Cartoon Geek Corner

Saturday, 7 November 2015

xxxHolic Rei volume 1 review

xxxHolic Rei volume 1 Review

by Geordi Demorest

Review: Yuko has never really been one of my favorite leads in a manga and this volume spotlights one of her biggest flaws as a protagonist: she takes this whatever will be will be attitude which makes her difficult to root for. Instead she chooses to spend her time talking in circles and indulging in alcohol and smoking to pass the time while her clients fall metaphorically apart. That said, xxxHolic rei’s first volume has an almost hypnotic grasp over its readers and is the perfect book to read before going to sleep.

This new series returns Yuko to being the owner of the wish granting shop while Watanuki resumes being her flunky. While it’s clear something is amiss throughout the entire volume no one cares to explain it to the audience. Plot has never been one of xxxHolic strong suits. The aspect that ultimately compels the reader to continue is the strange relationship between Watanuki and Domeki. Watanuki spends the entire book asking for answers while Yuko would rather be vague and give non-answers that confuse both Watanuki and the reader.

I preferred when Watanuki was the shopkeeper because he was a lot more clear on what his goal was and was much more proactive in helping his clients that Yuko continues to be. In conclusion, I would say, that this would be a good jumping on point for new readers to the series. For those of us who have continued the series until now, well, there’s really no escaping for us at this point.

Grade: B-

xxxHolic Rei is available in print and digitally from Kodansha Comics.

Metamo Kiss vol. 1-3 review

Metamo Kiss volumes 1-3 Review

By Geordi Demorest

Review: I think the word “meh” is what best describes Mteamo Kiss ultimately. That isn’t to say the entire series is subpar but in the final book when you would think the plot would really be ramped up the protagonist just kind stands around absent mindedly happy and the entire series ends with most of its subplots unresolved. In the afterward to the series one the characters are chatting with the “author” of the book and one of them calls the author a hack and, in all honesty, that probably wasn’t too far off.

The first two books have an actual tension but the third (which is also the final) book just goes “oh yeah, right, this a romance” and so in the last two pages the leads are a couple, inexplicably, despite having shared no actual moments or chemistry. And then the audience just walks away without having gained or lost anything. To the credit of the series, the first two volumes feature compelling, colorful characters and interactions and feels like it takes the tired bodyswap premise and uses it creatively. Ultimately Metamo Kiss is bland and forgettable. It starts off well but in the end just kind of fizzles out.

Grade: C

Metamo Kiss is available digitally from Viz Media.

Sunday, 13 September 2015

Shonen Jump

In the past I’ve looked at comics from Shonen Jump on here. Today I’m just going to look at the magazine and how it has evolved. This isn’t so much a review of Shonen Jump, as much as a brief, and probably ill-informed, examination of the magazine that brought about a fascination with Japanese comics for me. Jump has been around a long time, for a majority of my life anyhow, but started as a monthly print magazine. It enjoyed considerable popularity for a manga magazine introducing such hits as Naruto and One Piece. Bleach, what is often considered the other member of the “Big 3”, curiously wasn’t added to the magazine for quite some time.

As a print magazine, Shonen Jump had a considerably pool of popular series to draw from many of which would be notoriously censored especially in the early years. This would not be entirely remedied until the magazine made the switch to digital which will be covered in a bit. The other frustrating aspect of the print magazine was that many of these series would never be fully serialized in the magazine instead being finished In graphic novel form if they were lucky. These problems would be remedied once the move to digital occurred but this too came with flaws.

The move to digital brought with it changes, most of which for the better, chapters for the first year were near simultaneous with Japan (well nearer than before anyway 2 weeks behind) for the first year, Viz had to prove to Shueisha in Japan that they could put out a quality product. As odd as I find Weekly Shonen Jump today, at the time, it was standard-ish for manga serializing in English. Most serialized digital manga in the early years was as magazines as it had been in print. Even now, manga publishers cannot seem to settle on a particular model that works for everyone.

Back on topic, many of the digital serialized Japanese comic’s pioneers: Comicloud, Gen Manga, Manga Boshi, to name a few have either faded or changed drastically over time with the rapidly changing media landscape. Weekly Shonen Jump, now jaded from years of the rapidly morphing manga scene, seems to stick firmly to the formula that brought them success in the first place. They have always had a very particular type of story they would run in their magazine, more so than the magazine’s Japanese counterpart, which itself has at least some variation on its formula.

English Shonen Jump’s formula is as follows: the protagonist must overcome the odds and achieve their dream. The lower their situation is, and the greater the odds, the more it seems to resonate with readers. In some ways it feels similar to Disney’s formula which may be why it resonates with so many people. Viz is particularly formulaic at present as they tend to stick to certain genres (namely science fiction and fantasy).Will this formula ever grow tiresome for audiences or will we finally see some new ideas flow forth and gain traction from the beloved magazine we have come to know and love? Or is the answer already apparent? As a simple reviewer on the internet, I really cannot say. I suppose I will find out at some point in life anyhow.

Wednesday, 26 August 2015

VIZ MEDIA LAUNCHES THE SWEET SHOJO MANGA CONFECTION KOMOMO CONFISERIE

New Manga Series About An Ex-Rich Girl Who Starts Working At A Pastry Shop And Finds Love For The First Time From The Creator Of S•A And VOICE OVER! SEIYU ACADEMY

San Francisco, CA, August 26, 2015 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, announces the release of its latest shojo manga (graphic novel) series with the launch of KOMOMO CONFISERIE on September 1^st.

The romantic comedy, created by Maki Minami, about a sheltered but determined girl finding her way in the world after her family goes bankrupt is rated ‘T’ for Teens and will carry a print MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. KOMOMO CONFISERIE also launches digitally on September 1^st via VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga App, as well as from the Nook, Kobo, Kindle, iBooks, comiXology, and GooglePlay stores. The series will be published under the company’s Shojo Beat imprint with new volumes scheduled for release in print and digitally on a quarterly basis.

As a little girl, Komomo Ninomiya delighted in picking on Natsu Azumi, the son of her family’s pastry chef. Ten years later, when the family fortune is lost and she has no place to live, Komomo encounters Natsu again in her hour of need. Now that Natsu is a master pastry chef in his own right, he’ll help Komomo – but only if she works for him at his new confiserie!

“In KOMOMO CONFISERIE, Maki Minami has created a strong, unique heroine who tackles challenges in her own way including working hard for the first time in her life,” says Nancy Thistlethwaite, Senior Editor. “Be prepared for a lot of laughs as Komomo and Natsu learn to get along in this sweet new series!”

Manga creator Maki Minami is from Saitama Prefecture in Japan and debuted in 2001 with Kanata no Ao (Faraway Blue). Her other works include Kimi wa Girlfriend (You're My Girlfriend), Mainichi ga Takaramono (Every Day Is a Treasure) and Yuki Atataka (Warm Winter). Her series, S•A, (published in English by VIZ Media; rated ‘T’ for Teens), was serialized in Japan's Hana to Yume magazine and was also adapted into a popular anime series. Maki Minami also is the creator of VOICE OVER! SEIYU ACADEMY, which is published in English by VIZ Media.

For more information on KOMOMO CONFISERIE or other shojo manga titles published by VIZ Media, please visit: www.viz.com.

About VIZ Media, LLC

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and ONE PIECE, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.

Tuesday, 18 August 2015

VIZ MEDIA’S HAIKASORU LITERARY IMPRINT PARTICIPATES AT 73rd WORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION AND WELCOMES AUTHOR TAIYO FUJII

VIZ MEDIA’S HAIKASORU LITERARY IMPRINT PARTICIPATES AT 73^rdWORLD SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION AND WELCOMES AUTHOR

TAIYO FUJII

Award Winning Japanese Author Of GENE MAPPER Comes To One Of The Longest Running Science Fiction Conventions

San Francisco, CA, August 18, 2015 – VIZ Media’s Haikasoru literary imprint has announced its participation at Sasquan, the 73^rd World Science Fiction Convention. Haikasoru will welcome the acclaimed Japanese author Taiyo Fujii as a panel participant, and will host a retail booth (E4) in the main Dealer’s Room that will offer a wide variety of the imprint’s acclaimed titles at specially discounted prices.

Happening August 19^th-23^rd in Spokane, WA, Sasquan 2015 is the site of the 2015 World Science Fiction Convention, also known as “Worldcon,” an annual gathering of science fiction and fantasy fans. Additional details are available at: www.worldcon.org and http://sasquan.org.

Taiyo Fujii will be featured in several events throughout the convention and participating in several panel discussions:

Thursday, August 20^th

11:30am – 12:00pm Taiyo Fujii Reading (Room 303B)

Join the author as he offers a personal reading of select passages from his works.

Friday, August 21^st

11:00am – 11:45am Self-Publishing – When To Do It, When To Publish

Traditionally (Room 401C)

Taiyo Fujii will be among the authors featured for a discussion of the whys and whens of self-publishing versus traditional publishing.

Saturday, August 22^nd

11:00am – 11:45am The Future of Publishing (Room Bays 111C)

The publishing industry has changed dramatically, moving away from traditional models to online sales, self-publishing and ebooks. What could the next 20 years bring?

2:00pm – 2:45pm Kaffe Klatche – Taiyo Fujii (Room 202B)

A special insightful discussion with the author on his work and creative process.

4:00pm – 4:45pm SpoCon Presents – SubGenre Games

(Grand Ballroom: Salon III)

Are you deep for dystopia? Crazy for cyberpunk? Soft on steampunk? We're pitting ten sub-genres against each-other to see which should shed its "sub" prefix and become a fully-fledged genre alongside the towers of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Join author Taiyo Fujii and Haikasoru Editor Nick Mamatas for this unique forum.

5:00pm – 5:45pm Seiun Awards & Publishing SF in Japan

(Grand Ballroom: Salon III)

Taiyo Fujii will join two other prominent Japanese authors for a discussion of the famous annual literary award and the process by which science fiction literature is published in Japan.

Taiyo Fujii is the author of the mystery thriller, GENE MAPPER, and won a 2014 Nihon SF Taisho Award by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of Japan. GENE MAPPER was Fujii’s first novel and became Amazon Japan’s Number One Kindle bestseller of for 2012 when it was originally published. The novel was later revised and republished in both print and digitally in Japan as Gene Mapper – full build – by Hayakawa Publishing in 2013 and also was nominated for the Nihon SF Taisho Award and the Seiun Award. Fujii’s second novel, Orbital Cloud, won the 2014 Nihon SF Taisho Award and also took first prize in the “Best SF of 2014” in SF Magazine. Fujii’s English-language short fiction debut, the novelette “Violation of the TrueNet Security Act” appeared in Lightspeed Magazine in July 2015.

During Sasquan 2015, Haikasoru will offer GENE MAPPER along with a wide variety of its other titles for purchase with special convention pricing. Titles to be offered will include: ALL YOU NEED IS KILL (the novel which inspired the 2014 blockbuster Edge of Tomorrow); BATTLE ROYALE REMASTERED and the BATTLE ROYALE SLAM BOOK; GENE MAPPER; anthologies PHANTASM JAPAN and THE FUTURE IS JAPANESE (includes the Hugo Award-winning Ken Liu story, “Mono no Aware”); RED GIRLS and DENDERA.

For more information on GENE MAPPER and the Haikasoru imprint, please visit the dedicated website at www.haikasoru.com.

About VIZ Media, LLC

Mahou Josei Chimaka Chapters 2 & 3 Review

by Geordi Demorest

So what feels like a thousand years ago I wrote a review of the first chapter of Mahou Josei Chimaka as well as many, many other titles that I have not come back to reviewing. I put my Cartoon Geek Corner writing on hold mostly because of things beyond my control but also because of work I found elsewhere. Before I go back and begin reviewing new things I’d like to go back and finish up what I can, things such as manga box where there is no legal way to go back and review the earlier chapter any longer as well as titles from sites like JManga that are long gone obviously not but titles still legally available I’d like to get back to. Boring tangent done let’s get back into the actual content.

It’s become clearer over time that Mahou Josei Chimaka pulls heavily from other series in particular Sailor Moon. This becomes very evident in its climax in chapter 3 but that is not to say that Chimaka is not its own thing. It has its own colorful cast of characters and story as well as great pacing. In fact, despite the title, this seems to pull from other cultures mythology for its climax (sadly I don’t feel equipped enough to say which cultures specifically) and despite being self-described as a parody it still feels like its own thing to some degree complete with its own themes such as a more modern view of feminist fiction something Sailor Moon I feel was lacking in from my recollections of it.

Chimaka is a light and fun read that, once started, you cannot put down. The final chapters in particular are gripping while to a degree staying true to the original spirit of the comic’s first chapter. Despite being a “parody” Chimaka still has its deeper moments which are, naturally, character development and the budding LGBT romance with her co-worker who was introduced in the first chapter but finally has time to develop and breathe as a person instead of just being someone meant to forward the plot. I would say give Chimaka a read if you are looking for a more playful magical girl series with a more feminist as well as LGBT slant.

Grade: B+

Available on Sparkler Monthly’s website.

Monday, 18 May 2015

VIZ MEDIA NAMES BRAD WOODS AS CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

VIZ MEDIA NAMES BRAD WOODS AS

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

Entertainment Executive To Lead Global Multimedia Initiatives And Drive Omni-Channel Marketing For The Industry’s Leading Catalog Of Anime And Manga Content

San Francisco, CA, May 18, 2015 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, has announced that Brad Woods has been named as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).

“Brad Woods is a seasoned entertainment executive with a proven success record of enhancing brand equity, increasing revenue, and achieving results with innovative strategies and visionary leadership,” says Ken Sasaki, CEO of VIZ Media. “His multi-disciplinary experience will play a vital role in expanding VIZ Media’s market share across the publishing, digital content, licensing, home media, and consumer product landscapes.”

Woods will be responsible for developing a range of marketing and product strategies to expand the VIZ Media brand and omni-channel marketing for titles across all company imprints.

“I am very excited to build upon VIZ Media’s mission to offer exciting and unique multimedia content to a diverse global audience,” Woods says. “Our dynamic catalog of titles across the print, digital, broadcast, and mobile arenas will allow us to reinvent how consumers discover, enjoy, and interact with our properties on a truly global level.”

Woods joins VIZ Media from DreamWorks Animation, where he served as Senior Vice President leading the domestic consumer products and retail business development divisions. During his tenure at DreamWorks, he restructured and substantially expanded the studio’s consumer products business, led the U.S. licensing and retail teams, and also provided strategic leadership for breakthrough marketing programs on properties including Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda, and How To Train Your Dragon.

Over his 20-year career, Woods has held senior positions in the entertainment and multi-media industries with companies including Mattel and Warner Bros. Entertainment. His experience spans a wide variety of marketing and licensing operations such as product marketing, brand development, corporate marketing and communications, lead generation, channel relations, and digital and social media marketing. He holds an MBA from the University of Southern California, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude, and a BS from the University of Arizona.

For more information on VIZ Media, please visit www.VIZ.com.

About VIZ Media, LLC