10 Good Manga Blogs

Way too many blogs on manga out there.  You can’t read them all.  Really, you can’t.

Here are a few good ones I’m reading right now.

Comics Worth Reading.  Been checking this one most days for a couple of years.  Solid reviews and a lot of variety: webcomics, manga, independents, animation, anime.  Here is the manga only link.  She really likes Tramps Like Us.

Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page.   I enjoy her reviews so much that I try to save them up for a week so I can read several in a row.  Most of the manga she reviews is not licensed in English but I enjoy learning reading about them.

Slightly Biased Manga.  Good reviews.  Perversely, I enjoy that her blog is so stripped down, she doesn’t even show covers.  She’s pretty forthright about her opinions which I also like.

Precocious Curmudgeon.  Recently started reading this blog regularly.  Lots of news and reviews.  I feel reassured by his posts because they seem so carefully selected from the great mass of information available.

Sporadic Sequential.  A more off-the-cuff type of blog.  He’s a very engaging writer.  Started reading him lately too.  He likes St. Frog and Bleach – he has a more shonen bent than I do and great sense of humor.

Warren Peace.  Used to  review Shojo Beat issues.  When it existed.  He reads a lot of USA comics too.

Deb’s Manga Blog.  Pleasant reading for mainstream manga in the USA.

These are good too but I haven’t been reading them lately.

MangaLife.  Reviews manga.  Also has interesting articles on translation.

MangaBlog.  Links to reviews and news all over.  Good resource but can be overwhelming.

Kuriosity.  Another nice blog with good reviews.

Shojo Beat – no more

Official word that Shojo Beat is ceasing publication July 2009.

Shit.

Shojo Beat December 2008

Finally done with 2008! Now on to this year.

SPOILERS on the series…

Shojo Beat November 2008

Here I am catching up on my Shojo Beat again.  I’m almost done with 2008.

Preview: St. Dragon Girl by Natsumi Matsumoto

The story: Momoko, who has a weakness for pandas,  is the teen daughter of martial artist.  Her childhood friend and crush is Ryuga who is from a powerful wizard’s family.  Momoko gets accidentally imbued with a dragon that Ryuga summons to battle the Lake Serpent.

It seems to be aimed at a younger audience. The artwork is simple and shows the emotions clearly.  Plus, there are oodles of pandas.  It’s nice enough but didn’t grab me.

Spoilers Ahead

comics and terms

I was culling my categories and tags the other day, and realized that I had a bunch of different terms for comics. I had comic strip, graphic novels, manga, comic books, cartoon, comix, online comics, webcomics and so on.

Graphic novel and webcomics only refer to their format. Comic strips are too limited I think, especially when referring to online comics. Comix is more of a historical term that makes me think of the underground comics of the past. Comic books inevitably makes me think of super heroes and so it’s too narrow.

I kept manga as a separate term but I think it soon will become a historical term as well. Plus, I’m not going to memorize every single term for comics for every country who publishes them.

What surprises me is that comic strip or variations thereof are the main search terms my blog gets. It seems like an old fashioned, ink on your fingers, phrase. I still plan to use it a lot in my tags.

Shojo Beat October 2008

Preview: We Were There by Yuki Obata

The story:  Nanami begins high school but it’s not as easy socially or academically as she’d hoped.  Plus, there’s that very rude Yano.

It’s all about a cute and normal girl in high school who’s not having the easiest time of it.  The preview was long enough but felt a little disjointed.  I personally think that when Yano mislead Nanami that that was ruder than her forgetting a  person’s name.

Preview: Captive Hearts by Matsuri Hino

The story: Spoiled rich boy Megumi warns to his dismay that his family is cursed to serve the members of another family.

Good length for a preview.  Cute premise but I hope it’s short since there’s not much place it can go.

Spoilers ahead…

Shojo Beat September 2008

Here we go into the fall months of Shojo Beat

Preview: Blank Slate by Aya Kanno

The story: Amnesiac Zen encounters Russo, a bounty hunter.

Atmospheric piece of storytelling.  The characters are these introspective, sensitive killers.  Not my brand of shojo.

New Series: Honey Hunt by Miki Aihara

I’m excited about this series because I like her art style but I couldn’t endure reading Hot Gimmick.  The premise was squicky to me.  I’m hoping this series will work for me.

The story this month: Downtrodden Yura tires to cope with being the daughter of  famous and indifferent parents.  Then her parents become involved in a scandal and Yura can’t take it anymore.

I guess the story is going to be about Yura recreating herself outside her parents’ shadows.  Yura’s in a difficult situation but everyone she turns to has their own agenda.  I wonder if she’ll develop any backbone over the series.

Series and Spoilers after the break…

Shojo Beat August 2008

Previews before the break.  Spoiled series after the break.

Preview: Mixed Vegetables by Ayumi Komora

Story:  Hanayu wants to be sushi chef, but rather than training for the part, she decides to marry into an established sushi-cooking family.

The wide mouths and solid pupils just don’t work for me.  The storyline annoys me too.  I would have preferred an arranged betrothal that sparked her interest in sushi.

Preview: Wanted by Matsuri Hino

Story: Singer Armeria disguises herself as a cabin boy to revenge herself on the pirate who abducted a kind boy named Luce.

At this point, I ‘m a dedicated Hino fan, so pirates just make it better.

I prefer her lighter series to her drama like Vampire Knight and this series appears to be more on the comedic side.  Did I mention it has pirates?

Spoilers after the break…

Shojo Beat July 2008

I’ll get back to the biopics soon.  To speed things up, I’m only commenting on the previews and series.

Preview:  Sugar Princess by Hisaya Nakajo

It was a lengthy preview and it’s about figure skating so I was helpless to resist.

Story:  Maya is recruited by a coach to learn figure skating.  She has little experience but much enthusiasm to do her best.  Her enthusiasm is dampened by the snobbish but cute guy Shun that her new coach wants her to pair with.

I really don’t like her character design.  She looks like a blank slate.

I was amused by the sparkles when Maya first sees Shun skating.  It was even funnier when she demotes him from ‘Dazzling Diamond Prince’ to ‘Cubic Zirconium’ due to his rudeness.  Maya is easy to identify with.

Preview: Short Tempered Melancholic by Arina Tanemura

This is a a short preview but it’s enough to establish the set up.

Story: Kajika comes from a family of ninja and though she’s supposed to keep it a secret, she performs amazing physical feats when accidents occur.

She looks cute in a ninja outfit.

Unfortunately, I really didn’t like the setup.  She has to give up her unladylike ways to win the approval of Fujisaki whom she likes.  Apparently, it’s unladylike to rescue a child from being hit by a car.  I like it better when the conflicting sets of values have some merit.

Series comments and spoilers….

Shojo Beat June 2008

Cover

Rara is cute and cheerful.  I like the colors and her pose – the first appealing cover I’ve seen since January.

Editor’s Letter.

I like the Beat Girl by Jasmine Becket-Griffith.  Crafts expert – the hard hat seems a little much.

Fashion & Beauty.

Fun article on how to get geisha eyes.  Although without the white foundation, it doesn’t look that interesting.

Preview: Time Stranger Kyoko by Arina Tanemura

Futuristic princess story.  Kyoko has been going school incognito but various events threaten to reveal her identity.

Kyoko’s attempts at solving the magical mystery were cute and funny.  The ‘bribe’ attempt with all the food was my favorite one.

I need to put this manga on my wish list.

Series Comments – Spoilers