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Ouran High School Host Club – that is all.
Okay, not all but it sure is my most anticipated release this week. The last volume was fantastic, though the fact today’s release of Ouran is also the final volume makes this follow-up pretty sad. I shall certainly miss the series quite a bit!
The full list of titles shipping this week – a combo of books from Viz Media and Seven Seas – are listed and briefly chatted about over on my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA.
Last week’s confirmable manga offerings equated to a sad little zero but by May 30th we were back in business with a whole new stack of books! Notably it was Yen Press’s big shipment of the month, which always typically happens in the last week. The full list is available over at my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA.
My top pick of the week is the first volume of Puella Magi Madoka Magica from Yen Press. I haven’t seen the anime but I’ve heard a lot of good things about it. We’ll see how the manga works as an introduction!
Also an interesting note re: Otaku USA itself, is the magazine is now offering a digital version for purchase. You can download the Apple-product app for free with each issue costing $5.99/US. As someone who doesn’t really like buying things that take away from much needed manga-room, I’m happy to have the opportunity to buy each issue conveniently stored within my iPad.
Kuriousity had a bit of an unexpected hiatus there for a couple weeks as I join my fellow staffers in the last month rush for preparing for the upcoming Animaritime. It’s the only anime & gaming convention in Eastern Canada and suffice to say there’s a lot of work to be done before reg lines open on June 29th!
Along with being staff, I also run a number of panels at the event. This year I’ve got four returning panels:
| • Boys’ Love • Yuri |
• Yaoi (18+) • Manga! Manga! Manga! |
I think all the titles are pretty self-explanatory :) Fellow Kuriousity-contributer, Andre, is also veteran staff of Animaritime and will be hosting his Anime Trivia panel, as well as scheduling all the anime showings. Our schedule is jam packed with events this year from volunteers, staff and guests like never before. I’m tired just thinking about the three-day madness schedule but twice as excited. Also my huge thanks to our sponsors, including Vertical Inc. and Yen Press.
Updates will continue to be bit a sparse until after the con ends but there’s nothing quite like the inspirational charge a freshly survived convention gives you. 26 days and counting!
It is raining so hard outside! While this has left me soaked during my early morning treck home, it at least provides the perfect opportunity to curl up in a warm, dry set of blankets with a good book. My past two weekly trips to the comic store has alloted me plenty to choose from (but where to begin!?):
I stocked up on shoujo with the second volume of A Devil and Her Love Song (which I loved as much as the first) and volume one of The Earl & The Fairy (which really could’ve used more fairies). Both were from Viz Media.
From Kodansha Comics, Sailor Moon (Vol.05) was a big given. This particular volume is extra hefty with pages and a lot happens, finishing up the entire Dark Moon arc. It’s been so long since I’ve read the story so a lot of little elements of the plot are fresh surprises, which is awesome! I love these original versions of the characters so much, Sailor Moon and Chibi-Usa in particular. Everyone is super classy.
Speaking of another type of classy, I bought a few new seinen titles all of which are continutations of series I’m collecting – Saturn Apartments (Vol.05), Blood Alone (Vol.06) and Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Vol.12). The first two are really relaxing reads, very laid back and mellow, even when things get dramatic. In some series I’d find it boring, but in these two it’s their greatest charm. Kurosagi is still fun to read, what with all the corpses, murders and creepy endings. The wait between each book is rough! I do hope we see a return to the connecting stories earlier books had though. I miss those…
Last, but certainly not least, comes some new boys’ love! Digital Manga served up another action-packed and sex-filled time with the fourth and fifth volumes of Ayano Yamane’s Finder series. So much gun-touting melodrama as the hunter is now the hero – it’s the sort of kinda-trash you can’t help but love. It was all fluff, feelings and a little physical-fun, however, in the sixth volume of Hinako Takanaga’s Tyrant Who Falls In Love (Vol.06). I really like this series because of the characters but it’s tough watching their relationship dragged on so long. In this volume the cast of the prequel series, Challengers, show up too – bonus!
Those were my recent purchases – feel free to share some of their own! Anything you’d recommend? Loved? Despised? Share the contents of your own swag bag!
VIZ MEDIA DELIVERS THE LATEST YU-GI-OH! ADVENTURES WITH THE LAUNCH OF NEW YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL MANGA SERIES IN JUNE
Brand New Action Adventure Series Follows A Young Boy’s Quest To Fulfill His Destiny And Become A Dueling Champion; Vol. 1 First Editions Include Limited Edition YU-GI-OH! Trading Card
San Francisco, CA, May 17, 2012 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, notably expands its bestselling YU-GI-OH! manga (graphic novel) brand with the forthcoming release of the newest series in the popular franchise. YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL launches on June 5th under the company’s SHONEN JUMP imprint, is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. Volume 1 First Editions will also contain a limited edition collectable YU-GI-OH! trading card.
YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL is based on an original concept by Kazuki Takahashi with story by Shin Yoshida and artwork created by Naohito Miyoshi. The new series takes place in a futuristic city where augmented reality Duels are all the rage. Duelists, using devices called D-Gazers, can interact with their environment and their opponents as never before. With more awesome monsters and unbelievable cards, the future of Yu-Gi-Oh! starts right here! No one loves Dueling more than Yuma Tsukumo, but unfortunately for him, no one is worse at it! This isn’t going to stop Yuma from trying though. When Yuma calls on the memory of his parents during the Duel, a strange being called Astral appears, and the encounter is the start of Yuma’s amazing Duel journey!
Life’s been a bit of a blur since I came back from TCAF, but aside from a horribly messy post-trip bedroom, things are finally smoothing back over. This means – new comics! Before I take my weekly trip down to my favourite comic store, I had to do my usual romp-through of the new books available to buy once I get there.
My most-eager-to-buy books of the week are Sailor Moon (Vol.05) and Tyrant Who Falls In Love (Vol.06). You can see the complete list over at my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA. Buy and enjoy manga lovers!
This past weekend was Toronto Comics Art Fest – one of the best comic shows in North America for meeting and greeting comic artists and checking out their work. It was my second year to attend and I loved it. And who can possibly leave a show as magnificent as TCAF without an armful of comics? Certainly not I! The ability to buy directly from creators is an experience that blows my mind, I adore it and TCAF offers the perfect fix.
Bento Comics – a collection of artists whose works you can read online then have published print-on-demand – had a new anthology available: Peter Pan and the Language of the Dead. I was giddy to see it, as a fan of Bento Comics’ anthologies and a huge Peter Pan junkie. The theme combo was brilliant – it was so unnerving but at the same time fascinating. Wonderful!
Another anthology collection I picked up was Cautionary Fables & Fairy Tales which includes a story by one of my favourite artist/writer combos, Katie and Steven Shanahan. It’s a pretty hefty book with a bunch of artists new to me. I’m looking forward to discovering some new creators to follow.
Becky Cloonan premiered her new self-published short, The Mire, and I was quick to nab a copy. I haven’t read it yet but just the print quality and a quick flip-through shows it was worth each and every penny. Fellow Haligonian Jordyn F. Bochon also premiered a print collection of her comic, The Terrible Death of Finnigan Strap. Two other Halifax artists present whose works I couldn’t miss were Mike Holmes‘ – who had copies of his creative multi-style self-portrait art book, Mikenesses – and Kate Leth who debut her collected comic, Ultimate Kate or Die.
A lot of artists at the show were selling print editions of their web comics so I took the opportunity to buy a bunch. I don’t typically read comics on the web but when an opportunity to try them out via print arises, I go for it! I bought a book of Octopus Pie, Earthsong (Vol.01) and In The Air (Vol.01). Of the three I’ve read In The Air so far and it was great! I hope I enjoy the others just as much, and it’s fun knowing there’s more to read online should I be unable to wait for more to hit the printers.
There are a few web published comics that I read each week though, and of course I couldn’t possibly resist purchasing the print versions of those. The print editions of Starfighter (Vol.01) and Teahouse (Vol. 03) were both gorgeously reproduced and will now sit proudly on my BL shelves (once I’ve finished oogling them for hours). The colourist of Teahouse, Christina, was also selling hardcover books of her web comic (which I also follow regularly), Fox Sister.
Vertical Inc had a booth at TCAF and I was able to pick up a few volumes of manga from them too. For new volumes, I got Flowers of Evil (Vol.01) – very twisted! – and GTO: 14 Days of Shonan (Vol.02). An older book I’d been having trouble finding was Osamu Tezuka’s MW, which I’m now happy to have in my hands.
Outside of TCAF, I visited The Beguiling where I always know I’ll find a stack of goodies to buy. I was giddy to find a missing volume of One Thousand and One Nights (Vol.07) and an out of print copy of an old comic favourite of mine, My Faith in Frankie. Then it was boys’ love stock up time with Right Here, Right Now (Vol.01-02), The Desert Prince, Black Sun (Vol.02) and, in currently joint ownership with my awesome roommate, four volumes of bara manga. Not easy finding this stuff! Well… unless you’re at the Beguiling. Thanks, Chris!
Thus sums up my Toronto Comics Art Festival purchases for 2012 – all fantastic! It’s a great show that I look forward to attending again next year and I hope others do as well (and let me know!).
Manga time! …which as a statement is sort of redundant here on Kuriousity. New week means new manga and while I continue unpacking my goodies from TCAF, I took a break for my weekly round-up of what new books are on the shelf this week. You can check out the full list and some thoughts over at my On The Shelf article at Otaku USA.
Some notables this week are NonNonBa from Drawn and Quarterly, Flowers of Evil from Vertical Inc. and the FLCL omnibus from Dark Horse.
RightStuf – the mega-mecha online retail store of anime & manga goodies – made a surprise announcement last week when they revealed they had partnered with Tokyopop’s remains and Japanese publisher, Gentosha, to release the third volume of Hetalia. Along with the PR, they’ve also posted a 6-minute long video discussing the news.
Hetalia (Vol.03) is listed at $15.99/US cover price, but RightStuf’s current sale on it moves that down to $11.99/US. This first “limited edition” is set for release in June of this year and will sport eight colour pages for those who pre-order it. The kicker here is that the book will only be made available through RightStuf itself, which immediately puts it on the pricier side for international buyers who either need to pay the per-item shipping fee or, if you’re Canadian, reach that $150 free-shipping threshold. Of course, that doesn’t protect you from those hefty customs charges.
Along with the third volume of Hetalia, RightStuf is also making available new copies of the first and second via a print-on-demand system. Each of these will have the $15.99/US price tag as well. Volume three will be made available as a POD book once the initial run is depleted with the colour pages reproduced in black & white.
Tokyopop had already finished production work on this title months ago, around the same time the company ceased operations as a manga publisher (this of course followed by their sudden mind change). RightStuf’s involvement in the title right now seems to be mostly that as a distributor, though their role is likely larger when it comes to the funding and distribution of subsequent print-on-demand versions.
RightStuf representatives were lively on Twitter when the PR first went out last week and had some interesting things to say, particularly for those still holding out hope for a return of other titles that went down with the Tokyopop ship.
“If people buy the Hetalia vols, there’s a possibility of more Hetalia… & similiar arrangements for other titles. (No promises, atm!)”
“Because we know you hate it when you can’t find the manga volumes you want! So…”
“The scoop: We see your requests, & we’re making note of them. We’d love to expand this program…”
Though I doubt I’ll ever be able to let go of my Tokyopop skepticism, it is great to see another opportunity for a fan-favourite title to return to print. Hetalia – a comedic series about personified versions of countries and nations playing out historical events – has been one of the most in-demand titles since Tokyopop announced their ‘end’. What I look most forward to is seeing what other series could come of this arrangement, especially if RightStuf’s manga-releasing program isn’t specifically tied to Tokyopop. With digital becoming a more common means of distribution, and print in turn having a more shaky looking future, print-on-demand has for a long time seen like an inevitable route for some books. It means a bit more money for some books but that certainly beats no book at all.
Last week Digital Manga announced another six new print licenses! And I’ve long since run out of semi-creative ways to carry into that sentence, since it’s happened so much in recent months. Not that that’s a complaint in the face of so many new volumes of manga to anticipate for 2013. Yay for books! And now onto the good stuff:
A Century of Temptation – Kairi Shimotsuki (June, Summer 2013, $12.95/US)
Deflower the Boss – Ayan Sakuragi (June, Summer 2013, $12.95/US)
The Incredible Kintaro – Naomi Guren (801Media, Spring 2013, $15.95/US)
Ninth Life Love – Lalako Kojima (June, Summer 2013, $12.95/US)
Priceless Honey – Shiuko Kano (June, Summer 2013, $12.95/US)
Ray’s Days – RYOHZOH (Project-H, $17.95/US)
All of the titles above are one-shots so they’re a convenient one-book full package deal. None of them immediately stood out to me but we’ll see how appealing or ‘meh’ each looks as finished cover designs and plot synopsis’ appear between now and their release dates.
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