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The Christmas shopping season is drawing to a close, but there are still deals to be had! Anime Expo Planning a trip to Anime Expo next year? Go here and choose the “AX+OMAKASE Mega Deal” option to subscribe to Omakase ($29 plus $6 shipping for U.S. or $19 Canada). In return, you’ll get a $40 ... Read more

The post Anime & Manga Deals Roundup: Christmas Edition appeared first on Organization Anti-Social Geniuses.

What would happen if Mashiro from Bakuman lost his family, lived with people that treats him like dirt, and suddenly was granted power like Light from Death Note? You’d get Platinum End, and I’ll stick to my what-if scenario because it works somehow. Editor’s Note: This will be a spoiler-heavy discussion on the first chapter ... Read more

The post Platinum End – “Gift From An Angel” Recap appeared first on Organization Anti-Social Geniuses.

I bemoaned Kohei Horikoshi’s lack of success. Oumagadoki Zoo was a manga that had a solid 5 volume run, and once Barrage hit English Weekly Shonen Jump, I was thinking the sky’s the limit. That’s why I blogged it. …It ended in 16 chapters. Not everyone can trot out a One Piece or Naruto and ... Read more

The post Instant Analysis: My Hero Academia appeared first on Organization Anti-Social Geniuses.

Magical girls have been a part of shoujo since nearly the beginning; stories of idols and other performers are almost just as old. Magical girls haven’t changed much over the years, but today’s idol shows like Love Live! are rather different when compared to works like Creamy Mami. Mitsuki of Full Moon o Sagashite (Searching for ... Read more

Looking for ways to spend money for manga, but concerned about the price? Krystallina from Daiyamanga will guide you on getting manga for not so much money! – Ed. Note We all want to support the companies and creators of our favorite series. But supporting them doesn’t have to mean paying full price for everything. ... Read more

Title: Gyo (2-in-1 Deluxe Edition) Genre: Horror Publisher: Shogakukan (JP), Viz Media (US) Artist/Writer: Junji Ito Serialized in: Big Comic Spirits Original Release Date: April 21, 2015 While most reviewers this week are eagerly digging into Junji Ito’s newly licensed anthology work Fragments of Horror, I’m going back to a shiny hardcover re-release of one ... Read more

Title: Tokyo Ghoul Genre: Action, Horror, Psychological Publisher: Shueisha (JP), Viz Media (US) Artist: Sui Ishida Serialized in: Weekly Young Jump Translation: Joe Yamazaki Original Release Date: March 17, 2015 Review copy provided by publisher. Sui Ishida’s Tokyo Ghoul is a interesting manga that brings two different beings into a world aware of them and ... Read more

Title: Meteor Prince Genre: Romance, Drama Author: Meca Tanaka Publisher: Viz (US) / Hakusensha (JP) Serialized In: LaLa Release Date: January 6, 2015 Review copy provided by the publisher. I kind of have a thing about short manga series: I don’t really like to invest in them unless I’ve heard they’re particularly good. Despite being ... Read more

Title: Duklyon: Clamp School Defenders (Gakuen Tokkei Dyukarion) Genre: Comedy, Parody Publisher: Kadokawa Shoten (JP), Viz (US) Artist: CLAMP Serialized in: Comic Genki Digital Release Date: January 20, 2015 Free Preview: Chapter 1 Summary: In a crisis, a team of justice appears from nowhere. People call them Duklyon, the Clamp School Defenders. To defend our ... Read more

Title: Oresama Teacher Genre: Comedy, High School Publisher: Hakusensha (JP), Viz Media (US) Story/Artist: Izumi Tsubaki Serialized in: Hana to Yume Review copy provided by the publisher Last summer I, along with many other people, fell in love with the Monthly Girl’s Nozaki-kun/Gekkan Shojo Nozaki-kun anime and the bits of the manga I read were equally adorable and fun. ... Read more

Title: ZONE-00 Genre: Action, Fantasy Publisher: Kadokawa Shoten (JP), Viz Media (US) Story/Artist: Kiyo Ojo Serialized in: Monthly Asuka (volume one reviewed) Translation: Nan Rymer Original Release Date: November 18, 2014 Review Copy Provided By Viz Media Let’s just say ZONE-00 is a contender for the busiest manga I’ve read this year. In this case, being ... Read more

Title: Assassination Classroom Genre: Comedy Publisher: Shonen Jump (JP), Viz Media (US) Story/Artist: Yusei Matsui Serialized in: Weekly Shonen Jump (volume one reviewed) Translation: Tetsuichiro Miyaki Original Release Date: December 2, 2014 Review copy provided by Viz Media Sometime in the past few years, the hosts of the American Weekly Shonen Jump stated on their podcast that Assassination Classroom was never going ... Read more

Title: Jaco The Galactic Patrolman (Ginga Patrol Jako) Genre: Sci-fi, Comedy Publisher: Shueisha (JP), Viz Media (US) Story/Artist: Akira Toriyama Serialized in: Weekly Shonen Jump Translation: Tetsuichiro Miyaki Original Release Date: January 6, 2015 If this is the final manga Akira Toriyama does — after all, he’s getting up there in age and I think ... Read more

It’s almost the end of the week, so let’s gather up a few more of today’s entertainment headlines:

– While on the press circuit promoting their new film, Focus, Will Smith and Margot Robbie discussed with USA Today the casting situation with the now-vacant Rick Flagg role in David Ayer‘s Suicide Squad:

Robbie: This happens all the time. People act like, ‘Oh my god, the movie must be ending!’ It’s just the deal with movies.” Not to mention “a lot of the characters haven’t been portrayed before so it’s a pretty big undertaking. And it’s a big undertaking for the people who are going to play the characters who have been played, like the Joker (to be played by Jared Leto). It’s big shoes to fill.

Smith:  Ayer “turned the screenplay in before Christmas. What happens is Hollywood shuts down. But he was still working and he wanted to (start shooting) April 13th. So it takes a couple weeks to gear back up at the top of the year and people have taken (other) movies. He’s moving really quickly.

A few days ago, Umberto Gonzalez over at Latino-Review stated on Twitter that the Rick Flagg casting may be announced this week. We still have a day to go, so it’s possible that we may see some resolution there. I’m going to throw my money on Joel Edgerton, but it’s probably just because I just saw Zero Dark Thirty again on FX last night.

– Ryan Reynolds took to twitter today and celebrated being one year out from the release of 2016’s Deadpool, teasing fans with the mask that will be used in the upcoming film:

Sepia tone disguises the fact the mask is ballerina pink. It’s early. 365 sleeps early. #deadpool #prototypes pic.twitter.com/PekFa2KS7S

— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) February 12, 2015

The fact that they’re even using a mask is cause for some celebration.

– It’s been some time since Sam Hamm had last been on the scene. The Tim Burton Batman, Monkeybone, and one-time Watchmen screenwriter’s most recent on-screen credit was for an episode of Masters of Horror about ten years ago. That all changes today, as Viz Entertainment has announced that Hamm will be adapting Sayuri Ueda‘s short story The Street of Fruiting Bodies, which originated in the Phantasm Japan anthology, into a feature-length film. That anthology, it’s worth noting, comes from the same imprint (Viz Media’s Haikasoru) as All You Need Is Kill, which was eventually adapted into last year’s Edge of Tomorrow.

Viz describes the story in detail:

The Street of Fruiting Bodies depicts the sudden spread of a mysterious and lethal species of hallucinogenic mushroom. The infestation is deadly, but it also offers visions of deceased loved ones to the infected, hinting at the reality of an afterlife, or at least a new kind of existence that is beyond human comprehension.

Hamm elaborates on the project:

Ueda creates a world in which the most profound human emotions – love, grief, longing, and hope – can lead to one’s salvation or one’s undoing, and the true horror is that it may be impossible to tell the difference. ‘The Street of Fruiting Bodies’ is not only disturbing, it is moving.

– Lastly, do you have $375 bucks to spare? Then you can be the owner of this pretty stunning looking Ultron Figure from Hot Toys/Sideshow Collectibles, expected to ship in early 2016.

Let me just say Majiko’s Mikansei No. 1, a two volume series about Neo Takigawa’s adjustment to life from the conservative 23rd Century to the frolicking 21st Century and her goals of being a singing star, was a title that I expected to be pretty poor. Instead, I ended up reading the first volume, and ... Read more

Title: Millennium Snow Genre: Romance Publisher: Hakusensha (JP), Viz Manga (US) Story/Artist: Bisco Hatori Serialized in: Lala in 2001, Lala DX in 2013 Original Release Date: June 3, 2014 Review copy provided by Viz Media Bisco Hatori’s name may not be well-known in the west but her most famous work, Ouran High School Host Club, still finds new ... Read more

My final NYCC interview (Yes, this is it, I swear!) ended up with me talking to someone very important right next to people turning a contest wheel. I guess you’ll find out what I mean when you listen to the audio. (That’s me imploring you to listen to the audio version.) Anyways, I was able ... Read more

For a lot of reasons, I was only able to speak to most of the people I talked to at NYCC for a short period. Here’s another somewhat brief one that also happened unexpectedly: my interview with Editor-in-Chief of the English, or US version, of Weekly Shonen Jump, Andy Nakatani. Andy didn’t exactly know what ... Read more

Title: Seraph of The End (Owari no Serafu) Genre: Fantasy Publisher: Shueisha (JP), Viz Media (US) Story/Artist: Takaya Kagami, Yamoto Yamamoto Serialized in: Jump Square Translation: Adrienne Beck Original Release Date: June 3, 2014 I think Seraph of The End is incapable of sustaining my long term interest due to it being incredibly cliche, riddled with predictable ... Read more

So not too long ago I checked out Gangsta and decided that I loved it enough to review it. I guess I decided not to finish talking about it though, as I sent in some questions to the editor of Gangsta, Leyla Aker (and yes, that’s Viz’s VP of Publishing), about Vol 1 and some of the reasons this title was licensed.

So in reading Vol 1 of Gangsta, I thought it was kind of unusual to see a character (Nic) that’s deaf in a series, since it’s kind of rare in manga. Were there any particular thought processes on how to best portray him, and how would you describe his actions so far in the series?

To your point, it’s relatively rare to see individuals who are differently abled depicted in popular media, and unfortunately when they are they tend to be fetishized or made into martyr figures. Nic is neither of those things. He’s cranky but good-hearted, a badass who makes bad judgments, a guy who can’t cook and doesn’t drink—in other words, a person, one who just happens to be deaf.

I think the major standout for me is the characters. For you, can you share a particular character you like and why?

It’s hard to choose—there are so many good characters in this series. But for now I’ll say Worick, since he hasn’t been getting much love in the reviews or fan reactions so far. I think the reason is that he’s built this shallow, selfish, frivolous persona as a defense mechanism, and people seem to be mistaking the façade for reality. And the reality is that to a certain extent he’s the moral center of the story.

Can you share some of the reasons Viz decided to license Gangsta?

The aforementioned great characters were a major reason. You can have strong art and the most intricate plotting ever, but if the characters are flat or don’t resonate with readers, it’s hard to call any book truly successful. The diversity is another strength. When’s the last time you saw in any manga (or comic or novel) a cast that includes characters who are young and old, male and female, gay and straight, white, Asian, black, and Latino?

The other major reason? The series is straight-up fun as hell.

When you were assigned to work on this series, can you share a couple of things you kept in mind as you approached the series? (In terms of editing the material, reading the JP version, etc)

On a technical level, one of the first things the letterer for the series (Eric Erbes) and I had to figure out was how to render the distortion in Nic’s verbal speech while keeping the text easily legible. I think the font treatment Eric uses is successful in that regard. Katherine Schilling turned in a strong, accurate translation, so the main thing I was concentrating on while adapting and editing the script was getting the character voices down.

What’s challenged you so far in editing the series?

There’s a good amount of specialized terminology to keep track of. As usual, rendering humor is always a challenge, since jokes that work in Japanese usually don’t in English (and vice versa).

What has surprised you so far in working on Gangsta?

That this is Kohske’s first series. This level of accomplishment for a young mangaka is pretty incredible.

With Vol 2 forthcoming, what should readers expect from that volume, and what should we expect to get out of reading Gangsta?

Spoiler: Nic gets into a fight.

Seriously, though, there’s a lot of great action. The plot starts to get more complex, the story deepens, new characters come on the scene. Lots of good stuff to come.

World Trigger, the sci-fi shounen manga by Daisuke Ashihara, has survived a year, and seems like it’ll keep going a bit further than other recent Shonen Jump titles, especially ones that land in the US version of WSJ.

So let’s ask the question: why?

“It occupies a sci-fi niche that WSJ is otherwise lacking.”

This is one of the sentiments expressed by Hope Donovan, an editor at Viz. World Trigger is a work that’s different from other current shounen titles because of that. But there still are typical shounen trappings that it can’t escape. So why else is this manga lasting this long?

“I think part of the reason for its success is its reliance on standard shounen tropes, yet still maintaining originality”,  says William, a fan of the series. “World Trigger has all of the normal markings: overpowered villains, a weak lead who shows signs of greatness, etc. It also has twists, where normally the weak lead would meet a peer that is far stronger, to play his rival, in World Trigger’s case they are not rivals but friends and comrades from the start. There is a reason they are called tropes, and that is because they often work, you just need to make them work to your advantage and stay original.”

Another thing that keeps World Trigger interesting is its setting, says Tropical Blitz, another fan. “The level of detail that goes into world building and constructing elaborate large scale battle scenarios really fills a niche I don’t think any other manga in WSJ cover, and thus manages to make it a cut above other new manga which only focus on pure battle or fantasy.”

So it seems to have a lot of good elements to attract readers to it every week. That’s why it already has its own club.

Well, “unofficial” club.

Now, it doesn’t always take long for any series to have fans who care about a character or the work itself. But you’d mostly expect that only from the simple fans. How about the persons working on providing it? Yep, the people I spoke to above are members of The Unofficial Osamu Fan Club, which was actually started by the letterer of World Trigger, Annaliese Christman.

This leads to asking one more question: why?

“Because he’s a loser.”

Literally, this is one of the reasons the club got started. But to be more accurate, Annaliese, as she was working on the series, grew to like Osamu Mikumo as a character. Osamu’s a member of Border, an organization created to protect the Earth from Neighbors. He happens to be pretty weak, especially early on when he has to get bailed out by Yuma, who…happens to be a good Neighbor. But as the series progressed, Annaliese began to like Osamu even more. The problem was she felt like there wasn’t a lot of love shown his way. Then one day in November, she received an image from her editor involving Osamu. She proceeded to blow it up to a point where she could put it on her wall, took a picture of it, and sent that to her editor. That was when she said: “I’m now officially the president, the creepy president, of the Osamu fan club!” Her editor’s response? “She thought that was really funny.”

That was when her editor suggested to make T-shirts and stuff. It started to snowball after that.

Needless to say, the unofficial fan club has a good amount of members. That includes the actual author of the manga and his editor, who also received cards that Annaliese took the time to make and print out. “We may be unofficial but the creator and his editor are also members!” So, that would mean they’re legit right? Well, not yet. She doesn’t want to “step” on anyone’s toes she claimed. Or maybe she’s not sure where this club’s gonna go from here. “There’s nothing concrete, but I’d like to do something to kind of bring the members together and not just be random people all over the world who like Osamu. I’m hoping at conventions I’ll meet some people in person.” Otherwise, it’s continuing to send cards to people who like and are interested in World Trigger.

…So how would one get interested in this manga and then in this character?

“If you enjoy other shounen action series you will enjoy this,” says William. “It has detailed and quality art and a story of action and adventure with fun and exciting turns.  The story is fluid, avoiding any long and drawn out battles full of power ups.”

John Bae, also an editor at Viz, gave two different sides on getting into the series. “I think if someone is into crazy alien battles, then it’s an easy sell. For the complicated otaku that likes complicated stuff, World Trigger is the way to go. So many characters with so many different types of roles and weapons = super otaku fangasm.”

Hope ended up with a detailed reason: the characters. “There are a million characters in World Trigger, but Ashihara imbues each with their own individual personality and quirks. In that way, I’d say World Trigger is a lot like Bleach. There are all kind of different hero types, from someone like Yuma who’s superpowered, to someone like Osamu who has strength of conviction, or Kitora who’s talented and proud. And then, there are all types of antagonists, from someone like Midorikawa who’s jealous, to a real rotten guy like the Neighbor Enedora who would rather kill everyone. Plus, Ashihara has invented a fascinating and believable power-up system with the alien technologies of Triggers and Trion.”

Overall though, the best answer came from Zach, another member of the Osamu fan club. And it only makes sense that this would be the reason you should all consider reading World Trigger:

“Osamu.”

It could only end this way, really.

Since it was not enough to just merely review Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma, I decided to also talk with its translator. Adrienne Beck was kind enough to spend some time over the weekend to talk about this food series, how far she’s gotten into it (though there’s one volume out), her take on the fanservice, and what she hopes readers gain out of it.

So I want to know how you were familiar with Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma? Did you check out the manga in JP, was it word of mouth, or did you learn about it when you were assigned to it?

I’m afraid I’m not as up-to-date on Shonen Jump titles as I could be, so I first learned about it when I was assigned to it.

How familiar are you with food manga? Have you read a few, translated a few food manga, etc? 

I have translated a lot of different types of manga so far, but this is the first food manga I have actually translated. I know of Toriko and Iron Wok Jan, but I never got around to reading them. This has been quite a learning experience for me so far. I’m having a blast with it.

Can you share how far have you gotten in translating the manga and how long you usually spend translating it?

I’m not sure I can say exactly how far I am, but I’m getting close to where it is in Japan. Like any of the manga I do, I try to translate 10-15 pages of it every day, depending on what my deadline may be. I think we’re ahead of schedule enough that I’ve had a chance to take my time with it.

What are some of the challenges of translating Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma?

The recipes. Like I mentioned above, this is the first time I’ve done a food manga, so I’m getting an education in culinary terms, both in Japanese and in English! I also have to be sure to be really precise in my language, because I don’t want to accidentally give the wrong directions if somebody is going to try the recipe.

I guess another challenge would be the puns (there are quite a few sneaky ones), but those take some thought no matter what kind of manga it is.

Hmm. So I guess you haven’t tried to execute one of the recipes since there was one in Vol 1 huh? *laughs*

Ha ha! No, not yet. I’m not nearly the cook Soma is! Some of it does look simple enough even for somebody like me, who’s just good enough not to give everybody food-poisoning. And they all look really tasty (and, unfortunately, not very diet friendly!). Each volume I’ve done so far has multiple recipes, so there should be a lot for readers to pick from.

‘dat fanservice…

So, with Food Wars: Shokugeki no Soma, there’s fanservice. Or, in this case, a lot of moments where it’s implied to be sexual. Was any of it a big deal for you? Or is it tame compared to other manga with ecchi content?

It’s actually very tame compared to some of the other titles I’ve worked on. I know it’s garnered a lot of attention from that first dual-page spread in Volume 1, but that’s really the worst of it.  It tapers off pretty quickly into more quirky and humorous situations than straight-out service-y ones. There is still some sprinkled around here and there, but it’s not nearly as in-your-face. Plus, it’s not all tilted towards guys. There are things for the ladies, as well. *laughs*

For Vol 1, did anything catch you by surprise while you were working on it? In terms of story, characters, etc?

Hmm… It’s hard to say. I’ve done quite a lot of manga, so it’s difficult for one to surprise me nowadays. *laughs* But I guess the characters were a pleasant surprise to me. Each of them feels genuine and likeable very quickly, so it’s easy to get caught up in reading about them. I find myself flipping through and re-reading whole sections of a volume when I only intended to check something quickly for reference.

Talented in one aspect, well apart in another

Final question: If there is one thing a reader should gain after reading Food Wars, what would it be?

Good question! I’d think a reader would come away with a sense that “good” food doesn’t necessarily have to be “fancy” food. You can take a dish — or anything, really — that’s ordinary and, with a little effort and creativity, turn it into something fun and amazing. It’s all up to you and the effort you choose to put into it.

You can check out the first 11 pages of Food Wars, purchase a copy on Viz Manga, or pre-order the print release that comes out in August.

I’ve been trying to read more manga lately.  Manga in book form is very popular at my library, so I have been working on building up our print collection. My anime club kids are always telling me about new titles. There is also a lot of manga to be read electronically. Reading scanlated manga online has been a longtime habit of many fans, regardless of the copyright issues involved, (scroll down on this page for a good definition of scanlation) but more manga is becoming available electronically either for free or for reasonable prices.  It will  be nice if this encourages more fans to pay for content and support the creators whose work they enjoy. Even if it doesn’t, it does afford more options for consuming content for people who enjoy reading on their mobile devices. Viz Media and Yen Press, are two popular publishers making manga available via mobile app.  I decided to check out how these apps work and compare and contrast their features.

Title: Viz Manga
Cost: Free App includes previews, but manga prices vary (3.99 – 8.99)
Platform: iOS (also available for Android and web browsers at VIZmanga.com)

 
To look through the available titles in the VIZ app, you can have options to view all series, or select titles by featured, new, or free options. A rotating banner at the top of the home page promotes titles as well. The first chapter (about 50 pages) of a manga series is offered as a free preview. This is enough that I felt like I could really tell if I was enjoying a series and if was interested in buying it or reading more by the end of the preview. Selections from Shonen Jump Alpha are also free through the VIZ app, which is nice because I think people will be missing the print version of Shonen Jump now that it has gone digital only.  You can zoom in the regular way by pinching and pulling.  The only thing I didn’t like about this app was that the screen alignment doesn’t change when you flip your device sideways. I like having that option because sometimes it makes things easier to read.

Some VIZ titles worth checking out:  Blue Exorcist, Dengeki Daisy and Bakuman.

Title: Yen Press
Cost: Free App includes previews, but manga prices vary (6.99 -12.99 an issue)
Platform: iOS

 
There are three different options for viewing the available titles on the Yen Press app. You can scroll through cover images horizontally, which is fun if you swip

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Today we bring you another sampler of the cool youth media and marketing gigs you can expect to find on our Ypulse Jobs Board. If your company has an open position in the youth media or marketing space, we encourage you to post there or through our... Read the rest of this post