TokoToko Editor's Misc. Note, a blog run by a female manga editor who has been in the business for over 15 years, has posted a multi-part article titled "The Reason I Quit as a Manga Editor." Below is a translation of part three of the article:

The Reason I Quit My Job as a Manga Editor Part III

*For the sake of comparison, the bulk of this entry is about the work environment at my first publisher.

Read More »

Naisho no Tsubomi Volume 3 was released on the 29th. Yu Yabuuchi's Naisho no Tsubomi is a sex-ed manga aimed at elementary school students, with a fifth-grade girl as its protagonist. The manga became extremely popular and received many praises.

However, despite Naisho no Tsubomi's success, not all manga involving sex are met with welcoming arms by the Japanese society. In fact, obscene shojo manga (smut) and lolicon manga have always been the target of various child protection groups. Recent news reports of actions taken against harmful shojo and loli manga involving excessive sexual content seem to suggest that a potential new movement is on the horizon. Below is a brief overview of current events, past "wars" and some case studies involving a breed of manga seen by many as "harmful books."

Read More »

The 11th Osamu Tezuka Cultural Award Ceremony was held on June 6th. During the award ceremony, each winning mangaka talked about their thoughts, feelings and future plans. In Japan, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Award has become one of the most prestigious manga award in the industry.

The Tezuka Osamu Cultural Award is one of the most prestigious manga award in Japan. The award, named after Osamu Tezuka, was established by Asahi Shimbun in 1997.

Read More »

What is plagiarism? Plagiarism is the act of claiming original authorship or incorporating material from someone else's work into your own work without crediting the original author, sometimes doing such an act unconsciously is also considered plagiarism.

When it comes to manga and plagiarism, things never end well. Sometimes manga found guilty of plagiarizing are suspended and recalled, and some authors even stop working. There are also times when people, or even an entire nation, get away with nothing. The world of manga plagiarism is full of interesting, sad, and sometimes funny tales.

Read More »

Archer is a popular character from Type-Moon's visual novel Fate/stay night. In the game, he is the Servant (someone who fights for his or her master) of Rin Tosaka, one of the series' main female casts. Archer is a skilled fighter at projectile weapons, and has a Reality Marble (think of a special sorcery that creates an alternate reality) called "Unlimited Blade Works." To activate "Unlimited Blade Works," Archer first needs to complete a special chant.

Due to Archer's popularity, many variations of his chant can be found around the web made by fans.

Read More »

In an age were Japanese manga reign supreme, another form of comics is also gaining momentum in around the world - Hong Kong kung fu comics. On June 29th, the winner of the first Internation Manga Award was announced to be the 43-year-old Hong Kong artist Lee Chi Ching. Another Hong Kong artist, Kai, was one of the three runner-ups.

In 2008, an animated movie based on the popular Hong Kong comic Storm Riders by Ma Wing Shing will be released. The movie, Storm Rider - Clash of the Evils, is said to be the first animated movie created in the style of Hong Kong kung fu comics.

While the Hong Kong comics market seems to be doing better than ever, the truth is that the market has been declining for the past 10 years or so, and many people are questioning the direction the Hong Kong comics market is heading.

Read More »

So now you've read the "Idiot's Guide to Online Copyright Issues" from Part I and an in-depth analysis of the laws from Part II, what's left? We took the ideas explored in Part I, and created a questionnaire, which we then sent to various website/blog authors and people from around the online scene.

The questionnaire looks as follows:

Person A writes an article in Japanese, Person B translates Person A's article
into English and posts it on his own website...

1. Without asking for permission first or giving credit
2. Gives credit but did not ask for permission
3. Got permission and gave credit

One of the first people we contacted, surprisingly, is not involved with the anime/manga community at all. However, this doesn't mean you should skip what he has to say. Allow me to introduce Jonathan Bailey from Plagiarism Today, a site "targeted at Webmasters and copyright holders regarding the issue of plagiarism online."

*We would also like to thank Jonathan Bailey for helping out with this project, providing us with valuable information related to copyright and plagiarism issues.

Read More »

In Part I, we introduce you to the basic concept of copyright infringement and plagiarism, and how they apply to translating contents on the internet. For Part II, we contacted Ronnor from the Japanese law blog called Ahowota Law Student News. Ronnar has expressed his own view on the matter, below is a translation of Ronnor's article (translated with Ronnor's approval, of course!):

Unauthorized Translation and Copyright Law

1. Background information on the problem

Like the Japanese - no, even more than the Japanese - overseas otaku want to know the latest information about Japan's anime and manga. As a comparatively recent example, the problem of Rozen Maiden's hiatus was given headline treatment on an overseas site (*1). However, unless the work is in the The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (*2) class, with plans for world-wide development, the original publishers hardly ever give English press releases. Information is transmitted only in Japanese, a minority language in the global scheme.

Read More »

Copyright infringement and plagiarism existed long before the internet became a household name. However, with the internet quickly finding its way into people's homes, and a little help from the ever-developing technology, more and more people are able to easily make their own website/blog.

The problem is that with so many people producing content, unauthorized use of someone else's content is now just a copy/paste away. This article won't look at the general issues involved with online plagiarism and copyright infringement (which have already been discussed many times elsewhere), but it will focus on a specific case of copyright infringement.

This article is the result of a collaboration between ComiPress, a Japanese law blog called Ahowota Law Student News, and many others who provided useful insights and comments. Due its length, the article has been divided into three parts. In Part I, we introduce the basic concept of copyright infringement and plagiarism, and how they apply to translating contents on the internet. In Part II, we provide a translation of Ahowota Law Student News's opinion on the subject. In Part III, we take the concepts explored in Part I and present them to other site/blog's authors, journalists, and people from the industry to get an outside view on the issue.

Read More »

We're now six months into 2007 and there have been a lot of news about new anime publications hitting retailers. From Isaac Alexander comes a brief overview of news from last year from where the last report left off.

Anthologies and Magazines 2006-2007

One addendum to the previous report: The report neglected to include two new publications that were starting at the end of 2005. The Monash Caulfield Anime Club in August 2005 premiered their first issue of Animaverick, Australia's first homegrown anime magazine covering anime, manga, and J-pop in the land down under. Across the Indian Ocean west of Australia, the company Xvolve Publishing premiered the first South African publication called Otaku Magazine. As of this time, both publications are only available in their host nations.

Read More »