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.
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I have been more excited about this than the Kingdom of Characters display (I had tons of things to complain about that one!) and more so, when I saw this in the Japan Foundation Magazine, back then, they only hide five series on display.
And now they have more!
The Japan Foundation will be holding an exhibit on the art of Japanese comics called “Manga Realities: The Art of Japanese Comics Today.” I am particularly excited about this exhibit as it contains some of my favorite mangaka and more. In Japan Foundation’s July Newsletter, the curator of this exhibit, Takahashi Mizuki of the
Contemporary Art Center, Art Tower Mito, noted that the exhibit intends to “recreate, in installation, sound and video, the same feeling of entering a “manga world” that you get when you read in manga…. Manga is experienced in private but this style of exhibition makes it possible to share the experience of manga with family and friends.”
I’m quite excited to see this exhibit and I hope manga fans will enjoy this as well!
Manga Realities Exhibit
Manga Realities: The Art of Japanese Comics Today
Ayala Museum, August 16-October 2
The Japan Foundation and the Ayala Museum in cooperation with the Contemporary Art Center, Art Tower Mito in Japan, will bring to Manila the traveling exhibition, “Manga Realities: Exploring the Art of Japanese Comics Today”.
It is widely known that Japanese manga and anime are attracting global attention today as the leading media of Japanese visual culture. Starting from manga comics by Osamu Tezuka, the master cartoonist of postwar Japan, this country’s manga has established a distinctive style that is different from American comics or French bande dessinée. Once depreciated as children’s amusement or a subculture, the public perception of these media has been changed considerably in recent years. Japanese manga and anime are now regarded as the main culture as the soft power that represents Japan today.
The exhibition which will be on view from August 16 (Tuesday) to October 2 (Sunday) at the Ground Floor Gallery and at the Glass Lane and Luna and Amorsolo Rooms at the Third Floor of the Ayala Museum will showcase nine manga artists and their works including Ninomiya Tomoko (Nodame Cantabile); Harold Sakuishi (BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad); Asano Inio (Solanin); Anno Moyoco (Sugar Sugar Rune ); Igarashi Daisuke (Children of the Sea); Kuramochi Fusako (Five Minutes from the Station); Kyo Machiko (Sennen-Gaho); Matsumoto Taiyo (No. 5); and Wakaki Tamiki (The World God Only Knows). During the exhibition run, other activities including lectures and workshops will be conducted.
From its first exhibit in Art Tower Mito, Japan, the exhibition has traveled to Artsonje Center in Seoul, South Korea and to the Vietnam Fine Art Museum in Hanoi, Vietnam where it has received considerable acclaim.
Manga Realities: Exploring the Art of Japanese Manga Today is presented by Ayala Foundation and the Japan Foundation; additional support is provided by Lyric Piano and Organ, Acer and Via Mare.
For inquiries, please contact the Japan Foundation, Manila at telephone numbers 811.6155 to 58 or visit www.jfmo.org.ph.
Ayala Museum is located at Makati Avenue corner de la Rosa St. Greenbelt Park, Makati City. The museum is open from Tuesday to Friday (9:00 am to 6:00 pm) and Saturday to Sunday (10:00 am to 7:00 pm). For more information, please call Ayala Museum at telephone numbers 757.7117 to 21 or visit www.ayalamuseum.org.
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Neri and Al from Basso's Al to Neri Shuuhen
With the Toronto Comic Arts Festival coming up, I felt it best to tell the world more about Natsume Ono. She’s been getting much acclaim among manga critics however, the truth of the matter is — the English-speaking world has only grazed half of her works. Natsume Ono still has lots to offer.
There’s more to Natsume Ono than Italian restaurants and kidnappers. In fact, doing this spotlight for Natsume Ono requires a journey for my readers. If you would allow me, I’d like to take you to a journey down to Ono’s lane because knowing her works takes more than just looking at her pictures. You’ve got to immerse yourself and experience her works to understand how Natsume Ono is definitely not simple.
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The winners of the Osamu Tezuka Cultural awards are out and the winners will definitely take us a trip back in time.
The Grand Prize was shared by two titles. First one (and the only one I’ve seen… at least in drama) is Jin by Murakami Motoka, a story of a surgeon who falls into a time slip and changes history by introducing his knowledge of medicine during the Bakumatsu period. I was only introduced to the drama a few weeks back but I’m happy to hear that this series has a strong manga enough to win the prize.
The other title is Takemitsu Samurai, drawn by Matsumoto Taiyou and written by Eifuku Issei. It’s a historical manga who has a mysterious ronin for a protagonist. Unfortunately, I can’t say much about it beyond it being printed in Big Comic Spirits. I’m only assuming that it’s one of those critically acclaimed yet unpopular titles (doesn’t even have a wiki page. :<)
The New Artist award was won by Full Metal Alchemist. And the Short Story award was won by Yamashina Keisuke.
I think this year’s award winners are quite a lovely set and I think their stories are definitely worth a read. I find it amazing though that Jin won this year. It’s like a nice homage to Osamu Tezuka. In a way, Jin is like the Black Jack of Edo. Sort of…
An awarding ceremony will be held on May 27 and the winners will be awarded 1 million yen and a bronze statue of Atom. Congratulations to all of the winners and hopefully we’ll have another lovely set of manga to read by next year!
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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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Goran Markovic on 
Yousain on