manga and mono-oto, ne
Iain Sinclair
David Mou (dnab) writes:
>There are flames on r.a.m.?
Well, the more you post on alt.manga, the more room for flames there
will be on r.a.m. Maybe I should start posting a.m followups in
r.a.m, for the purposes of Attacked Mystification.
>And more over, AMG will have actual character developments, the
>kiseijus finds hamburgers more delicable than humans, Assembler 0X
>gets funny, Family From Hell gets counseling, Rally loses her virtue,
>and the entire Afternoon turns color.
The s/n ratio of Afternoon has remained constant ever since I've been
buying it (only since #4 1992). With the expansion, there is more
junk, but also more good stuff, and that's fine with me, since I never
got Morning Extra here anyway. :-) Trouble with the new Afternoon is
that you can't leaving it lying around the room like other manga mags,
unless you want to do yourself an injury.
The things you describe are possible, except for Kiseiju, all-color,
and 0X. :-) By Afternoon #6 I'll know whether Jigoku no Ie will last
past 3 volumes, but GONTA may not ever be capable of stretching a plot (ie.
undiluted sleaze) beyond that, even if half the artists represented
on your shelf can. :-)
According to Newtype, Kiseiju #6 was no.5 on the bestseller list. Are
those lists accurate at all?
>"Crampy Gals, and Other Feminine Anomalies"?
Gee, the exciting words I learn off you! I spotted "keiren" in OKB #29.
>And I guess they've HAD it as well. Studio Wave of 86-87 could turn
>trash into gold. Can't wait for the break-up of Studio Tron.
I dunno. I'd love to see what those ex-assistants can do once they
throw off the shackles of their current mangas. :-) But even their
current stuff "has it", or at least the art does... well, IMHO.
As for Studio Tron, is that Shiki Satoshi guy (who does RIOT, in
Newtype GENKi-R) related to them? Looks like it.. either them,
or Studio Loud.
>>Nah, just say M*rv*l. :-) Oh well, Marvel and DC are not even worth
>>bashing.
Just real briefly on this note, since I doubt that anyone here is
that interested, but there's a new Capcom game in our arcades which
is based on a Western comic (!!) called Cadillacs and Dinosaurs.
The manga industry must be in REAL bad shape if video game designers
have run out of Japanese things to plagiarise. (All the fighting
games I've seen, without exception, have taken at least one character
from fighting/sporting/MA mangas. I saw at least 3 completely
different games based on Ashita no Joe, too.)
>I need one more X in order to lock into Kamui. That'll give me an
>excuse to not write anything til, say, mid-August.
Are you really gonna write a doujinshi for X?! Geez, you must be
very bored. :-) I didn't think X was something that was just
crying out for a doujinshi to be written about it... X itself seems
to do well at 'drawing visual inspiration' from numerous mangas,
though it could be my imagination. There'll probably be dozens
of X doujinshi at the next comiket, anyway.
>>Hey, I usually don't go to bed until 4 am. :-)
>
>Thanks to Daylight Saving Time, I've been able to see the sunrise for
>the past week before going to bed. M&N has seriously disrupted my
>biology.
I once noticed Tonghyun logged on at 4:30am. It wasn't any real mystery
as to what he was up to, and sure enough, an article appeared minutes
later on alt.manga. :-)
>Posters for dojinshis. Now there's an idea.
!!
You know, a manga about how much we argued over K1BS would probably
end up being longer than K1BS itself. But don't worry, if you disown
K1BS, it may boost sales. If I disown it, I KNOW it will boost sales.
It's so much fun to look through the venice ftp logs and see how
many people stopped downloading AMgundam after seeing #1. :-)
--
Iain Sinclair axo...@socs.uts.edu.au
Kunio Muto
In article <1q8q19$e...@syzygy.socs.uts.EDU.AU>
axo...@socs.uts.EDU.AU writes:
>>
>> According to Newtype, Kiseiju #6 was no.5 on the bestseller list. Are
>> those lists accurate at all?
>>
The should be.... In some week of December, Gun Smith Cats vol.1 was
the best seller of the week. I think it sold out in a day. I remember,
since I wasn't able to get it the next day when I realized I forgot to
buy it... Well, I guess that happened because you had all those
die-hard Sonoda fans who wanted to read the Tankoubon as soon as
possible... So there is no surprise that Kiseiju became no.5 of a
bestseller list..
BTW, Young Magazine this week doesn't have Emblem Take 2.... the guy's
on vacation to prepare for his new work... which makes things a little
boring in YM.... I think it's comoing back on the 28th.... which means
I have to wait another 2 weeks.... what a bummer...
The kunedog (s924...@sfc.keio.ac.jp)
Sophomore, Keio Univ. SFC.
Faculty of Policy Management
Tohsupo Rules! (It really does)
david mou
>Well, the more you post on alt.manga, the more room for flames there
>will be on r.a.m. Maybe I should start posting a.m followups in
>r.a.m, for the purposes of Attacked Mystification.
Noise Proliferation may be punishable by death, or worse. Besides, you're
the one who said a.m. posts are best suited for a.m., or something like that.
>The s/n ratio of Afternoon has remained constant ever since I've been
>buying it (only since #4 1992). With the expansion, there is more
>junk, but also more good stuff, and that's fine with me, since I never
>got Morning Extra here anyway. :-) Trouble with the new Afternoon is
>that you can't leaving it lying around the room like other manga mags,
>unless you want to do yourself an injury.
Funny you should mention that. I just tripped over April issue this morning.
Yes you 'slip' on Newtype, you 'trip' on Afternoon. The reason I followed
Aft in the first place was for its relative high signal (back then) per
volume (waay back then). The signals has decreased slightly, and the volume
increased by so much. At least its still on my 'to-trash' list. The great
Jing Yong wrote a famous line, "If you practice your kong-fu for another ten
years, maybe you'll get some disrespect from me." I'm no JY, but it's the
same idea. :-)
>The things you describe are possible, except for Kiseiju, all-color,
>and 0X. :-) By Afternoon #6 I'll know whether Jigoku no Ie will last
>past 3 volumes, but GONTA may not ever be capable of stretching a plot (ie.
>undiluted sleaze) beyond that, even if half the artists represented
>on your shelf can. :-)
At least Gonta knew when to quit, or his editor does. Heaven could have
run another 2-3 volumes. And before it died it was still one of the top 5
titles in Afternoon. They had the courage to let go something that worked
and experimented with something new, and I think that's very gutsy. JnI
may not be the most readable manga, but I still read it.
>According to Newtype, Kiseiju #6 was no.5 on the bestseller list. Are
>those lists accurate at all?
If its from Newtype, you'll have to start worrying about its execs getting
funny ideas. Anime is the kiss of death for manga, and we know who are the
foremost experts in doing that. :-) Its amazing how Kiseiju can go so good
for so long. I think we're seeing a master at his prime, and (knowing how
rare that happens nowadays) we'd better enjoy the moment while we can.
>Gee, the exciting words I learn off you! I spotted "keiren" in OKB #29.
Keiren is just a cramp; something you get when you swim in cold water.
Ch*tsukeiren is a special medical condition that's been grossly exaggerated
in shonen mangas.
>Are you really gonna write a doujinshi for X?! Geez, you must be
>very bored. :-) I didn't think X was something that was just
>crying out for a doujinshi to be written about it... X itself seems
>to do well at 'drawing visual inspiration' from numerous mangas,
>though it could be my imagination. There'll probably be dozens
>of X doujinshi at the next comiket, anyway.
I was very bored when I wrote K1BS, and in retrospect it looks like something
written by a bored person. ^^;; Besides, the plan isn't of making an X
dojin, but rather a Yagami-Kun take-off using X elements. The only chance I
get to do it is when I'm free of other projects (including some Net
activities). And even then, I'd do it just for hell of it, not to make it
Ketable. After seeing some real dojinshis I realize how inappropriate K1BS
was for a dojinshi. The general rule for dojinshi is "SEX! Get on with it!!
And get off when you're done!!" Other interesting trends I found, after
talking with H on IRC, "You've gotta have a catchy cover!" Comiket is a
mess, and most people don't have time to tachiyume; many sales depends on
first impression. Especially for a new circle (if we can call ourselves one
- Ga Ji Ka Shi :) the first impression's got to be a bang. I don't think
K1BS pt.a was a bang. To put it mildly, we have a problem. ^_^;;
A couple more interesting trends from H's sample. Many dojinshis have
mismatching covers and contents, or in Chinese saying, "Hang a ram's head and
sell dog's meat." If you just want to make quick buck, this seems to be the
way to go (For example: a cover for K1BS would have Ami holding a M-16
blowing a skimpily dressed Usagi's brain out). Also, some dojinshis have
covers more provocative than the content. Again, if you're in a crowd, first
impression is paramount.
Recall those dojin scans H made - 36 deg Kisses, Pinky AMP, etc. Those are
done by this circle Heisei AMP (H said may be bunch of female artists), who
can draw some REAL babes. Their artworks put Studio Tron to shame! If they
turn pro they can give CLAMP a run for their money. The cover for their
Female Trouble - Lunch from Dragonball holding a torn picture of her alter
ego over her face - is one of the best art piece I've seen from a manga
artist, pro and amateur. I don't suppose H would mind having a cover
scanned, would he?
> >Posters for dojinshis. Now there's an idea.
>
>!!
>
>You know, a manga about how much we argued over K1BS would probably
>end up being longer than K1BS itself. But don't worry, if you disown
>K1BS, it may boost sales. If I disown it, I KNOW it will boost sales.
>It's so much fun to look through the venice ftp logs and see how
>many people stopped downloading AMgundam after seeing #1. :-)
I think some circles in Comiket give out freebies to those who buy their
dojinshis. If the competition is that tough, better that we play along, not?
I didn't argue. You have full liberty for layout. Just DON'T blow it -
heh heh.
d.n.a.b.
Iain Sinclair
ph11...@violet.berkeley.edu (david mou) writes:
>Noise Proliferation may be punishable by death, or worse.
I'm only interested in proliferating Signal.
>Aft in the first place was for its relative high signal (back then) per
>volume (waay back then). The signals has decreased slightly, and the volume
>increased by so much.
The signal's the only thing you have to worry about - you don't worry about
the noise, until you have to manually haul it around. In Afternoon's case,
the signal that is there is pretty strong. Some of the mangas are so intense
that I only read half of them in one sitting.
And Afternoon has diversity that's commercially acceptable (wouldn't say
successful, since Manga Frontier Anvil circulation has barely increased on
that of Manga Frontier Lite. Do they even call it Manga Frontier any more?).
The only other mag with real innovation is Morning, or at least, among the
mags I follow. Maybe there is hope for Comic Dusk and Comic Dawn. :-)
Afternoon is still ichiban omoshiroi with me (though I actually read
a higher proportion of Business/Super/Young Jump). But it's too bad
that they insist on running this embarassingly bad gaijin stuff.
I wonder if the artist of Kani-Robo will be at AX? Ask him, on my behalf,
how the hell he did it. :-)
>At least Gonta knew when to quit, or his editor does. Heaven could have
>run another 2-3 volumes. And before it died it was still one of the top 5
>titles in Afternoon. They had the courage to let go something that worked
>and experimented with something new, and I think that's very gutsy.
I think Gonta is wild artist, a great storyteller, but maybe he has
problems running out of things to do with his characters. (Well, I
checked out Heaven vol.3 today, and you're right, that doesn't appear
to be why it was terminated.) Anyway, I haven't read Heaven (yet),
but JnI is moving fast from lots going on to nothing going on. Aren't
you the one that thinks that the first volume of a manga is usually the
best? :-)
>Its amazing how Kiseiju can go so good
>for so long. I think we're seeing a master at his prime, and (knowing how
>rare that happens nowadays) we'd better enjoy the moment while we can.
Iwaaki Hitoshi has had a massively positive response from his readers;
he needn't worry about dragging out Kiseiju just to pay the rent, and
he's not working for Shuueisha, so the editors aren't going to demand
dragging it out either. And according to HH, Iwaaki Hitoshi's other
mangas are just as good. Face it, Kiseiju is a gem, and it'll be
untarnished for a long time to come. :-)
>I was very bored when I wrote K1BS, and in retrospect it looks like something
>written by a bored person. ^^;; Besides, the plan isn't of making an X
>dojin, but rather a Yagami-Kun take-off using X elements. The only chance I
>get to do it is when I'm free of other projects (including some Net
>activities).
Oh? Including a translation of Magical Super Asia vol.1, I hope. :-)
>And even then, I'd do it just for hell of it, not to make it
>Ketable. After seeing some real dojinshis I realize how inappropriate K1BS
>was for a dojinshi. The general rule for dojinshi is "SEX! Get on with
>it!! And get off when you're done!!"
Most doujinshis I've seen are very... straight to the point, as it were.
It all depends on what you want out of K1BS; a titfest, or a witty
Fujishima parody with a bit of leg. No need to tell you which will sell
better. :-) So I guess I can look forward to just a part.a and part.b,
or even a mere part.a. I really don't want to draw a run-of-the-mill
titfest, though (but a twisted titfest should be OK).
>Other interesting trends I found, after
>talking with H on IRC, "You've gotta have a catchy cover!" Comiket is a
>mess, and most people don't have time to tachiyume; many sales depends on
>first impression.
I would have thought so, too. (BTW, I have access to superior technology
and know how to use it, so if you want to spring for a color cover, it
may be worth it.) So what will grab attention - sex, violence, and Sailor
Moon!? (Certainly sounds about right.) You better design the cover, too. :-)
And the little box that goes in the Comiket Catarogue, should it ever get
that far - god forbid.
BTW, do you have Lesfeena in mind to do KFA? Does she know yet? :-)
>- Ga Ji Ka Shi
??
Well, it might be time to start a circle.
>Recall those dojin scans H made - 36 deg Kisses, Pinky AMP, etc. Those are
>done by this circle Heisei AMP (H said may be bunch of female artists), who
>can draw some REAL babes. Their artworks put Studio Tron to shame! If they
>turn pro they can give CLAMP a run for their money.
Yeah, I liked Pinky AMP. Unbelievable as it may seem, the airhead-girls-
manga market probably has a long way to go before it's saturated, so they
might have a chance.
>I didn't argue. You have full liberty for layout. Just DON'T blow it -
>heh heh.
Don't worry. It's a learning experience for both of us, and I think we're
both learning pretty fast. :-) I'm actually studying Tsurata Hirohisa's
stuff pretty closely, since he seems to know how to produce cute & cool-
looking mangas with a minimum of resources (tone, assistants, time).
--
Iain Sinclair axo...@socs.uts.edu.au
M-69!! DOUBLE RING!! SCREW DRIVER!! (my alt.manga .sig)
david mou
>
>I'm only interested in proliferating Signal.
Then you shouldn't have replied. You might just knocked over a beehive.
[And the Afternology continues....]
>
>And Afternoon has diversity that's commercially acceptable (wouldn't say
>successful, since Manga Frontier Anvil circulation has barely increased on
>that of Manga Frontier Lite. Do they even call it Manga Frontier any more?).
>The only other mag with real innovation is Morning, or at least, among the
>mags I follow. Maybe there is hope for Comic Dusk and Comic Dawn. :-)
Aft is no longer Manga Frontier (a while back it was called Comic Frontier).
It's either "Ichiban Omoshiroi" or, as the cover suggests, "Yomu do genki ni
naru" - and it'd better if you have to carry that thing home on a train.
>Afternoon is still ichiban omoshiroi with me (though I actually read
>a higher proportion of Business/Super/Young Jump). But it's too bad
>that they insist on running this embarassingly bad gaijin stuff.
>I wonder if the artist of Kani-Robo will be at AX? Ask him, on my behalf,
>how the hell he did it. :-)
1) the gaijin stuff is in the 1k page number range, which is part of the
real-estate on Aft you're least concerned about.
2) it's not that bad, I sort of like it.
3) Afternoon tends to be the cutting edge, experimental mangazine anyways,
so it doesn't hurt to have a couple "On drugs" titles to juice things up.
>I think Gonta is wild artist, a great storyteller, but maybe he has
>problems running out of things to do with his characters. (Well, I
>checked out Heaven vol.3 today, and you're right, that doesn't appear
>to be why it was terminated.) Anyway, I haven't read Heaven (yet),
>but JnI is moving fast from lots going on to nothing going on. Aren't
>you the one that thinks that the first volume of a manga is usually the
>best? :-)
Statistically, the first volumes are usually better than the last volumes,
in terms of the sizes of plot holes, with a few brilliant exceptions
(like MI). Heaven was not about Tom, but were more focused in the crazy
people around him. If Gonta could keep up cranking those characters out,
Heaven could last as long as Afternoon itself. But that's tough to do.
Right now the cast of JnI is settled, and all Mr. G had to do is move them
around, and interesting things will happen. Not easy, but easier perhaps.
A 39 old woman wrote to fan column in Afternoon to complain the sudden
end to Heaven. This tells you how much appeal Tom had in, say, housewives.
(Actually this tells me more about Japanese housewives. :-)
>Iwaaki Hitoshi has had a massively positive response from his readers;
>he needn't worry about dragging out Kiseiju just to pay the rent, and
>he's not working for Shuueisha, so the editors aren't going to demand
>dragging it out either. And according to HH, Iwaaki Hitoshi's other
>mangas are just as good. Face it, Kiseiju is a gem, and it'll be
>untarnished for a long time to come. :-)
I have his Hone no Oto, and that thing's pretty intense even though there
was little fantasy elements in it (last copy in Torr Asa, btw). Unfortunately,
I'm a firm believer of the Laws of Entropy, or just your basic Murphy's Laws,
that good things will not last forever. If it could happen to Takahashi
and Toriyama, it could happen to anybody. I'm praying for Kiseiju to stay
good, just like you, but one has to be realistic about success corrupting
creative minds. At least Kiseiju looks good for another year or so, though.
Unless somebody has decided to animate the thing. ^_^;;
>Oh? Including a translation of Magical Super Asia vol.1, I hope. :-)
Yeah right. And maybe finish Sazan Eyes and Orange Road, perhaps even
Maison. Or maybe write up Call Girl Ai, or Ah! Jo-oh-sama. And just for
good measure I'll throw in Hoshikuzu Paradise and U-Jin synopsis as well....
They don't call me Dave (3rd Page) Mou for nothing.
>Most doujinshis I've seen are very... straight to the point, as it were.
>It all depends on what you want out of K1BS; a titfest, or a witty
>Fujishima parody with a bit of leg. No need to tell you which will sell
>better. :-) So I guess I can look forward to just a part.a and part.b,
>or even a mere part.a. I really don't want to draw a run-of-the-mill
>titfest, though (but a twisted titfest should be OK).
A "witty" Fujishima w/ legs was part.b r1; a tit fest is part.b r2. I forgot
which one you liked better.....
H's IF's were very funny. There are two pages in If.4 that are total take-
offs from last 2 pages of Taiho. The Goddesses vs. The Shadow Power of
the Middle-age housewives, terrorizing defenseless otakus in Comiket.
I can't say that enough. You have stiff competitions out there.
>I would have thought so, too. (BTW, I have access to superior technology
>and know how to use it, so if you want to spring for a color cover, it
>may be worth it.) So what will grab attention - sex, violence, and Sailor
>Moon!? (Certainly sounds about right.) You better design the cover, too. :-)
>And the little box that goes in the Comiket Catarogue, should it ever get
>that far - god forbid.
Color printing?! Is somebody telling me to do color printing?! Is somebody
trying to give a Bible lesson in the Vatican? :-p
Sorry, but ASCII is about as far as I go.
>BTW, do you have Lesfeena in mind to do KFA? Does she know yet? :-)
If it turns out to be less than 10 pgs, sure. But that seems highly unlikely
now. TK had Lesfeena in mind for KFA, and I'll be doing it just to make TK
happy (I'll make anyone whom I can download mangas happy, and few as they
come).
> >- Ga Ji Ka Shi
>
>??
Short of Gai Jin Kai Sha. Or the sound a spring bed makes when people on it
are not sleepy.
>Well, it might be time to start a circle.
If K1BS goes Comiket, it'd be a major miracle in itself. Consider: we are
gaijins; we've never been to Comiket before; we've never met each other;
neither of us will be there to sell it; we've yet to find a fo...friend
in Japan to handle the logistics; we can't speak Japanese; we have no money;
we have stiff competitors; and worst yet, we have no confidence.
AAAaaaaaarrrrrgg!!!
>Yeah, I liked Pinky AMP. Unbelievable as it may seem, the airhead-girls-
>manga market probably has a long way to go before it's saturated, so they
>might have a chance.
The 80's were for beefcakes as the 90's are for airheads. Who knows,
exploding heads might be back for the next millennium.
>Don't worry. It's a learning experience for both of us, and I think we're
>both learning pretty fast. :-) I'm actually studying Tsurata Hirohisa's
>stuff pretty closely, since he seems to know how to produce cute & cool-
>looking mangas with a minimum of resources (tone, assistants, time).
I thought he used mind altering chemicals before doing his Natsuki Crisis's.
I may have to start using some myself.
Trick - draw blondes. They need no tones.
d.n.a.b.
Iain Sinclair
ph11...@violet.berkeley.edu (david mou) writes:
>Then you shouldn't have replied. You might just knocked over a beehive.
Well, I'm not writing anything that anybody other than you is interested
in, so it might as well go here. :-)
>Aft is no longer Manga Frontier (a while back it was called Comic Frontier).
#5 still has Manga Frontier written at the top of some of its pages
(I know, it doesn't mean anything, when they write things like "Unglaubliche
1000 seiten" as well). I must admit, I don't read the margin blurbs and
the mini-bios and the letters pages. That's the difference between a
pretender and true otaku. (Though I would if I could...)
>2) it's not that bad, I sort of like it.
I know someone else who said the same thing, and it must be getting
an OK response, since it hasn't been relegated to the back yet. Actually,
I'm semi-serious about you asking the artist - after all, he lives in LA,
and there can't be too many A. Zeaharts in the phone book.. can there?
The guy was presumably "talent spotted", so naturally it'd be good if
he could provide some details on this. :-)
>3) Afternoon tends to be the cutting edge, experimental mangazine anyways,
>so it doesn't hurt to have a couple "On drugs" titles to juice things up.
The "on drugs" titles are fun, IMHO, and not all the gaijin stuff is
bad, but it doesn't look like they'll haul in the predicted bucks,
so you know what that means. :-)
>Heaven was not about Tom, but were more focused in the crazy
>people around him. If Gonta could keep up cranking those characters out,
>Heaven could last as long as Afternoon itself. But that's tough to do.
>Right now the cast of JnI is settled, and all Mr. G had to do is move them
>around, and interesting things will happen. Not easy, but easier perhaps.
Well, this sounds pretty right.
You gotta admire anyone who can produce a credible, interesting manga
about artists. (Oku Hiroya gets points from me, too. :-) Why housewives
buy what they do is something I can't even begin to fathom.
>I'm a firm believer of the Laws of Entropy, or just your basic Murphy's Laws,
>that good things will not last forever. If it could happen to Takahashi
>and Toriyama, it could happen to anybody.
I'm also a believer in manga thermodynamics, and Kiseiju seems to be a rare
local increase in Enthalpy. :-) I don't know if Takahashi and Toriyama
have lost it completely; they're still doing good stuff, but the
proportion of good stuff is definitely decreasing.
>Unless somebody has decided to animate the thing. ^_^;;
They'd want to milk its success for everything it's worth, of course,
but maybe this won't manifest itself as an anime. I sure hope not.
>I'll throw in Hoshikuzu Paradise and U-Jin synopsis as well....
>They don't call me Dave (3rd Page) Mou for nothing.
You can probably fit everything interesting about Hoshikuzu Paradise
onto three pages. Go for it. :-)
>H's IF's were very funny. There are two pages in If.4 that are total take-
>offs from last 2 pages of Taiho. The Goddesses vs. The Shadow Power of
>the Middle-age housewives, terrorizing defenseless otakus in Comiket.
>
>I can't say that enough. You have stiff competitions out there.
I can't possibly compete with in-jokey stuff that requires at least
a decade's worth of manga immersion to either write or appreciate.
Well, not for another 7 years... anyway, not everyone who buys
doujinshi is going to be looking for something that clever. Right? :-)
The trick is to research the market more thoroughly, which you're
doing. Ganbatte. :-)
>Short of Gai Jin Kai Sha. Or the sound a spring bed makes when people on it
>are not sleepy.
Is it? If so, that's clever. Might not stick in the minds of gaijins,
though, whom I assume you're not ignoring completely. :-) let's have
a 2nd opinion.
>If K1BS goes Comiket, it'd be a major miracle in itself. Consider: we are
>gaijins; we've never been to Comiket before; we've never met each other;
>neither of us will be there to sell it; we've yet to find a fo...friend
>in Japan to handle the logistics; we can't speak Japanese; we have no money;
>we have stiff competitors; and worst yet, we have no confidence.
Since we're gaijins, we're allowed to use new technology in bizarre ways
to beat competition (before it becomes the Normal way). True, most of
these circles (or even mangakas+assistants) seem to spend their every
waking moment together, or so they would like us to think. :-) But I've
got some confidence, though it may be misplaced.
I've contacted Weirdo and he seems willing to sell stuff at his table,
pending prior inspection. Would have been nice if you could test it
on suc..customers at AX '93, but that's life.
>The 80's were for beefcakes as the 90's are for airheads.
That looks like the trend for shonen manga. What about shoujo manga?
>I thought he used mind altering chemicals before doing his Natsuki Crisis's.
>I may have to start using some myself.
Some of the minor characters in NC are pretty strange. Beware of anyone
with a moustache. :-) Nothing you need drugs for, that I can see, but
let me know if you find out.
>Trick - draw blondes. They need no tones.
K1: argh! I've suddenly turned ALBINO!
Rat: what's wrong with being albino?!
K1: now I'll never know if Urd is a natural blonde..
Bell: looks like mangaka-san ran out of tone again...
(well, as far as writing goes, dnab ni omakase. :-)
--
Iain Sinclair axo...@socs.uts.edu.au
david mou
>Well, I'm not writing anything that anybody other than you is interested
>in, so it might as well go here. :-)
While not M&Ning, I actually wrote a page of KFA. Yesterday I looked at it
again, and it sucks really bad. Since the idea needs a little more brewing,
I'm back noising on a.m.
>#5 still has Manga Frontier written at the top of some of its pages
>(I know, it doesn't mean anything, when they write things like "Unglaubliche
>1000 seiten" as well). I must admit, I don't read the margin blurbs and
>the mini-bios and the letters pages. That's the difference between a
>pretender and true otaku. (Though I would if I could...)
A true otaku WRITES to the magazines, so that still makes me a pretender
(much to my relief :-p). The marginal blurb does indicate the age and gender
of its author, and it's surprising what kind of folks you can spot (Indeed,
middle-age men and women write to manga publishers.)
Some columns can be interesting. Right after Sonoda did his his AnimeC*n
tour, his editor added a little of his comment in the GSC column - In Los
Angeles, a nearby metropolis of San Jose (where AnimeC*n was held), gang
movies inspired numerous gang voilences. No doubt it is the real place for
guns. Sonoda-sensei has personally experienced the intensity of the real
place. We eagerly await the next installment (of GSC). [Aft. Oct. 91]
I think (a) a diplomat would never have said that, (b) Sonoda no doubt sorely
missed the bonfire party in L.A. last year, and (c) Afternoon don't really
expect people, let alone gaijins, reading the letter column. Of course,
being a typical dnab translation, don't take it too literally either. ^^;;
>I know someone else who said the same thing, and it must be getting
>an OK response, since it hasn't been relegated to the back yet. Actually,
>I'm semi-serious about you asking the artist - after all, he lives in LA,
>and there can't be too many A. Zeaharts in the phone book.. can there?
>The guy was presumably "talent spotted", so naturally it'd be good if
>he could provide some details on this. :-)
I'm more interested in the talent scout. If I find out where this scout
hangs out, I'll post here. ^_^ [Imagine 240 gaijin mangaka wannabes crammed
into a karaoke bar in Venice Beach.....]
>The "on drugs" titles are fun, IMHO, and not all the gaijin stuff is
>bad, but it doesn't look like they'll haul in the predicted bucks,
>so you know what that means. :-)
If it sucks, somebody's reading it. ^_^
>You gotta admire anyone who can produce a credible, interesting manga
>about artists.
You know what's a guarantee hit? A manga about a studly manga editor who
solves problems, diffuses crises, and provide stress relief to beautiful
manga artists in distress - a Golden Boy meets Saruman.
Again, if it sucks, somebody's reading it.
>I'm also a believer in manga thermodynamics, and Kiseiju seems to be a rare
>local increase in Enthalpy. :-) I don't know if Takahashi and Toriyama
>have lost it completely; they're still doing good stuff, but the
>proportion of good stuff is definitely decreasing.
From the Second Law of Thermodynamics, entropy of an isolate system (say,
Afternoon) will always increase if it undergoes transformation from one
macrostate to another (say, some titles evolve better than others). From
this fundamental law of nature (and not to mention any specific names), we
know that Afternoon, overall, is not getting better. :-p
Then again, if it sucks .... nevermind.
>They'd want to milk its success for everything it's worth, of course,
>but maybe this won't manifest itself as an anime. I sure hope not.
You mean, Kiseiju - the Live movie?!
>You can probably fit everything interesting about Hoshikuzu Paradise
>onto three pages. Go for it. :-)
It's "Brain dead". Enuf said.
>I can't possibly compete with in-jokey stuff that requires at least
>a decade's worth of manga immersion to either write or appreciate.
>Well, not for another 7 years... anyway, not everyone who buys
>doujinshi is going to be looking for something that clever. Right? :-)
>The trick is to research the market more thoroughly, which you're
>doing. Ganbatte. :-)
After intensive survey and research, I came to a single, solid, Golden
conclusion for the success of a dojinshi, that can be summed up in one word.
Not to give it away too cheaply, I'll make you guess for it. It starts with
S, has 3 letters, and the last letter can score you a lot of points in
Scrabble(tm) if you land it in the right square.
>Is it? If so, that's clever. Might not stick in the minds of gaijins,
>though, whom I assume you're not ignoring completely. :-) let's have
>a 2nd opinion.
Yeah? I liked it better than Foreigners Using Cryptic Kanjis, which anyone
can understand.
[comforting thoughts, if not too well thought of, deleted]
>I've contacted Weirdo and he seems willing to sell stuff at his table,
>pending prior inspection. Would have been nice if you could test it
>on suc..customers at AX '93, but that's life.
Having the answered Why, I have just one more question: How is who going to
get what when?
>That looks like the trend for shonen manga. What about shoujo manga?
Draw more airheads so men would start picking up shojo mangas as well.
Mangas are becoming unisex nowadays.
>K1: argh! I've suddenly turned ALBINO!
>Rat: what's wrong with being albino?!
>K1: now I'll never know if Urd is a natural blonde..
>Bell: looks like mangaka-san ran out of tone again...
Bell: We sincerely apologize to you readers, especially Urd fans, that Urd
could not make an appearance in part.c due to sudden illness.
(White Urd crashes in)
Urd: What illness?! The stupid artist ran out of tone!
Skuld: If you're like me with gorgeous black hair you wouldn't have this
problem.
Bell: But Urd has black.... Urd: DON'T SAY IT!!
d.n.a.b.
(somebody must be reading this......)
Justin Bach
>In article <1qeuep$j...@syzygy.socs.uts.edu.au> axo...@socs.uts.edu.au (Iain
>Sinclair) writes:
>>Well, I'm not writing anything that anybody other than you is interested
>>in, so it might as well go here. :-)
>While not M&Ning, I actually wrote a page of KFA. Yesterday I looked at it
^^^^^
>again, and it sucks really bad. Since the idea needs a little more brewing,
>I'm back noising on a.m.
what is KFA? Kenturkey Fried Anime?
------
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\ \\\
\\\ Justin Bach \\\
/// j...@panix.com ///
/// "suki... suki... SUKIYAKIGA SUKIDESUKA?" ///
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Alan Takahashi
>[Whole article deleted... :-)]
>
>d.n.a.b.
>(somebody must be reading this......)
Yep...someone is. I don't know why, but someone is... :-)
-----
Alan Takahashi UUCP : ......!{portal,ames}!ntmtv!takahash
Northern Telecom Inc. ...!uunet/
Mountain View, CA INTERNET: taka...@ntmtv.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"When you need to knock on wood is when you realize the world's
composed of aluminum and vinyl." -- Flugg's Law
C Ma
>Moon!? (Certainly sounds about right.) You better design the cover, too. :-)
Ha ha ha ha .... oh dear....Sailor Moon?!
--
Chibi u104...@arch.unsw.edu.au
"Anika, anika, tanoshii anika...."
-- dedicated to the one I love.