Sunday news roundup

The Japanese government is harnessing the power of cute, using cartoon characters to sell a wary public on the notion of revitalizing the military. This is an interesting article as of course there is a long history of cartoons being used as propaganda, both by and against the Japanese. But it’s probably carrying things a bit too far to suggest that Japanese trucks weren’t attacked in Iraq because they bore an image of Captain Tsubasa/Flash Kicker/Captain Majed.

Much more believable is this story about a military aviator who draws manga in his spare time. It’s actually a fantasy webcomic called Chisuji, and it looks like it’s worth a click.

At the Dark Horse forum, some readers are expressing concern that Dark Horse will go all ADV on them and become the Bermuda Triangle of manga series (“And after the third volume, Museum of Terror was never heard from again…”) So far the posters are just chatting among themselves as no one from the company has emerged to reassure them.

Asahi.com checks out the fujoshi, and there’s good news for otaku as well as marketers, because the fujoshi like boyfriends who share their interests.

At The Star, Pauline Wong has a cute take on Fruits Basket.

The Tezuka show is coming to the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco in June.

At MangaCast, Ed has the PR on vol. 2 of Galaxy Angel II. The Broccoli Blog has the 411 on vol. 6 of Kamui, which went on sale this week. And at the Vertical Blog, Anne Ishii is pimping the Aranzi Aronzo books, which are… hard to explain. I’ll be reviewing two of them this week, and for now, suffice it to say that The Cute Book has been a huge hit in my house, and we are now overflowing with little felt bunnies.

They are not one of the usual suspects, but Last Gasp published Barefoot Gen, and now they are bringing us another classic manga, Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms, about the aftermath of the bomb, told from the vantage point of 1955. (Via Icarus.)

NYCC watch: Ed has the Tokyopop schedule, which includes panels and signings at their booth. Dark Horse has posted their signing schedule.

At One Potato Two, translator Satsuma has her mother help her cut up yaoi manga, with predictable results. Also, apparently typecasting is a problem for translators as well as actors (be sure to read the comments). And Satsuma is way ahead of the rest of us with Kitchen Princess.