Tag Archives: josei

Manga Widget Investigates: 3 AM Dangerous Zone

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While I am not back to full speed on the blog, I wanted to bring back a few of the long-running series that I have worked on in the past – the most popular of these is Manga Widget Investigates, and so we are back for more license requests and grovelling.

I have complained about the lack of josei manga published in the USA again and again, and to be honest, there still isn’t a lot published in the USA. We can call Bunny Drop josei, and there is plenty of BL, but there isn’t a whole lot of material besides that, and it’s a pretty big shame.

I’ve campaigned for other josei series in the past - so my bias for the content is pretty clear. Those other josei titles at least had a running chance at being licensed. However, the title I’m focusing on today is more of a long shot – not because it isn’t potentially a good series, but because it focuses on two things that are a little foreign to the US reader – salary-manga, and pachinko.

3 AM Dangerous Zone (午前3時の無法地帯 or Gozen 3 Ji no Muhouchitai) by Nemu Youko is a story about a girl recently graduated from college intending to become an illustrator, who ends up working for a design firm that does nothing but designs for pachinko machines, a popular form of gambling in Japan. These games are somewhat like the game of Plinko in the United States, and they revolve around acquiring metallic balls from machines. While Japanese law prevents exchanging the balls directly for cash, they are generally exchanged for some nominal token prize which is then “sold” to a handler for cash.

In 3 AM Dangerous Zone, the main character, Momoko, ends up getting sucked into the life of the firm and works like crazy to get experience and to get some sleep (she is constantly working all ends of the night). The series supposedly deals with her dislike for her working environment, her relationship with her boyfriend and other men in the department, and the comedy/drama that ensues from working at such a crazy company. Also, look at that haircut! And these covers!

Published in Shodensha‘s Feel Young josei anthology, this series seems like it has a mix of exuberance and romantic drama that would make it a fun read. It clocks in at a scant three volumes, however it also has two separate sequels, 3 AM Terrible Zone and 3 AM Dissonance Zone.

From what I understand, TokyoPop previously did work with Shodensha, including their line of books from Erica Sakurazawa and Happy Mania from the author of Sakuran, Moyoko Anno, but it is unclear what their current relationship with that company is; my assumption is that it is like most other relationships that Tokyopop has with publishers – broken.

Of note, critically acclaimed (and as of yet unfinished) Suppli is also from Feel Young. Still waiting to hear back on when I am going to get more volumes of Suppli.

I doubt that this manga has much of a life in the world of print manga, so my assumption is that the biggest target for a request here is JManga, which has already published Shodensha‘s COUSIN and Love My Life through their online platform. This book may add to JManga‘s growing josei presence on the internet, and seems like a small and fun license. At 3 volumes, it’s not a huge risk, and if it turns out to be very successful, we can also get all the sequels associated with it. A win-win for josei fans and JManga!

One thing of note here – most publishers are listening, especially JManga and Vertical. These publishers take great steps to connect with fans via social media, and I think that’s a great way to express your wants and desires. So JManga, you are officially on notice – I want more josei, and I want it to be like this. Pretty please?

Manga Widget Investigates: Tzusuki wa Mata Ashita

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It’s been a while since I’ve gone snooping around the internet for license requests, but it’s a new year, and a time to get back into the business of blogging.

The recently passed Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, and New Year seasons are a time of celebration for many people in the United States, and a large part of these celebrations is spending time with family. Having spent a lot of time with family this past holiday, I started to think about manga that focuses on the relationships between family members. Some of my favorite manga published in English focus on family dynamics (Cross Game and Bunny Drop come to mind) and while these books are probably not the most monetarily successful, these series have been critically acclaimed, and are always series that I make sure to have copies of at my home (and promote tirelessly!).

After a bit of digging, I came across what looks like a real gem – Tzusuki wa Mata Ashita (つづきはまた明日, To Be Continued Tomorrow) a manga about the Fujisawa family, which consists of a 5th grade boy, a 1st grade girl, and a salary-man father. The mother in the family has recently passed away, and so the Fujisawas gets by with the help of the father’s younger sister. The story starts off as a new family moves into the home next door, and the neighbors look remarkably similar to the Fujisawas. It seems like a very remarkable story, and having recently dealt with the pain of losing a family member, the idea hits close to home.

Tzusuki wa Mata Ashita is written by Kita Konno and published by Gentosha. The series is currently at 3 volumes and counting, and is currently published on Gentosha‘s Web Spica, which honestly, I’m going to have to learn some Japanese to understand exactly what’s going on here, but it looks like an digital platform similar to www.sigikki.com. I’ve been pulled to this site before on the account of beautiful watercolors and other artwork, but I still haven’t explored enough to know exactly what is going on. More reasons to become bilingual, I suppose.

Kita Konno is not a widely known writer in the USA, but has written a mix of josei, shojo, yaoi, and yuri manga in a mix of anthologies. This mixed pedigree makes a me even more interested in her work, as some of my favorite authors (Natsume Ono, Fumi Yoshinaga) have the same type of mixed pedigree.

As far as publishers go, I am not sure if any of the publishers have a direct relationship with Gentosha, so perhaps someone like Yen Press might go for this title, or perhaps this might be a great candidate for Digital Manga’s Kickstarter crowdsourced publishing. (I believe that TOKYOPOP had a licensing relationship with Gentosha, but unfortunately, TOKYOPOP is no longer publishing manga. Probably.) It appears that the parent publishing company has done some work with digital comics, so that might be a good home for Tzusuki wa Mata Ashita, so either JManga or NetComics take note.

While manga about families suffering hardship and coming out of it together may not sell a lot of comics to the Naruto crowd, it has the appeal of a more independent, adult comics-reading audience, and as the manga-reading population ages, this sort of content may be a good step in that direction. I would love to see manga like this in the United States, and I challenge publishers to redefine the meaning of manga with titles like Tzusuki wa Mata Ashita.

Manga Widget Investigates: Toribako House

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With the release of Bunny Drop‘s 4th volume last week, I’ve been thinking about Yumi Unita again, who I think has one of the most distinctive and beautiful styles in published josei today. Her use of line, pattern, and white space is different from most of the comics I’ve seen published, and I think that it is criminal that only one of her series has been published in the US (major props to Yen Press for picking up Bunny Drop, even if it is on a fairly slow release schedule). Also news – it looks like Unita is writing a Bunny Drop sequel that focuses on the story before the time jump that’s supposed to happen soon (I haven’t received my volume of Bunny Drop from my order yet, so I don’t know if the time jump happens in volume 4 or 5).

This week I’m looking at a two-volume Unita series called Toribako House (トリバコハウス), published in Shodensha’s Feel Young anthology in 2003. It focuses on an early-20s woman named Miki who is living with an older man. She has a real aversion to people being in her personal space, and comes across a guy who is brash, rude, and is all up in her grill. It is these sorts of situations that Unita derives her comedy and great story-telling situations, so I assume that this would be a great read. Apparently there are some darker tones to this series – threatened abuse from Miki’s boyfriend, perhaps – that apparently give it a darker feel at some points, but I suppose that’s what reading the book is for. The metaphor is a bird in a gilded cage, as evidenced by the cover art for the first volume (check out those shirt patterns!)

Unita has a style that I find expressive unique, and delicate, and unlike other shojo or josei, focuses more on the characters themselves than the places in which they interact. Her expressive facial features and varied character composition are highlights to what I consider a very excellent style of illustration, if a bit unconventional.

Toribako is a two-volume series, so not a big investment in funds – Yen Press could have it in a one-and-done omnibus (which I think I would prefer over two volumes, although I would certainly pay for two), and I wouldn’t mind reading it in digital if I had to – it looks like it lines up well with content from Digital Manga or NetComics, although I assume JManga could get the digital rights as well.

Toribako House looks like a cute series that could possibly stand on the line between shojo and josei, and could easily make it to the US because of its small size. Who do I have to beg to get a copy of this?

Review: Bunny Drop, Vol. 1-3

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Bunny Drop Vol. 3
Written and Illustrated by Yumi Unita
Publsiher: Yen Press
Age Rating: Teen
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Price: $12.99 ($14.50 CAN)
ISBN: 978-0-7595-3120-8

I’ve been fairly candid in the past about mentioning my love for Bunny Drop, a Yen Press title with a twice-yearly release. The series so far has been an absolute delight to read. I’ve neglected reviewing the first two volumes, so I will try to rectify that issue with a review of the third volume.

Bunny Drop, for anyone who hasn’t read it yet, is the story of a single man who adopts his grandfather’s illegitimate child after he passes away. Daikichi, a salaryman who works in sales at a small company, now has the responsibility of taking care of this child, Rin. The entire process isn’t trivialized – we see Daikichi go through the steps of getting Rin signed up for schools, getting her a desk, going shopping for her, and all the while stepping down from a much busier position at work to a lower paying job that gives him more freedom so that he can make sure to pick up Rin from school and be there for her. Bunny Drop has its funny moments, but they are more subtle, and more gentle than the similar Yotsuba&!.

Daikichi also attempts to discover who Rin’s birth mother is, and finds out piece by piece who she is, and arranges a meeting with her to discuss Rin’s future. Subsequent meetings help delve into Rin’s life before she was adopted, and this interaction seems to add a certain weightiness to the entire book. While it would seem natural to heap anger and blame on Rin’s mother for abandoning her child, the story is much more complex. Unita does not let her story become so simple as to allow readers to heedlessly take sides –like real life, both sides have their own stories.

Unita seems determined to create a cast of memorable, true to life characters, and has done really well with Bunny Drop. We get to see Daikichi’s co-workers and the other single mom who’s son hangs out with Rin quite a bit. We see Daikichi deal with Rin’s birth mother, and the advances of a manipulative newbie at his workplace. The whole story is so… complete that it is hard to remember  at times that Rin and Daikichi are not real people.

Another interesting thing about Bunny Drop is the unconventional art style. Unita uses a light hand when illustrating, and most panels are devoid of any shading or shadow – instead, she uses textures and screen tone in forms, which gives the art a very unique look compared to most shojo or josei manga. This doesn’t make the book look unprofessional or poorly illustrated – in fact, it is quite the opposite. Bunny Drop looks beautiful, and definitely has a distinctive style virtually unmatched in Japanese comics.

I have heard things are about to drastically change for this series, so I hope that further volumes retain the simple charm of the first three volumes. Bunny Drop, so far, is an emotionally honest comic that looks at the challenges and rewards of adoption and parenthood – I highly recommend these first three volumes. They are a refreshing change of pace from super powers and ninja tabi.

Manga Widget Investigates: Oishii Kankei

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One of the series I’ve really been enjoying lately is DMP’s Itazura na Kiss, which is one of the manga I associate with the beginning of shojo as we know it in the USA. The series, although only recently licensed for release, has flavored and influenced multiple series released in the US, and forms part of a background of almost “required reading” if you are interested in the progression of shojo as a genre. It also happens to be a wonderful series, so it isn’t a drag or a purely academic read either.

One of the things that sets Itazura na Kiss apart from most shojo that is being published currently is its art style, which some might say is dated or old-fashioned. The art is fully set in the 1990′s, with all of its clothing and hair trends, but it also has a sort of angular quality that looks very different from something like, say Fruits Basket. While some readers dislike this style, I find it quite attractive. 1990′s manga like Itazura na Kiss, and Boys Over Flowers are some of my favorite series; it comes as no surprise then that I’m interested in another 90′s manga – Oishii Kankei (A Delicious Relationship) written by Satoru Makimura and originally published in Shueisha‘s Young You anthology. The series is 16 volumes long, and began its run in 1993.

Oishii Kankei is a story about a college age woman who loves gourmet food named Fujiwara Momoe. Her father, a wealthy businessman, loves to indulge his tastes for classy cooking, and she has spent her entire life eating the most delectable meals prepared by the best chefs in Japan. On the day of the celebration of Fujiwara’s graduation, her father dies of a heart attack, presumably due to his overeating. In one moment, Fujiwara’s life is forever changed. Now she and her mother are alone, and must now make a living. Fujiwara manages to walk into a small French restaurant and impress the manager and head chef, Oda-san, to hire her.

This is, just like Itazura na Kiss, a shojo tale of grumpy, handsome love interest vs. spunky, relentless lead, but it is complicated and embellished with food and cooking. I’m not shy about asking for cooking manga, and the list of cooking manga we have licensed in English is woefully short. To take cooking and add the irresistible strengths of Itazura na Kiss just seems like a winning combination to me.

The rest of the world seems to agree. Oishii Kankei has been made into an 11-part drama show as well as a 20-part Taiwanese drama titled Sweet Relationship which ran from Fall 2007 to Winter 2008.

Of particular note, Satoru Makimura is an author we haven’t seen anything from in the US, but she produces some seemingly spectacular dance, clothing, and sport-related josei and shojo manga. She made her debut in 1973 with “Shiroi Tsuioku,” and her latest series, Real Clothes, serialized in YOU, has made it to the BookScan comic lists for Japan on multiple occasions.

Do I think that Oishii Kankei is a good license? Probably not. The series’ “outdated” artwork is probably a limiting factor for its publication because of the tastes of the current US manga reading population, but that doesn’t make it any less wonderful. Certainly though, it is a possible license – books like Boys over Flowers and Oishinbo have been published, so it isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Regardless of discussions of financial viability though, I can’t think of a series that meets more of my “squee” criteria besides perhaps The Drops of God (coming soon from Vertical Inc.!!!) so I guess a guy can dream.

Review: All My Darling Daughters

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Let’s face it – every single person reading this review right now has seen a sitcom. These shows are a pervasive part of TV culture in the United States, and the reason that they do well is because they are very easy to relate to. But sitcoms come and go. There are only a few names that stick out when I think about sticoms, because the shows are a dime a dozen. Sitcom pitches happen each season, and only a few manage to make it. The reason for this is that it takes a special type of writer to understand what makes a sitcom tick. There have to be plenty of zingy one-liners, sure. But what makes a sitcom a powerful show as opposed to a string of laugh tracks is its human interactions and family dynamics.

I would like to say that the reason why All My Darling Daughters by Fumi Yoshinaga is so wonderful is due to its strength in these areas. It does have zing, it does have great interactions and family dynamics. But unlike most sitcoms, it has a depth and persuasive tone that cannot be expressed by any “awwww” soundbite.

All My Darling Daughters is a collection of five separate, yet connected stories. The center of the web is Yukiko, a headstrong business woman in her late 20s who lives with her mother, Mari. When her mother announces that she is getting married to an aspiring actor younger than Yukiko she met at a host club, Yukiko goes ballistic. She has never had to fight for her mother’s attention before, and now, this interference separates her and makes her feel alone. The two fight. Any reader could expect there to be a reconciliation, and there is, but it is certainly a Yoshinaga one; a wordless panel, daughter sobbing, slouched, her mother protecting, loving, caring, leaning on her daughter’s back.

The strength of this collection does not waver in the second story, although it is quite a bit more sordid than the first tale. I have seen other reviewers say that this was a weak part of the book, but I disagree. Although the story definitely wouldn’t make daytime television, it crafted a relationship so bizarre and twisted that the, should I say, heartwarming ending was a real surprise.

The powers of All My Darling Daughters reach their crescendo in the third act, which has two halves. The story of a girl looking into arranged marriage is not a usual sort of fiction we generally get from manga, but Yoshinaga is adept at developing relationships, and gives us an interesting look into the world of arranged marriage in Japan. It is a testament to her skills as a writer that she is able to do so much in so little time. She gives two people a scant 11 pages, and you can feel a sense of tension and hopefulness that ultimately is betrayed by one of the most poignant and true-to-life statements I think I have ever read in a comic book.

The other stories in this collection backtrack to our Yukiko’s past, detailing the lives of two of her friends in school, and her relationship with her grandmother. Each story is thoughtful, well developed, and a joy to read, but neither reaches the level of the third act.

Viz Media has given All My Darling Daughters an excellent release. The Signature line, with its colored page inserts and larger page size, is an excellent format for the book. More importantly, stories like those found in All My Darling Daughters are not necessarily money-makers, and I am glad to see Viz take a chance with it.

As a collection, I would have been pleased with any one of the five stories presented in All My Darling Daughters. Together, they have made All My Darling Daughters one of the better short story collections I’ve seen published in the United States. The book has the best of what makes sitcom television entertaining, with a healthy dash of strong women, developing characters, and uncommon settings for good measure. And, unlike any sitcom, there are no laugh tracks here. There are no “awwws,” no measured pieces of comedy or forced gags. Just intelligent, well illustrated storytelling. All My Darling Daughters was a true pleasure to read, and reinforces my belief that Fumi Yoshinaga is one of the best living comics writers of our time.