Keep It or Trade It?: Tales of Graces f (PS3)
Keep It or Delete It?: Ketzal’s Corridors (3DS eShop)
Keep It or Trade It?: Prototype 2 (360)
Keep It or Trade It?: Tekken 3D: Prime Edition (3DS)
Keep It or Delete It? : Mass Effect Infiltrator (iPad)Seven Seas Entertainment, the North America publisher of Kashimashi and Afro Samurai, has joined the movement towards e-books. They have begun offering 3 of their Original English Language manga properties through Amazon’s Kindle reader. The series are Amazing Agent Luna, Aoi House, and Arkham Woods.Seven Seas is the latest publisher to join with Amazon’s Kindle. Currently, there are 160 titles listed in the Kindle “manga” section, but some of them look to be more light novel than graphic novel. True to its name, Digital Manga Publishing seems to be leading the way on the e-book front. Tokyopop, Viz and Del Rey do not have any listings in the kindle store yet. This could also be an avenue for Seven Seas to get back into the light novel arena. The recent success of the Suzumiya Haruhi light novel coupled with the switch to digital distribution might get Seven Seas back on track with the release of Zero no Tsukaima light novels.
For me, when I want to read a manga, it’s not all about the visual. I want the sensation of touch and rustle of the pages as I turn them and the smell of the ink and paper while I read. I don’t enjoy reading a digital copy of something nearly as much as a physical copy. But I know that in Japan, offering manga on cell phones is a big hit, and many people love digital distribution. Call me old school, but when I buy something, I want to hold it in my hands. Am I in the minority now? Would you prefer all manga to go digital?
Below are the descriptions of each manga from gomanga.com (Seven Seas’ website):
“Amazing Agent Luna is the story of Luna, the perfect secret agent. A girl grown in a lab from the finest genetic material, she has been trained since her birth fifteen years ago to be the U.S. government’s ultimate espionage weapon. But now she is given an assignment that will test her abilities to the utmost–high school.”
“Alex and Sandy were two normal guys just trying to get through college. That is, until their troublemaking hamster, Echiboo, gets them thrown out of their dorm rooms. With nowhere else to turn, the boys move into an anime clubhouse with five crazed yaoi fangirls calling all the shots!
Elle’s obsessively high-strung, Nina’s too laid back for her own good, Jessica’s a total tease, Maria’s a shy and reserved bookworm, and Morgan’s just plain bonkers! Toss ‘em all together and you’ve got a harem comedy that’s truly like none other!”
“Kirsti Rivers is an LA girl suddenly transplanted to the small New England town of Arkham Woods. Kirsti and her mother, Victoria, are tasked with clearing out and selling the old house left to them by Silas Scadmore, Victoria’s recently deceased eccentric uncle. In the basement of the house, Kirsti and her friends unwittingly unleash an ancient evil that could spell the end of the world–unless Kirsti can find a way to stop it! Arkham Woods is an original stand alone manga tale of supernatural horror inspired by the Cthulhu mythos of H.P. Lovecraft.”
Greg Barbe on 11 Sep 2009 at 4:15 pm #
They all sound neat. And while I’m glad the kindle supports manga, I still can’t bring myself to buy one. The price is more than a netbook. And the E-Ink screens flash between pages in a way that gives me a headache.
Even with these fixed I’d still be in the physical book camp just because I don’t feel like I own digital media. Especially as long as the “kill” switch is still available on the kindle and like readers. .
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