I’m gonna try and make this a weekly feature, rounding up the stories from the week I found most interesting from the web and twitter. Of course, I’ll be adding my own two cents with some commentary on the news items. Anime Expo – 7/2-7/5/09 Normally associated with anime (obviously), manga pubs usually have a presence at AX, as a booth and/or panel. Though, with the tough economy, smaller pubs seem to be fleeing the crowds and expense of SDCC, in favor of a more targeted audience. Here ae some items I want to highlight.
I’m sure everyone’s heard by now about Viz’s insane idea to catch up One Piece with the Japanese releases. They announced at Anime Expo that they will release 30 volumes in six months starting in January 2010. That’s 5 volumes a month! Back in May, when it was first announced that current One Piece chapters would start showing up in Shonen Jump, I wrote what I thought of that decision. Viz was nuts. I thought they would try to do it in the span before the chapters came out. I was wrong about that. But their response is no better.
Eagle: The Making of an Asian American President Volume 4 By: Kaiji Kawaguchi Publisher: Viz Media Genre: Drama/Politics Age Rating: Teen+ (16+) Price: $22.95 Rating: I know it’s been a while, but I’ve only go 2 volumes left of this series, and I’m determined to finish it! Okay, so this volume ends the cliffhanger from the last about Yamaoka possibly having an affair, and that Rachel was the result. Takashi helps clear that up, as he had a personal stake in the possibility. Then it’s on to the National Convention in Chicago. Here we see Bill Clinton step in, trying to get his wife “Ellery” the vice-president nomination. He goes to Noah first, who turns him down outright, so it’s off to Yamaoka, who seems more receptive. With the political weight of the Clintons behind him, Yamaoka takes the nomination, but instead nominates Noah for VP. With the Democratic players in place, the campaign can move to the national front, and we finally meet the Republican Candidate Richard Grant. He’s a Lt. General in the Air Force Reserve, former Astronaut and Senator from Colorado. He is also very much a flag-waving republican and supporter of the military complex. Yamaoka starts…
It is a sad day in Xanadu. Having only just discovered the over-the-top manli-goodness that is Sengoku Barasra, aka Basara Devil Kings, the anime, I had to search to see if there was a manga for it. And, joy of joys, there was! It was licensed too! Udon Entertainment, the purveyor of Video Game and Capcom comics has licensed it. At least, that’s what everyone thought. I thought it was odd at first, that a google search for the manga didn’t land an Amazon hit in the first 10 links. A search of Amazon did reveal the book , but as unavailable, but with a shipping date of September of 2008. A search of other sites gave another date of April 2008, or available for pre-order. Not even the Udon site had a listing. This confused me, so, since a web search wasn’t doing me any good, I went to the next best place for manga knowledge; Twitter. A query there didn’t get me any answers, but it did get a response from Udon that they would find out. A few days later, I got a response from Stacy King, Marketing Manager for Udon. Here’s what she told me: UDON…
June and July 2009 mark the end of a four year run of Shojo Beat magazine. Not that you could tell by reading them. These last two issues feature more great previews, features and of course, chapters of manga. Though nothing is said explicitly, there does appear to be some indication that the magazine was ending, but you wouldn’t know it if you weren’t really paying attention.
With the manga market getting tighter, we as readers will start to see some of our favorite titles get longer times between volume releases, if at all. Slow seller are always the first to go. Despite the cries of protest from it’s small but loyal fan base, companies need to stay in the black, or else we’ll have no manga to buy at all. But, we’re not helpless in this situation. Fans can show companies what titles they want to keep coming out. The easiest way is of course through pre-orders. Whether it’s through Amazon, Rightstuf or Diamond Distributor’s Previews, ordering a title ahead of time gives publishers a good idea on the demand they can expect for a title. The lives of titles can be saved or extended through pre-orders better than all the ranting and raving on blogs and forums. We as fans have to put our money where our mouths are.
When times get tough, and bank accounts become lean, that’s when you have to start slashing the non-essentials from the budget. As much as I hate to say it, manga is one of those non-essentials. With not much hope for recovery in the next six months, or if the state will be solvent (I live in California), that’s meant I’ve had to cut down on the manga I pre-order. In happier, healthier times, my average order is 7-10 volumes, depending on who has what (ie Viz doesn’t flood me) or if there are title for others in the family (Husband and kids). With pre-order discounts, that averages around $70 a month in manga.
Dragonball: Evolution Junior Novel Adapted by Stacia Deutsch & Rhody Cohon Publisher: Viz Media Age Rating: All Ages (9-12) Genre: Action Price: $5.99 Rating: Goku thought he was a normal high school student until he found out he’s actually a martial-arts whiz with all kinds of powers. Now he and his fellow teen warriors are on a quest to find all the Dragon Balls before they fall into the wrong hands. But they may already have! Goku must battle the evil madman Piccolo with all he’s got to save the planet Earth! Taking the title and character names from a manga does not make it “based on”, as it says on the front cover of this book (in very small letters). Not even the description from the back cover has much to do with the story inside. This story takes only the barest of elements from Akira Toriyama’s original manga and weaves them into a generic and boring story that has none of the charm or fun of the source material.
For Mother’s Day, I wrote a post (and updated it) about Moms in manga and how they can affect the main characters or the story. Now, with Father’s Day fast approaching, it’s Dad’s turn. I’ll look at Manga Dad in the same context, whether they appearance/absence affect the characters and/or the story. But Dad is going to get an added level, as they seem to break down into 3 categories: Driven, Overzealous, and Creepy.
The sudden loss of Shojo Beat has left a real void in my manga reading. Even if I didn’t get to read it as soon as it arrived, I knew it was there, and had it to look forward to. Why Shojo Beat was canceled is still a bit of a mystery, since, for me at least, it did exactly what it was meant to do. Get me to read more Viz titles. While I didn’t love all the titles in Shojo Beat, I enjoyed most of them, and through previews found titles I wanted, or wanted to avoid. It really was a great marketing tool, since I could sample a lot of different titles for a low cost. Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a way to do that electronically (and legally)?
There’s been a lot of talk lately about the new paper Tokyopop is using for their manga. Most of it has been bad. I had a few recent printings of some of their manga and decided to check it out for myself. I pulled out Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo volume 4, NG Life volume 1 and Animal Academy volume 1. I then pulled out Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo volume 3, which was printed on the old paper for comparison. After getting sucked into both Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo volumes, I actually got down to the comparison.
This title has not been solicited in Previews! I’ve been watching! Waiting!! It’s the last volume!!! Aw, come on Tokyopop! You got my hopes up by putting up this late last year, and now…what? Will it come out, or won’t it? Why do you enjoy torturing me like this?! I don’t care what kind of paper it’s printed on. I don’t care if it’s only available to read online. Just tell me the truth! Can you or can’t you? Will you or won’t you? Why do you continue with these teasings? Why are you so cruel?!?!??! WWWWHHHHHHYYYYYYY?????!!!!!!!