Rainy Monday linkblogging

We took the girls to see Linda Linda Linda yesterday at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge, which is a great venue as it’s small and cozy. The movie, about four high school girls who form a band and struggle against obstacles, etc., etc., was pretty good, although it dragged in places and I didn’t really get some parts, despite the subtitles. It seems to be showing in limited screenings throughout the country; looks like it’s going to be in Atlanta next month.

I had been pretty much ignoring the news that Viz would make episodes of the Death Note anime available for download, but in today’s Journalista (second item), Dirk Deppey speculates that this might signal something big for manga readers. Remember that Viz is owned by three Japanese publishers who have an immense library of manga.

With the infrastructure in place, what’s to stop Viz from cutting deals with fansubbers and scanlators alike, offering a small cut of the profits in exchange for making their products exclusive to Viz’ online store?

Sort of iTunes for comics. If the price is low enough, it could expand the offerings available and provide compensation for artists whose work might not otherwise be licensed and for translators who are currently working for love rather than money. The only losers would be the readers who are currently getting scanlations for free. Check Dirk’s analysis for more.

ChunHyang72 has been asking readers to recommend Tokyopop titles to try, and she posts their suggestions. She also rounds up the best of TokyoSpace from the past week.

A blogger called Shadefell enjoys the authentic touches in Fruits Basket. (Via When Fangirls Attack!)

There’s a bit of Tezuka trivia at the Broccoli blog.

MangaCast has lots of news updates, with more previews of E’S, the week’s doujinshi ratings, and illustrated press releases from SelfMadeHero (Shakespeare manga), Tokyopop, Broccoli (Galaxy Angel II and The World of Disgaea) and DMP.

The shoujo manga exhibit “Girl Power” is coming to Washington, DC.

At Yaoi 911, Alex Woolfson reviews Same Cell Organism. Active Anime’s Christopher Seaman reviews vol. 1 of Rozen Maiden and Holly Ellingwood reads vol. 3 of Godchild. At Anime on DVD, Patricia Beard reviews vol. 3 of Passion. Julie gives vol. 2 of Yakitate!! Japan high marks at Mangamaniaccafe. Kethylia finds Kiriko Nananan’s Blue boring and unoriginal and then knocks off another point for being overpriced as well.