Happy Fun Links: Spring Forward
Daylight Savings Time is back on this weekend, so that means moving the clocks forward one hour. I used to think that DST meant losing one hour of sleep, but nowadays, I just think of it as a sign that summer is on its way.
Anyway, the best part about going on sporadic hiatuses is that I get to accumulate a lot of blogs and links. Without the so-called pressure of actually writing, I lurk everywhere, anime blogs, livejournal, 4chan, you name it.
Gordonator discovers Hataraki Man, a series that I long have wished that more people would get into. Maybe I’m showing my age, but I think this series actually has a chance of succeeding if somebody wanted to market it to the new legion of 20something women…y’know, the same ones who read all the chick lit books you see at Borders or B&N. Hiroko is an interesting model of that woman, regardless of whether you’re in Japan or in the U.S.
Interested in reading another opinion about improving the reception of the light novel in the English market? Tiamat’s Disciple has a list of suggestions. I don’t agree that all of them are feasible, but that’s what blogging and discussion is all about, isn’t it?
And if you’re going to be in Manhattan on Sunday, March 15 — you may want to check out Anime Day at Kinokuniya. To be honest, I’ve never been to any of the Kino events — only because I usually find myself sleeping in on Sunday morning and forgetting about it — but I think prior events have gone over well (I mean, the lolita day event even got a write-up in the NYTimes so it couldn’t have been that terrible). Besides, if you’re there early enough and/or willing to cosplay, you’ll get something cool from Del Rey or Yen Press, the 2 NY-based manga publishers.
Have you figured out what you’re watching for the April season yet? I’m still working on the crazy backlog, but there were a few things that have caught my eye. Maybe at the rate I’m going, I can start watching those things next year.
March 6th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Rather than carry on the discussion @ Tiamat’s (that list is as unrealistic as they come IMO) I think there’s something to be said about knowing what light novels are.
Do people know what it even is in Japan? How are light novels different than normal fantasy/scifi/juvenile fiction? Honestly I don’t see that much difference in content besides the obvious cultural differences. Vampire Hunter D, as bundled up, works pretty well as a standard science fiction kind of thing, like those World of Warcraft novels or Magic the Gathering novels and whatever. There’s a place for books like that, and some light novels are exactly this.
But I don’t know, the term light novel is a marketing term and it doesn’t really describe content besides that it’s kind of disposable, comes in small chunks, and tend to target younger folks. There’s no reason why a title like Full Metal Panic should get the same treatment as Twelve Kingdoms, or Strawberry Panic with Zaregoto.
Unless they have the same audience. Which is right now, in America, the kind of people who’d read manga. So it makes sense to sell it in the manga section. This peeves me a little, because sometimes it makes finding novels hard as I have to sift through a lot of crap I don’t really care about.
At this point I just don’t think light novels are poised to do anything major in America. What really attracts me to the format is that it’s a breeding ground for a lot of new idea and content that’s making way into manga, anime, games, the doujin scene, and thus the greater consciousness of fans like myself. I think something like Faust, which brings over just the cream of the crop, is the way to go (for me). It shortens the time lag of what’s relevant there and by the time I read it here, and bypasses the problems with licensing series just to read the stuff by one top guy and whatever. But just as pulp fiction, I’m not sure if light novel is going to go anywhere. Maybe that ought to be the proper venue for these books.
March 6th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
[...] See original here: Happy Fun Links: Spring Forward [...]
March 6th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
thanks for reading my blog and linking me up. ^^;
i agree with u, the series will definitely appeal to those young working females. in fact to the guys as well, like me.
i was rather saddened Hataraki Man wasn’t as well received overseas as compared to japan. i assume that been adapted into an anime and a live action drama is a sign of popularity right? anyway i guess maybe working adults in other parts of the world isn’t as stressed as those japan, especially with their high standard of living, high unemployment rate, gender discrimination, long working hours, office politics etc.
anyway I am puzzled by the slow release of the manga as well. only 4 volumes in 4 years with the last volume being released in Aug 2007.
i guess there’s also very slim chance to hope for a 2nd session of the anime as well.
March 9th, 2009 at 11:18 am
@Gordon: I don’t know why it’s not more popular overseas either. I know that there was some criticism that Hiroko isn’t necessarily a sympathetic character, but in my opinion, she needs to act that way in order to make it in her career.
As for the delay in the manga, only Moyoco Anno knows why ^_^;;; Do you know if she’s working on anything else right now? I mean, Sugar Sugar Rune is over too.