midyear blotting
Ping Kuo
materials.
1. 20th Century Boys
2. Angel Heart
3. Historie
4. Mahou Sensei Negima
5. Pluto
6. Detective School Q
7. Air Gear
8. Gunnm Last Order
9. Ryoko's Case Files
10. Tenjoh Tenge
KareKano and Katsu drop out because they are finished, Ryoko and Pluto
are the new entries, while Gunnm drop 5 spots because book #7 is
dragging,
want to read
Cross Game
Shin Petshop of Horror
Yotsubato
Sakura Wars
Rose Hip Zero
Birdy the Mighty
I am pretty sure the first three titles have a good chance to break into
my top 10.
Best new title
Tsukumo nemuru Shizume
anybody know if there is an English right for Historie? after Me and
Devil's Blue was claimed it is probably the best title that does not
have an English right. this bring me back on the previous thread of why
there are no English baseball manga titles, it is about people's reading
habit, or to be more precise, culture difference in treating
comic/manga, in Japan, cooking, mystery, and sports are popular among
the adult even in "non-manga" entertainment fields such as books and TV,
etc, which is why manga also reflect that trend, in America, while those
three fields are also popular among the adults, the American publishers
do not believe they will be popular among the younger generations, which
is why they keep pushing sci-fi fantasy actions romance, etc. whether
that thinking is correct or not is a separate matter, this all go back
to the thinking that manga==comic, comic is only for kids, kids won't be
mature enough for adult interests, etc. what they miss is that manga is
so popular in the first place in such a short time because they treat
kids with respect for their intelligence, instead of thinking they are
too dumb or narrow minded to appreciate them, manga is willing to let
them experience much wilder, non-insulated matters, or on the flip side,
manga does not limit itself to only targeting teenage boys, manga is
literally for all ages and all interests, and the subject matters of
manga is an accurate reflection of the (Japanese) society interests,
while comic is not.
yes, I blame this all on Disney :)
quick browse off bookstore
Suzuka #1-2
artwork average
character average
story average
a very "average" harem fan service romance comedy, every single story
devices and characters are stock off the shelf. in fact, the only
reason I will put it ahead of other such titles like Ai Yori Aoshi or
Ichigo 100% is one simply reason, the main character and the girl of
destiny is not obnoxious and down right unlikable, which, I guess, is
all you can ask for when you read this kind of titles, anything else on
top of that is a bonus. I would say it is about the same level of
excellence as Kagetora and Pastel, a tab below Open Sesame, and a way
below Love Hina and Negima, no, I am not sure if I want to read it in
depth. may be a couple of more volumes in browsing will make up my mind.
Follow up
Twin Spica #1-2
a detail read at home does not change my initial impression, nice
characters and story, steady and consistent artwork, could use some pick
up and refinement on character design, but I guess that kind of style
and story telling would be a comfort for people who like series such as
YKK, recommended.
PS
the HK Initial D live action movie is showing this month, while I would
like to see it, I don't really much care for the main casting, and I do
not have too much confidence on the racing part, either. (knowing HK
style, there will be a lot of speed up footages, camera tricks, etc.)
it will probably be on sale for $1.50 as pirate in China within a month
is my guess.
PSS
google search on sporting comic strip got me
http://www.askart.com/interest/topcartoon_a.asp
and many different non-super hero comics, but most before 1960, with the
before mention Billy De Beck's Barney Google sport strip, and Vic
Forsythe on boxing.
bobbie sellers
big snip of interesting material
> google search on sporting comic strip got me
>
> http://www.askart.com/interest/topcartoon_a.asp
>
> and many different non-super hero comics, but most before 1960, with the
> before mention Billy De Beck's Barney Google sport strip, and Vic
> Forsythe on boxing.
I had nearly forgotten Barney Google, he was a horse racer and his horse
was named Sparkplug(plug was a common term for a horse). There was even
a popular song about "Barney Google with the goo-goo-googley eyes". The
strip turned into more of a comic with rustic(hillbilly) characters who
displaced Barney, who with Sparkplug would occasionally visit and raise
the tone of the strip. Read this in Puck the Comic Weekly for many years,
If I remember properly the characters were Ma and Pa Smif(smith) who
was a moonshiner worried slightly about revenue agents (agents of the
alcohol and tax agency) and his hidden "still" (illicit alcohol distillery)
hidden in the deep woods around his home. Both Ma and Pa were tough
characters who were survivors which is why Barney would come running back
to the place when his creditors were pressing.
They may have had a daughter as well whom Barney was interested in.
They were drawn in what might be termed early super-deformed style but
both Barney and Pa were drawn as short and Ma was shown as much larger,
Ma was also willing to resort to violence to deal with Pa's problems
and seemed to be forever willing to bounce a cast iron skillet (frying
pan) "offen Pa's punkin' head". This was before domestic violence was
thought of as a problem.
later
bliss -- C O C O A Powered... (at california dot com)
--
bobbie sellers - a retired nurse in San Francisco
"It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.
It is by the beans of cocoa that the thoughts acquire speed,
the thighs acquire girth, the girth become a warning.
It is by theobromine alone I set my mind in motion."
--from Someone else's Dune spoof ripped to my taste.
Miles Bader
BTW, I think the next volume comes out in ... 4 days!
-miles
--
Yo mama's so fat when she gets on an elevator it HAS to go down.
Captain Nerd
"bobbie sellers" <bli...@SPAMcalifornia.com> wrote:
You're thinking of "Snuffy Smif" who was Barney's cousin. Many
papers printed the whole name as "Snuffy Smif with Barney Google".
Being the son of mountain folk (my dad was a coal miner) and raised
in a small Appalachian town, I kind of enjoyed the strip when I was
young. It got pretty formulaic after a while, though. Interestingly
the artist who took over in the 40's I believe kept going until he
passed away a couple of years ago. He was an assistant to the
creator and took over when he died.
Cap.
--
Since 1989, recycling old jokes, cliches, and bad puns, one Usenet
post at a time!
Operation: Nerdwatch http://www.nerdwatch.com
Only email with "TO_CAP" somewhere in the subject has a chance of being read
Ping Kuo
Miles Bader <mi...@gnu.org> wrote:
> > 1. 20th Century Boys
> BTW, I think the next volume comes out in ... 4 days!
I expect by next year FSS will either take back my first place or at
least push 20cbs, which with this coming story arc is really sink or
swim time for Urasawa, I mean, there is no more dragging arc available
for him, right? fail or success, either way it would be spectacular,
story got to move forward after they explain the past of "friend" coming
to be. and of course, the biggest actor/actress that hasn't taken the
stage is Kana's mom.
Rob Maxwell
"Ping Kuo" <removeantispam*pk...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:removeantispam*pkuo-07E917.1...@news1.west.earthlink.net...
>
> anybody know if there is an English right for Historie?
None known at the moment.
after Me and
> Devil's Blue was claimed it is probably the best title that does not
> have an English right. this bring me back on the previous thread of why
> there are no English baseball manga titles, it is about people's reading
> habit, or to be more precise, culture difference in treating
> comic/manga, in Japan, cooking, mystery, and sports are popular among
> the adult even in "non-manga" entertainment fields such as books and TV,
> etc, which is why manga also reflect that trend, in America, while those
> three fields are also popular among the adults, the American publishers
> do not believe they will be popular among the younger generations, which
> is why they keep pushing sci-fi fantasy actions romance, etc. whether
> that thinking is correct or not is a separate matter, this all go back
> to the thinking that manga==comic, comic is only for kids,
American comics are for adults. The general public, the police/courts, and
the media don't realize this but that's the reality. Kids have not been able
to afford amecomi for well over a decade. Young Sunday is \280 while Batman
is $2.25 (1 chapter/24 color pages). Less popular stories are $2.95 each. It
can cost $30.00 a week to buy American comics.
Young Sunday (with all color pages) would cost $30-35.00 each week. Paying
\300-400 for 11 stories with 4 good and 7 bad is still 4 good for \300-400.
On the other hand, $30-35 is too much to pay for 4 good and 7 bad so, they
sell each story separately and stay with "safe" stories that should sell
(shonen fighting [amecomi super-heroes] and ecchi).
We do have a Shonen Jump (USA) "phonebook" for $5.95 but that is basically
all manga that is already popular on American TV as anime.
kids won't be
> mature enough for adult interests, etc. what they miss is that manga is
> so popular in the first place in such a short time because they treat
> kids with respect for their intelligence, instead of thinking they are
> too dumb or narrow minded to appreciate them, manga is willing to let
> them experience much wilder, non-insulated matters, or on the flip side,
> manga does not limit itself to only targeting teenage boys,
Teenage boys and young adults are nearly all of the amecomi market. Girls
will buy shoujo English manga collections but never really buy amecomi now
or before. As far as children go, daddy has to buy one or two kiddy comics
(Cartoon Network) for them so they can imitate daddy.
manga is
> literally for all ages and all interests, and the subject matters of
> manga is an accurate reflection of the (Japanese) society interests,
> while comic is not.
>
> yes, I blame this all on Disney :)
>
> quick browse off bookstore
>
> Suzuka #1-2
>
> artwork average
> character average
> story average
>
> a very "average" harem fan service romance comedy,
It has harem? Fan service? SOLD!
Plot, characterization? What are those?. :)
Seriously, it would sell untranslated in America, even to people who can't
read it. (That is another thing about amecomi: good art sells more than good
story.)
>
> PSS
>
> google search on sporting comic strip got me
>
> http://www.askart.com/interest/topcartoon_a.asp
>
> and many different non-super hero comics, but most before 1960, with the
> before mention Billy De Beck's Barney Google sport strip, and Vic
> Forsythe on boxing.
This is why you don't see baseball comics/manga in the US. There is no
history of sales for sports comics plus comics are too expensive to make to
experiment with new genre. Plus, baseball is not cool because it's too slow
and little actually happens at any given moment. Now, basketball is cool,
everyone can easily play and the pro games are full of action and much
shorter in time. Even American football which stops after every play,
quickly lines up for another play in less than a minute whereas baseball can
be just two men playing catch for several minutes while 7 guys stand around
doing nothing while waiting on one guy to hit one of the pitches.
(Personally, I prefer association football [soccer], but that's the general
teenage impression of sports. Soccer is not popular either because although,
there is a lot of action, there is little scoring [and sometimes none].)
-Rob
Miles Bader
> Kids have not been able
> to afford amecomi for well over a decade. Young Sunday is \280 while Batman
> is $2.25 (1 chapter/24 color pages). Less popular stories are $2.95 each. It
> can cost $30.00 a week to buy American comics.
Er, you don't have to buy 12 comic books a week to be a comic reader!
[When I was a little kid my weekly allowance was 25 cents (!). I spent
15 cents on a single comic book and 10 cents on candy; it was the high
point of my week (and I accumulated a massive collection of comics this way).
Man my parents were cheap...]
-Miles
--
x
y
Z!
Ping Kuo
"Rob Maxwell" <robu...@excite.com> wrote:
> "Ping Kuo" <removeantispam*pk...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:removeantispam*pkuo-07E917.1...@news1.west.earthlink.net...
> > to the thinking that manga==comic, comic is only for kids,
> American comics are for adults. The general public, the police/courts, and
> the media don't realize this but that's the reality. Kids have not been able
> to afford amecomi for well over a decade. Young Sunday is \280 while Batman
> is $2.25 (1 chapter/24 color pages). Less popular stories are $2.95 each. It
> can cost $30.00 a week to buy American comics.
I think you seriously underestimate the indulgence of parents toward
their kids, it is not like kids don't buy comic then suddenly when they
turn into young adults then start buying comic enmass.
the reasons comic suffer a decline in the recent years is also why manga
suffer the same fate in Japan, computer, internet and video games, much
more competitions for kids/people's interests.
> sell each story separately and stay with "safe" stories that should sell
> (shonen fighting [amecomi super-heroes] and ecchi).
or my "B & B" theory, of blood and boobs, sex and violence always sell,
not just in comic or America, pretty much universal.
> > manga does not limit itself to only targeting teenage boys,
> Teenage boys and young adults are nearly all of the amecomi market. Girls
> will buy shoujo English manga collections but never really buy amecomi now
> or before. As far as children go, daddy has to buy one or two kiddy comics
> (Cartoon Network) for them so they can imitate daddy.
this is the reason translated manga pretty much take over the GN market
share in US, the extra audiences are from the female side and the people
who frequent regular bookstores but never comic shops. and why all the
previous polls done by market research are all wrong, because they only
did their survey in comic-con/shop/mag, not the general public.
> > manga is
> > literally for all ages and all interests, and the subject matters of
> > manga is an accurate reflection of the (Japanese) society interests,
> > while comic is not.
btw, the 2 more ineresting manga I had ever seen, one is about Japanese
salarymen working in Antarctica, another is about the business of
runnning a pawnshop.
> > Suzuka #1-2
> > a very "average" harem fan service romance comedy,
> It has harem? Fan service? SOLD!
> Plot, characterization? What are those?. :)
> Seriously, it would sell untranslated in America, even to people who can't
> read it. (That is another thing about amecomi: good art sells more than good
> story.)
I am not against harem in general, as long as the characters are
likeable and the arts are good. I can overlook those two factors in
other kind of manga if the story is good. but in harem these 2 factors
are almost always a must. harem is good when you just want to pass the
time, when I read harem I allow myself more tolerance for "dumb"
storyline than usual.
> > http://www.askart.com/interest/topcartoon_a.asp
> > and many different non-super hero comics, but most before 1960, with the
> > before mention Billy De Beck's Barney Google sport strip, and Vic
> > Forsythe on boxing.
> This is why you don't see baseball comics/manga in the US. There is no
> history of sales for sports comics plus comics are too expensive to make to
I did some more digging with google. and there is a "PlayBall, historic
baseball cartoons from 1945~1965" exhibition currently going on Cartoon
Art Museum in San Francisco,
http://www.cartoonart.org/index.html
authors listed included Willard Mullin, Regmard Marsh, Karl Hubenthal,
Burris Jenkins, and Lou Darvas. so I guess baseball comic was actually
pretty popular for a while, however, it, like all other comic subjects,
fall off the face of earth around 1960's.
gee, I wonder what happen in US during the 60's? ^^;
> experiment with new genre. Plus, baseball is not cool because it's too slow
> and little actually happens at any given moment. Now, basketball is cool,
> everyone can easily play and the pro games are full of action and much
> shorter in time. Even American football which stops after every play,
> quickly lines up for another play in less than a minute whereas baseball can
> be just two men playing catch for several minutes while 7 guys stand around
> doing nothing while waiting on one guy to hit one of the pitches.
baseball is popular from another era, when there is only ONE major
dominating sports and people move in a much slower pace than today's
modern society, (when 31/2 hrs sports events and 21/2 hrs movie are the
norm.) today with the advance of technology people moving in a much
quicker pace and there is no longer patience for slower game like
baseball, people demand 21/2 hrs game and 90mins movie, one famous
newspaper writer, (forgot who), says baseball is for people w/ nothing
to do, to kill time, and that is something plently available before but
no longer the case today.
or what I said before, people who don't like baseball is because it is
slow, and people who like basebal is because, well, it is slow.
I personally don't perfer one over another, but I increasingly find
myself don't bother with a NBA game until the last 2 minutes of a game,
(all the 46 mins before is pretty much a waste of time.) while America
football is exciting, you really can not key up for one game for an
entire week, and most time unless the score is close, the last few
minutes of the game is meaningless, baseball is the only one that I can
follow everyday, becasue there is always another new game the second
day, and baseball is also the only game that lopside scores won't kill a
game midway through, because TIME IS MEANINGLESS IN BASEBALL. Japanese
find virute in baseball from the one on one duel between the pitcher and
the hitter, which closely resonate with their samurai spirit.
> (Personally, I prefer association football [soccer], but that's the general
> teenage impression of sports. Soccer is not popular either because although,
> there is a lot of action, there is little scoring [and sometimes none].)
the only soccer I follow are the worldcup, I find the club games pretty
meaningless, in fact, I think hocky is more interesting than soccer
because it is similiar but faster.
Rob Maxwell
> In article <11ckp0f...@news.supernews.com>,
> "Rob Maxwell" <robu...@excite.com> wrote:
>
>> "Ping Kuo" <removeantispam*pk...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>> news:removeantispam*pkuo-07E917.1...@news1.west.earthlink.net...
>
>> > to the thinking that manga==comic, comic is only for kids,
>
>> American comics are for adults. The general public, the police/courts,
>> and
>> the media don't realize this but that's the reality. Kids have not been
>> able
>> to afford amecomi for well over a decade. Young Sunday is \280 while
>> Batman
>> is $2.25 (1 chapter/24 color pages). Less popular stories are $2.95 each.
>> It
>> can cost $30.00 a week to buy American comics.
>
> I think you seriously underestimate the indulgence of parents toward
> their kids, it is not like kids don't buy comic then suddenly when they
> turn into young adults then start buying comic enmass.
Actually, that is close to the truth. The average customer has been buying
for years and started after some event. Major events like the death of
Superman bring in people looking to make a profit and most of them get
burned and slowly disappear but some of them get hooked and keep buying
comics for years afterwards. The release of yet another comic book movie
brings some of the movie audience in to read the comics the movie came from
and they get hooked and start buying other comics as well.
It has been quite a long time since a kid with a limited allowance could buy
a handful of books every week and just keep on going through the many years
afterwards. I admit that I started in the 1970s when they had just raised
the price to $0.25 each and I could buy as many comics that looked
interesting to me as I wanted and still have money left over from a $5.00 a
week allowance and from there I just kept on going and found myself spending
$30.00 a week for that weekly batch of interesting comics that once cost me
$2.50. (I was paying $3 each for 1-2 chapter manga translations, too.)
>
> the reasons comic suffer a decline in the recent years is also why manga
> suffer the same fate in Japan, computer, internet and video games, much
> more competitions for kids/people's interests.
>
>> sell each story separately and stay with "safe" stories that should sell
>> (shonen fighting [amecomi super-heroes] and ecchi).
>
> or my "B & B" theory, of blood and boobs, sex and violence always sell,
> not just in comic or America, pretty much universal.
This is true.
>
>> > manga does not limit itself to only targeting teenage boys,
>
>> Teenage boys and young adults are nearly all of the amecomi market. Girls
>> will buy shoujo English manga collections but never really buy amecomi
>> now
>> or before. As far as children go, daddy has to buy one or two kiddy
>> comics
>> (Cartoon Network) for them so they can imitate daddy.
>
> this is the reason translated manga pretty much take over the GN market
> share in US, the extra audiences are from the female side and the people
> who frequent regular bookstores but never comic shops. and why all the
> previous polls done by market research are all wrong, because they only
> did their survey in comic-con/shop/mag, not the general public.
>
Even so, the bookstore people do know what their customers are buying (both
regular books and manga). To make matters worse for new story topics,
overkill has reached the American manga market after too many lesser
quality/interesting stories were bought by the American manga publishers
causing them to start losing money on their bad buys which in turn is making
them less willing to take risks.
>> > manga is
>> > literally for all ages and all interests, and the subject matters of
>> > manga is an accurate reflection of the (Japanese) society interests,
>> > while comic is not.
>
> btw, the 2 more ineresting manga I had ever seen, one is about Japanese
> salarymen working in Antarctica, another is about the business of
> runnning a pawnshop.
Hmm, I doubt they will cross the Pacific. (Neither mahou shoujo nor B&B.)
>
>> > Suzuka #1-2
>> > a very "average" harem fan service romance comedy,
>
>> It has harem? Fan service? SOLD!
>> Plot, characterization? What are those?. :)
>> Seriously, it would sell untranslated in America, even to people who
>> can't
>> read it. (That is another thing about amecomi: good art sells more than
>> good
>> story.)
>
> I am not against harem in general, as long as the characters are
> likeable and the arts are good. I can overlook those two factors in
> other kind of manga if the story is good. but in harem these 2 factors
> are almost always a must. harem is good when you just want to pass the
> time, when I read harem I allow myself more tolerance for "dumb"
> storyline than usual.
I just recently found two interesting fan service manga...
Chokotto Sister - comedy - A little boy prays for a little sister and a
decade later, Santa delivers her as a Christmas present. Although she has a
12 year old body, she has been alive for 12 years and has no common street
smarts. Instead she came with a "chokotto" (Cliff notes, hand book, manual)
on how to be a good younger sister to an older brother. Although the guide
book is helpful, it's a little out of date and lacking life experience, she
misinterprets some of what it says, too. For example, the guide book says
that older brothers like the 'girl naked except for an apron serving a meal'
fantasy so, the next morning she serves him breakfast wearing nothing except
an apron, not realizing that the girl friend is supposed to do that and not
his little sister. :)
The fan service is limited to just a few pages of the chapter but is very
well drawn. Her humorous cluelessness is what sets it apart from the usual
dumb fan service manga. Also, he lives in a boarding house and it appears
some of the Maison Ikkoku type residents live there including the new,
easily overwhelmed young lady manager and the half dressed drunken woman.
Mahou Shoujo Neko X - ecchi drama - In an alternate reality Tokyo, when a
pet has babies, this is a rare chance that one of the newborns with suddenly
evolve into a human-like version of the animal. After the mother nurses it,
humans have to look after it and raise it. Although these 'human animals'
walk, talk, and basically look human except for animal ears and tails, they
are still treated as pets in this world. Recently, some of these human pets
have started evolving a second time and gain special powers and are becoming
a threat to the 'real' humans. The star catgirl is one of them and hear job
becomes to deal with this problem thereby providing some very unusual in a
heavy fan service story: a plot. :)
The fan service art is moderate although the panties/bloomers are too tight
but are well drawn and over detailed and appears often in the chapter in
between the plot parts. The boy is jerk (like Rozen Maiden) and hentai but
as a good point does not exploit his well drawn catgirl (in fact, he pushes
her away) or his upfront bigger sister that has a shota complex for him (he
either tolerates her aggressive flirting or she is just too strong to stop).
As part of their mission he and the catgirl are given a new place to stay
together as they hunt down the bad juujin (beast-men).
>
>> > http://www.askart.com/interest/topcartoon_a.asp
>> > and many different non-super hero comics, but most before 1960, with
>> > the
>> > before mention Billy De Beck's Barney Google sport strip, and Vic
>> > Forsythe on boxing.
>
>> This is why you don't see baseball comics/manga in the US. There is no
>> history of sales for sports comics plus comics are too expensive to make
>> to
>
> I did some more digging with google. and there is a "PlayBall, historic
> baseball cartoons from 1945~1965" exhibition currently going on Cartoon
> Art Museum in San Francisco,
>
> http://www.cartoonart.org/index.html
>
> authors listed included Willard Mullin, Regmard Marsh, Karl Hubenthal,
> Burris Jenkins, and Lou Darvas. so I guess baseball comic was actually
> pretty popular for a while, however, it, like all other comic subjects,
> fall off the face of earth around 1960's.
>
> gee, I wonder what happen in US during the 60's? ^^;
The massive post-war audience of the 1940s grew up and moved on, among other
things. Actually, the 1960s saw the rebirth of a dying comic industry.
>
>> experiment with new genre. Plus, baseball is not cool because it's too
>> slow
>> and little actually happens at any given moment. Now, basketball is cool,
>> everyone can easily play and the pro games are full of action and much
>> shorter in time. Even American football which stops after every play,
>> quickly lines up for another play in less than a minute whereas baseball
>> can
>> be just two men playing catch for several minutes while 7 guys stand
>> around
>> doing nothing while waiting on one guy to hit one of the pitches.
>
> baseball is popular from another era, when there is only ONE major
> dominating sports and people move in a much slower pace than today's
> modern society, (when 31/2 hrs sports events and 21/2 hrs movie are the
> norm.) today with the advance of technology people moving in a much
> quicker pace and there is no longer patience for slower game like
> baseball, people demand 21/2 hrs game and 90mins movie, one famous
> newspaper writer, (forgot who), says baseball is for people w/ nothing
> to do, to kill time, and that is something plently available before but
> no longer the case today.
Well, back in the day, entertainment choices were limited to movie theaters,
radio, and baseball. (The other now popular American sports had not yet
found their fans.)
-Rob
Ping Kuo
"Rob Maxwell" <robu...@excite.com> wrote:
> "Ping Kuo" <removeantispam*pk...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:removeantispam*pkuo-BBA86B.2...@news1.west.earthlink.net...
> > In article <11ckp0f...@news.supernews.com>,
> > "Rob Maxwell" <robu...@excite.com> wrote:
> >> "Ping Kuo" <removeantispam*pk...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> >> news:removeantispam*pkuo-07E917.1...@news1.west.earthlink.net...
> > I think you seriously underestimate the indulgence of parents toward
> > their kids, it is not like kids don't buy comic then suddenly when they
> > turn into young adults then start buying comic enmass.
> Actually, that is close to the truth. The average customer has been buying
> for years and started after some event.
hmm, I was at SF's Kino this past weekend, (big mistake, 4th of July +
weekend + streetfair, one hr to get there, one hr to find parking. good
food, thought.) imagine my surprised in the Japanese manga section,
when all the people there are non-Japanese, a couple of conversation,
harrased mom "you are not buying all of them!?"
teenage son, carrying a stack of 10+ manga in his hand, "but mom! this
is the only place I can get them."
mom "but how are you going to carry them back?" (I suppose they are
from out of town.)
son "oh, that is no problem, I will put them in the suitcase."
notices the matter of money never come into discussion.
another one is from a group of three girls, a black girl is telling a
latino and white.
"this is a good one to learn kanji, let me check to see if they got
hirakana..."
I took a peek, and the manga she is carrying is not something popular,
but rather obscure shoujo fare.
time has changed indeed,
> Even so, the bookstore people do know what their customers are buying (both
> regular books and manga). To make matters worse for new story topics,
> overkill has reached the American manga market after too many lesser
> quality/interesting stories were bought by the American manga publishers
> causing them to start losing money on their bad buys which in turn is making
> them less willing to take risks.
this is the problem of chicken and eggs, etc, if you never give it a
try, how would you know it won't work? 5 years ago nobody believe tokyo
pop's GN format will work, either.
it really blow my mind when you realized that nobody got the right to
Master Keaton, Monster, 20cbs, and Pluto, I can understand the lack of
interest in Yawara and Happy, but...
> > btw, the 2 more ineresting manga I had ever seen, one is about Japanese
> > salarymen working in Antarctica, another is about the business of
> > runnning a pawnshop.
> Hmm, I doubt they will cross the Pacific. (Neither mahou shoujo nor B&B.)
niether do I, I am just pointing out the diversity of manga subjects,
salaryman manga will be one of the last subjects to get popular here,
may be after Golf and Mahjong.
> > I am not against harem in general, as long as the characters are
> > likeable and the arts are good. I can overlook those two factors in
> > other kind of manga if the story is good. but in harem these 2 factors
> > are almost always a must. harem is good when you just want to pass the
> > time, when I read harem I allow myself more tolerance for "dumb"
> > storyline than usual.
> I just recently found two interesting fan service manga...
> Chokotto Sister - comedy - A little boy prays for a little sister and a
> decade later, Santa delivers her as a Christmas present. Although she has a
> 12 year old body, she has been alive for 12 years and has no common street
> smarts. Instead she came with a "chokotto" (Cliff notes, hand book, manual)
> on how to be a good younger sister to an older brother. Although the guide
> book is helpful, it's a little out of date and lacking life experience, she
> misinterprets some of what it says, too. For example, the guide book says
> that older brothers like the 'girl naked except for an apron serving a meal'
> fantasy so, the next morning she serves him breakfast wearing nothing except
> an apron, not realizing that the girl friend is supposed to do that and not
> his little sister. :)
let me borrow one RAM's poster's favor word,
"creepy!" :)
my personal pet peeve, especially against harem, is the theme of the
destiny girl through no effort at all expanded by the jerk male lead,
land on his lap as a gift from god, I think it is much more satisfying
to read a story that the male lead try VERY HARD to win the heart of his
dream girl. A!MG and Video Girl Ai are 2 titles of that theme that got
other attributes which save them from my "junk" status, Ai Yori Aoshi
and Chobit can never get out of my dog house because of it. and this is
also why I think Maison is one of the better read.
the theme of "educating" a character from the beginning is also a common
one, and not just limit to animanga, there is pretty woman, educating
rito, and my fair lady from Hollywood, in Japan it started with tale of
Genji, then there is the Gainax's princess maker game series, (which
expanded with Asuka and Rei project of EVA.) when one of the hardest
ending is to raise your daughter so she will marry you! something to do
with the psychology of people getting "high" from total domination,
manipulation, and may be even lolita, and it is really quite beyond the
scope of this post and my ability of comprehension anyway.
> Mahou Shoujo Neko X - ecchi drama - In an alternate reality Tokyo, when a
> pet has babies, this is a rare chance that one of the newborns with suddenly
> evolve into a human-like version of the animal. After the mother nurses it,
> humans have to look after it and raise it. Although these 'human animals'
> walk, talk, and basically look human except for animal ears and tails, they
> are still treated as pets in this world. Recently, some of these human pets
> have started evolving a second time and gain special powers and are becoming
> a threat to the 'real' humans. The star catgirl is one of them and hear job
> becomes to deal with this problem thereby providing some very unusual in a
> heavy fan service story: a plot. :)
just 2 questions, one, is it like Hyper Police? and two, is the art
better than Hyper Police? that pretty much will tell me if I am
interested or not.
I do not have a neko mimi fetish, or bunny, megane, bloomer, and maid,
etc. if I really have one may be it is sailor fuku, but I am looking
forward to the chapter of Negima when Evangeline will be wearing a
swimsuit under a sailor fuku with megane and neko mimi together... ^^;
> > so I guess baseball comic was actually
> > pretty popular for a while, however, it, like all other comic subjects,
> > fall off the face of earth around 1960's.
> > gee, I wonder what happen in US during the 60's? ^^;
> The massive post-war audience of the 1940s grew up and moved on, among other
> things. Actually, the 1960s saw the rebirth of a dying comic industry.
I would have guessed Vietnam war, and the hippie/pot culture kill it, if
there is a rebirth of comic industry then only the super-hero got a
second chance, just about all other subjects died like a vampire with
stake driving through his heart.
Rob Maxwell
> In article <11cnf2q...@news.supernews.com>,
> "Rob Maxwell" <robu...@excite.com> wrote:
>
>> "Ping Kuo" <removeantispam*pk...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>> news:removeantispam*pkuo-BBA86B.2...@news1.west.earthlink.net...
>
Well, the male lead is not a jerk. He is a good person who simply got a
little sister dumped into his lap. He is even embarrassed by her erotic
idiocy and demands that she cover up. He is also appears to be attracted to
a young lady who works down the street from him, to the disappointment of
the new building manager.
I just read the 4th and 5th chapter, and the 4th had the first creepy fan
service that wasn't part of an idiot girl joke. :( Chapter 5 unveiled the
first nipples, fortunately of the adult manager and the drunk. So, if
blatant loli fan service offends, I would have to revoke my recommendation
after reading chapter 3 (it starts with chapter 0), even with the humor.
This does appear to be "borrowing" some of the neighbors from Maison Ikkoku.
On the other hand, the first meeting between the good boy and the new
manager was swiped start from Ai Yori Aoshi. (He helps her at the train
station the day before he meets her as his new building manager.)
>
>
>> Mahou Shoujo Neko X - ecchi drama - In an alternate reality Tokyo, when a
>> pet has babies, this is a rare chance that one of the newborns with
>> suddenly
>> evolve into a human-like version of the animal. After the mother nurses
>> it,
>> humans have to look after it and raise it. Although these 'human animals'
>> walk, talk, and basically look human except for animal ears and tails,
>> they
>> are still treated as pets in this world. Recently, some of these human
>> pets
>> have started evolving a second time and gain special powers and are
>> becoming
>> a threat to the 'real' humans. The star catgirl is one of them and hear
>> job
>> becomes to deal with this problem thereby providing some very unusual in
>> a
>> heavy fan service story: a plot. :)
>
> just 2 questions, one, is it like Hyper Police? and two, is the art
> better than Hyper Police? that pretty much will tell me if I am
> interested or not.
1) I have not read Hyper Police. Having just read the summary for HP, it
appears it is somewhat similar, although possibly much more ecchi. Humanity
is currently well, and there are no monsters but, the double evolved
beastmen will become a problem that ecchi-baka and the catgirl will have to
hunt down and deal with soon. (Plus, I have only read one translated
chapter.)
2) The art does appear to be better than the little HP art I could find.
They do not look they stepped out of CLAMP's MKR like the HP people do, but
rather the people and the backgrounds of MSNX look much more realistic.
3) This is not a harem comedy, in fact ecchi-baka and the catgirl move out
of the house and away from shota-oneesan.
4) The boy reminds me of the boy from early Rozen Maiden while the catgirl
looks like a 14-15 years old or just a short woman. In any case, he is not
happy being stuck with the family "pet".
>
> I do not have a neko mimi fetish, or bunny, megane, bloomer, and maid,
> etc. if I really have one may be it is sailor fuku, but I am looking
> forward to the chapter of Negima when Evangeline will be wearing a
> swimsuit under a sailor fuku with megane and neko mimi together... ^^;
Knowing her, it could happen. She loves to dress like an adorably cute 10
year old. (I guess to get her opponents off their guard.)
>
>> > so I guess baseball comic was actually
>> > pretty popular for a while, however, it, like all other comic subjects,
>> > fall off the face of earth around 1960's.
>> > gee, I wonder what happen in US during the 60's? ^^;
>
>> The massive post-war audience of the 1940s grew up and moved on, among
>> other
>> things. Actually, the 1960s saw the rebirth of a dying comic industry.
>
> I would have guessed Vietnam war, and the hippie/pot culture kill it, if
> there is a rebirth of comic industry then only the super-hero got a
> second chance, just about all other subjects died like a vampire with
> stake driving through his heart.
Yes, Super-Heroes came back around the early 1960s and saved the comic
industry. Prior to that, in the 1950s, comics tried to copy the sci-fi and
horror movies and that eventually got them into big trouble with the
government (too much violence and up-frontness), which in turn made mommy
and daddy (who bought the 1940s super-heroes) stop their kids from buying
comics, too.
-Rob
Ping Kuo
"Rob Maxwell" <robu...@excite.com> wrote:
> "Ping Kuo" <removeantispam*pk...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> news:removeantispam*pkuo-3B59AC.2...@news1.west.earthlink.net...
> > I do not have a neko mimi fetish, or bunny, megane, bloomer, and maid,
> > etc. if I really have one may be it is sailor fuku, but I am looking
> > forward to the chapter of Negima when Evangeline will be wearing a
> > swimsuit under a sailor fuku with megane and neko mimi together... ^^;
> Knowing her, it could happen. She loves to dress like an adorably cute 10
> year old. (I guess to get her opponents off their guard.)
umm, no, from reading the board discussion, it was a bet she is probably
gonna to lose.
NT 07/07 has some artdrawing of Emma, very nice, even if I don't have a
maid fetish, I might just check it out.
Widya Santoso
>In article <11cs9ad...@news.supernews.com>,
> "Rob Maxwell" <robu...@excite.com> wrote:
>> "Ping Kuo" <removeantispam*pk...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
>> news:removeantispam*pkuo-3B59AC.2...@news1.west.earthlink.net...
>> > I do not have a neko mimi fetish, or bunny, megane, bloomer, and maid,
>> > etc. if I really have one may be it is sailor fuku, but I am looking
>> > forward to the chapter of Negima when Evangeline will be wearing a
>> > swimsuit under a sailor fuku with megane and neko mimi together... ^^;
>> Knowing her, it could happen. She loves to dress like an adorably cute 10
>> year old. (I guess to get her opponents off their guard.)
>umm, no, from reading the board discussion, it was a bet she is probably
>gonna to lose.
Eva doesn't do anything unless it's a sure bet, or the odds are heavily in
her favour. UNLESS the wager is well worth it, and in this case, it's a
real plot turner.
In any case, in the two boards I frequent, the Negima! fan boys want Eva
to LOSE. DIRTY little minds!
>NT 07/07 has some artdrawing of Emma, very nice, even if I don't have a
>maid fetish, I might just check it out.
I hate it when people associate Emma with maid fetish. It is FAR BETTER
than that tag. I'm just perusing through volume 5, it's getting a little
melodramatic, but not as close as say one of those Harlequin romance
novels (or manga; I tried looking for those when I was in Tokyo last, but
couldn't find them. Now they're going to be published by Dark Horse.)
Oh, and the anime is pretty cool too, even if (I think) there is a gross
error in the OP with a train chuffing in the middle of London street
scene.
As always,
--
Widya Santoso wsan...@nyx.net +61 2 6288-0405
The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep
-- Stopping by woods on a Snowy Evening - Robert Frost
Ping Kuo
Widya Santoso <wsan...@nyx.net> wrote:
> Ping Kuo <removeantispam*pk...@earthlink.net> writes:
>
> >In article <11cs9ad...@news.supernews.com>,
> > "Rob Maxwell" <robu...@excite.com> wrote:
> >> "Ping Kuo" <removeantispam*pk...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
> >> news:removeantispam*pkuo-3B59AC.2...@news1.west.earthlink.net...
> >> > I do not have a neko mimi fetish, or bunny, megane, bloomer, and maid,
> >> > etc. if I really have one may be it is sailor fuku, but I am looking
> >> > forward to the chapter of Negima when Evangeline will be wearing a
> >> > swimsuit under a sailor fuku with megane and neko mimi together... ^^;
> >> Knowing her, it could happen. She loves to dress like an adorably cute 10
> >> year old. (I guess to get her opponents off their guard.)
> >umm, no, from reading the board discussion, it was a bet she is probably
> >gonna to lose.
> Eva doesn't do anything unless it's a sure bet, or the odds are heavily in
> her favour. UNLESS the wager is well worth it, and in this case, it's a
> real plot turner.
actually, more like teaser for what is to come, because the teacher who
knew and is going to tell Asuna is captured, and the Colonel who knew is
not gonna lose the bet, the last few fights is more like fan service
galore, which is why I think Eva will lose her bet and Negi will beat
the "nurse" by sneezing her clothes off.
> In any case, in the two boards I frequent, the Negima! fan boys want Eva
> to LOSE. DIRTY little minds!
ahmm, most pedophile are the DIRTY OLD MAN variety...
not that I don't want to see that image... so what does that make me? ^^;
> >NT 07/07 has some artdrawing of Emma, very nice, even if I don't have a
> >maid fetish, I might just check it out.
> I hate it when people associate Emma with maid fetish. It is FAR BETTER
> than that tag. I'm just perusing through volume 5, it's getting a little
of course it is better than things like "He is my master", etc. but you
have to acknowledge that it is popular right from the beginning, and
such a "quiet" story will even be made in the first place, is because of
maid fetish.
before I read Akamatsu's link I don't even know "Gothic Lolita" is a
valid search phrase, that magazines have been using it already, that
magazines exist soley to serve maid fetish, etc.
live and learn.
> Oh, and the anime is pretty cool too, even if (I think) there is a gross
> error in the OP with a train chuffing in the middle of London street
> scene.
at that era, cable car?
the synopsis I read fron NT had it ended last month, now I wonder if the
manga looks as good as the anime.
Widya Santoso
>In article <11209809...@irys.nyx.net>,
> Widya Santoso <wsan...@nyx.net> wrote:
>> Eva doesn't do anything unless it's a sure bet, or the odds are heavily in
>> her favour. UNLESS the wager is well worth it, and in this case, it's a
>> real plot turner.
>actually, more like teaser for what is to come, because the teacher who
>knew and is going to tell Asuna is captured, and the Colonel who knew is
>not gonna lose the bet, the last few fights is more like fan service
>galore, which is why I think Eva will lose her bet and Negi will beat
>the "nurse" by sneezing her clothes off.
I think they are sure things, I can't bet against that. Oh, and Takane
Goodman is an upperclass girl- that's the St. Ursula school fuku she's
wearing.
>> I hate it when people associate Emma with maid fetish. It is FAR BETTER
>> than that tag. I'm just perusing through volume 5, it's getting a little
>of course it is better than things like "He is my master", etc. but you
>have to acknowledge that it is popular right from the beginning, and
>such a "quiet" story will even be made in the first place, is because of
>maid fetish.
It doesn't help that it looks as if the artist (Kaori Mori) likes maid
costumes too! ?:-)
>before I read Akamatsu's link I don't even know "Gothic Lolita" is a
>valid search phrase, that magazines have been using it already, that
>magazines exist soley to serve maid fetish, etc.
Oh, the cosplay world? Yes, several of my friends are cosplayers, and
quite enamoured of Gothic Lolita fashion style, so I know a bit about it.
Gothic Lolita isn't exclusively maid costuming BTW, but that might be TMI.
BTW, I met a Emma cosplayer at Comiket last December. She was quite happy
someone recognised her.
>live and learn.
>> Oh, and the anime is pretty cool too, even if (I think) there is a gross
>> error in the OP with a train chuffing in the middle of London street
>> scene.
>at that era, cable car?
No, trains travelling through the streets. At that time, the only trains
were inter-city, so they would be travelling via their own channels, not
through the street.
>the synopsis I read fron NT had it ended last month, now I wonder if the
>manga looks as good as the anime.
The anime ended at volume three, and the manga looks like continuing past
volume 5. The manga looks a lot like Miyazaki's work on Nausicaa", the
penmanship simply glorious work.
Ping Kuo
Widya Santoso <wsan...@nyx.net> wrote:
> Ping Kuo <removeantispam*pk...@earthlink.net> writes:
> >In article <11209809...@irys.nyx.net>,
> > Widya Santoso <wsan...@nyx.net> wrote:
> It doesn't help that it looks as if the artist (Kaori Mori) likes maid
> costumes too! ?:-)
upon further review, the NT 07/05 issue's "How to Art" section is done
by Kaori Mori, (take me a while to connect the kanji and the English.
is that a pen name? very strange looking name indeed.)
the feature drawing, btw, are the front and back cover of book #5 with
Emma between the kitchen and stairway, and another picture of Emma
between a train station and the mansion.
> >> Oh, and the anime is pretty cool too, even if (I think) there is a gross
> >> error in the OP with a train chuffing in the middle of London street
> >> scene.
> >at that era, cable car?
> No, trains travelling through the streets. At that time, the only trains
> were inter-city, so they would be travelling via their own channels, not
> through the street.
the old England I am familiar with are the Sherlock Holmes and Jack the
Ripper era England, I guess at that time the main traffic on the street
are horse carriage and bicycle with gas street lighting, trains are only
in between stations from city to city, is that what you mean? I
probably have the cable car era confused with the time of H. Poirot
(1920~1940.)
> >the synopsis I read fron NT had it ended last month, now I wonder if the
> >manga looks as good as the anime.
so my statement should be, wonder if the art of anime is as nice as the
manga.
> The anime ended at volume three, and the manga looks like continuing past
> volume 5. The manga looks a lot like Miyazaki's work on Nausicaa", the
> penmanship simply glorious work.
now after spending some efforts reading the text, just like you say,
that she likes maid uniform, or rather, 19th century customs and
clothings, (during her student days as an architect.) and she did
consultes Miyazaki's artbook when doing her drawing, especially with
characters's standing postion in relationship with 3d space, first
disassemble then reassemble, etc.