Category: Editorials

JManga Beta: Legends of the True Savior or Chapter of Death in Love?

1 Comment

Back in 2007 we ran a panel called Fan Scanlations Stole My Innocence at MangaNEXT where one of the main topics was what would be the impact of the growing popularity of fan scan aggregator sites. In 2007 the major consensus was that print media had much less to fear from the Internet due to the appeal of physical media books to the average consumer. Here in 2011 that philosophy has clearly been proven wrong as all the major publishers in Japan and America are struggling to find a way to get a working business model around manga online. Like the anime industry there seems to be money to be made but no one is exactly sure how to do so in a legal manner. So when Crunchyroll, who is one of the few companies that is making money off of legal streaming, announced that they had teamed up with a consortium on Japanese manga publishers to create their own manga portal it seemed like they might have stuck gold twice. There was a good deal of buzz around their site but not a lot of details. Now that the curtain has been lifted off of the mysterious project the question on everyone lips is will this be the site to show everyone how to market their manga online.

JManga has been a highly anticipated project for a community that is increasingly getting their media online and in a streaming format. This isn’t the first of these sites launched for manga, but it has an edge by not being beholden to one or two publishers. With the added wonder of having titles that will never see an official U.S. book release being the real clincher. The site launched on August 17th in an open beta, but it should have tweaked itself a little more beforehand.

Continue reading →

Shinobu Miyake: Otoko nan te!!!

Leave a comment

Carl at Ogiue Maniax is currently running a contest to win a copy of Galaxy Express 999 and Adieu Galaxy Express 999. I decided that I would make today’s post my entry into the contest. I sadly don’t talk about Rumiko Takahashi or Urusei Yatsura nearly as much as I should. Bu this contest gives me a chance to talk about one of my favorite anime characters. One that I normally don’t talk nearly enough about. I have loved Shinobu Miyake since my early in my fandom. She is fascinating character study and noteworthy in several respects outside of the scope of this post. But for now let me answer a question about growing up.

What is your favorite example in anime/manga of a character growing up, whether literally or figuratively, and why?

Rumiko Takahashi is rather infamous for creating great characters with huge personality quirks and then running them though hundreds of different scenarios as their signature shtick plays off of each new situation. For this to work the characters largely have to remain the same loveable jerks they are when they are introduced who never learn from their experiences. But I think there is one character who very clearly goes through a strong character arc over the course of Urusei Yatsura. That character is Shinobu Miyake.

Continue reading →

Nervous in the (Fan-)Service

15 Comments

This single tweet is what sparked this whole post but in Mike Dent’s defense when I asked about Sacred Seven on Twitter the majority opinion seems to be that most people find the show inoffensive but rather lackluster so most would agree with his decision. (I am really enjoying the show but that is a discussion for another time.) What struck me as interesting was that it was the beach episode that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I was discussing the episode with my roommate and we both agreed that the episode barely dwelt on the girl’s in bathing suits and the shots of them at the beach were rather tame. But I think Mike’s reaction is the symptom of a the divide in the community that the recent brand of fan service has created. The extremes of fan service have created an equally extreme but opposite reaction from a majority of the vocal parts of fandom.

When I started watching anime in the mid-90’s I thought lots of fan-service was just part of the deal; if I wanted everything else I liked about it, it was just something that I had to accept. So in a way, I understand the inkling now to reject fan-service outright because there are so many other options. And admittedly, I have a much lower tolerance level than I once did. However, I find there can be an acceptable balance that won’t ruin a story.

Continue reading →