Recently there have been many announcements that manga magazines in Japan are closing shop. Whether it is a lack of fans, sales or other important figures the number of magazines announcing there last issue has increased on Anime News Network, especially in the lats few months. The mangas move to another branch of the manga company, so you will still be able to read those mangas you love, but is this a sign of a shrinking industry?
If we look at America we see our print new industry has taken a huge hit with online new and media. The reason is clear; with online news you get your articles sooner, there is less cost, and of course, it’s free. many news outlets have gone to a digital form in order to keep with the times, dissolving there print media. truly, it is a smart move as it is a more cost effective a green business strategy. But what of those who love physical media?
Many people like to read there books on the iPad, using things like a nook app or comixology to read. you can read whatever you want without going to the store and buying your issues or worrying about the product selling out. Personally I cannot stand reading on a nook or iPad. I enjoy the feel of pages between my fingers, the sound of the spine cracking when its is first opened and the smell of the newly printed pages as I digest the words and picture in front of me. the memories from when i pick up my comics from the store and read them and the feeling of having the whole physical collection is one digital media cannot replace.
looking back at my comparison of print news papers going to digital format, we can also see the exceptions to the case. Newspapers like the Washington Post and The New York Times still have a physical platform while also have a digital one to appease both fans. In a manga related version, we still have Shonen Jump, as well as Shonen Jump Alpha for your digital comic addiction. So while i close this article up, I will go back to reading my first issue of Shonen jump i bought in elementary school, remembering the memories of my first reading of Naruto (boy was that a trip) and laughing at Luffy from One Piece. As long as the fans continue to purchase physical media, i do not see the manga magazine making a full transition to digital any time soon.
Date Released: 2012 Genre(s): Action, Comedy, Seinen, Supernatural Magazine: Young Jump Web Comics Summary: Follows the life of an average hero who manages to win all of his battles with only one punch! This ends up being the cause of much frustration as he no longer feels the thrill and adrenaline of fighting a tough battle. Maybe all of his rigorous training to become strong wasn’t worth it? Recommend: SUBSCRIBE!
QUICK REVIEW
OnePunch-Man is an interesting manga that will keep you laughing at it breaks down the genre of classic Shonen manga with its simplistic main character and its overly-manly and stereotypical battle manga archetypes. When I first saw the manga I thought it would be a little hard to get into, but within a few pages I was hooked and now I can’t stop laughing at this great parody manga. A great read for any lover of old battle mangas or likes to point out those manga’s stupid points.
ART 1/1– Clean and Nostalgic
The art in One Punch-man has such a good feel to it. You can feel the influence of manga’s like dragon ball, especially form a certain alien in the first chapter. You can’t help but be drawn it the detail Yuusuke-Sensei puts into his work and his mastery of lighting effects and overall destruction.
STORY 0.5/1- Great Parody but Somewhat Simple
ONE-Sensei has done a great job at making this manga on the surface feel like an average battle manga while also adding in all his subtle parodies. You can clearly see from his characters that they are there to draw upon a nostalgic effect of the simple, villain of the week battle manga, but in a more hyperbolic manner. ONE-Sensei also does a good job in making the jokes funny even if you have no knowledge of the parody by making the story actually entertaining with how Onepunch-Man breaks the through the routine of these types of stories. However, this word routine is a good summary of each chapter. You will find that the story follows a very similar route every chapter, albeit with some extra details. Bad guy comes with his cliché ideology and backstory, he causes destruction, Onepunch-Man shows up and is underestimated and then promptly beats the enemy in one punch. Even so, I feel this is best for the style of this manga and a do feel the overarching story will evolve soon. I expect great things with this story.
CHARACTERS 1/1- Best Part by Far
Onepunch-Man is a great parody of a hero; he became so strong that he can defeat any villain in one punch! He’s so strong he WISHES there was someone who could challenge his power! He is a great parody on the classic hero who seems so strong that we the reader could never understand how he is ever truly opposed. Each villain is a great parody of a classic battle manga archetype. Each villain is taken to its basic form and makes for a good parody of the genre. You will see various characters that you will feel you’ve seen before and smile as you see them here. Honestly, they are definitely one the driving points of the story. Without them there would really be no story to begin with!! I commend how well they are used in this story to drive plot.
WORLD 0.5/1- Dry, but relevant
The world of Onepunch-Man is… well… non-existent really. The world is literally a sandbox for destruction, similar to the cities in the old power rangers shows. They just break apart in the wreckage of the battles that seem to take place consonantly. The best example I can give you is that the town are named by letters (Onepunch-Man lives in X-ville or something like that.) In saying this I would like to point out that the world is a parody too; in battle manga places get destroyed all the time, but no one really cares. They are generic and made to be destroyed like a Lego village when you are a kid. Even so, I would have like to feel as though I was drawn into the world more. ONE-Sensei is starting to build up the world so I hope there will be more engaging points in the future.
ORIGINALITY 1/1- What We All Thought in Manga Form
This story really is a good parody. It takes all our thoughts on the stupidity of some things and the nostalgia of others to make a story that we all will enjoy. It takes the ideas of others and builds upon it in a funny way. I personally enjoyed each story and how it has progressed.
BOTTOM LINE 4/5 Hilarious, Action-Packed Parody
This story is so good that I really can’t do I justice. Check it out for yourself and see how much fun you’ll have with the story. I really see this manga only going up as of this point and can’t wait for more.
Until next time readers, READ MORE COMICS! ~~Z-ComiX
Recently I was looking for news topics on anime for my next post when something caught my eye. A post by Shubhajit Roy over at India Express, although unassuming in nature, caught my eyes and my heart when I read the title. The post was entitled “Japan Pushes Anime for Indian Kids”[1] and being half Indian and an anime addict I was quick to jump on the post… 9 days after it was posted.
In his article, Roy speaks about how both the Japanese and Indian Prime Ministers were in talks to “strengthening of cooperation in creative industries… animation and manga.” Roy also writes that when addressing the good people of Delhi(no not a meat shop, the capital of India folks), Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Nado stated this:
“Adults may be unaware of it, but I understand that Japanese Anime is quite popular here.”
To me this was a surprise, as I have never actually met any Middle Eastern people who like manga or anime, except for the occasional Deviant Art artist. In fact, Roy cites that India is actually a growing market of anime and Japanese products, having 40 to 70 Japanese animations exported fromJapantoIndiaevery year! vice secretary general of the Association of Japanese Animation, Eiji Takahashi, has been working on relations with India as is working with companies such as Toei Animation to bring anime to India. Older readers may remember Toei Animation as the guys who brought us Sailor Moon and Dragonball Z, two shows that helped pave the way for many anime fans inAmerica. That said, having done this before, Toei Animation is the best choice if we want to see anime take root in India. Takahashi has also gone on record, saying that anime exported toIndiawill have good dubbing, a problem that turns off many viewers to this day. It is also should be noted that even though India has not put any restrictions up, Japanese companies will be exporting cleaned up versions of shows such as the removal of guns and sexual scenes. Being Indian myself I can see that this was a smart move for Japan as those things can and would be very offensive and cause many problems for anime in India.
Now, one of my complaints about anime is the representation of, or the lack thereof, races and religions that are not the standard set withinJapan. Of course, in my teenage mind this only pertains to Indians or really anyone from theMiddle East. I’ve seen “stereotypes” from the man with a grey beard, white clothes and a turban to a little girl with an accent, red don’t on her forehead and makes weird robotics or some sort of, what I guess is “Hindi voodoo.” I am however able to forgive these caricatures of people of my race since Japan isn’t Indi aand therefore really has no reason to insert individuals whom they do not necessarily understand into their media. Even so, I still yearn for good Indian characters in anime. That is why when I heard in a recent article thatJapanis working on a cricket anime for India based off of hit manga Koyjin no Hoshi I was ecstatic.
Apparently, as seen in Catherine Makino’s article “Anime Baseball Hero Transforms into Cricket Champion”[2] on Majirox News, Japan plans to release a 26 to 52 episode anime based on the hit manga in the form of cricket in the Fall season of this year. The following is an excerpt that explains the premise of the anime:
“The Indian version will be called Rising Star. The hero, who has tentatively been given the name of Salaji, is a young, left-handed southpaw cricketer who wants to follow in the footsteps of his cricket player father and make it in the big leagues.”
The success of this show, Makino points out, will be on how well they can reskin the manga’s ideas around cricket. Cricket is a very complex sport and is difficult to learn, let alone play. A game of cricket can take days to complete, as opposed to baseball where it is for 9 innings. Also, India has grown up on mostly American animation and comics, and not the newer kind. We’re talking Golden Age, CaptainAmericavs Nazis, Superman leaping over buildings in a single bound, Smiling Batman comics. The idea of a non-super-powered protagonist may not appeal to the Indian audience even if cricket does. It’s going to be tough to hook people, but I’m hopeful that his will be a gateway for more!
The export of anime toIndiais great for both sides as it opens a new frontier forJapanto make money and gives India new form of media that may be better than anythingAmericaputs out inIndia. I personally am looking forward to all this and will watch the first episode of Rising Star when it airs, although not in Hindi since I only know Urdu. Keep your eyes open because if What happened in America and in Japan when Anime was brought over happens to India we may see some awesome new animes that may even feature an Indian protagonist too!
This manga is about a high school boy, Kurosawa, who likes to imagine the girls in his class and “punish” them while he masterbates in the girl’s bathroom stall. He keeps up his “daily activities” until one day he is caught…
Review:
Kakeru Kurosawa is a boy that likes to masterbate in the girls bathroom. He calls this activity his “daily meal” or “daily activities”. He recalls things that occured during the day that irritated him during class he “punishes” the people involved in the bathroom and relieves his stress. Kurosawa learns that a girl in the class, Kitahara is horribly bullied by the girls in the class. He gets back at one of the girls by gizzing on her clothes. Later, one day Kitahara finds out that he is doing this and she decides to blackmail him into helping her repay the bullies that torment her. She forces him to gizz on peoples gym clothes, text books, or other stuff.
Some people have drawn connections between this manga and deathnote; the “outside in the society attitude” which stems from the fact that Kurosawa is kind of a loner, the kind of person you might think is a serial killer. In addition, he deals “justice” inside the fantasies in his head. He does this while jerking it instead of writing names in a notebook. Also, lots of inner monologues for Kurosawa. However, Kurosawa is a more believeable more mentally stable version of Kira from Death Note.
The plotline of the story takes several phases. There is phase one where Kurosawa is doing a lot of his secret “daily activities” . The story gets very dark after his secret is discovered as the things that the girl, Kitahara, wants him to do get progressively worse and worse. Kurosawa eventually confesses to his deeds and becomes a pariah in his class. Still, taking responsibility actually helps him find friendship and leads to him acting much more socially open. This actually making him a much more decent character. As you might suspect of a manga with so many inner monologues, the development is, believe it or not, actually done suprisingly well, because you do start to sympathize with Kurosawa and he eventually becomes a likeable character. At this point, he is also drawn much more wide-eyed and friendlier looking, which is a nice touch. Then there is the love story aspect to the show. Kurosawa recovers, finds love in an unexpected place and also becomes a hero figure.
This is a great manga. Do not be turned off by the seemingly perverted storyline. The story is much deeper than this and at only 31 chapters is an easy, quick read.
Author’s Note: This blog is the most personal I have written thus far, and perhaps as personal as I ever will, so be forewarned I am pouring my heart out into this blog.
*Spoilers for BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad*
High school, a time of emotions and finding who you really are. Three years ago at the tender age of 14, I entered high school, not really knowing what to expect. I was considered a nerd by many of my peers and it’s true I was, even beyond that, I liked being called one. I had a few friends that I could call “friends”, people I could trust and depend on.
I also had to deal with a minor form of depression, “artists” depression is what I called it. I always wanted to be a writer, and more so I wanted to write manga and anime. Now I know a westerner writing anime is nearly impossible, hell, I do not even know a single foreigner who has. It was my pipe-dream and still is to this day, but to go with that dream, came a disease. A disease I was able to cure with leaving my world, my transportation? Anime.
I did not know it but I used anime as an escape into other worlds, worlds far better than my own. Now, my world was not bad par say, I have a nice house, my parents do not abuse me, and like I said have good friends. No, my “life” was not bad but my view was, I hated my life, I really did. I was a 14 year old Hispanic nerd, who weighed 102lbs and was only 5′ 2” , no girl bothered to look at me and I couldn’t blame them. I lived my whole life with my head down, and to this day sometimes still do. My only real passion was anime and music, the music I listened to and the anime I watched truly saved my life.
As I listened to my favorite bands Pixies, Nujabes , and The Smiths my life started to change. I became so infatuated with the music, I stopped caring about how crappy I felt. This music soon started blending with the anime I used to escape from my life. One of my favorite anime series Samurai Champloo became my key into the blending of anime and music. The beautiful sounds of Nujabes to the almost real back drop of feudal Japan, and not to mention likeable characters Mugen, Jin, and Fuu changed who I was at my core. I started feeling much better but then it came back, the sadness, the loneliness even when surrounded by my friends. I needed another remedy, then I heard a song called Moon on the Water. What was this beautiful song and why did it resonate with me so much?
I found the origin of that song, BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad. Now some of you may have watched Beck, the Anime Addicts themselves reviewed it and gave it a 5/5. BECK was something I had never seen before, an anime about real people trying to achieve their goal. Tanaka Yukio, a fellow 14-year old, was trying to become someone, break the norm he had lived his whole life. I immediately connected with his plight, I was trying to do the same. I was trying to not live with my sadness, and try and become someone, someone happy and strong. As Tanaka learned the guitar, I wrote my heart out, every chord Tanaka played was a page I wrote. I knew my “manga” (as I can and could not draw) was not the best but I continued on, writing different genres using Yukio’s determination as my own. Then I heard the song, that started this whole ordeal, “Moon on the Water”, and it was sung by two teens skinny dipping in a pool.
The song resonated not only in my ears but my soul, every note was a spark within my heart. I soon felt strong, and knew that no matte what I had to finish what I started. As Tanaka joined the band BECK, I was talking with a friend of mine whom loves manga and anime (thanks Jeannie) and more so, loves writing about it. My writing soon became better and Tanaka became a singer.
Yukio Tanaka, sang the song “Face”, and I cried. I did not cry because the song moved me (it did but not to that extreme) I cried because Tanaka became a someone. I knew I had to do the same, I pushed my self harder, and harder. I wrote a 7 volume manga series titled “The Million Man” in a five subject notebook. The Million Man, a manga about an international fugitive with a million dollar bounty ( it seemed a high enough money value at the time) but also a humanitarian trying to help any he could. I finished the Million Man as BECK landed a gig at “Greatful Sound 5”. Tanaka was nearly there, nearly the someone he wanted to become.
As Yukio Tanaka took the Third Stage, my heart was in my throat it beating almost as loud as the headphones hooked up to my computer. Tanaka then hit the rift I knew all to well, “I’ve Got a Feeling” by the Beatles and for once in my life I felt a surge of happiness. Tanaka belted out the god-like hooks of Paul McCartney and as each member of BECK took the stage I felt my heart growing larger. Every song afterwards, made me stronger and happier, happier than I had ever been. As the last episode came around, I had become someone I could respect. I wrote and still do, daily, I even started learning the bass guitar ( what can I say? Taira was too cool). My life became whole and I beat the sickening depression I had, all thanks to BECK an anime about a band, named after a dog.
Thanks for reading and please, if you have any life changing stories feel free to leave them below, and most of all LONG LIVE BECK!!!!!
