Kodansha has announced today that they are unifying their “English-language publishing program” with a new website, kodansha.us (formerly KodanshaComics.com), and the elimination of Vertical as a label. Well, they didn’t exactly announce that last part, but that’s one of the results. The combined website “spotlights not only the Kodansha manga you know and love but also highlights all of Kodansha’s award-winning and fan-favorite English-language, novels, cookbooks, craft guides, historical/cultural literature, and more.” This includes what was formerly Kodansha Comics, Kodansha […]

In the new Mangasplaining podcast (updated weekly), some comic and manga heavyweights — Deb Aoki, David Brothers, and Christopher Butcher — try to convince Chip Zdarsky to read manga by talking about great titles. The first episode covers Akira volume 1. I’m eagerly waiting for the second episode, about Delicious in Dungeon.

Mangajin ran from 1990-1997, a total of 70 issues. It was an English-language magazine that taught Japanese by using manga pages with translations and commentaries. Now, someone’s put the entire run online. I thought some readers might find this interesting for studying how manga became a factor in American popular culture and cross-cultural presentation.

As a tie-in to the upcoming US Thanksgiving holiday, Kodansha has put a number of food-connected digital manga titles on sale through November 30 in a promotion they’re calling “Delicious Delicacies”, with installments up to 50% off. The lead title is one of my very favorites, What Did You Eat Yesterday? by Fumi Yoshinaga. Unfortunately, not all the series volumes are discounted. Only the first half of the Yesterday series is included, for example, although it’s a great price for […]

If you’ve read any amount of manga or have an interest in Japanese culture, you’ve likely heard of Calpis. If nothing else, it’s one of those names that are accidentally funny in English, because of the sound. The actual beverage is a fruity, non-carbonated drink with a hint of yogurt. (It’s made through lactic acid fermentation.) It was first launched in 1919, it comes in several flavors, and it’s now more widely available in the US! It’s owned by Asahi, […]

Boy, Cells at Work is its own little franchise, isn’t it? Makes sense — we’re all curious about how bodies work, and anthropomorphizing the functions and processes gives it all a sense of adventure (and in many cases with these series, fan service). In addition to the original manga by Akane Shimizu, Kodansha Comics has released in English Cells at Work! Code Black (about a guy with more adult problems, by Shigemitsu Harada and Issei Hatsuyoshiya) and two even more […]