×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
NEWS: Aurora to Launch Manga Imprint Aimed at Women


Goto page 1, 2  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
saishokushugisha
Editor, Anime Insider


Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 101
Location: USA
PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 3:09 pm Reply with quote
I'm sorry, but I wouldn't call the imprint josei. Stuff like Hataraki Man is josei.

The press release made it pretty clear that this stuff will be the manga equivalent of Playgirl. Once you get sexually explicit, it all falls into the hentai category.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Unholy_Nny



Joined: 22 Jun 2005
Posts: 622
PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 4:00 pm Reply with quote
saishokushugisha wrote:
I'm sorry, but I wouldn't call the imprint josei. Stuff like Hataraki Man is josei.

The press release made it pretty clear that this stuff will be the manga equivalent of Playgirl. Once you get sexually explicit, it all falls into the hentai category.


I was gonna say that they sounded like porn titles...

Isn't josei stuff like Honey and Clover?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
toddc



Joined: 23 Jul 2007
Posts: 164
PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 4:31 pm Reply with quote
There might be a worse name for a manga label than "Luv Luv," but I sure don't know what it is.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Neverwhere



Joined: 17 Jun 2006
Posts: 351
Location: socal
PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 4:47 pm Reply with quote
My hopes for more josei were crushed almost as soon as they were born. Ah well. *small sad sigh* Sad
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
testorschoice



Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Posts: 468
PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 4:59 pm Reply with quote
saishokushugisha wrote:
I'm sorry, but I wouldn't call the imprint josei. Stuff like Hataraki Man is josei.

The press release made it pretty clear that this stuff will be the manga equivalent of Playgirl. Once you get sexually explicit, it all falls into the hentai category.


I'm sorry, but the Japanese don't made this distinction. Josei and "sexually explicit" are not mutually exclusive. "Josei" just means "aimed at women." It doesn't specify that such manga must be below a certain quota of sexual explicitness. These titles are no more explicit than Harlequin Romances--whose manga versions the Japanese also call...josei.

Come on, the Japanese publisher calls it josei. Why should American fans insist it's not josei when the original publisher (one of the largest, if not the largest, publisher of josei manga in Japan) calls it josei?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Neverwhere



Joined: 17 Jun 2006
Posts: 351
Location: socal
PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 5:36 pm Reply with quote
testorschoice wrote:
Josei and "sexually explicit" are not mutually exclusive. "Josei" just means "aimed at women."


This is true. One of the reasons I enjoy it so much is that it can have sexual relationships, but it isn't (usually) just about the sex, but the emotional relationships as well. It's just more mature storytelling. Or at least, features more mature characters in adult situations. Which is still sadly lacking in this country, sigh.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
testorschoice



Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Posts: 468
PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 5:49 pm Reply with quote
Neverwhere wrote:
testorschoice wrote:
Josei and "sexually explicit" are not mutually exclusive. "Josei" just means "aimed at women."


This is true. One of the reasons I enjoy it so much is that it can have sexual relationships, but it isn't (usually) just about the sex, but the emotional relationships as well. It's just more mature storytelling. Or at least, features more mature characters in adult situations. Which is still sadly lacking in this country, sigh.


I think those are the points that the press release makes: Ohzora's manga aren't just about the sex. The PR mentions both "realistic emotional and physical relationships," and "more realistic sexual content and more mature storylines and themes than are presently found in the manga currently available to women in America."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Unholy_Nny



Joined: 22 Jun 2005
Posts: 622
PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 5:54 pm Reply with quote
Aha, so it is porn.

I bet it's going to end up on bookshelves at my local Borders, anyways =)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
testorschoice



Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Posts: 468
PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 6:07 pm Reply with quote
Unholy_Nny wrote:
Aha, so it is porn.


I think the point of the press release, despite the misleading first post above, is that it isn't pornography. Smile It's sexually explicit, but not gratuitous pornographic without storytelling.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Paploo



Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Posts: 1875
PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 7:17 pm Reply with quote
Actually, most of Aurora's mainline titles are from Josei magazines, so this isn't their only Josei line- their primary output in english is all Josei so far [though Ohzora publishes a wide variety of manga in Japan mind you], with a smattering of Yaoi titles.

If you pay attention though, they state it's Ladies Comics- which leaves me guessing these will all be RediComi/LadiComi titles. It's a sometimes used online as an alternate term for Josei, though if you read Dreamland Japan, Schodt profiles a couple RediComi writers/artists. Basically, RediComi are adult Josei titles [just think Yaoi, but with female leads], so I'm suspecting these are all 18+ since they're porn..... for Ladies [Erotica?]. While there's probably story, and characters etc, it's still erotic storytelling [if you read Dreamland Japan, the artists profiled draw fairly explicit stuff].

The seperate imprint is probably done for the same reason most adult titles are released under other imprints- keep the branding identified to the company by fans, but still seperated, to clarify the different nature of the titles [so that fans who want it know to go for it, but fans who don't will still know that this is just a seperate line, and they should expect regular manga from their mainline... anime companies do this too, such as CPM/Anime18 and Media Blasters/Kitty Media].

[and really, read Dreamland Japan. It's awesome]

ps- here's a website with a listing of genres that includes RediKomi
http://www.comicreaders.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=96
There's also Redisu, which a more artisitic/literary version of Josei comics.

EDIT- Then again though, it could just be them trying to solidify their Josei line under a different name. I imagine we'll just have to wait, and read reviews of the books....

[I think we need more Kodomo manga myself..... only VIZ seems to have publish a handful, mostly based on licensed properties. Then again, most Kodomo manga seems to fall into that niche...]
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
HitokiriShadow



Joined: 09 May 2005
Posts: 6251
PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:16 pm Reply with quote
I was hoping for some more mature stories, but it looks like its just going to be Mayu Shinjo and the like. I'll still probably end up getting some of them, but I'm a bit disappointed.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
saishokushugisha
Editor, Anime Insider


Joined: 18 Aug 2004
Posts: 101
Location: USA
PostPosted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:08 pm Reply with quote
testorschoice wrote:

I'm sorry, but the Japanese don't made this distinction. Josei and "sexually explicit" are not mutually exclusive. "Josei" just means "aimed at women." It doesn't specify that such manga must be below a certain quota of sexual explicitness.


Of course not...but neither are shonen and hentai mutually exclusive. But calling a hentai title shonen is sort of disgenuous, don't you think?

Japan might not make the distinction, but Aurora just did, otherwise they'd have published it under their regular josei imprint. And I wouldn't have pointed it out if the press release didn't specify that ALL Luv luv titles will be 18+. So non-explicit josei titles will be published under their regular imprint, leaving only the hardcore stuff for Luv Luv.

testorschoice wrote:
These titles are no more explicit than Harlequin Romances--whose manga versions the Japanese also call...josei.

Maybe their press people just wrote a misleading press release, because the way they've phrased it is specifically designed to draw in women who want hot steamy sex on the page.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
testorschoice



Joined: 28 Apr 2007
Posts: 468
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 12:14 am Reply with quote
saishokushugisha wrote:
testorschoice wrote:

I'm sorry, but the Japanese don't made this distinction. Josei and "sexually explicit" are not mutually exclusive. "Josei" just means "aimed at women." It doesn't specify that such manga must be below a certain quota of sexual explicitness.


Of course not...but neither are shonen and hentai mutually exclusive. But calling a hentai title shonen is sort of disgenuous, don't you think?


Inaccurate analogy. Again, these manga are both josei and sexually explicit, and it's not disingenuous to call it both. A manga aimed at women is still aimed at women whether or not it has sexually explicit material.

Quote:
Japan might not make the distinction, but Aurora just did, otherwise they'd have published it under their regular josei imprint. And I wouldn't have pointed it out if the press release didn't specify that ALL Luv luv titles will be 18+. So non-explicit josei titles will be published under their regular imprint, leaving only the hardcore stuff for Luv Luv.


This isn't the same argument you made at the beginning, and both are inaccurate in any case. You first asserted that you "wouldn't call the imprint josei"—never mind that the publisher calls it josei.

In any case, Aurora is splitting its josei titles between the explicit ones under this new imprint, and the ones that aren't under it. But Aurora is not making a distinction by saying that all the imprint's titles are not josei while all the titles not under the imprint are. That's a misreading.

Quote:
testorschoice wrote:
These titles are no more explicit than Harlequin Romances--whose manga versions the Japanese also call...josei.

Maybe their press people just wrote a misleading press release, because the way they've phrased it is specifically designed to draw in women who want hot steamy sex on the page.


Which, again, doesn't make it any less josei.

What, women can't want hot steamy sex? Wink
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ArielTsuki



Joined: 19 Jul 2006
Posts: 178
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 10:44 am Reply with quote
toddc wrote:
There might be a worse name for a manga label than "Luv Luv," but I sure don't know what it is.


Brocolli's BL/yaoi line, Boysenberry. Even most the staunch fujoshi would cringe at that title.

I still scratching my heard how some people think josei=porn. If that was the case, seinen=porn too. All josei is a demographic and not much more. It's just comics aimed at adult women no matter WHAT the contents has. Like seinen, there are titles that are cute and pretty innocent and some that makes a Harelquin reader blush.

And please stop thinking that any manga that was a sex scene automatically makes it porn. I mean, we don't call every movie or books that has a sex scene porn, same goes with manga. Sex actually plays a role, especially when the series is trying to go for a realistic feel.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Neverwhere



Joined: 17 Jun 2006
Posts: 351
Location: socal
PostPosted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 1:20 pm Reply with quote
[quote="ArielTsuki"]
I still scratching my heard how some people think josei=porn. If that was the case, seinen=porn too. All josei is a demographic and not much more. It's just comics aimed at adult women no matter WHAT the contents has. Like seinen, there are titles that are cute and pretty innocent and some that makes a Harelquin reader blush.
[\quote]

I was about to make this point as well, thank you for saying it for me. Smile

I agree with everything you said in your post, actually. *grins*
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group