Monday early roundup

Queenie Chan discusses the challenges of writing a three-volume series. As a reader, I like three volumes, but I can see where it can force a writer to stretch a story unnaturally to fit the format. She comments that readers expect closure from each volume of a global manga, while they have different expectations of a Japanese manga because they know it is published one chapter at a time. I would add that the fact that Japanese manga come out every three or four months, as opposed to one volume a year, makes cliffhangers and loose threads more bearable. Anyway, check this out as it’s a useful counterpoint to Christopher Butcher’s review of Fool’s Gold and Johanna’s review of Mail Order Ninja (and subsequent commentary.)

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin devotes its Drawn & Quartered column to a primer on Dr. Slump.

Mangacast links to previews of Challengers, Love Mode, and Path of the Assassin.

You may have seen the news release about the anime awards to be given out at NYCC. ANN has more. They seem to have a single “manga” category, and I wonder whether it will skew toward titles that have been made into anime.

At Manganews, Floating_Sakura translates an article on sexuality in manga. While his language is a bit stilted, I think this guy makes sense:

Ryoukichi Yama (Director of Shogakukan) says that “We can permit kissing and sex scenes to a certain degree, as they are a natural flow of love. However, we should avoid things that center amusement on sexual techniques and rape.”

He adds, “in today’s society, children understand that rape and perverts exist. Getting to know them from fictional works like manga will help them understand reality. There has yet to be any cases of crime committed because of manga. If parents feel that there is a problem, they should talk to their children about these manga.”

Found via Irresponsible Pictures: Locate your section of the The Japan Hierarchy Chart, classifying all known categories of Japanese geekdom.

A manga shop grows in Guam.

Reviews: Nice meaty ones today. At ANN, Pata reviews volume 2 of Old Boy. Otaku Champloo finds nothing remarkable about Tokyo Boys and Girls but describes Koukou Debut as “a fresh tale on what it’s like to fall in love the first time.” At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna gives volume 2 of Dramacon a rave review.

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Comments

  1. Here’s a translation of the comment that I posted under “doinkies” on the Japanese blog the MangaNews article originated from.

    “If this parent is worried over this, I think that it would be good for her to talk with her daughter. When I was 11, my mom would always read the synopses of the manga I wanted to buy in the bookstore, and flip through them and decide whether or not they were okay. I think it would be good for this mother to also do this.”

  2. The bottom of that Japanese hierarchy should say weeaboo.

  3. Excuse me, it should say weeaboo at the very top in big bold letters.