Forum - View topicUnderground/Art/Alternative Manga Discussion Thread
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Highway Star
 Posts: 227 Location: Ireland |
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There's a new Taiyo Matsumoto book out in English? Christ, I've been living under a boulder never mind rocks...
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barbapapa
 Posts: 224 Location: Belgium |
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get itttttttt
also: I've been reading Peepo Choo (only the 3rd book left to go) and it is as bonkers as it is a unique social commentary about the reverence of other cultures. Everyone who isn't afraid of a hefty amount of (good natured) explicitness should get it right away. |
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Bonham
 Posts: 419 Location: NYC |
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The last volume of Children of the Sea came out two and a half years in English! Skimming the fourth volume and reading the inside plot synopses were definitely needed. Still fairly easy to pick it up again, as the book as never had a dense plot.
The first half of the final volume is basically a showcase for Igarashi's art. Everything in the series has built up to this point, so when spoiler[you have the birth of countless lives and galaxies, with the MASSIVE amount of sea life arriving for the event, it just leaves you slack-jawed. There are some truly beautiful composed panels, and when Umi's transformation is stunning.] The book isn't completely tied up in a neat little bow. Wouldn't expect it to—the idea that spoiler[this spectacle has happened numerous times before—and will in the future—shows how, despite its magnificence, it is just another episode in the universe, just as it is in Ruka's life.] And so one of the best manga released in English comes to an end. I really hope Viz goes after Igarashi's other works, particularly Witches. Even moreso than Children of the Sea, that manga is very similar to The Sandman for its love of myths and storytelling. It's short—two volumes that could be potentially released as one massive omnibus in English—so I'd love to see Viz license it. |
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osakaedo
Posts: 66 |
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Good week for indie works...
Panorama Island from Suehiro Maruo / Last Gasp - enterbrain! Fluffy Gigolo Pelu from Junko Mizuno / Last Gasp - enterbrain! Wolfsmund part 1 from Mitsuhisa Kuji / Vertical - enterbrain! strange coincidence that all three are from enterbrain! Only one is from their alt/cult magazine fellows (that's Wolfsmund). |
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GSam
Posts: 14 |
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Well I just read through all 82 pages. Spent the last couple of months raiding the local public library for manga I can't find elsewhere. I find it somewhat surprising that a thread like this exists somewhere. (Is there anything else I should be following?) It's pretty hard to talk about obscure and alternative manga.
Read Ax, Tatsumi's works, Taniguchi Jiro's, Shigeru Mizuki's, Drunken Dream, A Single Match, La Quinta Camera and Not Simple and just finished Korea as Viewed by 12 Creators which I'm surprised has been read by people here. I don't think I saw anyone mention Red Snow though. Amazing collection of short stories. It has a great mix of thought provoking and humourous elements and probably one of my favourites out of the stuff I've read lately. Currently working on Children of the Sea, since I got all the volumes out. I really must look ridiculous carrying like 15 books of manga every month of so out of the library. |
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Bonham
Posts: 419 Location: NYC |
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Not a lot of activity recently! A lot of the regulars seem to be off elsewhere, and I know I've been busy with a load of stuff.
I was able to read The Strange Tale of Panorama Island recently, as well as Vertical's edition of Helter Skelter. Panorama Island is a really fun read. There's really not much else beyond its premise—literally, spoiler[the story doesn't go much beyond the actual tour of the protagonist's island, with the ending covering his spectacular suicide—]but the pleasures are in the details, such as when the protagonist digs up his look-a-like's corpse. It's a nice ride with some fantastic art. I hadn't read anything by Maruo before, but his work here strikes me as a more grotesque Taniguchi. Helter Skelter is still batshit crazy. It's picking on an easy target—pop culture and the fashion industry can be terrible and self-destructive! People love the new thing!—but I don't know how common such overt social criticism was in the '90s, particularly for josei manga. Regardless, its strengths lie more in its depiction of its mentally-deranged protagonist. Liliko exists as a pitiable creature despite no real moments of sentimentality—the closest the manga gets to that is a meeting with her sister, but even that is nothing more than a passing moment. It's a very vicious, angry story with self-interested characters looking to survive in circumstances partially out of their own creation, but also by the system they almost reluctantly involves themselves in, going through the motions of photoshoots, interviews and fabricated gossip. There's an almost incidental arc with the detective who may or may not be tied to Liliko in a metaphysical way. This sorta comes together in very Lynchian montages in the last couple chapters, but it's a mystery whose purpose and resolution is never really clarified. Which I'm fine. The story is straightforward on its own, so these unhinged visions fit the kind of subjective decline Liliko experiences. I also read the 68th volume of One Piece, and am now even closer to reading nearly 700 chapters of one single series. |
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Highway Star
Posts: 227 Location: Ireland |
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Just picked up the Naoki Urasawa-drawn Pineapple Army volume Viz put out yonks ago, seems to be in great nick and got it for less than twenty euro! I've been wanting to get my mitts on it since seeing an ad for it in some old back-issue. Anyone any opinions on it?
I thought you were on about some manga at first! Five years worth a' reading in it - someone should compile it into a book, haha!
I don't really frequent manga boards anymore, but I haven't quite found anything like this thread since it was started. Nothing that's remained active at least.
Wasn't there endless delays with Korea? I haven't even read it myself, how does it weigh up to Japan? Was Red Snow one of the more recent Gekiga collections D&Q put out? |
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GSam
Posts: 14 |
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I actually thought it was better than Japan's collection. There was just something about the overall flow which was really lacking in the Japanese version. I think that was more to do with some of the French authors' arbitrary kind of recounts, but I guess I can't really fault them since they were only in Japan for such a short amount of time. On the other hand, some of the French stories were actually really nice. I think it just lacked a lot of creativity. I really enjoyed reading Korea's version, nearly start to finish. It was good and different. They definitely chose an interesting story to start with and to end with and it had more of a sense of continuity. Red Snow been out for something like 3 or 4 years so I suppose you can call that somewhat recent. Just finished reading A Zoo in Winter by Jiro Taniguchi and Emerald by Hiroaki Samura. I thought out of the two I would enjoy Emerald more, but it turned out a little lacklustre. A Zoo in Winter really caught me by surprise. Despite being able to really get immersed into the characters of Taniguchi's stories, this one had a really personal touch. I really would like to know how much of this is actually part of Taniguchi's history. |
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Highway Star
Posts: 227 Location: Ireland |
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Quick heads-up, PictureBox are closing for good and with the 50% sale across the site this may be your last chance to pick up some Osamu Tezuka, Yuuichi Yokoyama, Seeichi Hayashi and other odd manga things before they go crazy OOP and overpriced!;
http://www.pictureboxinc.com/blogs/pbox-world/2013/12/02/massive-50-off-sale/ |
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racebit
Posts: 23 |
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I can't believe it. There are very few alternative manga coming out in english these days, unlike french editions. Topshelf is listing Cigarette Girl and AX vol 2 for several years now, but it seems we will never see it. PictureBox just started a very promising series: "Masters of Alternative Manga" with the vol 1 from Seiichi Hayashi with a quality large edition. And now when I was anxious for the next releases on the series, the publisher closes?!?! How worse can it get?!? |
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GSam
Posts: 14 |
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Pretty sad times for alternative manga with PictureBox bowing out. Ordering a few things while the sale still lasts.
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The Mad Manga Massacre
Posts: 1166 |
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I'm super excited! Only a few months until What did you eat yesterday?, Nijigahara Holograph, and Insufficient Direction are released!
 I've especially been wanting to read What did you eat yesterday? for ages now. I'm a huge Fumi Yoshinaga fan so it'll be great seeing more of her work over here.
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osakaedo
Posts: 66 |
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Hope you picked up PINK as we are not sure if that'll get a reprint. And we are down to 200 copies. |
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The Mad Manga Massacre
Posts: 1166 |
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Actually I got it for my birthday as well as Helter Skelter for Christmas. I've already read it. It was easily my favorite manga of 2013. |
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The Mad Manga Massacre
Posts: 1166 |
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Also, this seems to have slipped under everyone's radar but I found more of Gengoroh Tagame's manga for sale on Amazon with one already out but not in stock and another which is due out in March at least according to Amazon.
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