Continuing with my streak of being very behind with convention news this summer, here’s a quick finishing round-up of manga news at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. Links in the article will direct you to AnimeNewsNetwork where their on-site staff shared all the details from the panels.

The company Top Shelf announced one new manga license: Cigarette Girl by Masahiko Matsumoto and also expressed the hope to license the manga artist’s auto-biography series Gegika Freaks to “complement to Tatsumi’s own autobiographical manga A Drifting Life.” And speaking of which, the ginomrous auto-biography manga A Drifting Life won two Eisner awards at the event  - Best U.S. Edition of International Material – Asia category and Best Reality-Based Work of the Year. (Note: Though I never wrote a complete review on this book, I did read it and got completely swept away in the story. It’s a very inspiring non-fiction story and makes for a fantastic (plus satisfyingly lengthy) read.)

Viz Media didn’t have any new licenses at SDCC (saving them for NYAF I hope?) but they did announce a re-release of the popular series, Death Note. Titled Death Note: Black Edition, this new edition will be released as omnibus books (multiple volumes in one) with new covers and larger trim sizes than the originals. Viz Media also announced that there will be a new layout for their manga magazine, Shonen Jump, upcoming in their December issue.

Vertical Inc. had a new license, Lychee Light Club by Usamaru Furuya who had another work licensed by Viz Media (Genkaku Picasso). The plot of Lychee Light Club definitely sounds unique (from Robot6): “The students at an all-boys school create a robot to track down beautiful women, a robot that for some reason runs on lychee fruits. Everything gets complicated when the machine develops self-awareness, however, and stops being quite so compliant.” Neat Vertical fact extra: Chi’s Sweet Home, released just a few weeks ago, has already become Vertical Inc’s best selling release. Wow!

And lastly in this SDCC round-up comes from the Canadian company Drawn & Quarterly who had a couple new titles to share at the event: Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths and NonNonBâ both by Shigeru Mizuki. Both are older titles by a manga artist known best for their work GeGeGe no Kitarō (which hasn’t yet been released in English).

Apologies to any who now have a four word jingle stuck in their head and want to clean things with the aid of a brawny bald man. Here we are on Monday, meaning San Diego Comic Con is behind us for another year. Not as many announcements as people were hoping but still some fun new titles to look forward to. As I’m all behind on posting on them, we can look at it as a sort of extended SDCC 2010… right?

Tokyopop had its panel mid-weekend and offered up few new series for the masses:

The staff also went over the list of upcoming releases which you can read in its entirety over at AnimeNewsNetwork. After noticing an absence of a number of titles I was really looking forward (such as the newest volumes of Matsuri Akino’s series), I asked over Twitter and was promptly responded to by Tokyopop who assured me they were coming soon (with picture proof!). Now that’s service :)

Other tidbits of news included confirmation of the new Gakuen Heaven titles discovered on Amazon a few months ago ( Endo ~ Calling you & Shichijo ~ Sweet Sweet Darling) along with schedule updates for a few other BLU titles as well – “Baseball Heaven, due out 10/12/10, Stray Cat by Halco (11/9/10), Secretary’s Love by tohko Akiba (12/7/10), and You and Me, Etc. by Kyuugou (2/8/11)” (from ANN)

Tokyopop will also be releasing some jigsaw puzzles for their original properties (yay?), will be releasing more manga via digital means at $5.99 a book and shared some more details on a How To Draw Shoujo Manga book which will include material from Japanese company Hakusensha’s line-up including fan-favourites Ouran Host Club and Fruits Basket.

First I was without internet for a few days and then SDCC popped up to distract me but that’s no reason to let a string of manga releases go unappreciated here on Kuriousity! Seven Seas spent some time dropping fun hints over Twitter for three new manga licenses while the eager and informed deciphered them. A press release then confirmed the titles which are all due for release in 2011:

Amnesia Labyrinth – Nagaru Tanigawa
“When high school student Souji Kushiki, an academic achiever and talented athlete from a well-to-do family, returns home from boarding school, he finds that his sisters Harumi, Youko, and Saki have changed. However, when Souji arrives at school the next day, he learns that, during the summer, one of the students in his class was pushed to his death in front of a subway train. And what’s more, two other students were stabbed by an unknown culprit. Are the victims linked, and could Souji’s sisters have anything to do with the murders?” (Vol. 01 coming February 2011)

Tora Dora – Yuyuko Takemiya/Yasu
“It’s Ryuji’s first day in junior high school and it seems as if things are looking up. He gets to sit in between his only friend, Yusaku, and more importantly, the girl he’s secretly crushing on, Minori Kushieda. But just when he thinks the stars are aligned in his favor, he unwittingly crosses the most feared girl in school, Taiga Aisaku, making her into his arch enemy. To top it off, Taiga has moved in right next door to Ryuji and happens to be Minori’s best friend! Can this school year possibly get any worse?!” (Vol. 01 coming March 2011)

A Certain Scientific Railgun – Kazuma Kamach/Kiyotaka Haimura
“Welcome to a world where mysticism and science collide, and supernatural powers are derived from either science or religion. At the heart of this world is Academy City, an advanced metropolis whose population is comprised mostly of students. Meet Mikoto Misaka, the third most powerful Level 5 esper in Academy City. Together with her best friend Kuroko Shirai and the other members of Judgment, a student-run law enforcement agency, Mikoto delves deep into the dark heart of the scientific sprawl she calls home, and uncovers secrets she wishes she hadn’t!” (Vol. 01 coming June 2011).

Personally I’m pretty indifferent to the titles themselves, all being new to me aside from in passing mention (though Toradora sounds cute), but it is promising seeing Seven Seas releasing some new titles and apparently very fandom-supported titles at that. Hope the fans enjoy!

San Diego Comic Con is upon us! As one of the largest (the largest?) convention of its kind, it tends to be a safe bet we’ll hear some snazzy manga news from the packed convention panel rooms over the weekend. So far the biggest list goes to Yen Press who had their panel today. The folks on Twitter and ANN were there to share the news -

New licenses:

Aron’s Absurd Armada – Misun Kim
Highschool of the Dead – Shoji Sato/Daisuke Sato
Higurashi: When They Cry Demon Exposing Arc – En Kitou
Otoyome-Gatari (The Bride’s Stories) – Kaoru Mori
Uraboku (The Betrayal Knows My Name) – Hotaru Odagiri *Missed one!

The title here that really excites me is Kaoru Mori’s The Bride’s Stories. Granted, I was rather bored by Emma and couldn’t finish but I really like her artwork and after watching some digital art-processes with some of the cover art from The Bride’s Stories, I was in love. I look forward to giving another of her series a go and Yen Press should give it fantastic treatment, which according to Deb Aoki “will be a hardcover edition w/ a larger trim size”. Extra shiny!

In other news:

After announcing back in April that Yen Plus would be moving to digital, Yen Press staff announced at their panel that today is the day. Starting today a free preview of the format and content is available up on their new Yen Plus website. All it takes is signing up for an account and you’re ready to go.

I must say, the cost of $2.99 a month is a really good price and includes access to the current and past months’ edition of Yen Plus. New content, serialized chapters and each issue is available to the purchaser for two months after its released. I also like that they chose not to make it Flash based – it loads really smoothly and can be viewed on mobile devices such as iPads. More info is available via their site’s FAQ page – though the link most will likely be curious about (“What series are in the magazine?”) is currently not working.

My only real issue with Yen Plus digital as it stands now is the difficulty much of their target audience will have paying for the subscription. It’s only available via PayPal (which works through credit cards or bank accounts) and this isn’t something the younger audience really has access to. I hope they have some sort of at-convention registration process as well in the future. Not being able to buy subscriptions in multiple month installments also seems like something people won’t like but this policy could change as the process evolves. All a learning experience!

During their panel’s Q&A, YP staff also stated they’re not currently looking into license-rescuing any of the titles previously held by the recently expunged CMX, and they don’t at this time have any new light novel announcements to make.

This afternoon Viz Media had their panel down at Anime Expo. During the panel they confirmed a number of Viz Media titles that’ve popped up on Amazon and retail sites in recent months (such as Genkaku Picasso and Itsuwaribito) and had some new titles for eager ears as well!

You can check out the complete list of titles under the cut:

Read more…

Anime Expo, North America’s largest anime convention, is upon us once again this weekend! The internet’s been buzzing with excitement from industry folk, bloggers, guests and attendees alike in the weeks leading up to it – and though I can only speak as a spectator to the spectators – it certainly feels like the excitement has reached a level greater than the decline of last year, which saw less industry-presence and fewer announcements.

The big manga news to start goes to Digital Manga who had their panel on Thursday evening. AnimeNewsNetwork is covering all the major events of the convention and thanks to them I’m able to offer the abridged version here for your curious eyes:

Read more…

Some technical difficulties over the weekend put a bump in my final update regarding Anime North but while I await the retrieval of some material, I notice it’s been a while since we’ve had a news snippet post. Time for some boys’ love loving with news today.!There’s been a few tidbits the past while so here’s a quick round-up of each:

AnimeNewsNetwork is reporting the next Gakuen Heaven manga has been listed on Amazon by BLU (the boys’ love imprint of Tokyopop). The book was also listed in this month’s Preview catalog from Diamond Comics. The company has already released the first two of the Gakuen Heaven books. Based on a boys ‘ love sim game, each book follows the lead character being involved with a different character. The title of this third volume is Gakuen Heaven: Endo ~Calling You~. BLUManga has also posted on their Twitter account that the third volume of Voice or Noise has gone to the printers (yay!).

Yaoi Con has updated its website with a whole look and a bunch of new announcements. This year’s Yaoi Con, North America’s largest convention dedicated to boys’ love, is celebrating its ten year anniversary. They’ve updated their website with guest information – including Hinako Takanaga, Ayane Yamano, Jo Chen and Kano Miyamoto – as well as information regarding returning events such as their AMV contest.

Over at The Yaoi Review, blogger Jennifer LeBlanc has proclaimed June to be Global Boys’ Love Month. Over the month she’ll be covering boys’ love works from creators around the world. Should be lots of interesting stuff to come!

On the note of global boys’ love, there’s some related news to check out on that front as well:

Artist Jo Chen, whose gorgeous painted works can often be seen on the cover of Marvel comics and Buffy issues, has some new independently released books that are definitely worth a look. Firstly she’s completed her first doujin (noted by Yaoi Con) – In These Words. The work is 52 pages altogether and was sold at the recent Fanime, plus will be available at Yaoi Con. Secondly she’s also releasing an art book of her cover illustrations, restricted to only 1500 copies, that she’s selling through e-mail. The book is in Chinese, has 140 pages and costs $45.

Tina Anderson, GlobBL creator whose work include Only Words and the web comic, Whore of Turfan, has a new independently published work coming out with the pre-order date closing in. Loud Snow is  a story of “romantic ice-age hilarity” with art by Amelie Belcher. A digital edition is already available via Kindle with a version soon to be available on eManga. The print edition is coming out this July with pre-orders available for only $8.00.

Can’t let anime have all the license-rescue fun – Seven Seas has leapt into the fray of serial-saves and has picked up the rights to Gunslinger Girl (“…a dark action-packed series about a secret counter-terrorism unit that transforms young girls into ruthless killers.”) and Blood Alone (“…a beautifully drawn, lyrical Vampire manga…”). Both stories were originally published by ADV Manga and Infinity Studios, respectively.

Seven Seas will be releasing both titles in omnibus format for their first halves with single volumes rounding off the series’. Both will have new translation and lettering work done as well with release dates starting in February 2011. You can check out the complete press release for all the details.

Along with these titles, Seven Seas has also confirmed the omnibus editions of several of their previously released series: Strawberry Panic and Venus Versus Virus. They’re also announced omnibus editions of Hayate x Blade and Inukami.

As someone who’s been picking up random volumes of Seven Seas books for a while, I’m really excited to see so many omnibus editions. Even at risk of sounding like a commercial, they’re a great cost-effective way to check out a series that has troublesome-to-find volumes from first-runs. I’ve recently picked up the first volume of Hayate x Blade but think I’ll wait for the omnibus edition for the next two – feels like a good series to read it decent-sized chunks too. Omnibus – the continued wave of manga print future?

Also recently appearing on Amazon are listings for several potentially-new series from Seven Seas: Dragon Blade Warrior, Femme Ares: Girl God of War and Master Thieves: Phantom & Darkness.

After weeks of teasing via their Twitter account, a listing on Amazon.com finally slaps a fairly definitive seal on Tokyopop‘s license acquisition of Hetalia Axis Powers. The online retail site lists the first volume of the series with a release date of September 2010. (via ANN)

Hetalia Axis Powers, which has garnered quite a fan following in recent years, is a satire series that plays on events occurring around the World Wars with involved-countries portrayed as human characters. Though originally starting as a web comic, it’s since been released in published manga form and most recently as an anime (which Funimation has licensed).

Along with Hetalia, Amazon’s recent update of Tokyopop listings include a couple other notable titles:

Black Gate by Yukiko Sumiyoshi
Eensy Weensy Monster by Masami Tsuda

Black Gate has a page count of 576 pages so it looks to be an omnibus release. Speaking of which, Amazon also lists a summer omnibus release of Queenie-chan’s The Dreaming series, which was originally released in three volumes between 2005-2007.

Continuing with my news catch-up this week, one of the biggest stirs in the manga blogosphere recently is news that Fantagraphics is preparing to release books from a newly announced line of manga titles.

The company, who’s no stranger to publishing comics with gems such as Peanuts and Usagi Yojimbo under their belt, officially announced the line-up this past Wednesday. Their focus seems to be on less ‘manga-mainstream’ targeted titles, including the ever-apparently-risky classic shoujo.

“The first book, entitled A Drunken Dream, is a collection of literary short stories by Hagio falling into multiple genres, created between 1971-2007. This tome travels through several of Hagio’s most revolutionary and poignant tales that span over the years of her lush career.

In December 2010 comes one of the defining transgendered-centric manga, Wandering Son. Shimura Takako’s ongoing series follows two young friends, Shuichi and Yoshino. These 5th graders struggle not only with puberty, but also severe identity issues; Shuichi is a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshino is a girl who wants to be a boy. The two find solace in their mutual confusion and help each other cope with their gender frustration while embarking on the complicated journey of growing up.”

These books aren’t Fantagraphics first foray into manga, having already released a couple relevant books including Tori Miki’s Anywhere But Here. This is the first time they’ve announced an actual line-up and there’s already lots of anticipation for what chances this could give more obscure titles when it comes to seeing a release in North America.

Knowing the quality of the books Fantagraphics releases, and really eager to own an English edition of Wandering Son, I’d say this is pretty great news. No complaints about another publisher bringing us more manga (especially one already so well established) and their choices are both bold and intriguing. Best of luck to them!

On the one night in who-knows-how-long that I decide to go to bed a few hours early, Digital Manga goes and finally drops the F-word! You know the one, boys’ love fans. But I can’t complain about having good news to wake up to. Fans rejoice – Ayano Yamane’s popular Finders series is no longer in English-license limbo!

Digital Manga has announced that they will be releasing the Finders Series under their June boys’ love imprint. It looks like it’ll be printed at their 801Media cut-size. Digital Manga has  set up a website specific for the release at FinderSeries.com. Along with the press release, the site has short character bios and the series’ synopsis.

“While our on assignment trying to document the illegal activities of the Japanese underworld, the photographer Takaba crosses paths with the dark and mysterious leader Asami. Asami  takes Takaba captive, in an attempt to subjugate and possess him. But when the son of the Chinese mafia enters demanding evidence that Takaba may have, will Takaba be able to survive being caught in the crosshairs of a deadly underworld feud?”

The first volume of June’s edition of Finders will be in summer 2010 – which isn’t that far off from right now. It’s almost as if they were conveniently timing it for some event with overlapping interest…

Though the excitement over this news is already apparent, it’s been long-anticipated along with the concern from fans that by being published under the June imprint could mean that the Finder Series will face minor edits and censoring of the original work. Many assumed that because of the graphic nature of Finder Series it would be published under their 801Media imprint to avoid this (myself included admittedly), as they have with other of Ayano Yamane’s series. While Digital Manga has censored some of its June imprint work in the past, these edits were very minimal and this does not mean that the Finder Series will have changes.

Those interested in the news can check out Digital Manga’s complete press release which also includes word directly from Libre Shuppan, Japanese license-holders of the series.

As a short history lesson, the Finder Series was previously licensed by the now-defunct BeBeautiful which released three volumes of the 5-book series, all of which have spent years selling for inordinate amounts of money after they went out of print. Those who couldn’t afford $200 a book need weep no longer.

During their webinar this evening, Tokyopop officially announced their acquisition of Kenji Sonishi’s Neko Ramen. The first volume of the English edition, Neko Ramen: Order Up!, was initially spotted on Amazon this past November.

Coming on the heels of a lengthy bout of pre-announcement hints and related media via their newsletters, Tokyopop is launching Neko Ramen with a hefty campaign including its own website, contests and Facebook page complete with the series’ trailer. Tokyopop has also already posted several preview strips on its website with future comics strips accessible to those who subscribe to their weekly newsletter.

The first of the currently-three Neko Ramen books (the series is still on-going) is scheduled for June 2010 and will be priced at $10.99/US. The books are rated for youth so readers young and old can enjoy some hairballs in this 4-koma style series about a cat who runs a ramen shop.

Along with news about Neko Ramen, Tokyopop staffers confirmed they’ll be speeding up Gakuen Alice to bi-monthly starting in June of this year. They also responded with a “no comment” to questions regarding their recent Twitter-teases about the license for the Hetalia 4-koma series.

Yen Press has officially announced a handful of new 2010 titles on their website this week, including a Fumi Yoshinaga title (yay!) and another Haruhi Suzumiya property:

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-Chan
“The first volume of the highly anticipated yon koma featuring all new adventures from Haruhi and the rest of the S.O.S. Brigade will debut in October 2010 to the cheers of Haruhi fans everywhere!”

K-ON – kakifly
“The four girls who make up their high school music club have set Japan on fire, and their fame is only going to grow when they take the stage for the first time in the states this fall!”

Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime – Mizuki Nomura
“BOOK GIRL AND THE SUICIDAL MIME is the story of Konoha Inoue, a gifted writer who’s lost his passion, who’s inducted into his school’s literature club by it’s only other member, the beautiful Touko Amano – a book goblin who literally devours the printed word! Trust us, you’ll want to eat this one up!”

Not Love But Delicious Food – Fumi Yoshinaga
“Yoshinaga Fumi fans are in for a rare delicacy in November 2010 when Yen publishes NOT LOVE BUT DELICIOUS FOODS, a manga chronicling Y-Naga’s love of food and eateries in Japan. There are some hardcore Yoshinaga Fumi fans on staff at Yen Press, and they are salivating in anticipation of this book’s release!”

Golidlocks and the Seven Squat Bears – Émile Bravo
“Readers young and old alike will delight in the misadventures of these dwarf bruins as they attempt to rid their home of the giant lady who’s fallen asleep in their beds. Expect to see lots of cameo appearances by some of your favorite fairy tale figures from your youth!”

Also, a thank you to all of my readers who e-mailed me regarding these new titles when they popped up on Amazon a couple weeks ago – you’re super eagle-eyed and very considerate! Though I had found the titles when they initially went live on retail sites I chose not to post about them by request from the publisher. Your e-mails were much appreciated and I hope noone feels slighted by the delay in the news posting. It’s more fun to hear from the publisher directly, officially and confirmed I think :)

Vertical Inc is adding another Osamu Tezuka title to their growing catalog, this time with their license of, Ayako.

Originally published in 1972, ANN has the following synopsis:

“Jiro Tenge, the second son of what used to be an influential Japanese family, returns home after being a POW in an American camp during the Second World War. He finds his family corrupted by the terrible social aftereffects of the war. His elder brother, determined to keep what remains of the family patrimony after the Government’s forced land reallocation, has prostituted his wife to his father to secure his blessing, while other members of Jiro’s family have been drawn into similar corruption, and he himself is being forced to spy for the Americans after being broken as a POW. Now the family’s youngest daughter Ayako will have to bear the brunt of the family’s sins.”

In the past week Vertical has posted several hints on Twitter to eager eyes including “It’s gonna be a whopper! 704 pages. Great female lead. Cover design by P Mendelsund!!”. Though the license was repeatedly said to have an embargo on it, the book never-the-less appeared on Amazon late-Tuesday afternoon with the newly designed cover (the cover is actually for a previously released book, not Ayako – thanks for the correction, calaggie!).

(Editor note: Out of respect for the initial intended-surprise, I personally made the choice to withhold this information until Vertical confirmed it at their recent event Wednesday evening. Vertical representatives have yet to publicly speak about this title online.)

At 704 pages, this release of Ayako is likely a single omnibus collection of the original three books. Ayako is scheduled for tentative release in October 2010.

Lives of Butterfly Puzzles on Amazon? … so to speak. Fellow Kuriousity reviewer Andre has spotted some new books on Amazon.ca early this week from Tokyopop:

Lives (Vol. 01) – Masayuki Taguchi [Nov 29 2010]

“The peaceful lives of many are taken away as a freak meteor shower destroys the Kanto area of Japan. However, the lives of the victims aren’t lost, as they start to awaken one by one into a strange pre-historic world…”

Butterfly (Vol. 01) – Yu Aikawa [Jan 3 2011]

Puzzle+ (Vol. 01) – Manami Sugano (unconfirmed) [Jan 3 2011]

Please keep in mind that until titles are officially annouced by the company, all listings found on retail sites remain purely speculative.