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NEWS: Wandering Son Manga Named on ALA's Rainbow List for Children & Teens




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Monster in a box



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 671
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 4:35 pm Reply with quote
Wandering Son is awesome, but nobody anywhere cares about it. It's really disappointing. I couldn't even find it while I was in Tokyo. (granted, I didn't look SUPER HARD, but generic looking moe stuff was everywhere) I'm amazed it's even still being localized.
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The Mad Manga Massacre



Joined: 15 Jul 2009
Posts: 1166
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 4:36 pm Reply with quote
Well that's good news! It's a shame this franchise isn't more popular. It's so well done.
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Ryu Shoji



Joined: 15 Jul 2009
Posts: 671
Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 5:25 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Manga chosen for list of works with gay, lesbian, bisexual, transexual, & queer themes in 3rd straight year

Not going to lie, the wording of this sentence made me giggle xD.

Anyways, I do love Wandering Son. It's an absolutely brilliant series.
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FenixFiesta



Joined: 22 Apr 2013
Posts: 2581
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 7:00 pm Reply with quote
Monster in a box wrote:
Wandering Son is awesome, but nobody anywhere cares about it. It's really disappointing. I couldn't even find it while I was in Tokyo. (granted, I didn't look SUPER HARD, but generic looking moe stuff was everywhere) I'm amazed it's even still being localized.

I am not surprised it isn't covering shelves in Tokyo because the series greatest strength and weakness is that it tells the story from a slice of life manner without overtly presenting the concept of transgender issues.
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Juno016



Joined: 09 Jan 2012
Posts: 2377
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 9:56 pm Reply with quote
FenixFiesta wrote:
Monster in a box wrote:
Wandering Son is awesome, but nobody anywhere cares about it. It's really disappointing. I couldn't even find it while I was in Tokyo. (granted, I didn't look SUPER HARD, but generic looking moe stuff was everywhere) I'm amazed it's even still being localized.

I am not surprised it isn't covering shelves in Tokyo because the series greatest strength and weakness is that it tells the story from a slice of life manner without overtly presenting the concept of transgender issues.


Unfortunately, it was NOT a manga that was projected to sell a lot in the first place, as it was serialized in a magazine (コミックビーム, "Comic Beam") that already doesn't have a lot of circulation in Japan. As such, it was mostly able to continue being serialized because they didn't need to print or sell a lot to make a profit off of it. The magazine is mostly about passion projects, anyway. It's where you get non-moe artistic romance from most of the time, and I have two issues of it myself (2001, before Hourou Musuko was released in it). Inside the front cover of both, the magazine proclaims itself as a "niche magazine for artists!" and it has a few pages of art tips, as well as some essays about topics that some of the serialized manga cover and what the authors feel about releasing their works.

I do not know how Thermae Romae got popular out of that magazine, though. From what I hear, the manga didn't sell well until after the movie came out, and then the mangaka complained about not earning a good fraction of the royalties she could have. Hourou Musuko got an anime, but I'm not sure how that happened, either. I'm sure it was one of the more popular works out of the magazine (maybe? I'm just assuming), but it most likely wasn't meant to be a clear seller, even after the anime aired.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15279
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 10:14 pm Reply with quote
Juno:
Quote:
I do not know how Thermae Romae got popular out of that magazine, though.


Thermae Romae got popular, because hot springs are unique to Japanese culture.
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Juno016



Joined: 09 Jan 2012
Posts: 2377
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 11:31 pm Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
Juno:
Quote:
I do not know how Thermae Romae got popular out of that magazine, though.


Thermae Romae got popular, because hot springs are unique to Japanese culture.


...That does not exactly explain its popularity, but... okay... O.o;
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15279
PostPosted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 11:47 pm Reply with quote
Juno: It's an everyday thing for them, so they relate to it better.
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Juno016



Joined: 09 Jan 2012
Posts: 2377
PostPosted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 12:51 am Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
Juno: It's an everyday thing for them, so they relate to it better.


A lot of stuff in a lot of manga is an everyday/historically unique thing for them, yet that doesn't guarantee good sales, especially from a manga that isn't even widely available enough to gain popularity through just its content anyway.

I'm pretty sure it was the movie. Once the movie came out (with Abe Hiroshi, no less), it most likely led to a sky-rocket in manga sales. The content simply helped people find interest in it. Otherwise, no one would have even noticed it and/or it wouldn't even be available to them in the first place. Now, at least, they sell the tankouban in the stores throughout Japan.
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TsunaReborn!



Joined: 08 Sep 2012
Posts: 4713
Location: Cheltenham UK
PostPosted: Sun Feb 02, 2014 2:02 pm Reply with quote
This is easily one of my favourite series and I just hope the series gets it's fully run in the western world.
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Dop.L



Joined: 23 Mar 2007
Posts: 713
Location: London
PostPosted: Mon Feb 03, 2014 5:26 pm Reply with quote
It's a brilliant manga, and I really do hope Fantagraphics are able to see it through to the end (even if it does take them until 2020).
It is pretty much the only manga I've ever seen to depict transgendered people as people, not as comic side characters or 'traps'.
The anime was marvellous, too.
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