Mag Talk Weekly Shonen Jump [2019] - Discussion and TOC Talk

[Kharthas]

I am actually curious now. How does that even happen? I get their news/tabloid culture isn't like overseas, but the fact we don't even know the gender of some??

I don't find it strange at all. It's not like mangaka' gender is of any importance, or relevant to the content they make. I can understand if authors just want to have a private life undisturbed by the massive number of fans. The less you reveal about yourself, the less likely you're being tracked down or recognized on the street. Forget private info, those authors don't even have any kind of social media (that we know of)

 

[Jovan]

Manga fans can be creepy, parasocial, sorts who nose into the private lives of creators, so I think (especially in the internet age) that creators are just more private about this stuff.

I don't mean about Shueisha/mangakas being silent on that. But the fact that even newspapers/websites/tabloids/whatever/ don't get to report on that? Mangakas don't just sit alone in their homes or studios forever. I do appreciate the respect they have to their privacy, I am just accustomed to my country's situation where even the low priority literary writers can't really hide thanks to paparazzi/reporters, let alone the gender ambiguity.

 

[Kharthas]

I don't mean about Shueisha/mangakas being silent on that. But the fact that even newspapers/websites/tabloids/whatever/ don't get to report on that? Mangakas don't just sit alone in their homes or studios forever. I do appreciate the respect they have to their privacy, I am just accustomed to my country's situation where even the low priority literary writers can't really hide thanks to paparazzi/reporters, let alone the gender ambiguity.

Yeah the Japanese are really impressive in that regard. I never heard of a mangaka's info being exposed against their wills. Even famous doujin artists who usually show up at comicons don't have their faces pictured.

 

[Maxy Barnard]

I don't mean about Shueisha/mangakas being silent on that. But the fact that even newspapers/websites/tabloids/whatever/ don't get to report on that? Mangakas don't just sit alone in their homes or studios forever. I do appreciate the respect they have to their privacy, I am just accustomed to my country's situation where even the low priority literary writers can't really hide thanks to paparazzi/reporters, let alone the gender ambiguity.

I wonder. Maybe there’s more accountability for invasive tabloid stuff like that in Japan. I might actually research this for a future thing, as it’s gotta have layers to it

 

[Scruffy8642]

I don't mean about Shueisha/mangakas being silent on that. But the fact that even newspapers/websites/tabloids/whatever/ don't get to report on that? Mangakas don't just sit alone in their homes or studios forever. I do appreciate the respect they have to their privacy, I am just accustomed to my country's situation where even the low priority literary writers can't really hide thanks to paparazzi/reporters, let alone the gender ambiguity.

Gender ambiguity is likely simply due to the language. It’s rare in formal writing to use pronouns instead of someone’s name, so it’s rather easy to see how many are unknown since it simply wouldn’t come in up interviews and the like. This also leads to translation problems in interviews like M+ stuff because many translators would just use pronouns without thinking about whether they’re accurate or not. If they don’t appear physically on talk shows or whatever there’s no real way to know.

 

[westabyss]

I think Manga artists hide their face because they have the luxury to do so. They are celebrities but unlike singers like Rihanna, they can walk to a convenience store and grab some food without being bothered and a line of people wanting pictures with them. Of course, these type of things would only happen if you are like a super famous mangaka but even if you are like a mid tier mangaka, i imagine it'd be bothersome if someone comes up all the time and says:"Hey aren't you the guy that made..."

 

[101nemesis]

Think Shueisha and publishers do a good job in respecting their author's privacy and information.

 

[Magister Xehanort]

Have you considered the possibility that females may not want to work in an office of 30 sweaty dudes where they are all alone as the only girl, when there are many more workplaces to choose from at Shueisha?

And if you were to ask, "how did it become this way then if not inequality?" Well perhaps 50 years ago it was an all male staff due to prejudice. Or maybe it was chance. We will never know. But that does not reflect on the current situation one bit, as the above explanation is another viable explanation, and none of us know what is really going on.

I am not saying that this is the only reason why.

But given that none of us have access to Shueisha's hiring staffs' secret manifestos, none of your arguments about how WSJ isn't hiring female editors, amount to anything but groundless raging.

But Japan is still a very misogynistic country, we have evidence of that, for example look at this news "The Japanese medical university lowered female students' scores because it didn't want too many women doctors"

A Japanese Medical University Lowered Female Students' Scores Because It Didn't Want Too Many Women Doctors

The university believed accepting more male students would help solve the university hospital's doctor shortage because female doctors would inevitably drop out of the workforce after they get married and give birth to children.

www.buzzfeednews.com

 

[Thundercat27]

Gender ambiguity is likely simply due to the language. It’s rare in formal writing to use pronouns instead of someone’s name, so it’s rather easy to see how many are unknown since it simply wouldn’t come in up interviews and the like. This also leads to translation problems in interviews like M+ stuff because many translators would just use pronouns without thinking about whether they’re accurate or not. If they don’t appear physically on talk shows or whatever there’s no real way to know.

This.
It's really dumb how some people use M+ interview as evidence of Furudate being male.

 

[Kharthas]

This.
It's really dumb how some people use M+ interview as evidence of Furudate being male.

The really dumb thing is thinking editors would go out of their ways to disclose their authors's private info when it's not even what the interview is about, on an online platform aimed toward foreign audience no less. If for some reason a mangaka want to reveal themselves, Japanese readers will be the first ones to know, and it will be through some kind of special interview or public appearance, like what they did with the author of Beaststar recently

 

[SharkBait]

Incredibly late, but Tokyo Shinobi Squad was incredible these last two chapters, also, En x Jin is totally canon, like, wow, also the heart Jin uses for his punctuation in speech bubbles, be still my heart.

 

[Thores]

Incredibly late, but Tokyo Shinobi Squad was incredible these last two chapters, also, En x Jin is totally canon, like, wow, also the heart Jin uses for his punctuation in speech bubbles, be still my heart.

Wait, is En not like 12 tops? I was under the impression he was pretty young.

Also, I always read En and Jin as more of a younger brother / older brother dynamic. Especially considering the age thing.

These have been a good past couple chapters of TSS though. I’ve enjoyed them, hope the series gets to live a little longer than I’ve been dreading.

 

[animeexpert]

Also somewhat related, I recalled reading in the past there was no female mangaka in WSJ because they used to show author's faces on volume and on New Year's mangazine cover. So, WSJ didn't have a great history with gender representation, it seems.

Spoiler: Btw, some WSJ covers with mangaka faces

Jump was full of rainbows, now everyone is an edge lord. .

The wonderful edgy era.

The reason for mangakas now for hiding their face or their gender. is that internet is advanced and social media is now an norm in our society, manga is now way more populair to the west. Some authors don't feel safe showing their face cuz people can be really cruel or cant even go outside doing some grocery.

Conclusion, authors feel safer focusing on their work rather dealing unnecessary judgments.

Damn I really wanted to see the face's of beastars or JJK ;-;

 

[101nemesis]

The reason for mangakas now for hiding their face or their gender. is that internet is advanced and social media is now an norm in our society, manga is now way more populair to the west. Some authors don't feel safe showing their face cuz people can be really cruel or cant even go outside doing some grocery.

This might be partially true.
Kubo faced people on twitter using his identity for various obscene nonsense to the point that I think one of Bleach's official sites has a description that says using his identity is a crime or something.
Can't remember which one but I saw it recently when I was browsing through it randomly.

 

[Nemesis]

But Japan is still a very misogynistic country, we have evidence of that, for example look at this news "The Japanese medical university lowered female students' scores because it didn't want too many women doctors"

A Japanese Medical University Lowered Female Students' Scores Because It Didn't Want Too Many Women Doctors

The university believed accepting more male students would help solve the university hospital's doctor shortage because female doctors would inevitably drop out of the workforce after they get married and give birth to children.

www.buzzfeednews.com

We are from Brazil. We know that it's no different here (even more with the president we have), and it's the same thing on all countries on different levels because no country is perfect and all of them, even the ones from first world have.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 5, 2019, Original Post Date: Nov 5, 2019 ---

I mean, how many editors can you name? And can you confirm their gender? Editors are not famous figures as mangaka are, and even with mangaka it can be hard to tell their gender.

So we're pretty much talking over nothing here. There's really no way to know how many female editors Shueisha employs, if any.

Uh, not really. What we know is about WSJ, not about other editorials from other magazines from other publishers or Shueisha. But I bet to you that there's female editors on Josei and Shoujo magazine editorials, probably even in majority.

--- Double Post Merged, Nov 5, 2019 ---

Apparently WNL got another spin-off light novel volume to be launched in december

 

[KennyKuro]

I don't know if this is the right place to post it but Jaimini's Box scanlated Ispy! it's a one-shot by Tatsuya Endo (SpyxFamily author) from 2018 in Jump SQ!

Read here!

 

[NeeNeen]

Incredibly late, but Tokyo Shinobi Squad was incredible these last two chapters, also, En x Jin is totally canon, like, wow, also the heart Jin uses for his punctuation in speech bubbles, be still my heart.

Seriously? En x Jin? Totally not feeling that one. (Like Thores said, it's more of a younger/older brother dynamic.)

If I had to ship anything, it would be Jin and his "I'm totally not your friend but I'm following you around and having your back and telling you how cool you are" rival. Those two have some serious bromance going on, if nothing else.

 

[Psyrio]

So what issue do you guys think we're going to be getting new series announcements in?

 

[Thores]

So what issue do you guys think we're going to be getting new series announcements in?

Man, this year's been so weird, that's a good question.

I feel like there's a few possibilities:

Possibility 1: New Series debuts in #51 and #52, ending the serialization year. Double Taisei and one of either TSS or Beast Children get axed starting in #50.

Possibility 2: If we get an early issue on the last week of November, that issue will be the rare-but-occasional Issue #53. Same outcome as Possibility 1, but with everything happening an Issue later (new series #52-53, axes #51-52)

Possibility 3: New series debuts at the beginning of serialization year 2020. Either 2 or 3 new series (spanning #1-2 or #1-3 respectively), with axes starting in Issue #52.

I'm currently leaning towards Possibility 3 as the most likely, but shit's kinda unpredictable right now, so "none of the above" is also a perfectly plausible option.

 

[SharkBait]

Tokyo Shinobi Squad has such a huge world to explore, no way would it be axed especially with the chemistry the cast has.