Category > Current Affairs
The Comic Book Alliance have sent us details about their latest project Spirit of Hope. The comic anthology has been created to raise money for the the Japan and New Zealand disaster victims.
Read More... | Souce: Comic Book Alliance
Category > Manga
Manga publisher Tokyopop are to close in the US as of May 31st 2011 . The company's film, TV, and European operations, including its Hamburg, Germany-based publishing and international rights sales will continue. ICv2 have more details along with Bleeding Cool News and The Beat which broke the news. As always Anime News Network has coverage of the story too.
Tokyopop's Founder Stu Levy has posted a personal statement.
As the details were announced today we have no idea what impact this will have on their release details, as well as what will happen to the rights of existing Japanese manga and original English language comics also published. Any artists who have worked with Tokyopop should read the small print of their contracts now.
Souce: Tokyopop
Category > Events
For those looking for something to do in London this weekend, otaku are spoilt for choice with the Bunkasai Japanese Festival near Holborn, along with Hibiki: Resonances from Japan at Kings Place near Kings Cross.
Scheduled as a 1000-year journey through the rich heritage of Japanese music, there's 3 events.
Tsugaru-Shamisen: Sheer Wind from the North
Friday, 4 March 2011 - 7:30pm
Talk: Music in Manga
Saturday, 5 March 2011 - 5:00pm
Tradition & Exploration: The Koto of Michiyo Yagi
Saturday, 5 March 2011 - 7:30pm
Manga fans should note that Helen McCarthy will be running the manga talk, so we can expect to see her normal expert insights into the subject.
Souce: Kings Place
Category > Press Releases
The good folks at Phaidon have sent us the details of their up coming book Manga Impact.
The book has 500 colour illustrations, 300 illustrated entries, and contributions from anime and manga experts such as Jonathan Clements and Tsugata Nobuyuki.
The book is due out November 2010.
Pre Order From Amazon.co.uk
Pre Order From Amazon.com
Read More... | Souce: Phaidon
Category > Manga
Multi-National Manga Anti-Piracy Coalition Formed
We've received some very interesting details from VIZ Media about the formation of a Multi-National Manga Anti-Piracy Coalition.It seems that the industry has grown tired of Scanlations - manga scanned into a digital format and distributed without the copyright holders consent. The coalition include the 36 members of Japan's Digital Comic Association, Square Enix, VIZ Media, TOKYOPOP and Yen Press.
Originally scanlations were manga translated by fans into their native language from Japanese. This can be seen as the manga equivalent of anime fansubs. Some scanlation sites branched out to scans of manga that was already official translated and licensed outside of Japan.
This has cost the manga publishing industry significant amounts of money, not just in lost book sales, but lost opportunities in the relatively new market of eBooks and mobile devices.
The coalition intend to target scanlation sites and aggregators of scanlation sites. They've drawn up a list of 30 sites to targeted for action. First they will ask the sites to cease distributing scanlations. If the sites fail to cease distributing further action will be taken depending on the jurisdiction of each site. Actions include legal injunctions against the sites, reporting the sites to governmental anti-piracy units of law enforcement, including the US Justice Department, local law enforcement agencies and the FBI.
Fans curious about piracy in the anime and manga industry should read the Pirate Anime FAQ.
This is not the first time the anime and manga industry has attempted to stop piracy in the industry, but this is the biggest and most coordinated international effort so far. With many companies in the industry forced to make cut backs, closing down offices, laying off staff, we wonder if this is the start of a new approach? Will more companies pursue legal options? Are fansubbers next?
Read More... | Souce: VIZ Media
Category > Manga
The good folks from Sweatdrop Studios have sent us the details of their new anthology - Telling Tales. The collection of fables, fairy tales and other ripping yarns is bound to be of interest. The book is priced at £6.99 and is due to launch at the May London MCM Expo 2010.
Read More... | Souce: Sweatdrop Studios
Category > Events
The people behind Sci-Fi London and London Girl Geek Dinners have teamed up to run a special panel British women of Manga. It's set to run Thursday 29th April 2010 at 7pm.
The panel consists of artists Kate Brown, Emma Vieceli and Karen Rubins. Anime and manga expert Helen McCarthy will be chairing the panel.
This is a free event for women only. Men are allowed as guests of a London Girl Geek Dinner member. To get your tickets register at http://scifi-london.eventbrite.com/.
Souce: Sci-Fi London / London Girl Geek Dinners
Category > Manga
The good folks at Bandai Entertainment have sent us details about their new manga website.
Read More... | Souce: Bandai Entertainment Manga
Category > Events
Manga fans who can get to London will want to visit the British Museum from 5th November 2009 to 3rd January 2010 where in Room 3 they'll be a free exhibit of an exclusive manga title - Professor Munakata's British Museum adventure. It's great that the museum are doing this and it's an appropriate title as it's set in the venue that's showing it.
There's even a nice reading area where you can enjoy some manga.
Read More... | Souce: British Museum
Category > Current Affairs
BBC News have an interesting article about a new crossing on Oxford Street in London.
The London shopping district now has a crossing inspired by the X style walk way. The most famous of which can be seen at Shibuya in Tokyo and is frequently filmed in documentaries that feature Japan.
The opening ceremony sounds like a lot of fun -
"In homage to its Far Eastern inspiration, the mayor will strike a two-metre high cymbal as Japanese musicians play taiko drums."
They even got cosplayers involved too -
"A giant X, in the form of 60m (196ft) of red ribbon will then be unfurled by devotees of cult Japanese Manga characters dressed in colourful costumes."
The London Mayor said the crossing was "a triumph for British engineering, Japanese innovation and good old fashioned common sense".
Oxford Street is frequently very busy with more than 200 million visitors a year and ideas like this help ease congestion at the bottle neck area of the tube station.
The BBC News Website has photos of the event you can even see a few cosplayers there too. ^_^
Update We've been sent some great photos of the opening ceremony.
Read More... | Souce: BBC News
Category > Events
London based fans of comics will be pleased to hear about Comica Festival 2009. Being an international comics festival manga is represented too. With anime and manga expert Helen McCarthy launching her new book about the manga god Osamu Tezuka on Sunday 8th November 8, 2009 from 4.30pm at the ICA. Tickets: £6 / £5 Concessions / £4 ICA Members
Paul Gravett will be giving a talk about Manga In The Museum: Solving Myths & Mysteries as he introduces the work of Hoshino Yukinobu on Tuesday 10th November 2009 from 1.15pm to 2pm. This is free, but booking in advance is required.
Plus Helen will also be giving a talk on the works of works of manga master Hoshino Yukinobu on Saturday 21st November 2009 at the British Museum from 1.15pm to 2pm. This is free, but booking in advance is required.
Souce: Comica Festival 2009
Category > Retail
London based readers should be aware of Orbital Manga is closing down. The shop was located in-between Leicester Square and Covent Garden. It first opened at the beginning of 2007 and stocked manga and other anime and manga related merchandise.
Luckily all is not lost as it will be merging back with it's sister shop Orbital Comics, which is just around the corner from the old Orbital Manga store.
Souce: Otaku News
Category > Events
The good folks at the London MCM Expo have sent us the latest details for the event. Highlights from an anime perspective include - Studio BONES studio president Minami Masahiko and director Ando Masahiro, whose works include Fullmetal Alchemist, Cowboy Bebop, Gundam Seed Destiny and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Along with Trinity Blood voice actors Mike McFarland and Troy Baker.
The press release also has a shout out to cosplayers, who helped with the world record!
Read More... | Souce: London MCM Expo
Category > Events
Readers who can get to London this October will be interested in the London MCM Expo on the 24th to 25th October 2009. Tickets are now on sale.
As attendance to this even it well over 30,000 people we doubt they will sell out. However we do strongly advise in spending a little bit extra for their Early Entry Tickets to save time queuing, you'll be grateful on the day!
Souce: London MCM Expo
Category > Events
The good folks at UK convention AyaCon 2009 have sent us more details about their guest line up. They've added Matthew Mercer voice actor, script writer, and independent film maker along with JoEllen Elam costume designer and makeup artist. This makes for a great variety of guests.
Read More... | Souce: Aya Revolution 09
Category > Events
Fans of manga and cross stitching in London should head over to The Japan Foundation on Wednesday 1st July 2009, where Helen McCarthy will be present a unique event focusing on cross-stitch designs inspired by Manga and Anime, there will be a fun workshop too!
Read More... | Souce: The Japan Foundation
Category > Events
London based fans of Chinese Manhua should head over to Orbital Manga on Friday 26th June 2009, from 5pm to 7pm. Artist Benjamin, will be demonstrating his excellent technique, and will be signing copies of his books, including limited edition landscape-format hardback of "Orange", his latest lavish art book "Flash", Chinese Youth, Remember, One Day (in French) and Images and Prints on the day of the signing.
Read More... | Souce: Orbital Manga
Category > Art
British readers with artistic talent should considering entering the Manga Jiman Competition. Run by the Japanese Embassy in London, this years theme is 'sun'. The competition is open people to over 14 years old. The closing date for the competition is Friday, 25 September 2009.
Read More... | Souce: Manga Jiman Competition
Category > Anime
London has a some great places for otaku to visit. The trouble is finding them. Using our London Otaku News Correspondents we've assembled a list of good places for anime and manga fans to visit while in London.
Read More... | Souce: Otaku News
Category > Production
Anime expert Jonathan Clements has just launched a blog to promote his new book Schoolgirl Milky Crisis: Adventures in the Anime and Manga Trade, which is due for publication in early 2009.
The blog has some interesting insights that will no doubt also appear in the book, even an article about writing the index for the book proves to be amusing.
Souce: Schoolgirl Milky Crisis Blog
Category > Manga
The Independent are running a great article about the global reach of manga and how it has influenced British artists.
Helen McCarthy, Sweatdrop Studios, Emma Vieceli, Sonia Leong, the Manga Bible and Manga Shakespeare all get a mention in the article.
Souce: The Independent
Category > Events
UK anime fans who can get to Leeds will want to keep the 13th to the 16th November 2008 free for the Thought Bubble Festival. The Festival will have a great selection of anime and manga stuff, including film screenings too.
The Convention on Saturday 15th November 2008 (10am - 5pm) will have free entry to cosplayers!
They'll be screening the following films:
Sword of the Stranger
Mind Game
20th Century Boys
Detroit Metal City
We've already seen Sword of the Stranger, and watching it on a big screen is recommend.
Read More... | Souce: Thought Bubble Festival
Category > Anime
Sky News are running an article about the possibility that manga could inspire murder, and how it frustrates anime fans. It cites the current case of Meredith Kercher, a 21 year old student who was stabbed to death in Italy in a house she shared with other students. It mentions that the prosecution of the case are highlighting that Raffaele Sollecito (one of the accused) was acting out a "dark fantasy", inspired by his manga collection. BBC News have more coverage of the same story.
Read More... | Souce: Sky News
Category > Fandom
UK anime fans looking for convention fun in April 2009 will be pleased to hear that Kitacon will be holding a Fan Choice Awards, where fans get to vote for their favourites, anime, manga, characters and more. They'll even be able to collect them on behalf of the nominees. This does sound like an interesting concept.
Read More... | Souce: Kitacon
Category > Events
We've received some interesting details about a very special Kami-shibai showing in the UK. The paper theatre performances from Japan used to entertain children in an age before television. This is form of story telling had a direct influence on the evolution of manga.
Fans in the UK should keep their September free to attend at least one of these extremely rare events:
Friday 19 September: Chester Beatty Library, Dublin www.cbl.ie
Saturday 20 September: Urbis, Manchester www.urbis.org.uk
Sunday 21 September: Liverpool Biennial 08 at "Atelier Bow Wow" www.biennial.com/content/LiverpoolBiennial2008MADEUP/Artists1.aspx
Monday 22 September: Japan Foundation Language Centre, London workshop for Japanese language teachers
Tuesday 23 September: Barbican Centre, London, as part of "Osamu Tezuka 80th Anniversary Season (18 - 23 Sept 2008)" www.barbican.org.uk/ilm/series.asp?id=600
As always with popular events we recommend booking early to avoid disappointment.
Read More... | Souce: Japan UK 150
We've received some exciting news from the London Barbican about a special Osamu Tezuka Season they'll be running from Thursday 18th to Wednesday 24th of September 2008.
The season is curated by anime expert Helen McCarthy (who's written tons of good books and articles on anime and manga). The line is up a great showcase of Tezuka's work, with The Film Is Alive: Osamu Tezuka Filmography looking especially interesting, as it we're certain Helen will bring an informative take on the panel with the event.
Osamu Tezuka is the granddaddy of anime and manga, without doubt the most influential and inspiration artist, as always with these events we suggest you book early to avoid disappointment.
Read More... | Souce: Barbican
Category > Culture
Time to get drawing! The Japanese embassy in the UK has launched another manga contest. This time on the theme of '150'. Entrants must be over fourteen and live in the U.K, the manga must be between six and eight pages. The closing date is the 26 September.
Prizes are as follows:
The amazing First Prize is two (2) return air tickets to Japan, courtesy of All Nippon Airways!
The Second Prize is a fabulous TOSHIBA laptop computer.
Third Prize is a superb RICOH digital camera.
Souce: Embassy of Japan (UK)
Category > Events
Fans of the graphic novel version of Heroes who can get to London next week will want to head to Orbital Manga, just in-between Leicester Square and Covent Garden, where they'll be having a signing with graphic artist Jason Badower.
Read More... | Souce: Orbital Manga
Category > Current Affairs
Some anime and manga fans in the UK might have heard about the new proposals which would ban obscene images of children. The proposals mainly cover drawings and computer-generated images, however due to certain parts of the proposals being a bit vague, it's not exactly certain what images are classed as obscene. The mainstream press are keen to wrongly cite manga as one such example.
Read More... | Souce: BBC News
Category > Events
Readers who can get into London on Friday 16th of May 2008 will want to get to King's College London, from 1pm to 6pm to attend a seminar on Japanese comic book and animation industries.
The line up of speakers looks good, but Yoko Ono is not THAT Yoko Ono. It'll be interesting if they mention the difference between manga and manga style artwork in the talks too.
To go to the talk you will need to register via e-mail.
Read More... | Souce: King\'s College London
Category > Art
BBC News are currently running an interesting story about Chinese comics or Manhua and how the publications in the Chinese mainland have to be government approved.
Souce: BBC News
Category > Manga
Those intending to buy the latest volume of The Mammoth Book of Best New Manga, might want to turn up at the Orbital Manga store on 23rd February. Four of the artists featured in the book Karen Rubins, Chie Kutsuwada, Nana Li and John A Short will be present.
There will also be a chance to get signed illustrations from the artists themselves, as well as an art competition!
Read More... | Souce: Digital World Tokyo
Category > Events
Starting from March later this year, the Manchester's huge exhibition center will be displaying it's own "How Manga Took over the World" exhibition on Level 1 of the venue.
The event will be running from 13th March to 27th September 2008.
Read More... | Souce: Urbis
Category > Manga
The Times on-line are currently running an article written by Paul Gravett, about how manga is conquering Britain. It focuses on how groups outside of Japan are creating works in a manga style and calling it manga (in a subject frequently debated by fans, if the artist isn't Japanese does that make it manga). The article also mentions up and coming Sweatdrop Studios and how manga style artwork is increasingly being produced in the UK. The article mentions a few titles, but it is rather short on sales figures, so it's hard to measure how successful the local publications are.
Souce: Times On-line
Category > Manga
UK fans of Ghost in The Shell will be pleased to hear the details Titan Books have sent us about the release of Ghost In the Shell 1.5 Human-Error Processor. The manga is due out in the UK on 23rd November 2007. It bridges the gap between the Ghost in the Shell 1 and 2 manga (hence the 1.5 name). We've been waiting for this to come out as one book ever since we heard about it and highly recommend it to Ghost in the Shell fans.
Read More... | Souce: Titan Books
Category > Manga
The Sweatdrop crew have always been inventive with the titles they've released and they've sent us details for some titles due in April 2008 and June 2008 (that's a while away isn't it? We don't normally get details for titles that are 6 months ahead anyway...).
They'll be releasing 4 books next year:
- Be creative by R. Bevan, J. Middleton & T. Wright
- Find true love by S. Dosani, L. Helmanis and P. Cross
- Beauty secrets for babes by L.Helmanis
- Sort out your money by J. Middleton
All the lovely artwork will be done by Sonia Leong, and we'll be curious to see how they do this.
Will they have an otaku take on things? Eg: Sort out your money - buy less DVDs and manga to save money. Beauty secrets for babes - wear cat ears. Be creative - draw more stuff. Find true love - ermmm, otaku aren't exactly good at that, erm, join a relatives house which happens to be populated by lots of hot babes and enjoy the hilarity that ensues.
We look forward to seeing what these guides will look like next year.
Read More... | Souce: Sweatdrop Studios
Category > Manga
UK publisher Titan Books have sent us details about the UK release of the Akira Club artbook. It's one of those nice additions for fans of the movie and manga collection. It's due to hit the shelves on the 27th July 2007 and is priced at £24.99. Hunting around Play.com have it on pre-order for £14.99.
Read More... | Souce: Titan Books
Category > Current Affairs
Following on from our story about the Manga Bible, it seems that many religions want to remain accessible to a wider audience, according to the Catholic News Agency manga will be used to promote vocations in the UK.
The article states: "We have chosen the Manga cartoons for the 2007 campaign, because we hope it will appeal to young people under twenty as well as people in their thirties," Fr. Paul Embery, Director of the National Office for Vocation, explained to the Italian Religious Service.
A new website has been launched too - www.calledtoday.com which features artwork in a manga style and tells the stories of various people dedicated to the church.
Souce: Catholic News Agency
Category > Events
Following on from our earlier story about the Bristol Comics Expo (on 12th and 13th of May 2007), we've got some more details regarding their coverage of manga stuff. They'll have:
- Tokyo Pop
- Sweatdrop Studios
- Selfmadehero
- Yishan Li
- Umisen-Yamasen
- Siku
- Boychild Books
- Ilya
- Misako Rocks
They've bundled everyone together into a Manga Ally too, as always it's good to see Sweatdrop attending these events.
Read More... | Souce: Bristol Comics Expo
Category > Art
The good folks at Abrams have sent us details of a new book they're publishing about the groundbreaking artist Hokusai. The book contains lots of lovely selection artwork from Hokusai and is a great example of the variety of work he did. The book is well worth £10, for curiosity or academic interests. It hits the shops on 30th April 2007.
Read More... | Souce: Abrams Books
Category > Manga
We've got news from Titan Books that they'll be releasing the hugely popular Oh My Goddess! manga in the UK. On April 27th 2007 Volume 1 and 2 should be released. We think it's great that Titan Books are doing this, we just hope they pick up the rights to What's Michael? too.
Read More... | Souce: Titan Books
Category > Manga
We've been sent a press release from the folks at Titan Books, detailing the release of MegaTokyo Volume 4 in the UK. Why should we care when volume 5 is almost out in the US and most bookshops stock it volume 4 already? Well this is actually great news as some places like libraries and their book suppliers will only deal with books that have an official UK release. Now that MegaTokyo has an official UK release you should be able to pester your local librarian to get a copy in. ^_- This also applies to the other Titan books we've put press releases up for as they've already had US releases, but would be hard to stock in some places.
MegaTokyo Volume 4 is due to hit the bookshelves on 27th April 2007.
Read More... | Souce: Titan Books
Category > Anime
We've been sent a press release from the folks at Titan Books. They'll be releasing a new updated edition of the Anime Encyclopedia for the UK on 27th April 2007. This edition has a black cover, along with over 40% new material. The Anime Encyclopedia is a must for otaku, as it's a accurate and well researched guide to the subject unlike a few other books which are nowhere near as good. Jonathan Clements and Helen McCarthy know their stuff and we highly recomend this guide. Hunting around on Amazon.co.uk will produce a bargain price below the suggested retail price. You'll save money by reading about the type of anime you'd want to avoid, but the only trouble is you'd want to watch more of the titles you've discovered by reading it.
Read More... | Souce: Titan Book
Category > Manga
We've been sent a press release from the good folks at Titan Books. They've aquired the rights for the Dark Horse version of Eden. It's due to hit the bookshelves on 27th April 2007.
Read More... | Souce: Titan Books
Category > Events
Anime fans will be pleased to know that Leicester based UK anime convention AmeCon 2007 is now open for registration. So book now to avoid disappointment. The convention is scheduled for 10th-12th August 2007 and is the third convention held by the AmeCon crew.
Souce: AmeCon
Category > Manga
We've received a details from publishing house Hodder and Stoughton regarding the Manga Bible. We're not talking about some sort of ultimate must have guide to manga, but the New Testament produced in a manga style. Using the TNIV (Today's New International Version) as the basis, London based artist Siku, who is best know for his work on 2000AD.
Read More... | Souce: The Manga Bible
Category > Retail
Hidden away just around the corner from Leicester Square and short walk from Covent Garden, on Upper Saint Martin's Lane is Orbital Manga, a new little manga shop from the same people behind Orbital Comics on Charing Cross Road. Although Orbital Manga is small, it's worth looking around and is a refreshing change from comic shops that stock some manga. They've got a good range of manga and the usual selection of merchandise and trinkets.
Read More... | Souce: Upper Saint Martin\'s Lane
Category > Manga
Random House UK imprint Tanoshimi have sent us some details about a nice fan oriented campaign. From February 7th Fans and vote on their website and select which title they want Tanoshimi to publish next, the people behind Tanoshimi have confirmed that it is likely they will only publish the winning title.
Fans can vote for the following:
Genshiken
Kagetora
Othello
Wallflower
All voters will go into a draw for a chance to win a Nintendo DS Lite.
Read More... | Souce: Tanoshimi
Category > Manga
We've just been sent a press release from Random House imprint Tanoshimi detailing their releases in the UK for this February 2007. They'll be releasing the following titles:
Free Collars Kingdom Volume 1
Airgear Volume 3
School Rumble Volume 3 and 4
Guru Guru Pon Chan Volume 7
All are due to hit the shelves on 1st February 2007.
Free Collars Kingdom is a new title to Tanoshimi that should interest the furry fan readers with lots of catboy antics.
Read More... | Souce: Tanoshimi
Category > Manga
We've been sent an interesting press release from SelfMadeHero about their Manga Shakespeare series. The bard's classic tales have been reinterpreted into a manga style. With Romeo and Juliet the action has relocated to Shibuya in Tokyo, with yakuza talking the place of the more traditional families in the original. Hamlet is still set in Denmark, but in the future cyber world of 2017. SelfMadeHero inform us that the series keeps true to the text of Shakespeare, but is specially abridged for use in the manga. Sweatdrop Studio's very own Sonia Leong illustrated Romeo and Juliet, while Emma Vicieli illustrated Hamlet.
Both Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet are due for release on 1st March 2007, priced at £6.99. The Tempest and Richard III are due to be published in Autumn 2007. Othello, Much Ado About Nothing and A Midsummer Night’s Dream are planned, but no release date is mentioned.
Our readers still in education might want to show this to their English and drama teachers, while our other readers might just enjoy reading a new interpretation of Shakespeare's works.
This is not the first time Hamlet has been made into a manga in English, our good friend Amethyst Angel has done a fan version using characters from Slayers, entitled Hamlet: The Manga.
Read More... | Souce: SelfMadeHero
Category > Manga
Tokyo Pop UK's talent hunt Rising Stars of Manga UK and Ireland hasn't been totally smooth sailing; there have been numerous resets of the vote, not to mention the judges decision to eliminate a finalist after announcing their inclusion in the people's choice.
Despite that, all that the winners have been announced. Their work will be included in the RSOM UK Volume 2 book.
Read More... | Souce: Tokyopop