Last month, I asked “Whatever Happened to the Rose of Versailles Plans?” This much-anticipated manga classic was announced in 2015 for release in 2016, but it has not yet appeared, and fans are curious. I emailed the publisher, Udon Entertainment, and now that things are settling down after the holidays and new year, they were kind enough to respond, as follows. While we do not have a solid date on release yet, the localization is coming along well. We have […]

As I’ve been looking back at manga I’ve enjoyed over the past few years, I realized that there was a much-anticipated project announced two and a half years ago that has yet to appear. As part of their appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con(TM) in 2015, Udon Entertainment announced that they would be publishing Riyoko Ikeda’s classic shojo manga Rose of Versailles. Dating from the 70s, Rose of Versailles is the story of a woman dressing as a man to […]

Seven Seas had a surprising success with this year’s My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness by Nagata Kabi. The manga broke through to new and crossover audiences with its autobiographical tale of a young woman coming to terms with her sexuality after a series of struggles, including hiring a prostitute. Now they’ve announced that they will be publishing a sequel. My Solo Exchange Diary explores “personal issues surrounding mental health, identity, and intimacy. Her relationship with her parents is growing more […]

I’m glad that digital distribution makes it easier for companies to bring certain manga titles to the English language market, but as a fogey, I have to admit I much prefer reading a book to flicking pages on my tablet. So I was glad to hear Kodansha announce that one of their digital series I was particularly interested in would be coming to print in summer of next year. Tokyo Tarareba Girls, by Akiko Higashimura, creator of Princess Jellyfish, has […]

Viz Media announced at New York Comic Con, among many other bits of news, that they will be re-releasing another series by Naoki Urasawa, as they did for his Monster. (Update: This story has been revised. The reprints will be in paperback, not hardcover.) Similar to that reprint, the 20th Century Boys re-release will be in double-length softcovers, titled 20th Century Boys: The Perfect Edition. The series ran in English as 22 volumes published from 2009-2012, and this new reprint […]

While finally trying to organize the review stacks, I realized that I have an extra copy of After Hours, the quietly atmospheric yuri manga about young women djs. So I’m giving it away! To enter to win this contest, leave a comment below telling me your favorite manga starring a young woman. A winner will be picked randomly from all entries on Friday, September 29. U.S. addresses only, please. Winners will be emailed to confirm address. If email is not […]

Out now is the super-sized Death Note All-in-One Edition. That’s 12 volumes’ worth of manga, 2400 pages, in one binding and a matching silver slipcase. Death Note was first released in English from 2005-2007. It’s the story of a high school student who meets a shinigami, a god of death, and so anyone whose name he writes in a special notebook (the “death note”) dies. It’s written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata, a team who also worked […]