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 […]

Kodansha Comics has rescued The Drops of God and released new volumes, never before available in English, digitally. With last week’s update, half the series is now available. Vertical previously put out the first four volumes of The Drops of God in print in 2011-2012 (ending with chapter 77), along with a jump-ahead volume, The Drops of God: New World (which included chapters 210-227). It’s about a competition to identify 12 outstanding wines pitting the son of a noted wine […]

During the pandemic quarantine, book publishing is mostly continuing and comic book publishing has mostly ceased. Which lead to me wondering what the manga publishers are doing. They have very little dependence on the comic market stores, so that shutdown doesn’t matter to them. But many bookstores are also closed, reducing the ability to reach customers, and manga series are serialized, making it important to keep readers hooked. The publishers, in general, are slowing down their release schedule and converting […]