deconstructing the SFBC

[truepenny]

The SFBC catalogue came, and this time they've added a manga flier. I know very little about manga, but I'm wondering what the SFBC's choices say about their understanding of manga and how they're presenting it to their audience. So I'm asking, since I know there are people reading this who know much much more about manga than I do (::looks at coffee_and_ink::). What do the choice of these eight titles say about the SFBC & manga?

Real Bout High School
Love Hina
Ai Yori Aoshi
Samurai Deeper
Initial D
GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka
Priest
Battle Royale

Comments

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

It says they've got some kind of deal with Tokyopop, because every single series comes from the same publisher.

Aside from that, it says they didn't read the manga or they're defining "science fiction" really loosely. I haven't read any of these series, but it's my impression GTO and Love Hina have about as many sf/f elements as Danielle Steel or Sidney Sheldon.

[branchandroot]

*amused* Looks like they're trying to cram as many different target-audiences in as they can. Love Hina is teen romantic comedy, modern setting. Samurai Deeper Kyo is (very, very vaguely) historical adventure with magic and swords... and lots of boob shots. Initial D is all about road racing and cars, also modern day. Battle Royale is... really twisted; a cross between Survivor and school for assassins.

I'm surprised they didn't try to fit X/1999 in there, since it does, indeed, look like this is a deal with Tokyopop in particular.

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

X/1999 is Viz. The CLAMP series from Tokyopop are Tokyo Babylon, Wish, Cardcaptor Sakura, Clover, RG Veda, Legend of Chun Hyang, Shirahime Syo, Legal Drug and probably some more I don't own. All of which are also sf/f and much more suitable for the SFBC's audience than most of the ones being marketed, I agree.

[branchandroot]

*facepalm* And if I had looked at my shelf, I would have remembered that. *wry* But, yes, all of those have a stronger sf/f slant than the list as it stands. Though, as pointed out below, a lot of those are aimed at girls and young women, and this list does seem to make the assumption that the overlap of people-receiving-list with manga-philes will be solely young males.

*snorts*

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but all of those have girl cooties. They've clearly selected manga for maximum appeal to men and minimum to women.

Here's an alternate list, all from Tokyopop, which would have broad appeal, includes some of their most popular series, and is all sf or fantasy:

Chobits. Romantic comedy-drama about a young man and his woman-shaped AI. Plenty of fanservice (sexy stuff) for those who like women.

Clover. Beautiful, atmospheric romantic action drama in a Bladerunner-ish future.

DNAngel. Really popular action series about a guy who turns into a phantom thief or something.

Fruits Basket. The most popular manga in America. Contemporary fantasy comedy-drama about a cursed family and the girl who comes into their lives. Funny and cute, but with plenty of depth and heartbreak.

Pet Shop of Horrors. Twilight Zone-ish series about a freaky magic pet shop.

Planetes. Smart, low-key near-future sf, reminiscent of early Heinlein or C. J. Cherryh.

Saiyuki. Whacked-out gonzo fantasy about four super-powered guys tooling across ancient mythic China in a jeep, fighting demons and male-bonding. My favorite manga.

Sgt. Frog. Satirical comedy, sort of in the vein of The Simpsons. A frog-like alien soldier is left behind after the mission to take over the Earth is canceled, and some kids adopt him.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

*sigh* It means that they think that the average manga reader is a teenage boy or a man with teenage boy-like tastes. They also have not selected for quality, although I do think GTO is funny. This list strikes me very much as male-oriented, unsophisticated, and lowest common denominator. Also, none of them are more than nominally sf, and most are not sf at all.

Real Bout High School. Kids go to a school where they're trained to be fighters. I read one volume and thought it was incoherent and boring, with poorly characterized people fighting randomly. I suppose it's sort of alternate universe.

Love Hina. Male-oriented sex comedy. A young man becomes manager of a women's dorm. The one volume I read was nothing but him doing pratfalls and accidentally seeing the girls in panties and bra. Not sf.

Ai Yori Aoshi I haven't read this one, but it's a male-oriented romantic/sex comedy. The anime has a lot of panty shots. Not sf.

Samurai Deeper Kyo. Action. A young samurai is sometimes possessed by an evil alter ego. So it's sort of fantasy. I read one volume and thought it was boring. There are way better samurai series out there.

Initial D. Sports. A young man becomes a drag racer. Not sf. I haven't read any of this, but the anime is fun.

GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka. Comedy. A former juvenile delinquent becomes a high school teacher. Raunchy but pretty funny. Not sf.

Priest. Really violent fantasy western. I haven't read this one because the violence turned me off after five pages.

Battle Royale. Action. Teenagers are forced to kill each other in a sicko game show. This is based on a movie that I think is brilliant and disturbing. The manga (based on the one volume I read) loses the social satire and sorrow of the movie, and is pure exploitative trash.

I could recommend way, way better manga that would also actually be sf or fantasy.

[mokie]

Battle Royale. Action. Teenagers are forced to kill each other in a sicko game show. This is based on a movie that I think is brilliant and disturbing. The manga (based on the one volume I read) loses the social satire and sorrow of the movie, and is pure exploitative trash.

Both are based on the novel, with the manga supposedly being the more faithful adaptation. I've only seen the movie, alas, so I couldn't say one way or the other, but my sister insists that the movie doesn't live up to the novel.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I've read the novel too. The manga may have more details from the novel's plot (although the movie is also pretty faithful, in my opinion-- just shorter) but the manga's art lingers on underage panties and exploding heads in a way that the movie doesn't. The tone of the manga seemed different from both the novel and the movie.

[wintersweet.livejournal.com]

Wow, every one of those is boys' manga. Bleh.

[mmarques.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I own DVDs of Real Bout Highschool. It's extremely silly, but I can understand a surprising amount of the Japanese (yes, I've been taking classes). The alternate universe is not the highschool where everyone breaks into official stadium fights all the time... it's a place where the heroine keeps vanishing into due to a necklace.

I understand that Love Hina is available in a bilingual version, which is the only thing that would tempt me to read it.