Animanga in the News: 1/21/11

Here you will find a run down of today's anime and manga news! If anything sent waves through the anime and manga world today, you'll find it in this post! By the way, I'm saladesu, one of the translator-moderators of MH, and I'll be posting a post like this every day (as much as possible, anyway). Look forward to them ;)

If you would like to help in finding and translating news of this nature, please contact saladesu via PM ^^ Feel free to PM me any interesting bits of anime or manga news you find floating around the internet, too.



"Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi" (Bridge to the Starry Sky), a bishoujo game by feng, who had also made the games "Aozora no Mieru Oka" (The Hill from which I can see the Blue Sky) and "Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka" (The Hill Stained Madder), will be broadcast as a TV Anime on AT-X and other channels starting from April 2011! "Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi" has the same worldview as its predecessor "Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka", and the story begins when the protagonist transfers to a school in rural Yamabiko Town.

Cast
Nakamura Eriko as Nakatsugawa Ui
Aoba Ringo as Hinata Ibuki
Takahashi Chiaki as Toudou Tsumugi
Ookubo Aiko as Toudou Koyori

original source





The Manga Taishou Executive Committee, made up of bookstore staff volunteers, announced the 13 nominees for the Manga Taishou 2011 on the 17th.

Nominees must have had tankoubon released between 1st January 2010 and 31st December 2010, and cannot have exceeded 8 volumes nor can they have received the Manga Taishou award before. The nominees were chosen by a vote amongst 89 selection committee members. A second selection will now be done by the executive committee and the awards ceremony will be held in late March.

The nominees are:

1. "I Am A Hero" by Hanazawa Kengo
   
2. "Otoyomegatari" by Mori Kaoru
   
3. "Omo ni Naitemasu" by Higashimura Akiko
   
4. "Kokukoku" by Horio Seita
   
5. "Sayonara mo Iwazu ni" by Ueno Kentarou
   
6. "SARU" by Igarashi Daisuke
   
7. "Sangatsu no Lion" by Umino Chika
   
8. "Shitsuren Choclatier" by Mizushiro Setona
   
9. "Shingeki no Kyojin" by Isayama Hajime
   
10. "Drifters" by Hirano Kouta
    
11. "Dont Cry, Girl" by Yamashita Tomoko
    
12. "Hana no Zubora Meshi" by Kusumi Masayuki and Mizusawa Etsuko
    
13. "Mashiro no Oto" by Ragawa Marimo

"Shingeki no Kyojin" also won in the men's category of Kono Manga ga Sugoi! 2011 (This manga is amazing! 2011), while Yamashita Tomoko's other work, "HER" won in the women's category.

original source





The 5 winners of the 56th Shougakukan Manga Awards were announced on the 21st. Each prize winner won ¥1,000,000, and the presentation ceremony will be held on the 3rd of March in Teikoku Hotel in Chiyoda ward, Tokyo City.

1. Shoujo Category - "Ooku" by Yoshinaga Fumi (MELODY)
   
2. Kids Category - "Yumeiro Pâtisserie" by Matsumoto Natsumi (Ribon)
   
3. Shounen Category - "KING GOLF" by Sasaki Ken (Weekly Shounen Sunday)
   
4. General Category - "Uchuu Kyoudai" by Komiya Chuuya (Morning)
   
5. General Category - "Yamikin Ushijima-kun" by Manabe Shouhei (Big Comic Spirits)

original source





Many adults read manga, so what are they looking for in the works they read? Furthermore, just what kind of manga will make it big in 2011?

On the 21st, Shinchosa, the company behind weekly manga magazine Comic@Bunch, and I Share jointly conducted "An Opinion Poll on what Manga will be Popular in 2011". 1205 men and women were interviewed. Of those surveyed, 36.8% read manga more than twice a week (includes "just about every day", "4-5 times a week" and "2-3 times a week"), 27.2% read manga less than twice a week (includes "once a week", "2-3 times a month" and "once a month") and 35.9% only read manga when there is something they want to read.

Men like "Manga which are simple and make me laugh"
When asked what kind of manga they like to read, "Manga that make me laugh" came in tops at 74.0%, "Manga that move me" came in next with 64.3% (respondents could select more than one option). Amidst the doom and gloom of the recession and depressing news, it seems that manga that can brighten ones mood would be well-received.

As for the artistic quality of the manga they read, 51.2% felt that "Good artwork is important, but it is not absolutely necessary". As for the story, 53.8% of men liked "Simple stories", whereas 50.9% of women liked "Complicated stories".

Even women support manga aimed at men
When asked what demographic of manga would be the most popular in 2011, those who answered that "Shounen manga written by a male artist" were the majority with 36.1% of votes. Both men and women felt that way, and that category won for both genders. However, 29.5% of men, the second largest proportion among the men, felt that it would be a "Manga written by a male and targeted at mature men" whereas for the women, the second largest proportion, 15.5%, felt that it would be a "Shounen manga written by a female artist", thus yielding different results across the two genders.

Furthermore, "Shounen manga written by a female artist" came in 2nd at 18.9% among those who read manga more than twice a week, whereas a large discrepancy was seen when compared to those who read manga less than twice a week, only garnering 9.1% of votes. Moreover, for the overall rankings, the top 4 spots were dominated by Shounen manga and Mature manga aimed at men. It appears that people are predicting that manga aimed at men will be popular this year.

More than half responded that they have read manga on the internet
90.8% of respondents found manga aimed at the opposite sex interesting (includes "often interesting" and "sometimes interesting"). 86.8% of respondents found manga aimed at children interesting (includes "often interesting" and "sometimes interesting") as well, making for some very high numbers. This tells us that for one to like a manga, the manga just has to be interesting, and the reader is not bound by the target age nor gender, thus the work is enjoyed by a wide audience. Furthermore, 50.6%, more than half of respondents, said that they had read manga on the internet. The day where manga is not limited to paper media and can be enjoyed in various ways seems near.

As for trends in choosing manga, 52.8% of women said that they mostly chose series by mangaka they liked or related to series they had read before, indicating there were a good number of conservatives. On the whole, including men, 51.1% of respondents said that they would read a manga if it looked interesting, regardless of whether it is by a mangaka they like or not or a series they have read before.

This was particularly so for those in their 20s, with 58.6% - nearly 60% - responding that way. In this age where youths are often accused of detachment (TN: sorry, no good way of phrasing this, but Japanese youth are said to be doing a lot less of certain things, such as driving, buying CDs...), and the younger generation are said to have little interest in plot, have low consumerism, it still seems that despite all this, when it comes to choosing manga, they are proactive in seeking new things that interest them.

"A flood of manga", "I can't find the manga I want to read"
So, when these people want to read an interesting manga, how do they get find a manga to read? Most people, 50.5% said they would look at the displays at a bookstore or convenience store, 48.6% said they would listen to what the people around them recommend, while 37.9% said they would read comments on internet forums (respondents could pick more than one option).

There are quite a number of manga in publication. 55.2% of respondents said that they had difficulty choosing what to read amongst that sea of manga (includes "often difficult" and "sometimes difficult"). It seems that they sometimes cannot find a manga they like even if they go to the bookstore to have a look, or listen to comments of others.

Furthermore, the largest proportion, 35.9%, of people only read manga when there was something they wanted to read, a significantly larger proportion than the 10.5% of people who read manga everyday. Only 15.6% responded that there were "many" manga that they found interesting right now. Despite surveying manga enthusiasts, it seems that the amount of time they spend reading manga is actually not that high. Perhaps one reason for this could be related to the fact that there are not many manga that they find interesting right now.

original source





The latest issue of Shougakukan's "Weekly Shounen Sunday" sports the special one-shot manga "Momi Baraishi", and it has been labeled by internet users as "eroi" (pornographic). This manga tells the story of the 17 year old protagonist, who is a"Momi Baraishi", or one who rubs women's breasts to exorcise evil spirits that have possessed them. In this issue, in order to exorcise a spirit from a 16 year old girl, he violently rubs her plentiful bosom.

It's stupid and interesting, say some people, but others say that since this is a Shounen manga (aimed at young teenage boys), they should be more mindful of the amended laws in Tokyo regarding healthy development of youths, and some even hit the nail on the head in saying that "This is a declaration of war against Governor Ishihara".

Author: "I put my breast and soul into every line"
"Momi Baraishi" was first published as a one-shot web comic on Club Sunday on 20th November 2009. It was introduced as a "breast rubbing manga", and considered a school of Seitaishi (a kind of massage therapy). Through this rubbing of the chest, one improves one's physical condition, and is able to develop special abilities. This work was well received, and it was decided that it would begin serialisation in Club Subday from 25th January 2011. The first chapter was published in Shounen Sunday on 2nd February 2011. The title of the first chapter was "First Breast: Fe, Feels good..."

The protagonist of "Momi Baraishi", Little Cross Shadow is investigating some events that have arisen due to a "Evil Spirit", and he touches the breasts of a young girl he runs into in town, thus finding out that she has a spirit possessing her. The young girl, who seems like she has been raped after having a flurry of indecent words thrown at her, suddenly goes on a rampage due to the spirit in her. Cross performs the rites to exorcise the evil spirit, gets the girl naked and cries out "Momi Barai Type 9: 8th Battle Formation Evil Sky Rub" and rubs her breasts with great abandon. The exorcism is complete as the young girl says "This fe, feels good...".

At the end of the issue of Shounen Sunday, it is introduced with the line "The Rebreastwal (TN: riNYUUaru usually means "renewal" but "nyuu" can mean breast) of "Momishi", which garnered great response on Club Sunday!!" The author, Sorayomi Daichi, gave a comment, "I put my breast and soul into every line (TN: Ippitsu Nyuukon - to put your heart and soul into every line. Again, there's a "nyuu" there so...)".

Editorial division says it isn't a work that considers the laws of the city
Internet users have said that this work is vastly different from everything else that has been serialised in "Shounen Sunday", and while there are some who have praised this bizarre work, on the other hand, there are many worried that it violates the laws that had been amended on 15th December 2010. Various blogs had these to say:

"Hahaha, this is great, Sunday is great for standing up to Ishihara face on"
"This is great, do it more"
"It made me laugh, but is it really Shounen Sunday material?"
"A pattern where when you restrict them, more of them pop out! Great"

As for whether this manga was published with the newly amended laws in mind, this is what the editorial division of Shounen Sunday had to say: "This is not a work that was published while keeping the law in mind and thinking we want to do this or that. There are some things presented that may seem extreme, but I too found it fun, and this series was serialised as a work that was silly and could make people laugh."

original source





The TV Anime "STAR DRIVER -Kagayaki no Takuto-", now on air to rave reviews and which has spawned a comicalised version that is serialised in Young Gangan, will have an Anthology Comic released on 26th February!!

The cover illustration will be done by the mangaka of "Kuroshitsuji", Toboso Yana! The anthology illustration designs, will be taken up by "Pandora Hearts" mangaka Mochizuki Jun and "Nikoichi" mangaka Kindaichi Renjuurou!! Furthermore, "Embalming" and "Rurouni Kenshin" mangaka Watsuki Nobuhiro will also be a special guest in the production!!

The anthology manga will be a collective effort by strong houses "Fullmetal Alchemist" mangaka Arakawa Hiromu, "Yuzu Peppermint" mangaka "Gotsubo☆Masaru" and "BAMBOO BLADE" mangaka Igarashi Aguri!!!

The manga will cost ¥600 and will be published by Square Enix.

original source





In retaliation to the Tokyo City law for the healthy development of youths, that restricts the sale of sexually explicit manga and anime, adult mangaka Urashima Reiji (46) volunteered to shovel show on the 21st in Hokkaido's Yuubari City. Prefectural Governor Inose Naoki had posted a tweet on Twitter saying that he would grant Urashima an interview should he shovel snow in Yuubari City.

Urashima said that he wanted to meet Inose and speak with him, and Governor Inose said that he would honour his promise.

With some help from the Yuubari City Social Welfare Agency, Urashima began visiting elderly who were living alone and shoveling snow piled as high as 3 metres with the help of several people from the agency, starting from around 10am on the 21st.

In response to the laws that were laid down in December last year, the publishing world objected, saying that it restricted their freedom of expression. Governor Inose had tweeted on 5th December, "Shovel some snow, then come see me. If you do that, I'll grant you an interview". Thus, Urashima paid his visit to Yuubari City.

Urashima said, "There was absolutely no reason to amend the laws. I would like for my interview to be broadcast live on the internet."

original source