As part of a broader conversation about the state of the comics industry, ICv2 just wrapped up a week of interviews with major figures in North American manga publishing. Kevin Hamric, VIZ Media’s Vice-President of Publishing, noted that “manga sales are stronger than pre‑COVID, but not as strong as it was during COVID,” with series such as Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and One Piece performing well through all retail channels. Those sentiments were echoed by Yen Press Publisher Kurt Hassler, who pointed to the “runaway” success of Oshi no Ko and Solo Leveling as signs of a robust market. Hassler was also bullish on manhwa: “I wholly expect that manhwa will continue to outperform for the foreseeable future, especially following the success of Solo Leveling and with highly anticipated releases, such as Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.” Ben Applegate, an editorial director at Kodansha, shared Hamric and Hassler’s rosy assessment of manga’s future in the US, noting that even though overall sales were down in 2023, last year was still “third best year for manga sales ever in the English language.” And Marc Visnick, COO and Publisher of the smallest of the four publishers, noted that Tokyopop has adopted a somewhat different approach than its competitors. “We’re probably one of the few within the space that actually had an up year last year, when you look at our list in its entirety,” Visnic notes. “That’s attributable to our boutique strategy of really looking at quality versus quantity in terms of what we release.”
NEWS ROUND-UP
More than twenty years after she launched Kimi no Todoke, artist Karuho Shiina just published the the first chapters of a new series in Bessatsu Margaret… VIZ announced that it would be teaming up with Marvel for new X-Men and Spider-Man manga… Blue Lock and Dandadan were two of the fastest growing manga franchises last year… VIZ recently added a new title to its Shonen Jump line-up: Super Psychic Policeman Chojo… and Kodansha just began serialization of Yoshinori Matsuoka’s Re:Anima, one of several English-first titles on offer through its K-Manga app.
ESSAYS AND PODCASTS
File this under Better Late Than Never: the staff at WWAC list their favorite manga of 2023, from Mermaid Scales and the Town of Sand to Neighborhood Story. [Women Write About Comics]
Anime Feminist asks, “What shojosei series still needs to be licensed/rescued?” My vote goes to Hideko Mizuno’s rock ‘n’ roll masterpiece Fire! [Anime Feminist]
If you want a complete list of all the recent licensing announcements from VIZ and Seven Seas, look no further than The OASG, where Justin and Helen mull over this week’s news. Spoiler alert: VIZ is bringing back the OOP shojo classic Red River in an omnibus edition. [The OASG]
The Reverse Thieves name I Want to be a Receptionist in This Magical World as their manga of the month. [Reverse Thieves]
Tony Yao explains how one of Blue Lock‘s characters deals with trauma on and off the field. [Drop-In to Manga]
Xan and Gretta take a close look at Bocchi the Rock, “a hilarious comedy about a shut in guitarist who joins a rock band.” [Spiraken Manga Review]
Over at the Mangasplaining podcast, David Brothers convenes a round table on Masakazu Ishiguro’s sci-fi series Heavenly Delusion. [Mangasplaining]
REVIEWS
This week’s must-read review comes from Jackson P. Brown, who offers an in-depth look at Fuyumi Soryo’s Mars, which vividly captures “the full onslaught of teenage angst, where the whole world feels like it’s ending, and every decision is unshakable, and every argument is an earth-shattering event, and actions are made from places of extreme emotion”… Piro uses the final installment of Phantom Tales of the Night as a jumping-off point for exploring what it means to be human… DoctorKev explores the complexity of Ghost in the Shell…. Hagai Palvsky deconstructs Yūichi Yokoyama’s Baby Boom… and Kristin weighs on on the deluxe edition of Vinland Saga.
- 5 Centimeters Per Second: Collector’s Edition (Demelza, Anime UK News)
- Ako and Bambi, Vol. 1 (Adam Symchuk, Asian Movie Pulse)
- The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten, Vol. 1 (WinterVenom, Behind the Manga)
- Astro Baby (Piro, Animehouse)
- Cells at Work! Baby, Vol. 1 (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
- Cells at Work! Baby, Vol. 2 (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
- Cells at Work! Baby, Vol. 3 (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
- Cells at Work! Baby, Vol. 4 (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
- Cheerful Amnesia, Vol. 2 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
- Choujin X, Vol. 5 (Piro, Animehouse)
- Dungeon People, Vol. 1 (WinterVenom, Behind the Manga)
- Flying Witch, Vols. 10-11 (Justin, The OASG)
- Four-Eyed Prince, Vol. 1 (Megan D., The Manga Test Drive)
- Goodbye, Eri (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
- Hakumei & Mikochi:Tiny Little Life in the Woods, Vol. 11 (Kate O’Neil, The Fandom Post)
- I Don’t Need a Happy Ending (Eleanor Walker, Okazu)
- I Want to End This Love Game, Vol. 1 (WinterVenom, Behind the Manga)
- If the Villainess and Villain Met and Fell in Love, Vol. 1 (Sakura Eries, The Fandom Post)
- In the Name of the Mermaid Princess, Vol. 1 (Rebecca Silverman, ANN)
- Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, Vol. 11 (King Baby duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
- Lullaby of the Dawn, Vol. 3 (Sarah, Anime UK News)
- Mint Chocolate, Vol. 10 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
- My Special One, Vol. 5 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
- My Special One, Vol. 5 (Piro, Animehouse)
- The Moon on a Rainy Night, Vol. 2 (Renee Scott, Good Comics for Kids)
- The Moon on a Rainy Night, Vol. 3 (Erica Friedman, Okazu)
- Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, Vol. 1 (Noemi10, Anime UK News)
- Osamu Dazai’s The Setting Sun: The Manga Edition (Nick Smith, ICv2)
- Oshi no Ko, Vol. 5 (twwk, Beneath the Tangles)
- Pass the Monster Meat, Milady!, Vol. 1 (King Baby Duck, Boston Bastard Brigade)
- Phantom Tales of the Night, Vol. 12 (Piro, Animehouse)
- Rainbow Days, Vol. 8 (Josh Piedra, The Outerhaven)
- Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You, Vol. 1 (Nick Smith, ICv2)
- The Summer Hikaru Died, Vol. 2 (Sarah, Anime UK News)
- Tokyo These Days, Vol. 1 (Adam, No Flying No Tights)
- What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim?, Vols. 1-3 (Rebecca Silverman, ANN)
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