Wait...IS Spring here?!

April 12, 2010

The weather hasn't been very spring-like of late here in the Pacific Northwest, but I guess you could say it is still bearable! Today is the usual overcast kind of Spring we know and love here, which is an improvement over the stormy winter-ish stuff we had the last couple of weeks. But Spring Into Action is still going on despite the unreliable weather so please continue to shop for a cause! Thank you to all my customers who have made purchases so far this month. Every one of you is making a difference!

I have a new review up for the new series ,"Natsume's Book of Friends" up in the forums. Please take a moment to check it out. This is looking to be a great series for anyone who enjoys a little supernatural beatdown. I'll have other reviews posted to the forums shortly. Keep an eye out for reviews on Stolen Hearts, Biomega, and Black Butler. I think you will find these titles worth reading. Mata ne~!

Spring is here!!

March 20, 2010

Yay! It's spring, and the weather is really nice today! It's also the first day of a great campaign - Spring into Action! Please help me make a difference in the lives of other people in our community by supporting AtWork!, a local non-profit that helps people with developmental disabilities learn employable skills. Imagine being a person with a disability that pigeon holes you into the category of "helpless." I know first-hand that there is nothing helpless about being developmentally disabled. There is only a need for a different approach! Customized employment solutions create opportunities for people with disabilities to contribute effectively in the workplace. So stop imagining what it might be like now and start making a difference in someone's life!

from now to the end of May, every book you buy, either online or in the store, will have a portion of the purchase price donated to AtWork!. With your help, this dedicated non-profit can continue to be a model for customized employment. Check out AtWork!'s website here to learn more about what they do.

I would like to thank my very first customer of this exciting campaign for buying something today! Sorry that I missed the gentleman who bought Samurai Confidential but we now have $2 to go toward AtWork!'s mission! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! :)

It's Finally Here!

February 13, 2010

The fifth volume of Bride of the Water God is finally in! I apologize profusely to my customers who waited so long for it to come in. Although this time all booksellers had to wait until the distributor received the title, it still made me very upset. It has happened in the past that I order a title set to release, and I'm put on a backorder list because the warehouse didn't get enough copies and the "Big Boys" get first crack at the stock on hand. Seriously, why bother preordering when the Borders in the next town gets the title before I do? It really makes me feel undervalued as a small business.

Anyway, so Water God is in, and the new Naruto is in (after the other stores got it), and Zelda Four Swords pt 1 is in. I'm still waiting for the Calculus Manga Guide and I'll be making a new order the last week of February for March. Any suggestions?

Happy New Year!

January 11, 2010

Okay, the forums are back online and in working order! I tell you what, I think I lost about a quarter of my hair trying to figure out what I did! But now I can get back to posting reviews. I have my review of Bamboo Blade up, and I'll be posting a review of Yotsuba&! soon.

And so in celebration of a working forum and a brand new decade, I've got a special on new titles that just came in. Get 15% off Jack Frost Vol. 2, Raiders Vol. 1, Amanda Visell Stationery Set, Vampire Knight Vol. 1, Soul Eater Vol. 1, Legend of Zelda Vols. 1 – 5, Cirque du Freak Vol. 3, Leave it to PET Vol. 4, and Bamboo Blade Vol. 3. The sale is only good online until this coming Friday! >_<

I extremely dislike computers

December 21, 2009

Sorry for the inconvenience but I broke the forums while trying to perform a "simple update" so it will be offline until I can figure out what I did and how to fix it. I'm hoping I can complete the install without losing the information already there. So, wish me luck!

New titles available, and a new place to shop!

October 10, 2009

Wow, okay I'm terrible at updates, but hopefully I'll be able to keep up a little better. There are new titles available at the shop for your perusal. Besides additions to Tsubasa RESERvoir CHRoNiCLEs and Bride of the Water God, I've also added some Bleach, Naruto, Tegami Bachi, and Neon Genesis Evangelion for the shonen readers. I also discovered two other titles that parents may be interested in: Leave it to PET (for the young readers) and The Manga Guide to Physics (for high-schoolers). In the next few days, I'll try to get some personal reviews up of the new titles in the forums.I also have a 2010 Naruto calander, but I haven't gotten that into the database yet.

And speaking of the shop, MamaManga has a new store location where you can stop in and visit! The store is located inside Country Collections right on Main Street in Duvall. If you're in the area while I'm there, please stop in! Until then, I need some sleep...zzzz

It's amazing what you can turn into a musical these days

September 13, 2008

Browsing the net to find manga-related news, I came across an article from the Korean Times about a Japanese musical coming to Seoul in October. I was blown away by the image that I saw - the entire tennis team of Seigaku High School, brought to life from the very pages of the manga, "Prince of Tennis" (Tennis no Oujisama)!

Okay, so I am not a big fan of the sport of tennis. I do not make time to watch the US Open or Wimbelton. But everything I know about tennis, I learned from this manga. The story of Ryoma Echizen, first year tennis prodigy, and his friends mixed real- life high school interactions (and a bit of drama) with super-human tennis moves and strategy. I mean, really, can a tennis player actually perform a "rising shot"? Well, maybe, I don't watch tennis.

Anyway, back to the musical. There in the picture were all the Seigaku players, and I could name them all: Eiji Kikumaru and Kaoru Kaido in front, Ryoma Echizen in the center, Takeshi Momoshiro, Takashi Kawamura, Shuske Fuji, Kunimitsu Tezuka, Shuichiro Oishi, and Sadaharu Inui rounding out the back row. How do I know which character is who? These guys are SPITTING images! Props to the hair and makeup people!

As a fan of this series, I knew there was an animated and live-action version, but I am disappointed with myself for not knowing it was a popular musical series (yes, a series) in Japan since 2003. Go figure, singing tennis players - only in Japan! I think its time to get the English version, ne?

This site best viewed in IE7, sorry...

July 26, 2008

There are times when I think computer programmers and manufacturers "upgrade" to make life harder on us people who can't keep up with technology. My website looks flawless and absolutely marvelous (thanks to a wonderful gem of a web designer, Jerome!) on IE7. But when I view it on IE6 or IE5 (and who still uses IE5!? - hello, my mother...) the formatting flies out the window. I have yet to download the Firefox browser, so I hope my site looks right for those of you that use it.

I really wanted a Mac. In fact, I wanted a MacBook Air. It's sleek, it's stylish, it's plenty powerful. I always thought Macs were way more user friendly and my hair didn't come out in clumps when I used one. But I find it amusing that the new Windows Vista is an emulation of the look and feel of a Mac - the layered windows, the ethereal background images, preview mode for your open windows, better previewing of images, and even the way the explorer shares similarities with Finder. Maybe that's why many diehard WIndows users don't like it - if they wanted Mac, they would have bought a Mac. But really, its just in the looks. It is not at all user-friendly or intuitive. The programs are very different from their predecessors so everything you knew about, say, Excel goes flying out the window when you use the new 2007 version. And with so many updates, upgrades, uploads, downloads, and the like, it's amazing anything works at all when you hit that power button.

And when you FINALLY figure out how to use your new IE7 or Vista without losing hair, Microsoft will dish out a new browser and operating system. Am I the only one tired of upgrading? Innovation is great, but I can not handle an innovation every week!

What I can handle every week is a new manga, however! ;)

New Titles Coming Soon

July 10, 2008

Sorry for the long period of inactivity here on the site! I've been working on fattening up MamaManga's book shelves so you have more to choose from. There will be new titles available in the coming months, so look for them. Don't forget that you can inquire about titles you want in the forums. And what titles are coming soon, you ask? CLAMP's Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE is on its way to the virtual book shelf, along with a couple of trade titles and a children's classic adapted to graphic novel: Redwall.

I also want to encourage all of you to register for the forums so you can participate in upcoming contests starting next month! Do you like to write your own versions of popular comics? Got a talent for drawing? Are you good at pop culture trivia? Contests will be announced in the forums and you must be a member to play!

And one last note, I posted the privacy policy for MamaManga in the "About" section. If you have any questions about the policy, shoot me an email and I will be happy to address your concerns.

Thank you all who come to MamaManga, I greatly appreciate your company! ^_^

Draw your own Manga!

June 20, 2008

There wasn't as much of a turn out at the activity booth this week as there was last week, but it was still a lot of fun. Toward the end of the night, my new-found friends Stephanie, Mike, and their children stopped by for a chat. Mike is a game developer and Stephanie is a Mary Kay consultant. I think both of them should do their own manga on the side!


The one on the left is by Mike, and I call it "Farmers Market." The one on the right is Stephanie's and I call it "Cleaning House." (You would get it if you were a parent for sure)

Glittery Manga at the Duvall Farmers Market

June 12, 2008

I want to give a HUGE thank you to the people who stopped by the Children's Activity Booth at the Duvall Farmers Market today. It was a blast making Father's Day cards with the kids and talking about manga with interested parents and their children. The books I had on display were covered in glitter by the end of the day, but I just shook them out and the books are ready for another appearance next week!

Next week, I will be at the Children's Activity Booth again and this time the project is "Draw your own comic!" I'll have a 4-panel for you to create some creative storytelling artwork. Don't be shy if you think you can't draw! I know I can't but I'll be displaying my lacking talents for all to see! So please stop in and say hello.

Because I can't sell manga at the market, I told many of you to just shoot me an email or give me a call if there was a title you were interested in. Since I'm still fighting with Paypal, I'll update my list of available titles here:

Thanks again for visiting, and stop by again on June 19!

Paypal Blues

June 6, 2008

Not exactly related to manga, but Paypal sure does ask alot of you when you open a merchant account with them. Social Security number, date of birth, name of first-born son, I mean really? I honestly can't wait until I have my own brick and mortar bookstore.

Anyway, it will be a little longer than I had hoped to get the shop up and running. The two titles already listed are available by the way, if anyone is interested in a pretty exciting title. Gold Digger is very entertaining and the art is superb. Yes, there's some eye candy for the boys, but I think its alright. The excellent writing makes up for it ;). In the meantime, register for the forums and let me know what you are interested in while I waddle my way through the requirements of setting up shop through Paypal...Geez, they won't even let me give you discounts unless you buy a gift certificate!

Youkoso!

May 24, 2008

Welcome to Mama's Blog! Here you will find mostly thoughts and reviews about titles currently in stock or commentary on newsworthy events. But every once in a while I may throw in some random monologue just to spice things up!

For my VERY FIRST blog entry: From my good friends at Antarctic Press, I have the Gold Digger II pocket manga Volumes 1-3. If you like Indiana Jones and Tomb Raider, this is the one for you! I also have Neotopia pocket manga Vol. 4 (there was a problem at the printers, and the first three volumes needed to be reprinted). It's a wonderful sci fi/fantasy tale about a girl who plays princess to save a kingdom. I highly recommend it! Lastly, I have Ninja High School Shidoshi pocket manga Vol. 1 available. It's a little different from the original series, but the main character hasn't changed much at all. As co-creator Robby Bevard put it, "It's like fighting with bananas." Well, he did say something to that effect anyway - there aren't any banana fights that I recall...

For you Korean Manwha enthusiasts, I have a great sunjeong (similar to the Japanese shojo - titles that appeal to girls) story, Bride of the Water God Volumes 1 and 2. If you are looking for a beautifully drawn Korean period fantasy romance, this is it. Also for you ladies (but men may find this amusing as well) is Japan Ai: Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan. This amusing autobiography of a caucasian girl's experience in Japan is funny and easy to relate to.

I haven't forgotten the boys, though! I have some Classic Transformers comics for your reading enjoyment! If you remember a time when Bumblebee was a VW Bug, you may have had these issues at one point. Issues 1 through 16 are brought back in a full color Volume 1.

Please feel free to leave comments, requests and questions on the forum, and I will be happy to assist you!

~Mama