Animanga in the News: 1/22/11

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.



The turnout at Saitama Prefecture, Kuki City's Washinomiya Shrine over the three days of the new year (Jan1-3) came in at the Shrine's highest ever at 470,000. It is the young anime fans around the country that made the shrine so popular. "Lucky☆Star" is a comical depiction of the everyday life of female high school students. The model for the "Washinomiya Shrine" that appeared in the anime is none other than the Washinomiya Shrine itself. The ema (wooden plaques on which worshipers pen their wishes) within the shrine and decorated with drawings of all the various characters. In this season where many pray for academic success, it is no wonder that many high school students are paying pilgrimage to this shrine.

The anime is also linked to the revival of the town. The Ootori Tea House, under the direct mangaement of the Washinomiya Commerce and Industry Organisation, has a menu specially for the fans that includes "Washinomiya Zenzai", made by mixing soba and udon noodles.

original source





Weekly Shounen Jump and Young Magazine go on sale on Mondays, Weekly Shounen Magazine on Wednesday. I believe there are many men that weekly anticipate the release of their favourite manga. Among the many manga in publication, there are certainly quite a number that have been serialised for 10 or 20 years. For such a manga, you get the feeling that you want to read the ending, yet you don't...... So, we asked 237 men and 475 women in their 20s what manga they never wanted to see the end of.

Men
What manga do you never want to see the end of?

1. Kochira Katsushikaku Kameari Kouen-mae Hasshutsusho 25.3%
   
2. ONE PIECE 20.2%
   
3. Detective Conan 16.0%
   
4. HUNTER x HUNTER 5.9%
   
5. Hajime no Ippo 5.1%

Kochira Katsushikaku Kameari Kouen-mae Hasshutsusho

1. "I never know where the story is going to go, so I want it to continue forever" - (29, Finance/Business)
   
2. "I can't even imagine Ryou-san reaching retirement age" - (29, Retail/Sales)
   
3. "I want it to hit 200 volumes" - (28, Retail/Director)
   
4. "I want Ryou-san to keep on going on huge rampages" - (26, Wholesale/Director)
   
5. "I can't even imagine what the final chapter would be like" - (29, Others)

ONE PIECE

1. "I want to keep watching the Strawhat Pirates as they get stronger and stronger" - (26, Trade/Business)
   
2. "I want to keep being touched by it" - (28, Transport/Design)
   
3. "I want them to keep adventuring to realise their dreams" (28, Precision Instruments/Business)

Detective Conan

1. "Because I feel that I've been reading it for so many years and still enjoying it" - (25, Others/Design)
   
2. "I've felt so intimate with it for such a long time, if it ends I'd feel lonely" - (27, F&B/Director)
   
3. "I'd be so lonely if Conan returned to being Shinichi again" - (24, Automobile/Engineer)

HUNTER x HUNTER

1. "It's interesting and I can never tell what's going to happen next, so I don't want it to end" - (28, Design/Transport)
   
2. "It's full of foreshadowing, so I want it to keep living on even if it has to be through spin-offs" - (27, Communications/R&D)

Hajime no Ippo

1. "Because it's my favourite manga" - (25, Defense/Business)
   
2. "I love it, so I hope it continues forever" - (29, Automobile/Engineer)
   
3. "I've read it since I was a kid, it's a really interesting manga" - (29, Precision Instruments/Business)

Overall
Kochikame is the manga most men in their 20s do not want to see the end of. It began serialisation in 1976. The same manga that began even before these 20 year olds were born, is also the longest-running manga in Weekly Shounen Jump. We got a lot of passionate comments from Kochikame fans, such as "Whenever I read Kochikame in Jump, I feel like my week has begun", "There is so much power in Kochikame, there is really no need to purposely create an ending for it" and "I want it to continue forever".

ONE PIECE came in at second place. In November 2010, its total tankoubon sales broke the national record, and is the first series to sell over 200,000,000 copies. Its popularity is infallible, and you could even call it our national manga. There were comments like "Once ONE PIECE ends, Jump will lose all its popularity" and "It's so popular, it would even pose a blow to the Japanese economy if it ended", showing that this manga is as much the adventurous tale of the Strawhat Pirates as it is the Japanese manga world's treasure.

Women
What manga do you never want to see the end of?

1. Detective Conan 22.5%
   
2. ONE PIECE 18.7%
   
3. Kochira Katsushikaku Kameari Kouen-mae Hasshutsusho 16.2%
   
4. NANA 10.7%
   
5. Kimi ni Todoke 9.1%

Detective Conan

1. "I've been following it since I was an elementary school kid, so unless it's a really awesome ending, I don't ever want it to end" - (26, Mass Comm/Creative)
   
2. "I want Conan to continue forever just like Doraemon and Sazae-san. I want him to stay as Conan forever." - (27, Pharmaceuticals/Business)
   
3. "I really like this manga, and I want to see him solve more and more cases." - (26, Trade/Director)
   
4. "I've known this manga since I was in elementary school, so if it ends I'd be lonely. Even though I'm now an adult, I still find it interesting" - (26, Mass Comm/Creative)
   
5. "Every chapter where Detective Conan solves a case is interesting, I never want to see the end of it" - (28, Health Care/Service)

ONE PIECE

1. "It's been going on for so long, just thinking of their adventure ending makes me sad" - (28, Organisation/HR)
   
2. "I want to keep reading it forever. I want Luffy and gang to keep adventuring forever" - (29, Trade/Secretary/Assistant)
   
3. "I never get tired of it no matter how many times I read it. There are so many things going on in the background in Oda-sensei's world, it's so interesting" - (25, Mechanics/Sales)

Kochira Katsushikaku Kameari Kouen-mae Hasshutsusho

1. "I want it to do its best and get as far as it can with as many tankoubon as possible" - (23, Architecture/Design)
   
2. "If it ended I'd feel an immense sense of loss" - (24, Retail/Public Service)
   
3. "Thanks to Kochikame, I understand some of the stuff in society better, so I want it to continue forever" - (25, Trade/Finance)

NANA

1. "It's now on break but it's the only manga I buy consistently. But it feels like it's already reaching its end so I feel rather lonely" - (28, Steel/Secretary/Assistant)
   
2. "It's interesting, so I want it to continue" - (28, Government Administration)
   
3. "I can imagine it's going to be a sad ending, so I rather not know what that's going to be" - (24, F&B/Finance)

Kimi ni Todoke

1. "It's a pure love story, and I want to continue to be able to empathize with it" - (24, Finance/Professional)
   
2. "Not many manga are as pure and heartwarming" - (26, IT/Engineer)
   
3. "I'm interested to see where Sawako and Kazehaya will go on from here, as they are still growing now" - (27, Others)

Overall
"Detective Conan" topped the list for the women. It began serialisation in 1994 in Weekly Shounen Sunday, and bcame even more popular after it became and anime. Most people fear that when the manga hits its final chapter, Conan will have to return to being Shinichi, thus the comments, "I love Conan! It'd suck if it ended with him changing back into Shinichi".

The 4th and 5th spots were taken by Shoujo manga. "NANA" is on hiatus now to let the author recover from an illness. People are eagerly awaiting its return. "Kimi ni Todoke" was made into a movie in October last year, and it's a really popular manga because of its pure love story.