I’ve been going on a lot about the Twilight/Fanboy debate, mainly because it really irks me. But the reason for that is that I’ve never experienced any real prejudice in my comic shopping, or at cons. Several commentors on the Robot 6 blog article about Girls and Fandom gave anticdotes about their experiences with Fanboys and in comic shops, and quite frankly, it shocked me that they were meeting any kind of resistance from the other patrons and/owners.
Yamaoka and his father Kaibara Yuzan, have never enjoyed an ideal father-son relationship. In fact, it’s about as far from ideal as possible, and when they start arguing about food–which they inevitably do–the sparks really fly. In this volume of Oishinbo, the subject of dispute is fish, starting with the question of whether mackerel can ever be truly good sashimi. Later, things come to a head during the “Salmon Match” which pits father against son in an epic contest to develop the best dish before a panel of judges. Will Yamaoka finally defeat Kaibara? Or will he once again be left in his father’s shadow? Story by Tetsu Kariya; Art by Akira Hanasaki Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Food Price: $12.99 Rating: The overall premise of Oishinbo is that Yamaoka and his partner Kurita are compiling the “Ultimate Menu” of Japanese cuisine for the 100th anniversary of the publishers of Tozai News. Each volume of Viz’s compilation of this long running series is centered around a type of food. This volume is all about fish. The stories are episodic, and can be broken down into two types; Yamaoka helping someone out or putting someone in their place about…
Naruto Volume 31 By Masashi Kishimoto Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Action Price: $7.95 Rating: Naruto and his fellow ninja engage in deadly conflict with the enemy. If any of them makes the wrong decision, it could be one of Naruto’s closest friends who pays the ultimate price. This volume finishes up the rescue of Gaara arc started back in volume 28. Granny Chiyo and Sakura are fighting Sasori of the Red Sand, and Granny Chiyo’s grandson. Meanwhile Naruto and Kakashi are chasing Deidara to get Gaara back. Kakashi uses his Sharigan eye to get Deidara to drop Gaara, and then his new technique when Deidara tries to blow everyone up. But is there any chance of saving Gaara?
I know this is late, but SDCC threw everything off schedule. Everything will back by this week. I hope. Between a Rock and a Hard Place Otakon ran this weekend. Did you notice? There were no announcements from manga publishers, and really not a lot of announcements in general. Whoever planned for this years Otakon really blew it. Placing it between the biggest industry cons was a serious mistake. Attendance was barely changed from last years numbers. Even with this economy, AX showed a reasonable rise, and SDCC sold out at least two months sooner than last year. So it’s not that people aren’t going to the cons, they just need more time in between to replenish cash reserves. Otakon, stay in August.
Yeah, I should have written this last night, but I didn’t get home until after midnight and was exhausted. Saturday was a struggle to wake up, but we managed it, had another nice breakfast, and checked out. We made it to the convention center just in time for the Women in Manga panel, the only manga panel I was able to make it to all con. That’s just the way it goes. I’m not lamenting. Lots of other people were there to cover the manga panels, and if I’ve got anything to add, I’ll do it in my weekly news post.
Day two started out with a real breakfast. Eggs, pancakes, french toast and toast. This hotel is awesome! It’s a lot better than the fast food sandwiches we usually end up with. Didn’t make it to Stargate Universe, but we weren’t looking forward to the line, and we were tired last night.
Even though this strip is 3 years old, it still describes the experience of SDCC fairly well. The only thing that needs to be added are the lines. Yes, the infamous SDCC lines were back this year and worse than ever. We got to the con at sometime after 10am and walked the Exhibit Hall for most of the morning. My husband took lots of pictures of toys, including a few for me.
It’s that time of month again when I have to place my Previews order. But now, besides my usual problems of deciding what to buy, I have to wonder if the books I order will be canceled. Diamond Distributing has had their red pen going at break-neck speed, what with canceling the entire Yen Press solicitation from last month’s order. They’re back again and while not the only publisher to get red-lined, they just the most jaw-dropping. So, do I chance another manga order through Previews? I want to support what titles I can with pre-orders, but is it a losing battle with Diamond who seem happy to slash their catalog back to the stone age of just DC, Marvel, Dark Horse and Image? If I want a manga to survive, and I want the publishers to know I enjoy the title by pre-ordering it, will the publisher still get my message even after Diamond cancels my order? Do the publishers see the numbers before the cancellation order comes down? Am I wasting time pre-ordering with Diamond and risking my favorite, not so popular manga to an untimely death? I ponder these questions even as I prepare my next order. …
July 20, 1969: The day mankind first walked on the moon. Just as with the assassination of JFK, and 9-11, you can ask someone (old enough to remember) what they were doing when Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, and they could tell you. With the 40th Anniversary of this event coming up, I thought I would look at some manga that takes a more realistic approach to mankind’s reach into space.
Manga’s version of the “Sub vs Dub” debate Found this on Twitter via aicnanime: Helen McCarthy weighs in on the OEL manga label debate, and she puts into words something I’ve always thought but don’t think I’ve ever expressed properly: And that’s the reason. Semantics is the study of meanings, and to writers and historians, meanings matter. Fans and businesses exploiting the power of the word ‘manga’ are tapping in to one of the oldest magics known to man – the belief that real names have real power, and that attaching a name to a thought or act can give it weight, can bring it into being. But to me, attaching the word ‘manga’ to non-Japanese comics doesn’t change anything important about those comics, and may well dilute and weaken the power of the word in its original form.
Naruto Volume 28-29 By Masashi Kishimoto Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: Teen Genre: Action Price: $7.95 Rating: Volume 28 marks the start of Part Two of the Naruto saga. Two years have passed since the end of volume 27. Naruto returns to the Hidden Leaf Village after training with Jiraiya. No soon does he get back that he, Sakura and Kakashi are sent off on a mission. The Akatsuki have attacked the Sand Village and kidnapped Gaara, now Kazekage. Distracted from Sasuke, Naruto is determined to save him. He understands Gaara’s pain, and will do whatever it takes. On the way, Kakashi’s team, now including Granny Chiyo from the Sand Village confront Itachi while Guy’s team, sent by Tsunade to help Kakashi’s team face another Akatsuki, Kisame. They are diversions, sent to keep Kakashi’s team from reaching the Akatsuki base before they finish extracting the One-tailed demon from Gaara.
As Amazon ships its Kindle 2.0, bloggers and tech sites, just to be contradictory, have been talking a lot about the alternatives to the Kindle. And it’s usually the iPhone that gets the spotlight. Sorry, the iPhone is not Job’s gift to man. There are plenty of other small screen devices that can do the job without the stranglehold.