MangaBlog

Remember in Megatokyo, when Piro turns to shoujo manga to solve all his problems? Well, life imitates art, it seems: The Sweatdrop Studios folks have teamed up with UK publisher Infinite Ideas to produce a set of self-help manga, with titles like Beauty Secrets for Babes, Sort Out Your Money, and Find True Love, that combine sweatdrops and speedlines with expert advice. Check after the cut for more.

Infinite Ideas and Sweatdrop Studios pioneer self-help manga!

Oxford and Cambridge, UK, 5 September 2007

Oxford indie Infinite Ideas will launch self-help books in manga format in a groundbreaking new venture with the UK’s leading manga collective Sweatdrop Studios. Set to hit the shelves in April 2008, manga versions of Be creative and Find true love will marry manga images with tried and tested expert ideas in a stunning mixture of art and advice that takes self-improvement to a new level and is guaranteed to win a new generation of readers. Two further titles will follow in June 2008.

Each title is packed with information in 52 small but perfectly formed chapters, each with their own unique graphic identity, with manga drawings enhancing and illustrating the ideas featured. This exciting collaboration is the first of its kind in the self-help genre and is set to make waves as brilliant ideas meet inspired manga in a creative explosion of the very best kind.

Sweatdrop member and award-winning artist Sonia Leong ( Manga Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet and Tokyopop Rising Stars of Manga UK winner) is illustrating the first two titles. “Having a manga comic page alongside written advice not only makes it easier to understand and relate to, but much more fun and enjoyable,” she says. “It puts problems and situations into context and drives you to find new solutions. There will be a cast of recurring characters throughout the books which we hope to entertain you with!”

Infinite Ideas’ Publishing Director Katherine Hieronymus commented: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Sweatdrop Studios on this exciting project. Sweatdrop were the UK’s first independent original English-language manga publisher and distributor, with a roster of some of the most talented artists in the UK. We’re confident that our life-enhancing content will reach a new generation of readers through this combination of expert advice and brilliant, fast-paced graphics.”

BookScan data suggest that UK sales of manga and graphic novels have more than doubled in the last three years, and now stand at well over £6 million. Given that US sales are around $250 million there is clearly enormous potential for growth in the UK.

About Sweatdrop Studios

Based in Cambridge, UK, Sweatdrop Studios is a group of over twenty UK-based manga artists. In four years Sweatdrop has produced over one-hundred titles, including several anthologies. Sweatdrop’s primary focus is on original titles, with completely original stories, characters and ideas. Sweatdrop aims to develop a market which recognises the appeal of comics that rely upon the storyline and characters over and above the appeal of the subject matter. Visit www.sweatdrop.com for further information.

About Infinite Ideas

Infinite Ideas is the publishers of the 52 Brilliant Ideas series. Founded in 2004 Infinite Ideas has over 120 titles in print and brand partnerships in 20 languages. Visit www.infideas.com for further information.

About Sonia Leong

Sonia Leong is a professional comic artist and illustrator specialising in Anime/Manga. A core member of Sweatdrop Studios, the leading UK manga collaborative and independent publisher, her work includes the graphic novel Manga Shakespeare: Romeo & Juliet, and the Sweatdrop projects Draw Manga, Once Upon a Time and Cyborg Butterfly. Sonia is a multiple award-winning artist, featured in Tokyopop’s first UK Rising Stars of Manga competition (2006) and in NEO Magazine’s Manga competition (2005). Visit www.fyredrake.net for further information.

About the Manga Life series

Series name: Manga Life
Format: paperback, 210 x 148mm, 112pp,
Price : £6.00
Publication date: April and June 2008

Title: Be creative by R. Bevan, J. Middleton & T. Wright
ISBN: 978-1-905940-77-6
Illustrator: Sonia Leong

Title: Find true love by S. Dosani, L. Helmanis and P. Cross
ISBN: 978-1-905940-78-3
Illustrator: Sonia Leong

Title: Beauty secrets for babes by L.Helmanis
ISBN: 978-1-905940-79-0
Illustrator: Sonia Leong

Title: Sort out your money by J. Middleton
ISBN: 978-1-905940-80-6
Illustrator: Sonia Leong

ICv2 has posted the August sales numbers for graphic novels and manga, and it’s not a bad month for our side. The sales numbers come from Diamond, which distributes mainly to comics stores, so they only show a piece of the market. I’ll post the full manga list after the cut.

The number in parentheses before the title is the book’s standing on the overall top 100 graphic novels list. The number at the end is total sales, as reported by Diamond—remember, that doesn’t include most bookstores.

1. (3) Fruits Basket, vol. 17 (6,665)
2. (12) Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 14 (3,694)
3. (23) Negima, vol. 15 (2,932)
4. (26) Naruto, vol. 15 (2,832)
5. (28) Loveless, vol. 6 (2,771)
6. (31) Tsubasa, vol. 14 (2,647)
7. (40) Neon Genesis Evangelion Angelic Days, vol. 6 (2,417)
8. (41) Battle Vixens, vol. 12 (2,394)
9. (59) Chibi Vampire, vol. 5 (1,801)
10. (63) Peace Maker, vol. 1 (1,701)
11. (66) Battle Club, vol. 5 (1,662)
12. (72) Street Fighter Alpha, vol. 2 (1,516)
13. (78) Akira Club (1,455)
14. (79) Street Fighter Sakura Ganbaru, vol. 1 (1,447)
15. (82) Gunslinger Girl, vol. 5 (1,424)
16. (92) Initial D, vol. 27 (1,293)
17. (93) Tenjho Tenge, vol. 15 (1,285)
18. (94) Old Boy, vol. 7 (1,278)
19. (100) Style School, vol. 1 (1,231)

It will be interesting to see this chart next month, when it will presumably reflect the three new volumes of Naruto. As David Welsh observes, this is the second month on the charts for that volume, which was relesed in July.

Newsarama talks to Tokyopop editor Tim Beedle about the Jim Henson properties he’s working on, Return to Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. The interview includes lots of art to feast your eyes on.

At his new blog, Authentic Mango, Isaac (a.k.a. qshoe1989) summarizes the high points of the Tezuka panel at the Asian Art Museum. Apparently the editors were in a relaxed mood and let a few things slip: Dark Horse is planning more Tezuka titles, Vertical will be publishing more Tezuka but no Moto Hagio, Viz is planning more Tezuka, the last volume of Off*Beat is delayed until August 2008 (boo!), and an astonishing bit that I still don’t quite believe: Udon Entertainment is picking up Robot? UPDATE: Oh, OK Isaac, I believe you!

Otakuisme? The Japan Times takes the measure of the French obsession with anime and manga by looking at this year’s Japan Expo in Paris. (Via Blog@Newsarama.)

Afraid you’re missing something? At MangaCast, Ed Chavez posts a podcast of the SDCC panel Viz Media: You Oughtta Know… About These Manga. Also, Ed shows off some military-themed doujinshi and Readilbert takes a look at the Indonesian shoujo manga magazine HanaLala.

David Welsh devotes this week’s Flipped column to his love of Tekkonkinkreet.

Kawaii demystified: At Mecha Mecha Media, John T links to an informative chart that explains the dimensions of cuteness.

At TheOtaku, Gia reports that Tezuka Productions intends to release Osamu Tezuka’s manga in digital form—and in color. (Via ComiPress.)

Previews and PR: At MangaCast, Ed links to previews of High School Girls, Path of the Assassin, and the ero title Heat and posts publisher’s info on vol. 7 of Dark Edge. ANN points to a preview of Heroes Are Extinct.

Reviews: At Anime on DVD, Patricia Beard gives high marks to vol. 1 of Flower of Life. At Manga Life, Dan Polley reviews vol. 1 of Samurai Commando, and vol. 10 of Nodame Cantabile, while Michael Aronson checks out Blue Spring, vol. 25 of Iron Wok Jan, and vol. 6 of Astro Boy. Nick gives vol. 1 of My Dead Girlfriend a B+ at Hobotaku. At Comics-and-More, Dave Ferraro devotes Manga Monday to a string of brief reviews. At Active Anime, Holly Ellingwood reviews Star and vol. 19 of Red River, Scott Campbell takes a look at vol. 1 of Heaven, and Christopher Seaman critiques Cosplay: Catgirls and Other Critters. Mangamaniac Julie takes an early look at Baku at the MangaCast and posts reviews of vol. 4 of Nodame Cantabile, Nabi the Prototype, vol. 2 of La Corda d’Oro, vol. 1 of Rure, vol. 1 of Muhyo & Roji’s Bureau of Supernatural Investigation, and vol. 19 of Boys Over Flowers.

Katherine Dacey-Tsuei goes over this week’s new manga and throws in a couple of short reviews in her Weekly Recon.

This week’s new release list is also up at The Otaku.

Comicsnob publishes last week’s online sales figures and the list of the top 25 series and top 100 volumes online and tries to figure out the bricks-and-mortar numbers as well.

Manga-ka Kazuo Koike, of Lone Wolf and Cub fame, has set up a new company to educate manga creators and manage their copyrights.

Bad news for Robot fans: Digital probably won’t be publishing any future volumes of the series, which an editor says is “pretty much stuck in ‘licensing hell.'”

MangaNEXT announces three new guests: Jason Thompson, Hiroki Otsuka, and Mari Marimoto.

Anime blogger Nomad has an interesting set of reviews of manga in Japanese, including information on how easy they are to read.

FPS Magazine reviews Frederick Schodt’s The Astro Boy Essays.

Reviews: Leroy Douresseaux pulls vol. 8 of Buso Renkin out of the Comic Book Bin. Tiamat’s Disciple reviews Parallel and vols. 1-2 of Ghost Hunt. Ken Haley checks out vols. 1-2 of Street Fighter Alpha at the Manga Recon blog.

The Sweatdrop folks have done quite well in Tokyopop’s Rising Stars of Manga competition over the years, and now they’re sharing their secrets in a podcast. Details after the cut.

Press Release: Sweatdrop Studios releases ‘Rising Stars of Manga’ podcast.

This month’s Sweatdrop podcast is a special event, as each of the four presenters were previously winners of Tokyopop’s “Rising Stars of Manga” competition. They talk about how they prepared and planned their comics, and what they went through whilst producing them. They also offer tips and advise for anyone that is entering Rising Stars of Manga or any other short manga competitions. Sweatdrop Studios have been releasing podcasts for a while now, with three previous episodes covering UK events, San Diego Comic Con, and various Sweatdrop Studios members, as well as interviewing UK manga industry personalities such as Helen McCarthy.

Sonia Leong’s “Fatal Connection” won 2nd place in “Rising Stars of Manga: UK & Ireland 1”.
Emma Vieceli’s “Between the Lines” was a runner up in “Rising Stars of Manga: UK & Ireland 1”.
Selina Dean’s “Poison” won 2nd place in “Rising Stars of Manga: UK & Ireland 2”.
Morag Lewis’ “The Homecoming” was a runner up in “Rising Stars of Manga: UK & Ireland 2”.
Joanna Zhou’s “Happily Ever After” was a runner up in “Rising Stars of Manga: UK & Ireland 2”.
Hannah Saunders’ “Beyond” won 3rd place in “Rising Stars of Manga: UK & Ireland 2”.

Right click and save, for Direct MP3 Download:
http://www.sweatdrop.com/podcast/sweatdrop-podcast-04.mp3
(14.6MB, 64 minutes long)

Click for RSS Subscription:
http://www.sweatdrop.com/podcast/rss.xml

Click for iTunes Subscription:
itpc://www.sweatdrop.com/podcast/itunes.xml

Click here for to listen to the Podcasts in your browser
http://odeo.com/channel/449203/view

More information at the Sweatdrop website:
http://www.sweatdrop.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8890

About Sweatdrop Studios:
Sweatdrop Studios is a group of over twenty UK-based manga artists which has been operating for more than five years. Sweatdrop has published a number of anthologies such as “Cold Sweat and Tears”, “Blue is for Boys” and “Pink is for Girls”, as well as original titles such as Looking for the Sun (Morag Lewis) and Fantastic Cat (Selina Dean). Sweatdrop members Emma Vieceli and Sonia Leong also recently released “Hamlet” and “Romeo and Juliet” respectively with ‘Self Made Hero’, as well as working on original titles with Sweatdrop.
Visit www.sweatdrop.com for further information.

Copyright infringement does NOT pay: A group of 11 artists, including Go Nagai and Takehiko Inoue, successfully sued two men for copyright infringement after the men uploaded some of the artists’ manga to the internet. A Tokyo court awarded the artists 20.32 million yen (about $178,000). ANN reports on the case and provides an interesting bit of math:

The ruling calculated the compensation by taking 35% of the average 300-yen (US$2.60) price of the volumes’ e-book versions and multiplying that by the number of times the files were browsed for a total of 18.8 million yen (US$165,000). Ten of the plaintiffs were awarded an additional 200,000 yen (US$2,000) each for costs, and the 11th plaintiff was awarded an additional 320,000 yen (US$2,800) for costs.

At the French blog du9, Xavier Guilbert interviews Bambi artist Kaneko Atsushi.

David Welsh lists his top five picks from the latest Previews.

At Mecha Mecha Media, John Thomas posts the latest edition of the Yuuyake Shimbun and reveals that he worked on the translation of the novel The Great Adventure of the Dirty Pair. Go John!

The nominations are out for the Ignatz awards, and the only even remotely manga-ish nomination is Brandon Graham for King City, which has been getting nice reviews all over the internets.

Reviews: In a comprehensive article at PopCultureShock, Erin F. reviews Tekkonkinkreet, discusses the movie, and adds some cultural context; she also has a lengthy article about it in this month’s Otaku USA. Matthew Alexander checks out vol. 1 of He Is My Master at Anime on DVD. At Prospero’s Manga, Ferdinand reviews vol. 1 of Vampire Kisses: Blood Relatives and Miranda reads vol. 1 of Boogiepop Dual: Loser’s Circus. Tiamat’s Disciple compares the manga and anime of Tokko. Michael Aronson reviews vol. 2 of Adolf at Manga Life. At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie checks out Delivery Cupid and vol. 20 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.