Hello and here I am again with my strange studies. This time, I’m looking at the local community and try to understand what makes Philippine anime fandom. I realized that in order to address some issues on localization etc. in the Philippines, it’s best to understand where fandom stands today. I have looked at old articles but somehow, the way I saw things in conventions I’ve attended, there seems to be something with Filipino fans that make Filipino fans different. I can’t say what I think about it but perhaps I’ll hear what my fellow Filipinos have to say.

I hope my Filipino readers will have the time to read this and I hope that you can spread it among your friends. You have all my love and affection for this!

Anyhu, on to the survey! (If the survey form doesn’t load below, please click here.

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.

Whenever I think of maids in terms of manga, I first think of Kaoru Mori’s Emma.

It is unavoidable to associate Kaoru Mori with the maid fetish. Shirley and Emma were created at a time when maid cafes were emerging in Japan. Her popularity was at its peak when the maid phenomenon hit its boom. I could assume that Emma became influential in establishing (in the most informal manner) a standard of maid aesthetics and behavior in terms of the maid fetish that was prevalent in Japanese society.

Despite this, I cannot say that Kaoru Mori is the kind who builds her story on a fetish alone. Unlike the thousands of maids that emerged in manga, Emma and Shirley felt like the real deal. In reading the manga, I realize that Kaoru Mori’s not the kind who cares for fanfare. She’s a lady who loves the world of her characters enough to make them alive as she draws every single detail with her nib. After all, she did write A Bride’s Story as well.

There’s something in the details

From A Bride's Story vol. 01

I am forever impressed with Kaoru Mori’s knack for details. While it seems that I have placed a spotlight on authors who have knack for the “negative” details in their scribbles (chicken scratch to others), Kaoru Mori is probably one of the few that I admire for their meticulous knack for detail.

The artistic density Kaoru Mori can place in a panel is astounding. I often have a fall out with artists who do “too much” in a panel, but Mori manages to strike a balance and draws only what needs to be seen. And there’s a lot to be seen. She draws tons of frills, laces, beads, and patterns but when you take the context of the manga, everything just fits into place.

Mori has an eye for context. I believe I have sang praises for the historical richness of Emma without her divulging too much into historical detail, and by this detail I meant the countless names and individuals that we often memorize in our high school history classes (if your teacher’s that kind of history teacher.)

Mori has a grasp of social history, a historical discipline that’s dedicated in understanding society at a particular time. The beauty of social history lies in its ability to capture the spirit of a culture at that particular point. Forget Queen Victoria. Forget Kublai Khan. It’s all about those nameless and “forgettable” people that are never captured by history. Nameless as they were, they have changed the world as a whole and has shaped our beliefs in many ways. We may think that in this day and age we have the choice about falling in love with any one. Imagine the bravery Emma and William had in admitting their love in a society that disproved of it. Mori captured this effortlessly without overloading us with the politics of their history.

I’m not exactly sure if the US editions had this, but in Japan, they released an Emma Victorian Guide which basically details life in Victorian England. Reading through this Victorian Guide is fascinating and one can appreciate the effort that Mori places in researching Victorian England just to properly contextualize Emma and Shirley. Not only does she talk about the overview of Victorian society, but she also illustrates the complexity of social life in Victorian England. It’s a wonderful book that I hope is sold as a companion someday to the Emma series. That said, it’s probably one of the most well illustrated and researched manga that I’ve read in recent years.

Of course, now, we’re looking at 19th Century Mongolia/Central Asia with A Bride’s Story. I’m quite sure that I’m not alone in amazement over her elaborate illustration of women’s clothing. More so that wicked horse riding, arrow shooting bride. In A Bride’s Story, Mori has proven that she is a consistent hardworker. She does her research well and she’s dedicated in capturing what she wishes to illustrate. I feel that Mori has graduated from just a maid fetishist to a woman who has the passion and determination to bring her story forward. I mean, she even studied how to cook Mongolian food just so she would know how it’s made. These little details, menial as they appear, actually adds richness to her story, immersing us deeper into her world.

There’s something about women

As I read through Mori’s works, I realized that she deeply loves women.

And I’m not referring to the kind of fan love or blind admiration of women. If that was the case, then Emma would have been caught in Hakim’s harem.

In reading her work, I feel that Mori has a beautiful, at times whimsical, admiration for the women she draws. Her women are often multi-faceted. Simple yet deeply layered. They’re not just characters who were drawn to live but more like living women who have been drawn. I don’t know if that makes sense but it takes a lot of love to create such lively women.

Some might think that she’s probably quite a feminist as she allows her women to rise above their challenges and yet when I read A Bride’s Story and see Amira faithfully stay with her 12 yr. old husband, I don’t see the feminist struggle. Her women are brave for their own sake but they’re not the kind that challenges a cause. At any perspective, I don’t feel like her heroines are fighting a cause.

If anything, their challenge is to fight for their happiness. And isn’t that enough? Isn’t it enough that they’re happy?

I think Mori believes that it’s more than enough. As such, her heroines will always have a happy ending.

Perhaps it’s more appropriate to say that Mori’s a romantic.

There’s something about Mori

From her debut work, Shirley. Not as detailed, but Mori will get there.

There’s a funny irony with Kaoru Mori. While she invests so much in drawing the elaborate world of her characters, I find it amusing that she draws herself like a woman out of a jungle. In fact, when I first saw an illustration of herself, I honestly thought she was a guy.

I find it surprising that Mori is a woman. It doesn’t help that she has such an asexual name but I rarely encounter female mangaka who would slave so much for her details. It’s usually one or the other. A female mangaka would often draw something really detailed but compromise the authenticity of her story and take her own liberties as a creator, for example, Ueda Rinko or Clamp. Then there are others who would probably choose a more laidback art style but has intense understanding of the complexities of their society, for example, Est Em. But Mori’s quite exceptional to a degree that she reminds me of the laborious research and style of Makoto Yukimura for Vinland Saga and Hitoshi Iiwaki for Historie. The focus and the intensity in capturing the world of old seemed closer to a manly trait for me. Now that I think about, this same artistic and historical intensity can also be seen in Ikeda Riyoko. Still, if you think of the entire population of female mangaka out there, Mori and Ikeda are probably few.

That said, it’s hard to say that Mori is a masculine writer. In fact, I feel bad even engendering Mori when in all honesty, I just think she’s just a brilliant writer. I admire her hardwork. I admire her artistic restraint. I admire the depth of her writing. And she’s only released 3 titles. Fascinating, isn’t it? One could only wonder what other story can she write about after A Bride’s Story. Will she dabble with 1920s Japan? How about Imperial China? Africa? Explorers? India? (oh wait! She’s done a bit of that in Emma!) Will she present us another impossible love story? Will she cross boundaries to sway our hearts over and over again?

From A Bride's Story by Kaoru Mori

I honestly don’t know but if it will be as brilliant as the works she has already released, then I look forward to seeing more of her works.

I realize that Mori is actually someone who finds it fun doing her work. At times I read mangaka grumble over making the deadline or losing track of their story. I sometimes read them feeling “obligated” to continue their story to make the fans happy. However, I don’t exactly feel the same with Mori. She’s very enthusiastic

In fact, I find her a bit selfish for choosing to write about complicated worlds we can hardly relate to and yet… I find it admirable how she manages to write a story that we can connect to.

The Reading List

All of these titles are available in English hence there’s no excuse that you can’t read or get them.

• Emma
• Shirley
• A Bride’s Story

Extra! Extra!

I’m probably doing a feature on this someday but I realized that I didn’t have the spices to make them. ;_;

Anyway, Comic Natalie did a feature on the food cooked in A Bride’s Story, with Mori-sensei demonstrating how to cook the dishes featured in Volume Three. They also did a feature on the research and drawing process of Mori-sensei A Bride’s Story. It’s a fascinating look at her discipline.

Post Script

Dear world, I didn’t think I would actually live through 6 spotlights for this year. I was aiming for a monthly thing but doing it halfway is a lot better with just one. I’m very grateful that I managed to do something than nothing. Here’s to writing 12 next year! >w<)9

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!