A quick update on what was going on while I was off earning money.
At Love Manga, David Taylor is understandably thrilled that Del Rey is expanding to the UK and peppers them with questions via e-mail, thus unearthing this bit of news:
The list is currently just Kodansha titles but we do plan to publish titles from other manga publishers and indeed develop our own home-grown publishing – I suspect that this will be a little way off, but we are actively looking. We also plan to take Kodansha titles that Del Rey might not – we will of course try and publish the best manga we can for UK fans.
There is also an interesting discussion of pricing.
Dissecting Monster: If you haven’t picked up Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, go do so immediately! Not only is it a great read, but Polite Dissent is going to pick it apart, chapter by chapter, next week.
The AoD blog has some nice articles up, one about yaoi manga and another about Del Rey’s upcoming title Basilisk.
Apparently, they have their parents fooled: Arab News has a pretty interesting article on Japanese educational reforms that includes this insight into what Japanese teenagers do with their spare time:
They combine home work with surfing on the Internet and going through Manga comics with different themes, such as education, sports, the importance of work ethics, etc. “Hard work is part of our mindset, its importance is underlined both in schools and at home.”
Ah yes, indoctrination through manga. I can just see those kids earnestly assuring their parents that their favorite Shonen Jump title is educational and character-building.
Speaking of which, the Viz newsletter arrived this week, and here are the top five best-selling manga: Naruto, Naruto, Naruto, Naruto, Naruto. And the top five anime? Inuyasha, Inuyasha, Inuyasha, Inuyasha, Inuyasha. Time to move along, people.
I was so busy that I didn’t have time to enter David Welsh’s Gray Horses giveaway contest. But everyone is a winner, because entrants had to say what graphic novel they read over and over again, and their responses make for a great blog post (with minimum effort—well done, David!). For those following along at home, Metrokitty got the books.
“(with minimum effort—well done, David!)”
You know me too well!