AX wrapup, ask Moto Hagio, underrated manga

July 5, 2010 by

Anime Expo was this past weekend, and a number of my favorite bloggers were there. Animanga Nation’s Faith McAdams covers the the Tokyopop panel and notes that Tokyopop made a big splash, bringing their tour bus right up to the convention center, while Eduardo Zacarias takes the Viz manga panel. ANN has thorough coverage of all the panels, both anime and manga oriented, as well as new title announcements from Tokyopop and Viz. Kelkagandy is pleased about the Viz news, and Lissa Pattillo has cover images of the new Viz and Digital titles.

Meanwhile, Matt Thorn is looking ahead to SDCC, where he will be interviewing Moto Hagio, and he invites readers to send in their questions.

Kate Dacey posts her list of The Best Manga You’re Not Reading from last week’s ALA panel of the same name.

David Welsh takes a look at the manga in the latest Previews.

Lori Henderson rounds up the week’s manga news at Manga Xanadu. Erica Friedman has the latest Yuri Network News, plus a late-breaking addendum, at Okazu.

Kai-Ming Cha wishes a happy 13th birthday to Fanfare/Ponent Mon.

Reviews: Tangognat takes a quick look at some recent Viz releases at her eponymous blog.

Greg McElhatton on vol. 1 of Afterschool Charisma (Read About Comics)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Afterschool Charisma (ANN)
Julie Opipari on vol. 1 of Cactus’s Secret (Mania.com)
Susan S. on vol. 8 of Comic (Manga Jouhou)
Julie Opipari on vol. 7 of Dance in the Vampire Bund (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Greg Burgas on Eden: It’s an Endless World (Comics Should Be Good)
Lissa Pattillo on The Last Airbender (Kuriousity)
Nicola on vol. 1 of Library Wars (Back to Books)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 5 of Maid-Sama (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Melinda Beasi on vol. 1 of Magical JxR (Manga Bookshelf)
Ed Sizemore on The Manga Biography of Kenji Miyazawa (Comics Worth Reading)
Kristin on vols. 1 and 2 of Maoh: Juvenile Remix (Comic Attack)
Todd Douglass on vol. 2 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Anime Maki)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1 and 2 of Portrait of M & N (Soliloquy in Blue)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 13 of Reborn (I Reads You)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1-3 of Time and Again (Soliloquy in Blue)
Julie Opipari on vol. 3 of Time and Again (Manga Maniac Cafe)

Review: Dystopia

July 3, 2010 by

dystopiaDystopia
by Judith Park
Rated OT, for Older Teens
Yen Press, $10.99

This book is a disappointment, with one-dimensional characters, an artificial setup, and weak art. The conversations seem weirdly stilted—do you hear teenagers say “That’s very commendable” to one another? Ever?

The story seems like it was thought up in a day, without much reflection; it lacks emotional resonance. Dionne’s older brother, Lyon, has a heart defect, so her parents favor him and pick on her. Lyon tries to compensate by being extra-nice to Dionne. Dionne’s best friend, Shikku, has a crush on Lyon, and we get to watch them go through the paces of their very ordinary romance for a while—there’s a bit of uncertainty and pulling back, and lots of dreamy introspection, but it’s not really very interesting.

And then, just when you’re ready to drop off to sleep, the story takes a bizarre and very manga-ish turn: Lyon is hit by a car and dies. While Dionne is still mourning him, her parents spring a new surprise on her: Because they feared that Lyon would die young because of his heart defect, they had him cloned, and now the clone, Gabriel, is coming to live with them. Where has Gabriel been for the past 16 years? That’s a plot hole you could drive a truck through, but everyone is too busy chewing the scenery to ask. Dionne hates Gabriel because her parents are using him as a replacement for Lyon, and because she feels they never loved her; Dionne’s parents are frustrated because in her anger, she shuts them out; Shikku sort of hopes things will work out with Gabriel; Gabriel resents his new place in their lives and wants to be his own person. More panels of introspection, and then the book winds up with an emotional denouement that doesn’t really solve the problems proposed by the plot but does leave everyone a little wiser.

The story revolves around Dionne and her emotions, and if it has a saving grace, it’s that the teenage girls who are likely to read it will identify with Dionne, as she is completely misunderstood by everyone. It’s hard for an older reader not to conclude that she’s being a brat; her resentment seems to be out of proportion to the way her parents treat her.

Park’s art seems amateurish—it’s a good example of why a lot of people don’t like global manga. She puts emphasis on style at the expense of structure. The characters don’t quite hang together, and the anatomy and foreshortening are way off. She makes a lot of newbie mistakes, focusing on faces but getting the shape of the head wrong. On the other hand, some pages hang together really well. This is the first of her books that I have seen, but I gather from reviews that her other work is stronger.

I am not the audience for this book, that’s for sure. I think it has serious structural defects, but I can see a teenage reader enjoying it nonetheless, simply because the main character is someone they can relate to.

This review is based on a review copy provided by the publisher.

New DMP titles, underrated manga, and eclectic readers

July 2, 2010 by

Digital Manga announced ten new titles at Anime Expo, and they have also commissioned Wedding Peach creator Nao Yazawa to draw an original story for their eManga website. Gia Manry and Daniella Orihuela-Gruber were both at the panel and have more detail, and The Haisho is liveblogging the show. (Via Active Anime.) Deb Aoki has today’s Anime Expo manga highlights, including a Tokyopop panel and a how-to-draw session courtesy of Eigomanga.

I posted my notes from the Best Manga You’re Not Reading panel at Robot 6, as well as Martha Cornog’s notes and the picks of the rest of the panel.

Sean Gaffney gets a jump on everyone else and looks at next week’s new comics, and Kristin takes a look at the manga in the July Previews at Comic Attack.

So, being out of town and all, I totally missed David Welsh’s Adopt A Manga contest, in which he asked his readers to suggest a manga for Vertical to license. The results make for interesting reading, though, as well as some wishful thinking. Get busy, Ed! David also reruns his column on Suppli and discusses his tastes in comics reading, which he describes as “eclectic”—who knew that could be such a controversial term?

Translator Tomo Kimura takes a look at some serious Black Butler cosplay outfits in Shinjuku (part 1, part 2)

Blogging about blogging: Congratulations to Matt Blind on his second anniversary at his current home, Rocket Bomber. And farewell to Sadie Mattox, who is folding up her tent at Extremely Graphic as she moves on to a new and more time-intensive job.

News from Japan: Manga-ka Sakamoto Mimei is being sued by her doctor’s wife for having an affair with the doctor, who was treating her for collagen disease. Mimei says it’s all a big misunderstanding.

Reviews: Julie Opipari talks about one of her favorite series, Skip Beat, for her latest Your Manga Minute column at Blog@Newsarama. At Otaku Ohana, Jason Yadao starts his Color of Earth trilogy review with some compare-and-contrast. Other reviews of note:

Kristin on vol. 2 of Arata the Legend (Comic Attack)
Sesho on vol. 2 of Biomega (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Greg McElhatton on Black Blizzard (Read About Comics)
Matt Blind on The Color of Earth (Rocket Bomber)
Todd Douglass on Darker than Black (Anime Maki)
Erica Friedman on vol. 6 of Hayate x Blade (Okazu)
Erica Friedman on vol. 1 of Hirari (Okazu)
Erica Friedman on Mizu-iro Cinema (Okazu)
Greg Hackmann on vol. 3 of Natsume’s Book of Friends (Mania.com)
Rob McMonigal on vol. 2 of Nightschool (Panel Patter)
Erica Friedman on Orange Yellow (Okazu)
Miriam Gibson on vol. 1 of Pandora Hearts (Manga Life)
Erica Friedman on Shoujo Holic (Okazu)
Sesho on vol. 10 of Sorcerer Hunters (Sesho’s Anime and Manga Reviews)
Lori Henderson on vol. 2 of Tena on S-String (Manga Xanadu)
Martin on vols. 1 and 2 of What a Wonderful World (Mono no Aware)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of ZE (The Comic Book Bin)

Still catching up…

July 1, 2010 by

… but I’m getting there. Looking forward to that long weekend.

At Good Comics for Kids, Kate Dacey has some advice for librarians (and others) on how to keep a manga collection current.

Jason Thompson’s latest House of 1000 Manga column takes a look at doujinshi based on American superhero and Star Trek comics.

At The Manga Critic, Kate Dacey also peers into the dusty recesses of manga history with a look at Pineapple Army.

Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith discuss a handful of manhwa in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf. Melinda also winds up this month’s Manga Moveable Feast, which featured the Color of Earth trilogy.

Kate Dacey and David Welsh look at this week’s new releases.

Sad news for Manga Recon fans: Parent site Pop Culture Shock is shutting down, so Manga Recon is closing up shop as well. In typical Manga Recon fashion, they marked the occasion with a roundtable.

Con news: If you’re going to Anime Expo, check out Deb Aoki’s list of today’s manga highlights.

Job board: Viz Media is looking for interns. (Hat tip: Kate Dacey.)

Reviews: The final Manga Minis column at Manga Recon focuses on one of their favorite genres, BL.

Julie Opipari on vol. 3 of 13th Boy (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Connie on AX: A Collection of Alternative Manga (Manga Recon)
Kate Dacey on vol. 1 of Chi’s Sweet Home (The Manga Critic)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Chi’s Sweet Home (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Susan S. on vol. 5 of Comic (Manga Jouhou)
Charles Webb on vol. 5 of Detroit Metal City (Manga Life)
Susan S. on Eat or Be Eaten (Manga Jouhou)
Kiki Van De Camp on vol. 10 of Fairy Tail (Animanga Nation)
Susan S. on vol. 8 of Goong (Manga Jouhou)
Zack Davisson on .hack//4koma (Manga Life)
Julie Opipari on vol. 1 of I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow (Mania.com)
Ken Haley on vol. 1 of Neko Ramen (Manga Recon)
Melinda Beasi on vols. 1-3 of One Piece (Manga Bookshelf)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (The Comic Book Bin)
Susan S. on vol. 1 of Pure Heart (Manga Jouhou)
D.M. Evans on vol. 9 of Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning (Manga Jouhou)
Mark Viola on vol. 1 of Twin Spica (Manga Jouhou)
Erin Finnegan on vol. 1 of Toriko (Manga Recon)

Big news roundup

June 30, 2010 by

Hey, everyone! Sorry about my untimely absence—I have been off in Washington, DC, at the American Library Association annual meeting, where I participated in panels on The Best Manga You’re Not Reading and Good Comics for Kids, interviewed Raina Telgemeier live on stage, met Art Spiegelman and got his autograph (and a personalized drawing!), and had all kinds of awesome fun observed the important issues that librarians face today. (For those of you who couldn’t be there, Tangognat liveblogged our Good Comics for Kids panel. Thanks, Anna!)

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much manga there. Random House had a few miscellaneous volumes tucked away in a bookcase full of graphic novels, but no one wanted to talk about them, and none of the traditional manga publishers were there. I did see Red: A Haida Manga at the PGW booth, and it looked awesome. And the high point was getting to flip through a galley of Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream, although, sadly, I had to give it back. If you’re curious, I wrote about my experiences at ALA for PWCW and Robot 6.

There was plenty going on while I was away, though! The most interesting bit of news, I think is that the staff of the recently defunct publishing company Aurora is setting up their own publishing company, Manga Factory. Aurora was the American arm of the Japanese publisher Ohzora, but now they have gone independent. They plan to launch at Anime Expo, and they are selling off the old Aurora books, as well as Deux (yaoi) and LuvLuv (teen love) titles for a limited time. And they are going digital, making Teen Apocalypse:Guilstein available for iPad and Kindle. (Note: You don’t have to have a Kindle to read Kindle books—there are versions of the software available for Mac, PC, iPod/iPad/iPhone, and I think they just launched for Android as well). ANN and Deb Aoki were way ahead of me on this one, so go check out their coverage.

The other big news of last week is not exactly news—Tokyopop is going digital, but then Tokyopop has been a pioneer in digital comics. What they have done now is partnered with the distribution service Zinio to offer their global manga for download to Mac or PC.

At PWCW, Kai-Ming Cha reports on the status of the scanlation wars: Some scans are down, but still accessible to fans, and scans pulled down in one place are popping up in others.

The art-manga roundtable at The Hooded Utilitarian wound up this weekend with posts by Ed Chavez, Shaenon Garrity, and Deb Aoki, who asks, “Can Manga Muster Up Its Maus/Watchmen Mega-Crossover Hit?” It’s all great reading, and if you haven’t had time for it so far, well, there’s a three-day weekend coming up…

Also at TCJ, the blogger Stephanie Folse (Telophase) contributes a post on the visual language of manga and comics.

Jason Thompson looks at underground comics in his latest House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Sean Gaffney checks out this week’s new manga. Sean has some license requests as well, and he is looking at the longest series he can find.

Erin Finnegan posts some old but good shonen fighting advice.

Johanna Draper Carlson and Ed Sizemore discuss manga with new reader Caroline in the latest Manga Out Loud podcast.

Anime Expo is this weekend, and if you’re going, or thinking of going, check out Deb Aoki’s schedule of manga events.

News from Japan: Ouran High School Host Club is entering its final story arc, according to ANN. House of Five Leaves is ending, Kenichi Sonoda is launching a new series, and a new bishoujo magazine, titled Comic Sumomo, is starting up. Cookie magazine will host a two-episode Kodocha/Honey Bitter crossover. And Battle Angel Alita: Last Order is going on hiatus and may not return after the creator had a disagreement with his editors over wording describing a character’s mental illness.

Reviews: The Manhwa Moveable Feast winds up with a podcast about The Color of Earth trilogy by Johanna Draper Carlson and Ed Sizemore and a review by Sean Gaffney.

Clive Owen on vol. 14 of Air Gear (Animanga Nation)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender (I Reads You)
Carlo Santos on vol. 9 of Black God (ANN)
David Brothers on Children of the Sea (ComicsAlliance)
Michelle Smith on vol. 1 of Chi’s Sweet Home (Soliloquy in Blue)
Theron Martin on vol. 16 of Claymore (ANN)
Lissa Pattillo on Domu (Kuriousity)
Diana Dang on Dramacon: Ultimate Edition (Stop, Drop, and Read)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 14 of Excel Saga (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Jaime Samms on Fevered Kiss (Kuriousity)
James Fleenor on vol. 1 of .hack//link (Anime Sentinel)
Connie on vol. 10 of Hellsing (Slightly Biased Manga)
Faith McAdams on vol. 13 of High School Debut (Animanga Nation)
Connie on vols. 19 and 20 of Hikaru no Go (Slightly Biased Manga)
Dave Ferraro on I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow (Comics-and-More)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Kingyo Used Books (Comics Worth Reading)
Leroy Douresseaux on The Last Airbender (The Comic Book Bin)
Kelkagandy on vols. 1 and 2 of The Lizard Prince (kelkagandy’s ramblings)
Connie on vol. 3 of Mad Love Chase (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 4 of Maid-Sama (Slightly Biased Manga)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (The Comic Book Bin)
Connie on vol. 14 of Ouran High School Host Club (Slightly Biased Manga)
Chris Zimmerman on Romeo x Juliet Omnibus (The Comic Book Bin)
Michelle Smith on vols. 1-3 of Saiyuki (Soliloquy in Blue)
Shannon Fay on vol. 1 of Saturn Apartments (Kuriousity)
Connie on vol. 8 of Slam Dunk (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 2 of Song of the Hanging Sky (Slightly Biased Manga)

Guest Review: Hissing, vols. 1-6

June 26, 2010 by

hissing1Hissing, vols. 1-6
By Kang EunYoung
Rated T, for Teens
Yen Press $10.99

Review by Melinda Beasi.

High school freshman Da-Eh is an aspiring manhwa artist who carefully ignores constant cries for attention from her doting younger brother. Fellow freshman Sun-Nam, the youngest of three boys, is bound and determined to become a “bad guy.” Finally, senior Ta-Jun, the school hottie, finds himself drawn to the one girl who can’t stand him, Da-Eh. If this is where the story stopped, there would be nothing at all remarkable about it, and over the course of the first volume or so, that’s seemingly where things stand. Fortunately, both the story and Kang’s method of telling it soon become more complex.

As the three teens’ lives become further entwined, the truth of each of their circumstances begins to be revealed. It is soon apparent that Da-Eh’s coldness toward her little brother is due to her inability to forgive him for being the product of her dead mother’s affair. Similarly, Sun-Nam’s desire to be “bad” is symptomatic of his oppressive guilt over having wished his unfaithful father dead on the very day he died. Meanwhile, Ta-Jun’s infatuation with Da-Eh is little more than an escape from the much more complicated love he’s carried around in his heart for years.

The series is technically a high school romance, and as such contains plenty of the usual clichés. The “mean girl” love rival, for instance, makes a number of tiresome appearances, as do the ever-present love confessions, and even a jealous best friend. But Kang renders all of this insignificant by the middle of the fifth volume by pulling off a fantastic act of authorial self-insertion that alters the tone of the entire series.

One of the series’ most notable aspects early on is its resistance to establishing a single main character. By using a wandering POV that shifts not only between the three teens, but also to each of their family members and quite a number of their schoolmates, Kang prevents any one character from becoming the focus of the series. Then in volume four, as Da-Eh struggles to come up with something “different” for an upcoming manhwa contest, she hits upon the idea of creating a story in which every character is treated as the main character. She’s pretty excited about the idea, until Ta-Jun pipes in to complain, “But if you do that, there’s no center.”

After this, the story quickly becomes much more chaotic, finally exploding in the middle of the fifth volume, where Da-Eh discovers the true center of her world (and the world of the series as a whole) as it is thrust upon her in the wake of a single event. The result is quite moving, and not something that would have been expected based on the series’ first couple of volumes.

This is not the series’ only strength. It’s primary romance between two loners, Da-Eh and Sun-Nam, is just stilted and awkward enough to help its flowery moments read as charming rather than clichéd. And speaking of flowers, Kang’s running gag featuring a magically-appearing background of Japanese shojo-style flowers that randomly surrounds Ta-Jun serves as a clever wink to a romance-weary audience. Da-Eh, too, is refreshing as a romantic heroine whose personal interest in romance is mainly as something to be studied as a subject for her work.

Kang’s artwork is nothing special, and her male characters frequently look confusingly alike. Fortunately, she has a greater gift for drawing distinctive females. She shows her greatest strengths in the series’ later volumes, where her use of paneling genuinely shines during the story’s most dramatic moments.

Though likely unintentional, Kang’s real message for readers here is, “Good things come to those who wait.” While the series undeniably gets off to a slow start, the payoff for those willing to commit to all six volumes is significant. Patient fans of romantic manhwa would do well to check out Hissing.

Read more from Melinda Beasi at her blog, Manga Bookshelf.

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