Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews
I have an extra copy of Master Keaton, so I’m going to give it away!
Leave a comment with the profession you would use as your back-up job while spending most of your time globetrotting on action-packed insurance investigations!
Professor? Etsy Crafter? Bike messenger? Foghat roadie??
Contest will be open for one week!
US residents only please.
Commenter #5, Angel won the giveaway! Stay tuned for another giveaway soon!
Master Keaton Volume 1 by Naoki Urasawa, Takashi Nagasaki, and Hokusei Katsushika
I don’t have the best track record of finishing Naoki Urasawa series. I own all of 20th Century Boys and mean to read it all the way through again. I’ve checked out a couple volumes of Pluto and the first few volumes of Monster. One of these days I will finish an Urasawa series! This failing on my part didn’t stop me from trying out Master Keaton, and I enjoyed the first volume, even though there were a few aspects of the manga that didn’t quite come together for me.
Taichi Hiraga Keaton is a half Japanese half British archaeologist, apathetic professor, and insurance investigator with a unique set of survival skills due to his background in the SAS. He bounces between giving lectures and handling cases for Lloyd’s of London. Many reviewers have referred to Keaton as a mash-up between Indiana Jones and Macgyver, and that’s a good way to sum up the series. Keaton seems to have a bit more inner turmoil than a action hero though, and that’s what makes this series entertaining. We’re introduced to Keaton when a man named Leon Pappas with a substantial life insurance policy dies in Greece. Keaton is dispatched to investigate the murder, but he only has a certain number of days he can allocate to the task, since he has to get back into the classroom the following week.
Keaton’s sensitivity towards antiquities and his excellence in creating weapons out of random kitchen implements are showcased in this story, as he uncovers more facts about the subject of his investigation when he meets Pappa’s girlfriend and manages to fend off some unscrupulous and armed business associates. The rest of the volume is a bit meandering, as different chapters have Keaton explore new mysteries, deal with his teenage daughter, and confront a significant figure from his own past. Aspects of the story here and there are a bit didactic, as the reader is informed about illegal weapons trade, aspects of art forgery, desert survival tactics, and the opium trade. I enjoyed the way the manga skipped around from topic to topic, but I generally enjoy manga with infodumps more when there is some genuine enthusiasm behind conveying all the information. I would happily read chapters upon chapters of a Fumi Yoshinaga where the characters discuss nuances of vegetable chopping, but in Master Keaton I have to admit I found my attention wandering at times.
Keaton’s personality is so reserved and unaffected for the most part. He tends to create a random gadget that saves the day very casually, which is amusing, but it is difficult to see how his adventures are having any impact on him personally. I was glad when his daughter showed up and drew him into an adventure protecting an archeological site, and Keaton’s odd reflexive anxiety about his ex-wife getting married again hints at some deeper emotions. While Urasawa’s art isn’t as polished as his later works, the character designs are all unique and enjoyable and the action scenes are all capably handled. Early Urasawa art is way above the quality of what most artists could aspire to. The over ized deluxe signature edition is really nice, with color pages and a sound effects glossary in the back. I’m curious to see what the next volume of this series is like. In some ways, I liked the shift in focus from unraveling a mystery to family, back to a thriller type story dealing with the drug trade, but at the same time I’m wondering how well that will pan out if the plot continues to skip around like that too much in subsequent volumes.
I’m giving away a copy of this volume, so you can check it out yourself!
SEAN: I am aware that I will be in the minority this week, as the rest of the Manga Bookshelf team has Korean product on its mind, be it Goong or Milkyway Hitchhiking. I am also aware that it is a bit wearying for me to continue being fascinated with Sword Art Online. But I find the premise of this new manga, Sword Art Online: Progressive to be fascinating: go back to your most famous product years later and rewrite it to be better and have more detail and depth. I’m excited.
MICHELLE: Well, you certainly have me pegged. Goong all the way!
MJ: Goong is a long-time favorite, no doubt about it. And I’m actually interested in more Sword Art Online! But there’s no getting around the fact that my heart has been irretrievably captured by the odd and adorable Milkyway Hitchhiking. Its first volume was as whimsical and beautifully drawn as One Fine Day, plus full color and a time-traveling cat. What’s not to love? Milkyway Hitchhiking owns my soul. Must have more. Like. Now.
ANNA: I’m going to have to go with Goong, even though I’m really curious about Milkyway Hitchhiking now!
ASH: I was tempted to choose something else just to be contrary, but my heart is with Milkyway Hitchhiking. The first volume was lovely, with gorgeous artwork and almost poetic storytelling; I’m looking forward to the next installment a great deal.
My News and Reviews
I posted two reviews at Experiments in Manga last week. The first review was of Manazuru, Hiromi Kawakami’s first novel to be translated into English. It’s a slightly surreal but moving work about memory, loss, letting go, and moving on. I had previously read and enjoyed some of Kawakami’s short stories, but Manazuru is her first long-form work that I’ve read. The other review posted last week was a part of my monthly horror manga review project. In December I took a look at took a look at Setona Mizushiro’s After School Nightmare, Volume 1, but this month I started digging into Yuki Urushibara’s award-winning Mushishi, which happens to be one of my favorite manga series. (Next month will be After School Nightmare‘s turn once again, and I’ll continue to alternate between the series.)
On to other interesting news and reading! Sparkler Monthly has a new subscription model for the new year, which means even more of its content is now free. (But if you like what you see, please consider becoming a member!) Kodansha Comics announced several new licenses, including a new series from Blade of the Immortal‘s Hiroaki Samura among other intriguing manga. Amazon leaked Vertical Comics’ most recent acquisition announcement, Hajime Segawa’s Tokyo ESP. And speaking of Vertical, here’s a list of Vertical manga that may be going out of print in the near future. And completely unrelated, Gayumbos has an interview with Kazuhide Ichikawa, one of the creators featured in Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It.
Finally, I wanted to draw everyone’s attention to the Female Goth Mangaka Carnival which is currently under way and will continue through the end of January. Hosted by the The Beautiful World, which previously hosted the Kaori Yuki Manga Moveable Feast, the Carnival is focusing on Fujiwara Kaoru, Kusumoto Maki, Mitsukazu Mihara, Junko Mizuno, Asumiko Nakamura and their works. I have a few things in mind for the Carnival, including a spotlight on Mitsukazu Mihara, a manga giveaway that ties into the Carnival, and a review of Asumiko Nakamura’s Utsubora. Assuming all goes according to plan, my Carnival posts should start showing up by Friday.
Quick Takes
Ani-Imo, Volume 1 by Haruko Kurumatani. I often enjoy body-swap manga, but I was somewhat wary of Ani-Imo. I’ll admit, the first volume actually wasn’t as terrible as I anticipated it would be. There were even parts of it that I legitimately liked. Still, overall I really can’t say that I enjoyed the manga. There’s a lot about Ani-Imo that frankly makes me uncomfortable. I’m actually not bothered by the potential incest itself (although the manga’s excuse that makes it not really incest seems awfully convenient and not particularly believable). However, I intensely disliked the doctor in the manga. He comes across as extremely predatory and unfortunately his bisexuality is used to emphasize that point. Also, the young women in the series, despite being high schoolers, look more like elementary grade students, which makes the sexual overtones of Ani-Imo even harder to take. Some of the manga’s creepiness I’m sure is intentional, but since the series seems to be trying to be a comedy. The balance of the series’ tone doesn’t seem quite right and the manga ends up being a bit off-putting.
Manga Dogs, Volume 2 by Ema Toyama. Since Manga Dogs is more of a gag manga than anything else, there isn’t really much of a driving plot to the series. Instead there’s the initial setup (a high school with a new, but abysmally supported manga program) and the introduction of the main players (Tezuka and the three classmates who have attached themselves to her, as well as a small handful of supporting cast members) which serve as the starting point for all of the hijinks in the series. I’m not really sure where Manga Dogs is heading, or even if it is heading anywhere, but I do find it amusing. Granted, much of the humor depends on a reader having a deeper interest in and understanding of manga and its creation than the casual fan might generally possess. The other major source of the series’ comedy are the goofball antics of Tezuka’s enthusiastic yet delusional devotees–Specs, Prince, and Dream Kid. But, surprisingly enough, although they’re usually air-headed idiots, every once in a while the three of them actually do exhibit some common sense.
Witchcraft Works, Volumes 1-2 by Ryu Mizunagi. Witches seem to be showing up in anime and manga more and more often these days, but I don’t have a particular interest in them. I almost passed over Witchcraft Works because of that. But since it’s a manga being released by Vertical Comics, I was a little more inclined to check it out. That and I generally liked the artwork; the cover in particular is striking, but the interior art looks great, too (even if some of the character designs tend to be absurdly buxom). So far, Witchcraft Works is a delightfully strange and quirky manga, it’s ridiculousness and weirdness making it a lot of fun. I’m especially enjoying the reversals in the usual gender roles–Honoka, the male lead, is the one who needs saving and protecting while Ayaka, the female lead, is the strong and stoic hero. (I also love that she’s at least a head taller than him.) Ayaka is an incredibly powerful fire witch which means many of the action sequences are done and over with before they’ve really had the chance to begin, but at least she puts an end to things with flair. And often literally with flare.
Taisho Baseball Girls directed by Takashi Ikehata. Although I’ve discovered that I generally enjoy sports anime, I was particularly interested in Taisho Baseball Girls because of its historical setting. Not many series take place during the Taisho era, a time period in which Japan was becoming increasingly Westernized and there was some societal anxiety caused by that. Although the twelve-episode anime is based on an ongoing series of light novels written by Atsushi Kagurazaka, it tells a complete and very satisfying story. A group of nine high school girls band together to form a baseball team in order to challenge an all-boys team and prove that women’s place in the world shouldn’t be and isn’t limited to the household. The problem is that very few of the girls actually have any experience playing baseball. Taisho Baseball Girls is a charming and heartwarming series without being overly sentimental. Some of the girls’ family members, friends, and teachers oppose what they’re doing and their unladylike behavior while others are incredibly supportive of them and their hard work.
By Rumiko Takahashi. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Viz.
My resolve to do full reviews of the whole Ranma series as it comes out can sometimes give me pause, as this is not only a series that fights against a deeper analysis but which actively becomes worse when you treat it too seriously. Treating Ranma as shallow entertainment is something people have to do to get enjoyment out of it, due to the vast cast of unlikeable people in it. And it’s also a lot less serialized than even I remembered it being, with plots and people coming and going as Takahashi saw fit. For example, remember I was talking about Ukyou being such an important major character last time? She’s not even in this. Also, I knew Nabiki didn’t appear much in these early days, but I’d forgotten HOW little.
Ryouga is still a major player here, of course. We get a few plots involving him in this omnibus. The first, where he finally manages to go to his house and invites Akane there (with a jealous Ranma following behind) shows off all of what makes Ryouga who he is: his basic sweetness and shy nature around Akane, his stubborn pigheadedness and anger (which can verge on stupidity), his poor sense of direction (which we discover is a family trait in this story, allowing Ranma to pretend to be his “sister” and get away with it), and his plain old bad luck. In the second story, a soap that Shampoo bought as a Jusenkyo cure is used by Ryouga instead, and his attempts to take advantage of not being cursed anymore show a frightening turn, as he almost becomes a berserk stalker. Best line, after we find the “cure” is temporary like all the other ones, and Akane is reflecting on Ryouga’s unthinking brute strength: “Whoever ends up being Ryouga’s girlfriend will have to be made of sterner stuff than me.” Well, does raising sumo pigs count?
Ranma and Akane appear throughout, of course, and the volume shows off why fans of the couple love them and those who hate them (and by them I mean Akane) can’t stand it. Akane jumps to conclusions all the time (albeit in situations that simply would not happen to normal people), punches Ranma into next week when she’s angry or jealous, and refuses to admit any affection. Ranma, meanwhile, jumps to slightly more reasonable conclusions but makes up for it by having his jealousy be more obvious. And of course he refuses to admit affection even more, even when he thinks Akane is being particularly cute (The end of the “whiskers ramen” story is the first of several that show off Ranma’s handsome face smiling at Akane with genuine affection.) And of course together they make a very effective team. They’re held back by their hot bloodedness and insecurities, but if this weren’t Nerima they’d be dating by now.
There is a new character introduced in this volume, thought he turns out to be related to two old friends. I’d forgotten how long the Principal Returns storyline ran before it was finally revealed that he was Kuno’s father, but it makes sense, given he seems to be just as divorced from reality as his children are. He went to Hawaii to study discipline techniques, and much of his behavior is stereotypical Hawaiian, but the teachers point out that he was always over the top even before this. And on his return, he’s obsessed with giving everyone old-fashioned school haircuts – shaved heads for boys, “pudding bowl” for girls. This leads to a giant melee battle, a frequent appearance in this series, as everyone searches for the coconut that can free them from this fate. (Nice lampshading when a man-eating tiger is set upon the students: “What part of this is Hawaiian?”
Of course, no one should be thinking about whether Kuno and Kodachi’s mental trauma is a result of their father’s upbringing, any more than they should worry about Genma being a horrible father, Akane punching Ranma so hard he flies several blocks, etc. Don’t analyze the series, just laugh along with it. It’s a lot of shallow, shallow fun. That said, join us next time for a plotline that is at least a little more serious, and takes over half the omnibus to resolve.
If the phrase “manga Star Wars” is music to your ears, you’ll be happy to learn that ComiXology has just reissued manga adaptations of the original trilogy and The Phantom Menace. (Hey, the manga’s gotta be better than Episode One, right?)
According to the Yano Research Institute, manga accounted for almost 80% of the overall digital book market in Japan last year.
Diamond Comics just released its annual sales rankings. Not surprisingly, Attack on Titan dominated the list of 2014’s best-selling manga, along with such perennial favorites as Bleach, Naruto, and Yu-Gi-Oh.
Vertical Comics just confirmed that it will be publishing Hajime Segawa’s Tokyo ESP, which is currently running in the pages of Monthly Shonen Ace. Look for the first volume in fall 2015.
Erica Friedman posts a eulogy for the short-lived Waai! magazine, which featured stories and manga about “Otoko no ko,” boys who dress as girls.
Justin Stroman offers ten bold predictions for the manga publishing industry in 2015.
Good news for digital manga enthusiasts: Crunchyroll’s premium membership now includes access to its growing manga library.
News from Japan: To commemorate the 30th anniversary of Appleseed‘s original publication, Book Walker and Amazon JP are releasing a new digital edition of Masamune Shirow’s debut work.
Hiro Mashima will publish a new full-color story for Monthly Fairy Tail magazine; look for “Aoneko Happy” (Happy the Blue Cat) in the February 17th edition.
After a bout with serious illness, manga-ka Tite Kubo told fans that Bleach will be on a brief hiatus; no new chapter will appear in the January 19th edition of Weekly Shonen Jump.
Reviews: What should you be reading on Crunchyroll? Jason Thompson investigates. Over at The Comics Journal, Joe McCulloch looks at the latest manga by Suehiro Maruo. Needless to say, some of the images are NSFW, no matter how chill your office may be.
Alice Vernon on vols. 1-3 of Bloody Cross (Girls Like Comics)
Chris Kirby on vol. 24 of D.Gray-Man (The Fandom Post)
Alice Vernon on vols. 1-2 of Durarara!! Yellow Scarves Arc (Girls Like Comics)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 4 of Gangsta (Sequential Tart)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 9 of Happy Marriage?! (Comic Book Bin)
Leroy Douresseaux on Jaco the Galactic Patrolman (Comic Book Bin)
Joseph Luster on vol. 1 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood (Otaku USA)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 1 of Kiss of the Rose Princess (Sequential Tart)
Anna N. on vol. 2 of Kiss of the Rose Princess (Manga Report)
Toshi Nakamura on The Literacy of Nana (Kotaku)
Sakura Eries on vol. 1 of Manga Dogs (The Fandom Post)
Thomas Maluck on The Manga Guide to Linear Algebra (No Flying No Tights)
Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Mushishi (Experiments in Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of My Neighbor Seki (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ken H. on vol. 1 of My Neighbor Seki (Sequential Ink)
Ryotaro Aoki on vol. 14 of Neon Genesis Evangelion (Otaku USA)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 73 of One Piece (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Jessikah Chautin on vols. 1-5 of Puella Magi Kazumi Magica: The Innocent Malice (No Flying No Tights)
Phillip Anthony on vol. 2 of Skip Beat! 3-in-1 (Manga Bookshelf)
Matthew Warner on vol. 3 of Terraformars (The Fandom Post)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 24 of Toriko (Sequential Tart)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Vinland Saga (Good Comics for Kids)
Matthew Warner on vol. 4 of What Did You Eat Yesterday? (The Fandom Post)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 6 of What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Manga Worth Reading)
Erica Friedman on Yuridori Midori (Okazu)
Creator: Yuki Urushibara
U.S. publisher: Del Rey
ISBN: 9780345496218
Released: January 2007
Original release: 2000
Awards: Japan Media Arts Award, Kodansha Manga Award
I no longer remember what first led me to pick up Yuki Urushibara’s debut manga Mushishi. It was probably mostly coincidence: the series started being released in English around the same time I started to really get into manga and was trying all sorts of things. I’m grateful for whatever reason it was that convinced me to read Mushishi because it became one of my favorite manga series. I love its quiet creepiness and beautiful storytelling. Mushishi was well-received both in Japan and abroad by both fans and critics. Among other recognitions and honors, Mushishi has earned a Japan Media Arts Award as well as a Kodansha Manga Award. Mushishi, Volume 1 was originally published in Japan in 2000. The English-language edition was initially released by Del Rey Manga in 2007 and, sadly, has since gone out of print. Happily, in 2014, Kodansha Comics released a digital edition of Mushishi in English.
Mushi–a category of primordial beings fundamental to the living world which may take on many forms. Truly understood by very few people, they are studied by mushishi, or mushi masters. Ginko is one such mushishi, making his living by traveling across the Japanese countryside, learning all that he can about mushi, and attempting to help those unfortunate enough to have come under the creatures’ influence. Mushi are often to blame for unusual natural phenomena and strange, otherwise unexplainable illnesses. Ginko is an expert, but even he is faced with circumstances beyond his knowledge and control; where mushi are involved, nothing is ever entirely certain. Sometimes the harm caused by the mushi has already been done and is irreversible, leaving humans to deal with the aftermath. They must learn to coexist or else risk their lives or sanity.
Although there is some continuity between the stories, Mushishi is largely episodic and each chapter in the first volume of the series stands well on its own. “The Green Gathering” introduces the concept of mushi while Ginko investigates a young man with the power to grant life to the things he draws. In “The Soft Horns” Ginko aids the residents of a snowbound village suffering from a peculiar kind of hearing loss. Mushi have invaded the dreams of a man in “The Pillow Path” with devastating and dire consequences. Urushibara’s award-winning “The Light in the Eyelids” was actually the very first Mushishi manga. The story follows a young girl whose eyes have become so painfully sensitive to light that she has been blindfolded and shut away by her family in a dark storehouse. The final story in Mushishi, Volume 1 is “The Traveling Bog” in which a swamp disappears and then reappears again and again, drawing ever closer to the sea each time.
Urushibara was influenced tremendously by older Japanese folk stories, but in developing Mushishi she draws on that inspiration to create a world and mythology of her own. Although the tales in Mushishi, Volume 1 are new, they still have a very familiar, traditional feeling to them that I find immensely appealing. I also enjoy the subtle horror present in many of the stories in Mushishi. While occasionally the manga and its imagery is disconcerting or even disturbing, Mushishi isn’t overly graphic or violent. Instead its creepiness derives from the fear of the unknown or the unknowable and the close intertwining of life and death. Mushi do not always bring misfortune, they can also be a benevolent force, but they are something beyond the understanding and power of most humans, and that can be frightening. In Mushishi, Volume 1 Ginko is shown trying to bridge the gap that exists between mushi and humans, but he often struggles to find the perfect balance between sharing his knowledge and protecting life.
SEAN: Remember how I said that January was quiet? That does not apply to next week, which is simply a ton of stuff.
It’s even bigger as I missed some titles last week. Basically, I get street dates from Amazon, mostly. The exceptions are Dark Horse and DMP (and sometimes One Peace or Gen), which ship to comic shops 2 weeks before bookstores, so I use Diamond Comics’ street dates then. I forgot to check last week, and there was a pile of DMP stuff. So here it is:
There’s a sequel to Apple & Honey called His Rose-Colored Life.
Does the Flower Blossom? has its first volume. It seems to involve an ad man trying to get past a broken heart.
ASH: This series is from Blue Morning‘s Shoko Hidaka, so I’ll definitely be checking it out.
MJ: Oh, yes!
SEAN: In non-BL news, we have the 3rd volume of the quirky Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat.
Lastly, we have Murmur of the Heart, whose… sequel came out two weeks ago? In any case, it’s by the author of Blue Sheep Reverie.
Now, on to the giant pile actually out NEXT week. Kodansha has the 10th volume of addictive and frustrating shoujo potboiler Missions of Love.
ASH: So, so addictive.
SEAN: My Little Monster’s cast is equally screwed-up, but I scream at them a little less in the 6th volume. Only a little, though.
MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this one!
SEAN: And there’s a third volume of fantasy series Noragami.
ASH: I’ve been rather enjoying Noragami thus far.
SEAN: From Seven Seas, we have a third volume of Arpeggio of Blue Steel, whose gritty SF-ness has helped to overcome its ‘cute girls are battleships’-ness.
There’s a 4th omnibus of wacky pseudo-incest comedy I Don’t Like You At All, Big Brother!!.
And a 2nd of the straight up horror of Magical Girl Apocalypse.
And the final volume of Zero’s Familiar Chevalier, which I suspect may be the last in the franchise given the death of its creator.
Speaking of final volumes, From the New World ends for Vertical with its 7th volume next week.
Viz has the 3rd omnibus of Urasawa’s Monster, which does not star either Godzilla OR Gamera. Human monsters are enough here.
ASH: Still very happy this series is getting a re-release.
ANNA: Me too! I need to finally read it.
SEAN: There’s a 2nd volume of the Resident Evil tie-in manga.
And a 4th Terra Formars.
A new series debuts from Yen, and if you’re tired of the ‘dark fantasy’ genre, well, you’re in a very small minority. Akame Ga Kill! isn’t a title I know much about, but it had a popular anime, and has a striking young woman with a sword on its cover. I look forward to checking it out.
ASH: I have yet to tire of dark fantasy, which means I’ll be giving Akame Ga Kill! a look.
We’ve mostly caught up with Black Butler in Japan, so a new release isn’t as common as it once was. Here’s the 19th volume.
MICHELLE: I always seem to read these, even if I’m not terribly enthusiastic about the series.
SEAN: Who likes Goong? Who wants a 17th omnibus? Is it you? It is!
MICHELLE: It’s meeeeeeeee!
ANNA: I WANT IT!
MJ: And me! Me! Me!
SEAN: Inu x Boku SS spent much of its last volume reinventing itself, and I’m hoping things start moving a bit faster with this 6th one.
I keep forgetting Kingdom Hearts exists – Amazon doesn’t code it with the other manga. They’re up to the 5th volume of 358 / 2 Days, which is not 179 for reasons that I’m sure would make sense if I read it.
I’m not sure how much longer The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan can keep toddling along, especially now that it’s gotten to Sasaki, but I’m always happy to see a new volume, as it’s simply funny – and better characterized than the main manga, oddly enough.
Milkyway Hitchhiking was a popular title when the first volume came out, so I suspect the Manga Bookshelf team is looking forward to Vol. 2 twice as much!
MICHELLE: I may actually (gasp) write a long review of volumes one and two!
ASH: The first volume was lovely!
ANNA: This was not on my radar too, but if it is good enough to get Michelle to write a long review, I want to read it!
MJ: I will be talking about this a lot, soon! I finally have my first volume and I’m already in love.
SEAN: Watamote hits its 6th volume, and I still really hate typing out its full title. Even Diamond just solicits it as ‘I’m Not Popular’.
Did you like Doubt? And Judge? Or do you just like people in animal masks? Well, you’re in luck! Secret will give you as much survival game as you want. It’d been coming out digitally in chapter form for some time, now here’s the first collected volume.
I can’t believe this 24th volume is the second to last Soul Eater. It’s been a fun ride. And hey, the covers are still pitch black.
Sword Art Online’s Aincrad was an awesome world, which makes it a shame that its plot was resolved in one book. That’s why we now have Sword Art Online Progressive, which goes back and retells the story at a more relaxed, in-depth pace. It also places far more emphasis on Asuna. This is Vol. 1 of the manga; the novel’s Vol. 1 ships in March.
Ubel Blatt Vol. 1, the 2nd omnibus of Ubel Blatt put out by Yen, collects the Japanese Vol. 2 and 3. I originally tried to make that more confusing for humor value, but really, it speaks for itself.
ASH: That it does.
SEAN: Omnibus #2 is the 3rd and last one for Umineko When They Cry: Alliance of the Golden Witch. Will Ange manage to save her brother in 1986 even though she’s in 1998? Don’t get your hopes up. After this, we’ll be halfway through the eight arcs!
And lastly, Omnibus #3 gives us another volume of Until Death Do Us Part.
MICHELLE: I liked the first omnibus more than I expected to, and I keep meaning to get back to it. One of these days!
SEAN: Surely there is something here for everyone. What’s for you?
So 2015 has arrived, and the only thing I can think of this:
…What’s gonna happen to manga and the manga industry in 2015?
Like I’m sure somebody has said the past couple of years, this is a crucial year for the manga industry, in Japan and in the US of course. Pretty sure all of you are going to be keeping up with Manga Bookshelf and checking your Twitter feeds for any manga happenings and stuff, but I’m here to tell you that there’s no point. I have already seen the future, and I can tell you 10 things that’s going to happen regarding manga that you won’t have seen coming!
(Well, maybe 2 of my predictions will come true)
Anyways, this predictions list is entirely for fun, but for some of my entries, I’m aiming for seriousness. Please join me in making either true or outlandish predictions in the comments section, and by the end of 2015, we can all look back and laugh first at me, then at ourselves, for being so horribly wrong.
Already starting this list off with a bang, I have no idea what that site will be, but with Japanese publishers “attempting” to derail scanlations and encourage people to support manga, and with manga seemingly achieving an upswing in attention (as sales went up), there will be one site that’s out there that’s gonna go down.
(Then maybe a billion more will pop up, but, small victories I guess.)
Not merely just a magazine, a big time publisher, one that’s been in the business before most of us were even born, will finally call it quits due to unstable sales and horrible titles in their magazine. Oh, and also the Bill 156 thing. I think it’s been in the works for a while that a company doesn’t find it viable to publish manga anymore, and we will see that happen this year.
Not even bothering to list new digital manga initiatives for 2015; I’m already expecting a few to emerge. And they’ll be much easier to read than in the past. Simply, there’ll be more ways to get digital manga, and with the advent of space being an issue (and money), more people will buy digital manga. And thus, it will make more money than print, as print manga will have an issue of finding bookstores in 2015.
…Maybe.
I mean really old, like 70’s, 80’s old. The power of digital is fierce! And most importantly, companies you wouldn’t expect will be publishing old stuff like hotcakes. And they will somehow sell.
I swear somebody’s gonna do it. No, I don’t mean the anime, this is a manga predictions list!
New anime season, Shonen Jump with the grand opportunity of having their property in their magazine with the anime starting (Shokugeki no Soma, Nisekoi, Gintama)… This is the perfect time for them to actually put Gintama back in the limelight.
You’d think with Terraformars, Ubel Blatt, and Assassination Classroom that there’d be some unsuspecting being with no knowledge of comics see these works and go, “OMG this is horrible” and sound the alarm. Well, not so much! That’ll end in 2015. There will be a controversy from something. If it’s not Prison School, something will cause a storm, and I’ll be a distance away, laughing smugly as I predicted that this would occur.
Get your tissues out Vinland Saga fans — all 10 of you (hey, whenever somebody says low sales, I think small ya know!) — Kodansha’s not bringing back Vinland Saga. It just won’t happen. History tells you that once a title is suspended, or removed, or delayed, you can bet it’s cancelled. So what if it’s nearly caught up with the Japanese editions? It doesn’t matter! It’s just not making money, and thus, because it’s not coming back, I’m gonna screw Kodansha USA and buy the Japanese editions.
…wait what–
…This clearly conflicts with the controversial manga part, but hey, there can also be another side to it! And this isn’t going to be on any TV channel — it’ll make its way on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, the works! What that manga series is, who knows, but it will happen…and you heard it here first.
…No seriously, stop laughing! It-it’s gonna happen. Well, I think we can at least all agree that we hope this series will come back.
Justin is the Editor-in-Chief of Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, a blog that looks behind the scenes of anime and manga. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him questions he’ll never answer.
Today, we come not to praise a magazine, but to eulogize it.
Western manga fans know the feeling of frustration when a publisher ceases to carry a title they like. Japanese manga fans know this feeling as well. Here we are, reading a delightful series, when suddenly on the last page of the magazine there’s a notice that “This is the final issue, thanks for reading!” And…that’s it. The series has ended, the manga magazine has shuttered its doors and the artists scramble to find other methods of distribution. (Yay for the Internet, which not only makes it possible for the artist to continue the series, bur also to collect it up in digital doujinshi, so those of us who can’t get to Comiket won’t have to miss out. Phew!)
Like western fandom, Japanese fandom is trendy. A manga or anime series, a creator, even a whole genre, will go in and out of fashion. When a fandom trend becomes very popular, a publisher may create a magazine to highlight the trend. As the trend fades, so do sales, and the magazine closes. This is perfectly typical in comic and manga publishing where teens stubbornly refuse to remain young, and wander away from the comic series they loved as kids, requiring publishers to develop a whole new market every couple of years or so.
Today we’re looking at one such recently deceased title, Waai! (わぁい！) .
Waai!, which was published by Ichijinsha, was dedicated to fans of “Otoko no ko”, which is to say, boys dressing (and sometimes passing,) as girls. I myself never managed to pick up a copy of Wai!. In October 2013 a friend reminded me I planed on reviewing it for this column, and I completely blanked on him, as we stood in front of the Waai! display in Animate in Tokyo. 6 months later it became moot, when Ichijinsha announced that Waai! was ceasing publication.
While it was running, Waai! included manga and prose fiction. The website was more informational, but did, on occasion, have sample chapters to read.
The Otoko no ko character may not necessarily be understood to be a transgender character – some are, some are not, it really depends on the series. and even in some where we, the readers, might recognize the character as being trans, such as Saito Chiho’s ongoing adaptation of the Heian classic Torikaebaya Monogatari, the character themselves may not identify as trans. Despite Waai!‘s suspension, the “Otoko no ko” is still an enduring manga stereotype and is carrying ongoing series like Minazuki Shinobu’s Himegoto (for which an anime is being announced on the above cover) or the popular Usotski Lily by Komura Ayumi, but after a few years of existence, Wai! itself has passed into the forest of magazines that bear no new leaves.
Waai! Magazine, from Ichijinsha, we hardly knew ye: http://www2.ichijinsha.co.jp/waai/