While reading this New York Times article about the drive to raise sake sales by suggesting pairings with Western food, I was reminded of reading Oishinbo a la Carte: Sake. That volume talks about how well sake pairs with seafood; so does this article. “Sake is surprisingly versatile,” [said Kensuke Shichida, the head of a centuries-old sake brewery in southern Japan]. “I’ve discovered it goes well with many Western recipes, perhaps even better than wine or beer.” Fresh oysters, for […]

At Anime Expo, Dark Horse announced that they would be continuing the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service manga series. The last volume released was volume 13, which came out at the end of 2012. Although it’s a horror series, with a group of misfits dealing with zombies and investigating sometimes grotesque murders, I quite enjoy Kurosagi for its exploration of the dark side of human nature and its gruesomely lovely, detailed art, so I’m glad to hear we’ll get more. No […]

L’Oreal Paris has introduced Miss Manga mascara, a new brand promising “oversized, over-the-top lash volume… for the ultimate wide-eyed manga look.” It comes in black, black brown, or blackest black. Here’s the ad, which involves a cartoon panda ad, bright pink, and a “main-ga” pronunciation. Turns out that this line was first launched in the UK, where it was also offered in Violet and Turquoise. Wow, the 80s are back! Reviews of the product are mixed, with some calling it […]

Kodansha Comics has announced an upcoming title I’m excited by, Manga Dogs. That’s their English title for GDGD-DOGS by Ema Toyama. Her previous works I Am Here! and Missions of Love have already been released in English. Manga Dogs is the story of three wannabe manga artists (all pretty boys) with “ridiculous delusions” about the craft. Their classmate Kanna is already published, so they fixate on her to teach them in their school’s drawing class. Kodansha calls it a “sharp-witted […]

I very much enjoyed the shojo manga series High School Debut, so I have mixed emotions about this omnibus news. On the one hand, I’m glad more people will have a chance to read the series; on the other, putting new material in the reprints makes me gnash my teeth, since I don’t want to rebuy books for that reason. Then again, it’s only one book, and it sounds as though 2/3 of it (for the price of 1 1/2 […]