TOKYOPOP GETS NIHEI'S BLAME!

[MattBrady]

by Benjamin Ong Pang Kean

TokyoPop has secured the license to translate and publish Tsutomu Nihei’s cyber-punk manga hit, Blame!. The first volume of Nihei’s mind-blowing, intelligent story of a world 30 centuries into the future is currently scheduled for release on Aug. 9, followed by the next volume every three months. Blame! retails for $9.99 each.

First of all, fans concerned about heavy editing of the original work can rest easy. “None of the pages will be censored like DC did with Ten Ten [Tenjho Tenge Vol. 1],” project editor Luis Reyes told Newsarama. “Tokyopop does not have a reputation for censoring at all. There were two instances on the Initial D series (volumes 1 and 9) in which we partially covered something on approval from the Japanese publisher. However, since then, we have never been in the practice of censoring books with the possible exception of Tokyo Tribes, which was actually censored by the artist himself boldly as a kind of statement against the fact that otherwise we'd have to sell his book shrink-wrapped.”

Nihei is no stranger to the American comics community, having worked on the Wolverine: Snikt! limited series in 2003. He has also collaborated with the Hellboy team in the States. “Tsutomu Nihei is one of the Japanese manga artists who has crossed over into the world of U.S. comics,” TokyoPop’s Matt Nixon explained. “While he's best known in the U.S. for his work on a version of Wolverine from X-Men, in Japan his most famous work is Blame!, a long sci-fi series about a post apocalyptic world.

“This is an artists' book, the world of Blame! entwined in rock and steel, a longitudinal wasteland rendered in ruinous beauty. Evocative of The Matrix.”

Blame! tells the story of adventure-seeker Killy. “Killy is a man of few words. He wanders, seemingly endlessly, through a lonely, gargantuan labyrinth of concrete and steel, fighting off cyborgs and other futuristic nightmares, searching only for something called Net Terminal Genes,” Nixon explained. “And he has a very powerful gun, which he uses without hesitation whenever anything resembling danger rears its ugly head. Who is this quiet, violent, determined man and what are these Genes he seeks? The small communities he finds tucked into the crevices of this towering, dystopic ruin hardly give him leads on his treasure, driving him to find larger enclaves of civilization where people can reveal more about the world he lives in and the quarry he seeks.”

Nihei was born in 1971 and has a degree in architecture. After he got his degree, he worked with a construction enterprise in New York. Back in Japan, he decided to become a manga-ka and went to the editorial staff of Afternoon Monthly. He was hired for a short while as an assistant to Takahashi Tsutomu, the artist/author of Jiraishin. He later debuted himself in Afternoon with his first work, Blame!. Already well-known in France, Italy, Spain, Germany and other European countries, the creator’s work is influenced by la bande desinèe (French comic strips) while his first passion, architecture plays a prominent role in constructing his backgrounds. In Japan, other than ten-volume Blame! series, he has created and drawn Noise, which is a prequel to Blame!, BLAME and Blame! Academy. He also did a six-page one-shot called Zeb-Noid and is currently working on his latest manga project, Biomega.

When asked if TokyoPop is looking at securing Noise and Biomega, Nixon said, “Mums the word. No comment.”

[ZakK]

Smooth, this is a pretty rad series and any fan of good action will dig it.

I think the only way I can describe this book is "BIG." You can see the architecture's influence heavily on the book.


Good deal.

[Dildo_Baggins]

Well, dip me in honey and throw me to the lesbians! It was just about time somebody licenced this one!

[hamsterdance]

Yet another manga series I'm interested in picking up. Tokyopop is my fave manga publisher. More of their manga lines my bookshelves than any other publisher. Blame sounds like something I'd like.

[jasinmartin]

Cool. I really enjoyed Snikt, love the style and vibe of Nihei. I'll definitely be picking this up.

I like how TPop slams CMX in the release. Further fallout from the Ten Ten debacle... Did we ever here anything from DC/CMX about that?

[Jose A. Serrano]

If somebody is interested, there is some aditional info (in spanish), pics and links about Nihei's work here:
http://www.guiadelcomic.com/autores/nihei.htm

[Zadillo]

Originally posted by jasinmartin
Cool. I really enjoyed Snikt, love the style and vibe of Nihei. I'll definitely be picking this up.

I like how TPop slams CMX in the release. Further fallout from the Ten Ten debacle... Did we ever here anything from DC/CMX about that?

Don't get me wrong, I do like TokyoPop and have bought a number of their titles, but I don't see where they get off criticizing another company's censoring when they have completely butchered the translation of Battle Royale with Keith Giffen's "improved" dialogue and unnecessary changes. Censoring of art is certainly bad, but I don't know that I'd say it's that much worse than completely changing the meaning of dialogue, what characters are saying, what their personalities are, etc.

-Zadillo

[jasinmartin]

Originally posted by Zadillo
Don't get me wrong, I do like TokyoPop and have bought a number of their titles, but I don't see where they get off criticizing another company's censoring when they have completely butchered the translation of Battle Royale with Keith Giffen's "improved" dialogue and unnecessary changes. Censoring of art is certainly bad, but I don't know that I'd say it's that much worse than completely changing the meaning of dialogue, what characters are saying, what their personalities are, etc.

-Zadillo

Yeah, I see your point, and I've heard you make this argument before, and it sounds genuine. I'm against any censoring of material, be it visual, or via rewrites...
I wasn't saying they were right by doing so, or weren't a bit hypocritical, just that I appreciated their marketing angle calling DC for some bad press in that regard. How they're actively making use of that, and also stirring things up a bit with a little company rivalry. And more, how it's interesting that in the manga market, TPop is one of the big dogs, and DC/CMX the little upstart...

[Zadillo]

Originally posted by jasinmartin
Yeah, I see your point, and I've heard you make this argument before, and it sounds genuine. I'm against any censoring of material, be it visual, or via rewrites...
I wasn't saying they were right by doing so, or weren't a bit hypocritical, just that I appreciated their marketing angle calling DC for some bad press in that regard. How they're actively making use of that, and also stirring things up a bit with a little company rivalry. And more, how it's interesting that in the manga market, TPop is one of the big dogs, and DC/CMX the little upstart...

Yeah, fair enough. And I guess trying to build up a rivalry is interesting.

I guess though as far as marketing angles go, I don't really think TokyoPop needs to go after DC/CMX...... I guess it just comes across as sort of petty for the big dog to bring it up. More than that, it just doesn't seem right to me to take a dig at another company unless you are sure that you yourself are completely clean, and TokyoPop isn't really when you look at some of the things that have come up in their history (although they brought that on themselves a bit with the whole "100% Authentic Manga" concept, which is a great idea, but opens you up to even further criticism when you don't live up to it).

And generally, I love TokyoPop's marketing, etc. I think they've done a great job of establishing themselves and becoming a leader in the industry, especially when you look at what TokyoPop used to be (back when it was just a sort of chintzy culture magazine and whatever else they were doing).

Either way, I do agree that DC/CMX should be called to task for what happened with TenTen, but I'd rather leave it to the fans to do that than rival companies.

I hope DC/CMX learns a lesson from this and hopefully deals with it, but what I'd hate to see happen would be for them to say "Screw this, we don't need this kind of hassle" and just pull out of the market. The more companies involved in the manga game the better, I think, as they keep each other on their toes and force each company to try and increase their standards and not get complacent.

-Zadillo

[Robert_Coyner]

I actually agree with the concern over changed dialogue. I know that is something several companies have done. And, I can think of at least three series TOKYOPOP did it with in the past - Initial D, GTO, Kare Kano - and not only to write out coarse language, but to actually change the subtext and context of what was going on - which to me is the worst type of 'adaptation'. For a company that has billed itself as creating 100% Authentic Manga, to fire shots over someone else's bough is a bit hypocritical.

Also, I know it's business, but I think it's funny that now that Blame!'s creator has done some prominent work in the US - Snikt - and that Media Blasters is set to release the anime in May, TOKYOPOP finally licensed the Blame! manga. The title's been around for YEARS with a large cult following in the US and abroad - you can already find translations for almost all of the volumes of the manga online in several languages at this point.

Whatever though. At least they haven't changed the covers which were one of the most appealing features of the series to begin with.

[Xaraan]

Sounds sweet.

I've been looking for some good cyberpunk manga stuff that is handled seriously. Will be checking this out.

[Frank Castle]

Originally posted by Zadillo

I guess though as far as marketing angles go, I don't really think TokyoPop needs to go after DC/CMX...... I guess it just comes across as sort of petty for the big dog to bring it up. More than that, it just doesn't seem right to me to take a dig at another company unless you are sure that you yourself are completely clean, and TokyoPop isn't really when you look at some of the things that have come up in their history (although they brought that on themselves a bit with the whole "100% Authentic Manga" concept, which is a great idea, but opens you up to even further criticism when you don't live up to it).

...

Either way, I do agree that DC/CMX should be called to task for what happened with TenTen, but I'd rather leave it to the fans to do that than rival companies.


-Zadillo

I thought it was hilarious.... But speaking from a marketing angle, it makes sense to 'distance' yourself, so to speak, from your competition. You're the company that publishes cool manga, while your competition is the one that butchers cool manga to appeal to a PG-13 audience (that the book was not really intended to in the first place)... They managed to get this point across very clearly in their statement.

I just hope this doesn't evolve into a spat between publishers, diverting attention from the business of publishing good manga.

Also, hope DC can come to its senses and publish unedited Tenjo Tenge in the future (the very NEAR future, with luck)

[Alex Scott]

You can almost read it as a kind of self-deprecation combined with a barb at DC, because it'd make more sense to me for them to downplay the edits made to their own series.

[ItoOgure]

I don't mind the low blow that Tokypop has given CMX. In a sense they are making an example. Grant it all that 100% crap is now hypocrisy as a marketing tool but Tokyopop overall has done a decent job marketing to the right age groups. Little quibs like a slight editing job in sgt. frog but its passable that it doesn't take away from the story or plot. I may need confirmation on this but blame doesn't have a lot of dialogue now does it?

Tokyopop - 100, CMX - 4 - guess whose winning that rat race.

[Alex Scott]

What "slight edits" in Sgt. Frog? You're not talking about those forged topless shots of Angol Moa, are you? Those were debunked months ago, and besides that, were so poorly done that they were obviously phony

[Zadillo]

Originally posted by ItoOgure
I don't mind the low blow that Tokypop has given CMX. In a sense they are making an example. Grant it all that 100% crap is now hypocrisy as a marketing tool but Tokyopop overall has done a decent job marketing to the right age groups. Little quibs like a slight editing job in sgt. frog but its passable that it doesn't take away from the story or plot. I may need confirmation on this but blame doesn't have a lot of dialogue now does it?

Tokyopop - 100, CMX - 4 - guess whose winning that rat race.

TokyoPop has done more than whatever "slight editing job" you're referring to in Sgt. Frog (I'm not familiar with what changes you are referring to).

My whole point was really that TokyoPop a) doesn't need to waste time taking digs at the competition and b) does not have nearly a spotless enough record to start attacking other companies when they are currently still publishing something like the Keith Giffen penned "translation" of Battle Royale. It would be one thing if these were just minor incidents in their past, but that they are still ongoing is the main concern.

Again, I'm not saying TokyoPop is evil, but this is really an example of "let he who is without sin cast the first stone", if you ask me. TokyoPop doesn't NEED to draw attention to the CMX incident, and in doing so it only makes them look unnecessarily petty and it just seems odd for them to even bother with getting the dig in. They could at least justify it if they haven't done anything bad themselves, but they can't make that claim, and thus, it just isn't right to try and focus on this.

-Zadillo

[davelevine]

Originally posted by Robert_Coyner
I actually agree with the concern over changed dialogue. I know that is something several companies have done. And, I can think of at least three series TOKYOPOP did it with in the past - Initial D, GTO, Kare Kano - and not only to write out coarse language, but to actually change the subtext and context of what was going on - which to me is the worst type of 'adaptation'. For a company that has billed itself as creating 100% Authentic Manga, to fire shots over someone else's bough is a bit hypocritical.

Kare Kano was altered? Where? Which volumes? I'm not questioning your facts just asking for details. I'm a big fan of this series.

dave