Otaku Champloo

Tag: Naoki Urasawa

  • Spotlight: Naoki Urasawa

    Spotlight: Naoki Urasawa

    Having consumed manga for years, I’ve grown to like some authors a little more than the others. When this happens I go into a mad frenzy, reading as much as I could about the author and try to see  if he has grown as an author, if he has stagnated, or if my relationship with him as a fan would be tumultuous – loving, hating, agonizing, enjoying every single work he has released.

    I thought I’d give myself a monthly special to put this habit of mine into good use, besides; it will at least give me the discipline of having to write something special every month. This will also allow me to do something I had wanted to do but never had the chance to – write about remarkable manga artists and writers. Perhaps this will encourage readers to explore more of that author’s work.

    For my first spotlight, there’s no other author that comes to mind but the Tezuka of today: Naoki Urasawa.

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  • Distracted by Urasawa’s Billy Bat

    I can’t get it out of my system. I’m compelled to spazz.

    Three weeks ago,  Morning announced that they’ll be bringing a set of new titles for magazine, the first of which was a story named Billy Bat written by Naoki Urasawa. The story, as they published in the presses, is a mix of Mickey Mouse, Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Dick Tracy, and slew of other American comic icons combined. Seeing the cover art made me think once or twice about what Urasawa was up to. They even showed a cover spiel at the Morning website. First, it looked like a superflat Batman. Second,  honestly, it didn’t feel like it was Urasawa’s line of work. I started to think, was Urasawa undergoing some mangaka mid-life crisis and wanted trying something very new to him? Either way, I patiently waited for my Morning issue the next week. Maybe I’ll get my answers there.

    True enough, Billy Bat was on the cover in last week’s issue and the first chapter was printed on a paper that reminded me of old American comics.  It was packaged in such a way that there were ads for Billy Bat and on it was a name that shook my senses over lunch: Kevin Yamagata. When I saw that name, I turned to my friend and told her, “I have a feeling that Billy Bat is not Urasawa’s work.” So I speculated to my friend a theory. That Billy Bat was a front and the real story revolves around the author, this Kevin Yamagata. I even imagined how in a chapter, the comic will pan out and it will show Mr. Yamagata working on Billy Bat. This was of course, my speculation. And really, a good part of me that week wanted to wait for the next few chapters before spazzing ((although at this time, I was already spazzing because I find his drawings cute)) because… it was a very different Urasawa and I found it difficult to see how the hell he will spin Billy Bat‘s world and art in the same way he has spun the lives of Johann, Miyuki, and Kenji. So my theory is, if he managed to shift people’s vision of Atom in Pluto, he can do the same for Billy Bat. And so this week came, and you know what… Urasawa and I mindmelded ((Insert my fangirling screams here)).

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  • Facing the bakemonos of manga

    Facing the bakemonos of manga

    A friend of mine recently asked me to write something about manga for a national broadsheet, the Manila Bulletin. Instead of shocking kids with my rabid fujoshi fangirlings, I decided to take the safe route and explored the different aspects of monsters seen in manga. I’m not entirely an avid of monsters in manga, but I took this as an opportunity to explore their presence and their effect in manga. It turned out to be more interesting than what I had expected. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it too.

    Manga and Monsters

    Published June 28, 2008 in the Manila Bulletin. Online on June 30.
    Manga may appear to be literature for children yet they speak to us of change that is universal to many. No matter what shape or form, change will happen in our lives…

    I hate monsters.

    Ever since I was a kid, I abhorred the idea of Halloween because of the various monster specials shown on TV. They eat you, consume you, and even in your sleep, they haunt you. And for years I tried my best to evade these monsters the way you try to avoid bullies in your school. Don’t look at them straight in the eye. Keep calm, ignore them, and just walk away.

    And yet here I am, years later, reading my manga, suddenly staring at one monster straight in the eye. Just like that high school bully, they’ll find their way to get back at you.

    Finding a monster in a Japanese comic, most popularly known as manga, is like finding a cockroach on your cupboard. Having a monster in their manga is a natural occurrence and it revels at that moment when you scream on top of your lungs.

    For a tight-lipped society like Japan, monsters not only spark interest because of their strange looks but also because of their ability to elicit change. This is why they’re called bakemono by the Japanese – things that can change. This ability to transform himself or his surroundings is the very heart of the Japanese bakemono. And in manga, we see these in various shapes and sizes that it’s interesting how even if I change the genre of comics I’m reading, one way or the other, I’ll end up facing a monster.

    Children’s manga is bombarded with bakemonos. Instead of seeing drooling sharp-toothed beasts, they have talking trains, electric yellow kittens, and humanized bread.
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  • Cast for 20th Century Boys out!!

    Oh god! Yuecchi! Arigatou for the tip! XD

    Some really really cool updates about 20th Century Boys has been released. It will star Takako Tokiwa as Yukiji and Etsushi Toyokawa as Kenji! They totally have the look and I know Toyokawa -san will carry that Kenji charisma. He’s cool that way.

    They seem to be spending as big as 60 Oku En, which is probably billions in yen. Sorry, I’m not good in math. ^^;; They’ll be filming in Japan, Thailand, US, China, and England. I can only imagine Otcho’s scenes in Thailand. *insertfangirlsqueehere* The movie’s out on August 30, sometime this year. So summer will definitely be interesting. Yay! Casting looks really good so I’m quite hopeful. :3

    Edit: GOD! Well, I got some parts wrong. ^^;; Tehe. It turns out that Etsushi Tokoyawa will be Otcho (MUCH COOLER!! He’s total man and zen altogether!) Toshiaki Karasawa will play Kenji. Coolness all the way. This is probably the most highly anticipated movie for me. More than for Death Note! XD Now whatever happened to that Monster movie adaptation? :3 Hmmm?  Lookie at the poster too! THAT IS SOOO COOL!

  • Pluto feature film?

    *fangirls* Okay. I have to breathe here for a second. In between waiting for Gundam 00 fansites to load, I was reading Frederick Schodt’s interview in Newsarama. There is this line in this interview that just totally blew me away (among others Tezuka related).

    I think it is one of the best manga of recent years, and I can’t wait to see it made into a feature film.

    O_O Did I read that right? Did Schodt say he’s looking forward to see it made into a feature film? Uhmm… does this mean a feature film for Pluto is in the works? *w* I maybe reading into it much, but knowing the realism of the story, the depth of the drama, the popularity of the manga, and Schodt’s insider knowledge with regards to anything Tezuka… THIS COULD BE POSSIBLE!! *_* Just imagine how visually stunning and gripping this movie would be!!

    I really think I may be speculating much but I think he wouldn’t mention it if the idea has not been proposed, right? I mean… I wouldn’t talk about Otaku Champloo being published into a book if I knew that it was close to impossible from happening. But if I knew it was possible and is closer to being real… then I could slip up and say off the hat “I’m looking forward to seeing my book on the shelves soon” As if that could actually happen, but a Pluto movie could just be ‘possible’!

    Gah! My fangirling Urasawa and Tezuka heart has just passed panic mode. I mean, if this ‘slip-up’ it’s true, then the next few years of Anime would be very interesting indeed. :3 Don’t you think?

  • Manga Kissa 10 e ikimashita~!

    Manga Kissa 10 e ikimashita~!

    keaton ?????????,??????:*:????????????o(?????????????*)/????????????(*?????????????)o?????????,??????:*:????????????

    Waaaaaiiii!! Yesterday was the happiest ever because my friend and I managed to go to this new and probably the ONLY manga kissaten (cafe) in Manila! (?????????????????) Yesterday, a manga cafe just opened in Makati. The place is owned by a Japanese and it caters to the Japanese salaryman who’s comissioned to stay here in Manila (along with other Japanese nationals who reside in Manila). Hence, most mangas are either seinen or shounen in nature. More than that, all of them are in Japanese. ^^v. The place is located near Makati Square. From Waltermart, you can see MANGA KISSA 10! lol. I swear, it’s old man’s humor but I thought it was funny to name the manga cafe like that. lol. The owner is very nice and they even have maids!! it’s like a maid cafe and a manga kissa all in one! I felt quite pampered yesterday. :3 ??????????????????????

    What I found strange was that everyone was talking to me in Japanese. That might sound strange but I do look like Filipino and I am living Manila, and yet here were the nice maids asking me if I want another cup of coffee in really polite Japanese. The manager would also remind me from time to time to check on what I want and stuff. And even if I looked Filipino, they would talk to me in Japanese. ^^;; Yesterday, I came in with my Japanese friend, Yue-tan. And we were browsing through the shelves and I was just happy to see the entire set of Captain Tsubasa. The manager came to me and asked what mangas do I like. Yue-tan then tells tenchou that I can understand Japanese and I’m like “OH DEAR! I HAVE TO TALK IN JAPANESE! DAI-PINCH!” ^^;; I’m so used to reading it, but I’m not entirely used to speaking. Nonetheless, tenchou asked me the same question in Japanese and I go… “Spo-tsu manga ga suki. Seinen manga mo suki… (I like sports manga. I also like Adult manga)” in a very nervous and weird sort of way. Iyaaa hazukashii na. But tenchou was nice to talk to me in Japanese the whole time and thank god I didn’t painfully misreplied or anything. I think. ^^v

    There are a lot of good titles, and I can’t even know where to start. What I love is it has a mix of old and new along with new manga zasshis!! <3 Particularly Shounen Jump and Shounen Sunday. As for the mangas they have complete sets or at least until the latest of: Golgo 13, KochiKame, School of Water Business, Captain Tsubasa, Kisaragi, and a whole blockade of Naoki Urasawa mangas. Did I say a whole blockade of Naoki Urasawa!? Yeah I did. <3 <3 They have Pineapple Army, Master Keaton, Yawara, and Happy! And they’re complete! WAIIII!!! So yesterday, I took a shot at reading Urasawa-sensei’s mangas… and naturally, here’s what I think…

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  • ARMAGEDDON AND UTOPIA IN NAOKI URASAWA’S 20TH CENTURY BOYS

    This was a paper I submitted for my Japanese Literature class. I thought of sharing to people what I have learned about 20th Century boys using the fantastic theory in Japanese Literature.

    It was at the summer of 1969 that Kenji, Yoshitsune, Maruo, Otcho, Keroyon, and Donkey made a pact of true friendship. In an open grassy field, the boys built their secret base. They tied leaves together and set traps along the way. In it, they shared mangas, music, jokes, and dreams. In crumpled papers, they drew fantasies of saving the world from a giant robot as well as saving the world from a deadly virus. They were nothing but children’s dreams, foolish childish dreams. In that base, they explored a world outside their limited reality. They had their own world inside that fortress. Anything of their world remained in that fortress and that very base protected the boy’s dreams of the future. At their hideout, they held a sign which became a symbol of their true friendship. Anyone who knew that sign was a true friend. Little do the boys know that 30 years after, the sign would haunt them again. A ‘true friend’ appears and asks the boys to play a little game — a game that would bring their dreams into reality.

    In his 10th work, Naoki Urasawa explores the relationship of 7 boys and how their dreams and their realities all intertwine to create a new world, to the benefit of one, and to the horror of the six. 20th Century Boys (二十世紀少年, Nijuu Seiki Shounen) is a brilliant tale of how our actions in the past can completely change the future. Change is even an understatement. Change in 20th Century Boys brought about a complex revelation of how a forgotten face makes himself present by creating into reality the utopia that a band of boys created. It is this alienation and utopia that we will explore in this paper. Through the eyes of 20th Century Boys, we hope to see how modern writers today envision their utopian future. Could there be really a utopia? Or is one’s utopia another’s nightmare?

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  • #01 – Happy by Naoki Urasawa

    Happy by Naoki Urasawa
    Published by: Shougakukan
    Serialized in: Big Comic Spirits

    If there’s something happy about Happy, it’s the fact that it’s not quite the happy tale that you expected. Miyuki Umino may look happy in this cover, however, the unfortunate turn of events in her life isn’t really something to rejoice about. You’ve got an idiot brother who owes 250 million yen to some yakuza loan sharks. You’ve got 2 brothers and a younger sister to feed. You barely have enough cash for a lavish meal hence you’ve got curry for three days again. Might I add that the loan sharks want to pimp you in some bath parlor? Swamped with bad luck, Miyuki tries to make ends meet by trying her chance with her dream, becoming a professional tennis player.

    Still fresh from his Yawara escapade, Naoki Urasawa gives us a refreshing, slightly tragic, nonethless perservering heroine under Miyuki. He may have given up Judo, but on this end, it’s all about who becomes the princess of tennis! That may sound cheesy, but it really is the tale of two women who have different paths to victory. As Urasawa exposes these two women, he asks us, which one of them will be truly happy?

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