It’s a big weekend around North America for anime conventions – Anime North, Fanime, A-Kon – just to name a few. But while some companies are picking and choosing their con(s) of choice, Seven Seas skipped that in between step by announcing several new manga licenses directly on Twitter earlier today:

Devils and Realist - Madoka Takadono & Utako Yukihiro
Dragonar Academy – Shiki Mizuchi & Ran
Strike Witches: Maidens in the Sky – Yuuki Tanaka

Devils and Realist is about a young intellectual named William, who upon trying to liquidate family assets to help with finances, unwittingly summons a demon who tells him he’s to determine the next ruler of hell. The first volume is scheduled for April 2014.

Dragonar Academy stars a bumbling dragon-trainer who is the laughing stock of his academy. Just when he thinks he’s doomed to be the world’s worst dragon rider, his own dragon finally appears - in the form of a pretty young woman who proclaims herself his master. Volume one of Dragonar Academy is due out in February 2014.

And lastly is Strike Witches: Maidens in the Sky, a spin-off manga series based on the anime. Strike Witches is an anime about Earth fighting back against aliens by using young girls gifted with magic and armed with weaponry that can only be controlled by their powers. Maidens in the Sky follows a young healer new to the militia. Seven Seas has stated that this is the first Strike Witches they’ll be publishing with plans to move forward with others in chronological order once it’s complete.

Of the three, Devils and Realist  is the title I’m looking forward to. Aristocratic pretty boys, a butler and a demonic contract with a one-way trip to hell – what’s not to like? Sounds like Seven Seas has their own little Black Butler in their hands. The image on the left of this post shows the series’ lead. Look at that fangirl smoldering gaze!

Seven Seas has only already created landing pages for each series on their websites – Devils and Realist, Dragonar Academy and Strike Witches. I love a company that moves quick on stuff like this. The moment news is out, people want to know more, and ensuring your own website has what they want is a simple concept that seems to be set aside by most publishers. All three series are being released at $12.99/US a volume.

Credit for the news details goes to AnimeNewsNetwork (1|2|3)

It’s been March since the last Swag Bag! Well that won’t do, now will it? While my post about TCAF outlined a bunch of my most recently purchased comics, there’s been lots of manga bought between the last Swag Bag and that post. Because I’m too lazy to go through my bookshelves to find each and every one, let’s take a look at some notables!

Always the must have buy is Sailor Moon (Vol. 10) which I’m loving more and more every volume. This point in the story was broadcast only briefly on television, and these manga volumes were more difficult to find, so while I’m familiar with the story, it all feels more fresh and new and full of surprises since I have less familiarity with it. Eternal Sailor Senshi!

Then it’s my why-do-I-keep-buying-this-series with Dawn of the Arcana (Vol. 09). Loki keeps getting the short end of the stick, and I find the relationship between Nakaba and Cesare so lacking in chemistry. I think it must be some tiny sliver of hope Loki gets a happy ending that keeps me reading. I hope I’m rewarded for my diligence…

Much more satisfying were new volumes of Bleach (Vol.56), Toriko (Vol.15) and A Devil and Her Love Song (Vol.08). Toriko is still one of my favourite manga series running now, though I’m a little sad to see it dissolve to chapter upon chapter of one on one fight scenes in the current issues of Shonen Jump. On the flip side  the current chapters of Bleach have been really great – actually super relevant and interesting flashbacks!

And last up from Viz Media recently was Pokemon Adventures (Vol.16), which continues the adventures of these two new Pokemon trainers who are really, really entertaining. Flip those gender roles! The male trainer is obsessed with making Pokemon beautiful, while the female trainer is a wild girl (like Tarzan wild) who wants her Pokemon to be the strongest.

In other worlds of young people doing interesting things – I picked up Arisa (Vol.10) where we finally know who the King is. There are still some motivations left to be explored, but I’m glad the one secret is finally out in the open. It’s more classic mysteries on-going in Young Miss Holmes (Vol.03-04) where the adorable lead makes it a joy to read, even when plot itself gets a little bogged down in details.

And the biggest buys recently were Mobile Suit Gundam the Origin: Activation (Vol. 01) when it came out back in April, and The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame this past weekend. Both had amazing production values – really nice work done on the design and packaging. I wasn’t sure how I’d like the Gundam manga but actually really, really liked it. As the original Gundam story, it felt simple and streamlined while containing everything that makes the franchise so popular. Very easy to read, and I look forward to more. Passion was also great, but in a very different way. Gengoroh Tagame’s work is always shocking, and I was really curious to see which of his works would be in this book. Picture Box did not hold back!

And lastly during my visit to Toronto, I picked up some out of print books from The Beguiling. Hollow Fields (Vol.01), First Love (Vol.01) and In These Words (Vol.01). Sadly I doubt I’ll ever see second volumes of First Love and In These Words, which is sad because they were both great reads and I’ve been looking for them a while. I also bought two new bara anthologies which star many of the artists we’ll see in Picture Box’s Massive anthology next Spring.

That does it for this week’s Swag Bag. As always, feel more than free to share what purchases you’ve made recently and if you’d recommend them!

And now it’s time for this week’s new manga! And last week’s manga!  Last week’s On The Shelf article wasn’t posted, but this week’s is up so you can head over to read my thoughts on the new manga released today.

This week’s quick-list below also includes last’s week releases:

07 Ghost (Vol.04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Disgaea 3: School of Devils (Vol.01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
InuYasha VizBIG (Vol.15) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Jormungand (Vol.11) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Negiho [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Neon Genesis Evangelion 3-in-1 (Vol.03) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame  [Amazon CAN, Amazon US]
Saturn Apartments (Vol.07) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Sunny (Vol.01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]

Last weekend was  the Toronto Comics Art Festival – a “celebration of comics and graphic novels and their creators, which culminates in a two-day exhibition and vendor fair featuring hundreds of comics creators from around the world.”. Summed up, TCAF is an event where comic creators and lovers from around the world come together to celebrate and adore all things comic-related. And it’s wonderful!

This was my third year attending and the show continues to impress, getting bigger and better every time. Thankfully it’s yet to ever waver in the consistency of it’s spirit – this is an event free from the Hollywood and mainstream influence that shadow over comic conventions such as NYCC. Thousands and thousands of people, all crowding (quite calmly and politely) into a library. It’s all about the comics and the creators, and there was no shortage of art to buy and people to talk to.

Some brief highlights!

The event had two manga guests – Taiyo Matsumoto and Gengoroh Tagame. I didn’t have much personal interest in Taiyo Matsumoto’s work, but I was thrilled that Tagame Gengoroh – a pioneer in the bara genre – was being flown in to help promote his new book, The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame. I attended his panel and signings and enjoyed what a friendly and out-going individual he was, and how much fun he seemed to have talking about his work.

On the floor, it was exciting to see Chromatic Press‘s booth set-up with lots of goodies promoting their current and upcoming projects. Plus the staff are all completely charming and hard-working individuals who I have nothing less than well wishes for! I was sad that both rem and Jen Lee Quick – who work with the new publisher, and happen to be two artists whose work I adore – were unable to attend the event despite initial plans. Maybe next year?

Panels I attended were Is Comics Blogging Over?, Comics Adaptation and Judge a Comic By Its Cover. All three were enjoyable, from the thoughts to chew on in the first, the talented comic creators speaking at the second and the great graphic design talk of the third. Fawn Lau and Chipp Kidd were particular delights at the design panel.

It would take a long, long time and a lot of scrolling for me to list and discuss all the amazing artists, creators, professionals and industry-buffs I got to speak to but shout-outs to Laur Uy, Svetlana Chmakova, Fawn Lau, Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, Alex Woolfson, Lianne Sentar, Lillian Diaz-Przybyl, Rebecca Scoble, Jill Astley  and  the manga-blogger group of Erica Friedman,  Ysabet MacFarlane, Eva Violin, Robin Brenner and Deb Aoki who always take care of me when I trip over myself in their presence. A big shout out also to my travel buddy Molly McVicker and TCAF director, Christopher Butcher who not only puts on an amazing show, but also welcomes me with a smile, books and bargains at The Beguiling every time I visit.

And lastly, at the country’s largest comic-specific show, you can bet I bought a lot of one thing – comics! In a perfect blogging world, I’ll be writing about my favourites in greater detail in future installments of Showcase. So, holding onto the assumption that I will actually do that, I’m just going to list the comics I bought and links where you can find more info on them and their talented creators:

Sfeer Theory (Vol.01-02) - Jayd Ait-Kaci/Alex Singer
That Which Wills (Vol.01) - Jayd Ait-Kaci/Alex Singer/SJen
Artifice – Alex Woolfson/Winona Nelson
The Sketchbook of Sfe Monster – Sfe Monster
Astronaut Academy – Dave Roman
Magic Restore – Dennis Lo
The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame – Gengoroh Tagame
Nemu*Nemu - KimonoKitsy Studios
Who is AC? – Hope Larson
A Wrinkle in Time – Hope Larson
Mercury – Hope Larson
Chiggers – Hope Larson
Shrub Monkeys – Katie Shanahan/Shaggy Shan
Demeter – Becky Cloonan
Pancakes – Kat Leyh
Outfoxed – Dylan Meconis
Poison Candy (Anthology) – Bento Comics
Sherlock Holmes – Svetlana Chmakova
Fame and Misfortune – Kel MacDonald
Namesake - Isabelle Melançon/Megan Lavey-Heaton
Loose Ends - Vanessa Satone
Johny Wander (Vol.01) – Yuko/Ananth
The Long Kingdom – David Namisato
As We Were/Strange Someone – Kel MacDonald

The short, short version of this post – TCAF was great! I love visiting Toronto too which is a great city with so much to do, eat and see (like the ROM!), and there’s no better reason to go than the Toronto Comics Art Festival.

This news was missed here back in April but better late than never! In early April, Picture Box Inc announced they’d acquired two more manga series for publication:

Gold Pollen and Other Stories – Seiichi Hayashi
World Map Room – Yūichi Yokoyama

Gold Pollen and Other Stories is a collection of short stories and will be released in full colour and hardcover. This book will be a part of a new imprint they’re calling ‘Masters of Alternative Manga’. The book is listed at $27.50/US. More information and preview pages are currently posted on Picture Box’s website.

World Map Room is a one shot title released as a black & white paperback for $17.95/US. You can read about the book and see preview pages for this book on Picture Box’s website as well.

Both books are scheduled to be released in Fall 2013.

Happy long weekend! It’s Victoria Day in Canada which means an additional day off for some, and thanks to Amazon, some sales for all! Amazon.ca has put a whole bunch of stuff up for sale this weekend including a fair stack of manga volumes with savings up to 90% off!

There are over a hundred books listed, but here are some random highlights:

Gossip Girl: The Manga (Vol.01) $1.28
You’re So Cool (Vol.04) $3.50
Pita Ten (Vol.02) $3.58
The Rampage of Haruhi Suzumiya $4.00
Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Shinji Raising Project (Vol.10) $4.40
Gate 7 (Vol.02) $4.80
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle (Vol.24) $5.60
Trigun Maximum (Vol.11) $5.00
Bring It On! (Vol.03) $1.88
Blood+ (Vol.01) $5.60
Good-Bye $6.78
With the Light (Vol.02) $6.90
Hayate x Blade (Vol.01) $7.40
Young Miss Holmes (Vol.01-02) $7.60
Fallen Words $7.98

And remember, on Amazon.ca you get shipping for free on any order totaling over $25. With a sale like this, that could mean a hefty box arriving on some readers’ doorsteps next week. Enjoy!

Kansai Club Publishing launched their Kickstarter for Osamu Tezuka’s The Crater today. News of the launch initially went out via their Twitter account, while we first heard about this upcoming project when they sent out PR in April.

The new publisher is seeking $3500 for the printing of this collection of Tezuka short stories which it plans to release as 2000 limited edition hardcovers. Each book will also come with special art prints, and other goodies depending on the level of support backing given through the duration of the Kickstarter. The goal is to have the books published by July.

Considering the quality Kansai Club is boosting, two thousand copies, and the strength of Tezuka’s fanbase, I’m actually surprised their fundraising goal is as low as it is. Not to mention the fact that in their Kickstarter write-up, the company rep explains how they were required to pay the licensing fees upfront which has already put them $25000 in the red. Compare this to Digital Manga’s fundraising goals which spanned from $20000 to $47000 and you have some confusing numbers.

If Kansai Club sells each of the 2000 books at the listed $35, that equals $70000, which does seem to cover all their bases nicely, financially speaking. Still, why make the Kickstarter goal so low? At the time of this article, the fundraising is almost halfway there. It seems very likely this will be funded within a couple of days minimum, but how far does $3500 really get them? Are the books already printed? Is Kickstarter simply being used as an ordering system? Promotion method? They do say that regardless of the Kickstarter’s success, this book will happen so I get the feeling the Kickstarter is more a matter of them crossing their fingers and hoping for whatever they can get, as opposed to a set goal. The company is even promising free t-shirts to every backer if the fundraiser sells 1000 books, adding another really big cost to a project that already seems to be operating on some really thin overhead.

Kudos to Kansai Club if they can do it, of course. It’s interesting seeing all these numbers and methods when compared to previous Tezuka Kickstarters where the combination of high fundraising numbers from a long-established company left me skeptical, to say the least. I’ve already supported this project by pledging for the first book.

Along with putting forward your own pledge and seeing what’s available through the tier system, you can learn more details about this edition of The Crater and read preview pages on the Kickstarter page.

Courtly Intrigue Between A Noble Family’s Capable Butler And His Young Charge Offers A Tender Story Of The Conflict Between What Duty Demands And What The Heart Desires

San Francisco, CA, May 16, 2013 – SuBLime, the global yaoi manga (graphic novel) publishing initiative between VIZ Media and Japan’s Animate, Ltd. (Animate), delivers an intriguing new series about aristocratic drama and the intricate relationship between the loyal butler of a noble family and a young heir he is duty-bounty to look after in the print debut of BLUE MORNING, by creator Shoko Hidaka. The new manga (graphic novel) series launched on May 14th, is rated M’ for Mature Audiences, and will carry an MSRP of $12.99 U.S. / $14.99 CAN.

At only ten years of age, Akihito Kuze suddenly inherits the Kuze viscountship after his father’s death. The family’s capable butler, Tomoyuki Katsuragi, takes over the task of raising the boy, serving as his tutor and mentor. However, the handsome and intelligent Katsuragi, well respected even among the aristocracy, remains cool towards his charge. Akihito finds himself relentlessly drawn to Katsuragi, frustrated by the distance between them and driven to discover the reasons why.

“Young Akihito Kuze is destined for nobility, but he first must learn to navigate and grapple with what his butler Katsuragi and society want in a person of high position and what Akihito wants for himself,” says Jennifer LeBlanc, Editor, SuBLime. “As Akihito stands on the brink of manhood, he realizes he is in love. Fans won’t want to miss the tender drama of BLUE MORNING about the conflicts between what duty demands and what the heart desires!”

Yaoi manga creator Shoko Hidaka’s previously published English-language releases include Restart and Not Enough Time. Her works have also been published in French and German.

For up-to-date news and release information, please visit the SuBLime website at www.SuBLimeManga.com, or follow SuBLime on Twitter at @SuBLimeManga and Facebook at facebook.com/SuBLimeManga.

About SuBLime
SuBLime is a global yaoi/boys’ love manga publisher, and is a partnership between VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, and Japan’s Animate, Ltd. (Animate). This bold, global publishing initiative will present English-speaking fans everywhere with a broad selection of high quality titles. SuBLime will offer titles digitally worldwide available at www.SuBLimeManga.com, with many available in Download-to-Own format, and selections in print also available in English-language editions worldwide.

This past weekend’s Toronto Comics Art Festival had comics, comics and more comics, and also managed to slip in some manga industry news from attending publisher, Picture Box Inc. The company announced they’ll be releasing a new anthology of gay erotic manga called Massive: Gay Erotic Manga And The Men Who Make It. The book is planned for Spring 2014.

Currently the anthology is slated to have short stories and biographies on the following creators:

Chip Kidd, the art director for PictureBox’s recently released The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame, will be returning to work on this new project. As someone who was really impressed with the production values of that book, I have high hopes we’ll see treatment just as nice for Massive. Plus it means not only more Gengoroh Tagame in English, but other creators I like such as Takeshi Matsu as well. As with Gengoroh Tagame’s book, this will be a book for mature readers only.

“Massive goes beyond simply translating the artists’ work, offering an intimate, in-depth look at an essential (but criminally overlooked) queer culture that challenges and transcends stereotypes of gender and sexuality. In addition to comics and illustrations, Massive features some of the first photos of these artists; background information providing cultural and historical context; and first-person interviews about what it’s like to be a gay erotic artist in Japan.”

Gay erotic artwork created by men, for men is often referred to as bara and most easily distinguished by its depiction of larger, more masculine characters. This is different from boys’ love/yaoi which is predominantly created by women, for women.

Credit for the news details goes to AnimeNewsNetwork and The Comics Reporter.

Oops on my belated posting of last week’s On The Shelf! But I was at TCAF, so can you blame me? I’ll have some write-ups on my recent trip there later this week. You can read my thoughts on last week’s new manga by checking out On The Shelf  for May 8, 2013 with this week’s new manga coming soon!

Bakuman (Vol.19) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Black Bird (Vol.16) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Bleach 3-in-1 (Vol.05) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Claymore (Vol.22) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Dance in the Vampire Bund (Vol.14) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Dengeki Daisy (Vol.12) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Heroman (Vol.04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Hunter x Hunter (Vol.30) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
La Corda Doro (Vol.17) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Naruto 3-in-1 (Vol.05) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Naruto (Vol.61) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Otomen (Vol.15) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Pokémon Adventures (Vol.16) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Psyren (Vol.10) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Strobe Edge (Vol.04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Tegami Bachi (Vol.13) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Wandering Son (Vol.04) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
We Were There (Vol.16) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]
Zero’s Familiar Omnibus (Vol.01) [Amazon CAN, Amazon US, RightStuf]