Tokyo government reveals restricted manga titles featuring icky stuff
Toyko prefecture's law restricting sales of material deemed "harmful" to minors under the age of 18 has selected its first list of titles to be considered for the ban, Anime News Network reports. The law, which has been revised a few times and goes into effect July 1, has been met with an outcry from publishers and creators.
Continue ReadingGATE 7 coming from CLAMP in October
A few years ago Dark Horse made a splash by announcing an all-new project with CLAMP, the insanely popular supergroup of manga-ka behind such hits as CHOBITS, CARDCAPTOR SAKURA, and CLOVER. Since then, little has been heard as CLAMP was busy with other projects and scheduling was not possible. However, DH has just announced that GATE 7 is finally coming out in October and released the cover image.
Continue ReadingThought for the day: Tim Hodler on Tokyopop
Tokyopop is closing down its manga line. Not long ago, this company and others like it were sometimes pointed to as the future of comics publishing. I suppose they still might be. Via The Comics Journal
Continue ReadingEnd of an era: Tokyopop shutting down US publishing division
The comics publishing culling of 2011 claimed its most prominent victim as it was announced today that Tokyopop is shutting down its US operations, as of May 31. The German office will stay open to handle publishing rights and the film division will continue. Founded in 1997, Tokyopop and its founder Stu Levy were at the forefront of the manga revolution in the US, introducing such hits as SAILOR MOON, CHOBITS, and LOVE HINA to the US market in the "unflipped" format for the first time. Sales surged as the manga bookstore revolution took over in the early part of the last decade. An ambitious program of publishing original manga by creators from around the world -- many of them barely out of the teenaged readership years themselves -- proved controversial and ultimately saw only a handful of successful franchises but introduced a new generation of creators to the comics scene.
Continue ReadingKodansha to bring back Sailor Moon
Share this link on Facebook!Tweet It’s the title that broke manga in the US — no comic has had a bigger influence than SAILOR MOON, the manga/anime that kicked off the shojo manga boom, made it safe for girls to read comics, and introduced the idea of cosplay to America in a big way. Created [...]
Continue ReadingTokyo International Anime Fair 2011 canceled; Viz releases a statement
With the ongoing tragedy in eastern Japan unfolding before our eyes, it's inevitable that there will be cancellations to many planned Anime/Manga events. Although Tokyo is not affected directly by the quake, given the difficult conditions -- potential blackouts and crisis management-- the Tokyo International Anime Fair 2011, which was to be held March 24-27 has been canceled, according to the website of the venue, the Big Site in Tokyo. According to posts on the Anime convention mailing list, the Big Site venue was damaged in the quake; in addition, air travel to Japan is being limited. The Anime Contents Expo is also expected to be canceled.
Continue ReadingViz releases digital BAKUMAN ahead of print
To mark their 100th manga for their iPad app, leading manga publisher Viz Media is launching several promotions, including the release of BAKUMAN #4 in digital form on March 28th, more than a week ahead of its April 5th print debut. In addition, they are making all #1 manga volumes just 99 cents for the rest of March. Finally, BAKUMAN #1 is available for free for 24 hours, starting today at noon PDT. Created by the popular DEATH NOTE team of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, BAKUMAN is a humorous look behind the manga business, following two students who are trying to break into the manga industry,
Continue ReadingMore layoffs at Tokyopop — UPDATE
Word is going around that LA manga publisherToykopop has laid off several more people -- including editors Lillian Diaz-Przybyl and Troy Lewter. The staff is now reduced to a mere handful of people -- including owner Stu Levy and publisher Mike Kiley. EDIT: Editor Asako Suzuki has also been laid off.
Continue ReadingNice art: Oji Suzuki
Oji Suzuki is the latest in D&Q's gekiga projects, and Tom Devlin explains why:
Continue ReadingXiao Bai receives top International Manga Awards
Chinese artist Xiao Bai was just presented with the Gold Award in the International Manga Awards. The prize, founded by Japan's former otaku-loving prime minister Taro Aso are presented to recognize international achievements in the manga style. Bai won for “So Far, So Close,” a time travel story about a woman who meets her own son.
Continue ReadingManga news: Kodansha and Dai Nippon acquire Vertical
Japanese publishing giant Kodansha and Dai Nippon Printing have joined up to purchase Vertical, Inc., the American publishing company that specializes in Engilsh-language versions of Japanese literature, including manga by Tezuka, Kou Yaginuma, and Felipe Smith, among others. The companies each purchased about 46 percent of the company, which has about $930,000 in capitalization.
Continue ReadingIs Dark Horse really in the manga game?
Just to forestall a heart attack by Mike Richardson, I'll spoil the answer right here: YES. The reason the question even came up is some dissension following Dark Horse's win in the Diamond Awards for "Best Manga Publisher," which, given the wide ranging publisher programs of Viz, Yen and TokyoPop was surprising, to say the least, as Johanna explained:
Continue ReadingBarefoot Gen examined
Before MAUS proved that US comics could take on the most serious subjects with intelligence and dignity, the Japanese were there first. BAREFOOT GEN took on another World War II horror -- the bombing of Hiroshima -- with 10 harrowing volumes, based on the real life experiences of Keiji Nakazawa. The series -- published in 6 volumes in the US by Last Gasp -- is the subject of this month's Manga Movable Feast, hosted at A Life in Panels, but also summarized by Ed Sizemore who reviews the series at Manga Worth Reading:
Continue ReadingJapan; The manga censor’s day
This article from New Zealand goes into more detail on he thinking behind the current manga sales restrictions, and they are pretty much aimed at stopping young folks from doing anything stupid and fun, not stopping perverts. Take this from gynecologist Dr Tsuneo Akaeda, who thinks manga leads to STDs:
Continue ReadingJapanese sexualization of young girls: Just icky or illegal?
Hiroko Tabuchi of the NY Times has alengthy piece Japan's recent legislation banning sales of adult material to minors. Along the way there's a lot of "Only in Japan!" stuff:
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