#Kodansha house nyc

[toeydbootzandcatz]

Part 1 of my photo dumb from checking out the Kodansha House pop-up in NYC today.

[wha-archive]

An illustration of Qifrey Shirahama drew live at NYCC the other day! She will also be making an appearance at Kodansha House in NYC today for a Q&A and Signing, though the lottery for this is closed. If you're in the area it seems well worth visiting Kodansha House in general though!

[animefeminist]

“Every Inch of My Imagination”: Mangaka Yukimura Makoto on writing women and slavery in Vinland Saga

Spoilers for part one of Vinland Saga

Yukimura Makoto came recently to NYC for Kodansha House to discuss his landmark series Vinland Saga. A work that has been running for nearly twenty years, Vinland Saga could best be described as the greatest anti-war epic of our times—sprawling in scope, it charts the rise and fall of Norse empires and the first European exploration of the American continent through the eyes of Thorfinn, an Icelandic young man who dreams of creating a world without war or slavery. His path getting there is brutal, however: first leaving a trail of bodies in his wake before he is enslaved and loses everything, out of emptiness he is then able to find renewed purpose. 

AniFem had the privilege of being able to attend a Q and A with Yukimura-sensei, hosted by Joe Pascullo of the New York Public Library. The Q and A was wide in scope, spanning from Yukimura’s inspirations for creating Thorfinn to his plans after finishing Vinland Saga in the near future. (Answer: he’s very tired! Even mangaka need breaks.)

Thorfinn’s story was very personal to Yukimura. “He is like me,” Yukimura said. “When I was little, I was just an up-to-no-good, terrible kid. Angry all the time, and thank goodness I didn’t have a knife in my hands!” (At this, the entire audience laughed.) He continued: “Thorfinn reflects myself, and also the kind of person I aspire to be.” 

Anime Feminist also had the remarkable opportunity to interview Yukimura about Vinland Saga, writing female characters, portraying slavery and the role of Buddhist Philosophy in his work. Our interview with him, which was one of the great honors of my time in anime journalism, is below.

Read it at Anime Feminist!

[feu-eau]

Putting this interview with Shirahama here because I didn't find it on the tag and it's very interesting 🫶

[dropintomanga]

October 2024 - An Amazing Month for Manga

Hey everyone, I've been out and about this whole month because of manga-related events.

I got a chance to check out Kodansha House, the pop-up experience that was in my home of NYC. And it was everything I hoped for. There was a lot of display of art from series like Akira, Initial D, Attack on Titan, Vinland Saga, Witch Hat Atelier, The Flowers of Evil, and Blue Period.

Not only that, there were goodies on sale, a bubble tea pop-up, 2 Initial D: Arcade Stage cabinets, a manga library full of Kodansha titles to read, and a 2nd floor for events with free concessions.

I got a chance to watch the Blue Lock: Episode Nagi movie to celebrate the launch of the manga spinoff in the U.S.. It's a nice change of perspective and it definitely pleased fans of Reo Mikage x Seishiro Nagi. The English voice for Yoichi Isagi, Ricco Fajardo, was also in attendance and did a Q&A about what he loves about Blue Lock and voice acting in general.

Before New York Comic-Con happened, I went to the Anitomo Manga Matsuri at the 53rd Street New York Public library and attended a manga publishers panel. Representatives from Viz Media, Yen Press, Square Enix and Kodansha all recommended titles worth reading in shonen, shojo, LGBT+, horror, series with anime tie-ins, and Spring 2025 picks. There's a lot of titles worth reading and I can't name all of them here. But popular titles like The Summer Hikaru Died, The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't Really a Guy at All, Kagurabachi, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Blue Lock: Episode Nagi, The Apothecary Diaries, The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity, and Dragon and Chameleon were featured.

There was some online commentary about The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity being listed as a shojo (it's published in a shonen magazine) and someone at the panel did raise a point about a neglected manga genre that still hasn't received its great moment yet (I might get to this in a future post). All in all, I enjoyed the intimacy of this panel as there wasn't a large crowd and everyone immediately felt the energy of talking about manga with experts that know it well.

And while I didn't go to New York Comic-Con, I did hear that anime and manga was front and center still despite major comic publishers not being at the event. A lot of the buzz came from Japanese-related businesses, so it's nice to hear.

Finally, I got a chance to see Makoto Yukimura of Vinland Saga fame. What a guy. I remember when Vinland Saga was first licensed here in 2013, not many people gave it a chance. Kodansha USA representatives at the time said the manga was struggling sales-wise and were relying on buzz to get new volumes published. Then an anime adaptation finally came 14 years after the Japanese manga debut and fans finally saw how great the series was. Yukimura was very chill and hilarious. He said he strives to be like Thorfinn as best he can. I got a chance to tell him that my favorite character is Hild an I'm looking forward to seeing how Yukimura ends the manga because the endgame is not too far.

Anyway, October was fun. I hope there's more Kodansha House events in the future in other places. Other North American metropolitan areas deserve a pop-up experience like Kodansha provided. It's an intimate setting for a community of fans that continue to demand the best from manga publishing folks. Everyone looked to have a great time, whether it was riding Kaneda's famous bike to dressing up as a Titan lording over a town to playing Initial D to reading manga.

I'll say this - despite manga sales not as high as they once were during COVID, manga is here to stay. We're still in a golden age of manga here. Enjoy it while we still can!

[ljaesch]

Kodansha House: Immersive Pop-up in NYC in October 2024

In October 2024, Kodansha invites fans to experience Kodansha House: Where Manga Meets. Opening October 4, 2024 in SoHo, New York City, this fully immersive pop-up will be located at 45 Grand Street, open from Wednesdays to Sundays, 12 p.m.-9 p.m. EDT, running through the month of October. Kodansha House is not just an event—it’s a vibrant meeting place where the world of manga comes alive. Fans…

[fabulizemag]

Kodansha Will Host its First Ever Manga Immersive Pop-up in NYC

Manga fans, get ready for an immersive popup experience with Kodansha @kodanshamanga this October in New York City #Kodansha #manga

Starting October. 4th, Japan’s largest publisher, Kodansha will encourage manga lovers and fans to experience their month-long pop-up experience in New York City. Fans can expect to meet the creative teams behind their favorite manga such as Akira, Sailor Moon, Attack on Titan, and Blue Lock. The experience is titled: Kodansha House: Where Manga Meets.  Festivities will be held at 45 Grand Street…

[kenpiercemedia]

Kodansha To Host Its First Ever Immersive Pop-up in NYC - "Kodansha House"

The Press Release: This October, Kodansha invites you to experience Kodansha House: Where Manga Meets. Opening October 4th in SoHo, NYC, this fully immersive pop-up will be located at 45 Grand Street. Through the month of October, it will be open on Wednesdays to Sundays, from 12pm to 9pm. Kodansha House is not just an event—it’s a vibrant meeting place where the world of manga comes alive. You…

[graphicpolicy]

Kodansha Hosts its First Ever Immersive Pop-up in NYC this October

Kodansha Hosts its First Ever Immersive Pop-up in NYC this October #manga #nyc

This October, Kodansha invites you to experience Kodansha House: Where Manga Meets. Opening October 4th in SoHo, NYC, this fully immersive pop-up will be located at 45 Grand Street.Through the month of October, it will be open on Wednesdays to Sundays, from 12pm to 9pm. Kodansha House is not just an event—it’s a vibrant meeting place where the world of manga comes alive. You can explore a…

[soulcialdent]

Kodansha House: Where Manga Meets. Opening October 4th in SoHo, NYC, this fully immersive pop-up will be located at 45 Grand Street.

Through the month of October, it will be open on Wednesdays to Sundays, from 12pm to 9pm.

Follow for more Manga Related Topics

.

.

.

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 11/18/20

SEAN: The weekend of Anime NYC, and I am… not in a hotel room in New York City. Boo. Still, there will be virtual con, I’m sure.

No debuts for J-Novel Club, but we do see The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress 9, Holmes of Kyoto 2, Mapping 2, The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar 13, Seirei Gensouki 12, and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen 9.

Kaiten Books has a 3rd volume of Loner Life in Another World.

Kodansha also has no print debuts, but we do have a fair amount of print, assuming no last-minute delays. There’s Cardcaptor Sakura Collector’s Edition 6 and also Clear Card 8. We also get Granblue Fantasy 7, Living-Room Matsunaga-san 5, Saiyuki 3, and The Seven Deadly Sins 40.

MICHELLE: I need to catch up on Living-Room Matsunaga-san.

ASH: I still need to start reading Living-Room Matsunaga-san!

SEAN: Digitally there is a debut. Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist- (Kai Byoui Ramune) is about a sort of modern-day, more casual Black Jack and his bizarre supernatural-tinged patients. It sounds like a gag manga, but is apparently deeper than it looks. It runs in Shonen Sirius.

ASH: I’m curious about this one, though I don’t read much digitally.

SEAN: Also digitally: Dolly Kill Kill 8, GE: Good Ending 11, Heroine for Hire 3, Hop Step Sing! 2, Kakushigoto 9, Shaman King: Red Crimson 3, The Writer and His Housekeeper 2, and Yozakura Quartet 26.

Seven Seas has an early digital light novel debut: Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs. This time it’s a male office worker who dies and gets reincarnated in an otome game… as a schlub NPC. But he does recall the game’s events. Can he make his life better?

In print, there are two debuts. The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter has a manga, and this is the first volume of that. It’s pleasantly dumb.

What the Font?! ��� A Manga Guide to Western Typeface has, aside from a terrific title, an “educational” feel to it. Expect anthropomorphic personifications.

ASH: I’m actually really excited for this one.

ANNA: Oh, me too!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Cosmo Familia 3 (the final volume), Mushoku Tensei: Roxy Gets Serious 4, New Game! 10, Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General 5, Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho 11, and Sarazanmai 2.

ASH: Whoops, still need to get around to Sarazanmai 1!

Square Enix has, not a manga or novel, but Final Fantasy VII Poster Collection. It’s Tifa-tastic and Aerith-riffic.

Vertical gives us the 8th and final volume of Arakawa Under the Bridge. There’s also Blood on the Tracks 3 and Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest 4.

MICHELLE: The first volume of Blood on the Tracks was enjoyably ominous.That’s another one I need to catch up on.

SEAN: It’s a very Rumiko Takahashi week at Viz. Not only do we get Urusei Yatsura’s 8th omnibus (introducing Ryuunosuke, the precursor to Ranma Saotome), but also debut Mermaid Saga in omnibus form! This is decidedly NOT a comedy, and shows off how good Takahashi was at horror and suspense.

MICHELLE: I have the single volumes of this, but have never read it!

ASH: I love Mermaid Saga so much that I’m double-dipping for the new edition.

ANNA: I think I read a tiny bit of it back in the day but I’m excited for the new edition too.

MELINDA: I probably need to finally read this.

SEAN: There’s also Beastars 9, Hell’s Paradise Jigokuraku 5, and Tokyo Ghoul:re Illustrations: zakki, an artbook.

MICHELLE: I’m so far behind on Beastars and Hell’s Paradise already!

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind myself, but have been liking both series so far.

SEAN: And then there’s Yen, and they have a lot, even with the normal “date shifts”. First we get the novels.

There are three debuts, though one doesn’t count. A Certain Magical Index SS 1 is hardly unknown to readers, but it is nice to see, especially as I whined at Yen when it did not come out (as it did in Japan) between Books 13 and 14. It’s a short-story collection, and introduces the reader to Hamazura… assuming they haven’t read Index 15-22 already.

The Place Promised in Our Early Days is another Makoto Shinkai adaptation… in fact, it’s of his first major film.

MELINDA: I usually like these adaptations, though I haven’t watched this movie in a long while. Might be nice to revisit.

SEAN: The big debut is Unnamed Memory, an extremely popular light novel series. A Crown Prince with a curse has to visit the strongest witch in the world to break it. Destiny ensues.

ASH: It does look as though it may have some potential.

SEAN: Yen On also has a LOT of ongoing series. 86 ~Eighty-Six~ 6, The Dirty Way to Destroy the Goddess’s Heroes 5, Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? 7, The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious 5, I’m a Behemoth, an S-Ranked Monster, but Mistaken for a Cat, I Live as an Elf Girl’s Pet 2, Last Round Arthurs 3, Magical Girl Raising Project 10, Rascal Does Not Dream 3, So I’m a Spider, So What? 10, and World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker 4.

And that’s just novels. For manga, there are five debuts. Mieruko-chan is a comedy from Monthly Comic Alive about a girl who can see terrifying ghosts and monsters… and does her level best to ignore them.

Sadako at the End of the World (Shuumatsu no Sadako-san) is a one-shot manga from Comic Gene about the girl from Ring ending up in a post-apocalyptic world where her presence is far more welcome.

ASH: Okay, both of these sound like something I should check out.

MELINDA: Same here.

SEAN: Star Wars: Rebels is the manga adaptation of the popular series, and comes from LINE Corporation.

The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap is the manga adaptation of a light novel we’ve seen from J-Novel Heart. A girl with the worst luck ends up reincarnated in another world… sadly, the source of that bad luck is here as well. Can she escape and live freely? This runs in Kadokawa’s FLOS Comic.

Lastly, A Witch’s Love at the End of the World (Sekai no Owari to Majo no Koi) (no relation to Sadako’s title) is a yuri series from ASCII Mediaworks’ Comic IT. It… honestly reads sort of like a Japanese version of The Owl House. Which I’m fine with.

There’s also Eclair Orange, the latest in that yuri anthology, IM: Great Priest Imhotep 5, Keito Koume Illustrations Spice & Wolf (an artbook), Shibuya Goldfish 8, and Yoshi no Zuikara 2.

MICHELLE: I had no idea there was yet another Eclair on the way!

SEAN: I’m exhausted, how about you?

By: Sean Gaffney

[thescarf]

“Kodansha - Taking Flight” by Juan Cabral

In Kodansha’s century-plus of business, the publisher has introduced audiences to iconic titles like Attack on Titan, Akira, and Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, not to mention kickstarting the careers of legendary storytellers like Haruki Murakami. But despite all its contributions to global pop culture, Kodansha isn’t exactly a household name. Now, for the first time in its 112 years as a publishing house, Kodansha has launched a unified brand identity and logo. 

Teaming up with NYC-based agency Gretel, Kodansha created a branding it hopes will bring consistency to its many products. This new direction is heralded by the “Taking Flight” video, directed by Juan Cabral, whose litany of previous ads includes Cadbury’s iconic drumming gorilla - follows the migration of stories from Kodansha, as they take flight across the city and eventually the world.

[dropintomanga]

I’m Happy for Manga (and an Annoucement)

Quote Source: NYCC ‘22: Bright Lights, Big Fandom - Sept. 10, 2022

I will be the first to tell you that I’m not a huge fan of New York Comic-Con. This is mostly due to the lack of anime and manga content and how recent attempts at an anime side-event have bombed. However, after this year’s NYCC, I can’t help but say that it does feel like anime and manga truly can’t be ignored anymore.

I checked to see what was happening this past weekend as I didn’t go. No one outside of my anime/manga industry/journalist circle was talking about the BLEACH Thousand-Year Blood War and Chainsaw Man anime premieres at the convention. Hell, I didn’t see much talk in my friend circle about the One Piece Film Red takeover in Times Square (which looked freaking awesome, by the way). While all three are mainstream anime/manga properties, they got the grand state treatment and seeing anime/manga fans react to them was fun to see.

And maybe more importantly, seeing all the manga panels (via Twitter) held by people I admire and respect. There was so much to check out if I decided to go. “This Manga Is Awesome,” “Best and Worst Manga of 2022″, “Defending Manga,” “The Manga Industry and Your Library,” etc. Anime and manga booths were huge compared to what I heard about San Diego Comic-Con 2022, where Hollywood and other media overwhelmingly dwarf over Asian-produced works.

I can’t help but be happy because to borrow a quote from this Tweet, it does feel like anime and manga have finally won. I do feel that New York has a certain advantage versus San Diego as in many book publishers are based here in New York City. Penguin Random House (which houses Kodansha USA and Square Enix Books and also a distribution partner relationship with Dark Horse Comics), Simon and Schuster (a distribution partner for VIZ Media) and Hachette Press (which houses Yen Press) all have offices in NYC. I feel like New York is a heavy book-reading city, but it’s also one of the most diverse places in the world too (compared to San Diego).

There’s a saying that geeks have inherited the Earth over the past few years, but it never felt that way for anime/manga fans for a long time. Maybe now, we can start to say that the weebs shall inherit the Earth?

Speaking of conventions, I would like to say that for the 1st time ever, I’ll be going to Anime NYC as Press for this blog. I was so afraid of representing myself for a long time, but after nixing the Manga Therapy name and some encouragement from peers, this was the perfect time. I’m thinking about what I can do besides the usual press coverage. I have a grand idea in my head, but we’ll see.

Also, there’s a link to the Best & Worst Manga 2022 list for this year’s NYCC for anyone who wants to see what manga journalists/librarians/influencers/YouTubers picked. I have personally used these lists to determine what to read next and highly recommend them to any manga reader looking for new material to check out (or not).

[recentanimenews]

Manga the week of 12/13/17

SEAN: A relatively light week next week, possibly as all the titles were pulled into the black hole that is the week after next, which crushes all in its path.

J-Novel Club has a new debut, Walking My Second Path in Life. It sounds really great, being about a princess who’s tired of being used and then forgotten about so decides to masquerade as a male squire and try to become a knight. It’s also written by someone with the penname “Otaku de Neet”, so there’s that. I am thus cautiously optimistic?

Kodansha’s digital releases now outstrip their print by about 5 to 1. On the print side, there’s a 4th Aho-Girl, a 6th Clockwork Planet, a 3rd Kigurumi Guardians, and a 7th Princess Jellyfish, which I’m finally falling behind on (and feeling guilty).

MICHELLE: I always delight in a new Princess Jellyfish!

ASH: Indeed! I’m still incredibly happy that the series is being released in print. (And that we’ll be getting Tokyo Tarareba Girls, too!)

ANNA: Good stuff!

SEAN: In ongoing digital titles, we have, and try to say this all in one breath: Aoba-kun’s Confessions 5, Black Panther and Sweet 16 5, Chihayafuru 7, Domestic Girlfriend 12, Drowning Love 6, Grand Blue Dreaming 4 (that’s getting print later next year), House of the Sun 12, Kokkaku: Moment by Moment 3, and PTSD Radio 2. Eeesh. Chihayafuru is my pick from that pile.

MICHELLE: Mine, too, but I do still intend to check out Drowning Love and a couple others.

SEAN: Seven Seas has Vol. 13 of A Centaur’s Life, which continues to be the most deeply random ongoing series I’ve ever read.

ASH: I’ve definitely fallen behind, but the manga can be really interesting even if its tone and direction can be somewhat erratic.

SEAN: They also have a 7th Dance in the Vampire Bund omnibus, which I think takes in some of the sequels and side-stories.

And the print edition of the 4th Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash light novel.

SuBLime has two titles next week, with a 6th Don’t Be Cruel (still putting Elvis in my head every time I see it) and a 4th Deluxe Edition for Finder.

ASH: The deluxe edition is really nice, especially for fans who haven’t already invested in the series. (And it includes additional content to entice those who already have.)

SEAN: Vertical has a 6th massive volume for BLAME!, which I discovered at Anime NYC I’ve been mispronouncing all this time.

MICHELLE: It’s, like, bu-rah-mu or something, isn’t it?

SEAN: It’s apparently BLAM, as if written without the E.

We are almost finished with Itsuwaribito, though I could be lying. Sure seems that Vol. 22 is the second to last, though.

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: And Magi has a 27th volume, and may be killing off one of its main characters? Though somehow I doubt that.

MICHELLE: Volume 26 ended on quite the cliffhanger, so I’m definitely looking forward to this.

ANNA: Soooo far behind with this series. One day!

SEAN: Lastly, we see the debut of Splatoon. This series, based on the third person shooter game, is actually one of several manga that have come out. This one is Shogakukan’s title from CoroCoro Comic Special. Given it ran in CoroCoro, I expect it is geared for younger readers.

Are you getting anything next week, or saving up for the hell that is bearing down on us?

By: Sean Gaffney

[recentanimenews]

Anime NYC, Day Two

Day 2! Though first, I missed an announcement from Day 1: Mangagamer has finished Golden Fantasia Cross, and it will be out in December. This is an Umineko fighting game with what I believe is a significant amount of plot thrown in, and it even has a slightly different ending from the visual novel. The bad news is it’s a fighting game, which means you need a certain level of skill. We’ll see how far I advance.

Day 2 began for me with the Kodansha Comics panel, featuring the audible and personable Ben Applegate and the inaudible and thus anonymous narrator, who really needs to learn to project to the back of the house. In terms of new new titles, there was one print and a pile of digital.

The print title is Golosseum, apparently spelled with the G. It’s from the author of the long and never licensed Karate Fighter Minoru manga, and runs in Kodansha’s Nemesis magazine. It’s apparently a political martial arts title, and reminded me a lot of The Legend of Koizumi – real life political figures caricatured for fun. So we have Rasputin (Russia’s greatest love machine), Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton, etc. It looks like a lot of fun.

Digital debuts, arriving as soon as next week. Lovesick Ellie is a Dessert title about a girl who likes to tweet about a made-up boyfriend. That won’t end well. My Brother Is a Shut-In is from Morning Two, something I always approve of. It seems to be about a girl whose brother, as you may have guessed, is a shut-in, but that may change soon.

Pitch-Black Ten is from Shonen Magazine R, and looks like an action fantasy; the author also did Buster Keel!. Drifting Dragons is from good! Afternoon, and seems to be the Dragon equivalent of Delicious in Dungeon – we hope you enjoy eating dragons.

Living-Room Matsunaga-san is also a Dessert title, and seems to involve a younger girl moving into a boarding house her uncle runs and meeting the college-aged residents. Lastly, we have The Prince’s Black Poison, a Betsufure title about a girl who’s taken care of her “helpless” childhood friend, but when she tries to do things away from him, he reveals himself to be far more manipulative than she guessed.

They also discussed the upcoming print release of Tokyo Tarareba Girls, as well as Sailor Moon Eternal, a re-release which looks fantastic. Lots of things coming from Kodansha, who are still putting out more digital than you can possibly keep up with.

The next panel was Yen Press, and they too had a pile of stuff to announce. They also had someone translating in sign language, which was very cool. They showed off the Pandora Box, which is one of the most impressive box sets I have ever seen. It’s simply breathtaking. And then new announcements, including one I’ve been waiting on for about a year…

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online will have the light novels out next year. These are by the Kino’s Journey author, and do not have Kirito or the main cast in them. I reviewed the first manga recently… dammit, that means my URL will have a (2) again. I hate that.

Other light novels announcements are Defeating the Demon Lord Is a Cinch (If You Have a Ringer), which I think may be a Fantasia Bunko series and is very much in the ‘fantasy world, kill monsters’ sort of genre. The best thing about it is that the artist is named ‘bob’. We also have the much-anticipated SukaMoka series, aka (deep breath) World End: What Will You Do At the End of the World? Will You Save Us?. This is apparently an emotional tearjerker of a series, and it already has a sequel in Japan.

A big surprise (to the panelists as well – apparently the license was finalized this morning) was Final Fantasy VII: On the Way to a Smile, the first in a series of Final Fantasy novels. It’s actually a short story book that has various stories taking place around the time of VII and Advent Children.

On the manga front, we see The Strange Creature at Kuroyuri Apartments, a Young Gangan title about a demon summoner’s young daughter who is ordered to entertain the landlord of an apartment complex. Tsuno no Gakuen is about boys with horns on their heads who can do magic, and our hero is self-conscious his horns are too small. Which is not a metaphor for anything, I’m sure. It runs in Young Ace Up!.

Catterpillar Girl and Bad Texter Boy is a done-in-one title from Gene Pixiv. A fantastic girl is rejected by the boy she loves, and hen vanishes… only to return as a caterpillar! It looks really cute. Teasing Master Tagaki-san was a series I’d heard of before, and I highly approve of its license. A boy is determined to tease the girl he’s friends with… but this is easier said than done, as he’s easily teased and she loves to tease him. It runs in Shogakukan’s Gessan.

Shibuya Goldfish is a horror title from Gangan Joker, and is soooooooo not my thing, but horror fans should like it. Fruits Basket Another is also licensed, and will be three volumes total. I… have mixed feelings about this, but we’ll talk about that when it comes out. There’s also a Little Witch Academia manga coming out in their new JY line for younger readers. It looks really cute and fun.

After this, I ate lunch and wandered around a bit. My final panel of the day was a panel on Japanese feminism, run by Anne Lee, who runs the shojopower.com website. Her goal was to show us that yes, Japanese feminism does, and did, actually exist, and I think she did a good job. She focused on four different women who made their presence known.

Raichi Hiratsuka was described as sort of the Japanese Susan B. Anthony. She started a highly influential (and controversial) literary magazine in 1911 called Saito (Bluestocking), which featured essays, poetry and short stories about “the new women”. The authors were known to (gasp!) smoke and drink, so it was not well liked by men of the time. She then tried to help get women the vote, which came close to happening in 1921, but one comment by an influential guy killed it, and she went into seclusion due to this.

Then along came Beate Sirota Gordon, an Austrian woman who grew up in Japan, went to an American college right around the time of WWII, and then got a job with the US government so she could return to Japan and find her parents. She ended up helping to rewrite the Japanese constitution… which was controversial enough, as the Americans were “helping” them write it the way that they wanted.

She researched the hell out of this, though, impressing the Americans, and added a lot of things that gave women more rights. A lot of them were cut, but some weren’t, and the Constitution passed despite the vehement objections of Japanese men. As for Raichi, she was shocked and conflicted – having this granted to her by Americans rather than fought for and won in a political victory seemed a bit hollow.

We also discussed Machiko Hasegawa, creator of Sazae-san, possibly the most famous Japanese manga ever – at least in Japan. The manga ran from 1946-1974. The anime began in 1969 and is still running, meaning it crushes the Simpsons record. Sazae-san was pretty slice of life comic strip gags, but as the series went on Sazae-san herself got involved in feminism, and the strips sometimes delved into that.

Lastly we discussed Rokudenashiko and her vagina kayak, which I was already very familiar with, as I’d seen the author’s panel at TCAF and reviewed her book here. It got into a discussion about how Japan is OK with penis festivals but gets upset with vaginas, whether this was politically motivated (she has a friend who was criticizing the government), and how the vagueness of the obscenity laws may not have helped. It was a well-researched and enjoyable panel.

And that was all I had on tap for today. I wanted to see the Fate/GO panel, but that looked to be difficult to get into. Tomorrow I only have one panel, which is Vertical. I therefore plan to take a look at Artist’s Alley in the morning, hit up the panel, and then head home. This was a great second day of the con.

By: Sean Gaffney

[recentanimenews]

Anime NYC, Day One

It’s Anime NYC weekend! I’m here to cover everything for you – at least, everything I can get to. We’re starting early, though, as I’m typing this before the con begins. That’s because Seven Seas, which is not allowed to leave California due to some agreement with a lich, I believe, has announced a giant pile of titles every day this week, including some absolute stunners.

We start with Dragon, Ie wo Kau (Dragon Goes House Hunting), which sounds absolutely hilarious based on title alone. It’s a Mag Garden title that runs in Comic Blade, and a fairly recent series. As for the premise, well, I’d hate to spoil…

Do you like sports manga? Have you been thinking “I like sports manga, but there’s not enough fanservice? Where are my girls in swimsuits”? In that case, we have Harukana Receive, a beach volleyball manga that takes place in Okinawa. It runs in Houbunsha’s Manga Time Kirara Forward, and has 4 volumes to date.

I greatly enjoyed My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness when it came out earlier this year, and so am delighted to hear Seven Seas has licensed the sequel, My Solo Exchange Diary, which only comes out in Japan next month. Judging by the title, it promises to be as emotionally compelling as the previous book (exchange diaries by definition requiring another person).

I have often begged for licenses from Shogakukan’s Big Comic Superior, one of the more overlooked seinen magazines. And, well, OK, I asked for it. Now we have Wonderland, which manages to turn Alice in Wonderland into a horror thriller sort of deal, as humanity shrinks all of a sudden and has to fight to survive. The author may be best known over here for Fighting Beauty Wulong.

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom has been one of J-Novel Club’s breakaway hits, so it’s no surprise that Seven Seas will be releasing it in print. Get ready to hear about Machivelli’s The Prince a lot and ask yourself “Isn’t that Saber?”.

This should not be a surprise anymore given the number of classic titles Seven Seas has announced, but it still surprised me. Space Battleship Yamoto will be coming out as one omnibus manga! From 1974, it ran in Akita Shoten’s now defunct Bouken Ou magazine, though I believe Media Factory may have the rights now. The anime version may be better known to Western fans as old as I am as Star Blazers.

Udon still has the rights to Rose of Versailles, though it’s been significantly delayed. But Seven Seas teased us with two sort-of-related titles. The first is Versailles of the Dead, combining 18th century France with zombies. It runs in Shogakukan’s Hibana, and is from the creator of After School Charisma.

And we may not have Rose of Versailles yet, but we are getting a Ryoko Ikeda title, as we have Claudine! This single volume shoujo manga is considered a pioneer in the field of LGBT manga, meaning of course that it’s going to end unhappily for all concerned, like most pioneers of LGBT manga. Claudine ran in Shueisha’s Margaret, and will be complete in one volume.

Who wanted a combination of beloved fairy tales and survival game manga? Certainly not me, but there’s definitely a market for it, and they should be delighted with Fairy Tale Battle Royale, a Kadokawa title that runs in Gene Pixiv.

If you liked The Heiress and the Chauffeur, Seven Seas has a new shoujo series by the same author (and that also ran in LaLa from Hakusensha). The Bride and the Exorcist Knight is about a young woman who attracts demons, and the boy who rescues her… and then says they should get married. The boy’s age worries me (he’s apparently 12), but we’ll see how this is handled.

The biggest surprise so far (I may have to edit this when Friday’s titles come out) is the license of the Shin Tenchi Muyo novels. These novels expand on the past of the original OAV series, with one devoted to Aeka’s family, one to Tenchi’s grandfather, and one to Washuu. (Romanization may vary depending on when you got obsessed with Tenchi Muyo). These came out in the 1990s, and were on no one’s radar, so I was stunned. But I will absolutely pick them up.

Friday brings us the final Seven Seas titles. First we have Elf-san wa Yaserarenai (Plus-Sized Elf), a comedy manga from Comic Gum. Dieting elves seem to be the comedy du jour.

Ojojojo proves that the Dragon Maid author can still get things licensed, but at least it doesn’t seem to feature monster girls. Outcast girl meets outcast boy in this 4-volume series from Takeshobo’s Manga Life.

Lastly, there is Hanayome wa Motodanshi (The Bride was a Boy), an Asuka Shinsha title about the titular bride, who was assigned male at birth but has decided to transition, and her husband who finds out about this but falls for her anyway. It’s apparently autobiographical, and should appeal to fans of My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness-style manga.

Now onto Anime NYC proper. After a bit of line wackiness (better signage was desperately needed), I got into the Exhibit Hall, grabbed a copy of Nekomonogatari Back (likely my sole purchase this weekend), and headed to the panel on Anime Fandom 15 years ago, run by Doug Wilder of Animecons.com.

It really is startling to see how far we’ve come in that time. 15 years ago, VHS was dying and DVDs were the new thing, but they were frequently high-priced and sometimes came with a box to hold the remaining volumes… which may not always have come out if sales were really poor. Streaming was being talked about, but that’s all. It was a physical media world.

There were magazines! Animerica, Protoculture Addicts, Newtype USA. Wizard magazine devoted part of its content to anime, which makes me sad as it means I have to remember Wizard magazine. You still had Toonami and Adult Swim, but ADV Films (remember them?) was starting up The Anime Network. We had the Lupin dub! Which changed so much dialogue it could have been a different series.

There were the usual gateways. Sailor Moon, etc. Gundam Wing was HUGE at the time. I noted from the audience that it was the Gundam series that attracted a lot of female viewers. Doug also discussed other robot series like G Gundam and Battler Aura Dunbine, which tried to sell itself as being similar to Gundam Wing, which… it wasn’t.

After this nostalgic trip, I toured the show floor a bit. Spoke to Mangagamer about the delays on the Higurashi re-release (their programmer is very busy with other titles, so Tsumihoroboshi may take a few more months.) Got a hot dog, because the days when I try to power through an entire day on water are long gone. Then camped for Viz, which meant seeing Funimation Favorites, which was fun. They’re excited about the Nichijou re-release.

Viz had a lot of people at its panel, though the only panelist was Charlene Ingram, their marketing director. Most of the announcements were things that had been mentioned at prior events, such as Infini-T Force and the Homestuck print omnibuses. A lot of anime clips, which the audience appreciated. The Terra Formars one was quite violent.

A big announcement was that Viz has partnered with Pluto TV, an app that allows you to watch various titles whenever you want, including Viz titles. They were also very excited about Osomatsu-san, the very popular comedy manga that sort of came out of nowhere this past year.

On the manga front, we talked about to My Hero Academia speedup starting in 2018, as well as the Vigilantes spinoff being licensed. The one new series that they announced was That Blue Sky Feeling (Sorairo Flutter), an LGBT series that runs in Square Enix’s Gangan Joker. It’s about a boy drawn to the school outcast, who may be gay but that’s not stopping our hero getting close to him. It looks quite interesting.

After the Viz panel I went to dinner with two friends at a pub on 46th street nowhere near the con, which I always recommend when you do NYC cons – the convention center is near absolutely nothing. Fish and chips were eaten, rum and coke was drank, and a good time was had by all.

Then back to the con for the One Piece 20th anniversary panel, which had a considerable line, but everyone managed to get in. (By the way, the con had about 20,000 people, which is not bad given it’s a first-year con. The panel was run by the One Piece Podcast, and the hosts were Zach and Kelly. They oddly tried to keep it a spoiler-free con, which was increasingly difficult as the panel went on.

A lot of the events going on in Japan for the anniversary were discussed. One Piece is big business there, with shops, restaurants (one restaurant is run by a guy dressed as Sanji, who flirts with the women but is hirrible to any male customers. That sounds… a bit too accurate for my taste) and the like.

There’s an exhibit at Tokyo Tower. There’s a kabuki show, though the lead actor recently got injured. One Piece is used in tons of ads – Coke, Nippon Ham, and a ludicrous ad in appalling Engrish for a pen, ending with “THIS IS A PEN!” declaimed. (That phrase is the standard opener for Japanese kids learning English.)

The live-action One Piece is in production for North America, and few fans seem excited, even with Oda supervising it. Too many people remember Dragon Ball… and Ghost in the Shell… and Death Note. Still, hope springs eternal. Oh yes, and they also showed the 4Kids opening – a surprising number of people grooved along. I guess it didn’t kill the fandom after all!

They had a history of the One Piece anime and manga over the years after this, which got increasingly vague as we tried not to spoil. Unfortunately, I had to cut out before the panel ended, so that I could come back here and write all of this up for you.

Tomorrow brings us Kodansha, Yen, and other assorted fun things. Who’s gonna be there with me?

By: Sean Gaffney