|
Post by justareed on Nov 5, 2022 6:39:40 GMT
I've read a bit of Mao! Partway through vol. 2. It's nothing earth shattering but I've found it rather enjoyable for light reading after work. I grabbed it since I saw it was by Takahashi, but I've actually never read her work - only watched the classic Urusei Yatsura series, which I've been told deviated a fair bit from her manga.
Another I've been slowly reading is When Will Ayumu Make His Move? It's also nothing earth shattering but I've been enjoying it far more than I expected to. It's a high school romantic tension comic, the conceit being the guy wont ask out the girl until he can beat her at shogi, but she's great at it and he's terrible. It's just light romcom material but Sōichirō Yamamoto does a great job with the genre and the subject of shogi being intertwined with the stories adds an interesting dimension.
Does anyone read AX (アックス)? I think it's the only major alternative manga magazine running at the moment and the variety in the artwork is a real treat. I ordered several volumes from Japan but am trying to save flipping through them too much until I at least get through the A1 level of Japanese (not that I'll be able to read them yet, but can hopefully at least pick out *some* words). AX Volume 1 is available with english translations of selected works, but that's ultimately a small survey of the magazine and that volume is over 10 years old now too.
|
|
|
Post by arecomicsevengood on Nov 6, 2022 16:39:27 GMT
Not really contemporary but I bought a copy of Junko Mizuno's Pure Trance. Hadn't read her before - it's kinda like Jhonen Vasquez style "random" narrative progression style. (I haven't read Jhonen Vasquez.) I'm sorta struggling with the reading of it although I get how it's "cool" or would be inspiring to read in high school. It does this thing where, after originally being drawn square, for CD booklets, in the expansion to a graphic novel format, it's expanded vertically as well, with negative space at the bottom given over to bits of "trivia" that are basically explaining plot elements/characters that have just been introduced. There's a note at the front that recommends skipping these on the first read and only reading them on the second time through but they're pretty important. For anybody looking for alt-comics comparisons: Kinda comparable to Mickey Zacchilli, but I heard it shouted out on Thick Lines by Katie Skelly and Sally Madden. Noel Freibert's a big fan too.
|
|
|
Post by manoopuesta on Jan 22, 2023 15:18:13 GMT
I finally finished reading Glaeolia 3, and my impression is that this anthology keeps getting better (though I have only read Glaeolia 2, so I don't know how fair my statement is then). Anyway, while I enjoyed most of the entries in the volume, there are 2 that st out the most for me:
- One was"Baby It's You", by Fukitu Reiji. I loved the candid storytelling and also the "amateurish" art style, because of these two features (candid storytelling and raw art style) my mind goes to comparing it with a favorite, Melody by Sylvie Rancourt. Maybe the comparison is a bit weak, I don't know. in any case: I enjoyed this story quite a lot, and I hope this artist gets translated more to English.
- The other one is "White Dream" by Isao Yamada. A great, and very surreal, story. It has a vibe of Julia Gfrörer and French surrealism literature. This manga artist is also a film director, and from what little I could check in his Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX2uaY4otytY0285mf59V1g) they are of the experimental kind. In the bio in Glaeolia 3, it mentions that his film The Sould Odyssey is based on an essay by Yoshiharu Tsuge. Too bad I don't speak Japanese to dig deeper into this. For anyone curious, he has also a website: www.yamavicascope.com
And finally some crappy mobile phone pics of these 2 comics for your entertainment:
Baby It's You:
White Dream:
Glacier Bay is making a great work with all their English translations of contemporary manga.
|
|
|
Post by awfulquiet on Jan 22, 2023 18:16:23 GMT
I finally finished reading Glaeolia 3, and my impression is that this anthology keeps getting better (though I have only read Glaeolia 2, so I don't know how fair my statement is then). Anyway, while I enjoyed most of the entries in the volume, there are 2 that st out the most for me:
- One was"Baby It's You", by Fukitu Reiji. I loved the candid storytelling and also the "amateurish" art style, because of these two features (candid storytelling and raw art style) my mind goes to comparing it with a favorite, Melody by Sylvie Rancourt. Maybe the comparison is a bit weak, I don't know. in any case: I enjoyed this story quite a lot, and I hope this artist gets translated more to English.
- The other one is "White Dream" by Isao Yamada. A great, and very surreal, story. It has a vibe of Julia Gfrörer and French surrealism literature. This manga artist is also a film director, and from what little I could check in his Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX2uaY4otytY0285mf59V1g) they are of the experimental kind. In the bio in Glaeolia 3, it mentions that his film The Sould Odyssey is based on an essay by Yoshiharu Tsuge. Too bad I don't speak Japanese to dig deeper into this. For anyone curious, he has also a website: www.yamavicascope.com
And finally some crappy mobile phone pics of these 2 comics for your entertainment:
Baby It's You:
White Dream:
Glacier Bay is making a great work with all their English translations of contemporary manga.
They're releases really are just getting better and better. I feel like Children of Mu Town was kind of a tipping point to where they really hit their stride, and maybe really proved to creators that they are a publisher they should work with.
The Glaeolia collections do just keep getting better and I hope they can keep it up. Though volume 1 holds a special spot in my heart because I love the story "Meet Me at Mandarake" that's in it.
|
|
|
Post by arecomicsevengood on Jan 28, 2023 15:33:29 GMT
Is Witch Hat Atelier good? I came across some images of the artist's earlier series on Tumblr and thought it looked good and I think the name is funny.
|
|
|
Post by disneyweirdness on Jan 31, 2023 21:56:57 GMT
Is Witch Hat Atelier good? I came across some images of the artist's earlier series on Tumblr and thought it looked good and I think the name is funny. I like the art. I wasn't interested enough to read past the first book but it was worth a look.
|
|
|
Post by disneyweirdness on Jan 31, 2023 21:59:01 GMT
I'm not up on contemporary manga. Actually it's more like my investigations online into stuff often leave me with more questions than answers, and it's such a vast world that I'm not throwing my money around pursuing things of interest the way I am with art comics. I know everybody likes Chainsaw Man and I think a lot of people read it on the Shonen Jump app, or else through file-sharing. I had NO IDEA that Rumiko Takahashi was doing a series now that Viz is putting out in English at around the same time it's being put out in Japan. It's called Mao, has anybody read it? I feel like the conversation about Takahashi is sort of dominated by nostalgia for older work. I just got that Kaiju #8 from the library today. I'm a sucker for giant monster comics.
|
|
|
Post by awfulquiet on Jan 31, 2023 23:32:23 GMT
I'm not up on contemporary manga. Actually it's more like my investigations online into stuff often leave me with more questions than answers, and it's such a vast world that I'm not throwing my money around pursuing things of interest the way I am with art comics. I know everybody likes Chainsaw Man and I think a lot of people read it on the Shonen Jump app, or else through file-sharing. I had NO IDEA that Rumiko Takahashi was doing a series now that Viz is putting out in English at around the same time it's being put out in Japan. It's called Mao, has anybody read it? I feel like the conversation about Takahashi is sort of dominated by nostalgia for older work. I just got that Kaiju #8 from the library today. I'm a sucker for giant monster comics. I really like Kaiju #8, been reading it since it first hit the SJ app. It's pretty refreshing for an SJ series, even just the fact that the main character and most of the cast are adults.
|
|
|
Post by teemcgee on Feb 1, 2023 23:22:33 GMT
In with an increasingly to-form cranky position, but I have the Shonen Jump app, took a punt at Kaiju #8 last night, and..... it's just the usual unashamedly commercial by-the-numbers boy's manga, cleaving to the moment's trend (for this moment seemingly the Chainsaw Man mode of squad fighting some monster menance in a vaguely dystopian future, with the protagonist a redeemed version of the menance), plot devices cribbed straight out of the How to Write Manga for Dummies guidebook that Shueisha and Kodansha must be pressing on every signed artist since the 1980s ... maybe I've just read too much of this stuff, shonen always gets worse in aggregate ....
|
|
|
Post by junkflower on Feb 1, 2023 23:59:08 GMT
Anyone fuck with Die Wergelder? IMO it's the best thing Hiroaki Samura has ever done but I never hear anyone talk about it, perhaps because it's so weird
|
|
|
Post by disneyweirdness on Feb 8, 2023 23:48:29 GMT
In with an increasingly to-form cranky position, but I have the Shonen Jump app, took a punt at Kaiju #8 last night, and..... it's just the usual unashamedly commercial by-the-numbers boy's manga... maybe I've just read too much of this stuff, shonen always gets worse in aggregate .... I am enjoying it so far, but I haven't read too much of this kind of stuff since the Shonen Jump print magazine was at Barnes and Noble (2003? 4?). I like it OK.
|
|
|
Post by awfulquiet on Feb 9, 2023 16:20:57 GMT
Two very good and somewhat similar Slice of Life/tales of a niche hobby series currently running on Shueisha/Shonen Jump right now:
Akane-banashi - a teen girl training to become a rakugo master (japanese verbal storytelling) after her father was expelled from the ranks. This is one of my favorite series running right now and it's fun to learn about the (i'm sure very dramatized) world of rakugo through the story.
Show-ha Showten! - a due of high schoolers aiming to become the best comedy duo in Japan. This one is illustrated by the same person who drew Death Note and it's interesting seeing him do this style. It publishes longer chapters on a more sporadic basis. Again, gets very immersive in the world of the hobby/lifestyle the story focuses on. Feels like its written with the idea that it will be a movie eventually.
|
|
|
Post by Scott Gerard Ruhl on Mar 8, 2023 21:50:33 GMT
Not really contemporary but I bought a copy of Junko Mizuno's Pure Trance. Hadn't read her before - it's kinda like Jhonen Vasquez style "random" narrative progression style. (I haven't read Jhonen Vasquez.) I'm sorta struggling with the reading of it although I get how it's "cool" or would be inspiring to read in high school. It does this thing where, after originally being drawn square, for CD booklets, in the expansion to a graphic novel format, it's expanded vertically as well, with negative space at the bottom given over to bits of "trivia" that are basically explaining plot elements/characters that have just been introduced. There's a note at the front that recommends skipping these on the first read and only reading them on the second time through but they're pretty important. For anybody looking for alt-comics comparisons: Kinda comparable to Mickey Zacchilli, but I heard it shouted out on Thick Lines by Katie Skelly and Sally Madden. Noel Freibert's a big fan too. I was gonna mention Junko, I'm a huge fan, although I'm not sure if manga is the best description for her work. Like the best indie creators she's really doing her own wholly unique thing. PURE TRANCE is a little rough around the edges compared to what came after. I'd heartily recommend CINDERELLA and HANSEL & GRETLE. Fresh takes on classic fairy tales. Plus stickers in the back! Both are in full color which is where her art really sings, IMO.
|
|
|
Post by arecomicsevengood on May 9, 2023 19:28:14 GMT
So I guess s Viz app launched - which is separate from the Shonen Jump app, but both are very cheap, like $1.99 a month - including lots of long OOP stuff like Tezuka's Phoenix, Gogo Monster, Nana, Junji Ito and Rumiko Takahashi have stuff on there, I would imagine Umezz too. Seems like a great deal if you've got a tablet.
It seems also like the point of this app is to do English-language translations simultaneous with Japanese release - which seems basically impossible to me but I guess with A.I. it wouldn't be? I wonder. Anyway seems worth investigating.
|
|
|
Post by teemcgee on May 9, 2023 20:01:15 GMT
Looks like just US/CAN at this stage - I would immediately subscribe if worldwide.
I presume because Viz is owned by its parent Japanese publishers they are able to translate the text simultaneously with prepping it for publication in Japan.
|
|