MangaBlog

Late July/early August must be a big deadline time at Tokyopop. After an absence of several months, Svetlana Chmakova returns to her LiveJournal, having finally completed volume 2 of Dramacon. Just ahead of her was Rivkah, who had a harrowing two months while finishing the second volume of Steady Beat. Rivkah has been making up for lost time by posting frequently, and she’s also selling her work to help support herself in the manner to which she has become accustomed (i.e., starving artist).

If, after reading both of these, you still want to be a professional manga-ka, Tina Anderson has posted a sample submission package. Being able to draw or write is one thing, but being able to present your work in a professional manner is what separates the published from the unpublished. Tina has some valuable advice as well, so it’s well worth a look, even for the merely curious.

Former U.S. Shonen Jump editor Jason Thompson has posted a thoughtful essay on yaoi at his livejournal site. After sitting down and reading a huge stack of the stuff, he comes up with some witty comments

Yaoi is yet another bombing raid on the already smoking ruins of the “women don’t like porn” myth.

and some interesting insights

All the 30+ shonen ai I’ve read is “perfect, idealized pair” relationship manga. Everyone, even the rapists and bad guys, loves the target of their affections with a deep, obsessive passion, never having second thoughts or feeling attracted to different people at the same time or getting confused or getting rejected or wimping out and giving up. In shonen ai, neediness and possessiveness are positive traits, when in real life, someone would probably be rushing these characters to a counselor. The sexual content, whether explicit or PG-rated (there is a wide range), is linked directly to the emotional content. There’s no casual sex in shonen ai manga (except occasionally offscreen and with peripheral characters).

Which leaves me (I haven’t read much yaoi) wondering just what is left to write about. With such a restrictive genre, there isn’t much room for plot complications. Maybe that’s why the series are so short.

Like other writers, Jason bemoans the fact that despite the same-sex relationships, yaoi sorts its characters neatly into semi and uke, dominant and submissive. But, he notes,

But the seme-uke relationships in shonen ai manga have one big advantage over straight porn, one big purposeful ambiguity; since both lovers are the same gender, it’s up to you, in your heart of hearts, to choose who you identify with more.

… which may explain the attraction.

Meanwhile, Tina Anderson says we’re analyzing the wrong things.

I want an article about BL/Yaoi as a genre in terms of the works that define it, and the creators in Japan who’ve made their titles marketable in the West. Ask me about Kizuna as a manga, but don’t ask me ‘what I find hawt about two beautiful men in a relationship’.

I think Jason does a good job of discussing both issues, the work itself and why people like it—and I’m not sure you can separate the two. All good writing is written with the reader in mind, after all, and that’s doubly true of genre fiction, which yaoi undoubtedly is. But I appreciate that it’s the prurient interest that is raising her ire.

I don’t see articles about the appeal of noir Seinen manga on the fans who read it? I don’t see every new license from Tokyo Pop being discussed by the media asking, Why do they read it?

I’d like to see an article like that. Maybe I’ll have to write one myself.

At ComiPress, the Backstage feature takes an inside look at Anipike.

An abundance of paying work, the 100-degree temperatures (I took refuge in the mall) and a poorly timed internet outage have conspired to keep me offline today, so I’m playing a bit of catch-up.

First on the list: PW Comics Week. I can’t begin to summarize the goodness of this issue, which includes interviews with Yoshihiro Tatsumi, author of The Push Man, and Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, the writers of Destiny’s Hand, as well as a profile of Tenjho Tenge and Air Gear creator Oh! Great. Just go and enjoy! If you need analysis, Love Manga unpacks it a bit.

Meanwhile, the MangaCast just keeps rolling along, adding more and more SDCC content. The latest: Ed interviews JTK, the manwha-ga responsible for Almost Highly Classified.

At The Beat, Heidi has a rather vague report of a shuffle at Tokyopop. Rob Valois, one of the “global manga” editors who also worked on the Rising Stars of Manga line, is out.

Heidi also points us toward this article on ComiPress about classic manga, a subject that seems to be increasingly popular these days. Take her advice and click on the original Japanese article to see some cool old covers.

Pata makes the eminently sensible suggestion that we all get together and agree on a common style for writing about Japanese culture. As a former copyeditor, I heartily second the motion. He offers a few examples of things that ought to be in the stylebook.

I’m on deadline with a story right now, but I had to break away to at least give the links for this: Hige Vs. Otaku notes the differential in quality between American books imported into Britain and their British-produced counterparts. This comes to the fore this week with the introduction of Tanoshimi, which is the British counterpart to Del Rey. Hige observes that Tanoshimi’s version of xxxHolic lacks the color plates of the American version and is printed on inferior paper.

Until both companies learn from Tokyopop and Dark Horse, who both offer identical domestic products without any needless, ugly rebranding and production corner-cutting, my patronage is sticking with the yanks. And I’m honestly disappointed to admit it.

At Love Manga, David Taylor picks up on this and adds his own two cents:

I think both of us know the reasons behind this, there just isn’t the big market for this yet.

This being Love Manga, a Tanoshimi editor immediately responds in the comments.

You have hit on exactly the right reason – economy of scale. We discussed the colour-plate issue in house at length – and, unfortunately, we looked at the figures and simply couldn’t justify the extra expense. This isn’t to say that we’re never going to include colour sections – if the manga market grows as quickly as we hope it will, and if Tanoshimi is as successful as we think it’s going to be, then we will include colour plate sections – and all the other bells and whistles that Del Rey has on their titles. But in our books there are all the other things that make the Del Rey editions so special – I know that everyone loves the translation notes, for example, and that’s something we’d never leave out.

Color plates are not a deal-breaker for me, but paper quality is key, because that really affects how the art looks. I just finished reading Yoki, Koto, Kiku, a Broccoli title that is published on the best paper I’ve ever seen in a manga—it’s very white, which really makes the art, which is beautiful, stand out. If it were on inferior paper the blacks wouldn’t be dark enough and the contrast would be too low. Having finished this, I picked up Oyayubihime Infinity, a CMX title, and immediately thought “what a cheap book”—referring to quality, not price. Both books cost $9.99, but the CMX book is on cheap newsprint and feels floppy. The Broccoli book is a few pages longer, mainly because it has translation notes and ads in the back—the stories are about the same length—but the CMX book feels noticeably thinner. And while the CMX book has an attractive cover design, the printing quality on the cover is not as good. I’d still buy both books, but I’m noticing the cheapness of CMX and I’m not pleased. If they cut the price by a dollar, to bring it into line with Viz (similar quality), I’d be pleased. If they raised it by a dollar, I’d probably move on unless I really had to have that particular story.

For discerning readers in Britain, who have a choice between American imports and local product, I’d say it’s going to be a difficult choice. But for most people price will be the determining factor, so I suppose it makes sense to keep the price lower—especially when you still get those Del Rey extras, like the translation notes. Hopefully as the audience builds the paper will get better.

Yoki Koto Kiku
By Koge-Donbo
Comedy
Rated E, for everyone
Broccoli Books, $9.99

Yoki Koto Kiku is over-the-top black humor, sort of the Japanese equivalent of Charles Addams. As the translator’s notes helpfully explain, it is a parody of a Japanese mystery novel, The Inugami Clan, but you don’t have to know this to appreciate the book. What the regular manga reader will appreciate is the way this book skewers steretypical characters such as the shinigami or the jealous ballerina.

Yoki, Koto, and Kiku Nekogami are 13-year-old triplets, the granddaughters of a wealthy merchant. Their brother, Sukekiyo, is away at the war, and his fiancé, 14-year-old Tamayo, is a maid in the household.

The book opens with some pretty pictures of the triplets being all affectionate with each other and talking about their dreams for the future. Then their wealthy grandfather dies, and they learn that only one of the children (or possibly Tamayo) can inherit his fortune. For a moment, family harmony prevails, but soon there is rat poison in the tea, razor blades in the handkerchiefs, and needles flying through the air. The triplets remain unscathed, but lots of not-so-innocent bystanders get caught in the crossfire. The plots become progressively more ridiculous, and more hilarious, as the book goes on, culminating in an alternative explanation for a major event in Japanese history. My one quibble with the book is that it stops, rather than ends. As it’s a single-volume work, I would have liked a more satisfying denouement.

Koge-Donbo, whose lighter work includes Kamichama Karin and Di Gi Charat, uses her hyper-cute style to good effect, combining big eyes and frilly dresses with sharp-edged weapons and vials of poison. Her clear, linear style makes many of the panels works of art in themselves.

Broccoli puts extra care into their product, and it really shows in this book. There is one interior color page, and the paper quality is excellent, all the better to handle the large areas of black that Koge-Donbo deploys so well. Sound effects are translated alongside the original kana. Extras include character introductions in the front and translator’s notes in the back that explain literary references and inside jokes.

Witty, well drawn, and very Japanese, this is a book for people who enjoy the exotic qualities of manga or who simply enjoy black humor.

Yoki Koto Kiku is available now at Borders/Waldenbooks and will go into general release in October.

(This review is based on a complimentary copy supplied by the publisher.)