This is a major change without much detail behind it yet. Viz Media, the long-standing publisher of translated manga, has been operating in the US since 1986. It’s owned by three major Japanese publishers. Many observers of the comic market, coming out of the superhero world, don’t pay attention to just how substantial they are. They have almost a quarter of book market graphic novel sales, far above any other publisher. Now they have announced that they are launching Viz […]

I’ve been enjoying Cells at Work!, the manga series by Akane Shimizu that anthropomorphizes red and white blood cells and dramatizes various body processes. Kodansha Comics has released five volumes in English so far, with volume 5 out last November. (I’m not sure what’s going on with volume 6. The February Previews catalog had a listing for it, due out mid-April, but that code now shows “item not found”. Amazon has a release date of 2080, which means its unavailable […]

Food manga is my favorite manga category. Whether it’s the heartwarming family cooking of Sweetness & Lightning or What Did You Eat Yesterday? or the fantasy of Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu or the solo woman restaurant visits of Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy! or Wakako Zake, sharing the vicarious experience of a tasty meal is a great read. So I’m glad to hear that Dark Horse will be releasing its first food manga, Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen […]

In an interview with Stu Levy at ICv2, the Tokyopop CEO gave some more information about the company’s plans to reprint Aria. Kozue Amano’s Aria (and its two-volume predecessor series Aqua) was a beautifully illustrated light science fiction series about girl gondoliers on a future Mars that looked a lot like historical Europe. The appeal to me was the mood it created, about appreciating nature, seasonal change, and the small moments of daily life. The first three volumes were first […]

This year, Kodansha is celebrating 10 years of publishing manga in English. For the “10 Years of Kodansha Comics” event, every month, they will spotlight a classic series. The January title is Akira by Katsuhiro Otomo, first published by Kodansha in October 2009. They have since released a hardcover Akira 35th Anniversary Edition Box Set, which won Eisners last year for Best Archival Collection/Project — Comic Books and Best Publication Design. It’s the story of motorcycle gangs in the post-apocalypse […]

Screw piracy! You want to read manga for free, at the same time it’s available in its home country? Viz is there for you! As of next Monday, December 17, the manga publisher will be releasing chapters digitally weekly, simultaneously with Japan, on shonenjump.com or via their app. Titles include One Piece, My Hero Academia, Boruto, and Dragon Ball Super. What’s the catch? To read chapters beyond the three most recent, you have to become a member for archive access, […]

Kodansha has announced, for the next week, an almost 50% off sale for over 800 volumes of digital manga. This is the time to buy, as $6 (for example) makes a lot more sense for a digital volume than $11. Sale ends Monday, November 12. If you’re looking for some recommendations, here are series I’ve enjoyed: Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? — reviewed here Tokyo Alice — reviewed here Those Summer Days Perfect World The Full-Time Wife Escapist […]

In amongst more isekai titles — although the press releases meant I learned that word, which describes a normal person trapped in another universe, usually a fantasy or video game world — Seven Seas will be releasing some interesting-sounding titles next year. The most prominent is Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey, a manga autobiography by Akiko Higashimura, who created the much-loved Princess Jellyfish and Tokyo Tarareba Girls. It’s due out May 21, 2019. High schooler Akiko has big plans […]