Anime News Network reported last night, by way of James Hudnall’s blog, that founder of Studio Proteus, co-founder of AnimeCon (later known as Anime Expo), and manga translation legend Toren Smith passed away recently.  The man had effectively been retired in the industry since selling Studio Proteus to Dark Horse in 2004, but this was […]

More stories from the creator of “Blade of the Immortal?”  Yes please!  Years ago, Dark Horse released another story collection from the mangaka called “Ohikkoshi” which told an extended story of the romantic tribulations of a group of college students.  It was wild, goofy, full of in-jokes and more than a little slapdash in parts […]

Tsutomu Niehi is certainly an acquired taste.  The mangaka behind “Blame!” and “Biomega” definitely prefers style over substance and his storytelling can be frustratingly opaque more often than not.  However, his art is certainly distinctive with its Geiger-esque influences and the narrative in “Biomega” showed that he was growing as a writer.  So when Vertical […]

The third volume of mangaka Keiko Suenobu’s “Limit” puts its best foot forward yet in trying to convince me that it was clearly a mistake on my part to start reading this title.  Early on we find out that the mysterious figure seen at the end of the previous volume was Hinata, one of Mizuki’s […]

Kaoru Mori changes up the tone with this volume, pushing it more towards overt comedy this time out.  The reasons for that are right on the cover.  We’re introduced to them after Mr. Smith falls off of his camel into a lake and is rescued by the twins Laila and Leily who find out that […]

Shigeru Mizuki may be one of Japan’s best-known and loved mangaka, but prior to this title’s publication in April 2011, none of his work had ever been translated into English.  Though his most famous series, “Ge ge ge no Kitaro,” is an enduringly popular kid’s  series that deals with the many denizens of Japanese folklore, […]

Another thing that occurred while reading the previous topic was, “How did this make it by Kodansha’s editorial staff?”  Granted, I could very well be in the minority when it comes to appreciating “Attack on Titan’s” virtues but those two volumes definitely left me with the feeling that it could’ve been greatly improved had it […]

Outside of the fact that they’re continuing to publish “Battle Angel Alita:  Last Order” and the “second season” of “Genshiken” Kodansha’s line of manga hasn’t really impressed me that much.  That’s mainly because a lot of it does seem skewed towards a younger audience, which is understandable since those titles tend to be the most […]

Carl Horn’s notes from the previous volume gave me the indication that this one was going to be something special.  After being put solidly on the backburner for the last several volumes, it looked as if we were finally going to get some momentum on the ongoing subplot of the origin of the spirit behind […]