Japanese Comic Ranking, February 10-16

posted on 2014-02-19 18:16 EST

Say "I love you"., L・DK, Gintama, Maid Sama!, Taiyō no Ie top chart

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Rank	Title	Est. Weekly Copies	Est. Total Copies	Release Date		Publisher
	Author			Highest Rank	Weeks on List
1	Suki-tte Ii na yo(Say "I love you".) 12	116,362	116,362	2014/02		Kodansha
	Kanae Hazuki			1	1
2	L・DK 14	67,783	67,783	2014/02		Kodansha
	Ayu Watanabe			2	1
3	Gintama 53	66,292	269,638	2014/02		Shueisha
	Hideaki Sorachi			1	2
4	Shokugeki no Sōma 6	61,408	249,278	2014/02		Shueisha
	Original Work:Yūto Tsukuda / Art: Shun Saeki / Collaboration:Yuki Morisaki			2	2
5	Maid Sama! 18	43,905	134,562	2014/02		Hakusensha
	Hiro Fujiwara			3	2
6	Taiyō no Ie 10	39,452	39,452	2014/02		Kodansha
	Taamo			6	1
7	Dōse Mō Nigerarenai 6	37,122	37,540	2014/02		Shogakukan
	Kazumi Kazui			7	1
8	Yozakura Quartet15	35,158	69,960	2014/02		Kodansha
	Suzuhito Yasuda			8	2
9	Baltzar Militarismus 6	32,650	46,451	2014/02		Shinchosha
	Michitsune Nakajima			9	2
10	Mahōka Kōkō no Yūtōsei 3	31,033	62,174	2014/02		Kadokawa
	Art: Yuu Mori / Original Work: Tsutomu Sato / Character Design: Kana Ishida			9	2
11	Dakaretai Otoko 1-kurai ni Odosareteimasu.	30,761	30,983	2014/02		Libre Shuppan
	Hashigo Sakurabi			11	1
12	Chūgaku Yome Nikki 3	29,108	29,108	2014/02		Kadokawa
	Jun'ichi Inoue			12	1
13	Pupa 5	25,810	32,450	2014/02		Earth Star Entertainment
	Sayaka Mogi			13	2
14	Sankaku Mado no Sotogawa wa Yoru 1	24,718	24,718	2014/02		Libre Shuppan
	Tomoko Yamashita			14	1
15	Shōwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjū 5	23,382	44,166	2014/02		Kodansha
	Haruko Kumota			15	2
16	Tsugumomo 12	22,500	22,500	2014/02		Futabasha
	Hamada Yoshikadu			16	1
17	Magi 20	22,150	582,942	2014/01		Shogakukan
	Shinobu Ohtaka			1	5
18	Oboreru Knife 17	22,092	22,092	2014/02		Kodansha
	George Asakura			18	1
19	Attack on Titan12	22,001	1,512,703	2013/12		Kodansha
	Hajime Isayama			1	11
20	Hozuki no Reitetsu 1	20,931	460,685	2011/05		Kodansha
	Natsumi Eguchi			20	71
21	flat 8	20,288	20,288	2014/02		Mag Garden
	Natsu Aogiri			21	1
22	Hozuki no Reitetsu 2	19,036	402,419	2011/08		Kodansha
	Natsumi Eguchi			22	61
23	Abnormal-kei Joshi 2	18,789	25,264	2014/02		Flex Comics
	Jūichi Sanada			23	2
24	Detective Conan82	18,582	463,562	2014/01		Shogakukan
	Gosho Aoyama			2	5
25	Sakamoto desu ga? 2	18,114	841,159	2013/11		Kadokawa
	Nami Sano			1	14
26	Black Butler 18	17,714	552,039	2014/01		Square Enix
	Yana Toboso			1	5
27	Sakamoto desu ga? 1	17,670	1,201,224	2013/01		Enterbrain
	Nami Sano			8	57
28	Midara na Nettagyo 1	16,884	17,057	2014/02		Shogakukan
	Miyuki Kitagawa			28	1
29	Hozuki no Reitetsu 3	16,827	373,090	2011/11		Kodansha
	Natsumi Eguchi			29	48
30	Gin Ban Ki Shi 3	16,515	16,515	2014/02		Kodansha
	Yayoi Ogawa			30	1
31	Attack on Titan11	16,310	1,713,604	2013/08		Kodansha
	Hajime Isayama			1	28
32	Koi dano Ai dano7	16,231	58,565	2014/02		Hakusensha
	Ririko Tsujita			5	2
33	Triage X 8	16,217	36,098	2014/02		Kadokawa
	Shoji Sato			26	2
34	Hozuki no Reitetsu 4	16,025	356,076	2012/02		Kodansha
	Natsumi Eguchi			12	35
35	Romantica Clock4	15,870	15,870	2014/02		Shueisha
	Yōko Maki			35	1
36	World Trigger 4	15,564	76,379	2014/02		Shueisha
	Daisuke Ashihara			4	2
37	Angel Trumpet 4	15,536	15,760	2014/02		Shogakukan
	Michiyo Akaishi			37	1
38	Maido! Super Radical Gag Family 10	15,493	26,806	2014/02		Akita Shoten
	Kenji Hamaoka			38	2
39	Psychometrer 12	15,378	37,508	2014/02		Kodansha
	Story: Yuma Ando / Art:Masashi Asaki			18	2
40	Hozuki no Reitetsu 5	14,940	346,816	2012/05		Kodansha
	Natsumi Eguchi			6	24
41	Giant Killing 30	14,927	283,401	2014/01		Kodansha
	Story: Masaya Tsunamoto / Art:Tsujitomo			1	4
42	Magi: Sinbad no Bōken 2	14,925	317,170	2014/01		Shogakukan
	Original Work:Shinobu Ohtaka / Art: Yoshifumi Ōtera			8	5
43	Shōjo Nozaki-kun4	14,760	205,485	2014/01		Square Enix
	Izumi Tsubaki			5	4
44	CRASH! 16	14,693	14,693	2014/02		Shueisha
	Yuka Fujiwara			44	1
45	O.B. 1	14,445	14,445	2014/02		Akaneshinsha
	Asumiko Nakamura			45	1
46	Neko Pitcher 1	14,313	18,153	2014/02		Chuokoron-Shinsha
	Kenji Sonishi			46	2
47	Attack on Titan10	14,161	2,148,161	2013/04		Kodansha
	Hajime Isayama			1	45
48	O.B. 2	14,089	14,089	2014/02		Akaneshinsha
	Asumiko Nakamura			48	1
49	Attack on Titan 9	13,882	2,171,595	2012/12		Kodansha
	Hajime Isayama			3	63
50	Hozuki no Reitetsu 6	13,588	328,246	2012/08		Kodansha
	Natsumi Eguchi			7	20

Source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2014-02-19/japanese-comic-ranking-february-10-16

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

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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 Kill. Gakuen 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!

source: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2014-01-06/mangaka-suggests-kill-la-kill-may-be-plagiarized

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!

 source: http://www.mangaka.de/node/173

translation German to English: Mareike Täubner