Penguin Random House Searches For Readers With Five Different Titles With Manga Region Stamp
mother and father
The rise of manga went unnoticed by major publishing groups like Penguin Random House, which last June hit Spanish booksellers with five different titles covering demographics such as seinen, shojo, shone or BL. While this demographic shows a different text, Darwin Incident from Shun Umezawa (The winner of the Manga Taishô 2022 Prize, undoubtedly the most relevant title of the books published in this first batch), love in focus from Yoko Nogiric, Joy from Etsuko, Ranger Denial from Negi Haruba Y Shikimori is more than just a pretty face from Keigo Makicare clearly different proposals that seek the diversity of the comic reader. It’s an understandable strategy because it has a more diverse and heterogeneous audience than any other comic book genre.
The truth is that although there are the majority of humble publishers in Spain trying their best to publish the manga, at this time of unprecedented success for Japanese cartoons, almost every publisher has their eyes set on manga. Although there is no data and the opacity of print operations and sales does not help to clarify the picture, there are certain indicators or data, such as: Haikyu!! (funny planet) or tokyo avengers (standard comic book) It is listed as the best-selling titles of the general book lists. (There were other manga titles like My Hero Academia, Guardians of the Night, Naruto’s One Piece), when asked to booksellers of specialized comics stores, they stated that more than fifty percent of their sales were attributed to manga, where 1033 novelties were released after the full-scale pandemic last year, 2021 (On Marc Bernabé’s blog, Mangaland, this boom is not exclusive to Spain, it happened in other countries, and this year There is an article that talks about it with great information stating that a topic that has been around for a long time has been published. Ashita no Joe. They are positive indicators that paint an optimistic picture and clearly show that manga is a reality beyond fashion.
This brief introduction aims to put the logic that a group likes into context. Penguin Random House Create your own label/line dedicated to Japanese cartoons, manga zone, It was released with five titles that were stated to show solid work of fiction regardless of taste. A label with a clear ambition to compete with major publishers, Planeta or Norma. But what do we find in these five topics?
Birth: first babies
The Darwin Incident, Shun Umezawa
From Shun Umezawa we could read different parts of the most interesting short stories, for example: utopias, With one and ninety-nine Y under the sky with tightsThe film in which the manga artist explores the light shadow of Japanese society. So new title Darwin IncidentThe series, which is also supported by awards and is a long series, aroused great curiosity when it was announced by Distrito Manga. And although different from what we’ve read from the author, this first volume lives up to all expectations. And this work explores very topical issues where Umezawa creates a social burden without using conversations, perfectly measures the action with candid moments, poses ethical and moral dilemmas in a narrative so powerful to question and question the human being. his behavior. Veganism, family patterns, certain behaviors and social norms…
And that’s just a fraction of how much you’re offering Darwin Incident. For the rest, if the manga’s predecessor begins with Charlie, the first human-chimpanzee hybrid, narrative coordinates were also hybridized in an accomplice way, from costume to police, drama to dark humor. for example. An excellent first episode. It is told with an energetic pulse and a drawing that adapts to what is being said. It is undoubtedly one of the arms that you should give them a chance.
Ranger Rejet by Negi Haruba
The only solid shoneni of these five games is the new manga. harubaKnown as the author in Spain quintupletsA romantic comedy that works very well. He’s acting on an entirely different track record in this story. It offers a very attractive premise, but perhaps suffers from a somewhat generic way of development. Ranger Denial Sentai plays with humor and farce, or in other words, for a broader reader, the reference to Power Rangers seems obvious, even though it’s the other way around here.
Aside from the strong premise, perhaps another standout point is that the story is effective, with a plot and design that works organically and also finds its way into the construction of the characters. His jokes are on humor and the rhythm of the story, although he sometimes turns to models who have traveled before. Ranger Denial A promising manga to watch.
Etsuko’s Joy
Beautiful and sensitive Boys Love has a certain dramatic point, but without overdoing it, how a successful shojo mangaka is ordered for a BL. And the author thinks he has an unrequited relationship with his assistant because he got a little lost, but of course the assistant doesn’t react as the manga artist expected. With a clean line and a simple story Joy It is a manga where you can easily empathize with the handling of the characters. Also, this single episode (although there is a sequel to be released in September) reveals some of the criticisms and frustrations that have always gotten attention from manga creators. It can perhaps be credited for being somewhat predictable, but it always maintains that balance in the two mangaka’s relationship with a harmonious touch that makes this story enjoyable to read.
Love in Focus Yoko Nogiri
A three-part shojo revolving around a love triangle between a teenage girl, Mako, and two other boys named Kei and Mitsuru, which we’ve seen in hundreds of Japanese titles. In this sense, their work nogiri It is not original, although it meets the parameters it sets for the scene. Here the photographic element tries to play a distinctive role, but the twists, confusions and emotions in this part of life do not end with its own personality.
Trustworthy love in focus it follows a very orthodox story, but everything is where it should be, Although the drawing fits the story it tells, it fails to convey emotions and a personal sensitivity through the scenes it shows. At least in this first episode, the arrangement of the motifs of the three protagonists is uninteresting, as extreme care is taken to fit the pieces together, that is, they do not fly freely.
Shikimori is more than a pretty face than Keigo Maki.
Although the drawing is very impressive a priori, it is perhaps the title that interests me the least of all the manga. Shikimori is more than just a pretty face trying to break up the roles between boy and girl to show the gender struggle that the fiction portrays so well. Even though it has nothing to do with that, it reminded me of this. my daughter’s monsteryes movie Howard Falcons 1938 starring by Cary Grant Y katharine hepburn. Some will find some delirium in this reference, but the role reshuffles and gender struggle that this romantic comedy represents were also present in this beautiful film.
We are faced with a manga consisting of almost half-baked or non-existent short chapters that seek the humor and the impact of the reader through these two characters. There are some fresh scenes, but in general the job is repetitive, linear, and the difficulty becomes significant when it comes to an open twelve-episode series. Of course, the drawing is dynamic and the composition of the vignettes is commendable, as is the design by Shikimori. The arrival of the anime will undoubtedly be a claim to find more readers.
Big family
Distrito Manga strives to be a powerful label that gets people talking with a variety of obvious offers.. Three new titles have been added to the end of these five games: Complex Age, The Murders of the Decagonal Mansion, and As the Gods Will. However, the wheel and machine do not stand still and new licenses continue to be announced; like arms Hiraeth, End of Journey, Old Boy, Beck, among other titles. At the moment, the optimism surrounding Japanese cartoons is spreading, and it seems that this is no simple fad, on the contrary, and with all the editorial power of Penguin Random House, the birth of Distrito Manga is more than an indication. is the confirmation Positive wind blowing in the Spanish manga edition.
