MangaBlog

Following an interesting discussion in comments on my earlier post, David Welsh digs out an editor’s note from Dark Horse’s edition of Astro Boy to show how one publisher gracefully handled the problem of offensive images in an older manga.

Thinking about Tezuka made me remember that some of the caricatures in Ode to Kirihito struck me as unfortunate as well. Tezuka’s style, particularly with incidental characters, was so cartoony that it didn’t stick out as much, but I read the book for the first time in the hospital where my father was having a procedure done, and being in such a public place, I got a bit self-conscious about it. (Well, that and all the nudity.) I think an editor’s note would have been appropriate there, too, not that it would have helped me any.

It’s much harder to justify reproducing such images in current manga, though, as people nowadays are supposed to know better.

At PWCW, Kai-Ming Cha reports that Dark Horse is republishing the works of Masamune Shirow in the original unflipped format, starting with the Appleseed series. This week’s issue also includes a preview of Seven, a new title from DMP, and, on the front page, a review of Meca Tanaka’s Pearl Pink.

David Welsh devotes this week’s Flipped column to two seinen stories, Mail and Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~, which shows you the range of that genre.

Ed posts another preview of E’S at MangaCast.

Mely thinks all writers could benefit from Kaoru Mori’s afterword to vol. 1 of Emma.

Kethylia wants to make sure we all know: To Terra is SHOUNEN manga. Her commenters are not so sure it matters. I just got one of the advance galleys from Vertical, and I’d say it’s fairly obvious that it’s shounen but my daughter will probably read it anyway, just as she reads Inu Yasha and Oh My Goddess, because she really doesn’t care. Of course, she’ll have to get the galleys away from me first!

Speaking of Vertical titles, Anne Ishii is pleased that Ode to Kirihito made Barnes & Noble’s staff picks of 2006 list.

A writer new to manga doesn’t like Princess Ai. Perhaps it wasn’t a good early choice.

Narutofan7st does a lengthy character analysis of Ghost in the Shell character. (This link and the one above found via When Fangirls Attack!)

Active Anime’s Blake Waymire reviews vol. 11 of Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. At AoD, Ed Chavez finds there’s not much to the anime-based one-shot Onegai Twins. LiveJournaler korinacaffeine really hates The Devil Does Exist.

Whoops! Another mom has found those naughty manga in her teenage son’s room. In this case, they were volumes of DearS from the St. Paul public library, so she called them and asked if her son had checked them out. The library wouldn’t tell her, so she went to the local newspaper, which contacted the library and learned that if she brought some ID and her son’s library card to the library, they would tell her if the books were currently checked out to his card. Once the books are returned, the record is erased. (Omitted from the story is any mention of why she didn’t just ask her son, or how her son felt about having his private reading habits discussed in the local paper.)

The mom seemed to be OK with that resolution but wondered why the library didn’t have ratings for its books. The library director responded, “I’m not aware of any library that does that, or of any software that could process that kind of information.” And then there’s a quote from the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom about the right to privacy. The ALA’s Judith Krug ends with a suggestion that parents accompany their children to the library and monitor what they check out, which, as any parent of a teen knows, ain’t gonna happen. I wish they wouldn’t even bother saying that, as it’s such a lame suggestion at that age. I doubt this particular kid is going to recidivate, now that his sins have been bared in the paper, which was probably excruciating for him. But once a kid is 14, even monitoring his library visits won’t stop him from reading the book at someone else’s house. A good talking-to is what’s called for here, but there’s not much else that a parent can do at that age.

I’m glad the library didn’t even consider ratings or restrictions, though, let alone pulling the book. Apparently, cooler heads prevail in St. Paul than in Victorville.

Publisher’s Weekly Comics Week lists their top ten comics for January, which seems to encompass the holiday shopping season as well. Here they are:

1. Naruto, vol. 12
2. Fruits Basket, vol. 15
3. Negima, vol. 12
4. Bleach, vol. 16
5. Full Metal Alchemist, vol. 10
6. Naruto, vol. 11
7. The Best American Comics 2006
8. Halo Graphic Novel
9. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, vol. 1
10. Death Note, vol. 8

And then, in sort of a desperate attempt to show that it’s not all about the manga, they highlight three books that didn’t make it into the top ten, Marvel Zombies, An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons and True stories, and Absolute Sandman, while ignoring whatever (probably manga) ranked number 12 and 14.

Japan’s head otaku, Foreign Minister Taro Aso, plans to use Japanese pop culture as a diplomatic tool. One major obstacle is that aside from Aso, most high-level Japanese diplomats don’t read manga or watch anime. They are making diligent efforts to catch up, however. MangaBlog applauds this initiative and calls on other foreign leaders to do the same. Perhaps we can persuade President Bush to turn his attention to the Betty and Veronica makeover that is currently rending the comics blogosphere.

Seriously, though, Aso needs to be careful what he wishes for because things like this (warning: incredibly racist image) will do more harm than good. More comment here from the same blogger, who wonders whether Viz (yes, Viz!) plans to market the offending manga in Africa.

Pata spots a manga phrase book, but I don’t think it’s what the foreign minister has in mind, either.

Meanwhile, The Star of Malaysia reports on attempts to encourage manga tourism in Japan. And check out this review of two books on Japanese toys.

Good stuff at ComiPress: A list of the top selling manga in France, excerpts from a blog about a possible predecessor to Death Note, and news of some sort of brouhaha over Rozen Maiden.

The stuffy image of librarians is forever banished by Fort Lauderdale teen librarian Arlene Garcia, who not only organized an anime convention at her library but also dressed in goth-loli garb for the event.

My previous post is a press release about SelfMadeHero, a new UK publisher that is debuting with a line of modernized versions of Shakespeare plays. David Welsh has a bit of fun with the concept and points out that one of the creators has put some samples on a LiveJournal page.

At Manga Talk, Octopedingenue has links to Megazine, a downloadable magazine for scanlators.

This week’s Manga Minute is more like a full hour as Tokopop blogger ChunHyang72 rounds up the good stuff, including how-tos (the RSoM deadline is approaching!), manga recommendations, and even grammar tips. Noted: Tokyopop editor Beedlejuice is energetically promoting his title, Kat and Mouse, vol. 2 of which is due out today. Newsarama’s comics-reading Edmunds family checks it out and finds a lot to like.

Mangacast is putting up a page a day of E’S, which comes out today. The Broccoli blog offers a peek at the cover of Disgaea 2.

Job board: Have you always dreamed of working for Viz? Speak Japanese? They’re looking for an approvals coordinator. (Via ANN) Also: ComiPress needs Japanese translators.

Reviews: At Okazu, guest reviewer Sean Gaffney posts a lengthy review of vol. 7 of High School Girls. Mangamaniaccafe liked vol. 1 of Chibi Vampire despite its boring cover. At Anime on DVD, Matthew Alexander finds vol. 1 of R.O.D. Read or Dream rather disappointing. Active Anime’s Christopher Seaman really enjoyed Project X: Seven Eleven, and Holly Ellingwood gives vol. 24 of Oh My Goddess! a rave review. Kethylia likes vol. 1 of Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden. Kurogane at The Star of Malaysia likes vol. 1 of R.O.D. Read or Dream and gives two thumbs up to Otogi Zoshi despite the profusion of American slang.

Manga publisher SelfMadeHero to launch in London

Independent UK publisher SelfMadeHero launches in early February 07. The focus of the launch is Manga Shakespeare, a book series providing a unique combination of manga and classic dramatic texts.
SelfMadeHero books reflect what’s going on in the best contemporary manga and graphic novels. SelfMadeHero Director Emma Hayley says: ‘With our fresh and innovative approach to the classics, we are creating exciting and unique books that will inspire today’s generation.’

SelfMadeHero is launching to an international audience. In the US, the Manga Shakespeare series has already been picked up by Amulet Books, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams, and will come out as a co-edition in April 07. In Japan, buyers at the huge retail chain Kinokuniya saw the books and immediately placed advance orders; a testament to the interest in the books and the quality of UK manga art. SelfMadeHero used award-winning UK-based manga artists Sonia Leong and Emma Vieceli to illustrate the first books – Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet which are published on March 1st 07.

Emma Hayley, director of SelfMadeHero, says:‘We are creating visually dynamic versions of the classics to make the books accessible, cool and understandable to new readers.’ Inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s film Romeo and Juliet, in the Manga Shakespeare series she decided to retain the original language and use the visual impact of manga to help re-tell the stories in an abridged version.

In the Manga Shakespeare series, future titles include The Tempest and Richard III (Autumn 2007), with plans to publish Othello, Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Manga Shakespeare series is edited by Richard Appignanesi, Textual Consultant is Nick de Somogyi.

Alongside Manga Shakespeare, SelfMadeHero will launch its Classical Eye series later this year, which will feature other classics in graphic novel form. The first titles include The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov, adapted by Andrzej Klimowski and Danusia Schejbal, and Kafka’s The Trial, adapted by David Zane Mairowitz and Chantal Montellier. Other titles planned include Edgar Allan Poe’s Nevermore, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment.