It has somewhat eluded me before but I feel that with the influx of manga in the Philippine market, I think it’s best to start thinking on what is being sold on Philippine bookshelves and what we can buy. Filipinos used to have this excuse that particular manga is unavailable in the market hence they’d rather read scanlations. While I think a part of it is true (how there’s little manga available), I think that there’s a wealth of amazing manga that are either rotting in bookstores because people didn’t know that they were there.

My answer to this problem is this bi-weekly report to help people know what they can actually start reading from the shelves of local bookstores.

But first!

Where can I buy manga in the Philippines?

Right now, there are 4 places you can buy a decent amount of manga: Fully Booked, Comic Odyssey, Planet X, and Booksale. By decent amount I meant that they have a rotating stock of manga (there are old and new titles), they have a good book shelf’s worth of manga, and their titles can range from children’s to shoujo to shounen and to seinen. I’ll investigate these comic bookstores closer sometime soon. But for now, we’ll keep those stores in mind.

As I said before, manga here is still fairly small compared to the Kinokuniya shelves in Singapore. That said, it’s still a fairly good shelf as you get a mix of old and new titles. Some titles are so old that they’re already being sold in e-bay for good hefty price (Swallowing The Earth, anyone?)

Throughout this series, I’ll be exploring these bookstores and check which manga you can buy for a reasonable price. My suggestions here are personally what I think some Filipino fans are currently enjoying or might enjoy. Hopefully, it might encourage local fans to purchase manga off the shelf.

January 2011: A Fresh Start in Fully Booked, Katipunan Q.C.

Please don’t blame me as I might be frequenting this store a lot because this is the bookstore closest to my home and I do often check this store’s shelf. Fully Booked Katipunan is a fairly exciting shop with a good mix of old, new, popular, and critically acclaimed titles. I did get my copy of No Longer Human with great ease in this bookstore so I have faith that they will be keeping their stocks well. Among the shops the sell comics, this is probably the largest bookstore for manga and comics.

I checked this store’s manga shelf this weekend and in the spirit of starting new, I looked at titles that were sold starting from no. 1. It’s quite an interesting lot.

After School Charisma 1 (Viz Signature Edition: PHP699, Chuang Yi Edition: PHP315)
This is a fairly fun but dark title from Viz that situates a bunch of historical clones who are struggling with their historical characters and roles. You will meet a high school Hitler, Freud, Joan of Arc, and others and while it can be light-hearted (Freud is lolarious!) the question of their own personal choice and their historical destiny raises the complexity of this story. There are more Chuang Yi editions in FB Katipunan, and you might be able to get at least until vol. 5.

Kurosagi Corpse Deliver Service vol. 1 (Dark Horse: PHP599)
Written by Eiji Otsuka, this ragtag crew of morticians are out to deliver some peace to some corpses. This can be a morbid read but it’s still a fun title that might be enjoyable to those who love the gory stuff. 6 volumes are available in FB Katipunan, so you won’t be left hanging for some while.

La Quinta Camera (Viz Signature Edition: PHP699)
One of the early works of Natsume Ono, this manga might be something that you will definitely want to have if you love Natsume Ono. It’s a single volume and if you love her style and art, then this is something you must read.

Black Butler vol. 1 (Yen Press Edition: PHP499, Chuang Yi: PHP315)
I think this is for them fujoshi and for those girls who love the idea of having an evil butler around. This seems to be the featured manga in the FB Katipunan bookshelf and it’s definitely something worth looking at. They have until vol. 6 of the Yen Press edition. Is there any difference between Chuang Yi and Yen Press? I’ll… get to that later.

It has somewhat eluded me before but I feel that with the influx of manga in the Philippine market, I think it’s best to start thinking on what is being sold on Philippine bookshelves and what we can buy. Filipinos used to have this excuse that particular manga is unavailable in the market hence they’d rather read scanlations. While I think a part of it is true (how there’s little manga available), I think that there’s a wealth of amazing manga that are either rotting in bookstores because people didn’t know that they were there.

My answer to this problem is this bi-weekly report to help people know what they can actually start reading from the shelves of local bookstores.

But first!

Where can I buy manga in the Philippines?

Right now, there are 4 places you can buy a decent amount of manga: Fully Booked, Comic Odyssey, Planet X, and Booksale. By decent amount I meant that they have a rotating stock of manga (there are old and new titles), they have a good book shelf’s worth of manga, and their titles can range from children’s to shoujo to shounen and to seinen. I’ll investigate these comic bookstores closer sometime soon. But for now, we’ll keep those stores in mind.

As I said before, manga here is still fairly small compared to the Kinokuniya shelves in Singapore. That said, it’s still a fairly good shelf as you get a mix of old and new titles. Some titles are so old that they’re already being sold in e-bay for good hefty price (Swallowing The Earth, anyone?)

Throughout this series, I’ll be exploring these bookstores and check which manga you can buy for a reasonable price. My suggestions here are personally what I think some Filipino fans are currently enjoying or might enjoy. Hopefully, it might encourage local fans to purchase manga off the shelf.

January 2011: A Fresh Start in Fully Booked, Katipunan Q.C.

Please don’t blame me as I might be frequenting this store a lot because this is the bookstore closest to my home and I do often check this store’s shelf. Fully Booked Katipunan is a fairly exciting shop with a good mix of old, new, popular, and critically acclaimed titles. I did get my copy of No Longer Human with great ease in this bookstore so I have faith that they will be keeping their stocks well. Among the shops the sell comics, this is probably the largest bookstore for manga and comics.

I checked this store’s manga shelf this weekend and in the spirit of starting new, I looked at titles that were sold starting from no. 1. It’s quite an interesting lot.

After School Charisma 1 (Viz Signature Edition: PHP699, Chuang Yi Edition: PHP315)
This is a fairly fun but dark title from Viz that situates a bunch of historical clones who are struggling with their historical characters and roles. You will meet a high school Hitler, Freud, Joan of Arc, and others and while it can be light-hearted (Freud is lolarious!) the question of their own personal choice and their historical destiny raises the complexity of this story. There are more Chuang Yi editions in FB Katipunan, and you might be able to get at least until vol. 5.

Kurosagi Corpse Deliver Service vol. 1 (Dark Horse: PHP599)
Written by Eiji Otsuka, this ragtag crew of morticians are out to deliver some peace to some corpses. This can be a morbid read but it’s still a fun title that might be enjoyable to those who love the gory stuff. 6 volumes are available in FB Katipunan, so you won’t be left hanging for some while.

La Quinta Camera (Viz Signature Edition: PHP699)
One of the early works of Natsume Ono, this manga might be something that you will definitely want to have if you love Natsume Ono. It’s a single volume and if you love her style and art, then this is something you must read.

Black Butler vol. 1 (Yen Press Edition: PHP499, Chuang Yi: PHP315)
I think this is for them fujoshi and for those girls who love the idea of having an evil butler around. This seems to be the featured manga in the FB Katipunan bookshelf and it’s definitely something worth looking at. They have until vol. 6 of the Yen Press edition. Is there any difference between Chuang Yi and Yen Press? I’ll… get to that later.

It feels like 2012 took me in like a tornado. I spent the first week thrown into the fray of work and my lungs were hacking a lot more than what I inhale. That said, the year has started to calm down and I am more than pleased to see the nominees for Manga Taishou this year.

Last year, it felt like there were clear winners among the nominees. While I felt that the horse-riding bride of Otoyomegatari (A Bride’s Story) will be shooting straight for the coveted prize, Sangatsu no Lion seemed to have played the right pieces last year and took the prize home.

This year’s nominees is quite an interesting set. For one, I can’t seem to distinguish who will take the Manga Taishou home. More so, it seems that there are brave soldiers who are still fighting for this prestigious prize.

The Repeaters

I was surprised that among the said 216 titles reviewed for the prize, there were some who managed to make it again in the list. It’s as if these titles are brave fighters who keep on pushing their story forward just to win the Manga Taishou. I think these brave titles have a good shot at winning. After all, one of them has been nominated thrice.

I am a Hero by Kengo Hanazawa
I actually read this title this year and I was particularly impressed with the amazing detail of the artist and the growing complexity of this zombie apocalypse. I will confess that I haven’t read far and I haven’t read what makes this manga deserving of this third nomination. I do understand why this title makes manga gold.

Drifters by Kouta Hirano
Most of us probably remember Kouta Hirano for Hellsing. Drifters might just be his next international fandom hit. As a story that taps historical heroes and misfits being sent to another world to save it from destruction, this story is a beautiful execution of those crossovers and AUs that have been sprawling in fandom’s imagination. For a man who understands what fans love (Hirano’s quite active in doujin projects), this is a story that we can’t miss again.

The New Blood

And like every year, there are new titles that appear among the nominees. I’m not saying they are new titles. More like, we haven’t seen them in the list before and they’re making enough waves among manga readers that they probably deserve a shot in winning the prize. Without thinking of the prize, I still think they’re good additions for one’s manga reading list! Among the nominees, here are my picks.

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu by Haruko Kumota
I just love it when BL mangaka get acclaim for their non-BL work. I think I’ve shared with the world this excitement with my spotlights on Fumi, Ono, and Asumiko, thus this nomination for Haruko Kumota is something that makes me giggle. I will confess that I have not read it. In saying that, I will say that I trust Haruko Kumota as a writer and as such, I believe this story will be quite a fascinating read. It involves an ex-prisoner who tries his shot in performing rakugo under a difficult master. Rakugo is a lot more than just being a comic story teller. I can trust in Kumota to portray this comedic trade with the same elegance and flair that it really has in real life.

Takasugi-sanchi no Obento by Nozomi Yanahara
My professor actually recommended this to me saying that this was our life captured in a manga. It speaks of this professor who is buried under piles of work only to find himself taking care of his cousin. As a dude, his bento skills are pathetic but his cousin somehow manages to find some ways to make a pleasant bento for both of them. While I do make bento with my professor, I still don’t understand what he meant and I am rather amused that I haven’t made a hijiki bento. This manga is a heartwarming story though. And I’m hoping it doesn’t make the Usagi Drop twist towards the end.

Aku no Hana by Oshimi Shuuzo
I know nothing of this title apart from it being licensed by Vertical. That said, it appears to be a dark story of a girl blackmailing a guy for stealing a girl’s trainers. Because it was handpicked by Vertical, I can trust in them that their selection will be quite a treat and will probably impress us. Also, I wonder if they’re keeping these odd covers. I was quite surprised by them. Like a strange yet honest confessional. Looking at images online remind me that it’s similar to Nana to Kaoru, but it actually looks better executed.

Getenrou by Ishiguro Masakazu
This manga’s summary reminds me of Tatami Galaxy where a particular apartment contains a twisted mystery. It isn’t one of those strange tales that might or might not be endearing. I haven’t read this but the summary is good enough to lure me in. With one volume, I’m not risking a lot.

Silver Spoon by Hiromu Arakawa
This is probably the most familiar title among fans simply because this was written by the girl who did FMA. While I do understand that she has a knack for story, I’m hoping that it isn’t because of her skills that she’s been nominated for a Taishou as well. Silver Spoon is an interesting story about a city boy turned farm boy. It reminds me a little like Moyashimon but with a bit of city arrogance and idiocy that sometimes makes me raise an eyebrow. But it seems these farming antics illicit the spirit of “youth” that fans adore it like it’s the best food manga ever created… right. As long as they don’t hear the vegetables singing, I think it won’t be the best food manga for me. But it does have its merit… just not as good as what the others have to offer.

Tonari no Seki-kun by Takuma Morishige
This has been in my manga radar but I’ve never had the chance to buy it. From what I’ve seen people talk about it online, it’s about this girl and her strange seatmate who seems to be either a genius or a savant, playing games on his desk the entire day. It looks funny and if it’s in the list, then this romantic comedy is something worth looking at.

Nobunaga Kyousoukyoku by Ayumi Ishii
When a teenage boy timeslips and becomes Oda Nobunaga and becomes aware of what he should do to keep history yet is conflicted by what he should be doing as a person makes a great alternate historical story for me. I haven’t read this, but I’d love to get my hands on this. It’s one of those “What If?” moments where will we change history or will we change our destiny stories. Brilliant story and I want this in my life right now.

I will confess that I hardly know a good percent of these stories and I am more drawn by the covers of those that may look interesting such as Dai Tokyo Toy Box, Hibi Rock, and 25ji no Vacance.

15 titles out of 216 is quite a feat and thank god I’m not in the screening committee of the Manga Taishou because if I had to choose one out of all of these, I might break my heart. That said, I wouldn’t mind reading 216 titles to cross 15 great mangas like this.

While I often complain that the Philippines does not have a rich localized manga industry like Singapore and Indonesia, we do have a very rich history in animation.

Some of you may have heard of members of Pixar coming from our shores, but for all the local otaku out there, did you know that Toei animation has been in Manila for 25 years?

Last Nov. 16, Toei celebrated their 25th anniversary in the Philippines, sharing the works that they’ve done all these years as well as some goodies (in fact, A LOT OF AWESOME merchandise!). Currently, Toei Manila is working on Precure, Toriko, and One Piece. Their animation history extends as far as Dragon Ball, Sailormoon, Kinnikuman, Hokuto no Ken, and Voltes V (The Philippine Fan favorite). Almost all of these titles have had their chances in being shown in local television.

Seeing the event reminded me of all the anime that was generously shown in local TV. I suppose, it’s not much of a surprise that Filipinos immediately associate Japan with anime rather than manga because most Filipinos encountered Japan through television… and World War II… but we’ll get to that later.

The brothers are back to back in a kick ass diorama.

I was fortunate enough to be dragged along as a volunteer for this event again, and while the morning was spent as a Toei family day, they had booths open to the public where they have some One Piece figures on display, have your photo taken with Sakuragi, or… have yourself sketched by one of their animators.

Out of the lot, I found myself lurking around the animators because I had one request that KimuTaku fought so hard for.

See, there’s an episode of Smap x Smap where KimuTaku and friends answered a One Piece Quiz. The prize was an illustration of the winner with the Strawhats crew. Clearly, KimuTaku fought hard to win it, eventually gaining a portrait of himself with the Strawhats crew. The thing here is, it wasn’t an illustration by Oda. It was actually an illustration from Toei animation.

Hence, I took this opportunity to take my chance in getting myself illustrated by one of One Piece’s animators. According to her, she’s currently a background designer for One Piece but she’s had her shot in drawing Luffy and friends. Thus, it was very easy for her to draw my strange request: a picture of me and Luffy eating a giant onigiri.

I am now a part of the One Piece Family! o/

Towards the afternoon, there was a fun karaoke contest and TOEI held a parade which was smaller compared to their 20th anniversary parade, but just as fun as the last one. I think they’ve taken note that in the next event, they’ll put on cosplayers rather than beauty pageant finalists.

Going Sunny.... sort of... :3

The final event was a cosplay competition which was kinda awesome given how well craftsmanship in Philippine cosplay has evolved. There were transforming robots, kamen riders, and tons of magical girls. The winner was a SuperRobo Wars, Philippine fan favorite: Voltes V. I’m quite sure that 80% of the people who stopped by has no idea what One Piece is, but I’m quite sure that 100% knew Voltes V… enough to even sing the ending song during one skit of the winning team.

You can check magnetic-rose.net for the other details about the event.

Big thanks to Toei animation for working hard in giving us some fun anime to remember!

The US Yaoi-con just wrapped up and while I have never been there to witness the famous slave auctions, this year, there was one announcement that I wanted to catch up on: Viz’s BL line, SuBLime.

I’ve been teasing in twitter that Viz doesn’t need a dedicated BL line because they already have titles that has been keeping the fujoshi heart ablaze. Shounen Jump has enough treasures for us. We can start with Naruto, then down to Bleach, Gintama (although they stopped before it even got more fun), even One Piece and now the new favorites: Ao no Exorcist, Reborn, and the Legend of Nura. We can also look back at some Shounen Jump classics like Prince of Tennis and even some Shounen Sunday favorites like Case Closed for some fujoshi staples. Needless to say, Viz has enough to make some fujoshi squee with joy.

However, I honestly don’t blame them considering starting a BL line considering that there’s currently one active publisher that sells BL manga: DMP. I personally am not a big fan of DMP hence I welcome SuBLime in the market! I also find their name cute because it seems that a good number of BL publishers have this knack of finding BL in their names (BL-ink?). More so, it’s loaded with meanings of subtext and lime. For those in English fandoms, you might remember that lime was an old term used to describe the soft porn of fanfics. Yaoi was not spared from the lime category and thus I thought, it was a smart homage to that old term. Of course, I was surprised that they didn’t color their pages to lime and chose the more romantic, harlequinesque color of purple. I asked them over at twitter and they’ve noted that it was because it was a mature color. It’s actually nice and pretty. Not bad, but we’ll see how they package their covers as DMP seems to have started mimicking the famous Beboy Comics side box.

SuBLime has made the announcement of their website and their plans in the recent US Yaoi-con. Here’s a rundown of their nefarious plans:

1. SuBLime is a partnership between Animate and Libre. 

This means we’re going to get access from the treasure trove of BL titles that are published by Libre. We have titles running from the classic BeBoy, Beboy Gold, Beboy Luv, Super Beboy, etc. What also excites me about this is this means that Viz will have access to Libre anthologies too such as Citron, Beboy Honey, and Beboy Phoenix!

2. Partnership with Libre means access to some of the best BL authors out there

While I have been writing spotlights for Ohta Shuppan authors like Asumiko and basso, Libre does have an amazing wealth of BL authors under their belt: Est Em, Kyuushu Danzi, Suzuki Tsuta, Aniya Yuiji, Nekota Yonezou, Natsume Isaku, Akira Norikazu, and I can go on forever. Some of these artists, such as Naono Bohra, have not been licensed yet and finally… FINALLY they’re getting some love in English. It honestly excites me to finally see these titles in English.  Among the authors that they’re publishing, look out for Sakae Kusama, Nitro+Chiral, Naono Bohra, Akira Norikazu, You Higashino, and Natsume Isaku!

3. The partnership entails worldwide distribution of BL manga via the SuBLime website, as well as printed English translated titles.

YESSSSSS!! \o/ This means our tropical isles and every other place in the world that has access to internet CAN download their BL. According to the news brief, it’s a Download to Own option, which I am curious as to how this will be folded out. I suppose this means that after paying, we basically own that copy. If I base it on Viz prices for manga online via the iPad app, it will cost around $5.00. Still cheap compared to the prices of English BL manga here (which can go for $15-16) However, unlike the vizmanga.com app, this one is going global. I wonder how they will address non iPad users. Could they even sell via Android? I remember Amazon taking out BL titles from their kindle line, and with Kindle Fire coming out, will they have something to answer to that as well? If it’s download to own, does this mean that we can keep the file to ourselves and access it anywhere and everywhere and even offline? I’d like to see those details someday. Also, what would be the payment scheme for SuBLime? Can they account for the number of fujoshi with no credit cards yet?

With all of these lined up, it made me reflect on a couple of things.

• Will the BL scanlation community stop scanlating titles from Libre?
• Is SuBLime the only publisher for Libre titles?
• Are they a dedicated Libre publisher or are they willing to venture out and license titles from other publishers?
• Will SuBLime also tap Shueisha’s BL-ink titles?
• What will happen to DMP? Will they focus towards titles outside of Libre?

With all of these questions running in my head, I can only hope and look forward to the launch of SuBLime. For now, it’s looking good.

UPDATE:  It seems that the ANN article was not enough and Lisa Patillo has some answers to my questions already:

1.) They are just working with Animate and Libre but they can look at other publishers as well (please look at Ohta Shuppan!)

2.) Digital manga costs $5.99. Not… bad. You do download the manga and they seem to rely on trust of the buyers to not spread it around for pirates. We’ll see about that. Let’s hope the fujoshi do follow through and support BL authors the way they have always been advertising in their credit pages.