MangaBlog

This business article looks at the meaning of cuteness in Japanese culture. The writer provides quite a range of views, from the people who think it shows something important about the Japanese psyche to those who think it means the culture is going to hell in a handbasket. I liked the attitude of model/actress Yuri Ebihara, who (according to the article) has become the living epitome of cuteness these days:

“I make it a point never to forget to smile,” said Ebihara, often seen in TV ads and on billboards. “If someone doesn’t find me cute, I want to know why because then I’ll work on it to get better at being cute.”

She seems to be a tad overly intense about it. Anyway, the article covers a lot of ground, from netsuke to maid cafes, and is definitely worth a look.

The New York Press takes a look at the latest from BeBeautiful and is not overly impressed. Meanwhile, Active Anime looks at one of the stranger manga hybrids, the Helen-Keller-meets-Astro-Boy edu-manga, and manages to keep a straight face.

If you only read one article today, check this one out: At Silver Bullet Comics, Barb Lien-Cooper enumerates 12 Reasons Why Manga is Not a Gateway Drug to Western Comics. This article enunciates a lot of things that I have been thinking but haven’t necessarily put into words. (Via When Fangirls Attack.)

At MangaCast, Ed rummages around and finds two new sequels, one to Kingdom Hearts and one to Gunsmith Cats, that are due out in the reasonably near future.

On the Geisha Blog, everything you need to know about bishounen.

David Welsh has some thoughts on today’s batch of new comics. So does Jog.

Comics-and-more reads the July Shojo Beat and is a bit put off by the colored inks but likes the new story, Vampire Knight. And a slightly belated Happy Birthday! C-and-m was one year old on Sunday, but Blogger wouldn’t let me post my congratulations there. Dave celebrated with a list of his favorite posts, an idea so good I may copy it someday.

In related news, Shojo Beat has its own MySpace page. (Via the AoD forums.)

From ComicList, here are the manga to expect in comics stores this week.

ADV
Anne Freaks Manga Vol 2, $9.99

ANTARCTIC PRESS
Chisuji Four Pack, $7.95
Science Fair Four Pack, $7.95

DARK HORSE COMICS

Blade Of The Immortal #114, $2.99
Crying Freeman Vol 2, $14.95
Harlequin Pink The Bachelor Prince, $9.95
Harlequin Violet Blind Date, $9.95
Reiko The Zombie Shop Vol 3, $12.95

DC/CMX

Monster Collection Vol 6, $9.99

VIZ MEDIA LLC

Angel Sanctuary Vol 14, $9.99
Banana Fish Vol 14, $9.99
Basara Vol 18, $9.99
Battle Angel Alita Last Order Vol 7, $9.99
Beyblade Vol 11, $7.99
Boys Over Flowers Vol 18, $9.99
Firefighter Daigo Of Fire Company M Vol 15, $9.95
Flame Of Recca Vol 18, $9.99
Kare First Love Vol 8, $9.99
Kikis Delivery Service Film Comics Vol 3, $9.99
Kikis Delivery Service Picture Book, $14.99
Midori Days Vol 6, $9.99
Phoenix Vol 7, $15.99
Sensual Phrase Vol 14, $9.99

After all the negativity of the past few days, it’s nice to see that ADV has an entry on the list, vol. 2 of Anne Freaks. And Dark Horse has some interesting titles. As for the Viz, meh. Lots of stuff I have no interest in. Fortunately, my “to read” pile is pretty high as it is this week.

UPDATE: Well, Ed is much more enthusiastic about this week’s crop than I am! Check out his comments and picks of the week at MangaCast.

You have to register to get it, but The Japan Times Online has a great story on manga by non-Japanese creators. They’ve noticed! The story is quite long and has great illustrations of work by Svetlana Chmakova, Frederic Bollet, and of course Fred Gallagher. I’ll post my thoughts on it later, but for now, as Spurge says, go, read! (Via Precocious Curmudgeon.)

Is it manga or is it manhwa? Or manhua? or is it just French? Test your stylistic knowledge in Telophase’s poll. She has posted 21 images, with the text removed, and readers can vote on what they think the provenance is. Answers are provided, but don’t spoil the fun by peeking!

The Ninja Consultant goes to Anime Boston. And, naturally, there is a podcast.

A blogger reflects on lessons learned from anime and manga: Not everyone who looks like a woman is a woman. In my generation, the song “Lola” served the same purpose. Via When Fangirls Attack, which also has a fine collection of links from one of my new discoveries, Yuricon.

In this week’s Flipped column, David Welsh interviews Yumi Hoashi, the EIC and VP of Magazines for Viz. There’s lots of talk about branding and what to expect next in Shoujo Beat, and I thought this was interesting:

According to our reader surveys, each issue has over 10% (and sometimes even close to 20%) of people who have been introduced to manga through Shojo Beat magazine.

Hoashi mentions that Shonen Jump titles get a big boost from anime and says, “If we can get our Shojo Beat titles on TV, then we’d be in a better place.”

And this took me by surprise:

For Shonen Jump, we rated the magazine T for Teen, because we feel that the content is suitable for that age group. For Shojo Beat, we rated it T+ for Older Teen, because the content is more geared toward that age group. There are some titles, like Crimson Hero or Baby & Me, that can be enjoyed by younger readers, but as most of the other titles are geared toward the older age bracket, we rated the magazine T+.

I guess I’m a bad parent, because I didn’t even realize the magazines were rated. Not only that, my kids have been reading Shoujo Beat for a year, since they were 10 and 12. However, it doesn’t seem to have done them any harm, other than to instill a desire for lime-green shoes that I’d have to go to Tokyo to buy.

Elsewhere on the net, Ed Chavez at MangaCast looks at the Japanese magazine Monthly IKKI. It’s a seinen (young men’s) manga magazine, and a few of the titles have been picked up by Viz.

And Seven Seas posts an interview with Adam Arnold about Aoi House, his webcomic which has just migrated to the printed page. As Seven Seas interviews often do, this one goes beyond self-promotion to some interesting conversations, including Adam’s account of what goes into editing a licensed manga.

I don’t usually link to scanlations, but this is something completely different: A manga that explains why human-rights laws are a bad idea. As the blogger who translated and posted it notes, this comic is so bad it’s almost counter-propaganda. It’s easy to laugh at, but it’s sobering to realize how many people still think like that.