27 April 2013 4 Comments

Random Musings: Tokyo Demons

Last week I reviewed Tokyo Demons, Book 1: You’re Never Alone by Lianne Sentar. Long story short, I loved it. In the process of writing the review, I quickly discovered that there was a lot more that I wanted to say about Tokyo Demons in general. Serialized online and written in the tradition of Japanese light novels, Tokyo Demons has expanded to include dramatized audio books, comics, short stories, games, and more. Since reading the first volume, I’ve nearly become obsessed with Tokyo Demons in all of its incarnations. Seriously, I haven’t been this excited about a series in a very long time. So please excuse me while I gush about it for a bit.

The Story
Tokyo Demons will be a trilogy although two sequel series, Tokyo Ghosts and Tokyo Angels, are planned as well. To be honest, Tokyo Demons is a little weak in the beginning; I was even a little worried about some of the potential cliches. But after a few chapters, it really takes off and the scope is huge. The story is packed with action, cussing, humor, supernatural abilities, drama, and awkward teenage romance. Overall, I found it to be exciting, engaging, and entertaining. Tokyo Demons can also be rather dark and tragic at times. Terrible things happen to the characters in both the past and the present. The characters’ relationships to and with one another—romantic, platonic, familial…the list could go on—are also extremely important to the story.

The Characters
And speaking of the characters, they are one of the reasons that Tokyo Demons works so well for me. The entire cast has a lot of personality (which happens to come across fabulously in the audio drama.) The characters have layers and they’re not always particularly likeable at first. But as Tokyo Demons progresses more and more is revealed about them and they grow and change over time. The characterizations are complicated and the morality is often grey—the protagonists and antagonists have both good and bad qualities and it’s not always easy to tell who belongs in which group. The characters don’t fit into neat little boxes or stereotypes.

The Goods
The serialized version of the novels and the audio drama are available for free online at the Tokyo Demons website. Other bonus materials are also available for free: character guides, relationship charts, timelines, comics, illustrations, previews of the short stories, and so on. The Tokyo Demons visual novel Get It Together and the card game Your Number’s Up are currently in production. The finalized editions of the materials (both physical and digital) as well as additional content only available for purchase can be found through the Tokyo Demons store. Also available through the store are art prints, posters, bookmarks, key chains, buttons, and other merchandise.

The Creators
Lianne Sentar is Tokyo Demons writer and head administrator. She works very closely with Rebecca Scoble who serves as the head editor in addition to producing and directing the audio dramas. They are supported by multiple illustrators, designers, and an entire cast of voice actors. It’s obvious from wandering around the Tokyo Demons website and listening to the free talks that the creators have a tremendous amount of love for their work. They are all enjoying themselves and have a great sense of humor. Their enthusiasm is persuasive. In addition, Lianne and Rebecca are particularly accessible to fans on the website and through other social media outlets. My personal interactions have all been wonderful. (It’s nice to know that they’re great people.)

The Fans
I’ll readily admit that I tend to be more of a lurker when it comes to online communities but there are plenty of other fans of Tokyo Demons who regularly comment on the the site, interact with each other, and show their support through fan art and fan fiction (which the creators wholeheartedly encourage.) In 2012, a Tokyo Demons Kickstarter project was launched to fund the second novel and better audio equipment. It reached more than double its initial goal. In fact, there has been so much support for Tokyo Demons that the creators were able to quit their jobs to focus on Tokyo Demons and their manga-industry work full time in addition to helping to launch Chromatic Press.

The Publisher
In part, Tokyo Demons served as a test project for the newly formed Chromatic Press as a way to explore publishing formats and distribution models and to determine what sorts of multimedia opportunities would be possible. The first novel is currently being revised for a new Chromatic Press edition and the series will continue to be released by the publisher—Tokyo Demons is one of the flagships for Chromatic Press. I am very excited to see what Chromatic Press has in store, not just for Tokyo Demons but for all of its titles.

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26 April 2013 Leave a Comment

Grand Guignol Orchestra, Volume 1: Overture

Creator: Kaori Yuki
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421536361
Released: October 2010
Original release: 2009

For the Kaori Yuki Manga Moveable Feast, I decided to take a look at Overture, the first volume in Grand Guignol Orchestra, the most recent of Kaori Yuki’s manga series to be released in English. The first volume of Grand Guignol Orchestra was originally published in Japan in 2009. Overture was subsequently released in English in 2010 by Viz Media under its Shojo Beat imprint. Although Yuki has had several of her works licensed in English, the only other manga of hers that I have read is Godchild. It took a while for that series to grow on me, but I ultimately enjoyed its dark, Gothic horror. However, I never quite got around to pursuing more of Yuki’s manga until Grand Guignol Orchestra was released. What particularly appealed to me about Grand Guignol Orchestra and convinced me to pick it up was its fantastical use of music.

As members of the Queen’s unofficial Grand Orchestra, Lucille, Kohaku, and Gwindel tour the countryside, journeying to places that the official orchestra wouldn’t dare. With the outbreak of the virus that causes Galatea Syndrome—transforming people into violent, doll-like zombies known as guignols—traveling is a dangerous endeavor. But it is the responsibility of the Grand Orchestra, even the unofficial one, to seek out and destroy the guignols and investigate the often bizarre circumstances surrounding the spread of the disease. The highly trained and capable musicians use their musical talents and a bit of combat training to annihilate the threat to the general population. Unfortunately, their people skills can be somewhat lacking and their help isn’t always welcomed by the people they are trying to aid. Guignols aren’t the only ones who pose a danger to the orchestra and its members.

Yuki’s artwork is one of the highlights of Grand Guignol Orchestra. She describes the series’ setting as taking place in the Middle Ages with a French flair to it (and with some very obvious anachronistic deviations.) The attention given to the costume designs with all their layers and frills is particularly marvelous. The guignols themselves also have a great design and are suitably creepy with their haunted eyes and cracking skin. In general, the artwork creates an excellent atmosphere for the Gothic tale. Unfortunately, it often seems at odds with the humor that Yuki attempts to introduce into the series. Although somewhat entertaining and a relief from the wonderfully melodramatic plot, the more comedic aspects of the series don’t seem to mesh quite yet with its darker elements. At times Grand Guignol Orchestra is deadly serious while at others it’s purposely ridiculous. The result can be awkward.

Considering how many elements there are in Grand Guignol Orchestra that I actually really like, I am very surprised that I didn’t enjoy the first volume more. I love the destructive and redemptive power granted to music in the series and get a huge kick out of the ability to take out zombies with a tuning fork. I also like the gender-bending aspects of the story and characters. Lucille, much to his dismay, is mistaken for a woman more often than not, but is generally happy to use this to his advantage. He’s not the only character who plays with gender, either. Overture is very much an introductory volume. Although the deliciously tragic pasts of the musicians have been hinted at, very little is actually known about them at this point and will be revealed later on in the series. But if I had to judge by the first volume alone, I would have to say that I appreciate and enjoy Grand Guignol Orchestra more in concept than I do in execution.

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25 April 2013 1 Comment

Guest Post: The Infernal Devices Vol 1: Clockwork Angel: Manga Review

Not too long ago I reviewed The Infernal Devices, Volume 1: Clockwork Angel, HyeKyung Baek’s graphic novel adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s novel by the same name. While I am familiar with The Infernal Devices, I haven’t actually read any of the original trilogy. I do, however, know people who have and thought it might be interesting to get another perspective on the work. And so I decided to bribe my good friend Traci with manga in exchange for her thoughts on the adaptation. The video below (a first for Experiments in Manga) is the result. I’m extremely excited that she agreed and am very pleased to welcome Traci to Experiments in Manga!

Hello, all. My name is Traci and I am the mastermind behind the alwynuu channel and Traci Reads vlog on YouTube. I am a photographer by passion and trade and a wanderer, philosopher, and reader by desire and happenstance. I enjoy most things geeky and nerdy, odd literary adaptations, and any genre that includes some form of magic or supernatural business. Don’t be shy. Drop in on occasion and see what I’ve gotten up to and where I’ve wandered.

* * *

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24 April 2013 9 Comments

Manga Giveaway: Loveless Giveaway

Once again the end of the month approaches which means it’s time for another manga giveaway here at Experiments in Manga! This month you’ll all have a chance to win a copy of not one, but two volumes of Yun Kouga’s Loveless series as published by Viz Media: the first omnibus (which collects the first two volumes) as well as the ninth volume. So really, it’ll be like winning three volumes of manga. As always, the giveaway is open worldwide!

I would also like to extend a special thank you to Kate Dacey of the now retired Manga Critic for sending along these copies of Loveless to offer as a giveaway—Thanks again, Kate!

License rescues—manga that was once released in English only to fall out of print or be left incomplete for one reason or another which are then given another chance by a different publisher.

Between 2006 and 2008, Tokyopop released the first eight volumes of Yun Kouga’s Loveless. Much to my surprise and delight, Viz Media rescued the license in 2012, re-releasing the first eight volumes in four omnibuses and releasing for the first time in English volume nine and the volumes following. While it’s certainly not to everyone’s liking, I find Loveless to be oddly engrossing. I was very pleased that Viz picked the series up. (The quality of Viz’s edition is much nicer than Tokyopop’s release, too.)

Actually, there have recently been quite a few license rescues that I have been excited about. Just to name two more: Later this year Sublime Manga will be releasing Youka Nitta’s Embracing Love, one of my favorite yaoi series, which was partially released by Be Beautiful. I was also absolutely thrilled that Vertical brought Osamu Tezuka’s Message to Adolf back into print, which was originally published by Viz back in the day under the title Adolf.

So, you may be wondering, how can you win some Loveless?

1) In the comments below, tell me about a license rescue that you were excited to see. (No rescues that you find exciting or you don’t pay attention to such things? You can simply mention that instead.)
2) If you can, name a second license rescue that hasn’t been mentioned by me or someone else for a second entry. (It doesn’t necessarily need to be a recent or current re-release.)
3) If you’re on Twitter, you can earn a bonus entry by tweeting about the contest. Make sure to include a link to this post and @PhoenixTerran (that’s me).

It’s as easy as that! Each person can earn up to three entries for this giveaway. As usual, there is one week to submit your entries. If you have trouble leaving comments (Blogger doesn’t always work very well), or if you would prefer, feel free to e-mail me your entry at phoenixterran(at)gmail(dot)com. and will post the comment in your name. The winner will be randomly selected and announced on May 1, 2013. Good luck!

VERY IMPORTANT: Include some way that I can contact you. This can be an e-mail address, link to your website, Twitter username, or whatever. If I can’t figure out how to get a hold of you and you win, I’ll just draw another name.

Contest winner announced—Manga Giveaway: Loveless Giveaway Winner

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22 April 2013 2 Comments

My Week in Manga: April 15-April 21, 2013

My News and Reviews

Well, I didn’t end up posting any in-depth manga reviews last week, but I did review a couple of novels. The first review was for Tokyo Demons, Book 1: You’re Never Alone by Lianne Sentar. I’m actually so excited about the series that I’ll be writing more about the project later this week; I couldn’t fit it all into one review. I also reviewed Toh EnJoe’s Self-Reference Engine, which may or may not actually be a novel. Whatever it is, I loved it. The book is smart, funny, and clever science fiction.

The 2013 Eisner Award nominees were announced last week. There are some really great comics and creators up for an award this year. Manga nominees include Osamu Tezuka’s Barbara, Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, Shigeru Mizuki’s NonNonBa (which I previously reviewed), and Mari Yamazaki’s Thermae Romae. Katsuya Terada also received a nomination for his work on The Monkey King.

Other interesting things seen online: It appears as though there may be a new manga publisher on the horizon—Kansai Club Publishing. Lissa Pattillo of Kuriousity shared some thoughts on the effort, which is where I first learned of it. Supposedly, Kansai Club will be launching a Kickstarter soon for its first release. Elsewhere, the most recent episode of The Cockpit podcast is devoted to Vertical’s release of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin. Ed Chavez, the marketing director at Vertical, discusses the series’ licensing, production, and promotion efforts among other things. (I’ll be posting my own review of the first volume in the near future.)

Jason Thompson’s always excellent House of 1000 Manga column featured Takako Shimura’s Wandering Son last week. (It’s a series that is personally very important to me.) And as usual, the article is great. Back in March, Tofugu had an entertaining post about common visual tropes used in manga. A followup article was posted last week—Manga Tropes Revisited. Finally, this week is the Kaori Yuki Manga Moveable Feast! The Beautiful World is hosting this month’s Feast and has posted an introduction. Later this week I’ll be reviewing the first volume of Yuki’s Grand Guignol Orchestra as my contribution to the Feast.

Quick Takes

Attack on Titan, Volumes 3-4 by Hajime Isayama. For the most part I am enjoying Attack on Titan. However, its unevenness in art and storytelling can be a bit jarring. At times the manga is genuinely thrilling while at other times it seems to be just a little off. Granted, the effect is disconcerting and does add to the dark, oppressive atmosphere of the manga. A significant portion of the fourth volume is a flashback devoted to the military training of the young soldiers. It was interesting to see this and it was a great way to get to know some of the trainees better, but it may have been more effective earlier on in the series since so many of those characters are already known to end up dead.

Black Jack, Volumes 4-6 by Osamu Tezuka. I really do adore Black Jack as a character. He can be an utter bastard, but he’s also incredibly compassionate underneath his harsh exterior. An unparalleled surgeon, he wields his skill as he chooses. Well, except when he’s blackmailed into it. But then again, he’s just as likely resort to extortion. Perhaps because of Tezuka’s medical background, a lot of attention is given to the actual operations that Black Jack performs. Although there are recurring characters in Black Jack, generally the individual stories stand alone. As with any work, some stories are stronger than others. Personally, I prefer the more plausible scenarios, although the more fantastical ones can still be enjoyable.

Eyeshield 21, Volumes 15-19 written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata. In these volumes, the Deimon Devil Bats continue to advance in the fall Tokyo tournament, hoping to reach and play in the Christmas Bowl at the end of the year. I’ll admit, the artwork in Eyeshield 21 is still what appeals to me most about the series. I love Murata’s dynamic action sequences and the ridiculous imagery that often accompanies them: tidal waves, knights in armor, steam engines, etc. Each team has a visual theme that coincides with their team name, mascot, or style of play. So the Bando Spiders have spiders and webs, the Kyoshin Poseidon have water motifs, and so on. It’s really a lot of fun.

Laugh Under the Sun by Yugi Yamada. I picked up Laugh Under the Sun primarily because I tend to enjoy Yamada’s boys’ love manga. Also, it has boxing! After seriously injuring an opponent, Sohei has been reluctant to return to the ring. For the last ten years he’s managed to get by on his good looks, but he’s tired of having no direction in his life. His more successful friend Chika (who is in love with Sohei although Sohei is oblivious to it), encourages him to take up boxing again. He does, but it’s not easy—the younger boxers at the gym don’t respect Sohei much and his confidence is lacking. Laugh Under the Sun isn’t particularly deep or complicated but it is an enjoyable one-shot with a bit of romance and humor to go along with the fighting sports.

Limit, Volumes 3-4 by Keiko Suenobu. After their bus crashes on a school trip, five high school girls struggle to survive the accident and each other while waiting to be rescued. When another survivor happens upon the group, the power dynamics shift dramatically, setting off an extreme backlash from some of the members. Honestly, I didn’t like these volumes quite as much as I did the first two; some of the characters’ actions weren’t as nearly as convincing. At the same time, they are all under a tremendous amount of stress and so maybe it shouldn’t be too surprising that some of their behaviors are less than rational. Still, Limit is intense and I’m very interested in seeing how Suenobu wraps everything up in the final two volumes.

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