Thoughts: Collecting Tips - Buying Used 1

Okay we got buying new manga down but what if want to buy used, here are some tips for that. First why even buy used? If there is an old series that now seems interesting used maybe the only way to get it.  Also used is a great way to pick up stuff for cheap.

Brick & Mortar

One place to try is your local used book store.   Much like going to conventions to buy this can be a huge crap shoot.  Some used book stores have a great section of graphic novels with manga for good prices, others well not so much.  The nice thing about the used book store is you can take books you have laying around in for credit to use on picking up stuff you want.  Used books stores sometimes end up in weird places so it might be worth Googling it to see if any are in your area.

Then we go back to the local comic book store.  If you are familiar with your local shop then you will know if they carry used books or not.  While back issues of single comics are common, used volumes of graphic novels and manga not so much.  It can't hurt to ask though.

Another shot in the dark is a book sale.  These are local events held by generally by libraries (but other places also) selling off a huge mass of used books for super cheap.  I've found some very interesting books at sales like this but the manga kind be kind of iffy.  A lot of the time the people running the book sale don't know where to put manga so you may have to look in children's and sci-fi sections.

Another brick and mortar store I would highly recommend is Book Off.  Book Off is a Japanese chain of used book/video game/DVD etc. stores.  Currently there is one store in New York City, five out in California, and two in Hawaii. They will often have a good selection of manga in English, anime DVDs, and art books.  Most of the manga here runs about $5 dollars or less.  When I was visiting friends out in LA I think we visited almost all of the stores in the area.  I brought back more stuff from Book Off then I did from Anime Expo that year.  I also make sure to stop in the New York store every time I'm in the city.  Now, what if you don't live close to one?  Well you get someone else to look for you, which I'll get to more in a another post.

Thoughts: Collecting Tips - Buying New

So you want to start collecting manga or you are collecting manga but looking for a bit more help?  Here are my best tips when it comes to collecting.  Some of these might seem like common sense but sometimes you might just not think of it.

How did this all get here?!

Buying New

So, if there is a series you really want and it is going to come out soon or is currently coming out, pick it up as soon as possible.  Yes, a lot of series devalue over time but there are many cases of a great series going out of print (OOP) shortly after release and having super jacked up prices.  So, often to avoid headaches I suggest getting titles as they come out.  This might seem expensive but there are way to save money.

One thing not to do is buy from a big box retailer.  Not that I hate Barnes & Noble, but there other ways and places to acquire manga cheaper. One of those is to try your local comic book shop.  Local shops often will give a deal if become a "subscriber." You order so many titles a month (with the plan to get future volumes) and the store gives a discount on all these titles.  Generally in the range of 10% to 20%.  Since manga isn't monthly for the most part, you will have to talk to the store owner about making arrangements.  Most of the time store owners are more then willing to make a deal with you.  Also even if you don't see your favorite manga at the local store there is a good chance they can order it in for you.

Another great way to get new manga cheap is Amazon.  It is almost always discounted to some degree.  I just looked up Sailor Moon Volume 1 and it is 35% off.  Now another great thing about Amazon is pretty much everything over $25 dollars will have free shipping.  I just wait for about three titles I want to come out and order all three at once for the free shipping.  If you have Amazon Prime then you don't even need to worry about that.  If you are a student you can get a free six month trial of Amazon Prime no less.

Another online retailer that is worth trying rightstuf.com.  They often have sales from different publisher that give for around 33% off.  They also have a Got Anime? Purchasing Club Membership which gives an additional 10% off.  Though unless you are ordering over $49 dollars you will have to pay shipping costs.

One last suggestion for buying new is buying new titles at cons.  This can be a crapshoot though.  Some publishers like Vertical sell all their books at a great discount ($10 a piece for books that run $16.95 sometimes) but you have to hurry to the dealers room right away to get what you want.  Other dealers may offer discounts on newer books also.  There are also deep discount sellers with deals like 10 for $40, on new but slightly older titles.  Where the more you buy the cheaper it is.  If you are in the dealers room you can put your books together for an even better deal. If there is something you are really jiving for, it might be worth a look.

Next time I'll talking about getting those series you might of missed out new in "Buying Used."

Thoughts: Otakon 2012

Another con, another haul.  Otakon this year was interesting for me, it was the first year I did two costumes and the one that I went to least amount of panels. Also it was freaking hot.

Friday I was dressed as the titular Franken Fran.  Which was interesting to say the least. As a manga only character I didn't expect a ton of people to know me (though at least a few people did).  What I didn't think of, was that most people would think I was dressed as female Stein from Soul Eater.  (Which is kind of funny because after I made my head bolts I made the Stein screw for one of my friends.) The costume was much hotter then I expected.  With the long wig and lab coat I had to stop shopping at one point in the dealers room.  I'm not sure if it was just the heat or if I was having hot flashes (I have some hormonal problems).  I still got a pretty good haul despite all this.

Saturday was interesting to say the least... I don't think I did much other then wear my costume and do a little shopping.  My friends like to get pictures in the Otakon Photo Suite early in the morning but things got all screwed up. I got in my Glados Potato costume later then I had planned but I figured it would be fine because we would be starting late.  Ugh, no so instead of 12 pm we did the shoot at around 5:30.  I was in the costume in the early after noon but after a couple of hours of wearing it I just couldn't do it any more and deposited in a friend's room in the Hilton for a bit.  I then did some more dealer's room and artist's alley shopping.  Which when much better, I was less hot and I felt like people were being way less pushy then on Friday.  I went and retrieved my costume but getting anywhere in it was a challenge.  I had a porthole view but it was so low I could only really see the chest area on people.  I tried going down and escalator and never before had I been so scared to try.  Luckily, a guy talked me through it.  Then I found out the Hilton skywalk bridge was closed (for what reason I guess I'll never know) so I had to go outside again.  Once that costume gets hot, it stays hot.  Even with a fan inside, it was like being in a mobile sweat lodge.  I did finally get my photos taken but I had to get out of the costume a.s.a.p. after that.  My legs are still sore from it.

On one hand I never want to wear this freaking this costume again but on the other had I'd like to try again and do it better.  It wasn't as last minute as the Fran costume but it was still done under a month.  My friend did the wire frame, batting, stuffing, and fabric.  I did the wires, clips, and face plate.  I guess we will see, for a winter convention I don't think it would be so bad heat wise.  Though we would have to figure out how to set the porthole so I can see faces instead of chests.

Sunday was the only day I went to a panel that wasn't my own.  I went to the Vertical panel, which I try to go to every year.  They are publishing some interesting stuff this year, Wolfsmund looks pretty cool and some how they ended up with the job of printing Queen's Blade art books (even Ed didn't seem to enthused by this).  Also Twin Spica is going out of print because of poor sales which is pretty sad, Ed quoted numbers and it was abysmal.  Remember if you really want a title to come out here buy it!

I ran two panels myself.  Both of them were 18+ this time around.  I did a Go Nagai panel, which was a rehash from last year but with more 18+ content.  Last year I managed to be informative this year I managed to wave my hands around a lot and spout stuff.  I tried, but it just wasn't with me this time.  It didn't help we ran into technical difficulties. My netbook only has HDMI out so I told my co-panelist to bring his laptop (we used his last year).  There is where we ran into a problem it was a different laptop but only had HDMI out also.  Fuuuuuuuuuuuu... Luckily the con staffer  and the audio guy called for a HDMI converter and I call my friend for her laptop.  Of course pretty much everything comes at once.  I tell my friend we don't need her laptop and she leaves.  Only my co-panelist's computer won't duplicate the screen.  Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuu.... I call my friend again and she runs down her laptop, again.  Fortunately we got there early enough that we were only 5 minutes late to start. It went pretty well, we had some laughter and we didn't have any one really get up to leave (which is always a good thing).

Saturday said laptop friend, another friend, and I ran a yaoi panel called Sugar & Old Spice.  Two of us had previously done it at MangaNext.  Only at MangaNext it was the same time as the rave and so only three people who really loved yaoi showed up.  Otakon we packed a room (a small room but still a room).  My friends were very prepared but I was not so much.  I knew the stuff because it is stuff I am very familiar with but I should have had notes.  Still we filled the time pretty well and had people asking us all kinds of questions.  It was cool.

As for the actual haul it was:

Printed yaoi web comics
Star Fighter - 1 & 2
Teahouse - 1 to 3


Manga
DMC  - 5 & 6
He Is My Master - 5 & 6
Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~  - Omnibus 1 & 2
Lament of the Lamb - 5

No Longer Human - 2 & 3
Ooku - 4
Sakuran
Sensual Phrase - 9
Three Wolves Mountain
Velveteen & Mandala
Venus Versus Virus - Omnibus (4 to 6), 7, 8

Other
Mine Turtle t-shirt
Persona 4 Arena t-shirt (My friend got it at E3 but she gave it to me at Otakon)
Tanto Cuore playing mat

Some of the manga came from a friend who got it at a local store to her for super cheap.

Over all a weird but interesting year.

Scanlation Get: Dororon Enma-kun

This one is a weird one to talk about and I may be skewed from watching Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera before finishing the manga. I’d pretty much sum up the manga as interesting ideas, lackluster execution.

Are heroes are the titular Enma-kun (nephew of Hell’s Great King Enma), Yukihime (an ice princess), Kapperu (a cute looking kappa), and Chapeauji (literally a sentient old man hat).  Enma-kun and friends are sent to Earth to (ostensibly) capture demons that have escaped from hell.  Expect Enma-kun kills them pretty much every time.

While there are some longer story arcs most of the stories are short one chapter affairs.  I think that is part of the problem the manga seems to be going somewhere at first and then just trails off into nowhere.  Part way through I was pretty sad because I came to the realization that the ending was going to be lame and I was pretty right.

It is supposed to be a horror/comedy but comes out more like light horror/juvenile sex comedy.  Which is a little strange when all of the characters look to be about eight.  Also there are only so many jokes about getting to seeing Yukihime’s vag I can take before it has worn out its welcome.  I also think a lot of the jokes almost work but don’t seem to follow through and they just fall kind of flat.

So here comes a left turn, while I personally would tell most people to skip this manga, I highly suggest checking out two anime based on it.  

One is Kikoushi Enma (Demon Prince Enma) this came out a few years ago in the US on DVD. While it is out of print and can be purchased used pretty easily online.  Kikoushi Enma re-imagines the characters as grownups and goes for a dark and moody atmosphere.  It reminded me a lot of Hell Girl but a bit more mature.  Also it was animated by Brains Base.  So the animation is pretty nice, some of it is a little dated by 3d effects but it doesn’t hamper the anime any.

The other is the more recent Dororon Enma-kun Meeramera.  This was also animated by Brains Base. For a TV series this show looks freaking good.  Really clean, sharp animation with lots of detail, way more then I would have expected for a show like this.  Also it is what the manga basically should have been.  It still has some of strangeness of eight year olds in a sex comedy but it goes way sillier than the manga and cuts out some of the strangeness of the manga (Like why is Enma-kun always in some underwear-diaper thing?).  NIS recently announced it for a U.S. release September 2012.  I have to say it is really great it manages to build off the content of the manga, it builds up to something, and take what was a kind of out of context lame ending to manga and turn it into something cool and funny.

DMP at it again

In exciting news you probably already know if you read a blog like mine is DMP is doing another Kickstarter to get Osamu Tezuka's Barbara published in English.  This is great, the whole reason they got this title was because of the previous Kickstarter working so well (Tezuka Pro came to them with it).  This campaign is even doing better.  It reached its goal in two days.  Now, only ten days in it has made more then double its goal!  I can't wait to get my copy!  I'm also excited to see what else is next for them.

For me the fallout of this is even exciting in non-manga related topics.  Order of the Stick, which is probably my favorite web comic, is also doing a Kickstarter republishing campaign.   Yes, I know I can read it all online but there is still something about owning a copy.

I hope small publisher and indies keep up the good work!

DMP Starts a Bring Back Osamu Tezuka's "Swallowing the Earth" Kickstarter

According to their website, manga publisher DMP has started a campaign via Kickstarter in order to be able to reprint Osamu Tezuka's "Swallowing the Earth".

Over two years ago, DMP sold "Swallowing the Earth" as a large omnibus. However, it had a small print run and has been in high demand by fans ever since. DMP wishes to print the book again but cannot afford a new print run. They have turned to the fundraising site Kickstarter to get the book back out to fans.

With Kickstarter, users pledge money to the campaign over a 30 day period. If the goal is met by the end of the 30 days, then the project is funded. By pledging different amounts, users can gain different rewards. Awards include a copy of the book when it's printed or even a package that not only includes the book, but many other manga titles as well.

DMP stated that if the campaign is successful, they will be looking to reprint other titles, or even bring new titles this way in the future.

DMP's Kickstarter page

Source: DMP

*Note* This was my news story on myanimelist.net

My thoughts?

I actually own a copy of the book from the first time DMP printed it. It's an interesting piece. It's certainly not Tezuka's best work, but is a very interesting transitional piece. During the gekiga movement in the 1960's Tezuka wanted to start writing more mature works. The thing is there a few transitional works where you can tell he is trying to write a more mature story but still feel really cartoony. Silly faces, over exaggerated gags, and such. But the story tends to be dark and the characters often have poor morals. It can be really odd. So, it's interesting to see Swallowing the Earth compared to something a few years later like MW (which is one of his most serious and dark titles).

I also like the idea of a Kickstarter campaign to get titles reprinted. I understand companies can't always take the risk of reprinting some titles and this can take the risk out of it. I think this a great way to see some of those now costly titles reprinted (like Flower of Life volume 4).

DMP also even mentions that if this goes well they will look into publishing niche titles this way. I could think of so many great titles I could get this way. I hope it all works out.

Scanlation Get: Mazinger Z

So, this year at Otakon I ran a panel on the man himself Go Nagai. In doing so, I wanted to catch up on some of his anime and manga works. I managed to watch a ton of (pretty terrible) anime adaptations of his work, but didn’t get around to much manga. I started and recently finished Mazinger Z though. This ending up being pretty interesting because while I had known of Mazinger Z the only related series I had seen was Mazinkaiser and Mazinkaiser SKL. So, I went into this title pretty fresh.

Kouji Kabuto and his younger brother are living with their genius scientist Grandfather after their parents died in a lab accident. Over all they are still an upbeat family living a good simple life. One day Kouji on the way to school experiences a major earthquake. He hurries home to see if his elderly Grandfather is alright. What he finds is a giant hole in the garden which has opened up a path to his Grandfather’s secret lab. Here he finds is the giant robot Mazinger Z and his dying Grandfather after some rubble crushed him. Right before he dies Gramps lays some heavy shit on Kouji that Mazinger is his and can be use to “save the earth or destroy it” it’s up to Kouji to decide.

Shortly there afterwards Kouji takes Mazinger Z out, only to find he can’t control it and it goes on a rampage. During this he has a run in with another piloted robot, Aphrodite A, created by Professor Yumi and piloted by his daughter Sayaka. After a short fight Kouji gets things under control and just in time when a third robot shows up and starts attacking the city. Kouji and Sayaka join forces to fight the evil Dr. Hell and his mechanical beasts.

Mazinger Z moves at a breakneck speed. Events tend to just roll right into another. I really enjoyed that aspect even if it just seems that sometimes I just had to accept stuff. Boss has a robot now? Sure why not?

The villains in this were a lot of fun too. Dr. Hell himself comes off kind of generic, but his henchmen are all kinds of crazy. Baron Ashura is (in the most literal sense) half man and half woman. There was back and forth panels as the female and male side exchanged dialogue. It’s a lot of fun, though I could have passed on the bizarro shower scene at one point. Was that supposed to be sexy or funny (either way let me stab myself in the eyes)? Count Brocken is also another winner. A headless man in Germen military gear who often carries around his head (but it can float too!) often flies in on some sort of hover pad and threatens Kouji. The levels of ridiculousness of this can be mind blowing, watch out!

This title was just a lot of fun to read. It was said Go Nagai wrote this to blow off some steam after working on Devilman and you can tell he is writing to have a good time. I really liked that, I could just feel fun coming off of the pages. I also enjoyed a lot of small things like the fact Kouji and Sayaka just like each other and there isn’t any tsundere bull. I also like that Sayaka is a strong brave female character, it was a shame though that she ended up being mostly useless.

My only complaint really is after what is the “ending” to the series there is a number of short one off stories. The ending has been a really intense point. I think leaving off with these short stories really hurt the impact of the ending.

In terms of fan service and gore Mazinger Z comes out like a baby kitten compared to a lot of other Go Nagai works. There are bits where Kouji or Boss get a look at a naked woman but it never really goes past that to the whole other level some of his titles go (I’m looking at you Cutey Honey and that statue licking scene!). There is some violence but for the most part it’s pretty mild and doesn’t focus much on it.

As in my past reviews on Go Nagai the art is well very Go Nagai. I’m starting to not notice how awkward the art is any more. Though man, the pilot outfits sure are freaking goofy looking. Over all, I’d say the art was better than Cutey Honey’s but had less interesting panel layout then Devilman.

This is a summer popcorn flick of manga, it’s a lot of fun and full of action but, nothing to deep going on. I do recommend it though if you like Go Nagai’s other works, or if you are just looking for something fun to read.