MangaBlog

Hey, everyone! It’s 8-01, a number that roughly translates to “yaoi” in Japanese, and that makes today Yaoi Day! Thanks to Otaku Champloo for pointing it out.

Kai-Ming Cha wraps up all the manga parts of SDCC at PWCW and snags an interview with manga-ka Arina Tanemura.

At MangaCast, Ed Chavez has some more followup, with commentary on the CLAMP/Dark Horse deal, the Yen Press panel, and the new titles from Fanfare and CMX.

Librarian and Eisner judge Robin Brenner had a great time at the con, and Shaenon Garrity reflects in leisure now that it’s over.

Moving right along, David Welsh looks at this week’s new comics. And when John Jakala starts thinking about manga that would make good musicals, David joins right in.

ComiPress has a juicy scoop about the demise of the Japanese manga magazine Comic Bom Bom: a manga-ka who worked with them said the editors were out of touch with the readers. There is a slight whiff of sour grapes about it, however.

The New York Magazine culture blog has a preview of Alive, a new title from Del Rey.

Julie checks out the August Previews at Manga Maniac Cafe.

ICv2 has articles up about Del Rey’s new titles and the Arina Tanemura manga that Viz just announced. They also have a brief article about the Viz Big line of omnibus manga.

Reviews: Malcolm Jones reviews Apollo’s Song for Newsweek. At Okazu, Erica Friedman reviews the classic yuri manga Claudine. Johanna Draper Carlson finds vol. 2 of Sorcerers and Secretaries doesn’t quite meet her expectations at Comics Worth Reading. At the BasuGasuBakuhatsu Anime Blog, Hung checks out vol. 1 of Junk: Record of the Last Hero. Michael Aronson reviews vol. 1 of Pretty Face at Manga Life. Phil Theobald reviews vol. 1 of Kingdom Hearts II for Newtype USA. At Prospero’s Manga, Miranda reviews vol. 2 of Good Luck and brings us up to date on vols. 4-6 of The Drifting Classroom. Firedog reviews vol. 1 of June at Manganews. At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie checks out vol. 19 of Get Backers. At his blog, Warren Peace Sings the Blues, Matt Brady enjoys vol. 4 of The Drifting Classroom and vol. 1 of Parasyte.

This isn’t manga, but it may be of interest to some readers: Vertical is publishing Boy, a collection of short stories by film auteur “Beat” Takeshi Kitano. Details after the cut.

BOY by “Beat” Takeshi Kitano
$17.95/$22.00 HC, August 14, 2007

Award-winning Film Auteur and Actor’s Successful Foray Into Literature
BOY by “Beat” Takeshi Kitano, A Staggering Work of Heartbreak

Internationally renowned film auteur “Beat” Takeshi Kitano has been revered the world over for his challenging portrayals of men and manhood, most notably rogue ones (Fireworks, Brother, Zatoichi). In BOY, Kitano has magnified this unique talent at narrative through the prism of childhood, providing a rich fugue of memory and nostalgia.

While his films have been compared with and introduced to the American public by Quentin Tarantino and the like, Takeshi Kitano’s work in literary short fiction bears more the unique redemptive narrative markings of Roald Dahl along with the tragicomic stylings of Todd Solondz (Welcome To The Doll House, Palindromes).

BOY is also one of the rare examples of Kitano’s work outside of the feature film and film criticism genres – a work he calls one of the most difficult artistic undertakings of his career, an accomplishment he says he will not try to repeat precisely because it was so arduous.
The stories range from the touching to the tragic, beginning with “The Champion in a Padded Kimono,” which is told by a middle-aged man making mundane small talk with his brother about golfing. Reminiscences lead him to one particular memory of the two racing at an elementary school athletic meet. The odds-on favorite for the relay would be the jock, but a figurative and literal twist in the route gives the bookish older brother a chance to disprove his seeming indifference to the competition. Looking back, they are arrested with memories of their first bitter taste in disappointment and deferred ambition.

In “Nest of Stars,” a mother takes her two young boys to Osaka after their father dies. The kids are having a hard time fitting in at their respective new elementary and junior high schools and become ensconced in a world of star-gazing – a hobby that is also the last vestige of the little time they had with their beloved father. What was a treasured memory, however, becomes a source of ridicule, as the younger boy, Toshio, encounters his first local bullies who taunt him for looking at stars through a cheap telescope. As long as he has his brother, who seems to be faring much better at the new junior high, and their nest of stars – the make-shift planetarium they created out of their bedroom ceiling – Toshio is convinced everything will be fine. But when their mother introduces her new man friend and Toshio finds Hideo being bullied even harder than himself, the nest of stars takes on renewed significance as the boys decide to find their way closer to the real constellations and farther from their diorama.

The last story, “Okamesan,” is about Ichiro – a loner high school student and member of The History Club. On his first ad hoc field study, Ichiro goes to Kyoto, looking to satisfy his appetite for knowledge of ancient buildings and to take a look at one of the nation’s oldest temple bells. His Carmen Santiago plans are abruptly altered, however, when he ends up at a ramshackle inn run by a rusty middle-aged woman and meets a local hood-rat named Jun, whose no-good boyfriend, Minoru, takes him for all his money on a long joy-ride. While this depletes him of his necessary funds to make it through his original Kyoto tour and eventually back to Tokyo, Ichiro also realizes what’s been going on around him while he was looking up historical artifacts.

SDCC is over, time to start thinking about the next con: Aimee Major Steinberger, who is writing Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan, will be Go!Comi’s guest at the New York Animation Festival. Kobun Shizuno, co-director of the planned Neon Genesis Evangelion films, will also be there.

NEW YORK ANIME FESTIVAL WELCOMES
KOBUN SHIZUNO AND AIMEE MAJOR STEINBERGER

NYAF ANNOUNCES EVANGELION CO-DIRECTOR SHIZUNO AND
AMERICAN ANIMATION DYNAMO STEINBERGER AS GUESTS OF HONOR

Norwalk, CT, July 31, 2007: The New York Anime Festival (NYAF) today announced that Kobun Shizuno and Aimee Major Steinberger will appear as Guests of Honor at its inaugural event December 7-9 in New York City. Mr. Shizuno is a rising star in the world of Japanese animation and will soon be globally known for his directorial role in the upcoming Neon Genesis Evangelion feature films. Aimee Major Steinberger is a veteran American animator who has worked on television series including The Simpsons and Futurama. Ms. Steinberger is now writing and illustrating a book of her adventures in the worlds of cosplay, doll collecting, and other otaku pursuits, Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan, to be published this winter by Go! Comi.

“The New York Anime Festival is honored to welcome Mr. Shizuno and Ms. Steinberger,” NYAF Show Manager John McGeary said. “Their appearance at our festival will be a huge attraction and we are certainly grateful for their participation. Mr. Shizuno’s works, from the classics that gave him his start, to the upcoming installments of the Evangelion saga, are enormously impressive. Meanwhile, Ms. Steinberger has been involved in the production of some of America’s most-beloved cartoons while also becoming one of the leading American figures in the Japanese pop culture movement. We are certainly fortunate to have both these artists contribute their time and talent to our show.”

ABOUT KOBUN SHIZUNO:
Born in 1972 in Tokyo, Japan, Kobun Shizuno studied at the Yoyogi Animation School and made his debut in the anime world as the Assistant Director of Giant Robo: The Animation. He has since served as Director or Co-Director of many of America’s biggest anime series including Burst Angel and Elfen Lied as well as fan favorites such as Case Closed, Ai Yori Aoshi, Peacemaker, Princess Nine, and Final Fantasy: Unlimited. Fans of Saturday morning cartoons will recognize Mr. Shizuno as the Director of GI Joe: Sigma 6. His largest projects, though, are his current ones, as Mr. Shizuno is directing an upcoming Fist of the North Star motion picture and serving as Co-Director for the new Neon Genesis Evangelion feature films, the first of which — Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone — will premiere this September in theatres in Japan. Mr. Shizuno’s appearance at the New York Anime Festival is presented by TenBu Productions.

ABOUT AIMEE MAJOR STEINBERGER:
Aimee Major Steinberger grew up in Charleston, South Carolina. She is a professional animator and layout artist whose work can be seen on The Simpsons and Futurama as well as in Disney’s Three Caballeros ride at Epcot’s Gran Fiesta Tour and the Warner Bros. film Looney Tunes Back in Action. She is well-known in the doll world as a staff writer for Haute Doll Magazine and an administrator for denofangels.com, the largest English-language Asian ball-jointed doll website and forum in the world. Her passion for costumes has earned her multiple cosplaying awards, including Best in Show at several of the world’s largest conventions. She now lives in California and is directing her interest in Japanese classical and popular culture into the book Japan Ai: A Tall Girl’s Adventures in Japan, to be published this winter by Go! Comi. For more information on Aimee Major Steinberger, visit aimeemajor.com. Aimee Major Steinberger is sponsored at the New York Anime Festival by Go! Comi.

ABOUT THE NEW YORK ANIME FESTIVAL:
The New York Anime Festival takes place December 7-9, 2007 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in Midtown Manhattan and is organized by Reed Exhibitions, the creators of New York Comic Con. The New York Anime Festival will showcase the best of anime pop culture, including the latest anime, manga, Japanese cinema, music, and games, and anime-influenced comics, animation, and films from around the world. The festival will feature exclusive and extensive screenings, a gala cosplay masquerade, sessions with the some of the biggest names in anime from Japan, Asia, and America, and explore the Japanese cultural experience with displays of both traditional and cutting-edge Japanese life.

The New York Anime Festival is sponsored by ADV Films, Anime Insider Magazine, Anime Network, Anime News Network, AnimeNEXT, BookExpo, Diamond Book Distributors, ICv2, New York Comic Con, NEW YORK – TOKYO, Newtype USA Magazine, Publishers Weekly, TOKYOPOP, and Wedge Holdings.

The New York Anime Festival’s current Guests of Honor include Peter Fernandez, Corinne Orr, Kobun Shizuno, and Aimee Major Steinberger.

Further information and tickets can be found at www.newyorkanimefestival.com.

ABOUT TENBU PRODUCTIONS:
TenBu Productions is a professional manga, film, music, production, and distribution company. Founded by artist and anime industry veteran Asu, TenBu Productions was formed to promote Asian entertainment and talents in the US market. TenBu also services many US events and conventions by booking and managing Japanese talents from all over the anime, film and music areas of the Japanese entertainment field. Popular in-house talents that TenBu Productions represents in the US include unicorn table, Yasuhiro Koshi, Yunmao Ayakawa and more. Visit tenbuproductions.om for more information about TenBu Productions.

ABOUT GO! COMI:
In less than two years Go! Comi has become renowned for the excellence of its manga series and top production values. Among its publications are the BookScan best-sellers Tenshi Ja Nai!! and Her Majesty’s Dog, Cantarella (a 2007 YALSA “Great Graphic Novel for Teens”), and the Eisner Award-nominated After School Nightmare. For more information, please visit gocomi.com.

ABOUT REED EXHIBITIONS:
The New York Anime Festival is operated by Reed Exhibitions, the world’s leading events organizer. In 2006, Reed brought together over six million industry professionals from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today, Reed events are held in 34 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, and organized by 37 fully staffed offices.

Reed organizes a wide range of events, including exhibitions, conferences, congresses, and meetings. Its portfolio of over 460 events serves 52 industry sectors, including aerospace and defense, building and construction, design, electronics, energy, oil and gas, entertainment, food and hospitality, gifts, healthcare, IT/telecoms, jewelry, manufacturing, marketing and business services, pharmaceuticals, property, publishing, security, sport and recreation, transport and logistics, and travel.

Working closely with professional bodies, trade associations, and government departments, Reed ensures that each and every event is targeted and relevant to industry needs. As a result, many Reed events are market leaders in their field.

Reed Exhibitions is part of Reed Elsevier Group plc, a FTSE-100 company and world-leading publisher and information provider. In 2005, Reed Elsevier made adjusted profit before taxation of £1,002 million on turnover of £5,166 million.

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Nouvelle manga publisher Fanfare/Ponent Mon gets the lead story at ICv2 this morning, with a look at their upcoming releases.

Matt Blind lists this week’s new manga at Comicsnob.

At PopCultureShock, Katherine Dacey-Tsuei distills all of the past week into the top five stories from SDCC. Manganews cheers the Viz Big line, and Ed Chavez is happy about the new CMX titles.

Some of the manga Mely wanted to see has indeed been licensed, but she’d like to see even more. Telophase chimes in in comments.

I missed this in the SDCC avalanche, but One Piece celebrated its 10th anniversary last week, with 140 million volumes sold.

Coming soon: The Mammoth Book of Best New Manga 2, featuring 20 complete stories. Here’s the official website, with a preview and more details. (Via Blog@Newsarama.)

A news analyst discovers that the “anime manga” has increased Japan’s popularity among the youngsters, but can’t quite figure out what to make of it.

Reviews: David Welsh devotes this week’s Flipped column to vol. 1 of Samurai Commando Mission 1549 and vol. 1 of Translucent. Michael Aronson gives an A to vol. 8 of Buddha at Manga Life. At Comics-and-more, Dave Ferraro devotes Manga Monday to the last chapter of Nana and the first chapter of Sand Chronicles in Shojo Beat. At ANN, Carlo Santos reviews Jason Thompson’s Manga: The Complete Guide. Julie checks out vol. 8 of Claymore at the Manga Maniac Cafe. It’s alliteration day at Active Anime, where Christopher Seaman reviews vol. 6 of Sugar Sugar Rune and vol. 9 of Guru Guru Pon Chan. At Slightly Biased Manga, Connie reads vol. 18 of Cheeky Angel and vol. 2 of Millennium Snow. Hung enjoys vol. 3 of The World of Narue at the BasuGasuBakuhatsu Anime Blog.

The CMX folks announced a few new titles at their SDCC panel on Sunday: A Girl Who Runs Through Time, by Gaku Tsugano; Teru Teru × Shōnen, by Shigero Takao; and The Flat Earth Exchange, by Toshimo Nigoshi. Giapet adds A Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo, by Yasutaka Tsutsui, Shirley, a maid series by Kaoru Mori, creator of Emma, and a “volume 8” of Emma that features short stories about the characters.

Del Rey has posted some (rather blurry) photos of art from one of its new titles, Yokaiden, by Nina “spacecoyote” Matusmoto.

And if you’re afraid you missed something, ANN has gathered all their SDCC reports onto a single page, and ComiPress has a comprehensive roundup of links to SDCC coverage. Manganews has a wrapup and comments as well. At Comics 212, Christopher Butcher has some thoughts on his way out of town.

Yes, there were people who didn’t go to SDCC, and they had plenty to say this weekend as well. Here’s a roundup:

Comicsnob’s Matt Blind takes a look at this week’s online sales rankings.

Manga Recon has the list of this week’s new manga, along with a few short reviews.

ComiPress has some interesting stories from Japan: A satirical webcomic about the Taliban (“Tsundeban”) raises eyebrows, and an article speculates on why Shogakukan came down so hard on that Doraemon doujinshi: Could it be jealousy?

Free comix! Over at Yaoi 911, Alex Woolfson is going to send the first story from his original yaoi manga, A Shot in the Dark, to anyone who registers. Don’t want to register? Stay tuned; he’ll post it on the site later.

Here’s a nice profile of a Malaysian student who posts on deviantart and just got a scholarship to art school.

Reviews: At Active Anime, Holly Ellingwood reviews vol. 2 of Love is a Hurricane and Christopher Seaman checks out vol. 10 of Nodame Cantabile. Matt Blind reads vol. 1 of The Last Uniform at Comicsnob. Over at Manga Life, Michael Aronson reviews vol. 1 of Full Metal Panic, vol. 9 of Monster, and vol. 4 of Absolute Boyfriend—now that’s range! Julie checks out vol. 4 of Night of the Beasts at the Manga Maniac Cafe. At The Star of Malaysia, Kitty Sensei reviews vol. 9 of Ouran High School Host Club. Leroy Douresseaux checks out vol. 6 of Godchild at The Comic Book Bin.