I can’t believe January’s over! How are we into February already? Didn’t 2016 just start? Yikes. At any rate, a new month means new manga news. Katsucon is next weekend, so I wonder if we’ll hear anything interesting?
Speaking of cons, SDCC announced nominees for the 2016 Will Eisner Hall of Fame earlier this week. The list includes many well-known American cartoonists such as Rube Goldberg, Edward Gorey, and Matt Groening, but it also features the prolific mangaka, Rumiko Takahashi! I don’t know if it’s true that she’s the top-selling female manga creator of all time, but it wouldn’t surprise me, given the popularity of Ranma 1/2 and Inuyasha.
In more somber news, fans and fellow contemporaries of mangaka Shigeru Mizuki gathered to bid farewell to the legendary creator, who passed away late last year. Looking at the list of names of attendees is like reading a who’s who guide; among the guests were Go Nagai (Cutie Honey), Takao Saito (Golgo 13), and Natsuhiko Kyogoku (who wrote the original novel that Mouryou no Hako is based on). You can just see how beloved Mizuki was.
In yet another sign that Japanese companies are moving toward digital platforms, manga creator duo Akira Himekawa announced that their new series, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, would be distributed via mobile devices in Japan. Details are still sparse about the project itself, but I’m really interested in this new initiative. Are we going to see more manga titles made available exclusively on mobile devices? I’m currently trying out LINE, a manhwa/webtoon app. There are a couple of titles that are exclusive to the app–such as the spin-off prequel to the ultra-popular Noblesse.
It’s early in the year, so I haven’t been seeing much licensing news, but VIZ announced that they were rescuing Judas from licensing limbo. Judas was previously published by TOKYOPOP. I think this is an interesting choice because I always assumed that Judas was a relatively obscure title. I hadn’t even realized people were clamoring for its rescue from limbo! But what I think is noteworthy is that VIZ is releasing the manga digitally. Maybe this is a sign of things to come?
And that’s all for this week. See you next time!
