Forum - View topicTaiyo Matsumoto
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smoochy
 Posts: 367 Location: Texas |
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I really enjoyed Black and White, Blue Spring was decent, so I have good feeling about No. 5, but is it worth my time and money?
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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If you feel like going for two volumes of an incomplete series in English (its completed in Japan at eight volumes), then go for it. Though, I do wonder if Viz intends on bringing more of his stuff over or even picking up .No. 5 again since they have their Signature line out. Phoenix is going to be wrapping up next year. Likewise with The Drifting Classroom, Golgo 13, and Monster in 2008. We can count on them continuing to put out Vagabond as Inoue puts out new material, and 20th Century Boys is going to be out after Monster. I would think that Viz has enough respect for their fans not to have only two manga being delivered, so would it be possible for them to bring over some other works by previously favored manga-ka (Iou Kuroda, Taiyo Matsumoto, Hideo Yamamoto, Naoki Yamamoto, etc.). It might be too much of a stretch, but it is quite possible. |
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smoochy
Posts: 367 Location: Texas |
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[quote="HellKorn"][quote="smoochy"]I really enjoyed Black and White, Blue Spring was decent, so I have good feeling about No. 5, but is it worth my time and money?[/quote]
If you feel like going for two volumes of an incomplete series in English (its completed in Japan at eight volumes), then go for it. Though, I do wonder if Viz intends on bringing more of his stuff over or even picking up [i].No. 5[/i] again since they have their Signature line out. [i]Phoenix[/i] is going to be wrapping up next year. Likewise with [i]The Drifting Classroom[/i], [i]Golgo 13[/i], and [i]Monster[/i] in 2008. We can count on them continuing to put out [i]Vagabond[/i] as Inoue puts out new material, and [i]20th Century Boys[/i] is going to be out after [i]Monster[/i]. I would think that Viz has enough respect for their fans not to have only two manga being delivered, so would it be possible for them to bring over some other works by previously favored manga-ka (Iou Kuroda, Taiyo Matsumoto, Hideo Yamamoto, Naoki Yamamoto, etc.). I would kill for more localizations of Iou Kuroda. It might be too much of a stretch, but it is quite possible.[/quote] |
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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I don't; they've never shown the kind of willingness to address the issues and concerns of their readers that companies like Tokyopop have in the past, and I doubt they'll make an exception for something like No.5. I'm guessing that Blue Spring was a test to see how well Matsumoto's style would sell in the new market (which was stupid since that's pretty much his most inaccessible work I've read, and probobly on the lower end of quality for his works), and since its been nearly two years since that came out I'm guessing that they weren't impressed with the sales. The Signature line seems to be intended for more classic manga (Phoenix, Drifting Classroom) and mainstream-oriented seinen (Monster, Vagabond) as opposed to what PULP was, so I don't think we'll be seeing anything from IKKI any time soon. Its a real shame (especially after how well Sexy Voice was recieved last year), but hopefully I'm wrong about the matter. As for No.5, I'd say go for it. Both volumes read very well on their own and could be appriciated without finishing the entire series thanks to Matsumoto's amazing storytelling. It isn't as good as Black and White, but its still an amazingly fun read. |
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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To be fair, it's pretty much better than most of the manga out there in English.
I'd certainly agreed, but you also have to consider that in some form or another the majority of the titles picked up were by manga-ka who had previous works licensed by Viz. I know that Urasawa had Pineapple Army way back when (though, Monster was licensed for other reasons, most likely), Umezu had Orochi: Blood which was released incomplete. The manga-ka of Golgo 13 (name escapes me) also had some form of work if I recall correctly, and while Vagabond and Phoenix are simply continuations of the Editor's Choice line, Phoenix was picked up after Viz had, in some form, released Adolf. Is there a lot of reason to believe that the current Viz will actually pay attention to the manga fans who want more mature and intellectual content? No, but I'd say that some of the manga by previous licensed works under the same manga-ka is possible (though, the likelihood of Homunculus getting licensed by Viz is pretty much nill), and Viz has been known to bring over some very good surprises now and then in recent years (Saikano, Sexy Voice and Robo, etc.). |
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smoochy
Posts: 367 Location: Texas |
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[quote="HellKorn"][quote="Kagemusha"]I'm guessing that Blue Spring was a test to see how well Matsumoto's style would sell in the new market (which was stupid since that's pretty much his most inaccessible work I've read, and probobly on the lower end of quality for his works),[/quote]
To be fair, it's pretty much better than most of the manga out there in English. [quote]The Signature line seems to be intended for more classic manga (Phoenix, Drifting Classroom) and mainstream-oriented seinen (Monster, Vagabond) as opposed to what PULP was, so I don't think we'll be seeing anything from IKKI any time soon.[/quote] I'd certainly agreed, but you also have to consider that in some form or another the majority of the titles picked up were by manga-ka who had previous works licensed by Viz. I know that Urasawa had [i]Pineapple Army[/i] way back when (though, [i]Monster[/i] was licensed for other reasons, most likely), Umezu had [i]Orochi: Blood[/i] which was released incomplete. The manga-ka of [i]Golgo 13[/i] (name escapes me) also had some form of work if I recall correctly, and while [i]Vagabond[/i] and [i]Phoenix[/i] are simply continuations of the Editor's Choice line, [i]Phoenix[/i] was picked up after Viz had, in some form, released [i]Adolf[/i]. Is there a lot of reason to believe that the current Viz will actually pay attention to the manga fans who want more mature and intellectual content? No, but I'd say that some of the manga by previous licensed works under the same manga-ka is possible (though, the likelihood of [i]Homunculus[/i] getting licensed by Viz is pretty much nill), and Viz has been known to bring over some very good surprises now and then in recent years ([i]Saikano[/i], [i]Sexy Voice and Robo[/i], etc.).[/quote] I would love to see Homonculus picked up, but I doubt his last works published over here, Voyeur and Voyeurs Inc, did well at all. |
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jgreen
 Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Well, they may run out of material from the "Golgo 13's Greatest Hits"-type series they're running now, but they have 40+ years worth of Golgo 13 stories to keep right on printing for decades if they want to. We'll see, I suppose.
Wow, I didn't even connect that "Pineapple Army" and "Monster" were from the same creator. I loooooved "PA," too. Neat! By the way, smoochy, you seem to have the "Disable BBCode in this post" box permanently checked, because none of the formatting you put on your posts works, we just see the code for it. You should probably fix that. |
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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Considering that Voyeurs, Inc. was cancelled after three volumes of its eleven volumes were put out, I'd say that's a safe bet. Of course, Viz could pull out a miracle and license Homunculus in addition to a revival of No. 5, but that's just me spouting crap that'll probably never happen.
Eh, I'm just going to assume that Viz doesn't want to take that chance with putting out "new" Golgo 13 manga for... well, until they run out of business, probably.
Well... 1) That quote belongs to yours truly, not smoochy. [/Obligatory nit-picking.] 2) Urasawa only did the art, as far as I'm aware. It also didn't turn out to be an argument over the creative work like Master Keaton was. |
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jgreen
Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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True, but if it's selling enough to make any sort of profit at all, it'd be foolish of them to stop when they aren't out of material.
Well, you credited a quote from one of my posts to yourself in another thread, so I'd say we're even. 
You are correct! I had forgotten that part. It was written by Kazuya Kudo, who also wrote another early Viz release, Mai the Psychic Girl (probably how they secured the license for PA, I'd imagine). |
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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The thing is they've sold their Golgo release as a "best of" series, and I suspect that many of the people who are buying it are doing so because of this. I don't think there are enough hardcore fans to warrent trying to undertake publishing the rest of it.
Just to nitpick, Viz really doesn't have to secure any licences (unless they go for non-Shogakukan titles), especially back then when they were just starting out. Kudo was a popular writer at the time (Mai sold very well back in the day, and they kept in in print for a while if I remember correctly) and they figured that they could replicate that success with PA (of course, early Urawasa art is much less appealing that Ikegami art...) |
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Darrenm
Posts: 37 Location: Canada, Alberta |
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I was looking into getting Black & White, but after reading Blue Spring...I'm not too sure.
I was looking forward to reading Blue Spring (cover looked strange, the theme sounded interesting), but I finished reading it a few days ago and thought was absolutely horrendous. I think I'd be safe in saying that this was quite possibly the worst manga to ever grace my shelves (300~ books at last count). I thought it was completely pointless, poorly written, and had no redeeming value whatsoever - is Black & White really worth picking up if I hated some of his other work? |
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Cloe
Moderator
 Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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Oh my God, please don't use Blue Spring as a gauge for Taiyo Matsumoto's talent. Black & White is much better than Blue Spring and, as Kagemusha mentioned earlier, more accessible. Black & White is superior in that it has real heart, which Blue Spring lacks (when I think the characterization in the Blue Spring movie is better than in the original manga, I know there's something wrong). Definitely give Black & White a chance. I guarantee it won't disappoint. (Then make sure to go and see the anime.) |
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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Well if you seriously think that Blue Spring was "poorly written" I'm going to guess that you don't read many progressive seinen titles, which is where I'd classify virtually all of Matsumoto's work. Admittingly Blue Spring is more complex and subtle than most of his other works, and people don't like it because it simply isn't about plot or even characters. B&W is more enjoyable on a surface level and it certainly is a more accesable title. Here are some reviews of all three volumes. |
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jgreen
Posts: 1325 Location: St. Louis, MO |
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Well, I can't imagine them publishing "the rest of it," as that's an ungodly amount of manga, but I can imagine them continuing the "greatest hits" series if the sales warrant it. I doubt many fans pay so much attention that they'd know "Oh, this is the end of what the Japanese termed the 'greatest hits' stuff" and, as long as the quality stays up (and how could it not? It's Duke Togo!) people will likely keep buying it. They could eke out at least a few more volumes, even if they don't publish the whole series.
Man, everybody is using the word "nitpick" when they reply to my posts. This is getting depressing.... 
Anyway, I know that Viz had an "in" with Shogakukan back then, but just because they were part of the same company didn't mean that they got a blank check to license ANYTHING Shogakukan had. After all, Viz was a teensy weensy branch of the company back then...I'm sure some money had to exchange hands to the manga creators, and things like "Well, we did your last series and it sold well enough to make you X dollars" probably greased the wheels. But I'm not sure how all that worked back then. And MtPG WAS out of print for a while. Viz originally released it in 1986 in single issue form, then collected it into 4 trades in...oh, probably '87 or '88 that were slim releases (maybe 150-175 pgs long) with dust jackets. These books fell completely out of print (as did the trades for Legend of Kamui and Urusei Yatsura) until '96 or '97 when they started to issue the much thicker (250-300 pg) "Perfect Collections."
I haven't read Blue Spring, but I enjoyed Black & White quite a bit. It has interesting characters and plenty of "redeeming values." Don't pass it up just because you didn't like Blue Spring...not every series from a creator can be a winner. |
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smoochy
Posts: 367 Location: Texas |
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On the subject of the Signature line, I wonder how well thats been doing for them. I've really been pleased with what they've done with it, but I don't know how well it does. I've sort of seen it as a side project they do with the money they make off of ultra popular series such as Naruto, Bleach, and Fullmetal Alchemist. |
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