Displaying items by tag: manga

An Outspoken Outsider With Amazing Singing Talent Tries To Fit In And Still Maintain Her Hard Edge In The Latest Manga Series From VIZ Media’s Shojo Beat Imprint

San Francisco, CA, February 8, 2012 – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest distributor and licensor of anime and manga in North America, debuts the poignant shojo manga (graphic novel) series, A DEVIL AND HER LOVE SONG, now available. The new title, published under the company’s Shojo Beat imprint, is rated ‘T’ for Teens and carries an MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN.

Meet Maria Kawai – she’s gorgeous and whip-smart, a girl who seems to have it all. But when she unleashes her sharp tongue, it’s no wonder some consider her to be the very devil! Maria’s difficult ways even get her kicked out of an elite school, but this particular fall may actually turn out to be her saving grace... Maria’s frank nature gains her more enemies at her new school, but her angelic singing voice inadvertently catches the attention of Yusuke Kanda and Shin Meguro. Can these boys mend her hardened heart, or will they just end up getting scorched?

“Maria Kawai, an outspoken and radically honest girl who struggles to fit in at a new school, is beautiful and has an amazing singing voice, but isn’t the least bit concerned with being nice or popular,” says Amy Yu, Editor. “When she gets bullied by fellow classmates, two boys step up to aid her—Yusuke Kanda, a cheerful and popular guy who always tries to avoid conflict, and Shin Meguro, a moody outsider who tends to keep to himself. All these characters are dealing with something that we all struggle with—trying to figure out who we truly are and accepting ourselves even though the community asks us to be someone we’re not. It’s an engaging new series that offers a lot of depth, and we’re proud to have it be a part of the Shojo Beat imprint.”

Manga creator Miyoshi Tomori made her debut in 2001, and her previous titles have included Hatsukare (First Boyfriend), Tongari Root (Square Root), and Brass Love!! Her current series, A DEVIL AND HER LOVE SONG, was featured in Japan in the popular shojo magazine Margaret.

For more information on A DEVIL AND HER LOVE SONG, or other shojo manga titles from VIZ Media, please visit ShojoBeat.com.

About VIZ Media, LLC

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan.  Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular monthly manga anthology SHONEN JUMP magazine and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages.  VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products.  Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.

Fans of anime and manga have been very aware of how powerful digital distribution can be, but that power traditionally stemmed from the hands of thieves. Some of them, like Crunchyroll, have become legitimate online distributors, but others like Onemanga.com fell by the wayside. Although many manga fans mourned the loss of that behemoth den of pirates, the industry has finally caught up; however, the original publishers are circumventing oversees licenses. Where oh where does this rabbit hole end.

The title may sound too ridiculous to be true, but it's not. According to the Comic Books Legal Defense Fund, the CBLDF, a U.S. citizen was flying from his home in the States to visit a friend in Canada and, while at the airport, security searched his laptop, iPad, and iPhone. Customs determined that the manga found on his laptop was child pornography, and he is now being charged with possession and importing these materials.

There's no mention of what type of manga the man, a computer programer in his mid-twenties, saved to his laptop. It's possible that Canadian officials determined ecchi, titlating but not erotic situations, or moe, situations involving cute girls, were actually erotic, or worse yet, they opened the wrong page in any number of Japanese titles containing benign child nudity. In the event that he was in fact holding on to lolicon or shotacon hentai, pornographic manga involving underage girls or boys respectively, support for him may wane drastically as was the case in 2007 with Christopher Handley who ended up serving a six month sentence in jail.

If the accused man had saved something not meant to be erotic, then the comic book, anime, and manga fan communities will need to act in unison to defend materials that may be perceived as illicit or perverted. However, if the manga in question are fully pornographic and involve small children, the issue becomes far more complicated. Many would say art is always art, and censoring any form of it is wrong and that there is no crime committed in simply looking at the materials. On the other hand, others would say that such materials are indicative of pedophilic tendencies or are in some way morally harmful to living children.

The debate is ongoing, and as anime and manga becomes more prevalent around the world and government actions against lewd or indecent materials and behavior seem to step up in intensity, what the future will bring is a matter of theory.

If you would like to support the unnamed U.S. citizen, you can donate here to the CBLDF to support his case, and you can read more from the original article and another that provides additional information.

Viz Media LLC has been a long time rock in the North American anime and manga industry. Titles like Naruto, Bleach, Death Note, and Dragonball have all helped keep the titan afloat despite major setbacks that seem to strike out each year. Viz Media is known for publishing kid and teen friendly titles, so it comes as somewhat of a surprise that they are currently seeking an editor specifically for the yaoi/BL genre. For those who don't know, yaoi is a term English speakers use to define male homosexual content that typically involves erotic situations of widely varying degrees of graphicness. The BL stands for Boys Love.

It seemed possible, given the squeaky clean track record Viz has in regards to mature content if we're not counting Black Lagoon and Biomega, that this posting may have referred to manga involving homosexual romance devoid of erotic content. However, it specifically states that, "Knowledge of yaoi/BL genre and market, and ability to work on adult-oriented materials A MUST." There is little room for interpretation, but again, due to the nature of the yaoi/bl genre, the graphic nature of such "adult-oriented materials" may be nothing more than suggestive dialogue and titilating imagery.

What this means for Viz Media's future publication choices is left to speculation. It's possible this is an attempt to corner areas of the manga market left previously untouched by Viz to make up for losses in teen and young adult entertainment. The anime and manga industries in North America have been suffering losses for the past few years, the reasons for which are as divergent as they are complex. You can check out the job posting here.