Mangaka Whose Works I’d like to see in English

Published September 10, 2020

With the amount of manga that is released in English, it is easy to think that we have access to pretty much everything that Japan has to offer. However, while we have seen the release of many classic manga lately (the release of Rose of Versailles in English is particularly noteworthy), there are still plenty of mangaka whom I’d like to see more of their works released in English.

Speaking of Rose of Versailles, I’d like to see more titles from the Year 24 Group released for English speaking audiences. I’ve mentioned the Year 24 Group before but for those unfamiliar with them, the Year 24 Group are a group of female mangaka who redefined Shojo manga in the 1970s and tackled taboo subjects such as gender and sexuality in their titles. While we have seen titles such as Rose of Versailles, Heart of Thomas, Toward the Terra and more translated, I would love to see their works continue to be released in English.

From Eroica With Love saw only 15 of its 39 volumes released in English.

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How Crowdfunding is Used to Produce Anime

Published September 7, 2020

Crowdfunding has become quite popular in recent years and the anime industry has certainly taken note of this. While I have covered this topic before with regards to manga, I think it might be interesting to see how crowdfunding can be used to produce anime that might not be otherwise created.

Before we begin examining the use of modern crowdfunding for the production of anime, I think it’s noteworthy that the core concept of crowdfunding is not foreign to the production of anime. When I discussed the economics of anime, I pointed out how anime is typically sold for $60 for 4 episodes in Japan (variants of this exist of course but this is the most common). In a sense, with only a few thousand people buying each release, this process is similar to crowdfunding except that the money comes in at the end rather than at the beginning.

The cast of Psycho-Pass 3. — Psycho-Pass 3 was sold for around $100 for a Blu-Ray with only two episodes!

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The Use of Animation for Propaganda

Published September 3, 2020

I recently decided to review the first feature length anime film “Momotaro: Sacred Sailors” which was originally released in 1945 and was funded by the Japanese Naval Ministry. The content of the film sought to portray Japanese imperialism as necessary in the face of Western nations and a good thing for the local populations under occupation (something which is easily disproven). Reviewing this film made me think of the use of other animation for propaganda purposes.

I should start off by defining what propaganda is. Propaganda is defined as “ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one’s cause or to damage an opposing cause” and, while commonly associated with government, can refer to any group who wish to spread their own ideology or discredit their opponents. Designating certain films as “propaganda” can be controversial and I will be trying to stick with examples that are universally recognized as propaganda.

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My Take on the Future of Atlus Ports

Published August 31, 2020

With the massive success of Persona 4 Golden on Steam, Sega and Atlus recently announced that they intend to release more ports of older titles and to put more emphasis on multi-platform releases. While they haven’t specified any titles in particular, this development is fantastic! While I have spoken about the history of Sega PC ports before, I wanted to give my take on the future of Atlus ports.

With the successful re-release of Persona 4 Golden, many are calling for Persona 3 and Persona 5 to be ported to PC and, while I would love to get an opportunity to play these games, I’m not sure they are the best choices to be ported next. I would like to draw particular attention to Persona 3 which has two different versions (technically three versions but I’m leaving out the original release). Both Persona 3 FES and Persona 3 Portable have content that the other version lacks and, ideally, Atlus would have to spend time developing a remaster that includes the extra content of both versions. This would be much more expensive than to simply port one of the titles but a definitive release could then be used for future ports to consoles.

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My Thoughts on Censorship in Manga

Published August 27, 2020

I was recently perusing some anime/manga news sites and came across several articles about censorship with regards to manga. This provoked memories of some manga that I own and read that have featured censorship. However, not all censorship is equal and I intend to give my own thoughts on censorship in manga.

The first thing that I should clarify is that I oppose any censorship that changes the context of the story. I believe that any work of art is entitled to tell the story the way it wants and to have someone besides the creator change that is reprehensible. However, most of the censorship that I’m going to cover here does not change the story and will be judged based on if it affects the reader’s immersion and whether it changes the intent of the scene.

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Anime Films I’d Like to See Released

Published August 24, 2020

The world of anime is truly vast, whether it be for TV or for film. While we have seen anime become very popular throughout the world, many of the releases we see are for relatively recent titles. This is unsurprising, the same principle holds true for most media, but I’d love to see more anime films from throughout anime history released over here (for clarification, I live in Ireland which uses the DVDs and Blu-Rays released by UK distributors).

The film that inspired the topic of this article, Panda and the Magic Serpent, also known as The Tale of the White Serpent, was originally released in Japan in 1958. This film was animated by Toei Animation and is based on the Chinese tale “Legend of the White Snake”. The story follows a character named Xu-Xian who falls in love with Bai-Niang. Believing Bai-Niang to be an evil spirit, a Buddhist priest called Fa-Hai separates them and Xu-Xian’s two pandas set out to find Bai-Niang.

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Anime Cutscenes in Video Games

Published August 20, 2020

I’ve recently been playing (and enjoying) the PC port of Persona 4 Golden. I had previously played the original Persona 4 and was eager to return and see the new additions to the game in the upgraded Golden version. Amongst the many new additions to the game, of which there are many, there are a few new anime cutscenes that have been added to bolster those found in the original game. This made me think about the usage of anime cutscenes in video games and how different they are to regular cutscenes.

Just in case some of you are unfamiliar with the concept of a cutscene, these are typically non-interactive sequences where a scene within the game plays out linearly with many pre-animated elements. An easy comparison to make is to compare these cutscenes to typical linear media such as movies or television and they have received criticism for taking away control from the player. Nonetheless, cutscenes remain a very important aspect of storytelling in video games.

A screenshot of an anime cutscene from Persona 4 Golden.

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Why is Manga Black and White?

Published August 17, 2020

It is always interesting to me how many people are put off by manga because it’s in black and white. When I show people a copy of a manga, they will frown once they realize that all (or most as I will get to later) of the art is monochromatic. After I explain to them that the vast majority of manga is in black and white, they will quite often ask “Why don’t the artists colour their manga?”

While there are a variety of reasons to cover, one of the most noteworthy is that of workload. In contrast to Western comics which often publish about 20-25 pages a month, most manga is released through manga magazines on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis with weekly manga typically 20-25 pages long, biweekly manga 30-35 pages and monthly manga over 50 pages!

An image of the lead characters of Lone Wolf and Cub — Lone Wolf and Cub.

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Pseudonyms in the Anime and Manga Industry

Published August 13, 2020

I recently finished watching the entirety of Lupin the Third Part II, a 155 episode endeavor which secured the Lupin the Third franchise within my heart. When discussing this series, many people draw (too much in my opinion) attention to episode 145 and 155, both of which were directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli fame.

What might interest you though is that if you look at the credits for those episodes, you will see no mention of Hayao Miyazaki. Instead you will see the name “Teruki Tsutomu” listed as the director. This name later turned out to be a pseudonym that Hayao Miyazaki had used while making these episodes. This is not an isolated event with many people who work on anime and manga choosing to use pseudonyms rather than their real names.

Hayao Miyazaki…or should I say Teruki Tsutomu!

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JRPG Recommendations

Published August 10, 2020

I have spoken before of my adoration of Japanese games and I believe that no example of this is greater than my love of JRPGs. However, JRPGs went into a bit of a decline from around the beginning of the 7th generation of consoles and while we have seen the beginnings of a recovery since then, JRPGs remain in an unusual place. In my effort to bring more attention to the genre, I thought it would be worth making a list of recommendations for people who might be looking for some JRPGs to play.

With regards to these titles, it is important to remember that I (as of currently) only play games on PC. All of my recommendations for JRPGs are going to be available on the PC platform but many will also be available on other platforms as well. I am also going to be trying to pick titles that might not be immediately obvious when discussing JRPG recommendations. For this reason, you will not see me recommending Final Fantasy games (I’ve already made a list for those!) or some of the other more recognisable titles.

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