Joining me as the LiA YouTube channel’s first guest is my good friend and former RandomC colleague, Samu! Join us for a wide-ranging look at manga and anime past, present, and future.
Me too – I love that series, though it can be a painful read sometimes. It seems modestly popular and Ishiguro is really respected. Popular enough for an adaptation, though? I honestly don’t know.
Thanks for having me! Now fingers crossed Call of the Night will actually be one of your (non-sequel) favourites of 2022 so I don’t look like a fool.
And once again I’d recommend everyone check out Sakamoto Days and Blue Box, especially if you want to be ahead of the curb of two potential Jump megahits before everyone else on the internet is obsessed with them. Another I never got to mention at the time, but Me & Roboco is one of my unlikely favs of the magazine week-to-week, a very WSJ referential gag series with the most genuinely likeable and endearing cast of characters in an anime/manga comedy I’ve seen in minute.
Late to his as I was busy and at first I misread the timestamp and thought that Jump part was very long and as series from that magazine do not make for me anymore… But anyway, just for mentioning few things:
1/ Regarding Assassination Classroom (AC), even though I imagined that by West, you were intending for an understandable reason US and/or UK, I want to say that AC was a massive success in France. And I will even say is still one considering that last year, volume 1 was the 15th best selling manga in France. And yeah, I am including new releases. But to be honest, French market went crazy last year (even crazier than 2020) and all the top 28 sellers of the year were old releases with the top 2 being for instance volume 1 of Naruto and Demon Slayer. Of course, AC success was already a surprise few years ago considering the genre and that the previous Matsui series, “Neuro” was a failure (but the latter was also release at a “bad period” in French market as publishers didn’t understand they had to promote series. This is actually a funny story of the evolution of the French market but that is too long).
2/ Sticking with Matsui and so “The elusive samurai”, this is the rare case of a series which I hated the first chapter but being charmed by the following ones. The only reason why I don’t follow it is war theme (one of my greatest weakness) and also because this is a historical character and we know how it ended and considering how Matsui has no mercy…
3/ Couldn’t stick with “Blue Box”. I adored the one-shot but the series did not make it for me. But I am happy that he author found success considering that she worked on “Ahiru no Sora”(ANS) just before going to Shueisha (actually, “Blue Box” one-shot reminded so much ANS that I was excited for the series).
4/ “Sakamoto Days” is indeed cool, even though for me they are essentially posing and there is still no clear direction. This is about which uber-double spread crazy performance I am going to draw this week to wow people. I don’t think that it has been mentioned, but this is violent (just for warning people who might judged it by the first funny chapters). But this is not gory.
Thank you for that lovely and detailed comment. I do include France in my thinking generally when I speak of “The West”, and it’s the 31 country in Europe for animanga by a comfortable margin. But I didn’t think AC was a massive hit there on release. Am I wrong?
I’m confused – in what way did Miura Kouji work on Ahiru no Sora? Are you thinking of the same-named screenwriter (a different person)? I really tried to like that series (the anime) but in the end it just lost me. (EDIT: Oh – she was an assistant on that? Didn’t know.)
I am not sure if you are asking if AC was a success from the get-go in France. If that is your question, I will say yes and no. But it started well as a new release. But this is true that from what I know, it gradually increases before becoiming one of the top series. But again, it was a surprise to many people. Actually, even I, noticed it only when the manga was ending in France. But the low start was also due to the fact that it was released in 2013, during the bottom of the “manga market crisis” in France. Because yeah, from 2009-2014, there was a constant drop in cumulative sales for Manga in France (https://www.journaldujapon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Evolution-vente-2016-copie.jpg). Actually, as these are essentially sublicense, French market emulates Japanese one with a logical delay. So when there are “weak” licenses in Japan, same happens in France latter on. And also, it started to have so many new releases in France when publishing companies saw the golden hoose that there was a necessity for the market to adapt. But nowadays, numbers are bananas! (even though the top sellers are always the same so this is way more monotonous compared to Japan. At least, regarding top sellers. But even some middle/low sellers are increasing their sales since 2020).
For Miura Kouji, yes. But to be honest, this is a bit of strech from my part as she was only in 2019 so for a very short time (https://twitter.com/Amzk0303/status/1089890354222968833). But to me, clearly, I couldn’t stick with “Blue Box”. As you said, it has this weird vibe of wanting to be different but at the same time, that “no no, I am like the others” feeling and when something is not clear to me, this is difficult. For instance, I am huge fan of “Insomniacs after school” and that is the only series I ever thought that it is a crime that it never got nominated for any price. But well, at least now there is a live and an anime. BTW, 2022 is the 100th birthday of Shogakukan, so that “Urusei Yatsura” reboot is part of the celebration. So who knows, maybe Adachi will also have a surprise.
Lem
January 26, 2022 at 5:55 pmI really hope we will get anime adaptation of Tengoku Daimakyou.
Guardian Enzo
January 26, 2022 at 8:10 pmMe too – I love that series, though it can be a painful read sometimes. It seems modestly popular and Ishiguro is really respected. Popular enough for an adaptation, though? I honestly don’t know.
sweejen
January 27, 2022 at 7:53 amWhat a treat! It’s good to know Samu’s doing well.
Guardian Enzo
January 27, 2022 at 8:21 amThankee
John
January 27, 2022 at 8:11 amThis was awesome! Would love more LiA podcasts!
Guardian Enzo
January 27, 2022 at 8:22 amWell, who knows? I could see it happening.
Samu
January 27, 2022 at 8:49 amThanks for having me! Now fingers crossed Call of the Night will actually be one of your (non-sequel) favourites of 2022 so I don’t look like a fool.
And once again I’d recommend everyone check out Sakamoto Days and Blue Box, especially if you want to be ahead of the curb of two potential Jump megahits before everyone else on the internet is obsessed with them. Another I never got to mention at the time, but Me & Roboco is one of my unlikely favs of the magazine week-to-week, a very WSJ referential gag series with the most genuinely likeable and endearing cast of characters in an anime/manga comedy I’ve seen in minute.
Guardian Enzo
January 27, 2022 at 12:52 pmLet it be known Samu and I called HeroAca when it was less than a year old (recorded for posterity in the RC podcast annals).
Riv
January 28, 2022 at 1:34 pmVery enjoyable! I’m definitely going to check out Ooku: The Inner Chamber. Thank you for the time stamps with the names of everything.
Guardian Enzo
January 28, 2022 at 3:38 pmMe too!
You’re welcome. I know with videos this long they’re a big help.
BluBlu
February 3, 2022 at 6:44 amLate to his as I was busy and at first I misread the timestamp and thought that Jump part was very long and as series from that magazine do not make for me anymore… But anyway, just for mentioning few things:
1/ Regarding Assassination Classroom (AC), even though I imagined that by West, you were intending for an understandable reason US and/or UK, I want to say that AC was a massive success in France. And I will even say is still one considering that last year, volume 1 was the 15th best selling manga in France. And yeah, I am including new releases. But to be honest, French market went crazy last year (even crazier than 2020) and all the top 28 sellers of the year were old releases with the top 2 being for instance volume 1 of Naruto and Demon Slayer. Of course, AC success was already a surprise few years ago considering the genre and that the previous Matsui series, “Neuro” was a failure (but the latter was also release at a “bad period” in French market as publishers didn’t understand they had to promote series. This is actually a funny story of the evolution of the French market but that is too long).
2/ Sticking with Matsui and so “The elusive samurai”, this is the rare case of a series which I hated the first chapter but being charmed by the following ones. The only reason why I don’t follow it is war theme (one of my greatest weakness) and also because this is a historical character and we know how it ended and considering how Matsui has no mercy…
3/ Couldn’t stick with “Blue Box”. I adored the one-shot but the series did not make it for me. But I am happy that he author found success considering that she worked on “Ahiru no Sora”(ANS) just before going to Shueisha (actually, “Blue Box” one-shot reminded so much ANS that I was excited for the series).
4/ “Sakamoto Days” is indeed cool, even though for me they are essentially posing and there is still no clear direction. This is about which uber-double spread crazy performance I am going to draw this week to wow people. I don’t think that it has been mentioned, but this is violent (just for warning people who might judged it by the first funny chapters). But this is not gory.
Guardian Enzo
February 3, 2022 at 7:11 amThank you for that lovely and detailed comment. I do include France in my thinking generally when I speak of “The West”, and it’s the 31 country in Europe for animanga by a comfortable margin. But I didn’t think AC was a massive hit there on release. Am I wrong?
I’m confused – in what way did Miura Kouji work on Ahiru no Sora? Are you thinking of the same-named screenwriter (a different person)? I really tried to like that series (the anime) but in the end it just lost me. (EDIT: Oh – she was an assistant on that? Didn’t know.)
BluBlu
February 3, 2022 at 10:41 pmI am not sure if you are asking if AC was a success from the get-go in France. If that is your question, I will say yes and no. But it started well as a new release. But this is true that from what I know, it gradually increases before becoiming one of the top series. But again, it was a surprise to many people. Actually, even I, noticed it only when the manga was ending in France. But the low start was also due to the fact that it was released in 2013, during the bottom of the “manga market crisis” in France. Because yeah, from 2009-2014, there was a constant drop in cumulative sales for Manga in France (https://www.journaldujapon.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Evolution-vente-2016-copie.jpg). Actually, as these are essentially sublicense, French market emulates Japanese one with a logical delay. So when there are “weak” licenses in Japan, same happens in France latter on. And also, it started to have so many new releases in France when publishing companies saw the golden hoose that there was a necessity for the market to adapt. But nowadays, numbers are bananas! (even though the top sellers are always the same so this is way more monotonous compared to Japan. At least, regarding top sellers. But even some middle/low sellers are increasing their sales since 2020).
For Miura Kouji, yes. But to be honest, this is a bit of strech from my part as she was only in 2019 so for a very short time (https://twitter.com/Amzk0303/status/1089890354222968833). But to me, clearly, I couldn’t stick with “Blue Box”. As you said, it has this weird vibe of wanting to be different but at the same time, that “no no, I am like the others” feeling and when something is not clear to me, this is difficult. For instance, I am huge fan of “Insomniacs after school” and that is the only series I ever thought that it is a crime that it never got nominated for any price. But well, at least now there is a live and an anime. BTW, 2022 is the 100th birthday of Shogakukan, so that “Urusei Yatsura” reboot is part of the celebration. So who knows, maybe Adachi will also have a surprise.
Guardian Enzo
February 3, 2022 at 11:12 pmYes, that is what I was asking.
I Was actually talking about Ahiru no Sora as a series that lost me. I’m still very much on-board with Blue Box.