It’s been out for a while, but you can buy Shaman King Volume 14 from Viz right now!

Shaman King Volume 14MSRP:  $7.95
Length:  200 pages
ISBN:  1-4215-1475-3
In stores:  Jan. 1, 2008

Like with all Viz volumes there are some changes. Below is a list of changes or mistakes I found, as well as noteworthy things that they didn’t change. May contain some spoilers if you haven’t read the volume yet. Click below to read the full list.

Chapter 117:
Page 10:

  • “Food * Liquor” sign remained the same. 
  • Mad*Naruto’s mascot’s lips remain unedited (unlike Chocolove/Joco).

Page 11:

  • In first 3 panels, the Japanese text overlayed the artwork. In Viz’s release, white boxes were added on top of the artwork. This is referred to as “whiteboxing”

Page 13:

  • Forgot to edit the lips on 5th panel.

Page 18:

  • Nipple remains on the Amazonian woman.

Page 23:

  • “Gag Wind” font is the same as the Japanese version

Chapter 118:
Page 32:

  • Edited some lips on people in the crowd.

Chapter 119:
Page 47:

  • More whiteboxes

Page 52:

  • Changed board from “The” to “Ren”

Page 53:

  • More whiteboxing

Page 54:

  • More whiteboxing

Page 58:

  • Kept the banners in Japanese

Chapter 120:
Page 65:

  • Signs remain the same as Japanese version

Page 71-72:

  • More whiteboxing

Chapter 121:
Page 85:

  • Edited in “Inn” and “Waiting Room”, but kept “Shaman Fight in Tokio”

Chapter 122:

  • Nothing!

Chapter 123:
Page 141:

  •  Last panel, first a whitebox, then the second half isn’t.

Page 142:

  • More whiteboxing!

Chapter 124:

  •  Nothing.

Chapter 125:
Page 173:

  • The never ending whiteboxing!

Special:

  • Nothing!

So, overall the biggest change was the introduction of whiteboxing, more than normal. In previous chapters, whiteboxing was never an issue. It’s more like laziness than something hard to fix. They do more difficult stuff with editing SFX, so you would think that whiteboxing wouldn’t be an issue, and for some places it was used, it shouldn’t have been used. Another  un-noted change, is on the item file inserts, the English version used the same font as the Japanese release when the orginal version didn’t have the English translation under it. That’s a nice touch. Also a few times, they leave the orginal Japanese “?” in a bubble. Don’t fix what’s not broken!

Overall, it’s a solid volume, without many changes. Before reading it, I had fears on what they might “clean-up” to remove blood or weapons. But it looks like Viz intends on keeping that “T for Teens” rating, which is what the manga needs!

The next English volume of the manga will be released on March 4th in the USA.