Manga Giveaway: 4-Koma for You Winner

Azumanga Daioh OmnibusAnd the winner of the 4-Koma for You manga giveaway is…Cassandra!

As the winner, Cassandra (who currently writes at The Huge Anime Fan) will be receiving the Yen Press omnibus of Kiyohiko Azuma’s yonkoma manga Azumanga Daioh. For this giveaway, I asked entrants to tell me a little about the four-panel manga that they had read. Check out the 4-Koma for You comments for all of the details. And if you’re looking for some yonkoma manga to read, I’ve taken this opportunity to pull together a list of some of the titles that have been licensed in English.

4-Koma Manga in English (in print)
.hack//4Koma by Koichi Sumimaru
Azumanga Daioh by Kiyohiko Azuma
Bloody Brat written by Yuuki Kodoma, illustrated by Kanata Yoshino
ChocoMimi by Konami Sonoda
Crayon Shinchan by Yoshito Usui
Dojin Work by Hiroyuki
GA: Geijutsuka Art Design Class by Satoko Kiyuduki
Great Place High School by Naduki Koujima
Hetalia: Axis Powers by Himaruya Hidekaz
Ichiroh! by Mikage
K-ON! by Kakifly
Lucky Star by Kagami Yoshimizu
Neko Ramen by Kenji Sonishi
Palepoli by Usamaru Furuya (excerpted in Secret Comics Japan)
Oh My Goddess!: Adventures of the Mini-Goddesses by Kosuke Fujishima
Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro by Satoko Kiyuduki
Shugo Chara Chan! by Peach-Pit
S.S. ASTRO: Asashio Sogo Teachers’ Room by Negi Banno
Sunshine Sketch by Ume Aoki
Suzunari! by Shoko Iwami
Tori Koro by Hairan
Welcome to Wakaba-soh by Chaco Abeno

Manga Giveaway: 4-Koma for You (Azumanga Daioh)

2013 may be nearing its end, but there’s still time for one more manga giveaway here at Experiments in Manga before the year is over! For December’s giveaway, you all have a chance to win a copy of the Yen Press omnibus edition of Kiyohiko Azuma’s yonkoma manga Azumanga Daioh. The entire series collected in one convenient volume! As always, the giveaway is open worldwide.

Azumanga Daioh Omnibus

If I recall correctly, Azumanga Daioh was the first yonkoma manga that I ever read. Yonkoma, or 4-koma, is a four-panel format frequently used for gag manga. I know several people who consider Azumanga Daioh to be one of the best examples of yonkoma manga currently available in English. Yonkoma tends to be fairly hit-or-miss for me, but I was consistently entertained by Azumanga Daioh—it’s a goofy yet charming series.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of the Azumanga Daioh omnibus?

1) In the comments below, tell me a little about a four-panel manga that you have read and why you did, or didn’t, like it. (Haven’t read any? You can simply mention that.)
2) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

And there you have it! Each person can earn up to two entries for this giveaway. As usual, there will be one week to submit comments. Entries may also be sent via e-mail to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com and I will post them in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on January 1, 2014. Good luck and a Happy New Year, everyone!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, 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: 4-Koma for You Winner

Manga Giveaway: Fairy Tail Feast Winner

Fairy Tail, Volume 30Fairy Tail, Volume 31Fairy Tail, Volume 32Fairy Tail: Phoenix PriestessAnd the winner of the Fairy Tail Feast is…Janaye!

As the winner, Janaye will be receiving copies of volumes thirty, thirty-one, and thirty-two of Hiro Mashima’s manga series Fairy Tail as well as a copy of the movie Fairy Tail: Phoenix Priestess. Since Fairy Tail recently reached thirty volumes in English, I asked everyone participating in the giveaway to give me their opinions on long-running manga series. For all of the responses, do check out the Fairy Tail Feast comments. Much like a long-running series, you may be reading for a while since there were so many comments—I had the biggest turnout ever for one of my giveaways. A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by and took time to participate!

Manga with thirty or more volumes licensed in English:
Air Gear by Oh!Great
Berserk by Kentaro Miura
Blade of the Immortal by Hiroaki Samura
Bleach by Tite Kubo
Boys Over Flowers by Yoko Kamio
Case Closed by Gosho Aoyama
Eyeshield 21 written by Riichiro Inagami, illustrated by Yusuke Murata
Fairy Tail by Hiro Mashima
Flame of Recca by Nobuyuki Anzai
Gantz by Hiroya Oku
GTO: The Early Years by Tohru Fujisawa
Hunter x Hunter by Yoshihiro Togashi
Initial D by Shuichi Shigeno
InuYasha by Rumiko Takahashi
Kekkaishi by Yellow Tanabe
Negima! by Ken Akamatsu
Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto
Oh My Goddess! by Kosuke Fujishima
One Piece by Eiichiro Oda
The Prince of Tennis by Takeshi Konomi
Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi
Rave Master by Hiro Mashima
Samurai Deeper Kyo by Akimine Kamijyo
Shaman King by Hiroyuki Takei
Skip Beat! by Yoshiki Nakamura
Slam Dunk by Takehiko Inoue
Vagabond by Takehiko Inoue
Yu-Gi-Oh! by Kazuki Takahashi
The Wallflower by Tomoko Hayakaya

Okay…I cheated a little with the above list. A few of the series, like Blade of the Immortal, haven’t officially reached thirty volumes yet in English. But just you wait, they most certainly will! Until then, there are plenty of epic, long-running manga that have been licensed. Happy reading, and I hope to see you all again for the next giveaway!

Manga Giveaway: Fairy Tail Feast

For those of you in the United States, a Happy Thanksgiving! And for those of you who are not, a Happy End of November! And since it is the end of the month, that means it’s time for another giveaway here at Experiments in Manga. As is tradition, and because Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, November’s manga giveaway will feature multiples volumes. In this case, I have a Fairy Tail feast in store for one lucky participant. This month you’ll all have a chance to win volumes thirty, thirty-one, and thirty-two of Hiro Mashima’s manga series Fairy Tail as published by Kodansha Comics. As always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

Bonus! Hungry for even more Fairy Tail? Funimation has been kind enough to provide an early copy of the movie Fairy Tail: Phoenix Priestess for this giveaway! Scheduled for release in December, you have a chance to win it now, or guarantee a copy by pre-ordering it.

Fairy Tail, Volume 30 Fairy Tail, Volume 32
Fairy Tail: Phoenix Priestess

Fairy Tail recently reached a milestone in its English publication. It can now claim its place among all of the series that have lasted for at least thirty volumes in English. In part because of its length, Fairy Tail is a series that I probably would have never gotten around to reading except that someone very deliberately put the manga into my hand. For me, I don’t bat an eye when a manga reaches ten or so volumes. When a series is around twenty volumes, I still consider it fairly manageable. But when a series hits thirty volumes or more, it becomes rather daunting and I start to seriously consider whether it is worth the investment of my time and money to pursue it. Sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes the answer is no. Obviously, if the series has lasted for so long it must have at least some merit to it. Either that, or an extremely devoted fanbase. There are several thirty-plus manga series that I adore and count among my favorites.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a Fairy Tail feast?

1) In the comments below, tell me about your general feelings or opinions regarding long-running manga series.
2) For a second entry, simply name a manga not mentioned by me or by someone else that has at least thirty volumes published in English. (I know of at least twenty-five series.)
3) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

And there you have it! For this giveaway, each person can earn up to three entries. As usual, there is one week to submit comments. If you have trouble leaving comments, or if you would prefer, entries can be e-mailed to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com and I will post them in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on December 4, 2013.

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, 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: Fairy Tail Feast Winner

Manga Giveaway: Sankarea Giveaway Winner

Sankarea: Undying Love, Volume 1And the winner of the Sankarea manga giveaway is…inter4ever!

As the winner, inter4ever will be receiving the first volume of Mitsuru Hattori’s Sankarea: Undying Love as published by Kodansha Comics. Since Hallowe’en falls at the end of October, I thought it was thematically appropriate to offer a zombie manga. I asked that entrants tell me about the zombies that they’ve encountered while reading manga. Also, more for fun than for anything else, I asked whether they prefer slow-moving or fast-moving zombies. (Slow-moving zombies were overwhelmingly preferred, but fast-moving zombies made a showing, too.) For all the gory details, make sure to check out the Sankarea Giveaway comments!

Some Zombie Manga in English:
Biomega by Tsutomu Nihei
Black Sun, Silver Moon by Tomo Maeda
Cinderalla by Junko Mizuno
Dark Edge by Yu Aikawa
Fort of Apocalypse written by Yuu Kuraishi, illustrated by Kazu Inabe
Grand Guignol Orchestra by Kaori Yuki
Hell Baby by Hideshi Hino
Highschool of the Dead written by Daisuke Satō, illustrated by Shoji Sato
Is This a Zombie? written by Shinichi Kimura, illustrated by Sacchi
Princess Resurrection by Yasunori Mitsunaga
The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service written by Eiji Otsuka, illustrated by Housui Yamazaki.
Reiko the Zombie Shop by Rei Mikamoto
Sankarea: Undying Love by Mitsuru Hattori
Tokyo Zombie by Yusaku Hanakuma.
Velveteen & Mandala by Jiro Matsumoto
Zombie Fairy by Daisuke Torii
Zombie-Loan by Peach-Pit

Thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway. I hope to see you all again for the next one!