Otaku Champloo

Year: 2013

  • #30: Nigeru Otoko

    I think everyone comes to that point in their life where they just want to run away. It’s tempting, isn’t it? The idea of dropping everything — bills, debts, responsibilities, homework — is such a beautiful thought that it feels like paradise. It must be paradise. It should be paradise, doesn’t it?

    Natsume Ono attempts to capture this idea of fleeing with her comic, Nigeru Otoko (The Man who Ran Away). However, unlike the paradise she imagines, she places her fleeing character in a thick, dark forest. His paradise is seeping with mystery that eventually he owns a myth in the place.

    (more…)

  • Digital Reads: Ebookjapan

    One of the things I dreaded when I moved to Australia was how I’m going to weed my precious manga collection. By then, my collection has blown out of proportion and to choose which ones to part with tore me apart. Quite literally, if you ask my heart.

    Painful as the process was, it had to be done. Thankfully, my uni’s Japanese department was willing to adopt some of them. And to fill the void of my lost manga, I turned to ebookjapan.

    Ebookjapan is a repository of Japanese digital reads: from novels, anthologies, to comics. The entire site’s in Japanese and only distributes Japanese language texts. It’s quite useless for those who don’t speak moon runes, but it is a treasure trove for those who can. Also a great learning tool for those studying Japanese.

    (more…)

  • Fujojocast #3 – Holiday Gift Guide & Upcoming Cons

    Hi everyone! Fujojocast is back! 😀 YAAAAAAY!

    So happy to do another Fujoshicast. This time, my guests are Rotch from Magnetic-rose.net and Blush, Ebichuu making weird sounds and murmurs, and Pirotess from Room801!

    (more…)

  • #29: Smells Like Green Spirit

    There comes a point in one’s manga reading life that you get sick and tired of the same old school story. At least for me, when it comes to school-based BL tales, I’ve set a strange expectation that I will find the same tale over and over again. Either the young man falls in love with his brash teacher or the freshman attempts to dominate his senior. I sometimes feel like BL has exhausted almost every permutation on school life.

    So I had my hesitations in picking up Smells Like Green Spirit. First, it had a tacky title (seriously, it sounds like it attempts to be as cool as the Nirvana song). Second, the cover art for the first volume is odd. I can’t quite place other than “It doesn’t look like a BL title at all!”

    Perhaps those signs were telling about how unique this book really is.

    (more…)

  • Digital Reads: Crunchyroll’s Manga Experience

     

    I think there’s some of us who felt that a part of us died when Jmanga announced that they’re closing shop. I really liked Jmanga and I enjoyed the convenience of their service. But as with things digital, the idea that what I own disappears with their sites just sucks a lot.

    Other manga apps (like Viz’s manga app) is available only to US and Canada. I tried purchasing digital editions here in Australia with little luck. Vertical digital editions can be bought in Australia via Amazon’s Kindle service so I’m thinking it’s okay elsewhere. You can also purchase DMG and Sublime books via Amazon.

    That leaves a lot of manga left untranslated. I’m a little fortunate since I can check ebookjapan for Japanese titles. But that leaves a lot of English readers who have little access to manga. So when Crunchyroll announced that they’re working with Kodansha in publishing some fan favorites in English via their website, I was excited. Totally excited!

    (more…)

  • Natsume Ono and Rensuke Oshikiri Drawing Exchange

    Comic Natalie releases another set of videos in their features section, Power Push. This time they tasked Natsume Ono and Rensuke Oshikiri to draw some illustrations of each other’s characters and wow… well… it’s always nice to see you favourite artists at work?

    Well there’s the fact that Ono draws on this large tablet. Not sure if that’s a CINTIQ but wow. That’s just… Imagine if she drew her BL with that! So large and up close.

    Either way, it was such an interesting exchange. Watching the videos also made them think how they thought so much of each other’s characters and how, for Oshikiri particularly, it was hard to capture the handsome and erotic appeal of Ono’s style, while Ono found it difficult to draw a girl. But both tried hard and did well, I think. The two seem to have a large appreciation for each other’s works, with Ono as a fan of Oshikiri’s High Score Girl and Oshikiri challenged by Ono’s style.

    The challenge’s in promotion of Ono’s upcoming release for her Big Gan Gan comic, Acca. A new volume of High School Girl is coming out soon as well. I haven’t read Acca yet, so I’m looking forward to that book coming way.

    You can also download wallpapers of their exchange in the Natalie page!

  • Hana Doki Kira’s shojo comic anthology celebrates shojo manga

    This week, I caught wind of this group of artists who call themselves the Year 85 Group, alluding to classic shoujo manga super power group, Year 24 Group. Technically, it should be Year 60 Group (Showa 60 is 1985), but you know what, it’s a cute reference in respect to the ladies who revolutionized shoujo manga as we know it today. In celebration, they’re putting up a comic anthology called Hana Doki Kira!

    Here’s what the anthology is all about:

    Hana Doki Kira is a comics and Illustration Anthology on Kickstarter featuring 26 unique and talented artists inspired by the sub­genre of Japanese comics called Shōjo. The anthology was created and put together by members of the Year 85 group, six female artists brought together by a shared passion.

    26 artists with diverse skills and styles, with experience ranging from the fine arts to game design, were asked to consider what Shōjo personally meant to them, and to create art based on their interpretations. Known for its distinctive use of flowery imagery, magical plot devices, and romantic themes, Hana Doki Kira takes its title from the same three key elements of the Shōjo world– ‘Hana’ meaning flower, ‘Doki’ echoing the sound of a pounding heart, and ‘Kira’­­ the impression of sparkling beauty.

    While Shōjo is a sub­genre of Japanese comics that is targeted towards young girls and women, it can be enjoyed by anyone, drawing upon the shared spectrum of human emotion. “It has been said that Shōjo is a mirror that reflects the heart of the reader,” says illustrator and Year 85 Group member, Rebecca Mock.

    Resumes from the artists in the book include clients such as the New York TImes, Lucasfilm, Juxtapoz, BOOM! Studios, Random House, Rock Star Games, and Womanthology, but regardless of experience, all were brought together by their mutual love of the genre. Supporting the project will not only expose the viewer to new works, but will also support the artists directly. Proceeds from the project that exceed the production costs of the books and rewards will be used to compensate the artists for their time and work.

    Hana Doki Kira is using the Kickstarter platform to raise $9,500 in 31 days during the month of November, with the intention to print a limited number of books in a distinct limited color palette. Kickstarter is a crowd­funding platform which will allow the artists to directly interact with friends and fans. People are encouraged to pledge any amount, with rewards starting from $5 for a digital PDF of the book to higher levels of compensation which include limited art prints and one­of­a­kind art commissions. Money will only collected if the project reaches it’s goal, but should the project exceed its base funding goal, push rewards offering upgraded binding, foil stamping, and bookplates, are also in place.

    “It’s really important for us to give back to the community,” says art director, designer and Year 85 Group member, Annie Stoll, “A portion of the books created will be donated to libraries, girls’ clubs and anime clubs to help foster and inspire the next generations of Shōjo artists!”

    I usually shy from kickstarters (especially those kickstarted by established companies) but dangle indie, shoujo, and comic at me, I’ll be looking. I think it’s a good effort and I’m quite interested with how they’re gonna pull it off. Hopefully, they manage to get enough backing because nowadays, comics needs more shoujo love.

    I also had a chance to talk to the creators on their thoughts on shoujo and how this reflects in their works in Hana Doki Kira!

    (more…)

  • Free! Location Hunting: Rin Overlooking the Sydney Harbour Bridge

    Gaiz, as you know, I’m hooked on Kyoto Animation’s Free! So when a college friend who had plans to visit Sydney saw the end card of Free’s 11th episode, she immediately sent me a private message asking if we can go there. Now how am I to refuse a friend? More so have a chance to share a moment with Rin?

    Well this precious boy may have had a sad story in Australia, but it sure was fun in finding this area.

    (more…)

  • Osamu Tezuka’s Secret to Creativity

    This is an NHK documentary called Osamu Tezuka: Sousaku no Himitsu. It was done in 1985 and it looks at the man’s life, work, and contribution to Japan. If you didn’t know the amazing of Tezuka, then see a glimpse of it in this video. Fortunately, the uploader shared it with English subs too!

    This guy has done a lot for manga and has inspired quite a number of people to put their dreams and fantasies in panels. For girls comics (shoujo manga), a lot of female artists have shared that Tezuka’s Princess Knight (Ribon no Kishi) was an inspiration for them to draw girls’ comics. Although, I’d probably leave Sapphire in a class of her own as Tezuka has had his own hits and misses with female representation.

    Nonetheless, seeing this made me really understand his amazing contribution not just to Japan but to comic art as a whole. I believe we did a Manga Moveable Feast on Osamu Tezuka a few years back. If you feel like reading up a little more on him, you can check out our Tezuka MMF archive.

    I just saw this link randomly in my twitter dash late last night and couldn’t find who I got this from to give proper credit. But wow, a documentary to see Osamu Tezuka at work! While I have a vague idea how he does it (his life work tells a lot), it’s still nice to see the god of manga move around and show his craft.

    This probably goes around the line of other awesome video of manga folks drawing their craft. I… should possibly post those here soon-ish.

  • Fujojocast #2: What we love about Free

    So gather 5 girls in skype to talk about Kyoto Animation’s and mayhem ensues.

    Well… we tried to behave.

    Kyoto Animation’s summer offering, Free, just ended last week and while our feels were still fresh, I gathered some friends to talk about their thoughts and emotions about the series.

    With me are some friends from tumblr: Kat (batgirls), Taka (takanye), Airin (icecreambat), and Nozmo (junjouprince). And we spent a good time talking about abs, olympics, Australia, and this series just exceeded our expectations.

    In case you guys haven’t caught up to speed, you can watch Free! in Crunchyroll! Then listen in on our podcast and share your feels.

    Note: I apologize for the awful recording quality I have. ;__; Made a mistake with the microphones and so yeah… :< Sadness. Will fix that in the next podcasts. But do listen in! The girls sounded awesome though.

    Podcast: Play in new window | Download

    Fujojocast No. 2: What We Love about Free!

    OP: Taste the Satisfaction (Free Soundtrack, Ever Blue)
    ED: Splash Free (Free Soundtrack, Ever Blue, Free! ED)

    Episode Index

    00:00 – 2:17 Introductions
    2:20 – Expectations of the Anime
    6:20 – When did your expectations of the anime change?
    10:00 – High Speed and Haru
    15:00 – Favorite characters
    18:00 – Rin Matsuoka and his amajing
    21:00 – Free! charas as shounen chara stereotypes
    23:00 – “There’s no canon ship here but friendSHIP”
    27:00 – Did it have to be Rei?
    28:00 – “It had to be Rei”
    30:00 – Rin talking to hobos & the Australia experience
    38:00 – Fears for the last episode
    40:00 – “I just want Rin to be happy”
    41:00 – In defense of Rin Matsuoka
    47:00 – Free!’s potential after the first season
    54:00 – “It sold itself more on the friendships than it did on the sport”
    58:00 – The Free!Boys 5 years from now
    1:05:00 – The betrayal of otaku and an anime just for us
    1:16:00 – Free! breaking expectations of anime usually aimed towards fujoshi
    1:18:00 – Expectations for upcoming fujoshi titles (e.g. Meganebu!)
    1:22:00 – Thank you ladies!!

    This was so much fun! I actually didn’t imagine that I will last until episode two. But I suppose that’ll get things rolling and I’m starting to get more ideas for the podcast.

    So, do you want to join me for the fujojocast? Do you have an idea for the show? Don’t hesitate to e-mail me and if schedule and time permits, we can talk about it in the next fujojocast! Or you might receive a stalkery e-mail or message from me as well.