Kodansha book releases

[seti88]

Since I couldn't find a thread on akira comics or even a kodansha comic thread, plus i didnt want to put it under the akira movie thread since this isnt movie related, tot abt starting a kodansha book thread...

Was tracking this news since indications of an Akira box-set emerged last year. Guess i was a lil bit off since pre-orders have started past month..

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/02/10/akira-gets-200-35th-anniversary-rerelease-kodansha/

Pre-orders are open on amazon! Talk about a long wait tho...

[seti88]

 

[coronadlux]

I might just pre order it. It's about 135 on Amazon

[JetJockey]

I would make sure it's not edited since they pulled that on their recent Ghost in the Shell release.

[seti88]

[hachi]

14 hours ago, JetJockey said:

I would make sure it's not edited since they pulled that on their recent Ghost in the Shell release.

Was that the deluxe release? That was too bad, as I wanted a new copy of the GITS manga. I have the uncensored version but the front cover is damaged.

I'm also tempted by this Akira set but I don't have space and the budget. I have a backlog of books to buy like the Blame master editions. And the Macross stuff too

[JetJockey]

15 hours ago, hachi said:

Was that the deluxe release? That was too bad, as I wanted a new copy of the GITS manga. I have the uncensored version but the front cover is damaged.

I'm also tempted by this Akira set but I don't have space and the budget. I have a backlog of books to buy like the Blame master editions. And the Macross stuff too

I think the last unedited release was by Dark Horse when they updated the covers and made new editions for Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, Dominion, Black Magic, and Orion. After that everything is the edited version. Which is too bad as those new Ghost in the Shell hardcovers look nice.

 

[JB0]

Man, I wish I'd known that. I have two copies of Ghost, the second was bought precisely so I could have two pages of naked ladies making out, I mean an uncensored edition.  I failed in that goal.

My first copy actually remains my go-to just because it's got a much nicer feel. Better paper, mostly. 'S getting a little tattered nowadays, though.

 

[hachi]

The censorship sucks. If you wanted just a picture, then Intron Depot 1 has it. The book features Masamune Shirow's color illustrations, including one page of that scene (but was it 2 pages really?). The nice thing is that the book has English comments too--the reason Shirow drew the scene with girls was because he didn't want to draw a guy's butt lol

On topic, Battle Angel Alita volume 1 deluxe edition will also be out on Nov 2017. I'm thinking maybe I'll get one in the future, though I want to wait for reviews. I haven't read Akira though, which one do you think has better art?

[seti88]

All art is subjective and no disrespect to gunnm/alita, but in my humble opinion Katsuhiro otomo's art is in a class of his own.

Akira would take some time to read thru fully but i am still enthralled by the lines and details 35 years in...

[TangledThorns]

I already have the Akira six volume collection though I'd like to see a re-release of the colorized edition though I read there were issues with it.

[Dynaman]

If only I had $200 to spend on it.  Akira is one of the few Mangas I liked to read, just not a comics guy in general, books are fine, anime is fine, nonmoving pictures generally doesn't work for me - but Akira did for some reason.

 

Anyone know why the dialog is so different on pages 21/15 (bottom panel of second page up there) when the rest of them are pretty much the same?  It is like one of the translations was just making that panel up.

[electric indigo]

On 5. Juli 2017 at 0:33 PM, hachi said:

The censorship sucks. If you wanted just a picture, then Intron Depot 1 has it. The book features Masamune Shirow's color illustrations, including one page of that scene (but was it 2 pages really?). The nice thing is that the book has English comments too--the reason Shirow drew the scene with girls was because he didn't want to draw a guy's butt lol

Intron Depot 1 is the book you must own anyway. Forget the other books in that series, though.

[JetJockey]

On 7/5/2017 at 5:33 AM, hachi said:

The censorship sucks. If you wanted just a picture, then Intron Depot 1 has it. The book features Masamune Shirow's color illustrations, including one page of that scene (but was it 2 pages really?). The nice thing is that the book has English comments too--the reason Shirow drew the scene with girls was because he didn't want to draw a guy's butt lol

On topic, Battle Angel Alita volume 1 deluxe edition will also be out on Nov 2017. I'm thinking maybe I'll get one in the future, though I want to wait for reviews. I haven't read Akira though, which one do you think has better art?

Yep it's two pages. I don't know about the new versions but the plastic bag on the unedited version has an explicit material sticker on it. I have Intron Depot as well. The first one but it's packed away somewhere.

 

I never read Battle Angel. If you guys hear about any cuts post about it. I don't know if I'll read the manga first or watch any of the versions.

[hachi]

On 05/07/2017 at 8:49 PM, seti88 said:

All art is subjective and no disrespect to gunnm/alita, but in my humble opinion Katsuhiro otomo's art is in a class of his own.

Akira would take some time to read thru fully but i am still enthralled by the lines and details 35 years in...

Hmm.  Ok now where do I find $200

[JetJockey]

I was doing some searches for reviews on the deluxe Ghost in the Shell 1.5 and Man Machine Interface hardcovers and turned up this article.

 

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/02/23/kodansha-happy-publish-uncensored-ghost-shell-authors-desire/

 

I guess if the normal Ghost in the Shell topic starts up again we can link these posts. But in the article they are talking about a redrawn section which is the first page of the removed section. This is the first time I've seen the redrawn page that I can remember. In it Motoko is wearing a bit of a bikini and the girls are sitting in the sun, spaced apart. Kodansha still doesn't address the two removed pages after the edited or redrawn page. Here is the comparison with the blurred NSFW images of the original two pages.

 

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/12/25/special-editioned-digital-ghost-shell-not-uncensored-original-version-nsfw/

 

Anyway the excuse is that Shirow wanted them to use the redrawn version. But the story wasn't edited to go with it so you can tell something is missing.

Edited July 11, 2017 by JetJockey

[hachi]

5 hours ago, JetJockey said:

I was doing some searches for reviews on the deluxe Ghost in the Shell 1.5 and Man Machine Interface hardcovers and turned up this article.

 

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/02/23/kodansha-happy-publish-uncensored-ghost-shell-authors-desire/

 

I guess if the normal Ghost in the Shell topic starts up again we can link these posts. But in the article they are talking about a redrawn section which is the first page of the removed section. This is the first time I've seen the redrawn page that I can remember. In it Motoko is wearing a bit of a bikini and the girls are sitting in the sun, spaced apart. Kodansha still doesn't address the two removed pages after the edited or redrawn page. Here is the comparison with the blurred NSFW images of the original two pages.

 

https://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/12/25/special-editioned-digital-ghost-shell-not-uncensored-original-version-nsfw/

 

Anyway the excuse is that Shirow wanted them to use the redrawn version. But the story wasn't edited to go with it so you can tell something is missing.

Nah they just wanted to sell the most copies with the censored version

On topic, I wish Kodansha would also release Domu. That one should be cheaper as it's only 1 volume.

[JB0]

On 7/11/2017 at 5:35 AM, hachi said:

Nah they just wanted to sell the most copies with the censored version

Authorial decision sounds likely in this case, actually. Shirow was already sick of hearing about the sexytimes pages waaaaaaaaaay back when the first english edition was produced. It's part of why he drew up the new half-page for that release. The spread adds nothing of actual value to the story, is a lightning rod for criticism, and he rapidly got tired of people complaining about it.

 

Also interesting that everyone notes it is a two-page lesbian threesome, but no one ever mentions that they are filming a porno(while on drugs).

[JetJockey]

I usually check this blog site on occasion and found these Otomo tributes that people here might be interested in.

 

http://cdn.halcyonrealms.com/anime/visiting-the-tribute-to-otomo-exhibition-tokyo/

http://cdn.halcyonrealms.com/animation/otomo-global-tribute-mind-behind-akira-art-book-review/

 

Also an older genga exhibit.

 

http://cdn.halcyonrealms.com/travel/visiting-the-otomo-katsuhiro-genga-exhibition/

 

Plus, I found out that Kodansha seemingly didn't release the complete edition of the Ghost in the Shell 1.5 manga in the US. I only stumbled across this as I thought it was a deluxe edition review. Both the US softcover and the new deluxe edition are missing a lot. The review of the Japanese version shows character designs and storyboards at the end.

 

http://cdn.halcyonrealms.com/books/ghost-shell-1-5-human-error-processor-manga-review/

 

And states that the Japanese version is 384 pages. Compared to the US release of 176 pages and the US deluxe release of 192 pages. This is really disappointing. People who are in the review business need to start picking up on stuff like this.

[hachi]

5 hours ago, JetJockey said:

I usually check this blog site on occasion and found these Otomo tributes that people here might be interested in.

 

http://cdn.halcyonrealms.com/anime/visiting-the-tribute-to-otomo-exhibition-tokyo/

http://cdn.halcyonrealms.com/animation/otomo-global-tribute-mind-behind-akira-art-book-review/

 

Also an older genga exhibit.

 

http://cdn.halcyonrealms.com/travel/visiting-the-otomo-katsuhiro-genga-exhibition/

 

Plus, I found out that Kodansha seemingly didn't release the complete edition of the Ghost in the Shell 1.5 manga in the US. I only stumbled across this as I thought it was a deluxe edition review. Both the US softcover and the new deluxe edition are missing a lot. The review of the Japanese version shows character designs and storyboards at the end.

 

http://cdn.halcyonrealms.com/books/ghost-shell-1-5-human-error-processor-manga-review/

 

And states that the Japanese version is 384 pages. Compared to the US release of 176 pages and the US deluxe release of 192 pages. This is really disappointing. People who are in the review business need to start picking up on stuff like this.

I follow that blog too. It gives me so many ideas on what artbooks to spend money on lol

Re: GITS manga

The thing is, adding the storyboards and characters designs will add to the cost of the book (more pages to print), aside from additional translation chores. I kind of get why they would leave that out.

>>People who are in the review business need to start picking up on stuff like this.

That would mean that they would have to acquire the Japanese book, AND know how to read Japanese. From a time and cost perspective, it might not be worth it for most English-language reviewers. From what I've read yonghow is Singaporean he can read kanji, so reviewing the Japanese books he collects is not a problem.

[hachi]

On 15/07/2017 at 5:35 PM, JB0 said:

The spread adds nothing of actual value to the story, is a lightning rod for criticism, and he rapidly got tired of people complaining about it.

Actually it tells us how the technology is used in that aspect. And it shows the other side of the Major.

 

[JetJockey]

9 hours ago, hachi said:

I follow that blog too. It gives me so many ideas on what artbooks to spend money on lol

Re: GITS manga

The thing is, adding the storyboards and characters designs will add to the cost of the book (more pages to print), aside from additional translation chores. I kind of get why they would leave that out.

>>People who are in the review business need to start picking up on stuff like this.

That would mean that they would have to acquire the Japanese book, AND know how to read Japanese. From a time and cost perspective, it might not be worth it for most English-language reviewers. From what I've read yonghow is Singaporean he can read kanji, so reviewing the Japanese books he collects is not a problem.

I always want to get the most complete and highest quality version of a book. I try my best not to buy things multiple times. So when I hear that something is edited or cut, I don't like it and chances are won't buy it. I'll pay premium price for a hardcover or signed version as long as it's the best version. I remember first coming across different versions of things like videogames. I do think it's the job of not just a good reviewer but a competent one to know what other versions are out there. And not to just sell at times what companies give them. What if the Japanese version had a different cover? Shouldn't that be included as an alternate or printed in the book somewhere? These new Ghost in the Shell mangas are being sold as "deluxe" when there is very little to justify that term and they are far from the ultimate versions of these stories. If you are into comics, they are releasing the best quality of many popular comics in large format with slipcases, design sketches, notes, etc. That's what I'm after when companies decide to re-release something.

 

I do think those Motoko character designs are in the Playstation One game's artbook. Another book that didn't get a United States release. It's possible that some are in Intron Depot. But I'm not sure.

[JB0]

On 7/18/2017 at 7:28 AM, hachi said:

Actually it tells us how the technology is used in that aspect. And it shows the other side of the Major.

Which, while interesting wrinkles in the setting, are still completely irrelevant to any story being told in their vicinity. That the pages could be excised completely and it was years before anyone even noticed is telling of their importance, as is the author's willingness to help in their excision.

...

Okay, the major's sexuality is ALMOST completely unimportant, but the extent to which it DOES matter is "cop boyfriend". The girls involved in the excised pages never appear again, and are never mentioned again, despite the dialog implying they have a reasonably long relationship with the major. They don't matter.

Same reason you hear basically nothing of anyone's personal life except Togusa, and that only barely. His wife and kids affect his actions and motivations within the story, but beyond that are completely irrelevant. No one else has anybody in their lives that matters to the stories told, and that includes the major. Her friends made it in the first time because Shirow wanted to draw some sexytimes, not because they mattered. .
 

 

The worst part is that actual application of the technology to the porn industry is left EXTREMELY vague, to the extent that we know they're making porn but not really a whole lot else. I think we could've guessed cyberbrains were used for porn without it being explicitly stated(no pun intended). That complete lack of detail renders the interlude grossly disappointing to me, since I WANTED to know exactly how this works.

The vignette would have been better-served by appearing in one of the "sidebar" chapters that were all about world-building, where there WASN'T an ongoing mission and they COULD indulge in a sidebar about the development and deployment of cyberbrain-pornography and what kind of drugs they were using and how frequent a thing this was.

[hachi]

On 20/07/2017 at 5:41 PM, JB0 said:

Which, while interesting wrinkles in the setting, are still completely irrelevant to any story being told in their vicinity. That the pages could be excised completely and it was years before anyone even noticed is telling of their importance, as is the author's willingness to help in their excision.

...

Okay, the major's sexuality is ALMOST completely unimportant, but the extent to which it DOES matter is "cop boyfriend". The girls involved in the excised pages never appear again, and are never mentioned again, despite the dialog implying they have a reasonably long relationship with the major. They don't matter.

Same reason you hear basically nothing of anyone's personal life except Togusa, and that only barely. His wife and kids affect his actions and motivations within the story, but beyond that are completely irrelevant. No one else has anybody in their lives that matters to the stories told, and that includes the major. Her friends made it in the first time because Shirow wanted to draw some sexytimes, not because they mattered. .
 

 

The worst part is that actual application of the technology to the porn industry is left EXTREMELY vague, to the extent that we know they're making porn but not really a whole lot else. I think we could've guessed cyberbrains were used for porn without it being explicitly stated(no pun intended). That complete lack of detail renders the interlude grossly disappointing to me, since I WANTED to know exactly how this works.

The vignette would have been better-served by appearing in one of the "sidebar" chapters that were all about world-building, where there WASN'T an ongoing mission and they COULD indulge in a sidebar about the development and deployment of cyberbrain-pornography and what kind of drugs they were using and how frequent a thing this was.

But didn't it add to the funny moments?  And it also answered the following question...

How is she when she doesn't surf? I wonder what she does when she wakes up?