDLE EXCLUSIVE!!!

Shiuko Kano – “P.B.B. Play Boy Blues – Act 5”　KINDLE EXCLUSIVE!!!

“Kiss Ariki – Episode 3” by Youka Nitta

Mutsumi’s father Itsuki turns pale at the sight of his son and Tohru naked together! He yanks Mutsumi away from the body of the clan’s precious heir, then busts him with his iron fist.

The third episode of Kiss Ariki.

“Sound of My Voice – Boku No Koe – Part 9” by Youka Nitta

Voice actors Jouchi and Kazama are on the rise.

Anxious about their uncertain futures, they have been accepting every job that comes their way.

Kazama strains himself and loses his voice – the tool of his trade – so Jouchi attacks him with his uncontrollable desire.

“If you look like you’re going to let out your voice, I’ll restrain you from speaking…”

However, he doesn’t realize the circumstances it will lead to…

Meanwhile, the love between the veteran voice actors Kurokawa and Hosaka is wavering dangerously!?

The ninth episode of Sound of My Voice – Boku No Koe –.

“Hyper Loving A Maniac Part 4 – Study Version” by You Higashino

Extreme Moe Ecchi Love by OTAKU x Ordinary person!

I can teach health and physical education as an option☆

The fourth episode of Hyper Loving A Maniac.

“P.B.B. Play Boy Blues – Act 5” by Shiuko Kano

Takuya, the ex-boyfriend of Shinobu’s mother, suddenly appeared. Both his job and residence are constantly up in the air, and he asks for money from Shinobu. Junsuke cannot get along with Takuya, and he doesn’t like the fact that Shinobu treats him as his older brother. Shinobu knows he is not a bad guy, since Takuya was the only person who was nice to him when he was a child. Now Shinobu is facing his real feelings…

The fifth episode of P.B.B. Play Boy Blues.

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

Kodansha Comics Adds Mew Mew Power and More to Fall Lineup

By Lissa Pattillo on Monday, April 4, 2011

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Kodansha Comics isn’t slowing down after their huge news in March with a handful of new titles announced for their fall line-up later this year.

Tokyo Mew Mew
Love Hina (Omnibus Collection)
Shugo Chara! Chan
@Full Moon

Tokyo Mew Mew and Love Hina were previously released by Tokyopop but will sport new translations for these editions. Shugo Chara! Chan is a sequel to the series Shugo Chara! which was published by Del Rey. Lastly @Full Moon is a sequel series to Kodansha’s previously announced Full Moon series (which in itself was a license rescue from the long-since defunct Brocolli Books). When so many manga readers are left wondering if they’ll even see the next volume of their favourite series, it’s promising seeing a company already license a series and its follow-up in one go.

While Love Hina seems like a no-brainer as a big otaku favourite that’s been long out of print, I’m a little surprised by Tokyo Mew Mew. It was cute but I didn’t think had enough following to warrant a completely new release. Then again it might be a good warm-up to their upcoming Sailor Moon release to bring in a whole new generation of readers to magical girls (plus the anime version played on television here as well). I like the addition of the Full Moon series though because, though not explicity boys’ love, it still teeters in that territory more than well enough to show Kodansha’s not afraid to test the waters of the genre.

With the slew of titles, including the much-requested Sailor Moon, Kodansha continues to go above and beyond what I think many expected after their lacklustre introduction to the North American market. My concern now though is how they’ll deliver. We’ve many reasons to believe it’ll be good – from their manga-ruler status in Japan, to the talented staff we know to be working for them already – but until we get a pure Kodansha-made book in our hands, it’s hard to jump for complete joy just yet. Some giddy jigs for sure though.

Their first new titles are coming out in May – Arisa (Vol. 02), Rave Master (Omnibus) and Ninja Girls (Vol. 05). All three of which are continuations of Del Rey or Tokyopop series so we may not see much different in the form or design of the books. While the titles themselves don’t excite me too much, I’m most eager for Phoenix Wright and Monster Hunter Orage to see the trim-size and design work.

Hopefully we’ll see the start of their new titles marked with a full website as well, or at least something with more images and information than the press releases posted there now. Kodansha Comics appeared with a lot of anticipation, and while it may’ve lost the luster after Akira and Ghost in the Shell, it’s done a great job gaining it all back in the past few months. Now that we’ve got the promises, it’s all about the delivery – only another month to go!

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Categories: Licensing, News
Tags: Del Rey, Kodansha Comics, Manga, Sailor Moon, Tokyopop

Review: Not Love But Delicious Foods Makes Me So Happy!

By Shannon Fay on Sunday, April 3, 2011

2 Comments »

Reviewer: Shannon Fay

Not Love But Delicious Foods Makes Me So Happy

Manga-ka: Fumi Yoshinaga
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: December 2010

Synopsis: “There is a Japanese saying that goes, “Hana yori dango,” or “dumplings over flowers.” And no one is more of an advocate of this adage than mangaka Y-naga, a woman whose life revolves around her intense work and equally intense sleep schedule. The only thing that can rouse her out of this infernal cycle of deadlines and being dead to the world? Food. As Y-naga and her friends visit restaurants around Tokyo to satisfy their appetites, their individual approaches to food add an extra dimension to their witty and comical interactions.”

Manga about food is similar to manga about music – they have to convey things through a visual medium that are pretty much impossible to capture visually. For music manga, it’s the sound of an instrument or a beautiful voice singing out, while for food manga it’s that taste of a delicious meal. But while you can’t substitute one sense for another, many manga-ka have risen to the challenge and found fun ways to convey different sensations through images. Fumi Yoshinaga only manages to make it halfway. While Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy! is a fun read, it didn’t leave me hungry, a bad sign in a manga about food.

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Categories: Reviews
Tags: Fumi Yoshinaga, Manga, Yen Press