Manga Giveaway: Assassin’s Creed Giveaway Winner

Assassin's Creed: Awakening, Volume 1And the winner of the Assassin’s Creed: Awakening manga giveaway is… Sean Kleefeld!

As the winner, Sean (who does some great writing about comics) will be receiving a copy of the first volume in Takashi Yano and Kenji Oiwa’s Assassin’s Creed: Awakening as published in English by Titan Comics. Since pirates feature very prominently in the series, I wanted to learn about some of the giveaway participant’s favorite pirates from manga. Perhaps unsurprisingly considering the popularity of the series characters from Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece were mentioned several times, but some lesser-known pirates can be found in the giveaway comments, too.

Some of the manga released in English featuring pirates:
Assassin’s Creed: Awakening written by Takashi Yano, illustrated by Kenji Oiwa
Basara by Yumi Tamura
Berserk by Kentaro Miura
Black Lagoon by Rei Hiroe
Bodacious Space Pirates: Abyss of Hyperspace by Chibimaru
Captain Harlock by Leiji Matsumoto
Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage written by Leiji Matsumoto, illustrated by Kouiti Shimaboshi
Cirque du Freak by Takahiro Arai
Elemental Gelade by Mayumi Azuma
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass by Akira Himekawa
One Piece by Eiichiro Oda
Princess Knight by Osamu Tezuka
Queen Emeraldas by Leiji Matsumoto
Stone by Sin-ichi Hiromoto
Vinland Saga by Makoto Yukimura
Wanted by Matsuri Hino
Yona of the Dawn by Mizuho Kusanagi

I’m certain that the above list isn’t comprehensive, but I was a little surprised by how few series I was able to easily come up with that feature pirates! Still, it’s an interesting mix which includes historical pirates, fantasy pirates, space pirates, and more. Thank you to everyone who participated by sharing your personal favorites with me! I hope to see you all again for the next monthly giveaway.

Manga Giveaway: Assassin’s Creed Giveaway

The month of September brings a number of things along with it, such as the autumnal equinox (for us in the Northern Hemisphere, at least) and yet another manga giveaway at Experiments in Manga. For some, other September delights include International Talk Like a Pirate Day. As such, a manga about pirates would seem to be thematically appropriate for a giveaway, and so this month you all have a chance to win the first trade volume of Takashi Yano and Kenji Oiwa’s Assassin’s Creed: Awakening as published in English by Titan Comics. As usual, the giveaway is open worldwide!

Assassin's Creed: Awakening, Volume 1

Pirates, noble or otherwise, are a fairly popular character type in all sorts of media. The presence of pirates in a story generally brings along with it a promise of action, adventure, and sometimes even a bit of romance. Often their portrayal in fiction tends to be fairly glamorized when compared with historical and modern-day realities although there are certainly some stories that favor a more gritty approach.  When it comes to manga, there’s one particularly successful series that most people probably immediately think of when considering pirates (Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece), but there are plenty of other, lesser-known manga that feature pirates of one ilk or another as well. Part of Assasin’s Creed: Awakening, for example, takes place on the high seas during the early eighteenth century and, yes, there are most certainly pirates to be found.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of Assassin’s Creed: Awakening, Volume 1?

1) In the comments below, tell me a little about your favorite pirate from a manga. (If you don’t have a favorite, or haven’t read any, simply mention that instead.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

And there you have it! Anyone participating in the giveaway has one week to submit comments and can earn up to two entries. Comments can also be sent to me directly at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com if either needed or preferred. Those comments will then be posted here in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on October 4, 2017. Good luck!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address in the comment form, a link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced–Manga Giveaway: Assassin’s Creed Giveaway Winner

Manga Giveaway: A Variety of Vertical Comics Winner

Devils' Line, Volume 1Flying Witch, Volume 1
Mysterious Girlfriend X, Omnibus 1Nichijou: My Ordinary Life, Volume 1

And the winner of the Variety of Vertical Comics manga giveaway is… Michelle Gauthier!

As the winner, Michelle will be receiving the first volume of four manga series released by Vertical Comics: Ryo Hanada’s Devils’ Line, Chihiro Ishizuka’s Flying Witch, Riichi Ueshiba’s Mysterious Girlfriend X, and Keiichi Arawi’s Nichijou: My Ordinary Life. Since this giveaway focused on Vertical Comics, I asked participants to tell me a little about their favorite Vertical manga, too. Check out the giveaway comments for everyone’s detailed responses, and check out below for a list of some of Vertical’s manga.

Manga from Vertical Comics:
Arakawa under the Bridge by Hikaru Nakamura
Blame! by Tsutomu Nihei
Chi’s Sweet Home by Konami Kanata
Devil’s Line by Ryo Hanada
Dissolving Classroom by Junji Ito
Dream Fossil by Satoshi Kon
Flying Witch by Chihiro Ishizuka
The Flowers of Evil by Shuzo Oshimi
FukuFuku: Kitten Tales by Konami Kanata
The Garden of Words written by Makoto Shinkai, illustrated by Midori Motohashi
A Girl on the Shore by Inio Asano
The Gods Lie by Kaori Okazaki
Helvetica Standard Bold by Keiichi Arawai
Immortal Hounds by Ryo Yasohachi
Imperfect Girl written by Nisioisin, illustrated by Mitsuru Hattori
Mobile Suit Gundam Wing written by Katsuyuki Sumizawa, illustrated by Tomofumi Ogasawara
My Neighbor Seki by Takuma Morishige
Mysterious Girlfriend X by Riichi Ueshiba
Nichijou: My Ordinary Life by Keiichi Arawi
Ninja Slayer written by Yoshiaki Tabata, illustrated by Yuuki Yogo
Prophecy by Tetsuya Tsutsui
She and Her Cat written by Makoto Shinkai, illustrated by Tsubasa Yamaguchi
To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts by Maybe
Tokyo ESP by Hajime Segawa
Witchcraft Works by Ryu Mizunagi

The above list only includes the manga that have been released (or will be released very soon) under the Vertical Comics imprint which was launched in 2014, but Vertical began publishing manga well before then. (I’m fairly certain that Vertical’s first manga was Osamu Tezuka’s Buddha back in 2003, but I could be wrong.) Even before specifically devoting an imprint to manga and anime-related titles, Vertical has always had a strong catalog of titles which are well-worth reading. Thank you to everyone who shared your particular Vertical favorites with me! I hope you’ll all participate in the next giveaway, too.

Manga Giveaway: A Variety of Vertical Comics

It’s nearly the end of August which means it’s time for another giveaway at Experiments in Manga! Earlier this month I celebrated the blog’s seventh anniversary, and I’d like to continue that celebration by offering you all the chance to win not one, not two, not three, but four volumes of manga. In this particular case the first volumes of Ryo Hanada’s Devils’ Line, Chihiro Ishizuka’s Flying Witch, Riichi Ueshiba’s Mysterious Girlfriend X, and Keiichi Arawi’s Nichijou: My Ordinary Life, all of which have been published in English by Vertical Comics. As usual, the giveaway is open worldwide!

Devils' Line, Volume 1Flying Witch, Volume 1Mysterious Girlfriend X, Omnibus 1Nichijou: My Ordinary Life, Volume 1

I’ve been a big fan of Vertical releases for years, not only of its manga, but its prose works, too, both fiction and nonfiction. (Two of my younger sisters also greatly enjoy Vertical’s puzzle books, although I think it’s been a few years since the last one was published). In 2014, Vertical launched Vertical Comics, an imprint specializing in the publisher’s manga and anime-related titles. Since then, Vertical Comics has continued to expand and offer more and more manga of a wide variety–there seems to be a little bit of something for just about everyone. And I’m always happy to give just about any manga a chance when it’s released by Vertical Comics.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a variety of Vertical Comics?

1) In the comments below, tell me a little about your favorite manga that has been released by Vertical Comics. (If you don’t have a favorite, or haven’t read any, simply mention that instead.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting, or retweeting, about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

And it’s as easy as that! Giveaway participants can earn up to two entries and have one week to submit comments. If needed or if preferred, comments can also be sent to me at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com and I will then post them here in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on September 6, 2017. Best of luck to you all!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address in the comment form, a link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced–Manga Giveaway: A Variety of Vertical Comics Winner

Manga Giveaway: The Royal Tutor Giveaway Winner

The Royal Tutor, Volume 1And the winner of The Royal Tutor manga giveaway is… Black_wind!

As the winner, Black_wind will be receiving a copy of The Royal Tutor, Volume 1 by Higasa Akai as published in English by Yen Press. I have a particular fondness for court intrigue, so for this giveaway I asked participants to tell me a little about their favorite member of royalty from a manga since it often seems as though you can’t have one without the other. Be sure to check out the giveaway comments for everyone’s detailed responses as well as the list below for even more manga!

Some of the manga available in English featuring royalty:
ACCA 13 by Natsume Ono
Andromeda Stories written by Ryu Mitsuse, illustrated by Keiko Takemiya
The Angel of Elhamburg by Aki
Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama
Basara by Yumi Tamura
Crimson Spell by Ayano Yamane
Dawn of the Arcana by Rei Toma
Emma by Kaoru Mori
The Heroic Legend of Arslan by Hiromu Arakawa
Iono-sama Fanatics by Miyabi Fujieda
Ludwig II by You Higuri
Princess Knight by Osamu Tezuka
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi
No Need for Tenchi! by Hitoshi Okuda
Ōoku: The Inner Chambers by Fumi Yoshinaga
Red River by Chie Shinohara
Requiem of the Rose King by Aya Kanno
The Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda
The Royal Tutor by Higasa Akai
The Seven Princes of the Thousand-Year Labyrinth written by Yu Aikawa, illustrated by Haruno Atori
The Story of Saiunkoku written by Sai Yukino, illustrated by Kairi Yura
Sugar Sugar Rune by Moyoco Anno
Two Flowers for the Dragon by Nari Kusakawa
Vinland Saga by Makoto Yukimura
Yona of the Dawn by Mizuho Kusanagi

As usual, the above certainly isn’t an exhaustive list, but it should at least provide some interesting starting places for readers looking for a bit of royal flair in their manga. Thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway and shared your favorite members of royalty with me. I hope to see you again for the next giveaway!