Svetlana Chmakova announces that Volume 3 of DRAMACON is in the can and coming out in about a month.

A couple of announcements from the upcoming New York Anime Festival. First the announcement of a number of web guests, and also an ICv2 conference:

Pop culture publishing and consulting company ICv2 has announced its first ICv2 Conference on Anime and Manga: “Inside the Otaku Generation” at New York Anime Festival (NYAF), the new event being launched by the organizers of New York Comic Con.

NYAF will bring together more than 120 exhibitors, and will feature the latest in anime, manga, Japanese cinema, music, and games, as well as the best of anime-influenced comics, animation, and film from around the world. NYAF will be held on December 7-9, 2007 at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York City.

The ICv2 Conference on Anime and Manga: “Inside the Otaku Generation” will be held on Thursday afternoon, December 6, 2007 at the Javits Center, on the eve of NYAF.

(more…)

The manga onslaught continues, as PW reports that the 800-900 outlet strong Trans World Entertainment chain had contracted with wholesaler Bookazine to add manga to such places as F.Y.E, , Coconuts, Sam Goody, Suncoast and Planet Music.

Bookazine established its separate pop culture program, Popazine, two years ago and hired John Davis, former director of book sales at Central Park Media, to head it. Since then Bookazine’s sales of pop culture-related titles, including manga and graphic novels, have jumped, according to Bookazine executive v-p Richard Kallman. In 2006, pop culture/graphic novels were 5% of the company’s overall business. This year, Davis projects, Popazine will grow to 7% or 8%.

In some ways the story is a reminder of how far we’ve come in five or six years — in the olden days the idea of ANY mass market retailer carrying comics, manga or Bazooka Joe bubble gum comics would have been clutched at by every comcis true believer as the straw that showed there was life outside the world of longboxes. Now, the story comes with its own history of ups and downs — you may recall that Suncoast/Musicland went bankrupt in 2006, causing all sorts of problems for anime and manga companies. TWE eventually acquired Suncoast, and now they are back in the manga business.

It’s this cycle of bust and boom in the retail market that really shows how entrenched comics, manga and graphic novels really are now. There is no one setback that will hold us back, only a continuing march.

Manga for the rest of us: IDW previews Umezu’s REPTILIA. Much more in link.

One more manga post! Over at Sporadic Sequentialcultural anthropologist and Japan-based manga expert Matt Thorn explains why manga is so exacting:

Sure, there’s a wide variety of subject matter in manga, and more variety of drawing styles than many people realize, but there are countless structural details that most readers (both Japanese and non-Japanese) are completely unconscious of, and yet which are necessary to make a manga “feel right.”

Much more of great interest in the link, including concrete examples.

UPDATE: Even more in this follow up!

And speaking of Manga, Fox Atomic has a movie based on the Japanese novel and manga GOTH in the works. JT Petty is slated to write the script. We like Anime News Network’s description of the plot best:

Itsuki Kamiyama, a student with normal look, who obsessed with death and murder around him, together with Yoru Morino, his female classmate, who has the same hobby with Itsuki, they solve the strange cases of murder. However, Itsuki also obsessed with something else of Morino

But see.

Forget about the US Open, the World Series, or the Westminster Dog Show — New York is about to get a new competition which will knock the world on its Goth-Lolita clad ass: The World Cosplay Summit’s USa Preliminary round is coming to the NY Anime festival this December!

The New York Anime Festival (NYAF) today announced a major partnership with the World Cosplay Summit, the leading international cosplay event which takes place annually in Japan and attracts an audience of cosplay enthusiasts and professionals from many countries all over the globe. The World Cosplay Summit features the very best cosplayers in the world competing before famed anime and manga creators. Previous notable judges have included Leiji Matsumoto (Galaxy Express 999) and Go Nagai (Cutie Honey). Countries which participated in the 2007 World Cosplay Summit included: Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Mexico, Singapore, Spain, and Thailand.

“We are focused on making NYAF a broad cultural event which embraces the many aspects of anime and recognizes its influence around the world,” notes John McGeary, Show Manager for NYAF. “This partnership is perhaps one of our most significant steps on the road to doing that. The World Cosplay Summit is nothing less than the Super Bowl of all cosplay. We’re very proud to offer American cosplayers the chance to have their costumes and talent recognized on both a national and international stage.”

Festival organizers note that the partnership will provide NYAF with the opportunity to stage the World Cosplay Summit’s Official USA Preliminary Round. The winners of the convention’s Masquerade will receive a free trip to Japan to represent the USA in the World Cosplay Summit Finals in Summer 2008. The New York Anime Festival is the only American anime convention approved to be part of the World Cosplay Summit.

(more…)

Anime News Network picks up a story from a Belgian tabloid reporting that two identical messages linked to Death Note were left near severed body parts discovered Friday in the forest of Belgium’s Duden Park.

According to the newspaper, the two paper sheets both say “Watashi wa Kira dess,” an apparent misspelling of the Japanese phrase “Watashi wa Kira desu,” or “I am Kira (Killer).” This is a catchphrase from writer Tsugumi Ooba and artist Takeshi Obata’s Death Note suspense manga series, in which a high school boy discovers a notebook which allows him to kill people by writing their names in it.

It is unknown if the body parts belong to the same person.

Via PR, news of a new legit venture to allow fans to create their own scanlations:

Manganovel Corporation and Toshiba Corporation today announced that they will bring the universe of Japanese manga to the global market with the launch of “Manganovel,” an on-line service that allows readers not only to download and read manga in Japanese but to post and offer for sale their own translations of content. The service started beta testing in June this year, and is now officially ready to take manga characters to anime lovers around the world. The site can be accessed at: URL: https://www.manganovel.com .

“Manganovel” will serve as a distribution source for Japanese publishers, and go beyond that to create a community of readers. In a world-first for the comics industry, members will not only be able to download and read Japanese versions of manga, but, by making full use of the potential offered by Web 2.0, be free to upload and even sell their own translations of the comics. Potential readers can get advice on the quality of any individual translation offered on “Manganovel” by reading the comments of other readers on the site’s discussion boards. The whole operation will offer secure digital rights management with “MQbic” (Multi-cubic), digital copyright protection technology developed by Toshiba.

(more…)

Freaky manga-ka legend Kazuo Umezu is getting another shot in America via REPTILIA, due this October from IDW, which is making its first foray into manga publishing:

Just in time for Halloween, IDW Publishing brings Japanese horror legend Kazuo Umezu’s seminal manga work Reptilia to America next month, translating the 40-year-old terror classic into English for the very first time as IDW continues to expand its publishing line.

“This is our first manga project,” says Chris Ryall, publisher and editor-in-chief of IDW, which reinvented American horror comics several years ago with the blockbuster miniseries 30 Days of Night, to be released as a major motion picture from Sony in the same month that IDW unveils Reptilia. “We wanted to do something unique for our first effort to bring Japanese manga to the States, and considering our past success in creating horror hits, it made sense to publish something from the man who is considered the father of horror manga in Japan.”

(more…)

Viz sends out PR trumpeting the success of their “Naruto Nation” event — NARUTO is 1, 2 and 3 on the Bookscan GN schart:

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), one of the entertainment industry’s most innovative and comprehensive publishing, animation and licensing companies, has announced that NARUTO manga volumes 16, 17 and 18 occupied the first, second and third positions on Nielsen BookScan’s noted Top 50 Graphic Novel list for the week ending September 23, 2007. The trio of latest volumes from the popular ninja action series has remained in the top three spots on the BookScan Graphic Novel list for four consecutive weeks. More than 2.3 million NARUTO manga volumes have been sold domestically since the series launched.

Further expanding the favorable manga sales news for the week of September 23, VIZ Media titles occupied a total of 33 of the Top 50 spots on the Graphic Novel list. Various NARUTO titles, including previous manga editions and a recently released NARUTO ANIME PROFILES: EPISODES 38-80 book, swept 14 of the Top 50 listings. Some other notable VIZ Media placements include BLEACH Vol. 20 (at number 10), DEATH NOTE vol. 1 (at number 11), THE BEST OF POKÉMON ADVENTURES: RED (at number 12), THE GENTLEMEN’S ALLIANCE † Vol. 3 (at number 15) and FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST Vol. 14 (at number 17).

(more…)

NPR’s On The Media looks at the cultural impact of manga:

Manga is Japan’s ubiquitous art form; a kind of comic book equivalent that illustrates everything from tax preparation to hard-core fantasy. But it is its growing success outside Japan that’s highlighted its new utility, what Japanese politicians are calling ‘manga diplomacy.’ Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica, explains why politicians are recognizing the form as a powerful cultural export.

[Thanks to Kevin for the link.]

Roland Kelts, author of Japanamerica, has thoughts on manga as a feminist issue, in comparing the number of “strong female characters” in anime and manga with real life gender roles:

Indeed, a foreign fan of manga and anime might be forgiven for assuming that Japan, creative nerve center for the artwork itself, is a global leader in gender equity.

Yet just last month, The New York Times ran a damning indictment of Japan’s actual treatment of women in the workplace, noting that in 2005, women held a mere 10.1 percent of all management jobs in Japanese companies and government. (The U.S. figure is 42.5 percent.) In the United Nations index of gender empowerment, a survey of 75 countries, Japan ranks 42nd, far below Asian neighbors such as Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. The article predicts dire consequences for a nation with an anemic birthrate and looming labor shortages.

cum movies freegroup movies free sexmovie japan pornmovies son momvomit movies pukeporno movie freemovies incest homeprivate movies porn Map

ICv2 wraps up the first month of NARUTO’s assault on the graphic novel sales charts:

On the eve of the release of the second three-pronged barrage of Naruto volumes it appears that the first wave of Naruto titles has fared well during its first four weeks in the market. Naruto Vols. 16, 17, and 18 have remained in the top three spots on the BookScan list of graphic novel sold in bookstores for all four weeks that they have been in full release. Though it is difficult to compare sales totals exactly it appears that Volume 18 in the series has sold almost exactly the number of copies that Volume 15 (which was released by itself in July), while Volumes 16 and 17 have sold approximately 84% and 88% of Volume 15’s total respectively. Viz Media’s plan to release 12 volumes of Naruto in four months is calculated to synch the Naruto manga in the U.S. with releases in Japan (see “Naruto Goes Nuclear”).

More in link.

Anime News Networkreports that manga/anime sensation DEATH NOTE, will begin airing on Adult Swim beginning at midnight October 20th. The tale of a teen who fights evil with a death-dealing notebook has already been a worldwide hit in manga, anime, live action and novelized form.

[Via Blog@]

PR:

The New York Anime Festival (NYAF) is anticipating a significant launch when it opens its doors to the public on December 7th, 2007. While show officials acknowledge that it is still too early to accurately estimate the number of people who will attend, the early enthusiasm and anticipation for a New York City based anime event is, according to John McGeary, the Con Manager, “Both significant, and very real!” He notes: “We have been getting some great feedback about NYAF and we’re excited about our show. One of the key things we want to do is expand beyond anime specifically to embrace many aspects of Japanese culture. This will make our show unique and it will certainly make it popular to a broad community. The audience for anime and manga is already huge. By featuring many different elements of Japanese culture while still focusing on anime and capitalizing on the enormity of our New York City fan base, I’m feeling optimistic that we’ll have a very busy and stimulating event.”

(more…)

Mark Evanier on WHAT IF JOE MANEELY HAD LIVED. Maneely was Stan Lee’s favorite artist and might have had a interesting influence on the early years of Marvel had he not been killed in a freak subway accident:

First off, if Maneely had lived, Atlas/Marvel would have been a very different company. Actually, between him and Kirby and Ditko (Stan’s other favorite artist), there would have been little room for anyone else to draw for the firm. It’s apparently true that rising sales on Kirby-drawn comics — the ones Steven mentions but especially the western, Rawhide Kid — encouraged Goodman to keep publishing comics at a time when he was considering the abandonment of that marketplace. As I wrote in a recent Jack Kirby Collector, “Would it [Rawhide Kid] have gained readers if Stan had put Maneely on the book? Who knows? Sometimes, it’s not a matter of having a good artist but of having the right good artist and the right chemistry.”

§ Nadia Oxford at Mania.Com wonders if Manga Burnout is waiting in the wings

Will manga ever fall away from mainstream American culture? Elder members of the human race are fond of rattling off every fad that’s come and gone throughout their lives; hula hoops, Slinkies, Cabbage Patch dolls. It’s tempting to heap the likes of Pokemon on that pile, but can manga and anime be similarly filed away as faded memories?

Thankfully, her answer is “No.”

§ Jason Rodriguez begins video podcasting about POSTCARDS.

§ ACLU comics.

ICv2 continues it’s series of interviewws with newsmakers with Viz Sr. VP Liza Coppola:

What are you looking at for 2008 in terms of your manga output versus 07?

For 2008, we’re looking at the same number of titles. What we’re looking at doing is really honing down the titles, and it’s not going to be a sampling of every single category. We’re probably going to concentrate on a few different segments of the market.

We’re really looking into what exactly are Shonen Jump titles, what exactly are Shojo Beat titles, and just really trying to define what that strategy would be to appeal to that market. I think a lot of the problems that publishers have is they do the whole “slash” thing (it’s a romance/horror/science fiction/fantasy), so we need to learn how to segment down a little better. At Viz, something we’re looking at for 2008 is building a much more overall rounded program. It’s not just dropping a title out there in publishing and finding that audience, but it may be finding a different distribution channel for the anime, it may be that the manga comes to you in a completely different format. I think for 2008, we’re taking a really good look at our properties and really building them more as brands versus one-off properties.

More:
Part 2
Part 3

The rumor that manga-lovin’ Japanese pol Taro Aso (above, clothed) may be replacing Shinzo Abe as Prime MInister sent manga shares soaring believe it or not!

Shares of companies linked to the Japanese style cartoons known as “manga” jumped Wednesday on speculation that a big fan of the genre may become the country’s next prime minister.

[snip]An avowed fan of “manga” and Japanese animation known as “anime,” Aso has argued that warm feelings for Japanese cartoons can translate into warm feelings for Japanese foreign policy.

“We didn’t develop manga, karaoke and conveyor-belt sushi just because we wanted to win praise overseas,” Aso, a former foreign minister, wrote on his Web site. “We just loved them, and we did our utmost inventing them.”

Azo already established a manga prize; it is unknown whether he goes to the manga shop every Wednesday or what condition he likes his books in.

§ Daily Cross Hatch continues chatting with Paul Gravett and Nick Bertozzi:

Gravett: Exactly. And the point is, these characters—there’s nothing in Japan that’s been artificially kept alive this long, well past their sell by date, and this is one of the ways that manga has kept alert, saying, “what’s going on now in the culture? What do we want to talk about?” It doesn’t have to be completely topical an socially engaged, though. It can also be fantastical. Death Note is a good example. Clearly the stories very often get stretched on, way too long—we all know that Dragon Ball just kept going. We all know that they’re going to keep stringing it along, but we also know that eventually, in one form or another—maybe not successfully—it will come to an end, and there will be no one saying “we’re going to do a sequel,” because the artist has a relative freedom to do something for another audience. Another concept will come along.

§ ICv2 catches up with Tokyopop’s Mike Kiley:

The original English language stuff (I refer to that more as global manga, in this market it’s of course original English language) is the stuff that as a percentage year over year, from our perspective, is growing the fastest. When we began our grand experiment four or five years ago with the first Rising Stars of Manga contest in an attempt to grow our original IP program, we weren’t really sure what kind of obstacles we might be up against. At that point there was a lot of preference for certain kinds of material with certain kinds of pedigree on the part of fandom, and we knew we had a pretty tough road to travel in certain respects.

What’s become clear to us over the past couple of years is we’ve actually built series from scratch, whether they’re things like Princess Ai or Dramacon or I Love Halloween or Bizenghast, that are not only our top sellers, but regularly chart in prominent positions in Bookscan. As a percentage of growth year over year, those things are probably the fastest growing category in my opinion.

Part Two
Part Three

For those who can’t get enough boy’s love, there will soon be Yaoi Magazine, a new publication which will feature non-Japanese yaoi artists. It’s also billed as a “lifestyle magazine” and you can run with that one to the bank:

When Ang Lee brought the world the love story between two cowboys in late 2005 it shocked many people and made others grin happily. The ones with the grins were most likely fans of a Japanese export known as yaoi. Like Brokeback Mountain, yaoi focuses on the romantic and often sexual relationship between two men, but the average reader of yaoi fiction isn’t what is first expected. “98% of my readers are heterosexual women ranging in age from 18 to their late 60’s,” says S. A. Payne, writer of dozens of romantic yaoi style novels and publisher of the upcoming Yaoi Magazine. “They like men and do not relate to the damsel in distress of traditional romance novels.” Yaoi fills the craving for romance and adventure with lots of bishonen, a Japanese term for beautiful men. Despite the publishing explosion of this genre in the past few years, there is little outlet for non-Japanese artists and writers. “And there is a lot of amazing talent out there,” Ms. Payne says. From this Yaoi Magazine was born. It will be published bi-monthly with the first issue to be released November 1st and showcasing not only some of the best talent outside of Japan but with a focus on issues, items and other unique points of view of this genre’s fans.

“We want it to be a lifestyle magazine,” Ms. Payne said. “We’re producing the kind of magazine that we want to read. It’s about yaoi but it’s about more than yaoi. A yaoi fan is progressive and has hobbies most people don’t even know exist, things like Dollfies and cosplay.” The tagline for Yaoi Magazine hints at this, a global fan’s lifestyle magazine and they say they need your help. “The talent is out there, the fans are out there, now we’re going to bring them together,” Ms. Payne added with a smile. Preorders of the first issue will go on sale October 1st with the first issue being released for November 1st. Submissions are currently open and further information can be found on the website www.yaoimagazine.com . To get a taste of what global yaoi is you can check out S.A. Payne’s novels at www.sapayne.com .

Wall Street Journal reports on comics shocker!:

Industry heavyweights including DC Comics and Marvel Entertainment Inc. are betting that girls represent a big growth opportunity for the traditionally male-dominated medium. It’s part of a renewed push in recent years to court a new audience with products aimed squarely at teenage girls.

The new titles are inspired in part by the growth of translated Japanese comics called manga. While violent themes aimed at boys are staples of manga, fantasy and romantic storylines have helped manga capture female readers.

Via Brigid comes the tale of Takeshi Miyazawa, an American manga-style artist who moved to Japan to follow his dream after being published in the US by Marvel. He had his big day showing his portfolio at Kodansha, the DC/Random House of Japan and the results were…sobering:

The editor flipped through my print-outs while I sat there totally blanking. I didn’t know what he was gonna say and he was expressionless throughout his viewing so there weren’t any hints for me either. Anyway, he put down the pitch and came straight out with that it wasn’t good enough. There were problems with both art and story but I’ll just focus on the art since that’s what I’m most concerned with.

One of the major points was that it didn’t have enough “manga-isms” to it. By that, he meant, more light-hearted touches like those wacky faces and more humourous touches that many people associate with manga backhome. I studiously avoided any of that stuff and it seems it came around to bite me in the ass. Also, not enough movement in the images. [snip]

He suggested maybe entering a seasonal contest for new talent his magazine had since I was at that level or assisting an established artist to pick up certain techniques I was lacking. Other than that, he couldn’t really do anything for me. I asked a few questions and we talked about some of the story elements afterwards but that was pretty much the bulk of our conversation. The entire interview lasted about 45 minutes.

Oh snap! One recalls — as Miyazawa does — that Paul Pope drew hundreds of pages for Kodansha before being told he didn’t cut the wasabi. None of it has ever seen print.

The Japanese manga publishing world is notoriously hard to break into if you’re not actually Japanese, apparently. We don’t mean that in a snarky, racist way — growing up in a dramatically different culture means there are things you just don’t get. Whereas kids who just learn to draw by copying seem to be the wave of the future. It’s an interesting situation. We don’t recall off-hand if foreign manga-ka are any luckier at smaller publishers, or any any “OGM/OEL” has made it in Japan. We seem to recall that Tokyopop’s PRINCESS AI was published over there, but our memory is a little spotty these days.

Miyazawa vows to keep on trying, and we wish him luck. That was a tough day for any artist.

§ The New York Times investigates the Manhattan branch of Book Off, the used book store chain from Japan that aims to eradicate “the shame of buying used books.”

Behind the counter of the 41st Street branch, which opened in 2000, an oven-size machine buzzes loudly as employees shave tiny imperfections from the pages of texts like the early novels of Haruki Murakami and comics bearing titles like “Yu-Gi-Oh!”

Since the machine can’t handle hardcover books, those must be tidied up manually. Bookstore workers have a supply of little squares of sandpaper for that, and a special vent in the counter is used to suck up the resulting dust.

§ Socialist website chides Japanese political hopeful for pandering with manga-love:

Aso appears to be positioning himself as Abe’s successor in more ways than one, by trying to take a leaf out of Koizumi’s book. In a rather absurd attempt to attract a following among young people, he has publicised his love of manga or Japanese comic books and his nickname—“Rozen Aso” after his favourite manga “Rozen Maiden”. He proudly claims to read 10-20 comics a week. During last year’s contest for the LDP president, the 66-year-old Aso spoke at Akihabara, Tokyo’s “hang out” district for young people to shop for electronics, computer games, comics and fashion goods.

§ This author sent us a link to a downloadable version of his book Japan in a Nutshell. We can’t vouch for it, but may be worth investigating.

§ Meanwhile, Japanese men turn to the girdle in their times of waistband distress:

A fashion trend toward slimmer cuts in suits and form-fitting trousers is also making men — even the relatively slender — more worried whether their hips, bellies and thighs pass muster.

“We made our men’s brand aimed at those in their 30s and 40s, but it has been selling well among younger guys too,” said Asako Iwahashi, a spokeswoman for underwear maker Triumph International Japan, which introduced its line of girdles for men last year.

“Young men are wearing tighter trousers now and like women, they want a cleaner line.”

Brace for a Naruto invasion, as Blog@Newsarama reports

Viz Media unleashed “Naruto Nation” last week, releasing three volumes of Masashi Kishimoto’s international phenomenon into the book market. So, it should surprise absolutely no one that all three cracked USA Today’s Top 150 Books list: Vol. 18 at No. 116, Vol. 17 at No. 123, and Vol. 16 at 131. Meanwhile, the 17th volume of Natsuki Takaya’s Fruits Basket fell 42 spots at No. 76.

Meanwhile the official pr gives more info:

The accelerated publishing begins next week with NARUTO manga vol. 16, 17 and 18 ALL releasing on Sept 4th ($7.95 each) AND - every third vol of each month will get a sheet of 4 NARUTO stickers (while supplies last) (i.e. in Vol 18, 21, 24 and 27)

NARUTO Anime Profiles (episodes 38-80) releases on Sept 20th ($17.99) AND The long awaited release of …. NARUTO THE MOVIE: NINJA CLASH IN THE LAND OF SNOW - releases on September 4th ($24.98)

AND here’s all the Exclusive offers: for NARUTO THE MOVIE: NINJA CLASH IN THE LAND OF SNOW BEST BUY - comes with a mouse pad ($24.98) BGI (Borders and Waldenbooks) - Lenticular cover ($24.98) TransWorld (FYE and Suncoast) - exclusive NARUTO lunch Box ($29.98)

(more…)

Tokyopop has announced another one of its YA manga adaptations, this time by YA best selling author Ellen Schreiber. Brigid at MangaBlog provides commentary.

TOKYOPOP, the leader of the Global Manga Revolution and Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsChildren’s Books, are pleased to announce the September 2007 release of Vampire Kisses: Blood Relatives, the first installment of a three-part manga series based on the wonderfully funny popular teen novels, Vampire Kisses. Written by critically acclaimed author Ellen Schreiber (Teenage Mermaid, Comedy Girl, Vampire Kisses) with art by rem, who was also the first winner of TOKYOPOP’s popular Rising Stars of Manga competition with her entry Devil’s Candy, Vampire Kisses: Blood Relatives expands on the endearing tales of teen angst and Goth romance in Schreiber’s best-selling novels.

(more…)