Vertical Inc. Weblog

The nice thing about working with publishing is that it requires very little diplomacy (re: tact). Real controversy only arises with popularity, which 95% of publishers don’t get to experience, and with the pseudo-obsolescence of literacy, few will dispute any argument I or other publishing types make for The Cause (whereas for example I could give you ten good reasons to stop watching football, listening to Toby Keith, or participating in politics).
The nice thing about working with Japanese pop/culture is that it makes for easy entertaining blog fodder. In the last year, I’ve talked about an “unwanted baby” hospital drop-box, a life-sized Gundam statue, three political suicides and beer-flavored juice for kids.
And at the Vertical blog, I’ve been able to meet the two worlds in one to an effect some have described as “funny,” “inappropriate,” and “her boss obviously doesn’t read this thing.” That is, until today. Folks, this is my official sign-off from Vertical blog duty. It’s been a blast, but with my last day at Vertical Inc. approaching at T minus one week, I bid thee sayonara. As for where I’m going now…i.e. “does she think she’s too good for Vertical?” The answer is no. I am, like any good American, simply off to find a little more dough in a little less work, and will be posting my leaderboard plaque somewhere else soon, I promise.
For the time being, I highly suggest you keep this bookmark, where resident-editor/blogger Kerim Yasar takes over starting now (half my postings were direct links from him anyway). This will still be your one-stop shopping for all irreverence Japanese and publishing-minded.

If you’re looking for me specifically, please tentatively find me at Bookslut  and then eventually at a bunch of other blogs guesting.

Anne Ishii

Some hilarious, if not at all pertinent to Vertical or anything typical of this blog:

A European D.I.Y. Rave – All you need is a scooter and a residential cul-de-sac. (Thanks for the link Ryan)
Japanese news report on the Minneapolis bridge collapse, via non-Japanese speaking dude, via hooked on phonics. (Only funny if you already know Japanese.) (Thanks for the link John.)
Toyota v. Toy Yoda. (Thanks Kerim.)

The Stranger pimps Apollo’s Song! Woohoo! (Scroll down)

It’s thrilling to watch a master tell such a pessimistic story that’s so openly sexual; imagine Jack Kirby doing a sci-fi Eyes Wide Shut and you’re maybe halfway there.

Protoculture Addict pimps To Terra… Vol. 2! Yeehaw!

Despite the science-fiction thematic, the layouts and the ever beautiful art are pure shoujo, with deconstructed pages and abstract backgrounds reflecting the characters’ emotional states. It seems that no two consecutive pages are alike in composition yet they all manage to convey a flow which irresistibly pushes the reader forward…The storyline itself remains original and captivating, even more so than in the first volume, building up suspense for the third and final installment. 

And Anime.com preview/reviews our upcoming Tezuka psycho-thriller, MW. Word.

Created during the period of 1976-1978 MW is a shocker, especially for it’s time, both in terms of the potential for terrorism and the phsychological effects on the reader, who, in some cultures, might not easily adapt to this nature of storytelling (for example, what would Hollywood do with this plot?)

Everyone’s done such a great job assessing Comic-Con International, so I won’t bother with a full recount, but I’ll share an anecdote to give perspective on the exact significance of it all (Is it too Hollywood? Is it too expensive? Is it better than ever? Worse?).

Saturday Night was the Giant Robot Bonfire. Good times. Michelle and I went out to the beach to reserve some space for the upwards of 100 people we expected to show up (it ended up being more like 70). We approached a bonfire that had put up a flag of a skull and crossbones, populated by a lot of Asian-American kids.

Let it be known I made poor racial stereotyped judgement here. Here’s some dialogue that ensued after we got their permission to join in/take over their fire.

Joh Lee (asian john doe): So what do you guys do?

me: I’m with a manga publisher but we’re hosting a Giant Robot bonfire.

Joh Lee: You’re in robotics?

me: No, like the magazine.
Joh: What magazine?

(We explain the magazine. That they don’t know the magazine is one thing. No big deal, but what I heard next kind of blew me away.)

Joh: So you’re a San Diego-based magazine?

me: No no. We’re here for the Con.

Joh: The what?

me: Are you from around here?

Joh: Yeah. I live near downtown.
me: OK. The Comic-Con. There are signs all over for it. You can’t get parking anywhere. A bunch of nerds have taken over your city. You know what I’m talking about?
(Silent blank stare.)

The San Diego Comic-Con? A hundred thousand people from all over the world converging to discuss comic books and movies and toys?

(Silent blank stare.)

Joh: So you guys all come out here to talk about comics?

me: In a manner of speaking…(awkward pause) So you’ve never heard of the Comic-Con? (I ask several people there with eye-contact.)

everyone: umm…no…comiwha?…(head-shaking)

Much later, one of the people I met said they were into graffiti art and raves, and he really sounded like he knew what he was talking about (even if I didn’t), and it amazed me that we could be SO close and yet SO far away…

Katherine’s adding “bagpipes = ireland” to my list of racially profiled foley for video footage on ethnic “minorities” got me thinking of Bad Idea of the Day:

Interracial Foley-typing

Ex. A: Big Daddy Kane and police siren foley over montage of geishas applying makeup.

Ex. B: Japanese wooden flute over any scene with Kid N’ Play.

Ex. C: Bagpipe over Lucha match.

Awesome review of J-Horror at Ain’t It Cool News, notwithstanding a few typos.
Given that contagion is a frequent theme of the school of Japanese horror films discussed in David Kalat’s J-Horror, it is perhaps ironic that the book is such a powerful vector for catching an appreciation of the subject matter. It is possible to approach “J-Horror” without loving the Grudge/Ju-On films and not enamored with the idea that Takashi Shimizu has made six of them but by the end, a reader will be able to identify and appreciate the differences in Shimizu’s films.

BasuGasuBakahatsu has a GREAT review of To Terra…Volume 2 up.

While reading this manga, I can’t help but try and pin it to a genre. By the sheer amount of emotion involved (plus the bishies) I’d say it’s a shoujo. But with all the sci-fi stuff (and the sci-fi art is really cool and retro) I’d say it’s more of a seinen. I guess To Terra is an example of a manga that doesn’t really fit into a pre-constructed genre. It’s definitely enjoyable, partly because I’m so aware of the emo-ness that it’s becoming something of a joke to me. But also because I like where the story is heading (mutants destroying Earth!).

To Terra started a bit slow in the first volume, but volume two has much more action and mind powers! Oh, and they upped the fanservice by showing Physis’ boobies in this volume. No lie! That should be worth the price of admission alone. Sorry fangirls, naked Tony seems to be missing a vital… organ. It’s not easy being Mu.

NEWSWEEK PIMPS APOLLO’S SONG!

Tezuka was a master narrator. Every page’s drawings and layout speed things along so subtly that you have to remind yourself that the story’s relentless forward momentum didn’t just happen.

This is a book that works on you long after you put it down—and to think that it looked so harmless, so ephemeral, when you first picked it up. Maybe it’s a good thing that “Apollo’s Song” wasn’t published in the West until now. Had it appeared here when it first came out, it would almost surely have been ignored or simply dismissed. But the last quarter century has seen a complete reversal in the way the critical establishment approaches such work. Crumb had to come along. “Maus” had to win the Pulitzer Prize. But now comics get to sit at the table with the grown-ups. That being the case, let’s be fair: clear a space at the head for Osamu Tezuka and his oddball masterpiece.

Whoah. It’s so true.

An article about what exactly makes a nerd a nerd. Ironically taking on an argument made in a paper entitled, “The Whiteness of Nerds: Superstandard English and Racial Markedness,” which of course is not a nerdy title at all.