Silly Americans, mangas are for Japanese!

David @ Love Manga has plenty of wise words about original English-language manga. I'm trying to avoid the term "American manga" because that's unfair to folks like Queenie Chan, who is Chinese-Australian, and the predominantly Filipino art staff at Seven Seas. David himself admits it:

If Korea can run off and create their own Manwha style, and be successful not only in their native country but over here in the translated market, then there is no reason why the west cannot create something similar. With this new wave of original Manga hitting the shelves throughout 2005/2006, hopefully to some resounding success, all that is left now is to pick a name which is slightly more inclusive then just American Manga.

So with that said, I've definitely got my eye on works like Bizenghast and Steady Beat that are not only approaching the level of Japanese craftsmanship, but in some ways even exceed it. Heck, with Johanna's stamp of approval, you know you can't go wrong. And the best part is, getting in touch with these comickers and getting to know them is a lot easier than with Japanese manga-ka, who have a natural language barrier. Queenie, Rivkah and Marty (erp -- that's M. Alice LeGrow on the author page) are all regulars at Pseudome, one of the premier thinktanks for English-speaking manga artists. Well, it's also the main discussion forum for TP's Rising Stars of Manga contest, so it's built up quite a fine reputation.

It's about girls

Danger danger! Chris @ 212 stumbles upon a cautionary polemic on how some shoujo titles are chipping away at contemporary Western morals in male-female relationships. "He's possessive, and you're happy. He's dominating, and that's the way you like it. You two live happily ever after." Chris responds with nods of agreement, noting that American comics haven't been much more helpful. "... but the folks writing [Tenjho Tenge] off as just 'rape comics' (PARTICULARLY GIVEN HOW AMERICAN COMICS HAS TREATED FEMALE CHARACTERS IN THE PAST 6 MONTHS*) was galling." However, Johanna @ CWR sees plenty of holes to poke in the argument: "I think the authors of these 'bad books' have more faith in teenage girls than the writers of this essay, who seem to see them as empty vessels mindlessly accepting as role models whatever's put before them."

About halfway through that essay, it began to feel a lot like those "Oh NOEZ! Violent videogames/comics/cartoons/movies will make our kids evil!!1~" articles. Except here, it's essentially saying that our enjoyment of ridiculously-dominant-male/pathetically-passive-female shoujo is like approving the idea of girls letting themselves be completely used in a relationship. Not quite. Just because I'm into something as twisted as Hot Gimmick doesn't mean I condone Ryoki's abusive treatment of Hatsumi. And speaking as a reasonably eligible straight male, this manga has not caused me to believe that I'm entitled to having my way with any doormat of a girl! In fact, manga in general reflects a lot of "dangerous" attitudes, but I'm sure the readers who are old enough to read these titles also know well enough not to use them as a Guide To Life. Seriously, how many kids do you know who traipse into high school and then proceed to challenge everyone on campus to over-the-top fistfights? And do you really think there are that many guys frantically dialing phones in hopes that a "goddess" picks up, or rummaging through the trash looking for hot underaged robot girls? (Okay, there are some, but let's not talk about them.) And let's face it, I don't see a whole lot of teenagers running sideways through the forest with a sword and sending 15 people to the first-aid line at Anime Expo. Most of us understand that manga, while enjoyable, is far from being a reflection of reality.

So here's my point: shoujo manga isn't real. I like to think that most girls (and boys) know that. In fact, I'm sure lots of people like to read it for the same reason TV viewers follow soap operas: because those exciting but dangerous lifestyles are fun to watch, but not to live in. Maybe they even say to themselves: "I'm glad my life's not like THAT!" Yeah, there's a lot of disagreeable subject matter in manga, but the fact that it's enclosed between those 5" by 7.5" covers is what makes it okay: it's all just a story.

Oh yeah, news ...

Funnily enough, here's yet another article on how tweens and teens are getting into manga, and drawing it too, although I must take umbrage at the idea of "saucer-eyed, dainty-nosed characters with big heads, luxuriant hair and spectacular figures." Read any Crayon Shin-chan lately?

AoD has a handful of release dates, including 9/30 and 12/30 for DMP's Antique Bakery.

Now for something that IS dangerous, at least to your physical health: fashionable judo girls! Yawara Ch. 2 is now available.

His and Her Conclusions

Ausgezeichnet! Tokyopop Germany wins the industry award for Newcomer of the Year.

Gasp! ANN reports that Kare Kano will cease serialization in Japan this April. Who knows what dramatic ending Tsuda has planned ...

Speaking of ANN, they're still looking for a manga reviewer.

On Animania, we find out that Yahoo! Japan offers manga previews on their comics page. As the blog notes, however: "Many of the manga listed there are getting out of date, so the younger fans might not have interest in them. But it really is helpful." Being able to read Japanese would also be helpful.

David @ Love Manga draws up everyone's favorite charts. Well-established, popular manga titles continue to rule the Direct Market ... with Tokyopop and Viz duking it out as always.

AoD has an advance look at Noodle Fighter Miki, which I still think is a great name for a manga, but according to the review, the jokes get old really fast.

The House of (Manga) Ideas

Isaac Lew, the mastermind behind DMP/Akadot and one of manga fandom's liveliest personalities, will be providing a manga-flavored renovation on next week's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. "Sunday’s program will focus around the 'extreme' remodeling of the Leomiti-Higgins Family home, and one family member just happens to be an aspiring manga artist." Looks like a major publicity coup for DMP and Copic Marker stationery, too.

PreCur wants to know: Why does Fruits Basket sell better than Cheeky Angel? (Probably for the same reason crappy superhero books fly off the shelves ... it's all fandom-driven.)

Tokyopop has announced the medium-to-high-fantasy Scrapped Princess manga for August 9th.

First TCJ does a shoujo manga issue, now Silver Bullet Comics reviews Doll? Y'alls are crazy.

If you want to get a taste of the style that'll populate Range Murata's robot anthology, head to Inane Manga and look for Yoshitoshi ABe's "White Rain" one-shot under the Downloads section.

GAAAAN! DOKI DOKI! You know the drill.

Heh heh, I can always count on Love Manga to help catch up on the news while I'm out ... The Comics Journal is doing a manga feature, and they mean business. As David says so succinctly in the comments section: "The Comics Journal is concentrating on manga. The manga The Comics Journal is concentrating on is targeted at girls. The manga targeted at girls examined by The Comics Journal is popular and commercially successful." They managed to get an interview with Moto Hagio, the inventor of the Boy's Love genre, with Matt Thorn leading the discussion, and then it's the rest of the editorial staff giving shoujo a good shakedown from multiple angles.

On a less encouraging note, LM also reports that ComicsOne/DrMaster has dropped Bride of Deimos and are putting Crayon Shin-chan on hold. But hey, Iron Wok Jan is still cookin'! (Pardon the terrible pun.)

AoD has a pile of solicitations from Viz, although nothing really caught my eye this time around except for Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 2 and Full Moon wo Sagashite Vol. 1 (both for July 5th).

And just in case you couldn't get enough of a Paradise Kiss fix from Ai Yazawa's five volumes, a Paradise Kiss anime series has been slated for Fuji TV. I wonder how well they can stick to the art style and character designs, since that's such a distinctive part of the manga.

LATE BREAKING NEWS: Thought Balloons has more info on Tokyopop's "Manga After Hours" initiative, with details from TP publicity director Susan Hale.

CLAMPholic

Also missed this on the first go-round: CLAMP No Lumiere has started scanlating Kobato (Temporary), CLAMP's latest project. (I dunno, ladies, maybe you should finish up X/1999 and xxxHOLiC and Tsubasa first?) It's standard fare for the four-strong team -- a naïve young girl named Kobato must "heal the ailing hearts of others" in order to fill up an enchanted bottle with their feelings, accompanied by a grumpy blue dog who orders her around and could get annoying really quickly. Art-wise, it's a close cousin of Tsubasa, but with finer linework that brings back echoes of Cardcaptor Sakura. (EDIT: Who am I kidding? It's actually a lot like Suki.) Hardcore fans will note that this is set in the Angelic Layer/Chobits universe, as evidenced by the cameo of Hideki's landlady (back when she was still married) and the Piffle Princess logo on a teacup.

Only the yaoi fans know

DMP wants to know if readers are interested in the Only the Ring Finger Knows novel. "The genre of Boy's Love novels is well known in Japan but is almost unrepresented here in the United States. Now that the growing trend towards publishing yaoi is occurring in the translated manga market, we would like to bring one of our most popular yaoi titles to our readers in its original form." If this works well, we could be seeing other fandom-driven novels like Maruma, which spawned the intensely popular (at least among girls) anime fantasy-comedy Kyo Kara Maoh!.

Would you like a sneak peek at Tokyopo's upcoming titles for 2005? Well ... if you live in the US, too bad! TP's Europe division is offering a manga sampler for UK residents. The book is "available right now from a range of booksellers, including Waterstones and Ottakars. This full-sized book is labelled 'Tokyopop Sneaks 2005 Volume One' and provides ten to fifteen page previews of fifteen Tokyopop releases:-" ... followed by a list of titles that are all well-established already in the States, although they're also getting an advance look at the not-even-on-shelves-yet Bizenghast.

And, I really wanted to check out Murikuri, which is billed as "all the characters and ideas rejected by CLAMP's editors." Apparently it's about "a popular pig, a pervert santa claus and his highschool girlfriend, nice aliens and many more..." or, basically, stuff that's more original than what passes for CLAMP's standard repertoire. Sadly, the file isn't available right now because there's a page missing.