A post dated May 8 on manga publisher VIZ Media's Blog simply says "Kubo is coming". It also has a link to the Shonen Jump magazine web page that just says the same thing, with the extra tidbit that says you'll have to subscribe to the Shonen Jump magazine newsletter to get more updates soon.

Okay, I'm intrigued. Does this mean Bleach manga creator Tite Kubo is coming for a rare (possibly first) visit to the U.S.? Well, the timing would certainly make sense, with the Bleach movie making its North American theatrical debut in June, and VIZ's plans to release the Bleach artbook, All Colors But the Black and the Bleach fanbook in the early Fall. And with San Diego Comic Con on the horizon in July... well, who knows?

But this all just speculation until VIZ / Shonen Jump decides to spill the beans. Sign up for the Shonen Jump newsblast to get the scoop first when they do.

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Went poking around the Digital Manga Publishing (DMP) website today, and found out that they've launched a new website dedicated to the original Speed Racer manga.

It looks like they're still doing some work under the hood on this, as a few sections (like the downloads page) are still placeholders, but it does have a free online preview of a chapter from their deluxe two-volume boxed set of the original Speed Racer (a.k.a Mach Go Go Go) manga. Click on the "Samples" section to view these pages.

The animation is pretty schnazzy, but some of the sections are a bit redundant (two boxes take you to purchase, two boxes take you to a profile of creator Tatsuo Yoshida). Still, it's worth a look, especially if you've seen or plan on seeing the new Speed Racer movie, which is hitting the theaters today. And, if you missed it the first time around, here's my review of the Speed Racer Mach Go Go Go boxed set.

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Given how much I complained about the lack of manga for kids under 12 in my top trends for 2008 list, it seems only right to wander slightly astray from my manga reviewing to check out the Akiko Ikeda's Dayan books, Dayan's Birthday and Chibikuro Party, two of the first four releases from Dark Horse Books.

Already a beloved character in the children's book pantheon in Japan, Dayan is a mischievous cat who lives in Wachifield, a magical realm where animals walk, talk and live in peace together. In these two mini-hardcover books, Dayan discovers birthdays, a yearly festival of shadows and the secret to defeating a trio of vengeful witches (Hint: it involves alcohol).

Yes, it's all very, very cute -- but there's also a hint of dark undertones that keeps all the adorableness from getting too saccharine for adult readers to stomach. Check out my review of Dayan's Birthday and my review of Chibikuro Party and see if these kids books will capture American hearts, or if something gets a bit lost in its transition from its Japanese roots.

Also worth checking out: An interview with Dayan's creator, Akiko Ikeda and online previews of pages from Dayan's Birthday and a preview of Chibikuro Party at Dark Horse. And while you're at it, visit Dayan's home at Wonderland of Wachifield (in English!).

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Thursday's New York Times online edition had two articles / photo slideshows that caught my eye:

Steampunk Moves Between Two Worlds
"Steampunk" should be nothing new to manga and anime fans -- series like Full Metal Alchemist, D.Gray Man and movies such as Howl's Moving Castle and Steamboy are examples of stories that draw from the Victorian era, H.G. Wells-inspired sci-fi style that mixes turn of the century romance and craftsman details with retro-futuristic steam-powered technology. As the article explains it:

It is also the vision of steampunk, a subculture that is the aesthetic expression of a time-traveling fantasy world, one that embraces music, film, design and now fashion, all inspired by the extravagantly inventive age of dirigibles and steam locomotives, brass diving bells and jar-shaped protosubmarines.... That definition is loose enough to accommodate a stew of influences, including the streamlined retro-futurism of Flash Gordon and Japanese animation with its goggle-wearing hackers, the postapocalyptic scavenger style of “Mad Max,” and vaudeville, burlesque and the structured gentility of the Victorian age. In aggregate, steampunk is a trend that is rapidly outgrowing niche status.

Be sure to check out the photo slide show of the steampunk aesthetic, especially the steampunk-style computer and keyboard!

Power Dressing - Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy
On display now at New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute is an intriguing retrospective of superhero style, and how it has influenced haute couture. Wonder Woman and Spiderman costumes worn by Lynda Carter and Toby McGuire are displayed alongside futuristic fashions by Jean-Paul Gaultier, John Galliano and Alexander McQueen in Superheroes: Fashion and Fantasy.

The show opened on May 7 and will continue through September 1, 2008. For a peek at some of the comic book-inspired couture on display, check out the Times' slide show of the exhibit.

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There's college, and then there's art school. Maybe it's the paint fumes, but art school is a fertile ground for all kinds of characters you'd never meet at your typical university. Just ask manga artist Chica Umino, who set her romantic comedy shojo / josei manga series Honey and Clover in a semi-suburban art college just outside of Tokyo.

Through the eyes of sophomore architecture student Takemoto, we meet his boarding house mates Mayama, a fourth year design major, and Morita, a gifted sculptor who's on his sixth (and counting) year of art school. We also watch two love triangles form, when we meet Hagu, a tiny and fragile painter who looks more like 8 than 18 years old, and Yamada, the tough but vulnerable ceramics major who has a crush on Mayama.

By putting the focus on the three male leads (instead of her two main female characters), Umino has bent one of the rules of shojo manga -- make the girl(s) the center of the action. The other quirky aspect of Honey and Clover? Its distinctive, sketchy art and meandering, (some would say slow) pace, as it introduces us to new tidbits about each character in non-linear, slice-of-life episodes.

Art school and angst -- they go together like peanut butter 'n jelly. There's a good deal of emo-drama here, but it's balanced out by Umino's quirky sense of humor, as she puts her characters in some eccentric situations, such as the art school version of Twister and mercenary Morita's fairy website starring petite (but definitely not a fairy) Hagu.

Check out my review of Honey and Clover Volume 1, which is available now, and my review of Honey and Clover Volume 2, which will be out in June from Shojo Beat Manga / VIZ Media and see if this art school romantic comedy makes the grade or it's just one of those things that you either get... or you don't.

Also, check out the live action feature film version of Honey and Clover, which will be out on DVD next week, on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 from VIZ Pictures. Read more...

Yup, you read that right -- Del Rey Manga wants to give you a free copy of their new shonen manga fantasy, Haridama: Magical Cram School fresh off the presses. All you have to do is send an email to delreymanga@randomhouse.com with "Haridama" in the subject line, along with your full name and address in your email message, and you're in the running to be one of 10 lucky winners who'll get a free copy of Haridama to enjoy. The only catch is that you'll have to read it and send your comments back to the folks at Del Rey Manga. But don't snooze -- deadline for entries is Wednesday, May 21, 2008.

Created by Atsushi Suzumi, the creator of Venus vs. Virus, Haridama: Magical Cram School is about a school for aspiring sorcerers who are all studying to pass "the world's toughest final exam." It's also complete in one volume, which makes it a fun pick for comics commitment-phobes. Look for this one at your favorite bookstore or comics shop on May 20.

Check out Haridama and the rest of the upcoming Del Rey Manga releases that will find a place on your other summer reading list in the Del Rey New Manga Preview Gallery.

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Pre-sale tickets go on sale on Friday, May 9 for the two-night theatrical release of the feature-length animated movie, Bleach: Memories of Nobody. Theaters nationwide will be showing this movie on June 11 and 12, with tickets available from Fathom Events, the same company that’s managing the two-night stand of the Death Note live action movie on May 20-21. Look for a list of theaters to be published on the Fathom Events site once the tickets go on sale.

Why trek to a theater instead of waiting for the DVD release? VIZ is promising exclusive behind the scenes footage of the making of the movie that will only be shown at the event. And hey, big screen, big speakers and a theater full of hyped up fellow fans? What's not to like?

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Your chance to check out the Death Note live action film is coming soon, and if you're lucky, you can score free tickets to the show. Just sign up for the VIZ Pictures email newsletter before Friday, May 9 at 5 pm Pacific Daylight Time, and you'll be entered in a drawing to win free tickets to see the show on May 21 at a theater near you.

Death Note will be shown at 309 theaters in 40 states for a special two-night stand on May 20 and 21 at 7:30 PM. Find a theater near you, and buy your pre-sale tickets from Fathom Events, the nationwide promoter of this special event. Besides the movie, the evening will also feature exclusive behind the scenes footage of the making of the film.

Is it worth the trip? Check out the preview trailers and decide. Or if you're the patient sort, the DVD will be available on September 16, 2008.

As an extra quirky goodie to promote Death Note's nationwide night out, VIZ Pictures also has a downloadable Ryuk the shinigami (death god) ringtone available for download, with an L ringtone to follow soon. Read more...

When Vertical first announced that they got the license to publish Osamu Tezuka's samurai fantasy manga Dororo in English, they prefaced it with a preview of the Dororo live action movie, which was a box office hit in Japan. Now that the first volume of Vertical's edition of Dororo manga has hit the bookstores, it seemed like a good time to check out its feature film counterpart.

Released in Japan by Toho Company in January 2007, the Dororo movie was generally applauded for its eye-popping CGI-generated special effects, and its contemporary take on Tezuka's 40-year old story. While the first Dororo film (there are three planned, total) been released in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea and made its European debut at the Munich Asia Filmfest in Germany last October, Dororo hasn't yet been scheduled for U.S. release by its North American distributor, Universal Pictures. So what's a curious fan to do? Pick up a version of the Taiwan release, with English subtitles, that's what.

If you're persistent, you can probably find a copy from your friendly neighborhood (or Internet) Asian film DVD merchant. But is it worth the extra effort to seek this special effects extravaganza out, or are you better off waiting for Universal to get off their duff and add it to their release schedule?

Check out the streaming video preview of the Dororo trailers at the official website (in Japanese, but the link to the trailers is in English), then check out my review of the Dororo movie and decide for yourself if it's worth watching, much less looking for.

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After publishing several grown-up graphic novels by Osamu Tezuka, Vertical is turning their attention to an earlier work by the Godfather of Manga. It’s not as grown up as Ode to Kirihito, nor as iconic and kid-friendly as Astro Boy, but Dororo is an action-packed, supernatural samurai fantasy adventure story that is still as satisfying and entertaining for today's readers as it was to Japanese manga readers when it was first published over 40 years ago.

Hyakkimaru is a wandering swordsman with a unique past. His father, a ruthless warlord sacrifices his unborn son’s body parts to 48 demons in exchange for power and riches. Born a barely-alive shell of a human being with no arms, legs or eyes, Hyakkimaru is found by a kindly (and ingenious) doctor who creates an amazing array of prosthetics for his adopted son, including arms that turn into swords and feet that spray acid. These weapons come in handy because Hyakkimaru is constantly encountering demons who he must defeat to get his real body parts back. Joined by Dororo, an irrepressible young thief who acts as the story's comic relief, Hyakkimaru makes his away across a chaotic, war-torn feudal Japan, with demons nipping at his heels every step of the way.

If it sounds bizarre, well... it is, and I mean that in the best way possible. Tezuka takes his medical training, mixes it with Japanese mythology, samurai swordplay and drama, adds a dash of sci-fi fantasy and gives readers a story that's wildly inventive and simply entertaining from cover to cover.

Check out my review of Dororo Volume 1, which just hit the stores this week, and my review of Dororo Volume 2, which you'll find in your local book or comic shop on or about June 24. Also, preview Dororo by checking out this online excerpt at Vertical's website, and see why this graphic novel has got a whole bunch of manga reviewers singing its praises.

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