Archives for January 2008

Deb Aoki of About.com interviews mangaka Keiko Takemiya, the creator of To Terra and Andromeda Stories, about her work and what it was like being one of the first female shoujo manga creators. Also: Deb’s readers pick Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms as the best josei manga of 2007.

Japan Focus translates an interview with Barefoot Gen creator Keiji Nakazawa. (Via ComiPress.)

Noah Berlatsky e-mailed me to let me know he has posted an online symposium on the topic of The Gay Utopia that includes several manga-related items: Nishizaka Hiromi’s take on Little Red Riding Hood, translated by Matt Thorn; Bert Stabler’s discussion of femininity in shoujo manga (vis a vis the Shoujo Manga: Girl Power show); and slash fiction writer Kinukitty’s article on slash and yaoi.

The San Francisco Examiner profiles Viz founder Seiji Horibuchi. (Via ANN.)

Elizabeth Tai of The Star of Malaysia talks to SelfMadeHero publisher Emma Hayley about her company’s manga versions of Shakespeare’s plays. And if you’re reading this in Malaysia, there’s a contest, too.

Shuchaku-East blogger Chloe Ferguson has a new column at ComiPress: Panelosophy, which will “look at the philosophy behind manga here and abroad.” She kicks it off with a look back at cover design in 2007.

Carlo Santos has a new Right Turn Only!! column up at ANN, he’s adding something new: A Readers’ Choice section, where you can send in your own reviews.

The Wapshott Press is looking for submissions for the Journal of Women on Comics, a print compilation of writings from the web and print sources.

Reviews: Erica Friedman makes some interesting points in her review of vol. 1 of Strawberry Panic, which focuses on Seven Seas’ translation and adaptation. Sakura Eries checks out a new series from Viz, vol. 1 of Sand Chronicles, at Anime on DVD. At the Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie reviews King of the Lamp and vol. 3 of Uzumaki. I haven’t been by the Lincoln Heights Literary Society in a while, and I guess I’ve been missing the action. They have lots of reviews up: Catya W on Love Share and Ryes on Crushing Love, Cute Beast, and vol. 2 of Invisible Boy. Matthew Brady looks beyond mere cuteness to explain the appeal of vol. 2 of Yotsuba&! at Warren Peace Sings the Blues. Carlo Santos critiques vol. 1 of Aria at ANN. Jan reviews Basara, which is drawing to a close, at Dear Author. Emily checks out two Japanese-only titles, Love Triple and Koko ni Iruyo! at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. The folks at Anime Pulse have a podcast review of three classic manga, Lone Wolf and Cub, Path of the Assassin, and Samurai Executioner. Kitty Sensei reviews Reptilia at The Star of Malaysia. Matthew Brady reads the February issue of Shojo Beat at Warren Peace Sings the Blues.

The Otaku lists this week’s new manga. And Manly Manga and More has the February releases for Germany.

Ed Chavez has info on new titles from Del Rey and Broccoli.

David Welsh lists the manga nominated for awards at the Angouleme comics festival in France.

About.com readers vote Mushishi the best seinen manga of 2007.

One Potato Two explains Japanese toilets.

Erica Friedman reports on her book signing in NYC last week.

Reviews: Eric Turner reviews vol. 1 of Aqua at Manga Jouhou. At the MangaCast, Eva reviews Body Language, MangaManiac checks out Crushing Love, and Erin Finnegan reads vol. 12 of Phoenix, which actually predates the rest of the series. Connie reviews vol. 2 of Offered, vol. 2 of Andromeda Stories, vol. 8 of Cantarella, vol. 12 of Lupin III, vol. 2 of Kedamono Damono, vol. 21 of GetBackers, Garden Dreams, and vol. 3 of Warriors of Tao at Slightly Biased Manga. Ferdinand checks out King of the Lamp at Prospero’s Manga, and his alter ego Billy Aguiar reviews vol. 1 of Hell Girl at CBGXtra. Tangognat enjoys Monkey High. Julie is not impressed with vol. 3 of I Hate You More Than Anyone! at the Manga Maniac Cafe. The Manga Junkie enjoys Fumi Yoshinaga’s Ooku, which is unlikely to be licensed here because of its slow release schedule in Japan. At Comics-and-More, Dave Ferraro laughed out loud at vol. 1 of My Heavenly Hockey Club. Michelle reviews vols. 11 and 12 of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle at Soliloquy in Blue.

The Dark Horse folks came a Powell’s Bookstore in Seattle recently to meet the people, and Gia Manry was there. She alerts us to watch for their 20th anniversary in April, the first volume of the CLAMP “mangette” sometime in the spring, and a possible movie down the road.

Speaking of Dark Horse, Shaenon Garrity gives Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service the Overlooked Manga Festival treatment.

Jason Thompson has a new column, Manga Salad, at Comixology; this month he talks about Historie, a historical manga by Parasyte creator Hitoshi Iwaaki that is currently available in English only in scanlation.

Will 2008 be the year of the light novel? At MangaCast, Ed Chavez gazes into the crystal ball and sees plenty of prose in our future.

Christopher Butcher analyzes the media kit for PiQ, the replacement for Newtype USA magazine. It looks like PiQ will be a completely new magazine, with a different format, more diverse content (anime and manga, but also video games, U.S. comics, and genre movies), and different target audience. Also: Chris highlights upcoming Drawn & Quarterly titles, including two alternative manga: Good-Bye, by Yoshihiro Tatsumi, and Red Colored Elegy, by Seiichi Hayashi.

ComiPress translates an interview with one member of the manga team Fujiko Fujio about life in Tokiwa-so, an apartment building that was home to many manga-ka, including Osamu Tezuka.

At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson reads The Building Opposite and wonders “What makes it manga?”

Director’s cut: Jake Forbes posts the script of a deleted scene from vol. 2 of Return to Labyrinth. Also, did you know Jake’s sister is the adaptor for Suppli and Demon Flowers?

David Welsh looks at the books that didn’t make the cut for the Yalsa Great Graphic Novels for Teens list, and he’s surprised.

John Jakala’s daughter fails to see the awesomeness of vol. 2 of Gon.

All good things must come to an end: ANN reports that several manga series, including Emma, are ending in Japan.

Yaoi Press has a new printer, this one in China. This is a really interesting post for those of us who are interested in how books are made, as publisher Yamila Abraham discusses the limitations of different printers, screentones, moires, etc.

Meanwhile, at Iris Print, publisher Kellie Lynch recaps the first week since announcing their troubles; they’re not out of the woods yet, but there’s some sunlight filtering through the leaves.

The Nichi Bei Times looks at the popularity of manga in France.

The Sunny Side Up Anime Blog has a short list of new manga releases in Indonesia.

Reviews: Head over to Comics Village, where there’s a new batch of reviews fresh from the oven: Charles Tan on Sexy Voice and Robo, John Thomas on vol. 1 of MPD-Psycho, Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Sand Chronicles, and Lissa Patillo on Alcohol, Shirt & Kiss. At her own blog, Lissa Patillo reviews two more yaoi titles, From Up Above and Freefall Romance. Xavier Guilbert writes about Hideshi Hino’s The Red Snake at du9. Greg Hackmann checks out vol. 1 of Special A (a.k.a. S.A.) at Anime on DVD. Huamulan03 reviews vol. 1 of Monkey High at the Sunny Side Up Anime Blog. Rachel Bentham reads vol. 9 of Pastel and Holly Ellingwood checks out vol. 9 of Kage Tora at Active Anime. At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie gives her take on vol. 17 of Eyeshield 21, vol. 4 of Hoshin Engi, vol. 4 of I.N.V.U., vol. 3 of Ark Angels, vol. 5 of Elemental Gelade, and vol. 20 of Get Backers. Eric Turner reviews vol. 8 of High School Girls and Lissa Patillo (she’s everywhere!) checks out vol. 2 of Love is Like a Hurricane at Manga Jouhou. Kethylia gets ahead of the trend and pans a light novel, vol. 1 of Ai no Kusabi. Erica Friedman focuses on the yuri aspect in her review of vols. 3 and 4 of Loveless at Okazu. At the Manga Maniac Cafe, Julie reviews vol. 4 of Canon and vol. 1 of Le Chevalier d’Eon. Jessica Severs has a pithy review of The Manga Bible at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

BL Twist may have met an untimely end, but it looks like Yaoi Magazine is making a go of it. The first issue is available now, but you have to order it online. According to the press release, it’s selling like hotcakes, but since it’s the publisher talking, take those hotcakes with a grain of salt. YM is a mix of manga and prose stories, and the manga samples on their website look interesting—somewhat different from the other global manga I have seen (not all that much). And hey, one of them is Harry Potter/Draco slash! That’s an interesting choice. Full details after the cut.

Global fans stampede YaoiMagazine.com to order Vol. 1 Issue 1 of Yaoi Magazine!
York, Penn. – January 18, 2008 The first issue of Yaoi Magazine was made available for purchase on the YaoiMagazine.com website as well as on Amazon.com January 15, 2008. In the first day alone, sales exceeded S. A. Payne’s (publisher) original expectation. “In just a few days orders have surpassed our original expectations by over 300%,” said Payne. “We knew the market was out there, but I’m shocked to see how many orders are coming in, some for multiple copies! We’ve had orders placed from four countries outside of the U.S. as well.”

The Yaoi Magazine website has had a recent upgrade as well and is now showcasing samples of the variety of items you can find inside the first issue. Yaoi Magazine has certainly realized its goal of packing a magazine full of boy-on-boy goodness. The magazine boasts four pieces of original fiction, two manga, a variety of articles and reviews, art, and a beautiful, full colored centerfold that can be detached for display. There are also a number of ads from prominent members of the global yaoi movement, truly showing this is a magazine for the yaoi community.

“We’re already hard at work on the next issue of Yaoi Magazine, due for release April 2008,” Payne informs. “We’ve already lined up a number of features for the second installment, but we are accepting submissions for more.”

It was noted that no updates had been received regarding the progress on issue one of Yaoi Magazine, which may have caused concern. In light of the recent withdraw of other English magazines that were to launch in the last year, Payne simply stated “We wanted to create a quality product, and in doing so our focus was on taking our time, doing everything right, and building up the fan base for Yaoi Magazine. We may have been a little low-key, but our goal from the start has been to complete issue one before accepting any purchase orders for the magazine. Now that we’re comfortable, we’ll be shifting some of our focus to create a swirl in the yaoi community, making sure everyone knows we’re here. We’ll be happy to begin accepting pre-orders for issue two in the coming weeks. At this time all purchases will be on an issue by issue basis, until we’re certain we can guarantee the product the global yaoi fan deserves if they’re buying a full year’s subscription. Orders can be made on the site at www.yaoimagazine.com.

This mildly entertaining article about the popularity of Japanese culture in southern California includes a peep at the Tokyopop offices and an interview with Stu Levy, who suggests some good places for lunch and reveals that Tpop has “a few films in development,” whatever that means.

Pantheon will be publishing Bat-Manga, a translation of the Batman comics published in Japan in the 1960s. It’s rare manga—neither publisher had a copy—and Chip Kidd is designing it. Sweet!

The MangaCast team of experts chooses the best of this week’s new manga. At Same Hat, Ryan has a more idiosyncratic selection.

YALSA, the Young Adult Library Services Association, has published its Great Graphic Novels for Teens list, and there’s plenty of manga on it. Gia Manry breaks it out by pubisher and declares Go!Comi the winner. Tom Spurgeon, who seems to have broken the news, and David Welsh both agree that the list features plenty of the comics they like.

Charles Tan writes about five influential sports manga.

Tiamat’s Disciple says people like fansubs and scanlations because the translations are better, but a commenter disagrees.

ComiPress has updates on Japanese manga, including news of a new one-shot by Yuu Watase (Fushigi Yugi) and a new series by Tohru Fujisawa (Great Teacher Onizuka).

ICv2 has more on that Cloverfield manga.

Manly Manga and More presents the German manga charts for December.

Reviews: Ed Sizemore has a very thorough review of Book 1 of Manga Sutra at Comics Worth Reading. Julie checks out Fumi Yoshinaga’s Garden Dreams at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Tangognat reads Fall in Love Like a Comic and High School Debut. Emily discusses a Japanese title, Koi Oto, at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. At PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog, Katherine Dacey reviews vols. 1 and 2 of Two Will Come and Ken Haley looks at vol. 1 of Appleseed. Eric Turner reviews vol. 1 of Shugo Chara! at Manga Jouhou. Ferdinand reads the novel Missing: Spirited Away at Prospero’s Manga. The Anime on DVD folks post some Small Bodied Manga Reviews.