Archives for January 2011

Cross Game Volume 2

January 8, 2011 by Anna N

Cross Game Volume 2 by Mitsuru Adachi

The first volume of Cross Game was my favorite new shonen manga of 2010, so when I got a new box of Viz goodies, this was the first manga I grabbed. I was happy to see that the second volume delivers on all the character development that was built up in the first volume. This omnibus edition contains volumes 4 and 5 of the manga. At the end of the first volume Ko and his “farm team” companions are gearing up to play against the elite varsity team at their high school.

The second volume opens with one of those deceptively simple scenes that serve to illuminate the relationships between the characters. Ko shows up at the Tsukishima household, asking to see Aoba. Mr. Tsukishima is slightly perplexed, but tells him to go into the house. Aoba’s oldest sister pops up suddenly into the panel with her hand on her forehead in disbelief, “Ko..? Here for Aoba?” Ko tells Aoba to follow him, and she goes with him, striking a fighting pose when he turns to throw her a baseball glove. It turns out that Aoba is the only person Ko can trust to give him a realistic assessment of his pitching abilities. His teammates haven’t said much to him, but they wouldn’t say anything to disrupt his confidence. Ko starts throwing the ball to Aoba and the sound effects start to kick in. Boom! Couples strolling in the park turn and stare. Boom! The sounds of Ko’s pitch echo in the night. Aoba catches every ball and when asked for her assessment, she says “You’re okay…I guess.” Ko is psyched and pumped up for the game, because Aoba’s “okay” is the best compliment she could give him. He challenges her to a bet, if he only lets the opposing team score 10 times, she’ll buy him a treat. Aoba changes the terms of the bet by yelling “Five runs!” Ko says “No fair.” and walks off into the night. Aoba nurses her battered catching hand and thinks “No fair for who?”

The game begins, and the corrupt coach and principal of the high school are unprepared for the farm team that they previously dismissed. The better players on the varsity team are aware of Ko’s talent, even while the coach tries to pretend that Ko’s pitching ability isn’t extraordinary. Even though the baseball game stretches over a good portion of the book, I was kept entertained by the skillful ways Adachi manages his cast of characters. Azuma, the ace batter on the opposing team begins to view Ko as a true rival. Aoba sits in the stands and provides a running commentary on all the players, which demonstrate that since she isn’t able to play with the boys on the field she might be better employed as an additional coach. The ancient but tricky coach of the farm team demonstrates some underhanded but effective ways of managing players, as he tells a false but inspiring story to his selfish third year players, and secretly arranges a different type of bat for a player who swings too hard but won’t work to change his approach.

One of the many things I appreciate about Cross Game is that the more poignant moments aren’t milked for melodrama. Ko’s still dealing with the tragedy that struck in the first volume, and the reader sees this in a couple scenes. He works himself tirelessly in the secret summer training camp of the farm team, saying that summer is a time he doesn’t want to think too much. He willingly humiliates himself just to get an item on Wakaba’s birthday list. These scenes are presented in the same slice-of-life manner as the rest of the manga, but I can’t help but think that in the hands of a less skilled creator, something like that would be presented with extra tears or emphasis. Cross Game just shows events unfolding with a natural rhythm that is deceptively effortless.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Flying the Heavenly Skies

January 8, 2011 by David Welsh

Thanks so much for your input on my Previews order! Many people provided thoughtful feedback on how I might best squander around $10 of my monthly comic budget, and the winner was…

The Beautiful Skies of Hou Ou High, written and illustrated by Arata Aki, published by Digital Manga! Here’s how the publisher describes it:

Houou High is a famous and incredibly prestigious all-boys school. It’s also the stomping grounds for the sons of the most well-renowned families from all walks of life, which gives rise to rumors that it holds a monopoly on money and power. Our protagonist, Kei Saeba, ends up enrolling in this veritable garden of blooming amateurs due to her mother’s guile. Now she must pretend she’s a boy for three years or she “will be erased”!

Another source told me that Kei is sent to this school because she likes girls and her mother wants to fix that via deep boy immersion, because that always works. I don’t have a particular aversion to reverse-harem stories and have enjoyed some of them very much, but blithe conversion comedy sets my phasers on kill.

It originally ran in Mag Garden’s Comic Avarus, home to notable titles like Alice in the Country of Hearts, Monochrome Factor, Tactics, Vassalord, and Your and My Secret, all from Tokyopop. That’s not a terrible track record, to be honest, but it’s still on the mixed side. We’ll see. Three months from now, I may come back to bitterly denounce you all. Won’t that be fun?!

Fanservice Friday: From the ladies

January 7, 2011 by MJ 22 Comments

… or at least one lady.

There’s been quite a bit of talk already about editor Sean Michael Wilson‘s assessment of female critics’ reaction to AX: A Collection of Alternative Manga, most of it much smarter than anything I might offer up (posts from Brigid Alverson and Kate Dacey among them).

Still, as a North American lady-perceived person, I feel compelled to examine Wilson’s argument, my personal reaction to it, and why I feel this is appropriate for Fanservice Friday. As I proceed, please keep in mind that I have not read AX, so my reactions are to Wilson’s theory about the tastes of North American ladies, not about those ladies’ reactions to that work in particular. This is important. Please remember it.

First, the increasingly famous words from Wilson:

Now, onto ‘AX alternative manga’ book. It has had a huge amount of reviews, and overwhelmingly positive … However, one aspect has surprised both myself and Asakawa, the Japanese editor – quite a few female American reviewers have taken issue with the large amount of scatalogical toilet humour and also the sexual content of the collection. Somehow they seem to find it offensive, or unpleasant, or immature. It was surprising to me to see this kind of reaction, as it never occurred to me at all – as a British person – that these could be seen as negative …

Now, I don’t mean that ‘I am right,they are wrong’ and certainly don’t mean to upset these reviewers – its their opinion, and I’m interested to see it. It’s been an illuminating thing for me to see such reactions. What hits me the most is that it’s perhaps an example of cultural (and gender within culture) difference on perception of such things. I say that because I noticed that all the people making such comments are North American ladies. I have not seen a single man say it, or any women from outside North America. Therefore, I presume that it MAY be something in the shared cultural values and norms of such commentators coming through that makes them react negatively to such toilet humour and sexual content – perhaps? In Britain toilet humour is one of the main types, and our attitude towards sexual content is relatively ‘liberal’, it seems. Asakawa, as a Japanese person, was also rather surprised, for perhaps similar cultural reasons.

Given that this is Fanservice Friday, I’ll leave the discussion of toilet humor to others and move on more appropriately, to sexual content, because here is where I must emphatically disagree with Sean Michael Wilson.

North American ladies don’t like sexual content? Has the man never cracked open a Harlequin romance? I can easily imagine that many men might be unaware of things like the enormous volume of sexually explicit fanfiction churned out by North American women on the internet every day, but sexual fantasy is big business in this part of the world, and there’s no shortage of demand for it from women.

Even in the (relatively small) North American manga market, we women like our fanservice just the same as anyone. Sure, some of that comes down to chaste romance and slashable bishounen, but many of the best loved and most eagerly anticipated manga among female readers in North America derive their main appeal from sexual content, ranging anywhere from coy bedroom scenes to outright pornography. Fans of yaoi in particular (me included, perhaps), have not usually been known for our delicate tastes.

What I think Mr. Wilson is more likely encountering is that we, many of us, also have other standards, at least when we’re engaging with something that believes itself to be Art. We see merit in sexual content, but we expect it to have meaning beyond shock value or pure titillation. Hell, even in our pornography, we expect some level of craft, either visual or narrative in nature.

Speaking for myself, having come from a prose background, I’ll cut the artwork quite a bit of slack, but if the sex doesn’t drive the story (at least when it’s onscreen) I’m probably going to be unimpressed. In fiction, as in life, effective sex scenes require effort, and I don’t have a lot of patience for slogging through otherwise. I’m over forty. I’ve seen it all. You can’t shock me with your content. But there’s an excellent chance that you’ll bore me if you don’t have something more to offer. And if your point is simply to be subversive, you’ll likely bore me with that as well.

Now, obviously AX is not concerned with fanservice. Nor is it, I expect, concerned with having fans. “Experimental” work is generally about social commentary, self-expression, Damning The Man, and other perfectly noble causes, none of which are guaranteed to produce art.

Having not read the collection, I’m not prepared to comment on what its contributors have produced, but if my fellow Ladies haven’t appreciated it, I’m fairly certain it’s not the sex.

Really, quite certain.

License Request Day: Kiko-Chan’s Smile

January 7, 2011 by David Welsh

As I wrap up The Seinen Alphabet (three more letters!), I find myself thinking of the upcoming Josei Alphabet. Since there isn’t a tremendous amount available in English, I’m guessing they’ll consist largely of unlicensed works. It seemed like a good time to do a little investigating and see what’s lurking out there. Imagine my delight when I found something that looks both funny and weird.

It’s called Kiko-Chan’s Smile, five volumes written and illustrated by Tsubasa Nunoura and originally serialized in Kodansha’s Be Love. And it’s about a weird little girl. Isn’t she lovely?

Kiko is an independent, taciturn and, from what I can surmise, kind of forbidding child. Her parents don’t know what to make of her, but her classmates are delighted by the unusual events that seem to swirl around her. She meddles with her teacher’s love life, and she enjoys the companionship of her cat, who also happens to be an angel and the father of five half-angel, half-cat kittens. (Kittels? Angens?) Kittens with supernatural powers, people… tell me that doesn’t light a fire.

I have a documented fondness for manga about weird girls and an unexpected weakness for manga about precocious, disruptive children, so this seems like a fine opportunity to cross the streams, as they say. It doesn’t seem like what one would traditionally think of as josei; I get more of a Morning vibe off of it. But it was adapted into an anime, so that’s always a good sign. And it’s nice to be reminded that the subject matter of josei can be as rangy and odd as the other demographics.

I’m thinking this would be a nice one for Vertical. We can always hope that Kodansha’s own initial offerings do well enough that they’ll publish some less commercial titles, but I definitely get a feeling that this would fit in nicely with the good folks at Vertical. They support kittens in manga.

3 Things Thursday: Looking Forward

January 6, 2011 by MJ 15 Comments

Though we’ve just barely finished looking back at 2010, for those ready to peer forward into the year to come, About.com’s Deb Aoki has posted a gallery of upcoming manga that is truly wondrous to behold. As I flipped through this delicious list earlier, I began to regret my decision to limit myself to 3 Things. Titles like Natsume Ono’s La Quinta Camera and Usamaru Furuya’s Lychee Light Club called out to me sadly, “You’re really going to skip us? Really? REALLY?” Yet I’ll attempt just three all the same. Here goes!

3 manga I’m looking forward to in 2011

1. Wandering Son | Takako Shimura | Fantagraphics – This eleven-volume series about two transgender middle school students making their way through the minefield of adolescence is an ambitious choice for Fantagraphics’ new manga line, and possibly my most-anticipated new manga for 2011.

According to the PR copy, “Written and drawn by one of today’s most critically acclaimed creators of manga, Shimura portrays Shuishi and Yoshino’s very private journey with affection, sensitivity, gentle humor, and unmistakable flair and grace.” I can’t wait to see it for myself.

2. A Zoo in Winter | Jiro Taniguchi | Fanfare – Ponent Mon – I’m still left in a state of dreamy mental bliss whenever I think about Taniguchi’s A Distant Neighborhood, and the idea of being given the opportunity to read a semi-autobiography about the person who put me there is really all I could ever ask for in a manga.

From the PR, “For the first time ever, Taniguchi recalls his beginnings in manga and his youth spent in Tokyo in the 1960s. It is a magnificent account of his apprenticeship where all the finesse and elegance of the creator are united to illustrate those first emotions of adulthood.” Thank you, Fanfare – Ponent Mon, for continuing to bring us works like this!

3. A Bride’s Story | Kaoru Mori | Yen Press – Shockingly, I’ve never read Mori’s Emma, but everything I know about it leads me to believe that this tale of an accomplished young woman sent to marry a 12-year-old will be a must-read for me. From the PR, “At the age of twenty, Amir is sent to a neighboring town to be wed. But her surprise at learning her new husband, Karluk, is eight years younger than her is quickly replaced by a deep affection for the boy and his family … As the two of them learn more about each other through their day-to-day lives, the bond of respect and love grows stronger.”

Yen’s plans to release this in a “deluxe hardcover edition” certainly don’t hurt either.

A million thanks to Deb for providing such a tantalizing gallery! So readers, what are your most anticipated manga of the upcoming year?

From the stack: The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service vol. 11

January 6, 2011 by David Welsh

I always feel a little badly about my follow-up with reviews, as I tend to focus on early volumes of manga series with mostly cursory remarks on later installments unless my opinion changes materially or I feel the book is underappreciated. While my opinion of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Dark Horse) hasn’t changed, I did want to highlight the fact that the eleventh volume, written by Eiji Otsuka and illustrated by Housui Yamazaki, is pretty extraordinary, even by the standards of this uniformly excellent series.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the series, first of all, you really should be. The premise is simple at its core and extremely portable in terms of the kinds of stories Otsuka and Yamazaki tell. It’s about a group of unemployable students at a Buddhist university who combine their unique talents to form a side business dedicated to helping misplaced corpses with their unfinished business. Their various skills include hacking (with computers as opposed to cleavers), embalming and autopsy, channeling a foulmouthed alien entity, detecting dead bodies, and actually speaking to the deceased to find out how they ended up where they ended up.

It’s witty and gruesome, and Otsuka uses the episodic nature of the series to explore not only the ways humans respond to death, but contemporary culture as a whole. The satire is generally just the right kind of sly, which I think results in part from Yamazaki’s open, friendly cartooning. Yamazaki can certainly pull off grisly visuals, but he seems fond of the ways people look different from one another in age, size and shape. Even the terrible people who wander in and out of the narrative have that certain vulnerability you get from the fact that they look distinct, that you could imagine seeing them in your world.

The stories tend to run a few chapters each, but my favorite arcs tend to be longer. The second volume tells a single story, and it’s a glorious mystery with supernatural elements. The eleventh volume includes what I think is the second-longest story arc in the series, and it never flags. Otsuka packs it with both solid plot and smart embellishments.

It’s about mysterious happenings at an elite private school that center around a spooky little girl with an unsavory past named Chihaya. She has a connection to Sasayama, the retired detective/civil servant who often drags our heroes into worthwhile (but unprofitable) scenarios. Chihaya is an amazing character – steely, secretive, and purposeful, but entirely credible as a kid. I would love it if she got a spin-off or at least returned for another big, meaty arc.

Otsuka and Yamazaki have a great time with the social discord of the school setting and the ways little girls can be awful to each other, particularly at the elite levels. They also poke smart fun at the state of journalism and public perceptions of crime and youth. And they give their core cast some great moments. Corpse-finding Numata gets some surprising time in the spotlight, with his slacker-dope persona revealing some unexpected but totally logical nuances. Hacker Sasaki doesn’t get as much panel time, but she has a few terrific bits that remind readers of why she’s the brains of the operation.

The second arc in the book isn’t as good, but that’s mostly a matter of comparison. In an average volume, its look at the seedy underbelly of a beloved institution would be entirely welcome, and it’s not unwelcome here. It just can’t compete with Chihaya’s tightly written, sharply observed plight. If you want to give it a more charitable reading, start at page 171, then pick up at the beginning.

I mentioned this series as a worthy contender for an Eisner nomination, and I’ll happily restate that, particularly based on the strength of this volume. It’s a great comic, and I’d love it if more people gave it a chance.

Off the Shelf: Soap, Shoujo, & Samurai

January 5, 2011 by MJ and Michelle Smith Leave a Comment

Welcome to Off the Shelf with MJ & Michelle, and our first column of the New Year! I’m joined, as always, by Soliloquy in Blue‘s Michelle Smith.

This week, I catch up on some favorites from Yen Press and Viz Media, while Michelle shares a look at a unique “how-to” offering from Tokyopop.

MICHELLE: Hey, MJ? Why were the little strawberries upset?

MJ: I dunno, why?

MICHELLE: ‘Cos they were in a jam!

MJ: Ba-dum-dum *chick*

MICHELLE: Thank you! I’ll be here all week. Tip your waitress.

Before you advise me not to quit my day job, perhaps I should make with the business at hand and inquire as to what you’ve been reading this week!

MJ: I spent the week catching up on new volumes of both a new favorite and an old one. I’ll start with the old one, which would be Park SoHee’s gloriously soapy manhwa, Goong. And I have to say, now that Yen Press has been releasing these in omnibus format, the series is more addictive than ever. Despite its soap-opera leanings, Goong moves at a brisk pace, so it reads very well in two-volume chunks.

Volume ten (consolidated from Korean volumes 11 & 12) begins with Chae-Kyung throwing both herself and her husband to the palace wolves by revealing the truth about their marriage in a live television interview. Incredibly, things only ramp up further from there to the end, making this one of the most dramatic volumes of the series so far.

What I admire most about Park SoHee, aside from her detailed, expressive artwork, is her ability to create well-rounded, morally ambiguous characters in both the “hero” and “villain” camps (particularly with the younger characters), displaying all their weaknesses, refusing to make clear distinctions between them, and yet still creating real biases and allegiances in the hearts of her readers.

Take Hyo-Rin for example. She’s certainly at odds with our heroine, Chae-Kyung, but she’s pretty well-balanced, overall. She’s equal parts “bitch” and “misunderstood victim,” and Park gives significant page time to both. As a reasonable adult, it’s clear to me that she’s just a regular teen girl stuck in a situation just as unfortunate and as unfair as Chae-Kyung’s. Yet I believe Park intends for me to really hate Hyo-Rin. Why? Because I do. I really, really do. Despite the fact that it’s incredibly juvenile of me to do so, I genuinely hate her and have, at times, wished ill upon her.

Writing a villain like a villain may not sound particularly noteworthy, but what’s brilliant about what Park does is the way she’s able to create the illusion of black and white using only shades of gray. It’s what keeps this series crisp and compelling, despite its soapy consistency. I’m impressed by it every time.

MICHELLE: The bit about you wishing ill upon Hyo-Rin literally made me crack up. Well done! And man, you have certainly stoked the flames of my love for Goong. I’ve been hoarding the past several releases with the intention of reading them soon, but now I’m tempted to reread from the beginning first the better to wallow in the melodramatic goodness that is this cracktastic series.

MJ: This volume is just about as melodramatic and as good as it could possibly be, and if you aren’t wishing ill upon Hyo-Rin right along with me by the end, I’ll eat my hat. :D

MICHELLE: No one ever goes through with that promise.

MJ: Well, I might not either. It’s a wool hat. Terrible texture. But never mind that! What have you been reading this week?

MICHELLE: My pick for the week is not actually manga, but is very much about manga. I read How to Draw Shojo Manga, by the Editors of Hakusensha’s shojo magazines. The title is a bit unfortunate, because it might lull one into thinking this is simply a book about drawing, when that isn’t the case at all.

What it is is a very thorough introduction to the entire (incredibly time-consuming) process of creating manga, with specific advice and examples. I’m not talking simply “use this kind of nib for thin lines” but in-depth instruction on topics like creating outlines and storyboards, panel arrangement, the proper order for inking, using digital tools, and even how to deal with criticism. This can sometimes get quite specific, like, “It’s effective to have a panel that draws the eye to the top of the left page.”

Throughout, readers follow Ena, an aspiring manga-ka, as she creates an outline for a 16-page submission to a short story contest, moves on to the storyboard phase, and finally submits her finished product for criticism from two of Hakusensha’s editors. Obviously, the parts of this book dealing with submitting one’s story for consideration aren’t really applicable to American would-be manga-ka—unless they are fluent in Japanese, one supposes—so it’s unlikely that the claim “Follow along with us, work hard, and you will find yourself transformed into a professional shojo manga artist” will ever come to fruition. I wonder how often a book like this has actually produced success in Japan.

That said, even a casual manga fan would find this book illuminating. For a reviewer, particularly ones like us who are trying to improve our skills in artistic criticism, I’d go so far as to call it positively indispensable. There’s so much practical advice about what a manga-ka should be—and theoretically is—striving for in his/her work that I found it quite a fascinating read.

MJ: I have a copy of this as well, and while I haven’t read it in-depth, I was immediately struck by how different it is from the lame, obviously western takes on “shojo manga” we’ve seen in so many how-to books. It’s honestly the first one I’ve ever been sent that I had any interest at all in reading after doing a quick flip-through, and that includes all the ones I’ve actually read. Heh.

Though I expect you’re right–not too many American artists are going to be submitting their work for publication in Japan–was any of the submission advice general enough to be useful for western artists submitting their work to OEL publishers?

MICHELLE: Indeed, there is nothing lame about this book at all. And absolutely, the advice would completely apply to OEL creators. From the aspects of the craft itself to how to solicit criticism—instead of asking a friend whether they liked your work, instead ask if they understood it, for example—it’s completely applicable for western artists!

MJ: Now I feel even more inspired to read this!

MICHELLE: Any time I like something, I always think that you should read it, but this time I really, really mean it. I think you’ll learn a lot. I did.

Anyways, enough gushing. You hinted earlier at a new favorite. Which one might that be?

MJ: Ah yes, well, the new volume of a new favorite is volume two of Natsume Ono’s House of Five Leaves, one of my favorite debut series last year. As you may recall, I read volume one pretty much on a whim via the SigIKKI website, during a week in which I had little access to physical books. It’s going to be real books all the way for Five Leaves from now on, though. This series is definitely a keeper.

As this volume opens, Masa falls ill, which forces him to retire to the country under the care of Goinkyo, a friend of the Five Leaves gang. With Masa separated from Five Leaves’ leader Yaichi for most of the volume, the story takes on a dreamy, disjointed feel, emphasizing how important Masa’s admiration of Yaichi has become to his sense of purpose–perhaps even his sense of self. At Goinkyo’s, Masa is encouraged to discontinue his association with the Five Leaves, but thanks to Yaichi’s influence, it’s clear by the end of the volume that Masa’s not going anywhere.

This series continues to be very much in tune with my personal sensibilities, which is obviously a major selling point for me. Masa’s layers of quiet turmoil, the story’s moral ambiguity, and Ono’s distinctive, melancholy artwork are all perfectly constructed for my enjoyment. Though this volume has a distinctly plodding feel, this has the effect of placing the reader in Masa’s convalescent headspace–part boredom, part relief, and tinged with some undetermined amount of separation anxiety. The volume’s a bit sleepy but never dull, and the last few pages are genuinely riveting.

I suspect a series that relies so heavily on prolonged character study may not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s certainly a great fit for mine. And I’m expecting the emotional payoff to be pretty big as Masa submerges himself further into the world of the Five Leaves.

MICHELLE: I’ve really been looking forward to reading this second volume after I, too, loved the first very much. With his personality, Masa could so easily be irritating if handled poorly, but Ono renders him with incredible sympathy. He is ill-equipped to resist Yaichi and his charms and is actually kind of adorable in how he gets swept up in it all.

MJ: I absolutely adore Masa, and I agree that might well not be the case were he in another author’s hands. As it is, though, he’s a character I always want to know more about. I think I actually find him more interesting than any of the mysterious criminals around him. He’s really a unique protagonist.

MICHELLE: Definitely. You know, your picks this week remind me how much thoroughly awesome manga and manhwa we have in English these days. Granted, I could easily rattle off a dozen series I’d love to see licensed, but we’ve got it good.

MJ: You’re absolutely right. It’s a great time to be a fan, no matter how you look at it.

MICHELLE: Which reminds me, Deb Aoki at About.com put together this thoroughly awesome gallery of the new series debuting here in 2011. I bookmarked it, and thought maybe others might find it useful as well.

MJ: Great call, Michelle! Way to start the New Year off right!

MICHELLE: I guess this just goes to show that I can never simply appreciate what we’ve got, but must always pine for more, but I’m looking forward to quite a lot on that list and that’s a fun place to be as a fan.

MJ: I’ll drink to that.

Happy New Year from Off the Shelf!

Manga Bookshelf’s Ayako Giveaway!

January 5, 2011 by MJ Leave a Comment

As both a celebration of the New Year and of a new era at Manga Bookshelf, we’ll be giving away a copy of Osamu Tezuka’s Ayako, beautifully translated and produced in hardcover by Vertical, Inc.

Ayako has made quite a number of critics’ lists for Best of 2010, including mine and Kate’s. Both David and Kate have reviewed the book, and I’ll be doing so shortly.

TO ENTER:
Please submit your entry by using our fancy new contact form, with the subject line “Ayako” and your name in the body of the e-mail.

You must be 18 or older to enter and must be able to provide an address within the continental US for shipping if you win (this book is heavy).

The winner will be chosen at random on January 15th and announced here at Manga Bookshelf.

Good luck!

2010 Reader Awards for Manhwa

January 5, 2011 by Hana Lee Leave a Comment

The winners list of the Reader Awards for best manhwa of 2010 has been posted online, and I’ve provided an English translation of the winners.

Grand Prize:

First place: Moss (이끼) by Yun Tae-ho
A horror/psychological thriller manhwa originally published as a webtoon and adapted into a live-action movie that was released last year. It was briefly reviewed in An introduction to Korean webcomics. (Aladin)

Second place: 2010 Sound of My Heart (2010 마음의 소리) by Jo Seok
A comedy featuring a protagonist with a bizarre personality and originally published on Naver as a very popular webtoon. (Aladin)

Third place: Let’s Fight, Monster! (싸우자 귀신아!) by Im In-seu
A supernatural manhwa about a girl who can see monsters. Like the above two series, it was also originally published as a webtoon. (Aladin)

Best Debut Prize:

First place: Fortune* (포천) by Yu Seung-jin
A historical manhwa about a fortuneteller, originally published online at Sports Donga. (Aladin)

Second Place: Let’s Fight, Monster! (싸우자 귀신아!) by Im In-seu

Third Place: The Unbiased Fairytale (실질객관동화) by Invincible Pink
As the title suggests, a revisionist retelling of fairy tales, with satirical commentary about the morals they teach. Yet another webtoon that was originally published on Naver. (Aladin)

Published Manhwa Prize

First Place: Gourmet (식객) by Heo Yeong-man
Bestselling manhwa series about a chef by one of the most well-known manhwa-ga and adapted into a television drama as well as two movies. (Aladin)

Second Place: Castella Recipe (카스텔라 레시피) by MASA+PnH
A fantasy manhwa series about the adventures of a new student at a magic academy. (Aladin)

Third Place: Gangteuk High Kids** (강특고 아이들) by Kim Min-hui
A school manhwa about a high school for children with psychic abilities. (Aladin)

Online Manhwa Prize

First Place: With the Gods (신과 함께) by Ju Ho-min
A Naver webtoon about a man undergoing judgment in the afterlife and a man haunting this world as a ghost after his death. (Aladin)

Second Place: Cheese in the Trap (치즈인더트랩) by Sun-kki
A Naver webtoon about a college student and her relationship with a mysterious upperclassman. (Naver)

Third Place: Welcome to Room 305 (어서오세요. 305호에.) by Wanan
A Naver webtoon about two roommates and their everyday lives. (Naver)

Judges’ Choice

First Place: Yongsan Where I Lived (내가 살던 용산) by various
Six manhwa-ga produced six stories about the everyday lives of people now passed away, based on stories from their families. (Aladin)

Second Place: Moss (이끼) by Yun Tae-ho

Third Place: Nothing to Cry About*** (울기엔 좀 애매한) by Choi Gyu-seok
A slice-of-life manhwa about the hardships and struggles of a working-class man who does not deserve his bad luck but bears it with good grace. (Aladin)

Translation Notes:
* I translated this title as Fortune because the title is meant to be wordplay on the English word “fortune” while the hanja characters given mean “to embrace the heavens”. (↑)
** The summary suggests that the full name of the school is “Gangwondo Special High School”—Gangwondo being a province of South Korea—but I left it untranslated in its abbreviated form as “Gangteuk”. (↑)
*** My translation of the title is not quite correct, as the nuance is “I haven’t done anything wrong to cry about.” (↑)

(H/t to Kim Nakho of @capcold and capcold.net for the link.)

The Seinen Alphabet: W

January 5, 2011 by David Welsh

“W” is for…

Wandering Son, written and illustrated by Takako Shimura, originally serialized in Enterbrain’s Comic Beam and due for English-language release from Fantagraphics. This tale of gender identity is easily one of the most anticipated books of 2011.

What a Wonderful World!, written and illustrated by Inio Asano, originally serialized in Shogakukan’s Sunday GX and published in English in two volumes by Viz. Interconnected short stories that are sometimes very lovely and sometimes kind of predictably mope-y, but Asano is undeniably talented, and I’ll certainly read any of his work that’s published in English.

What’s Michael?, written and illustrated by Makoto Kobayashi, originally serialized in Kodansha’s Weekly Morning, then partially serialized in English in Dark Horse’s Super Manga Blast. It’s about cats. That’s all I really need to say.

Wolf’s Rain, written by Keiko Nobumoto and illustrated by Toshitsugu Iida, originally serialized in Kodansha’s Magazine Z and published in English by Viz. It’s a two-volume adaptation of a popular fantasy anime.

Wounded Man, written by Kazuo Koike and illustrated by Ryoichi Ikegami, originally serialized in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Spirits and published in English by Comics One. I think this might be the most violent Koike manga to be licensed. I certainly remember people cringing at the thought of it.

Working!!, written and illustrated by Karino Takatsu, serialized in Square Enix’s Young Gangan. It’s a comedy about quirky people working in a family restaurant. I have a weakness for manga of that type, so I suspect I would be pleased if someone published it in English.

What Did You Eat Yesterday?, written and illustrated by Fumi Yoshinaga, serialized in Kodansha’s Weekly Morning. I mentioned this previously, but I’ll mention it again, because I’m desperate for someone to publish it in English. It’s about a food-loving gay couple.

What’s the Answer?, written and illustrated by Tondabayashi, originally serialized in Shogakukan’s IKKI, appears very intermittently on Viz’s SigIKKI site.

“W” is also for “Weekly,” a modifier that often appears before the title of various Japanese manga magazines to indicate the frequency with which they are published. Please peruse this list at your leisure for examples.

What starts with “W” in your seinen alphabet?

Update:

And the glaring omission klaxon sounds! I inexcusably forgot Daisuke (Children of the Sea) Igarashi’s Witches, originally serialized in Shogakukan’s IKKI, which means it seems like fair game for the SigIKKI site. I’ve already given this one the License Request treatment, which I’ll take this opportunity to reaffirm.

Update 2:

This omission is even more inexcusable, as Jiro Taniguchi’s The Walking Man (Fanfare/Ponent Mon) is one of my favorite comics of all time, and I read it over and over again. It’s title is entirely accurate; it’s about a middle-class guy who goes for walks in his suburban neighborhood, enjoying everyday wonders, and it’s quite unlike almost anything else you’re likely to find in a comic shop. It originally ran in Kodansha’s Weekly Morning and was later reprinted by Shogakukan.

On the creator front, there’s the hilarious Kiminori Wakasugi, whose Detroit Metal City (Viz) continues to delight and offend.

Upcoming 1/5/2011

January 4, 2011 by David Welsh

I’ve already pointed out my Pick of the Week, but I would feel incomplete if I didn’t look through the rest of this week’s ComicList.

I think this shipped through other venues, but Diamond is finally delivering the first volume of Nicolas De Crecy’s Salvatore: Transports of Love. This has the dual attractions of being by De Crecy, whose Glacial Period remains one of my favorite graphic novels of all time, and of being a fulfilled license request. Salvatore is about a gifted auto mechanic who also happens to be an antisocial dog (an oxymoron, but I’ll suspend disbelief) who goes off in search of true love while dealing with a variety of odd customers. I’m stupidly excited to have this in my hands.

The rest of the week is devoted to new volumes of lovely manga titles.

There’s the fifth volume of Kou Yaginuma’s Twin Spica (Vertical), which has rightly been showing up on Best of 2010 lists all over the place.

From Viz, there’s the tenth (and final) volume of Hinako Ashihara’s Sand Chronicles, which explores the stories of supporting characters and fills in back story. Continuing the glorious shôjo trend is the fifth volume of Yuki Midorikawa’s Natsume’s Book of Friends, which focuses on cram sessions and mermaid blood, which is exactly what one should expect from this supernatural series.

What sounds good to you?

Natsume, Kurozakuro, Panda, Prince

January 3, 2011 by Katherine Dacey, Michelle Smith, MJ and David Welsh Leave a Comment

With the addition of new authors to the Manga Bookshelf family of blogs, it seemed like the right time to refresh this weekly feature with more diversity of opinion. To that end, both Kate and David will now be joining in offer up their weekly Picks. And as a bonus, we have a Pick from Soliloquy in Blue‘s Michelle Smith. So take your pick of the Picks below or stretch your pocketbook and pick up all four!

From MJ: There isn’t a lot of excitement to be found for me in this week’s batch of incoming manga, though there are a couple of bright spots. A new volume of Sand Chronicles is always welcome, of course, but my eye is especially drawn to volume five of Natsume’s Book of Friends, one of my favorite new shoujo series last year. I got a bit bogged down with it during volume three, but here’s a snippet from my thoughts on volume four: “The volume begins on a strong note, by introducing a troubled yokai who ends up inhabiting the body of a snow bunny (not the kind found on ski slopes, but in children’s back yards) in order to try to reunite with his one-time companion who had been driven to the dark side by the cruelty of humanity. While that concept sounds at once unbearably cutesy and melodramatic, its execution is anything but. It’s subtle and moving, and in that moment, the series won me back completely.”

The emotional content of this series has really refined itself beautifully over the course of its run so far, and I’m really looking forward to picking up the this week’s volume.

From David: I missed the first volume of this series, and I have no idea if it’s particularly good or not, but I was very struck by the style of the covers of Kurozakuro (Viz), written and illustrated by Yoshinori Natsume. I tend not to be a big shounen fan, but I’ve done pretty well with the titles in Viz’s Shonen Sunday imprint. This one is about a boy who finds that he’s turning into an ogre and wants to eat people, which isn’t your standard young-man-with-a-dream problem. The preview on the Shonen Sunday site looks kind of promising, particularly in terms of the style of the illustrations.

From Kate: I’m going to put on my Good Comics for Kids hat and champion Panda Man and the Treasure Hunt, the second installment of a new graphic novel/activity book/chapter book series from VIZ Kids. The first volume of Panda Man was perfect for seven- or eight-year-olds: it had stylish artwork, plenty of slapstick, and enough bathroom humor to satisfy the most discerning fart joke connoisseur. Oh, and mazes, connect-the-dot exercises, and drawing tips, making it a great choice for keeping kids busy on a car ride or a plane trip. The second volume finds Panda Man going mano-a-mano with pirates in search of treasure. I’m guessing the plot may be a little disjointed — the first volume was more a collection of gags than a story — but I can’t imagine it will be anything less than entertaining. Even an adult can appreciate a hero whose primary weapons are smelly feet and an overactive GI tract; as someone who rode the NYC subway for years, I can attest to the awesome, crippling power of stinky toes!

From Michelle: For me, the automatic purchase this week is volume 40 of Takeshi Konomi’s The Prince of Tennis. I recently completed a marathon read to get current on the series, and though many ridiculous elements offer themselves up as reasons for mockery—chief among them Konomi’s decision to depict the pinnacle of tennis achievement with glowing auras and sparkles (both visible to spectators)—I would never for a moment dream of giving up on it before its completion, even though the product description warns me to expect “a wicked case of amnesia” in this latest volume. That’s my Prince of Tennis: incredibly silly and yet so irresistible.

So, readers, what’s your Pick this week?

Manhwa Monday: Doom & Gloom?

January 3, 2011 by MJ 7 Comments

Welcome to the first Manhwa Monday column in 2011! Though I’m sorry to say, readers, that I’ve come here mainly to whine. This morning, I did my regular beginning-of-the-month search for new manhwa releases for January, and these were the results:

Laon, vol. 4.

Yep, that’s it. The sole upcoming manhwa release for the month is volume four of Laon from Yen Press. Now, surely one slow month is nothing to whine about, but with no new manhwa license announcements (so far) for the upcoming year, things are starting to look a little bit grim.

Udon Entertainment and TOKYOPOP have seemingly abandoned their manhwa lines. Dark Horse has two series still running, with nothing new on the horizon. NETCOMICS hasn’t updated any of their online series since October (and has nearly given up print). Even Yen Press, the industry’s trustiest source for English-language manhwa, has more series winding down than anything else.

Despite KOCCA’s strong presence at 2010’s New York Comic Con, manhwa seems to have lost momentum in the North American comics market, with very little obvious push coming even from KOCCA itself, if the current state of NETCOMICS’ release schedule is anything to go by. So imagine my surprise when an article entitled Will Manhwa Catch Manga? turned up in my Google Alerts this week.

My surprise faded quickly as I actually read the piece. The article’s author, Ulara Nakagawa, quotes Jung-sun Park, a professor at California State University, thusly, ” Though they’ve been consistently popular domestically up to now, she said, Korean comics, or manhwa, have yet to really take off outside of the country.” This obviously jives with what we’ve been seeing here in the US.

Where Park sees the future of manhwa, however, is in digital comics, particularly those that may potentially be offered for the iPad. Now, while I’m not particularly thrilled with this idea as a trend–I like my manhwa in print, especially the long, soapy, sunjeong series of which I’ve become so fond–evidence points to webtoons as being the source of much innovation in Korea’s comics industry, and I’ll take what I can get.

With that in mind, it’s telling that my only real bit of manhwa news this week comes from iSeeToon, who recently announced their updated app schedule for the beginning of the year–the only new English-translated manhwa to be announced by any publisher so far for 2011. Though I’ve been unable to check out their Magician series thus far, I’m hoping that the updated app may be available for iPad as well as iPhone/iPod. iSeeToon also continues their series on types of manhwa in Korea with an article on educational manhwa.

This week in reviews, at Slightly Biased Manga, Connie takes a look at volumes four, five, and six of Very! Very! Sweet (Yen Press). And at Anime Salvation, Finn checks out Change Guy (ADV). And for a look at what we’re missing, our own Hana Lee shares a review of volume two of Joseon Female Detective Damo.

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Previews review January 2011

January 3, 2011 by David Welsh

There isn’t a wealth of exciting new product in the current edition of the Previews catalog from Diamond Comics Distributors, so I thought I would try a little experiment. I’ll put forward three (uninspiring sounding) debuting titles and let you vote on which one I should try.

First up, from Digital Manga, we have the potentially odious The Beautiful Skies of Hou Ou High, written and illustrated by Arata Aki. When Kei’s mom finds out her daughter likes girls, she sends Kei to an all-boys’ high school to presumably de-gay her or something. Will it be charmingly subversive, or just gross? It originally ran in Mag Garden’s Comic Avarus, which doesn’t mean a whole lot to me. (Page 281.)

Are you perverse enough to subject me to the sparkly incoherence of Arina Tanemura? Is that even a question? Anyway, her new title from Viz is Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura, and it’s about “the granddaughter of a mysterious moon princess who slew demons with her Blood Cherry Blossom sword.” Please don’t do this to me. It originally ran in Shueisha’s Ribon. (Page 321.)

There’s something about Kazue Kato’s Blue Exorcist (also Viz) that looks like trouble, and not the fun kind of trouble. It’s about an orphaned boy raised by a priest who learns that he’s one of Satan’s bastard children. (The orphan, not the priest, at least as far as I know.) So the orphan decides to become an exorcist so he can fight his dad. Manga plus Catholicism is always… awkward. It originally ran in Shueisha’s Jump Square. (Page 322.)

Please vote for one of the above in the comments before January 15, 2011, and I will dutifully order the title that garners the highest number of votes through my local comic shop.

Mercifully, there are tons of new volumes of great ongoing series, which I will now dutifully list:

Itazura na Kiss vol. 5, written and illustrated by Kaoru Tada, Digital Manga, page 280

Salt Water Taffy vol. 4: Caldera’s Revenge, written and illustrated by Matthew Loux, Oni Press, page 302

V.B. Rose vol. 12, written and illustrated by Banri Hiaka, Tokyopop, page 313

Cross Game vol. 3, written and illustrated by Mitsuru Adachi, Viz, page 324

House of Five Leaves vol. 3, written and illustrated by Natsume Ono, Viz, page 325

Twin Spica vol. 6, written and illustrated by Kou Yaginuma, Vertical, page 327

Bunny Drop vol. 3, written and illustrated by Yumi Unita, Yen Press, page 329

By the way, Viz’s new web site is terrible. Terrible, terrible, terrible.

Update: Lissa (Kuriousity) Pattillo has some thoughts on Viz’s terrible new web site.

Joseon Female Detective Damo, Vol. 2

January 2, 2011 by Hana Lee 2 Comments

Joseon Female Detective Damo, Vol. 2 | By Bang Hak-gi | Cheonnyeon-ui Sijak

Joseon Female Detective Damo (조선여형사 다모) was originally published as a newspaper or shinmun manhwa in Sports Seoul in 1994. It followed a previous series that the manhwa-ga, Bang Hak-gi (방학기), had published in 1979, called Damo Nam-sun (다모 남순이), which was serialized in Sports Seoul. In 2003, MBC turned Damo into a popular television miniseries, starring Ha Ji-won in the title role. Although the manhwa has not been translated into English, the drama is available for legal viewing in U.S. and Canada by streaming online at Dramafever.

(The first volume is currently out-of-print, which is why my reviews are beginning with the second volume. Fortunately, the drama remained sufficiently faithful to the original story, and the manhwa itself—no doubt due to its original form as a weekly serial—provided enough context to allow the reader to follow along without having read the first volume.)

The word damo (다모 or 茶母) originally indicated a female servant who served tea in government offices. However, by the late Joseon dynasty, the meaning of the term had evolved to refer to female police detectives, who were important for searching and interrogating female suspects in Joseon’s gender-segregated society. Set during the late 17th century, Joseon Female Detective Damo tells the story of one such detective, Chae-ok, who serves under the chief inspector of the Left Police Bureau, Hwangbo Yun.

At the start of the second volume, Chae-ok, who habitually goes disguised as a man, has gone undercover to infiltrate a ring of counterfeiters. With a fellow servant, Ma Chuk-ji, she helps a prisoner named Noh escape from the notoriously well-guarded Seorin jail. Having won Noh’s trust, Chae-ok and Ma Chuk-ji follow him to his hideout, where they realize that the criminal activities go far beyond just counterfeiting money. Noh and his men are illegally smuggling in weapons—specifically Japanese-style swords and guns—suggesting a much more dangerous criminal conspiracy that can only be backed by a high-ranking official.

Ma Chuk-ji on the left, Chae-ok on the right.

Meanwhile, Chae-ok’s superior, Hwangbo Yun is fired from his position as chief inspector of the Left Police Bureau because of the prison break. However, he has already anticipated his dismissal, which in combination with the infiltration operation, is part of his ambitious plan to promote his government career by exposing a high-profile crime. A flashback shows that Hwangbo Yun is an illegitimate son of a nobleman; due to this status, he was originally barred from civil service and served instead as a low-ranking military officer. (Due to the literati culture of the time, the military was held in lower esteem than the civil bureaucracy. The police bureau on the other hand was considered part of the civil service.) He received his appointment to the Left Police Bureau through a matter of luck: after surviving a murder attempt by his half-brother, the investigation into the crime brings Yun to the attention of the head of the Left Police Bureau, who appoints him to the chief inspector position. However, the appointment also won him many enemies, including Jeong Pil-jun, the Minister of War and the main antagonist of the series. Jeong Pil-jun is the man responsible for Hwangbo Yun’s dismissal, and the Left Police Bureau suspect that he is also behind the counterfeiting and smuggling ring.

Hwangbo Yun on the left, Jeong Pil-jun on the right.

Noh takes Chae-ok and Ma Chuk-ji to the criminals’ mountain stronghold, where they meet the leader, Cheon Seung-gi. They learn that the goal of the conspiracy is revolution: Cheon Seung-gi is gathering dissatisfied commoners and other dissidents and training them into a small army, whose purpose is to overthrow the Yi Joseon dynasty. Their cry is “Justice now!” (a rough translation of “이재궁궁”), a prayer for a better world. Cheon Seung-gi, despite his idealism, has his own dark past, as a former eunuch who is on the run after murdering his adulterous wife. Chae-ok and Ma Chuk-ji must now try to find evidence that conclusively proves that Cheon Seung-gi is taking orders from a government official and uncover that official’s identity. Despite their best efforts, they get nowhere, which leads them to conclude that they have to trick Cheon Seung-gi into revealing his patron. The volume ends as their trap is set, using Ma Chuk-ji’s wife, Tabak-nyeo, to get close to the criminals’ leader.

Cheon Seung-gi.

Although this manhwa is not rated, the dark subject matter, including visual depictions of violence and sex, make it very much a series for adults. (The drama, by comparison, would receive at most a Teen (13+) rating.) While the stylized art prevents the images from seeming explicit, they do represent what in a more realistic style would be very graphic scenes. Although featuring a strong female protagonist in a historical setting sends a feminist message, readers should be warned that the series does contain misogynistic content that goes beyond the sexism of the historical period. In particular, Cheon Seung-gi has a deep-seated hatred of women, and I found the two scenes where he murders women to be disturbing.

These warnings aside, the manhwa depicts the historical period with considerable realism and takes the time to provide background information that is not common knowledge. As the manhwa’s intended audience is supposed to have learned about Korean history in school, it suggests that the manhwa-ga put in considerable time into researching the setting and making the manhwa educational as well as entertaining. (Certainly, the experience of reading this manhwa has drastically expanded my knowledge of historical vocabulary.)

The strength of the manhwa is in its moral ambiguity. While the drama does address the issue of how both sides are in the right, the manhwa takes it one step further and shows how both sides are in the wrong. In this volume, Bang Hak-gi delves into extensive flashbacks for Hwangbo Yun and Cheon Seung-gi, showing past context that is important to understanding both characters. Neither Hwangbo Yun nor Cheon Seung-gi are pillars of virtue, and at times, they are thoroughly dislikable characters. The manhwa takes a sharp and critical look at all the social problems of the era through the lens of a protagonist who, as a woman and as a slave, is at the bottom of the hierarchy and sees the situation most clearly. It is telling that Chae-ok’s weapon of choice in the manhwa is a flail (also known as nunchaku), a commoner’s weapon, rather than the sword wielded by her drama counterpart, and yet she never loses a fight in this volume.

Since Damo is an older series, the art is very different from the more well-known examples of magazine or jabji manhwa. Bang Hak-gi’s style lends itself well to action scenes, drawn with thick, dynamic lines that almost make the characters seem to move on the page:

Series of panels where Chae-ok is fighting off pursuers during the prison break with a backflip kick.

While figures and backgrounds are rendered without much detail, the manhwa-ga does pay considerable attention to the form of the bodies in his action scenes and makes good use of the limited space on the page. The faces are often drawn in vivid close-ups, and characters that would otherwise look similar are often distinguished by evoking differences in expression and posture. Also impressive is his ability to render landscapes in a minimal number of lines:

Series of panels depicting a river on the left and a mountain landscape on the right.

As someone who had enjoyed the drama adaptation of this series, I enjoyed this opportunity to read the original manhwa. Despite the familiarity of the story, the manhwa proved to strike a much darker tone and a somewhat cynical perspective in comparison to the drama. The complex and nuanced portrayal of the characters grabbed my attention and made me curious to find out what happens next after the cliffhanger ending of this volume. For readers who are interested in historical crime stories with a generous side of political intrigue and martial arts action, Joseon Female Detective Damo will be a perfect fit.