Tokyopop Announcements

Despite minimal publisher presence, things got off to a great start Friday afternoon with TOKYOPOP and Vertical first on the docket. Since TOKYOPOP did not have a booth at the con, its representatives, Marketing Manager Kasia Piekarz and Senior Editor Lillian Diaz-Pryzbyl, were there just for the day, but they had quite a bit to say! As part of their new “TOKYOPOP Insider” series, the panel was also broadcast as an online webinar, although technical difficulties cut the presentation short for remote attendees. The team began by reminding us about some new volumes being released over the next few months, followed by a genuinely funny video about toothy mascot character Domo at San Diego Comic-Con.

Then finally the real announcements began! Deb Aoki has a detailed report on all of TOKYOPOP’s new licenses at about.com, so I’ll just mention a few here that particularly caught my eye. One highlight in the company’s new collection of global manga (mainly novel and movie adaptations) is an original graphic novel adaptation of Joss Whedon’s upcoming horror film, The Cabin in the Woods. This single volume release will be an original story set in the world of the film, something that definitely appeals to a long-time Whedon fan like me. It was interesting to note that a number of these global manga projects are properties being featured in several media at once; for instance, Priest: Purgatory is new graphic novel meant to accompany the release of the film adaptation of the original manhwa series.

Very few of the new Japanese licenses really grabbed me, not even a new/old offering from Fruits Basket creator Natsuki Takaya. It is quite a sign of the times, however, that new boys’ love titles (upcoming from TOKYOPOP’s BLU imprint) made up a large percentage of TOKYOPOP’s new announcements. Unfortunately, what might have been the most interesting to me out of this bunch (a new one-shot from Hinako Takanaga, creator of Little Butterfly) is also my least favorite type of BL release — the ubiquitous short story anthology. Despite my lack of immediate enthusiasm, however, I’ll be quite anxious to check out these new releases when they arrive, and I think we were all grateful that TOKYOPOP managed to make the trip out to this smallish east coast con.

Vertical: My Favorite Panel

Next up was Vertical, which I’ll admit was my favorite panel of the weekend, both for its exciting lineup of new manga releases and for the presentation itself. Listening to Ed Chavez talk about manga is always a pleasure, and this seems particularly true in his new role as Marketing Manager for Vertical. This was my first Vertical panel with Chavez at the helm (Editorial Director and Executive Vice President Yani Mentzas was also present, though he let Ed do the talking), and though I’d heard that he had a uniquely reserved-yet-excited presence when acting as the face of Vertical, I was still surprised by how effective this was. The word that comes to mind is “moving,” and though that may seem ludicrous as a description of a manga industry panel, I can honestly say I was moved by Ed Chavez’s obvious passion for the licenses he was presenting. It helps, of course, that the licenses are genuinely exciting to me as well. Carlos Santos has a fairly comprehensive rundown (including prose and craft book licenses) over at ANN, but it’s the new manga licenses that really got me going–all of them, in fact.

First of all, I’m fascinated by the prospect of seeing Peepo Choo, a series created by American artist Felipe Smith for Kodansha’s Morning 2 magazine in Japan, then translated back into English (by the creator himself) for publication in the US. Jason Thompson has a fantastic profile on both the artist and the work over at Comixology, for anyone who isn’t already convinced that this is an exciting acquisition. Two new sci-fi licenses, Kou Yaginuma’s Twin Spica and Nobuaki Tadano’s Needles are similarly intriguing (if not in novelty). Then comes the delectable icing on the cake, cat-centric all-ages manga, Chi’s Sweet Home, which may prove to the the only manga published in English with the potential to out-cute Yotsuba&!. To say that I’m “excited” about Vertical’s acquisition of Chi (flipped and in full color, by the way) is a gross understatement, though I’m not sure I have any more appropriate words. With at least two volumes scheduled for release in 2010, suffice it to say that all my friends and relatives can be fairly certain of what they’ll be getting for Christmas next year. Hints of potential licenses in the works included non-specific references to something from one (or more) of the Magnificent 49ers, which is also fairly thrilling.

Coming From Del Rey

Saturday’s only significant manga panel belonged to Del Rey Manga, where technical difficulties with their powerpoint presentation gave always delightful Marketing Manager Ali Kokmen the opportunity to joke with the audience about Associate Publicist April Flores’ desktop wallpaper–the only thing we were able to see on screen for quite a while. Ali’s humor (and choice of ties) is reason enough to attend any Del Rey panel and I’d probably turn up just to watch him read the phone book. Fortunately that hasn’t yet occurred.

Aside from the usual cartoon network tie-in series, Del Rey did not have a huge number of new licenses to announce, but what was there definitely interested me. Brigid Alverson has the full list in her MangaBlog report. Highlights for me are sweet shojo series Here I Am from Pixie Pop creator Ema Toyama and an intriguingly dark-sounding shojo offering from Kitchen Princess creator Natusmi Ando called Arisa. Fans of pulled TOKYOPOP series Rave Master will be pleased to know that Del Rey now has the license and will be releasing the remainder of the series in omnibus form. Among the list of upcoming global titles, perhaps the most newsworthy is a planned adaptation of the movie version of The Last Airbender as well as a volume-long prequel to the film.

Bandai’s “Press Conference”

The only other manga news on Saturday came from Bandai Entertainment, who had no new title announcements, though I was impressed by Marketing Director Robert Napton’s personal interest in their manga line. I was lucky enough to be a part of an impromptu press conference Robert held for a few manga bloggers in the press room late Saturday afternoon, where he talked a bit about some recent and upcoming releases, notably the Lucky Star manga, one of their only licenses that is not an anime adaptation (though it does act as as tie-in with their license of the anime), as well as their manga adaptation of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and their ongoing Code Geass tie-ins.

Viz Takes the Stage

On Sunday, the stage belonged to Viz Media, whose upbeat panel was a great reminder for everyone of how wonderfully diverse and fantastic their licenses have been this year, particularly with their new online imprints, Sig Ikki and Shonen Sunday. Viz spent a lot of time going over upcoming releases that have been previously announced, though this was fairly exciting in its own way. (Yes, I’m still psyched about Bakuman.) Some real murmurs of joy were heard from the audience during the new license announcements, however, which were definitely the highlight of the day for manga fans. Activeanime.com live-blogged the panel, which includes anime releases as well.

Announcements included two new Sig Ikki series, What’s the Answer? and Bob and His Funky Crew, but the real draws for me are Gente, a follow up to Natsume Ono’s Ristorante Paradiso, supernatural horror series Grand Guiginol Orchestra, and Library Wars, a manga adaptation of the novels by Hiro Arikawa. I haven’t yet read any of TOKYOPOP’s new series Karakuri Odette, so I’m not sure how much to anticipate Viz’s planned release of creator Julietta Suzuki’s Nice to Meet You, Kamisama, which has a premise that could either be wonderfully whimsical and adorable or very much not. Time will tell.

The State of the Industry

Wrapping up the convention’s industry talk was Sunday afternoon’s “State of the Industry” panel, which this year combined both the anime and manga companies together. With only two major manga publisher representatives remaining (Del Rey’s Ali Kokmen and Vertical’s Ed Chavez) the merge made some obvious sense, but as a result there was little opportunity for any deep conversation on the manga industry specifically, unlike last year’s compelling discussion of the viability of OEL manga. Still, the discussion was brisk and occasionally enlightening, and it would be difficult to describe the convention as a bust, even for dedicated manga fans.

Though the absence of east coast publisher Yen Press was felt keenly throughout the weekend, the manga publishers who did attend had some fairly tasty new license announcements to share, which were much appreciated by those of us otherwise dejected by the increasingly anime-centric feel of the con.

I’ve posted more personal reflections on the event at my blog, Manga Bookshelf, including my thoughts about the Blogger’s Roundtable panel, which CWR regular Ed Sizemore sat on and spoke about in his report earlier this week. Many thanks to Johanna for her hospitality!

Friday

Events at the New York Anime Festival (NYAF) didn’t begin until 2:00 PM on Friday. This gave me the morning to head over to Kinokuniya bookstore. I love looking at all the Japanese pens and stationary goods that are available. Plus, I needed to find a book for a project I promised a friend that is long overdue now. I actually ended up spending more money at Kinokuniya than I did at the convention.

The first panel I attended on Friday was How to Become Famous on the Internet, moderated by Adam Ghahramani with Michael Pinto and Gia Manry as panel members. This was one of my favorite panels. Lots of good solid information about how to build a lasting readership on the internet. I appreciate how all three speakers made it plainly clear that growing a following is hard work. It will take a lot of time and well-planned effort. Adam said it best when he told the audience not to be a novelty, but a trend setter.

Very briefly, here is Michael’s presentation.

1. What do want to be famous for? What makes you stand out? Can you describe what you do in 25 words or less?
2. Be reciprocal. The internet is one of the places where the good guys win. Be nice. Link to other people’s websites.
3. It takes a great deal of time. You have to take a long-term perspective.
4. Follower count doesn’t mean that much. You don’t want just sheer numbers; you want a committed audience. It’s easy to get big numbers, but they’ll just as quickly move on to the next big thing.
5. Always Have a Hub That You Own. It’s okay to develop a following on Twitter or Facebook, but remember that you’re at the mercy of those sites. You need a web presence where the audience is directly yours and you have full control of maintaining that audience.

I don’t want to shortchange the presentations that Adam and Gia gave. Both were excellent and had original ideas of their own to share. If someone recorded that panel, I hope they will either upload the audio or a transcript. It’s worth getting all the details.

The next panel I planned to attend got cancelled, which left me free time to wander around the convention hall. There I met and hung out with Erica Friedman and Sean Gaffney. There really weren’t that many good deals for manga buyers. I did pick up three volumes I was looking for from a vendor’s used selection and got a good price on them. There was one true discount manga dealer. However, most of their stock was older manga that I already have full series of.

Ed Chavez of Vertical

My only other panel on Friday was the Vertical Panel. Deb Aoki and Brigid Alverson have excellent listings of all the titles announced. Ed Chavez, Director of Marketing, hosted the panel. He began by explaining that Vertical is a prose publisher and that influences the way they look at manga licenses. Personally, I was thrilled to hear that Chi’s Sweet Home was finally licensed. I’m buying three copies of each volume. I already have two people in mind that I will be giving this manga as a gift to.

Saturday

My first panel for Saturday was Steampunk in Anime hosted by Mike Van Helder with G.D. Falksen, Jared Axelrod, Evelyn Kriete, and Liz Gorinsky. Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction focusing on an alternate version of the Victorian era. The idea is attempting to duplicate many modern machines but with steam as the power source. Themes found in steampunk are the wonder of technology, the excitement of the unknown, a sense of adventure to life, and the gentlemen scientist. The best examples of steampunk anime are Steamboy, Nadia Secret of the Blue Water, Steam Detectives, and Last Exile. The discussion was a little disjointed. I wished they had started off with a definition of steampunk and then a brief history of the subgenre. Instead, you got this information piecemeal over the course of the hour. Other than that minor complaint, it was a great panel. I was unfamiliar with steampunk and so learned a lot.

Next I got to see the first two episodes of the Emma anime. The show is just as charming and leisurely paced as the manga. I enjoyed it tremendously.

My second panel was Opportunities and Obstacles for Japanese Music in the US Market, moderated by Megumi Sato with David Hou, Hayden Brereton, and Keiko Shibata as panelists. The first Japanese pop (JPop) song to hit the US charts was “Sukiyaki” by Kyu Sakamoto which went to number one in 1963. Later, Lady Pink would reach number 37 in 1979 with “Kiss in the Dark”. Since then, there haven’t been any Japanese bands to break the Top 40 chart in the America. Needless to say, Japanese bands have a hard time establishing a sizable fan base in the US. Recently, BOA and Utada have tried to break into America, but with limited success. One problem has been the perception of Asian musicians as foreign, whereas European musicians don’t have problems establishing an audience in the America. Another problem is the management of the top tier JPop acts isn’t interested in trying to expand into the US. They don’t think the effort is worth the return. What is happening is more indy bands are coming over from Japan and slowly building a fanbase. It’s taken some time, but now more Americans are becoming aware of JPop. All the panelists were optimistic and think there are more opportunities than challenges today for JPop.

Reni, a JPop cosplay singer

My final panel as an audience member on Saturday was the Anime News Network panel. It was moderated by Christopher McDonald with Justin Sevakis and Bamboo Dong as panelists. Chris had planned to make a big announcement at NYAF; however, the contract is still being finalized. So they used the time for audience questions. Most questions were, “Do you think they will ever make an anime of this?” or “Will they release a second season of that?” I look forward to seeing what ANN’s big announcement will be.

Saturday also brought my first experience as a panelist. I was part of the Blogger’s Roundtable moderated by Kate of Reverse Thieves. My co-panelists were Gia Manry, Deb Aoki, Scott VonSchilling, Evan Minto, Dave Cabrera, Pat, Carl Li, Alain Mendez, and Caleb D. Because of the size of the panel, we only had time for four questions. First was to introduce ourselves. Second, how did you get into blogging? Third, what is your favorite piece of memorabilia? The final question was asked, via Twitter, by Zac Bertschy. Ed Chavez of Vertical came to the podium and read it.

It was my favorite question of the night. “Does it ever feel like you’re just writing into a void, or perhaps an echo chamber, with the sheer volume of anime blogs?” Which Ed modified slightly to ask how do we start and encourage critical discussion among bloggers and reviewers. That’s a question I’ve been asking myself. I would like to see more interaction among reviewers so we can encourage and challenge each other to probe more deeply into the books we’re reading. I think the panel was a good starting place for this. Overall, it was such a positive and energizing experience that I’m thinking of putting together a couple panels for Otakon and NYAF.

Sunday

The first panel on Sunday was Convention War Stories. The two moderators/panelists were Kevin McKeever of Robotech.com and Adam Sheehan of Funimation. This was a fun panel with both telling stories about protecting voice actors from stalkers, dealing with actors hired to play a character for a convention, creepy fans, nightmare convention setups, and so forth. I’d like to see them continue to have this panel with different guests each year.

Japanese Ghosts: GeGeGe no Kitaro

My final panel for the convention was Japanese Ghosts: GeGeGe no Kitaro moderated by Dawn Mostow with Kjoe and Mie Iikeda as panelists. The first thing I noticed walking into the room was a print from the Mizuki exhibit I covered last year. While gawking at the print, Mie introduced herself to me. She is the one responsible for assembling the exhibit. It was a great pleasure to met and thank her.

The panel focused on Mizuki’s very popular and influential manga GeGeGe no Kitaro. There have been five TV shows based on this manga. The panel began with a discussion of what are yokai (see my exhibit report for a discussion of the term). They then went on to discuss some of the central characters of the manga with illustrations from the newest anime series. Japanese folklore is wonderfully rich, and Mizuki is considered a self-taught expert on the subject. Again, I can only lament the travesty that his works are not available in English. This wonderful panel made me hunger for Mizuki’s works even more.

Overall Impression

The NYAF was a great show this year. I’m not a Gundam fan, but having Yoshiyuki Tomino as the guest of honor brought a lot of energy and excitement to the show. Also, the musical guest AKB48 generated a good deal of buzz too. The show has a very upbeat feel to it.

The biggest joy for me at NYAF was getting to meet up with other manga reviewers and bloggers. I got to spend a lot of time with Brigid Alverson, Deb Aoki, Melinda Beasi, Robin Brenner, Erica Freidman, Sean Gaffney, and Moritheil. These are people I talk to online but don’t get to see in person since we live so far from each other. It just reinforced the sense of community I’ve felt this past year getting to know these people. It was also a great privilege to met Ed Chavez and have some quick impromptu conversations with him. All of these people, along with Johanna, inspire and challenge me as a reviewer. Talking with them encouraged me to continue improving my writing and reviewing skills, to strive more for excellence and dig deeper into the books that I’m reviewing. I feel very honored to be in their presence and want to continually show myself worthy of being a member of the manga reviewers’ community.

The Dealers' Room

Everyone has already complained about the Javits Center’s location problems. That didn’t bother me as much. I wished the dealers’ room had been larger with more discount manga vendors, but that’s a very minor complaint at best.

I’m looking forward to the combined NYAF/NYCC show next year. It’s a chance to have my love of US comics, manga, and anime all under one roof. However, I know that there will be scheduling conflicts galore. So it will be interesting to see what sacrifices I’ll have to make. A friend of mine goes to a ton of US comic shows but has never been to an anime show, so it will allow him to finally see what one is like. I’m hoping the meeting of the two fandoms will provide a positive experience for everyone.

I thought the Domo manga was horrible — repetitive, unfunny, and pointless. (See for yourself.) But he makes for a very cute image, which is probably why he started as an ad mascot and has been most successful as various products.

Like now, for example, in 7-Eleven stores. They’ve got a special Slurpee flavor (apple, called Fuji Frost), various food packages, and even little straw attachments featuring the character.

My favorite Domo spin-off, though, is the unofficial Domo-burger — he looks yummy!

Viz’s Vampire Knight is one of the better-known manga in this genre — the latest in the series, Volume 7, was #6 on the most recent New York Times manga bestseller list, its 8th week on the list — and now they’re adding the anime as well.

No dates or specific release plans are yet available, but Viz yesterday announced that “it has acquired the domestic TV, Home Entertainment, Streaming, DTO, and Merchandising rights to the hit VAMPIRE KNIGHT animated series.” (I believe “DTO” means Download-to-Own.) This includes all home video outlets, including Blu-Ray, plus video on demand and mobile technology. I’m sure there will be more announcements coming over the rest of the year.

I am increasingly concerned about the obvious bias against manga in your bestseller lists. I have no idea who writes the synopses, but it is apparent to all of us in the manga world that that person *does not like manga.*

I’ve noticed some discrepancy myself in how the writeups plugging the bestseller lists (which come in hardcover, softcover, and manga versions, so the American titles show up separately) tend to point out and talk about the American comics but not the manga. I put it down to the writer having more traditional comic interests, but I do think it is fair to ask for equivalent levels of coverage. Even if it means getting help from someone who knows and cares about manga. What do you think?

Nana (Uncut Box Set 1)
Buy this DVD

The two Nanas meet by accident on the train and then fall into becoming roommates. One Nana is a tough rock chick, coming to the big city to form a band and succeed at music; the other is following a guy, because she doesn’t know what to do with herself other than pretend to be in love.

What the Series Does Well

In reviewing the story of a musician and her friends, it’s important to know: is the music any good? Yes. It’s very in keeping with what we know about Nana, her attitude and mood. The other Nana, aka Hachi (voiced in English by Kelly Sheridan), is just as silly and naive as she needs to be. Her voice is chirpy, almost annoying, while Rock Nana (Rebecca Shoichet) is sly, lower, and knowing. Hachi’s crush on Nana is obvious from the first, and the background music they use for her is wonderfully silly. Even KC, who didn’t know the story and doesn’t watch anime, was laughing at some of the scenes and exaggerated responses. The voice acting (dubbed) is, based on my limited knowledge, very good. It’s done by Ocean Studios in Canada.

The art is lovely, in keeping with Ai Yazawa’s designs and characters. I found myself often admiring the backgrounds and settings. There’s a lot of snow in this series, and it works beautifully on screen. The animation is limited, with sometimes only mouths moving, or sound playing over static scenes, but well-done. Hachi’s narration frames the sequences, providing the nostalgic look back characteristic of the series’ storytelling. Even when she’s talking in cliches, the context gives them new meaning. And given Hachi’s love of movies, it’s no surprise that she thinks of love in those types of romantic terms. She envisions herself in film scenes without much attention paid to realism or effects on others.

Although we aren’t given much to go on, I’ve always kind of admired Hachi’s boyfriend Shoji. She should have known, when his rule was “you can come join me in Tokyo if you get a job and take care of yourself”, that they had different views of what their relationship meant. But I liked his unwillingness to take advantage of her, even when she was ready to move in and be his maid and cook.

Episode List

Episode 1 introduces the characters.

Episode 2 is Hachi’s flashback of her checkered romantic history (including sleeping with an older married man, which might be why the set is rated 18 and up, or maybe it’s because of Nana and Ren’s habit of taking baths together, or their debate about birth control, or even just the smoking).

Episode 3, Hachi and Shoji get to know each other better and start dating, in spite of her idiocy and lack of forethought. She’s so young, regardless of her age, and although her friends care, they’re just looking for someone else to take care of her so they can get on with their lives. She has no dreams of her own and doesn’t seem to feel the lack.

Episode 4 shows the aftermath of her friends’ decisions to move to Tokyo without her and her understanding with Shoji. Then we begin Nana’s flashbacks, starting with her band.

Disc 2, Episode 5 first mentions Trapnest, the band Ren joins in Tokyo, and shows how Nana’s band, Blast, formed. Nana also explains why she didn’t go with Ren and says goodbye to him.

Episode 6 returns to present by repeating episode 1 all over again, interspersed with a few new bits elaborating on what happened.

Episode 7 repeats how the two came to share an apartment before going into more about how Hachi broke the news to Shoji. Yasu has the best entrance ever. He and Nana are such great characters because they speak truth without a lot of worry about other’s feelings. While Hachi does the same thing out of cluelessness, it’s a lot more attractive from the more striking pair.

Episode 8 has the two starting to furnish their apartment and learning a lot more about each other and the boys they’re with.

They’re all really very damaged people. That’s what makes them so interesting to watch. Nana seems like the most together, but when you model yourself after Sid and Nancy, the viewer should realize that she’s broken, too.

Disc 3, Episode 9 has Hachi working at her first job, while Nana’s old bandmate Nobu comes to Tokyo. This sequence begins a set about the transformative power of making music, as well as starting off another plot that will cause big changes in Hachi’s life.

Episode 10, Hachi decides that Nana needs a band, so she starts trying to find another member for them.

Episode 11 brings Hachi to stark awareness of how expensive living in a city can be. I found it interesting that, by the end of this set, we haven’t met Trapnest yet, and Hachi is still with Shoji. There’s still a lot more to come.

The Box Set Features

I like the length of the episodes. 22 minutes is enough to get you a chunk of the story but short enough that my attention doesn’t wander. The three-disc set contains 11 episodes, plus a recap episode called 11.5, featuring the fourth-wall-breaking Junko’s Place familiar to comic readers. (Which means if you watch the whole set, you see some of these events three times within four hours.) You can view the episodes subtitled or dubbed, although dub is the default.

Extras include a subtitled interview with the director, versions of the opening and closing credits with no credits (”clean” versions), line art of the character designs, and previews for other Viz products, including the Nana movie, which was a lot more emotional than this version. The set also comes with a logo-decorated guitar pick. For more information, visit the official website. You can also buy the first season on iTunes or watch free on Hulu. The next 11-episode set is due out near the end of November.

(A complimentary copy for this review was provided by the publisher.)

Manga box next to standard comic short box

It wouldn’t surprise me, since I suspect there was little to no audience for them. For one thing, the idea of keeping manga in acid-free boxes doesn’t make sense to many readers. Manga books are sturdier than comics, and the collector impulse doesn’t really apply. For another, not many manga readers shop in comic stores, so they wouldn’t have seen the boxes. Most significantly, though, putting the boxes together is a pain in the ass. It took the two of us five tries to get one assembled properly.

Manga box, unassembled

The boxes shipped flat, in three pieces — box, lid, and internal divider. But no instructions. We figured out how to put one together by looking at a completed version.

Putting the box together

To assemble it, you folded the divider piece in half, folded out little lips on the edges, and then tried to hold it in place while you folded the sides up and the end flaps over to hold the whole box together. Note that you can see in this picture two of the problems with this process: 1) it requires one person to hold it all together while another wrapped the edges over, and 2) the pieces end up getting bent during all of this effort. It doesn’t seem to hurt the eventual box, though, or disturb the stability.

Manga storage box, assembled

Once folded together, you wind up with a box slightly shorter than a standard comic shortbox, but with two internal channels. You can get about 14-16 books in one side of the box, depending on thickness (paper stock, page count, etc.). They are sturdy, and I find them a good way to store completed series that I don’t want to get rid of but no longer fit on the shelves.

The final box, with manga

In the boxes, I can stack them in a closet. When I want to find something, they’re easier to move around and search through than top flap traditional brown boxes. Plus, you can mark the white cardboard with marker or sticky note to identify what’s inside. Overall, I like using them, but I wouldn’t have paid for them. As a gift, though, they’ve come in handy.

Lillian Diaz-Przybyl again moderated — good to see a friendly face. They opened with this Deadman Wonderland manga trailer.

This new title was created by the team behind Eureka Seven, Jinsei Kataoka and Kazuma Kondou. Volume 1 of 4 is on sale February 2, 2010.

Deadman Wonderland splash

Hanako and the Teller of Allegory is an earlier series by Sakae Esuno (Future Diary) and will be out March 2, also four volumes.

There are more .hack items coming out.

.hack Announcements

This Ugly Yet Beautiful World features a guy with a “hot chick” appearing in his backyard.

This Ugly Yet Beautiful World art sample

Remember is a new color graphic novel from Benjamin, who did Orange for them. Out February 2.

Remember art samples by Benjamin

Then came a trailer for CSI: Intern at Your Own Risk and mention of Warcraft: Death Knight, out December 1, drawn by a new artist (”this is her first major manga”). If you like the game and want to learn more, they say, buy this.

They are also releasing three StarCraft: Ghost Academy volumes starting in January. (These books, it seemed to me that they were mostly speaking to those who already knew the properties/games.)

After that came the announcement of returning titles:

• Suppli Book 4
• Pick of Litter Book 5
• Monochrome Factor Book 5
• Never Give Up Book 9
• Nosatsu Junkie Book 7
• Satisfaction Guaranteed Book 8
• King of Hell Book 23

No dates given. Lillian said, “The best way to show your love for series is to get your friends to read them and raise sales.”

When asked about the possibility of the Rising Stars program returning, the answer boiled down to “probably not”, due to it being a lot of work for a smaller company. Although they are always accepting submissions and looking for artists on things like the CSI book.

There aren’t a lot of plans for Queen’s Knight right now. (I asked this for tangognat.) Korean manhwa has a lot of trouble making inroads in the U.S. That art style didn’t catch on, although the book was a favorite in the company. But INVU 5 is coming out in November. (Someone from the audience later brought up that Yen Press seems to do fine with manhwa, but Lillian pointed out that they’re part of a huge publisher and have connections that bring them the best of the best, plus she’s not sure just how well it actually does.)

There will be more Fruits Basket bindups now that the series is done. The manga retail landscape is crowded. It’s difficult to get stores to keep older titles on the shelves, but omnibus volumes are a way to get the early volumes back on the shelves. Probably not more coming for Kare Kano, though.

A couple more series were asked about that I missed, sorry. (And I’m horrible at spelling manga I hear properly.) No classic manga series have been acquired recently. Audience is driven by “what’s new and what’s hot, the latest and greatest from Japan”. That’s the company’s current focus.

Aria returns in November with book 5 (announced at last insider). They take into account our opinions when people say on the web “we love this and want it back”, although they can’t do everything.

It’s a shame they’ve lost Kodansha because they had a few series close to completion. But it’s not really a surprise; it affects the company minimally. Writing’s been on the wall for a while.

They’re focusing on successes and things that will do well, so books that are coming back fit in that category. New series are things they’re excited about and really believe in.

Since I accidentally ended up with an extra copy of X-Men: Misfits, the shojo manga re-envisioning of the Marvel superhero team, I figured it was time for a contest!

If you would like to be entered into a random drawing to win this copy, please leave a comment telling me your favorite manga twist on an X-Men character. It can be one from the book — mine is the Totoro-looking Beast — or one you’ve made up yourself.

Preview pages are posted at Newsarama if you want some ideas.

Rules: US and Canada only, due to postage costs. Please be sure that the email address attached to your comment is valid, since that is how I will contact you if you win (and that’s the only purpose I’ll use it for). Contest ends at midnight Eastern time Sunday, September 6. Spread the word!

Some CLAMP series — Cardcaptor Sakura, Chobits, Clover — have already been announced as coming in new omnibus editions from Dark Horse. Del Rey has taken over Parasyte and Samurai Deeper Kyo.

The books I’ll miss most are these:

• Kindaichi Case Files
• Mars
• Planetes
• Tramps Like Us
• Voices of a Distant Star

Several of those were featured on my list of good manga starting points, since they were approachable titles with wide appeal. If you’re interested in any of these titles, order them now.

Deb Aoki has further analysis, breaking out the list into titles that won’t complete in the US, complete with last publish dates. As she says,

You’ll also notice that many of the series left in limbo are quite long — several are 20 or more volumes in their entirety. If you’ve ever wondered why manga publishers aren’t picking up many epic series of this length anymore, this might give you a clue.

No reason was given for this decision. Earlier, rumors circulated that Kodansha wanted to start their own US publishing arm, but no definite news has been heard on that front.

You can win a complete set of the Black Jack series by designing a cover for an upcoming volume. Wait! It’s not hard! Due to the cover arrangement, all you have to do is pick four main colors and a highlight that go together.

Don McPherson explores the deal for Image to publish King City, a book by Brandon Graham originally published as Tokyopop OEL manga. He also talks to some other creators about the possibility of a similar deal — which doesn’t look likely. In Graham’s case, it’s an example of finding a way to reuse already created material (much as they’re doing by posting other series online).

One of the best manga of 2008, Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, will debut in animated form on Syfy on October 12. The former Sci-Fi Network is running “Ani-Monday“, an anime programming block. After airing on Mondays on Syfy, the episodes will re-run on Chiller (a channel focused on horror and suspense) in the following week.

The cartoon series is rated TV-MA and is promised to “remain true to the original story.” Neurosurgeon Dr. Tenma saved a child who then turned out to be the monster of the title, a cold-blooded killer with no remorse. Tenma then sets out to remedy his mistake, giving up his career and risking his life to chase the young man around the world, all while the police suspect him of the murders.

On the East Coast, two episodes will air every Monday, beginning at 11 PM. There were 74 episodes produced, which means a nine-month (or longer) run. Read the full Viz announcement for more information.

Much of it is typical marketing talk — and I wouldn’t expect anything else, since that’s his job, to present Tokyopop’s story in a positive light — but I found this section intriguing, in response to questions about how readers will find earlier volumes of the promoted series:

[W]e will always have at least one chapter of these series online, and from time to time we will release the entire volume(s) online for a limited time…. We are exploring a print-on-demand model, about which we told our creators at the Comic-Con summit, and I expect this to be implemented in the relatively near future; I’m not giving you an actual launch date because integrating the technology is extremely complicated, as everyone knows. We told our creators that it is a priority for us, and I hope to have news very soon.

That’s how they expect to make money, by “bring[ing] readers to our site to enjoy the overall manga experience…. once we implement a “buy” option for the online-only manga, we can generate revenue.” So it’s another example of trying to cut out the middlemen of retailers and distributors. Last time they tried this, three years ago, reaction was not favorable, with retailers vowing to cut orders. However, since this isn’t “real” manga we’re talking about (since it’s created by English speakers instead of translated from Japanese or Korean), people may not care as much if it’s being sold direct to customers.

Whether or not the books make it to print depends not only on reader/fan demand but “they also have to prove popular with our retail partners. As I said earlier, buyers often base their buying on how the previous volumes sell.” That is, if bookstores won’t commit to the books, and if previous volumes didn’t sell (no matter how long ago they were released), it doesn’t matter how many readers ask for it.

Last quote: When asked about whether they would put translated manga online, Pavia responds:

Marco: We do put them on line—in most cases, we’re not serializing entire volumes. We try to always have at least one chapter online to view. … Of course, the scores of scanlation sites have most of our licensed series online for free.

That almost sounds like he doesn’t mind sending readers to unofficial sites for samples. He’s probably just being a realist, recognizing that the copies are out there.

Finally, over a year later, comes the confirmation:

Tokyopop is pleased to announce the release of a number of its original series exclusively on Tokyopop.com. Modernizing the magazine serialization made famous by Charles Dickens, today Tokyopop will debut Psy*Comm Volume 3, with a new chapter serialized weekly for free until the series concludes its story arc. The launch of this new volume of Psy*Comm marks the debut of Tokyopop’s online manga program that will include continuing volumes of Boys of Summer, Earthlight, Kat & Mouse, Pantheon High, Undertown, Gyakushu, and others.

Not included in that list are Off*Beat or Steady Beat, projects whose creators spoke out in public about their disappointment in Tokyopop’s decision to cancel publication but not negotiate for return of their rights. Based on lists going around at the time, the properties listed were those where the work was completed, so there are no additional development costs.

Brigid Alverson points out that if readers get curious and want to read previous installments, they may be out of luck. But more exciting is the news in the comments that Kat & Mouse Volume 4 will be published next month! I’m glad I’ll finally get to find out what happened, since the series was cancelled on a cliffhanger. And I won’t have to wait until March 2010 to read it — based on the posted schedule, it would appear after Earthlight, and Tokyopop is posting only one chapter of one book a week. Although most manga have achieved most of their success in bookstores, where new release day is Tuesday, Tokyopop is chasing the comic stores by running new chapters on Wednesdays, “following the time-honored tradition of New Comics Day”.

Why the delay in getting the books online? Associate Publisher Marco Pavia attributes a “changed marketplace” due to the “Kindle, iPhone, web comics, and the like”. In other words, now is a more favorable time for electronic experiments. Certainly, Viz has gotten press for several of their efforts at running serialized online manga.

The books may even still see print someday. “We are also exploring an on-demand model to satisfy print-edition demand for the online manga series.”

I know I have a hard time deciding. (Heck, I can’t even decide on least favorite, between Dorohedoro and Tokyo Flow Chart.) My top four are Afterschool Charisma, Kingyo Used Books, Saturn Apartments, and Children of the Sea. I debated on whether to include that last one, since it’s got the advantage of having many more chapters available, but I went with the complete list.

… some analysts are calling the cellphone “the savior” of the form and a necessary kick in the pants for a sagging industry.

It’s estimated that publishers get 10% of their revenue from mobile sales. Pluses for the format include convenience, immediate satisfaction, and privacy (the most popular titles are “adult-oriented ones for women”). And I was surprised to see praise for “the graphics, [with some] saying manga looked especially good lit up against the dark screen of a cellphone.” But remember, Japanese cell phones are more advanced than others, with high-speed networks covering almost 100% of the country and advanced software.

More detail on the female audience is provided:

The romance- and sex-filled manga — known as shojo manga — are read by women in their 20s, Mr. Tashiro said. In fact, about 70 percent of cellphone manga readers are women, he said.

I’m not sure they really meant shojo; josei may be more accurate, but the term hasn’t got as wide-spread penetration here. The article continues with predictions that mobile manga will replace print. (I doubt it, especially since male readers are less interested in online reading.) Publishers are also sticking to old models, with older titles, already out in print, being the ones translated to mobile.

Death Note: L, change the WorLd
Buy this book

Here’s an official description:

This spin-off follows a new original storyline and introduces the unwritten chapter of DEATH NOTE and reveals how the legendary detective “L” (Kenichi Matsuyama) spends the final 23 days of his life.

The story begins as L takes on the “Kira” case, in which countless criminals are dying under mysterious circumstances. L successfully solves the case and stops Kira, but only after sacrificing his life, leaving himself with only 23 days left to live. For his final case L faces down a bio-terrorist group trying to wipe out humanity with a deadly virus ten times more potent than Ebola. As L tries to formulate an antidote with a scientist, he must also save the lives of two children who have no one else to turn to.

DEATH NOTE: L, change the WorLd features what happened before and after the two earlier DEATH NOTE events and shows DEATH NOTE fans the more human side of L that could not be seen previously.

If you live in San Francisco, the new Viz Cinema is having a special showing on August 25. Tickets are $25, but include a copy of the DVD and a poster. That’s a pretty good deal, and a neat way to commemorate the release. MTV Iggy has the first ten minutes of the movie available as a preview.

Continuing from my previous Otakon report, here is a list of Saturday’s panels and events.

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM Lost in Translation

This was another panel where I forgot to record the moderator’s name. The essence of the panel was to discuss things that can’t be directly translated into English and look at how anime companies have handled such phrases. One thing I learned is that in Japanese the verb is usually the last element of the sentence. That means when a sentence gets cut short, all the translator has is subject and predicate, but no idea of the relationship between the two. Since a phrase like, “Jim, ball” doesn’t make sense in English, translators have to supply verbs that might fit the circumstances. So they might translate the sentence fragment as “Jim got the ball” or “Jim hit the ball” or “Jim, look, a ball!” Other topics discussed were cliches and colloquialisms, gendered pronouns, use of familial language with strangers, and spelling names in English. This was the moderator’s first time running a panel, and she did a great job.

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM Phoenix

This is the new animated TV series based on Tezuka’s manga series. The animation is gorgeous, and the story closely follows the manga. It’s on my must-see list.

3:00 PM – 4:00 PM Frederick Schodt Q&A

Fred, as he likes to be called, was one of the first translators of manga. He has written several books on manga; the most famous is Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics. Currently, he is co-translating the Pluto series by Urasawa. This was an unstructured panel that allowed attendees to ask any question they desired. Mostly, Schodt endedup talking about how he got interested in Japan and manga and his experiences as a translator. Most of what he discussed can be found in this interview from Electric Ant magazine. Fred is a great speaker, and the hour flew by.

5:00 PM – 7:00 PM Ghost Slayer Ayashi

This is an animated TV series about a group of ghost/demon slayers set in Japan around the first half of the 19th century. It’s a good action series with a great cast. The animation is excellent. I will be renting this series.

7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Masquerade

This is one of the main reasons I go to anime conventions. The masquerade is where fans play instruments and perform skits, dance numbers, and stand-up comedy in costume. It’s been maligned and misunderstood by the mean-spirited, but for me, it’s the quintessential fan expression of love. I adore the masquerade. What sells it for me is the sincerity of the performers. Are the jokes cheesy? Yes. The acting and writing bad? Of course. Is it wonderful? Unquestionably. If you pardon the puns, it’s awfully charming and charmingly awful. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

It’s three parts anime, two parts video games, one part manga, one part American pop culture, a sprinkle of high school drama, a pinch of high school band, and a dash of randomness all put in a blender set on puree. One routine had a couple in costume flag twirling to a Broadway song, another routine was five girls dressed up as modern Sailor Moon Scouts singing a Spice Girls medley, and another routine was a costumed couple doing ballet. How can you not love such diversity and creativity?

I only stayed for the first two hours, which means I only saw about 2/3 of the acts. I was getting tired and knew I had just enough in me to make the drive back to where I was staying. If I had been staying in Baltimore, I would have stayed for the entire show.

Sunday Events and Panels

9:00 AM – 11:00 AM Resiklo

This was a low-budget, live-action Philippines post-apocalyptic sci-fi film about humans trying to survive after aliens have wrecked havoc on the Earth. It’s definitely a B movie, but I love B movies, so it was right up my alley. You can learn more at the official movie site.

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM The Roots of Japanese Anime

This collection of pre-World War II anime shorts is almost impossible to explain. These were made before the anime industry was trying to copy American animation styles. The shorts are steeped in traditional Japanese culture and story telling. You really have to see them for yourself. You can see a trailer for the DVD set at the official site.

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy, and the Manga/Anime Revolution, moderated by Frederick Schodt

Schodt is currently giving this presentation around the country. He begins with a short biography of Tezuka and early experiences that influenced his writing and art. Schodt then goes on to show how with Astro Boy, Tezuka founded the modern manga system. Simply put, Tezuka demonstrated that you could take a popular serialized manga, collect the stories into trade paperback books, then license the property for animation and merchandising, and finally license the series for overseas distribution. The Astro Boy manga began its run in 1952, and the anime began in 1963, the same year it was licensed for US syndication by NBC. Astro Boy was the first weekly, half-hour, animated series in Japan. Astro Boy became a national icon and a symbol of scientific knowledge and advancement.

Overall Impressions

I enjoyed this year’s Otakon tremendously. The biggest change for me was going as press and meeting lots of new people. This is also the first year that I spent more time in panels than in the anime rooms. I used to go to conventions because they were the best place to see and sample a larger variety of anime. But with Netflix and Rent Anime, I have access to everything currently on the market and a large percentage of older series. So this has allowed me to shift my focus at conventions.

The shift in focus has given me a renewed enthusiasm for convention going. Truthfully, I half went to Otakon looking for excuses not to go again, but I failed. Instead, I came away with panel ideas for Otakon and maybe myself.

The only sad part of Otakon is the fact it happened the weekend before San Diego Comic Con. Even as I’m typing this, Otakon has already been forgotten by the public. Everyone’s attention is focused on the news coming out of SDCC hourly. Hopefully, Otakon can be scheduled further from any of the other big conventions to keep it from getting lost in the crowd.

With any convention, your attitude going into it greatly determines what you can derive from the experience. Large-scale cons like Otakon really are a culture unto themselves, and you have to have an open mind to see and experience the unexpected. There really is something for everyone at Otakon, and for serious manga and anime fans on the East Coast, I suggest you go at least once. You especially have to attend the Masquerade when you’re there.

Here are links to con reports by my dining companions and a couple others.

• Anime Almanac
• Ani-Gamers
• Reverse Thieves
• Janaiblog
• Ogiue Maniax
• Publishers Weekly
• Anime News Network
• Anime Vice

As an official (with business cards even) roving reporter for Comic Worth Reading, I attended the East Coast’s biggest anime/manga convention, Otakon, held July 17-20 in Baltimore, MD. This was actually my fifth time attending Otakon, my first time as press.

On Thursday, I drove up to Baltimore to pick up my press package and meet some of the other press people for dinner. I was in and out of Press Relations in less than five minutes. Alyce Wilson and crew were set up and ready to go. I even got a nice Otakon pen and notebook, which I thought was appropriate.

The press dinner was at the Cheesecake Factory a couple of blocks from the convention center at the Inner Harbor complex. The food was very good, and the conversation was better. This was the first time I’d met any of the people there. It was a great start to Otakon.

Friday, the doors were scheduled to open at 8:30 AM, but they didn’t actually open until 9:15. This meant all the 9:00 panels were going to have few, if any, in the audience. This brings up two complaints I have with cons in general. First, open the doors on time. I give credit to Otakon that both Saturday and Sunday, the doors did open at 8:30 AM as scheduled. Second, panels shouldn’t be scheduled until at least an hour after the doors open so con goers have a chance to get in the door and get to the panel. Here are the panels I attended on Friday:

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM Parents & Fandom Panel by BewareofNinja.com

Since the doors opened late, this panel didn’t really have much time. Initially, there were only four of us in attendance, but slowly more people drizzled in. Because of the late start, Katherine and Maura decided to forgo the typical presentation and make it a question-and-answer session. This was a real shame, since typically, the panel covers such topics as the legality of downloads, fan art, fan fiction, cosplay, crossplay (dressing up as the opposite gender), objectionable content, ratings for anime, and being supportive without actually liking anime. You can see the handout from the panel. One place I will direct parents for information, not listed on the handout, is Anime News Network.

10:15 AM – 11:15 AM Manga Literacy and Children, given by John Baird, Erin Ptah, and Kittyhawk

Baird is the fonder of the Create a Comic Project. The basic idea is to have kids improve their language skills by filling in the word balloons for a comic strip. He developed this idea as an ESL teacher in Taiwan. He’s currently a Yale grad student using this program with children in New Haven, CT. It’s a creative way to get kids more involved in learning grammar and vocabulary. From his experience, Baird find it works best with children aged 10-12, but it can be used with children as young as 8. An excellent panel about using comics in education.

11:30 AM – 1:00 PM Misako Rocks! A Japanese American Artist.

This panel was Misako discussing her childhood in Japan, moving to the US, and becoming a comic artist. Misako had a typical Japanese upbringing. The pictures of her youth look like images from any number of popular anime and manga. She was always a doodler and by junior high was more serious about drawing.

It was the movies of Michael J. Fox that proved her greatest inspiration. Through films like Back to the Future, Misako fell in love with both Fox and the US. She dreamed of moving to the US and came here first as an exchange student in high school. She later came over as a college student studying puppeteering. She quickly realized that wasn’t going to be a very lucrative career, and so she decided to become a comic artist.

Her first book, Biker Girl, was inspired by the Midwest college town she lived in where everyone rode bicycles. Her second book, Rock-n-Roll Love, was loosely based on her own experiences as an exchange student. Her third book, Detective Jermain, was created based on Misako’s desire to write a comic that would connect with US teens. The second volume of Detective Jermain is complete, but a publication date hasn’t been set. She has also finished a kids book called Very Berry Kitty. She is currently working on a romantic graphic novel for adults.

This panel was tied with Fred Schodt’s Sunday panel as being my favorite of the convention. It was amazing to see someone born and raised in Japan discuss how she couldn’t wait to come to the US to an audience where most people were looking for a way to live in Japan. It just served as a reminder that Japan isn’t the paradise some fans paint it to be. There are good and bad points to leaving there, just like anywhere else.

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM Sword of the Stranger (Anime Movie)

There’s not much I can say about this. The video room was having problems with lighting and the projector. Half the time, the room was so brightly light that it was hard to see what was happening on the screen. I liked what I saw and will definitely be renting the DVD to see it unhindered and uninterrupted.

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM Freedom of Fashion: The American Lolita

This panel was moderated by three women, whose names I unfortunately didn’t get. They started with a brief history of Lolita fashion in Japan and then moved on to discuss Lolita fashion in America, followed by a focus on issues within the US Lolita community. Topics discussed were Weight & Size in the US, Diversity in Community, Behavior/Manners, Lifestyle vs. Fashion Only, Online Lifestyle, and The Future. Two of the best online sites for information about Lolita fashion and the Lolita community are EGL and Cosplay Oneesan.

6:15 PM – 7:15 PM Gaijin in Japan: A Real Taste of Tokyo!, hosted by Emily Hu and Abu Nasim.

Emily lived in Tokyo as a college exchange student. Abu Nasim served as moderator asking questions about her experiences in Tokyo and Japan. This again was a sober touch of reality about what it takes to actually live in Tokyo. First, there is the paper on both sides of the Pacific that need to be filled out and submitted. One of the more shocking things is the cost of getting an apartment. You will need at least 8-12 months’ rent up front to cover security deposit, agent fees, guarantor fees, key fees, etc. They talked about how the Tokyo residential streets are not laid out in a grid system, so finding someone’s house can be quite the adventure. They went on to discuss various districts of Tokyo and what they’re most famous/ infamous for.

8:00 PM – 10:00 PM Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone (Anime Movie)

This was the East Coast premiere for the first movie based on the hit TV show Neon Genesis Evangelion (Eva). It reminded me of all the things I hate about Eva: Shingi’s whining and Shingi’s dad being the world’s most physically and emotionally absent father. I don’t find either of the male leads likable or believable. The benefit of the movie is that things move quickly so Shingi only whines for three minutes instead of thirty. I think the main reason I’ve never connected with Eva is because I saw it when I was in my thirties and I have a great relationship with my own father.

That ended my first day at Otakon. I want to thank Ron, Kesha, and Cooper for their hospitality and letting me stay at their house during the convention. I wouldn’t have been able to attend Otakon without their generosity.

If you don’t have the pennies to download Nana or Honey and Clover from iTunes, you can now watch their first seasons for free on Hulu.

Well, if you’re old enough, anyway. Nana is rated for mature audiences, so you have to create an account. Honey and Clover doesn’t have that restriction. While you’re there, you can also watch 32 episodes of Rumiko Takahashi’s InuYasha (subtitled). New episodes of that series will be posted every week.