Digital piracy discussions, sex and religion, and salaryman manga

Jake Forbes adds his two cents to the scanlation conversation with something constructive: A possible new model for digital manga publishing that includes fan translations but allows the creators to stay in control. Chris Beveridge editorializes at Mania.com (formerly Anime on DVD); in his opinion, the publishers need to offer a digital alternative. Gottsu-Iiyan (who is a professional translator, so like Jake, he does have a dog in this race) doesn’t buy the noble-scanlator version of things. Helen McCarthy, author of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga, looks at the whole situation from an author’s perspective. Japanator’s Brad Rice goes straight to the sources and talks to the publishers about their new anti-piracy coalition.

Melinda Beasi and Michelle Smith discuss a variety of recent releases in their latest Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

Lori Henderson looks over all the commentary on the demise of CMX and concludes that parent company DC was ultimately to blame for the line’s failure.

Gia Manry talks about sex, religion, and piracy with Gilles Poitras, author of The Anime Companion.

Chih-Chieh Chang reports on a talk by Kenshi Hiroikane, the creator of many business manga, including Kosaku Shima.

Khursten sings the praises of Nakamura Asumiko, creator of Double Mint, at Otaku Champloo.

News from Japan: The Japan Basketball Association is giving Slam Dunk manga-ka Takehiko Inoue a special commendation for helping boost the popularity of the sport. Also, ANN has the latest Japanese comics rankings.

Reviews: If you’re in a shoujo kind of mood, check out my review of vol. 1 of Fairy Navigator Runa at Graphic Novel Reporter.

Daniella Orihuela-Gruber on AX: Alternative Manga (All About Manga)
Connie on vol. 4 of Baby & Me (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 2 of Black Butler (Slightly Biased Manga)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 2 of Black Butler (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Connie on vol. 9 of Black Lagoon (Slightly Biased Manga)
Connie on vol. 1 of Ikigami (Slightly Biased Manga)
Julie Opipari on vol. 2 of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Blog@Newsarama)
Julie Opipari on vol. 1 of Library Wars: Love and War (Manga Maniac Cafe)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Library Wars: Love and War (ANN)
Tangognat on vol. 1 of Millennium Prime Minister (Tangognat)
Andre on vol. 1 of My Darling! Miss Bancho (Kuriousity)
Snow Wildsmith on vol. 1 of Otodama: Voice from the Dead (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Clive Owen on vol. 1 of Rosario + Vampire, Season II (Animanga Nation)
Connie on vol. 19 of Saint Seiya (Slightly Biased Manga)
Deb Aoki on vol. 1 of Toriko (About.com)

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