It’s October again, and with the changing temperatures and spooky times come many new things in the world of anime and manga: the fall anime season, conventions, and of course, new releases from VIZ Media. This month we’re talking about NYCC 2022 and some new and old favorite series, including Paru Itagaki’s Drip Drip. But first, the news.
Fall anime season starts
The much-anticipated Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War anime is finally streaming on Hulu in the United States and Disney+ internationally outside Asia, but so is the equally highly anticipated (and more anticipated by me personally) Chainsaw Man anime! With animation by MAPPA, an opening theme by (my favorite) Kenshi Yonezu and a different ending theme for each episode by 12 different musicians (including my other favorite Eve), this adaptation of Tatsuki Fujimoto’s brilliant comic is sure to be a feast for the eyes and ears. Not to mention the second part of Spy x Family’s first season, the sixth season of My Hero Academia, season four of Golden Kamuy, and many, many more anime shows, some based on manga published by VIZ and some not. Exciting stuff!
VIZ Media at NYCC 2022
Though I couldn’t attend NYCC personally this year, VIZ had a grand time at New York Comic Con anyway! The world premiere of the Thousand Year Blood War anime happened at NYCC on Saturday with special guests and a Q and A session, and this year’s VIZ Panel had the creators of the Ultraman manga (Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimuguchi) as special guests! The VIZ booth sold and handed out special con-exclusive merchandise for fans to grab, including items for both flagship favorites like Naruto and newer series like Dandadan. I hope they’ll have some of this stuff at Anime NYC next month too, when I’ll be there!
My Hero Academia Quirk Poll Results
Another month, another shonen manga poll! This poll asked readers which quirk from Class 1-A in My Hero Academia they would most like to have, a list which almost but not quite lines up with the usual popularity poll results for this manga. One for All, the quirk belonging to protagonist Midoriya Izuku, came in first, but fan favorite Bakugo’s Explosion was fourth on the list after Half-cold, Half-hot and Creation. I’d probably go for Creation myself. Which quirk would you want to have?
Speaking of manga, it’s time to talk about…
What I’m Reading
The Shonen Jump Guide to Making Manga
Weekly Shonen Jump Editorial Department
October 18, 2022
I was excited to read this because I am not only a Manga Reviews Editor here at WWAC dot Com, but also a cartoonist who went to two different schools to learn how to make comics. I love how-to books and seeing how people put them together and what they think is important for readers to take away from them. The Shonen Jump Guide to Making Manga promised me in the intro that it’ll have advice for everyone, from beginners to people already well on their way to serialization, and I was not disappointed. A lot of the advice in the beginning of the book was stuff I already knew (“copy stuff you like, analyze what you like and don’t like,” etc) but the last few chapters had some very specific technical advice from working manga professionals, recommending pens and software to make drawing easier. That’s really helpful!
This book is a must-have for any manga fan because it’s packed with interviews with established mangaka about their craft and how they got their start. Tatsuki Fujimoto shares what he wish he’d known when he started drawing, for example. I loved reading about how hard the creators of some of my favorite series worked to get to where they are today. Even if you have no interest in drawing comics yourself, just reading all of these insights is interesting.
Romantic Killer, Volume 1
Wataru Momose
October 4, 2022
I would have enjoyed this comic more if it acknowledged that gay people exist. The premise of Romantic Killer is as follows: To improve Japan’s declining birthrate, magical imp creatures target random teenagers who are more interested in their hobbies than dating and try to get them into heterosexual relationships by engineering romantic comedy-esque scenarios with hot people. Our protagonist Anzu likes video games, chocolate, and her cat more than boys, so the imps take all of these things out of her life and create a series of unfortunate events that leads to her classmate Tsukasa Kazuki living with her for a month in hopes that the forced proximity will make them fall for each other.
So you can see why my first reaction was, “What if the teens you’re pushing together like Barbie dolls are not interested in the opposite gender and never will be? What if Anzu just says she likes women? Will the imp leave her alone then?” But this thought did not seem to cross Anzu’s mind as she protests and argues with her assigned magical imp, and that bothered me a bit.
Other than that, this comic is pretty funny! Anzu is an interesting protagonist, and I love the genre-savvy meta elements of this heteronormative premise. She and Kazuki bounce off each other well. It’s visually appealing, fully colored in bright, cell-shaded rendering that reminds me of a webtoon. It was apparently first published online and in the vertical scroll format, but the panels were rearranged for print seamlessly without the awkward gaps common in the vertical-scroll-to-print transition.
Drip Drip
Paru Itagaki
October 18, 2022
I loved BEASTARS, so I was super excited to read more from Paru Itagaki. Drip Drip, like BEASTARS, is gruesome and horny and weird in ways that make you want to keep reading it all the way through. Mako Higari is an ordinary woman who wants to get laid. Unfortunately, she gets a horrible nosebleed any time she touches something that is not 100% clean and sterilized. The graphic novel chronicles her interactions with several different men who disappoint her, with a bonus short story at the end about a sex worker hired by Santa Claus.
Honestly, the way Paru Itagaki draws humans reminds me a little of 9 Chickweed Lane. But I can get past it because her storytelling is incredible and her lines and figures have a sense of energy to them that is entirely unique to her alone. Even though Mako’s situation and background is so entirely alien to me, it’s easy to sympathize with her simple desire to love and be loved, especially when her attempts to get that love meet bloodsoaked ends. Probably the most seasonally appropriate title I’m covering this month!
That’s all I’ve got for you this month. Tune in next month for more news, reviews, and Anime NYC coverage! Happy halloween!
