ICv2 talks to Shonen Jump senior editor Joel Enos about the magazine’s “re-launch,” which seems to mean a facelift plus the addition of the subscriber-only online content. Enos seems to realize which way the world is going; as bookstores and newsstands close or downsize, it makes sense to cater more to subscribers.
Chris Sims presents Osamu Tezuka’s fire safety posters. Yes, you read that right. Just go take a look; you’ll be glad you did.
Kate Dacey, Brad Rice, and David Welsh all look over this week’s new releases and pick the ones they like the best. Melinda Beasi’s Pick of the Week is Twin Spica; check out Manga Bookshelf to find out why.
The Yaoi Review kicks off a three-part interview with Hinako Takanaga.
Jason Thompson writes about why there is no Alan Moore of global manga, someone who takes the tropes of the different genres and turns them into something new. An interesting discussion follows in the comments section as well.
Masters of Manga asks: Why do mangaka wear berets? Jirō Tsunoda supplies the answer in the latest video.
News from Japan: Shueisha is launching a kids’ manga magazine, Super Strong Jump (Saikyō Jump), in December; the new mag will include spinoffs from Shonen Jump series like Naruto and One Piece.
Reviews: Carlo Santos takes us through the latest releases in his Right Turn Only!! column at ANN. Noah Berlatsky throws all kinds of theory at Moto Hagio’s short story “The Willow Tree,” from A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, but misses the story’s most fundamental problem: It’s boring.
Katherine Farmar on Cafe Latte Rhapsody (Comics Village)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Genkaku Picasso (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Greg McElhatton on vol. 1 of Genkaku Picasso (Read About Comics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 54 of InuYasha (The Comic Book Bin)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 3 of Kobato (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)
Zack Davisson on The Quest for the Missing Girl (Japan Reviewed)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 8 of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei (Comics Worth Reading)
“but misses the story’s most fundamental problem: It’s boring.”
BORING?! I must be the only person who found it a nice, touching story. *sigh*
Nope. I said it was boring. (I think the specific word I used was “tedious”.)
Ed—no, not just you!! The Willow Tree is brilliant—quiet, sensitive, delicate, and it made me tear up when I finished it. That whole book is a treasure, I am so glad I was given the opportunity to have it on my shelf! I keep re-reading everything in there *clutches book possessively*
Sorry, but I thought it was way too long for such a simple story. The other thing was that while it was pretty obvious after a while how it would end, the character design of the boy was not consistent, so it looked like the mom was watching a random string of people going by. At the end of the story I went back and looked for the son in the figures in the background and I still couldn’t see him.