From: conty@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (Vampire Hunter C)
Subject: Re: Manga! Manga!, and some other stuff
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1992 22:28:59 GMT

In article <1992Aug25.021033.844@ccsd.uts.EDU.AU>, axolotl@socs.uts.edu.au (Iain Sinclair) writes:
> 
> I have a lot of time for Mr. Schodt.  It's good to see he's choosing
> his projects well (eg. Orion).  If he can convince the c*mic companies
> to release translated manga in a sensible format (ie. quickly, punctually,
> cheaply, whole volumes at once), that would be great.

I take it you're talking about the SHONEN (JUMP|SUNDAY|etc.) style magazine.]

It would be great, but I wonder about the economic feasibility.  The comics
market is a lot smaller in the US than in Japan to begin with, which makes
me doubt that the large print-runs required for such a book to suceed would
not be feasible.  Then again, Sun Publishing is trying with weekly and
bi-weekly translated manga, we'll see if the experiment has any success.

If you meant the Japanese-style compilation volumes, I heard a rumor that
Viz once considered doing such a thing.  They dropped the idea, and went
to the compilation volumes we all know and love (heavy sarcasm).

> About the net community, it's interesting to note that the latest
> Mangajin (now on glossy paper) has an article on Niftyserve and
> its manga forum, but r.a.m is not mentioned at all.  I guess there
> are good reasons for that.

I'd guess two:

- The article was possibly WRITTEN (as opposed to published) before the
  creation of r.a.m.

- Isn't Niftyserve similar to Compuserve?  If so, maybe they don't have
  an USENET gateway yet.  I don't quite remember, and the magazine is at
  home.

> I hope Schodt writes a "Modern Manga" book, as Manga! Manga! is
> tragically out of date.  I say 'tragically' because the book is
> an otherwise excellent introduction and reference, it's just that
> it has nothing about the 'new wave' of manga which dominates today's
> market.  Really, a new book is needed.  I'd buy it.

What you said.

> Any thoughts on what artists or titles defined the 'new wave', or
> whatever it could be called?

That depends.  Do you want artists that made the "new wave" popular or
artists that influenced it?  (They aren't neccesarily the same.)

Some names for the list, from what little I know about the stuff:

- Rumiko Takahashi and Izumi Matsumoto:  popularized the concept of having
  romantic situations and entanglements as driving plot elements in shonen
  comics with such serials as URUSEI YATSURA, MAISSON IKKOKU, and KIGUMARE
  ORANGE ROAD.

- Masamune Shirow and Katsuhiro Otomo:  their very detailed, draftsmanlike
  drawings set a new standard for science fiction manga, especially in
  serials such as APPLESEED and AKIRA.

Do you agree or disagree with the above choices?  Any other suggestions?

P.S.  If I remember correctly, a Japanese reader on the Miyazaki mailing
list had a Japanese-language name for the "new wave" stuff.  Something like
"new wind in anime" or something like that (sorry, my Japanese is still
very bad).  Maybe David Blume or someone else on the list remembers the
actual term?
-- 
			    E n r i q u e  C o n t y
			The Incredible Man-with-no-Life
			      jester@ihlpl.att.com
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