Archive for the Artists Category


Dear Brother Anime (English)

October 22nd, 2012

It was 2004. Fansubs were already phasing out of the elegantly clunky VHS tape-exchanges by snail mail and were shifting towards the passionless and infinitely faster transmission of IP people had no right to share by digital means.

Oniisama E was already a relic of a former age even then. Fansubbed by a bastion of Victorian worldviews, each volume of the anime came with notes on culture, references and a full set of what we ought to be feeling and understanding. It wasn’t enough for us to know that the rain, the wind, the trains and the flocks of birds were symbolic, we were to be told exactly how to interpret them. ^_^ As the end of this series heralded the end of anime fandom as I had entered it, I finally wrote a review, if only to say goodbye to it.

Now we have a chance that I could never ever have expected – a free, legal, multi-language option for people to watch this oh-so-shoujo series, streaming on Viki.com. I hope every single one of you who loves Maria-sama ga Miteru will watch Oniisama E/Dear Brother based on the manga by Riyoko Ikeda.

This is a series fraught with fraughtness. In the poisonous hothouse of an elite girls’ school, a nice girl named Nanako will encounter insanity, obsession, emotional manipulation, friendship and love.

Kaoru-no-Kimi, the athletic masculine type, Miya-sama without whom we would never have had Juri in Utena and the beautifully tragic Sainte-Juste, who makes homicidal depression and drug use look…sexy. You cannot tell me that kids books today are too dark. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Character 9
Yuri – More than you expect (and more than Technogirls would admit)
Service – 4 for girls in suits, but nothing more salacious than that

Overall – 9

This stuff is made of awesome. Give me until Episode 7, and if you hate it, you can stop. But then, we can never be friends. ^_^





Ask Rose of Versailles’ Riyoko Ikeda Questions on RightStuf.com

October 19th, 2012

Nozomi Entertainment Wants Fans’ Questions for The Rose of Versailles Creator Riyoko Ikeda

Submit questions at rov.rightstuf.com by 4 p.m. CDT on Nov. 1, 2012.

GRIMES, Iowa, Oct. 18, 2012 – Anime producer and distributor Right Stuf, Inc. and Nozomi Entertainment want fans’ questions for Riyoko Ikeda, the legendary creator of The Rose of Versailles . Please submit questions, via the form located at the official series site (rov.rightstuf.com), by 4 p.m. CDT on Thurs., Nov. 1, 2012.

Right Stuf’s Nozomi Entertainment division will be releasing the anime adaptation of The Rose of Versailles, also known as “Berusaiyu no BaraThe Rose of Versailles and “Lady Oscar,” both digitally, via Viki.com in December 2012 (U.S. and Canada), and as two limited-edition DVD box sets in 2013. This will be the first time the entire anime series will be available to English-speaking audiences in North America. Right Stuf, Inc. licensed the series from TMS Entertainment, Ltd.

Set during the years preceding the French Revolution, The Rose of Versailles is a tale of romance and political intrigue that centers around Oscar François de Jarjayes, a young woman whose father has raised her as a man – and trained her to be an elite and skilled soldier – so she can succeed him as the commander of the palace guards.

The Rose of Versailles is based upon the best-selling manga (comic) by Riyoko Ikeda (Dear Brother, a.k.a. Oniisama e…), which was originally serialized in Shueisha’s shoujo (girls’) anthology magazine Margaret, from 1972 through 1973, and later collected into 10 volumes. In addition to its anime adaptation, it inspired a short story collection (also written by Ikeda), a French-Japanese live-action film, and multiple musicals staged by Japan’s famed Takarazuka Revue.

This 40-episode anime adaptation of The Rose of Versailles originally aired on Japanese television from October 1979 through September 1980. It features animation by TMS Entertainment, Ltd., as well as direction by Tadao Nagahama (Romance Robot Trilogy) and Osamu Dezaki (Nobody’s Boy – Remi, Dear Brother, Aim for the Ace!).

For more information about the series and to submit questions for the Q&A with Ms. Ikeda, visit rov.rightstuf.com.





Golondrina Manga, Volume 1 (ゴロンドリナイ)

October 8th, 2012

est em is an artist well-known for creating unconventional manga with a tinge of BL. How exciting for me, then, when I encountered Golondrina (ゴロンドリーナ ), an unconventional manga with a touch of Yuri.

The story begins as Chica, sobbing miserably in a bathroom, contemplates suicide. Blade to wrist, she just cannot bring herself to do it but, despite that, she still wants to die. We learn why in a flashback – Chica’s lover Maria has left her. Worse, she’s left only because Chica’s a woman. Yes, they were happy, but Maria wants a marriage, a child…a “normal” life. Chica is devastated.

She tries again to die, this time by stepping in front of traffic in the pouring rain. A car screeches to halt in front of her and the driver, an old man, yells at her – what does she think she’s doing? She tells him she’s trying to die, at which he throws her in the car and takes her back to his place to dry off.

Disconcerted, crying in her sleep, Chica wakes in the old man’s house. When he sees that she’s a girl, he realizes he’s made a mistake. He was going to make her into a Matador, but since she’s a girl…

The last straw snaps, and Chica demands that he take her seriously and teach her, because she wants to die in the ring.

Thus begins Golondrina, a manga about a young woman training to become a matadaor.

The art is classic est em – everyone is thin and less gangly than they have any right to be. Chica comes off as consistently hot-headed, but hard-working. Her friend Sechu, who is dead set against this, is still a good friend. We hardly had time to learn to hate Maria, but we are given plenty of time to learn about Antonio, Chica’s teacher. Is he a murderer, as Sechu says, or is he a man left behind in this life by a student, maybe lover? We learn a tantalizing bit about Antonio, but by the end of Volume 1, we don’t know much about him, really.

We do know that, despite being grossed out by bullfighting, Chica still says wants to die by the bull – in front of Maria if she can. Then we can see that her hard training is having some effect on her – even Sechu tells her she looks cool as she practices with the pink muleta.

Bullfighting is the ultimate in macho sports – will Chica make it into the ring at all? We’ll have to tune in to find out

Ratings:

Art – 8 The art is pleasantly realistic, without any attempt at photorealism
Story – 8
Characters – 8
Yuri – 2
Service – 1, which is to say there is some nudity, but really not at all of the Fanboy type. Everyone looks their age. This is a Josei manga, but even the guys aren’t particularly pretty. (See Art rating)

Overall – 8

Ultimately, as with any est em story – indeed, with most manga – it’s the characters that are the strength here. And, as my wife points out, pretty much anyone looks good in a suit of lights. If the cover is any indication, Chica will not be the exception to this.





Interview with Yuri Manga Artist Hayashiya Shizuru

September 30th, 2012

Last December I suddenly had to opportunity to go to Japan for Winter Comiket. The *first* thing I did was find the table with the circle known as Jesus Drug, and was, at last, able to meet one of my favorite manga artists, Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei. I proceeded to be a blithering fangirl at her. (It was painful to watch, no doubt. ^_^;)

In any case, I was absolutely 100% sure that the next interview I wanted was with this woman who has inspired me in a hundred different ways and who makes me laugh until I hurt. I am, therefore very pleased to present to you an interview with creator of Hayate x Blade, Hayashiya Shizuru-sensei. Yay! \(^_^)/

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Q1: Please tell us about yourself
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Hello, my name is Hayashiya Shizuru. Before I grew up [and became a manga artist,] I was a character designer and original art planner for an adult game company.

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Q2: How did you get started in manga?
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When I was a child, I sort of vaguely thought I’d have something to do with working in comics. While working for a company drawing pictures, I was already getting more orders for personal work I was doing outside the company, so I was able to slowly but surely shift to supporting myself with manga.

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Q3: Which artists have inspired you?
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As far as manga goes, Fujiko (FA) Fujio-sensei and Takahashi Rumiko-sensei; as for illustrators, Nishimura Kinu-sensei and Yuki Nobuteru-sensei.

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Q4: If you were not a mangaka, what kind of work would you be doing?
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I’d be a bike racer or a nurse. Definitely! ….Maybe!

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Q5: What were your motivations for creating Yuri Manga?
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The truth is, I really don’t think about Yuri or drawing Yuri comics. For myself, I think of this the same as a heterosexual love comedy, or love story. From my teens on, Yuri and gay existed within me, like air. There wasn’t any special throb of excitement, it was just there.

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Q6.1: Please tell us a little bit about your process.
How long does a chapter take to draw?
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If we’re talking about a chapter for a serialized story, as opposed to a book to be read all at once, from storyboard to finished product the process takes roughly 2 weeks.

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Q6.2: How many assistants work with you? What is the first step in your process? What is the last step?
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I have one assistant. The first thing we do is the “Name” (the storyboard). The last task is when I kneel on the ground in front of the publishing company’s editorial staff and humbly hand over the manuscript. Just kidding. The last thing is when we apply screentone.

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Q7: Do you read any Yuri manga? If so, what series do you read?
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I like Oku Hiroya-sensei’s “Hen”.

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Q8:  Your work contains a great deal of physical comedy. What are you thinking when you’re creating it? What feelings do you want to convey?
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If, for instance, someone is feeling tired or is in a slump, when they read it, I want them to cheer up, raise up their spirit, so I want to draw characters that convey the feeling of “Come on, let’s play together!”

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Q9: Do you have anything you want to ask overseas fans?
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My manga, it’s probably full of a lot of gags that are only comprehensible to Japanese people, and there’s a lot of words but, I worry about to what extent overseas people can understand the humor and find it funny.

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Q10: Do you have any message for your overseas fans?
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By changing publishers, I caused the English edition of Hayate x Blade to be suspended. However, I would like to read the translated version. Therefore, please demand a continuation of the translation from Shueisha. These are comics for you to accept and read. And, one day I hope to come and visit an overseas comic event. Thanks for your support!

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Thank you, Sensei, for taking time to answer our questions and for drawing manga that raises up our spirits and makes us laugh!

You can write Shueisha to demand more Hayate x Blade in English at this address:2-5-10 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-8050 JAPAN. (Don’t be shy – they may or may not be able to read the whole letter…but they will definitely be able to read “We want Hayate x Blade in English!” ^_^)





Coming Soon from Nozomi/RightStuf and Viki.com – Rose of Versailles

September 12th, 2012

Nozomi/RightStuf and Viki.com, the online streaming site that carries Riyoko Ikeda’s “Dear Brother”) have jointly announced the licensing of Ikeda’s classic tale of the French Revolution, Rose of Versailles.

RightStuf’s Coming Soon Page for RoV includes links to the trailer and a button to submit questions to Riyoko Ikeda, to be answered by the legendary artist herself.

Viki.com is premiering the opening episode at New York Comic-Com on October 13, followed by a Q&A session with Prof. Susan Napier. (I’ve already spoken with Prof. Napier and asked her a few questions written by myself, Katherine H. and Erin S. I’ll hope that she’ll have time to answer a few of them for us.)

What a decade the 2010’s are turning out to be, huh? ^_^