Manga Spotlight: MPD-Psycho
Volume 7
Writen by Eiji Otsuka
Artist by Sho-u Tajima
Released by Dark Horse Manga
It's Michael Bay meets Dario Argento meets Takashi Murakami at 30,000 feet - part unsparing action blockbuster - part pencil to the jugular, eye ball on the floor grotesque - part rabid pastiche. Even if the TV series' MO was remarkably more contained than the manga's, it's little wonder that it was Takashi Miike who helmed the live action adaptation of MPD Psycho.
Volume seven follows the tenants previously laid out by the manga to construct a new marvel of violence. What if one dangerous, mentally unhinged person sprung a trap on another dangerous, mentally unhinged person? What if an action movie set piece was arranged by a spectacularly cracked mind? This outing packs a number of these super predators on a plane like they were Lost survivors, then, starting with a Kazuo Umezu "gwashi", the flight gets turbulent. Weapons come out, and the situation evolves into something of a Leone standof with Anthony Perkins and Philippe Nahons rather than Clint Eastwoods and Lee Van Cleefs.
Eiji Otsuka is the kind of creator whose work serves to critique its own genre allegiances. In the case of the MPD-Psycho, he's hyper-extending conventions. The de facto hero of the manga is a police detective whose personality gave way to a split between a coldly effective criminal profiler and a sadistic serial killer. Initially, MPD-Psycho was a procedural that was held over-head and spiked onto the pavement. Otsuku wasn't just playing the out of control cop as judge, jury and executioner. He affronted the reader with spectacularly grotesque crime scenes and presented a character whose complicity was unknown even to the character himself. From the tenuous position of trying to intellectualize the mystery, the manga proceeded to fuel itself with conspiracy theories and Bayian machinery.
This is a manga writer who has a degree in social anthropology. He was an editor of Manga Burikko. He's applied scholastic research to manga and its devoted fans. I have faith that Otsuka knows what he's doing, and that MPD-Psycho is subject to the well constructed illusion of being wildly out of control. If it weren't Otsaka at the wheel, that would not be my impression. MPD-Psycho often seems consumed by its convolutions, as if it had a sequence of shocking revelations mapped out, but was driven far afield by its own craziness on route.
By volume 7, some rules have been laid out. Some details concerning the sci-fi mechanism behind the bar coded eyeballs on our hero and other killers have been formalized. Yet, knowing more about MPD Psycho's prime movers hasn't been much of a psychotropic remedy for its careening trajectory. I'm pretty sure that I'm following the plot, but other than constructing a dance macabre set to the tune of antisocial behavior, I'm still struggling to figure out what exactly Otsuka is getting at. It's fascinating, but it's also manga looking to agitate, whether through grisly images, illusive plot mysteries or hard to pin down significance. Ultimately, trying to keep up and absorb the barrage is a large part of the masochistic fun of reading MPD-Psycho.
Manga Spotlight: Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit
by Motoro Mase
Released by VIZ Media
Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit is a social engineering high concept blown out into a manga off stories spun of from its central idea... The Lottery: The Manga... A Modest Proposal: The Manga... To join two very obvious comparisons, Battle Royale meets 1984. Given the cinematic appeal of this sort of incendiary "what if", it's not surprising that the manga was adapted into a live action movie last year.
The execution is either complex or contradictory. While it might be too early to tell which, that might be a moot point if the manga continues to focus on pitched emotion to a great extent than the implication of the society being explored.
"In our country, there is a law that preserves the welfare of the people. Obedience is the key to happiness, our government tells us. The law is called The National Welfare Action." Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit opens with a class of children stifling their fears or weeping as nurses administer immunization shots on their first day of elementary school. Afterwards, the school principal addresses the assembled class of children. "Welcome to our school! I know you all want to study hard and grow into absolutely wonderful positive adults. But first we have something very important to discuss about your future.... several of you entering the first grade today will not actually live to become adults."
The manga then cuts to one of those children as a young man, attending a lecture that describes how, as part of the National Welfare Immunization, 0.01 percept of the syringes contain a "special nano capsule." The capsule lodges in the pulmonary artery, then, when the recipient is between 18 and 24 years old, at a predetermined time, the capsule will rupture the artery and kill its recipient.
With a propaganda shot of a young father, one arm pointing to the sky, the other holding a young mother cradling an infant, with the family surrounded by criticizes from all walks of life, the manga tells us "Of course... citizens never know who has been injected with the capsule. They grow up wondering if, and when, they will die. This uncertainty makes them value life more and increases social productivity. Ever since this law was established, national suicide and crime rates have fallen. Meanwhile, the GDP and birth rates have increased." After an outburst from one of the young men attending the lecture, the manga reveals that "social miscreants" will also be injected with the capsule.
24 hours before the capsule recipient is scheduled to die, an ikigami death paper is delivered to the person, giving them time to set their affairs in order and live their final hours in a meaningful way. Our point of view character, Fujimoto is one of these ikigami deliverers who has largely shelved his questions about the system to carry out his work.
The two stories in volume one affirm the fundamental concept of that the National Welfare Act; that we should be conscious of the opportunities that we're given, and live life as if what we were doing mattered. At the same time, its critical of the Act's unconscionable methods. It also telegraphs how the Act can be abused and/or undermined.
The subject of the Ikigami's first scheduled death is effective, and also, possibly, unfortunate. The doomed individual in The End of Vengeance is Yosuke Kamoi, a convenience store cashier who was forced out of school and emotionally crippled by school bullying. With works like Shadow Star/ Mukuro Naru Hoshi Tama Taru Ko / Narutaru, and Gantz, seinen manga has refined how to construct infuriating scenes of bullying that box the victim into a corner, strip them of any self government and begin physically battering them. Like other injured compatriots, Yosuke's forced to pay his victimizers and shop lift for them. Other insult and injury include being stripped and photographed, as well as being burned in the scalp with cigarettes so severely that he has a large bald spot covered with a patch of artificial hair.
With 24 hours left to live, Yosuke considers the notion that his past might disappear, then confusion passes into self pity before hardening into rage. Though Yosuke already regrets the sorrow he's caused his parents, and though the surviving family are punished for the crimes of the condemned, Yosuke decides to finally enact revenge on his tormentors. Compared to other seinen manga, such as Gantz, Blade of the Immortal or Parasyte, Ikigami is not a graphically violent work, but it is brutal. Yosuke's assault on a female ex-classmate and dismembering of a male certainly earn the manga its mature rating. However, even if this manga did run in the same anthology as Ichi the Killer, I'm not convinced that this brutality is characteristic of Ikigami as a series.
The content warnings that End of Vengeance warrants might put Ikigami out of the reach of the audience who'd be most interested in the manga series. In the first volume, characters are motivated by high school social problems or aspirations to start a career on the right path. It's about getting things right in one's youth. Beyond that, the social speculation at work is more in line with high school reading than what might be generally read at older ages. As such, there is an unfortunate possibility that the rating pushed that manga out of the reach of it's optimal audience.
By the same token, I also think that I would have had more patience for a work like Ikigami in high school. Starting with the double page spread on the second and third page, showing nurses holding children onto chairs with the kids they crying or trying to look brave as they're given shots, Ikigami's primary target is the reader's emotions. The propaganda imagery, the outburst at the lecture, death notice deliverer Fujimoto swallowing his discomfort, the Yosuke flashback and his rage...Ikigami is punctuated by heated emotional disposition rather than information to intellectualize. Basing a social argument on emotional appeals is worrying, but Ikigami might just be a drama pitched as a critique.
Time Out Hong Kong nailed my concern in their review of the live action Ikigami. "Why make a film on this topic while skimming the philosophical debate entirely, you may ask. Fujimoto’s supervisor seems to hit the nail on the head at one point. “Everybody loves melodrama,” he says. “There are people who grow rich selling it.” He could well be talking about Ikigami’s producers." I'm not convinced that the manga is cynical, but it does seem to have eyed speculative authoritarianism as fertile ground for high drama.
Christopher Handley, 39, of Glenwood, Iowa, pleaded guilty today in Des Moines, Iowa, to possessing obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children and mailing obscene material.
According to court documents, in May 2006, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intercepted a mail package coming into the United States from Japan that was addressed to Handley. Inside the package was obscene material, including books containing visual representations of the sexual abuse of children, specifically Japanese manga drawings of minor females being sexually abused by adult males and animals. Pursuant to a search warrant, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) searched and seized additional obscene drawings of the sexual abuse of children at Handley’s residence in Glenwood. Handley was indicted by a grand jury sitting in the Southern District of Iowa in May 2007.
Pursuant to his plea agreement, Handley today pleaded guilty to one count of possessing obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1466A(b)(1), which prohibits the possession of any type of visual depiction, including a drawing, cartoon, sculpture, or painting, that depicts a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct that is obscene.
Handley also agreed to plead guilty to one count of mailing obscene material and to forfeit all seized property. Handley faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a three-year term of supervised release.
According to a press release issued by the Department of Justice, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund has learned that Christopher Handley, the Iowa manga collector, has pleaded guilty “to possessing obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children and mailing obscene material.” CBLDF had served as a special consultant to Mr. Handley’s defense. The government’s press release states, “Handley faces a maximum of 15 years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and a three-year term of supervised release.” Additionally, he forfeits all property seized in his prosecution.
The CBLDF became special consultant to Mr. Handley’s defense team last October. In this limited role, the Fund facilitated access to First Amendment experts; recommended expert witnesses on manga; and funded expert research pursuant to an eventual jury trial. The CBLDF spent $2,400 on that research, and had allocated up to $15,000 for expert witness expenses.
“Naturally, we are very disappointed by this result, but understand that in a criminal case, every defendant must make the decision that they believe serves their best interest,” CBLDF Executive Director Charles Brownstein said. “Because the set of facts specific to this case were so unique, we hope that its importance as precedent will be minimal. However, we must also continue to be prepared for the possibility that other cases could arise in the future as a result.”
Brownstein adds, “Mr. Handley now faces the loss of his freedom and his property, all for owning a handful of comic books. It’s chilling. The Fund remains unwavering in our commitment to be prepared to manage future threats of this nature wherever they arise. This is the unfortunate conclusion of Mr. Handley’s case, but it is not the end of this sort of prosecution. For that reason, the Fund stands steadfast in our commitment to defending the First Amendment rights of the comics art form.”
KF Cinema presented the poster for the live action Bubblegum Crisis
*
The Hollywood Reporter revealed Fox International is in talks to produce a live-action movie based Ai Yazawa's (Nana) fashion manga Paradise Kiss. The movie is being planned as a $3 million-$4 million Japanese-language film from IMJ.
*
Takashi Miike will be directing an adaptation of Buichi Terasawa’s manga Takeru. Real Products produced movie will be produced by Real Product for a 2010 release. The manga from the creator of Goku Midnight Eye and Space Adventure Cobra follows a super powered ninja.
*
The cinematic adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's dark thriller Mw, scheduled to hit Japanese theaters on July 4th, will be previewed in a TV drama titled "MW Chapter 0: Akuma no Game". Set before the original manga, the prequel features man named Takashi Morioka (Takeru Sato), who has lost his job and his home due to a recession, who follows into a trap set by Mw's villain, Michio Yuuki (Hiroshi Tamaki). Takayuki Yamada will play the other lead in the film, a priest with a dark history connected to Yuuki's childhood.
The "MW" drama is scheduled to air on NTV on June 30 at 9:00pm.
A Sleepy Eyes of Death Collectors set, featuring THE CHINESE JADE (1963), SWORD OF ADVENTURE (1964), FULL CIRCLE KILLING (1964), and SWORD OF SEDUCTION (1964) from the chambara series, will be released on July 14
Bonus features will include audio commentaries by Ric Meyers and Jeff Rovin, program notes, cast and crew info, stills gallery, trailers, and a collector's booklet.
CMX
A TALE OF AN UNKNOWN COUNTRY VOL. 1
Written and illustrated by Natsuna Kawase
CMX. From the author of THE LAPIS LAZULI CROWN. Rosemarie is the princess of a humble kingdom. Her brother wants an alliance with a bigger and wealthier neighbor, so he promises her hand to Reynol, the mysterious prince of the other country. But Rosemarie is determined to know who this guy really is first (and maybe even sabotage the wedding plans in the process.) So she assumes the role of “Marie,” one of the maids in Reynol’s castle. Could it be that the young prince is not the ogre she imagined?
on sale September 2 • 5" x 7.375" • 192 pg, B&W, $9.99 US • EVERYONE
KING OF DEBRIS VOL. 2
Written and illustrated by Yusuke Aso
on sale September 16 • 5" x 7.375" • 194 pg, B&W, $9.99 US • TEEN
THE LAPIS LAZULI CROWN VOL. 2
Written and illustrated by Natsuna Kawase
on sale September 9 • 5" x 7.375” • 192 pg, B&W, $9.99 US • EVERYONE
TENJHO TENGE VOL. 18
Written and illustrated by Oh! great
on sale September 2 • 5" x 7.375" • 208 pg, B&W, $9.99 US • MATURE
THE PALETTE OF 12 SECRET COLORS VOL. 6
Written and illustrated by Nari Kusakawa
on sale September 23 • 5" x 7.375" • 192 pg, B&W, $9.99 US • EVERYONE
VENUS IN LOVE VOL. 7
Written and illustrated by Yuki Nakaji
on sale September 16 • 5" x 7.375" • 208 pg, B&W, $9.99 US • TEEN
VIZ Media
VIZ Media has punched non-fiction prose The Century of the Black Ships ($27.99 U.S. / $32.00 CAN.) by Naoki Inose, who is also current Vice Governor of Tokyo.
Meticulously researched, the new book offers insights from a variety of Japanese writers that gave voice to the anxieties of a nation headed towards war. Not just any war, but one that would eventually be fought against the United States. Beginning when U.S. Navy Commodore Matthew C. Perry first sailed into Tokyo Bay with his fleet of so-called “Black Ships” in 1853 and demanded Japan open itself to the West, Japanese novelists and military analysts, along with select foreign counterparts, wrote extensively of the coming conflict, creating a massive body of popular works through which Japan would debate its own passage, however violently, into the modern, globalized era. Many of these opinions have rarely been read outside Japan until now.
Watson-Guptill
Xtreme Art Ultimate Book of Trace-and-Draw Manga will be released June 2nd for $21.95. From the description of the Christopher Hart book "Kids start by tracing or drawing what they see in step 1, then simply add the red lines in steps 2, 3, and 4. These easy steps help build kids confidence gradually as characters increase in difficulty throughout book. Also featured in the book are basic tips and techniques for drawing manga, like how to add shine to eyes or turn a regular animal into a manga-style monster."
*
Shoujo Art Studio will be released on September 8th for $25.99. The book by Yishan Li demonstrates the ways that manga characters and background scenes can be personalized, adapted, and customized. TThe include CD features layered PSD (electronic templates) with layouts, speech balloons, backgrounds, tones, and effects.
Digital Distribution News
FUNimation is now streaming their seventh Toei Digital Paternshop show, martial arts action Air Master (A personal favorite).
*
The New York International Children's Film Festival's short film line-up can now be viewed online here
IKKI is a monthly magazine published in Japan that has established itself as the home of some of the most innovative, bold, and compelling series in the world of contemporary manga. Since its launch in 2003 IKKI has built a catalog of titles notable for its diversity. From action to comedy to drama, from slice-of-life stories to surrealist fantasies, the one common thing these works share is an uncommon emphasis on creative quality and on pushing the boundaries of the norm.
In partnership with VIZ Media and its “VIZ Signature” line of graphic novels, IKKI is bringing the works of some of its top creators to the English-language audience via a groundbreaking online monthly manga magazine.
The first series featured in this launch is CHILDREN OF THE SEA by Daisuke Igarashi. Each month, new chapters will be offered online in their entirety, for free. After the completion of the online serialization of the first volume, CHILDREN OF THE SEA volume one will become available as a VIZ Signature graphic novel.
The list of future series to be serialized includes:
BOKURANO: OURS, by Mohiro Kitoh
HOUSE OF FIVE LEAVES, by Natsume Ono
DOROHEDORO, by Q Hayashida
I'LL GIVE IT MY ALL...TOMORROW, by Shunju Aono
Also, each month, new content—such as creator interviews, feature articles, news, and giveaways—will be posted on the site.
About CHILDREN OF THE SEA by Daisuke Igarashi:
When Ruka was younger, she saw a ghost in the water at the aquarium where her dad works. Now she feels drawn toward the aquarium and the two mysterious boys she meets there, Umi and Sora. They were raised by dugongs and hear the same strange calls from the sea as she does.
Ruka's dad and the other adults who work at the aquarium are only distantly aware of what the children are experiencing as they get caught up in the mystery of the worldwide disappearance of the oceans' fish.
*
TOKYOPOP is hosting volume on of M. Alice LeGrow's Bizenghast here
* The Anime Network has announced a subscription model for their streaming content
"Free" Content
This is the stuff that anyone on the internet can take a look at. Free content will give newcomers to anime a chance to check out the first episodes of most of our shows and see what kinds of stuff they like. Also, if you just want to watch a quick ep of something new, our free content will be right up your alley. Is there a show you want to watch more of? Then you might want to check out...
"Registered" Content
All you have to do is make a free account at our site, and you will automatically be able to watch even more episodes of our shows, and as an added bonus you'll also have access to our forums, where you can get helpful advice about new shows or good shows to watch, or just goof off and talk anime. As many fans will tell you, the first couple of episodes of a show can sometimes be misleading. In this case, being a registered member to our site will give you the chance to see how some shows progress. All you veteran anime fans will also have the option to peruse our wares and see which titles fit your particular niche. If you're still pumped about that one show and want to see even more, the you might want to check out...
"Subscribed" Content
This is for the hardcore anime fans out there who just can't get enough! For only $6.95 a month, you'll have the opportunity to watch all the anime you want at your leisure. Just finished watching that show that made you jump to the subscriber's tier? Keep going, because there's plenty more where that came from, now that you've become a subscribed member. You'll also get instant access to all the new shows that we pick up, so there's no need to wait weeks and weeks for new stuff, you guys will be all set up from the get go.
ADV Nation has compiled a list of anime available to members
Azumanga Daioh
Clannad
Cool Dimension
Elfen Lied
Kiba
Mahoromatic Season 1, 2 and Special
Orphen Season 1
Princess Resurrection
Sakura Wars
This Ugly Yet Beautiful World
Tsukihime
Crunchyroll announced that it is partnering with Bandai Channel to bring the blockbuster Kurokami The Animation to Crunchyroll for near-simultaneous release one week after simultaneous broadcasts in Japan, Korea, and the United States. The first 18 episode are now available and subsequent episodes will be available every Wednesday.
Kurokami The Animation is based on the manga known as Black God in North America from Korean creative team consisting of writer Young Lim Dall and artist Park Sung Woo, The anime is directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi (director of The Twelve Kingdoms) with series story composition by Reiko Yoshida, and character designs and animation direction by Hiroyuki Nishimura (Fatal Fury, Full Metal Alchemist the movies).
*
Warner Bros. has launced iTunes apps featuring the comic adaptation of Terminator: Salvation. Published by IDW, written by Dara Naraghi (“Lifelike”) and art by Alan Robinson, this must-read multi-part graphic novel details a series of events that have transpired since Judgment Day and culminates with the story found in “Terminator Salvation” from Warner Bros. Pictures. All four prequel comics and the movie adaptation are available for $0.99, and the full trade is on sale for $3.99.
Anime
notes that TV Wakayama listed the eighth episode of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya new Japanese TV run as "Sasa no Ha Rhapsody" ("Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody"). This would be the next story chronologically in Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito's original science-fiction comedy light novels, but this story was not animated during the anime's first airing in 2006. TV Wakayama later removed the title and told the Gigazine website that it was instructed not to post the episode title — but since the title was "somehow" posted anyways
*
Yoshitoshi ABe (Serial Experiments Lain) revealed at Sakura-Con he's working on a new Taisho set anime series called Desperant.
*
Space Battleship Yamato producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki has offered details about the first new Yamato anime in 26 years, Uchuu Senkan Yamato Fukkatsu-hen. Production will wrap in October for a December release. Out of the 1,860 cuts (shots) in the film, 700 are being produced with computer graphics. The environmentally focused anime is set 21 years after the first Yamatao, with 38-year-old Susumu Kodai as a captain and father of a daughter named Miyuki with his wife Yuki
*
Toei has announced that a Precure Fresh movie will bring the magic girl action anime to theatres for the seventh time this fall.
Manga
Same Hat notes ero-guro artist Suehiro Matuo has begun serializing an adaptation of horror writer Edogawa Rampo's The Caterpillar in Comic Bean.
From Same Hat
The Caterpillar is a haunting psychosexual tale of Lt. Sunaga, a disfigured and limbless veteran of WWI who returns home to his young and beautiful wife. Sunaga initially is given a hero's welcome, but is quickly forgotten and shunned because of his injuries. Unable to speak or care for himself, he is completely at the mercy of his wife as she grows to loathe and toy with him.
Live Action
Mamoru Oshii's live action omnibus sword duel Kiru ~ KILL will be released on Japanese DVD July 24, 2009. The project features sword-fighting climaxes from Oshii, Takanori Tsujimoto, Kenta Fukasaku and Makoto Tahara. A special edition will feature two bonus DVDs full of interviews, trailers, extra footage, making-of documentaries, a replica of a theatrical pamphlet and a “deluxe” guide booklet.
"When Ghibli has its entire staff working on a project, they can produce about five minutes' worth of theater-quality animation a month," said Ghibli president Toshio Suzuki in an interview published in this week's issue of Famitsu magazine. "I wasn't planning for this to take longer than three months, at worst! But that's the way it always happens. Ghibli always works at that theater-level of quality."
Not only has Capcom reversed previous indications and revealed to Nintendo Power that Nintendo Wii game Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is US bound, but a demo will be playable at E3 2009. The fighting game features characters from anime studio Tatsunoko (Casshen, Gatchaman, Tekkaman) and game makers Capcom (Street Fighter, Dark Stalkers, Megaman)
*
Valcon Games almost released Ikki Tousen: Shining Dragon for the Playstation 2 in North America. It even got an ESRB rating
Shining Dragon – Ikkitousen is a fighting game, set in Tokyo, Japan, about a group of female college students granted with ancient and mystical warrior powers. Characters use these supernatural powers mostly to kick, punch, and block their way to victory until opposing players’ life meters run out. All the female characters are dressed in short skirts or skirts with a high slit. The game features frequent depictions of panties, cleavage, and exaggerated breast jiggle. A special attack move allows some characters to rip opponents’ clothes to shreds – exposing even more of the female anatomy...
Several noteworthy online writers have posted their panel schedule for this weekend's Anime Boston Alex Leavitt
Genre, Music, and Shinichiro Watanabe
Friday @ 6:00 pm in Ballroom A
A chance to praise Watanabe and his musical direction! Finally!
Akiba Empire: The Influence of Otaku
Friday @ 8:00 pm in Ballroom A Constitution Ballroom
Pairing up with Nicole from Design Benign, a talk about marketing and the otaku economic force.
The Virtual Worlds of Anime
Saturday @ 1:30 pm in Back Bay Panel/Video
A survey of anime and manga about virtual spaces and how the medium helps us understand new worlds.
Chains, Trains, and Love Hotels: The Japanese Sex Industry
Saturday @ 10:00 pm in Ballroom A
A presentation on, well, sex in Japan.
The Anime That’s Not Anime: Opening and Ending Themes
Sunday @ 11:30 am in Panel Room 207
An attempt to examine and contextualize a solid number of opening and ending themes of anime.
Ninja Consultants
Please Save My Manga! Friday 10:00:00 AM - 11:00 AM in Panel Room 202
Underloved? Overrated? Or just plain out of print? Join a crack team of PopCultureShock.com reviewers as they discuss everything manga, from classics and favorites to overlooked gems and over-read failures. (Disclaimer: starry-eyed abandon, the occasional mean right hook may ensue.)
Manga Genre Madness 5:00 to 6:30 PM on Saturday in Panel Room 202
Manga covers every genre imaginable - and unimaginable! Thanks to the importing of manga you can read veterinarian manga, salaryman manga, fishing manga, manga about economics, and manga about baking bread! Erin and Noah from the Ninja Consultant podcast and special guest Chloe from PopCultureShock.com present the absolutely most insane manga titles available in English - and a few titles which won't be translated anytime soon (wine connoisseur manga, for example).
FUNimation's plans include
FUNimation Sneak Peak Panel: Friday 2:00pm – 3:00pm, Constitution room
Come by and check out some of the newest anime titles from FUNimation. Different clips from the newest shows will be shown as well as one full episode of one of the titles.
FUNimation Industry Panel: Saturday 5:00pm – 6:00pm, Constitution room
Adam Sheehan's on hand to talk about all the newest information and updates on everything we are working on as well as answer questions. Announcements will include the line producer of the English dub of English Dub Of Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone as well as the cast
At Botcon Transformers convention (Pasadena, Calif., from May 28-31) IDW Will be offering an exclusive cover of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen by Don Figueroa. The limited edition comic will be available while supplies last.
*
Film Independent announced that the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival will present a screening of the English language dub of Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo on June 28th.
Tickets sell for $100
The film opens in North American theatres August 14th.
Japanamerica's Roland Kelts will be hosting an event at the Center for Japanese Studies at the University of California, Berkeley on July 25th in which Hayao Miyazaki will be presented with the second annual Berkeley Japan Prize for lifetime achievement.
*
LA's Anime Expo has added director Seiji Mizushima (Fullmetal Alchemist, Gundam 00) to their list of guests of honor.
Additional information has been announced about the events's Power Ranger gathering.
Additional Power Rangers and talents in attendance include:
* Barbara Goodson-Empress Rita Repulsa-MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS (Fri., Sat. and Sun.)
* Nakia Burrise-Yellow Power Ranger-POWER RANGERS: TURBO (Fri, Sat. and Sun.)
* Blake Foster-Blue Power Ranger-POWER RANGERS: TURBO (Fri, Sat. and Sun.)
* Patricia Ja Lee-Pink Power Ranger-POWER RANGERS: TURBO and POWER RANGERS IN SPACE (Sat. and Sun.)
* Dan Southworth-Quantum Power Ranger-POWER RANGERS: TIME FORCE (Sat. and Sun.)
* Cerina Vincent-Yellow Power Ranger-POWER RANGERS: LOST GALAXY (Thurs. only)
* Reggie Rolle-Green Power Ranger-POWER RANGERS: LOST GALAXY (Thurs. only)
* Amy Rolle-Trakeena- POWER RANGERS: LOST GALAXY (Thursday only)
* Brandon Jay McLaren-Red Power Ranger- POWER RANGERS: SPD (Thurs. only)
* Monica May-Yellow Power Ranger-POWER RANGERS: SPD (Thurs. only)
* Chris Violette-Blue and Red Power Ranger-POWER RANGERS: SPD (Thurs.only)
These additional Power Ranger talents join announced Power Ranger actors Karan Ashley, Robert Axelrod, Steve Cardenas, Walter Jones and Catherine Sutherland.
Despite reports that the North American opperations of figures maker Jun Planning were shut down ahead of the company's Japanese bankruptcy filing, Jun Planning USA, announced that the United States toy maker of figures and collectibles is not a part of the Jun Planning Japanese bankruptcy. From the statement issued "Jun Planning USA is a separate company, run by Yosuke Oba in Torrance, California. Jun Planning USA produces toys and collectibles on it’s own and will continue to do so along with brand new product to be released later in 2009 as well as 2010." Released of figures based on properties such as Death Note and The Nightmare Before Christmas are still planned.
*
IVC2 has posted the Top 300 Graphic Novels Actual--April 2009
From the top 25
Rank - Index - Title - Price - Pub - Est.Qt
12 - 4.32 - NARUTO TP VOL 43 - $7.95 - VIZ - 3,852
13 - 4.32 - NARUTO TP VOL 44 - $7.95 - VIZ - 3,851
14 - 4.32 - NARUTO TP VOL 42 - $7.95 - VIZ - 3,84
And the Award Goes To...
Del Rey's David Ury translated release of Akira Hiramoto's fictionalized manga biography of blues legend Rober Johnson has been named Best Reprint Publication in the Glyph Comic Awards. The Glyph Comics Awards recognize "the best in comics made by, for, and about people of color from the preceding calendar year."
Animation on North American TV
The Boomerang network will be running 12 hours of Teen Titans from noon to midnight on Monday, May 25.
*
Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant will be developing a 13 episode animated show for HBO, co-produced by Wildbrain, the animation studio behind the kids' show Yo Gabba Gabba. The show looks at the world of radio producer Karl Pilkington. "Karl is a man who believes that a sea lion is a cross between a fish and a dog. Hopefully, Karl will enter the pantheon of animated greats."
*
Cartoon Network will be carrying 4Kids titles Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, Chaotic: M’arrillian Invasion and a third season of Chaotic, which will air in the falls.
Contests
G4 and Dark Horse Comics are launching a contest that will award one winner the opportunity to be “Special Correspondent” to G4 and join “Attack of the Show” hosts Olivia Munn and Kevin Pereira, as well as Comic Book Expert Blair Butler at San Diego Comic Con. Dark Horse will also welcome the winner as their “official guest,” granting access to their special event and more. To enter, fans are encouraged to create a video that demonstrates their pop culture knowledge and on-camera abilities, and submit to g4tv.com/comiccon. The “Con-Test” kicked off Friday, May 15, 2009, and closes at 11:59PM on June 22, 2009.
You can get a good idea of Otomo’s orientation towards live action film in a manga such as “San Bergs Hill no Omoide”. In the work’s climactic shootout, you may be reminded of the action direction of one of Otomo’s favorite directors, Sam Peckinpah. Peckinpah’s frequent usage of many quick cuts, as well as slow motion during important scenes, can be seen beautifully expressed in Otomo’s onomatopoeia-free pages full of many small panels. Of course, while this technique is cinematic in a way, it is at the same time something that could only be expressed through manga. If you get a chance, compare this work to Peckinpah’s masterpiece The Wild Bunch. I think you’ll find it very interesting.
To be more specific, I'd love to see a magazine that's somewhere between the aforementioned Afternoon and Morning. ("Lunch"?)
The thing that strikes me about both of these anthologies is that their target demographic seems less about gender and age than people who really like interesting comics. In his invaluable Dreamland Japan, Frederik L. Schodt states that "rather than pandering to readers' established tastes, editors at Morning have deliberately sought out novel material."
Tokyo's entertainment center with everything from family fare to the very adult. Playground for Saeba Ryo in the City Hunter series and also seen in many films and anime.
A couple of efforts to promote "Cool Japan" and anime/manga based tourism
To celebrate last year's 165th anniversary of the birth of its founder, Jo Niijima, Doshisha University in Kyoto has published a manga and a book about him
