After that is done there are a few more things I plan to post, but I will be doing that on my main site and not the Eastern Edge. My work has me involved in projects at a level I haven't been involved at since I worked in animation years back. Thus I have to be even more careful about speaking about the industry and translating things that may relate to properties I actually work on or may work on in the future. Even if I'm careful, there is always the risk of worrying clients and collaborators that I may slip up and write something I shouldn't have, so I've decided to eliminate any concern before it ever happens.
This is one of the reasons the Eastern Edge has seen so little activity of late, in particular a lack of opinion pieces, and a major factor in my decision to shut it down.

More than just the fact that my profession poses the risk of a conflict of interest, is the fact that I have simply out grown what the Eastern Edge was. I no longer have much interest in debating content pirates and lolicon fans who are offended by counter opinions worded as strongly as the ones they use to defend themselves. I'm not amused by self-professed "otaku" who call me a hater because I don't shower the industry with nothing but positive love and praise when I've seen the other side, and I have no time for know-it-alls who learned everything they know from manga, animation and pop idols telling me I don't know shit about Japan.
I have no problem with differences of opinion, and debate can be fun and interesting, but it isn't worth the grief of personal attacks and being told off by self-righteous zealots seeking validation in their personal battles between them and the rest of the world that they think doesn't understand, when the truth is we just really don't care.

It often seems that in the world of entertainment fandom you either pretend to like everything and be positive so no one will hate on you, you express your opinion and find a like-minded clique to join so you feel protected from the enviable backlash when you set off another clique, or you just shoot your mouth off and take the heat and the praise and hope it balances out.
Personally, I'm not interested in any of those things anymore. I just want to enjoy what I enjoy and be left alone to ignore what I don't. I don't want to be categorized and labeled part of a certain group. I don't need to be told I'm right for liking one thing, and an asshole for not supporting another.

When I wrote the State of the Disunion a few years back it was (despite the venomous rants here and there I've written since) probably the closest to what I still really feel about all this. Nothing has changed and the continuing deterioration of the manga and animation industry, particularly overseas, only creates more concern and makes some people more defensive and ready to attack all threats both real and perceived.

The current environment is also poisoned by a sense of entitlement on the part of "fans" who actually debate whether theft is wrong or should be an inalienable right, even vigorously defending morally reprehensible content before they'll open their wallets to pay for it. Stop and think about that for a second... All content should be a total free-for-all and free of charge. Does that make any sense?
If Oscar Wilde is right in saying "Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life" (after all, we may dress up like superheroes, but superheroes don't dress like us unless they have to) then it makes sense that for each time someone pushes artistic boundaries, someone else will try and reeling it in. That's how free societies keep ourselves in check and try to maintain some semblance of balance and compromise so we can avoid killing each other and leaving things to the survivors.

As far as paying for things goes, if concerts and movies don't offer free admission to all with only a donation box at the door asking you to "Please pay what you can if you liked it", why should animation and comics have to panhandle for income?

Regardless of what individuals may think of what I'm saying here, the fact is that the free-for-all sense of entitlement to anything and everything is a growing cancer that comics and animation are losing their battles with. It is not sustainable, socially or economically.

Often times the fans at large are just as responsible for helping to kill what they love as those they accuse of being at fault are (the suits, the distributors, the politicians, the retailers, anyone but themselves), on all sides of the argument. For me that is the point; the arguments. The arguments have to end because most of the major ones have simple answers if we are all honest with ourselves, and because little positive comes out of them expect for the positive reinforcement that fuels the loudest of the zealots.

The arguing has to stop and I'm going to do my part starting now by ending my participation. I've fired my last shot and I'm putting my guns on the ground and leaving the battlefield.

I want to go back to enjoying things. I want to write about things I am free to write about and want to help promote them in a positive way. The 'edge' is coming off the Eastern Edge, which means it's time to walk away.

To everyone who liked it, hated it, or got anything at all out of the content I posted, I sincerely thank you for reading. I will miss the positive feedback and debate and the food for thought that so many of you provided over the years.
I hope that some of you will check back here once in a while because I will continue to translate things from Japan that likely won't become available in English and post content that I enjoy. I will not however, offer editorial commentary or opinion, nor will I solicit such. Not here. Not anymore.

This is entertainment. Entertainment is supposed to entertain, not make you feel the need to get up on a soap box and preach, or to defend yourself when preached to. It's supposed to be fun, not a cause to fight for. Where's the fun in that? There are far more important battles in life to fight.
At least that's the way I feel now.


Comments are open this time for the last time.

Thanks, everyone!

This 1st one is a concept sketch of young Antoni Gaudi watching his father, who was a craftsman, at work.

This page is drawings of a 95 year old man named Joaquim that Inoue talked to in Barcelona during his trip (I'll write/translate more about this guy and Inoue's trip another time).

And below is a sketch I absolutely love Antoni Gaudi in his later years beside a pic of Takehiko Inoue in Barcelona.

Please stay tuned for either the continuation of the Petita article translation (if I find the magazine, of course) or more Pepita samples coming some time before Christmas. Next time I'll add some translations of related text from the book and/or more annotation so you know more about what the images are of (Sorry about not writing much about these ones. I'm really pressed for time right now...!).

However, now that I have the actual "Pepita" book (bought today, in fact!) I will start posting excerpts from it starting tomorrow, and continue to do so every couple days until I find that damn magazine!

Please note, however, that I will be posting shitty iPhone4 pics and not high quality scans, and I will not post anywhere near the whole thing.
If I never find that magazine I'll come up with something else to translate before I've posted too much of the book. I'm here to be a volunteer pimp for the stuff I like, not a pirate!
If you like what you see please buy the book.

Anyway, I'll put up the first Pepita post tomorrow.

The following is a excerpt from part 2 of a recent interview with Moore at the Honest Publishing website.

...I read a couple of books on economics to see if I could get my head around the facts of the situation. I was astonished when I found out the value of derivative bonds, in 2008. These are bonds that have a value in themselves that were once connected to a real thing, there might have been a bond made for the sale of a herd of sheep, but that can be sold on and they gain in value. The notional value of the world’s derivative bonds was in the region of sixty trillion. Exactly ten times the economic output of the entire planet, which is around six trillion. That means that the gap between what economists and what the world’s economic forces and the banks thought they had to play with and what actually existed was fifty-four trillion. That would seem to me the depth of the hole we are in.

Right on!

This is how speculators are destroying the world because when they gamble with money that doesn't exist and they lose, someone actually has to pay up!

Just a thought I wanted to post while I work on my latest translation (which is going to be slightly delayed because I can't find the magazine after doing some "cleaning-up" last weekend. Sorry! I'll try and find the magazine and get the translation done as close to when I said I would as possible).

The project, a book and DVD called "Pepita: Inoue Takehiko meets Gaudi." is due out December 12th.

Although I have little time and will be posting this translation in bite sized pieces, I will have it all done and posted before the book release.

Note that I skipped the opening paragraph that provides the obligatory "This guy's a superstar manga artist and creator of Slam Dunk, Vagabond and Real, and has sold blah blah blah..." intro.
If you are reading this I assume you know who Inoue is.

Enjoy!

Originally, this was not something I started on my own. I began this project after being made an offer. When I first reviewed the request, the first thing that came to mind was, "Why me?". I'm a complete outsider when it comes to architecture. Detailed knowledge I had of Gaudi was zero. Taking the trip and the time it would to create away from comics was a serious worry. Vagabond is currently on hiatus, and work in general isn't progressing well, so part of me wondered if I really should take on this kind of job right now.
However, I'd been doing things that are a little different from what comic creators usually do. The Last Manga Exhibition was different, and so was the work on the Shinran murals for the Higashi Honganji.
I felt that this coverage in Spain was like a continuation that flows right into line following those other things. I felt that through Gaudi I would gain the opportunity to realize various things, and be guided to answers that were right there in front of me but I couldn't see.

The meaning in work being done now is understood later.

I've always been a person that takes on work without a plan or blue print and goes on instinct, but this time it's even more so because it's Gaudi, and that was an important point for me.
With comics, if you burn them they are gone or if they go out of print they'll eventually be lost. Buildings stay around for a very long time, don't they? I may not seem so, but I'm bashful and wonder if it would be embarrassing to have something you made stand out in the middle of a city (laughs). I wonder what people who leave things like that in the world are like, and what Gaudi, who made that building that looks as if it's a living thing, is like. I found Gaudi compelling.

Gaudi's architecture and other work is widely known, but what kind of person he was, and what it was in his roots (that made him that way) isn't.
I thought that if I could learn his story, there'd be something I would be able to feel in his work.
So, I accepted the job thinking that if I could covey through me what I obtain from doing this to other people, especially young people, it would give it real significance.

Next part coming soon...

Now, years later it is Tomomi Nomiya gracing an Inoue comic cover and desperately grasping for something while either falling or floating in mid-air.

This just came to mind when I saw the cover of Real vol. 11 today, as I too desperately grasp for something to blog about while continuing to work on the Takehiko Inoue interview for later this week.

I wonder if Vagabond being volume 20 and Real being volume 11 was deliberate and represents "2011"? Maybe Inoue intended to somehow link the two titles! Maybe there are other links in his work that are all part of the Inoue Code and lead to something amazing!!

Or maybe I'm just spectacularly bored right now...

For those who don't know (which would have included myself until an hour ago!), Gaudi refers to Antoni Gaudi, a famous Spanish Catalan architect and craftsman who lived from 1852 to 1926, and is best known for the UNESCO heritage site Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

This is a trailer for the book and DVD, which is to be released on December 12th.

There is also an interview about this project and more in the current issue of Nikkei Entertainment, which I have already begun translating. Depending on how much progress I make, I plan to post a third to half of my translation a little later this week.

Stay tuned!

He says he's still discussing the how and when of Vagabond's return to print in Morning, but he'll provide more detail as soon as he can.

Here's the announcement in Japanese

Not much for me to say except, "I hope it doesn't take too long to get into my eager, waiting hands." and "WOOHOO!!!"

("Sono toki o matsu" indeed!! :-) )

I've begun house cleaning, however, and after managing to make the front entrance presentable (my main portal page), I find myself here, where I will stop and procrastinate for a while and then get to work on doing something.

In the meantime, I am currently training for the Tokyo Yamathon. My team plans a high pace walk-run, after which I suspect I may have trouble walking at all for a day or two. I should be able to put the final touches on something to post then, and I hope that will get the ball rolling and this blog going again.

See you soon...

Yes, living in eastern Japan on the eastern edge of Tokyo hasn't been fun for the last 4 months or so.

On the bright side, shortly after the big earthquake when I put this blog on hiatus, I began the first of a handful of cool comic book and game related projects. Unfortunately, I am at liberty to blog about none of them. So, while I was actually doing a lot that relates to the things I usually write about here, I wasn't able to.

There were a few things I could have worked on to blog, like some of the translations I was working on before the quake. However, every time I tried to resume one of them I ended up realizing that for some reason I no longer cared about them.

Even another Takehiko Inoue/Vagabond related translation - which I still do care about - I just did't feel like doing. I probably won't until Inoue gets around to working on the comic again. Unfortunately that may be a while off. I have a feeling that Vagabond was a contributing factor to his illness last year and I don't think he is anywhere near ready to ramp it up again. I think it was a mistake for him to talk publicly about ending Vagabond before even he knew how to do it. He said himself that Vagabond is an extremely emotionally draining thing to create that takes a lot out of him, so he should never have put pressure on himself to end it before he was ready - or at least not talk about it so he could back away from the idea without anyone being the wiser.
Since he's been able to keep busy with a number of other successful projects lately, it seems quite apparent that Vagabond is the one thing he just isn't ready to even try and throw back into the mix yet. I think it'll be a while before he's recharged and in a situation to have the inspiration he needs to end it like it deserves to be ended.

Anyway, all of these things were keeping this blog on post-quake hiatus.

I'm no longer interested in ranting about the woes of the industry, adding my two cents to things other people are talking about, or trying to fabricate food for thought in hopes that I'll be able to scavenge a full meal of an article out of what would essentially be table scrap ideas just for the sake of pumping out regular content.

Luckily, I found this today!

I'll be back with English translation of select articles soon!

Before I do so, however, I'd like to send my prayers to everyone in the hardest hit areas. We're all having a rough time of it, including us here in Tokyo, and we're all scared. However, although our homes may shake, at least we still have homes to go to, food to eat, water to drink, and electricity to light our rooms and keep us warm.
So many just north of here lost absolutely everything.

Prayers also for all the relief workers, firefighters (my brother in-law is a firefighter and due for deployment to the disaster area), police, self defense forces, U.S. military, and rescue teams from Japan and around the world who are out there right now trying to make a difference.
Heroes, all!

Finally, if it's true that you can see people's true colours in a crisis, then high praise for the people of Japan. All of them! No riots, fighting, or civil unrest of any kind. No one blaming the government or bitching about anything. Just people pulling together and trying to cope as best they can. Remarkable! Truly remarkable and an example to the world!

Right now, even amidst the adversity, uncertainty and fear, I'm proud to say that I live in Japan!!

Some collective genius at the Tokyo Stock Exchange seems to think that Arrow-kun here will attract more women and young people to the world of stock trading.

Arrow-kun and the TSE have yet to offer any suggestions as to how the jobless young and shamelessly discriminated against and underpaid women are supposed to come up with the money to invest in the stock market. Arrow-kun does look a lot like a cup with feet, though, so maybe that's a hint!? Unfortunately panhandling in Japan won't snag you much coin, if any at all.

The TSE's new mascot has not, however, outdone the Tokyo Skytree's mascot in sheer WTF-ness. Below is Sorakara-chan, which means literally "from the sky."

I think the person who dreamed this up musst be from the sky, or at least have their head in the clouds, because how a character that looks like the Japanese version of the Little Prince (who, as is typical with Japanese cartoons, is made to look like a girl anyway) gene spliced with a Raggedy Ann Doll is supposed to represent the soon-to-be tallest tower in the world is beyond me.

I was getting worried that things were going a little too far off the rails with this whole mascot obsession here, until I saw the London 2012 mascots.

The London Olympic Committee thinking that one-eyed monsters are appropriate symbols for the testosterone fueled world of elite sports has somehow reassured me about some of Japan's more questionable mascot decisions.

That pretty much sums things up for me lately.
I'm also training for Trailwalker Japan 2011 and the mountainous 100km trail from Odawara to Lake Yamanaka near Mt. Fuji that my team is going to do non-stop.

You just can't fake your way through 100 kilometres and I'm team leader to boot, so my non-working and family time has become my running, weightlifting, circuit training and mountain climbing time.
That doesn't leave a whole lot of extra time to translate things just for the fun of it.

So, while I am still working on translating the stuff I said I would, it'll be a little while more before I start posting them.

Until then,

アーメーマー！

I'm working on a lot of new content and translations to post in January, but I'm shutting down the Eastern Edge until then for the holidays.

I leave you with a thought that I thought last year, and find myself thinking again this year in the following repost of last year's Christmas message.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

I use the above Grinch pic every year, but this year I found myself wondering why I know so little about one of my favorite cartoonists/writers from when I was a kid, Dr. Suess. Naturally, I decided to do a little checking.

Imagine my surprise when I found out that not only was he vocally anti-Japanese and fully supported the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII, but that he later seemed to soften his attitude when he used one of his children's books as an allegory for the U.S. occupation of Japan, and dedicated it to a Japanese friend.

I'll never be able to look at Horton Hears a Who the same way again!

Sigh... Life was so much simpler when I didn’t know about the politics behind some of my favorite children's books.

I remember the message, too, that "even though you can’t see or hear them at all, a person’s a person, no matter how small." I think the message is well intended - if maybe somewhat arrogant - and I don't want to judge the man. It was, after all, a much different world back then.
However, learning about that allegory while living in Japan has really made me feel even more like the elephant in the room over here!
Oh, well.

Merry Christmas from Who-ville, everyone!

A cat burgler? A window washer? A suicide attempt, maybe? Someone's satellite dish installation going terribly, horribly wrong?
I wasn't sure just what I was seeing for a split second!

Much to my relief, it was only our friendly neighborhood Spiderman hanging around in Ichikawa City!

I'm sure after being redesigned, retconned and rebooted so many times, he was just here for a little R&R.

Glad to see Spidey in his classic duds for this visit :-)

Former Prime Minister and famous fanboy Taro "Rozen" Aso openly promoted the idea that anime, manga and galge might revitalize the economy the way televisions and automobiles had once done. "By linking the popularity of Japan's 'soft power' to business, I want to create a 20-30 trillion yen ($200-300 billion) market by 2020 and create 500,000 new jobs," Aso said in 2009. Unfortunately, the plan failed, and record unemployment forced Aso to resign as Prime Minister in August 2009. (Gottsuiiyan, a manga translator and blogger (http://www.gottsu-iiyan.ca/), mercilessly mocked Aso's initiatives. "In terms of international relations and global economic clout, soft power via comics, cartoons and teenage cosplayers is the diplomatic equivalent of erectile dysfunction. “Soft" it surely is, but the hard truth is that it isn't very powerful.")

While I still feel exactly the same way about that particular topic and would write the same thing again if I were doing it right now, I found myself thinking about other similar things I've written. Then I thought about the "mercilessly mocked" comment. Yeah, that's right on. No doubt I was merciless in my mocking. Aso was and is a dolt who never should have been prime minister, and all this "Cool Japan" stuff has always made me roll my eyes, if not cringe, but I was left wondering how many things I have mercilessly mocked that may not have deserved it.

Maybe I'm just getting soft and reflective in my not-really-that-old age, but I couldn't get that comment out of my head. I started going through my archives here at the Eastern Edge to take a look back at how I viewed some things when they happened and how that may differ from what I think now. In most cases I realized that while I still feel fundamentally the same way about most things at their core, given the opportunity I would probably take back the way I expressed a few opinions over the years.

I opened this blog on August 1st, 2005 with the following:

Now that the Blog is up, on to everything else...

This is how I feel Monday morning!

Truth be told, that's how I was feeling about much of life in general, not just the way I felt that particular Monday morning. I suppose that influenced the off-the-cuff, often cynical, sometimes nasty tone this blog would often take over the subsequent five years.

Only a little less than a year prior to starting this blog, I was with my soon-to-be boss visiting Disney Animation, Warner Animation Studios and Warner CP among other places in Burbank, California, and then Nickelodeon in New York at the MTV building, followed by Japan's big content market TIFFCOM in Tokyo in the same month. I had wanted to be in a creative field like animation or comics in Japan and felt like I had found the Emerald City at the end of the yellow brick road. It only got better six months later when I was in Cannes, France, for MIPTV meeting many of the major studios and licencors from around the world. It was great! I worked brutal hours for little money, but I believed in what I was doing and I loved my job.

Unfortunately, over time, the curtain was pulled back on the inner workings of the Wizard of Cool Japan and the more I saw the less I liked it. Once you begin to question things and the seeds of doubt are planted, it doesn't take long for it to begin to snowball. The long hours started to feel more like undue torture than hard work, and the tiny paychecks with little hope of them getting bigger were beginning to force me to tighten my belt a little too much. To top it all off, the industry was already beginning to crack at the seams, despite the fact that domestic animation production in Japan was at an all time high. From the inside we knew that the market was saturated here and already in trouble and losing money. At the same time we were collectively running out of places to sell overseas and without that revenue to prop up the homeland things would only get worse. All the major overseas licencors were suddenly bridling at the massive MGs (minimum guarantees) that Japanese companies demanded as they realized sales were leveling off and acquisition budgets were being cut industry wide. All the while the fanbase, and even many analysis and "experts", seemed blissfully unaware or in denial because according to them Cool Japan was supposed to take over the world. Few in the industry trenches were truly shocked when things started to unravel overseas in the later half of the decade that was.
The writing was on the wall back in 2004, and when comic books suddenly became the big thing around that time, it all just looked like deja vu to me.

Today in 2010, even the die hards are realizing that Japanese comics and animation are in trouble, both overseas and at honme, but back in 2005 the cracks were mostly only visible from the inside of the animation industry and comics were only just hitting it big and looked unstoppable. That's when I started this blog. Within the span of just over a year since getting into the industry, I realized that if this were the Emerald City in the Land of Oz, I was now the tin man. But instead of getting a heart I was having mine ripped out. A few months after that first blog post, when it all became too much and I had more questions than answers and more doubt than hope, I bailed on what I had once thought was a dream job.

I was disillusioned and broken hearted. I felt especially betrayed because I worked primarily with cartoons directed at kids. Without getting into commentary on the industry at large, how it treats its own, and the way it markets to children, suffice to say that the brand of idealism I brought to the table in the beginning would have been better suited to somewhere other than mainstream Japan (with apologies to a handful of outstanding Japanese companies that are all around different from the rest).

Anyway, that's the head space I was in when I started this blog, and it is the reason behind the venom that sometimes trickles into my ranting. While I do not necessarily regret the tone of some of my rants because it was true to the way I felt at the time, looking back I realize that some things were worded rather clumsily. I'd like to take back a handful of things that I tripped over and didn't finally express properly until no one was listening anymore, but I can't. I have, however, learned that first impressions are often the only impression some people will ever get. Who reads the retractions after the sensational headline? Who really pays any attention to someone trying to work through an idea after gaffing it the first time? Unfortunately, not too many. Some people carve their opinions in stone after only a brief glimpse, so you have to get it right the first time, or at least as close as possible, and sometimes that means diluting venom more than I had been. That's not to say to the other extreme - i.e. the ass-kisser - is any better, but if you're going to write something mean you'd better mean it and get it right! If you gaff it someone equally mean will make you pay for it.

There is one rant, however, that I'm still proud of and likely wouldn't change a word if i were writing it right now. It's called "State of the Disunion." At some point I feel there became a sort of disunion between the angry me that sometimes misrepresented myself by expressing things all wrong in the heat of the moment, and the me that sat back and thought before writing an opinion. I've been sort of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type of blogger, and who remembers the good doctor after Hyde gets loose a few times, huh?

I think it's time I sat back, took a breath, and tried to focus on the more of the good things in the industry again. At the very least, I think I need to make sure that even when I'm ranting I at least try and drop a hint that I do it because I care, not just because I want to be mean.

When it's all said and done, I guess it all boils down to trying to make sure that the Eastern Edge cuts with a little more precision instead of trying to hack everything to pieces. In 2011 I will sharpen up my blade and only pull it when I mean it.

On that note, and since there's no Vagabond to talk about because Takehiko Inoue has lost the enjoyment in his work (Yeah, I can kinda relate!), I'd like to end the year off with a repost of "State of the Disunion." (comments may be found at the original post here)

--------------------------------------

State of the Disunion - March 2009

Last night was the second night in a row of live-action Yatterman movie hype on NTV’s News Zero and it has got me thinking about how utterly ridiculous all this Manga vs American Comics crap really is.

The feature that set me off was one on the NYCC screening of Yatterman. They even had one of the actors over there as part of the event and he talked with industry people about the influence of Japanese properties in America and the “manga boom”. You remember that, right? The big bang that some here in Japan like to pretend is still resonating throughout the world like an infectious, unstoppable wave of cultural dominance that will have everyone reading comics on the subway, shouting “yatta!” and shamelessly dancing to sugarcoated pop music performed by groups of 15 year old girls in miniskirts. (Huff huff… run-on sentence).

So far “Cool Japan” is more like a cherry bomb in a schoolyard than an explosion. Some kids stopped to stare, some of them even went over to check it out, but many more gave it a curious glance and then went on with their lives. Even if it was bigger than I’m giving it credit for, it’s time to do a post-boom assessment at ground zero (i.e. in Japan) to see where it might go from here. But, instead, many still have their ears covered and eyes shut in anticipation and haven’t even noticed that the smoke is beginning to clear.

However, while I’m getting used to Japan pushing soft power as hard as possible, what I’m really getting sick of are the pointless, snobby digs at American and other comics that always seem to be a part of manga hype. And it's not the Japanese who are doing it because they mostly ignore American comics. It’s the American fans of Japanese comics that are feeding the negativity. Why!?

Maybe the negativity is just the first signs of the realization that they aren’t the shiny new car in the lot anymore and they have to start earning their parking spot outside Japan, but whatever it is I wish it would stop.

The most tiresome of the “manga vs. comics” rhetoric is the old “manga are so incredibly creative and diverse, whereas American comics are all superheroes and all the same.” It’s unfortunate that it’s Americans spreading that kind of propaganda because Japan eats it up, becomes even more convinced of this recent sense of pop-culture superiority, and becomes even less likely to give foreign comics or animation (except for Disney and Pixar) a fair chance.

While people always have style preferences, I wish more people would start talking about comics as a whole and quit the superficial separation of American and Japanese. The fact is that while they are very different for obvious reasons, they are still the same medium. Manga are comics, nothing more nothing less, and American and Japanese comics always have and always will have a reciprocal influence on each other because creators aren't bound by the same narrow-minded prejudices that their fans often are.

When I speak of “American comics”, by the way, I include ALL comics, not just Marvel and DC. I think it’s unfair to compare everything Japan has to offer to only one type of American fast-food comic. Ever hear of Sin City, Bone, The Goon or Mouse Guard? Or, if you want to expand it a little further and talk about the mass appeal American comics “don’t have”, how about Calvin & Hobbes, The Farside or Dilbert? They’re comics, too. The Simpson’s was also a comic, in case people are forgetting. Besides, I could flip the entire argument around and argue that Dragon Ball is about superheroes and so are many of the hit kids comics out of Japan. That, however, is another debate I’ll fire up on another day.
My point is that the comparisons I keep hearing are superficial at best, and just plain ignorant at their worst.

As for crusty, old-school American superhero comic fans, many don't even give those new-fangled, foreign manga thingies a chance, preferring instead to spend their time and energy in self-loathing and endless debating on continuity issues or which of Spiderman’s suits is the coolest.

But at least at North American comic book conventions you get joint participation. You guys can congregate in some of the same venues, share some of the same interests, and costumed fans can mingle. A Jedi and Batman can have a diet coke with Inuyasha and Goku at ComicCon, but that won't happen in Japan.
Japan turns up its nose at American comics and animation and is guilty of the same snobbery as the hardcore superhero crowd. It’s too bad that some of the self-proclaimed otaku overseas waste the chance to mingle in the comic community and chose to box themselves into little overprotective, paranoid communities of their own from where they can spit on other types of comics (just like the hardcore superhero geeks do), and fret about what happens when everyone’s favorite black and yellow ninja retires.
Speaking of which, I’ve even read where people think that even Japan is facing doom when that happens. No chance!

As far as Japan is concerned; the question is not whether the industry will survive the end of a particular title, the question is whether or not the industry will survive at all.

But I don’t think the sky is falling yet, though. Comics are not a niche market in Japan and it isn't all going to come crashing down anytime soon. It’s not new and fragile, nor is it perceived to be held up on the shoulders of a single Atlas-like property that saves it from certain doom. The market in Japan is far too mature and diverse to fear for its life under a one or two title Sword of Damocles.
In fact if any market can be brought down by one title then there was never a market to begin with.
It won’t happen.

But what also won't happen is real acceptance of Japanese comics until the "manga" people quit trying to divide and conquer, and realize that comic book fans don't need to be turned and made manga fans, they only need be introduced. Manga will never break into the mainstream if it can't break through barriers in its own backyard. Quit building fences and giving your neighbors the finger and maybe you'll find that you aren't really that different, you're all just comic lovers who like different styles.

Marvel, DC, Shueisha, Kodansha, Dark Horse, who f*cking cares!? Get over it.
They're all comic book publishers and they all have something to offer.
Save the bashing for stuff that really deserves it and give other genres and styles a chance, everyone.
You might actually find other things you like and wonder why you turned your nose up at them in the first place.

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Well, it didn't take long for Shuho Sato, one of the first big time comic creators in Japan to buck the industry and sell his stuff independently on the web, to stand and deliver.
Last week he stuck his finger in the international market's pie, while also kicking the industry in the proverbial balls, by posting the entire first chapter of Say Hello to Back Jack on his Twitpic account and then crowdsourcing for English translations. Literally within minutes (I was online to see it happen) fans on Twitter were submitting translations. The other day Sato reported that a website whose target market is overseas (he didn't give the name of the site or say whether it was a Japanese company or foreign) had offered to translate his work for free and distribute and sell it for a share of the revenue. Does that business model sound familiar to anyone?

This is the big Tweet that may be seen as the first shot fired by a new breed of creator:

「ブラックジャックによろしく」天下一翻訳会、新たに海外向けサイトさんから、無償翻訳のお申し出をいただきました。翻訳して海外配信、売り上げをレベニューシェアというモデルです。作成データを作家さんに戻してくれるなら、「漫画 on Web」ごと乗っかりたい！

8:59 AM Oct 29th via TwitBird

In a separate tweet, Sato expressed an interest in also putting the work up on his own site in Japan. I assume he's negotiating some sort of arrangement as I type this.

I think it goes without saying that there are implications for everyone from the top to the bottom of the manga industry food chain, but until this develops further and what Sato is actually going to do becomes clear, there really isn't much point in discussing it. Suffice to say that Sato is, once again, making waves. His timing is also impeccable because the industry is ripe for this kind of revolution.

Whether this is a blip on the radar, or the beginning of a new business model to really challenge the old remains to be seen. A lot of people have done a lot of talking about the industry business model, but there has been relatively little action and nothing earth shattering. I think Sato is the first to really rock the boat with action instead of just bore everyone by talking about it. But whether Sato's revolution succeeds or fizzles, I do think he's just fired the first shots.

Welcome to the age of online digital distribution, real-time crowdsourcing, free-labour, and no money down high-risk licensing.
There's likely no going back either, so please don't forget to either thank or curse Sato on your way in!

It's bad enough that so many of the latest serials, both boys comics and girls, look like they were done in Comic Studio in a lab by the same group of art school students following the same manual. But even the title of the parody "Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga" has become an eerily prophetic because now we have ComiPo! - where their motto is that comic creation is a breeze “even if you can’t draw!”
That's right, your don't have to draw - or shade, colour or even trace. The software does it all for you!
They call it a tool to allow "anyone to create high level comic books". I call it a computerized connect the dots for dummies and the bane of an industry that is already shockingly tolerant of boring, derivative, and sometimes downright horribly bad comics.

ComiPo! literally automates every single aspect of the creative process, including character design, plotting and sequencing. In other words, you don't have to have a creative bone in your body to squeeze out a big steaming pile of digital comic book pages.
There isn't any English on the website, but these videos say it all.

Call me old fashioned, but ComiPo! looks more like ComiFaux! to me!!

It's ironic, yet forehead-slappingly appropriate, that Takekuma was brought in by the ComiPo! developers as a consultant to help them create the software that will help further stifle originality, and undoubtedly make it possible for point-and-click trained monkeys to actually make comics.
Takekuma has been pimping ComiPo! and his involvement on his blog heavily, writing again just yesterday and linking to some pages produced with the ComiPo! beta on a moe blog.
That's Takekuma's business and there is nothing wrong with promoting your activities, but it makes his famous parody ring hollow to me now.

Despite what I may think of it now though, the hard truths in Takekuma's parody are still just that, true! Comics, especially those targeted at young boys and girls, are largely shit on a stick. But I think that just makes the good ones shine that much more brightly. Comics have survived relatively well and real creators never tapped out to the industry Juggernaut's relentless formula ground and pound.
However formula and derivative most comics may have become since the 80's, creators and their staff at least have still had to physically draw their comics. Sure many comic creators shamelessly trace backgrounds and use way too many speed lines, screentones and other bullcrap to get around drawing any detail. Sure some abuse every cliché manga motif in the book to cover up a lack of artistic chops too, but at least they still had to draw something!
In fairness - although I don't buy it - it can be argued fairly successfully that the lack of backgrounds and other detail is deliberate to put the emphasis on the characters. I'm not going to even get into that because there is too much to be said on both sides of the argument. However, whatever you happen to believe about that, at least these guys had to work hard to plot, write, design their characters and draw, ink and sometimes colour their comics, regardless of how skilled they were or whether they were following a formula or not. I think we can all agree on that.
If a creator was good their artistry would eventually shine through the confines of formula and they could earn the freedom to do what they really want to later. I think that's the case with comic books anywhere.

Although computer tools like Illustrator and everyman software packages like Comic Studio have made short cuts easier and opened the door for even more wannabe scrubs to get their foot in the door, I think up to now computer tools have been a good thing. Computer tools have made comic creation more accessible to people who have talent but maybe not the resources to get something off the ground, and saved artists hours of time on some of the more mundane and time consuming aspects of their work. There is a lot of crap pumped out of Comic Studio, but I think most people can still tell when someone is really good or is leaning on software to prop up a lack of talent. (And I should know, because I am currently experimenting with Comic Studio for that very reason! Although, I won't be trying to my work off as anything other other than me goofing around on my computer.)

More and more comics, both in Japan and North America, are beginning to have that glazed over look that computers tends to give art. I'm not a fan of the digital look for most comics, but I still think computer tools have been a good thing overall. However, like Piggy's glasses in Lord of the Flies, once clever, useful technological tools are rapidly becoming a means for talentless hacks to take the artistry out of the art of comic book creation and weaken it for the kill.
It's like someone pulling a gun in a fist fight and getting away with it when point-and-clickers who only need know the right mouse button from the left are even talked about in the same breath as artists who still put pen to paper. It's nuts that fast food crap like ComiPo! is being accepted so widely - and if you don't think it is, come to Japan and look around! Garbage pop-art that looks just like ComiPo! is everywhere!!

I admit that although I haven’t been much of an artist since junior high, I'm one of the first to bitch about shitty art in comic books. It is a graphic medium, after all. But as a former wannabe artist I'd support unpolished, mediocre or formula art that someone did their best to draw over some slick, computer processed cookie-cutter piece of shit belched out of a ComiPo! template any day!

Artists, please shoot this crap down with a salvo of originality and put the scrubs back in their places! I still believe the real comic book fans will eventually be on your side. For those of you who can write but can't really draw, please don't go down the ComiPo path to creative purgatory. Find an artist or just write regular books - you know, the kind without pictures. Remember those? Writing is an art too, albeit an under appreciated one.

Please! Just say "No!" to ComiFaux!

For previous parts click the Takehiko Inoue category link at the bottom of this post.

Incidentally, chapter 60 of Real was in last week's Young Jump (available until tomorrow when the next issue comes out), and volume 10 of the collections will be released in November (in Japan).
No sign of Vagabond yet, though.

In any case, enjoy the final part!

Inoue: What’s amazing about Mr. Oda’s One Piece is that Luffy’s eyes are dots. That’s really something. Mr. Oda says, “Something that’s really good, is still good without adding this or that.” I think that's an expression that is really representative of him. The unwavering belief in his work is consolidated in the way he draws those black eyes. I bet that his editor and the staff around him said he should make the pupils brighter, or he should draw bolder lines and all kinds of things like that, but he didn’t budge an inch.

Oda: Yes, in the beginning I was told a lot of things.

Inoue: And you didn't waiver, you stuck with the dots, and you produced great results. That's brilliant. Your original inspiration of wanting to draw exciting pirate comics is what put the life into Luffy’s eyes. When I read chapter one I thought, "This guy knows what he's doing!"

Oda: Wow, you're actually making me blush (laughs).

•••• Mr. Oda, if you ever have the chance to do an art exhibition of your own, what type of exhibition would you like to do?

Inoue: You don’t need a chance or anything, all you have to do is say you want to do it, and everyone around you would probably jump at it.

Oda: To tell you the truth, I do have some interest in that. When One Piece is finished, there are a lot of things I’d like to try doing, including an exhibition. While I’m working on the serial, though, I really don’t have to capacity to work on other things. I think it’s truly amazing that you could do an art exhibition like this in the middle of doing Vagabond!

Inoue: Well, I have put Vagabond on hiatus, though (laughs).

Oda: But just being able to do something else while dedicated to another thing… On top of that, being able to draw the characters from your serial in a setting like that… I can’t keep up with that kind of strength. In any case, my One Piece serial is everything to me. When it’s done, I think I can begin my real life (laughs).

Inoue: What? You mean it isn’t now?

Oda: Right now I live for my readers.

Inoue: That’s fantastic!

•••• Even in saying that, if doing an exhibition became a reality for you, what kind of exhibit would you like to do?

Oda: It would be a waste to have something that is just looking at pictures. I would like to do something on more the scope of arts and crafts and building things. I like to use my hands to build and put things together. I think I’d really like to do something with 3D models.
Have you thought about any new types of exhibits ?

Inoue: Hmm, well… I don’t feel that The Last Manga Exhibition represents my be all and end all. Thematically, though, I‘ve gone as far as I can go so I don’t think I could do another exhibit like this one. If I do another one, it would have to be something completely different. I think that’s probably a long way off, though. Right now my stance is that the Last Manga Exhibition is the last. I’ve said this a number of times to a number of people, but I think this exhibit has taken its best possible form right now. I really hope you can come to Kumamoto to see it.

Oda: Only Kumamoto? You should take this overseas too! Like to New York! I bet people would love it. Mr. Yoshitaka Amano did one in New York and it was a huge success. People over there love Samurai and stuff, right?

Inoue: Yeah, but there is dialogue too. I don’t know if I can convey that properly. You need to know something about reading and understanding manga too.

Oda: Take a chance and don’t explain anything at all, and just leave the dialogue in Japanese. Let them feel it like readers here do.

Inoue: I see. Maybe just having a translation beside… That’s something to think about.

Oda: Please bring your work to the world! Vagabond is the pride of Japan.

Inoue: No, when people say, “That would be One Piece!” there’s no comparison (laughs). I’m really glad I had the chance to talk with you today. Please come to the Kumamoto Last Manga Exhibition.

Oda: I’ll pay a visit to my home town and check it out!！

For previous parts click the Takehiko Inoue category link at the bottom of this post.

Enjoy!

Oda: The cutting down of the 70 Yoshioka was amazing.

Inoue: In the original novel, Musashi beats the top guy, and then ends up cutting down a handful of others who attack as he makes his escape. But it seemed at that point that it wouldn't have amounted to much of a challenge (laughs). So I thought, "What if he cuts down all of them - 70 of them?" From volume 25 to 27 during the Yoshioka fight, Musashi really does cut down 70 people.

Oda: Really....!?

Inoue: In the middle of it, I kind of wondered why I was doing it. But I fought through and drew the entire thing.

Oda: Without the bold lines of your art, it wouldn't have worked. It just wouldn't have held together.

Inoue: When I decided to draw the cutting down of 70 people, I absolutely had to put the necessary energy into the art. While I was working on that, you could say I was fine tuning along the way, but it's a scene in which the art progressed very rapidly.

Oda: Is it sometimes tough for you to draw scenes of people being cut down?

Inoue: Yes, it is. To draw a scene in which that many people are cut dead... It really made me no longer believe in simple victory or defeat. It's a battle, so of course there is a winner and loser. However, I ended up doubting the value in victory. If you doubt what you're doing, you can't draw the comics, can you? I thought, is winning truly victory? Is it a good thing? It was tough because I was disturbed by that feeling of contradiction. However, I made a point of drawing a scene in which 70 people are cut down precisely to experience that feeling.

Oda: The art oozes with the suffering you felt while drawing it. You can even see the creators face in their art. Until I met you today, I thought you would probably be a person similar to Musashi.

Inoue: I'm completely different, aren't I? (laughs). I lot of people have this image of me as some ascetic monk, but that's not the case at all.

Oda: Before we met for today’s talk, I went and asked a creator I know who has met you, "So how scary is he?"

Inoue: Hahahaha!! Really? Did they say I was scary?

Oda: Nope, not at all. But for my generation of comic creators, we're intimidated just by hearing the name Takehiko Inoue (laughs). I thought that if you were a scary person like Musashi, I might not even be able to speak with you... Now that I've met you, I'm relieved that you're such a nice person.

Inoue: When I was reading One Piece, I wondered what the origin of the concept was.

Oda: Concept?

Inoue: Yeah. A lively pirate adventure that is full of sound everywhere and inhabited by all kinds of original characters. It's not confined by any restraints, it's free and spontaneous. It's a style that hasn't really been seen before in Japanese comics. Where did this spawn from?

Oda: Hmmm. It was always strange to me that there weren't any boys comics about pirates. That old cartoon Vicky the Viking is the closest thing I know of. Boys, however old they get, want to go out to sea and search for treasure. Just ships at sea gets the blood pumping, doesn't it? But for some reason no one drew pirate comics!

Inoue: I see.

Oda: I wanted to read pirate comics since I was a kid, so if I was going to draw comics I decided I was going to use a pirate motif. It had nothing to do with thinking about whether it would sell or not. I just simply drew comics that I wanted to read. Plus, I though it was weird that Shonen Jump didn't have a pirate comic. After all, their logo is a pirate!

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Weekly Shonen Jump Logo

Weekly Shonen Jump website mascot

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Inoue: So it is! (laughs). Now it's like you've created Shonen Jump's signature property. Outstanding!

Oda: No way. Compared to you I've still got a long way to go.

Inoue: No no, you're being overly modest (laughs).

•••• Is what the both of you want to do, in essence, entertainment?

Oda: In my case, yes. If I can't make it fun for the readers, there's no point in making comics. It wouldn't be fun for me either. I don't know how it is for other creators, but creating enjoyment for the readers and for myself is what it's all about. That what I'm doing is entertainment has never been a question for me. I mean, how could I be any happier than this? I'm drawing comics that I love, and making a lot of people happy. Does it get any better than that?

Inoue: That's fantastic.

Oda: I...is that not the case?

Inoue: No no, I'm not picking on you (laughs). It's exactly like you said. The best comics are definitely the ones that are fun for both the reader and the creator.

Oda: Comics are no good if they aren't entertainment, right? It's all well and good to have something to say, to have a message, but in the end if it isn't enjoyable the message won't get through anyway. Take Vagabond - I think that especially latter parts are entertainment at the highest level.

Inoue: That's really nice to hear. If I had no intention of publishing, and I knew no one would read, I probably wouldn't draw comics at all.

Oda: I agree.

================================

August 5th: Inoue posted on the Vagabond section of his site that he hadn't been feeling well for a while and hadn't gotten better, so he skipped a scheduled episode of Vagabond. He also said he was concerned and decided to go in for some tests.

Unfortunately, Inoue doesn't keep all his blog archives up, but on August 23rd he posted that he had his test results and that he was fine, and the newest episode of Real was coming out in the August 26th Weekly Young Jump.
He also mentioned that the unscheduled time off would likely mean that he couldn't end Vagabond within the year as he had previously stated he intended to.

Most recently, September 6th, Inoue posted on his blog that although Vagabond was scheduled to resume with the September 2nd issue of Weekly Morning, it was decided in a discussion with the editorial department that Inoue would take time off Vagabond until he is back to full health and ready to fully commit to seeing it through to the end (as mentioned, Vagabond is nearing it's conclusion).
While Vagabond is now on hiatus, Inoue also wrote that since Real is on a one-volume-a-year pace anyway, he will continue to work on it and volume 10 of the tankobon will be released this November.

Please keep in mind that Inoue doesn't tend to keep archives of his posts online so if you want to have a look do it soon. Next time he updates they will redirect to whatever the latest post is.

If an English translation of the most recent blog entry is ever posted I will copy it here.
Until then, this is the way it is in IT Planning land (according to me) at the moment!

If you've read part 4th of my translation of the Inoue/Oda discussions, you'll know that he's been feeling less than enthusiastic about work lately. He also mentioned on his website earlier this year - and I have also blogged this - that he's concerned about the fact that he's missed deadlines and ended up making a lot more edits to his tankobon that ever before, even expressing worry about being able to continue working on weekly serials at all.
Sounds like a long brewing case of burnout to me. I hope a bit of a rest will recharge his batteries to produce his best ever work in finishing Vagabond.

Get well soon, Mr. Inoue.
Your fans will be here when you return!

It looks like a few people are enjoying this translation series because I'm noticing a ton of hits from all over the web.
Thanks to everyone for reading, and extra thanks to those who took the time to send me a message or leave a comment. Sorry I haven't been able to respond to everything yet, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate it because I really do! Thanks, again!!
I'll try and get the last two parts posted for you a little faster!

For those just tuning in, click the Takehiko Inoue category link at the bottom for the previous parts.

•••• I think one thing that you two have in common is that you strive to draw your comics to convey something you really want to say.

Inoue: That’s probably true. One Piece in particular is resolute in wanting to say something. It’s almost overflowing with that.

Oda: I know my images are extremely busy, but I really feel compelled to draw everything that's in there. Even if it’s in the way or whatever, it’s like, “This is the sound I’m hearing now!”

Inoue: Sounds ring out and people’s voices are everywhere; There really are a lot of things going on simultaneously in your images, aren't there?

Oda: That’s the way it always turns out.

Inoue: In One Piece, I get a strong impression of your feelings that there are all these sounds and people and feelings in the world. That axis in your work is strong and doesn't waiver, and I think that may be how you can sustain 12 long years of doing a serial.

Oda: Thank you very much. The thing I want to do most in my comics is really not stories, it’s character models. I think like, “Is this style of person possible?” The time I spend doing all kinds of different designs is fun.

Inoue: That's the complete opposite of me.

Oda: Things like how muscular the body should be to go with a certain facial structure is something that, in the end, I pay no attention to, though (laughs). The times where I have created a certain character silhouette that no one’s ever seen before – those moments make me the happiest. And, once I’ve created it, I want to use it as quickly as possible. I create episodes for just that reason... I do that over and over, so the story gets longer and longer.

Inoue: So that's how you've gotten all the way to 52 volumes?

Oda: Yeah (laughs). What are the fun moments for you?

Inoue: The fun moments are diminishing for me. The time I spend drawing wild hair is kind of fun, though. When I’m making exceptional progress, all the time I spend drawing is enjoyable, but recently I don’t really get that feeling very often. I feel a little as though I may have come to a point where I'm facing an impending crisis.

Oda: Impending crisis?

Inoue: Yeah. Comic creation is supposed to be something you do because you love it, right? Nothing gets you pumped up more than drawing comics, so you can keep going no matter how tough things get.

Oda: Yeah.

Inoue: However I’ve come to a point where, in the balance between the tough times and the fun times, if the pleasure in the work becomes diminished any further, I may not be able to go on. Right now I’m trying to somehow find my way through, because I know I have to get past this.

Oda: For me, I don’t think I really have any feeling of crisis with my work.

Inoue: That’s very apparent just from reading One Piece. I’m sure you have your own things to deal with, but I think it’s a long way from this kind of sense of crisis. For me, I think that I’m really being pulled in by Vagabond. It’s like the very nature of the work is affecting me. I spend so awfully much time thinking about things that have no answer. I think maybe this feeling would change if I drew some happier, simpler form of entertainment.

Oda: Do you feel any change of pace when you go back and forth between Vagabond and Real?

Inoue: Yes, I do. There’s a part of Real that rescues me. I can’t say it’s fun, but compared to Vagabond it is a lot easier to work on. I can get ideas just walking down the street.

Oda: You don't normally meet sword masters in the streets.

Inoue: Exactly (laughs)

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Oda: It might a little late to be asking this, but what made you what to do the story of Musashi?

Inoue: In the beginning it wasn't really a big deal. Someone recommended Eiji Yoshikawa’s “Musashi” novel to me, and it was a really good read. It was about a year after Slam Dunk had ended when I wasn't doing a serial. I wanted to get to work on something and thought I'd like to try making this into a comic. So, I made a proposal, everything went smoothly, and I got the okay to do it. At first I was completely clueless and didn't know what could be so hard about doing something like this. I just started doing it with almost no idea about the knowledge, energy and technique I would need to do an historical work. It was a real struggle.

Oda: If you don’t seriously research historical material and stuff you can’t do it, can you?

Inoue: If I couldn't have done that, I would have given up on it. We even floated the idea of having a specialist to check historical accuracy, but in the end decided that I would do what was within my own scope and create my own version of Musashi.

Oda: Are the characters the same ones as the original novel?

Inoue: The characters are pretty much the same ones, but their personalities are very different.

-------

Next up, Inoue and Oda discuss the epic battle in Vagabond between Musashi and all 70 swordsman of the Yoshioka School.

Part 5 is coming soon...

The feature is aptly titled "Takehiko Inoue: drawing the future of manga" because how many artists can grab a handful of brushes and a bucket of ink and turn galleries into giant walk through comic books? (Not to mention the fact that he had to replan and redraw things each of the 4 times the exhibit moved to fit the given gallery!)

Inoue's awesomeness goes far beyond the stereotypical definition of "mangaka" and he is erasing the superficial lines that tend to separate comic book artists from fine art.

I will be posting parts of this feature and translating bits I think may be of interest to Inoue fans over the next few weeks as I also work on the final three parts of the Inoue/Oda joint interview.
So, please stay tuned 'cause there's lots of good stuff coming!

BITTERSWEET HOTEL is an exhibition featuring art and poetry readings from well-known Toronto based artist Tomori Nagamoto's book "Bittersweet Hotel", which features Tomori's poetry and distinctive ballpoint pen linedrawings.

Bittersweet Hotel deals with the struggle with depression, loneliness, anger and fear, and the disconnect from society that those emotions can cause.
The Bittersweet Hotel represents a personal headspace where you can get away from the real world and feel safe from your fears. It's a place to treat your emotional wounds and begin to heal.

Tomori Nagamoto is a Japanese born, Toronto and New York based contemporary artist, and is well known on the Toronto art scene, having won numerous awards including "Best Local Visual Artist" in the 2002 NOW magazine reader's poll.

I've known Tomo for close to a decade and attended a number of his events, all of which were cool. I also played a small role in his "Tokyo Doll" exhibition in Toronto back in 2003 interpreting a short speech by special guest Yukinori Dehara (who was also very cool!). I've been a fan of Tomo's work ever since!

Always interesting, always engaging, Tomo is an artist who doesn't rest on his laurels and, more importantly, isn't trapped by his own success. His art is always fresh and new as he continues to explore, experiment, and grow as an artist.

Tomori Nagamoto's BITTERSWEET HOTEL exhibition will run from August 23rd through the 28th at Artist Space CERO in Osaka.

For more info visit Tomori's website and Facebook page , or Artist Space CERO .

Well, Takehiko Inoue talks the talk in Vagabond, and walks the walk in some Aikido classes! I only wish he did this at my dojo!!

The below is from a blog post by a former editor, now freelance, of Brutus magazine in Japan.
He posted this awesomeness on his blog two years ago, but Inoue's recent ill health and indefinite break from working on Vagabond has prompted me to share it.

The post says that Inoue is black belt level in Karate, but this was his first go at Aikido. The full post (in Japanese) and more pictures are here

After his first experice with Aikido Inoue was quoted as saying that, "Aikido isn't techniques for self defense. It's a tool for communication."

Mr. Inoue also has had discussions on the martial arts of Musashi's time with renowned classical martial arts expert and historian, Yoshinori Kono.

Before I had any idea there was a Vagabond connection, I had been to a few of Mr. Kono's seminars and read many of his books. He’s a fascinating person and I can tell you from personal experience that, unlike the numerous paper masters out there, not only are his skills for real (I’ve felt his techniques), but Mr. Kono will discuss his theories and demonstrate his techniques on anyone! He cuts right through the mysticism that surrounds a lot of classical martial arts and will show you what works and tell you his theories as to the how and why.
Inoue definitely knows how to pick his sources because Yoshinori Kono is the real deal!!
Discussions between Mr. Kono and Mr. Inoue became this book.

It's a hell of a good read, and it’s a real shame that it will probably never get translated into English. It would make a great companion to Vagabond for those interested in the real history behind the story.

Anyway, just thought I'd share that.
Get well soon, Takehiko Inoue!!