I decided it would be good to have a topic to discuss the various works of the mangaka genius Naoki Urasawa.
I'd talk about how much I love Monster and 20th Century Boys, but I'm sure its obvious to everyone how awesome those are. I do plan to read all of his other works when I have the time to get around to them, though.
Anyways, I was thinking of checking out the 20th Century Boys live-action films. I'm not even sure if they are licensed in North America, though, and if they are I'd have to hope that they are easily attainable online.
They are.
And I need to read Billy Bat.
The films are actually pretty good and close to the manga. They moved one part to the prologue, but it doesn't really ruin anything, it just makes it more interesting.
Quote from: Dr. Insomniac on February 17, 2012, 05:56:42 PMAnd I need to read Billy Bat.
Wait until it's done.
This is easily his most confusing (but
interesting) manga so far, the rate at which it comes out is way too sluggish to keep up with, you'll constantly forget what was going on. But make no mistake, it's really interesting.
I personally consider Urasawa to be one of the greatest storytellers that has ever worked in the medium of sequential art. This statement may sound hyperbolic, but I honestly can't think of any work I've read by the man that I didn't find to be brilliant.
So, yes, you could say I'm a fan of his.
As for Billy Bat, I'm thorn between following the Doctor's advice and put it on hold or keep reading it whenever it updates. Sure, the former is probably for the best, but I need my fix, damn it.
Yeah, I can't imagine reading Urasawa's works in installments and regular intervals. As brilliant of a writer and story-teller as he is, his works are clearly meant to be read in large chunks at a time, in quick succession, much like a novel. Each chapter of his material is so dense and so packed with details that if you wait too long between chapters you'll end up forgetting a lot of key points and losing track of the story and characters. Also, having read both Monster and 20th Century Boys, I can very well say that it would have driven me insane having to wait for each individual chapter to be released with how intense those stories got later on down the line. It got to the point where I would start reading one volume only intending to read a few chapters, and then before I knew it I had already read 4 or 5 entire volumes before I realized I needed to eat or sleep or perform some other necessary life function, as that's pretty much the only thing that could ever pull me away from the trance that I'm in when I'm reading his stories. This is also a good reason for why I have decided to never start reading any of his works in the middle of my university semester.
I think that in the case of Billy Bat, I'll take Desensitized's advice. Since I haven't actually started reading it yet, it'll be easy to avoid doing so. However if I was already in the middle of it my temptation would be far too high with each release for me to wait for a bunch of chapters to pile up at once. Plus, I still have a number of his notably shorter (but still brilliant, I'm sure) works to read, so I'll probably hit those up before I get to his latest work. I've been meaning to tackle Pluto for a long time, now, so once my spring break rolls around I'll probably plow through that series within the course of the week that I have off.
This is perhaps a bit off-topic, but I've been reading two of Osamu Tezuka's more serious works lately: Adolf and Ode to Kirihito respectively and while Urasawa has never made the fact that he's a huge admirer of Tezuka (Pluto is after all, Urasawa's own take on the World's Strongest Robot storyline from Astro Boy) the influence the God of Manga has had on Urasawa really shines through in these two works.
Speaking of Tezuka I need to read MW. After all, I heard that it's villain was the inspiration for that depraved monster, Johan Liebert, so he's bound to be an interesting bad guy.
Admittedly I'm not very familiar with the works of Osamu Tezuka. I'm sure they are classics and that I would enjoy them, but I've never quite gotten around to reading any of them except for some bits and pieces of Black Jack (which I find to be pretty excellent, so I know that the guy was one of the most talented mangaka who ever lived....you know, as if creating manga and anime itself wasn't enough to go on his track record :sly: ). Perhaps during the summer I'll see if I can look into some of his classic works.
Anyone check out Yawara (his entry in the rom-com genre)?
It's basically a better version of Happy!, a similar story he did.
It's cute, and a pretty fun story, all told.
To be honest, I really haven't read any of his shorter series. I really need to get on that. Actually, I still need to continue reading Pluto. I only ever read the first few chapters of that manga.
D'oh 20th Century Boys live action chapter 1 is in the "Saved" section of Netflix.
Even when it has plot elements that have been done before in action movies, his stuff is still compelling to read. I find myself eagerly turning pages, then giving it a rest and then re-reading the chapter.
Viz is going to be releasing omnibuses (omnibi?) of the Monster manga. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-08-10/viz-media-to-release-ranma-anime-on-bd/dvd :)
Hells Yeah! I'm glad they aren't wasting their rights to the manga while they still have 'em, unlike what they did with the anime. Damn Viz, with this and those Ranma 1/2 omnibuses, you're going to bleed me dry! ;)
Quote from: Foggle on August 10, 2013, 01:03:48 PM
Viz is going to be releasing omnibuses (omnibi?) of the Monster manga. http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-08-10/viz-media-to-release-ranma-anime-on-bd/dvd :)
Only two volumes per, but I'll take it. Nine volumes over eighteen will always be preferable.
Now if only we could get a complete series DVD set.
Oh yeah, I did finally get around to finishing 20th Century Boys (and 21st).
I watched the second live-action adaptation for 20th Century Boys; it starts from teenage Kanna's story and goes through to the start of 3 FE. They got a lot of the character looks and scenes spot on, especially with the lead girls Kanna and Kyoko and their expressions. Slight tweaks in the storyline (Kanna and Kyoko go to Friend Land together, and a tweaking of fate of Yamane and Friend).
Viz plans to release the Master Keaton manga under the Viz Signature label this december. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-03-04/viz-media-adds-naoki-urasawa-master-keaton)
Interesting. I wonder if they'll put out Master Keaton Remaster when they are done? Though, I wonder why Billy Bat hasn't been licensed already? They must be waiting for it to end first.
I know someone who's in Japan now and found the complete Monster manga in a set, translated to English, for dirt cheap.
Sadly I couldn't convince her to pick up a copy for me, since I don't know her in person and she has so much stuff she's taking home with her, but damn.
Are you sure it was official? I wouldn't be surprised if it was, but even so I wouldn't expect it to be "dirt cheap." Cool if it's the real deal though.
I'm satisfied we're getting omnibus re-releases anyway. They'll be affordable enough, especially over the two or so years it'll take all of 'em to get out. I hope Viz'll do the same with 20th Century Boys sometime as well.
Quote from: Cartoon X on March 04, 2014, 06:39:33 PM
Are you sure it was official? I wouldn't be surprised if it was, but even so I wouldn't expect it to be "dirt cheap." Cool if it's the real deal though.
I dunno.
When do the omnibuses come out, anyway?
They start coming out this July. New volumes will be released every three months.
The first two Monster omnibi (http://www.rightstuf.com/cgi-bin/catalogmgr/JhwqpuV8TMyAm0zlBd/browse/item/101533/4/0/0) are now available to pre-order on Rightstuf (http://www.rightstuf.com/cgi-bin/catalogmgr/JhwqpuV8TMyAm0zlBd/browse/item/102054/4/0/0).
The official street date for the release of the first omnibus is July 15th.
Will be preordering.
Only $15?
I gotta hit this up.
The first volume of Master Keaton is now available to pre-order on Rightstuf. (http://www.rightstuf.com/1-800-338-6827/catalogmgr/7mE7Nisa2N0gKG=4pe/browse/item/102668/4/0/0)
Judging from the page count, it seems like they'll be combining two volumes into one a la what Kodansha is doing with Vinland Saga, which works for me just fine since the release of the series will be completed faster.
As part of their weekly Manga Mondays, today you can pre-order the first Monster omnibus from Barnes and Noble for only $9.99. (http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/manga-mondays/379003497) This is $5 cheaper than Rightstuf's price, so if you're planning on buying the Monster omnibi, it'd be good to hit up this offer before the end of the day.
I actually just used that!
I was going to buy it at my local B&N anyway, so why not take up the chance to get it half-priced?
I was going to use it, but for some reason I can't complete the order and no reason is given.
Oh well, typical.
Okay, amazon.ca has all three first volumes for preorder. I'll go for them and get free shipping.
Went ahead and placed my order.
Man, with this, JoJo's rerelease, and all the superhero comics I'm reading, I'm going to have one packed shelf soon.
I have to say, by the way, those covers for the perfect editions are awesome.
I'd post them here, but I think they'd be too big.
I just got my copy of the first Perfect Edition.
If you haven't collected the manga yet, this is the edition to get. Viz went all out on the design and page quality and at two volumes per edition, you get a lot of content. As well they should as this is, in my opinion, the best manga ever.
Mine should be coming by tomorrow. I'd expect the page quality is as good as the Ranma omnibuses, if not better. The covers are easily cooler looking than Ranma's, so I have no reason to think otherwise.
Master Keaton will no doubt receive a likewise quality release come December.
Got my copy today as well. It's a really well done print. Love the design of it all.
I have mine too! I'll start reading it tonight.
I just finished reading the set, and I feel like I'm in love with the story all over again. Can not wait for the next volume.
It ends at a really good point. Just that touch of hope to get you waiting for the next volume.
In case anyone wants to know, the last chapter in this volume is the soldier and the little girl. It ends just as Tenma begins his quest to find Johan and leaves behind his old life.
Yeah, such a great chapter. It's a good sampling of the positive touch Tenma hands out to many of the people he meets on the way in the story.
I get that manga stories like this aren't action-packed or, well, Kawaii enough for most western fans, but it's such a great story that I hope it catches on this time.
I really want to get myself a copy of this omnibus addition, but right now I just don't have the funds for it, unfortunately. That said, my local library has the entire manga, so I can re-crease the series any time that I want to, and you guys are certainly tempting me to do so, but before that I want to catch up with Vagabond and at least start Vinland Saga.
I also want to re-read Pluto, but I have the desire to read Astro Boy before that, however since it's too hard for me to find the volumes of the manga (and it would be too expensive to collect, anyways), that probably won't be for a while. I still also have to check out some of Urasawa's other series, like Master Keaton, Happy, and Billy Bat, among others. I just have way too much manga on my backlog.
Quote from: Avaitor on July 21, 2014, 12:35:55 PM
I get that manga stories like this aren't action-packed or, well, Kawaii enough for most western fans, but it's such a great story that I hope it catches on this time.
The first three volumes of this new edition seem to be top-selling manga for Rightstuf so far, so it seems it just might. ;)
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 21, 2014, 12:58:18 PM
I also want to re-read Pluto, but I have the desire to read Astro Boy before that, however since it's too hard for me to find the volumes of the manga (and it would be too expensive to collect, anyways), that probably won't be for a while.
Your library doesn't have
any volumes? :( Well, the omnibus editions start coming out in October, so the series won't be out of print/unnecessarily expensive to collect for long.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on July 21, 2014, 12:58:18 PM
I still also have to check out some of Urasawa's other series, like Master Keaton, Happy, and Billy Bat, among others. I just have way too much manga on my backlog.
As far as
Master Keaton goes, there are only about 30 or so chapters scanned, so you might as well wait until Viz's release of the manga starts coming out in December.
I need to read Urasawa's other works too. I started his first manga,
Yawara, a while ago but kinda lost interested in it. Urasawa is just a much better mystery/thriller writer than he is a comedy writer, from what I could see. But, I only read, like, 20 chapters of it and it's a 29 volume series, so I'll give it another go. But as far as his works go, I'm much more interested in getting caught up on
Billy Bat before it returns from it's hiatus in October, which I'll probably do once I plow though a few things first.
Well EK, if the current plan to release a new set every 3 months is still prevalent, you might get a chance to obtain the first 2 volumes for your birthday. ;)
Quote from: Avaitor on July 21, 2014, 02:22:41 PM
Well EK, if the current plan to release a new set every 3 months is still prevalent, you might get a chance to obtain the first 2 volumes for your birthday. ;)
:joy:
Wow, there's actually a lot of stuff that I want which is coming out around my birthday. Volume 2 of Monster, season 2 of Courage. season 1 of Rick and Morty... I hope I get some birthday money this year.
I recommend skipping Happy! unless you want your blood pressure raised after every chapter. It's such an aggravating read.
I'm a big fan of the omnibus format, but I'm not the biggest collector of manga, still. Rurouni Kenshin, Trigun, and Urasawa are pretty much all that's on my list. Though there are other series like Planetes and Bakuman that I do eventually want to get to.
Unless of course AnJ gets licensed. :)
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on July 21, 2014, 04:33:32 PM
I'm a big fan of the omnibus format, but I'm not the biggest collector of manga, still. Rurouni Kenshin, Trigun, and Urasawa are pretty much all that's on my list.
Not thinking about collecting
Vinland Saga? I love the designs of the books and the fact that they are hardcovers, myself. The bonus stuff like Yukimura's manga about the Shinsengumi, short comics about Ylfa, historical notes, etc. are nice additions too.
It'd be nice if
Planetes got a re-release of similar quality, since the manga is out of print now. Maybe if
Vinland Saga keeps selling well for Kodansha they'll consider re-licensing it.
My manga collection has grown like 30X times in the past year, somehow. Considering that I'm keeping up with quite a few releases, like the
Monster,
Vinland Saga, and
Ranma 1/2 omnibi, it's probably just going to keep getting bigger. :sweat:
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on July 21, 2014, 04:33:32 PM
Unless of course AnJ gets licensed. :)
I'd love it if AnJ, and Asao Takamori's other works, get licensed someday. Though, I feel the only way it could was if it was a digital only deal through something like Crunchyroll manga, a la their classic Takao Saito manga selection. It seems that unless it was written by Osamu Tezuka, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, or Shigeru Mizuki, old classic manga titles won't ever get licensed for print releases in the west. :(
Oh, I'll get Vinland Saga eventually, but I've got a lot on my list right now. If they get omnibus releases of 20th Century Boys and Pluto then I'll really have my work cut out for me.
I do want to collect those Viz Big editions of Rurouni Kenshin and Dragon Ball, myself.
If AnJ were to ever get licensed and released in the states (which would be amazing, so naturally it's never going to actually happen), I'd love it if instead of releasing all 20 volumes individually, they instead opted to publish bigger books containing 2 volumes each.
I'm hoping to try to collect 20CB, Pluto, Kenshin, and maybe Death Note in the near future, myself. Maybe Black Jack, as well.
But my money goes all over the place, so I just haven't had too much dough for manga. I had to make an exception for Monster, though. ;)
Perfect Edition volume 4 and 5 appear to be up from preorder to which I already did. 4 is out in April and 5 is out in June, so that's a ways off.
Meanwhile my volume 3 just shipped.
I actually have a B&N gift card with more or less exactly how much volume 3 will cost, which I got after trading in a book I didn't want for Christmas. So now I don't even have to pay for it.
Can't wait!
I do like the way the volumes for the omnibuses have been set up so far. The first volume was the entire introduction and start of the story up to Tenma leaving to find Johan, and the second contained the entire Neo-Nazi plot. The third shows the consequences of the earlier stories while also leading up to the beginning of the Munich arc. Since volume 4 should contain most of Munich, it should be ripping as well.
I wish more manga had omnibuses.
The way the volumes pair together all works out pretty well. I guess 2 in 1's were the way to go with the series after all!
Which manga in particular would you like to see omnibus editions of?
Quote from: Cartoon X on February 23, 2015, 11:00:47 PMWhich manga in particular would you like to see omnibus editions of?
I guess saying "all of them" would be cheating? ;)
Bakuman, Slam Dunk, and REAL would be nice since the authors' other works are in that format. Other Urasawa stuff like Pluto and 20th Century Boys, too. As for unlicensed stuff, well, obviously Ashita no Joe (ten volumes is an easier sell than twenty, I think) would be at the top of the list.
Ashita no Joe was compiled from its original 20 volumes into 12 in Japan. Perhaps if someone could license it and translate those volumes, we'd have the perfect collectable version of it available.
Of course that'll never happen, but I would totally buy the series if it was available in English.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on February 23, 2015, 11:28:11 PM
Ashita no Joe was compiled from its original 20 volumes into 12 in Japan. Perhaps if someone could license it and translate those volumes, we'd have the perfect collectable version of it available.
Of course that'll never happen, but I would totally buy the series if it was available in English.
If someone would kickstart it, I know I'd throw some money in. But then, I don't know if there would be enough interest from modern anime/manga fans for it.
Takamori and Chiba don't have the name recognition status of Tezuka, so it probably wouldn't get funded.
For what it's worth, though, AnJ has slowly but steadily been gaining popularity among scan readers. It may eventually build up a dedicated cult fan-base over a few more years, enough for a publisher like Viz to take notice. It's way too much of a long shot, though.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on February 23, 2015, 11:21:31 PM
Bakuman, Slam Dunk, and REAL would be nice since the authors' other works are in that format. Other Urasawa stuff like Pluto and 20th Century Boys, too.
Yeah, I think all those would be great. I'd especially love to see one for SD, even if that's the most unlikely to happen among what you've listed.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on February 23, 2015, 11:37:41 PM
Takamori and Chiba don't have the name recognition status of Tezuka, so it probably wouldn't get funded.
For what it's worth, though, AnJ has slowly but steadily been gaining popularity among scan readers. It may eventually build up a dedicated cult fan-base over a few more years, enough for a publisher like Viz to take notice. It's way too much of a long shot, though.
Even Tezuka's name isn't enough to get his stuff funded sometimes, if that mega kickstarter and the current
Alabaster kickstarter are any indication... :imnothappy:
If AnJ were to be licensed for a print release, it would probably have to be Kodansha, Vertical, or DMP. Kodansha and Vertical are focused on more modern stuff, and DMP would probably not be enthused about licensing a long non-Tezuka series when that mega-Kickstarter failed, so all of them seem like long shots to me. It could get a digital translation, maybe released Crunchyroll Manga, since they are interested in getting more diverse and classic titles in addition to new ones (their affiliation with Kodansha also helps). That seems like the most likely bet to me.
As far as the anime goes, at least AnJ2, that seems more possible to me with the releases of a lot of older anime titles lately like
Space Adventure Cobra and
Mazinger Z. I could see Nozomi or Eastern Star trying to do it sometime.
My biggest wish is for Viz to release the Kanzeban versions of
Urusei Yatsura and
Maison Ikkoku after their done with the
Ranma 1/2 omnibi. That would collect those series in 15 and 10 volumes respectively, which would be perfect. But the UY manga failed twice here and MI was never a big seller either, so I know it's probably not going to happen.
I think the one series that I would like to see an omnibus edition of soon and has a decent chance of happening would be
Detective Conan. That series is just so unbelievably long, and being able to collect it in a third of the amount of volumes would be so much easier.
I'm still holding out for some kind of omnibus release of 20th Century Boys, like the one avaiable in France (http://www.amazon.fr/20th-century-boys-Deluxe-Vol-1/dp/2809440131). It's the main reason I haven't started buying up the volumes.
Quote from: The Shadow Gentleman on February 24, 2015, 09:58:23 AM
I'm still holding out for some kind of omnibus release of 20th Century Boys, like the one avaiable in France (http://www.amazon.fr/20th-century-boys-Deluxe-Vol-1/dp/2809440131). It's the main reason I haven't started buying up the volumes.
They could very easily do it after Monster is done. In fact, I kind of expect it. Since it will be awhile until Billy Bat is done and they can release it, they gotta keep Urasawa fresh in the public mind. So what better way than with omnibus releases of 20th Century Boys and Pluto next?
Volume 4 of Monster came out this week. Do you guys have it yet? I just picked it up, myself, but I won't get around to reading it until I finish my full read-through of Leiber's Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories.
Mine was delivered over a week ago. I haven't read it yet since I send all my anime/manga orders to my house, not my residence hall, so I won't get to read it until May.
Mine should be shipping tomorrow.
Urasawa will be hosting a new show that will give "a behind-the scenes look at the lives and works of popular manga artists." (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2015/08/24-1/naoki-urasawas-manben-program-coming-to-nhk-in-september) The first four episodes will be about the following mangaka:
9/4 - Akiko Higashimura (Princess Jellyfish, Kakukaku Shikajika, etc.)
9/11 - Kazuhiro Fujita (Ushio & Tora, Karakuri Circus, etc.)
9/18 - Inio Asano (Solanin, Oyasumi Pun Pun, etc.)
9/25 - Takao Saito (Golgo 13, Japan Sinks, etc.)
...Holy shit do I want to watch this. I wish Crunchyroll would sub it, because it'll be a fascinating look at various mangaka and the industry, for sure. Especially when the host is Urasawa and the debut episodes are featuring mangaka of that caliber, hot damn.
I will be looking out for the Fujita episode...
Now that sounds interesting. It would be perfect for Crunchyroll.
Holy shit that's amazing. :joy:
Some obvious ones I'd like to see should he get the chance:
Akira Toriyama, Eiichiro Oda, Nobuhiro Watsuki, Takehiko Inoue, ONE, Yoshihiro Togashi, Mitsuru Adachi, Makoto Yukimura, Kentarou Miura, Takeshi Obata (since Ohba is very secretive, I'd think only one of them is likely), Makoto Raiku, and Yasuhiro Nightow most of all. That might be a long list, but I'm pretty sure there would be a lot of good stuff to hear from them.
Definitely! I'd also love to see Hirohiko Araki, Yusei Matsui, Kiyohiko Azuma, Tsutomu Nihei, Kaori Mori, Miki Yoshikawa, Yoshiki Nakamura, Yumi Tamura, Mocoyo Anno, Kyoko Okazaki, Ai Yazawa (especially if we can learn why it's taking her so long to resume Nana), and of course (as you'd expect of me) Rumiko Takahashi. Hell, I'd even be interesting in seeing Kishimoto, and even Mashima in spite of how much I hate FT, just for the heck of it. Just getting a peak into the lives and histories of various different and eclectic mangaka is really interesting and exciting to me.
I'd even watch one of Tite Kubo just for shits and giggles.
But the only one that nobody mentioned that I want to see is Naoki Urasawa hosting an episode about himself and his life as a mangaka.
Also, while it's physically impossible, if they ever invented a time machine, an episode about Osamu Tezuka would be the best thing ever.
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 24, 2015, 05:57:13 PM
But the only one that nobody mentioned that I want to see is Naoki Urasawa hosting an episode about himself and his life as a mangaka.
I assumed that was a given. In fact, I'm expecting that'll be the very last episode. ;)
Buronson, Tetsuo Hara (I assumed he was a lot older than he is, if not dead. That's a bad habit of mine.), Yoshiki Takaya, Keisuke Itagaki and Kazuo Koike (I really thought he was dead. Age is about right though :thinkin: Unfortunately, Goseki Kojima has in fact passed...) are the handful of guys I can think of out of all the mangaka that have not been named yet.
Quote from: Cartoon X on August 24, 2015, 06:05:27 PM
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 24, 2015, 05:57:13 PM
But the only one that nobody mentioned that I want to see is Naoki Urasawa hosting an episode about himself and his life as a mangaka.
I assumed that was a given. In fact, I'm expecting that'll be the very last episode. ;)
Natch. Of course I'd like to see that.
Heck, I'd probably watch it if it was about anybody. It sounds like it would quite the show for a manga fan.
A couple more:
-George Morikawa: I'd love to hear about what it's like to have been writing HnI for over 25 years now, and all while he's still going. There have been far longer manga, of course, but it'd still make for a good episode.
-Tetsuya Chiba: Granted that I don't think that he's worked on anything major in a while, but since Takamori passed away over 25 years ago, Chiba is the other half of the brains behind my favorite manga/comic book series ever. That, and he's done other notable works throughout his career. Sure, I didn't like the Matsutaro anime, but I'm not holding that against Chiba at all since I haven't actually read any of his manga, and also because Toei Animation is a terrible studio that could fuck up anything (look at how badly they messed up Sailor Moon and BOG, just for recent examples). However, an episode about him can help me learn more about what else he's done in his career as a mangaka.
I don't have anything to add that you guys haven't already brought up. Damn!
Actually, nobody mentioned Rikdo Koshi, yet. Come on, guys, Foggle would be disappointed in you. :D
Quote from: Dr. Ensatsu-ken on August 24, 2015, 08:56:27 PM
Actually, nobody mentioned Rikdo Koshi, yet. Come on, guys, Foggle would be disappointed in you. :D
:thumbup:
Slipped my mind, but I was going to. I wonder if there's a possibility of this including Light Novel authors, too . . .
I doubt it. Despite both being popular mediums for anime adaptations, being a mangaka and being a light novel author are very different professions, and are seen as such by both people into either one of them as well as by fans of either medium.
It'd be like if a show that looks into the lives of various movie directors all of a sudden did an episode about a TV-exclusive episode director. It just doesn't fit in with the theme.
I thumbs up whenever someone says Foggle is disappointing as well!
Spotlight article! (http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-feature/2015/11/15-1/feature-monthly-mangaka-spotlight-5-naoki-urasawa)
Some choice quotes:
QuoteLike many who find their way into the manga industry, Urasawa knew he wanted to be a mangaka from a young age. As early as five years old, he was drawing and copying the work of Osamu Tezuka, who, along with the french artist Moebius, would become his greatest artistic influences.
QuoteIt was almost by chance that he ultimately got into the industry, an editor asking him to work with them after seeing some of Urasawa's art. It was less than a year later that Urasawa, at the age of 21, was first published.
QuoteIn addition to his artistic influences in Tezuka and Moebius, two individuals have played a major part in Urasawa's success over the course of his career. The first is Takashi Nagasaki, referred to as his collaborator, editor, and "Urasawa's brain" in turn, he has been credited on Urasawa's work since Monster and been present even longer to aid in the creative process.
QuoteBob Dylan's music motivated Urasawa during the lowest point in his career, driving him to continue diligently working on Happy! even when the manga recieved tremendous criticism.
QuoteYawara! was so popular that, when the Japanese Ryoko Tamura won the silver medal in Women's Judo at the Barcelona Olympics, she was widely referred to as "Yawara-chan".
QuoteThe authorship of the Master Keaton was recently called into question when Urasawa, originally credited as the artist, claimed the author, Hajime Kimura—writing under the pseudonym Hokusei Katsushika—had stopped working on the series and left Urasawa to both write and illustrate the manga.
QuoteUrasawa has described 20th Century Boys as somewhat autobiographical, with Kenji acting as his avatar in the series. The rebelliousness of Kenji's rock persona against a world headed toward disaster reflect Urasawa's personal disappointment in stagnant modern era compared with the cultural revolution he experienced as a child in the Post-War Era.
QuoteWhile his assistants assist him with many aspects of his illustrative work, he works primarily on gesture and faces. He obsesses over creating the perfect expressions, attempting to convey a variety of emotions are ultimately enigmatic. His explanation for this decision is simply that expressions should not be simple because people are not simple.
QuoteDespite all his sucess, Urasawa shows no signs of slowing down, aspiring to one day make a work equal to that of Osamu Tezuka's masterpiece Pheonix.
But by all means read it for yourself. He's had quite the career so far. They really try to oversell Happy, though. It's never been popular and will probably always remain his least popular work.
Billy Bat has entered its last arc. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-01-07/billy-bat-manga-enters-final-story-arc/.97290)
It might be time to begin reading, or restarting, soon.
Found his episode with Kazuhiro Fujita. (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3y7htn)
Would have been nice if someone like Crunchyroll would have picked it up, though.
I'm reminded that I still have to watch these. :sweat: Gotta get on that this weekend. Especially the Higashimura, Asano, Saito, Hagio, and Fujita episodes.
Just noticed that the video lists spoilers for Ushio & Tora and minor ones for Karakuri Circus, so beware when watching! I think I might save this for when U&T anime finishes.
He's got a new series on the way in 2017. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2016-10-30/20th-century-boys-monster-naoki-urasawa-launches-new-series-in-2017/.108288)
I'm not sure why Kodansha hasn't announced Billy Bat for release yet. It's a bit absurd, really. This makes me hope his next series is not with Kodansha.
EDIT: Next time I should read the whole article. His next series is with Shogakukan again. This means Viz can license his new series. It doesn't help Billy Bat out much, though.
His new series is called Mujirushi and is starting on October 20th. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2017-10-05/naoki-urasawa-new-manga-title-revealed-as-mujirushi/.122239)
Meanwhile, still waiting on news of a 20CB re-release or a Billy Bat license for NA.
Quote from: Spark Of Spirit on October 05, 2017, 09:24:55 AM
His new series is called Mujirushi and is starting on October 20th. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/daily-briefs/2017-10-05/naoki-urasawa-new-manga-title-revealed-as-mujirushi/.122239)
Meanwhile, still waiting on news of a 20CB re-release or a Billy Bat license for NA.
I'm starting to think a big reason why Billy Bat still hasn't been licensed by Kodansha USA is that it doesn't have a digital release in Japan, and their current release model revolves around digital. That being said, it shouldn't stop Vertical or Seven Seas from getting it (which I'm sure they'd jump on). Viz is done with Master Keaton, so their shouldn't be any "one new series at a time" rule preventing Billy Bat from coming over here.
Well speak of the devil, Viz is doing a new release of 20th Century Boys! (https://twitter.com/vizmedia/status/916060890985877505)
Was just about to post this! Hot dog!
This is exactly what I was hoping for.
Hell to the yeah!
Aw yeah, Urasawa in HARDCOVER baby! Excellent news! ;D
Mujirushi is going to be a short series. (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-10-19/naoki-urasawa-new-mujirushi-manga-is-collaboration-with-paris-louvre-museum/.122923)
So probably around the length of Pluto.
Scans for the first chapter of Mujirushi came out today, and a certain reference at the end of it was great. :lol:
It's hard to tell where this series will go based solely on this chapter, but since it's Urasawa, I'm sure it will be an interesting read.
I don't think that character's appearance is just a reference. I think this is actually supposed to be a spinoff manga to a certain classic manga series. And I have to say, I certainly wasn't expecting Urasawa to ever write a manga about THAT character!