Viz has certainly delivered some beloved manga to English-reading audiences in their almost-25-year history, haven’t they? Yesterday’s discussion has certainly reinforced that belief. So, by all means, let us extend warm and gracious thanks for the seinen, the shônen, the shôjo, the josei, the fifth genre, and so on!
And yet…
It would not be Friday if I didn’t at least obliquely express a little dissatisfaction with what’s on our shelves, and Viz co-owners Shueisha and Shogakukan certainly aren’t exempt in terms of onus for rectifying perceived shortcomings. So, instead of adding a new, unlicensed title to the pile, I’ll offer a polite but firm reminder of some of the titles these two publishing giants might consider sending through the Viz pipeline.
Bartender, written by Akari Joh and Illustrated by Kenji Nagatomo, currently serialized in Shueisha’s Super Jump. While I hope Vertical’s release of wine epic Drops of God succeeds for its own sake, I hope one of the side effects is that it helps create a market for intoxicant-driven manga like this one. Sure, it’s great to enjoy a cocktail while reading manga, but it would be even better to enjoy a cocktail while reading manga that’s about cocktails.
The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese, written and illustrated by Setona Mizushiro, originally serialized in Shogakukan’s Judy. If you’re looking for someone who can explain to you why there isn’t more Mizushiro manga available in English, you can just keep on looking, because I am not even remotely equipped to do so. It’s honestly hard to pick just one of Mizushiro’s yet-to-be-licensed works, but I settled on this one to add a little boys’-love spice to the mix.
Gokusen, written and illustrated by Kozueko Morimoto, originally serialized in Shueisha’s You. If assembling The Josei Alphabet has led me to no other conclusion, it’s further convinced me that we need more josei in English. By all accounts, this tale of a math teacher trying to get the delinquents at her all-boys’ school on the right path, is funny and sprightly and could certainly reach a fairly diverse audience.
Hime-Chan’s Ribbon, written and illustrated by Megumi Mizusawa, originally serialized in Shueisha’s Ribon. There are almost certainly more important shôjo titles in both Shogakukan and Shueisha’s catalogs that are crying out for licensing, but this one sounds really adorable, and its accessory-driven storytelling might both catch and support the wave that I hope is created by the re-release of Sailor Moon.
Otherworld Barbara, written and illustrated by Moto Hagio, originally serialized in Shogakukan’s Flowers. I give Viz all the credit in the world for being the first stateside publisher to introduce Hagio’s work to readers, but what have they done for us lately? It’s been a long time since Fantagraphics released A Drunken Dream and Other Stories, and I need a new Hagio fix. This award-winning, four-volume series would do the trick.
Witches, written and illustrated by Daisuke Igarashi, originally serialized in Shogakukan’s IKKI. I love Viz’s SigIKKI initiative, but they desperately need to add another substantial, ongoing series to their roster, and I would love it if that series was Witches, because I can star at Igarashi’s illustrations for hours.
So there are my top six Viz-friendly license requests of the moment. What about you? What Shueisha or Shogakukan titles top your wish lists?
I would just like to say now, that I would buy Gokusen. So there’s one confirmed sale, publishers.
Heartily seconded.
I, too, would buy Gokusen. And Bartender. And The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (which has been on my Want. Now! (Please) list for a loooong time). As long as we’re asking for more Mizushiro, I will add Heartbroken Chocolatier to the list.
Any comic with some variation on “chocolate” in the title that includes actual chocolate is one that I very much want to read, especially if it’s by Mizushiro.
My wife is right there with you in Hime-chan no Ribon and the new reboot of it, Hime-chan no Ribon Colorful. The world need to Ike Ike! Go Go! much more often that it currently does.
I really need to invite your wife to do a guest post or something. We sound like psychic twins.
I think in your list the biggest mystery is Gokusen.. with its popularity, commercial appeal, drama series and movies it inspired, it baffles me why it isn’t licensed yet (then again look how long it took to license Drops of God).
Frankly I’d be overjoyed if someone publishes Paradise Kiss again now that Tokyopop’s gone under and the whole series is out of print. Is it actually possible for another publisher to get the license?
Paradise Kiss is from Shodensha, which doesn’t have any exclusive arrangements with a stateside publisher, so I can’t see why someone couldn’t pick up the license. I would love it if whoever did pick it up gave the book the high-end, glamorous packaging it deserves.
Some of the titles I would love to see licensed:
1. Touch by Mitsuru Adachi, originally serialized in Shogakukan’s Shonen Sunday
2. YAWARA! by Naoki Urasawa, originally serialized in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Spirits
3. Rose of Versailles by Riyoko Ikeda, originally serialized in Shueisha’s Margaret
4. Sakura-Gari by Yuu Watase, originally serialized in Shogakukan’s RINKA
5. Georgie! written by Mann Izawa and illustrated by Yumiko Igarashi, originally serialized in
Shogakukan’s Sho-Comi
6. Kimagure Orange Road by Izumi Matsumoto, originally serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump
If I’d done a dozen instead of six, this pretty much would have been the second half.
I wanted to add more but decided to stick to six. There are a lot of great series that are not licensed.
I read a few chapters of Bartender, and found that I would enjoy it a lot more if I drank. It was beautifully drawn, and well put together, but I got tired of reading about something I have no flipping clue about.
As for my six:
I think I’ll have Kochira up for an honorary mention. I’ve never read it, but a series that has been going on for that long must have something appealing about it.
Zettai Karen Children: And while we’re at it, bring over Takashi Shiina’s Ghost Sweeper Mikami! There’s just something fun about how he actually manages to take three characters that by all accounts are terribly unsympathetic, and actually make them worth reading.
Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple: At least the first major story arc and into the tournament arc. After that things get a bit stagnant, and have to be revived by nipple shots, but the early chapters are absolutely hilarious, and actually manage to pull off the “weakling protagonist” that isn’t easy to do without the readers hating him.
Azumanga Daioh Supplementary Lessons: I might even crack and buy a new omnibus edition if that’s where they get published in.
Beelzebub: Since most of the manga that I love is based on comedy, this one is a must have. And it’s a Jump title, so I’d be surprised if it took much longer for it to come out.
Medaka Box: This one’s just weird, but I enjoy it anyway. Even if it does suddenly switch from school life to battle manga in a perfect real life example of how Bakuman said Manga-ka change the focus to battles if their original idea doesn’t work out. And from then on it’s a self-aware mess that I have a hard time following. But the two lead characters are very compelling, and the only reason I read. Perfect for people that want to read a mary sue lead that works, and like shonen romance done right.
Silver Spoon: It’s Hiromu Arakawa’s newest work, and so far is only four chapters long. But I can already tell that it’ll be worth the investment. Instead of epic storytelling she focuses on a real life story, and it shows that she knows how to tell entertaining stories no matter what the genre.
Something new by Arakawa is an automatic want.
My best wish would be Ryuguden!
Also would love to get Witches, Music of Marie and of course No. 5.
Don’t quite get why they keep publishing things like “Bokurano: Ours” while freezing the No 5.
Ryuguden sound insane, and I would love to see it serialized on SigIKKI.
And yeah, Bokurano is a dud for me. It’s like a dozen mopey revisionist superhero comics I can think of off the top of my head.
“Otherworld Barbara” is my #2 most-lusted-after manga, after Hiroshi Masumura’s “Atagoul.” Fantagraphics would be more likely to publish it than Viz, though, since they have the direct line to Moto Hagio these days. There are a lot of Hagio titles I hope they get to one of these days.
“Witches” is an amazing-looking manga.
Atagoul looks really, really interesting. It seems like something that Drawn & Quarterly might do. (I’m mildly disappointed that the name isn’t a pun on “‘Attagirl,” but with undead characters, but I’m nine years old.)
I love Gokusen. I have the anime, and have seen the movies so many times, that I can repeat dialog. I would die happy to have manga here.
I second that on Otherworld Barbara! The premise sounds so intriguing. Do you think Drunken Dream’s positive reception will mean more Hagio getting released here? Usually I wait and buy my manga used to save money, but when it looks like a work might be serving as a kind of financial barometer to test an artist’s marketability in the United States I’ll spring for a new copy. Maybe good sales of Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths will get us some GeGeGe No Kitaro?
I certainly hope we get more Hagio, and OB seems like a good choice… it’s one of her most recent, it’s only four volumes long, and it was the first manga to win the Japanese equivalent of the Nebula. I’d love for any of her series to get published, though.
I kind of hope Vertical thinks about Kitaro after they’re done with Black Jack. They have a good relationship with Kodansha, and they’re the only reliable purveyor of vintage manga we’ve got left. D&Q is going to publish another Mizuki book, at least, NonNonBa, which took the top prize at Angouleme a couple of years ago.
You’ve hit the nail on one of my favorite non-translated works of all time. Bartender! I am pretty much putting this on a mental list for a “dying to want to read list”. I enjoyed Bartender way more than Drops of God, and actually am surprised that it was never picked up.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that a new wave of booze manga is on the horizon!
Oh no I’m late to the party! T_T
1-2. Jin and Team Medical Dragon – Two medical manga series, but oh so very different. Jin has a neurosurgeon time-traveling to the Edo era; TMD is very much about the issues of modern medicine in Japan. Usually medical stuff is icky for me, but it’s not so bad in black and white.
It’s the sort of title that I think could stand up well to being an annual release due to the format.
3. Cat Street, by Boys Over Flowers Yoko Kamio
4. Chocolate Girl, by Yuki Yoshihara of Butterflies, Flowers. I love her style of goofy, smutty comedy-romance. Similar would be anything by Enjouji Maki (Private Prince, Happy Marriage)
5. Sakura-Gari
6. Oshinbo – Okay, I know they did 6 volumes, but I want more!