There are some serious rumblings of discontent out there about the American Anime Awards. At MangaCast, Ed dubs their list of nominated manga “stranger than a PWCW top ten list” and in the comments, Yaoi Suki’s Jen Parker notes that any book that was available in 2006 was eligible: “So technically you’re voting for the best (whatever) of all time, which means they are seriously missing some stuff ;p” Apparently the initial nomination lists were riddled with errors as well. ANN’s Zac Bertschy asks some tough questions of ICv2’s Milton Greipp, starting with why the whole thing seems to be an ADV production, and it’s fun to watch him squirm. And David Welsh has more to say.
Manwha sales are fairly anemic in South Korea but taking off in other countries, according to this article translated by ComiPress.
In case you needed convincing, Comicsnob’s Matt Blind explains why manga are better. And it’s part 4 of a four-part series! (Five-part, actually, as there’s a part 0.)
Alert TokyoSpace blogger Andre spots the June titles list at Tokyopop.
CMX is reprinting Sword of the Dark Ones with updated cover art. (Via Anime on DVD.)
In Japan, manga goes multimedia once more with sound files of the manga being read by “professional manga readers.”
If your New Year’s resolution is to broaden your horizons a bit, Katherine Dacey-Tsuei has some new suggestions for comics for manga lovers at PopCultureShock. This month she focuses on titles from Archaia Studios Press.
Happy Blogiversary to one of my favorite sites, When Fangirls Attack.
Evidence of manga creep: Remember when manga was obscure, and people didn’t know from chibi? I ran across three amusing cultural crossovers in the past day or so. First of all, Powerpuff Girls doujinshi, with a Dexter crossover. (Found via the Comicsnob article linked above.) Second, I was browsing this page of Monty Python plushies (the Black Knight, with removable arms, a parrot that is definitely alive, just sleeping, etc.) and realized that a bunch of them were chibis. Wrap your brain around the concept of “Spanish Inquisitor chibi” or “King Arthur chibi” and you’ll see how far we’ve come. And finally, this article in a computer magazine suggests that Microsoft’s user interface comic would be much better if it were written as a manga, with chibis. Which just goes to show that E-week is hipper than Wired. Who knew?
Kethylia finds solid shoujo entertainment in vol. 1 and vol. 2 of Tail of the Moon. MangaManiacCafe reviews vol. 1 of Eden. Active Anime’s Holly Ellingwood enjoys vol. 2 of Suzuka. Comicsnob takes a look at vol. 1 of Return to Labyrinth.
“In case you needed convincing, Comicsnob’s Matt Blind explains why manga are better. And it’s part 4 of a four-part series! (Five-part, actually, as there’s a part 0.)”
Actually, Matt’s column is ongoing – at least until he stops. We’ll call it part 4 of an n-part series. Thanks for the recognition!
Actually, 5by8 is my weekly column, not just a four-and-a-half part series. I pick something new (re: manga) to talk about and post it on Mondays over at comicsnob. We’ll see how long it takes me to run out of topics.
Wow. Sorry we both jumped on it like that.
You’d think we were both possesive of the new site & really concerned about getting the ‘correct’ word out. or something. :)
Bob also writes a column, “I ♥ Comics”, which posts on Fridays.
Since there’s already a proper Powerpuff Girls anime, a doushinji is entirely appropriate.
There’s also a sizeable following of Monty Python in Japan as well. Although not exactly the otaku set, they do cross over sometimes. Most “normal” Japanese have heard of Monty Python and they are probably still chic among those who deemed themselves cultured by being a fans of all this European.
There’s a good reason the Monty Python dolls look chibi: they were made by a Japanese woman who designs UFO dolls professionally.
http://www.charaplush.com/
Bob, Matt: No problem. Thanks for the clarification—I’m new to your blog but I’m enjoying it a lot.
Tivome: That makes a lot of sense when I think about it, although it’s hard to imagine some of the humor would translate well. The Ministry of Funny Walks, on the other hand, knows no boundaries.
Sarah: Very interesting! I followed the link and checked out some of her stuff, and I was impressed with both the workmanship and the prices!