VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), a premier company in the fields of publishing, animation distribution, and global entertainment licensing, delivers the sequel to shojo manga creator Kyousuke Motomi’s acclaimed series, QQ SWEEPER, with the launch of QUEEN’S QUALITY on September 5th.
Read More
I’ve never shied away from the Shojo Beat material. I rather like the variety of stories and that fact that female characters have a stronger role in the story. I could go either way on all the bubbles and such that are an artistic trope of the genre, but otherwise, Shojo stories can often be refreshing in the world of manga. However, that is not the case of Vampire Knight Memories.
Read More
VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), a premier company in the fields of publishing, animation distribution, and global entertainment licensing, offers manga fans and collectors a very special release as it announces the debut of the REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA Manga Box Set on April 11th.
Read More
I’m a big fan of music in comics. I don’t know why I just am. That doesn’t mean that it always works or that I always like it, but if your comic is about a band or a singer, I’m inclined to check it out. While Anonymous Noise wasn’t the first manga about music I’ve read, it was the first from Shojo Beat.
Read More
VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), a premier company in the fields of publishing, animation distribution, and global entertainment licensing, announces the launch of a powerful new shojo manga series about passion, music and unrequited love with the launch of ANONYMOUS NOISE on March 7th.
Read More
If you send it, I will read it and review it. That’s basically why I’m back for more So Cute It Hurts!! The last volume was my first experience with the series, and while it wasn’t terrible, I knew it wasn’t for me. It still isn’t in case you were wondering.
Read More
Go ahead and guess how many of the previous volumes of So Cute It Hurts!! I’ve read? Zero. Hey, they send them, I read them and do my best to review them. This volume is what I would call a payoff volume as it has a lot of reveals and storyline conclusions. It’s the volume long time readers have been waiting for.
Read MoreVIZ Media opens September with a fresh digital manga update highlighted by the latest entry in the WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP lineup as well as new additions to scores of other popular continuing titles. Shojo and classic manga fans won’t want to miss September’s special digital sale. The Classic Shojo Beat Fantasy Sale covers entire series runs for timeless shojo fantasy titles and takes place each week throughout the month. Check in each week for the latest shojo series featured in the September sale!
WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP readers can look forward to Jump Start series, THE PROMISED NEVERLAND, officially joining the magazine’s lineup this month. WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP is the world’s premier manga brand and leading international weekly manga magazine. The first three chapters of THE PROMISED NEVERLAND will also be available on the WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP website’s free section along with the continued serialization of ASTRA LOST IN SPACE, a new science fiction survival epic from Kenta Shinohara, the creator of Sket Dance! Other series currently available in WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP’s free section include THE EMPEROR AND I, HAIKYU!!, ONE-PUNCH MAN, NARUTO: CHIBI SASUKE’S SHARINGAN LEGEND and more!
In THE PROMISED NEVERLAND, life at Grace Field House has been good for Emma and her fellow orphans. While the daily studying and exams they have to take are tough, their loving caretaker provides them with delicious foods and plenty of playtime. But perhaps not everything is as it seems.
Classic Shojo Beat Fantasy Manga Promotion
VIZ Media celebrates classic shojo fantasy manga series throughout September! Specially curated digital sales will discount every available volume of a featured series to $4.99 each and will be available across all digital platforms for a limited time.
CERES: THE CELESTIAL LEGEND · Digital Sale Available Sept. 6th–12th
Check VIZ.com each week throughout the rest of the month for additional shojo fantasy manga titles to be featured in this month’s digital sale!
New September 2016 Digital Manga:
Digital manga updates for September include new volumes for 14 continuing VIZ Media series. Notable new releases this month include not-to-be-missed volumes for GOODNIGHT PUNPUN (Vol. 3), HAIKYU!! (Vol. 3), and NISEKOI (Vol. 17). New shojo manga additions include BLOODY MARY (Vol. 4), EVERYONE’S GETTING MARRIED (Vol. 2), IDOL DREAMS (Vol. 3), KIMI NI TODOKE (Vol. 25) and SKIP BEAT! (Vol. 37). Several notable titles also reach their exciting respective series conclusions this month including KOMOMO CONFISERIE (Vol. 5) and YU-GI-OH! ZEXAL (Vol. 9).
The free VIZ Manga App continues to be the top application for reading digital manga and features a massive library of the most popular series in the world. Through the innovative VIZ Manga digital platform registered users are able to use one account to view their purchased manga across more devices than ever. New series and volumes are added every Tuesday. Fans can also find these titles and more for the NOOK, Kindle Fire, and Kobo eReaders, as well as in the ComiXology, iBooks and Google Play Stores.
Most manga volumes are available for purchase and download in the U.S. and Canada within the VIZ Manga application starting from only $4.99 (U.S. / CAN) each. Readers can also explore free Chapter 1 previews of most series. For more information, please visit VIZ.com.
To learn more about VIZ Manga, please visit www.vizmanga.com.
The first Shojo Beat comic I read I didn’t like. I struggled to get to the ending and questioned the logic of the entire set up. Yona of the Dawn is entirely different from that. There’s one somewhat questionable aspect of the story, but nothing like the other series I read. Moreover, yes I am breaking a review taboo by bringing up another story in a review, but the reason is to point out that I steered clear of the Shojo Beat line because of that story. Yona has renewed my interest. The story for Yona is really simple, to sum up, but having said that it is not the reason this story is enjoyable. The outline is this, we meet Yona outside of the castle walls, thinking about how long it has been since she was home. It is a simple setup that clues the reader into the fact that she is on the run and can’t go back to her castle for a reason yet learned. The story then flashes back to the beginning, and we see Yona, her father the king, her personal bodyguard and a basic idea of her life. It’s Yona’s 16th birthday, and her cousin is coming to celebrate it with her.
This is the part that gets a little weird, but you have to remember the time in which its set. Yona has a major crush on her cousin. To the extent that she asks her father if she can have him as her husband, but he declines for reasons unbeknownst to Yona and us. The birthday party sets the stage for the King’s death and Yona’s exile from her kingdom, but I will not spoil which of the characters introduced actually commit the murder. The story makes that fairly obvious.
As for what makes this a solid read, it’s the depth of the character development that the story goes into. After Yona has escaped the castle, she becomes lost in thoughts of the past about her time with two particular characters. It’s quite perfect because it establishes how much of a betrayal this event was, how different her world is going to be from now on. It gives the reader contrast to the Yona we meet in the beginning riding her horse and wielding a sword. As for the questionable story aspect, it's the fact that Yona is allowed to live when logic says she would be hunted to death.
With all that said, if you do not like over the top cuteness, then you will have a hard time looking past it to see the depth and layers of the story. Because the cuteness from the art and story are abundant. Even during the battle sequences, there’s a flair of beauty.
As for the art, cuteness aside, it’s quite talented. It has some of the pitfalls of the genre, excess flowers and panel work that breaks from the storytelling, but it’s not thick and obnoxious as others I have read. That and there’s a level of detail maintained throughout the book. Creator Mizuho Kusanagi does not rely on a billion close-ups of the face to fill the pages. That and the action is very easy to follow, while also being the most detailed part of the art. The characters do all have chins that could cut glass, but if you can overlook that you will be fine.
The most surprising part of Yona of the Dawn is that I genuinely wanted to read more. Not out of some obligations to continue the review or because I might get the next volume sent to me, but because I enjoyed what I read so much that I wanted to keep going. Which is so freaking rare for someone like me that has over a hundred reviews just this year alone.
[su_box title="Score: 4/5" style="glass" box_color="#8955ab" radius="6"]
Yona of the Dawn vol. 1 Creator: Mizuho Kusanagi Publisher: Viz/Shojo Beat Price: $9.99 Format: TPB; Print/Digital
[/su_box]