Love Manga

Got this in my email yesterday from Random House UK.

It is the initial press release for the Tanoshimi imprint which launches in August.

STARTING AUGUST 2006
RANDOM HOUSE PROUDLY ANNOUNCES ITS NEWEST IMPRINT

Random House will launch 15 titles in August 2006 priced £5.99 each (including the bestselling series xxxHOLiC and Tsubasa by superstar manga creators CLAMP) with 45 titles over seven series to be published by December 2006. These will be supported by a dedicated interactive website featuring exclusively created characters and competitions launching early July 2006.
www.tanoshimi.tv

For the whole Press Release click this link for a PDF of it.

Yes I tried the website link as well, but it does say it will begin in early July.

I know I’ve talked about Tanoshimi before, and really there is not much ele to say before an imprint has even launched, especially one who is releasing titles already available in the UK via grey imports from its American counter-part. But I did want to highlight the incredible speed at which they are going to be releasing these titles.

Starting off with a mammoth 15 title launch is fairly ambitious already, but in just 5 months they are planning to have a staggering 45 volumes released. Though it does sound scary and in some ways suicidal I do believe it is essential if Tanoshimi are going to compete here in the UK against itself (i.e. Del Rey). I already own most of the launch titles and in as much as I’d like to support Tanoshimi I would find it hard to justify re-buying them all. But, if they release this quickly it will not be long before they are on par with Del Rey’s release schedule and then it becomes an entirely different matter.

So much so, that I have already stopped ordering Del Rey titles in preparation to continue picking them up from Tanoshimi. Who cares really if the spine symbol will say Del Rey for one part and then Tanoshimi for another. The cost alone is impetus enough, but the key really is being able to finally support a UK company who is attempting to do what the US has been achieving for a while now.

Talking of symbols here is the one that accompanied the press release, not sure if it is the official one, but it looks funky enough.

I’ve been wanting to write about this ever since I saw the posting up at The Comics Reporter.

I’m sure you all know now that a French publisher in les Humanoïdes Associés (i.e. what we know as Humanoid Publishing) is starting up a Manga anthology called Shogun.

Not that unusual except that this one is not translated manga but global manga. Apart from that there are not that many more details about the whole affair, but the logistics behind this is truely fascinating. I’ve not checked what the publishing speed is but my first assumption would be monthly in which case that is going to be some serious page rates these creators are going to be turning out.
If as everyone is suggesting that it will bear not an uncanny representation to that ever popular Shonen Jump, then this is going to be something quite spectacular.

As I said before not much else is really known at this stage, but if you want a decent assessment of what this could mean then take a peek at Limemanga’s livejournal for a good write up.

Talking about the ICV2 news on Naomi Nowak’s Unholy Kinship there was an extra part mentioning that it was in full colour. I didn’t really pay much attention to that because after seeing her work it was obvious it needs to be in colour no questions asked, but it does at least prompt the inevitable comparison, can/should Manga be in colour too?

When I started getting involved in the comics Internet circuit a long while ago it was the first time I had come up against the idea that some people actively dislike Black & White comics. They couldn’t understand why they should settle for an inferior B&W when they can buy colour elsewhere. Slightly extreme example, but the fact that I can remember the conversations now, suggests that I still find it a little staggering.

With people in that mindset Manga isn’t going to suddenly win any converts, and that’s fine, it really is. It is why we have comics/graphic novels/manga in all shapes, sizes and colour. Something for everyone. But what if Manga was in colour?

Up steps ComiPress with a link to an article which does exactly that. A pondering on what the world would be like if Manga was in colour.

If that were the case, the total span of each individual title would be considerably shorter. It would be impossible to find a series that continued on for thousands of pages: they would all reach a conclusion in a few hundred pages, at most. On the other hand, short-story manga might have evolved more.

Kind of glad they are black & white really (majority anyway, thought I’d add this disclaimer as I’m sure somebody will want to write that there are full-colour manga available!).

I must admit a slight wry smile over this recent news snippet at ICV2. NBM are publishing in September Naomi Nowak’s Unholy Kinship, which and lets get this out of the way first, looks absolutely unbelievable stunning as to be almost criminal. I had a quick trawl through her site and blog and the artwork throughout is simply gorgeous (there is also a small preview of Unholy Kinship over at NBM’s site).

The blurb on NBM’s site gives a quick synopsis and then this little bit;

An exciting debut by an artist inspired by but providing a next step from manga.

Okay, I didn’t realise I needed to step up from Manga. All sorts of thoughts were running through my head along the lines of is Manga that simplistic? Do we not have any Manga that takes that next step? Is it too early in the morning and I just need a cup of tea?

Then I read the bit in the ICV2 snippet;

Although it does feature Japanese-influenced visuals and concentrate on relationships with a shojo-like fervor, Unholy Kinship is far more serious than the vast majority of high school romance manga and, while it is aimed at female readers, it is clearly targeted at an older, more mature audience. Unholy Kinship also differs from manga in several other key ways — it is printed in full color and it manages to tell its story in just 112 pages.

Not quite as damming really, but not that great either. I’m sure I’m just being overly sensitive here but it seems as if to sell this book we need to compare it to Manga, but we don’t want people to think its Manga because that’s childish we need to say that it is superior to Manga.
While I can appreciate the book being targeted at an “older, more mature audience” the implication is that Manga cannot. Maybe I am mistaken but I’m pretty sure there is Manga available that caters to just about EVERY age group and taste and sensibility. Okay so we’ve not had much of that translated, but it is more a case of when rather then if.

Of course now I’m in a hole picking mood and everything I read could be twisted to mean something else, which meant the last line raised my eyebrows. “and it manage to tell its story in just 112 pages”, I can appreciate this being of importance to some people but really if you want to tell a story in 100 pages tell it in 100 pages if you want to do it 1000 pages then do it in 1000. As long as it keeps me turning the page and they aren’t just there as obvious padding then what’s the worry. I’ve got single volume story Manga on my shelf, next to 3-5 volume stories next to Rurouni Kenshin at 28 volumes (I think that’s the longest series on my shelf at home) and they are all good.

A different day I’d probably read it all completely differently.

Either way, does it matter? hardly. Am I going to buy this book come September? Absolutely. I can’t wait.

USA Today has the latest Top 150 chart which again features just the one solitary Manga in Viz Media’s Naruto.

Volume 10 is currently into it’s fifth week and places itself at #86 which coincidentally is exactly where volume 09 was in it’s fifth week too.

Volume 09 still holds the record for the longest consecutive stay in the charts, a grand total of 7 weeks), can volume 10 overtake it? Are any other Manga going to be joining it? Stay tuned for next weeks gripping results.

Oh well, sorry about the lack of updates yesterday, anyway time for a little catch-up.

AOD has some news on a simple competition running over at Dark Horse. Simply feel in your contact details for a chance to win.

I know this is more a marketing tool to see whose out there, but the prizes well over-compensate for that small fact. So much so that I wish they’d not just limit it to North America only. I’d love the chance to win some original artwork by Mohiro Kito.

Anyway, for the sake of giving your email and postal address away it is well worth it. Would make quiet a nice introduction to a wealth of Dark Horse titles.

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