June 2007

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Duo of court decisions may affect comics

June 28, 2007 in Comics Conundrum, Manga Minutiae, Potpourri | 7 comments

Anime Expo begins tomorrow, which means just about every one of the cool anime and manga companies, reporters, and bloggers will be at Long Beach… and out of their offices. If you’ve ever wanted to own the manga publishing industry, now’s your chance to join our raiding party. The siege will take place tomorrow afternoon. I’m polishing my chainmail and kicking the wheels on the battering ram as we speak.

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A couple legal rulings which may have implications for the comics industry were handed down…

Journalista and The Comics Reporter both have commentary on an 11th Circuit court ruling that appears to clear the way for publishers to produce digital archives of freelance work - which most comics would fall under - without permission of, or even compensation to the original creators.

The second comes from the Supreme Court, in the case of Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc. (For those inclined toward self-abuse, you may read the entire 55 page opinion here.) Leegin tried to enforce a minimum sales price for their products… which was a form of collusion and illegal until today. (A few years ago the music industry tried to do the same thing, under the guise of protecting mom-and-pop music stores from the cutthroat discounting by chain stores that view music CDs as loss leaders, and promptly found themselves paying out reimbursements after losing in court.) The Supreme Court essentially decided that prohibiting minimum prices don’t always serve the best interest of consumers, when the price-setting is done to protect competition.

How does this relate to comics? Well, if a certain group of retailers are able to convince publishers that Amazon’s discounting is unfair and harmful to the market, then……

Comics Worth Reading also ponders how this may affect the direct market, albeit in a slightly different direction.

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Christopher Butcher reviews a trio of yaoi manga from Tokyopop/Blu, and ~~threatens~~ promises to do the same for some ero manga. Aiyeeeeee!

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Figure/otaku-ism blog Ikimashou is holding a contest. I mention it here because I’m sure more than a few of you would like to get your hands on that figure…

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Apparently I’m a little late to the party at the Engine, where a discussion on internet comics downloading draws responses from creators, publishers, and lawyers alike (both real and arm-chair varieties.)

If there’s only one opinion I want to share, it’s that if downloads were really an accurate reflection of what the market will support, we ought to be a top-10 publisher right now.

-_-;

Still in crunch mode…

June 27, 2007 in Comic AG, Manga Minutiae, Potpourri, Release Info | 5 comments

Still busy, what with Flash Bang coming in, The Spirit of Capitalism arriving next week, and Innocence due to the printers soon…

You all did remember to pre-order Innocence, right?

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Asahi Shimbun takes a look at two programs designed to help new artists entering the field of manga and anime; the first a low-cost artist commune, the other a government-funded animator apprenticeship program. Considering how anime and manga make up so much of Japan’s much-vaunted “soft power” and the lack of new talent entering animation, it’s really about high time local governments in Japan took such proactive measures. (Found at Comipress)

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Heisei Democracy has pictures of a PVC figure based on a design by our very own uber-mangaka Yumisuke Kotoyoshi. Trump that, Mary Jane Watson-Parker!

(By that, I’m referring to the accuracy of the sculpt to its original design. Yeah.)

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This isn’t manga, porn, or even comics-related, and I’m also generally suspicious of anyone who thinks Pinky and the Brain was superior to Animaniacs, but I wanted to point out Newsarama reviewer Steve Fritz’s cool interview with Don Bluth because for the record, The Secret of NiMH is still my favorite mouse cartoon of all time.

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Just sent off AG issue 62 off to the printer, which brings us back to being just 3 weeks behind on the magazines instead of 4+… shameful. Anyway, enjoy the pics!

I am 20 bucks richer

June 25, 2007 in Manga Minutiae | 2 comments

I won both my (friendly) wagers for the TUF finale. Good weekend.

…but watching the entire season back to back means I lost an entire day of work. So just a very quick spin around the net.

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Toren Smith comments on The Book That Shan’t Be Named, and has some choice words for fandom. (Via Journalista)

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Look, a doujinshi. (From The Beat)

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Writer David Hine talks about the Tokyopop ratings system and how it is influencing creators for their OEL line of books.

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ComiPress reports that publisher Asahi Sonorama will be dissolved and its manga operations folded into Asahi Shimbun. The publisher had 4 monthly magazines that centered on horror, mystery, and comedy. Asahi Shimbun will be keeping 3 of those alive…

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Ummm… so what do we call these? Man-jo Comi?

Gordon Lee case going to court, again; Japanese men celibate, manga blamed

June 21, 2007 in Comics Conundrum, Manga Minutiae, Potpourri | 9 comments

MangaBlog points to a short article at the Village Voice on Mr., a Japanese modern artist who often explores his own lolikon fetish in his work. You can catch some examples at the KaiKai Kiki studio website.

This reminds me (I don’t know why I didn’t mention this earlier)… for my fellow Coloradans, The Denver Art Museum has had a temporary exhibit of traditional Japanese prints and modern Asian art since October of last year. Among the collection is a giant anime-inspired sculpture (not figure or garage kit or statuette… this is high art, folks) by Takashi Murakami. If you haven’t seen it, GO THERE NOW… the exhibit ends on July 15th.

And for the sake of kittens everywhere, please remember you’re in an art museum when you admire his “artwork.”

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Pledge drive time… the Gordon Lee trial date has been set to August 13th. The Comic Book Legal Defence Fund is representing the retailer who was charged with distribution of harmful materials to minors in the state of Georgia for handing a copy of The Salon to a child. Read the press release here.

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WaiWai says more than a quarter of Japanese men between 30-34 are virgins. You just know they’re going to blame nijikon for this epidemic.

…And they do:

Conservative virgins argue that they’ve had enough of real women and would prefer two-dimensional types such as those found in manga and anime, who are also not going to lead them to the pain of rejection.

As we all know, the only kind of pain anime and manga characters cause is chaffing.

Hrmmmmm…… I might have an idea or two for a new abstinence-based sex ed.

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Okay, that sucked. Random pr0n post!

From the revised edition of Innocence by Tanuki Kamogawa, in Previews RIGHT NOW. Unfortunately, it’s only going to be in b/w in the book… and it’s all your fault. You guys don’t buy enough of our books for interior color pages… =(

Manga scholars on the radio; CPM back on the wagon; Comic creator woes, eternally retold

June 20, 2007 in Comics Conundrum, Manga Minutiae | 6 comments

Oooh, Comic AG issue 60 is in stores today. Did I forget to mention that?

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Frederik Schodt, author of Manga! Manga!, one of the first great books on manga, and Carl Horn, whose many gifts to the American manga world included Pulp Magazine and Eagle, were interviewed on the radio show forum this morning. One full hour of intelligent discussion about manga, from the people who were there since the beginning… it doesn’t get much better than this on public radio.

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MangaCast has cover shots of all the recently announced Tokyopop books, as well as Kitty Media, and some rescheduled titles from CPM… not the news a few have been waiting to hear, but it’s good news nonetheless for CPM fans. I’m actually rather excited to see a book from ero mangaka Hiyo^2 (whose more adult work we would have liked to license, if not for some “problematic parts”) in the mix. Heck, all the Wani books look mighty interesting…

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ComiPress reports that Shogakukan has for the first time overtaken Kodansha as the number 1 publisher in Japan. Nothing particularly noteworthy, the rich get richer, etc… until you come across the reasons to which Shogakukan’s success has been attributed: advertising revenues from women’s fashion magazines, and copyright fee. Do they really mean overseas licensing of manga!?

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Comic writer Mike Strang writes about the misadventures he had with Platinum Studios, which supposedly fired the guy from his own comic. While I’m not saying that this situation doesn’t completely lick donkey scrotum for Strang, Platinum hasn’t really done anything technically wrong… when you work on a work-for-hire basis, you no longer own anything you create.

I hope more people would take the sagely advice from very smart people who freely impart wisdom and experience online, but time and time again comickers have shown themselves to be a masochistic lot.

July Previews for perverts

June 19, 2007 in Release Info | 6 comments

…Didn’t I just do one of these? Oh, that’s right, Diamond was late posting the last one, and early on this one…

As always, this list is of manga or manga-related products only. Everything here is *planned* to ship in September, but don’t bet the title to your car on it… publishers certainly won’t! The best and only sure fire way to secure a copy of any of these is to visit your local comic book store, and plunk down a deposit. (And tell them I sent you.) Pertinent links to products and artist webpages provided when I can find them. Download the entire file with product descriptions here, but I recommend you pick up a print copy of Previews Adult for the ads and cover art.

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ERO Section (Do not cross the streams)

BANG! ENTERTAINMENT (Spin-off from Antarctic Press)

FRED PERRY’S SEXCRAFT COLLECTION VOLUME 1 CD-ROM, Fred Perry, $19.99, JUL07 3351
KAMI TORA PENATRATOR COLLECTION VOLUME 1 CD-ROM, Kami Tora, $19.95, JUL07 3352
MAGMA ERUPTOR CD-ROM, Magma, $24.95, JUL07 3353

All three are offered again (i.e. not new) products… digital art collections on CD.

EROS COMIX (Fantagraphics’ sugar daddy until the Peanuts reprints. Yeah, I said it!)

DOMIN-8 ME!, Sessyu Takemura, 212pgs, $18.95, JUL07 3573
MILK MAMA, Yukiyanagi (Yanagi Yuki), 212pgs, $18.95, JUL07 3571
PINK SNIPER, Kengo Yonekura, 212pgs, $18.95, JUL07 3574

Domin-8 Me (Take on Me) and Pink Sniper are both offer again. If you liked Council of Carnality Unlimited, pay attention to Milk Mama… this is by the same artist (we just ended up writing the name differently.)

ICARUS PUBLISHING (Sugar daddy to my cat, Ginsu)

COMIC AG issue 67, Anthology, 80pgs, $4.99, JUL07 3620
COMIC AG issue 68, Anthology, 80pgs, $4.99, JUL07 3621
ANZU: THE SHARDS OF MEMORY, Kirikaze, 232pgs, $19.95, JUL07 3622
SLAVE CONTRACT, Gorou Horikawa, 160pgs, $19.95, JUL07 3623
SWING OUT SISTERS, Taro Shinonome, 176pgs, $19.95, JUL07 3619

Repeat after me… I will buy Swing Out Sisters. I will enjoy it immensely. I will buy 5 copies of this book. It helps Simon license more new titles from Japan.

Anzu and Slave Contract are both offered again. But… why didn’t you pick them up the first time?

RADIO COMIX (The only furry pr0n publisher left…?)

MILK #61, Anthology, 32pgs, $3.50, JUL07 3776
PORNDEXTERS #3, Anthology, 40pgs, $5.99, JUL07 3777

Why hasn’t there been a Wild Zoo trade? I’m going to keep asking this same question until it comes out.

WHITE LIGHTNING PRODUCTIONS

BOOTLEG #18, Anthology, 64pgs, $8.95, JUL07 3967
BOOTLEG VALUE PACK, Anthology, 224pgs (5 issues), $18.95, JUL07 3968
NIPPLE MAGICIAN: NEUE WALKURE VALUE PACK, Kouzou Shimokata, 128pgs (4 issues, complete series), $11.95, JUL07 3969

Not sure which issues are included in the Bootleg pack…

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YAOI Section (Too much stream crossing)

BOYSENBERRY BOOKS (The cream of Broccoli…books)

PET ON DUTY VOLUME 1, Nase Yamato, 208pgs, $11.99, JUL07 3383

Don’t know much, but her homepage sure is pretty…

DRAMA QUEEN (Current reigning queen supreme)

10K YEN LOVER, Dr. Ten, 184pgs, $12.99, JUL07 3516
BROTHER, Yuzuha Ougi, 184pgs, $12.99, JUL07 3517
EMPTY HEART, Masara Minase, 184pgs, $12.99, JUL07 3518
INVOKE, Kiriko Higashizato, 184pgs, $12.99, JUL07 3519

A book by… Dr. Ten!? @_@;

801 MEDIA INC. (DMP’s money printing machine)

LOVE IS LIKE A HURRICANE VOUME 2, Tokiya Shimazaki, 166pgs, $15.95, JUL07 3540

Offered again, and Star of the Month.

TOKYOPOP (This is Blu, but they don’t list them by that name anymore…)

JUNJO ROMANTICA VOLUME 4, Shungiku Nakamura, 192pgs, $9.99, JUL07 3853
JUST MY LUCK, Temari Matsumoto, 192pgs, $9.99, JUL07 3854

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For the first time in the longest time, ero manga isn’t being completely crushed by BL. Yanagi Yuki fans have a new book to look forward in the form of Milk Mama, but this time it’s coming from Eros Comix/Studio Proteus. We have our own big new release too, in Swing Out Sisters… one of the best selling ero manga of all time. Bang and White Lightning return to Previews once again, although most are offered-again items and bundles.

As for Yaoi, well… it’s still good to be a yaoi fan right now, that’s for sure.

Server operators held liable in Japan; Go! Comi to publish yaoi

June 19, 2007 in Manga Minutiae | 9 comments

A quick survey of the news, as there are other things to work on…

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Japanese IP licensing blog Kokoro Media reports that a recent ruling in Japan regarding digital music may end up having much farther-reaching consequences than intended. The judge ruled in favor of JASRAC - the Japanese equivalent of RIAA – in their case against MYUTA, a file storage service. The court found that service providers of such ”virtual lockers” can be held liable for the copyrighted music files stored within them and may be shut down. Kokoro specifically makes a connection between this and the apparently popular practice of storing manga scans online… although this really could apply to anything from games/software, anime/movies, etc.

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Newsarama is first to have the full press release from DC on their Flex investment.

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According to ComiPress, a nationwide manga proficiency test was recently administered in Japan. The exam does not test one’s knowledge of manga, but the aptitude for creating it. Not knowing who’s actually behind this, I could only guess… is this a cheap way for a new publisher to drum up submissions? Another government sponsored manga promotion? An underhanded publicity grab by a new manga vocational school? We’ll find out on the 18th of July.

Speaking of which, that “Nobel Peace Prize” of manga awards is supposed to select the winners on the 22nd… yeah, yeah, everyone says TP is going to win it, but I still have my money on something from France, or around those parts.

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PWCW has the first of a two-part interview with Go! Comi founders Audrey Taylor and David Wise that starts off like a romance manga. Besides some behind-the-scenes license and artist-hunting, there’s one tidbit that’s new (to me, anyway)… the Wendi Pini original project for Go! Comi, which has previously been described as “darkly exciting and adult oriented,” will in fact be a yaoi title.

Do not read this blog on the train, in airports, at schools or parks

June 18, 2007 in Comics Conundrum, Manga Minutiae | 9 comments

Two things I should have mentioned in the post yesterday in the interest of full disclosure…

1: To those wondering, I know what those books are not because I’ve read them (although I’ve seen one), but because I have a general idea of the output of all of those publishers. Across the 7 publishers in the list I know (I’ve never heard of G-Walk before this), I’d guess +80% of their publications are strictly hardcore erotica for adults (both ero and BL.) That and the titles are very obvious.

2: Akaneshinsha is a licensor to Icarus Publishing.

And, for those curious, ComiPress offers some very literal translations of the names of the 13 harmful manga.

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Tokyopop still occassionally show they can be cooler than anyone else. This forum entry at Anime On DVD finds a slew of previously unannounced manga titles from TP, and among them is Futari H - redubbed “Manga Sutra – Futari H” - a romantic sex comedy by Katsu Aki. The series is not only risque (the story centers around the sexual antics of a pair of inexperienced newlyweds), but it’s over 30 volumes long, and still ongoing. This is a very bold licensing choice on TP’s part. And perhaps in recognition of those potential problems, the first book is priced at 19.99… which means there’s a strong possibility that each book may contain multiple volumes.

Don’t know why they feel “Manga Sutra” is better than the original English title of “Step Up Love Story”, but oh well…

Edit: ANN has confirmation of the title from Tokyopop, along with 37 other new books. Also among them is Guardian Angel Getten, which I grudgingly called back in February. Sigh… can’t someone frickin’ pick up Fist of the Blue Sky?

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The DC/Flex news is generating some commentary online…

MangaBlog makes a possible connection no one else has mentioned: this expose on the identity of DC’s new online editor at CBR indicates big things for online are being planned.

At PreCur, Matt Thorn takes the opportunity to give an overview of how Western comics are recieved in Japan, based on the reaction of students in his class. (Whoa, no Little Nemo?)

And The Comics Reporter does his best Bogart impression.

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The blog for movie producer Maboroshii Productions is spurred on by the latest Misshitsu court ruling to take a closer look at Japanese obscenity laws, and includes a link to ths history of obscenity cases. (Via Journalista)

To add one little tidbit, to further illustrate just how arbitrary things are… some erotic manga are released with no censorship whatsoever in Japan. In fact, there seems to be some schedule/quota publishers follow when they release these books, although I haven’t quite deciphered the mechanics behind how this is determined. Perhaps they simply avoid election cycles…

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And one last tiny ero-related amusement… these pictures at Akiba Blog show a recent eromanga release that came with a “how to use” label which in part warns users not to read the book in public, particularly trains, airplanes, schools, or parks. Don’t know whether this is related to all the recent hoopla, or simply there for the comedic factor, but good advice nonetheless. (Warning: pictures are censored, but it is a lolicon manga…)

Kyoto Prefecture’s harmful manga list revealed… a.k.a. I massage Gumugum’s feet and bath his cat

June 17, 2007 in Manga Minutiae | 6 comments

A few days ago, ComiPress reported on the Kyoto Prefecture Youth Growth Planning Committee’s investigation of local manga stores that turned up 13 “harmful manga.”

I chastised ComiPress for using the word “loli” when it didn’t appear anywhere in the original article.

Today, I get on my hands and knees and throw myself at their mercy. Boy was I wrong.

Despite the article not using the word loli, and despite the committee’s description of the manga as books for boys and girls, the list has been revealed, and the books are very much adult-oriented loli manga.

Not “precocious girl with crush on teacher”. Not “6 young girls live with one nerdy guy”. Not “orphans become cybernetically enhanced killing machines”.

Actual hardcore, pornographic, “lolicon” manga.

The list, reproduced by “Doujinshi Lifestyle and Culture Unified Research Center” (probably inaccurate translation; also, no permalink unfortunately) from Kyoto Shimbun:

å¹¼å¥³ã®èª˜æƒ‘ (æ¾æ–‡é¤¨)
ç„¡é˜²å‚™å¹´é½¢å®£è¨€ (èŒœæ–°ç¤¾)
å…çŠ¯é¬¼ (èŒœæ–°ç¤¾)
å°‘å¥³å§¦è”‘æ‰€ (èŒœæ–°ç¤¾)
æ¥µï¼å¹¼å¥³ (èŒœæ–°ç¤¾)
æ„›å¦¹å§¦æ·« (ã‚¯ãƒã‚¨å‡ºç‰ˆ)
å°‘å¥³å€¶æ¥½éƒ¨ (ãƒ’ãƒƒãƒˆå‡ºç‰ˆç¤¾)
åˆ¶æœã§å‡Œè¾±ã¦ (ã‚³ã‚¢ãƒžã‚¬ã‚¸ãƒ³)
å¹¼ç—´å®´…¡ (ãƒ¢ã‚¨ãƒ¼ãƒ«ãƒ‘ãƒ–ãƒªãƒƒã‚·ãƒ³ã‚°)
åä¾›ã®ã—ã‚‹ã— (ãƒ†ã‚£ãƒ¼ã‚¢ã‚¤ãƒãƒƒãƒˆ)

For those who can read Japanese, it’s very obvious what these titles are. For those who cannot… believe me, you wouldn’t want to hear these titles translated. Google at your own discretion/peril.

The publishers of the fingered books are :

Shobunkan
Akaneshinsha
Chloe Publishing
Hit Publishing
G-Walk
Core Magazine
Moeru Publishing
T.I. Net

(Same warning… provided as reference, do not visit if you don’t want to see potentially offensive things.)

This, of course, raises a lot of questions on my part, mainly because I have no understanding of the power this committee may hold over law enforcement policies, whether the scope of their influence is local or beyond, or the consequences for a book labeled as a harmful publication.

Visiting their website and giving a cursory glance over their minutes, their investigations into manga seem to occur quite frequently, covering all kinds of books (boys, girls, ero, BL, etc.) What effects, if any, have there been on books they previously examined? Also, has any of these books actually been purchased by youngsters? (Merely being housed within the same building as other books doesn’t count.)

I think I have a few more thoughts, and I may shoot some questions off to some of the Japanese publishers involved… but first I have to finish scrubing all the restrooms at stately ComiPress manor with a toothbrush while wearing a maid outfit.

DC buys way into manga publishing in Japan

June 16, 2007 in Manga Minutiae, Potpourri | 10 comments

PWCW reported yesterday that DC has invested in a Japanese manga publishing venture called Flex, which plans to produce manga in print form as well as for mobile phones and the internet. This is the first time an American company has so heavily invested in a Japanese manga producer. Whether DC will have some editorial input at Flex is unknown, but they will very likely want a hands-on approach.

Frankly, I’ve been wondering why DC, or any of the major publishers with big multimedia parents and access to their deep pocketbooks, hasn’t done this sooner. And while this story is getting some token coverage everywhere, I’m surprised there hasn’t been much commentary yet. Possibly because no one has fully fathomed the possibilities (neither can I), but this news combines manga, one of the biggest stories in the past ten years of comics, with alternative digital distribution, which may be the biggest news for the next ten. This will, at the very least, give DC valuable experience in both key areas as they develop a future online strategy for their own domestic output.

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Speaking of online distribution, ComiPress spots Yaoi Press’ digital offerings on Netcomics, and has the full press release to boot.

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Awesome: In an upcoming Japanese Doraemon episode, Johnny Depp will voice a character created specifically for him.

Pretty cool: Johnny Depp is apparently a fan of the show, which is televised in France.

Not nearly so awesome: His character is a pirate.

Kind of lame: His character looks like Keanu Reeves on a cocktail of morphine, vicodin, and a botox treatment.

« Older entries

June 2007

Duo of court decisions may affect comics

Still in crunch mode…

I am 20 bucks richer

Gordon Lee case going to court, again; Japanese men celibate, manga blamed

Manga scholars on the radio; CPM back on the wagon; Comic creator woes, eternally retold

July Previews for perverts

Server operators held liable in Japan; Go! Comi to publish yaoi

Do not read this blog on the train, in airports, at schools or parks

Kyoto Prefecture’s harmful manga list revealed… a.k.a. I massage Gumugum’s feet and bath his cat

DC buys way into manga publishing in Japan

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