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Protaku Anime and Manga Blog
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Protaku is a blog dedicated to covering Anime and Manga from Japan. Protaku has commentary about various series and movies, and insights on the Anime industry.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'manga'
Top Graphic Novels-Manga of 2008? BookScan says Naruto, ftw.
Anyone who needed confirmation that Naruto is still selling as strong as ever need look no further than the latest data for 2008. ICv2 reports that the Nielsen BookScan data for 2008 shows Naruto clearly dominated the manga sales last year. ICv2 ...
Remember when Barack Obama was in the Air Gear manga?
As we approach Barack Obama’s historic inauguration, I felt it would be a good time to dig up a gem from last year. Many of you may recall that Barack made a cameo appearance in Chapter 206 of the Air Gear manga as “John Omaha”: ...
Afro Samurai: Resurrection advance review
Thanks to IGN, I had the pleasure of reviewing Afro Samurai: Resurrection before its January 25th premiere on SpikeTV. If you liked the first series, you’re going to love this sequel. I don’t know if the broadcast version will quite capt...
Here’s your mission this holiday season: Buy manga and anime!
Times are tough, folks. With this economic slowdown, many industries are hurting bad. Anime/manga sales have already been declining both here and abroad. If our favorite entertainment segment is going to survive these tough times, we need to do on...
Halloween in Japan is quite relevant to anime
While scouring the interwebs, I found an interesting Washington Post article on the culture and historical roots of Halloween in Japan. I think it’s an interesting read for anime fans since it explains a lot of the demon traditions that we oft...
An Osamu Tezuka manga is set for reprint for first time in 62 years
The original version of a classic manga comic written by Osamu Tezuka, will be reprinted for the first time in 62 years in February 2009 by Shogakukan Creative Inc., The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. According to the Yomiuri site: “Shin Takaraj...
Manga fan facing federal prosecution for “obscene” collection
Today’s Del Rey Manga newsletter contained a special alert urging fans to support the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund in its efforts to defend a manga collector from federal prosecution for possession of manga that the government claims to be obs...
Tranny Manga: an introduction
Today I stumbled upon an interesting and well-written article on the subject of transgendered characters in manga. I’ve always found this a strange and yet surprisingly popular aspect of Japanese manga culture, and I’m happy to see someo...
Del Rey and Cartoon Network make manga
Del Rey, one of the big players in the OEL manga market, has agreed to make manga titles based on a couple of Cartoon Network properties Del Rey Manga, in collaboration with Cartoon Network Enterprises, announced a new manga publishing partnership t...
Blast from the past: 80s manga about Apple Computer and Steve Jobs
Boing Boing found a gem: a kid’s manga about Apple Computer and its founders, Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs. Back in 1984, Japanese manga artist Mitsuru Sugaya wrote a fun comic book for kids about the birth of Apple. It was originally publishe...
Fashion designer draws inspiration from manga.
Here’s a fun piece of news. The NY Daily writes that young fashion designer Julie Haus is bringing a bit of manga inspiration to Fashion Week. The models swap between a hot-pink, a sleek black and a zebra print dress. Haus’ inspiration,...
Japan Awards International manga artists
In their continuing efforts to use manga and anime as ambassadors, the Japanese government once again hosted their International Manga Award ceremonies this week. The awards feature and celebrate the works of manga artists outside of Japan. Manga a...
Hellsing manga comes to an end
Back in 1997, a manga about a vicious vampire hunter named Alucard began. Now, on August 30th, the last issue of the manga in Young King OURs magazine brings the immensely popular series to an end. Mangaka Kouta Hiran began the series with a visi...
Kobe, Japan wants to support anime and manga artists
Daily Yomiuri has an article today on a ward in Kobe that plans to create an artist enclave to revitalize an area of the city that was ravished by earthquake. From the article: Merchants in Kobe’s Nagata Ward, which was devastated in the 1995 ...
Links: More live action chat, FUNimation adds anime to their cable channel
io9, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places for all things sci-fi, has a post called 5 Manga Movies We Want to See After Akira Blows Everyone’s Mind. They are referring, of course, to the upcoming Akira live action movies that hav...
Napa Valley Museum opens new anime and manga exhibit
The Napa Valley Museum in Northern California is opening a new anime and manga exhibit. If you’re in the area today (on a wine tour or something), you should go to the opening reception: “The Napa Valley Museum announces its upcoming ex...
FaceYourManga.com: make a manga-ish avatar
I stumbled on this one while poking through some RSS feeds. There’s a site out there called FaceYourManga that allows you to supposedly create a cute digital version of yourself in manga/anime art style using their online interface. I’m ...
Shonen-ai manga themed cafe in Tokyo:
This is an old report, but I just stumbled upon it. UK magazine the Guardian had a piece on a manga-themed cafe in Tokyo. The theme? Shonen-ai/Yaoi (boys-love), with pretty male waiters dressed as schoolboys. More than 100 men, mostly aspiring...
OEL manga Miki Falls to become a Hollywood film?
Brad Pitt’s movie production company, Plan B, has picked up the rights to a four-volume OEL manga series by Mark Crilley titled Miki Falls. I do believe this is the first time an OEL title has gotten mainstream attention. It’s especiall...
CraveOnline buys MyAnimeList.com, new Ghost in the Shell enhanced Blu-Ray coming.
CraveOnline.com, a leading lifestyle destination for men featuring video, movies, TV, music, sports, games, cars, humor and more, announced today that it has acquired MyAnimeList.com, the world’s largest anime & manga social networking sit...
IGN talks with Bleach creator Tite Kubo, Keanu as Spike in Cowboy Bebop?
My good friends and comrades at IGN got a chance to do a brief but interesting interview with Bleach manga creator Tite Kubo at Comic-Con ‘08. You won’t find too much new info here, but Kubo rarely speaks to American media so it’s...
Librarians scoop up manga at Comic-Con
NPR has an interesting little piece on their site today. They chatted with an unexpected group of manga fans at Comic-Con ‘08: librarians. From the article: David Serchay, a Florida librarian, received funding from the Broward County Friend...
Manga artist Hiro Mashima speed draws Fairy Tail’s Natsu
So yesterday I posted a video of Fairy Tail manga creator Hiro Mashima doing funny fan signings. Here’s another video from Comic-Con 2008 of Hiro Mashima, this time doing a speed drawing of Natsu, the main character from Fairy Tail. This was ...
Video: Fairy Tale manga creator Hiro Mashima signing at Comic-Con ‘08
Here we see Hiro enjoying his fans very much as he signs art and stuff. Seems like a fun guy, and the fangirls on the web are drooling over him. Technorati Tags: Hiro Mashima, manga, Fairy Tale addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fprotaku.com%2Fpo...
New Ninja Diaries Manga in LA MetroMix
I was walking home from the bank yesterday and laid eyes on a manga-like cover on one of the newsstands for the local freebies. My interest was piqued, so I investigated. Turns out that OEL manga producer Seven Seas Entertainment has partnered with ...
Bandai announces Lucky Star manga at Comic Con
Bandai made a fairly interesting announcement at San Diego Comic-Con: they’ve licensed the Lucky Star manga. Lucky Star is kind of a plotless series that revolves around comic slices of the high-school life of four Japanese girls. It’s ...
New book - One Thousand Years of Manga
I always find the Malaysia Star an interesting source for manga articles. Yesterday they posted a piece on a new book called One Thousand Years of Manga by ART historian Brigitte Koyama-Richard, an art historian and 30-year resident of Japan. From t...
Link: Where are the Shonen OEL Artists?
I was just trolling through the interwebs today, as I often do, and found an interesting LiveJournal post from Jason Thompson (aka khyungbird), author, manga fan and artist of the webcomic The Stiff. In this post he poses an interesting question: Wh...
News: Anime Expo up 5%, Tokyopop cancels stuff, ADV corrects
I’ve been kind of busy with various tasks, so here’s some random linkage to keep y’all occupied. ICV2 reports official numbers for Anime Expo 2008 attendance: “An attendance of 43,000 attendees was announced, up from 41,000 la...
Viz Media and NBA star promoting manga and literacy
From the NBA cares department, Viz Media has teamed up with Portland Trail Blazers center Greg Oden to promote literacy. Oden will be featured in a reading campaign along with Slam Dunk, the basketball-themed manga This is feel good news for a couple...
