Yen Plus Info - YPI news discussion

It lives

Albright — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:55:44 +0000

The first issue of the online version of Yen Plus is now live.

I haven’t been able to dig too far deep into it, but apparently, the “August issue” will only carry domestic and manhwa titles; the Japanese titles will join the magazine next month, for some reason. Daniel X is added to the lineup on the A side, and they’ve hinted that “a certain little green-haired girl” will make an appearance next month (probably Yotsuba).

More later. Being a web developer myself, and having been none too impressed with Yen Press’s current web ventures from a technical standpoint, I’m especially interested in how the “online reader” and copy protection and stuff is going to work. They say that they’ll only ever have the last two issues available… Hmm.

Update: Well, it doesn’t seem to work. After logging in, I see a message telling me to “Please check you Yen Plus membership. .” (sic), and the button which would apparently launch the comic viewer doesn’t do anything. I’ve tried in a couple different browsers without success. This was obviously timed to launch coinciding with Yen Press’s panel at San Diego Comic-Con, but it doesn’t seem ready for prime time.

But anyway, I can get as far as to see a list of available comics, and they are: Max Ride, Nightschool, Gossip Girl, the aforementioned Daniel X, Time and Again, Jack Frost, and two I hadn’t heard of before; Aron’s Absurd Armada, and a “Special Short Story” (so a one-shot?) titled Haunted House Call. Aron’s Absurd Armada is a Korean title, though I’m struggling to find any information about it beyond that.

Check out ANN’s coverage for a little more info on Yen Press’s SDCC announcements.

Update 2: Others in the comment thread of the aforementioned ANN story are reporting not being able to view the comics either.

Update 3: The reader seems to be working now, though not in “full screen” mode, apparently. It’s… well, an in-browser reader. It seems to work well enough, but at the end of the day, you’re still reading print-oriented comics inside of a browser, which really, really, really, really sucks.

Aron’s Absurd Armada turns out to be a four-panel comic about bumbling pirates. Like most four-panelers, it’s short on humor and even shorter on narrative. Go read One Piece instead. Haunted House Call, by Madeleine Rosca (who I’m 90% certain is the same Australian Madeleine Rosca as mentioned in this Wikipedia article, though I’ve yet to find a definite link), is a cutesy one-shot about the daughter and apprentice of a famous London ghost hunter who takes her first case. The charming characters and European-style artwork will push your cute button, even if the story isn’t going to win many points for originality.

The end.

Albright — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 05:09:30 +0000

Giving Jump a chance

Albright — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 02:20:37 +0000

If you’ve been reading this site for a while, you know I’ve often been critical of Shonen Jump. Its bombastic covers which spare no exclamation point and propensity of overexposed franchises like Dragonball and Yu-Gi-Oh have never appealed to me. However, seeing as how it is soon to be the only monthly telephone book of comics still left standing, and in the spirit of not knocking something until you’ve tried it, I figured I’d give it a try; I’d venture into that wild and crazy world of Jump and report back my findings to those of you who have also never before tried it. So these past few months, I’ve purchased the May, June and July issues of Jump. Here’s my thoughts.

First off: Yes, they’re thin, compared to Yen Plus. If I stack two Jumps and put them next to a Yen Plus issue, the Jumps are taller, but only by about an eighth of an inch. That skimpiness is not just an optical illusion, as you’ll see later. You’ll also see that there is no “A side” cover for left-to-right reading as there is with Yen Plus; as all of Jump’s comics are Japanese in origin, the whole thing reads right-to-left.

After opening the cover, you’ll see the graphic design of the cover pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the book; noisy and loud, with little negative space, and so much of the magazine’s non-comic content, highlighting upcoming video games and anime releases and such, feels even more ad-like than the actual ads (though Jump would hardly be the only magazine guilty of that). M much of this content centers around current and former Shonen Jump properties like Dragonball and Yu-Gi-Oh — two of the issues came with Yu-Gi-Oh cards glued inside, and I have absolutely no idea what I’m supposed to do with them. To be fair, all this noise and fluff both on the cover and inside matches the presentation of Jump’s Japanese counterparts, but I think only the most obnoxious of purists would think this is a good thing. The comics are little oases of peace and quiet in comparison.

Ah, the comics. Jump currently has four regular comics. What?! Four?! Yes, definitely anemic compared to the ten to twelve in any given issue of Yen Press. Though, to be fair, all three of these issues featured part of a three-part preview of a series called Bakuman。(which will be referred to without the obnoxious punctuation henceforth), and two of the three previewed two other comics. All four of those regulars are in the middle of their bajillion-issue run, so keeping in mind that I’m jumping into the middle of all of these, here’s my perspectives.

Bleach: In these three issues, main character Ichigo (who I guess is supposed to be all bad-ass, but his name means “strawberry,” for Pete’s sake) is caught up in a battle with a baddie named Grimmjow, and it is of course very epic. Ichigo is getting his butt handed to him because he’s using his body to shield obvious love interest Orihime’s massive sweater hogans from Grimmjow’s attacks. But I’m sure some time in the next couple of issues he’ll find some deus ex machina-ish way to gain the upper hand. Yeah, as you can probably guess, I didn’t think too highly of Bleach. The characters don’t strike me as all that interesting, and the fight scenes are indecipherable; it’s like you have to wade through an indistinguishable mess of speed lines and then hope whatever just happened is explained by dialogue at some point. Lame.

Ultimo: Uh, this is some really, really strange stuff. Apparently this scientist named Duncan has created the embodiments of pure good and pure evil and made them fight to see which one is stronger, but then there’s also characters that embody the six great virtues and the seven deadly sins — I’m not clear on whether those were made by Duncan as well. All of these embodiments are paired with humans, so I guess it’s kind of like spiritual Pokémon or something. The good and evil embodiments are having their epic battle or something, and it somehow brings about the end of the world, but then in the next issue, time has reverted a couple of days and now the humans are trying to avoid causing the end of the world again…? So many characters — most of them appearing briefly and seemingly not affecting anything after their introduction — and such a mess of a plot. I didn’t like this at all. I wonder how Stan Lee’s name got attached to it…

**One Piece:*** Okay, now we’re talking. This is about a kid named Luffy who is apparently the leader of a cartoonish gang of pirates. They’re breaking out of an underwater prison called Impel Down in order to interrupt the execution of Luffy’s brother. The fact that I can explain this much more clearly and succinctly than I can explain Ultimo’s plot, despite each having the same amount of time to explain themselves to me, should tell you something; the plot here is simple and straightforward, but not in a bad way. The wacky characters and action are a lot of fun. I really had a lot of fun with the oddly-named One Piece (the term refers to a woman’s long dress in Japanese).

Naruto: Ahh, the original teen ninja comic. Think Nabari no Ou, but more cartoony and with a larger action-to-melodrama ratio… actually, teenage ninja aside, it’s not really like Nabari no Ou at all, but anyway. As with Bleach, despite being a huge franchise, I had never read Naruto before (or seen its animated version), so I was looking forward to an explanation of how a kid in an orange jumpsuit with a shiny thing on his head (“aim weapons here, please”) could be a ninja of any substance. Alas, I’d be frustrated, as the titular character doesn’t actually have any action scenes in these three chapters; what little page time he has in the first, he spends pretty much acting like a jerk, though it’s sort of hamfistedly explained away in the third. But not that there’s not action going on; the main plot thread seems to be the battle of this dude named Bee and this shark-man badnik named Kisame whose sword can steal spiritual energy and he can merge with it to become his ultimate form and blah blah blah. Your standard fighting manga stuff, though much easier to follow than Bleach - and with more interesting characters, seemingly. I gotta say, though, that I was kind of surprised by the relatively low quality of art on display here; it definitely looked like something that would appear in a bored middle schooler’s notebook at times.

Bakuman: Not one of the regulars, but since it appeared in the three issues I looked at, I’ll give it a write-up as if it were anyway. Akito and Moritaka are two classmates who decide to team up to create their own manga, despite the fact that Moritaka’s uncle was a manga artist who met some success but ended up working himself to an early death in poverty. Akito’s enthusiastic about it, but for Moritaka, it’s just a step in a convoluted plan to win the heart of his crush. Silly as it seems, the presentation of Bakuman isn’t too terrible, though the plot is typically brushed aside for the sake of giving behind-the-scenes looks at how manga are produced; a trip to Moritaka’s uncle’s apartment for inspiration (inexplicably it’s still in the same shape it was in when he died) becomes an explanation of how pages and pages of crude storyboards become the final product after the meddling of an editor. It didn’t entirely hook me, but it may be of interest to those who aspire to be in the comic industry themselves.

So that’s Jump. On the whole, it definitely feels like there’s both less quality and less variety compared to what Yen Plus has given us these last two years. And yet… It wasn’t entirely unenjoyable. I definitely had more fun reading these issues than I thought I would, and that especially goes for One Piece. Will I subscribe or continue to buy them? Well… No, probably not with any regularity. But that’s me. I can now see someone being able to derive some enjoyment from this magazine and not be a complete immature weirdo (no more than other people who read comic books, anyway). Perhaps you too, fellow skeptical Yen Plus fan, should also give Jump a try and see if you dig it. You’re not going to have much of a choice in the near future anyway…

Another twisted page

Albright — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:37:09 +0000

In the United States, today is Memorial Day, a day to mourn and honor those who selflessly joined the military to defend the interests of this bizarre abstract idea we call the United States and end up paying the ultimate price for doing so. Take a moment to ponder the enormity of that idea.

And then look at this.

Anyway, seeing as how I got my June issue on time (the May one never did come…), I’ve updated the site with the content therefrom. (Hey, the OS X spellchecker isn’t flagging “therefrom,” so it must be a word, right?)

Also, I’ve never featured any advertising or referral links or donation begging on this site… but I’m kinda sorta gonna start now. Long story short, possible adventures later this year will necessitate a bit more money than I have now. Fortunately, I’ve got the skills to pay the bills; now I just need some clients. I’m a web developer; I build web sites, primarily with the Drupal content management system. This site itself was built using Drupal (but don’t hold that against Drupal, please). I already make semi-decent money building sites as my eight-to-five day job, but I’d like to make a little more, so I’m hoping to start some freelance moonlighting. Though I’m primarily focused on theming at this point - taking an artist’s site mock-up in Photoshop and the like and turning it into a functional Drupal theme - I’m experienced in all aspects of site construction, from server configuration and administration to module programming and everything in between. So if you or anyone you know is in need of a sweet content-managed web site, let’s talk! Check out my new site, DThemer, for my credentials and portfolio. Thanks for your consideration!

Allow me to save you four seconds of Googling

Albright — Thu, 27 May 2010 01:39:55 +0000

Confused by the confectionary in June’s One FIne Day? Me too. Answer my questions, internet!

It turns out this is dalgona. Basically peanut brittle sans peanuts. Be sure to read the comments for a little more insight.

Kinda surprised they didn’t have a translation note of some sort for this, but oh well.

Another great one-shot

Albright — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:31:06 +0000

I’ve finally added the details for the May 2010 issue. After waiting too long to receive it in the mail, I went ahead and bought it in the store (again).

This issue contains a bonus one-shot comic (yay!) entitled The Clinic of the Damned, which, despite the ominous title, is actually a pretty lighthearted and entertaining read. Good work, Scott Cummings!

More later. Life’s busy - I’m actually writing this update on my lunch hour…

Sitting out MMF

Albright — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 07:07:38 +0000

The April Manga Movable Feast has started. If you’ve been reading YPI for a while, you’ve already seen my participating articles for February, featuring Sexy Voice and Robo, and March, featuring Emma. This month’s MMF features Mushishi, a comic about a young man capable of interacting with primitive life forms called mushi. However, due to planned chaos during the latter half of this month (compounded with plenty of unplanned chaos), I decided to not participate this month. I intend to jump back in the fray for May, though.

However, I still support the concept, so if you want to get in on the fun, check out the hub page for Mushishi, as hosted by Ed Sizemore of Manga Worth Reading, and maybe even consider posting your own review or perspective if you have a blog.

The death of Yen Plus

Albright — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:48:05 +0000

Scheez. You head out of town to attend a nerdy conference and ignore your feed reader for a couple of days, and this is what you miss.

In case this is the only comic-related blog you read (which I hope is not the case, for your sake), you’ve probably heard that Yen Press has announced that the July 2010 issue of Yen Plus (to be published in June) will be the last issue in print. After that, Yen Plus will switch to being some sort of digital online-only entity - details are still vague at the moment (what does a “dedicated browser” mean?).

Some may protest the title of this post, then. Surely that doesn’t mean Yen Plus is dead, right? It is only changing form. Well, if you’ve been reading this site for a while, you know I’ve made it no secret how disinterested I am in reading comics on a computer screen. Even if that’s the only way in which Yen Plus changes… Well, it’s like NewsRadio after Phil Hartman died. Technically, that was the only thing that changed, but when you watched the final season you knew it wasn’t and could never be the same.

(Yes, I’m well aware that 90% of this site’s readership has no idea what I’m talking about.)

So maybe Yen Plus won’t technically be dead, but it’ll be dead to me and many other readers who dislike reading comics on a computer screen, judging by comments on Yen Press’s post and elsewhere around the web. Payment for remaining subscription issues will be refunded somehow. Apparently the new digital form will be subscription-based as well, though the price is still unknown. However, even if it were free, there’s still little chance I’ll have any interest in it. Why? Because there are already several places online where one can read print comics for free, both legit and otherwise, and I don’t make any use of those sites either. (Web comics which were originally designed to be read on a screen instead of in print, and therefore work with the screen format’s benefits and limitations, are excepted.)

I’m bummed, but I’m not surprised. Given the amount of content Yen Plus had compared to its price tag, and the fact that there has been very little in the way of third-party advertising (that is, ads hawking wares from companies other than Yen Press and its sister companies), I’m willing to bet that Yen Press never made a direct profit from Yen Plus, and may have in fact been rather expensive for the company to produce and publish - an expense that was viewed as partially-subsudized advertising, as Yen Press viewed Yen Plus as a way to hawk and ultimately sell their print collections. I guess that, somewhere, a bean counter counted beans and felt that the value proposition wasn’t worth it anymore.

Unfortunately, in a digital form, the value proposition is greatly reduced for Yen Plus readers as well.

So where does that leave us - those of us who want trees cut down, pulped, pressed flat, trimmed, sprayed with ink, bound with glue, and shipped to our mailboxes once a month? Well, Shonen Jump is still IN YA FACE, if that appeals to you. It doesn’t appeal to me. So I guess I’m out of luck - as far as I can tell, that’s the only such anthology left in the US market (please correct me in the comments if I’m wrong). Bummer.

I hope that perhaps some other company can step in and fill its place - a good monthly telephone book of comics with a wide variety of appeal at a great price. And as long as I’m dreaming, I’d like a pony.

Translator for Soul Eater & Hero Tales passes away

Albright — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:17:18 +0000

Translator Amy Forsyth passed away on Monday at the entirely-too-young age of thirty-three. She is credited as a translator for Soul Eater and Hero Tales for Yen Plus.

Aside from those two, she has also had a hand in translating many various anime and manga productions for ADV and Tokyopop - if you’ve been enjoying Japanese comics or animation in the last few years, there’s a good chance you’ve seen at least a couple of the productions she’s worked on. ANN’s encyclopedia has a full list.

Translators never get their name on the cover of the comics they work on, but clearly their work is an integral part of the experience of enjoying a foreign-language comic. Forsyth’s contributions to the medium will be missed.

Sources: ANN (via MangaBlog), Press of Atlantic City.

Not enough Svet yet?

Albright — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 06:17:55 +0000

Are ya diggin’ Svetalana Chmakova’s Nightschool? Then you may be interested in checking out some of her other works. You may already know about Dramacon, the three-volume tale of romance and anime conventions. (No, seriously.) But she has a couple other projects up around the web that you can check out, and best of all, it won’t cost you a cent, you cheap bastage.

First is Chasing Rainbows, a supernatural romance about a restauranteer torn between two lovers. The subject matter is a bit more mature than Chmakova’s other works, so be mindful of that… and before you get too wrapped up in the story, be aware that it’s unfinished, and may stay that way indefinitely; though it’s officially “on hiatus,” the last page was posted in 2006. (There was some news back in December that Chmakova was going to restart her work on Chasing Rainbows, but it has yet to materialize - one has to wonder where she would find the time.) Interestingly, it features a couple familiar-looking characters…

Meanwhile, a new site called Bento Comics has launched. It features several comics from skilled artists which can be read online, but with a neat gimmick; you can select your favorite comics to be printed up into an actual physical book and sent to you - make-your-own-comic anthology! Chmakova has two comics there; Roundtrip (what is with the improperly-compounded words in this girl’s comic titles?) is a ten-page, dialogue-less romance that doesn’t tell us the whole story - but in a good way, like the noodle incident from Calvin and Hobbes. Meanwhile, Dare to Dream (not Daretodream, thankfully) is a three-page comic about… hmm… an in-joke or something…

Speaking of Bento, do you remember Queenie Chan and her brilliant one-shot Forget-Me-Not from the July 2009 issue? (Remember back when Yen Plus used to have previews and one-shots and posters and stuff? Sad panda.) She’s got a horror comic on there called Ten Years Ago Today that doesn’t quite break any new ground, but is a quick entertaining read nonetheless. Check it out.

Finally, coming back to Chmakova, a site called Wirepop features Wheneverly, a semi-autobiographical gag strip from 2005 and 2006.

Did I miss anything? Clue us in in the comments below.