Long ago (2009), I wrote about Yokohama Shopping Trip (Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou). It was a scanted manga series where “sometime in the future, the world (or maybe just Japan) flooded. Fewer people live in smaller villages as a result, leading to a return to the simple life. The story follows Alpha, a robot (although you wouldn’t know it to look at her) who owns a coffee shop with almost no customers.” It’s a charming slice-of-life series that I adored because […]
Some amazing person has uploaded the episodes of America’s Greatest Otaku to the Internet Archive. This reality show was what Stu Levy did as an attempt to pivot Tokyopop from print to a “manga-lifestyle entertainment” company. It was filmed in 2010, aired in 2011, shortly before Levy, company founder, shut down the publishing side of the company. The publisher has since returned, albeit with plenty of people side-eyeing them. Anyway, enjoy a little slice of time capsule stupidity.
The Summit of the Gods was a mountaineering manga published in English by Fanfare/Ponent Mon between 2009 and 2015. (I’ve previously reviewed Volume 2 and Volume 3.) The appeal for me was the amazing art by Jiro Taniguchi. I’ve just noticed that it was adapted into an animated film by French director Patrick Imbert and is now available on Netflix in the US. (It had previously been a live-action film in Japan in 2016.) From an interview with Imbert: In […]
Kodansha has announced that until August 2nd, you can get free digital copies of a number of their series. Additionally, second volumes are 99 cents, and third volumes are $1.99. Three volumes of these popular series for three bucks is a terrific summer reading deal! Check your favorite digital vendor for this offer. I recommend grabbing the first of any you’re interested in and reading them in the next two weeks so you can buy more if you like them. […]
Given that I don’t read Japanese, it’s rare I get to make direct comparisons between an original manga volume and its English translation. So I was excited to see how much I could find out about Sherlock: The Great Game. This is the third, concluding volume in the manga series telling the story of the BBC show Sherlock‘s first season. It was published in English by Titan in 2018. I have a copy of the original Japanese printing of the […]
Kodansha has announced today that they are unifying their “English-language publishing program” with a new website, kodansha.us (formerly KodanshaComics.com), and the elimination of Vertical as a label. Well, they didn’t exactly announce that last part, but that’s one of the results. The combined website “spotlights not only the Kodansha manga you know and love but also highlights all of Kodansha’s award-winning and fan-favorite English-language, novels, cookbooks, craft guides, historical/cultural literature, and more.” This includes what was formerly Kodansha Comics, Kodansha […]
In the new Mangasplaining podcast (updated weekly), some comic and manga heavyweights — Deb Aoki, David Brothers, and Christopher Butcher — try to convince Chip Zdarsky to read manga by talking about great titles. The first episode covers Akira volume 1. I’m eagerly waiting for the second episode, about Delicious in Dungeon.
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 […]
I have been remiss in not linking to this before now. In the time frame of what would have been the New York Comic Con in mid-October, Deb Aoki, Brigid Alverson, Erica Friedman, Heidi MacDonald, and I did a livestream where we talked about manga for over an hour. It was a lot of fun! Deb, Brigid, and Erica read a lot more in that format than I do these days, and I got some good suggestions of titles to […]
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 […]
Tags
Releases recently
Moo Lander
Moo Lander is a 2D action-adventure where aliens are on the search for milk.
Pac-Man Museum+
Pac-Man Museum+ is a compilation of fourteen Pac-Man games.
My Little Pony: A Maretime Bay Adventure
The My Little Pony franchise comes to consoles with a platformer and minigame collection based on the series' fifth incarnation.
Arcade Spirits: The New Challengers
A stand-alone sequel to the original romance visual novel set in an arcade.
fault - StP - Lightkravte
fault - StP - Lightkravte is a visual novel.
The Day We Fought Space
The Day We Fought Space is an unconventional side-scrolling shoot 'em up.
My Time at Sandrock
Follow-up to the 2019 game My Time At Portia.
Yurukill: The Calumniation Games
Yurukill: The Calumniation Games mixes a murder mystery visual novel with bullet hell shoot 'em up gameplay.
Pac-Man Museum+
An updated and expanded version of 2014's Pac-Man Museum, this title includes 14 games, and a virtual arcade game selection method.
Sniper Elite 5
Sniper Elite 5 follows Karl Fairburne in 1944, France as he tries to stop "Operation Kraken" that could end the war before the invasion of Normandy.
Upcoming
Dwerve
Dwerve is a mashup of dungeon crawler and tower defense, letting the player explore dwarven ruins while fending off enemies using traps and turrets.
KUUKIYOMI: Consider It! ONLINE
Kuukiyomi gameplay with up to six other players from around the world.
Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium
A compilation of 32 classic Capcom arcade games.
Trash
An open-world game set in an abandoned future Earth.
Clash: Artifacts of Chaos
Battle Gem Ponies
Little super-powered ponies with gemstones on their chests like to fight each other in rapidfire shapeshifting combat.
Silt
A game about a diver with the power to possess living creatures.
Zodiac Legion
A tactical turn based fantasy RPG insipred by the original XCOM.
Hazel Sky
The engineer Shane must pass trials on an island or face banishment from his home!
Survive 10 minutes please
Survive 10 minutes please is action roguelike 2D zombie survival game where you have to survive 10 minutes against zombie horde by any means.