Kim Thompson From Fantagraphics Books Dead at 56

Kim Thompson, a co-publisher and co-owner of Fantagraphics Books, passed away on June 19, 2013 after a battle with lung cancer. He was 56 years old at the time of his passing.

Thompson was born in Denmark in 1956. After moving to Virginia, Thompson began working for The Comics Journal in 1977; a year later, he became the owner of the magazine. Fantagraphics Books began publishing comics in 1982, and Thompson helped bring selected European graphic novels for American publication during Fantagraphics’ first few years. Thompson was also in charge of Amazing Heroes magazine until 1992. Thompson is best known for working as an editor on Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo graphic novel series.

Fantagraphics has published a few manga titles: Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream and Heart of Thomas and Takako Shimura’s Wandering Son manga series. The company is planning to publish Inio Asano’s Nijigahara Holograph manga.

Thompson is survived by his wife, mother, father and brother.

New Manga Releases: June 18, 2013

Here are the new manga releases for June 18, 2013. If you see any errors or omissions in this list, please feel free to contact me and let me know.

Air Gear GN 28
Children of the Sea GN 5
Kitchen Princess Omnibus GN 4
Utsubora – The Story of a Novelist GN

Manga Review: “A Devil and Her Love Song” Volume Eight

Article first published as Manga Review: A Devil and Her Love Song – Volume Eight by Miyoshi Tomori on Blogcritics.

A Devil and Her Love Song Volume Eight is a manga by Miyoshi Tomori, and it was published in North America by Viz Media’s Shojo Beat imprint in 2013. The series is rated “T” for teens; from what I’ve read of the series so far, I would agree with this rating.

The main character of the series is Maria Kawaii, a girl who transferred to Totsuka High School after being expelled from St. Katria for beating up a teacher. At the beginning of the series, she was misunderstood and bullied by many of her classmates; however, she was still able to make friends with Yusuke Kanda, Shin Meguro, and Tomoyo Kousaka.

The second story arc of the series focused on Maria reuniting with Anna Mouri, a girl she considered her best friend while she was a student at St. Katria. As Tomori promised in her Author’s Note at the end of Volume Seven, this story arc resolves in Volume Eight; in fact, the resolution of this story arc is the very first section of Volume Eight. Personally, I was satisfied with how Tomori brought this story arc to a close; it was a realistic way to end that story, and she made sure she didn’t drag the conclusion out very long.

This volume sees Maria realizing that she’s still in love with Shin, even if he doesn’t seem to be returning her feelings. Unfortunately, Maria’s feelings become confused by the introduction of Shintaro Kurosu, a new freshman who has taken an interest in Maria. Shintaro is a loner and doesn’t really try to hang out with the other kids in his own grade level.

So Maria is now up to three potential love interests: Shin, Yusuke, and Shintaro. However, Volume Eight focuses more heavily on Shin and Shintaro, and not much on Yusuke. Unfortunately, Shintaro comes across as a stalker and acts rather possessive of Maria. I assume Tomori designed him this way intentionally, so the reader doesn’t want Shintaro and Maria to get together.

For me, Shintaro is such an unlikable character that I hope this story arc resolves sooner rather than later. I think Tomori’s whole point with this story arc is to open Shin’s eyes up to the fact that if he likes Maria that he’d better make his move before someone else takes her away. However, I think this can be accomplished rather quickly, so I’m hoping this storyline doesn’t go on for more than one more volume. Tomori ended Volume Eight with a cliffhanger, so if you want to know what happens next, you have to read Volume Nine.

While Volume Eight was a decent read, I didn’t think it was quite as strong as the previous seven volumes in the series. If you’ve enjoyed reading A Devil and Her Love Song prior to this volume, you’ll need to read Volume Eight to find out what happens next; however, you could potentially be a little disappointed by the new story arc introduced in Volume Eight.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of A Devil and Her Love Song Volume Eight that I checked out through the King County Library System.

New York Times Manga Best Seller List: June 2-8, 2013

Here are the top ten selling manga in the United States for the week of June 2-8, 2013, according to the New York Times.

1. Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal Volume 3 by Shin Yoshida and Naohito Miyoshi
2. Lone Wolf and Cub Omnibus Volume 1 by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima
3. One Piece Volume 67 by Eiichiro Oda
4. Pokémon Black and White Volume 10 by Hidenori Kusaka
5. Skip Beat! Volume 31 by Yoshiki Nakamura
6. Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game Volume 2 by QuinRose
7. Pokémon Adventures: Diamond and Pearl/Platinum Volume 8 by Hidenori Kusaka
8. Naruto Volume 61 by Masashi Kishimoto
9. Soul Eater Volume 14 by Atsushi Ohkubo
10. Sailor Moon Volume 11 by Naoko Takeuchi

Manga Review: “Sailor Moon” Volume 11

Article first published as Manga Review: Sailor Moon – Volume 11 by Naoko Takeuchi on Blogcritics.

Sailor Moon Volume 11 is a manga with the story and art by Naoko Takeuchi. Kodansha Comics has the North American distribution rights for the manga, and their English adaptation of this volume was released in 2013. Sailor Moon is rated “T” for teens 13 and up; from what I’ve read of the series, I would agree with this rating.

A new story arc begins in Volume 11, and Mamoru is heading off to America to study at Harvard. When Usagi goes to see Mamoru off, he gives her a ring. After she’s given the ring, something strange happens to Mamoru and Usagi passes out. She’s rescued by three people who have not appeared previously in the series. Around this same time, Chibi-usa returns to the 30th century

Shortly after, a boy band called Three Lights hits it big, and the three members transfer into Usagi’s high school. As the volume progresses, it’s revealed there’s more to Three Lights than meets the eye. Chibi-Chibi-Chan also enters the storyline; she looks an awful lot like she should be related to Usagi somehow, but the child doesn’t give any information about who she is or where she comes from.

The new villain introduced in this arc is Sailor Galaxia. She is wanting to acquire all of the Sailor Crystals, and it appears she is ultimately after Sailor Moon for her Silver Moon Crystal.

With this volume, Takeuchi has drastically expanded the concept of the Sailor Guardians and now there are a lot more of them that come from all over the Milky Way. To be honest, by the time I finished the volume, I found myself feeling rather overwhelmed and a bit confused by just how quickly Takeuchi expanded the Sailor Moon universe.

One of the biggest questions in this volume is who exactly Chibi-Chibi-Chan is; however, by the end of the volume, the reader is still no closer to understanding who she is at the end of the volume than they were when she was first introduced into the story. There’s only one more volume of the Sailor Moon series left, so I suspect more information about Chibi-Chibi-Chan will be revealed during the final volume.

While I have thought that the plots in some of the earlier volumes were strange, I think this story arc wins the prize for being the strangest of them all. Volume 11 spends a lot of time building up the storyline, introducing a whole bunch of new characters, and expanding on the already established universe; combining all of these elements makes this particular volume a bit of dense read. With only one volume left, I’m afraid Takeuchi ended up rushing through this storyline in order to conclude it.

There’s a preview of Volume 12 at the back of the book that’s in English. It’s definitely from the first five pages of the next volume, and it picks up exactly where Volume 11 ends.

After reading Volume 11, it seems like it would probably appeal more to the die-hard Sailor Moon fans than to more casual readers like myself. It’s not that it’s a bad read, but I think a more casual reader is more likely to be left confused by this storyline than anything else, and may not feel as invested to go on to Volume 12 in order to find out what happens.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of Sailor Moon Volume 11 that I checked out through the King County Library System.

New Manga Releases: June 11, 2013

Here are the new manga releases for June 11, 2013. If you see any errors or omissions in this list, please feel free to contact me and let me know.

Arata: The Legend GN 14
His Favorite GN 4
Loveless GN 11
No. 6 GN 1
Sankarea: Undying Love GN 1
Sleeping Moon GN 1

Manga Review: “Pokemon Black and White” Volume Nine

Article first published as Manga Review: Pokemon Black and White – Volume Nine by Hidenori Kusaka on Blogcritics.

Pokemon Black and White Volume Nine is a manga based on the Pokemon Black and Pokemon White video games. The manga was written by Hidenori Kusaka, and the art was done by Satoshi Yamamoto. Viz Media released this manga in North America through its VizKids imprint in 2013. Pokemon Black and White is rated “A,” which means it is suitable for readers of all ages.

Volume Nine begins with Black and White heading their separate ways and going on their own adventures. The volume opens with Black on his way to Driftveil City, but is unable to get there due to a bridge malfunction. Black learns there’s more going on than a simple bridge malfunction, and finds himself tangled up in a Pokemon battle.

Meanwhile, White is on the Battle Subway, where she’s training in order to try to improve her skills for Pokemon battles. While she’s on the subway, White finds a stowaway who claims to write books about Pokemon. During their ride, legendary Pokemon appear, and it’s revealed the writer is more than simply just a writer.

The volume ends with Black arriving in Driftveil City and running into his friend, Cheren. The two friends find themselves caught up in a battle with Team Plasma, the antagonists of the series who believe in liberating Pokemon.

Story-wise, what I read in Volume Nine is essentially the type of stories I have come to expect from the Pokemon Black and White manga series. It was also nice to see Team Plasma show up again during this volume, because I do like the idea of an antagonist group thinking they’re fighting for a cause like Pokemon liberation. Unfortunately, at this point in the series, I don’t think that Team Plasma is utilized as much as they should be in order for this motivation to be as strong as it should be. I keep hoping that Team Plasma will have a bigger role to play as the series progresses.

Probably my favorite portion of this volume is the story that takes place on the Battle Subway. I thought I had an idea who the writer was really affiliated with, but I was surprised when I discovered that my guess was wrong. While I think the three Legendary Pokemon that appear in this portion of the story are a little on the ridiculous side, I liked the overall execution of that storyline.

And to me, the weakest portion of the volume was the story about the bridge; in the long run, it doesn’t appear to add anything important for the series. Perhaps I will discover later on in the series that there was more significance to that storyline than there currently appears to be on the surface.

If you’re a Pokemon fan who has enjoyed the previous eight volumes of Pokemon Black and White, I think you’ll also enjoy Pokemon Black and White Volume Nine.

I wrote this review after reading a copy of Pokemon Black and White Volume Nine that I checked out through the King County Library System.

Naruto Is Top Selling Graphic Novel in the U.S. for May 2013

Naruto Volume 61 by Masashi Kishimoto came in at number one on Nielsen BookScan’s list of top 20 graphic novels in American bookstores for May 2013.

Other manga titles that appeared in the top 20 for May 2013 are:

• Sailor Moon Volume 11 by Naoko Takeuchi (#4)
• Black Bird Volume 16 by Kanoko Sakurakouji (#9)
• Sailor Moon Volume 10 by Naoko Takeuchi (#10)
• Black Butler Volume 13 by Yana Toboso (#12)
• Dance in the Vampire Bund Volume 14 by Nozomu Tamakiana (#14)
• Naruto Volume 60 by Masashi Kishimoto (#17)
• Naruto Omnibus Volume 5 by Masashi Kishimoto (#18)

The BookScan rankings include sales from Barnes & Noble and other book chains, independent bookshops, and online purchases; however, sales at comic book stores, Walmart and some other venues are not included.

New York Times Manga Best Seller List: May 26-June 1, 2013

Here are the top ten selling manga in the United States for the week of May 26-June 1, 2013, according to the New York Times.

1. Sailor Moon Volume 11 by Naoko Takeuchi
2. Naruto Volume 61 by Masashi Kishimoto
3. Durarara!! Saika Arc Volume 2 by Ryohgo Narita and Akiyo Satorigi
4. Attack on Titan Volume 1 by Hajime Isayama
5. Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game Volume 2 by QuinRose
6. Cage of Eden Volume 10 by Yashinobu Yamada
7. Black Bird Volume 16 by Kanoko Sakurakoji
8. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex Volume 4 by Yu Kinutani
9. Blood Lad Volume 3 by Yuuki Kodama
10. Black Butler Volume 13 by Yana Toboso

Seven Seas Licenses Zero’s Familiar Chevalier

Seven Seas Entertainment has announced that the company has acquired the license for Noboru Yamaguchi and Yukari Higa’s Zero’s Familiar Chevalier sequel manga series.

The company says it will be releasing the series in four single volumes, and that the first volume will be shipping in mid-2014.