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Posts Tagged Vertical Inc

Year In Review: Lissa’s Favourites of 2011

Lissa’s Favourites of 2011

There are no shortage of ‘Best Of’ lists this time of year. While I like popping around to different peoples’ sites and seeing what they thought, it’s a bit of a frustration that I can’t seem to write one myself. How people choose a solid list containing five or ten favourites, from across different genres and subject matters, is just something I can’t seem to muster the brain power for. Not enough conviction I suppose? There’s just so much to love!

But I can’t overlook the perfect chance to look back at all the great titles a year had to offer and 2011 had some really fantastic ones. So then where is this going, oh rambling one, you ask? My semi-traditional equivalent to the yearly best of – the random Lissa’s favourites and best-ofs list! Which really just means you get a lot more titles broken into a lot more categories so I can remain a lot more loving to a lot more series. And in some cases not so loving… From the Best Release Quality to the Favourite Fan Service and even to the most Gag Worthy – here are a bunch of my favourite titles from 2011!

Read more…


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – December 7, 2011

It’s like Christmas come early with release weeks like this – a whole bunch of must-have manga titles! My top pick goes to Princess Knight (Vol. 02) but Blood Alone (Vol. 05) and a slew of Viz Media titles aren’t far behind it.

You can read the full list of titles shipping out this week, along with my usual random synopsis and price-noting, over at my On The Shelf article at Otaku USA.


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – November 30, 2011

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - November 30, 2011

It’s Wednesday! And the fifth Wednesday in the month too, that’s an extra week of new comics. You can see the list of new manga out over at my On The Shelf article for Otaku USA.

The big titles out today are the long-awaited new volume of MPD Psycho from Dark Horse, and the seventeenth and final volume of Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack from Vertical Inc. I may very well cry when I finish that one – it’s never easy when one of your favourites comes to an end!


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – November 9, 2011

Otaku USA: On The Shelf - November 9, 2011

Wednesday! New comics day! You can read the list of new manga volumes out this week over at my On The Shelf article at Otaku USA.

There’s a bunch of new Digital Manga titles shipping this week, and Viz Media has released their new original-orientation, newly translated and highly spiffy looking omnibus edition of X. CLAMP really owns the omnibus market here don’t they? Their works are definitely setting a standard!


PR: Very Vintage Vertical Vednesday Tasting The Drops of God

A Very Vintage Vertical Vednesday Tasting The Drops of God

(November 4, 2011 – New York, New York) – Following a successful launch of Tadashi Agi’s legendary wine comic, The Drops of God, the staff at Vertical, Inc. and New York-based wine purveyors BottleRocket have come together to bring the wines of The Drops of God to life!

On Wednesday, November 9th, BottleRocket will be hosting a wine tasting featuring many of the wines depicted by Shu Okimoto in this massively popular series. While most of the wines will focus on North American labels, wine and comic connoisseurs alike should find plenty to indulge in this evening as manga and Merlot mingle this evening.

After a brief introduction to the comic and the impact it made on both the comics and wine industries, BottleRocket’s knowledgeable crew will be pouring 6 wines featured in the series. Cheese, conversation and comics will follow on what should be a rare night where comics become reality.

Doors open at 6:00pm this evening, with the pouring starting at around 6:15pm.

Admission will be free and open to the public, however some of the featured wines will be limited so we suggest arriving early to try them all.

Books will also be available for purchase through BottleRocket. (Please make sure to pick up a copy to thank them for hosting this special event.)

Wednesday, November 9, 2011
from 6:00pm to 8:00pm
at Bottlerocket Wine & Spirit
5 West 19th Street
New York, New York

Attendees must be 21 and up.

RSVP on the Vertical, Inc. facebook page.
More info at the Vertical website, www.Vertical-Inc.com


NYAF 2011: Manga Out Loud Podcast & Recap

NYAF 2011: Manga Out Loud Podcast & Recap

It’s been almost a month since New York Anime Fest with recaps and reflections still trickling out from the thousands who attended. 105,000, in fact. Wow!

Ed Sizemore invited Erica (Okazu), Melinda (Manga BookShelf) and I to be guests on his Manga Out Loud podcast. It’s posted online now and is part two of his New York Comic Con podcasts. We had a good conversation about what we did at the convention, how we felt it was handled by staff and organizers and about the discussion of legal issues surrounding comics.

The podcast got my brain turning again on my thoughts on the convention. Overall I found other elements of my trip to New York more fulfilling than the convention itself (dinners with awesome people! Kinokuniya! Book-Off!) but from an organizational point of view, I thought NYCC/NYAF was much better handled this year than it was in 2010.

My thoughts and some accompanying photos can be read below:

Read more…


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – November 2, 2011

On The Shelf - November 2, 2011

Happy Halloween! Albeit a day belated. I hope everyone’s enjoying some tasty candy, be it from the day itself or via the wonders of discount candy shelves here in November. Hard to argue the joy of sitting down with a stack of new books and a box of little chocolate bars to rummage through.

There are some exciting books out this week and I found myself almost as eager to let others know about them as I was to get them myself. Vertical’s the hard-hitter with No Longer Human (Vol.01) and Princess Knight (Vol. 01). I reviewed No Longer Human earlier this week.

You can read my thoughts, summaries and the full list of books out this week over at my On The Shelf article at Otaku USA.


Review: No Longer Human (Vol. 01)

No Longer Human (Vol.01)

Author: Osamu Dazai
Manga-ka: Usamaru Furuya
Publisher: Vertical Inc.
Rating: Older Teen (16+)
Release Date: October 2011

Synopsis: “In honor of the 100th birthday of Osamu Dazai, Usamaru Furuya retells Dazai’s most important work, No Longer Human, in modern-day Tokyo, where modern vices can bring ruin to the self-loathing. Yozo Oba is a young man originally from a well-off family from Japan’s far north and a troubled soul incapable of revealing his true self to others. A weak constitution and the lingering trauma from some abuse administered by a relative has forced him to uphold a facade of hollow jocularity since high school.”

No Longer Human was a breath of fresh air after my recent completion of Drops of God (Vol.01). While the latter wasn’t bad, it definitely lacked the oomph that I’ve come to expect and anticipate of Vertical titles. There was no shortage of that here. As far as Usamaru Furuya’s work goes, No Longer Human nestles nicely between Genkaku Picasso and Lychee Light Club. It’s a compelling look into the most private and hidden elements of a person’s psyche, all told through symbolism, cynicism and unapologetic depictions of sex and despair.

Read more…


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – October 26, 2011

On The Shelf - October 26, 2011

It’s a week of especially amazing works coming out! Don’t waste a manga-buying moment and stop by this week’s On The Shelf article to see the titles being released tomorrow.

A Bride’s Story (Vol.02), Yotsuba&! (Vol.10), Drops of God (Vol.01)… and then you have the fangirl button pressing Black Butler (Vol. 07) and a guilty pleasure like Air Gear (Vol.20) sprinkled on top. But those are just my absolute must-haves – still lots more on the list where those came from.

Writing On The Shelf for Otaku USA, I continue to be impressed week after week about just how much manga is released in North America. Stacks of new books every week. And by stand nearly every book at 150+ pages and all this ‘after’ the manga bubble ‘burst’. Sure we can always want more and more but you know what? We’re so darn lucky and I love it! Thank you, publishers :)


Otaku USA: On The Shelf – October 19, 2011

On The Shelf - October 19th - Gate7

Back from New York with a suitcase full of swag and I was still excited to get home and see what new goodies are out this week! If you’re curious about what new manga titles are out, you can pop over to Otaku USA to read my On The Shelf article for the week.

A big chunk of my excitement for this week’s releases is because the first volume of Gate 7 is finally out. CLAMP are some of my favourite creators and to have a new title from them to read for the first time is really exciting. How many years has it been since that happened? Plus the book looks gorgeous! Dark Horse has a preview of the manga’s first chapter over on their website that you can read to get an early glimpse.


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