"Hikaru Shindo is like any sixth-grader in Japan: a pretty normal school boy with a two-tone head of hair and a penchant for antics. One day, he finds an old bloodstained Go board in his grandfather's attic-- and that's when things get really interesting. Trapped inside the Go board is Fujiwara-no-Sai, the ghost of an ancient Go master who taught the strategically complex board game to the Emperor of Japan many centuries ago."--Cover of v. 1.
Is Moritaka and Akito’s newest rival also their greatest fan?! The duo is asked to judge a manga contest and the best entry reminds them of their own creations. But who is this mysterious new artist and what are his controversial methods of creating manga? -- VIZ Media
Everybody has a dream, and for Shô Kazamatsuri, that dream is simple: he wants to be the best soccer player he can possibly be. He's the spirited leader of the Josui Junior High team and everyone looks up to him. In turn, he tries to keep the team together at any cost! Shô makes some headway in his quest for a new technique that will make him an awesome forward and set him apart from his rival Takashi. Then, some of the players are shocked and confused when Coach Obanazawa removes them from the game after they've made some fantastic moves. What is going to happen in this crucial game that will determine who makes it to the elite team?!
HOW DO YOU SOLVE A PROBLEM LIKE SHINICHI? On the other side of a wormhole connected to Japan is a fantasy world called the Holy Eldant Empire. A guy named Shinichi is the general manager of Amutech, a company established to foster cultural exchange thereâotaku culture, that is! Lately, Shinichi has gone back to his old shut-in ways becauseâwell, if youâd been through what he has, wouldnât you? Minoriâs trying everything she can to get him to come out of his cave, but in the meantime, the world outside the mansion is⦠under existential threat?! Shinichiâs not the only one with a tale to tell, though: everyoneâs favorite cross-dresser Hikaru and the lizardman couple Brooke and Cerise also feature in the second Outbreak Company short story collection!
Once upon a time, one had to read Japanese in order to enjoy manga. Today manga has become a global phenomenon, attracting audiences in North America, Europe, Africa, and Australia. The style has become so popular, in fact, that in the US and UK publishers are appropriating the manga style in a variety of print material, resulting in the birth of harlequin mangas which combine popular romance fiction titles with manga aesthetics. Comic publishers such as Dark Horse and DC Comics are translating Japanese "classics", like Akira, into English. And of course it wasn't long before Shakespeare received the manga treatment. So what is manga? Manga roughly translates as "whimsical pictures" and its long history can be traced all the way back to picture books of eighteenth century Japan. Today, it comes in two basic forms: anthology magazines (such as Shukan Shonen Jampu) that contain several serials and manga 'books' (tankobon) that collect long-running serials from the anthologies and reprint them in one volume. The anthologies contain several serials, generally appear weekly and are so thick, up to 800 pages, that they are colloquially known as phone books. Sold at newspaper stands and in convenience stores, they often attract crowds of people who gather to read their favorite magazine. Containing sections addressing the manga industry on an international scale, the different genres, formats and artists, as well the fans themselves, Manga: An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives is an important collection of essays by an international cast of scholars, experts, and fans, and provides a one-stop resource for all those who want to learn more about manga, as well as for anybody teaching a course on the subject.
Hikaru ignores Sai's pleas to let him play go, and then one day Sai vanishes! Is he mad at Hikaru? Where has he gone? Will he ever come back? And will Hikaru be able to play without Sai's coaching...? -- VIZ Media
Appropriate for any public library collection, this book provides a comprehensive readers' advisory guide for Japanese manga and anime, Korean manhwa, and Chinese manhua. Japanese manga and anime, Korean manhwa, and Chinese manhua are Asian graphic novels and animated films that have gained great popularity in the last ten years and now are found in most public library collections. Mostly Manga: A Genre Guide to Popular Manga, Manhwa, Manhua, and Anime is the first readers' advisory guide to focus on this important body of literature. This guide provides information on all of the major manga and anime formats and genres, covering publications from the early 1990s to the present. It identifies important titles historically and provides a broad representation of what is available in each format. Selected major titles are described in detail, covering the general plot as well as grade level and pertinent awards. The author also discusses common issues related to manga and anime, such as terminology, content and ratings, and censorship.
Manga and anime (illustrated serial novels and animated films) are highly influential Japanese entertainment media that boast tremendous domestic consumption as well as worldwide distribution and an international audience. Drawing on Tradition examines religious aspects of the culture of manga and anime production and consumption through a methodological synthesis of narrative and visual analysis, history, and ethnography. Rather than merely describing the incidence of religions such as Buddhism or Shinto in these media, Jolyon Baraka Thomas shows that authors and audiences create and re-create “religious frames of mind” through their imaginative and ritualized interactions with illustrated worlds. Manga and anime therefore not only contribute to familiarity with traditional religious doctrines and imagery, but also allow authors, directors, and audiences to modify and elaborate upon such traditional tropes, sometimes creating hitherto unforeseen religious ideas and practices. The book takes play seriously by highlighting these recursive relationships between recreation and religion, emphasizing throughout the double sense of play as entertainment and play as adulteration (i.e., the whimsical or parodic representation of religious figures, doctrines, and imagery). Building on recent developments in academic studies of manga and anime—as well as on recent advances in the study of religion as related to art and film—Thomas demonstrates that the specific aesthetic qualities and industrial dispositions of manga and anime invite practices of rendition and reception that can and do influence the ways that religious institutions and lay authors have attempted to captivate new audiences. Drawing on Tradition will appeal to both the dilettante and the specialist: Fans and self-professed otaku will find an engaging academic perspective on often overlooked facets of the media and culture of manga and anime, while scholars and students of religion will discover a fresh approach to the complicated relationships between religion and visual media, religion and quotidian practice, and the putative differences between “traditional” and “new” religions.