Fox ran this interesting feature on the influence of manga on Western culture, and anime’s foray into the box offices.

Last year’s “Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie” grossed a paltry $28 million and proved to be a huge misfire for fans and critics alike. That failure of something related to so powerful a franchise begs the question: Has manga met its match in the movies?

Seeing how well most anime movies perform at the box offices in Japan, I’ll leave this up to you guys to think about. Naturally, the article wasn’t written by a fan, and thus some of it borders on misinformation (I assume all of you have experienced someone mixing up manga and anime, or even done it yourself)…but largely it is an interesting read.

Enjoy!

1.
魔法先生ネギま! (volume #11)
Mahou Sensei Negima!
Publisher: Kodansha
Author: 赤松 健（Akamatsu Ken）

2.
NANA (volume #13)
Publisher: Shueisha
Author: 矢沢 あい（Yazawa Ai）

3.
ツバサ Tsubasa―RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE (volume #11)
Publisher: Kodansha
Author: CLAMP

4.
エア・ギア (volume #11)
Air Gear
Publisher: Kodansha
Author: 大暮 維人(Oh Great)

5.
ハチミツとクローバー (volume #8)
Hachimitsu to Clover
Publisher: Shueisha
Author: 羽海野 チカ(Umino Chika)

6.
SAMURAI DEEPER KYO (volume #33)
Publisher: Kodansha
Author: 上条 明峰(Kamijou Akimine)

7.
女子大生家庭教師濱中アイ (volume #4)
Joshidaisei Kateikyoushi Hamanaka Ai
Publisher: Kodansha
Author: 氏家 ト全(Ujiie Tozen)

8.
あひるの空 (volume #8)
Ahiru no Sora
Publisher: Kodansha
Author: 日向 武史(Hinata Takeshi)

9.
妹は思春期 (volume #6)
Imouto wa Shishunki
Publisher: Kodansha
Author: 氏家 ト全(Ujiie Tozen)

10.
龍狼伝 (volume #34)
Ryuu-rou Den
Publisher: Kodansha
Author: 山原 義人(Yamahara Yoshihito)

Sources: Animania Blog, Taiyosha

Sony recently announced plans to increase their number of cell phone manga titles to 300 in the next year, making it the top provider of these products. Cell phone manga, viewed through software such as Comic Surfing, allows users to read manga that is stored on their phone, making it very portable and excellently priced. Users can download up to five titles per month for approximately 300 yen.

Full Otakon report to follow, but for now, I’ll supply the new manga info that has been announced from new-to-manga publisher Go Comi and Tokyopop:

Four titles, Her Majesty’s Dog, Cantarella, Crossroad, and Tenshi Ja Nai! are forthcoming from Go Comi.

Tokyopop discussed plans for a comic titled My Cat Loki, written and illustrated by the winner of this year’s Rising Stars of Manga contest. Some words were said about their upcoming line of novels based on anime and manga as well as the new Takuhai magazine.

Love Manga recently posted a listing of the top 50 manga sales for last month, using data obtained from Comic Book Resources/Diamonds. What’s amusing is all the inaccuracies in the chart, (and for that reason I’m going to link Love Manga’s article), but if you dig past them you’ll get a vague idea of the bestsellers in the West this month….but mostly just amusement. ;)

Hey, I’ve been up for 24 hours getting ready for Otakon, I didn’t have the visual power left to type anything of my own…

Viz has announced their newly-acquired English license to the Konjiki no Gash Bell (Zatch Bell in North America) manga, with plans to distribute the anime in DVD form as well. This manga is pretty big in Japan right now - the 22nd tankubon, published by Shogakukan, was seventh on the Top Ten list last week. Check out the press release and read more about Konjiki no Gash Bell here!

Well, I’m certainly not qualified to teach such a subject. However, there have been a surprising number of books published in recent years that you may want to consider! Mind you, successfully drawing anything - particularly in a comic/animation fashion - requires a fair amount of creation of your own style, but these “lesson” books can give you a leg up on improving your skills, particularly if you’re having difficulty with any one aspect, such as facial expressions.

When working with fanart, of course, you’re aiming to imitate a style - such as the Toriyama Akira style in the picture on the right, as Toriyama designed all the Chrono Trigger characters. However, when creating your own manga and characters, it’s good to experiment and create your own style rather than always imitating someone else’s!

I located “how to draw manga” books, with variations in the titles, at my local comic store. However, the words “draw” and “manga” should turn up a seach in your local bookstore’s computer, or an online search. If you’re looking to try your hand at the manga style, these can be a great help!

If you’re interested in using a graphics program to color artwork on your computer, I’ll also recommend the Photoshop tutorial at MHHO.com. Check out the artist’s gallery for examples of how she applies this lovely coloring style to her work!

And…good luck!

Another little bit of manga history for you all.

Doraemon, one of the longest-running manga stories (if not the longest) ever debuted in 1970 and 1,344 separate stories were released by author Fujimoto Hiroshi before the comic series came to an end.

As the story goes, robot cat Doraemon arrives from the distant future and appears to Nobi Nobita, a hapless, lazy, weak-willed boy, in order to prevent a future in which his descendants are near-destitute because of his lack of success in life. Nobita, a bit of a crybaby, depends on Doraemon and his never-ending supply of futuristic devices in order to avoid bully trouble, gain morals and do well in school.

In addition to the manga, a feature animated film is produced nearly every year, and continually enjoys success, although Fujimoto-san passed away nearly a decade ago. Though the manga is really intended for children, it is still an interesting read, and greatly important in the history of manga, due to its ongoing popularity with new generations.

A little bit about yonkoma.

Yonkoma manga (”four cell manga”), or 4-koma for short, is a Japanese comic strip format which consist of gags within four cells. The cells are usually equal in shape and flow in vertical sequence. Strips may appear in manga magazines, in graphic novels, or in the comics section of newspapers. Plot often ends within the four cells, although some development may pass on to the next installment. A 4-koma may take up as much space as the entire vertical length of a page, or it may take up the whole page by having the third and fourth cells appear in a new column to the left, depending on the size of the paper.

Well-known manga/anime that started off as 4-koma include: Sazae-san, Azumanga Daioh.

Online, the 4-koma style is used in several webcomics, such as Ghastly’s Ghastly Comic and Sexy Losers. In 2000, Megatokyo introduced a modified 4-koma down as a square instead of completely vertical. This style was adopted by several other comics, including Okashina Okashi and Something Positive. This modified style is still referred to as 4-koma, despite the slight layout difference between it and the original style.

Source: Wikipedia

After reading this gem of a debate, I have to point you all over to Love Manga to take a look:

“It certainly beats the Direct Market scene, where it’s mostly the same names, the same people and the same product being tossed around. Deja vu abounds when you keep seeing the same people over and over again - the community itself becomes closed as it only has ONE inlet for people to get into it…”

Read more!