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Friday, 28 February 2014

Japanese Comic Ranking, February 10-16

Japanese Comic Ranking, February 10-16

posted on 2014-02-19 18:16 EST
Say "I love you"., L・DK, GintamaMaid Sama!, Taiyō no Ie top chart

RankTitleEst.
Weekly
Copies
Est.
Total
Copies
Release DatePublisher
AuthorHighest
Rank
Weeks
on List
1Suki-tte Ii na yo(Say "I love you".) 12116,362116,3622014/02Kodansha
Kanae Hazuki11
2L・DK 1467,78367,7832014/02Kodansha
Ayu Watanabe21
3Gintama 5366,292269,6382014/02Shueisha
Hideaki Sorachi12
4Shokugeki no Sōma 661,408249,2782014/02Shueisha
Original Work:Yūto Tsukuda / Art: Shun Saeki / Collaboration:Yuki Morisaki22
5Maid Sama! 1843,905134,5622014/02Hakusensha
Hiro Fujiwara32
6Taiyō no Ie 1039,45239,4522014/02Kodansha
Taamo61
7Dōse Mō Nigerarenai 637,12237,5402014/02Shogakukan
Kazumi Kazui71
8Yozakura Quartet1535,15869,9602014/02Kodansha
Suzuhito Yasuda82
9Baltzar Militarismus 632,65046,4512014/02Shinchosha
Michitsune Nakajima92
10Mahōka Kōkō no Yūtōsei 331,03362,1742014/02Kadokawa
Art: Yuu Mori / Original Work: Tsutomu Sato / Character Design: Kana Ishida92
11Dakaretai Otoko 1-kurai ni Odosareteimasu.30,76130,9832014/02Libre Shuppan
Hashigo Sakurabi111
12Chūgaku Yome Nikki 329,10829,1082014/02Kadokawa
Jun'ichi Inoue121
13Pupa 525,81032,4502014/02Earth Star Entertainment
Sayaka Mogi132
14Sankaku Mado no Sotogawa wa Yoru 124,71824,7182014/02Libre Shuppan
Tomoko Yamashita141
15Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū 523,38244,1662014/02Kodansha
Haruko Kumota152
16Tsugumomo 1222,50022,5002014/02Futabasha
Hamada Yoshikadu161
17Magi 2022,150582,9422014/01Shogakukan
Shinobu Ohtaka15
18Oboreru Knife 1722,09222,0922014/02Kodansha
George Asakura181
19Attack on Titan1222,0011,512,7032013/12Kodansha
Hajime Isayama111
20Hozuki no Reitetsu 120,931460,6852011/05Kodansha
Natsumi Eguchi2071
21flat 820,28820,2882014/02Mag Garden
Natsu Aogiri211
22Hozuki no Reitetsu 219,036402,4192011/08Kodansha
Natsumi Eguchi2261
23Abnormal-kei Joshi 218,78925,2642014/02Flex Comics
Jūichi Sanada232
24Detective Conan8218,582463,5622014/01Shogakukan
Gosho Aoyama25
25Sakamoto desu ga? 218,114841,1592013/11Kadokawa
Nami Sano114
26Black Butler 1817,714552,0392014/01Square Enix
Yana Toboso15
27Sakamoto desu ga? 117,6701,201,2242013/01Enterbrain
Nami Sano857
28Midara na Nettagyo 116,88417,0572014/02Shogakukan
Miyuki Kitagawa281
29Hozuki no Reitetsu 316,827373,0902011/11Kodansha
Natsumi Eguchi2948
30Gin Ban Ki Shi 316,51516,5152014/02Kodansha
Yayoi Ogawa301
31Attack on Titan1116,3101,713,6042013/08Kodansha
Hajime Isayama128
32Koi dano Ai dano716,23158,5652014/02Hakusensha
Ririko Tsujita52
33Triage X 816,21736,0982014/02Kadokawa
Shoji Sato262
34Hozuki no Reitetsu 416,025356,0762012/02Kodansha
Natsumi Eguchi1235
35Romantica Clock415,87015,8702014/02Shueisha
Yōko Maki351
36World Trigger 415,56476,3792014/02Shueisha
Daisuke Ashihara42
37Angel Trumpet 415,53615,7602014/02Shogakukan
Michiyo Akaishi371
38Maido! Super Radical Gag Family 1015,49326,8062014/02Akita Shoten
Kenji Hamaoka382
39Psychometrer 1215,37837,5082014/02Kodansha
Story: Yuma Ando / Art:Masashi Asaki182
40Hozuki no Reitetsu 514,940346,8162012/05Kodansha
Natsumi Eguchi624
41Giant Killing 3014,927283,4012014/01Kodansha
Story: Masaya Tsunamoto / Art:Tsujitomo14
42Magi: Sinbad no Bōken 214,925317,1702014/01Shogakukan
Original Work:Shinobu Ohtaka / Art: Yoshifumi Ōtera85
43Shōjo Nozaki-kun414,760205,4852014/01Square Enix
Izumi Tsubaki54
44CRASH! 1614,69314,6932014/02Shueisha
Yuka Fujiwara441
45O.B. 114,44514,4452014/02Akaneshinsha
Asumiko Nakamura451
46Neko Pitcher 114,31318,1532014/02Chuokoron-Shinsha
Kenji Sonishi462
47Attack on Titan1014,1612,148,1612013/04Kodansha
Hajime Isayama145
48O.B. 214,08914,0892014/02Akaneshinsha
Asumiko Nakamura481
49Attack on Titan 913,8822,171,5952012/12Kodansha
Hajime Isayama363
50Hozuki no Reitetsu 613,588328,2462012/08Kodansha
Natsumi Eguchi720

Tuesday, 25 February 2014

Mangaka Suggests Kill la Kill May Be Plagiarized

Interest
Mangaka Suggests Kill la Kill May Be Plagiarized

posted on 2014-01-06 16:00 EST by Eric Stimson
Manga artist Hiroyuki Ooshima accuses Kill la Kill of plagiarism

The recent anime Kill la Kill by Studio Trigger has won popularity for its violent interpretation of school politics and clothes-based combat system. But recent murmurs among the Japanese online fan community suggest that its concept may not be so unique after all.
Over a decade ago, Hiroyuki Ooshima and Daisuke Ihara teamed up to create Gakuen Noise("Campus Noise"), a boarding school fighting manga published in Monthly Zero Sum, a magazine aimed at women. Ooshima has since moved on to work in the French comics industry, but fans have pointed out a number of similarities between Gakuen Noise and Kill la KillGakuen Noise is set in a boarding school so large it functions almost like a town. Kill la Kill is set at a massive school that towers over a sprawling shantytown. Both schools are ruled by an authoritarian student council that tightly restricts its students' freedoms. Both star a hot-headed transfer student who bucks the rules and smears the student council — in Gakuen Noise, by calling the school's supposed freedom "pig's freedom." Dan Hanagata, the lead character in Gakuen Noise, seeks the truth behind a close friend's death and bears his red scarf as a memento. Ryuko Matoi of Kill la Kill is looking for her father's murderer and carries a red scissor blade as a memento. Both get into a series of fights with the student council.
Although Ooshima now lives in France, his friends alerted him to the controversy and sent him a Kill la Kill trailer. He was not pleased, to say the least. In a long blog post from December 31, he claimed to have "PTSD-like symptoms" until the day before. He admits that he has been inspired by other works as well (in particular, the manga of Sanpei Shirato), and claims that other authors have appropriated from his works, but says "all their works were full of originality and can't be compared to Kill la Kill, and I don't think of complaining about them." He also compares the controversy to the Kimba - Lion Kingcontroversy and claims that the similarities are even more glaring. He speculates that the animators thought they could get away with it because he lives in France, the original work is old and relatively obscure. He accuses the animators of being bereft in "literacy and morals" and wonders whether Kill la Kill can even be called a "work."
Gakuen's other creator, Daisuke Ihara, had a more mild reaction. His blog post has a more amused tone, and although he sees many similarities in Kill la Kill to his work, he says it is "not plagiarism. Plagiarism is tracing the pictures and completely mimicking the story development." He points out that Kill la Kill's story is different and seems to be heading in a different direction than his "likeGurren-Lagann did."
Ihara has more recently been involved with a manga named Akuto - ACT -, and it shows similarities toKill la Kill as well. ACT involves transforming clothes, in this case bomber jackets, while Kill la Kill focuses more on school uniforms — although its heroine also wears a bomber jackets. ACT also features a protagonist seeking the truth behind his friend's death. Ihara also posted this drawing on his blog of a character from ACT named An Haritsuka, a transvestite boy:
... then compares it to the Kill la Kill character named Nui Harime:
... and says, "If as the Internet says, she turns out to be a he, I wonder if our manga is one of the old manga like Otoko-gumi and Blazing Transfer Student used as reference by the Kill la Kill production team." He goes on to request that no one get angry over it.
Gakuen Noise is now available to read in Japanese on J-Comi, so feel free to click through it and see how much it screams "Kill la Kill" to you!

Saturday, 22 February 2014

Yuko - a Japanese who came to Germany to become Mangaka

YUKO - a japanese who came to germany to become mangaka

Interview with Yuko Wagatsuma

Mangaka.de:
Hello Yuko. Would you like to introduce yourself to the readers?

Yuko:
My real name is Yuko Wagatsuma. I'm 28 years old and come from
 Shizuoka in Japan. Since 3 years I'm living in Düsseldorf in Germany.

Mangaka.de:
So you came here 3 years ago. Why did you come to Germany?

Yuko:
Thats a long story.
When I was young I did see an Anime where German words appeared. At that time I didn't know that that was German but I always asked myself what language that was. I found out later that it was German. This was the reason I started to learn German from a TV course and later I decided to study German language and literature at an university in Japan.
After university I worked 2 years in Japan but I absolutely  wanted to live in Germany after I was there 2 times as private visitor.

Mangaka.de:
Thats interesting! Thats how a lot of German students, who study Japanese studies, fare.
Did you have any prejudices against the Germans or their lifestyle?

Yuko:
Actually I didn't had much prejudices. Because I was jung I also wasn't scared very much. I only knew the typical prejudices like: all Germans are very tall and strong. And that they scream and fight very much.
Mangaka.de:
Could you confirm these prejudices?

Yuko:
A lot Japanese (and people around the world) think that the German language is always hard and powerful. Well thats true. But you are not loud.
But you drink often and plenty of beer. So I guess some prejudices are true.
But the Germans are always very friendly - they are especially nice when you say you are japanese. *laughs*

Mangaka.de:
When you were to compare your life here in Germany with your life in Japan: are there pros and cons?

Yuko:
If I needed to go back I could life in Japan but I think the life in Germany fits me better.
For example: I'm working at a restaurant and you can take a lot of vacation. In Germany you have that much days of vacation available, that it is hard to use them all. *laughs again* In Japan you have only half as much free days.
The only drawback is the train... its never on time. You always think that everything comes on time and then you discover that it its almost normal that an ICE (Inter City Express) comes 2h later.
And then the strikes.
Recently I traveled by plane and was at the Düsseldorfer Airport. There was a strike and I was the last one who got an alternative flight.
There are a lot of strikes in Germany. Thats a drawback you need to include in your plans.
Also I always watch my bag and purse a littel more in here Germany.
But all in all I really  like my life here in Germany very much.

Mangaka.de:
That is nice. Now we come to our last question.
What do you plan for your future?

Yuko:
I would like to work as an artist in Germany. I already started to do something to get there and it is my goal that I can work and live as an professional artist in 3 years.

Mangaka.de:
We hope you will be successful and wish you the best! Thank you for the interview!

translation German to English: Mareike Täubner