We're Gonna Post More Soon

Since this was a school project I had to include certain things and write it in a certain manner. Now that school has ended and my time has opened up I will return to posting. Here are some things you can expect to happen:

• Personal Encounters with Manga and Anime
• Guest Bloggers
• Question and Answer sessions. Simply put
• Japanese Culture and History
• More information about genres
• Related topics like Lolita fashion and Steam Punk

Feel free to comment on this post, past or future ones. This wasn't made for me, it was made for you the reader and I want it to be something that helps you. So ask away. ^^

Why are you dressed like that?

Why are you dressed like that? This is one of many questions people get asked while cosplaying. The second question normally being, what is that?

Cosplay is the process of dressing up like an anime, manga or video game character. Although depending on the type of fan other restrictions may be placed on it as well such as acting like them or making the costume. All opinions aside it simply is the action of dressing up.

Another similar topic is crossplay. Crossplay is exactly like cosplay only it's cross-dressing. So boys dress up as girls and girls as guys. 90% of the time it's girls dressed as guys because anime guy tend to be more feminine looking when it comes to their faces making it easier for girls to portray them.

When is okay to cosplay?

Well whenever it feels comfortable to do so. Keep in mind that if it's done in a public place people are going to stare and ask questions. Most of the time people just do it at conventions and photoshoots but there is no reason not to do it any time. Although wearing it formal events may not be the best idea since it is a costume after all.

Also cat ears are not a cosplay or a costume. End of story. No really, end of story.

Jump

The matching set to Shojo Beat is Jump. Jump is the magazine that publishes shounen mangas; that is, manga directed at boys age 8 to 18. This company has had such success with its product that it is translated in English and available in the United States. Also, Jump has produced some manga that developed to a cult-like status such as Naruto and Bleach.

In contrast to the detailed work of shojo manga shounen is much more minimalist in both the plot and art work. The characters as a whole are much more basic in design, both with their bodies and there clothing. More of the focus is placed on the weapons and battle scenes rather than the regular, everyday content. An extreme amount of detail is added to gore, weapons and fight scenes in comparison to the rest of the work.

Shounen plot line usually centers around battling of one form or another in order to resolve some sort of greater problem directly related or not. The number of genres contained within it are just as great as with shojo only with less focus on romance. They also have some genres that streotipcly are more shounen such as mecha (gaint robots or machine based) and harem (main male character with multiple female perusers).

A common tool of mangakas is to use girls to lure their readers in. The reason why there are so many mangas with female characters that are well endowed, hardly clothed or frequently exposed is because statistically this helps bringing in male readers. It doesn't take much explanation as to why shots up girls skirts would be interesting to an adolescent boy.

Anime of the Week: Naruto

Naruto is quickly becoming one of the most recognizable faces of

anime in the United States. Not only is the manga in the American version of Jump magazine, found in most bookstores, but the anime is on Cartoon Network's [adult swim]. Also the games, cards and merchandise have followed it on its journey across the pacific.

The story follows the life of class clown Naruto, a teen boy who is ignored by his village because of a power that has been kept secret from him. It focuses on his discovery of friendship, power, right-and-wrong and why his life is the way it is. However, he doesn't do this alone. He is joined by his teachers and classmates on this long journey of growing up.

The anime has multiple season including a season of filler episodes. This means that they wanted the manga to progress in the story before they made any more episodes. It's composed of episodes where the plot concludes in one or two episodes. This is fairly common in animes that are based off of mangas. They can't show what hasn't been written, so they wait.

Naruto is available in many places and online for free or a small cost. Here are some places you can get the anime and the manga...

Anime:

• Hulu (DUB)
• Netflix (SUB & DUB depending on disk or instant)
• Cartoon Network

Manga:

• MangaFox ( read Right to Left)
• One Manga (read Right to Left)
• most local libraries

Shojo Beat

Shojo Beat is one of the major publishers of manga in Japan. It's formatted in a magazine-type layout. Every publishing period, one chapter from all the mangas contained in the issue is released and published. The company put out its last issue in the summer of 2009.

The company gets it's name from the genre. The company targets girls age 8 to 18. For the most part stories focus on self discovery, over coming problem and romance (a combinational is also probable). Within those basic guidelines there are also many different sub-genres that are often within it such as historical, mecha, scifi, magic, adventure and slice of life.

Some of the last shojo beat mangas are:

• Vampire Knight (supernatural romance)
• Honey Hunt (romance,drama)
• Honey and Clover (comedy-drama, romance)
• Sand Chronicles (drama, coming-of-age)
• Haruka ~Beyond the Stream of Time~ (fantasy, romance)
• Absolute Boyfriend (science-fiction, romantic-comedy)
• NANA (drama, friendship, romance)
• Backstage Prince (romance)

Manga Vs. Anime

Now, why would choose you read manga versus watch anime? Or vice versa. Here are the pro and cons of each:

Manga

Pros

• goes as fast as you can read
• has more detail
• easily acquirable in English directly from Japan
• available online
• acquired recently after released in Japan

Cons

• must be read
• expensive to purchase
• difficult to find

Anime

Pro

• entertaining
• colorful
• audible and visual
• fast paced
• multiple providers for general public
• available online

Cons

• not always in English
• Poorly dubed
• time consuming

Manga?

Manga for the most part is exactly the same as anime in style, the biggest difference it that it is in black and white because it is a comic instead of a tv show.

Another key difference is the level of detail; not only in the plot but the art work. Since comic books can be understood without having things occur in real time the amount of information you can compress in to 30 pages is more than 30 minutes of a tv show. When you also add that you have all the visual aid of the show on top of that it allows the mangaka (comicbook artist) to expand their plot much quicker than they would though an anime.

The art work in manga is much more detailed than in anime simply because they have the gray scale at their use versus blocks of color. Depending on the genre and where it's made will determine the level of detail. Generally, mangas directed at girls have more detailed simply because girls tend to pay attention to detail. Where as guys tend to just enjoy the action and what's going on.

Just like books there are different genres, styles and age appropriateness. It is found more often that when mangas get translated and sold in the United States that they are severely manipulated to fit their intended age group in the united states.

Several titles available in English at stores or in some local libraries are:

• Full Metal Alchemist
• Fruit Baskets
• Bleach
• Naruto
• Ramana 1/2
• Sailor Moon
• Pokemon
• Dragonball and Dragonball Z
• Vampire Knights
• .hack//Sign
• Hellsing
• I.N.V.U.
• Peach Girl