Multimedia linkblogging

Did I miss this? Apparently, both live-action Death Note movies will be debuting at this year’s Newport Beach International Film Festival, according to a piece at Associated Content. A quick look at the festival’s schedule confirms it. I wonder who’s handling the U.S. distribution?

Dirk Deppey is an early adopter of Chika Umino’s Honey and Clover, so he’s understandably excited that Viz will preview the anime version at an event in Cannes:

“So what does this have to do with comics news? Well, there’s the little matter of anime/manga synergy; if Viz has acquired the animated version of this series, it may well be an indication that they have designs on the manga, as well. Could we be set to start reading one of the most entertaining soap-opera comics this side of Ai Yazawa’s Nana before the year’s out? If so, I can’t wait.”

The full release on Viz’s plans for Cannes can be found at ComiPress.

Speaking of josei, Publishers Weekly Comics Week’s Kai-Ming Cha interviews Mikako Ogata about new manga pub Aurora and its yaoi imprint, Deux. (How did they resist calling it Boyrealis?) The interview leads Simon Jones (whose blog is probably not safe for work) to ponder something that’s crossed my mind as well:

“Wouldn’t it be crazy if it turned out that yaoi is the anchor, the perennial tentpole product supporting the entire manga market?”

It certainly seems to be the most consistent performer of any of the various categories of manga, faring extremely well in the monthly Diamond figures and making its presence known in places like the Amazon bestsellers list.

What about shôjo? Well, MangaBlog’s Brigid Alverson makes her PWCW debut with an article on the second anniversary of Viz’s Shojo Beat anthology, and it’s packed with plenty of interesting tidbits. The one that really catches my eye is news that the magazine will climb on the Osamu Tezuka Love Train, if only briefly:

“Shojo Beat, Viz Media’s monthly shojo anthology magazine, will celebrate its second birthday in July with a special present for its readers: an excerpt from legendary manga-ka Osamu Tezuka’s 1954 manga Princess Knight, which has never been available in the U.S. before.”

I’ve been dying for someone to translate even a little of this series. I don’t know if a full licensing effort would be commercially viable, but most available sources cite it as an inspiration for the creators who would go on to revolutionize shôjo manga.

Oh, and speaking of girls and magazines, scholar Matt Thorn stopped by Anime News Network to comment on that Oricon survey of girls who read manga and their apparent love for shônen.

Not dead yet

The invaluable ComiPress has more details on the suspension of Monthly Shonen Jump (MSJ), via a translated letter from the publisher that was included in the latest issue of that anthology. People worried about the fate of some of the series featured in MSJ (particularly Claymore, currently being released in English by Viz) should be able to rest easier:

“As of this writing, several works currently serialized in Monthly Jump are already going to be carried over to the new magazine.

“As for Claymore, the anime adaptation of which just began airing, the manga will temporarily be serialized monthly on Weekly Shonen Jump, and later be taken over the new magazine.”

So the series with an anime tie-in isn’t going to miss a beat, and the more popular stuff from MSJ will likely be repackaged in the new magazine. Maybe the venerable MSJ was triggering unpleasant parental nostalgia? Moms and dads looking over the shoulders of the current generation of readers and wistfully noting how much they loved MSJ when they were kids?

Whatever the reason, it looks like the story isn’t quite as big as it initially seemed. It’s interesting, though, and I’ll be curious to hear details about the new anthology.

Tezuka on demand

There are so many intriguing things about this item at ComiPress that it’s hard to pick where to start.

I think on-line, user-compiled anthologies are a great idea. As Chloe noted at Shuchaku East, “Let’s be honest, when was the last time you picked up a copy of Bleach and thought that hey, Bleach was good , so I’ll probably like and subsequently buy the 23 other series in this label too!” Imagine if readers could build their own anthology out of Shonen Jump or Shojo Beat or Shonen Jump Advanced?

It’s interesting to see rival publishers collaborating on this kind of initiative, but maybe it’s just the power of Osamu Tezuka. (And by the way, I’d never seen Kodansha’s English site before. It seems to have been designed almost specifically for potential licensing entitites.)

It’s nice to see that, even almost 20 years after his death, Tezuka is still driving innovation in the manga industry. (It could be argued that the Netcomics site already essentially offers an on-demand, online anthology.)

I’d love to know more about how the serials are packaged and delivered — if there are any bells and whistles or supplementary content that come with the selected serials.

I hope this is just the first in a wave and that it becomes popular enough that a U.S. publisher picks up the idea. Somebody pick up the Magnificent ‘49ers next! I swear I’ll try and learn Japanese if you do!

Beat beat

I was wandering through the magazine racks the other day, saw the latest issue of Shojo Beat, and said to myself, “Who the hell is that on the cover?”

An answer has arrived in the form of a press release from Viz: it’s Beat Girl, the magazine’s new “illustrated spokesperson.” (The text and cover image can be found at MangaCast.) A quick follow-up e-mail from Viz informed me that the image was drawn by Aiji Yamakawa, the first of several artists who will offer their take on the mascot. (Does the selection of Yamakawa hint at a future license in the Shojo Beat line?)

Beat Girl is the harbinger of some editorial changes to the magazine, including a new ongoing series of features on “real women doing a variety of selfless and charitable works for other people and help inspire readers” and expanded fashion and pop culture coverage. There’s also going to be a new color palette and page design.

As names go, “Beat Girl” doesn’t exactly set the heart aflutter, though I guess it could be viewed as a witty inversion of the magazine’s title. It avoids the redundancy of “Shojo Girl,” and they couldn’t exactly call her “SB,” since the initial approach is already taken. I’m wondering how much of a branding force she’ll be, what with a bunch of different artists rendering her. Maybe that’s intended to keep her open to reader identification: if you don’t like Yamakawa’s interpretation, just wait a month and you might get a look that’s more to your taste.

Though my preferred delivery system is digests, I’m all in favor of targeted anthologies, and it never hurts to try keep things fresh. (Just look at what’s happening in Riverdale.) And given how invested Viz is in getting reader response through polls and the like, these changes couldn’t have come out of thin air.