Posted by Guest Author on Jan 17, 2008 in Comic Books
With American anime sales on a downward trend, a lot of attention is being paid to its partner in crime manga, the Japanese comics that are often adapted into anime (if they’re not already adaptations themselves). In North America and Europe manga has exploded, but the sheer volume of manga published in Japan means that not every series makes it over here— and even the ones that do don’t always get the attention that they deserve! So here’s one of our Top Ten Underrated Manga that we recommend that you should get your hands on:
Yubisaki Milk Tea
There once was a boy named Yoshinori whose face was remarkably similar to his sister’s. As a result, he once had to take her place in a modeling session, dressing in a bridal gown for a local photography shop. Ever since then he’s had a taste for both cross-dressing and photography, and Yubisaki Milk Tea follows his exploits both as male Yoshinori and female “Yuki.” Yoshinori winds up in a love triangle with his childhood friend Hidari, who doesn’t know about his cross-dressing, and a classmate named Minamo, who hates men and will only talk to Yoshinori when he’s dressed as Yuki.
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 16, 2008 in Comic Books
With American anime sales on a downward trend, a lot of attention is being paid to its partner in crime manga, the Japanese comics that are often adapted into anime (if they’re not already adaptations themselves). In North America and Europe manga has exploded, but the sheer volume of manga published in Japan means that not every series makes it over here— and even the ones that do don’t always get the attention that they deserve! So here’s one of our Top Ten Underrated Manga that we recommend that you should get your hands on:
Lunar Legend Tsukihime
A high school boy named Shiki is suffering from a life-threatening injury, and as a result he has started to see “death lines” on the people around him. He discovers that if he traces the lines with a sharp object he can kill people. He protects himself from his ability by wearing a special pair of glasses that prevent his ability to see the lines.
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 15, 2008 in Comic Books
With American anime sales on a downward trend, a lot of attention is being paid to its partner in crime manga, the Japanese comics that are often adapted into anime (if they’re not already adaptations themselves). In North America and Europe manga has exploded, but the sheer volume of manga published in Japan means that not every series makes it over here— and even the ones that do don’t always get the attention that they deserve! So here’s one of our Top Ten Underrated Manga that we recommend that you should get your hands on:
Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service
Five university students with abilities that range from channeling spirits to dowsing (finding dead bodies) to ESP form a company called the Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, an organization that communicates with the dead and transports their bodies to wherever they need to go in order to allow their spirits to move on to the next world.
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 14, 2008 in Comic Books
With American anime sales on a downward trend, a lot of attention is being paid to its partner in crime manga, the Japanese comics that are often adapted into anime (if they’re not already adaptations themselves). In North America and Europe manga has exploded, but the sheer volume of manga published in Japan means that not every series makes it over here— and even the ones that do don’t always get the attention that they deserve! So here’s one of our Top Ten Underrated Manga that we recommend that you should get your hands on:
Kodomo no Jikan (“A Child’s Time”)
This may seem like an odd choice for underrated manga, seeing as this series gained infamy throughout the English-language manga world when Seven Seas licensed it and then cancelled it because the content was too racy. Well, the problem isn’t just that the content is racy— it’s that it’s racy and it involves primary school students. It didn’t help that original creator Kaworu Watashiya wanted them to call it Nymphet.
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 11, 2008 in Comic Books
With American anime sales on a downward trend, a lot of attention is being paid to its partner in crime manga, the Japanese comics that are often adapted into anime (if they’re not already adaptations themselves). In North America and Europe manga has exploded, but the sheer volume of manga published in Japan means that not every series makes it over here— and even the ones that do don’t always get the attention that they deserve! So here’s one of our Top Ten Underrated Manga that we recommend that you should get your hands on:
Ouran High School Host Club
Haruhi Fujioka is the only scholarship student at the swanky Ouran High School, an unenviable role at a school full of kids so rich that they actually have a host club as part of their after school activities. A host club is a place where women pay large amounts of money to spend time with good-looking men, just chatting and flirting.
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 10, 2008 in Comic Books
With American anime sales on a downward trend, a lot of attention is being paid to its partner in crime manga, the Japanese comics that are often adapted into anime (if they’re not already adaptations themselves). In North America and Europe manga has exploded, but the sheer volume of manga published in Japan means that not every series makes it over here— and even the ones that do don’t always get the attention that they deserve! So here’s one of our Top Ten Underrated Manga that we recommend that you should get your hands on:
Bokurano
North American publishers seem wary of Mohiro Kitoh’s manga Bokurano— possibly due to the difficulty that Dark Horse had with Kitoh’s Narutaru, which began reasonably family-friendly before it took a serious turn for the dark side, preventing Dark Horse from even releasing later volumes. No one yet has licensed Bokurano.
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 9, 2008 in Comic Books
With American anime sales on a downward trend, a lot of attention is being paid to its partner in crime manga, the Japanese comics that are often adapted into anime (if they’re not already adaptations themselves). In North America and Europe manga has exploded, but the sheer volume of manga published in Japan means that not every series makes it over here— and even the ones that do don’t always get the attention that they deserve! So here’s one of our Top Ten Underrated Manga that we recommend that you should get your hands on:
Antique Bakery
Odds are good that if you’re not a fan of yaoi— boy/boy romance manga for women —you haven’t read Fumi Yoshinaga’sAntique Bakery, which is technically not yaoi (barely). Her series is part slice-of-life comedy and part drama about four men working in a bakery together. Primary among the men is Keisuke, the son of a wealthy family who has an odd fixation on sweets because a man who kidnapped him as a child fed him cakes.
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 8, 2008 in Comic Books
With American anime sales on a downward trend, a lot of attention is being paid to its partner in crime manga, the Japanese comics that are often adapted into anime (if they’re not already adaptations themselves). In North America and Europe manga has exploded, but the sheer volume of manga published in Japan means that not every series makes it over here— and even the ones that do don’t always get the attention that they deserve! So here’s one of our Top Ten Underrated Manga that we recommend that you should get your hands on:
Hajime no Ippo (“The First Step”)
George Morikawa’s boxing manga Hajime no Ippo is probably the longest-running underrated manga out there. A full 81 volumes have been produced since its inception in 1990, all of which remain bereft and unlicensed. Oh, and it’s still running, too.
Posted by Guest Author on Jan 7, 2008 in Comic Books
With American anime sales on a downward trend, a lot of attention is being paid to its partner in crime manga, the Japanese comics that are often adapted into anime (if they’re not already adaptations themselves). In North America and Europe manga has exploded, but the sheer volume of manga published in Japan means that not every series makes it over here— and even the ones that do don’t always get the attention that they deserve! So here’s one of our Top Ten Underrated Manga that we recommend that you should get your hands on:
Gintama
This actually is a combination underrated manga and anime— the anime, in fact, is unlicensed in spite of its immense popularity in Japan. VIZ has started releasing the manga in the U.S., but with so little marketing that many are barely aware of its existence. Which is a shame, since it’s a fantastic (and funny) series!
“Japanese comic book shops have been the surprise beneficiaries of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s shock exit. Shares in retailers selling the “manga” cartoon strips surged on belief that manga-fan Taro Aso is the leading candidate to replace Mr Abe. Mr Aso, secretary-general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is a big promoter of manga cartoons abroad.
While the main Tokyo market fell after Mr Abe’s resignation, manga-linked stocks like publisher Broccoli rose. The Nikkei 225 index of the largest Japanese shares fell 0.5% as political uncertainty led investors to drop out of the market until the situation became clearer. But investors pounced on manga publishers and bookshops selling the fantastical cartoon strips.”
“A manga-illustrated canned coffee product that went on sale during the Comic Market (Comiket) 72 convention in August has turned out to be a hit among visitors to the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition venue. The “Seichi no Kohi” (sacred-site coffee) features two manga-like designs. One shows a girl carrying a bag along with another girl wearing glasses and carrying a thick book, resembling one of the official Comiket guides. The other shows a cosplay character in a sailor-type school uniform. The product was conceived by Big Sight Service, a company that operates stalls at Tokyo Big Sight, where Comiket is held.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 16, 2007 in Animation
The above clip is rather funny, although the manga in question is more cheesecake than hentai. Dōjin Work (ドージンワーク) is a new anime series in Japan that just went on the air this July 4th, the show is based on a four panel comic strip (by the same name) about a young girl named Najimi Osana who is about to make her debut as a dōjin artist (dōjin are fan made comics). Of course being a fanboy I’m already somewhat partial to the show as it seems to be filled with references to the world of fandom.
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jun 7, 2007 in Comic Books
Shown Above: Manga series like Lupin III glamourize international jewel thieves, but a poor bunch of deodorant-free otaku upload some manga scans and it’s a major criminal matter…
This is amazing, these otaku were so dedicated that they got their hands on the manga magazine before it went on sale:
“KYOTO: Two men who distributed comics from a magazine through the file-sharing software Winny before the magazine officially went on sale have been charged with copyright law violations, public prosecutors said. The Kyoto District Public Prosecutors office indicted the men, Mitsukazu Tamashiro, 29, and Kenji Kodama, 26, for violating the Copyright Law by distributing comics from the magazine “Shukan Shonen Sunday,” published by Shogakukan.
On Friday last week, public prosecutors also sent a 17-year-old technical college student from Tokyo’s Adachi-ku to a family court in connection with the case, recommending that he face criminal charges as an adult. Public prosecutors said that Tamashiro distributed three works from “Shukan Shonen Sunday” on three occasions between January and April, illegally allowing an unspecified number of people to view the comics through the file-sharing software Winny. Kodama allegedly distributed six works from the same comic magazine between February and April.”
“An international manga award to honor foreign authors of Japanese-style comics is due to be established, with an award ceremony planned for July, it was learned Tuesday. The award, being promoted by Foreign Minister Taro Aso, a self-professed manga fan, will be set up by an organizing committee whose members include the Japan Foundation. Aso said he hoped the award would promote Japanese pop culture.
“I want to make the award like the Nobel Prize of manga, to enhance the voice of Japanese pop culture and subculture,” Aso said in comments made after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning. Candidates for the prize will come from general applications and recommendations by publishers in Japan and overseas. A panel including manga authors Machiko Satonaka, Takashi Yanase and Tetsuya Chiba, and former editors of well-known Japanese comic magazines will select the winning entries on June 22. Top works will be given the “international manga award” and other prizes. The award ceremony is scheduled for July 2, in Tokyo.”
“Even as British librarians realize that the average child is more interested in Japanese comics featuring androgynous teenage boys ponderously making out with one another than the doily and crumpet adventures of Jane Austen’s Emma, British Publishers Hodder and Stoughton are looking to manga to revive flagging Bible sales. The result? The Manga Bible!
Only two issues have been released so far, but Hodder and Stoughton aren’t playing around. This is the Bible, rawer and more extreme than we’ve ever seen it before! To emphasize the rawness and extremity of Jesus’ ass-kicking adventures through Ancient Jerusalem, the first two volumes of The Manga Bible have the subtitles NT Extreme! and NT Raw!”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Mar 7, 2007 in Comic Books
Wipe that smile off your face! This is the ultimate fanboy bathroom accessory:
Manga Toilet Paper Announced Famous newspaper manga artist and TV Talent Yakumi Tsuru to launch line of manga toilet paper
“TV Commentator and 4-panel manga artist Yakumi Tsuru (real name: Hatakeyama Hideki) announced on Friday that paper goods company Banbix will be selling toilet paper with his manga drawings and 4 panel comics printed on it. The toilet paper, called “Food Toipe”, can be purchased in cases of 50 rolls from the Banbix website for 8,500 yen (approximately 80 US Dollars), and will be available as of March 2nd.”
Posted by Michael Pinto on Dec 18, 2006 in Comic Books
Archie hasn’t quite gone manga yet, but a redesign of the classic comic book is in the works and what I see doesn’t look that good (see the illustration above). Here’s the source for the story:
“With more than 60 years of a certain…shall we say, style behind them, Archie, Betty, Veronica, and the whole Riverdale gang will be getting a new look in 2007, courtesy of artist Steven Butler. Rather than moving to a manga style, which has worked on Sabrina by Tania del Rio, this change will move the art towards a more contemporary comic book style, more realistic, and less cartoony. The move, an Archie Comics representative told Newsarama, is a continuing experiment and exploration with the characters, showcasing not only their timlessness, but theur adaptability as well.”
This new stye looks more generic than anything, it’s sort of manga light. I think the problem is that they’ve added too much detail to the character designs, and have lost any link to the fun spirit of the comic (the new characters look a bit too serious). Of course after half a century they should update the book, but I think they should have given more careful thought about how to update the look.
“MangaNEXT is a fan-run manga convention that will take place on October 6-8, 2006 at the Crowne Plaza Meadowlands in Secaucus, NJ. Anime conventions have been existence for many years, and manga has had a large presence at these events, but there has yet to be a convention dedicated to manga. MangaNEXT aims to correct that. With the manga market growing in leaps and bounds and exceeding the pace of the anime market, it’s manga’s time to shine.”
Yo-kai Watch, a Pokemon-like game about collecting weird creatures, did really well when it was released in Japan, blowing up into a massive sensation and getting things like anime adaptations. Now Nintendo has announced that Level-5’s RPG is coming to the West. It hasn’t specified which game is getting released — the second game even had two versions, like Pokemon — or when it’s releasing. But it’s still cool news, and it seems that they’re really making a push for the brand. Viz is releasing the manga adaptation later this year, and Level-5 made a big toy deal for 2016 with Hasbro. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this blow up with kids and some adults. Read more…
The first One Piece: Pirate Warriors was a fairly enjoyable game, but certain story arcs from the manga were conspicuously absent. Some of those characters and areas were included in the sequel, but that game had an original story. So now we have One Piece: Pirate Warriors 3 for PS3, PS4, and Vita, which adds in a lot of those missing elements, most notably Thriller Bark and the fight against Gekko Moriah. I’m interested in playing a more complete version, and I know there are other improvements, going by this trailer. But seeing as so much of this stuff was in the first game, it’s hard to get as enthusiastic about its release. If I find more interest in it, the game is coming out in Japan in March, in the US sometime this summer, and in Europe before the end of 2015. Read more…
Despite getting support from actors like Tobey Maguire, Hollywood’s Robotech adaptation has languished for ages. It honestly seemed like it was dead — but, here we go again — Warner Bros’ Hollywood Gang is revving the engine again and producers Gianni Nunnari and Mark Canton have nabbed the scriptwriter (Michael Gordon) behind 300 and G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra to begin writing it. We’ll see if it actually goes anywhere, this time. In similar news, Animal Logic Entertainment is attempting to start an Astro Boy film. Producer Zareh Nalbandian said, “We actually see him in the same league as an Iron Man.” Uh, hmm, okay. How about we just make a Pluto movie, instead? Read more…
Posted by Bob Muir on Jan 6, 2015 in Anime, Cinema
It’s not that I’m against DreamWorks making a Ghost in the Shell live-action remake. The original manga has been translated into various anime forms, from movies to TV shows to reboots, so the series has proven to be mutable enough that live-action could work. It’s that I’m against the kind of movie Hollywood would make. Having Rupert Sanders ready to direct Bill Wheeler while Avi Arad and Steven Paul produce is alright, but the first actor has been confirmed: Scarlett Johansson will star. She’s a great actor and would make a fine Major Kusanagi, assuming she gets the lead role. But, uh, the character is Japanese, not white. Read more…
Posted by Ben Huber on Aug 25, 2014 in Uncategorized
You may know Kunihiko Ikuhara from his various popular shows (Revolutionary Girl Utena, Penguindrum, he directed much of the original Sailor Moon anime), or from his many eccentricities (his cosplay as Sailor Mars). Yesterday, a countdown finished which revealed the official website for his next anime project: Yuri Kuma Arashi. This isn’t really much of a surprise, as this had been assumed and the manga adaption has already begun. Ikuhara will direct, character concepts are by Akiko Morishima, character designs are by Etsuko Sumimoto, and it’ll be produced by Silver Link. Interesting! The site now features several dates listing updates time, so we’ll check back in on September 15th! Read more…
