Some quick links and good reads:
Pata has some questions about Viz’s announcement of its new soccer manga. Hey, I thought they didn’t do OEL. Ed at Mangacast has some thoughts too.
Comipress has an interview with Japanese manga-ka Leiji Matsumoto about the impact of the internet—and specifically, internet piracy—on comics.
AICN looks at Zombie Power (formerly Zombie Powder), by Bleach manga-ka Tite Kubo. This was one of his earlier efforts and was cancelled mid-story.
So, in Zombie Power, you’re investing in an incomplete story, but it’s one that has a hero with a chain saw sword fighting a weird androgynous kid with rocket propelled blade, not to mention the manga version of John Steed.
Sure, sign me up!
Del Rey announces its first graphic novel, which seems to fall squarely in that house’s sci fi/fantasy tradition.
At Precocious Curmudgeon, David Welsh sees this as a sign of increased attention to the YA market.
The Independent doesn’t care for the Initial D movie.
Manga-ka Mimei Sakamoto, creator of Nippon no Mimei, has a few choice words for so-called otakus: loser, pervert, pedophile.
Japan has the Korean wave, Korea has the Japanese wave.
Over in Hayward, California, kids are flocking to the library to take out manga, and this has attracted the attention of the local paper. I like this kid’s comment:
Marshall, who lives near Hayward’s Weekes Branch Library, said he was 10 when his interest in anime was sparked by the popular Pokemon cartoon phenomenon.
“I wanted to know who made this, where did it come from?” Marshall said. “I got more intensely interested in Japanese culture.”
That childhood interest grew into a full-blown obsession and inspired him to begin learning Japanese.
He also dresses up as one of the characters of the Cowboy Bebop anime series for Bay Area anime conventions.
It seems in a lot of these articles that Pokemon is the gateway drug, and Cowboy Bebop cosplay is definitely the hard stuff.