Otaku Champloo

Tag: kami no shizuku

  • Vertical does it right again

    Vertical does it right again

    I’m stoked.

    This entry would have been written a lot early if I didn’t have my tabletop game last night. Ed Chavez of Vertical really shook the American manga scene by storm by announcing Vertical’s acquisitions by bringing in manga classic Princess Knight (リボンの騎士), No Longer Human (人間失格), and the wine journey Drops of God (神の雫).

    I believe the manga scene has been in want of the lovely gender-bender Tezuka title which pretty much changed and shaped manga today, for many critical reasons. For people to finally have access to this once elusive title is something to be joyous for. And what a great and lovely title to add to Vertical’s line of Tezuka titles. I think this just truly caps it off, but of course, there’s still quite a lot of Tezuka for us to enjoy.

    No Longer Human is also quite a title in their roster. I’m not exactly sure what the story of this manga is, but I can trust in Ed’s choices that it’s a title that would blow us away. What I do know though is that Usamaru Furuya is the kind of author how knows how to exploit human emotions in his panels. I have read his work Suicide Club (自殺サークル) and that was a strong provocative title not only because of its theme but also because of Furuya’s own storytelling.

    Perhaps what I am most excited about is Drops of God. France and even Indonesia is way ahead of US in terms of discovering the passion that comes with every page of this comic. Sure, it’s a manga about wine but the imagination that comes with every sip are not limited to a bouquet of rosemary or almonds. We’re talking about wine tastings that take you to the fields of Bourdeaux and eventually up the Mattenhorn. It’s bloody amazing and is actually one of my favorite mangas outside of BL and to see it out in English means that more of my friends will finally see why I have an obsession with Tomine and Shizuku. ((In the end, this fujoshi cannot help but ship this pair so bad))

    These three titles all deserve the attention and it’s great that Vertical is bringing them out in english. Collectively though, I’m excited with one more thing: the covers. I’m quite sure you guys are familiar with my obsession for Vertical’s beautiful covers and I am excited on how they will spin and repackage these comics particularly Drops of God who particularly has lovely covers already.

    Yesterday was a great day for manga and I heard that Ed still has more up his sleeves. Is he going to sweep my Morning titles and grab curious fan favorite St. Oniisan? Maybe something unknown but great like Himawari Legend? Will they shock Urasawa followers with Billy Bat? God knows really, but for sure, Vertical will not disappoint.

  • Getting the manga scene with Manga no Genba

    Another 3 day weekend meant time to reconnect with some discs lying around. My good friend Yue occasionally shares with me some video files she gets from friends online or from Nico Nico. This time, her disc contained something called Manga No Genba (( Trans. Manga Scene)), an NHK BS2 show that reviews manga and introduces viewers to the people and the inspiration behind some manga. The show’s hosted by a Amano Hiroyuki and just recently, Ooshima Mai of AKB48. The show’s got a laidback feel of featuring interesting manga that perhaps the whole family can read. Perhaps.

    The show’s got three sections. First is the feature section, Yomite no Genba. They get to feature a manga that’s liked by a guest. In the screen cap here, it’s Yotsuba&!. This part is cute because they talk about the manga and they give a glimpse on what the manga is all about. While going through the manga, there are scenes that would even be voice acted just to put more life into the panels. It’s really nice because it’s like listening to a drama CD and then reading the manga together. After the summary, the guest and the hosts would talk about what they like about the manga and what makes it particularly interesting.

    Then the next part is the production of a particular manga, Sakusha no Genba. They will feature a particular manga, show again a summary of the story (with voices!), and then how the manga was made. This time you’ll have a chance to see the mangaka at work. This is really a feature on the mangaka and the manga they’re currently doing. How they find inspiration for their characters and their story. It’s amazing! I had a chance to look at Agi Tadashi (writers of Kami no Shizuku!) and how they basically find a wine every damn week! IT’S AMAZING! They had like huge wine cellars in their home! And they’re wine drinkers too. It’s amazing! I also had a shot in seeing Liar Game in the works. It’s amazing how he meticulously plots out every round (and even had the editors’s help in the re-entry round). This is perhaps the section I treasure the most because it shows the hard life that some mangas live just to come up with the pages to write for this week. It makes you appreciate their hard work as well.

    The last part is called M’s Cafe which is the recommendation of the readers ((Thanks Yue for the correction!)). This is short and gives only a brief idea on what the manga is all about and what to expect from it.

    The show’s very informative and the hosts are not dumb and all about manga. Amano-san is an avid manga reader and is fond of the shounen genre so he too gives a word or two about some mangas. And really, in a show like this, it’s the mangas that do the talking. The mangas they choose are rarely mainstream and are often mangas about different topics like the clothing retail industry and wines. If you’ve got access to Nico Nico and understand Japanese, try to get a glimpse of Manga no Genba. Alternately if you have sattelite access to NHK-BS2, its shown from 12:00a.m.-12:30 a.m. on Wednesdays and 6 to 6:30p.m. on NHK-BSHi.