NYCC/NYAF 2011, Day One

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This was always going to be the most exhausting day of Comic Con, and sure enough, it was. It started for me at 9am with a special Viz Media press panel where they introduced their new digital initiative, Shonen Jump Alpha. This takes the place of the print Shonen Jump magazine, which will be ending this March. The digital magazine will be catching up to only 2 weeks behind the Japanese release (any earlier and they run into quality issues), and will cost $25.99 for a year or .99 for a month. Obviously this will involve digital speed ups of the big titles that will be doing this – Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Toriko, Nura… Viz is calling it a ‘warp’ rather than a speedup this time around. Given the minimal time delay, this would also see the digital chapters out before the print collections.

I asked about possible new content, such as Beelzebub and Medaka Box, as well as possible rescues of series such as Gintama. While acknowledging that it would be a goal, Viz noted the difficulty in speeding up to Japan with a “new” series that is still gaining readership and a fanbase here. They also noted this was USA and Canada only – there are still licensing issues with the UK and other English-speaking countries. They were also asked about the extras that run both in Japan – they mentioned the editorial process would be evolving to work with the digital market. (Note Viz has another panel on Sunday.)

Next up I went back to Unusual Manga Genres, a fan panel run by Erin Finnegan which is always interesting. Pachinko manga 4tw! The next big panel for announcements was Yen Press, who had some fantastic stuff. They’ve license rescued Alice in the Country of Hearts, and will be releasing it in a 3-volume omnibus all in the same month, so those who bought 5 of the 6 volumes from Tokyopop aren’t waiting around. They have The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan, the new Haruhi spinoff based on the ’emotional’ Yuki from the 4th movie. A big surprise for me was Shi Ga Futari o Wakatsu Made, a Young Gangan manga still running in Japan. Coming out over here as Until Death Do Us part, it will be in 2-volume omnibus collections, as it’s 15+ volumes in Japan. They also announced the Madoka Magica manga, which currently runs in Manga Time Kirara Forward. I think Kyubei made them license it. Lastly, they picked up Soul Eater Not, which isn’t surprising, but are doing simultaneous chapter releases with Japan, which is. This is a big thing for them, and should pave the way for more series like this if it goes well.

I asked about the Higurashi Massacre arc, and they are doing it, but don’t have the contracts worked out enough to give dates yet. JManga was also mentioned, and it was pointed out that a lot of the North American companies wanted to keep the digital rights for their titles to themselves, rather than give them to another company to make money off of. And for fans of Witch and Wizard and similar projects, they’re also doing GNs for Cassandra Clare’s Clockwork Angel series and Sherrilyn Renyon’s Chronicles of Nick.

Dark Horse had no manga news to announce, so I got some much needed lunch, then went to wait in line for Funimation. The first of two very long lines. Funi’s big announcement was their partnership with Japan’s Nico Nico, and more simulcast series from Japan’s new season. They announced 8 new series, including the finale of Shana, the new Last Exile, and Future Diary. They’re also very excited about Dragon Ball Z in HD, which has Japan impressed as well. And the Hetalia movie trailer was a lot of fun. :)

Next was Kodansha, and the 2nd long line of the day, as this was the Hiro Mashima panel as well. The majority of the panel was devoted to the Fairy Tail author, who was very nice and did a fantastic spontaneous Natsu sketch while we watched. He noted the long hours involved in being a manga artist – 17-hour days, 6 days a week. There was a bit of controversy as some attendees asked questions about plot points not out in America yet – these were quickly defused. As for Kodansha’s new announcements themselves, they have omnibus editions of Genshiken and Kitchen Princess out in May and June. The Phoenix Wright manga ends in March, and they confirmed the Edgeworth manga will follow it. The most exciting title announced was Shingeki no Kyojin, AKA Attack of the Titans. This Bessatsu Shonen title has gotten tremendous online buzz, and people were waiting to see who would get it here. the answer is Kodansha themselves. Lastly, they announced their iPad app, which 4 titles available now – Arisa, Fairy Tail, Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei, and Full Moon, It’s iPad only for now, but if you have one, give it your support! $4.99 price point.

The last big industry panel of the day was Vertical. It was noted that The Book of Human Insects hit the NYT bestseller list. Drops of God has an article coming out about it in Wine Spectator. Ed noted that they’ve only licensed the first 8 volumes (4 omnibus editions), but may do more if sales are strong. Since everyone is still confused, it was mentioned again that Princess Knight is the Nakayoshi version, not the Shojo Club edition. The final Black Jack, 17, will have a timeline of the stories in order of publication. No Longer Human is L to R, but Furuya drew that himself, especially for the Western Market. Chi’s Sweet Home 8 apparently mentioned Vertical in its content. And they mentioned a possible special Black Jack book after the series is finished, with the extra chapters in the hardcover 1-3 and other interesting content.

As for new licenses, beyond Flowers of Evil (announced at AWA), they numbered 3. 5 Centimeters Per Second, which ran in Kodansha’s Afternoon, will be coming out complete in one omnibus volume. Sakuran by beloved manga artist (well, more of a cult classic beloved) Moyoco Anno. It ran in Evening, and will also be one volume, with many color pages and in a hardcover. And the big Tezuka news was the re-release of Adolf, first published by Viz ages ago but long out of print. Vertical will do it as two huge 620-page volumes, covering the whole series. It ran in Big Comic Special starting from 1983, and is the story of several men named Adolf – including Hitler. This will also be a hardcover release.

And that was Day One. The other days will be much less busy. Thank God. Still, there was lots of great stuff, and it’s clear that digital manga is where everyone is headed.

Manga the Week of 10/19

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After a smaller Week 2, Week 3 is fairly hefty!

Dark Horse brings us Volume 19 of Gantz, another title that seems designed purely for the comic book store fan. But hey, it seems to sell well enough, so good design! And they’ve also got the debut of CLAMP’s new title, Gate 7! Like most CLAMP titles, I expect the beginning to be fantastic. The ending, I make no promises.

Kodansha brings us Volume 2 of Gon, the highly underrated seinen manga that kids can also love about a small dinosaur with a big attitude! (Hey, who said I can’t write copy?)

Vertical gives us the penultimate volume of Black Jack. Ed Chavez has hinted they will announce a new Tezuka title at NYCC. If it’s to take the place of Black Jack, it’ll have its work cut out for it; Tezuka’s medical series is top notch.

Viz has two new IKKI titles, the 4th volume of cloned famous people high school thriller Afterschool Charisma and relaxing manga-loving slice of life Kingyo Used Books. And they have the 3rd omnibus edition of Tenjo Tenge, which will have fighting and fanservice as always. But the fanservice is DEEP and MEANINGFUL, honest.

And Yen has a pile of stuff. New Black Butler! It may not last quite as long on the bestseller lists as it once did, but it still hangs out there all the time. The 2nd Bride’s Story hardcover, which I’m hoping will be a bit warmer and more engaging than Vol. 1 (though just as well-written and drawn as 1 was). New volumes for Cirque Du Freak (aka Darren Shan), Pandora Hearts, Soul Eater, and Spice & Wolf. Higurashi When They Cry begins a new arc, this one finally focusing on its ‘poster child’ Rena. And a new volume of Yotsuba&!, which will no doubt make the internet explode in cute glee once more.

My shop is only getting in a few of the Yen titles (Bride’s Story and Soul Eater aren’t on my shop’s list for some reason), but there’s still plenty for everyone. Enjoy!

I’m off to New York Comic Con and Anime Fest for the next few days. Expect daily news updates, and no reviews in the interim.

Negima! Magister Negi Magi Omnibus, Vol. 2

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By Ken Akamatsu. Released in Japan as “Mahou Sensei Negima!” by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Magazine. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

With this second omnibus of Negima, Ken Akamatsu is starting to make his move. He’s obeyed his corporate masters and written in a giant harem cast, with tons of fanservice and blushing tsundere heroine, just like his last title. Indeed, this omnibus contains a mini-arc where the cast fight a battle to get a kiss from Negi. However, bigger things are afoot, and this omnibus is also where Akamatsu lets us know that there will be adventure and pure shonen fighting here as well – and that eventually it will be the main thrust of the plotline.

The most obvious thing we get out of this re-read of Volumes 4-6 is we see another of the main cast introduced – Setsuna Sakurazaki. Just as Asuna bears similarity to Naru from Love Hina, and Nodoka is like Shinobu, Setsuna is clearly meant to be the Motoko of this series, right down to the flustered panicking whenever love is mentioned. (Indeed, the connection to the Aoyama family is later made explicit, about 20-odd volumes later). Setsuna is briefly introduced as a potential villain, but that doesn’t last long, and soon we’re finding out about her loyalty to her friends, her amazing sword powers, her yokai heritage, and of course her repressed yearnings for her Konoka-ojosama, which manages to be played for laughs *and* taken seriously at the same time.

The other thing I noticed here was how casually we’re introduced to two of the major villains of the entire work. Fate and Tsukuyomi both appear as supposed ‘mid-level bosses’ of the villain of this arc, Chigusa. However, Chigusa proves to be mostly useless (Akamatsu lampshades this by having her defeated by Chachazero, Evangeline’s two-foot-tall puppet creature), so Fate quickly takes over, and proves to be more than a match for Negi, who is powerful but inexperienced. Fate is mostly drawn as a blank here, though I did like some of his dry humor when he muses about the water spells he’s using on Asuna, and how they interact with her magic cancel abilities. And Tsukuyomi is cute and adorable, and only wants to fight her sempai in a sword battle! Except for one panel, she is not at all the terrifying lunatic we will see later on.

Akamatsu is still feeling around how to work in all 31 girls in his plot without making the whole thing too unwieldy – he never did quite master that, though he got close. The popularity poll included at the end shows that Makie is the most popular of all the girls for two polls running, so perhaps she is the character that is most disappointing – despite a late run, Ken hasn’t really worked out her potential. On the other hand, he’s also realizing which girls *do* work well as a main cast member. Setsuna arrives and is immediately one of the crew, as I mentioned, and Nodoka is the second girl to get a pactio with Negi (and oh what a pactio it is). As for Evangeline, let’s just say I think her skyrocketing popularity caused both Shonen Magazine and Akamatsu to go “Whoah,” and after being casually disposed of by Negi in the first omnibus, she’s back to full strength here, going toe to toe with Fate, taking out huge building-sized ancient demons, and laughing all the while.

The translation here is new, as with the first one, with the Nibley twins replacing the work of Peter David (Vols. 4-5) and Trish Ledoux (Vol. 6). A replacement of David’s very loose adaptation was quite welcome. The extras have the preliminary sketches included at the end, but lack the ‘character bios’ and cover art sketches we get with individual releases.

Overall, if you’re going to be getting into Negima, this is likely where you’ll hop on. Vol. 5-6 have a great arc that shows the series finally escaping its harem roots, and even though there will always be fanservice, it’s a gamechanger. Fans want magical battles, and Akamatsu is here to provide them.