Yuri Manga: Hayate x Blade, Volume 4 (English)

October 22nd, 2009

If you follow *one* series it should be this one. There are no exceptions to this rule.

Hayate x Blade, Volume 4 is a non-stop, fast-paced, slam-dunk, action-filled crazy-fest from the very first page to the very last. And it’s funny as hell. As I’ve come to say on Twitter, it’s a 4 SLOL (Snort Laugh Out Loud) book.

The book begins with the end of Ayana and Jun’s match and OMG, I cannot believe you can read this in ENGLISH. I remember reviewing it in Japanese and wishing I could share it with you all, because it’s so excellent.

Because *so* much happens in this volume, I want to talk about the translation. Yes, Jun does curse. It seems uncharacteristic in this series, but that’s only ’cause you haven’t met Sid yet. :-D (Sid! How I want you to meet Sid and Nancy! OMG, they are so awesomely hysterical. /Fangirly squeal/) And no, Hayate’s comments about her and Ayana being Jon and Ponch and Cagney and Lacey are *not* weird attempts are localization – they are actually what she says.

Once again, I want to thank, worship, akogare the team of translator and adapter on this book for making it feel so right. I feel as if every voice has been kept intact. Adrienne, Ed, you make this series a real pleasure to work on as a professional, and to read as a fan.

Also, I really, really, want to thank Tor and Seven Seas for 1) giving me the opportunity to work on this series and; 2) fixing that one mistake I kept pointing out. You know the one. Thank you. :-)

Jun fights Ayana, Yuho fights Hayate, Jun and Yuho have a tender moment, Hitsugi and Shizuku prepare for their first fight in a while, Hayate gets close to Akira despite dire warnings, and Momoka and Isuzu (Isuzu! OMG, I just love her. I hope you do too.) have a *major* crisis that introduces Michi and Otoha, who are a pair of utter freaks. ^_^ There is action, comedy, blood, guts, affection, desire and banana peels.

Isuzu=Yuri, and if you are like me and most of the Japanese doujinshi artists, you see Michi and Otoha as a couple, too. Because…duh.

If you are not buying this manga, you are utterly fail. Don’t bother trying to explain yourself.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 3
Service – 2

Overall – 9

I want you to know that a contact (not my editor, but another editor) at Tor offered to send me copies, but I refused. I like it better that my Heroes get the credit. Today I thank once again, ever more fervently, Okazu Superhero Eric P. for sponsoring today’s review and giving me the chance to sings paeans of joy about the BEST MANGA EVER. IN ENGLISH!

Posted in Hayashiya Shizuru, Hayate x Blade | 13 Comments »


Event: Queer Manga Panel at NYU – tonight!

October 21st, 2009

If you’re local to NYC, I hope you’ll join me, Hiroki Otsuka, June Kim, Ivan Velez Jr. and Mari Morimoto for a panel on Queer Manga.

Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Time: 6:00pm – 7:30pm
Location: Kimmel Center, Room 912
Street: 60 Washington Square South
City/Town: New York, NY

We’re going to discuss Bara, Bian and other Queer manga, as well as the artists’ current and upcoming projects. It’s going to be a great panel – I hope to see you there!

Posted in Events | 5 Comments »


Yuri Light Novel; 384,403 km ~ Anata ni Sarattara

October 20th, 2009

When I see a book with illustrations by Kurogane Kenn, my first thought is, “Oh, this is going to be great, I can tell.” I’m willing to bet that my tone of voice is not the same as many of yours would be if you were to say that. ^_^;

And so I did say, when I first came across 394,408km ~ Anata ni Sarattara, a light novel written by Kousaka Hio and illustrated by Kenn.

The novel primarily follows the singular obsession of Miyuki for classmate Rise. Miyuki is an honor student, ojou-sama type, but in reality, her family is not rich and she is not able to follow Rise to an elite school after elementary school. But that doesn’t stop her from obsessing about her. For eight years.

When Miyu’s father suddenly hits the lottery, her first and only concern is to get into the same elite school that Rise attends. With her excellent grades, it’s no problem at all. At last, Miyuki can be reunited with her beloved Rise who, by the way, has no idea at all that Miyuki feels this way. Miyuki had asked Rise to be hers, back in 1st grade and is now determined to realize that dream.

On the way to meet Rise, whose class is inexplicably on the floor above her own, Miyu runs into the “Silver Witch,” green-eyed Mikado Maria. Maria smells the scent of lilies about Miyuki, and invites her to join her “Romantic Love Study Group.” After an odd, lukewarm reunion with Rise, Miyu is approached by the president of the Morals Committee, who recruits her to join the Romantic Love Study Group in order to infiltrate and get the dirt on their repulsive, filthy behavior. Immediately, Miyu can see that the President has some feelings for Maria, but whatever. Since Rise’s a member, she’ll do it.

The first day in the RLSG is not easy. Witch Maria plays with people like toys and it’s immediately obvious that the group follows her whim. She makes Rise and Miyuki flirt for them all, and they end with a kiss. Frustrated that it is merely a kiss between friends, Miyuki walks away from the group.

After witnessing Maria and Rise doing more than just kiss, Miyuki challenges Maria to a duel to win Rise. Maria calls for the match to be strip poker, which Miyu loses, but in the end she does gain Rise.

The rest of the book is them having sex. Sometimes from one perspective, sometimes from the other.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 6
Character – 6
Yuri – 10
Service – 10

Overall – 7

The title, by the way, is the distance between the Moon, of which Miyuki has always fancied herself the Queen, and the Earth, which of course is Rise (her name even contains the character for Earth.) But I think Sean Gaffney said it best when he asked if that was the distance between this book and literature. ^_^

Posted in Light Novel | 6 Comments »


Yuri Manga: Transistor Tea Set, Volume 1

October 19th, 2009

In Transistor Tea Set ~ Denkigai Jizu, Suzu is a mecha otaku who lives and works in the dark depths of the Electic Town area of Akihabara. Her close friend, a younger girl named Sairi, has a raging crush on her, and helps Suzu cope with daily tasks like waking up and eating.

Suzu is not wholly unaware of Sairi’s feelings, occasionally asking Sairi if she likes her. Sairi is a typical tsundere, so it’s no surprise that her reaction is to scream “Idiot!” and run off.

Sadly for Sairi, Suzu still carries a torch for an old childhood friend, Midori, who had to leave Akihabara to go overseas. They promised to meet again, but that was many years ago. So, when Suzu gets a mysterious phone call and runs home to find that the front part of her shop has been turned into a maid cafe, it’s three steps beyond “a shock.” Complicating matters, is Midori, returned at long last, acting as the cafe’s maid. Midori sucks at cooking, cleaning, making tea and pretty much everything and anything maids might be expected to do. What she wants to do is to be close to Suzu, who probably wants the same thing, but is reacting with typical “comedic” rejection.

The chapters are filled with a lot of self-referential otaku humor, along with some very silly throwaway setups. In one chapter, Midori asks Suzu to build a robo-Maid. She does, but it loses its head (literally) and escapes into the town to create a swath of horror among late-night Akihabara dwellers. I expect the headless robo-Maid to return in some later chapter. You can’t just walk away from something like that. ^_^

The final chapter of the book follows a ghost/love story that has a happy ending and only tangentially involves Suzu and co.

Yuri is the totally one-sided crush Sairi has for not-unaware, but not probably interested, Suzu, and the mutual, but uneven, feelings Midori and Suzu have for one another. It’s not likely to go anywhere, which is kind of a shame, I think I’d like Suzu more if she opened up to Midori, but it’s also not the point of the story.

Ratings:

Art – 6
Characters – 7
Story – 6
Yuri – 5
Service – 6

Overall – 6

The point of the story is that Suzu is a schoolgirl uniform-wearing robotics fetishist and Midori dresses like a maid. The end. ^_^

Posted in Yuri Manga | 3 Comments »


Conventions, Trade Shows and the Anime/Manga Bubble

October 18th, 2009

Another essay in my series on marketing anime and manga in a rapidly changing business environment.

***

It’s obvious to most people that anime and manga companies have pulled back *significantly* in their relationships and appearances at conventions, in a way that is not dissimilar to tech companies after the first Internet bubble burst.

I remember clearly walking through Javits Center at the Internet Expo which, at its height, filled the whole building – and two large tents set up outside. The last time I attended the Expo (many years ago) it was in one room. Few large companies were there, and their presence was significantly scaled back.

Anime and manga companies have seen their first bubble burst. And, it struck me that what anime and manga companies have not learned was something that all the tech companies that attended that year did – reward the consumer contingent upon some kind of commitment.

About 7 years ago, I was the moderator at a very large industry panel at Anime Expo. The line for the panel was incredibly long, but I realized that this was because they were giving away t-shirts to anyone who walked in the room. It was no surprise to me that people were entering the room, getting their t-shirt and exiting the room through another door. Even then, I though that could have been handled better.

At an anime convention, every company there has already accomplished the first part of my Microniche Marketing basics – Find Your Audience. The audience has plopped itself in their laps, ready to be engaged.

For the most part, companies use panels to achieve the second part – Engage Your Audience. This is a topic for another essay entirely, because companies go through staff rollover all the time, so the message, the marketing and the format never really has a chance to mature. Companies are still holding the same awkward,”are you getting this title?”-type Q&As that they’ve been holding since the beginning of time. “Engage” is a step that is still a little weak.

But where anime and manga companies really fail is at Reward Your Market. Instead, they have been rewarding the *audience,* regardless of their commitment to the company. That means there’s no meaningful way to gauge genuine interest and the size of the market becomes conflated with the size of the audience. Market Research cards and mailing lists are not commitment. It’s easy enough to fill out a card or sign up for a list with fake or junk info.

There are only two real measurements of commitment – Time or Money.

Time and Money are measurements of passion. Reward people who give you Time or Money and your reward will have significance. People value want they pay for and do not value what they receive for free. Make fans sit through a 10-minute discussion of why subs and scans are killing what they love – then reward them for sitting through it. It reinforces the time they spent and the *value* of that time. And the thing they get becomes more meaningful because they had to work for it.

Instead of handing out bags to anyone who stops by in hopes that free publicity translates into sales, how about giving bags to people who pre-order one of a specific set of items, or who sit through your panel, get the card handed out at the end and cash it in for that goodie? Make your consumer *work* for that reward and they’ll value it more.

Don’t distance yourself from the retailers that sell your product – make your promotions part of their sales. If a person buys $100 worth of anime, why not throw in an extra something? This person has already committed their time and money to you – reward them for it.

Anime and manga companies need to mature their promotional process and recognize that by taking control of the message they can grow their market, not just their audience.

It’s not just about picking and choosing where you set up a booth, but also about picking real performance indicators for that presence. “How many bags did we give away?” becomes a real indicator of success when you know that for each bag you gave away, a fan gave you their commitment.

Posted in Microniche Marketing | 6 Comments »