The Drops of God Book 1

Our conversation spends a lot of time with The Drops of God before moving on to other titles. Deb and I debate whether Toriko is the same kind of food manga as other books in the genre and what affordable means in wine before she fills us in on some of her California wine adventures. (I’m sorry I’m giggling like I’m drunk on the recording — I wasn’t drinking, although it would have suited the subject.) We also talk about whether it matters whether you know what the food portrayed tastes like and list our favorite food manga.

Before that, though, we briefly discuss the manga presence at MoCCA and TCAF as well as Felipe Smith’s experiences as a creator in Japan and the return of Tokyopop with Hetalia 3. When we talk about what we’re reading, I recommend the non-manga titles Jerusalem; Are You My Mother?; Please, God, Find Me a Husband!; and Pretending You’re Not Crazy, the new collection of Introspective Comics by Ryan Dow. Before that, Ed gives his thoughts on The Flowers of Evil.

Our third segment discusses Deb’s series of articles on making a living in manga if you’re not Japanese. Our conversation ends with a debate over who reviewers should be writing for and whether critics should be suggesting improvements to creators.

Following in the path of the Hetalia 3 announcement, Tokyopop and RightStuf.com have announced a second print-on-demand title continuation. M. Alice LeGrow’s Bizenghast Volume 8 will be available in July for $15.99; preorders can now be made at the discount price of $10.99.

Bizenghast was one of the most popular OEL titles from Tokyopop, and the previous volume came out at the end of June 2010. Based on this cover image, the design will match previous volumes, including the Tokyopop logo, which might annoy some fans upset by Tokyopop’s abrupt cessation of publishing.

Brigid Alverson hunts up some sales figures for previous Bizenghast volumes and speculates on what other titles might be easy for Tokyopop to resurrect. She says, “The answers to these questions will determine whether Tokyopop is aiming for a new publishing model or just looking for a return on work that has already been done and paid for.” My guess would be the latter, but I would love to be wrong, especially if it meant I got the third volume of The Secret Notes of Lady Kanoko.

Update: ICv2 talked to creator M. Alice LeGrow and got more information on how she was being compensated.

“I DO receive royalties from this book just like all the others,” LeGrow said. “I was paid in full for the entire volume before Tokyopop stopped publishing, and in fact have been offered (and completed) extra work to do ancillary art and the book layout, for which I was very generously compensated by Tokyopop.”

• Antique Bakery by Fumi Yoshinaga (Digital Manga)
• The Drops of God by Tadashi Agi and Shu Okimoto (Vertical)
  • Book 1
  • Book 2
  • Book 3
• Iron Wok Jan by Shinji Saijyo (ComicsOne/DrMaster)
  • Book 1
  • Book 13
  • Book 16
• Kitchen Princess by Natsumi Ando
  • Book 1
  • Book 2
  • Book 3
  • Book 4
  • Book 5
  • Book 6
  • Book 7
  • Book 8
  • Book 9
• Kodoku no Gourmet (The Solitary Gourmet) by Masayuki Kusumi and Jiro Taniguchi
• Mixed Vegetables by Ayumi Komura
  • Book 1
  • Book 8
• Moyasimon: Tales of Agriculture by Masayuki Ishikawa
  • Book 1
  • Book 2
• Neko Ramen by Kenji Sonishi
  • Book 1
  • Book 2
• Not Love But Delicious Foods by Fumi Yoshinaga
• Oishinbo: a la Carte by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki
  • Book 1: Japanese Cuisine
  • Book 2: Sake
  • Book 3: Ramen & Gyoza
  • Book 4: Fish, Sushi & Sashimi
  • Book 5: Vegetables
  • Book 6: Rice
  • Book 7: Izakaya (Pub Food)
• Toriko by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro
  • Book 1
  • Book 5
• Yakitate!! Japan by Takashi Hashiguchi
  • Book 1
  • Book 2
  • Book 4
  • Book 14

(Some, including me, may quibble with including exaggerated and/or humor manga such as Toriko and Neko Ramen in this list, but I am told, in the call for participation, that some do consider them part of the genre, so they’re listed here.)

For this food MMF, host Khursten Santos at Otaku Champloo has, in addition to collecting review and article links, posted a history of the genre and her experience cooking beef garlic rice bowl and bacon nabe. (Note: since she can read Japanese, her recipes are from the original Oishinbo series, not the excerpts published here.) Another blogger has made the asparagus recipes from the translated Vegetables volume. As a comic critic who has my own recipes section of this site, I love reading about other bloggers’ experiences making food.

• Part 1 — why the art-related economy is broken
• Part 2 — problems with using the label “manga” for non-Japanese works
• Part 3 — what art school lacks in training young artists

The pieces are based on Twitter conversations, and they explore a number of economic factors, including the lack of support of original comic content of any kind, the superhero-heavy focus of the US comic industry, and the general unwillingness of manga fans to support non-Japanese work. Businesses in North America, when they do hire young creators, want them to work as hired hands on properties owned or licensed by them.

I found the most telling quote of the whole piece this one, by Erica Friedman:

I recently spoke to a high school class who asked me how they could break in to the industry. I asked them how many manga they bought by American artists and they told me ‘none.’ But they didn’t see the connection.

Your purchases fuel the kind of industry you want. Traditionally, that meant people telling you not to buy things you’re not enjoying. In this case, it’s the more positive flip side: buy what you wish was a viable market.

Where Bakuman differs from the usual stories we hear about aspiring comic creators is in its use of a team — a writer and artist who are separate people — and its emphasis on the virtue of editors. The insight into how the Japanese manga industry works is the book’s strongest virtue, in my opinion. It’s a key reminder that there’s no one right way to make comics.

• Bakuman
• Death Note
• Dragon Ball Z
• Rosario + Vampire II
• Toriko

On May 14, the discount books will be the first volumes of Absolute Boyfriend, Arata: The Legend, Black Bird, Dengeki Daisy, and Hyde & Closer. Viz is now carrying over 55 series in their online manga apps.

Now, in conjunction with online retailer RightStuf.com, comes the actual announcement.

Right Stuf announced that, through a special arrangement with Japanese publisher Gentosha Comics and TOKYOPOP, it will be offering manga fans the opportunity to purchase Hetalia Axis Powers, Volume 3, in English-translated book form for the first time ever, as well as reprints of the manga series’ first two volumes, exclusively through RightStuf.com. Volume 3 will be available in late June 2012, while Volumes 1 and 2 are each available immediately.

I guess those Amazon sellers asking $50 or $100 for the first two books in the series should enjoy those high prices while they last. The books are available for $10.99 each via Right Stuf’s print-on-demand program, although they list that as a discount off the $15.99 “suggested retail price”.

It’s a good thing that such a reputable retailer as Right Stuf is involved in this project, because Tokyopop is on my “I don’t believe a thing they say until I hold a book in my hand” list. Just look at how long ago they were teasing this effort, spending over six months with nothing to show for their promotion. To sweeten the deal further, only preorders will get the first edition of Volume 3, which comes with eight color pages. Later printings will have those pages in black and white.

I also appreciate Daniel and Faith giving me new perspective on 20CB. I wound up playing devil’s advocate a bit more than I wanted, but they showed me new elements to discover in the series. We also compare it to the TV show Lost.

This was a long conversation, almost two hours total, but that includes a half-hour of Ed and I first. In that section, we talk about some license announcements and what we’ve read over the last month, including my re-read of Oishinbo. (Note: I tell Ed I’m not going to spoil the last volume for him, and then my next sentence does just that, so yay for inconsistency.) We also briefly mention the new Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service and the news of Bakuman’s planned ending, plus we discuss A Bride’s Story Book 3 and what JManga Ed had read.

Here are some of the titles we’ve previously reviewed here at MangaWorthReading.com:

• Afterschool Charisma
• All My Darling Daughters
• Bokurano: Ours
• Children of the Sea
  • Book 1
  • Book 2
  • Book 4
• Detroit Metal City
  • Book 1
  • Book 2
  • Book 3
  • Books 4-6
• Dogs
• Dorohedoro
• House of Five Leaves
• I’ll Give It My All… Tomorrow
• Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit
• Jormungand
• Kingyo Used Books
  • Book 1
  • Book 2
  • Book 3
  • Book 4
• Maison Ikkoku
• Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys
  • Book 1
  • Book 2
  • Book 3
  • Book 4
  • Book 5
  • Book 6
  • Book 7
  • Books 8-11
  • Books 12-13
  • Book 14
  • Book 15
  • Book 16
  • Book 17
  • Book 18
  • Book 19
  • Book 20
• Naoki Urasawa’s Monster
  • Book 1
  • Book 18
• Oishinbo: A La Carte
  • Book 1: Japanese Cuisine
  • Book 2: Sake
  • Book 3: Ramen & Gyoza
  • Book 4: Fish, Sushi & Sashimi
  • Book 5: Vegetables
  • Book 6: Rice
  • Book 7: Izakaya: Pub Food
• Ooku: The Inner Chambers
  • Books 1-2
  • Book 6
• Phoenix
  • Book 1: Dawn
  • Book 2: Future
  • Book 3: Yamato
  • Book 3: Space
• Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka
  • Book 1
  • Book 2
  • Book 3
  • Book 4
  • Book 5
  • Book 6
  • Book 7
  • Book 8
• Ristorante Paradiso
• Saturn Apartments
  • Book 1
  • Book 2
  • Book 4
• solanin
• Tesoro
• What a Wonderful World!

Bakuman Book 1

There are 10 books in the Bakuman series out in the U.S. so far, and I’ve been enjoying them. Now, via ANN, comes news that the creators Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata have announced that their last chapter will be published in Japan next week on April 23.

The final book will be Volume 20, on sale in their home country in July. So, as Americans, we’re only halfway there, with plenty more books to come before we see the end. I’m glad to know an end is in sight, but it’s still far off.

Black Butler Book 9	High School of the Dead Book 6	Durarara Book 2

The best-known is Black Butler Book 9, a Victorian horror fantasy involving the immensely handsome servant of the title fighting bad guys. In this volume, the Queen has requested a banquet for a mysterious guest and other exotic visitors. This series seems to feature the kind of ridiculous exaggeration where official courtesans introduce themselves with a swordfight, only to be placated with gourmet cream puffs.

Also with its fans is Highschool of the Dead Book 6, a fanservice title with busty zombie fighters. Students battle to stay alive, this time in a shopping mall. (Shades of the classic film!)

Durarara Book 2 is fun to say, and it’s full of crazy character types. This volume promises gang fights and a headless motorcycle rider.

Higurashi When They Cry Book 18	The Betrayal Knows My Name Book 3	Black God Book 16

Higurashi When They Cry Book 18 finishes up the “Atonement Arc”; future volumes will be double-sized omnibus editions. This one has a murder plot revealed in scrapbooks, which makes me wonder why anyone would put such evidence down in print? Not a great jumping on point, but there’s paranoia, insanity, and hey! The cover has a fight with a cleaver and a baseball bat!

The Betrayal Knows My Name Book 3 is oversized, both in format and length. It’s another supernatural revenge story with beautiful boys and a historical bent, involving something called “the Zweilt”.

Still to come (next week?) is Black God Book 16, a battle manga involving supernatural guardians of the universe. This one’s interesting because it’s created by Koreans for a Japanese audience (so it’s still right-to-left).

In her first recent post, Melinda explains how the group she first joined fell apart over contract issues (a not-uncommon concern). She attributes this to “lack of effective and accurate communication between DMG’s caretakers and its members … something which continues to be an issue for the Guild”.

She found another group, where she began working without credit or payment, due to existing agreements. However, when that group’s editor went missing, she was finally able to get recognition for her work, when the DMG agreed to “redo the original paperwork”. In the comments, another participant points out that contributors dropping out is a major problem for the program overall. That makes sense — for efforts where you might get paid after publication, sometime down the road, it can be hard to maintain motivation.

It’s disturbing, however, that DMG seems to value having contracts in place over having them realistically reflect who’s doing the work, with them being very resistant to modification of the documents. There are also concerns over scheduling, with questions as to how realistic the due dates are in some cases.

Melinda’s second post looks deeper into her specific role as editor, working without a net. No one required her to have experience, and there was no one for her to turn to with questions. I found it odd that, although she’s labeled an editor, the tasks she describes sound more similar to the role of adaptor, someone who takes the literally translated Japanese and turns it into readable English, and that DMG considers her suitable for that role without knowing Japanese. Ultimately, though, the piece is about how DMG is letting possibly unqualified people work on their publications, based only on their self-assertion that they could handle it and their willingness to accept the deal, and without much oversight or guidance. Of course, providing help would mean that the DMG couldn’t run as cheaply for the company.

There’s also an EX Overview that explains what features it has that Debut doesn’t:

The entire set of tutorials can be found at the Content Paradise YouTube channel.

The most exciting, to me, is a new book of short stories by Kaoru Mori, the talented artist responsible for A Bride’s Story and Emma. Anything and Something will be released in hardcover, the same size as A Bride’s Story.

I’m also eager to see Thermae Romae by Mari Yamazaki. It compares the public bathing culture of ancient Rome and present-day Japan with a time-travel tunnel beneath a Roman spa. There are four books out so far in Japan, and Yen will put two in each of their hardcover omnibus volumes.

Yen will also be publishing a graphic novel version of the young adult novel Beautiful Creatures, another popular supernatural romance. Chapters will appear in their online magazine Yen Plus, illustrated by Cassandra Jean, before the book is published in 2013.

There are more titles listed at the first link above, involving series sequels and spin-offs that I’m not as familiar with. Sean Gaffney has more information if you’re curious.

The first US edition	Re-release Tokyopop cover

Ed Chavez, Vertical marketing director, revealed on Twitter that the books will be reformatted into three 300-page omnibus editions with new translations, new covers, and including color plates. They’re aiming to bring them out in September.

Mastering Manga With Mark Crilley

Typical of Impact’s how-to books, this volume is attractive, well-laid-out, and easy to read. Unusual for the format are the one-page illustrated comic strips that introduce each chapter where Crilley draws himself talking to the reader. They’re welcome, a comfortable way to make the reader feel closer to the author, as though he’s there, helping them along and wanting them to succeed.

I was impressed by how Crilley makes it clear from the early pages that he’s not promoting manga as a style, that there are different styles that can be used that are equally “manga”. Fully a third of the book covers faces, heads, hairstyles, and eyes, working on getting the correct proportions in structure drawings. There are plenty of examples provided to guide readers and spur their artistic imaginations.

The second third is dedicated to bodies, with different ages and types, poses, clothing, actions (including kissing and fighting), chibis, and emotion sample pages. The last section covers settings, plus lessons on perspective, page layouts, and inking.

Mastering Manga struck me as an excellent basic reference book that covers the fundamentals quickly but with clear knowledge and experience. If you’d like to see examples of Crilley’s teaching technique, he’s posted a number of lessons on YouTube, including this lengthy piece on his thoughts about creating the book and a preview of its pages.

(The publisher provided a review copy.)

Then we talk about ICv2′s speculation on manga in comic stores being a growing market, and how it relates to bookstores. I go on a bit of a rant about the direct market and entitled jingoism, so forgive me, I was a tad keyed up.

We also go over the news that Twin Spica will be going out of print from Vertical before covering what we’ve been reading lately, including One Piece and Young Miss Holmes, plus Ed went to the play Astro Boy and the God of Comics. We then return to the topic of comic stores (and some oddities about the ones in Richmond, VA).

That’s all before our second segment, in which we’re joined by Julia and Linda to discuss the work of Jiro Taniguchi in response to the Manga Moveable Feast. It’s a jam-packed episode!

Titles include four volumes of Real Sex Stories, supposedly true confessions turned into manga by Kaoru Hazuki, plus four other books by the same artist.

Update: I asked Digital Manga about my DMG question, and they responded:

From time [to] time, Japanese publishers would approach us if they could hire our DMG localizers to get the job done outside of DMG contract.
These books were localized for Leed by using DMG localizers.
We feel it was appropriate to say that these titles are DMG projects.

Porn comics have traditionally been a good way for companies to support other, more serious publishing efforts (as with Fantagraphics’ Eros line), since sex brings in money. It remains to be seen how many readers want to buy manga porn when the internet provides so much material for free.

Sadly, this is our final update for the Taniguchi Manga Moveable Feast. The weekend yielded a bumper crop of reviews.

Beginning her own mountaineer training, Linda gives us a third review for the MMF. This time it’s The Quest for the Missing Girl. To avoid spoilers, Linda kept this one brief.

Taniguchi is a great storyteller, and I would recommend his works to any adult readers who would want to read a great story. Since The Walking Man, I found this to be one of my favorite books from Jiro Taniguchi.

The Quest for the Missing Girl

Thanks, Linda, for all your effort. Ash better watch himself, or he’s going to find you got to the top of the mountain first.

Lori Henderson also tackles the mystery featuring a mountaineer, unpacking the story’s genre.

The Quest for the Missing Girl isn’t strictly a mystery. It’s a character study wrapped in a mystery. Megumi’s disappearance is just an excuse to get Shiga off his mountain and involved again with her and her mother Yoriko, the widow of his best friend, Tatsuko. Tatsuko died while climbing Mt Daulaghiri, so Shiga feels some survivor’s guilt since he had turned down Tatsuko’s offer to join him on the climb. And that is really what is at the heart of this story. As Shiga searches for Megumi, he is also dealing with memories and feelings that he had pushed aside.

Jason Yadao classes up the joint with his insightful review of The Walking Man.

The reason why this book appears at first glance to be about nothing from a storytelling standpoint is because “nothing” is exactly what Taniguchi wanted us to embrace. The man clearly has an identity and a job that keeps him busy, but that doesn’t matter; we’re always seeing him unplugged from that, walking somewhere, enjoying whatever life happens to present to him on a particular day.

Phillip at Eeeper’s Choice discovered, like the rest of us, one review just isn’t enough when it comes to Taniguchi, offering us a second review, this time of The Ice Wanderer and Other Stories. It’s a wonderful read, so be sure to check it out.

As always, Taniguchi’s lines are precise, delicate and detailed. There is a timelessness that I think generations will be able to appreciate for years to come. Whether it’s mountains, bears, boats, holy men, or whales, all these things are to be found.

Justin of Organization Anti Social Geniuses (Why do I feel like Lex Luther and Dr. Doom are their role models?) gives us this surprisingly civil review of Kodoku no Gourmet.

…Yakinuku shows it’s not just what you eat — it’s where you eat it that also adds to the experience. If anyone watches the Food Network and sees Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and sees the great food being made, you’ll also see the personality (albeit briefly) of the people who go and see how much of a good time they’re having.

In the comments, Justin seems to have convinced someone to try JManga. So that’s your evil plan!

Manga Connection finds common ground with the protagonist of A Zoo in Winter in her review.

Taken a whole, this is a nice coming of age story. I was a bit bored initially, but things picked up during the “Big Brother” arc as I realized just how Hamaguchi was being forced to buck up and finding a driving force within himself.

Johanna got caught in the review fever, too, and wrote her thoughts on The Summit of the Gods Volume 2.

I was engrossed in Habu’s experience — the exaggerated natural conditions, his thoughts while trying to survive, the amazingly detailed portraits of the environment, his aggression against the weather when he’s the interloper, why he’s so competitive with someone he has so much in common with. In the previous book, he was a monster figure, larger than life. Here, we finally get to know him and more about what drives him.

I told you it was a lot. And that’s not all!

Because we here at Taniguchi MMF want to leave the customer satisfied, we interviewed Stephen Robson, co-owner of Fanfare/Ponent Mon.

I was immediately bowled over by the beauty, clarity, and detail of Taniguchi’s art and was soon even more impressed by the depth and wisdom of his writing (albeit I was reading in French). I couldn’t wait to bring his work to the English-speaking public.

Go read the rest and then help Stephen publish more Taniguchi by buying some books.

Finally, a little video dessert to finish off your meal. Julia at Retconned Fangirl pointed out this video of a Taniguchi exhibit that was part of an Italian comics convention. Hey, Otakon, how about bringing that exhibit over here to the US?

Here is a French video interview with Taniguchi. It’s brief, but we get to see his studio and his assistants. That’s a rare treat.

I’ve certainly enjoyed myself as co-host of the Taniguchi MMF, and I hope everyone’s enjoyed the reviews. A very sincere thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the contributors. If you haven’t read any Taniguchi, I hope we’ve inspired you to pick up a title or two. Trust me, you won’t be sorry.

The Manga Moveable Feast will be taking an Easter break in April. But we’ll be back with renewed vigor in May for the Oishinbo and Food Manga MMF to be hosted by Khursten Santos at Otaku Champloo. You don’t want to miss out on this MMF. There are a lot of foodies in the manga community, so this promises to be an exciting MMF.

So I wrote a little piece trying to come up with a definition of manga. Matt Thorn gently tried to tell me I was headed down the path of folly. He, James Schee, and Johanna quickly pointed out that my assertion there are no talking head pages in manga was simply wrong. And via Johanna, here is the proof:

Oishinbo page 75; story by Tetsu Kariya; art by Akira Hanasaki

That’s page 75 of the English edition of Oishinbo Volume 1. This might not be Marvel’s infamous nine panels in a grid, but it’s still lots of dialogue and minimal art.

Johanna further pointed me to Testu Kariya’s essay “What Is Japanese Cuisine?” in volume 1 of Oishinbo (pp 111-114). Kariya is trying to figure out how to define Japanese cuisine. Let me pull a few quotes that will give you the thrust of his argument.

After having traveled all over Japan, I have come to realize that Japan culinary culture is exceedingly rich and diverse. (p113)

They’re all cooked with diverse techniques, and look and taste surprisingly different, but they’re all equally “real Japanese cuisine”. (p113)

Eventually, I realized “What is Japan?”, “What does it mean to be Japanese?”, “What is Japanese cuisine?” are all meaningless questions. It is the spirit of washoku that brings everything together as one harmony. (p114)

…I realized that what we were all eating wasn’t “Japanese food” or “Japanese cuisine”, but washoku: a cuisine that brings people together in harmony and gives them pleasure. (p114)

(An editor’s note points out that the “wa” in washoku can mean either Japan or harmony. The “shoku” means food.)

Make a few simple substitutions, and you get exactly the same point Matt Thorn was making in his comments. Now, I’m not that foolish to disregard the wisdom of both a distinguished translator and a well-established manga creator. So upon the rocks of evidence, my musings have been dashed to pieces and quickly sunk.

I do think there is a ‘spirit’ of manga, an intangible quality that people sense when they are reading it. But attempting to come up with a concrete definition of what that ‘something’ is is doomed to failure. It’s like that infamous philosophical struggle to define the word ‘knowledge’. (You should see the number of books written on that.)

So while my previous attempt failed, I did learn a few things. I don’t mind being wrong as long as I can gain some wisdom from my efforts. Thanks to David, Matt, James, and Johanna for their insight and correction.