Mangahelpers.com News

New Manga Shout Out: 10/26/09 - 11/1/09

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:49:25 +0000

Welcome to the next New Manga Shout Out. Slow week, so no part 2 for this week. Remember, if you like any of the series, favorite them. Don't forget to also thank the various translators, raw uploaders/scanners and scanlators who feed your manga addiction. ^_^ Translators and Scanlators, please check out these series and see if you can spread some more manga love~

We're still looking for people who know Japanese and want to help write summaries for our manga database and for the shout out. Please PM me if you want to help out. Now onto the series~

Inakano (いなかの)
By: INOMOTO Rikako

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Volume (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Akane, Minori, Hitomi and Rio are friends who are in the same class at a school out in the country. The four of them face the trials and joys of being a teenage girl together, from crushes and love letters to dieting and homework.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Let's Bible (レッツバイブル！)
By: YOUN In-Wan x YANG Kyung-Il

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot + 4 Chapters (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

This summary is based off of the one-shot:
Vulcan Markovic lives in a small fishing village in Croatia. He has only two things on his mind--designer goods and losing his virginity. When an indescribably beautiful girl shows up asking for directions to Heaven's Gate, Vulcan takes his first step into "thrilling world-salvation action!!"

After the one-shot, there was 4 chapters published:
The genius Chinese buddhist monk Haomei is surprised to have his studies interrupted one day by a flaming bus soaring through the air and crashing. He is even more shocked that there is a survivor, a girl who calls herself Jesus of Nazareth. Soon, a descendant of Lucifer shows up at the temple to make sure Jesus is good and dead. Will Haomei's buddhist powers be strong enough to protect Jesus from the descendants of Lucifer?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Machiwarashi (街童子)
By: TAKAHASHI Yousuke

Demographics: Josei
Status: 1 Volume (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: 1 Volume
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

In the ruined, empty city, there lives a lonely, mysterious being known as the Machiwarashi. He haunts the city like a zashikiwarashi haunts a house, and greets every situation, no matter how grisly or horrible, with a happy childlike innocence. What will his future hold for him?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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MILL (ミル)
By: TEHARA Kazunori

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot + 2 Chapters (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

College student Aki is shocked when a teenage girl suddenly barges into his Tokyo apartment, acting as if he should know her. When the truth becomes clear, the situation is even stranger. The 'teenage girl' is actually his precious pet cat Mill from his home in Kyuushuu, who is apparently an 86 year old 'monster cat' who can change between cat and human forms. Will Aki be able to fit his supernatural pet cat into his ordinary college life?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Nana to Kaoru (Young Animal) (ナナとカオル)
By: AMAZUME Ryuta

Demographics: Seinen
Status: "1" Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: Chapter 1 (Quicker)

Kaoru is a 17-year old virgin who has a SM fetish. He always dreams about a SM relationship with his childhood friend Nana. One day Kaoru's mom decides to hide all his SM toys so he'll study for a change, by asking Nana to hide his toys. Nana finds the leather one-piece that Kaoru bought and tries it on, but she accidentally locks it and doesn't have the key!

Due to the popularity of Nana to Kaoru, the series resumes publication in Young Animal and chapter 22 is the final chapter in Young Animal Arashi. Publication of the series will continue in Young Animal, but renumbered as chapter 1 while maintaining the same name and storyline.

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Negative Twin-Tower (ネガティブ・ツインタワー)
By: Kemonono

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 5 Chapters (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 (Missing Chapter 2 Raw)
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Hyoudou Kaname and Shishido Makoto are two abnormally tall (over 180 cm!), sharp-eyed high school girls. That, in addition to Kaname's emotional instability and violent outbursts, has instilled a fear of the two girls in all their classmates. But, though they're bad at dealing with people, they are actually normal girls. They just want to hang out with friends, have boyfriends, and enjoy high school like other girls, but they fail whenever they try. If they don't get discouraged and continue to work at getting to know others, will a day come when they can smile and be happy? It's a high tension school comedy drawn with a unique style and tempo.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Panikuru Iko-san (ぱにくるい子さん)
By: WAMUSATO Haru

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 3 Chapters (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Kazeta Izaemon is a boy who has outstanding grades in school and athletics, but is one day hit by a car. The passenger in the car happened to be a rich lady, Momoizumi Hanae, and she saved his life by turning him into a girl, but she wants to be more than just his life saver?

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Yu-Yuru Executive Office (ゆ～ゆる執行部)
By: bomi

Demographics: Shounen
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Yukimaru Hana is just starting her high school life, when on the way to class she finds what appears to be a corpse beneath a sakura tree! The 'corpse' is the strange executive office president Asukata Ume. Follow Hana as she gets used to her new school with her new friends, the students from the executive office.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Note to all scanlators: If you recently started scanlating a new manga series (with about 5 or less chapters released) that's hosted on MangaHelpers, and would like your manga to be shouted out in the next New Manga Shout Out, then please PM me. Please include:

The name of the manga series
A summary of the series
Publishing Status (+ Number of Volumes/Chapters)

Here's what Tethysdust says about this week:

Quote:

Definitely seems like a school life stories week. Out of those Inakano was probably my favorite, it was a pretty calm manga and very nostalgia invoking about adolescence. From the point of view of someone who loves cats, Mill was pretty interesting. I can't really tell if they're going to lean more towards the immortal cat - pet owner relationship or the magic girl - college student relationship, though. From what I've read, Nana to Kaoru is a pretty realistic depiction of a consensual BDSM relationship, so that one would probably be interesting to anyone into BDSM or curious about it. Machiwarashi is not for people who are easily disturbed by things like murdered children and innocent little demons playing with corpses.
I want to read Inakano and Negative Twin-Tower. There be yuri in Panikuru Iko-san. XD Also, I know Nana to Kaoru isn't really "new" (with 2 tanks out), but I just wanted to give it a shout out to let people who read the series know it's now in a new magazine and it's being renumbered as chapter 1.

Translated items that need some love/scanlation: Why isn't anyone scanlating these?
Elkin - Jio to Ougon to Kinjirareta Mahou: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Elkin - Hokenshitsu no Shinigami: Chapter 1

Edit: Burning Hell from last week got scanlated so go check it out~

New Manga Shout Out: 10/19/09 - 10/25/09 Part 2

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:47:27 +0000

Welcome to the next New Manga Shout Out. Too many new mangas uploaded again so this is part 2. Remember, if you like any of the series, favorite them. Don't forget to also thank the various translators, raw uploaders/scanners and scanlators who feed your manga addiction. ^_^ Translators and Scanlators, please check out these series and see if you can spread some more manga love~

We're still looking for people who know Japanese and want to help write summaries for our manga database and for the shout out. Please PM me if you want to help out. Now onto the series~

between Haru and Natsu, I am... (ハルとナツ)
By: TAKEDA Sun

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 3 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Makoto meets a sweet, shy girl named Haruna helping out at the school's athletics festival. He confesses his feelings for her the next time he sees her, and she bluntly rejects him, only to call him later and ask him out herself! The source of all these mixed signals is Haruna's "evil" twin sister, Natsumi. Natsumi is the opposite of Haruna, she's a forward, crude girl bent on taking whatever she can from her twin sister. Makoto is stuck in between Haruna and Natsumi, as they viciously fight over who will win him in the end.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Calibur Meister (キャリバー・マイスター)
By: AKAGI Kotetsu

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 4 Chapters (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Izumo is a girl who fights magical "artifacts" and their evil wielders with her own magical sword. However, she's really socially awkward and has a hard time talking to people. Mostly she just finds herself able to speak with tools and the souls of magical tools, including the cheerful and extremely extroverted human form of her sword's soul. Will she be able to learn that there are some people worth making the effort to talk with?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Hakui no Kanojo (白衣のカノジョ)
By: HISAKA Mika

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

A male science teacher and a female school nurse at a local school live in the same apartment building. Sometimes she visits his room and they drink together. A situation arises that causes some awkwardness in their relationship. Will they be able to resolve things?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Itsuka Tenma no Kuro-Usagi (いつか天魔の黒ウサギ)
By: KAGAMI Takaya x KAMIYA Yuu x ASAHINA Shiori

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Taito has been really sleepy lately, and keeps dreaming of a particular vampire who says she has given him her "poison". Sometimes he even thinks he hallucinates her voice when he's awake. But after surviving an accident that should have killed him, Taito's world changes drastically and he realizes that his dreams are more real than he thought.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Kando Joujou Star (感度上々☆)
By: KAWATSU Kenjiro

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

A young woman is taking a bath when in drops a tiny old man! He proclaims himself a fairy, and says that she can see him because she's troubled in some way. Will he be able to solve her troubles?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Kunoichi Mahouden (くノ一魔宝伝)
By: YAMAGUCHI Masakazu

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 2 Volumes (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Shion's world is torn apart when she is forced to flee her invaded home, leaving behind her father, mother, and little brother, and face the fact that some people she had known all her life had betrayed her. Now, armed with all the knowledge and skills her parents and teachers have given her, she must find the other 6 people who carry portions of her father's secret.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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May? Day! Dreaming! (めいでい★どりーみん！)
By: Rei

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

The world is full of mysteries! The DMR (Dragon Mystery Reportage) is a group of people from different backgrounds that try to solve a few of them. They might all have different theories, based on science, conspiracy theories, occultism, or extraterrestrials, but they are all searching for the truth!

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Mission! School (Mission！すくーる)
By: OHMI Takeshi

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 3 Chapters (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Ishikawa Takuya, a high school student who doesn't stand out in any particular way, is surprised when his principal asks him to take care of some transfer students. He is even more surprised to find that there are actually 30 charming female transfer students in his care, who have come from a boarding school that was destroyed in a fire! At first it seems like a dream come true, but then he notices their knives... and guns... What kind of school did these girls come from?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Project Doll-Phone (プロジェクトドールフォン)
By: KAWANO Yuusuke

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Shinjirou's brother is a brilliant scientist whose chosen career is making weird cell phones. Shinjirou has received a gift of his latest product, the doll phone, which is a walking, talking, tiny girl who doubles as a cell phone. But he can't help feeling that a phone like that seems kind of perverted to use...

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Tomorrows (トゥモロウズ)
By: DEGUCHI Masato

Demographics: Shounen
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Anan and Minmi lived in a laboratory as small children, where scientists experimented on them and gave them special powers. One day, the professor helped them escape, out of guilt from what he had done to them. The two of them continue to hide ten years later, certain that if their powers are exposed they will be captured and returned to that hell.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

The name of the manga series
A summary of the series
Publishing Status (+ Number of Volumes/Chapters)

Part two of this and I found Itsuka Tenma no Kuro Usagi and Tomorrows interesting. A mysterious girl vampire and a shounen about kids with powers in hiding sounds good~ I hope both get scanlated/translated. What do you guys/girls find interesting?

Translated items that need some love/scanlation:
boke - Boku wa Onna no Ko: ~~Story 1~~ Scanlated by Cat Professor Scans
boke - Kabu no Isaki - Chapter 1-6
Elkin - Jio to Ougon to Kinjirareta Mahou: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Elkin - Hokenshitsu no Shinigami: Chapter 1

Oh and Ability Shop got scanlated from last week so go check it out.
Edit: Karasu got scanlated as well (and translated by tethysdust, no less).

DreamWorks announces Ghost in the Shell Live-Action Movie

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 22:18:13 +0000

The Matrix movies were great blockbusters, yet there were people who claimed it was a Ghost in the Shell rip-off. Well, here's good news for those people and the rest of us.

DreamWorks is developing a new movie of Ghost in the Shell, best known as the '95 anime movie based on Masamune Shirow's manga franchise. DreamWorks already set a scriptwriter on it, namely, Laeta Kalogridis, after his work on the upcoming Martin Scorsese thriller, "Shutter Island", which stars Leonadro DiCaprio, he decided to adapt the Japanese manga property, "Ghost in the Shell." Jamie Moss, who was hired last year to write the script, was fired from his position.

The brothers Avi and Ari Arad, together with Steven Paul of Seaside Entertainment are attached to produce the new 3-D Live Action feature film. The brothers Arad are most known for their works on comic books adapted movie's, which are basically all Marvel Live-Action movies and they even produced several episodes and TV animated series of Marvel. Seaside Entertainment's Steven Paul also worked on most of those films, but he's also know for his other works like A Dog of Flanders, Big Stan and his latest game-adapted movie, Tekken.

Created by Masamune Shirow, Ghost in the Shell first published back in 1989. It went on to generate two more manga editions and three anime film adaptions and an anime TV series. It's second move, "Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence" was also released by DreamWorks in 2004 in the U.S.

Source

Special MH Birthday Header Contest!

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:24:54 +0000

Mangahelpers is turning 4 years old soon, and you're invited to the party :)

Check the Special MH Birthday Header Contest and participate! Hurry up, you only have till November 12th to submit your entry :D

New Manga Shout Out: 10/19/09 - 10/25/09 Part 1

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:59:44 +0000

Welcome to the next New Manga Shout Out. Too many new mangas uploaded again so we'll be making two parts again. Remember, if you like any of the series, favorite them. Don't forget to also thank the various translators, raw uploaders/scanners and scanlators who feed your manga addiction. ^_^ Translators and Scanlators, please check out these series and see if you can spread some more manga love~

We're still looking for people who know Japanese and want to help write summaries for our manga database and for the shout out. Please PM me if you want to help out. Now onto the series~

Bloody Planet (ブラッディプラネット)
By: BLAZE one!

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Aliens attack a town with terraforming nanomachines, and Iwan is stuck in the middle of it. Everyone else he sees is eaten by the alien technology, until he runs into two girls who claim to be demons dispatched from hell. He sells them his soul as the price for helping him escape, but even with their help, he isn't sure he's going to make it out alive.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Burning Hell (バーニングヘル)
By: YOUN In-Wan x YANG Kyung-Il

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 5 Chapters (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

There is an island where both Japan and Korea unload their most dangerous and violent criminals. It's said that the island has become hell on earth, and anyone left alive there have become demons. The latest drop-off at the island is a very strong, very violent murderer. Will he be able to overcome whatever he might find on this hell island?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Cafe Detective Club (かへたんていぶ)
By: FUJISHIRO Takeshi

Demographics: Shounen
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Emina wants to start a detective club at her school, but there's one hitch in her plan. There is only one clubroom available, so she and four other students who want to start new clubs must compete for the space! Whoever can gather 5 club members will be allowed to found their chosen club. But with Emina's love of logic and problem-solving, will she be able to find a more creative solution?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Flat & Flow (ふら・ふろ)
By: MASARU Kaneko

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Volume (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 (Arienai)

Natsu and Hana are the managers of an old apartment building. They wander around daily managing finances, keeping up the building, and sometimes just killing time. (4koma series)

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Gyakushuu no Ore x Yome (逆襲のオレ×ヨメ)
By: KITAZAKI Taku

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 2 Chapters (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Kou's very good with computer science and robotics, but not very skilled with the opposite sex. He has a crush on his coworker, Moe, but he hardly even speaks to her. Then one day, his 99 year old self from the future sends him back a present; an android of Moe that only wants to make him happy. His future self comes along for the ride, in the form of a little phallic robot. His new penis-bot and android girlfriend are definitely going to make his life a lot more complicated.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Idol no Tamago (あいたま)
By: SHIWASU Touko

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Volume (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

The Angel Egg Idol School, also known as Aitama, is a school that caters specifically to young 'Idols', including models, singers, and musicians. Kuremi Ai attends this school, despite the fact that she is not an Idol, but just an ordinary girl. This manga follows her daily life with her beautiful and talented classmates and the problems they encounter in their lives.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Japonism47 (ジャポニズム47)
By: AOIRO Irico

Demographics: Shoujo
Status: 6 Chapters (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Japonism47 follows the adventures of Team Kantou (the eastern half of Japan, including Tokyo), where all the locations in Japan are played by people. The people are anthropomorphic representations of the relationships between Japanese locations throughout time.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Kigurumi Life (キグルミライフ)
By: YUZUNOKI Taro

Demographics: Shounen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

After being rejected by Marie, whom he liked very much, this boy found a new way into her life. He became her stuffed animal! After seeing what life is like as a cute girl's stuffed animal, will he give up living as a human for good?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Love DNA Double X (恋愛遺伝子XX)
By: EIKI Eiki x ZAOU Taishi

Demographics: Girls love
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

In 2122, the last man died, leaving all of humanity made up solely of women. The female leadership came up with an "Eden" plan, for the preservation of society. Women would be split up into an "Adam" type, a traditional male role, and an "Eve" type, a traditional female role. Adams and Eves are supposed to marry and make children from a sperm bank, thus preserving the traditional family. Aoi, an Adam, is a bitter and agressive new student at the government school "Kingdom", and she is determined to be the best one there. She also plans to avoid any relationship entanglements... but that may be a more difficult task than she imagines.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Manekare Zarumono (招かれざる者)
By: YOSHINORI Hasura

Demographics: Shounen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Our world has become accidentally connected to another world, and creatures come through the portals to hurt humans. Our world's defense are the gatekeepers, who send these creatures back where they came from. Mamori is an elementary-school-aged girl who wants to be a gatekeeper, and her partner is high-school-aged Mondo, a pervert. Together they must pass the test to become gatekeepers. But does Mondo really care about passing the test, or is he just planning on spending all his time sexually harassing Mamori?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Otome Kakumei Ayameno! Gaiden ( 乙女革命アヤメの! 外伝)
By: HIGA Yukari x SHIMO Fumihiko

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: One-shot (boke)
Scanlations: One-shot (Teaparty)

Julia has a crush on Himeko, her classmate, and she dreams of her all the time. Will her dreams ever become a reality?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Otsukae Ninja Miyabi (お仕えニンジャ雅)
By: YOKOYAMA Tomoo

Demographics: Shounen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Souta is really nervous about asking out the girl he likes, and he decides the best thing to do about it is practice. Therefore, he orders Miyabi, the young and stoic female ninja who serves him, to accompany him on a "practice date". What could possibly go wrong with this plan?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Presto (プレスト-PRESTO-)
By: KAZUKI Aine

Demographics: Shounen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Nadesiko always wanted to become a prince when she grew up, not a princess. One day, her classmate Kanade confesses his love for her. This throws her sister Yamato into a jealous rage, as all boys are apparently supposed to love *her*, not her masculine sister. Will Nadesiko be able to keep from being attacked by her sister and also keep from being pressed into a gender role she does not want?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Puni Chu (ぷにっCHU)
By: MINADORI Naya

Demographics: Shoujo
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Mii, a middle school girl in the tennis club, loves tennis balls. She and the other quirky girls in the club attempt to practice tennis, which none of them are very good at, in an adorable manner.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Right Owner (ライトオーナー)
By: NIRASAWA Kenji

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Shinazu is the strongest fighter in high school, and even all the boys are frightened of her. Usually, she fights bad kids in order to save students who are being bullied. But one day, her best friend Rinka is taken hostage. Who is behind this attack on Shinazu, and why?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Ryushika Ryushika (リューシカ・リューシカ)
By: ABE Yoshitoshi

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

A little girl named Ryushika plays with a daruma doll.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Seikai Ibun (精怪異聞)
By: TOKITOH Kanade

Demographics: Shounen
Status: 1 Volume (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Tokihiko and Akebi move into a shrine that people stopped worshipping at over a hundred years ago. But as they're cleaning up the old shrine, the strangest things start happening...

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Today's Asuka show. (今日のあすかショー)
By: TAISHI Mori

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 3 Chapters (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
Translations: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 (shadow-skill)
Scanlations: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 (Stand Alone Scanlation)

Asuka is a cute and clueless high school girl who habitually does things, in all innocence, that seem sexually suggestive to the men around her. Each chapter in "Today's Asuka Show" features a different awkward situation.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Ware wa Ken-oh!! (われは剣王っ!!)
By: SHIBAMURA Yuuri x Shirotsumekusa

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 3 Volumes (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Yoshiaki is entering a school that is famous for its fights and violence. He chose to go there for just that reason, and he intends to be the strongest one there. When he first arrives, he helps out a girl called Homura, who is being picked on by some guys. When she asks him to be her "sword" afterward, Yoshiaki doesn't know how to respond. Apparently, students of the school team up in pairs; a "sword" and a "master". Others advise him not to associate with the girl, who is a "Rank F", as she probably won't live very long. However, Yoshiake is not thrilled with the idea of abandoning her to die.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Wonders! (ワンダーズ！)
By: SHIMOMURA Tomohiro

Demographics: Shounen
Status: On-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Charlotte has been kidnapped by a costumed thief, along with the most precious magical item from her Natural History Museum, the Hamelin Flute! She is confident that a magic-item using "Fushigi Buster" will rescue her, but when he shows up, he's just a kid. By her strict "Prince Points" scale, her rescuer scores a zero! Will the "Fushigi Buster" be able to save her and her precious magic flute?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Yaoyorozu no Kami-sama (八百万の神様)
By: TAKEYUKI Sato

Demographics: Shounen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Kakeru is a loli fan who likes "tsundere" type little girls in particular. One day, while he's feeling sad about the lack of available loli girls, a little goddess appears in his bedroom! She says she's going to take revenge on him for a crime one of his ancestors committed against her. Are all of Kakeru's wildest dreams about to come true?!?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

The name of the manga series
A summary of the series
Publishing Status (+ Number of Volumes/Chapters)

Part 1 of this week, since once again there were too many mangas. Check out the next article in a few days time for a few more~

As for the mangas in this article, I am definitely looking forward to reading Kigurumi Life and Otsukae Ninja Miyabi. I'm a sucker for romance stories with a bit of comedy thrown in. :P The description for Gyakushuu no Ore x Yome sounds fun, although I'm guessing it might be too fanservicey for my taste. Burning Hell reminds me a bit of Battle Royale and some really bad American movie that had a similar plot.

Translated items that need some love/scanlating:
boke - Boku wa Onna no Ko: Story 1
boke - Kabu no Isaki - Chapter 1-6
Elkin - Jio to Ougon to Kinjirareta Mahou: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Elkin - Hokenshitsu no Shinigami: Chapter 1

The Manga Newspaper

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:07:28 +0000

Newspapers, mostly known as those dull, boring paper things delivered in the morning featuring just walls of text over and over again. How would you feel, if our daily boring newspaper were to be changed into a manga form?

KaBa Net, an internet service company recently started a service which provides its readers with daily news in the form of a manga. Yes, instead of using those dull newspaper, they're using manga as their news medium. One news article is usually 4 to 8 frames long, covering at least 1 or 2 pages at its max.

The project is named, "Manga de Yomu News: Manga no Shimbun", translated it would come out as, "News Read Through Manga: The Manga Newspaper", KaBa Net is now using the Manga Newspaper for news of different sections, like, Politics, Business, International News, Society, Art, Sports and the newspaper's own special features.

As of now, KaBa Net has started a trial run with several "manga articles". The articles that were covered included the recent launching of North Korea's missiles and the upcoming Bullet Train models that Japan might adopt.

Unfortunately, if you're a fan of a "moe" kind of art-style, you'll be disappointed. While the news is in the form of manga, KaBa Net's intention is still to deliver news to a general public in a more entertaining way. The art itself is considered mediocre, but, hey, it's the news that counts! And since it's being drawn by a small team of mangakas, whose job is to draw several articles in one single day to cover the huge variety of news, it can't be suspected to be great art, can it?

You can view the Manga Newspaper right here. Beware, it's in Japanese only.

Sources: Not Cliché & Newsmanga

New Manga Shout Out: 10/12/09 - 10/18/09 Part 2

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 07:50:10 +0000

Welcome to the next New Manga Shout Out. This is part 2 of last week's manga since there were too many to be contained in one article. Remember, if you like any of the series, favorite them. Don't forget to also thank the various translators, raw uploaders/scanners and scanlators who feed your manga addiction. ^_^ Translators and Scanlators, please check out these series and see if you can spread some more manga love~

We're still looking for people who know Japanese and want to help write summaries for our manga database and for the shout out. Please PM me if you want to help out. Now onto the series~

Ability Shop (あびりてぃしょっぷ)
By: TASHIRO Tetsuya

Demographics: Shounen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Toshiki is a kid who isn't really good at anything. He happens upon the "Ability Shop" where you can buy abilities in exchange for the years of your life. Toshiki rapidly changes his reputation at school, becoming a guy who can do everything well! Despite his successes, he may soon learn that there are some things that can't be gained through power alone.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Ane Comi (あねコミ)
By: INOUE Kazurou

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 2 Chapters (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Translations: None
Scanlations: Chapter 1 (Morally Bankrupt Translations)

The one thing not ordinary about high school student Ryouta is that he has an aspiring manga artist for an older sister. She is so dedicated to her drawing that, despite being 21, she's never really been in a romantic situation. Unfortunately, when she gets her first real job, it's to write an erotic manga. Desperately, she enlists the reluctant Ryouta's help, as a 'model', to figure out how exactly to draw this sort of manga.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Hime-chan no Ribon Colorful (姫ちゃんのリボンカラフル)
By: KOMIYUNO Shiho

Demographics: Shoujo
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Tomboyish Himeko is a popular and athletic middle schooler, who can beat pretty much all her male classmates at sports. Sometimes, though, she wishes she could be more cute and feminine, particularly around boys she likes. One day, a girl with the same face appears to Himeko and introduces herself as Princess Erika from a magical kingdom. Erika gives her a magic ribbon, which allows her to transform into whoever she wants. Being beautiful and feminine is, for the first time, within Himeko's grasp!

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Ibitsu (イビツ)
By: HARUTOU Ryou

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: Chapter 1 (yukihito)
Scanlations: None

A boy went to take his trash out late one night, and found a strange, creepy, lolita woman sitting amongst the garbage bags. She asked if he had a little sister, and he answered her, hurrying afterwards back to his apartment. When he looked out the window, she was gone. Who is the strange woman, and why does she give him such a bad feeling?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Karaoke no Hi (からおけのひ)
By: Matoba

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Chika is a middle school transfer student, and she wants to make friends. But everyone is into karaoke, and she is too nervous and embarrassed to try! Will she be able to overcome her fear and become a karaoke-er?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Karasu (鴉)
By: MACHIDA Kazuya x YANAGI Yukisuke

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Taichi and his little brother Souji are orphaned beggars, struggling to have enough to eat. One day Taichi decides they need to become samurai and join the company of fighters popularly known as the "Crows". Even finding this group, however, is proving to be dangerous a goal for them.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Kengou Shoujo (剣豪少女)
By: Chihiro

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

One night, a relatively normal high school guy bumps into a girl from his school, named Hyou, who is patrolling the streets with her sword to fight evil. She takes a liking to him, especially when she learns his name is Kengou, which happens to be pronounced the same as the Japanese word for "Sword Master". But now Kengou must decide if he should be her ally and help her stand against evil or just write her off as a crazy girl.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Kyou no Maou-Sama (今日の魔王様)
By: HIIRAGI Yuichi

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

In a world where there are both humans and demons, a village sends a woman as a human sacrifice to the demon prince Satan. But Satan is just a demon kid with no interest in hurting humans, so he and his helper Sting head out on an adventure to return the human woman to her village!

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Lequios (レキオス)
By: IKEGAMI Eiichi x MAEJIMA Shigeki

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Volume (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

There is a strange figure floating in the air in Okinawa, that is disintegrating hellfire missiles from US helicopters. Experts from different disciplines and organizations have gathered to figure out what's going on.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Monde Kinto (モンデ・キント)
By: Omiomi

Demographics: Shounen
Status: Chapter 1 (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

A young boy is a cook, and his only customer is the Lady Demeru. He wants to cook something so incredible, it makes her feel something, and show some reaction.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Shinigami-sama ni Saigo no Onegai wo (死神様に最期のお願いを)
By: YAMAGUCHI Mikoto

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Takeshi wakes up one day to a cute shinigami, asking him to name his dying wish. Luckily for him, she's new at the job, and messes things up. Now, instead of being dead, he makes a team with the shinigami Kiriko and helps grant the last wishes of people who are dying.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Shinsengumi Jingishou Asagi (新選組刃義抄アサギ)
By: YAMAMURA Tatsuya x NINAGAWA Yaeko

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Volume (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

In 1800s Japan, after the arrival of the "black ships," a group of young "Roushi" (lordless samurai) answer a call to Kyoto to protect the shogunate. But when they arrive, they find that the political situation, and their role in it, is far more complicated than they first imagined.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Tokyo Bardo (東京バルド)
By: TAWARA Kito x ASOU Gatou

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Chapter + Prelude (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Prelude | Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

It is the fate of the Hirasaka family to protect a barrier underneath Tokyo that separates the human world from the demons of another world. One day, an incident in the underground tunnels claims the lives of 6 civilians and a Hirasaka. The mass death and the mysterious circumstances under which it occurred have been hushed up by some powerful, but unknown, people. These people seem to be dismantling the barrier the Hirasaka family has fought so hard to protect, and it is up to the remaining Hirasaka to stop them.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

White Lover (しろいこいびと)
By: YANO Mirura

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

When Nao was a little boy, he was friends with a little girl with the same name. But after a traumatic incident, they lost touch and the female Nao's hair turned white. Years later, a white-haired girl appears in male Nao's life. But does he even remember that little girl he used to know?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Yousei Ningyo Shoujo Kurumi (妖精人形少女くるみ)
By: MIKOSHIRO Honnin

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Whenever Kurumi is sad and wishes she was more brave, she reads her fairy tale book. One day, a "Coppelia" called Chestnut comes out of her book, saying she came from the fairy world through a portal created by Kurumi's strong desire. But now that Kurumi has a Coppelia, she's expected to fight others in battles where the loser ends up undressed.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

The name of the manga series
A summary of the series
Publishing Status (+ Number of Volumes/Chapters)

Part two of this week, although there were still too many series uploaded, so check out next week's article for a few of the mangas from this week. :P

Out of part two's mangas, I am definitely looking forward to reading another one of Inoue Kazurou's manga, Ane Comi, mangaka of the newly started Mahou no Iroha and of course Ai Kora. I also do sort of want to see how Satan will return the human sacrifice back to her village in Kyou no Maou-sama. The idea behind Ability Shop also seems interesting: exchanging the years of your life for ablities - how many guys would exchange a couple years of their life in order to have x-ray vision. :P What series do you find interesting?

Unscanlated items:
boke - Boku wa Onna no Ko: Story 1 | ~~Story 7~~ scanlated by Teaparty
Elkin - Jio to Ougon to Kinjirareta Mahou: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Elkin - Hokenshitsu no Shinigami: Chapter 1
livyatan (new TLer) - Sanjin Sadou: Chapter 1 - now scanlated by Teaparty

Buy This Manga - Asano Inio's What A Wonderful World!

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:29:58 +0000

Hi there MangaHelpers visitor! You've been working hard, I can tell! So why don't you treat yourself. With what? Well, I'm glad you asked. With one of the best manga volumes ever written. Asano Inio's work is amazing. Reading it is like taking a dive into something so fulfilling, so touching, so so so Wonderful that you might even change your ENTIRE view on life. It's that good.

Anything by Asano Inio is top-class high quality. I dare say that of seinen manga, there's hardly anyone greater! Well, in the whole slice-of-life genre that is ^^;. But enough of me fanboying over him, let me tell you about this amazing volume. What A Wonderful World presents a series of short stories involving people of various social standings. For instance, you have your girl dealing with growing up and entering society like a normal person. Or you have your typical school girl dealing with the "popular" evil-girl stereotypes. And you even have the criminals that like to wear bear masks and kidnap kids to do their shopping and many other different stories!!

*cough* OK maybe my description isn't the best, but if you're at the store, buy it on a whim. It's a great manga and I'm sure you'll enjoy it and anything else by Asano Inio :). If you don't then... well >.> go read Oyasumi (Goodnight) Punpun >.>... :p

If you want some more opinions on the book, here's what I've been able to find:

Review by GamingAngels
Review by SlightlyBiasedManga
Review by BlogCritics
His work on amazon

If you've read it, own it, or became an Asano fan because of this post, let me know!

Get One Piece Manga Volume 0 as a Gift!

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:13:45 +0000

Planning on being in Japan on December 12th? No?! Then this news post might change your plans!

On December 12th the newest One Piece movie Strong World will be playing in theaters across Japan. To commemorate this spectacular new movie (which is being overseen by Oda himself!) viewers will be given a special manga volume- One Piece Volume Zero!! The manga will feature the world of One Piece 20 years ago and will be handed out to people on a first come first serve basis.

Now I'm normally not one to be totally excited about an anime series turned anime movie. But the thought of adding volume zero to my collection = instant win. So I'll be there, and I'll get my copy! Even if I have to sleep over night on the cold hard pavement of Ikebukuro >.>. *cough*

With that said, here are some pictures of the characters and their voice actors you can expect in this new movie!

source

New Manga Shout Out: 10/12/09 - 10/18/09 Part 1

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:40:37 +0000

Welcome to the next New Manga Shout Out. This week there were so many new series that got uploaded to MH that we had to break it up into 2 parts. It's as if all those slow weeks suddenly caught up and got all uploaded at once. Remember, if you like any of the series, favorite them. Don't forget to also thank the various translators, raw uploaders/scanners and scanlators who feed your manga addiction. ^_^ Translators and Scanlators, please check out these series and see if you can spread some more manga love~

We're still looking for people who know Japanese and want to help write summaries for our manga database and for the shout out. Please PM me if you want to help out. Now onto the series~

Benny's Knuckle (紅子の拳)
By: OKADA Atsushi

Demographics: Shounen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Benny's friend Youko had mentioned that she might be killed by the mafia, and now she has disappeared. Since Benny is a high school fighting champion, she takes it on herself to go find the mafia boss and rescue Youko!

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Class Room (クラスルーム)
By: RAIKU Makoto

Demographics: Shounen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: One-shot (kewl0210)
Scanlations: None

Chao, a wheelchair-bound little boy, is excited to be finally going to school to make friends with people his own age! But when he gets to his homeroom, the weirdness begins. Reality is warped and the children slowly realize that their teacher is a monster in disguise. This monster teacher is capable of inflicting a horrible punishment on students that are unable to answer his question about punctuation. Will any of the students be able to discover the answer before it is too late?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Dream Club Destiny (ドリームクラブ Destiny)
By: D3 Publisher x 888

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Yumeno lives alone and his only interaction with girls is through a recurring dream of several beautiful girls calling to him. To his surprise, one day he sees one of his dream girls in real life! Chasing after her, he finds himself at a hostess club called the Dream Club. Are his dreams actually coming true?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Hetakoi (ヘタコイ)
By: NAKANO Junko

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 4 Volumes (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1 | Volume 2 | Volume 3 | Volume 4
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

For his twentieth birthday, Shizuka chooses to go to a hot springs alone. To his surprise, he also ends up seeing his first naked woman... a passed out drunk girl. Soon afterward he enters college, and his friend from high school convinces him to join the female dominated travel and hot springs club. Amazingly, the girl he saw naked, Ruka, is also a member of the club! Now he must interact with his club more or less normally, and pretend he doesn't imagine Ruka naked every time he sees her. He is determined that his embarrassing secret never be made public!

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Hozuki-san Chi no Aneki (鬼灯さん家のアネキ)
By: IGARASHI Ran

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 5 Chapters (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Hozuki Gorou has a hot older sister Haru, to whom he is not related by blood. Haru aggressively flirts with him, lies to him, and humiliates him all the time. She makes his life a living hell and makes his nose bleed constantly.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Mouhitsu Hallucination (妄筆ハルシネーション)
By: Distance

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Hirayama, an aspiring manga writer, is thrilled to be chosen as a last minute replacement assistant for a celebrated manga writer he really admires. To his surprise, not only is his boss a woman, but she works semi-nude. In such a distracting environment, Hirayama must find a way to make a good showing of his ability.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Musunde Hiraite (むすんでひらいて)
By: MINASE Mayu

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 2 Chapters (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

A collection of high school love stories, each chapter featuring a different student. For example, Hiro has a crush on a cute upperclassman girl, but she has rejected his advances 15 times! Will Hiro be able to find a way into her heart? His friend Akechi keeps a notebook of information on all the girls at school, but when he goes after the secrets of an incredibly quiet and shy girl, will his interest become more than professional curiosity?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Oyaju~ Rider (おやじゅ～ライダー)
By: RAIKU Makoto

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Mariko is stuck in a job where she is constantly messing things up and being berated, to the point where she almost wants to just give up entirely. She accepts an invitation to go offroad motorbiking with some guys, to relieve her job stress and possibly even find something in her life she can enjoy.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Priscilla (ぷりしら)
By: HAGIO Nobuto

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None

Three Akihabara girls have formed a singing group called 'Priscilla', but now they face the difficult task of marketing themselves. Will they be willing to do what it takes to become famous idols?

=======================================================

Roman Sanjuusou (浪漫三重奏)
By: AWA Bako

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Amana, Mizuho, and Riku are the members of the middle school 'romance' club, which has a rather vague mission statement. They decide to make it their club business to catch a recent serial pervert who exposes himself to little girls. Being cute young girls themselves, they may have an advantage over police in luring out the 'loli' pervert!

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Sweet Sister (スウィートシスター)
By: Shigunyan

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 8 Chapters/1 Volume (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 |
Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

A little ecchi loli moe comedy. Features an older brother's conquest of his little sister Lisa.

=======================================================

Takidani Koukou Manga Club (滝谷高校漫画倶楽部)
By: Maybe

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: One-shot
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Masaki Masamichi has his heart set on joining the legendary manga club of Takidani High School. After all of his effort to get into Takidani High School and prepare for his club entrance, he finds out that a horrible change has happened to the club of which he dreamed. How will he cope with the disappointment of learning that his long-awaited club life consists of drawing ero-manga?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

The name of the manga series
A summary of the series
Publishing Status (+ Number of Volumes/Chapters)

Too many series uploaded this week and not enough time for tethysdust to read them all and make a nice summary. If you want to help make summaries, remember to PM me. Look forward to part two later in the week to read about the other new series on MangaHelpers. This week's part one as well as part two features a lot of ecchi seinen series/one-shots. As for this week's article, the mangas I would like to see scanlated are Class Room and Takidani Koukou Manga Club. Class Room's premise seems interesting and I look forward to reading about how the class will overcome the teacher, just like how many students would like to overcome their own teachers. :P As for Manga Club, I like reading about people making manga, like Bakuman, Manga no Tsukurikata, and Shoujo Nemu, so it'll be interesting to read another manga related manga series. :P

In scanlation news, once again no one has scanlated the Rico one-shot despite it being translated by 2 translators so check out the translations from AyameForPresident and Meriken and give them a nice thanks for their translations. What's with no one wanting to scanlate this one-shot? If someone is working on this one-shot, can you please post a note below. I can't imagine everyone doesn't like the one-shot... Two stories of Boku wa Onna no Ko which were translated by boke still haven't been scanlated, and now the first two chapters of Jio to Ougon to Kinjirareta Mahou have been translated by Elkin as well as the first chapter of Sanjin Sadou has been translated by new translator livyatan.

New Fist of the North Star Game Coming in 2010

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:35:02 +0000

At a special press conference, held on October 14, 2009, Konami Tecmo revealed their latest project named Hokuto Musou.

Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken), which was a popular manga in the 80s with a respectively amount of anime and motion picture adaptions since its debut, will now have its own game based on a Dynasty Warriors-style of gameplay. In the newly-announced game, the main protagonist, Kenshiro (or Ken as he is often named) fights countless hordes of enemies using his special martial arts techniques.

That being said, Tecmo also revealed that they're going to provide the game with two storylines: one that follows original source material from the manga, and an alternate storyline. Fans are greatly pleased, knowing that they can now take charge of Kenshiro himself and actually attack enemies, knowing that from the lethal blows their bodies will swell up and explode causing a rain of blood.

While this isn't confirmed yet, it is implied that Kenshiro won't be the only playable character in the game. Additional information on other playing modes or techniques have not been revealed yet.

The game is coming out for the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 sometime next year. Unfortunately, it is not known if the game will make it outside of Japan but it's still a bit too early to tell.

Source

Learn Japanese For $0.00! And Keep the Change!

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:57:23 +0000

Wanting to learn Japanese but need a guide to do so? Then look no further! For the low low price of FREE you can get started on the language you associate with chicken scratches and, oh yeah, Manga!

Topics featured:

1. Syntax
2. Verb Grammar
3. More Verb Grammar
4. Particles
5. Counters
6. Language Patterns

And the appendices:

1. Set Phrases
2. Conjugation Schemes
3. Glossary

The author, Pomax, is an old friend of mine who has even written an article featured here about the Art of Translation. He has a passion for helping people understand Japanese, as can be seen from taking the time to write a complete 354 (increased from before) page book on learning it, and hopes that his book can help you or anyone you know on your way. So start reading it online, or download the PDF to read it offline. If you have any questions or would like to get to know Pomax hop into irc.irchighway.net and join channel #nihongo and you'll generally find him there.

Anyway enough reading this post and more starting Learning Japanese since any Japanese speaker will tell you, manga is SO much better read in the original language. So what are you waiting for?! Find out what you've been missing in your life, today!

New Manga Shout Out: 9/28/09 - 10/11/09

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:05:36 +0000

Welcome to the next New Manga Shout Out. This "week" there's not much, but if you like any of the series, remember to favorite them. Don't forget to also thank the various translators, raw uploaders/scanners and scanlators who feed your manga addiction. ^_^ Translators and Scanlators, please check out these series and see if you can spread some more manga love~

We're still looking for people who know Japanese and want to help write summaries for our manga database and for the shout out. Please PM me if you want to help out. Now onto the series~

Diamond of Heart (ハートのダイヤ)
By: SHINJO Mayu

Demographics: Shoujo
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Himeno's chest will hurt if any boy touches her because she has the diamond of the heart. However, when she was young, she befriended two boys -- the gentle Mamoru and the blunt Keigo -- who are able to touch her without harming her. Without knowing about the diamond of the heart, both Mamoru and Keigo promised to protect Himeno. When some people threaten to take Himeno's heart, who else will protect her but her knights?

=======================================================

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Jan (ひぐらしの哭く頃に雀)
By: AQ Interactive x Ryukishi 07 x AYAMI Chiha x IKUMA Maku

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Chapter + Prelude (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Prelude | Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

This chapter of the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni series, called the "Mahjong" chapter, is related to a "dramatic mahjong" game being released for the PSP in November 2009. This time, Keiichi (a boy who moved to the small village of Hinamizawa), finds himself drawn into a special mahjong course at his school.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Liar Game - Roots of A (LIAR GAME - roots of Aー甲斐谷忍短編集)
By: KAITANI Shinobu

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Volume (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: None
Translations: Meriken
Scanlations: Volume 1 (One Scanlations)

Roots of A is essentially a manga short featuring Akiyama during his senior year of college. In it, Akiyama and four of his classmates are taking a criminal psychology course and given an assignment where they must construct a profile of a person based on a letter they sent. This outcome of the assignment, plus what the professor says afterwards, is what prompts Akiyama to enter grad-school and continue to study psychology.

=======================================================

Mahou no Iroha! (魔法のいろは！)
By: INOUE Kazurou

Demographics: Shounen
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: Chapter 1 (cnet128) | Chapter 1 (lucifell)
Scanlations: Chapter 1 (imangascans)

Not particularly good at sports, not very popular, and not very good at school, Naoki's middle school years are filled with video games and erotic books. But one day, a cute girl called Iroha appears, claiming to be his daughter from 20 years in the future. Apparently, in the future magic has been discovered, and she has come back in time by magic to protect her beloved papa from a dark future.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Tears to Tiara (ティアーズトゥティアラ)
By: Shirometsukusa

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Volume (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Set in a fictitious land during a medieval-like era of magic and fantasy, Tears to Tiara unfolds with the Divine Empire’s rise to power as it conquers and rules lands far and wide. On the island of Erin, still ruled by the Ancient Kingdom, the Goidelic people are attempting to sacrifice priestess Riannon to revive protagonist and demon king Arawn to lead the resistance against the Empire. Although the ritual fails and Riannon survives, the seal imprisoning the demon king is broken and Arawn is resurrected. Armed with mysterious and devastating powers and a human’s demeanour, Arawn joins Riannon, her brother and battalion commander, Arthur, as well as their team of fighters comprising a swordsman, an archer and a quintet of magical pixies, in the epic struggle against the Divine Empire.

=======================================================

The name of the manga series
A summary of the series
Publishing Status (+ Number of Volumes/Chapters)

Another slow 2 weeks. However, I would really love love LOVE if someone would translate/scanlate Mahou no Iroha, which is done by the mangaka of Ai Kora and Midori no Hibi. I'm also going to check out Liar Game - Roots of A since I like Liar Game. Check it out if you like a nice psychological series, although you might be turned off a bit by the art. If you like shoujo, be sure to check out Diamond of Heart.

In scanlation news, once again no one has scanlated the Rico one-shot despite it being translated by 2 translators so check out the translations from AyameForPresident and Meriken and give them a nice thanks for their translations. Why is it not getting any love? >_< Two stories of Boku wa Onna no Ko which was translated by boke have yet to scanlated, and the first chapter of Jio to Ougon to Kinjirareta Mahou was translated by Elkin in hopes of a translator picking up this series. Previous shout-out, Sanjin Sadou has been translated by new translator livyatan and prolific new translator Lucifell has caught up and translated the first 4 chapters of Upotte!. Check out the scanlation of Love Zero, which was also translated by him and which just had its first chapter scanlated.

Shout-Out to a French Singer! LFK!

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:21:10 +0000

This is totally unrelated to manga but I wanted to give a heads up to all of you about a French singer named LFK that I took around Japan to help him film his newest music video called "PhoeniX".

Together, with him directing me, we filmed locations like Tokyo, Roppongi, Kamakura, Sakuragichou, Shibuya, Ikebukuro, and Shinjuku. Other locations in the video that I wasn't involved in but are included in the video were of the Kansai region like Nara, Kyoto, Kobe and Osaka. (Can you tell where is where?)

The song includes English subtitles (subbed by LFK himself) so if you don't know French you can know what he's singing about. I feel this song really represents what kind of person LFK is. Having lived through two tumors he has a passion for life that intensely burns. He's a great guy and it was a pleasure being able to help him film this video.

If you're coming to Japan and need help in getting around feel free to let me know. I'm quite experienced in touring people around and it'd be my pleasure to help show you the sights or inform you of the best places to visit. Just shoot me a PM or mail in advance ;).

With that said, enjoy the video and tell us what you think :D.

Speeding up the Correcting of Pending Translations

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:03:19 +0000

Hello translators out there! If you've had your translations pending for a while and want them to get out of there ASAP leave me a comment here showing me your (best) work. Translations posted will get priority over the rest so make sure to link me ;). I'll then go over it and from there I'll see if you're ready to be taken out of the pending translator group :).

Sorry for the delay we're going to be working on a different method to help make things go more smoothly ^^;

Stay tuned~

The History of Scanlations - At Your Fingertips!

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:58:44 +0000

The history of scanlations has been a long mysterious and somewhat hidden one. Who started what, when, and why are all questions I'm sure some of you have had that have gotten into the scene pretty deep. Well Gum, a very dedicated and hardworking member, has taken up the HUGE task of tracking down old and new groups from the scene as well as official people in the manga business to bring you the most informational site regarding the history of scanlations. EVER.

Things covered are:
1) The first groups.
2) How the scene has evolved.
3) Major contributors.
4) Much much more!

From the heroes and the villains of the scene, to interviews, time-lines, and terminology you might want your friends to know without having to explain yourself, this site has it all. So take a minute and educate yourself about why things are like they are today.

Leave some comments about what you think :). I'm sure Gum would appreciate the feedback ;).

Atom 2009 (Astro Boy 2009) Movie Review

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:41:18 +0000

Today (10/10) was the opening day of the movie Atom (or Astro Boy for the international releases) which is an animated film about a robotic boy named Atom. Atom was based on the manga by Osamu Tezuka, known to many as "The god of manga", and was originally released in 1952. I went into the movie having only seen the first ep (requires a Nico Nico account) and just skimmed the manga so all in all Atom was still pretty new to me but I came out of the theater pleased overall.

(Dr. Elefun on the left, Dr. Tenma on the right)

As with the majority of animated movies based outside of Japan, you're given a choice of watching the movie in Japan with Japanese subtitles or seeing it dubbed. I chose the English version for two reasons: One, it was the only one playing at that time. And two, I'm a pretty big fan of Samuel L. Jackson, who plays ZOG, and Nicholas Cage, who plays Dr. Tenma. Now I'm not the type of fan that will stick by any movie that my favorite actors play in and defend them if I genuinely don't think they did a good job and, at the beginning of the movie, I felt that they made a huge mistake in casting Nicholas Cage. My biggest problem with him playing the part was I felt his voice didn't match the appearance of Dr. Tenma enough to give it justice. In animation movies this day in age if the lead character is played by a famous actor then normally those characteristics are easy to recognize in their animated counterpart. But for Nicholas and his role, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't match up the two. As the film progressed those details faded away and what I was left with is a father and how he tries to cope with... *cough* (I won't try to go into too many details >.>)

Atom flying up up and away! (The movie is actually better in quality so don't judge on this picture)

The other characters on the other hand acted out their roles flawlessly. Atom's voice actor, Freddie Highmore, was amazing, giving Atom far more life than I felt the original actor did. But not only him, the minor characters acted so well that, with everyone working together, they formed magic so grand that even Disney - Pixar wouldn't do a double take. Speaking of studios, 'Imagi Animation Studios', who worked on this and TMNT, produced animation so visually stunning that it has to be one of the most vibrant, most fluid animated films I've ever seen in a western animated movie.

The story, while a bit altered from the original, worked for what it was trying to do. I don't necessarily agree on the way they went about changing Atom's creation (again, I don't want to spoil >.>) but unless you're a die-hard fan I'm sure you can forgive them. The only thing I can really complain about is, it pretty much takes away anything "Japanese" from this and makes it a pretty clear-cut western release. But perhaps that's what Osamu Tezuka would have wanted. He grew up inspired by Mickey Mouse and Bambi so perhaps this is one of the bigger honors we can pay tribute to him by having it shown in such a way.

I end this little review saying both old school fans give and people who have only heard of Atom (how could you not?) should give this movie a shot. It's a cute little film with plenty of action, drama and laughs that you can expect from animated movies these days. It airs on the 23rd for America. Check this list for more dates for where you live. That said, are any of you planning on seeing it?

Here's a trailer for those of you still undecided :)

Gantz... The Live Action Movie!

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:27:56 +0000

Alright, I'll be honest with you. I have mixed feelings about this.

Gantz, my beloved series, is leaping into the big screens.

Kei Kurono will be played by Kazunari Ninomiya who well... (Dear Lord... ><)

Masaru Kato will be played by Ken'ichi Matsuyama (Played L in Death Note, played Krauser in DMC etc)

The reason I have mixed emotions about this is, while the selection for who plays who could have been WAY better... it *is* going to be done by the same studio that produced 20th Century Boys (which was extremely well shot if you ask me) and the studio that covered Summer wars will be involved in the CG so I think they just MIGHT be able to pull this off.

But honestly, I can't help but see failure after seeing who is playing who. With Gantz in its "Final Phase" could Oku be trying to cash in on the manga before it ends? Could this mean the manga will at least last until the movies are released? The first movie is due out around January in 2011 and then the second the following spring.

For those of you who haven't taken the Gantz plunge try reading it. Here's a little (and old) trailer for some Gantz DVDs - not the movie trailer... Here's hoping it's at least better than this :D.

source

P.s. If you're wondering how the Japanese are taking it, they aren't happy...

EDIT - I edited in the red because people seem to be confusing the DVDs for the actual movie trailer ><

Manga on The Go

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:06:16 +0000

I've mentioned in the past about manga appearing on cell/mobile phones but for those of you who are curious as to what they look like in action we have a video for you.

Included is how manga looks on not one cell phone, but two. One being your typical Japanese cell phone and the other being the google android.

I've also included my thoughts on the PSP's official manga viewer that will be debuting on the 11th of December as well as what manga looks on a psp, right now.

Then, to top it all off I show what manga looks like on the Sony e-reader PRS-500 (keep in mind there are newer e-readers available and are probably the better choices ;) ).

If you have any questions on anything mentioned in the video, don't hesitate to ask.

Enjoy the video :).

If this has changed your mind about reading manga on the go, let me know too ^^;.

Tokyo Game Show & Japanese Illustrators' Festival!

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:54:23 +0000

Sorry for the lack of updates on these. I did attend but I didn't have the time to edit the videos (although amateurishly :p) so it took until today for them to go up.

The Tokyo Game Show was an amazing show (like always). Lots of games, lots of noise and LOTS of booth babes saying "Only once, boys" 0.0 *cough*.

Anyway, here's a video and some shots of the events! The Japanese Illustrators' Festival didn't allow cameras to take pictures so I only got a shot of the out side ._. but I did manage to get some inside footage of the event, so check it out ;). (Video at the bottom of the pictures~)

Tokyo Game Show Shots:

Naruto Game

Gundam Head

Evangelion Girls

Evangelion Statue

Naruto Cos-players

TGS and Japanese Illustrators' Festival video - in HD!

If any of you want the pictures in better quality, let me know ;).

Anime and Manga Events in Hungary This Month!

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:04:43 +0000

To all of you living in Hungary, we've got a heads up for you! Two anime festivals will be in your country. If any of you out there are going to check it out, send njt. an email so we can hopefully get an insider's scoop as to what it's like :D.

Who: MondoCon
A hungarian manga publisher (MangaFan) and anime magazin (Mondo) will hold their first anime con.
What: Cosplay
Mass quiz
DDR (free, not contest)
Karaoke (free, not contest)
Anime screening
AMV screening
Anime, manga and merchandise sales
Console
Where: Hungexpo, K-building
1101 Budapest
Albertirsai út 10.
Hungary
When: October 17, 2009
How (much): 1800 Forint (9.8 USD)

More info

Who: Őszi AnimeCon
What: Cosplay
DDR
Karaoke
Anime screening
AMV screening
Anime, manga and merchandise sales
Console
Where: Köfém Sportcsarnok
8000 Székesfehérvár
Verseci utca 1
Hungary
When: October 24, 2009
How(much): 2000 Forint (10.9 USD)

More info

I'd especially want to see the Cos-play. So if you are going, let us know :).

Arvael informs me that the Őszi AnimeCon has been canceled :(. So if you want to go to an Anime con better prepare to go to the Mondo one.

New Manga Shout Out: 9/21/09 - 9/27/09

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:15:29 +0000

Welcome to the next New Manga Shout Out. If you like any of the series, remember to favorite them. Don't forget to also thank the various translators, raw uploaders/scanners and scanlators who feed your manga addiction. ^_^ Translators and Scanlators, please check out these series and see if you can spread some more manga love~

We're still looking for people who know Japanese and want to help write summaries for our manga database and for the shout out. Please PM me if you want to help out. Now onto the series~

Aratama Tribe (荒魂トライブ)
By: GOTSUBO Ryuuji

Demographics: Shoujo
Status: 1 Volume (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

The world is becoming warped and overrun by demons. Standing against this tide are the natural enemy of the demons, the 'Onmyoukidou'. Abe is a hard-working, good-natured onmyoukidou of the under-staffed second division defense against the demons. He's relieved to hear that new staff have been assigned to his team, but less so when he meets the rude and violent Yomi and her silent ninja-like partner. Together they must find a way to defend the city from the demons, and to show up the vastly more popular and highly supported first division team.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Boku wa onna no ko (ぼくは、おんなのこ)
By: SHIMURA Takako

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Volume (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: Story 1 | Story 7 (boke)
Scanlations: None

A collection of one shot stories from Takako Shimura, the author of Hourou Musuko and Sweet Blue Flowers. These stories deal with issues relating to gender, romance, ideals of beauty, and relationships with parents.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Hajikeshi (ハジケシ)
By: NISHIZAWA Syuji

Demographics: Seinen
Status: One-shot (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Do you have some shameful experience that you wish you could get rid of? That's what the Hajikeshi store can do for its clients. Shinzou is thrilled when his friend Ryouko shows him the new store, since he's been humiliating himself in front of the girl he likes for ages! Maybe, with the help of Hajikeshi, he can erase all those shameful memories from the earth and finally get the girl. But then again, maybe his life is not quite as simple as he thinks.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Heroman (ヒーローマン)
By: Stan LEE x OOTA Tamon

Demographics: Shounen
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Joey wants to be a hero, but he's just an orphan who works day and night to take care of himself and his grandmother. After seeing a commercial for a toy robot, he desperately wants one, thinking the robot will give him the strength to change. The only one he can afford, though, is a broken one a rich school bully threw in the trash. When Rina, a pretty cheerleader who's always been nice to him, is kidnapped, will Joey and his toy robot be able to become heros and rescue her?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Kyoukai Sensen (境界戦線)
By: YAMAMURA Hajime

Demographics: Shounen
Status: 1 Volume (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Tokyo has been reduced to rubble, and the paralyzed government is slowly reforming elsewhere. Unable to cope with the disaster during its reformation, the government simply put up a blockade around Tokyo and left the survivors to cope with the violent and lawless society forming within the borders. These are the stories of those survivors. Some of them want to cross the border and find their way back to civilization, but some simply want to live as they like within the anarchy of the ruins of Tokyo.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

Strange Mansion (すとれんじマンション)
By: KAGESAKI Yuna

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Volume (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 (boke)
Scanlations: Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 (Stupid Group Name)

Sadashima fell in love with a handsome sempai while she was in high school, but didn't have the guts to tell him before he graduated and moved away. When Sadashima graduates the next year, she follows her sempai, Shirahai, to Tokyo and manages to move in next door. She totally believes that the two of them can now hook up, and can't wait to knock on his door to 'coincidentally" find themselves neighbors.

She's flabbergasted to find a woman answering Shirahai's door, and then blown away to find out the woman is Shirahai! He's had a sex change!

Typical apartment love-comedy, with the standard assortment of perverted and batshit neighbors.

Thanks go to boke for the summary.

=======================================================

Yume no Atosaki (夢のアトサキ)
By: YAMAMURA Hajime

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Volume (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

This manga tells the stories of a group of college-age friends. These stories include their school problems, such as an art student who has issues with his work or a researcher who clashes with faculty, in addition to their successes and failures in romantic relationships.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

=======================================================

The name of the manga series
A summary of the series
Publishing Status (+ Number of Volumes/Chapters)

Another slow week. I don't have much to say about this week's batch of manga, so here's some comments from tethysdust:

Quote:

There seems to be a lot that were more like short stories this week... Kyoukai Sensen and Yume no Atogaki were basically a collection of stories about a group of people. (And of course Boku wa Onna no Ko was just a collection of completely unrelated stories).
Kyoukai Sensen was actually not really a fighting manga, despite the fact I've often seen that kind of premise most often used for fighting mangas. It was a lot more of a drama piece.
Heroman seemed like it was written for elementary school boys.
Aratama Tribe was interesting, and had lots of action. It seemed more like a shounen than a shoujo to me.
Yume no Atogaki: very realistic, just everyday life stories.
Anyway, if you're looking for something to scanlate, new translator brianma has translated the shoujo manga Ai Kara Hajimaru from last week so give them a warm welcome. Also, no one has scanlated the Rico one-shot despite it being translated by 2 translators so check out the translations from AyameForPresident and Meriken and give them a nice thanks for their translations.

Recent Frequently Asked Questions

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:13:46 +0000

The draft business proposal and news post caught a lot of attention. There were quite a lot of valid questions brought forward, but also a lot of rumors that got carried away. To dispel some of those and give everyone a better understanding of what we're trying to achieve here, let's see if we can't help clarify some of the common questions.

First of all, we'd just like to reiterate that any and all plans are tentative only at this point. No deals have been made, not even official talks have happened, so please don't start panicking and deleting material. The draft business proposal iterates some of our hopes for the future, but is in no way final.

Are you really planning to charge people to download manga or use the online reader?

These details are still up in the air at this point, and the subscriptions plan as outlined in the draft business plan is only one possibility.
- Possibility #1 - Free online viewing supported by ads.
  Both the Publisher's official version and fan scanlations will be able to be read online along with ads, which is exactly how it currently is. The only difference is the official version (with a professional translator) is now also available to be read. The ad revenue will go towards both maintaining MH's site as well as paying the publishers. This is an easy way to support the publishers as well as being able to compare the different versions.
- Possibility #2 - Subscriptions
  A subscription system, as seen in the proposal, where people would pay an amount to download/read a certain number of chapters. This, of course, is not recommended due to the negative feedback from you guys.
- Possibility #3 - Free online viewing with ads and subscriptions
  The site will run exactly as it is, with read online being supported with ads. However, subscriptions would be offered as well -- either as monthly, bimonthly, half-yearly or yearly memberships, or pay-to-download memberships for a certain number of chapters.
  
  Benefits for subscribing could include:
  - Uncapped bandwidth (Faster downloads)
  - Access from mobile phones
  - Discounts on physical copies and more.
Is MH going the way of Tazmo and other sites, planning to sell our free scanlations without our consent?

Let's compare:
- Sites that charge a fee for illegal downloads
  - Scanlations are made of any series, licensed or unlicensed, without any agreement of the original author or publisher.
  - Scanlations are collected from all over the web.
  - Scanlations are uploaded without seeking permissions from the groups.
  - Downloads are financed via a forced paid subscription.
  - The money earned by these subscriptions is going entirely into the website owner's wallet.
  - However you look at it: It's an illegal process, from the scanlating itself up to the method of distribution.
- What we're trying to achieve:
  - A huge selection of titles, neglected by international publishers, which are allowed to be scanlated legally in cooperation with the Japanese copyright holders.
  - Scanlations are contributed voluntarily by the groups, and not taken without their permission.
  - Costs and licenses are covered by an optional choice: most likely ads or pay-per-release.
  - The money is going directly to the publishers and therefore indirectly to the original author, just as with any other legal manga distribution.
  - Because of the joint efforts of both publishers and groups, the whole process is completely legal.
If you still have problems seeing what we're trying to achieve, please have a look at Netcomics. It's a similar concept but missing the factor that scanlations groups contribute the releases which would make use of the best release resource on the internet: the fans.
Are the people who have released here in the past in any legal danger? Read: do I need to start removing my translations, scanlations, and raws now?

Until the moment the system changes, older releases will not be affected in any way. Those are not part of the release contract we're trying to archive. I think it's obvious that legal and illegal content can't both be present on the same website.

Similarly to Crunchyroll, the groups will be informed of the specific date of the system change as soon as we know it, and will be given enough time to backup their data before we have to remove them.
Why are you working with Viz and not directly with the Japanese publishers?

It's not true that we're only planning to work with Viz on this -- we're also talking with some of the original publishers as well. The eventual goal is to get as many publishers on board as possible, but we need to start somewhere.
Are all of the series but the "official" ones going to disappear from MH? What about the international releases?

As we try to get this up and running, we'll certainly start out with a small selection of titles. So a lot will have to vanish from MH in the beginning, but we hope that many can be added later on when publishers see that the concept works. Again, the end goal is to gradually work with as many publishers as possible; so publishers maintaining exclusive international rights would fall under that category as well.
How much control will the publishers have over the site and the releases themselves?

As talks haven't yet begun, the details are all still up for negotiation.
Are you planning to go after other illicit manga distribution sites once MH becomes legal, in an attempt to shut them down?

It's not our intent to harm the community, nor do we want to force anything on people. However, the recent interaction with Kodansha has shown that publishers are willing to request their Intellectual Property removed, which is a loss for everyone. This just serves as a testament to the fact that a preemptive move to work with the publishers is a good thing for everyone, rather than facing continued shutdown.

We never intended for this to sound like a witch hunt. While we wouldn't actively seek out sites to take them down, we would try and reason with people and try to get everyone working together, fans and publishers, and put the focus back on the appreciation of the series you love. It's our opinion that it's in everyone's best interest to take advantage of such a possibility, not to fight it.
Are we being asked to scanlate for free while the publishers/MH pocket the profits?

To be honest, we haven't completely figured out how this is going to work, which is the reason we hadn't asked the community at large for their thoughts - we need to talk to the publishers first and see how they feel about our idea. One of our ideas behind the whole proposal is that the publishers will provide the resources for you to use (i.e., no costs for buying tanks/magazines to scan) and the groups will simply do what they already do. The benefit to the groups is that they would now legally be allowed to do so. Not only that, but as fans, they would be benefiting the original author through work that they have been doing for free all along. As of now, scanlations steal from the publisher. Through this deal, we'd instead be giving back.

Another benefit to this proposal is that the costs to produce manga would be greatly reduced, thus making the online versions much cheaper than purchasing the official book. If your work is of extremely high quality, you could even get hired by the company and start making money then, but only as per their agreement. Our ideas contain other benefits such as discounts for active contributors, but, seeing how all of this is not concrete in any way, we're evaluating all possible options and will try to make a very convincing agreement to present to the publishers. If you have any more ideas or suggestions, feel free to let us hear them.
Finally, what about what I've contributed, do you plan on using it without my permission?

This site is different than most, as in - we do not add any of your releases. You personally add your releases because they are your work. Your work, your rights. We've shown throughout the lifetime of this site that we respect your rights, and that will never change. For those concerned about deleting their releases, you've always had the ability to do so through your group's admin panels, and that's 100% your choice. You can also contact us for account deletion if you feel it necessary.

Any account-related matters should be discussed via PM as they will be deleted if they are posted in the comments.

Explanation on current events

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:05:32 +0000

You were wanting a post describing what is going on about the document that has been leaked. Well, here it is.

Before that though, let me take a minute to remind you what MH stands for. That is respect to those that create something.
In any and all cases of scanlation or translation stealing we have taken swift action to resolve the issue. From going to other sites to request - to banning the group/people/individual responsible. Why? Because we respect the work that people put into each thing they do.

The document posted was us presenting an opportunity for a great publisher to work with what we believe are the greatest fans they have. Each week fans of all kinds of manga dedicate their time, effort, and energy to help let others enjoy manga. That is the solid reason why MangaHelpers' name is Manga Helpers. People helping others enjoy it. With this in mind, along with Crunchyroll's successful business model we created that draft. As you can see from spelling errors, grammar mistakes and the likes, it is still in a very VERY rough form (that means draft) and extremely far from presentable. Why it was leaked at such a state is beyond me, and yet is has. And we are dealing with it.

The goal behind presenting that document to a company was so that we can promote the fans -- not their work. We wanted to create a bridge between publisher and fan (scanlator - translator - artist) to help everyone work together and not only make online distribution legitimate, but to increase the amount of released manga by promoting the talented translators, editors and artists we have at MH. Through working with them, perhaps faster and better quality raws would have been do-able (like Crunchyroll and their episodes). Or even professional translators helping out other translators on the site -- sharing their experience and know how. By making what fans are doing legitimate, or at least finding a medium, we could have progressed so much further than being pirates leeching from the publishers.

Our goal was to find a way to support the publishers while keeping the fans -- community -- and those that work hard each week satisfied. Has this leak changed things? Probably so. As a result, when online distribution comes, chances are it'll be no different from anything in the past. Not saying that it's a bad thing, but it could be so much better.

In the end, all we were working for was a better place for everyone to enjoy the surreal worlds each manga introduces us to. In the end, we wanted to do good for everyone. Maybe, miraculously, something good may still come of all of this.

For now, that is all we have to say.

Taylor, Founder of MangaHelpers.

P.S. Just so we are crystal clear on this: As I stated in the opening, we respect everyone and the work they do. There were no plans for handing over any translations - scanlations or art that was released here. Our goal was for those that want to work with the official companies to have an easier shot at getting recognized. So anything and everything would be voluntary.

Again LET me reinstate.

Absolutely NO work from anyone - come Translator - Scanlator - or Artist will be used without their written permission. We have never, nor will we ever take anything from any fan contributing without them agreeing it is OK to be used.

That has always and will always be the way MH is run.

New Manga Shout Out: 9/14/09 - 9/20/09

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:40:51 +0000

Welcome to the next New Manga Shout Out. This week mainly features manga that have 1-2 volumes out with ALL demographics present! Remember to favorite any series you like and don't forget to also thank the various translators, raw uploaders/scanners and scanlators who feed your manga addiction. ^_^ Translators and Scanlators, please check out these series and see if you can spread some more manga love~

We're still looking for people who know Japanese and want to help write summaries for our manga database and for the shout out. Please PM me if you want to help out. Now onto the series~

Ai Kara Hajimaru (アイからはじまる)
By: YUKIMARU Moe

Demographics: Shoujo
Status: 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Ai is a first year high school student and she loves sunflowers. In elementary school, there was a boy called Taiyou, meaning 'sun,' who was her first crush. He called her Obaa-chan, meaning grandma, and from then on she never fell in love again. Ai is now starting high school, meets a boy named Taiyou and they get close. How will Ai's love life fare with Taiyou?

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Crows Gaiden - Linda Linda - (クローズ外伝リンダリンダ)
By: YUU Hajime

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Volume (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

This is a story about Hayashida Megumi (known as Lindaman), from the manga Crows, set in his middle school years. Hayashida is an incredibly strong, ridiculously large and very taciturn 'yankee' type middle schooler. Yoshidome Keiichi, a much smaller, weaker, and very talkative classmate starts to hang out with him, and slowly they become friends. All the while, large groups of people keep coming to attack 'Lindaman', due to grudges they have against him or even simply because of his reputation as being very strong.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Haigakura (ハイガクラ)
By: TAKAYAMA Shinobu

Demographics: Josei
Status: 1 Volume (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: Chapter 1 (RasberryIcecream)
Scanlations: Chapter 1 (Rurouni Scanlation Productions)

Are there gods in Japan? In a very literal sense, that's what Ichiyou and Tenkou want to know. Collecting gods and taking them home to their own country is actually their job. While in modern Japan, they bump into the school girl Nozomu, who is an aspiring writer. She is completely stunned by their matter-of-fact explanation of their mission, but also excited that such a novel-like event is happening to her in real life. Will Ichiyou and Tenkou be able to find the gods in Japan, or have they all vanished?

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Maid in Japan (メイドいんジャパン)
By: ORIMOTO Mimana

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 2 Volumes (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1 | Volume 2
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

In order to be bought by a rich family, Narumi Inoue, hiding the truth that he's a man, goes to a girls' school. As a trainee, Narumi was sent to serve a girl from a rich family who hates maids! Keeping the 'heart of treating/serving people' of a Japanese maid, Maid in Japan, Narumi's battle will start…!?

If anyone finds out that Narumi is a man, his penis will be cut off. Don't miss this cross-dressing maid boy's love and suffering while serving.

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Mr. Morning (ミスターモーニング)
By: TAKAYAMA Shinobu

Demographics: Josei
Status: 2 Volumes (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1 | Volume 2
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

The clueless, enthusiatic, country boy Toy is a new employee for the popular, continent crossing Rainbow Stone Train. This train has cars named 'morning', 'afternoon' and 'evening', separated by ticket prices and class of clientele. Toy finds himself working in the cheapest, most crowded, and noisiest of the three, the 'morning' car. Not only that, but his boss, Wiseman, is incredibly strict and critical. Hopefully Toy will be able to learn from Wiseman and become a great train worker!

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Sanjin Sadou (さんじんさどう)
By: MIZUKAMI Satoshi

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 2 Volumes (Complete)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1 | Volume 2
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Fubuki, a man with silver hair and black eyebrows, is somewhat of an expert at taking care of people's monster problems, for a price of course. Yoru is a strange orphan girl who runs across one of his fights with a demon cat and insists on becoming his student. The two of them make an amazing team, whether they're fighting monsters or (as happens more often than Yoru would like) running from them!

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Sense (センセ)
By: Haruki

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 2 Volumes (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1 | Volume 2
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

Satou Makoto is a new male teacher at an all-girls high school. He wants to be a good teacher, but he can't help having detailed sexual fantasies about his students. It doesn't help that he regularly gets into questionably sexual situations with some of them. He can only hope that the other teachers and students can't tell what he's thinking behind his blushing face.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Seitokai no Ichizon (生徒会の一存)
By: AOI Sekina x INUGAMI Kira x 10mo

Demographics: Shounen
Status: 1 Volume (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Here
Translations: Chapter 1 (js06)
Scanlations: Chapter 1 (DBR)

Hekiyou Private Academy's student council members are decided through what basically is a popularity contest. Since good looking girls are admired by both sexes, unlike boys, the student council room became known as paradise. As the pillar of the student council, Sugisaki Ken seeks to create his own bishoujo harem due to his love of girls.

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Shirokuma Bell Stars (しろくまベルスターズ)
By: PULLTOP x KOTONO Wakako

Demographics: Seinen
Status: Prelude + 1 Chapter (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Prelude | Chapter 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

This story features the Santa Claus team that takes care of Shirokuma City. Toma is in charge of keeping the reindeer and sleigh going, and he works with a team of cute female 'Santas'. It's up to them to make sure Christmas goes on without a hitch!

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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Worst Gaiden - Harumichi (Worst 外伝 - 春道)
By: SUZUKI Dai x TAKAHASHI Hiroshi

Demographics: Seinen
Status: 1 Volume (Ongoing)
Manga Details Page: Here
Raws: Volume 1
Translations: None
Scanlations: None

After graduating from Suzuran, Uematsu Fujisuke is pretty satisfied with hanging out in his little village and being the resident 'tough guy.' But the second toughest guy, called Suguru, is not satisfied at all. After being beat up by some blond outsider, he decides he wants to head to Tokyo to chase his dreams of becoming a musician. Fujisuke wants to hunt down and beat this new contender, but Suguru just wants to be left alone and finally be allowed to leave this lifestyle.

Thanks go to tethysdust for the summary.

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The name of the manga series
A summary of the series
Publishing Status (+ Number of Volumes/Chapters)

None of the mangas are exactly jumping at me, but I guess if I had to pick one, I'd try and check out the josei manga Haigakura. I'm curious to see how you can catch gods. I'm sure ecchi lovers would really like Sense and Maid in Japan and Crow and Worst fans can take a look and hopefully look forward to reading Lindaman and Harumichi. Action lovers should check out Sanjin Sadou while shoujo readers can check out Ai Kara Hajimaru.

I'd like to thank tethysdust for reading so many mangas so fast and making so many summaries. It's too bad one manga snuck up on the last day so we can't have them all with summaries. Once again, if you'd like to help out and make summaries for the site, be sure to PM me.