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Posts Tagged CBLDF

Manga Minis: Captain Ken Reaches Kickstarter Goal, More Tsubasa from CLAMP, Rescuse from Viz, and CNN Doesn’t Get It

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, June 20, 2014

CNN released a video report about manga and anime this week, in response to a recent bill being passed in Japan that bans child pornography. To little surprise, but plenty of outrage, CNN’s take on the subject was a pretty big over-simplification and make sweeping generalizations about entire mediums of entertainment. Fun!

I find the whole thing exhausting, as I generally do with these painful outsiders-looking-in reports that are just looking for a dramatic angle. It’s some relief knowing this sort of stuff always just blows over and away, but for those curious the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund did a good overview.

Digital Manga’s Kickstarter for Captain Ken reached its goal of $13000 this past Wednesday. The fundraising campaign still has twelve days to go, with additional pledges going towards its stretch goals for bonus material. The book is scheduled for release to backers in February 2015, with remaining volumes out to the public in March.

Viz Media announced two more ‘license rescues’ from Tokyopop’s expired library – Fate/Stay Night and Trinity Blood. Both titles are currently being released in digital editions under their Viz Select imprint. The books are available to read onViz’s website, or by downloading via their mobile apps.

Fate/Stay Night was never entirely finished by Tokyopop, though presumably we will see the end of the manga released by Viz. A new anime based on the original game of the same name is scheduled to start this Fall. Viz Media currently has the first three volumes available.

Trinity Blood was also an originally incomplete series. It had twelve of its currently seventeen (and on-going) volumes released by Tokyopop. Digital volumes will be made available on June 24th starting with volume one.

The manga-making team CLAMP announced that they’re creating a new Reservoir Chronicles Tsubasa series. The title will begin in Japan this summer and will connect to the already running, XXXHolic Rei. Each title acts as a semi-sequel to their original parent series, Reservoir Chronicle Tsubasa and XXXHolic. It’s CLAMP, so it’s complicated. Both originals have already been released in full in English, along with their anime adaptations.

Dark Horse is currently releasing XXXHolic Rei and has been re-releasing most of CLAMP’s previously published titles in shiny new omnibus editions. I imagine it’s only a matter of time until we see them pick up this new Tsubasa series as well.

After a seven year pause between releases, Viz Media was pleased to announce that they’re publishing the third volume of Bisco Hatori’s Millenium Snow this week. The previous two volumes of the vampire series were released back in 2007. Viz Media also released a handy 2-in-1 omnibus edition of Millenium Snow this week (Amazon CAN | US), making it easy for readers who don’t have the original singles to purchase the complete series to date. Bisso Hatori is best known for their previous series, Ouran High School Host Club.

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Categories: Manga Minis
Tags: Bisco Hatori, CBLDF, CLAMP, Dark Horse, Digital Manga, Fate Stay Night, Millenium Snow, Tokyopop, Trinity Blood, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, Viz Media, XXXHolic

Manga Minis: CBLDF Defends, Places to Read and Doses of Nostalgia

By Lissa Pattillo on Thursday, August 22, 2013

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Manga minis today are more links of interest and less news, but no less worth sharing:

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund‘s executive director delivered a speech at the Manga Freedom Tour in Japan. They’ve uploaded the whole thing for reading on their website, and it’s well worth checking out. It goes over a number of the legal situations readers have faced with manga, the medium’s North American expansion and the work that the CBLDF has done to support the work and its fans.

CBLDF’s article also mentions their upcoming publication, MANGA: Introduction, Challenges, and Best Practices, which is being released this December. I consider myself very fortunate to have been a part of this project, especially since it meant I got an early read of the great content.

“Made possible with a grant from the Gaiman Foundation, CBLDF Presents Manga is a handbook designed to provide a concise and informed overview of manga—its history, genres, and issues. This educational work delves into the history of manga, its major demographic divisions, its most significant creators, and the challenges it has sometimes faced in North America.”

And speaking of working to support manga and its readers, Organization Anti-Social Geniuses blog has posted a handy guide to the current ways to read manga (legally!) online. They have a comprehensive list that also includes their experiences with those they’ve used.

Sailor Moon‘s 20th Anniversary has led to lots of shiny goodies, and they just keep coming! Jewelry, toys, trinkets, cosmetics and the pages and pages of merchandise GE Animation has licensed and produced. And that’s the whole point of this snippet, just to remind you how many super shiny new pieces of Sailor Moon merch are out there. And I want them all.

Speaking of reminders, Jason Thompson is still writing his manga articles for Anime News Network, House of 1000 Manga. Every one is worth a read. In fact, two reads. At least. His most recent post was about Kaoru Mori’s Bride’s Story while last week was a detailed and entertaining look at the original Yu-Gi-Oh manga. Bask in that archive, it’s all good, and don’t forget Carlo Santos’ Right Turn Only!! column either.

And, though not manga, I was pretty giddy to first read about the new Pokemon anime that is a more faithful adaptation of the original games. While I’d love a series closer to the Pokemon Adventures manga series, I think the nostalgic look and sound of this anime adaptation of the original games seems pretty darn fun.

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Categories: Manga Minis, News
Tags: Anime, CBLDF, Digital, Manga

PR: Comic Book Legal Defense Fund Releases Authoritative Manga Guide for Librarians and Educators with Dark Horse!

By Lissa Pattillo on Wednesday, June 26, 2013

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JUNE 26 (New York, NY)— This summer, Dark Horse is proud to publish CBLDF Presents Manga: Introduction, Challenges, and Best Practices, an authoritative yet accessible handbook designed to help librarians, educators, and parents navigate the vast and popular field of manga. Prepared by the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the freedom to read, CBLDF Presents Manga provides what you really need to know about manga from those who really know it! The book will premiere at the ALA Annual Conference in Chicago, June 27–July 2, and at Anime Expo in Los Angeles, July 4–7.

Made possible with a grant from the Gaiman Foundation, CBLDF Presents Manga is a handbook designed to provide a concise and informed overview of manga—its history, genres, and issues. This educational work delves into the history of manga, its major demographic divisions, its most significant creators, and the challenges it has sometimes faced in North America.

What sets this book apart from other manga guides is its expert panel of writers, including not only scholars of the medium but veterans of the manga industry itself—professionals who have worked from both the North American and Japanese sides of manga in publishing, editing, review, and library services. Edited by Melinda Beasi of Manga Bookshelf, CBLDF Presents Manga is written by Manga Bookshelf columnist Sean Gaffney, Ed Chavez of Vertical, Erica Friedman of Yuricon and ALC Publishing, Shaenon Garrity of Viz Media and Otaku USA, and Robin Brenner and Katherine Dacey of School Library Journal.

CBLDF Presents Manga is an insider’s view on this dynamic and influential field and promises to be an essential resource for years to come!

CBLDF Presents Manga: Introduction, Challenges, and Best Practices is on sale in comic shops everywhere December 4.

Manga Is Not A Crime: Canadian Crown Drops Charges In Customs Case

By Lissa Pattillo on Friday, March 16, 2012

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Some of you may have noticed the Manga Is Not A Crime banner on my sidebar during one of your visits and the story of Ryan Matheson is a prime reason for my support of the work the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund does. Back in 2010, he was arrested trying to cross the border from the US to Canada when Canadian Customs official searched his laptop and found anime/manga imagery that they deemed child pornography.

CBLDF announced yesterday that all the charges against Ryan Matheson have since been dropped, which comes as fantastic news. Of course he’s not out of the woods yet with legal fees and some very unpleasant memories to follow him but it’s a big relief to see his immediate fight has finally ended.

Speaking out for the first time, Matheson says, “I’m glad to finally put this awful ordeal behind me. Ever since the beginning I knew I had committed no crime, so I was never willing to accept a plea to any criminal charge. The entire legal process is very traumatizing, and the overzealous bail conditions imposed on me were very difficult to endure. Although my defense was extremely strong, all trials are inherently risky and I value my life too much to risk a potential minimum mandatory sentence. I am very grateful for the spectacular work Michael Edelson and his team put into my case, and to all the generous people who supported me and contributed to my defense. I was able to stand up to the very last day and fight for something I believe in.”

As a Canadian, I have immense pride in my country as a place that values peace and equality. There’s no where in the world I’d rather live and I get homesick quick ever being off Canadian soil. Unfortunately nowhere is perfect and the pit in my stomach I feel crossing the border from trips to the US on my way home is a stern reminder of that. That I could be arrested for my bags full of comics is terrifying – it’s scary because it’s unfair for material that hurts no one, it’s scary because it could happen to anyone at anytime and it’s scary because if it happens, as Ryan Matheson’s case shows, there’s nothing you can do should someone else decide that what artwork you choose to look at is wrong.

MangaBlog’s Brigid Alverson has a really informative write-up on the case along with some history of other similar occurrences over at Comic Book Resources. It’s well worth a read and I hope gives you a good idea why supporting a group like CBLDF is such an important thing to do for comic readers everywhere.

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Categories: Misc, News
Tags: Boys' Love/Yaoi, Canada, CBLDF, Manga