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 […]

Viz Originals, an imprint from the manga publisher announced last year as an outlet for “original graphic novels developed by manga-inspired creators”, has made public news of one of its first titles. Due out in October is a graphic novel adaptation of Rainbow Rowell’s novel Fangirl. (I love this book. I had her autograph it in Chicago this year.) Fangirl: The Manga will be adapted by Sam Maggs (The Fangirl’s Guide to the Galaxy) and illustrated by Gabi Nam (who […]

Two sales you might want to take advantage of, if you’re looking for reading material and don’t mind digital for your manga. The first is a whole flock of first volumes for 99 cents each. 270, to be exact, from Kodansha and Vertical. (Need some ideas? Here are all my Kodansha manga reviews.) This is a great way to sample the start of a series! Sale runs through April 13. Secondly, there’s a comiXology originals sale that includes the entire […]

My favorite current manga series, Fumi Yoshinaga’s What Did You Eat Yesterday?, will become available for digital purchase this coming Tuesday, March 17. It’s a wonderful read, about a middle-aged gay couple. One partner is a hairstylist, the other a lawyer, and the lawyer cooks something every chapter. These aren’t fancy dishes, but everyday meals based around grocery bargains or seasonal dishes or what will use up leftovers or what brings back good memories. There are 14 volumes available in […]

The Udon Entertainment release of The Rose of Versailles exists! I have touched a copy! See photo proof below. The release of this historically important manga was originally announced in 2015, but production and localization (and the desire to make the release the best it could be) delayed that date. It’s been made available for order through comic shops, with a planned release this month, but current information indicates it will ship in mid-January. I just wanted to let those […]

Although it’s a horror manga, which I normally can’t tolerate, I really enjoy The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. The art is wonderfully detailed, the characters are wacky and interesting, and the ghost stories often have a revenge / “twist in the tail” aspect that keeps them interesting. Unfortunately, the most recent volume available in English was volume 14, which came out in the summer of 2015. I’m glad to see we don’t need to give up hope yet. Dark Horse […]

In 2015, Udon Entertainment announced that they would be publishing Riyoko Ikeda’s classic shojo manga Rose of Versailles. It’s about a woman dressing as a man and protecting Marie Antoinette as commander of her palace guard. It’s very frilly and starry-eyed, as suits its original 70s period of creation, but it’s also historically significant as an influential story. In early 2018, the publisher provided an update on their publishing plans. Now, the book is available for preorder, and I know […]