So Film4 here in the UK currently has a whole string of week nights dedicated to Asian films. One night saw me watching a film taken from a hugely popular manga, and that’s pretty much the one for this weeks Manga Monday. Starting in December 2003 and lasting for 12 volumes, Death Note was a massive success. It follows the story of an extremely intelligent highschool student, know as Light. He finds a black book, a book known as ‘The Death Note’, dropped onto the earth by a God of Death. Light learns that by simply writing...

Any comic book artist, be that professional or hobbiest understands how difficult it is trying to make it and fitting into the ‘normal’ world and our geek world together truly is. Comic Party is a manga that focuses on just that. First let me explain quickly what the Japanese word ‘dōjinshi’ actually means. Well a dōjinshi artist is somebody who draws manga for a hobby or what they do while they are trying to make it famous. Any manga they do produce is often self-published and using the characters of other artist. Comic...

Iconic mangas are those that have stood the test of time. They are known by everyone (even if they haven’t read it), are constantly cosplayed, respected and above all have avoided fading into obscurity with the million other mangas that have been and gone. Cowboy Bebop has managed to do just that, with its amazing mash-up of film noir, sci-fi, beautiful women, danger, Jazz and out right weird. Cowboy Bebop is set in the year 2071 and finds itself set in outterspace after an explosion from a warp gate experiment results in daily...

Now us comic book types, be that manga or otherwise, are often stereotyped to not liking sports and in  fact, being rather allergic to exercise all together. So I thought this manga would be perfect. Not only is it sports based but it is a Japanese manga that is based off an American sport. Football. Eyesheild 21 is a pretty big manga, concluded at a hefty 37 volumes, had a successful anime in Japan and even had a spin off TCG (trading card game) and video games. While American football seems to be an odd choice, even more so...

Before I get into another Manga Monday, I just want to say a quick thank you to all the readers who put up with my disappearance over the last month or so. I have now graduated from university and couldn’t have done it without all the fantastic support I have received. So without further delay…. While thinking about this week’s topic I was reminded about how much geek culture crosses over. When someone is a geek in one particular area, it is not uncommon to also find them in another. For example many manga fans are also...

While thinking about the manga artist group CLAMP, I remembered another manga that I feel in love with early on in my addiction. The manga is known as Cardcaptor Sakura. It follows the story of 10 year old Sakura Kinomoto, who happens to stumble upon an old book. Upon opening the book she learns that she has released many magical cards into her world and she is now a Cardcaptor. Her new role as Cardcaptor means she has to use new powers granted to her to tame the now lose cards and then use the powers for herself. The cards...

I am finally back! After finishing off at university, going to PAX and getting sick while I was there, I can say I am back brining you Manga Monday even though I’m sure most of you skip it. Anyway this week we look at the super popular and slightly odd manga known as Chobits. Chobits was written by one of the most famous groups, known as Clamp. It was started in February 2001 and ran until November 2002 and spanned only 8 volumes. Now Chobits is a bit of an odd one as due to its romantic themes, hapless hero and ‘girly’...

Manga comes in many different varieties and caters for many different people. This particular manga proves that you don’t have to have a manga 40 books long and an anime that spans 10years to create something with impact and something that you can fall in love with. Paradise Kiss is only 5 books and 12 episodes long. It is by my favourite artist Ai Yazawa and become so popular it was translated into at least 10 different languages. The anime has some amazing music; the opening is called ‘lonely in gorgeous’ and the ended...

Well Manga Monday is once again not on a Monday because I was once again delivering babies. Awesome, I know. If you were living under a rock them you probably didn’t know that Comic Con has just come and gone, which oddly enough gave me my inspiration for this week’s post. A lot of people go to this Con in San Diego, and many others dress up, or doing something we have come to know as cosplay, which you probably could have guessed is a word of Japanese origin. Cosplay is short for ‘costume roleplaying’, where both...

Right. I have dodged around it for as long as possible but this Manga Monday I am actually going to approach the subject of yaoi and attempt to make it relatively insightful. Yes, I said ‘attempt’. Right. If you actually recall from my very first post, yaoi is Japanese for homosexuality of a romantic nature specific to the male gender (yuri is female homosexuality). It is something that is featured heavily within the anime and manga world, but what always struck me as odd is that yaoi is actually a market dominated by women....

In the past Comic Impact readers have seemed shocked to find out that I don’t read comics, even though I write for a comic book website. My answer is pretty simple; I do read comics! Manga is, after all, translated roughly as the word ‘comic.’ I just don’t read western comics. So for Manga Monday this week, we will look at the history of manga and what helped create this style of comic book that is so close, yet so far away, from western comics. Many believe that manga as we know it today developed most rapidly...

So far on Manga Monday I have discussed the cult classics Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z, and odd ones such as Ranma 1/2, the girly ones like Nana, and the action ones such as Trigun. Typically I’ve stayed away from the more popular and mainstream manga but this week we will give it a go. However you can stop reading right now if you expect me, for even a second, to actually discuss Naruto. Instead, I choose Bleach. Bleach is a current and hugely popular manga and anime in Japan, the UK, and America. Like all popular manga it...

Chances are that if you spend quite a bit of time on the internet, at some point you have come across the meme ‘It’s Over 9000′! Did you know that meme originates from one of the longest running mangas ever made? Yes, Dragon Ball started life as a manga in 1984 and ran in the weekly magazine, known as Shonen Jump untill 1995. That is 519 chapters, or 42 books! Since Manga and Anime share a close relationship all 42 books were adapted into a well known,  long running anime that had three different series, known...

Firstly I apologize for not blogging last weekend, as mentioned I am a midwife and I spent last Monday knee deep in amniotic fluid and clunge. So without further delay, lets talk geek…. Manga fans, much like comic book fans, enjoy spending time among their own kind. Don’t say I blame them, nobody but our ‘own kind’ gets us. You know what I mean- your ringtone, t-shirt, and those little in-jokes you make. Yeah only your friends get it. This brings me very nicely to my theme for this Manga Monday which is of course, conventions. It...

So yeah, it is blatantly Tuesday and I am made of fail. However, I spent a large portion of yesterday afternoon with my head in the toilet blowing chunks. Oddly enough my vomiting was not hang-over induced, but none the less it was a painful and typically unpleasant experience. I did (several times in fact) attempt to post my Manga Monday only to find that looking at the computer screen for more than 30 seconds sent me racing back to the bathroom. Yet the talk of needing to throw up, and things being particularly unpleasant,...

Now while I’m aware this isn’t a news post or anything exactly ground breaking, it is a little reflection and story I wanted to share with you all. Geeks, freaks, or nerds. Call comic book fans what you want but this little story is a nod towards a world we are all totally engrossed in. As you have seen, Comic Impact has had a re-design. As part of this our leader requested that we all have some relativity pro photos taken of us, basically photos of us showing us as we are. I’ve done some modeling in my time...

Yes, if you are a gamer than chances are you know that E3 is taking place in L.A. right now. Due to this I have decided to make the theme of this Manga Monday about gaming. Now as you are probably aware (you do read my posts, right?) I went to London MCM Expo last weekend and I actually did buy some manga. Yes, I know its hard to believe but I didn’t actually spend all of my money on cocktails in China Town. The manga I bought caught my eye instantly because it is actually the manga version of my favourite video game! Now...

I have been all over the forums of the London MCM Expo website to find some of the very best pictures from a very surreal weekend! So enjoy the photo bomb kids… …

So it’s Manga Monday again (seriously, it feels like Monday comes around much more than any other day), and instead of talking about manga or my inability to hold my alcohol, I will talk about my adventures that I had this weekend to London Movie, Comic, and Media (MCM) Expo. London MCM Expo started in 2005 and is now one of the UK’s biggest entertainment expositions, attracting tens of thousands of people to pass through it’s doors every May and October at Excel in the Docklands in London. As you would expect...

Now I am supposed to be a serious journalist but in all fairness but I am rather drunk (wine is my best friend) and after the abomination that is the star wars podcast I thought it best that I don’t try to hard to impress you (in all fairness that wont happen).So let’s keep it really simple. I started watching this anime with my little sister and I will admit, its not really a guys anime yet this anime is a long standing tradition among females and for any anime fan it is part of growing up! The anime stated in 1992 and was...

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace first appeared in theatres 10 years ago this week! As our special tribute to this epic movie, the Comic Impact team has gotten together to deliver a full length commentary on the Star Wars film that changed the face of the most popular universe in sci-fi history. Join Simon (myself), Sheldon, Mat, Andy, and (sort of) Hollie as they talk about Episode I’s highlights and lowlights, the culture of the day, their lives at the time, and factoids only attuned members of the Force would...

By now it’s been established that manga can be pretty odd to say the least. I thought I had read some of the weirder stuff out there until I was introduced to this… It’s a comedy like no other and it ran from February 1999 to June 2002 and only spanned 4 volumes, yet proved to be popular enough that it was aired on TV Tokyo in a rather odd format. Each episode was only 5 minutes long and for the weekend a repeat of all 5 was pushed together into one 25 minute episode. For the DVD release a title and end credits were...

The new Star Trek film is out and Sheldon is a Trekkie so he made the rest of us watch it. I (Simon) have never seen a Trek episode in my life. Did I enjoy this film, or did I Hulk out and rampage through the Comic Impact office one more time? Join Sheldon, Simon, Mat, and Hollie as we talk about Star Trek and what we thought of the new film! All this AND find out what our next film podcast is going to be… Simon Daoudi Simon@comicimpact.com DOWNLOAD EPISODE (Right-click and choose “Save As…” and save locally) HOW TO...

eventually I will write something of substance…. Hollie ‘pheonix’ Bennett hollie@comicimpact.com

While alot of my Manga Monday posts have been about older and more substantial mangas this one is particularly new. Yet, despite this it has taken the anime world by storm and its defiantly a hot topic at nearly all anime conventions I’ve been attending. It only started in 2003 and is currently spanning 13 volumes and is still growing. Its an ultimate shojo manga and its currently being published in American and Europe by the company Shojo Beat. Like many of the best mangas out there its got a hugely popular anime series...

Hey welcome to a special edition of Comic Impact where we are reviewing X-Men Origins Wolverine!!!  Sure it made $87 Million opening weekend but Did we enjoy it ? Listen to The always lovely Hollie, Simon(My self) and Sheldon as we discuss the movie and listen to me as I  HULK out and rampage through the Comic Impact Office(Guess what I thought about it;) So hold on tight and get your Snikt On! As we give you our 1000 %  true feeling on this film.  Oh yeah this episode has a BIG time parental advisory. Simon Daoudi Simon@comicimpact.com DOWNLOAD...

Yep happy birthday to me and because Simon has given me the ability to post what I want, I have decided to share the birthday love. Happy birthday to meeeeee! Hollie ‘Pheonix’ Bennett hollie@comicimpact.com

After debating heavily on what type of manga this Manga Monday should focus on I decided that I should leave the yaoi manga for a little while longer and bring you something a little deeper. This manga was introduced to me very early on in my manga addiction and it’s another that has left a huge impression on me. It started in 1996 and ended in 1997 and only totalled 5 volumes (relatively short in the manga world) yet it still spawned a successful anime, a movie and even live theatre. This manga brings together the simple...