Unshelved

Friday was another busy, busy day. To be honest, there are no more light days anymore, now that this is an official Day 2. It began with the Crunchyroll anime panel (they have a manga one later). They rolled out cute chibi-art of the staff, along with the fan mascot, chosen from a contest. Then they plugged a few new announcements.

Future Diary and Switch Girl will both get J-drama simulcasts. Future Diary should be familiar to anime fans. Switch Girl is a manga title I’ve suggested before, with a premise similar to Kare Kano – a girl who is a princess at school but a slob at home gets caught one day. On the anime front, they had Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie, an adaptation of an otome game with an all-star seiyuu cast; Ultraman Max, a new sentai incarnation of the beloved franchise; and Case Closed, the long running anime/manga series.

They reminded everyone they are still very much in startup mode, and they are hiring new employees – see their website. They also discussed the complications involved in licensing – there’s a lot of moving parts most folks don’t see or know about.

After this, I room camped again, and thus got to see the Image Comics panel. It was a lot of fun – Image has come a long way in the past 25 years or so. Much of the start was intros and plugging titles. There was Madam Frankenstein, sort of a pastiche between the classic novel and My Fair Lady. Ghost is dark and bleak, sometimes even more than the author really intended – he discussed a scene where he had added a few jokes into a dark scene and the editor asked him to get rid of them.

Umbral is a dark fantasy, with the interesting concept that the dialogue balloons for magical incantations are actually magic sigils/patterns. They wanted to convey the idea that it’s not something understood by normal people. The Fuse is a straight up police procedural, but with SF elements – “what if Homicide: Life on the Streets crossed over with Battlestar Galactica?”. Nailbiter is a series that was rejected by several other publishers before finding a home at creator-driven Image.

Rocket Girl was the title that interested me the most, a period SF piece which stars a teen, but is not really written for teens – the adults reading are to be reminded what the mindset was like back when they were that age. As for The Wicked and the Divine, it’s apparently quite popular, and the moderator discussed the idea of “pop comics” – like pop music, having a broad-based, non-genre appeal.

Question time. Many on the panel also did work for Marvel or DC, and the difference between work for hire and your own creations is considerable. With work for hire, it can be a job to find a way to make yourself care. With your own work, it’s inverted, needing to see it made broader and more accessible to others.

At this pointy, Chip Zdarsky walked in with his banner and joined the panel, naturally talking about his work Sex Criminals. Chip added many moments of levity to the proceedings, as both the panel and the audience felt free to mock him. Meanwhile, the panelists mused on what other title they would “cross over” with if they could – given my general lack of knowledge of Image titles, I missed the gist, but the crowd seemed pleased.

For manga fans, the most interesting question might have been talking about Print vs. Digital. Anthony Johnson noted that he feels the manga boom was a huge influence on the way people read comics, and that the manga readers looking for something else seem to turn to titles along Image’s lines rather than superheroes in spandex. The newer, younger readers are also more digital oriented, so naturally the market is adjusting. Though there can be issues – Chip noted his title was banned by Apple from the iPad for content reasons.

Other questions that sparked discussion included whether the time period you write in makes a difference (with a side discussion on the cliché of “I’ve got no signal” for cell phones in horror movies, now a hallmark of lazy writing), how to write humor into dark, serious works without having it come across as forced (make it come naturally from the characters you create), and finding time to write on a busy schedule (make time).

After that, Yen Press had its panel, and they had a slew of announcements, though for once none of them were light novels. They did have several LN adaptations, though. The manga of Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? runs in Square Enix’s Young Gangan, and just began last year. Index fans rejoice, the manga of A Certain Magical Index is finally coming to our shores. This is a Shonen Gangan title, and at 12+ volumes as much of an investment as the LN was – Yen is pushing Index hard.

Trinity Seven is a title from Fujimi Shobo’s Dragon Age, so expect a lot of fanservice. It also has a lot of fantasy tropes that may seem familiar to followers of the genre, but it got a huge crowd reaction. The artist is also known for Psycho Busters, an old Del Rey work. As for Chaika: The Coffin Princess, a Kadokawa title from Young Ace, I could not help but remark on its similarity to another Yen series – it was joked that they considered calling it Shoulder-a-Coffin Chaika. The author of this LN adaptation is best known for Scrapped Princess.

Kodansha’s Aria magazine has proven a fruitful shoujo breeding ground over the last year or so, and we have another new title coming from there, First Love Monster. A 15-year-old girl falls head over heels for the boy who saves her from death… only to find he’s still in 5th grade! The artist has also done adaptations of the Book Girl manga, though that has not yet been licensed by Yen.

The next license was the most surprising, as there was a lot of Twitter chat recently about how it wasnt going to be licensed anytime soon. Prison School is from the creator of Me and the Devil Blues, but goes in a very different direction – comedic fanservice galore, as it features five guys in a former girls’ school where they’re hideously outnumbered. At 14+ volumes, I was very surprised to see it myself. It runs in Kodansha’s Young Magazine.

Then there’s Kaoru Yuki’s latest, Alice in Murderland. It just began in Aria this year, but features plots very dear to North American buyers – Wonderland, survival games, etc. Lastly, and possibly the biggest news, they’ve license rescued Emma, the old Victorian Maid romance. It will be released in deluxe hardcover editions, and is an absolute must buy. (Oh yes, it ran in Enterbrain’s Comic Beam.)

One last title, an English-language one, is Svetlana Chmakova’s new work Awkward, which is about the titular awkwardness found in childhood friendships, and looks incredibly cute.

I missed a lot of Q&A due to having my own questions. I asked about the paucity of digital rights for the new light novels they’re putting out. They do try to get digital rights for everything they license, but it’s complicated – sometimes it’s the author blocking it. I also asked about End of the Golden Witch, the next Umineko arc. Still being discussed, so expect another break after Alliance finishes. And they have no comment about Durarara!! LNs or anything else they didn’t already discuss, of course.

My next two panels were more “casual” ones, with fewer notes. Bryan O’Malley was in fine form, and had a lot to say about Seconds, Scott Pilgrim, and being a famous Canadian. Also discussed was the commodification of hipsters, how to “turn dark thoughts fun”, when to visit Halifax (August – I have to agree there), the influence of shows like Sliders and Quantum Leap, and whether college is a necessary choice these days. Oh yes, and plugging the book Love: A History, complete with “ontological rootedness”.

I also caught half a panel discussing women in comics, from creators of new incarnations of Captain Marvel and Red Sonja. It was a very lively panel, with lots of good advice and quick wit.

Lastly was the Takeshi Obata panel, which did not have much overlap with the Jump panel from yesterday. He was asked about his start as a manga artist – like many, he began to submit works while still in high school, and won a Tezuka award, to his total shock and disbelief. His earlier series were also written by him, including his debut Cyborg Jii-chan G, a comedy manga starring an old man, unusual for Jump. This made him realize that he enjoyed writing with a partner much more, as he could concentrate on the art.

The editors were also asked how they got into the business – applying for a job and working your way through the ranks seems to be a good way, thought it was also noted that having no talent at being a manga artist might also nudge someone in that direction. One intriguing fact – Ohba and Obata rarely met in person for Death Note, as both are very reserved and preferred to give notes through the medium of their editor.

Obata’s art was discussed. His adaptability was praised, along with his arrangement of panels on the page. Obata is the sort who is a manga artist rather than an illustrator – and that’s definitely a compliment. The collaborative process was discussed – for Death Note, Ohba did a storyboard and sent it to Obata. Obata then did his own storyboard, got approval from Ohba, then spent 3-5 days inking it. He also brought out his materials, including the ever-popular G-Pen.

He designs characters after getting inspired by the writing. The initial image in his head, i.e. the instinctual one, is quite important, and he also likes to know what “color” they are – yellow for the star of Hikaru no Go, for example. Speaking of Hikaru no Go, it was mentioned that this was a more realistic series to him, but he said he was drawn to it by the supernatural aspects of the ghost. And yes, portraying Go that well involved an awful lot of research.

Death Note’s popularity stunned both him and his editor, as it wasn’t a “typical” Jump title. At the time, Jump was trying to reach out to older readers, but the title still had to be accessible to their normal kid readers. Amusingly, he’d had Light’s design in his head for years, waiting for a series he could use it in – he was delighted to finally break it out. L’s eyes were one of his best features, and in fact Obata calls L his favorite of all the characters he’s drawn.

Bakuman was a title that unnerved him a bit, as he was nervous about showing the “underbelly of the industry”. But it turned out quite well. He was also asked what in-series manga he would like to draw in real life – unsurprisingly, Otter 11 was his choice. They also briefly discussed All You Need Is Kill, and trying to adapt a novel by choosing which moments would best be shown off visually in a manga style.

After a brief question on what it was like being an assistant to Makoto Niwano (author of the infamous Bomber Girl), which he enthused about, the panel was called for time, and I got to make my trek back to the hotel to type up a very long day. Tomorrow gives us IDW, Sailor Moon, and Vertical, Inc. Halfway done!

This is the first Thursday that’s been a real, honest-to-god full convention day, with all that is entailed. It’s traditionally the lightest day, but at NYCC that’s only a matter of degree. The place was jammed, from start to finish. This ended up being one of my busiest panel days, mostly as I was worried about the lines for the two big panels I needed to do, Viz and Shonen Jump. As a result, I did a lot of Room Camping, with the result that I saw many interesting panels I would not otherwise have gone near.

Therefore my first panel was a documentary on Superman Lives, the aborted Kevin Smith/Tim Burton movie that was to star Nicholas Cage. The reputation of the movie has been somewhat savage online, so it was fascinating hearing how it could have been tremendous. Holly Payne and John Schnepp are the filmmakers, and they were quite entertaining. John discussed how he had seen concept art online and began to get curious, hunting down more and more.

There was some discussion of how a small documentary project became larger and larger, with the addition of interviews with Smith and Burton. In fact, the documentary is still being edited, with an estimated release date in 2015. Burton has apparently said he didn’t want this movie to be what Batman was, and wanted a lighter tone. Also, at the time Nicholas Cage was still an A-list actor rather than the meme he is today.

We saw a 20-minute rough cut clip (which will be edited to about 5 in the film), mostly discussing the concept art and how they tried to make the suit look like real muscles and not a guy in a muscle suit. There was a lot of enthusiasm for the project all around, and it sounds like a great documentary for any Superman or Burton fan.

After this was the Mary Sue’s Fight What You Know panel, which had a few speakers who weren’t listed on the NYCC page. Susannah Polo was a good moderator. Brenden Fletcher writes Gotham Academy and Batgirl for DC. The big surprise for me was Amber Benson, who was there to discuss her new mythological fantasy novels. Wendy Xu writes books dealing with immigrant experiences, including the upcoming The Undertaking of Lily Chen. (There was a 5th writer whose name I did not get – Danica? Apologies.)

The panel discussed the oft-used “write what you know” cliche, and how it tends to be an excuse for white guys to write other white guys. It was pointed out that writers should write from empathy, and one of the first steps there is figuring out how to write what you don’t know. For once Google is your friend here – a lot of useful research can be gained by using not just the search engine, but also Images and Maps. Traveling to places you plan to write about was also discussed, and a Historical Society can be useful as well.

Then there’s just asking someone from another culture. This can be an issue for many writers, who might be introverts or nervous about someone taking it the wrong way. Email helps there, and Wendy also mentioned Tumblr as a good resource. A lot of the best info is simply getting anecdotes or stories about life in a culture not the writer’s own; even if it can’t be used in a story, the backstory possibilities help to enrich the character you write.

Admittedly, sometimes research can show you that the idea you thought of isn’t viable, but the beauty of it is that you get five more ideas along the way. You can either use this in your story later, or save it for the next one you write.

(At this point, the panel briefly detoured into a discussion of Victorian mummy pornography. Trying to describe this could not do it justice, but we did see Amber wrap her scarf around her face to stop herself saying naughty things several times.)

Critiques were discussed, and while they are valid and should be listened to, at the end of the day the writer has to write things they themselves like. Take the bad criticism equally with the good – don’t get a swelled head or get too depressed.

Questions asked included how to balance between representation and character – being diverse isn’t really impressive if it’s just tokenism. The character comes first, and hopefully diversity can build from there. Also discussed was the difference between the writer’s viewpoint and that of the lead character or narrator, and how to convey that without making it sound as if the writer believes everything that character says.

It was a terrific panel with a lot of active discussion, and Buffy wasn’t even brought up once. :)

Next up was the Viz panel, and they had bunch of free manga they were giving out around the room. They discussed new titles out in the next month or so, such as Kiss of the Rose Princess and All You Need Is Kill. (“If you want to see Tom Cruise die 100 times, go watch Edge of Tomorrow.”)

They also had two new licenses. So Cute It Hurts (aka Kobayashi ga Kawai Sugite Tsurai!!) is from Shoujo Comic, and is 7 volumes and counting. A gender-bender sort of title about twins who switch places (though not apparently bodies, for once) and get into all sorts of amusing and romantic scrapes. It sounds like a lot of fun. The author did a longer, 18-volume shoujo called Suki Desu Suzuki-kun I think I licensed recced back in the day.

The more popular title with the audience was Tokyo Ghoul, which had an anime air recently. Complete at 14 volumes, it ran in Weekly Young Jump, and sounds like it will appeal to those who like titles such as Gantz. It’s about a boy bitten by a ghoul, who thanks to SCIENCE becomes a unique, half-ghoul entity. Definitely more in the horror genre.

The remainder of the manga portion was devoted to talking up Viz digital releases, as well as the Jump Start program (see below). On the anime end, in among a slew of discussion of simulcasts, new Naruto and Bleach DVD sets, and Blood Lad’s box, we got a new announcement: Sailor Moon Box Set 2, with the last half of the first season, will be out on February 10th. There are lots of extras on it, mostly original to Viz and discussing the dub release. Any anime fan worth their salt should be preordering this.

I left during question time, which involved the standard “have you considered licensing this?” “We can’t comment.” rigmarole. After doing a brief wander, I decided to room camp again, and walked in in the middle of the Hatsune Miku panel. The virtual idol had just appeared on Letterman this week, and her popularity has never been higher. I will admit, the new song played to us was quite catchy, and the concert clip simply stunning. I’d never really paid much attention to Vocaloid before, but might look into it after seeing this.

Next was a definite room camp choice, as I’d never really enjoyed the movie Revenge of the Nerds, and had no idea it had been turned into a reality TV show. That said, Curtis Armstrong and Robert Carradine were enthusiastic, and the audience ate it up. They also had a professional cosplayer, Yaya Han, who had appeared on the show before and was cheery and personable. I still have no desire to see the show, but it looks perfect for its target audience.

Next was the Jump panel. The major guest here was Takshi Obata, artist on Hikaru no Go, Death Note, and Bakuman, as well as the new All You Need Is Kill. We also had two of his editors from Japan, as well as the usual gamut of Viz employees. There weren’t any new print licenses, but they did discuss Jump Start, which gives readers three chapters of each new series Jump debuts, as well as Jump Back, featuring classic Jump titles such as Death Note. (Any chance of Gintama?)

They then presented some questions to Takeshi Obata. When he was first presented with Hikaru no Go, he boggled – he thought drawing shonen battle go would be impossible. But he was drawn to Sai, and discussed the movement of the go stones as becoming almost Naruto-esque. He was asked about Ohba, and said he first saw him as a “cool, mysterious adult” but found him quite easy to write with – they editor says they had good chemistry, and he paired them for Death Note due to Obata’s love of the gothic aesthetic. As for his newer editor, when he first met Obata his hands were shaking he was so excited, but he’s resolved to make his titles Number One in Jump.

Obata came up with the designs for Bakuman, wanting to make it a deliberate contrast to the Death Note style. Then there’s All You Need Is Kill, which being a seinen title allows Obata to try things that would not be allowed in Jump – unfettered, as it were. He was then asked about various character designs. He used the word ‘hen’ (strange) to describe L about 5 times – I suspect no one would disagree. As for Ryuk, his appeal is that he looks scary but can act quite cute.

The Viz folks also threw in his portrayal of Yoshida, a Jump editor featured in Bakuman. He cheerfully said it was based on the Yoshida sitting next to him, who praised Obata’s ability to remember small details and bring them back later – things like what kind of wristwatch someone was wearing. We then saw even more of his attention to detail, as he did live drawings of Ryuk and L – with a sharpie, no less!

There were a few questions. He was asked about his heroes as a boy, and mentioned Sherlock Holmes. He has very little free time, like most Jump mangaka, though notes he does karate – even if he’s the weakest student at the dojo. Lastly, the whole panel was asked what they thought the future of Shonen Jump was, both in Japan and North America. Responses included keeping the artists competitive among each other, more originality and parity, and, naturally, we the audience were also the future of Jump.

After this, I was frotzed, so skipped the LBGTQ panel, which I had seen last year, even if I was curious it they had an answer to last year’s asexuality discussion. Instead, it was back to the hotel for a long-awaited dinner and typing this up in my postage stamp of a hotel room. What will tomorrow bring? Crunchyroll’s anime panel, Yen Press, and more Obata!

This year the Thursday that used to just be “Pros and Press” has become a full-blown day, meaning it’s just as busy as the others, if not worse. I also note with trepidation that almost all my panels are in the small panel rooms from last year. Sigh. As always, this is what I have as planned to go to, but it may not reflect what I actually get to.

Thursday:
1:00 – 2:30 Big Hero 6 preview (Main Stage)
2:15 – 3:00 The Mary Sue Presents Fight What You Know (1A14)
3:15 – 4:00 Viz Media Panel (1A14)
5:00 – 5:45 New Simon & Schuster imprint (1B03)
6:00 – 6:45 – Weekly Shonen Jump (1A10)
7:00 – 7:45 LGBT in Comics (1A10)

I may duck out of Big Hero 6 early, as I want to see the Fight What You Know panel, as well as Viz, which is in the same room right after. The new S&S imprint may also fall prey to the dreaded “I have to eat sometime” rule, not to mention the Jump panel will have a huge line. This is a very busy Thursday, but at least it ends for me at a reasonable hour.

Friday:
11:00 – 11:45 Crunchyroll Industry Panel (1A21)
1:15 – 2:00 Yen Press Industry Panel (1A14)
3:15 – 4:00 Damsels in Distress Need Not Apply (1A01) (warning: Gillian Anderson)
4:15 – 5:00 Archie Comics Panel (1A05)
5:00 – 5:45 Takeshi Obata panel (1A10)
8:00 – 8:45 Sailor Moon Panel (1A21) (?)

The questionmark is because I’m not sure if this panel is just a screening. If it is, I’ll skip it. The warning is because “celebrity = very, very long lines”, so it will likely be hard to get into. Yen has, at least, been moved out of the tiny rooms at the back, though the rooms are still small – manga fans, be warned! I suspect I won’t be able to do the Archie panel and the Obata panel.

Saturday:
11:15 – 12:00 The Art of Animation and Saturday Morning Cartoons (1A01)
2:15 – 3:00 IDW Artists (1A14)
3:00 – 3:45 Harrassment in Fandom (1A21)
4:15 – 5:00 Official Sailor Moon Panel (1A14)
5:15 – 6:00 Vertical Manga Panel (1A14)
8:15 – 9:00 Ranma 1 /2 (?)
8:15 – 9:00 Doctor Who Fan Screening (Empire Stage)

Usually Friday is my biggest day, but this year it’s Saturday. You’ll note the same questionmark next to Ranma – if it’s a screening, then I’ll go to see Mummy on the Orient Express, which is what I assume the fan screening is. It’s a packed day from 2-6, but otherwise I should find time for the DR and AA.

Sunday:
2:00 – 2:45 Kodansha Comics (1A18)
3:00 – 3:45 Crunchyroll Manga (1A18)
4:15 – 5pm – Toon Tunes (1A01)

A surprisingly late Kodansha panel, but being my first panel of the day I have time to do everything I didn’t before. Toon Tunes sounds fantastic, but if I’m burned out and just want to take the train home, it may be jettisoned.

Wireless connection allowing, I will be doing daily posts regarding the con every evening. I hope to give you all a lot of great info, news and tidbits about NYCC!