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NEWS: Kodansha's Morning 2 to Serialize Felipe Smith Comic




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minakichan





PostPosted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:03 pm Reply with quote
Hrm, how can I express my sentiments succinctly and effectively...?

DO NOT WANT.
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Jariten
Company Representative


Joined: 08 Oct 2005
Posts: 180
Location: Here and there
PostPosted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 10:31 pm Reply with quote
Makes perfect sense to me, actually. When Kodansha first announced the results to their first int'l manga contest, this particular quote stood out:

Quote:
When I read all the submitted works, what surprised me was that the submissions we received are not as diverse as works for other Japanese manga competitions, even though this is an international competition. Manga includes everything such as superhero comics and European comics etc. Even if the style of the work looks different from manga, it is manga as long as the creator thinks it is manga. Even if the content is unusual for manga, it is manga as long as the readers think it is. In Japan, manga has developed that way.


It's clear that they are looking for manga that doesn't look quite like what we think of as "manga." Felipe Smith's style, while it has its detractors, is a mix of a lot of styles and - if we consider the example of MBQ - is presented in a way that I believe many Japanese audiences will find appealing and cutting edge. In other words, Smith is a perfect fit for Morning 2.

Additionally, if Smith tackles a lot of the same themes he did in MBQ - urban life, subcultures and the like - he'll probably find an audience among a lot of younger Japanese people who aren't what you would call the "typical" manga consumer.
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SharinganEye



Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 402
Location: Les Etats-Unis d'Amérique
PostPosted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:07 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
When I read all the submitted works, what surprised me was that the submissions we received are not as diverse as works for other Japanese manga competitions, even though this is an international competition. Manga includes everything such as superhero comics and European comics etc. Even if the style of the work looks different from manga, it is manga as long as the creator thinks it is manga. Even if the content is unusual for manga, it is manga as long as the readers think it is. In Japan, manga has developed that way.
I'll agree completely on principle, and disagree completely on semantics with this statement.

Manga is a medium, therefore it can be as diverse as the content created for it is. The only limitation to a medium is the constraints imposed by the medium itself, that's it.

"Manga includes everything such as superhero comics and European comics etc. Even if the style of the work looks different from manga, it is manga as long as the creator thinks it is manga. Even if the content is unusual for manga, it is manga as long as the readers think it is."

Yes, that's why we can have works like Monster alongside Angel Densetsu. Manga is not a style, it just has a very recognizable most common denominator "expressions" to it. However, the terminology of "manga" gets muddy here and I personally have a problem with that.

Is this a "manga" contest, or a comic contest hosted in Japan? The motive and intent here is important I think, because I believe they're looking for expressive and unique works that emulate or pay tribute to "manga," otherwise there's no point in calling it an "international manga" contest.

The Japanese can't really have the same paradigm towards manga as we have here, but I'm pretty sure they differentiate between American comics and "manga."

The way the statement was phrased negates any specific value of the term "manga" and renders it the same as comics in the connotative sense.
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slickwataris



Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 1334
Location: Carol Stream, Illinois
PostPosted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:18 pm Reply with quote
I adore MBQ. Hopefully the new series will be published here by Tokyopop or whoever. Felipe hasn't updated his myspace since volume 2, I didn't even know volume 3 was out until a few months ago.
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The Xenos



Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 1519
Location: Boston
PostPosted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 3:37 am Reply with quote
Wow. That is awesome. Congrats to Smith for somehow breaking into the actual manga market and getting published in Japan. I've been meaning to check out this book. A fellow blogger on my blog's site gave it a rave review.

As for the term manga. It's just the Japanese word for what we call 'comics' in English. Manga = Comics. That's it. Not a style. Just "comics in Japan". Dragon Ball is a comic book. We call it by its native name out of respect. And with respect to Mr Smtih here, he's making actual manga in Japan. That's no small feat for a foreigner.

minakichan wrote:
Hrm, how can I express my sentiments succinctly and effectively...?

DO NOT WANT.


Yeah. Can't be having the ethnics making manga. Gotta keep that Japanese heritage pure. Expel the foreigners! Nippon ichi! Rolling Eyes
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Hellfish



Joined: 19 Dec 2007
Posts: 392
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:07 am Reply with quote
This news make me happy!!! Congratulations to Felipe Smith!!! Very Happy
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15573
PostPosted: Fri May 02, 2008 3:16 am Reply with quote
Good luck, Felipe. I hope your Japanese readers like it.
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