A couple of links masquerading as an entry
I have manga and even anime to talk about, but when? This I do not know. For a moment, a couple of quick links (after the jump).
The CBLDF will defend your First Amendment right as an adult to make lines on paper, to draw, to write, to sell, to publish, and now, to own comics. And that’s what makes work you don’t like, or don’t read, or work that you do not feel has artistic worth or redeeming features worth defending. It’s the stuff you like and the stuff you find icky, wherever your icky line happens to be. Because the law is a big blunt instrument that makes no fine distinctions, and because you only realise how wonderful absolute freedom of speech is the day you lose it.
Neil, you are my hero.
Also, I got pretty giddy over this post by manga adapter/editor Jake Forbes regarding his work on the Viz editions of Fullmetal Alchemist.
The manga take on the Elric brothers’ journey deals with many of the same themes, but instead of bringing the world down to the level of its teenage protagonists, it challenges the characters and the readers by keeping the world distinctly adult. It isn’t just the gritty take on war and genocide (volumes 16 and 19 are largely dedicated to flashbacks in which entire cultures are wiped out). Even though Fullmetal is a shonen manga from a teen magazine, characters like Roy Mustang, Scar, Izumi Curtis and, at long last, Van Hoenheim, are as richly drawn as the adults in a seinen manga mangazine. The series never panders — it’s just great drama.
You can read my fangirl gushing in the comments. A million thanks to Ysabet MacFarlane for the link!
Sometime soon I want to chat about new chapters of Bakuman, NANA, and xxxHolic, volume 21 of Fruits Basket, and also perhaps recent episodes of Ef: A Tale of Melodies. Coming soon!
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