Recently Banned Manga and Anime Shows

By akgoemans on 10/8/09 7:57am
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You talking about us?You talking about us?

Did you hear the recent kerfuffle about a concerned parent finding explicit content in a manga comic, located in a library somewhere? And how this person freaked out when she found out her nine-year-old had borrowed it? Well, I will elaborate on that story just now but this story did give me the idea for this article. I wanted to find out various instances of manga/anime being banned or challenged in different countries. So here goes.

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Manga Media Center Has Been Canceled

By akgoemans on 10/1/09 8:46am
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No anime kissaten?No anime kissaten?
It appears that the plans for the highly anticipated Manga Museum aka the “anime hall of fame” has been shelved. The building was officially referred to as a national media arts center and was meant to be a place where people could study manga comics, their historical context, behind-the-scenes details etc.



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Manga Creator, Yoshito Usui, Dies at 51

By akgoemans on 9/21/09 3:27am
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Crayon Shin-chanCrayon Shin-chan

This is sad news for fans of manga creator, Yoshito Usui. The popular Japanese cartoonist appears to have died from a hiking accident sometime after September 11. He was first reported missing on the night of the 12th and his body was found days later in the mountainous area of the Gunnma prefecture.



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Scanlations: It is all about demand and supply

By akgoemans on 9/14/09 8:48am
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Abel buys what?Abel buys what?I came across an article recently about the scanned manga works that are being uploaded to various websites without the copyright holder's permissions. According to the article, the injured parties in these cases are thinking of ways to counter this and have already dreamed up a few schemes. I was quite upset with the views and stance of these companies regarding the scanned work or scanlations as they were referred to in the article. And that is what prompted me to write this article.

Basically, the article highlighted how scanlations were bad for the manga creators. Interestingly, the most common anti-pirate arguments of the music industry did not crop up here – i.e. the sad image of the starving artist – but rather, it focused on quality control as the theme of the day.



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Barefoot Gen

By akgoemans on 9/8/09 7:14am
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GenGenUnlike the controversial Mein Kampf manga, this is the type of manga I would class as educational. It talks of real-life experiences and teaches us about the follies of nuclear weapons. The manga in question is Barefoot Gen and it revolves around the post-war experiences of writer, Keiji Nakazawa.

In this manga, Nakazawa describes the daily life of folk affected by the nuclear bombings (Hiroshima and Nagasaki). It describes scary instances like the side-effects, the hardships as well as touching moments like the people's perseverance to survive and make it through the tough times.



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Naruto Postage Stamps

By akgoemans on 9/3/09 3:04am
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NarutoNaruto

 

With the introduction of Naruto Postage Stamps at the end of October, Japanese postal service is definitely jazzing up the system. The stamp collection will be called 'NARUTO-Naruto – Accel' (google translation) and it features ten prominent characters from the popular manga/anime series:


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Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan

By akgoemans on 8/20/09 9:05am
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BatmanBatmanThis one is for comic book fans all over the world. It's called Bat-Manga!: The Secret History of Batman in Japan and it represents a delightful mix of Western and Japanese comic culture.

Bat-Manga itself is a tribute to the Batman craze that existed in Japan in the 1960s. The 400 page book is a collection dedicated to this superhero and was put together by comic book collectors Chip Kidd and Geoff Spear. The contents of the book range from memorabilia from that time period as well as a particular shonen manga series that ran for a few years. Keep an eye out for glimpses of a Chinese Batman; Kidd presented snippets of his project at Comic-Con prior to its release and turns out he talked a bit about a Bat-Manwah!


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Movies based on Manga

By akgoemans on 8/11/09 9:30am
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Antique BakeryAntique BakeryHow do you know when a manga has reached a wide enough audience? I suppose it is when the beloved manga becomes adapted into a new-fanged live action movies or series. This is, after all, a debatable point. Some absolutely mind-blowing manga has been overshadowed by superficial drivel whereby the latter receives a few movie deals and perhaps a stationary selling deal. On the other hand, some noteworthy comics have made it to the big screen, showing that truly creative works can sometimes reach beyond its niche market. Here is my list of manga series that was made into live action movies:



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Masters in Manga?

By akgoemans on 8/6/09 3:07am
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Manga art on the pcManga art on the pcFor those who argue that university courses are outdated and 'not with it', check out this bit of news. Kyoto Seika University recently announced a masters program in manga studies for 2010!

This is a manga lover's dream come true. Can you imagine learning about the cogs and wheels that make up a manga story? Discovering the art forms and stylistic touches behind it? That's not work, that is an extended vacation where you potter around with your favorite hobby.

Photo source:Steve Keys via Flickr



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Places to buy manga online at affordable prices

By akgoemans on 7/23/09 6:35am
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I went on a manga quest today. It was a concerted effort to find manga books online. Sure, I can buy them from amazon; in fact, if I was somewhat broke and still craving my manga fix, I could browse ebay and find manga-related goods at fantastic prices. Yes, some of them might be dodgy and of questionable quality but I did color myself rather broke and desperate, didn't I?

Well, success was with me. At the end of my search, I had made a handy list of sites that sell different genres of manga. My checklist for sizing up a site wasn't strictly limited to pricing: I also took into account availability of hard-to-find volumes, presence of a bargain section and additional manga goodies.



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