I shouldn’t be surprised, but I was pretty disgusted by what I read about the State of the Manga Industry at NYAF 2008 (how come every convention BUT SDCC has one of these?). When the topic of digital distribution came up, it’s nice to say the panelists were “skeptical, at best”. If transcriptions of their statements are accurate, I would consider them closer to downright ignorant! Just because older men who’s livelihood depends on the print industry don’t like the idea of digital distribution doesn’t mean their target audience, teenagers that do more online in an hour than most of them probably do in a day would agree! Guess what guys, it’s not about YOU! The sheer ignorance they display is in the assumption they have that digital distribution will replace book. Even as a firm believer in the digital model, I don’t believe that is going to happen. Audio books hasn’t done print in, digital isn’t going to either. And Gambos’ poor attempt at humor about holding “your Kindle up and wave it in the air” was just plain asinine. The Kindle as a lot of potential, yes, but it isn’t the “ipod of books”. Yet. Digital books, and…
King of Cards Volume 2 By Makoto Tateno Publisher: CMX Age Rating: Teen Genre: Fantasy/Romance/Game Price: $9.99 Rating: A lovesick Manami passes out when she sees the object of her affection with another girl. When she wakes up, she finds herself in the world of the cards, where matches aren’t simply imagined: players summon actual monsters and gods to do physical battle! Later, back in the real world, she must take on Japan’s number one Chaos player! Finally! My long awaited review of this book! At least, I hope someone’s been waiting for it. After much trial and tribulation, I finally got an error free copy of this title, and then after another long time, I finally read it. This volume turns up the romance, though it’s more unrequited love, and it’s only through the Chaos cards can any resolution be found.
Another week gone, and another week of reviews from the Manga Village crew! The week starts off with a book that should have gone up last Friday, had a remembered it was International Talk Like Pirate Day, as Charles Tan takes us back to the beginning of One Piece Volume 1 from Viz. Just in time for it’s new release, John Thomas has the diagnosis on Black Jack Volume 1 from Vertical. Katherine Farmar checks out a different kind of hybrid with the BL title Hybrid Child from DMP/June. Dan Polley isn’t quite ready to give up his soul to Hell Girl Volume 3 from Del Rey. We’ve got our weekly picks and for the first time ever I think, we are all in agreement for one title. The September Manga of the Month may be a forgone conclusion… At Good Comics for Kids, I’ve got the new releases for the week. There’s also a lot of interesting roundups about the end of DC’s Minx line. Head on over there to check them out.
You all know I’ve been pushing for getting manga online. It’s something I believe it, and think can really succeed, but only if it’s done right. But, I’m sorry to say, Digital Manga Publishing isn’t doing it right. And it’s not because most of their “launch” titles are YAOI. DMP makes it’s bread and butter off of BL, which hopefully is what helps supports it’s non-BL line (the Vampire Hunter D manga, etc). It’s the way they’ve decided to make it available. DMP has chosen the subscription model for digital content. You “rent” a title for 72 hours for about $4 ($3 special for launch it seems), and then, if you really like it, you can “buy” the book for another $2. In other words, on the second purchase you have unlimited views of the title. Here’s where I’ve got the problem. You have just spent $5-6 on a title, which, granted is half the print cost, but you don’t get to actually download it. It stays on their servers, and you can read it anytime, through their thoroughly annoying, flash based viewer. All you are doing with this model is purchasing the rights to view a title for as…
We knew it was coming. The writing was on the wall for a while now. Cartoon Network has officially killed Toonami, and has effectively killed any chance for Adult Swim anime (who’s going to stay up/get up at 5am to watch Code Geass or Guardian of the Spirit, on a Sunday?!). So, anime companies have had to find new outlets to show their anime. They know no one is going to buy it without seeing it first. Sci-Fi seems to be doing fairly well with their Ani-Mondays, and Funimation is expanding their shows on their channel (for those of us lucky enough to have Verizon FiOS. hehe). But the wave of the future, and we all know it’s coming, is internet broadcasting. And anime companies seem to be embracing it now, while it’s still early.
Still behind, I know. Sucky week last week. Not as bad as some, but not my best either. But, that’s why we’ve got all these wonderful diversions, right? To distract us from our workaday lives? So, let’s get to it! I start the week by giving my take on a not so great title, B.O.D.Y. Volume 2 from Viz. Katherine Farmar brings a BL smile wih Laugh Under the Sun from DMP/June Manga. Dan Polley cooks up Kitchen Princess Volume 7 from Del Rey Manga. John Thomas brings a little Halloween early with The Art of Hideshi Hino from Last Gasp. (Distrubingly appropriate, don’t you think?) As usual, we have our weekly picks, with everyone all over the place with their favorites. Over at Good Comics for Kids, I’ve got my weekly column, All Ages Comics list, and Esther Keller has a review of a Tokyopop manga, Vidia and the Fairy Crown, part of the Disney’s Fairies line.
Avast ye mateys! It bein’ International Talk Like a Pirate Day an’ all, ye may be lookin’ fer some booty to plunder. Get out yer pieces ‘o eight, get a bottle o’ rum, and prepare to fill yer treasure chest with these pirate manga! Okay, enough of that…
This has been bugging me for a while now, and I’ve got to say something. It was spurred by an article in The Oregonian, and pointed out by Brigid Alverson of Good Comics for Kids. The gist of the Oregonian article was teachers incorporating comics into the classroom, through the Comic Book Project, a joint effort by Dark Horse Comics and Columbia University of New York. Included in the article was the following quote:
Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President Volume 3 by Kaiji Kawaguchi Publisher: Viz Comics Genre: Drama/Politics Age Rating: Teen+ (16+) Price: $19.95/used Rating: Volume 3 picks up where Volume 2 left off, at the New York debate, with every waiting with baited breath for Yamaoka’s answer to Noah’s accusation of waffling on an environmental issue. It is here that we see how much of a work of fiction this title can be. Yamaoka gives a straightforward and honest answer. He is human and made a mistake. There is no way any politician that was looking to get votes would ever give an answer like this. But, with Yamaoka being our protagonist, he not only gets away with it, but turns the tables on Noah, and wins not just the debate, but the primary. Now the next big hurdle he must overcome is Texas. In order to win in Texas, he must win over Don Taylor, a democrat in charge of a large food corporation who holds sway over most of the farmers and ranchers not just in Texas, but in most of the South. But it won’t be easy, as Taylor doesn’t believe either Yamaoka or Noah has a…
I few years ago, I got into podcasts. I like to listen to things while I work, and the radio and music got boring, so I started searching through podcasts. One of the great things about podcasts, is that you can find something on just about any topic, since anyone with a computer, a microphone and some software can record one. The first topics I searched for: anime and manga. The anime was easy to find. Anime podcasts are a dime a dozen, and I tried out a lot before I settled on a select few. Podcasts for manga, well, that was a lot harder to find. Some of the anime podcasts I got also do manga, but I really wanted to find something that was only manga. Those are fewer and very far between. But, I have found a few.
This week, I decided to check out some of the new titles I’ve gotten recently. I’ll be doing full reviews of these later, but I just wanted to give some general impressions first. I read Two Flowers for the Dragon Volume 1, Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion Volume 1and Ghost Slayers: Ayashi Volume 1. Two Flowers for the Dragon I ordered because it is by Nari Kusakawa, who also also did The Palette of 12 Secret Colors which I enjoyed a lot, and the main character turns into a dragon. I love dragons, so, I decided to take a chance on this one, and I wasn’t disappointed. I really liked the characters, and Kusakawa-sensei’s art. It was a fun read, and the cliffhanger the volume ended on made me ready to read the next. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion is from Bandai, and this first volume was released simultaneously with the anime, which might cause some confusion for people, as the manga doesn’t follow the anime perfectly. And that’s just fine by me. The manga hits the major scenes it needs to, but some were altered to fit a manga audience better, I think. There is more attention…
Yeah, I know, I did it again. I missed a week. And I’m not going to try to make any excuses. I’m just going to go straight into the reviews. The first week of September started off with the newest member of our Manga Village Commune, Katherine Farmar. She’s bringing the BL with her review of Lover’s Flat from DMP/June. Charles Tan is ready for the return of Monday Night Football with Eyeshield 21 Volume 6 from Viz. I check out High School Debut Volume 3 from Viz. John Thomas gets Real Volume 1 from Viz. Dan Polley gets his ninja on with Naruto Volume 30 from Viz. Then check out our picks for the week. They might be a Slam Dunk, or they might not… This week picks up with Katherine Farmar works some magic with the DMP/June title Spell. Charles Tan doesn’t run from Cat-Eyed Boy Volume 1 from Viz, nor does Dan Polley from I, Otaku Volume 2 from Seven Seas Entertainment. But we lose John Thomas to MPD-Psycho Volume 6 from Dark Horse. Over in our columns, we’ve got two you have to check out! First is our usual picks of the week. See if you…