(no subject)
Okay, so I need to go into nerd rage mode really fast before taking my car in to get the oil changed.
Yesterday, I was reading up on some of Tsutomu Nihei's more recent work, and someone made some comment that Blame was exactly like Gantz. Saying that Blame is like Gantz is basically like comparing The Shining to the Saw franchise. I made this face: D:
Okay, I will stop being a dork now.
Oh, wait, just kidding.
Something that's been majorly annoying me, now that I've kind of started reading manga again: there is so much shit on the market. I work in a book store. Although I haven't looked terribly close, in glancing at our somewhat extensive manga section, the only worthwhile series I've seen has been the Viz re-issue of Vagabond. Out of the twenty-one volumes of Blade of the Immortal, we don't have one. Same with Blame. Same with MPD Psycho, as far as I know. A large part of the problem is market saturation. Tokyopop will basically release any piece of shit that's thrown its way, as long as there's a remote possibility of making money from it. Series that don't make a shit-ton of cash are shunned from the Tokyopop pantheon. Titles like Blame and Smuggler are not even listed under Tokyopop's title list. You have to actually do a search of the website in order to find the product information page. Viz is a close second when it comes to churning out shit. Dark Horse is the only publisher I know of that actually seems to care about the material they release. The only problem, however, with Dark Horse, is that they publish mostly seinen manga. Which is not at all a bad thing, I just don't think there's much of a market for it in the U.S. I think most U.S. manga-readers purchase either shounen or shoujo manga; the closest they get to seinen is probably Death Note.
I guess this is a reflection of our society and culture: a Michael Bay movie will probably do better at the box office than something substantive and thought-provoking would. While I'm sure there are seinen manga that are low-brow, almost all of the manga I've encountered with historical, philosophical, or psychological themes happen to be seinen (although, according to Wikipedia, xxxHolic, Chobits, and Oh! My Goddess! are all seinen, whut).
I could go on about this for much longer, but I'm running out of steam. I'm typically not one of those people who flips out when something they like gains market success, but this is an exception, solely because it's gotten completely out of control. As depressing as it is, this makes me a little bit nostalgic for the days when the only things available were basically Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, and Inuyasha as single issues. I really kind of miss having a Bookmans nearby, because almost every time I went in there, the majority of the stuff in the very limited manga section was much older, and therefore, typically better quality.
So, this is probably a shot in the dark and is totally random, but does anyone on ye olde friends' list remember Dark Horse's Super Manga Blast!. I don't know if I'd still like it, but I miss reading Shadow Star. I actually found it in graphic novel format a few years ago at Bookmans, but I'm not sure where it's gone. Also, I remember liking 3x3 Eyes a lot.
I'm kind of tempted to get those out, now. I was considering selling them or throwing them away, but I may have rediscovered an appreciation for them.
Yesterday, I was reading up on some of Tsutomu Nihei's more recent work, and someone made some comment that Blame was exactly like Gantz. Saying that Blame is like Gantz is basically like comparing The Shining to the Saw franchise. I made this face: D:
Okay, I will stop being a dork now.
Oh, wait, just kidding.
Something that's been majorly annoying me, now that I've kind of started reading manga again: there is so much shit on the market. I work in a book store. Although I haven't looked terribly close, in glancing at our somewhat extensive manga section, the only worthwhile series I've seen has been the Viz re-issue of Vagabond. Out of the twenty-one volumes of Blade of the Immortal, we don't have one. Same with Blame. Same with MPD Psycho, as far as I know. A large part of the problem is market saturation. Tokyopop will basically release any piece of shit that's thrown its way, as long as there's a remote possibility of making money from it. Series that don't make a shit-ton of cash are shunned from the Tokyopop pantheon. Titles like Blame and Smuggler are not even listed under Tokyopop's title list. You have to actually do a search of the website in order to find the product information page. Viz is a close second when it comes to churning out shit. Dark Horse is the only publisher I know of that actually seems to care about the material they release. The only problem, however, with Dark Horse, is that they publish mostly seinen manga. Which is not at all a bad thing, I just don't think there's much of a market for it in the U.S. I think most U.S. manga-readers purchase either shounen or shoujo manga; the closest they get to seinen is probably Death Note.
I guess this is a reflection of our society and culture: a Michael Bay movie will probably do better at the box office than something substantive and thought-provoking would. While I'm sure there are seinen manga that are low-brow, almost all of the manga I've encountered with historical, philosophical, or psychological themes happen to be seinen (although, according to Wikipedia, xxxHolic, Chobits, and Oh! My Goddess! are all seinen, whut).
I could go on about this for much longer, but I'm running out of steam. I'm typically not one of those people who flips out when something they like gains market success, but this is an exception, solely because it's gotten completely out of control. As depressing as it is, this makes me a little bit nostalgic for the days when the only things available were basically Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, and Inuyasha as single issues. I really kind of miss having a Bookmans nearby, because almost every time I went in there, the majority of the stuff in the very limited manga section was much older, and therefore, typically better quality.
So, this is probably a shot in the dark and is totally random, but does anyone on ye olde friends' list remember Dark Horse's Super Manga Blast!. I don't know if I'd still like it, but I miss reading Shadow Star. I actually found it in graphic novel format a few years ago at Bookmans, but I'm not sure where it's gone. Also, I remember liking 3x3 Eyes a lot.
I'm kind of tempted to get those out, now. I was considering selling them or throwing them away, but I may have rediscovered an appreciation for them.