Archives for October 2008

The Frankfurt Book Fair, that is. Below the cut is a list of the properties they will be highlighting there, many of which will be familiar to readers of this blog. OK, Kilari is new to me. Read on for more about the properties that Viz will be offering for international licensing.

VIZ MEDIA BRINGS POPULAR MANGA PROPERTIES
TO 2008 FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR

Unique Titles To Be Highlighted In Hall 3.0 Booth H801
Including- DEATH NOTE, NARUTO, MÄR, KEKKAISHI, KILARI And BLEACH

San Francisco, CA, October 15, 2008– VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, will bring some of the hottest manga titles gaining international attention to the 2008 Frankfurt Book Fair, taking place in Frankfurt, Germany October 15-19. VIZ Media will be located in Hall 3.0, Booth H801.

The Frankfurt Book Fair is the world’s largest trade show for the publishing industry and is the preeminent venue for publishers, agents, booksellers, librarians, translators, authors and suppliers dealing with publishing rights, licenses and international property rights. VIZ Media will showcase a variety of manga titles that are available for international license which have received critical acclaim and have captivated millions of fans in North America and beyond. Last year’s Book Fair saw more than 283,000 attendees over the five-day period of the show.

Some of the titles VIZ Media will be highlighting at this years show will include:

DEATH NOTE:
The series depicts the adventures of Light Yagami, an ace student with great prospects but who is bored out of his mind. All of that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals mysteriously begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to investigate, and he is soon hot on the trail of Light, who must now reevaluate his one noble goal.

NARUTO:
NARUTO has become one of VIZ Media’s most successful manga properties in terms of sales and has emerged as one of the best selling and most popular manga series throughout North America, regularly placing in both Graphic Novel and Overall General Fiction categories on noted literary sales rosters including BookScan and the USA Today Top 150. It was also the first manga to ever win a noted Quill Award. Created by Masashi Kishimoto, the series depicts the adventures of a young boy named Uzumaki Naruto who trains to become a ninja. But the boy is cursed with the spirit of a nine-tailed fox demon and is forced to live a bullied life discriminated against by his fellow villagers. But Naruto is resilient and undaunted in his quest to become a master ninja and his determination often inspires those around him. Through amazing adventures, the young ninja learns the importance of friendship, teamwork, loyalty, hard work, creativity, ingenuity, and right vs. wrong.

BLEACH:
Ichigo Kurosaki is an ordinary 15-year-old boy who happens to be able to see ghosts. His fate takes an extraordinary turn when he meets Rukia Kuchiki, a Soul Reaper who shows up at Ichigo’s house on the trail of a Hollow, a malevolent lost soul. Drawn to Ichigo’s high level of spiritual energy, the Hollow attacks Ichigo and his family, and Rukia steps in to help but is injured and unable to fight. As a last resort, Rukia decides to transfer part of her Soul Reaper powers to Ichigo. Ichigo, now a full-fledged Soul Reaper, and Rukia, minus her powers, join together to face the challenges that lie ahead. Find out why Tite Kubo’s BLEACH has become an international manga smash-hit!

MÄR:
MÄR is the latest manga title to hit North American shores from Nobuyuki Anzai, who also created the popular FLAME OF RECCA series. MÄR tells the story of Ginta Toramizu, an impish 14-year-old kid in junior high school who doesn’t have a lot going for him. He is near-sighted, doesn’t do well in school, fails at sports, and to top it off, he’s short! But Ginta is a dreamer and he has had the same dream 102 times – a vivid fantasy world where he is a hero. One day a supernatural figure appears at his school and transports him to the fabulous fantasy world of his dreams. In this strange universe filled with magic and wonder, Ginta is now strong, tough, agile, and he can finally see without his glasses! The boy begins a quest in search for the magical items known as ÄRMs, one of which may have the power to send him home. Joining him on this epic journey are his companion Jack and a valuable living, talking, mustachioed iron-ball weapon known as “Babbo,” which everybody wants but, it seems, only Ginta can possess!

KEKKAISHI:
By night, junior high student Yoshimori Sumimura is a “kekkaishi” – a demon-hunter who specializes in creating magical barriers around his prey. By day, Yoshimori’s has some other demons to battle including an addiction to sweets and a seriously crotchety grandfather! Yoshimori’s pretty 16-year-old neighbor and childhood friend, Tokine Yukimura, is also a kekkaishi, but their families are feuding over who is the true practitioner of the art. Yoshimori couldn’t care less about catching demons…until he realizes that his apathetic attitude is taking a toll on his friendship with Tokine. Just as he decides to take matters into his own hands, a couple of amphibious demons and the pesky ghost of a pastry-chef show up to complicate matters!

KILARI:
Kilari is the story of a cute, 14-year-old girl named Kilari Tsukishima whose main obsession is food. That is, until one day when she falls in love with Seiji, the singer of a pop idol duo, Ships. From then on, to get close to the idol she likes, Kilari announces that she too will become a singer. Swept away in the exciting world of music entertainment and film, Kilari’s adventures take her through the challenge and excitement of becoming a teen idol to win Seiji’s heart!

Japanator posts this week’s new manga and anime releases. Hazel looks at October manga releases as well at Anime Infatuation.

Diamond listed some Digital comics as cancelled this week, but don’t panic: they are just postponed. ANN has the list.

Lori Henderson checks out the manga previewed in the October issues of Shojo Beat and Shonen Jump at Manga Xanadu.

ComiPress translates an article on manga that have broken the 100 million sold mark.

Every Friday, Tom Spurgeon asks his readers at The Comics Reporter some question, and then he publishes the answers. This week the question was “Name five manga series you are in the midst of reading,” and the answers are an interesting survey of what folks like, especially as The Comics Reporter is more of a general comics site than a manga site. Over at his own blog, Nick Mullins supplements that with a list of his favorite scanlations.

Erica Friedman keeps us up to date on this week’s yuri news at Okazu.

John Jakala takes the plunge and endorses a presidential candidate.

Alex Woolfson shares character designs for his yaoi comic at Yaoi 911.

Good news for Svetlana Chmakova fans: There’s now an LJ community devoted to News of Svet!

Job board: Tokyopop is looking for a graphic design intern.

Reviews: Deb Aoki takes a look at vol. 1 of Black Jack at About. com, and over at Japanator, Dick McVengeance weighs in as well. Clive Owen reviews vol. 3 of Rosario + Vampire at Animanga Nation. Charles Tan reads vol. 1 of Witchcraft: Dragon Hunt at Comics Village. James Fleenor checks out vol. 1 of Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom at Anime Sentinel. Tangognat reviews vol. 1 of Sugar Princess: Skating to Win. Emily looks at GiriKoi at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. Ferdinand enjoys vol. 1 of Papillon at Prospero’s Manga. Erica Friedman reviews vol. 3 of Sasamekikoto at Okazu. Lissa Pattillo reviews vol. 2 of Your and My Secret, vol. 3 of Can’t Win With You! vol. 2 of The Moon and Sandals, and vol. 5 of One Thousand and One Nights at Kuriousity. Julie reads vol. 10 of Chibi Vampire at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Tiamat’s Disciple enjoys vol. 1 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya despite not caring much for the anime, and he also weighs in on vol. 1 of B.Ichi and vol. 5 of Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning. Michelle Smith reviews vol. 14 of Skip Beat!, vol. 3 of Sand Chronicles, and vols. 1 and 2 of High School Debut at Soliloquy in Blue. Dave Ferraro enjoys vol. 1 of Case Closed! at Comics-and-More.

I recently got an e-mail from Mara Blair, a grad student at the University of Colorado in Boulder who is doing a survey of yaoi readers for her thesis. Here’s what she has to say:

My name is Mara Blair and I am a graduate student in Japanese Literature at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I am currently conducting a research study for my Master’s thesis. This research study is about reading habits and personal reactions to characters in manga, books and fanfiction by readers of yaoi/BL/boy’s love/shounen ai manga.

The results of this study will be published in my Master’s Thesis for the Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations. In addition, it is possible that a paper based on this research will be published in Girls Doing Boys Doing Boys: Japanese Boys’ Love Anime and Manga in a Globalized World, edited by Antonia Levi, Mark McHarry, & Dru Pagliassotti, to be published by McFarland & Co. in 2009.

Should you wish to participate in this survey it is located at http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=puoorQo7sbuuy0cZYtOcnGg&hl=en

So if you’re a yaoi reader, go help her out by telling her what you think.

Posting late today after a busy weekend. Fortunately, there’s lots of news going on!

Above the fold: ICv2 talks to Tokyopop director of marketing Marco Pavia (part one, part two) about the manga market in general, Tokyopop’s situation in particular, and their deals with other publishers. Below the fold, but still interesting: Tokyopop has plans in the works for a CSI manga.

The MangaCast crew pick the most enticing titles from the past week’s new releases. And if you’re thinking ahead, David Welsh has some recommendations for you from this month’s Previews.

This seems more relevant in view of the recent news of a manga collector in Iowa being prosecuted for owning allegedly obscene manga: the Japanese branch of UNICEF is pushing for stricter regulation of pornography, including “virtual” (i.e., non-photographic) child pornography.

The French website Fantasy.fr has an interview up with manga creator Go Nagai, and they have helpfully translated it into English. (Via ANN.)

Recession relief: Dark Horse is posting a chapter a week of Banya, The Explosive Delivery Man for free.

At Kuriousity, Lissa Pattillo sifts through the Amazon listings and finds some Tokyopop volumes that had been feared cancelled—and some new licenses that haven’t been announced yet. This makes Lori Henderson of Manga Xanadu very happy, as the listings include vol. 11 of Dragon Voice. But will we get that last volume of Kindaichi Case Files?

No need to check your brain at the door to read the manga recommended by Deux’s Jessica Tung in a guest post at Fujoshi Librarian.

Reviewer Michelle Smith introduces herself, discusses how she discovered manga, and lists her favorites at Manga Recon.

Coming events: If you’re going to be in London on Oct. 23, check out Paul Gravett’s multimedia presentation Discovering Manga: Secrets of Japanese Comics. More at the link.

News from Japan: Sankaku Complex (NSFW) reports on a citizen’s complaint that a library is “sexually harassing” users by shelving yaoi manga alongside other volumes. (Via The Yaoi Review.) The shoujo manga B.O.D.Y. is coming to an end, ANN reports. And Honey and Clover artist Chika Umino will draw an alternate cover for Berserk, marking that series’ return to Young Animal magazine after an absence of four months.

Reviews: Ed Sizemore has a thoughtful review of vols. 2 and 3 of Alive: The Final Evolution at Comics Worth Reading. John Thomas enjoys vol. 1 of Afro Samurai, despite not having seen the anime, at Mecha Mecha Media. Ken Haley also reviews vol. 1 of Afro Samurai, and Sam Kusek checks out vol. 1 of Suzunari, at Manga Recon. At ANN, Casey Brienza really, really doesn’t like vol. 1 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, while Carlo Santos enjoys vol. 5 of Strawberry Marshmallow but is less excited about vol. 7 of Kitchen Princess. Connie reviews vol. 3 of Two Flowers for the Dragon, vol. 26 of GetBackers, vol. 22 of Astro Boy, Make Love and Peace, vol. 5 of Monster, vol. 8 of After School Nightmare, and Short-Tempered Melancholic at Slightly Biased manga. Lissa Pattillo checks out vol. 1 of Love Recipe at Manga Jouhou. Jason Van Horn looks at vol. 7 of Love Hina at The Hachiko. The Yaoi Review passes judgment on Heavenly Body. Kris reviews vol. 2 of Mister Mistress at Manic About Manga. Marina Neira checks out vol. 13 of Tail of the Moon and vol. 10 of Baby and Me at Marina’s Sequential Art Journal. Jones reads some newish comics, including vol. 1 of Black Jack and vols. 1 and 2 of Cat-Eyed Boy, at Let’s You and Him Fight. Julie reviews Kabuki Vol 1 Flower at MangaCast and vol. 13 of Tail of the Moon and vol. 9 of After School Nightmare at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Lori Henderson reviews vol. 6 of Togari at Comics Village. Oyceter has some brief thoughts on vols. 1-3 of To Terra at Sakura of DOOM. Sesho has podcast reviews up of vol. 1 of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, vol. 1 of Blank Slate, vol. 1 of Dokkoida, and vol. 1 of Afro Samurai.

I’ll have the regular news post up later today, but this deserves a post of its own: Christopher Handley, an Iowa man who collects manga, is being prosecuted under the PROTECT Act simply for owning manga that the government claims are obscene. ICv2 has a good summary of the case, plus a follow-up, and here’s the official press release from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which is consulting for the defense. Ero-manga publisher Simon Jones gives his take at the Icarus blog (NSFW).

The manga in question allegedly include drawings (not photographs) of minors having sex. However, the judge in this case has ruled that Handley cannot be prosecuted under the section of the act dealing specifically with images of minors. Instead, the prosecution must prove that the manga is obscene under what lawyers call the Miller test. Here’s ICv2’s summary:

(1) would the average person find that the material appeals to the prurient interest; (2) does the material depict, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law; (3) does the work, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. The jury will have to find that the material fits all three of the criteria in order to convict.

There are several chilling things about this case. For one thing, Handley faces up to 20 years in prison simply for owning this manga, not for distributing it.

And here’s the story of how he came to be prosecuted: A postal inspector opened a package that was being shipped to Handley from Japan, decided that some of the manga in the package was objectionable, and got a search warrant. He then packed everything back up and allowed it to be delivered to the local post office. Handley, who was not informed that the package had been opened, picked it up and went home—followed by “various law enforcement officers (according to ICv2), who seized his collection of 1,200 volumes of manga as well as DVDs, videotapes, etc. The charges concern just a few volumes of manga.

Ali T. Kokmen, marketing manager for Del Rey manga, sent out a special edition of the Del Rey newsletter on Friday urging manga readers to read up on the case and consider making a donation to the CLBDF.

I’ll leave you with a quote from CBLDF legal counsel Burton Joseph:

In the lengthy time in which I have represented CBLDF and its clients, I have never encountered a situation where criminal prosecution was brought against a private consumer for possession of material for personal use in his own home. This prosecution has profound implications in limiting the First Amendment for art and artists, and comics in particular, that are on the cutting edge of creativity. It misunderstands the nature of avant-garde art in its historical perspective and is a perversion of anti-obscenity laws.

Update: Tom Spurgeon makes the excellent point that it’s all about the law, not the personalities involved. (H/t: David Welsh.)

Isaac Hale of Manga Recon attended Yaoi-Con, and he was disturbed by some of what he saw. On the one hand, as a gay male he was happy to be in a gay-friendly environment. But:

Many of the cons main events were they “Bishonen Bingo”, the “Continental Bishie Brunch”, the “Bishonen Auction” and the “Bishonen Spanking Inferno” were horribly objectifying and dehumanizing. The vast majority of the con attendees were female, and sitting in the audience as a lone male as they paid money to take men back to their rooms in the Auction or get up in the “Inferno” to spank them felt unnerving to say the least. At worst, the events felt like a tame but still incredibly disturbing slave auction (the “Bishonen Auction”) to at best a cathartic reversal of power dynamics for the almost entirely female audience. Regardless, the whole experience left me feeling terribly dehumanized and objectified. Every single one of the above Main Events emphasized the power differential between the paying benefactors and the nominally gay boys they were objectifying. … Though I understand that it’s crucial to combat our society’s normal sexist power dynamics that objectify women so awfully, this is not, I repeat NOT, an acceptable way to do so.

He has plenty of interesting reflections on the panels and the books on offer, too, so go, read.

Del Rey has signed with Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan for a second Odd Thomas graphic novel.

Translators Alethea and Athena Nibley talk about translation notes and looking things up at Manga Life.

Naoki Urasawa is launching a new manga, Billy Bat, in Morning magazine. Yes, there does seem to be some sort of Batman tie-in. Japanator has more.

Reviews: Marina Neira reviews vol. 1 of Heaven!! and vol. 10 of InuBaka at Marina’s Sequential Art Journal. John Thomas checks out vol. 2 of Gantz at Comics Village. At PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog, Phil Guie finds In Odd We Trust to be overly bland and inoffensive. Connie reads vol. 1 of One Pound Gospel at Slightly Biased Manga. Michelle Smith checks out vol. 3 of Dororo at Soliloquy in Blue. At Manga Life, Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane reads vol. 1 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Park Cooper reviews vol. 1 of Mamoru: The Shadow Protector and vol. 19 of One Piece. Tiamat’s Disciple takes a look at vol. 1 of Love Quest and vol. 2 of Croquis Pop. Lissa Pattillo reads vol. 3 of Kamen Tantei at Kuriousity. Julie enjoys vol. 1 of Parasyte at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Erica Friedman reviews vol. 1 of Day of the Revolution at Okazu. Tangognat picked up vol. 1 of Kyo Kara MAOH! because she liked the anime, but she thinks readers will enjoy it whether or not they have seen it. Deb Aoki stirs the pot with a look at vol. 1 of Mixed Vegetables at About.com.