Features

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?

With the holidays finally over and our excess cookie weight staring up at us from the bathroom scale, we’ve reached that very special time when we look back at the year behind us and think about all the things we’ve failed to accomplish. New Year’s resolutions may be a time-honored tradition, but they’re also a time-honored source of depression and guilt, so I like to keep mine as realistic as possible. Fortunately, if there’s one thing I can count on doing every year, it’s reading a whole lot of manga, so it’s not too ridiculous to hope that I might finally get around to some important series I’ve continuously let slide.

As a relative n00b to the manga scene, I started out with a huge amount of catching up to do. And though I’ve accomplished quite a bit of reading over the past three-and-a-quarter years, there are still quite a number of previously-released series I’ve embarrassingly held out on, whether for lack of time, money, or organizational skills.

Since most of these series are must-reads for anyone hoping to be respected as a manga critic, I’d like to make a resolution to read at least three of them this year. So let’s make a list, shall we?

3 series I resolve to finally read in 2011:

1. Buddha | Osamu Tezuka | Vertical, Inc. – Though I’ve come a long way with Tezuka over the past year or so, when my best friend mentioned that her pre-teen daughter was reading (and loving) Buddha, a series I’ve never even started, I felt quite keenly that I’d hit a very special low. Though I tend to leave much of the serious criticism to those more knowledgeable than I, there’s no excuse for not reading a classic like this.

Fortunately, Vertical’s paperback editions are fairly easy on the pocketbook, and I got some Borders gift cards for Christmas. I may be slow, but there’s hope for me yet!

2. Fushigi Yûgi | Yuu Watase | Viz Media – What kind of self-proclaimed shoujo fan hasn’t read Fushigi Yûgi? This kind, apparently. Though I’m a fan of this series’ prequel, Genbu Kaiden, I’ve never actually picked up the original, despite any number of chances to do so. Sure, I’ve been told not to expect a lot from the story’s female lead, and I’ve read enough about it to know that I’m unlikely to enjoy it quite as much as Watase’s more recent work, it’s still fairly unbelievable that I’ve never read a shoujo series as popular and iconic as this one.

Lucky for me, the very awesome Michelle Smith gifted me with the first two VIZBIG editions as a Christmas present this year, so I’ve no longer got any excuse to put it off. Fushigi Yûgi, this will be the year!

3. One Piece | Eiichiro Oda | Viz Media – Though I have indeed read the first three volumes of this series (again, thanks to the urging of Michelle Smith), popular opinion suggests that I’ve never gotten far enough in for it to truly grab me, and with brilliant folks such as David Welsh and Erica Friedman singing its praises, further reading is not merely warranted, but downright required. Sadly, the series’ recent appearance at the Manga Moveable Feast turned out to be badly timed for me (and my sluggish library system), and I let yet another opportunity slide.

At 60 volumes and counting, it’s a daunting task for sure. Thank goodness for omnibus editions?

So, readers, what are your manga resolutions, if any, for 2011?

So, I know I put a lot of new, awesome manga in my gift guide this year, but when it comes to my own Christmas list, I admit I bulked it up with oldies. There are a few older shoujo series in particular that I’ve been collecting over time, and it looks like this Christmas, I just might complete my collections! At least one I’ve read all the way through already, and all I’ve read to a point, with the help of libraries, friends, and (in one case) scanlations, as some volumes have rapidly fallen out of print and are difficult to purchase without paying hundreds of dollars to some unscrupulous Amazon or Ebay seller.

Out-of-print shoujo is one of my deepest woes, and since the more we talk about these dwindling series, the more likely Viz is to consider omnibus treatment (or so we hope and dream), I’ll dedicate today’s 3 Things to three shoujo series I’m hoping to own in completion after this Christmas!

I’m Gettin’ Manga For Christmas

1. Basara, vols. 24-27 | Yumi Tamura | Viz Media – Oh, how long I’ve been collecting this series! Perhaps my greatest regret as a latecomer to manga is that I wasn’t aware when this series was originally being published of what it was, or how sad I’d one day be when its middle volumes started going out of print after I became a fan. Fortunately, most of the trickiest ones I’ve already picked up, including the legendary volume 20, which goes for $125+ online, but which I happened to stumble upon at a convention two years ago for 20% off the original retail price. My quest for this series has seemed endless, but with just four volumes left, I’m counting on Santa to pick up the slack. You wouldn’t let me down, Santa, right? RIGHT? And by “Santa” I mean “my in-laws.” :D

My post-Christmas marathon reads will be epic.

2. Please Save My Earth, vols. 11, 12, 15, & 18 | Saki Hiwatari | Viz Media – Back when I was a manga n00b, I read this series scanlated in its entirety, with no concept of how difficult its volumes would be to find once I started trying to buy them up myself. I’ve been cobbling together my collection since late 2007, buying new when possible, but also snatching up some of the harder-to-buy volumes as trades or used books when I could find them. Having recently acquired the elusive volume 7, I have just a few, scattered volumes to pick up before I can re-read that series, which I shall do with relish as soon as my collection is complete.

This series is a special pet of mine, because it’s one that I desperately want to recommend, but with a major stumbling block. “This is the greatest series ever. You’ll have to pay upwards of $25 (plus shipping) just to read the first volume, and after that, well… But seriously, it is the greatest ever!”

3. X/1999, vols. 8, 9, 16-18 | CLAMP | Viz Media – I’ve slacked off on collecting this series, partly because I’m a bigger fan of Tokyo Babylon (which I own in its entirety and have reread several times), and partly because it’s unfinished anyway, but I realize my assessment of it is hardly fair, since I’ve never read past volume 7. My collection’s holes begin there, and I’ve never been able to move forward. I thought it was time I persevered, so I put my missing volumes near the top of the list this year.

My greatest difficulty with X/1999 of course, as a fan of Tokyo Babylon, is that it’s painful for me to watch what’s become of my beloved Subaru in the aftermath of that series. It’s also a bit painful to know that the story is not about him, when he’s the one who’s already got all my loyalty and interest. Can I overcome my issues and join the ranks of other CLAMP fans, who laugh at my TB obsession in the face of their obvious superiority? Thanks to Santa, we may soon find out!

So, that’s what I’m hoping to score this holiday season. How about you?

In checking my pingbacks this morning, I found I’d received one from Daniella Orihuela-Gruber’s wrap-up of this year’s Great Manga Gift Guide. In it, she describe my 2010 gift guide as being, “full of great choices for the manga-loving ladies on your list.”

While I do think of my blog’s primary audience as being adult women, this comment surprised me. “I’m an omnivorous reader,” I thought. “Surely my gift guide is more diverse!” I then rushed right over to take a look, certain my heterogeneous tastes would be plain for all to see. And though I wasn’t exactly wrong, I was indeed surprised by what I found.

Though my suggestions were spread over several major demographic categories (seinen, josei, shoujo) and numerous genres within those categories, the one thing that really stood out when I took in the collection as a whole is that a full 16 out of the 18 suggested gift ideas were written by female mangaka. They’re a pretty diverse group of artists, writing for a range of different audiences, so it would be inaccurate to describe my guide as a list of books for women, but I can’t deny that it’s strongly dominated by female creators. And It’s probably worth noting that the remaining two series feature female leads.

Now, I enjoy work by many male artists (several of whom are certain to appear on my “Best Of” lists for this year), and certainly I don’t consider the gender of the writer when I’m looking for something to read. Still, the guide is pretty revealing, and I suspect the facts speak for themselves.

So, with this discovery fresh in my mind, I thought I’d use this week’s 3 Things to talk about three of my favorite female mangaka.

3 Female manga artists to admire and adore

1. Fumi Yoshinaga – As the only mangaka (to date) to have received a week-long celebration of her very own here at Manga Bookshelf, did anyone doubt she’d make this list? With an impressive body of work that I’m pleased to say actually is mainly written for women, and some of the warmest, most charming dialogue ever to grace the printed page, Yoshinaga is the ultimate kindred spirit for female readers like me, who crossed over from our youthful obsession with prose and somehow never looked back.

It’s difficult to choose a favorite of her works, though they are favorites of mine in several genres. I think it’s possible that Ichigenme is my favorite yaoi manga of all time, while Antique Bakery and Flower of Life fill me with pure, pure shoujo joy. And though she tends to draw a lot of men, she also shines in All My Darling Daughters. Yoshinaga is a gem. It’s that simple.

2. Natsume Ono – I’ve had a rockier road with Natsume Ono, beginning with Not Simple, which was not a tremendous favorite, but she’s won me over completely with books like Ristorante Paradiso, Gente, and (most of all) my beloved House of Five Leaves, another of my favorite series of the year.

There’s a deep melancholy running through Natsume Ono’s work, but not one that begs for unwarranted attention. Instead, it simply offers a muted, gray background that allows her richer colors to display their true beauty, like vibrant autumn leaves against an overcast sky. That sounds terribly trite, I know, but I hardly know how else to describe it, except to say that there’s a surprising beauty to Ono’s work, peeking out between the sketchy lines of her unique, unmistakable art style. Now, if only someone would license her BL titles, my adoration could become complete!

3. CLAMP – This may seem like an obvious (and perhaps overdone) choice, but I simply can’t deny my love for CLAMP, whose work was perhaps the strongest influence in shaping my tastes as a beginning reader of manga. Series like xxxHolic and Tokyo Babylon contain imagery so deeply embedded into my emotional core as a reader that I can call them up in my memory at any given moment, as clearly and as viscerally as if they were sitting in front of me on the page. There’s a visual clarity to CLAMP’s work–their solid lines, the heavy use of black–that conveys an absolute certainty about the story they are telling. It’s mezmerising, truly.

Though some of their series have been aimed squarely at female readers, most of their current catalogue is serialized in magazines for boys and men, which is something I find quite interesting, given their enormous female fan base here in the US, and the strong homoerotic subtext in much of their work. Of course, my only wish is that they’d stop teasing, and finally write some official BL. :D

It pains me deeply not to be able to include Ai Yazawa and Hiromu Arakawa on this list as well. Though I am, of course, cheating simply by mentioning them at all. *sigh*

So, readers, who are three of your favorite female mangaka?

This may not come as a surprise to most of you, but I spend a lot of time thinking about women in manga, both behind the pen and on the page. As I was pondering a topic for this week’s 3 Things, it occurred to me that I might like to pick out some of my favorite female leads from this year’s batch of new manga. What surprised me when I got down to it, however, was the realization that very few of my favorites this year come from the pages of shoujo manga.

While I’m not sure exactly what that says about me or the newest crop of shoujo, I’d certainly be interested in the discussion. In the meantime, lets take a look at three of my favorite heroines from the pages of this year’s debut series.

3 favorite heroines debuting in 2010:

1. Yukiko | All My Darling Daughters | Fumi Yoshinaga | Viz Media – Perhaps “heroine” is not quite the right word for Yukiko, but as the manga’s various stories are all threaded through her, I’ve decided she qualifies. In any case, I can’t let her go unrecognized.

What’s wonderful about Yukiko is that she’s entirely ordinary, in a way that makes clear just how individual “ordinary” actually is. She’s got average looks, an average job, an average relationship, and even a pretty average outlook on life, and yet both her story and her personality are just as intriguing as any “ordinary girl” who wins the love of a dashing hero, accidentally attains superpowers, and/or saves the world.

Yukiko’s a real everywoman. And every woman is awesome.

2. Asumi | Twin Spica | Kou Yaginuma | Vertical, Inc. – Asumi is a heroine after my own heart, mainly because of her skyward dreams and her rich inner life. She reminds me of myself as a young girl, though with a kinder heart and a much more tragic past. I’d like to have been strong enough at her age to reach out, without fear, to someone in need, even if that person was unfriendly to me, as she does with her deeply damaged classmate, Marika.

What’s especially enjoyable about Asumi’s journey, too, is that, though her ambitions are no less daunting than those of most fantasy heroines, she isn’t granted any special powers in order to achieve them. Her path entails numerous mundane obstacles, like scientifically-heavy schooling and real-world financial difficulties. Asumi is an idealized version of my young teenaged self, yet real enough that I can pick out exactly the ways in which I could have become her, with just a little more bravery and genuine self-awareness.

3. Shurei | The Story of Saiunkoku | Sai Yukino, Kairi Yura | Viz Media – Though Shurei’s happy-go-lucky attitude and strong sense of civil responsibility make her an ideal shoujo heroine, there’s a sense of deep intelligence and real mystery about her that somehow defies the norm.

Not that the norm is bad, mind you, but it’s refreshing to encounter a current shoujo heroine who has more on her mind than romance or the standard determination to “do her best!” Shurei does her best, all right, but she’s not necessarily forthcoming about what that is. She’s smart, she’s capable, and she’s every bit as interesting as the male characters who surround her–something that is not quite as common in girls’ manga as a reader might hope.

Honorable mention:

Chi | Chi’s Sweet Home | Konata Konami | Vertical, Inc. – I don’t cheat often in this column, but Chi is a kitty who demands special treatment, and who am I to refuse?

She’s cute, she’s fearless, she’s defiant when necessary, and she understands the value of good meal. What more could one ask for in a manga heroine? Though lately she’s been hanging with a questionable crowd, her love for her family shines through, even if they are too dense to understand her half the time.

With her bright, wide eyes and spunky personality, who could resist a cat like Chi?

So, readers, who are some of your favorite heroines from this year’s crop of manga?