A quarterly roundup of manga news between April to June 2022
I have searched far and wide for interesting news, articles, and other stuff to share. This is the second of four roundups that I will do this year. (Click here for Q1 roundup.) Keep in mind that this is not supposed to be a comprehensive rundown of everything in the manga world but rather stuff that I find interesting and wish to discuss and share with you. In this roundup, I present you with news that (mostly) occurred between April to June of 2022.
(NOTE: My personal commentary, notes, and asides will be in brackets like this: [commentary].)
Digital-only Releases
BL publisher Animate International announced that they will release special editions of their digital manga going forward in June. They're starting with LaLa's Married Life. The newest license is Tashiro-kun, Why're You Like This?, and it's now available across multiple platforms.
Subscription service Azuki announced that they will be licensing and translating their own manga starting with Hikaru in the Light! Learn more via their blog post.
Bookwalker teamed up with Kodansha to release the full-color manga I'll Never Send a Selfie Again! exclusively worldwide. It's available now. (NSFW!)
BL manga subscription service Futekiya has announced more manga licenses from Shonengahoshai and Shusuisha. Additionally, Futekiya is running the Read More Manga Free campaign where users can read more free chapters of select BL each week.
BL/GL publisher Irodori Sakura discussed the doujinshi scene in Japan during COVID and made a few announcements about their site and new licenses at their FujoCon 2022 panel. Pre-orders are up now. (Website is 18+ and NSFW!)
Kodansha digital debuts include: Burn the House Down, Changes of the Heart, Our Fake Marriage: Rosé, Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata, The Fable, The Shadows of Who We Once Were, The Wallflower, When a Cat Faces West, Wind Breaker, and more.
MangaPlanet announced that the 1-week All-You-Can-Read Manga subscription plan for $1.99 is back. This plan is available for both MangaPlanet and Futekiya's libraries. Learn more here.
MangaPlus adds Oshi no Ko to its service. Other new series include Make the Exorcist Fall in Love and Marriage Toxin. Jump+ and Manga Plus have big plans for 2023. According to the article, all new manga series on Shueisha's Shonen Jump+ app and website will launch simultaneously in English on the company's Manga Plus app from 2023 onward. Manga Plus recently held a survey about user preferences and choices for what to publish on the site. The survey included some shoujo manga. [Could it be...? 🤔]
In more news, Manga Plus and VIZ Media both adds RuriDragon and Super Smartphone to their services.
MangaSplaining Podcast published Okinawa by Susumu Higa in their newsletters. Fantagraphics will publish the manga physically in 2023. Read manga and more via MangaSplaining Podcast's website.
Media Do added new manga to OverDrive. Also, Media Do will add 20 BL titles from Konbusha to e-stores.
BL Publisher ShuCream has added more e-stores to buy from.
Shusuisha continues to publish their manga digitally in the west. The latest release is I Want to Break Off This Engagement, so I'll Play the Villainess.
VIZ announced Nine Dragons' Ball Parade as a digital-exclusive release. The manga will be on sale in September.
Print/Digital Releases
Translation company Local Manga announced that they will be publishing and releasing BL Hotel in print/digital via Twitter.
Indie publisher Star Fruit Books announced that they will publish Toki as a physical book. Toki was released last year as a digital-first/digital-only title. Additionally, Star Fruit Books announced a new license on June 25. They will publish Wonder House of Horrors in print/digital, and the company promises more new licenses soon.
Seven Seas has taken to Twitter every Wednesday to announce their new licenses. They promise to release some big news at Anime Expo 2022. Licensing highlights include: the new BL and GL imprints with six new titles at launch. The titles include The Titan’s Bride (BL),Entangled with You: The Garden of 100 Grasses (BL), I’m Kinda Chubby and I’m Your Hero (BL), Asumi-chan is Interested in Lesbian Brothels! (GL), and the light novels and manga for There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… (GL). Other manga licenses include: Gap Papa, Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Fafnir the Recluse, My Secret Affection, Night of the Living Cat, No Longer Human…In Another World, and Polar Bear Café: Collector’s Edition.
Outside of manga, Seven Seas will release the manhua Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation. You can see all of the licenses that Seven Seas has announced so far as well as take the monthly survey to request manga/light novels/etc. you want them to license via their website.
BL publisher SuBLime announced two new licenses at FujoCon 2022, and they are The Dragon's Betrothed by Meguru Hinohara and Golden Sparkle by Suzumaru Minta. Learn more about them via Twitch.
In April, Yen Press announced Ize Press, a new imprint for Korean webtoons and novels. Highlights inlcude: Villains are Destined to Die, The Remarried Empress, The Boxer, The World After the Fall, and more.
VIZ announced their Spring 2023 releases via Twitter in June, and highlights include: Tista, Show-ha Shoten!, The Girl That Can't Get a Girlfriend, Insomniacs After School, My Special One, and Choujin X.
General News
GL expert Erica Friedman launches her new book By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga. Called "the first in-depth study of Yuri in English," By Your Side is a series of essays, articles, and lectures meant to be an informal discussion nudging readers to become familiar with the key creators, tropes, concepts, symbols, and titles of the first 100 years of the Yuri genre. Press Release is here. Erica also talked about the history of GL and BL in her panel at Fujocon 2022 You can watch the archived panel here.
Newcomer light novel and manga publisher Hanashi Media announced their first two licenses. Based in Delaware, the company plans to publish books in English and Spanish. AnimeNewsNetwork has the scoop.
Seven Seas workers had an old fashioned mutiny and successfully seized the means of production in their quest for fair treatment in the labor force. In other words, they unionized. The OASG has the full saga, and while Seven Seas has issued an official statement recognizing the union. The workers aren't done. The UW7S Twitter remains active and constantly vigilant. They celebrate and uplift their union and others. [I'm no Jimquisition, but unions are good and capitalism is bad.]
Finally, in a sad bit of news, Doraemon Co-Creator Fujiko A. Fujio passed away in April, and American voice actor Billy Kametz passed away from colon cancer at 35 in early June.
Feature Articles
Anime Feminist rounded up reproduction rights resources in May, and given the recent ruling on Roe v. Wade, you might want to bookmark it for future reference. [I sure will.]
Bill Curtis attempts to increase the male readership of shoujo and josei manga with his article on Yattachi.
Latonya Pennington pens an article about the history of LGBTQ+ manga on The Popverse.
Mishima Kitan wrote about the history and use of "Japanese female language" here.
If you're interested in English to Japanese translation, check out MeruMeruChann's blog.
Interviews
Azuki interviews Tsukiya, mangaka of The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting. Check it out here.
Blerdy Otome interviews queer game developers. Game Devs. Check it out here.
Writer Cayla Coats pens the interview between Crunchyroll and creator Keito Gaku about his groundbreaking debut work Boys Run The Riot. Check it out here.
Mangasplaining interviews Akane Torikai, the mangaka behind Sensei's Pious Lie. Check it out here.
Reviews
Mizuno and Chayama GL manga review by Al's Manga Blog
Penguin Gentlemen manga review by ThatMangaHunter [It's me! Please read this manga.]
Talk to My Back manga review by Otaku USA
The Dragon’s Soulmate is a Mushroom Princess! light novel review by The OASG
Welcome Back, Alice manga review by Otaku USA
Anime
Crunchyroll released its Summer 2022 lineup. Highlights include The Devil is a Part-Timer season 2, Shadows House season 2, and The Yakuza's Guide to Babysitting. Full list is here.
Sentai Filmworks and HiDive will be streaming Call of the Night, Phantom of the Idol, the new Tokyo Mew Mew anime, When Will Ayumu Make his Move?, Doomsday with my Dog, and more.
Shopping deals & sales
Kodansha is having a School of Rebels sale via Humble Bundle. Buy 112 volumes of manga, worth over $1200 total, for only $35. Manga includes Air Gear, Beck, Initial D, Peach Girl, Those Not-So-Sweet Boys, and more. This digital deal ends July 7, 2022.
The highly anticipated RightStuf Anime birthday sale is underway! The sale took place on June 26 and will run throughout July. Each Sunday, RightStuf will discount anime, manga, and other merch for the week. Each week features new deals. So, check back often to save money. The final week will feature all of the items that have been on sale! Check it out here.
Take the Seven Seas monthly survey and receive discounts on their manga via Bookwalker. Share your opinions, manga license wish list, and get a coupon! Take the survey via their website.
Let's Discuss
The Japan Foundation & CGP, NY held a live presentation on the the history of BL by notable scholars. Watch the archived video on their YouTube channel.
Also, while you're on The Japan Foundation & CGP, NY's channel check out this video on cuteness and moe.
Shoujo manga enthusiast, influencer, and youtuber Collen's Manga Recs discusses the "decline" of Shoujo anime.
Mangatuber Christy Lou asks (and answers) if manga demographics are important in her latest video.
Finally, anituber The Canipa Effect revisits the topic of low pay for translators and how the $1B dollar Funimation buyout makes the problem worse.
Just for fun
The yaoi Dick Fight Island became a trend on Twitter because of a funny tweet involving Squidward and Barnes & Noble.
Have you seen the Los Angeles Chargers' football schedule?
Manga artists draw Doctor Strange in a promotional poster for Marvel Studios.
Finally, this Spy x Family fan animation re-imagines Twilight and the anime as a darker series. The video originated on Billibilli. The video has been re-uploaded to YouTube and subbed with credit to the original. [The Spy x Family fanart and fandom is just lit right now. There's so much good stuff out there that I could do multiple posts on the topic. XD ]
Disperse! Go forth and read!
That concludes this quarter's wrap-up. Q3's wrap-up will be released late September/early October. So, what did I miss? Hit me up in the comments or Twitter @THatMangaHunter.
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