Category Archives: unshelved

License Requesting the Fall 2012 Anime Season – Manga Edition

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So you’ve decided you really like that hot new 2012 anime property – so much so that you want to support it by actually buying the manga instead of just reading it on a scan site! First of all, congratulations, you are a very rare individual. But it’s not as easy as walking up to a publisher at New York Comic Con and saying “Hey, you guys should get _____!” After all, what if they don’t deal with that publisher? What if it doesn’t have a manga? What if it’s already licensed and you didn’t realize it?

So, for the anime fan who wants to try a bit of manga, a quick guide to how to beg for Fall 2012 titles. (Note: if I don’t mention a title here, it doesn’t have a manga as far as I can tell.)

First off, let’s eliminate series that are already licensed and actively coming out here. That takes care of Bakuman (Viz), Hayate the Combat Butler (Viz), Hidamari Sketch (Yen), Jormungand (Viz), Kamisama Hajimemashita (Viz) and Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal (Viz). (It’s a Viz world, kids, we just live in it.) I’m also including BTOOOM! (Yen), which is licensed but doesn’t debut till next year.

Secondly, there’s a couple of series which were licensed, but are now, putting it politely, “On hiatus”. Asking about them will likely get you a pained look and a ‘We have no plans at this time’ response. So that takes out Code: Breaker (Del Rey), JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (Viz), and Gintama (Viz). The one exception to this is Code: Breaker – JManga has picked up the two volumes Del Rey released, and there is a definite possibility for more in that online-only direction. And technically, JoJo’s finished the arc that it was putting out, so I suppose it’s more ‘didn’t pick up further arcs’ than ‘on hiatus’.

Lastly, Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo is based off a light novel that has no manga yet, as far as I can tell. Asking about light novel licenses is a great way to get publishers to cry.

So, which publisher can you nag for which books?

SEVEN SEAS: Well, they aren’t at NYCC (they don’t do the East Coast), so a politely worded tweet might do the trick. The anime Onii-chan Dakedo Ai Sae Areba Kankei Nai yo ne, aka ‘As Long As There’s Love, I Don’t Care If He’s My Brother!’ is the latest in a theme of faux-incest titles. And runs in Comic Alive. Both of which are very similar to things Seven Seas has recently picked up.

TOKYOPOP: OK, so technically they don’t put out much these days. But honestly, there’s really no better fit for Seitokai no Ichizon, a Kadokawa title that runs in Dragon Age. See if you can sweet-talk Stu.

KODANSHA COMICS: There are two really obvious titles here and one less so. The non-obvious one is Shin Sekai Yori, based on an award-winning SF novel. Its manga adaptation does indeed run in Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. It began… about 2 weeks ago. So ask them to keep it in mind for NYCC 2013. So that leaves the two big contenders: Sukitte Ii na yo and Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun, both of which run in Kodansha’s shoujo magazine Dessert. They’re both terrific, but they are in a magazine that is generally ignored when it comes to shoujo NA licenses (honestly, Kodansha Comics tends to avoid anything but Nakayoshi these days), and they’re both still running (series that haven’t already ended in Japan worry publishers).

VERTICAL, INC.: See the two previous titles. If Kodansha says no, maybe Vertical wants to try it out? They are putting out Limit this fall, after all…

JMANGA: Aside from Code: Breaker, which I mentioned above, the one that jumps out at me is Teekyū, a school tennis comedy from Earth Star Entertainment’s Comic Earth Star. JManga recently put out four of their titles, so there’s always a possibility of more.

YEN PRESS: The only one that really leaps out at me is Zetsuen no Tempest, a fantasy manga that runs in Square Exin’s Shonen Gangan. Being a Gangan title, Yen seems the most likely player there. It’s also possible they might look at Little Busters, the latest from the Air/Kanon/Clannad folks, which runs in Kadokawa’s Comp Ace, but that seems less likely.

VIZ MEDIA: There’s a whole host of properties Viz *could* license here, but I’m not sure how many are genuinely *possible* licenses. Magi – The Labyrinth of Magic has a lot of potential, and is probably the most likely title on this list, but it’s 14 volumes and still running, and it also runs in Shonen Sunday, whose success in North America has been poor in the post-Inu Yasha age. Dangerous Jii-san Ja is a comedy 4-koma manga for kids about a goofy grandpa that runs in Corocoro. I can’t see it coming out here. At all. Medaka Box I have discussed many times before, and the same points still apply. And as for To-Love-Ru Darkness, even if the prequel had come out via Viz, this new sequel is simply too M-rated for their usual Jump line.

I HAVE NO IDEA: Two titles simply don’t leap out as going to any publisher. Aoi Sekai no Chūshin de is a fantasy manga that seems to anthropomorphize the console wars, and is written by a Russian woman. It is put out by Micro Magazine. I don’t know who they are either. Judging by the name, I’m guessing they focus on gaming. Lastly, there’s Chiisai Oyaji Nikki, from Ohzora Shuppan, which is about a very small old man.

Anything in that list take your fancy? You know I’ll be uselessly beating the Medaka Box drum…

A Preliminary NYCC 2012 Schedule

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No more NYAF, but there’s even more anime/manga content than before.

THURSDAY:
1:30pm – Brand Licensing
2:30pm – Graphic Novel Collecting
4:00pm – How to Edit a Graphic Novel
6:15pm – My Little Pony

Thursday is Pro day, so I may not be allowed to get into some of these. The post-3pm panels seem to allow press. I’m amused that the Hasbro/My Little Pony panel is on Pro Day – well the description does say it’s primarily about marketing. Also, a Yen Press staffer will be at the editing panel.

FRIDAY:
11:00am: Comic Book Legal Defense Fund
12:45pm: Editors on Editing
1:45pm – Yoshitaka Amano
2:45pm – Archie Comics
4:00pm – Vertical, Inc.
6:30pm – Masakazu Ishiguro
7:45pm – UDON Publishing

The busiest day of the con, as it is every year. Judging by the lineups from last year, getting into Archie may be impossible, but I’ll try. I expect all the other panels to have more normal lines. Masakazu Ishiguro is the author of SoreMachi, and will be here with Young King OURS’ editor as guests of JManga. Peter Davison is at 3pm, and it breaks my heart to miss him, but the line will also be unreal. ^^;;

SATURDAY:
11:00am – Moyoko Anno
12:15pm – Rose of Versailles
1:30pm – Kodansha Comics
4:00pm – JManga
7:00pm – Yen Press
7:45pm – Shonen Jump ALPHA/Masakazu Katsura (author of Video Girl Ai and I”s (oh, and the Tiger & Bunny designer)).

A slightly easier Day 2, though lunch will be late. There’s a You Can’t Do That On Television panel opposite SJA, but it seems to not be about the Nickelodeon kids’ series at all, much to my disappointment. I will resist the temptation to ask SJA about Medaka Box – again – and will also try to resist the temptation to ask Katsura why he is so obsessed with female asses. Yen Press is also a late addition to the panel schedule, and conflict a bit with SJA, so I may lose the chance to ask if they’ll put out Bunny Drop 9 or not. :)

SUNDAY:
12:15pm – VIZ Media
3:00pm – Strong Female Characters

As always, Sunday is quiet day. Whoever scheduled ‘The Right To Defend Manga’ opposite Viz’s panel needs a swat. And sadly no Warner Brothers panel this year.

As ever, I will endeavor to keep you all informed of stuff throughout the con, though if my reception is as bad as it always seems to be they will likely be posts in the evening after I get back to the con.

‘Porky and Friends: Hilarious Ham’ Announced

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Hot on the heels of the 2nd Platinum Collection, we have this 18-cartoon set for fans of Porky Pig, as well as the smaller one-shot characters that come with him on the back of the collection. As always, the question is “If I have the Golden Collections, do I have to buy this?” Let’s find out.

Cartoons in this set will be (I’ll summarize the ones not out yet):

1) Tom Turk And Daffy (1944, Jones) – NEW TO DVD – Featuring a MYSTERY WRITER (and boy, is there a long, confusing story about that), this is a great early Daffy cartoon where he’s being an utter brat.
2) Wagon Heels (1945, Clampett) – GC5
3) Mouse Menace (1946, Davis) – NEW TO DVD – Art Davis’ first cartoon at Warners, this is another one pitting Porky against a mouse, this time utilizing a robot cat. It doesn’t go well.
4) One Meat Brawl (1947, McKimson) – NEW TO DVD – Porky and the Foghorn Leghorn dog are out hunting for groundhog, and the groundhog is determined to make them pay for it. McKimson’s earliest cartoons are some of his best.
5) Curtain Razor (1949, Freleng) – NEW TO DVD – Porky is a talent agent auditioning acts. A few gags (including the gasoline one) would be reused in Show Big Bugs by Daffy.
6) The Pest That Came To Dinner (1948, Davis) – NEW TO DVD – Can the world handle two Art Davis cartoons on one collection? Porky has termites, and tries various horrible methods to remove them.
7) Riff Raffy Daffy (1948, Davis) – NEW TO DVD – I guess the world can, as here’s a third Davis cartoon! I always liked ‘Daffy is screwy and Porky isn’t’ cartoons, though the question of how sane Porky is comes into question here.
8) Boobs in the Woods (1950, McKimson) – GC1
9) Dog Collared (1950, McKimson) – NEW TO DVD – Porky gives brief affection to a dog (no, not Charlie Dog), and lives to regret it.
10) Thumb Fun (1952, McKimson) – NEW TO DVD – A hitchhiking Daffy makes Porky’s life miserable. Some call this the final screwball Daffy cartoon, which isn’t true, but he *is* a screwball here.
11) Fool Coverage (1952, McKimson) – NEW TO DVD – I adored this cartoon as a kid. Daffy sells Porky insurance. “And one baby zebra!”
12) Corn on the Cop (1965, Spector) – NEW TO DVD – The final Porky Pig cartoon of the classic years. Shame it sucks. He and Daffy are police officers.
13) Corn Plastered (1951, McKimson) – NEW TO DVD – A wise-cracking crow annoys a farmer, who tries to kill him in various ways. The crow is a lot of fun.
14) Gone Batty (1954, McKimson) – NEW TO DVD – Stars Bobo the Elephant, in his 2nd and final cartoon, where he ends up at a baseball game.
15) Ant Pasted (1953, Freleng) – NEW TO DVD – Always nice seeing Elmer in a cartoon on his own. He’s taking on ants during a 4th-of-July picnic.
16) Dog Gone People (1960, McKimson) – NEW TO DVD – Another Elmer cartoon, but Arthur Q. Bryan had died by this time, so his voice sounds horrible. Elmer has to babysit his boss’s dog, who thinks he’s a human.
17) Bunny and Claude – We Rob Carrot Patches (1968, McKimson) – NEW TO DVD – The first of two appearances of Bunny and Claude, an obvious parody. Watch for the scene where it’s suggested they have sex on a pile of carrots. No, I’m not making this up.
18) The Great Carrot Train Robbery (1969, McKimson) – NEW TO DVD – And here’s the second B&C cartoon. It’s not as good.

So, worth getting? Well, 16 of the 18 cartoons are new to DVD. HELL YES! An absolute must-buy. Can’t wait.