Thank You for Reading Experiments in Manga

After a little over seven years of writing about manga, Japanese literature, and related items of interest here at Experiments in Manga, I am now largely retiring the blog. The content that’s here will remain for the foreseeable future, and I will continue to respond to any comments that are made, however I will no longer be regularly posting at the blog. It’s possible that I may very occasionally be inspired to write a long-form review or feature for Experiments in Manga, but in general my manga blogging will be moving to Manga Bookshelf proper. There I will continue participating in the Manga the Week of and Pick of the Week posts and will be contributing to the Bookshelf Briefs features as well. Another place that I will be found discussing manga and such is on Twitter, where I hope to be a little more active with my account going forward.

A huge thank you to everyone who has read and supported me and Experiments in Manga over the years! In part I started this blog as a way to connect with other people interested in manga. I am delighted that I can say I was successful in doing that. I have met so many wonderful people because of Experiments in Manga and it makes me tremendously happy to know that from time to time others found it useful, interesting, or even entertaining. To all of my friends–readers, fellow bloggers, creators, and more–thank you and thank you again. Writing at Experiments in Manga and getting to know you all has meant more to me than I can adequately express.

Bookshelf Overload: November 2017

Since in a few weeks I will be retiring Experiments in Manga, this will be the final Bookshelf Overload posted here. However, I am thinking of ways that I might be able to feature some of the interesting media that I find by leveraging my Twitter account more effectively. As for the things that found their way into my home in November, I once again picked up more anime than I generally do. (Granted, two of those, Skip Beat! and Mind Game were the results of Kickstarters that I supported way back when.) November saw the release of several debuts that I was particularly excited about, including  ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Department, Volume 1 by Natsume Ono, Arakawa Under the Bridge, Omnibus 1 by Hikaru Nakamura, To Your Eternity, Volume 1 by Yoshitoki Oima (okay, technically it was released on the last day of October), as well as the Parasyte tribute anthology Neo-Parasyte M. I also recently discovered that a small publisher based out of Yokohama, Black Hook Press, is releasing gekiga manga in translation, such as Takashi Fukutani’s Dokudami Tenement. One more acquisition from November that I’d like to highlight is Denise Schroeder’s The Good Prince, Volume 1 which collects the first three chapters of that  webcomic. My introduction to Schroeder’s work was through the utterly charming comic Before You Go, so I’m happy to get my hands on more of her work in print.

Manga!
ACCA: 13-Territory Inspection Department, Volume 1 by Natsume Ono
Arakawa Under the Bridge, Omnibus 1 by Hikaru Nakamura
Complex Age, Volumes 3-4 by Yui Sakuma
Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 3 by Ryoko Kui
Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, Volume 3 by Haruko Kumota
Devilman Grimoire, Volume 1 written by Go Nagai, illustrated by Rui Takato
Dokudami Tenement, Volume 1 by Takashi Fukutani
Erased, Omnibus 3 by Kei Sanbe
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 19 written by Yuto Tsukuda, illustrated by Shun Saeki
The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún, Volume 3 by Nagabe
In This Corner of the World by Fumiyo Kouno
Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler, Volume 1 written by Homura Kawamoto, illustrated by Tōru Naomura
Land of the Lustrous, Volumes 2-3 by Haruko Ichikawa
Murciélago, Volume 4 by Yoshimurakana
Neo-Parasyte M by Various
Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, Volume 13 by Fumi Yoshinaga
A Polar Bear in Love, Volume 1 by Koromo
Requiem of the Rose King, Volume 7 by Aya Kanno
Shirley, Volume 1 by Kaoru Mori
Skip Beat!, Omnibus 2-12 by Yoshiki Nakamura
Sweetness and Lightning, Volume 8 by Gido Amagakure
To Your Eternity, Volume 1 by Yoshitoki Oima

Comics!
After Laughter by Jonathan Djob Nkondo
As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman
Barbara by Nicole Miles
A Body Beneath by Michael DeForge
Elysium by Caroline Dougherty and Femi Sobowale
Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too by Jomny Sun
The Good Prince, Volume 1 by Denise Schroeder
Goro, Issue 2 by Sarah Horrocks
A Long Distance by Jean Wei
Love Your Rogue by Billie Snippet
Men + Monsters, Volume 1 by Aero Zero
Musings of a Muslim Hipster by Areeba Siddique
The Pit of Tar by Jeremy Sorese
Sukibito Diary by Chu Nap
Super Tokyoland by Benjamin Reiss
What Is Left by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell

Artbooks!
Sari Sari by Corinne Caro and Issel De Leon

Novels!
Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Volume 5: Mobilization by Yoshiki Tanaka

Anthologies!
The Ise Stories: Ise Monogatari translated by Joshua S. Mostow and Royall Tyler
Panic and Deaf by Xiaosheng Liang

Anime!
Genocidal Organ directed by Shukō Murase
In This Corner of the World directed by Sunao Katabuchi
Kaiba directed by Masaaki Yuasa
Mind Game directed by Masaaki Yuasa
Skip Beat! directed by Kiyoko Sayama
Tokyo Godfathers directed by Satoshi Kon
Your Name directed by Makoto Shinkai

Film!
Funeral Parade of Roses directed by Toshio Matsumoto

Manga Giveaway: A Cache of Kodansha Comics Winner

Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, Volume 1Kigurumi Guardians, Volume 1
Land of the Lustrous, Volume 1Love and Lies, Volume 1

And the winner of the manga giveaway for a cache of Kodansha Comics is… Dawn!

As the winner, Dawn (whose terrific Anime Nostalgia Podcast also happens to be hosting a giveaway right now) will be receiving the first volumes of Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju by Haruko Kumota, Kigurumi Guardians by Lily Hoshino, Land of the Lustrous by Haruko Ichikawa, and Love & Lies by Musawo, all of which debuted in English from Kodansha Comics this past year. In addition to its print releases, Kodansha Comics has also had a particularly good showing in 2017 digitally. And so for this giveaway, I asked participants to tell me a little about their own reading habits and preferences when it comes to print versus digital manga. The responses were really great, so be sure to check out the giveaway comments!

Kodansha Comics’ 2017 Print Manga Debuts
Aho-Girl by Hiroyuki
Appleseed Alpha by Iou Kuroda
Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kishiro
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card by CLAMP
Clockwork Planet by Kuro
Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju by Haruko Kumota
Fairy Tail: Rhodonite by Kyouta Shibano
Fairy Tail: S by Hiro Mashima
Frau Faust by Kore Yamazaki
Ichi-F: A Worker’s Graphic Memoir of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant by Kazuto Tatsuta
Kigurumi Guardians by Lily Hoshino
Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight by Rin Mikimoto
Land of the Lustrous by Haruko Ichikawa
Love and Lies by Musawo
Neo Parasyte M by Various
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime written by Fuse and illustrated by Taiki Kawakami
To Your Eternity by Yoshitoki Oima
Toppu GP by Kosuke Fujishima
Waiting for Spring by Anashin
Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty by Megumi Morino

Kodansha Comics’ 2017 Digital Debuts
Ace of the Diamond by Yuji Terajima
All-Out by Shiori Amase]
All-Rounder Meguru by Hiroki Endo
Altair: A Record of Battles by Kotono Kato
Aoba-kun’s Confessions by Ema Toyama
Ayanashi by Yukihiro Kajimoto
Beauty Bunny by Mari Yoshino
Black Panther and Sweet by Pedoro Toriumi
Blame! Academy and So On by Tsutomu Nihei
Chihayafuru by Yuki Suetsugu
Cosplay Animal by Watari Sakou
Days by Tsuyoshi Yasuda
Deathtopia by Yoshinobu Yamada
Domestic Girlfriend by Kei Sasuga
Drifting Dragons by Taku Kuwabara
Drowning Love by George Asakura
Elegant Yokai Apartment Life written by Hinowa Kouzuki, illustrated by Waka Miyama
The Full-Time Wife Escapist by Tsunami Umino
Giant Killing written by Masaya Tsunamoto, illustrated by Tsujitomo
Grand Blue Dreaming written by Kenji Inoue, illustrated by Kimitake Yoshioka
GTO: Paradise Lost by Toru Fujisawa
Hotaru’s Way by Satoru Hiura
House of the Sun by Taamo
Hozuki’s Coolheadedness by Natsumi Eguchi
I Want to Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die by Umi Shiina
I’m in Love and It’s the End of the World by Taamo
Kasane by Daruma Matsuura
Kokkoku: Moment by Moment by Seita Horio
Koundori: Dr. Stork by You Suzunoki
Love’s Reach by Rin Mikimoto
Lovesick Ellie by Fujimomo
Magical Sempai by Azu
Museum by Ryousuke Tomoe
My Brother the Shut In by Kinoko Higurashi
Our Precious Conversations by Robico
Peach Heaven by Mari Yoshino
PTSD Radio by Masaaki Nakayama
Rave Master by Hiro Mashima
Real Girl by Mao Nanami
Shojo Fight! by Yoko Nihonbashi
A Springtime with Ninjas by Narumi Hasegaki
Tokyo Tarareba Girls by Akiko Higashimura
Tsuredure Children by Toshiya Wakabayashi
Until Your Bones Rot by Yae Utsumi
Wave, Listen to Me! by Hiroaki Samura

Assuming that I didn’t miss any (I’m sure I have and some of the digital titles probably haven’t even been revealed yet), Kodansha Comics had twenty print debuts last year (most if not all of which are also available digitally) and forty-five digital debuts (a few of which will eventually be released in print, too). By the end of the year, Kodansha Comics will have debuted more than sixty-five new titles in addition to its other continuing series! It’s great to see how much is being published in English these days in print and digitally, and not just by Kodansha Comics. Thank you to everyone who shared your reading preferences with me! Both digital and print manga have their pros and cons, so I found all of your responses very interesting. I hope to see you again at the end of December for one last giveaway here at Experiments in Manga!

Bookshelf Overload: October 2017

Another month, another mountain of media that somehow made its way into my possession! (Actually, I know exactly how.) Thanks to some fantastic sales, I finally got around to filling in the gaps in my collection of Takehiko Inoue’s Vagabond. I also ended up buying more anime than I usually do, too. In particular, Sentai Filmworks announced back in September that it would be discontinuing DVDs and has since been working to clear out stock. Since my eyesight is poor enough that I don’t usually notice a difference in visual quality between DVD and Blu-ray releases, I took the opportunity to pick up Space Brothers and a few other things at a greatly discounted price. As for October manga debuts, I was greatly impressed by Spirit Circle, Volume 1 by Satoshi Mizukami. I was also really looking forward to the release of Yokai Rental Shop, Volume 1 by Shin Mashiba since I enjoyed the creator’s earlier series Nightmare Inspector. Notably, manga translator and yokai scholar Zack Davisson released a new work in October, too–Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan is one of the newest titles from Chin Music Press, a publisher that takes great care with physical production and design, so in addition to being interesting, it’s also a beautiful book.

Manga!
Ajin: Demi-Human, Volume 10 by Gamon Sakurai
Akuma no Riddle, Volumes 2-4 written by Yun Kouga, illustrated by Sunao Minakata
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 20 written by Yuto Tsukuda, illustrated by Shun Saeki
Gangsta: Cursed, Volume 3 written by Kohske, illustrated by Syuhei Kamo
Imperfect Girl, Volume 1 by Mitsuru Hattori
Jackass! by Scarlet Beriko
The Key to the Kingdom, Volumes 1-6 by Kyoko Shitou
Kitaro’s Strange Adventures by Shigeru Mizuki
Prison School, Omnibus 8 by Akira Hiramoto
Spirit Circle, Volume 1 by Satoshi Mizukami
Super Dimensional Love Gun by Shintaro Kago
Vagabond, Omnibus 7-8 by Takehiko Inoue
Yokai Rental Shop, Volume 1 by Shin Mashiba

Comics!
The Academic Hour by Keren Katz
Awaken, Volume 1 by Koti Saavedra
The Big Book of Bisexual Trials and Errors by Elizabeth Beier
Can I Pet Your Werewolf? edited by Kel McDonald and Molly Muldoon
Cosmoknights: Prologue by Hannah Fisher
Flutter, Volume 3 written by Jennie Wood, illustrated by Jeff McComsey
Fujoshi Trapped in a Seme’s Perfect Body, Volume 3 written by Seru, illustrated by Joberu
Generations by Flavia Biondi
Goro, Issue 1 by Sarah Horrocks
Ladycastle written by Delilah Dawson, illustrated by Ashley A. Woods
Mis(h)adra by Iasmin Omar Ata
Oh Joy, Sex Toy, Volume 4 created by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan
Spinning by Tillie Walden
The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill
The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag

Light Novels!
Juni Taisen: Zodiac War written by Nisiosin, illustrated by Hikaru Nakamura

Novels!
The Explosion Chronicles by Yan Lianke
Milky Way Railroad by Kenji Miyazawa
Snakelust by Kenji Kagagami

Anthologies!
Japanese Gothic Tales by Kyōka Izumi

Poetry!
Bashō’s Narrow Road: Spring and Autumn Passages by Bashō Matsuo
Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

Nonfiction!
Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan by Zack Davisson
The Silver Spoon: Memoir of a Boyhood in Japan by Kansuke Naka

Anime!
Food Wars! directed by Yoshitomo Yonetani
Gosick, Part 2 directed by Hitoshi Nanba
Hozuki’s Coolheadedness directed by Hiro Kaburaki
Orange directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki
Pet Shop of Horrors directed by Toshio Hirata
Space Brothers directed by Ayumu Watanabe

Manga Giveaway: Oresama Teacher Giveaway Winner

Oresama Teacher, Volume 1And the winner of the Oresama Teacher manga giveaway is… Candy Ha!

As the winner, Candy will be receiving the first volume of Izumi Tsubaki’s manga series Oresama Teacher as released in English by Viz Media’s Shojo Beat imprint. I’m behind the times and only recently started reading Oresama Teacher but I’ve been enjoying it tremendously. In particular, the series reminded me of how much I enjoy manga about delinquents, so for this giveaway I asked participants to tell me a little about their favorite delinquents from manga. As usual, I’ve gathered together a list of manga below, but be sure to check out the giveaway comments for everyone’s individual responses.

Some of the manga released in English with notable delinquents:
Arisa by Natsumi Ando
Banana Fish by Akimi Yoshida
Blue Spring by Taiyo Matsumoto
Cromartie High School by Eiji Nonaka
Dengeki Daisy by Kyousuke Motomi
Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya
Great Teacher Onizuka by Tohru Fujisawa
Great Teacher Onizuka: 14 Day in Shonan by Tohru Fujisawa
Great Teacher Onizuka: The Early Years by Tohru Fujisawa
Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto by Nami Sano
Hey, Sensei? by Yaya Sakuragi
Kamikaze Girls by Yukio Kanesada
Karakuri Odette by Julietta Suzuki
Love Attack by Shizuru Seino
Love Full of Scars by Psyche Delico
Mars by Fuyumi Soryo
Midori Days by Kazurou Inoue
My Little Monster by Robico
Oresama Teacher by Izumi Tsubaki
Persona 4 by Shuji Sogabe
Real by Takehiko Inoue
Silent Voice by Yoshitoki Oima
Slam Dunk by Takehiko Inoue
Tekkon Kinkreet by Taiyo Matsumoto
Yamada and the Seven Witches by Miki Yoshikawa
Yu Yu Hakusho by Yoshihiro Togashi
Worst by Hiroshi Takahashi

Once again, the above list isn’t at all comprehensive, but it does include a variety of different types of manga. Delinquents show up in sports manga, speculative fiction, boys’ love, romance, comedy, drama, and more. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate in the giveaway by sharing your favorite manga delinquents with me. I’m already thinking ahead to the next monthly giveaway and hope that you’ll all join me in the fun again!