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29 May 2013 13 Comments

Manga Giveaway: Umineko Giveaway

It’s nearly the end of May, which means its time for another manga giveaway! This month you have the opportunity to win the first volume of Ryukishi07 and Kei Natsumi’s Umineko: When They Cry as published by Yen Press. The omnibus (equivalent to the first two volumes in the original Japanese release of the series) collects the first half of the Legend of the Golden Witch story arc. As always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

I’m not sure that it’s ever really come up here at Experiments in Manga before, but I’m a bit of a gamer. My “specialty” is Euro-style boardgames and abstract strategy games (and I like to pretend that I’m a decent mahjong player), but I enjoy games of all sorts, including video games. Recently I’ve noticed more and more manga being released in English that are based on or adaptations of video games, visual novels, and dating sims. I’m not sure if there has been an actual increase in these type of licenses or not; it may just be that I’m paying more attention to what’s being released nowadays. Either way, Umineko: When They Cry is one well-known example of a recent manga that is an adaptation of a game. Though to be honest, while I have read the manga, I haven’t actually played the original game myself.

So, you may be wondering, how can you the first omnibus of Umineko?

1) In the comments below, tell me about a manga that you’ve read that was based on a game. (If you’ve never read one, you can simply mention that.)
2) For a second entry, name another manga that is an adaptation of a game which hasn’t yet been mentioned by me or by someone else.
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).

So there you have it! Each person can earn up to three entries for this giveaway. As usual, you will have one week to submit your entries. If you have trouble leaving comments, or if you would prefer, you can e-mail me your entry at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com and I will post the comment in your name. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on June 5, 2013. Game on!

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

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1 May 2013 Leave a Comment

Manga Giveaway: Loveless Giveaway Winner

And the winner of the Loveless manga giveaway is…KenshinGirl!

As the winner, KenshinGirl will be receiving two volumes of Yun Kouga’s manga series Loveless as published by Viz Media—the first omnibus as well as the ninth volume. Loveless was originally published by Tokyopop, which only released up through volume eight. Happily, the license was rescued by Viz Media last year. For this giveaway, I was interested in learning about other license rescues that made people happy. (Check out the giveaway comments for the responses.)

And, because I can, I’ve compiled select list of (North American) English license rescues that have made at least one person very happy. So here are twenty-two manga that got another chance or two in English:

07-Ghost by Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara
     (Go! Comi ► Viz Media)

Alice in the Country of Hearts by Soumei Hoshino
     (Tokyopop ► Yen Press)

Azumanga Daioh by Kiyohiko Azuma
     (ADV Manga ► Yen Press)

Blood Alone by Masayuki Takano
     (Infinity Studios ► Seven Seas)

Cardcaptor Sakura by CLAMP
     (Tokyopop ► Dark Horse)

Chobits by CLAMP
     (Tokyopop ► Dark Horse)

Clover by CLAMP
     (Tokyopop ► Dark Horse)

Crayon Shin-Chan by Yoshito Usui
     (ComicsOne ► CMX Manga ► One Peace Books)

Crying Freeman written by Kazuo Koike, illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami
     (Viz Media ► Dark Horse)

Embracing Love by Youka Nitta
     (Be Beautiful ► Viz Media)

Fist of the North Star written by Buronson, illustrated by Tetsuo Hara
     (Viz Media ►Gutsoon! Entertainment)

Genshiken by Shimoku Kio
     (Del Rey Manga ► Kodansha Comics)

Kizuna: Bonds of Love by Kazuma Kodaka
     (Be Beautiful ► Digital Manga)

Lone Wolf & Cub written by Kazuo Koike, illustrated by Goseki Kojima
     (First Comics ► Dark Horse)

Loveless by Yun Kouga
     (Tokyopop ► Viz Media)

Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa
     (Tokyopop ► Vertical)

Parasyte by Hitoshi Iwaaki
     (Tokyopop ► Del Rey Manga ► Kodansha Comics)

Message to Adolf by Osamu Tezuka
     (Viz Media ► Vertical)

Slam Dunk by Takehiko Inoue
     (Gutsoon! Entertainment ► Viz Media)

Sailor Moon by Naoko Takeuchi
     (Tokyopop ► Kodansha Comics)

Tokyo Babylon by CLAMP
     (Tokyopop ► Dark Horse)

Yotsuba&! by Kiyohiko Azuma
     (ADV Manga ► Yen Press)

Why a list of twenty-two? Mostly because I felt like it. And I was being a little silly—two twos for second chances…or something. (Anyway, don’t mind me.) Thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway; I hope to see you again for the next one!

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24 April 2013 9 Comments

Manga Giveaway: Loveless Giveaway

Once again the end of the month approaches which means it’s time for another manga giveaway here at Experiments in Manga! This month you’ll all have a chance to win a copy of not one, but two volumes of Yun Kouga’s Loveless series as published by Viz Media: the first omnibus (which collects the first two volumes) as well as the ninth volume. So really, it’ll be like winning three volumes of manga. As always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

I would also like to extend a special thank you to Kate Dacey of the now retired Manga Critic for sending along these copies of Loveless to offer as a giveaway—Thanks again, Kate!

License rescues—manga that was once released in English only to fall out of print or be left incomplete for one reason or another which are then given another chance by a different publisher.

Between 2006 and 2008, Tokyopop released the first eight volumes of Yun Kouga’s Loveless. Much to my surprise and delight, Viz Media rescued the license in 2012, re-releasing the first eight volumes in four omnibuses and releasing for the first time in English volume nine and the volumes following. While it’s certainly not to everyone’s liking, I find Loveless to be oddly engrossing. I was very pleased that Viz picked the series up. (The quality of Viz’s edition is much nicer than Tokyopop’s release, too.)

Actually, there have recently been quite a few license rescues that I have been excited about. Just to name two more: Later this year Sublime Manga will be releasing Youka Nitta’s Embracing Love, one of my favorite yaoi series, which was partially released by Be Beautiful. I was also absolutely thrilled that Vertical brought Osamu Tezuka’s Message to Adolf back into print, which was originally published by Viz back in the day under the title Adolf.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win some Loveless?

1) In the comments below, tell me about a license rescue that you were excited to see. (No rescues that you find exciting or you don’t pay attention to such things? You can simply mention that instead.)
2) If you can, name a second license rescue that hasn’t been mentioned by me or someone else for a second entry. (It doesn’t necessarily need to be a recent or current re-release.)
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).

It’s as easy as that! Each person can earn up to three entries for this giveaway. As usual, there is one week to submit your entries. If you have trouble leaving comments (Blogger doesn’t always work very well), or if you would prefer, feel free to e-mail me your entry at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. and will post the comment in your name. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on May 1, 2013. Good luck!

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

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3 April 2013 Leave a Comment

Manga Giveaway: Historical Manga Winner

And the winner of the Historical Manga Giveaway is…Dawn H!

As the winner, Dawn will be receiving a new copy of Shigeru Mizuki’s award-winning, semi-autobiographical manga Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths as published by Drawn and Quarterly. The timing of this giveaway happily coincided with the Historical Manga Moveable Feast, and so I asked those entering to tell me about their favorite historical manga.

Normally, I would take this opportunity to compile a list of historical manga. But, depending on how one defines historical manga, that could end up being a very long list, indeed. So instead, I’d like to briefly ramble on a bit about the manga mentioned in the giveaway’s comments.

Blade of the Immortal by Hiroaki Samura
One of my first manga series and still one of my personal favorites, Blade of the Immortal is the current focus of my monthly review project. For all of my reviews for the series, check out the Blade of the Immortal tag or the individual links from the Review Index.

A Drifting Life by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
It’s been a while since I’ve read A Drifting Life (a bit before I began Experiments in Manga). A massive tome, Tatsumi’s memoir looks at both the creator’s personal life as well as the cultural history of  manga in Japan.

Drifters by Kohta Hirano
Most people I know prefer Hirano’s earlier series Hellsing, but personally I’m more fond of Drifters. It does take some outside knowledge of the series’ historical inspirations to fully appreciate the manga, though. Drifters is intense and doesn’t always make a whole lot of sense, but I do enjoy it.

Emma by Kaoru Mori
I unfortunately discovered Emma too late—it’s now out-of-print and hard to find in English. Fortunately my library had a complete set I could read. I really hope that the license is rescued because Emma is a wonderful series. (Yen Press, pretty please?)

The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio
Not only does The Heart of Thomas take place in a historical setting, it is also a historically important and significant work. I’m thrilled that it is now available in English, and Fantagraphics’ release is gorgeous. You can find my in-depth review here.

Kaze Hikaru by Taeko Watanabe
I actually haven’t read Kaze Hikaru yet, although I really have been meaning to. After all, Kate Dacey (who I admire greatly) has declared it to be her favorite shoujo manga. Plus, Shinsengumi!

Kids on the Slope by Yuki Kodama
I would love to read Kids on the Slope. Unfortunately, it’s probably unlikely that we’ll ever see the series licensed in English. But, at least we do have the anime adaptation.

Lone Wolf & Cub written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Goseki Kojima
I am so glad that Dark Horse is re-releasing Lone Wolf & Cub in a larger format. The smaller editions are going out of print and, while cool, were difficult for me to read because of their size. Finally, I’ll have the chance to really appreciate and enjoy this extremely influential series!

NonNonBa by Shigeru Mizuki
Another award-winning, semi-autobiographical work by Mizuki, Nonnonba is a wonderful tribute to the woman who inspired his love of yokai. You can read my in-depth review of the manga here.

Ōoku: The Inner Chambers by Fumi Yoshinaga
Yoshinaga does some really fantastic things with history in Ōoku. I love the series even though the English translation is rather awkward. I’ve only reviewed three of the volumes so far (which you can find here or linked to from the Review Index), but expect to see more reviews from me in the future.

Sakuran: Blossoms Wild by Moyoco Anno
I personally think that Sakuran is one of Anno’s strongest works available in English. As I mention in my review, it’s one of the most realistic and honest portrayals of sex work in the Edo period that I’ve come across. And Anno’s color work is phenomenal.

Thank you to everyone who shared their favorites with me!

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27 March 2013 6 Comments

Manga Giveaway: Historical Manga Giveaway (Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths)

March has been a rough month for me at work and elsewhere, so I’ll be a little relieved once it’s finally over. But what’s really great about March nearing its end? The time has come for the monthly manga giveaway here at Experiments in Manga! To coincide with March’s Manga Moveable Feast, which focuses on historical manga, this month I will be giving away a new copy of Shigeru Mizuki’s semi-autobiographical, award-winning work Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths as published by Drawn and Quarterly. As always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

Because historical manga is such a broad topic, Khursten, the host for this month’s Feast, has come up with three broad categories of historical manga to help participants focus: autobiographies and biographies (which is fairly straightforward), historical retellings and reimaginings (“stories that have some historical basis”), and period pieces (stories that “try to capture the culture and the ‘spirit’ of the period they wish to portray.”) It’s probably not too surprising, but I enjoy reading manga from all of these categories. Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, although fictionalized, is an example of the first category. As for retellings, I’m particularly fond of Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond (which itself is based on a historical novel) and Osamu Tezuka’s Message to Adolf. I’ve previously professed a love for “samurai manga” (series like Satsuma Gishiden and so on) which often amount, at least in part, to Edo era period pieces.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths?

1) In the comments below, tell me about your favorite historical manga. If you don’t have a favorite, or have never read historical manga, you can mention that.
2) For a second entry, simply name a historical manga that hasn’t been mentioned yet by me or by someone else.
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).

It’s as easy as that! Each person can earn up to three entries for this giveaway. You have one week to submit your comments. If you have trouble leaving comments (Blogger sometimes has issues), or if you would prefer, you can e-mail me your entries at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. I will then post the comment in your name. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on April 3, 2013. Good luck to you all!

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

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