MangaBlog

I recently got an e-mail from Mara Blair, a grad student at the University of Colorado in Boulder who is doing a survey of yaoi readers for her thesis. Here’s what she has to say:

My name is Mara Blair and I am a graduate student in Japanese Literature at the University of Colorado at Boulder. I am currently conducting a research study for my Master’s thesis. This research study is about reading habits and personal reactions to characters in manga, books and fanfiction by readers of yaoi/BL/boy’s love/shounen ai manga.

The results of this study will be published in my Master’s Thesis for the Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations. In addition, it is possible that a paper based on this research will be published in Girls Doing Boys Doing Boys: Japanese Boys’ Love Anime and Manga in a Globalized World, edited by Antonia Levi, Mark McHarry, & Dru Pagliassotti, to be published by McFarland & Co. in 2009.

Should you wish to participate in this survey it is located at http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=puoorQo7sbuuy0cZYtOcnGg&hl=en

So if you’re a yaoi reader, go help her out by telling her what you think.

Posting late today after a busy weekend. Fortunately, there’s lots of news going on!

Above the fold: ICv2 talks to Tokyopop director of marketing Marco Pavia (part one, part two) about the manga market in general, Tokyopop’s situation in particular, and their deals with other publishers. Below the fold, but still interesting: Tokyopop has plans in the works for a CSI manga.

The MangaCast crew pick the most enticing titles from the past week’s new releases. And if you’re thinking ahead, David Welsh has some recommendations for you from this month’s Previews.

This seems more relevant in view of the recent news of a manga collector in Iowa being prosecuted for owning allegedly obscene manga: the Japanese branch of UNICEF is pushing for stricter regulation of pornography, including “virtual” (i.e., non-photographic) child pornography.

The French website Fantasy.fr has an interview up with manga creator Go Nagai, and they have helpfully translated it into English. (Via ANN.)

Recession relief: Dark Horse is posting a chapter a week of Banya, The Explosive Delivery Man for free.

At Kuriousity, Lissa Pattillo sifts through the Amazon listings and finds some Tokyopop volumes that had been feared cancelled—and some new licenses that haven’t been announced yet. This makes Lori Henderson of Manga Xanadu very happy, as the listings include vol. 11 of Dragon Voice. But will we get that last volume of Kindaichi Case Files?

No need to check your brain at the door to read the manga recommended by Deux’s Jessica Tung in a guest post at Fujoshi Librarian.

Reviewer Michelle Smith introduces herself, discusses how she discovered manga, and lists her favorites at Manga Recon.

Coming events: If you’re going to be in London on Oct. 23, check out Paul Gravett’s multimedia presentation Discovering Manga: Secrets of Japanese Comics. More at the link.

News from Japan: Sankaku Complex (NSFW) reports on a citizen’s complaint that a library is “sexually harassing” users by shelving yaoi manga alongside other volumes. (Via The Yaoi Review.) The shoujo manga B.O.D.Y. is coming to an end, ANN reports. And Honey and Clover artist Chika Umino will draw an alternate cover for Berserk, marking that series’ return to Young Animal magazine after an absence of four months.

Reviews: Ed Sizemore has a thoughtful review of vols. 2 and 3 of Alive: The Final Evolution at Comics Worth Reading. John Thomas enjoys vol. 1 of Afro Samurai, despite not having seen the anime, at Mecha Mecha Media. Ken Haley also reviews vol. 1 of Afro Samurai, and Sam Kusek checks out vol. 1 of Suzunari, at Manga Recon. At ANN, Casey Brienza really, really doesn’t like vol. 1 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, while Carlo Santos enjoys vol. 5 of Strawberry Marshmallow but is less excited about vol. 7 of Kitchen Princess. Connie reviews vol. 3 of Two Flowers for the Dragon, vol. 26 of GetBackers, vol. 22 of Astro Boy, Make Love and Peace, vol. 5 of Monster, vol. 8 of After School Nightmare, and Short-Tempered Melancholic at Slightly Biased manga. Lissa Pattillo checks out vol. 1 of Love Recipe at Manga Jouhou. Jason Van Horn looks at vol. 7 of Love Hina at The Hachiko. The Yaoi Review passes judgment on Heavenly Body. Kris reviews vol. 2 of Mister Mistress at Manic About Manga. Marina Neira checks out vol. 13 of Tail of the Moon and vol. 10 of Baby and Me at Marina’s Sequential Art Journal. Jones reads some newish comics, including vol. 1 of Black Jack and vols. 1 and 2 of Cat-Eyed Boy, at Let’s You and Him Fight. Julie reviews Kabuki Vol 1 Flower at MangaCast and vol. 13 of Tail of the Moon and vol. 9 of After School Nightmare at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Lori Henderson reviews vol. 6 of Togari at Comics Village. Oyceter has some brief thoughts on vols. 1-3 of To Terra at Sakura of DOOM. Sesho has podcast reviews up of vol. 1 of Castlevania: Curse of Darkness, vol. 1 of Blank Slate, vol. 1 of Dokkoida, and vol. 1 of Afro Samurai.

I’ll have the regular news post up later today, but this deserves a post of its own: Christopher Handley, an Iowa man who collects manga, is being prosecuted under the PROTECT Act simply for owning manga that the government claims are obscene. ICv2 has a good summary of the case, plus a follow-up, and here’s the official press release from the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which is consulting for the defense. Ero-manga publisher Simon Jones gives his take at the Icarus blog (NSFW).

The manga in question allegedly include drawings (not photographs) of minors having sex. However, the judge in this case has ruled that Handley cannot be prosecuted under the section of the act dealing specifically with images of minors. Instead, the prosecution must prove that the manga is obscene under what lawyers call the Miller test. Here’s ICv2’s summary:

(1) would the average person find that the material appeals to the prurient interest; (2) does the material depict, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law; (3) does the work, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. The jury will have to find that the material fits all three of the criteria in order to convict.

There are several chilling things about this case. For one thing, Handley faces up to 20 years in prison simply for owning this manga, not for distributing it.

And here’s the story of how he came to be prosecuted: A postal inspector opened a package that was being shipped to Handley from Japan, decided that some of the manga in the package was objectionable, and got a search warrant. He then packed everything back up and allowed it to be delivered to the local post office. Handley, who was not informed that the package had been opened, picked it up and went home—followed by “various law enforcement officers (according to ICv2), who seized his collection of 1,200 volumes of manga as well as DVDs, videotapes, etc. The charges concern just a few volumes of manga.

Ali T. Kokmen, marketing manager for Del Rey manga, sent out a special edition of the Del Rey newsletter on Friday urging manga readers to read up on the case and consider making a donation to the CLBDF.

I’ll leave you with a quote from CBLDF legal counsel Burton Joseph:

In the lengthy time in which I have represented CBLDF and its clients, I have never encountered a situation where criminal prosecution was brought against a private consumer for possession of material for personal use in his own home. This prosecution has profound implications in limiting the First Amendment for art and artists, and comics in particular, that are on the cutting edge of creativity. It misunderstands the nature of avant-garde art in its historical perspective and is a perversion of anti-obscenity laws.

Update: Tom Spurgeon makes the excellent point that it’s all about the law, not the personalities involved. (H/t: David Welsh.)

Isaac Hale of Manga Recon attended Yaoi-Con, and he was disturbed by some of what he saw. On the one hand, as a gay male he was happy to be in a gay-friendly environment. But:

Many of the cons main events were they “Bishonen Bingo”, the “Continental Bishie Brunch”, the “Bishonen Auction” and the “Bishonen Spanking Inferno” were horribly objectifying and dehumanizing. The vast majority of the con attendees were female, and sitting in the audience as a lone male as they paid money to take men back to their rooms in the Auction or get up in the “Inferno” to spank them felt unnerving to say the least. At worst, the events felt like a tame but still incredibly disturbing slave auction (the “Bishonen Auction”) to at best a cathartic reversal of power dynamics for the almost entirely female audience. Regardless, the whole experience left me feeling terribly dehumanized and objectified. Every single one of the above Main Events emphasized the power differential between the paying benefactors and the nominally gay boys they were objectifying. … Though I understand that it’s crucial to combat our society’s normal sexist power dynamics that objectify women so awfully, this is not, I repeat NOT, an acceptable way to do so.

He has plenty of interesting reflections on the panels and the books on offer, too, so go, read.

Del Rey has signed with Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan for a second Odd Thomas graphic novel.

Translators Alethea and Athena Nibley talk about translation notes and looking things up at Manga Life.

Naoki Urasawa is launching a new manga, Billy Bat, in Morning magazine. Yes, there does seem to be some sort of Batman tie-in. Japanator has more.

Reviews: Marina Neira reviews vol. 1 of Heaven!! and vol. 10 of InuBaka at Marina’s Sequential Art Journal. John Thomas checks out vol. 2 of Gantz at Comics Village. At PopCultureShock’s Manga Recon blog, Phil Guie finds In Odd We Trust to be overly bland and inoffensive. Connie reads vol. 1 of One Pound Gospel at Slightly Biased Manga. Michelle Smith checks out vol. 3 of Dororo at Soliloquy in Blue. At Manga Life, Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane reads vol. 1 of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Park Cooper reviews vol. 1 of Mamoru: The Shadow Protector and vol. 19 of One Piece. Tiamat’s Disciple takes a look at vol. 1 of Love Quest and vol. 2 of Croquis Pop. Lissa Pattillo reads vol. 3 of Kamen Tantei at Kuriousity. Julie enjoys vol. 1 of Parasyte at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Erica Friedman reviews vol. 1 of Day of the Revolution at Okazu. Tangognat picked up vol. 1 of Kyo Kara MAOH! because she liked the anime, but she thinks readers will enjoy it whether or not they have seen it. Deb Aoki stirs the pot with a look at vol. 1 of Mixed Vegetables at About.com.

The Go! Comi folks are pretty excited about their upcoming series 07-GHOST, so much so that they have set up a dedicated website with forums, a character guide, wallpapers, and all sorts of goodies for the benefit of the “early adopters.” I wonder if that’s a reference to the folks who have been reading it in scanlation all along? There’s also a preview of the first volume, so we can all be early adopters. The book is due out in December. Read on for more.

OFFICIAL “07-GHOST” WEBSITE NOW ONLINE

7 October 2008 LOS ANGELES

Manga publisher Go! Comi today announced the launch of 07ghost.com, the official website of the highly anticipated manga, 07-GHOST. The website features news about the series, forums, downloadable wallpapers and icons, and much more.

“Company websites dedicated to a single manga series aren’t very common,” says Go! Media Creative Director Audry Taylor, “but 07-GHOST is an uncommon series. It’s had fans in this country since it first started running in Japan, and we wanted to give the ‘early adopters’ a place where they could hang out and get more involved with the series.”

07-GHOST tells the story of Teito Klein, a former slave who is now pursued by the forces of the Barsburg Empire because of his exceptional ability to use a form of magic called Zaiphon, as he finds himself at the center of the conflict between Verloren, the God of Death, and the mysterious “beings of light” sent by Heaven to oppose him: the Seven Ghosts. The series is a major hit in Japan, where it appears alongside Loveless and Sayuki Reload in Ichijinsha’s Zero-Sum Magazine.

Volume 1 of 07-GHOST will be released in early December, with subsequent volumes released every three months. The official website can be found at www.07ghost.com .

ABOUT GO! COMI
Go! Comi is known for its exciting manga series and top-notch production values. Among its publications are the Bookscan best-sellers “The Devil Within” and “Her Majesty’s Dog,” and the Eisner Award-nominated “After School Nightmare,” which was named one of the Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens of 2008 by the Young Adult Library Services Association. Two other Go! Series, “Train + Train” and “Cantarella,” have also been cited by the YALSA Great Graphic Novels list.

Over at Publishers Weekly Comics Week, Kai-Ming Cha chats with Vampire Hunter D creator Yoshitaka Amano. And vol. 31 of Naruto tops the October best-sellers list.

David Welsh picks the best of this week’s new releases at Precocious Curmudgeon.

Ed Chavez takes a look at a manga about the founder of the Yoshinoya Beef Bowl chain at the MangaCast.

Tiamat’s Disciple thinks that publishers aren’t necessarily opposed to digital distribution of manga but they haven’t found the right format yet. Discussion continues in comments.

Reviews: Casey Brienza enjoys vols. 1 and 2 of Don’t Blame Me at ANN. Sabrina reviews vol. 1 of Shaman King at Comics Village. Connie has a new design at Slightly Biased Manga, and she’s focusing more on horror at the moment, with reviews of vol. 1 of Category: Freaks and vol. 4 of Parasyte. Emily takes a look at Mama no Koibito at Emily’s Random Shoujo Manga Page. Tiamat’s Disciple checks out vol. 1 of Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. Lissa Pattillo reads vol. 6 of Chocolat at Kuriousity. Julie is very taken by solanin at the Manga Maniac Cafe. Matthew Brady reads vol. 3 of Dororo at Warren Peace Sings the Blues. New at Active Anime: Holly Ellingwood on vol. 1 of Papillon, Holly Ellingwood on vol. 23 of Red River, and Margaret Veira on vol. 18 of Shaman King.