Features

Manga the Week of 5/28

May 22, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Michelle Smith, Anna N and MJ 3 Comments

SEAN: Do you like stuff? Of course you do. Let’s look at some stuff!

ASH: I like stuff! I like lots of stuff!

MICHELLE: Stuff and junk and stuff!

ANNA: Stuff is awesome!

MJ: Bring on the stuff!

SEAN: If you’d wondered what the fuss was all about with Attack on Titan, and also wanted something heavy enough to beat small children to death with, have we got the release for you! Attack on Titan: Colossal Edition collects the first 5 volumes of the series into one massive, thousand-page TOME. And of course, it apparently has some added content so that obsessives must buy the whole thing again. If you haven’t seen this series before, get ready to see what all the fuss is about and ask “why is the art so crappy?”

ASH: This thing is going to be a HUGE monster of a book. I’m happy with my individual volumes, but I would be curious to see the the Colossal edition in person.

MICHELLE: Ugh. I must say the thought of hefting this thing doesn’t entice me to catch up on the series.

ANNA: I’m sort of tempted by this, since I bought the first book when the kindle version was on mega sale but haven’t gotten the subsequent volumes.

MJ: Hmmm… I’m tempted here. Kind of. Not sure I have a shelf big enough.

SEAN: Cage of Eden trundles along with Vol. 14. Will this be a monsters eating people volume? A fanservice-laden nude girls volume? A ‘I really liked Lost and want to rewrite it with Japanese students’ volume? Who can say? Most likely all three, I suspect.

My Little Monster was a lot of fun, even if I had issues with the male lead being a manic pixie dream guy to a certain degree, and I look forward to seeing how he and our heroine develop.

ASH: I rather enjoyed the first volume of My Little Monster. Plus, there’s a pet chicken!

MICHELLE: I love the pet chicken with every fiber of my being.

MJ: Pet chicken! How did I not buy this?

SEAN: Remember back in February when I discussed Wallflower 32 and they bumped it back to May without telling me? Well, here it is, still in May for now.

I apologize to Tokyopop. The fact that their one Japanese series is only available via Right Stuf now means I forget to add it to these lists, EVEN WHEN IT IS SITTING NEXT TO ME AS I MAKE THEM. Aheh. Anyway, Hetalia Axis Powers 6 was out last week.

ASH: I really do wonder how well this partnership between Tokyopop and RightStuf has been doing, and what other projects we might see because of it.

ANNA: Demon Sacred! Shinobi Life! Sky Blue Shore! Oh, how I miss you, but I have no hopes of reading you in English.

MICHELLE: Silver Diamond!

MJ: *sigh*

SEAN: BTOOOM! continues to make me count the number of O’s in its title, even now that Vol. 6 drops.

And now I want to add a third o to Goong, whose 15th volume is out, to the delight of the rest of the Manga Bookshelf team.

MICHELLE: Yay!

ANNA: Woo hoo!

MJ: Me me me me me me me!!

SEAN: In general, I have a better record with Yen than Seven Seas when it comes to otakubait series. And yet High School DxD – with its harem plot, promises of fanservice, and ‘angels and demons’ fantasy worldbuilding – seems to worry me. I’m watching you warily, Vol. 1.

MJ: That sounds… well, probably not for me.

SEAN: Jack Frost 10! Wow, how many decapitations have happened by now?

Kadokawa has decided they don’t want the manga to come up with new content that the novel hasn’t covered (bar the odd original short chapter), so The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya will be ending its manga version soon while they wait for the next novel to appear. Here’s Vol. 18, featuring new character Yasumi on the cover.

Kazumi Magica has been one of the longer franchise spinoffs of the Puella Magi-verse, but it comes to an end here with Vol. 5. Will it have a happy ending? Our good friend Kyubey says he’s very happy!

Soul Eater has gotten up to Vol. 20, and I think is getting closer to its massive final arc. More to the point, this volume contains one of the scariest manga chapters I’ve ever seen – full stop, any series.

MJ: Really? Hm. Maybe I should check it out.

SEAN: Triage X has hit Vol. 6. See above about why I can’t always trust Yen when it comes to fanservice-laden series. At least I don’t think this is based on a series of light novels…

Lastly, we get another omnibus of Until Death Do Us Part, which features characters named Mamoru, Haruka, and Wiseman, yet is not actually like Sailor Moon at all.

MICHELLE: I need to catch up on this. I liked what I read of it.

SEAN: Stuff? Stuff!

My Week in Manga: May 12-May 18, 2014

May 19, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Well, it was my intention to review the first omnibus of Whispered Words by Takashi Ikeda last week, but then Sean reviewed it the day before I was planning to post my review. So, to avoid making the Manga Bookshelf front page look a little strange, I decided to bump my Whispered Words review to later this week. But never fear, I had other posts in reserve! First up was my Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2014 recap, which is very, very long. If you don’t feel like reading the whole thing, that’s fine, but I do want people to know that TCAF is an amazing festival. A month or so ago I had the opportunity to attend a presentation given by Natsuki Kikuya, a sake sommelier and from a centuries-old family of sake brewers in Tōhoku, about the brewing of sake, its history, and current trend in the industry, so I posted some random musings about that as well–Cultures of Japanese Sake. I was quite pleased to discover that I actually had already had a strong introduction to the subject from reading manga, specifically Oishinbo, A la Carte: Sake and Moyasimon.

Now, going back to TCAF for a moment: Heidi MacDonald has an excellent summary of the festival at Publishers Weekly; the Beat has audio for a selection of the panels available for listening; and Okazu’s Erica Friedman has a great recap of the est em panel, which she moderated. Unrelated to TCAF, but still worth reading: Marvel, Yen Caught in Amazon-Hachette Crossfire; an interview with Leyla Aker, the editor at Viz Media responsible for Kohske’s Gangsta series; and Tokyo Government Declares Imōto Paradise! 2 Manga Unhealthy. Also, Deb Aoki has started updating her site Manga Comics Manga with some interesting new material, including Japanese to Spanish Manga Translation: Readers Speak Out and What Would Make Manga More Appealing to Comics Fans? + 24 Manga for New Readers.

Quick Takes

Dictatorial Grimoire, Volume 3: Red Riding Hood by Ayumi Kanou. The first volume of Dictatorial Grimoire, as ridiculous as it was, entertained me. The second volume was no less ridiculous, and it had some great moments, but I was frustrated by how trope-based it was. Fortunately, the series’ originality largely returns in the third volume and Dictatorial Grimoire once again becomes a glorious mess. The plot actually starts to make a little more sense and even becomes somewhat interesting, but just as things start to really get going the story is quickly brought to an end. It feels very abrupt and truncated, as if the series was initially supposed to be much longer. Still, I think the third volume of Dictatorial Grimoire was actually my favorite in the series. The demon from which the story Red Riding Hood comes is thoroughly introduced and he’s pretty great–a mix of the Wolf, Hunter, and Red. (He’s actually a decent guy once he gets his werewolf problem under control.) I also get a kick out of Snow White’s animal companions. Instead of the cute woodland critters that might traditionally be expected, he always has some poisonous creatures hanging about. Dictatorial Grimoire is far from the best manga out there, but it can be fun in all of its ridiculousness.

Dorohedoro, Volumes 10-12 by Q Hayashida. I continue to enjoy Dorohedoro immensely. It’s a strange, weird manga, and one that I find difficult to coherently explain to people. Dorohedoro is bloody, violent, and grim and yet at the same time it is also incredibly endearing, charming, and funny. It can even be heartbreaking from time to time. Occasionally something feels a little bit off about Hayashida’s artwork in the series–body proportions don’t always seem to be quite right–but for the most part I really enjoy the gritty look and feel of Dorohedoro. I was particularly impressed by how effectively dizzying and disconcerting the artwork could be when Aikawa’s magic comes into play. There’s quite a bit of plot development in these volumes and several of the characters have their backstories filled out–more is learned about the pasts of Nikaido, Asu, and the various members of the Cross-Eyes. There’s plenty of action in this part of the series, too, including excellent fight sequences and brutal battles. There are some significant deaths, as well, though it’s never certain that someone will stay completely dead in Dorohedoro. There are seven more volumes to go in the series; I really hope that Viz will be able to stick with it through to the end.

Hotblood!: A Centaur in the Old West, Volume 1 by Toril Orlesky. While at TCAF, I made the point to pick up a few things that I hadn’t heard about before or was otherwise unfamiliar with. One of those random splurges was Orlesky’s Hotblood!, a webcomic that currently updates twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I am absolutely loving it–the characters, the art, everything. The first print volume collects the series’ prologue and the entirety of its first chapter, as well as an exclusive appendix and other additional bonus material. Tremendous thought and care has been put into the worldbuilding of the comic–a sort of alternative history–especially in regards to the relationships and interactions between humans and centaurs and their cultures. The story begins in Wyoming in 1873 with James Rook, the titular centaur, and Asa Langley a steel magnate on the run as wanted men. It then jumps back two years in time to when they first met. In the prologue the two are obviously very close, but at the beginning of their relationship they didn’t get along much at all. Langley is a bit of a jerk, frequently making jokes in poor taste at Rook’s expense, but Rook needs a job so he puts up with it. He has been assigned to be Langley’s secretary; neither one of them is particularly happy about it, though.

No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!, Volumes 2-3 by Nico Tanigawa. Overall, I do enjoy WataMote, but I will be the first to admit that it can be a harsh and uncomfortable read. (I get the feeling that the creators largely didn’t enjoy their high school years and that they don’t have many fond memories of that time in their lives.) WataMote can be very funny, but it’s not always very pleasant. So far the series has been fairly episodic, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage, but a few characters have been introduced in these volumes which may change that. I would like to see some actual character development in the series, though. Right now it seems as though Tomoko, her family, and classmates are stuck in a rut. This works in terms of the series’ premise–Tomoko is a misfit to put all other misfits to shame–but it’s a little painful and sad to not see her learn from her mistakes and experiences. Which, I suppose, is actually probably one of the points of the manga. Tomoko can be endearing in her extreme awkwardness, but that awkwardness can also be fairly alarming and embarrassing. WataMote is definitely not a series that everyone will be able to enjoy or even appreciate, but I do plan on following it further.

Random Musings: Cultures of Japanese Sake

May 16, 2014 by Ash Brown

I enjoy sake. I don’t have the opportunity to drink it very often, and I don’t really know much about it, but I do enjoy it and have an interest in it. Fortunately, I recently had the opportunity to hear Natsuki Kikuya, the founder of Museum of Sake, give her presentation “World of Sake: How It’s Created, and Where It’s Going.” Kikuya is from a family of sake brewers which is part of a collective in the Tōhoku region of northern Honshū. She currently works with chefs in the United Kingdom as a sake sommelier and is in the process of developing a sake documentary; her personal mission is to introduce and promote sake across Europe and the rest of the world. The craft and culture surrounding sake and sake brewing is broad and deep. A comparison can easily be made with wine culture, but Kikuya has found that in the West a “translator” is often needed for sake. Whereas wine has an extensive vocabulary already established to describe it, traditionally sake has had only two descriptors: dry and sweet.

So, what is sake? In Japanese, “sake” is a word that simply means “alcoholic beverage.” However, when the term is used in English, generally it is specifically referring to what is known in Japan as nihonshu. Sake is a fermented and filtered alcoholic beverage that is no more than 22% alcohol by volume. Typically, sake is brewed using only four ingredients: rice, water, yeast, and koji. Approximately 1% of Japan’s total rice production is devoted specifically to the brewing of sake. Though still edible, the rice used in sake is very different from table rice meant for consumption. When making sake the outside of the grains of rice is polished away, leaving behind the starches. In the highest quality sake, more than half of the rice is polished away. (In one exceptional case, only 7% of the rice remained after polishing.) Water is a particularly important ingredient as sake is made up of around 80% water. Water from different sources can significantly change the taste of the sake; generally water with softer qualities is desired. Up until the 20th century, sake production primarily relied on wild yeast, however more than 90% of sake fermentation now uses cultivated yeast. Koji is sake’s “magical ingredient”–a type of mold spore that transforms the starches in the rice into sugars for the yeast to ferment. Sake is often described as being “grown in breweries”; its quality very much depends on the human techniques involved and there is less emphasis placed on vintage as a result.

During her talk, Kikuya outlined a brief history of sake and its development in Japan. Sake had its beginnings over 2,500 years ago, originating as the “drink of the gods” and was associated with Shinto shrines. Between the 7th and 12th centuries, sake came under control of the court. During that time there were thirteen different grades of sake appropriate for the different ranks of nobility. In the Middle Ages the center of sake production moved to Kōfuku-ji in Nara and other Buddhist temples. At this point in history distilled spirits from abroad began to be introduced to Japan as well. The Edo period saw the rise of brewing specialists and the center of sake production once again moved, this time to Itami and Edo. Previously sake had been made year-round, but as the brewing techniques were refined during the Edo period it became a winter-specific process. The Edo period also saw the establishment of izakaya and the culture of eating outside of the home; sake was no longer just for nobles. Homebrewing was prohibited in 1899, mostly for tax reasons, and so sake brewing became more of a corporate affair during the Meiji era.

Oishinbo, A la Carte: Sake

The 20th century brought the “era of synthetic sake.” When rice was not readily available (during times of war, for example), techniques were developed to compensate for this lack, such as the introduction of syrups. The quality of the results were not always particularly good. And then there is sake industry today, which is focusing on modernization, localization, and globalization. This includes the creation of “new gen” sake, such as sparkling sake and sake with low alcohol content, as well as the use of sake in mixed drinks. At one point there were over 4,000 breweries in Japan. Sadly, the industry is dying and only around 1,200 breweries currently remain. Of those, the top twenty account for 80% of the sake production in Japan, however local breweries are beginning to gain increased support. There are several theories as to why interest in sake is declining in Japan: the continued Westernization of the country, the aging and shrinking of the population, and the fact that younger generations simply don’t seem to be drinking sake. Although the sake industry is still dominated by men, Kikuya knows of at least ten women heads of breweries. Interestingly enough, in addition to Japan, the United States is also a leading producer of sake and currently has seven to eight breweries of its own.

Prior to the Kikuya’s talk, my knowledge of sake had primarily been gleaned from what I myself had tasted as well as from manga like Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki’s Oishinbo (especially the volume Oishinbo, A la Carte: Sake) and Masayuki Ishikawa’s Moyasimon. I was quite happy to discover that those series have actually provided me with a fairly strong introduction to and basic understanding of sake and the sake industry, including some of the more unusual and interesting historical tidbits. So, even if you don’t have the chance to take advantage of the knowledge of a sake expert, picking up a copy of Oishinbo, A la Carte: Sake and following it up with a bit of Moyasimon (the manga or the anime) is not a bad place to start. (Toko Kawai’s short boys’ love series The Scent of Apple Blossoms also features a sake brewer, though I haven’t read it yet to be able to say how educational the manga might be.) For those interested in learning more about sake, Kikuya’s Museum of Sake is also worth a look, as is Discovery UK’s series Discovering Sake. And sometimes the best way to learn about something is to simply experience it for yourself. Have a taste!

Manga the Week of 5/21

May 15, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Anna N, MJ, Michelle Smith and Ash Brown 3 Comments

SEAN: Some newer series, some old favorites, and some back from the dead in Week 3 of the month of May.

DMP is releasing print volumes again, including two of their old non-BL series. Takasugi-san’s Obento gets a 2nd volume, and continues to charm readers and make Bunny Drop fans stare at it warily.

ANNA: I liked the first volume a lot, and I really hope it doesn’t go into Bunny Drop territory.

MJ: Agreed!

SEAN: And we have at last the return of Itazura Na Kiss, everyone’s favorite bitter black coffee of the shoujo manga world. Will its leads ever stop being so… themselves? Probably not, but here’s more of it, and I can’t wait.

MICHELLE: Yay yay yay yay yay!

ASH: I’ve heard nothing but good things about Itazura Na Kiss; I really should get around to reading it one of these days!

ANNA: A classic! I’m so glad to see more print volumes coming out from DMP. I need to order this!

MJ: Nice to see this back!

SEAN: Kodansha has the 3rd Air Gear omnibus, with 3 more volumes of the roller blading superhero-ish manga for your perusal.

They also have the 5th volume of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, which I should really try to catch up on.

ASH: It’s actually a pretty decent adaptation.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a pair of titles for their readers who prefer the more ecchi-oriented catalog of Seven Seas. Dragonar Academy has Vol. 2, and still reminds me of Zero’s Familiar too much – the annoying points of Zero’s Familiar.

Meanwhile, Kanokon has a 3rd omnibus, which ends the manga release. And thank goodness, as this is the last time I will have to avoid saying something about it.

MICHELLE: Nothing for me here.

SEAN: If I had to drop a series after Vol. 1 merely as I found the lead unlikeable, I’d never be reading a lot of series. Thus I will look forward to Vol. 2 of Vertical’s What Did You Eat Yesterday? and its very prickly lead guy – being a good cook only gets you so far with the reader, though.

MICHELLE: Yay yay yay yay yay!

ASH: I’m excited to see this one, too!

ANNA: My shopping list is growing this week! So excited for more great foodie manga!

MJ: MORE MORE MORE.

SEAN: Lastly, Vol. 2 of Gangsta drops, and I’m hoping it keeps to the high standard set by Vol. 1, as I enjoyed the debut volume quite a bit.

ASH: I really enjoyed the first volume of Gangsta and so look forward to reading more soon!

ANNA: I’ve read this already and enjoyed it! Gangsta is rapidly becoming one of my new favorite ongoing series.

SEAN: What manga are you rebelling against?

Random Musings: Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2014

May 14, 2014 by Ash Brown

©Michael DeForge

Last year I attended the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) for the very first time. It was an event that I had wanted to go to for years and I had such a fabulous time that I immediately began planning to return. TCAF is the only comics festival that I have ever been to so I can’t really compare it to others, but it is fantastic and I can’t recommend it enough. I certainly plan on going every that I possibly can at this point.

Last year I was only there for the main festival on Saturday and Sunday, but this year I pulled into Toronto on Thursday evening which gave me plenty of time to explore the city itself. After figuring out how to use Toronto’s streetcar system (I’ve never ridden a streetcar before) my “early” arrival allowed me to attend the opening reception of Toshio Saeki’s art exhibition at Narwhal Projects. Saeki is described as the “Godfather of Japanese Eroticism.” The gallery was a showing of a selection of his original drawings and silkscreen prints. They were beautiful, disconcerting, erotic, and surreal works. I’m very glad I had the opportunity to see them in person.

Friday was my “free” day in Toronto. While I was wandering all over the city, I made sure to make my way down to The Beguiling Books & Arts. Last year I got there a few minutes before it closed, so I was looking forward to spending a more reasonable amount of time exploring the store this year. The Beguiling is one of the best comic stores I’ve ever been to. It has a fantastic selection of materials and a marvelous staff. I highly recommend anyone visiting Toronto to check it out. The event that I was looking forward to on Friday was the Manga Mixer Night hosted by Sparkler Monthly at the TRANZAC Club. I sadly missed out on the gathering last year, and one of my TCAF goals for this year was to overcome some of my anxieties and to try to be a little more social, so to the mixer I went! And I’m glad that I did. I had a good time and Kuriousity‘s Lissa Pattillo and I were beautiful wallflowers together. We had a very nice conversation about manga, blogging, and TCAF.

Over the course of the festival I had the opportunity to briefly meet several other of my online friends in person: manga translator and all around awesome person Jocelyne Allen, my fellow Manga Bookshelf cohort Sean Gaffney, and the great A-run Chey who somehow managed to pick me out of a crowd. I certainly made some progress this year in the socialization department, but I still didn’t have the nerve to introduce myself to Deb Aoki and Erica Friedman, who were both kept very busy moderating various panels, or to Vertical’s Ed Chavez even though I was standing next to each of them at some point during the festival. Next time I’ll make it happen! I know there were at least a few other manga and comics bloggers at TCAF—like Brigid Alverson and Alexander Hoffman, among others—but I missed them, too.

“Ureshidaruma” by Toshio Saeki

Saturday was when the main festival actually began. Last year I didn’t get to spend as much time in the exhibitor area as I would have liked, so I got up bright and early on Saturday in order to visit as many artists and publishers as I could first thing in the morning. This turned out to be a good decision, because the exhibitor area seemed to only get busier and busier throughout the day. I couldn’t see everything before the Saturday panels started, but by the end of the day I managed to visit most of the tables that I wanted. Sadly, there were a few things that I was hoping to get that were sold out by the time I was able to make my way to the artists’ respective tables. But at least that meant that the creators were doing well, and I was very glad to see their success. While I went into TCAF knowing there were certain things that I wanted to pick up, I also allowed myself the opportunity to splurge on a few random items that I hadn’t even heard of before and discovered some great comics in the process. And of course, I also managed to compile a rather lengthy list of things that I wanted to check out later, too. I continue to be very impressed by both the quality and variety of creators and art at TCAF.

I attended four panels on Saturday. “What Do Women Want? Writing Comics for a Female Audience,” was moderated by Chromatic Press’ Lianne Sentar and featured Laura Lee Gulledge, Kate Leth, Joan Reilly, and Noelle Stevenson. It was an excellent panel looking at men and women and masculinity and femininity in comics and the North American comics industry. Generally, comics readers are assumed by the industry to be both male and straight and so that audience is the one that has traditionally been catered to. There have always been female readers but recently there have been more demands for a wider variety in comics, perhaps due in part to what the panelists called the “Sailor Moon Generation.” These are the women, and men, who were exposed to female-friendly Sailor Moon when they were younger and who are now old enough to create the types of comics that they want to see or are in the position to support and encourage other upcoming creators who want something more than the industry’s default. The key to the discussion was the importance of variety in comics and that great stories will attract all sorts of readers regardless of their intended audience.

“Comics Design and History” focused on the physical design, production, and presentation of graphic novels. The panel was moderated by Chris Randle and included designers Tracy Hurren from Drawn & Quarterly, Fawn Lau from Viz Media, and Chip Kidd, who has designed books for Vertical and PictureBox among many other publishers. They each chose three book designs to discuss and talked about some of the decisions that go into the design process. For example, one of the first steps when a comic is being translated into another language is to determine whether the original cover is suited for the new demographic. Unflipped manga has the potential to be accidentally displayed with the back cover as the front, so Kidd very deliberately created a design for Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan that was interesting and informative regardless of which direction the book was facing. One of the series that Lau discussed was Taiyo Matsumoto’s Sunny, talking about the choices that went into its deluxe presentation. One of the biggest challenges in book design is achieving a balance between production values and the budget, and then finding a printer that can actually produce it.

TCAF 2014 Queer Mixer presented by MASSIVE

Considering the fantastic lineup—Jess Fink, Michael DeForge, C. Spike Trotman, HamletMachine, Graham Kolbeins, Katie Skelly, Ryan Sands—I should have known that “Contemporary Erotic Comics” was going to be a popular panel. It was held in one of the smallest venues and was completely packed, but it was absolutely worth squeezing into the crowd. Chris Randle was the moderator for this panel as well. The panelists discussed their first experiences with erotic comics (manga and doujinshi were frequently cited), the challenges of working in and making a living off of pornography, and some of the current trends in sex comics as a genre. The panel’s emphasis on the need for variety and different perspectives dovetailed nicely with parts of the “What Do Women Want?” discussion. Kolbeins, who has been critical to the efforts to bring gay manga to English-reading audiences, was able to provide fascinating insights into some of the difference between Japanese and Western porn comics industries. In Japan, pornography is often meant to exclusively be pornography; adding any sort of message or social commentary can be seen as watering it down. On the other hand, in the West sex comics often allow creators to address issues other than sex; as long as certain plot requirements are met, they are more or less free to do whatever they want with their comics.

The last panel that I attended on Saturday, moderated by Deb Aoki, was “Women in Manga!” The panel included all of this year’s mangaka who were featured guests at TCAF: Moyoco Anno, est em, and Akira Himekawa (A. Honda and S. Nagano, a two-women team). All four of them admitted that they brought their work along with them on the trip; they may be traveling, but they still had deadlines to meet. Even though they are women, they said that they are largely treated the same as their male counterparts when working in seinen. (In many cases, readers don’t even realize that they are women!) However, working in shounen used to present more hurdles, though it’s not as difficult now as it once was. In the end, readers care more about the content than the mangaka’s gender. Regardless of the genre or demographic that they are working in, the panelists normally receive respect. The exception to this would be boys’ love which is somewhat looked down upon. est em felt this was because that instead of the more usual manga contests which award the creators with a series, boys’ love mangaka often become professionals through their doujinshi and this is seen as a sneaky, backdoor way of breaking into the manga industry.

One of the heartbreaking things about TCAF is that there is so much great programming that it’s impossible to attend it all and hard decisions must be made. Sadly, “Women in Manga!” conflicted with the “Queering Comics – LGBTQ identity in comics and graphic novels” panel which I really wanted to attend. Since I couldn’t make it to the queer comics panel, I decided to show up for the TCAF Queer Mixer at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre instead. Now, I don’t generally go to things like parties and mixers, but I was enticed by the promise of on-stage presentations and interviews. And I wasn’t disappointed. Anne Ishii of MASSIVE made a fabulously entertaining host and more than a dozen of the queer creators who were at TCAF this year were spotlighted as part of the event. I was already familiar with some of them and their work, but others were new to me. And I’ll admit, it was pretty awesome to just be in the same room with a bunch of other amazing queer folk. One of the best things about TCAF is how marvelously inclusive it is, and the annual Queer Mixer is representative of that.

My 2014 TCAF haul

Then came Sunday, the last day of the main festival. Also known as “Ash’s day of manga.” I made it to three events, each one focusing on the festival’s featured mangaka. First thing in the morning was Moyoco Anno’s Spotlight with Ed Chavez. Probably not too surprisingly, Vertical’s releases of Anno’s manga—Insufficient Direction, Sakuran, and the soon to be published In Clothes Called Fat—were used as a jumping off point for the discussion. Anno talked about her approach to writing seinen, choosing to focus on what she as a woman can bring to the demographic rather than trying to compete in the same areas where men could do just as well. As for shoujo, she doesn’t feel that it has changed much over the last twenty years; it still follows the same unrealistic tropes, especially in regards to love. She feels that the large gap between real relationships and how they are portrayed in manga can sometimes be problematic for readers. When asked, she sweetly replied that her favorite character to draw was Director-kun, her husband Hideaki Anno (who also happened to be in attendance).

Those who stayed for the entire Moyoco Anno Spotlight were at a slight disadvantage when it came to the signing that immediately followed. I was the first person put in the rush line for her signing, but sadly I still didn’t get the chance to personally meet Anno. However, this did mean that I had time to walk over to Toronto’s Japan Foundation in time for Akira Himekawa in Conversation. The two women, who are best known for their Zelda manga, are celebrating their thirtieth year of collaboration and were being interviewed by Deb Aoki. They were both incredibly engaging and enthusiastic about their work. I actually haven’t read very much of Himekawa’s manga, but I’ll certainly be making a point to now. And after seeing examples of some of their current series, I really hope that more of their manga will be licensed in English in the future. I love the Zelda franchise, but Himekawa’s recent work, much of it in full-color, simply looks gorgeous. While I was at the Japan Foundation, I was also able to see the Seiji Ozawa Photography Exhibition—a showcase of archival materials focusing on the young, Japanese music director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1965 to 1969—which was great.

The Japan Foundation also sponsored an interview with Yohei Sadoshima, whose literary agency represents Moyoco Anno among many other creators, about the future of the manga industry. Unfortunately this conflicted with the est em Spotlight. As a huge fan of est em, there was no way I was going to miss her panel. Erica Friedman was the moderator and it actually ended up being one of the best interviews that I attended at TCAF this year, making it a great way to end the festival. est em got her start as a professional mangaka through boys’ love after being approached by an editor who was intrigued by her doujinshi. Interestingly enough, she hadn’t actually read much mainstream boys’ love, which may partly explain why her manga tends to be somewhat unusual. Although est em is probably best know for her atypical boys love manga, her current series—Golondrina and Ippo—are both seinen manga. I think that Viz is probably my only hope, but someone please license Golondrina for a print release! est em explains that the reason her work is quirky is because it incorporates what she personally finds to be beautiful or interesting. She especially enjoys exploring and working with themes that address the spaces in between two opposing forces. (Over at Okazu, Erica recently posted an excellent and much more thorough write-up of the est em Panel at TCAF.)

So there you have it! And that’s just scratching the surface of this year’s festival experience. In short: TCAF 2014 was phenomenal. The guests were amazing. The programming was fantastic. I hope that I’ll be able to go again next year. That’s the plan, anyway!

My Week in Manga: May 5-May 11, 2014

May 12, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week was a busy week for me, especially as I was travelling to and from Canada for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, but I still managed to post a few things. The Fullmetal Alchemist Giveaway Winner was announced, for one. The post also includes a select list of some shounen and seinen manga written and/or illustrated by women mangaka. I reviewed Hinoki Kino’s No. 6, Volume 6 which is a particularly important volume in the series as it starts to approach its climax. And I also reviewed The Battle Royale Slam Book: Essays on the Cult Classic Novel by Koushun Takami, the first nonfiction book to be released by Haikasoru. I thought it was pretty great.

No links this week as I have been completely preoccupied with TCAF and all its goings-on. I’ll have a lengthy write-up about it later this week, but I’ll just say now that I absolutely adore TCAF. Since est em was one of the featured guests, I spent quite a bit of time with her manga last week. The quick takes below feature most of her manga that are currently available or have been licensed in English. (Granted, some are out of print now.) I hope that there will someday be even more est em manga translated; I really love her work. Plus, having now met her, I can say that she’s a very cool and interesting person, too!

Quick Takes

Age Called Blue by est em. Originally released online in English and then in print by NetComics, Age Called Blue is also now available digitally from Digital Manga. Most of the volume focuses on Billy and Nick who are bandmates, roomates, friends, as well as something a bit more. Age Called Blue further develops the story and characters introduced in the manga “Rockin’ In My Head” which is included in est em’s earlier collection Seduce Me After the Show. I love the music connection in Age Called Blue. Their band, The Idiots, is something that is incredibly important to Billy, but Nick is incredibly important to him as well. Unfortunately, Nick isn’t the most responsible person and is constantly disappearing or getting into some sort of trouble, which threatens to tear the band apart just as they have the opportunity to make something of themselves. With all of the chaos caused by Nick, Billy struggles with his feelings for the other young man which can be at odds with his passion for his music. Also included in Age Called Blue is the story of how the two of them first met, which is incredibly charming. Two unrelated stories are also collected in the volume, both exhibiting their own sorts of passion.

Kine In! by est em. The first est em release by Digital Manga Guild, the main story in Kine In! is about Ken and Mari, who are twins, and their neighbor and close friend Joe. The three of them share an interest in films and film-making and so frequently go to the movies together. However, things become a little awkward for them after a couple of love confessions are made–Mari admits to her brother that she likes Joe, Joe tells Ken that he likes him, and Ken isn’t sure how to respond to either of them. And so he chooses to figure out his feelings and express himself by making his own film with Joe and Mari’s help. Three shorter one-shot manga are also included in Kine In! One of the themes that is prominent throughout the volume has to do with familial love and the importance of those family bonds. Many of the families shown in Kine In! are unusual in some way. “The Salvia and the Barber” features another trio of friends whose relationship goe beyond friendship while “The Scenery of that Summer” follows a young man meeting his step-brother for the first time after his father dies. “Mixed Juice,” which focuses on the relationship between a college student and his professor, is the only story that breaks from this thematic pattern.

Red Blinds the Foolish by est em. Although I have always enjoyed est em’s manga tremendously, it’s Red Blinds the Foolish that made me absolutely fall in love with her work. The main story in this volume is about Rafita, a brilliant young bullfighter, and Mauro, a butcher who processes the bulls killed in the arena. The two of them become intimately and passionately involved which has dramatic repercussions. Bullfighting is a crucial part of the manga and of their relationship; it is used to explore the paradoxes, complexities, and nuances of the connection between the two men. est em’s artwork is exquisite and the details she puts into the matador’s costumes are especially gorgeous. Even when dealing with heavier subjects like death and violence, Red Blinds the Foolish is beautiful and sensual. The afterword of Red Blinds the Foolish is a short travelogue of est em’s research trip to Spain to see the bullfights. Two of the other stories collected in the volume, “Baby, Stamp Your Foot” (about a novelist and his lover who makes shoes by hand) and “Tiempos extra” (about a violent soccer fan and a security guard), were actually first released in a gay men’s manga magazine as opposed to a boys’ love magazine. I particularly appreciate est em’s manga because of this crossover appeal.

Seduce Me After the Show by est em. Seduce Me After the Show was est em’s professional debut in Japan and was likewise the first of her manga to be licensed in English. The volume was my introduction to her work, and I’ve been collecting her manga ever since. Even so early in her career est em’s storytelling was already very sophisticated and mature. Her artwork is beautifully expressive, elegant, and sensuous. It suits the main story, which features a dancer, particularly well. Backgrounds are either simple or nonexistent which makes the characters and their relationships the focus of the short manga collected in the volume. There’s no overarching plot connecting the stories found in Seduce Me After the Show but atmosphere-wise many of the manga share a sense of melancholy and loss. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are sad or depressing, though they are thoughtful and contemplative. Another similarity is that most of the characters in Seduce Me After the Show are artists of one sort or another–dancers, actors, painters, musicians, and so on. Also of note: “I Saw the Blue”, the prequel to the story “Café et Cigarette” in Seduce Me After the Show, is collected in Age Called Blue.

Tableau Numéro 20 by est em. The most recent est em manga to be released in English is her collection Tableau Numéro 20, which includes five unrelated boys’ love, or boys’ love-esque, stories. Like many of her other manga, the stories in Tableau Numéro 20 frequently feature music, art, and dance. The titular manga and its related story “Le Visiteur” include a beautiful man who literally emerges from a painting, making them the most fantastical manga by est em that I’ve read. So much of her work and all of the other stories in Tableau Numéro 20 are based in reality, so it was interesting to see another side of est em’s creativity. Perhaps because both est em and I share an interest in Spanish culture, my favorite manga in Tableau Numéro 20 was “Rasgueado” which is about a flamenco dancer and guitarist. I’m always impressed by est em’s artwork and how expressive it is. The passion and energy on the page is almost palpable. Even when there is no dialogue there is a narrative being told through the characters’ body language and facial expressions. In “Rasgueado” in particular there are sequences of music and dance that are completely wordless that are brilliantly effective.

Ultras by est em. Along with Red Blinds the Foolish, as a whole Ultras is one of my favorite manga collections by est em. Currently it’s only available digitally, but I really do hope that it gets a print release sometime in the future. (As unlikely as that may be.) The titular “Ultras” is a story about Alfonso and Leon, two soccer fans who, after a drunken night of celebration when Spain wins the European Championship, end up in bed together. This wouldn’t necessarily be an issue except that it turns out that they are hardcore supporters of rival local teams. It’s refreshing to have a story where the plot’s anxiety isn’t about the characters being gay; in this case it’s the problem is that they’re fans of the “wrong” team. I also appreciate that the characters are well-developed and have lives outside of their relationship and soccer (though those are indeed both very important things in the manga). Al, for example, is actually an elementary school teacher and it’s adorable. And when Leon’s grandfather finds out about the two of them it’s simply one of the best scenes ever. “Ultras” and the related “Tiempos Extra” are my favorite manga in Ultras, but I enjoyed the other four stories as well. They all have a contemporary, modern sort of feel to them.

My Week in Manga: April 28-May 4, 2014

May 5, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

I was in Texas for much of last week, attending a conference for work, but I was still able post a few things here at Experiments in Manga. The most recent manga giveaway is underway, for one. This month you all have a chance to win the first omnibus of Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist. All you have to do is tell me a little about some of your favorite women mangaka. April’s Bookshelf Overload was also posted; there were all sorts of great releases last month. And finally, the first in-depth manga review of May goes to the very recently released Vinland Saga, Omnibus 3 by Makoto Yukimura. Vinland Saga is one of my favorite series currently being published in English. The entire series is epic and third omnibus is awesome.

Because I was traveling and caught up in conference goings-on, I may have missed some news. (If there’s something that caught your interest last week, do let me know!) However, I did come across a few things that made for good reading. I particularly enjoyed Tony Yao’s post at Manga Therapy, The Ambiguously Amazing Hange Zoe which discusses things like Attack on Titan, gender, and ambiguity. I recently reviewed Jen Lee Quick’s Off*Beat, Volume 2 in preparation for the release of the third and final volume. The series’ editor Lillian Diaz-Przybyl offers some Editorial Thoughts on the End of Off*Beat, one of Chromatic Press’ flagship titles. RocketNews24 offers a list of the twenty most popular manga in Japan, based on publication numbers. Justin Stroman interviews Eric Eberhardt (Viz Media’s Director of Digital Publishing) about Viz’s new digital imprint VIZ Select.

And for those of you in the Toronto area next week and weekend, do be sure to check out the Toronto Comic Arts Festival! There will be some phenomenal programming and incredible creators in attendance (including Moyoco Anno, Est Em, and Akira Himekawa among many, many more), and it’s free! TCAF is the only comic festival/conference that I go to and I highly, highly recommend it.

Quick Takes

Constellations in My Palm written by Chisako Sakuragi and illustrated by Yukine Honami. I happen to really enjoy Honami’s artwork–a somewhat softer style with light but expressive lines–so I’ve slowly been getting around to reading the various boys’ love manga that she’s worked on. As far as I know, Constellations in My Palm is the only manga that Sakuragi has written. It’s a fairly realistic romance and tends to be somewhat quiet and subdued. It’s narrated by Mizuho, a college student, whose younger cousin Enji moves in with his family as he is about to start college, too. When they were younger they were very close, but it’s been seven years since they’ve been in contact with or seen each other. Mizuho and Enji both care about each other, but their relationship has become awkward and strained. Constellations in My Palm has some wonderful moments in it, but I was largely frustrated by the manga. So much of the story is driven by misunderstandings, and many of them aren’t even the result of miss-communication. Generally, it’s Mizuho who’s the culprit–even when he’s told something straight to his face, repeatedly, he simply can’t or chooses not to believe it. As Mizuho has some self-esteem issues this does fit his character, but it doesn’t make it any less exasperating.

The Flowers of Evil, Volumes 7-9 by Shuzo Oshimi. I’ve been waiting for the entirety of the third arc of The Flowers of Evil to be released before reading it. I’m glad that I did, because once I started I didn’t want to put the manga down. After the resolution of the incident at the summer festival, there is a timeskip of three years. Kasuga and his family have moved to a different town in order to start over, but he is still haunted by his past. His relationship with his parents is broken and almost nonexistent. His new classmates tolerate him, but he remains distant and disconnected (and understandably so). But then he meets and, despite his weirdness and strange behavior, is befriended by Tokiwa–a popular and attractive girl whom all of the boys have a crush on. Like Kasuga, she’s hiding parts of herself from others, too. On the surface, the third arc is almost tame when compared to what came before it, but it is still extremely effective. It has a very different sort of intensity than the previous arcs. The story has become more subtle but retains a constant undercurrent of dread. Even when good things happen it seems as though they could only possibly be a prelude to some sort of disaster. The Flowers of Evil is an incredibly engaging series and just keeps getting better and better.

Say I Love You, Volume 1 by Kanae Hazuki. I didn’t really know much about Say I Love You before reading the first volume; I was vaguely aware of the series because of its recent anime adaptation (which I haven’t seen yet), but that’s about it. There’s not really much of a “hook” per se in Say I Love You. The characters are fairly normal. The story isn’t particularly unusual. The the two leads are Mei Tachibana–who although she avoids making friends is very aware of others and their feelings–and Yamato Kurosawa–whose popularity stems from his good looks but who otherwise is extremely average. So far the manga is simply about a group of teenagers living out their high school years. This includes all of the cliques and the bullying, the stress caused by interpersonal relationships, the self-consciousness and the issues of self-esteem. But that realism is probably the series’ strength. Say I Love You has some humorous moments, but I wouldn’t really describe it as a comedy at this point since in general Hazuki takes a more serious approach with the series. I’m actually very curious to see how Mei and Yamato’s relationship continues to develop, as well as how the relationships between the other characters evolve as well.

Wolfsmund, Volumes 3-4 by Mitsuhisa Kuji. At first Wolfsmund seemed to me as though it was going to be an episodic series, but with the third and fourth volumes the manga has focused in on an overarching narrative. However, the bleakness and brutality that has been present from the very start of Wolfsmund remains constant. These volumes see the beginning of the Swiss rebellion against the Austrian occupation and all of the violence and death that entails, including the incredible siege of the Wolf’s Maw at Sankt Gotthard Pass. The uprising has been in the planning stages for quite some time, but now the rebels finally have the opportunity to take action. 14th-century warfare is not pretty. There are very good reasons why attacking an overtaking a fortress are difficult tasks to accomplish–they are built to withstand assault and are designed to allow defenders to wreak havoc on invading forces and to cause tremendous amounts of damage. The rebels must face skilled soldiers, traps, fire, molten lead, boiling water, and more. And on top of that Wolfram, the bailiff of the Wolf’s Maw, is a vicious and sadistic leader who is not above torture. In fact, he seems to delight in it. Wolfsmund continues to be a dark and intense manga that is definitely meant for maturer audiences.

Love to Be Love

May 5, 2014 by Erica Friedman 1 Comment

We’ve talked a lot here on Magazine no Mori about what manga salarymen in Japan read. Today, we’re going look at a magazine with an adult female homemaker readership, Be Love magazine, from Kodansha. It’s a truism that Josei manga rarely does well as anime.

Stories in most magazines for adult women follow career, family, romance, all of which make pretty “meh” anime, but are often very successful as live-action TV dramas.Be Love magazine includes a very notable exception to the rule – Tsuetsugu Yuki’s extremely popular game manga series, Chihayafuru (which was ran as an anime TV series, original DVD animation and a Light Novel series.) It’s not terribly surprising, then, that on the tail of Chihayafuru‘s success, Be Love has another Karte-related series, as well, “Houkago Karte.” Also following up a popular series, the creator of Chi’s Sweet Home, Konami Kanata, has another domestic cat series, “Fukufuku Nyaan” that runs in Be Love.

First published in 1980, Be Love now has a monthly circulation of 120,405 according to the Japanese Magazine Publisher’s Association. It sells for 460 yen ($4.49 at time of writing) an issue, for approximately 420 pages. An indication of the audience for this magazine being homemakers are the contest prizes and giveaways from the magazine, which include items like microwaves, vacuum cleaners and matching pot sets, making this magazine the manga equivalent of afternoon soap operas.

Be Love does have a website, with a focus on purchasing released volumes of manga (with a rather lovely search for titles “like this” and “in the same genre,” as well as sample chapters from various manga series, series news, character intros, messages from the creators, and downloads like computer wallpapers.

As a whole, it is very hard to put a single label on the magazine.It has manga about adults and about children and adults with children; the stories tend to be realistic with an edge of fantasy, rather than purely fantastic. The magazine has decidedly less focus on romance than other Josei magazines, but makes up for it with other complex emotional situations. Be Love, from Kodansha: http://kc.kodansha.co.jp/magazine/index.php/02766

Manga the Week of 5/7

May 1, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, MJ and Michelle Smith 2 Comments

SEAN: First weeks of the month, man. I don’t know… June will be even worse, by the way.

First off, Dark Horse has its third Trigun Maximum omnibus, for those who missed it the first time around. Or just can’t get enough of Meryl and Milly. (And Vash, I suppose.)

Another title I don’t know much about from Gen Manga, called Android Angels. The cat eared girl on the cover really doesn’t play to my demographic, to be honest.

ASH: It has androids, so it has my attention!

MJ: I’m always interested to see what Gen is up to, if nothing else!

SEAN: This one is actually coming out this week rather than next, Amazon surprised me by moving the date up at the last minute. It’s also a highly anticipated title. Whispered Words is an omnibus from One Peace Books, better known to the yuri manga crowd as Sasameki Koto. It runs in Comic Alive, but for once don’t let that put you off – this is great stuff.

MICHELLE: Ooooh. Something just got added to my Amazon cart!

ASH: My copy has already arrived, and yes, this is great stuff.

MJ: MUST BUY.

SEAN: I’m starting to weary of the endless Alice spinoffs, but this new one, Love Labyrinth of Thorns, at least features Julius, one of my favorites of Alice’s many suitors.

Mayo Chiki 6. Mm. Yes. It has certainly reached 6 volumes.

There’s also Monster Musume 3, which has been a huge runaway success, to the point where I’m wondering if I got some other manga by mistake when I tried to read it. Oh well, no one ever said I had to be right all the time.

There’s also the first volume of Zero’s Familiar Chevalier, a sequel to the manga about everyone’s favorite tsundere. I’m not sure how long this will run – the author sadly passed away a while back, so I suspect the ending may be sudden.

Want Viz? We’ve got Viz! How about another Bleach 3-in-1, the first of many of that type of omnibus coming out this week.

Claymore hits Volume 24, and shows no sign of letting up anytime soon.

MJ: I’m good with that!

SEAN: High School Debut has its second 3-in-1. I’m trying to catch up on this series after losing track of it first time around, so this pleases me.

MICHELLE: *flaily Kermit arms*

MJ: Heeeee.

SEAN: Midnight Secretary hits Vol. 5, and I believe gets even further into family politics. But no doubt will still have hot vampire sex as well.

Naruto has an 8th 3-in-1, much like the holy trinity of Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke functions as a 3-in-1 with every chapter. Wait, isn’t this the academic conference?

Nisekoi 3 has been out digitally for ages, but now those who like print can catch up on the latest harem comedy.

MJ: I’m glad to have the opportunity to read this in print. Weirdly, I sort of like it.

SEAN: Otomen has reached its final volume, and it will be hard to top that cover. This is a title that’s gotten stronger as it’s gone along, even if the basic plot beat (new male character turns out to be secret otomen) was beaten into the ground. I’ll miss it.

ASH: I love that cover and I love this series. I’ll miss it, too.

SEAN: Phantom Thief Jeanne was a somewhat darker magical girl take in its first volume, and I expect things to continue in that vein with Vol. 2.

MICHELLE: I really enjoyed volume one, so I’m looking forward to this!

MJ: Me too!

SEAN: Psyren also ends with Vol. 16. This was one of those mid-range Jump series that never got quite as popular as I expected over here, but did well enough. Let’s hope it all wraps up nicely.

MICHELLE: One day I really will read Psyren.

SEAN: If you saw Nisekoi is out but prefer your harem comedy a little more old-school, there’s the 2nd Ranma 1/2 omnibus, which features the debut of Shampoo.

The last of our final volumes next week, Strobe Edge hits Vol. 10. Will our heroine finally be able to get what love is? And will it be happy?

MICHELLE: And here are two more I’m eager for! It’s nice to be excited about things. :)

MJ: I’m still hooked on Strobe Edge.

SEAN: Lastly, not a final volume but a penultimate one, as Vampire Knight is almost at its conclusion. What will we do in a world without any vampire manga in our lives? Well, except for those dozen others. Regardless, this volume should prove as addicting yet confusing as the others.

What manga will you be catching up on at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival?

Manga Giveaway: Fullmetal Alchemist Giveaway

April 30, 2014 by Ash Brown

It’s the last Wednesday of April (not to mention the last day of April) which means it’s time for the monthly manga giveaway here at Experiments in Manga to begin! This month you have the opportunity to win the first omnibus of Hiromu Arakawa’s wonderful manga series Fullmetal Alchemist as published by Viz Media. The omnibus collects the first three volumes of the series in one convenient package and makes a great introduction to Fullmetal Alchemist. (And for you collectors who like your manga to match, never fear! The final volume of the omnibus edition is currently scheduled for release this November.) As always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

Gender has been a fairly hot topic in comics over the last few years (if not longer). The discussion isn’t just about who is represented in comics, but who’s reading and creating comics as well. Amazing women creators are out there, and they have been for a long time. This is not only true for comics in general, but for manga specifically. Women are and have been creating for all demographics. I am aware of plenty of women mangaka working in seinen and shounen, which are primarily aimed at men and boys, not to mention those who are working in josei and shoujo, which are primarily aimed at women and girls. Of course there are all of those manga that don’t neatly fit into one of the four main demographics and women are creating those, too.

Now, when I’m looking for manga to read, I’m looking for great characters, great stories, and great art. Whether the creator is a woman or a man (or any other gender for that matter) can be important, but for me it usually isn’t a deciding factor when it comes to choosing what to read. Sadly, that’s not true for everyone. I know of readers who will intentionally avoid the work of women creators, authors, and artists simply because they’re women. And they’re missing out on some fantastic material because of it. Take Fullmetal Alchemist as an example.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win a copy of the first Fullmetal Alchemist omnibus?

1) In the comments below, simply name one of your favorite women mangaka and tell me what you enjoy about her work.
2) For a second entry, name a shounen or seinen manga series (which hasn’t been mentioned by me or by someone else) that is written and/or illustrated by a woman.
3) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

And there you have it! Each person participating in the giveaway can earn up to three entries and has one week to submit comments. If you have trouble leaving a comment, or if you would prefer, entries may also be submitted via e-mail to phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. I will then post the comments in your name. The giveaway winner will be randomly selected and announced on May 7, 2014. Good luck!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, a link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced–Manga Giveaway: Fullmetal Alchemist Giveaway Winner

My Week in Manga: April 21-April 27, 2014

April 28, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Last week was another week with two reviews here at Experiments in Manga. The first review was of Fumi Yoshinaga’s What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 1, one of the manga I was most looking forward to being released this year. I really enjoyed the debut of the series and look forward to reading more. The second review posted last week was of Jen Lee Quick’s Off*Beat, Volume 2. The third volume in the series will be released soon, so I decided to revisit the previous volume in preparation. Off*Beat is a comic that simply makes me happy and I think I enjoy it more with each rereading.

And now for some interesting found online: Jason Stroman wraps up his manga advice series at Organization Anti-Social Geniuses with 20 Things I Learned from the Manga Advice Series. Joe McCulloch takes a close look at some of the pre-Tezuka manga available in English at The Comics Journal. No Flying No Tights has updated its list of must have manga for teens. A recent poll of Japanese parents asked “Which manga do you want your kids to read?” RocketNews24 lists the top ten, eight of which are currently available in English either digitally or in print.

Quick Takes

Attack on Titan, Volume 12 by Hajime Isayama. The English-language release of Attack on Titan has now more or less caught up with the Japanese release of the series, which means the time between volumes has increased. Granted, those who are impatient have option of reading the most recent chapters on Crunchyroll, but I’ve personally been waiting since January to see what happens next. I am still impressed by just how many twists and turns Isayama is able to incorporate into the plot of Attack on Titan. Even though the twelfth volume is more about the action than it is about the story, there are still some surprises in store. Granted, each revelation in Attack on Titan only seems to raise more questions. In this volume the Survey Corp is tasked with rescuing Eren, who is in bad shape and being held captive along with Ymir by Reiner and Bertolt. Facing off against Titans is one thing, but having to attack those who at one point seemed to be allies is another thing entirely. Attack on Titan has always been intense and the twelfth volume is no different.

Border, Volumes 1-3 by Kazuma Kodaka. Although Border is an ongoing series at five volumes and counting, only three of those volumes have so far been released in English. I’m not sure if Digital Manga plans on licensing more at this point or not. Border is the most recent of Kodaka’s boys’ love manga to be translated. Though calling it boys’ love might be a bit misleading. The manga’s lead, Yamato, is gay and all of the characters seem to be in love with him to one extent or another, but so far the series seems to be more about detective agency he runs with his two foster brothers and his cousin than it is about romance. The first volume, which focuses on ex-soldier Yamato and his tragic past, is the most boys’ love-like (including explicit sex scenes), but subsequent volumes turn to the other characters–his brothers Kippei, a computer genius, and Tamaki, a hair designer whose skills are handy when disguises are needed. Their backstories are likewise tragic. I like this narrative structure of Border. And if the pattern continues, the next volume in the series should focus on Yamato’s cousin Sogo, which I would be very interested in reading.

Eyeshield 21, Volumes 32-34 written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. Often I find that reading sports manga makes me at least temporarily more interested in the games which they’re about, but for whatever reason that hasn’t been the case for Eyeshield 21. I probably have developed more of an appreciation for American football, but it still isn’t a sport I care very much about. Eyeshield 21 on the other hand, I’ve come to love. The artwork is phenomenal and the characters are engaging and distinctive. At this point, much of the humor and many of the running gags from the start of the series have faded into the background; Eyeshield 21 has become much more serious and dramatic, but it’s still a tremendous amount of fun. The series has been building up to the Christmas Bowl where the Deimon Devil Bats are playing against the Teikoku Alexanders, an all-star team which has never lost the tournament. The games in Eyeshield 21 have always been exciting but the Christmas Bowl match is fantastic. I fully anticipated Eyeshield 21 to end with the Christmas Bowl, but no, there are still three more volumes to go!

xxxHolic: Rei, Volume 1 by CLAMP. It’s been a while since I’ve read any of the original xxxHolic manga, and I never did finish reading the series before it went out of print (happily, Kodansha will be re-releasing the series in an omnibus edition), but I was still happy to see Rei licensed. As indicated in the translation notes, rei in this instance means return, “signaling a return to the series and to its roots.” It’s not really clear yet exactly how, or if, Rei will tie into the main series. I do have a few ideas how it might, though. Those who have read at least some of xxxHolic will be at a slight advantage over those who haven’t since the characters aren’t thoroughly introduced, but even new readers should be able to make sense of most of Rei. I love Clamp’s artwork in this series. The high-contrast and relatively simple illustration style is very evocative and elegant, and creepy and disconcerting when required. The supernatural elements in the manga tend to be dark in tone, but at the same time the main characters and their interactions tend towards the more comedic. It’s an interesting mix that somehow works; even the humorous scenes have something menacing lurking underneath.

Manga the Week of 4/30

April 24, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, Ash Brown, Michelle Smith, Anna N and MJ 1 Comment

SEAN: As usual with a fifth week, it’s small, but not as small as you’d think!

Another DMP blast from the past, as we get the 2nd volume of Otodama: Voice From The Dead, the first having come out in 2010. Does anyone remember what it was like?

ASH: Wow, that is from a ways back!

MICHELLE: I thought I had read and reviewed this one, but evidently not!

SEAN: There’s also Vertical, with its debut of a new series that surprised me when they announced it. Cardfight Vangaurd is a card fighting game, along the same lines of Yu-Gi-Oh!, and has a large cult following. Its manga ran in KeroKero Ace magazine.

Everything else this week is Kodansha. We see the 12th Attack on Titan manga, and I greatly enjoyed it. Which may be the last time for a while, as having read the chapters on Crunchyroll, the series is getting into some very problematic areas for me.

ASH: I’ve been waiting for the print releases, so I’m interested to see where things head with this volume.

SEAN: Sankarea rolls on, and no one is permanently dead yet, nor has anyone consummated their harem relationship. Still, it’s a lot of fun and has some exciting sequences.

They also debut the 2nd series from Dessert magazine in 2 months, this one called Say “I Love You” (Kodansha left off the quote marks from the Japanese version, which I think is a shame). It has an anime I expect a lot of folks have already seen.

MICHELLE: I haven’t! But I’ll definitely be checking this one out.

SEAN: Vinland Saga hits its third omnibus, meaning I’m now 4 volumes behind. The curse of omnibus releases.

ASH: Vinland Saga has become one of my favorite series currently being released. What are you waiting for?

ANNA: Vinland Saga is wonderful. I agree with Ash, I’m surprised you aren’t reading it!

SEAN: Lastly, xxxHOLIC begins its sequel… or is it a reboot? What on Earth is going on here anyway? In any case, it has the Sean seal of approval, i.e. it does not mention Syaoran once.

MICHELLE: I must admit that I never actually finished the original xxxHOliC! But the omnibus releases will make it easy for me to finally get the final volumes I missed picking up. But, nevertheless, it’ll be a while before I read the sequel/reboot thing.

MJ: xxxHolic xxxHolic xxxHolic, that is all I have to say this week! Also, <3

SEAN: Are April Showers bringing manga flowers?

My Week in Manga: April 14-April 20, 2014

April 21, 2014 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

There were two in-depth reviews posted at Experiments in Manga Last week. The first review was of Torajiro Kishi’s manga Maka-Maka: Sex, Life, and Communication, Volume 1 as a part of my Year of Yuri review project. Maka-Maka is definitely a mature title and there’s quite a bit of sex and physical intimacy, but I think it’s one of the best adult-oriented yuri manga to have been released in English. Sadly, it’s very out-of-print. The second review was of The Black Lizard and Beast in the Shadows, a collection of two of Edogawa Rampo’s better known short novels of suspense. I though they were pretty great, but then again I tend to be rather fond of Rampo’s works.

As for a few other interesting things: Jason Thompson takes a look at the mahjong manga The Legend of Koizumi in the most recent House of 1000 Manga column. (Ed Chavez apparently wanted to license the series. It’s unlikely to ever actually happen, but we can dream!) Yen Press had quite a few license announcements of its own to make, including the establishment Yen On, an imprint specifically devoted to light novels. Dark Horse also announced some exciting licenses–more manga by CLAMP and Satoshi Kon. Toh EnJoe won the Philip K. Dick Award Special Citation for his work Self-Reference Engine, one of my favorite books released last year. And speaking of awards, the 2014 Eisner Award Nominees have been announced. Manga up for an Eisner Award include The Heart of Thomas, The Mysterious Underground Men, Showa: A History of Japan, 1926–1939, The Summit of the Gods, Volume 4, and Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist in the Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia category and The Strange Tale of Panorama Island in the category for Best Adaptation from Another Medium.

Quick Takes

Bad Teacher’s Equation, Volumes 4-5 by Kazuma Kodaka. Bad Teacher’s Equation has come a long way since its first volume. The series was nearly a decade in the making, so it probably shouldn’t be too surprising that it underwent some significant evolution in both artwork and storytelling, including some unexpected plot developments. In the series’ afterword, Kodaka notes that Bad Teacher’s Equation “mirrored the history of boy’s love comics throughout the ’90s” and that it was her first foray into the genre. It started out as a comedy, but by the end of the series, while there is still a fair amount of humor, it has become much more serious and even addresses some of the challenges that face same-sex couples in a more realistic fashion. I particularly enjoyed the fourth volume because of this and because of its focus on Masami and Toru’s relationship. They are the most consistently believable couple in Bad Teacher’s Equation. Although I wasn’t always convinced by Masayoshi and Atsushi’s relationship in the series, for the most part I did really like how things played out for them in the final volume.

Click, Volumes 1-4 by Youngran Lee. The basic premise of Click is fairly absurd–Joonha’s family has a strange genetic mutation which causes their bodies to change sex shortly after they reach puberty. Of course, this was never actually mentioned to Joonha and so he’s understandable concerned when at the age of sixteen all of a sudden he seems to have turned into a girl. At first, I thought that Click was going to be a comedy, but that’s not entirely the case. There are humorous elements, Joonha’s parents, for example, are a rather unusual pair and their scenes are generally played for laughs, but the manhwa is much more about the drama (and melodrama). It might not be the most realistic series, but there’s actually some interesting exploration of gender, gender roles, and gender identity in Click. Joonha isn’t a particularly pleasant person and on top of that he’s a misogynistic jerk, too. His sex change is a rather traumatic event for him and he’s now stuck in between genders. His body is female, and he tries to live as a girl, but his personality and way of thinking hasn’t really changed that much.

Drifters, Volume 3 by Kohta Hirano. I’m still not sure that I entirely understand what the underlying plot of Drifters is supposed to be, but I’m not entirely certain that it matters much at this point, either. At least not to me. I enjoy Drifters for the series’ outrageous characters and battles more than any sort of coherent story. I also appreciate Hirano’s use of historic figures in the series, although it does help to have at least some vague idea of who they are outside of the manga. Admittedly, Hirano’s interpretations are extraordinarily liberal and irreverent. Most of the characters exhibit varying degrees of insanity and there’s not much subtlety or nuance to their characterizations, either. So far, Drifters has been a very violent series. The third volume is no exception to this and battle after battle is fought. I have noticed some continuity errors in the artwork which can be distracting or confusing, especially when they occur in the middle of a fight scene. (Past volumes had this same problem, too.) In the end, Drifters still doesn’t make much sense yet, but I continue to find it to be highly entertaining.

Fairy Tail, Volume 37 by Hiro Mashima. It’s the final day of the Grand Magic Games, the results of which will literally determine the fate of the world. The danger of course is that Mashima may have over-hyped the Games’ finale; the victory of the guild that ultimately wins is described as being impossible and highly unusual. But if there’s going to be a tournament arc, that’s certainly one way of making it crucial to the development of the story. I consider it to be a good thing. While the Grand Magic Games were diverting, for a while there they didn’t seem to have much of a point except to serve as an excuse to have high-powered wizards doing battle. And there’s plenty of fighting in the thirty-seventh volume, including several confrontations that occur simultaneously. Sadly, compared to previous battles, I didn’t find them to be especially engaging. The most interesting fight is the one between Erza and two other extremely skilled and strong women, Kagura and Minerva, which has several scenes which are particularly dramatic. Mashima does have to cheat and mislead readers with the artwork a bit to achieve some of those moments, though.

SamuraiFlamenco Samurai Flamenco directed by Takahiro Omori. Samurai Flamenco is an anime series that celebrates superheros and superhero shows. It uses a strange mix of silliness bordering on parody and seriousness, but it somehow works. Samurai Flamenco begins very realistically, with Hazama acting as a vigilante. He’s not particularly competent at first, but he makes up for that with his enthusiasm, passion, and belief in justice. It also helps that other people are drawn to him and his cause. On the surface, the middle portion of the series seems like a very typical superhero show with monsters and evil organizations. The villains’ character designs are frankly ridiculous. But then the anime returns to a more serious approach and the final episode pulls everything together perfectly. I did enjoy the humor of the series but I probably appreciated the more realistic examination of what it means to be a superhero even more. I quite enjoyed Samurai Flamenco and found the characters, all of whom are just a little bit strange, to be both likeable and interesting.

Manga Publishers on Fan Interest in Manga Online

April 18, 2014 by Justin Stroman 5 Comments

Welp, thanks Google! Credit to AnimeKon for that.

Um, I guess this is the best image I could find? Credit to AnimeKon.

It started this week, when Ash had posted a link to Kodansha’s Tumblr that weighed in on piracy. Interested in reading what they said, I checked it out, and after sitting on this idea for a day, I decided to get in contact with all the manga publishers in the US and basically asked them for a response to that query. So a shout-out to he or she who decided to ask the question, and to Ash for linking to it.

I should already preface this by saying that, after reading the responses by the publishers, feel free to discuss your overall position on the situation, because discussion is good, and especially for those who live on the side where you do read manga that has no chance of being published in English for a multitude of reasons, it may be something you want to know. Or maybe not know about!

Note: as a heads up, this post may be updated with publisher thoughts as the day goes on. It’s their choice whether to respond or not.

Anyways, here they are (let’s start with the one who started this chain off):

Kodansha’s Editor Ben Applegate:

Today, here’s how our process works. We read series as they begin serialization in Kodansha’s magazines, and we keep an eye on the promising ones. If it’s by an author or from a franchise we’ve had success with, that’s a major bonus. Kodansha Japan will come to us to with the series they want to push in the future. We also consider which series may get an anime presence. All of these factors are more important than fan requests online. Though there was a time when most publishers referred to scanlations during licensing, and maybe some still do, we don’t. The other manga publishers I’m familiar with don’t either.

This is not because we don’t pay attention to our fans. It’s because we’ve learned from experience that highly-requested series usually produce sales that come in under expectations. The biggest reason is that, unfortunately, heavy social media users are just not representative of a majority of English-language manga fans. But it can’t help that most of the target audience has already read the series online, and thus isn’t very motivated to buy.

When series, usually seinen series, that are frequently requested on social media as a result of scans do get licensed, sales might be okay for Vol. 1 and sometimes 2, but they drop far below expectations on Vol. 3+. My personal hypothesis here is that people who’ve read the scanlations maybe remember to buy Vol. 1 or 2 because they want to support the artist, but by Vol. 3 and later they either forget or feel they’ve done their part. But the publisher is still on the hook for five, ten, fifteen more potentially money-losing volumes.

So, given the choice (and we usually aren’t), I would rather start from zero with a series I strongly believed in and try to build an audience for the legal release than be forced to compete with illegal scanlations that people have already been reading for months or years.

It doesn’t mean we’ve given up on “fan favorite” series. Vinland Saga was highly-requested and highly-scanlated for years. We took lots of extraordinary measures to try to break the “seinen curse,” producing premium hardcover editions with a bonus story, exclusive author Q&A, and other extra content. We also made them 2-in-1 editions to reduce the number of volumes we’d have to release. Whether that has worked or not is still an open question. Though Vol. 1 is doing well, it is discouraging to see basically no change in the popularity of the scanlations since we licensed the series.

Finally, consider: We’ve received some asks about whether having a manga available in English on a legal manga site makes a print version less likely because people have already read it. Well, illegal scanlations have an impact that’s many times bigger than any legal manga site. Something to think about.

So, what can you do? Well, you can stop reading scanlations, and encourage friends to do the same. I have never read more than a single chapter of a series in scanlation, and I have read a lot of manga (not all of it in Japanese). There is enough excellent manga out legally in English to fill all of your leisure time. ALL of it. And it’s increasingly available digitally at an affordable price.

If you still need a little piracy in your life, the least you can do is stop reading series that have been licensed. If you want to see what happens next, wait for the official release to catch up. You’ll survive the wait, I promise. And please spread the word about licensed releases! It can be hard for publishers to get scan readers informed about the legal version.

Viz’s Vice President of Publishing, Leyla Acker:

— On whether it’s a bad thing to read manga that won’t be published in English online when they’ve been fan translated?

I don’t think it’s a “bad thing,” mainly because I don’t think that value judgments like “good” and “bad” are useful to the conversation. The assumption implicit in this question is that the legitimacy of scanlations should be measured primarily by their potential impact on sales. While that’s no small issue, it’s not the main one, which is this: with a few notable exceptions, every mangaka and doujinshika I have ever spoken to about their work being scanlated hates it. From the creator’s perspective, the point is not whether the work is officially released in English or any other language, but that their work has been appropriated by people they don’t know and then used in ways they never consented to, even if it’s being done with good intentions.

— If fan interest online ever compelled them to go back and take a second look at a title?

You can basically copy and paste Kodansha’s Tumblr post on scanlations here. In other words, no. As fans ourselves, we’re definitely aware of what people are talking about online, but in our market there’s not necessarily a direct correlation between what’s popular online and what people actually buy. In fact, sometimes there’s an inverse correlation, not only with seinen and josei, as the Kodansha post indicated, but also markedly with shoujo. Also, if a midlist or potentially more modest-selling title has been heavily scanlated that can act as a disincentive for us to publish it since we know we’ll be faced with diminished sales out the gate.

Digital Manga Publishing’s Sales Manager Yoko Tanigaki:

— On whether it’s a bad thing to read manga that won’t be published in English online when they’ve been fan translated?

When was it ever a good thing? This is not a good or bad thing. This is an issue of right or wrong. It is wrong to take un-consented or unlicensed materials, scan them, translate them and distribute them. This is stealing- YES, stealing. This is never OK. This is WRONG. Knowing this and you still want a “scanlation-like” action in your life? Come work for me at Digital Manga Guild, and we’ll pay you a portion of the sale. I could always use more translators and letterers.

— On whether it’s a bad thing to read manga that won’t be published in English online when they’ve been fan translated?

Not really. There is no magical publishing formula that says “this book will sell well because it has a huge fan interest on line.”

Justin is the Editor-in-Chief of Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, an anime and manga blog. Currently is on an anime backlog adventure. You can follow him on Twitter @Kami_nomi.

Manga the Week of 4/23

April 17, 2014 by Sean Gaffney, MJ, Anna N, Ash Brown and Michelle Smith 2 Comments

SEAN: The 4th week of April brings us a variety of stuff, even if the majority comes from Yen Press, who always enjoy getting a week mostly to themselves (Viz usually owns Week 1 for this purpose).

There’s not nearly as much Korean manwha coming out these days, so I can actually highlight it when it does appear. This week sees the 15th volume of Bride of the Water God, which I believe the Manga Bookshelf team has greatly enjoyed in the past.

MJ: I am so happy that this series continues to be published! It’s beautiful.

ANNA: I’m fairly indifferent to this series. I thought the first two volumes were lovely, but the plot was so thin that the book didn’t maintain my interest at all. But good on Bride of the Water God for being one of the few surviving translated manwha series!

SEAN: There’s also the 31st volume of Gantz, which I believe the Manga Bookshelf team has not particularly enjoyed in the past, but whose collected costumes in all 31 volumes could power the rubber and lycra industries for the next twenty years.

ASH: I enjoyed the first five volumes or so, but never quite got around to reading more of the series. The length makes the prospect a little daunting at this point…

SEAN: Kodansha gives us the 9th volume of Animal Land, which, like Zatch Bell (by the same creator) I keep hearing good things about but can never quite get into.

ASH: It took me a few volumes to really get into Animal Land, but I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.

SEAN: Vertical has the 9th volume of Flowers of Evil, which is ending next month in Japan, I believe, so we should be getting near a climax.

MJ: All right!

ASH: I’ve been waiting for this entire arc to be released before reading it. And now the wait is over!

SEAN: One of the most contested manga of the last few years comes to an end with Vol. 10 of Bunny Drop. I understand this volume mostly features chapters devoted to Rin as a child, but will also have a flashforward past the end of the series, so be warned in advance. I look forward to an post-series interview from Yen Press regarding this title!

MICHELLE: I’ll be reading it, for the sake of completeness if nothing else.

MJ: I’m rather looking forward to it.

ANNA: I dropped it after the third volume because I just found the plot squicky.

ASH: I’m interested in reading this volume. Some of Bunny Drop was incredibly well done. Other parts of it…not so much.

SEAN: Unless Yen decides to surprise me at Sakuracon by announcing the Dice-Killing optional epilogue, this is likely the final volume of Higurashi: When They Cry, containing the final two volumes from the Festival Accompanying Arc. This is, at last, the good end. Not a series I ever thought I’d read, I have since become totally obsessed with it, and thank Yen for exposing me to its charms. Nipaa~!

I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by Inu x Boku SS, which manages to be less moe than I feared and with dark undertones that are handled rather subtly. I am eagerly awaiting this new volume.

As for the 3rd volume of WataMote… all right, fine, No Matter How You Look At It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular!, the key is to try to balance the excellent art, humor and characterization with the fact that reading about the lead too much makes you lose faith in humanity and possibly the will to live.

MICHELLE: Ugh, no thanks. Life’s too short.

MJ: Heh.

SEAN: Spice & Wolf’s novels have reached double digits, something which is entirely down to the economics examined through the series, and not at all for the moe and occasionally naked wolf-eared girls who also occupy the series. The novels recently ended with Vol. 17, so we’re over the halfway point.

ASH: I finally gave up on the novels a few volume back, but I’m glad that devoted fans are getting more of the series.

SEAN: I appear to be one of the few people out there who loved the first Sword Art Online manga omnibus, as those who had seen the anime and read the novels said it was very rushed. Luckily, here is the first novel so that I can compare them. I look forward to enjoying them even more. Wish Yen had the digital rights, though.

MJ: This is probably my most-anticipated release this week. I loved the anime adaptation of these novels, and I’m very excited to have the chance to read the source material!

SEAN: Lastly, we have the 2nd and final omnibus of the 3rd Umineko arc, Banquet of the Golden Witch. This should be the last of the truly doorstopping omnibuses – the series went from 5 volumes per arc to 6 after this, so further omnibuses will be 2-2-2 rather than 2.5/2.5. As for the content, after this ends you should have a lot more clues as to Beatrice’s true nature.

MICHELLE: Is that one kid still going “Uuu! Uuuuuu!!” all the time?

SEAN: She’s dead at this point in the arc (Umineko and Higurashi are the only two series where I can say that and have it not be a spoiler). The 4th arc will explore her life in depth, and explain the background of the “uu-uuu’ thing. It’s far more tragic and depressing than just an annoying tic. (Though admittedly, we aren’t there yet, and I admit it is a very annoying tic.)

What’s on your pull list from this group?