Hideo Ogata passes, Miyazaki interview; Manga magazines repurpose in face of internet’s popularity

I’m sick.  =(

No no, the stuck in bed kind of sick. =p

+++

Ghibli World seems to have been first to report on the passing of Hideo Ogata, chief editor/founder of the anime magazine Animage, which serialized Hayao Miyazaki’s Nausicaa.  Journalista takes the opportunity to link to a Hayao Miyazaki interview, filled with such zingers as:

Nothing can be less interesting than a comic that has been drawn with the hidden intention of turning it into a movie. Although there are lots of comics like that, they are inferior products. A comic book is a comic book. It’s different from a movie.

and:

I don’t think that writing a story based on a model is a good idea. No matter how much you think about it, you’re limited by your own creativity and knowledge. You can only create a limited world where characters cannot live freely or grow and change. Really, that’s why I came to dislike science fiction.  

+++

The newest Flipped column is up, first examining the YALSA Great Graphic Novels for Teens list, then the Walmart/yaoi controversy (is it?).  And in what should be a moment of shame for us bloggers and pundits who like sexy headlines over substantive news, David reminds all that the Marshall Public Library story is nearing conclusion.

(And another embarrassing admission… I set foot in a Walmart for the first time in years last week to buy a couple of Nintendo Wiis.  Forgive me!)

+++

The manga publisher report cards finally return to AOD this week with a review of CMX, an imprint that started with a really rocky relationship with online manga fandom over its handling of Tenjo Tenge.  I have to agree with Ed here… if one overlooks TenTen-gate (and as far as a censorship issue, it was blown out of proportion), CMX has released some fine books.

+++

MangaNews has a couple of translated articles, both dealing with how manga has adapted to the new digital world: manga on cellphones and the advent of free manga magazines.

Despite the already low price of manga magazines, the competition from the “free” internet will force some serious changes in the print business.  Japanese publishers seem to have accepted this idea and are building future strategies around it.

Perhaps the move to online distribution is a little easier for Japanese publishers to swallow than their American counterparts, since magazines are priced so low to begin with (but not quite loss leaders, since they earn ad revenue.)  And because of the difference in readership/volume, whatever success Japanese publishers may find by embracing the internet might not be directly replicable for the mainstreams on this side of the Pacific, where the view of comics as a physical commodity rather than content delivery is still strong.

+++

(Via GGY) For those who prefer the buff physique of superheroes over whispy bishonen, and low angle camera shots of the family jewels over shafts of light, gay porn publisher Class Comics has something for you in this month’s Diamond Previews Adult.  (Everyone else, shield your eyes!  AAAAARGH!)

From their solicitation for Naked Justice 1:

Finally NJ, our hot and hung hero, blows away the sinister Baron Von Phallus revealing the special power his man meat holds.

Seriously, that is the greatest solicitation text I’ve ever read.

+++

Finally, for all the pdf-hatin’ folks, remember the jpeg previews I promised for Pet Humiliation Diary, Blue Eyes 3, and Flash Bang! which I then promptly forgot about?  Well, they’re there now.