23.04.2009 · by Adrian A. Lozano
Reading English manga turns heads on Japanese subways.
In the last four years I've hand many friends from overseas stay at my house when they come to visit me in Tokyo. Most buy more stuff than they can possibly fit in their luggage and some how they come up with the "bright idea" of giving me their Tokyo travel books they bought prior to arriving to Japan as If I need a book on Tokyo. I think I have a total of about 6 of these books, but finally somebody left some useful reading material. Recently my friend Egan Loo came to Tokyo for the Macross Launch Event back in February and left me his English translated copy of Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys manga by Vis Media.
I honestly had no interest in reading it and have been trying to ignore the TV commercials for the movie version that are always playing on the TV, but I finally gave it a read. I figured the best place to read it was on the way to work, since everybody seems to read manga and newspapers on the commute to and from the office in order to completely ignore the world around them. I don't know what it was but as soon as I cracked it open and started reading I noticed movement from the people around me. They all would lean forward and peer at the cover of the manga and usually do a double take. Some of them would seem to almost want to say excuse me can i see that, but would quickly retreat only to look again as if it was a car accident on a highway.
An interesting reaction from people that read manga on subways and trains all the time. Volume 1 of 20th Century Boys turned out to be pretty good I would like to continue reading the rest of the volumes but it's just that imported translated manga is a way too expensive here in Tokyo. Besides I've got tons of figures to buy. So the lesson here is, when you come to Japan don't leave your travel books with your host, we don't want them leave something we can use like a box of Fruity Pebbles.
Tags: Manga Comiket 0 Comments
07.03.2009 · by Adrian A. Lozano
Congratulations Jamie!!!!
It's so wonderful to see friends making their dreams a reality. On my way to work the local 7/11 had the new issue of Jump Square featuring "Shin Tennis no Ōji-sama" (New Prince of Tennis) in the window which my good friend Jamie Lano has worked long and hard on. Jamie is an inspiration for me personally and for many others out in the world. Congratulations Jamie, from the first time I saw your original art I knew you had what it takes.
More on Jamie at www.animenewsnetwork.com
Tags: Manga Comiket 0 Comments
17.08.2008 · by Patrick W. Galbraith
Comike 74: Getting hotter in more ways than one
1) After experiencing hours and hours of demos on doujin software in West Hall 1 and 2, it became clear that more and more talented people are getting better at making these games and also that their themes are rather erotic. After seeing the tons of software and the energy of the men and women after them, a mysterious overblown sign in the industry section above reading “I H8 You, Pornogame Players” was made even more esoteric. A whole new use of “H” straight from Japan.
2) Likewise, the sheer volume and diversity of Vocaloids – i.e., Hatsune Miku, Kagami Rin and Ren, Leon, Kaito, etc – in articulations from doujinshi to products to software and CDs cutting across concerns of genre, gender or even taste made one particular creative circle name sum up the day: Vocaloid Masturbation Smile. Something for everyone in vocal synthesizing software, apparently.
3) A sign reading "Girlish Comics for Boys and Girls." All right, I was aware things in the otaku world are getting a bit confused, but to make it explicit kind of just hurts deep down...
4) Hellish passages with temperatures approaching 40 degrees Celsius and hoards of people that stagnated frequently. The walkway between West and East halls was unventilated and already limited escalators were closed or slowed (the militant message was “Please leave one step on the escalator between you,” a response to the Wonderfest incident). Worse, the escalator to the fourth floor industry booths and cosplay area was down, meaning people had to go outside and climb the stairs. While this unleashed havoc on pedestrian traffic, the staff closed the cosplay balcony and suddenly moved it to the courtyard outside the path to East Hall, further confusing the flow of hot, irritable people now trying to get to the cosplay exit or push on to the East Hall. To add insult to injury, at this the hottest intersection in Big Sight, there was a UNCEF photo essay on global climate change.
5) The Global ‘Otaku’ Corner was opened in the industry section, the culmination of years of smaller efforts by the Comike Preparation Committee to make the event more international. It consisted of photographs of events held in and doujinshi bought in India, China, Taiwan, France, Russia, Thailand, Brazil, the United States, Korea and so on. The collection represents the private journey of a sponsoring company chairman who hoped his contribution to Comike will increase inter cultural communication. Seeing "Chobits" in Arabic was a nice wake up call.
Runner up: Police were out in force because of a bomb threat posted on 2channel. The man had been kind of enough to specify his full name and that he would attack Comike on August 16 (the girls’ day) at 13:00. He was apprehended on day one of the event, but day two still had the men and women in blue making sure there wasn’t a copycat.
Runner up: Pinafore’s maids were out performing idol songs in front of the Mainichi Shimbun booth, meaning the industry area was subject to spontaneous otagei attacks that kept the sweat flowing.
Tags: Comiket Doujinshi Manga 0 Comments
